Chapter 6
The wedding party was almost over, and all of the remaining guests were beginning to leave. As the guests began to leave Oen and Karen went aside to argue. Of course, Oen knew it was coming and that he deserved it.
�We need to talk,� Karen said with her eyes slanted like arrow slits.
�Look, it�s not as bad as you think,� Oen tried to explain.
�Listen to me,� Karen said. �I have known for years about your indiscretions. When we married twelve years ago, when we were both very young, you told me that you would probably have mistresses. I did not like this, but Henry Albright, my avaricious father, saw your family as a favorable alliance and your father offered a high bride price, so it was looked over. Unfortunately, I did not have a say in the matter at the time. Later on, I told you that if you were not loyal to me you would pay a heavy price. Part of that price was monetary. Every time I heard about one of your relationships I would go on a major shopping spree. I figured this would limit your desire for loose hips and keep shut your loose lips.�
�I have needs,� Oen said lamely.
�I have no aversion to sex,� Karen said. �The reason I have not slept with you for so long is because I will not risk disease, and after you asked me if I wanted to have another girl join in with us I figured that your desires were too wicked to be satisfied by proper means.�
�Lots of girls are willing to have me at my terms,� Oen said.
�I am your wife, not some kind of cheap whore,� Karen said bitingly.
�I�m not going to perform fellatio on you in the Senate room because I have some self respect and there are some standards of decency and morality that I believe in that apparently you do not. You always said it was legal unless you got caught, and you�re about to get caught. That is why you were mad at our son.�
�What does our son have to do with anything?� Oen snapped.
�Our son and his wife had sex one time, and she got pregnant, and you go ballistic on him. It can�t be because you don�t believe adultery and fornication is wrong, because you are an inveterate adulterer. It is merely because he got caught, because Cherie got pregnant. God bless her, she is a wonderful girl, and I hope they are happy together. But she�s not some kind of two-bit trash like the kind that you copulate with. He loves her, something I do not think you understand,� Karen replied.
�That is the sort of ethics that allows me to do well in my job as Senator,� Oen said.
�That is rubbish,� Karen retorted. �My brother was a good Senator without situational ethics. He is an emotional man, and has a fierce temper when other people anger him, but he is not treacherous and deceitful like you are.�
�Please spare me,� Oen said. �Your brother was a lousy Senator for the Animal Star Empire. He loved his people too much to profit from the job to the extent he could have. He could have been one of the most powerful people in the Animal Star Empire, but he gave it up to risk his life for the common people. As much as people criticize him for being tyrannical and aristocratic, the truth is pathetic. He was someone who could have been a great aristocrat over the whole planet, and not just this continent, but he gave it up not for his own dictatorship, but for the love of his people. How can one be a good Senator unless one first looks out for number one?�
�There are things more important than ourselves,� Karen said. �If we desire to be free, we must also avoid oppression, for if we have a right to be free then so do all people.�
�What kind of dangerous belief is that?� Oen said.
�We are not all created equal in the sense that we should all have equal amounts of money, equal possessions, or equal lives. The only kind of state in which there is that type of equality is when all people are at the edge of starvation in a state of barbarous nature. However, we are equal in the sense that we have the right to rebel against tyranny, and we all have the right to enjoy what we have earned with our own labor of body or mind.�
�So we do not have the right to oppress others for our own gain?� Oen asked incredulously. �What then shall we do about our society?�
�We shall have to change it as much as we are able, then,� Karen said. �For if we oppress others based no the darkness of their skin, then we are enslaved to the first person we meet who is fairer skinned than we. If we oppress others based on their language, then we are enslaved to the first person whose speech is more refined than ourselves. If we oppress others based on our strength, then we are enslaved to the first person stronger than ourselves. If we oppress others based on their intellect, then we are enslaved by the first person we meet more intelligent than we are.�
�Okay, I get the picture,� Oen growled. �What is the point of your comment?�
�We must strive for a society where neither the government nor the populace desires to oppress anyone, but to do that we must have a grounding in moral principles and in right education,� Karen said. �We may never reach that, but that is what we must strive for.�
�This is infuriating,� Oen said as he stomped off.
�I�m warning you, that unless you act rightly you will always live in fear of having your sin uncovered and leading to embarrassment. Don�t say I didn�t warn you,� Karen said.
After a short walk Oen ran up to Ve Lue, his favorite henchman. Ve was looking at Oen as if Oen was expected.
�I know what you are looking for,� Ve said.
�And what is that?� Oen asked, testing him.
�You want me to keep track on where Meadow Moore is so that you can eliminate her before she blabs her story to the press,� Ve Lue said.
�How do you know?� Oen asked in mock surprise.
�An agent of mine heard her threaten you and your wife. I assume this might smooth things between you and your wife,� Ve said.
�I do not know if anything will,� Oen said. �My wife is not a firm believer in the �positive good� theory of oppression.�
�That is regrettable,� Ve said. �She has too much of the Albright in her, then.�
�I am afraid so,� Oen said. �I hate that family of goody goodies. How Natonito and Karen could end up being so moral when their father was such a creep is beyond me. Now Henry is someone I could get along with, someone who was always looking out for his own interest. But his children betrayed that proud heritage.�
�Do you want me to knock the whore off or do you want to sit here and complain?� Ve asked pointedly.
�Knock her off,� Oen said.
�It�s going to cost you a bit,� Ve said. �But less than five million freznics.�
�How about two hundred thousand plus expenses,� Oen said.
�Sounds good to me. I could use a new boat. Maybe call it Orinoco Flow (Ze Lue),� Ve said with a laugh.
�You�re always looking out for my best interests,� Oen said.
�That�s because your interests coincide with my own,� Ve said.
�You can always trust a man out for his own interests, because you know that if you help his interests that he will help your own,� Oen said.
�Very true,� Ve said. �Anyway, I will get going now. I have a job to do.�
�Godspeed,� Oen said.
With this Ve nodded and he and his son Ze got into their speedy personal carrier and went off after Meadow. Their agents kept them informed of her whereabouts because Ve knew that once Meadow had threatened his boss with blackmail, that she would be a danger to him as well, for part of her information involved his activities. It was not difficult for Ve and Ze to find the personal carrier at a bar. In no time they knocked out the driver of the car and got in the front, waiting for Meadow to finish her round of drinks and come out to the car.
�She must drink as much as Oen does,� Ze said impatiently.
�Maybe that�s why he liked her,� Ve said.
�That and her big breasts,� Ze said.
�Yeah, I guess,� Ve said. �Anyway, her life is about to be over.�
�I love this part of the job,� Ze said. �Killing people is my kind of thing.�
�Here she comes,� Ve said.
�Good,� Ve replied.
�Take me home,� Meadow said, opening the door. Ve nodded yes. �Tomorrow I will be a rich woman. Either Oen Bravia pays me the five million, or I become a millionaire thanks to tabloid magazines. Either way I win.�
�Have you considered a third option?� Ve said.
�What option is that?� Meadow asked, surprised.
�How about you die now?� Ze said.
�What do you mean by that?� Meadow asked.
�This is what I mean,� Ze said. He pointed the gun towards Meadow with his gloved hand and shot her multiple times, as her blood splattered all over the back seat of the car.
�Good job, son,� Ve said. �Let�s go now.�
The two of them congratulated themselves on a job well done as they walked back to the bar and got back into their own personal carrier.
�I love these jobs,� Ze said. �There is nothing like getting ones hand bloody for money.�
�You were born to be a mercenary,� Ve said. �A true blessing to the family.�
[ Chapter 5 ] [ Till Death Do Us Part, Part II, Chapter 1 ]
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