The War of Prejudice

"What does it say Morgan?" Paige asked, leaning over her older brother's shoulder, gazing at the screen on their table. Looking up in irritation, Morgan batted away his sister's long hair, which was hanging in his face.

"Just the update on the war. The president wants all boys of the age eighteen and over to join," he said.

"Do they have to?" Paige asked. Morgan turned in exasperation.

"Of course! Don't be stupid," he snapped. Paige looked hurt.

"I'm not stupid. I just want to know what it says, since I can't read. Do the girls get to go too?"

With that comment, Morgan stood up.

"Paige, how many times do I have to tell you?" he cried, his green eyes flashing. "This isn't the 25th century any more! You couldn't go to war even if you wanted to." He softened his voice. "Now I have bent the law numerous times, trying to be fair to you," he said leaning over, so he was eye to eye with his sister. "But you are making it very hard. Now if you will leave this very second, I will forget that you are a girl and not punish you later." Morgan sat back down, and bent over the digital newspaper once again.

"Fine," Paige said. Morgan looked up just in time to see his frail sister flounce out of the room in a whirl of ice-colored hair. He sighed and shook his head, habitually pushing his black hair out of his eyes.

It seemed like his naive sister would never understand the policy against the female race. She was more than happy to go up to a strange man and ask the time of day. If it wasn't for Morgan, she would of been banished many times over. He shuddered to think what would happen to her spirit.

On her cot, Paige was having the same thoughts. Because a group of women had protested they weren't having enough rights, the president had taken away their freedom as a punishment. Ever since the government declared that women were to be treated as slaves and lower beings, things hadn't been the same.

For one thing, the men that had tried to protest were promptly thrown in jail.

That was in the year 3050. Paige had the unfortunate fate to be born just five years later. Ever since she was born, things hadn't been fair for her; or for her mother. For one thing, her mother had died when a man started to beat her for no reason. No one could do anything. At that time, all of the men were use to having women beneath them. They couldn't do anything even if they wanted to.

Paige's father had been sent to oversee the raging war between them and another galaxy. At least that was one less man that Paige had to worry about. Not that she could really remember him. He was away a lot when she was little, and when he had been called away to oversee the war against Yani, she hadn't seen him at all.

With her mother dead and her father off overseeing the war, Paige was stuck with her twenty year old brother, who was acting like a father more and more; which was bad.

Children basically had the same rights as women, nothing. When boys were children, they went to school, and when they turned eighteen, they officially became men in the eyes of the government, and started to do all of the regular things.

"Like getting a job and fighting in wars," Paige thought glumly. She would have died to be able to work a regular job. Which would have happened, if she had even applied for a job. The WomenControlCenter (WCC) would of come and whisked her off to Mars. Women had no rights no matter how old they got.

When men turned eighteen, they got to do what grown men did. Page was lucky that her brother didn't hurt her, just because she was a girl. He never hurt a woman, and did it unwillingly when he had to.

It hurt Page even more than a beating would to see women getting hurt. She had often seen girls dragged away because they argued against the government policy. The woman that dared to oppose the government were sent to Mars to live, for as long as they could anyway. Those who were lucky were clubbed to death in the streets before they had a chance to be sent to Mars, because when they got there, they were made to live in a huge dome shaped building. The air supply was cut off at random times, so the women never knew when they were going to die. You could be walking along under the dome one second, then flat on the floor then next.

"The least they could do was to send us to the wars," Paige thought with ironic amusement. "Then we would die for sure." She often wondered why the government didn't do that. Three out of ten men that went to one of the galactic wars survived to come back. Paige thought that would be a better way to die, instead of just suffocating to death.

"Maybe that's why they don't send us to battle," Paige thought. "They want us to die without honor." In all her fifteen years of living on this planet, honor was the first and foremost thing on Paige's mind. Well, that and the senseless prejudice against woman kind.

"And now was the perfect time to get that honor, she thought, her brown eyes filling with tears. She blinked, causing her tears to slip across her face on to her snow-colored hair. "The government needs more people to fight the Yanis, so they should start sending us girls," she thought angrily. "At least they would be getting some good out of doing it, instead of us just staying at home." But Paige had a feeling that the government would rather have the world come to an end rather than have the girls fight.

