7.
 Could this be a ruse? Was Yafi a procurer for some criminal element? But they would want young boys, not men nearing 240 mendz—the tool by which human women subversively kept track of time during the centuries since humans had been reduced from conquerors to being slaves at best, or hunted and killed throughout the Galaxy—a span, as legend had it, of over 10,000 mendz by now.
Yafi replied: "Both things are secrets I don't know and therefore regretfully cannot reveal, though you should esteem my honesty."
"All right, I'll grant you that much."
"I was a teacher before I fell on hard times."
"A teacher of what?"
"History."
Jory's interest perked. He remembered a night of murder and riot, but also of high discussion and noble words. "Do you know anything of a certain society, ruffian?"
Yafi nodded slowly, breaking into a triumphant grin. "The Twelve Moon Society, perhaps?"
"Yes!" Jory almost yelled and grabbed the man by the shoulder. "Does it still exist?"
"Ohh…there are rumors. Then again, it may be swamp gas to assert such things. Or else, if true, they would not advertise, not after their heads decorated the Obayyo from Ramyo to Menshu, your uncle's among them."
"Stop riddling me, you fool, or I'll hoist you." Why was the man so infuriatingly vague?
Yafi spoke soberly: "There are beings from many worlds in the Kusi-O. I have seen them. Great hairy beings who captain starships. They come down with their boats to collect cargo. Sometimes they want something special. They don't say why. It is deadly dangerous for a human to be in Kusi-O, and I do not ask questions. I keep my mouth shut. And so will you?"
"How will we get in?"
"Yes, I will be by your side. How we get in is for those who specialize in that thing, who can hoodwink the emperor's road police and the constables in Anamo, not to mention the Fril cops on the other side."
Jory had only seen Fril one time—they were almost never permitted outside Kusi-O—and that had been at the imperial court. Fril were humanoid, bipedal, two-armed, but they were more snake. They had fine shimmering scales all over their bodies. Their body color was silver, stippled with small and large yellow scales. Jory remembered admiring their bright, almost faint coloring as they stood to one side in long transparent robes while Lord Ramyon made audience with the emperor. The Fril, who were the officials and doers of all things in Kusi-O, came from another planet in this system. They were peaceful and honest, and fiercely devoted to their gods, which kept them pure. They were ideal keepers for the sluice of evil that could easily poison the Oba society, which had swallowed Kusi-O into its belly as a Shurian swallowed the proverbial mushroom. This saying referred to eating a tiny mushroom of one kind, thinking it to be tasty and filling, only to discover one had swallowed its sister type, which contained a poison so deadly that feudal retainers tipped their arrow heads and sword blades with it. By the time the eater realized the mistake, one was half dead. Many a disgraced official had used that very mushroom rather than slice his entrails out in duello. The Oba feudal system trusted the Fril to maintain an unchanging status quo. The Fril cops, if they caught a human or a Shurian inside Kusi-O, would turn them over to the Obayyo police at the Anamo gate inside the great concrete drum wall.
The gate was called:
Return of Property to Rightful Owner.
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Copyright © 2018 by Jean-Thomas Cullen, Clocktower Books. All Rights Reserved.
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