Every time Cami sis Nep had to take a lunch to her mother it made her nervous. In particular, she worried that she might do something to affect her and her family’s status which she felt was already low enough. Control, control, control she thought, control, I must remember self-control. The weather didn’t help. It was early late fall with steady rain punctuated by windy gusts that chilled her. But they didn’t chill the anger that she felt festering inside her, the anger that appeared just after her thirteenth birthday.

Reaching the front door of her destination, Cami touched the annunciator and waited. All too soon the door slid open and a woman of middle age stood there, people tended to have long lives in the empire. “Yes.” She said, with what Cami thought was an unspoken tone of disapproval. Knowing that the water dripping from her wide brimmed hat onto her wet cloak didn’t give the best image of her, she was glad that the cloak hid her wet shoes.

“I bring a lunch for my mother, madam.” Cami said keeping her head down even as she carefully watched using her peripheral vision. Stepping back, the woman waved Cami into the lobby.

“Hang your cloak on the hook, you know where, your hat and shoes as well.” Putting her mother’s lunch container down, Cami complied quickly with the instructions, aware that underneath she wore a faded light blue, rather shapeless smock that reached well below her knees and was the accepted dress for a young girl of the servant class. While the belt around her hips helped a little by revealing a trim waist, it did nothing to ease the humiliation Cami felt from the contrast with the clothes worn by the high class.

Having hung up her hat and cloak, Cami picked up her mother’s lunch and turned to face the somewhat intimidating presence of Madam Brackage, the mistress of the house. She was not really that fearsome, she just appeared so to Cami. As she turned, Cami noticed a smartly dressed woman arrive from inside the house. Surprised she averted her gaze, hoping the woman hadn’t noticed.

“You know where the kitchen is, child?” Madam Brackage asked in what Cami took to be an imperious voice.

“I do madam,” Cami answered still using the submissive tones of her class, and swallowing her annoyance.

“Off you go, child. Your mother is probably waiting.” Although Madam Brackage did not smile, she spoke in a kinder voice which relaxed Cami somewhat.

“Thank you madam.” Cami answered. Walking down the corridor to the kitchen, Cami passed the elegantly dressed woman, who raised an eyebrow at her. Covering her confusion at this unwonted semipublic display, Cami bowed as she passed. Not looking around as she moved through the dwelling, she entered the kitchen, going straight to her mother and passing the welcome container of food to her.

“Thank you Cami.” Her mother gave her the rare smile permissible between family members. An attractive woman of medium height, her brown hair, hazel eyes and slender figure showed where her daughter got her youthful good looks from. A still striking face brought the occasional look of approval, even though it reflected years of hard work. Her daughter had the same hair and eye colouring along with similar facial features, a slim body and slender legs.

“Thank you mother.” Cami answered politely.

“The walk wasn’t to long for you?” Yives sis Nep asked her daughter anxiously.

“No mother, I can now use my student pass even though this is our two days off.” Being alone with her mother, Cami could talk confidently. “Where is the cook?” She asked as only the two of them were in the kitchen.

“That’s good dear, I am glad that you can do that now that you are thirteen.” Yives sis Nep opened the lunch container and started to eat. “Don’t you remember,” she gave her oldest daughter another rare smile, “The cook has today off and the family eats out tonight.”

“Sorry, ma, I had school on my mind.”

“That’s all right, Cami,” Her mother took another bite of her lunch. “This is good, did you make it?”

“Koral helped ma, so did Kinna.” Cami replied. Before she could launch into a detailed description of who made what, the house intercom interrupted.

“Madam Nep, please prepare a tray with a jug of chilled water and two glasses.” Madam Brackage instructed, “You don’t need to interrupt your lunch, have your daughter bring it to us. We are in the private sitting room. Thank you.” A tone announced the end of the instructions

Mother and daughter exchanged surprised glances as Yives put down her lunch and went to a cupboard.

“Ma?” Camis voice rose in her surprise as her mother collected a glass jug and two glasses that she felt were suitable. Apprehensive, Cami watched as her mother filled the jug with filtered and chilled water then placed it and the two glasses on a tray which was passed to her daughter. “Be careful,” She cautioned Cami, “Go back the way you came in but, instead of going to the front door, take the first turn to the left. Then go into the formal living room. The private sitting room is to the right, the doors should be open, but if they aren’t, put the tray on the side board, open the doors, then collect the tray again.”

“Where do I put the tray down, ma?” The apprehension was clear in Cami’s voice.

“Madam Brackage will tell you where she wants it.” Yives assured her daughter. “Now off you go and be careful.” Squaring her shoulders and raising her chin in an unconscious gesture of resolve, Cam left on her errand, not noticing the amused look on her mother’s face as she left.

Navigating the unfamiliar route while balancing the tray and its contents was an ordeal for Cami but she arrived safely without any spills. Putting the tray down where indicated, she turned and gave a small bow to the two women, each sitting in their own comfortable chair. “Would there be anything else Madam?” She asked, her voice soft and suitably submissive.

