I have a special gift for subscribers. The Princess Key is the first step into an ever-expanding sci-fi universe that will include the full Shattered Worlds trilogy, as well as an ongoing series of adventures featuring the starship Pathfinder. These will be recorded in The Pathfinder Chronicles. I’m making some deep background available through a short collection of stories called Pathfinder Worlds.
If you’ve read—or are reading—The Princess Key, (and hopefully enjoying it) you’re probably as anxious as I am to get into part 2 of the trilogy. Rest assured, I’m hard at work making that happen … but before that, I want to share the first installment of The Pathfinder Chronicles. As the trilogy progresses, you’ll begin to see where Pathfinder fits into the overall story. This is why I’m making Pathfinder Worlds available to you now.
You can get a copy of the eBook for free by signing up to my newsletter on the Home page of my website.
Rick’s Recs:
“Rick’s Recommendations” is where I take a moment to introduce you to some things I think you’ll enjoy. This month, we’re going to meet two very creative people I’ve known for over twenty years. We play together at a role-play-by-email game called Frontier Fleet, based in the Star Trek universe, which I count as the best writing school I ever had. Both of these fine gentlemen are from the Netherlands. Please welcome to the stage, Rob Versteegt and Ruben Hilbers. Gentlemen, the spotlight is yours.
— Rob
Hi there! My name is Rob Versteegt and I’m from the Netherlands. About twenty years ago I was diagnosed with autism, which caused me to change a few things. A while back I turned 40 years old, and I figured that would be a good time to have a detailed look at how autism impacted my life. You can read more about it in my book!
Philosophy is also important for me. Me and my twin brother create philosophy video lessons for high school students in the Netherlands, where we discuss various philosophers, their ideas and how those ideas can impact the lives of the students. These video lessons are available on Youtube, on the Q-high channel. Hope to see you there!
— Ruben
Star Trek: Forgotten Frontier is a Play-by-Email RPG set in 2376. Become part of the story of the SS Nothing, a freighter that brings hope and cargo to places that Starfleet had either forgotten or takes for granted.
Welcome to my YouTube channel, where I post original fiction in audiobook form. Also the home of the SSV Ain Jalut, the forgotten sister of Normandy SR2. Follow Captain Zara Ayers and her crew as they fight to protect the innocent from the Reapers.
Available now at your favorite digital store! The August Smith mysteries. A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer by Ruben A Hilbers
Buried Secrets by Ruben A Hilbers
Chess Games in Cairo by Ruben A Hilber
Fiddly Bit:
The distant science-fiction future portrayed in The Princess Key is populated by regular, ordinary people living out their lives. Some of those people live in places that might not be as comfortable as what we’re used to, but that doesn’t mean these circumstances aren’t real. 6,000 years of Earth’s recorded history shows that, while many things change, some never do.
A word of warning; This story features one of the two main characters from The Princess Key, who grew up a victim of slavery, prostitution and pedophilia. It gives some of her deep backstory that isn’t shown in the book. These things are not portrayed explicitly, here or in The Princess Key, but if you find these things troubling, be forewarned.
The Purchase
Ciji, age 6 – twelve years before The Princess Key
The little red-haired, blue-skinned Dholamite girl stood off to the side, chewing her lower lip, looking around nervously. Business was over at the sprawling market. Everyone was packing up, people bustling around taking down displays and signs, rolling big boxes, loading shuttles and ships. Her eyes kept drifting back to the two blue grown-up Dholamites; Mommy and the burly man she was talking to.
“Gimme a break, Gith,” Mommy whimpered. “I can’t flat-back forever. Old man Bah’ducho will sell me his kiosk lock, stock, and barrel, but I have to have the money now!”
For the first time, the big man looked at the little girl. The frown never left his face.
“How much ya want for her?” he grumbled.
“800 Fuu,” Mommy said.
The big man, Gith, turned back to Mommy with a smarmy smile. “Are you serious? You’re gonna run an electronics kiosk?”
Mommy’s eyes narrowed. “Who do you know that’s better with electronics? I used to be your best hacker. I’ve already started teaching her. She can read, and I’ve started showing her how I hack computers. She’ll make you more than the rest of your girls put together.”
Gith gave a dark chuckle. “So you’re gonna spend the rest of your life fixing broken screens on people’s handhelds?”
“I can’t feed us both flat-backing,” Mommy whined. “I ain’t getting any younger. This is a chance to get off my back, and I don’t have anything else to sell. For 800, I can get the kiosk and a ride to the next marketplace. She’ll make it back for you the first two weeks, you know she will. C’mon, dammit, help me out!”
“You’ll have to get supplies,” Gith said. “Do your own books, find rides, pay the controllers, sleep in the damned thing so nobody steals from it. You’ll need a weapon, and on some worlds ya gotta pay a tax on top of the controller’s cut.…”
“If you got a better idea, I’m all ears.” Mommy stood, arms crossed, glaring at Gith. “It’s this, or both of us go back to the refugee camps where you found me. Food cubes al fresco.”
