7 – Slave Dump
(Unknown Room – Unknown Place
– Unknown Date and Time)
Colonel David Telford opened
his eyes to find himself on something that felt like a bed. He looked around a
realized that it was a hospital bed. There was an IV in the arm, connecting him
to a bag with a clear liquid. And the room was clearly a clinic. As he sat up,
the door opened and several aliens entered. Two of them were Nakai, two were
Ursini and three were of a species that he had never seen before. They were
talking to one another, but he could not understand them. Then they noticed
that he was awake. One of the unfamiliar aliens reached into his pocket and
took out what looked like some kind of hearing aid.
The alien offered the device
to him and gestured that he should put it behind his ear. With no options, he
took the device and placed it where the unknown alien had suggested. There was
a short buzz as the device activated. Then the alien began speaking.
“Test, test. Can you
understand me, Mister Telford ?”
“It is Colonel Telford. And
yes, I can.”
“I am Doctor Winnas and you
are in the main clinic on Slave Dump….” The doctor explained that he had been
recovered from space by means of teleporter. As he continued to explain, the
Colonel studied the aliens. They looked Human, except for their eyes and their
skin color. All three had solid black eyes and green skin. Their hair was
white. “…we recovered sixteen with subcutaneous locator beacons and thirty-one
without.”
“Without ?”
“They claim to be members of
something called the Lucian Alliance. Have you heard of it ?”
“Yes. It is a long story.”
“Well, it can wait,” Winnas
said. “For now, you need to rest. The world is not going anywhere.”
Telford wanted to object. He
had to see his team and find out where exactly he was. But one of the aliens
injected the line of his IV with a blue liquid. His head grew heavy and the
world faded to black.
(Slave Dump – Mining Shaft One
– Day 173 / 30 January 2018, 0915)
David Telford stood on a
balcony and overlooked the city below. It was a slum, made out whatever the
locals had managed to get their hands own. After two days of recovery, Doctor
Winnas had released him. He had then met with Senator Gy’Has, one of the twenty
senators that led the local government. Gy’Has had told him about the Xivolo
Empire and its history. Telford had told them about Earth, the Lucian Alliance,
Destiny and his mission. ~Not bad for a group of exiles.~
During their rebuilding
efforts, the Xivolo had decided to get rid of all the surviving slaves. They
had dumped all of them on a single world that they had, very uncreatively,
nicknamed Slave Dump. It was officially called Mining World XC-18 and was the gas
giant that Destiny had been near when they had been vented into space.
“What a mess.” He muttered.
“It might not look pretty, but
it’s home,” A female voice said. “Good to see you, Colonel Telford.” He turned
to see a Nakai standing behind him. This was Senator Gy’Has.
“I was talking about the
situation, not the city,” He paused. “But this is clearly not all there is to
your city. You did teleport us out of space.”
“Alas, the Empire sabotaged
any viable means of getting off this rock. The completion of a working incoming
teleporter was not easy. We had to….” She paused. “….I believe on of your team
referred to it as “Frankenstein” a single working unit out of dozens of broken
units. It took us many years. And in the original timeline, it was finished too
late.”
In the original timeline, both
Telford’s team and the Lucian Alliance invasion force had both arrived on the
same day they had stepped through the Stargate. And the teleporter had not been
complete. All of them had been thrown overboard and had died. But the Nakai,
Ursini and Jynacko that lived on this world had no intention of giving up that easily.
So they had build a device that they had sent back in time. Once there, it had
diverted the wormhole just enough to pass close to a nearby star. They had
detailed records on said star, including its solar flares. The interaction of
the wormhole and the star had pushed the arrivals ahead far enough for them to
complete the teleporter.
“You know that altering the
timeline is dangerous.”
“We know,” Gy’Has said. “We
have read the tale of our ancestors. But that is not what I am here for,” She
paused. “the time has come for you to see our Doorway Base. It is not much, but
I think you will like it.”
“Lead the way.”
Gy’Has led him towards an
elevator. Although the city was not much to look at, it was well designed.
