His Majesty's Starship (32 page)

“At this time there were still different nations on our world,” said Arm Wild, “and occasionally they still fought. The last war was fought at the end with viral weapons and one strain got out of control. It was created by the same pride that made us, and it was designed only to attack the DNA of the Ones Who Command.”

James nodded, guessing what was coming, even as the display changed its theme again. Ones Who Command dying like flies. Burning cities, anarchy let loose upon the world.

Peace returned but it was a strained, Pyrrhic peace. Again the display showed different communities from around the world, including a war-scarred Capital, but where there had been crowds, now there were only smaller groups.

“Every One Who Commands on this world was affected by the virus but only about half died. The other half survived, but sterile. The virus had interfered with the initiation stage of their reproductive cycle. The pride that created the virus was dead: others tried to reverse the effects but they never achieved the same breakthroughs as our creators. So, no more Ones Who Command would ever be born. Ones Who Command who were cloned inherited the same sterility.

“The First Breed live longer than humans, James Windsor, about half your average lifespan again, and the Ones Who Command lived even longer than that. That is a long time for a race to die of old age.”

Arm Wild was silent for a moment and the Rusties waited, their heads hanging low. Eventually Arm Wild lifted his head and carried on, and James hated to think of the intensity of emotion that was filtered out by Arm Wild’s translator, leaving just the bland, matter-of-fact words.

“The pride who ruled this nation made contact with the other ruling prides and they buried their differences. They knew there was no escaping their fate but they resolved that their culture would not die. If they could not survive themselves, they would survive in memory. They would perpetuate the civilisation they had created. They handed it over to the First Breed. We would continue on this world and honour their memory.

“But, again, the geneticists had been too clever. When they created the First Breed they were careful not to create a threat to their dominance. They denied us initiative, invention. We know what these concepts are, we value them, but we do not have them. We can look after ourselves, we can have good ideas and we can see what needs to be done if it is clear and apparent, but we cannot think laterally. No First Breed has ever invented or created something new.

“The Ones Who Command trained us up to replace them, but still, our entire civilisation is borrowed. We can appreciate but not originate. We are a race of brilliant mimics, good servants, but we are not creators and we are not leaders.”

The view changed so suddenly that James was dizzy for a moment. He was in space. The Roving hung above him, with orbiting ships and satellites scudding across the sky between him and the far away ground. He looked down at his feet and only saw stars. A prideship lumbered past, seeming to pass into the floor.

“So the Ones Who Command chose to look elsewhere for a race that could rule this world,” said Arm Wild. “They were already doing research into step-through and they redoubled their efforts. A century after the war ended, they had interstellar flight. Over the next fifty years they discovered various potential candidate races, yours among them. Ones Who Command who were only infants when the war broke out devised the Earth Mission and the Convocation. They laid out the rules that must be followed and the procedures to which we had to adhere. First Breed crews – by now all the crews were First Breed, there were only a handful of Ones Who Command left – observed your world for forty years so that the Ones Who Command back on the Roving could learn about you and invent the translators.”

Arm Wild stopped speaking and the images faded away. Humans and Rusties were left standing in the gloom, looking at each other.

“This is fascinating,” Krishnamurthy said when it became obvious Arm Wild didn’t intend to continue, “but why are we here?”

“Can’t you guess?” James said, and light poured into the chamber from behind them. They turned round to see the door that had opened in the wall of the chamber to let in the light, which was suddenly obscured by large, gleaming shapes that moved through the doorway and glided towards them.

*

“What was that about?” Gilmore came up through the hatch, stretching, just as Ganschow’s image vanished.

“Good morning, sir,” Hannah said. “All repairs are completed and the prince has vanished.”

“The day gets better and better.” Gilmore rubbed his neck. “How definite is that?”

“I imagine Mr Ganschow’s looked everywhere plausible.”

Gilmore frowned. “Does UK-1 know?”

“I suspect they’re going to shortly.”

