The Voting Species (2 page)

The Admiral
looked around the boardroom thoughtfully before clasping his hands
together. He glanced at the Commander who was now struggling to
contain his faint smile. ‘If I understand you correctly gentlemen,
you now wish me to spend a significant amount of my ever decreasing
budget on hunting down and capturing three humans and at least
seven aliens. A tough enough job finding humans, with all aliens
looking alike I suggest that finding them in the Cyan jungle would
be close to impossible. Which of course begs the question, what do
I charge them with? Could you help me out here Mr Stanford? What do
you think the Galactic Prosecutor would say if I took a case like
this to her?’ The Admiral thought it prudent to adopt his formal
manner. ‘The case would be: A group calling itself health
researchers, made up of three humans and an indeterminate number of
aliens, total about ten, attacked with bows and arrows about twenty
or one hundred and twenty rifle carrying guards. These guards were
covertly protecting an unlicensed nuclear project. The aliens
started the battle with bows and arrows which they had mastered,
then went on to finish it with laser rifles which they had also
mastered. This resulted in twelve wounded guards, the rest were
floored; after the battle they all stood up and walked away.
Further to this a gunship was downed by something, there being no
evidence of another ship in the area at the time. The evidence
against the humans suggests they defrauded the guards of two meals
and subjected them to a prank. As for the aliens, they cannot be
charged because they are not humans.’ The Admiral paused and after
glancing at all three he completed his statement. ‘Under all these
circumstances gentlemen, could the Prosecutor even regard the
guards as reliable witnesses!’

The Admiral leant back in his chair whilst
looking at his visitors. ‘I trust you see my dilemma
gentlemen.’

Their faces had softened as the Admiral
unveiled his legal predicament. ‘Surely you can see our problem
Admiral?’ Senator Goring asked. ‘We can’t have important medical
research interfered with.’

‘I think you must see my problem Senator,
after our quantum feedback it appears there may be a case of
vivisection for the Cyanese authorities to answer!’

‘How come?’

‘It appears this research was conducted on
native Cyanese, clearly against the law.’

‘
Not at all
Admiral, we had only set things up in anticipation of a
licence.’

‘I would like to help Senator, but we can
never coexist with intelligent aliens unless the law is changed to
give them the same status as humans.’

‘
Who said
they’re intelligent?’

‘
Oh I forgot,
the Senate doesn’t recognize genetics tests.’

‘That’s the same old cry we’re getting from
the bleeding hearts Admiral.’

‘
I know, but
as for this other species who could win battles when outnumbered by
two to one,’ he glanced in turn at the three of them, ‘maybe even
ten to one, you should be making sure they’re on your side…just a
thought Senator.’ The Admiral felt he had turned the righteous tide
in his favour as he faced his screen and waved his hand over
assorted icons. ‘Now, what was that reference, CY589834, ah…I see
that the research does involve about a thousand natives. I take it
they were subjected to questioning only, their biology was not
affected in anyway?’ he looked at Stanford.

‘That’s correct Admiral.’

‘
In that
case, why the uranium?’

‘Are you questioning us?’ Senator Cantrell
asked, reverting to his pompous manner.

‘
I’m just
doing my job Senator, there’s no telling what affect nuclear
poisoning would have on these natives! As I asked, why the
uranium?’

‘
So far,
there was no use of uranium, no doubt you will read our application
in full,’ Senator Goring continued, ‘we need to expand our efforts
in the field of native conservation, it is only right that we
research cheaper medical techniques to conserve such an interesting
people.’

The Admiral had heard this excuse before,
usually in the cause of cheap labour. ‘Suppose you get your sums
wrong and you over populate Cyan with natives?’

‘We will have to come to some arrangement
with them regarding their breeding habits. After all we have birth
control, why not natives?’

‘
If the
Senate refuses your licence, what then?’

‘Then we’ll have to honour that decision, and
find other ways of conserving them.’

