The Worker Prince by Bryan Thomas Schmidt Page A

as the sole living object in the midst of dreary desolation.
    His mother and teachers had taught him principles of law and ethics, intrinsic human rights, and the fundamental value of life. His uncle Xalivar seemed far from sympathetic, and they’d often had hearty debates during which he’d learned his uncle had a different perspective on the world than his. Even though their discussions had always ended with respect and understanding, Davi couldn’t bring himself to respect orders calling for such cruel abuse. Perhaps the rumors he’d heard from other cadets had some basis in fact. How could the uncle who’d been like a father to him have hidden such a dark side all these years?
    He turned on his computer terminal and fired off an e-post to his mother. She would know the truth. It amazed him she’d never spoken about it before. Did she agree with what was happening?
    O O O
    The next day, Davi travelled out to the farm where Farien oversaw a team of soldiers who supervised workers. The farm itself was larger than Davi had expected with acres of land stretching off for miles and dozens of barns, warehouses and processing buildings, giving Farien a great deal of responsibility, despite his disappointment at not being assigned to a higher position. Neither one of them seemed to be living a high adventure, but at least Farien got to work at the heart of things. Though they hadn’t seen each other since their arrival on the planet, Davi hoped to keep their relationship friendly, despite the discomfort either might feel at Davi being Farien’s supervisor.
    Sounds of livestock, humming engines, and whining servos filled his ears as Davi stepped off the shuttle. Fresh air filled his lungs, as he found Farien leaning against a fence, watching two soldiers load injured workers into a hospital shuttle. Davi took care to move up behind him unnoticed.
    “Neglecting your duties, Lieutenant?” Davi said, smiling. The smell of bean plants and grain filled his nose.
    Farien snapped to attention on instinct, his face falling as he expected to be reprimanded. “We had an incident with some angry bulls today.” Seeing it was Davi, he relaxed.
    Davi laughed, stepping up beside his friend at the fence.
    “Nothing which would keep them off task for more than a couple of days at best,” Farien continued. “Little more exciting than the paper cuts and headaches you supervisors are prone to, Captain.”
    “Stop rubbing it in, okay?” He would always consider them peers.
    Farien shrugged, suppressing a smile. “What are you doing here?”
    Davi motioned for Farien to walk with him. Farien turned to the soldiers by the shuttle. “I want an incident report by the end of the hour, okay? Get back to your duties.” From the look on his face and his tone of voice, Farien enjoyed being in command. “What’s up?” He turned back to Davi as they walked along the fence together.
    Davi began filling him in on his conversation with Zylo the day before and the things he’d witnessed. “I’m wondering if you’ve witnessed any incidents of abuse,” he asked as he finished.
    “Well, it would depend upon how you define abuse,” Farien said. “These Vertullians seem very lazy to me. We have a number of them here who don’t want to pull their own weight and meet quotas.”
    “New quotas demanded by the Alliance or the same quotas they’ve had?” Davi frowned at Farien’s lack of concern.
    “What’s the difference? We’re here to follow the Alliance’s orders, aren’t we?”
    Davi had spent the afternoon before reviewing files on the administrative computer bank. The complaints and issues in the reports almost all related to workers who had failed to meet their quotas or filed complaints about mistreatment by soldiers. Davi had looked into several and found most of the quota problems related to increased demands by the Alliance, and, in some cases, the health of workers. Men could only be pushed so far, but that didn’t stop the