There was a beep in the middle of Jal’s somersault. As it landed, Puta slashed its sword toward Jal and Karriya deflected it.

“Why are you defending Jal?” Karriya yelled. “That’s not fair!”

“As Master Barloch said, this is a two-on-one fight," Jal responded. "We’re supposed to fight you together and defend one another.”

Karriya charged Puta, who jumped aside at the last second. Karriya executed a double flip backward and swung out at Puta. Puta’s vest squealed. “I’m out,” he said and went out of the square.

"You two fight one another." Barloch walked around the room watching his other students as they fought.

Jal and Karriya faced one another, but only for a moment. Jal sailed into the air and on its descent ran its weapon along Karriya’s back. His vest squealed and he pretended to die in the fighting space.

“That was too easy,” Master Barloch spoke. He sent another student into the square. “Here’s Wazza. She has a different style of fighting. Ready? Jal versus Karriya and Wazza. Go!”

Wazza dove and knocked Jal off its feet. As Jal fell, it threw its sword into the air. A second later, Wazza’s vest squealed when the sword fell. Jal picked up the sword just as Karriya swung his weapon from side to side. Jal countered the moves. Jal fought the timing of Karriya’s blows, knowing they were unsteady and there were pauses in unusual places. They jumped back and forth, each trying to disarm the other.

Finally, Jal knocked Karriya’s weapon out of its hands, then tossed its own sword aside. Believing it now had the upper hand, Jal began to use the kicks and hand motions from the martial arts classes. A minute later, Karriya lay across Jal’s back and hit the button on Jal’s vest.

“Good fight.” Barloch commented.

Jal suddenly kicked Karriya into the air. “It’s not over yet!”

“It is, Jal! End the fight. Get out of the box. There are other students waiting to use it." They picked up their weapons and moved to the mats, where Barloch had them work on their acrobatics. When the lesson was over, Karriya, Puta, and Jal went into the shower rooms. As they washed off the sweat, the three talked about the fact that the training year was coming to an end, and that they would finish their sixth year of school.

“What will you be doing next year, Puta?”

“I'm dropping out. My mother needs me in the clothing shop. I have two more levels of apprenticeship to work through.”

Karriya informed Jal and Puta that it couldn’t decide how to proceed. “My father has a large plantation and has asked me to join him. My uncles insist that there is no room for me in the business since everything’s automated. They want me to work with my mother in the warehouses here in the city. What about you, Jal? What are your plans?”

“I'm continuing on. It's only one more year before I'm finished with primary clases. After I graduate, I’m going to Shifos. When I return, I’ll apply to the university in Kop.”

“Shifos? What’s there?”

“I’m going on an expedition over the mountains.” Jal looked at them. “I’m looking for people to go with me.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Right now, I’m recruiting team members.”

“Is there pay?”

“No.”

“What about protection?”

“Team members are expected to have some training to fight.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“For the adventure. No one has done it, to my knowledge.”

“What you mean is that no one has come back alive.”

Jal studied their faces. “Are you interested?”

“No.” “Maybe.”

“What does Sage Elvan say about this?”

“Not much. I’d like it if you’d both go with me.”

Karriya looked at Jal doubtfully. “My parents would kill me if I left to do that!”

“How long will you be gone?” Puta asked curiously.

“I have no idea. Are you interested?”

“Sort of. I’d like to hear more.”

As they dressed, they talked about what it would be like to go over the mountains. “I hope to start firming up plans around the middle of next year. I’ll let you know more then.” They were still talking when they entered the lobby where Sage Elvan sat waiting.

“Master Elvan?” Jal was surprised to see it instead of Taryn.

“Jal, Lu Kan Moti is back in Nik. I’ve made an appointment to see it. Let’s go!”

“Right now?”

“Yes, before it takes off again.”

A few moments later, they stood in front of the house where they had met Giel Moti. “No running off this time,” Sage Elvan warned Jal, “Or I will stop trying to help you pursue this relationship.”

Giel Moti answered their knock. He looked at them and slammed the door shut.

Jal could hear shouting inside, so it waited a minute before knocking again. Again, Giel Moti answered the door, then slammed it in Jal’s face. Again, there was shouting inside. Jal knocked a third time. A few moments later, the door opened again. This time, Giel Moti opened the door, and stood looking at them.

“I’m here for an appointment with Lu Kan Moti,” Jal said firmly. “He is expecting me.”

“You? You are Jal Jomari?”

“I am.”

“Lu Kan!” Giel shouted through the house. “There’s someone here for an appointment. Well, come in,” he said disgustedly. “What do you want?”

“We came to see Lu Kan.”

“So, you are Jal Jomari. You are the person who claims to be my son.”

“I am not your son. I’m here to see Lu Kan.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were when you were here the first time?”

“You made it quite clear that you didn’t want a child. If that’s how you really feel, then I don’t want to be around you. I’m here to see Lu Kan.”

“He is your grandfather, you know.”

“I am aware.”

“You are aware of what, young man?” Lu Kan Moti entered the room.

“I am aware that you are my grandfather, Lu Kan. I am Jal Jomari.”

“What? Giel, why didn’t you tell me?”

