Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire

by J W Murison

  ‘Do you really have to talk about such things over a meal?’ Jane asked them.

  ‘Of course, forgive us ladies,’ Rannalld apologised. ‘We could change the subject Sergeant.’

  ‘If you wish sir.’

  ‘From what I have been hearing, you have met the Emperor a number of times.’

  ‘He has become very curious about our training methods sir, but it’s not me he talks to. It’s Charlie.’

  ‘I don’t think I have met him.’

  ‘It’s all a bit strange if you ask me. He will just appear, or ask us to meet him somewhere, and then afterwards we escort him to the palace where we are all thrown out except Charlie, who makes him a cup of tea.’

  Rannalld shook his head, ‘He throws everyone out?’

  ‘Yeah. Me, his guards, everyone.’

  Rannalld held up a hand, ‘He throws out his guards. He is alone with this Charlie?’

  ‘It is a bit annoying really. The guards won’t even talk to me, hell they don’t even look at me. When Charlie comes out they go back in.’

  ‘I find that unfathomable. I have never heard of the Emperor being alone with an alien.’ He turned to Mya, ‘Do you know this Charlie, Mya?’

  ‘Yes, he is very nice.’

  ‘What about you Lady Jane?’

  ‘I haven’t had much to do with him. I don’t think I have even talked to him. I do believe he and the Captain were childhood friends. During the assault on the city ship, I believe Charlie acted as his escort. After the battle was over, he was transferred as a permanent member of the crew. I believe he normally acts as the Captain’s escort. That is as much as I know.’

  Rannalld was feeling panicked. ‘Is he reliable? Is the Emperor safe with him?’

  ‘Completely safe.’ Kelly answered offhandedly. ‘Probably far safer than he is with his own guards.’

  ‘I doubt that.’

  Kelly looked him in the eye, ‘Look, I have no idea what the hell is going on between Charlie and your Emperor, neither do I give a damn. I will tell you something, Charlie is one of the best soldiers I have ever met. If you have any more questions on the subject, take it up with your brother or Charlie.’

  ‘Kelly, we are guests here and you are being rude.’ Jane snapped.

  Kelly’s eyes turned cold and she felt them drill into her soul, ‘The point I am trying to make to the Grand Marshal is that he should find out the facts before he starts hurling insults.’

  ‘I don’t believe I insulted you Sergeant.’

  Kelly’s cold eyes turned on him, ‘I told you the Emperor was safe with Charlie. You said you doubted that. Which means you called me a liar, and brought into question the character of a friend of mine. I was not joking, I was not speculating, I was being truthful.’

  ‘Gentlemen please.’ Mya stood and reached out, placing a hand on each of their arms. ‘This is not good.’ She felt the tension ease between the two a little. ‘Rannalld, Kelly is a man of great honour. He would not lie. Charlie too is a man of honour. Both are highly decorated, both war heroes.

  ‘Kelly, Rannalld is concerned for the safety of his brother, a brother he loves very much. I do not believe he meant to insult you. I myself have never seen the Emperor with less than at least half a dozen guards surrounding him. I am sure Rannalld was as surprised as I was to hear that he trusted himself alone with just one man, let alone someone from a different race entirely. I am sure he did not mean to call you a liar, it was simply a statement of surprise.’

  Kelly shook off his irritation, ‘I suppose... when you put it like that. I am sorry Grand Marshal, I didn’t mean to go off half-cocked.’

  ‘I am not quite sure what that means Sergeant, but I think I get the general meaning. For my part, I did not mean to give offence.’

  Mya sat back down, the crises averted. They settled down to eat some more. Rannalld was still having a difficult time with this new information and began playing with his food rather than eating it. Kelly eventually got fed up watching him.

  ‘With respect sir, either piss or get off the pot.’

  The saying translated well enough and Rannalld barked a laugh. ‘I am sorry Sergeant Kelly, your revelations are praying on my mind. What is it exactly you and this Charlie do?’

  ‘We simply train soldiers sir.’

  ‘It cannot be that simple.’

  ‘Nothing ever is. After the battle for the city ship, I detected some areas where much of the training we give our soldiers could be adapted. I got no real satisfaction through the normal channels, so with the help of Captain Gordon I put an idea into action. He gave me one of his big freighters to play with. I turned it into a training ground. We have different kinds of assault courses and close quarter battle training facilities. We made an entirely new floor that we can adapt at will to simulate different ships and ship types.’

  ‘So the soldier doesn’t get used to the layout and use that to his advantage.’

  ‘Pretty much. If they know where the pitfalls are then they can adapt to them. Every time they hit that floor the briefing is different, the scenario is different, the layout is different, and they have to adapt quickly to the unfamiliar environment. If we think they are doing too well then we throw them a curve ball, something unexpected like cutting off the gravity, or simulating a hull breach so they have to go on emergency oxygen. We have a panel we can blow out which can toss them into space.’

  ‘Isn’t that very dangerous?’

