FREEDOM Legends

by Stephen Arseneault

"Master Aurin?"

  "Yes. I'm looking to start a trend in diamond jewelry. Something spectacular, something that really pushes demand for his product."

  "And how does this help you with your mine?"

  "It doesn't, not directly. I have plans for other markets, but I need Master Aurin's expertise to make the production worthwhile. I'm not planning to sell them here where I would be in competition."

  "I see. So you would be the purchaser of this campaign?"

  "I would. And if successful, your name will be all over what Master Aurin sees as results. This could win you lucrative contracts with him for any other trends he may want to push."

  "Direct dealings with the governor. I like the sound of that. This week just continues to get better, Master Hallik. I too am thankful we met."

  Forty Humans made their runs across the arena floor over the next three and a half hours. Most were captured in under a minute. One managed to stretch their freedom out to nine. All were terminated by audience selection. Jamus struggled to control his own inner rage as he sat looking at the back of Thelm's head. Hallik repeatedly glanced back with a head shake that said "no."

  After a festive lunch, Hallik was invited to follow Thelm to the next arena. He declined, instead heading to his shuttle to move on to other business.

  Thelm glanced back. "Well, come on, Jamus. Don't fall behind. We are already late for the sea battles."

  "Sea battles, Master?"

  "Yes. The arena has been flooded. Two wooden sailing ships, with twenty slave combatants each, will fight it out on the high seas."

  "The high seas, Master?"

  "Yes. The water. Has your comprehension suddenly been lost, Jamus?"

  "No, Master. Master Hox never attended a sea battle during my years with him."

  "Not one? How revolting. Everyone should experience the grandeur of a good sea battle."

  "What makes them grand?"

  "When a ship is overrun, it is set ablaze and pushed to the side. A new ship with a fresh crew is then released. I've seen as many as eight ships ablaze at once. Spectacular. And the ferocity with which the crews fight… I have to believe they've been told they won't be receiving their Shackle until such time as they've defeated the other crews. While certainly not aware like the combatants of this morning, they are determined to get their due."

  "And do they get their due, Master?"

  Thelm chuckled. "Oh they get it all right. The victors receive termination by being hanged from the yardarms and quartered. I believe I saw where it was something the early creators of the games enjoyed reading from Human history. Always popular with the Sevada I'm told, as their homeworld is 85 percent water."

  "It sounds like fun, Master."

  Thelm smirked. "Fun for us, yes. Anything but fun for those crews. And I'm feeling particularly jovial this afternoon, Jamus. I may let you pick the first ship for a wager."

  "You are most generous, Master."

  "Yes. Yes I am."

  The first two ships collided as they came alongside one another. Several occupants fell to the water where they immediately sank and drowned in their heavy armor. The others, wielding swords and axes, attacked across the rails onto the opposing ship. Five minutes of fighting saw the first crew overwhelmed and terminated.

  The winning crew, having lost eight of their own, were resupplied from below decks. The losing ship was pushed aside and set afire, its canvas sails, ropes, and yardarms burning brightly. The deck and masts, having been soaked in flammable oil, followed quickly behind.

  The new ship then rammed the old as it came alongside, the sea battle once again taking center arena. The ship Jamus had selected managed two victories before going up in flames in a spectacular defeat. Thelm was thrilled as his bet had come out as even-money. The battles raged until ten ships and their crews had been destroyed. As expected, the winning crew was hung from the yardarms and then quartered by guests from the crowd, who had won the honor in a lottery.

  Thelm and Jamus headed back to the shuttle, where Thelm moved to his private dining room, and Jamus was dismissed to prepare his master's chambers. On the way, Jamus passed the cameras to Jim with instructions to place them and to later lead the others off the ship. Other than the guard that remained, along with Thelm's two personal guards, the shuttle was empty of crew.

