by TS Hottle
“And what becomes of me?” he asked.
“That’s up to your government,” said Jovann. She stood up and looked down at Best with arms folded. “I do know your First Minister is rather upset with you for leaving The Caliphate without the Grand Dimaj. Apparently, the Marilynists have been rioting since you disappeared.”
Episode 5: The Reckoning
17
“Well, well, well,” said Lattus Brac as he stepped out of the boarding tube. They were on Ramcat, or rather Araneeya, Ramcat’s giant orbital city. “If it isn’t my new concubine.” The pudgy Gelt sniffed the air. “And you’re pregnant. Lovely. I always wanted a son.”
“So Kai really is dead?” asked Tishla.
“Afraid so. Laral challenged him over the new world, Cyal.” He shook his head. “Kai had a brilliant mind. His sword work… He had a brilliant mind.” Brac strode over to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Guess that makes you my property. At least until your indenture contract… What?” he said, noticing the look on Tishla’s face.
“The nanites are still in my blood,” she said. “Go on. Activate them. Put that virtual slave collar on me.”
“Well, if you insist.” Brac held up his forearm, turned his palm in toward himself and fingered a small bump on his wrist. The nano-tattoo embedded in his palm gave him a message. “Deed nullified. Target person is Free due to transfer of deed to a citizen of a nullifying authority.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The Compact, Brac. They have banned slavery, even our benign version of it.” She patted him on the cheek. “And as the mother of Kai’s child, I am Kai’s heir. Which makes you subordinate to me.” She pinched the cheek she had just patted. “But don’t worry, my new little brother. Daintier things than me have felled mightier trees than Laral Jorl. Tell me, do we still have possession of Hanar?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Well, that makes me their queen. Are there any Tianese left alive?”
“Some. Why do you care? We’ll have them wiped out by the end of the turn.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I want them alive. And I want them allied with us. And I want the best swordsman in the Realm you can find.”
Brac stepped back and looked at Tishla, already bewildered to find himself subject to the whims of a former concubine. “But why?”
Tishla withdrew Kai’s dagger from the coat Athena had given her. “Because, my new little brother, I am going to open Laral Jorl’s throat and cut out his testicles. Then I’m going to cut his heart from his chest and eat it while it’s still beating.”
*****
“They fired you?”
Best’s assistant Alyssa, a dark-skinned woman from one of the more traditionalist districts of Jefivah, stood in the doorway, her hand up to her mouth.
“I resigned,” said Best as he packed up his desk. “I cited personal matters and gave up my seat in the House.” He smiled. “At least I get to keep my pension and don’t have to move until my seat comes up for election again.”
“But why?”
Best let out his breath in one big huff, his shoulders sagging as he did so. “The First Minister wanted to sack me, but it wouldn’t do to have a disgruntled ex-minister in the House where he can make trouble for her government. Besides, you’ve seen the talking heads on the local news feeds. They call me the ‘senior delegate for the Marilynists’ now.”
“That’s not fair, Doug. You’ve worked hard for this government.”
“And for what? We’re still the laughingstock of the Compact.”
“We have three colonies now, thanks to you.”
“Only one of which lost a cache of weapons we were supposed to turn over to the Compact. We’re lucky they didn’t shut Marilyn down.” He managed a weak grin. “The First Minister did offer me governorship of Marilyn after the next election.”
Alyssa’s eyes lit up. “Will you take it?”
“Have you been to Marilyn?”
She hadn’t, but Best had complained about its desert climate enough that she understood. “Point taken.”
“I have an interview with Ron Paul University in a week,” said Best. “A teaching position. Interstellar politics.”
Alyssa feigned a shiver. “That’s on Belsham, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Libertarian world. I’d be afraid to eat any meat there.”
“You’re a vegetarian.”
“It’s always nice to have the option.” Her left hand twitched. She looked at her palm, her eyes widening as they scanned the message. “Well, you may not get the government dispatches anymore, but I do.”