The Admiral had to ask the question of his
betters. ‘Why don’t you give them the vote!’

Senator
Goring squirmed a challenge. ‘You do realize Admiral, that if
natives ever get the vote it would be easier for them to form their
own armies in the name of protecting their planets, then where
would the military be?’

‘
In exactly
the same position as we are now, according to our quantums it
appears there are already a thousand angry natives in the area of
your research lab, if that’s not an army, what is?’

‘You can’t blame hooliganism of that scale on
humans Admiral.’

‘I have to ask another question Senator, what
part did your guards play in this hooliganism?’

‘They have a right to protect
themselves.’

‘Not very well it appears! Should I need to
expand my ranks Senator, I would use those aliens that were so
outnumbered.’

‘
You inferred
that you had found our complaint incredible!’

‘
No I didn’t,
I stated that you didn’t have a legal case. Warriors of that
calibre would be worth looking for.’ he paused, ‘I would recruit
shiploads of them, providing it was legal of course.’

By the look in their eyes, the three august
visitors got the Admiral’s point. The Commander’s face remained
expressionless.

‘Now gentlemen, I assume that’s as far as we
can go, I wish you luck with your application. Are there any more
questions?’ The Admiral soaked in the silence of his visitors, then
he and the Commander stood up. The three copied them, then moved
purposefully to the door.

‘
The
receptionist will see you out.’ He continued softly, ‘Thanks for
your inputs.’

Once again
the two of them were left to ponder the fruits of one of their many
meetings.

‘They won’t be happy Admiral.’

‘I know Commander, that’s why whatever we
decide to do, we’ll have to do it quickly!’ He mused awhile. ‘As
soon as the Prospector lands, get them all up here.’

‘Even the aliens?’

‘Especially the aliens!’

SOMEBODY’S OUT THERE

Sixteen
assorted beings were marched through the corridors of intrigue by
Commander Kronstein, collecting many glances from usually
disinterested office personnel. The humans gave polite nods as they
passed by these members of their own species. The warriors were now
in black military uniforms that stressed their athletic stature.
They had dressed not just for office protocol, for the first time
in their lives they had been out of their own warm climate. The
Admiral had concluded that they should pose as humans for now, thus
they attracted nearly as much attention as if they’d stayed
native.

On the trek to the boardroom, Denton’s
curiosity as usual got the better of him. ‘Prof, those gorgeous
females all dressed in black, what would their chromosome count
be?’

‘It’s no good getting broody Alan,
interbreeding is out.’

‘Probably because they wouldn’t find me hairy
enough?’

‘That’s not it, their evolution doesn’t want
to go into reverse.’

‘Thanks Prof.’

The sixteen
of them piled into the boardroom. Admiral Maltravers and Commander
Kronstein looked impressed to the point of showing their humanity,
Lieutenant Hernandez, the Chief Science Officer had joined them.
‘Please ladies and gentlemen, sit down,’ asked the Admiral. It was
then that the military sat along one side of the table opposite the
human complement, the other two sides shared the warriors equally.
Boss was asked to take the place to the right and closest to the
Admiral. ‘Ah,’ he remembered, ‘I have a little present for our
friends from Planet AO2374.’

The
Lieutenant’s ever cheerful face from under his dark untidy hair lit
up, as he reached under the table for a box that he placed in front
of the Admiral; who seemed to take some delight in unpacking the
now redundant neck band translators and taking them to the
warriors. ‘Please Professor, explain to them that they can now
converse with us.’

The humans
could only grin.

‘
Somebody
speak to our hosts,’ said Boss. The other warriors started to
chatter in impeccable speech, the humans replied. There was mutual
delight that they
had already bridged the
DNA gap with language as well as their actions. The Admiral sat
again and let the chatter go on as a celebration until this initial
excitement wavered. Slowly, two by two, eyes turned to the Admiral
who showed satisfaction with the progress of his warrior staff, but
surprise at the redundancy of his communications staff.

