Emancipation

Chapter 9 : Defiance

Chapter 9

Raen rubbed her hands together and placed them on the handlebars. Today was the day. She felt the adrenaline rush anticipating the thrill of racing through the streets. Ferguson had gotten her first solo delivery cleared through dispatch. This would be the first time Raen would trace her way to her delivery on her own. Ferguson arrived waving a tablet with a box tucked beneath her other arm. Raen could see the reflection of a wide grin plastered across her own face in the mirrored lenses of Ferguson’s riding goggles.

Ferguson cracked a smile, “Okay Rainy Day, your first solo delivery is this package of teeg spleens for Geniean Apothecary Works,” She held out the tablet with the delivery order.

Raen looked over the order, she had forty-five minutes to make the delivery. Her weeks of drilling on maps and locations told her that it should take no longer than twenty minutes at this time of day. That meant a comfortable cushion of time. She was practically vibrating with the urgency of beginning the task.

Ferguson handed Raen the package. “Don’t forget to secure it properly.”

Raen bit down on a smile, and began lashing the package down to the cargo area of the hoverbike. “And, don’t go over 72 clicks per hour, and obey traffic directions!” Raen hastily finished the mantra Ferguson had begun every delivery with since Raen’s apprenticeship had begun.

Ferguson nodded and gave her the thumbs up. Raen sat on the saddle of the hoverbike and flicked her way through the startup procedure. Then she seated the helmet on her head with the Baerd guild logo prominently emblazoned across both sides. Cautiously, Raen maneuvered the hoverbike into an outbound lane of traffic. Raen let out a long-suppressed and highly unprofessional whoop and holler before engaging the engine when her turn came.

The hoverbike raced out into traffic. It felt like it took no effort to accelerate. Raen revved the engine and switched to a higher gear as she really got into the flow of traffic. It felt so easy and natural piloting the hoverbike among the various other vehicle types sharing the road. She pulled into the fast lane and accelerated again to the limit of legal speed. She wished she didn't have to wear the helmet. She was could imagine the feel of the wind blowing through her hair. But, safety was the priority. Your delivery won't happen if you are dead. Raen took the next right turn onto a crowded street and cycled back the engine so rapidly it burped a little, but she didn't plow into the traffic ahead of her or any of the pedestrians.

Raen traced the rest of the route on her mental map of the city. Even with this much traffic, she would make her promised delivery time. Raen, let her mind wander a bit. The traffic flow reminded her of the river's flow on the snake collecting expedition she had gone on with Honor Bagood. That had been part of her first job. It was how she had the skills and knowledge needed to save Jayden Baerd from a silver striped viper. That was how she had gotten this job. Time and causality flowed like a river too. She wondered where the river of her life was going.

Raen hit the air break to keep from hitting a pair of street kids scuffling in the street. She placed a hand on her package to make sure this wasn't an attempt to steal her cargo. It was a legit fight and they quickly moved out of the street and let her pass. Raen cycled up the engine and took her hand off the cargo. She was off before anyone had a chance to snatch the package. Not that teeg spleens were a big thing on the black market. They had little value except as a supplement to the feed fed to some of the captive snakes held by the apothecary guild. Some elements of the spleens contributed to the potency of some venoms. Raen knew that from her time as a snake handler for the apothecary guild.

The next turn took her onto Felene St. just two blocks north of Geniean Apothecary Works. She slowed the cycle and stopped in front of the business. With a few flicks of her fingers, she had the package unfastened. Then she withdrew her logbook from her messenger bag. She headed into the shop. "Greetings, I assume those are my spleens?" The smiling proprietor greeted her immediately. He stepped around the counter and held his hand out for the package. Raen handed it over and began filling out her log entry. When she was finished she handed the book to the apothecary for his signature. He signed it and handed the log and pen back to her. "Thanks for the prompt delivery, early even. Have a safe trip back to the depot."

