Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (23 page)

He turned his attention back to
Charlie, ‘Who knows Human, if you fight well, I might even let you
live. In which order would you like to fight them?’

‘
One by one, all
together,’ Charlie shrugged, moving away from the desk, ‘it won’t
matter much in the end. As you have seen fit not to order my death
I shall return the favour by trying not to kill all of your
men.’

‘
That is very
generous of you.’ Charlie wasn’t sure if the Emperor had thought it
or spoke it. His attention now was focused on his aggressors as
they moved in.

The fight didn’t last very long. The
Emperor was dumbfounded. One moment Charlie was in front of him and
the next he was crashing into the two executioners who had made the
first move. The two hit the wall. There was a crack as Charlie used
a jumping turning kick to knock the first out then grasped the
second one’s wrist to use him as a flail against his companions. He
knocked two of them down and changed his grip on the one he was
holding to the ankles. It was a bit awkward swinging the huge
Modloch above his head, but he managed it a number of times,
battering the three into unconsciousness. Charlie tossed the limp
form away. There was one executioner left on his feet. The royal
guard had bunched up together and were slowly retreating from
Charlie. He knew they were gathering room to charge. The
executioner tried to move sideways towards where he had thrown his
weapons but Charlie read his thoughts: he was counting on his own
Emperor not shooting him. As the executioner made a dash, the
weapons suddenly disappeared from the floor in front of him. A
second later he was being strangled by his own weapons belt. As the
Modloch slipped into unconsciousness and sagged, Charlie snapped
his neck like a twig.

The crack of bone made the Emperor
jump. His eyes met Charlie’s and he felt real fear for the first
time in his life. The Emperor eyed the twitching corpse. ‘I saw him
reach for his weapons. If you had not killed him, I would have.’ He
turned to his guards. ‘If any of you reach for a weapon, the Human
has my permission to kill you. Do not disgrace me further.’ He
turned back to Charlie, ‘Continue.’

The Modloch guard had locked together,
three in the front, three in the back, almost like a scrum. A
phalanx of horns and tusks were presented at him. Charlie backed
away until he was a few steps from the wall. He checked how much
head room he had and nodded at Gord, who was in the middle of the
front rank.

Gord roared something that did not
translate and the six charged with heads down. Charlie was
impressed by their turn of speed. Gord’s horns were aimed directly
at his chest, which meant they were bent low and well over their
point of gravity. Charlie knew they could never hope to brake the
momentum they had gathered. As they drew close Charlie took two
steps and simply leaped over the top of them. Only Gord managed to
lift his head. The Emperor cried out as they crashed into the
wall.

Charlie had flipped while in the air
and was already facing the backs of his opponents. A swift kick
between the legs put one Modloch down and out of action. A kick
right snapped the leg of another. The one to Charlie’s left made a
grab for him but he snapped the arm as though it was a twig. Of the
front three, only Gord was conscious. Charlie tossed the Modloch in
his path away and reached down for Gord’s ankles. Gord bellowed
with surprise as his feet were taken out from underneath him.
Charlie took a step back, performed a couple of turns and launched
Gord across the room. The unlucky Modloch smashed through the glass
doors and crashed into the barriers on the balcony.

Charlie did a quick scan of the room
but no one else had any fight left in them, so he followed Gord,
who was lying completely winded against the guard rails. Before
Gord could react Charlie had swung him up and over the balcony and
was holding him by a leg with one hand. He began to hum to himself
as he swung him to and fro.

The Emperor was in shock. He looked
round the room at his shattered soldiers. His hand went
instinctively for the pistol but hesitated. Drawing his hand back
the Emperor got up and got up and joined Charlie on the balcony
where he was still swinging the luckless Gord. By now Gord had got
some of his wind back and was howling his indignation.

The Emperor looked over the balcony,
‘Are you going to drop him?’

Charlie looked up, ‘Och no. I just
wanted to see if he would squeal like a wee girl.’

‘
You mean like a
young female?’

