On Assignment to the Planet of the Exalted

by Helena Puumala

“Oh, yes. Mycha sent Vic to him as soon as we arrived. And since Vic will have told him that I’m leading the pack, he’ll know to look for us here.”

  There was a commotion at the back of the hall, as a door, a short distance from the dining area, crashed open to spill out four people. All eyes turned towards them, including those of Lank who had just placed a mug under the beer keg spout. Kati enhanced her sight to scrutinize them. There was Vic from the outdoor crew, and next to him, a young, scowling Vultairian male. Kati briefly wondered about the scowl, but forgot it as her eyes fell on the middle-aged man beside the young one, a man who looked kindly and competent, and worldly and contained, all at once. This had to be Jorun of whom Hector Carmaks had spoken with such admiration! He was the leader of this faction of the Underground Movement, respected and beloved by all. On his other side, close to him, and apparently under his protection, was what Kati at first took to be an unusually dark-skinned Vultairian girl-child; then with a shock she realized that this was not so! She was an off-worlder, and a young woman—hadn’t Santha mentioned that there was a short off-Worlder at the Base? With another shock Kati realized that she knew the face—or, more correctly, that the Granda had a version of it in its memory, and easily correlated it with this one! Kati’s backside thumped onto the chair seat from which she could not recall having raised it.

  She stood up, staring at Roxanna, her heart aching to see the changes in the teenager that she had left behind on Gorsh’s ship so long ago. She drew a deep breath, vaguely aware that her companions from Lamania were now eyeing her with concern.

  “Roxanna!” she cried, her voice slightly hoarse. “Is it really you?”

  The short woman stopped, bringing her companions to a halt with her. The middle-aged man placed a protective hand on her shoulder, while she directed her gaze on Kati who was acutely aware that she had changed a lot, too. Then:

  “My God! Katie, it is you!”

  Roxanna broke into a run, leaving the men behind, and Kati opened her arms to her. Tears ran down Roxanna’s face as she ran into those arms! Kati’s own eyes watered as she hugged the gaunt body which had been nicely rounded when she had last seen it.

  “It’s so good to see you!” Roxanna said, her voice shaky. “I’ve been so afraid that maybe you didn’t make it—that maybe you had died trying to escape!”

  Kati patted Roxanna on the back while swallowing the lump in her throat.

  “I survived—we survived—the worst that Gorsh’s minions could throw at us,” she said. “But I’m sorry that it took so long—it took nearly a year for Mikal and me to make it off the Drowned World—the planet where we escaped from Groh’s ship!”

  “They were determined to get you back! Even we, locked up in that room, heard the rumours...,” Roxanna stopped speaking and Kati held her more tightly.

  She drew a deep breath.

  “What of Murra?” she asked. She had to know, no matter how bad it was. She was the one who had left him behind—not that she had had any real choice—with knowledge of the escape in his head. “Did they tear him apart?”

  Roxanna stiffened.

  “They likely would have,” she answered, “if it hadn’t been for that Lizard-man, Xeonsaur, who, I gather, also helped you. He was starting to have some control over the effects of the tangle-juice on him. Murra told Ingrid and me that the Xeonsaur had refused to navigate for Gorsh unless he and his minions left Murra alone—but by then they’d already combed through his mind.”

  “Thank God for that small mercy,” Kati said fervently. “I was afraid that I was leaving him behind to face a nasty death—at best. Which is why, by the way, I’m calling myself Kati, Kah-ti, now. It was the only thing I could think to do, to remember him.”

  Roxanna smiled through her tears.

  “Murra would adore that,” she said. “Kati it is.”

  “Hey, if this sweet, sisterly reunion is finished, maybe I can interest you ladies in some excellent beer!”

  Rakil was at Kati’s elbow with two foaming mugs, and the way he was eyeing Roxanna was not precisely brotherly. Which reminded Kati that Roxanna had, on the slave ship, struck her as a very pretty girl, and this older, thinner incarnation was also plenty good to look at.

  She released Roxanna while Rakil pulled a chair out for her and placed one of the mugs in front of it. He then placed the other mug in front of Kati’s seat.