Raen smiled and opened her log to see how he rated her. Her eyes opened wide, five stars, on her first solo delivery. Raen held in a shout until she had left the shop. She let the expression of success out the moment she mounted the hoverbike with a loud, "Yesss!" as she pumped her fist.


* * *

"If there is any way you can find my key, I can get us both out of here," Whispered the prisoner from her cell around the corner from Beaoul. "It is on a gold chain and is pearlescent gold. It can unlock any door and get you to a neutral Middle of Everywhen entity or anywhere else you could want to go. All you have to do is focus on a destination. Put the key in a lock or if hard-pressed and really focused push it into a wall and a door will appear. The door will open and freedom is on the other side."

"I think I know where they would put that kind of thing. Where did you get it?"

"It came from the old omniverse. I am just really lucky it still works here. I am doubly lucky that it brought me here. I don't know how it did. Shh, I hear the guard coming."

Beaoul held her question as a sanruphrup guard entered the hallway. He shuffled up to the door to the cell of the prisoner Beaoul conversed with. "Her majesty is ready to see you. Pray to whatever god you worship that she kills you."

Beaoul watched as the hairy humanoid creature drug the prisoner back the way he came. The prisoner made eye contact with Beaoul, and Beaoul saw the realization in the woman's eyes that Beaoul was the one who had been speaking. It was a realization no prisoner had ever had before. The prisoners had always seen Beaoul, a hellhound, and assumed she was just a dumb animal. The knowledge this prisoner had was dangerous to Beaoul. If Mira Black, the reigning Queen of Darkness, discovered that Beaoul, her righthand hellhound companion was socializing with prisoners amicably… Beaoul didn't know how she could spin it in a way that didn't lead to Beaoul's termination.

Beaoul trotted along behind the prisoner and guard, all the way to the throne room. The guard chained the prisoner up in a recently vacated torture alcove. The black walls shined from a hasty rinse down completed just minutes ago. Mira stood just to the left of the alcove with a wicked grin on her face. Beaoul suppressed a flinch. This woman would spill her guts about everything she knew by the time Mira finished with her. Mira snapped her fingers and the guard handed her a small glistening handful. She dangled it from her hand and Beaoul recognized the chain and key the prisoner described.

"Oh, Beaoul, dear! Good, I was about to summon you. Do you realize what today is? I almost missed it myself but Klugg brought it to my attention this morning. Three-hundred-sixty-five standard days ago, you tumbled from your host mother's belly. Today is, what they call on earth, your birthday. I thought we could celebrate with a nice rousing torture session." Mira smiled broadly showing her teeth. Especially gleeful, Mira's demeanor did not bode well for the prisoner.

Mira's smile faded just a bit, drawing to Beaoul's attention the fact that Mira expected a response. Beaoul cleared her throat, "Thank you ever so much Mistress."

Mira's smile brightened. She waved off the guard, and she held the key dangling in front of the prisoner's face, "Do you want to tell me where you got this?"

The woman gritted her teeth and said nothing, offering no other reaction.

Mira tossed the necklace over her shoulder. Beaoul followed it with her eyes. Just a little jiggle of her mind and she could grab it telekinetically. She thought of its promised abilities. Her attention returned to Mira and the prisoner with the sound of a loud slap. Mira had begun to beat on the prisoner. It was an unusual tactic.

"I will find out where you got it!" Mira emphasized each word with a blow to the face or the stomach. The prisoner didn't even whimper or grunt from the blows. Mira slapped her hard and hissed. "I just broke a nail! This isn't worth it! Let me introduce you to a little plague I have been working up for a little world called Tradehub." Mira pulled a small vial into her hand from a place on a stand next to her throne. She sprayed the prisoner in the face. The woman coughed and sputtered. Nothing happened. Mira snarled and flung the empty vial at the opposite wall. "Beaoul, eliminate her!"

