First of the First

by Andrew Maclure

  Chapter Fifty Six

  Destroyer Of Worlds?

  As Sean and Bob joined Alan and the rest of the team, Sally grasped Mark’s arm and led him away in silence. As they went past the adjacent manufacturing building, Sally stopped and turned to Mark. “We don’t need People’s technology to make restraint drones. I’ve checked with my AI; we have patterns for something similar in our armory. They don’t have gags, but we could easily add them to the design.”

  “Yes, my AI told me the same thing. The only advantage of using People’s technology is having the indestructible smart material, but we won’t be able to use it for anything else.”

  “There is one advantage.” Sally said. “I get the impression that Bob is testing us with this. If we use the drones without any problems and don’t lose any synthesizers, he may entrust us with other, more useful weapons technology.”

  “You think so?”

  “He implied that he would. Don’t you remember, when I asked if he had anything else, he said not yet, but there may be opportunities in the future?”

  “Yes, he did. So you’ll use it here?”

  “Of course. Your new lander he just gave you should be busy making some now. You’d better get more feedstock for the synthesizer brought down from the Swift. We’ll keep a small stockpile of the drones for future use, and upgrade some of the army synthesizers when we have a peacekeeping mission. We’ll downgrade them again when the missions finish and have them heavily guarded while they are active.”

  “That seems sensible. My AI has ordered feedstock from the quartermaster AI, some will come down shortly with the first of my new landers, which doesn’t have the new weapons spec that Bob gave me. The next ones will, and I’ll have this one upgraded later.”

  “Good. Now what’s this leverage you have with Orange?”

  “How much do you know about Orange?”

  “Not much. He turned up one day with a bunch of volunteers. The medical AI flagged him as an unknown species but physiologically suitable, so he got passed to the HR AI for interview. It concluded from the path the interview took that he should have an interview with the tactical AI, but flagged that he declined to answer what his planet of origin was, what his species was or any detail about his background beyond that it was military. The AI naturally did background checks but couldn’t find any record of him. It’s as though he didn’t exist before he got off the transporter and into army HQ. There are no records of his species either. So, the medical AI and the tactical AI recommended accepting him. But the HR AI couldn’t complete the recruitment process, so passed him on for review. That rapidly got escalated to me. I passed him on to Simon for evaluation and recommendation. Simon thought we ought to try him out and he proved to be an outstanding soldier. Simon got on well with him and eventually recommended him for inclusion in my personal team. Now you know as much about him as I do. So what’s the leverage you have?”

  “Orange is excessively secretive about his origins and background. I’ve asked him a few times and he is always evasive. A couple of days ago he asked about the new embedded weapon. I said it was supposed to be a secret, he made a comment that things like that were difficult to keep secret. I was a bit uneasy about what he said, it sounded to me like he was happy to tell people about it. I said that the People have a pretty good idea about his origins, and that was something that was just as difficult to keep secret. That seemed to make him angry and nervous, so I think he can be trusted to keep my secret, and I’ll keep his.”

  “Where do the People think he came from?”

  “I’ve no idea. I don’t even know if they know or care where he came from.”

  Sally grinned. “So you bluffed him. Well done Mark!”

  “For lying to him? That’s not very commendable.”

  “For thinking on your feet. He has no more idea about what the weapon is than I do. He doesn’t even know for sure that you have one, so if the subject gets raised again, keep him guessing. What is the weapon anyway?” asked Sally.

  “Bob showed me a VR demonstration of it. Do you know what gluons are?”

  “Of course. It’s simple physics. They are they exchange particles, the bosons, for the strong force that keeps the quarks that form hadrons together.”

  Mark shook his head, “I didn’t think the physics were that simple. Anyway, the gluon field is in some ways analogous to the electromagnetic force and its carrier particles, photons.”

  “Are you saying that you’ve got a gluon weapon? I didn’t know such a thing was possible!” exclaimed Sally.

  “It’s not that simple. The weapon projects a tightly focused and modulated beam of gluons. A bit like photons in a laser. That’s not a great analogy, but it helps to visualize it.”

  “So it’s like a souped up laser.”

  “No,” Mark said, It’s nothing like a laser. The gluon field isn’t subject to the inverse square law, so it doesn’t attenuate with distance. I said it was modulated, that’s what determines its range. It will slice through anything in its way and can’t be deflected by any other field. It can cut a planet in half if the range is set far enough.”

  “But it can’t really slice a planet in half. Gravity would keep it together.”

  Mark continued, “No, the two halves wouldn’t drift apart, but if the planet is tectonically active, the beam passing through it would release all built up stresses leading to massive earthquakes, a disruption of the planet’s crust and eventually the death of all living things. It can be used as a battlefield weapon, but it’s real function is a planet killer.”

