Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Alto and Choumali can go. I need to write my report,’ the general said. ‘The project’s complete; both of you are due some leave. Go talk to Shiumo.’ Richard passed her the tablet and she accepted it. ‘I suppose all we have to do now is wait until the babies are born.’

  ‘I can’t wait to see what they look like,’ Shiumo said.

  She folded us up to the ship, and we sat at the dining table. Marque provided us with our favourite meals. I felt a moment of sadness: this was probably the last time we’d eat together in her magnificent ship.

  ‘The first thing I want to discuss is the facility Marque will build,’ Shiumo said. ‘I’ve sent plans for it to your tablets. Marque, show them?’

  A glowing three-dimensional model of an organic mushroom-like structure floated above the table: a flat-topped oval on a slender stalk, with vegetation growing between the small round-windowed buildings on its top. The entire structure was a pale rosy shade of pink.

  ‘It will hold all ninety-six dragonscales children,’ Shiumo began.

  ‘Wait,’ Richard said. ‘You know already that some of them will be twins?’

  ‘Yes, and one set of triplets,’ she said. ‘I’ve also added suitable accommodation for your son David, Jian – he can attend the facility as well if he wishes. And also your two new alien children. Marque will teach them about their home species. This will be an important study. No cat has ever been raised outside the Republic, and it will be interesting to see how much of their assholery is built-in and how much develops as a result of their awful social structure and unforgiving indoctrination.’

  I studied the model for a long time, torn by indecision. I didn’t want to be foster mother to so many children – it wasn’t what I’d planned for my military career. But the education that Marque could provide for my two alien foster kids was more appropriate than anything I could give them. And the dragonscales wouldn’t be moving into the facility for fifteen or sixteen years, so I had time to build my career. I tilted my head. The facility – a pink cloud of beauty floating in the sky – looked welcoming and idyllic.

  ‘I can see you thinking about it,’ Shiumo said. ‘If you decide not to do it, I understand. I will provide you with all you need to teach the children what they should know.’

  I nodded. ‘Thank you.’

  Shiumo turned to Richard. ‘I’ll be back in a week. If you decide you want to travel with me, to be with me, I would love it. I love you dearly, but I want you to be sure. If you’re still here on this island when I return in a week, we will go off together. If you aren’t here, I will understand and I will never speak to you again. I will give you whatever you want.’

  ‘Then remove the cloned body parts and return me to Earth,’ he said.

  Her head shot back on her long neck. ‘What?’

  ‘Take them off. Take me back to what I was.’

  ‘Why?’ she said, astonished.

  ‘Because the job is done. Because you made more than half of me. The minute I stepped off that table I was in love with you again. I’m not my own man any more.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘This again.’ She looked up. ‘Can we do it, Marque?’

  ‘Sorry, Commander, not without killing you,’ Marque said. ‘Your body wouldn’t survive the trauma. The fatigue, the pain, the headaches, the tremors, all the neurological symptoms you’ve experienced over the past twenty-five years – that was your body saying “enough”. You’ve been living on borrowed time, and if we do any more to you, your time will be up.’

  ‘Do it anyway,’ Richard said.

  ‘Richard …’ I said softly.

  ‘No, Jian. I don’t want to be anything but one hundred per cent human. One hundred per cent me.’

  ‘You are,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘Remove the cloned parts. I want to be what I was when I was born, not a fabrication. I choose death. Respect my wishes.’

  ‘This is so sudden,’ she said, her eyes wide. ‘You seemed happy while we were working on the project. I thought you loved me. I thought we would travel together … Why didn’t you tell me you felt this way? Talk to me!’

  ‘You said you’d give me anything I want. This is what I want.’

  ‘Can you do it, Marque?’ Shiumo said.

  ‘No,’ Marque said. ‘I’m programmed to preserve life. I can’t knowingly kill you, Richard.’

  ‘Then return me to Earth and never speak to me again.’

  ‘One condition,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘If you love me there should be no conditions,’ he said sharply.

