This is the latest in a series of fanfic prequels to Isaac Asimov's early story "Black Friar of the Flame", detailing the history of humanity's interactions with the reptilian Vegans. Previous stories are "New Management", "An Audience with the King", and "Repurposed". And now, without further ado, the first installment of
Shore Leave
by Johnny Pez
Captain Wern Thorba had to pause for a moment as he left the boat to let his eyes adjust to the dim sunlight. The Sirians lived under a sun that was nearly as bright as Vega, so they tended to keep their spacecraft decently lit. The Sirians' Terrestrial allies, though, lived under a dimmer sun, which gave the planet Earth an eerie twilight quality to the Vegan's eyes. Thorba knew in an abstract way that the Terrestrials found their sun's light to be perfectly normal, but he could not escape the feeling that they must secretly find it as unsatisfying as he did.
The view around the boat was equally unsatisfying, but his time with the Sirians had taught Thorba that all spaceports looked pretty much the same, and that it was unfair to judge a world based on the appearance of its spaceport. As he and his men stood by the open hatch of the boat, Thorba saw a self-propelled vehicle -- a bus, the humans called it -- approaching. As he often did at times like this, Thorba tried to imagine such technology being used on Vega VI, his own world. It wasn't easy. The bus would have a difficult time navigating the narrow streets of Lhasinu, capital city of his native Kingdom of Lhasi, and probably an equally difficult time making its way along the rutted dirt roads that ran between Lhasi's cities. Not to mention the fact that the vehicle's hydrogen-combustion engine was centuries in advance of anything found on Vega VI.
The trip on the bus was uneventful as they crossed the wide concrete plain of the spaceport's landing field. Ahead was a terminal building done in what Thorba had come to think of as standard human architecture: rectangular, with a flat roof and glass sides. The bus came to a halt near a pair of glass doors, of the equally standard human sort that slid aside automatically as you approached. Thinking back to his first day as a recruit as Lhasinu Base back on Vega VI, Thorba could still remember his shock at first encountering automatic sliding doors. At least a quarter of the Vegans who had come to Lhasinu Base to sign up with the Sirians had been unable to cope with the doors, convinced that evil spirits must be involved in their use.
As Thorba and his men left the bus the doors slid aside, and they were approached by a human male in the uniform of the Terrestrial Space Navy. He had evidently been well briefed for his mission, for he came directly to Thorba and saluted, saying, "Captain Thorba, I am Lieutenant Tatupu, your liaison." Since humans and Vegans had a difficult time telling individuals of the other race apart, Thorba assumed that Tatupu had relied on his uniform's rank badges to distinguish him from his men. He might be wrong, though; it was possible for members of one race to train themselves to recognize distiguishing characteristics in the other.
Tatupu was taller and broader than most of the humans Thorba had met, with the usual black human hair. Thorba had mostly become used to the appearance of humans, but he still found hair disturbing. Fortunately, Tatupu, like most human males in the military, kept his hair very short, which made it easier to ignore.
Thorba returned Tatupu's salute and said, "Good day, Lieutenant. You will be in charge of escorting my men through customs, correct?"
"That's right, Captain. If you and your men will just follow me, I'll get you all sorted out."
Tatupu led the Vegans through the terminal while Thorba made sure that none of his men strayed off. They mostly avoided the crowds of humans by making their way through an otherwise empty corridor. As far as Thorba knew, he and his men were the first Vegans to visit Earth, so he doubted the corridor had been constructed specifically for them. No doubt it had been designed so that important humans could avoid the crowds, and the Terrestrial Space Navy had commandeered it for the Vegans' benefit.
The corridor led to a large room, dimly-lit as everything else on Earth was, occupied by a desk with a human female sitting behind it. She had hair as dark as Tatupu's, but longer, and rather elaborately styled. Her skin was darker than the Navy man's, and she wore civilian clothing. The two humans conferred for a few minutes, and then Tatupu turned back to Thorba and said, "Ms. Walsh tells me that everything is in order. I have a vehicle waiting to take you and your men to the hotel where they'll be staying."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Thorba said. "Lead the way."
Another stretch of empty corridor led to another set of sliding doors, which opened out onto . . .
Earth.
(to be continued)
Showing posts with label Lhasinu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lhasinu. Show all posts
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Repurposed
If you thought we were done with the fanfic prequels to Isaac Asimov's "Black Friar of the Flame", you thought wrong! In the stirring tradition of "New Management" and "An Audience with the King" comes . . .
Repurposed
by Johnny Pez
Dr. Nelda Hartz was shocked, to say the least, to find one of Admiral Roh's marines pointing a gun at her when she returned to Lhasinu Base. The marine escorted her to her quarters, and she was even more shocked to find that her possessions had all been removed. She attempted to call Admiral Roh, but her monitor had been disabled. In fact, she was unable to speak to anybody else in Lhasinu Base except for the marine, who had stationed himself outside her door. It was really quite astonishing how easily her quarters had been converted into a prison cell.
Lacking any other means to communicate her wishes, she finally said to the marine, "I'd like to speak with Admiral Roh, please."
The marine looked at her without expression as he replied, "I'll pass along your request, ma'am." And that was all. Would he shoot her if she tried to leave? She preferred not to experiment.
Her books had been removed with the rest of her belongings, and the monitor was still disabled, so Hartz found herself in the extremely unusual position of having no way to pass the time. She stared out of the window at the grounds of Lhasinu Base, and at the primitive, alien buildings of Lhasinu visible beyond the base's outer wall. The more distant parts of the city were obscured by the falling rain, and puddles were forming in their usual places within the base. She was briefly puzzled when the scene outside began to grow dark, then realized with a start that night was falling, and that she had been sitting and staring out of the window for hours.
It was nearly full dark when the door to her room opened and the lights came up. Turning from the window, Hartz saw Admiral Roh Bon-hwa standing in the doorway, dressed in the white version of his Sirian Navy uniform. A marine entered the room behind him, a different one from the one who had been guarding her door earlier.
"Doctor Hartz," said the Admiral, "I must ask you to accompany me."
Hartz sighed and rose from her place by the window. "Can you at least tell me what's going on?"
she asked as she followed him from the room. The marine followed behind her.
"Lhasinu Base is being repurposed," Roh replied as they walked through the corridors. "The research establishment is being closed down, and the base will be used as a training camp for the Vegan recruits. You and the other scientists are being flown up to the Dauntless, to be taken back to Sirius for internment. Your personal effects have already been transferred up to the Dauntless."
Hartz had suspected all along that the base personnel would wind up being shipped back to Sirius for internment, but Admiral Roh seemed to be moving quickly. She noticed that they were moving in the direction of the base's landing field.
As the three emerged from the building, Hartz found a minor sense of relief that the rain had stopped. She strongly suspected that Roh would not have bothered to provide her with an umbrella. The area around the Sirian Navy boat was lit by floodlights, and they provided enough light to allow Hartz to navigate around the various puddles that were scattered across the landing field.
Roh unexpectedly spoke up. "If it's any consolation, Dr. Hartz, I believe the Sirian government is planning to establish its own research base on Vega Six after the war. I wouldn't be surprised if scientists from the other nations were allowed to take part."
Hartz found the use of the phrase "other nations" jarring. It looked like the human race really was reverting back to the 21st century. And now that the Sirians were recruiting Vegan soldiers, the Vegans would soon be experiencing a technological leap forward.
As they entered the boat, Hartz found herself wondering what would happen when the advancing Vegans caught up with the regressing humans.
THE END
Repurposed
by Johnny Pez
Dr. Nelda Hartz was shocked, to say the least, to find one of Admiral Roh's marines pointing a gun at her when she returned to Lhasinu Base. The marine escorted her to her quarters, and she was even more shocked to find that her possessions had all been removed. She attempted to call Admiral Roh, but her monitor had been disabled. In fact, she was unable to speak to anybody else in Lhasinu Base except for the marine, who had stationed himself outside her door. It was really quite astonishing how easily her quarters had been converted into a prison cell.
Lacking any other means to communicate her wishes, she finally said to the marine, "I'd like to speak with Admiral Roh, please."
The marine looked at her without expression as he replied, "I'll pass along your request, ma'am." And that was all. Would he shoot her if she tried to leave? She preferred not to experiment.
Her books had been removed with the rest of her belongings, and the monitor was still disabled, so Hartz found herself in the extremely unusual position of having no way to pass the time. She stared out of the window at the grounds of Lhasinu Base, and at the primitive, alien buildings of Lhasinu visible beyond the base's outer wall. The more distant parts of the city were obscured by the falling rain, and puddles were forming in their usual places within the base. She was briefly puzzled when the scene outside began to grow dark, then realized with a start that night was falling, and that she had been sitting and staring out of the window for hours.
