Thoughts on troubles

I don't know what was kept in the bag before it had been put over my head, but I counted myself lucky it hadn't been anything too stenchful. The ropes around my wrists and the manner I was being transported were both relatively comfortable, too. The Sig Nomad might have not been sure they could trust me, but at least they weren't making the experience of being taken to see their local commander more painful than it had to be. I sat, eyes blinded and wrists bound, in what, from the sound, seemed to be a horse drawn conveyance, listening to the men guarding me chat companionably about this and that, sprinkling insults on the Epsilon Soldiers liberally through their discourse.

The Epsilon Soldiers of the Boundless Realm, known colloquially as 'Jump Cops', didn't control individual dimensions or worlds, for the most part. What they did control was the means of traveling from one place to another, through their stranglehold on trans-dimensional gates. They were the only ones allowed to manufacture or operate the gates, and they were the only ones who had sensors that let them track any movement across dimensions, be it psychic, magic, or scientific in nature. If you wanted to trade with the world next door and you were in the Jump Cop's territory, you had to pay them, and you had to agree to enforce their rules. If you didn't pay, or enforce the rules, or kowtow to whatever their whims might be, your access to trade and travel could be cut off like wheat under the scythe. If you tried to trade without paying their tithe anyway, the Epsilon Soldiers would declare your world to be forfeit, which would mean invasion and destruction of a scale most places had never known. When the dust settled, the world you used to own would be theirs to use as they saw fit, and so would you. And no one would some to your aid, because no one else wanted to be next on the list for invasion.

They didn't trust magic, and they didn't trust psychics, and they had a habit of doing things to the ones they caught to keep these 'messy' forms of travel in check. If you were going to travel, you went through their gates, and if you went through their gates, they wanted to know why, and the reason had better be one they liked. Stepping under my own steam, I wouldn't have made enough progress to make it worth the energy it would have taken, or worth the beating I would have gotten once the Jump Cops got their hands on me. Trying to move through their gates would have seen me detained the first time I tried to cross, and held until they figured out what I was up to.

Which, given that Cobo Landing, where I was, had the whole of the Boundless Realm between it and Grindlebone's, where I wanted to be, meant I was in a bit of a pickle. It was theoretically possible I could have traveled by deep ship, or under my own power, around the outer edge of the Realm, but I didn't have the years it would have taken to spare.

Sachiko, the new friend I had made after dropping onto the deck of her deep ship in mid transit, had suggested I attempt to contact the Sig Nomad, who she said were dedicated to wresting free movement from the Realm. Doing so was what had led me to being in the back of this vehicle, blind and bound.

With this time on my hands, and very little to occupy my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever make it home. There was a lot of distance and any number of obstacles between where I was and where I wanted to be, and there was nothing to say I'd ever make it back. I felt more alone than I could ever remember, and lost. Even Sachiko had only been able to say that the Sig Nomad might be able to help. They were the only hope I had, right now.

I had considered, briefly, seeing if I could use the hand to tear away another hole, like the one I'd used to escape the beast that had captured me, the hole that had led me to land on the deck of the Void Dog. Even if I had known how to make the hand do that at will, it still seemed like ripping holes in the local fabric of reality would be a very bad idea. Unneighborly, to say the least.

Right now, more than anything, I wanted to be back at Grindlebone's bar, sipping a whiskey and listening to Jack and Van Zandt trade stories. My life had been only moderately interesting before this week, and I'd quite enjoyed it that way. I didn't need angels and demons and monsters coming after me for reasons I couldn't seem to grasp. I didn't want armed thugs ruining quiet drinks with friends. I did want quiet uncomplicatedness.

But that didn't seem to be up to me, right now.

The Blind Lady's place

The fortune teller Sachiko sent me to was not at all what I expected.