  ‘Answer this: do you love me?’

  ‘Take me back down,’ he said. ‘You’ve ruined my life quite enough.’

  She lowered her head and closed her eyes. ‘I am sorry, my love.’

  Shiumo dropped us back outside New Whitehall. Richard walked into the building without saying a word to Shiumo. She watched him go, her emotions full of grief. I hesitated, awkward.

  ‘Thank you, Jian,’ she said. ‘He’s whole again, and you helped me give him that. Please consider raising the dragonscales children for me. You’re the only one I trust.’

  ‘I need to think about it,’ I said, keeping my gaze on the Whitehall building.

  ‘I understand,’ she said, her voice breaking, and disappeared.

  Richard and I took the elevator down to the conference room. The general was already there waiting for us.

  ‘So you were pretending to love her until the project was complete?’ she said.

  Richard didn’t reply.

  ‘This proves she doesn’t have control over you, Alto.’

  ‘I wasn’t pretending. I still love her,’ he said. ‘It took an enormous effort of will to free myself, but I did it. I never want to be near her again.’

  Maxwell studied each of us in turn. ‘We tried again to provide alternative people to work with her, and again she said no. It’s you two or nobody. And we need people on the inside.’

  ‘So you want me to go with her?’ Richard said, his voice flat.

  ‘Of course we do. Report back on where she goes and what she does. This information is vital.’

  ‘What if I share classified Earth information with her?’

  ‘You won’t have any.’

  ‘I see. Am I discharged?’

  ‘Absolutely not. We’re assigning you the vital task of travelling with her and finding out as much as you can about the Dragon Empire.’

  ‘No you aren’t,’ Richard said. ‘You’re cutting me loose because the job’s done, more than half of me was created by her, and I’m severely compromised. You’re hoping there’s enough humanity left in me to help you out, but you want me off-planet because you’re not sure where my loyalties lie.’

  I made a soft sound of sympathy.

  The general didn’t reply, her gaze stern.

  ‘I chose death, Charles,’ Richard said. ‘You did this to me against my will. All of you did.’

  ‘You joined up to serve and, if necessary, to sacrifice yourself for the good of humanity,’ the general said. ‘It’s my job to put you in the line of fire. Your sacrifice is honoured, soldier.’

  ‘My sacrifice was against my will.’ Richard pulled off his insignia, tossed it on the table, and stalked out.

  The general pressed a button on her tablet.

  ‘Ma’am?’ an aide said.

  ‘Arrest Commander Alto and put him in a cell on level twenty-four.’ She hesitated. ‘And put him on suicide watch.’

  ‘Ma’am.’

  She turned the comms off.

  I moaned quietly. ‘If I’d known I would never have done this to him.’

  ‘You did the right thing.’

  ‘I destroyed him.’

  ‘No, I destroyed him. You followed orders and completed your mission,’ she said. ‘Alto submitted a report at the end of the project, saying that you are an intelligent, reliable officer whose loyalty to humanity is above reproach, and he recommended you be promoted.’

  ‘After what I
did to him,’ I said with misery.

  ‘He doesn’t blame you, Choumali. He blames me, and with good reason.’ She put her tablet down. ‘You said that Shiumo had less control over you this time? You didn’t tell her that we’d ordered you to start this breeding program?’

  ‘That’s right. Her control of me isn’t complete.’

  ‘That makes you even more important than Alto. She wants you to look after the dragonscales. She won’t take anyone else. She says if she can’t have you, Marque will raise them. If you stay with the children you won’t be with her every hour of the day – but you’ll still have a great deal of access to information, particularly as you’ll be assisting with their education about the Galactic Empire.’

  ‘I know it’s the logical thing to do,’ I began.

  ‘It’s the most important thing to do,’ she said. ‘This is absolutely vital.’

  ‘Am I being ordered to do it?’

  ‘Yes, you are.’

  I saluted. ‘Ma’am.’

  ‘No argument?’ She gestured towards Richard’s insignia. ‘No storming out?’