It was nearly full dark when the door to her room opened and the lights came up. Turning from the window, Hartz saw Admiral Roh Bon-hwa standing in the doorway, dressed in the white version of his Sirian Navy uniform. A marine entered the room behind him, a different one from the one who had been guarding her door earlier.
"Doctor Hartz," said the Admiral, "I must ask you to accompany me."
Hartz sighed and rose from her place by the window. "Can you at least tell me what's going on?"
she asked as she followed him from the room. The marine followed behind her.
"Lhasinu Base is being repurposed," Roh replied as they walked through the corridors. "The research establishment is being closed down, and the base will be used as a training camp for the Vegan recruits. You and the other scientists are being flown up to the Dauntless, to be taken back to Sirius for internment. Your personal effects have already been transferred up to the Dauntless."
Hartz had suspected all along that the base personnel would wind up being shipped back to Sirius for internment, but Admiral Roh seemed to be moving quickly. She noticed that they were moving in the direction of the base's landing field.
As the three emerged from the building, Hartz found a minor sense of relief that the rain had stopped. She strongly suspected that Roh would not have bothered to provide her with an umbrella. The area around the Sirian Navy boat was lit by floodlights, and they provided enough light to allow Hartz to navigate around the various puddles that were scattered across the landing field.
Roh unexpectedly spoke up. "If it's any consolation, Dr. Hartz, I believe the Sirian government is planning to establish its own research base on Vega Six after the war. I wouldn't be surprised if scientists from the other nations were allowed to take part."
Hartz found the use of the phrase "other nations" jarring. It looked like the human race really was reverting back to the 21st century. And now that the Sirians were recruiting Vegan soldiers, the Vegans would soon be experiencing a technological leap forward.
As they entered the boat, Hartz found herself wondering what would happen when the advancing Vegans caught up with the regressing humans.
THE END
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
An Audience with the King
It turns out I'm not finished with the Lhasinu after all.
An Audience with the King
by Johnny Pez
Carg Jendo Porga, beloved of the Gods, King of the Lhasi and defender of his people, liked to relax in a small dining room a nice long distance away from his throne room. The dining room had a wide window that faced out onto the Blue Courtyard, and while he ate Carg would gaze out upon the twin fountains that gave the courtyard its name. Normally, his staff knew better than to interrupt him while he was eating his lunch there, so he knew something very important was going on when his chamberlain entered the small dining room.
Carg sighed. "What is it, Trel?"
"Sire, the learned Nelda Hartz has come requesting an audience."
And that was important enough to be worth an interrupted lunch. The learned Nelda Hartz was the leader of the sky people, who had occupied a villa here in Lhasinu for over fifty years. The sky people, Carg knew, were literally from the sky, though they disclaimed the title of gods. They insisted they were mortal, just like people in Lhasi and the Tresinuic Empire and everywhere else Carg had heard of. That they grew old and died, Carg knew from reports he and his predecessors had received from the time the sky people had first appeared in Lhasinu.
Nevertheless, the sky people routinely flew their metal ships up into the sky, and back again. They also had weapons that could kill at a great distance, something Carg also knew from reports that went back decades. They didn't use their weapons very often, but when they did, the sky people were unstoppable. The full extent of their powers was unknown, and it had been the policy of the Kings of Lhasi to do nothing that might cause the sky people to reveal just what the full extent of their powers might be.
It hadn't been a difficult policy to follow. The sky people seemed content to remain in their villa, emerging now and then to look at the people of Lhasi, as well as the kingdom's plants and animals, its marshes and forests and rivers, and even its rocks. Nevertheless, maintaining friendly relations with the sky people was one of the paramount duties of the Kings of Lhasi, if not the paramount duty. So, when Carg's chamberlain said that the leader of the sky people wished an audience, Carg was not minded to refuse her, or even delay her request.
"Very well, Trel, show her in."
Trel did so. The learned Nelda Hartz assumed the standard posture of respect, and Carg quickly bade her rise, and invited her to join him at his meal. The learned Nelda Hartz joined him at his place before the window, and looked at him with those peculiar eyes. It required a considerable effort of will for Carg to refrain from staring at her face, especially when small flaps of skin flicked down over her eyes; eye lids, Carg knew they were called.
"You are here to discuss the Sea Lord's new company?" Carg asked.
The learned Nelda Hartz gave an affirmative tilt to her head. Carg knew that among the sky people, it was customary to nod the head rather than tilt it to indicate agreement. "Have you given thought to the results of your policy?" she asked. Her Lhasinuic was not as fluent as that of her herald, Mac Innis, but Carg had no trouble understanding her.
"I have given thought to the immediate result, which is a reduction in the number of restless, landless younger sons that currently afflict my kingdom."
"Sire, I speak of more distant results. Sooner or later, these young men will return from the stars, and I promise you they will bring highly peculiar and disruptive notions."
"Such as what?"
"Such as the world moving around the sun. Such as other worlds moving around the stars, many of them with sky people living on them. Such as the abolition of the monarchy and rule by commoners."
No doubt Hartz felt that her last example would give Carg pause, and she was right. "Is that how it is among the sky people? No Kings? Rule by commoners?"
"It is, Your Majesty."
Carg slowly rocked his head from side to side in negation. "Learned woman, even if that were true, there is nothing to be done. Having made this decision, I cannot unmake it. I have a reputation for keeping my word, and it mostly consists of keeping to the decisions I have made. In any case, you postulate possible future difficulties. The future must take care of itself. My decision stands."
Carg could tell that Hartz wished to argue further, but she did not. Instead, she made an odd gesture with her shoulders. "Very well, Your Majesty. In that case, consider my words to be a warning. When your subjects return from their service under the Sea Lord Ro, they will bear close scrutiny."
"I do not require a warning from you to know that, learned woman. Nevertheless, I do thank you for your counsel, for I see that it is sincerely given. And if you will indulge me, I would like to know what has brought about this turn of events. Why does the Sea Lord seek to recruit my people now? What has changed?"
Hartz was clearly debating with herself on whether to answer. Finally, she gestured with her shoulders again and said, "It can do no harm to tell you. There is war among the sky people, a civil war."
"I did not know your people fought among themselves as we do."
Hartz was looking out at the Blue Courtyard, but Carg could tell that what passed before her eyes was not the vista of the two fountains. "For a long time, we didn't. When we first began to travel among the stars, it seemed that we had given up war. Star travel seemed to take all our effort, leaving none for war. Also, with so many worlds available, what was there to fight about?"
"But it seems that you have found something to fight about."
Hartz tilted her head. "Power. Those with little want more. Those with much wish to keep it. Now, after seventy years, war has returned to the sky people. But we are out of practice, so the Sea Lord's masters have decided to come to your world and let your people fight for them."
As unfamiliar as the sky people were, Carg could still hear the bitterness in Hartz' words. He also heard something else. "Learned woman, am I right to believe that you and the Sea Lord Ro are on opposite sides in this war?"
Now Hartz turned her strange eyes to look at Carg. "You are wise, Sire. So it is. The Sea Lord's people came to your world with much strength, too much for my own world's forces to resist. So they fled, and now we are prisoners of the Sea Lord."
"You seem to have a great deal of freedom for a prisoner, learned woman."
"It is seeming only," said Hartz, turning back to look at the Blue Courtyard. "My people and I have no way to depart from your world, save by the Sea Lord's leave. It is a most effective prison."
"Will the Sea Lord Ro allow you to continue to study my people?"
"I do not know, Sire. The Sea Lord is playing his tiles close to his vest."
Carg burst into laughter to hear the familiar idiom coming from the sky woman. But he quickly grew sober again. "I should warn you, learned woman, that if any of your people seek asylum from me, I must refuse them. I dare not provoke the Sea Lord Ro."
"I understand," said Hartz. "I will tell my people, though I do not think any of them were planninig to seek asylum." The learned woman rose from her seat and again knelt before him. "I thank you again for your courtesy, Your Majesty. With your permission, I must return to my villa. Or, I suppose I mean the Sea Lord's villa."
The learned Nelda Hartz departed, leaving Carg's mind troubled. If she spoke truly, then the decades of quiet coexistence with the sky people were coming to an end -- had already come to an end. Now turmoil was sweeping across the starry sky, and his people were in the thick of it.
An Audience with the King
by Johnny Pez
Carg Jendo Porga, beloved of the Gods, King of the Lhasi and defender of his people, liked to relax in a small dining room a nice long distance away from his throne room. The dining room had a wide window that faced out onto the Blue Courtyard, and while he ate Carg would gaze out upon the twin fountains that gave the courtyard its name. Normally, his staff knew better than to interrupt him while he was eating his lunch there, so he knew something very important was going on when his chamberlain entered the small dining room.
Carg sighed. "What is it, Trel?"
"Sire, the learned Nelda Hartz has come requesting an audience."
