First of the First

by Andrew Maclure

  “You are good hearted Mark but thinking before you speak would help your relationship with Sally. She has feelings just like you do.” Seltet said. “Let’s eat, then we can talk in the bar.”

  They ate quickly, then blinked to the bar. Mike, Orange, Kar Fen and Simon were sat at a table at one end of the room, so Mark, Seltet and Ranesh sat at the other end. Ranesh had a large glass that held about two liters of a green tinged amber fluid, Seltet had a conical glass with a slightly cloudy brown liquid, Mark had a coffee.

  “Is that alcoholic?” Seltet asked.

  “No, but it contains caffeine, which is a mild stimulant to my race.” Mark answered.

  “Don’t your race use alcohol?” she asked.

  “Yes, but I don’t have patterns for anything alcoholic that is safe for me to drink.”

  “Check this out.” she said, passing her drink over to him. “It’s delicious!”

  “Is it safe for me to drink?” he asked his AI.

  “Yes, but it may not be palatable.”

  Mark sniffed the drink. It smelt a bit like brandy, but with a strong scent of fruit. The smell reminded him of the flavored cider he had been persuaded to try at IFG’s IT group’s last Christmas party. That tasted like a fizzy fruit drink with a bit of a kick to it. He had liked it, but not enough to persuade him to stay past the first opportunity to leave the party early. He took a big swig of Seltet’s drink and swallowed. His face turned red and he started to sweat. The fruity taste was swamped by a burning sensation like he had just bitten into and chewed a really hot chili, and the bitterness was so intense that he felt like every molecule of water had been removed from his mouth. He grabbed his mug of coffee and gulped down the contents, which helped a bit. Looking up at Seltet through streaming eyes, he croaked, “Very nice, but not really to my taste.” He got up and staggered to the bar, gasping “Water, give me water!” to the bar bot.

  After drinking a liter and half of water, Mark returned to the table with a fresh mug of coffee in his hand. Seltet was looking very concerned, Ranesh had a huge grin on her face.

  “I am so sorry Mark, I guess our biochemistry isn’t that close.”

  “That’s OK Seltet, it’s probably an acquired taste, but I’ll stick to coffee for now.” Wanting to change the subject of the conversation, Mark asked, “How long have you been a soldier Ranesh?”

  “How much do you know of my past?” she asked him.

  “Nothing.”

  “We’ll keep it that way.” she said, taking a deep draught from her glass.

  “What about you Mark?” Seltet asked. “All I know about you is that Sally is fond of you, you are a Friend of the People and that your race is pre-emergent. What’s your story?”

  Mark started to tell them about his life on Earth and how he came to be where he was. He didn’t think it would take long, but Seltet kept interrupting and asking questions and even Ranesh was interested enough to ask about his early life, his work in IFG and the computer technology he had worked with. By the time he had finished, Orange and Kar Fen had left, and Simon had carried Mike, who was unconscious, back to her quarters. “She overdid the smoking bowl.” he said as he passed their table on the way out.

  Chapter Ninety Seven

  The Senior Secretary

  Mark’s AI woke him with the soft chimes it used to rouse him from sleep. He rolled over and saw the back of Sally’s head on the pillow next to him. She was breathing slowly, sound asleep. He didn’t know what to make of that as she said she was going to sleep on the beach by the pool.

  He carefully got out of bed and went for a shower. When he came out, Sally was sitting up in bed.

  “I’m sorry I said your meetings…” he started to say, but she interrupted him with a smile said, “No problem. Forget it. Did you enjoy your evening with Seltet and Ranesh?”

  “Uh, yes, it was good thanks. And did you enjoy your evening with Touren and Bekkreshan?”

  Ignoring his question, she said, “You did well to get Ranesh to come out with you. She’s spent almost every evening by herself in her quarters. She’s gone to the bar a couple of times with Bekkreshan and there was that one time she came for a swim – but only because I ordered her to.”

  “That was a bit strange. She didn’t want to come but seemed to really enjoy herself. It was the same last night. She didn’t want to come, but once we got talking, she joined in and seemed interested. She didn’t say much, but she asked a lot of questions.”

  “I think she’s shy. She finds it easier to not join in but would like to be part of the group. We’ll have to make an effort to get her to socialize with us all more. You need to get going. I’m taking the rest of the team down to the Freedom Movement HQ to remove all that ordnance we’ve got down there. Enjoy yourself with Mike.”

  “Not much chance of that. I’d rather be with the rest of you. I don’t know why I said I would help her.”

  “Because you are a nice person and she’s your friend. Now get going!”

