“Yes Captain, received and understood.”
“I’m not a Captain. Are you in one of your playful moods again?”
“Aye, Cap’n, That I am.”
“Oh good grief.” Mark sub-vocally sighed.
“Is everything OK?” Sally asked. “You look troubled.”
“It’s my AI. It’s in a playful mood again. Does yours get like that?”
“Not to the extent that yours seems to. You seem to have a lot of problems with your AI. Can’t you control it?”
“Apparently not. But it makes life a bit more interesting.”
“If it’s interesting you want…” his AI started to say.
“No!” Mark interrupted it. “Not interesting. Calm would be good. Look up the Chinese curse ‘May you live in interesting times.’ “
“Seltet and Simon are on their way, we’ll wait for them in a lander.” Sally said.
Simon was the first to join them. “Some rest and recuperation? Are we nearly finished here?” he asked Sally.
Mark said to his AI, “I know the context. Translation to R and R will be fine.”
“Aye aye Cap’n.”
“Are you OK Mark?” Simon asked. “You look troubled.”
“Just my AI.” Mark answered.
“Still having problems with it? There’s a very old saying in my race’s culture that goes ‘You get the AI personality you deserve.’ You must have done something bad at some time.”
“Probably. I suppose you’re going to spend all your time in the bar.”
“Not this time. Sally has told me about the swimming pool that Mike made. She said it’s not the disaster I expected, so I’m going to try it out.”
“You’ll like it,” Sally said, “even if you don’t swim, she made a good job of the beach.”
Seltet arrived while they were talking. “I’m going to the pool too. I’m not much of a swimmer, but it will make a change.”
“What’s this about swimming?” Touren asked as she and Bekkreshan entered the lander.
“While you and Kar Fen are guarding the Herassan prisoners on their way to the new army prison camp, we’re going to have some R and R. The pool seems a popular choice.” Sally said. “Fancy a swim Bekkreshan?”
“Too right I do! Mike made a really good job of it.”
“While you’re all having fun swimming,” Touren said, “don’t spoil the mood by worrying about me, stuck in a transporter full of desperate and deadly prisoners, trying to stay alive while we transport them to their prison death camp.”
“OK.” Mark said. “We won’t”
Bekkreshan put one of her huge arms round Touren’s shoulders. “There is a night mode. When you’ve finished we can have an evening on the beach. There’s a bar and a synthesizer there, so we can eat on the beach. Pity we can’t cook on the beach too.”
“Kate,” Mark asked his AI, “could we have a fire on the beach?”
“Sorry, Cap’n, no can do.”
“Still in playful mood?”
“Aye Cap’n.”
“Why can’t we have a fire? Health and safety rules?”
“No Cap’n. We’ve got no wood to burn.”
“So if we got some wood could we have a fire?”
“Of course Cap’n. I’ve got a surprise for you on the Swift.”
“Oh shit. How much am I going to dislike it?”
“You’ll love it Cap’n. Can’t wait to show you.”
“Are you OK Mark?” Bekkreshan asked. “You look troubled.”
“You would be surprised how often I get asked that.” Mark said. “It’s my AI as usual.”
“Is it malfunctioning?”
“Not according to Alan. Apparently all People’s AI’s are what Alan called, playful. It’s just told me it’s got a surprise for me on the Swift.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Bekkreshan asked. “My AI is boringly serious. Ha! It’s just told me a joke. Pity it wasn’t funny.”
Orange, Kar Fen and Ranesh all arrived together. Mark said, “While you’re transporting the prisoners, we’re all going to the pool. When you’ve finished, come and join us.”
“Great! How fast will these new landers of yours go?” Kar Fen asked.
“As fast as you like, but don’t cause any sonic booms. The Herassans are going to be jumpy after what they’ve just gone through.” Mark said. “What about you Orange?”
“My people don’t swim, we don’t float. I suppose I could sit on the edge. Maybe Mike can get around to building that volcano when we’ve finished here.”
“She wasn’t going to make a volcano Orange, just a mountain. Or a climbing wall. What about you Ranesh? Will you join us?”
“No.”
“Come on Ranesh, it will be fun!” Mark said.
“I don’t do fun.” she replied.
“Sally said you don’t do what you’re asked, so I’m ordering you to join us when you get back.”
“You’re not an officer, so fuck off.”
“But I am.” Sally said. “I’m ordering you to join us.”
“OK. But I can’t swim.”
“Don’t your people swim?” Sally asked.
“Some do. I lived too far from the sea.”
“In that case, I’ll teach you.” Mark said. “It seems fair, you’ve taught me a lot about fighting, so I’ll teach you how to swim.”
“OK.”
“Hey, Touren,” Kar Fen said. “I can look after a lander full of little Herassans. You go and swim with the others. I’ll join you as soon as I’m finished.”