Paige sat up and sighed. She would have to think about that later. Now it was time to fix her brother lunch. Maybe if she made a good lunch, her brother would share it with her. Paige smiled suddenly. He often did small things like that.

She was starting to feel guilty about asking her brother dumb questions that she already knew the answer to. She was just taking her frustration with the government out on him. It wasn't his fault that the government was so corrupt.

Swinging her legs over her cot, Paige walked out of her tiny room, and into the kitchen. Before she even set foot in the kitchen, the refrigerator was already open. Paige smiled even more. She loved the way the kitchens worked, indeed, how the whole city worked. Everything was computerized, so getting what you wanted was fast and easy. "Unfortunately, we can't use them the way we want to. As in getting clothes," Paige thought, looking down at her burlap dress. "But I am very lucky that Morgan allows me to use the technology without the supervision that most women have to work under." So she set to work, clanking around the kitchen.

A room away, Morgan looked up from his letter. He heard Paige getting lunch ready, but he wished she'd be a little quieter about it. He didn't want the neighbors to hear and know that he was letting her dohousework the easy way, as men were suppose to make the women do even the simplest tasks the hard way. If someone found out that Morgan didn't follow that law, he could be taken away to jail.

But Morgan didn't see why his sister couldn't use it, if it made the housework easier and faster.

Morgan didn't like the government's choices in a lot of things, but there was nothing he could do about, except be as lenient with Paige as possible. She didn't know that he was, but she could have been worse off, there's no doubt about it. She thought he was just being mean, when in reality he was toughening her up for the hardships ahead.

Even with the high power he and his father had, he did nothing to stop the corrupt government. Not yet, anyway. Partly because the power that the government had was even higher than the royal family, the other part was that Morgan didn't feel that the time was right to start the uprising.

Morgan remembered a time when all people were created equal, and him and his parents were the top of the ruling line, even higher than the president in some forms.

Now the government was tops, and even though Morgan still had his power as a royal figure, and more, he used his royal power and authority for good.

Paige was one of the lucky ones, since her brother was such a prominent figure in society. Not like she knew if any of the other girls her age were treated as well as her. She wasn't allowed to talk to any other girls. Morgan was strict on that. He was afraid that his overeager sister would say that he was easy on her, then the word would get out that a female was being treated tolerantly. That wouldn't be good. She would probably be sent to Mars, and himself to jail. Then he could never help his father.

He went back to his letter. It was to his father, telling him the stats on the revolution that they were forming, which wasn't much. Morgan wanted his people to lay low, then to strike at the right moment, so there wasn't much action to report to his father.

His father was behind him all the way, indeed, he was the one who suggested using their power to overthrow the government. He told Morgan that there was a time when the government and the royal house was separate, but Morgan didn't want them to be separate. What good would that do? Nothing, the government would continue to treat women unfairly. Then Morgan and his father could really do nothing about it, since they wouldn't be part of the government anymore.

So Morgan had to be content to play along and live under the government's unfair rule, when his father was the rightful ruler. But they didn't get treated too bad. They had the same things that they would have if they had ultimate power. A mansion, servants (women, of course) and tons of money.

But little did the government know that supplying the royal family with servants gave Morgan and his father the motivation to stop the government.

"Even if we didn't have servants," Morgan thought. "The mere fact that my sister is a slave is enough to rebel me. It is wrong that she should be slaving all day, when in fact, she is a princess. No, a queen," Morgan reminded himself painfully. When his mother died, Paige had become a queen and Morgan had kept closer tabs on her than ever.

It would give the government more of a reason to send her to Mars. It annoyed Paige, because she did not know why her brother was so worried about her. She knew that her father was a king, her mother was a queen, and her brother a prince...

"But she didn't know that just because she's a slave doesn't take away her royal title," Morgan thought. "Indeed, she has more power than me," he thought ruefully. He tuned his ironic laugh into a sigh, and stood up, leaving his letter unfinished. The kitchen noises had ceased, so Paige was probably coming to tell him that his lunch was ready.

