Showdown on the Planet of the Slavers

by Helena Puumala

  “But he managed to revive in time to deal with Xoraya’s heat?” Arya asked with a chuckle.

  “The local Nature Spirits helped with that,” Kati responded. “One of the reasons why I think they played a part in bringing about the Family Hsiss’ happy event.”

  “Do the Xeonsaurs of Xeon know about it? Does anybody know what their reaction is to it?”

  “I think that Xanthus probably has informed his family of the situation,” Mikal replied, grinning. “Maybe the Xeon Council will have to moderate their isolationist stance, perhaps even agree to an Xeonsaur ambassadorial presence at the Star Federation Space Station.”

  “Well, the galaxy is certainly changing,” Arya commented. “And your Team seems to have been in the middle of the changes.”

  Max, Ciela, and Shyla were eyeing the Lamanian woman curiously. Max and Ciela knew, Kati was sure, that very few Lamanians were willing to travel in space, farther than the Space Station in orbit around their planet. Arya was one of those who were willing, just as Mikal’s mother was, although the latter did not do much travelling these days, busy as she and her second husband (whose attitude to space travel was closer to the Lamanian norm) were with their vineyard, and winery.

  “So the Watcher extricated himself before the tedious judiciary process has even begun,” Mikal sighed. “He would have been an interesting witness for the defence.”

  “I’ve been told that the Watchers always disappear as soon as what they’re guiding you through has been accomplished,” Arya said. “According to the addenda to the history books—not the official lore, of course—there were more than one of them around during The Node War. And as soon as the situation was resolved they were gone like puffs of smoke.”

  “Well, I’m certainly willing to come and put my two cents into your story, Mikal,” Max said heartily. “It won’t be worth as much as Llon’s word would have been, of course, but it’ll be something.”

  “I’ll be there, too,” said Chrysalia in a subdued tone.

  She seemed less energetic than she had been before, as if the success of her mission had drained her somehow.

  “Llon, before he disappeared, insisted that I go and explain what I did, and why, at your trial, Mikal. So he didn’t leave you high and dry. Nor Lank; after all what Lank did, he did at my insistence.”

  “What exactly did he do?” Arya asked. “There does seem to be a small mystery here, at least to someone freshly arrived in Strone from Lamania. I gather that Xanthus yanked The Spacebird out of the way of the blast that the other ship directed at it by time-shifting it a few seconds, but how did a tiny Free Trader ship disable the bigger vessel, and manage to kill its crew?”

  “A friend at Space Station Qupar, where we bought the original Spacebird, taught me a manoeuvre which she said that Free Traders in really deep shit sometimes used to deal with bigger ships that threatened them,” Lank answered. “It only works if there’s only one enemy ship, and it’s not a war ship, and you get only one crack at it. It just happened to be perfect for our situation.”

  He glanced at Chrysalia as he finished speaking.

  “I insisted that he target the life support system, and not the engines,” Chrysalia said. “I could have handled Gorsh and his wife living to face trial, but Chrush—my Elders had told me to see him dead. They didn’t—and neither did I—want to face the possibility that he would somehow manage to worm his way out of things, and start his unnatural life anew. And I think that it was what Llon was here for, too, to see Chrush finally leave our reality, after much too long a lifetime.”

  “He was at the heart of the darkness we were dealing with, more so even than Gorsh and Milla were,” Kati said quietly. “Those two were just greedy, selfish, and thoughtless. Chrush was twisted, and he was twisting the others out of shape, too.”

  “As well as reality itself, including time and space,” added Mikal. “Not that I can completely denounce what happened, since it brought an amazing woman into my life.”

  He slid an arm around Kati’s waist.

  Arya grinned impishly at him.

  “There are a few of us in the office who are very grateful for her existence in your life, Agent Mikal r’ma Trodden,” she said. “How we would have lived with your snits, and your blue moods, if you hadn’t found her, I don’t know!”

  “Was I that bad?” he asked her.

  “Worse. Just ask Maryse.”

  She didn’t seem annoyed, though, and Mikal did not appear offended. Kati could tell from the tone of Mikal’s thoughts that this was part of the normal banter and needling that went on around Maryse’s domain. She slid a hand into his, and gave it a squeeze.

