No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Jernard struggled wildly against his handcuffs, but it was no use. By this time, he was so angry and confused that he no longer cared about the intense pain going through his wrists. The deep red scratches that he was giving himself continued to fade away, only minutes after he grew too tired to struggle. Jernard couldn't figure it out-was what he was seeing even real?

"Where is she?! Please, just tell me she's alive!" Jernard pleaded again, this time with desperation in his voice. The guards just stared straight ahead like he didn't even exist. There was no sign of Rhaynan anywhere onboard. Judging by the direction the ship was heading, they were coming from Kydena and going toward Hannaria. Jernard knew he didn't have a lot of time to calm down and think of a better plan.

Even if he was able to break free, Jernard also knew the guards would still have him trapped. Yet another problem was going to be facing his father on Hannaria. After all this time, Cryuse was going to be furious that the only son that shared his gift had ran away from the responsibility it required.

Cryuse was the only elder ambassador for the current Emperor of Hannaria, a position that was required by tradition to be passed down to at least one child. Since Jernard was Cryuse's only son that shared his gift for language translation, he was the obvious choice-whether he wanted to be or not.

So while his peers were enjoying much more beneficial abilities such as increased strength or being able to move objects with their minds, Jernard was stuck listening to the conversations of marimoots and other Hannarian animals. This quickly became dull, since all they ever communicated was "must find food" or "I hear danger." All the people on Hannaria spoke the same language, and space travel was limited to only legal adults. So for a long time, his gift seemed pointless.

The problem was by the time he officially became an adult, Jernard would be elected-basically against his will-to an ambassador position. This meant he'd be sent to some distant planet for training until he used his ability to find his way back-if he could find his way back. The elders considered this a rite of passage and a privilege, but Jernard just considered it a cold and cruel thing to do to someone.

These circumstances lead him to the desperate plan of stealing a small royal charter ship. He flew it to nearby Kydena, an agricultural planet that basically fed the whole solar system. He needed a lot of time to think about his next move, and he felt he could blend in as soon as he picked up the language. It was the last place he expected anyone to look for him, since the lifestyle there was very uncomfortable compared to that on Hannaria. (Though Cryuse was not part of the royal family, his position had allowed Jernard to share much of the same treatment.)

Things had actually gone well for several seasons. The people on Kydena were kind, and Jernard found himself impressed at how happy they were in their simple lives. Jernard worked hard enough that the farmer that employed him never tried to pry into his private life, fearing that he'd leave. He also became very good friends with a neighboring farmer's daughter, Rhaynan.

Rhaynan was beautiful by both Hannnarian and Kydena standards-both peoples looked very similar, since they were originally both from Kydena. Rhaynan's dark hair had an unusual shine to it and had natural flashes of blue and red at certain angles in the sun. Her eyes were bright blue but not cold-you could immediately see her curious personality in them. There were days Jernard wondered if she seen right through him-metaphorically that is-since he seriously doubted she had x-ray vision...

A main difference was people on Kydena was that they either did not show off their gifts, or possibly did not have any at all. Jernard was of course careful not to do anything that would get him discovered.

He liked that Rhaynan was also so comfortable to talk with-Jernard found that they had even went to the same school on Hannaria when they were both very young. Unfortunately, he couldn't even tell her that. He didn't remember her, and he doubted she recognized him. It was fun to make her laugh, but beyond that he tried not to have any deeper feelings for her. It seemed like the harder he fought it, the more he really cared about her. He did manage to cover it well, though.

That was until the day he was working in a mevid field and suddenly heard a marimoot screaming, "I see fire! I see fire!" A power surge in a neighboring barn had caused it to erupt into flames. As he got closer, he could hear something else-Rhaynan was inside and yelling for help!

"Rhaynan! Can you hear me?!" Jernard shouted.

"Jernard? Is that you?! I can't get out-there's too much smoke!" She began coughing so much that she couldn't say anything else.

The heat was intense and ashes were already beginning to cover Jernard's head and shirt. He rapidly ran into the creek and back to try to offset it. He then circled the barn, attempting to find an entrance he could easily get into. By this time, there wasn't one. He would have to bust through a side door. Looking around for anything that he could use to ram the door, the only thing he saw nearby was a thick log that wasn't much longer than his arm.

He hit a side door once, but it didn't bulge much. It only caused a cloud of smoke to filter out of the cracks. Jernard began to worry he was only stoking the fire. Rhaynan suddenly quit yelling at all, and he feared she was unconscious.

Getting a better grip on the log, he hit the door with all the force he had. It broke this time, sending Jernard to the floor. There were flames everywhere and no sign of Rhaynan. She was probably upstairs. Half of the staircase looked like it was on the verge of turning to ashes.

So Jernard ran as fast as he could, ignoring the pain and the burns that were developing on his legs. All the water from the creek evaporated rapidly, and he knew he didn't have long to find her.

Rhaynan was huddled near a window, leaning towards it just enough to try to keep fresh air in her lungs. Her eyes got wide when she saw Jernard, at first thinking she was hallucinating. No one could have gotten through all of that without breathing equipment.

Jernard studied the floor to find the best way he thought to get Rhaynan out, and then made his way over to her. He was burnt to the point he was probably going to die, but he had to save her. As he picked her up, pain shot through his arms and almost every nerve in his body. He nearly dropped her but gripped her again before she hit the floor. He made his way back through the smoke to the outside entrance, and then collasped. The last thing he seen was Rhaynan on the ground-not coughing, not breathing. Then everything went white.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in handcuffs on a ship going back to Hannaria. He had no burns. He had different clothes. The guards were treating him like a criminal. Was he being charged for Rhaynan's death? Would anyone believe him if he tried to explain what happened?

