First Command (2 page)

“All right then, you can relieve your precious Phillip. Are you sure you don’t want to stay on for a talk, Brasidus?”

“No, thank you, Telemachus.”

“Off you go, then. And try not to make any arrests.”

Brasidus followed his friend through long corridors and then into the softly lighted ward where he was supposed to be on duty. They were met at the door by Phillip, a young man who, save for his dark coloring, was almost Achron’s twin. He glowered at his relief. “So you’ve condescended to show up at last. I should give you something to help you to remember to get here on time.”

“Do just that,” said Brasidus roughly.

Phillip stared insolently at the Sergeant and sneered, “A pity you brought your friend with you. Well, I’m off, dearie. It’s all yours, and you’re welcome to it.”

“What about the handover procedure?” demanded Achron sharply.

“What is there to hand over? Fifty brats, slumbering peacefully—until they all wake up together and start yelling their heads off. Thermostat in the dispenser’s on the blink, so you’ll have to check bottle temperatures before you break out rations for the little darlings. Clean nappy bin was replenished before the change of watch—or what should have been the change of watch. I’m off.”

He went.

“Not really suitable for this profession, is he?” asked Achron softly. “I sometimes think that he doesn’t like children.” He gestured toward the double row of white cots. “But who couldn’t love them?”

“Not you, obviously.”

“But come with me, Brasidus. Leave your sandals by the door and walk softly. I don’t want them woken.” He tiptoed on bare feet over the polished floor. “Now,” he whispered, “I’ll show you. This is one of them.” He paused at the foot of the crib, looked down lovingly.

And Brasidus looked down curiously. What he saw was just a bud, a baby, with a few strands of wispy black hair plastered across the overlarge skull, with unformed features. The eyes were closed, so he could not tell if there were any optical resemblance between himself and the child. The nose? That was no more than a blob of putty. He wondered, as he had often, how Achron and the other nurses ever told their charges apart. Not that it much mattered, not that it would matter until the boys were old enough for aptitude tests—and by that time all characteristics, psychological and physiological, would be well developed.

“Isn’t he like you?” murmured Achron.

“Um. Yes.”

“Don’t you feel . . . proud?”

“Frankly, no.”

“Oh, Brasidus, how can you be so insensitive?”

“It’s a gift. It goes with my job.”

“I don’t believe you. Honestly, I don’t. But quiet. Heraklion’s just come in.”

Brasidus looked up and saw the tall, white-robed figure of the Doctor at the end of the aisle. He bowed stiffly, and the salutation was returned. Then Heraklion beckoned. Remembering to walk softly, the young man made his way between the rows of cots.

“Brasidus, isn’t it?” asked Heraklion.

“Yes, Doctor.”

“What are you doing here, Sergeant?”

“Just visiting, with Achron.”

“I really don’t approve, you know. Our charges are very . . . delicate. I shall appreciate it if you don’t go wandering all over the building.”

“I shan’t be doing that, Doctor.”

“Very well. Goodnight to you, Sergeant.”

“Goodnight to you, Doctor.”

And as he watched the tall, spare figure of Heraklion striding away along the corridor, Brasidus, the policeman in his makeup suddenly in the ascendant, asked himself, What is he hiding? And then the first of the babies awoke, and almost immediately after the other forty-nine of them. Brasidus bade a hasty farewell to Achron and fled into the night.

Chapter 3

THERE WAS AN ODD,
nagging suspicion at the back of Brasidus’ mind as he walked slowly through the almost deserted streets to the police barracks. Normally he would have been attracted by the sounds of revelry that still roared from the occasional Club—but the mood that had descended upon him earlier still had not left him, and to it was added this new fretting surmise. Crime was not rare on Sparta, but it was usually of a violent nature and to cope with it required little in the way of detective ability. However, crime against the state was not unknown—and the criminals were, more often than not, highly placed officials, better educated and more intelligent than the commonalty. There was a certain smell about such malefactors—slight, subtle, but evident to the trained nose.

Brasidus possessed such an organ, and it had twitched at the odor that lingered about Doctor Heraklion.

Drugs? Could be—although the man himself did not appear to be an addict. But, in his position, he would have access to narcotics, and the peddlers had to get their supplies from somebody.

