The First One's Free (2 page)

The part of the story that the older children
loved best was when a giant came looking for his stolen root and
threatened to (or actually did in some tellings) eat the villagers
one by one until he got it back. By the time children reached their
teens, the part where Jod slew the giant with a slingshot was
always their favorite. Almost all tellings ended with Jod becoming
lord of the village.

“Are you saying this is a magic root?” asked
Kai.

“Well, it is a root,” said Tishla, “but what
do you know about the Tianese?”

“They’re kind of like Orags, only taller,
less hairy, and with tiny little noses.” Kai absently touched his
nose again. “How do they breathe?”

She held up the root. “If he’s selling you
the magic root, then the Tianese would be your giant. We could be
bringing the Compact down on us.”

“The Compact?”

“I’m not surprised you aren’t familiar with
the term. Since we don’t interact with the Tianese much, most
people have never heard of it. The Tianese get their name from one
of their most populous worlds, but it’s not likely their homeworld.
The Compact is a loose confederacy of worlds populated by their
species.”

Kai frowned. “Why should we care about a
‘loose confederacy’? It’s not like the Realm, tightly controlled,
heavily armed.” He looked to the ceiling as though gazing into
space. “Except here, of course.”

“They’re spread out and fairly independent of
each other, but don’t underestimate the Compact. The Laputans did,
and it turned out to be their giant, too.”

The Laputans, another primate species, had
started wars with just about every species known to the Realm. Even
the Realm itself had gone to war against them. It seemed to be the
Laputans’ preferred method of first contact.

“Did they lose?” asked Kai.

“The Compact sure didn’t. Funny species,
these Tianese, or whatever they really are. They’ve been a
space-faring civilization for a few centuries now, yet they still
use projectile weapons and keep their artificial intelligence
primitive. And yet, they
still
they managed to throw the
Laputans out of their space.”

Kai turned and gestured for two guards to
come into the little alcove. “You two, accompany her.” He handed
Tishla the ugly root. “You question him. You know more about this…
Compact than the rest of us.”

*****

“It is the answer to your problems,” said the
alien, who gave his name as “Marq.” The name sounded archaic in the
Realm’s Mother Tongue, but Kai had heard it before. He sat watching
the feed as Tishla questioned him.

“How so?” asked Tishla. “Is this the magic
root of our children’s tales?”

Kai admired his concubine’s manner as he
watched her on the screen. Her gown, her long white hair, and her
regal posture gave her an authority no indentured servant should
ever have, but Marq probably knew nothing of that. For all he could
tell, she was the real authority here on Essenar. The true power
behind the throne. Sometimes, Kai wondered that himself.

Marq laughed his strange little laugh. “We
have a similar tale about magic seeds. Does yours include a giant?
Do giants actually exist among your species?”

“They did, once,” said Tishla. “But we’ve
weeded out that genetic anomaly. Where do you come from?”

“Juno.”

“And where is that?”

“Juno isn’t so much a where, as a
what
. Juno is my employer.”

Tread carefully, love
, Kai silently
thought.
He’s a cagey one.

“And did your employer teach you our Tongue?
Your language is very fluent, but your accent does nothing to hide
your alien origins.”

Marq looked down at his hands, perhaps the
least alien aspect of his appearance: Five fingers with the
opposable thumbs most primates had evolved. Well, that the Realm
knew about, anyway. “I’m sure you’ll agree mastering a native
accent, particularly so far from your Throneworld, would do little
to mask my origins. Besides, my tongue doesn’t perform all the same
functions as those of your species. Curious how random evolution
makes them so similar, yet so
very
different, isn’t it? But
you don’t have me locked in a little room to talk about that, do
you? You want to know who I am and what I want. How did I get here?
What’s that ugly little root I brought? And why do I want to talk
to your governor?”

Tishla looked flustered, a reaction Kai had
not seen since they were childhood playmates. “Well, yes.”

“I came,” he said, “aboard a projection drive
ship. That is why there is no hypergate record of my arrival.” He
reached up his sleeve and produced a slip of paper. Kai could not
remember the last time he had actually
seen
paper, and
suspected Tishla could not either.

