The Far Side (79 page)

General Briggs sat back, his eyes curious and intent, silent for a few moments.  “Major Sandusky asked you to put together this briefing, Kris.  Why do you think he did that?”

Kris smiled briefly.  “Everything is a test.  In this case, for all of us.”

“Major, do you have a comment?” the general asked Kurt.

“Kris isn’t doing justice to herself.  We both learned a lot.  I really wish we could have gotten a camera through that door, but there was no way to justify the risk.  As for the lessons learned -- those were dished out fairly evenly all the way around.”

“You’re certain as to the nature of the third weapon?” the general inquired.

“Those weapons produce a short pulse of very hard radiation.  There is almost no fallout, minimal blast and flash damage.  The first two MOABs covered it all up.  Ezra, you know more about that sort of thing than I do.”

Ezra Lawson shrugged.  “I know almost nothing about the mechanics.  There were probably at least three B-2 bombers way, way up high, with laser designators on the target.  The weapons have both inertial as well as laser tracking.  As soon as the first weapon detonated, the follow-on weapons would have switched to inertial.”  He grimaced.  “Targets I spotted for typically didn’t require a second strike, much less a third.  And nothing like that last weapon, ever.”

“Someone was awfully quick on the trigger,” Helen Boyle said.  “My husband feels that the decision was partly based on the President’s antipathy for all things Schulz.”

General Briggs grimaced.  “It would seem likely that they are going to impose even more stringent rules on fusor use, but we have, at least so far, complied with all of the rules that we know about.  I’ll talk to the architects and see what they have to say about containing explosions.  We were more interested in being airtight, not blast protection.”

Kris nodded.  “Worse, Chicago seems to have made the President’s case for him.  To be honest, what he did was what I was thinking would be a good idea.  I’m not sure what we’d have actually done, but I was grateful that they were ready with something so quick.”

“There is, however,” Kurt interjected, “a political factor that General Briggs and I talked over with Oliver Boyle.  It may well be that the President’s actions were fully justified.  But the fact remains that the President of the United States of America ordered the detonation of a nuclear weapon over an American city as part of a series of detonations that guaranteed that the five missing will never return and killed four others and injured two dozen more.

“We’d probably have the people in the streets with pitchforks hunting for us right now,” he concluded, “if the President had blamed it on Andie and Kris.  That he didn’t seems to indicate that he’s waiting until Congress reconstitutes itself and he can get a vice president confirmed.  He’ll make a side deal with the new veep like Ford made with Nixon for a blanket pardon, and then he’ll resign.

“But the minute it is generally known that he nuked an American city, no matter why, no matter how safe it was and all of that, his presidency will be over.”

He looked around the table.  “Far Side doors weren’t popular before and they just got a lot more unpopular, no matter how you cut it.  General, I hope you have a lot of lawyers, because as much as Northfield loves Norwich, the thought of them dropping bombs up there on the hill is not going to win us any friends.”

“We’re working on that,” the general replied.  He grinned wryly.  “I’ve made a half-specious request that Norwich be allowed to lease Thunder Mountain outside Colorado Springs.”

There were laughs around the table.

“But, before we all despair, we need to understand among ourselves what risks we are involved with.  We’ve seen hot places and wet places, profound emptiness and solid rock.  We’ve met people like us who are friendly and people like us who aren’t.  Those are the Far Side doors that we know about.  Now we’ve found a place where it is likely that whatever was on the other side was decidedly hostile.

“Andrea Schulz’s designs are everywhere now.  This was one built by high school students in a basement.  God alone knows how many other young people have built these.  But, one reason the government hasn’t been howling for them to be banned and people who create them imprisoned, is that variety of results.

“Andie Schulz is trading copper from Earth for gold and platinum from Arvala.  This is, most people think, a good thing.  Not only is gold more plentiful there than it is here, so are platinum and silver.

“Those metals are of strategic significance, and no one wants to cut off the source of more.  I am told that Mr. Bullman has asked Andie to arrange a meeting for him with the Arvalans.  Uncle wants to offer the Arvalans ten tons of copper in a bulk deal for ten tons of gold and platinum amalgam and two tons of silver.  That’s more than a billion dollars worth of precious metals.

“And that request is not the secret it could be; the Secretary of the Treasure -- er, Treasury, testified that they were going to be negotiating towards that end, before a closed session of Congress.

