16 Months Ago

  Daniel stared downrange with his good eye open, iron sights perfectly level in his perspective. Mind still as a pond on a calm day, he gave one small inhale. Then he exhaled. Then he fired.

  His revolver let out a half dozen, rhythmic booms, tearing through the paper target at the furthest point downrange. He gave another breath, reloaded his revolver, then fired another cylinder. Hardgrave did this four times before setting his pistol down and reeling in the target to check his accuracy. There were tight groups on the white paper on either side of the outlined figure’s head, as well as the points just above its shoulders. There was also a smattering of hits across the torso, but no bullseyes. Hardgrave nodded, holstered the Jackson, cleaned up, then went to pay the manager. He was a dark-skinned old man with kindly eyes, frizzy white hair and similarly wild eyebrows. His fun demeanor contrasted with the jagged, pale scars that crisscrossed his face. Old Tom hadn’t been a Pioneer, but he’d seen his share of combat in the proper Imperial military, and it had left its mark. None of that showed in the gleaming smile the manager gave him as he walked up to the counter:

  “Heya Danny, how’re things?”

  “I’m hanging in there, Tom. Lucy’s been a bit grumpy recently, but life is good.”

  “Ha! She can’t be grumpier than old man Dio, now can she?”

  They shared a chuckle at that. Dio got around the neighborhood, and he had earned something of a reputation. Daniel paid with hard cash, little credit chips clinking on the stone counter, and submitted his target sheet. Tom accepted it, frowning a little as he did:

  “This is a funny lookin target, Danny boy. Yer score’s terrible, but these groups…ever think ‘bout moving the target a smidge closer? Maybe taking yer time as ya fire?”

  That earned him nothing but silence from the younger man, causing Tom to let out a small sigh:

  “I understand, Danny, and ya ain’t the first to do something like this. Every man’s got ta work out these thangs for himself. But ‘member, there ain’t no shame in service. Okay?”

  More silence. Tom looked into Daniel’s eyes for a few short breaths before giving him another genuine smile:

  “Don’t worry. Old Tom won’t snitch on ya. It’s all yer own call, at the end o’ the day.”

  Danny nodded and smiled in gratitude and Tom used his Pad to type the score into his system before filing away the target. It was Imperial law that he did both, with the most impressive marksmen being sought out by army recruiters or even outright drafted against their will. Danny wasn’t going to let that happen to him. It was risky to go to the range at all, but he couldn’t help himself. Shooting was one of the last ties he had left with the old man. Also, it was fun.

  The young man opened the gun range’s door and walked onto the dirty concrete sidewalks of downtown Ankara, mixing quietly into the crowds. Streetcars honked and swerved through afternoon traffic as Hovercars and Hoverbikes just zipped through the skies above the mere mortals. Daniel caught the eye of a policeman on a Hoverbike idling on a nearby street corner, earning only a suspicious look in return. Historically, this part of downtown Ankara was a rather dangerous neighborhood, but the new Emperor was on a law-and-order kick. The positive of that was that Daniel didn’t need to worry about being stabbed, but the downside was that he was glared at by nearly every policeman on the block. Something about the scarred face of a fighting age male didn’t sit right with them, he supposed.

  He got home, showered, and changed. As he was putting his pants on, Dio came up beside him. The cat gave his leg an insistent brush with its shoulder, the mrrow coming afterward clear in its message:

  “Let’s go already!”

  “Alright, alright.”

  Daniel muttered under his breath with a small smile. Every Midasday evening, Marie would cook dinner and the last of the Hardgraves would sit down together for a family meal. That tradition had started when the caretaker had gone out of her way to offer Daniel leftovers from their meals, just a few days after they’d moved in:

  “I cannot imagine you get many good meals, living by yourself.”

  She wasn’t wrong. Marie did this several more times, and Daniel had ultimately insisted on repaying her. He was good with his hands, so he’d talked her into letting him fix their broken heater. Then he’d helped them repaint. Marie had insisted he eat dinner with them when he’d finished working, which had become a regular habit whether he was working or not. Daniel often drove Lucy to school as well, since it was rather close to his work. While this mutual help was practical, the reality was that everyone was more than a little lonely in the big city. They thrived off each other’s company just as much as they did the helping hand. Also, Lucy had made a new friend:

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Dio!”

  The young girl’s face lit up the moment Daniel opened their door and the orange monster energetically sprinted over the threshold. He was caught in the waiting arms of the grey eyed girl, the clever cat slowing his momentum at the last second to let her snuggle him. Dio was receiving his obligatory pets and ear scratches as Daniel walked into the room and greeted Marie, who bowed politely. Lucy had never met the big cat before Daniel introduced the two on one of their family dinners. They’d become fast friends, a fact that both amused and mildly annoyed Daniel. The sly bastard had fallen over on his side while receiving belly rubs, and Daniel shot him a slight glare:

  “I feed you for years and you pounce on me. You know her a few months and suddenly she’s your mama?”

  The unruly cat squinted right back at him:

  “She’s prettier.”

  Fair enough.

