The First Sender

(Part 2 of 2)

    "Come on, you have to see this," Barbet bounced in
excitement as she tugged at Furen's hand, drawing him
towards the back door.
    "What is it?" Furen said reluctantly, he never used
the back door, he didn't like being trapped between the
house and the towering mountains.
    "A surprise. Keep your eyes closed until I tell
you to open them."
    "I could cheat, you know. One peek in your
mind..."
    "Don't you dare, Furen First Sender or I'll slap
you silly!"
    "Ok, just kidding. Do you think I'd say anything
if I were going to do it?"
    "Yes I do, you'd say it to distract me. Now keep
them closed," she led him carefully down the steps.
    Furen didn't like the area behind the house. It
was too close to the mountains, and he feared the
mountains. They were unbelievably tall and slender
like towers. He had the unconscious fear that any
mistake could cause them to come tumbling down. They
wouldn't, of course, but his mind feared them all the
same.
    With his eyes tightly closed Mark became more aware
of the smells and he enjoyed them immensely. The
indigenous trees on Savannah had been small and
poisonous. After releasing a disease to destroy them
world-wide, cedars and other fast growing trees had
been imported. In the century that followed cedars had
thrived and claimed Savannah as their domain. This was
the first smell which assailed his nose and he inhaled
appreciatively as Barbet led him down the steps. As he
moved farther away from the house his nose picked up
the smells of freshly cut grass, wild mint, and freshly
turned earth. The wind sighed in the cedar grove
surrounding their chalet, a warm, friendly sound which
Furen always appreciated. Suddenly he heard the
unfamiliar rustle of many smaller leaves and he smelled
the unmistakable smell of produce.
    "Ok, open them."
    Furen opened his eyes and looked around himself in
wonder. He was standing in a strange forest of food.
Everywhere he looked he saw tomato vines taller than
his head, beans climbing to the sun, and the tops of
carrots and other plants coming up well past his waist.

    "Amazing," he sighed as he looked around. "How'd
you do all this without me seeing it. Does it grow
overnight?"
    "Certainly not. Lady Chastity and I planted these
months ago. I just made them... indistinct."
    Furen knew she was trying out a new Earth word and
he approved. Barbet had become as much of a lady as
Lady Chastity herself. Without the title, of course.
Lady Chastity came from some place called England. Her
family had royal blood dating back for centuries.
    "Do you like it?" Barbet asked excitedly.
    "Sure... what is it?" Furen asked in mock
seriousness and ducked her quick swing.
    "You know full well what... oh, your just trying to
make me look foolish again."
    "Never, love. I would never do that. Just picking
on you. This is wonderful. If I had to die today,
this is where I'd want to do it. A paradise of food.
Do I smell strawberries?"
    "Oh, you and your strawberries. Yes, they're down
at the end. Lady Chastity insisted that we plant lots.
Come on," she nearly broke his neck pulling him between
the rows of tomatoes.
    "Really, Barbet, how did you hide this from me?"
    "I learned to hide things in a dream, like the
First Sender did," she said quickly and crossed
herself. It was another of her new Earth habits.
    The previous First Sender before Furen, had
promised to teach Furen how to hide objects in a dream.
Unfortunately he had never gotten around to it before
he died. Furen knew it was some mysterious power
connected with his ability to send. Mark hinted that
there were more potential abilities that Furen had
never heard of, but they had never had the time to
explore them.
    "He never taught me that trick," Furen said sadly.
    "Me either, I stumbled on it by accident when I was
laying on the bed, half asleep. You know how I like to
take naps in the afternoon, when the breeze comes up
and the sun looks so beautiful shining in? It's an old
habit I guess, fear of Zarbats caused a lot of us to
sleep in the daylight and stay watchful at night."
    "Yes," Furen said sadly.
    "Well I was laying there, kind of staring blurry-
eyes at our bedroom wall. I stared for a long, long
time and finally fell asleep. When I woke up the wall
was still blurry like when I was half-gazing at it.
It's easy but it takes time. I can show you."
    "Thanks, it might come in handy. How did you make
the wall un-blurry again?"
    She blushed a little and sighed. "I knew you'd be
furious if I left it that way, so I tried to change it
back. I tried everything and when I heard you coming
back it startled me. That was all it took. You can
also..."
    "Yes?"
    "Well the other way is to stare at it and slap
yourself. The sting does something, I'm not sure what,
but it jolts you kind of like fear and the spell is
broken."
    "You sit around in the house slapping yourself," he
teased laughing.
    She stamped her little foot in the soft soil. "I
knew you'd pick on me about that, I knew it. Just see
if I'll..."
    "Wow!" Furen yelled and looked at the small field
of strawberries. "This is fantastic!"
    "We did it all ourselves. You should have seen
her, she's so wonderful. Imagine, a lady down on her
hands and knees beside me planting all these little
plants in the dirt."
    "Most people believe that a teleporter is far more
important than a mere lady or lord. There are many
ladies and lords, but only a handful of senders. In
their eyes it would seem even more amazing to see one
of us doing it."
    "Really? I didn't know that."
    "This is a very strange world, Barbet, but I love
it so much. Look at all we have, and if we tried and
were greedy we could have so much more."
    "Yes, I like it most of the time, especially when
I'm here or at the mansion. But I feel so funny in
town when they all stare at me. Especially that
Schroder man, he looks at me like I'm food."
    "It's not hard for the humans to accept us, we're
not so different from their own children. In fact,
centuries ago they had people they called midgets who
were the same size as us, although their bodies were
out of proportion. It was some type of mutation or
something, I'm not sure how it worked. They found a
cure for it though."
    "Is that what we are, something that needs to be
cured?"
    "No, hon, we are normal people doing normal things.
We are just doing them in an abnormally large place."
    "Furen, do you miss the others?"
    "You mean our own people?"
    "Yes. I know that neither of us have parents, but
shouldn't we help them? A few at least."
    "Yes. I've been thinking about that a lot lately."
    "And?"
