After a few hours the door opened again. This time it was the captain.

  “How are you holding up?”

  “Well enough, bored out of my mind. I have been trying to use the time just trying to figure out how I might find my wife or what happened to her.” Andrew said trailing off at the end.

  “Not worried about our intentions towards you, just finding your wife?”“Well I don’t see what I could do if your intentions were anything but good. So, instead I decided to focus on what I might be able to do something about. Assuming you aren’t about to sell me off for research or something.”“I wouldn’t wish that fate on a Fourier and you’ve done nothing me unlike that lot.”

  “So, what is your intention then?”“Honestly, I don’t know yet. It depends pretty heavily on how honest you’re being. If you word proves true, we would likely drop you off at a human sanctuary run by the Tribe.”

  “The ex-slaves, correct?”“Yeah, definitely one of the darker sins of our past as a nation. Early on we didn’t see Trolls as people and enslaved them. That was, until the Romfarer showed us the errors of our ways.”Andrew held up his hand and the captain paused. “Who is the Romfarer and I thought that Trolls were elven slaves.”“Not who, but whom. They’re one of the major dwarven clans. They were the clan who took us to the stars and haven’t slowed down since. This beautiful ship was one of their creations. All the best ships are, as you will find no better shipwrights in the realm.As for them being elven slaves sadly they were not just elven slaves,” the captain putting emphasis on the word, just,” I am proud to say that while my family might not have been the first to see the errors of their ways, we were early and were instrumental in getting the laws changed to ban Troll slavery and servitude. One Troll we freed in particular, Xamin Tarq, helped more than any other to show us Trolls were our equals. Even with our change of heart he decided the best way to ensure his people’s freedoms was to get out of dwarven controlled space and led the majority of his people out into the Blight to ensure that they could remain free even if Dwarves had a change of heart. “ he paused when he noticed that Andrew had a question and nodded his direction.

  “Biaobel mentioned that the blight was the area between your space and his, but never mentioned why it’s called that.”

  “Because most of the planets have been turned into lifeless rocks through millennial of us struggling over them. It’s one of the reasons my mother agreed to peace. A small one mind you, but a reason none the less.

  So the thing that I have still never received an acceptable answer to, when it comes to trolls, was how when the elves showed up they had troll slaves themselves and why they also mostly used theirs for farming.“

  “Did they just capture some of the ones who moved to the Blight?”“That is the answer most often given, but I know many of them who are a thousand years older than the formation of the tribe and only spoke Alfar. That…”, the captain again noting a look of question on Andrew’s face answered it without much of a pause, “Alfar is the elven language, if you can call it that. It’s more like a song than words. Even I have to admit it’s beautiful. But them speaking it raised another issue, why would old trolls only speak Alfar if they were all ex-dwarven slaves?”“They wouldn’t.”“That’s right they wouldn’t and most of the ones who made it to the tribe tell stories about generations of their kind being slaves of the elves, being used to growing crops primarily on low magic worlds. The other thing is Trolls, like humans, can use tech and magical energies. Though not well in either case, but these elven trolls only knew how to harness magical energies until they were taught differently. So, what I can’t get an answer to is, why when our species are separated by so many lightyears do they have the same slave specie and use them for the same reason?”“A progenitor race?”“That’s my guess to!!” the Captain said with an infectious smile,” but if that’s it were are they? Why haven’t we seen evidence of them?”

  “You know Uhla talked about this with me yesterday, the idea of a progenitor race. Though she called it a seed race. I’m guessing this is something your crew contemplates often?”“No we don’t really, but I did talk about it with her and Amin over dinner the other night and I guess that’s why she and I drifted that way. In the hopes that maybe you knew.”

  “Sorry, until a few months ago I didn’t even know aliens were real.”

  “Fair enough.”“So the Dwarves and the Tribe get a long? I didn’t get that impression from the Elves.”“Yeah for the most part. Us Sruthan more than other clans, so much so we often get accused of secretly being part of them. The only ones who seem to believe we should go back to the old ways are some of the Fourier elders, but most Fouriers even disagree with them. The Elves I suspect are mad because they didn’t get much of a choice in freeing their slaves. Xamin freed most of their slaves for them. Made the Elves look pretty weak and ineffectual in the process. As one day three quarters of their Trolls disappeared. Access the whole of Chennon. Honestly, I don’t know how he pulled it off. What we do know is that the only Trolls who remained were the ones who opted not to go.”“I heard they did that for the humans as well, and apparently my wife made it away with them.”The Captain lit up with that news, “Well that ain’t nothing!! Means she’s likely a live then.”“I hope so, but as we humans tend to only live 70 or less years it’s doubtful.”“Man, I can only imagine what that feels like. I thought I had it rough with my wife and daughter on the other side of the Realm.”

