by Zach Hughes
Riddent.
And Murichon and President Belle Resall and old Andy Gar and all the old, gray advisers who had been in the Dallas City command center. And the home-place, Murichon's house and the fields where he'd played as he grew, all a part of the raw hole.
He had told them he wanted to be alone. And then he'd ridden a borrowed airors from fleet headquarters in the desert to see for himself and had come here, to his home, their home, to walk empty rooms and feel her presence, smell her lingering fragrance.
The sun set.
He stood looking out toward the vast crater until Zed was only a glow below the horizon and the first of the seasonal Texas moons was showing over the eastern world. Death was in him, around him, was a glowing crater whose seared outer rim, flattened, barren, was within his view, adding a dim light to the Texas night He himself had risked death. He had delivered death. He had felt the sickness of it as he ordered Jakkes to kill the first of the five Empire ships which had been destroyed in the airors raid on the Empire fleet. He had seen his grandfather lying cold and still in his own bed and that was death, too, but a clean, natural death which obeyed nature's laws and was, somehow, sweet and bearable, although painful.
But Riddent dead? His unborn son dead? There was nothing natural, nothing fair, nothing acceptable about that."
For a moment, he wished them all dead, all the billions of Empireites. His rage sent him pacing, his face flaming, heat waves causing him to sweat inside his uniform. At that moment, had he been given divine power, he would have depeopled half a galaxy, but his rage faded, paled with his memories of his service in the Empire fleet to exclude the rank and file, the masses. The Emperor, then, all his top advisers, the men who directed the attack on one lonely planet far from Empire's sway.
Someone had said it once, about the Empire: "If you can't control it, kill it."
And they were trying to kill Texas as they'd killed Riddent.
They found him at midmorning, sleeping in the house with its shattered windows, sprawled on the bed in full uniform, his boots making dirty spots on the sheets.
"Damn, Lex," Billy Bob said.
He awoke slowly and his arm automatically went out to feel her next to him, then he was fully awake. They could see that he'd been weeping. He didn't care.
Arden Wal, his hat in his hand, put his other hand on Lex's shoulder. "They're reorganizing the
government, Lex." "We," Lex said, his voice cold and hard. "We're reorganizing the government. You are one of us now." He stood, ran a hand through his tousled hair.
Billy Bob, looking at him, wondered what it was that was changed. He seemed different. There was a cold, hard light in his eyes. "They want you there," Billy Bob said. "All right. Where?" "San Ann. The opera hall." "I think I should tell you," Wal said, "that the fleet is putting you up for President."
"Now why did you go and tell him that?" Billy Bob asked plaintively. "He'll not come for sure, now." Lex said nothing. He nodded grimly. His father had been President. Andy Gar had been President. Belle Resall. All of them old, wise, geared to take the demands of office.
"Now don't you say no before you hear us out," Billy Bob said. "I'll listen," Lex said softly. The opera hall was in tan. The majority of those present were in uniform. Lex sat down front listening to
but without hearing a eulogy for dead Texicans. Then the business began. Nominations. Billy Bob advanced his name and a huge cheer went up from the uniformed members of the Republic. There was a recess. There had been no other name mentioned as candidate for President. Lex went into a conference room with Wal, Billy Bob and some older members of the government who had not been in the city when the missile impacted.
"It's yours if you'll take it," Billy Bob said. "The fleet will vote for you to a man." "We need a strong, young man in the office," an old graybeard said. "In peace, when there's nothing to
do with government but keep order and count noses, a wise old head, but we're at war, son. And you've shown your metal." "Lex," Arden Wal said, "as President, you'll be commander in chief of the armed forces." "Yes," Lex said. "The Empire fleet?" "They're throwing up defense lines all along the periphery," Wal said. "They show all signs of siege. We'll
not see any metals from the galaxy." "We can find metals in the cluster," Lex said. "Son," said the old minister, who had been at his post on the opposite side of the planet when the missile
got through to Dallas City, "we've been searching the cluster for a decade and we've found not one planet.
