“I will not yield it freely to the likes of you,” the Elder told him vehemently. “I will yield it only through the right of challenge! You will not take the empire but from my dead hand!” The Elder took the heavy mace and swung it whistling through the air. He was quicker than Bureel gave him credit for, and the Elder very nearly succeeded in settling the issue then and there. A flange of the mace caught Bureel’s temple and cut the skin. Bureel’s involuntary cry of pain and anger rang through the hall as his blood flowed freely. The Elder swung the mace about in a wide sweeping arc over his head and brought it crashing down towards Bureel. This time Bureel had his wits about him. He stepped aside the heavy blow and the mace chipped the granite floor with a tremendous ring. The Elder, despite his heart, was too old for such a fearsome weapon. The missed blow caused the Elder to lunge helplessly towards Bureel, and he was unable to steady himself in time. Bureel grappled the shaft with his left hand, holding the Elder’s hands down, and with his right he stabbed the ruler of the Chem in the throat. The blade cut cleanly through beard and flesh, riding over the gorget to nestle in the Elders spine. Bureel withdrew the blade with relish and a fountain of blood spattered his boots. The Elder staggered back, losing his grip on the mace. It clattered to the granite floor. Gasping, eyes wide and vacant, the Elder refused to fall. He tottered back to his seat and slumped into the throne. Blood cascaded from his mouth and wound, pooling in the seat, and dripping onto the floor.
Bureel smiled and picked up the mace. “You’ve lost, old man,” he sneered. “This, and the empire, is now mine! Take comfort in that!”
“Not so, my lord,” the Chamberlain interrupted him. The tall Chem approached and took from Bureel the massive blood stained mace. “You have, as usurpers of old, laid claim to this seat, which is yours by right of challenge. Yet the Ascension cannot take place until the alignment, which is twenty-three decurns hence. Until that time you have the rights and privileges of a victor, but not the seat of the Elder.”
Bureel backed away with a snarl. He seemed about to strike the noble Chamberlain down, even though he was a loyal supporter, but tradition had a strong hold on all Chem, even Bureel. He bit his snakes tongue and said, “You speak your office well, Chamberlain. I, of course, will respect the ritual of the Ascension.” Then he turned to the Elder, who was by now grown pale and blue. “Keep your seat then in death for a little while longer, but die with the knowledge that it will be mine!”
The Elder smiled as he died, and his lips formed words, though nothing but a dying stream of blood burbled forth. Bureel could read the lips though, and an involuntary shudder shook his foundation for empire. He turned on his heel and left the dying Chem, those silent words still ringing in his mind. “Nazeera yet lives, Bureel. Much can happen!”
CHAPTER 11
Roma was a beautiful world of vast blue oceans, verdant green coasts, rolling plains and white marble cities. Its climate was semi-tropical, but in no region unpleasant. During the normal course of its existence it hosted nothing more ominous than the tense Galactic vacationer desperate for relaxation. It was a slow world, belonging to no empire, and carefully neutral in every way. To all cultures Roma was a clear and innocent jewel in the intrigues of the galaxy. That innocence ended when a Chem scout ship was blown out of space by a previously unknown Terran Fleet.
Since Roma was the only completely neutral site in the galaxy the ten civilized cultures, outside of the three belligerent cultures of Chem, Scythia and now Terra, met to discuss the "Legend of Alexander" in more serious terms than ever before. There was a great deal of concern that the Terrans would boil out of their tiny system on a spree of Galactic conquest as legends foretold, but there was also hope that the Chem could bottle them up, or perhaps solve the problem entirely. The Chem were by far the most skilled of the galaxies warriors in every respect. The Alliance, as they called themselves, informed the Chem in the language of diplomacy that they were free to do whatsoever they wished with the Terrans, but the Scythian’s should, if at all possible, be spared the brunt of the Chem fury. This policy seemed to be working until the sudden emergence of Alexander at the head of the Terran Fleet. The entire galaxy watched with horror as the Terran Overlord conquered the Scythian Empire and came to terms with the Chem. It was a defeat of enormous magnitude for the Alliance. Not only had the Chem failed to diminish the military might of the Terrans, but Alexander sprang to the forefront as nothing less than the legendary conqueror himself.
