When they reached the broad flight of steps that led to the wide wooden double doors that opened into the Great Hall, they continued up them without breaking pace. Mark found that marching slowly up steps while keeping in time with Sally and Mike was more difficult than he thought it would be. His legs were aching too. The pace of their slow march meant instead of swinging his legs forward, he lifted a leg, then holding it up slowly moved it forwards and down again. He hadn’t noticed any particular strain while they had been practicing the day before, but they only moved forward a few meters at a time, then reformed and started off again. They had now marched steadily for well over four hundred meters and the strain was beginning to tell in the muscles in his thighs.
As soon as they entered the Great Hall, the packed audience started up a muted applause. Mark heard someone call out ‘Rule by all!’, but this was quickly followed by an outbreak of clicking, which was the Herassan equivalent of saying ‘Shh!’
“Only a few more meters.” Mark told himself, although he quickly became too pre-occupied with looking round for signs of hostility to worry about the pain in his leg muscles.
“Mark, pay attention, eyes front!” Mike hissed at him, just in time for him to see the soldiers in front of him come to a halt. Mark managed to stop almost in time with Sally and Mike and shuffled back in line. The Palace Guard soldiers in front parted and lined up with their backs to the aristocrats in the audience to make room for the honor guard to approach the empty throne. They carried on for a few paces until Mark heard Seltet’s voice say just loud enough for them to hear, “Halt.”
A Herassan wearing a dark green floor length robe stepped forward to the right of the throne. Mark knew this was the Prime Advisor. Mike stepped forwards and as she moved, Mark and Sally took half a step sideways to close the gap Mike had left.
The Prime Advisor held her right hand out. Mike took her hand with her right hand and turned with her back to the throne. She stood for a moment in silence. Mark could see the muscles in her face stand out as she held her jaw clamped shut. Then, still holding the Prime Advisors hand she sat on the throne. The audience, subdued until now, sprung to their feet and started cheering. Mark heard many of them calling out ‘Long live the First of the First!’ He didn’t hear anyone shouting, ‘Rule by the many.’
The First Advisor released Mikes hand and held her left arm up, calling for silence. When the Great Hall was quiet, the First Advisor took a step forward. “We are here to witness Hess An Sur, First Born of the First of the First, direct descendant of Herass An Sur, take her rightful place as First of the First Family of the Herassan Federation of the Five Planets, First of the First of all its territories, colonies, outposts, all solar systems, planets, moons, habitats and resources legitimately laid claim to by the Empire, and all territories, colonies, outposts, all solar systems, planets, moons and habitats and resources founded, claimed or annexed during her reign. To rule absolutely over her dominion, without interference, either from her subjects or from any forces outside the Empire. All stand and show obeisance to the First of the First.”
Mark sent a quick message to Mike, “Does that include us?”
“No you idiot.” she replied. “You’re not a Herassan citizen. Just remember to do everything I tell you in future without question.”
Mark smiled. Her new status hadn’t changed her.
The audience of aristocrats all stood in silence, bowed their heads slightly and held their left hands up to cover their eyes. After a few moments, they dropped their hands, then taking their timing from the Prime Advisor, chanted – almost in unison – “Hail to the First of the First, purest of the aristocracy, blood of Herass An Sur. We swear allegiance to the First of the First in all things, before self, before family, before life.” The crowd started to cheer again, grinning and laughing, waving at Mike as she sat on her throne. Even the Prime Advisor smiled.
Mark leaned towards Sally and said quietly, “It all went without a hitch, we can relax now.”
“It’s not over yet. Stay sharp.”
Mark hadn’t been looking out for anything untoward for some time, though he wasn’t about to admit that to Sally. He carefully scanned the audience on his right, trying to spot anything out of place. He noticed that some of the aristocrats looked less happy that the rest, but none of them looked like they were posing a threat. “Have you spotted anything suspicious on the drone feeds Kate?” he asked his AI.
“A few unusual things, but no suspicious behavior.”
“What sort of unusual things? Mark asked, a bit alarmed that his AI may not be able to distinguish between ‘unusual’ and ‘suspicious’ behavior.”
“Look to your left, right at the back, three quarters of the way back from the end of the Great Hall you are standing at.”
Mark stiffened, getting ready to deploy the weapon embedded in his right arm. “What can you see?”
“Two Herassans. A male and a female.”
Mark got ready to run to tackle them and prevent them from doing whatever they were planning. “Yes, two Herassans, what are they doing.”
“They have removed some of their clothes and are lying on the floor, copulating. It is fairly unusual for Herassans to do that in public, even amongst the aristocrats.”
“Is that it? I thought you meant they were doing something suspicious.”
“I don’t know why you would think that. I made it quite clear I hadn’t seen anything suspicious, just unusual.”
“Anything else unusual?”