“Please pour two glasses and serve them.” Madam Brackage requested the young girl, while to Cami she appeared rather less relaxed in her chair then her guest.

Slightly confused as she had never been tasked to perform any such service before although she had, of course, brought drinks to both her parents, Cami did as requested. Carefully she poured the water, handing the glasses over with equal caution as the two ladies watched. Finished, she stood waiting, her hands behind her back.

“Thank you,” Madam Brackage said, “Cami isn’t it?” The last coming with an enquiring look.

“Yes Madam,” Cami replied.

“How old are you Cami?”

“Thirteen Madam, thirteen and six months.”

“Thank you Cami. You may go.” Cami gave a small bow and left, wondering casually about the other lady’s silence. She was not really surprised, after all this was Madam Brackages’ dwelling, the strange woman was obviously a visitor and guest and these usually did not speak up at such times. Returning to the kitchen Cami assured her mother that everything was in order. She also reassured her mother that their employer seemed quite satisfied with what, she, Cami, had done.

“Really mother, they just had me bring the water to them, I put it down where they told me to, then I poured them a glass each and handed it to them. That was all.”

“That’s good dear, the Dark Lord must have been watching over you.”

“Ma!” Cami squeaked, her mouth opened and closed at her mothers’ use of the common name of their distant overlord, some almost considered him a myth as few had ever seen him. Cami was not sure which planet of the Empire he was supposed to dwell on.

Taking a closer look at her mother, Cami saw the small smile that she made no attempt to hide. Annoyed, Cami remonstrated, “Mother, you shouldn’t even say his name, not even as a joke. It’s bad luck, you know!” Cami turned and gathering up the now empty lunch container.

“Now Cami, don’t be upset, and do you really believe that saying someone’s name will bring bad luck?”

Somewhat calmer now Cami agreed, said farewell to her mother and left the kitchen. At the main door she put on her still damp outside garments and left. For a fraction, she wondered again at the strange episode with the jug of water. Then, with an unconscious shrug, as she left the house putting the whole thing out of her mind for the time being.

*********

Back in the private lounge Madam Brackage considered her guest, the wife of an old friend of her husband. Master Brackage had slipped and been forced to accept a position with his employer in this the far city of Libus Re. A consequence of which was also a loss of a certain amount of status although he managed to retain his and the families high class designation. Meeting Cami in the hall, although Madam Brackage hadn’t the guest had noted unusual potential in her for advancement. Desperate to regain their lost status, when her guest had proposed a test for Cami sis Nep, she had agreed.

“Did you get what you want?” Madam Brackage asked.

“Indeed, I think so. I will have to play the recording back to be sure, but it should be good. Did you see how elegantly she moved and presented the glasses of water?” Her guest replied with a laugh, “I don’t want to do that again.”

“Indeed not,” Madam Brackage muttered unsettled at the laugh.

“Don’t worry, we have done nothing wrong and Cami did nothing that she wouldn’t do normally. Anyway, since I will introduce her to the club, if she is accepted I cannot approach her for a month.” The guest took a sip of the chilled water. “She was perfect, even in that hideous smock!” The woman gave a slight but reassuring smile. “I will see that you get full credit and your status will improve.” Such promises were not made lightly in this society and had to be followed up on.

That last almost caused Madam Brackage to smile openly.

*********

The rains had eased, now coming in in showers rather than the continuous downpour earlier and Cami was grateful for this small change as she walked to the closest bus stop. On arrival, she checked the holographic schedule, frowning as she saw that she had missed the direct connection to where she lived and that it would be more than a period until the next one. She considered alternatives.

“I see,” she murmured to herself. “If I take the 992 to exchange one, then catch the 1121, it’ll take me almost home. Good” Logging the request in and tapping her student pass on the console trigged an automatic stop by the conveyance, as well as the connection. Relaxing on a dry seat in the semi covered stand, Cami waited for the 992, due in a tenth of a period.

Once settled, Cami thought back on the strange day, a frown creasing her smooth forehead. What did the request to deliver a jug of chilled water mean? Had it been a test to see if she could follow directions? To see if she could retain her status? Or was it something else? Thinking these and other possibilities over, Cami had not come to a conclusion when the announcement came for the arrival of her first connection. Still thinking over her day, she absently used her pass to board, and picked a vacant seat in front of a couple dressed in a similar fashion to her.

As the vehicle started to move, Camis mind flitted back and forwards, going back over The Test, as she had come to call it, and then to other personal aspects of her life. Thinking everything over absorbed Cami and before she realised it, she was sitting at Exchange One, waiting for her connection when a realisation came to her. She had the athletic program called Girls Group tomorrow that she wanted to attend as that was a release for her. When she was running in the Jump, she felt free, freer than she felt at any other time. But then her mind went back to delivering the water to her mother’s employer. Is that what I want to do for the rest of my life? The thought seemed to paralyse her for a fraction.

