Solomon's Private File #425
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 34 in this story, in the Winter of 2060-2061.
Solomon's Private File #425 "Thieves World"
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smells awful!" He was suddenly deluged with water. She couldn't quite
contain her burst of laughter. She looked at her finger, and carefully
put it away. I gave her a smile, and said in mindtalk, "Good finger
action." She said, "Good watering." We shared smiles. We were there to
be noticed, and we were. We were dressed richly, but didn't seem to
have any weapons. Very unusual. They didn't quite know how to react to
us. Then a man came up to us and said, "My boss wants to see you." I
said, "He can look all he wants to." He said, "No, you go to him!" I
said, "I'm going that way. Can't you see that?" He said, "You're asking
for trouble!"
I said, "You need to fix your defective hearing. I didn't ask for
anything." Atrice said, "He's not very polite." I said, "And he's not
all that intelligent." She said, "They often go together." I said, "And
they seldom go fast enough." She grinned, and said, "Ah! Good one." I
said, "Thank you." He started cursing. I said to him, "Be silent!" And
he was. I said, "You are not to use such language in front of a lady.
For that, you may not speak for one hour. Leave us." He walked away,
clearly not wanting to, and moving his mouth a lot, silently.
We approached an entrance to a tavern. There was a commotion inside,
that spilled out into the street, right at us. We stopped to watch the
melee. One man blundered into Atrice. She knocked him out. One fell on
me. I tossed him away. About 5m away. He landed in a heap, and didn't
move. She said, "Bet he didn't know he could fly." I said, "Not till he
wakes up." Grins. Then they all attacked us. We easily flattened them.
We were looking around for more to flatten, when a man rushed out of
the tavern brandishing a saber. I grabbed it by the blade, and yanked
it out of his hand. I said to Atrice, "Hold him." She put him in a
painful arm lock. I said to the man, "Nice sword. An antique. Yours?
Watch your mouth, there's a lady present!" He said, "She's a little
girl!" I said, "And she can tear your arm right off your shoulder. Let
that consideration govern your behavior. Is this yours?" She twisted a
little, and he yelped, "No!" I said, "Owner of the tavern?" He said,
"Yes." I said, "He gave permission?" He said, "No." I said, "If we
bring you back inside, and return the sword, well, do you think that
would be safe for you?" He said, "He would kill me. Please, no!"
I said, "You were going to use that on us. Why should we care about
him killing you?" He said, "I'll give you anything!" I said, "We don't
desire anything from you, but your absence. Make it far and fast." She
let him go, and he ran off, leaving behind a shoe. I picked it up and
threw it high and hard, and it came down in front of the running man,
and hit his chest as he ran into it. He stopped in surprise, and saw it
was his own. He picked it up, confused, and walked away with it. The
super accuracy of that throw impressed more people than our fight had.
The tavern owner was watching it from the door. We went inside with
him. I said, "Your sword. He didn't use it." He said, "Thank you." He
took it and put it back on the display stand on the wall.
He said, "I'm Hutern." I said, "I will tell you who I am, if you
agree to allow me to decide who else knows of me here." He said, "I
agree to that." I said, "I'm Solomon." He said, "If you are he who
have. None survived that here. I think you won't have that problem."
Grins. I said, "Other worlds have the healing broadcasts." He nodded,
and said, "Not this one. Why?" I said, "They should be scheduled, and
all informed. Here?" He said, "I see. We have no central authority to
cause that." I said, "If there is a fight during it, and somebody dies,
all will feel it." He said, "Oh! That IS a problem. Your daughter? You
would bring her to such a place?" I said, "One of my students, and for
education. We wanted to look vulnerable." He grinned, and said, "That
worked!"
I said, "You have a daughter." He said with some tears, "Would you
heal her?" I said, "While conversation is nice, we aren't actually here
for talk, but for action. Lead the way!" He did, to up the stairs in
the back, to a comfortable room. The eleven year old girl was siting at
a desk using a reading tablet. She was missing both legs from just
above the knees. Hutern introduced me. I said, "And this is my student,
Atrice." I said to the man, "No one else is to know her name." He said,
"Agreed." I said, "Smissa, will you give me permission to heal you?"
