There were so many things in the supplies that no one even knew about. As Pam sat in the common tent, she played with one such item. Red was sitting across the fold out table from her and down on the other end. He was engrossed in a novel that he had only read three times in the past few years. Pam wadded up a small piece of paper, one of the Zeat’s more coarse types, and then rolled it around in her mouth. After letting it get nice and soaked she put the straw to her mouth.

Red reached up and swatted at his ear. He looked around, "damn if there ain't insects here."

Pam slapped the table laughing. Red looked back and saw the straw in her hand. He figured it out, "all right Pam. You just wait. You got to sleep sometime."

"You just try and hot glue the zipper on my jumpsuit like you did to Saiid," Pam was shaking her finger. "I won't go down as easy as he did old man."

Before Red could get a response out his mouth it fell open in amazement. Pam gave him the strangest look but then realized he had seen something shocking back towards the tent flap. When she turned, her jaw dropped too. She jumped up and darted over to Pete tossing her arms around him. She squeezed hard, "Pete! Oh God! I prayed you'd come back safe."

"Hey," said Pete somewhat muffled, "You're strangling me."

Pam grabbed his new head of hair and pushed their lips together. Red, standing just behind them, tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Pam? Pam?"

She broke the kiss. She looked into his eyes for a moment and then released her embrace in embarrassment. "Uh, I'm sorry."

"Na, it's Ok, just unexpected," Pete was genuinely amazed.

"Where's Joey at?" asked Red.

Pete nodded, "he sacked out on me. He couldn't sleep on the train, you know. This is a nice place here. You guys been holding out on me haven't you?"

Pam, far more gentle, this time, when she slid her arm around Pete and pulled him over to the table, "You eat yet?"

"I could, believe me," Pete was really just tired. Hot food sounded good though. He had seen the fire outside and the pot hanging over it. The truth of it was, alien food gave him gas. Here, the ingredients might be the same but, the actual cooking was probably more suited to his tastes. "So, fill me in on what's up."

The bowl of stew was rather bland. That was just fine with Pete. It meant that the little chunks in it were actually dehydrated stuff from home. His stomach could use a rest. Pete quickly got everybody off the subject of work and onto the gossip. Jack had already filled him in on the official news. Now Pete knew why it was only the official.

As Pete thought back to the wagon ride in, he realized something. Joey had caught on and he hadn't even noticed! Pete's only comment on the little incident with Jack and Dee was, "It's about time."

"Well," said Jack tossing his hat over on his cot, "give me the bad news." Jack began to unbutton his native shirt. He was really considering moving a lot of what they were doing outside. The weather was nice right now. His tent seemed dark and gloomy.

Harry and Dee looked down on their clipboards. They exchanged glances until Harry volunteered to go first. "Well Jack, we got nearly seventy cases of MRE's left, eight sacks of radiated sugar, coffee, ten sacks of the powdered milk crap. I found a case of condiments.... "

Jack slid his jacket off. People here dressed so bland. He picked up his field jacket and slid it on over his tee shirt. "Condiments?"

"Yeah," replied Dee, "you know, napkins, forks, spoons, oh yeah, and straws. If you see Pam coming, duck."

In Jack's mind that was not survival gear. Why that stuff was packed in the shuttle before they left was beyond him. "Never mind that crap. We didn't fly all the way to another star just to start a restaurant. What's up with the equipment? Did you guys find everything when you did the inventory?"

They both looked glum, "most of it."

Jack scratched his head. He poured him some water from a pitcher borrowed from ZeTan's main house. He sat down in his fold out chair, "What does that mean? Most of it?"

"We're going to have to start cleaning out a lot of the electronics," replied Harry. "The sand didn't do them much good. Even in the cases, that stuff got everywhere. We have electric generators and, I think, I can make some fuel to run them. Only problem is, any hooch fuel is going to fowl the plugs pretty quick. We couldn’t find any spares either."

"Did we leave them at the crash?"

"No," said Dee. "I wouldn't have missed something like that. I just think they were never there in the first place. Look, most of the lab stuff and Pam's toys all have their own batteries. They should be good for a few years anyway. Those power cells are better than the ones that came with the radios. You know? Top of the line stuff? You get down to things like flashlights, night vision, and the walkie-talkies, we're in trouble. We've almost used up the nickel batteries for the night scopes already. Our flashlights are rechargeable but you have to have a place to plug them in."

