Uller Uprising

by H. Beam Piper

  XI.

  Of Princedoms Which Have Been Won by Conquest

  Holstering his pistol, he raced for the telecast station, to receive acall from a Colonel Khalid ib'n Talal, a Zanzibar Arab, aboard theapproaching ship.

  "I've one of Jonkvank's regiments, the Jeel-Feeders, armed with Terran9-mm rifles and a few bazookas; I have a company of our Zirks, withtheir mounts, and a battalion of the Sixth N.U.N.I.; I also have four90-mm guns, Terran-manned," he reported. "What's the situation,general, and where do you want me to land?"

  Von Schlichten described the situation succinctly, in an ancient andunprintable military cliche. "Try landing south of the Reservation, alittle west of the ruins of the labor-camp," he advised. "The bulk ofFirkked's army is in that section, and I want them run out as soon aspossible. We'll give you all the contragravity and fire support wecan."

  The _Northern Star_ let down slowly, firing her guns and droppingbombs; as she descended, rifle-fire spurted from all her lower-deckportholes. There was cheering, human and Ulleran, from inside thebattered defense-perimeter; combat-cars, airjeeps, and improvisedbombers lifted out to strafe the Skilkans on the ground, and the fourairtanks moved out to take position and open fire with their 90-mm's,helping to flush King Firkked's regulars and auxiliaries out of thegullies and ruins and drive them south along the mountain, away fromwhere the ship would land and also away from the city of Skilk. The_Northern Star_ set down quickly, and troops and artillery began to beunloaded, joining in the fighting.

  It was five hundred miles to Krink; three hours after lifting out, the_Northern Star_ was back again, with two more of King Jonkvank'sinfantry regiments, and by 1300, when the fourth load arrived fromKrink, the fighting was entirely on the eastern bank of the dry HoorkRiver. This last contingent of reenforcements was landed in theeastern suburbs of Skilk and began fighting their way into the cityfrom the rear.

  It was evident, however, that the pacification of Skilk would not beaccomplished as rapidly as von Schlichten wished--street fighting,against a determined enemy, is notoriously slow work--and he decidedto risk the _Northern Star_ in an attack against the Palace itself,and, over the objections of Paula Quinton, Jules Keaveney, and BarneyMordkovitz, to lead the attack in person.

  Inside the city, he found that the Zirk cavalry from Krink had thrustup one of the broader streets to within a thousand yards of thePalace, and, supported by infantry, contragravity, and a couple ofairtanks, were pounding and hacking at a mass of Skilkans whoseuniform lack of costume prevented distinguishing between soldiery andtownsfolk. Very few of these, he observed, seemed to be usingfirearms; with his glasses, he could see them shooting with longnorthern air-rifles and a few Takkad Sea crossbows. Either weaponwould shoot clear through a Terran or half-way through an Ulleran atfifty yards, but at over two hundred they were almost harmless. Therewere a few fires still burning from the bombardment of the nightbefore--Ulleran, and particularly North Ulleran, cities did not burnwell--and the blaze which had consumed the bulk of Firkked's stock ofthermoconcentrate fuel had long ago burned out, leaving an area of sixor eight blocks blackened and lifeless.

  The ship let down, while the six combat-cars which had accompanied herbuzzed the Palace roof, strafing it to keep it clear, and the Kragansaboard fired with their rifles. She came to rest on seven-eighthsweight reduction, and even before the gangplanks were run out, theKragans were dropping to the flat roof, running to stairheadpenthouses and tossing grenades into them.

  The taking of the Palace was a gruesome business. Knowing exactly howmuch mercy they would have shown had they been storming the Residency,Firkked's soldiers and courtiers fought desperately and had to beexterminated, floor by floor, room by room, hallway by hallway. Therewas some attempt at escape from the ground floor as von Schlichten andhis Kragans fought their way down from above, but the _Northern Star_and her escort of combat-cars and airjeeps bombed and machine-gunnedand rocketed the fugitives from above, and the loyal Zirk cavalry,bursting through the mob, came up shooting and lancing. By this time,an aircar fitted with a sound-amplifier was circling overhead, while aloyal native-officer of the Sixth N.U.N.I. shouted offers of quarterand orders to the troops to spare any who surrendered.

