The Goodwill Ambassador (Steven Gordon Book 4)

by J W Murison

  ‘I am glad I’m not Human Charlie.’

  ‘I wish I was.’

  They both thought that was hilarious. ‘You know Charlie, at the bottom of that small estate the Emperor gave me, there is a small cottage. I can bequeath it to you. It’s yours for as long as you need it, or as long as my family holds the estate.’

  ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘You saved my life and you made me rich.’ The Chief laughed. ‘You’re my good luck charm.’

  The door banged open. ‘Giving away my property Chief? How decent of you.’

  The Chief shot to his feet. Charlie was a few second slower. The Chief’s eyes began to roll in his head in panic. The Emperor tossed an earpiece onto the table, and took out a small device. He pushed a button and there was a small puff of smoke on the ceiling.

  The Emperor pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘Join me please.’ Charlie was the first to sit. It took an extra look from the Emperor to make the Chief sit down. ‘That was a very interesting conversation.’ The Emperor took out a pad and slid it across to Charlie. Charlie took a look and shoved it across to the Chief. The Chief almost fainted. It was a full scan of Charlie’s body.

  ‘How long have you known?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘Quite some time. It was obvious from quite early on that you were much stronger than most Humans, and your abilities exceeded even the strongest of those. What we weren’t sure about was, were you really Human, or something built? This conversation has helped clear matters up nicely. I only have one question left. Why?’

  ‘To save my life.’

  ‘What happened, were you injured in battle?’

  ‘No.’

  The Emperor waited for him to say more, but it wasn’t forthcoming. ‘Well!’

  ‘Well what?’

  ‘Aren’t you going to tell me?’

  ‘It is something I only discuss with my closest friends, and even then, rarely.’

  A faint smile played around the corner of Charlie’s mouth. The Emperor burst out laughing, nodded in a very Human manner, then stuck out a hand.

  ‘Darrick.’

  Charlie took the outstretched hand, ‘Charlie.’

  The Chief couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. The Emperor’s eyes swivelled towards him. ‘Don’t even think about it.’

  Charlie burst out laughing. ‘So, what is it you want to know Darrick?’

  ‘How did you end up in this condition?’

  ‘There isn’t much to tell really. When I was a young soldier, I saw something I shouldn’t have: two thugs from the intelligence community committing a crime against Humanity to keep a war going. They were both officers. I was ordered to walk away and forget what I had seen.’

  ‘Why didn’t they simply kill you?’

  ‘They were armed with iron bars, I had a rifle and the drop on them.’

  ‘Did you do as ordered?’

  ‘I walked away, but I reported the incident. They had an accomplice of a much higher rank. He was able to bury the reports. What they did cost the lives of many good men. I never saw them again until after the Albany invasion. I captured a high-ranking officer. The one that we made Human.’

  ‘I know of him.’

  ‘I was ordered to take him straight to the interrogation wing. When I arrived there, guess who was waiting for him.’

  ‘The two intelligence men.’

  ‘Correct.’

  ‘You refused to hand the prisoner over?’

  ‘I realised the significance of the prisoner, and knew exactly what would happen to him if I did. So yes I refused to hand him over.’

  ‘They came after you.’

  ‘They did. They used their rank and influence to get their hands on me. Then they tortured me, not in the nice way you do, with a nice little helmet. They began with my fingers and toes. Once they had crushed them and removed them they moved on to my hands and feet. When they were gone, they moved up my body. By the time they were finished, there wasn’t a bone left in my body that was unbroken. I only had one eye. My friends and Steven were able to rescue me at my execution, but there was very little left of me. The only thing keeping me alive was the stimulants that they injected me with to heighten the pain. I was dying very slowly and in agony. Steven asked his ship for help, we were childhood friends you see. This is how it turned out.’

  ‘There is only one of you?’

  Charlie laughed. ‘There is only one of me.’ He caught the look in the Emperor’s eyes. ‘What’s the matter, thinking of ways to kill me now?’

