Amaurot, Meetings, Another Attack…
“Ser Morales, you asked yesterday if we had a security force,” Prince Sean Johnson joined them at first meal in the hostel eating room. “We have a force that ranges along the edges of the settlement to keep some of the large carnivores away from the farms. I have invited the head of the Rangers to join us this morning. I also liked your suggestion about requiring some weapons drills on the farms. We sent that suggestion out this morning.
“They are responsible for driving the renegades off and keeping them away. Except for those men and women, we don’t have need for a police force.”
“That is what is understood, Megal,” Sarita spoke up. “When everything is owned in common, theft is just not known, however, they also have to watch for hoarding or greediness. That’s not supposed to happen, but it does.”
“It is a start, Lord Johnson,” Megal pulled a chair out for the prince. “I have been discussing with my wife some of the ways she thinks we could deal with this problem. My father and I believe that antisocial behavior can be cured if the cause is found. Sometimes, there is just no hope of changing a mind without destroying that mind, but so far, his means have worked.”
“The Overlord believes using psy power on the brain to force change?” Sean was horrified.
“Of course, not psy compulsion, but examining for the cause, as in looking at old memories in the brain that can give you an idea of why the individual has done what they did.” Megal explained. “We never do it without permission, changing that is, examination is usually required. My wife’s mother, Sera Rita, used some of these techniques to help me deal with a trauma in my life.”
“The people of Refugio recommend a technique called empathetic coercion,” Sarita said. “They found it in some old Terran psychology textbooks. It was used in the twentieth century on young men who had been convinced to do violence. Instead of punishing or torturing them as had been done in the past, they treated them kindly and took care of them. The young men realized how wrong they had been and changed their behavior permanently.”
“Interesting, here comes the head of the Ranger unit and one of his men,” Sean said. An older man dressed in mottled green coveralls and carrying a heavy crossbow was followed by a young man that Sarita knew immediately. It was Douglas Stewart who had courted her years before. He acknowledged her with a slight smile. Sean made introductions and the newcomers went to the food line to get their first meal before joining the trade delegation at the large round table.
“His highness wanted me to brief you on what we know about the renegades,” Chief Ranger Brendon Murphy said. “We have monitors close to their camp but there are some new people who have excellent mental blocks. We are not sure who they are or what they have planned. I’ve been told you might have some idea.”
“I suspect it is El Canalla, a bandit who is responsible for an attack at our wedding,” Sarita said. “He has been raiding the haciendas and holding people hostage to get food and supplies.”
“We know how he could have sailed from Refugio and how he may be raiding both the east coast and Port,” Julie said. “He has some good boats which means he either has been stealing them, or someone is building them for him. He is an evil man.”
“Not a good candidate for your empathetic coercion,” Sean said.
“No, but those that follow him might be,” Sarita said.
“My suggestion is to play on what they are lacking,” Megal said. “We can use telepaths who will subtly remind them of things they enjoyed before they were forced out. We know they have been raiding for food. The telepaths can cause them to think about a food from their childhood or something they miss and wish they had. It will cause dissatisfaction among the group and make it easier for us to approach them diplomatically.”
“A complex solution, Ser Morales, one that will take time,” Murphy said. “We have suggested using compulsion and weapons. This new group is more aggressive than our local renegades. They have actually done damage to the new farm on the east coast.”
“Time is something we don’t have much of, Megal,” Sean shook his head. “Those who have been raided want it stopped and the men who did it punished.”
“I don’t believe Ser Morales’ suggestion will take as much time as you think, your highness,” Douglas Stewart spoke up. “Our monitoring has detected many of the long-time residents resent the newcomers. The renegades had set up trade with the Port shippers and seemed to survive well enough. The newcomers have caused damage and I suspect they have realized we are now aware of the group and the camp’s location.”
“The raids by our ships have stopped in favor of regular trade,” Blackie said. “Those new crossbows are a serious deterrent. We realize living on our small islands is just not enough. We need more land. GC is not going to rescue us.”
