by B. V. Larson
I FIND YOU INTERESTING.
“Yeah, I hoped you would.”
I SUSPECT YOU MISUNDERSTAND. I MEAN, I FIND YOU YOURSELF INTERESTING—PERSONALLY, YOU.
“He is referring to you specifically, fuse-brother,” Roentgen added to clarify.
“Okay... ”
I WILL HELP YOU ON ONE CONDITION.
“What’s that?”
YOU MUST STAY HERE WITH ME.
“I’ll have to think about that.”
FOR HOW LONG?
“Longer than you. Minutes, at least. Stand by.”
Straker paused for long moments, clearly contemplating. Roentgen found himself falling out of the immersive state he’d occupied while translating, coming to awareness once again.
Zaxby waggled the fronds of his subtentacles in a come-hither manner, and Straker walked over to where the Ruxin perched on a padded stool. Zaxby whispered something in Straker’s ear, something Roentgen could not perceive, something out of the range of his suit’s vibrational sensors.
After Zaxby’s unknown words, Straker nodded, put on a bland expression, and spoke.
“You have a deal. I’ll stay with you, as long as you don’t interfere with my actions to lead and organize the people here—and you let anyone who wants to leave do so when that becomes feasible.”
AGREED. I WILL BRING THE PLANETOID TO THE MOST COMPATIBLE OF MY GREEN WORLDS.
“I’ll get started organizing the landing.”
THERE WILL BE NO NEED. I HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTROL OF LOCAL GRAVITY THAT I WILL SIMPLY LAND THE PLANETOID UPON THE SURFACE SO THEY CAN DISEMBARK.
“Uh… okay. How long can you hold it there? Because even I know as soon as you turn off the gravity control, the planet and planetoid will crush together and there’ll be a cataclysm.”
THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO OBSERVE.
“You can’t do that!”
I CAN, ACTUALLY, BUT I WON’T. IT WOULD KILL TOO MANY SPECIMENS. I CAN KEEP THE PLANETOID SAFELY TOUCHING THE SURFACE OF THE GREEN WORLD FOR AS LONG AS NECESSARY TO DISEMBARK.
“And to carry everything they can salvage onto the green world surface? It may take months.”
I GIVE YOU FIVE MONTHS, IN YOUR RECKONING. AFTER THAT, I WILL SEND THE PLANETOID BACK TO ITS CURRENT POSITION.
“Agreed.”
THEN WE ARE FINISHED HERE.
“Wait—how will I communicate with you in the future?”
IF IT BECOMES NECESSARY, THE ROENTGEN-CREATURE PROVIDES AN ADEQUATE CONDUIT.
“That means he’ll have to stay.”
THAT IS YOUR DECISION. THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER.
“It’s gone,” Roentgen said, feeling the emptiness of the lack of the massive neutrino-voice. “Never fear, friend Derek. I will fission and one of me will stay here with you. If we can locate radioactive ores, I can even reproduce further and form a colony of Thorians. It will be a grand adventure!”
“I wouldn’t have thought of it that way, but now that you say it, yeah, it is.” Straker strode near to clasp hands briefly—with the suit between them, of course, a pale imitation of fusing, but nonetheless a moving gesture. “I’ll be happy to have one or more of you here.”
“Thank you. Please move away, Derek. You are being damaged.”
“Only a little. My biotech will handle it.” After one more squeeze of his extremity, Straker wisely moved to a safe distance.
“I am curious also,” Roentgen said. “What did Zaxby say to you to help you decide?”
Straker exchanged glances with Zaxby. “He pointed out that I can fission too.”
“That’s not possible. It is not within the reproductive methods of your species.”
“Our brainiacs adapted subquantum tech to the point they can make near-perfect copies of human beings, using rejuvenation tanks.”
Joy suffused Roentgen’s physical processes. “That is delightful news. Now, you can be like us!”
“Yeah... great.”
“You are not pleased?”