  *****

  Xoraya, when she and Xanthus emerged from their confinement in the VIP suite in the third-best hotel in Salamanka, was not quite the same Xeonsaur woman that she had been earlier. There was something dreamy and soft in her eyes, and her figure had begun to swell around the middle.

  She and Xanthus came to Strone, where most of the Federation Officials were headquartering, hoping to discuss arrangements for the egg-laying that Xoraya would be doing soon.

  “When will this be happening?” Kati asked anxiously, eyeing the Lizard-woman’s growing girth.

  “It’ll begin in about three weeks,” Xoraya sighed. “And in the meantime I’ll be eating food by the shovelful. I’m not going to be a pretty sight, I’m afraid.”

  “What do you need for the eggs?” Kati was quite concerned.

  “Hot sand. And, after the first few days, help with turning the eggs over. I’ll be able to manage when there’s only an egg, or a few, but there will be an egg coming every day, for about two dozen days. I’m going to be too clumsy to tramp around the hot sand, turning them all, and they do have to be turned, at least once a day, preferably twice.”

  “Two dozen!” Kati nearly choked. “How can any mother manage two dozen babies, even if they’re eggs to begin with?”

  “Don’t forget that she does this only once every hundred years, or so,” pointed out Xanthus who was keeping a watchful eye on his wife.

  “If we were home on Xeon, there would be plenty of youngsters to help with the eggs,” explained Xoraya. “Women go to designated birthing sands in the desert to lay their eggs, and there are always young ones from other, earlier litters, about, to help with the eggs and the hatchlings.”

  “But there’s no way you are going to get home to Xeon in three weeks,” said Kati. “Not even in a Cruiser.”

  “There are sandy deserts on Shelonia, one of which might do,” Xoraya said. “I remember thinking of that, for some reason when I was studying the Star Federation, and its founding planets. Shelonia has a quite the variety of climactic areas, and there are some extensive deserts near the equator. I saw images of them, and there were places that looked perfect for hatching grounds, and I wondered if there were creatures on the planet which use them for that.”

  “We’ll have to contact Master Healer Vorlund and Federation President Vascorn,” Kati said. “If you’re right about the Shelonian deserts, then the only problem left is the one of the helpers....”

  Her voice trailed off.

  “I wonder,” she resumed. “I’ll have to talk to Murra about this.”

  She got up from the outdoor cafe table at which she, Xoraya, Xanthus, Cassi and Jaqui had been passing the time.

  *****

  The children were definitely enjoying themselves at the Lordz household. Sammas and the staff were encouraging them to spend time in the sun, in the garden, after hearing how they had been kept confined in windowless rooms during their captivity. Max and Sammas had taken them all to a Healing Centre on their arrival in Strone, as a precaution, even though Kati, talented as she was, had assured everyone that the boys had suffered no serious harm. They were well-behaved, cooperative youngsters, and the Lordz household staff had had no problems with them, in spite of the language difficulties, especially since Lume spoke fluent Waywardian, and Murra spent a lot of time with th
em. Thus, Kati was not needed at the Lordz house all the time, though she did spend many hours there.

  She now went to search for Murra at Max’s property, and found him in the garden, with several of the youngsters. The littlest ones adored Kati and the ones in the garden surrounded her as soon as she arrived, asking if she’d sing to them, and crowding close for hugs that they knew Kati would freely dispense.

  “I’m here to have a little discussion with Murra, dear hearts,” Kati told the boys, and, as was their custom when requested to leave an older person alone, the lads, after quick hugs, left to resume whatever activity had been keeping them busy.

  Kati and Murra had their conversation mentally; that way they were less likely to be interrupted—except perhaps by the ever-present Granda.

  “Xoraya is going to start laying eggs in about three weeks, she says,” Kati began.

  Murra giggled aloud; it was an adolescent giggle.

  “She thinks that there may well be places on the planet Shelonia which would serve as hatching grounds. Hot, sunny, sandy deserts,” Kati continued.

