The teacher smiled. “I hope we speak with more traders. Please, show them what I showed you. I give you my permission. We of the Artisans Guild Of Rahn Estar wish all of our artisans to be safe! Too many of us had Mashai persecution, and were forced into practices they knew would kill us! Our Council only teaches safe methods, and we will send our members to each of our cities to speak and demonstrate in every festival.
“Please, enjoy our festival, and all of you who practice an art, you are welcome to demonstrate it on our commons, near our green Trade Building. There is no need to ask permission, simply choose a space and work! We do not ask a percentage of your trades as in Elshar colonies, nor do we ask for a petition of our Council.”
A young trader stood. He shook all over. “No petition? I can merely set out my pots and make them?”
“Esta ay! Here, it is not allowed for Mashai to damage your pots or ruin your art. No one is allowed to insult you. Do you see the TS Inspector watching trades today? Every day, when not hearing cases, he is in one of our cities’ markets to show Mashai that they cannot persecute us, here, or in any world of Alb!”
He shook harder. “How long does it take, to obtain a home here? What percentage of trade is the contribution, to a Zheien king? Each city has one and each prov has one, and the world has one. Do we contribute to each king in the place we are assigned to live?”
“Oh, my friend, pach ay! On any world of Alb, if you choose to move there or here, it is the same. Your contribution is 10%, whether you are artisan, trader, healer, scientist, or any occupation! You pay to the world, not individual kings. This percentage is Alliance-wide, but many Elshar colonies are run by Mashai, and they are allowed to add to it.
“Here, you will never give more than 10% unless you wish to support your king. There have been times in our past when all of us were starving, that we were asked to give more, so our colony survived. Yet, even in those times, we were never required to give more than 10% and there was no persecution of those who refused to give more!”
The man laughed! “Oh, this is wonderful! So, how long does it take, to petition for a home, and where might we get?”
“My friend, you do not need to petition! Come when you like, and you may choose where to put your home. And, you may design one without trade, and it is yours, not owned by the colony! You could have a farm and grow your own pigments, if you paint!”
He sat harshly on the floor! “A farm! If my ship will make it home, I will get my family and try to come here!”
The teacher went to him. “Are you ill? Bring a healer!”
“I—have to go home! I do not know if my wife, my bahie, they—Mashai threaten us! I came here because a friend said you have food.”
A healer came and put his hands on the man’s dark curls. He was young for that. “My son, eat—”
“I h-aven’t traded today—”
“We give food and healing to all who come to us! Where is your home?”
“El-shar Mashai, Prov 459,999! M-most of us l-lost everything in the Panic!”
The teacher stood and brought a holo. “Eae Elshar Mashai eae Prov 459,999!”
A haughty trader with cobalt blue robes came up. “Pah! What do you want to speak with the last prov on our world?”
“Pah! What business is it of yours, to question me! Let me speak to their leader. Now!” He slashed across the front of his robes, and Tessite symbols clanged together. “I am Perasha, Leader Of Rahn Estar Artisan Council! Remember my name well, if you see Ih Esta. Our TS Inspector, Terisch Paha, watches.”
Once he saw him, he waved, and a thin man in ragged blue robes stood there. A stone room had torches burning and ten men around a table stood. All of them had ripped blue robes, and some had red. Others had brown clothes under them, or grayish-white. “What is wanted? I am Herasch Ter, Leader Of Prov 459,999.” All of them shook all over. That’s what Elshar Mashai looks like? Dirt floors? Bare stone walls with torches for light?
Perasha held out his knuckles. “I am Perasha, Leader Of Rahn Estar Artisan Council. You are all our bahies. I am sending a ship for all of you. Any who wish to leave Elshar Mashai, and Mashai persecution, are welcome here, and I will not ask trade for your passage. Our ship can gather your items and fields and we will ask no trade for moving your homes to a new home of your choice and design.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Here are the 25 worlds of Alb. You may live on any of them, in any location of your choosing. If you choose to come here, we have much open land and need for farmers and artisans and any other occupation you practice.” He waved up holos of all of them.
The astonished Herasch Ter nodded and the other members ran out! “Your offer is generous! We have nothing. There are no homes here. We sleep on the straw. The council of Prov 450,000 owns us, and all of the provs higher. Are you prepared to trade for us, then?” He shook harder.