  ‘The thought has crossed my mind many times in the past. I was just trying to understand what it was you went through. I didn’t realise Humans could be so cruel. Is that why you handed those intelligence men over to me so quickly?’

  ‘I was just following your orders.’

  ‘If those orders weren’t in place?’

  ‘I would have killed them.’

  ‘You hate them.’

  ‘With a passion you would not believe.’

  The Emperor turned to his Chief. ‘You kept this all from me; you knew.’

  ‘Charlie is my friend. I knew he would do you no harm sire. He asked me to keep it private. After saving my life, it was the least I could do.’

  ‘Loyalty and friendship. Interesting concepts.’

  ‘They are easy for common men like us Darrick.’

  The Emperor smiled. ‘But not for people like me Charlie, is that what you are saying?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘You are not wrong. I have friends of course, they are all of noble birth like I am, Emperors and the like. Still, they would take everything I had if they saw the opportunity. I have never really envied commoners like you until now. I thought the Chief was my most loyal subject, yet he kept something from me for friendship. Astonishing. Don’t worry Charlie, I won’t take it out on him. I remember my grandfather looking down on a crowd of commoners once. He said, “These people below you are the lowest of the low, the most common of our subjects, but they are also by the far the most interesting. They can and will do things that will astound you.” I thought he was becoming demented. Now I have finally discovered the truth of those words.’

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee Darrick?’

  ‘Tea if you have it. Is it Human tea?’

  ‘Tetley, the Chief’s favourite.’

  ‘You keep him stocked?’

  ‘I do. It’s tea the commoners drink at home.’

  ‘Of course it is. I don’t mind giving it a try.’

  Charlie made tea and coffee and the Emperor took a sip. ‘It isn’t too bad actually. It isn’t exactly what a refined palate desires, but I suppose it is okay if one is roughing it.’

  Charlie and the Chief both laughed. ‘I prefer coffee myself.’ Charlie admitted.

  ‘I do struggle a little with coffee. Emperor Ne´ Langus loves the stuff. You met him once.’

  ‘Oh aye, I remember.’

  ‘Your lady Captain friend did apologise to him.’

  ‘I’m glad she did.’

  ‘She took him shooting. She wears some sort of cannon on her waist. She let him shoot it. He was very impressed. Not only by the cannon but by her accuracy with it.’ Charlie smiled and he noticed. ‘It would seem the cannon was a present from you. I thought you weren’t that close.’

  ‘She saved my life.’

  ‘How?’

  Charlie laughed. ‘She found me floating in space.’

  ‘After a battle?’

  ‘Not quite. We stopped that last asteroid hitting Earth.’

  ‘I remember, your Captain planted a bomb on it or something.’

  ‘It didn’t quite happen like that. I was lowered onto the rock.’

  ‘Impossible! It was travelling at faster than light speed. The moment you went out of your ship’s shield, what little organs you have left would have exploded, literally.’

  ‘I can create my own field, with a little adjustment to my body.’ Charlie scratched his chin.
‘Maybe a little is understating it.’ He pulled out his tablet, found the picture and shoved it across.

  The Emperor’s mouth dropped open. ‘This is you, is this a suit?’

  ‘No, I am actually quite naked in that picture.’

  ‘Unbelievable.’

  ‘To cut a long story short, the mission all went horribly wrong. I was lowered down to set the explosives. When they tried to raise me back into the ship, the line broke.’

  The Emperor laughed. ‘Of course it did. You would have had to join your forcefield with that of the ship’s before you could be pulled back up.’

  ‘Don’t try and explain the forces behind it sire, it is beyond him. I have tried.’

  Charlie threw the Chief a dirty look. ‘Aye, well we didn’t know that. I had them toss me down a rocket pack and I leapt off the rock. The explosion from the rock knocked me out of light speed. It was weeks before I was found, and I was on the edge of death.’

  ‘You were lucky to be found at all.’ The Emperor speculated.