“No. It’s unnatural for me. But to save millions, I’m willing to do something unnatural.” Straker turned to Zaxby. “You and Mara will make a copy of me. Another copy, with a full lifespan. Roentgen will fission, as he said. We’ll leave the two here to fulfill the bargain.”
Zaxby smiled broadly.
“What are you grinning about?” Straker asked.
“I’m enjoying the ease with which you compromise your silly human moral principles.”
“For a brainiac, you’re pretty stupid, Zaxby.”
“I reject that assessment. Why do you make it?”
“Because I’m not compromising my principles—I’m upholding them. I’m making a hard choice for the greater good—one only I have the right to make. When Mara copied me without permission, that was wrong. If she was so sure it was necessary, she should have asked me. I’d probably have agreed. Instead, she made the golems and copied me without permission and only explained it all after the fact. That’s wrong. This is right, because I’m making the decision about my own self. That’s what most morality comes down to—who has the power to choose and control their own lives.”
“Ah. As in, ‘The difference between a Contractor and an employee is the power to quit.’ I stand corrected. You are placing principles above personal qualms. That is wise and admirable—worthy of a Ruxin.”
“Gee, thanks. Now get this ship moving.”
“To where?”
“Back through the wormhole. We need to tell our forces what’s about to happen.”
Roentgen anticipated more adventure to come. It pleased him immensely.
Chapter 35
Watcher system. Straker, aboard Redwolf.
Redwolf’s circular control center provided Straker with a breathtaking view of the planetoid’s appearance above Watcher’s designated green world, the largest one. The end of an enormous wormhole spat it out suddenly, and the hole disappeared, leaving the sphere floating close above the planet like a falling moon.
Only, the moon did not fall. It drifted down slowly, slowly, like a balloon gently landing, pushing the thin envelope of the atmosphere aside until the two bodies touched.
Zaxby piloted Redwolf close to the process, obviously fascinated—so close in fact Straker had to order him to back off, in case something went wrong and the yacht got caught in the process of gravity control. The stupendous scale became awe-inspiring at close range, the grand curve of the planetoid forming a roof above the low mountains where it rested.
“How will the people get down?” Straker asked, staring at the point of contact. “What’s the gravity doing?”
Zaxby zoomed the view in. “It appears that where the two bodies touch, the gravity remains congruent with the surfaces of each—as if each body were gravplated. With reasonable care, people will be able to simply walk from the planetoid onto the planet.”
“What about the atmospheres?”
“The planet’s atmosphere is encroaching on the planetoid’s. The two will mix, and eventually the planet’s atmosphere will become the planetoid’s—like a lake joining with an ocean. In fact, it will make everything easier.”
Straker stroked his jaw. “Seems like Watcher is being good.”
“Good? You reduce things to such simple terms.”
“It’s one of my strengths. Helps me think clearly about what matters.”
Zaxby waved airily. “Watcher is being benevolent, perhaps, in this situation—but it’s not wise to forget it cares little about ‘good.’”
“Noted. Is the situation stable?”
“There are high winds at the intersection point. They will settle within hours.”
The comlink pinged for attention, and the ship’s SAI announced, “Incoming comlink from Trollheim.”
“Put it through.”
“Salishan to Straker.”
“Straker here.”
“We’ve just transited through the wormhole—the original one. I didn’t want to risk accompanying the planetoid.”
“General… ” Captain Salishan said. “What you did was impressive, to get Watcher to do this, but... ”
“But the rescued people are still in a tough spot, I know,” he said. “They’ll be trying to survive with few tools, hardly any ready food...”
“Thousands will still die—of starvation, exposure, lack of medical care, possibly new diseases. Hundreds of thousands, probably. Sinden says we’ll save eighty percent of them, but... ”
“I know,” Straker said. “We can only do what we can.”
“I have a suggestion, sir. It’s radical, I warn you.”
“Tell me.”
