...

Thorvald, Esmee, and Luke slowly strolled in the direction of the station. They talked mostly of Thorvald. How he had lived, what his world had been like, to live in, and what had changed, as far as he could tell. They steered away from Luke's 'failsafe plan', Esmee looking at him angrily every now and then and him looking guiltily away. Thorvald largely ignored the issue.

At the station, they bought an espresso at Thorvald's suggestion, and then they walked down to where Dawn would arrive.

Then, Dawn called to say her train was pulling into the station and that she was more or less in the back. They saw the train arriving and walked down the platform.

"Hiya. How are you guys doin'?"

"Dawn, this is my ancestor Thorvald Hallipirii. Luke got him out somehow. But that's only the good news. There's bad news as well, but we won't discuss it. So, meet Thorvald. Thorvald, this is my best friend, Dawn Garibaldi."

"What do you mean, bad news?"

Luke said: "Let's not make more out of it than it is. I'll tell you later. Nothing to worry about. Thorvald is looking forward to his first steak in two centuries. Any suggestions?"

"I know just the place. It's two stops south, so we can just take the next train. They even have real beef, if you're into that. It's a bit expensive, though."

"What do you think, Esmee? Can we spring for an expensive dinner? I know I wasn't exactly rich, but there should still be something left."

"Well. Yes."

Tears welled in Esmee's eyes. "I'm all confused. I've been saving money for as long as I remember, and now I can just spend it."

"Well. Could be worse, I imagine."

"Ok, guys. Our train in one minute."

Someone shouted further down the platform, more in pain than anything else. Luke had his back towards the cry, so he glanced curiously over his shoulder.

A small group of teenagers stood perhaps thirty yards away. One of them, a young girl, and probably the one who had cried out, lay on the floor. She looked angrily in Luke's direction. Only then did he see a figure running towards him.

Time stood still. Luke didn't think, and only later would he be able to put words to the images, possibilities, and consequences that ricocheted in his head. With a detached, almost clinical clarity, he was aware of everything. The people standing on the platform, the youngsters shouting, the weird figure running towards them, and the train pulling into the station at that moment, on their platform.

He stepped sideways, out of the path of the approaching figure, and turned to look at his companions, who only then realized something was going on.

A coherent thought surfaced: this wasn't about him. And yet, the trajectory was unmistakably directed at them. Illogically, he thought: Dawn! His heart stood still.

The approaching figure was now twelve feet away.

For some reason, Esmee, slightly to the left of Luke, stepped forward. Luke hunched, almost dropping to gain forward momentum. With his shoulder, he pushed Esmee out of his way and into the hands of Thorvald, who turned and easily pulled Esmee out of harm's way.

To gain height, Luke jumped. Dawn looked at him in utter incomprehension. He grabbed her shoulders with both his hands and turned around her, pulling her with him. As he fell to the floor, he saw the figure close up. Her face twisted in rage. Trying to change direction.

Luke fell hard on his back, hitting his head and pulling Dawn on top of him. Then rolling, making sure Dawn didn't hit her head as well and then rolling off her in one continuous movement.

Now he saw the woman was trying to go for Esmee and Thorvald. Trying, but failing. Her momentum was too big, and she stumbled. In her hand was a small object, but as she fell with one knee to the ground, she let go of the object. She tried to land on her hands and knees, but something went wrong. She pulled back her left hand sharply, obviously in pain, and had to roll over her left shoulder. For a split second, she lay on her back, looking at the ceiling, uttering the most fearsome cry Luke had ever heard.

Her legs dangled just over the edge of the platform and were gripped by the train that reached her just then. She was dragged along the platform while the train came to a screeching halt.

It was completely silent for the briefest of moments, though most people were still unaware of what had happened. Then a man shouted at the other end of the platform.

Only then did Luke recognize the picture of the face of the woman in his head: Jean.

...

It took more than two hours for the police to investigate and take statements. They were told that 'the woman" had been taken to hospital, severely injured, and later that the object she had been holding had been a taser, capable of instantly paralyzing or even killing a person with a high-voltage electric shock.

Thorvald had had the clarity of mind to withdraw into the large group of onlookers. Since Esmee hadn't recognized Jean, she could plausibly deny understanding what had happened, although it hadn't taken her very long to piece together what actually did occur. It was clear, however, that explaining this would lead to all sorts of complications they could live without. Luke also kept the fact that he recognized Jean to himself.

