Stealing Endeavour: Book 1 of the Forever Endeavour, Amen Trilogy

by Martin Tays

  Ami leaned forward. “So you developed all this in the last hundred years?” She looked out at an industrial complex they were passing thoughtfully, then turned back to the priest. “From what base?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I think she means,” Mattie interjected from the other side of the floor, rocking a bit as the car passed over an uneven spot in the roadway. “Where were you technologically when we… when the disaster occurred?”

  “Ah. At the time, our highest technical achievement was the ability to burn what you call fossil fuels and to utilize the resultant steam.” He looked back at Mattie as he continued, matter of factly. “We were experimenting with electricity, but had not yet accomplished anything useful with it.”

  “Holy. Freaking. Crap.” S’Nhu-gli turned back as Moses continued. “So you’re saying that you went from the steam age to space flight and nuclear power in, what, about ninety of our years? And all this with a climate altering disaster over your heads? In God’s name, how?”

  The priest looked down at the floor as he replied in a subdued tone of voice. “It’s surprising how much you can accomplish when motivated by terror.”

  There was nothing Moses — nothing any of them ― could say in reply, and the remainder of the trip was spent in uneasy silence.

  ☼

  “Woah.” Moses paused in exiting the groundcar to stare up at the building before him. “That is one hellava set of doors.”

  The Imperial Palace was awesome, in the literal sense of the word. Massive in scale, it stretched away to both sides and soared grandly above them. Its entryway was large enough to accommodate the shuttle they’d landed in and then some. Over the entry, words were graven in the curiously cuneiform-ish letters of S’Nhu-gli’s people.

  Moses pointed. “Please… tell me that doesn’t begin with the words ‘Abandon all hope’.”

  “Um… no.” S’Nhu-gli replied. “That is the Emperor’s personal motto. It is a statement attributed to his grandfather. ‘The World Is One, Under Me’.”

  “Huh.” Moses looked back over toward the priest. “Remind me sometime to show you a poem a man named Percy Bysshe Shelly wrote.”

  “You have no reverence for the great, friend M’Hoses.”

  “Wrong. I have no reverence for those who feel the need to proclaim themselves great.” He grinned. “There’s a difference.”

  “Indeed.” S’Nhu-gli glanced at the guards flanking the entrance, then back to his friend. “Please, if you would be so kind, promise me that you won’t speak much once we’re before the Emperor.”

  Moses nodded, unoffended. “I’ll try my best.”

  “Excellent.” S’Nhu-gli turned to the others. “Shall we go in?”

  They moved as a group, S’Nhu-gli in the lead, through the great open doors and into the building. The entryway opened directly into a vast hallway, one lined with great scenes of battle. Moses veered off to look at one.

  “Wow. These are tapestries. Neat. Very detailed.” He pointed to a section of the embroidered image. “Is that a heart he’s holding?”

  “It symbolizes A’Sa-Men-thot’s conquest of Vineland.” Replied the priest. “It was one of the largest unallied countries assimilated during the conquest.”

  “Ah. That explains why he’s the size of Godzilla, too.” He came back to join the group, glancing back over his shoulder at the tapestry. “Had me worried there, for a second.”

  “Forgive me, friend M’Hoses.” S’Nhu-gli gestured toward the far end of the corridor. “But we keep my Emperor waiting.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?” Moses asked, blandly.

  “Precisely. That is, as you say, a ‘bad thing’.”

  “Well, let’s go, then. I’ve never met an Emperor, before.” Moses grinned and rubbed his hands together. “This should be fun.”

  Ami sighed. “Moses?”

  “I know, I know. Shush.”

  ☼

  “His Eminence, being the Reverend Father of the Architect’s design, Lord S’Nhu-gli, with plus his guests from the planet Humaan.”