Even so, Brasidus was reluctant to pass his suspicions on to his superiors. To begin with, there was no proof. Secondly—and this was more important—he had witnessed what had happened, more than once, to overzealous officers who had contrived to trample on the toes of the influential. To present his captain with a
fait accompli
, with all the evidence (but of what?) against Heraklion neatly compiled, would be one thing, would almost certainly lead to promotion. To run to him with no more than the vaguest of suspicions, no more than a hunch, actually, could well result in permanent banishment to some dead-end hamlet in the bush.

Nonetheless, an investigation could bring rewards and, if carried out discreetly and on his own time, would not be too risky. After all, there was no law or regulation to debar any citizen from entry to the créche. Now and again, at the instigation of members like Telemachus, the Council had attempted to encourage visits, although with little success. Perhaps a sudden access of parental feeling would look suspicious—but calling to see a friend, one of the children’s nurses, would not. Too, Achron himself might have noticed something odd, might even be induced to remember and to talk about it.

“What’s biting you, Sergeant?” asked the bored sentry on duty at the barracks gate.

Brasidus started. “Nothing,” he said.

“Oh, come off it!” The man who had served with Brasidus for years and was shortly due for promotion himself, could be permitted liberties. “Anybody’d think you had a solid week’s guard duty ahead of you, instead of your free day.” The sentry yawned widely. “How was the dance, by the way? It’s unlike you to be back so early, especially when you’ve a morning’s lay-in for recuperation.”

“So-so.”

“Any good fights?”

“I don’t know. There seemed to be one starting just as I left.”

“And you didn’t join in? You must be sickening for something. You’d better see a doctor.”

“Maybe I’d better. Good night, Leonidas—or should it be good morning?”

“What does it matter to you? You’ll soon be in your scratcher.”

On his way to his sleeping quarters Brasidus had to pass the duty sergeant’s desk. That official looked up as he approached. “Oh, Brasidus . . .”

“I’m off duty, Lysander.”

“A policeman is never off duty—especially one who is familiar with the routine for spaceport guard duties.” He consulted a pad on his desk. “You, with six constables, are to present yourself at the port at 0600 hours. The men have already been checked off for the duty, and arrangements have been made to have you all called. You’d better get some sleep.”

“But there’s no ship due. Not for months.”

“Sergeant Brasidus, you and I are policemen. Neither of us is an expert on astronautical matters. If the Latterhaveneers decide to send an unscheduled ship, and if the Council makes the usual arrangements for its reception, who are we to demand explanations?”

“It seems . . . odd.”

“You’re a creature of routine, Brasidus. That’s your trouble. Off with you now, and get some sleep.”

Once he had undressed and dropped onto the hard, narrow bed in his cubicle he did, rather to his surprise, fall almost at once into a dreamless slumber. And it seemed that only seconds had elapsed when an orderly called him at 0445 hours.

A cold shower completed the arousing process. He got into his black and silver uniform tunic, buckled on his heavy sandals and then, plumed helmet under his arm, made his way to the mess hall. He was the first one there. He looked with some distaste at the already laid table—the crusty bread, the joints of cold meat, the jugs of weak beer. But he was hungry, and pulled up a form and began his meal. As he was eating, the six constables of his detail came in. He nodded in greeting as they muttered sullenly, “Morning, Sergeant.” Then, “Don’t waste any time,” he admonished. “They’ll be waiting for us at the spaceport.”

“Let ‘em wait,” growled one of the latecomers. He threw a gnawed bone in the general direction of the trash bucket, missed.

“That’s enough from you, Hector. I hear that there’s a vacancy for village policeman at Euroka. Want me to recommend you?”

“No. Their beer’s lousier even than this, and they can’t make wine.”

“Then watch your step, that’s all.”

The men got slowly to their feet, wiping their mouths on the back of their hands, halfheartedly dusting the crumbs from the fronts of their tunics. They took their helmets from the hooks on the wall, put them on, then filed slowly from the mess hall to the duty sergeant’s desk. He was waiting for them, already had the armory door unlocked. From it he took, one by one, seven belts, each with two holsters. So, thought Brasidus, this is an actual spaceship landing. Staves and short swords were good enough for ordinary police duties. As the belts were being buckled on, the duty sergeant produced the weapons to go with them. “One stun gun,” he muttered, passing them out. “One projectile pistol. To be used only in extreme urgency. But you know the drill, Sergeant.”