From the witness statements, it was totally unclear who, if anyone, Jean had been trying to attack. All witnesses were allowed to go. The teenage girl who had been thrown to the floor had a minor bruise which was treated while her statement was being taken.

By the time they were ready, Richard had long joined them and had already met Thorvald. By that time, trains were also allowed to run again, so they finally continued as planned.

On the train, everyone talked about everything, and Luke had a brief moment to think for himself. Looking at the turn of events, he accepted his own motives, and suddenly he felt better than he had for a long time. All in all, he was happy.

"Yoohoo. Daimando calling Luke. I asked, 'How'd you get Thorvald out," Man, you're crafty. It's scary."

Esmee didn't like to go to the place Dawn had suggested, on account of them selling bits and pieces of real dead animals, as she put it, but Thorvald brushed her concern aside, suggesting that once every two centuries should be ok, and besides, they were bound to have something artificial for Esmee.

Over the meal, they discussed how Thorvald felt, what he knew about Daimando, now and how it had changed since 'his time', how Esmee felt, how Luke had gotten Thorvald out, and what to do next. Dawn tried to wheedle how Luke had managed to get Thorvald out of him, but Richard supported Luke adamantly: "People's lives are involved here. It's clear Luke didn't do this alone, and the people that helped him stand to lose their lives. Not literally maybe, but in a real sense nonetheless."

"Yeah. We really must keep this to ourselves. Xolorrr is still there in Thorvald's capsule. Bottom line, right now, we know where he is. As soon as they find out, they will grab all Esmee's assets, and I couldn't begin to guess how we could get Xolorrr out."

"But we don't have to worry a single bit because Luke has this fabulous scheme to get his best friend out of their clutches, eh Luke? What did you call it, 'a pretty failsafe plan?" I don't know about you guys, but I'm totally put at ease."

Unperturbed, Thorvald said: "I've an idea. Why don't you and I go on a trip, Esmee? I would like to see what has become of this great colony, and with all due respect, I couldn't stay at your place. I don't have a place of my own, so I might as well look around for a bit. And you and I need some time to get acquainted, I guess. How about it."

After some thought, Esmee became enthusiastic about the whole endeavor. "In fact, why don't we go tomorrow? I can pack my things in half an hour, and I just realized I don't need to worry about work. I don't need to work. What I need is time to think about what I will do now. Geeting you out was the single goal in my life, and I've never thought about what I wanted. Not ever. I really do need time to unwind."

Luke said that he needed about two months to arrange things. Esmee said: "Your failsafe plan, right? Well, we can disappear that long. Not to worry. There aren't that many people anyway who'd need to know anything. No one I can think of."

As confused as the evening had started, it ended in a melancholy state of goodbyes. It wouldn't make sense to go and say goodbye to Esmee and Thorvald in the morning, so they wished their goodbyes and Godspeeds as they went home.

As if by consent, no one had mentioned Jean's attack all evening.

...

On the train, Luke's good mood returned again, and as he looked at Dawn, he couldn't suppress the happiest grin.

"God. Here we go again. What are you grinning about? She's leaving, you dope."

"Well. I just found out something about myself."

"What?"

"I love you."

"What?"

"I love you. As that woman came at us, all I could think of was to protect you. If it had been a speeding train, I would have grabbed you just the same. I love you, and if that means I have to leave the studio, that's ok, 'cause I'm going away anyway. But I won't stop loving you. Ever."

"Oh, Luke."

To his surprise, tears welled up in her eyes. As elegant and fitting as they had appeared on Esmee, as out of place they looked on Dawn, who he had never seen unhappy. He blinked, twice.

"While I was away, I've been thinking. I was welcome with Sergei, but it wasn't really his idea. I wanted to go because I needed to think. And I have been thinking.

"I love you too. I didn't know. I mean, what do I know. It just sort of crept up on me, and now I'm not even sure I like it. But like I said, it sort of snuck up on me. And of course, you don't have to go. I'm not sure what we should do, but I definitely want to find out. I mean, man. For me, this is a first. Would you believe it?"