  Moses pushed the sound bud a bit deeper into his ear and tried to avoid smiling. Working off the Japanese translation program, S’Nhu-gli and Leo had managed to produce a reasonably decent translation subroutine. Moses had it running on his pcomp, and the mostly accurately translated words were piped to just an earbud due to the rushed nature of the translator kludge.

  S’Nhu-gli motioned to the humans to stay put and moved across the wide throne room floor. The great hallway had opened directly through great doors into a very, very great room. Seated in the throne at the far end of that room was the Light Of The Daylight, The Inheritor Direct Of The Crown Of A’Sa-Men-thot, The Grand And Exalted One, Ruler And Sole Lord Of The Lands, Emperor K’arn-Aton-piy. Standing by the throne was General K’har-atah. S’Nhu-gli mounted the Stand of Inquiry and bowed.

  There was a long moment of silence. S’Nhu-gli chanced a glance upward and saw that the Emperor’s attention was focused on the aliens. He waited.

  Finally, the Emperor looked down, and he hastily cast his eyes back down to the floor. The Emperor considered him, then spoke. “So. I see you’ve brought me presents.”

  “Sire, I bring you wonders that you have never dreamed of.”

  General K’har-atah snorted. “And terrors.”

  S’Nhu-gli glanced over at the general. “It is difficult to have one without the other.” Looking back toward the Emperor, he continued. “The humans provided us with the greatest disaster we have ever faced. And now, they provide us with the greatest opportunity for advancement we shall ever have. The Maker Of Us All believes in balance.”

  “Indeed.” The Emperor considered the humaans again. “Have your guests come forward, Lord S’Nhu-gli. I should like to meet them.”

  S’Nhu-gli turned and gestured to Moses and his friends. Moses stepped forward, the others a half step behind, and came across the room to stand before the throne. The priest introduced him, stumbling only momentarily over ‘Hamish’. There was a long moment of silence as the Captain and the Emperor considered each other.

  “You do not bow before me. Why?” The translation was flat and fairly inflectionless. But it didn’t come across to Moses as angry. More like… intrigued.

  “Your highness…” The Emperor started, briefly, as Moses’ Pcomp began speaking in his own tongue. “I acknowledge and respect your leadership of your people. However, I am not one of your people. Because my allegiance is elsewhere, I cannot bow to you. I ask your understanding.”

  “You have your own Emperor, then?”

  Moses shook his head, then hurriedly added a verbal “No. No, sire. We have a President, back on Earth. We elect him by popular vote.”

  “Vote? That’s… that’s extraordinary. Then you bow to this ‘president’, then?”

  “Actually, no, sire. I haven’t met the current President, but I got a chance to meet the one before this one.”

  “And you bowed to him?”

  “No, sir. I shook his hand and told him that I thought he was a bastard.”

  The Emperor leaned back in his throne. “I see. And he did not have you executed?”

  Moses smiled. “Actually, he said he agreed with me.”

  “Indeed. I believe I would be interested in meeting such a person.” His muzzle wrinkled in amusement. “He intrigues me.”

  One of the Emperor’s assistants came up to whisper in his ear. He listened, then turned back toward Moses and S’Nhu-gli. “I have been informed that my delicate health precludes an extensive interview. Pity, but he’s right. I should not overly tax my remaining faculties.”

  There was a movement out of the corner of Moses’ eye. He glanced over and saw that the Doctor had approached. Smith leaned in and whispered in his ear.
“Captain, you realize I can help him?”

  Moses looked at him for a moment, then turned back toward S’Nhu-gli. He briefly keyed off his translator. “You know what he wants, right?”

  The priest glanced at the doctor, then looked up toward the Emperor.

  “Lord S’Nhu-gli?” The Emperor gestured at the two humaans as Moses hurriedly turned his translator back on. “Far be it from me to interrupt your private conversation…”

  “A thousand pardons, Sire. But the other Human is a healer. A medical priest. He has been studying our ― my, I should say ― biology extensively and believes he can apply the remarkable medical technology of his people to us.” He gestured. “To you.”

