The Long Road Home (A Learning Experience Book 4)

by Christopher Nuttall

Rebecca wasn't sure, as the shuttle flew through the forcefield and out into open space, if she should be relieved or concerned that she was being escorted by a platoon of marines. They didn't wear powered combat armour, they didn't carry weapons so heavy she couldn't lift them without enhancement of her own, but they still looked terrifyingly intimidating. And yet, she knew the marines couldn't guarantee her safety if all hell broke loose. The Harmonies had Odyssey and her crew massively outgunned.

  Except there is no reason to fear trouble, she told herself, firmly. They’re merely following conventional galactic protocol.

  She forced herself to relax, somehow. She’d studied galactic protocol extensively, but this was the first time she’d actually had to follow it. Humanity’s other allies were all younger races, young enough to overlook just how new humanity was on the galactic scene. Most of them had begged, borrowed or stolen their technology from their elders and betters too. But now ... now she was talking to a race so old that they predated human civilisation by thousands of years. It was too much to ask, perhaps, that they treated humanity as equals.

  The Chinese refused to deal with the Westerners as equals too, she recalled. The contacts between Imperial China and the West had been studied extensively, as part of her training, but Imperial China - at its mandarin-run worst - had been far less stiff-necked than many of the Galactics. And eventually the Chinese broke under the strain of discovering they weren't the masters of the known world.

  She pushed the thought aside as the shuttle dropped through the planet’s atmosphere, jerking gently as it struck patches of turbulence. Harmony was an old world, old and rich. The giant orbital towers - reaching up into low orbit - were an engineering feat beyond anything humanity had attempted, although the Solar Union had no need of orbital towers. And yet, Harmony was also incredibly overpopulated. It was impossible to be sure, of course, but the analysts on Odyssey believed that there were at least twenty billion inhabitants from a number of different races on the surface. Twenty billion! Earth, at its height, had never had more than eight billion souls ... and that had been before Contact. Now, the Solar Union’s population was expanding rapidly, but it had an entire universe to fill.

  They could be moving thousands of people off-world every day, she thought, grimly. They certainly have the tech for it.

  The shuttle rocked again, heading down towards Harmony City. The city slowly came into view, glittering under the sunlight. Rebecca had studied the orbital imagery on Odyssey, but they hadn't done the city justice. Giant floating buildings, held in the air by powerful antigravity fields; immense skyscrapers, each one over two kilometres high; dozens of smaller conical buildings, resting within green parks and forests. And yet, as she used her implants to peer through the shuttle’s sensor array, it was clear that the wealthy parts of the city were surrounded by a sea of poverty. She’d seen poverty on Earth, but this was far - far - worse. Most of the immense city was strikingly poor.

  “They’re warning us to give the Imperial Palace a wide berth,” the pilot said. “I’m swinging around to avoid it.”

  Rebecca nodded, not trusting herself to speak. This Imperial Palace was huge, far larger than any palace she’d seen on Earth. It looked as though someone had merged the White House with Buckingham Palace and Edinburgh Castle, then covered the resulting monstrosity in statues of famous heroes from the past. Even if the building was an administrative complex as well as the monarch’s residence, she thought, it was still far too large. She would have been hopelessly embarrassed if she’d had to live there.

  “The building is surrounded with a military-grade forcefield,” one of the marines commented, grimly. “There's enough firepower surrounding it to deter a starship.”

  Rebecca frowned as she studied the complex and the surrounding buildings. It did look like a fortress, hidden away behind layer and layer of defences. There was no attempt to hide the defences either, no attempt to convince the local population that their masters felt secure in their power. She felt her eyes narrow as the shuttle dropped lower, heading directly for the embassy building. Imperial City didn't feel very safe.

  “I’ve located the landing pad,” the pilot said. “They’ve mustered a welcoming committee.”

  “Understood,” Rebecca said. She glanced at Tyler. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, Madam Ambassador,” Tyler said.

  Rebecca nodded. As the Solar Union’s designated representative, she couldn't talk to anyone below the king or his designated representative. Tyler, her aide, would have to handle the discussions with the welcoming committee, making sure the embassy met their requirements while parrying any attempts to speak directly to Rebecca. It would be a loss of face for her if she did speak to someone below her, even if it was about a minor matter. There were times when she thought that the Tokomak had devised interstellar codes of diplomatic conduct to provide a substitute for war. Certainly, a single mistake could have dire consequences.

  “Take us down,” she told the pilot.

  The embassy came into view. It was small, compared to the palace, but easily large enough for a small army of humans. Rebecca wondered, dryly, just how many aides they thought she’d brought. Her entire staff - all thirty of them - would rattle around the immense building like peas in a pod. She made a mental note to remind them, when they arrived, to be careful what they said and did. If the Harmonies were willing to try to plant nanotech spies on Odyssey, they wouldn't hesitate to bug the embassy itself. The staff were probably spies too.

  “The welcoming committee is waiting,” the pilot said. The shuttle dropped down and landed neatly on the pad. “Good luck, Madam Ambassador.”