And that was important enough to be worth an interrupted lunch. The learned Nelda Hartz was the leader of the sky people, who had occupied a villa here in Lhasinu for over fifty years. The sky people, Carg knew, were literally from the sky, though they disclaimed the title of gods. They insisted they were mortal, just like people in Lhasi and the Tresinuic Empire and everywhere else Carg had heard of. That they grew old and died, Carg knew from reports he and his predecessors had received from the time the sky people had first appeared in Lhasinu.
Nevertheless, the sky people routinely flew their metal ships up into the sky, and back again. They also had weapons that could kill at a great distance, something Carg also knew from reports that went back decades. They didn't use their weapons very often, but when they did, the sky people were unstoppable. The full extent of their powers was unknown, and it had been the policy of the Kings of Lhasi to do nothing that might cause the sky people to reveal just what the full extent of their powers might be.
It hadn't been a difficult policy to follow. The sky people seemed content to remain in their villa, emerging now and then to look at the people of Lhasi, as well as the kingdom's plants and animals, its marshes and forests and rivers, and even its rocks. Nevertheless, maintaining friendly relations with the sky people was one of the paramount duties of the Kings of Lhasi, if not the paramount duty. So, when Carg's chamberlain said that the leader of the sky people wished an audience, Carg was not minded to refuse her, or even delay her request.
"Very well, Trel, show her in."
Trel did so. The learned Nelda Hartz assumed the standard posture of respect, and Carg quickly bade her rise, and invited her to join him at his meal. The learned Nelda Hartz joined him at his place before the window, and looked at him with those peculiar eyes. It required a considerable effort of will for Carg to refrain from staring at her face, especially when small flaps of skin flicked down over her eyes; eye lids, Carg knew they were called.
"You are here to discuss the Sea Lord's new company?" Carg asked.
The learned Nelda Hartz gave an affirmative tilt to her head. Carg knew that among the sky people, it was customary to nod the head rather than tilt it to indicate agreement. "Have you given thought to the results of your policy?" she asked. Her Lhasinuic was not as fluent as that of her herald, Mac Innis, but Carg had no trouble understanding her.
"I have given thought to the immediate result, which is a reduction in the number of restless, landless younger sons that currently afflict my kingdom."
"Sire, I speak of more distant results. Sooner or later, these young men will return from the stars, and I promise you they will bring highly peculiar and disruptive notions."
"Such as what?"
"Such as the world moving around the sun. Such as other worlds moving around the stars, many of them with sky people living on them. Such as the abolition of the monarchy and rule by commoners."
No doubt Hartz felt that her last example would give Carg pause, and she was right. "Is that how it is among the sky people? No Kings? Rule by commoners?"
"It is, Your Majesty."
Carg slowly rocked his head from side to side in negation. "Learned woman, even if that were true, there is nothing to be done. Having made this decision, I cannot unmake it. I have a reputation for keeping my word, and it mostly consists of keeping to the decisions I have made. In any case, you postulate possible future difficulties. The future must take care of itself. My decision stands."
Carg could tell that Hartz wished to argue further, but she did not. Instead, she made an odd gesture with her shoulders. "Very well, Your Majesty. In that case, consider my words to be a warning. When your subjects return from their service under the Sea Lord Ro, they will bear close scrutiny."
"I do not require a warning from you to know that, learned woman. Nevertheless, I do thank you for your counsel, for I see that it is sincerely given. And if you will indulge me, I would like to know what has brought about this turn of events. Why does the Sea Lord seek to recruit my people now? What has changed?"
Hartz was clearly debating with herself on whether to answer. Finally, she gestured with her shoulders again and said, "It can do no harm to tell you. There is war among the sky people, a civil war."
"I did not know your people fought among themselves as we do."
Hartz was looking out at the Blue Courtyard, but Carg could tell that what passed before her eyes was not the vista of the two fountains. "For a long time, we didn't. When we first began to travel among the stars, it seemed that we had given up war. Star travel seemed to take all our effort, leaving none for war. Also, with so many worlds available, what was there to fight about?"
"But it seems that you have found something to fight about."
Hartz tilted her head. "Power. Those with little want more. Those with much wish to keep it. Now, after seventy years, war has returned to the sky people. But we are out of practice, so the Sea Lord's masters have decided to come to your world and let your people fight for them."
As unfamiliar as the sky people were, Carg could still hear the bitterness in Hartz' words. He also heard something else. "Learned woman, am I right to believe that you and the Sea Lord Ro are on opposite sides in this war?"
Now Hartz turned her strange eyes to look at Carg. "You are wise, Sire. So it is. The Sea Lord's people came to your world with much strength, too much for my own world's forces to resist. So they fled, and now we are prisoners of the Sea Lord."
"You seem to have a great deal of freedom for a prisoner, learned woman."
"It is seeming only," said Hartz, turning back to look at the Blue Courtyard. "My people and I have no way to depart from your world, save by the Sea Lord's leave. It is a most effective prison."
"Will the Sea Lord Ro allow you to continue to study my people?"
"I do not know, Sire. The Sea Lord is playing his tiles close to his vest."
Carg burst into laughter to hear the familiar idiom coming from the sky woman. But he quickly grew sober again. "I should warn you, learned woman, that if any of your people seek asylum from me, I must refuse them. I dare not provoke the Sea Lord Ro."
"I understand," said Hartz. "I will tell my people, though I do not think any of them were planninig to seek asylum." The learned woman rose from her seat and again knelt before him. "I thank you again for your courtesy, Your Majesty. With your permission, I must return to my villa. Or, I suppose I mean the Sea Lord's villa."
The learned Nelda Hartz departed, leaving Carg's mind troubled. If she spoke truly, then the decades of quiet coexistence with the sky people were coming to an end -- had already come to an end. Now turmoil was sweeping across the starry sky, and his people were in the thick of it.
Friday, April 2, 2010
"New Management", part 5
This is the fifth and final installment of "New Management", a fanfic prequel to Isaac Asimov's early blood-and-thunder space opera "Black Friar of the Flame". The first four installments can be found here, here, here, and here.
Wern Thorba was a simple man from the valley of the Serru River. The younger son of a yeoman farmer, Thorba had inherited a modest sum of money upon his father's death, while his eldest brother inherited the family farm. Thorba had looked into the future, and seen a life spent laboring for his brother. This, he decided, was not the life he wanted, so he left the farm and went out to seek his fortune.
For a man of humble origins, the choice of occupations were few: farm laborer, or the priesthood, or soldiering. He had even less wish to work on a stranger's farm than on his brother's, and he felt no calling to serve the Gods, so he signed on with Captain Jord Skarda, and for four years had marched and fought across the sea in the Tresinuic Empire. Four years had ended with Skarda's capture and death at the hands of the barbarian Drantu, and the breakup of his company. Thorba had taken ship back to Lhasi, and was in Lhasinu at the court of King Carg seeking employment in the Royal Guard.
Entering the King's service, though, was no easy task. Lhasi was at peace, and likely to remain so as long as the Tresinuic Emperor was preoccupied fighting off the Drantu. The waiting list for a position in the Guard was currently about half a year long, and the price asked by the Guardmaster to jump him to the front of the list was far beyond his means. He might join the retinue of one of the nobles, but that didn't appeal to him. It mostly meant bullying the noble's peasants, and Thorba had seen enough of that sort of thing under Captain Skarda to last him a lifetime. Worse, if you spent long enough doing something like that, you started to like it. Thorba had seen men like that, and had no wish to become one himself. For now, he remained in Lhasinu hoping something would turn up.
He was in the throne room one day, watching the petitioners present their appeals to the King, when he heard the chamberlain announce, "Presenting to His Majesty the learned Nelda Hartz of the sky people, and members of her company." Thorba found himself craning his neck to see over the heads of the crowd. He had heard of the sky people, as who had not? They were said to occupy a villa here in the capital, and to have command of flying ships that sailed up to the sky and back. He was near the door to the throne room, so he got a good look at the sky people as they entered.
There were eleven of them in all. They seemed much like people at first glance, but the longer you looked at them the stranger they appeared. They all wore far more clothing than normal; with one exception, they were covered from neck to foot. They all had jutting noses, scaleless skin, and most bizarre of all, fur growing from the tops of their heads. As far as Thorba knew, most animals had scaly skin, just like people did; the only exception were the sarks, small pests that gnawed holes in walls and stole food, that had bodies covered in fur. If you took a sark, and changed it around to look like a person, the result would be very much like the sky people.
Five of the eleven wore tan uniforms, and another four wore blue, all with trousers like those worn by the northern barbarians. The leader of the group, the learned Nelda Hartz, wore a long, dark blue skirt and a white long-sleeved shirt, and carried a wide-brimmed dark blue hat in her left hand. The final member of the group also wore a long-sleeved shirt and carried a wide-brimmed hat, but he at least wore a civilized kilt woven in an unfamiliar but pleasant pattern of checks.
