Timestar Read online

  "There are none that can travel faster?" Frank asked, innocently.

  "There are old legends—old tales of the Shadow Ships. Such tales are older than most races. They tell stories of great and terrible wars between powerful enemies with ships of terrible power, capable of enormous velocities. It was said that the masters of the Shadow Ships, called Shadow Riders, had mastered time itself, and could travel from one end of the galaxy to the other in only moments. But those are old stories that no one believes today."

  Frank looked around and noticed one of the slaves, looked away, and looked back realizing that the slave was not only staring at him, but also making direct eye contact. For a moment, they locked gazes and then the slave, comprehending its situation, looked down to avoid eye contact altogether. Frank looked back at the ambassador, who seemed to miss the entire exchange.

  "Do you have slaves on your world?" Frank asked.

  "That's an odd question. The answer is no, of course. We don't believe in slavery, but we tolerate it among our allies and business associates. What about your world, do your people have slaves?"

  Frank found himself liking this ambassador, "Long ago, my people engaged in the practice of slavery. It is an ugly part of our history. Nowadays, it is illegal among all of my people to have slaves. In my world, it's been abolished."

  "Very strange indeed. You are the great mystery, Frank Jameson—you and your starship, which came from nowhere. When we are children, our parents scare us with tales of the Shadow Ships, but we don't know if we should fear you instead."

  "Fear me? You've nothing to fear from me… as long as I'm left in peace."

  "Yes, but how is 'peace' defined for you. Perhaps your idea of peace isn't the same as ours."

  "Perhaps. But so far I've had no reason to be at war with anyone."

  "My friend… you are the war. Most of us are just trying to figure out which side to be on. You may not realize it, but your presence here, with your strange and impregnable ship, those lethal bodyguards you keep, your odd clothing—and I don't mean your outer garments—and everything else about you carry the signets of war. It's a war this galaxy's been expecting for ten thousand years. We've been waiting for you, Frank Jameson… whoever you are."

  "I don't understand. Why me?

  "You are news. And news about you is spreading fast. We know this much; the Ruunda are coming here. They are powerful and ruthless. You're here now, but we don't know what you want."

  "I don't want anything. And I don't think I'm going to cause anyone problems. I'm just an explorer."

  "Yes, but would you stand up to the Ruunda?"

  "Why would I want to?"

  "To keep them from having what you have… your technology. And if they can't get it they'll seek to destroy you. Why do you suppose the Emperor keeps you happy this way? Even I must rent a room as a permanent guest ambassador. How many of your expenses have you paid?"

  "None."

  "I know."

  Frank sensed a terror among these people. Who were the 'Ruunda'? And if they were so powerful, why would they want his technology? The ambassador had nothing to lose by telling Frank this, and everything to gain. Possibly even an ally. Frank tried to play down his own capabilities. "I think you see more in me than there really is."

  "Do I?" The ambassador's gaze bored through him. "When you go looking for allies, Frank Jameson, look for me and my people." The ambassador handed him a crystal clear disk about the size of a penny, which Frank accepted and slid into his pocket. "This shows how to find my world. The fastest liners can get there from here in forty days. I imagine you could be there much sooner."

  Seven

  The two Relmish slaves, Sahn and Panc, had seen the mysterious alien, who had come from an unknown world. The younger female, Sahn, had been foolish and touched eyes with him, and was presently being rebuked for doing so.

  "I should thrash you this moment! It's a capital crime, what you've done," Panc cried, "You're lucky to be alive."

  "But father, he's the one, I saw him! And he didn't turn me in."

  "He probably didn't know any better. You must never do that and you must never speak of this again."

  "But Father…"

  "Never!"

  ~

  Frank and Anna had been on Iskol a week now and were fairly certain that it was safe to bring down more members of the crew. Also, they were ready to shed their skinsuits and wanted some time aboard the Butterworth. After some discussion with Lords Traaka and Wellum, the shuttle returned to the ship and came back with four more visitors.

