Hunter's Terminus

by Timothy Ellis

  "Thankyou. Come on girls. May as well see if we can live another year."

  "Speak for yourself," exclaimed Jess. "I always intended living forever."

  The three of them laughed, and followed the doctor off into an examination room. I was wondering if we should stay or go, when Thorn poked his head in.

  "You and your people are welcome over on the station. Once I can leave Tasha, I'll join you, and we can talk. Then I'll introduce you to some of my people. There is a lot to talk about."

  He turned to Annabelle.

  "If you would have your Abigail look in her office, she'll find several giant piles of electronics. She and Jane here might like to get started on interfacing the drives with your own systems."

  "What's on them?" asked Jane.

  "Everything I could keep safe from before the time line shift, and its equivalent after."

  For the first time ever, I saw Jane run from a room. The others chuckled. Thorn un-poked his head, and the rest of us headed back to the bridge. I stopped at the door, and found almost everyone else was still there.

  "Gunbus is heading over to the station. Anyone wants to go visit an alien station, now's your chance."

  Forty One

  It wasn’t very alien after all.

  Jane had left the computer work to a new avatar, and joined us, doing the flying across. Station control had sounded much like any other human station control, and we'd found the docking clamps and fittings were all similar enough they connected without more than slight modification by a repair droid.

  The airlocks didn’t match, but the small one on our side opened into the station airlock without any problems. We were greeted by a customs official, who quickly outlined the rules the station operated under, and collected a thumb print from each of us for billing purposes.

  He made it very clear he knew we were Thorn's guests, and for us to not worry about money conversion at this point. I'd need to discuss it with him sometime soon though, or we'd quickly rack up a debt hard to pay. I had hard currency of various forms, like diamonds, on board, but who knew what was worth anything here?

  "Where's the nearest pub?" asked BA, and we were given directions.

  There were a lot of us, since off duty pilots and marines had joined us as well. Guns had been left on the ship, although I was pretty sure my team were still wearing sidearms under cloak, as I was. Part of the chameleon nature of the suit allowed us to fool the eye into not seeing guns, and it had become default mode when in an environment we didn’t know, or one which guns were not normal. It was something I needed to break the habit of doing, but life had proved so far I was never paranoid enough. Something to work on.

  Hobbes and Roo had remained back on BigMother, since they were not sure how they'd be greeted, and we didn’t need complications like that on our first outing in the galaxy.

  Walking around the station was like walking around any other station, and I quickly noticed the people looked like we did, with much the same colour variations we had, with a single exception. A number of people had orange skin. Syrinx and Tanith, being different colours to our normal as well, found this most interesting. I expected to hear an explanation at some point. We tried not to stare, but both the magicians were certainly stared at, not the least by kids.

  The shops had the usual sorts of goods in them, but to my eyes, were very basic. There were other obvious crews walking around, and these all seemed much more advanced than the locals did. But what I saw of the locals did seem to match Thorn's house, and what his friends were wearing. It was hard not to come to the conclusion Thorn's people were not as technologically advanced as those they traded with. I put it aside as not relevant.

  The pub was like any other pub, and we attracted a fair amount of interest from those already there when we entered. The bar staff rallied to the challenge of so many arriving at once, and we were soon spread out around the tables and lounge chairs, sampling the local beer, ales, and wines. On a whim, I had my PC do a test on the alcohol content of my beer, and found it higher than Australian normal.

  Arthur sat down next to me, and I noticed his people mingling with mine. He also was sampling the local beer. But I noticed while mine was cold enough to cause condensation on the outside of the mug, his was not. I smiled to myself. As much as he protested he wasn't, he was so British.

  "I have a vague idea of where we are," he said, after emptying his mug. "There is a human enclave in Keerah space. We've never been allowed in, but we've been to both ends. The ones with the orange skin come from the other end, and are a separate political system. I'm guessing, since we have none of their systems on our nav map, we're somewhere in the middle, but not part of either of them."

  "Very true," said Thorn, causing us both to jump.

  Another chair appeared next to ours, and he sat. He was looking tired. For a man who didn’t do much walking around, he looked like he'd run a marathon. But maybe it was concern for his wife and friends which was wearing at him.

  "Thanks to your Carter and your medical technology, Tasha is going to be fine for at least a few years more. Our friends are now in what she called care units as well. You have my thanks for coming so quickly."

  "And you have mine," said Arthur, "for coming to our rescue earlier."

  "I was there. I figured it was time all knew I was there."

  "What did you do?" I asked him.

  "I sent all the ships back to their point of creation."

  Arthur looked shocked. I looked at him, and back to Thorn. Arthur continued to struggle to get his voice back.

  "What does that mean?" I eventually asked.

  "I sent each ship back to which ever shipyard made it. In several cases, that was likely thirty or forty systems away."

  I felt my jaw drop.

  "If you had that sort of power," said Amanda, I found her standing behind me, "why did we fight three battles when you could have just waved them away, or whatever it is you do?"