“What if I… set Trollheim down? On the surface?”
“She’s not designed for that.”
“You’re right—she’d never lift again. Not under her own power. But, with Trollheim’s resources and personnel as a base and center, we’ll help the settlers survive. We still have three skimmers to do the work of ships. Someone, probably you and Admiral Engels, should go back to Utopia on Redwolf. I’ll stay here with the crew.”
“Actually, I’ll be staying too. I’ll explain later.” Straker would tell Salishan about the copy of himself he intended to leave here, but nobody else. People knew about the golems, but he’d try to keep the secret of perfect copies a little longer. Besides, he hadn’t told Watcher either. Hopefully the being wouldn’t notice one Straker departed while another stayed.
“But you’re right,” he continued. “Set Trollheim down. We’ll send Redwolf back to Utopia, and order a task force to bring tools and supplies ASAP. All we have to do is keep people alive for the few weeks that takes.”
“Understood. I’ve got work to do, sir. Anything else?”
“No, carry on. Great job, Mercy.”
“Thank you, sir. Salishan out.”
Zaxby had left during the conversation, so Straker sat in an obscenely comfortable chair and put his feet up. Murdock had really gone all-out with the luxury on the yacht. He made a note to have Colonel Keller audit the brainiac’s budget and expenditures, and took the moment to simply relax and think.
The door to the yacht’s bridge slid open and Carla entered, tentatively, running her hands down her tunic as if to smooth it. She glanced around. Straker put his feet on the deck and stood to take her in his arms. “Good to see you, my love.”
Carla kissed him absently. “Yeah... good to see me too. After reviewing everything that’s happened, I have a weird feeling of disconnection. I went into Mara’s tank on Utopia, yesterday to me, weeks ago to all of you. I wake up in another tank halfway across the galaxy, and find out a copy of me went on the mission in my place—and she’s dead. She experienced unspeakable horrors, and here I am, untouched. It doesn’t make me feel good.”
“Survivor’s guilt. I know how you feel.”
“I heard about that too. Your golems.”
Straker tried to set Carla in a chair, but she disengaged from him to meander around the spacious bridge, taking in the three-sixty view, not meeting his eyes. “I’m fine,” she said. “Stop treating me like I’m made of glass. Remember, none of that happened to me. I was lying in a tank, doing exactly nothing while you’ve been busy saving the universe again.”
“Yeah, okay, it’s strange what happened. It’s hard to think about you as untouched, though. I wasn’t trying to save the universe—I was trying to save you. And I failed. And as it turned out, I didn’t even need to try. Mara could’ve simply woken you up and saved me the sweat. I’d still have gone after the other Breakers, of course, but I didn’t have to go half out of my mind with worry.”
Carla rubbed her arms and shivered, staring at something in the illusion of distance. “I don’t know. How would you have felt about it if she told you? How would I, if you woke me up? I’d like to think we’d have been just as concerned about the other Carla. If we weren’t... what would that say about us? If we can make expendable copies, aren’t we just as bad as the Korven, or the Mutuality with the Hok—creating living beings as pawns and puppets?”
“Or like the Hundred Worlds? They genetically engineered and raised us to be perfect warriors.”
Carla shuddered yet again. “And what if we’d rescued that other Carla after all? What would have become of her?”
“We don’t have to answer that question,” Straker replied.
“Because she’s dead. That’s piling evil on more evil! Everybody keeps saying ‘I had to do it.’ Derek, when do we say no?”
Straker wrapped his arms around her from behind, feeling her curves, which fit him perfectly. “We say no when the fate of millions isn’t at stake, I guess. Or even the thousands of Breakers under our command. I can see why leaders go prematurely gray. But really, tech is just tech. It’s just tools. It’s what we do with them that matters. And whatever we do, we can only do our best to use those tools for good.”
“But what’s good?”
“That’s the big question, isn’t it? One that people have been trying to answer down through the ages. For now, this is good. You and me and the work in front of us. And there’s one hell of a lot to do.”