  A conversational free for all broke out in the crowded throne room. The Emperor ignored it as he studied the doctor. Finally, he turned back to the priest. “It is a comfort to understand that the healer’s desire to cure extends beyond his own people, and says much for him. However, there is no disease about me. I am only old… and age is the one ill no person can cure.”

  S’Nhu-gli shuffled his feet. “Um, Sire? Perhaps we should continue this conversation in your private chamber?”

  “You’re wrong!”

  Stunned silence met the doctor’s outburst. Every person in the room was staring at Smith, astonishment and not a little anger on most of their faces. Moses patted him on the shoulder and said, in a conversational tone of voice, “Been nice knowing you, Clive.”

  The Emperor stared at the doctor for a long moment. Finally, he spoke. “Fascinating. I don’t believe anyone has ever told me that, before.”

  Smith looked up at the Emperor. “You mean you’ve never been wrong?”

  “Oh, no, no, no…” The Emperor waved his forepaw dismissively. Of course I’ve been wrong. No one has ever dared tell me, before, that’s all.” He considered the doctor. “So, healer, in what way do you consider my statement wrong?”

  “Sire?” S’Nhu-gli’s ears were lain back firmly on his head. “I really believe we should continue this conversation in private.”

  “Age, your… Kingness. Age. Age is a disease. A disease we’ve cured.”

  S’Nhu-gli leaned over to press his forehead against the railing of the stand. “Or we could continue it here, I suppose.”

  The Emperor was considering the doctor. “Indeed? In what way, healer, have you ‘cured’ age?”

  Smith opened his mouth to speak, and Moses turned to him and stuck a warning finger in his face. He shrugged toward S’Nhu-gli, then turned and answered the Emperor. “Sire, we… that is, our people… have discovered the medical reasons for aging. We have developed methods by which it can be halted.”

  Even through the translation program, the Emperor’s astonishment was obvious. “You mean…?”

  “I mean, Sire, that we do not age.” A fresh hubbub greeted his words, loud enough that the Emperor’s majordomo had to rap the floor sharply with his staff several times before it quieted down.

  “I see.” The Emperor turned again to the doctor and gestured him forward. “And you believe that you can turn your healing techniques to those of our kind?”

  The doctor smiled and pointed toward S’Nhu-gli. “I already have.” The crowd around the Stand of Inquiry moved back from the priest as he began gently banging his head on the railing.

  “Blasphemy!” The general’s shout was loud and angry. He continued, pointing with both mid-feet at the doctor as heads turned in his direction. “We cannot allow this, this ALIEN, to do this!”

  The Emperor looked at him. “In what way do you see this as blasphemy, General K’har-atah?”

  “Sire.” The general turned toward the throne. “If we do not age, we do not die. If we do not die, we cannot be born again, and grow in the service of our Maker. The Cycles of Life are sacred. These creatures…” He pointed again at the doctor, “Would destroy that. Sire, this must not be allowed!”

  “Do me a favor?” Moses whispered as he leaned in toward the priest. “Have me buried face down so the general can kiss my ass whenever he visits my grave.”

  “Plus that way people’ll have a place to park their bicycles.” Doug added helpfully.

  S’Nhu-gli stopped banging his head on the railing and looked sideways toward Moses. “Actually, blasphemers get… well, let us say that there would not be a lot left to bury.”

  “Oh. Ouch.”

  “Not to worry. There has not been public execution for blasphemy since I was a child.”

  “That’s, what, twenty, twenty five years?” Moses replied, grimacing. “Well, that certainly makes me feel better.”

  S’Nhu-gli rose up in the stand and drummed his fore and midfeet on the railing for attention. Finally, the furor died down. He cleared his throat, glared at the general, and turned toward the Emperor. “Sire, I have several things to say in response to the general’s… remarkable statement.

  “First, of course, is that I would not instruct him in the fineries of warfare. I would not do this because I know that he is better versed in them than I. I ask him to extend the same courtesy to me where matters of the Church are concerned.”

