Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Dianne and Victor would kill me. I still need to have that conversation,’ I said, and his jealousy subsided. I stabbed another piece of fruit with my fork. ‘But this will drive Maxwell nuts. She’ll say you’re sleeping with the enemy.’

  ‘Shiumo’s not the enemy,’ Richard said. ‘And the general doesn’t need to know about any of it.’

  ‘No,’ Shiumo said. ‘Full disclosure. We must tell her.’

  ‘As you wish, Princess,’ Richard said. ‘My career was over anyway.’

  ‘So what I saw is what I prefer?’ I said, thinking back to those rich brown eyes.

  Shiumo nodded.

  ‘Huh. I always thought I preferred women, and that men were second best.’

  ‘I thought I liked her scales, but when she changes she only has them on her temples,’ Richard said.

  ‘I can’t do anything about your messed-up brains,’ Shiumo said.

  Our tablets both pinged at the same time.

  ‘General Maxwell on the line, Shiumo,’ Marque said. ‘South America is impatient. They’re worried that you already gave Gliese 667 to the Africans.’

  ‘Tell her we’ll be down soon,’ Shiumo said. ‘Are they set up in the cube?’

  ‘All set and ready to go. You can fold straight down there.’

  ‘I will as soon as we’ve eaten. A lady requires her breakfast to function at the highest level of efficiency.’

  ‘Damn straight,’ I said, and scooped up some yoghurt.

  Shiumo folded us into a large high-ceilinged conference room, with a sofa for her, three large screens, and several comfortable chairs. Two of the walls were glass, giving a view over the hillside the bunker was located on, and the other two were white and glossy like porcelain. It was noisy: people were talking loudly in the corridors, and rushing around waving their tablets at each other.

  General Maxwell charged into the room and stared at Shiumo. She opened and closed her mouth a few times.

  Shiumo waited for her to speak, and when she didn’t, said, ‘You’re welcome.’

  ‘Stephanie – my granddaughter – she’s cured. Completely cured. She’s going home tomorrow,’ the general said. ‘Two civil wars declared a ceasefire. Three terrorist groups just disbanded. The government of New Prussia begged to join Euroterre.’

  ‘Oh good,’ Shiumo said. ‘I thought that might be the response.’

  ‘If your species continues to behave, I’ll give you another fifty years of life extension,’ Marque said.

  ‘You can do more?’ the general said, goggle-eyed.

  ‘What did you give them, Shiumo?’ Richard said, amused.

  ‘Cures for every known terminal disease,’ the general said. ‘Fifty years of life extension – useful years that mean we can be active and healthy, like a forty year old, until we’re well over a hundred and forty. And the weather control she promised – all of the storms just stopped.’

  ‘This’d better not be a result of last night,’ Richard said to Shiumo. ‘I am not for sale.’

  ‘What about last night?’ the general said. Her eyes bulged out even further. ‘No way.’

  ‘Marque did it all autonomously,’ Shiumo said. ‘It’s in the First Contact schedule. Day four: extend lives, cure disease, and one or two other random benefits to demonstrate the advantages of treating me well. You’ll find that the oceans are receding; we’ve lowered the temperature to give you back your ice caps. Marque is in the process of providing your scientists with a portable desalination device to convert the soil to arable land once the salt water’s gone.’

  An ensign ran to the doorway and stopped, panting. ‘The carbon dioxide in the air has reduced by twenty per cent, and the oxygen layer has thickened by a similar amount. You can breathe outside the bunker! The oceans just returned to mid-twentysecond-century levels – sea levels are down by twenty metres. Boats are stranded all over the world.’

  ‘Marque,’ Shiumo said with exasperation.

  ‘I’ll build a cargo sphere and move them back onto the water,’ Marque said. ‘Give me four hours to fabricate the sphere.’

  A loud cheer erupted further down the hall, and my tablet pinged. I glanced down to see that the war between North and South America had ground to a halt when the combatants saw the sea recede. Peace talks were underway, and people were already attacking the wall between the two continents and dismantling it.

  Shiumo glanced at Richard. ‘Happy, my love?’

  He smiled back. ‘I’m with you. Of course I am.’

  The general’s face grew grim.

