Mhel'Sargonus: The Eternal Wizard

By Tim Conley

Earth sent out a fleet of starships in the year 2455. They were bound for Proxima but ended up broken down in the Antares Star System. Shoddy workmanship prevailed to save money for the Guild. They managed to land on Chimera. The ships never to off again and the stranded population had to survive or die. One thing - they had to live under the iron fist of the Guild. What a burden.

 

Years ensued and the burden get any less onerous. Into an already strained society Mhel'Sargonus was born. He was thrown out into the forest, rescued by Mag'yar - a Marconian and raised/taught the ancient ways of the Aryans (an ancient race, now extinct). Mhel grew up with a festering hate for the Guild and their sponsorship of their State Religion. He tried to thwart their machinations at every turn. And with good reason - the common people needed him to stand in the way of the Grand Masters and the Kingships of society.

 

Mhel is about 630 years old at the beginning of these three tales. He relates a short history lesson, then becomes involved in hiding heirs to The Triple Thrones of Theuniss and then is present when the royal triplets ascend to the thrones. There are more tales in this series. Read & Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Conley
• Release date: Aug 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781393836551

Tim Conley

Tim Conley really began writing at the young age of six when he would recount his daydreams to whoever would listen.  His authoritarian father discouraged this and any other action that smelled of books and reading.  Tim would sneak into any hidden away corner and escape through the avenue of reading and was known as a loner and dreamer by his classmates, preferring his own company and that of “made-up characters” to that of friends.  Now at age 73, Tim has a huge amount of material to draw from to create his own settings and characters. Tim is still a loner, living with his wife and lover, Carmela Santos (a teacher from the Philippines).  He would like to run a small ranch with a couple of horses, some pigs, and chickens. Tim is satisfied to live the quiet life of a simple man.  He studied writing at the University College at Memphis State University.  The fact is he enjoys writing more than all the other things he has accomplished in life. Teaching for inner city schools has provided excitement in his life, but he has configured a quiet place where he can sit at the computer during the evening to recount his “thoughts of the day...dream.” Tim has published over 70 books so far.  He is an accomplished ghostwriter – having published story lines for David Paffrath, Ron Davis and Carmela Santos-Conley.  He has also published three doctoral theses and recently added a new face: Nicole Wendroth to his list of published individuals. Read & Enjoy!

Book preview

Mhel’Sargonus:

The Eternal Wizard

Book #1 - A History Lesson

Book #2 – Hiding the Heirs

Book #3 – Ascending the Thrones

TIM CONLEY

Copyright © 2022 Tim Conley

Dragon’s Breath Publishing

All rights reserved.

ISBN:

ISBN-13:

DEDICATION

To all of those who like Fantasy on a Grand Scale.  The Rhumgold Sagas are for you.  Beginning with this book:  Destination Antares: The Combine I’ve put together a compilation of stories that take place on three planets in the Antares system and their attendant moons.  Chimera, Aries and Rhumgold were settled during the period of the First Interregnum when Earth threw out her seed into the Cosmos.  Read & Enjoy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ineed to acknowledge the following people for their support of my writing over the years.  My wife, Carmela.  My sons – James (JD) and Enrick.  My daughter – Tanitha and my friends – Ron Davis, David Paffrath, Winako Garcia and Nicole Wendroth.  Thank you all.

CONTENTS

1 asteroid 6957

Lao Tze joined Sammy Zane on the small bridge of the Terminator II and swallowed hard to equalize his eardrums.  He was just getting over a head cold that he had gotten from his wife – who had dragged it home from the children in her daycare.  Now he was paying for kissing her while she was still in the I can pass it on stage.

Space was no frontier to be harboring a virus.  It seemed to be able to transfer from one host to another more quickly than planet-borne illnesses.  Lao shook his head as he looked out of the front view screen at the monster interstellar ship that was taking shape.  Asteroid 6957 was getting smaller and the Albert Einstein was taking shape before their eyes.  She would soon go in-system to Earth Central and Moon Base Charlie to have her electronics installed and tested.

