by Phillip Mann
“We are.” It was Old Man Wong, speaking with uncharacteristic bluntness. “You are a young Master, inexperienced in the ways of the Eleven. The child that runs before it can walk, gets its nose bloody.”
“We are discussing the aliens,” said the Senior Proctor. “You may not be aware, but the aliens are a constant threat. The price of our freedom is a constant vigilance. There are a few minor questions we would like to clear up before we proceed further. Laverna? Would you care to speak?”
Laverna Felice was on her feet in an instant. Pawl saw the other Masters relax back, staring at him. Pawl wondered what to expect.
“Master Pawl, the Paxwax have been noted in the past for their strict adherence to the Code that binds all the Families. I wonder, can you recall the words of the Anthem which reveals both our history and our obligations?”
“Do you want me to sing it?”
“Not necessarily sing it. Just recall the words.”
Pawl’s mind went blank. To him the anthem was a silly song, a mouthful of platitudes. Wynn came to his rescue. Faintly behind him he heard the computer’s whispery voice. “First are the Proctors, the greatest …” Pawl followed the words and spoke them firmly.
First are the Proctors, the greatest and the best
They keep the great wheel spinning from the centre where they rest.
The Senior Proctor smirked round and received the nods of the Masters, who by tradition always acknowledged the suzerainty of the Proctors.
Second are the Wong the Warriors, saviours of our race,
They chased away the Hammer and put them in their place.
“Yes, the Hammer. We shall return to them later,” said Laverna Felice. Old Man Wong muttered something and then fell silent.
Third is the Conspiracy of the Bogdanovich and Shell
They fight for truth and justice and liberty as well.
Helium, who had now been joined by his wife Clover Shell, stared stonily at Pawl.
The Xerxes de la Tour Souvent are fourth on our list
Where love is found and tenderness, they are never missed.
Pawl could not resist speaking these words with a twist of irony and Dame Clarissa slapped her hand on the table in front of her and stood up. She departed with colour rising to her pale cheeks. Moments later she was replaced by her sister, Dame Jettatura. This lady had pale blond hair parted in the middle of her forehead, and the hair tumbled in lazy waves down over her shoulders and beyond the view of the vivante. She stared at Pawl with the pure pin eyes of an albino. Then, with a studied glacial elegance, she began to play cards, setting each card down with a clearly audible snap.
The Paxwax Fifth are generous to the meek and mild,
They give the food that keeps alive every little child.
The insincerity of the lyrics made Pawl wince inwardly. Once, many centuries earlier, the Paxwax had been suppliers of a particular kind of grain that could survive drought. That had been the cause of this lyric.
The Lamprey Sixth love the light, their father was the sun,
Their children are the stars that shine upon us everyone.
The Freilander and Porterhouse hold the seventh place,
They stopped the alien in his tracks and kicked him in the face.
These two verses elicited no response from the assembly, except that Laverna Felice raised her head on the last line and glanced across to the Shell-Bogdanovich Conspiracy.
The Longstock and the Paragon,
The Sith and Felice too,
Help keep the goblins on their knees
And so I hope do you.
Pawl completed the verses and sat down. He was aware that he was involved in some obscure test.
“And what, Master Pawl,” demanded Laverna Felice, “are goblins?”
“I have always understood them to be aliens,” said Pawl. “Of a humanoid variety. Few such are known. I take it to be a general statement.”
“As do we all.”
“I fail to see….”
“What Laverna is pointing out,” said Old Man Wong, leaning forward, “is that a large part of the anthem of our families concerns the battle against the aliens. Our families grew from that battle.”
“It is a battle that never ends,” added Jettatura.
“So?” Pawl tried to make his question sound innocent.
“So why did you visit the Hammer?” The question came from Helium Bogdanovich, his face ugly with suppressed anger.
“I don’t know. I thought it would be interesting.” The answer sounded empty to Pawl, though he spoke as firmly as he could. He was shaken to find Helium Bogdanovich joined with those ranged against him. He had trusted Helium to be a friend.