Hartz, the kilted man, and the five tan-clad guards (for so they clearly were), all bowed at the proper distance from the throne. The four blue-clad men belatedly followed suit. King Carg said, "Arise, my guests. Well do we know the learned Nelda Hartz, and her herald Weyum Mac Innis, and her Captain of Guards Anton Kora Vek. We bid you welcome. Who are your companions? For we do not recognize them, nor the fashion of their raiment."
The kilted herald, Weyum Mac Innis, spoke with the men in blue in a harsh tongue unfamiliar to Thorba. One of them answered briefly in the same language, and Mac Innis turned to address the King. "Your Majesty, I present to you the Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa and his lieutenant Nwen Con Dan. The Sea Lord has come to seek Your Majesty's permission to recruit a company from among Your Majesty's subjects."
"Where would this company serve?" Carg asked.
"Your Majesty," Mac Innis answered without consulting his chief, "they would serve with the sky people, out among the stars."
That remark caused a murmur of astonishment among those present, and no wonder. Thorba had heard it said that the sky people literally came from the sky. Now a sky man had confirmed it from his own lips.
A sudden urgency gripped Thorba. He had come to Lhisanu seeking his future, and now here it had come seeking him. Thorba felt the hands of the Gods guiding events. Surely it was fate that had put him here at the Royal Palace just as the sky people had come seeking men such as him. With the sense of a man fulfilling his destiny, Thorba stood forth from the assembled courtiers and petitioners and spoke out: "Your Majesty, I urge you to grant the sky man's petition."
"Who are you, then, good man? Are you one of my subjects?"
"I am, Your Majesty. I am Wern Thorba of the Serru River country, a landless younger son seeking to make his way in the world. I came here seeking a place in your Royal Guard, but if you will permit it, I would join the company of the Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa and serve among the stars."
Another man among the King's petitioners stood forth, a man of the northern hill country by his accent. "And I, Your Majesty. I am Sker Perna, likewise a landless younger son. I too would join the company of the sky people." As though Perna's words had unleashed a flood, a score more of those present offered to join the company of the sky people.
Carg raised his hand, and the Guardmaster, standing at his left, called for silence. Those present quickly ceased their speech. The King said into the silence, "I am well mindful of the many landless among my subjects seeking for employment where they may. If they wish to take service with the sky people, they may do so with my blessing. Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa, your petition is granted. Form your company as you will, and may my subjects serve you well among the stars."
Ro Bon Hwa bowed low and spoke in his own harsh tongue. Mac Innis translated, "The Sea Lord Ro offers many thanks to Your Majesty." The Sea Lord spoke again, and Mac Innis relayed, "The Sea Lord Ro says further that all who would take service with him may come to the place of the sky people at the second interval after sunrise, there to be mustered into his company."
Thorba spared a glance then for the learned Nelda Hartz. Even though he had never set eyes upon the sky people before this day, it seemed to him that disappointment settled upon her frame. She, at least, did not think the King's decision a good one. Perhaps Thorba would learn why, after he had joined the company of the sky people.
THE END
Wern Thorba was a simple man from the valley of the Serru River. The younger son of a yeoman farmer, Thorba had inherited a modest sum of money upon his father's death, while his eldest brother inherited the family farm. Thorba had looked into the future, and seen a life spent laboring for his brother. This, he decided, was not the life he wanted, so he left the farm and went out to seek his fortune.
For a man of humble origins, the choice of occupations were few: farm laborer, or the priesthood, or soldiering. He had even less wish to work on a stranger's farm than on his brother's, and he felt no calling to serve the Gods, so he signed on with Captain Jord Skarda, and for four years had marched and fought across the sea in the Tresinuic Empire. Four years had ended with Skarda's capture and death at the hands of the barbarian Drantu, and the breakup of his company. Thorba had taken ship back to Lhasi, and was in Lhasinu at the court of King Carg seeking employment in the Royal Guard.
Entering the King's service, though, was no easy task. Lhasi was at peace, and likely to remain so as long as the Tresinuic Emperor was preoccupied fighting off the Drantu. The waiting list for a position in the Guard was currently about half a year long, and the price asked by the Guardmaster to jump him to the front of the list was far beyond his means. He might join the retinue of one of the nobles, but that didn't appeal to him. It mostly meant bullying the noble's peasants, and Thorba had seen enough of that sort of thing under Captain Skarda to last him a lifetime. Worse, if you spent long enough doing something like that, you started to like it. Thorba had seen men like that, and had no wish to become one himself. For now, he remained in Lhasinu hoping something would turn up.
He was in the throne room one day, watching the petitioners present their appeals to the King, when he heard the chamberlain announce, "Presenting to His Majesty the learned Nelda Hartz of the sky people, and members of her company." Thorba found himself craning his neck to see over the heads of the crowd. He had heard of the sky people, as who had not? They were said to occupy a villa here in the capital, and to have command of flying ships that sailed up to the sky and back. He was near the door to the throne room, so he got a good look at the sky people as they entered.
There were eleven of them in all. They seemed much like people at first glance, but the longer you looked at them the stranger they appeared. They all wore far more clothing than normal; with one exception, they were covered from neck to foot. They all had jutting noses, scaleless skin, and most bizarre of all, fur growing from the tops of their heads. As far as Thorba knew, most animals had scaly skin, just like people did; the only exception were the sarks, small pests that gnawed holes in walls and stole food, that had bodies covered in fur. If you took a sark, and changed it around to look like a person, the result would be very much like the sky people.
Five of the eleven wore tan uniforms, and another four wore blue, all with trousers like those worn by the northern barbarians. The leader of the group, the learned Nelda Hartz, wore a long, dark blue skirt and a white long-sleeved shirt, and carried a wide-brimmed dark blue hat in her left hand. The final member of the group also wore a long-sleeved shirt and carried a wide-brimmed hat, but he at least wore a civilized kilt woven in an unfamiliar but pleasant pattern of checks.
Hartz, the kilted man, and the five tan-clad guards (for so they clearly were), all bowed at the proper distance from the throne. The four blue-clad men belatedly followed suit. King Carg said, "Arise, my guests. Well do we know the learned Nelda Hartz, and her herald Weyum Mac Innis, and her Captain of Guards Anton Kora Vek. We bid you welcome. Who are your companions? For we do not recognize them, nor the fashion of their raiment."
The kilted herald, Weyum Mac Innis, spoke with the men in blue in a harsh tongue unfamiliar to Thorba. One of them answered briefly in the same language, and Mac Innis turned to address the King. "Your Majesty, I present to you the Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa and his lieutenant Nwen Con Dan. The Sea Lord has come to seek Your Majesty's permission to recruit a company from among Your Majesty's subjects."
"Where would this company serve?" Carg asked.
"Your Majesty," Mac Innis answered without consulting his chief, "they would serve with the sky people, out among the stars."
That remark caused a murmur of astonishment among those present, and no wonder. Thorba had heard it said that the sky people literally came from the sky. Now a sky man had confirmed it from his own lips.
A sudden urgency gripped Thorba. He had come to Lhisanu seeking his future, and now here it had come seeking him. Thorba felt the hands of the Gods guiding events. Surely it was fate that had put him here at the Royal Palace just as the sky people had come seeking men such as him. With the sense of a man fulfilling his destiny, Thorba stood forth from the assembled courtiers and petitioners and spoke out: "Your Majesty, I urge you to grant the sky man's petition."
"Who are you, then, good man? Are you one of my subjects?"
"I am, Your Majesty. I am Wern Thorba of the Serru River country, a landless younger son seeking to make his way in the world. I came here seeking a place in your Royal Guard, but if you will permit it, I would join the company of the Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa and serve among the stars."
Another man among the King's petitioners stood forth, a man of the northern hill country by his accent. "And I, Your Majesty. I am Sker Perna, likewise a landless younger son. I too would join the company of the sky people." As though Perna's words had unleashed a flood, a score more of those present offered to join the company of the sky people.
Carg raised his hand, and the Guardmaster, standing at his left, called for silence. Those present quickly ceased their speech. The King said into the silence, "I am well mindful of the many landless among my subjects seeking for employment where they may. If they wish to take service with the sky people, they may do so with my blessing. Sea Lord Ro Bon Hwa, your petition is granted. Form your company as you will, and may my subjects serve you well among the stars."
Ro Bon Hwa bowed low and spoke in his own harsh tongue. Mac Innis translated, "The Sea Lord Ro offers many thanks to Your Majesty." The Sea Lord spoke again, and Mac Innis relayed, "The Sea Lord Ro says further that all who would take service with him may come to the place of the sky people at the second interval after sunrise, there to be mustered into his company."
