Shanna

by Bill Nolan

  “How will you get the money? The equipment you’ll need will cost a fortune, not to mention the land and buildings. Are you rich?”

  “No, I’m not rich. I do know some rich people, though, and I think they’ll loan me the money. They paid for me to come here.”

  Ronal thought for a moment. “Who is your patron? Would I know his name?”

  Maria frowned. “You might, but I can’t tell you. I already told you he has forbidden it. I’m sorry, but I will not ever disobey him, not ever.” This topic had come up before, and Ronal was never happy with her answers. He decided to press her a little.

  “He wouldn’t know. I sure wouldn’t tell him. Are you that frightened of him?”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying,” Maria replied. “I’m not afraid of him, at least not the way you mean. Anyway, I would have to tell him, and even if I didn’t, he would know. If I dishonored myself like that, he would know immediately.”

  “Would he punish you? Is that why you’re so afraid of him? What has he done to you?”

  Maria looked thoughtful. “He has never physically punished me, but I am absolutely certain that he would if he thought it necessary. That’s not what I fear. If I dishonor myself, he will be disappointed in me.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and he saw her shudder. “I would rather die by torture.”

  The only problem Maria had was with a girl named Salleth. Her father was some sort of government official on a nearby planet, and she thought her excrement had no odor. She only associated with other people she thought had similar status. The one time Maria had tried to speak to her, Salleth had just ignored her, like she wasn’t even there.

  The trouble was, Salleth wanted to graduate top in the class, but she was in second place. Maria was first. About three weeks before graduation, Maria and Ronal were walking to the café after a late class. Coming up a quiet side street, they were accosted by a man with a plasma blaster. He told Maria that if she graduated first, she would die, and so would Ronal.

  Maria smiled. “Is that so? Why don’t you tell Salleth to study harder? Maybe I’ll tell her myself.” She turned like she was going to say something to Ronal, and her right foot lashed out, breaking the attacker’s wrist and knocking the gun to the ground. She followed up with an all-out attack, hands and knees and feet and elbows working like pistons. In moments, he was lying unconscious on the ground.

  Maria used her belt phone to summon the local police, and they came and put the man under arrest. Maria took the chief inspector aside. “Sir, there is something you should know. I hope you will not spread it around. I am Tovena, and I’m sure someone will be in contact with your department about this man. Do you understand?”

  He assured her that he would keep it to himself, and then he thanked her for her help. Maria made another call to report the incident to a local Tovena she had been told to use as a contact, and then went straight to the administrator of the school and told him what had happened. He sent for Salleth. When she arrived, he said, “Your man threatened Maria tonight. We can’t have this kind of thing.”

  Salleth looked elated. “As you know, my father is a high official. Now this person has made false accusations against me. I demand her expulsion. My father will call you about it in the morning.” Maria just smiled.

  The administrator shook his head sadly. “Salleth, for a bright girl you can be a moron. You really don’t know what you’ve done. First, your man has been arrested, and he is talking freely about you hiring him. Second, I know Maria’s patron, and I was told to treat Maria as though she were his only daughter. I am not at liberty to say who he is, but I will tell you that he is an immensely richer and more powerful man than your father. He will not be pleased when he hears of this, and I suspect that your father will be even more displeased with you. The only reason you aren’t being expelled and arrested is because Maria said not to bother. Now, get out of my office while you are still a student here.”

  The next day, Salleth came up to Maria before a class they had together. “Maria, do you have a moment?” Maria stopped. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know how we got off on the wrong foot. There’s no reason we can’t be friends.”

  Maria shook her head slowly. “I no longer want to be friends, Salleth. I’m just hoping you won’t do something so stupid that it becomes necessary for me to kill you. I will if I have to, and nobody would even consider arresting me for it. Be very careful, and you will survive until graduation. Do I make myself clear?”

  The day before graduation, Ronal and Maria were sitting at their usual table in the café, and Ronal asked, “Will your mysterious patron come to your graduation? I would like to meet him.”