  “Thanks,” Rebecca said. “We're going to need it.”

  ***

  Harmony smelled, Levi decided, as she and the rest of the marines formed a honour guard for the ambassador’s staff. There was no stench of burning hydrocarbons in the air - she remembered that all too well from Earth - but there was the indefinable stench of too many unwashed bodies in too close proximity. Judging by what she’d seen as the shuttle passed over the city, they were right on the edge of the security zone. To the north, wealth beyond her ability to comprehend; to the south, poverty on a scale she understood all too well. It was very human.

  Without even the chance to head to orbit to start a new life, she thought. She’d served in one of the migrant camps, protecting refugees from their former countrymen while the civil war raged around them. A number had joined the Solar Union, she recalled; some had made new lives for themselves, others had run afoul of the law and ended their days in a penal colony. The people here are trapped.

  It made no sense to her. The Harmonies were wealthy enough to give everyone a decent lifestyle, weren't they? The Solar Union certainly ensured that everyone was fed, housed and dressed, despite a few old-timers muttering dark things about welfare queens. Hell, they could have shipped vast numbers of people to new colony worlds on the edge of explored space. But instead, they preferred to keep their people trapped in poverty. Was it really so important, she asked herself, that they stayed in power?

  The wind shifted, blowing the stench over the walls. She hastily triggered her implants, dampening her olfactory senses. It probably was that important, if their rulers thought like humans. She'd seen too many tiny states, run by warlords, where keeping the population under control was more important than making their lives better. At least the warlords had known better than to mess with the Solar Union. Here ... there was no one, not even the Tokomak, trying to give the poor a shot at a better life.

  She forced herself to listen as the embassy staff abased themselves in front of the ambassador’s aide. Levi had never heard such grovelling in her life. The leader was literally kissing the ground in front of the aide, while his staff were prostrating themselves as if they didn't dare look at their new masters. She supposed she should be glad they weren’t human, if their promises of eternal service and servitude were even remotely accurate. The ambassador’s staff would
probably wind up taking advantage of them. She didn't want to think that some of the marines would do the same.

  “Remember to be careful what you say,” she subvocalised, as the greeting ceremony finally came to an end. “The embassy is probably bugged thoroughly.”

  She triggered her sensors as she walked through the door, sweeping the entrance hall for unwanted surprises. The hall was huge, large enough to take the entire company of marines and still have room for another platoon or two. It was decorated in a style that reminded her of Ancient Rome, complete with wall carvings of scenes from the past. And yet ... her sensors picked up a dozen bugs, all tied into the building’s datanet. It was possible - more than possible - that the computers and video systems were also designed to pick up and record conversations. Safeguarding the entire building was going to be a pain in the ass.

  And probably impossible, she thought, as she led the way down a corridor. The proportions were all wrong, as if the building had been designed for someone taller and thinner. There’s no way we can rip out the entire datanet.

  “See what the techs make of the system,” she ordered, shortly. “But warn them to be careful what they say.”

  The irony, she discovered as they moved from room to room, was that the Harmonies had made an effort to be welcoming. Each bedroom was perfectly designed for humans, while the food processors were loaded with thousands of different recipes for human-specific foodstuffs. That was more consideration than she’d been led to expect. She’d served in places where the marines had had to eat alien rations or rely on their nanities to turn alien food into something edible. She still smiled at the memory of trying to coax a fifth-hand food processor into churning out something she could actually eat without fighting her gag reflex.

  And yet, the building was seeded with so many bugs that privacy was going to be practically non-existent.

  “They’re not insisting on anal probes, sir,” she said, after completing the sweep. “But I seriously doubt we can secure even one or two rooms in this shithole without tearing up and replacing the walls.”

  “And half the datanet,” Lieutenant Roaches added. “Sir, I haven’t seen a less secure datanet since I was on Earth. The whole system is designed to record and monitor everything the users do on it. It’s hardwired.”

  “I see,” Rhodan said. “The Ambassador is going to love that.”

  Levi nodded. She’d grown used to a complete lack of privacy at Boot Camp - the marines had practically lived in each other’s pockets - but the ambassador and her staff had presumably grown used to private cabins. Maybe they knew better than to open their mouths when they didn't know the room was secure, yet ... she doubted they’d be comfortable stripping down when they knew they were under surveillance.

  But then, the Harmonies are unlikely to be interested in human bodies, she mused. They’ll be more interested in what we’re actually doing here.

  The thought made her smile, rather coldly. Interracial relationships - relationships between members of different alien races - were one of the few universal taboos, harshly punished when they were discovered. The Solar Union had never banned them, but most people believed there was no need to bother. Genuine interracial relationships were astonishingly rare. The Harmonies were unlikely to take any prurient interest in human bodies.

  She put the thought aside for later consideration. “I don’t think this building can be held for very long either,” she added. “A single platoon of marines, without armour, couldn't hold the walls if they were attacked. I can and I will devise contingency plans, but ...”

