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  "Enter and be welcome. Sit," the slave ordered.

  Sahn entered ahead of Gaf, and sat down. Gaf sat beside her and they made a circle.

  "This is my uncle," Gaf pointed out, "he's Tog, leader of the rebellion. His is the only name that may be spoken here. He's already declared himself an enemy to Iskol, and is a wanted slave. If he's captured, he'll be killed."

  "You tricked me into coming here, Gaf."

  "Child, I remind you, we don't speak names here."

  "It's alright, Uncle. I now, am also a wanted slave."

  "What?" Sahn was agape, looking at Gaf.

  "It's true. They know who I am. I've been hiding here ever since the night I killed the patroller. I risked my life going to our old meeting place, tonight."

  "Then—what Kima said—you killed him on purpose."

  "Yes."

  "But why, when you could have as easily throttled him."

  "One dead patroller now is one less to kill later," Gaf said, grimly.

  "We're not here to discuss this," the other slave interrupted.

  "He's right," Tog agreed, "there are more important matters at hand. We'd heard rumors that the Chosen One had left our world for a time, but now has returned. Do you know about this?"

  Now, they were referring to the new off-worlder as the 'Chosen One', no less, and Sahn grew even more fearful for her life. She knew the new off-worlder had returned, but now wondered whether she should play along with their game, adding fuel to their fire of insanity.

  "Well?"

  "The new off-worlder returned yesterday."

  Tog seemed to recognize her refute of the Chosen One's holiness, and allowed it. This calmed her considerably.

  "We must contact Him."

  "That's impossible."

  "Nonetheless, we must."

  "He's guarded, night and day. No slave would be allowed to get near him."

  "You've been near Him."

  "I've served him food and drink. To do more would mean death to me."

  "You must help us arrange a meeting with Him."

  "But how? I can't speak to him."

  "Give Him this." Tog pulled out a reader disc and handed it to her. She examined it closely and fingered it, recognizing what it was.

  "What does it say?"

  "Do you want to know?"

  She thought for a moment, "No."

  "All you have to do, is give it to Him, but no one else must see it."

  "What if someone does?"

  "Be certain no one does."

  "But why me, why not someone else?"

  "My nephew says we can trust you. You're our only connection to the Imperial Palace."

  "What about those others, the ones who told you the off-worlder had returned?"

  "They're only loud-mouthed braggarts. If they're loud-mouthed outside, then they'll be loud-mouthed inside, and our concealment would be ruined. You're the only one who can help us."

  The little disc she held between her fingers, again, attracted Sahn’s attention. They sat there quietly, as she contemplated what she would do. She decided she would play along for now, until she was safely away. But when she returned to the palace, she would destroy the disc, throw away the pieces, and never leave the palace again. She would follow her father's advice from this day forward, and spend more time learning to enjoy the safe company of the other Imperial slaves. She would keep the secret of this place, and hopefully, these slaves would expect no more of her.

  "Alright, I'll do it," she lied.

  The other three slaves sighed as though they had been holding their breaths.

  "But only if I'm never asked to do this again."

  "Agreed," Tog said.

  "I have to get back soon. If I'm out too late I'll be punished."

  "Don't worry about that, we'll get you back in plenty of time. We don't want you attracting attention to yourself by being out late. If you're caught with that disc, there'll be terrible consequences—and not just for you."

  The small meeting concluded. Gaf led her through some more tunnels and then up another ladder. She guessed they were not returning by the same way they came, and when she reached the surface, she had guessed rightly. As she emerged from the hole, she found herself surrounded by trees, and her friends were standing a little ways off. Gaf whispered into her ear.

  "I can't go with you, you know why. He'll help you get back to the city," he said, pointing at another unfamiliar slave that was standing next to her friends. "Go now. Uunta protect you."

  She looked at him for a moment, turned and walked towards her friends, then she stopped and turned around to say something, but he was gone, as was the hole she had emerged from.

  The rebel slave escorted her and her friends back to the tram terminal and got on one of the trams, motioning them to follow. They boarded two more trams after that and were eventually back where they started.

  No words passed between them as they made their way back. Sahn wondered what had been done or said to her friends to make them so quiet. They were all so cooperative but also gravely sober.

  The other slave motioned them off of the tram, while he remained aboard. The tram left and they remained standing there. Again, no words passed between them, as they seemingly ignored her.

  Her tram was the first to arrive, and she boarded it. The doors closed, and as the tram moved away from the terminal, she looked out the window at her friends. None looked back. It was as though she had never known them. Why had they now abandoned her so easily, she wondered. Even Gelk, her male-friend, acted like she was a total stranger. What had they done to him?

  She arrived at the Imperial Palace terminal just in time for the night curfew. A little bit longer, and she would have been late. Arriving at her father's apartment, she went in and walked past him towards her sleeproom not speaking a word. In her room, she closed her door, and sat at her dressing table. She pulled out the reader disc, and looked at it again. It looked different now, in proper light, but her plan remained the same.

  The whole evening was like a horrible nightmare that had not really happened—could not have really happened. For a moment, she even tried to pretend that it had not, but the proof of it remained relentlessly grasped between her fingers. She had to destroy the disc and get rid of the remains before she was caught with it.

