Timestar

by Robert George Mertens

  Thirty-Eight

  Panc had gotten the news that afternoon. All of the slaves on Iskol were officially freed that morning. Any who wished to return to Relm would be provided free transport home. Any who wished to stay and continue working here on Iskol would be paid wages commesurate with their job.

  In the mean time, their present living arrangements would remain intact—and free—for no less than ninety days, by emperial edict, time enough for each ex-slave to decide whether he wanted to return to his homeworld or remain on Iskol to earn regular wages. There were no more curfews and no more work periods. No more freetime, and no more beatings. No more patrollers and no more ISS. Slavestingers were outlawed.

  Panc was not expected to show up for his regular work shift, and he did not know what to do with himself. He had been born here on Iskol. He did not even know what Relm was like. Many other Relmish, mostly friends and some revelers celebrating their newfound freedom, had already been to his apartment quarters to celebrate with him.

  He did not celebrate. He was lost. Relm would be a challenge to him and he was too old to make changes in his lifestyle. He had fully expected to live and die here on Iskol. He knew that many Relmish slaves were returned to Relm after they retired, but others were allowed to remain here for their retirement.

  "Father," a voice came from the doorway, but it could not be. It sounded like Sahn, but she was gone, still a slave to the off-worlder who saved her life not long ago. He thought for a moment that he had imagined hearing her voice.

  "Father," the voice sounded again. He turned and there she was.

  "Sahn!" he cried. He jumped from his chair and ran to her.

  "I'm back, Father," she said as she moved to hold him. He took her and held her in his arms.

  "I thought I'd lost you," he said.

  He backed up to look her over.

  "What is this you're wearing?" he asked. What she was wearing was harder than metal and silvery in color.

  "It's a warsuit. I'm sorry, Father. I've been through so many environments lately that I've been wearing it just in case I accidentally step into something I can't survive. It protects me."

  "You're different," he said, "more mature? Changed? More sophisticated, I think. More worldly. You've been out in the galaxy."

  "They taught me a great deal, Father. And I think I've been forced to grow up quickly—especially if I wanted to survive."

  "The stories I heard… the Shadow Ship, the Shadow Rider, wars, battles. You've been through a lot. You, my own child, were one of the Shadow Riders!"

  "Am, Father," she corrected him.

  "What?"

  "I'm staying with him, Father. Frank Jameson."

  "The Chosen One."

  "He's… not the Chosen One. He's the Shadow Rider. And he's my hero."

  "But…"

  "I've returned to look for a mate, Father. He's given me some time off and a shuttle."

  "You're going back, then?"

  "I can bring you along if I like."

  "What?"

  "It's a wonderful starship. It's fantastically huge, with plenty of room. You can relax and enjoy life or you can work. You can even tend a garden if you like. It's entirely up to you."

  "You really have changed, Sahn."

  "Did you have other plans?"

  "I wasn't sure what I was going to do, now that I've been freed. I don't want to stay here, but I'd be lost on Relm."

  "Then come with me, Father."

  ~

  As Sahn made her way to the old freetime gallery, there was hardly room to move. There were so many revelers and partiers that the noise deafened her. Ex-slaves everywhere here were in celebration, but well ahead of the freetime period, there being no more freetime periods. The gallery had become a full time party zone.

  Strange looks folk gave her as she squeezed between them, trying as best she could not to shove or hurt people, given the immensely increased strength of her warsuit. She wanted to remove it, but since she had worn it to Iskol, not knowing what to expect here, she would not remove it or allow anyone to remove it. Such technology could not fall into the hands of anyone outside the Shadow Riders.

  She was just about to reach her old rendezvous place for her old friends when someone noticed who she was from the newsnets. Apparently, she was already famous. She thought for a moment that she should have left her warsuit on her private shuttle, where it would be protected from theft. Such a prize would draw a serious bundle of credits.

  "Hey, aren't you Sahn?" a male Relmish said to her, a glaze in his eyes.

