Sharon L Reddy
Paradox Equation - Book One
Choice of the Gallant
(c)1995, 2011, 2012
Target Yonder
Millennium Works Collection
Smashwords Edition
ISBN 978-1-58338-995-4
The ten books of the Paradox Equation
Choice of the Gallant
Battle is Joined
True Sons of Their Fathers
We, the Paradox Born Child
To Gain a Liege
War for Yet to Come
Build the Sixth Power
Define Sentience
Acceptance
Mobius
Book One
Choice of The Gallant
Chapter One
"That one?"
"Yes, My Lord. A pretty thing."
"Yes, and he seems to have more spirit than the others. Do you suppose it's their long lives that make them weak?"
"They call themselves civilized. I find them boring. They live millennia and never live at all. Lord, the instruments say his mind is worth harnessing."
"Excellent. Buy him."
"He is expensive. He's the scion of one of their great houses."
"Very nice. I've never owned a king before. I think I'll just take the one. He will fill all three roles. That should make Lord Rorisk take note."
"A charming idea. He'll require intense physical training. It will reduce his useful time in the mind/comp link."
"And enhance his beauty. A fair trade. Stim him."
"Temporary?"
"No. In fact, give him all four of the stimulation's. Let's see if they work on this weak-willed race."
"Do you wish the experiment documented?"
"Of course. Wipe his name carefully, Demisk."
"And what shall I put in its place?"
"Nothing. Leave him nameless. Leave his knowledge of his station among his people, if possible."
"A nameless, wanton, king. My Lord, you have a wonderful humor."
****
"Gallant."
He moaned softly in his sleep. She had come again.
"Take heart, Gallant. You will free them all. Learn, my gallant one. Do all they ask. Build for them. That which they seek is their destruction and freedom for this world. Build. Come to me."
He awoke in desperate need of her. The emptiness she left, he could only suffer. He carefully hid the name she called him. He would not share the gift she had given until his people were free. He grasped her promise of freedom and fought to stay alive. He heard them coming again.
"Well, Demisk?"
"Amazing! He's stronger! My Lord, none of the others have been successful. He's the only one that's lived through the first stim."
"I've made several large wagers he'll survive all four. Give him his reward for surviving. Document it carefully. I'll show the record at the banquet."
"Take him to room three. How many, Lord?"
"Ten of the stimmed oriki. Hungry ones."
He lowered his fevered body into the swirling waters of the pool set in one corner of the room. The chain on the collar he wore was just long enough to reach it. A reward for surviving? What were oriki? What were the multitude of holographic lenses set in the walls and ceiling to record?
He hated the collar and its chain. He wondered if they knew. He'd never hated before the stim. He smiled softly. It was probably a side effect. Side effects were dangerous. He intended they learn the fact well.
"Hello, pretty thing. Come out of the pool."
"I'd rather not."
"We are in need of you. Won't you aid us?"
"Who are you?"
"We are women of the oriki. Help us."
"I'm currently not much help to myself."
"Oh, but you will be of great aid to us. Come."
He really didn't have any choice. Three of the women were pulling on the chain on his collar. There were ten of them. They were quite beautiful; long dark hair, large green eyes, and skin of pale aqua. He didn't understand what was happening to his body. It must be due to the stim. One of the women touched him.
"Please, I don't understand what's happening. Please, don't touch me."
"Foolish boy, you are a slave. As are we. You have no choices."
****
"Where did you find him?"
"In the market."
"Then he's of high rank. Responds well."
"He's been stimmed, Rorisk."
"Stimmed?! Hensk, none of these soft people survive stim."
"This one has. It's fully documented. I'll arrange a private showing for you."
"Hensk, you're after a favor. What is it?"
"I'm going to enter him in the combats, if he survives the entire set of stims. I want your trainer to teach him."
"Leave him while I watch the documentation. If he survives, I'll lend you my trainer."
"Demisk, have him prepared for Lord Rorisk."
****
"He has potential, Master Demisk."
"My lord believes so. He has survived all the stims."
"Good. Too often, I'm given ones to train that have only had the body stimmed. Combat is as much of the mind. Do I have his full time, or is he in other use?"
"He is, but my lord will reduce his link time with the computers to three hours per day during his training."
"Reduce?! How much is he on now?"
"Twenty-two hours. He is given four of rest."
"He may be interesting to train. I ask the lord schedule his link time with regularity. It will aid his training."
"He has already done so. You have him but the first three hours of the day."
"Thank you, Master Demisk. Good. Now that he's gone, let's get acquainted. Do you have a name?"
"No. It was taken."
"Sounds like Hensk. Been pretty heavily used, haven't you, boy?"
"Since I haven't had a chance to compare notes with anyone, I've got no basis to judge, but I definitely have been busy."
"Hold still. I'm going to look you over. Now, now, don't tense. I won't hurt... Oh, I see. A blush. You've not been broken by it. You'll learn control."
