Tomorrow's Spacemage

by Timothy Ellis

  "Do they have magic?" asked the Patriarch.

  "Most of them, no. It's possible some will. But it doesn’t matter. When each of your societies meets another species for the first time, and very few of them look like us, how you greet them will decide if you survive or not. You all need to change in this regard, and pass the change down the centuries. Magic will not protect you from weapons which can render a planet uninhabitable without you even knowing they are there."

  They looked suitably shocked.

  "How much of this is guesswork on your part?" asked the Matriarch.

  "No, it's not skrying the future, if that's what you’re asking." She nodded. "I've been to the future. I've used magic sight to see what is out there, and compared it to what is there now. As long as you don't do something stupid, like pick a war with a superior species, I can tell you all of your civilizations survive the next three millennia. Three of the five will become vassals to larger empires at some point. The other two have a different path, where they will see me again."

  "What happens to this planet?" asked the democracy leader.

  "There will be no people here for around three thousand years. When I return to where I came from, the world will have heated up again, and once again be a good place to live."

  "Who goes with you?" asked the Matriarch.

  "At the moment, the village of my birth. We will also accept any mage and their family who doesn’t want to be part of the other kingdoms. I know an Oracle who might be interested, for example."

  She nodded. I wasn’t sure if she was just acknowledging who it was, or giving permission for it to happen.

  "How do we do this?" asked the new king.

  Fifty One

  It took two weeks.

  The ships were moved to the surface, where only the top level showed. Jetties were put in place so people could walk out to them. Mages moved from village to village, ordering everyone to gather up what valuables they could carry, and set them walking towards their ship. Most of those with pets, took them with them. In some cases, villagers used carts, to move caged small pets. The elderly and infirm were provided with a box containing seats, and moved directly to their ship. More mages moved food and water to places along the forced marches, so people and pets could eat and drink on the move.

  The rulers all chose the best places to call theirs, and used the time to make sure they had everything they needed, or wanted, in their space. Their flunkies were pressed into service showing people where they would be living, as they boarded the ships.

  After the villagers had left, large boxes appeared around it, and mages moved all the remaining animals inside. When full, they put a magic mark on top, and I moved it to its ship. The mages moved on to the next village, while more mages at the ship, moved all the animals into the level designated for them. When the mark was removed, I moved the box to another village.

  I was doing this from orbit, looking down from above. Tasha was with me, but the other girls were still on my island.

  Other boxes were used to collect wildlife from each kingdom, leaving enough to allow populations to survive, except where it was not expected they would survive the coming cold. These were moved to special areas on the animal decks, where they wouldn’t come into contact with others. Predators were stored in a way they wouldn’t take advantage of easy prey.

  When villages were completely empty, another magical mark was made, and I copied the entire village onto one of the lower decks set aside for them. The ships were so big, even the castles were stored intact. Everything in the buildings was copied.

  Fields of food crops were also moved, taking soil from underneath as well. The land started looking like a giant had ripped into it.

  Word went around the moving groups of people, saying there was a choice of where they went. Families and individuals changed direction. Many of them moved into the mountains heading for another kingdom. The Oracle kept an eye on them, and periodically she had me look at certain groups, and move them to where it was now obvious they were going. Mages who were changing kingdoms placed another special mark with their families, and I moved them as groups. The mages themselves were to be sorted out when everything else was done.

  With the slaver king on his ship, the walls had come down, and mages moved around the kingdom doing the same as for the others. I’d given him the choice of allowing mages to preserve everything they had, or his people would step off the ship at their destination with nothing but what they wore and could carry. He gave in, but needed an assurance no mage would remain on the ship once it left. It was a bit silly really. We had a hard time finding enough mages willing to do the work in that kingdom, let alone anyone who wanted to stay. But the whims of kings needed pandering to. Up to a point anyway.

  The days were long, and while the magic wasn't taxing, I was tired at the end of each day. Many of the mages were not making it through a full day, and the walking masses were mostly exhausted. Injuries happened to some along the way, and local healing mages worked on them, before moving mages jumped them to their ship. Mages were expanding their skills, as they came into contact with other mages they had once called enemies.

  Evenings were spent with my family and the girls, and on several occasions, I brought the Oracle to the island, and tried to teach her to hear the whales. By the end of the second week, she could.

  The whales were bothering me. I knew there were both whales and coral reefs in the future, but I couldn’t help thinking I needed to do something to ensure their survival. But no-one could think of how. Building a gigantic empty ship to fill full of seawater, and move the whales into it, did cross my mind, but I had nightmares about the water exploding out of a weak point while in space, and all the whales dying. And it wasn’t just the whales, it was fish kind itself. I kept my misgivings to myself, but one night Tasha nagged it out of me. She didn’t have an answer either, but I felt better knowing there was a limit to what we could actually do, and saving people was the main concern.

