{"id":266,"date":"2017-08-19T07:19:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T11:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=266"},"modified":"2024-02-10T08:05:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T13:05:51","slug":"crown-of-the-serpent-first-pages","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=266","title":{"rendered":"Crown of the Serpent first pages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prologue<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federation encompasses hundreds of inhabited worlds among thousands of star systems. It is, on the whole, a utopia, at the peak of its golden age. Each world is independent, with its own idea of the good life, free to make its own laws as it sees fit, to define for itself its ideal culture. Thus, not every Federal world is itself a utopia. Some have achieved a stable society that Plato would envy. Others are in a dynamic state of growth and decay, flux, change. Still others, such as Nowarth, have made a wrong turn somewhere.<\/p>\n

Most people who live in a utopia are happy with their situation \u2014 that\u2019s part of what makes it a utopia. Crime and trouble are quite rare. But another aspect of utopia is that it\u2019s boring.<\/p>\n

Some people are just not content with the easy life. For these, the Gestae, the ancient Chinese curse is not a curse at all \u2014 they seek interesting times. They live by their wits, moving from world to world, looking for something exciting to see or to do or to be. They do what they do not for wealth, or for power, but for fun. For a Gesta, the greatest thrill comes not from breaking a law but from slipping through the cracks. Which doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t frequently find themselves in trouble.<\/p>\n

Nowarth was not a world any Gesta would have chosen to visit, at least not without a rather specific reason. Its towering city-buildings were partially empty or wholly abandoned. Its single, planet-wide government was one of the most conservative and restrictive in the Federation. But the man who was calling himself Jack Begin, and his companion, now known as Ann Tropius, had a reason. It was here that Jack\u2019s \u201cclient\u201d insisted that they do business.<\/p>\n

Jack and Ann had come to Nowarth well ahead of their appointed meeting time. It was a simple matter for them to pick up the local dialect, learn how to wear local clothing, adapt to the average daytime schedules. Good camouflage was, of course, part of the repertoire of any Gesta.<\/p>\n

Good camouflage would not, however, help them if they were caught exploring the empty, monolithic city-buildings late at night.<\/p>\n

Part One<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two Gestae rode up silent lifts toward the top of the abandoned city which, like its neighbors not many kilometers away, was an irregular tower that seemed shorter than it was by virtue of its girth. In fact, when it had been alive, its upper floors had been pressurized to compensate for its height, though now there were too many windows missing, and occasional places where the outer wall had been broken out and, with the cessation of the air-conditioning, pressure had been lost. The tower was only about a kilometer and a half tall, however, so the reduced pressure was little more than an inconvenience.<\/p>\n

The tower had not been abandoned that long ago, and for the most part was intact, the only damage being that caused by vandals rather than due to the weathering of the elements. Indeed, though most of the city was dark, many of its systems were still powered, a function of the automatic backup generators and batteries rather than feed from the planetary grid.<\/p>\n

There was enough power, at least, so that the gravity lifts were working. There were few lights on in the tower, but the lifts that Jack and Ann chose, and their lobbies, were near the outer edge of the tower, and dimly illumined by the skylight coming through the great window walls. None of the lifts went more than a couple of hundred floors, however, so they had to change frequently. But at last they neared the top, yet still below the penthouse levels, and stepped off the last lift into a small but luxurious lobby.<\/p>\n

Jack, as he called himself, was twenty-eight in Earth years, still a youth by the standards of the day when two centuries was the average life expectancy. He was very tall and slender and rather dark, but not very handsome. He moved with a lazy grace that made him seem almost sleepy, though now he was alert to every sound and shadow. Beside him, the woman who called herself Ann seemed even shorter than she was \u2014 her head barely came up to his shoulder. She was a couple of years younger than he, attractive in a hard, smooth way, and where Jack seemed lazy, she was like a compressed spring.<\/p>\n

There was no one else in the lobby, though they were not the first to have been here, and the corridor on their right showed reflected light from beyond a corner. There was rubbish on the floor \u2014 fragments of ragged clothes, papers, broken cardboard boxes, other things less identifiable \u2014 and the dust on the now-gray carpet was thick enough to show footprints. The window wall of the lobby was intact, and somebody had smeared something unpleasant across it just at eye height. Beyond the window they could see several other towers, some black and silhouetted against the night sky, others lit or partly lit.<\/p>\n

Jack had been carrying a heavy case the whole way, and now he put it down to adjust the belt with its holster and heavy six-shot .75 caliber pistol so that he could draw quickly \u2014 his long coat tended to get in the way. \u201cI would have thought,\u201d he said, almost in a whisper, \u201cthat our friend would have chosen a place where nobody came at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the contrary,\u201d Ann said. In spite of her youth, she had many more years\u2019 experience than he. \u201cIf you\u2019 re the only one here, then you can\u2019t escape notice. But if you\u2019re just one among many, then you won\u2019t seem special to anybody who might be watching.\u201d Her holstered laser pistol was strapped to her right thigh, just below the edge of her short jacket.<\/p>\n

They did not go up the lighted corridor, but instead turned to the left, following the instructions Djentsin had given them when they\u2019d agreed to meet in this place. Their feet crunched occasionally in the near darkness, where they trod on the remains of the baseboard security lights, each of which had been methodically knocked out. Jack felt the scar on the palm of his right hand itching. He flexed his fingers, but did not scratch, did not grab the butt of his gun.<\/p>\n

The corridor paralleled the outside of the building. The doors on the inside of the corridor they could just barely make out as they passed. Those on the outside were sometimes solid, others windowed. What light there was in the corridor came from those, from the offices beyond on the outer side of the building, themselves only dimly lit through their window walls. This had once been a very exclusive part of this city, though its decline had begun long before it was abandoned. Most of the rooms that they could see into were empty, the furniture either broken by vandals or removed by scavengers.<\/p>\n