  Driving down from above, von Schlichten and his Kragans slithered overfloors increasingly greasy with yellow Ulleran blood. He had picked upa broadsword at the foot of the first stairway down; a little later,he tossed it aside in favor of another, better balanced and with abetter guard. There was a furious battle at the doorways of the throneroom; finally, climbing over the bodies of their own dead and theenemy's, they were inside.

  Here there was no question of quarter whatever, at least as long asFirkked lived; North Ulleran nobles did not surrender under the eyesof their king, and North Ulleran kings did not surrender their thronesalive. There was also a tradition, of which von Schlichten wasmindful, that a king must only be killed by his conqueror, in personalcombat, with steel.

  With a wedge of Kragan bayonets around him and the picked-upbroadsword in his hand, he fought his way to the throne, where Firkkedwaited, a sword in one of his upper hands, his Spear of State in theother, and a dagger in each lower hand. With his left hand, vonSchlichten detached the bayonet from the rifle of one of his followersand went forward, trying not to think of the absurdity of a man of theSixth Century A.E., the representative of a civilized CharteredCompany, dueling to the death with swords with a barbarian king for athrone he had promised to another barbarian, or of what could happenon Uller if he allowed this four-armed monstrosity to kill him.

  It was not as bad as it looked, however. The ornate Spear of State, inspite of its long, cruel-looking blade, was not an especially goodcombat-weapon, at least for one hand, and Firkked seemed confused bythe very abundance of his armament. After a few slashes and jabs, vonSchlichten knocked the unwieldy thing from his opponent's hand. Thisraised a fearful ululation from the Skilkan nobility, who had stoppedfighting to watch the duel; evidently it was the very worst sort of abad omen. Firkked, seemingly relieved to be disencumbered of thething, caught his sword in both hands and aimed a roundhouse swing atvon Schlichten's head; von Schlichten dodged, crippled one ofFirkked's lower hands with a quick slash, and lunged at the royalbelly. Firkked used his remaining dagger to parry, backed a stepcloser to his throne, and took another swing with his sword, which vonSchlichten parried on the bayonet in his left hand. Then, backing, heslashed at the inside of Firkked's leg with the thousand-year-old_coup-de-Jarnac_. Firkked, unable to support the weight of hisdense-tissued body on one leg, stumbled; von Schlichten ran him neatlythrough the breast with his sword and through the throat with thebayonet.

  There was silence in the throne room for an instant, and then, with ahorrible collective shriek, the Skilkans threw down their weapons. Oneof von Schlichten's Kragans slung his rifle and picked up the Spear ofState with all four hands, taking his post ceremoniously behind thevictor. A couple of others dragged the body of Firkked to the edge ofthe dais, and one of them drew his leaf-shaped short-sword andbeheaded it.

  * * * * *

  At mid-afternoon, von Schlichten was on the roof of the Palace,holding the Spear of State, with Firkked's head impaled on the point,while a Terran technician aimed an audio-visual recorder.

  "This," he said, with the geek-speaker in his mouth, "is KingFirkked's Spear of State, and here, upon it, is King Firkked's head.Two days ago, Firkked was at peace with the Company, and Firkked wasKing in Skilk. If he had not dared raise his feeble hand against themight of the Uller Company, he would still be alive, and his Spearwould still be borne behind him. So must all those who rise againstthe Company perish.... Cut."

  The camera stopped. A Kragan came forward and took the Spear of State,with its grisly burden, carrying it to a nearby wall and leaning itup, like a piece of stage property no longer required for this scenebut needed for the next. Von Schlichten took out his geek-speaker,wiped and pouched it, and took his cigarette case from his pocket.

 
"Well, this is the limit!" Paula Quinton, who had come up during thefilming of the scene, exploded. "I thought you had to kill himyourself in order to encourage your soldiers; I didn't think youwanted to make a movie of it to show your friends. I'm through; youcan find yourself a new adjutant!"

  Von Schlichten tapped the cigarette on the gold-and-platinum case andstared at her through his monocle.