The galaxy, which watched this Human’s trials on Pantrixnia, immediately assumed the worst. Alexander manipulated the Chem, the most potent of Galactic cultures, and then made a separate peace with them to avoid a pitched battle, preserving his fleet for the conquest of the “softer" Galactic cultures. The Chem civil war which followed close on the heels of Alexander delivering himself as a hostage was seen as a continuation of his policy. He did not want to waste his mighty fleet in battle with the Chem, so he sought to conquer their empire by guile. It was widely believed that Alexander orchestrated the Chem civil war. He would use the Chem against themselves to diminish the Chem armadas and consolidate the position of Nazeera. Alexander would then marry her, and the Chem Empire would be his without a shot from his precious fleet. The Terran Fleet would then be free to carry out its conquest of the remainder of the galaxy. In the Alliance only the Golkos and the Seer’koh had fleets of comparable size to the Terrans, but that was only numbers. There was no doubt amongst the Ambassadors that numbers alone would not quell the ferocity of the Terrans.
The ten representatives and their staffs met on a spacious verandah overlooking a topaz hued bay. The breeze was as comfortable as the day was delightful, and the view was nothing less than spectacular. It was in bright contrast to the grave atmosphere which characterized the meetings over the last ten decurns. Anxiety dulled the eyes of each species with a common glaze. There was, however, a subtle difference in this afternoon’s gathering. Once the representatives were settled in a circle, their staffs arrayed behind them, there was an unspoken agreement amongst them that the floor was open to any speaker. There was long silence this afternoon. No one seemed to be willing to open the forum.
“Well, has no one anything to say?” hissed the Seer’koh Ambassador. The Seer’koh were a reptilian race of bipeds about sixty percent the size of Humans. They possessed a large fleet of ships, and next to the Golkos they were the most belligerent of the Galactic species. Fantastically quick and lithe they kept entire worlds to hunt game using only their teeth and claws. Of all the races they would find Pantrixnia almost homelike. The Ambassador’s voice, through a pendant shaped translator, was an excellent and intelligible representation of the species language. Otherwise, the hisses and rattles of its voice were the only expressions of emotion on the saurian’s face. At this moment the tapping of its claw on the marble verandah, and a rattle in its throat told its peers that it was impatient. “What of our master spies, the Hrang? You have had a mass of your people on Terra for some time now. What have you found out?”
The Hrang were also a reptilian race, but not so aggressively formed as the Seer’koh. They were, in fact, the antithesis of the Seer’koh, thinkers instead of doers. Of all the Galactic cultures they were the most technologically advanced, and though they would rather have remained comfortably unobtrusive throughout this crisis it was this very quality which thrust the Hrang into the forefront. It was a position the Hrang were very uncomfortable with. “It has not been easy for my people to impersonate the Humans, despite the excellence of our dermal projectors,” the Ambassador replied. The Hrang had the chameleon-like ability to alter their skin coloration. This skill coupled with dermal projectors made changes in shape and texture, and allowed the Hrang to become excellent mimics, and spies. “We have replaced several thousand Terrans with our people. The Terrans, those that we could transport off the planet in secret, have been given to the Golkos. During our recent meetings we’ve reported on the Terrans in a general nature. We’ve not tried anything s
ignificant until now. I am pleased to report that we’ve had a Hrang in a most sensitive position for the last seven decurns. We hope that this will give us access to the most critical policies of the Terrans. Thus far our information is general. The governing body of the Terrans can be characterized as barbaric, especially with their dealings with the Scythians. The Terran’s conquest of the Scythian Empire is a case in point. It was ruthless, as well as efficient. We have, however, not been able to answer some nagging inconsistencies in their behavior. The Terrans are not as militaristic as previously thought, but they are far more explosive than we could have anticipated. From our passive observations it appears that the Terrans were completely unprepared for the Chem threat. They militarized their planet, created an enormous fleet and stymied the galaxy’s most warlike race in something like hundred decurns.”