“This begs the question -- the United States is the only country that has admitted Far Side doors.  The thought is that Russia, China, the EU nations, the Japanese, Koreans... for all we know, the Zimbabweans -- might all have Far Side doors either complete or under construction.  There must be hundreds of them operating now, and so far we’ve had only one really bad result.  I might add that the estimate of the property damage done is about the one billion dollars I was just talking about.

“This is going to be a matter of grave national security.  And, like those bizarre TV pioneers, Star Gate Command, the government can’t afford to give up on the possible technical benefits if we meet an advanced race willing to trade with us.  For some time we’re going to be of two minds about the use of the doors.  For right now, though, I’ve been given private assurances that they will not try to shut us down, so long as we take stringent precautions.”

Helen Boyle spoke up.  “I’ve been following the work done on the research concerning the Chicago incident.  The clothing and other effects of everyone involved were removed, and the people were decontaminated as best as we know how to do.

“None of those with my daughter or Major Sandusky were exposed to more than moderately elevated levels of carbon monoxide.  As the blood work was done more than an hour after the event, finding any trace of carbon monoxide left is a sign that the concentrations they were exposed to were significant.

“That said, of that group, the one with the most exposure was Peter Sharp, and we estimate that had he delayed another few seconds it is very possible he would have been overcome.  Moreover, unlike everyone else, we did find traces of a fine white powder on his body armor.

“The composition of the material is curious.  It was a mixture of insect juvenile growth hormone and chlordane dust, and traces of some fungal spores that we don’t recognize and can’t get to grow.

“It is the government’s belief -- and mine -- that the attack was both chemical and biological in nature, but that the weapons used were tailored for insects.”

That left everyone scratching their heads.

Chapter 30 :: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad

“This is incredible, Collum,” Melek told his King.  “I never imagined anything like this.”

The two men were standing at the Western Gate of Arvala, watching another column of workers arriving from the west.

“This must have been what it was like back when the walls were built,” Melek told the King.

Collum nodded, his eyes as raptly on the oncoming people as Melek’s had been.

“Aye, it’s true, Melek.  And this represents a risk we didn’t have before, because now they are closer to the Tengri than they’ve been in twelve hundred years.  We owe it to them to protect them a lot better than our ancestors protected their people.”

“We are wiser, Sachem.  And -- we have help.”

The King of Arvala shook his head in wonder.  “I have to tell myself that no one can be as rich as Andie is -- that or she is telling the bare truth.  She trades a wagon of copper for a wagon of gold and thinks she’s getting such a bargain that she sends another wagon load of their weapons and yet another wagon of ammunition for those guns as thanks.  She has sent us men who know more than our finest smiths about how to smelt iron.  She has sent miners and millers and...” his voice trailed away.

“It seems like we cheat them.  And yet, mention to one of her countrymen if they want to trade a pound of our gold for a pound of their copper, and they are so eager as to defy imagination.”

“Sachem, Andie told us.  Where she is from, gold and platinum are valued, and while copper has value, it isn’t even a tithe of how they value gold.”

“It still seems -- unfair.”

Melek chuckled.  “She said this is a concept called an ‘imbalance between supply and demand.’  The more gold we ship them and the more copper they ship us, the more prices will grow towards each other on both worlds.  Eventually, they will represent the true worth of each metal in each place.”

“Aye, and she says we should be careful about trading away gold because there are nearly seven billion people on her world who value it far more than a few million Arvalans value copper.”

The two men watched the newcomers as they stopped to gape at the golden city.  It was pretty, particularly this early in the day.

Melek turned to his friend, his mentor and his King.  “Sachem, as you have commanded, I have been keeping track of the Americans.”  He stumbled over the unfamiliar word.  “There are now twenty here in the city.  Six are smiths, who work to show ours how better to smelt steel.  Two are farmers of some sort, who are studying our crops.  Ten are training our soldiers in the new weapons.  Two are what Lady Andie calls ‘intelligence assets’ who use that radio device to monitor the Tengri.”

Collum laughed.  “I pity the men in her government who give her problems.  I wager she gives them more.”