  "You can't resign," he told her. "Resignations of officers are notbeing accepted until the end of hostilities. In any case, I shouldn'tcare to have you go; you're the best adjutant, Hideyoshi O'Leary notexcepted, I ever had. Sit down, colonel." He lit the cigarette. "Yourpolitico-military education still needs a little filling in.

  "At Grank, we have two ships. One is the _Northern Lights_, sistership of the _Northern Star_. The other is the cruiser _Procyon_, theonly real warship on Uller, with a main battery of four 200-mm guns.How King Yoorkerk was able to get control of those ships I don't know,but there will be a board of inquiry and maybe a couple ofcourts-martial, when things get stabilized to a point where we canafford such luxuries. As it is, we need those ships desperately, andas soon as he gets in, I'm sending Hideyoshi O'Leary to Grank withthe _Northern Star_ and a load of Kragan Rifles, to pry them loose.The audio-visual of which this is the last scene is going to be one ofthe crowbars he's going to use."

  "Oh! I get it!" Her eyes widened with pleasure at having finallycaught on; she accepted the cigarette and the light von Schlichtenoffered. "Good old _nervenkrieg_!"

  "Yes. A little idea I adapted from my Nazi ancestors of four hundredand fifty years ago. Hideyoshi's going to treat King Yoorkerk to amovie-show. Want to bet he won't loosen up and release _Procyon_ and_Northern Lights_ and unblockade the Grank Residency after he seesthat shot of Firkked's head leering at him off the point of thatovergrown asagai? As I said, that's only the last scene, too. I'vebeen having scenes shot all through this fight; some of them arereally horrifying."

  "But why did you have to fight Firkked yourself?" she asked. "You tookan awful chance, with two hands to his four."

  "Not so awful, remember what I told you about the physical limitationsof Ullerans. But I had to kill him myself, with a sword; according tolocal custom that makes me King of Skilk."

  "Why, your Majesty!" She rose and curtsied mockingly. "But I thoughtyou were going to make Jonkvank King of Skilk."

  He shook his head. "Just Viceroy," he corrected. "I'm handing theSpear of State down to him, not up to him; he'll reign as my vassal,and, consequently, as vassal of the Company, and before long, he won'tbe much more at Krink either. That'll take a little longer--there'llhave to be military missions, and economic missions, andtrade-agreements, and all the rest of it, first--but he's on the wayto becoming a puppet-prince."

  Half an hour later, a large and excessively ornate air-launch,specially built at the Konkrook shipyards for King Jonkvank, wassighted coming over the mountain from the east. An escort ofcombat-cars was sent to meet it, and a battalion of Kragans and thesurvivors of Firkked's court were drawn up on the Palace roof.

  "His Majesty, Jonkvank, King of Krink!" the former herald of KingFirkked's court, now herald to King Carlos von Schlichten, shouted,banging on a brass shield with the flat of his sword, as Jonkvankdescended from his launch, attended by a group of his nobles and hisSpear of State, with Hideyoshi O'Leary and Francis N. Shapiroshepherding them. As the guests advanced across the roof, the heraldbanged again on his shield.

  "His Majesty, Carlos von Schlichten,"--which came out more or less asKarlok vonk Zlikdenk--"King, by right of combat, of Skilk!"

  Von Schlichten advanced to meet his fellow-monarch, his own Spear ofState, with Firkked's head still grinning from it, two paces behindhim.

  Jonkvank stopped, his face contorted with saurian rage.

  "What is this?" he demanded. "You told me that I could be King ofSkilk; is this how a Terran keeps his word?"

  "A Terran's word is always good, Jonkvank," von Schlichten replied,omitting the titles, as was proper in one sovereign addressinganother. "My word was that you should reign in Skilk, and my wordstands. But these things must be done decently, according to customand law. I killed Firkked in single combat. Had I not done so, theSpear of Skilk would have been left lying, for any of the young ofFirkked to pick up. Is that not the law?"

  Jonkvank nodded grudgingly. "It is the law," he admitted.