  But first, she would go out to her father, and apologize for being such an uncooperative child, and promise to follow his advice from now on. It occurred to her that when she came in, the holographic viewer had been off, but her father had been staring at it. And usually he greeted her when she came in, but he did not. And she had not thought to greet him. She hid the disc in her dressing table and went into the family room. He was still sitting there gazing at nothing. She kneeled beside his chair and looked at his face. His eyes remained fixed upon nothing. She touched his arm.

  "Father?"

  He slowly pulled his eyes away from the nothing he had been staring at, and focused upon Sahn with a gaze that pierced her soul. It was the gaze of sadness and loss.

  "What's the matter, Father?"

  "Sahn… Tam…" nothing followed, but his eyes told her something bad was to follow.

  "What Father? What about Tam?" she asked, slowly suspecting that something horrible had happened.

  "She's…" he looked at Sahn, grief stricken.

  "Father? What is it?"

  "Tam… is dead."

  She fell to her haunches, as her world became surreal. In a few moments, the shock set in. How many times, Tam had saved her, covered for her and comforted her. Tam was an institution by herself among the Imperial Slaves, respected and loved, a matriarch in her own right. Tam helped Panc to raise Sahn, sat with Sahn when Panc could not be around, because Sahn had no mother. When no one else would come, Tam would. And now she realized she had so selfishly taken Tam for granted. Tam was a "known" in Sahn's life, a rock to cling to when all other things failed. Dead. No, she did not believe it. Dead? Tears streamed down her cheeks.


  "How Father?" she asked.

  Panc paused for a moment, "The Emperor. He had another fit. It wasn't even her fault. But… she was there." He was staring at nothing again.

  "What happened?"

  "He just kept beating her… and he wouldn't stop. She was bowing to him, on the floor, just taking it and taking it. We waited for him to stop. But he didn't. He beat her and beat her. And when he finally stopped, she just… laid there, still bowing, face on the floor. He ordered her to get up, but she defied him. She was dead."

  Sahn was sobbing now, and could not take anymore. She ran back to her room and threw herself on her cot, face down, still sobbing loudly. She cried until she had no more tears to cry. Tam had been close to retirement. Her record was probably the finest of all the Imperial slaves. She would have retired with a good bonus and a comfortable stipend. But now she was dead. Sahn cried herself to sleep.

  Sometime later, she awoke. Her bed covers had been pulled over her, her light was turned out and her door was closed. It was not time for her to awaken yet—very early in the morning, in fact. She threw her covering off and went to her dressing table, her eyes still red from crying. Sitting down, she took out the little disc given her the evening before, and looked at it again. She allowed a new resolve to build within her. And she prayed, and hoped.

  "Uunta," she whispered, "I pray He is the One."

  ~

  Frank was getting tired of the dinner-receptions. He had not been on the planet for a week, and he was attending a third one. Lord Traaka explained that new emissaries had arrived, and were to be greeted and welcomed. It was pretty much the same routine. First, there would be drinks and lots of chatter, then dinner, and then more drinks and more chatter. It was the usual formal occasion, and Frank wore his usual formal 'Captain's' uniform. He found his favorite ambassador, Rofful of Eldews, standing alone, and joined him for a chat.

  ~

  Panc sensed Sahn's nervousness and wondered what was wrong with her.

  "Be calm, child, what's the matter?"

  "Nothing, Father," she lied, "I have to serve the drinks, now."

  She picked up the tray holding the drinks and dropped the disc into the one she would give the new off-worlder, making sure no one saw her. The tightening of her muscles built. Her father had sensed her tenseness, and that meant she was not hiding it very well, which in turn, caused her to be even more nervous. No mistakes, she thought to herself, NO mistakes.

  She carefully carried the tray into the reception room, promptly spotted the new off-worlder and headed his direction, keeping her eyes to the floor. Not a third of the way across the floor, she was stopped. She held the tray out for the emissary. Her heart stopped when he picked up the drink intended for the new off-worlder. The emissary looked into the glass, sniffed it, and placed it back on the tray, found another drink, did the same, and kept that one. She breathed again, but now her heart was racing.

  The heel of her foot caught on the floor, and she almost lost balance, Balance! I've never tripped before!, she thought. Courage, courage, a few more moments, and the deed would be done. She closed on him, and was stopped again. A drink was removed. Not the 'one'—okay. There, here! She rotated the tray, placing the drink near his grasp. She watched the hand reach, then back away. He was engrossed in conversation, speaking fluent Iskolian. Eyes on the floor, she focused every effort on remaining calm and composed. Take the drink! she begged him, in her thoughts. Finally, he picked up the glass. Relief!

  She breathed again, turned and headed back to the service room. Then, the most amazing thing happened. She lost her footing. This can't happen, she thought. She caught herself, but it was too late. She watched in slow motion as the one drink fell off of the tray, crashing to the floor and smashing to pieces. The one glass having gone off the tray, caused it to be out of balance, so the rest of the glasses went the other way, also crashing to the floor and splintering into thousands of pieces. The entire room became quiet, and the shock of it ran through her like fire.

