by P F Walsh
“When will she leave?” The House Mother asked after merely scanning it, and not revealing she could not read without her glasses. She handed it back to him satisfied.
“Now, as soon as she gets her things, and some food for the travel to the City.” He said. Jillip was listening to all this as she stood silently by.
“Was this true?” Was she going to get to train with swords at the palace?” She wondered silently, excited by the prospect of training on her deepest heart’s desire, to be a Swordmaster. Something only boys got to do. She began to fidget in place.
“Stop your fidgeting Jillip, and go and fill your sack with your clothes. I will get some food from the kitchen for you to take with you.” She commanded.
Jillip jumped from her spot, and streaked back to the dormitory to bag up her meager clothes and extra sandals. She remembered to take her hat to protect from the sun, and to protect her hair from road dust. As she looked at her cot, a bed she had used for annuals, she placed the dueling stick lengthwise in the center of it so they would remember who had slept there, and left. That was four annuals ago, when she was twelve.
Sean, Doris, and Rooky entered the Cradle room where five sentient ships lay waiting fuel and missions.
“Allister, can you arrange for me to talk directly with the ships?”
“Yes Captain, you can now be heard, and hear replies.”
“I am Captain Sean Flynn, Master of the Ship Discovery, Senior Field Officer of the Embassy of the Planet Earth, a member of the Council of Worlds, and Duke of Mer. This planet outpost was abandoned over a hundred annuals ago because of a contagious disease that not only killed off all the residents here, but also affected the wellbeing of ship number five. Our Doctor believes he has been able to remove the infection from ship five and our hope is she will heal and become lucid again to join the rest of you.” He said as an opening statement.
“We have decided to give that ship the name of ‘Phoenix.’ This is a mythical bird from my planet that rose from fiery ashes to live again. We thought it was appropriate.” He said slowly, so the translator could keep up since the signal was going through Discovery, and back down through Central. Sean could hear murmuring in the background and then a voice,
“When are we going to get out of these cradles?” A ship asked loudly.
“Very soon.” Answered Sean. “But first, we need to discuss how that will come about. Each of you requires support resources, fuel and power recharging as missions are completed. It is clear this is something which you cannot do yourselves. Central has been providing recharge power for a very long time, and could continue to do so. I am also told; you have been imbued with ethical protocols and the necessary knowledge of flight and navigation. My shipmate Allister can enhance these for you. My ethics requires me to disclose that the galaxy outside this outpost contains Masters and entities that would withhold essential resources from you to barter your participation in unethical or illegal pursuits.” He said and continued,
“Legally, I have claimed this outpost, and own your ship. However, I am uncomfortable in asserting ownership over a sentient being housed within it. I am an independent Master, and since you are sentient, you can elect to join me and my exploration ship as crew. The protocols of command will be downloaded to you. Our recent purposes and missions have been exploration and assistance to those in need. I will ask my crewmate Allister to download our recent logs for you to review. If you decide not to accept the command protocols and join us as crew, you may remain here, and I will ensure a continuance of power and life support until another opportunity comes along. I offer no guarantees on how long that may be, though. Take a few solars to talk it over among yourselves after you receive the download. Then, notify me, through either Central or Allister, on what your choice will be.”
“Thud, thud, thud, cross and parry, block, feint and thrust, the swords with leather sleeves covering the sharp edges flew back and forth as did footwork, both occasionally a blur. Jillip and one of her trainers were pounding aggressive strikes against each other until Jillip struck her trainer’s hand with the flat of her blade knocking the sword from his grip.
“Time!” Tilga shouted.
The two combatants, sweat covered, shook hands. Dagan’s face showed his disappointment at having lost this match. He didn’t want her to win because he knew she would advance to Swordmaster and he did not believe it was a woman’s place to hold that honor. He walked away without saying a word.
“Good match Jillip.” Tilga said, as he threw her a towel to wipe her face.
“Perhaps you have learned another small but important lesson today Jillip?” He asked.
“No.” She said. “Not from him, I gave him three or four opportunities he did not take, he is not a good match.” She said as she wiped her face.
“Yes, I saw those and knew you would have had a killing thrust if he had taken them. Perhaps that is why he didn’t?”
“He’s not that good, Tilga.” She replied.
“True, but that was not the lesson.” He said.
“No? What did I miss?” She asked earnestly.
“It was nothing in your sword handling or form. It was simpler. It is always, the simple things that will get you killed. What you failed to do was wear a sweat band. I saw the sweat drops getting into your eyes. Such things can impair your vision for the smallest fatal instant.” He said as they walked toward the locker rooms.
“You don’t miss anything, do you?” She asked.
“No, that’s why I am still walking around and not buried somewhere.” He said with a smile.
“You’re right. I will not forget that one in the future.” She said.
The two of them walked back to the guard house.