"Great," said Jack. He drank some water from his coffee mug, "what about THE important stuff."

That always meant weapons. Wu had a more pleasant tone to his voice, "Well at least there is some good news. We have sixteen cases of small arms, all five-five six. That's about ten thousand rounds per case. We still have more ammo for the machine gun than I can count, even after the way short stuff was cranking them out back at Jumani. The mortar is not so good. Those crates we lost up in the mountains, you know, the ones that fell off that elephant? They had most of our supply of rounds. As of right now we got eight shells left for the tube. At least they’re all High Explosive rounds though."

Jack noted that there was no mention of the anti personnel mines. "What about our claymores?"

Dee frowned, "they were in the crates with the damn mortar rounds. There may be a few more in some of the other crates but we haven‘t found any yet."

Maybe now that they were in a bit more secure situation they could actually do some of the things they were sent here to do. The only problem with that idea was that Jack was not so sure any of it was relevant now. Other than data, for future landings, they were suppose to start tests that would measure the effects of long term human habitation on Moe. Since humans were already living here it spoke volumes about that. Jack was really starting to wonder if he even needed to bother.

"Well, you two go ahead and run on over and see Pete and Joey. I think Joey sacked out but, Pete went over to the CQ. I told him to tell Pam to check them out to make sure they were ok."

Dee almost choked, "I imagine Pete's going to get pretty checked out all right."

"Don't start will you?" Jack was tired. He really didn’t want to hear it. "Now you two get off my bunk and out of here so I can get some rest. See you in the morning."

"Well ok grumpy," said Dee. She and Harry gave sarcastic, comical, salutes. They both did a poor imitation of an about face and made sure that they were bumping into each other all the way out.

"I thought you said, way back when, that there were no microorganisms on this planet," protested Pete as he was led into the medical tent.

Pam made him sit up on the examining table. "Well, they have alcohol here. Things rot and animals decay, so, some thing is working on the microscopic level. I just haven't found it yet. Any way, with you having eaten so much native food we're not taking chances. I want a blood sample to start with. Take off your shirt."

"For a blood sample?" Pete looked at her strange.

"I'm going to check your ribs too," Pam was being fussy. She was also acting nervous.

"Pam, what was all that back there in the CQ?"

Pam started looking up and down for her tray with the various needles and tubes. "What was what Pete?"

Sliding his shirt off Pete just shook his head. "I guess it was nothing."

Finally Pam found her tray in an unlikely spot, where it should have been, on the fold out shelves. She tied a rubber tourniquet on Pete's arm and then shoved a sealed glass vial onto the needle. Pete watched her work. She wouldn't look him in the eye, "I just never seen you that glad to see me be... OW! That hurt!"

"Of course it hurt. I just stuck a needle in your arm," Pam let the vial fill up and then she pulled out the needle. "I was worried about you and Joey. Is that a crime?"

"Well thank you. I guess." With that, there seemed to be little else to say. Pam went about her work. They both remained silent.

_____________________

Somehow, the situation seemed to have improved. Julia found herself riding in a wagon now that the Assur had departed. All of the girls were riding along and there were several new faces as well. They were still traveling east but at least the desert was behind them. Julia found that she actually enjoyed seeing the grass. When the wind blew its leading edge could be seen in the waves of bending reeds. It was just like the waves of the ocean.

The man who had taken charge of the girls, Julia still would not acknowledge to herself that she had been sold, acted as if he were a gentleman. He dressed the part and, even while riding on the trail, he looked remarkably fresh. He acted mostly with indifference to the women in his custody. When he did deal with them directly he always seemed polite. There was enough to eat now, at least. It was much more than what the Assur fed them. It tasted good as well. This "Bothi" always seemed interested in making sure of their comfort.

Thinking back on her situation, Julia realized that even the Assur were peculiar about certain things. Julia tried asking Tish. It took a while before the alien girl understood. "Assur not whip you like own Assui. Leave marks. Bothi good place be, treat good. Some Dotti lucky, stay untas Bothi good... uh... long.... lots... time."

