Chapter Three- Jenai
Exodus 1:11- "So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with
forced labor.."
*Father? Ill?* But her father was never ill, never sick. what could be wrong with him now?
Chayden set down his eating utensils and took Tielle's hand comfortingly, silently saying he was sorry and also warning her to be careful. Tielle understood what he meant; Jenai would wonder if she displayed too much concern for Partini.
Chayden quickly finished his meal and rose to his feet. "I'm going to go sell our shuttle," he declared. "I'll come back here when I'm done."
Tielle numbly nodded, but Jenai asked, "Can you find your way back?"
Chayden nodded and gave Tielle a quick squeeze on her shoulder. "I won't be gone long." He left.
Jenai watched him leave, and then asked, "Hey Ella?"
It took a moment for Tielle to realize that "Ella" was her. She had chosen the name because it combined the end of "Tielle" with the beginning of "Alaissyiss", her second name. "Yes?"
"What's the name of your fellow there?"
*Chayden?* For a moment Tielle panicked, but then she smoothly answered, "Jenai, you seem to realize that we are in hiding, and I don't know if he wants me to give out his name."
Jenai considered that. "Ah understand." Then, "Where's he from?"
"Again, I don't-"
"A'right, a'right, ah won't ask you more of those kind of questions. But ah do know he's not from Hidon. His accent."
Eager to keep Jenai from figuring out where he was from, Tielle asked, "How did you recognize my accent? Have you ever been to Hidon?"
Jenai seemed to look at something that wasn't visible. "Once. a long, long time ago," she murmured. "It's such a beautiful planet. the mountains. and ah had such a wonderful time." she retreated into silence.
Tielle didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.
"So you're Hidonian, eh?" Jenai spoke again.
"Well, yes, but I haven't been there in quite some time."
That was true, but Tielle hoped that the elderly woman would think "quite some time" was years and not just months.
"So you've been on the run for awhile?"
Tielle shrugged modestly. *Actually, I haven't been on the run that long at all, I was just kidnapped by enemy royalty, held hostage as a bargaining chip between planets, almost assassinated by an unknown party, and tortured by a particularly despotic Farearian.* It almost sounded unbelievable to Tielle herself, and she had lived it.
"What about you, Jenai? How'd you end up here?"
Jenai looked at her, and Tielle got the feeling that she was debating how much of the truth she should tell her. "Being from Hidon, you probably don't like slavers too much, do ya honey?"
Tielle didn't attempt to hide her contempt and disgust. "No. Slavery is a horrible, despicable practice, and the galaxy should eradicate it completely-"
Jenai chuckled. "That's what ah think too. O' course, on Surlow, that's an opinion you wantin' to be keep quiet. They'll think you're a member of the SLF."
"SLF?"
"Slave Liberation Front. A bunch of people, just like you and me, dedicating their lives to rescuing slaves and bamboozling slavers." Here she chuckled again. "They're doin' a damn good job, too."
Tielle was intrigued by this topic of conversation, both because the world Jenai lived in was so different from her own, and because she had started the conversation by asking how Jenai ended up on Surlow. What did slavery have to do with it?
"Well, Ella, ah think ah can trust you, heaven knows why. Why ah would tell you what ah've hidden from others for years is a mystery to me, but ah'm going to do it anyway.
"Ah grew up on Thaera. You ever heard of it?"
"Yes." Studying Galactic History, Tielle had heard of many planets, but particularly those with monarchies like Thaera, as Hidon was a monarchy. Thaera's royals were revered more so than most others on other planets, and citizens believed them to be gods.
"Well, growing up on Thaera, you have to have a certain respect for the king and queen, 'else you get in trouble. Ah never really bought into that whole god thing, but ah never told anyone that, 'cause it was considered blasphemy and treason.
"Anyway, ah became a doctor with the main purpose of having an excuse to leave Thaera, as ah specialized in tropical diseases and there are no tropical regions in Thaera. So ah left and went to Faant, a jungle planet where tropical diseases are as common as colds on other planets. Ah worked with the poor and was surprised at how resigned they were in their pitiable state. They said that their god was taking care of them, and that was good enough for them.