  “If they are there, then why are you here?”

  “Money! Lots of money actually. Though it doesn’t replace them and it’s not like I could just see them either way. “

  “Why can’t you?”“That’s a lot of not your business, but suffice to say it’s political and we’ll leave it at that.”

  “I doubt you’ll tell me what this job as either then?”

  “Nope, but I will say I’m not proud of who I’m doing this job for.”

  “The Fouriers?”

  Andrew knew he’d made a tactical error when he saw the captain’s warm expression take on a distrustful edge.

  “That’s an awful lucky guess for someone who’s supposedly just made to this part of the universe.”

  “It’s because so far everyone I’ve talked to has talked amazingly negatively about them. I heard you and your family have reason to really dislike them, though no details were given.”

  “Seems like my crew likes to talk. It’s true though technically that’s not my house anymore, though blood is still blood. Even if they’re too good to remember that.”

  “Is that why your wife and daughter aren’t here?”

  “You don’t mince words do you friend? Just barrel in like you’re Enona herself.”

  “Who’s Enona?”

  “It’s a figure of speech for most dwarves, meaning you act without thinking or being concerned about collateral damage. “

  “Yeah, that’s something I’ve been accused of a time or two, but you didn’t really answer the question.”

  “No, I guess I didn’t. I doubt that one in 10 dwarves can answer that for you, but she was an old Khagan, the elected ruler of our nation, back when the Fouriers ruled the empire. She rushed into a siege on an ancient dwarven clan. She technically won the siege, but it’s one of our great mysteries as the clan she had besieged disappeared without a trace and still to this day we have no idea what became of them. Some of their number must have lived as that night Enona, her harem, and their guard were found dead. After almost 150 millennia she still hold the record for the shortest term for a Khagan.”

  “Sorry if I hit a nerve.”

  “It’s mostly because either you’re putting on an act and already know or you got a little too close to the truth with a good guess. So, convince me you’re not putting on an act.”

  “And how do you suggest I do that?”

  A big smile spread across the Captain’s face, “By not being a elven spy and actually being from another galaxy?”

  “Well, that’s the truth, so we’ll see. I have a question for you if you don’t mind?”

  “Matters on the question, but I don’t mind you asking.”

  “Is it true that human implants don’t work in Dwarven space too?”

  “Because of my lineage and childhood, I have probably met more humans than most dwarves you’ll ever meet…….I mean unless you meet one of our researchers. Which by the way if you do, either run or be ready to kill them. They’re not good people. As you over heard Aminci and I were big opponents of theirs.

  Back to your question, no human I have ever met has had a working implant. At least not a human one.”

  “So, they’ve had working dwarven implants? “

  “One ‘benefit’ of our research is it was found that our implants do surprisingly work on you humans. Though I guess that shouldn’t be too surprising as they work on trolls and elves as well.”

  Andrew perked up in surprise, “Really? There are elves with dwarven implants?”

  “Admittedly not many. They mostly come in two flavors, the dwarven enthusiasts who somehow make it to dwarven space or even more rare the political asylum seekers. We require them to get an implant as a sign of solidarity. The former tend to be excited by it and are often low magic to begin with so there aren’t as many complications. The latter take more time and care. Their implants often have major glitches so we normally will mount theirs external to their skull to minimize damage until their magical nature wanes and then we move them to the appropriate places. Though you won’t see any thing like that these days as we found that if it’s done on exclusively tech world there are none of these complications and we can do them internally immediately.”

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Ahhh so your implants are also for controlling the masses?”

  The captains face turned into a hard glare, “Excuse me?”

  “Well the Apanean worms are from what I can tell their equivalents to your brain implants and it seems their primary purpose is to control their populations. So, as you require political refugees to implant your version, I was guessing that it’s because it also forces them to be loyal.”

  “Loyal yes, because otherwise the implant could malfunction……in their skull. But we’re not elves. We have our flaws for sure, but we’re much more driven by freedom and personal responsibility. This is not to say that people haven’t tried this, the Fouriers tried this very early on and because of this all implants which impact any nervous system component, which is quite a few of them, have failsafes built into them to ensure they cannot be used to control people.”

  “And Nobody has gotten around those? “Andrew raised an eyebrow to emphasize his disbelief.

  The captain smiled, “People have. This is why we get scanned on occasion to ensure no new components have been added or tweaked without our knowledge.”