Tears welled up in her eyes again. And for the first time, he kissed her, inhaling deeply, the scent of her perfume soiled with the stench and grit of the city of several days, and yet, Dawn's hair.

They sat in silence for a while, and then, suddenly, Dawn sat up and said: "So how are you going to get your friend out?"

"Well, I have to go off-world, and I have to convince people. But I think I can. I think I know how to do this, and I don't even think it's going to take much time or ... . Oh Jesus."

"What?"

"I forgot to ask Esmee. She should give me some money."

"Well, call her."

And so he did, Dawn listening in.

"Hi Esmee, this is Luke. I forgot to ask earlier, but before you leave, I have to. The thing is, I would very much like to get the money I used to get Thorvald out from you. I know I should have talked about it with you upfront, but I couldn't. Well. I did, but at the time, I couldn't possibly tell you what it was for. And now you know."

Their train had arrived at their station, and Dawn sort of pushed Luke in the right direction.

"Yes, of course, Luke. I was just now talking about it with Thorvald. Let me send it to you right now. There. That should do it.

"Also, Thorvald suggests that I was less than grateful to you for achieving what I maybe couldn't have done in my entire life, and I couldn't agree more with him. I am truly, deeply ashamed of the way I was giving you a hard time, and I didn't even thank you. I am sorry, Luke. I really am. I owe you a debt that I can not hope to repay in my life. If there is ever anything that you need, I would be more than happy to do for you, and more to the point, if you should need more money than what I just sent to you, feel free to ask. I am humbled by what you have done and by how I reacted. I am truly sorry."

"Oh, that's ok. And I don't really need anything right now. There's one thing that occurred to me just now, though.

"I am going to leave the planet as soon as possible. What I could do, and this is just a proposal, so feel free to do as you wish, but what I could do is take most of your money with me. That way they couldn't get at it. We'd have to think of a way to make it disappear, of course, because for that kind of money, they are bound to follow it off-planet, but there are ways. What I am thinking of is investing it in such a way that it can't be recuperated without losing it, but that it will generate some stipend that only you are able to collect. We have to be careful, of course. I don't know if a judge might not scrutinize your node if you try to hide this, or indeed your own memory. But I think it's doable.

"Just give it some thought. I won't be gone tomorrow, I guess, but don't wait too long."

They'd arrived at the studio, which was something of a mess.

"Oh, I don't have to think about it because I already have. What I am going to do is give away half of it to Fiona's work and to a foundation Richard has created to help people like us, and the rest I would like to give to you as per your suggestion. I'm only going to keep what Thorvald and I need for the next couple of months. I don't even want to know what you are going to do with it, and I trust you completely. As I said, I don't have anything that I am not willing to give to you without any reservation. Nothing."

To reinforce her statement, Esmee transferred an amount to Luke that exceeded any amount he'd ever had to his name, and after some final pleasantries, they said goodbye. Only then did Luke realize Dawn had been oddly silent.

With a wicked grin, Dawn said: "And you're quite certain about me? I mean, you seemed to be rather attracted to her, and I dare say few men would be able to pass up on the 'anything I have is yours without any reservation'. Man."

She sort of doubled up on the bed with laughter.

Luke said: "Well. She is incredibly attractive. I mean, when she's angry she starts to glow so much it hurts, but there's nothing she has that I want. What I want ...," but he didn't get any further. Dawn was tearing at his clothes, and she wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying anyway.

...

The Arachtrrr class destroyer is fairly light, as interstellar ships of war go. The ship is mostly based on Urrr technology and design and has a predominantly Urrr crew. It is one of the pinnacles in the technological advancement of the Federation fleet in that it is capable of sustained intergalactic flight but is also capable of descending and lifting off planetary surfaces of up to 12 times Manaat mass or, equivalently, seven times Earth mass. It could disgorge a hundred human troops or many times that number of Urrr troops, within minutes, should they be aboard. Usually, its crew counted less than a hundred souls.

The Arachtrrr class destroyer rarely traveled alone. Being a compromise of speed, maneuverability, and capability to withstand gravity and atmosphere, it lacked anything more than the bare minimum of weaponry and storage space. More often than not, it traveled in packs together with, to protect and be protected by, the gargantuan flagships of the fleet. There is no class of flagships, each is unique, and all are identical in their fearsome size and firepower.

