“Oh, yes, thank you, priestess,” Melissa said. “Thank you.”
“We’ll do anything you say,” the doctor confirmed. “I’d love to keep him confined to camp.”
Aurora pursed her lips. “Very well, here is what you must do. Tie him up tonight so he can’t escape. I’ll send Hamilton out tomorrow with an unbreakable ankle ring that will give him a severe electric shock if he ever travels more than 100 meters from a microcontrol unit which you will inject into Mrs. Berger. Once that is done, you can untie him. He will be bound to stay within 100 meters of you until I deactivate the ring. Are those termsacceptable?”
The Bergers nodded.
“Then it’s done.” Aurora signaled to her men. “Remove the boy.” Then she turned to the Ranger. “I’m walking back to the settlement. Hamilton, you come with me.”
They walked in silence for several minutes through the pale moonlight. Then Aurora spoke.
“So, Hamilton, I see you’re feeling pretty proud of yourself right now.”
There was no point lying, so he admitted it frankly. “Yes, Aurora, I am.”
“You’re pretty arrogant, you know that? To think, a subhuman Earthling male having the gall to think he can teach morality to a 3rd circle Minervan priestess.”
Hamilton smiled. “Well, did you learn anything?”
“Oh, would you please stop it with your silly arrogance. I’m really mad at you. You took advantage of me tonight.”
Hamilton was flummoxed. “I? I took advantage of you? How?”
“I confided in you. I told you my deepest feelings, my darkest memory. So you knew how horrified I would be to find myself resembling the Centrals in any way. You made a false mirror and threatened to have it show me as some kind of aphrodemonic monster. You knew I could never face that, and you exploited myvulnerability.”
“I wasn’t exploiting your vulnerability. I was employing your recep- tivity to teach you something really important.”
Aurora put her hands on her hips. “And exactly what did you, a smelly savage, think you were entitled to teach me?”
“I thought you said I didn’t stink anymore.”
“I said ‘smelly,’ not‘stinky.’ Now answer the question. Just what did you presume to teach me?”
“That you were being cruel.”
“That does it!” Aurora threw up her hands and walked several steps, then turned to face Hamilton. “So I was being cruel, was I? You Earthlings are always saying that we Minervans are sooooo cruel. We buy back our ancient homeland and offer to help you in innumerable ways. You refuse our help. So we are cruel. You send armies to kill us. We beat you off, but do not pursue. So we are cruel. You brainwash your children to expend their lives in hopeless attempts to kill us. We stop them. So we are cruel. Today I let you rescue dozens of the assassins, and I even came to the hospital to see how they were. But then I find one, just one, who hasn’t received his lawful punishment and is planning to try to kill again. Not only that, buthe’s the very same one who tried to kill me. But even if you don’t care about my life, or that of any other Minervans…”
“I do care about your life, Aurora.”
“Oh shut up. Even if you don’t care about anyone but your little assassin friend, ask yourself this question: What would happen to him as soon as he made his next attempt?”
Hamilton looked down at the ground. There was only one answer. Aurora waited for him to say it, and not just think it. “He would have his arm blown off.”
Aurora nodded. “Exactly. So instead of letting that happen, I act to enforce the law, and have his hand removed in a clean, safe, and painless procedure. But you call me cruel. And not just cruel, but morally equal to the most evil beings who ever polluted the universe. Youcan’t imagine how low that made me feel.” She started to sob. “It was not I who was cruel tonight, Hamilton. It wasyou.”
For a few moments, the invincible priestess was just a distraught girl, and Hamilton held her to comfort her.“But don’t you feel good about being kind to that poor littleboy?”
She sniffled and backed away a step. “How can I feel good about bending the law for no logical reason? Tell me, Hamilton, what rational basis is there to be kind to people who are so despicably cruel that they send their own children to be mutilated and killed for the sole purpose of displaying their pitifulness on Galactic TV? In the entire known universe, there is no other race that sinks so low. Tell me Hamilton, why should we be kind to such utterly contemptiblecreatures?”
