Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [155]
“No, that wouldn’t be smart at all.” Jess formed a smile, and his watery blue gaze became distant. “But now that the wentals have changed me, I’ll be able to accomplish something here that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
Chapter 75—PRINCE DANIEL
After a few days on his own, Daniel was no longer so enamored with freedom. He was hungry. He had no place to sleep and no friends to contact. Every place he went, he imagined that the Chairman’s agents were hunting for him. As discreetly as possible, he watched news loops, searching for announcements of the Prince’s disappearance. He had assumed the Hansa would offer a substantial reward for his safe return. But he heard no mention of his escape—nothing! As far as the public knew, Prince Daniel was still happily ensconced in his royal quarters in the Whisper Palace.
By now he looked dirty and rumpled, and there were small tears in his clothes. Though he hated to admit it, he would have welcomed even a plate of the annoyingly wholesome food OX had inflicted upon him. He didn’t like this at all.
Out of desperation, he worked his way through the streets to the neighborhood where he had once lived with his stepfather and slutty sister. He hadn’t regretted leaving them, but they might help him out. He couldn’t wait to brag to his sister about where he’d been for the past year, rub her nose in the fact that he was the Hansa’s new Prince.
But when he arrived at the familiar block, he discovered that the entire building where he had lived was gone. The dwelling complex had been torn down and replaced with a commercial structure full of offices and shops.
He had to be careful not to show too much curiosity, since Chairman Wenceslas must surely be watching this place. Trying to act casual, he asked an old woman what had happened to the people who lived there.
She shrugged. “Evicted, I think. Health hazards, some kind of epidemic. Quite a few people died, and everyone else was turned out onto the street.”
Unsettled, Daniel walked away without thanking her. In a daze, he remembered an occasion not long ago when King Peter had barged into the Prince’s chambers claiming that the Hansa had killed Daniel’s family. At the time it had seemed little more than an outrageous bluff, a scare tactic.
Now Daniel wasn’t so sure.
At night, with hunger gnawing at his stomach, he crept up to a small grocery distribution center, smashed a window, then reached in to unlock the door, so he could slip inside to where boxes of food sat surrounded by shadows. He didn’t have a plan; he simply grabbed the first edible items he could find—crackers and a tube of tart jam—and began gorging himself.
When he moved deeper into the grocery area, searching for food he could take with him, he heard a rattle and a slam behind him. Automatic guard gates locked into place over the broken entrance. He ran to the gate, but could find no way out. He must have triggered a silent alarm.
While waiting for the local police force to arrive, a resigned Daniel spent his time eating as much as possible.
When he heard the security vehicles and saw uniformed men emerge, he arranged an indignant look on his face. “What took you so long?” he said, mustering as commanding a tone as he could remember from the statesmanship lessons OX had given him. “I am testing the security of my Hansa. Professional thieves could have cleaned out this place in the meantime.”
Unsympathetic, the police came toward him with their twitchers drawn. Daniel remained indignant. “I am Prince Daniel. Don’t you recognize me?”
They didn’t. Nor did they believe him.
Only moments after the police response, bleary-eyed news reporters arrived, taking images of the arrest in progress for a bland local report. Daniel began struggling and bellowing that he was the Prince, to the amusement of the reporters.
Finally, the policemen used their twitchers, firing a burst that scrambled nerve communication. Daniel dropped immediately, unable to control his voluntary muscles; he remained