Brother to Shadows

1993

Ever since he can recall Jofre has honoured the ways of the Brotherhood. But he is not one of them for he came to them not by way of birth but as a foundling when his ship was found wrecked in the Brotherhood's mountains. There were those amongst the Brotherhood who held this against him; there were those in the Brotherhood who held his being an Outlander against him for he was a Terran human not Brotherhood alien.

When things went against the Post of Shadow, the Master was forced into ritual suicide.

That left Jofre in a bit of a quandary for the Master was his sole protector against the enmity of those who would see him dead and indeed he is soon barred from the fellowship of the Shadows and exiled to the world of humans which he does not recall.

Once in the Stinkport, home to the travelling scum of the galaxy, he gets a lucky break - he saves a Zacathan from the deadly attentions of the scum that inhabit this hole. Partly in gratitude and partly in recognition of his skill, the Zacathan hires him to act as bodyguard. Not only to protect him against the locals but also against those off-worlders who would take the Zacathan's wonderful device - a device that could skim off the story of a stone from it's outer layers and display it to those who would read it.

When the Zacathan gains the resources to continue his experiments on a closed world, Jofre thought that this was the end of the dream, but Zurzal was no ingrate and offered his young charge the chance to travel off-world with him.

Jofre jumps at this glorious chance.

But even off-world he was tracked by those his survival had offended.

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