The healers who taunted that boy didn’t say another word. That trader waved and a ship appeared. The hatch banged down. People had things in their hands. I couldn’t believe that these poor people had to work so hard. But, they are slaves. Not in a mine, but they are slaves.
Ashamar frowned. “You may put your things in your terminals. Is that all you have?”
Many of them repeated that they were not allowed to have them.
One of the healers went down the line waving a coin at people, and their items vanished from their hands. If a child had a toy, it stayed in the little hand, but blankets, crude farming tools, and sticks vanished.
A healer spotted a body in a field and ran to it. Came back carrying an old man.
An older man startled. “He can’t work, so I left him in his field to die among the plants he loves.” His voice broke.
“My son, we will not leave anyone! Or, his plants!” A wave, and flowers in yellow dirt floated around him. He smiled.
Others floated into the ship, and plants, and a few skeletal animals.
That first boy cried and hugged a very thin dorna that carefully laid beside him.
A line of slopfahi came from fields near them. These animals are living toilets. They have bright green fur and tri-jawed mouths with no teeth. They lick. A database told me. Usually, every family on Elshar Mashai and most Elshar worlds have them. Even they were thin!
The TS Inspector and that trader waved up records for people. Some were from other worlds, and they arranged for their families and things to port there.
One wife cried. “I thought Sasasch died in the War! And, we can come?”
“Esta ay! Come with us to Alb!” He explained that they could live anywhere for 10% of their trading. They were on a remote farm on Elshar Heizgha. It looked barren there, too.
Another family was on Elshar Deisha in a similar area. The database described lush farms in most areas of these worlds, but not in these provs. Several families were Ishah, and starving. All three of these places, on three diff worlds, were like this prov, owned by someone who wanted to get rich. TS Inspectors came to their leaders and made the same offer, to move to Alb, and they got traders to take them there. All of them won their cases, too. The corrupt leaders and their council members all went someplace in light blue portals!
Perasha kept contacting worlds, and got other artisans to do it. Other worlds weren’t as easy. No TS Inspectors. Finally, his healer came. “What is it, Per? You’re pale!”
They shared memories. Cried together.
A man with orange skin came. “Friends, nae this sorrow. Know you, traders fly from Alb to most worlds? And, diplomats! There are many to ask after your friends.”
“My cousin traded for a farm on Moehsa, and I cannot contact him! There are Ulukai there, and I tried to get him not to move there!” The word Ulukai made his friend shudder!
“Did you know? Moehsa was liberated yesterday! Ships took everyone who wished to leave! Did you check on Alb’s Hub?” He waved up a bewildered man. “Per! What world is that? I came to D’sharr and thought, surely, you would be here!” Behind him was a lush field.
“Op, will you come here?” He named five relatives.
The man waved a hand down. “Here, there is not another person in 5 rashanon! No one to persecute me for my work as haruner. No one to take my food because of some imagined case! I am truly self-sufficient!”
“See my farm, and my work!” He had a large farm with workers singing and dancing as they harvested. Another field had ‘em planting, and they all had smiles. Some were Zheien.
The man’s eyes got huge! “You have slaves?” It was a look of dismay!
“Pach ay! These men work for me because they enjoy raising my plants! I give them shares of the harvest, and of my trade for my harvest. I want to create art, not farm, and I don’t have talent there. These families do, and they are happy. Look at what everyone here gets for their work!”
“I get all of that here on D’sharr Alb. But, I have to admit, I am lonely. How can I move? Will all my farm die?”
“Pach ay! See these progs? All your workers may choose to come or stay. I can find you more, if you—”
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“I am my only worker! The farm is small, so I could build a house for harun.” Now the view went to one side, and a dilapidated shack with vines and branches had one side fallen in. Tanned hides flapped in the breeze and he wrinkled his nose. Insects flew in a swarm around them.
Perasha waved, and they were clean, and containment held them flat, in a stack of five. More floated from carcasses and joined them.
“Oh! Where did you get those progs?”
“One of Peh Ras’ students, an Earthan youth who enjoys hunting with her fahie! She likes harun and learned to automate part of it using our methods. Zheien cannot stand to see our work, so she wrote ways to hide part of it. Now she demonstrates her work on the commons, and not one Zheien fell ill! All animals die sometime, though Pirad saves them now, but he can grow skins for us in large quantities without the animal! Even quarnets!”