  “Are you sure? Be careful what you wish for,” Maria responded. “Why do you want to meet him?”

  “I want you to marry me, Maria, and I know I will need to ask his permission. If he forbids it, I know you will obey him. Do you mind if I ask him?”

  Maria’s eyes started to tear. “You don’t know me, Ronal. Not really. If you did, you wouldn’t want me. Besides, he won’t come to the graduation. He’s a very busy man.”

  About an hour later, one of the regular customers came into the café very excited. He went right over to Tomal, Ronal’s father. “Guess what? There’s a bunch of To’Ach’an on the street.” The man was white as a sheet, and Ronal saw Maria turn pale as well.

  “Don’t worry, Maria, they won’t come in here, I’m sure, and even if they do, they’re not as bad as people say. You don’t need to be scared.”

  As he spoke, the café door opened and two women came inside. It was Kysandra and Jane, and both were wearing the To’Ach’an jumpsuits. They looked around for a moment, and then started down the stairs. Maria stood up. Ronal grabbed her wrist and hissed, “Sit down, Maria. Just ignore them, and it’ll be OK.”

  The door opened again, and Robert came in, followed by Miko and Chofma. As they came down the stairs, Maria shook off Ronal’s grip and walked toward them. Ronal was the one who was pale now. He said, “Maria, what are you doing?” He jumped up to follow her, which showed considerable courage.

  Maria walked over until she was a pace or so from Robert. Neither had said anything. Suddenly, Maria knelt and said, “Master, I didn’t allow myself to hope you would come. I am joyful, truly joyful. Thank you so much for this honor.”

  Robert reached and took her hand. “Stand up girl. You’ve gotten some bad habits at school. I‘m pretty sure I never taught you to call anyone ‘master,’ and I know I never taught you to kneel.” He pulled her up and hugged her hard. When he let go, Chofma grabbed her in a bear hug and spun her around. Everyone was congratulating her at once.

  When Maria caught her breath, she turned back to Robert. “May I introduce you to my friends?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Maria turned and found Ronal standing with a shocked look on his face. She held out her hand, and he took it. “Ronal, this is my patron, Tocal Robert Allen. Robert, this is Ronal. He wants to talk to you later about something. She went on to introduce the rest of the To’Ach’an and Ronal’s family, along with the other customers she knew.

  When she was done, Robert turned to Tomal and said, “Any chance we can get a table here. I’d like to get some lunch, and I would be honored if you and your son joined us.” Almost instantly, several tables were slid together, and everyone was seated.

  Robert stood. “First, I want to more formally congratulate Maria on her accomplishments. She sits here today a long, hard distance from the place where she started. I am so very proud of her. Maria, here’s to you.” When the applause had died down, Robert went on. “We assumed that there would be parties already planned for tomorrow night, after the graduation ceremony, but, two nights from now, if it doesn’t conflict with anyone’s plans, we are holding a banquet in our ship, Shanna. Everyone here is invited, and if you don’t have transportation, just let us know and it will be arranged. If the time conflicts with anything already set, we will be glad to change it.�
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  When Robert sat down, Tomal stood. “As you all know, my son, Ronal, is also graduating, and we have become very close to Maria in these last months, so we have two people to congratulate and be proud of. Thank you for your kind invitation. I’m sure we will all be honored to accept. We are having a party here tomorrow night, and we hope you can all attend.”

  Maria stood next, and everyone could see she was trembling. “When I first met the To’Ach’an, I was lower than the gutter, swimming in sewage, and I couldn’t see any way out. I started to kill myself once, but I didn’t have the courage to see it through. They didn’t lift me out of that sewer. Instead, they held my hands to steady me while they showed me how to climb out by myself.”

  “Kysandra Nutima taught me where to look for my lost courage, and, even more importantly, my honor. Jane Kjersti and Miko Forlani taught me that friendship doesn’t always ask for anything back. They gave me so much, while I gave them so little in return. In those days, when I looked in a mirror, I saw something ugly, but Chofma Korlar taught me that the mirror was flawed, not me. So many others, who are not here today, taught me similar lessons.”