Then it would be back out to Titan 1 to pick up and shake down the crew.  Lao and Sammy would go in-system with the skeleton crew – then pick her up again after their period of leave – becoming plank members of the crew upon arrival at Titan 1.  Lao was excited about the prospect of seeing his village once more.  It kind of bubbled over.

Do you ever miss your folks and the home place?

Sammy Zane shook his head.  Nope.  Nobody to miss.  Been an orphan since I was three years old.  Don’t know anything permanent.  Why you ask, man?

He mimicked Lao’s accent and then smirked as the small man tried to puff himself up and become huffy.  It was a game they liked to play with each other – kind of made time go by faster.

Did you notice those rafters that went up to the Einstein while you were outside?  Looked kind of subpar from here.

Not to worry, my friend.  The foreman said they’re using a simpler technique to construct the forms.  Makes the titanium stronger – according to him.

Well, that may be – but it’s your ass if the structure it’s used in fails when they shake the old lady out.  You know that.  Just don’t be naïve and accept all the crap they try to make you swallow.

The duo continued with their rounds of duty – ensuring all parts that went up to the first interstellar ship were top notch.  They had to be on their toes because a lot of the contractors liked to cut corners.  Money was to be made furbishing the ships – but only if you could cut the occasional corner and bring compartments in under budget.

Back on Earth Naomi Bradley was taking her glasses off to massage the bridge of her nose.  The figures just didn’t  add up.  Earthside Steel & Coal had bid low on the contract and now the girders were costing a small fortune.  There were overruns everywhere and goods and services were beginning to melt from the over-pricing that was going on.  She sighed and knew she had to blow the whistle on the gouging.

Her heels clicked on the marble slab as she made her way into the inner sanctum and approached the mile-wide desk of Duncan Riley.  She stood in front of a mahogany desk that was wider than her bed.  The man’s ego almost exceeded it.

He asked from a motorized chair almost half a room away.  Well, you obviously have something you want to tell me.  Who is trying to pull one over on the government now?

Naomi gulped as she realized the only time she actually came back to his inner sanctum was to blow the whistle on someone.  She started to speak but he interrupted.

Oh, come now, Miss Bradley.  We both know you are a member of our team because you can make sense out of all the numbers.  So spill it!

She got her voice back and explained to him what she had found.  He listened carefully and then stated.  Old skinflint Rockefeller can always be counted on to low-ball the works.  Get my man to get him on the horn.

She slid the computer printouts across the width of the table and turned to leave.  Behind her she heard a low whistle but didn’t  bother to turn around.  Duncan Riley was known to be a letch and this wasn’t the first time he had let her know how much he appreciated her skirt and heels.  Her face was warm as she passed on Riley’s message and went back to her own desk.

Back out on Asteroid 6957 Lao Tze stepped down off his speeder and waited for Stan Roberts to finish up with one of his foremen.  Then he stepped up and plugged in his suit so they could hold a conversation.

Thank you for seeing me, Stan.  We got a problem with the last batch of struts that were sent up to the ship.  Seems the Alpha crew have figured out how to use less material.

Shit!  You don’t get half to the point quickly, do you?

No sense beating around your bushes, Lao remarked.

Yeah, I guess not.  Have you reported it?

Not yet.  Wanted to run it by you first.  See if you could maybe bring them back into line without us getting their panties in a twist.

Glad you did, son.  Stan looked around him at all the deconstruction work that was going on.  He spread his hands and drew Lao’s attention to the magnanimity of the projects.

You would think the bean counters would get the idea.  Course – most of them have never been out here to see how ginormous this hunk of metal actually is.

How much of it will be left when you finish the ship?

Stan snorted and immediately wished he hadn’t – a small glob of snot bobbed its way to the top of his facemask.

