gently following the scars across his belly and down his belly to his upper thigh. Linda wanted to handle Nesslun's penis, but was afraid to because of the tube in it. Linda carefully handled his balls. The skin of the sack they were in was so soft. Her fingers continued their journey down his legs. Linda didn't have much time. When they started the next level of Nesslun's suspension Linda would have to leave.
Dr Carroll watched Bob through the clear wall separating them. She grabbed a technician walking by. “How come she gets to go in with him and I don't?”
“That's the Emperor's daughter Lindwella. She could have Nesslun stuffed and mounted if she wanted to.”
“By the way she's fondling him,” Dr Carroll said as she watched Lindwella through the clear wall, “I think Lindwella's the one who wants to be mounted and stuffed.”
The technician smiled. “Nesslun's a lucky man. I hope he makes it.” His smile faded. “By the way, if it should come up, I didn't hear that last comment you made, okay.”
The technician turned and hurried away.
A soft voice behind Dr Carroll spoke up. “Excuse me; are you Mr. Nesslun's friend?”
Dr Carroll turned around to see an elegantly dressed, perfectly groomed young woman with two large Imperial Troopers standing behind her. Dr Carroll nodded.
“Princess Lindwella would like you to join her for lunch. Would you please follow me?”
Mankind has significant commercial relationships with only three other star traveling species.
THE BARRILLEANS;
The Barrilleans appear to be happy go lucky, almost comical figures. They are the galaxy's universal merchants. The Barrilleans are smaller than humans, with significantly larger heads, hands, and feet. The vast bulk of the Barrillean population lives on huge city sized spacecraft scattered throughout the galaxy.
THE THURIANS;
The Thurians are taller and broader then humans, have feathers rather than hair, and appear to be a cross between an owl and a man. They are the universal negotiators and political strategists of the galaxy. The Thurians have the most highly developed sense of smell of any known sentient race. The Thurians are carnivores. They swallow their food alive and whole, but sedated. The Thurians aren't savages.
THE ELAN;
The Elan are taller and much more slender than humans. Hairless, with nut brown skin, the Elan are the technical wizards of the galaxy. If you want the best of the best and money is no object the Elan will build it or provide the service you require. The only things that the Elan will not provide for sale are weapons of war.
The Emperor was speaking with the Elan representative, the Thurian ambassador, and the Barrillean representative by deep space line. Mr. Nesslun's friend Dr Carroll stood beside the Emperor. The talks were informal, even though the Thurian was quite adamant. “The agreement was that Mr. Nesslun would return to the planet Market as soon as his tasks were completed. Market has facilities to deal with gloride poisoning,” the Thurian said while arching the feathers at the top of his head and down his spine.
The trip to the planet Market was longer than the trip to the planet Court, but the delay would not be life threatening. The Elan representative said little but clearly agreed with the Thurian, as did the Barrillean. The Barony representative, in the far corner of the room, had no opinion and Dr. Carroll felt Mr. Nesslun should go to the closer facility on Court. The Emperor told his doctor to contact the Grand Hospital on the planet Market to make certain they were ready for Mr. Nesslun the moment he arrived.
The Doctor talked to the head of the gloride poisoning facilities at Market's Grand Hospital. The director of the gloride poisoning unit said that Mr. Nesslun should be sent directly to the planet Udell. Udell was marginally closer and they had the best facilities to deal with such extensive gloride poisoning. The Doctor had heard of Udell and knew that their facilities were considered top line in any part of the galaxy. Had he not spoken to Mr. Nesslun about his fear of vivisection, the doctor would have sent Mr. Nesslun to Udell without a qualm.
The doctor went back to the room where Mr. Nesslun's medical treatment was still being discussed. The doctor told the Emperor that he had reevaluated Mr. Nesslun's condition and it was imperative that Mr. Nesslun go to the closest facility. The Barony representative spoke up. “If time is such an important factor, Mr. Nesslun should go to the planet Unity. Their facilities are every bit as good as the facilities on Court and Unity is closer.”
“It’s closer if we go through the Trellian mine field. If we go around it the planet Court is closer,” the Doctor told him.
The Barony representative did not have a star transport available that could carry a man in suspension and he didn't have the authority to give out the safe passage through the mine field to another power. The Barrillean switched his side to Dr Carroll's. Going back to Market immediately was important but it was not worth risking Mr. Nesslun's life. The Thurian reluctantly agreed. Mr. Nesslun would go to the Imperial Hospital on the planet of Court for treatment.
After the others had left or disconnected their links, the Doctor explained to the Emperor what happened. The doctor had done research at Market about Udell by deep space line. The doctor learned about the mining federation squadron sent to take Mr. Nesslun to Udell by force and how Mr. Nesslun was to be tested.
The Emperor motioned over a member of his security staff. “I want people sent to Udell to make certain that this is true. Then I will decide what to do next.”
Wars threatened to break out all across the border between the Empire and the Baronies. The Emperor used the code that only he knew to activate the Emperor’s frequency that let him talk to every Imperial Soldier anywhere in the Empire. The Emperor told his loyal troops that he was safe and he didn't blame the Baronies for what happened on Lindle 4. Still warships chased each other all along the border between the Empire and the Baronies. Udell would have to wait.
When Nesslun walked out of the Lindle mine not only was the event recorded and broadcast live across the galaxy, large numbers of event recorders and their staffs started a massive invasion of the Market Sphere to find out more about the man newly named “The Monster Killer.” The planet Cocuru was especially overrun. As most gloride mines were well covered by point recorders Nesslun was able to take home a recording from every gloride mine of his fight with the gloride monster he had come to kill. Upon returning to Cocuru he would throw a party for his friends and show them his latest battle. Nesslun was always happy to make a copy of the recording for anyone who wanted one. Several hundred recordings of Bob Nesslun killing gloride monsters were soon being broadcast from one end of the galaxy to the other. When he was transferred from the Emperor's flagship to the Imperial Hospital, event recorders were swarming everywhere. Huge amounts of money were being offered to medical personnel for the privilege of being the first to interview Mr. Nesslun. The Emperor put down an iron clad edict. Absolutely no one except approved medical personnel and Dr Carroll were to have any contact with Nesslun. Even the Emperor’s daughter Lindwella was not allowed to see him. Lindwella tried to contact her father. He was too busy trying to prevent the wars that threatened to break out all along the border between the Baronies and the Empire to talk to her.
◊When I woke up I opened my eyes to a bright clean hospital room. Open windows revealing crystal blue sky meant I wasn't on Udell.
Dr Carroll was sitting next to my bed. She was going through still recordings of Lindle relics and making notes in her journal. Dr Carroll had lovely, well cared for, nicely shaped hair, surrounding an intelligent, almost startlingly beautiful face. Even so, I couldn't help but let my attention drift to those exquisitely beautiful hands. I knew those hands were surprisingly strong, while at the same time capable of the most precise, delicate movements.
Again I wondered about that sexual exhaustion technique of hers. Why did the fates always send me to the hospital just as Dr Carroll was about to send me to the hospital in a much nicer way? She said I would have a smile on my face when I got there and I believed her. I had visited a man who had been sent to the hospital by Dr Carroll. He had