“Thanks Kar Fen.” Sally said. You’re right, you can cope with them by yourself. Just don’t hurt any of them.” Turning to Ranesh, she said, “You can come straight to the pool with us, unless you wear some kind of covering when you swim. I think we will all be skinny dipping.”
“Did you ever see me naked when we shared quarters on Betzel Station?” Ranesh asked.
“No, I don’t think I did.”
“You’re not going to now.”
“Ranesh,” Mark said, “my AI said the Swift’s main AI has a comprehensive catalog of your race’s clothing from your archive. It can help you choose something suitable and that you like.”
“Right.” Ranesh said and took a seat the back of the lander.
“Come on Touren, we’ll go and sit with Ranesh.” Bekkreshan said.
Chapter Ninety Two
Mike The Rule Maker
Mike woke up with a start. She didn’t know where she was at first and a stab of fear shot through her as she momentarily thought she was still being held captive, but almost immediately recognized that she was alone in a lander and recalled her conversation with Alan. She stood up to stretch, yawned and got a tea from the synthesizer.
She sat hunched forwards with the flask of tea held in both hands. She knew what she must do now. Alan was right, it was simple, and smiled at her struggle to see her way forward. She sent a message to Sha to bring Fayr and the five Herassans she had trained with, set the lander door to only open to Sha and told it to reconfigure the seating.
She had finished her drink by the time Sha arrived with her entourage. Mike sat on one of the longer sides of an oval arrangements of seats.
“Sit down.” she ordered.
Sha looked at Mike and said, “Shouldn’t you be sitting at one of the ends of the oval, First of the First?”
“Just sit down Sha. All of you, sit down, now!”
They all quickly sat down in the nearest seat. Fayr was a bit slower than the others and looked round with a panicked expression, thinking there weren’t enough seats for her to have one. Mike pointed out the empty seat and Fayr scuttled across to it.
As soon as Fayr was seated, Mike said “You all know I am going to abolish the rule of the aristocrats, and that includes me, but until I do, I am the First of the First, so I make the rules. Do you all understand?”
She was met with a chorus of yes’s from everyone.
“The first rule I
am making right now, and at the moment it only applies to you,” she paused, looking at Fayr who had her head bowed, looking at the floor, “all of you, so that includes you too Fayr. The rule is that you will no longer address me as First of the First. In future you will address me as Almighty God, Ruler Of The Universe. Got it?” she looked around at their shocked faces. She grinned. “I’m kidding. In future you will call me Hess. Got it? I’m not kidding this time. I mean it. Just call me Hess. Like you would anyone else.” She thought she was babbling by now and wished she hadn’t made the joke. She looked round at their still shocked faces. Mike breathed out slowly. This bit was going to be harder than she thought. “Fayr,” Mike picked on the youngest and most nervous to make her point. “I call you Fayr, your familiar name, and you call me?”
“Uh, Hess?” she paused, before adding, “First of the First.”
“Well done Fayr. You got that half right. You probably just need a bit more practice. Sha. What do you call me now?”
“Hess?” Sha said nervously, looking up as though she expected some kind of divine punishment for such a blatant breach off royal protocol.
“Good. I’m glad you’ve got it. Now Fayr, you’ve seen how Sha did it, so have another go. I’ll give you a hint here, you just call me by my familiar name, nothing else. Now, what do you call me?”
“Hess?” she said querulously.
“You’ve got it! Good. If you could just say my name as though you were talking to a normal Herassan instead of some dipshit scary aristocrat you’ll have it perfect. Any questions?”
One of the others spoke up. “Does that apply to all us, uh, Hess?”
“Yes, just like I said at the beginning, it applies to all of you.” ‘I really must find out what the other’s names are.’ Mike thought, then, “No, blow it. I’m not planning to be around for long enough for it to matter.”
She looked around at them, smiling. They all still looked nervous.
“Did you have any more rules, or is that all, Hess?” Sha asked.
“No, I was just savoring the moment of my first success. You know that I want to introduce a truly representative democratic system of government. I want it to be modeled on the People’s decision making process. I know they are all a load of bastards that don’t give a flying fuck about anyone else, but their system is fair and has been adopted by thousands of other civilizations. We don’t have to do it in exactly the way they do it, but if it is within the parameters they specify, they will help us set up, write a draft constitution provide their instantaneous communications devices, which they’ll integrate with our communications infrastructure, and manage it for the voting system. Sean, who you’ve all met – except you Fayr, will be the People’s liaison and Alan will stay for a while to support him. I am going to abolish the cabinet and all aristocratic government positions by decree soon, as well as abolishing the position of First of the First. I can’t abolish the aristocracy, but I can and will remove them from all public office and prohibit them from taking office again. That will put an end to all their official influence and privileges. I will abdicate at the same time of course. From then onwards, I will be an ordinary citizen, like every other Herassan in the Empire – which will become known as the Herassan Democratic Republic. Any questions?”