  ‘We have very strict safety procedures. If so much as a single suit isn’t sealed then it doesn’t work. The troops love it anyway. We open a pinhole. That activates the warnings and they seal their suits. Once they are all sealed we simulate an explosion and open the hatch. The hatch locks back out of the way at high speed, and there is a net to catch them so they don’t get to far from the ship. If they hit the net before they regain control, they fail the scenario.’

  ‘That might be interesting to see.’

  ‘It is normally quite funny, that’s for sure.’

  ‘Do go on Sergeant.’

  ‘There isn’t much more to tell sir. It was pretty slow to start off with. I got the guys who I assaulted the city ship with to go through it, and after that word began to spread. A few NCOs came over on their days off and had a go. They persuaded their officers. Now one puts all his recruits through it first, before he allows them to join their unit. Like an extension training course. We are really quite busy. It was why I asked Charlie to join me.’

  ‘Why him?’

  ‘We are on the same page, that’s why. I am an expert in conventional warfare, small unit tactics, and he is an expert in unconventional warfare. We make a great team. He doesn’t have the same battle experience that I have, but he has enough. He is also more up-to-date with modern gadgetry and weapons.’

  ‘He works for you?’

  ‘I am in charge sir, yes. I also get help from other members of my crew. They just love to play enemy.’

  ‘I think I would like to see this for myself.’

  ‘We have a full training program going on now. Feel free to pop in. Just tell Mya when you want to come, she will let me know.’

  CHAPTER 31

  ‘Emperors, Kings, Heads of State, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. My Name is Michael Montgomery, and I am the elected representative of the people of Earth. I wish to welcome you all to this event. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Emperor of the great Modloch Empire, for allowing us to hold this event within his great palace. As a people we are humbled by your consideration.’ He bowed to the Emperor who waved a hand in recognition.

  ‘As you already know, this is a bid to win enough support to sponsor an application to join the Galactic Brotherhood of Races. To even reach this point is a milestone for the Human race. A few short years ago, we didn’t even know there was life on other planets.’

  This brought forth a great guff of laughter from the audience.

  The President also laughed, ‘I know. It all seems so stupid now. I
for one always believed there was life in the great expanse of space. As did many other Humans. Very few of us, however, believed that the technology existed to travel the great distances involved. We were wrong. I was wrong. In fact we were very, very, wrong. Our first encounter of alien life was not another species but two self-aware ships in dire need of a crew. Those ships picked their own captains, two people they thought worthy of them. As it was, they were not only worthy of the ships but of the whole Human race.

  ‘They led us into the depths of space where they came upon what we called the Black Planet. It harboured a sinister secret. On the planet’s surface they found a building, and within the building, thousands of our fellow citizens. These people were being held there for experimentation.

  Our sun is deadly to all other races from this side of the barrier. For anyone here but a Human, to cross the great barrier is a death sentence. A race called the Albany, however, lived long enough to discover our home world and the untouched wealth of our solar system. Their greed led them on a quest to try and bind the genetics of both our races together, so they could live in our solar system. They succeeded, though it cost the lives of thousands of Humans. Men, women, children, even babies were sacrificed in this quest. They have the audacity to call us filthy animals, but I will not linger on this matter.

  ‘You are all aware of Grand Admiral Gairloch’s story, how he came to our planet, of how we welcomed him in to our homes and hearts, and his joy at what he found. He called Earth “the crown jewel of the Galaxy.”

  ‘If it wasn’t for Gairloch, none of us would be here now. It was he who encouraged us to make this journey to your part of the galaxy, to cross the great barrier.

  ‘You may ask yourself why would he do that for a race of meat-eaters. What we wish to impart upon you is the knowledge that he gained. There is as much diversity in the Human race as there is life on our planet’s surface. Not all Humans eat meat. Indeed, my own daughter is a vegetarian: a Human being that refuses to eat any form of meat. But I am not going to try and gloss over this point. We do eat meat, I eat meat, yet what most of you don’t realise is that meat only makes up a small portion of the Human diet.

  ‘Tonight we invited you to a feast, of which all here partook. We watched carefully what food each race tried. You all sampled the grasses we provided. There were heathers which some of you tried. Some loved it, some hated it. Many of you tried the fruit, but not only tried it, went back for seconds. The mango, coconut, pineapple and lychees were devoured. A dozen different varieties of apple disappeared. You all loved the nuts, especially the walnuts, and let us not forget those mushrooms in jelly.’ There was a grumble of agreement from his audience.

  ‘It is a delicacy you will be glad to hear that Humans cannot partake of. You may have them all.’ That brought forth a polite ripple of laughter.

  ‘We knew you would like them because Gairloch and his crew loved them. These fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries and grasses are only a miniscule portion of what our planet produces. Yet this miniscule portion is still more than all of your planets can produce put together.’ That brought forward a grumble of discontent.

  He held up a hand. ‘We know that in order to survive your races had to take to the stars at a far earlier age than ours did. Your planets were as once diverse. Yet to sustain yourselves, you were forced to reduce your crops to one or two types of grasses. You were forced to give up delicacies in order to feed your masses, to build high to save as much soil as possible. On each world you terraformed you did exactly the same thing.