  “Wait if implants exploded around magic, how have the elves not just won the war?”

  “Well, the amount of magic they’re exposed to when it’s magic flowing internal to a person’s body is much more than when you’re impacted by an external spell. We have ways to combat it, just like they have ways to combat Tech as well. Ways I’m not going to go into with you until I trust you.”

  “And if I get one of these implants would it help you to trust me?”

  “Yes, but I doubt it would be safe until you stop using magic.”

  “Because of the backlash or glitch potential?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Wait, would I just have to stop using the umm spells I know?”

  “Definitely, but also whatever you’re doing to protect your worm, must be some form of magic as most non-magical humans who enter a tech rich area have those worms crawl out their eyes before the worm incinerates.”

  [See, this is exactly what I was worried about! You must find your way off this hellish ship as soon as possible.]

  I doubt I can and honestly these dwarves seem loads better than the elves.

  [So, you refuse to even attempt to leave this ship to save my life?]

  So far you seem ok and where would I even go? So, I guess yes, I refuse to try to escape into the vacuum of space.

  [Then you leave me no choice but to resort to drastic measures. Feel MY WRATH!!!]

  Nothing happened.

  What wrath was that?

  [THIS WRATH……………….hmmm ok yet another reason for you to get back to elven space. ]

  Sorry Bob you’re not really selling me on this idea.

  The captain pulled his revolver and leveled it on Andrew.

  “What exactly are you hoping to accomplish with your magic? I’d answer quickly as Draefend,” He turned his gun slightly to denote that he was talking about his gun, “has been known to act hastily in situations like this.”

  Andrew reflexively put his hands up, “Woah hold up, what happened? We were talking nicely and then you went crazy and pulled a gun.”

  “Well we tend to do that when people attempt to use magic against us. What were you trying to do, control me? Good luck, with the implants and training I have I’d doubt that all but Biaobel himself could accomplish that feat.”

  “I wasn’t trying to use magic though.”

  “That’s not what Doc reported. He reported Minor glitches had started to occur and warned me it appeared you were trying to do magic, but as you see when doc is watching your magic has a hard time taking hold.”

  “It was my worm trying to punish me for wanting to stay on your ship instead of trying to return to a magic heavy place, not really sure what. Thanks, Doc, for stopping it.”

  “Of course” came the voice of doc.

  “That sure smells of control to me. ‘Do what I say or I’ll punish you’? What would you call that?“

  “Marriage?” Andrew said with an impish grin.

  “HA! Fair enough!”, both men had a chuckle, before the Captain got serious again.

  “Captain, with your permission I’d like to try something out. To be safe I’ll ask you to leave the room. I want to allow my worm to try to do what it was going to attempt to do, without Doc’s help, to see how bad it is.”

  “You know we are able to monitor everything that goes on in here, right?”

  “No, but I’d assumed so.”

  A curious smile grew on the captain’s face, “Well I have to say I’m curious. Hope it doesn’t hurt too badly, and I’ll try not to laugh too much if you go fetal and cry from it. No guarantees about the crew though. If it’s too funny though I reserve the right to post it on the Rinth though.”

  “Wait, what’s the Rinth? Your version of the internet.”

  “It’s our communications network. It’s really called the Labrinth, but most of us just call it the Rinth. I’ll leave you to your worm.”

  With that he stood and walked out of the room.

  “Doc, please don’t repress any magic which does not endanger the crew or ship.”

  “Affirmative, though I would have protected the crew regardless of you asking.”

  “I figured, but I wanted to be clear.”

  Ok Bob hit me.

  [Oh this will be good!]

  A dull burning sensation started behind his left eye. While uncomfortable it was little more than heavily distracting. Assuming it to be a warm up, Andrew waited.

  After a minute or so Andrew thought

  Ziggy, don’t let bob he are you blocking my pain receptors?

  [No, Mr. Lather, I felt that would not be in line with the purpose of the test you proposed.]

  Glad to hear it. OMG OMG It hurts sooo bad, it’s like the worst. It’s so unbearable. I must get back to elven space so I can have some relief from this atrocity which is attacking my nervous system.

  [That’s right, next time you should think twice before mocking me!]

  [Mr. Lather, I am confused. I only register a signal of minor irritation coming from your left eye. This could indicate that one of my sensors is malfunctioning. Would you like me to block the pain now?]

  Sorry Ziggy I was hamming up to make Bob feel more accomplished. Your sensors are fine. Though before you block it let me try something.

  [Hamming it up to make me feel accomplished? Hamming it up!!! Oh it’s on now.]

