Chapter 41

Everybody went out to the stern and Fislu and Selna set up a portal on the deck. We had been talking mentally for a while so they knew what I wanted. The portal opened when we applied the key and we used the walkie talkie to get someone to come to the portal to talk.

Soon we had the regular students as well those from Section M. With very little coaxing I got them to come onboard and meet the crew. Children, I felt, would look the least threatening. The anchor was dropped in the fairly shallow water and my own family had a chance to disappear through the portal to talk to the others.

Jonna and Lauren came through and kissed me passionately. Lauren said, "I may not be showing like Jonna but I don't like crawling through that small portal."

I was making lots of introductions and the term 'wife' did not seem as bad as I thought.

Gus climbed through the portal and was gone for ten minutes. When he came back, he said, "The stars are even more beautiful. There is no light contamination. I didn't see any familiar constellations but I did see two moons in the sky."

It was not that long after that most of the rest of the crew wanted to take a look. Few people could honestly say that they set foot on another world. Those who were reluctant at first went after they saw that the other crew members returned with no ill effects.

Tom Jr. and Beth wanted to go but Nancy would not put up with this. Reynolds, on the other hand, had gone and not returned.

Captain Powers and Chief Engineer Cabot were brought out on deck so they could see the portal and meet the visitors.

I went over what I had said to the crew so the Captain and the Engineer knew what I was talking about. "I want to recruit men to fight along side me when we go against the Church. The pay will be good but it comes at the expense of putting your lives in danger."

The Captain said, "The Church! Are they Christians."

"Captain, the Church was around for thousands of years before Christ was ever born."

"If they're not Christians then I'll help you."

Just what I needed, another religious bigot. Next thing I would find out would be that he wanted to convert the people of Bejek to what he believed. "Captain, we uncovered a house superior to anything we have now on Earth that predates Christ. I have no idea how many times a civilisation like this has risen. Some of their tools make ours look foolish and simplistic. The next thing I expect to hear from you is that you want to convert these people to your way of thinking. I am trying to advance the civilisation, not drag us back to a theocratic society."

"Our society is not doing well. Look how it's falling apart," he said.

"On the Appian Way there is a monument with similar sentiments and it was written near the birth of Christ. Can't you see that we are always falling apart? We avoid dissolution only when the assholes that don't give a damn see that they are facing imminent death to their society and decide to cooperate. I'm going to reform my enemy or destroy them. We can then move forward and form a just society based on science."

"That's godless!"

"That's true, and it will remove one more way for some politician to manipulate society. Haven't you noticed that wars are fought with religion held foremost but they are always about power?"

"That's not true."

"We can debate this later. But the debate will be based on fact and fact alone, Captain."

Lauren got me to talk to Nancy to get me away from the Captain. Nancy said, "You don't believe in a god?"

"I believe what is in front of me, Nancy. In other words, facts. I'll concede that the science behind the silver icons has eluded me but we are learning. You're a teacher and hold the lives of many children in your hands. I'm a leader and but I have millions of lives in my hands. I have to be decisive and above all I have to be right. Only a pragmatist can do that."

"I can be pragmatic too. Tell me why you recruited my husband?"

"I need pilots to help me fight a war. One side can draw from the population of an entire world. It also has weapons that even I could not believe in and I have seen a lot. My only hope is that the Church will continue to hide its secrets from its own people long enough for me to win this fight."

"Why must you fight?"

"You don't seem to get it. They are coming after me. I'm defending myself. When I came to Bejek, I fought to throw off an invader. You of all people should be assisting me. Ninety percent of the population is female and are held as slaves. Some were like Jonna. She in turn had to act as a master to control other women. Her employer was the Church."

Her face said I was full of shit. I called to Jonna and said, "Would you talk to Nancy about the plight of women in Bejek and those in the control of the Church?"

"I can do it one more time I guess."

A chain gate had been set up. It used the fact that we had an existing inter-world portal that was currently open. Before Nancy knew what was happening she was in Woodland. Tom and their two children were right behind them.

Reynolds came walking back with a gold coin in his hand. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Sure is. I'm using the plentiful gold in Bejek to purchase weapons here on Earth."

"Some people may object to that."

"That's true, but the rich control the governments and hide or shelter their wealth. In other words, they're hypocrites."

"I am not going to argue that. So this ship was purchased with gold from — Bejek?"

"Basically, the answer is yes. Silver is plentiful here too and I suspect other heavy metals like those in the platinum group."

"You could get wealthy selling that to our planet."

