by LARDLAD (ANTHONY E. TAYLOR)
Rinaxl was conquered by the Khund Empire 50 solar cycles ago. There were few left who remembered the time when Rinaxl was a free, peaceful planet. It's inhabitants' spirits were broken long ago. The early rebellions to Khund rule were utterly crushed before they even had a chance to get off the ground. Rinaxl and its people were enslaved and broken. Even the name "Rinaxl" was removed as it's official designation by its cruel masters. It was now simply referred to as System 163.
Jalarl was a 13 year old Rinaxlian. Since the age of 5 cycles, he had been forced to work as all had been starting at that age. It had been 8 cycles since he'd seen his mother. All Rinaxlians were taken from their mothers and placed in separate slave camps at 5 cycles. This was done to discourage family bonds and keep slaves from potentially rebelling. There was no socializing, only 12-hour/every day work shifts, subsistent meals before and after, and sleep to prepare for the next day's work. Any violation of this met with harsh, unspeakable punishment.
But Jalarl remembered his mother very well. He remembered her loving embrace, her soothing words, and some of the stories she told. Particularly, he remembered her telling him about Rinaxl before the Khunds took over. She passed on the stories that her own mother told her, who in turn was told by her mother. Jalarl didn't remember too many details of his mother's stories, but the idea of a world without slavery, which seemed so impossible yet so amazing, stayed with him always.
Slaves frequently were given new assignments, about four times a cycle. This, too, was done to discourage any kind of affiliation which might someday lead to rebellion. Jalarl was in the early weeks of his most recent assignment, janitorial duty in the planet's prison facility. Rinaxl only needed one with all the executions and the very few who would disobey in the first place.
Jalarl found himself enjoying (to what extent any slave can enjoy) this assignment. This detail, unlike the others, involved limited freedom of movement around the facility. It was much preferable to being guarded constantly by an irritable Khund with a hair-trigger electro-whip! In this detail Jalarl was given a block of 12 cells at a time to clean and tend to the prisoners. At either end of the block was stationed two guards. So Jalarl had a small comfort zone invaded only by the guards' four times-hourly walk-throughs. It wasn't much, but it was a relief.
When Jalarl would enter the cells, there was no danger from the prisoners. All of them were completely shackled and had almost no freedom of movement. For most this was unnecessary because many were too weak to move at all, essentially starving to death. In each cell Jalarl would sweep the floors, clean up the prisoner's feces, place the prisoner's meager meal where he could reach it with his mouth, and collect the remains of the previous day's meal. Jalarl would also check the life monitors and report any expirations to his masters. Jalarl felt for the prisoners but didn't dare console or comfort them for fear of punishment. Most were beyond consolation anyway.
On one particular day, Jalarl met a prisoner who would change his life, for better or worse. That day Jalarl walked into cell D-9. The previous occupant had expired a day earlier. Jalarl saw a strange creature unlike any he'd seen before. This wasn't a Rinaxlian nor one of the brutish yellow or pink-skinned masters. This creature had an orangeish hue to his skin and two antennae protruding from his forehead. Jalarl stood agape at this creature, despite himself. He was shocked when the creature opened its eyes and stared back. The eyes, Jalarl thought, had a vitality and spirit to them he'd never seen before. He was even more startled when the alien spoke with that same distortion that his masters used. The words didn't seem to match the movements of its lips. The creature said:
"Hello. My name is Reep Daggle. I need your help!"
End of Part One