"Eventually they converted me to their religion, which ah believe is the same as on Hidon. And ah got married to another doctor who had been converted. He was from Thaera, and so after a honeymoon on Hidon, we returned to Thaera and to our families."
Tielle had a feeling she knew what happened next, which, if she was right, explained why Jenai had brought up slavery and where her husband was. She only prayed that she was wrong.
She interrupted the older woman. "Since we share the same religion, let me interrupt you for a moment just to say how happy I am to meet a fellow believer. I suspect that on Surlow, believers are few and far between."
Jenai frowned. "Free ones are, anyway. But yes, believers are not something common on the streets of Surlow, and ah am glad to be able to talk with one. But let me continue: we returned to Thaera, and were promptly arrested and thrown into jail for being Religious Offenders. Ah later learned that my brother turned us in when he heard us praying before a meal." Her eyes clouded over for a moment, caught in the emotion of the memory, then cleared, and she continued in her monologue. "So we had a trial and were both found guilty of treason and blasphemy. We got sold as slaves and shipped off to Surlow, where ah was lucky enough to be rescued by the SLF. My husband, however, wasn't so lucky, and he remained a slave.
"The SLF told me to get off of Surlow, go to some other planet, far away from slavers. But ah couldn't; my husband was still on Surlow. So ah stayed and tried to find a way to get my husband free too.
"But ah couldn't, and he died a couple years ago." Here Jenai lapsed into a reflective silence, her eyes betraying how deeply even the memory affected her.
After a somber silence in which Tielle let that all sink in, she spoke up. "Then why do you still live here, on Surlow?"
Jenai looked up at the princess. " 'Cause I had a daughter after ah became a slave, and she is still trapped as a slave."
**
Klane Satine watched the newsholos from Shansire, secretly reveling in them. So Partini had fallen ill, had he? Others, he knew, had too, but they weren't important enough to make it onto the news. Soon though, they would. Soon the entire galaxy would hear of how a mysterious illness was striking the people of Hidon.
And they wouldn't be able to find a cure.
**
In one of Surlow's many dim bars, Chayden managed to find a dealer in used spacecraft that was willing to take their small shuttle, no questions asked. Chayden was finding that no one asked many questions in Surlow because no one would give any answers and might just shoot you if you asked the wrong question.
The old, crotchety man and Chayden went to the landing bay where the shuttle was waiting. "How much will you give me for it?"
The man named a sum that made the prince's jaw fall open.
"I need twice that!"
Shrugging, the man replied, "Well, you may need it, but you won't get it. On Surlow, there's way too many ships and shuttles coming in on the black market that they just won't get a good price. Now, if you have papers and go to a legitimate dealer, you can get a better price." The old man eyed Chayden, knowing full well that that was out of the question.
"Okay, but what about bartering? Could I trade this one in for something else?" Chayden was leery about getting a ship from off the black market, since either thieves or fugitives had used all those ships, but they were stripped down and changed, so they would work for his purposes.
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps. What kind of a vessel are you looking for?"
"A non-descript shuttle. Something that could be taken to a hundred different worlds and still fit in. And small. Only enough room for pilot, co-pilot, and maybe two passengers."
"What kind of quality do you want?"
Chayden considered. "Something that the average down-on-his-luck pilot would have. Not too good, but not too crappy."
"I think I have just the shuttle you're looking for, mister. Come and take a look."
Within another half an hour, the deal was finalized and Chayden had acquired the new shuttle. He breathed a sigh of relief as he headed back to Jenai's apartment, praying, *Thank you God that Tielle and I now have a way to get off of Surlow. Now could you please just show us where we should go?*
**
Millions of parsecs away from Surlow and Tielle and Chayden, the planet Hidon fell into darkness. Being occupied by Fareari was bad enough, but when King Partini fell ill, all Hidon started to worry.