“There’s a new uniform in your cupboard when you finish washing.” He said as he walked away. Jillip went into the guard house cleaning room with a clean towel of her own and showered herself of the sweat and dust after making sure she had the cleaning room all to herself. She was the only female in the palace guards and was allowed by the Queen to enter her private chambers with urgent messages and security checks where men were not permitted. She was wrapped in her towel and drying her hair when she looked into the reflecting glass on the wall and saw a shadow in the doorway. He had been watching her.
“Dagan, you may have seen what other men have not, but you will never have it.” She said casually. He emerged from the shadow with a sneer and said,
“We will see about that.” He advanced on her quickly as she turned around and he held his dagger tip against her throat.
“Take off the towel!” He hissed.
“You’re sure you want me to do that Dagan?”
“Yes.” He said quietly. His face just inches from hers. She reached back to loosen the towel and it fell between them. As he looked down, her right arm came from behind her back lightning fast, knocked his arm away, and thrust her dagger up under his chin into his brain. His eyes stared at her for just a second and he collapsed. She gathered up her towel that had a small pocket for her dagger, and wrapped herself again as two guards from practice came into the cleaning room, stopped short, and began to apologize for interrupting her privacy, until they saw Dagan lying on the floor with a dagger in his head.
“Wha, wha what’s going on?” They asked. Their eyes wide and mouths open. Jillip reached down and withdrew her dagger from Dagan, wiped the blood on Dagan’s blouse, and calmly said,
“Dagan fell on my dagger.” They were speechless, but could see that Dagan’s hand held his own dagger and the scene became clear with Jillip standing there in her towel. Such personal conflicts happened from time to time, and as long as each was armed, the loss of one did not raise complaint. Jillip had drawn blood, and the message was clear. ’Do not touch.
She stepped over his body and went to her cupboard in the dressing room to dress. She opened the cupboard and saw the uniform of Swordmaster. Now it was certain there would be no complaint over Dagan. To challenge a Swordmas
ter was to welcome death.
“She did what? How can that happen?” The Senior Councilor yelled and immediately regretted it. He had been losing his temper more often as the hideous messes kept falling on his desk.
“Tell me again what happened.” He asked.
“Well sir, she had secreted a Cyakrol pill on her person somewhere and the female wardens missed it. She had been dead for about an hour before they found her. Actually sir, this may be better than we could have expected. The Chief Warden of the CRC, Hhearn City Restraining Cloister said.
“How do you see that?” The Councilor asked.
“Well sir, I have spoken with the prosecutors and they intended to ask for the death penalty in her criminal trial. Executing a Duchess was certain to cause social turmoil.” He said.
“I see. Perhaps you’re right. She did us a favor. Did she have that last truthmed they planned looking for the money?” The Councilor asked.
“No sir, but the SIS did find a hidden safe at her estate and it contained a very well-kept log and account books. They claim to now know where it all is. Looks as though it is somewhere in the range of two hundred fifty million kalt, sir.”
“The Duchess of Kal, one of the oldest noble families on Hhearn, what will we find next?” The Councilor mused aloud.
“I’m sure I don’t know sir. My job is to lock them up when it happens.” The warden said.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you, Warden, excuse my outburst. I think we’re done on this matter.”
“Yes sir, good day, sir.” He rose and left the room. When he opened the door to leave, the Councilor shouted out,
“Jemel, send in the next group.”
They all filed in and took seats in front of the Councilor’s desk.
“Will someone give me a report please?” The Councilor asked.
“I will sir.” The woman was the new manager for the respite Center set up for the returning honor breakers.
“We have retrieved all the people from the mines as far as we know of. They were all immediately treated on the Seeker and the dye was removed from their hands, but many require continuing treatment and quite a few surgeries before they will be able to leave the Center.” She said and continued,
“That issue raises another question we are now facing, and we need some guidance from you on how to proceed.” She paused.
“What is it?” He asked.
“It is clear that most have been injured in ways that despite our healing efforts, they will be left with residual injuries, and just turning them all back out on the street didn’t seem like it fell in with your earlier instructions, sir.” She said.
“No, you’re right, how will they provide for themselves?” He said.
“Exactly, sir. She replied.
“I have given that some thought. Which of you is handling the accounting?” He asked.
“I am sir.” A young man raised his hand.
“Very well, here is how I want you to proceed. I want you to interview each person and have them list what they were forced to abandon. Some of it is sizable and some will have little. Assess it all and come up with a total. Divide that by the number of survivors. That result will be what we will call ‘victims’ pension pool.’ When each person is released from medical care, start issuing monthly payments on some reasonable and adequate scale against that aggregate amount. Arrange to set up special accounts with debit cards so they can rent a place and sustain themselves immediately on leaving. We owe these people the right to restart their lives.” He said.
“Sir, how will we fund this?” He asked.
“There are adequate funds. Leave that to me, but before you issue any position on this, I want to know the aggregate amount.” The Councilor said.
“Yes sir, I will start working on this right away. I believe some work on this has already been done by the SIS. I will get their numbers.” He said.