    "I haven't come up with any answers yet. We can't
flood this planet with a million of our own people,
it's not our planet. If we could only find some place
else, some place where they would be safe."
    "Lady Chastity told me that all the good places are
taken."
    "I know, I discussed that with Mark. The only
planets left are the ones nobody wants."
    "Uh-oh, I hear Mark worrying about us. He's
wondering where we are. You'd better get off to work."
    "What about you?"
    "I didn't feel well when I woke up, I think I'll
take the day off," Barbet said thoughtfully, putting
her tiny hand on her stomach.
    "I noticed that you skipped breakfast. Are you all
right?"
    "Yeah, just nauseated, that's all. Maybe it's one
of those viruses the Earth people get."
    "Ok, dear. Stay home and tend your garden. It
really is wonderful."
    "Thanks. Lady Chastity said that before we came
along it cost so much to import food that the world
government passed a law that everyone must grow their
own. I think it's a good idea anyway."
    "Me too," Furen kissed her quickly and hurried
around the house. His tiny custom-built hovercraft sat
on the grass under a cedar grove. Furen brushed off
the dead needles and raised the bubble.
    He pulled up in front of the warehouse and saw Mark
watching him from the loading dock. He seemed to be
looking for a reaction.
    "About time. I felt your excitement half an hour
ago and knew you'd found out. You don't know how many
times I wanted to tell you, but mom said to leave you
alone. She knew you'd catch on sooner or later."
    "You knew about it too?" Furen was a little mad.
    "Sure, mom told me. We %wndered how long it would
take you to figure it out. Have you picked out a name
yet?"
    "No, do I need one?"
    "You do here. I guess some cultures wait for a
year or two, maybe ten. But most people pick names
right away. What about you?"
    "We don't name them, it seems like a ridiculous
waste of time. Really, Mark, don't you find that a
little silly?"
    "Heck no. Furen, I'm not trying to tell you how to
do things, and I don't know how you did them on
Raglasy, but around here a child needs a name. For the
records, if nothing else. If it's a boy, feel free to
call him Mark."
    "A boy garden?" Furen yelled, wondering about
Mark's sanity.
    "No, the baby, stupid. What were you talking
about?"
    "A ba... A ba... A BABY!"
    "Furen, is something wrong?" Barbet called
mentally.
    "A Baby?" Furen yelled in his head. He felt Barbet
go away for a moment then returned, her mind burning
with excitement.
    "Furen, how did you know? This is so wonderful. I
need to go shopping!" she yelled and disappeared from
his mind.
    "I blew it, didn't I?" Mark said slowly.
    "No Mark, you did just right. You did
wonderfully!" Furen yelled and reached up to grab
Mark's giant hands and danced around him happily.
    "I'm going to be a father. I'm going to be a
father. I'm going to be a father!" Furen chanted as he
danced.
    Mark raised both hands and watched while Furen
squirmed, dangling three feet off the ground.
    "Furen?"
    "Huh," Furen stopped kicking and looked at the
ground in surprise.
    "Don't ever tell mother I told you, do you
understand?"
    "Sure. Now put me down before I crush you like a
grape."
    Mark looked astonished for a moment then laughed
and tucked Furen under his right arm, carrying him
struggling into the warehouse so they could get to
work.

    Samuel Z. Schroder watched from his second story
window as Lady Chastity Triston and the dainty little
alien strolled down the street, chatting happily and
pointing and discussing each store window as they
passed. Schroder's eyes took in the perfect miniature
form of the tiny lady with the large eyes and he licked
his lips. His mind went wild as he devoured each curve
with his eyes and imagination.
    Of all the things in the universe which Schroder
had ever wanted, he would have traded them all up for
just one day with the tiny, beautiful, woman. Hell, a
day wouldn't be enough. For what he wanted, he would
need a week at least, maybe more. Of course he would
have to kill her when he was finished, and that would
be a terrible waste. But maybe there were more where
she came from. Imagine, an entire planet of tiny women
just like her. Elves, dainty and beautiful, and all at
his mercy.
    He turned and fell into his swivel chair, sweating
and shaking. AN ENTIRE PLANET! All to himself.
    He started to form a plan. His first job was to
grab the tiny alien woman, Barbet, he believed her name
was. He'd heard it somewhere. He'd grab Barbet,
pleasure her at his leisure, then question her about
the location of her planet. If things worked out well,
he could keep her around for a month before things got
too hot, then he'd dispose of her. He owned property
on three different planets, it wouldn't be hard to find
a place where nobody could find them. But when? He
knew the answer already, the time was now, or as soon
as he could arrange help. He was so worked up that he
couldn't imagine putting it off. He could no longer be
content with fantasies of her, he must have her.
    It was too bad that he'd lost contact with that
tiny alien who came through the transporter years
before. The little old sender had been very useful.
But then the traitor sent that teleporter, Furen,
through to the Tristons destroying all his plans. If
he ever saw that little man again he'd kill him for
that. He had tried to find the location of the old
sender's planet by carefully administering drugs in
small glasses of alcohol. The man hadn't known where
it was, he just knew that he stepped into a place of
power and the transporter gabbed him. That didn't help
Schroder at all. But maybe the tiny Barbet would know.
He would have an entire wonderful, glorious month to
find out. First he needed to hire men, men who could
disappear and no questions asked. It wouldn't be hard,
Savannah, like every other planet in the universe, had
it's share of lazy, worthless trash looking for easy
credits.
    Schroder leaned forward and waved his hand over his
desk. The entercom appeared out of a sliding door and
raised up in front of him. He made a quick call.

    "What about this?" Barbet held up a tiny slender
red dress.
    "Sweetie, do you know anything about having
babies?"
    "Well, no. I never knew my parents, neither did
Furen. I've heard about it though."
    "Did you know that you'll gain weight?"
    "Me, no," Barbet snorted, shaking her pretty head.
"I never gain weight."
    "Honey, you did know that the baby grows in your
abdomen, didn't you?"
    "Oh sure, I've heard that... you mean the baby
grows in there and makes me big?" Barbet's eyes widened
in horror.