  “We had those on my home world,” Murra subvocalized. “The training of the Adepts like myself, involved spending some time meditating in the desert environment. It was quite refreshing—as long as we had water.”

  “Do you think that these boys could handle that sort of an environment—assuming that water is provided?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Murra’s brows rose. “Ah, I see. Xoraya needs help with her eggs, right?”

  “She said that there would eventually be about two dozen of them, and they need to be turned over at least once every day, and preferably twice, until they hatch. Come to think, I didn’t ask her how long it would be before they hatched, but she’s getting pretty unwieldy physically, so running around in the sand, turning over eggs, would be a bit much for her, after a few days—I think she lays an egg a day. She said that on Xeon, there are usually youngsters around to help with the egg turning, so it occurred to me....”

  “That if the boys are willing, they’d be just the egg-turners needed!” Murra finished for her.

  He burst out laughing.

  “Kati, this is great,” he said out loud. “I know the boys won’t say no, and I’ll go with them. Maybe I’ll get to meet this Master Healer Vorlund you have talked about; maybe he’ll come and visit Xoraya and her eggs. And maybe I can persuade him to give me a few lessons in healing!”

  “And since Xoraya has become very maternal since her body became an egg-incubator, she and the boys will adore each other!” Kati finished.

  “Oh excellent!” said Xanthus when Kati returned to him and Xoraya with the plan. “That way I can start with those boys my job of allowing every one of the snatchees to contact a loved one, to reassure him or her. I intend to do that, with Xoraya’s help whenever she feels up to helping, for every one of you who were taken from home against your will. I regret that I can’t return anyone home physically, but some things just cannot be done, not even to right a wrong. But at least we can let a relative know that the abductees did not die cruelly, but were eventually freed, and have come to enjoy life.”

  *****

  The Strone Space Port began to seem like a busy place as more Federation ships arrived with officials who were keen to help the Waywardians arrange their affairs to include active Federation membership. Travel on planet increased, too, as the officials of the Continent Sud were consulted, along with the various smaller polities on the archipelago which amounted to the third, if broken, landmass of the planet. The Great Council Members of the Continent Nord were excited by the developments, but most of them, including President Naez, tried very hard to not willy-nilly take over the talks with the Star Federation. As Marna Naez said, they were all too familiar with the mentality that simply assumed that certain people were the right ones to be making decisions for everyone else, and “we certainly don’t want to repeat that mistake”. She was determined that any jurisdiction which wanted a say in the developments should at least be heard, even if not everyone’s pet projects could be accommodated.

  The Institute which schooled the Shamans, and watched over the Wise Women who passed their knowledge on through an apprentice system, deigned to come out of the isolationist stance it had adopted during the worst follies of the Council of the Families, and offered the guidance of its Elders to the Great Council, as well as to the planned Planetary Council. Marna Naez sniffed a little at this.

  “Their input would have been useful in the past,” she said, “but they chose to keep to themselves, and wait for the population to rise up, and change the status quo, before offering to participate, and to help. But I’ll not make an issue of it. Better that they join us late than never.”

  “Good on you, President Naez,” Mikal who happened to be present for the conversation which was taking place in Max Lordz’s always hospitable house, said. “It’s better to focus on future co-operation than on past follies. I think that you’ll find that your Planetary Council will work very well if you keep to an attitude like that. And, who knows, the Shamanic Elders might have plenty of useful ideas. Certainly the Wise Woman Seleni, who I grew to know very well during the struggle against Gorsh, is a remarkably capable and astute woman.

  “By the way, whatever happened to that disgusting fraud of a Mage, Mosse, that Gorsh had in the Citadel cellar abusing young girls when I was kept under mind-tangler in there? Does anyone know?”

  “Gorsh’s Overseer had him whipped for letting you escape,” Jaqui, usually quiet these days, replied with a shudder. “Last I heard, he was in the infirmary, but that was before the Citadel fell. I suppose that he was ferried to the Healing Centre in south Salamanka with the other patients.”

  Marna Naez grinned wickedly.

  “I’ll ask the Shaman Elders to look into him,” she said. “If he was calling himself a Mage, he must have spent at least a little bit of time at the School. If he needs disciplining, the Shamans are the ones to do it.”

