Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  ‘My mother told me that we never steal,’ he said. ‘Ee-yi-oh-ue was bought and paid for.’

  ‘The cats never deliberately kill the children when they raid a planet – they’re too valuable,’ Georgina said. ‘One or two losses are unfortunate but normal.’

  Oliver rounded on her. ‘Could you just shut up for one second and stop making excuses for my people?’

  ‘It’s called Stockholm syndrome,’ I began.

  ‘I know what that is – your psychologists explained it to me!’ Georgina shouted. ‘And I don’t have it! The wealth my family gained from selling me to the cats means none of them will ever have to waste their lives in the mines again. It was worth it.’

  ‘Just shut up,’ Oliver said.

  The general sidled up to me. ‘Let’s go back to Earth; this isn’t achieving anything. He doesn’t care at all.’

  He does. It just doesn’t show. He’s messed up right now, and expressing it as anger. She’s the one who isn’t really concerned about the deaths, I said.

  The general nodded.

  I led them to the cat ship’s landing site, where the three children had been incinerated.

  ‘What a horrible way to die,’ Maxwell said softly. ‘Those poor children.’

  ‘Shut up!’ Oliver shouted at her.

  ‘Yeah, be quiet!’ Georgina said, and Oliver raised his hand to slap her. She cringed away. ‘Sorry. Sorry!’ Her voice lowered in pitch and her emotions filled with terror. ‘I just want to help you!’

  Oliver stopped mid-action and stared at her, then at his hand. He lowered it and turned away. ‘I’ve seen enough. Take me home.’

  ‘I want what’s best for you, Oliver. But if we send you home, your people will do this to us,’ I said, indicating the carnage.

  ‘No, they won’t. They’ll blow up your planet, and you’ll deserve it,’ Georgina said.

  ‘They really destroy whole planets?’ Oliver said, the realisation of the truth filling his emotions.

  ‘The cat that destroyed this base also destroyed the Euroterre base on Wolf 1061, killing nearly a thousand of us,’ I said. ‘I was one of the few survivors. You’re only in Scaleshome because your mother was threatening to destroy Earth and take our children.’

  Oliver remained completely unmoving, but his emotions were a mess.

  ‘I think you’re the only one in the galaxy who didn’t know what the cats do,’ Georgina said.

  ‘Take me back to Earth,’ he said to Shiumo. ‘I’ve seen enough.’

  ‘Pathetic,’ Georgina said with scorn. ‘Shiumo, take me back to my people. If Oliver releases me from my contract, I’ll be treated like a princess back home.’

  ‘You’re not mature, so they’ll just give you back to the cats,’ Marque said. ‘The contract lasts for as long as you’re immature.’

  ‘You want to stop me from telling the cats that Jian has Oliver,’ she said.

  ‘Can you blame us?’ I said. ‘The cats will blow up Earth with both of you on it if they find out.’

  ‘So you won’t take me home?’ Georgina said.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘We can’t.’

  She ripped off her breather and ran away, loping on her four legs across the dust.

  ‘I have her,’ Marque said, and set off after her.

  After fifty metres, she collapsed on the ground. Marque encased her in a bubble, lifted her and returned her to us, then put her breather back onto her face.

  ‘You’ll probably need to keep her confined until she comes to her senses,’ it said.

  ‘Let’s go home,’ I said.

  ‘Not our home,’ Oliver said, and stayed quiet all the way back to Earth.

  30

  Twelve months later, I rushed down to the ferry terminal to meet Victor. He had our son, David, in a buggy and was holding the baby bag over his shoulder. David was nineteen months now – a big toddler with Dianne’s dark brown skin and close-cropped curly hair. He grinned broadly when he saw me, and struggled against the buggy restraints, trying to get out.

  ‘I appreciate this,’ Victor said, breathless. ‘It was so sudden! Took me completely by surprise.’

  ‘You shouldn’t be surprised; it’s about time you received some recognition. Your work is amazing. And this exhibition is the chance of a lifetime.’

  He touched my face. ‘Your work is amazing too.’ He kissed me, then pulled back and smiled. ‘Remember, there’s always a place for you in our little house, darling Jian. I know what you’re doing is important, but we still love you.’

