If I Ruled the World: Chapter Five
Life on Lierne Er is divine for Scholars, and worth the wait for those who covet their privileges.
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Mille and Klado emerged on Lierne Er inside an enclosure pieced together with metal scraps and weathered wood. A small rodent, surprised by their sudden appearance, scurried away, seeking a place to hide in the endless piles of trash.
Mille jumped up on an overturned crate. “What was that?!”
“I hate Lierne,” Klado said, their voice nasal—they were pinching their nose.
Klado headed for the makeshift door, kicking refuse out of the way. Mille followed close behind. They walked out into a narrow walkway lined with shanties, barely standing, with trails of smoke rising from their ramshackle roofs into the bright blue sky. The stink of sewage mixed with cooking spices clotted the air, much like the people cramming the walkway. People of every color. Some Mille recognized—the tans of Salek, the browns of Fex, and the pinks of Gujetta, but there were also pale people, milky-colored people, and people of various shades of blue. She wondered which were native to Lierne Er.
An older man, pale and thin, squeezed his way to the front and bowed low. “Traveler Klado. Welcome back …”
Klado shuddered. “Monk! When are you people going to fix up these slums?”
Monk laughed, his mouth full of missing teeth, his aged face shrunken from overexposure to the starlight. “Why exert the energy? This place is temporary.” He reached into the crowd, pulled out a girl somewhat younger than Mille, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Soon, we will all be in the city.” He glanced side-eyed at Mille. “Are you here on a mission, Traveler Klado?” With that, the smothering masses pressed in closer, reaching to touch Klado’s tunic.
Klado stiffened, their countenance grim as they swatted at the grasping hands. “Stop touching me!”
The crowd cowered, and the old man, Monk, rubbed his hands together anxiously. “Forgive us. It’s just that we haven’t seen you, or any Travelers, for such a long time.”
Klado relaxed and took a deep breath. “I am on a mission.”
With much cheering in the background, Klado made the introductions. “Mille, this is Monk. Monk, this is Mille. She is here to experience Lierne City.”
The girl, Hulda, Monk’s youngest daughter, approached Mille with caution. “Are you… are you a Scholar?” she asked with round blue eyes like saucers.
Klado took Mille’s hand. “Of course she is.”
The crowd followed down a steep hill onto a paved highway leading to the Lierne City gates. They stopped at the edge of the lush green piazza, leaving Mille and Klado to walk on without them.
Mille looked back. “Did you save all of those people?”
“No.”
“Then why are they following you?”
“Because I am a Traveler.”
“Travelers brought them here?”
“Some of them.” Klado glanced over their shoulder. “The older ones.”
Klado and Mille went over to the leftmost gate. Mille could not read the sign overhead, but the people in line were well-dressed and waiting patiently. She smoothed down her blue tunic. She was glad it still looked new.
When it was her turn, Klado took her hand, and the gatekeeper, a small fellow with wide-set eyes, looked up at them. “Traveler, Klado. We are not taking any more refugees.” They waved at the mountain of shacks clinging precariously to the hillside. “There are too many here already, and we don’t have enough work for them all.”
Klado narrowed their eyes. “This is Mille. She is not here to stay. She only wants to visit and learn from your great libraries.” They nudged her forward. “We want to apply for a visitor’s visa.”
The guard gawked at Mille. “Oh.” His eyes wandered over her pink skin and blue tunic. “Are you from Gujetta … or Salek?”
Mille opened her mouth, but Klado held up their hand. “Both. She was born on Gujetta with citizenship from Salek.” Klado placed their hands on her shoulders. “She is among the honored on Salek.”
“Well,” the gatekeeper said. “She still has to be tested.”
Klado nodded. “Of course.”
The gatekeeper placed a heavy black metal device on the counter and pointed to a wide slot on the front. “Put your hand in there.”
The device with its smooth screen and five lights looked harmless, so Mille did what she was told. A quick pinch later, it was done. She pulled out her hand and stuck her finger in her mouth—it tasted like blood. Seconds later, the lights flickered on, one at a time, the first four were all green. The fifth light sputtered, fluttered, turned green, and then blue, followed by a loud, extended beep, and then all the lights turned blue.
Klado’s narrow eyes widened. “That is not possible.”
“What does it mean?” Mille asked.