  Lucy eventually abandoned the fuzzy ladies’ man to give Daniel a hug in greeting, and they all sat down to eat. Marie had fried up a domesticated bird called a Torik and spiced it using her mother’s recipe. The fried meat’s flavor blasted his tastebuds, spicy yet unspeakably savory. The young man inhaled one Torik leg, then another, before starting on a wing. Lucy cut and ate her food steadily and politely, manners impeccable, while Marie just seemed happy to watch the kids enjoy her cooking. Dio finished off his kibble quickly and meandered over to graciously accept food from Lucy’s plate as well.

  The table was quiet, which wasn’t that unusual since neither of the Hardgraves were particularly talkative, but Daniel knew Lucy well enough to see she was unusually taciturn. He locked eyes with Marie who nodded at him. She’d take the lead:

  “Lucy, darling, what’s wrong?”

  Lucy bit her lip and averted her eyes:

  “…Nothing’s wrong, Tata. My grades are good, my friends are nice, and our new home is fun. You don’t have to worry.”

  Danny and Marie exchanged worried glances and looked back to her:

  “That only makes us worry more, mon ange. What happened?”

  “…Well, I’m a just little stressed, that’s all.”

  She paused again and didn’t elaborate, prompting Daniel to raise his eyebrows. Getting information from a precocious 12-year-old girl was like pulling teeth. Ever patient, her female caretaker prodded further:

  “Stressed about what?”

  Lucy shifted in her seat a little before answering:

  “I’ve decided to take the CSAE.”

  Marie’s face broke out in a wide smile as Daniel gave a sharp intake of breath. The CSAE, or Civil Service Aptitude Exam, was one of the most difficult exams a citizen could take, next to the Scientific Service Aptitude Exam. These could determine a young person’s future, where a high score could get them placement into the best tertiary schools the Imperium possessed. That in turn would determine the trajectory of their career, with the best Civil and Scientific schools being feeders into the highest levels of the Imperium’s bureaucracy and scientific institutions. A person only had three chances to take each one, with their highest score determining their fate. Daniel had never bothered trying with either, or any other major testing, since the old man’s homeschooling had been only the basics of math, science, and history. He’d had tried to teach Daniel more, but the young man had never been fond of reading and numbers made his head spin. After Danny’s numerous attempts to avoid his lessons, Gramps had eventually given up and decided to teach him other stuff. Shooting, of course, but the young man was also schooled in the basics of mechanics, first aid, and machine maintenance, among a few other odd skills. His other teacher had been the wilds of the countryside, where he’d enjoyed climbing, fishing, and hunting. Hardgrave had enjoyed his upbringing, but it certainly hadn’t prepared him for the CSAE, or any other exam besides maybe one in primary school.

  Lucy, on the other hand, was in her second to last year of secondary school, which was advanced for her age considering she was only 12. It made sense for her to start thinking about the next phase of her life, and the CSAE would be an ambitious next move:

  “That’s great!”, Marie said, “Your Mama would be proud.”

  Daniel had heard that Samantha Hardgrave had been a high-powered civil servant herself, which made things click together. Lucy wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps. But young girl’s face just drooped a little in response. Daniel thought that it was grief that had gotten her down, until she spoke again:

  “I’ve been studying and taking practice tests, but I can’t seem to score much higher than an 80%.”

  “That sounds pretty good to me.”

  Daniel finally jumped in, eager to cheer his sister up. He meant it too. 80% was a good score by his standards. Heck, even a 60% would have been something to be proud of. Contrary to his expectations, Lucy only wilted further under the praise:

  “Mom got a 96 when she took it.”

  Wow. Those were certainly big shoes to fill. Across the table, Marie’s face had darkened as well. Daniel raised an eyebrow in question at her, but Marie answered him with another question for Lucy:

  “Is it the school? Is that the problem?”

  Lucy waved her arms at her in denial, but Daniel could tell from the slight widening in her eyes that Marie had hit the mark:

  “No, no. My teachers at Piedmont are doing their best. And I’ve been supplementing with stuff I can learn on the Network. Really, it’s fine.”

  But Marie had already turned from Lucy to Daniel with an explanation:

  “The prep schools are in cahoots with the test makers. They tell their students what will be on the test, then rig things so no one else will succeed. Why I-“

  “Enough! That’s enough Tata. You don’t need to make Danny worry. 79% or higher is still good and will get me into a decent school. And my scores on the practice tests are only getting better. Just trust me.”

  That didn’t assuage the worries of her elders, but they wordlessly agreed to drop the topic. The rest of the night was spent talking about silly things, culminating with both girls asking Daniel about his relationship with his coworker. Against Boss Gascoigne’s orders, he had gotten together with Elise, and they’d had some nice dates. Both ladies were happy to gossip about Daniel’s love life, and he was happy to change the subject, but their earlier conversation still loomed in the back of his mind. After dinner, Daniel said his goodbyes and hurried back to his apartment. Immediately, he sat down and looked up the prep schools on the Network.

  The more he read, the angrier he got.