  "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

  "Yes you are! What is this suit you're wearing? That's a Shadow Rider warsuit! Hey everybody," he yelled out, "It's Sahn! She's here!"

  At once they made room for her, and she stood there alone as they circled her, gazing in awe at one of their own kind, who had helped to make them free.

  "Oh my!" came a voice out of the circle.

  "It's her!" came another voice.

  In moments the news passed through the crowd. The attention on her came from every eye in the gallery, of those who could see her. In the next moment, the Relmish in the first circle knelt before her. Then behind her, more Relmish saw and realized who she was and knelt as well.

  Like a falling wave, the crowd knelt, in awe and almost in worship.

  "Get up!" she said to them, but they could not hear her, her voice too weak to tell them.

  She turned up the voice amplifier on her warsuit and tried again.

  "Get up!" her voice boomed across the gallery, and the first circle of worshipers fell away.

  "Get up!" she said again, "Never again do you kneel before masters. You are a free people! Shake off your collars!"

  For a long moment, the crowd became silent. The crowd had become huge, more than a thousand Relmish had gathered and stopped to see her and hear her words. Then, as a wave of realization, percieved perhaps by only a few in the crowd, a cheer went up that became deafening. Her warsuit automatically dampened the roar.

  Several in the crowd closed on her and attempted to lift her up above them, but her warsuit made her far too heavy, and that effort quickly came to a halt. The crowd made room for her and she slowly made her way to her old rendezvous place, cheering and praising her along the way.

  "Sahn!" she heard from the crowd, and at once, the whole crowd took up the chant. But the voice that called first was one that she remembered. It was a female Relmish voice. It was Kima's voice.

  "Kima!" she said, but her voice amplifier was still turned up, so again it boomed across the gallery. She walked in the direction she had heard the voice come from. It was almost her old rendezvous place. She would never have found Kima in this crowd.

  In the next moment she saw them. Kima first, beside her were Truuk and Pac. Gelk was not there, nor was Gaf. She knew that Gaf had been imprisoned for sedition after he had killed one of the Iskolian patrollers. At once she ran to them. The crowd saw that she had found her friends and opened a way for her.

  "Kima!" she cried, as the two fell together.

  "Sahn!" Kima almost cried her name, "What are you wearing? Oh, nevermind. You're here. And you're alive. How I've worried about you."

  Next she gathered Truuk and Pac to her and held them close, or as close as she could while wearing her warsuit.

  "Looks like you came through for all of us, Sahn," Pac said.

  "I… really didn't do anything," Sahn replied.

  "Didn't… what?" Pac said, almost flabbergasted, "You've done more for our people than you could ever begin to imagine, Sahn."

  "It's true," Truuk agreed, "Our people are free because of you—because of your courage."

  "You'll become the greatest hero in Relmish history, Sahn" Kima said, "You were one of the Shadow Riders. You and the Chosen One set our people free. You fought a terrible war against powerful enemies and won. And you won our peoples' freedom."

  "I really… didn't do much of anything," Sahn repli
ed, confusedly. She didn't have the heart to tell them at this point that she was still a Shadow Rider, and would have to leave them soon.

  "You can't be serious," Pac said, "Do you remember the disk we gave you?"

  "I do."

  "How much courage did it take to deliver it to the Chosen One himself?"

  "I remember being a scared little fem during that episode, and nearly lost my life!"

  "And that took more courage than most people ever summon in a lifetime," Pac replied.

  It was only then that she realized that the newsnets had her on holovid as she talked to her friends. The crowd of Relmish had inched forward to listen in, as had the holovid crews. News of her arrival at the freetime slave gallery had spread quickly.

  But she had in her mind one goal in coming here.

  "Where's Gelk?"

  "He's…" Truuk began to say.

  "I'm here," the voice came from behind her.

  She whirled around and there he was. Her childhood malfriend was different from the one she had left all that time ago. More mature, more serious, more… courageous. He wore a bandage here and there, and seemed to limp a bit.