  “And Robert Allen? He took me in and treated me with respect at a time in my life when I didn't deserve any respect. He taught me how to visualize a certain image of myself and then taught me how to live in a way that made the image become more real every day. Some debts can only be acknowledged; they can never be repaid. Thank you, Robert Allen, for believing in me when I didn’t.”

  Robert had told Maria to invite anyone she wanted to the party. As word got around, there was no question that it was the hot ticket. Everyone wanted a chance to go inside a To’Ach’an ship. Maria and Ronal invited all those who had been even casual friends, and told them their families were also welcome. The graduation ceremony was not long, and the party at Tomal’s café afterward was a really good time. In the early morning, the party just sort of moved to Shanna and continued. Shanna made sure everyone had a place to sleep if desired, and the party continued through the banquet and long into the night.

  About midway through the night, Robert found Maria with a couple of friends. “Maria, could you give me a minute?” He led her aside, and a few steps later Shanna shut the door to a small room. Once they were alone, Robert said, “Ronal found me, and we had a little talk.” Maria’s gasp was clearly audible. “So, do you want to marry him?”

  “I love him so much. I’m just not sure he will be able to love me when he learns more about me. I never told him about myself, not the important stuff. You know what I mean. I never told him about being Tovena, and especially I never told him that I had been a prostitute.”

  Robert shrugged. “Well, I told him. As I suspected, he was upset about what you’d been through, but not put off by it. If anything, knowing what you had to overcome made him see even more clearly how special you really are. Podara talked to him for a while, and she tells me his feelings for you are deep.”

  “I think he must really love you a lot. We asked Leida to flirt with him and she got nowhere. That might be a first for her. If you love him, maybe you should go for it.”

  Unhappy Homecoming

  Kamci had been living in Shanna for almost a year before she had a chance to stop at Torg, the planet where she had been born. During the year, Kamci had really grown into an amazing young woman. She had always been quite pretty: tall, with light brown hair and blue-green eyes. Now she was stunning. Pretty is external, but beauty comes from inside, and she had developed a remarkable self-assurance to go with her pretty features. She had indeed learned how to be brave, and not just for two hours.

  Letha wouldn’t go, but Kamci was determined to visit her parents. There was a message she wanted to deliver. She asked Chofma to come with her to back her up. She knew her parents were probably no threat to her now, but she was learning to view life through the paranoid eyes of the To’Ach’an. Kysandra had taught her to seek not just an advantage, but an overwhelming advantage.

  As she walked down the familiar street, she was struck with how sordid it looked. She thought back, and realized it hadn’t changed much. She knew that she had been the one changed by all that had happened, and it affected her view of her old home town.

  Chofma discretely waited up the street while she knocked at the door of the tiny house where she had grown up. Her mother opened it, and didn’t even recognize her at first. “Hi, mom,” Kamci said quietly.

  “Kamci? Is it really you? Come inside, girl. Joff, it’s Kamci!” She walked into the house. It seemed so small, much smaller than she had remembered, and the furnishings were shabby. Once inside, everybody asked everybody else how they were, and her mother brought glasses of mofa juice.

  Kamci hadn’t come to make small talk. “Why did you sell Letha and me? You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you. Why did you do it? We were your daughters. You had no right.”

  Joff, who had always been short of temper, exploded. “No right? I can do whatever I like with my own children, and don’t you forget it. I did what I thought was best for the family. You’re still my child, and if you don’t learn some respect, I’ll get my belt, and you’ll learn it quick!”

  “That’s right, get your belt, Joff. You were always quick to do that, weren’t you? Well, some things have changed. If you try that now, I’ll injure you. You’re my father, so I probably won’t kill you, but you’ll need a lot of help getting up.” Her words were delivered in a quiet, calm voice, just like she had been taught. Kamci had learned Kysandra’s lessons well during her year in Shanna.