"I'm wealthy now. I'm also trying hard to be ethical. Gaining wealth for the sake of wealth is foolish. Believe it or not, all I want to do is drastically reform the Church, teach better farming techniques to the people of Bejek and perhaps trade some of the crops between planets for the benefit of all."

"You're a farmer!"

"I sure am. I'm not trained for war. Others do that job while I find the weapons to fight with."

"You're a farmer and taking on an organisation as large as this Church of yours?"

"Listen, farmers are tough. We battle the elements and the provincial governments and then take the fight to Ottawa to get some action from some fat cats that have to be shamed into doing what's right."

"So you're Canadian."

"You get too much out of me or maybe I just can't shut up."

"I trained to do what I did."

There was one of those pregnant pauses then I said, "How did you like Woodland?"

"It's amazing. It's rough but sophisticated. I had to check the toilets and I was amazed to find them made on Earth."

"Farmers think of the land. It may be an old term but city slickers are focussed only on money."

"I think you're right. Did you want to recruit me to your cause?"

"I need everybody I can get but I have to worry about bringing a Human disease to Bejek. I don't mean physical ailments, but some of the current attitudes on this Earth."

"The Captain's views are not uncommon."

"I know that."

"What are you going to do with Mr Morgan?"

"Let's go see him."

We returned to Earth and walked through the ship until we found one of my security guarding the sleeping man. I told her, "We have him now. Go visit."

"Yes, my King."

Reynolds asked, "What did she say? I know it was in their language."

"She said 'yes'."

We found some chairs and sat down but I got Reynolds to go to sleep first. He got the standard loyalty indoctrination before I worked on Mr Morgan. The first thing I looked for was some medical reasons for the man to have acted the way he did. Treating the Anguy and the Adchek gave me lots of chances to learn, especially when it was artificially induced by the Church. This man did have some imbalances and I tried to correct them. Since the crew would see him, I had to make his recovery appear normal. My worry was that he would just be an angry man instead of an emotionally troubled man and fight me by going to the Earth authorities or doing something drastic on Bejek.

Earth Humans fighting for me on Bejek would bring me problems. Most people were followers and were comfortable with a politician telling them what to do. Ten percent were not. They may or may not fight the Church but they would want to see what Bejek could do for them. I did not want this to be uncontrolled. Nut cases like the Captain could be a real pain. Business people, especially if they were ethical, would be a benefit. That was almost an oxymoron but I had a way of keeping people honest.

I searched through Morgan's body for problems. He had old breaks in his bones but nothing serious. His joints were wearing and I started his body into repairing them. The man was forty seven and he needed glasses but this would have to wait for later.

Reynold's body was checked and I found a lot more problems. I did nothing to them until he had a chance to ask me to. I woke the man up slowly while I peered at Morgan.

"I must have nodded off there. Did I miss anything?"

"Lots. The Heart of Opfu allows a skilled operator to get within the body of his patient and tweak glands or stimulate what has to be repaired. In Morgan's case he was not within the boundaries of a sane person but he was not that far out. It was his experiences and memories that were most of the problem and I have no way of working on those. He has a body that will allow him to be sane. The rest takes time and I am not about to turn him loose now. He will stay with me for a year. He may recover and in that case he can do whatever he wants. If he's still a nut I'm afraid he will have to be watched."

"What about his family?"

"He has none worth mentioning. If he did, I'd send a portion of his pay to them."

"That isn't legal. How do you justify this?"

"If I use American or Canadian law, you're right. I might mention that your government is detaining people without charges or a trial at this moment."

"But they are a powerful legal entity. You can't do that."

"What makes a legal entity in your mind?"

"An elected body — basically a government."

I had to smile now. "Well, you see, I'm not just a hick farmer meddling in the affaires of another world. I'm a major player, too. The city you were in was the newest one in Mendab. The population of the country is over four million now. People are not fleeing the country but coming to gain a measure of safety. I'm the one doing the guiding of the country. My word is law. You can equate me to your President. He does what he wants but he has more constraints on him."

"You sound like a dictator or a king."

"Walk around Mendab and see if it's the army that's keeping me in power. A man by the name of Mantoya Slako controls the army. Artlam Crytar would make a good living as a lawyer. He's sneaky and runs the spy agency. The term dictator doesn't apply."

"So you're the king?"

"Yes, I am. I got the position by saving my own life. The people think a lot of me. I gave them laws that gave them rights. The enemies I capture are given medical attention and then treated humanely as prisoners of war. The usual practice on Bejek was to kill them, their families, and friends.