The gatekeeper shook their head. “It means you are not a Scholar.” His beady eyes flashed as if denying entrance to Lierne City was the favorite part of his job. “You must leave Lierne Er immediately.”
The device beeped again and words Mille could not read scrolled slowly across the screen. The gatekeeper hovered over it, furrowing his brow. “Wait.” He gestured for a guard, and the two, together, considered the readout, exchanging furtive glances and casting bewildered gazes at Mille.
“Go get it,” the gatekeeper said. The guard left and soon returned with a silver token. He handed it to Mille. “This is good for a single treatment. You only need one. Take it to the health center.” They pointed to a wide, flat building adjoining the piazza. “Then you can come back and get tested again in six weeks.”
“Six weeks?” Mille closed her fist over the token. “Can’t I just visit first?”
“No,” the gatekeeper said, shaking his head. “Only Scholars can enter the city.” They stamped Mille’s hand. “This is an ‘Awaiting Treatment’ visa. It will allow you to stay on Lierne Er for six weeks.”
Mille looked at the stamp. It was pink and barely visible on her skin. “But I can’t wait six weeks.”
Klado stepped forward. “Surely, you can make an exception. She only wants to visit a few days.”
The gatekeeper glared at Klado. “We have to follow the rules, and so do you.”
Klado and Mille trudged up the hillside, back to their ghetto dwelling, with the crowds parting solemnly before them. Klado pushed a crate to the middle, away from the piles of garbage, and sat down. Mille plopped cross-legged on the dirt floor facing them, while Monk and several others lingered at the door.
“I am sorry,” Klado said. “Rafi was sure you were a Scholar. So was I.” They shook their head. “The way you looked around my office on your second visit, I could tell you were wondering why it looked so different.” They narrowed their eyes. “You are so very curious.”
“Maybe,” Mille said, shrugging. “But what is this for?” She held up the token and a harmonious groan wafted in through the door, a song of deep grief and endless longing.
Klado’s shoulders slumped. “It is used to purchase an injection that enables the expression of the Scholar trait. Most people need several treatments taken over long periods of time, but it seems you need only one.”
“I would love to see the libraries, but I can’t wait six weeks.” She turned the token over to admire its shiny surface. “Even if I could wait, I don’t want to change who I am so I can see them.”
Klado stood and reached for Mille’s hand. “I know. Let us go home. I will show you how to pass your exam as soon as we get back.”
“Shouldn’t I give this to someone else first?”
The throng outside the door began pushing and shouting. It was all Monk could do to hold them back.
“Stop!” Klado strode towards the door. “Monk? Is your daughter with you?” Monk nodded and waited as Hulda pressed forward to join her father.
“Hulda, come in. Take the token. It is a gift from Mille to you.”
Hulda ran over, took the token into her shaking hands, and fell at Mille’s feet. “Thank you so much! What can I do to repay you?” She bolted upright, her eyes wide with joy. “I can get you inside the city. Tomorrow.”
“I thought they only let in Scholars?” Mille asked.
Hulda’s grin engulfed her face. “Who do you think cleans, cooks, and takes care of their children? Them?”
Early the next morning, Hulda, and Mille, in disguise, entered the city through the day workers’ gate. Mille held her breath as the guard scanned the wristband Hulda gave her. Everyone wore them. They had to. Everybody on Lierne Er was from somewhere else in the galaxy. The wristband included a translator, as well as basic identification features. Hulda did not tell Mille she got it but assured her it would work. Mille had to leave her Travelers armlet behind, but Klado said she wouldn’t need it, even if she got caught.
Inside the gate, Mille expected to see sprawling courtyards like on Salek, but Lierne City was even more beautiful. The gleaming streets were broad, with sparkling glass buildings towering high on either side. Tall flowering trees lined the wide walkways and cast deep purple shadows, providing shelter from the blazing star that drove relentlessly across the sky.
Hulda led Mille into a building, looked around, and then helped Mille remove the day worker’s apron that concealed her elegant blue tunic. Hulda winked at her, then went about her work as if she didn’t know who Mille was.
Mille’s heart raced as she slipped out, crossed the street, and entered the sparkling glass doors of the Lierne City Cultural Center. She sat at a kiosk near the entrance. It immediately displayed an image of a fingerprint. She peered at the text beneath and recognized, among many, instructions in her language. It said the fingerprint determined the kiosk’s communication mechanism. Mille looked at her long delicate fingers and wondered how that worked. Was it their pink color?