  “Shit! Why would you want one of those?”

  “I don’t, but when Bob offered it, it seemed rude to reject it. I asked him the same question. He said I may not need it now, but it might be useful in the future.”

  “You saw it in action?”

  “Yes, he showed me a VR demonstration of Tolen testing it on uninhabited planets – not in this galaxy. The VR also showed it being tested on a moon and a small planet that had lost all its internal heat, like Mars. It was about the same size.”

  “Mars, that’s Sol 4?”

  “That’s it. There was a time lapse view of the moon and planet, it had the same effect on both of them. They lost structural integrity where the beam passed through them and the fluctuations of the gravity that kept them in their orbits gradually ground them up into a pile of dust and rocks. Like I said, it’s a planet killer.”

  Mark shook his head and looked down. “When I said it gave me nightmares, I wasn’t kidding. I could release that kind of devastation with a thought. There is a phrase from the Hindu scriptures, ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.’ That’s me.”

  Mark sat on the ground, arms round his knees, looking down. “I know I wanted to get away from my shitty life on Earth. The only good thing that ever happened to me was meeting that clumsy, ditzy girl from General Admin. What was her name? Ah yes, Sally, or Sah Lee. Something like that, and I walked away from her. That was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Back then of course, I didn’t know she was a violent alien killer with her own army, slumming it on Earth to ‘get grounded’. I thought I was leaving for a quiet life as an assistant People’s Archivist.” He sighed. “If only I had been sensible enough to accept my fate on Earth. If only Sally had just been the ditzy girl I thought she was. We could have been happy.”

  Sally sat in the dust next to him and leaned into him, her head on his shoulder. “No we couldn’t. Sometimes you are so dense that you can’t see what is so obvious to everyone else. You weren’t born to rot away in the basement of that shit awful office. And how could you be happy living in that squalid pit you called your flat. I saw it when Simon carried you back there from the Chequers when you drank so much that you passed out. Maybe you could have been a bit happy if I had lived there with you, but I wouldn’t have stayed there for more than a few hours before I set fire to it. Like it or not, you were born to be a warrior, but you were in a time and place where you weren
’t going to become one. In some ways, it’s not surprising you were having a hard time in your life, though it doesn’t excuse you for being so whiney. Anyway, my AI has checked the Earth archive and that quote was said by Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who took the phrase from a not very good translation of the Bhagavad Gita and then quoted it out of context. Though to be fair, it does sum you up.”

  Sally stood up, kicked Mark in the thigh and held her hand out to him. “Come on, you need to take your mind off all this, and I know just the thing to do it. Get your shuttle over here and we’ll go up to the Swift where I’ll distract you for an hour or so.”

  Chapter Fifty Seven

  The People Toe The Line

  The shuttle landed in front of the rebel headquarters, which already had two landers parked in the open area in front of it. Simon emerged from one, with a self-propelled pallet stacked with crates following him.

  As the shuttle door slid open, Mike strolled up to meet Mark and Sally.

  “Been for a shag?” she asked?

  “Your face seems to be fully healed.” Mark said. “If you mind your own business, it will stay that way.”

  “You’re very feisty for someone who has been skiving off while the rest of us have been unloading landers and setting out a defensive shield.”

  “Keep up the good work soldier.” he said.

  “I’ve done my share for now. I’m going to have a quick shower, get changed into a new jumpsuit and armor and get a big KE weapon.”

  “Has Simon offended you?”

  “No more than usual. You might want to join me, Sha Ast Ral has come out of hiding and she wants to meet me with a group of rebels.”

  “Do you know what for?” Sally asked.

  “No, but I guess it will either be about me taking over as leader or setting up a rebel defense force. Or, it could be about something completely different.”

  “So you’ve no idea.” Mark said.

  “Yeah,” Mike answered. “but whatever the reason, I want to look the part. I’d like you two to join me when I meet them. Do you think any of the People would join us?”

  “They’re under my command, so they will, whether they want to or not.” Sally said.

  “We’ll go and ask them.” Mark said hastily.

  “Ask them, yeah, of course.” Sally rolled her eyes. “You ask them, I’ll order them. What have they been doing while we were away?”

  “They’ve been unloading landers and helping set the defense shield into position. They’re a lot stronger than they look! Simon’s been telling them what to do.”

  “That’s not what I expected from the People.” Sally said. “We’ll speak to them, then we’ll get weapons and body armor and join you.”

  “Are you expecting a fight?” Mark asked.

  “No you idiot. But we all need to look the part. Come on, we’ll speak to the People and then get kitted out.”

  Mike went to the lander, Sally and Mark walked over to speak to Bob, Alan and Sean.