"You mean he keeps them for good," replied Julia. She then repeated what she had said in the best way she could in Tish's language.

"Good.. right Merry Can."

There was a deep rumbling echo in the sky. Shortly after that another one followed. Julia looked up. The sky was its normal deep blue. She looked off in the distance. There were clouds on this planet but, generally speaking, Julia had not seen as many as she would have seen back home in Texas. Right now, there were none at all. She wondered and mumbled, "doesn't look like rain."

Tish got a confused look on her face, "rain?"

They had never discussed the weather. What, back home, served as small talk was rather pointless in the environs they had just left. There was generally only two descriptions for the desert, cold and dry. Julia tried to mimic a rain shower. As she did another boom sounded in the distance.

Tish just shrugged her shoulders. She understood rain it seemed but, did not associate it with the noise they heard now. Julia sighed and kept a close eye on the sky. She watched it until well after dark. The giant booms had lasted only a short while but, rain clouds never showed up. By morning even Julia had forgotten about it. If she had thought to notice then it would have been obvious that the Bothi had not forgotten about the strange thunder. He turned the caravan’s direction further to the south.

_____________________

The fires here always roared. They were not actually hotter than an open flame back home but, certainly, far more spectacular and easier to start. They put off a considerable amount of light since you had more crackling flames, that even shot up higher, for less fuel. Pete had liked watching them since he arrived. Their new camp was set up in a grove of trees next to some long open fields and a very small creek. Red had told Pete that the creek actually fed into a small lake nearby. Pete had not checked it out yet but he was planning on it.

Fold out tables were sitting on each side of the campfire. Right now, most everyone else had turned in for the night. Pete and Joey remained. They sat on one of the tables, Pete drinking coffee, and Joey powdered drink. They both just watched the fire in silence.

"Pete, think you're going down to that lake tomorrow?" asked Joey.

There were a couple of voices in the dark, two people, and moving. Pete watched in that direction but, with no sense of alarm. He recognized the agitation in Jack’s voice almost from the start. The incomprehensible replies were Finny's. Jack had not been kidding when he said she followed him around everywhere. The girl stuck to him like glue and it drove him up a wall. Pete chuckled as the voices faded into the distance.

"Huh? Oh the lake," replied Pete, "what, you want us to go fishing?"

Joey squirmed a bit, "maybe in the afternoon. If you're not going down there though, don't worry."

That made no sense to Pete. He dropped the subject and then another related thought crossed his mind. Where there any fish in that lake? The settings here had almost made him forget he was on another planet. The sky was missing Proxima right now. The stars were out in mass but it could have been just another night camping in the high Rockies, or somewhere else like that, back home. Maybe they should go fishing and see what lived in the waters of this world.

A figure came wandering out of the darkness. Pam pulled her jacket tight and shivered. She stepped up on the bench of the far table and sat down on its top. She said nothing so Pete said nothing in return. When he had come back she was very warm to him and then like a swinging pendulum she went way back to the other side. It was for no reason at all, as far as Pete could figure. She had just turned plain cold, almost hostile, and was now at the point of not even speaking to him.

It was Joey who broke the ice, "why don't you sit over here Pam?"

Pete said something before she could, "You should be getting some sleep."

The answer from Pam was short, "not sleepy."

Dee walked up behind Joey. She stopped at the guy’s table and tossed a deck of cards down on it. "Hi guys," then she looked across the fire at Pam, "come on over here. It's closer to the fire."

Pete reached down and picked up the deck of cards. It was brand new, with the plastic seal still unbroken. "Where did you get these?"

Dee pushed Joey over on the bench. She slid down on the seat next to him, "scoot your butt in here closer Joey it's cold out here. Oh you won't believe this Pete. We found this case packed in one of the crates. It didn't even show up on the inventory roster. It had cards, chips, green felt, dice, all that kind of stuff in it. Had a bronze plaque inside too. Said 'DONTATED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE CITIZENS OF LAS VEGAS, NEVADA."

Pete had done the inventory on the shuttles while they were still aboard Hermes. They had not finished it by the time of the "accident." Still, he was a little shocked he had missed this. Without hesitation Pete jumped down off the table and onto the bench opposite Dee. "Poker? Should have brought the chips too."