The good ship City of London is one of thirty-seven Federation flagships. It has never seen all-out war, nor would anyone wish to see that. The ship has met with resistance of sorts. The three peripheral species, not wishing to join the Federation, had, at times, indicated an interest to reuse some of its resources. Federation policy is clear and unequivocal in such matters: strike quickly, strike with massive display of capabilities, but strike with the utmost restraint in civilian damage, in the deep appreciation that interstellar, inter species war knows no victory.

The City of London is a veteran of no less than two such misunderstandings and of a multitude of major and minor revolts. Federation tax is truly stupendous, and with some regularity regions, planets, or indeed star clusters, opt for more individualistic futures. In part a consequence of the fact that planets and cultures have a need for and a right to their own militia and fleets.

In such a case, the Arachtrrr destroyers are often used as a carte de visite, an impressive, powerful token of the much more impressive and powerful ship beyond, easily visible to the naked eye as a fair-sized pebble in the sky.

The destroyer Rrrialabach descended gracefully to hover five hundred yards over the Daimando Presidential Palace. Within ten minutes, a sleek yacht ascended from the nearby assembly buildings and approached the Rrrialabach. Three passengers alighted from the destroyer and entered the decorative reception hall that took up most of the yacht.

...

"Councilor, Ambassador, Commodore. What a very pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, we were unaware that you were intent on visiting us, or the President would surely be here to welcome you himself. Unfortunately, he is inspecting the site of a tragic mining accident, but he has been informed of your arrival. He has asked me to make you as welcome as possible, and he is making haste as we speak to come here."

"Thank you, Madame Speaker. Had the situation been less pressing, we would, of course, have contacted the President beforehand and made more formal arrangements. As things stand, we will be happy to wait until the President arrives."

Nervously the Speaker of Daimando's Assembly offered her guests a seat and made sure they were given some refreshments. Although used to communicate through her implant while she was talking, plain nerves made her stop what she was doing every now and then as she informed after the progress of the President.

The Councilor also communicated briefly, presumably with the ship above, and then sat back and talked to the Urrr Ambassador in pleasant, light tones.

Having had some time to compose herself, the Speaker was finally able to partake in the superficial conversation. After about an hour, the roar of a ramjet approaching and decelerating from maximum speed was heard, and less than five minutes later, the President of Daimando entered the reception hall.

The Councilor wore the insignia of the Secretary-General of the Federation: five vermilion pips, designating her a personal representative of the Secretary-General with the highest authority. The two-star Commodore, temporarily assigned as her aide, was there presumably to give a face to the military force suspended above them. The President had no idea what the Urrr Ambassador was doing there.

"Madam Councilor, Ambassador, Commodore. It is my great pleasure to bid you welcome on Daimando. I understand you come on urgent matters, so I propose to deal with those first, and then we will extend the most cordial welcome possible."

"Thank you, mister President. And thank you for allowing us to come to the point immediately. The matter is of no little urgency.

"It has come to Ambassador Krrriatlorrr's attention that an Urrr Pflitrrr is being held against his will here in Brodin."

"An Urrr being held against his will? Madam, Ambassador, I assure you that I know nothing of this. Please tell me what there is to know, and I will take appropriate steps immediately."

"According to our information the honorable Pflitrrr Xolorrr, of the clan Mfst, and a citizen of Greater Bethnell, Bethnell, is being held in stasis in one of your medical facilities without any form of treatment and without any progress towards his release."

"Madam, I assure you ..."

The President's eyes went vacant for a while. A while that stretched into some time.

"Madam, I assure you that this is not the case. I do not know how or where a misunderstanding has originated, but no one matching your description is being cared for on this planet."

"Ah. Well. You see, mister President. The honorable Pflitrrr is not ..., kept, under his own name. We are unaware of his location, but we are aware that he is kept under another name by some clerical error. Unfortunately, ..., how can I put this delicately, the Ambassador is not entirely assured that should we provide this information, the organization responsible, rather than admitting to a grave error, might not simply choose to deny the facts altogether and warp them retroactively."

"Madam, that would be an unprecedented criminal act that we most certainly don't tolerate on Daimando. Please enjoy some light refreshments while I look into the matter personally. Allow me."

