In the distant future, a blind storyteller weaves a tale of freedom, love, and loss. Yet what is the true purpose behind his tale?
This story first appeared online in 2013. For those of you who like to hear your stories rather than read it, you can find an audio version here. If you enjoy the story, please comment, upvote, and resteem.
Blind Li Xiao surveyed the marketplace. The sensor net embedded in his storyteller's robes fed signals directly to his brain. The citizenship transponders exactly matched the number of heat signatures. A world firmly loyal to the Empire, then. Or one too afraid to act otherwise.
A passive scan showed at least two peacekeepers in the market. Probably more secret police. He would have to be careful in his story selection. Something from one of the official chronicles. Something he could use for his own purposes.
He beat his staff on the ground three times. The bells at the head chimed out their message. Be still and hearken. Blind Li Xiao is about to begin his tale. He chanted the introductory poem in his clear, high voice:
"When wicked ministers subvert the good,
"The Systems lose the beautiful and true.
"On Heaven's River vast, White Tiger sails,
"Her course set by the pirate Madam Hu."
An audience gathered in front of Blind Li Xiao. Children pressed close, their grandparents behind them. The young women and men stood at the edge, feigning disinterest or fearing entrapment. Blind Li Xiao swept the head of his staff in a broad arc as he spoke.
"The stars are vast and Heaven is wide. Yet the Mandate of Heaven is clear. It is the will of Heaven to unite the Eight-Thousand Systems under the rule of the Son of Heaven. Those who support this rule prosper; those who oppose this rule do so in vain."
One of the peacekeepers pinged Blind Li Xiao's citizenship transponder. He would have smiled if he were not already into his story. The peacekeeper would find everything in order. Blind Li Xiao was a storyteller licensed for all of the Eight-Thousand Systems. What more he was would not be revealed by a simple ping.
"No one knows which of the Eight-Thousand Systems gave birth to the girl-child who became Madam Hu. She was not NeoHan. She was not one of those blessed by the Dragon Star nor one of their seed. That much is certain.
"At a young age this girl was sold as a pleasure slave to Captain Hu of the Imperial Navy. In spite of his questionable morals, Captain Hu extended Imperial justice throughout the Eight-Thousand Systems and brought low the foes of the Empire. Three times he led fleets into the wild Jianghu region, three times he fought the bandits there, and three times he returned victorious, bringing many captives and exotic goods back to civilized systems."
A young girl caught Blind Li Xiao's attention. She sat straight, her gaze fixed on the storyteller. Her transponder gave her age as twelve years, though she seemed younger on other scans. Malnutrition, perhaps. Blind Li Xiao turned his sightless eyes toward the girl as if he was speaking only to her.
"During these twelve years of campaigns the young girl learned how to fight. At first she only watched Captain Hu and his men. But twice the bandits of Jianghu boarded Captain Hu's own ship, and twice the girl saved the man's life: once with a kitchen knife, and once with a jeweled dagger he had given her. The night she saved his life a second time, Captain Hu took the young woman to be his wife.
"Thus the pleasure slave became Madam Hu. And no one might remember her name if Captain Hu had not entered the Jianghu region a fourth time. If he had never set eyes on the planet Binan Suo, poets to this day might be singing the praises of Admiral Hu, his wife mentioned in passing, if at all. But after Binan Suo, everything changed."
Madam Hu could not believe what her husband had done. She knew Captain Hu better than anyone, knew that the only thing separating a pirate from a Navy captain was an Imperial commission. She had lived life with him. And then she saw what her husband had done on Binan Suo. She heard the stories the survivors in the ship's cargo hold told.
"To Admiral Hu!"
Madam Hu ducked into an alcove to let the two drunken officers pass. The ship was en route to the Imperial Planet, where her husband would receive a hero's welcome and the long-coveted rank of admiral. What better reward for a butcher and rapist and enslaver of women. She would not let him do to any others what he had done to her.
She would have given her husband a final chance to explain, but what she saw in her husband's bedchamber demanded action. Madam Hu slew her husband in his sleep with the jeweled dagger he had given her. When she was sure that he was dead, she hacked off his right hand. She pressed the severed hand against the control panel in the captain's room. A few inputted commands and the ship was cut off from the rest of the fleet. She made her way from the captain's bedchamber to the cargo hold.
She met no one on her errand. It was the middle of the ship's night. The captain's hand gave her access to the hold. Prisoners blinked in the light spilling from the open door.
"Quiet. All of you. We can take the ship. But only if we act quickly and quietly."
Madam Hu explained her plan to the prisoners. They did not seem inclined to believe her until she began unlocking their serving collars with the captain's hand. At that they fell quickly into line, some taking their places throughout the ship, some following Madam Hu to the bridge.
The captain's hand gave Madam Hu access to the bridge. The lone lieutenant on watch duty turned around instantly. His face went white.
"Do exactly as I say and you will not get hurt."
The lieutenant swallowed and nodded. At Madam Hu's command, he opened the doors to the officers' quarters. That was the prisoners' cue to do what must be done. She had the enlisted gassed in their barracks. With in minutes it was all over. Madam Hu activated the communication system.
"This ship is now under the command of Madam Hu. If you surrender you will not be harmed."
The whole ship seemed to pause, then came the response. A woman's voice. "The ship is ours, Madam Captain. We had a brief problem in the officers' mess, but that's all cleaned up now."
Only then did Madam Hu permit herself a smile. She turned to the lieutenant of the watch. "Set a course for the
Jianghu region."
"But the fleet will notice we're breaking off."
"By the time they realize what has actually happened, we will be long gone."
The lieutenant made the course correction. Madam Hu looked over his shoulder and nodded when she was sure the course was true. She rested Captain Hu's hand on the control panel of the ship.
"Transfer the command codes of the ship to me."
The lieutenant blinked. Then he looked at the severed hand. He entered a few commands into his console.
"It's ready for you."
Madam Hu removed her husband's hand and put her right hand in its place. She closed her eyes as her palm was scanned. The computer chirped merrily. The ship was now truly hers.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'm sorry."
A confused look crossed the lieutenant's face. Quicker than a jungle cat, Madam Hu slit the man's throat. The women with Madam Hu looked at her and at what she had done. Madam Hu nodded at the body.
"A man who has betrayed one master would have betrayed us too." She cleaned her dagger on the control panel of the ship
(To be continued...)