  “Thank you for assisting the team while we are away.” Sally said.

  “We were not assisting the team, we are part of the team now, so we were joining in.” Alan said.

  “You look much more relaxed now Mark.” Bob said, “Your session of sexual congress seems to have successfully relieved your tensions.”

  “Does everyone know where we’ve been!” Mark said, crossly.

  “Was it a secret?” Bob asked.

  “Yes! No, yes… well, not a secret, but there is such a thing as privacy. And tact.”

  “I am sorry if I have offended you both. But you do look better Mark.”

  Sally smirked at Mark then turned to Bob. “It’s not a problem Bob. It’s a human thing. They are a bit repressed about sex.”

  “I see. I apologize Mark. I will be more circumspect about your sexual activities in future.”

  “Bob, Sean, Alan. Mike is going to meet the rebels soon. Mark and I will be either side of her when they meet. I want the three of you in line behind us.”

  Mark cringed. He had just complained about Bob’s lack of tact, and now Sally was ordering them about.

  “Of course Sally.” Alan answered. “We have all agreed to come under your command, we will do as you order.”

  Mark’s mouth dropped open, then he snapped it shut again. “Uh, do you want to change before we meet them? Into something a bit more soldierly? Those robes look, uh, great, but not the sort of thing you’d wear into battle.”

  “Are you expecting a battle?” Sean asked.

  “No, but we want to look as though we are prepared for one.”

  “Why?” Sean asked.

  “Uh, would you like to answer that, Sally?” Mark said.

  “If we are positioning ourselves as Mike’s personal guard, and that we are capable of protecting the rebels from the Herassan combined armed forces, we need to look like we are ready for anything. The defensive shield isn’t for show, it’s there to perform a function if the Herassan army attack. We want them to realize that we mean business.”

  “We do not have special attire for combat. When the Tolen go into action, this is what we wear.” Bob said, running all four hands down his robe.

  “That’s fine.” Sally said. “We’ll get ready and meet you back here. Come on Mark.”

  “We’d better hurry if you want a shower before getting kitted out.”

  “We could save time and shower together.” Sally suggested.

  “When we shower together it never saves time, it always takes longer. Most cats on Earth don’t like water. With your cat like ancestors I’m surprised you like showering so much.”

  “I never used to when I was…” her voice trailed off.

  “When you were what?” Mark asked.

  “Never mind. Just get ready!” Sally snapped at him and ran up the ramp into the lander.

  Mark shrugged his shoulders, then walked up the ramp and saw Mike attaching her body armor. She picked up an HKE36 heavy caliber KE weapon and met Mark in the aisle between the seats.

  “What have you done to piss her off this time?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I asked her about showering, and she ran off in a mood.”

  Mike sniffed him. “You seem fairly fresh, for a mammal. Did you tell her she needed one?”

  “No I didn’t! Unlike you, I have tact and manners.”

  “Manners I’ll grant you, but tact? I’m surprised you can even pronounce the word. Or maybe you can’t, but your translator can. Why don’t you find her – she’ll be in the wet room, and show her some affection. Just don’t open your mouth.”

  “You mean like this?” Mark grinned and pulled her to him to hug her.

  Grinning, she pushed him off. “Fuck off, you randy mammal. I thought you’d had enough for one day.”

  Mark pushed her toward the door. “I’ll meet you outside.” he called out as she trotted down the ramp.

  He walked into the wet room and found Sally leaning on a wash basin, staring at the wall. Without saying anything he moved behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, then gently massaged the muscles just below her neck. After a few moments she turned and said, “I’m sorry Mark. I…”

  “You don’t have to say anything.” He pulled her in for a hug, then let go and said, “Come on, let’s get ready.”

  Chapter Fifty Eight

  New Arrivals

  “What do you want to achieve from this meeting?” Alan asked Mike.

  “I hope Sha Ast Ral is bringing volunteers for a defense force. I don’t want to have to rely on us, I mean, the team, to act as the rebel’s military support.”

  “That would not be ideal.” Alan agreed. “We, the People, cannot be seen to be supporting regime change, We are here to provide you with personal protection at Mark’s request, and to agree what technology we will provide in the event that your form of government changes from a manipulated Empire model to a system of continuous democratic referendums.”

  “I was thinking more of th
e problem of it appearing to be regime change enforced by an alien invasion.”

  “The drones have picked up multiple groups of people coming this way in ground cars. Mark’s strategic AI doesn’t consider them a threat. There is a rear entrance to the warehouse with a stream of people going in.” Sally said.

  “Is Sha Ast Ral among them?” Mike asked.

  “I don’t know, there is a signal blocker moving towards the entrance and another in a vehicle coming this way. She could be with them. We know the rebels had at least two of them.”