They had not gone very far before the broad corridor ended in an L to the left. The corridor around the corner was short, without any doors that they could see, and absolutely dark, though at the far end was a pale gray luminance. Jack could not make out anything about what was at the end until they got there and found themselves in a large, interior plaza.<\/p>\n

The dim luminance came down from security lights on the narrow balcony along all four sides on the floor above them. There were three other corridors entering the plaza; benches arranged in sociable clusters; containers that held now-dead trees and plants and, around the outside wall, the remains of a few small service shops, their contents stolen or smashed. A central lift, unenclosed, stood in the center of the plaza. A broad and ornamental stair spiraled squarely around it to an intermediate landing below the balcony, then to another landing that surrounded the lift at the balcony level and with narrow walkways leading to it, then rising uninterrupted to a deeper mezzanine one floor above that.<\/p>\n

They paused to listen, but there was no sound other than their breathing. Jack thought he could even hear his pulse. He turned to look at the dark corridor behind him, but heard nothing anywhere.<\/p>\n

This was just the way Djentsin had told them it would be, but that didn\u2019t make Jack feel any easier. He and Ann had met Djentsin on Balshpor a quarter of a standard year previously, when trying to find a buyer for certain cultural artifacts they had \u201cliberated\u201d after having taken care of certain other obligations of a more public nature. They had been using different names then, as had Djentsin, not the ones they had been known by during their more public business. But though Djentsin had made them an offer they found hard to refuse, he was not a Gesta. He\u2019d tried to pretend to be one, and Jack didn\u2019t trust him. This place was too good for an ambush.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what do you think?\u201d Jack asked at last. It was hard to speak above a whisper. The security lights on the balcony, reflecting as they did off the carpeted floor and then back from the mezzanine above, cast too many shadows for his comfort. In spite of that, the plaza was all but black.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo good to believe,\u201d Ann answered. \u201cBut if he had wanted to just pick us off, there were plenty of opportunities at all the lift changes we had to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut none of the lobbies offered as many opportunities as this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only need one clear shot,\u201d Ann said.<\/p>\n

In spite of the itching scar on his right palm, Jack did not put his hand on his pistol butt. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the plaza. Nothing happened. He turned to look back at Ann, who was standing where she had been, almost invisible in the darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot taking any chances?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

He could not see her smile, but he knew it was there. She stepped out to stand with him. Together they walked to the lift.<\/p>\n

But the lift wasn\u2019t working. Either the power had been cut off at this level, or the lift itself had been disconnected. They went to the broad, shallow-stepped stairs that climbed around it, and went up.<\/p>\n

At the first landing they paused. There was no movement, no sound. They went on to the balcony level. Still everything was silent and dead. Jack\u2019s hand itched abominably. They went up to the mezzanine.<\/p>\n

It was, except for the opening to the lower levels, one vast lobby. The security lights were lit up here. Eight alcoves, in the center of each wall and in each corner, opened off the mezzanine, which held only couches in groups, planters of dead things, and low tables with low comfortable chairs. \u201cRight corner from the top of the stairs,\u201d Ann said, reciting Djentsin\u2019 s instructions.<\/p>\n

So that was where they went, and found a smaller lobby opening off the alcove, and a stair going up, as they had been told. They went up, to another lobby over the one below but not open to it, with corridors where the alcoves had been on the lower level. Set into the walls between the corridor entrances were at least one restaurant, what looked like it might have been a hair parlor, a bar now totally demolished, and several other suites that they could not identify. This had been for the convenience of the penthouse residents only.<\/p>\n

They could go no higher here. Only a hundred of the richest and most important families of this city could have lived in the penthouses to which these corridors gave access.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems like he\u2019s making it awfully difficult,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

The residences were on the outer edge of the tower, surrounding this last lobby area, large enough in itself to have accommodated a dozen families on the world in which Jack had grown up. He and Ann did not pause to look around, but went up the corridor, directly opposite the top of the stairs, its security lights still intact but shining only dimly, and took the left hand of the T at its end. The doors on this corridor opened only off the outer side, double doors, massive and ornate, each with a symbol instead of a number. At the far end of the transverse corridor was a thin edge of light near the floor, as if the door there were just slightly ajar.<\/p>\n

And that was where they found the symbol they were looking for, a triskelion in green and yellow and black, the significance of which Jack did not know, over leather-padded double doors that were, indeed, slightly ajar. With a tentative hand, Ann pushed open the righthand leaf.<\/p>\n

Beyond was a foyer as large as the average living room, with closets on either side, and another double door opposite the entrance. This stood open, and was from whence the light was coming. They entered the foyer and now could see past the inner door to a spacious living room, even by this tower\u2019s standards. The outer wall, which had once been all window, was smashed and open to the high night air. They were impressed in spite of themselves.<\/p>\n

As they went on into the living room they could hear, through the gaping window wall, the dim sounds of night outside \u2014 the noise of the living cities not that far away, the susurration of the wind. After the darkness of the outer halls, the skylight seemed bright, and it was that only which they had seen through the hairline crack below the leathern double doors.<\/p>\n

To their right was a spacious dining room which, lit by its own intact window wall, seemed large enough for a banquet of twenty or more. To their left, through an arch, was a parlor, less formal than the living room, the place where, obviously, the family that had once lived here had spent most of its time. Unlike the lower floors of the penthouse level, this place had not been vandalized. Its outer doors must have remained locked until just recently.<\/p>\n

Another arch opened off the far side of the parlor, and from there a corridor, its security lights in the baseboard still glowing, led back into the private part of the suite. There was a bathroom, an office, a library, a study, and at the end a sitting room with three other doors. They were all shut tight, and if there were lights behind any of them, they could not be seen.<\/p>\n

