<h2>Planet 5 / Ch. 32: Succession</h2>


    Post contact report: Evnela / thought-hearing anomaly, update 3


    After being with us for six months, Evnela reported the strange sensation of hearing the thoughts of others, as well as Sebastian''s through their attunement. She was a little bit nervous, thinking that it will be very embarrassing to hear other people''s internal thoughts and feelings. Sebastian reminds her that having our thoughts heard is something we are used to, that almost half of us on the team are thought-hearers and from his point of view it''s wonderful news. The attunement process seems to not allow her to hear him from far off, but this ''fully fledged'' thought hearing means that he can think to her wherever she is. Examining her thoughts he postulates that the entire population of thought-hearers have conditioned themselves to avoid using their ability, that their status is much like someone who has hidden their thoughts for too long, and their process of ''attunement'' is one of making as small a connection as possible built on mutual trust and past experience. Indeed, examining her thoughts further, he discovers that it is his trust of her, not to take advantage of his confused feelings towards her, and not to embarrass him any more by leaping on his lap, and so on, that is providing the catalyst. He also reports that her feelings for him have matured beyond anything that could be called a crush, and analysing his own he acknowledges that he loves her too. Both are now sane enough to not talk of an inter-species marriage, but agreed to seek God''s wisdom. The next day they both agreed that they enjoy one another''s company and care for each other a lot, but it would be much much better to consider one another brother and sister. With that in mind, Sebastian has offered, sometime, to seek out a good, righteous, and suitable husband for Evnela by his gift. And she laughingly said she would listen out for someone nice for him by hers. He pointed out that all the women here from the solar system were quite a bit older than him, at which point she observed that she''d heard there were relief teams coming out every year or so, so all he needed to do was wait and pray, surely? We all breathed a sigh of relief.


    <hr>


    </a>The ship ''Daybreak'' Off the coast of Kanuga


    “Hello, Dahel, is this thing working?” Tangseng said. It was the fifth time she''d called in the last quarter of an hour.


    “Hello from Tesk, you''re reaching here. Who''s that?”


    “Tesk? Wow, I am Tangseng, named by his Imperial Majesty ambassador, and hoping my queen does not object too much. This ship is from Tesk, too, actually. It''s now approaching the coast of Kanuga.”


    “Ah! Yes, we had heard about you from her imperial highness. You may tell the crew that the High Council expect that the last trial of a member of parliament will be today, meaning that parliament will be free from the religion of the doom-guard.”


    “I will tell them. Actually. Captain Solm? This clever box is talking to Tesk now. Would you like a word?”


    “Tesk? That little box can talk so far?” the captain asked. Tangseng released the transmit key.


    “Hello Captain!” A girl''s voice came on, “I''m high-councillor Sashan, Do I hear you''re the other side of the world?”


    “Not quite the world, but certainly the other side of the continent! Well! I hear there have been changes since I was last home.”


    “I''m sure there have been, yes. When was that?”


    “Mid-summer.”


    “Oh, masses of changes. The high council re-formed, the nobles out of hiding, the schools teach children about the evils of the doom-guard, and how the nobles arranged the timing of the rebellion. And everyone knows what the doom-guard''s religion is called again. The army is now free of dum-semb believers, and politics will soon be too, by the end of today. The academy has also been purged. Hopefully there will soon be no more need for executions, and the harbour will stop being be red.”


    “May I ask how many deaths?”


    “More than a thousand, captain. A quarter of the army officers had participated in a human sacrifice, almost all were well on the way to being convinced that the lives of normal people were valueless. The numbers are lower amongst politicians. A whole third of the academy administrative staff had been involved in human sacrifices, but in less... individual ways. The military normally picked their own victims, but some of the administrative staff actually believed it was just acting. Also, unlike the military, who were stubborn, only a third of the administrative staff held onto their death-religion in the face of their own date with justice, and instead pleaded to God for mercy, some soon enough to save their lives. The churches are full once more, with clear messages being taught about turning from sin and God''s forgiveness. Mid-week groups meet to discuss scripture.”


