Stardust Dreams (30 page)

Jaro backed away with a
nod. "Of course, my lord. Forgive me."

The boy took another step
toward Cherry, but this time Gallant stopped him. "She stays."

The princess pursed her
lips, but said nothing. After shooing the two boys out of the room, she guided
Gallant to a floor mat at one end of the oval table. She sat to his right,
Josep to his left, and the others took the remaining places.

With a brief movement of
his eye, Gallant told Cherry to sit behind his right shoulder. She had made him
a lot of promises concerning her behavior and she trusted him to know what he
was doing, but when she had made those promises, she certainly hadn't expected
him to be named head honcho of a bunch of savages, nor would she have expected
him to be so complacent about it.

Josep held up his hand and
the others immediately quieted. He began with a deep breath and a sigh. "Gallant,
there is a lot you need to know that had to be kept from you until now. Since
the late sovereign made me responsible for you when you were born, this tale
must logically start with the events leading up to that time.

"After the
Consociation created the barrier around Illusia, the people were prevented from
warring with their neighbors. Thus, they returned to the pattern of warring
amongst themselves. For almost three hundred years, they battled over
possession of the smallest property, ultimately destroying much of the planet
along with the population. The subsequent pollution of the air, water, and soil
became as much of a problem as protecting oneself from enemies.

"Illusia was dying
slowly but surely. The people needed the challenge of war, but they also needed
a new world to inhabit. Your ancestors maintained supreme control of the planet
by sheer force over many centuries, but your grandfather came up with a way to
unite the Illusian people toward a common goal, which would satisfy both of
their primary needs. He formulated a hundred-year plan and had all of the
underlords sign their agreement to it. When he was assassinated by a traitor,
your uncle became sovereign, and he and your father continued with the plan. The
traitor was caught and executed by the way." He had to take another deep
breath before he could go on.

"A team of the most
talented illusionists was selected from among all the noble families to create
a continuous image for the benefit of the Consociation monitors. The
war-ravaged planet gradually took on the appearance of a peaceful, productive
land in order to convince outsiders that the Illusians were no longer a threat
to anyone."

"Excuse me for
interrupting, Josep," Gallant said. "But I never had the opportunity
to do much experimenting with my ability to create illusions. I understand how
easy it is to deceive other people, but how are they able to fool the
computers?"

Josep smiled.
"Illusians have never been interested in exploring the deeper mysteries of
life. We know only that our creations seem to take on a solid appearance, even
to machines."

"And yet, the savages
on the surface didn't look solid to me."

"Correct. The power is
of no use against another Illusian."

Cherry's mind was
formulating questions a lot faster than Josep was talking, but Gallant was
apparently on the same wavelength as she.

He rubbed his chin as he
drew his first conclusion. "That had to be what the Weebort trader was
referring to when he used the word 'counterfeit.' The document he had seen must
have explained the deception being perpetrated."

Josep nodded.
"Actually, the document was a copy of the one-hundred-year plan smuggled
off Illusia. But you're getting ahead of the story. Convincing the Consociation
they were no longer dangerous was absolutely necessary to get them to lower the
barrier. The scheme, as you must now realize, was to first appear passive, then
helpless against a drought. They had no doubt that the gentler people of the
Consociation would want to offer assistance to the poor, desperate victims, and
thus raise the barrier.

"But the more
important part of the strategy was to be ready to take advantage of their
would-be saviors when the time came. They had to replenish the armies and
improve the weaponry to a level where they would be able to deliver a lethal
offense and defend themselves against those who were not taken in by
illusions."

"Like the
Noronians," Gallant inserted.

"Right. They were also
aware that a direct attack on Norona, even with sufficiently armed troops,
would not insure victory. What they needed was a way to get at them through a
vulnerable point. By taking control of something vitally important to the
Noronians, they would not need to fight them at all." He paused to catch
his breath, but he also seemed to be waiting for Gallant to come up with the
solution on his own.

"Innerworld,"
Gallant murmured.

"
Earth
?"
Cherry blurted out.

Princess Honorbound glared
at her, then at Gallant, as if ordering him to deliver the blow the slave
deserved. "Perhaps," she said slowly, "we will have to cut out
the girl's tongue if she is too stupid to learn the rules. That method has
worked well with others like her."