  “The Cycles of Life concern us all, priest.” The general replied, growling.

  “Indeed. Plumbing concerns us all, yet I would not step in to repair your pipes were they broken.” He turned back to the Emperor and continued. “Second, Sire, we would not be judged by the humaan’s standards were we to visit their society. We should not judge them by ours. To the doctor, what he has done, what he can do, is no less than his job. He is a healer.” He turned and bowed toward the doctor. “He heals.” Smith blinked then, with a ghost of a smile, returned the gesture.

  The emperor once again considered the doctor. He addressed S’Nhu-gli without looking away. “Is it true? Has he… has he cured you of old age?”

  “So he tells me, Sire. All I know is that I feel as I did at the prime of my life. I feel… I feel young.”

  The Emperor turned to look at Moses. “You have delivered, I think, a greater ― and more potentially devastating ― change to our society than your people did a hundred years ago. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Moses looked him in the eye. “Sire, I believe… we believe… that there is nothing more wondrous in the Universe that you.” He pointed at the general. “Or him.” Turning, he then gestured out over the crowd. “Or anyone here. People grow. People learn. People enrich themselves, their friends, their world, and each of their deaths diminishes us in a real and permanent way. To see someone die once they’ve gained a lifetime of experience ― and to know we can keep it from happening if we chose to do so ― that’s blasphemy.”

  “Indeed. You’re a dangerous man, M’Hoses D’Hun, with dangerous ideas.” Moses held his breath. “And dangerous ideas are sometimes the best ones to have.” He let it out again, relieved, as the Emperor continued. “I must ponder this.”

  There was a commotion at the back of the hall. A dark gray individual came in fast, flat against the floor, to wind his way through the crowd up to the throne. He handed the Emperor a message. The Emperor glanced at it, then looked back again and read it carefully, they looked back up toward the crowd.

  “Well. It seems that our little conversation may have to be postponed.”

  “Sire?” General K’har-atah took a step toward the throne.

  The Emperor handed him the message and looked over toward Moses. “Is there anything else you needed to tell me?”

  “No.” Moses looked over toward S’Nhu-gli, who looked perplexed, then turned back to the Emperor. “Um, no, sir. Sire. Sir. May I ask what’s happened?”

  The Emperor waved a forefoot at the general who was just looking up from the message with a dark expression. “It seems that we have company.”

  “Pardon? Sire?”

  General K
’har-atah waved the crumpled piece of paper. “Tell me this isn’t a trick, humaan!”

  “How should I know!” Moses looked back up toward the Emperor. “What the hell is he talking about? Um, Sire?”

  “According to the crew of the warship, another humaan ship has just been detected. It will be in orbit around our planet in approximately four days.”

  “Holy…” Moses turned back toward his friends. “Rafe. It’s got to be Rafe. Right?”

  Ami nodded and spoke up. “Sire? Remember that our vessels aren’t armed. These are friends of ours, and mean you no harm.”

  “Indeed? Then why did they destroy a manned communications station with a missile? And how, seeing as they are ‘unarmed’?”

  The general barked a curt command. Armed guards appeared seemingly out of nowhere and surrounded them. Moses shared an appalled look with S’Nhu-gli and turned back toward his crew. “If we manage to get out of this, remind me that I’m going to kill Rafe. A lot. Okay?”

  “I saw a headline the other day that said ‘Scientists Are Confused’. Now, that’s a funny one.

  “You want to know why it’s funny? Because they’re just now figuring out something that we’ve known all along. That we’re alone.

  “God, you see, made the Universe for Man. There’s nobody else out there because it’s nobody else’s but ours.”

  “Well, Reverend Hart, that’s an interesting attitude, and one that I will certainly consider… okay, I’ve considered it. Get the hell off my show.”

  Timothy Jackson interviewing Glen Hart, on “Father Tim’s Power Hour”