Fate of the Free Lands

by Jack Campbell

  Jules looked, seeing a line indicating a city wall, piers and docks along the harbor, straight streets along the coast that meandered a bit once they got inland where the land was rougher. “That’s good,” she said. “Keep in mind that the Great Guilds will show up here. The Mechanics will want room set aside for their Guild Hall, and so will the Mages.”

  “You’ll permit Mages here?” Anna asked, startled.

  “I can’t keep them out,” Jules said.

  “But we’ve heard you’ve killed some Mages.”

  “A few,” Jules said. “But I can’t stand against a Mage dragon. Or a Mage troll. Or those giant birds of theirs. If we try to keep Mages out of this city, they’ll come here and destroy everything. It’s the same for the Mechanics. For the time being, we have to accept that they can do what they want. Someday, that’ll change. But, for now, build this city. Make it strong, for your children and children’s children. And someday that daughter of my line will come, and this city we’re creating will help her free the world.”

  They smiled, proud and determined, and in that moment Jules realized that she really did believe her own words. What had once seemed impossible to her had somehow become a dream she’d determined to help come true.

  * * *

  Hachi’s ship sailed the next day, heading north to explore along the coast west of Cape Astra. The Fair Traveler—including Synda and his followers—headed out to sea the day after that, having offloaded everything it had brought and taken aboard fresh water and some of the fish the fishing boats were already bringing in each day.

  This large group of escapees from the Empire contained a lot of skilled workers who’d despaired of finding work at home. “We could see no future in the Empire,” Anna told Jules. “Now there’s so much to do we can’t work hard enough to make it happen.”

  Following the sketch drawn up for the beginnings of Julesport, the three new leaders arranged the settlers into groups to harvest and cut timber so that buildings could be put up. No one knew the weather here, how bad storms might be or how cold it might get in the winter, so along with a sheltered harbor it seemed wise to get shelter built for the people as soon as possible.

  Jules watched a group bringing in one of the newly-cut trees that would form a post for the first pier, a mixed batch of men and women trudging along with the trunk resting on their shoulders.

  And had an odd moment of recognition as one of the men passed, his face lowered.

  Jules waited until the group dropped the trunk to the ground with a thud, then approached the man, who seemed to be doing everything he could to avoid Jules’ attention. “Excuse me.”

  “Yes?” the man replied in a hoarse whisper, his face averted.

  Having used similar means to hide her own identity, Jules felt her suspicions rise. “Look at me. I don’t want to attract a lot of attention to you, but I will if I have to.”

  After a long moment, the man turned to face Jules. His face was dirty, and drawn with the sort of sharp edges that long-term tension engraves on a person’s features. Jules eyed him, wondering why he seemed familiar. “Have we met?”

  “No.” The answer came out short and sharp, the way someone in authority would say it. The tone contrasted oddly with the man’s humble appearance.

  Jules studied the man, wondering why he kept evoking memories of stress and a storm. “We have met. Where?”

  “You’re wrong.”

  That voice, the snap of authority coming into it again, sounded vaguely familiar as well. But the clothing the man wore didn’t go with Jules’ memories. She was sure of that. This man should be wearing…a dark jacket. “We met in Sandurin.” She’d gone to rescue a woman held by Prince Ostin, and on the way back to the Sun Queen discovered that the Mages were blocking her way to the pier. This man had been a Mechanic in a covered carriage, and had smuggled her past the Mages. Later, he’d been one of the Mechanics who met her at Jacksport, where she’d nearly been killed by both Mechanic weapons and a Mage dragon. He’d saved her at Sandurin, but she didn’t know whether he’d been one of those trying to kill her at Jacksport.

  “No,” the man said again, looking away.

  “Yes. And at Jacksport. You’re…Hal? Sir Mechanic Hal?”

  Hal’s eyes swung up to meet hers, filled with fear. “Don’t tell anyone.”

  Hal was either a very good actor, or he was terrified at being recognized. But any Mechanic alone among the commons might well feel that way, given how many common people had serious grudges against the Mechanics Guild. “Why are you here?” Jules said in a low voice. “Why are you pretending to be a common?”