Sure enough, he saw her in the hall, making her way towards his office.

"Hi sir, your lunch is ready," Paige said, when she saw him, messing up the formal statement with the 'hi' and the fact that she slipped her hand into his. "I'm sorry I annoyed you earlier." "It's all right. We're siblings, we're suppose to fight," Morgan smiled.

"Did the news say anything about father? Have they beat the Yanis yet? Is the planet Yani ours?" Paige asked as they made their way to the kitchen. Morgan preferred to eat lunch in the kitchen, so he could talk to his sister. It also made giving her some of his lunch easier, since she was only allowed a piece of bread a day.

"No, but father did send me a letter." Paige looked up interestedly.

"What did it say?" she asked. Morgan grimaced. He hated the fact that Paige couldn't read well. Not surprisingly, since females weren't allowed to go to school.

"Well the first word was spelled..." Morgan started, but was interrupted by Paige's groan.

"Can't you tell me straight out?" she asked in exasperation. Since her brother had started to teach her how to spell and read (in secret), her often quizzed her this way.

Unknown to Paige, Morgan had started doing this because thought that the sooner she learned this the better. If his formal complaint to the government turned out in a war, Paige needed all the skills she could get.

The war against the planet Yani was nearly over, and after their father got back, they would put in a complaint to the government. Morgan and his father hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a civil war, but if it did, they would win for sure.

Meanwhile, Paige needed to know all the things Morgan and their father did.

"No I most certainly can not tell you what the letter was about until you tell me what these letters spell," Morgan said in mock indignation. Paige giggled.

"All right, what are they?" she asked.

"Well the first one was spelled h-o-w," Morgan said.

"That's easy," Paige declared. "How!"

"Very good!" Morgan said. "The next one was i-s."

"Is!"

"Good! And how about P-a-i-g-e?"

"Me! Paige!"

"Yep!" Morgan laughed. "The last one was d-o-i-n-g."

Paige bit her lip in concentration.

"Remember our lesson last week. What was it about?" Morgan asked.

"Words ending in i-n-g," Paige said distractingly. Morgan nodded.

"Doing!" Paige suddenly yelled joyfully as they walked through the kitchen door.

"Very good!" Morgan said. "What sentence does it form all together?" he asked. Paige thought for a minute, while her brother started on his soup.

"'How is Paige doing'!" Paige crowed triumphantly. Morgan was so startled by the outburst, he started choking on his soup.

"Excellent," he said, as soon as he was able to talk. "Father was giving me an update on the war, and wanted to know how you were doing." Paige beamed happily. It was a rare occurrence when a woman was thought about. Even wives and daughters were rarely ever given a fond thought.

"Did you write him back yet?" she asked. Morgan shook his head.

"There is something I need to tell him, but I need to double check if it is true," he said. The thing was, he needed to double check to see if all his warriors were ready to support them at a moments notice.

They were made up of all the servants in the mansion, and all his male friends. He and his friends had gotten all women that they together to rise up against the government ever since women had become slaves.

Their plan had almost come to an end more than once, but by luck and cunning, they were able to get out of trouble.

Just yesterday, Morgan had checked the stats on their supporters. All of the women were on his side, and seventy five percent of the men were to. There was just one more person Morgan needed to ask.

"Paige, what do you think about the government and it's laws?" he asked. "Oh don't worry," Morgan said quickly, seeing the fear in his sisters eyes. "I won't get mad at you. I am asking you as a brother to his sister, not as a man to a woman." He smiled ironically again.

"I think it's not very fair that we aren't allowed to fight in wars," Paige said. Morgan smiled. Paige may have gotten her mother looks, but had certainly gotten her fathers spirit.

"So if you could fight in a war, you would?" Paige nodded. "Well, there is probably going to be a war that you can fight pretty soon," Morgan said. Paige's face broke into a smile and she clapped her hands like a child.

"Who will we be fighting? The Yani's?"

"No, the government," Morgan said.

"Like a civil war?"

Morgan raised his eyebrows. "How did you know about civil wars?"