    “I take it you are a believer?”


    “I am, captain, as is all the high council.”


    “And what will all these changes do for poor hungry families, eh?”


    “God in his mercy has given a bumper crop of hedge-berries, captain. It''s absolutely amazing. Each day, by noon the hedges are bowed low, you know how they always ripen in a day, well by mid-afternoon the bushes are practically black. You can fill a bucket without moving your feet, I tried it, it''s true. And each night, more grow. I always marvelled at the old stories speaking of people eating hedge-berries until spring, but this year, I can believe it easily. Tesk will not starve this winter, I am sure.”


    “Like in that old sea song my gran used to sing quietly, ''The harbour turned red, and the lanes turned black, the bad old days are never coming back.'', eh?”


    “Exactly captain. But the bad days almost came back, and the only ones who even noticed were hiding from the mobs.”


    “You''d better talk to the fisher-folk then, high councillor.”


    “Oh, we''re doing that all right, Captain. Quite a few noble lines have come out of hiding from there. There''s a whole lot of sea-food off anyone''s menu though, it''s deep-water fish or nothing now. But do you happen to know Captain Davdo?”


    “The Gem of Karet? I do indeed. He''s back in Tesk waters?”


    “He is, yes. It seems there''s a bit of a market for Tesk woollens in Caneth, and following the long-term policy of the Isles, Princess-Regent Esmetherelda has dropped the export tariffs on low-grade Caneth grain.”


    “Only low-grade? Why?”


    “Because it''s filling but tastes pretty dire. In her words, she doesn''t want to hurt the prices the good farmers of Tesk can get for their good grain, but you''ve got to be pretty hungry to eat the low end grain, and who''s she to take food from people that hungry.”


    “Why''s there a tariff on it, then, normally?”


    “Because it''s got other uses beyond cheep food. Beer, for instance.”


    “Ah. And the beer makers complain if they can''t get their cheap grain?”


    “I presume so. I expect the customers do too, if the price goes up. Will you be returning to Wahleet?”


    “Of a certainty. I''ve got a contract to take the lady back there.”


    “And in the spring to Tesk?”


    “That''s... possible. Normally I''d take a cargo to Caneth.”


    “There may be a message waiting for you at Wahleet, Captain or coming to you there at some point about a cargo for here. I don''t know what is possible long distance and what is not, and it''s not my decision anyway, I''ll just mention the thought that occurred to me to the relevant people.”


    <hr>


    </a>Elakart''s home, Tesk.


    “Solm?” Davdo asked, “Aye, he''s a good man. Where is he now?”


    “Off the coast of Kanuga, delivering a maybe-ambassador.”


    “Kanuga? Well! That''s a novel trip. Normally strictly forbidden, on account of the gold trade.”


    “The gold trade?” Elakart asked.


    “Kanuga is reportedly a beautiful place if you like mountains, waterfalls and cliff edges. Or gold mines. I once met a girl from there, not much to look at, but she was one of the few certified traders. She probably could have bought up my ship without blinking. It''s got a fairly small population who don''t think much of the empire, on account of them sending their soldiers to look for the gold on a fairly regular basis. If you have something they want and you want gold, you need to talk to the trader girl, or one of her few colleagues.


    She''ll arrange the shipment, for a fee, of course. But normally she does the rounds of jewellers and banks, collecting a list of who wants how much gold, and then finds fur-traders and what-not and matches orders, so it''s a three-way trade. And then your heavily guarded caravan of fur coats or whatever meets her heavily guarded caravan of gold ingots on a designated spot on their one bit of flat ground, charmingly called the battle-marshes and everyone does some careful counting and agrees its just like the contract said, then the banker hands over a credit note, the gold and furs change hands, and everyone goes home happy. The Kanugans are scrupulously honest, punctual and will permanently black-list anyone who tries to cheat them. Plus, to get to or from the battle marshes you go through prime ambush territory, so an army doesn''t get to the battle marshes very often. If it does they flood the marshes and see how well the army swims, but that pays havoc with their harvest so they get cross about having to do that. According to her, they don''t actually need the trade, It''s just a way of keeping the empire happy that they''re getting the gold. But coastal trade could change things, and change makes the empire really nervous. They don''t really want the gold trade to be easy, it would mean too many changes.”


