Born Hero Read online

  Blythe hurried David along back to their offices. Paula had apparently already gone for the day, so the two of them climbed into the Cloud Cutter and sped off toward House Braxton. It was dark by the time they arrived at the most glorious restaurant David had ever seen called The Dancing Skyfish. It sparkled at the top of the Third’s central tower, taking up the top three floors. An enormous crystal chandelier dangled in the middle of the foyer, reaching down all three floors. All the guests arrived on the roof, naturally, as all of them had private yachts or skiffs.

  After Blythe handed his 71 off to a valet, he and David walked across the roof amid beautiful women and well-dressed men. David gawked at the people around him. He was so enamored that he even forgot to be embarrassed at his manner of dress, which was woefully inadequate. The two of them stepped into an all-glass steam lift. When they exited at the bottom, David looked up in awe. Everything around him glittered.

  “Mr. Blythe,” a waiter said. “Your usual table, then?”

  “Quite right, Mallory,” Blythe said. “Lead the way.”

  “You’ve been here before?” David asked.

  Blythe nodded. “A couple of times. The wait staff here is trained to know the faces of all the local representatives,” he said behind his hand as the waiter walked ahead.

  The waiter seated them in a quiet corner of the restaurant with a great view of the city lights. It was then that David realized how ridiculous he must look in his father’s old uniform, mechanical arm dripping lubricant down the sleeve. As they sat, David collapsed into himself and hid behind his menu.

  “You know,” Blythe said, “I wasn’t always a well-to-do representative for the Third District.”

  David looked up from his menu, eyebrows knit. “What were you before?”

  “I was once a poor aide to the representative of the Fourth—a Mr. … Mr. … You know, I’ve quite forgotten his name. I suppose I blocked it out. I only had one suit back then, an old thing I got from a secondhand vendor. No, I had humble beginnings, much like your own. Look at me now, David; I might be the next speaker of the houses of Alönia. I’m not boasting, honestly. Without your help I wouldn’t have ever got this far. Point being, I used to hunch like you, hide behind my menu, and hope nobody would notice me. Then one day I decided I didn’t give a damn what they thought of me. Why should I? What do I owe them? What have they ever given me but a dirty look? I decided I’d do what I wanted, and I’d stop asking for permission from people with nothing more than a thicker pocketbook. That being said, sit up straight. You’re twice as smart as half the people in this building, combined. It’s time you started acting like the man you’ve worked so hard to become.”

  David blushed and shifted up in his seat, straightening his shoulders. He considered his mechanical arm for a moment before resting it on the table.

  “Now tell me, doesn’t that feel better?” Blythe asked.

  David nodded.

  “Good. So what do you see in the next season and a half as we move toward the district census.”

  David paused for a moment, absently running a finger down the menu items. He didn’t even know what half of the entrees were. “Well, I don’t think Speaker Walker will let us win so easily. He feigned indifference today, but I’ll bet he and his aides will work overtime to find a way to thwart us before the census.”

  “Quite right,” Blythe said. “The man puts on an indifferent face, but he is as cunning as a voxil, that one. … Oh, thank you, Sydney,” Blythe said as he took a glass of some exotic pink drink before continuing, “So what should we do to protect ourselves?”

  David nodded as Sydney handed the same drink to him. They hadn’t ordered anything, so perhaps it was a favorite of Blythe’s.

  “I suggest we remain silent for the next three months,” David said. He took a sip of the drink and clenched his jaw as he forced the bitter liquid down his throat. He scratched his face to conceal a twitching eye, before he continued, “No motions, no communication of any kind with any other representatives. It might even be a good idea to close the office and spend the next few months visiting with constituents. Despite the vote today we really have no idea who our friends and enemies are. Anyone could be colluding with Speaker Walker.”