They chose the door in the middle, as they had been instructed. There was light on inside, enough to let them see a luxuriously comfortable but understated sitting room, separated by a broad arch from the bedroom beyond where, sitting in the dim light of a table lamp beside the bed, was a man, looking at them as if waiting for them. It was Djentsin. In his lap was a 6cm scattergun pistol, a \u201cdefender.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome in,\u201d he said as he let his hand rest on the butt of his gun. \u201cYou\u2019 re right on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack tried to make his movements seem casual as he went halfway to the middle of the room and stopped. On his right, Ann walked easily but angled away from him a bit so as to make a more difficult target if Djentsin should decide to shoot. The \u201cdefender,\u201d at that distance, could hit anything within half a meter of its aiming point.<\/p>\n

Djentsin, as they did this, remained seated, looking very calm. \u201cYou brought it with you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did,\u201d Jack said. He put the case down on the floor. \u201cYou have the Leaves?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust one this time. It\u2019s on the bed.\u201d He did not gesture or take his eyes off Jack.<\/p>\n

Jack turned to the bed, where he could see the dim glimmer of the elongated diamond shape of a silver Leaf of Ba\u2019Gashi. But even as he took the first step toward it, Djentsin raised his gun and pointed it steadily at Jack\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re in no hurry,\u201d Djentsin said. \u201cYou can see the Leaf, but where\u2019s the Shanteliar?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack glanced down at the case. \u201cIn there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike hell it is, unless you\u2019ve broken it up. And if you\u2019ve done that, you\u2019 re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a special case,\u201d Ann said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot bigger than it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djentsin\u2019s eyes never flickered, his hand did not waver. \u201cI\u2019ll just bet it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jack had to admire his poise. \u201cThe only way to find out,\u201d he said, \u201cis to look inside.\u201d He gave a small smile. \u201cDo you want to open it or shall I?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou open it,\u201d Djentsin said.<\/p>\n

Jack went to kneel behind the case and turned it on its side so he could work the latch. For the first time Djentsin\u2019 s eyes moved to Ann. \u201cYou,\u201d he said to her, \u201cstand behind Msr. Begin, with your hands on his shoulders where I can see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack waited until he could feel Ann\u2019s hands on him. There was no tremor, but then the armor under his clothes wouldn\u2019t have let him feel anything as delicate as that. The armor wouldn\u2019t do him any good, however, if Djentsin shot him in the head.<\/p>\n

He thumbed the catches on either side of the case and it split in half. He raised the top half and let it open all the way back to the floor. The inside appeared to be solid. He glanced up at Djentsin. The man was watching his eyes.<\/p>\n

In the middle of each of the two newly exposed surfaces was another catch, recessed into the interior cover. Jack reached for them and-<\/p>\n

\u201cHow convenient,\u201d came a male voice from beyond the doorway behind him.<\/p>\n

Jack was so startled that he almost knocked Ann off her feet as he half turned to see who was there. She barely regained her balance by clutching his shoulder so hard that it hurt, and they both stared into the doorway, but it was too dark to see the intruder. Jack caught his breath, and heard a small rustle of coat sleeves folding as Djentsin changed his aim.<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy,\u201d said the unseen man, \u201ceasy.\u201d His voice was smooth but uncultured, his accent that of a lower-class local. \u201cI got a hair trigger on this thing,\u201d he went on, \u201cand it can take out the whole room.\u201d Then the shadows moved and the man stepped forward, just into the doorway and the edge of the light. In his right hand was a battered blaster, aimed negligently in their general direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d Djentsin asked. Jack glanced back to see Djentsin\u2019 s \u201cdefender\u201d now pointed unwaveringly at the intruder. He let his right hand fall negligently to the butt of his own pistol, but a fold of his coat was covering it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want,\u201d the intruder said, \u201cwhatever you\u2019ve got. You\u2019re trespassing, this is my scally. Now you just riff out your pockets, and you can go home. Otherwise I\u2019ll drop a bolt in front of your chair and the whole room will go out the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat won\u2019t leave you much,\u201d Jack said. He tried to ease the flap of his coat from the butt of his gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just pick up whatever\u2019 s left and be clear of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that blaster doesn\u2019t work anymore,\u201d Ann said. \u201cIt looks pretty old.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne sure way to find out,\u201d the man said with a smile. \u201cNow you, unbuckle that laser and let it drop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann did so without hesitation, but the man wasn\u2019t looking at her.<\/p>\n

He was smiling at Djentsin. With a snort, Djentsin tossed his gun on the bed, just beyond the Leaf. The man didn\u2019t blink, but just turned his gaze to Jack. \u201cYou too,\u201d he said. It had been a long time since Jack had seen eyes that hard.<\/p>\n

Jack held a beat, then pulled his coat aside and, with both hands, getting to his feet as he did so, undid the buckle of his holster. He let the belt fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow,\u201d the man said, \u201clet\u2019s see what you\u2019ve got. Back away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack moved to one side of the case, Ann to the other. The man smiled softly, and they backed further.<\/p>\n