  I kissed Victor back and squeezed his hand. ‘You know how much I have to do here.’

  The announcement of the ferry’s departure filled the hall, and Victor passed the baby bag to me. ‘Everything’s in here. He’s walking now!’ He glanced down at David, who was grunting with the effort of pulling against the buggy restraints. ‘We’ll let you out in a minute, you little barbarian!’ He turned back to me. ‘You’re saving humanity and we’re super-proud.’

  ‘Go!’ I said, pushing him away, and he turned and sprinted for the departing ferry.

  David started to squall and I crouched in front of him. ‘Wait till we get you home and then I’ll let you out, okay?’

  ‘Now!’ he shouted.

  I shook my head, and got up to push the buggy. ‘No. When we’re home.’

  I took David up in the elevator to the base station, and then through to the Scaleshome elevator entrance. His wails changed to a chant of ‘Marque! Marque!’ as we went up the elevator. He adored the AI and spent a great deal of time tormenting Marque during his regular visits.

  Marque came out to meet us in a female android body that appeared in its early fifties, short and slightly overweight. She smiled when she saw David, and his efforts to escape became even more frantic. ‘Go, I have him,’ she said, releasing him from the restraints and lifting him to sit on her hip. He hugged her and she held him close. ‘Go do your thing and leave the bag here.’

  ‘Keep a close eye on him; he’s nearly walking,’ I said.

  ‘I have eyes everywhere,’ she said.

  They followed me to the rotocopter platform, where Commander Blake was waiting. ‘Emergency childminding sorted?’ he said, sounding amused.

  ‘All fixed. It’s a huge opportunity for my ex to have a whole gallery to himself,’ I said. ‘And David’s other mother is in Frankfurt giving a keynote at a symposium.’

  ‘I’ll take David for a walk around,’ Marque said, and before I could reply she was gone, pushing the buggy with one hand and holding David with the other.

  ‘Are you sure your son’s safe with the … thing?’ the commander said.

  ‘I should be offended,’ Marque said from a sphere above us.

  ‘He’s probably safer with Marque than he is with me,’ I said. ‘I have too much happening and can’t keep an eye on him all the time. Marque can.’

  ‘But he knows who his mum is,’ Marque said. ‘He keeps asking me to bring him back to see Jian. Oh, the dragonscales children are here.’

  The girls emerged from the ferry terminal elevator and came up the hill towards us, holding their parents’ hands and talking to them. They were already walking at only thirteen months. I’d seen them onscreen, but real life was another matter. Although David was six months older than them, their developmental acceleration was obvious. They appeared around five years old.

  The rotocopter landed and General Maxwell came out, accompanied by her daughter, Linda, and dragonscales granddaughter, Veronica. Veronica was wearing a pretty blue dress that accentuated her blonde hair and red scales, and appeared even older than five.

  They came over to me and we did the usual saluting.

  ‘Hello, Marque,’ Veronica said. ‘Is my room all ready?’

  ‘Ready and waiting for you, Ronnie,’ Marque said. ‘With guest quarters for you as well, Linda.’

  Both Linda and the general controlled their expressions, but I could tell they were disturbed at being the guests in the house
of a thirteen-month-old child.

  ‘I understand you have a cat here,’ Veronica said to me. ‘You can’t let him go home because the cats will come back and destroy Earth. How old is he?’

  ‘Marque says he’s about four years old.’

  ‘That’s only slightly older than us,’ Veronica said. ‘Can we include him in the orientation that Marque’s doing for us? We’re all aliens together, after all.’

  The general’s expression slipped and she looked concerned.

  ‘Don’t worry, Nanna, it’s just because we grow up fast,’ Veronica said without looking away from me.

  The general shared a look with her daughter.

  ‘What do you think, Lieutenant? Marque?’ Veronica continued. ‘Would it work? And what about Georgina – has she stopped running away?’

  ‘It’s worth a try,’ Marque said. ‘You can share experiences. And Oliver will need the same basic education as you dragonscales.’

  Veronica lit up with a huge grin. ‘Good. It’s settled. We need a boy to talk to anyway – we’re all girls.’ She turned to her mother and grandmother. ‘Let’s go check out my little house. I can’t wait to see it now it’s finished!’