“Two of the aristocrats right at the end of the building are fighting each other. I heard the conversation that led up to the fight. They appear to be unable to agree which of them has the biggest holiday lodge in the Great North Forest.”
“Uh huh. Anything else?”
“Four aristocrats are arguing about sharing a smoking bowl. Two of them have been using it, another two are demanding they be allowed to share as they haven’t brought bowls with them. Smoking bowls are prohibited in the Great Hall. I predict it will turn into a fight if the four Palace Guards on their way to them continue moving at their current pace.”
“So no battle fog canisters, no weapons?”
“The only weapons in the great hall are your team’s, the uniformed Palace Guard and the undercover police in the crowd who are carrying stun-sticks. The undercover Palace Guard in the crowd are unarmed.”
“Good. As long as there are no infiltrators in the Palace Guard, we should be safe.”
“I have checked the biographies of all the Palace Guard who are present. All but one checked out. One was a Gretton, but Sally’s AI alerted Major Bryd Sa Dett who has had them removed and they are now in a high security facility on the other side of the city.”
“How do you know what Sally’s AI has done? And if you found the Gretton, why did Sally’s AI tell the Major?”
“I am sharing security information with her AI. We are both People’s AI’s, so naturally we work together on security matters.”
“I can’t help feeling that you should have told me that before sharing information.”
“I am sorry if you feel I have been keeping information from you Mark. It seemed such a natural thing to do, I assumed you would realize that I would share non-personal information with another AI. Perhaps I should make you aware that I am in constant communication with a multitude of other People’s AI’s. However, I do not share any personal information about you with any of them,”
“Hmm. We’ll talk about this again later. But you are confident there are no threats in the Great Hall?”
“There is nothing I can detect. That is not the same as there being no threats.”
“Thanks Kate. Let me know if that changes.”
“It looks like we’re on the move.” Sally said. “Fall in behind Mike.”
They moved to get behind Mike as the Prime Advisor led her by the hand to the back of the Hall.
Chapter Seventy Six
Unwelcome Interlopers
&nbs
p; As soon as the door to the antechamber was closed behind them, the First Advisor dropped Mikes hand and whirled round to face Sally and Mark.
“What are you doing in here? Get out!”
“We are here at the invitation of the First of the First.” Sally replied.
“I don’t care who invited you. Get out now or I’ll call the Palace Guard and have you thrown out!”
Mike stepped forward. “They are, as the General said, here at my invitation. An apology is due to them.”
“You can’t invite them here; it is against protocol. And they aren’t even Herassans, they are alien mammals!” The First Advisor said the word ‘mammals’ as though she had just taken a mouthful of something distasteful.
“I am the First of the First now, I decide what is protocol, they are my guests! So, apologize to them.”
“I will not! They must leave.”
“Leave us First Advisor, or I will have the Palace Guard remove you.” Mike said coldly.
“You can’t do that…” the First Advisor started to say.
“I can do what I like! I am First of the First. How dare you challenge my authority! Now get out!”
The First Advisor stared at Mike for a few moments, then with a furious look on her face, stormed out.
“That went better than I thought it would.” Mike said.
“Do you mean the ceremony or the disagreement with your advisor?” Mark asked.
“The ceremony went exactly as I expected. I have rehearsed it so much with a VR simulation that I could have done it blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back.”
“Yes, but you didn’t have much to do, did you? All you had to do was sit down, stand up and walk out. It wasn’t that challenging. What did you rehearse most? The sitting down and standing up, or the walking out?”
Mike tried to suppress a grin but failed. “OK, I didn’t have much to do, but it was stressful.”
“So you think that little episode with your First Advisor went better than expected?” Sally asked.
“Yeah. I thought she’d have a stroke when you two walked in behind me. She just got a bit cross. She’s right about the protocol. No one except the First of the First and the First Advisor are allowed in the antechamber after a raising, but I’m right that I call the shots now.”
“That bit about you ruling absolutely, that’s right, is it?”
“Yeah. My word is law. I can make or break laws and no one can interfere. I could order their execution if they do, even though the death penalty was outlawed hundreds of thousands of years ago. If I was in a mood to, I could kill them myself with impunity.”
“So you are now all powerful, practically a god your people, all one hundred billion of them.”
“All four hundred billion.” Mike corrected him.
“Well, don’t let it go to your head.”
“What’s next?” Sally asked.
“I’m supposed to get a pep talk from the First Advisor now, about how she and the cabinet will help guide me in my duties and responsibilities, or to put it another way, to remind me to do as I am told, then we join the cabinet for a meal. I told you about that, remember?”
“You didn’t mention this bit, I wondered if you had forgotten to mention anything else.” Sally said.
“I don’t think so.”
“You’ve said a few times that the First of the First doesn’t do any real ruling, that the power is held by the cabinet. Can you get away with doing what you want?” Mark asked.