Beaoul hesitated. Mira turned and glared at her. Beaoul decided to act. Telekinetically she unfastened the prisoner's chains and snatched up the necklace. Physically Beaoul threw herself at Mira snarling and clawing at the air. Mira backed away in surprise. It gave Beaoul and the prisoner enough time to race from the throne room and off down the hallways. Beaoul attempted to lead the prisoner away down a hallway. She sensed Mira summoning the full force of the hellhounds to hunt them down. Damn, Beaoul thought as they managed to duck down an empty hallway.

That is when the lethal effects of the spray began to slow the prisoner. They came to the end of the hallway and the woman couldn't go on, "You never told me your name," The woman drew in a ragged breath, "It doesn't matter take the key. Get yourself out of here. You don't belong in this place."

Beaoul sighed, she didn't know if she had the courage to leave alone, but she had burned her bridges. "I was hoping we could escape together."

"I am escaping. You need to go," The woman gasped for breath.

"I am Beaoul!" Beaoul said using her telekinesis to hold the key up to the lock of a door.

"I am Seyona. Beaoul, do me a favor, help people."

A tear rolled down Beaoul's muzzle, she didn't even know she could cry. The woman's body was one big festering sore.

Seyona pushed one final word past her lips as the sound of hellhounds closing on their position approached them, "Go."

Beaoul turned the key with her mind and pushed the door inward. An infinite white expanse showed through the doorway. Beaoul ran through it and slammed it behind herself. Beaoul sat on her haunches in an infinitely white space that extended beyond her in all directions. Beaoul breathed in her first real free breath. Happy birthday, Beaoul! She felt exhausted. She had lived under such stress her whole life that the sudden release of tension left her physically and mentally limp. She lowered herself to the semi-solid space beneath her and fell into a dreamless sleep.


* * *

Fiona stared at the chest. It had sat on her nightstand for three days now. She had looked inside. It held what looked like tiny granite marbles inscribed with odd symbols she could almost but not quite read. In her hands sat the means for the destruction of an entire omniverse. She had been told to take it back to the scene of the crime. Can you say accomplice before the fact? The trouble was her future self had warned her the consequences of not taking them back would be dire. The watery flowing almost solid memories of her future self had her convinced that it was the truth. Still, there had to be another way than to hand weapons of genocide to Mira's predecessor.

She opened the chest again. She wanted to count the embryonic crunch bombs, to put a number on the genocides she would be responsible for. Slamming the chest closed she ordered a roll of duct tape from the delivery cupboard. Then she wrapped the tape around the chest sealing in the evil until she held an empty cardboard roll. That didn't really do anything to stop what its contents would ultimately do, but it left her feeling better that an innocent child wouldn't wander across them and think them playthings. Fiona ordered herself a warm and rugged outfit. Logic and the hints of memory from her future self told Fiona that she would have to hide the chest somewhere in the earliest beginnings of the old omniverse. After dressing for cool but mild weather, Fiona snatched up the box and began the odd knot untying and retying of transport back into the old omniverse. She reached back through the braided layers of multiverses to the very first universe of the omniverse. Closing her eyes, she pulled herself way back into the beginning.

The smells that greeted her were fresh, clean, pure in the way that no air she had ever breathed could be. Fiona opened her eyes. In front of her, a lion grazed on the berries and flowers of a colorful bush. A rabbit used his paws to reach higher up in the bush for leaves. Fiona stepped forward in amazement and lay a gentle hand on the lion. It purred at her. In her reality, lions had lost the ability to purr in favor of a full-throated terrifying roar. Beyond all the former possibilities of her reality, Fiona realized she had stumbled into the Garden of Eden. It was the only plausible explaination. The beauty pressed in on all of her senses at once, overwhelming her. The lion moved to offer her support as her legs grew momentarily weak. She looked down into the worried eyes of an innocent animal.

"I'll be okay. This is just a lot to process."

The lion smiled and nodded. It returned to its grazing behavior.