  Jim, Dester, and Kerena slipped away on schedule as Jamus and the other chamber attendants bathed Thelm and readied him for the closing ceremonies. A new elitist outfit was selected and put upon their master. Shoes were added and buffed to a high reflection, followed by the mounting of a traditional closing ceremony wig.

  Master Thelm's wig, nearly a meter high and consisting of bright blue locks of Talion hair, was held in place by a neck frame and chest strap under his clothes. In order to leave the ship, he was forced to squat going through the doorways.

  As he walked down the ramp with Jamus just behind, a guard asked for his attention, "Master, we have a problem."

  Thelm sighed and gave him an agitated look. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"

  "I'm sorry, Master. It's just that three slaves are missing."

  "Missing? How is that possible?"

  "I don't know, sir. We haven't been—"

  Thelm waved his hands in disgust. "Do your job, Bomrun. I expect this to be resolved before I return. You had better not ruin my evening."

  "Yes, Master. We will find them."

  Following another deep sigh, Thelm turned toward the closing ceremony arena. "Come, Jamus. We can't be late."

  The team, excluding Jamus, returned to the station. Thelm's guards were fired and a new staff brought in after it leaked out that three Humans had mysteriously gone missing from a master's shuttle.

  Thelm was in a new morning rage. "Incompetence. It has cost me reputation. I'm the laughing stock of the other masters."

  Jamus replied, "I don't know what to say, Master. Where could they have gone?"

  "Stolen, that's where they went. The imperial authorities have been notified and asked to investigate. Slave theft is a capital offense."

  "Of what value are they over any other slave?"

  "They are trained. And trained well. I paid upwards of two hundred credits for each at auction. Someone owes me that money."

  "I hate to see you start the day in a bad mood, Master. Is there anything I can do?"

  "No. No, Jamus. You just keep performing as you are. I'll get over this."

  "You are both wise and emotionally stable, Master. If anyone can weather this, it is you."

  "Yes. I suppose that is true. Read off my schedule to me, Jamus. What do I have to take my mind off this today?"

  "You're meeting with your fifth wife, Mooda, in two hours. You have three hours with her. Then we travel to your media company on Tallis IV."

  Thelm rolled his eyes. "Uh. Mooda. I don't want to be in a bad mood for Mooda. I’d never hear the end of it."

  Jamus let out a single smirk.

  "What? What's funny?"

  "Mood for Mooda, Master. Clever."

  "Yes. I suppose that was particularly clever, wasn't it? Thank you, Jamus. You've somehow managed to cheer me up."

  "Master Hox used to say, ‘No new day alive is a bad day.’"

  "Hmm, I should have liked to have met your Master Hox. But please, I grow tired of the mention of his name. Let it be said no more."

  "As you ask, Master."

  Chapter 21

  * * *

  Back at the station, the pilot training was getting underway. A new instructor, a Talion, was brought in.

  "This is preposterous! Humans can't learn such things! They don't have the capacity. A ship requires continuous monitoring with split-second decision making. People’s lives are at stake. No sensible person is going to allow slaves to pilot their ship."

  Bersa stepped forward with a shock stick. "I can assure you these students are prepared and fully capable of learning. Now let's get on with the lessons you were contracted for."

  The T
alion crossed his arms and sat in a chair. "No. I refuse. Teaching Humans how to fly is a violation of the laws of the empire."

  Bersa nodded. "It is. And so is terminating citizens. We are more than willing to break the one law. Will you force us to break the other?"

  The Talion sat defiant. A half-dozen shocks didn't change his mind.

  Martin walked up, lifted the alien over his head, and slammed him to the ground. The instructor looked up at him with an expression of pain and disbelief.

  "I can do this all day you know," said Martin. "And I kind of like it. So you either get up and teach us what we want to know, or I slam you down until there's nothing left of you but a bag of skin filled with guts and broken bones."

  The stunned instructor waved his hand. "I—uh, OK. Please, no more."

  The Talion was picked up by the collar and stuffed into the chair. Martin returned to his own seat.