Thorba spared a glance then for the learned Nelda Hartz. Even though he had never set eyes upon the sky people before this day, it seemed to him that disappointment settled upon her frame. She, at least, did not think the King's decision a good one. Perhaps Thorba would learn why, after he had joined the company of the sky people.
THE END
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
"New Management", part 4
This is the fourth installment of "New Management", a fanfic prequel to Isaac Asimov's early blood-and-thunder space opera "Black Friar of the Flame". The first three installments can be found here, here, and here.
"There is a tendency," said Admiral Roh, "to view the past through the lens of the present. Indeed, there are some who argue that that is the only way to view it; that one cannot understand an event in the past unless one has an analogous event in the present to compare it to."
William McInnis had concluded that even if you didn't already know that Roh had been an academic before the war, listening to him would have been evidence enough. How many times, McInnis wondered, had Roh made this same speech before the students at his military history lectures at New Beijing University? Dozens, he guessed.
"But the people of the past had their own reasons," Roh continued, "and it is up to us to see their world through their eyes, not just through our own. Consider the Terrestrial explorers who first encountered the Vegans two hundred years ago. When they established their policy of noninterference, it was not just of the Vegans they were thinking. Remember, interstellar travel was only fifteen years old then, and here they were, making first contact with an alien civilization only twenty-five light years from Earth. 'Surely,' they said to themselves, 'if we have come across another intelligent race so close to us in space, there must be a multitude of others yet undiscovered.' It was for these hypothetical other alien races, more than for the Vegans themselves, that they established the policy."
"And yet," Dr. Hartz answered him, "even if they had known that our Galaxy contained only themselves and the Vegans, I think they would still have adopted the policy. Without it, there was always the danger that mankind would regard the Vegans simply as a resource to be exploited, and not as fellow sapients deserving of the chance to be left alone to work out their own destiny for themselves."
There was a surreal quality to the scene, McInnis felt. Around them were the streets of Lhasinu, capital city of the island Kingdom of Lhasi. The bright glare of Vega was shielded by an overcast sky that threatened imminent rain. They passed through crowds of Vegans, looking almost -- but not quite -- human as they argued, gossiped, bargained, flirted, boasted, and otherwise interacted with each other. Here in Lhasi their fine scales were a golden yellow hue, though elsewhere on the planet you could find Vegans who were green, or blue, or red. The buildings had the unplanned, slapdash look that you only found here on Vega VI, or among the ancient cities of Earth. The streets wound among them wherever the Vegans had thought it might be convenient to walk, rather than being laid out beforehand by a planning commission or a real-estate developer.
In the midst of the brawling Vegan city, the small group of humans looked as out of place as a Vegan equinox-festival procession would have looked among the spotlessly clean shopping arcades of New Hamburg. At the head of the short column were Roh and Hartz carrying on their debate, the former accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Nguyen Cong Danh, the latter by Lieutenant Kovarik. The Sirian officers were guarded by two of their marines, while the whole party was flanked by four of Kovarik's security people. And, of course, there was McInnis himself, lodged in the middle of the group. Roh and Danh were wearing Sirian Navy dress uniforms, which McInnis had no trouble recognizing as near-duplicates of 21st century Royal Navy uniforms. The Sirian Marines were also in dress uniforms, also apparently modeled after 21st century British military uniforms. Kovarik and his security team were wearing their usual khaki uniforms, while Hartz wore a broad-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt, and ankle-length skirt. McInnis, as he usually did out in the field, wore a similar hat and shirt, along with a knee-length kilt and plenty of sunscreen on his legs. Since kilts were common male attire among the Vegans, it helped him to blend in with the locals.
The humans were on their way to an audience with Carg Jendo Porga, the King of Lhasi. Roh would be attempting to persuade King Carg to allow Vegans to serve in the Sirian military, while Hartz would be attempting to persuade him not to. McInnis would serve as translator, and Danh, a linguist who specialized in Lhasinuic, would be on hand to keep McInnis honest. While the two leaders continued their debate, McInnis fell in beside Danh and spoke in low-pitched Lhasinuic. "Does your chief talk like that all the time?"
"You can take the man out of the university," Danh responded in the same language, "but you can't take the university out of the man."
"What do you think of the idea of recruiting people?" People, of course, being the only Lhasinuic word for Vegan.
"I think the chief is right. We need soldiers, and the world has plenty of soldiers to spare." The world, of course, being the only Lhasinuic word for Vega VI.
"How good can they be?" McInnis wondered. "They don't have any machines more complicated than a catapault."
"You don't have to know how to build a sky ship to be a good soldier," said Danh. "All you have to know how to do is wield a weapon and obey orders, and the people are good at both."
That was true enough. If there was one thing the Vegans excelled at, it was fighting each other.
The group passed through the flagstoned square opposite the main gateway of the Royal Palace, and drew up in front of the two Vegan guards who stood flanking it. The gates, of stout wood crossed with iron bands, stood open. The Vegans, in mail shirts and iron helmets, clashed their spears onto the flagstones, and the one on the left called out loudly, "Who approaches the palace of Carg Jendo Porga, beloved of the Gods, King of the Lhasi and defender of his people?"
That was McInnis' cue. Stepping forward from the group, he responded equally loudly, "It is the learned Nelda Hartz of the sky people, friend of His Majesty, in the company of her countrymen. The learned Nelda Hartz has sent word to His Majesty seeking an audience, and His Majesty in his beneficence has seen fit to grant it. We come now in response to His Majesty's summons."
"Not bad," Danh said quietly in English.
"We recognize the learned Nelda Hartz, friend of His Majesty. Enter, then, by His Majesty's leave." The two guards raised their spears from the ground, expertly swung them in unison, and planted them again, this time points down. McInnis stepped back in among the other humans, and followed as Dr. Hartz led them through the gateway and into the palace grounds.
(to be continued)
"There is a tendency," said Admiral Roh, "to view the past through the lens of the present. Indeed, there are some who argue that that is the only way to view it; that one cannot understand an event in the past unless one has an analogous event in the present to compare it to."
William McInnis had concluded that even if you didn't already know that Roh had been an academic before the war, listening to him would have been evidence enough. How many times, McInnis wondered, had Roh made this same speech before the students at his military history lectures at New Beijing University? Dozens, he guessed.
"But the people of the past had their own reasons," Roh continued, "and it is up to us to see their world through their eyes, not just through our own. Consider the Terrestrial explorers who first encountered the Vegans two hundred years ago. When they established their policy of noninterference, it was not just of the Vegans they were thinking. Remember, interstellar travel was only fifteen years old then, and here they were, making first contact with an alien civilization only twenty-five light years from Earth. 'Surely,' they said to themselves, 'if we have come across another intelligent race so close to us in space, there must be a multitude of others yet undiscovered.' It was for these hypothetical other alien races, more than for the Vegans themselves, that they established the policy."
"And yet," Dr. Hartz answered him, "even if they had known that our Galaxy contained only themselves and the Vegans, I think they would still have adopted the policy. Without it, there was always the danger that mankind would regard the Vegans simply as a resource to be exploited, and not as fellow sapients deserving of the chance to be left alone to work out their own destiny for themselves."
There was a surreal quality to the scene, McInnis felt. Around them were the streets of Lhasinu, capital city of the island Kingdom of Lhasi. The bright glare of Vega was shielded by an overcast sky that threatened imminent rain. They passed through crowds of Vegans, looking almost -- but not quite -- human as they argued, gossiped, bargained, flirted, boasted, and otherwise interacted with each other. Here in Lhasi their fine scales were a golden yellow hue, though elsewhere on the planet you could find Vegans who were green, or blue, or red. The buildings had the unplanned, slapdash look that you only found here on Vega VI, or among the ancient cities of Earth. The streets wound among them wherever the Vegans had thought it might be convenient to walk, rather than being laid out beforehand by a planning commission or a real-estate developer.
In the midst of the brawling Vegan city, the small group of humans looked as out of place as a Vegan equinox-festival procession would have looked among the spotlessly clean shopping arcades of New Hamburg. At the head of the short column were Roh and Hartz carrying on their debate, the former accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Nguyen Cong Danh, the latter by Lieutenant Kovarik. The Sirian officers were guarded by two of their marines, while the whole party was flanked by four of Kovarik's security people. And, of course, there was McInnis himself, lodged in the middle of the group. Roh and Danh were wearing Sirian Navy dress uniforms, which McInnis had no trouble recognizing as near-duplicates of 21st century Royal Navy uniforms. The Sirian Marines were also in dress uniforms, also apparently modeled after 21st century British military uniforms. Kovarik and his security team were wearing their usual khaki uniforms, while Hartz wore a broad-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt, and ankle-length skirt. McInnis, as he usually did out in the field, wore a similar hat and shirt, along with a knee-length kilt and plenty of sunscreen on his legs. Since kilts were common male attire among the Vegans, it helped him to blend in with the locals.