"I'm not a lawyer but I own this ship. The pennant on the mast says it is of Bahamas registry. In actual fact, this vessel is just like Air Force One. Morgan is my employee and he tried to kill the leader of a sovereign country. Instead of killing or incarcerating him, his body was medically treated to be healthier. If there is a sentence, it is that he is given parole that will last until I know he's cured."

Reynolds thought for a minute and said, "Well, I've never run across that situation before. I could put in a request to your embassy that he be released but he's guilty as you say. I think I'll withdraw my argument but I would like to be appraised of his situation once in a while."

"Sounds good to me. Do you want to apply for a dual citizenship and take over the job of ambassador between worlds?"

"That job would be too much for me. I'd like to visit your country a bit more."

"That presents some problems. I'm fighting a war now. I need people to help me protect my people. Remuneration for that work can be in gold but I have something even more valuable."

"Platinum?"

"Way more valuable than that. The Heart of Opfu allows me to search within a body. Morgan has problems with his joints. I encouraged his body to do some rebuilding. He has some dormant growths which I left alone. I could trade my labour for services that others could perform for me."

Reynolds was quiet again, then said, "I could find you more ships."

"That's useful but I need them to be warships with modern weapons. The weapons needn't be on the ship when they're in American waters. Does this conflict too much with your ethics?"

"Not really. The weapons will be used on another planet. My country has a long tradition of selling weapons to other countries. The thing is that yours is not an approved country."

"It is not a unapproved country either."

"You're right about that. Finding the weapons and acquiring them will be dangerous."

"Would you do this for me?"

He thought then said, "Yes, I will."

"Then I can do a scan of your body if you wish?"

"Go right ahead. I know you'll find that I've problems."

I did a more through search and decided to start on his heart. I saw scaring. While this was being worked on I got his body to begin working on his own joints.

Ten minutes later I told him what I had done. He said, "I had never had a hope of repairing my heart. I had three significant heart attacks and figured the next one would be my last."

"There's another benefit you could acquire. I'm referring to learning mental communications with of those of us that have had our brains improved."

"So I can't read somebody's mind to find the truth?"

"No, only what the person wants you to know."

"How do I do this?"

"You take a sabbatical to Bejek. You learn about the world, our country, the natives, and how to manipulate some of the icons. In the mean time you see that I'm not a dictator."

"I'm sorry for calling you that."

"No problem. I'd have thought it if I were in your shoes."

Food and drink came from Bejek and I took some time to talk to the crew in small groups. They all got minimal conditioning except the Captain and one other man. I didn't want them to attempt to convert the heathens. Then again, some of the knowledgeable people of Bejek thought that Earth Humans were heathens.

When I was done I got them together and said, "You all hired on as seamen. I'm building a navy and I need some creative people to assist me. Think of this as getting in on the ground floor. We can throw out our old agreement and build a new one. The pay will be better but there will be more risks to go along with it. I am basically hiring mercs. Like the Romans, I will offer you a home on Bejek or one of the other worlds I can get to if you complete your service to me."

One man incredulously blurted out, "What other worlds?"

"There are a few. Some have some odd looking aliens but they act saner than we do. Another world is an unknown because the other end of the portal is high in a mountain. I never got down the mountain to see what it was like but the air was breathable. There may be aliens on this world too. Of course if we go there, we will be the aliens."

This got a bit of a chuckle. "It looks like a long time ago there was a civilisation made up of many different races of beings and each group were aliens to each other. They made a portal system to get from one world to another. For some reason, they all left. The portal system stayed but I think some areas were locked away from Humans. I happen to find two of the keys that make the two portals work."

Another man said, "Can't you force the portals open?"

"The physics used by the portals is way beyond us but we're learning."

"Shouldn't the government be doing this?"

"They have more money and can put more people on this but do you really want a rapacious government to meet other civilizations this way?" The man saw the error and I continued. "Think what is done at this moment in the name of gaining oil. If there was oil and the government came here, we may not be able to survive."

"Have you met any aliens?" one man said.

"Yes I have. The stigga are intelligent. I don't know how much when compared to us. I have met them under two kinds of situations. When they come charging out of a portal where they had no other thought but to kill us. They use no weapons other than their teeth and claws but they have an invisible shield like I wore.

"I raided a base and tried to get the stigga to disperse. I wanted them to kill my enemies but they just huddled in fear. This tells me that they are being compelled to fight me. I have read about other races and I can view some through my portals but haven't met any others."

The dialogue went on for a while then I said, "I want to hire you men to fight for me. The enemy is numerous but usually poorly armed though they have been improving their weapons recently. I will pay a good wage and some of it can be sent home if that is your wish. We have a great medical plan so your diseases, including arthritis, can be cured. When and if the war is won, I will keep you on as the basis of my military. After that period, you would be awarded some land on the frontier just as the Romans did."