“Interesting?” Laverna Felice seized on the word. “Weren’t you aware that the Hammer are one of our ancient enemies?”
“I suppose so. But I was curious. That was a long time ago.”
“And how did you find the Hammer? Were they well?”
“They live on an arid world. I have a mining camp there which is quite peaceful. There are killer satellites posted. If the Hammer ever made a move their world would be destroyed. But they won’t cause any trouble. They crawl about in dust. Quite disappointing really. I was hoping for more. I think you are mistaken if you are suggesting that the Hammer still pose a threat.”
“I am suggesting nothing,” said Laverna Felice. “But the Hammer were powerful adversaries, as one of our families knows to its cost. They are known to have a subtle and brutal mentality. And none of us should be so vain as to believe that we can see all dangers. Can you assure us that you saw nothing of the Hammer’s fabled aggression? That, frankly, I would find hard to believe.”
Pawl did not hesitate. “I saw nothing,” he said, and wondered why he was lying. He remembered the way the Hammer had towered over him, the way it had run, the fierce beat of its drumming. The Hammer were quite magnificent. He realized he was protecting them. The voice of Odin murmured in Pawl’s mind. “She is trying to manipulate you Master Pawl. You do well to resist.” Pawl thought about Odin. He thought of that defenceless creature whose species had once been a gastronomic delicacy. In protecting the Hammer he was also protecting the Gerbes.
“Did you visit the Hammer with a view to hunting?” asked Singular Sith.
“No, just simple curiosity.”
“Ah, well, do you think they would be any good for hunting?”
“No. They hid when they saw us. You’d get more sport shooting at a tree.”
“Did you make any vivantes?” asked Helium Bogdanovich.
Pawl thought quickly. He remembered the images they had taken of Trader sitting quietly displaying his sting. “Some; my secretary Peron has them. You can see them if you like. When he returns.”
“So he is not with you?” said Helium.
“No. He stayed behind in Elliott’s Pocket. I hurried home when I received word that there was trouble. I must say that I did not expect to be cross-questioned in this way. To date, my experience as a Master has led me to fear not the aliens, but rather my own kind.” He looked round the assembly with his gaze finally coming to rest on Jettatura. That lady continued to play cards impassively.
Old Man Wong tugged at his moustache, gripping the strands of hair in the joint between his thumbs and the palms of his hands. “Master of Paxwax,” he said, “I will not disguise the fact that I find your answers too glib to be convincing. The Hammer could never be docile. However, I will make you an offer. Cede to me the world of the Hammer and I will pay you its worth a thousand fold.”
Every Master and Mistress of the Families looked at Pawl, waiting for his response. Even Jettatura lay down her cards and looked at him with cold pink eyes. Pawl knew that if he wanted he could push the price even higher. He made a pretence of thinking about the deal. “No,” he said finally. “That world lies well within my domain and I will never again allow any Family to have a foothold in my empire.”
Helium Bogdanovich, Singular Sith and Cicero Para
gon nodded, for they saw the common sense behind Pawl’s reply.
“Then I will offer the same amount if you will destroy that world, asking only that I have observers present,” said Old Man Wong.
“That,” replied Pawl, “I shall have to think about. I do not want to make a rushed decision. Have no fear. If I thought the Hammer were a threat to us I would destroy them myself and ask for no recompense. Can I say clearer than that?”
Old Man Wong sat back and said nothing. In their deep sockets his eyes were bright with anger.
“I suggest,” said the Senior Proctor, sensing that the debate had reached a stalemate, “that we move on. The Master of Wong and the Master of Paxwax can continue negotiations at their leisure. We are busy people and there are several resolutions before us. Let me just say this to the new Master of Paxwax, on behalf of all of us: our fears concerning the renewed belligerence of the aliens are not without good foundation. We are under no illusions. We know that alien races are not stupid. We do not underestimate them. Not all aliens are dangerous. But with alien intelligence it is not easy to tell friend from foe. We know from experience that certain aliens, given the opportunity, will seek to turn any unrest to their advantage. We, as custodians of human freedom, must be on our guard at all times.”
