by Guy Antibes
“I worry about Yorg,” Obsomil said. “Wilton will likely have arranged to be met with a large contingent of his own ships.”
Jan remarked, “I can stop the Murgrontians with the weapons on my ship, but if you want to use low technology, we can drop rocks from a few hundred feet above him. Somehow, I feel that smashing the Shark ships with rubble from the temple would make me feel better than using any other weapons I have in my ship.”
Obsomil said, “You have more weapons than your hand blaster? Why have you kept this information from me?”
Jan shrugged and then smiled. “Remember, in the beginning, I didn’t have enough power to even keep my blaster going. I’ve sort of forgotten about them. I certainly wasn’t going to destroy the temple with you and your men inside!”
“I see. But I also agree with the notion of hanging Wilton by his own rope. Let’s get the rubble and drop it from your craft, but I want to take Lord Wilton alive. I have new plans for him. Let’s go into your ship and attack him from the air.”
~
Five ships dotted the water. Port Alchant lay in front of the group. Four sleek ships, looking like needles from above, advanced on the fifth from a cove hidden from the other ships. A single vessel moved rapidly from the formation towards Port Alchant. The four ships turned as one towards the fleeing vessel.
“It doesn’t take much imagination to know what is happening. Even with Wilton on board, Yorg would never allow the Murgrontians to come alongside.” Obsomil observed looking down on the scene from a few thousand feet in the air. “I’m glad he sniffed out the trap. Let’s save him.”
The airlock was opened and two men emptied the contents of a large bag of bricks. The debris picked up speed as it plummeted to a shark ship below. Tackle broke. Sails ripped. Men were killed. A large rock followed the bricks. Down it went… right through the ship. As men from the other ships looked on, more debris and rock rained down on them. In a matter of minutes, the four attackers were destroyed.
As Jan brought his space ship down, the attacking vessels were slipping into the water. Survivors clung to the wreckage. Obsomil went to a communicator. Jan had patched him into the external address system.
“Yorg, show yourself!” Jan’s craft was hovering only a few yards from the Diltrant vessel. “This is your king speaking.” the voice boomed out. A figure went to the railing and waved his hands. “Take Wilton and put him in irons. He is our enemy, after all. Those ships were obviously meant to board you. We were taken captive at the Grethian Temple through Wilton’s treachery. Get to the port and stay there. We’ll take care of any more of their fleet.”
Just then, Wilton appeared on the steerage deck. He had one hand grabbing the arm of Merinnia and another held a knife to her throat. “Get back! Get back!” he yelled. He took her up to the railing. “I’ll kill her. Let me go in a boat. You will not follow. I’ll let her go when I am back in Murgrontia.” The man looked like he meant it.
Jan looked at the incident. He casually asked for a bow and arrow from one of the guards that helped with the rocks. He went to the airlock door, aimed and fired. The arrow sped true and pierced the eye of Wilton. The arm flew up with the knife clattering on the deck. Merinnia pushed the horror away and Wilton’s lifeless body plunged into the sea.
Dumbfounded eyes looked at Jan.
“You don’t know everything about me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Archery is quite a popular sport where I come from and I happen to be damned good at it.” He went back inside his ship, fuming at the gall of Wilton. He also felt rather exhilarated by saving Merinnia’s life. “There is a fifth ship coming and we’ve got more rocks to drop,” he said as he returned to the controls.
~~~
Chapter 34
Jan rose from his bed after spending a few minutes re-examining his feelings while he reviewed the many thoughts that ran through his head during a long, sleepless night. His early morning musings now over, resolve had set in. He dressed and sought the King of Grethia.
~
“King Obsomil, I would like to suggest a change in plans.” Jan began. “I really don’t want to run the University or the technology or anything else. I think Fosan can get things started and develop candidates for my job on the technology side. I can help by advising, but leading the effort? No.
“When we are integrated back with the rest of civilization, there will be many great minds that you can bring here to help. I can help select them with you. Fosan has the right vision to take the technology you now have and how to release it to the people. He can tell you the sequence that will be the best.
