The First One's Free (10 page)

She considered what words she had
extrapolated of their language and what concepts would match them.
“My employer sent me to accompany a Tianese man named Marq, who
deals in genetically modified foods.”

“So you are a geneticist?”

That was more than she wanted to reveal, but
revealed it was. “I am a student of genetics. My employer pays for
my education. Where is Marq? Was he also quarantined?”

“Your friend had to spend some time in
quarantine, and asked to answer a few uncomfortable questions about
trying to bring an unregistered alien species through passenger
channels to a Compact world. He’ll be paying a few fines, maybe end
up on a watch list if our section chief is in a bad mood.” The male
dropped a pendant on the table between them. She recognized the
jewel as her Master’s Key, the device that commanded the nanites in
her bloodstream. Essentially, it was a slave collar. It was also
dark. “He had this on him. We don’t know what it is.”

Tishla’s heart sank. Kai sold her to Marq? Or
gave her to him? As she struggled to hide the flash of anger that
surged through her, she suddenly realized what Kai had done. Under
the Realm’s laws of indenture, if a person who was property was
given over to a person from a place that banned such practices, the
deed to one’s person became null and void upon entry into the new
owner’s space of origin.

And the Compact apparently had no forms of
indenture or slavery. If the Master’s Key knew this…

She tried to find a delicate way to explain.
“I am in my employer’s custody for a contracted length of time.
That device acts as the physical proof of contract between us. It’s
clearly no longer functional.”
Because it’s illegal for Marq to
own me, isn’t it?
The idea that Marq had owned her, that, until
they entered Compact space, he literally could have done anything
he wanted with her, made Tishla ill.

“Does it require contact with a central node
somewhere to function?” asked the male.

“No,” she said. “If it’s deactivated, the
self-contained unit has become aware of a condition that nullifies
the contract.”

“Such as…?” He clearly knew Tishla’s status
as property, however voluntary and temporary that might be.

“Through our dealings with Marq,” she said,
“we have become aware that your Compact has banned certain forms of
employment the Realm considers normal. Our laws stipulate that such
contracts become void whenever the contracted person enters space
where such arrangements are illegal.”

“And were you to return to your Realm at this
moment?”

These beings did not have a word for Free
Woman. “I become what you would call a ‘citizen,’ though the
concept is somewhat different in our culture.”

“I see,” said the male. “And why was Marq on
your homeworld?”

“He brought us a…”

The male tossed a
poe-tay-toe
, the odd
word Tishla had learned for the tubers Marq had brought to Essenar.
“One of these?”

“Yes. He said it could cure our famine
problems.”

“Marq also visited a colony of this world
called Gilead, shortly before we lost contact with it. Do you know
why?”

Tishla shook her head, hoping the gesture
meant the same thing to these beings. “I don’t know.”

“What about Barsoom?”

Marq had called the first world her people
had taken
Baah Zun
, but that name came from Realm mythology.
For now, in the interest of staying out of a Tianese prison or
worse, she simply said, “I don’t know what those are.”

“You paused when I said ‘Barsoom.’ Why?”

“In our language, that name is part of our
creation myth.”

“I see.” The male stood and pushed his hands
into his pockets. “Tishla, I need your help. Would you know
anything about a world called ‘Barsoom,’ even in your people’s
language?”

Tishla knew nothing of Gilead. Or did she?
Barsoom, or rather
Baah Zun
, was the name Marq used for the
terraforming colony he handed to Laral’s troops. What if Gilead was
Hanar? Or worse, Cyal, the second colony Kai was to secure? Cyal
had cities. It had an industrial base. It could not be a renegade
world. No primate species she knew of could ever pull off such a
feat without the parent race assisting or intervening.
Kai, my
love, what have we done?

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I can’t help you. I
have to decide how to find employment now that I no longer have a
…” She almost said Master, since that was Kai’s legal status.
“…job.” That’s what these beings called it, and they did those jobs
in exchange for money. “Is this Barsoom a colony of Metis?”

