If I Ruled the World: Chapter Nine
Travelers live on Hermine Er. It's also where they die.
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Mille opened her swollen eyes to a sky, dark and purple, stretching out over an endless arid landscape of mauve stone and sand. Klado was with her, but the light that made them Klado was long gone—lost to the space between stars. She placed her hand over his lifeless grey eyes and closed them.
Footsteps approaching from in front of her, soft but urgent, made Mille look up. It was a woman, slender and graceful, wearing the same silky ensemble that Klado wore, though hers was a pale shade of lavender. As she drew near, Mille could see the woman was weeping.
The woman kneeled next to her, gently touching her arm. “Are you hurt, Mille?”
Mille’s round brown eyes grew wide. “You know me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“I assigned your case to Klado.”
“My case? Who are you?” Mille scanned the raised dark metal platform that towered high above the surrounding desert. “Where are we? How did we get here?” She considered her upturned hands with a furrowed brow. “I didn’t touch any buttons.”
The woman moved her left hand to her bosom and said, “I am Livinea Toah, Grand Traveler and Premier of Hermine Er—the home of the Travelers.” She looked down at Klado laden with sorrow. “It is where most of us are born and where we all come to die.” She set her hand, light as a feather, on Klado’s chest. “If a Traveler dies while traversing the galaxy, the transponder brings them home—along with anyone touching them.” The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “Klado arrived on this platform the same way, with his assigned Traveler, Thackau Ru.”
Mille twisted her fingers. “But … there was no battle on Gat.”
Livinea nodded. “You are correct. Thackau Ru rescued Klado from Gat Er, but after a failed attempt to immigrate Klado to Lierne Er, trouble ensued during an intermediate jump to Fex.” She shook her head sadly. “Traveling the galaxy can be very dangerous, as you have discovered for yourself.”
Livinea got to her feet and a solemn procession of attendants dressed in deep purple garments hurried over. They placed Klado’s body onto a transport and covered it with a silky white cloth.
“What’s going to happen to them?” Mille asked.
“Klado will receive a Most Honorable Traveler’s burial,” said an attendant.
Livinea reached for Mille’s hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up first. There is something I want to show you.”
Mille, feeling like royalty in her new outfit, followed Livinea into a cavernous room where dozens of workers, wearing various shades of purple, sat at partitioned stations. Each leaned forward, their eyes glued to screens flashing with moving pictures.
“This is headquarters and these people are our Seers,” Livinea said with an outstretched arm.
“What are they looking at?”
“They are studying the galaxy, searching for people to rescue.”
Mille’s round brown eyes opened wide. “Rescue? From what?”
“Poverty—the diminution of their personhood.”
Mille’s mouth fell open. That’s exactly what was happening to so many around the galaxy. The woman on Salek with the impossible choice of hard labor or death, Hulda, Trudi—and herself. It was as if they didn’t matter. She hung her head. “Why does every Er have poor people?” Lierne immediately came to mind, making a sour taste in her mouth. “Do they do it on purpose?”
Livinea sighed, and then slowly turned toward Mille. “Humanity is so blind to others who are not like themselves.” She looked across the many screens in front of them and shook her head. “It’s inevitable. The poor will always be with us. That is why we are here. The Seers see who we can help, and the Travelers do their best to intervene.” She placed her hand on Mille’s shoulder. “I sent Klado to help you pass your exam, but you got to see the galaxy instead.” She gazed at Mille with a look that saw her future. “Which Er was your favorite?”
Mille shrugged. “I don’t know.” Salek depressed her. She got arrested on Gat and Lierne. Scheduled for sterilization on Fex. Thrown off a mountain on Excella. Sentenced to death on Relat, and molested on Indiola. The memory of that leering assailant made her shudder. “They all make me sad,” she said, finally. Then she threw back her shoulders. “I didn’t get to see for myself, but Klado said the cities in Indiola were like Heaven on Er.”
“Indiola, yes. Of all the Er, the Director system is the most inclusive, but the neglect of their poor is atrocious—they have the worst poverty in the galaxy.”
“But why?”