"That would be much appreciated. Just once I'd like to... "
"Not respond to every touch instantly."
"It would be pleasant not to have my body temperature rise at a tap on the shoulder."
"And if I teach you to fight, what will you do?"
"Fight."
"Yes, you'll do."
They became friends. The old trainer had been seeking someone like him for a very long time. He held his dream of freedom in his heart and trained the boy. Lord Hensk had made an error. He had created a hero. The old trainer would teach him to be a warrior.
****
"What effect did the last three stims have on you?"
"None that I could tell. No, one. I'm faster, but that may be due to the training.
"Yes. I don't think any of them worked. Well, the first lowered your thresholds, but that's all. Have you always been different from the rest of your people?
"Trainer, I am a child. I don't know. I have no other children to compare myself with, though I know I am quite large for my age."
"A child?"
"Yes, I am but... I do not know my years, but perhaps I can give you information which is useful to you. Ah, I know. The first stim. It nearly killed me. I was far too young to have sexual maturity forced on me."
"You were prepubescent?!"
"Very. At what age does your species mature?"
"About fourteen."
"Then I was a child of... This is difficult. I lost so much when my name was taken. I am of a great house. Non
e would have spoken to me without my name and title and the taking of it... I know that I am very young. Perhaps, between twenty and thirty. In comparison with your people... physically nine or ten. I had no body hair until the stim. I'm still a bit smug about it."
"Oh, my son, the cruelty of what was done to you makes me ache."
"Don't. There's already too much pain around me."
"Boy, I've seen the documentation of the first stim."
"That was an interesting experience. I had no idea what those women wanted."
"It didn't take you long to learn."
"I learn fast. Trainer, I like this weapon. Its simplicity... attracts me."
"The staff? Yes, I like it too. A simple wooden shaft. Boy, I can't pretend to teach you longer. You know all I know."
"Thank you. I'll use it well."
"You know I won't return. My master is already unhappy he gave Hensk my use."
"Strange. At the time, he seemed to feel your use for mine was a fair exchange."
"Lean near. When you destroy them, let me kill Rorisk for what he did to you."
He smiled at his only friend.
"I love you too. And I promise I'll remember. Thank you."
****
"Master, the direct mind link obstructs my work."
"In what way?"
"It tells me the lord seeks the impossible. I know it is incorrect. I can vision it, but in the link, I know the vision is incorrect. I ask to use the physical station. I cannot override the computational limits while the matrices hold my mind."
"The link has been known to limit creativity. I will put your request to the lord."
"Thank you, Master Demisk."
"He is pleased with you. Your sweep of the combats has made him the envy of his peers. They have requested you be provided at tonight's banquet. Entertain them well. Go to the preparation chamber. The attendants await you. Now, boy!"
"Yes, Master."
He ran to the chamber. He'd hesitated. That kind of mistake could cost him his life. "Entertain them" meant Rorisk was coming. He was so close to the answer. He had to get out of the link. He didn't intend his master to have what he would build. Or, not all of what he would build. The link would give him away, note the discrepancy in his request. She had come again and told him to build the twelve plus one. The plus-one was to be his. The attendants prepared him and he learned he had been right. Rorisk was at the banquet.
"He doesn't respond as well."
"Rorisk, he was fresh stimmed. Although, it may be the link. It is draining."
"Better. It just took a bit. How much time does he spend in it?"
"Twenty-two per day."
"That's twice recommended!"
"Yes, but other than slowing his response, it's had no ill effects. I have him on project three. I expect results within a twelveday."
"If you get them, you'll get a ministry."
"I'd get one eventually without it. I'm more interested in the project itself. I need a very rare element to complete it. I wish an interview with your uncle."
"The emperor?! You must be very sure you'll succeed."
"This one is. Aren't you, boy."
"Yes, Lord Master."
"Hensk, project three is a dream. No one really expects it to be completed. The tools don't exist."
"You are touching the tool I created to build it. His mind is like no other. Before the stim, he was over the tenth rank of intelligence."
"OVER! Impossible! Nothing in existence is over the tenth rank."
"He is. On both scales, physical and mental. Unique in the universe. Are you pleased to know that, boy?"
"No, Lord Master."
"Why not?"
"It means I am alone."
"Very good. Yes, without another of your kind, but I shall solve that for you. I'm having females of your species prepared. You wish to speak?"
"Yes, Lord Master."
"Speak."
"There are no females of my species. My Lord Master has told me I am unique."
"Very good. Very good. Consider yourself as being bred to another species."
"Yes, Lord Master."
****
"I will return, Kirel."
"From the photosphere of a star? And if you do succeed, why would you come back? You could be free."
"And leave my children?"
"Are they yours? They're not like you. They're merely children of my race. You've never even seen them. They're just a few among many. A failed breeding. You couldn't find them if you searched."
"Then I will claim all children as mine."