The accusation was damning. Hamilton could think of no words of his own to answer her, but from the depths of his memory came lines he had acquired while participating in a high-school play. He recited:
“The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute of awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings,
And earthly power doth then show like God’s
When mercy seasons justice.”
Aurora stopped sniffling and looked at the Ranger with curiosity. “Hamilton, that’s very good poetry. Did you write that?”
Before Hamilton could respond in words, she read his mind. “Oh, Shakespeare. Who was that?”
“He was our greatest poet. He was born in England about 400 years ago.”
She started to walk again in the direction of the settlement. “Rather unlikely. From the quality of his verse form it seems far more probable that he was a Minervan living in exile.”
“But could a Minervan have written its content?”
The comment stopped the priestess in her tracks. She regarded the soldier silently for several seconds. Then she said; “You are a very inter- esting study subject, Hamilton.”
Hamilton returned Aurora’s eye contact without flinching. Was she just trying to cut him down to size? He decided to put a positive spin on her remark. “Interesting study subject? Well I suppose that is a step up from laboratory specimen.”
“It certainly is. Just don’t let it go to your head.” Aurora looked at Hamilton intently. “You know Hamilton, I really do think you have a lot of admirable qualities. You may be a savage, but you are a noblesavage.” She smiled.“I really want to get to know more about you. Whydon’t you let me enter your inner mind? I could learn somuch.”
Hamilton was curious about the pleading nature of the request. “I don’t understand. You hold all the cards. Why are you asking my permission?”
“You mean that since you are mentally helpless anyway, why don’t I just barge in and do as I like?”
“That’s the general idea.”
“Because that would be wrong.”
Hamilton was baffled.
Aurora laughed.“I see, youdon’t understand.You’re wondering why I, who am always making you do this or that, should suddenly require voluntary cooperation in this matter. Look Hamilton, the things I make you do are all strictly external, and, I might add, clearly for your own good. But were I to enter your inner mind, all of your thought processes, and your very soul itself, would lie naked and helpless before me. To assume such a power over any sentient being, even a primitive protohuman like yourself, without his voluntary consent would be a fundamental violation of the Goddess Minerva’s first commandment.”
“And what is that?”
“Respect the Mind.”
Hamilton thought for a moment. “Well, in that case, I really want to thank you for your consideration. With all due respect, Aurora, I think you have quite enough power over me as it is. Please don’t take it per- sonally, but my answer is ‘no.’”
Aurora looked upset. “Oh come on. I won’t make any permanent changes. I just want to go in and have a lo
ok. “
“No.”
“Just a peek?”
“No.”
The priestess stamped her foot. “Why not? It would mean so much for science, and for me. Don’t you care about me?”
“You know that I do.”
“Then why not? Come on, be a sport.”
“Well, it seems to me from what you say,that even if you don’tmake any changes, that after you’ve seen my inner mind, you’ll know how all my thought processes work. Is that right?”
“Yes, certainly.”
“So in other words, you’ll have read my playbook, and your power over me will be greatly and permanently increased.”
Aurora looked sheepish. “Well… true. But…”
“So the answer is no.” Hamilton walked on.
Aurora hurried after him. “OK, I’ll tell you what. I’ll promise to refrain from taking any unfair advantage.”
“Unless such refraining would cause inconvenience or loss of amusement?”
“Right, exactly,” Aurora nodded enthusiastically.
“Forget it.”
“Meanie,” the priestess pouted.
Chapter 8
The President and his cabinet watched the Galactic News Service broadcast with delight.
The newscaster was a gorgeous erotic blonde dressed in red, and her holoimage standing in the center of room was a sight to excite the relevant zones of not only the men in the cabinet, but some of the women too. The picture quality was perfect, depicting not only the newscaster but the area surrounding her to infinite depth, fully justifying the 3 million bluebacks that had been spent converting the Abraham Lincoln bedroom into a state of the art modern holotheater.