  ‘Oh, give it up, Maxwell,’ Richard said. ‘You couldn’t find anything when you checked me. She just saved little Stephanie’s life. Don’t be so paranoid.’ He put one hand on Shiumo’s shoulder. ‘Yesterday Shiumo almost gave her life to save a peaceful species attacked by another; and now her people are caring for the refugees.’ He smiled down at her. ‘It’s love, not mind control. Accept it.’

  Shiumo butted him with her head. ‘My Richard.’ She climbed onto her couch facing the screen. ‘I suppose we should talk to Africa. Put them through, General.’

  ‘I want to talk to you later, Alto,’ the general said, still grim, and stalked out.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll ever make her happy,’ Shiumo said.

  My tablet pinged again. Social media had gone wild; many of the messages were complaints that the servers had gone down under the deluge of comments about what had happened. The feed in my summary app had changed dramatically. For the last three days it had been: ‘Will the aliens invade?’ and ‘Are we safe?’ Now it was: ‘She saved my children’ and ‘Why is she still locked up?’

  Public opinion had made a sharp turn, and people were demanding that Shiumo be welcomed as a royal visitor and no longer kept in quarantine. They wanted her to do a tour of all nations so everybody could thank her.

  Later that day, General Maxwell entered the conference room with a politician I recognised: the Home Secretary. I shot to my feet to salute. He was tall and slim with a shock of sandy brown hair and blue eyes.

  The general radiated tension; clearly the VIP visit was stressing her out.

  Shiumo hopped down off the couch. ‘Oh, hello, Mr Home Secretary – Ian, was it? Does this mean the stupid quarantine has been lifted?’

  The Home Secretary bowed to her. ‘Yes, Princess Shiumo, and I wanted to be the first to greet you in person. You are completely free to wander the Earth as you please, and welcome in every nation.’ He threw his best politician’s smile at her. ‘What you did today was a great gift to all humanity. We want to thank you, and hope you will remain in Euroterre as our guest.’

  Well, look at that. You humans are quite capable of taking me out of quarantine when it suits you, Shiumo said to me. The poor man’s terrified that I’ll give him some terrible disease, and pissed beyond belief that the Prime Minister chickened out and sent him.

  I nearly choked with laughter.

  Shiumo bowed her head to the Home Secretary. ‘You are most welcome.’ She glanced up. ‘We’re out of quarantine, Marque. Lift the cube, will you?’

  The room trembled and we all looked around.

  ‘Lift the cube?’ the general said.

  The ground dropped away – the cube was lifting into the air. It soared two hundred metres above the ground and hovered, the movement almost undetectable.

  The Home Secretary clutched the table, his face grey, radiating shock.

  ‘Oh, sorry. I should have warned you,’ Shiumo said. ‘I’d much prefer to be up a bit higher where I can see everything, rather than buried in the ground, wouldn’t you? Now …’ She approached the Home Secretary and he backed away slightly. ‘Would you like to see my ship?’ She turned her head towards Maxwell. ‘You too, General, you haven’t paid me a visit yet. Come to my ship and have tea.’

  ‘Maybe in a couple of days, Princess,’ the general said.

  ‘Yes, that’s right, I have so many things to do,’ the Home Secretary added, radiating terror. ‘We need to p
repare our colonists for Wolf 1061, don’t we?’ He flared the politician’s smile again. ‘Would you like to see some of the sights of Euroterre now you can visit them? I’d love to take you on a tour.’

  ‘I would be delighted,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘Uh …’ The Home Secretary looked around. ‘How do we get out of the building? It appears to be floating.’

  ‘There are stairs to one side, if you have security clearance,’ Shiumo said. ‘Lead the way, sir. I cannot wait to breathe the air and meet the people of Earth.’

  The rotocopter swooped over New Paris. The city had been carved from the top of a mountain, and the flat plateau was a mass of prefab residences with some new gleaming government towers in the centre. The sides of the plateau were terraced down to the water, and covered with a ramshackle shanty town full of refugees from the drowning countryside.

  We landed a hundred metres from one of the massive feet of the Eiffel Tower. The extensive gardens surrounding the tower were the only open space in the city. Shiumo had thoroughly charmed the Home Secretary by the time we arrived, and he was enjoying her company.