Carefully, she looked around, unobtrusively observing the few people waiting in the rain to catch the same conveyance that she was and others doing the same at other stations. People were arriving, boarding and leaving. Mothers dragging young children, older children obediently following; men of all classes, each wrapped in their own little world; single woman, the effects of their drudgery clear in their bent forms. Not a one of them paying the least amount of attention to anyone else. And every one of them had the same expressionless face as Cami.

Is this the way I want the rest of my life to go, she thought, sitting and waiting to be carted from one place to another? A chill ran down her back as she realized just how dangerous her thought was. If I can think this, then I am challenging everything I have been taught. A quiet resolution firmed her and her chin came up in her unconscious reaction of making up her mind. I must hide this but I am going to make my life better and I can’t let anyone or anything get in my way. I must be careful. Having made her decision, Cami settled back to wait for her connection, silently contemplating the chill rain, now coming down even heavier.

Only Camis training saved her as, all unbidden, her mother’s comment of the Dark Lord watching over her slipped back into her mind. She froze, carefully looking around to see if anyone noticed. As she slowly recovered her composure, Cami tried to recall all that she had been taught about the Empire and its leader, it wasn’t much. The teacher that instructed them at the time had devoted a single class to the subject and questions were discouraged,

Tihab was both the capital of the Empire and the headquarters of the Legion, the Empires armed forces she remembered, and that was where the Dark Lords palace was she thought. I think that is where is, she frowned, and that is a long way away. Several clusters, each of about forty or more galaxies she thought. But we were told that sometimes he will visit a planet without anyone knowing it, at least the teacher said so. But how would she know? And there was another place, one no one knew where it was or had visited it, it was called Tantalus and it was supposed to be the Dark Lords home world.

With a furrowed brow, Cami tried to recall what the Dark Lord was supposed to look like but all she could recall was that he was supposed to wear dark clothes and a robe. The teacher said that no one had seen a picture of him. Not much help, she grunted quietly. A disquieting thought was that the Dark Lord was supposed to be both immortal and extremely powerful, so powerful that he could do anything that he wanted to do. However the teacher had added a comment to the effect that no one knew for sure.

The Legion she knew was very powerful. It had fighting space craft ranging in size from small craft of only a hundred meters or so in length to ones the size of a large moon. It also had soldiers, called troopers and they could easily devastate a planet. Cami shuddered at the thought of them descending on her world.

She also remembered stories about the Circle of Ladies, a number of beautiful and charismatic women who were said to be advisors to the Dark Lord. Again, while there were many tales told about them, the line between whether or not the stories were true or not was sketchy and Cami couldn’t remember much more than that. I would like to meet one of them, maybe, she thought with a hidden smile as the connection she was waiting for arrived.

Boarding the vehicle, Cami settled into her seat and let her mind go back over her mother’s comments. With an almost audible sigh, she decided that there wasn’t much she could do. The Dark Lord would do what he wanted to do with her as he wished, but it was a big planet, a big galaxy and an even bigger empire of more than two hundred fifty galaxies with an average of five hundred inhabited planets to a galaxy. That’s a lot of people, the thought gave her comfort. All in all she thought, I’m pretty safe. Hopefully she silently added, looking out a rain streaked window. Almost at her stop, a different thought crossed her mind. If the Dark Lord was here, with her, what would she ask him? That she was unable to answer the question bothered her all the way home.

*********

In Lepus Mal, the capital city of Ti Lepus, Councillor Leja Leves, Minister in Charge of Sanitation and Allied Services was making a rare visit to his office on the planets first of two days off. Unhappy at this, he disliked having his set routine disrupted, he listened with suppressed anger to the report of a major disruption in the sewerage system due to the emergency shut down of a local fusion power plant.

“So this shut down, what was the cause?” The minister asked in a gentle voice.

His advisors weren’t fooled, they knew the nasty disposition that lurked under the outwardly calm surface that Leves was displaying.

“That is undetermined at this time, Minister. According to the minister responsible for power generation there was an indication of instability in the generation of power which pointed to a possible failure in the plasma field,” The under-secretary replied. “This is being investigated and power shifted from other grids.”

“And the sewer system in area Eleven South East, is that being restored with emergency power?”

“It is being attended to but it will take time, Minister,” the Operating Manager replied, “The restart must be done carefully due to ...”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Leves interrupted, “Keep me informed if there are any further significate setbacks. Now off you go and get this disruption contained. I will stay here and do a little work since the day is already ruined.” He looked at Li Glwen, his secretary, who stayed behind as the rest straggled out.

“You have a request Minister,” she enquired.

“Yes I need a message sent out to the citizens of area Eleven South East assuring them that everything possible is being done to restore services but that it will take time. Compose a suitable message for my signature.” As his secretary turned to leave, he added, “And a second one, in case things go wrong.”

Li Glwen, nodded, her face expressionless, she knew what that meant. Certain other people were to be informed, and they would know what to do with the information.

Councillor Leja Leves, Minister in Charge of Sanitation and Allied Services sat back in his chair, the sombre face masking the inner smile. Maybe this unscheduled trip to the office wasn’t such a waste after all. The thought pleased him.