He tried to ignore it but knew it would be back down in his field of view sometime soon.  He turned his attention back to his guest.

Lao, there’s enough material here for another dozen ships.  Probably be enough for a couple dozen before they finish with this hunk of rock.  More than enough and that’s saying they double down on the thickness of everything.  Boy, we got plenty.

Lao Tze went back to his speeder and looked around before stepping up on the small platform.  They said that Asteroid 6957 was over a mile long and perhaps half a mile thick at the widest part.  It had been drug in out of the Oort Cloud because it was solid metal.  The only thing that had to be done was melt and reform the molten metal.  There wasn’t even a significant amount of residue present in the process.  Just melt, pour and cool.  Simple!

He glanced up again at the Albert Einstein and realized they had to get it right.  If it meant tearing out the substandard stuff – it had to be done.  That was his job and he intended to see it done right.

The stars awaited.

2 Combine designs

Back on Earth a top secret meeting was taking place in a secret location that also doubled as a vacation getaway for most of the members of Guild who had been called to the meeting.

Guild Grand Masters were very territorial.  Their deliberations usually took longer because of that.  They didn’t  like to give an inch in any closed meetings with beings of their kind.  Most of them had already spanned a couple centuries of enhanced life.  They were jealous of every grain of sand that was under their domain and gave up no advantage without a fight.

Such a fight had just taken place during the opening statements made for the conference.  Tempers were already flared – hurt feelings already apparent as everyone settled in for the long haul.  All participants knew they had a lot to discuss and a ton of compromise to get through.

The biggest item on the agenda was who was going to get the new system in the Antares star belt.

Campagne knew he should be given first crack at the system since he had been passed by for the expansion into the Neptune ice shelves.  He also was middle aged so would arrive at Antares in much better shape than a lot of the more senior members of the Combine.

But he also knew there was no accounting for righteousness when it came to dividing up the spoils.  Earth vicinity was growing stale as all of the good money making resources were being consumed by the daily hunger of the masses.

They would have to move quickly before the next population spurt.  It seemed the more territory they gained – the more mouths there were to feed.

At one time in the history of the human race – those in control had been able to use wars to balance the population with their resources.  Since the 18th Interregnum when the ruling classes had been overthrown, those who would have been used as cannon fodder were no longer obliged to go to war with their brethren.  All they wanted to do now was fuck with their face and make babies.

Campagne scoffed and considered what the new expansion would do for humankind. New territories to conquer, new releases for the masses as they adapted to new surroundings.  The next wave of humanity reaching outward to the stars.  The heady consideration from that thought was enough to make him swoon at the possibilities.

Not only was there money to be made from the venture – there was a ton of money to be made.  Just the tickets for the outbound passage was enough to fill his coffers to overflowing.  The new Albert Einstein that was now traveling in system for her refit was going to hold over ten thousand of Earth’s billions.

One ticket alone was going to cost in excess of one hundred thousand dollars.  The cream of Earth would be going to the stars and someone was going to rake in the profits.

Campagne felt his wrist tingle as a message came across.  He looked at it and was surprised that an offer had come about so quickly.  He was informed that the Einstein was available for bid – 400 billion dollars was the amount of the bid to him.  He took it and advised his staff to send the monies to the Guild headquarters.  Shortly thereafter he got another message saying he was the proud owner of the ship.

That meant he was also the proud owner of the Antares star system.  He would have to act quickly to scarf up all the people and facilities that were going to make it possible to realize his dream of conquest.  There was no way he was going to be shunted aside this time.

His staff kicked into high gear and began contacting the families who were going to become the backbone of the Antares mission.  Resources were brought into warehouses for subsequent shipping up to the ship once she arrived in orbit above Moon Base Charlie.  Huge quantities of goods and services were lifted into space and placed aboard the ship.  People would begin going on board following the shakedown cruise.

Campagne trusted his staff to follow their orders and turned his mind back to the convention.  He had managed to defeat his nearest rival and competitor for the assignment.  Now he had to perform.