I'd hit the Sanctum of the Blind Lady directly after finishing business at Pendross' shop. The old man behind the counter had been fascinated by my left hand. He'd insisted on opening the whole thing up, kept muttering technical specs and oohing and aahing as he looked through its innards. I'd practically had to pry the thing out of his hands when I wanted to leave; he'd wanted to keep the thing for a night so he could take it apart. When he'd let go of it, sighing with regret, and asked me to do him the kindness of bringing it to him if the hand should ever need repair, but the look in his eye seemed to say he didn't think that would be any time soon. With the hand back in place on my arm, and the fear chip the old man had removed from it secured in a small compartment I hadn't known the hand possessed, I left Pendross' and headed to see the next person Sachiko had recommended, the Blind Lady.

Her shop was small, nestled between a bar and a large emporium, but seemed impressive nonetheless. It was light stone, a single story structure with a bowed front, and two large, curtained windows on either side of a solid wooden door. Above the door, there was a round window of colored glass, shaped into some sort of mystic symbol, or so it looked to my untrained eye.

I'd gotten a picture in my head of an old woman with paper-thin skin, wrapped in a shawl and sitting behind a table with a crystal ball on it, maybe throwing yarrow rods or rings to tell people their future. But when the door opened, after a small eye set in the door popped open and scanned me from toes to hair, I set eyes on a strong woman, a few inches taller than me, dressed in sweat-stained workout clothes. She had broad shoulders and her sleeveless arms showed well-toned muscle, and the only thing that seemed out of place was the blindfold of blue cloth embroidered with gold stars that covered her eyes.

“My apologies. I'd hoped to be cleaned up before you arrived, but the Sight can be a little off when comes to exact timing.”

“Ah... OK. I mean, it's fine. I mean, I didn't mean to be late...” I took a breath and got a hold of myself. “A friend of mine, Sachiko, she said it was worth coming to see the Blind Lady. My name's Red Hand.”

“I can see why. Sr. Pendross must have been beside himself with joy when you walked into his shop. Welcome to my house, Sr. Hand; enter in peace. I 'm Aisling Guida.” She stepped back and held the door wide, motioning me to enter.

The room I entered was spare, holding only a table and two chairs. Though the windows that flanked the door were curtained, the white-washed walls and floor spread the colored light coming through the upper window, and managed to make the room feel both open and intimate. A second door, opposite the door I'd just come through, lead farther back into the building, with the table directly between them.

At the Lady's gesture, I sat in one of the chairs. Settling herself opposite me, she laid her hands flat on the table and regarded me silently for a few moments. The cloth over her eyes didn't stop the weight of her gaze from settling on me. Then she nodded, as if satisfied, and relaxed a bit.

“So, how can I be of assistance?”

“I'm not sure. A friend of mine, Sachiko, she sails the Void Dog...”

“Yes, I know Sachiko.”

“Right, Sachiko said it might be worthwhile to see you, before I moved on from here.”

“Did you have a specific question you wanted help with?”

“No, not really. Like I said, Sachiko said it might be worthwhile to come, but I don't have anything in particular, y'know, she was right about going to Pendross', so...”

“Hmm. Well, would you like me to do a reading for you?”

“What would that entail? I mean, what do I do for that?”

“Nothing, really. Just clear your mind of any specific thoughts and give me your hand.” She said, extending her own hands towards me. Without really thinking, I put my metal left hand in hers. When I tried to pull it back, stammering, hoping she didn't think I was trying to be funny, she wouldn't let me. She pulled the hand closer to her, bringing my chest flush with the table. She leaned forward, bringing her clothed eyes near to the hand's reflective surface.

“My. My word. Mr. Pendross must have been very excited to see you.”

“He did seem excited, yes.”

“Your friend is old. Yes. It's memory is somewhere else, now, but the substance knows its own age. It likes you, very much. This is a gift, Red. You gained much more than you lost, when this hand was joined to you. The one's who gave it to you didn't know it. They had no idea, no idea at all.”

“Can you tell me about them? The people who installed it?”

“No... it was lost for a long time, and when it was found, you gained it immediately. Whoever gave it to you barely touched it.”

“Just my luck.”

“Again, whatever happened that brought it to you, you came out ahead.” Looking unsatisfied, she curled the metal fingers and let go of them. “There's quite a lot more, but it's beyond what I can see. I think you might have more success asking it yourself. Your metal friend is quite self-aware, and it trusts you much more than it trusts me.”