  Blythe nodded as he took a sip of his own drink. He smacked his lips and sighed in satisfaction. “I agree … in part. We definitely don’t want to make any motions or join with any representatives in theirs. However, whether we are at the office or not, Speaker Walker will try to undermine our actions. It makes sense to me to hire new staff and prepare for the office I am about to fill. We did alright in our attack today because we were in the mists all the way until the killing blow. Now we are in the wind without an anchor, and if we are challenged by one—or possibly multiple representatives—we are not going to have the steam to defend ourselves.”

  “You think it will come to that?” David asked.

  Blythe nodded, finishing his drink and holding it up. Sydney appeared out of nowhere and swapped the empty glass for a full one.

  “What do you think we should do?” David asked.

  “For now, we are going to enjoy this dinner,” Blythe said. “We’ve earned it. Tomorrow show up bright and early as we add to our defense.”

  David did enjoy the dinner. Roasted sky fish, xyle root salad, fresh bread … It was the best food he’d had in four cycles, but all the while he couldn’t help but wonder what Blythe had in mind.

  The next day, David stepped into the office and was surprised to see that Paula wasn’t in yet. He didn’t pay it much mind, as he was a little earlier than usual. He sat at his desk and waited for a few moments before Blythe walked in.

  “Morning, David,” he said, flashing one of his perfect smiles. “Has Paula made tea yet? I could sure use a cup.”

  “She hasn’t arrived yet, sir.”

  “Oh, never mind, then. I’ll make it. Poor girl could probably use a late start after the past two weeks. Fancy a cup?”

  Six cups of tea later Blythe finished laying out his plan. Paula still hadn’t arrived, nor did she for the rest of the day. However, David didn’t have time to consider her absence. He powered through the day posting employment opportunities and soliciting other political staff. Blythe wanted to pack their office with workers ready to defend the Third, and who better to solicit than qualified personnel from other districts? David left the office a little early hoping to get back to his mother at a more reasonable time, but when he walked into the Lousy Lodgings complex, a work crew nearly knocked him down with the ladder they were carrying.

  “Watch it, lad,” one of the men said.

  “Please excuse me, sir,” David said. He flattened himself to the wall as the men carried the ladder through the hall. “What’s all this for?”

  “Remodel,” the same man said. “About time this decrepit old girl got a facelift.”

  “A remodel …” David said.

  He made it to his apartment and shut the door behind him. He smiled … his first genuine one in a while.

  “Mom, things are starting to look up!”

  THE GIRL IN THE RED DRESS

  “Ms. Samille, could you redo this section here?” David looked over the top of the form at the buxom young lady. If she leaned over his desk any more, she might fall over, but that was probably the point. “You put down your date of birth as this cycle. I presume you are in fact more than a cycle old?”

  “Oh,” she said, fluttering her eyes. “Much older than a cycle.”

  David leaned as far back in his chair as he dared and tried to look anywhere else as he handed her the form. “Yes, I should say so.”

  As she corrected the error, David glanced around at the applicants. Ninety percent women, all of them dressed in some provocative manner or another, accenting different features, none of which were listed in the job requirements. The room buzzed with giggles, whispers, and general conversation. Paula was absent for the third day in a row and didn’t answer her phonograph when David ca
lled to check on her, so Blythe had David contact the police about her missing. Thus David was pulling double duty, checking in the applicants and sitting with Blythe for some of each interview.

  “Thank you, Ms. Samille,” David said after she returned the form. “If you will have a seat, I’ll call you back in a minute.”

  He took the latest stack of forms and walked to Blythe’s office. As he opened the double doors, the room stilled but then reanimated as he shut them behind him.

  “I don’t see how we’re going to find anything close to what we are looking for in this list of floozies,” David said.

  “Now, David, that is no way to talk about a group of young women.”

  David sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Even still, I doubt you could find a pair of brain cells among them. If I have to stare down any more cleavage, I’ll need a sick day.”

  Blythe laughed at that. “A few pretty faces in the office will go a long way to boost our popularity, and in the world of politics, popularity is everything.”

  “Probably,” David said with a shrug.

  “Who do we have next, then?”