  “You’re angling for an introduction, cousin-to-be,” she said, poking the Borhquan in his massive chest. “Roxanna, meet Rakil of Borhq, cousin to the fellow you and Ingrid nursed through his mind-tangler coma on the slave ship. Rakil’s a member of a Federation Investigative Team, a notable juggler, a reciter of poetry, and a drummer. Rakil, this is Roxanna from my world, one of the slaves on the ship from which Mikal and I escaped. She seems to have made it out, too, and that doesn’t really surprise me.”

  Jorun, Vic and the third man had reached the table, and Kati found herself in the middle of a confused cacophony of questions. Apparently, everyone around her wanted to know exactly what was going on!

  Jorun came to her rescue.

  “All right, everybody, let’s slow down a little,” he said, his hands up in the air. “I gather that Santha has brought the off-world Troupe of entertainers to us. Maybe we can have some introductions. I recognize Santha, of course, and Jock Carmaks—” Jock raised his arm and waved, “—but the others are all new to me, so perhaps we can all tell one another our names. I’ll start, and we’ll go in a circle to my right.

  “Everyone ready? My name is Jorun, and I’m more or less in charge of this Underground Base.”

  “I’m Keros, an Aide to Jorun.”

  “I’m Vic, and I work outdoors, when I’m not needed to run messages.”

  “My name is Kati of Terra, and I’m the Troupe Leader of the Entertainers.”

  “I’m Roxanna of Terra, a runaway slave from the Capital City.” Kati admired Roxanna’s calm efficiency, and that right away she picked up on the “Terra” designation. She definitely was not a typical teen any more—if she had ever been.

  “I’m Rakil of Borhq, a juggler, a reciter, and a drummer, with the Entertainers.”

  So it went. Joaley r’ma Elise identified herself as a resident of Lamania; there was no affection for her world of origin in her. Lank said that he was from Tarangay, via Lamania. Mathilde and Zass said simply that they were from Port City, and Jock claimed Ithcar as a whole as his home territory. Santha said that she was a runner of Bouldertown, and the kitchen workers were simply residents of the Underground Base.

  The workers could not do much more than stop now and then to listen to a bit of the talk; they had the evening meal to prepare for, but no-one forbade them from eavesdropping. The rebels apparently saw no reason to be secretive, here in their own stronghold. Of course, if Jock was right about the superstitious fear that the Exalted had for the forest, there was no need to worry about listening devices.

  Out of curiosity piqued by the Forest Spirit showing her the off-world transmitter, Kati sent the Granda to do a sweep of the premises for electronic bugs and was relieved to have The Monk report that there were none. The Forest Spirit, he also reported, had taken an interest in the sweep, and had let the Granda know that such items did exist in the next town in the direction of the Capital City.

  “Does everyone have his or her choice of refreshment at hand?” Jorun asked. “If not, feel free to snag your mugfuls from the urn or the keg, now or later. I’m sure that the kitchen help will be glad give a hand to anyone who needs one.”

  He turned to Kati.

  “You’re the Troupe Leader of the Entertainers?” he asked her in a mild tone of voice.

  “Yeah.” She grinned at him. “So far, no-one has challenged my claim to the position.”

  Lank, on the other side of the table, choked audibly on a mouthful of pastry.

  “We’re not idiots,” he muttered when he could get words out.

  Jorun laughed out loud.

  “Tha
t sounds like a vote of confidence to me,” he said. “What’s your opinion, Roxanna? You obviously know this Kati, and I have come to respect your judgement.”

  Kati raised her brows at this and nodded. So the Underground Leader had seen what she herself had noted long ago on the slave ship. Roxanna had a sharp intellect and was an accurate assessor of people.

  “On the slave ship Kati took charge of the children when she arrived, and kept it up until she made her escape,” Roxanna said. “I learned a lot from her about managing a roomful of kids who had nothing with which to amuse themselves. The two of us teens who were left on board used all those tricks to keep things going after Katie—Kati—was gone. Plus, she escaped, and now she’s here, in one piece. It doesn’t surprise me to see her in a leadership role.”