  "Sahn," he said, opening his arms to her.

  "Gelk!" she said, as she fell into his arms, careful not to crush him with her magnified strength.

  "Ow!" he said.

  "What?"

  "I have… I have some injuries," he said, "after I saw what you did, I joined the rebellion."

  "Gelk is one of the most wanted slaves—ex-slaves—on Iskol," Pac said, "After you were taken by the Chosen One, he became one of the strongest and most vocal leaders in the rebellion. He was injured in a riot while fighting with an Okofani warrior."

  "My hero," Sahn said, gazing with glazed eyes at Gelk.

  "My compatriot makes me out a little bigger than I am," Gelk replied, "In reality, I was as scared as a young fem." At that, Pac and Kima laughed.

  "Don't you believe it," Pac said, "After that, he became our local hero."

  "What about Gaf?" Kima asked.

  At once, there was silence.

  "He's… still in prison," Sahn finally said, and she recalled that Pac and Gaf had been the closest of friends in their youth. "I don't think freeing the slaves included prisoners. As far as we know, slaves that are in prison now, will serve out their sentences."

  Sahn looked at Pac, realizing how much he missed his childhood friend. She also knew that Gaf had received a life sentence.

  "I'm so sorry, Pac. We all loved him."

  "Can't you get him out?" Kima asked.

  "Frank knows that Gaf killed that patroller," Sahn replied, "I talked to him about it. He won't have it. Iskolian or not, it was murder. I'm sorry."

  "At least you tried," Truuk said.

  "The Iskolians were adamant about it. There are more Iskolians in prison than ex-slaves, and they were all criminals. Frank agreed with them. Criminals were to serve out their sentences, including former slaves."

  "But they only found him guilty of sedition. Couldn't they get him a reduced sentence?" Pac asked.

  "I was there, Pac. I know what Gaf did to that patroller, whether he deserved it or not. He didn't have to kill the patroller. He could have throttled him and run, like the rest of us. Let's go somewhere where we can be alone. This crowd's too big for personal discussions like this."

  ~

  There was only one place on the entire planet of Iskol where Sahn could be alone, with or without her friends. That was on her private shuttle. Frank and the rest of the crew of the Butterworth had long since left Iskol, and left coordinates for her to meet them at. Her private shuttle had a short-range transpace capabilty, which was sufficient to get her to the coordinates in a reasonable amount of time.

  The Butterworth had been repaired and beefed up, since the Neophite was much too large for minor military operations such as this. In fact, it had been the Butterworth that made the attack on Iskol to remove the Okofani war machine.

  The Neophite had been moved to another star system and hidden once more disguised as a planetary gas giant. Dense neutronium matter was converted to the gases that a planetary gas giant would need; hydrogen, methane, and a few other gases that make up the contents of a gas giant. It had been an ideal disguise.

  Frank had taken a large part of the Relmish population on Iskol to Relm, himself, aboard the Butterworth. The remainder of the Relmish on Iskol had either decided to stay or had opted to decide later, taking a "wait and see" attitude.

  In the meantime, whoever remained of the Relmish people on Iskol held Sahn out as their leader, along with Gelk, her boyfriend, who had been a leader of the rebellion. Much to her chagrin, she had no luck defrocking Frank as the Chosen One, and unfortunately, he would be stuck with that title into Relmish perpetuity. Try as she may, the Relmish people quite literally saw Frank as their Chosen One, and that would not change.

  At one point, there was an attempt to make Sahn the Queen of the Relmish, but that notion she put to rest quickly. She had yet to leave Iskol. Much of her time was spent at their old quarters in the Imperial Palace with her father, it being difficult for her to step outside the palace without getting mobbed by ex-slaves.

  She had stowed her warsuit in the shuttle, since she was in familiar territory now, but on occasion, wished she still had it. Had she a safe place to store it in the Imperial Palace, she would likely wear it more often, especially on trips out into the public.