The President communicated, and by now, several aides had joined the small group in the reception area, talking in hushed voices or just communicating.

The Ambassador and the Councilor also talked, and the Commodore stared solemnly and sternly at no one in particular.

After about twenty minutes, the President turned to the Councilor and the Ambassador.

"Madam Councilor, Ambassador. As a token of our goodwill, let me formally state that a person matching your description has indeed arrived on Daimando and has, to our knowledge, not departed since. However, by and large, we do not keep track of the whereabouts of citizens or non-residents, so without additional information, we have no practical mechanism to locate this individual, if indeed he is still on Daimando.

"Let me, as a compromise to get ahead, propose the following. Why don't you give the information you have to me personally, and then I will make sure that it is used by my intelligence organizations to locate and secure the honorable ..., ah, Pflitrrr, before the information is passed to anyone else. I will give my personal and official guarantee that should this person be held as you indicate, he will be found and released into your custody forthwith."

Slight beads of sweat glistened on the President's forehead as his gaze moved from Commodore to Ambassador, to Commodore, to Councilor, and to Ambassador again. His guarantee was no light matter because the Federation had long since learned that time, in intergalactic warfare, was invariably in favor of those planet-bound, over the military that had to be transported there at tremendous costs. Accordingly, extensive dialogs and the niceties of diplomacy were kept constructive but brief, usually quickly concluding either in a solution or a countermeasure. The implicit inter-species aspect of the matter at hand meant that retaliation would be very painful. Lives would be spared, of course, but the tithe that would have to be paid to avoid a punitive strike could easily run into the tens of millions of dollars.

The Ambassador and the Councilor briefly conversed, but the proposal clearly had been expected. The Ambassador addressed the President: "Thank you for your candor. We are fully convinced that our information is correct, or at least was correct, until very recently. Let me make clear that should you be unable to locate the honorable Pflitrrr of clan Mfst, we shall, in addition to any tithe fined by the Federation, send a full complement of Agrrr-Irigrrr investigators, and I can assure you that they will locate the honorable Pflitrrr without fail, and we will most certainly extract further damages of any party that contributed by action or inaction to the honorable Pflitrrr being held captive."

The Ambassador transmitted a name and a number to the President, who withdrew from the room immediately.

The refreshments were replaced by a light though exquisite meal, and the Chair of the Assembly, who had by now recovered from her initial shock, joined them and steered the conversation to lighter topics: where the Jamborees were and were going to be, when it was Brodin's turn again and what else was current in Brodin and on Daimando.

After less than two hours, the President returned, all winks and smiles. "I am happy to be able to tell you that the information you have given me has turned out to be accurate. The honorable Pflitrrr has been located and is currently being checked by my personal military Xeno health advisor. Apparently, he was put in Stasis because of an illness we are unable to treat on Daimando. That is why I propose to put him in Stasis again immediately after that check, and we will hand the capsule and any necessary equipment to you. I am told that given his condition, he should not be taken out of Stasis until well equipped Urrr doctors can treat him immediately."

"Excellent suggestion. We have all conceivable facilities available on the City of London. If you could ship the equipment to the Rrrialabach, our experts can take over immediately."

All present followed the video stream made available by the President's aides. The off-worlder's implants were incompatible with the Daimando protocols or hardware, but the stream was relayed via the Rrrialabach. Apparently, the examination had finished because the capsule was being transported on a light freight jet-cab. Within minutes the cab rose from where it was, some sixty miles from the Assembly, and headed towards the Rrrialabach. There the capsule was loaded onboard the destroyer, which left almost before its locks had sealed.

The Councilor, meanwhile, steered the conversation to other matters. "Mister President. Assuming this matter to be settled, I would like to share with you an opinion the Secretary-General expressed to me to that end."

With elegant ease, the Councilor put her hand on the President's shoulder, and led him away from the others.

"It is not our intention to interfere with Daimando internal politics, but the Secretary-General feels the mishap we just now appear to have corrected is an example of the dangers inherent at the outer edges of internal politics, as it were. The Secretary-General suggests that even though curtailing the civil rights of Daimando citizens in order to administer medical care, or for any other purpose, may very well be admissible under Daimando law, to do so with non-Daimando citizens raises not only inter-species concerns but Federation legal concerns as well.