    “Interesting.” Sashan said “So would you like me to ask if somehow Captain Solm could bring some of the Dahel-grain you''re allowed to transport without the right paperwork?”


    “I expect the answer is nothing is possible without paperwork,” Davdo said.


    “But you''d have said that they''d never let him go to Kanuga, right?” Sashan countered.


    <hr>


    </a>''The Daybreak''


    “I don''t know how deep the river is, captain, but I''m pretty sure that is the one we want to go up,” Tangseng said.


    “You''re full of encouragement, you are. How certain is ''pretty sure''?” he asked.


    “I''m certain the sun won''t stay in the sky for night-time, that would be silly this far south,” Tangseng said, “But I''m pretty sure it''ll be up tomorrow. Do you see those flat-topped rocks either side of the river? They''re where the archers stand.”


    “Which archers?” the captain asked.


    “The ones with the fire-arrows to dissuade lost ships, of course.” she replied.


    “Lady Trader...”


    “We''re not lost. It''s OK. You probably ought to stay closer to one bank rather than in the middle, though, I''ll need to say hello. Let''s hope they''re awake, it always makes them nervous when they''re caught napping.”


    A few minutes later Tangseng said, “I think we need to wake them up. Can the crew sing something? Preferably Christian.”


    “All right lads, the lady says we need to sing a song like it''s Sunday on Tesk, so we don''t get hit by fire-arrows. We need loud.”


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    One of the sailors said, “What about ''God is good''? You don''t get much louder than a kid''s song.”


    “Lead on, then. All together to start with then we can get fancy.”


    Tangseng knew enough Windwardese to understand the words, but couldn''t make much sense out of them, until the second verse, when she discovered that ''Getting fancy'' involved three different intertwining melodies. She was so rapt in listening she didn''t notice the archers assembling on the bank at first, and then had trouble getting the crew to stop. “What do you think of the music?” she called in her native language.


    “Very pretty, now turn round and go away.”


    “I don''t think that''s a very polite reply, captain. We''ve only just got here! I''m Trader Tangseng, The ship carries me, that which is mine, my cargo for trade, a gift for her majesty, some papers for her majesty, the crew and their personal goods.”


    “You are not expected, Trader Tangseng, if that is who you are.”


    “Who else would I be but myself? How can I be expected when the Dahel Emperor is dishing out invitations to send ambassadors and re-writing his laws?”


    “Now I know you are lying,” the soldier stated firmly.


    “Why? Because I say something so impossible no one would make it up? I am Tangseng, do you wish me to detail the inventory of my last trade? Were the furs of such poor quality that you doubt my word? Was the red ribbon for the royal choir too pink? Did your wife like the necklace? Or have I got the wrong brother?”


    The ship got closer to the rock and volumes, though still shouted, could become more normal. “I know you are lying because you make no mention of the large man behind you.”


    “Nor did I make mention of my hair or my teeth, my clothes or my hairbrush, and my husband is more mine than any of these. My teeth may be pulled out, but my husband will be mine for eternity.”


    As the ship drew abreast of the rock, the soldier said “Congratulations, on your marriage, Tangseng, You always were good at telling me and my brother apart. The emperor really wants an ambassador?”


    “All the leeward monarchs are going to be asked to appoint one. Even sillier, he named me one of the first three, subject to confirmation, and the gave me personal authorisation to take any cargo I like if I''m going somewhere on official business. Is her majesty well?”


    “Feeling a little ignored, what with some people not sending any word they were visiting.”


    “The empire has developed telephones,” Tangseng said, moving to the back of the ship. “It was really hard to ooh and ah like the others, I''m telling you.”