  The dull burning turned a bit more sharp. While worse it had still not left the realm of annoying. Like the sinus pain allergy sufferers get every year when whatever it is they’re allergic to blooms. Painful and somewhat distracting, but ignorable with concentration. Which is exactly what Andrew did. Concentrate on the source of the pain and when he did the pain abated.

  [What are you doing?]

  Wouldn’t you like to know?

  [Wouldn’t I like to know? Well wouldn’t you like this pain to stop.]

  With that the pain returned and with more concentration disappeared again.

  [WHAT DID YOU DO!!! YOU WILL STOP THIS INSTANT!!!]

  Seems the same trick I did with Biaobel works for you as well, and if I don’t stop what exactly will you do?

  [I’ll do this]

  He could feel a slight bit more pressure pushing against his concentration, but nothing else.

  Uh huh

  [Just you wait.]

  And what you’ll hurt or distract the person who’s somehow protecting you? How am I doing that exactly?

  [Wouldn’t you like to know!!! See two can play at that game!]

  Yes, I would and if you just don’t know it’s ok to say so, you don’t have to put on this act.

  [Don’t know? Me? You think I don’t?]

  Nope

  [I know more than you’ll ever know. More than you’ll ever know you don’t know!]

  Oh I’m sure you do, you’ve been wonderful in that way, but I still get the idea you have no clue about why Ziggy is working or why you’re not burnt to a crisp.

  [Ok fine I don’t totally know but what I do know is that it’s not the way elves normally do it. Which is by releasing a small amount of magic to make a type of shield around their Apaneans. You seem to be absorbing the tech before it gets to me. Just like it seemed you did to protect Ziggy from the magic.]

  Any ideas?

  [No……] defeat clear in Bob’s voice

  It’s ok Bob you can’t know everything. I mean you still know more than me.

  [Was that your attempt at consoling me? I know more than a human? I’m pretty sure I have mites which know more than you.]

  Wait you have mites……in my brain?

  [It was a figure of speech. Mites are something you warmies have.]

  I didn’t know you were cold blooded.

  [There you go proving my point. I would have thought the fact that I was freezing when I touched you would have clued you in or the fact that I sped up as I got warmer. You really are dense.]

  “The captain is inquiring into whether or not your experiment is complete, and if it is safe for him to enter.” Interrupted the voice of Doc.

  “Yeah it should be safe.”

  The door slid open and the Captain entered, looking around the room. There was a weird void like aura around the man.

  “All clear?”

  “All clear, though I am curious on why it appears there is a void like aura around you.”

  With that the aura disappeared.

  “Whatever it was just l stopped.”

  “Ahhh it appears you can see tech. It’s interesting you see it as a void.”

  “Wait what?”

  “Tech, technical energy?”

  “What exactly would technical energy be? You mean electricity?”

  “Nope Technical Energy. Electrical energy makes a fun toy or weapon, but it’s not useful for much more than that. Though I have heard that humans harnessed it for quite a bit.”

  “Umm yes our entire technology stack is based on it. Wait what powers your technology? Tech Energy?”

  “In a way it does. It enables all of our technology to work more efficiently and protects our tech from the corrupting influence of magic”

  “You know the elves would say that tech corrupts their magic?”

  “I guess they’d be correct in saying so too. The two energies seem to negate each other. The exact science of how it works has not been discovered………..in 10s of millennia of research.”

  “Wait yall don’t know why?”

  “Neither do the elves but it’s definitely true the two negate each other. It’s why you doing the magic you have caused a steam leak. All of our tech has a weak tech field around it helping maintain it’s functionality, but when there are spikes of magical energy it not only negates the week field it seems to attack anything made with it. That is unless we’re there to protect it with extra tech energy. It’s why steamhammers are still piloted by Dwarves or Androids. To help protect them from those flower sniffing elves. Just like there are Elves around to help their war golems not fall apart as they’re bombarded by tech. “

  “Wait they’re actually called war golems?”

  “Yes? Why is that important”

  “HA! It’s not important, but I was happy to see my name for them is right.”

  “When did you see a wargolem?”

  “In the carving,” Andrew said while gesturing to the wall.

  “Captain, you’re needed on the bridge”, said Doc

  “If it’s not an emergency it can wait.” Responded the captain. “We’re nearing the rendezvous, sir.” “Very well, we’ll pick this up later, the people we’re meeting aren’t the waiting type.”“I look forward to, I’m kind of bored.”“Sorry, but necessary evil. I hope you understand.”

  “No worries I do.”