"How much land?"

"I have no idea. I'm just starting out. I don't even know how much to pay you."

"What if we want to go home?"

"Then it's like the military. You finish your stint, say an Earth year then you can go home. If you want to come back you can."

"What if we tell the government."

"You mean the American government."

"Yes."

"Well, they may lock you up if they believe you. If there are enough people that are talking and they can't lock them all up then they may not do this. They don't want talk of portals and other worlds. It upsets the bovine voters.

"They could make my life here on Earth a lot more difficult. I need supplies from Earth but I have lots to trade. There are some plants that you would not believe how productive they are or how good they are for you.

"To finally answer your question, you are free to go because you have not signed on. Once you do you are in for the duration of your stint. After that, you can go home with your pay. One other thing I might mention. Everyone of you are single or about to be. The Bejek population is almost all women. You have the option of setting up a family there. The laws mean that you have to support your wives and your children just like on Earth."

There was a lot more talk but a show of hands indicated that everybody was in, providing the contract covered what I already said would happen.

Tom and Nancy came back with sleeping children in their arms. They went to their room and disappeared until mid morning. The children were up earlier and used the portal to visit some new friends. I took the opportunity to give Nancy the same conditioning as what the crew got. She was going to be more of a problem because she was going to be alone when she went home. The crew would reinforce each other. I'd have to hope that Tom would help.

Morgan was roused during the night and he pushed himself against the wall to get as far away from me as possible. "Get away from me."

"We have to come to an understanding."

"Not with the spawn of Satan."

"Ah, so it's religion too. I thought you were just crazy because of a glandular imbalance."

"I'm not crazy."

"You tried to shoot me and you hurt three men."

"I would have killed you except Satan shed his protection over you."

Morgan went to sleep, though he fought me every bit of the way. I worked on him again and made the conditioning much deeper. He did not have the mind of Osston or Stofan. I wanted to keep the man's personality as best as I could but he still had flaws. He was arrogant, vicious and lazy. I now saw that it was the military that had forced him to learn more than the basics.

When Morgan awoke the next time he looked angry but he did not cringe. I said, "Get up and get some breakfast. You can talk to the crew but it will be on your time. You are warned now that if you say too much I will consider you attempting to mutiny. That is a capital offence in my books and I will carry out the execution. Your punishment for attempted murder will be that you perform your duties while on probation. You will not leave the ship or communicate what you have learned to others. Do you understand?"

"Yes — Sir. I won't be trying to mutiny."

Morgan got a lot of stares but he had thick skin and peer pressure would not bother him much.

Much more gold had been brought to Woodland. From there some was brought onboard. Everyone's eyes grew big at the sight of the metal and then grew wider at the amount. Now that we had the Bahamas flag, we put in a gun locker and a lot of ammunition. This was allowed by international law so we could defend ourselves from pirates. I felt better dressed even if I was not wearing any of the weapons.

During all of this I used the Heart of Opfu to search out various infirmities. Those that were not sure were going to be sent to a hospital at my expense to confirm what I had said. Some of the crew members knew of the problems and accepted my knowledge of them. These I treated.

The civilians were treated too. Nancy claimed to have nothing wrong with her and she actually was fairly healthy. Beth though looked to have some future problems but I did nothing other than look. The parents had at least been warned.

We put into port after the holidays. Tom and Nancy would be taking a plane home with their children. She was not opposed to staying longer but my plans had changed.

Reynolds would be doing the same thing. There was little he could help us with and much he could get in trouble for. He also had access to one of my numbered account to pay for what I needed. One of the things I required was a ship to transport fuel. Here I needed diesel fuel and some gasoline for cars and aircraft eventually. Even the smallest oiler was large and it could easily provide for the ships I had coming too.

Oilers were used by the military and as such were too large. There were small tankers, though, that could carry fuel to small ports where a pipeline or a regular tanker could not get. These were what I wanted. All they had to be fitted with was a pair of hoses with a boom each.

I had hopes that the portals could take that kind of mass but I was not sure. If this worked the ships would form floating storage tanks for me.

Gus was happy to stay with us now. In fact he was anxious to help any way he could.

I phoned Ruiz but he was not home. I did get a message about what arrangements had been made. My reply was that the arrangements were satisfactory.

There was a lot of hugs given by the children and Nancy but most were directed to my family and security. I didn't mind and just hoped she could keep the secret she had.