  “I’m not…I’m…” Hal sagged with despair. “I can’t…whatever.”

  Jules rubbed her chin, wondering why a Mechanic would be in this state. “We need to talk. Will you come somewhere private with me to do that? Or balk and force me to make it a public matter?”

  “Private,” Hal said.

  “Come on.” Jules led the way along the beach. She’d found a small cove the first time the Sun Queen had been here, a place that wasn’t that far from everywhere else but felt private and secluded. Noticing one of her guards giving her a worried look and starting to follow, Jules waved him off. “I’m just catching up with an old acquaintance.”

  Once they reached the cove, any noise made by other people in the area sounded muffled and distant. Jules stopped near the water to face Hal. “All right. We’re private. Talk to me. Are you spying on us?”

  “No,” Hal insisted, shaking his head and looking about like someone seeking a path of escape.

  “I’ll need more than that,” Jules said. “What’s going on? Why do you look like a fox that’s been hunted all day by a pack of hounds?”

  Hal sagged again as if exhausted or despairing, abruptly dropping to sit on the edge of the water, his gaze on the little waves rippling up and down the narrow beach. “I’m hiding from my Guild,” he whispered. “And from the commons. If they know who I am, what I am…”

  “Hiding?” Jules sat down as well, facing him. “I know why a Mechanic would want to hide who he was among us. But why hide from your Guild? Did you do something wrong?”

  “No!” Hal’s hands grasped at the air as if seeking to pluck the right words out of the space before him. “Do you know how hard this is? Talking about Guild matters with a common?”

  “I don’t,” Jules said. “But I do know this is a really bad time for you to be arrogant.”

  “I’m…sorry. I remember you of course. A lot of Mechanics thought the Guild was playing a dangerous game by working with you. They said you were smarter than you let on.”

  “I guess that’s a compliment.”

  “Yes,” Hal said, dejectedly gazing at the water. “I told them we needed someone smart. Trying to work with someone who isn’t bright is what causes problems. Like the current Emperor. I’ve talked to people who’ve met with him. He’s not very smart at all, but like many people who aren’t very smart he thinks he’s really smart. He is devious and ruthless. But that’s worked against us.” He grimaced. “I mean, against the Guild.”

  Jules studied the tense, taut features of Hal’s face. “At Sandurin, you were arguing with the other Mechanic about things your Guild was doing. Lady Mechanic Gayl, right?”

  “Yes.” Hal looked over at her from the corner of his eyes. “I always suspected you were listening a lot more than you let on.”

  “Thanks for not mentioning that to other Mechanics. I remember that Lady Mechanic Gayl was worried about you.”

  Hal made another face, one hand digging at the sand he was sitting on. “Politics in the Guild can get…dangerous. There are some…fundamental things being debated, about how to deal with what’s happening. Everything in the world was set up to keep things stable and controlled, but now it’s breaking down.”

  Jules nodded. “I heard some other Mechanics say that the Empire was created to control the commons so your Guild wouldn’t have to do that. They’d just have to gi
ve orders to the Emperor.”

  “Yes,” Hal said, “that’s— Wait, somebody talked about that in front of you?”

  “How does someone set up a world?” Jules asked. “How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know! I know Mechanics came from the stars. We’re supposed to have come from the stars, anyway. Maybe when we got here there wasn’t anything except commons wandering around, and we got things organized.” Hal ran one hand through his hair. “But it’s breaking! The system set up back then can’t handle what’s happening. And we’re not sure how to fix it. There’s too much pressure inside the Empire.”

  “Pressure?”

  “Like in a… Never mind. I mean, too many people. Not enough land. And the Empire has become so…”

  “Corrupt?” Jules guessed.

  “That’s part of it. It only keeps functioning because there hasn’t been any competition. Setting up a single state to control the commons must have seemed like the simplest solution, but with no rivals the Empire hasn’t been forced to stay effective or care about its own people. And that’s why commons are leaving the Empire and making problems!”