All signs show that she's a non-planet-forming group of stars."
"We can hold them off for a year or two," Wal said, "even a decade or two, but then the metals shortage will begin to show. You can't go on recycling forever. There's always a loss factor. And while we're declining they'll be building."
"We need to hit them now, Lex," Billy Bob said, "while they're down. We want you to take us into the galaxy, finish off that fleet. The Empire has trouble with the Cassies now, so it's not likely that they'll try a direct attack again, and I don't think they'll be able to muster too many reinforcements for the periphery."
"The Cassies?" Lex asked.
"The Empire pulled off a lot of ships from the lines," Wal said. "The Cassies are making hit-and-run attacks. They've even captured a few Empire planets. The Empire is going to be busy in the next few months. We could go in, take on the rest of that fleet and grab a few planets and have enough metal to make Texas strong enough to withstand any attack from either the Empire or the Cassies."
"All right," said Captain Lexington Burns.
"My fellow Texicans," said President Lexington Burns an hour and a half later, "these are difficult times."
"Surrender," said Fleet General Lexington Burns, speaking to a single Empire Vandy acting as an advance patrol just outside the periphery.
"Surrender," said Lex speaking to a fleet guarding a five-planet star.
Behind them the Cassiopeian fleets were making dire and terrible raids into Empire territory. Before them was a force of Texicans with that terrible weapon which blinked death into the very guts of a ship. They surrendered by the ship, by the fleet.
In three months, Texas had extended a protectorate into the periphery to a depth of ten parsecs from the outlying stars. Captured ships were carrying metals back to Texas. On the inhabited planets, Texican governors were talking of true freedom, of regard for the individual, of controlled population, of good and plenty for all.
As the second line of defense was reached, resistance stiffened. There, Texas met Empire commanders who had not been present at the Last Battle of Texas and had to learn for themselves the strength of Texican weapons. Ships blazed and vaporized. A fleet supply planet refused surrender.
"There are only a few thousand men down there," Arden Wal said. "An invasion force on airorses could take it in five days."
"At the loss of how many Texicans?" Lex asked. "I've seen enough Texicans die, General Wal. There will be no more Texican deaths as the result of my orders, not if it can be avoided."
"Lex, they're just soldiers. They're just plain people down there." Billy Bob looked into Lex's cold, hard eyes.
"Send this," Lex said. "Tell them they have one hour to lay down arms and surrender."
"Lex, that's a helluva cost to take out one fleet supply planet," Billy Bob said. "Those people down there are defenseless."
"So was Dallas City," Lex said. At the end of one hour a captured Empire Rearguard moved into position and launched one missile. The missile's powerful engines sent it deep into the heart of the small planet and the detonation ruptured the shell in five places, the vast rents spewing magma. The very atmosphere burned.
The next military planet was shown trid tapes of the incident. The planet surrendered. A beleaguered Empire, with millions of stars and planets under its rule, sent an emissary to meet with President Burns of the Texas Republic as the Texican force cut through the heart of Empire, a deadly
point aimed directly at mother Earth. B
ehind the fleet lay thousands of subject planets, on which millions of former Empire citizens were finding that the rule of the Texicans offered certain advantages. The emissary met Lex in space, approaching under the guns of the fleet in a swift scout. She had changed little. She wore the official robes of state in purple and gold. The robes hid her body,
allowing only a glimpse of her trim ankles. "It's been a long time, Lexington Burns," said the Lady Gwyn. He had half expected her. It made sense to send her. They would use her to probe his weakness, for she
knew him. He had not bothered to rise. "Please have a seat," he said. He was in the uniform of a Texas
Fleet General, minus insignia. "You have come a long way," Lady Gwyn said, seating herself and allowing the official robe to part, showing one lovely leg.