‘
That’s the
one.’

They both regarded Gord for a few
seconds and burst out laughing. ‘Give him a little shake,’
suggested the Emperor.

Charlie obliged and Gourd’s howls
increased. They both laughed.

‘
Let him up, it is
getting embarrassing now.’

‘
Move to the side
then.’

The Emperor did so and Charlie flipped
Gord over the rail and into the room where he lay in a heap,
trembling. The Emperor walked back to the rail and grasped it in
both hands before looking down at Charlie. ‘I accept your apology
Human. Now I understand the message you were trying to convey.’

It annoyed Charlie for a few seconds,
but the Emperor had after all offered an apology. He shrugged and
leaned against the rails, ‘No bother.’

‘
Maybe I should ask
your President for a Human guard,’ the Emperor spared a glance
behind.

Charlie looked up at the Emperor, ‘In
the history of your people has an Imperial Guard ever turned
against their Emperor?’

The Emperor was shocked, ‘No,
never.’

‘
In that case I would
stick to my own kind if I were you.’

It took a few seconds to sink in, ‘Ah!
I see. Are there many men of no honour in the Human race?’

‘
Enough to be a pain
in the arse all the way through our history.’

‘
It is a shame, but
now I feel vulnerable. An unusual sensation.’

‘
We could always help
train your people. For unarmed combat I would recommend the
Chinese. Their martial arts skills are beyond compare.’

The Emperor looked down at him. ‘You
don’t recommend your own people?’

‘
I would be doing you
a disservice. I am just a common infantry soldier. Ask the King to
arrange a martial arts demonstration for you.’

‘
I will. You wouldn’t
want to fight these Chinese?’

‘
Only a bloody fool
would want to.’

The Emperor sighed. ‘It is so hard to
grasp; one species with so many different races. Or is it one race
with so many different species?’

‘
Not quite sure
actually. I suppose now we consider ourselves as one people. That
didn’t happen until your brother arrived with that bloody great
ship of his. That made all the silly sods look up.’

‘
Then the Albany did
the Human race a favour.’

‘
Certainly did. It
made a change from killing our own kind.’

‘
Do you feel guilt
for the lives you took?’

‘
In the darkest of
nights and the longest of hours, I can still hear their silent
screams.’

‘
You took that
decision on your own.’

‘
Completely.’

The Emperor shook his head, ‘I doubt if
any of my soldiers, especially one as lowly as you, would have
taken that kind of decision by himself.’

Charlie raised an eyebrow, but let it
slip. ‘It is one of the reasons my race has been considered so
formidable over the centuries. Since childhood we are taught to
think for ourselves. Make a decision, stand by it. If you get it
wrong, take the consequences. Our history is full of men just like
myself who saw an opportunity and took it. Not just in battle
either.’

‘
I get the feeling
that not all races are like yours.’

‘
Nope.’

There was a strange buzzing noise. The
Emperor turned and surveyed the room. ‘My afternoon tea. If my
servants see all these bodies lying about they will panic and sound
the alarm.’

‘
Tell them you are in
a private meeting and to leave the tea at the door,’ Charlie
suggested.

‘
Good idea.’ They
went back inside the room. The Emperor pressed something on his
desk and spoke. Charlie went to the door. He watched the heat
signatures of the servants leave and then opened it to retrieve a
floating trolley. He pushed it over to the Emperor’s desk and laid
a cup in front of him.

‘
So, how do you like
your tea?’

The Emperor smiled, ‘Just fill it to
the top please.’

CHAPTER 29

It was a grand procession. Thousands of
Modloch citizens lined the streets. They almost went hysterical
when the Emperor passed by in the horse and carriage transported
from Earth. Beside him sat the King in his finest regalia.

It was almost eight Earth months since
they had crossed the great barrier. In the past two months the
Humans had slowly gained a foothold in the Modloch Empire. A whole
printing press and freighter full of paper had arrived from Earth.
They had plans to install the press in the city ship after the
presentations later that evening. Until then its arrival was being
kept secret. The Modloch people were still going wild over Earth
music.

