The Many Worlds of Dean: Book 1 - Mars (11 page)

With their business set up and running, with
virtually no input needed from him, Dean’s next task was to figure
out how to help Meriyl. He knew he would need to research the laws
regarding indentured servitude on this world. From there, he hoped
he would be able to help her.

Dean spent the better part of a week locked
up in his room while he went about his research. He discovered that
Gorrosh, along with many of the planets Gorrosh traded with, had
laws forcing slavery on those possessing a debt they could not
repay. If the debt was a loan that couldn’t be repaid in accordance
with the terms set forth in the contract, the lender could either
renegotiate the terms, or they could impose slavery on the debtor
until the debt, plus interest, was repaid. Someone forced into this
type of slavery was generally still respected and treated fairly.
They even got to keep half the money they earned while working for
the lender.

If, like in Meriyl’s case, the debt was the
result of a theft, the value of the stolen goods was multiplied by
one hundred, and the debtor was automatically deemed to be the
property of the individual they had stolen from. That would remain
the case until the value of the stolen goods, times one hundred,
had been paid back. The slave did not get to keep any earnings. The
slave’s owner had to feed, clothe, and house the slave, but they
could also charge the slave for those services. Those slave owners
with a particularly cruel personality could find ways to charge up
to ninety-nine percent of the slaves’ earnings. This meant that it
could take years for a slave to work off even a low valued stolen
item.

The worst part was that these slaves were
not treated with any respect whatsoever. The owner could make them
do just about anything, as long as they could show the slave was
earning money doing it. They were not supposed to be physically
harmed, but that appeared to be somewhat of a grey area. From what
Dean could tell, nobody much cared what happened to this type of
slave.

Dean’s research had shown two ways he could
help Meriyl. The first was he could negotiate with Quinsil to
purchase her, but that would still leave her owing the debt. She
would be Dean’s legal property until her debt was repaid. He didn’t
think he could live with himself if he owned another person.

The second method was to offer Quinsil money
for Meriyl’s services. By law, Quinsil could not work her more than
one half of a standard day. But, he could get around that by
letting her work for others during the other half. This work could
be in the form of labor, or more distasteful means. Dean knew he
would never want to pay to have sex with Meriyl. Nobody deserved to
be treated like that.

After a great deal of thought, he figured he
could possibly find some work for her to do. According to the law,
he could pay her up to three times the prevailing wage normally
associated with any type of work he had her perform. Unfortunately,
using a slave for sex was the highest paying job a slave could
do.

Meriyl’s crime was public record, and Dean
had no trouble getting the computer to show him what she had done.
According to the computer, she had stolen six items, each valued at
one hundred fifty credits, totaling nine hundred credits. That
meant that Meriyl had to pay back nine thousand credits.

Dean could easily pay that amount with just
a few months interest on the money he now had. However, he had to
work within the law, and within his own conscience. During his
research of occupations, he found that an educational tutor
normally made around twenty-five credits per hour. This meant he
could pay her up to seventy-five credits per hour. He figured he
would need to know more about other planets he may visit, so having
a tutor made great sense. And, at seventy-five credits per hour, he
would be able to help her secure her freedom pretty quickly.

Making up his mind, Dean headed for the
restaurant to see Quinsil.

The next evening, Dean was reviewing the
initial results from his companies’ ice cream sales. The retailer
had offered small free samples for one week, and had then quickly
sold out in every store. They were demanding more ice cream. They
went so far as to place an additional ten million credit order, on
top of what they had already paid for. And, they had even offered
to finance a second factory. Business was good!

Dean heard the chime indicating someone was
at his door. He was suddenly overcome with nervousness. His stomach
felt queasy and his head was starting to spin. He knew it had to be
Meriyl at the door. He had worked out a deal with Quinsil the day
before. Although he didn’t get to offer as much money as he wanted
to. Apparently, Quinsil was quite fond of owning a slave, and
didn’t want to part with her too soon. They settled on fifty-five
credits per hour. Quinsil wanted much less, but Dean convinced him
that Dean’s newfound money would be spent lavishly at Quinsil’s
restaurant if he cooperated.

Pushing aside his nerves, Dean walked over
to the door and activated the opening mechanism. The door slid
swiftly into the wall, and Dean came face to face with an obviously
angry female. She immediately stuck out her index finger and poked
Dean in the chest.

“I don’t know what kind of deal you worked
out with Quinsil, but I will not have sex with you. I don’t care if
they triple my debt; it is not happening!”

“But, but,” Dean Stammered. “But I don’t
want to have sex with you.”

Instead of calming the situation, this only
seemed to make her even angrier. “What do you mean you don’t want
to? Are you saying I’m ugly?!”

“Well no,” a shocked Dean replied. He
stumbled for words for a few seconds before finally pronouncing,
much to his later embarrassment, “I think you are the most
beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

Meriyl seemed to freeze for a moment as she
considered his statement. “I thought you had arranged to buy me
into your bed for the night? She asked.

Dean, slowly regaining his composure
replied, “No; I purchased your services as an educational
tutor.”

“Tutor? I am not a teacher. Why would you
want me as a tutor?”

“I uh…I am new to traveling The Path, and I
needed someone who could teach me of other worlds. I just wanted to
help you.”

Meriyl’s face turned stormy again as she
said, “I didn’t ask for your help, and I don’t want it.”

Dean’s confusion grew to monumental heights.
“But, I thought you’d be happy to earn your freedom sooner.”

Meriyl pushed past Dean and walked into the
room, allowing the door to shut behind her. She turned back to him
and said, “I don’t care what you thought. You already paid for my
time for this evening, so I have no choice but to stay. However, I
don’t want you to do this again. Do you understand?”