    "Of course, but it's only temporary. It's all over
in nine... hey, how long does gestation take for your
people, dear?"
    "I don't know," Barbet said in horror. "I thought
you knew."
    "Every species is different, dear. On Philo a
female is pregnant for 32 months. On Cistern Seven it
takes less than five. You don't have any idea?"
    "Oh, wait. My neighbor was pregnant and she waited
for seven months, I saw her."
    "Seven months from when you could tell she was
pregnant, or seven months from conceiving?"
    "From when I noticed."
    "Good, that should make it nine months or so.
Ah... what were we talking about?"
    "Clothes."
    "Oh yeah. You need something that can expand
without being uncomfortable. I'm afraid you'll have to
order your clothing. They don't make maternity clothes
for seven year old's, and that what you've been
wearing. We'll go to my tailor, he's an expert at
almost everything. He can make up a computer model of
your body and give you choices, he'll have them
finished by next week."
    "Oh, thanks. I really do have a lot to learn,
don't I?"
    "In some areas, dear. In others you're an expert.
Come on, let's see Girard."

    Mark handed Furen a bill of lading and Furen
glanced at it quickly. "Mark, is this right?"
    "What's that?"
    "Number 12 of 67?"
    "It sure is. Is your head hurting already?"
    "No, but where's this all coming from?"
    "All over Savannah. We are replacing Schroder and
his transporter. I knew we would, considering our
prices."
    "Is that wise?"
    "Why not? We make money and drive him out, all at
the same time."
    "He won't stand still for this, the transporter is
his life."
    "Yup, that's right," Mark said happily.
    "He'll try to get back at us."
    "He sure will."
    "Barbet and your mom went to town alone."
    "Huh?"
    "The women are alone. If Schroder wanted to hurt
us, he'd do it through them, wouldn't he?"
    "He wouldn't dare, the people of Savannah would
tear him to pieces."
    "He dared to kill your father. Besides, with his
transporter he could take them anywhere in the galaxy.
The people of Savannah would never know and we might
never find him."
    "Are you trying to scare me?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, it's working. I'll send a few men in to
keep an eye on them. You're right, if Schroder loses
everything he will have nothing left to lose. You send
for a while, I'll be right back."
    Furen sent three more deliveries before Mark
returned.
    "Ok, it's all taken care of. The women have guards
and they're on the way back. From now on they will go
nowhere without guards. Mom might object for her own
safety, but she would never endanger Barbet."
    "Good. I wish you would have had the foresight to
put our chalet on a place of power when you built it.
That's how senders on our home world protect
themselves."
    "Sorry, I never thought of it. We could move it."
    "Not on your life, Barbet has a garden now and
nothing could make her leave it."
    "Well don't rule out technology, little fellow, it
has it's uses. I can put up defenses that even your
Zarbats can't penetrate."
    Furen froze and turned slowly. "Are you serious?"
    "Huh? About what?"
    "Zarbats. Could your weapons protect people from
Zarbats? They're senders too, you know?"
    "No sh... kidding? You never told me that... yes,
you did, didn't you. I just wasn't paying attention.
Wow, can you imagine that?"
    "I don't have too, I am the lone survivor of an
expedition wiped out by one."
    "Oh man, what a memory to carry around. I'll tell
you what, I'll try to come up with something and you
can test it yourself. If you could get through it,
they could too. Fair enough?"
    "It sounds good to me. How long would it take and
how big would it be?"
    "I don't know, depends on what I come up with. If
you're talking global defense, then it would take a FTL
freighter to move it. For a village, something you
could hold in your two hands."
    Furen nodded, silent in thought. He stiffened
slowly and turned to Mark.
    "Mark?"
    "Yeah?"
    "How large would a device have to be to remove a
planet?"
    "To remove it? Hey, you're not talking global
destruction, are you? That would violate so many laws
and treaties that I don't even want to think about it.
Even deadly lifeforms are left strictly alone. Man was
considered an extremely deadly lifeform at one time,
but we've improved a bit since then. Don't even think
about it Furen, and never out loud."
    "I'm still new here," Furen shrugged and turned
back to his work, but the idea was still in his mind.
Nobody understood their fear of Zarbats, nobody ever
could until they saw one ripping the intestines out of
a friend. An enemy that could appear anywhere at any
time was the worst of all possible enemies, the
ultimate terrorist. Furen was willing to do anything
to stop them, and yes, to punish them as well. Death
was the only punishment that a savage, mindless beast
could understand.

    That night Furen and Barbet discussed some of what
he and Mark had talked about, but she quickly lost
interest and fell asleep. Furen watched her tiny
sleeping face move in response to her dreams. She
froze and her face became terrified. Furen was about
to wake her when it suddenly relaxed and a smile
appeared on her lips. Furen smiled in return and bent
down to kiss her tenderly on the lips. He rolled over
and fell asleep some time later with his mind still on
the Zarbats and huge bombs.
    Near two in the morning a slight sound jolted Furen
awake. He felt a sharp sting on his neck and reach out
to clap a hand over it, but fell asleep before his hand
reached his neck.

    Furen felt rough hands shaking him. He groggily
opened his eyes and stared at the far window. It was a
western window and the sun was streaming in. He had
overslept, it was afternoon.
    "Furen, Furen wake up!" Mark shouted in his ear.
    Furen moaned and rolled over. Mark was standing on
Barbet's side of the bed, his eyes were frightened, his
face a frozen mask of terror. Furen struggled to a
sitting position and looked around.
    "I overslept. Where's Barbet?"
    "Furen, she's gone. It is late afternoon, what
happened?"
    "Don't know, I'm tired. Are you sure Barbet didn't
go shopping?"
    "Furen she's gone!"
    "Gone where?"
    "I don't know. She's not in the house or anywhere
on the property. I let you sleep at first, but when I
checked more closely later and couldn't touch Barbet's
mind mom told me to wake you up. Are you all right?"
    "Groggy, deathly tired, can't talk right," Furen
mumbled. He knew the news of Barbet's disappearance
should have terrified him, but he couldn't seem to wake
up enough to respond.