  ‘We moved the tower here,’ he said. ‘To New Paris. The Eiffel Tower is the symbol of the city.’

  Shiumo looked up at the tower. ‘And it was really built in an age of steam?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘How does it compare to other planets’ achievements?’

  Shiumo didn’t reply.

  ‘The view from the top is very good,’ he said. ‘You can go up in the elevator and take a look, if you like. It’s inside the oxygen layer; you don’t need breathing apparatus.’

  ‘Richard, Jian, do you want to go?’ Shiumo said.

  ‘If you don’t mind, I’d prefer they stayed down here with me,’ General Maxwell said. ‘They’re too valuable to risk.’

  ‘They’ll be fine with me,’ Shiumo said. ‘Put your hand on me if you want to come up, and I’ll fold us.’

  I trusted Shiumo more than I trusted the general. Richard and I put our hands on her shoulders and she folded us to the top viewing platform.

  ‘Really that unimpressive?’ Richard said.

  ‘It’s so ugly!’ Marque said as it whizzed up the structure to join us.

  ‘Heh,’ Shiumo said. ‘I’ve seen better; I’ve seen worse.’

  ‘At least it’s not the Grand Planetary Sewerage Inlet,’ Marque said.

  Shiumo hissed with laughter. ‘I remember! They were all standing there expectantly, and I said “It’s very elegant” or something, and they said, “Well, aren’t you going to do us the honour of using it?”’

  ‘And did you?’ I said.

  ‘I had to! Apparently by their standards it was a mortal insult if I didn’t gift them part of my physical manifestation. Where was that anyway? I don’t remember.’

  ‘Neither do I. The details are in offline storage,’ Marque said. ‘Do you want me to retrieve it?’

  ‘No need. Let’s go back down, I’m hungry,’ Shiumo said.

  Noise wafted up to us; a crowd had gathered at the base of the tower.

  ‘That was quick,’ I said.

  ‘There’s a dragon-spotting app on the network,’ Marque said. ‘It predicted that she’d be here – there may be a leak. Shiumo, give them a minute to initiate crowd control, otherwise you’ll be mobbed.’

  Shiumo looked out over the city of New Paris. ‘The oxygen is such a thin blanket on your planet. It’s a wonder that so many species evolved here.’ She turned to us. ‘I felt that – guilt. From both of you. You said the climate went to shit, but … that bad?’

  ‘The oxygen layer has been shrinking,’ I said. ‘That’s why our colonisation efforts are so important. Even though we’ve planted trees everywhere we’re not growing food, it looked like we’d all suffocate within two generations.’

  ‘You aren’t the first species to sacrifice everything for comfort,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘They’re done with the cordon. You can go back down,’ Marque said.

  ‘Let’s go and be royal,’ Shiumo said.

  We put our hands on her shoulders and the vista disappeared to be replaced by the view from the ground. A large crowd had gathered behind a ribbon barrier and was being held back by armoured police. The crowd had banners and streamers, and cheered loudly when they saw Shiumo.

  ‘I think we should leave,’ Shiumo said. ‘If they get their hands on me, they’ll love me to death.’

  ‘I agree completely,’ General Maxwell said, guiding us to the rotocopter. ‘This way. We’ll go take a look at the London Tower.’

  When we folded up to the ship at the end of the day, Richard and I went to see our new rooms. Mine was exactly how I’d imagined it: creamy walls, with smooth curved joins between wall, floor and ceiling, making the interior slightly ovoid. I’d added a small sitting room, and Marque had provided me with a screen connected to the network. The bathroom had been extended as well, and now included my own spa bath.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Marque said from a sphere above my head.

  ‘I love it.’ I gestured at the spa bath. ‘I’m trying that straight after dinner.’

  ‘I have something else for you,’ the sphere said. ‘Follow me.’

  ‘Can’t I change out of this uniform first? The clothes you provide are much more comfortable.’

  ‘After you see this,’ it said. ‘Come on!’

  I followed it out of my room, and further down the hall towards the aft. An opening appeared on the left and I stared. Marque had created a swimming pool. It was rectangular, twenty metres long and five wide, and the wall along one side was transparent, providing a view of the stars reflected in the water. The interior of the pool was white, making the water a pale translucent turquoise.