She said, "What would you do?" I said with a smile, "I think I just
said that." She said, "You can fix my legs?" I said, "That's part of
it, yes. You would have to learn how to walk again." She said, "I'll do
that!" I said, "No big surprise, there." Chuckles. I said, "It would be
best if you were lying down. Standing would be awkward." Grins. Atrice
poked me, and said, "They're not used to your odd humor!" I said, "Give
it time." Chuckles.
Hutern said, "I was a doctor. You can't replace what was lost as it
was, because she's grown since then. Are you going to cause her to grow
them?" I said, "No, a direct addition of what would be there, as if
they were never lost, made from scavenged individual atoms. With your
permission, I will include you in this. You have some old injuries that
still bother you. There seems to be an available chair." He grinned,
and sat in it. I did a local broadcast, and did the healing myself.
After, I said, "I could have put shoes on them, but you might want to
count your toes. Convenient math help." She said, "Thank you! But I
don't need them for that. Good for walking!" Atrice helped her to
stand, and they walked together around the room. I said, "Be extra
careful on the stairs, or we'll need to do another healing." Grins.
I said, "There is something else. You know I have students." Hutern
said, "Is my hope too intense?" I said, "Not at all, but any more might
cause you to need another healing." He tried to grin. I said to Smissa,
"You know when people are lying." She looked frightened, and looked at
her father. He smiled, and said, "No secrets from Solomon, ever." She
said to me, "Yes I do." I said, "And sometimes things around you move
er, unusually." She laughed, and said, "Yes they do!" I said, "And
everybody's stupid." She said, "I wouldn't say that." I said, "First
rule. Never lie. It damages the mind." She said, "I promise! Yes I've
said it. It's SO true." I said, "In comparison, yes. So, you meet all
the qualifications to be asked to attend our school. Do you want to?"
Atrice poked me. Hutern said, "Is it on another planet?" I said, "Yes.
I think you prefer that." He said, "I do."
I said to Atrice, "Special detector web and action settings for prep
for broadcast here. Accept push?" She nodded, and I sent them. I said,
"You do it, and I'll ride and announce this time." I said to them,
"We're going to do a healing broadcast now, after separating all the
combatants." Grins. Atrice linked all the minds in a love broadcast,
and ran her program that stopped all violence and dangerous situations.
It wasn't a large population, so she could handle it easily. Then I
said in it, "I am Solomon. My students will be doing regular healing
broadcasts here, as they do for other worlds. A warning! Those who
commit murder may be excluded from further healings." Then God entered
and did the healings, and then said, "I am God, who is one and many.
Solomon is my Senior Agent for all time and spaces. To love and obey
him, is to love and obey Me." He left, and Atrice stopped the
broadcast. I said, "He loves to embarrass me!" Atrice said, "He's
nice." I said to her, "It isn't YOU he embarrasses." She grinned, and
said, "Fine!" I growled, and she laughed.
I said to Hutern, "We usually pay parents and students to attend our
schools. but the one in this galaxy is new, and doesn't have money. But
here, you use hard currency. In what form would you like it?" He said,
"We can use practically anything." I said, "We'll do without the
smells." Pokes. I put an assortment of gems, gold, and coins around the
room. I said, "Made the same way the legs were, but not as nice." Big
grins. I said to Smissa, "You can go with Atrice to the school at any
time. Whatever you need, will be supplied. You can visit here as your
time allows, with help, until you're able to do it on your own." She
said, "How will we go? Do you have a ship?" I said, "We don't need
ships. Instant transportation, the only way to get to the school. It's
should go now. This is no good place for you. Study hard to be the best
you can be. I love you!" They hugged and cried. Then she said, "I'm
ready." Then they vanished.
I said to Hutern, "Let's discuss some improvements here." He had
absolutely no objections to that!
I said to Chakim, "Pending rescue action. Accept a push?" He did, and
I gave it to him. He ported to me on Thieves World. A boy came running
out of an alley. Chakim yelled to the boy, "Quick, get behind us!" The
boy stopped, indecisive. I said to him, "Better hurry. They're going to
kill you. Dead people don't make good decisions." Chakim poked me, and
I said, "Well, it's true." The boy made up his mind, and ran to be
behind us. I said to Chakim, "Now we'll see what kind of decisions
those who are coming, make." He said, "But not dead." I said, "Right.