Their worry grew into panic as more and more people became ill.
*Father? Ill?* But her father was never ill, never sick. what could be wrong with him now?
Chayden set down his eating utensils and took Tielle's hand comfortingly, silently saying he was sorry and also warning her to be careful. Tielle understood what he meant; Jenai would wonder if she displayed too much concern for Partini.
Chayden quickly finished his meal and rose to his feet. "I'm going to go sell our shuttle," he declared. "I'll come back here when I'm done."
Tielle numbly nodded, but Jenai asked, "Can you find your way back?"
Chayden nodded and gave Tielle a quick squeeze on her shoulder. "I won't be gone long." He left.
Jenai watched him leave, and then asked, "Hey Ella?"
It took a moment for Tielle to realize that "Ella" was her. She had chosen the name because it combined the end of "Tielle" with the beginning of "Alaissyiss", her second name. "Yes?"
"What's the name of your fellow there?"
*Chayden?* For a moment Tielle panicked, but then she smoothly answered, "Jenai, you seem to realize that we are in hiding, and I don't know if he wants me to give out his name."
Jenai considered that. "Ah understand." Then, "Where's he from?"
"Again, I don't-"
"A'right, a'right, ah won't ask you more of those kind of questions. But ah do know he's not from Hidon. His accent."
Eager to keep Jenai from figuring out where he was from, Tielle asked, "How did you recognize my accent? Have you ever been to Hidon?"
Jenai seemed to look at something that wasn't visible. "Once. a long, long time ago," she murmured. "It's such a beautiful planet. the mountains. and ah had such a wonderful time." she retreated into silence.
Tielle didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.
"So you're Hidonian, eh?" Jenai spoke again.
"Well, yes, but I haven't been there in quite some time."
That was true, but Tielle hoped that the elderly woman would think "quite some time" was years and not just months.
"So you've been on the run for awhile?"
Tielle shrugged modestly. *Actually, I haven't been on the run that long at all, I was just kidnapped by enemy royalty, held hostage as a bargaining chip between planets, almost assassinated by an unknown party, and tortured by a particularly despotic Farearian.* It almost sounded unbelievable to Tielle herself, and she had lived it.
"What about you, Jenai? How'd you end up here?"
Jenai looked at her, and Tielle got the feeling that she was debating how much of the truth she should tell her. "Being from Hidon, you probably don't like slavers too much, do ya honey?"
Tielle didn't attempt to hide her contempt and disgust. "No. Slavery is a horrible, despicable practice, and the galaxy should eradicate it completely-"
Jenai chuckled. "That's what ah think too. O' course, on Surlow, that's an opinion you wantin' to be keep quiet. They'll think you're a member of the SLF."
"SLF?"
"Slave Liberation Front. A bunch of people, just like you and me, dedicating their lives to rescuing slaves and bamboozling slavers." Here she chuckled again. "They're doin' a damn good job, too."
Tielle was intrigued by this topic of conversation, both because the world Jenai lived in was so different from her own, and because she had started the conversation by asking how Jenai ended up on Surlow. What did slavery have to do with it?
"Well, Ella, ah think ah can trust you, heaven knows why. Why ah would tell you what ah've hidden from others for years is a mystery to me, but ah'm going to do it anyway.
"Ah grew up on Thaera. You ever heard of it?"
"Yes." Studying Galactic History, Tielle had heard of many planets, but particularly those with monarchies like Thaera, as Hidon was a monarchy. Thaera's royals were revered more so than most others on other planets, and citizens believed them to be gods.
"Well, growing up on Thaera, you have to have a certain respect for the king and queen, 'else you get in trouble. Ah never really bought into that whole god thing, but ah never told anyone that, 'cause it was considered blasphemy and treason.
"Anyway, ah became a doctor with the main purpose of having an excuse to leave Thaera, as ah specialized in tropical diseases and there are no tropical regions in Thaera. So ah left and went to Faant, a jungle planet where tropical diseases are as common as colds on other planets. Ah worked with the poor and was surprised at how resigned they were in their pitiable state. They said that their god was taking care of them, and that was good enough for them.
