by Bill Nolan
“Thank you, dear friends. I will always remember this moment in time as the very best. I came from nowhere, lost and alone. You taught me the meaning of friendship, and even more, you taught me about honor. You taught me how to honor myself, so that I might have honor to bestow upon others. Today, you honored me in a way I can never hope to repay.”
“I know that I must always guard this honor which you have bestowed upon me, for if any part of it is lost, I will be lost with it. My heart is joyful when I look upon this medal and heavy when I consider the demands that honor places upon me.”
“A few days ago, four people I considered my friends, four people I would have died to defend, four people I looked up to, these four people called me a coward. As you all know, this particular insult can only be answered by a fight to the death. Hear me now.”
When Tocal Lemant heard him say those last words, he ran toward him, and those in the front could hear him saying, “Don’t do it Robert. It isn’t necessary.”
“Whether Robert heard him or not, I have no idea. I do know that he continued.”
“Hear me now. By the stars, and by the spaces between them, I call upon those four to answer blood challenge. Tocal Kolan Makora, Marcea Cimmel, Jaymey Tomast, and Bainthe Layel, come forth to answer. Let all our people, here and beyond here, know that this fight is unto death.”
Ky had to pause a moment. “Those are the words to our most formal challenge. Once spoken, they may not be retracted. The four came down and approached the podium. Marcea turned, and in a loud, clear voice, apologized formally to Robert, saying that it had been a terrible mistake, and they now knew how wrong they had been. She asked his forgiveness. I saw his tears again as he answered her.”
“I too am sorry, but once spoken, the challenge must be answered with blood. As the insulted party, the choice of weapons is mine. I choose thusly.”
As he said that, he drew and activated his force blade. Then he continued.
“I don’t care what weapon you each choose. I give unto you four the right to pick as you will.”
“Well,” Ky continued, “this had never been done before. He had given them the right to choose a pellet gun if they wanted, and shoot him down from across the arena. They all chose force blades, though, as it would have damaged their honor to do otherwise. Tocal Kolan asked him what his preference was as to the order he would fight them. Robert told him he preferred to fight them all at once and get it over with.”
“Marcea walked over to him and told him she would not fight him. She told him to just cut her down if he felt he had to. So he did. He just cut her down where she stood. When the other three saw that, they came for him. Like most real fights, it lasted only a few moments, and sick as he was, he took them all. A couple of people tried to approach the bodies, but he waved them back with his force blade.”
“There was silence for a few seconds, and then the chant started. ‘Banish him.’ More people took it up, and in perhaps half a minute, it seemed everyone was chanting ‘banish him.’”
“Tocal Lemant came to the podium and said, ‘All in favor of banishment stand.’ I think everyone in the place except me stood up. Robert slowly turned all the way around, looking at everyone standing, and then walked over to the podium.”
“You will never believe how sorry I am to have spoiled your celebration.”
“Then he came over to me, where I was sitting in the front. He knelt down and spoke into my ear. He told me how to find his planet if I ever needed him, and he told me to try to understand why he had done it. Then he stood up and walked out, all alone again, just like he had come a few years before.”
“Shanna had dropped a skipper for him, and it picked him up right at the edge of the amphitheater. Tocal Lemant went over to the podium, and that was when he saw that Robert had left his force blade and medal. He had also left a note. When he looked at the force blade, Tocal Lemant realized it was a practice blade. They have different markings on the handle. He told some people to attend to the four who were down.”
“In a few minutes, they were all up. Practice blades don’t cause any permanent injury. Tocal Lemant read the note to the assembly.”
“Once again, I am sorry. I wrote this note before coming here today, because I had foreseen how it would turn out. I hoped some might want to hear my side, but none did, and I respect that. I respect also your decision to banish me. The traditions say only that a fight resulting from a charge of cowardice must carry the real possibility of death. This one did. If I had lost, I would be dead now. Honor is satisfied. I could not risk the possibility of killing any of you, so please forgive me my trickery. I never said my weapon of choice was a real force blade.”