“That's good to know, at least. I just found out today how smart it is. Thanks. Sachiko said you'd work with me on some form of payment?”

“Drop anchor, there, sailor. Miss Aisling's wonderama and floor show isn't over yet. Give me your other hand.” She rapped the table twice and held out her hands again, smiling at me mischievously. I put my right hand in hers. She focused on it, running her fingers over my palm.

“You had a rough start. Not much in the way of being taken care of. You drifted, in more ways than one. Much of it you've locked away, and for good reason. Then, darkness falls... you didn't do it, it was taken away from you.” She turned my hand to catch the light better. “You've traveled far, and you'll travel farther still. You're not a hero, but you will be called on to perform as one, rising to the occasion when you must. Death will come near you, but not to you, many times before you end.”

“Should I be happy or sad about that?”

“That's up to you.” She flashed me another smile, then returned to scrutinizing my hand. “Those around you are oak, strong and constant. You flow like water, finding the path that others miss, that they cannot see, that even you may not see. Right now, there are a number of different forces centered on you, and your metal friend. There are different factions that seek to gain your allegiance, but none would benefit you more than keeping control of your own destiny would. They want to use you, not help you, but their greed gives you opportunity, if you can seize it. In the near future, answers will come to you on the journey you've become. By the time you reach your destination, you will have all you need to play your own game.”

“Should any of this make sense to me?”

“Some of it does, I know. The rest will only be clear in hindsight.” She smiled apologetically. “That's how fortune-telling works, most of the time. Sorry.”

“Can't complain, really. What I did get was... more than I thought I would. More than I thought you would get, I mean.”

“I hear that a lot.” She stood up and opened the door for me. “Good luck to you. You will need it, but I think you'll have it when the time comes.”

“So, what do I owe you?”

“I think I'm going to let you have this one on spec. Just... remember me when this part is all over. What's coming up now looks like just the start of a long road, and we might have a lot of business to do, sometime relatively soon.”

“Are you sure? I don't know if I'll ever be in this neighborhood again, y'know.” She nodded, and we shook hands. The Blind Lady's hand tightened on mine, and she reached out and held it in both hands for a moment before letting go.

“One last thing. When the big show starts, there have to be four of you.”

Talk to the hand

The sign on the shop had 'Pendross Cybernetic and Bionic' in basic, blocky script. I stood in a shaded doorway across the road from the shop, one who's faded paint and dusty windows seemed to say it hadn't been used in a while. I'd been watching Pendross' door for ten minutes or so, holding my left fist, clenching and unchlenching, in my right hand. I didn't want to cross the street. I didn't want to go in.

I had come to Pendross' because Sachiko had said the owner might be able to tell me something about the prosthetic metal hand I wore on the end of my left arm. This suggestion had come after I had mentioned that I didn't know anything about my prosthesis. This was true. I didn't even know how I'd gotten it.

I have some things about my past I don't remember, that I don't want to remember. Most of my childhood is hazy, at best. It wasn't very pleasant, most of it. I don't have any memory of my mother or father, although I assume I had the usual compliment of both. There were a lot of years of living with different people, and a lot more living on different streets and different squats. A lot of living on scraps, and fighting for leavings out of dumpsters. It's all bits and pieces, without much continuity. And there's a decent stretch of time, I don't know how long, that's pitch black.

I'm pretty sure I got the hand during that period. I think I have might have learned to Step across dimensions somewhere in there, too, although some earlier memories seem to happen in a lot of odd places, so I can't really say. After the black period, the earliest thing I can recall is being escorted out of a place that could have been a laboratory, out to a street in a strange city. The two large individuals escorting me, who looked like men but weren't, took me to a room with a bed, where I slept. When I woke up, I was in a different bed, in a different room, and a different city. I stayed there for two days, mostly sleeping, until I was thrown out by a couple of people who didn't speak any language I could understand.

