Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  ‘I understand,’ he said.

  ‘Our visitors have finished the tour of the ship and want to see Saturn,’ Marque said.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Shiumo said.

  The ceiling opened, the operating table disappeared into the floor, then the whole room lifted up to the gallery level, where the others were waiting.

  The King’s mouth fell open into a huge delighted grin when he saw us. ‘Richard!’ He strode to stand in front of him and studied his face. ‘Can I hug him?’ he asked Shiumo. ‘He’s not in any pain, is he?’

  ‘I’m as good as new,’ Richard said, his voice hoarse. ‘It’s like I was never injured.’

  ‘That is wonderful news,’ the King said, and embraced him. He pulled back and kissed Richard on the cheek, then held Richard’s hands in his own and smiled through tears of joy. ‘Thank you, Shiumo. Richard suffered horribly to save me.’

  ‘My pleasure, Your Majesty,’ Shiumo said. ‘I think you love him as much as I do.’

  The King put his hand on Richard’s face. ‘He’s been like a father to me.’

  Richard hugged the King again.

  ‘That truly is remarkable, Princess,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘Any chance of sharing that medical technology with us?’

  ‘I will provide it for my children,’ Shiumo said. ‘I will build them a safe haven, with full dragon-level medical and educational facilities. A Marque will stay here with them, and I’d like,’ she swung her head on her long neck towards me, ‘to train a trusted aide to be their teacher, so they can learn to take their place in the Galactic Empire as grandchildren of the Empress herself.’

  ‘Of course they must have the very best,’ the Prime Minister said, eyeing me meaningfully.

  ‘I will arrange everything for them,’ Shiumo said. ‘And I will return as often as possible to visit them – I treasure all of my children.’ She sighed. ‘I wish I could spend more time with them, but I keep falling in love all over the place.’

  Richard placed his hand on Shiumo’s shoulder. ‘It’s understandable, dear dragon.’

  ‘Again, Alto?’ General Maxwell said.

  ‘Again, General, but she’s sending me back with you when you go,’ Richard said. ‘She wants me to be sure.’

  ‘Let’s visit the gas giants,’ Shiumo said. ‘And I’ll show you some of my favourite nebulas.’

  ‘Can we see your homeworld?’ the Prime Minister said.

  ‘Not until you are firmly in Second and your credentials are accepted by my mother,’ Shiumo said. ‘It won’t take long. After I’ve fathered your dragonscales for you, I’ll go to Mum and ask her to give you accelerated membership, with all the advantages attached. Once you have dragons in your population, your membership of the Galactic Empire is immediate.’

  27

  General Maxwell, the Prime Minister, Richard and I stayed on the ship while everybody else returned to Earth in the pod. Marque provided us with tea and a variety of sweet and savoury finger food, and we sat at the table beneath the glowing Earth.

  ‘What is this?’ the Prime Minister said, raising one of the biscuit-like pastries Marque had prepared for us.

  ‘It’s a variation on Eniotimian night food that I thought you might like,’ Marque said.

  ‘What’s in it?’ she said. ‘Not bugs or anything gross like that?’

  ‘It’s completely vegan, no animal products at all. On Eniotimia they grow a type of succulent plant that –’

  ‘I don’t think they need to know more than that,’ Shiumo said. ‘All of the food is synthetic – replicas of foodstuffs that Marque has sampled. It’s chosen food for you that matches your chemistry, and everything is perfectly edible.’

  ‘Thank you,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘I’d love a recipe; this is wonderful.’

  ‘So what do you need to talk to us about without the King and the media present?’ the general asked Shiumo.

  ‘I’m concerned about the care and welfare of my offspring on your planet,’ she said. ‘I’ll need some guarantees.’

  ‘Of course, anything you like,’ the Prime Minister said, still munching on the pastry.

  ‘Within reason,’ the general added.

  ‘My children – all my children – are the most precious beings in the world to me. Of course they should stay with their mothers after they’re born – they need to learn to be human – but once they reach maturity, I want them to come to a secure facility I will set up for them so they can learn to be royal citizens of the Empire.’

  ‘Understood,’ the general said.