Fiona began looking around. With no doubt, this was as far back as she was going to safely go. She didn't want to find out the conditions prior to the completion of creation. Walking through the garden Fiona came across a very naked man lounging on a grassy hillside. He had a stem of grass between his teeth chewing on it lightly. When he saw her he leaped up. "Excuse me, but what are you?" He asked in a language Fiona knew from the core of her being, without any prodding. It was the most natural way to speak she had ever heard.

"I am a woman," Fiona substituted the English word for woman because the language had none for it, yet.

"Pleased to meet you, Woman. When were you created?"

Fiona smiled. How to answer that question. "Technically, uh, Adam, I haven't been created yet. I am from the distant future and I am here to hide this chest."

Adam smiled back at her. "What is it for." He clearly wanted to play with it.

"I need to put it somewhere no one will go near or look for it. It is very dangerous. It could kill people."

"Oh, it sounds like you should put it in the tree of knowledge. God says that I should never eat of its fruit or I will surely die."

"Where is that tree?"

"In the middle of the garden, let me show you." Adam began walking through the garden on pathways of springy grass. He stopped ten feet from the ugliest tree that Fiona had seen since she arrived. She was staring at the object of the fall of man.

"Thank you, Adam."

"You are quite welcome. I hear God calling to me. Good luck on your mission." He turned and ran away along a path even more brightly lit than the rest.

Fiona wondered if God was ready to create Eve. She shook off the curiosity and stepped up to the tree. With her mind, she opened a rift into its craggy heart. She placed the chest inside and rewove reality around it. Doubtful that Adam or Eve could find their way into that. She looked up at the surprisingly tempting fruit dangling from the tree. Only the knowledge of the consequences of eating the fruit stopped her from eating it. She didn't relish the idea of being the first being evicted from the garden of Eden. Maybe someday she would be able to come back and explore more. Fiona reached forward with her mind along the thread of her passage here. She could see the observation room as it existed in parallel to the new omniverse. With a twitch of thought, she was back there. The scent of Eden lingered around her, as did its memory. The pristine white room, with surgical levels of sanitation and clean, smelled and looked dingy in comparison. Nothing she had ever experienced compared with the memory of her minutes in Eden.


* * *

Mae sat on the examination table in Illoa's office. Illoa was running late. She kicked her feet and twiddled her thumb. Beneath her incredibly baggy sweatshirt she thought she felt her daughter kick. She picked up her tablet and tapped Imhay's face. His image filled the screen almost immediately. "What is it, honey? Is she okay? I'm coming!" The screen went back and Mae giggled. He was beside her in a moment reaching for her hands. "What is wrong? Where is Illoa?"

"Imhay love, everything is okay so far. I haven't even seen Illoa yet. I was just calling to tell you she kicked me!"

"Kicked you?"

"With her tiny little baby feet. From the inside out."

"Oh, the baby!"

May smirked and shook her head.

Illoa entered the room. "So how is mommy to be? Oh, and daddy came too!" Illoa pulled over a scanner on a hovering platform. It had a large display screen. Mae recognized a fetal imager. Mae rolled back her sweatshirt. Illoa smiled at her, then she began placing the machine's sensors. She flipped the scanner on. A scratchy ill rendered picture came on the screen shortly resolving into a clear image of a baby. "Oh my!" Illoa uttered with surprise.

"What's wrong with her?" Imhay exclaimed.

Illoa's eyes were wide, "Nothing is wrong… with him." She rotated the image to show his clearly male sex.

Mae nearly fell off of the examination table. She was the daughter of a Porusan of the Unclee caste. They only produced female clones of themselves. They rarely incorporate less than ten percent of the father's DNA and never the Y chromosome. Imhay kept Mae from falling off the table but only barely. "A son? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know." Illoa scratched her head and ran a fetal gene scanner over Mae's stomach. "Well…hmmm… I still can't get a reading on his DNA. As far as the scanner can see he isn't even there."