    “They had to catch up sometime.”


    “And Princess Naneela and her almost-fiance have made enormous progress on radios, they send one with me for the queen to take part in a world-wide conference of rulers. It is fragile, but I spoke to Tesk a couple of hours ago.”


    “Tesk is not somewhere I''ve ever found on a map. Does it really exist?”


    “It''s the closest of the Windward Isles.”


    “OK. Well stop in the first harbour, I doubt that ship will get over the sand-bar.”


    “My thoughts exactly,” Tangseng shouted. Then she turned to the captain. “The river looks like it turns to the left up ahead, that''s port isn''t it?”


    “Yes.”


    “There''s a semi-concealed entrance to a port just on the bend, on the starboard bank. You basically need to go slowly and steer the wrong way.”


    “You don''t get many visitors, I assume.”


    “Not many.”


    “And did I understand that you know about things the Dahel emperor is only just showing off proudly?”


    “Yes, captain. We''ve been fighting for survival against first Tunga and now Dahel for a long time. It makes you inventive, and pay attention when aliens visit. The progress in radio is something new, though. Very useful, militarily, assuming the other side doesn''t know about them.”


    “So the emperor giving your queen one is a good sign?”


    “Very. By the way, your ship design''s not some kind of top military secret, is it?”


    “No, we''ve been making them like this for centuries. The Isles have some that might be. Tew''s scary gun-ships would count, of course.”


    “I''ve heard about them. Lots of cannons and complex machinery.”


    “Yes. A bit too complex, if you listen to the Isles sailors. Tesk is neutral, of course.”


    “But talking to its neighbours a lot more than it used to. I was told that crown prince Hal of the Isles and princess-regent Esmetherelda of Caneth have married, which probably makes Tesk nervous.”


    “I''d heard that was coming. And Tew is now ruled by princess Yalisa, which makes everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Where is his semi-hidden entrance?”


    “The promontory its behind sticks out as far as the starboard bank of the river. Sorry that doesn''t make much sense, does it? Let me sketch a map for you. Please destroy the sketch though, we''re a nervous people.”


    “The deck''s dry, why not draw it with water?”


    “Thank you.”


    <hr>


    </a>Royal palace of Kanuga.


    “Tangseng, you surprise us all! Coming around the coast?” the older woman on the simple throne greeted her.


    “The Dahel emperor surprises the leeward monarchies, he nominated me, Ungana of Azunga and Ginthel of Kunga as provisional ambassadors and invited us for a friendly chat in the heart of the empire.”


    “Oh yes? That''s a new strategy. What are his demands?”


    “Demands, none, except that he asked Kunga to try to think of the future of the planet rather than preparations for war. He apologised that he did not detain an academician from Tesk, Teng, I think his name was, but what the academician said about the future was scary.”


    “Tell me.”


    “The so-called ''fire in the sky'' is from the approaching interstellar gas cloud. He knows it is solar-accelerated particles of gas and dust hitting the atmosphere, and that when such things happen, the air of the world is knocked into space. So far so boring. But, he''s an astronomer and what he and his colleagues found scared them silly: based on their years of careful observation, the cloud is not missing at all. So it''s not just going to get ''a bit worse.'' According to him, within around six years, I think the number was, the loss of atmosphere will become so great that it will be noticed with a barometer, and he thinks the weather patterns will be changed. So the challenge must be met, and really soon. At least enough of it so we get a chance to beg for help. Princess Naneela has developed a radio that allows talking, the Tesk academy have been playing at making bigger and bigger spark generators, so have the technology to draw large amounts of power from a waterfall, no one said, but I guess that means they''ve a proper hydroelectric power-station, rather than just a massive waterwheel, but either way, it works. The emperor also has wires all over the palace and a telephone on some of his desks. The throne-room does change from day to day, like I said I suspected, but even more so.”


    “And it was full of glittery gold and gems?”