Pam did walk over. She sat on the same bench as Dee and squished Joey in between. While the boy had no complaints about having both of these women drawing on his warmth, Dee said, "We can't play cards with three of us over here Pam."

"It's warmer over here. My back’s to the fire like this," said Pam. She was not going to get up and move so Dee sat next to Pete instead. She gave the strangest look to Pam before opening the cards.

"It's not Poker Pete," said Dee as she broke the cards out to their box. "It's rummy ok? With four of us here let's play hearts."

Pete grabbed the card deck from Dee. He tossed out the rules cards and then began to shuffle with the skill of a man who knew what he was doing. When Dee complained about the cards, Pete replied, "You think I'm going to sit by and watch you commit a mortal sin. These here cards are from Vegas. Now forget about the chips. I'm only going to let you ladies corrupt this young lad, sitting over here, so much. I know you guys got some local coinage, so break it out. We're going to play for real money."

Pam sat with her arms crossed, "I don't know how to play poker Pete."

Pete turned a smile at her, "ah, she speaks. Well don't let that bother you little lady, let the master instruct."

Dee watched Pete turn cards out left and right and demonstrating the different hands, "and where did the master receive his instruction?"

"Never ask a Marine that Dee. It's about like asking him where he learned to drink beer." For a moment Pete dropped his high masters voice, "you want to know the truth though. When I was a kid, my Dad had these antique toys. Little plastic poker machines made back in the nineteen seventies, I think. Had all of the hands printed on them. I learned it there."

Everyone broke out in a laugh. Even Pam couldn't help but break a smile and chuckle. Pete saw that and it put him at ease a bit. They all quieted down as another pair of footsteps could be heard. Everyone looked when they saw Finny stepping out of the dark near the flames. She ignored them for the most part. She just sat on the ground and began tending the fire.

"Well, well," said Dee, "Jack must have dozed off."

"Does she understand anything we're saying?" asked Pete.

"If she does," replied Dee, "then she hasn't let on. I've heard her speak to Lang and blabber to Jack. Nothing in English though."

"What's her name again?" asked Pete.

"Finny."

Pete shoved Joey's shin under the table. "Joey, call her over here."

"I... I... don't know if I should," replied the kid. Pete smirked at Dee. The thirteen year old was about to break his neck looking over his shoulder.

Pete held his hand up and snapped his fingers, "hey Finny. Over here... yeah come on over here."

The young girl stood. She seemed very uncomfortable with the attention. She was just standing there with her head bent slightly down and her hands clasped in front of her. Pete pointed and then patted the bench next to him. "Come on over and join us."

"uffen plunt Zeati," said Dee.

Pete was amazed, "you're getting pretty good at that. What did you say?"

"Come sit, I hope."

The girl did not move. She looked as if she was unsure about what to do. Dee couldn't help but notice in the past that the girl always seemed uncomfortable about the way the men and women of the group interacted so casually. Her normal reaction was to pretend she did not see it. Now it was confronting her and the passive disguise would not work.

"So what have you guys found out about her, so far?" asked Pete.

"What do you mean?" asked Dee.

Pete shook his head, "oh come on. You can't tell me that you've had a bona fide alien at your beck and call all this time and you haven't done the first test on her? You guys got slack while we were gone."

Dee was stunned. She had never thought of it. It was right there, all along, looking her in the face. She had to admit that the thought of strapping Finny down to one of Pam’s tables and cutting her open was appealing. They would settle on some humane test though. "Guys, we're going to take a rain check on the card game. Come on Pam, we got some work to do."

Pete also stood up but Dee pushed him back down, "No Pete, she'll go with me and Pam. If you two look like you're going, she might not."

Although Pam stood she still didn't know where they were going, "So where are we going? I might not want to go."

"Your house of horrors Pam. The least we can do is have a look at her DNA."

The slave girl only reluctantly followed Dee. Pete thought it was kind of interesting. It also seemed to bring this Finny a certain amount of relief, no matter how hesitant she was to go. Still, the new situation boiled down to one thing. The guys were alone, by the fire, just as before, only now with a deck of cards. Pete considered this an improvement in his present state of mind.

Joey on the other hand did not, "Why did you do that Pete? They all left."

That brought a smile to Pete's face, "don't worry boy, you're young still. Plenty of time, later, for them to drive you nuts."

