“You’ve hit upon a possible solution, though, Admiral,” Koto told him. “We must associate ourselves with the legends of the galaxy. The Chem must believe that they face the Fleet of Alexander. If their psychology is anything like ours it would be an enormous advantage.”
“Doctor I hear what you’re saying and I don’t disagree,” Admiral Augesburcke told him. “We’ll put up a good fight, but we’ve got the most inexperienced military in the history of the galaxy. We may be all right in the planetary battles, but in space? I can’t promise any military genius there.”
“Admiral, you miss my point entirely,” Koto smiled. “We don’t have to do any such thing. The Chem have already done it for us.”
“What do you mean?”
“We should use Alexander.” The room went silent, and everybody wondered whether Koto had gone mad. The Doctor stood up and paced around the table. He was excited, as if he’d just discovered the answer to all things great and small. “The Chem have already drawn the parallels between our Alexander and Alexander the Great. Look at the past life memories they’ve shown. He’s a violent and powerful man. All of his history confirms this. The Galactic legends say that one day Alexander will return and Terra will conquer the stars. It’s grown into a phobia for them. They’re wondering whether this Alexander is the incarnation of Alexander the Great, and our Alexander has done nothing to make them doubt this.
“On the contrary he has caused them great doubt and consternation, and at the same time he fascinates them. He’s become a counter culture hero to the galaxy because the establishment fears him. We need Alexander, here, and in command of the Fleet,” Doctor Koto told them, and he pounded his fist on the table. “This one man can give us legitimacy. Even if he’s a figurehead, Alexander may be able to bluff the Chem out of battle. If we offer them an honorable way out they may very well forego a battle with Alexander, and who could blame them?”
“And what would this honorable way out be?”
“For that answer we must go to the expert,” Doctor Koto said. “Alexander’s been dealing with the Chem from the beginning. Ms. Sadat is quite correct when she says Alexander is an astute individual, but she doesn’t realize how astute.”
“In what way, Doctor,” Sadat asked. “He’s the prototypical American “Rambo.” No doubt he was impossible to be around on Terra, but now he’s found his niche and he fits in it quite well.”
“You’re usually a better guesser, Ms. Sadat,” Doctor Koto told her colleague, and then he took his seat and elaborated. “Alexander Thorsson on Terra is very similar to what we’ve seen, but much more subtle and well rounded.”
“Explain,” Augesburcke asked.
“What we are seeing, ladies and gentleman, is not a new man—it’s a makeover. Alexander is Scandinavian and Scottish by birth, areas with rich warrior traditions that Alexander was very proud of. He was also highly intelligent and widely talented. He participated in professional sports and the like, but he was also a painter, a pianist, an avid reader of the classics with a thirst for Shakespeare.”
“Doesn’t sound like his cup of tea,” Augesburcke barked.
“No it doesn’t; does it? You don’t see those qualities in him now, except possibly for the Shakespeare which makes its appearance in his verbiage now and again. What does this mean? It’s actually quite simple. Alexander examined the need at hand and molded himself to meet it.
“Remember his first experience in Chem hands, the trial, where the Chem proclaimed Alexander as the representative of all Terrans. He tried to argue his way out of it, but failing that he gave the Chem exactly what they were looking for.”
“You mean he’s portraying a Terran as the Chem wish to see us, or think to see us?” Sadat looked perturbed. “That is taking a huge gamble.”
“You are not quite correct,” Koto replied, bringing up two slides showing personality traits along the bottom and columns above them. The traits were common to both charts, but the columns varied in height. “This will explain, somewhat. On the left is a personality profile of Alexander before his capture by the Chem, built by myself from interviews from friends, colleagues, family, etc. On the right is Alexander’s personality profile now. All the traits are still there. It is only magnitudes which have changed. We see the character of Alexander change from a well balanced individual to a person with very singular purpose.”
“He’s adapted to his environment,” Sadat commented. “Impressive, and necessary, I would venture to say that’s what’s kept him alive.”