Bodies are so inconvenient. Did you know that chopping off their noses
won't keep them from smelling?" He said, "Rotten idea, that." The boy
made a noise, and we turned to look at him. He said, "Are you crazy?" I
said, "Are you afraid now?" He said, "No." I said, "So what we did with
our words, worked. Is that crazy?" He said, "No, that's smart! Wow!" I
said, "We hear that a lot." Grins.
He said, "There are a lot of them, and you don't have weapons. We
have to run." I said, "We don't need them, but we do have some. They
need to be taught a lesson. Are you going to call us crazy again?" He
grinned, and said, "Not right now." I said, "Good. You're learning. But
view, caring big sticks and knives. I said to Chakim, "One has a
pistol. Think you can knock it out of his hand?" He said, "New belts
are great! No problem. He draws it, he loses it." I said to the boy,
"Going to be interesting. Watch carefully." He nodded. I said, "The
round things on our belts can come off. We can throw them hard, very
accurately. No, they don't explode. Solid steel. You'll see."
The boy with the pistol said, "We want him. Give him to us." I said,
"We don't own him, or anybody. That means we can't give anybody. If he
wants to go with you, that's his choice. If he wants to keep hearing
our jokes, he won't. Why do you want him? He doesn't look big enough to
do much work. For sex?" He said, "We don't want to have sex with him!"
I said, "So, then what's your interest in him? It doesn't look like he
want to eat him!" I said, "You're out of good spices?" He said, "NO!
He's supposed to work for us!" I said, "Oh, employment. How much do you
pay? What are the benefits? Do you offer a good health plan? What are
the hours?" They were confused. He said, "He's to steal for us."
I said, "Oh! You're criminals!" Chakim said, "There are criminals
here?" I said, "Well, this IS Thieves World." He said, "You didn't tell
me that!" I said, "Er, oops?" We poked and pushed each other. The
leaders said, "Give him to us or we'll kill you!" I said, "No you
won't. We won't allow you to do any killing here. Play nice, little
boys." He said, "We're not little boys!" I said, "Oh. Well then, play
nice, little girls." He drew his pistol. Chakim whirled around, and the
pistol flew out of his hand, which he shook as if it stung him. I said
to them, "Better you don't go after that toy. See the little disks on
our belts? He threw one. Got more waiting." One said, "Wow!" I said,
"We hear that a lot. Pay attention to this lesson. Don't attack people.
You really don't know what they can do to you, until it's too late. And
you don't know who their big and powerful new friends are. You want to
keep living, you think about those things a lot. Now run along and
play. Unless you want some more interesting things. Could be painful."
One said, "You have other weapons?" I said, "We would be stupid to tell
you. We're not, I hope. You know how to find out. Could be the last
thing you do, but at least you'll have learned something. You can't
have this boy, so you need to go play with yourselves now."
Chakim poked me, and said, "That sounded a little strange." I said,
"I noticed that by their expressions. Worth it. I think they'll go." He
said, "That's too bad. I wanted to see you use that new blaster." I
said, "Right here? Wouldn't be much left. Roast them but good. Need
some seasoning, though." He said, "With the plastic all around here,
they would have an off flavor." I said, "True. But if their friends are
away. I said to the leader, "Have you noticed you're missing something?
Such as your playmates?" He looked around, and then ran away.
We turned to face the boy, who said, "A blaster? Can I see it?" I
said, "We didn't actually say we had one." He laughed. I said, "Words
are very useful toys, and you don't even have to buy them. Easy to put
away, too." He said, "I think so!" Chakim said, "I'm Chakim." The boy
said, "I'm Lister." I said, "And I'm Solomon." He said in surprise,
"Are you the one who spoke in the healing?" I said, "I am. Do you have
a home, and people who take care of you?" He said, "I don't." I said,
"We can fix that. We have a school for people who are very smart, who
know when people are lying, and have other unusual abilities they
wanted you to use for them. Would you like to go there?" He said, "Oh
yes I do!" Chakim said, "Good. Let's go. Ready?" He looked around, and
said, "How?" Chakim said, "We don't need cars and ships. Instant
transportation. Ready?" He said, "Yes!" They were gone. At the school,
Lister looked around in awe. Then he said, "Where's Solomon?" Etan
said, "I'm Etan. Solomon is our teacher, but this is our school we
teach in. He made it for us. He has a lot of schools. Let's show you
around." Grins, and they did.
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Grant
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