Lex nodded. "Are you determined, then, to destroy all of the Empire?" she asked, with a half smile. She had intended
the remark to be sarcastic, half joking. It came out flat. There in the midst of the Texican fleet, seeing its power firsthand, she could not bring it off. "That would be a large undertaking, wouldn't it?" Lex answered. "Truly large," she said. "Can even a Texican do it? Ten million warships? Millions of planets? Billions of
people?" "We won't know for a while, will we?" Lex asked. Gwyn used her nicest smile. "You don't have to try, you know. There are other ways. The Emperor—" "—ordered the use of population reducers on Texas," Lex said, dropping his booted feet from the top of
his desk. "Are your hands completely clean of blood?" asked Gwyn.
"My hands show only blood I'm forced to spill."
She had come expecting to see an overgrown boy in a man's neatly pressed uniform, but, looking into
his cold eyes, she was unsure of herself. "The benevolent conqueror?" she asked, hating herself for having been forced into trying to reach him through the cold shell. She regained control. "When it comes to administering what you've taken, do you think you could use a little bit of help?"
"Maybe," Lex said.
"The Emperor has asked me to offer a truce. We would leave the lines as they are now. You would have your planets for your needed metals. We would work together to restore order." "That's big of you," Lex said, a non-smile parting his lips. "It seems that you're willing to give me what
I've already taken." "I am directed," she said, "to ask you to look around, see what's happening in the galaxy. In fighting you, we've opened up our flanks to the Cassiopeians. They are taking planet after planet. When they take a planet it isn't pleasant for the Empire inhabitants. They're put into virtual slavery. Lex, there's a black pall of savagery falling over the entire galaxy. Don't you understand what you're doing? You're destroying the only force which has held it all together. Empire has its faults, but look what Empire has accomplished.
There is no hunger on Empire planets—" "Because you can make plenty of tasteless synthetics," Lex said. "But it is food. Can Texas feed all the planets you've taken?" She shook her head. "It's easy to take a
planet, all you need is force. But afterward? When the people are hungry? When the trade routes which have kept Empire an entity are closed? How many planets are self-sustaining?" "We'll teach them to be self-sustaining," Lex said.
"Will you, then, agree to a personal meeting with the Emperor?" Gwyn asked, as a last resort. "Sure," Lex said, glancing at a star chart on the wall of his cabin. "Tell the old boy I'll be calling on him on Earth in approximately six months."
"In six months, the Cassiopeians will be on Earth," Gwyn said, in desperation. "It's that bad, huh?" Lex asked. "It's that bad," she said. "Tell you what," he said, rising to the height of his six-seven stature, "I want to hear more. You'd better
stay the night." He looked at her, waiting for an argument. "Here," he said. "All right," she said. "If that's what you want." Chapter Twelve As the Texican fleet blinked and waited, moving deeper into the galaxy, Fleet General Billy Bob Blink
transferred over to the flagship carrying a bottle of liberated brandy. He found Lex in his cabin brooding
over star charts. "Hey, boy, time for a break." He brandished the bottle. Lex pushed his eyebrows apart with thumb and
forefinger and managed a grin. He threw his booted feet onto his desk and accepted the glass offered by Billy Bob and let the crisp taste of the brandy linger on his tongue.
They drank in silence for a few minutes and then Billy Bob chuckled. "Hey, you remember that time we
laid one on in Dallas City, that time just before you went off to do your time for the Empire?" Lex nodded. He had scant time for memories these days, but it was pleasant to take his mind off
problems tor a few minutes.
"Drunk, whee, I had to hold onto the grass to stay on the world," Billy Bob said.
"And the look on the faces of those herders when you tackled them," Lex said, entering into the mood.
"They thought you were some crazy kid and they tried not to hurt you."
"Well," Billy Bob said, "I didn't really need your help."
"Oh, no," Lex said.
Billy Bob chuckled again and mused into his glass. "Hell, I miss it, old buddy. I miss all of it, Texas, the
big spaces, riding oldClean Machine down across the desert blowing low and fast."
"Yeah," Lex said.
"Here I am going on twenty-three and I ain't married," Billy Bob said. "And the ratio of women is up at
home, too."
"There'll be time," Lex said.
