by Scott Rhine
“Guess I don’t have a good answer to that one.” He replied. ‘Never had anyone who wasn’t a slaver question whether freedom is good idea. I’m Zane and this lovely lady is Bella. Come on. You’ll get your chance to speak to the boss. I think he’ll like you.” Sasha shivered and shrank back a bit. Zane smiled. “Not like that. Near as I can tell, Omar may be a eunuch.” His companion shot him a dirty look and he stopped talking.
Zane led her up the ramp to the interior of the ship. Sasha tried to look brave but she sure didn’t feel it. She had never been so close to such an alien environment. The entrance was lined with small lights which shone like candles but provided no warmth. The air inside the ship stank, stale air mixed with metal, sweat and something she couldn’t identify. It was brightly lit though, with more of the cold lights lining the hallway. There were noises too, like the gears on a bicycle and butter churning.
Zane led Sasha down a hallway toward the opposite end of the ship which opened into a smallish room. While large enough for several people to stand it was empty save only two chairs facing a featureless wall. That wall was brightly lit with pictures that moved and flashed as though they were magic windows looking out on a hundred different vistas. From one Sasha could see the city as though from higher than the top of the tallest building. Seated with his back to the door was the dark man who had spoken earlier. His hair was unbound and fell in dozens of tangles. The tangles looked longer than she had thought previously and they spread away from him in a maze of strands whose ends wound into the very framework of the room. He didn’t turn around as she entered but an image appeared on one of the walls of herself, like a funhouse mirror whose view did not match what it should.
“You have a message to deliver?” The seated man asked politely. Sasha would learn in time that civility was intrinsic to Omar, a sense of propriety even in the most dire of circumstances. His tone set her at ease even in the strangeness of her surroundings.
“I was sent by Domer Wae. He asks to treat directly with you for the supplies he is to provide. He believes that speaking to you will be more efficient and profitable than continuing to deal with the council.”
“More profitable for him maybe.” Sasha paused at his interruption, almost losing her place in the memorized speech.
“The Domer feels that the council will act less effectively than direct dealings. He is the only one who can provide you with many of the materials you seek and will ensure their quality himself. In return, he asks to be compensated directly for the services he will render.” The man turned toward Sasha, his hair unraveling from the framework like a living creature. She saw now that the silvery substance was not really hair at all but hundreds of strands of some kind of metal that moved like quicksilver. Seeing the man turn from human to something else in a moment scared Sasha more than the strange creatures that roamed the black rocks outside. It was the familiar turned alien, man into machine.
Omar must have noticed her tension because his hair settled down behind him and ceased moving. He stood up and walked toward her. He was larger up close than he had appeared before and his direct gaze was almost more than she could bear. Sasha fought down the urge to cower and stood up straighter and looked him in the eye, determined not to let her fear rule her. Omar smiled at her subtle movements and winked an eye playfully. The movement was so random and human that her fear evaporated.
“Well, little one,” He began, “I appreciate your courage in coming here but I don’t like to get involved in the politics of every world we encounter. If I start to bargain with this Domer how am I to know it won’t upset the council and cause me unneeded delays? Unless he can provide all that we need by himself, which I doubt.”
“The Domer is powerful enough to do as he pleases and no one will speak a word or interfere. He is also who you need if you want to get the majority of your supplies. The Wae family controls the iron mines to the south and the smelters which refine the ore. Without his support the council will be unable to gather the supplies you need.”
“Is that some kind of veiled threat?” Omar eyed her carefully. Sasha hesitated because the Domer had warned her not to anger the starmen, but the prepared script had ended and she was on her own now.
“Not at all.” She said. “It is simply a fact. The Domer has no desire to hold up your supplies. He simply wants an invitation to come here to deal with you directly. You have said you have no wish to be involved with the local politics but it will not serve you to ignore him altogether.” Omar considered her for a moment.
“You are very well spoken for someone your age, but you are still so very young. Why would the Domer send you here instead of someone older? If he is indeed so powerful he must have many who speak for him. Why send a child?”
“I cannot speak for the Domer except in that which he has instructed me. I will say that he has heard how you treated the first of our people to speak to you. Perhaps he did not want to risk a more valuable asset.” Sasha paused, uncertain if she should add more. “It was also I who suggested that he speak with you. Perhaps he considered it my obligation to continue what I started.”
“Your idea?” Omar asked. “Zane was right. I am starting to like you, little one. What is your name?”
“Sasha. Sasha Fion-Wae.” The question surprised her. She was just a messenger. No one cared about the messenger’s name.
“Well Sasha, your employer showed good sense in being willing to listen to one so young. Many good ideas go unheeded because they come from places we do not expect them. I will agree to meet with this Domer Wae. He has a guarantee of safety to come to my ship. I extend that right to you as well so that you may continue to be his messenger if we come to an understanding. Tell the Domer to come here as soon as is possible. If he wants to negotiate with me directly, he will do exactly that. I will not deal with his flunkies. Do you understand?”