  “Ms. Samantha Samille,” David said, shuddering.

  “Bring her in if you would.”

  David brought the buxom young woman in and then spent the next fifteen minutes squirming in his seat as she batted her eyes and giggled at everything Blythe said. The problem was, she actually had a pretty impressive résumé. She came with the recommendations of several businessmen and a few politicians.

  “Thank you, Ms. Samille,” Blythe said. “We will contact you in a couple of days and let you know.” He stood and walked around his desk.

  She dropped into a low—very low—curtsy and lifted the back of her hand toward Blythe. “Thank you, sir. You have no idea what this job would mean to me. I hope you know, I am your biggest supporter.”

  You and every other girl in the office, David thought. It really was a shame. She was a fetching girl, but no stranger to the art of seduction.

  “Ms. Samille, I am only here to serve,” Blythe said as he graciously took her hand and brushed it with his lips.

  When she did not rise, David took her arm and dragged her unceremoniously across the floor. Once they’d exited the double doors, she gave David an indignant look and pulled her arm free. She sashayed out of the office, chin held high in a show of propriety, as if the last hour of lewdness had never happened. David sighed and selected the next résumé from the top of his stack.

  “Mercedes Eleanor Alexandra Lorraine,” David said to the crowd, rolling his eyes at the extravagant name.

  Toward the back of the room a tall, slender girl in a vibrant red dress and matching tilt hat stood and then picked her way through the crowd. She walked toward David with all the poise of a monarch, and the closer she got, the more his jaw dropped. She was … proper, like his mother used to be. Lush auburn hair cascaded down and curled over one shoulder.

  Then it hit him: It’s the same girl! The same girl he’d bowled over in the grand foyer at his very first Assembly. Still, she was a breath of fresh air in comparison to the other girls, bright-eyed and pleasant.

  “You’re … Ms. Lorraine?” David asked.

  “Good morning, Mr. Ike,” she said with a polite smile. “Call me Mercy. My name is a bit too fancy for casual conversation.”

  “Right, um, Mercy. I’m David.” He fumbled with the double doors as he gazed into her emerald eyes. “But you can call me David. I mean, would you like any refreshments?”

  Mercy hid her face behind a hand and shook her head, making her auburn locks dance across her shoulders.

  David tried to chuckle as he put both hands on the door handle and forced it open. “If you’ll come with me, we will begin your interview.”

  I’m an idiot—a complete idiot! he thought as he held the door for her.

  Mercy glided into the room and held back her skirts so she could admire the view of Capital City below her. Her eyes sparkled with something like excitement.

  “And whom do we have here?” Blythe asked.

  “You can call her Mercy—I mean, um …” David said, blushing to his core. He felt like even his earlobes had to be glowing like beacons.

  “Pleased to meet you, sir,” Mercy said, offering her hand and a short bob. “I’ve heard much of you these past few days. Apparently the Third is the new place to be.”

  Blythe smiled. “We have grown in popularity these past few weeks. Have a seat, Ms. …”

  “Oh, just Mercy, sir, like David said.” Her face was impassive, but her eyes were full of laughter.

  “Have you two met before?” Blythe asked.

  “We bumped into each other once,” Mercy said.

  David winced as she hinted at his clumsiness a few weeks earlier.

  “Well, have a seat, then, Mercy, and we will begin,” Blythe said.

  Mercy perched on the edge of a chair next to the table and smoothed her red skirt around her legs. Back straight, chin up, her hands clasped in her lap—she looked regal.

  “Now, first off,” Blythe said, “how did you hear about this job opportunity, and what about it interested you?”

  “I was the aide of Representative Herald of the Second District of House Livingston, though no longer. Recent events convinced me to make an employment change.”

  “Recent events?” Blythe asked.

  “Until recently the Second District of House Livingston was famous for being the second largest district by population,” Mercy said. “Representative Herald intended to bid for the speaker position this census. Your speech at the last Assembly destroyed all such hopes. In truth I never saw your job offers for this position. I intended to apply here after the completion of the Assembly vote.”

