“Well,” said Llon, turning to look at the three women. “Looks like Lank and I are going to be escorting three very beautiful women to this dinner. Are you prepared to be eclipsed by beauty, Lank?”
Lank grinned. He, too, was wearing his best, bought in Carmakville, on Vultaire.
“It’s a pleasure to be eclipsed by beauty,” he stated.
“Our male crew-mates seem to be enjoying talking stuff and nonsense, don’t you think, Kati?” Chrysalia said, but she laughed as she spoke. “Not that I mind hearing well-meaning stuff and nonsense.”
“And the said crew-mates look pretty presentable themselves,” Kati added, laughing too. “But I guess we better get going. We have places to go, promises to keep, people to meet.”
“And more wine glasses to clink,” added Lank, sounding almost giddy.
When Llon, as the senior male, took Kati’s arm, Lank gathered Ciela and Chrysalia to his sides, ready to play the attentive escort to two women. Life had taught him to take pleasure in things when the pleasure was there; the grim stuff would announce itself soon enough.
*****
Marna Naez had run a successful retail business with her husband before she had turned to politics, and it showed. She was dressed, quite simply, in a slacks suit which even Kati would have found comfortable, but it was finely tailored, of the best cloth. Her manner, when she was introduced to the off-worlders, was open and friendly, but oozed confidence. Her grey hair had been pulled back from her face, and her surprisingly light-coloured—steel grey, Kati thought—eyes glittered with interest and intelligence. Gorsh ought to be worrying about her, Kati mused as she watched the woman take her measure. She was very glad that she was no longer the naive young woman who had been abducted by aliens, but, instead, had a fair bit of experience handling sticky situations.
President Naez’s Second, who also had the title of The First of the Families, Karn Gurt, was a man at least ten years younger than Max Lordz, whom Kati would have judged to be in his fifties. He was taller and heavier than Lordz, but, nevertheless, there was a similarity in the two men’s looks which Kati assumed had to do with the practise of intermarriage among the Old Families. He seemed a happier man than Max was, and perhaps the reason for that was his wife whom he obviously adored. She was a pleasant, competent-looking woman who seemed to have the gift for putting everyone around her at ease.
She was introduced as Cassi Gurt, and Kati realized as she shook the woman’s hand that she was as shrewd as President Naez was, and probably the intellectual powerhouse in the Gurt family. She was also, obviously, not Old Family by birth. Karn Gurt had had the opportunity which had been denied Max Lordz, of marrying the woman of his choice, and thereby injecting new life into his Family.
“Please,” Kati said, after the introductions, “just call me Kati. The Captain Katerina business can get a little awkward.”
“You Free Traders tend always to be informal,” the President said. “I have reason to know, having dealt with a few during my years in the business of providing the citizens of Strone with a variety of necessary, and less necessary, goods. The Free Traders usually peddle the less necessary, but, often, highly coveted items.”
“Kati and her crew are selling something that our government really could use,” Max Lordz said. “Always assuming we can find the funds to buy, and that her crew-woman, Chrysalia, here, can be persuaded to part with the items.” He winked at the Crystolorian. “She has been guarding them with her person, although Sammas and I did get her to agree that our vault was as safe a place as it is possible to have on this world.”
“It’s not the communicator crystals that have me losing sleep,” Chrysalia said lightly. “It’s the others. I’m not sure that we should have brought them to Wayward at all, although when we made the decision to do so, it seemed a sensible one.”
“What kind of crystals are we talking about?” Marna Naez’s expression was dubious.
“The best crystals that exist for use in communicators,” Chrysalia said confidently. “They come from my world, which is why the Captain has me looking after them. We have a sack full of lace crystal shards suitable for use in various kinds of communicators.”
“We could use communicator crystals, indeed,” the President said. “Perhaps we can buy at least a few, assuming that we can come to terms. Money is a problem for the New Government, since the old Council was scandalously wasteful with even the taxes that they managed to collect, and they were not good at collecting taxes.”