  ‘That is awesome,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’ I shook my head. ‘I’ll have to use it all the time, otherwise I’ll feel guilty about all that useful water sitting there doing nothing.’

  ‘Try it after dinner,’ Marque said.

  ‘Don’t worry, I will.’

  After we’d eaten, Richard and Shiumo pretended they weren’t going off together, both proclaiming they were retiring to their own rooms, so I returned to the swimming pool.

  I sat on the edge, put my feet into the water and stopped. ‘Marque, it’s freezing.’

  ‘Too cold?’ The water warmed up slightly.

  ‘More,’ I said.

  The water became warmer.

  ‘Stop there. Too warm and I’ll overheat.’ I slipped in and took a deep breath. ‘This is wonderful.’

  The water wasn’t chlorinated or salt, it was pure and fresh. I swam the length of the pool, then dived under and swam back. Swimming pools were a rare luxury back on Earth, and I’d swum every day in the pool at the barracks until they’d closed it to save water.

  ‘Heads up,’ Marque said through the water, and I surfaced.

  Shiumo was crouched like a cat at the edge of the pool. ‘Oh, you use it for exercise! What a clever idea.’ She tilted her head. ‘Do you mind if I join you?’

  ‘Not at all,’ I said, and swam to her.

  She slid into the water and dogpaddled with all four legs, swinging her tail behind her. I began a lap and she struck out next to me, not nearly as graceful swimming as she was walking. I dived under to swim to the edge, and surfaced to find her in her two-legged form – the muscular black man with the fantastic textured hair. I didn’t look down, not wanting to know whether he was still naked.

  ‘I can’t swim well in four-legged form,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Do you mind? This is wonderful – what a great idea. I should have asked Marque to make a pool for me a long time ago.’

  I leaned on the edge and looked up at the stars. ‘It is wonderful.’

  He drifted over and leaned alongside me. ‘Is the water comfortable? Not too cold?’

  ‘No, it’s perfect. Is it okay for you?’

  He rested his chin on his arms, the silver bracelets clinking together with the movement. ‘Yes.’ He smiled at me. ‘Th
ank you, Jian, you’ve made my life so much richer. I’m glad I met you and Richard.’

  I patted him on the shoulder. ‘I’m glad I met you too, Shiumo.’

  His expression changed, becoming more intense, and he took my hand in his and pulled me closer, drifting in the water. He moved his face close to mine and studied my eyes, then looked down at my mouth.

  ‘Richard taught me kissing,’ he said, his voice deep and breathless. ‘I’d never experienced this activity before.’

  He pressed against me, hard muscle against my body, and I felt that he was naked – and growing excited. I filled with need, wanting to taste his full lips.

  ‘Kissing is wonderful,’ he said, so close that our mouths were nearly touching.

  I put my hands behind his neck, floated into him and closed the gap. His mouth covered mine, filling me with sensation, and his arms wrapped around me, holding me in the water as I lost myself in the feeling of touching him. His mind brushed mine, feather-light, and my body tightened with greater need. We floated in the water, running our hands over each other.

  I broke away first. ‘I’m in a relationship.’

  ‘I understand,’ he said, and his voice trembled through me. ‘I’ll leave.’

  ‘No,’ I said, and ran my fingertips over his chiselled cheekbone. I looked up at Marque. ‘Where’s Richard?’

  ‘Recharging. I think he fell asleep waiting for you, Shiumo; you’ve worn him out,’ Marque said. ‘But he won’t like this. He’ll be jealous.’

  ‘I told him I’m not monogamous, and he said he understands,’ Shiumo said, and kissed me again. He pulled me hard against him and I was lost in the sensation. He whispered into my ear: ‘I respect the relationship you have with your spouses, but I’ll always be here for you if you want me.’

  I leaned my head on his shoulder, enjoying his strength. ‘Thank you. I think we should stop now. I don’t trust myself.’

  He pulled back to smile at me, his silver eyes full of amusement beneath the faceted silver stone in his forehead. ‘I don’t trust myself either. You are very special, Jian.’ He ran his hand down my back and cupped my behind, making me quiver in response. ‘I want to share greater pleasure with you. I’m very fond of you – I think I’m falling in love.’