  Blythe eyed her. “Why is that? What would cause you to leave such a coveted position?”

  “I don’t particularly care what district I work for, sir,” Mercy said. “As long as I’m working for the district that unseats Speaker Walker.”

  David smiled even as Blythe did so.

  “So it’s ambition,” Blythe said.

  “Ambition? Yes … I suppose that’s accurate,” Mercy said. “Ambition and anger, sir. Speaker Walker has been in power for as long as I’ve been old enough to follow politics, despite his unpopularity within 80 percent of the district. No one has had the poise to unseat him, not even my old boss—no one … until you. I know it is not very loyal of me to say it, but I don’t care where I work. I will serve whatever district has the best chance of assuming the speakership.”

  David gulped. This girl certainly didn’t mince words.

  Blythe observed her for a moment, rubbing his jaw. Then he held out a hand and David passed him her file. Blythe opened the folder and looked over her résumé.

  “Mercedes Eleanor Alexandra Lorraine,” he said, raising his brow. “You’re Armstadi.”

  “Indeed,” Mercy said with a single nod. “My parents were first-generation immigrants to the Houses of Alönia not long after they married. I was born a few cycles later.”

  “Interesting. Interesting. Oh, and my, my, would you look at that?” Blythe said as he turned the page. “You’re in fine company, David. Ms. Lorraine here has a PLAEE score that could rival your own, but she took it when she was sixteen.” Blythe leaned toward Mercy and said, “David is the current record holder.”

  Mercy’s eyebrows shot up, and she looked at David as though it were the first time. “That’s very impressive. Your family must be proud,” she said.

  David looked down and nodded. “I thought I was young when I took it, but sixteen? How ever did you manage it?”

  “Yes, yes, you are both very smart,” Blythe said. “Thank you for rubbing it in. Mercy, you’re hired.”

  “Hired?” Mercy said, eyes widening. “That’s it? Don’t you want to think about it or something?”

  “I just did,” said Blythe. “Your résumé is stellar. Your letters of recommendation come from first-class citizens. Your pol
itical examination score is outstanding. I would be a fool to let you out of this office without tying you up in several contracts. Not to mention, I know Representative Herald, and he only surrounds himself with the best and brightest.”

  Mercy smiled and looked at her lap.

  David decided he liked it very much when she smiled.

  “You’re too kind, sir,” she said.

  “Please.” Blythe stood and walked around his desk, taking her hand.

  Blythe opened his mouth to say something else, but some commotion in the outer office interrupted him. Three firm knocks rattled the double doors. David stepped over to open the door, clenching his jaw. If it was one of those provocative girls come to see about the wait, he was going to toss her out the false wall. However, as he pulled opened the door, he came face to face with a tall constable of the Capital City Police.

  “Oh, good morning, Constable,” David said, dropping the scowl from his face. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Truthfully I hope not,” the constable said. “May I come in?”

  David let the constable in with a wave of his hand and closed the door on many wide-eyed women.

  “Good morning, Mr. Blythe,” the constable said. “I am Inspector Kenneth Winston of the Capital City Police. I am terribly sorry to disturb you, sir, but I am in need of a small service from you and your aide, in follow-up to your report of a missing person.”

  David stiffened and chanced a look at Mercy. She appeared as calm as an anchored airship, but her eyes narrowed at the inspector, looking pensive.

  “This is about Paula?” Blythe said, and the inspector nodded. “Yes, of course, Inspector … anything. Mr. Ike—David here—and I will do whatever we can to assist finding her.”

  Winston nodded, looking grim. “Thank you, sirs,” he said. “And it’s okay if I discuss the matter in front of this young lady?”

  “Yes yes,” Blythe said, leaning forward. “She’s a new employee. Please go on, Inspector.”

  Winston pulled a photograph out of his coat pocket. “I need to know if you can identify this woman.”