A poke brought Jack out of his slumber. He saw that the fabric of his tent cast that hue that only occurred when the sun was up. He called Alpha Centauri the sun now without correcting himself anymore. It was daylight and he was still asleep? Jack normally got up before the sun. His body did it without the aide of an alarm clock after so many years. Even after he had left the service he still did it to get out to the golf course. Jack liked beating everyone else to where they were going.

Gary was standing over him, "Hey Jack, I think you better come see this."

That brought Jacks feet to the ground quicker than anything else. Even the cold ground did not get a reaction, "What the hell is it now?"

"No," said Gary who handed Jack his boots. "Nothing bad. Dee just wants you to come over to the medical lab. Seems that her, Pam, and your little buddy have been up all night."

It was an obvious reference to the running joke around camp. Everyone had been calling Jack and Finny, Skipper and Gilligan. Jack was ignoring it now. He did so this time more out of other things on his mind than mere patience. "So what's the deal here?"

He found out soon enough. Pam and Dee were still busy on the lab equipment when Jack came in. Everybody else had already found their way in at some point in the night. They were standing in the corners and trying to stay out of the way, except for Finny who was sitting on one of the gurneys in the center of the tent. Jack suddenly felt a protective twinge. "What's going on here?"

The only response was from Dee. She was intently looking on the viewer of the electron microscope. She held her hand up, "In a minute Jack."

It was another such instance that Jack had to remind himself that these were mostly civilians. If Dee had been a Marine, and said that, he would have kicked her in the butt so hard she would have made it all the way back to the Earth without the aid of a starship. As it was, Jack just looked to everybody else. They said nothing. It kind of reminded him of the spectators at a golf tournament. It had the intense concentration without so much as a squeak.

"I'll be damned," responded Pam as Dee let her look into the microscope. "You know we're going to need more time on this. Need better equipment too."

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Dee! What in the hell are you two doing?"

Dee shook the sleep out and yawned. She pushed the hair out of her face and then leaned up against one of the tables. It was definitely time to go get some sleep. "Well Jack, we ran some tests on Finny last night."

"Tests!"

"Relax Jack, we didn't hurt her," replied Pam still looking in the scope.

Finny was very stubborn as Jack now knew all to well. Right now she was just sitting there with that passive blank look on her face. She seemed fine, "So what did you two find out?"

"Well," said Dee folding her arms around her body. The morning air was still chilly. "She not only looks human she is completely human. We X-rayed her, although, I have to say, we almost had to tie her down to do that. Her internal organs show no significant difference from our own. They function just like ours, and I mean... she's a human being."

"So what are you doing now?" asked Jack.

"DNA," replied Pam still looking over the strands, "which, with no great surprise, is just as identical."

That stood to reason and Jack just shrugged, "So if she's physically the same then it stands to reason her DNA would be exactly the same."

"Not really," said Dee looking for her jacket that was piled under some junk on the table. "Most of it will be the same. That's not what we're trying to find though. There is DNA that is specific to groups. It’s call Mitochondria. It really doesn’t do anything for us physically but it mutates like clock work. You can tell how far apart people are by counting them. I mean, we really haven't had enough time to get into to all that yet. It’s a life time worth of work but, what we're trying to find right now is DNA that is specific to the entire human race."

"The Eve Gene," said Gary who was sitting in the corner.

"Yeah,” said Dee. “Maybe it's planetary specific. We're curious about that."

What was there to say, Jack was too. He would have rather they asked him before they started though. Not that Jack was going to say something about it now. He already caught enough heat from just having Finny around. To say something would almost be an admission that he thought Finny belonged to him even if it would not be the truth. Still, experiments and dealings with aliens really did need to be approved by him. He was, after all, the commander. Doing such things affected everyone and that was clearly his turf.

"Well let us know what you find out," said Jack. He switched to Zeat which was still a bit of a chore. He talked more slowly and deliberate as he spoke to Finny, "do you wish to leave?"

Dee found her jacket but, waited to put it on when she heard Jack, "I'm not done with her yet."

"You are if she wants to leave."