The man came up to within a meter of the case and looked down at it but did not crouch. \u201cFancy bag,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll look into it later. Now, empty your pockets, put everything down on the floor. You, fella, get to your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did as they were told. Then, while the man was looking at Ann, Jack reached under his collar, as if to adjust the chain he wore around his neck, as if to ensure that it was properly concealed. And as he had hoped, the man noticed this small action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you got there?\u201d the man asked even as Jack let his hands fall to his sides. Jack stepped back just a little bit. \u201cCome on,\u201d the man insisted. His head was slightly tilted to one side. \u201cLet\u2019s see what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack, feigning reluctance, reached up with both hands and took the chain from under the collar at the back of his neck, so that when he drew it over his head, the end down the front of his shirt was still concealed. He hesitated, then the man reached out and took the chain and pulled it away from Jack\u2019s shirt. Dangling from the long loop was a large gem set in a simple gold clasp.<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s eyes flickered when he saw it, and a slow smile crept over his face. \u201cPretty fancy for a guy to be wearing, ain\u2019t it.\u201d He stepped back a couple of paces, then jerked the chain so that the gem swung up into the palm of his hand, all the while keeping his eyes on Jack. \u201cThis just might make it worth the trouble you\u2019ve caused me,\u201d he said. He held his blaster steady, aimed at the floor between Jack and Ann where the bolt would take them both out if he fired.<\/p>\n

Then he opened his other hand palm up, glanced down at the gem, held a beat, glanced back up at Jack with a very odd expression on his face, looked down at his hand again, which he brought closer to his face, the better to see the fire-colored gem sparkling on his palm. His eyes widened, he took a deep breath, then he stopped moving, as if he had been hypnotized.<\/p>\n

Jack glanced at Ann. She was smiling. Then he stepped up to the man and bent down to look up into his enraptured face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat…?\u201d Djentsin started to ask.<\/p>\n

Jack did not touch the gem, but gently removed the blaster from the man\u2019s right hand. He looked over the weapon and turned back to Djentsin. \u201cIt\u2019s old,\u201d he said, holding out the blaster, \u201cbut it works.\u201d Then he returned to the case and knelt again, put the blaster down beside it, looked up at Djentsin, and said, \u201cI really want to make this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann bent down to retrieve her laser as Djentsin came around Jack to look at the immobile man. Jack knelt back. This would take a moment. Djentsin stared into the man\u2019s face, then looked at the gem in his hand, and started to touch it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave it be,\u201d Ann said, \u201cor he\u2019ll wake up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djentsin pulled his hand back and looked down at Jack. \u201cThat\u2019s dialithite,\u201d he said, waving vaguely at their paralyzed intruder. Jack said nothing. \u201cYou don\u2019t need the Leaves,\u201d Djentsin went on, \u201cthat gem is worth more than all of them put together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may be,\u201d Jack said. \u201cIf I wanted to sell the stone, it would certainly bring enough to let Ann and me live comfortably for the rest of our lives. But then I wouldn\u2019t have it anymore, and sometimes the effect it has on people is worth more than money \u2014 like right now for example. Shall I open the case, or do you want to call the deal off?\u201d<\/p>\n

Djentsin stared at him a long moment, then, \u201cOpen the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Djentsin didn\u2019t seem concerned for his safety anymore, or for any possible treachery. He stood beside the case as Jack thumbed the inner catches. The case seemed to split in two once more, in the other direction this time, and Jack opened the two sides away from each other, so that now the case was twice as wide and twice as long and a quarter as deep as it had originally been. But once again the inside was covered by panels.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn funny case,\u201d Djentsin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is that,\u201d Jack said. \u201cCost a small fortune, but like the dragongem, it comes in handy.\u201d He undid four more recessed latches, in the middle corners of the panels, and one by one opened them. The space beneath them was very dark, and something about it made the eyes dance. He reached in, his hands seemingly swallowed by shadow darker than it should be, and grabbed at something invisible within. He got to one foot, pulled up, and drew out a thing like a double scroll, wrapped in figured leather, the staff-ends long and elaborately carved. It was almost two meters tall and half a meter wide.<\/p>\n

Djentsin\u2019s breath changed, deep and slow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you rather have,\u201d Ann said, \u201cthe dragongem or this and the rest of the Reliquiture ?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Shanteliar,\u201d Djentsin said. His voice was almost reverential. \u201cGod damn. But… what else you got in there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust this this time,\u201d Ann said as Jack handed the object to Djentsin. \u201cIt\u2019s about all that would fit, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shanteliar was heavy. Djentsin took it from Jack carefully and reverently. It was as if the apartment, Jack and Ann, and their strangely hypnotized intruder had all ceased to exist. He carried the leather-covered double scroll over to the bed, and carefully propped it up against it, so that it was almost vertical. Then he stood back and looked at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis,\u201d he said, \u201chas been lost since my people left the Valrein Worlds in the middle of the Old Federation.\u201d He turned a very serious face to Jack. \u201cThe symbolism of the Shanteliar and the other things that were lost with it are still remembered. They are the core of what makes us who we are. If I could bring this back to the Archipopulos on Derolos, I would be the hero of my people.\u201d He looked at the Shanteliar for a long time. When he turned back to Jack and Ann, his face was more than grim, it was also exultant. \u201cDo you really have the rest of the Reliquiture?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do,\u201d Jack said. \u201cAs art objects, they are probably worth more than the Leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t want the Leaves because of their artistic value,\u201d Djentsin said, \u201cor because of the money you might gain from their sale. Do you? Neither do I want this and the rest of the Reliquiture because of their monetary value. I think you understand me. I don\u2019t need money. My present occupation provides me with more than I could spend in a lifetime \u2014\u00a0 unless I learn some new vices. But this \u2014\u201d And again he gazed at the twin scrolls of the Shanteliar, with their stave-ends like miniature crowns. \u201cIf I can restore the Reliquiture, I will become the hero of my people, and more than that no man could ask.\u201d He took a deep breath and turned to face Jack and Ann again.<\/p>\n

