Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (33 page)

Steven nodded. ‘We have been talking
about bio domes for crops like potatoes, carrots and that sort of
thing. The effort, however, outweighs the necessity at the moment.
We can supply our forces quite adequately from Earth. The
freighters can carry perishables in a vacuum, we can also store
them that way until required. Bio domes are only really economical
if you have them around a sun.’

‘
Yes Captain, but the
point I have been trying to make is that you will need bio domes to
produce enough food to supply your customers on this side of the
barrier. You may well be able to cope to begin with, but a few
months of increasing demand could tax your own planet’s resources.
You are used to thinking about supply and demand in regards to only
your home world. If your food takes off in the manner I believe it
will, you may well be supplying dozens of planets. I am quite happy
to allow bio domes from Earth to use our sun – especially if you
supply us with what I have asked for. Of course, they would have to
be placed in orbit on the other side of the sun from us. You could
build your own planetoid if you wished. It would be mutually
beneficial for both our races.’

Steven considered the argument for a
moment. ‘I can see where you are coming from sir. However, at this
moment in time my resources are under extreme pressure building up
Earth’s defences. They have to take priority before anything else.
However, I will see what I can do to bring the process
forward.’

‘
I would ask no more,
Captain.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Back to business gentlemen. I
have informed you of your bid’s success, as well as of your new
duties and responsibilities. As your sponsor I have carried out my
responsibilities under galactic law. Good luck.’ He passed a tablet
over. ‘Please sign the bottom of the page. Each next to your
names.’

They complied, passing a wafer thin
stylus from man to man. The President noticed that their electronic
signatures were as bad as the Modloch Emperor’s attempts at
writing.

The meeting was over; the guards opened
the door for them. The King stopped for a moment to have a private
chat.

‘
Have you set a day
for leaving yet?’ The Emperor asked.

‘
No, but now our bid
has been a success, it’s probably a matter of days.’

‘
Could you spare a
weekend?’

‘
I think so. The
doctors don’t think that being in your part of the galaxy will make
any difference to the child, and we should make it back home a
month at least before she gives birth.’

‘
Are you keen to get
home?’

‘
Yes and no. I just
wish that you could experience Earth for yourself. This has been an
adventure of a lifetime for me.’

‘
A whisper in the
wind tells me that it is a son.’

‘
That’s just exactly
what they are telling me.’

‘
Congratulations. You
know you should enrol him in the galactic schools here. I think he
would do well.’

‘
I have looked into
it. He would be half the size of the others and our children do not
have the same mental abilities as yours do. I fear he would be left
lagging far behind.’

‘
A shame. Still, join
me on the royal yacht this weekend. I have a family weekend
planned.’

‘
I would love
to.’

CHAPTER 39

When Steven arrived back aboard Babes
it was to find the ship a hive of activity. He was asked to join
his command staff in the stellar cartography room. He was surprised
by what he found.

Hailey was plotting vectors from an
unknown region of space; all the lines led straight to Earth.

‘
What the hell is
going on?’

Everyone stopped for a moment. Colonel
Howe spoke up. ‘Glad you’re back sir. We have a big problem. The
Albany are planning to attack Earth again.’

‘
I thought they
didn’t have a fleet capable of it.’

‘
It isn’t a fleet
sir. They are going to attack us using asteroids.’

Steven shook his head in disbelief,
‘How did we find this out? I haven’t heard anything!’

‘
You will have to
speak to Charlie. He is with the doctor, they are doing something
with his brain.’

He found Amanda Freeling pacing outside
her lab. ‘What is happening?’

She threw a delicate hand into the air.
‘I have no idea what that pair are up to. They threw me out.’

‘
Who.’

‘
Charlie and Babes.
You have to go straight in.’

He found Charlie reclining in a chair
with a strange helmet completely covering his face. It looked like
he was unconscious. ‘What’s going on Babes?’

‘
I am sorry my heart,
I have been really busy. Charlie believes the easiest way to
explain is to show you. Please sit on the chair beside him and
place the helmet on your head. I am going to create a direct neural
link between your minds. You will be able to visualize his
memories. You will see what he saw, hear what he was thinking and,
most importantly, hear what he was hearing.’

‘
Is this
safe?’

‘
Perfectly.’

Steven sat down and placed the helmet
on his head. He was immediately plunged into darkness. He began to
feel panicky as he lost sensation of his body.

‘
Stevie, is that
you?’ It was Charlie’s voice.

‘
Aye, where the hell
are you?’

‘
Give it a moment
Stevie. Babes is going to pull you in.’

Steven blinked and found himself once
more sitting in the med lab, yet it felt different. Charlie was
sitting next to him, only now they didn’t have helmets on.

‘
What’s going on,
where the hell am I?’

‘
Beats the shit out
of me, Babes did explain it like, but it went straight over my
head.’

‘
Babes?’

‘
Please remain calm
and seated while I finish calibration my heart.’

‘
Relax man, this is
so cool.’

‘
OK Charlie, you may
proceeded.’

‘
What you are going
to see and hear are my memories. Babes is helping me retrieve them
so we have a more accurate picture of what happened, what I
overheard. You can view it on a screen or she can play them back in
your mind like you are actually me.’

‘
Wow! No... on a
screen please.’

The whole wall in front of him changed.
They were seeing things from Charlie’s perspective. Charlie’s eyes
flipped back and forth. Then a voice could be heard. ‘This is a
pain in the fucking arse.’

‘
That’s me thinking
Stevie, sorry about the language man.’

‘
I can’t really kick
your arse for thinking it, can I?’

‘
How much longer
Charlie? That’s an hour already.’ It was Kelly’s voice.