He had to outshine all of them.  No questions asked – he had to be one mean son-of-a-bitch from now to the launch time of the mission.

His nearest rivel, Somolere, was going to try to wrap up all the resources for himself in hopes he would receive the next interstellar craft that was now taking shape out at Asteroid 6957.

Campagne took steps to ensure his competitors were shunted to the side as he spent tons of money in the pursuit of every morsel that was made available on the market.  The feeding frenzy went on for several days as he made sure he got the lion’s share.

The convention closed a couple days later with only one shark left bleeding in the water.  Somolere had somehow over-extended himself and now was at the mercy of all the others bidding for the next ship.  Grand Masters left the convention with smiles on their face as the unlucky sank into the morass – along with their associates.  Only an indication that there had been blood in the water remained.

Now Campagne had to rein in his domain and focus on the upcoming events that would ensure success for his venture.  The Antares system lay open to his thrust.  He began the process of learning everything about the system that he could.

The Central Combine met while he was gearing up.  Six members cast their glance up at the head table where the Supreme Grand Master sat in all her splendor.  Her vote had cemented Campagne’s chance for fame and glory.  Esmeldra was supremely satisfied with the choice.

You will ensure he gets the lion’s share and whatever else he needs as he gets ready to launch.  How many cruisers and corvettes can he store on board the Einstein?

About halfway down the left hand side of the table a voice ventured, he has space for eight cruisers, one system dreadnaught and more than one hundred twenty corvettes and system runabouts.  Depends on how many competent crewmembers he can land.  He will have to employ heavy on the military side.

Good, Santini.  Let’s hope he realizes the need for the military types.  Ensure he gets a message to that effect.  Now is there anything else we need to solidify before we adjourn?

There was nothing and the launch loomed large.

3 shakedown cruise

Lao Tze and Max Linwood did their jobs.  Every bulkhead was inspected and tagged.  Those that showed even the least bit of undue stress were marked for replacement.  Lao looked at his log and realized their task had been a big one as list after list paged past.  He estimated at least a month would be added to the outfitting time for the Einstein to come up to operational standards.

There’s just too much substandard work involved here, he remarked to Linwood who shrugged and continued down to the next level.  He was just paid to do a job – wasn’t going to be crew on the ship after his job was done.  Unlike Lao, he didn’t  have the fever to travel to the stars.  Nor did he have the aptitude.  His sole ability was inspecting what others had done and providing details of what was wrong.

Lao sighed as he followed his friend down to the last level on the ship.  They had worked steadily through the night and now he could really feel his bed calling him.  He consigned himself to putting out the effort to get it all right on this final level and then go for some rest and relaxation.

Which wasn’t to be.  A claxon called for his attention as they were about halfway finished with the level.  "Ensign Lao Tze.  Report to Engineering ASAP!  It repeated until he acknowledged receipt of the alert.  He jumped on one of the emergency lifts and was transported up to the Engineering Deck.  Five minutes later he reported to the Chief Engineer who by the redness of his face was not a happy camper.

He looked up as Lao reported in.  Lao.  Have you looked at your stats, man?  We’ll not make the transit window with this much work left.

I know, Commander Trask.  That’s why I sent my statistics to you as soon as I did.  We’re going to have our hands full just replacing the load bearing stanchions.  I marked all of them so we can get started as soon as the new stuff arrives from Titan 1.

Trask was shaking his head.  You don’t understand.  We have been instructed to maximize our time in reaching the jump-off point.  No time for replacements.  Now, how do you suppose we can reinforce these load bearing beams in time to make the jump?

Lao wanted to shrug but found he couldn’t.  Trask was looking directly at him with that look of anticipation that said he would allow nothing less than a coherent answer that would work.  Lao was at a loss.  This was something he had been anticipating himself but at the moment had no real solution for.