“What I really want to focus on is a re-entry program into the Galactic mainstream. I don’t think you should let the rest of humankind find you, but control the situation and let Grethia re-enter on its own terms.”
“And how would you approach this re-entry?” Obsomil said.
“I will start with the portal. The technology of the portals may have existed in my world, but if it did, it’s been lost in time. I now know how they are made. I’ll have to re-engineer it to fit into current methods of manufacturing, but with the compact power cell technology left by your ancestors, we will have an incredible advance to offer the universe.”
“But we have no resources and no ability to pay for such a thing.”
“I can take care of that. I will soon come into some funds. I can use those. We can be partners.” Jan said.
“I have been seeing you struggle in our meetings, Jan.” Obsomil said. “You can try all you want, but you’re still linked to your past, outside. I have suspected that at some point you’d come to me and declare your desire to move on. I’m very pleased that you have included us in your plans. I will accept your help. We will have formal contracts drawn up and create a partnership. You may need it for protection, but I think also for our protection. We have nothing to offer except the technology left by our forefathers. Most of our undiscovered wonders are likely already possessed by your society, but if the portal are unique, as you say, then through selling portals, we may gain enough credit to get the items we need, but cannot build. Your automatic medicine machine is one. Yes, go and prepare the way for Grethia.” Obsomil nodded and grasped Jan’s shoulder.
Jan gave Obsomil a weak smile and looked out of a window. He took a deep breath. “I have grown to know myself a lot better and hope I have grown as a person while I have been here. Obsomil, I have also grown to admire your daughter Merinnia. I would like to take her with me.” Jan paused to let the request sink in and then turned around.
Obsomil looked directly into Jan’s eyes, but Jan had to look away. “I need an assistant who I can trust and help set strategy. Your daughter is well bred in every way. She is very smart. She has vision. She is also your only daughter and you may not be comfortable sending her into the unknown. But she knows me and I think she stands a better chance than any other Grethian to function in the world outside.”
Silence filled the room. Jan continued to look out the window. The atmosphere of the place felt to Jan as alien in that moment as Jan was alien to Grethia. Yet, if Obsomil hadn’t gone along with Jan’s wishes, he didn’t know what he would have done. He knew that he didn’t want to be bound on Grethia for the rest of his life… at least, not yet. Was it his unfinished business with his father that unsettled him? Maybe. Was it his unfinished business with those who sabotaged his ship? Definitely. He had courses of action off-planet. Merinnia? He was sure he needed her help. She would keep him focused on Grethia.
“Merinnia, I know, would relish the chance. I know she feels stifled here and I know she likes you much, Jan.” Obsomil began. “Merinnia must give her consent, a formality, I would surmise,” the King smiled knowingly at Jan. “We will write her role into the contract. Everything will be at arms’ length. I want her protected. The environment, out there, is more liberal in regards to women, you say?”
“Yes. As you move up the scale in civilization, the roles of women change. She doesn’t need to sp
end as much time in the home and women have always had as much to contribute as men. In our society, I feel Merinnia will grow with the opportunity.”
“Fine, let’s ask my daughter formally if she wishes to work for such a horrible employer as her father and with you as her direct superior.” Obsomil brightened and began to laugh. “We can’t let her know that she probably wants to do this as badly as I think she does. Yes, Yes, this is going to work out just fine.” He clapped Jan hard on the shoulder as the pair left the room.
~
In the family quarters, where Jan had first met the royal family, Obsomil presented to Jan to Merinnia’s mother as the one who would take her daughter far, far away.
“I don’t understand why you would let Merinnia leave us, my husband.” Queen Innia said.
“We’ve been over this before,” the king said softly. “Your daughter is far more independent than most other woman in Grethia. We need to have one of us see the universe first hand and judge what life out there is like. Her ability to observe the world outside and understand it from a Diltrantian, no, a Grethian point of view is very important to us. Who knows, you and I may travel to other planets.”