  Frank and Anna remained landside waiting for the shuttle to return, in order to allay fears that they might board the ship and take off—never to be heard from again. Maria, Heidi, Michelle, and Sandy landed at the spaceport with one escort apiece. These were, undoubtedly, warbots. Before leaving the ship, they were briefed on what they could say, or, more specifically, what they could not say. They all understood the gravity of the situation; Earth had to be protected at all costs—including their lives. Dyna was given strict orders regarding this.

  Frank and Anna greeted the newcomers with hugs and kisses, though through the skin suits, very little could be felt. All the more reason, Frank thought, to get out of the skin suit. He yearned for the touch of another human being. He explained a few of the more important customs to the four women, and then he, Anna, Trong and Kong went to the shuttle for the return trip to the Butterworth. As they approached the entrance to the shuttle, the computer talked to them over their microsets.

  "Please enter slowly, and wait in the boarding compartment until sterilization is complete."

  Anna was the first to step through the shimmering at the doorway of the shuttle. Frank watched the sparks and sparkles bursting around her on the surface of her skin suit. She stopped in the boarding compartment, and waited. Frank was next, and Anna watched as he came through. Then Trong and Kong came through and the outer shuttle door closed and sealed itself.

  "Beginning sterilization and identity verification," the computer said.

  Twenty seconds later the computer spoke again, "Identities verified, two authorized crewmembers and two authorized warbots. Please remove skinsuits and enter."

  Frank and Anna both had to strip down nude in order to remove their skinsuits. The fact that the skinsuits were virtually transparent and worn with no clothes beneath did not make it very easy for Frank to hide his obvious pleasure with Anna's bare form. Their skinsuits lay on the floor of the boarding compartment, and at once Frank felt relief at being able to touch his own skin again. He was surprised that the skin suit had, indeed, kept him clean, as promised. The inner access door opened, and all four walked into the lavish interior of the shuttle.

  "Trong and Kong; storage," Frank ordered, "computer; destination, Butterworth."

  "Compliance," the computer answered.

  Frank looked at Anna and she looked back, "Shower?"

  "Shower." They both headed for the shower compartment of the shuttle.

  "Computer," Anna amended, "take two and a half hours getting there."

  "Compliance."

  "What?" Frank said, confused.

  "I've been waiting all week for this. Seeing you without being able to touch you is driving me crazy. I'm going to seduce you now, I can't wait any longer."

  They were in the small shower stall long enough to start getting erotic. They dried off quickly and headed for the bedroom aboard the shuttle. They spent about the next two hours touching, holding, and making love.

  Aboard the Butterworth, Suni and Paddy were on the bridge.

  "I don't understand this," Paddy said, looking up from her imager, "they've programmed the shuttle for a two and a half hour trip when they could be here in minutes."

  Suni thought for a moment, then said, "They've been together for a week now, wearing those skinsuits…"

  "Ahhh," they said together, grinning.

  A while later, Frank and Anna were aboard the Butterworth having a good old-fa
shioned home cooked meal.

  ~

  A slave's life in the Imperial Palace was one of prestige, luxury, and terror. On the one hand, the slaves of the Imperial Palace were expected to perform their duties flawlessly, and without hesitation, and so, worked much less than ordinary slaves and got more 'freetime'. Their living quarters were much nicer and they were kept in better health. On the other hand, ordinary citizens couldn't order their slaves to be put to death—at least, not without a formal court hearing—and a legitimate crime. Only the Emperor could put a slave to death. And he did so often enough to keep most of his slaves on their toes.

  Slave rights had evolved considerably over the last two thousand years. A slave who retired now after many hard years of loyal service could expect to return to his home world with a small stipend, and live out the remainder of his days in relative freedom. An owner who especially liked a retiring slave may have elected to give the slave a bonus at retirement also, but the trip home and the stipend were a matter of law.