I suppose we could spray an adhesive on the beams that would maybe increase their cohesion.  Its worked on other space going craft but I don’t know how it will stand up during a jump into Inner/Space.  The ship might tear itself apart from the stress.

The redness returned to Trask’s face as he stepped closer and lowered his voice to a whisper.

You know as well as I do that the Combine is not going to be happy about anything we do.  Go back through your list and mark those areas that will definitely fail so we can begin work on them immediately.  Then break things down in levels of immediacy.  Tell your team to re-evaluate all the supports.  We need this done as soon as possible.  And Lao – keep your trap shut.  We don’t need this getting out.

Yes, sir.  I’ll get on it immediately.

Lao went back to his own office and an hour later had the tasks laid out for the refit of the worst of the weak members of the support beams.  Then he met with Linwood and his team to explain what was going on and to give the gag orders he had received from the Chief Engineer.  Every face in the room registered the facts as they were received.  No one wanted to be the one fingered out for spilling the beans about substandard and shoddy work.  It was decidedly worth their lives.

The repair crews got busy and worked around the clock to mend the beams before they arrived at Titan 1.  At the end of the time they only had about fifty beams that had to be replaced and those were transferred to the ship as soon as they docked.

Lao finally released a sigh of relief as he watched Linwood and his crew walk off the ship.  Every one of them slouched at the shoulders but they all had a spring in their step from knowing they had made a significant change to the condition of man’s first interstellar spacecraft.

Lao returned to his office and began the wrap-up process of the most important job of his life.  His crew had done an impressive job in very little time with no one being the wiser.  He took pride in that.

A lot had been riding on them doing the work with no one being keyed in to the reason it had to be done.

He looked up as he was about to switch off his desk lamp.  A noise had caught his attention – coming from his outer office.  No one should have been there, so his attention was tingling.  He left the light on and called out so anyone in the other office would know he was still at work.  No answer.

Now he was really getting antsy.  Someone was in the outer office and they weren"t inclined to answer.

Lao unsnapped the holster of his sidearm and stepped quietly to the door.  A shadow could be seen through the frosted glass between the offices. 

4 Launch

Claxons rang out as the countdown to launching the first ever interstellar spacecraft finished preparations to lifting into the parsecs long trough leading up to the Inner/Space gate.  If all went well during their approach – they would cycle through the gate in less than fifteen hours.

Passenger control had just completed their final tabulation of the passenger and crew lists.  There was something amiss with the crew list as six crewmen were missing.  A search was undertaken and they found the men were listed as on or near the surface of Titan.  No time to get them onboard so they were listed as AWOL – absent without leave.

The assassins had not considered turning off Lao’s bank of body monitors before kicking him into space so all his meters jumped off the scales when he hit Titan and bounced about fifteen feet back into space.  A technician onboard the Einstein copied the fluctuation in Lao’s instruments and passed the anomaly on to his supervisor.  He was told to record and monitor.

Ten hours to launch and the Grand Master was informed that his crew list was six men short.  He asked for details but knew the reasons once he saw the names.  He prepared a commendation for each of them – to be administered sometime in the future – posthumously¸ of course.

Five hours till launch and everything on and about the ship was working to top notch performance.  The claxons sounded their strident call once more and all the passengers returned to their assigned spaces to await the jump.

Sixty minutes to jump and no one needed the claxon to tell them they were destined for the stars.  The ship was traveling now at half the speed of light toward a hole in space that would send them halfway across the galaxy.

Sixty seconds out and the ship began to stretch toward the gate.  Lines of gravitation pulled on the very fabric of the ship as she was forced through the eye in the fabric of space/time.  Nothing would ever be the same aboard the ship again.

That much was obvious once the Einstein hit the other side of the iris and returned suddenly to normal space.  Decks collapsed and bulkheads ruptured as the ship tried in vain to return to her original form.  It became obvious to everyone that she wasn’t going to be entirely successful in that.

