by Rob Buckman
“Tell me about this human pet of yours. I'd like to understand why you are using him, and not more of our own, more reliable people for the job.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Markoff bowed his head slight, gathering his thought as the Emperor sipped his afternoon coffee, real Earth coffee, not Kaf.
"To date, excluding ships, we have lost three thousand of the Empire's best personnel on this venture.” His voice struck the right tone to make it sound as he'd personally lost the people. ”I sent the best of the best, in one last attempt to land on that planet. Those courageous people were from all branches of the military, and civilian services.” He admitted reluctantly, preferring the Emperor remain ignorance of the exact details of how they died.
“I even sent in some of our top agents, and Special Forces, but sadly they somehow died a horrible death. How, and by what means, we have yet to determine.”
“I see, and we can’t afford to lose so many, before the cost of replacing them becomes prohibitive.” Emperor Cytec gazed at the Director with cheerless eyes, thinking more about the cost of replacing the lost ships. Of the people who died, he thought nothing. The Emperor could freight sorrow for the loss of loyal subjects, just as well as the Director. "So why this particular human. We have others humans in our military ranks you could use?”
“True, your Majesty, but this person has one unique ability we need above all else. He's a survivor, as he has proved on several occasions, and a master at covert operations.”
“Go on.” The Emperor said with a slight wave of his hand as he breathed in the steam from his coffee cup, savoring the odor.
“As you know from my reports. He had been instrumental in destabilizing certain planetary governments before the arrival of our ‘ambassador’.”
“Nicely phrased Markoff. I couldn't have said it better myself.” The Emperor laughed softly. “Our ambassador indeed.”
“Thank you your Majesty.”
“But tell me more about this savage.”
“When the Empire established an outpost on his minor backwater planet, Earth. The local inhabitants foolishly decided to defy your Imperial edict, and start an uprising.” Knowing how sensitive the Emperor was about the subject of Earth, Markoff deliberately avoided using the word rebellion.”
“I understand that.” For a moment, the Emperor's face pulled into an angry frown. Even after all this time, the mention of that planet still irritated him.
“At the time, he was growing up on some sort of secret military training camp on one of its major continents, South America if I remember, in a jungle region called the 'Amazon'. He learned how to live in the jungle from the local natives, and every trick their Special Forces stationed there could teach him.” The Emperor gave him a sharp look.
“And why is that important?”
“You have to understand this place, your Majesty. This was his playground, and from what I've read an extremely dangerous playground indeed. It is a place where you or I, and a lot of highly trained people wouldn't care to find ourselves.” The Director added with a slight smile. “Although not a native to the area, he survived and flourished in that environment.”
“There is a lesson to be learned there.”
“What would that be your Majesty?”
“Don't leave pockets of resistance to grow and become a nuisance.” It was a simplistic answer, but Markoff was careful not to point that out.
“Yes, your Majesty, but Earth is unlike other planets. They have been conducting this type of warfare for centuries.”
“For instance, this base was so well hidden our satellite surveillance didn't discover it for twelve years after the initial uprising.”
“I still think we were too soft on them.” Cytec grumbled into his coffee cup. “If they'd surrendered, like any sensible species, when they realized they couldn't win, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.”
“It would seem that six billion humans didn't share that opinion.”
“Holy Mother… did we exterminate that many?”
“No, your Majesty. Only three billion."
“But why?” He asked plaintively.
“As I have said before, all humans are mad. Take the case of the attack on this hidden base. Over one hundred and twenty soldier and scientist died in the attack. Including Penn's parents. They all died fighting to the death, even after repeated offers of amnesty.”
“From what I have read in your reports, even at twelve years old, this Penn person started a guerrilla campaign against us.”
“True, your Majesty.”
“I'm surprised we managed to capture him at all.”
"Actually he was betrayed by his lover.” Markoff commented off-handedly with a throw-a-way gesture of his soft white hand.
“Yes, I see. Without that, I doubt our troops would have captured him at all.” The Emperor didn't bother hiding the sneering tone in his voice. "The only mistake we made, was not executing him on the spot!” The Emperor glanced sideways at the Director as he said it.
"I'm aware of that, your Majesty, and precisely my point. Once I became personally involved, and learned his history, I put out a stay of execution.” That Markoff, had over ridden his execution order, yet still remained his Director of Imperial Security, only pointed up the fact of how much the Emperor valued his service. Other than a temper tantrum, he'd let Markoff get away with it.
“He is very, very good at what he does, and managed to survive the best we could send against him.” It didn't take Markoff to paint a picture of dead IMPSEC agents, with their throats slit, or hung on meat hooks like some rotting side of beef. "He didn't just blow them up, or shoot them at long-range with a sniper rifle. He actually killed most of them up close and personal, as they say on Earth.”