  Bersa sighed. "You will teach us all you know, or I will let the big Human have his way."

  "You are going to kill me either way, so why should I tell you anything?"

  "Because during the lessons you will be alive and treated well. Should the lessons prove worthwhile, we may have other uses for you where you are again kept alive and treated well. It would seem a clear choice is available to you. Assist us, or die a painful death. The choice can only be yours."

  The Talion was silent for several seconds before a tear rolled down his face. "I cannot turn on my own people."

  Martin stood.

  Bersa held up a hand. "Be seated, Mr. Gecka. I will handle this."

  The Talion was led out of the room sobbing.

  Jim slowly shook his head. "Are we becoming them?"

  Dester scoffed. "How can you say that when they are killing thousands of Humans per day just for entertainment. That's THOUSANDS per day. Tortured and killed."

  Jim sat.

  Bersa returned. "I have a new instructor on the way. A Sevada. They tend to be a lot less loyal to everyone, only watching out for themselves. She should be here in fifteen minutes."

  "How so fast?" asked Tamia.

  "Planning. I felt there was a high likelihood that our prior friend would balk at teaching us, even if it meant losing his life. Should this next instructor fail, I will have another here fifteen minutes after. Master Hallik has deemed this project a high priority."

  The Sevada was brought in. Without a single shock being administered, the display filled with images of different types of ships. After flipping past several, she stopped on the shuttle being flown by Hallik and the other masters.

  "This is an imperial-class shuttle. I don't have the specifics, but it is rumored to be heavily armed and armored. And I don't have the specifications of this ship available to me to show, but I do know it uses the standard nav system, the same wormhole generator, the same power systems... essentially the guts are the same across all shuttles. So we'll be learning about the systems I know."

  The lessons began with the ship's power and quickly moved through environmental, maintenance, housing, cargo areas, docking ports, and virtually every other system available to the occupants. Three days of explaining systems ended in the pilot-house.

  "The standard shuttle has a bridge capable of holding a crew of up to four. Most shuttles have a pilot and nav officer, and sometimes a reserve officer who is capable of operating both the flight and the nav stations. It's rumored the imperial shuttles have the pilot, the nav, and two reserve officers. The bridge is capable of having all four, so I don't know why you wouldn't find all four on an imperial shuttle."

  The flight controls were gone over in detail, consuming another two days of instruction. Mock simulators were set up on consoles elsewhere on the station and the students were sent off to practice on their own. After a day of self-learning, they were brought back into the classroom for testing. All passed with exceptional scores.

  The Sevada was elated with her skilled instruction, but at the same time dismayed it was Humans doing the learning. The nav system took another four days, culminating in another test, which each of the Humans passed.

  Bersa paced back and forth in front of the others. "You have shown your commitment to this project, and I've been told to reward you with actual flying hours. Master Hallik will be here this afternoon and you will each be given twenty minutes to command his ship. Your test flight will include setting nav waypoints, traveling through a wormhole, and performing tight maneuvers around a set of asteroids. That will be in three hours. Until that time, you are on free time in the lounge."

  The Sevada, named Turly, sat with the others. "May I ask for what purpose you are training?"

  "To take over the empire," said Dester. "After that, we'll be setting up a variety of games for entertainment where aliens such as you are hunted down and killed. All for fun of course."

  Turly's eyes grew wide.

  Bersa sighed. "Our goal is to elevate Master Hallik to the position of emperor. From there he can declare slavery illegal. All Humans will be freed, and as an empire we can get back to achieving great things through the study of science and the advent of new technologies. New planets will be explored and settled, expanding our reach beyond the current colonies."

  "Who will grow the food or tend the flocks?"

  "We used to do those things."

  Bersa began to discuss the true history of the empire. Humans were responsible for everything the current citizens possessed. Humans could continue to elevate the others just as they had before. It would begin as an empire run by a Brekan with a vision of equality for all six sentient species. The madness of the games would be brought to an end.