“It wasn’t just tax-collection that they were bad at,” sighed Cassi Gurt. “We don’t have much in the way of necessary services, because everything was allowed to fall to ruin.”
“Yeah, we in the new Council are running as fast as we can, just trying to catch up to where we ought to be.” Karn Gurt shook his head. “And trying to do everything on a shoestring, until we can get the tax system up and running, and the revenue coming in.”
“And the people who do have property are complaining about everything,” added the President. “They’re whining about having to pay taxes after having been able to circumvent them for years, and they’re whining about the lack of services. I keep telling them that they can forget the services if they don’t want to pay taxes; the Great Council is not a bunch of miracle-workers. If we’re going to get this continent up and running, we need the financing to do it, and, even with money, results will take time.”
Karn Gurt chuckled.
“I was talking to Family Head Janza the other day,” he said. “Sieur Janza has a seat on the Council but he can rarely be bothered to attend the sittings. He asked me why couldn’t we just do things the way we had always done before, and forget about collecting taxes except from what he called the ‘peasant classes’. Instead, the Government could just borrow money from the Old Families for necessary projects, and that way provide the Families with an interest income source which would keep them all afloat.”
Max Lordz howled.
“Janza’s the worst complainer about communications, transportation infrastructure—everything that can’t be managed without invoking central authority,” he said. “I suppose that he expects the Great Council to try to force the members of the ‘peasant class’ to provide free labour to build the roads and the communications networks that we need, on top of paying usurious taxation rates!”
“That’s how he used to run his own Estate,” Cassi said. “He was losing people at such a horrendous rate, that a couple of years ago, his daughter forced him to retire from active duty and took over running the lands. That’s why he’s in the city full time now—supposedly acting as the Janza representative to the Great Council. Kara Janza is young, but she is managing amazingly well; I understand that some of the farmers who left in frustration some years back have returned to their lands, and are singing her praises.”
“It’s a pity she’s not the Family Head,” commented Marna Naez. “She’d be good on the Council.”
“By the time the old Sieur dies we’ll have fixed the laws so that women can be Family Heads too,” said Karn cheerfully.
“Hey, and if we can marry her off to some sensible young man who is not of the Old Families, we’ll have succeeded in rehabilitating another small corner of the world,” Cassi laughed. “Things will improve, little by little, if we keep trying.”
Kati was listening to the banter among the Waywardians with interest. It was a pity that Mikal with his propensity to enlighten anyone who would listen, about the most positive theories of government, was not available. But, perhaps later on..., and in the meantime, these were certainly the kind of people with whom she could work.
The Head Housekeeper announced dinner before she had a chance to redirect the conversation to topics of interest to her. She found herself steered to a chair next to the host, who had the head of the table, and across from President Naez. Karn and Cassi Gurt were on her other side, while Llon and Chrysalia sat next to Marna Naez. Lank and Ciela, as the junior members of the Spaceb
ird’s crew, had the last seats; that end of the table had been left empty for the convenience of the serving staff. Sammas was there now, refilling wine glasses which an attractive girl server was passing back to their owners.
“I would like to propose a toast,” said Lordz, standing up once all the wine glasses had been refreshed. “I hope our off-world guests don’t mind. I’d like us to drink to Wayward, to the future Wayward, which will be a better place than the one we fought hard to change.”
Kati lifted her glass as everyone at the table stood.
“I salute your determination,” she said. “And I wish you all the best in your efforts. Here’s to the future, improved Wayward.”
“And where are all the degenerates supposed to go if Wayward becomes a model world?” grumped the Granda in the back of her mind.
“To hell, preferably,” Kati subvocalized, “although I know perfectly well that there’ll be no such luck. Some other Fringe planet will be ready for them.”
“Hey, don’t complain.” The Monk was in fine form. “It’s job security for you and your boyfriend.”