"The Secretary-General suggests that the terms under which non-Daimando Federation citizens are put in Stasis should henceforth be communicated on your own initiative with the representatives of whatever planet or nation they are a citizen of. Mechanisms to this end should be in place before the next Jamboree.

"In addition, -- and the Secretary-General stresses that this comment truly concerns your internal politics only, and should therefore be considered to be a private opinion, -- depriving citizens of their civil rights for any period of time longer than that which is absolutely necessary to develop means to cure them for instance, or to solve very specific logistic problems, is not consistent with the moral foundations of our great Federation Constitution.

"The Secretary-General proposes that if you and Daimando politics were to reform rules and regulation so that citizens are put in Stasis only for as long as absolutely necessary, and are not kept in Stasis in order to await payment for outstanding debts, the Secretary-General is willing to compensate parties involved to a certain extent to make possible a transition to a more moderate, constructive use of Stasis without great losses to said parties.

"Do you think such a shift might be conceivable?"

"Madam Councilor. It's a very complex matter. By and large, the people have no strong opinion on the matter, quite possibly because they are unaware of the concerns. I have no doubt that an information campaign could very well sway the public either way. Another matter is in the vested interests of the healthcare organizations and other organizations that depend on the current use of Stasis. They are a very significant commercial force, and they can count on significant political backing, partly on account of the many jobs to be considered.

"What I propose is that I investigate the matter. I will most definitely take up on the Secretary-General's offer, but I doubt if everything can be achieved before the next Jamboree, though."

They discussed the matter in further detail, and gradually the President proceeded to address other current aspects, making the best possible use of the Councilor's presence. He had already invited her to stay for a couple of days, but apparently, the visit to Daimando had been tagged on to a scheduled trip visiting the new colonies, which was already behind schedule.

After one and a half hours, a message was dispatched to the Ambassador, who plugged in the Counselor, the President, and the Commodore.

A senior Urrr doctor announced that the capsule did indeed contain the honorable Pflitrrr Xolorrr of the clan Mfst, and that an appropriate therapy had been started. After a brief interview with Xolorrr and a superficial scan of his body and metabolism, the doctor didn't see any great risk or concern. They were well in time to commence with their therapy. Why the prelation set in ahead of expectation he did not know, and he asked the President's permission to leave behind at Daimando the scientific explorer vessel Night Lark, a joint Human-Urrr ship equipped to attend to Xolorrr's needs and to study both him and Daimando to find a cause for the phenomenon if that was indeed related to Daimando rather than just Xolorrr.

Permission was granted, and after some brief final comments, the three off-worlders boarded the President's sleek space yacht, which transported them directly to the City of London. Final farewells were communicated, and the entire fleet departed, leaving behind the research vessel Night Lark.

...

They were allowed to visit him all day long, as long as they didn't get in the way of the researchers. The therapy was trivial. Xolorrr sat in a bath containing smelly grey-green goo, and every five minutes or so, he would immerse even his head, wiping the stuff from his face immediately afterward. There were some injections and a multitude of tests. The doctors didn't seem to be overly worried by the fact that prelation had set in early, though they were curious about the cause.

For Xolorrr, nothing much had happened. His prelation had started, and he had been put in Stasis pending treatment. He had been taken out of Stasis briefly in mildly confusing circumstances by some human Xeno specialist saying something about a president, and then he had been taken out of Stasis again by Urrr doctors who gave him the treatment he needed and who claimed, rather outrageously, that he was on a space ship.

And then, his friend Luke had come with the most confusing of stories. Xolorrr surmised that Luke had been robbed, had taken a job, not at all dissimilar from his usual job, had gotten not only Xolorrr from Stasis but also someone else who was apparently stuck there. All in all, his Khar had been a great success.

When Xolorrr asked if he'd found any good kudri hadratar, Luke said: "Xolorrr, may I present to you, Dawn Garibaldi. She is of Daimando, but she has decided that she will come with us to Bethnell. I have proposed to her, and she has accepted my proposal."

"Proposed what? Oh. I see. Agrrr." Xolorrr grated. "It suddenly strikes me that your bond of sentient dissimilarities isn't unlike our prelation. Agrrr. And your bond with Dawn ..., should I call you Dawn? And your bond, is it an auspicious token of going-there-manship?"