Ann went around to the other side of the bed and picked up the Leaf. This time Djentsin didn\u2019t object. She held it up to him, until he took notice. \u201cFair trade?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m cheating you,\u201d Djentsin said. There was an odd, wry smile on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d Jack said. \u201cThe Shanteliar and the other things are worth only money to me, the Leaves only money to you. Neither one of us will lose on this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is for sure,\u201d Djentsin said. His smile was broad, but there was fear somewhere underneath his composure. He could hardly breathe. \u201cIt so very seldom works out that way. But reassure me, what more do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a kind of cloak,\u201d Ann said, \u201cwith a heavy collar but no hood, though it looks as though there should have been one.\u201d Djentsin just stared at her. \u201cThen there are two staffs, one like a walking stick but very crooked, with what looks like odd chunks of iron embedded in it, and the other more than two meters tall, also crooked and seemingly wrapped in varin thread or silk.\u201d Djentsin\u2019 s face became absolutely blank.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a large goblet,\u201d Jack said. \u201cI think it\u2019s made of silver, or maybe platinum since it hasn\u2019t tarnished, narrower at the lip than in the body, and a large platter kind of thing with gems around the outer edge, and a small table with what looks like solid ivory legs, inlayed with a geometric pattern I don\u2019t recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d Djentsin said. His breathing was heavy, his smile wolfish. \u201cThat\u2019s the full Reliquiture. I can hardly believe that it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you?\u201d Ann asked. \u201cHow many Leaves do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwelve more.\u201d His breath was a pant. \u201cThat\u2019s all there were.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Jack said. \u201cWhere shall we make the trade?\u201d<\/p>\n

It took Djentsin a moment to respond. \u201cNot here,\u201d he said at last, \u201cI was just being cautious. Do you know Total Foam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been there,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine. It will take me at least two quarters to get the rest of the Leaves and get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might need a bit more time than that,\u201d Ann said. \u201cThe rest of the Reliquiture are still-where they\u2019ve been all this time. Say three quarters of a standard year?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d Djentsin said. \u201cThat will give me time to put the Shanteliar in a safe place, where the senechals can find it if I don\u2019t get back. I\u2019ll meet you at the Chessi Morphica Hotel, you know where that is?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I stayed,\u201d Jack said. \u201cExcellent. In twenty-seven decads then.\u201d<\/p>\n

2<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d Ann said. Her words brought them all back to the present. Jack glanced at her, then followed her staring eyes to the far side of the bedroom. It should have been dark. Instead, a comcon screen was glowing. Djentsin looked too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long has that been on?\u201d Jack said. He started to walk toward it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Ann said as she dropped the Leaf into Jack\u2019s case. \u201cIt was on when I looked up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of his friends?\u201d Djentsin asked, gesturing to the still immobile intruder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be so lucky,\u201d Jack said, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t fit in with his mode of entry.\u201d He stopped halfway to the comcon. He didn\u2019t want its camera, if it were on, to pick up his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s assume it\u2019s the cops,\u201d Ann said in a low voice. \u201cWhich means they knew somebody would be here tonight.\u201d She looked at Djentsin, but his face betrayed no guilt, only anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cShall we just wait at the hotel?\u201d Jack asked Djentsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be there before you. I\u2019ll be visible \u2014 for someone like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen let\u2019s get out of here,\u201d Ann said, and even as she spoke they could hear the distant echoes of footsteps coming from the shops area at the center of the tower-heavy, mechanical footsteps that could only be made by troopers wearing battle armor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoly shit,\u201d Jack whispered. He strode to where his gun belt was lying and hurriedly picked it up and put it on.<\/p>\n

Djentsin picked up the Shanteliar and lugged it to a side door. \u201cHave you got a way out?\u201d he asked in a hoarse whisper from the doorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can make it,\u201d Jack said as he closed up his case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll see you there, then,\u201d Djentsin said, and hefted the double scroll out the door. A moment later, over the sound of the approaching troopers, Jack could hear the faint snick of a hatch closing, and almost immediately the subtle hum of a gravity drive coming on. The window on that side of the bedroom brightened, as if a vehicle were pulling away from another window or a hole in the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d Ann whispered. The sounds of the troopers \u2014 and the clank of some kind of automated machinery \u2014 were getting nearer. The steps did not hesitate or turn aside to check out alternate routes. The cops knew exactly where they were going. \u201cShall we follow Djentsin?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the first place they\u2019ll look,\u201d Jack said. He went to their uninvited visitor and gently took the dragongem from his hand. For a moment the man stood as he had, but even as they left the bedroom by the way they had come, he began to awaken from the trance.<\/p>\n

They hurried up the hall toward the sound of the approaching troopers and into the living room. They could even hear muttered voices now, and see reflected lights coming up the outer corridor. Quickly, and carefully, they went out the broken main window onto a narrow ledge on the outer side of the city tower. Jack led the way along the ledge, as broad as his foot was long, away from the window to a projecting spine.<\/p>\n

From where they clung they could see the room brightening, then lights flashing around inside. The troopers had been closer than Jack had thought. He worked his way around the spine, which wasn\u2019t easy with the heavy case he was carrying. Ann followed close behind. Then they heard shouts coming from the apartment they had just left. One voice was unmistakably that of their surprise intruder. There were shots, then a blaster bolt that blew out a whole section of the wall into the night. After that, a hesitation, then more shots, then silence.<\/p>\n

Then the lights inside began to move again, and they could hear the heavy steps of the troopers. The projecting spine offered some protection, but if anybody leaned out the window or the new hole in the wall and looked in their direction, they would be easily seen.<\/p>\n

They crept along the ledge, away from the apartment, to a recessed section of the wall. The windows all along the inner face were intact, and never meant to open against the reduced atmospheric pressure at this height. But there was decorative work on the inside corners of the recess, not much, but enough to let them slowly climb down several floors toward a broader ledge.<\/p>\n