    "Drugs!" Mark screamed and began searching Furen's
body with rough fingers. They stopped at the back of
his neck.
    "Tranquilizer injection. Since you're so small it
must have affected you more. Sit still, I'll be right
back," Mark said on the way out the door.
    Furen fell back on the bed and his eyes closed when
his head hit the pillow. He woke briefly when he heard
a hiss and a sharp pain on his neck. He forced his
eyes open to see Mark, then closed them again. He felt
a coolness spreading over his body. It finally invaded
his brain and he sat up slowly, shaking his head.
Barbet was gone, she never left without saying
anything. He'd been drugged, so she was taken in her
sleep. Only one man would do that.
    "Schroder," Furen mumbled as he stared at Mark with
bloodshot eyes.
    "I have men out looking for him, they can't find
him."
    "Guard the transporter," Furen forced his mouth to
move, "don't let anyone change the settings on it."
    "Oh hell, why didn't I think of that. Damned, I'll
be right back."
    In a moment Mark returned looking sullen.
    "It's been used, several people have used it this
morning. I'm sorry, Furen, I didn't think."
    "Is it guarded?" Furen forced the words out.
    "Yeah, nobody's getting near it until we get there.
Can you move now?"
    Furen nodded and tried to swing his feet off the
bed. On the second attempt he held a hand out to Mark,
who helped him off the bed. Furen dressed himself with
some difficulty while Mark turned his back. When he
was done Mark picked him up and rushed him out to the
hovercraft. The ride to town was the worst, most
horrifying ride Furen had ever taken, and he wished it
had been faster. When they pulled up in front of the
transporter shed dozens of people were milling around.
Enough strength had returned for Furen to hop out on
his own power and he pushed his way through the crowd
to the shed door. The guards recognized him and let
him pass. Mark joined him just inside the door. A
crate of silver bars had been pushed off the platform
and laid on it's side in the dirt.
    Furen hurried over to the controls and stood on
tiptoes to look at the dials. A tiny computer screen
was set into the middle of the console. Furen punched
up the command for the last transport coordinates and
stopped, looking up at Mark.
    "Do you know how many people used this today?"
    "No, why?"
    "The transporter saves the coordinates of the last
five shipments in case more than one shipment will be
sent to the same place. After that previous
coordinates are worthless because of galactic shift.
This is a Yorkshire model, I have been studying them in
great detail."
    "Just a second, I'll see if anybody knows." Mark
rushed out and Furen could hear him yelling outside.
He was back in a moment.
    "Three that anybody knows of. Jimenez was sending
his silver when we stopped him, he doesn't know if he
finished entering the coordinates or not.
    "So three or four. That means his transport is
still in here."
    "Somebody could have used it after him, maybe his
men."
    "Let's hope not. Can you get your hands on a few
of those modern weapons you were talking about?"
    Mark rushed out without a word. Furen pushed the
"back" button three times and stared at the
coordinates. There was a navigation console beside the
main one. He recorded the last five transports, then
punched up the coordinates of the third one and studied
them while he waited for Mark to returned.
    Furen had studied the Yorkshire transporter in
detail to find out why it would link to the place of
power on Raglasy. He was fascinated by the intricate
machines. He knew that some models were simple,
intended for transcontinental shipments only. Other's
like the Yorkshire were very intricate. They could
work off spacial coordinates and make adjustments for
minor galactic shifts or planetary rotation. The
Yorkshire even had a search function to find
transporters near a known coordinate. That was how the
Yorkshire found the place of power on Raglasy. When a
sender was standing in the Great Place of Power on
Midden Island, it filled all the prerequisites for a
transporter model called the Bulk Shifter. The place
of power supplied the magnetic pulse and the sender
supplied the power and intelligence for contact. It
was obvious to him that the first contact had been a
complete accident, but the First Sender's brother and
Schroder had taken advantage of the situation. An
unlicensed transporter could be very valuable for the
black market or the slave trade.
    Mark returned and Furen pointed at the screen.
"Mark, do you know this place?"
    "New Argentina, very new and very wild. It's just
the type of place he would go, nobody asks questions
there. For him it would only have one drawback, it's a
predominantly Latin world and he's very white."
    "Barbet would stand out anywhere."
    "Not if he convinced them that she was his
daughter. She does look the part, you know?" Mark said
apologetically.
    Furen nodded and accepted the weapons Mark piled in
his arms. Furen returned the largest one and
sequestered the rest around his body. Furen pressed
the "activate" button and they hurried over to the
platform.
    "New Argentina has no customs officials, so the
weapons shouldn't be a problem," Mark mumbled as he
checked over the large particle accelerator and slung
it over his shoulder. Furen glanced at the countdown
on the wall and took a deep breath as it reached zero.
In a moment they were standing on a high outdoor
platform carved out of the side of a hill. They
stepped to the edge and looked down the hill at the
city lights.
    "Watch yourself here Furen, it's a lot like the
west in the 1800's. They even ride horses. They also
shoot people they don't like."
    Furen had felt a growing fire of hatred burning in
him since enough senses returned to feel again. Now
the hatred had become a roaring fire in his soul. He
did not mourn the loss of Barbet, because he would
never admit that she might be gone. He thought of her
as simply missing for a while because no other thought
would have allowed him to function sanely. He would
consider nothing else until he faced Schroder over the
barrel of a gun and could demand retribution.
    They made their way down the carved stone steps,
then hurried down the gravel road. It was very dark by
the time they reached the edge of the town. People
were drinking in the streets, laughing and milling
about, apparently pursuing a lost tradition called bar
hopping. Furen and Mark paused for a moment, getting a
feel of the town, then stepped into a crowd of
laughing, singing people. Furen noticed the startled
glance of a woman. She looked at him closely, shook
her head and took a long drink from the bottle. As she
glanced down again she pointed at Furen's chest.
    "Are you a Leprechaun?"
    "Yes ma'am, I am."
    "Do I get three wishes?"
    "If you can answer one question correctly," Furen
said nervously now that they were the center of
attention.
    "Waaasss that?"