“There is nothing to tell.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Lu Kan looked at Giel, then at Jal. The patterns of hair on their heads matched almost perfectly, except for an extra whorl on the top of Jal’s head. Their eyes matched in color at the moment, and their earflaps angled similarly. “They could very nearly pass for twins,” he thought.

As Jal’s grandfather looked him over, Jal’s awareness of Lu Kan’s presence grew. The elder was shorter than Jal had expected him to be, and his hair had not yet begun to lose color pigment. The sides were a shaggy mix of purple, brown, and black. Most surprisingly, the center strip on the top of its head was a thick band of various shades of yellow, an indication of great intelligence. Jal could sense Lu Kan’s curiosity, and an unusual feeling of warmth spread in Jal’s chest and arms.

Lu Kan looked from Jal to Giel. “It seems there is something to tell. Jal didn’t just magically come out of the nowhere, into the here and now. Who is your mother, child?”

“That’s an answer that only Giel knows. I’d like to let the two of you work that out, if you don’t mind, Grandfather. I came to speak with you about the Stafriez on Shifos.”

“The-” he stopped. “What do you mean? Do you mean our family? Or someone else?”

“Someone else. The Stafriez on the western side of the continent.”

“Let’s sit together.” Lu Kan led them into the sitting room, and Giel went up the stairs. It seemed to Jal that the room was a bit tidier than the last time they had been there, but there were still books everywhere. “Now, tell me what this is all about.”

“Do you meditate, Lu Kan?” Jal asked curiously.

“Of course.”

“You are aware that the Stafriez are able to communicate when they are meditating?”

Lu Kan visibly pulled back into his chair. “I thought it was an illusion.”

“It’s not. They say that the document the Protectorate has in its possession comes from them.”

“The document?”

“There is an artifact that the Protectorate now has in its possession. Scientists are working to translate it. Perhaps you can help us out and tell us how you came into possession of it?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Jal.”

Jal opened the small case that hung over its shoulder. “This is a copy of it.”

Lu Kan looked at the tablet that showed a picture of what appeared to be symbols on a linen cloth. He recognized it immediately. “How is it that the Protectors have this?”

“When I left my home, it was given to me by the people I lived with, along with my identity papers. I was given sanctuary and my situation was reviewed by the Protectorate officials. This was in my possession, but I had no idea why I had it. The Protectorate officials have asked linguists to translate it. My understanding is that you can tell me more about it.”

“I can, but I’d like to know how it is that you had it.”

“My surrogate parent found it in my crib when I was a baby.” Lu Kan looked from Jal to Sage Elvan in confusion.

He suddenly jumped to his feet and went to bottom of the stairs. “Giel! Get your butt down here!” There was no response. “Right now!” He bellowed. The floor creaked upstairs. Jal’s eyes met Sage Elvan’s and it inhaled deeply. “If I have to come up there and drag you down here, you’re going to regret it!”

Giel slowly descended the staircase.

“You have a lot of explaining to do! How is it that this child came to have my artifact?”

“It doesn’t matter how he came to have it.”

“Yes, it does matter. I want to know why this child had to tell me that it was your son. I want to know why you went into my things and removed this document. And I want to know how it is that you left it in a baby’s crib, of all places!”

“This situation is out of my hands. Let it alone!”

“No! Sit down!” Lu Kan shoved his son into a chair. “I want to know why you took this document!”

Giel looked at the floor. “It was clear that you weren’t going to do anything with it. What do you care? Now it will maybe do some good!”

“Give me a straight answer, Giel. Why did you take it?”

“I don’t know,” Giel shook his head. “I believe that it needed to be read by someone. Why would our ancestors go to such great lengths to carry it over the continent? Maybe it’s important. I did what I could. I took it out and tried to decipher it. I couldn’t. Maybe someone else can! Let the Protectorate handle it.”

“You had a child and left this artifact in a baby’s crib! Why would you do such an odd thing? There’s clearly more to this than what you’re telling me!”

“I wanted to make the situation so unusual that it couldn’t be ignored. I’d gone to several of the Protectorates asking if scientists would look at it. They’re all too busy.”

“Surely there are other ways of trying to have someone review it.”

“The Protectorate has it. Let them handle it.”

“And this child? Where does he come into the picture?”

“His birth was supposed to be so remarkable that it would garner worldwide attention. That part of the plan didn’t work. The young lady that I chose to carry this child to term turned out to be an idiot. She hid the birth of this child from the public!”

Lu Kan was befuddled by this pronouncement. “Maybe you should tell us about the mother,” he suggested.

“There is nothing to tell about the genetic mother. She agreed to donate eggs and give up the blastocysts.”

“Are you saying that the genetic mother is not the person who carried Jal to term, Giel?” Giel was silent. “Jal help me out here. Who is your mother?”

"Geldou Bron is an individual from the Aphyxian territory known as Iragos.”

“The upper peninsula? An Aphyxian?” Lu Kan looked at Jal, then at Sage Elvan. “Sage Elvan? You are from Iragos?”

“Yes. Jal was placed in my care by a Protectorate representative.”

“This Geldou Bron, she isn’t a Stafriez?”