“This is Kolta Bruna, reporting from Earth for the Galactic News Service,” the newscaster began.
“Quiet, everyone,” the President said. “She is about to talk about us.” Thenewscaster continued. “I’m here in Minervan-occupied Kennewick. The scene here is one of brutality unmatched in recent times,
as the Minervans inflict atrocity after atrocity on the poor defenseless natives of this primitive world.”
The holoimage changed, and now the room was filled with threedimensional reproductions of mangled children, screaming in pain as blood flowed from the stumps of their mutilated arms.
“These Earthling children had their arms blown off by the Minervans, right before my eyes thisafternoon.”
The picture changed back to the reporter.
“I am sorry that I cannot show you more of this massacre. But the Minervans, apparently wishing to hide their actions from Galactic scrutiny, prevented us from filming the children’s expiration.”
“GNS’s investigative team has since discovered that the massacre was committed using surplus weapons supplied to the Minervan High Council by the Imperial Western Galactic Naval Reserve.”
“With me now to discusstoday’s horrifying events is Minister Aaron Vardt, pastor of the First Methodist Church of Kennewick. Reverend Vardt, I understand that you were Minister to many of the children who were killed here today.”
“Yes,” the Minister sobbed. “The poor innocent little children, mur- dered just as their lives were about to begin. How could the Minervans be socruel?”
“Indeed, that is the question the whole galaxy is asking right now. But tell me Reverend, what will you Kennewickians donow?”
The minister stopped sobbing, and firmed his features in an expression of manly determination.“Wewill fight. We were born in Kennewick. We have lived in Kennewick. We can only live in Kennewick. Kennewick is our holy city. It is sacred to Jesus Christ, our lord and savior. We cannot live unless it is free of pagan intruders. Our children have shown us the way. We are all prepared to become martyrs in the holy crusade to liberateKennewick.”
“Of course,” Kolta Bruna nodded. “And what do you think of the Western Galactic Empire, which gave the Minervans the weapons they used to commit the massacre?”
“In the past, I, and I think most Kennewickians, admired the Western Galactic Empire, and I have always hoped for peace between our two great nations. But the Weegees must understand that by supporting the Minervan crimes, they themselves are committing crimes. They are sowing hate, and the day will come when they shall reap what theysow.”
Kolta Bruna smiled to her Galactic audience. “‘They shall reap what they sow.’ Something to think about. Perhaps the Universal League should take a look into what is going on here before the violence gets out of control and people on civilized planets are forced to endure the consequences. From the primitive Earth, this is Kolta Bruna, for the GNS.”
The President switched off the holotheater.“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Cabinet,” he grinned, “I think we are beginning to make some progress.”
CIA Director Collins nodded. “Yes, but we are running out of chil- dren in Kennewick to martyr.”
Attorney General Brasher answered him. “That’s no problem, I’ll have the FBI round up a few hundred more in Seattle and Portland and we’ll ship them right over. It’ll be easy. Actually, with the success of the Reverend Meade’s hate campaign, it should be possible to collect as many as we need as volunteers.”
Public Relations Director Lisa White cut in. “That’s good as far as it goes. We certainly need to keep the child-martyr blood flowing. But if we leave it there, the story is going to get stale. We’ve got momentum now, but we need to take the story to the nextlevel.”
The President looked ather curiously. “What do you mean ‘next level?’”
The PR director spread her hands. “Look, this ‘pity our misery’ stuff is nice, and it has some traction because the lesser powers are all hypersensitive about Weegee power politics, and the Weegees need to be concerned about that because they need to keep the minor players in their camp. Fine. But nobody is going to do anything unless we make what is happening here a matter of more immediate concern to the galaxy at large.”