Finny got down off the table. She walked over to Jack and stood beside him. Dee slid her jacket on. She was slightly angered by having her experiments interrupted, "Jack, we need her for a few more tests. It's not like we're doing an autopsy here. It’s nothing more than any of the rest of us have had to do."

"Yeah, and did she consent to this Dee? You know, all of you keep giving me flack about her being around. Then all of the sudden you start treating her like a slave. As you just pointed out Dee, she's a human being. Treat her like one." Jack turned and left the tent. Finny followed right after him.

Dee's face was red. She grunted and then noticed everyone else was looking at her. Dee ignored them and got back to work. They had cultures running in the incubator and a whole battery of tests they still had to do on the blood they had already taken. That was not to mention the skin and hair samples as well as a host of other things. That would keep them busy for a while. Then she would let Jack have a piece of her mind.

"Why you do that?"

Jack stopped and his eyes opened wide. He turned and looked back at Finny. She had never initiated a conversation before. He thought about what she had just said making sure that he understood her correctly. Then he mentally put his own response together in the alien language, "because, you don't serve people like that."

She got a very strange look on her face. Jack thought about it. He had used the wrong inflection, "I mean treat people like that."

"I am confused by how you all act."

Jack blurted out in English, "I figured that already!"

He then translated as best he could. After, Jack asked a question, "all this time you been around us and you haven't picked up any English at all?"

Once again she looked as if she did not understand. Jack tried saying it again in Zeat. "Learned, you know, say our words." Even in Zeat, Jack had a habit of translating idioms verbatim. More than once it had caused his tutor to pull at his hair.

The young girl did not reply at all. Instead she simply put her best poker face on and bowed her head. Jack stomped his foot, "would you stop doing that! Look me in the eye girl."

Finny did exactly that and, nothing more, nothing less. Her eyes made contact but, it was almost as if they were looking at an inanimate object. Her face still displayed nothing. It was a solid sheet of ice. Jack grumbled, "I don't like it when girls do that to me. You can talk, even if it is just in your own language. I want you to tell me what you think and feel. You don't have to keep it to yourself. Nobody's going to hurt you."

"I wonder why you let Dee talk to you like she does. You say that you can order her but, she doesn't do what you say. You choose her for your partner yet I always do what you tell me. Am I not pretty as Dee? I think I'm a lot prettier than Dee. I am younger than Dee. I have healthier children. Will have better chance of living if have baby."

That was more than the girl had said since Jack met her. She had never talked about how she felt. "Uh, why haven't you told me any of this before?"

"You never say I can."

Jack scratched his head, "I guess that's fair enough. Anything else?"

"Yes, you are disgraceful in washing yourself with so many women around. If Dee your partner why you not make Dee? Why you let Dee talk to other men. I do not talk to other men. She never lay your clothes out. I lay your clothes out. Why you not let me dance now. I like dance. Why you..... "

Jack groaned. He had created a monster.

_____________________

While it was time that he was not spending at his work, Vitosk agreed to go anyway. He had been pouring through Daltop’s Central University libraries. They had many such buildings and all of them made the one back in Ninvey seem pale in comparison. It was slow going as he was still learning to read the various languages. At least that task was made easy in light of the fact that he was near fluent at speaking two of them now.

When Kenday told Vitosk that they needed to attend a social function, at first, Vitosk was quick to decline. Kenday insisted however and Vitosk reconsidered his position. After a round of questions, Vitosk realized that it was a fund raising activity. That alone was intriguing. Science, here on Kreeg was at the mercy of others just like back home. Science seemed to always survive only on the surplus of society as a whole. Even the scraps given them required begging for.

The most important reason, as Kenday explained, was who would be at this party. Kenday rattled off a list of names that meant little to Vitosk beyond the fact that these people were somehow associated with the government. Vitosk had wanted to meet someone high in the government here for some time.

Kenday had informed him that the Administrator of the University was aware of his presence here and even that man had not gone out of his way to meet Vitosk! If Vitosk wanted to meet anyone in the government then that was a bad indicator. You had to consider that in order for Vitosk to meet with a man that had actually wanted too, it had taken weeks to get approval to even meet with the man that would give a yes or no to Vitosk for getting an appointment for an interview to meet with an official who might actually allow him to have an audience with the very man that wanted to see him! It somewhat reminded Vitosk of the Breshnev regime.