  ‘I would like Richard, with Jian’s assistance, to select the prospective mothers of the first generation,’ Shiumo said.

  Richard’s expression filled with shock, then understanding.

  ‘I know you want to remove Jian and Richard from my so-called “mind control”,’ Shiumo said to the general. ‘But they are the humans I trust the most. Jian is psi, and can assess the emotional state of the candidates. Richard already has a great deal of experience in selecting the best of the best for the Britannia project.’

  She turned her head on her long neck to speak to Richard. ‘Please do this for me. We will have as little contact as possible while I impregnate the women, but I want you to be the one who selects them.’

  ‘And when you leave – what happens to Choumali and Alto then?’ the general said.

  ‘It’s their choice.’ Shiumo gazed at Richard. ‘I don’t want you to think for one second that I am influencing you. If you have any doubts at all once the mothers are chosen, then stay on Earth. I won’t force you, my love. If you want to go with me, I will take you. If you don’t, I will leave.’

  ‘I understand,’ he said.

  Shiumo turned to me. ‘Jian, will you care for my children for me?’

  ‘Up to General Maxwell,’ I said. ‘She’s my commanding officer.’

  I’d prefer not to be a glorified babysitter, I added to the general.

  ‘I think it’s a brilliant idea,’ the Prime Minister said through a mouthful of pastry.

  The general’s expression became stern. ‘I’d like to discuss this with my people before we make a decision.’

  Shiumo rose. ‘I’ll take you back down to the surface so you can discuss this with Jian and Richard in private. Where would you like me to drop you?’

  ‘The lawn in front of the Houses of Parliament,’ the Prime Minister said with satisfaction. ‘The constituents will love seeing me chauffeured around by alien royalty.’

  ‘The parade ground in front of New Whitehall it is,’ Shiumo said. She gestured with one claw towards the aft of the ship. ‘This way.’

  ‘No, I meant –’

  Shiumo cut the Prime Minister off. ‘I know exactly what you meant, but I won’t play your games. Madam?’

  The Prime Minister harrumphed with a smile on her face, took two more of the pastries, then headed towards the pod.

  The Prime Minister’s car and security detail were waiting for her.

  ‘I don’t think I’m needed for the rest. You can handle it, Charles,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘Anything else you need?’

  ‘No, ma’am. I’ll talk to Choumali and Alto, and we’ll begin the screening process.’

  The Prime Minister juggled the pastries she was holding to shake hands with Richard and me. ‘Well done, people – we made it. Just need to make sure she follows through. Good job.’

  ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ I said.

  She hurried to her car, still clutching the pastries.

  The general gestured with her head and we followed her into Whitehall. She stopped in the entry hall and glared at the floor. ‘Marque, if you are present, please give Lieutenant Choumali and Commander Alto some privacy while we work out the logistics,’ she said. ‘Wait outside if you like. You can return to watching them when they leave the building.’

  ‘I understand, General,’ Marque said from above us. ‘I’ll wait outside. I respect your privacy and will not listen in on any conversations you
have in the building.’

  The general looked up at the sphere. ‘Thank you.’

  We followed her through the offices, and down in the lift to the secure area.

  ‘I don’t believe a word it said, but nothing we’re about to say is classified,’ the general said when we reached the conference room. ‘Well done, Choumali. As the Prime Minister said: you did it.’

  ‘To be honest, Shiumo required hardly any convincing,’ I said.

  ‘How do you feel, Alto?’ the general said.

  ‘Twenty years younger,’ Richard said.

  ‘And the mind control?’

  ‘I had no trouble leaving her, and I don’t miss her right now. I’m not even feeling unwell any more. Maybe I’m becoming resistant. Jian, are you upset about being separated from her?’

  ‘Absolutely not,’ I said.

  ‘It could be resistance, or it could be that she’s backed off on the mind control,’ the general said. ‘Either way, we have thirty days until the task is done. Can you do it? Say the word and I’ll pull you out now.’

  ‘I’ve sacrificed so much to do this,’ Richard said. ‘I want to see the job to completion. Humanity comes first. I can work with her for thirty days if you promise to pull me out at the end of it.’