    "How many people have come through the transporter
in the last ten hours?"
    "I don't know," she yelled indignantly.
    "I do," another voice said casually. They turned
to the man speaking.
    "And?" Furen prompted.
    "I only have one wish, gold," he held out his hand
with his palm open.
    Mark quickly took a credit card from his pocket and
typed in an amount. He turned it and showed it to the
man. The man looked at the amount and Mark, in
surprise, then nodded slowly.
    "Five, all men, all at the same time, and all from
Savannah."
    "Are you sure?" Furen asked in disappointment.
    "Sure I'm sure. I'm the custodian of the
transporter on day shift."
    "Do you know where they are now?"
    "El Blanco Toro, end of the street. You can't miss
them, they're dressed funny like you."
    Mark pressed his thumb against the corner of the
credit card and handed it to the agent. The agent
nodded, pocketed the card and walked off. By this time
the crowd had dispersed to watch a fistfight. They had
a good view of the end of the street and the El Blanco
Toro bar.
    "Schroder's men," Mark said quietly while he took a
weapon from his pant's pocket and adjusted the dials.
    "They might know where he is," Furen said
hopefully.
    "If you were Schroder would you tell them where you
were going?"
    "No."
    "Then the question is, what do you want to do now?"
    "Go back and look at that fifth coordinate before
somebody erases it."
    Mark nodded and they hurried back up the street.

    Barbet awoke with a terrible headache. She grew
aware of the hum of machinery. She was rocking from
side to side. She was not at home in bed, she was in a
craft of some kind, probably in the baggage compartment
since she couldn't feel anything but a hard floor. Her
hands were tied and her eyes were blindfolded. She
knew it would be worthless to call out to Furen, if he
were around she would not be treated like this.
Instead she tried to reach out for his mind, but
without a place of power she could feel nothing.
    The effort to stay awake was just too much. She
laid her head back down on the hard floor and slept.

    "That's Epsilon, or a planet near there," Mark
pointed at the screen. "Hell, it's half way across the
galaxy."
    "It makes no difference to me," Furen punched in
the coordinates and started for the platform.
    "Hold it Furen, they have very strict weapons laws.
Do you see that star beside the name? If you go armed,
they'll burn you on the platform. It's a no nonsense
weapons warning. It means that deadly force is used."
    "I don't need weapons," Furen began shedding
weapons and tossing them in the dirt. Mark hurried to
do the same.
    "Furen, you can bet that Schroder found some way
around the law, he will be armed. You'll be
defenseless against him."
    "What do you suggest, Mark? Should we sit around
and wait for Schroder to come back? By then Barbet
will be dead, and we both know it."
    "I don't know, maybe we can talk to the officials.
There are ways of getting help and legal weapons."
    "No."
    "Why?"
    "I don't want Schroder in a penal colony where I
can't get at him. I want him free."
    "Do you plan to just walk up and kill him?" Mark
asked, half seriously.
    "Yes," Furen looked up and locked gazes. "Is that
a problem for you?"
    "It's... no, no it's not," Mark said firmly. "It's
something I should have done myself, a long time ago.
But we need to take it easy and go at this the right
way. First let's check into lodging, there is
something I need to do."
    "There's no time for that, we both know what will
happen to Barbet while we are relaxing," Furen waved
him off impatiently.
    "Furen, we can't help her if we're dead and we
can't help if we can't find her. This is an advanced
planet, lodging includes an entercom."
    "What's an entercom?"
    "It's a universal communications terminal,
entertainment terminal, and... a computer with access
to the planetary database and records."
    "So?"
    "Addresses, legal arms dealers and licenses, iron
deposits, a map of the planet's magnetic field," Mark
said significantly.

    The White Swan Inn was a small forty story complex
with a thousand rooms and a shopping center. They
checked in and went directly to their room. Mark
wasted no time in finding and activating the entercom.
    "Ok, the first thing we need is temporary
citizenship," Mark said as he worked over the
holographic keyboard.
    "What! Mark, we don't have time for this."
    "It's necessary, only a citizen can carry weapons.
Citizenship can be bought for a price from the right
officials. My father was an expert at these things, I
picked up a lot from him."
    "Then?"
    "Then we get permits to carry weapons and we can
order the weapons right here over the terminal. They
will be delivered in a matter of hours. After that I
will have my vehicle record transferred from Savannah
to here so I can fly, and for another small fee I can
lease an armed flyer. While we're waiting for these
things we will get a judge to swear out a warrant on
Schroder, locate him and the nearest places of power,
and we're ready. As citizens we can act on the warrant
as legal representatives of Epsilon and nobody will
interfere."
    Furen paced the floor as Mark worked over the
entercom. The hours passed and Furen could only think
of Barbet and his unborn child in the hands of
Schroder. He knew what Barbet would be going through
by now, he had no doubts about Schroder's reason for
abducting her. He only hoped she would be strong
enough to withstand the abuse with no lasting effects.
She was strong, but in many ways very innocent. Now
that childish innocence would be gone. Furen had no
intention of allowing Schroder to live, no matter what
the circumstances or consequences. If they found
Schroder in the hands of the local authorities, he
would have to destroy Schroder and face the
consequences. The people of Furen's planet did not
believe in allowing the law to handle their problems.
Since the law was not the injured party, they could not
be expected to act in the victim's best interest. This
was Furen's problem and he would handle it. If he
allowed such an offence to go unpunished, how could he
prevent it from happening to him and his people again?
The only way to prevent crime was to destroy the
criminal, make the penalty for transgression so severe
that nobody would ever attempt it again.
    "I've got it," Mark shouted and pointed at the
holographic screen. Furen hurried around to the front
of the screen and studied it closely.
    "This is the only property owned by Schroder on
Epsilon," Mark pointed at a red square. "The
satellites show one cluster of buildings, and only one
is heated. That must be his dwelling. See that
reddish glow there?" he pointed at a small red area.
    Furen nodded.
    "It's a skimmer, the engine is still hot. He just
arrived, been there less than an hour. This yellow
circle on the cliff overlooking the dwelling is a place
of power. Are you ready?" he turned to Furen.