  After two hours of looking around the facility, all the dragonscales gathered in the square for Commander Blake to speak to them. It was slightly uncanny to see such a large group of pretty young girls all the same age, especially as they’d all chosen to wear their long hair in pigtails.

  Oliver stood at the front of the group, with a girl either side holding his hands. Georgina sat on her haunches next to him, sullen and miserable.

  Marque’s nanny form stood to one side of the group holding David, who struggled to be let down to walk around. She took him a short distance away to look at the gardens.

  ‘Welcome back,’ Commander Blake said. ‘I have a few notes before we begin the orientation. Marque says there are still some construction zones. They’re cordoned off so please stay away from them. We don’t want you to get hurt. Dinner will be in the main lecture hall at seven –’ Blake was interrupted by a commotion to my left.

  A couple of the girls were fighting, shouting and pulling each other’s hair. Their astonished parents tried to separate them. Another girl joined in, shouting at the two already fighting. One of the girls went down, and another sat on top of her, screaming in her face. The parents tried to pull them apart, furiously apologising for their behaviour. The nanny Marque rushed to help.

  ‘You are all exceptionally bad parents!’ Oliver shouted, and I turned to look at him. He was holding David in his arms and radiating fury. David was crowing with delight. ‘Your little boy nearly ran off the edge of the platform! I had to stop him. Why weren’t you looking after him?’

  I turned to the nanny Marque with the same question. ‘Why weren’t you minding David?’

  ‘I was distracted,’ she said, gesturing towards the fighting girls. ‘And I was watching him. Nothing would have happened.’

  She reached for David. He cringed away and clutched at Oliver, stroking his fur.

  ‘He nearly ran right off the edge,’ Oliver snapped. He turned away. ‘We’re going for a walk. I’ll mind David better than the stupid AI.’ He stormed off, David laughing with delight in his arms.

  The girls instantly stopped fighting, got up and brushed themselves down. They shared a smile.

  ‘So that was just –’ I began.

  ‘That cat has really big ears,’ Francine said loudly, like a small child announcing something important.

  ‘You girls apologise right now,’ Marque said sternly from a sphere above us.

  ‘Sorry, Francine,’ Ingrid said.

  ‘Sorry, Ingrid,’ Francine said.

  ‘Don’t worry, Jian, it won’t happen again,’ Ingrid said. The girls embraced, then held hands. ‘You were telling us about dinner?’

  Oliver was now sitting on the ground with David in his lap, both of them radiating warm affection for each other. Mai-Lin, one of the dragonscales, was showing them how to play peek-aboo. Georgina was with them, and Mai-Lin took her paw-like hand and showed her how to stroke David’s hair. David put his hands on Georgina’s face and Georgina radiated surprise and delight.

  ‘There’s no chance that Oliver will suddenly decide to use David as a toy?’ I asked Marque. ‘I know how strong his instincts are. Make sure you keep a better watch over them.’

  ‘The familial instincts are stronger than the predatory ones, particularly with an infant, even one of another species,’ Marque said as it accompanied me back to the podium. ‘His mother planned to give Oliver a baby brother. They’d talked about it for a long time before you killed her.’

  ‘Thanks a lot,’ I said quietly.

  ‘David’s established himself as a surrogate sibling; Oliver should treat him well. Georgina’s warming to David too. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on them, but they appear to have connected.’

  ‘You should have warned me about your plan.’

  ‘You wouldn’t have let us do it,’ Marque said. ‘David was nearly off the edge of the platform.’

  I put my hand on my chest as I felt a sudden surge of anxiety at the thought of David tumbling from the platform.

  ‘See? That,’ Marque said.

  Victor appeared onscreen almost immediately when I called him later that evening. ‘David’s okay, isn’t he?’ he said. His face was full of concern.

  ‘David is perfectly fine and has made quite a few new friends,’ I said.

  He visibly relaxed.

  ‘How’s the exhibition going?’ I said.

  He lit up. ‘The space is wonderful. The opening’s in five days – I hope we have everything installed in time. You know that big piece, the steel one?’

  I nodded.

