Chapter 24

I now had three guards and we went to the port. The damaged ships were being repaired. There was a lot of damage to the two larger ones but fortunately nothing had hit their hulls. We would need a lot of new masts and some had to be very tall. These trees had become very scarce in the heyday of sailing on Earth's oceans because more trees had not been planted. I was going to be different.

A lot of lumber had been cut and partially dried for my ship but I now saw that the design wasn't large enough for a good trading vessel. Still, it would get places that a monster ship couldn't go. Now with the two portals I could bring in truck loads of steel or portions of a hull to be assembled here. I still didn't have the money and I didn't want to be screwed so much for the gold I acquired.

Usually, I only got 65% of the going rate because I had to pay so many people. Gold coins minted in a known country would net me a lot more. I knew the technology to do this and this information was on the DVDs I brought here. It was probably a good time to start making coins if I could find the machinery and get the dies made.

There was a lot of things to do on Earth and one would be to find enough shells for the M198 howitzer. It had kept the Anguy ships at bay. The girls had gone back to pick up more shells when I was away but there were only three left.

My family was the busiest of any group in the city. I guess they had to be to stay alive. People came to them all the time for help. Books were being translated and we helped all we could, but the pace was slow. The understanding we took for granted had to be explained so an uneducated person from Bejek could understand the words if not what they really meant.

That night I ate at the school instead of at Artlam's home. The Section M people were with us and now numbered a hundred and seventeen with the recent acquisitions. The regular students numbered slightly over two hundred. Practical aspects of Earth technology was taught along with English.

The school was far from complete but parts were used as they were. We swept the street for strays and put them to work for food and shelter or they went to school for training. As long as we were growing I could afford to indulge myself in some social activities.

The meal itself was fine and we enjoyed some of the first crops to come in off our farm. We talked about current news, then went into what the regular students could shine at, and finally something from Section M. Competition was good as long as it was controlled.

That night I had to put my foot down. The previous night I had a difficult time. Jonna and Lauren usually arranged who's turn it was sleep with me. Usually menstrual considerations sidelined some of the women but with three pregnant, this problem didn't happen with them. The previous night had been hectic with planning and we only slept. I had a double dose of bedmates wanting their share of a finite resource.

Lauren, Tiffany and Jonna made up the senior section but my slave Matra was always near and hoping. Fislu, Selna, Porta, Sonna and Camsa wanted some attention. Caiti was allowed to visit but she and I didn't interact as I did with the rest.

Jonna had suggested I use the ring for Matra's benefit and if it didn't work we could use the slave icon on her again.

I went kinda crazy like I always do when wearing the ring. The front doors were filled and I had to start the back doors because of Camsa. He got a double dose to compensate. The next day I felt whipped.

Tonight it was back to the old way and I was treated as if I were fragile. I kinda liked it that way.

Artlam and Mantoya had used the trucks, tractors, bulldozer, and grader to improve the roads. Rock was used as the surface material. My idea of putting out bids seemed to work though there were a few misunderstandings and sloppy work had to be repaired. This was all aimed at a quicker and safer route to our side of the portal at Woodland.

We were going to try to use the chain portal to take us home but there was no way of hooking up the sphere and from the hints we got, it would be impossible. The silver chain was only used for short distances and that meant just on one world.

Section M was improving on their range using the portal and we learned an important fact. A portal didn't need to be seen to be initiated. The location had to be remembered in great detail though. We only had two chain portals and both were used to hone the students' skills. Since one was so large, it would be good to cut back to smaller units. Still, some of what I wanted to transport was large and I needed every centimetre.

I went to see Osston around noon. The amount of drugs he had been taking had been allowed to diminish. I still wanted him calm so we could talk. When I came to his room and the two guards stood aside for me. I knocked and waited. Osston pulled open the door quickly and yelled at me, "It's about time you came. You can't keep me locked up here forever."

"Hello Osston. May I come in?"

"This is your prison and I am only a prisoner."

"May I come in?"

"Suit yourself."

I entered and saw the young man pacing back and forth. The remains of his last meal was resting on a side table.

I said, "Recently you were asked to remove the conditioning from some Anguy prisoners and then make them my slaves."

"Yes, I remember that well. You tricked me and I will not forget it."

"We used the same procedure to remove the conditioning from six more. We didn't put any compulsions on them. They are now free, perhaps for the first time in decades — "

"What about it?"

"They are now visiting their fellow countrymen to see what they were like when they were under the same conditioning."

"What of it?"

"I did the same to you."

There was a rather long pause then he said, "What are you going to do to me? Make me a slave?"

"That's up to you. The two Anguy were used so I could learn more about the procedure. I want to remove this conditioning, but only after it's studied. I don't like slaves."

"You would not make me a slave?"

"On my travels, I found a girl by the name of Matra. She was conditioned by the Church — "

"She should have been. You cannot have order if women are allowed to do as they wish. We have to take care of them."

"You sound like the way your instructors talked to you. You were conditioned to believe completely. You are now free to sift through your ideas and find out if you still think the same way. I don't like the way the Anguy or the Adchek live. I don't like the way the Church wants to convert everybody to their way of thinking."