The humans were on their way to an audience with Carg Jendo Porga, the King of Lhasi. Roh would be attempting to persuade King Carg to allow Vegans to serve in the Sirian military, while Hartz would be attempting to persuade him not to. McInnis would serve as translator, and Danh, a linguist who specialized in Lhasinuic, would be on hand to keep McInnis honest. While the two leaders continued their debate, McInnis fell in beside Danh and spoke in low-pitched Lhasinuic. "Does your chief talk like that all the time?"
"You can take the man out of the university," Danh responded in the same language, "but you can't take the university out of the man."
"What do you think of the idea of recruiting people?" People, of course, being the only Lhasinuic word for Vegan.
"I think the chief is right. We need soldiers, and the world has plenty of soldiers to spare." The world, of course, being the only Lhasinuic word for Vega VI.
"How good can they be?" McInnis wondered. "They don't have any machines more complicated than a catapault."
"You don't have to know how to build a sky ship to be a good soldier," said Danh. "All you have to know how to do is wield a weapon and obey orders, and the people are good at both."
That was true enough. If there was one thing the Vegans excelled at, it was fighting each other.
The group passed through the flagstoned square opposite the main gateway of the Royal Palace, and drew up in front of the two Vegan guards who stood flanking it. The gates, of stout wood crossed with iron bands, stood open. The Vegans, in mail shirts and iron helmets, clashed their spears onto the flagstones, and the one on the left called out loudly, "Who approaches the palace of Carg Jendo Porga, beloved of the Gods, King of the Lhasi and defender of his people?"
That was McInnis' cue. Stepping forward from the group, he responded equally loudly, "It is the learned Nelda Hartz of the sky people, friend of His Majesty, in the company of her countrymen. The learned Nelda Hartz has sent word to His Majesty seeking an audience, and His Majesty in his beneficence has seen fit to grant it. We come now in response to His Majesty's summons."
"Not bad," Danh said quietly in English.
"We recognize the learned Nelda Hartz, friend of His Majesty. Enter, then, by His Majesty's leave." The two guards raised their spears from the ground, expertly swung them in unison, and planted them again, this time points down. McInnis stepped back in among the other humans, and followed as Dr. Hartz led them through the gateway and into the palace grounds.
(to be continued)
Monday, March 29, 2010
"New Management", part 3
This is the third installment of "New Management", a fanfic prequel to Isaac Asimov's early blood-and-thunder space opera "Black Friar of the Flame". The first two installments can be found here and here.
Professor Adrienne Devereaux peered through her sunglasses around the compound's landing field. Even from a distance of 350 million kilometers, the star Vega appeared much brighter than the Sun did from Earth or Alpha A from Centaurus, so sunglasses were standard to protect the eyes, just as broad-brimmed hats and extensive clothing were standard to protect the skin from the star's ultraviolet rays. The Vegans of course had evolved to find the light of Vega perfectly satisfactory; no doubt they would find the light unpleasantly dim on Earth or Centaurus.
The Resolute was hours on its way back to Centaurus, and few at Lhasinu Base missed Major van Orden and his men. The man in command of the Sirian fleet, who called himself Admiral Roh, had contacted the base to inform them that his flagship would be sending down a boat. Now Devereaux was here along with Dr. Hartz and Lieutenant Kovarik to welcome its occupants to Vega VI. Hartz had informed Dr. Romano that she wanted him, as second-in-command, to monitor events from her office. Devereaux believed that Hartz had done this in order to keep the botanist out of the way during this critical meeting with the Sirians; if so, it was cleverly done.
"The Sirians are due to land in five minutes," Kovarik announced.
"Lieutenant," Devereaux asked him, "do you find anything ominous in the Sirians' uncommunicativeness? Apart from the message informing us of the arrival of this boat, they have remained silent."
"Ominous?" said Kovarik. "I don't think so. I think the Sirians are nervous. They have no idea what sort of reception to expect. We know that all of the Centaurian military left with the Resolute, but they can't know that. For all they know, we're just waiting for the opportunity to blow their boat out of the sky as a prelude to attacking their fleet."
Devereaux shook her head. "I'm still not used to the idea of being at war. It seems so . . . archaic. I half expect to hear Charles de Gaulle beaming defiant messages from London."
Initially a mere speck in the sky, the boat quickly grew into a solid object, raising a cloud of dust from the ground as it landed. In appearance it was much like the recently-departed boat that carried van Orden and his men away. When she remarked on this to Kovarik, he pointed out, "They were probably built to the same design. Standardized designs are a commonplace of modern shipbuilding technique."
The boat's main hatch opened, and a short set of stairs extended down to the ground. Three men emerged, all wearing the same uniform of dark blue jumpsuits and billed caps. All three wore sunglasses, as the three from the base did. That they were prepared for the bright light of Vega did not surprise Devereaux; men used to the light of Sirius would not find Vega unusual. The men exhibited Asian ancestry, as most of the people of Sirius did; the different nationalities of mankind had tended to separate themselves as they settled other worlds. Devereaux noted with distaste that the three were also armed; each wore a belt around his waist with a holstered sidearm.
The three men walked in unison across the concrete of the landing field, then halted three meters from the base's trio. The man in the center raised his hand to his forehead, then brought it down sharply to his side. She recognized the gesture from historical dramas as a salute, a form of greeting used by the military. No doubt the man had copied the gesture from those same historical dramas.
"Good day," the man said. "I am Commander Hashimoto of the Sirian Navy. My subordinates are Lieutenant Chen and Lieutenant Song."
"Good day, commander," Hartz responded. "I am Dr. Nelda Hartz, Chief Administrator of Lhasinu Base. This is Lieutenant Anton Kovarik, the Head of Security, and Professor Adrienne Devereaux, Head of the Biology Section. Welcome to Vega Six."
Hashimoto nodded to the three in turn, then addressed Kovarik. "As a member of the Centaurian military, Lieutenant, it is my unfortunate duty to declare you a prisoner of war."
"Lieutenant Kovarik is not with the Centaurian military," Hartz corrected the Sirian. "Technically, he is a member of the New Brussels Police Department, as are the rest of his security team."
"Ah," said Hashimoto. He seemed momentarily taken aback. Presumably, he had instructions for dealing with ordinary civilians, and instructions for dealing with military personnel, but no instructions for dealing with law enforcement officers. Finally, he said, "Lieutenant, you and your security team can remain in place for now, unless I receive orders to the contrary from my superiors."
Devereaux expected a sardonic comment from Kovarik, but the man simply nodded to Hashimoto.
"If you don't mind my asking, Commander," said Hartz, "why are you here? I wouldn't have thought that the Vega system held any strategic value."
"That's where you're wrong, Dr. Hartz," said Hashimoto with a slight smile. "This system has great strategic value. After all, Vega Six is the Galaxy's only source of trained soldiers, and trained soldiers are just what the Sirian Alliance needs."
(continue to part 4)
Professor Adrienne Devereaux peered through her sunglasses around the compound's landing field. Even from a distance of 350 million kilometers, the star Vega appeared much brighter than the Sun did from Earth or Alpha A from Centaurus, so sunglasses were standard to protect the eyes, just as broad-brimmed hats and extensive clothing were standard to protect the skin from the star's ultraviolet rays. The Vegans of course had evolved to find the light of Vega perfectly satisfactory; no doubt they would find the light unpleasantly dim on Earth or Centaurus.
The Resolute was hours on its way back to Centaurus, and few at Lhasinu Base missed Major van Orden and his men. The man in command of the Sirian fleet, who called himself Admiral Roh, had contacted the base to inform them that his flagship would be sending down a boat. Now Devereaux was here along with Dr. Hartz and Lieutenant Kovarik to welcome its occupants to Vega VI. Hartz had informed Dr. Romano that she wanted him, as second-in-command, to monitor events from her office. Devereaux believed that Hartz had done this in order to keep the botanist out of the way during this critical meeting with the Sirians; if so, it was cleverly done.
"The Sirians are due to land in five minutes," Kovarik announced.
"Lieutenant," Devereaux asked him, "do you find anything ominous in the Sirians' uncommunicativeness? Apart from the message informing us of the arrival of this boat, they have remained silent."
"Ominous?" said Kovarik. "I don't think so. I think the Sirians are nervous. They have no idea what sort of reception to expect. We know that all of the Centaurian military left with the Resolute, but they can't know that. For all they know, we're just waiting for the opportunity to blow their boat out of the sky as a prelude to attacking their fleet."
Devereaux shook her head. "I'm still not used to the idea of being at war. It seems so . . . archaic. I half expect to hear Charles de Gaulle beaming defiant messages from London."
