Miranda's Demons

by Ian Miller

  "Who are you all?" he asked, in a slow voice. This was the first time he had used this language other than to Marcellus, and although he 'knew' it, he still had to think carefully.

  They immediately poured out their names.

  "Stop! One at a time. Tell me what you do and where you come from."

  "I'm Misako Shibatu. We're settler farmers. What else could we be?"

  "The skin? The eyes? Where are you from?"

  "We're Japanese," laughed the girl. "Haven't you ever seen Japanese before?"

  "Actually, no," Gaius replied. It was embarrassing to meet with people, and then show complete ignorance of their country. It was difficult to see how he could overcome this problem without trying to meet people and get help, but with his ship away he was so so vulnerable. He had to be very careful.

  "Japan is a great and important country," Misako protested proudly, "but we are being most impolite. We must thank you most deeply for rescuing us."

  "Yes, indeed, most honourable stranger," the remainder chimed in, most politely, although Gaius could see from their expressions that they were rather puzzled, and wary, of him.

  "Who are they?" Gaius indicated the inert bodies. In one sense he had already shown enough ignorance to raise suspicion, so he might as well show more.

  "Brownshirts!" Misako said in surprise. How could anybody not know that?

  "And what are they?"

  "You don't know?" How could that be?

  "They're bullies collaborating with the M'starn," the man closest to Misako added. "Misako here is on the draft. We were planning an escape, and they caught us."

  "You're not a M'starn, are you?" Misako cried out in horror.

  "I'm human and I come from Roma," Gaius replied calmly. He looked down disdainfully at the bodies that were just beginning to stir, and said, more to himself than anyone else, "I suppose I can assume these two will report me to the M'starn."

  "And us," Misako added glumly.

  "I doubt they'll report much," Gaius said. As one of the Brownshirts began to make some effort at getting up, Gaius calmly dropped the torch, grasped the man's hair and pulled the head upwards. Once again he had overlooked the weaker gravity, and the body almost flew upwards. He stopped its rise by pulling the man's head back then he expertly broke his neck with the other hand, although the force made his body lurch slightly. He then did the same to the other, this time with slightly more control.

  "You . . you've killed them?" one of the farmers gasped in surprise.

  "Yes," Gaius confirmed in a matter of fact tone. Life in the Roman legions automatically gave one a very simple philosophy for dealing with opposition dross.

  "But . . this'll lead to . . ."

  "Dig a hole somewhere," Gaius ordered. "The bodies must be hidden for a few days."

  "It's more important than ever we escape," one of the Japanese said. "Once these two are found missing, escape will be harder than ever."

  "It's more important that you hide the bodies," Gaius said emphatically. "That is something you can achieve right now. Bury them somewhere where the hole won't be easily noticed. And you must delay your escape until you've planned it properly. How were you going to get away?"

  "Land cruiser!"

  "Where to?"

  "Anywhere."

  "And what do you do when your air, water and food start to run out?" Gaius asked coldly. In some ways this was unnecessarily cruel, but it was important for them to grow up very quickly.

  "We hadn't got around to that yet," came back the shamed reply, "but Enrico's got that worked out."

  "And who, and where's Enrico?"

  "He's from Rome too," Misako chimed in. "He's going to help us escape."

  "But he hasn't turned up," Akiro added.

  "Then hide the bodies and buy time," Gaius ordered. The Japanese immediately began discussing hiding places, and a plan quickly formed. Gaius noted with approval that once they had their direction set for them, they were surprisingly efficient. Misako told Gaius the extent her problem, and pleaded with him to help.

  "I'll do what I can," Gaius tried to comfort her, "but if you want me to help, you will have to help me and do everything I say, no matter what."

  Chapter 3

  Gaius was invited to the Shibatu household, where he was introduced to Misako's boyfriend, Haruhiko Takado, who appeared to be fencing against imaginary enemies with a long bamboo stick. Gaius was informed that he was practising for a local kendo display. Misako's parents remained unobtrusively in the back room. Gaius recognized the deep concern for their family, and when Misako told them of what had happened, their concern level increased. They begged Gaius to explain what he could do for them.

  "I'll try to help," Gaius said, "provided you give me some food and a place to stay for the next few days."

  "What sort of help?" Haruhiko asked.

  "Provided you don't do something stupid between now and then," Gaius replied, "Misako won't be on that draft. However, I can't tell you yet what I'm going to do, because in part I don't know myself yet. I'm going to have to look around and explore the possibilities. In the meantime, let's try to forget those bullies."

  That answer seemed to suffice, and Gaius was pleased to see that they accepted without question his desire to change the subject.

  Gaius was impressed by the simplicity, yet overall tidiness of the rather austere house. The walls before him were white, and seemed to be made of a foamed glass/ceramic material that had been painted with fine delicate pictures before firing. One wall had scenes of strange-looking houses that Gaius concluded were of Japanese design, another showed a stream with a small stone bridge on which a woman in long flowing robes and holding a small umbrella was crossing. Another showed what seemed to be some type of temple with a volcano in the background, and flowering trees in the foreground. Gaius guessed that these scenes were to remind them of Japan, a place they would never see again.