Terisch Paha ported in. “This is a serious matter! As of yesterday, no Elshar in the Alliance can own anyone, whether Elshar, Bisillip, or Aryllan, or any other species. You are all free, and Ih Esta goes to the Council of Prov 450,000! May I inspect your trades?”
He pointed to marks in the dust on their large, stone table.
“Here are terminals for you, from Alb. Come to us, and be free. Energy is not rationed. You may use a clothing former—”
“Master, I cannot touch a terminal, or I cannot work for you!”
“Then, I will do this for all of you.” His clothes became new and he had Tessite symbols. “An Elder, and they treated you like this! I want all of you to come to Alb. All Elders here are treated with respect, as they were in my ferfahie’s days!”
He smiled, and fingered the Tessite symbols on his lapels of his cobalt blue robes. “My Council is gathering us. There are 134 of us in this prov, and all of Asha’s holdings are 562 of us. We plant his 562 farms.” A crowd gathered outside. Half of them were older kids. Each of them plants a farm? How big a farm?
Terisch Paha led him out to the flat dirt in the middle of plowed fields. No shelter of any kind! There was a circle of piles of straw. He went to a boy who looked 5, who groveled in the dust. He very gently stood him up and one of his legs was crooked. “Show me how you work, my son. You are not in trouble. Merely think of how you care for your field.”
This poor boy dragged a metal bar with prongs behind him, and a bag with a hole in it for seeds to pour out. He had to shake his body to keep the bar moving. As he stood there, he shook all over, and the bar and bag, with the bottom tied, banged against his back. The hooks left scratches.
A man nervously watched. “Are you his fahie?”
“He works hard, Master!”
“I see this. Take this torture off him and hold him while I see your memories. Be gentle.”
“I can?” The man wept, though he tried not to, as he put his son gently in his arms.
“You may sit. All of you may sit. I am not a cruel man.”
All of them trembled as they sat in the dust. Some held children almost as small.
After a while, the black-robed man waved his hand at Herash Ter. “I find in your favor! Other TS Inspectors are in the other provs. Can any among you pilot? Is anyone a healer?”
A man in DS blue came forward, and a lady in white robes.
“See him for me and tell me if he is able to pilot.”
She looked over his points and shook her head. “He is able to pilot, but not to give manual calcs.”
He smiled. “Today I am sending all of you to Alb. Pilot, I wish you to—ah, here is my friend Ashamar, a trader, and he is taking his ship to Alb now. He will take your crops and trade them for you, Herasch Ter.”
A man in cobalt blue robes ported there. Looked over the scared faces. His eyes turned black. “All of them need healers! I can ask my friends to come, but they cannot heal so many!”
“Tell them only to heal anyone who is dying! They will have healing in Alb and none will need trade. Use a white portal to get them there quickly. It will only take 8 prochma.” They all looked shocked!
He smiled. A white-robed healer ported in and frowned. Looked to the side. About 30 people in white robes came from portals, with their families! “Asha, can I bring more? People came from lower-numbered progs, and I don’t want to leave them!”
They all looked at Perasha. Who smiled. “Rainbow Elshar Zheiea needs all the healers we can get, and other worlds of Alb are pleasant also. While you travel, you may look at this database, and choose where you wish to live.” A wave, and a cube floated in the middle of them. “We need all occupations. I am Perischa, and I lead the Artisan’s Council—”
“Artisans?” A boy with one of the healers ran to his holo. Bowed low. “How much trade is it, to study with a medallion carver?”
Some of these healers laughed at him, but Perasha held up both hands. “Here in Alb, we respect an artisan! A medallion carver! Do you know history? On Elshar, Prov Winar had the finest medallion carvers known in the Alliance or the Unified. I will recommend you, my son, to Inischan, our only medallion carver, and he often complains to me that no one knows what one is, and he wants just one student! His family is of Winar. You shall be his, and any others who wish to learn it.”
“Do you have a scenter?”
“We have 5 scenters here in Rahn Estar! They cannot produce enough. Come, you may study with any who please you!”
Others in the crowd mentioned other occupations, and Perasha had tutors for them in mind.