  ‘We may have a buyer for it already. One of the big multinationals wants to set it in front of their headquarters.’ He was obviously excited. ‘This is so good!’

  ‘Victor …’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Did the gallery owner mention anyone from Scaleshome talking about you? Nobody called from here to suggest that they exhibit your work?’

  ‘No,’ he said, bewildered. ‘You didn’t, did you? You know I want to be successful on my own merit –’

  ‘Not me,’ I said. ‘I know you do. Nobody else?’

  ‘Not as far as I know.’ He grew even more confused. ‘Why do you ask? Did someone from Scaleshome want one of the sculptures? I have a few that would suit …’

  I hesitated, then said, ‘No. It’s fine. Congratulations. Send me lots of photos of the opening!’

  ‘I will!’

  31

  Fifteen years later

  I fussed around my office, putting the finishing touches on the welcome packs for the dragonscales. They were about to arrive for the final part of the project, where they would produce Earth’s own dragons. Everyone on the planet had been preparing for this moment, chafing under the restriction of having only Shiumo’s irregular visits to help carry our interstellar colonists and diplomatic delegations. Having ninety dragons would bring an exponential increase to the amount of trading and diplomatic ties that humanity could develop. The whole Earth was watching us.

  Oliver entered my office and sat across from me, full of excitement. He was eighteen now, and wearing a pair of tan-coloured shorts and a blue-and-white T-shirt stretched over his lanky form. His soft black fur stood up around the edges of his clothes.

  ‘The first ones are about ten minutes away!’ he said.

  I didn’t look up from sorting through the data packs. ‘Believe me, I know.’

  ‘Any word from Shiumo?’

  I shook my head, then looked up at him. ‘Where’s Georgina?’

  He shrugged, a gesture he’d learned from me. ‘Off sulking somewhere.’

  ‘She’s your sister, Oliver.’

  ‘She’s a passive-aggressive bag of rejection,’ he said. His ears twitched. ‘Marque? I hear something.’

  David charged in. ‘T
hey’re here!’ He fist-bumped Oliver. David was wearing an identical outfit to Oliver, shorts and a matching T-shirt, in solidarity with his brother. David’s ginger-tinged dark brown hair was a breezy cloud around his head; a deliberate provocation to his military short-back-and-sides second mother.

  I sorted through the rest of the data packs, huffed out a breath, then straightened my uniform. ‘I’m ready for them.’

  ‘There are some dragonscales at the base of the elevator,’ Marque said. ‘They’ll be here soon.’

  ‘Excellent.’ Oliver threw himself out of the chair and jiggled next to David. ‘This is so exciting! I cannot wait. This party will be amazing.’

  ‘Seriously!’ David said. ‘Thanks for letting me stay an extra week, Mum. I appreciate it.’

  I wagged my finger at them. ‘Just don’t –’

  ‘Cause trouble!’ they said in unison, and laughed.

  Georgina appeared in the doorway. She eschewed clothes in a deliberate salute to her Eh-Ay-Oyau heritage. ‘May I speak with you, Jian?’

  ‘I’ll leave you to it, Mum,’ Oliver said. He came around the desk, embraced me, and kissed me on the cheek. He towered over me now. ‘You’ll do great. Stop looking so worried.’

  ‘Thanks, Oliver.’

  David saluted me with a grin, and both boys went out.

  ‘Are you all packed up?’ I asked Georgina.

  ‘I am,’ she said, and formally lowered her head. ‘I thank you for caring for me, Major Choumali. I will take fond memories with me of this time with you. I now ask that you call me by my Eh-Ay-Oyau name: Ee-yi-oh-ue.’

  ‘I’m sorry it worked out this way, Ee-yi-oh-ue. I hope your people treat you like a princess. You deserve it.’

  ‘I would have been a princess much sooner if it wasn’t for you,’ she said, and walked out.

  ‘Shiumo’s here,’ Marque said. ‘How about that – she’s actually on time.’

  I went out of my office and through the gardens, and found Shiumo and Richard standing in the main square. Shiumo was still in her four-legged, winged red body, and Richard was wearing a kaftan-like robe in muted shades of tan and gold that contrasted with her red scales. They both smiled broadly when they saw me.