The Paratwa (#3 in the Parawta Saga)

by Christopher Hinz

  "But sooner or later wasn't good enough for the Os/Ka/Loq. They had a specific timetable. And here today, we've come to the grand culmination of their ancient project. The Biodyysey has arrived, and it indeed possesses the technological superiority to destroy anything we can throw at it. Their skygene viruses indeed have been secretly hidden within all of our cylinders. The Os/Ka/Loq are ready to infest the Earth. The Colonies have been placed in a position where our demise seems imminent ... unless we surrender. But even our surrender won't save us. The most that we'll gain is a little time. If we quietly throw down our weapons, the Os/Ka/Loq will simply use us to carry out their reseeding plans, and then send us to hell—as they had originally intended."

  Nick paused, turned his gaze upon Meridian. “But we've got an ace in the hole, don't we, Jeek?"

  Meridian smiled. “What you have is less than one hour before the colony of Red Saxony is poisoned."

  Nick arched his eyebrows. “I'm shocked, Meridian. No denials?"

  "It would be pointless for me to lie. The bare facts of your story are essentially true. But your interpretation is faulted. The Os/Ka/Loq desire only the planet. Humans will be allowed to remain happy and content within the sanctity of these cylinders."

  Van Ostrand looked stunned. “All of this ... everything ... the Apocalypse ... the Paratwa ... it's all been part of an alien scheme to conquer the Earth?"

  "You got it,” said Nick. “In a sense, the whole human race has been bent over the table for the past three centuries."

  "Quaintly put,” said Meridian, allowing his gaze to span the entire Council. “But all that the Czar is relating to you would have been learned by the Colonies in the upcoming weeks. His presentation has merely introduced minor variations to timetable conceived more than three centuries ago. Think about that. Think about a species which deliberately plants seeds not intended to bear fruit for hundreds of years.” The Jeek shrugged. “You have merely gained some fragments of knowledge slightly ahead of time. But nothing has essentially hanged here. You are still faced with the same choices. If you fail to accept our terms, your colonies—one by one—will be exposed to the virus."

  Nick chuckled. “Don't believe this Jeek for a minute. This is one desperate son of a bitch. He knows I've got an ace in the hole. And he knows I'm getting ready to play it."

  Meridian sighed. “Then please do. It's obvious that the natural course of events cannot proceed until you have finished with your ... games."

  "Damn straight,” said Nick. “Yesterday, upon accessing Freebird's secrets, the Lion of Alexander, with the full cooperation of E-Tech and La Gloria de la Ciencia, implemented our own plan. A massive shuttle armada, with ships from E-Tech and from various Costeau clans, was secretly outfitted with nuclear weapons and biological poisons of every conceivable variety. E-Tech's L5 research cylinders contributed the ecospheric toxins while La Gloria de la Ciencia—prime armaments-provider to the defense net—supplied the megatons of nuclear warheads necessary to accomplish our task.

  "Less than one hour ago, all planetary bases and facilities on the surface of the Earth received emergency evacuation orders. And in approximately ten minutes, that massive shuttle armada will begin to arrive in low Earth orbit. These ships will arm and launch their deadly payloads toward the planet.” Nick paused. “Armageddon has come again. Earth's second Apocalypse is about to consume the place of our birth."

  Van Ostrand whispered, “Trust preserve us.” Losef leaned back in her chair. She appeared stunned.

  Nick continued. “It's a sad day for the human race. Our great collective dream—ecospheric turnaround—so close to coming true, will now have to be denied for ages to come. Our world is about to be recontaminated, made unfit for human life ... made unfit for Os/Ka/Loq life."

  Nick, with a look of complete disdain, turned to Meridian.

  "And, Jeek, be advised that we will utilize every effort to keep the Earth contaminated. If need be, we will deny it to ourselves forever, in order to keep you and your masters from spreading their perversions upon it."

  Meridian stood patiently, as if waiting to make sure that Nick was finished. When the midget remained silent, the Jeek assassin threw back his head and laughed. “Is that it? Is that your so-called ace in the hole?” With a wild grin, he turned to Van Ostrand. “I'm frankly astonished. I was expecting something more in the line of say ... a new, top-secret military weapon but ... bombing the Earth?” Another harsh laugh echoed through the chamber.