We sailed southeast through the Bahamas. The trip was longer than our fuel tanks allowed, so we stopped in at Nassau. This portion of the trip lasted ten days. This was restful for me but after a while I began to show the crew how to use the headbands and the coins. Morgan and the Captain didn't really try so I just ignored them.

The portion of the family with me discussed the attack by the Church. It struck me as odd that they took so long to fire their cannon. This meant that they were not ready. If they had orchestrated the appearance of this portal then they were inept. The only other possibilities we could think of were that the portal opening was either an accident or an act of nature.

This was debated a long time and I was sure they were thinking of this in Bejek too.

I began to learn a lot more about radio in my idle time. Three of the men were good at this and one was a ham. I soon found out how I had restricted myself by not having a dedicated communications officer. We had fought the war and just used the radio as if it were a gun. The system could be made much more efficient by making just a few basic changes.

The crew used the AK's and Caiti and the girls showed them that they were no slouches. Shooting from a moving boat was challenging but we did have time to go ashore at some of the islands and shoot for a few hours.

When we came to the Dominican Republic we stayed outside their territorial waters until we got near the eastern end of the island. When we pulled up to the dock there were no soldiers or even customs men in evidence.

I went ashore like tourists with my entourage while the ship was refuelled and provisioned. The meeting was at a small hotel and we took our time checking it out. Coins were placed in strategic locations so we could get help from the ship.

Our arrival was a day early and Ruiz would expect us to check out the meeting place. He would not expect us to go south to El Seibo that night. It was easy to find the new gold refining company. It was well protected but not from us. Two coins were hidden in the ground so they would not be seen.

The sleeping arrangements were on the ship with an alert watch. I didn't expect trouble but it was better to not take chances. At noon the next day a messenger came with a note. It basically said that Ruiz would have no problems making the meeting.

The crew now wore medallions under their shirts. They could not get the shields to initiate but some could get it to shut down. They would be ready to both protect the ship and to come to our aid if they were needed.

We took taxis to the hotel but Caiti, Camsa, and Osston stayed on the ship to monitor us. Marquez, the lawyer, came first and he greeted us like old friends. The bug detector was on the table and easily seen for what it was.

I asked him straight out, "Is there going to be some unpleasantness during or after this meeting?"

The man was still my slave and said, "No sir. This is strictly business."

Ruiz came in a few minutes later but a dozen men came in just before. None of us even looked at the group because we had already been informed of their arrival.

Ruiz was a man of forty. He was immaculately dressed and not a hair was out of place. I was wearing my juffa suit which looked just as good as his if not better.

I stood as he approached and he extended his hand. I deactivated my shield and shook his hand. He said, "I'm glad to finally meet you, Mr Smith."

"I'm glad to meet you too, Mr Ruiz. A mutual profit makes the meeting even better."

Ruiz introduced Marquez and I introduced my own people but ignored the Security detail. Ruiz said, "I thought you would have a few more present at the meeting."

"They are back on the ship studying math on the ballistics computer."

"That is an odd subject for people so young to learn."

"Not at all. There is a lot of practical uses for the information. They take to a military education like ducklings learning to swim."

"Interesting. Would you like to talk here or in a quieter room?"

"Here is just fine with me, Mr Ruiz."

We got down to business quickly. Since I didn't know Spanish the contract had to be in English. I made sure both Ruiz and Marquez knew that I wanted the contract in the simplest language possible.

Ruiz' money was tied up but since he was a partner in seven banks, he could negotiate some quick and low interest loans. This meant that I could get paid upon delivery if Ruiz knew how much gold I was going to be delivering.

The timing of deliveries was important and so were a lot of seemingly simple ideas. I was not going to be boxed in by them though. Ruiz could get the army or some other force to hinder me and I could not make a delivery on time.

The contract was about the shortest one Marquez had ever written. He went off to get it typed up. Ruiz said, "Did you bring any gold with you today?"

"You hinted to one of my people that you might like twenty thousand kilograms. Is that too much?"

"That is a lot of gold to be carrying. Then again, you probably don't have much problems from thieves with that weapon you used last time you were here."

"I should not have used it. I was just angry at being attacked."

"Your family was not bothered by the slaughter?"

"Only in that some members did not get a suitable chance to practice their skills."

"Well, I hope to not anger them. Back to your question, twenty tonnes is not a problem. It would take me a few months to get rid of that much."

"Would you like a lessor amount next time?"

"Oh, no. In fact I could take fifty if you are prepared to deal in such large quantities."

"Fifty is no problem. If you had the money, I could do more but I would like it to be in units of say twenty thousand kilograms each. We can complete our business in a few hours providing you have the trucks available."