The city ship itself was quickly
beginning to fill up. The high and mighty paid premium prices for
their new holiday homes. The tradesmen and service personnel who
would look after them were also coming in droves. With the price of
planet-based sites at an all time high, many off world companies
had also purchased or rented property on the ship.

The Emperor had thrown the doors wide
open. This was not to be a military base, rather a floating palace.
A place of rest and relaxation. Every trader who entered was vetted
thoroughly, as was every citizen from every part of the empire and
beyond. There was little enough crime on the Modloch home worlds,
but the Emperor knew that it was different where worlds collided;
it was there that those with criminal intent tended to congregate.
He wished for this grand city to be a place for all races, where
all could live in safety.

The President of Earth had also moved
down to the city with his staff. They now had their own embassy,
homes and flats. The Emperor had decided to try a different method
of attracting support for the Humans. His strategy on this day was
twofold: in the afternoon, a grand opening of the city ship to all
comers; that evening, a grand ball would be held, hosted by the
Humans. He had invited every head of state, every Emperor, every
galactic councillor he could. A huge amount of preparation had
taken place.

The Royal Horse Guard followed the
royal carriage with the Coldstream Guards marching behind in their
red jackets and bearskins. Bayonets gleamed in the sunlight that
streamed in through the atmospheric shield. The Modloch loved the
pageantry and the royal wave.

Behind the royal parties came the
ambassadors. The crowd surged away from them towards the horses and
Human soldiers. By the time they got to the palace a ceremonial
changing of the guard had taken place. Now bearskin soldiers stood
next to Imperial Guardsmen. What passed for news crews beamed the
whole thing around the galaxy.

The Emperor’s eyes gleamed, ‘These
animals are very well behaved despite the noise.’

‘
They are used to
it.’ The King agreed.

‘
I think they are
magnificent. There is little I envy about the Human race, but this
is certainly one of those things. My people seem to love them
too.’

‘
The Human love of
horse goes back a long way. Many have been honoured as
heroes.’

‘
You mean in the same
way as you would honour a Human hero?’

‘
Yes, very much so.
Before vehicles, man used the horse for all their transport
needs.’

‘
Did they
fight?’

‘
No, they simply
carried their riders into battle. However they have been known to
save a loved rider from a dangerous foe. Great feats of strength
and heart. Some are intelligent beyond the status of simple
animal.’

‘
Tell me a horse
story.’

The King thought it over for a moment.
‘Many years ago my great, great grand mother was in a carriage much
like this one with the King of Tonga, during a state visit. Halfway
down the mall one of the horses farted right in the King’s face. As
you can imagine, the smell wasn’t very pleasant. Embarrassed by the
incident my great great grand mother leaned towards him and
apologised for the incident. “Oh! I am dreadfully sorry about
that.” She said. The King of Tonga turned to her and said, “Oh, I
thought it was the horse.”’

The Emperor was already laughing, and
when he heard the punchline he almost choked. He was still laughing
as they arrived at the palace. That was how the Modloch race saw
their Emperor, laughing and obviously enjoying himself in the
company of the Human King. That they walked together laughing like
old friends as they ascended the palace steps was neither missed by
them nor the rest of the galaxy.

As they reached the top the Emperor
could not help but turn and watch as the horses passed by. The
bands went last and he exclaimed at the size of the horses carrying
the band’s kettle drums. The King knew exactly what was going
through his mind.

The pomp and ceremony continued
throughout the day. Kings, Emperors, and heads of state were all
lined up in the great hall, in order of importance. It wasn’t
missed that the Human King sat at the Emperor’s right hand.
Traditional Modloch entertainment was the order of the day but the
Humans had their spotlight as well. The US Marine Corps band played
Glen Miller while display teams from different countries went
through their paces. The display seemed to please everyone,
especially as it ended with another naval gun race. Even the Kings
and Emperors seemed to have picked their favourites and were
cheering them on.