  "This is the most extraordinary nonsense I have ever heard. Do you truly believe that recontaminating the planet is going to make the Paratwa disappear? Do you think that this is going to stop us from releasing the skygene virus? Do you think the Biodyysey will simply ... go away?"

  The Lion studied Van Ostrand, saw the deep worry in his eyes. Losef was frowning. Even Inez appeared somewhat unnerved by Meridian's confident retort.

  "Then do us,” said Nick, his voice dropping to a deep whisper, but his words resounding through the chamber with iron clarity. “Do us, Jeek. Do us right now."

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "Do us. Do all two hundred and seventeen colonies right now. Release your virus in every cylinder."

  The Lion pushed back his chair and stood up. “Do us.”

  Huromonus and Inez followed suit. “There's no reason to wait,” said Huromonus.

  "No reason at all,” added Inez.

  For a moment, Meridian hesitated, and the Lion sensed that there was turmoil taking place aboard the Biodyysey, where the Jeek's other tway must be standing before Sappho and the Os/Ka/Loq masters.

  Nick asked, “Is the translation coming through okay at your other end? Are your lords clearly understanding us?"

  Meridian remained silent.

  "Well, Jeek, let me phrase things another way ... Why don't you and your Os/Ka/Loq disincorporate? Or, in the old earthly vernacular—go fuck yourselves."

  The Lion added, “No matter what happens to us, the planet's finished. Our shuttle armada can't be recalled. You can wipe out the Colonies, Meridian ... you can even get rid of this present uncooperative Council if you like, perhaps assemble a more malleable group of individuals, those who might be willing to live under the yoke of the Paratwa. I'm sure you'll have little trouble finding such people. But even so, no matter what you do, the essential facts do not change.

  "That's right,” said Nick. “The earth is getting nuked and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

  When Meridian finally spoke, his words were solemn, contemplative. “The Os/Ka/Loq are a most patient species. They have desired the Earth for many centuries. If they must wait a—while longer to obtain it, then that is what they will do."

  Nick shook his head. “Nah, I don't buy it. A few years, sure. Ten, twenty, fifty, maybe even a century. But how about a thousand years, Jeek? How about five thousand? Will they wait that long?"

  Meridian started to open his mouth to speak, then either thought better of it, or else was ordered to hold his tongue.

  "I believe I know what you were going to say,” offered Nick. “You were thinking that it was damn unlikely that the Colonies managed to scrape together enough nuclear armaments to truly decimate the Earth for such a lengthy period. And you'd be correct. Even our best calculations limit the extent of surface contamination to under a hundred years.

  "But we've taken the trouble to work up a more extensive profile for planetary destruction. We figured out what it would take in terms of megatons to make the Earth unlivable for millennia. Our calculations indicate that a dense nuclear saturation of the planet's surface—something which worked out to be on the order of thirty-five times the total amount of energy released during the entire Apocalyptic year of 2099—would accomplish this task. That level of nuclear saturation will produce a long-term self-sustaining reaction, ensuring severe ecospheric fallout for at least a thousand years. Global temperature increases will melt the polar ice caps. The ozone layer will be totally depleted."

  T
he Lion added, “Such devastation is well within our power. And we know enough about your masters to know that however technologically superior, they are not omnipotent. The Os/Ka/Loq cannot hope to reverse such ravages. We will create conditions which will put the Earth beyond even the most vigorous approaches to terraforming."

  Nick faced Van Ostrand. “Actually, all that is required for such destruction are the payloads from about two dozen Ribonix-class destroyers."

  On the FTL screens, sudden understanding crossed Van Ostrand's face.

  Nick went on. “It's all up to you and the Guardians. And by the way, Councilor, we're now a hundred percent certain that Doyle Blumhaven was functioning as an Ash Ock puppet. And we know that Blumhaven kept your true Order of the Birch affiliations a secret."

