“But, I need to tell Ry’nao some things, first.” I walked through the wall and into his office. He met me there.

  “Azure. Pirad recloned you?”

  “Yes. I’m going to his lab in Antarctica. I wish I could help Adia! I see now, that I can only help Earth with forbidden tech. As slavers come, I will disable any tech from higher levels. Heden will send his clones, but they will be faulty.

  “One of them will bring Garagba, but I already ported him, Habir and Hinsin to Pirad’s Lab and disabled his rogues. You can send a diplomat to Kia, and she will have the Biehshah Healing Gift they gave her. Jot will not be a slave now.” I showed him how, years from now, this Earthan tried to learn healing and couldn’t. But Tenadu, a Biehshah Elder, was trying to heal his brother who had terminals, and they had rogues. He got her to help him and she got a gift that healed a lot of Zheien in Rainbow Unwell Colony.

  They saw that future and made 20 of them, and moved a lot of worlds so slavers couldn’t get them. I showed him many more Zheien worlds that were targets. Ea~ is already here, but First Prince Tos married Ferra, a healer. She created a persona to take over a large slaver network. Pirad’s already cloned them, and was about to send them to slavers, but I showed him a better location for her to take over a ship of high-level slaves.

  And, it’s headed to this star system and near Alb now. Fhiah can intercept it with an armed ship, Pirad can clone slaves until he gets volunteers, equipped with his rogues, to go with the couple. Slavers don’t know that Ferra is Zheien. This Ferra is Elshar with Zbbat telepathy. Look out, Ken Ma! The Piee Sahrrat will soon be trading slaves to Rainbow colonies all over Alb. I showed Ry’nao where it’s been getting forbidden slaver herbs. This morning, the Esteerrians, Zbbat and all their slavers broke contact with Ken Ma, homeworld of the Piee Sahhrat. There are still clans of rogue Zbbat and Esteerrian slavers there. Ferra will give them slaver herbs to retrain them. They’ll pretend to be slavers to trade with them for slaves. Then they’ll trade them to Alb worlds in huge numbers. Alb will heal them and set them free. Alb also decided on strict and very humanitarian rules. Slavers who want the most profit will have to treat slaves kindly.

  He let me use his Diplomatic Link to touch diplomats’ minds and tell them secrets Heden didn’t want known. All over the Thirteen, he has diplomats and operatives. He’s bred to hold these links, but I still gave him a headache. I taught Pirad things for his next recloning. Oh, this Ry’nao is a clone. His host is in the UN giving a speech. I showed him fields of herbs that shouldn’t be on his home planet, Vch’san. I gave his host a headache, too. Great.

  Every world in Alb had rogue fields! I touched hundreds of minds. TS Inspectors got very busy. Diplomats got evidence for them because of what I showed them. Warned them of future cases, who to watch. Cargo and how to detect higher-level herbs in it.

  I showed him Earthans who would affect his Reign. He already knew about Ray, who’s going to take over the Red Cube from Eriganh when Adia gets through. Suma, who has the Yellow Cube from the Imwa. They’re dropping to our level because they interfered on Soskanna. But, they helped Ni’olmai and Suma to fix it. The Council should make someone else Rainbow’s Councillor. Kieta was too scared to do much. No, there’ll be another one after her. Wslarc’s clone’ll let Pirad do more, and he will be on MarKu with Molly.

  That’s after Ray defeats Rentappenen. I can’t help her with them, either. She already changed all the Aryllans to the Zheien-like people they were before and defeated Satauuver this morning. The Alliance denounced slavery this afternoon before I got here? But I showed him a lot of Earthans, like two women who influenced the Ulukai. One was on Rhaech where Kenneph, Master Diplomat Of MarKu is. Molly and Liz are really worried about him. She can save him. Or, her clone can. The other one influenced the Bokruks to learn Zheien healing from a database Ahstam, the best Zheien healer, created. More diplomats die or get disabled on Bokrukzky than any other Alliance world!

  “The Council’s very disorganized because several Councillors rose to higher levels. That’s why Eriganh and Rentappenen decided to try to take over. Once they’re gone, the Council will be stable, for the first time in 300 years. Higher levels take a lot of time to come take care of infractions. If we can take care of it ourselves, we advance faster.” I wanted to say more, but it didn’t come. All this learning, and I can’t tell him more? Because Wally already told him. Oh. Wally’s part of the Imwa who rose to the 5th level, and he just left, because most of what he was sent here to do is already done—today. He brought Mike here, who refused to leave Perla. Now he’s met his future wife and they traveled back home to Thorde and convinced it to allow cloning and recloning, for Elders!