This party would have a real prize at it. A member of the Imperial House would be present and one of the leaders own sons at that. Emperor might be a better name for him but, there did not seem to be a good analogue in any Earth language. Maybe just monarch since his rule was hereditarily passed on to a son, of which, he had many. That was the most interesting part of it. The title was not just handed down to the first-born. Any of his sons could become the new emperor upon his death or resignation. As Yurgani had learned, most emperors here usually resigned and handed over their powers long before death.

The new emperor was actually elected from the pool of sons. They competed for votes from the legislative body. Membership in that seemed to be purchased with the rules of who was eligible differing from region to region. These men, of course, were not a true legislature in the Earthly sense either. The emperor collected his own taxes and did with the money as he pleased. The Legislature did the same thing and did what they pleased with their own coffers. That gave each branch of their government their own areas of dominance and influence. It was not as efficient as some systems but, Vitosk gathered from his scant information that customs ferreted out the more weaker points. It apparently worked for them well enough. The entire planet had been ruled this way for over two millennia.

The result of this was that the possible royal heirs were far easier to meet than the old man himself. That seemed logical since they were, in effect, campaigning for not only just the title and office, but also, the chance to pass it on to their direct line. The sons who lose were usually at the mercy of whoever wins for future privileges and money. This sounded to Vitosk like a recipe for civil war but somehow that had not happened.

At one time, apparently, the city of Daltop was a state unto itself. Originally it was a trading colony established by the peoples who live further to south. It flourished due to the river that Vitosk had traveled by on the way here. Over thousands of years it slowly took control of the rest of planet. Its influence and power grew and they worked their way east until there was no more directions left to conquer.

The music filled the room with a robust flavor. The rounded arches of the high ceiling, the make of the walls, all served to amplify the multiple instrument orchestra. The make up of wind instruments, percussion, and strings looked unusual, but sounded very similar to Earthly analogues even if the instruments making the noises did not. The quality of the music was very complex. Vitosk rather enjoyed it even if they were not quite as good as the Bolshoi. Then again, who was?

Vitosk turned his attention to other aspects of the gathering. It was, at least for now, absent of women.

"How dull it must be," he remarked.

Kenday was busy smiling at prospective investors. He heard Vitosk speak in Russian. Kenday was busy learning that language but, was far from fluent as of yet. "What was that Yurgani?"

"Women," said Vitosk in Dottish, "I do not see any beyond a few servants."

"There will be some later. I am told that Halden has quite a stock." Seeing that this somewhat offended the Russians sensibilities, "Oh, I do apologize. It is just that your customs are just as strange to me as... "

Yurgani patted him on the shoulder, "It is quite all right Kenday. So what do you mean by later. Does this involve sex or anything of that nature? It would be very uncomfortable to me. I would think it somewhat resembled rape."

The word that Yurgani used was not what would be considered rape back home. Its actual meaning had something to do with having sex with another man's property. It was very illegal here and the punishment normally resulted in the death of both offender and victim. Was this custom overlooked at such events or did these people keep women just for such occasions? Vitosk discovered that it was the latter of the two.

Kenday prodded his colleague, "It's Halden, the Prince."

Vitosk looked until he was finally sure who Kenday was pointing at. The man was wearing the double-breasted black shirt of the Imperial Army. As Vitosk had discovered, it was comprised mostly of officers who led local troops in the name of the Central Government. The few troops owned directly by the government, served mostly a ceremonial function. Until recently, they had little use for any army at all. Now all of it was in the East fighting and learning the trade of being a soldier on the job. Vitosk felt for them.

"Is he a member of your military?"

"Um, sort of. Technically he can if he wants to be. Halden has been thought to be next in line for the throne. He did control more votes than any of the brothers. Then, of course, the war broke out. He has two brothers fighting in the east right now. He started wearing the uniform shortly after they left."

"Of Course," said Vitosk smiling, "he's afraid they'll come back heroes and hoping they'll come back dead."

This surprised Kenday, "I never knew you had the politician in you Yurgani."

"I've worn many hats Kenday. That meaning, I have done much in life. However, politics in Russia, is not just for politicians. It is a matter of life and death for all."

"We devote ourselves to our individual pursuits and talents. Does it not waste much time and effort, doing more with ones life, than one is trained?"