  Here, in her private shuttle, was a place of solitude, even though she knew that at least a thousand eyes watched this shuttle day and night. She had only to shutter all of the windows to have privacy. Here, she spent time at the computer, keeping up her studies, and remembering what Frank and his people had taught her. She was making a plan for the future of her people.

  She had studied what galactic society thought of her people, a backward, ignorant race of people, intelligent, but lacking civilization and technology. More than likely, she decided, this was the reason that so many Relmish ex-slaves had opted not to return to Relm. They would return to a forested world, with no power, no food, no farming implements and no technology.

  Other Relmish had no notion of the things she knew and understood. There was, in fact, no Relmish anywhere in the galaxy as educated as she was.

  She had already spent most of her day here on her shuttle. She closed out her computer and left, heading back to her old home in the Imperial Palace. Along the way, Iskolian Patrollers escorted her, knowing her importance to the Relmish, more to protect themselves, should something happen to her.

  When she got home, she walked in, greeted her father and sat down to take in the news.

  "What are you waiting for, Sahn?" her father asked her.

  "What do you mean, Father?" she asked back.

  "I mean, what are you waiting for?"

  "I don't understand your question."

  "You're still here on Iskol. We're still here on Iskol. Are you unsure of Gelk as your mate? Is that why you're waiting?"

  "No, Father… I'm… not sure."

  "What is it you're not sure of?"

  "Frank and his people have offered me a place among his people, with as many friends as I would have along. It's a great honor. And I have chosen whom I would bring."

  "So what is it that you're missing?"

  She sighed for a moment.

  "My people."

  "Ah. Now there's a rub."

  "You don't understand, Father. They need me."

  "Do they now?"

  "Father, our people are capable of so much more. Ever since I was taken from here, they've put me in front of learning machines and I've been learning. I've not stopped learning. Did you wonder why so many of our people have elected not to leave Iskol? Why so few wanted to go to Relm?"

  "I have considered it. The Emperor has guaranteed our freedom and equality here on Iskol, and has even assured us that it will be written into the new Iskolian Constitution."

  "Yes, but why should we stay here, where
we have only his word? Why not go back to Relm, where we know we'll have our freedom?"

  Panc considered this for a moment.

  "It's comfortable here. It's predictable. It's civilized."

  "Yes, it's civilized. Can't you see, Father? This is what our people want—to rise above what we were on Relm. We're capable of this."

  "Then… you're reconsidering your option to join the Shadow Riders?"

  "I guess I am."

  "You guess?"

  "Yes, Father. I am."

  "Then at least we know what the question is, now. That will make the answer much simpler to come by."

  Sahn chortled at that.

  "My people know what they want, Father. But I'm afraid none of them know how to achieve it."

  "And you do?"

  "Yes, Father. I do. I have the key to the future of our people."

  "Really? What is that key?"

  "The answer is so simple. It's education. We're an intelligent race. We're just ignorant."

  "Certainly other Relmish people know this."

  "Yes. But none in a position such as mine."

  "Which is?"

  "Leader, Father. They will accept me as their leader."

  "Queen after all, then?"

  "No. I would never allow such a thing. We must have a democracy. We must have elected leaders. The people must have a choice."

  "And how would you lead them, Sahn?"

  "I would not, Father. I would inspire them."

  "Then it seems you've already answered your question, too. So what's the problem?"

  "I so much want to stay with Frank and his people. They've given me so much. I would like the opportunity to give back to them."

  "Really, I think that if you took up your yoke on Relm, Frank Jameson and his people would consider themselves repaid many times over."

  "You're right, of course. I guess the truth is that I'm being selfish. What they offer me is such a fantastic opportunity. I'm not anxious to turn it down."

  "Ah, now we get to the real questions."

  "Only through your wisdom, Father."

  "Heh heh," Panc chuckled, "Sahn, no one will think less of you if you join him. Relm will awaken, whether you are there or not. Our people will learn, we will educate ourselves, and we will rise in the galactic community."