In the years since, I'd managed to carve out a nice life for myself, and I hadn't thought much about the past. I'd actively avoided it, to be honest. The days before the blackout, they were nothing worth remembering, and there were some things... anyway. The few times I'd tried to think about the blackout period, I'd experienced more than a little panic. Very bad panic. I'd ruined a very nice pair of pants, to be brutally honest.

I knew the hand had its own intelligence. There had been a couple of occasions where it, acting on its own, had saved my life. I thought of it as a friend, albeit one I could barely understand. Having it checked out was logical, though, something I should have done a long time ago. But it had never occurred to me before. I don't know why. Maybe there was a reason for that.

So I stood across from the cyber-shop, metal fist in real hand, fighting down an urge to run.

I looked down at the balled metal fingers. Something else I'd never thought of occurred to me.

“Are you afraid?” I asked, hunched down over the fist. “Is there some reason you don't want me to go in there?” The curled metal fingers loosed, and each one tapped the palm three times. The feeling of panic lessened just slightly. “It is you, isn't it? You're what's making me feel so frightened?”

The feeling vanished, like a soap bubble popping. But that led to a new kind of fear.

“How long... do you do that all the time?” The fingers spread wide, wider than my real fingers could. A point of light appeared on each fingertip, and each curled up until they were pointed at the palm of the hand, making five points of light on the red metal surface. The lights began to move, and letters formed, scrolling across the palm.

'no'

“But sometimes you do, right? You just did!”

'program activates when certain thought patterns emerge. neural feedback is initiated to cause flight response. not under active control. temporary program interrupt in effect'

“You can read my mind?”

'supposition incorrect. alpha waves are scanned for particular pattern. pattern emergence causes sensory interface feedback program activation'

“So, you were built to scare me if I think certain things?”

'supposition incorrect. feedback program non-standard, added as chipset just prior to unit installation on current user'

“You were altered to scare me just before you were put on me? Why? And by who?”

'supposition correct. reasons for alteration: unknown. identity of those responsible for alteration: unknown. warning: program interrupt will become ineffective in 69 seconds'

“Oh, man...”

'to prevent resumption of ill effects due to feedback program, unit must be removed. query: does user wish to remove unit'

“Yes! Now!”

The hand began to cycle through its removal process, releasing its grip and unplugging from the sockets on my forearm. As it finished, I took its weight onto my right hand.

“Is there any way to kill that program? And any others like it you might have in ya?”

'program is chipset. removal of chip from socket 3-SSA will remove program from unit. chip contains only non-pain related response program in unit.'

“Pain related response program?”

'unit can assist user by deadening pain at user request'

“Good to know. If I have the chip pulled, will that do anything to you?”

'unit's efficiency in completing primary function will increase by 1.392%'

“And your primary function is replacing my hand?”

'supposition correct'

“Any particular reason you haven't let me know any of this before now?”

'user made no request for information prior to this point'

“We need to have a long talk sometime soon. How long has it been since you were 'installed'?”

'unit installed on current user 11986355 seconds ago'

“Very informative. Were you on any other users before me?”

'unknown. unit memory begins 2100 seconds before installation on current user.'

“Nothing at all before that?”

'supposition correct. however, memory tags indicate unit memory archived and wiped just prior to installation on current user.'

“That's interesting. And I'm guessing the location of your memory archive is unknown?”

'supposition correct'

“OK. Just to be on the safe side, is there anything this guy might discover by taking a look at you that will get me into trouble?”

'unknown. unit is not familiar with laws of current locale'

“Well then, anything you need him to tend to in ya?”

'unit functioning near optimal, no service currently required.'

“Nine years without a checkup, and you're functioning near optimal, huh? Hardy fella, aren't ya?”

'supposition correct'

I laughed all the way across the street.

Starting homeward

Three days after Sachiko found me on the deck of the Void Dog, we made port in Cobo Landing. For all three days, I had been feeling the occasional pull of a Stepping point as the spheres of different realities had revolved past the deep ship. Sachiko had found it very interesting, and had begun talking about the uses of having someone with dimension hopping skill as part of an exploratory crew. In the normal course of events, Sachiko would have had to 'land' the Void Dog in an unexplored dimension to find out anything about it, and actually finding the proper entry point was hit or miss, at best. But I could feel when Stepping points were approaching, and when they were closest. I actually got to earn a bit of my keep by Stepping to Cobo Landing and arranging for the slip Sachiko needed for the Void Dog.