"Eventually they converted me to their religion, which ah believe is the same as on Hidon. And ah got married to another doctor who had been converted. He was from Thaera, and so after a honeymoon on Hidon, we returned to Thaera and to our families."
Tielle had a feeling she knew what happened next, which, if she was right, explained why Jenai had brought up slavery and where her husband was. She only prayed that she was wrong.
She interrupted the older woman. "Since we share the same religion, let me interrupt you for a moment just to say how happy I am to meet a fellow believer. I suspect that on Surlow, believers are few and far between."
Jenai frowned. "Free ones are, anyway. But yes, believers are not something common on the streets of Surlow, and ah am glad to be able to talk with one. But let me continue: we returned to Thaera, and were promptly arrested and thrown into jail for being Religious Offenders. Ah later learned that my brother turned us in when he heard us praying before a meal." Her eyes clouded over for a moment, caught in the emotion of the memory, then cleared, and she continued in her monologue. "So we had a trial and were both found guilty of treason and blasphemy. We got sold as slaves and shipped off to Surlow, where ah was lucky enough to be rescued by the SLF. My husband, however, wasn't so lucky, and he remained a slave.
"The SLF told me to get off of Surlow, go to some other planet, far away from slavers. But ah couldn't; my husband was still on Surlow. So ah stayed and tried to find a way to get my husband free too.
"But ah couldn't, and he died a couple years ago." Here Jenai lapsed into a reflective silence, her eyes betraying how deeply even the memory affected her.
After a somber silence in which Tielle let that all sink in, she spoke up. "Then why do you still live here, on Surlow?"
Jenai looked up at the princess. " 'Cause I had a daughter after ah became a slave, and she is still trapped as a slave."
**
Klane Satine watched the newsholos from Shansire, secretly reveling in them. So Partini had fallen ill, had he? Others, he knew, had too, but they weren't important enough to make it onto the news. Soon though, they would. Soon the entire galaxy would hear of how a mysterious illness was striking the people of Hidon.
And they wouldn't be able to find a cure.
**
In one of Surlow's many dim bars, Chayden managed to find a dealer in used spacecraft that was willing to take their small shuttle, no questions asked. Chayden was finding that no one asked many questions in Surlow because no one would give any answers and might just shoot you if you asked the wrong question.
The old, crotchety man and Chayden went to the landing bay where the shuttle was waiting. "How much will you give me for it?"
The man named a sum that made the prince's jaw fall open.
"I need twice that!"
Shrugging, the man replied, "Well, you may need it, but you won't get it. On Surlow, there's way too many ships and shuttles coming in on the black market that they just won't get a good price. Now, if you have papers and go to a legitimate dealer, you can get a better price." The old man eyed Chayden, knowing full well that that was out of the question.
"Okay, but what about bartering? Could I trade this one in for something else?" Chayden was leery about getting a ship from off the black market, since either thieves or fugitives had used all those ships, but they were stripped down and changed, so they would work for his purposes.
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps. What kind of a vessel are you looking for?"
"A non-descript shuttle. Something that could be taken to a hundred different worlds and still fit in. And small. Only enough room for pilot, co-pilot, and maybe two passengers."
"What kind of quality do you want?"
Chayden considered. "Something that the average down-on-his-luck pilot would have. Not too good, but not too crappy."
"I think I have just the shuttle you're looking for, mister. Come and take a look."
Within another half an hour, the deal was finalized and Chayden had acquired the new shuttle. He breathed a sigh of relief as he headed back to Jenai's apartment, praying, *Thank you God that Tielle and I now have a way to get off of Surlow. Now could you please just show us where we should go?*
**
Millions of parsecs away from Surlow and Tielle and Chayden, the planet Hidon fell into darkness. Being occupied by Fareari was bad enough, but when King Partini fell ill, all Hidon started to worry.
Their worry grew into panic as more and more people became ill.