Gith took another long look at the little girl. “Fine,” he rumbled, digging into his pocket for a thick roll of bills. He counted what looked like a lot of money into Mommy’s hand. She counted it again, then stuffed it down the front of her jumpsuit.
“Thanks, Gith, I—”
An older but attractive Dholamite woman stepped up and shoved Mommy, hard. “Get outta here, Zaalen. You are not coming back! Especially with no damned kid!!” Her long hair swirled around her head like black fire. She wore a nice dress, which contrasted sharply with Mommy’s tattered jumpsuit.
Mommy stuck her chin out. “Don’t flatter yourself, Syliar. I’d rather starve!”
“I just bought the kid,” Gith rumbled.
Syliar’s eyes went wide. She aimed an acid glare at the little girl. “How much?”
“Eight hundred.”
Syliar turned the glare at Gith. “Credits? Or Fuu?”
Gith glared right back at her. “Fuu.”
Syliar’s eyes bugged out again. “That’s almost 2000 credits!”
“More like 1600.”
“The ship needs repairs. The electricals are shot.”
Gith thrust an arm at the girl. “Look at her! She’ll make it back the next burglary we pull.”
Syliar looked from Gith, to Mommy, to the girl. “She’d better.”
The little girl’s heart hammered in her chest. “Mommy, I don’t wanna go—”
“Hush now. You know I have no choice. You’ll probably have a better life—”
“—Hey, you got your money, so get lost!”
Mommy looked at the other woman with sad eyes. “Don’t worry, Syliar,” she said softly. “You won.” She turned and walked away, not even turning back to look at her daughter.
The girl’s lip trembled.
Syliar glared at the girl again, and their eyes met. The older woman was pretty, with long, black hair. Just like Mommy. She’d probably look even prettier if she’d smile, but nobody seemed to like doing that. Mommy rarely did. Syliar turned her around, examining her from all angles.
Syliar looked back at Gith. “What’s her name?”
Gith shrugged. “Didn’t ask.”
“Fine!” Syliar snapped and turned to the girl. “Your name is now Za’cijimaa.”
Gith’s jaw dropped. “Za’cijimaa?! You wanna call her that?!”
“Why not? It’s what she is.” She grabbed the girl’s arm and shook her. “Got it? Your name is Za’cijimaa.”
The girl nodded, scared of what Syliar might do next.
“Okay, then,” Gith grumbled. “We’ll call her Ciji for short.”
“I’m hungry,” Ciji whimpered, her eyes fixed on the gray gravel beneath her feet.
“You’ll eat when the rest of us do,” Syliar snapped. “If you get to work! Ya don’t work, ya don’t eat. Help load the ship.” She shoved the girl. “Pick up that box and put it in the cargo hold.”
Ciji went to the nearest box. It was as big as she was, low and flat with handles on one side. She could probably fit inside if it were empty, but it wasn’t. She squatted down, grabbed the handles, and struggled with it.
“I can’t … pick it up,” she mumbled through clenched teeth, straining.
“Then you can’t eat,” Syliar said.
Ciji looked around. There were three other Dholamite women helping load the ship. They wore skimpy blue clothes; just enough to cover their boobies and butts. She watched what they were doing for a moment, then went around to one side, picked up one end of the box, and began to drag it.
“Don’t drag it,” barked one of the other women. “You’ll wear out the bottom.”
Ciji huffed a great sigh. She went back to try lifting the box with both handles and actually got it an inch or so off the ground. She muscled it about three steps before losing her grip. It hit the ground with a bang, but nobody said anything about it. In this manner, she managed to move the box a few inches at a time toward the ship.
The other women kept passing her by with burdens of their own. They acted like she wasn’t even there. When Ciji finally got the box to the ship, she struggled with it, trying to deadlift one end almost half her height onto the floor of the cargo bay. One of the women, who she’d heard being called Jynni, short but shapely with hair halfway down her back, snatched the heavy box out of her hands and flung it into the ship.
Ciji smiled up at her. “Thanks.”
Jynni slapped her cheek. Hard. “I ain’t yer friend,” she snarled at the little girl. “I just wanna get the hell outta here.”
Ciji rubbed her face, gritted her teeth and fought back tears. One of the others scootched down and gave Ciji an acid smile. She was tall and thin; jet black hair like all the women in this group, but cut short. A turned-up nose and perfect teeth.
“You’re a slave now,” she hissed. “I’m Darna. You’re gonna be a pleasure girl, just like us. Men are gonna do things to ya, and you’d better smile and pretend you like it.”
“Women, too,” Jynni said. “With that red hair, you’re a money factory.”
Darna laughed. “There’s men that’ll eat ten feet of yer shit just to see where it came from.”
“Oh, for The Eye’s sake!” huffed a third, whose name Ciji hadn’t caught yet. She had a triangular face, big boobies, and full, pouty lips. “You’re disgusting, Darna.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Gith growled. He reached down and closed the hatch over the cargo bay. “Get on board, it’s time to go.”
The ship was blue, the paint badly chipped and worn, with three yellow stripes going sideways around it like a belt. Ciji glanced at the name painted on the nose of the ship: Freedom’s Promise. It seemed a funny name for a ship that bore, now, four slaves and two masters.