  “When Hector Carmaks sent word of your planned arrival here,” Jorun continued, addressing Kati, after a nod of thanks to Roxanna, “his message was such that I guessed that you off-worlders are something a little more than just a Troupe of musicians. He suggested that I would be very interested in talking with you, and that the interest would go both ways.”

  “True. I had a chat or two with Hector,” Kati said with a nod. “The Carmaks seem to be very different from the others of the Exalted class of Vultairians.”

  Jorun smiled.

  “Now there’s an understatement.” He shifted his attention to Jock on the other side of the table. “Did Hector persuade you to join the Troupe?”

  “I didn’t need much persuasion,” Jock replied with a grin. “They needed a rhyele player to take Mathilde’s place, since she will be staying here with her brother Zass—who, by the way, does much besides exist as a Klenser. Hector and Marina suggested that I go, since I could be quite useful in the Capital City, what with my knowledge of it, as well as my status as an Exalted.”

  “He’s a-coming a-slumming, with the off-world Troupe,” Lank interjected in a sing-song tone.

  “I’m looking forward to the slumming,” Jock laughed, “but it so happens that there is much more at stake here than entertaining. But I’ll leave it to Kati to explain about that—I accept her as the Team Leader, even as Mathilde has done during her stint with the Troupe.”

  “Thank you for that,” Kati said, nodding at him with some formality. Turning to Jorun she added:

  “I am going to assume that I can trust everyone here, since you are all part of The Underground, working to free the ordinary Vultairians. The fact that you have given Roxanna asylum speaks in your favour, as well.”

  “I think that I’m speaking for all three of the others of the original Team when I say that harbouring a runaway slave is commendable,” Joaley stated with conviction.

  She glanced at Lank and Rakil, both of whom nodded. “So, know that you have our unqualified support, Kati,” she added.

  “Thanks,” Kati said, turning her attention again to Jorun. “It has come to the attention of the Star Federation Peace Officer Corps, Human Trafficking Division, that Vultairian Exalted Citizens have been buying slaves from the Slave Procurer and Merchant by the name of Gorsh. Slavery, of course, is completely illegal under Federation Law.”

  Jorun snorted.

  “That law has been on the books forever as far as I know, and the Oligarchs have been treating the Klensers like property for just as long, and no-one has ever called them on it,” he said bitterly. “Why would now be any different?”

  Kati sighed.

  “Yeah, that’s what Maryse r’ma Darien told me,” she said. “The politicians on the Star Federation Space Station don’t like to upset anyone’s cart, so they pretend that some things cannot possibly be happening on an old, established Federation World. Besides, it’s her opinion that there have been money and favours passed around, to encourage ignorance. As the Head of the Human Trafficking Division, I think she understands much more about that sort of thing than ‘an Adventuress’ like me possibly can.”

  “’An Adventuress’?” Roxanna interjected.

  Jock grinned.

  “Exalted Citizen Berd Warrion’s term for our Team Leader,” he explained. “She has put it to good use.”

  “In any case, on Lamania, we came across unquestionable proof that at least one Vultairian travelling couple were slave-owners,” Kati continued.

  “Kati came across the proof.” It was Joaley’s turn to interrupt.

  “Thanks to her sojourn on that slave ship,” Lank added.

  “And because she is not a person to stand by in silence while another human being is abused, she called attention to the situation,” Rakil added.

  Kati’s face had turned pink.

  “Let’s not go into those details right now,” she protested. “They’ll keep. What is important is that Maryse, the Head of the Human Trafficking Division of the Federation Peace Officer Corps, saw the incident as her opportunity to demand action. She had suspected for a long time that what was happening on Vultaire was not pretty, but the politicians on the Federation Space Station, including the Star Federation President, had not allowed her to tackle the issue. My recognition of Kerris as someone who had to be a slave, changed that, and she decided to take a two-pronged tack. One, she is, no doubt even as we speak, on the Federation Space Station, arguing for an Official Investigation to be launched into the possibility of slavery being practised on Vultaire. She did warn me that it would be a lengthy process to get that approved—several months of politicking is what she figured that it would take.”