“Well, we do have Jan to take care of her for us.” With that remark, Jan was brought into the conversation. It was apparent that a mother’s anxiety gave way to what was better for Diltrant and her daughter. “What are your plans?”
Jan proceeded to go over the strategy he would be following for the next few years. He estimated that the plan would take a year to develop and a year to implement. “The re-entry into the mainstream of humankind after thousands of years in isolation will take longer. Fosan has his orders and if everything goes well with the general pacification of the Murgrontians and their allies, we will be in business.” Jan smiled confidently.
~
The Murgrontians were eventually displaced from Actobal by the remainder of Bloodin’s troops. The fighting was bloody in the castle, but the people in Actobal cheered the liberation. King Mulloy was very motivated to follow King Obsomil’s lead in uniting the planet as soon as he was released from arrest.
Garst had attacked the entrenched bureaucracy of Habamil’s police force. Hostile elements were rooted out and fired. A few close confidants of Habamil’s chose suicide, although no one could fathom why, now that everything was out in the open. Once finished, Garst began to set up a more benign intelligence network throughout Grethia, with the assistance of Captain Yorg who contributed his considerable knowledge of other countries.
Jan went to Garst’s office in the administration building Habamil had built. Jan walked up the central staircase to the top floor. The walls were all paneled with portraits of former police officials hung on each side of the hallway. The floor was carpeted in dark blue. Sconces with candleholders lined the hallway between portraits. The ceiling had originally been painted white, but it didn’t take long when the light was flame, to make the painted ceilings gray and dingy. At the end of the hallway, a desk was occupied by an old, officious-looking clerk. He sniffed as Jan walked up. “What can I do for you? Are you lost, young man?”
“I have come to see Garst, if you please.” Jan said just as diffidently. The clerk fiddled with his papers for a while in an evident stall. It was obvious the man was cooling Jan’s heels for a bit before summoning Garst.
“Shall I walk right in or are you going to announce me, sir.” Jan said a little impatiently.
The clerk looked up a Jan with a little sneer. “Why would a young person like you be seeing Commissioner Garst? What’s your business with him?”
“I think you’d better go in and announce me now.” Jan replied.
The clerk rearranged a few papers on his desk and rose and went inside an office. Jan looked behind the desk to see a blank spot that had held a large portrait. Wonder who he could be? Jan thought with half a smile. Then he remembered Habamil’s decaying body at the lodge.
Garst opened his office door. “Jan, Jan so good of you to come and see me before you head off-world.” He quickly walked to Jan and shook his hand, beaming. “Come in, come in,” he said as he escorted Jan into his office.
The little clerk bowed his head as the two passed him just outside the door. Red-cheeked, the clerk went to his desk, swallowed hard then took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his now-sweating forehead.
“So what happens to your shop now that you have a job in Diltrant?” Jan asked cheerfully as he sat in a cushioned chair facing Garst’s huge desk. “Has you family joined you in the capital?”
“Ah. A good question, Master Jan.” Garst responded with a twinkle in his eye. “For now my wife is running it. She knows my routine as well as any, but still, I have hired an assistant for her and he will do the buying. I wrote down what was needed to do. Once the assistant is familiar with the business, I will bring Hullar and the children down to Diltrant. Until then I enjoy a bachelor’s life.” Garst spread both his hands out universally signifying ‘what am I going to do?’
Jan smiled. “It’s too bad you’ve got this government job. We would be able to bring in some very unique products from out there,” Jan offered.
“Yes, I know and part of me wishes I accompanied you rather than the King’s daughter. Remember, we don’t have to have the same job forever. Maybe we can get together and do some trading after this is all over.”
“Hold on to that thought. Maybe we’ll have a Grethian trading company before you know it. We will turn Grethia into what it should have been all along.”
“Why did they kill themselves, then?” Garst said.
“Same old story. There was a Murgrontia over there. They wanted to control all of the power, Jerrellia didn’t. Although the record doesn’t mention exactly what happened, I think Murgrontia intentionally destroyed Jerrellia and everything escalated. It has happened before in history.”