  The slaves of the Imperial Palace were a little better off. Because the Emperor expected his slaves to be strong and healthy, they retired much earlier than those of ordinary citizens. They were also prone to receive handsome bonuses upon leaving—particularly if their service was very good.

  Even so, the Emperor had a short temper, and would occasionally wound and cripple or kill a slave out of anger. Often, the slave had done nothing wrong to incite such anger, and typically, the infraction could be traced to some erring bureaucrat. But fair was fair. Great dangers earned great rewards.

  There were several slave races on Iskol, but the most common were the Relmish. On Relm, the people usually lived in villages of family groups, where parents raised their own children. The Relmish were strong but gentle, hirsute creatures, of good intelligence and few wars.

  The two Relmish slaves, Sahn and Panc were Imperial slaves. Panc had taken a mate during his tenure in the Imperial Palace. She had been injured by the Emperor in one of his rages, and later died as a result. Sahn had known neither her mother nor her home world, and for this, carried a bitter hatred within her. Panc was older and wiser, and hid his bitterness, to the extent that his record of service had been outstanding. He would retire soon and be handsomely rewarded for his service.

  Yet he was distraught at seeing his own child grow up so rebellious and disobedient. He and other slaves had covered up or taken blame for her actions so many times now that almost all were ready to let her take her punishments and be done with her. Maybe she would survive—and learn—and maybe she would not. Sahn often made trips to the lower cities, against her father's wishes, to see her friends. Panc tried to persuade her to spend more time with the other children of the Imperial slaves. But she always complained they were too stuffy and closed-minded.

  This evening was no different. The same polite request with the same warning would go unheard and unheeded. Panc was in his favorite chair enjoying a holographic movie, and Sahn was preparing for another wild night out on the town with her 'unruly' friends from the lower city.

  "Those children will take you into trouble Sahn." Panc looked up from his program.

  "We're not children anymore, Father, we're adults now."

  "If only you were, child, if only you were. You haven't visited Lok for a while, why don't you see him. He's been asking after you, and you're never around."

  "Lok's a…" she did not say it. She wanted to say Lok was a toe-sucking Iskolian lover, because he was so 'obedient' and 'good' around his masters, "I just don't care for him very much. He displeases me."

  "So I've heard. But perhaps you should try harder to like him. You should go see him."

  Sahn grimaced, "He is the last person I'd want to go see Father. See you," she said, heading for the door apartment.

  "Please… exercise discretion, Sahn."

  "Yes, Father. Bye." she left.

  It was too early for the underground slave trams to be crowded. But this was one of the advantages of being an Imperial slave. She could leave much earlier and get ahead of the crowds of other slaves that would soon inundate the trams. Citizen transport, above ground, was never crowded, but in a little while, this slave tram would be packed so tightly that just getting into it would be a thing of luck.

  Slaves weren't allowed to be aboveground unless they had a pass with specific instructions showing what they were doing and why. Slaves were given their own currency, with which they could barter and trade (they weren't allowed to use citizen currency), and she had a few credits with her. She hopped off at the underground slave entertainment center, and headed for their favorite rendezvous. Her friends would meet her there in a little while. They would only now be getting into their freetime.

  After a while, Truuk and Kima showed up. These two were male and female, and had plans to join as mates when they were older. Meanwhile, they dated and were usually seen together. They had different owners. Truuk's owner was of a much higher class and had many slaves. Kima's owners were poorer and had only three, which were Kima and her parents.

  Slaves were allowed to work for extra slave currency, but had to do this in their freetime and the amount of time they could work was limited. Imperial slaves, however, were not allowed to work during freetime, because they had to be fresh and rested at all times so they could perform their intricate duties faultlessly. They were compensated for this by receiving regular payments of slave credits, which they could spend however they chose.

  Sahn hailed her friends as they searched her out. "Hey! Over here."

  They saw her waving and went to her, "Hi Sahn," Kima said.

  "Hi. Have you seen Pac and Gaf yet?"