  Van Ostrand did not look overly surprised by Nick's remarks. The Lion assumed that in recent days, the Guardian commander would have given a great deal of consideration to Doyle Blumhaven's hidden agenda.

  "Think about that,” suggested Nick. “Consider why the Paratwa wanted someone of your radical nature commanding the defense net."

  Van Ostrand murmured, “I would throw everything we had at them."

  "Bingo. The only real threat to an Os/Ka/Loq victory is the one that we've just outlined. A mere two dozen of your Ribonix-class destroyers are capable of totally screwing up three centuries of Paratwa plans.

  "And the Os/Ka/Loq know that. Fifty-six years ago, when Codrus was exposed, their greatest fears arose. The Irryan Colonies began removing many of the scientific/technological limits imposed by E-Tech over the centuries. Most especially, weapons development got full green lights. In short, your defense net was put into place, boasting enough nuclear firepower to bake the planet.

  "The Os/Ka/Loq's only advantage was our lack of knowledge. We didn't know the truth about them, and they did everything in their power to keep it that way. They kept the Colonies focused outward ... in fact, that's one of the reasons they chose the Order of the Birch as their smokescreen to carry out the skygene courier assassinations. It was another subtle psychological ploy designed to keep colonial feelings aligned with the idea of combating the Paratwa out at the defense net.

  "So their biggest concern became keeping us in the dark. And their biggest worry was Freebird. Aristotle's ancient program was like an invisible club hanging over their heads. I suspect that Codrus probably made some serious attempts to root out and destroy Freebird over the years, but obviously he didn't succeed. And when Codrus perished, the human tway of Sappho returned to the cylinders with the sunsetter. And that sunsetter was set loose in the archives for one reason and one reason only: to hunt down and terminate Freebird. In a typical Ash Ock fashion, of course, the destruction of the many would camouflage the destruction of the one. Their sunsetter was designed to annihilate all old programs to disguise its true purpose.” Nick paused. “But we found Freebird in time."

  Meridian seemed to be rooted to the floor, his eyes distant, as if gazing upon some faraway vista.

  Van Ostrand stared at Nick. “You deliberately arranged for those advance targeters to attack the Biodyysey, knowing that they were headed toward certain destruction. You wanted me to know what I was up against."

  "That's right,” said Nick. “The Os/Ka/Loq would like nothing better than to have you throw your entire fleet against the Biodyysey. That's what they were counting on. They figured that once they started releasing their skygene viruses in the Colonies—once things began to look really hopeless—you'd attack furiously, with every ship under your command. They would have the opportunity to decimate your entire fleet, thus ending the one real threat to their final victory.

  "Of course, now you know what would happen during such an all-out attack. The Biodyysey's energy field is capable of vaporizing any craft—or missile—which comes within immediate attack range. I suspect that they're quite impervious to harm."

  "That is correct,” said Meridian, returning his attention to chambers. “And our skygene viruses are still capable of ending colonial life.” He sighed. “Whether or not you destroy your home world will ultimately make no difference. I beg of you to realize that your only hope for survival is complete surrender, under our terms. You must understand that no matter what you do, you lose...” The Jeek trailed off when he noticed Van Ostrand suddenly walk away from the FTL.

  Nick smiled grimly. “Well, Jeek, I can't argue with your logic. But hell—better now than later. I mean, if nothing else, our species will die with a bit of dignity. We know that human beings are nothing more than interesting perversions to the Os/Ka/Loq. Your masters might keep a few of us alive for a time—as servants or sideshow freaks—but if we surrender, we're finished as a race."

  For the first time, a trace of real concern appeared on Meridian's face. He stared at the FTL screens, at Van Ostrand's vacant seat. “This is ... a very brave decision on the part of Council. But I doubt if your attitude will be much appreciated by the average Irryan citizen. Once the Colonies learn that you've signed their death warrant, the vast majority will revolt. Like most organisms, they will do anything to stay alive."

  Nick shrugged. “You're probably right. But either way, your prize is snatched out from under you. The earth is going to get a nuclear bath—"

  "We'll do even worse,” promised Van Ostrand, returning suddenly to the screens. He looked as grimly determined as the Lion could ever recall.