  She lifted her eyes to see that she was the focus of attention in the room. Dazed, she looked toward the service entrance, and saw her father standing there, in shock. She dropped to her knees, and folded into the fetal position, forehead to the floor, and waited for the inevitable. She hoped it would end quickly.

  ~

  Frank had just been served his first drink of the evening, and was talking with Ambassador Rofful, when a horrible crashing noise filled the room. Both he and the ambassador turned in time to see more of the glass-like containers fall off of the serving tray that the slave was carrying.

  Then the creature balled itself up on the floor, and stayed there, as though waiting for something to happen.

  "That poor slave must be in a lot of trouble," Frank commented.

  "That poor slave won't be alive by the end of this reception," Ambassador Rofful answered.

  "What? They'd kill it for dropping a few dishes?"

  The Emperor was now approaching the slave, "Guards!" he called out.

  "If it’s lucky, it'll die a quick death."

  "You are certain? Is this so?"

  "Of course," the ambassador said, matter-of-factly.

  "This must not happen. Pardon me," Frank said as he walked over to the Emperor where he stood over the slave.

  Guards walked into the reception room and were closing on the slave and the Emperor.

  "Your Majesty?" Frank interrupted, and he sensed the Emperor was infuriated by the slave's ineptitude.

  "Friend, Frank Jameson. Please forgive this terrible interruption. How can I make this up to you?" he said in a friendly tone.

  "Your Majesty, I wish to thank you for your gracious hospitality. I am most grateful, and I assure you, that this minor dropping of dishes does not disturb me. If it wouldn't be too ungrateful, I wish to make a special request of you, this evening, bearing in mind that I've never asked for anything before."

  "Ask, Frank Jameson. I wish only to make your stay here pleasant."

  "I wish to intercede on behalf of this slave, if I may, and ask that you spare its life."

  The Emperor grimaced, momentarily, and then the three were the focal point of the entire reception. "Why do you wish to intercede for this animal?"

  "On my home world, we protect even animals when we can. It grieves me to know this creature would die for what my people would view as a minor infraction."

  "This would cause you pain?"

  "In my soul, your Majesty." Frank replied.

  "Frank Jameson, I make it a gift, to you. This slave is no longer useful to me. You may do with it as you wish. I seek only to please my guests," the Emperor pronounced with a smile.

  The guards were still standing over the slave, ready to carry it off. The Emperor sent them away.

  ~

  Panc watched at the service entrance in shocked disbelief at the exchange that had just taken place. The off-worlder had just saved his only child's life. What power does he wield to cause such a thing? he wondered.

  ~

  Sahn lay on the floor, balled up in the fetal position, waiting for the guards to take her to her death. But now her mind buzzed with terror and happiness—she did not know which. The new off-worlder, no… no, the Chosen One had spared her life. Truly he was the Chosen One. She would not believe any of them before, but the proof of his power was before her. No other being could have done this. He was not the savior of just her people, he was her personal savior. He had saved her life.

  But now what kind of life would she have, on a foreign world, never to see her father or friends, again. She was even likely never to see another Relmish person again. The emperor has walked away, but the Chosen One stands over me, she thought.

  A hand touched her on the shoulder, a cold, unfeeling hand, as though it were metal. She rose to her knees, eyes to the floor.

  "Look at me," Frank said.

  She raised her eyes to look at him, cowering, as she did so. They locked eyes.

  "You're free,"
he said.

  A storm raged through her as the impact of the words sent her mind spinning. In a moment, she had been pulled from death's grasp and replanted—roots gone. The world was closing in on her and her sight dimmed. Her heart pounded and her head was on fire. Then she thought for a moment, and realized that there was no such thing as freedom for her. There was nowhere for her to go. Even on Relm, she would be hunted.

  "No, I am your slave," she said, quivering, "I wish to serve you. I beg you."

  Frank was taken aback by this. He did not understand why the slave was talking this way. But the middle of a formal reception was not a good place or time to talk about it.

  "Go to the entrance of the reception room. There, my servant will guide you to my suite. Get some rest. In the morning we’ll talk."

  Sahn did as she was told, eyes to the floor, more in shame than anything else. She made her way to the large doors, but in the hallway the guards stopped her and ripped away the imperial insignias showing her to be of high order among slaves. One of the guards lifted his slavestinger to strike her with it. She flinched as it bore down to strike her. But the slavestinger smashed to bits as the blow landed against a solid arm of… something.

  "My master has directed me to protect this being," the voice of the 'something' was deep and powerful, with an air of perfect authority. The thing that saved her from the blow was menacingly large and unforgiving. It exuded restrained power.

  Sahn watched the guard back away and saw fear in his eyes, as he gazed at the giant.

  "Thank you," the giant said, then turned to Sahn and said, "My master wishes that you return with me, to his suite. You are under his protection, and now, mine. Come with me, please."

  The voice of this thing was overpowering. She could not have disobeyed if she wanted to.

  The two rode a hover-car to Frank's suite. She had never been on an imperial hover-car before, and in fact, only rarely had ever seen one. She arrived at the suite, and was awed at the luxury afforded the Imperial guests.

  "Please be seated," the thing ordered.