“No.”

“You planted a Stafriez blastocyst into an Aphyxian woman, Giel?” Giel didn’t respond. “What were you thinking?” Lu Kan shouted.

“One day, about ten years ago, I was studying about grafting and transplanting cells from one plant into another. I wondered whether a Stafriez blastocyst could be carried to term by an Aphyxian female. I did a lot of research. I thought that if this worked, then the authorities would see what a miracle it was to have a Stafriez born to another human species. So, I talked a young female into having sex with me, then had her sign a paper saying she was donating the fertilized eggs to other parents.”

“I froze the blastocysts for a time, trying to find someone who I thought would serve as a surrogate for me, but no one agreed. I thought if an Aphyxian female could carry a Stafriez fetus to term, it would been deemed a miracle. The first two attempts miscarried. I took a course in endocrinology and decided that the only way for other humans to carry a Stafriez was to be carrying multiple fetuses. So, I waited. I was working at the Conceive Laboratory in Kop when I met Geldou Bron.”

“She was only in Kop for part of year. That was ten years ago. I'm six,” Jal pointed out.

“It was a long pregnancy.”

“Oh,come on!" Jal exploded. "Everyone knows that Stafriez babies have a gestation period of ten months!”

“All right, all right! Calm down.” Giel looked at his father. “One of the conditions of the contract was that she had to have one live birth before I did an implantation. I tracked her. I knew where she lived. I knew when she was pregnant and when she wasn’t. Finally, she finished nursing the third boy. I visited her in the middle of the night, helped her sleep a little deeper, and gave her a hormone shot. Three months later, after she’d been busy with her hump-happy husband, she came with me to Dagmon. I examined her to make sure she was carrying multiple blastocysts and implanted a blastocyst of my own.”

“How did you do that? I heard that she never got to go anywhere when my three brothers were little!”

“It’s amazing what happens when someone has been given aekro,” Giel muttered.

“You drugged her? And took her away when she was asleep?” Jal stood up. “That’s kidnapping! You are a manipulative jerk!”

“She’s the one who signed the contract! She accepted the money when I brought it to her.”

“The contract?” Lu Kan got to his feet. “I need tea.” He went to the kitchen while Jal, Giel, and Sage Elvan looked at one another. It was a long minute as they listened to the faucet run as Lu Kan filled the tea kettle.

When Lu Kan came back, he stopped in front of Giel. “Let me see if I understand you. You paid a Stafriez female for her eggs, then implanted the pregnancy into a pregnant Aphyxian that you had ensured was carrying multiple children. You signed a contract? You paid her?”

“Yes.”

“Why the hell would you do such a thing?”

“To prove that it could be done.”

“No! That’s not the reason!” Jal raised its voice. “You did this in order to get international attention! You said it yourself. You were trying to get the attention of the Protectorate officials. You planned to complete your science experiment and leave me and this document in their hands. You keep saying that it's all in their hands!”

“Is that true, Giel?” Lu Kan stared at his son. “You planned from the beginning to have a child and desert it?”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s all past! Jal is in a good place. He has someone that will take care of him.”

“You paid someone to let you experiment on her," Lu Kan said in disgust.

“I was trying to help her! She freely agreed to this contract!”

“You were trying to help her? How would serving as a surrogate help her?” Jal gazed at Giel in disbelief.

“On the weekends, Geldou would go to the local bar. For some reason, she would usually have a good run and leave with much more money than she began with. One Saturday night she was doing really well. She had won nearly 4,500 mu-toc and was ready to walk away from the table when Nar Bal Deseree asked her to do double or nothing. She did it and lost. She told me a few days later that she had ninety days to raise 9,000 mu-tok and had no idea how she would come up with that much currency. She tried to run, and one of his goons stopped her.”

“That was Finn Danlami,” Jal said.

“Geldou told me about the deal Finn offered her. Nine thousand mu-toc right then or eighteen thousand in ten years. She told me that she didn’t have the money. She knew Desere'e would make her one of his prostitutes. I proposed that she serve as a surrogate mother. She said she would consider it. I offered to pay off her bet to Desere’e if she would agree to be a surrogate.”

“You gave her money so that she could pay off her gambling debt. Finn Danlami showed up last year to collect the 18,000 mu-tok. She must have not paid him. That's why they were 'living under the radar' all these years," Jal said to Sage Elvan.

“That was none of my business!" Giel exclaimed. "I paid her to be a surrogate. What she did or didn’t do with the money has nothing to do with me. I figured that once the baby was born, it would be recognized as a Stafriez and everyone’s eyes would be on us. She and I would be famous.”

“Famous?” Jal looked at Giel. “So, I was just another experiment to you. You forced her to have five children at once! You should be arrested and sent to jail! That should make you famous!” Jal’s eyes and hair were a fiery red.

“I figured she would turn you over to the Protectorate officials, and they would hand you off to Stafriez parents who wanted a child. And they might do something with this stupid artifact. I did what I could. My business dealings were all above board.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about your business dealings,” Jal said quietly. “I came to talk with Lu Kan about the artifact. I want to know where it came from. I want to know why the Stafriez on the west side of Shifos insist that it's so important!”