  “He needs disciplining,” Mikal stated flatly. “When I was down there I would have liked to have done a little work on him myself, but, lucky for him, I was out of body, and couldn’t vent my anger physically.”

  He saw that Arya was staring at him, looking slightly shocked.

  “Sorry, Arya,” he said to her, “but what he was doing was seriously sick, and hurtful. To the girl slaves that Gorsh gave him to entertain himself with.”

  “Not nearly as sick as what Chrush was doing,” Chrysalia muttered.

  “It has been a bad scene all around,” Kati said, certain that the scab-picking which seemed to have begun happening, had to be ruthlessly cut off for the sake of everyone’s mental health. “But it’s over. The Citadel is gone, and the pixies are helping to create a garden on the site. Chrush, Gorsh and Milla have passed into the Shadowland, there, hopefully, to be reclaimed into useful eternal existence by Llon and his fellow Guides of the Fiddlers’ Green.”

  “Kati and Mikal,” Chrysalia said, getting up. “Would you, with your strong ESP talents help me contact my mentor on Crystoloria? I need to report, and I also want to request that one of our Elders agrees to come to the Star Federation Space Station for Mikal’s trial. They know a lot more of the details of Chrush’s history and exile than I’m capable of absorbing. And, believe me, Chrush’s past history is relevant to this matter.”

  “We’ll go into the garden, if no-one minds,” Kati said, also getting up. “We can call on the Planetary Spirits for help, there.”

  “If you need someone to ferry you to Crystoloria and back, Chrysalia,” Lank piped up, “I’m sure that Ciela and I can do it. Always assuming we’re allowed to use The Spacebird Two to do so.”

  Mikal was on his feet, too.

  “You want to travel across the empty spaces of the galaxy in a little Free Trader ship, Lank, all I can say is: better you than me,” he said. “Now that I’ve almost got used to the idea, I’m quite looking forward to inviting Kati to move into my spacious q
uarters in The Second City of Lamania, after kicking Rakil and Roxanna out from there. It’ll be lovely to not go any farther from home than the Federation Space Station in the Lamanian orbit.”

  “Hah,” said Arya. “Kati, don’t expect this mood to last too long! He’ll be getting antsy within a half-year, mark my words!”

  “I’ll enjoy it while it lasts,” said Kati, keeping a firm hold on Mikal’s hand as she headed for the glass doors leading into the garden. “And we’ll deal with the next phase when it comes.”

  *****

  Lank and Ciela took it upon themselves to do a thorough overhaul of The Spacebird Two while Mikal and Arya, with an assortment of Federation officials, and the owner, went through Xanthus’s ship in the neighbouring berth. Occasionally one or another of them would come over to ask Lank questions, wanting him to explain something to them about the shape the ship was in, or how he had managed to disable it.

  “That was a neat trick destroying the life support system,” a member of the SFPO Corps with decades of piloting experience said at one point. “I’d never heard of it before. Mind you, I know a few Free Traders, but none of them well enough that they’d have told me any secrets.”

  “Not even all the Free Traders know about the trick, is what I understand,” Mikal explained. “Darla, at the Qupar Space Station, who was the one who taught Lank the manoeuvre, had done some pretty dangerous fetching and carrying in her days as a Free Trader, so she probably had the need to know it.”

  The three bodies had been examined by a Medical Officer, and sealed into containers designed to prevent decomposition, since they would be used as evidence at Mikal’s trial for dereliction of duty. He had been allowed to view the remains through the transparent wrapping and felt better about the affair after that. Chrush’s body looked like it might have been dead for years, animated only by a spirit that had been so afraid to die that it had been willing to do anything at all to stave off the inevitability. Gorsh and Milla were a more ambiguous duo, but it was hard not to remember that they had done a lot of damage in their greed, and desire to empire-build. They had enslaved children, helped Chrush to procure innocents for his unspeakable rituals, and Gorsh had imprisoned two Xeonsaurs, one of them for years, insisting on his help to cross timelines and huge expanses of extra-galactic space at will.