In this day and age of long distance strike and standoff weapons, it was a little frightening even to the Emperor's way of thinking that someone would prefer that method of killing. It spoke of a hatred, or madness he barely understood. He resisted the sudden urge to touch his own throat as he swallowed carefully.
"From what I have read, and what you have told me, I agree he is a survivor. But, Mother preserve us, we can't trust him an inch.”
"Yes your Majesty, but you don't throw away a resource such as Penn, no matter how loathsome. In this case, that decision proved beneficial to the Empire.” The Emperor couldn't help himself and asked the obvious question.
"How so?"
"He has proven useful on numerous occasions, where his particular expertise was needed to correct oversights in the legal system, without our direct involvement.”
Emperor Cytec nodded, knowing Markoff had used Penn to execute people he considered a danger, or who stepped over the line. To the Emperors ear the Director's words had an odd timbre to them. As if on one hand, he was pleased with the result yet disdainful of the instrument he used, but he was curious.
"What in heaven's name would induce a human-like this to help us?” The Director raised one perfectly trimmed eyebrow as if contemplating the Emperor's question, his mouth pulled into the suggestion of a smile.
"Because I have one great advantage he does not.” The Emperor Cytec also raised an eyebrow in question and cocked his head slight to one side as he waited for the answer. “I have two billion, nine hundred million hostages to ensure his loyalty, and compliance.” The Director actually smiled, albeit a wintry one.
"I only had to exterminate a city of one million to gain his cooperation the first time.”
As callous as the Emperor thought he was, he understood the sheer ruthlessness of the Director's action and agreed. How do you say no to someone who held that many of your compatriots' lives in the palm of his hand, and could crush them with a word? The Director, on the other hand, remembered the look of hatred in the human's golden eyes, when he saw the video of a city of over one million people vanishing in a blinding flash of a KEW impact. The five thousand ton rock smashed into the center at over four thousand miles a second left a crater a half
mile deep. Penn never said a word. Never uttered a single threat. The one thing that stood between this man literally ripping him limb, from limb right now, were the lives of his fellow humans on Earth. Even with his sophisticated torture methods the Director knew instinctively his death at the hands of this man would be long and extremely painful.
"I hope you have taken adequate precaution to ensure the success of this mission?” The Emperor gave his chief of intelligence a hard look. “There is the possibility he might simply run off into whatever passes for a forest, or jungle down there, and refuse to obey orders.”
"Of course. Before he departs on this mission, I will have a doctor insert another pain inducer into the back of his neck. His third I might add.” He gave the Emperor a winery smile. "As well as the knowledge, that if he doesn't cooperate, another city on Earth would be destroyed."
“Yes, physical, and mental pain can be such a wonderful motivational tool, but what happened to the other two?”
“Unhappily I have to report that Penn found a way to remove them without detonating the anti-tamper charge.”
“Interesting. Did you discover how he managed to do that?” Even before, he finished speaking, the Director was shaking his head.
“No, your Majesty, he refused to tell me.”
“No matter. If he can turn off this gravitational effect, and permit us to land on the planet, you might hold out the possibility of a pardon, and his freedom as a reward for his services.”
“Yes, your Majesty. I have already given General Tandy those same instructions.”
“Good. If he should run off after completed his assignment, there is no loss.”
“You can simply let him remain there and rot, or until you need him again. The perfect prison you might say.” The Emperor added casually.
“Yes, your Majesty. However, I ordered General Tandy to remind him that should run off or refuse to obey an order; another million of his people will be exterminated immediately.”
“Yes, a very good point. Anything else?”
"Yes Sir. I am also going to use someone from his own planet as a chaperone, so to speak, someone we can trust, but just as expendable.”
"Aren't they all?”
"Yes, Sir. As the saying goes, never trust a human.”
"Or woman?” The Emperor added, seeing the Director smile slightly.
"Yes, of course your Majesty. I have his genetic code on file and used our data base of all human's in Imperial armed services to locate a human female, one that is a polar opposite to him.”
“Opposite?”
“Yes, your Majesty. From her record, and by all accounts she is strong enough to handle Penn, even without the pain inducer. Being his opposite, there should be no problem with fraternization.”
The Emperor knew by devious means that the Director used the same computers for comparability matches to find suitable prospective wives for his senior officers, and with a high degree of success. If that was the case, finding this human's opposite would work in the Empires favor.
"And where is this human right now?"
"On his way to a meeting with General Tandy. As is the female officer in question.”
“What did you say this human's name was?”
“It's Penn, Sir.”
“Odd name.”
“From the human records we managed to capture, originally his family had another name.”
“Yes?”
“His family name was once Penndragon.”
“Is there any significance to that?”
“I'm not sure. We managed to extract fragmentary records out of what remained of the human's archives. It's connected I believe to some sort of myth, or legendary King.”