Initially a mere speck in the sky, the boat quickly grew into a solid object, raising a cloud of dust from the ground as it landed. In appearance it was much like the recently-departed boat that carried van Orden and his men away. When she remarked on this to Kovarik, he pointed out, "They were probably built to the same design. Standardized designs are a commonplace of modern shipbuilding technique."
The boat's main hatch opened, and a short set of stairs extended down to the ground. Three men emerged, all wearing the same uniform of dark blue jumpsuits and billed caps. All three wore sunglasses, as the three from the base did. That they were prepared for the bright light of Vega did not surprise Devereaux; men used to the light of Sirius would not find Vega unusual. The men exhibited Asian ancestry, as most of the people of Sirius did; the different nationalities of mankind had tended to separate themselves as they settled other worlds. Devereaux noted with distaste that the three were also armed; each wore a belt around his waist with a holstered sidearm.
The three men walked in unison across the concrete of the landing field, then halted three meters from the base's trio. The man in the center raised his hand to his forehead, then brought it down sharply to his side. She recognized the gesture from historical dramas as a salute, a form of greeting used by the military. No doubt the man had copied the gesture from those same historical dramas.
"Good day," the man said. "I am Commander Hashimoto of the Sirian Navy. My subordinates are Lieutenant Chen and Lieutenant Song."
"Good day, commander," Hartz responded. "I am Dr. Nelda Hartz, Chief Administrator of Lhasinu Base. This is Lieutenant Anton Kovarik, the Head of Security, and Professor Adrienne Devereaux, Head of the Biology Section. Welcome to Vega Six."
Hashimoto nodded to the three in turn, then addressed Kovarik. "As a member of the Centaurian military, Lieutenant, it is my unfortunate duty to declare you a prisoner of war."
"Lieutenant Kovarik is not with the Centaurian military," Hartz corrected the Sirian. "Technically, he is a member of the New Brussels Police Department, as are the rest of his security team."
"Ah," said Hashimoto. He seemed momentarily taken aback. Presumably, he had instructions for dealing with ordinary civilians, and instructions for dealing with military personnel, but no instructions for dealing with law enforcement officers. Finally, he said, "Lieutenant, you and your security team can remain in place for now, unless I receive orders to the contrary from my superiors."
Devereaux expected a sardonic comment from Kovarik, but the man simply nodded to Hashimoto.
"If you don't mind my asking, Commander," said Hartz, "why are you here? I wouldn't have thought that the Vega system held any strategic value."
"That's where you're wrong, Dr. Hartz," said Hashimoto with a slight smile. "This system has great strategic value. After all, Vega Six is the Galaxy's only source of trained soldiers, and trained soldiers are just what the Sirian Alliance needs."
(continue to part 4)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
"New Management", part 2
This is the second installment of "New Management", a fanfic prequel to Isaac Asimov's early blood-and-thunder space opera "Black Friar of the Flame". The first installment can be found here.
Lieutenant Anton Kovarik sat in the canteen and watched as the scientists of Lhasinu Base drifted in. His job as head of security at the base allowed him to monitor all communications, and he had taken particular care to keep up with all of the traffic between Major van Orden and the Resolute, so he knew (and the members of his team knew) what Dr. Hartz was about to tell her staff.
Kovarik found the meeting to be typical of Hartz' management style. Rather than sending out the news in a text message, she brought her staff together to inform her them in person, and she had chosen to act sooner rather than later. Kovarik approved of both aspects of the decision; it was what made Hartz a good administrator.
The head of security noted the arrival of Giuseppi Romano, the base's deputy administrator. He sat himself at an otherwise empty table and spent his time staring out of the canteen's broad window at the alien cityscape of Lhasinu. Originally a senior member of the botany section, Romano had found himself unexpectedly thrust into his new role after van Orden's arrival. He was not a man who sought authority, and a year in the position had not made him like the job any better. He went out in the field as often as possible; he was scheduled to go out again tomorrow. Kovarik didn't think he would be doing so.
Teresa Karpinska and Adrienne Devereaux were sitting and talking quietly together, as they usually did in the canteen. The former had much in common with Hartz, including her training as a geologist and her sensible approach to life. The latter was the base's senior biologist, and exercised a good deal of unofficial authority by virtue of her age and scientific reputation. Either, in Kovarik's opinion, would have been a better choice for deputy director than Romano.
More and more members of the base's staff came in as Dr. Hartz' thirty-minute deadline approached. They seated themselves and chatted together or remained silent, as their natures dictated. The main topic of conversation was the reason for the sudden, unscheduled meeting, and several of the scientists had already correctly guessed it.
Finally, at the twenty-nine minute mark, Dr. Hartz entered. She motioned for the others to remain silent, and they did while she took up a position in front of the food dispensary.
"I've come here to bring you all some important news," she began, her hands clasped behind her back as she addressed the room. "According to Major van Orden, a fleet of Sirian ships has come out of hyperspace here in the Vegan system."
"Why would the Sirians send a fleet of ships here?" asked Devereaux.
"I don't know, Professor," Hartz answered. "I presume they'll explain their reasoning when they get here, which they will be doing by noon tomorrow. Major van Orden says that he and his men will be going up to the Resolute, and leaving the Vegan system to report back to Alpha Centauri."
"The famous military maneuver known as the strategic withdrawal," remarked William McInnis, a junior member of the linguistics section. There was laughter at his remark, and the tension in the room went down.
"That is all the information I have at the present time," Hartz continued. "I'll keep you all updated as the situation develops."
"Will they be sending us to the Sirian system for internment?" asked Karpinska.
"Why not?" Romano answered. "That's what we did to them."
The room was immediately plunged back into gloom. Upon his arrival the year before, Major van Orden had had two thirds of the base's personnel -- everyone from the Sirian Bloc and Earth -- removed and sent back to Centaurus as "security risks". The base's biology and sociology sections had been particularly hard-hit, since those specialties tended to be dominated by Terrestrials. Only Professor Devereaux's status as a naturalized Centaurian citizen -- and her formidable scientific reputation -- had kept her from joining her fellow Earth-born colleagues in internment. From a research point of view, the base had only been limping along since then. It hadn't made van Orden and his men very popular with the remaining base personnel, either.
"It is possible that some or all of us may be interned on Sirius V," Hartz answered. "It is even possible that the Sirians may shut down Lhasinu Base completely. However, as I said, we don't know why the Sirians are coming here, so we don't know what their plans are."
"Perhaps they're here to start a recruiting drive among the Vegans," suggested McInnis, and again there was laughter. Kovarik had to agree that the thought of the sword-swinging natives taking part in humanity's first interstellar war was a comical one.
(continue to part 3)
Lieutenant Anton Kovarik sat in the canteen and watched as the scientists of Lhasinu Base drifted in. His job as head of security at the base allowed him to monitor all communications, and he had taken particular care to keep up with all of the traffic between Major van Orden and the Resolute, so he knew (and the members of his team knew) what Dr. Hartz was about to tell her staff.
Kovarik found the meeting to be typical of Hartz' management style. Rather than sending out the news in a text message, she brought her staff together to inform her them in person, and she had chosen to act sooner rather than later. Kovarik approved of both aspects of the decision; it was what made Hartz a good administrator.
The head of security noted the arrival of Giuseppi Romano, the base's deputy administrator. He sat himself at an otherwise empty table and spent his time staring out of the canteen's broad window at the alien cityscape of Lhasinu. Originally a senior member of the botany section, Romano had found himself unexpectedly thrust into his new role after van Orden's arrival. He was not a man who sought authority, and a year in the position had not made him like the job any better. He went out in the field as often as possible; he was scheduled to go out again tomorrow. Kovarik didn't think he would be doing so.
Teresa Karpinska and Adrienne Devereaux were sitting and talking quietly together, as they usually did in the canteen. The former had much in common with Hartz, including her training as a geologist and her sensible approach to life. The latter was the base's senior biologist, and exercised a good deal of unofficial authority by virtue of her age and scientific reputation. Either, in Kovarik's opinion, would have been a better choice for deputy director than Romano.
More and more members of the base's staff came in as Dr. Hartz' thirty-minute deadline approached. They seated themselves and chatted together or remained silent, as their natures dictated. The main topic of conversation was the reason for the sudden, unscheduled meeting, and several of the scientists had already correctly guessed it.
Finally, at the twenty-nine minute mark, Dr. Hartz entered. She motioned for the others to remain silent, and they did while she took up a position in front of the food dispensary.
"I've come here to bring you all some important news," she began, her hands clasped behind her back as she addressed the room. "According to Major van Orden, a fleet of Sirian ships has come out of hyperspace here in the Vegan system."
"Why would the Sirians send a fleet of ships here?" asked Devereaux.