"But he is!" Mae gestured at the screen. "He just kicked me!"

Illoa nodded and began pressing on Mae's bare stomach. Mae pressed near where he had kicked earlier and a bulge in the shape of a tiny foot responded to it. "Yep, he's there!" Illoa replied, "His genes are just shy. Maybe it is because his father and your father are both genetically engineered agurians. Maybe it is how more male DNA was incorporated. It will be interesting to try and discover the why and how of this."

"Is my son healthy?" Imhay asked slowly and carefully.

"Outstandingly so. The scans all show his physical development is right where it should be. There are no malformations of any of the organs." Illoa smiled. "Now for the part where you absolutely hate me… With as difficult to get a reading on as he is, I don't want you teleporting or using transport booths until he is born. There are indications that those things can lead to birth defects in species that are unscannable like the tunnel rats."

"What?" Mae sat up straighter. "How am I supposed to do my job if I can't teleport? There aren't enough hours in the day if I can't cheat time!"

"No cheating time, and no stimulant use. When your body says sleep, you need to listen. The same with eating and drinking!"

"What!"

Imhay chuckled. Then took a deep breath in. "Does this mean no portal travel either?"

"As a matter of fact yes."

"Uh, oh!" Imhay grunted.

"What?" Mae grumbled.

"We are going to have to go public with this. You can't slink off to the farm now."

Mae's eyes went wide. "Not only do I have to reveal I am pregnant but with a freak of nature!"

"It isn't like he's a demon spawn. He is a healthy baby boy! He's our son!"

Mae eyed him. He was practically glowing with pride at "his" accomplishment. She elbowed him in the gut. While they interacted Mae ignored Illoa running the rest of her medical scanners over her stomach. "Well, he's healthy and so are you. Come back in a couple of weeks for the last prenatal visit. I think you are due in about a month."

Mae hopped down from the exam table and pulled the sweatshirt over her swollen stomach. "I'll walk with you back to the apartment." Imhay slipped his arm around hers. They left the med center. The med center was fairly well centralized for easy access to most of Sanctuary proper. They headed up in the elevator to the "streetscape" level. The elevator opened out into the garage containing the hovering golf-cart-sized vehicles used on the "streets." "Hey, why don't we take a cart?" He pulled her by the arm over to one of the carts and practically muscled her into the passenger's seat. He was clearly going to baby her from here on out. Mae sat silently stewing about how to present the pregnancy the whole ride to the street out below their apartment. She nearly smacked him when he ran around the cart to help her out.

Mae walked quickly to the elevator up to the residential catwalk. She left Imhay behind but waited for him to catch up to ride the elevator with her. She stalked up to her apartment door and palmed it open. Inside her staff worked diligently at the business of running the Preserve. Why had she ever thought that having the administrative offices for the Preserve located in her living room was a good idea? Something about limited space? With all of the Preserve to provide homes?. At that moment it made no sense to her.

"Chief, can you thumb your approval on these documents?"

Mae held up a hand and walked to her place at the head of the conference table. "I have an announcement to make!" Mae made sure all eyes were on her and rolled up her sweatshirt to just below her swelling breasts, revealing her pregnant stomach.

Several people dropped their tablets. Another group began passing allotment vouchers between them. Janine, Mae's loyal assistant put down her tablet and turned to the media people., "Prep a news bulletin about this. Work up a contest to come up with baby girl names for her. Cancel all public appearances. That's okay right Chief?"

Mae rolled her eyes, "All except the sex of the baby. We're having a boy." Eyebrows rose, and surprisingly more allotment vouchers changed hands. Mae made note of the ones paying off their bets and the ones who had raked in the winnings. They might be good temporary replacements. "Unfortunately, because Illoa can't get a reading on his DNA, she has ordered me not to teleport, use transport booths or portals until after the birth."