“Your observations must be mistaken,” the Seer’koh Ambassador told the Hrang. “Such a military buildup is impossible. We’ve all seen their ships. Why even if we had every dockyard in the galaxy working we could not have built a comparable fleet in less time. Obviously your lack of military experience has led to a misinterpretation. Most probably, my friend, your spies interpreted a Human perception of unpreparedness as a complete lack of ability. No matter, we know they are prepared now. What I would most like to know, however, is any information you have concerning Alexander. From what you’ve told us thus far the Human’s are a passionate and diverse people who need much to unite them. That bond must be Alexander, as we so obviously witnessed in the fall of Scythia.
“Alexander is an enigma,” the Hrang replied. “It is very difficult to separate Terran intrigue from reality. I would hazard to say that Alexander’s control over the Terran Empire is inconsistent. It appears that he controls the Terran Empire at his whim, and leaves the running of it to a bureaucracy at other times. Of course we know nothing specific of the Terran situation previous to the arrival of our operatives. The positive point of this is that Alexander’s empire is open to coup. Much of the Terran aggression, in our interpretation, is due to Alexander. Remove him and the Terrans may become reasonable. We cannot predict more accurately at this point, though the Golkos, who have the Terran prisoners in their possession may be able to answer to that.”
The Golkos Ambassador, a tall severe looking woman who looked a distant relative to the Chem, smiled thinly. “We have gained significant insight into the Terrans through our interrogations,” she said. “As pointed out by the Hrang Terrans are not so militant as we thought, nor as unified. They do have that potential, however. We’ve noted the prisoners draw together to present a single face towards us, when we’ve given them the opportunity. When we’ve divided them we have been able to break them down to their individual characters. Humans vary in strength, ability and perception. They can be formidable adversaries, but they are not the super being’s we’ve made them. What is more significant to us is their complete lack of experience outside of their own planet. Specific military information is confusing, but the Terrans have had numerous fleets, though under separate nations, for as long as our prisoners can remember. Until very recently the Terrans were divided into nation states. They unified, apparently under Alexander, in response to the Chem threat. That may explain the confusion of our Hrang operatives concerning Terran militarization. It is a problem of semantics, not ships. This is not to be wondered at, as we have discovered. Our interrogations, though thorough, do not always gain succinct results. For instance, the status of Alexander as the military Overlord of Terra was not admitted to by some of the prisoners, a preposterous notion. Yet we must be careful not to prejudice our observations with our own interpretations of things. Terrans think differently than we do. They are emotionally driven, and we cannot begin to understand their passions. Everything our interrogators are told is colored by these emotions, and we are slowly beginning to suspect that Terran vocabulary is not so definitive as, say, Golkos vocabulary. What they say is not always what they mean, and this obviously presents us with a dilemma. That they are aggressive, distrustful, and belligerent we can be certain. As far as Alexander is concerned there is little specific information, but the concept of an Overlord is nothing new to the Terrans. One consistency amongst all of our captives is the report of almost continuous Terran struggle for dominance. All were familiar with recent global conflicts where powerful Terrans sought the Overlord’s seat, though without success. It appears from what we’ve pieced together that Alexander’s ascension was accomplished without global conflict, and as we’ve seen it was quite successful. We have before us a very crafty individual if he has indeed won over these people without war.
“In our final assessment we feel the need to respond to the Terran threat as soon as possible. The opinion of the Golkos is that Terrans can be as dangerous as we’ve feared, but at the moment they are vulnerable. If the Alliance combines its strength and strikes during this time we can prevent any expansionist behavior by the Terrans. Alexander’s support seems to be remarkably tenuous, considering what he accomplished against the Chem, and a defeat would certainly end any dreams of Galactic Empire.”
“A reasonable assumption, and one which the Seer’koh are prepared to support,” the reptilian Ambassador replied. “May I ask what you’ve done with the prisoners?”
“They are routinely eliminated after their usefulness is over,” the Golkos Ambassador said.