"I don't know, Professor," Hartz answered. "I presume they'll explain their reasoning when they get here, which they will be doing by noon tomorrow. Major van Orden says that he and his men will be going up to the Resolute, and leaving the Vegan system to report back to Alpha Centauri."
"The famous military maneuver known as the strategic withdrawal," remarked William McInnis, a junior member of the linguistics section. There was laughter at his remark, and the tension in the room went down.
"That is all the information I have at the present time," Hartz continued. "I'll keep you all updated as the situation develops."
"Will they be sending us to the Sirian system for internment?" asked Karpinska.
"Why not?" Romano answered. "That's what we did to them."
The room was immediately plunged back into gloom. Upon his arrival the year before, Major van Orden had had two thirds of the base's personnel -- everyone from the Sirian Bloc and Earth -- removed and sent back to Centaurus as "security risks". The base's biology and sociology sections had been particularly hard-hit, since those specialties tended to be dominated by Terrestrials. Only Professor Devereaux's status as a naturalized Centaurian citizen -- and her formidable scientific reputation -- had kept her from joining her fellow Earth-born colleagues in internment. From a research point of view, the base had only been limping along since then. It hadn't made van Orden and his men very popular with the remaining base personnel, either.
"It is possible that some or all of us may be interned on Sirius V," Hartz answered. "It is even possible that the Sirians may shut down Lhasinu Base completely. However, as I said, we don't know why the Sirians are coming here, so we don't know what their plans are."
"Perhaps they're here to start a recruiting drive among the Vegans," suggested McInnis, and again there was laughter. Kovarik had to agree that the thought of the sword-swinging natives taking part in humanity's first interstellar war was a comical one.
(continue to part 3)
"New Management" part 1
As promised (or threatened, as the case may be), the Johnny Pez blog now presents an original Asimov fanfic based on the much-derided space opera "Black Friar of the Flame". We now turn back the clock six thousand years before the Great Rebellion, when the human race was in the early centuries of its expansion through the Galaxy, and the Lhasinu were a pre-industrial race confined to their original homeworld . . .
New Management
by Johnny Pez
Dr. Nelda Hartz was enjoying a cup of tea in her office when the call came through from Major van Orden.
"Good morning, Major," Hartz said as the young officer's face appeared on her monitor. "What can I do for you?" The major was a relatively recent addition to the staff of Lhasinu Base, and his arrival had caused Hartz nothing but trouble. In theory, he was subordinate to her, but Hartz was not eager to test that theory by refusing one of his suggestions.
"Doctor, I've just received word from the Resolute that several ships have appeared in the Vega system from hyperspace," said van Orden. "We have to assume that this is a Sirian flotilla. The ships are expected to reach Vega VI by noon tomorrow local time."
Hartz felt despair settle into her soul at the news. Her faint hope that the war would bypass Vega VI, already cracked by Major van Orden's arrival, now broke asunder. "What is your response going to be, Major?" She feared that he would attempt to fight it out with the Sirians.
"My orders in this situation are clear," said van Orden. "In the event that an enemy force appears in numbers too great to resist, I am to withdraw my own forces and bring word back to the General Staff back on Centuarus. I have given orders for the Resolute to send a boat down to pick up our ground forces. We will be breaking orbit within twelve hours."
"Very well, Major," said Hartz. "Carry on." Van Orden nodded and ended the call.
Hartz sat at her desk and considered the situation as her tea grew cold. The upside of the situation was that with van Orden and his force (if you could call half a dozen volunteer militia a "force") withdrawing, there wouldn't be any fighting taking place in Lhasinu Base. The downside was that the Sirians were an unknown quantity. They might well shut down the base permanently, and they would certainly not allow Hartz to continue as Chief Administrator. Presumably she and the rest of the base staff from the Centauri Bloc would be interned as enemy aliens. She found herself shaking her head at the senselessness of the situation.
After two centuries, the human race was rediscovering the art of war. All across the hundreds of worlds settled by humanity since the discovery of hyperdrive, military organizations were being hastily set up, and merchant ships were being converted into warships. Two years ago, Major van Orden's grandly-named ACS Resolute had been an ore hauler called the Daisy, and van Orden himself had been a politically connected business owner.
Hartz found herself wondering why the politicians in the Stellar Parliament couldn't settle their disputes peacefully, then immediately answered herself that their disputes were beyond peaceful resolution. The Centaurians and their allies had dominated the Stellar Parliament since its foundation fifty-six years before, and they meant to maintain that domination. The Sirians and their allies were equally determined to assert their own independence.
As far as Hartz was concerned, there was little to admire about either side. Perhaps living here among the Vegans had distanced her from the rest of humanity, for she could honestly see no more reason to the current conflict than she could to the Vegans' own endless feudal disputes.
But there was no point in sitting here and pondering the situation. She had a scientific outpost to run, and it was up to her to prepare the rest of the staff for the impending arrival of the Sirians. Switching on the general intercom on her monitor, she said, "Attention all staff, this is the Chief Administrator. There will be a general staff meeting held in the canteen in thirty minutes' time. All staff are required to attend. I repeat, there will be a general staff meeting held in the canteen in thirty minutes' time, and all staff are required to attend. That is all."
Hartz switched off the intercom, then sat still for a moment. Garcia and Weddell were out doing field work among the Vegans. She would have to send word to them to drop what they were doing and return to base. They wouldn't be happy about it. Right now, though, the complaints she would be getting from them were the least of her worries.
(continue to part 2)
New Management
by Johnny Pez
Dr. Nelda Hartz was enjoying a cup of tea in her office when the call came through from Major van Orden.
"Good morning, Major," Hartz said as the young officer's face appeared on her monitor. "What can I do for you?" The major was a relatively recent addition to the staff of Lhasinu Base, and his arrival had caused Hartz nothing but trouble. In theory, he was subordinate to her, but Hartz was not eager to test that theory by refusing one of his suggestions.
"Doctor, I've just received word from the Resolute that several ships have appeared in the Vega system from hyperspace," said van Orden. "We have to assume that this is a Sirian flotilla. The ships are expected to reach Vega VI by noon tomorrow local time."
Hartz felt despair settle into her soul at the news. Her faint hope that the war would bypass Vega VI, already cracked by Major van Orden's arrival, now broke asunder. "What is your response going to be, Major?" She feared that he would attempt to fight it out with the Sirians.
"My orders in this situation are clear," said van Orden. "In the event that an enemy force appears in numbers too great to resist, I am to withdraw my own forces and bring word back to the General Staff back on Centuarus. I have given orders for the Resolute to send a boat down to pick up our ground forces. We will be breaking orbit within twelve hours."
"Very well, Major," said Hartz. "Carry on." Van Orden nodded and ended the call.
Hartz sat at her desk and considered the situation as her tea grew cold. The upside of the situation was that with van Orden and his force (if you could call half a dozen volunteer militia a "force") withdrawing, there wouldn't be any fighting taking place in Lhasinu Base. The downside was that the Sirians were an unknown quantity. They might well shut down the base permanently, and they would certainly not allow Hartz to continue as Chief Administrator. Presumably she and the rest of the base staff from the Centauri Bloc would be interned as enemy aliens. She found herself shaking her head at the senselessness of the situation.
After two centuries, the human race was rediscovering the art of war. All across the hundreds of worlds settled by humanity since the discovery of hyperdrive, military organizations were being hastily set up, and merchant ships were being converted into warships. Two years ago, Major van Orden's grandly-named ACS Resolute had been an ore hauler called the Daisy, and van Orden himself had been a politically connected business owner.
Hartz found herself wondering why the politicians in the Stellar Parliament couldn't settle their disputes peacefully, then immediately answered herself that their disputes were beyond peaceful resolution. The Centaurians and their allies had dominated the Stellar Parliament since its foundation fifty-six years before, and they meant to maintain that domination. The Sirians and their allies were equally determined to assert their own independence.
As far as Hartz was concerned, there was little to admire about either side. Perhaps living here among the Vegans had distanced her from the rest of humanity, for she could honestly see no more reason to the current conflict than she could to the Vegans' own endless feudal disputes.
But there was no point in sitting here and pondering the situation. She had a scientific outpost to run, and it was up to her to prepare the rest of the staff for the impending arrival of the Sirians. Switching on the general intercom on her monitor, she said, "Attention all staff, this is the Chief Administrator. There will be a general staff meeting held in the canteen in thirty minutes' time. All staff are required to attend. I repeat, there will be a general staff meeting held in the canteen in thirty minutes' time, and all staff are required to attend. That is all."
Hartz switched off the intercom, then sat still for a moment. Garcia and Weddell were out doing field work among the Vegans. She would have to send word to them to drop what they were doing and return to base. They wouldn't be happy about it. Right now, though, the complaints she would be getting from them were the least of her worries.
(continue to part 2)
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