  "And how does knowing how to pilot a shuttle further these goals?"

  "Piloting is only one small eventuality that will have to come to pass. We will have to fly to the different colonies once the true revolution gets underway. We don't believe a simple declaration by a new emperor will bring an end to slavery. Any such declaration will have to be backed up with power. Power in the empire is warships."

  Dester asked, "You ever been to one of the hunts?"

  "I have. Many times."

  "You ever participate?"

  "In my younger years, yes."

  "And the things you were doing didn't bother you?"

  "I was not a fan of them, more ambivalent than anything. Slaves are a commodity in the empire. Similar to livestock, not even as elevated in status as a pet. People revere their pets. I don't know of anyone who revere their Humans. You don't offer us love or companionship. And you often smell."

  Dester stared for several seconds. "You at least seem to be honest."

  Bersa replied, "She's ambivalent. She doesn't care one way or the other. It's a common trait of the Sevada, and why she was selected for this instruction."

  The group turned their attention to a monitor displaying the video feed being transmitted by Jamus Turnbull. He was following behind Thelm as they walked their way into the lobby of a media business he owned.

  An associate came out to greet him. "Master, welcome to New Media Service Posts. I am Ghossum. Please follow me to the executive office. Master Pwesen is waiting for you."

  "Thank you, Ghossum. I don't need guidance. I know where the office is."

  "Should I watch your slave for you?"

  Thelm looked the associate up and down. "No. I don't find you to be qualified to watch over him. He stays with me."

  "Master Pwesen does not allow Humans in his office."

  Thelm stopped. "My office."

  "Yes, Master. Master Pwesen does not allow Humans in your office."

  "How long have you worked in this position? For my company?"

  "I have been an eager and hard-working employee for fifteen years, Master."

  "And what is the position beneath the one you have?"

  "Second class greeter. I am first class."

  "You are too dumb to be first class. Report to your manager and tell them of your demotion. Jamus, come. We have a meeting with Master P
wesen."

  Tamia said, "Thelm is kind of harsh."

  Dester smirked. "He likes his smart Human. I would have a hard time playing the role as well as Jamus has. I'd be seeing how far I could push him. Probably would have gotten myself terminated by now."

  Thelm walked into Master Pwesen’s office, to be met with a look of disdain for the Human, and a tepid greeting. "Master Thelm…"

  "Yes. Have you had the opportunity to look over the campaign for a new line of cigarettes?"

  "I have. And I have to ask why we are going up against Master Drakis. Is he not the tobacco king in Betuaon?"

  "He is, which is precisely why we are going after this business with a new line. I believe there are profits to be made, and I would like to be making those profits. Is the campaign ready to be run? I would like to know we are on top of this and ready to launch when the time comes. I want to flood the broadcasts with this new, fun, light cigarette. I want a campaign that is targeted at the youthful smokers. Something that will create buzz and a trend."

  Pwesen nodded. "I will re-emphasize those aspects."

  The meeting went on for another twenty minutes before Thelm left the room. "Jamus, what did you think of Master Pwesen's effort?"

  "He seemed reluctant to embrace your supreme idea, Master. Ho—my former master had a similar issue. The employee was secretly working for a competitor."

  "A competitor? Pwesen? He's been with me for more than twenty years."

  "Would knowledge of this effort be something Master Drakis would pay well for?"

  "Drakis? Are you talking corporate espionage?"

  "He seemed reluctant to embrace your idea, something you yourself consider genius. Does he not work for you? Why would he not fully embrace a direct order?"

  Thelm opened a comm. "My security officer please."

  A voice came over the comm. "Master, how may I assist you?"

  "I want an investigation into Master Pwesen. I want to know if he has had any contact with Master Drakis or any Drakis employees any time in the last year. Check all his communication records. I want a full accounting of his attendances at the Ultimate Games. Where did he go? Who did he see?"