The pilot circled around the capital city, landing in the Emperor's private field. A guard grabbed Jernard shoulder, firmly but without meanace. Looking around at familiar landmarks that surrounded him, he knew he was going to be taken to the Emperor. Reaching the outside doors of the royal chamber, another guard removed his handcuffs

"We just didn't want to risk you running again...," the guard whispered. The door to the main hall opened with a screech.

Cryuse was to the right of the Emperor and immediately rose out of his chair and ran to him.

"Are you alright, Jernard? I heard you were in a fire. Are you hurt?" Cryuse looked at him in shock, mainly because he was expecting something much worse.

"I'm fine, but I don't know what's going on. Has anyone in our family ever been able to do this?"

Jernard scratched the inner part of his own arm as hard as he could, causing Cryuse to cringe It bled in several places, but only for a moment. Within seconds, Jernard was able to wipe the few drops of blood away, and his arm was back to normal.

"That is amazing! And no, I don't know of anyone in my family that could do that," Cryuse said wide-eyed, "your mother's family maybe...but there's no one left I could ask."

Jernard let the reality of this sink in for a second-it was rare that a gift like this just appeared out of nowhere. Then his thoughts turned to Rhaynan.

"Have you heard anything about a girl-whether she is ok or not?"

"That's what the Emperor wanted to talk to you about."

The Emperor was not much older than Jernard. He had taken his father's position several years previously but had kept most of the office's elder advisors. Jernard was soon to be his youngest advisor, and this was the first time they had met in person. Though the Emperor had considered Jernard's running a cowardly action, saving Rhaynan had redeemed him.

"You've done a brave thing, Jernard. Did you learn about this ability to heal while you were on Kydena?"

"Actually your Highness, I honestly thought I was going to die. It's not like it doesn't hurt. It's just my body seems to recover quickly."

"That is very curious-this ability could be extremly useful to you and to our world," the Emperor paused for a moment like he was thinking, "I also want to let you know that Rhaynan is ok. We immediately brought her here to Hannaria. She's in the royal hospital-got quite a bit of smoke in her lungs, but she'll recover."

"That's wonderful..." Jernard said quietly, feeling a wave of guilt and fear drift off of him.

"I'm also guessing you had no idea we were related-she is my cousin." The Emperor smiled as Jernard gave him a confused look.

"No sir."

"I've always found Rhaynan kind of odd-but not in a bad way. To be honest, I wouldn't be caught dead in a mevid field, but she considers it an education in learning about people. She even sent me a few messages about some new visitor she found interesting..."

"So that's how you found me..." Jernard hung his head down. If he'd been honest with her in the first place, she likely would've kept his secret.

"Yes, but don't be angry with her. She had no idea who you were."

"I understand...please, is it ok if I go see her now?"

"I have something I want to discuss with you first-you may find this interesting."
the Emperor said as he brought out a small handheld computer and handed it to Jernard.

Jernard touched the power button and immediately saw a diagram of a planet that looked somewhat similar to Hannaria, with the exception that it had more water.

"Jernard, we need someone to explore this planet. Scans show the people are similar to those here and on Kydena, but they have wildly varying cultures and technology..."

Jernard's heart sank. He was still going to be forced to leave everything he knew and cared about behind.

The Emperor continued, "a connection with these people could greatly help both planets in both trade and defense. They're almost in the middle of nowhere, and I doubt they even know there's other inhabited planets close to them."

The thought of this seemed strange to Jernard...a lonely planet...and he wondered if the people there noticed the loneliness, or if they even were aware of it.

"I'll be honest your Highness, I don't want to be alone on this. My arrival might mess up their whole way of life, and I'm honestly afraid that I might not get back to-"

"to Rhaynan." The Emperor smiled.

Jernard's face turned a little red in embarrassment. He didn't think it was that obvious.

"I'm going to give you an entire year to prepare for this-it's going to take that long for Rhaynan to learn some of the languages you'll be needing. She doesn't know what her gifts are yet-our family usually takes a little longer than others, but I like to think that what we gain is worth the wait."

The Emperor concentrated and was able to levitate himself almost to the ceiling.

"Now this is very useful in times of high traffic, but when I was your age I had no visible abilites...I like to think everyone's just a little different, and that's what makes us interesting. What makes you different will become your greatest asset-and likely make you very wealthy in the process."

Jernard thought for a moment, "But is Rhaynan ok with all of this? I mean, does she really want to go?"

"I spoke with her about it, and she wrote me a note saying she'd love to go with you. You can find out for yourself if you like. My assistant Lyga can walk you over to the hospital." the Emperor nodded toward a tall slender woman who was speaking with Cryuse near the door.

Jernard bowed goodbye to his father and the Emperor and began walking beside Lyga on the path to the hospital. He looked down at the picture of the lonely planet on the computer and found one of the language menus where audio samples had been taken by a probe.

A recording began to play something that sounded like man's voice speaking, but Jernard had no understanding in the pattern of the words. He pressed the rewind button and played it again several times. This was more complicated than Kydena since their language had some similaries to Hannarian, but his mind would eventually sort through it. He played it again just before reaching the hospital doors.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."