"When?" His question was not an idle one. Lex recognized that and let his feet fall to the floor with a thud. "When we gonna quit, Lex? Hell, we've made it secure for Texas. We occupy a quarter of the galaxy. We've got our buffer zone through which no one could attack with any degree of surprise. When we gonna call it enough?"
"When the killing has been stopped," Lex said.
"Seems to me we're doing our share," Billy Bob said.
"We didn't start it."
"No, but we can stop it. I talked to your friend when she was here. I know the Emperor offered you a
deal."
"Only to be able to kill Cassies," Lex said.
"Is that our business?"
"B.B., I've been doing me some reading now and then. And I ran into something which might explain to
you the way I feel. I may not remember the exact words, but they were written by a fellow back on the old Earth, long before we went into space. It goes something like this: The death of any man diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. You get what I mean?"
"I don't wanta sound smart," Billy Bob said, "but it seems to me you're saying you're gonna kill people to keep them from killing themselves."
Lex's face went stiff. "I kill only when there is no other way."
"Sure, you offer them a chance to surrender. What if it were the other way and someone was taking Texas piece by piece, would you surrender?"
"It's different," Lex said.
"We've got the Empire on the ropes," Billy Bob said. "We could fly through to Earth right now. And I'm not sure we're on the right track, buddy. There are ;he Cassies. Now I've been doing me some reading and some talking, too. I think of the two the Empire is just a hair better. What are we gonna do, take nut the Empire and then tackle the Cassies?"
"Nope," Lex said.
"Then what?"
"Take a look," Lex said. "Here." He shoved a star hart across his desk. Billy Bob looked and then he pursed his lips and whistled. On the chart, marked in red, was the line of march extending out from Texas into Empire. Red areas showed areas of Texican control. The dotted line of future movement extended not toward Earth, but outward. There was a circle around the star Cassiopeia.
The fleet blinked into Cassiopeian space just over two years from the time it first left Texas space and the messages began to go out. There were the usual offers of surrender and honorable terms, all, of course, refused. Cassiopeian ships learned the hard way that they were no match for Texican weapons and the dark space flared with their lessons. Ne
vertheless, the resistance was stiff. Again, Texicans died and the news of their dying brought a delegation from the home planet to meet with President Burns in deep space. Of the five Texicans, two were known to Lex. Retired Admiral Crockett Reds shook his hand and congratulated him on his successes. Emily smiled and her hand was warm in his.
He seated them in his cabin, although it was crowded. He listened. They questioned his wisdom in attacking the Cassiopeian dictatorships while still engaging the Empire.
"You elected me to assure the security of Texas," he said. "Are you now saying that you want me to resign?"
"Of course not," said Reds in his aged, deep voice. "But dammit, boy, we've got security. A free electron can't get through the ring of territory you've established on this side of the galaxy. Now you've done a fine job. I'm told that the people on the occupied planets have started treating us as liberators, rather than as conquerors. But let's look at it this way. You've got a supply line which reaches back toward Texas for one helluva distance. By leaving good Texicans behind on occupied planets to administer them you've reduced your fleet, leaving you with Empireites in key positions. Over half your ship Captains are non-Texican. We think you're extending yourself too far."
"Has there been one defection among the converts?" Lex asked.
"Not that I know of," Reds said, continuing to actas spokesman, "but you're taking on a whole new game now that you're moving into Cassiopeian space. You're suffering losses. As long as you're winning the men are happy. But they've seen ships burned. How long can you keep them willing to risk, and risk, and risk?"
"Long enough," Lex said. Emily remained when the other had gone. "Are you going to lecture me now?" he asked. "You have become a very handsome man," she said disarmingly. "Gonna sweet-talk me back to Texas, huh?" he asked, grinning in spite of himself. "No. Actually, I just want to see you alone, talk with you. How are you, Lex?" "Great." "No, I mean really, inside. Can't you forget?" He turned away without answering. "My Poul was in Dallas City, too," she said. He looked at her. "I didn't know. I'm sorry." "My way of trying to forget was to submerge myself in my work," she said. "The techniques we