“I’m glad that you’re willing to take a moral stance, Captain Katerina,” President Naez said, when they all had sat down again. “Often Free Traders are quite insistent on staying neutral, no matter the issue; I suppose it’s in their business interests to avoid annoying even the nastiest customer. However, it can be irritating.”
“Kati’s a somewhat unusual Free Trader,” Llon spoke up. “She has remarkably strong moral views, and has, in the past, not been afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right.”
“Is that why you choose to travel with her?” the President asked him.
“Among other reasons. But then, that is, at least partly, why all four of us are with her, and look up to her.”
“In spite of the fact that she has that villainous Granda node ensconced in her nervous system,” piped up Lank in a cheerful tone.
“A villainous Granda node?” Marna Naez stared at Kati curiously. “I suppose that there’s a story behind that. You people are lucky to have nodes at all; we gave them up when our ancestors stopped paying Star Federation taxes, about two hundred years ago.”
“You mean my, and Karn’s ancestors quit paying Federation taxes,” Max Lordz corrected her. “Your ancestors, and those of Cassi, as well as of most other Waywardians, had no say in the matter. The Council of the Families was running the show then, and they decided that the Federation was interfering too much in some of their members’ shady businesses.
“Now if we want nodes we have to deal with Judd Gorsh, who gets them from heaven only knows where.”
“His supply, at least the one I know of, has recently been cut off,” Kati said bluntly.
The servant girl was exchanging her used salad plate for a larger one, piled high with colourful delicacies from the platters that had been set up on a separate serving table. Other staff members were performing the same service to the rest of the gathering.
“Kati is rather knowledgeable about the affairs of the known galaxy, for a Free Trader,” Max said. “And she is rather keen to see Gorsh dealt with, by Federation justice.”
“I have a solid reason—or a number of them actually, but we won’t go into them all right now—to feel a lot of anger towards Gorsh. You see, I was rather unceremoniously snatched from my home world by his feline employees, pumped full of a drug to put me under. I was shipped out of my galaxy, and taken out of my time, to be sold as a slave. I was lucky enough to escape, to avoid recapture, and to find my way to the Star Federation world Lamania, but there is no hope, whatsoever, of going back home to my small son.”
“You’re saying that you’ve been victimized by his disgusting off-world business, the success of which he has been bragging about?” President Naez asked.
She was staring at Kati intently. She looked like she was grinding her teeth.
“I wish to apologize for breaking into the discussion, Sieur Max,” said the girl servant, looking at Lordz with an expression half frightened, half determined. “But you ought to know that there are rumours flying around the Market about how the carpets that Lovale is importing from Continent Sud are made. Lovale claims that they are hand-knotted—that’s why they cost so much, and are of such good quality. Well, I was told by a Sudlander, that it’s true, and that the people doing the knotting are child slaves that the manufacturer has been renting from Judd Gorsh—little boys, mostly.”
Kati’s fork clattered on to the table. Her head swam.
“Granda, I need to get hold of myself!” she subvocalized.
“Those would be Murra’s boys,” she whispered, when she could speak, and suddenly her eyes filled with tears.
Those boys had been such good-natured children, and some of them had been so homesick! And now they, and others of their kind, snatched before and after, had been turned into slave labour at a carpet factory! Mikal had told her, long ago, that this would be so, but it was one thing to entertain a possibility, and another to find out that it was a fact!
There were a woman’s arms around her shoulders, and a handkerchief was pressed into her hand.
“You knew some of those children?” Cassi asked her, taking the empty wine glass from beside Kati’s plate and handing it to Max. “Better fill that,” she said.