Transferring to the slip from the void was very interesting. Stepping is like a bad jump cut in a film; suddenly the scenery is different. But docking a deep ship is gradual, like coming out of a dream. Shapes began to appear in the blackness, solidifying around the ship until the void was gone. In less then five minutes, we were fully docked in the Landing. It was fascinating to experience.

It was nice to be back on solid land, but that was balanced by the fact that I had no idea where Cobo Landing was, and how I was going to get back home. I had assumed that Sachiko's dislike of the Traveler's Guild put me somewhere near my normal stomping grounds, the section of the void she sailed turned out to be, by her choice, quite far away from anywhere the Guild controlled. She said that most deep sailors avoided the Guild worlds. The Guild had no way of tracking ships like the Void Dog, and tended to be heavy handed in their methods of trying to curtail the deep sailor's wanderings. Sachiko's normal route lay just outside the area controlled by the Jump Cops, the so-called 'Boundless Realm'. The Realm, while quite large, was miniscule compared to the Guild's Dimensional Congeries. The Guild's reach extended quite a bit further than I had ever thought. Sachiko had never heard of any of the places I named, except the Gambling Hell, which also seemed to be a much more widespread operation than I had assumed. Her collection of maps might have shown some areas I knew, but the deep sailor method of listing location names and relationships were too foreign to my understanding to be much help.

Sachiko did have some suggestions for at least finding my way back into the Guild Congeries, which might be all I needed.

“I wish you well in your travels, Runcible.” Sachiko told me as I stood on the dock next to the Void Dog. “It has been most enjoyable and illuminating to have you as a guest. Your help today was, also, much appreciated. I hope that your path back to your home is untroubled. Would it make you uncomfortable to receive a gift?”

“Sachiko, my friend, I would be more than pleased to accept anything you might offer.”

She stepped close to me, and placed a light necklace around my neck. It was shaped like a crescent, with the upturned points connected to the links that held the necklace to me. The crescent was silver, with a blue filigree pattern on it. When I slipped it under my shirt, it felt cold for just a moment, then felt like nothing at all.

“You've been very kind to me, Sachiko, and I feel lucky to have landed on the Void Dog. I wish you sailed closer to my home. I'd love to have you to talk to again. I also wish there was some way to repay you for your help, but right now a thank you is all I can offer. I hope to be able to return this gift in kind, one day.”

“The help was given freely, as was the gift, Runcible. The necklace will allow you to feel when a deep ship is near, and may allow me to sense you, if we are ever near one another again. Take care, and be well.”

“And to you.”

I walked down the dock towards the city. When I reached the end of the dock and looked back towards the Void Dog, Sachiko had disappeared.


Cobo Landing was a busy port, hosting port facilities for space, sea, and deep ships. Like any port city, it was bustling with traffic and business being done, both legal and otherwise. Drovers moved various loads in animal drawn carts, powered vehicles, and by their own strength. Vendors hawked dozens of types of foods and sundries. I enjoyed it all, and kept an eye out for pickpockets.

Sachiko had told me about a few places I should visit; a cybernetics peddler who might be able to tell me something about my metal left hand; a fortune-teller of good reputation; and a group who might be able to help me find my way through the Boundless Realm, known as the Sig Nomad.

I headed away from the deep ship moorings, heading for the cybernetics dealer. My mind was filled with thoughts of Yendin Baddo, and as I walked I clenched and unclenched my own left hand.

The hands of Yendin Baddo

The next three days sailing the obsidian deeps on board the Void Dog saw great improvement in my physical condition under the ministrations of Sachiko. She was a fascinating woman, and was apparently descended from a long line of 'deep sailors', as they called themselves. I gathered that they looked upon people who traveled the dimensions only by using gates as hopelessly limited, never really knowing the wonders that existed in the rich vastness that was accessible to them, and thought only slightly more highly of those like myself, who could Step across realities under our own power. A ship like the Void Dog could safely reach places that were almost myths to me, so far off my normal path were they. Her attitude towards the Traveler's Guild, the most powerful cross-dimensional organization I knew of, was dismissive at best, and the invective she leveled against the Jump Cops made very clear her feelings toward those gentlemen.