They all made their way onto the ship. Ewwww. It smelled bad inside, over-lived and under-cleaned. The furniture in the common area was all bolted to the floor. Everybody sat down and put on seatbelts; Ciji followed their lead. Even though her feet didn’t quite reach the floor, the seatbelt was adjustable and fit fine.
The ship lifted off from the surface. Ciji looked out the window as the big, flat outdoor marketplace grew smaller, finally blending in with the curvature of the planet. Soon, the sky around them began to turn dark as they neared the edge of the atmosphere. The artificial gravity came on, and everyone unbuckled.
Syliar came out of the ship’s galley. She handed the other women bowls of steaming, hot food. It looked like some kind of grain with chunks of meat and vegetables mixed in. To Ciji, she handed a small can with a pull-tab on the top.
Ciji frowned at the can. “Why can’t I have what they’re having?”
“You haven’t earned it yet,” Syliar replied.
She frowned again at the can. She tried to pull the little ring that opened the top but couldn’t manage it. She almost complained about not being able to open the can, but Ciji was a quick learner. If any of the others opened it for her, she’d probably get smacked. And maybe they’d steal her food.
There was a low table in the middle of the room with a lidded box bolted to it. She opened it and took a dirty screwdriver, wedged it under the ring, and used it as a lever to pry the pull tab open. She was rewarded with a stomach-turning stink. Working the cover off revealed some kind of cold, greasy ground meat. She dipped her small, delicate fingers into the mess, pulled some out, and put it in her mouth.
It was disgusting. It was also better than nothing, which is what she and Mommy had a lot of times. She fought back her gag reflex and dug in.
Syliar stood in front of her, hands on hips. “The thing you need to remember is to adhere to the wishes of the Great and Holy All-Seeing Eye,” she said. “He created the universe and everything in it and can see it all. You fuck up, He’ll know. You lie to me, try and keep anything from me, He’ll know. You don’t give pleasure to the people who buy time with you, He’ll know. Do a lousy job of cleaning the ship—”
“He’ll know,” Darna said and grinned. “You’d better not disappoint Him.”
“We only exist to give other people pleasure,” Jynni said. “That’s how we adhere to The Eye.”
Syliar went to the front of the ship. The other women filled the air with soft conversation and smacking lips while Ciji choked down the stuff in the can.
Gith emerged from the cockpit. “We’ve broken orbit,” he announced. “Autopilot’s set.” He pointed at Ciji. “You, kid, c’mere.”
She followed him into the cockpit. Syliar was eating from a plate resting on a low table. The plate held what looked like a big fish, some green vegetables, and a pile of white, fluffy-looking … something. It all smelled wonderful, and the white stuff looked familiar.
Ciji remembered going out to dinner once with a man Mommy had made friends with. They ate something he called steak that was delicious. Next to it was something like the white, fluffy stuff Syliar was eating. What did he call it? Smashed … pomaboes? Potatoes?
Gith’s big, blue hand appeared in front of her face. He snapped his fingers.
“Wake up, kid.” He directed her attention to a cabinet door he’d opened. “Cleaning supplies. Yer Mom said you can read?”
She nodded.
“Good. There’s a bucket and a tap in the engine compartment that you can get hot water from, and a work sink you can dump it back into that’ll send it through the recycler. There’s rags and bottles of cleaner in here. Clean the floors and all the flat surfaces and then I’ll show ya how to do the laundry. Got it?”
Ciji nodded.
He smiled. “Make this ship sparkle and your next meal will be the same as they get.”
“Which will be tomorrow,” Syliar barked.
“And before I forget,” Gith said, pulling what looked like a gun out of his belt. Ciji’s eyes widened. He grabbed her arm and pressed the barrel against it, then pulled the trigger.
“OWW!” she shrieked, and jumped back. Something had been shot into her arm. She rubbed it and got green blood all over her hand.
Gith looked out into the main compartment and motioned to the third woman. “Filia, patch her up.”
Filia fetched what Ciji recognized as a med kit. Every ship she and Mommy hitched rides on had them. Filia pulled out a roll of gauze and wrapped it around Ciji’s arm. “That’s a tracking chip,” she said. “Anyone tries to steal ya, or if you try to run away, they’ll know exactly where you are.”
Gith examined the bandage, then nodded his head toward a corridor leading to the aft of the ship. “Your quarters are down here. The four of you bunk in the starboard compartment, Syliar and me in the other. Now, get busy cleaning.”
The little girl gave another nod, glanced one more time at Syliar’s plate, and went back through the main compartment. The three women had their bowls piled up on the table.
“Don’t forget to clean these,” Filia said. “Za’cijimaa.”
The others laughed.
Ciji sighed, picked up the bowls, and took them into the galley. As she put them in the sink, she noted that there were tiny morsels of grain and meat left behind. She slid her fingers around the inside of the bowls and slurped it down before anyone could see. Then she washed and dried the bowls and plates, put them away, and headed back toward the engine compartment.