“I suggest that we set the trade agreements aside for a few days and concentrate on what can be done about this new leader among the renegades,”
***
The trade group assembled in the prince’s office later in the morning to plan what was to be done. Sarita was still suffering from morning sickness, so Julie accompanied her to their sleeping rooms to nap. Sarita sent an encouraging message to Megal about what they had discussed the night before. She was convinced he had a good plan. He just had to present it clearly enough to get the rest to accept it.
“Ser Morales, you spoke of using telepathy to influence the renegades,” Sean opened the meeting. “How would you go about that?”
“We have found, mostly by observing, that if a sending telepath thinks strongly about something, such as what they just ate, others who are receptive, suddenly become hungry for that same item.” Megal said. “It is one of the clues we use to decide what training a child needs.”
“Teaching how to block? I have noticed that some people don’t really need blocks because they are not receivers.”
“Very true, but there is a subtle influence we have observed that does not really work on the level of psy. It is at a conscious level for many people. I understand it was first observed with commercial ventures on Terra. They called it advertising.” Megal and Sarita needed something to keep busy while they were recovering and both loved studying history. “It can be done with subtle suggestions that evade any block. One of our psy trainers experimented with it on people who only had swamp root left to eat at their hacienda. She kept broadcasting how good the porridge was and how tasty. It worked.”
“Ah, I understand what you have suggested. We have telepaths think about something the renegades don’t have, like fresh berries in cream, and the people begin thinking about it themselves, then talk about it,” Douglas laughed.
“Berries and cream?” Megal found that odd. “Is that a common dish in Utopia?”
“When the berries are ripe in the spring and the dairy animals have extra rich milk, we have a berry and cream feast. I know we Rangers get assigned that week in the wilds as punishment. It’s that popular.” Douglas shook his head.
“Add in things like fresh baked bread and soft clothing and you might really get them ready to talk,” Megal said. “It might be hard on the telepaths doing the broadcasting.”
“Not really, Ser Morales, all of us look forward to the feast and we only have it once a year.”
“That does not solve our problem,” Chief Murphy spoke up. “Once you have them dissatisfied, what is next? They still have their weapons and this evil Regal trying to run things.”
“One of our groups in Port is based on the security from what was on the transport, and it has been family pride that keeps them in shape. I can get some of them here within a seven day if you need them.” Blackie said. “The leader was very upset following the attack because of the tactics used. His people were not very effective, and he is embarrassed. I am sure Joe Marine would be more than willing to come support a physical movement against the raiders.”
“A show of force to back up the offer of help is exactly what I had in mind,” Megal said. “I have read Terran reports by one of my ancestors who used a similar tactic and avoided a ruinous war on Terra. If the persuasion does not work, you can fall back on force, but as my father’s has stressed, we need all the people we have. This is a large planet and there are far too few humans.”
***
Blackie asked Sean for permission to use a far speaker. He had heard that Joe Marine was ready to avenge the distraction that had embarrassed his team. With the winds as they were that season, O’Malley’s Dream could make the trip to Port and back in just a few weeks. The time it would take to gather the show of force was sufficient to begin the spreading of discontent among the renegades.
“Douglas, are you sure this Megal knows what he’s doing?” Chief Murphy asked his second in command as they walked from the meeting. He doubted the man from Refugio. He was so young, but the others deferred to him.
“Sir, if he was strong enough to marry that woman, he’s strong enough to do this,” Douglas said. “I courted her and almost married her. Sarita Kearney was predicted to be a powerful psy user and she was a formidable fighter. If he was able to convince her to marry him, I’d trust him.”
“Odd way to evaluate someone, but your observations are usually good,” Murphy said. “We have the watchers notified to start broadcasting about food they don’t have in the camp. We’ll see if it works.”