    “No. The day I visited, it was outside, beside some woods. He says there are about twenty rooms he normally uses, but when the weather''s nice he picks somewhere in his park. That moving is mostly for security reasons, it being much harder to fire a cannonball at twenty throne-rooms than at one. But also, the emperor hates the central zone''s ostentation, and is seriously unimpressed with some things his bureaucracy have done. We saw him at home and relaxed, majesty. They have secretaries and such like in the heart of the empire, but no servants. The empress cooked for us, princess Naneela was peeling the vegetables, and not like it was a strange new experience for her. Prince Salay is in Caneth marrying the girl of his prophecy sometime soon, I expect, and now they''ve found the daughter of a slave, slavery in the empire is being phased out.”


    “So all is happiness and light in a golden age at the end of the world?”


    “Except for the thousand or so followers of dum-semb who have been executed in Tesk, yes. You are invited to join in the radio-conference of world monarchs, my queen, hence the radio.”


    “And what of you, young friend Tangseng?”


    “I am now a married woman, patient Tuga here still doesn''t say much, but I try to listen when he does. It''s normally worth hearing. And... I''m hesitant to say this, but in solving some problems in his village, like he asked me to, I have apparently made myself worthy to become the baroness there in the emperor''s eyes.”


    “Are you tempted?”


    “I don''t know, your majesty. I suppose I have to stop trading one day, and it was actually satisfying, in a weird sort of way.”


    “And you hate it here.”


    “No! I love it here, but it is too nice. I feel lazy and useless, or I invent challenges for myself which get dangerous. You know me, majesty.”


    “You don''t think parenting will bring enough challenges?”


    “Not in the same way, no. Oh, I don''t think I told anyone, the emperor deliberately phrased our travel authorisations to allow us to help escaped slaves, suggests we could issue something called ''protective citizenship'' to run-away slaves that make it to our embassy, if we wanted to, and plans to make it possible for practically all the slaves in south Tunga to claim they''re free citizens of Azunga. That seemed to please Ungana, but we can have some extra citizens if we want, too. Of course they will need a lot of education. Tuga will too, of course.


    "Oh, and except for the queen of Azunga, all the world''s leaders now follow Christ, but her daughter, Azna or something, Azuna, that''s it, is doing most of the reigning there as mum slowly goes potty. But, according to Ungana, if Dahel offered the partial diversion of the river so their swamp became something like the battle-marsh, Azunga would probably join the empire under the present queen, her mother, but almost certainly when her sister attains the throne.”


    “An Azunga-sized fenland? Interesting! Should we offer to help with the engineering?”


    “Maybe. Ungana said that it''s been their plan for ages and that''s why the Tungans have killed so many of their representatives, for fear that they''d tell the emperor. She was really happy to go home by ship. So, be aware: if we get involved, our neighbours aren''t going to be at all happy about it.”


    “You don''t surprise me at all. But show we this radio, will you?”


    “Certainly. It runs off batteries, I''m surprised how efficiently, and I told them that we knew our metals, but they insisted on giving me a few spare sets of plates.”


    “You didn''t accidentally mention we have a generator then?”


    “No, your majesty. That wasn''t hard. But I kept having to bite my lip to not give anything away by my questions. Naneela''s a lovely girl, majesty, very open, not hiding anything about her research, and for all that her future husband Kahlel is from Tungan parents he''s not that Tungan at all. I really do think it''s the right time for us to involved scientifically. Could we invite them?”


    “Tell me about her research.”


    “Thermionic valves, of course, but she herself re-invented the tetrode mixing valve, and is working around the issues that led Earth people to come up with the pentode. Her future husband — that''s what she calls him — won that title for coming up with idea of the heterodyne receiver a few weeks ago, so he''s definitely got brains too. The radio I''ve brought with me isn''t one of those, but like I said, I talked to Tesk on it from a boat, so it''s perfectly functional. They''ve given me a crash course in spotting dead valves and replacing them, just in case, and I''ve got a spare set.”