That stirred her staff to action. Meetings and activities were rearranged so that they could take place in or near the office. Clearly from the conversation, as far as her staff was concerned, people could come to her until after the birth. Mae sat in her comfy office chair. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she had worried.


* * *

Brenda bounced the third baby hellhound they rescued on this trip encouraging it to nurse off the nipple in the sling. The other two sat suckling in the carrier on the floor between her and Puck. Puck sat beside them tapping just one claw soundlessly on the floor of the portal room. "Patience, Puck." Ahead of them the medical staff was all assisting an injured refugee woman in labor. Most of them could probably still be clearing the growing backlog of people arriving for medical check-in, but labor and delivery were far more interesting.

"I have work to get done Mom," The tone of Puck's vocal synthesizer dripped with annoyance. She walked up to one of the medics. "Chief Bench and I have duties requiring our attention. Do you think you could check us through?"

The man looked ready to insist that he was needed for the delivery until he recognized the healing hound addressing him. "Sorry, Chief Puck! Of course." He waved Brenda over to an exam table. Brenda pushed through the grumbling crowd carrying the kennel and still bouncing the third puppy to soothe her.

"Thank you," Brenda began. A look at the man's nametag supplied the necessary reminder for his name, "Devon, this is much appreciated."

"Oh, I have never scanned in hellhounds before."

Brenda smiled, "Scan them through as healing hounds. They have already begun the transformation. The standards for readings should be on file in the scanners.'

Devon nodded and began by scanning the puppies. "So, is it normal for you to bring in three at once Chiefs?"

Brenda shook her head no. The question reminded her of the coordinates practically burning a hole in her pocket. She wanted to head out and see what she found, but first, she needed to get the puppies settled in with their foster families. Devon finished with the puppies and ran his scanners over Brenda then Puck. "You all check out as clean. The puppies are on the proper developmental level for their age. They are mighty cute too." He rubbed the one in the sling behind the ear. It raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hey Devon, have you ever thought to apply to be a foster for a hellhound puppy? I have one available."

His eyes glistened with eagerness, "I'd love to Chief, but I am still in my medical residency. I won't have the time needed for at least another standard year. I'll be considering the idea though…"

Brenda shrugged. Illoa arrived at the exam table. Devon discretely stepped aside and went to reopen a nearby check-in station. The waiting factors cheered him. The cheer was enough to guilt several more medics into reopening their check-in stations as well.

"Illoa," Brenda greeted the Chief of medical services. "How can I help?"

"First, I would prefer to recheck the five of you, for thoroughness," She eyed Devon projecting just how new to medical services he was. "Second, you need to prepare to help Mae with her workload."

"Why?"

Illoa smiled, "She has announced her pregnancy and I don't want her teleporting, using transport booths or portals."

"Good thing she isn't Chief of Field Operations."

"This pregnancy could get difficult. I foresee complications."

"Complications?"

"It's a boy and as far as Mae's species and variety, that shouldn't be possible."

Brenda cocked her head to the side and realized that the puppy in the sling was fussing without the continued bouncing she had provided as they waited. "How bad could it get?"

"Well, it is in the last few weeks of pregnancy, but similar pregnancies have led to miscarriages even further into the pregnancy than she is."

"She could lose him?"

Illoa nodded, "He is excessively healthy right now, but there is still room for worry."

"But you haven't told her that…" Brenda stated flatly after picking up the truth Illoa was desperately trying to shield.

"I don't want to give her body any ideas to reject the baby."

"Got it. I'll stop by her office and offer my services." Brenda sighed heavily. It looked like she would have to send another factor or group of factors to check out the coordinates Tyrulan had given her.

"I could go, Mom…" Brenda looked at Puck who was still hanging around despite having piles of work of her own. That was the trouble with a culture full of telepaths. You were never alone in your own thoughts.

"No, as a Chief we may need you to cover some of the workload too," Brenda wasn't about to let Puck off of the hook on this crisis.