  "We saw them at the tram pick-up, but they didn't make it into the tram because it was too crowded. They'll probably be along on the next one," Truuk answered.

  "Too bad. What've you two been up to?"

  "Nothing much. Did you know Gaf's uncle was arrested?" Kima asked.

  "No, what happened?"

  "He was caught in the upper city without a pass."

  "Oooh nooo. Why did he go up there?"

  "Well, I'm not supposed to say, but… I think he's in a, well… you know."

  "Know what?"

  Kima leaned over and whispered into Sahn's ear, and Sahn backed away agape.

  "Nooo. Really?"

  "Yes. And I heard there was a big shake-up in the Imperial Palace last week. It's been going on all week, I can't believe you haven't heard. Some big-shot unknown off-worlder barged right into Iskolian territory. They tried to arrest him and they couldn't. He was too powerful."

  "No. Wait! I know who you're talking about. Uunta forgive me, I looked right into his eyes."

  "You did not!"

  "Quiet! There could be Listeners. You could be executed for that! In the Imperial Palace? How could you take such a chance?"

  "I couldn't help myself."

  "Did he notice it?"

  "He looked right back at me."

  "And you're alive to tell about it? Sahn, you must be out of your mind."

  "I know, but don't you ever dream about the old stories?"

  "Which ones?"

  "AAAAHG!"

  "EEEEK! Hey you guys! Don't scare me that way."

  Pac and Gaf had gotten off the tram and sneaked up behind them as they talked.

  "You wouldn't have jumped if you weren't talking about bad things."

  "How would you know what we were talking about?" Kima said, playfully.

  "We're Listeners," Gaf said, also playfully, as he made his face look wicked.

  "Uh huh, sure you are." they laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry about your uncle."

  "Yeah, they tell me he'll live, but he'll be in the pen for a while, recuperating. They gave him sixty lashes."

  "Oooh," Sahn and Kima said together.

  "Hey, there's Gelk. Over here!"

  Gelk was Sahn's latest male friend. She watched as he proudly strode over and touched noses with her.

  "Hi Gelk," she said, subd
ued.

  "Hi Sweet," he said, looking down at her as they held hands and faced each other.

  "Okay, love-children, break it up," Pac said, patting Gelk on the back.

  The whole group was together now and they walked away from the small eatery where they'd been waiting. They decided to go to a music bar where Relmish music was played. Relmish music was peculiar in that, all Relmish songs told stories. Some of it could be danced to, but most of it was simply for pleasurably listening to stories. They went into the music bar and managed to find a table even though the place was crowded.

  "Heard about your uncle," Gelk said to Gaf, "I'm sorry."

  "He'll live. He won't feel too good for a while, but he'll live."

  "Sahn claims that she saw the off-worlder—said she looked right in his eyes," Kima interrupted.

  "Sahn!" Gelk exclaimed, looking at her, "Tell me you're not that foolish."

  "Sorry, Gelk. I tried not to, but something held me, I couldn't look away."

  "Sahn, you were going to tell us about those stories, before we were rudely interrupted," Kima said as she glanced over at Pac and Gaf, who were both grinning.

  "What stories?"

  "You know—the ones you were dreaming about."

  "Oh, I meant daydreams. But I'm talking about the story of the off-worlder who comes and makes the Iskolians free all the slaves."

  "Those aren't stories, those are true," Gaf interrupted, "My uncle says so. He came from the home world, and he would know."

  "Then why would your uncle get arrested if he knew so much?" Pac said.

  "Because he thinks the off-worlder is the One."

  "What one?"

  "The Chosen One. The one who's going to free us. Haven't you ever heard of Gronk?"

  "He's not real, he's just a story," Truuk said.

  "No. My uncle says he's as real as you and me. He says there really is a High Shaman of Relm, and he's seen him. But my uncle says, according to Gronk, the time for the freedom of Relm and all the Relmish people is near, and the Chosen One is on the way."