Sasha nodded. She hoped that the Domer would be pleased that she had succeeded. Omar accepted her nod silently and turned his back to her, returning to his seat. His hair swung upward around him like a nest of snakes and embedded their ends into the framework of the machinery around him. The movement seemed less alien now to her, just the movement of a man going about his job.
Zane led Sasha out of the ship and she practically skipped the whole way back to the Domer’s home, elated at her success. She informed the Domer of what the starman had told her, repeating it word for word. The Domer considered for a while as she stood silently in his office. Sasha was aware of how different the room seemed, the heavy scent of incense contrasting with the smell of the ship. It was as though she had stepped from one world into another and, upon returning, could now recognize what would have been invisible before. The office of the Domer was furnished for comfort not practicality, its opulence a sign of indolence more than power. The Domer himself seemed less a figure to be feared as well. She hid her feelings well though, careful not to reveal her thoughts.
“Girl, what kind of man is this Omar? Can he be trusted?” Sasha considered her answer for a long moment.
“I cannot say for sure. He seemed very civil, not like a soldier but a figure of power nonetheless. I think if he assured your safety then he will honor it. He only seemed upset at the thought of your interfering with the council. He didn’t really care who provides his supplies as long as he gets them.”
“I was not planning to go to the ships directly but I did say I wanted to deal with him directly. Tell me of the ship. What did you see there?”
“I was led through a hallway that was lit in some way I do not understand. In the room where Omar sat there were pictures of the city as though from high above. They moved as though I was actually looking down on the city. His hair is alive somehow too and made of something like iron. He has two guards for his ship and there is some alien thing loose in the area that came from there as well. I’m sorry I cannot say more Domer but all of it was quite strange and alien to me.”
“We have records of such things from the old da
ys. Our world was once filled with such wonders. Lanis was an agrarian world compared to others, selling rare and valuable crops for the technology we desired. When the truth about the star drives became known we were not prepared. Such wonders have passed from us, perhaps never to return.” Sasha realized this time that the Domer was speaking more to himself than to her, simply letting his thoughts go where they will.
“I wonder,” He continued. “If I might be able to trade for some piece of that lost knowledge. Perhaps we too can build machines of power and light such as you saw. Such an edge would raise our family to the heights. The Wae would become the rulers of this city, no longer answerable to councils of fools.
“I must be careful though, to not let my thoughts be known to this man. He might balk at giving me this power. Perhaps I can trick him into giving something away, some secrets that we can use to develop our technology.”
“Begging you pardon, Domer Wae,” Sasha interrupted, surprised at her temerity. Her newfound perception of the Domer might get her into trouble if she forgot her place too much. “but I think you should deal directly with Omar. He seemed not to care overmuch about our world, but was pragmatic about what you can offer him. Information costs him nothing while the supplies he has offered to the council he had to bring with him.”
“True, they ask for trinkets from other worlds rather than the knowledge of how to make them. They are shortsighted. You are indeed your father’s daughter. I will be sure to give him my compliments on having raised you to serve me so well.” Sasha bristled slightly at the word, surprising herself. It made her consider Zane’s blustering speech about freedom once more.
Chapter 2
Sasha led the Domer back to the black rocks and, under the watchful eyes of Bella and Zane, to Omar. When they began speaking Sasha started to walk back outside the ship. It seemed cramped compared to the home of the Domer and she wondered what else was hidden in it great bulk. She was passing one of the small rooms which opened off the main passageway when she heard Zane’s voice call to her. He was lounging on a bunk that hung from metal cables. He still wore the thick clothing that all of the void soldiers wore and his weapon lay next to him causally. The room was otherwise Spartan, a desk and chair sat near the door but there was nothing on them. Sasha thought that this soldier was not the sort to read for fun.
“Hey kid, come here for a minute.” She walked into the room cautiously. “Relax, I’m no threat, as long as the trade goes well. I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“What about?” He motioned for her to sit at the desk. The chair swiveled and she turned it so that she was facing Zane. The size of the room and her proximity to Zane lying on his bed made her flush. When his face was turned so that she could not see his scar he was quite handsome in a way that those from Lanis were not. She felt his presence as intimately as though he were touching her. If he noticed though, Zane ignored her reaction.
“I wanted to talk to you about freedom.” He said. “I don’t think I was able to make my point earlier. I’m not really good with words. What I was trying to say was that you don’t understand freedom because your culture doesn’t have any, except for the truly poor and the wealthy. Servitude is so deeply ingrained that you can’t even see an alternative. Do you see what I mean?” Sasha discomfort dissipated into anger at his words.
“You mean I’m so stupid and ignorant that I only disagreed with you because I don’t know any better? That’s not an argument. That’s an insult. What makes you think you are any freer than me?”
“Of course I have more freedom. I can do what I want. Omar isn’t my owner. If anything, he is the one who freed me from my former masters.”
“You think he isn’t your master then? You listen to him and follow his orders, don’t you? If you didn’t he’d probably leave you behind. Your choice is the same as mine, obey or be left to struggle in a world that cares nothing for you.”