“Mars,” said the male, “and they are one of
the most powerful members of the Compact. If someone has tried to
conquer their colony, they just brought the entire military might
of the human race down on their heads.”

Tishla now understood why Kai had handed her
contract over to Marq and sent her to… Was this now to be called
hew-maan
space? “I need to get back to my people.”

“Why?”

“Because I believe my former employer is in
danger.”
And my Master… my
husband
… Needs me at his
side.

*****

Her next visitor did not seem so formal. A
darker-skinned Tianese than the agent, this one had a more musical
tone to her speech. Tishla found it amusing how fast she had
learned to distinguish between male and female. This one was
constantly grinning at her, an expression completely unlike Marq’s
smile. When he first arrived on Essenar, Tishla thought maybe the
Tianese man was trying to mimic the Realm’s native gestures and
facial ticks. But the longer she watched them, the more she
realized how like her own people they were.

“Good morning,” the female said. “I’m Dr.
Moren. I’m one of the people who gave you the Gray treatment upon
your arrival.”

That made Tishla laugh. “So you know of the
Grays, too.”

“Oh, our people are righteously angry at
them,” said Dr. Moren. “Much of what we did to you as a precaution,
they did to our people as a joke.”

Tishla did not need to hear more to know what
the doctor was referring to abduction, invasive experiments that
served no purpose, and tracking devices. When the Realm learned
that these bug-eyed things didn’t even invent the technology they
used, the Warrior Caste made it a point to slaughter any Grays they
encountered and send the corpses back the way they came. She
wondered what these humans did to them. “They’re rather pathetic
once you learn who and what they are.”

“We have to remind our
mereens
that
using sex toys on them really is a war crime, even in peace time.”
She held out her left hand, palm up, and began dragging her finger
across it deliberately. “So you can extrapolate languages quickly.
That’s a rare talent among primates. Are you unique in this? Or
does your species naturally have this ability?”

“We’re born with it. It’s a survival
mechanism that evolved during our early Stone Age.” That was more
than Tishla wanted to say, but somehow, she felt completely at ease
with this woman. “The person who was here before said I was on
Metis.”

“Welcome to the Compact,” said the doctor.
“Thirty worlds and their colonies that like to pretend they’re a
single entity. Well, as long as the Laputans think we are.”

“We are aware of the Laputans.”

“We know. That’s why you ended up on the
wrong end of a stun wand and a guest of a hazmat crew. That liner
you boarded was actually one of ours.” She swiped on her palm some
more before looking up again. “Female. Correct?”

“Yes,” said Tishla. “As are you.”

The doctor looked down at her rather large
breasts and reddened in the face a little. “Ever wonder why that
particular sexual dimorphism is so common among primate aliens?
Anyway, that’s not how we deduced it. I suppose you remember when
we… probed you.”

Tishla knew her face colored, only in her
case, it was anger. “Yes.”

“That was a scope. We found an orifice and
wanted to see where it went. You were supposed to be unconscious,
but we’re a little unsure on the sedatives in a first contact
situation. We didn’t know what would poison you.”

“So you found my womb,” she said. “See
anything else interesting?”

“Yes. Did you know you were pregnant?”

Now it makes sense,
Tishla thought. If
Kai sent his concubine away to a place where her indenture would be
nullified, and she carried his child, then…

“I must get back to my people,” she said. “I
cannot give birth on an alien world. My ma- My mate has to be
present.”
My mate is probably dead
.

“In due time. You’re of a species unknown to
us.” She did not add that said species was also breeding and likely
to give birth on this world, but she didn’t have to. “It’s as much
for your protection as it is ours.”

“I’m a geneticist by training. I understand.
But you do not realize what may happen if I give birth on an alien
world outside the Realm.”

“Rest easy,” said Dr. Moren. “I assume you’re
not about to give birth in a month. Or are you? Zaras have really
short gestation periods.”