  At the end of two weeks, everyone was settled on a ship, the mages had divided up by where they wanted to go, and the ships were locked down ready for space.

  Moving them into space was one of the easiest parts of the whole process.

  Fifty Two

  I chose the democracy ship first.

  After all, my friends were their descendants, and it made sense to make sure they got started properly first.

  The mages from my own village remained on the planet, with everyone on my island once again living in their own houses in the village. The masters had wanted to go with me, but the safety of the villagers was more important than their own curiosity. Or so I thought.

  I moved the girls with me back to Jen's ship, and moved her ship to sit on top of the democracy ship, just over the front section which contained the bridge, locking them together. The view to the rear, showed the bigger ship seemingly going on forever.

  The jump to their homeworld made me stagger, and Tasha had to grab me to stop me falling over.

  "What was that?" she asked.

  "The jump took more out of me than I expected."

  "Why?" asked Lea.

  "Could be how big the ship is?" laughed Jen.

  She was probably right. I'd misjudged how much energy was needed for jumping something so big, so far. I sat for a while, drank a bottle of water, and waited until I felt okay again.

  The move down to the water off the place I’d chosen for the colony, was nothing in comparison. I hadn't considered water displacement when the ship appeared, mostly under water, and the shoreline was inundated by a huge wave, which also travelled outward in the other directions. There wasn’t anything there to really damage though, so no harm done.

  Putting up the jetty so people could disembark safely took moments. But before letting people off, I wanted to get the settlement created first.

  It had taken some long group sessions with the more advanced mages, to work out the intent of offloading the ships. But in the end, doi
ng it proved really easy. The intent was established for offloading during the loading process, and all I needed to do was utter a single word.

  "Unload."

  I shifted my sight to above the plain chosen, and showed the area on a screen on the main bridge of Jen's ship. Fields of crops appeared, dotting all over the place in a seemingly random pattern. Villages appeared, filling in the gaps, along with fences for keeping in animals. The animals appeared within the fences, and wild animals further out beyond the villages. Inside half an hour, the settlement was created.

  But there were a few problems. One village straddled a river, and half the buildings collapsed into the water. I removed the entire village, and copied once again, shifted to be along the river instead of in it. There were other such problems where houses had appeared around trees, or hung in the area slightly where the ground wasn’t level. I fixed each problem, tweaking the magic intent as I went.

  With everything offloaded, I moved myself to where the committee waited.

  "You can begin offloading people," I told them.

  "How long will this ship remain here?" asked one of them.

  "Two years," I said, making a decision about something else on the spot. "Mind you, it could be more or less, since this planet won't have the same cycles you're used to. The two years will be where we came from, not where you are."

  There were a few dark looks, as if to say one more thing to cope with they didn’t need. I ignored them.

  "Any last advice?" asked the leader of the committee.

  "Don't assume anything. Your animals might not survive here, or your crops grow. There could be predators I haven't seen, or plants which will prove poisonous. Use the experience of those people who hunt and forage, in determining what to try, and what to avoid. It's up to you to be intelligent about what you do."

  I looked at them. None looked particularly happy, even though they were getting what they wanted. I guess the old adage about being careful what you wished for, was proving true.

  "This world is vast," I went on. "As your population grows, there are other land masses you can reach, if you develop the means to get there. Sometime in the future, when you also develop the means to get there, there are other planets around nearby stars, which are yours to expand to. Pass down to each generation of leaders, the need to be strong, but not warlike, when you meet a species which is not your own."

  "What happens if we're warlike?"

  "What happens if they're warlike?"

  I gave them a shark like grin.

  "The reaper will visit you. Choose your future wisely, and counsel those who come after you to do the same."

  My gaze came to rest on the leader of the committee. She nodded.

  I didn’t bother with goodbyes, but returned to the bridge of Jen's ship. We watched the committee lead the first of the people out into a glorious sunny day.

  "Anything else we can do for them?" asked Jess.

  "I don’t think so," answered Tasha.

  "They have more of a start than most species do I think," I added. "It might have been fiction, but the stories of colony ships arriving with practically nothing ring true to me. At least this way, everything they had is there to start with."

  "Next!" commanded Jen, and we all laughed.

  Fifty Three

  It was pretty much a repeat with the slaver kingdom.

  Better prepared for the jump this time, I wasn’t as affected when we arrived over the planet. After offloading the villages, my chat with the king went much as before. I let him know other worlds were there to be expanded to, but gave him a heavier warning about not picking a war when they finally met someone else. I wasn’t convinced he took it to heart, or it would be passed down the generations.

  I didn't mention their skin colour was going to change. Before moving down to the planet, we had the argument again about using this planet. We knew this was their home planet, and we didn’t know anything about the other planets they eventually spread to. In the end, relative certainty won out over wishes.