  “Do the best you can,” Rhodan said. She could sense his frustration. He should have been down on the ground with her, but he was also needed on Odyssey. “And make sure the ambassador is aware of the problem.”

  “Aye, sir,” Levi said.

  She smiled. “I’ll also alert her staff,” she added. “But I’m fairly sure they have nothing to fear.”

  “Unless they say the wrong thing at the wrong time,” Rhodan said. “Make sure they know to use their implants to talk, if they want to discuss sensitive matters. The encryption codes should be impossible to crack.”

  Levi nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  ***

  It was a truism, Rebecca knew, that each world had its own smell. She’d certainly learned that over her career, although she'd also learned that the smell tended to vary from place to place. Planets might be tiny on an interstellar scale, but they were utterly immense on a human scale. And yet, the stench in the air on Harmony was truly revolting. She had the feeling she’d want to throw up, if her implants weren't working to dampen her reaction to the stench. The stench was so strong that it was almost a tangible presence, hanging on the air.

  She didn't want to look south, but she forced herself to stand on the balcony and look over the wall. The buildings looked broken down, more by lack of maintenance - she thought - than open war. Stagnant puddles of water lay everywhere, some glittering oddly under the fading light. Hundreds of aliens from a dozen different races moved listlessly around, some sitting down as if they no longer had the urge to carry on. Rebecca couldn't help thinking that they looked pathetic, when judged against the planet’s achievements. She only had to turn her head a little to see one of the immense floating structures ...

  It said much about the Harmonies, she thought, that they tolerated so much poverty. Earth, for all its flaws, was a more civilised place. The Harmonies were a wealthy society - a strikingly wealthy society. She'd seen the towering civilisation they’d built. And yet, it was rooted in poverty on a truly horrific scale. She had no way to be sure just how many people lived in the city, but ... surely, something could be done. Her heart bled for the children growing up in poverty, trying to find enough food to last them a day ... surely, something could be done.

  They’re aliens, she reminded herself. They don’t think like us.

  She turned and walked inside, uneasily aware of the hundreds of bugs watching her. The marines had warned her that there was no way most of the bugs could be removed, not given the way they'd been installed. It was odd, frighteningly odd. Surely, the Harmonies didn't spy on everyone who visited their world. Or perhaps they did ... GalTech could be abused easily, as she knew all too well. Given a couple of AIs and a complete absence of scruples, the Harmonies could spy on their entire population.

  The doors closed behind her. It was a relief to take a breath and taste clean air.

  It was a good embassy, she had to admit. She’d been in worse. The Harmonies were at least trying to make them comfortable. But the level of surveillance was far beyond a joke. She needed to lodge an official complaint, even though she knew it might make it harder to discuss any matters of substance. And yet, she was starting to doubt that they would be discussing anything important. The Harmonies seemed to be of two minds about everything.

  She stepped into her office and nodded to Tyler. “Implants only,” she subvocalised, using her implants to open up a channel. She’d had a lot of practice over the last few hours. “I assume they didn't get back to us?”

  “They did,” Tyler said. “We’re to be given tours of the city over the next two days, while the Imperial Court considers our gifts and composes a response. So far, there has been no request for any high-level discussions.”

  Rebecca nodded, impatiently. On one hand, it was in line with galactic protocol. On the other, she rather thought the Harmonies couldn't afford to take it slowly. But if they were having faction trouble ...

  “I’m sure we’ll enjoy the tours,” she subvocalised. She would have, if she hadn't had the feeling that someone was playing games. “If nothing else, it’ll give us a chance to get a feel for the city.”

  “And a chance to prepare an elaborate speech for the king,” Tyler added. “You’ll be officially presenting him with his gifts in a few days.”

  “Joy,” Rebecca said. She understood why the king’s staff wanted to inspect the gifts first, but she still found it annoying. “Did they
have any response to the manifest?”

  “No,” Tyler said. He cocked his head. “They may find our eagerness a sign of weakness.”

  “And not lodging protests about the bugs is also a sign of weakness,” Rebecca said, crossly. “What are they playing at?”

  She sighed. “Better get a good night’s sleep,” she said. She couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. “Tomorrow will be a very busy day.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  These alien races would also have obligations to us. They would be committing themselves to standing beside us and fighting to defend the Grand Alliance from its enemies. The blunt truth is that we need them and they need us. I understand the concern about diluting what we are - about warping our system to meet their demands - but we are locked in a war for survival. The Tokomak and their allies will not see us as anything other than deadly threats.

  Our mere existence is a spanner in their works ...

  -Solar Datanet, Political Forum (Grand Alliance Thoughts).

  “Captain,” Major Rhodan said. “You’re not going to like this.”

  Elton scowled. “I haven't liked anything since the day we popped through the gravity point,” he said, darkly. They’d been in orbit for a week, during which time the discussions on the planet’s surface had gone nowhere. Rebecca and her staff had been given the tour, but it hadn't escaped her notice that they hadn't even started talking about the shape of the conference table yet. “Hit me.”