“A substantial majority of the population of the empire would riot if they knew the First of the First was being thwarted by the cabinet. A lot of the aristocrats would too. I might be the absolute ruler of the empire, but like most rulers, I do so by the will of the people, and the same goes for the cabinet. So to answer your question, yes, I can get away with doing what I want unless I completely lose the support of the people.”
“Haven’t any First of the First’s gone against their cabinet in the past?”
“Oh yes, several. It has always ended with them being assassinated. That’s why I wanted you two here.”
“We’re just here as bodyguards?” Sally asked.
“You could look at it like that.” Mike answered.
“How would you look at it?” Mark asked.
“I would say that I see you as bodyguards. My closest friends too.” she added hastily.
“Was there any preferred method of assassination in the past?” Sally asked.
“Poisoning mostly, some have been stabbed. One was drowned in the lake.”
“We can protect from virtually everything except poisoning. What are we eating at this meal we’re going to?”
“It’s a simple one course meal. It’s only to keep up going until the banquet this evening, so I’ve ordered the stuff that Mark calls teppanyaki. He likes it and it should be safe for you to eat.”
“I’ve tried it. It was – not to my taste. I can’t eat it.”
“Shit. I’m not sure what Herassan food you can eat.”
“I’ll send you a pattern. It’s simple enough that the Herassan synthesizers can make it.”
“We can’t stop you being given poisoned food, but for the meal we’re about to have, when we have both been served, we’ll swap plates before we eat. If you are to be poisoned, it will need to be something that will act before the blood carrying it gets to your liver, where your blood filters will remove it. That means it’s got to be fast acting. I don’t think your AI can analyze food well enough or fast enough to stop you being affected by any poison, but mine, and Sally’s, can. I don’t know how we’ll handle the food at the banquet, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“OK Mark, that sounds like a good plan. It must have been your AI’s idea.”
“No, it was mine.”
“Yeah, of course it was.” Mike said sarcastically.
“Mike, behave yourself!” Sally said.
“You do realize you’re talking to the First of the First, absolute ruler of one of the largest empires in the galaxy?” Mike said to Sally.
“You do realize that you’re heading for a punch in the mouth?” Sally said.
“Only kidding, boss.” Mike said with a grin.. She reached out and pinched Marks cheek. “I saw that on the Earth archive. It’s what adults of your culture and era do to small children as a sign of affection.” she said, still grinning.
“Yes, but they don’t have claws like yours.” Mark said, rubbing his cheek. “Come on, let’s go to this meal and meeting. Stay between Sally and me.” Sally led the way through the door, and once in the corridor, Mike clung to Mark’s arm so his phase shift armor would protect her, although she knew she only had to stay close to him for it to work.
Mike led them through a maze of wide brightly lit and thickly carpeted corridors and state rooms. Every time they met any of the Palace staff, they stopped, bowed their heads and covered their eyes with their left hands. “I’m going to stop them doing that.” Muttered Mike after they had passed the fourth staffer. They arrived at a small dining room with an armed guard stood either side of the door. The Guards snapped to attention and saluted as they approached, then bowed their heads and covered their eyes.
“I’ve had enough of this! My first decree is going to be to stop that stupid salute!” She stopped in front of the door and spoke to the soldiers, “Well done, you’re spot on with your protocol, but you can drop it now. You know who I am. This is General Sally and Mark, Friend of the People and slayer of Tk'ng Dach Rm.”
“The General Sally?” the soldier on the left asked, “Leader of Sally’s Army?”
Sally smiled at him. “Yes soldier, Sally of the Aarnth, leader of the largest independent army in the galaxy. It is a pleasure to meet you. Tell me soldier, there may be some friction between the new First of the First and some members of the aristocracy, including some of the cabinet. Where would your loyalties lie between them?”
The soldier looked surprised at the question. “W
ith the First of the First of course Sir. Are you referring to the Freedom Movement Sir?”
“That may be a friction point.” Sally replied.”
Both soldiers smiled and said, quietly, “Rule by the many!”
“It’s an honor to meet you soldiers, but it’s time we made our entrance.” Mike said.
Chapter Seventy Seven
True Colors Revealed
Mark moved to open the door and realized that Mike would have to enter first, followed by Sally. He deployed the embedded weapon in his right arm, the fabric in the sleeve of his jumpsuit parted to allow the slim white barrel to slide through his skin and project beneath his wrist. Mike entered the room closely followed by Sally; Mark crowded her as he followed her in get in as quickly as possible. The sixteen members of the cabinet, who were sat around the table, stood as they entered. Mark noticed that the First Advisor, the only one he recognized, was conspicuously slow to stand. He also noticed that as he would be sitting on Mikes left, he would also be sitting next to the First Advisor. He had never liked being in a position where he was forced to make polite small talk with people he didn’t know, so the seating arrangement suited him fine as he didn’t feel obliged to make any effort to be polite to the First Advisor.
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