Samsung stepped into the cell and stood looking at the wall with the barred window as the prison door slid shut behind him.
Although Samsung appeared calm on the outside, his mind was seething with anger on the inside, and it wasn’t because he was in prison. He wouldn’t be in this situation if he hadn’t been banished from his homeland two years earlier.
From the time he had been a young child his honorable father had trained Samsung in all forms of combat. And though his father’s favorite form of combat was archery, and though he encouraged Samsung to follow in that direction, it turned out that Samsung’s favorite was the ancient form of hand to hand combat known as ‘karate,’ and he excelled at it. By the time he was fourteen years of age (Galactic Federation time) he had already become the champion of his age group in Newnippon. From there he steadily grew in expertise and physical strength. And in this growth he came closer to his goal of becoming Grand Master of Newnippon.
Samsung’s father allowed him the freedom to follow his greatest desire, and finally, at the age of thirty-two, for the first time he was allowed to enter the Grand Master competition. And much to his pleasure he was seeded number six out of thirty-two contestants.
In the first round he easily defeated the number twenty-eight seed. In the second round he faced the number 20 seed, which was also an easy match. In the third round he faced the number four seed, which wasn’t so easy. The match went all three rounds with Samsung winning by decision rather than a knock-out or an inescapable hold. This win placed him in the semifinals where he should have faced the number two seed, but there had been an upset when the number sixteen seed beat the number eight seed, and then went on to beat the number two seed, so, instead of facing the number two seed in the fourth round he sparred against the number sixteen seed.
This man turned out to be very fast and very good at defending kicks and punches, but more than that he was in the zone. He beat Samsung in the first round, and it wasn’t looking too good in the second round either. Samsung, in his mind, searched for the answer going back through all his training, finally he decided on a judo move. He faked a kick, which caused his opponent to step back and bring his right arm down and across in a blocking motion. Before this move was completed, Samsung stepped forward and did a three hundred and sixty degree turn bringing his right arm out as he turned. He grabbed his opponent’s wrist and with a bending motion he threw the man over his shoulder and onto the mat with such force that he was stunned. At that moment Samsung rolled him over and got him in a neck-breaking hold. The match was over.
After watching this match most of the experts concluded that Samsung was good enough to win the title.
As he waited in his corner he looked across the ring at the reigning champion, Tanaka. He was only an inch taller than Samsung, but his muscles were honed to a fine-chiseled look, and his build was massive. It occurred to Samsung that such a massive chest would be detrimental when speed was necessary, but for this champion it wasn’t. He was extremely fast.
It pleased Samsung that most thought he was faster than the champion—maybe he was, but he would not underestimate Tanaka, after all he had been the reigning champion for five years.
When the referee dropped his hand in the middle of the ring, signaling for the match to begin Samsung noticed that the champion did not come out of his corner as fast as usual. Something wasn’t right.
As they began to spar he noticed that Tanaka’s reflexes were a slight bit slower than normal. As it turned out, with this advantage Samsung easily defeated Tanaka in the first round, and he became the new reigning champion.
However, it was a short lived championship. The judges also noticed the slowed reflexes and started an investigation. First they had Tanaka’s blood analyzed and found the presence of Nismazolex—a drug which slows the chemical action of dopamine, in the brain, thereby causing a slower reaction time in physical coordination. Next they discovered the presence of this drug in the tea Tanaka had drunk just before the match. And finally, while Tanaka’s blood was being analyzed other investigators were searching the locker room. They had each of the contestants open their locker. And there in the back corner of Samsung’s locker they found a small vile of the drug.
Samsung protested claiming that he had been framed that someone had picked the lock and placed the drug in his locker. The investigators considered his objection and had the lock microscopically examined, but they found no evidence of the lock being picked, and since Samsung was the only one who had a key, they concluded that he had perpetrated this crime so that he might win the championship. Samsung protested again stating that the lock had been picked by a professional.
A twelve man committee was formed to determine guilt or innocence—only one of the twelve thought he might be innocent. He was, therefore, stripped of his championship and publicly disgraced on the home viewer when it was announced that he had cheated.
Two days later a messenger from the Emperor delivered a message which stated that he had dishonored himself and his family, he therefore had two days to get his affairs in order, and then he must leave Newnippon forever.
He called his wife, Akiko, to him and explained to her that some villain had framed him, and that he had been banished from the city. “I have confidence in you,” he said. “You are a competent woman. I want you to take over our clothing business and keep it prosperous until I return. And believe me when I say, ‘I will be back.’”
With a tear in her eye, Akiko bowed courteously. “I will, my honorable husband. And I know you will be back, for I know that you did not commit this foul atrocity.”
Two days later Samsung left Newnippon and headed for the Borgus Mountains and the villages of the Mountain People. He could not go to Newchin—the Japanese people and the Chinese people of the two city nations hated each other. He would not go to Newusser. It was too far away, and besides, he didn’t trust the Russians. He would not go to Newusa—they were living under a terrible dictatorship. That left only the Mountain Nation.
He drove his four wheel drive Navigator to the Borgus Mountains. Along the way he passed several groups of toral. They gave chase, but they could not catch him. After several hours he started up a slight incline, which quickly became a steep incline. The road leveled out in a number of places, but became steep again. Finally, he came to the village of Everette the Unifier.
He had heard of Everette who attempted to unify the Mountain Nation by bringing the clans together under one ruler. He admired Everette for being dedicated to making the Mountain Nation a better place to live. He, therefore, decided to give his allegiance to this man.
Samsung parked his car in an open field and walked to the nearest house. He knocked on the door and waited. A moment later a big busty woman with blond braided hair opened the door. She was at least a foot taller than Samsung.
“Yes,” she asked looking down at him.
“Madam, I am looking for Everette the unifier.”
She stepped out on the porch and pointed. “His is the third house down on the right,” she said.
“Thank-you,” answered Samsung.
“Think nothing of it,” she answered. She watched as Samsung left her house and walked down the road.
He wasn’t sure if Everette would accept him into his clan as he was unfamiliar with the customs of these people.
He knocked on the door. A moment later a woman, this time only six inches taller than Samsung, opened the door and asked, “May I help you?”
“Yes madam,” answered Samsung, “I would like to talk to Everette the Unifier.”
“You can call him ‘Everette,’” said the woman, and then she called out, “Everette, someone is here to talk to you.” And then to Samsung she said, “Please come in.” She opened the door wide and stepped aside.
As Samsung stepped into the house, she closed the door behind him and went into the kitchen. A moment later a giant of a man entered the room. “Hello,” said Everette in a booming voice. “What can I do for y
ou?”
Samsung bowed and then straightened up. “Most honorable sir,” he said, “I have come to you in my time of need. I will be honest with you, sir. I have been banished from my home in Newnippon by my Emperor. Now I have no place to live. I have come to ask if I might live in your village, if I might pledge my allegiance to you and your clan?”
Everette laughed. “I have never met a man so courteous. What is your name?”
“My name is Samsung.”
“Well, Samsung you have my permission to join our clan, and more than that you can stay with me and my wife until our clan is finished building your cabin.”
And with that Samsung and Everette formed a bond of friendship which grew stronger everyday until they became the best of friends.
Two years later when taking a shipment of arms to the rebels in Newusa Samsung was shot by a stun ray in a subway tunnel. Sam rushed toward him in an attempt to carry him back to the exit, but it was a foolish decision as Sam was also shot down.
Everette seeing it was hopeless to try to rescue his two friends, rushed up the ladder and escaped into the plains of the toral.
Now, here he was. Most would think he was in a bad situation, but Samsung knew that someday he would return to Newnippon.
Chapter Forty-Four