Queen of Denial (23 page)

"Drew, our ancestors homesteaded that land. They built their first homes there out of hand-cut wood and stone," Stasha said appealingly.

"I'm not going to let a bunch of stiffs dictate where I put my space port," Drew said in disbelief.

Lillith walked across the room and slapped Drew across the face. The entire room fell silent. As Drew looked up from the papers, she stared with cold hatred at her mother, and ran her hand over her face where she had been slapped.

"I don't have to justify myself to you, or anyone else," she looked unblinkingly into her mother's eyes. "I am Queen. I am in control now. Not you, and not anyone else. Just me. I have good reasons for everything I do. I don't give a flying fuck if you've got your shorts in a wad because you don't like the way I chose to use our ancestral home. Just get over it. Now, I have just about had it with screaming peasants," she swept an arm towards the window, "and bitching advisors," she waved a hand at Facto and Fitz. "And you have been here all of three minutes, and I've had it up to my dirty ass with you. I am Queen, and this is my party. I don't know you; either of you. I look at you screaming at me, demanding things of me, trying to tell me how to think, act, and feel, and I'm sure that even if I did know you, I wouldn't like you. So get the hell out of my house, before I have you thrown out."

They started to protest.

"Get out, or I swear, I'll have you kicked out on your lily white asses."

"If you do this, I swear you'll never see me again," Lillith swore.

"Ah, so soon?" Drew hissed. She motioned towards one of the guards, and her parents left.

"Facto, Fitz, if I need you, I'll call for you."

"By Royal Law . . ." Facto started.

Drew hit the arm of her chair hard. "I AM Royal Law, Facto. If you haven't taught me anything else, you've taught me that. Now, get the fuck out! I need time to work on all this shit."

Van Gar looked at her. He knew her well enough to know that she was on the verge of throwing a hissing shit fit.

As if on cue, the screaming in the street got louder. She jumped out of her chair and pulled her pistol from its scabbard. She ran to the balcony door and opened it so fast that Van didn't have the time to stop her. She walked out onto the balcony and started firing. She didn't stop till she was out of bullets. The crowd below murmured and rattled around.

"Shut the fuck up! Do you fucking assholes hear me? Shut the fuck up!" Below, the crowd was silent. "I just got the latest reports: unemployment is down to fifteen percent. That was the main problem, and I tackled it. Now I'm working on the others. Or at least I'm trying to, but you assholes won't fucking shut up. Instead of screaming all day, why don't you go look for work? There is some now. Of course, if honest work is too good for you, I have another alternative for ya. I'm passing a new law. It's called the Taralin don' want no dead-beats screaming on her lawn Law. You've got ten minutes to get the fuck out ah here, or I call in the army and tell them to start shooting. That's not the palace guard, which, by the way is now double what it was before the King's abduction. We're talking tanks and big shit here, assholes. So, clear out, or clear things up with your Gods, because one way or another I am going to have some peace and quiet."

She turned to walk in, and that's when the shot rang out. She immediately hit the ground and something landed on top of her. There was a pain in her right arm.

"Up there on the roof," Van Gar screamed, at which point she realized that it was he who had landed on top of her.

The guards opened fire for what seemed like ten minutes.

"Hey, I think that forty-sixth hit killed him," Van Gar announced dryly.

They quickly hustled the Queen inside and the doors were closed. They sat Drew in her chair. She looked at Van, and he smiled.

"It's not bad."

"Well, it's not good," Drew held her arm. "Thanks, Van."

Margot ran in with the doctor.

"You know, we would save Margot about a hundred miles a day if we would just put in an intercom system."

The doctor pulled her hand away and she winced.

"Be gentle with me, it's my first time."

"Ah, she says that to all the guys," Van Gar said lightly.

Stasha looked at him. She saw his trembling hands and the sweat on his forehead. He was putting on an act. He didn't want anyone to know how scared he'd been or still was. She had seen him launch himself at the door even before the shot rang out. Somehow, he had felt that Drew was in danger, and had acted accordingly. And she knew in that instant that Van Gar loved her sister, loved her more than Zarco ever had or ever could. He had flung himself at her without fear of personal injury. All he cared about was Drew. If Van Gar had been King, the country could have gone to hell in a hand basket while he went after his Queen. Stasha knew now why Drewcila would never forgive Zarco, and she understood her sister a little bit better. She looked at the blood the doctor was wiping up, and with the realization that it wasn't bad at all something else hit her.

"Drew, someone tried to kill you."

"Duh, ya think so?" Drew looked dumbfounded, then screamed at her sister. "What was your first clue, the hole in my arm?"

"My Queen," one of the guards ran in and knelt at her feet. "They have identified the body of the sniper."

"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?" Drew said sharply.

The guard seemed reluctant. "It was Lord Greyston."

"Lord Greyston," Stasha gasped, "but he was one of Zarco's oldest and dearest friends!"

"Maybe that's the point," Facto said. "It's obvious that Drew has no intention of running the country the way the King did, nor does she seem to be in any hurry to locate him and have him returned to power. For the obvious reason that she is getting a charge out of running things. To someone like Lord Greyston, in fact to anyone with a Royal title, it's going to seem that your actions are . . . well, traitorous to your class."

"Charge out of it?" Drew said with raised eyebrows.

"A term I've hear you use many times," Facto said defensively.

Drew nodded.

"I wouldn't suggest a stroll outside, or on the balcony until we can be sure that Lord Greyston acted alone."

Drew nodded again, then looked at Facto and smiled. "I thought I told you to get lost."