“Hmm.” Gilmore sat at the command desk and idly checked the displays. Hannah knew he wasn’t as dismissive as he appeared. Sure enough: “He can’t have vanished! What could he have done? Gone for a midnight walk and got lost?”

“Or someone got him lost,” Samad suggested.

“The Dome’s still under guard by the Rusties,” Hannah said. “They’d have stopped any foul play from our own species.”

They considered the implications which that raised in silence.

*

The shapes were globes, transparent, and inside each was a One Who Commands. Each globe was mounted on a flat platform that slid across the floor towards James and Krishnamurthy. Inside, each creature reclined on a couch with cables rising from out of the platform plugged into it. The design was alien but James recognised a life support system when he saw one.

The globes made a half circle around them. All the Rusties had moved their front legs apart and were hanging their heads low.

“Greetings, Excellency R.V. Krishnamurthy, Prince James Windsor,” said a voice. It was exactly the same voice as a Rustie’s translator unit used and it was impossible to tell which of the globes it came from, but the One Who Commands in the centre globe had lifted its head up and was looking right at them. “I am March Sage Savour, leader of this planet.”

James bowed, Krishnamurthy put his palms together.

“Our servants of the First Breed have done well in coming this far,” March Sage Savour said. “You now know the full facts. The purpose of the Convocation was to find a compatible race that could take our place. We have studied the presentations of the delegates and the reports of the First Breed on the Earth Mission, but the two of you together have displayed the best empirical evidence of your worthiness to follow us.”

The One Who Commands looked at James. “We were already impressed by your performance, by Polyglot, by your captain’s strategy against
Shivaji
, but UK-1’s use of step-through surpasses all that. A clear sign of initiative and invention, and above all of the technological ability needed for this task.”

It looked at Krishnamurthy. “You have not impressed us so much in that area. Your ship, indeed all your space technology, is acquired from other Earth governments. However, your grasp of the way we have run our planet in time past is exemplary. What you did took daring and courage. The other governments sought to impress us with words. You used actions.”

March Sage Savour paused. “We have debated long and hard on this point, because we originally imagined only one government replacing us, but we cannot escape the facts. James Windsor, your government has the technology. R.V. Krishnamurthy, your government has the will and the understanding. We invite you jointly to replace us. Do you accept?”

James and Krishnamurthy slowly turned their heads to look at each other.

Him? James thought. This madman? You know what he’s like. What sort of creature are you if you think he’s going to make a good replacement?

What was going through Krishnamurthy’s mind, he could only guess.

Krishnamurthy was opening his mouth to speak so James said something, anything, to interrupt.

“Why us?” he said.

“March Sage Savour has already explained that, Windsor,” Krishnamurthy snapped. He turned back to the Ones Who Command. “On behalf of my gov-”

“I meant,” James said, “why us humans? Were we the only other race you found?”

“That is an excellent question,” March Sage Savour said. It looked at Krishnamurthy. “Take note of that. Arm Wild, show them.”

Planets hung in space around James: apparently separated by a few feet, in fact separated by lightyears. Thirteen of them: the homeworlds of the species recognisable as sentient that the Rusties had discovered. One was Earth.

“We eliminated all those whose biospheres were incompatible with our own,” said Arm Wild. Five vanished and the remaining eight realigned themselves, to be spaced evenly around the watchers.

“Four have not yet reached what we considered a desirable technological stage. In your own terms, the least developed appeared to be at the stone age, the most developed was approaching the use of industrial technology. We have seen evidence of steam power. Remember that all our observations are done covertly, from orbit, so we cannot be too specific.”

Four more worlds vanished. Four were left.

“Two of these have achieved limited space flight. One has sent robot probes as far as its nearest neighbour, the next planet in towards their sun. The other has so far confined itself to artificial satellites in its own orbit. Neither has sent people into space.”

“This information is current?” Krishnamurthy asked.

“Indeed, yes. They are still under observation.”