  "Sorry, but I only interfere when I have to, and you were doing fine on your own. Besides, I was on your other stations for much of the time."

  "Doing what?" asked Aleesha, who was now standing behind Arthur, with most of the team behind them.

  "Evaluating you. I've watched you all for a long time with the help of a Seer, now passed, but I truly didn’t know you and what you really stood for. Having you arrive here was something no-one saw coming, and dealing with the time line shift meant I didn't become aware of your physical shift for a few days after. I knew the shift was coming, and we planned for it, but when I met you last time, no-one said anything about you appearing near our space. I thought you still back in your arm of the galaxy. Maybe I misunderstood, or forgot. It was the use of magic in your first encounter saving Arthur and his refugees, which drew my attention to where you actually were."

  He paused, and looked directly at me.

  "The time line shift nearly killed my wife and friends. Being so close to my magic for so long, they'd been spared some of the ravages of time as I have been. But while I preserved all my people from the time line shift, something leaked through, and the four of them aged more than twenty years in a few hours. Tasha especially, since she has spent the most time in close proximity to me. I was trying to keep them all alive when I felt magic being used in such a large scale, which I hadn't felt in a long time. I took the risk to find out what was happening, and found you. I walked your stations, talked to your people, and compared what they said with my memories of meeting you so long ago."

  He gaze shifted to Lacey, and back to me.

  "You took in refugees from different species to your own, without even knowing who they were, and without even being able to communicate with them. Such generosity convinced me you were who I remembered you to be. And such action requires reward. It was I who upgraded your small ships, and I left the necessary specifications for your shipyard to duplicate the upgrades for your larger ships. Perhaps not enough at this point, but a jump start on what you will need to ach
ieve yourselves."

  "Thank you," said Lacey, raising his beer mug in salute.

  "It's a start only. My people will need your help, but first you need to ensure your own survival. But once you do, there are other human societies which we will also need to help. Five kingdoms there were in the beginning, and six societies they became. Two developed their magic and were absorbed into the Keerah and Ralnor empires. Three remained under my care. And one hides in Trixone space. All face new threats now. But there is also now an opportunity which you present."

  "What sort?"

  "Discussion for another time. For now, you have other concerns, don’t you?"

  "How are we paying for these drinks, for one?"

  "I own this station. I will provide for those who serve you. My resources are vast. When trade becomes possible, we'll work out the economic necessities. But before then, you need introductions to the leaders of the other two societies here."

  Politics. I couldn’t wait.

  Forty Two

  I did wait.

  Not that it bothered me to. Instead of meeting leaders, we took a station shuttle back down to the planet below. A small spaceport was on the outskirts of the only city. And as we flew over it, calling it a city was being somewhat over generous. It was more than a big town though.

  Not far from where we landed was a monument. Thorn led us over there, and we stood there wondering what it was for.

  "I built this monument a long time ago, at a time when I was the only person on this planet."

  He flicked a glance at me, and looked back at what I could now see was some sort of tablet, mounted inside a glass case.

  "When I first came here, there was a city about five times the size of the one you see now. I lived there for two years, and one day was kidnapped by slavers. It was weeks later when I returned, and found nothing. I thought somehow I’d destroyed this civilization. And this set me on a course which did destroy the civilization." He looked around us, finding somber expressions. "Except it wasn’t destroyed, merely moved to a new planet, which I now know to be in Trixone space."

  He looked at me.

  "I'm glad you came. I'm old. I may look like I'm in my prime, but I've been single handedly keeping this space safe for a very long time now, and the constant use of major magic takes its toll on the body. Outwardly I know I look about sixty, but I feel the weight of being over the century. The average for my people is around seventy, and the average for the more highly advanced societies I keep safe is toward the nineties. But where I was born, those living past fifty were rare. My own parents lived to their sixties, as did my sisters."

  "Do you have family still?" asked Alison.

  "Nieces and nephews only, and some grands." He looked at me. "We wanted children, but perhaps the sceptre does something to you preventing it." Aline next to me frowned. "Doctor Carter is doing tests. And it may be the ravages of time travel which crushed our hopes. In any case, my life has been full acting as protector of this space."

  I sighed. I had a feeling where this was going.

  From the monument he led us to an old style monorail, several cars seeming to be waiting for us. It joined what seemed to be a series of city loops, spiraling inwards, and we enjoyed a sightseeing tour of something almost out of our own history. The city itself had layers, the outer ones being the most advanced. The center layer was now a museum, and the last station stopped us on the outskirts of what must have been the original village.

  Thorn led us down the main street, pointing out important buildings, and outside one of them, several people were waiting. Thorn announced this was the original town hall, and introduced the current Mayor. The Mayor introduced the two senior councilors. All three proceeded to give us some history of the city, which had indeed grown in stages.

  "Sorry," interrupted Amanda. "How old did you say this part of the city was?"