Vitosk nodded in agreement, "We call it freedom."

The word was Russian for there was no good way to express it in either of the two native languages that Vitosk was learning. Kenday gave the word some thought, "Is this Russia of yours, is that your type of government?"

"At the moment, no. It is where my involvement in politics began. Kenday let us go speak with your Prince. Do you think it possible?"

"We can try," Kenday led the way. Halden was somewhat shorter than the average male that Vitosk encountered here. He was also older than Vitosk would have imagined. One of the ways to be considered a good candidate for Emperor here was to already have a good stock of replacements when you were elected. Halden was born before his father had taken the throne and so was considerably older than the thirteen-year rule of the present head of state. He looked to be in his early fifties but, fit for his age. He was bald but it suited him well enough. He had a warm smile that Vitosk thought to be purely a function of his political nature.

As Halden sorted through the crowd, Kenday caught his attention, "Prince Halden, I am Learned Kenday of the University. May I introduce you to someone?"

The prince thought about it for a second, "You are the one who is looking after our visitor friend. I have heard of this."

Vitosk nodded, "That would be me sir."

The smile returned, Halden shook the Russians hand, "So, are you who the rumors say you are?"

Vitosk looked to Kenday who was somewhat embarrassed. Vitosk addressed the royal, "I am afraid I am at a loss sir. To what rumors would you be referring?"

Kenday stepped in, "We of the scientific community have yet to establish anything Prince."

There was something that Kenday had not bothered to tell Vitosk. It angered him more because he had missed it as opposed to having been kept in the dark. The Prince was pulled aside by another member of the crowd and soon walked off. Vitosk turned to Kenday, "What are these rumors he is referring to?"

"Nothing of importance I assure you Yurgani. You must realize that your presence here is no secret. That is, of course, not to our wishes for we attempted to keep it as quiet as possible."

"Why is that exactly?"

"Superstitions really. You have spoke of this religion thing you have on your world. Our world is no different in that we, the peasants really, have many beliefs. None of which are based in any real facts."

Vitosk nodded, "the fear of death and life thereafter is a very powerful pull on simple minds. Now exactly what does that have to do with me? Kenday you are not being completely honest with me here.”

The alien broke down, "Some say that you being here is the fulfillment of prophecies. It is really silly, so much so that I never really thought it worth mentioning."

It must have been as he said. Vitosk hardly thought that Kenday was such a good liar. The Prince himself did not seem that concerned and so no one must have given it that much thought, unless, of course, it was only peasants and the poor such as Kenday indicated. They were far from good communists here, letting people remain ignorant, and treating women as property, all served to upset Vitosk's sensibilities somewhat.

"Exactly what are these prophecies? And who really believes in them?"

Kenday had to give it some thought. "Well many actually. Some dating back to the most ancient of times. I can't really remember all of them. There was a man, however, he is the most recent of the prophets as I recall, a Zeat such as those that brought you to me. His following is still very strong there even if he died two thousand years ago. Just prior to the final unification wars."

Vitosk rolled his eyes, "Next you will tell me that he died on a crossbeam."

"Well no, he was hung. At the time, the empire was still new to many. He spoke greatly of restoring much of the Zeat traditions. It contradicted to the policies of the Empire at the time. Much of what now is just taken for granted. Our historians call it the start of our modern period."

Yes, and Vitosk had seen these polices. It actually reinforced his opinions of these people’s institutions such as complete control of women. Doing so was the key to breeding the other, variants of humanity such as the Assur, right into extinction. All the while they were strengthening their own gene pool in the process. It was a very slow and well thought out genocide. Everything these people did was at such a speed. They were very conservative. Far more so than anyone back on Earth.

"Again," replied Vitosk, "where exactly do I fit in?"

"Well," said the scientist. Kenday was well aware of the technological superiority of Vitosk’s people. They had discussed such things at length. To say such a thing was embarrassing to him. He did not wish to admit that his own people would actually believe in such wild tales. "This Zeat said that he would return one day. When he did, that it would be the end of the world. Your arrival here is… well you see what I mean?”

A shiver ran up Vitosk's spine. The words came out of him in English and he did not even realize it. "I'm sorry Jerry. Maybe I owe you an apology."