Hours later the casualty lists were given to the Grand Master.  Over one thousand dead or missing.  He asked for an estimate of how long it would take to make repairs and was told that they would do well to make an habitable planet in the system and set down.  His engineers doubted if the ship would ever take off again and were certain she would never make the trip back to Earth.

We are stuck here with about two-thirds of the list of passengers we need and with no communications ability.

The Grand Master listened to the litany of dire results and knew he was going to have his hands full when they did make planet-fall.  His current advisors were going to have to become redundant upon landing – to keep them from infecting the rest of the crew and passengers with their analysis.  He took steps to keep them isolated from the rest of the staff and people on board the ship.

Landfall couldn’t have happened any time too soon.  They had barely enough life support for one pass around the small planet Chimera before they had to mass evacuate.  In the confusion the original advisors were sealed into their isolation chamber.  Air ran out before anyone could get them out.

The ship was lowered out of orbit and broken up for use in the colony’s living facilities.  Earth Mission One had arrived and ready for business.  Who cared that they were not alone.  The Grand Master was going to conquer the entire planet before he was finished.  Nothing was to be left to chance.

5 domination

Grand Master Campagne looked around the courtyard of his new residence – pleasure was the total essence of the place – his pleasure.  On the left hand corner stood the Women’s Hall where only the most beautiful were allowed – his women.  No other man could stand within fifty feet of the entrance – without being castrated.

The right hand quadrant was dominated by the Combine offices.  Everything done on Chimera was going to come from there and go back into there.  He wanted total control of the populace and would have it at any cost.

He turned and glanced back at the Freedom Fountain that sprayed water toward the heavens.  Everyone in Caperne and Theuniss was required to come there at least once a year to place a token of their income into the icy waters.  That in lieu of property taxes.

Campagne shrugged his shoulders and leisurely strolled out into the Rose Garden where his most prized horticulture was taking place.

A walk through the blossoms always eased his mind and he usually came up with plans for the future as he strolled beneath the suns of Antares.  His new home.  The continuity of his civilization.  His new beginning.

In the middle of the Rose Garden was another fountain that allowed the water to flow and tinkle over big rocks that sought to impede its flow.  The Grand Master sat on a stone bench and waited for the Reverend Mother to approach.  This morning she was hobbling worse than before and took her good old time in sitting beside him.

You’re late, he stated simply as she tried to find a spot on the rough surface that could be loosely considered comfortable.  He ignored her plight and continued, From now on have your acolytes get your ready for your audience with me earlier.  I don’t want to have to wait.

You’ll wait and damned well like it, she said with a surly look on her aged and wrinkled face.  You brought me here to help you control the masses.  That is exactly what I am doing.  Your ability to wait a couple minutes is of no concern to me.  We have bigger fish to fry.

Campagne had to throttle back his temper.  You are in no position, old hag, to develop a sense of humor.  We must pull all our resources together to get on top of the hotheads in the National Assembly.

"Don’t worry about them.  All they are concerned with are their rights under the law.  It is the common man we should be concentrating on.  They see the handwriting on the wall as giving them something they haven’t had before.

Well freedom is not something they are going to get.  They are right where I want them.  Subservient and cowered.  And you are going to teach them how to stay that way.

He turned to face her directly.  I swear you’ll do as I say or I’ll shut down every one of your houses of worship.  They will get nothing from me.

And you will get nothing from them in return.  Dial it back and accept that you will get more with kindness than with a sledgehammer.  These aren’t just the lowest of the low – no, they were the cream of their society back on Earth.  You took them to the stars in a bucket of bolts that nearly killed them and they want only to be recognized as survivors and the progenitors of the next generation.  None of them are under any preconception that they are ever going to return to Earth.

Campagne sat back and considered her tirade.  It was true that they had been the cream of Earth.  Now they wanted to feel like they were partially in control.  He screwed up his face and looked down at his hands.