  The room was sparsely furnished, but there were occasional small trees placed in little bowls around the room, while small furnishings, although apparently made of iron, were veneered with wood, or painted to imitated wood. Also present were items made from corn particleboard.

  As Gaius learned, material supply was a considerable problem. Perhaps the greatest gift Earth had given was the genetically engineered corn. Since the corn was grown where the greatest wind was the gentle convection currents inside domes and the gravity was 0.38 that of Earth, strength could be sacrificed. As a consequence, the grains had been developed to grow to the size of a small pear. These had the full range of amino acids and vitamins, and provided a base to the food chain. The cobs were almost as valuable as the grain, and they were the source of an amazing range of useful materials, including the very common particleboards.

  On one wall were two sets of shelves made of elegantly thin wood, coated with an attractive varnish, and which held what were presumably the household treasures: various ceramics with exquisite pictures on them. Wood was at a premium on Mars, although there were special small forests within the domes. The first trees had grown very tall and with unnecessarily thin trunks, and these too had been genetically modified, firstly to emphasize the growth of thick trunks, and then to have black-brown broad leaves. A small variety of trees had been grown, mostly for timber, all to be used for decorative furnishings, but also for pulp, resins and perfume bases. Since objects were only approximately one third the weight on Mars as on Earth, only one third of the thickness was needed for many comparable purposes, which at least meant many more objects could be made from a single tree.

  The Shibatus treated Gaius to a can of Hell's Ale, which, to his amusement, had a picture of a devil sitting on the red rim of the Hellas basin, pointing a pitchfork at the tiny colony dome below. This was accompanied by a meal of prawns and rice, which came from the hydroponics and aquaculture tanks, coupled with an attractive salad. Gaius wondered about the cost of this. Although he was served with a good-sized plateful, he noted that the hosts took only sma
ll portions. It was clear no food was wasted in this household, and probably not anywhere on Mars.

  In one corner of the main room a television was turned on. The Provisional Government kept up a barrage of stirring music and edicts, some of which were important, for in between the production quotas, the threats, and the tithe tallies, there was more mundane information, such as when supplies of various items would, in theory, be available. The Shibatus watched this, and continued to probe Gaius on where he came from. Gaius evaded the questions; what they did not know they could not tell under any interrogation.

  "I know who you are," Misako said softly, at last.

  "You do?" Gaius smiled.

  "You're a soldier, aren't you?" she said with the air of someone who has made a clever deduction.

  "Yes, you're correct," Gaius smiled. It occurred to him that that was obvious. To kill two bullies was not particularly difficult for him, but that was because of his previous experience.

  "And you've just arrived from Earth!" Misako added triumphantly.

  "What makes you say that?" Gaius probed.

  "You're clumsy!" Misako pointed out. "You haven't adjusted to our lesser gravity, and you know almost nothing about Mars!"

  "It is true I've just arrived," Gaius confirmed, then he added, "There's a small shuttle out in the desert, but you mustn't tell anyone."

  "Of course not!" they all responded. It then occurred to Gaius that they had suddenly become very happy. Earth cared about them, and had launched an operation. Not only that, but they had sent a ship across space, without the M'starn's knowledge. Suddenly, there was hope.

  "I can't tell you any more, though," Gaius added.

  "You can trust us!" Akiro insisted.

  "I believe you," Gaius said softly, "but suppose the M'starn had a means of telling whether you were withholding anything? If they interrogated you, and found immediately that you weren't concealing anything, they'd let you go instead of torturing it out of you. It's easier for you if you don't know."

  "But you can help us?" Misako asked.

  "That depends," Gaius said, and when he saw the look of frustration, he added, "on whether you can keep my presence a secret."

  "For how long?" she frowned.

  "As long as necessary for me to get my support," Gaius said. "I can't be sure, but it is only a matter of days. Don't let me down, and you won't be on the draft."

  They all swore they wouldn't.

  "I know you won't deliberately," Gaius said. "Try to avoid doing it accidentally. That's easiest if you don't go out any more than you have to. In fact, why not practice now? Let's see if you can totally avoid this topic."

  As he partly expected, they were less than enthused, and they fell into an awkward grudging silence. Gaius could not say anything, because he had to avoid being the object of the conversation. Eventually they began to watch the television, and they found something to talk about. The conversation, interspersed with some strangely mournful music played by Misako on a traditional samisen, brought from Japan itself, was kept going until nearly midnight. A futon was then brought from a wall cupboard, and Gaius was told to select a sleeping area. He was surprised how comfortable it was, and he was soon asleep.

  Next morning, the family, after some discussion, decided to go to their usual work. As it happened, Akiro and Misako did not have to go, as leave from work was granted to those within one week of being drafted. The two continued to press Gaius on what he was going to do next, and he found the situation difficult. Until the return of the Actium he had to survive on his wits, and the limited power from the shuttle that was camouflaged some distance out in the wastelands outside the dome. The best way to survive was not to draw attention to himself, yet he needed their help. Worse, he had given assurances to them, and for them to stay silent and refrain from flailing futilely about, they had to trust him. For them to do that, he had to be seen to be doing something.