Even as they went they could hear voices coming from up above.<\/p>\n

Most were muffled and unintelligible, but one came clearly. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody out here, he must have had a flier.\u201d He was answered by someone within, then started to say something more, but the voice was drowned out by the whine of vehicles landing on the roof of the penthouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t just a casual search,\u201d Ann said as she joined Jack on the half-meter ledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s either us or Djentsin,\u201d Jack said. He leaned out over the edge and looked down. The wall was smooth there, but at the far end of the ledge was another column of decorative work. \u201cMaybe we can find another broken window.\u201d<\/p>\n

They went to the decorative column and started down. The descent here was trickier, and the next ledge was only five floors lower. Below this was a two-hundred floor drop to a roof. Jack held Ann as she leaned out to scan the walls to either side.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d she said, \u201cunless we want to go back.\u201d She looked up. The dim reflections of rotating red and blue lights revealed the continued presence of the police vehicles.<\/p>\n

The sky off in the east was no longer a dead flat black. Beyond the lights of the tower cities nearby were the first signs of approaching dawn. The near silence of the night air was no longer perfect either \u2014 distant traffic traveling between lit cities could now be heard, and within another hour or so there would be plenty of air traffic around this abandoned city. Directly across from them, only two kilometers away, was a tower fully lit. Even at that distance, in the upcoming dawn, they could be too easily seen if anybody happened to look out while they were moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to do it,\u201d Jack said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t see any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we brought them for,\u201d Ann reminded him.<\/p>\n

Jack carefully crouched down on the projecting ledge and set down the case between him and Ann. There wasn\u2019t much room on the ledge, and it took both of them to keep the case in place while Jack undid first one set of latches, then the inner set, and at last the four security panels. As it was, he couldn\u2019t open it all the way.<\/p>\n

He reached inside, his arm going in up to the shoulder though the case was only twenty centimeters thick. He groped around for a moment, then pulled out a cumbersome thing that looked like part of a floater engine, fitted with straps and harness. Ann took it from him, and rested it on the ledge behind her but had to hold it with one hand to keep it from falling. With the other hand she kept a firm and steadying grip on the case while Jack reached in again and brought out another similar device. With one hand he then closed up the case again, until he could set it safely down on the ledge.<\/p>\n

The objects were heavy. Their weight had been partially compensated for by nullifiers built into Jack\u2019s case. Now Jack and Ann had to bear the full weight, and it was tricky getting them up onto their backs and securely strapped in place while maintaining their balance on the ledge. The harness buckled in front, where there was a set of jury-rigged controls with trailing wires that ran over the shoulder to the devices on their backs. What looked liked parts of floater engines were in fact the scavenged parts of floater engines, the floater plates themselves, refitted to work along the long axis, and with minimal power provided by batteries.<\/p>\n

Jack turned his on. There was a faint hum and he felt his weight drop to about ten percent of normal. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure it would work this high up,\u201d he said. Floater coils were designed to neutralize large masses close to the ground. Fliers and aircars used other means to gain altitude. But Jack had never intended to fly with these things. Ann switched hers on too.<\/p>\n

They turned to face the wall and, holding the case between them to share its weight and to keep them from getting separated, they stepped backward off the ledge and started falling down the side of the wall. Below the first roof was another drop of twenty floors, which ended on a narrow ledge with overlooking windows. One of these had been broken out, and rather than continue their descent outside in the first light of dawn, they went in.<\/p>\n

Beyond the broken window was what had probably been a private apartment, though little enough of what it had once contained remained intact. As soon as they were safely inside they removed their floater packs and put them back in the case. Ann couldn\u2019t help but glance at the comcon screen against the wall. It was smashed.<\/p>\n

From the apartment they felt their way along dark corridors, not to the lift shaft by which they had come up, which would be watched by the police, but to a different set of lifts far on the other side of the city tower. There were no guards there.<\/p>\n

They went down. The security lights within the shaft were not all working, so for the most part they descended in darkness. They had to change lifts several times on the way down, but they met no one. At last they came to the bottom of the express shafts just above the ten floors of the main public levels.<\/p>\n

From here they had to use larger lifts that went only a floor or two, or sometimes broad, public stairs, and at last a back stair to get down to the parking levels under the city. They went at a fast walk, sometimes running down ramps, ever deeper into the underground. Near the bottom were many cars and service vehicles that had been abandoned along with the city.<\/p>\n

Still legible codes on support posts told them their position, and they quickly found their way to the right place, where their car was just one among many. Jack put the case in the trunk while Ann got into the driver\u2019s seat and started the car. Then Jack got in the other side and unbuckled his gun. Ann glanced at him, then did the same. He took her belt and gun and put it with his in the backseat.<\/p>\n

She drove slowly, without lights, toward one of the back ramps. They went up level after level, the silence broken only by the faint hum of their own vehicle. At last they came to the top level, with only one more ramp to go to the paved apron that surrounded the city. The exit was a brighter square in the darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cShut it down,\u201d Jack whispered suddenly. Ann switched off the ignition, and the floater settled to the concrete on residual power. In the silence they could both hear the hum of another, more powerful vehicle, just outside near the top of the ramp. A few seconds later the exit darkened as a large car pulled slowly up to block the way out. It shone no lights, but the outline of a patrol car was unmistakable.<\/p>\n

Jack hoped that the cops would think this vehicle was just a derelict \u2014 except that there were no other derelicts here. Then doors opened on either side and two cops got out. Both were heavily armed. They came around to the front of the patrol car and stood there a moment, whispering to each other. Then they drew their sidearms and started down the last ramp into the parking deck.<\/p>\n

The scar on the palm of Jack\u2019s right hand itched intolerably, but he resisted the urge to scratch it. He glanced at Ann, saw her catch his eye. Their guns were in the backseat, no sense trying to go for thembesides, they were caught. As the cops halved the distance to them, Jack heaved a very audible sigh, muttered \u201cdamn.\u201d<\/p>\n