The Void Dog was still a day and a half out of port when Sachiko compared me to Yendin Baddo. When I told her I didn't know the name, she related the story of Baddo and his miraculous metal hands.

Yendin Baddo, it seems, was the youngest son of Master Artisan Brethon Baddo, chief artisan for the Compact of 8 Kingdoms, a legendary union of advanced people long ago lost to the mists of time. Master Artisan Baddo, stories said, was the only person to master the crafting skills of all 8 Kingdoms, and as such could create items of incredible intricacy and beauty.

When Master Artisan Baddo's youngest child was born without hands, Baddo decided that she would give her son what life had not, and set about creating as perfect a mechanical substitute as was possible. For a woman of the Master Artisan's skill, giving Yendin, her son, hands that functioned as well as any natural hands was just a starting point, and, as Yendin grew, each new set of hands the Master Artisan crafted for him surpassed the last. When Yendin grew into full manhood, he was presented with the greatest pair of hands his mother could devise.

One hand was golden, the other crimson. Each one was strong enough to crush steel, and sensitive enough for Yendin to feel dust motes as they landed. Each one incorporated all that an artisan would need to work metal, or stone, or any other substance as easily as normal hands could work clay.

Yendin, while schooled in creating artifacts by his mother, and possessing great skill, was not interested in becoming a Master Artisan. Shortly after Yendin Baddo received his newest hands, he vanished from the 8 Kingdoms. The Master Artisan was brokenhearted, and while she continued to create, some spark had vanished with her son.

Stories of Yendin Baddo came back to the 8 Kingdoms, and to his grieving mother, over the next decades. The stories told of Yendin becoming a mighty warrior, of single combat with dragons and trolls, liches and vampires, of towns and princesses saved, and these tales gladdened the heart of the Master Artisan, for, if she must be separated from her favorite child, at least she knew he was a good man.

Gradually, the traveling bards had no more stories to tell, and nothing was heard of Yendin Baddo for more than three score years. Rumors of his death were told in taverns in the 8 Kingdoms, although no two were alike, and none could claim to have met any who might have sure knowledge of Yendin Baddo's demise. The Master Artisan grew old hearing these rumors, and created less and less as the years passed.

The stories of Yendin Baddo's heroism and death faded from public interest, and were told no more. The minds of the people dwelt, as always, on the day to day task of making way through the life they had.

When word of the Army of Brothers conquering the warring duchies in the Outmarches drifted to the Compact of the 8 Kingdoms, few, if any took much notice. Many had tried to unify the Outmarches, and none had succeeded for any length of time. Few noticed when the Outmarches declared they would now be known as the Empire of Brothers. Few cared when the newly minted Empire reached out and added Balykan to itself. Some expressed admiration when the Empire managed to subdue the mountain strongholds of Urk in the Star-Capped Range, and crushed the thief clans that ran roughshod over the cities on the edge of the Shining Deserts.

It was not until the borders of the Empire grew near to the borders of the Compact of the 8 Kingdoms that the common citizen began to become uneasy. It began to impinge on the consciousness of the mass of the 8 Kingdoms that the Empire had a habit of doing the unthinkable when expanding itself, and nothing had seemed more unthinkable that a direct threat to the Compact. Five thousand years had passed since the last invader had threatened the 8 Kingdoms, and they were long in the habit of assuming that any invader would look at the Compact as invulnerable.