  "I've just given the orders to my fleet commanders. Even as we speak, over nine hundred ships—including forty-eight Ribonix-class destroyers—are setting courses for the Earth. They have been made aware of how vital their mission is. They have been instructed that no matter what happens within the Colonies, they are to unleash their entire payloads upon the planet. Their missiles will broil the planet. The Earth shall be made into an utter wasteland."

  Nick aimed a finger at the assassin. “And Meridian—I hasten to point out that once the men and women aboard these Guardian vessels learn that the Colonies have been poisoned, that they have nothing to return to ... well, I'd be willing to bet that there'd be nothing in the universe capable of deterring them from their mission."

  The Lion said, “It's your move, Meridian."

  The Jeek stood quietly for a moment. Then: “I would like to be alone for a short time."

  "Of course,” offered Losef, keying open the door. Meridian and his dogs quickly exited.

  Inez released a deep breath. “Well, we've done it now, haven't we."

  "No turning back,” said Huromonus.

  Inez looked hesitant. “Have we made the right decision?"

  Nick shook his head. “I doubt if there is a right decision here. But I'm convinced that we acted properly. This is our only chance of survival."

  The Lion turned to Huromonus. “What about CPG?"

  Nick explained to Losef and Van Ostrand what they had learned about Sappho's identity. Losef, after consulting her terminal, offered confirmation that Venus Cluster was indeed secretly owned by CPG Corporation.

  "Your confirmation arrives not a moment too soon,” said Huromonus, in a tone leavened with dry wit.

  Losef defended her actions. “The ICN has acted properly throughout this affair."

  The Lion sighed. “Either way, it's no longer of any consequence."

  Huromonus read from his monitor. “We have a large E-Tech assault force in place around CPG's Irryan headquarters. Our spotters do not know whether Corelli-Paul Ghandi or the tripartite assassin are there, but Security is positive about Colette Ghandi. She's inside the building."

  Inez mused, “At this stage of events, it certainly can't do us any harm to capture the tway of Sappho."

  "Decidedly not,” agreed Huromonus.

  "Go get the bitch,” said Nick.

  O}o{O

  Empedocles was no stranger to vanquishment and the postures required to face defeat. Having been imprisoned within the body of the Gillian/tway for those many years—trapped inside a consciousness rendered incapable of even perceiving
the existence of the monarchy—Empedocles was accustomed to living as shadow, a physical pauper, a disembodied icon of Gillian's deepest dreams. It had taken a long time before events finally had triggered Gillian's psyche into rediscovering his true Ash Ock self, a long time before Empedocles could even begin to entertain hopes of escaping a life of cloistered disembodiment. And even after Gillian's primary memories had returned, the monarch consistently had been forced to expend great effort—via his own powers of subliminal persuasion—to focus the tway's drifting consciousness.

  But as Gillian's memories returned, Empedocle's frustrations had mounted, for his monarchial future seemed destined to suffer the limitations of time-sharing a single body. Empedocles could not imagine a more perverse bane for an Ash Ock. Still, there had seemed no way to counter such a restriction. Catharine was dead. Only one tway remained.

  It was then that the notion of the permanent whelm had begun to sound attractive. The melding of his consciousness with Gillian's certainly did not represent an earnest desire, but it had come to seem the most tolerable of a color-starved palette of options.

  And then Timmy had come into their lives. A long-abandoned spectrum was reexamined; strictured vistas again blazed with the hues of former glory. Timmy helped achieve what Empedocles had come to believe was impossible. Through the vehicle of Susan Quint, true monarchial consciousness—thriving contemporaneously within two bodies—was restored. Once again, Empedocles was a complete Ash Ock Paratwa.

  Fully reconstituted, he had planned to follow the basic outline of Timmy's wishes. He would seek out the tway of Sappho, bring to her the news that he had slain the last remnant of that ancient traitor Aristotle. Empedocles also would make possible the return of Sappho's stolen Os/Ka/Loq probe ship. Once his actions were verified by the mistress of the Ash Ock, his long-denied rightful place in the Sphere of the Royal Caste would be granted.