  ‘I know that. The Captain took special care of me until I was picked up. As a thank you, I bought her the gun.’

  ‘Which I hear she wears with pride. I suppose she has little chance of winning your heart, with her life expectancy being even less than that of your own crew mate.’

  ‘You nailed that one Darrick.’

  ‘How long does the ship think you will live for?’

  ‘It depends on my mental functions really. I could last anywhere from six hundred to a thousand earth years.’

  ‘When you put it like that, it seems more like a curse than a gift. The good part of living is finding a companion you can share your life with, grow old with, have children and grandchildren.’

  ‘Aye.’ Charlie mused. ‘You don’t really expect to outlive all of them by hundreds of years either.’

  ‘Yes, and never grow old either. I can see how that would disturb the female of any species. They might like the idea of having a companion that would never grow old to begin with, but as they age, and their skin begins to sag and wrinkle, I imagine it would become very stressful.’

  ‘Would it?’ The Chief asked.

  He found himself being lampooned by two sets of eyes.

  ‘Fool.’ The Emperor snorted.

  ‘Idiot.’ Charlie reinforced. ‘You need to give him permission to marry Darrick. I hate working with a virgin.’

  ‘I am not a virgin.’ The Chief retorted.

  Darrick smirked. ‘The Chief here is a frequent visitor to the merry widow bars during mating season. He is terribly naive about females though. Tell me Chief, are you happy with that cheap doxy from the music company? I have a recently widowed lady of fine breeding looking for a companion and father to her two children.’

  ‘Very happy.’ He squeaked.

  ‘You would be doing me a great favour. Right now, she is crawling around the halls of the palace bawling, begging me for a patron. Yes, I could make her your ward, that way you could have your little doxy. The doxy wouldn’t last very long I’m afraid. Not once a high-born woman got her hands on her. She could spend some of that money of yours too.’

  ‘I couldn’t sire, not with a high-born.’

  ‘She may have been high-born, but her husband took her low. Her daughters are not far off mating age either. Maybe you will have a grand time of it.’ The Emperor made a strange noise and Charlie realised he was chuckling.

  ‘Don’t do this to me sir, please.’

  ‘Why not? That shit hole of a planet you call home is just the right place for her to be exiled to. You are rich but of low status, as befitting a punishment. I am sure if I tortured her, she would confess to have known of some of her husband’s plans. The problem of course is the daughters. Despite their father’s disgrace, they are still of royal blood. Right now I don’t really want to execute her, then I would have to look after them. It would get her out from under my ruff, and with four females in your home, give you the kind of life experience you really deserve.’ He turned to Charlie. ‘What do you think Charlie?’

  ‘It would certainly burn some of that wide-eyed innocence off him.’

  ‘Charlie!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Do you know who the Emperor is talking about?’

  ‘How the hell would I?’

  ‘You know…’ It was the strange look he was giving Charlie that made him take a quick peek inside his friend’s head.’

  ‘Oh shit!’ Charlie turned to the Emperor. ‘Your cousin’s family?’

  ‘Wasn’t it obvious!’

  ‘No, not really. I still owe you an apology for that.’

  The Emperor waved a hand. ‘No you don’t Charlie. In fact, I should be thanking you.’

  ‘I don’t think so. I heard you were close friends once.’

  ‘That was a long time ago. It would seem my cousin had taken a liking to power, and had hatched a plan with the Albany to steal it from me. The theft of your fellow Humans was just the beginning of the plot. If it wasn’t for you, we would never have discovered it until too late. They wanted to lure me out, which they succeeded in doing. If we hadn’t received the transmission from your Captain when we did, then I would have entered Catatarac space. When the combined fleets attacked us, he would have taken over here. The plan was to kill me. When we arrested him, it all began to unravel. I have no doubt his friends would still have tried to kill me. The officers and men behind him have also been arrested and executed. Not quite so dramatically as their leader, but they are just as dead.’ He looked up at the Chief. ‘Your favourite bars will have lots of new custom this year.’