“What is it?”
“They found the Etrusca Explorer.”
*****
A large Wilson-class cruiser, the Dag Hammerskjold, towed the much smaller Etrusca Explorer through its own projected wormhole. The bulk of two ships would never have made it through a hypergate, especially any of Jefivah’s outmoded ones. Best watched from the orbital port center as the Hammerskjold, glittering with lights from within and bristling with weapons, pulled the darkened freighter behind it, a large gash in its hull.
“We found it orbiting a planet on the Yedevan fringe,” said Commander Liu, back and still clad in his black suit. He sounded just as warm and personable as he had the first time Best met him. “We still don’t understand. They were supposed to head straight to Tian, then the yards above Zeus once the Navy cleared them.”
“What do we know about the Yedevans?” asked Best.
“Nothing,” said Liu, “except they don’t tolerate trespassers. And we only know that from the Laputans.”
Another officer, this one in the dress uniform of a Navy captain, stood to Best’s left, watching the two ships approach. Outside, two small tugs pushed up against the Etrusca Explorer. The Hammerskjold released the Explorer from its tow beam and shifted away from the port center, moving out of sight. Even with the tugs pushing it into position to dock, the freighter appeared dead.
“What happened to the crew?” asked Best. “Never mind the cargo. Where’s the crew?”
The captain, an odd whimsical look on his face, made a slurping sound.
Best started to reply when the glare on Major Liu’s face stopped him.
“Really, Captain, is that necessary?”
The captain shrugged. “Do we actually know anything about the Yedevans? The only time the Laputans talked about them was during the war, and then only the prisoners would talk about them. Now, they pretend the Yedevans don’t exist. We don’t even know if they’re primates.”
“Most of the intelligent alien species we interact with are primates,” said Best. “Even the reptiles look like us. Sort of.”
“True, but no one’s seen a Yedevan, have they?” The captain pointed to the crippled freighter outside. “When we or the Zaras or the Laputans come across a primate intelligence, we all basically see strange-looking people who talk funny.”
“Except the Grays,” said Liu. It was the closest Best had ever seen him come to cracking a smile.
“The Grays are freaks by anyone’s standards,” said the captain. “But if the Yedevans aren’t primates, they might not see the crew as people.”
“What would they be then?” asked Best.
“Protein,” said the captain. “Delicious, exotic protein.”
Best thought he would be sick.
Liu did allow himself the trace of a smile as he turned to Best. “At least you get a degree of vindication, Mr. Best.”
Best wanted to clock the intelligence agent but thought better of it. “Commander, I am out of a job. I’ll soon be out of a home. And twenty years of public service, when I could have left this world a decade ago for something more fulfilling, has been flushed down the toilet. How in the hell is that supposed to make me feel vindicated?”
“Well, you can always cash in on your new status as a Marilynist prophet.”
Best threw a lazy punch that c
onnected with Liu’s jaw and sent him sprawling. The captain went over and knelt beside Liu, who lay stunned on the deck.
“Must have just waxed the floor,” said the captain with a wink. “Come on. Let’s go check out the ship.”
“What about him?”
“They have aspirin and ice on Jefivah, don’t they?”
*****
Alyssa’s fears proved to be unfounded. Best could definitely eat the food on Belsham. He wondered how much weight he would gain from all the luncheons and banquets he’d been invited to in his week on the planet. Even Belsham’s government came calling, though he couldn’t serve as an elected official (and frankly, hoped he never would again.) Belsham had two colonies of its own, but found Jefivah’s program of taking old military outposts off the Compact’s hands intriguing.
“But,” the president’s chief of staff cautioned, “we’d make those asses in the Compact military pick up their own damn weapons.” She was the perfect combination of charm and fury, Best mused, to be the right hand of a strong executive. “So what do you say? Our cabinet departments work out of much nicer digs.”