  "Good. Now, since I killed Firkked in lawful manner, his Spear ismine, and what is mine I can give as I please. I now give you theSpear of Skilk, to carry in my name, as I promised."

  The Kragan who was carrying the ceremonial weapon tossed the head ofFirkked from the point; another Kragan kicked it aside and advanced towipe the spear-blade with a rag. Von Schlichten took the Spear andgave it to Jonkvank.

  "This is not good!" one of the Skilkan nobles protested. He had abetter right than any of the others to protest; he had, a few hoursbefore, ridden in at the head of a company of his retainers to swearloyalty to the Company. "That you should rule over us, yes. You killedFirkked in single combat, and you are the soldier of the Company,which is mighty, as all here have seen. But that this foreigner begiven the Spear of Skilk, that is not good!"

  Some of the others, emboldened by his example, were jabberingagreement.

  "Listen, all of you!" von Schlichten shouted. "Here is no question ofKrink ruling over Skilk. Does it matter who holds the Spear of Skilk,when he does so in my name? And King Jonkvank will be no foreigner. Hewill come and live among you, and later he will travel back and forthbetween Krink and Skilk, and he will leave the Spear of Krink inKrink, and the Spear of Skilk in Skilk, and in Skilk he will be aSkilkan."

  That seemed to satisfy everybody except Jonkvank, and he had witenough not to make an issue of it. He even had the Spear of Krinkcarried back aboard his launch, out of sight, and when he accompaniedvon Schlichten, an hour later, to see Hideyoshi O'Leary off for Grank,he had the Spear of Skilk carried behind him. When he was alone withvon Schlichten, in the room that had been King Firkked's bedchamber,however, he exploded: "What is all this foolishness which you promisedthese people in my name and which I must now carry out? That I am toleave the Spear of Skilk in Skilk and the Spear of Krink in Krink, andcome here to live...."

  "You wish to hold Skilk?" von Schlichten asked.

  "I intend to hold Skilk. To begin with, there shall be a great killinghere. A very great killing: of all those who advised that fool of aFirkked to start this business; of those who gave shelter to the falseprophet, Rakkeed, when he was here; of the faithless priests who gaveear to his abominable heresies and allowed him to spew out hisblasphemies in the temples; of those who sent spies to Krink, tocorrupt and pervert my soldiers and nobles; of those who...."

  "All that is as it should be," von Schlichten agreed. "Except that itmust be done quickly and all at once, before the memories of thesecrimes fade from the minds of the people. And great care must be takento kill only those who can be proven to be guilty of something; thusit will be said that the justice of King Jonkvank is terrible toevildoers but a protection and a shield to those who keep the peaceand obey the laws. Thus you will gain the name of being a wise andjust king. And when the priests are to be killed it should be doneunder the direction of those other priests who were faithful to thegods and whom King Firkked drove out of their temples, and it must bedone in the name of the gods. Thus will you be esteemed a pious, andnot an impious, king. As to why you must be a Skilkan in Skilk, youheard the words of Flurknurk, and how the others agreed with him. Itmust not be allowed to seem that the city has come under foreign rule.And you must not change the laws, unless the people petition you to doso, nor must you increase the taxes, and you must not confiscate theestates of those who are put to death, for the death of parents isalways forgiven before the loss of patrimonies. And you should selectcertain Skilkan nobles, and become the father of their young, andabove all, you must leave none of the young of Firkked alive, to raiserebellion against you later."

  Jonkvank nodded, deeply impres
sed. "By the gods, Karlok vonk Zlikdenk,this is wisdom! Now it is to be seen why the likes of Firkked cannotprevail against you, or against the Company as long as you are theCompany's upper sword-arm!"

  Honesty tempted von Schlichten, for a moment, to disclaim originalityfor the principles he had just enunciated, even at the price of tryingto pronounce the name of Niccolo Machiavelli with a geek-speaker. Onsecond thought, however, considerations of policy restrained him. IfJonkvank ever heard of _The Prince_, nothing would satisfy him shortof an Ulleran translation, and von Schlichten would have been justabout as happy over an Ulleran translation of a complete set ofBethe-cycle bomb specifications.