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Most of what I showed him, he already knew, but I did show him hundreds of Earthans with Gifts who will want to leave Earth. Most of ‘em will marry Zheien or Thordes, but some will marry Elshars or Aryllans or even Areonians! Most of the future spouses are people on the ship now or who will either travel here or they will go to where their spouse is.

  The old Emperor hugged me. “Thank you, Azure. I have hope. Do what you feel you can, and don’t worry about us. I will do what I can, for our people. I will rest easier tonight because of what you told me. Will you be all right, in Pirad’s Lab?”

  I smiled. “I feel much better after recloning, and it’s just for a little while, until the 31st. Adia will last, Ry’nao.”

  “So soon? We planned to be here, months!” He looked very surprised.

  “Better let your embassy director get busy! You’ll be very pleased with her work.”

  “Thank you, Azure! Do not worry about your work. All of us feel inadequate at times. Make the best decisions you can with the information you have. That is all any of us can do, Child.”

  “Thank you, Sir!” I bowed low, and he bowed lower.

  I thought about Pirad’s Lab, and I was there. Green obsidian walls, halls that went for miles, and above it, blue ice that let the light in. Beautiful! And, at the end of a hall, a building of blue cubes about twice my height, and about that, wide. Light undulated in them like water. Clear, beautiful water. I smiled.

  Pirad came out of his lab. “Azure, I am happy to welcome you. Let me introduce Kirnonos.”

  Like Pirad, he was a clicking, deep green skeleton but darker. Thinner. A bit taller. Still half my width and twice my joints. But his face appeared older, with higher cheekbones. He clicked his face into a smile, not like the smug expression Pirad usually wore. “Hi, Kirnonos!”

  “Kirnonos taught me all I know about recloning, and he stores all of our collected memories. These are copies.” Walls behind him had shelves of purple cylinders, stored on end in neat rows. Our librarian!

  “And, here is Taredias Gupa. He is cloning Zbbat and Esteerrians to supply their colonies. Soon they all will decide slavery is a bad thing.”

  “Kieta didn’t like your work, but someone is coming who wants you to expand it. Wslarc.”

  “Ah, but I am patient. Thank you, Azure.” He was shorter than the other two, but they resembled each other.

  Pirad brought a shorter one who didn’t. “This is Habir. In another future, he brought secrets of Ilhanhsa to Rainbow, but you brought him before he had much injury. He invented the deep blue portals I used before I created new tech. His work inspired me.”

  “What’s Ilhanhsa?”

  “A place where slaves grow parts in stasis for other slaves.”

  Habir moaned. “I did not know how slaves suffer until I was one. Zheien are aware in stasis despite all I could do.”

  Pirad put his forearm on Habir’s forehead. “I have new tech. Once Zheien come with my improved terminals, they will not suffer. Soon, Ilhanhsa will be liberated and fall into Earthan hands. Then we may improve it. Molly gave me many new ideas when she saw her future. She sees a different one. Ours.”

  That would be very useful! “Pirad, can you make a clone of Molly for me? If she doesn’t mind.”

  “I have not collected her memories yet.”

  “Oh, later. Will you ask her?”

  “I will.”

  Then, he introduced me to Hinsin. “This is Habir’s brother Hinsin. He also did a lot of portal work, and herbs for slaves.”

  He trembled a lot. “I also learned how slaves suffer. Habir and I worked to improve slaves’ herbs so they did not suffer as much, in mines. I will work harder now.”

  I showed him how a lot of herbs from higher levels didn’t work as well, after his improvements, which helped slaves. Then, he smiled. And, he saved a lot of people in Rainbow, before Pirad came. Rainbow colonies were just formed yesterday with a few healers from Fhiah, and already, they save lives. They’ll save many more when Molly goes to Alb.

  A couple hours later, I got two clones of Molly. One, with all her healing skills. Another, who wants to be my buddy. She’s 16, like me! And she can see this future.

  “Something’s happening on the ship!” She shook all over! I sent her back, before she ported here.

  Kia went to Ry’nao and I ported there, just as Rentappenen destroyed Pirad’s Lab! He killed everyone!

  I ported into the past, but so did he! But I slipped everyone onto the ship and Pirad hid us all.

  I also swapped out the cylinders of all the memories with empty ones from Pirad’s Lab on Alb Seer. He doesn’t know. My Collective’s there in a new chamber under Kirnonos’ Lab. He’ll find it when this is over.

  Other futures tell me I’m going to die here. So, I’m making copies. Pier and my exact clone are going with my Collective, in stasis until February 1.

  Until then, I’m going to fight!