“That was the secret I had been holding. I knew that his coma had not been caused by jump sickness. He had recoiled from the necessity of killing all the people on those 37 Empire ships. He is one of the greatest warriors our people have ever seen, but he hates to kill.”
“And you like it?” Jane snapped.
No,” Kysandra said, “I don’t like it or dislike it. If it’s necessary, I just do it. I don’t feel one way or the other about it. How do you feel when you spray your garden for bugs?”
“Anyway,” Ky continued, “to answer your original question, yes, I would have sex with Robert Allen if he asked me. Like I said, I would do anything for him. I watched him lift off, all alone, to fight an Empire fleet in a fight he didn’t believe he could survive. I sat beside him as he tried to face all the people he’d killed, and finally came back, I believe, because I was asking him to. I watched as he fought another fight he desperately wanted not to fight, and I watched him walk, all alone again, into the exile he had foreseen was coming, stopping only to give comfort to me.”
“Yes, Jane Kjersti, I would do anything for Robert Allen. If he ever needs me to, I’ll smile a big smile and walk right into hell for him. He’s already been there for me.”
There was a long pause. Then Kysandra added, barely choking it out between sobs, “What I won’t do is watch him go off alone to fight. I won’t ever do that, not ever again.”
The two women hugged for a long time, and then talked the rest of the afternoon. Shanna joined in, and Jane knew that she had found at least two true friends. Like her, they would do anything to help Robert. Jane told them what Meyoba had said, and asked about Robert being “the one who was foretold.” Kysandra explained that according to To’Ach’an legend, “There will come a time of darkness, and in that darkness a shining warrior will appear to save them from their enemies and will then lead them back to greatness.”
Ky also told Jane she would help her to become the warrior Jane felt she needed to be to protect Robert. Ky, in turn, told Jane about her own concerns for Robert. She didn’t know how he would react if he needed to kill Horru and his henchmen.
In another day they would be at Bainto, and Jane and Kysandra knew that Robert Allen would do what was necessary, no matter the cost to himself.
* * * *
“Well, General, talk to me. It’s been three weeks. What do we know about our spaceman? He said he would be back in two months, and the time’s almost half up.”
“I know that, Mr. President,” General Smithson answered. We know a lot more about this guy, but there’s a lot we don’t know. To start with, that Sheriff was sure it was a white Ford Explorer, but he didn’t get the plate. He did see three people and a big dog inside the vehicle. We had our Secret Service people check out every white Ford Explorer registered within 100 miles, and I think we found our boy.”
“His name is Robert Allen Masters. He’s 54, married, but no kids. Oh, and he has a Doberman. His neighbors last saw him on the day of the ship. One of his neighbors, a Mrs. Sellburg, seems a bit nosey. She saw a woman she didn’t know walk up to his door, and his wife let her inside. A few minutes later, Masters got back. A few minutes after that, Masters left again for a little while, and when he returned, the three of them loaded a lot of stuff into the truck and drove off �
�� with the dog. None of them has been seen since.”
“Are you sure he’s the guy?”
“Pretty sure, Mr. President. We’ve talked to all his neighbors and anybody else who knew him. He was quiet, kept to himself, and nobody seems to know how he made a living. He has an office in an old building not far from downtown Milwaukee, and the name on the door is “Stellar Novelties.” That company doesn’t seem to exist except on the door. There’s no phone, no business license, no business bank account, nothing. He paid his office rent every month in cash.
He had no passport. He joined no clubs. They didn’t socialize much and had no close friends. We searched the house. It’s nice, but middle class. The money tells another story. He and his wife have a modest account at a local bank, but he has a fair sized safe in his office, and it has about four million in it. Four million cash in an office safe! This guy has spook written all over him.”
“So, General Smithson, now what?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. President. We’re watching his house and every other place he's ever been more than once. When he comes back, we’ll know it before he does.”