“On the slave ship,” Kati answered. “Those boys were so good, much sweeter than the children from my own world. There were a dozen, maybe one or two more, of them in the room in which I was kept. I guess it must have been Gorsh’s ‘odds and ends’ room, now that I think of it. There were the Murra’s boys, and Murra himself, who was older than the others, but still a child, the same number of small boys and girls from my world, two teenage girls from my world, and me. And then they brought in a man who was being kept comatose under drugs, and the teen girls took it on themselves to look after him because the crew were doing a haphazard and uncaring job. After everyone in the room was implanted with translation nodes, it turned out that I had ended up with the Granda, and Murra and I, and another surprising prisoner on board the ship, hatched the escape plan for me and the man kept in a coma. We made it work, and I made a promise to the ones left behind that I’d find them, and free them, no matter how long it took.”
She hadn’t meant to blather on about her story; Cassi’s sympathy had surprised her, breaking down her defences.
However, her story, and perhaps her reaction to finding out about the carpet-knotting slaves, had electrified the room. The servants were staring at her. Max’s hands were shaking as he held the wine glass for Sammas to fill. Cassi’s arms were still held tightly around Kati’s shoulders, and her husband was leaning towards the two women, as if in solidarity. President Naez’s lips formed a thin line; she looked to be thinking hard. And Llon, beside her, was gazing at Kati as if at a favourite child who has just brought in a good report card. Even Chrysalia seemed extra animated; Kati thought that she, too, might have been pleased.
“I think that the emotional charge that your reaction to the girl’s words prompted will be very useful to us,” The Monk subvocalized. “You’ve bagged these people for us.”
What a snot the Granda was. Kati refused to respond. She had a utilitarian monster inside her nervous system!
“Where’s your sense of humour, woman?” The Monk asked her acidly.
“When it comes to defenceless little boys, I don’t have any,” she snapped back subvocally.
Having been reminded of Jake hadn’t helped, she realized. But...she had work to do.
She squared her shoulders as Cassi let go of them, giving her back a last pat, and returning to her seat.
“What kind of forces have you been able to gather to help with your self-appointed task of freeing Gorsh’s slaves?” Marna Naez asked her.
“Considerable, actually.” Kati was glad to hear that her voice was steady again. “Right now, besides The Spacebird crew, there’s a Star Federation Agent and two Xeonsaurs on Wayward. All three of them are Go
rsh’s prisoners at the moment, two of them by choice. The third one is the Xeonsaur who was kept prisoner on, and forced to navigate the slave ship. He was instrumental in helping to engineer the escape. Besides, there is always the option of calling a Torrones Warship in, if things get really sticky, but all of us have agreed to avoid that, if at all possible.”
“A Free Trader has no authority to call in a Torrones Warship,” Naez protested. “Only Star Federation officials can do that.”
“Kati is in a position to recommend that action to Maryse r’ma Darien, the Head of the Human Trafficking Division of the Federation Peace Officer Corps,” Llon said steadily. “I understand that Division Head r’ma Darien would take her recommendation very seriously.”
“Marna, you will have to hear these people out,” Max said, gesturing to Sammas to bring the wine bottle for a refill of the President’s glass. “I listened to Kati this afternoon. The tale she told me was shocking, at the least. We may not have taken Judd Gorsh seriously enough; I think that we all simply assumed that as long as he was running his nasty business off-world, we could look at his law-breaking through our fingers. We weren’t into slavery, not even the worst of the Old Families; we didn’t need to be. Lots of cheap labour on our world, and the cost of living for most people is not that high, so even the poorest peasants survive, if not thrive. However, it does look like Gorsh is trying to involve the rest of the planet in the slavery business, right now. He wants to implicate us all, and he knows only too well that we don’t have the institutions in place to come down on him, and stop him from doing as he damn well pleases.”
“He has more resources on hand than the government does,” added Karn. “He’s been buying up property and collecting people, whether as employees, tenants, or chattels, for a long time now. He has space-going vessels, and a fleet of flyers and flits. The government has no vehicles that are not leased from Families or merchants; the old Council of the Families saw to that. Meaning that we are at a serious disadvantage.”
Showdown on the Planet of the Slavers Page 32