  It was now just before he and Mike were due to leave. He blinked to the lander to find it empty. He made himself comfortable in a chair, ready for long wait. After seeing Mike leave over Simon’s shoulder the previous evening, he didn’t expect her to turn up on time – if at all.

  Dead on time, Mike blinked in, looking fresh and wide awake.

  “I noticed you talking to Ranesh and Seltet a lot last night.” she said. “I’m surprised Ranesh didn’t stuff you down a toilet because you are so boring. She’s not famous for listening to people droning on. Did you spike her drink so that she couldn’t move?”

  Ignoring her jibe, Mark said, “You look chirpy for someone who had to be carried out. Did you forget to set your blood filters on?”

  “No. I told my AI to wait until I passed out before it turned them on. As you can see, I’m clean and well rested. Are you going to tell the lander to leave now or shall we have a nice morning sitting here in the dock staring at each other?”

  “I can’t think of anything worse.” he said, instructing the lander’s AI to take them to the Palace on Tefran. He passed the agenda with briefing notes to Mike, saying, “Next time, do this your bloody self.”

  ◆◆◆

  As they walked down the ramp, Mark noticed six large depressions in the lawn which the lander’s feet had left the previous day. They would have twelve now.

  Colonel Bryd Sa Dett walked over to meet them, accompanied by four armed guards. “Good morning Sir,” he said to Mike, giving her a crisp salute, “and to you Mark.”

  “I’m sorry about the lawn.” Mark said, waving towards the dents.

  “The grounds people will soon sort them out.” the Colonel said, “You could park in the visitor landing area. It’s been cleared of the debris you left, though some of the paving still needs to be replaced.

  “On the lawn suits me fine.” Mike said. “I’m not a visitor.”

  We’re going to the cabinet meeting room.” the newly promoted Colonel said, “It’s big enough for all the officers that could make it here. Would you like refreshments before we start?”

  “If you’ll excuse me Colonel,” Mark said, “I’ll take a walk in the grounds while you’re having your meeting – I don’t need an armed guard, unless you think I pose a danger.”

  “Of course Mark, but until the law changes, the Palace Guard is required to provide an armed escort to the First of the First.”

  “You can accompany me to the meeting room.” Mike said to Mark, “Then you can go and play in the garden. Try not to break anything and be careful not to fall in the lake.”

  The Palace gardens were extensive, and Mark could have spent all day exploring, but told his AI to guide him to the lakeside woods. It was a mild spring morning and as he looked across the lake, there was just enough movement in the cool pre-dawn air to ripple the reflection of the sky, starting to glow with the morning twilight.

  He lay on a soft mossy bank, gazing across the water as it got lighter. with the growing dawn chor
us of the native Tefran birds starting to drown out the soft rustle of leaves from the trees around him. A light mist rose from the water as the sun started to show on the horizon. He thought that if there was a heaven, when he eventually died, it would be like this.

  Mark was startled out of his reverie by a call from Mike. “Get yourself back here. My meeting with the officers has finished so you’re needed now. I bet you don’t hear that often.”

  Mark was tempted to tell Mike to get stuffed and to stay by the lakeside, but he had promised to help her, so he would.

  When he returned to the Palace, Mark was escorted to the cabinet room which was empty except for Mike, who sat at the head of a long wide table.

  “About time. I don’t expect to be kept waiting.” she said.

  “Keep that up and what you can expect is a punch in the eye.” Mark replied, as he sat on a stool beside her.

  “Did you enjoy your walk in the grounds?”

  “Yes, but I spent most of it on the edge of the woods, looking across the lake.”

  Mike smiled. “That was where I went when I wanted to be by myself as a child. It is so peaceful there, I could pretend I wasn’t being held prisoner in the Palace and that I was just a carefree kid with my life ahead of me, free to choose to do what I wanted, when I wanted. The illusion was always spoilt at some point by my carers wanting to go back to the Palace because they were bored.”

  “Aren’t carers supposed to care for the people they are looking after, not make them do what they want to do?”

  “They were called carers, but they looked more like thugs with weapons. I couldn’t even go there when I managed to escape from them, it was the first place they looked for me. Enough of this, we’ve got our first meeting in a few moments, with the Senior Cabinet Secretary. It’s a voluntary position which people usually only stay in for a few years because it’s so time consuming. Pem Ord Raab has been doing it for six years, so she knows all about how the government organization works.”

  The door opened and a confident looking female Herassan strode in. “Good morning Sir.” she said to Mike, then turned to Mark and said “Good morning, uh…Sir. I am Pem Ord Raab, Senior Secretary to the Cabinet. Please call me Pem.”

  “Take a seat.” Mike said, gesturing to the stool to her left. “Thank you for your service to the Herassan Empire.” Pem stiffened, aware that these words were usually followed by the message that their services were no longer required. “I hope you will agree to stay in post for at least a little longer, until we can regularize the future running of the government.” Mike continued.