He saw Ann glance at him, then nod as she agreed with his plan, as flimsy as it was. \u201cI told you we should have gone to my place,\u201d she whispered. Jack bet that, even though the whisper was soft, the cops had heard it.<\/p>\n

But if they had they didn\u2019t care. They came on, one toward each side of the car and well separated, guns raised but not directly aimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a good place for a makeout,\u201d the cop, a woman, on Ann\u2019s side said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust get out nice and easy,\u201d the other cop said, \u201cand keep your hands in view all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack couldn\u2019t think of anything to say, so he kept silent as he carefully opened the door and, with his hands up in front of him, slid out of the seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just looking for some privacy,\u201d Ann said from the other side of the floater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWrong place to find it,\u201d the cop on her side said. \u201cNow turn around, hands on the roof, two steps back.\u201d<\/p>\n

They took the standard position for the search. The cops were quick, thorough, and not unnecessarily intimate. Jack watched Ann\u2019s immobile face across the roof of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d Jack\u2019s cop said when the search was done, \u201cyou can stand up now, but keep your hands up.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did as they were told, and the patrol car at the top of the ramp came to life. Now with its lights on, it backed around till it was heading toward them. Its headlights were on bright. The cops were carrying 10mm machine pistols, a bit heavy for standard patrol work.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut your hands out,\u201d Jack\u2019s cop told him. He took a security flex out of its case on his belt. The driver of the patrol car was talking on the mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut officer,\u201d Jack protested as the cop put the node between his hands and the metal cables coiled around his wrists. \u201cWhat have we done?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrespassing, for starters. Now get in the car.\u201d He stood back to give Jack room to walk to the patrol car. \u201cJust in the parking level,\u201d Ann said. She too was handcuffed. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even get out of the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood enough,\u201d the cop with her said. She was holding the keys to the floater. \u201cNow get moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two other patrol cars pulled into the space on either side of the first, their headlights illumining the whole scene. Jack and Ann walked to the arresting car. Its backdoors opened automatically, and they got in. Jack\u2019s cop got in front with the driver, while the one with Ann\u2019s keys went back to the floater and started it up.<\/p>\n

The two other patrol cars backed away, the one they were in backed out and turned around. Jack caught a glimpse of their floater following before the cop in the front told him to face forward.<\/p>\n

The patrol cars were wheeled vehicles, and in spite of the heavy suspension the ride over long unused highways was rough. There was a security panel between the front and backseats, but there was also a speaker grill, and it was open, presumably so the cops could hear anything Jack and Ann might say to each other. They didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n

But they could hear the cops too. There wasn\u2019t much talk, and what there was, in the brief phrases people use when they don\u2019t have to explain things to each other, seemed to be about the search at the top of the abandoned city. From what he could make out, Jack figured it wasn\u2019t them the search had been after, but Djentsin, though the name by which he knew the man wasn\u2019t used.<\/p>\n

Apparently three cops had been killed by the outlaw who had intruded on Jack and Ann, when the cops had come on him, still dazed but in possession of his blaster. The outlaw, in turn, had been shredded by riot-gun fire.<\/p>\n

What the cops in the front seat were most concerned about was having been posted on the ground and missing the real action. Still, it was lucky that they hadn\u2019t been one of the three fatalities. How theyhad known Jack and Ann were in the parking levels was never mentioned.<\/p>\n

After a while the passenger cop turned around to look back at Jack and Ann. \u201cYou just kind of picked the wrong place,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of squatters in there who are going to go to jail tonight-if they don\u2019t get killed resisting arrest. If you\u2019 re clean, all we\u2019ll charge you with is trespassing and vagrancy \u2014 we\u2019ll let the violation of curfew go. If you\u2019re not clean, tough shit.\u201d He turned away.<\/p>\n

All Jack could think was that they must have wanted Djentsin very badly.<\/p>\n

At last they came to a city-tower, one of those nearest the one where they\u2019d been arrested, and were driven directly into the building to the police station on one of the lower levels.<\/p>\n

They were searched again, separately, and very thoroughly. The police found Jack\u2019s dragongem and were more than a little impressed, but they knew what it was and handled it gingerly. Jack wasn\u2019t afraid that they might \u201close\u201d it \u2014 their own regulations were too strict.<\/p>\n

The search included a complete X ray, and the cops could make nothing of the implant in Jack\u2019s hand, arm, and skull, which was fine with him, but it made them suspicious. Their retinas were also recorded to be compared with the IDs they carried \u2014 again Jack wasn\u2019t too concerned; he\u2019d forged the IDs carefully to include retinal identification. And then they were taken, together, to routine interrogation.<\/p>\n

The questioning, which was just a preliminary, lasted four hours or so, and was for the most part rather low-key. The arresting officers, who had to be present, were a bit more cheerful than they had been, since the presence of a .75 pistol in Jack\u2019s car qualified them for special credit, and bonuses for hazardous service. No one on Nowarth could own firearms without special permits, and lasers were strictly for military and police use, but .75s were illegal in and of themselves. All other charges, even the cops\u2019 inability to open Jack\u2019s case all the way, hardly mattered compared with that.<\/p>\n

Jack and Ann stuck to their story, saying as little as possible. Everything they had done since their arrival, up to the time they\u2019d gone to the abandoned city-tower, they admitted to, but let their real anxiety lend authenticity to their act of confusion, fear, reluctance. Apparently the cops bought it.<\/p>\n

At last the interrogation was finished, and Jack and Ann were led to the temporary detention block and locked up in adjoining cells, where they could see and talk to each other. They did not avail themselves of the opportunity, there was no sense giving the cops anything more to work on. Instead they decided to catch up on some sleep.<\/p>\n