She pressed her fingertip to the screen, launching the brilliant graphics of a commercialized video. Do not trust the odds, it began. It went on explaining the uncertainty of reproduction in Lierne City. Unfortunately, when two Scholars mate, the chance that their progeny would be a Scholar is not 100%, but if they used the latest technologies available, their precious baby could stay in Lierne City. The screen flashed a depressing collage of the slums that clung to the hillside. The cost? Only 250,000 credits; it said. The video ended, and the screen listed several options for the user to choose from.
Mille pursed her lips and pressed: The History of Lierne. It seemed a logical choice, especially since it was first on the list. A video featuring a milky-skinned woman opened to reveal the story of Lierne.
Thousands of years ago, an indigenous population inhabited Lierne Er. Though they no longer exist, the rich soil, abundant aquifers, and pleasant weather made it a perfect place to establish a Scholar colony. Over time, Travelers brought people from all over the galaxy and established Lierne City. It has grown into a population of 80 million people, where learning at the 100 thousand libraries and 400 thousand schools never ceases. The citizens of Lierne City receive 5000 credits per year, or more, depending on their status; an Erudite Scholar can earn as much as 25000 credits per year. To be more inclusive, experts developed a technology to ensure all people immigrating to Lierne Er could eventually become Scholars. The video ended and displayed: To learn more, press here.
Mille sighed as a pale young man with a firm chin, round blue eyes, and long thick eyelashes appeared on the screen. He explained the technology; it was pretty simple really. Each treatment worked like a bubble sort, moving the Scholar trait higher in the genetic chain, one at a time. An individual may need 1 to 30 treatments depending on where the trait was located. Each treatment costs 1500 credits.
Mille leaned back in her chair. That was why Hulda was so excited to get the token. That amount was worth a year of day-workers’ pay. She went to the home screen and selected Galaxy Information, and a list of the nine Er appeared. She selected Gujetta and read how they had banned the Travelers centuries ago. They claimed the Traveler’s program diminished the drive of its citizens to succeed. No one would work hard if they could just escape, plus people coming to Gujetta from other Er threatened to diffuse the rich pink color of their skin.
Mille cringed. Did they actually put that out there for anyone to read? She chose another Er. One she had not visited. Pictures taken from high in the air showed hexagonal walled cities extending along the coastlines of immense bodies of deep blue waters. They also banned the Travelers. Like Lierne, their burgeoning cities did not have room for their own citizens, let alone those from other Er.
Just as she was about to select another, the last one on the list, deafening alarms blared in her ears and armed guards poured in through the front entrance and surrounded her.
“Miss,” the officer said. “You cannot be here. Come with us. Now!”
The door opened and Klado, with the officer at their heels, entered the room where Mille was being held. Klado was right. They did not need the Travelers armlet to find her. Officials notified them shortly after they apprehended her.
The officer, a stout blue-skinned woman with yellow hair pulled tight in a ponytail, was furious. “Klado, your Travelers visa is rescinded for 5 million galaxy units. I wish it could be longer. And, you!” She spun around, shaking her short blue finger in Mille’s face. “You can never come back.” She turned back to Klado. “There is only one way out of here and it isn’t through this door.” With that, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her.
Klado sat next to Mille and took her hand. “I will take you home. Are you ready?”
Mille didn’t reply. She just sat and looked down at her shoes, the blue suede slippers they gave her on Salek. They matched her tunic perfectly.
“Why do they make the treatments so expensive?” she asked.
“Mille, we have to go.”
“The citizens of Lierne are so rich while the refugees are so poor.” Her shoulders sagged under the weight of the revelation. “And it seems they want to keep them that way. Why?”
Klado narrowed their eyes and sighed, but Mille ignored them.
“I know why. They need refugees for labor so they can spend all day in their libraries.” Mille searched Klado’s eyes for the hero who saved people from death. “Hulda told me her parents have been working over 20 years to buy treatments for her and her five siblings. They will probably never enter the city themselves.” She was close to tears. “Are there any Er in this entire galaxy that use their hearts and not their heads?”
Klado bobbled their head. “There is an Er on the far side of the galaxy, where excellence is the foundation of governance. Excella. And it is open to Travelers.”
Mille squeezed Klado’s hand. “Let’s go there.”
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Another fascinating and thought-provoking read. This is a really great adventure, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next... 😎