* * *

Tyrulan felt light and carefree even though he was shoveling muck and filth. He pressed the reason for his mirth deep into his gut. It wouldn't do for anyone to pick up on the fact of his open defiance. He rode the high of actual disobedience. Klugg was pacing. He had immediately sent word to Mira of the theft. The runner had returned with a reply from Mira that she would join them shortly to discuss the problem. That had been twenty minutes ago. The last time Mira had been informed of missing hellhound puppies, Klugg's predecessor had been fed to the hounds. He clearly expected a similar response. Tyrulan kept cleaning. He had little to no fear of reprisals. He had reported the theft promptly. It wasn't his fault that Klugg hadn't provided the necessary equipment.

A dark mist flowed in beneath the door to the outer kennel. It gathered and solidified into Mira's angry form. She only arrived slowly like that when she wanted to inspire fear. "Klugg, my boy! We have much to discuss. Your protegee Beaoul made a sudden exit on me this afternoon. She attempted to assist one of my prisoners in an escape. Now, I receive a report from you that three hellhound puppies have been stolen from under your watch? I am not happy."

"Tyrulan actually walked in on the theft. He reported it to me."

Tyrulan stiffened and put aside his shovel. He could feel Mira turn her attention on him.

"Is that true? Tell me what happened."

"Mistress, I had just stepped out of the whelping kennel to empty my waste bin. When I came in I spotted a red-head tucking a puppy into a sling. I shouted at her and she grabbed a portable kennel with two other puppies in it and went invisible. I couldn't see her to chase her down. I called out to Klugg. He told me to release the hounds. I couldn't I am not a trained handler and didn't have the proper equipment. Had I tried to release them they would have killed me before I could release the first one." Tyrulan sighed and shrugged at her. His defiant acts were buried deep. Now was not the time to draw them to the surface and fawn over them.

Mira eyed Tyrulan. Then she turned on Klugg. "Next time I assign someone to work under you, make sure you equip them properly. What if a hellhound had gotten loose? Tyrulan could have been killed!"

Klugg exhaled sharply. He had caught the words "Next time," Mira rarely spoke of next times when she eliminated problem minions. "Yes, mistress!"

"Tyrulan, hand the shovel to Klugg. He can finish up here. I want you to take a bath, get a shave and meet me in the throne room. I have an assignment for you."

Tyrulan nodded and handed the shovel off. He teleported to the bathing room. It was the cleanest room in the compound and almost exclusively Mira's domain. She rarely allowed anyone to use it. Tyrulan had only used it twice before. He undressed and threw his uniform down a disposal chute. She hadn't sensed his defiant act. She didn't catch his lie. Tyrulan had lied to the Queen of Lies and got away with it. He pushed the accomplishment down into his gut beside his truth, but he couldn't suppress his sense of accomplishment and pride. When he had scrubbed off months of filth, he climbed from the pool and retrieved an appropriate uniform from a supply cupboard. He walked naked into the barber's shop. The broken and twisted gargoyle of a human saw his uniform and retrieved his electric razor. Over the last few months, Tyrulan had reverted to his natural form and grown a good three-quarters of an inch of fur over his entire body. The barber shaved him down to bare skin over most of his body leaving a quarter of an inch of stubble on his scalp to resemble the hair pattern of a human. The barber blew the loose hair from Tyrulan's body. He dressed in his uniform and teleported directly to the throne room.

Mira sat on her throne stroking the ghoulish figures carved into the arms of the throne. "Very good Tyrulan! You didn't waste any time. I want you to shift into your human disguise. You'll be accompanying me on a mission. We are going to open relations on a new planet. I want to make sure there isn't anything valuable there before I wipe out all life."

"Very good mistress. I will begin the shift immediately."

"Good, you are dismissed."

As Tyrulan made his way to the barracks he couldn't help but feel elated, perhaps resistance was not futile.