"Have you dealt with
many other Terran slaves?" Gallant sounded as if he had no idea of the
magnitude of the information he had just revealed to the princess… and she
reacted exactly as Cherry expected.

Bolting upward, Honorbound
stepped toward Cherry. "She is from Terra? The planet that holds Norona's
prize jewel?" Grabbing a fistful of Cherry's short hair, Honorbound pulled
her to her feet.

Cherry clenched her jaws to
keep from crying out, but she could do nothing to stop the tears that filled
her eyes. The next second, the princess shoved her back down to the ground. "Ha!
As puny and weak as we were told. We will have no trouble taking over their
planet." She returned to her mat with a satisfied grin. "I will
question her further at a later time."

Gallant leaned over and
brought his mouth close to Honorbound's ear. Cherry had to strain to hear his
words as he murmured, "I will not remind you politely again. This woman is
my property. / will decide whether she is to be questioned." The
princess's answer was a stiff nod.

Josep's brow wrinkled with
concern as he said, "You didn't mention this woman in your report."

"No," Gallant
responded shortly. "I had no idea she was of any importance to my
mission."

Josep did not look
convinced, but he let the matter drop. "Let us get back to the
explanations. During the time when Illusia was successfully conquering other
worlds, they took captives along with the technology they stole. For the most
part, the captives and their descendants were kept as slaves, but occasionally
some would rise to a higher position. It was these captives who helped develop
the weaponry and solved another problem for the royal family.

"Your grandfather's
was not the only assassination that took place. In spite of the underlords
signing the agreement to work together, there was still an unending struggle
for superiority. It was just more discreet than it had been before. The
hundred-year plan would work for whoever was in power, not only your family. Thus,
if you were all wiped out, another would become sovereign."

"I was the
firstborn," Honorbound declared haughtily. "It was imperative that I
be protected at all costs so that even if both our fathers were eliminated, I
could still lead our people to glory when the appointed day arrived. That
turned out to be a very wise decision. Not only are both of our fathers now
gone, but every other relative we had as well. You and I are the only ones left
to carry on.

"From the days of the
Great War, records had been salvaged regarding Lore and an early civilization
that went underground to survive an ice age. They eventually died off, but the
shelter remained. There was nowhere in the galaxy as well hidden or easily
guarded as this place.

"Shortly after my
birth, I was brought here with a hundred of our family's loyal followers and
some slaves. Over the fifty years since then, three more ships came from
Illusia with people, supplies, and reports. The last was a little over a year
ago, announcing the deaths of our fathers, which triggered the final stage in
the royal plan."

Gallant held up his index
finger and turned to Josep. "You said the document was smuggled off
Illusia. Honorbound and others were brought here. I have to assume I was taken
off-planet as well. How did ships travel through the barrier without anyone
being the wiser?"

"I understand your
impatience for answers," Josep responded. "And you will have them all
before we are through. But it is time for the evening meal to be served, and
custom dictates that there be no discussion to distract from the pleasure of eating."

Gallant would have
preferred to postpone the meal until he had a few more answers, but his alleged
position of authority did not seem secure enough yet to demand a change in
these barbarians' customs.

The princess clapped her
hands twice and three young women entered balancing enormous platters of food
on their heads. The rough woven material of the sleeveless sacks they wore
seemed to identify them as slaves, and the way they kept their eyes downcast
confirmed their status. They had to squeeze in between the council members to
set the heavy trays on the stone table, and Gallant copied the behavior of the
others by not assisting or even moving aside to make their job any easier.

As he was seated at the
head of the table, however, there was more room on both of his sides than the
others had. Therefore it was definitely not necessary for one of the girls to
press her body against his arm to offer him a selection of the meats and
vegetables. Nor was there insufficient room for her to walk behind him without
brushing against his back.

When the girls left and
returned carrying tankards filled with a foamy liquid, the same one again made
blatant physical contact with him. He then noted one of the other girls
behaving the same way with Jaro. Apparently, the custom of no distractions
during a meal did not extend to sexual matters.

Whatever doubt he may have
had as to the girl's intentions was wiped away when a small chunk of meat fell
from the rib he was chewing on. It barely had time to hit his lap when she
reached for it, and before she brought it back up to his mouth, she took a
moment to
search
for anything else that might be in the vicinity.