When the war came, it was more destructive than any could have imagined. The Empire had vast numbers on its side, and they were led by the First Brother, a masked general of whom even his enemies said was the greatest war leader any had ever known. The 8 Kingdoms had shaken free of its complacency, and rediscovered the arts of war and of creating war machines, and fought the invading Empire for every inch of territory it took, but all came to nothing. Five years after the Empire's soldiers had crossed the border into the Compact, the First Brother himself stood in the highest chamber of the Compact's government and personally executed the last Sanhedrin of the Compact, and the 8 Kingdoms ceased to exist. The land that had belonged to the Compact was ravaged by the war, the cities destroyed, the forests burned, any semblance of order cast aside.

It is assumed that the First Brother thought he would rebuild the Empire's newly conquered territory, as immediately after victory, he had his men bring before him the Master Artisan Baddo. Her ancient eminence stood before the First Brother as his lieutenants asked her to put her genius at their disposal, so the Empire could begin its rise to surpass the 8 Kingdoms in every way. The Master Artisan stood silently, ignoring the entreaties, orders, and threats of the generals of the Army of Brothers and the leaders of the Empire. When at last one of the soldiers became so angered at the Master Artisan's refusal to respond that he made a move to strike her, the First Brother finally spoke, his voice halting the soldier and causing him to kneel with his face pressed to the stone floor in apology for having aroused the First Brother's ire.

The warrior emperor towered over the wizened craftsman, and he was forced to bend at the waist to put his masked face near to her ear. None could hear what words passed between them, but the Master Artisan became pale, and open despair was seen to break over her worn features. She spoke to him in the same near-silent tone. The First Brother straightened, and extended his arm towards the door of a small room, which they entered together, shutting the door on all others.

Two hours later, the First Brother's retainers screwed up their courage and broke down the door. The found the Master Artisan Baddo seated in a chair, wrinkled hands folded in her lap, a serene look on her face, dead. The First Brother sprawled on the floor at her feet; his face, for the first time any could remember, was bare, his dead eyes staring at the ceiling.

If any had still been alive to remember, they would have seen Yendin Baddo, First Brother of the Empire of Brothers, lying dead at his mothers feet, the stumps of his arm stretched out on either side of his inert form.

The Empire of Brothers fell apart without the First Brother to lead it, and the lands it had encompassed sank into anarchy. All vestiges of the Compact of the 8 Kingdoms, every wonder they had created, was destroyed by the centuries of petty war that followed. The hands of Yendin Baddo, the First Brother, became things of legend, and vanished.

The Void Dog

The first thing that I became aware of while gradually returning to consciousness was the sound of creaking wood. Then there was the feeling of my weight shifting back and forth, in time with the creaking.

Various parts of my body were telling me that I was not in perfect condition. My left arm wouldn't move at all, and it was obvious from how it lay that I wasn't wearing my hand. There was a stretch of my right side, from below the ribs to the knee, where I was pretty sure I'd lost more than a little flesh. The ankle on that side didn't feel right, either, and the last two fingers on my right hand were braced as though they'd been broken.

Opening my eyes showed me a ceiling made of wide boards and thick crossbeams, all stained a deep brown. The boards seemed to swing back and forth as the hammock in which I was wrapped moved back and forth against the rocking motion of the ship. After a moment, I used my right elbow and left foot to slide my head towards the top of the hammock, to make it easier to dismount. The groan this caused brought some sounds of interest from the part of the room that had so far been hidden by the canvas the hammock was made from.

“Has the light of dawn appeared on the face of my passenger?” A lilting voice said. “How does the new day find you, stranger?”

I managed to raise my head high enough to peek over the edge of the hammock. Across the room, a woman had just risen from a heavy upholstered chair. She must have been reading the large book she had tucked under her arm, causing the silk chemise she wore to bunch up over it. The bright silk was the only bright thing she wore, as the shirt underneath and her dungarees were both of a dark gray, and her boots were a dusty brown. She did have hair of deep, shiny black, held up in a bun by two crossed sticks. Her face had an oriental cast, and she gave me a friendly smile as she waited for an answer to her question.

“Ahh...” I answered wisely. I regrouped, and continued, “The day finds me in more pain than I really like.”