“Hear, hear,” rumbled Helium.
“We shall now move to consider what measures we, as Masters, should adopt to counter, quell, nip in the bud, call it what you will, any alien threat. Laverna, you have some proposals to place before us?”
“I have.” Laverna Felice assembled some documents in front of her and consulted her advisors, who were beyond the range of the vivante.
She made room, and a giant appeared beside her. Then the vivante adjusted and the giant reduced to normal proportions while Laverna shrank to her true size. The newcomer wore a heavy black gown with a cowl. Beneath the cowl Pawl could just see the edge of the familiar white mask of the Inner Circle. The figure reached inside the cowl and removed the mask and then threw back the hood to reveal a mass of curly auburn hair and a finely-formed human face. She was stunningly beautiful. She smiled cheerily round the Masters and patted the cowl back on to her shoulders.
“This is Selena, the representative of the Inner Circle who has worked closely with me for several years,” said Laverna Felice. “She has helped me prepare an inventory of alien infestation.” The woman Selena glanced round the assembly and Pawl noticed that her eyes were green and wicked. There was a lazy sensuality about her. How, he wondered, did Laverna come to tolerate having a woman like this about her? And then he realized that vanity often uses other people as its mirror. Selena was everything that Laverna would have liked to be. Poor Laverna sat like a brightly-lacquered doll beside the warm fullness of the other woman. Now if only Laverna thought herself truly beautiful … how different her world might be. I doubt if she would then get her excitement by hunting aliens.
While thinking these thoughts, Pawl realized that he had been staring at Selena, resting his eyes on her, and he came to himself with a jolt. Was there something hypnotic about this woman?
For her part, Selena seemed totally unaware of the stares she was receiving from all quarters. She spoke in a clipped, precise voice. “The Mistress of Felice has granted me wide powers of research. My report is in two parts: first an analysis and then my recommendations. Am I free to proceed?”
The Senior Proctor nodded. Vacantly. He too seemed mesmerized by the woman’s manner.
“The most dangerous species now living in our midst is the Spideret. Every family except the Felice uses them for construction work. Let there be no mistake, the Spideret as a species is as intelligent as the human. They once achieved space travel and are species fighters, which means that they will fight blindly and sacrifice themselves for the good of the entire race.”
“What shall we do about them?” asked Helium Bogdanovich, rising out of his bath.
Selena held up her hand. “When I have completed my analysis I will come to my recommendations. To continue. I find that the Hooded Parasol are used on the worlds of the Sith, of the Shell-Bogdanovich Conspiracy, of the Wong and the Proctor. Do not be fooled by the beauty of this creature. Its very scent can kill. Pandora Boxes are even kept on many Homeworlds. While the eating habits of these creatures may be spectacular, they are a venomous parasite. One spit of their venom is sufficient to infect. The population of Sennet bats has greatly increased and, according to the death registers administered by the Proctors, these creatures have been responsible for many deaths among the hunting members of the Families. The Pullah, though it looks amiable as a cow, can be dangerous, and yet I observe that this creature is widely used at the Way Gates to clean the walkways. Turning to happier news, I can report that the Diphilus, the Lyre Beast and the Linkworm are not to be found in the domains. Likewise the Hammer. My research on the Hammer tallies with what the Master of Paxwax has said. They are a dying breed. The genetic poison administered by the Wong so many centuries ago is still working its way through the population. We of the Inner Circle observe such things.”