“Doesn’t that go against your small government philosophy?” asked Best, whom, after a lifetime on Jefivah, still couldn’t say just what his native world’s unifying political philosophy was.
The chief gave him a thousand-watt smile. “A small government means we can take better care of it. That’s why Belsham is thriving and Walton is an abandoned colony.” Walton had originally been Belsham’s mother planet, but like all radically political worlds, it fell into chaos that made Jefivah look like a utopia.
“Besides,” the chief added, “I can promise you won’t see a single statue memorializing a World War Era actress. Except maybe at a theater.”
“You make a tempting offer,” said Best with a laugh. “I’ll have to consider it. But keep in mind, I’ve already accepted the teaching position at Paul U.”
“Good,” said the chief. “Those egg heads could use an outsider like you to shake things up.”
Best left the Executive Residence in good spirits. The capital, Friedman, had a decent climate, clean streets, and cheap but comfortable homes available. The teaching gig, which Best originally thought of as being put out to pasture, started to sound exciting. Initially, he would talk about his experiences of working in a highly factionalized government with limited resources and marginal influence in the Compact. The humanities department also suggested he teach Earth history. The offer from the president coupled with his academic duties would more than wash the bad taste of Jefivah out of his mouth. Once he settled here, he hoped he‘d never have cause to go back to that cesspool again.
All that ceased to matter when he spotted Luxhomme, aka Marq Katergarus, aka Marcus Leitman, strolling out of a deli not three blocks from grounds of the Executive Residence.
*****
Luxhomme opened his eyes only to see Best and several police officers in riot gear surrounding his bed. The girl lying next to him also woke up and screamed when she saw the weapons all trained on the bed.
“Hello, Luxxy,” said Best. “Or Marq. Or Marcus. Whoever you are. Do you know how much trouble you are in?”
The girl screamed again, and one of the officers grabbed a robe off the chair. Tossing it to her, he said, “Here. Put this on and go wait in the living room.”
“And don’t try to run away,” said another officer, a female. “We know where you live.”
Best crouched down beside Luxhomme’s bed as the girl scrambled out of it. “It took a couple of hyperpackets to Jefivah, but I’ve been delegated an agent of the First Minister since, technically, my Citizenship still resides there. So, on behalf of the government of Jefivah, Mr. Luxhomme, alias Marq Katergarus, alias Marcus Leitman, I’m placing you under arrest for mishandling Compact property and interfering with the lawful functioning of a constituent authority.”
Luxhomme pulled his sheet up around him. “You can’t do that. I have rights. Where’s your warrant?”
The female officer lowered her weapon, took a small device off her belt and turned to point it at the wall behind her. Luxhomme’s warrant appeared, duly signed by judges on Jefivah and Belsham with a writ of extradition attached. “I know the Belsham judge,” she said. “I can tell you exactly what he’ll say at your extradition hearing.”
“‘Where is your counsel?’” Luxhomme tried with a greasy laugh.
The warrant disappeared, and the officer turned back to face Luxhomme. “No. He’ll say, ‘Not our problem’ before having you put on the next liner to Jefivah.”
Best mimicked Luxhomme’s strange little smile. “Oh, and the Marilynists are suing you and JunoCorp. I’ve been authorized to serve you notice.”
******
“I know you’re angry, Best. And I understand.”
Best faced Luxhomme with cold, flat eyes. He could just shove the man out of the nearest airlock and call it an escape attempt gone wrong. Either his conscience or the video surveillance on board the liner kept him from doing it. He wasn’t sure which. “You ruined my career, started a wave of rioting on Jefivah, almost got all three of our colonies shut down, and the crew of the Etrusca Explorer killed.”
“Oh, how do you know they died? They could have run off with the Yedevans. It happens.”
“The investigator from the Navy thinks they were eaten.”
Luxhomme’s eyebrows arched. “Well, that’s a new one on me. I’ve heard of them eating Grays, but everyone mistreats the Grays. The little buggers…”
“I don’t care about the Grays. I care about how you’re going to fix the mess you made.”