  The Chief shot to his feet. ‘More tea sire?’

  ‘Why not.’ He turned his attention back to Charlie. ‘It is customary for an Emperor to reward his loyal subjects for services rendered.’

  ‘I’m not one of your subjects, so don’t bother Darrick. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but there is nothing really I want or need.’

  ‘I could ratify the Chief’s bequest. For as long as you live, you would have a home here in the Modloch Empire.’

  Charlie shook his head. ‘I don’t know, it seems a bit much.’

  Both Modloch laughed. ‘It is nothing Charlie.’ The Chief reassured.

  ‘It is easy to tell you are not of noble birth Chief.’ Darrick laughed. ‘Any noble, facing having even a small piece of their property taken away, would be squealing like a young maiden in heat for the first time.’

  The Chief laughed. ‘I am glad I am not a noble. He will need a little land to go with that cottage sire, so he can grow food he can eat, maybe even keep a few domestic animals.’

  Darrick turned his attention back to Charlie. ‘Do you still need to consume food?’

  ‘Aye, of course, just nowhere near as much as I used to.’

  The Emperor could see Charlie was still indecisive. ‘Tell me Charlie, how do you think your fellow Humans will view you in a hundred years’ time? How do you think they will feel about you?’

  ‘With great suspicion. Canna see them wanting to pay me my army pension for the next thousand years either.’

  Both Modloch thought that was hilarious.

  ‘You see?’ Darrick drove his point home. ‘Your people are very primitive Charlie. How long until they drive you off your own planet? There are many other races out there that will treat you the same. I am offering you complete security. No one, not even my great grandchildren, will turn on you. I will make sure of that.’

  ‘I suppose I’m not really in a position to refuse, am I?’

  ‘You are, but then I would consider you as big an idiot as my Chief Engineer here.’

  They both began to laugh, then eventually the Chief joined in.

  Chapter 42

  The stares from the federation council bored down upon the small delegation of Dent gathered before them.

  ‘This is a highly unusual request Ambassador Boe. You wish for your species to be removed from the extinction list? I don’t think it is a reque
st that I have ever came across before, or one that is even recorded in the history of the federation. Is a federation protected zone around the planet you now call home not enough?’

  ‘We wish once more to be recognised as federation citizens.’

  ‘Don’t you mean galactic citizens? The federation wasn’t in existence two thousand years ago.’

  ‘It was in its infancy sir, and the Dent were a part of that.’

  ‘Is that true?’ He asked the general company.

  ‘In some ways.’ One of his companions stated. ‘What was to later become the federation had its roots in those times, and the Dent were a part of that. However, one could argue the point that what became the federation has no resemblance to its humble beginnings.’

  ‘Why not?’ Asked another council member. ‘Don’t your race get a lot of prestige from being a part of that same group? I am sure I have heard you boast about it on many occasions.’

  There was a rumble of discontent, and the chairman stepped in. ‘I just want to look at the facts, not start another argument. Both points are valid.’ He turned his attention back to the Dent. ‘I suppose in some ways we should simply validate your claim and give you full membership of the federation. After all, none of the other races from that time had to make a bid, they were all accepted as full members of the federation without question as the founding fathers.’

  Ambassador Boe smiled. ‘Thank you sir.’

  ‘There are problems however. To begin with, your race was wiped out. Your race also began a war that lasted almost two thousand years and cost hundreds of thousands of lives; millions in fact. You tried to take a planet by force. A planet of peaceful meat-eaters. A race that hadn’t shown any interest in space travel even. We shall not hold you to account for that, because many of our races have done exactly the same thing. The fact is, your people didn’t even observe the race you tried to wipe out beforehand. As a result of that, every race in the federation has suffered. Yet, we cannot expect a race that was supposedly wiped out, in the same manner as they tried to wipe out the Ortea, accountable. So, what do we do?