  ‘Not from me, ma’am. I know how important this is.’ I sighed. ‘This is not where I thought I’d be at this stage of my career, but I have two alien children to care for now – and I want to make sure we get our own dragons. The extra information I can gather in Shiumo’s facility is worth it. We need to travel to the stars.’

  ‘Another reason why it’s so important you do this.’

  ‘And Richard? What we just did to him is …’ I searched for the word.

  ‘Heinous,’ she said. ‘Absolutely unforgivable. Shiumo contacted me immediately and told me he demanded that she remove the body parts even though it’ll kill him. She’s confused and upset – he seemed happy enough while the project was ongoing, then he turned around and wanted to die.’

  ‘She obviously doesn’t know him very well,’ I said. ‘The project came first. Richard will make any sacrifice for the good of humanity.’

  ‘That’s why I locked him up. He’ll think about his decision for a while, and then agree to go with her and spy for us. Alto is one of the most exceptional officers I’ve ever served with. He’s never hesitated to do what’s right, no matter how much he might suffer.’ She lowered her voice. ‘And the mind control be damned – he deserves some happiness. She can give it to him. He’s suffered enough.’

  General Maxwell and I stood outside the space elevator building waiting for Shiumo to return a week later. The wind swept across the treeless island, and I shivered, then took a deep breath, enjoying its freshness. I remembered Nelly telling me this would be the last fresh air we’d breathe before we headed to Wolf. That seemed a lifetime ago.

  Shiumo folded onto the lawn in front of us. ‘Hello, everyone.’ She looked around, then lowered her head. ‘He’s not here. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.’

  ‘He’s here,’ the general said, and gestured towards the building behind us.

  A couple of guards emerged, escorting Richard, who was in handcuffs. His face was rigid and I could sense his deep humiliation from ten metres away.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Shiumo shouted, and folded directly to him. ‘What is this? Let him go!’

  ‘They’ll remove the cuffs when you take me up to your ship,’ Richard said.

  ‘Why? Why are they doing this to you?’ She turned to speak to the general. ‘Is this because of me? What happened? Why are you doing this to him?’

  ‘Because he’s an alien artefact and we can’t trust him,’ the general said. ‘Take him and go.’

  ‘He is one hundred per cent human, and I do not have control of him!’ Shiumo shouted. She returned to Richard. ‘Marque, remove these stupid restraints. What an insult to an intelligent man who has more integrity than anyone else on this island.’

  The cuffs fell away from Richard’s wrists.

  ‘Give him a weapon.’

  A similar weapon to the one I’d used to kill the cat floated from the Marque sphere above us.

  ‘Take it, Richard,’ Shiumo said.

  Richard stared at it. ‘No.’

  ‘Good. See?’ she said to the general. ‘Now. Take that weapon, Richard, and shoot the general – the person who’s exiling you from your own planet. Shoot her right between the eyes, right now.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Richard said.

  ‘Now can you see that I have no control over you?’

  ‘That’s beside the point,’ he said. ‘I’m fatally compromised, and I’m no longer welcome here.’ He shrugged. ‘Can I come with you? This isn’t my home any more.’

  ‘Oh, Richard,’ she said with compassion, and hoisted herself onto two legs, putting her front claws on his shoulders. ‘Always. Always!’

  He nodded to her. ‘Thank you.’ He glared at General Maxwell. ‘You destroyed my life, my career and my autonomy. I hope I never see you again.’

  The general nodded to him. ‘Live a long and happy life, Richard. I wish only the best for you.’

  He turned his back on her, and spoke to Shiumo. ‘Can I help you set up the facility for your kids?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Shiumo said. She turned to me. ‘Come on, I have to choose a site. I want somewhere nice and warm with some ocean nearby so they can swim. You can help me.’

  ‘Go, Choumali,’ the general said. ‘Let me know when the site has been chosen. The Mediterranean would probably suit Princess Shiumo’s requirements.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ I said, and went to Shiumo.

  ‘Let’s go,’ she said, and we put our hands on her shoulders. Richard and the general shared a meaningful look as the island dissolved around us.