  The Senior Cabinet Secretary relaxed a bit, and said, “Of course Sir. How much longer will you need my service?”

  “As long as you are prepared to continue of course. Why do you ask?”

  “Because now you have had all the cabinet arrested, all of us in the civil service thought we might be next.”

  Mike laughed and said, “I had them arrested because they are suspected of conspiring in the attempted coup – which is actually still in place on some planets and habitats. One of the Advisors has confessed their part in it all ready. It seems the only member of the cabinet who wasn’t involved was the First Advisor, who was murdered on the orders of the Defense and Security Advisor. Ironically, she was the one who was most troublesome to me, and the only one who I could have trusted.”

  “But I heard you were abolishing the government and having rule by anarchy, that means you won’t want any of us civil servants.”

  “Rule by anarchy? That’s not going to happen.” Mike briefly outlined what she planned and made it clear that the new Democratic Republic would still need a civil service, which is why she needed to meet all of them.

  “You don’t need to meet all of us.” the Senior Secretary said. “I don’t wish to disparage them, but the Cabinet didn’t really do anything apart from send us a message every now and then, and I never met your father when he was First of the First. The Senior Secretary, that’s me, chairs the regular meetings of the cabinet secretariat and we decide between us what needs to be done. It has always been the civil service that has run the empire within the constraints the cabinet set, and by your grace, we will continue to do so.”

  Mike smiled at that. “It’s not by my grace, Pem, you and your team of volunteers in the civil service deserve the gratitude of the citizens of the Empire. However, if you all wish to stay in your current positions I need to know how you carry out your duties, and I need reassurance that you will support the sweeping changes I am going to make. I will make my own investigation into the civil services past performance. I want you to ensure that every member of the civil service clearly understands what is coming, and to know that my plan is not negotiable. I also need a personal undertaking from each and every one of them that they will support the changes and carry out their duties to ensure a smooth transition. This will be an opportunity for the civil service to make changes. Any of you will be able to propose constitutional changes with the insight of those directly involved in it. I want to make it clear to you, the citizens can only gain from this. There is no downside for anyone, except those that plotted to seize power for themselves, which are most if not all the cabinet and some senior army officers. I’m not promising a bright new tomorrow for everyone, but we, the people, will start to make decisions about what is important to us, not a selected few who don’t care about anyone but themselves.”

  “Yes, I’ve seen the propaganda on JabJab and Tefran Central Update.”

  Mark winced at the word ‘propaganda’ and hoped it didn’t have the same negative connotations it did in English.

  “It’s not just words Pem, it’s a system that works and is being used by thousands of civilizations and has been for billions of years, including the Coran. I am sure we can get representatives from others doing the same thing to meet with the Herassan people to tell them about it.”

  “The Coran do the same? That’s impressive. They are the second oldest civilization after the People. They have been stable for, well, I don’t know how long, but for millions of years.”

  “And although they are a bit insular, they are happy, technologically extremely advanced and unlike the People are happy to share some of their technology. Gravity tubes were invented by the Coran, and they freely give away the technology to build them.”

  “That’s quite a reference for what you are proposing Sir, but if you’ll pardon me asking, what do you get personally from these proposed changes?”

  “That’s a reasonable question and one I am happy to answer. I get my freedom. And these changes aren’t ‘proposed’, they are coming, and nothing can stop them.”

  “Nothing can stop them as long as you are in your position to force them through, but what if something happens to you?”

  “Nothing will happen to the First of the First.” Mark said. “She has my protection as well as that of General Sally. There have been a couple of unfortunate events, but I’ll make it quite clear that from here on, if anyone threatens the wellbeing of the First of the First, immediate and disproportionate action will be taken. The gloves are well and truly off now.”

  “I have done my research on you, Mark, Friend of the People and slayer of Tk'ng Dach Rm. You are a pre-emergent mammal. I’ve seen the VR of you slicing the transporter in half, and of you disabling the soldiers who tried to detain you, and of course, I saw you bring the storm cloud that blacked out Tefran in the middle of the day. I have seen what a violent savage you are and I’m in no doubt that you would unleash that savagery on the Herassan people without a seconds thought.”

  “You know nothing of me, Senior Secretary.” Mark smiled at her. “And you have only seen a fraction of what I am capable of. If you mean harm to the First of the First or the Herassan people you are right to fear me, but if you truly have the best interests of your people at heart, you should see me for what I am, a powerful friend and protector. If you choose to consider me as a primitive and violent savage and, as you seem
to, despise me, that’s fine. It makes no different to me. I will still protect you and your people.”