"You'll claim nothing. You're a nameless slave. Haven't the ten years you've been one taught you anything?"
"Yes. They've taught me patience."
****
"Hensk, you're a fool. He'll never return."
"Wrong, Rorisk. He thinks he has children here. He believes, if he succeeds, I'll give them to him."
"And he has no children?"
"None. He's not mature yet. The physicians estimate it will be hundreds of years before he's capable of siring offspring. I had them change his genetic structure. His children will ripen far sooner, but it will still be hundreds of years before he sires them. The first thing I shall do with project three is collect them. Perhaps, I'll give them to him. Did your uncle grant my request?"
"Yes. Five point two akits of the element will be sent to you. In return, he will receive eleven of the machines."
"I shall need only one. Did he speak of his plans for them?"
"Yes. He'll use them to direct the evolution of the recalcitrant worlds."
"Excellent. The yumari are beautiful. I shall enjoy having them as obedient slaves."
"His thought exactly. When we decide we want them, they'll surrender without a struggle. He's already chosen his agents."
"The priests of Denskarra?"
"Hensk, you astound me. Yes, the dark brothers. They have pledged to do as he requests in this galaxy if he gives them freedom to do as they wish in the others."
"The servants of the Dark One will cleanse the universe of life. I am not sure I trust them to allow life in this one."
"He pointed out, if they destroyed it here, they would not exist and would be unable to cleanse it elsewhere."
"Our emperor is a wise and devious man."
"Yes. My uncle serves the Dark One well."
****
"Lord Master, the time ships are complete."
"You wish a reward. Speak it."
"I ask for my children, Lord Master."
"With this ship, I have the power to grant your request. You have no children in this time. So I shall find them in another and bring them to you. You are a nameless slave. Your children shall be the same."
"NO!"
He broke free of his guards and ran. He heard Hensk's laughter mocking him. Slaves could not escape. There was nowhere to escape to.
He ran by the keyboard and triggered the mechanism. He had little time before it engaged. He dove into the corner and laughed, as he closed the matrix. He had an escape. The thirteenth ship formed around him. Now to free a world and distract the dark brothers.
The mechanism engaged. The oldest race stepped from their suddenly opened cells and walked away from the guards holding useless weapons. The power satellites were torches in the sky. The densk fled the crumbling city. Fled to ships that would not fly. The one they had been given to free them had completed his task. They were really very proud of him. They hadn't expected him to accomplish it for several hundred years. The child had freed his foster parents while still an infant.
The slaves of other races extracted revenge. An old man happily told Rorisk why he was strangling him. The densk disappeared from the planet. One scream at a time.
When they were gone, the elder race sent four to restore the ships. The freed of other races had transport home. They would free their worlds. All that would remain of the servants of the Dark One that had infested their galaxy were the eleven pri
ests and the one lord. The child would keep them from inflicting great harm. They tapped the energy source he had created and engaged the great defenses that had been awaiting it. They reached into the mind of the child with the key they had been given and freed his powers.
****
"Gallant, you are not forever alone. I await beyond time. You will find my aspects, but you must search. Each will give you love, but you will leave two and one shall leave you. They do not know I am within them. I await you. My fathers love you. Look for me. Know me by my name. Athena."
"ATHENA!"
He awoke at the sound of his own shout. He pulled himself to the console. He must complete the ship. The formless space around him was dizzying. He began programming a reality within it. He wanted much more than he had given the other twelve ships he'd created. He wondered if those who had them would ever realize he had deliberately made them small, boxy, and very noisy. Would they ever know infinity lay behind the noisy walls of the inaccessible engine room? The thought of Hensk trying to sleep in the tiny cabin with the roar of the engines ringing in his ears pleased him.
He poured his dreams into the program. All the rooms he'd dreamed. All the gardens he'd only imagined. All the laboratories, studios, pools, the libraries and the banks and banks of computer storage he would someday fill. He gave his ship an exterior reality, then built the program to dematerialize it to land. He smiled. He doubted any of the twelve in the timeships he'd built would look beyond to see what the power to dematerialize truly meant. He laughed when he noticed he'd found a way to create little pockets of timelessness. They'd be very handy.
He began programming the life support structure and gravity. He'd found he didn't care for weightlessness. He entered the last command. The ship would gather information from all available sources. He leapt onto the console. It would be the only stable item. Even the floor, chair, and bubble of atmosphere he'd created would be changed. He leaned down and tapped the pad to run the program.
He wandered through the ship. He kept getting lost. He loved it. His existence had been limited to a corridor of cells, an arena, link room, preparation room and Hensk's banquet halls. He vaguely remembered wide streets and green lands. He tried to remember his mother, but no image would come. He had one clear memory of learning at a station and a man's smile and nod he had done well. He knew he was very young and from a great house, but that was all. Hensk had taken his name, and with it, every voice that had ever spoken it.
Choice of the Gallant_Paradox Equation I Page 1