“Damn it, don’t twist my words.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m trying to tell you there is a better life out there for you. You’re smart. You could go far, much further than following around this Domer for the rest of your life.” Sasha calmed, realizing that Zane had not intended to insult her.
“That’s fine. Thank you for saying I am capable of more, but don’t think I can be fooled into believing this illusion of freedom. I am smarter than that. I’ve seen what freedom gets the unbonded as they struggle for food and shelter. I’ve also watched the wealthiest and most powerful in the city while serving in the home of the Domer. The more powerful someone is the more responsibility they assume. Their freedom to act becomes limited in more ways than anyone in my own family. I’m sure it is no different for starmen. Every place in life has its benefits and drawbacks. We all compromise our freedom to get what we want.” Zane stopped and seemed to think about that for a moment.
“I guess you’re right. You sure are smart for your age, smarter than a soldier like me. I was designed to be fast not bright. We had others to do that kind of thinking, better men than I.” Zane’s eyes went somewhere far away for a moment.
“The Fleet? Is that what you call yourselves?” Sasha’s question brought him back to the present.
“Well, yes and no. We don’t really have a name for ourselves but we are part of a Fleet of ships that move from system to system. We work together and survive together. Technically each ship is independent but the truth is we all do what the council of captains of the largest ships decide. Even Omar doesn’t have much choice but to listen at that point.”
“There are ships larger than this one?” Zane laughed.
“This tiny thing?” He replied. “The Moving Finger is a good ship but she’s nothing compared to the Damascus or the Westinghouse. She doesn’t even have a star drive. We dock with the Sikorsky when we transit. That’s probably why Omar spends so much time keeping Captain Kharzin placated. Without her help we’d be left behind to fend for ourselves.
“Much like my family and the Wae then?” Zane smiled ruefully.
“Ok ok, don’t rub it in. I already admitted I was wrong. Let’s change the subject. Wanna see something cool?” Sasha nodded. Zane was starting to remind her of her friend Finn. He looked tough and came from the stars but he was just another normal guy. Her fear of the starmen was fading rapidly in face of their simple humanity. She could almost forget that he had killed a man in front of her only the day before. Zane stood and walked to the desk. Sasha’s skin tingled nervously as he leaned past her and touched the wall behind the desk. The wall lit up with pictures like the ones in the room where the Domer sat discussing trade with the dark skinned leader of the starmen. Zane ran his fingers lightly and dexterously over the smooth surface, words appearing in rectangles of light and disappearing. After a minute his hands stopped and he stepped back. “Watch.”
The wall faded to black for a moment and then lit with a large globe. It hung in a starry sky, much like Lanis’s two moons but far larger. It was a mix of colors, blue, white, yellow and green.
“What is it?” Sasha asked, mesmerized by the image.
“That is Lanis, your world, seen from very far up.” He pointed with is finger at a spot on the globe near the center of a region of green. “This is where we are.”
“I don’t see anything?”
“We’re too far away to see the city. I’ll zoom in for a moment.” He mimed pulling at the corners of the globe and the image flew inward until she could see a small dot which grew into something like a map of the city in which she lived. She started to identify landmarks but Zane continued to zoom the image until she could see the ships on the cracked and broken black rocks, finally stopping on the one she was currently in. He stopped it there, smiling at her rapt gaze.
“Go back. Show me the other ships you spoke of.” His grin deepened. Sasha guessed he was using his higher grasp of technology to try to recover his wounded pride but she didn’t care. She just wanted to see more. He pulled the image back to the whole planet and shi
fted the image slightly to one side. A dozen squares lit up in the darkness, lines extending from them to a cluster of stars. He tapped his finger on one of the squares and the image jumped to a thing hovering in space. It was ugly, much like the ships on the ground, but it had majesty to it as well. It looked like a silver tree trunk suspended in space. She could see threads extending from its ends to a number of other objects, too small to make out from the current distance.
“How big is it?” Sasha asked. Zane tapped on a small part of the ship and it zoomed in on a dot which grew until she could see that it was another ship attached to the first, looking as large as the one they were currently in. Sasha’s mind took a moment to understand what must be the scale of the first ship and she reeled. The thought that something that large even existed, much less that it hung in the sky above her was almost too much. By her calculation it was probably half the size of her entire city.
“That’s the Westinghouse. It’s the largest ship in the fleet. It’s really more of a mobile station than a ship but it moves just fine. The Sikorsky and the Damascus are nearly as large but they are warships.”
“Three ships that large?” Sasha was dumbfounded that one such ship could exist, but three? It was beyond imagining. As Sasha watched she began to see that the center of the ship was moving, spinning slowly while the ends remained stationary.
“Why is the center moving?”
“That’s the portion of the ship kept under artificial gravity, centripetal force really. The ends and the core remain stationary to keep thrust and weapon accuracy intact. It also allows us to tether the ships together so we can move from one to another more easily. Good system really.”
There’s really three ships like that out there?”