“You mean to say you have executed Terrans?” The Kempec Ambassador exclaimed. Her people controlled only a few dozen star systems and were by nature a very peaceful race. She met the Golkos Ambassador’s disdain with horror, “Have you given thought to what the Terran response would be? Have you considered that it might be just this sort of outrage which would give Alexander the reason he needs to turn the Terrans against us?”
“You overreact to something the Terrans will never know,” the Golkos Ambassador replied. “Our opportunity to quell the Terran threat is now. It is no time to be squeamish.”
The Syraptose Ambassador disagreed; they were quite sensitive to the prospect of Alliance reaction to Alexander. Their empire bordered directly upon the new Terran Empire and they had no Alliance neighbors. If it came to war the Syraptose were on their own. The Ambassador stood, obviously irritated at the Golkos action and said, “You mean to tell us that you took this drastic action without even thinking to consult us? That behavior is irresponsible at best. Have you considered the repercussions of such an act? Do you, by any chance, remember what Alexander himself told the Chem concerning prisoners of war? One million lives for each prisoner executed! Does that statement have any meaning for you whatsoever Ambassador?”
“An idle threat,” the Golkos Ambassador answered without a trace of uneasiness.
“Then it is you who will pay the price for that threat!” The Syraptose told its counterpart. “The Syraptose will not stick their necks out for such reckless behavior. When Alexander leads you up the gallows you shall be by yourself, Golkos. The Syraptose will not sacrifice ourselves for you!”
“What need have the Golkos for such sniveling cowards?” the Golkos Ambassador spat back. “Go and crawl under a rock if you do not have the courage to face the reality of the day. I should like to see your race crawl to Alexander, begging for a peace he does not desire. Do you know how such people treat cowards? Ask the Scythians!”
“Ambassadors! Ambassadors, please!” the Hrang Ambassador interrupted, an action which in itself was amazing. “I have just received a new piece of information which changes the situation immensely. I consider it very probable that an imminent invasion of our space by Alexander is no longer likely. On the other hand the Terran Empire may be immediately weakened; so much so that we have the opportunity to swiftly eliminate them as a future threat. Apparently a coup has taken place. Alexander is no longer the Terran Overlord. The governing bureaucratic body, which they call the Senate, has elected a President for their Federation. It appears that the Terrans, without our help, have overthrown Alexander.”CHAPTER
CHAPTER 12
“Come in,” Alexander replied to the buzzer at his stateroom door. He half turned from his desk to see Nazeera and Nazar framed in the now open doorway. “Good afternoon, my friends please come in.”
“Hello Alexander,” Nazeera said, a sheepish smile failing to cover seriousness in her face.
Nazar was more relaxed. He ventured over to the desk and looked at Alexander’s work. His brows rose in surprise at the projected star fields. They were maps of the ten other cultures of the known galaxy projected along with the Chem Empire and the Terran Empire. Alexander highlighted several areas in the alien star systems, and added figures and numbers beside these areas. The Chem nodded his head in ill concealed eagerness. “Invasion plans!”
Alexander smiled at the assumption. “Far from finalized, they are sketches really, at the most. I am, you see, taking your warnings seriously Nazeera. This is nothing more than an amalgamation of data. It is a simple mental exercise, really.” Nazar was, however, correct. Alexander was studying the other species of the galaxy using the information available to him through the Chem data system. Each species was fascinating in its own way, but Alexander kept his probing to specific areas. Aside from the obvious military data he looked at historic conflict in the galaxy. Alexander was a believer in the repeatability of history, and there was no better way to anticipate a possible opponent than by reading their history. That was one area of information the Alliance, assuming it ever formed, would not have on him. He considered that an enormous advantage on his part.
“Still, it is an amusing activity in its own way,” Alexander noted. “A military conflict with a hypothetical Alliance would be interesting. If you will notice the relative positions of the Alliance, assuming all of the other cultures join it, it forms three separate fronts about Terran space. Normally this would be a cause of concern; however, the makeup of these particular regions is actually advantageous to a bold tactician.”
Alexander Galaxus: The Complete Alexander Galaxus Trilogy Page 42
