Episode Four

[Velociryx]

Episode IV - Triumph & Dangers Unseen
Hab-Unit 15B - Residence of Velociryx

He punched in Gayle’s number on the VidCom unit, fingers trembling with excitement. She answered on the third chime and could instantly see the excitement burning almost feverish in his eyes.

“What is it?” She asked, smiling hopefully. She thought she already knew the answer, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high.

“I got it! I’m booked for a performance down at the Rec. Commons tomorrow night! And if they like me, the night manager said he’d talk about making me part of the permanent lineup!”

“Vel that’s....that’s incredible....I’m so proud of you!”

“I....I did it.” His voice was softer now. Almost child like. “I can’t believe it.”

“I can believe it....you’re a natural, and you’re really, really good.”

“Do you think you and Kevin might be able to....”

“You don’t even have to ask....there’s nothing that could keep us away.”

Just then a raucous cheer erupted from somewhere behind him and he turned around, startled.

“What’s going on over there?” Gayle asked, mildly concerned at the sudden outburst.

He turned back to the viewscreen, blushing hotly. “My neighbors....they’re having a party for me....” He looked sheepish.

“Well, you go enjoy the party....what time tomorrow?”

“Eight o’clock.”

She nodded, still beaming at him. “We’ll be there, I promise.”

Velociryx broke the connection and turned around to face his neighbors, who had begun to crowd into his apartment to offer their congratulations.

He had never been happier.
***

Gaian Central Command:

“I fear we may have made a mistake, m’lady.” Interior Minister Shenn said in a subdued voice.

“How so?” She inquired, eyebrows arching slightly.

“The populace is growing more rapidly than we anticipated, and our infrastructure development has been lagging somewhat due to our research focus. There have been rumblings....murmurs of unrest in parts of the city.”

“Are you saying riots are a possibility? Here?” She looked shocked.

The Minister nodded slowly. “We are planning to begin construction of a Hologram Theater in two weeks time, and I hope that the announcement of its construction will quiet these unsettling rumblings, but I cannot be certain.”

She nodded gravely and turned to her Constable. “Commander McDonnaugh, I want you to put your men on alert. Stagger your shifts so that you have at least ten officers on duty at all times....I do not wish to see violence erupt in our shining city.”

The craggy officer nodded. “Aye, Lady. It will be as you say, but be aware that my manpower is most limited. If violence does erupt, we will be hard pressed to contain it.”

“Then I will see what I can do to increase your staff in the short term, but I will not turn our city into a Police-State. That runs against everything we have worked for thus far.”

Commander McDonnaugh nodded curtly in agreement. “Aye.”

“We will just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope the announcement of the Theater soothes the unruly elements.”

Lady Deidre sighed heavily. “I do not like relying on such an intangible thing as that. This should not even be a concern. We must plan more carefully in the future.” She gave her Interior Minister a stern look which almost seemed to shatter him. The Lady did not need to raise her voice. It was enough for him to know that she was displeased.

“No more mistakes m’lady.” He said hastily, head low. “I swear it.”

With a grace and elegance that was so beautiful it was almost painful to watch, Lady Deidre Sky rose and glided across the room to the window which overlooked the city. She rested her head against the cool glass as she took in the sight, whispering a silent prayer that all would remain well with her people.
***

Thirty Hours Later:

He paced like a caged panther backstage. Nervous. Edgy. Had to remind himself to reign in is Psi-energy, lest he start a general panic. He knew that if he wasn’t extremely careful, he could inadvertently hurt or even kill members of the audience. People who had come to see and hear him play.

The thought of that astounded him, and as he dwelled on it, he found himself calming. They thought he was good. And more than that, they thought he was good enough to actually pay to come see him.

Pride swelled inside him, and he smiled nervously. It was all going to be okay.
***

Several blocks away, something stirred unseen through the crowd that had gathered. Restless, dissatisfied hundred. Anger buzzed in and among their number, an almost tangible force.

Constable McDonnaugh stepped out into the street and marched up to a big, physically imposing man near the front of the assembled crowd. Not that this rabble had a leader, but he seemed to be their point man. He knew without looking that his three deputies were on the walk, covering him with their Tasers. Good men, but four against hundreds....he tried not to think about what would happen if things got out of hand.

“I ask you to disperse at once.” He barked in a loud, clear voice.

“And if we don’t?” The big man in front of him growled, face screwed up in a mask of rage and hate.

“Aye...that is your choice....but if you don’t, then my men and I will have to show you the inside of our holding cells.” He patted the shredder pistol at his belt (the only one in the entire city) almost unconsciously.

“There are only four of you....and you can’t stop us all.”

Perhaps it was fate, or the Constable’s single, unconscious motion, or something else entirely, but something dark and wicked stirred through the crowd, and the tension reached a critical mass, then snapped.

As a single body, they surged forward. Constable McDonnaugh drew his shredder pistol and fired once, wildly.

It was the only shot he had time to get off before the crowd simply bore him down and began trampling. The big man who had been closest to him stooped long enough to heft up the shredder pistol, a wicked gleam in his eye. He kicked the Constable in the side of the head, making him groan weakly. One shot to the chest silenced that and stirred the crowd’s frenzy even higher.

The three deputies on the walk did the only thing they could do, under the circumstances. They turned and fled, talking rapidly and breathlessly into their comm bands as they ran.
***

Lady Deidre was in the Opps Center when the first garbled communications began coming in. What she heard brought tears to her eyes.

“Christ! They killed the Constable, run for it!”

Then something that sounded like gunfire.

Screams.

Then static.

She turned to her Minister of the Interior, a sad, almost lost look in her eyes. “Never again.” She whispered.

He could not answer back.
***

His first number was the Planetsong he had played for Gayle and Kevin in his apartment, and the audience was enthralled. It was so fragile, so wondrous that not a single soul in the place stirred. No clinking of ice cubes against glass. No whispered conversation. There was only the music. That breathtaking, perfect music that seemed familiar and yet strange to them. And when it was over, the roar of applause that erupted was enough to shake the entire building.

He got a standing ovation, and it prompted him to be more daring.

He had written a piece that he had not played for anyone yet. It was loud and edgy, almost rowdy, but it was a creation purely his own, and before the applause had even died away, he launched into it.

For half a second, the crowd was silent. Even mildly confused. Such a contrast to the airy, beautiful music from a moment ago, and yet....

Someone got up to dance.

And then someone else.

Two more.

And then, as one, most of the rest of the crowd joined in.

They were liking it. They really, really were.

He beamed out at the crowd, finding Gayle and Kevin sitting in the corner. She winked at him and Kevin waved.
***

The surging mob outside ebbed and flowed, moving in fits and starts. Smashing and destroying everything it encountered.

It was heading south.

Toward the Recreation Commons.
***