Invardii Series Boxset

by Warwick Gibson

  The population of Earth had decreased since the days of the super-cities, and a citizen’s contribution to the trading capability of the trading blocks was now mostly completed at home and at a time of one’s own choosing.

  Production must go forward, every citizen must be personally committed to the well-being of his or her neighbours, and the success of the trading block! It was a media jingle that was everywhere.

  Cordez smiled at his own enthusiasm. He almost believed the publicity he selected from his team of writers and political hacks. From a philosophical point of view it was undeniably best to keep John and Jane Citizen busy, and feeling they belonged, and feeling they were needed. Those that would rise above that, and create something original, would do so regardless of their environment.

  He paused, holding back a brief smile. The power of stereotypes, it should be Manuel and Juanita Citizen in the South Am trading block. He had spent too long in the Euro-Russian and North Am blocks in his student days.

  He walked back to his desk and sat down, picking up a report from the stack on his desk. Cities might now be no more than a hundred thousand people, and mostly parks and recycled materials, but it all needed to be maintained. The Emperors of ancient history, at least those who survived very long, had always done what he was doing right now – keeping himself informed.

  “ROMCOM Report, Second Quarter,” read the title. It was another report from the United Off World Mining Companies. He decided he would only read the summary. It wouldn’t contribute much to his understanding of the rapidly changing world of UfEta commerce, but he stayed abreast of everything.

  He finished the summary, and then read it a second time. The beginnings of a frown creased his forehead.

  He flicked through to the middle and dove into a page of figures. Then he animated the wafer-thin infochip attached to the front of the report, and a series of 3D animations floated above his desk. He cycled through a number of productivity charts.

  Something didn’t quite click. He read the summary again, more slowly this time. He tried an old trick, clearing his mind and letting his subconscious mull over the information. Then he closed his eyes, and let the pieces of the puzzle buzz around and collide with one another in his mind, until hopefully they fit.

  A few minutes later he opened his eyes, and smiled to himself. It was a cover. The summary hinted at some things and suggested others, but it didn’t actually say why the figures didn’t match.

  The big opencast mine on Neptune’s second moon had missed several days productivity, yet the reactor output was higher than normal and no reason had been given for the discrepancy. The mining boss, or someone further up the chain at UOMC, had done a very professional job of covering this up.

  He sat back in his chair. The question, of course, was why?

  The commslink on his desk chimed discretely.

  “The Sumerian delegation has arrived, Sir,” purred his secretary. Sallyanne Montoya was a top sociologist who specialised in off-world cultures. She had been substituted for his usual secretary when the Sumerians had agreed to talk about the planet Alamos, and even more surprisingly suggested a meeting on Earth.

  It had taken a lot of pressure from Cordez before the other Regents had agreed that he should see them alone. The Sumerians always had a clear chain of command in their operations, and one supreme leader for each event. Going into a meeting to face the full council of Regents would have horrified them, they had to see one Human as responsible for the negotiations.

  Manoba had vetoed anyone apart from his own team ‘sitting in’ on the meeting. The other Regents would have to be happy that everything would be recorded. Still, the way things had turned out, it was a rather glorious political coup for him!

  Cordez hastily filed the UOMC report in the VHlock container he kept under his desk. It was practically indestructible, and opened to his handprint and skin enzymes only. Inside it was everything of interest he came across in the reports, and selected input from his many contacts.

  When this information was put together it gave him a command of UfEta matters, and a prescience of future events, that made him the most powerful Regent on Earth. Only Asura Ming, head of the populous and equally influential Asian trading block, could be considered his equal.

  “Conduct them into the Ambassadorial Office,” he said, knowing the commslink on his desk would pick up the words. “Let me know when they’ve been seated.”

  It was always a shock to meet the Sumerians in person. Their large, shambling bodies seemed ill suited to life on dry land, and that was not surprising, considering they’d made the change to breathing air at some stage.

  According to the information the Sumerians supplied, their culture had remained unchanged for 200 thousand years. Their history started when the Rothii disappeared – and their records shed no light on that event whatsoever.

  They had inherited the Orscantium star drive from the Rothii, along with most of their present technology, and their language. Still, it would be foolish to underestimate them, thought Manoba, as he rose from his chair.

  The commslink chimed again. Right on time. Vice-Regent Harrow would welcome them shortly, and they would have been waiting about a minute when Cordez arrived.

  Sallyanne bustled in.

  “Remember to look at the Sumerians when you’re talking to them,” she said. “It’s a sign of respect, and I can read skin colour changes and heart rates more easily from your sensors when you do. Remember, I need to see their reactions to what you say.”

  Most high officials had inbuilt sensor arrays and vidlinks, it was part of the job. The two sinuses in Manoba’s cheekbones had been replaced with sensors and camera feeds, and the bone behind his ears had been hollowed out and strengthened to hold minute hearing connections and tracking equipment.

  Sallyanne would be giving him live feedback as the meeting unfolded. What he heard and saw, she would also see and hear.

  Cordez tapped the command panel on the commslink and a channel on the overhead screen picked up the Sumerian delegation being ushered into the spacious Ambassadorial Office. There were eight of them, and they towered over the Humans by a good head.