  29

  The base station and Shiumo’s facility were located on a five-kilometre-wide island; a cluster of buildings on top of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean’s clear blue water.

  Six months after we’d begun setting up, Commander Stewart Blake and I waited for the Maxwell family at the rotocopter pad. Commander Blake was taller than me and heavily built, with light brown skin, greying black hair, and a square heavy-browed face that made him appear deceptively ordinary until you saw his sharply intelligent eyes. We both wore the new dark blue uniforms of the Space Corps; he’d made a special trip from his office in New London for the first gathering of the dragonscales babies.

  The ’copter landed, and General Maxwell stepped out with her daughter, Linda, who was carrying her dragonscales baby. The one-month-old baby behaved like a six month old, even though she was only twenty centimetres long: she was holding her head up, and was alert and inquisitive.

  The babies had been born after only twenty weeks, and the doctors had panicked that they were all premature. It was impossible to predict how long it would take a dragonscales child to develop; and Marque hadn’t been able to provide the doctors with concrete predictions until the children were close to term. But they were robust and healthy babies, their eyes already open and focusing, and each with a cluster of small red scales on their temples.

  Linda said something to her mother, and headed for the other scalesmothers and their families, who were arriving at the civilian ferry terminal at the base of the cliff.

  The general approached Commander Blake and me. ‘Stewart,’ she said, saluting Blake, then shaking his hand. ‘Any word?’

  ‘Not yet, Charlie,’ Commander Blake said. ‘We’re expecting them soon though.’

  ‘Good to see you, Choumali,’ she said to me. ‘I trust the commander’s treating you well?’

  ‘Can’t complain, ma’am. I think I’ve been lucky with my commanding officers. All of them have been a pleasure to work with.’

  ‘You need to give the lieutenant more to do if she’s not complaining, Stew,’ the general said.

  Linda waved to the general from the group of scalesmothers, and the general waved back. She spoke to us without looking away from the scalesmothers with their baby slings and buggies. ‘I’d like to see the alien children first. I read the reports and I w
ant to see for myself.’

  I winced. ‘The confinement is for their own protection, ma’am.’

  ‘I want to see if you’re being too soft on them,’ she said.

  ‘Oh.’ I gestured towards the base station. ‘This way.’

  Scaleshome seemed to float on its slender stalk above us. A Marque sphere was guiding the scalesmothers up the lift to the Scaleshome platform, and they were talking excitedly among themselves.

  I led the general and the commander into the admin section, which was constructed of the same smooth pink ceramic-like material as Scaleshome. They followed me through the office where my small team were updating the dragonscales’ records, and down the corridor to the secure rooms where I was keeping the aliens. Marque had made a small apartment for each alien, with a bedroom, living room and bathroom.

  ‘Shiumo assures me that it’s considered an honour to give aliens a name in our own language and to use it,’ I said. ‘I’ve named the cat Oliver, after my grandfather.’

  ‘Fuck your name!’ Oliver shouted from inside his room.

  ‘They’re learning English?’ the general said.

  ‘No. There’s an integrated translation program in the facility. They refuse to learn our language – they refuse to have anything to do with us. This is Georgina’s room.’ I rapped on her door. ‘Georgina?’

  ‘Go away!’ she shouted from inside.

  ‘Can I come in?’

  ‘Fuck off!’ Oliver shouted from his room across the hall.

  ‘I’m coming in, Georgina,’ I said.

  Her footsteps galloped across the floor and an internal door slammed.

  I opened the door, and put my arm out to stop the general and commander from entering too quickly. When Georgina didn’t make a break for it, I led them inside. Georgina was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘She’s locked herself in the bathroom,’ I said. ‘She won’t come out as long as we’re here.’

  ‘Charming,’ the general said.

  ‘Georgina, General Maxwell is here,’ I said. ‘Do you remember her?’

  Georgina didn’t reply.

  ‘Shiumo will be here soon. Don’t you want to see her?’