  "I can see why you’re confused," said the Mayor. "This is the original village Thorn was born into, some three thousand years ago. The buildings themselves were brought forward in time and placed here, which is not where they were originally. As our more advanced neighbors began to influence things, the next ring of the city used building concepts which hadn't even been thought of back then. The most recent ring of course, is almost as modern as you'll find on any other planet, as each new generation has been able to leap forward from the next."

  "Does anyone live here now?" asked Aline.

  "No. The last were Thorn's parents. After they passed, the museum was established. And we do get a lot of tourism here now. People like to see how their ancestors lived. So our magicians keep the old village as you see it now."

  I noted some interest in there being other magicians than Thorn. Something to talk about with him sometime, as I had no idea how magicians would fit into a modern society.

  After some explanations and questions, we spent some time wandering in groups. Thorn led a few of us to his original home. This was much more primitive than where he lived now, and I could understand why his parents had stayed, but he hadn't. He explained the house we'd been to earlier, was on an island half way around the world.

  Back in the outer ring, we were hosted to a buffet style dinner at the current city hall. Most of the local politicians were there, along with notable citizens, and several of Thorn's relatives. None of them had his magic though.

  With it being a late hour locally, and an even later hour for us, we returned to the space port, and took the shuttle directly back to BigMother, with the shuttle making a further stop to take Arthur and his people back to Round Table.

  While most headed for bed, I took Thorn to see his wife. She was still in the care unit, looking like she was sleeping peacefully, but you could see a definite change in the way she looked. Thorn was amazed.

  "How are you doing that? She looks nearly twenty years younger, almost as she did before the time line shift."

  This would put her in her eighties as far as looks went.

  "Carter will have to explain it you. All I know is people go in, and come out with things fixed."

  I grinned at him. In fact, that was about all I knew about them. A ship like BigMother didn’t really rate a full medical team, mostly having doc droids and care units. Carter and her team were picked up along the way, and while they made dealing with injury or illness a lot more personal, most of the time, they strictly weren't necessary.

  "Do I want to ask Carter something like that?"

  "How much tech do you know?"

  "Not as much as I should. My head simply doesn’t deal with it. In my day, technology was a bigger rock in the catapult. When I was thrust out into space, I had too much else on my mind to be bothered doing much more than figuring out how to prepare food, open the doors, and download a book. Jen has never let me forget how backward I am as far as tech is concerned."

  He grinned at me. I grinned back.

  "Then no, you shouldn’t ask."

  Tech was my thing, but even I wasn’t stupid enough to ask how the care units worked.

  "Is this technology available for us to buy?"

  "Sure. But I am surprised you're using ours and not your more advanced society's med tech. I would have thought a space faring civilization like yours would have better medical than us."

  "Unhappily no. The Keerah do, but it's not up to your standards either. I think it comes back to something you said to your tiger and roo. Your branch of humans developed luxury tech instead of war tech, and part of it was trying to live longer and healthier. So your medicine kept advancing to keep people alive longer, while the Keerah developed med tech for battle wounds. I gather you also developed the integration of brains and computers, which no-one I know has done. Medical tech is something you can trade to all three societies here."

  Trade. I noticed Jane was listening to us a short way away, and was nodding. Carter came in at this point as well.

  "How is she?" asked Thorn.

  "All four of them are doing well. I’d say they'll come
out sometime tomorrow. What about you?"

  "What about me?"

  "I think you should spend a few hours in a care unit as well. Rather than find you a bed here, why not take the opportunity to be scanned, and have anything fixable taken care of?"

  He looked at me.

  "You may as well. You look a lot more tired than I thought you should, and it might be something the doc droids can pick up on and repair."

  "My tiredness is a combination of my age and how much magic I've performing over the last week. The older I get, the more limits I'm finding. Back when I started using magic, I used to get the most awful migraines. They stopped, but I did get fatigued really badly before I figured out how to use power sources to supply energy for magic, instead of it coming from me. These days, I use the same sources, but it's like its coming from me more now than it used to. But then, it's over three thousand years since I was born, and I'm more than forty years past the ages my parents lived to. I guess I should be expecting to tone things down now."

  There it was again. I pretended not to notice.

  "Free medical care," I said. "Where's the downside?"

  He looked at me, and nodded to Carter. She led him away, and I headed for bed.

  Aline was already asleep, but Angel meowed at me for a solid two minutes, her tail swishing back and forth rapidly. Finally she allowed herself to be calmed and patted, and we both went to sleep.

  Normally Angel sleeps with her head on my pillow. When I woke up a few hours later, she'd turned around, and I had cat butt in my face.

  Always tell your cat where you're going, and when you’re going to be home.

  Or else.

  Forty Three

  When I walked onto the bridge the following morning, Jane showed me some upgrades.

  The navmap now included Arthur's, and also Thorn had sent a copy of the local systems. Human space had been marked out, and for the first time I could see just how far the three empires went. The whole galaxy wasn’t there, but enough of it to make you feel totally humble about how big the galaxy was, and how you fit into something more or less divided up into three giant empires.