~It’s not pretty, but it all works.~ He stepped into the elevator, which was a
large wooden box suspended by sturdy ropes. Gy’Has pressed the proper button
and they headed down. As they did so, a small gramophone played music. ~Not the
most hi-tech, but who cares ?~
There was a bell and the doors
opened, allowing them to walk into a small lobby. Six Nakai with crossbows were
guarding said lobby. Beyond the lobby was a heavy door that looked like it
belonged on a submarine. Gy’Has turned a large wheel in the center of the door
and then pulled it open. They stepped into the Doorway Base. ~Not bad.~
They were standing in the Gate
Room. What looked like two fifty-caliber machineguns were pointed at the
Stargate. They appeared to be made from pieces of piping and salvaged parts of
a particle weapon. Between them was a pillar with two red buttons on top.
Gy’Has pushed one of the buttons and a metal iris blocked the Stargate.
“We cannot dial out,” Gy’Has
began. “But any unwanted visitors cannot get in either. And that is not the
only thing this base does. We have seventeen telescopes all over the planet.
This is where we pool the data and make our charts and other stellar records.
But there is more…” She led him to a balcony overseeing a fast room. “….say
hello to Project Exodus.”
Telford made his way to the
balcony and whistled. The room was a hangar and Project Exodus was the locals
trying to build a spaceship. It appeared that they were putting it together
from bits and pieces of broken spaceships. ~That and whatever they can scrounge
up to fill the holes.~ This was proving to be a very interesting planet.
(Mining Planet XC-21 –
Barbershop – Day 173, 1105)
Cinara and her little group
had been on the run for days. They had been moving from planet to planet.
Because they had escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they had
been without money. So Cinara had traded her Royal Robes for a set of civilian
clothes and some money. Next, they had done the same with the three Palace
Guard uniforms they had. They had also traded the Palace Guard weapons they had
for something less obvious.
Now they were in a barbershop,
getting a haircut to change their appearances even further. As the barber
shaved her head, Cinara did her very best not to cry. And failed. ~I lost
everything.~ Her father and grandfather, her home and her friends. ~I wish
mother was here.~ But her mother had died three years ago of an illness. The
man stopped shaving her head and put his hand on her shoulder. He was an
elderly Xivolo with a kind smile.
“It’s okay, your highness,” He
began. “I will do what I can do to help.”
“Thank you,” She said as tears
streamed down her face. She took a deep breath and then smiled at the man.
“Please finish.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The man continued shaving her
head.
(Mining Planet XC-21 –
Barbershop – Day 173, 1130)
All four of them had gotten a
haircut and they were now sitting in the back of the shop. They were eating a
meal, while their host brought them up to speed on the news from the Capital.
Blaming the Emperor had not been an option, because Yalock had been very
popular with the people. They would have rioted if Yalock or Axos had been
blamed. And blaming the Senate would cause the bureaucrats to rebel. So the
blame had been shifted to the Palace Guard and the soldiers, with both being
labelled as traitors.
“So…,” One of the Guards, a
man called Hazor, began. “…what do we do next ?”
“As long as you stay inside
the Empire, it is only a matter of time before they find you.” The barber said.
“And when they do, they will execute you and put you on the throne as their
puppet.”
“Go outside the Empire ?”
Cinara asked. “But there is nothing outside the Empire, is there ?”
“Unless you believe in Slave
Dump,” Hazor said. “But that is a myth. And even if that world existed, it is
likely that slaves all died once they arrived.”
“Actually, their situation was
not as dire as modern history books claim it was.” The barber said. “My
grandfather was a soldier during the Great Exile and he kept a paper diary.
Many of the soldiers did. He wrote that a lot of the slaves saw the Great Exile
coming and left through the Doorway with as much supplies as they could carry. And
several vessels carried slaves to the planet. They had to be abandoned on the
planet.”
“Are you saying they might
still be alive ?”
“I am saying that it is a
distinct possibility. I can give you the address to the planet,” The barber
said. “But you will have to find a way to actually get there.”
Cinara nodded. ~One thing at a
time.~ Now they were no longer simply dodging the Inner Senate and the Army.
Her little group had a destination now. Of course, there was no guarantee that
the slaves would be very welcoming to them. ~But that is a problem for later.~
They had to reach the planet first. And it would probably take a miracle for
that to happen.
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