"What's wrong with that? We give order out of chaos. The barbarians are always fighting and killing. At least we have a plan to stop that."

"The plan the Church has is for them to control this world. Guide, I can live with, but not control. As for killing, your Church uses the Anguy and the Adchek to kill when you have exhausted other armies in fighting."

"There is nothing wrong with that. They breed too fast and populations need to be commanded. The Anguy and the Adchek are an example of what could be done."

"Exactly; I will not have that abomination if I can help it. I want to find a way of reducing the Church's hold on those two races so they can be free enough to choose their own destiny. Education is the answer, not brute force."

"I'm not going to help you."

"Yes you are."

"I'll die first."

"You can try but the things placed in your body by the Church have been removed. You can try other ways but I came here to find another solution."

"What?"

"I have the ability to make you my slave — "

"You said you do not want slaves."

"Matra is a slave. I used an icon to make her follow my orders. The process I hope will negate what the Church and her masters have done to her. I have already started to remove my conditioning from her. I want to find a balance where she can express the church's viewpoint if it's valid but still help me."

"That's a foolish notion. We would never do that."

"I'm soft inside. Now we come to you. I want your help even if you are my slave. I came to bargain with you — "

"Bargain! With me? You can do what you like. I will not bargain."

"Hear me out. I'm going to make you my slave. You can be made like the two Anguy or we can talk about what should be done. This will allow you to be free enough to tell me if you believe I am wrong, but still willing to help me when I ask."

"My concerns would never be given a fair chance."

"Am I not listening to your concerns now and asking for a way that keeps you from being a total slave?"

"That's different."

"How?"

He paused then changed the subject. "What do you plan on doing?"

"I want to learn about magic. You know and could teach."

"I would never do that."

"You would as a slave."

"What would I have to teach?"

"The same as what you were taught to become a priest but I will not have the students tortured or killed."

"You have to cull the feeble."

"Camsa and a boy named Bosma were to be culled, as you call it. I took them in. They helped me later and we found out much more about the icons. Bosma died but I think Camsa is now better than he would have been with his old master and it had to do with his teaching methods."

"Killing is best."

"Only in some cases. To promote magic, these boys could have been allowed to breed. Perhaps their progeny would become great."

"We do not want wild talent or the entire population knowing magic."

"Why?"

"Why, they would fight with magic and kill everybody."

"Has this happened before?"

"Yes, twice."

Now this shocked me and I guess it showed. I knew there had been major wars a long time ago but not that magic had been a factor.

Osston said, "Magic almost doomed our people in the past. There were great wars. Not just cities, whole countries were obliterated. It was mainly the scattered barbarians that lived to make up a new population. Many generations later when the population had once more built up, a new war erupted that sent everybody back where they were before. You see the Church has to control magic or there will be death and perhaps this time it will be all of us."

"How can the Church be changed so that they can prevent this type of war but not be as dominant and harsh as they are now?"

"We have to be harsh because the barbarians do not understand anything but death and torture."

"Let's start with the Anguy. Their entire culture is dominated by the Church. There's no fun and no growth. It's stagnant. The barbarians are free but also free to starve. How could the Anguy be more barbaric and the Church ensure that there be no great wars again?"

"Don't allow them to learn magic."

"That's one answer but the Church could still restrict all the major weapons. My guns kill and minor magic may be similar. Let them kill each other but keep the major weapons away from them."

"That's easy to say but impossible to do."

"I do not think it is impossible at all. Your Church wants one government so it can administer laws easily. What if that government made sure everybody got a good education? That education could be used to guide the children to make responsible choices. With good communications, one person can see that a person on the other side of the globe is just a neighbour but simply far away. Isn't education what separates a learned man from a barbarian?"

"They will always fight."

"I agree, but it could be managed better and still allow them to be free. It's more work and the Church has to give more of itself."

"There aren't enough of us."

"Stop killing the young and perhaps they will grow the way you want. You will still be able to promote Church policies."

"The administration would be impossible to manage."

"You need much better communications and I will offer machines that make simple decisions. They can keep track of data like births, pay and class schedules."

"We've heard of those and came to stop you."

"You use iron engines to make your ship move. Have you tried to use computers to assist your organisation?"

There was a long pause and Osston said, "We have used them for minor tasks but they are useless for most."

"The computer is just another tool. The Church is run by old men. I'm willing to bet that it's the old men that don't want to learn because to them it makes their lives more complicated. You need young people that are free to learn to use the machines the way they are needed to be used."

"What else will the computer do?"

"When everybody has a computer and the computers are linked together, the Church can snoop on everyone."

"Is that what they do in your world?"

I guess he had to know. The Church had dealings with somebody in France. They may even have more dealings with others. "Our world is getting complicated. Resources are becoming scarce and growing economies want their share so they can grow to be rich nations. The rich nations are used to living a good life and do not want to reduce their standard of living. Wars are always happening and methods are found that will retain the status quo. One way is to listen to what is said in private conversations. Telephone calls and internet traffic is monitored by computers. If the communications are by computer, the various governments snoop. Sometimes this is followed with arrests and jail. Sometimes somebody quietly dies."