  ‘Same here,’ I said. ‘I’ll leave her when we have ninety pregnant women.’

  ‘She’s determined you’ll care for the children,’ the general said to me.

  I winced. ‘Not my style at all.’

  ‘And she thinks you’ll go with her when she leaves for good,’ she said to Richard.

  ‘I know.’ Richard sounded hesitant. ‘But she’s said I can stay here if I want. Just extract me when the job’s done so I can make a decision about my future with a clear head.’

  ‘I’ll give you an office to vet the volunteers,’ the general said. ‘Choumali, do you want to return to Shiumo’s ship now?’

  ‘I’d prefer to stay here and help Richard. It’s a huge job. As Shiumo said, I can assess the women’s emotional suitability.’

  ‘Very well,’ the general said, and rose. ‘Let’s set you up and move this mission along.’

  It took us a week to get the thousands of women who’d volunteered down to five hundred, using a similar system to the one Richard had used to select crew for the Britannia. These women were the best and brightest, leaders in their fields, scientists and professionals.

  We invited them to an informal lunch on the space elevator island’s grassy lawn before we began the final selection process. They were permitted to bring their spouses and families. Although we’d preferred single women, most of these high achievers were already in a relationship.

  Richard gave a speech very similar to the one he’d given to the Britannia recruits. I zoned out through most of it, sitting behind him on the podium with Shiumo. It was strange to be back on the island where I’d gone through so much in the hope of being on the Britannia, and then again for the Wolf colony. I had a darkly humorous thought: maybe I was jinxing every project I’d been involved in.

  I tuned back in as Richard wound up his speech.

  ‘You are all exceptional examples of humanity,’ he said. ‘In the next week, five hundred will be reduced to the ninety who will be the grandmothers of a new generation of starship pilots.’ He smiled at them. ‘This time on the island is a “get-to-know-you” period. Don’t rush to talk to Shiumo; she’ll be interviewing each of you individually over the next week. Instead, mingle and meet the other candidates.’

  The women began to chat together at the round tables that filled the lawn. The prevailing emotional tone was one of intense awkwardness, particularly as many of them had their spouses present.

  ‘Are you sure inviting the spouses was a good idea?’ I asked Shiumo.

  ‘The emotional health of the spouse is as important as that of the candidate,’ she said. ‘If the woman’s spouse doesn’t agree to the impregnation, we can’t go ahead. Both of them will be looking after my child, after all.’

  We left the podium to sit at our own table on the lawn. Shiumo had a special couch to lie on. The wait staff placed plates of food in front of us.

  I pointed to a plate. ‘There you are, Shiumo. Potatoes. These are –’

  ‘French fries! Yes, I know,’ she said. ‘They smell wonderful.’ She removed the thick transparent gloves she wore when walking four-legged, picked up a potato chip and inhaled its scent. ‘That is exquisite. Rich and nuanced.’

  ‘Normally we wouldn’t have French fries on a formal menu like this,’ I said, ‘but we knew you wanted to try potato. You can also eat it boiled, mashed –’

  ‘Yes, I looked it up,’ she said, and popped the chip into her mouth. She froze, her silver eyes wide, then chewed a couple of times. She raised her snout as she swallowed, her eyes closed, then turned to see me. ‘And you called that bland.’

  ‘Pretty tasteless, yeah,’ I said, cutting into the steak. ‘We sometimes add additional flavour, like vinegar or garlic salt, or sometimes essence of –’

  ‘You humans really are completely nose-blind, aren’t you?’ she said. ‘I mean, it’s obvious because of your strong odours, but –’

  ‘We don’t smell that strong, do we?’ Richard said.

  ‘Not so much you as the chemicals you douse yourselves in,’ she said.

  ‘I remember,’ Richard said, amused. ‘The deodorant those soldiers were wearing made you sneeze for ages.’

  ‘Some of the men are so … fragrant they make my eyes water,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘They’re covering their body odour,’ Richard said. ‘If we sweat we become extremely fragrant.’

  ‘But it’s like covering a scar with a searchlight!’ she said. ‘Besides, human sweat is not as bad as you think. A sweaty human smells warm and comforting.’