“The ship is parked in your asteroid belt,”
Marq continued. “It is a converted ore freighter, which allows me
to run it by myself. By the way, I don’t recommend that, even with
your technology. Anyway, it has a small launch that allowed me to
come planetside. There is a record of that at your main spaceport.
Or was, anyway. I was told to land in a quarantine section when
your latest riots broke out. Tell me. Is your spaceport operational
again?”

That put a little steel in Tishla’s spine.
“Assuming we do not simply kill you for spying, we will provide you
passage to Ramcat in Laputan space. I assume your people do
business with the Laputans these days?”

Marq’s strange little smile widened to reveal
little, white teeth. “Much to the Laptuans’ chagrin. So, you do
want the ship?”

“It’s not a matter of whether you give it to
us or not, Mr. Marq…”

“Just Marq.”

“We’re taking it.”

“Then I suppose you’ll need me to upload the
security code.” He leaned back with his hands folded across his
chest, looking very much like a gambler who held the winning hand
and doesn’t care who knows it. “As for the root, it’s a gift,
courtesy of Juno.”

“Why would I want an ugly little root?”

“Your people are carnivorous, more so than
mine. Like us, you can create protein substitutes. But your people
still require fiber and starch to sustain themselves in times of
food shortage, which I’m sure you’ll agree includes now.” He picked
up the tuber. “I could give you seeds, but had I successfully gone
through your entry protocols, they simply would have been
confiscated and destroyed as a potential contaminant. This, on the
other hand, is a sample.” He pointed to a bud on the surface of the
root. “These are what my people call ‘tubers,’ and on our ancestral
world, they have eliminated famine time and again. Once we mastered
genetic manipulation, we were even able to make them grow in the
polar regions. My employer specializes in this kind of work.
However, we are much newer to the industry than the older food
engineering entities, some of which date back to before my people’s
last global war.”

Tishla took the tuber from Marq again and
examined it. “And these buds?”

“If you skin the tuber,” said Marq, “and
simply toss them in a field somewhere, the buds will grow into
perfect clones of the original plant. From there, you can take
seeds and modify the genes as you see fit. You have flowering
plants on this world? Small creatures that will help pollinate
them?”

Did they?
Kai asked himself, knowing
Tishla would be wondering the same thing.
It’s all our
immunologists can do to keep ahead of the parasites
.

“Just so you know,” said Tishla, “my master
is not Jod. We’re not going to believe this is just going to
blossom into the lush garden of our creation myths. Not without
some evidence first.”

“To follow your metaphor,” said Marq, “the
giant in question is Juno. And Juno is the one giving you the gift.
Freely. We would actually consider it a favor if you took this
tuber for your own purposes. We only ask that you let us see the
results of your work.”

“And why would you do something like
that?”

“You are familiar with the concept of the
free market?” When Tishla nodded, he said, “Such markets are not so
free when more established entities rig the market for their own
purposes. Juno is simply looking for new ways to compete.”

Kai wondered why he did not completely
believe that. He could see from Tishla’s expression she wasn’t
buying it either.

3

It took a day to find Marq’s ship. Kai noted
with amusement that the asteroid where it lay anchored looked very
much like one of the tubers.

He had debated about sending someone to look,
perhaps sending Tishla herself and a team of Palace Guards, but
ultimately decided to go himself. He could trust his premier not to
stage a coup, but he could not trust his guards not to kidnap
Tishla for themselves.

They guided their jump ship toward the
asteroid and found Marq’s ship on the far side. Kai admired Tishla
as she worked the controls. Even her flight suit could not hide the
lines of her body. Though she was focused on the controls, a stern
expression on her face as she studied the alien craft for a means
of docking, a smile started to form on her lips.

“Do I make your tongue swell?” she said
playfully.

To Kai’s surprise, it
was
swelling a
little. “Sometimes, I wish I could keep you beyond your term of
indenture.”

“You know what to do, Lattus.” The smile had
now fully formed. “You know what I want.”