“He’s done so very quickly,” Augesburcke noted. “It takes a great deal to accept so radical a change, and then adapt to it. It’s a pity he’s out of reach.”
“You still don’t quite see,” Doctor Koto explained, jumping up again and striding round the conference table. “You don’t fully appreciate Alexander’s transformation, nor understand why he was able to accomplish it. Both are extraordinarily important points if you are to understand the man, and how he may still be of use to us. You see Alexander’s adaptation didn’t come through acclimatization. It was not, as is the classic scenario, the gradual emergence of survival instincts and traits over time. His change was sudden, indeed it was almost instantaneous. Let me show you the entirety of the Chem trial from the first moment of Alexander’s appearance.” Koto showed the hologram beginning with a naked Alexander awakening in the Chem cell.
“We see the humble beginnings of Alexander’s emergence with his realization that he’s not on Terra. He retains the memories of Scythian capture and swiftly ascertains his position. The trial begins and the new Alexander quickly emerges.
He’s built upon the old Alexander, but stressing a new set of needs: strength, courage, a demand for respect. There’s more. Alexander draws upon his ancestor’s warlike nature but he tempers it with honor, a quality the Chem so obviously revere. He builds this new character very quickly, and I’m certain his intention was to portray himself, and Terra, not as we are but as we ought to be.”
“That is not exactly as I would have chosen,” Sadat said.
“Nor is it what any of us would have chosen,” Koto told her, “but Alexander had only himself and a few precious seconds to work with. In this new world, with no rules of society or law, he recreated himself as he would like to be seen. He is warlike, but driven by honor and justice. Think of what he portrays: Terrans as supremely powerful enemies if crossed, but trusted friends if respected and left alone. Alexander’s purpose is completely transparent. He’s calculated his position, and the Chem intentions, and is doing everything in his power to convince them that Terra is not worth going to war with.”
“At what price though,” Sadat mentioned. “It seems that Alexander has compromised himself. He can’t beg for a reprieve without destroying the image he’s created. His only possible release from his death sentence is just that: death.”
Koto’s expression turned serious. “It’s obvious that Alexander considers himself expendable.”
Augesburcke nodded, and said, “He’s a military man, Ms. Sadat, and this is a one way mission—no return. He knows that it’s not just his life that’s at stake it’s Terra. It’s a fair trade.”
“Until we shot the Terran scout ship out of space he may well have been close to accomplishing his goal,” Doctor Koto said, and then he sat down. “However, despite the obvious fact that Alexander was willing to trade himself for Terra there are certain indications of a subplot. Alexander has had some contact with Nazeera of the Triumvirate, a person of some importance on Chem.”
“She’s leading the Chem Armada,” Admiral Augesburcke told them. “We’ve built quite a profile on her through Scythian information and on the galactic ethernet. The Galactics don’t take many pains at secrecy, and they’re as ravenous about information as we are. Nazeera is certain to succeed as Chem’s Elder. Without going into all the details I would hazard to say we have a very potent adversary.”
“Yes, and Alexander has gone out of his way to mention her b
y name,” Doctor Koto told them. “Nazeera, on the other hand, made the primary interrogation of Alexander at his trial and is the author of his exile to Pantrixnia. She was also, as stated by the automaton on Pantrixnia, the one who tried to get Alexander eaten by the Tyrannosaurus.
“However, her latest involvement was a personal message, delivered directly to Alexander by the automaton praising his bravery and wishing him success. It’s not entirely consistent with the Nazeera we’ve seen previously. There is a mystery there. Then there’s Bureel, with whom Alexander has an open challenge of honor. That may be his attempt to get off Pantrixnia.”
“Possibly, but there’s another consideration,” Sampson offered. “We found out this morning what now turns out to be an interesting point. We’ve been trying to identify all the players in this soap opera. Well, here’s one. Bureel is, as we knew, a relatively minor member of the Assemblage. What we didn’t know was how he got the position. He entered into a marriage arranged by his father who was owed a debt by the father of a current member of the Chem Triumvirate.”
“Let me guess, our very own Nazeera,” Augesburcke whistled.