His eyes went so light blue, they were nearly colorless. “How long has it been, since I felt one? Ferfahie had one, but we were starving, and he had to trade it, before you were born.”
“I made a mattress covered in one, and I never slept so well!”
“Oh, you sleep on a mattress! I use ritter straw, and it is much softer than fos, but I covered mine with a dorna pelt.”
“Come here, and I will make you a quarnet mattress filled with hansana fibers! I dropped Mashai customs as the Heizghan did, but Lidarans taught me that comfort makes art better.”
“But, my plants!”
“Your plants will be fine! See this prog!”
A diplomat helped him find ten other cousins, on ten worlds, and arranged for thousands more people to come to Alb! I wondered if they’d have to limit immigration, like countries on Earth.
Feronoras smiled. “Did you nae hear me encouraging them to bring all? Pirad can add star systems and worlds, to hold more. There will nae ever be a limit to how many can come here. There is talk in the UN of bringing the worlds here that Earth chose for its 50 colonies. If Earth’s trade balance is enough, it could trade for these worlds. Even Valsay's council is considering moving to Alb, and they are an Elshar oldcolony! They are weary of traders who come there from other places and persecute their artisans.
“Many of their council went to Ih Esta today! Their new members are all artisans or traders who are also artisans. The other worlds are nae owned and are little trade. Pirad offered for their colonists to come to worlds of Alb first, and he can terraform all of them that nae can have farms!”
I remembered hearing about how many new colonists died, even on Mars, and it was studied better than all the other worlds. There were riots from terrorists. No terrorist could do anything harmful, if Earth runs these progs we have to prevent violence!
Feronoras took me on the Commons and Perasha came with us. “Yea Becky, do you like the arts?”
“Oh, yes, I do!” I waved up my pitiful pot. And, copies of it already made 22,818trade! My jaw dropped.
“People like your work! Will you make something with me? I paint designs on many things, but I find it challenging to work with skins. Many of my family are haruners.”
“I like a challenge! What should I know about skins?”
Didn’t know that if you paint the same area too much, hairs fall out and most people like the feel of suede or fur. He showed me a technique of using the brush to push the pigments between the hairs with a double-loaded brush. One color on one side, one on the others, and the hair or fur helps mix shades of the paint. It’s very difficult to get heavy, exact lines, on a skin with hairs, since the hairs move in the slightest breeze. But, if you want an effect like a running animal that seems to move, you can make choices as you design the piece. That’s why he loves painting furs!
Beginners start with suede so he picked a white skin that was rather stiff. But the white had shades of cream in it. In my mind, it looked like a sheep would be a good animal to put on it. Sheep do run, but mostly they stand in a field and graze. I waved up a tiny brush and drew my standing sheep looking at me. Added the round head and body and all the joints. Painted detailed eyes with horizontal pupils. Then, the rounded ears and mouth with the split lip at the triangular nose. I placed it so the cream-colored spot made the body of the sheep. When I had the entire sheep outlined, I colored it to match the cream spot. Then added all the woolly lines. I made the eyes shades of brown, with blue pupils like the holo I waved up. This one turned out better than my zebra.
Perasha asked to copy it and I was happy to let him. It’s fun to share art! He gave me a skin that had a bunch of small, cute animals of all different colors and poses. “Oh, this is beautiful work! They’re looking in every direction, and I love the way you posed ‘em. Their faces are very expressive!”
He laughed. “Oh, they are funny animals! My sahie raises them. If you like, I will ask for one for you, and one to teach you how to care for it.”
“Thanks! I would like that!”
I thought about all those poor people, and how they’ll have real houses and be able to do what they want instead of planting stuff and trying to please slavers! And, they’ll have healing like that poor man’s son I met yesterday, so excited that his son can play. That little 5 year old will be able to play, instead of working. And, they’re trying to bring more of ‘em to Alb. I really need to reach out to more of our Elshars.
We went to the market, and I diligently searched faces. But didn’t find anyone who looked hostile. Is my Gift a dud now?
People from Esta Faho came up and bowed everywhere we went. I had more energy today. So many interesting people! But I wished for Tom. He would enjoy this so much, wouldn’t he? In Rainbow he loved meeting people, but he got tired fast.
I tried not to think about what he’ll be like after terminals! Like he was, unable to think about home without getting sick? He got sad a lot. But, we were still happy. That’s how he was after these terminals, wasn’t it?
No. We didn’t know about these terminals. This is worse. So many questions! I felt sick. But, I smiled and we finished the tour.