“I know the drill, Sergeant,” replied Brasidus.

“We should,” grumbled Hector, “by this time.”

“I’m telling you,” explained the duty sergeant with ominous patience, “so that if you do something silly, which is all too possible, you won’t be able to say that you weren’t told not to do it.” He came out from behind the desk, inspected the detail. “A fine body of men, Sergeant Brasidus,” he declaimed sardonically. “A credit to the Army. I don’t think. But you’ll do, I suppose. There’ll be nobody there to see you but a bunch of scruffy Latterhaven spacemen.”

“What if they aren’t from Latterhaven?” asked Brasidus. He was almost as surprised by his question as was the duty sergeant.

“Where else can they be from? Do you think that the gods have come all the way from Olympus to pay us a call?”

But if the gods came, it would be, presumably, on the wings of a supernal storm. It would not be a routine spaceship arrival—routine, that is, save for its unscheduled nature.

The men were silent during the ride to the spaceport.

Air-cushioned, the police transport sped smoothly over the cobbled streets of the city, the rough roads of the countryside. Dawn was not far off and already the harpies were uttering their raucous cries in the branches of the medusa trees. One of the birds, its wings whirring about its globular body, swept down from its perch and fluttered ahead of the driver’s cab, squawking discordantly. The vehicle swerved. Hector cursed, pulled his projectile pistol, fired. The report was deafening in the still air. The harpy screamed for the last time and fell, a bloody tangle of membrane and cartilage, by the side of the road.

“Was that necessary, hoplite?” asked Brasidus coldly.

“You heard what Sergeant Lysander told us, Sergeant.” The man leered. “This was an emergency.”

Only a bird, thought Brasidus. Only a stupid bird. Even so . . . He asked himself, Am I getting soft? But I can’t be. Not in this job. And in all my relationships I’m the dominant partner.

The spaceport was ahead now, its latticework control tower looming starkly against the brightening yellow of the eastern sky. Atop the signal mast there was flashing the intense green light that warned of incoming traffic. A ship was due.
Latterhaven Venus
or
Latterhaven Hera
? And what would either of them be doing here off season?

The car halted at the main gates, sitting there on the cloud of dust blown up and around it by its ducts. The guard on duty did not leave his box, merely actuated the mechanism that opened the gateway, waved the police through. As they drove to the Spaceport Security Office, Brasidus saw that the inner barrier was being erected on the concrete apron. He noticed, too, that only one conveyor belt had been rigged, indicating that there would be very little cargo either to load or to discharge. That, at this time of the year, made sense. But why should the ship be coming here at all?

They were outside the office now. The car stopped, subsided to the ground as its fans slowed to a halt. The constables jumped out, followed Brasidus into the building. To meet them there was Diomedes—corpulent, pallid, with a deceptively flabby appearance—the security captain. He returned Brasidus’ smart salute with a casual wave of his pudgy hand. “Ah, yes. The guard detail. The usual drill, Sergeant. You’re on duty until relieved. Nobody, Spartan or spaceman, to pass through the barrier either way without the Council’s written authority.” He glanced at the wall clock. “For your information, the ship is due at 0700 hours. You may stand down until 0650.”

“Very good, sir. Thank you, sir,” snapped Brasidus. “If I may ask, sir, which of the two ships is it? “

“You may ask, Sergeant. But I’m just Security. Nobody ever tells me anything.” He relented slightly. “If you must know, it’s neither of the two regular ships. It’s some wagon with the most unlikely name of
Seeker III
.”

“Not like the Latterhaveneers to omit the name of their precious planet,” muttered somebody.

“But, my dear fellow, the ship’s not from Latterhaven. That’s the trouble. And now, Sergeant, if you’ll come with me I’ll try to put you into the picture. It’s a pity that nobody’s put me into it first.”

Chapter 4

THE SHIP THAT WAS NOT
from Latterhaven was no more than a glittering speck in the cloudless morning sky when Diomedes, followed by Brasidus and the six hoplites, marched out from the office onto the apron, to the wire mesh barrier that had been erected to define and enclose the strange vessel’s landing place. It was no more than a speck, but it was expanding rapidly, and the rhythmic beat of the inertial drive, faint to begin with, was becoming steadily louder.