“And this world?” James indicated the only planet left that wasn’t Earth. Arm Wild paused before answering.

“It was the second potential candidate world that we discovered, and at first almost ideal for our purposes. They are a spacegoing civilisation, very similar in scope and scale to ours and to your own. Therefore, it was thought, they would have had the mental capacity to accept the technological concepts we would introduce.”

“What stopped you?”

“This.” Another planet appeared suddenly. “The next planet out from their own in the same solar system. A different atmosphere, different biosphere and inhabited by its own native species, less advanced technologically. We arrived just in time to witness their extermination by their neighbours. The Ones Who Command did not think this was auspicious, so we remained hidden.”

Fleets of ships fell upon the world and the glare of nuclear weapons shone out against its surface. “I see,” said James thoughtfully. Aerial views showed communities being razed, forests being burned. Intercepted transmissions from the aggressors showed the wholesale slaughter of the natives with no quarter being given. James glanced at the other human present.

“You should get on well with them,” he said.

Krishnamurthy said nothing.

“There is more,” Arm Wild said. “Sooner or later, and probably sooner, these beings will discover how to leave their system. They are at a similar stage to you, and before UK-1 arrived here we estimated you were perhaps thirty years away from inventing step-through. Our sun is bright in their sky. When they invent step-through themselves, they will come to us.”

James felt a sudden chill. The ancestral dread of homicidal aliens finally coming true. “Your need is suddenly more urgent,” he said.

“Precisely. If they are met with strength then perhaps they will not be a threat. Perhaps they have already learnt from their past actions, as your species did with its treatment of peoples who were considered inferior. Whatever: we must be prepared.

“And there will be others out there already, vastly more advanced than ourselves. It is unreasonable to assume that we are at the peak of this galaxy’s technological development-”

“Enough, Arm Wild,” March Sage Savour said. It looked at the two humans. “So, again I ask, do you accept our offer?”

*

“So, tell me about the repairs,” Gilmore said. Hannah opened up the display on her aide.

“Well, sir, they sealed up the holes in the drive and centrifuge compartments with ferro-polymer panels. Um. The ring was repressurised slowly and found to be airtight ... oh yes, one of the ring’s tracks was buckled and a section needed replacing, but after that the ring spun perfectly.”

“Excellent,” Gilmore said.

“All fuel lines were intact but they tested them anyway. All the original optical circuitry has been restored ... they stripped the main engine down and put it together again ...”

“What about the auxiliaries? They took a battering.”

“Yes, but it was just a matter of dented casing and their operation wasn’t affected. We still have the dented casing.”

“Fair enough.”

“And we’ve been asked to move away from UK-1 and rejoin the fleet, so that Algol can have our space.”

“My god, of course!” Gilmore said. “Their need’s far more urgent than ours. Get clearance from Traffic Control and we’ll move at once- what’s that?”

That was another priority message flashing.

“It’s an all-ships alert,” Hannah said.

“All ships?” Gilmore perked up. “Saying?”

“Stand by for an important announcement in five minutes.” Hannah’s eyes scanned the text quickly. “Oh my god. They’ve decided.”

- 23 -

23-24 May 2149

The formal announcement was made two hours later, shortly after
Ark Royal
had rejoined the delegation fleet in its former orbit. Iron Run made the announcement from the centre of the Dome, with a freshly brushed, shaved and scrubbed Prince James standing on one side and an equally immaculate R.V. Krishnamurthy on the other. The leader of the Rusties announced to all delegates and ships from Earth that joint sovereignty of the Roving had been awarded to the Confederation of South-East Asia and the United Kingdom. An information pack giving the reasoning behind the decision was available from ...

The crew of the
Ark Royal
watched in slack-jawed amazement as Iron Run made the final announcement:

“The Convocation is over.”

“Get a copy of that information pack,” Gilmore said. “I’d like to know what possessed them.”

Silence returned to the flight deck as the crew digested the news internally, each in their own way.