“Yeah. I was thinking... we have a lot of space on Utopia. Ten planetary surfaces’ worth or more. Room for billions. There’s a bunch of people here. A few may stay, a lot will want to go home—and that’s good. It will spread the word of what the Breakers did. But some might want to settle on Utopia. We could use more people. We should offer them citizenship.”
Straker snorted with amusement. “Citizenship. We don’t have citizenship. No constitution, no process, no legal status for civilians... we’ve just been winging it over the last year.”
“Then obviously that needs to change. We need a population base, manufacturing, commerce... a real society beyond one Italian-descended town and one regimented military unit. Someplace our kids can grow up in, with a full range of opportunities, or what’s the point?”
Straker let go of her and deliberately sat in his chair again, gesturing at another for her to take a seat. “The golem Prime said something to me. I guess he was able to articulate what I’ve always known, but wasn’t willing to say.”
“What’s that?”
“Eventually, I have to go back.”
“Back?” She sat suddenly, gripping the arms of the chair. “Back to the Republic?”
“Yes. I can’t leave humanity ruled by a dictator—by a traitor, a backstabber, a humanopt agent.”
“You had your chance once, Derek, when you were on top. You turned everything over to the civilians, and look what happened.”
“Civilians have to rule themselves—in the long run. Military rule never works. I did the right thing, Carla, but I did it the wrong way. The problem wasn’t what was done, but how it was done. I see that now. I broke the system, and then I left it too fragile, with a power vacuum. Next time I’ll keep power for long enough to establish a stable representative government, with checks and balances and a solid constitution.”
“Next time? Derek Straker, when do we get to settle down? To raise the kids? To have some peace?”
“We weren’t made for peace,” he said. “At least, not for a hands-off peace, with us on the sidelines. We tried it for five years, tried to hide from war, but war came after us anyway. No, the only way to have peace is to impose it, insist on it, enforce it. Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
“If you want peace, prepare for war?”
“Yes. As for our kids, they’ll be raised by two wonderful parents. Other than that, they’ll do what children have always done—grow up and become individuals. And we’ll be proud of them, no matter what.”
“That’s a great vision, but... you want to depose Steel and rule the Republic? I’d say you need to prove you can rule Utopia first, Derek. And to do that, we need people. A lot of them.”
“If we bring people, there will be more commerce. The
secret of Utopia’s location will eventually get out. That means more defenses, more interaction, more danger, more Breaker military jobs. If we do this, we both need to be all-in on it. Committed. You were asking about peace... but it won’t be peaceful. It’s going to be a huge, messy management job.”
“I know…” she sighed. “And I’ll be right by your side. We have top people to help. We’ll get more. People will amaze you, Derek. They’ll step up. And we have the basis for an interspecies alliance now. The Humbar, the Thorians, the Salamanders and more. And don’t forget, we may have thwarted the Axis of Predators in this master plan of theirs, but they’re still out there, and they’re gonna be pissed.”
“I know.” Straker took a deep breath, and then let it out. “Let’s think about it, talk it over with everyone. It’s not my decision alone.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You’re the boss. They’ll follow you.”
“They will. That’s why it’s so important to ask for their input.”
“If you want my input,” Zaxby declared as he ambled in, “the way forward is clear. Develop Utopia and the Breakers into an independent power while I—with a little help from Murdock and a few others—investigate this wormhole technology. Once we’re able to create and control FTL wormholes, we build and assemble a coalition sufficiently powerful to seize the Republic once more. You will become Emperor Derek Straker the First, and you will be succeeded by an infinite line of copies of yourself, stretching forward throughout time. Eventually you will bring the entire galaxy under your benevolent rule, with rejuvenated or copied Carlas and Zaxbys and Locos always by your side.”
Straker guffawed, almost choking with the ridiculousness of the suggestion. “Think bigger, Zaxby. Why not the universe!”