    "I've been ready for hours. How long will it take
us to get there?"
    "By flyer, fifteen minutes."
    "Then let's go, the longer we wait the more he can
do to her."
    They found the sleek black, heavily-armed skimmer
on the roof. It opened to their hotel key. Mark
helped Furen in and ran around to the pilot's seat.
The plastic bubble closed slowly while Mark activated
the engines.
    "There could be one problem," Mark said as he
worked over the controls.
    Furen looked up from the neat miniature pistol he'd
been inspecting.
    "Schroder has a registered FTL ship. I can't
locate it, it's not at the spaceport."
    "There wasn't a ship on the entercom," Furen
frowned as he reviewed what he had seen on the
holographic screen.
    "It could be in one of the buildings, I suppose. A
faster that light ship can be small, they come in all
sizes from scout size to freighters. I suggest that I
drop you at the place of power and I'll go in for
Barbet," Mark said as he raised the flyer off the hotel
roof and turned it 45 degrees. They nosed up and shot
skyward in a flash.
    "I'll go in," Furen said as he hung on to the arm
rest.
    "I have a grudge against him too, Furen. He killed
my father."
    "I'm aware of that Mark, but if he threatens to
harm Barbet unless you drop your weapons, would you
drop it?"
    "Of course," Mark said with a hurried glance.
    "That's why I need to go in," Furen said coldly.
    Mark gave Furen a startled glance, then
concentrated on his flying.

        Barbet grew aware of hands on her body, hands
much too large to be Furen's. She fought the drug
until she could open her eyes. She blinked at Schroder
as he sat back and stared at her with a wicked smile.
    "Well little lady, you are awake at last. You have
very nice... assets."
    "You take liberties," Barbet forced the words out.
    "Indeed I do. For the next month I own you. What
happens after that depends on how entertaining and
cooperative you have been."
    "I plan to entertain you to death," Barbet growled.
She fought to regain full control of her senses. It
was hard to see or think clearly, and only the danger
kept her awake. She knew that Furen would be hunting
for her, he had gone through much more to find her
before. But she felt no need to warn Schroder or this.
Idle threats would only make him prepare for Furen's
arrival. Let it be his surprise. Furen was clever and
brave, she only needed to survive until he did show up.
    "I need food and a stimulant," Barbet mumbled and
sat up. She found her legs and hands still tied.
    "Why not, we have all the time in the world,"
Schroder gave her a twisted smile. "I would rather
have you aware of what was happening, it will be much
more fun that way.
    "If you say so," Barbet mumbled and turned to study
the room. She worked her hands against the ropes, they
were tight, but she was sure she could work them free
eventually. With a good twist of her wrists once
Schroder was out of the room, the blood would lubricate
her wrists and it might be enough to pull herself free.
    Schroder's hand moved up to her knee slowly. He
gazed in her eyes, looking for a reaction. She
pretended to ignore him and look carefully around the
room with unconcern. When his hand reached the apex,
she glanced up slowly with a frown.
    "Are you going to get that food or not?"
    The smile left Schroder's lips and he glared, then
dropped his hand and stalked out of the room. Barbet
knew he would be in a foul mood when he returned, but
she hoped to be free by then. There was a window just
small enough to let her tiny body through, if she could
free her hands and feet before he returned.
    She gave her wrist a wicked twist in the ropes and
felt the burning pain, then the wet heat of blood as it
dripped down her hands. She turned her wrists
carefully until they were lubricated, then began
pulling and twisting her right wrist. She cupped her
small hand and twisted and yanked, feeling the rope at
the widest part of her hand. With a vicious yank she
freed her hand and shook the rope off the other one.
Quickly she began freeing her feet. She had some
trouble with the knots, but in less than a minute she
was free. She took the time to grab the two best
weapons in the room, she had carefully selected them
while Schroder made his exploration of her legs. Now
she held one firmly in each hand, one grass cutter with
a long handle, and a very long screw driver with a
small tip. Both would make an excellent weapon. She
rolled a plastic barrel to the window and hopped up.
She found the catch to the window, unlocked it and held
it open while staring over her shoulder. Schroder was
still gone. She pulled herself into the window and
began struggling through when she heard a sound behind
her. With a mighty pull of her hands she shot through
the window and was outside running in moments.
    It was dark. She didn't know where she was or
where to go, but anywhere would be better than with
Schroder. In moments she realized that she was not
dressed for the wilds of this strange planet. She had
no shoes, and her white silky dress which somebody had
thrown over her sleeping body, would have been a big
hit at the mansion, but was little use against the
briars and branches in the forest.
    Several times she stepped on something sharp and
cried out in the dark, and once she stepped on
something slimy and wiggling and leaped three feet into
the air with all her hair standing on end. She ran
until she was out of breath, then leaned heavily
against a tree to catch her breath. Insects landed on
her bare arms and legs, biting before she could slap
them away. Stealthy shapes moved through the woods,
not far away. She clutched her feeble weapons and
stared as she followed their sound through the
darkness.
    What she needed was to get higher up, somewhere
that would allow her to see lights. If she could spot
a town or nearby dwelling, she could get help. She
doubted that Schroder's actions would be condoned, once
people knew what he was up too.
    She stared through the tree tops, looking for a
hill or mountain. All she could see was leaves and
branches, with a sprinkling of stars glimmering
occasionally. A clearing, clearings had always meant
peace and security. If she could find a clearing she
might be able to discern a hill against the backdrop of
stars. She walked more slowly, letting her feet feel
the ground she walked on. What she was looking for was
the hard packed earth which would signify that she'd
found a path. Paths usually led to clearings and
water. Right now she needed both. Her mouth felt like
dry cotton.
    She searched carefully for over an hour before she
found the clearing she had been looking for. Her ears
also told her that there was a stream nearby. She
stood in the clearing and let her eyes wander over the
area above the treetops. She was sure she could see
the blackness of a hill just above the trees. She
backed towards the far trees, staring up at the
blackness. In a moment she had reached the edge of the
clearing and she was sure that she could see the
blackness of a hill or mountain. She had no idea how
far away it might be, but she was sure it was there.