  “Is that why the Mage Guild exists?” Jules asked. “To be a rival to the Mechanics Guild and keep it from collapsing?”

  Hal pivoted his head to stare at her. “What? No! That’s…” He looked down, his forehead furrowed in thought. “I don’t really know where the Mages came from. I know my Guild would prefer they didn’t exist. But without them…” Hal’s eyes went back to Jules. “We have no outsider viewpoints like that. Like what you just said. No Mechanic would dare say that. Even saying what I’ve said to you is dangerous.”

  Jules nodded. “I’m guessing statements like those are why you got in trouble with your Guild?”

  “Yes.” Hal spread his hands, looking out toward the sea. “Some Mechanics want a big crackdown on the commons, to try to shove you all back into your proper places. Even those in favor of doing that admit it might well devastate this world, but they accuse anyone who proposes accommodating the changes in the world as being naïve or treasonous.”

  “Were you accused of treason?” Jules asked.

  “I think so.” Hal sighed. “Idealism and engineering make bad bedfellows.”

  “Engineering?” How many strange words did Mechanics know?

  “Forget I used that word. I got a tip that I’d be arrested.” Hal looked down again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sometimes, people just…disappear. There’s no official acknowledgment that they were arrested. They’re just gone. Supposedly to the Guild prison at Longfalls, but Longfalls isn’t supposed to be very big and a lot of people have been disappearing.”

  “So what happened?” Jules said. A bird began singing somewhere in the trees overlooking the cove, the sweet birdsong offering a strange contrast to the stress visible in Hal.

  “I was an idiot. I told Gayl I was going to go to the Guild Hall Supervisor, to explain why I wasn’t a traitor.” Hal stopped speaking for a moment, staring out across the water. “Before my appointment, I discovered that Gayl had already gone to talk to the supervisor, to defend me. But when I got to the supervisor’s office I was told she’d never been there that day, and no one knew where she was, and why was I asking?”

  His gaze stayed fixed on the horizon. “It was my fault. I don’t know what happened to her, but I knew what would happen to me. I didn’t want to disappear. I ran.” Hal finally looked at her again. “I was a coward. Instead of staying and fighting, instead of trying to help Gayl, I ran and hid among the commons. I deserve whatever fate you intend for me.”

  Jules shook her head, picking up a small piece of driftwood and twisting it between her fingers. “It sounds like you’re living with a worse punishment than I could inflict. You don’t think your own Guild killed Lady Mechanic Gayl, do you?”

  “It’s possible. There are things people whisper when they’re sure they can’t be overheard. Why should you care? The last time we met, you said you wished every Mechanic would die.”

  “They can’t all die,” Jules said, her eyes on his. “The prophecy says the daughter of my line will unite Mechanics, Mages, and common folk to overthrow the Great Guilds. So there have to be Mechanics when that day comes.”

  He laughed. “The prophecy? You know that’s nonsense. Mages can’t really do anything.”

  “Why do Mechanics all say that?” Jules asked. “I’ve fought a Mage dragon, and a Mage troll nearly killed me in Landfall.” She rolled up her sleeve to expose her arm and the fern-like scar on it. “And Mage lightning left this mark, though luckily it didn’t kill me.”

  Hal frowned at the scar. “Lightning occurs naturally. As for Mage monsters, it’s impossible to create a dragon or whatever out of thin air. ”

  Jules shook her head, perplexed by his attitude. “I’ve had Mages appear out of what you call thin air. Right in front of me. I was chased by a dragon that nearly bit me in half, almost plucked from a mast on my ship by a huge bird being ridden by a Mage, and barely got off a ship being sunk by a troll. Why do you dismiss out of hand what I’ve seen and felt?”

  “Mechanics know how the world works,” Hal said as if speaking to a child. “We understand all the fundamental forces, and how to use them. Which is how we know the Mages can’t do what they claim. Commons just aren’t bright enough to see through the simple tricks the Mages use.”

  “We’re not bright enough?” Jules said, not sure whether to be angry or exasperated. “I’ve gone from wondering what I should do with you to wondering why no one else has killed you yet.”