“And if I could give it to you, I would.” He
leaned back. “But you and I both know the Oligarchy will never
allow me to marry a servant, even when she’s become a Free Woman.”
He reached over and stroked her arm. “There is no shame in being
the mistress of a High Born.”

“There’s no legal standing in it, either.”
Her smile had vanished. “I’m going to use the collapsible collar to
dock with the ship. If that code he gave us is genuine, we’ll be
inside in under five minutes. Watch the thrusters for me please.”
The smile returned. “I mean, may I ask Your Excellency to watch the
thrusters, Master?”

“Yes, dear.”

A wide cup-like structure blossomed on the
launch’s underside as Tishla positioned it over the docking port on
Marq’s craft. The thrusters fired wildly from multiple sides of the
launch in a pattern only known to the guidance system.

“Two hundred drekas and closing,” said Kai as
the launch drew closer. “One-fifty… One hundred drekas.”

“Slowing to ten drekas per second,” said
Tishla, her tone now nearly mechanical. “Slowing to five.”

The thrusters beneath the craft now fired
almost steadily as those topside made short bursts to push the two
craft together. The cup on the underside touched the alien craft’s
surface and sealed itself against it, enclosing the docking
port.

Without asking, Tishla grabbed a shock pistol
and a dagger. “Stay here.”

Kai would never get used to his concubine
barking orders, but then, she had not agreed to be indentured to
have a life of servitude. When Tishla broke protocol, Kai’s people
knew to pay attention. So did Kai. “If the ship is empty…?”

“That’s just it. We don’t know that it’s
empty beyond a bunch of alien roots in the hold. For all we know,
Marq was hired by a rival.” She pressed her lips thin. “Kill you,
and they can claim Essenar for themselves, for whatever bizarre
purpose they would want to.”

“And you,” said Kai. “They could claim
you.”

“Oh, no, Kai. They wouldn’t claim me. I’d be
executed for allowing you to walk into a trap.”

They would, too. Part of the terms of
indenture, at least to High Borns, was to defend one’s master with
one’s own life. Failure was punishable by death.

“And if they didn’t execute me,” she
continued, “I’d simply kill myself. I’m not a prize.”

“You are to me.”

She unstrapped from her seat and kissed him.
“That’s different. We agreed to this arrangement. Most indentureds
have no choice. It’s either servitude or a life of ignorance and
poverty. Now, my Master, allow your servant to check the ship.”
Tishla never could call Kai “Master” without an undercurrent of
sarcasm in her voice.

“Yes, dear.”

*****

Marq’s ship came to life as Tishla slid
through the docking ring. Once again, Kai found himself monitoring
her from afar. He seemed to do that a lot since Marq had arrived on
Essenar. This time, he sent a mini-drone to follow her, allowing
him to both see and communicate with her.

“
Kroy
, it smells in here,” she said
once she cleared the alien ship’s airlock. “These Tianese smell
like wet bird.”

“Why didn’t we smell Marq?” asked Kai.

“
You
didn’t smell him. Sire.” She
turned back to the drone long enough to flash Kai a playful grin.
“
I
had to sit across the table from him.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, that’s what I signed on for. Be your
companion, resident brain, and alien sniffer.”

The corridors of Marq’s ship were narrower
than those of Kai’s people. They also had a more utilitarian look
to them, conduits and control surfaces along the wall. Not a single
item to indicate family affiliation. The drone picked up some
writing on the wall that the translator rendered as “Property of
Dasarius Interstellar.” Was Marq the property of Dasarius
Interstellar or the ship? Did his race even engage in that type of
servitude? Primates, as a whole, were all over the map on that
topic. Most space-faring races did little beyond contracts of
indenture or apprenticeships. Some, Kai knew, engaged in chattel
slavery, though not many. It was too lopsided an arrangement to be
of any use once a race mastered higher technology. Rumor had it the
Tianese did not even have a formal caste system, let alone any
system of servitude worth mentioning. Those apes, Kai mused, must
live in total chaos.