“You bet. We got it from the Golkos, who are not big fans of the Chem and only too willing to cause them scandal or embarrassment,” Sampson noted.
“This does paint an interesting picture,” Sadat mused with a smile. “Did Alexander and Nazeera get to know each other somewhat better than we imagined?”
“You’re late, Ms. Sadat,” Sampson smiled, “the Golkos have already played up that line. Their conjecture is that Alexander is truly Alexander the Great’s namesake. He will kill Bureel in a duel and marry Nazeera, joining the Terrans and the Chem as one. Then he will launch a galactic war of conquest.”
“I like everything but that last part,” Sadat said.
“Well, it doesn’t matter a wit,” Augesburcke said gruffly. “Whatever personal schemes Alexander and Nazeera may have had are all a bunch of garbage now. We saw to it when we blasted the Chem ship out of space. If there was an understanding between them, which I hope to hell there wasn’t, things are worse now. Alexander always maintained we were ignorant and planet bound.
“We’ve made a liar out of him, and I hate to sound sexist, but Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or lied to. Nazeera’s either out to remove a threat to her people’s existence, or out for revenge, or both. From what we know, she’s not a character you want to have hating you. Suggestions?”
“There’s only one person we should be asking, and I would say we ask him,” Koto said.
“I thought you would say something like that, Doctor,” Augesburcke sighed. “Very well, I don’t disagree, but how do we get him?”
Koto smiled, and said, “For an Overlord go to a man with delusions of grandeur; for a kidnapping go to the Scythians—they’ve been abducting Terrans for ten thousand years.”
CHAPTER 40: A New Arena
When Bob left Alexander felt extraordinarily isolated. The full realization of what it meant to be marooned leapt upon him. During the next days, he did little but sit in the grotto and sulk.
He forced himself to go out once a day to check on Rex. Watching the Tyrannosaurus never got dull, and he and Nessie were now Alexander’s only ties to Earth, and home. Now that his adventure was all but complete the idea of home grew important, more so than at any other time in his life. Time passed, but he was unaware of whether it was months or just days. On one of these days he was watching Rex’s “romp,” as he called the dinosaur’s exercise of frightening the wits out of his jungle minions, when something finally occurred.
Above him there was a sound. It disturbed Rex as well. He jumped up in sudden hope that it would be Nazeera in a Chem ship. Disappointment hit him in the gut when he stared up at the brassy saucer shaped ship, knowing it for what it was, a Scythian scientific ship. Just such a ship plucked him from Terra three times before. This time, however, he remembered them. The horrible blue beam enveloped him, lifting him bodily into the center of the ship. He looked down to see Rex gazing up at him quizzically. Then Pantrixnia disappeared behind the sliding door of the hatch. The beam set him down in the middle of a hemispherical chamber. He wasn’t alone.
“Welcome Alexander!” a cheery faced man with large mustachios told him. The man wore a black and silver military uniform, spoke with an Australian accent and was definitely Terran.
Alexander shook hands, though somewhat suspiciously, and he said, “I wouldn’t have expected to find a Human out here, and in a Scythian ship no less.”
“I imagine so. Let me introduce myself. I’m Admiral Augesburcke, Commander in Chief of the Council of Defense of the Terran System, CODOTS, for short.”
“CODOTS, well you’re definitely from Earth, and definitely military if you can make sense out of that gibberish, but go on.”
The Admiral simply laughed and led him to a makeshift stateroom where there was a bunk, two chairs, and a table laden with Terran food and drink.
“Beer and pizza, eh, excellent, I’ve had nothing but snake and fish since I left Chem,” Alexander said, still not overcome with joy at his rescue, but somewhat placated.
“I know,” the Admiral told him, explaining, “I’ve seen most of the galactic broadcasts. Unfortunately I cannot say my sole purpose in coming here is to rescue you from exile. There’s more to it, and as busy as you’ve been, Alexander, Earth, or Terra as we now recognize it, has been just as busy. Let me tell you what we’re up against, and why we’re here.