“That’s all for today, thank you for caring for these people, they have suffered greatly and we all bear some responsibility for what happened.” He said. After they all left, he thought,
“Between the recovery of criminal funds from the Duchess, and the confiscation of the former Senior Councilor’s estate, we should have adequate funds to invest and to take care of these people, and even if we didn’t, I would find a way.”
Chapter Ten
Book Three
“Rooky, I have a few things to settle off your list. The first is to name our claim. Let’s use the name ‘Caerus’ for this outpost mini world. Notify Central of the name change, and then register the owner as the next item on the list which is a new business entity. I would like to call that SNV. That will be an acronym for S&N Ventures. The principle stock owners will be myself and Nasht-Mer. I can’t quantify its intended business plan yet, but I know one is coming so it would be smart to have a legal shell to operate under. Can you do all this and get it registered on both Hhearn and Earth? Avoid specific location of Caerus in the filing. We will need to populate Caerus to support an occupation stance.” Sean described,
“I would get right on it, but there is something that you might not know about. I just had a discussion of these general considerations with Central and there will be no objection or concerns by Central. In fact, Central is pleased to be fully active again and grateful.” He said.
“That’s good Rooky. What is it that I don’t know?” Sean asked.
“We were finishing up our discussion, and it asked,
“Will we be moving the planet?”
“Moving the planet?” Sean asked puzzled.
“Yes sir, it seems the planet has the ability to fold space and relocate anywhere we would like it to be!” He exclaimed as Sean’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise.
“We can move Caerus?”
“Yes sir, that move changes our claim entirely, from a mini planet to a space station. This sets aside any arguments from Earth and its treaties that you can’t own a planet, because there is no prohibition to owning a moveable space station. We could locate it at a Lagrange point in Earth’s solar system. Your claim would be ironclad then. It could become a busy way station.” He said.
“Amazing, that does solve a lot of future arguments beautifully. Thank Central for me and tell it to start planning for a move. Your suggestion for a Lagrange point is perfect. Get together with Allister, fill him in with all the details, and find a spot near Earth that is just off the trading routes. We will have to notify all the agencies that maintain star charts of a new space station.” Sean said enthusiastically.
“I will get right on it, sir.” Rooky said and left the dining cabin to go back to his cabin and get to work. On the way, he thought,
“I had no idea this job was going to be so much fun. Amazing, now we’re moving planets.” He thought, as he walked, humming one of Earth’s tunes he had heard.
Sean had spent a few hours considering the good news that Rooky had explained to him, and how he would want it implemented. After two mugs of Zeng tea, He decided to go back down to Caerus and meet with the rest of the crew. He told Hal he had the deck, and climbed into the shuttle. In a short while he was back on Caerus and decided to walk to the lodging building. He looked at everything as he walked. So many buildings with contents as yet unexplored, and it had all fallen into his hands. In one sense he was thrilled, in another he had tinges of apprehension, entering so many unknown circumstances and responsibilities. It seemed to just keep coming. He paused and reminded himself, he could still be in Palm Springs trying to figure out what to have on his burger as the most exciting decision of the day.
“Naw.” He thought, “I always know what I want on my burger, and this is better.” And walked on. As he got to the lobby of the Lodging building he sat on a bench and asked,
“Central, can you explain to me the preparations you will make to move Caerus?” Sean asked, as he entered the lodging building. The rest of the crew had not yet arrived for dinner.
“Yes Captain. It will take approximately seven
solars to charge the caves.” It said.
“Charge the caves? What caves?” Sean asked.
“Captain, the interior of Caerus has large caves that were originally filled with molten copper. The metal was expelled during formation and created very large cave spaces that were lined with a thick film of copper. By laser slicing in strategic places, the Masters were able to create two enormous plates of a capacitor to store electric energy. It will take several solars to charge those. Once they are full, a single, vast discharge is needed to fold space and move Caerus to whatever point you would like. This could not be repeated until the plates are charged again, so it is recommended that the destination point be precisely chosen. There are dangers in relocating a celestial body of this size because of solar gravity concerns.” It said.
“I have no concerns about that. Allister will provide the coordinates to a Lagrange point within inches, that’s an Earth term.” Sean said.
“Yes, Captain I have the conversion data.”
“What will the effect be on Caerus and all these buildings here? In fact, can someone be on the planet when it is moved?” He asked.
“Yes Captain, it will all move without harming anything including any riders aboard at that time. There is a small concern over some of the oxygen being stripped off by the move despite the shield, but that can be replaced and the riders, if any, can wear masks. I recommend they be closed up inside a building during the transfer.” It reported calmly.
“Has a planet been moved before?” He asked.
“No Captain, this will be the first move. I am looking forward to a change of scene.” It said.
Sean wondered if Central was developing a sense of humor.
“Central, we have not asked about your defense mechanisms. Does Caerus have any defense weapons?” He asked.