Torl's Journey

Lerot was awake before the town time keeper signaled morning. He checked on Alaes and found that she was sleeping peacefully. Good, she needed the rest after the rush of the past four days. Today they would make contact with Jelru’s friends. And what a contact!

Lerot secretly wondered if Selina planned to play the part completely through. This could be very enjoyable. Very enjoyable indeed. But would it accomplish anything? Well, he could think of several things that he could say it would accomplish, but in reality, it probably would just make this exquisite individual feel unclean.

Well, it was almost morning, he would know soon enough. If all went well, he and Alaes would be able to get back to their journey, with plenty of credits to complete the trip, and set him up with some sort of a future.

Lerot visited the refresh unit and got dressed at a leisurely pace. Then he dialed up a full breakfast and ate until he was fully satisfied. As he was disposing of the dishes, the entry unit announced the arrival of Selina, living furniture class one.

The entry unit announced it in such mundane terms that Lerot could easily have thought that it was announcing someone else. He walked over to the entry and pressed the button. The door slid open to reveal Selina, the beautiful woman he’d seen yesterday, but today she was dressed as living furniture. She looked so elegant that the clothing did nothing to convince him that she was indeed of this class.

“Hello, Selina. Won’t you come in?”

“Thank you, sir. Where do you wish me to go and how would you like me to dress and act?” she asked almost mechanically.

“Let’s just talk for a while. Have a seat.” he pointed to an empty chair. “Have you eaten?”

“Very well sir. Yes, I have eaten, but I will eat again if that pleases you. What would you like to talk about?”

“I was just trying to be polite. I don’t wish you to eat unless you wish to do so.“, he sat in the chair opposite hers. “As for the conversation, let’s talk about you. Your past, your family, and your goals for the future. We can also talk about any other subject that you wish.”

“Alright. I’m Selina, second born of Serila and Baros. Baros went to search for Argon on the out planets when I was too young to remember. He never returned. Serila became living furniture to provide food and shelter for us. Serila worked her way up to class four before she died.

My older brother’s name is Eris. Eris is a class two credits clerk in the immigration and naturalization division of the star port. As is custom here, Eris inherited the rights, responsibilities, and debts of Baros and I inherited the same from Serila.

I have worked as living furniture since my mother died three years past and was certified as a class one just one year past. If I perform well and receive good ratings, I may be certified as class two in just ten months.

My goals are simple. First to repay the debts Serila left, then to find a man who will tolerate my past and possibly provide me with a permanent position. I am now twenty one years of age. If I am fortunate and certify as scheduled, I will repay the debt by the time I reach the age of twenty nine years. Is this sufficient detail or would you like me to expound on some particular area?”

Lerot heard the words, but still was not sold on the story. This creature could not possibly be living furniture, certainly not at class one. What now? If he pressed her, he might blow her cover.

On the other hand, how could he let her know that he was anxious to move on and get information on how to proceed and where his credits were? This could get very tricky. With the type of monitoring that these facilities received, they would either have to perform some appropriate physical acts or create a reason to leave the area to avoid suspicion. And Selina was apparently not going to help him create any reason to leave.

“Sir? Would you like me to get undressed now?”

This question really threw him. Apparently, she did intend to go through with it. Well, it would not be unpleasant. And, the sooner it was done, the sooner they could leave the room and go somewhere more private.

“Not here. In my private sleep area,” he pointed, “over there.”

But Selina was already headed in that direction. Once they were both inside, she removed her dress, and then closed the door. Quickly, she removed a cloaking device from her dress and adjusted it while speaking of all the things she could do for him. Soon she set the device on the floor and addressed him more directly.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” she whispered. “The vid units work only in the common areas in this facility. But in this room, only the audio works. Right now, the listeners are hearing exactly what they expect to hear.... I am Freela, daughter of Jesula and Fanl, of Shanon Seven. Selina and I have been friends for many years. She is now at my father’s house on vacation. A friend asked me to help you get on your way. Now I must ask you to identify yourself.”

As she spoke, she produced a laser device from some unknown hiding place. Lerot believed that if his answer was not appropriate, she would leave a dead body in the room when she departed.

“I am Torl. Seala is with me in the other sleep space. Jelru arranged for us to come here and instructed me to place the ad to which you responded. You are to provide me with instructions on how to proceed. In addition, I believe that you have some credits that you are to provide to me for services rendered. Is this sufficient, or do you wish further clarification?”

“That will do for now. Jelru. Yes, we have suspected her for some time. I wish to advise you that you are under arrest for harboring the witch Seala, for illegal transport in violation of a star flight ban legally established by the Witch Hunters of the sector control division, and for illegal possession of forged ID cards.

I am Selina, immigration control officer class four. We intercepted the living furniture that was to contact you and take you to meet with a farmer by the name of Phillipe. We were unable to make her talk, but there were only five ads for living furniture class one placed in the suspected time frame. We simply responded to each hoping to find the correct one before you left. I will quite possibly receive a promotion for this. Thank you very much.”

She reached for the cloaking device and Torl acted quickly. He disarmed her and kicked her other hand away from the cloaking device before she realized that he had moved. Then it really got nasty.

She had underestimated him, but she was indeed a class four officer. She responded quickly with a series of kicks and slashes that would have taken him apart had he been any less skilled. Torl dodged and kicked. She countered and slashed. He countered and chopped. She countered and clipped him with a chop of her own. He dodged then backed off to catch his balance. Whew, she was good, very good, and he was out of practice. Torl circled and dodged her attacks while he tried to come up with a plan of attack that she would not know.