  Her father took his first really good look at Kamci. He didn’t see the scared girl he had expected to see, but he wasn’t about to be intimidated by one of his own children. He stood and advanced toward her. Kamci was sitting on the sofa. Without thought, she kicked up and back, rolling over the back of the sofa and landing on her feet behind it. Sometime during the roll, a pellet gun had appeared in her hand. She wasn’t To’Ach’an, after all, so they did see her move. Neither of her parents had any combat skills, but they weren’t too stupid to recognize the speed and confidence of her motions. Her father stopped dead.

  “What’s the matter, Joff? I’m just a little girl. Come and get it. Tell you what, I’ll put the gun away. Drawing it was just instinct, anyway. I don’t need it.” The pistol disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

  Her mother said, “Kamci, don’t be angry, please. Your father doesn’t mean any harm. He just has a temper. You know that. Please, sit down for a while.”

  Her father’s look softened. “I’m sorry, Kamci. I shouldn’t have threatened you like that. Please, do like your mother said and sit back down. Tell us about what you’ve been up to these past years. How’s your job on the mining world? How’s your sister?”

  “I don’t work for the mining company anymore, and neither does Letha. We have new jobs. We’re Tovena. We work with Robert Allen, and we live in Shanna now.” The names were like physical blows, as she had known they would be. She had seen this reaction many times, and on a lot of worlds. She could see the cold fear start in their gut and creep into their bones. In a few moments, it started to fill their eyes.

  Her father had a florid complexion, but his face was suddenly devoid of color. His mouth opened a couple of times, but nothing came out. Her mother finally broke the silence. “Tovena? That’s not possible. How could that happen?”

  “I would say it was a chance meeting, but Robert says there’s no such thing. Even so, it was the luckiest day of my life. I got into a fight with a distant relative of the Queen, and I was in jail waiting for my trial. Robert and Shanna showed up and helped me.”

  Her father said, “So the Empire is after you? If you’re wanted, they may come here looking for you. What will happen to us then?”

  She shook her head slowly, and tried to remember when she had feared her father. He’d seemed so strong then, and now he was practically whining. Kamci knew that her father hadn’t changed a bit. He just suffered by c
omparison with the truly strong people she knew now. “I don’t know, Joff, and I don’t really care. I lost a lot of my family feeling when you sold me. Did you get something nice with the money? I hope so. I’d hate to think you made a bad deal. You always treated me like pond scum, but Tocal Robert says I’m somebody really special. I think he’s a better judge.”

  “Is the Empire still looking for you?” her mother asked.

  “Like I told you, I’m Tovena now. If anybody bothers me, including the Empire, they’ll have to answer to Robert Allen and the rest of the To’Ach’an. They don’t want to do that. Robert Allen isn’t a man people want to make angry. He’s a good friend, but if you’re looking for an enemy, you should pick someone else.”

  Her mother said, “So, what do you do? I mean, what’s your job?”

  “Like everybody in Shanna, I do a lot of different things, but mostly I go to school. I had a lot of catching up to do. When I’m not studying, I run errands or do whatever needs doing in the ship.”

  Joff spoke up again. “What do you mean, go to school? What are you learning? You went to school before you left, and you knew everything a woman needs to know.”

  “I speak a dozen or so languages now, and I can fly a skipper. I study combat, and law, and business. We learn a lot about ethics, and history, and lots of math. I like business a lot. Jonu is teaching me, and I think maybe that’s what I want to be my specialty. I’m learning a lot about buying property.”

  “Property?” Joth snorted. “How are you going to buy property? You don’t have any money. It takes money to invest in property.”

  “You know,” Kamci answered, “you’re a negative guy. You’re always looking for reasons why something won’t work, aren’t you. Well, you’re right. I don’t have much money right now, but I have friends with a lot of money. I have friends with more money than anyone on this planet – actually, I have several friends with more money than everyone on this planet put together. My friends trust me, and I trust them. When I need money, I won’t have any trouble getting it.”