  The king repeated his demand that no mages of any kind be left behind, and while I assured him there were none, I'm not sure he believed me.

  We left them beginning to let people go ashore, and jumped back home.

  The matriarchy went next.

  I'd plotted the way a ship would jump to the planet they were going to, and because of the distance, broke it up into three jumps, with a half hour break between each. After the second jump, we found ourselves in a system with ship activity, but they were slow by comparison with Jen's ship, and we didn’t seem to be detected.

  Offloading the villages went to plan, and I gave the same talk to the mages as I had twice before. I ended it slightly differently.

  "At some point in your future, you will meet other life forms. They won't look like you, and they will be technologically more advanced than you, to the point where your magic would not prevail over their weaponry. Please do not pick going to war, as I’d hate to get back to my home and find this planet barren."

  "You paint a grim picture," said their oldest. "But do not fear, we shall survive here, and prosper."

  "I hope you will."

  "You will please join us for a short ceremony. Bring your friends."

  I nodded, and followed the senior mages out, and down to where the jetty met the shore line. The girls met us there, after I mind asked Tasha for them to join us.

  The senior mage stepped off the jetty by herself, and planted her staff in the ground emphatically. She was facing away from all of us crowded onto the jetty still.

  "I name this planet Karn. As the Sisterhood of Karn, we announce ourselves to the galaxy, and take our place in it."

  She lifted the staff, and ground it once again. After a pause, she turned to face me.

  "We thank you for delivering us to our long awaited home. Those who follow us will remember the Thorn from which a mighty civilization grew, and we will remember you when once again you meet our people."

  She looked about the crowd, who stayed silent, and turned back to me.

  "Now be gone, so we can begin."

  I nodded to her sagely, and moved us back to the ship. My sight went up on a monitor, and we watched and listened to the cheering which now rang out, and as the next person stepped onto what was more sand than ground, I moved the ship back into orbit.

  "How did she know you would meet up with her people again?" asked Lea.

  "She didn’t," said Tasha. "But it’s a fair bet."

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Because they are magic users, and you being the strongest one, will want to keep an eye on them all. Especially as who knows how powerful they'll be in thousands of years."

  I gave her a hand waggle for that one. I wasn’t actually interested at all, but who knew what the future would bring for any of us.

  We all made ourselves comfortable, and I took us home. It had been a long day, and we jumped down to the village to check in with the mages and my family, and slept on the island.

  The following day saw the patriarchy off next. The first and second stops both had ships in the system, but once again, they were very slow, and we weren't detected. I also warned them about their possible future, but the king didn’t seem to be worried at all. Offloading was straight forward.

  With the square outside the castle walls full of people, the king stood on the wall, and waved for silence.

  "I name this planet Kelewan. Magic brought us here. Magic will build a strong society here. Magic will prevail against all obstacles we encounter." He paused while the crowd cheered. "We do not yet know what is outside the ring of villages, so our first priority is sending out our sight to find out. If need be, we will wall ourselves off from the rest of the planet, until we are ready to expand outwards. Those of you with tasks, proceed with them. Those without, seek out your homes, and wait for instructions. Finally we are free of the interference of others, and we can now begin to build the society we have longed for. Let us begin."
/>
  The crowds cheered again, and began to disperse. The king turned to me.

  "Thank you. I've seen some of this world as you unloaded our villages. This is where we were always meant to be. And I will ensure your messages are passed down the ages. When you come again, our people will greet you as a friend."

  We nodded formally to each other, and I didn’t wait for an instruction to leave, jumping back to the ship. Three jumps later, we were back home, and it was the turn of the kingdom of my birth.

  This trip out didn’t go to plan. The second jump put us closer than before to ships in the system, and we must have been detected immediately. They all turned towards us, and seemed to be faster than the ships we'd seen before. Twenty minutes into my break time, and some of them were close enough to start firing on us.

  I had a wall up around both ships, and the fire wasn’t any real problem for me, in spite of the sheer size of the wall. But it was annoying.

  "Go home," I muttered idly, as a coordinated group of missiles hit the wall closest to Jen's ship.

  The ships all vanished, and I almost fainted. Tasha rushed to my side.

  "What did you do?" asked Jen immediately.

  "No idea. But I think I sent them back to where they came from. Given how I feel all of a sudden, some of them must have been a long way from home."

  Lea tossed me a bottle of water, and I spent an additional half hour resting. Before jumping again, I double checked if there were ships there, and finding some, cast around for the next best place to jump to. The third jump was therefore clear, and after another rest, I jumped us the fourth time to the planet which was our destination.

  Another repeat of what I’d said to the other leaders, but this time I had extra to tell the new king.

  "I'm not sure I'm doing you any favours by leaving you here."

  "Why did you choose this world?"

  "Because it has no intelligent life here now, and I know it has humans on it in the future."

  "So why the concern?"