Livinea’s eyes narrowed. “They are too proud. Not only do they refuse relocation for their poor, but they also refuse to admit potentials even though Directors are scarce. If they increased Directors by only 10%, they could eliminate 50% of their poverty, and 1% of the surplus from cities could eliminate 40% more. Their poor would no longer be hopeless.”
Mille bit her bottom lip. “I know what that feels like.” When Klado met her, she had given up hope and had resigned herself to live amongst the poor of Gujetta. She looked up at Livinea, her eyes glassy with tears. “Klado said they knew how I could pass my exam, but they never got the chance to tell me.”
Livinea took Mille’s hands in hers and laughed. “Mille, you keep trying to answer the questions with your right hand, but you are left-handed. Use your left hand and you will finish the exam long before the time is up.”
Mille looked down at their hands. Left-handed? No one on Gujetta Er was left-handed.
“When you go home after the ceremony, you can easily pass the exam and join the elite classes of Gujetta Er. You can look forward to a lifetime of ease looking out over the watery plains from the comfort of the fourth quarter.” Livinea beamed. “Or you could follow in Klado’s footsteps. Stay with us and train to become a Traveler.”
For the first time, Mille noticed the Seers used their left hands to control their screens, and Livinea herself was left-handed.
Livinea laughed as she watched the lights go on in Mille’s head. “You may not have realized it, but you can also communicate without your Traveler’s armlet. Mille, you possess a natural ability.”
In no time at all, Mille was finally back home and could hear the grate of her mother’s complaints long before she entered the waiting room at the top of the hallway. Mamore gasped when she saw her.
“Where have you been?! The exam is this morning!” She grabbed Mille by the shoulders, then, standing on her toes, strained to see down the hallway behind her. “Where is that Klado? I haven’t heard from them in ages. I was getting ready to notify the authorities.” She dropped back to her heels, looked Mille up and down, then wrinkled her nose as she fingered the white, silky fabric of Mille’s tunic. “What is this you have on? No matter. We can still make it if we hurry.” She took Mille’s hand and dragged her out the front door and under the three moons in the bright pink, coral, and magenta sky.
What a beautiful sight!
Mille hadn’t realized how badly she missed it, or how much she had missed her mother, bad temper and all.
“All that money!” Mamore slammed the front door. “And for what!!” She slammed her bedroom door too. “I’m going to sue that fraud, Klado, for everything they’re worth!!!”
Mille slumped over the washroom sink, scrubbing smudges off her right hand as her mother’s rants assaulted her ears. Klado was not a fraud! The people of Hermine Er knew it, even if Mamore didn’t.
The funeral they had held for them was the most honorable; it was unlike anything Mille had ever seen before. Endless fireworks flared against the deep purple sky as high-ranking delegates from Salek Er and Lierne Er sent their respects via a gigantic screen, and each Traveler and Seer stood up to eulogize them. Mille spoke last. She told them that Klado was the best person she had ever met, and she meant every word.
Mille shuffled into her bedroom, stuffed some underwear into a backpack, and slung it over her shoulder. She adjusted the strap to make sure it didn’t press on the front of her tunic.
The Gujetta Er authorities had responded to her last failure quickly; a one-way transport was already outside, waiting to escort her to the city center. She scurried past her father and oldest sister, who stood off to the side. Their heads hung low, not knowing what to say, but Hesha rushed to accompany her.
“I’m sorry, Mille. You don’t deserve this.” Tears fell down Hesha’s flushed cheeks as she opened the transport door. “Let me know if you get hungry. I’ll sneak you some food.”
Mille hugged her gently, knowing that would never happen. Not that Hesha wasn’t sincere—it wouldn’t be possible. The galaxy was just too big.
Twenty-one years later…
“Traveler Mille, come quickly. Someone is hailing you from Indiola Er.”
“Who is it?”
The Seer was so excited they could barely contain themselves. “She says her name is Trudi and she wants to talk to you about opening Indiola’s borders.”
Klado! Noooo! 😭 but also, that ending was so satisfying and hopeful. I love a bitter sweet conclusion. I really enjoyed this story--especially the world building of the different Ers. Perhaps we could get a prequel focused on Klado and their life as a Traveler? Pretty please?
Thank you so much for sharing this, Kim! Looking forward to reading more of your work!