    “Like my predecessors, I''ve often really wondered why the aliens left us with all this knowledge and said ''wait until they''ve mostly done the challenge before you help out'', but yes, I think it''s probably time, isn''t it? Is the radio at the palace kept on, by any chance?”


    “I''m not sure. I was trying to get through to there when I ended up talking to Tesk. Maybe something broke, but maybe it''s mountains, skip-distance, things like that, you know? Yes, Tuga? I know you want to ask something.”


    “Tangseng, should I have heard any of this? You''re speaking about significant secrets, I''m sure.”


    “Pay attention, Tuga, there might be a test later.” The queen of Kanuga said, smiling, “Welcome to the Cooperative Alien-Native Underground Gathering, also known as Kanuga. Actually, the name was here first, which is why the acronym is so forced. The Kanugans were a bit backwards when the aliens first came, in the sense of ''ooh, strange tall people, you must be gods. Here, take my daughter and be nice to us.'' That''s how quite a number of the research staff joined, actually.


    "A significant number of the aliens said that it wasn''t fair to just leave their closest colleagues here with nothing. They''d been working with the aliens for decades, formed close friendships, babysat their kids, and so on. Some of them went to Tesk, which was fine for them, but our ancestors didn''t speak much Windwardese, and so that didn''t seem very much like fun.


    “So when they were thinking of where they might make a new home, one of the last Kanugan women who''d been thrust at them, Semtan, who was actually the daughter of the chief, said, ''Why not at home? If Dad''s still alive I want a word or ten with him, and if he''s not, I really wonder who''s ruling, it''s supposed to be my husband.'' Well, her dad was there, and so was her old boyfriend, Kau, who''d been desperately hoping the aliens might let her come home one day, because all the other girls thought he was weird for wanting to know how things worked. At that point negotiations got quite exciting, but in the end it was agreed that ghosts don''t pull beards, and yes, OK, her coming back did solve the succession issue that he''d given occasional thought to since he''d sent her off with the aliens, but what had she done to the gods to make them reject her? According to one of the versions I''ve heard she then threw her hands in the air and stomped off, with Kau in hot pursuit. Another account claims she said, ''Dad, we''ve come to check on how well the gold is growing in the mountains, you don''t mind us staying outside the village, do you, it stinks here. And Kau, are you married? If not go for a swim and a scrub yourself so you don''t stink and then catch us up, I want to talk.'' But in any case, the aliens helped make a library here, drained the battle-marsh and left us some of their toys as well as teaching us about how Earth technology grew up, Kau became tribal chief, and Semtan became the head of the library and research team.”


    “And in case you''re wondering, the famous Kanugan goldmine is an actual goldmine with actual spoil heaps and things, not some piece of alien technology,” Tangseng said, “But the aliens did make a map of where the gold is and urm... rearranged some things a bit underground to help hide the library which is worth far more than the gold.”


    “And every Kanugan knows all this?” Tuga asked.


    “No. Many are ignorant farmers, some are ignorant miners or soldiers. But everyone goes to school, and if you do well at school you go to the academy and join the army as an officer or the researchers or the civil service, and a few get chosen to be traders. Since Tangseng''s decided to marry you, you get the informal academy version.”


    “I couldn''t stay an ignorant farmer?”


    “Of course not, there are too many secrets around Tangseng. Plus she needs to settle down sometime, like she said. You''d be bored stiff in six weeks as a baroness, and you know it, young woman; you need more challenges. So, I''ll let you have a couple of years as ambassador, Tangseng, but it''s hard ruling alone and I''m past the age I hoped to retire at, so I want you to promise you''ll stop running from the challenge eventually and accept that God-willing this chair gets your name on it next.”


    “My queen, I''ll try.”


    “Good. Then if anyone brings up you becoming a baroness, I can let slip that you''re my heir-presumptive, can''t I? Or you can. Don''t look at me like that! You''ll find plenty of challenges from this seat, I assure you. How do you plan to get Naneela here?”


    “The first challenge is going to be to talk to her, I think. There''s too much rock in the way with shiny stuff in it.”