“Uh, sure, I guess,” he replied
uncertainly.

Cocking her right eyebrow up, she asked him,
“Are you sure you didn’t have sex on your mind? Quinsil led me to
believe you were planning to use me in such a fashion.”

“I swear,” he said quickly, “I only payed
for tutoring services. I think it is wrong to force someone to have
sex against their will.”

“Well,” she said with doubt clouding her
features, “I’m sure you’re working some angle. I just haven’t
figured it out yet.”

“I am not working an angle,” Dean replied
almost angrily. “I just wanted to help you.”

“If you wanted to help so badly, why didn’t
you just buy me outright? I’ve heard you and Quillitonoxic have
made quite a bit of money selling some new food item.”

“I just wouldn’t feel right owning another
person. I want you to be free, not traded into new ownership.
Paying for tutoring was the best I could come up with to help
you.”

“Wow, you really expect me to believe that,”
she replied snidely. “What kind of backward planet do you come from
anyways?”

He hung his head sadly and said, “It doesn’t
matter; I can never go back.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. She still
looked doubtful, but he could see some genuine curiosity peeking
through.

Dean walked over to the bed and sat on its
edge. He then proceeded to tell her his entire story. He started
with the fact that most of his world believed they were alone in
the universe, then moved on to the essay contest, followed by his
trip to mars, and then his clumsiness that resulted in him falling
through the arch. He skipped over the part about his training. He
saw no reason to brag about an accomplishment that didn’t matter in
the least now.

When he had finished, he looked up at her
face. He was still stricken with her beauty. With the exception of
her eyes, she looked completely human. She had eyebrows just a
shade lighter than her dark flowing hair. A cute nose, with just
the tiniest curve upward at the tip, sat above a small mouth framed
with full lips that were the lightest shade of pink. He couldn’t
tell if that was their natural color, or the result of makeup. He
wanted to continue his examination in areas below her slim neck,
but he could already feel the blush creeping up his face.

He could still see some lingering doubt
traced across her delicate features. He could also see that her
expression had softened as he told his story. “So,” he said, “that
is how I came to be here. And, you see I can’t go back home.
Setting up a business with Quillitonoxic has just been a means to
support myself. I had no idea it would be as successful as it has
been. Regardless though, I know I don’t want to stay here. I have
no idea where I could, or should, go. That’s why I wanted your
help.”

Dean saw her deliberate momentarily,
obviously making a decision. She walked over to his small bed and
perched on the edge, leaving as much space between them as
possible.

“I’ll tell you what,” she began, “I will let
you purchase my services for no more than one hour each week. I
will tell you all I can about the worlds I have visited, and what I
know of the universe at large. But, if you try to touch me, I will
break off whatever body part you touched me with!”

Completely ignoring the threat, Dean smiled
broadly and said, “Deal”.

The next day, Dean was out with
Quillitonoxic scouting for additional factory space. With each
place they visited, Dean tried hard to pay attention, but his mind
kept going back to the previous evening.

Meriyl had stayed for the entire three hours
Dean had paid for. She had spent most of that time telling him of
her homeworld. From her description, it sounded a lot like Earth,
only a little more advanced. She described towering skyscrapers
that reached hundreds of stories, and vehicles that traveled
through the air on what she called skylanes. She told him of
beautiful beaches and expansive forests. She reminisced fondly of
her time in school.

When Dean had mentioned he would love to see
her world, a dark cloud passed over her face. She then explained
that her world no longer existed. She told him how The Path had
been designed to allow only one transport at a time, with a delay
between one and the next. Whatever could fit through The Path at
one time could be transported. This meant that no more than two
average size beings, or one really large being, could transport at
once. This was thought to have been set up so that an army would
have difficulty invading another world.

She explained that her world had an exotic
spice that was quite popular on many planets. One world, called
Xindoot, had decided that they should have exclusive rights to sell
the spice. Her world declined to provide those rights. They’d even
went one step further by refusing to sell the spice to Xindoot at
all, after they had been threatened with violence if they failed to
comply. The government of Xindoot was not happy.

They tried to send military forces through
The Path, but like on most worlds, hers had forces of their own
stationed near The Path, and easily captured each soldier that came
through. Absolutely irate that they had not only failed to capture
her world, but had also lost many soldiers, Xindoot decided that if
they couldn’t have the spice, then nobody could. They sent a bomb
through The Path. After that, all contact with her homeworld had
been lost. Most people believe that it is impossible to destroy The
Path device, so the prevailing theory is that her world was
completely destroyed.

She told him that while most worlds would
not care if someone tried to invade another world, mostly because
it usually fails, sending a bomb through The Path was considered
taboo. Once word had spread about what Xindoot had done, world
after world began programming their individual arches to refuse
connection with Xindoot. Basically, Xindoot was cut off from the
rest of the universe.

Meriyl explained that she would not be here
today if she had not been on a foreign student exchange trip at the
time. She had been left with no friends, no family, and nowhere to
go for help. Dean figured it was no wonder she had been caught
stealing; it was probably the only way she could survive. He had
begged her to let him help her more, but she had adamantly
refused.

Once she had finally left his room, Dean had
lain awake for many hours trying to sort out his feelings. He knew
he was attracted to her, and he couldn’t help but feel terrible for
the bad things that had happened to her. He wanted to help her so
bad, but she had made it clear she didn’t want his help. She had
also made clear that if she were to tutor him at all, their
relationship was to be strictly professional.

After Dean had had time to think things
through, he realized that things were crazy enough in his own life
right then. Trying to straighten out his own situation, while at
the same time trying to handle an alien girlfriend, was just asking
for trouble. He had resolved to honor her wishes, and try to be a
good friend.