“I made?”
Surveillance or no, Best bunched Luxhomme’s shirt into his fists and shoved him against the bulkhead. “You chartered a civilian vessel to take those weapons to Tian so they could hand them off to the Navy. And you have been damned hard to find since I left Marilyn. Even your own company seems to have no clue where you are. How do you keep your job?”
Luxhomme smiled. “I bring them money, which seems to be a rare talent within our organization.”
“Walter Pope did not seem to be hurting for currency and resources.”
“Pope is living off a bet Juno’s parent company is making.”
“Which is?”
“I’m not permitted to discuss that.” The strange little smile returned. “Unless you have a court order.”
Best released him. “Doesn’t matter. When we get to Jefivah, you’ll most likely end up in prison. And once you are convicted, I understand that the Metisians are going to try you. Apparently, they think your shenanigans cost them one of their colonies.” He started to walk away, then stopped and turned. “Say, Luxhomme. Why did that alien woman beat the hell out of you? Did you get her pregnant?”
As Luxhomme smoothed out his shirt, he said, “Douglas, every middle school student knows that humans and aliens cannot cross-breed without a little genetic trickery.”
“Well, Homeworld Security mentioned she was technically your slave until the moment you two stepped on Metisian soil.”
“I may have neglected to mention holding her title of indenture until the last minute.”
Best tilted his head back slightly as he regarded Luxhomme. “I see. Well, enjoy your time in Hell, Mr. Luxhomme. I’ve got to go sedate myself for the jump.”
He reached the doorway to Luxhomme’s locked quarters when Luxhomme called out. “I’ll tell them everything.”
Best stopped and turned, standing in the doorway. “I’m listening.”
“I’ll testify as to what I did and why.”
“At your trial?”
“No.” The smile had disappeared. Luxhomme’s eyes were wide now, his posture more slack. “I’ll go to Earth.”
Best thought he had kept himself impassive, but the hint of that smile on Luxhomme’s face told him otherwise.
“Yes,” said Luxhomme. “I’m willing to stand before the Compact Security Council in Hong Kong.”
> Best turned and left without saying another word. How could he? Luxhomme had left him speechless.
18
Quantonesia sat in the middle of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor, like a fragment of the city had broken off and floated out to sea. A jumbled mass of skyscrapers covered the artificial island from end to end, leaving Best to wonder how one actually got onto it.
He had come to Earth separately from Luxhomme, who left Jefivah in Compact Security’s custody. It let him ride out the hypergate transit completely sedated with an entire day to recover in his hotel room. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong he found made him depressed.
Best had learned as a schoolboy that Earth was an overpopulated, smoggy shell of its former self, barely able to feed its population and racked with plagues on a regular basis. Instead, he found a city that, while more crowded than any place Best had ever seen, had clean streets and residents who roamed freely without the aid of facemasks or breathers. Though hardly a paradise, it shattered Best’s illusions that Jefivah might be better off than Earth. He always said that Jefivah lagged behind Earth, but never truly believed it. Now, here was a shining city in a pristine harbor, standing in complete opposition to every justification Best had for staying so long on his native world.
He took the ferry out to Quantonesia, nearly awestruck as he stepped from the boat. The mass of glittering towers could never exist on Jefivah. The capital had barely managed to raise more than a dozen thirty-story buildings. Best quickly lost count of how many towers existed within this five-square-kilometer patch in the middle of Victoria Harbor.
The Compact Security Council operated out of the fiftieth through fifty-fifth floors of the Compact Tower, home to the General Assembly, General Secretary, and the Supreme Court of the Compact. There had been some question as to why the Compact would put its legislature, executive center, and highest court in a single building. Aside from the obvious continuity of government facilities, a general from the Marines had answered the question by pointing out that Earth had not faced any real threats since the war with Mars. And the Compact existed precisely to prevent human worlds from going to war with each other.