Garst nodded. “You’d know that better than I.”
“There really was a society of Grethians who wanted to save the world, fearing some sort of catastrophe. After the destruction, your civilization had to start from scratch.”
Jan let this sink in a bit for Garst to assimilate. “The poisons in the far land will remain for centuries to come. Interestingly, there was this spacefarer that landed on the planet. His name was Helix Browngoat. It appears he was a master inventor and was the genius who created the portals. The Grethian society spread his machines throughout this continent so, in the event of disaster on the mainland, life wouldn’t be so harsh here. Looks like their strategy didn’t quite work out the way they thought.”
“I’ll say,” Garst snorted. “It will be some time before we can duplicate any of that technology.”
“That’s Fosan’s job. There’s more than enough just to get people prepared to take advantage of the technology. Grethia’s going to have to create a manufacturing base just to recreate the machines. It takes quite a bit of infrastructure to support a technology-based culture. That’s why we’ll be moving slowly.”
“You know how much I look forward to your success, Jan. I hope you negotiated a good share of anything you bring in.”
“Obsomil wouldn’t take any more than a third share of the proceeds. That should be more than enough for you, if I do a good job,” Jan said.
“I have faith in you and Grethia’s future depends on your success.” Garst said as he rose from his chair. He got up from behind his ornate desk and walked Jan out of the room with his arm around Jan’s shoulder. “Keep me informed. Maybe I can help out in some way.”
“I will. After I get established, I’ll return with some communications gear. We’ll be able to keep in touch on a regular basis then.” The two men shook hands. Jan walked down a hallway to the wide wooden stairs and descended to street level.
He took a deep breath. The air had turned colder with the coming of fall. Jan wondered what season it would be on Impollon IV when he returned.
~~~
Chapter 35
Jan had just left the Greth
ian system. “Computer, I need you to locate a planet that is relatively remote, has some ancient technology finds and is not merchant-controlled.”
Jan looked over at Merinnia. “If the computer is successful, it will make our re-entry strategy much easier to implement.
She looked up from her seat, engrossed in reading the characters on the screen. “You’ve already told me. There is so much to learn,” she said with a dismayed look on her face. “I started weeks ago to absorb new languages and customs. It’s so overwhelming, but then,” she smiled. “I love it. I feel like I am a little child at a school where everyone else is ten years older than me. I’m worried about everyone knowing so much more, but so excited to be with the big kids.”
She raised her arms and stretched. “We will have phenomenal success, Jan. I can feel it! The computer will find the planet, or even a whole bunch of them. Then we can get really started.”
“Search completed.” the disembodied voice of the computer spoke. “Five planets meeting your preliminary search criteria have been located. Please refer to the holographic panel for the listing. I have significant data on three of five planets identified.”
“Excellent, computer. Please display.” Jan commanded. He turned to Merinnia. “We have complete planet histories, linguistic information, geographic and political maps, cultural assessments of all inhabitants and all local, regional and planet-wide laws. The information is no older than the time I’ve spent on Grethia.”
Jan studied the information on the screen. Merinnia admitted that she could make little sense of it and returned to her own seat. Jan asked the computer for more information on each planet. He looked up at the planet list then looked at his screen on the console.
After an hour of constant inquiries, Jan sat back and rubbed his neck. “Gyron III. That’s where we will go. The planet is in a different area of the galaxy and not even close to Grethia. It has little in the way of natural resources, so is mostly agrarian. The planetary government is nearly non-existent. There are only a few regional population centers. The population is sparse and it’s spread out. I could easily have crashed on the planet and no one would have seen me for years. The infonet is not used very much on the planet and, the added bonus is that they come up with ancient technology from time to time. The planet was an outpost thousands of years ago in a previous human empire.” He smiled at Jan. “Luckily, they all speak standard, so you just have to learn a dialect, not a language, so you can spend your extra time on learning more Commercial.”