The President steepled his fingers thoughtfully. “You mean, make people on civilized planets endure some consequences.” He turned to the White House Chaplain.
“So, Reverend Meade, how are things coming along in Peru?”
The Chaplain had been waiting for this question. “We’re almost ready, Mr. President.”
The President smiled. “Excellent. Well, I think the events of the past twenty-four hours are sufficient cause for celebration. Myra, do you have thechecks?”
As Hamilton and Aurora left the garden and entered the café plaza, the Ranger could see two tall strangely-dressed young women standing next to a vacant table at Aurora’s favorite hangout. One had auburn hair and wore a blue robe, while theother’s hair was flaming red and she wore a robe of green. Upon seeing them, a big smile appeared onAurora’s face. Without a word to Hamilton, she ran forward and exchanged joyous hugs and kisses with each of the newcomers.
Hamilton approached the three at a walk, and stood for several minutes while they chatted away merrily in some melodious alien tongue, ignoring him completely. Finally, the three disengaged and looked at him. “Hamilton,” Aurora said, “I’d like to introduce you to two of my old- est friends. This,” she indicated the auburn-haired woman in blue, “is Danae. She is the daughter of the commander of the WGE expedition that liberated Pegasus 3. I stayed with her on her father’s ship during the last year of the war. And this,” Aurora pointed to the red-headed woman in green, “is Freya. Her mother was the governess of Cassiopeia 2, in the Northern Princesspality of Thespia, where we were given refuge during the period between the end of the war and relocation.”
The women were both quite beautiful, and standing a few inches over six feet tall, more than a bit intimidating. They looked at Hamilton and smiled the kind of smile an Earth woman might have for a little boy or a puppy. Somehow Hamilton mustered the mental will to say“Hi.”
Danae said; “Yes, We’re here with the Universal League mission to make sure that the Minervans aren’t being too harsh on the natives. So if you feel Aurora is
treating you badly, you can just come straight to us.” The three women giggled conspiratorially.
Freya turned to Aurora. “Aurora, you didn’t tell us your Earthling was socute. He’s not at all as grotesque as we had imagined.”
Aurora grinned. “Yes, I really lucked out there. I don’t know how I would have managed spending days with a typical specimen.”
Danae chimed in.“And he hardly smells at all. Was he like this when you collectedhim?”
“No, that took some training. But it wasn’t too hard. He’sremarkably clever for an Earthling. Let’s sit down and have some raffa and I’ll show you hismind.”
“Aurora, please…” Hamilton began.
The priestess cut him short. “Hush, Hamilton. There’s no need to be frightened. These are my best friends. Can’t you see that they like you? Now be a good boy and sit down at the table so they can get to know you better.”
There was no use arguing, so Hamilton obeyed, and soon found himself sitting at one edge of a five-sided table with Danae on his left, Aurora on his right, and Freya facing him catty-corner from the chair beyond Aurora. Danae ordered drinks for all.
“He’s really quite remarkable,” Aurora began. “He actually demon- strates a small capability for protorational thought. And watch this.” She turned to Hamilton. “Hamilton, recite your poem.”
Hamilton did as he was bid, and the women watched him intently. When he was done, Aurora said, “He actually believes that it was written byan Earthling.” She laughed merrily, and the other women joined in.
When their laughing had subsided, Aurora continued. “But the point is, that he seems to understand, however dimly, how impressive it would be if an Earthling really had written such a piece. That suggests that he may have some limited ability to apprehend beauty.”
Danae and Freya looked amazed. Aurora continued, “Now let me show you his outer mind. As you can see, it’s very chaotic, but there are all sorts of interesting fragments floatingabout.”
As she said this, Hamilton could feel three presences roaming around in his mind, gently touching and triggering different thoughts.
“What an amusing collection of neuroses,” Danae commented.
The Holy Land: Fanatical Earthling planet assassins are spreading chaos through the galaxy. Is there any nice way to stop them? Page 7