  Sallyanne’s eyes flicked up to the screen as she ran checks on the equipment that connected her electronically to the Regent.

  “Sumerian are very sociable and need to have others around them,” she continued. “A party of eight is about the minimum. Eight is also a significant number for them, but we don’t yet understand why. There are no distinguishable differences between the sexes, at least to us, so avoid references to ‘he’ or ‘she’.

  “There will be a speaker, but the real power will lie with someone else in the group. Always address the speaker. If the speaker turns to another in the group, you may then look at that member, but you must still talk to the speaker.

  “Another member of the group speaking would be most unusual, but you must still talk at or through the speaker.”

  There was nothing new in what Sallyanne was saying, but a review of what would happen was a pre-meeting ritual Cordez found indispensable. Human and Sumerian had maintained cautious relations for over 100 years, and the Regent did not want things to sour because of him. At least the translation of languages was now almost instantaneous, and all parties would be wearing linguist earpieces.

  “The Sumerians have used Rothii technology a number of times to change their genetic structure,” continued Sallyanne. “The latest estimates put the change to air breathers around 8 thousand years ago.”

  Cordez turned from the screen to look at her. “I didn’t know it was that recent.”

  “Yeeup,” she drawled with a hint of a smile. “From water-breathing reef fish to land-walking air breathers. That’s some change.”

  She had the confidence to treat people in power as equals, something the Regent found refreshing. The awkwardness of others in the presence of power inevitably slowed down the work to be done, and Cordez found that frustrating.

  It als
o gave Sallyanne a poise that made her very attractive, he thought appreciatively, but part of his mind had already decided there was no need for him to take his interest any further.

  Manoba looked at the Sumerians as they sat awkwardly in seats that had been modified for their different shape.

  “It doesn’t look like the transformation was all that successful,” he commented.

  “It wasn’t,” said Sallyanne. “But then we Humans still suffer from spine problems due to walking upright, and stroke problems due to expansion of the brain.

  “Don’t forget, a Sumerian can pump adrenaline at 50 times the rate we can, something they share with fish on Earth. When they get excited they can move fast.

  “Above all, don’t let their looks affect your judgement. They have no necks, and they don’t have noses, and their heads come to something of a point.

  “They tower over us, and with their bulk they always look like bully boys. Now, you know them better than that, right?”

  Cordez nodded. It was a discussion they had been through many times before, but he insisted she bring it up each time he had to meet one of these delegations. It was so hard not to read ‘human’ things into what the Sumerians said and did, when they just weren’t there.

  Sallyanne tapped in a last command and closed the portable data station she was carrying. “You’re good to go, Manoba. Good luck.”

  The Regent smiled. Luck was what you made of a situation.

  In the Ambassadorial Office a recording team bustled around equipment in one corner, and a refreshment team had thrown open the culinary facilities along a covered servery to one side.

  None of this was really necessary, but apparently the Sumerians felt more comfortable in a crowded room. What they might make of the Human need to wander off by themselves sometimes would be very interesting.

  CHAPTER 5

  ________________

  The introductions took a long time, and were very formal. It was the Sumerian way. The speaker for the Sumerians was named HobDurn. Cordez was not surprised that an official, one of the Par’Durn, had been chosen for the role.

  All of the other seven Sumerians, however, would surely be Par’Brahmad, ritual leaders, and Par’Sanni, or Seconds, where the actual power to get things done lay. It was unlikely one of the Para’Par’Brahmad was present, a leader of leaders, the equivalent of a Regent on Earth.

  Cordez was surprised when the Sumerians went directly to the Alamos question.

  “The Human empire already trades with the K'Sarth, and has visiting rights to Sumerian and Rothii worlds,” began HobDurn, the speaker. “Why do they wish to trade with a planet that has been kept isolated, so that it may develop along its own paths?”

  “The speaker is anxious, but doing a good job of controlling skin colour and hand movements,” came Sallyanne’s voice in Cordez’ ear. “Some of the other members of the delegation are very agitated, and most uncomfortable with any discussion of this topic.”

  The Regent considered his response. The Humans controlled one star system, and certainly did not consider themselves an empire. Perhaps the reference to empires was a Sumerian attempt to style this conference as a meeting of equals. If so, it was a very conciliatory move on their part.

  There would be nothing to be gained by pointing out that visiting Sumerian-controlled planets was difficult at best, and the delegation would not understand that the K'Sarth and Sumerians were so unlike Humans that Earth felt alone in the Spiral Arm.

  The Sumerians were talking in terms of trade, but the Human interest in Alamos went deeper than that. The planet Alamos had a highly sophisticated population, skilled in the creative arts and novel in its scientific approach. It was surprising they had not already developed star drive.

  Most of all, and certainly this was anthropomorphic thinking on Cordez’ part, the Alamos people looked decidedly more Human. They were slight of build and short by Earth standards, but they moved like the forest dwellers their ancestors had been, in a very Human way.

  How could Cordez say that the Human race wanted someone they could shares ideas and philosophies with: they wanted friends.