  Gaius was about to venture outdoors when there was a sharp knock on the door. As he quickly retreated from the door, Misako and Akiro edged cautiously into the room. In the background, there was a rustling sound as Haruhiko emerged from bed, and began to hurriedly dress. Gaius nodded comfortingly to Misako then he slipped into the back room. He heard the door open, and guessed from the tone of the voices that the two men were Brownshirt guards.

  "What do you want?" Misako asked quietly. "Why are you here?"

  "We're looking for two of our men," came the firm reply.

  "They're not here," Misako said. "Why should they be?"

  "Perhaps because they were going to catch you escaping."

  "Escape?" queried Akiro nervously. "We wouldn't do that! We couldn't do that. It's impossible! Everyone knows that."

  "Perhaps your two men escaped," Misako suggested. "What made them think we're going to escape?"

  "We have ways of getting information. Anyway, we have orders to search all the houses. Make way."

  "But that's . . ." Misako started, as she stood in front of the staircase. Akiro glanced nervously around the room.

  "Get out of the way!" came the rough voice, and Akiro was propelled against a wall. "You lot are hiding something. I can smell it on you," he said, as he shook Akiro's collar. "We'll find it, don't you worry!"

  Gaius had heard enough. He decided the two Japanese were in no real danger for the time being, as long as he was not found. He slipped out the back of the household, and walked quickly to the little vegetable garden. There, he lay flat on his back, pulled the flap of his chameleon suit across his face, and adjusted the colour range. On anything but the closest inspection, the vegetable garden looked empty.

  The chameleon suit was an overall-type one-piece suit with some rather unusual features. If the face flap was sealed over, it acted as a pressure suit, and he could survive for about an hour without fresh air. It had the ability to repulse attacks made with beam weapons and high speed projectiles, and finally, it could be used as a highly effective camouflage, hence its name.

  All Ulsian battleships could be made effectively invisible. They were not truly invisible; that would require all material to have a refractive index identical to that of a vacuum. However, they had the next best alternative. The outer surfaces were covered by billions of receptors and emitters of electromagnetic radiation. All radiation falling on the ship was totally absorbed, and its path and intensity calculated. The exact equivalent radiation was then emitted from the other side of the ship. This was possible only for a rigid ship; for flexible clothing, the calculating power required would have been beyond the possible size of a portable computer. However, the next best alternative could be employed; the shade, intensity, and any gross patterns of a surface could be calculated, and the suit made to represent that pattern. The effect was most striking, and as long as the wearer avoided standing against a surface with too much in the way of detailed pattern, or the observer was really close, he was effectively invisible.

  As Gaius lay in the vegetable garden, the colour of the soil appeared on his suit, with sufficient variation to give the impression of texture. As expected, the Brownshirts came out into the back yard, had a quick look around, saw there was nothing sizeable to hide behind, and went back into the house. Gaius gave them plenty of time to leave, then he restored the suit to light grey, and returned to the Shibatu's house.

  "Where were you?" Misako asked in a tone brimming with curiosity.

  "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Gaius said with a smile.

  "Please tell," Misako pleaded.

  "I was hiding in the cabbage patch," Gaius replied, with a perfectly straight face.

  "Where were you really?" Misako asked, with a touch of irritation in her voice.

  "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

  "He doesn't want to tell you," Akiro interrupted. "Let's just be grateful he wasn't caught."

  "No help from you either," Misako said harshly. "Can't you control yourself?"

  "I'm sorry," Akiro mumbled. "I was sure they'd find y
ou," he said, turning to Gaius, "and then they could've . . ."

  "Don't worry about what might have happened," Gaius laughed, and slapped him on the shoulder. "Enough usually goes wrong without helping it! But," he added in a more serious tone, "in times like these, you have to decide whether to give in or fight." He paused, then said more harshly, "Fighting means risks, and maybe losing. You'll have to kill, and some of you will be killed, and once you start there's no going back. You can't look at the opposition and say, 'Sorry, can we stop?' If that bothers you, then don't fight. Acquiesce, and hope you're left alone."

  "Some hope, some future," Misako said, with a cold determination. "I can never be worse off. The only reason I'm not fighting is that I've nothing to fight with."

  "The means are usually available," Gaius turned towards her. "Your problem is you don't know how to acquire and use them."

  "Then show us!"

  "And what about you?" Gaius asked, turning towards Akiro.

  "I don't know . . ." he said, almost shamefacedly.

  "You don't know!" Misako yelled. "What is there to know?"

  "Well, I don't know I'd be much use," Akiro started, "and I wouldn't want to fight unless there was some chance of winning."

  "Nobody wants to do that," Gaius laughed. "Do you want to know what to do?"

  "Please tell us!" Misako implored.

  "Yes," came the dubious reply from Akiro, after a threatening glance from Misako.

  "Then, for the moment, do nothing!"

  "Nothing?" came the cries in unison, hurt disbelief from Misako, relief from Akiro.

  "Battles are won by hard work and information," Gaius laughed at their expressions. "You have to thoroughly assess your enemy, gather enough resources, then strike decisively at his weakest point. I must determine what that is first."