  ‘We Humans have never had to do that. We have been able to preserve that which you lost. The reason we have been able to do that is twofold. To begin with, we cannot eat grass. The second reason is that we have to preserve the environment for the animals we do eat. Many of those also eat the same fruit and vegetables that we do.

  ‘However, mankind has gone much further than simply preserving the species we depend upon for our survival. Years ago we discovered that there were many species on our planet that were going extinct. We were destroying vast tracts of our world to produce areas that would sustain our domestic livestock, areas where there were animals that could only survive in that part of the world. They had adapted to eating vegetation that only existed there.

  ‘We decided to preserve those areas, to protect those habitats and the animals that depended on them for survival. We protected millions of square miles of wilderness where no domestic animals were allowed to go, where many of the species were actually dangerous to man.

  ‘In places where there were animals that were about to go extinct we captured breeding pairs and bred them in captivity. When there were enough we released their offspring back into the wild.

  ‘I am sure a few of you are wondering why I am telling you all this. The answer is simple: to show we are not the filthy meat eating scum that our enemies have portrayed us as. As the Grand Admiral said, Earth is a jewel. We don’t murder and eat everything in our paths. We believe in life and the preservation of our planet as it is. Many Human beings have endangered their own lives or even lost their lives in the name of such preservation.

  ‘There is one other benefit that we have reaped over the years, though we did not realise it at first. Many of the areas we preserved were very inaccessible. We would send scientists into these areas to monitor the wildlife and plant life there. They began to catalogue the different flora and fauna and send samples back. On doing so we discovered thousands of new species. These included new food sources, fruits, and medicines to help heal the sick.

  ‘Of course, it is easy for me to stand here and tell you how wonderful we all are. Where is the evidence?’

  The President turned and lifted an arm. ‘Tonight I am going to present that evidence to you who have so kindly taken the time to hear our plea.’

  A procession began. Large writing desks decorated in a Chinese style were brought in. Temporary stands adjusted to the height of each of the top guests and the desks were placed on top. Gold keys were laid on top of the desks. Many of the guests seemed frightened to touch them, but the Modloch Emperor showed them how. He held up his key, ‘I haven’t seen anything like this outside of a museum.’ Then inserted the key and turned it. Opening his desk made him cry out in joy. It persuaded the others to do the same. There were similar gasps of joy and wonder.

  They found it hard to tear their eyes back to the President. ‘Honoured guests, you will find on the lid a detachable section you can simply pull away and dispose of at your leisure. Inside this section we have digital recordings that are compatible with most of your domestic devices. These contain documentaries on the subjects I have been talking to you about tonight. You will also find a selection of writing materials should you wish to take any notes.’

  His narrative was interrupted by the Emperor who howled with glee as he wrote his name on an A4 blank notepad and showed it to everyone. A competition of sorts got up as they tried to follow suit. They howled with laugher at their own attempts. They also began to compare pens and the craftsmanship that went into making them. Then the desks were inspected and discovered to be wood with mother of pearl, silver and gold inlay.

  The President was beginning to think that they were never going to quieten down. One of the alien Emperors noticed and called out to him, ‘Please continue Mr President. We may be a little over-excited at the beauty of these gifts, but we are still listening.’

  ‘Besides, we don’t want to be here all night, do we,’ The Modloch Emperor added to a gale of laughter.

  The President bowled low while trying to suppress a laugh. ‘I was merely going to point out the contents of your writing desks. However, it seems you have discovered them for yourselves.’ They laughed at that. ‘You will find encyclopaedias documenting much of the work we have done to preserve the wildlife on our planet. They also cover much of the wildlife itself: birds, our great oceans, the vast savannas, flora and fauna.

  ‘The simple point is we are not filthy animals.
We do not wish to be at war with any other race. We have art, music, textiles. We are not ignorant or stupid.

  ‘Since arriving in this part of the galaxy we have hit one stumbling block after another. Because we are part of very few treaties, everything you see before you is vulnerable. We know that many species now lust after our home world. If they succeed, the universe will only get more grass. That’s it. One or two species of grass. You will never taste the variety of grasses you did tonight again. You will never again taste an apple, pear, cabbage, carrot or turnip. They will be as extinct as we are and every other species on Earth.’

  He could see they were listening closely. ‘Many believe that they can destroy us. Can you imagine what would happen if they did? How many other species would join the battle to rape our solar system? We wiped out an Albany battle fleet over three times our number. We took this city ship. We could, and many have suggested that we do so, just pull back behind the great barrier. We could build defences and battle fleets. We are not part of any treaty. If any one species decided to attack us, we could simply cross the barrier and wipe them out. If multiple species try it,’ he shrugged, ‘Same thing. We don’t care. Obviously there would come a time when the great alliance would have to take action. That would mean every nation would have to send a battle fleet into our territory to defeat us. Could you imagine that? We could very well lose. However, there is no guarantee that we would.’

  A number of delegates laughed, but none of the leaders did. The President turned to those that laughed. ‘You would lose every single ship, every single body you sent across. Grand Admiral Gairloch entered our territory with a full thirty thousand Modloch. We found him within a few weeks of crossing the great barrier. By then almost half had already died.