“It’s the Chem. They’re going to attack Terra. We’re in the dark about these people. You are going to have to tell me all about them, that’s one of the things that brought us out here, your knowledge of the Chem.”
He sat down in one chair, and Alexander took the other.
“That’s somewhat amusing,” he smiled, sipping some beer. “The Chem kidnapped me to find out more of Terrans, and now you kidnap me back to find out more of the Chem.”
“I wouldn’t call our little foray out here a kidnapping,” the Admiral told him. “Although, I mark that you don’t seem particularly overjoyed to see me. I would have thought the possibility of going back to Terra, especially after what you’ve gone through, would provoke a somewhat more enthusiastic response.”
“I wasn’t really expecting Terran’s to pick me up,” Alexander told him. “Now that you’re here I can’t say that the prospect of returning to my life on Terra excites me a great deal.”
The Admiral leaned forward in earnest, and said, “What would you think if I told you that you have been and you still are a central player in all this? Would you be game, or are you ready for a vacation?”
Alexander looked straight into the Admiral’s eyes. “Augesburcke, in the last months I’ve done more and seen more than I could ever have dreamed of. If you tell me I’ve nothing more to look forward to on Terra than flying for the airlines than you might as well put me back on Pantrixnia. If you’ve got something more to put on the table then all you have to do is tell me what you need.”
“I expected, or hoped you would say as much. Well then, here it is,” and he told him everything that happened in the last months since Alexander’s capture. It was a thorough brief, and it took several hours. It fascinated Alexander, and he felt a twinge of pride at the way Terrans dealt with the situation. Just as he had realized what needed to be done and rose to the occasion, so had Terra. What he accomplished in microcosm they accomplished on a planetary scale. They were becoming a power to be reckoned with. If war came the galaxy was in for Terra at its most creative, and at its worst. They would make a good showing for themselves.
Augesburcke told him, “There you have it, that’s pretty much what’s been going on. We’re not done with you. As I said before, you are a central character in all this. You have a unique understanding of the situation. The Chem, well let’s just say they have a unique understanding of you. We want to take advantage of both of those viewpoints as well as the Galactics interpretation of Terran history.
We are offering you an equivalent to a five-star flag rank in command of the Terran Fleet. The position is a visible one, though not equivalent in power. We want the Chem to see Alexander at the head of his Fleet, but the actual command of the Fleet will be mine. Being a former military man yourself I expect you understand the limitations of such a position.”
“I understand them all too well, Admiral,” Alexander said gruffly.
“I didn’t expect you to like it when I said it, Alexander but it had to be said,” the Admiral told him. “I’ve taken the liberty of reading your record by the way, and I must say I was impressed. You had every right to think you would have a very promising career. I can’t change that. I hope you won’t bring that baggage along with you. We need your help.”
“Consider the subject closed, Admiral,” Alexander said, waving his arm as if to brush the past aside. “I was reacting more to the prospect of being a figurehead under the control of politically motivated military officers. You don’t strike me as that kind of man, so I hope you will understand. I don’t give my respect to brass insignia anymore. I give it to people. That’s one point this ordeal’s driven home. Don’t worry Admiral. I won’t let my pride get in the way of Terra’s future. I’m not that petty.”
“I understand you, Alexander, believe me. For an Aussie like myself to be in charge of this thing, that didn’t happen easily. There are some fairly ruffled American and Brit feathers. I won’t even mention the French, but we’re doing fairly well at pulling together.
“I’m willing to do more. You see the Chem are not the only ones who were watching you. The entire galaxy’s been your audience, including Terra. The whole planet’s been watching, and they’ve seen what you’ve done. They’ve also heard everything the Chem media’s said about you. The legend of Alexander the Great, as I’m sure you’ve heard, is now inextricably linked to you; and now the question is: are you the next Alexander? The Chem have shown the past life clips, and that’s gotten everyone wondering about ourselves, our place in the galaxy, and about you. My crews are starting to ask the same damn questions about you as the Chem are.
Alexander Galaxus: The Complete Alexander Galaxus Trilogy Page 29