"I wasn't quite through the door when the shots rang out. I thought I'd better stay close."

"Is that loyalty I hear in your voice, Fatso?" Drew asked.

"Not at all. If something had happened to you, I would be in charge." He bowed low and departed.

Drew laughed after him.

The doctor had finished dressing her wound. "I put J-16 on it. It should be healed by nightfall."

"Thank you very much."

The doctor started to go.

"Wait! Hold on there a minute, doctor. What do you think about the health care problem?"

"Drew," Van protested, "someone just tried to kill you."

"You're acting like it's the first time that ever happened," Drew laughed.

"Margot, get me a cigar and a beer."

"So, Doc. Let me hear it. What do you think can be done about the health care problem?"

Van Gar threw up his hands. He guessed he'd have to check this thing out himself. He looked around for Fitz, but he was nowhere to be found. Obviously, he had followed orders and left. Van Gar left the office and started looking for Fitz. He found him some ten minutes later talking to one of the palace guards.

He looked at Van Gar and nodded. "And remember, Varge, double security at the doors and gates." The guard nodded and went off. "I heard about the attempt on the Queen's life, and was just fortifying the palace."

Van Gar nodded.

"Do they know who the would-be assassin was yet?"

"Lord Grey . . . something."

"Greyston?"

"Yep, that was it."

Fitz drew in a deep breath and shook his head. "I guess the lack of protocol was just more that he could stand." Fitz shook his head and sighed. He was obviously shaken by what this man had done.

"You stupid sucks would kill someone over protocol?" Van Gar asked in disbelief.

"I know it doesn't mean anything to you, or for that matter to our Queen. But to certain people, especially those of noble birth, protocol is very important. They're very proud of their heritage. And, let's face it, Drewcila is making a mockery of everything they stand for. Lord Greyston was a member of the advisory council, as was his father and his grandfather before him. She's messing with generations of tradition, and it's obvious that some people don't appreciate it."

"People like you, Fitz?" Van Gar asked softly.

Fitz smiled and nodded. "That's no secret. I've tried to get Drewcila to act in a more queenly manner, but you see how much progress I've made. If she would just give in a little. For instance, since her return she has not made any attempt to hold a ball or a banquet for the nobles of the kingdom. Such a simple thing would show them that she respects them."

"But you and I both know that she doesn't. She thinks they are a lot of fat, rich fuckers, resting on their titles."

Fitz smiled and nodded. "Yes, we know it, but there is no reason that they must. And if she would hold a banquet and get to know them again, who knows? Maybe she might even like them. If she didn't, she could at least pretend."

"I'll see what I can do about talking her into it. Meanwhile, there's something bothering me. Something that Facto said."

"Facto? What did he say?"

"He said that if anything happened to Drew, he would be in charge. It that true?"

"Yes, it's true. Why do you ask? Certainly you don't think Facto had anything to do with the attempt on Drew's life?"

"You tell me. Power of that kind is a pretty good motive for murder," Van Gar suggested.

"You can put that right out of your mind. Facto may not approve of Drew. And, yes, it's true that he tried to get Zarco to leave her where she was, but he's just not capable of such a plot."

"I'll tell you something, Fitz. If this little excursion to your planet has taught me anything, it's that you never know anyone as well as you think you do. If it's all the same to you, I think I'll just keep an eye on old Facto."

Zarco stared at the wall. He had lost track of time. Day turned into night, and night into day, and it had all lost meaning as he sat in his tiny cell waiting for his release. He had just about given up hope. Taralin seemed more than happy to let him rot here, and it seemed from the news casts that no one even remembered they had a King, much less were in any hurry to see him returned to power. He saw Marcus pushing the screen over.

"The Queen's making a speech. I thought you'd like to see it." He turned the TV on, and Taralin's face filled the screen.

"As you all know, unemployment is at an all-time low, but that is not the only problem our country faces, nor am I pretending that it is. In the last few weeks, with the help of my staff and from concerned citizens out there who took the time to write about what they saw as problems—as well as the possible solutions to those problems. I believe I have come up with some answers—real answers. Not a bandage on a cut, as has been suggested by my advisors, but a cure.

"I will start with health care, as that seems to be the number one bitch, and I will work my way down the list. Right now, the government has a policy concerning health care which I simply do not understand. It seems that if you do not work, or are unable to work, or are too old to work, you can get any sort of health care—free. In other words, if you contribute nothing to society, and don't pay any taxes, we—the government—take care of you. Once again, let's look at the country like a business. One, Two and Three are hard workers. Four never lifts his hand to work, Five has no hands, so he might as well not be there, and Six is so old that he works too slowly to be effective—he might as well stay home. One day, there is an explosion in the plant, and all six employees are injured. As the employer, I can afford to send three workers to the hospital. Obviously, I send One, Two, and Three, right? Wrong. According to current policy, I send Four, Five and Six—leaving One, Two and Three to fend for themselves. Except that they can't afford medical care, because it is hideously high, so they go without. One dies, Two suffers injuries so bad that he can no longer work, and Three is permanently disabled so that he can only do half the work he used to do. So, now I have gone from having three out of six employees being unproductive to six out of six. That is the cost of our current health care program. People are punished for being healthy and productive.

"This is my proposal. Under the new law, anyone currently paying taxes will receive emergency medical care free—emergency to include life-threatening illnesses. All children under the age of majority will also receive free medical care. Anyone else must pay for such care. According to my calculations, the government can save billions of Gildoltars in revenue each year simply by taking these unproductive members of our community off the health care programs, and placing tax-paying, productive members on it.