She turned and stared into two red glowing eyes
towering high above her. She stared to scream when she
felt two hands grab her arms and lift her off the
ground.
    "You thought you were smart, didn't you little
witch? You forgot that our technology allows us to see
in the dark. You don't have this stuff on Raglasy, do
you little witch," Schroder shook her roughly, nearly
pulling her arms out of the sockets. The red, glowing
eyes drew close to her face and Barbet realized they
were lights glowing in a pair of goggles over
Schroder's eyes. She felt stupid, Furen had told her
of night vision goggles, but she had forgotten. There
had been no need to remember before this.
    Schroder's foul breath touched her face as he
continued to hold her off the ground by her two arms
and his mouth neared hers. She closed her eyes,
gritted her teeth, then slammed her head into the
goggles as hard as she could. Barbet was stunned, but
her clawed fingers grabbed the goggles and gouged long
furrows in his face. She wrenched the goggles off his
face as she fell to the ground.
    Barbet ran towards the sound of running water.
Schroder screamed in rage and pain, then she heard his
feet pounding over the ground behind her. She knew he
could see nothing now, his eyes had grown used to the
half-light of the goggles. He was simply following the
sound of her feet. His long legs propelled him over
the ground much faster than hers could. She felt brush
against her face and reach out, then carefully felt her
way around it and sank to the ground at the bottom of
the large bush. Schroder ran for a few feet then
stopped, panting and listening as he tried to hear her
footsteps. They were close to the water now and the
briskly running stream helped to mask the sound of her
ragged breathing.
    Schroder's feet shifted in the dry leaves, then
stopped again.
    "I know you're hiding here, I heard you stop. It's
just a matter of time before I find you. All I have to
do is wait for daylight, it's only an hour or so away.
If you move, I'll hear you," Schroder said.
    Barbet waited breathlessly. She had lost the grass
cutter in the struggle, but she still had the
screwdriver in her belt. It would be some help in a
fight. Her tiny hand gently touched the ground around
her until she found a long stick in the leaves. She
carefully pulled it free and shook it, then tossed it
in the woods behind her. Her ploy might have worked,
except that the stick hit a tree before it landed. The
two sounds made it obvious that it was a thrown object.
    "Nice try, but I'm not stupid. Come on out,
Barbet, I won't hurt you. We'll have a little fun,
your strutting little cock of a husband will never
know. Then I'll gladly send you home and go on my way.
Is it a deal?"
    Barbet searched the leaves again until she found a
rock. She hefted it, wondering if she could hit
Schroder from where she hid, then decided it would be
better to throw it to one side. She stood slightly and
tossed the rock to her right. It landed heavily in the
leaves, rolled a bit, then stopped. Schroder's feet
shifted in the leaves again, then stopped.
    "Come on, Barbet, let's go in where it's warm. You
must be freezing out here in that little lace number
you're wearing. Did you know Epsilon has some really
deadly animals and snakes. Some snakes grow up to four
feet long and are as big as my arm."
    Barbet had a plan now. She searched until she
found another rock, smaller than the first, then she
turned and felt out in front of her. If her ears were
right she was only a hundred feet from the stream. She
needed to get there and now knew how she might do it.
She readied herself and jumped well up in the air and
as far away as she could. Her feet landed three feet
away, making a sound much like the first rock she had
thrown. Schroder never knew the difference. She
turned to her right again and threw the rock. It
landed with a loud thunk. Barbet turned and leaped
again, landing on bare ground and making no sound. She
knew she could probably do it again until she did make
a sound, but she felt around and found another rock
first, then she jumped. Again she landed on bare
ground. She felt around with her bare feet and found
sand, littered with a few sparse leaves. She gently
inched forward, feeling with her feet as she went.
When she found a solid mat of leaves she jumped once
more, landing in a pile of leaves.
    "Come on, Barbet, aren't you getting tired of this.
We could be back at my dwelling having a nice meal and
sitting by the fire. Instead I'm standing here in the
dark freezing and you're hiding there throwing rocks.
Doesn't that seem a little silly to you?"
    Barbet threw the rock, but this time it bounced
from tree to tree. Barbet's eyes widened with fear.
To a trained hunter that series of sounds would have
pinpointed her location. But Schroder was no woodsman.
He simply stood waiting. Barbet now figured that she
was 75 feet from the stream. It was much louder in her
ears. She took a chance and leaped forward once more.
Her feet landed on sharp rocks and she nearly screamed
out loud. She sank to the ground and breathed heavily
as she tried to endure the pain. When she reached down
she could feel a wetness on her feet, they were
bleeding. She felt around and found ragged pieces of
sharp rocks all around. But, her hands encountered no
leaves. She inched forward on her hands and feet,
crawling ever closer to the water. By going carefully
she could avoid the sharp rocks and inch closer to the
water without making noise.
    After a few moments she picked up a small rock and
threw it near Schroder.
    "Hey, that's not fair," he called out to the
darkness. "Come on, Barbet, I'm tired of this game. I
don't want to hurt you, but if I have to go back and
hunt you down with my flyer, I won't be responsible for
your death. It's in your hands. We're alone on this
planet, you know. Nobody is coming to help."
    Barbet froze in terror, then went forward again.
If that was true then she certainly didn't want to fall
into Schroder's hands with no hope of escape. She must
either escape him, or kill him. Her feet sank into the
blissful cool wetness of moss, and she took a moment to
let her tortured feet luxuriate in the coolness. She
crept forward again, taking two more steps into moss
before she found leaves again. She decided that she
was close enough to the water to take a chance on
sneaking forward. With slow, carefully-placed steps
she inched forward, not more than fifty feet from the
water. She was sure she could walk normally without
being heard now, but she took no chances. She placed
each foot carefully on the ground before taking a step.
She took three more steps before she realized that the
sky above her was growing lighter. She looked up in
horror, then stared hastily around the clearing. They
were still in complete darkness but dawn was only
minutes away. She threw caution to the wind and
hurried forward, doing her best to be as quiet as
possible.