They were wakened by the arrival of the public prosecutor with the lawyer who had been assigned to handle their case \u2014 whose presence had not been necessary during the preliminaries. They were taken from the cells and led into an interview room.<\/p>\n

The lawyer was a woman, Msr. Cheevy, somewhere in her second century. \u201cI\u2019m here to protect you as much as I can,\u201d she told them. She set an attache case on the table opposite which Jack and Ann were sitting, and opened it. \u201cI\u2019ve checked the records of your arrest,\u201d she went on as she started the recorder inside, \u201cand everything seems to have been done according to the law.\u201d She then told them what they could and couldn\u2019t say and do during the interview with the prosecutor.<\/p>\n

He, a man of around sixty or so named Dregoff and rather young for his position, started out by putting their ID cards on the table. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t know for a fact,\u201d he said, \u201cthat you are not who these say you are, I\u2019d swear they were authentic. In fact, they\u2019 re so good that I don\u2019t think I could make a charge stick. Traveling under false names, yes, but not forgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young man who\u2019d been calling himself Jack Begin leaned back in his chair and looked at his companion. Her face was blank, her expression rigidly controlled. He forced a small smile, then turned back to Dregoff. \u201cWho are we then?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cRikard Braeth,\u201d Dregoff said, \u201cand Darcy Glemtide. You might have gotten away with it except for the fact that you were rather thoroughly identified and recorded when you were involved with that business on Seltique. I guess I heard something about it back then, though I don\u2019t pay much attention to things like that. I\u2019ve read all the reports now, of course. Quite a piece of work it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what happens now,\u201d Darcy Glemtide asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot quite what we\u2019d planned,\u201d Dregoff said. \u201cYou\u2019 re famous, you know, in your own way-at least in certain circles. We still intend to press all charges, including illegal entry and possession of false credentials. But I expect some pressure from the Federal government to ease up on you because of what you did for the Taarshome and the Belshpaer. And I can sympathize with that. But the laws you broke you broke here under our jurisdiction \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat hasn\u2019t been proven yet,\u201d the lawyer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPardon me, Msr. Cheevy. The laws you are suspected of breaking are Nowarth laws, not Federal laws, and as such the prosecution is under our jurisdiction, not Federal jurisdiction. You will stand trial. And I have every confidence that we will prove our case.\u201d He got to his feet and glanced at the lawyer. \u201cThey\u2019re all yours, Msr. Cheevy.\u201d Then he left. The door closed with a rather final sound.<\/p>\n

Cheevy put some papers down on the table and sorted them, more to enforce a pause than anything else. \u201cI\u2019m going to be straight with you,\u201d she said with a sigh. \u201cI\u2019ll do everything I can to get the charges dismissed, but I don\u2019t think you have much of a chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trespassing charge is pretty solid, but it might be reduced to a misdemeanor. The guns were in your car, and hence technically in your possession, but we might be able to keep Msr. Dregoff from proving that you had knowledge of them. As for the false credentials … \u201d<\/p>\n

She sighed again as she looked at one of the papers, a list. \u201cAnd that case they found in your trunk, they\u2019ll get it open eventually, even if they have to destroy it in the process \u2014 you\u2019ll be compensated for its cost, of course, unless it, too, proves to be a confiscatable item like the guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf everything goes perfectly, and the courts are lenient and take your work on Seltique into account, you might get off with transportation and a fine \u2014 the dialithite crystal they found on you,\u201d she tapped the list,\u201cshould cover most of that. But if they have their way, you\u2019re looking at exemplary punishment \u2014 they won\u2019t want people to think, just because you are famous, that you can get away with anything. That would mean up to twenty years of cognizant stasis and possibly partial reprogramming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have resources,\u201d Rikard said. \u201cWe can afford to pay for anything you can legitimately use.\u201d But he looked at her in a way that said he\u2019d be willing to pay, too, for work that was less than legitimate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat might help,\u201d Cheevy said, \u201cbut I wouldn\u2019t count on it. Msr. Glemtide is known to be a Gesta, and you are assumed to be one by association. That in and of itself makes you persona non grata here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we haven\u2019t done anything,\u201d Darcy said, \u201cother than park for a while in the bottom of that tower.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you even got out of the car,\u201d Cheevy said, \u201cthey\u2019d get you for attempted vandalism as well. And what about those ID cards?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA legitimate name change,\u201d Rikard said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t find any privacy after we introduced the Taarshome to the Senate chambers and reinstated the Belshpaer. Wherever we went the news services always found us. We don\u2019t like being famous, Msr. Cheevy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll have to provide me with information so I can get the records of the change,\u201d Cheevy said. \u201cIf they exist. Of all the worlds in the Federation to come visit, why did you choose this one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like a good idea at the time,\u201d Darcy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it wasn\u2019t. I\u2019ll do the best I can. You should know, that according to the laws of Nowarth, you can be questioned while under the influence of certain electronic devices and chemical substances. You won\u2019t feel any pain. And you won\u2019t be damaged. If you are, the inquisitor loses her job and your compensation would be enough to hurt the city budget. But you will be examined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t sound very encouraging,\u201d Rikard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could be. Unlike Msr. Dregoff, I did follow the events on Seltique. I have to admit that I admire you for what you did, what you were able to do. I\u2019ll do my best for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stood up, and guards came in to escort Rikard and Darcy back to their cells.<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t have much of a respite before the inquisitors came.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want more, you can get it here<\/a>. Or here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prologue The Federation encompasses hundreds of inhabited worlds among thousands of star systems. It is, on the whole, a utopia, at the peak of its golden age. Each world is independent, with its own idea of the good life, free to make its own laws as it sees fit, to define for itself its idealContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-266","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-thumb"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}