"I just hear thing about wars all over the place," Paige shrugged. "So are we going to fight the government to get women's rights back?"

"That's right," Morgan said, shocked at her quickness.

"Who will rule us when the government is overthrown?" Paige asked. Morgan was amazed at her confidence in using 'when' instead of 'if'.

"We will, as a matter of fact."

"Oh you're just kidding. There is no way that we could rule the whole planet," Paige said. "No one would let you."

"Actually they would."

"Why?"

"I'm still a prince even now. If the government dissolves or gets overthrown." Morgan smiled ironically again. "Father, you, and I will be the rightful rulers."

"But they wouldn't let me. I'm a girl."

"Yes, and you are also a princess, but more importantly, you're a person. That is something that the government lost sight long ago." Morgan leaped from his seat. "Now it has gone on far to long. We are going to fight a civil war if need be. Father would rather I not fight, but they are my people, and I shall die as one of them! I do not prize my life above another, but I prize it greatly. In that view, we will not be the first ones to fire, but we will wait for them to. We need you to fight also. When we win, I want our people to be proud of their queen."

"Queen?" Paige gasped. She had listened to her brother's speech with mounting excitement, but that word brought her back down to earth. "I'm not a queen, I'm not even a princess. I'm a slave."

"No you're not, you are the rightful queen," Morgan affirmed. "When mother died, you automatically became queen. You even have more power than me, but don't get any ideas," he teased. "You are still under father."

A gleam appeared in Paige's eye that Morgan had never seen before.

"Power. Does that mean that I have honor?" Morgan was startled by the question.

"Yes, even without the government overthrown, you have more honor than anyone among our band of rebels."

"That's all I ever wanted," Paige said dreamily. Here was her big chance to prove that she was worthy of the honor. In doing that, she would get to fight a war, another good thing.

"When can we get started?"

"Once the war against Yani ends, we'll file a formal complaint to the government. When that doesn't work, we'll threaten them with war."

"What do you mean 'when it doesn't work'? What if it does?" Paige asked, surprised at his confident foresight.

"It won't, I know. I have seen people in jail just because they did that. They won't put us in jail, since we are so high class. They'll just ignore it. After, we'll put a formal threat of war. At least they couldn't say that they weren't warned," Morgan laughed.

"What about father? Will he let us do this?"

"Of course, it was his idea in the first place," Morgan said. Paige's brown eyes went wide.

"Wow. I didn't know that a guy could care about us women so much."

"I do, don't I?" Morgan asked, pretending to be hurt. "As a matter of fact, half of our army is made up of men." Paige's eyes went even wider. "Now, if you're ready, we can write father and tell him that we await his orders." He smiled and held out his hand to Paige.

"Yay!" Paige shrieked, and dragged her brother to the office. When they got there, Paige jumped in the chair in front of Morgan's desk. "What do we write?"

"Maybe I better do the writing," he said. "Seeing as how I am the one that knows what we are going to write about."

Paige got up reluctantly. Morgan sat, and pulled the letter that he had started.

He put the pen on the paper at the point where he had left off. He spoke and the pen moved on it's own, writing down what he said.

Morgan added to he letter that he had informed his sister of the plans and that she was more than willing to help.

"She seems to know more about wars then we think. She catches on easily, and she will be an extremely good queen when this is all over," Morgan said, as the pen darted across the paper, writing the words. Concluding the letter after a few minutes, he turned to Paige.

"Would you like to sign your name?" he asked. Her eyes lit up. Her name was the first thing that Morgan had taught her.

"Yeah!" She grabbed the pen, and scribbled 'Paige' very sloppy next to Morgan's name.

"Very good! Now I'm going to go mail it," Morgan said, standing up.

"Why can't I? I always deliver your letters," Paige said.

"Yes, but this is different. You know what is in the letter, and anyway, I'm not letting you go out anymore, until father comes home. I don't want to risk you getting hurt, since we need you for the war. I don't want you taking risks...until we start fighting anyway."

"Darn," Paige grumbled. "I never get to do anything."

"Not yet anyway," Morgan reminded her. Paige smiled.

"No, not yet."

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