***
Tony got a message from his wife Leah that she needed his help. A group from Refugio wanted to order finished coveralls but out of different materials. She was not sure what that would be worth. Tony talked with Simon, and they agreed he was not needed until Megal and Blackie got back from the security expedition. He took the airship back to Trade City, promising to return when the Dream docked. Simon mentioned his dilemma to the prince and had a reaction he had not expected.
“I tell you Simon, these changes we made are getting out of hand,” Sean was upset. “According to our original charter, all means of production should belong to the community at large, not be piece meal among families. Why should Tony’s wife have a business making things to trade with Refugio? Now I hear that the captain of that new ship is planning to trade shipping for food. That was not what was intended.”
“Sean, if you had wanted it kept that way, you should have written the things we voted on differently. Or, not let Lady Iseult’s students write them,” Simon almost laughed but he realized his friend was serious and very upset. He knew that most of the changes were things that the young people wanted, and that was not what had been envisioned by Sean and his supporters.
“It seemed appropriate for the legal scholars to write them,” Sean said. “Having them worded clearly was my only wish. I didn’t expect all this much change. There has got to be some way to stop it.”
“Sean, my friend, you might as well try and stop the wind from blowing. You have opened the way for change and all you can do is guide it.”
***
“Don’t know what the chief is up to, but we’re supposed to broadcast as much about good food we remember as we can,” The senior observer of the renegade camp had a strange message for the team. “The message says think about what these folks don’t have like berries and cream, or yeast bread and beer. Don’t he know how hard this is going to be on us?” She was annoyed. All the observers had dried rations, sticky fruit, fish, crackers washed down with water. She hoped he knew what he was doing.
Within a few hours, she realized some of what they were trying to do. The residents of the renegade camp had begun talking about the food they missed. Grumbling began over the quality of the food they had stolen from Port and the farms. Black Bart even slapped one of the women kidnapped on the last raid. This resulted in a major fight between the newcomers and the long-term residents of the camp. The new leader had claimed the woman. Bart had been beaten badly by the large, dark man from Refugio when he asserted his leadership of the camp upon his arrival several weeks ago.
El Canalla had immediately challenged Bart to a fight much to his confusion. Bart was a member of a founding family. He had the respect of the other renegades even if, like the rest, he had been banished. Some of the other renegades were confused. The new leader did not display any psy powers. Few of the Utopians were totally powerless but this man seemed immune to any compulsion or mental suggestion. His power was in his fist.
***
“Shauna Bartmore Harrah, where are you?”
Shauna turned white and gasped. “It’s my mother,” she said. Simon could see the fear on the woman’s face. The former princess was well known in the city. She stomped into the work room Sean had assigned to Simon’s team.
“How dare you block me! You know you are to provide information for me. Who overrode my link?” Sheila had changed since Simon saw her last. The fancy tunic with the jeweled thread work was gone as were her attendants. Shauna stared at her mother. Sheila glanced at Simon, and he sent a mental message to be strong to her daughter as he turned to place the box he was holding on the table. Shauna pulled herself up, took a deep breath and faced her mother.
“Mother, we are very busy with this research for the prince. I will talk to you this evening if you come to my house.” Shauna gripped the box she had been sorting, but Simon was pleased with her determination. She had been intimidated by her mother long enough.
“How dare you! What are you doing here? Have you no shame? These people publicly shamed your father, and you are working with them?”
“If you had not given Papa all that drink from the Port smuggler, they would not have been willing to vote him out. You were the cause of his removal, not Lord Kearney or Lord Johnson.” Shauna had found her voice and she used it both aloud and mentally. Sheila winced as her oldest daughter berated her. “We have work to do for the benefit of the whole planet. Either leave willingly or I will call security. You may bring your meal allowance to my home this evening if you want to discuss this.” Sheila stared at her daughter, gasped, then rushed out of the workroom. Simon smiled at Shauna.
“Welcome to freedom, Shauna. You handled that very well,” Simon opened another box to continue their search.
| ← Chapter 12 | Chapter 14 → |
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