  It was time for the Regent to play his ace card. He hadn’t expected to do this so early in the negotiations, but he had learned to trust his finely-honed political instincts over his long career.

  He stood up to speak.

  “Before their disappearance,” he said, “the Rothii commanded the Sumerian people to avoid contact with developing star systems, where the civilisations inhabiting them had not yet reached out for the stars.

  “Indeed, Human thought follows along the same lines. A civilisation at a markedly lower technological level must be left to develop its own solutions to its own problems. The flowering of awareness and intelligence must bear many fruit across the universe, not many copies of the one fruit.

  “However, the Mersa people of the planet Alamos are not technologically below the level of Earth, even though the Mersa have not yet developed star drive. A meeting of our two peoples would be a meeting of equals.”

  He paused to let his point take effect. Sallyanne’s voice whispered in his ear. “Mixed signals, agreement with your argument but still agitated, so I suspect their main concerns have not yet been addressed.”

  Cordez had expected this. It was time to introduce a few concessions, and time to open a door for the Sumerians to walk through. A bright, shining path they would want to follow.

  “The people of Earth would welcome the Sumerians as partners,” he said, “as we include the people of Alamos into the planetary Milieu. It would be the central principle of any agreement that the Mersa would not be given star drive capablilities unless both of our peoples wished this.”

  Cordez hoped this would go a long way toward getting their cooperation. Giving the Sumerians a controlling say in the dispensation of technology should dispel some of their misgivings. This gate was going to have to be opened a little bit at a time.

  Now for the closing gambit, and it was a high risk, high reward play with rather too many unknowns, but it was all he had.

  “The Sumerian have benefited from the wisdom of the Rothii,” continued Cordez, “and faithfully worked to maintain order and justice within the planetary milieu to the same high Rothii standards.”

  Easy, he thought, don’t lay it on too thick.

  “But as new situations come up, situations the Rothii could not have anticipated, surely they would wish their partners the Sumerians to use their own judgement?

  “Would it not have been the desire of the Rothii that their partners should be the ones to lead the way into the future, if they were no longer here to guide us? Would it not have been their desire that the Sumerians make new decisions for new situations?”

  Cordez hoped he had said enough to sway them. It was unlikely the Sumerians had ever been partners with the Rothii, much more likely they were a minor player somewhere in the Rothii sphere of influence. Still, they remained the most powerful force among the known planets – and thankfully had never been hostile.

  “Confusion mixed with agreement,” said Sallyanne in his ear. “All the signs of a new idea being assimilated.”

  Cordez waited for the Sumerian speaker to comment on his response, but instead there was a period of discussion within the Sumerian delegation.

  “Now becoming general agreement, mixed with caution,” said Sallyanne. “Still some underlying concern. Not to do with this matter, though, I think. Possibly something to do with their internal politics.”

  Manoba recalled the intriguing question of the missing mining output he had filed in his VHLock container just before the meeting. Who could say what unrelated matter might be on the mind of a Regent, or a Par’Brahmad, in a meeting like this?

  “This is a matter of grave concern to the Sumerian people,” intoned HobDurn eventually. “We will consider your words carefully, and return in the fullness of time with our decision.”

  “You’ve got them,” said Sallyanne in
his ear. “The decision has already been made, you can count on it. Now they have to clear it with the Para’Par’Brahmads, but they’ll be back with an affirmative.”

  Good, thought Cordez. The first step in his plan for a Human – Mersa alliance had been taken.

  Humankind needed competition. People needed a foil when they were going in the wrong direction, and they needed the stimulation of new ideas. If history taught anything, it was the unfortunate tendency of the human race to sink into self-absorption, and a diminishing connection with reality, without a challenge. They must not be allowed to rest on their achievements.

  Cordez voiced his appreciation to the Sumerian delegation and sat down. While the meeting continued with other affairs of state, his mind wandered.

  It seemed to Cordez that the Sumerians had reached agreement with his proposal rather quickly, given their past performances. Were the more flexible Par’Sanni, or Seconds, becoming something of a force in Sumerian affairs?

  While the Par’Brahmad and Para’Par’Brahmad seemed incapable of change, the Seconds had a mental aptitude that was closer to the flexibility of Human thinking. Cordez decided he would watch the Sumerian government a little more closely from now on, and look for signs of a change in the power structure.

  “In conclusion,” intoned HobDurn, “and in remembrance of the long association of our peoples, the Sumerians would like to make available to our Human allies a record of the first meeting of our two peoples.”

  Manoba sat up. Surely that was a meeting that had already been well archived by both sides. An extraordinary meeting in the year zero, 110 years ago, in the Rothii ruins on the moon RuaRoth, where the Sumerians maintained a science station and outpost for star drive flight.

  “The records I mention are from the survey ship Artee’h’Rok 3, in the year 9280PM of your time,” said HobDurn.

  This time Cordez sat bolt upright. The Sumerians had never admitted to knowing anything about Humans before the RuaRoth meeting. Had they been ‘monitoring’ Human civilisation for a lot longer than that? It would certainly be a political coup for the Sumerians to show they were aware of Earth long before the planet was aware of them.