Tishla did some quick calculations. Kai last
slipped his tongue inside of her eight days before she left Hanar,
the first world Marq had arranged for him to take. She had been at
the height of her fertile period. “Not for another six turns. What
I think you call months. I don’t know if the time periods are the
same.”

“Well, then, let us make sure Metis is safe
for you.” Moren did not add that they needed to know Tishla was
safe for Metis. She did not need to.

“In that case,” said Tishla, “may I see Marq?
I have questions for him.”

“So does Homeworld Security. And the Compact.
And probably our Navy. In any event, I need you to get some rest.
You’re carrying twins.”

Twins?
Oh, Kai, what have you done
to us? Are you still alive?

*****

They allowed her exercise once they
determined what her needs would be. Mostly, she walked around the
grounds of what turned out to be a hospital. Once she had been
debriefed by the security types, they put her in the alien ward.
For some reason, the doctors thought she would feel more at home
among primates who were not
hew-maan
, or human, as she had
learned to speak the word.

That did not turn out to be the case. There
were a couple of Laputans in the ward, the “golden giants” of Realm
poetry. They towered over Tishla and the humans by at least a
yored
. Tishla’s people, and most humans she had seen, stood
only three
yoreds
high. The Laputans were familiar, but not
quite enough to put Tishla at ease. Nor did the three Zaras on the
floor. Ape-like beings, right down to the body fur and the
non-opposable thumbs, they actually unsettled her as they tried
chatting with her in the human’s gargling tongue.

Nor did the presence of an Orag female do
much for her. Orags, she had learned, were a transplanted species
of human. Shorter, squatter, and with noses that more resembled
those of Tishla’s people. Alas, she was the only Gelt in the alien
ward.

And on Metis, which made her a novelty of
sorts.

Nonetheless, they let her walk the inner
courtyard of the hospital, out of sight of the common citizens (or
Citizens, as she understood the term), but always under the
watchful eye of a group called Compact Security.

On the fourth day of her captivity, a woman
in a dark suit similar to the Homeworld Security agent’s walked
with her on her early morning stroll. She introduced herself as
Athena Jovann and gave her title as Assistant Compact Attorney for
Metis. Tishla took this to mean her new visitor belonged to the
human equivalent of the Legal Caste.

“First of all,” she said as they began their
walk, “let me apologize for your confinement and the rough
treatment upon your arrival. You’re of an unknown species and here
for unknown reasons. Do you understand our need for caution?”

“It’s better than the Laputans’ first contact
protocol,” said Tishla.

Athena chuckled. “Yes, declaring war on a
race whose strengths and culture you don’t understand is generally
a bad idea. I take it your Realm has fought with them?”

“I think everyone has fought with them.”

Athena laughed again. “True enough. Okay, to
the point. Why are you here?”

How could she explain this in terms that this
woman would understand without giving away too much about the
Realm? “My race is called the Gelt. Beyond Marq, I am fairly
certain your people and mine have never interacted until now. On my
world, I am in the custody of an employer who in turn pays for my
education in genetics. Because of certain… What’s the word I’m
looking for? Do people in leadership positions among your race play
games and engage in rivalries that have nothing to do with those
they lead?”

“That’s called ‘politics.’ Go on.”

“Because of certain politics on the world
where I live, my employer sent me with Marq to this place. In the
process, he voided my obligations to him. I need to get back to
him. Or to the world he governs.”

“If you give us the coordinates, we can
arrange transport on a diplomatic vessel. Perhaps this can begin a
relationship between our races.”

Under normal circumstances, Tishla would make
counterproposals, using her position as Kai’s concubine to
negotiate at least a gubernatorial reception for a new alien race.
However, she had no idea if these Metisians were the rule or the
exception. They certainly did not behave like Marq had.

“I think,” she said, “it would be best if I
returned via Laputan space. Fewer complications. Plus, I am not in
a position to determine if contact between our species is feasible
at this time.”