  Hal looked at her, then away. “I haven’t learned to keep my mouth shut, but among commons I say as little as I can. I’ve told you the truth about why I’m here. I’m at your mercy, and from what I’ve heard, you don’t have a lot of that.”

  “That reputation helps keep me alive,” Jules said. “But I actually do show mercy to those who deserve it. You saved me at Sandurin. Maybe you didn’t do it out of the kindness of your heart, but I owe my life to you. That debt means I won’t betray you, unless I find out that you’ve lied.”

  “Why would I lie?” Mechanic Hal asked, his expression growing haggard once more. “Why would I put myself through this?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve always had trouble understanding Mechanics,” Jules said. “If you’re among commons now, and your Guild wants to kill you, can’t you share some of your secrets with us?”

  Hal’s eyes widened with fear. “No. They’d be able to spot that. The materials you brought in, the furnaces you would have to build to alloy metal… there are a million ways to tell if commons start trying to duplicate Mechanic secret arts. The Guild would realize what was happening, and they’d come in here and kill everyone and destroy everything to ensure the secrets were safe again. Why would I help you do something that would make my death certain? And yours as well!” He shrugged, looking down at the wavelets rolling up the beach. “Besides, I don’t have the tools I’d need, and even if I did commons can’t use that knowledge. Only Mechanics can understand our technology.”

  “I see.” Jules looked inland this time, thinking. “I owe you a debt, and you did treat me as decently as any Mechanic has. I don’t know if you tried to shoot me at Jacksport—”

  “That was Gin. Lady Mechanic Gin. She’d been hoping for an excuse to kill you.”

  “I see. All right. I won’t tell anyone who you are. Unless I discover that you are still working for your Guild. And if I happen to hear anything of Lady Mechanic Gayl, I’ll try to get word to you, because I owe her as well. What are you planning to do here at Julesport?”

  Hal looked down at his hands. “I’m good at making things. I was planning on learning carpentry. There should be a lot of demand for furniture and other things made of wood.”

  “There should be,” Jules said, getting up and brushing sand from her pants. “If anyone asks what we were talking about, say we once met in Sandurin and I was asking about some people you might’ve known.”<
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  “I’ll do that,” Hal said, standing as well. “I don’t how to thank you for this.”

  “I already told you that you earned it by your past actions,” Jules said.

  “Jules…that’s the name, right? There’s something else.” Hal hesitated. “Things are changing in the world. They’re not supposed to change, but they are, and the Guild doesn’t know how to stop the changes at a cost it’s willing to accept. I think, when things settle enough, the Mechanics Guild is going to do its best to make sure nothing like this happens again. They’re going to want to ensure they can control any situation, and they’re going to do their best to stop any more changes from happening.”

  “What can I do about that?” Jules said.

  “If you talk to Mechanics again, emphasize that you represent a means to help them control things. If the Guild wants commons to help control commons, they need stable governments in the new cities and states that are going to form in the west. I heard and watched while you dealt with that Synda fellow. You’re already trying to create stable governments. Just tell Mechanics that’s what you’re doing, and they’ll believe that whatever you create, they can control.”

  “Thanks for the advice,” Jules said. “Do you believe that? That the Mechanics can control whatever is created out here?”

  Hal looked about him, then back at Jules. “I think they’ll be able to control things for a while. Maybe for a long time. But whatever they make will start to break someday. I don’t know what’ll happen then.”

  “Maybe that daughter of my line will figure out what to do,” Jules said. She walked past him while Hal was still groping for a reply. Ahead of her, timber was still being gathered for the first structures of what would someday be the city of Julesport.

  * * *

  Pirates were like sharks. They had to keep moving, even if they were doing legal work such as hauling cargo or passengers. Sitting in port didn’t make money for the ship and the crew. In addition, Jules had to worry that staying in one place too long would bring Mages to that spot. Their uncanny ability to forecast her plans, to know where she’d be, could imperil Julesport if she didn’t leave it.