One of them raised his hand. Mike thought he looked a bit dim, but Sha had chosen him, so he was her problem. She noticed he also had an unusually thick neck for a Herassan. “When will you announce this? Oh, and why are you doing it?”
“I’ll be announcing it soon. I just said that. I’m doing it because the system we have isn’t fair. And if it doesn’t change, I’ll have to stay here and be First of the First for ever or until I die of extreme boredom. Are any of you wondering why I’ve chosen to tell the six of you now?”
“Yes,” thick neck said, “I was about to ask that.”
“Good.” Mike said, thinking, ‘Maybe he’s not as dim as he looks. And he’s got the guts to speak up.’ “When the system is fully up and running, a group will be selected by the controlling AI at random to manage the requests for votes and the day to day running of the system. We’ll call them the managing committee for now, but I bet you can come up with something better. The managing committee will be guided at first by Sean and later by the controlling People’s AI. Until then, we will need someone, or rather, a group of people to educate the citizens about what is going to happen and how it will work. It’s going to be a massive culture shock to most of the citizens and there will be a lot of questions. How you deal that that will be up to you, under Sha’s management with guidance from Sean and Alan. Any question?”
“Just a minute, First of… I mean, Hess.” Sha said, “I was going to lead the army and the five I chose,” she gestured round the others, “were going to be my senior officers. When did this all change?”
“Just now.” Mike said. “I still need leadership for the Freedom Movement defense force and I’d like you to carry out that function too, but they were never going to be ‘the army’. We already have one of those. I have plans for a new head of the Combined Armed Forces. One of the advantages of working with the People on this is that they will only allow a change from democracy if there is a majority vote for it. If there is an attempted coup from say, an armed forces faction who want to take over against the will of the citizens, the People will intervene to stop it. Probably bringing in Sally’s Army or a similar organization if military support is needed. I’ll tell Mark to set up a People’s instantaneous communication link so that if you need me at any time, you’ll be able to contact me. I’ll keep in touch and visit occasionally anyway.”
“You’re leaving us?” Sha said, looking shocked.
“Yeah, of course. I’ve spent my life avoiding coming back because I wanted nothing to do with the aristocracy or the governing of the Empire and I still don’t. I feel some responsibility for the future of the Empire, or Democratic Republic, but I don’t feel part of it any more, if I ever did. You don’t need me here. You may be unwilling Sha, but I can tell you’ll be a good leader. A bit like someone else I know who was unwilling. I hope that’s all vague enough for you. I need some food and some sleep, so I’m taking a lander up to the Swift. Sean and Alan are expecting you to contact them. They are quite friendly, they don’t bite. You can use this lander to meet in today, but you’ll need to get yourself offices in the HQ building. I’ll let you know when I’m coming back tomorrow. Any questions can wait until then.”
Mike stood and strode out of the lander before anyone had a chance to ask her anything.
“What do we do now?” thick neck asked.
Sha leaned forwards with her elbows on the table and her hands over her eyes. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Ninety Three
Sun Of A Beach
“Do you think Ranesh will come and join us?” Mark asked Sally as they ran down the beach into the pool.
“Yes, she always follows orders. I think if I ordered her to step out of an airlock without a space suit she’d do it.”
As Mark swum out into the middle of the pool he heard a huge splash behind him. He spun round, thinking part of the ceiling must have caved in, just in time to see Simon starting to swim with the grace of a drowning donkey. Seeing what he was looking at, Sally called out, “Best to keep clear of him.”
A few minutes later, as Mark and Sally swum back towards the shore, Ranesh blinked onto the beach wearing what looked like a short sleeved wet suit with legs that ended just above the knees. She took a moment to look around then ran across the sand into the water. She may have been big, but she crossed the beach like lightning. She ran into the water until it was thigh high, then dived in and started swimming with powerful and efficient strokes. “She said she couldn’t swim!” Mark said indignantly. “She’s cutting through the water like a turbo-charged Sunseeker!”
“She likes to keep her talents hidden. Apparently she’s not typical of her race. They are mostly cheerful, friendly, peaceful and laid bac
k. Pretty much the opposite of Ranesh.”
“Wow. What happened to make her the way she is?”
“I don’t know, but it must have been really bad. That’s why I am so tolerant of her. That and the fact that she’s a bloody good soldier and they don’t come any more loyal than she is.”
“Why haven’t you had her in your team before?”
“Because she’s so miserable and a pain in the arse. If you recall, it was Simon’s idea to bring her along this time.”
“Well, I like her.” Mark said.
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