Selina, obviously well versed in the standard techniques, was also quite capable of decapitating him if he gave her half a chance. He knew from the throbbing in his left shoulder that she was strong, and fast. This left him with only the option of using techniques that she did not know. The Monks had taught him hundreds of techniques, but she showed signs of knowing many herself. He would have to gamble that he was fast enough to recover from any mistakes he made in the process of finding out what she did and did not know.

He tried the Crane technique and she smoothly adapted with the Skeline skills. He moved to the Drum technique and she countered with Jujitsu. He switched to Boxing techniques and found that she was better than he at that, too. Several knots and bumps later, he came to the conclusion that this was not going very well. With the exception of the initial contact, she had bested him at every technique. Well, she had underestimated him once; maybe he could make her do it again. This was very risky, but he had to do something, he did not know how long they could remain cloaked without someone getting suspicious.

Then it came to him. She had said harboring a witch. That could only mean that she did not know that he had talents, too. If he were careful, it just might work.

Quickly, he generated a couple of power storms in areas he had visited in the site seeing portion of the trip. Then, with those as cover, he gathered the browns. Earth power now. He hit her with a mind blast, and then attacked with two quick chops. It worked, in a fraction of a minute; she was unconscious on the floor. He nurtured the storms a little longer, as cover. Then he reached for her and searched her thoughts...Yes, that was what she was to do if this were not the right stop. So he braced himself for the nasty task of memory modification.

He changed her memories, gathering the blues and greens for the task. Then, as she was instructed earlier, he carried her over to the bed and completed the act that was required. He collected the cloaking device and the laser, put them back in their proper places, and turned off the cloaking device. Then, he lay down beside her and waited for her to come back to consciousness. When she awoke, he told her that her services would not be required further, as he would be leaving first thing tomorrow. She responded properly, dressed and left.

He went to the refresh unit and tried to remove the mental and physical dirt that he felt throughout his being. The physical dirt was easy, but the filth that he felt from the use that he had put his power to, was not so simple to remove.

Finally, he went to Seala’s sleep place, and awakened her. He told her to dress and eat, then begin to pack as they would leave at lunar rise. Then he left the outsider’s quarters under the guise of going to gamble once more before they left.

Lerot did gamble that day and collected some substantial winnings. But he was really trying to figure out how to get to the home of this farmer, Phillipe, without being noticed.

He knew where the monitoring devices were and where the farm was located from his study of Selina’s memories. There were several ways to approach the house, but he could not see any way to enter or to announce himself without being noticed. Yet he had to try. He could handle getting himself and Alaes off Senale Seven and probably could gamble their way across the galaxy.

But he could not let Phillipe, who had risked so much for them, walk blindly into the trap that the immigration control officers had set for him. Well, first things first.

He collected as many credits as he felt he could without drawing suspicion then returned to the outsider’s quarters. There he deposited them and made reservations on the first flight to Selba Three departing after lunar rise. Then, seemingly on the spur of the moment, he decided to go for a walk in the country.

He caught a land transport to the edge of the city and asked the driver to pick him up at the same spot in two hours. He wanted to get some fresh air.

He started to walk off toward a farm in the distance and continued in that direction until the land transport was completely out of sight. Then he veered off and increased his pace. Soon, he was on the outskirts of Phillipe’s large farm. He skirted the monitors and soon found himself nearing the farm house. Now what? Any farther and he would enter the monitored area.

He heard the sound of laughter coming his way and slipped back into the brush behind him. The sounds came closer and closer. Soon he could see the approach of two people, an older gentleman that looked very much like the man in Selina’s memories and a young lady about Selina’s age. They were talking and laughing about some farm antics that they understood but made no sense at all to Lerot. Something about putting children’s feet in the soft droppings of herd animals. He began to hope. Maybe they would come close enough for him to speak to them. He settled in to wait.

It was nearly a quarter of an hour before they finally reached the spot where he was hiding. Then they startled him by speaking first.

“Torl, I presume.” the gentlemen said as he picked up what looked to be a wheat product. “You must be careful as there are monitors all around this area of the farm. We saw you come in by watching our own monitoring devices. I am Phillipe, and this is my daughter Jesse.

In her skirt is a bag containing the credits that Jelru asked us to deliver. You must proceed to Selba Three as planned. Then take the passenger liner Tiranus to Sheltered Six. There contact a farmer named Silus. She will give you instructions on how to proceed.... Jesse, stoop down, and gather some dirt in your hands after you drop the bag... Good luck, sir. We owe Lia a great deal. If you make it, tell her what you have seen here.”

With that, they turned and started back toward the house. Once again, laughing and joking.

“Phillipe. Wait! There is a trap.”

Phillipe stopped in his tracks and turned back toward Lerot. Then he recovered and walked leisurely back toward the place they had spoken earlier. He said something about having dropped something there and Jesse told him that she would meet him back at the house. When he reached the same spot, he stooped down and acted as though he was searching for something.

“What is this about a trap?”

“There is an officer named Selina who had thoughts of a trap. She seemed quite sure that it would catch you. It was something to the effect of.............”

Lerot hurried back, retracing his steps. He had to make sure that he approached the land transport, which had arrived before him, from the same direction in which he had appeared to walk earlier. He got into the transport and asked the driver to return him to the outsider’s quarters. He spoke of how nice it was to have so much open area in which a person could go and breathe fresh air. It made no impression upon the driver.

When he arrived back at his room, Alaes was waiting for him. She had packed both of their belongings, except for one change of clothes. He could tell that she was itching to ask the obvious questions about what was going on and where had he been for so long, but she knew better than that.

He put on his most serious face and asked her if she was ready to see some new sights on a new world. She responded with a hearty yes and invited him to eat before the sleep period. They ate in relative silence again and then went promptly to their beds. Lerot added the new bag of credits to his previous stash, and then laid down for sleep. As he dozed off, he silently wondered if they would actually make it off Senale Seven without being caught.