  “There have been Official Investigations by the Federation in the past,” Jorun said curtly. “They went back with no proof of anything.”

  “I know. The Exalted are pretty good at throwing up smoke screens to keep their sins out of sight.” Kati nodded at Jorun. “That’s where we, the Unofficial Investigative Team come in. We, the off-world entertainers, wandering about the continent, singing and playing music—and juggling—can poke our noses into things and places while we’re making a living doing what we like to do. The idea is to scour corners that no Official Investigator would be allowed to look into, and thereby find out stuff that they cannot. So, once the Official group gets here, we’ll get in touch, and ply them with our stories.”

  “They want to know about slavery, they only need to talk to me,” Roxanna said savagely.

  “They’ll talk to you,” Kati promised her. “I’ll make sure of that. Which reminds me—” she turned towards Roxanna, “—do you know how to keep nodal records? I don’t suppose you were taught that on the slave ship, and your node is a fresh one so it may not have the knowledge.”

  “Nodal records?” Roxanna shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean, to be honest. I suppose it has something to do with this,” –she fingered the lump under her left ear—“but I’m not coming up with anything.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll get my old Monk to instruct your node,” Kati told her. “It’s kind of an awkward process—there’s no help for that—since we have to have my node connect with yours, to do it. Remember the connector spot on your left thumb?”

  “Shit. I sure do. They turned my brain inside out, using that spot, on the slave ship after you escaped. Do you have to?”

  “Sorry. Yes, I have to. But there’s no question of emptying your mind; the Granda will give, not take anything away. And, if you’ll note, you didn’t actually lose anything through the slavers’ information grab either. Your node always hangs on to everything; it only gives up copied data, never the original stuff.”

  “That’s true, you know.” Roxanna sounded thoughtful. “Although it sure as hell felt like my insides were being drawn out through my left thumb.”

  “It does, especially the first time it happens,” Kati agreed. “But it does get easier with time. And this cause is worth a bit of discomfort, don’t you think? We’re in the business of exposing and getting rid of slavery.”

  “Well, when you put it that way....” Roxanna laughed a little bit ruefully.

  “Federation Law Courts accept nodal records
as evidence,” Kati explained to Jorun. “That’s one of the reasons why, I don’t doubt, the Exalted quit implanting the Ordinary Citizens with nodes. As Federation citizens you’re entitled to them; did you know that?”

  Jorun stared at her for a moment.

  “You know,” he then said with a slight laugh, “for most of my life I didn’t even know they existed. I believed, along with most of Vultaire’s population, that the Exalted had a genetic advantage, which our ancestors had bred into them in order to create a class of capable leaders. It wasn’t until I came here to run, and expand, the Base operations that I got to know the Carmaks family and was told what it was that gave the Exalted their mental edge.”

  “Someone on this planet must have a vault full of those nodes, if what you, Kati, have been telling us is true,” said Jock. He then turned to speak to the others. “She, and the other off-worlders have told us that the Federation releases enough translation nodes to each of the member planets, to equip every person with one. Yet my father fought to get one for me, and my sister was denied one, because my mother is an Ordinary Citizen. The officials claimed that there were only enough nodes available for one of their two children, and as I was the older child, it was given to me. And even to get that much my father had to be pretty forceful.”

  “My guess is that the vault’s empty,” Kati said. “Where did Gorsh get the nodes he implanted into a whole roomful of slaves? How about this for an answer: those nodes were a payment for at least some of the slaves that have been arriving here?”

  “It’s a plausible explanation,” Jorun agreed. “Although there are anomalies in the Government’s financial records that Roxanna has been unravelling for us, as well. We have been trying to find something that we could use to get the Federation law enforcers to take a look at what is going on here.”

  “Good,” Kati said immediately. “Don’t stop. And once my node has instructed Roxanna’s node in record-keeping, you will be assured of being able to pass on to the Official Investigative Team anything interesting that you come across.”

  “So you’re not planning to take her away from us yet?” Jorun asked with a smile.