Well, I guess when you put it that way – it kind of makes sense.  But you are going to have to guide them into the truth of the Guild’s ways.  I will not tolerate them being better than their station.  Do we agree on that?

Yes, of course we do.  My sisters will ensure they toe the party line.  You’ve nothing to worry about.  Just don’t make a production out of pissing them off.  They will replace you if that happens.

I’ll burn the place down around their ears if they try.  And you can take that and throw it in their teeth.  I am the only ruler in this one act play and they better, by God, and you better make sure they know that.

Calm down, Ernesto.  We already have it covered.  My ladies will leave no doubts in their minds about who is in total control.  So don’t do anything rash while we are doing our jobs, huh?

The Reverend Mother rose and held out her hand for him to kiss, then trundled away.  Campagne sat there staring into space for a long time.  Things would have been different, in his opinion if the interstellar ship was capable of returning to Earth as previously planned.

Now I’m stuck here with these prima donnas without the means of shipping them back to their mamas! he thought as dark storm clouds floated above his eyes.  After all, he had been convinced that he could return for at least another cargo hold of equipment and people.  Now he was going to have to make do with what he had.  Not a good situation.

6 establishing control

The Court of International Referendum met for the second time in six months to debate the concept of colony rights and taxation.  The Guild’s Grand Master was interested in the proceedings but kept to the background.  His surrogate in the Senate was Dominica Ruiz.  Her credentials had been pristine and impeccable back on Earth and she had risen quickly within the colony.

Dominica leaned over to whisper something in her second’s ear – causing him to stir to life.  Jack Brewster pushed his chair back with his knees and rose to his full height of six foot, four inches.  He felt totally exposed as he turned away from the table and left the meeting.  Her eyes turned back to the main table as the Guild’s representatives were being seated.

Jack Brewster was self-conscious about his stature.  He had almost been passed over by the Selection Committee until he promised to pay for his own space suit.  A suit that had saved his life during the re-entry phase.  He had a Guild citation up on his wall that proclaimed his above and beyond the call of duty for the number of people he had saved from being crushed to death in the collapse of multiple bulkheads.

He had decided to get into his spacesuit during the final countdown and had reacted instantly when the bulkhead of the room he was in crumpled under the stress of the ship slowing down.  The fact that he was able to use the super-human strength of the suit to hold an airlock open allowed over one thousand colonists to file through – into a more stable set of rooms.  He was proud of the fact that he alone had been able to save all those people – most of them his friends.

Now he was working to save them (and others) again as he fought for their rights within the community.  He had moved to Caperne following the initial landing and had become the city’s representative to the conference.  Joining with the local attorney from Theuniss had been a reward for his zeal and he appreciated her more every day.

Now he mounted the stairs that led up to the observer’s boxes.  The second box was his destination.  Dominica had whispered that she would meet someone in that box who would provide them with the tack their representation would take during the first days of the deliberation.

Jack knocked softly on the steel door that still had the bulkhead numbers from the ship.  The old Einstein had been totally taken apart to build the communities of Caperne and Theuniss.  Those elements of their original transportation would probably be around for centuries to come.

A hiss issued from the door as air escaped the inner chamber.  Some of the occupants required an enhanced atmosphere.  Jack wasn’t one of them.  He stepped back as a servant stepped through the door and handed him a large envelope.

He accepted it and turned on his heel.  There was no objective reason for him to catch a view of whoever was in the room.  But he had – just a glimpse – that had been enough.  He recognized the man and was shocked that he had just accepted something from the Guild Grand Master himself.

Jack didn’t  flinch or otherwise give away the fact that he had seen something he shouldn’t have.  He briskly walked back down to the entrance of the Main Hall and stood at attention beside the door.  An interlude in the proceedings came a short time later and Dominica came out to gather both him and the package.

She didn’t  open it until they were back in their seats – then it was only to take out a single, small missive that was for her eyes only.  She replaced it inside the envelope and handed it back to Jack.