Pawl did not know what to make of this. Selena was wrong. The Hammer were vibrant with health. Pawl had seen them, smelled them. What had happened? Had Odin fed incorrect information to the Inner Circle? Or were the members of the Inner Circle playing some clever game? He decided to keep silent and listen. Selena with the green eyes smiled at him as though divining his thoughts. “Now I come to my recommendations. First, that we eradicate all populations of Pandora Boxes and Sennet bats. Those creatures are of no commercial significance. Second, that populations of the Hooded Parasol be quarantined on unoccupied worlds. This will mean relocating some of your industries, but that is a small price to pay. Third, that all known Pullah be gelded and their movements totally restricted. At present they have no Homeworld and so we can control them effectively. Fourth, the Spiderets. I recommend that their population be halved immediately and that breeding be permitted only to keep the population steady.” At this point the lady paused for reaction.
The leaders of the Families looked round one another. While they shared a common fear of aliens, they recognized that the proposed measures would weaken their commercial enterprises. Finally Cicero Paragon indicated he wanted to speak. “No one could be more sensible than myself of any threat that the aliens pose, but still I counsel that we should move with caution. We are not butchers. For many generations we and the aliens have cooperated. I have fostered the hope that we have humanized them to some extent. I believe they have learned something of moderation. Certainly I have had no trouble on my worlds. While I agree that any outright threat must be countered, I oppose wholesale slaughter.”
Singular Sith indicated his agreement. Both of them had a great deal at stake.
But Helium Bogdanovich raised his hands to speak. “A threat is a threat; there can be no half measures.”
Dame Jettatura spoke for the first time. “Kill them all,” she said. “Begin with the Spiderets. Who needs them? We will all be stronger.”
Old Man Wong cleared his throat with an ugly rattle and spat away to his side. An attendant appeared and wiped his lips. “If it be not the hawk,” he said, “it will be the owl … but the elephant fears neither.” His face composed to stillness.
The Senior Proctor nodded wisely and after a pause looked round the assembly. “Master Daag Longstock, we have yet to hear your thoughts.”
Daag Longstock forced himself to return to the present. His voice was whispery, like a cold desert wind. “We Longstock do not believe there is an alien threat. The dangers are in our own minds. But we will not stand against the will of the Families. We will comply with whatever action you deem wise.”
“Master Pawl?” It was the Senior Proctor speaking again.
Pawl considered. “Well, I have no objection to the slaughter of the Pandora Boxes. My father used to keep a brood in his study; they are unwholesome. Sennet bats I rather like. We have all hunted them. We have all faced danger. It se
ems to me that it will be a sad day for the human race when we are afraid to face mortal danger and are satisfied with shooting at replicas. What I am saying is that we can become too cautious. Let the bats thrive. They are hardly a threat to our survival. As for the rest of the recommendations, I will accept them. I say only this. As a principle we should favour that which helps us. I use Spiderets where humans cannot go. I cannot see that killing them by fifty percent will alter anything, except perhaps make them less efficient or get them riled. That is all.”
“A vote,” piped up Laverna. “Let us have a vote. All those in favour of the recommendations raise their hands.”
Even though the Longstock did not move, it was clear that a majority favoured Selena’s suggestions.
“Well, that finishes the matter,” said the Senior Proctor. “The recommendations presented by Selena of the Inner Circle are accepted and will be actioned immediately. Any other questions? I hope not. It has been a long day and is not ended yet for some of us. No? Very well. At our next meeting we will assess the effectiveness of our measures. This meeting is ended.”
One by one the Masters disappeared. The killing of the Spiderets would begin within the hour.
“Well, Odin,” said Pawl, when he had cleared the vivante screen, “what do you make of that?”
It was a long time before the small creature spoke in Pawl’s mind. “I do not know,” he said finally.
Odin was speaking the truth. The small Gerbes was unaware of developments on Sanctum.
On that planet the creatures which managed the affairs of the aliens had been able to follow the meeting through the medium of Selena. What that lady had offered to the Families was part of a hastily-prepared plan. The aliens who ruled Sanctum knew that at all costs the order of the Inner Circle must retain its integrity: further, that it should seem to foster the prejudices of the Families. To this end they had decided to sacrifice one of their species that all might be spared. But the price of that decision could not be denied. The Spiderets were angry and calling for quick action.