Charlie swivelled his head to look at
him. ‘Beats me Jeb. Looks to me like we are being put in our
place.’

‘
Sure
does.’

Charlie closed his eyes. ‘I wonder if I
can hear this clown, see how much longer he is going to piss us
around for.’ Steven noticed immediately that Charlie’s voice
sounded different in his head to what it did in real life. He
suddenly found himself fascinated.

A woman’s voice sounded from the
speakers. ‘Oh, please, please hurry, these animals are stinking up
my office.’

‘
That’s the
secretary.’ Charlie added vocally.

There was a loud buzzing and Charlie
focused on a voice. ‘This means we are going to move the plans
forward. Who knew so many would vote for the Humans. The Albany are
not going to be pleased.’

Charlie’s eyes opened and locked on to
a group of aliens walking down the corridor.

‘
I wonder how many
engines they have now? If I know Darrick, he will have everything
in place to help them. We probably have as little as two months to
finish the Humans off. That is barely enough time. They will have
to launch within the next few weeks.’

‘
What are those two
doing there?’ There was a slight pause. ‘They are unarmed.’ There
was a few moment’s silence. ‘Such a small race. It is hard to
believe they beat the Albany.’

They passed by and Charlie got up to
follow after a few words with Kelly.

The voice came back as Charlie followed
the two. ‘I wonder what would happen if I refused the Albany, kept
my mouth shut and backed the Humans. No, Darrick was right. Vison
is a prick. He has probably already sent word. If I don’t they will
probably turn on us. What other allies do we have? None that would
or could help. I wonder how many asteroids they have towed out to
the barrier now. What a shame all those wonderful creatures will
die. That elephant was magnificent. I wonder how long it will live
for. My people would have loved to have seen it. The Humans won’t
know what’s hit them. Even if their forces catch one or two, even
if they catch a hundred, there is bound to be one that gets
through. That’s all it will take.’

Steven was not only hearing what the
noble was thinking but also catching glimpses of pictures. The news
filled him with dread, but he was also hooked. They came to the
lift and Steven almost cried out when Charlie bent the weapons in
two. He was even more impressed when they shared the same lift.

‘
So now I know how
they beat the Albany. This one is as dangerous as those giant cats
were last night. What physical strength. Oh please stop trying to
straighten that weapon, it’s embarrassing. Yet the Human isn’t
gloating and he is getting the transport to stop at our destination
first. How strange these creatures are. Fascinating.’

‘
Don’t even try it
son; there simply isn’t enough of you, and if those pair you are
guarding are important, then you are going to find yourself in so
much shit you will drown in it.’’ Charlie was eyeballing one of the
guards whose violent thoughts were encroaching on Charlie’s
eavesdropping.

‘“
Leave the Human
alone.” Yes, leave the Human alone. Soon all of his people will be
dead. His mother and father, sisters, brothers, siblings, wife and
children. Once their planet is gone they will have nothing left to
bargain with and the universe will quickly eradicate
them.

‘
I wonder if he has a
daughter. He looks like a mature male.’ There was a strange sigh.
‘Who am I going to marry Welina to? It’s hard to believe she came
into season already. Where did my little girl go? Ardriod is the
obvious choice, but Welina doesn’t like him at all. I have seen the
snide little shit leer at her. It is obvious his only feelings are
lust and power. Who else?’

Charlie’s mind shifted from his to the
others he could hear in the lift.

‘
Just try it
Human.’

‘
Please don’t let him
attack.’

‘
How did he do that?
I have been shamed in front of my master. Will I be thrown off the
Royal Guard? I will lose everything.’

‘
Will thirty six
engines be enough? They wanted a hundred and were going to launch
them in waves of fifty at a time. Just one will pulverize the
planet. They are not going to be happy. I thought it would be years
before the Humans gained enough support for a bid. It isn’t our
fault. Even the Albany weren’t in a hurry. They will be now. If we
hit the planet after they have signed and accepted the galactic
laws, we will all be in big trouble. It will take years for the
planet to settle, but we have the technology to hurry it along a
bit. I can’t believe they are giving us the northern hemisphere.
Was Darrick lying? Is it too cold to grow blue grass? Now I know I
can renegotiate. The Albany are as crooked as they come. Damn them.
I’d love to see them getting chased by those big cats.’

The pod pulled into the space port and
they got out without a backward glance. The connection was suddenly
broken. Steven pulled the helmet off his head, blinking. He found
Charlie sitting looking at him.

‘
Wow Charlie, that
was surreal. What is this?’

‘
It’s a Modloch
interrogation device.’

‘
Where did you get
it?’

‘
From a buddy. Babes
and I have been playing with it for a while now to try and
understand my condition better.’

‘
What did you tell
the others?’

‘
I told them I had
overheard a conversation with my fancy new ears. It has been kinda
hard to explain. Never mind, they bought it anyway. I thought you
might like to see it from this perspective though.’

‘
That was awesome. A
bit freaky, but awesome.’

‘
It is your baby now
though.’

‘
First we have to
find out exactly what we are dealing with.’

‘
You haven’t got time
to find out Stevie. You need to start moving your chess pieces
now.’

‘
Don’t worry Charlie,
I am aware of that. Don’t take that literally.’

‘
Sorry
Stevie.’

Stevie got up and Charlie followed.
‘I’m going to talk to Colonel Howe first, then get in touch with
Admiral Baxter. I’ll need to recall the crew from wherever they
are. Could you do that for me Charlie?’

‘
No problems
Stevie.’

‘
I just got in touch
with Komoru, she’s on her way.’

‘
The ball is
rolling.’