    In a few more moments she was at the edge of the
water. She stepped in and looked around. There was no
sign of Schroder. If only she could see... Belatedly
she remembered the goggles hanging from her left hand.
She put them to her face and stared around. They were
dead. When she struck them with her head she must have
damaged them. She dropped them in the deep water and
waded across. She intended to be a mile or more away
by the time that dawn arrived. Unless Schroder had
more magic devices to see her in the forest, he would
never find her.

    Mark searched the last room and returned to find
Furen studying drops of blood leading to a window. He
found blood on the plastic barrel and blood on the
window.
    "She escaped, she went out here," Furen pointed and
turned for the door.
    "Are you sure?" Mark glanced at the window, then
hurried to catch up with Furen.
    "Of course I'm sure. On my planet everybody hunts
to survive. Her sign is easy to follow. The blood
comes from her wrists, not from a wound," Furen said
matter-of-factly.
    "But how do you know she escaped, and how do you
know the blood comes from her wrists?"
    "There was blood on the ropes, and the window sill
when she pulled herself through. No blood on the
bottom which might come from a wound. She escaped
because only she could get through that window, and
she's not here."
    "It will be daylight in a few minutes, Furen. I'll
leave you here and go up to the place of power."
    "Yes, hurry," Furen said as he glanced around, just
outside the house. "You can contact her and me from
there and let me know how she is and where to find her.
Schroder has no power, so you won't be able to find
him, but I will."
    "Look for that ship," Mark called and pointed at
the outbuildings.
    Furen turned and studied the buildings around him.
One seemed to be large enough for a ship. He took a
good look around then hurried over to the building.
The door was open so Furen slid inside and found the
light sensor. He waved his hand across it and the
lights came on to reveal a nearly empty building. He
started to turn away but the writing on one of the
crates drew his attention. He turned back and hurried
to the crate. It was a blockbuster, a multi-gigaton
nuclear bomb which was so dirty that it had been
outlawed for centuries. The crate was empty. He
stared around and found dozens of empty crates filling
the side of the room. All had contained deadly
weapons, and all the weapons were designed for a ship.
    The ship wasn't there, but the lines on the
platicrete floor indicated that it had been. And now
the ship, wherever it was, was heavily armed. He had
enough weapons on board to destroy half a dozen
planets.
    "Furen, I'm here. Do you want to come up?"
    "Yes, bring Barbet up there first. Mark, we have
bigger problems than we anticipated. I'll explain when
I get there."
    "I've located Barbet..."
    "I'm here," Barbet's sweet, musical voice flowed
through his head. In a moment he stood before her and
she smothered him with kisses. He finally pulled away
and stood back to look her over.
    "How was it?" he asked with a significant look.
    "I'm untouched, and he's very angry," she smiled
and kissed him again. He groaned and struggled,
finally breaking the embrace.
    "Barbet, we don't have time for that. Schroder's
still out there and he has enough weapons on his ship
to destroy several planets. We have to stop him, if he
escapes we will never be safe anywhere."
    "I'll alert the planetary fleet, if he lifts off,
they'll see him," Mark called and ran for the flyer.
    "If he lifts off, it will be too late," Furen
mumbled as he studied the brightening forest below him.
They both swung around and searched to their right as a
deafening roar broke the stillness of the morning.
Barbet threw up her finger to point, just as Furen
spotted the ship rising from a lake just behind
Schroder's complex. Water ran off the ship as it rose
and turned in their direction. They both heard the
flyer lifting off and spun around to see Mark turning
the flyer to intercept the ship.
    "He doesn't have a chance, does he?" Barbet asked
anxiously.
    "Not without our help. Barbet, look," Furen
fumbled a wrinkled picture from his pocket. "Remember
this?"
    "The place where you sent the First Sender's
brother?"
    "Yes. I know it's hard to see, but if we send that
far it will take both of us. Can you do it?"
    They glance up as tiny rockets shot towards the
ship and exploded harmlessly against the hull.
    "We must," Barbet huddled closer and studied the
picture. Furen held it out in front of them so they
could see both it and the ship. Fire shot out from the
ship and rocked the tiny flyer. They ignored it as
they studied the picture. Larger rockets launched from
the ship and exploded where Barbet had been some time
before in the clearing down below. He seemed to think
she was still there.
    "Now," Furen growled and strained against the heavy
weight of the ship. It was an impossible struggle
until he felt Barbet's power join his own, and then
surprisingly, Mark's extra boost of power joined
theirs. The ship vanished, to appear plummeting
headlong towards the distant planet with binary stars.
It was less than a mile from the surface when it
appeared. They could feel Schroder struggling to bring
the nose of the ship up, but with a determined push
they maintained it's headlong plunge. In a moment it
hit the planet and a blinding nuclear explosion made
them all break contact, blinking at the beautiful
morning around them, which seemed suddenly dark and
unreal.
    "Let's go home," Furen said and took Barbet's arm
to lead her to the flyer. She took one step and
collapsed. She looked up apologetically and held up
her arms. He lifted her and carried her to the flyer
as it landed. Mark lifted her up and she and Furen
shared the passenger seat on the way back. The contact
with Furen made Barbet aware of the significance of the
planet where Schroder's had crashed. If Mark knew, he
didn't care, as long as Schroder was finally dead.
    "Do you think it was enough?" Barbet whispered to
Furen. He nodded slightly, then glanced past her at
Mark. Mark seemed to be unaware of anything but his
memories.
    "I'll commission a ship to investigate the
wreckage, and I'll give them instructions to photograph
the entire planet to make sure there are no survivors.
Then we'll know for sure. But I believe that the
Zarbats are finally dead, our people can live in peace.
    "I hope so. Would you ever want to go back?"
    "We can visit... between pregnancies."
    "Are you planning a lot of pregnancies?" she asked
teasingly.
    "Sure, if we can't import a few million people from
our planet, we'll just have to make them."

Please go to The First Sender, Book 3