“Great, General,” said the President, “but that’s not my question. What do we do when he shows up? Arrest him? For what – not having a green card? If this guy is from some other planet, and has a ship as good as everybody says, could we even arrest him? Do we start a war? What’s the protocol for talking to space aliens?”
General Smithson knew he wasn’t really expecting a reply.
* * * *
Robert greeted Miko at the door to his office. He said, “Come on up. We’ll go out through the garden. There’s something I want to show you, and I don’t want to run into anyone else right now. Thanks again for agreeing to keep this completely secret. I especially appreciate the confidence you show in me by agreeing to keep a secret when you have no idea what it’s about.”
Miko answered as they walked. “I have no problem with that. Besides, you have me curious. I’ve been racking my brain to come up with something that would require my special talents. It must be ship related.”
“Yes, it is, but not this ship.” Robert didn’t say anything else until they reached their destination. Miko looked up as they entered a boat bay. The ship was round, like most spaceships, and about 150’ in diameter. A ramp was down, and Robert led him on board. It wasn’t what he had expected.
Two hours later, the tour was complete. They sat down in the control room of the new ship. “It’s a nice ship,” Miko began, “but I don’t see the point. It’s powered, armed, and shielded like a big ship, but it’s too small to jump. A fighting ship that can’t jump is just a police boat. What’s it for?”
Robert paused a few moments. “You’re right, of course, but this ship has a little something extra. You see, I’ve invented a device that creates a spatial distortion just like mass does. To jump, you don’t need mass; you just need the spatial distortion mass creates. This ship can create the distortion without the mass.”
Miko jumped up. “You mean this ship can jump? If we can build warships this size, we could build a lot more of them with the same resources. So, why did you bring me in here?”
“I want to know if you’d like to bond with her, assuming she’ll have you,” Robert replied.
Bainto
It was about four hours after dark when they landed on Bainto. All jump ships are large and round, so Shanna attracted no special attention. They came down in a small aircar of a type commonly used in the system, and with thousands of similar ones in the air at any given time, theirs attracted no particular notice. The car landed in a drop-off area about ½ block from Melia’s home.
Everyone was in combat suits, like the jumpsuit Ky had been wearing the first time Jane met her. Jane was a rank beginner, but she had learned enough to know the suits had a lot of features handy in a fight. Since only the To’Ach’an had them, it did make them immediately identifiable to anyone who saw them.
Robert and Podara left the car and walked quickly to Melia’s door. A moment after they rang, the door opened and they stepped inside. Robert and Melia stood facing each other for a few moments, and then Melia started sobbing.
“Robert, I knew you’d come. I knew. Jaymo, see, I said he’d come. Everything will be fine, now. You’ll see.” Her husband, Jaymo, held her while Podara let the others inside. Jane had come, along with Kysandra and Chofma. Ky and Chofma immediately began unpacking and setting up the equipment they had brought with them.
Jaymo looked up and said, “Do you think you can help my daughter? She’s been like this so long now. She doesn’t say anything at all anymore.”
Podara answered. “That’s why I came with Robert. Healing the mind is one of my talents. Let me see her now, and we’ll find how deeply she’s damaged.”
Jaymo led her down some stairs and into the room where Tovey was lying on a gravbed. She was awake, but didn’t seem to notice them at all. Podara said, “Leave me with her. You may hear her cry out, but please don’t disturb us until I send for you. It may be some time.”
When Jaymo got back into the entry room, Kysandra and Chofma were gone, while Jane was holding Melia’s hands and talking quietly with her. Robert was watching them from a chair across the room. Jaymo went over to him.
“You’re Robert Allen, aren’t you? I’ve heard of you, but I never expected to see you, much less have you as a guest in my home. You are welcome. Thank you for coming. Please, may I give you some refreshment?”
“Thank you,” Robert replied. “I’m sorry it took so long to get here, but now that we are here, we’ll do whatever we can to help Tovey. Once Podara has worked with her, she will be able to tell us more about what happened, and who did it. Podara will help her, and then I’ll settle up with the ones who did it to her.”