Both men knew what he was talking about: Andie’s King, or whatever he was, didn’t like her and wasn’t going to help her.  Lady Kris’ father had staged some sort of coup -- it wasn’t clear exactly how that worked.  But their King now was just an obstructionist.  He’d been limiting telling the Arvalans what the Tengri were talking about.  Lady Andie had hired two “cryppie nerds,” whatever those were, who promptly started giving them an amazing amount of information, most of it useless trivia, but all showing the inner workings of the Tengri Imperium.

“Sachem, the smith that Lady Andie left in charge of the Americans in Arvala told me that Lady Andie is expected at the rookery this morning.  She has some tasks to do there, then, he said, and then she has a surprise for us.  She will be bringing it here.”

“It is undoubtedly bad form for a King to behave like a child awaiting a birthday present, but I have to admit that I can hardly wait to see what she has for us.”

“Aye, Sachem.  They will be here within a week, on those new beastless wagons of theirs.”

“You would think they would have larger wagons,” Collum complained.

“They do, Sachem.”

“They do?  Then why not use them?”

“Andie has said it, Sachem.  They have a door that leads from their world to ours.  It is a tiny bit wider than one of our doors and just a bit taller.  Large wagons don’t fit through the door.”

“That must be inconvenient,” the Sachem told him.  “That must be a nuisance.”

“It is, Sachem.  Some of their machines work through the door, but most don’t.”

“What was it that I heard about a fight between the smiths and some of the American soldiers?”

Melek chuckled.  “It wasn’t a fight, Sachem, at least, not in the sense you mean.”

“I heard it was fairly violent and a couple of men from both sides sustained mild injuries.”

“It is an American thing, Sachem.  Our people sing, our people play music, they dance, and they create art in their free time.  Americans do those also, but they also have what Lady Andie calls ‘athletic contests.’”

“What are those?”

“I’m still not a hundred percent sure, Sachem.  It seems farfetched.  She says that people trade their own copper to go see these things.  They are games with arbitrary sets of rules, but where various sorts of athletic prowess are important.  It is a little like soldiers sparring, Sachem.  We routinely hold contests to see who is best with a particular weapon.  That’s what the Americans do in these ‘sporting events.’”

“Who won, then?”

“The soldiers, Sachem, but they will hold another event again in a few days.  The smiths think they know how to win.”

The King rubbed his chin.  “And this -- game -- what is the goal?”

“There is a ball, sir.  There are rules about who can touch it and when -- all arbitrary, but designed to be fair and reasonable.  You aren’t allowed to be unnecessarily rough, although there is a lot of physical contact.  There are men called ‘referees’ who see it that the rules are followed, and when there is an infraction, they declare a penalty, and move the ball further away from the goal -- or advance it, depending.  Andie and Mason, the smith, swear it is fair, sir.”

“All of this just to move a ball a few feet?”

“Yes, Sachem.  In its way, conceptually, it’s not much different than an archery tournament.  You have rules, men shoot, and anyone caught breaking the rules is eliminated.”

“Someone breaking the rules happens every five or six years and is a terrible scandal,” Collum told Melek.

“Yes, Sachem.  This game is more complicated, and well, you know men.  Hit someone and sometimes even the most mild-tempered man loses his temper.”

“So why do it?”

“Lady Andie says in America this is a very important activity; she says that there are a number of these sports, most involving balls.  It brings in a great deal of revenue, as well.  The team that hosts the event charges people to watch and their King takes a bit of the revenues as tax.”

“I’d stay home and save my copper!” Collum said.

“It’s recreation, Sachem.  Of course you can do that.  But in America, cities have their own teams and there are regional and national rivalries.  Many people come to cheer their team on.”

Collum sighed.  “The Americans are a great people, no doubt.  But it is not just their technology that can be hard to understand.”

“Yes, Sachem.  But they do seem to be willing to help us, and we didn’t exactly treat them right at first.”

“We did too!”

“Well, yes, we did.  You and I.

Flaner didn’t, King Zod didn’t.”

“And all of those men are dead.”

“Not Seros or Mardan.”

“No, not them, but what sort of a fighting man would let a cripple lead them?”

“Mardan’s men.  They are out there, someplace to the north of us.  We’re going to build a new road to the iron mines.  One that must be very secure.  We will want to guard it very carefully, Sachem.”