“More neo-barb nonsense I take it.”
“Yes, Sir, of course. He is nothing more than a highly efficient killer.”
“I hope you are right about this…” The Emperor sat back and stroked his chin for a moment, his genetically perfect face took on a brooding look, “…but what troubles me the most is that we still haven't quelled the rebellion on that cursed planet.”
“I don't see where they are a threat to the Empire, your Majesty.”
“I sometimes have sleepless nights wondering what would happen if those mad men ever got off that planet of theirs, and got hold of real weapons.”
It was an appalling thought, no matter how you looked at it. The idea of humans with weapons and ship in their hands equal to the Empires was a horrifying thought. Markoff tried to imagine what would happen if that day ever dawned. Rampage monsters would be a more apt description. Intelligent rampaging monsters he amended. Bent on revenge. Not a pretty picture to contemplate.
“I don't see any danger in the foreseeable future, your Majesty.”
“Without Cg material, they are trapped on their accursed planet, with no real manufacturing facilities to speak of, and certainly no way to produce advanced weapons, let alone starship.”
“And what if, in the future they do?”
“Without Cg material, or any way to obtain any significant amount, the best they can do is use chemical rockets to get off the ground as they did when we offered our hand in benevolent friendship.” How Markoff was able to say that with a straight face, and without gagging on the word, the Emperor didn't know. Both knew how empty those words actually were.
“It still begs the question of the future.”
“Before that happens I will implementation Imperial directive 10001.”
“Planetary bombardment with mass drive cannon.” The Emperor muttered with distaste.
“The planet will be reduced to a glowing ball of rock, after which I will have every human in the Imperial Military forces executed for treason.” The corner of the Emperor lips ticked up in a slight smile, admiring the Director's ruthlessness.
“I think, the sooner that happens, the sooner I will sleep easier.”
“Yes, your Majesty, but it will be a few years before we finished extracting the readily available resources on Earth. It is a very rich planetary system, your Majesty."
“When that day arrives, have that idiot Sector Governor who got us into this infernal mess in the first place executed. Along with his whole misbegotten family.” The Emperor snapped, anger making his perfect face flush.”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“I don't want any of his pathetic offspring making a similar mistake in the future.”
“I'll see to it personally.”
“Good. Make sure he knows why before you feed his body, alive or dead into the furnace. I want him to suffer as much as I before he dies.” The Director nodded and bowed his head.
“Pull this off successfully, and you will get the Var, you want so badly in front of your name.” Director Markoff understood the Emperor also knew how to use the carrot and stick approach.
From Markoff's point of view, it was almost childish of the Emperor to give such an order. He would obey of course, and make sure the Sector Governor's death, and that of his family was long and painful. The upside was, the message it would send to the rest of the elite once he'd 'secretly' released some carefully edited recording of the event. Nothing like a good object lesson to keep the Var elite in line. Briefly, a ghost of a smile touched his thin lips. Then it was gone.
CHAPTER - SIX:
Penn woke to the subtle vibration of an intersystem drive system starting up, instinctively rolling off the bunk onto his feet to check his surroundings. His new clothes, a ubiquitous tan jump suit, and soft traction slippers answered the immediate question of where he was. A ship, and from the smell of the stale air this one hadn't seen planet fall, or a decent space dock for a long time.
Shaking off the dregs of lethargy, he checked his body for signs of injury with the detachment of a mechanic checking a car after an accident. No headache and no stiffness. Nothing except the horrible taste in his mouth as if he'd been sucking on a well-worn sock. Other than that he felt as if he'd just woken up from a long sleep. He then remembered
the stun bolt, and the equally stunning Sub-Major Ellis. So why didn't he feel like shit? Whatever residual effects he expected from the stun bolt, had already dissipated. Drugs probably or induced 'Delta' sleep. Either way, the prolonged unconsciousness had a beneficial side effect for which he was thankful. Not having to suffer through jingly nerves and blinding headaches for a week from the stun bolt.
The Sub-Major's reaction time was something of a surprise. No normal human could possibly be that fast, as he knew from experience, and that was without going into combat mode. That brought up the intriguing possibility that she’d received the same, or similar genetic engineering as he had, not that he was sure exactly what they'd done to him. Both of his parents and the rest of the scientists died in the attack on the research base before they could tell him the full story. The fact she'd been quick enough to shot him at all reminded him of his old unarmed combat instructor, Sergeant Major Blessing. How many times had Blessing warned him not to underestimate an opponent, no matter how unassuming, or unprepared they looked? For all his diminutive stature, the little aging Sergeant Major underscored the point by kicking his ass all over the dingy training, mat time and time again. Then he could chalk up those beatings to inexperience, but today, if he actually had an excuse, it was that he lost his temper. It pained him to think what Sergeant Major would have to say about that.