Denton just couldn’t resist, ‘Once again the
Military ignores old technology Admiral.’

The Admiral’s smile had little trouble
escaping his formality.

‘
I
will assume you can all understand me,’ he
started less formally than usual, ‘as men…and women of action I
will not bore you with too much detail. I must start by thanking
you all for the great service you have done the Galaxy and the
Military. The launch pad you have given us allows a clearer view on
where we go from here, whilst leaving our enemies confused. This
achieved as much with bows and arrows as with our genetics
armoury…which reminds me…why did you use only one volley of
arrows?’ The Admiral then looked at Boss.

Boss looked puzzled by the question. ‘We
calculated they would charge bowmen, but would run from
riflemen.’

The Admiral
then moved his look to Tubary. ‘
What
helped you hide the Prospector so well?’

‘
Camouflage
nets supplied by our friends from Planet AO2374!’

‘
I see.’ The
Admiral
’s eyes widened a moment before he
continued, ‘Your evidence and logic leads to the conclusion that at
least a thousand native Cyanese have been used in epigenetic
experiments, they were used as lab rats in fact. The purpose of
this was to find a way of epigenetically programming people from
Planet 2374. The perpetrators were also from Planet 2374. I now ask
you, where do we go from here?’

The warriors
joined in with a selection of ideas that were not only outside the
box, but very nearly outside the Galaxy. All the humans were
enthralled by the sharp logic of their extraterrestrial guests. The
Professor competed well, Mick, Tubary and Denton held their own, as
for the Military they were on their home ground as well as their
home planet. The challenge was getting something agreed that could
be put into action within a few days. After only a quarter of an
hour, Tubary threw his offering into the evolving strategy. ‘When
I’m cornered in a bout against somebody the size of Mick coming at
me, I can only counter attack.’ All joined in while absorbing his
idea, the faces around the table began to light up one by one until
all the beings of action were nodding as one. The military were
thinking as one.

Admiral Maltravers looked along his side of
the table. ‘Lieutenant Hernandez?’

‘I see no technical obstacles Admiral.’

‘Commander Kronstein?’

‘
All
communication channels could be cleared Admiral.’

‘Ladies and gentlemen, under all the
circumstances I have no choice but to adopt this plan.’

The chatter
of relief burst out, much of it being caused by the welling up of
interspecific curiosity. Coffee and fruit juice flowed after both
species had got up from their chairs to mingle; it now became the
relaxed aftermath of a serious meeting.

After
a few days, rumours started to spread around the
Globe about a strange spaceship that had been detected out along
the Orion Arm. It was nothing more than mild speculation at first,
as the days passed the inevitable witnesses and experts
materialized through the media, it was as though teleportation
existed. The publicity was so well orchestrated that the single
ship multiplied into hundreds and they were breaking all speed
records in their rush to destroy Earth. Not even calls for calm by
Interplanetary News Net’s stalwart Casper Ballantyne could calm the
world. The headlines shrieked, ‘WHERE WAS THE MILITARY?’ WHY HADN’T
THE SHIPS BEEN DESTROYED?’

‘Estimated time of arrival?’ grinned the
Admiral.

‘Whenever we like Admiral, before or after
lunch?’ the Commander smiled back.

‘Everything else set?’

‘Yes, your public awaits.’

The crowds
had now gathered around the Senate balcony, screaming for action.
The media had every available telecoms interface thrusting in one
direction ready to flash the Military’s news statement throughout
the Galaxy. The Admiral appeared with deliberate calm, resisting
the temptation to raise his arms as dictators do. The noise was
hardly acclamation but took the form of a barrage of questions. The
Admiral seemed to be born to the game, it occurred to him that now
would be the perfect time to take control of the planet! He waited
for the raging human sea beneath him to calm. Standing immaculately
in black, he felt secure that any stabbing in his back from
senators would be futile at this time.