“That we will,” Collum told his young protégé.  “We already have seven thousand men from the army here, and in three weeks, we’ll have ten thousand.  I’m going to send a few thousand to the other end of the Wall, and leave another few thousand to stay here and watch, and then I will march most of the rest north, to see if we can find Mardan, Seros, and their men.”

“We’ll lose soldiers, just to the beasts,” Melek warned.

“I know, but we’re going to send them with American weapons.  The beasts may just have a surprise in store for them!”

The two men chuckled.  “And Andie will be here in a week?” the King asked.

“Yes, Sachem.  With a surprise.  Considering what else she’s surprised us with, I also have to admit a delicious anticipation.”

“I’m not sure if it will be delicious, but I’m sure it will be something that will once again rock the foundations of all of us.”

Melek bobbed his head.

* * *

Andie Schulz stood with Hank Martindale and Dick Haynes just outside the rookery, the three of them staring at the presence of the Big Moon, almost entirely above the western horizon.

“Wow,” Hank said with feeling.

“I’ve seen a dozen artist’s depictions of what a big planet would look like in the sky.  This here, this has made a believer of me!” Dick added.

“You’re not feeling shut in?” Andie asked.

Hank waved around the horizon.  “We’re the only people in four hundred miles?”

Andie laughed.  “No, look over there,” she pointed to the Tengri fort, which had new management.  “That fort over there has about five hundred men now.  Once we get the rail line working, there will be five or ten thousand there, and another post in the middle of the peninsula.”

Andie went on, “I have a number of small working parties in the local area.  Resource exploration, mostly, but there’s a geologist who was a stratigrapher for an oil company.  The poor guy has gone ape here.  At some point in time the peninsula was tilted, with the crest to our east, running about twenty thousand feet above what it is now.  It must have been a while ago, because the mountains have been worn down to ten thousand feet.

“Everything to the west of the break slumped a mile or more.  If you start at the watershed crest and go west, you cut more than twenty continuous miles of geological layers -- it makes the Grand Canyon look like a minor nick.

“That geologist says that the deepest layers are only fifteen million years old.  That’s not much more than an eye blink when it comes to geologic time.  He and my biologist looked at the ocean, and they say it is teeming with something like earthly foraminifera -- microscopic protozoa with carbonate shells.  There are a lot of diatoms, which have glass-like shells, as well -- they say the density of those are about a hundred times that seen on Earth.

“In the strata near here we have coal layers nearly a mile thick.  In addition, about two miles north of the rookery is a layer about a quarter mile thick of the finest marble he’s ever seen.

“These people have been here for fifteen hundred of our years, twelve hundred of their years.  They’ve explored about two thousand miles west.  They haven’t found the western edge of the continent.

“We’ve listened to the Tengri.  They think they are pretty clever with codes that Julius Caesar’s men could have cracked in an afternoon.  They say the ocean between their continent and this one is eighty-five hundred miles.  Their continent is about four thousand miles across, and the Tengri control the northwestern quarter.  The continent is about five thousand miles from north to south.  The Tengri originated near the southeast corner and moved northwest.  Four other nations now control the other three quarters of the continent.  All four of those nations are the technical equals of the Tengri.

“This isn’t Earth, and you have to get rid of preconceptions.  Their sailing ships would have been easy meat, I think, for the British or American navy of 1800.  Their radios are about 1914.  Technology here is very different from at home.

“Simply put, if you say ‘God’ here, they’re going to wonder who you are talking about.  Say ‘magic’ and then try explain what you meant and they’ll think you’re delusional.  This is a rational race of people.”

“Then why aren’t they flying spaceships?” Dick retorted.

“You have to start somewhere.  These people had a big population pinch twelve hundred of their years ago.  Only a few hundred of them survived to reach here -- and most of those were men.  It took them a century to regain the population they had on the first day they set foot on this continent.

“Not only are they rational -- they are too rational, even fatalistic.  Their scholars tend to look at a problem, for instance, trying to explain what causes lightning, and they understand that their science doesn’t give them a clue as to what’s causing it.  On Earth we used gods, magic, or both to explain what we didn’t know.

“Here, alas, they have their own way of getting sidetracked.  They say such things are ‘unknowable.’  One of the things I’ve done is to convince them that everything is knowable if you work at it hard enough.”

Hank snorted.  “I know it ain’t a fair question, girl, but why did my boy die in I-rack?”