“It is to be expected, stranger. You appeared on the deck of my boat in quite horrible condition, and while the three days passed since that time have seen you heal with impressive speed, there would seem to be some distance still to go before you can claim perfect health. Rest easy, as you are welcome on the Void Dog as long as it may take for such dearly wished result to be achieved.” The lady finished with a slight bow, accompanied by her extending her left hand, palm down, out to her side.

“Thank you. I hope to be able to return the favor, sometime soon.” I swung my legs, as gently as I could, so that my bare feet touched the wooden floor. “I'm sorry I've imposed on you, milady. I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Runcible Hand. People usually call me Red.”

“I ask that I be called Sachiko. Please know that there was no imposition in lending aid to one in such obvious distress as yourself. May one inquire as to how you came to be in such a condition of disrepair on the deck of the Void Dog, as we made course across the obsidian deeps?”

“Uh... I'm not sure. I know I was Stepping to meet my friend Jack...” Slowly, worked my way forward from there, telling Sachiko everything I could remember. She looked appropriately perturbed when I described the abomination I had run into, and more than a little interested when I described how my left hand had torn holes in the fabric of that place.

“Speaking of that,” I said, “Did you remove my hand? Or did I arrive one hand shy of the full compliment?”

“No one attempted to remove your prosthetic appendage, Runcible. As steps were taken to begin your healing, the process was unexpectedly aided by it, in fact. If you would please look at your arm...?”

I looked down at the shirtsleeve that was covering my left arm, and, before I could reach over to pull it up, the sleeve began to retract on its own. As the arm was revealed, I could see that the sleeve was being pulled back by small servos attached to the red framework that held my arm rigid. I held my arm up and the framework slowly straightened it out. When the arm was fully extended, the red framework began to slide down towards the stump of my forearm, shifting and twisting until it reformed into the metal hand I was used to. Unlike the rest of my body, my left arm felt just fine.

“Runcible, your metal symbiont seems to be quite useful. It would allow no interference with its repair of the arm, and I believe would have done much more to heal you, had it the power. As it was, it took some soothing before it would allow the treatment of your other injuries. We were able to reach detente quickly, though, once it began to believe my intentions were to help you. It is a most careful friend, indeed.”

“Yeah, I guess he is, at that.” I turned the hand back and forth. It seemed proud of itself and, all on its own, snapped its fingers.

A short while later, Sachiko and I stood on the deck of her boat. The Void Dog was about seventy feet long, and 20 feet wide at its widest point. Three masts extended 20-30 feet out from the boat on each side, diaphanous sails extended to catch whatever it was that allowed the boat to move. While the Void Dog moved by sail power and rocked like an ocean-going vessel on the water, the currents it sailed seemed to be pure void. Sachiko explained how the Dog didn't actually move, but entered the void and waited for the correct reality to rotate around to it, how the sensation of rocking was caused by the forces of various realities moving past us, and how what I had thought were sails were actually some sort of nets, used to capture 'cthonic energy', which she bottled and sold to a number of different customers. She and her assistant, who lived in a cabin below and tended the constant duty of collecting the energy the Dog's net snared, were the entire crew of the vessel.

“This one has heard many stories of odd things appearing from the endless void,” Sachiko said, adjusting the angle of a net just slightly. “Some were quite entertaining. All were folklore and hearsay, and descended from a rumor and something a mate had seen while drunk in a far off port. I did not doubt they were stories made up to pass long nights, and to impress credulous listeners who might be enticed to buy one a drink, until your battered form appeared sometime in the night. I should be vexed with you, I suppose. I do so hate being incorrect.”

“I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to be any trouble...”

“Not at all,” Sachiko said, laughing musically. “It was jest, pure and simple. Your appearance and your story have lent interest to an otherwise mundane transit. I have been enriched, and in no way put upon.” She took a closer look at me, the said, “You look as though you have enjoyed enough your time awake, strange new friend, but that you must now rest again. Allow me to assist...”

We made our way back down to the cabin with the hammock I had been enjoying. Sachiko made a quick check of various bandages and, after helping me to lie down again, fed me a tonic she said would help me to sleep deeply, and heal. “Rest well, there are three more days to heal, before the Void Dog enters port again. You have naught to do save gather your strength 'til then...”