  I gestured towards her plate. ‘So, the potatoes are good?’

  She put another chip in her mouth and spoke around it. ‘I’ve never eaten anything like it before. It tastes of sunshine and warm air and the blue skies of summer. It tastes of the clean brilliance of the stars and the cutting cold of the emptiness of space. It tastes like the tenderness of a new child and the joy of a first love. It’s pure pleasure, infinitely nuanced, deep and complex, and different every time I chew on it. No wonder the cat was willing to kill every colonist for it; I can’t really blame it.’ She looked up at Marque. ‘You can’t duplicate this, my friend. It’s way too complex.’

  ‘Let me see,’ Marque said, and a chip flew up into its sphere. ‘Good lord, I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s complex and changing, and the flavours are fractal in their nature – every time I think I have them identified, they gain another level of sophistication.’ Its voice softened with awe. ‘You’re right, Shiumo. I can make a rough approximation, but I’ll never be able to duplicate this.’

  ‘I want to try all the potato dishes. I want to try sweet potatoes and yams,’ Shiumo said. ‘I want to try them with cheese; that’s another wonderful flavour unique to humanity. The two together must be amazing. I want to try them baked. More French fries! Where can we get more?’ She put her claw on my arm. ‘Jian, more potatoes, please! Now!’

  ‘I’ll see what I can do after the reception,’ Richard said.

  ‘They’re not rare and expensive, are they?’ Shiumo said.

  ‘Common as mud,’ I said. ‘More of a filler food than anything – tasteless, and mostly carbohydrates.’

  ‘You are the most nose-blind race I have ever encountered,’ she said. ‘I wonder why you rely so much more on sight than any other …’ Her voice trailed off and she looked up. ‘Oh.’

  ‘Oh?’ I said.

  She gestured towards the half-moon shining in the daylight sky. ‘You’re hardly ever in full darkness, are you? Even at night, the moon lights your way. That’s why you’ve evolved to be more sight-dependent. A large satellite like that is extremely rare.’

  ‘So our sight is better than average?’ I said.

  �
�Nope. You’re just nose-blind.’

  ‘I suppose we are,’ Richard said. He turned as a tall good-looking man approached us – one of the women’s spouses. ‘I’m sorry, can you wait until after lunch? You’ll have plenty of opportunity to talk to Shiumo later.’

  The man’s emotions were locked down tight over hard tension. ‘Dragon Princess,’ he said to Shiumo. ‘I know they said not to rush to speak to you, but –’

  Shiumo raised one claw. ‘I see your concern, sir. If you’re not sure you want your partner to be in the program –’

  She exploded in a wet cascade of body parts. The psi blast knocked my brain into the side of my skull and I rocked backwards. I fell out of my chair and sat on the ground, dazed.

  ‘What the hell?’ Richard yelled. ‘Jian? Jian! Marque!’

  I couldn’t see – everything was fuzzy – and my ears thumped with pain against a background of screams and shouts.

  ‘It was a psi blast,’ Marque said, its voice strangely calm. ‘He was psychokinetic.’

  ‘Is he unconscious?’ Richard said.

  ‘He killed himself,’ Marque said. ‘Jian, how’s your head? The blast hit you hard.’

  ‘I can’t see,’ I said. My head felt like it was split open. I rested it on my knees. ‘Is Shiumo dead?’

  ‘In a way. Hold on, there’s a sphere coming to take you up to the ship.’ Marque raised its voice. ‘Don’t try to approach. There’s an energy barrier around us. Stay back.’

  There was a shriek.

  ‘Stay back!’ Marque repeated.

  ‘Oh god, Shiumo,’ Richard moaned. ‘She’s all over us.’ He gagged.

  ‘Found it,’ Marque said with grim satisfaction. ‘The sphere’s here. Richard, help Jian – she’s blinded.’ It raised its voice again. ‘Do not approach us. I’m taking them up to Shiumo’s ship. Stay here, everybody; we’ll return shortly.’

  The air filled with the buzz of loud conversation and wails of grief, but I couldn’t sense any emotions. A dark blob grabbed my arm and I pushed it away, blindly trying to defend myself.