Jaymo looked at Robert hard for a moment, and then said, “Horru is the Governor’s son, and the Governor is a powerful man.”
“Well,” Robert answered quietly, “I hope the Governor has other sons.”
Jaymo looked around the little room. “What happened to the other two?”
Robert said, “They went out to check the perimeter and set some sentries. We don’t want to be surprised, and this building isn’t too secure. Don’t worry about the two of them. They’ll be fine. What do you do for a living?”
“I keep accounts, or did until this whole thing came up. I think somebody talked to my boss, because he let me go a couple of days after I reported it to the police. The police didn’t do anything. They just said there was no complainant, and to let them know if she woke up. For a week or two they kept watching the house, and questioned us every time we came in or out, but they finally quit that.”
“I know,” Robert said. “Jonu, the man your wife spoke to in the bar, had a talk with a few of them. I guess they didn’t like what he had to say. Don’t worry about it. In a day or two, it will be over, and you can always come to work with me. I’m entering an expansion phase, and I’ll need all the good friends I can find.”
It was nearly light when Podara came up. Everyone was sleeping on some piece of furniture or other, but Robert woke up as she entered. “She’ll be fine,” Podara said. “She’s sleeping now. I expect she’ll sleep quite a while. It was Horru, and three of his guards. She begged to do anything they wanted her to do, but they kept torturing her anyway. I helped her forget a lot of it, but it’ll be a while before I forget it. I want a piece of those guys. I mean it, Robert Allen.”
Jaymo looked startled. “I thought you were a healer.”
Podara smiled. “I am a healer, sometimes,” she said sweetly, “but I’m a warrior of the To’Ach’an all the time.” It was an easy thing for people to forget. Podara was tiny, even by the standards of the To’Ach’an. She stood 4’4” tall and weighed only 65 pounds. Her short, blue/black hair was a halo of curls, and she looked about 12 at most.
Robert’s comm unit buzzed quietly, so he pulled it off his belt and held it to his ear. “Jonu is comi
ng to the door. Melia, would you let him in?”
As Jonu came in, Jane noticed that Podara moved so that she and Robert formed a 120-degree angle with Jonu. Jane was sure Jonu must have noticed, but he appeared not to. He just turned to Melia and said, “Hello again, Melia. You don’t look nearly as nervous today as when we met in the bar. I thought you might bolt and run any second.”
Melia laughed. “I was scared to death, and I kept wondering what you would think of me if I wet my pants. Thank you for passing the message along to Robert."
“Actually,” Jonu said, “I passed it along to Kysandra. She was the only person I knew of who might know how to contact Robert. I’m glad it worked out. I would have handled the police situation sooner if I’d heard of it. You should have called sooner.” He turned to Robert and lowered his voice so that the others could not hear. He also switched to the language of the To’Ach’an, which is not widely known among outsiders. “It’s been a long time, my friend. I hear you are finally going into business. You know how I love business. I have been lining up some excellent goods, in the categories your message mentioned. What are we going to be trading for?”
“Mostly exotic plants, I think,” Robert answered. The planet is technologically primitive, but they had some good stock to begin with, and have done a lot of development. There are some really spectacular flowers and a few food plants as well. I’m still studying it, but that looks like the best bet. And what do you mean ‘we?’ I don’t remember any talk of a partnership.”
Jonu chuckled. “I wasn’t sure your new operation had the cash to handle this, so I thought maybe I would supply the goods up front for a percentage of the net. Knowing you, there will be plenty of net to go around. Plants should be a good bet. There’s always a ready market for some new flower. We’ll settle that later. When do you plan to kill Horru?”
“I haven’t even talked to Tovey yet. When I know for sure what happened, then I’ll decide what to do about it. Now, what’s this about ‘plenty of net?’ I’ve never been in business before. You have no idea how I’ll do.”