Much later Ghus achieved the rank of Patriarch of the Family Ghus. Ghus sat for many decades on his throne and imposed his ideas against all opposition. Remarkably, he also avoided assassination and only when he had reached a ripe old age that dimmed his vision and drained his sword arm of strength did one of his many opponents manage to behead him. His wives and older family were executed and the rest sold into slavery, and in time the name Ghus t'Gllt was all but forgotten, his family name lost to his conqueror.
But during the long reign of the Patriarch Ghus, the people of the Split made significant advancements in science and still bigger social changes. Instead of being treated as dangerous heretics, the men, and indeed women outside of pregnancy, who conjured breakthroughs in knowledge from their own fertile brains, were honoured. Blood though, as they say, will out and with the fall of the Patriarch Ghus the Split could do little but slide slowly back into the barbaric abyss. But the seeds of enlightenment had been sown and the Split remained a people of talented scientists and thinkers.
A vast time later, a young warrior with the name Thuruk t'Mhhg began his ascent along a similar path to that of Ghus t'Gllt. He tied all the loose threads together that had been left undone and under his aggressive, yet still prudent leadership, he succeeded in reversing the slide. He conquered chaos and disorder and finally bound the Split into a united nation, although the governing format remained the dictatorship of the Patriarch and it has been ever thus. No Split, whether privileged or oppressed, would ever question this.
If the story of the warrior people of Hodie has a message, it was this: a sharp sword can kill many – but only the one with a sharp mind is truly dangerous.
Cho t'Nnt leaned back in his command throne, peering pensively into the multi-hued haze of the Halmnan aurora. The engines of the Bone Scout thrummed a monotonous drone through the hull that could be felt more than it could be heard. The pilot on duty, Ohl t'Crrn could fly with his eyes shut, reacting intuitively and instinctively to the most subtle cues from the environment before the flight instruments even had a chance to register a change. Like the off-duty chief pilot, Uchan t'Scct, Ohl t'Crrn belonged in the absolute elite of his profession. The ability of these two pilots to fly the Bone Scout made it as deadly an armament as the Plasma Throwers in the hands of the weapon officer.
Cho had every confidence in them and used the days of their slow travel to trawl the archives, prepare some plans, study maps and ponder certain matters. He knew he was neither a thinker nor a shaker like Ghus t'Gllt – at least he was not born with those abilities. But the ancient warrior was a hero of his and what came naturally to Ghus, Cho decided he would nurture within himself by an act of will, against his species' instincts.
The Patriarch of Chin had not been a friend of progress but true to the tradition of Thuruk he was not a barbarian either. Zein t'Nnt, the head of the Cho Family though, he was a strong and prudent warrior, in the spirit of Ghus and one day not too far in the future, Cho would help his kindred to rise to the throne of the Patriarch of the Split, overthrowing the present, inadequate incumbent. However, for now he would serve him faithfully, although he was sure Chin hated him more so than anybody else.
Why, he wondered, would a high-ranking officer such as himself be sent on an unimportant mission like this? The Bone Scout had unobtrusively trailed the Paranid fleet through the enemy sectors for several days now, observing its battles from a safe distance. The gate to the Paranid sector of Priest's Pity was only a few stazuras away now, where Cho hoped to bring about a decision – it was about time! As calm and collected as the two pilots were, the rest of the crew were not and they were growing restless. They wanted a fight – and failing that they wanted mock fights, to ascertain their ranking of honour over again.
After several hours of focused silence, Cho's thoughts were now interrupted by his communications officer.
"Master, we just received a message drone from the Patriarch Chin. The content of it is encrypted. Would you care to see it?"
Cho waved assent to the completely unnecessary question. A projection screen came to life and to the surprise of the Special Envoy it was not the face of the Patriarch himself that greeted him but the anaemic, sallow yet serene image of an elderly Split. Cho vaguely recognised the face but could not immediately place him.
"I speak for the Patriarch of Chin. Paranid and Boron reconnaissance units, matching our own observations, have reported concentrated fleet movements in the Xenon sectors. Furthermore, the attacks of the machines have also increased in the territories of the Commonwealth. Argon Prime will shortly mobilise all troops and reservists according to our reconnaissance. The Company of the Teladi has already proclaimed war and have in accordance with their cowardly emergency plans moved all their units back to safer positions."
As Cho listened he tried to place the Split. The single eye was a clue but nothing came.
"Highest priority for the Bone Scout is still the pursuit of our primary target. Any information about the strange ship is of vital importance. Identification from the Patriarch is following - Whi t'Rllt, provisional officer of communications and reconnaissance. End of transmission."
Of course, the head of the Family Whi! Cho had caught glimpses of him once or twice but they'd never spoken. So, the Patriarch of Split had appointed the leader of the Family Whi Head of the Communication Department? Good! Cho's lips formed a thin smile. The Family Whi surely would protest this denigration and Chin would have to appoint a successor of a lesser rank if he was not to risk a serious confrontation with them.
The Teladi and the Argon on a war-footing, that was interesting news too and Cho was certain it had been the Paranid incursion into Xenon space that prompted the machine's own fleet movements. So much the better! The Split of course did not have to mobilise, their military was always ready to fight and it was a philosophy Cho approved of. The advantages of this were clearly visible.
Cho checked his computer and discovered that the message drone also held a data packet of current news reports. Whi, he had to concede, was considerably more adept than his predecessor. The young special delegate of the Patriarch left the command throne for his private quarters to study the news items in private. There would be just enough time before they reached Priest's Pity.
He returned a stazura before his ship reached the jump-gate, his mind still dwelling on what he'd learned but he pushed the news to the back of his mind and focused on the present situation. The question wasn't if the Paranid were guarding the gate to Xenon space, they undoubtedly were, but would they set up automated defences like laser towers that would open fire on anything coming through? Perhaps he should launch a message drone to the Priest Duke of the sector to alert the Paranid that the Bone Scout was coming through? They'd no doubt learnt of his presence anyway so he might as well impress on them his importance, as Special Envoy of the Patriarch of Chin. A message drone it was then, Cho decided. In the message he detailed his role as the Ambassador of the Patriarch of Split to the Priest Duke of Priest's Pity. He itemised the warrants that endowed him with far reaching powers delegated by his ruler to support the Paranid in this time of crisis. It was not even a complete lie – he had the authentication codes to back his boasts and the authority to claim he had been ordered by his sovereign to trail the Paranid fleet through Xenon space. The Patriarch in turn had taken notice of this by an ambassador of the Pontifex Maximus Paranidia himself. This was not a statement that would stand up to much scrutiny, but it was sufficient. In reality the Three-Eyed Ones knew exactly why the Bone Scout was there and they knew he was aware of that. It was because of the alien ship. He doubted they'd even suspect that the sole intention of the Special Envoy was to make off with the alien craft at the earliest opportunity, pausing only to laugh roguishly in their faces. At most they might think him a spy and try and feed him false information, while trying to maintain face before their allies and the rest of the Commonwealth. Face was inordinately important to the Three-Eyes.
Of course
this was all just guesswork with a certain probability. Perhaps he judged the Three-eyes incorrectly, but he wouldn't think so for the time being, because twenty mizuras later a message drone returned with a personal invitation from the Priest Duke to Our Salvation, the Central Command and Guidance Centre of the sector.
CHAPTER 30
If you want correct answers, use the pocket calculator alone – don't try and use intelligence as well!
Douglas R. Hofstadter
"Gödel, Escher, Bach"
The drone returned in two hours on the very spot, slumping with an audible clang in the air lock as it surrendered to the ship's artificial gravity field. Would it be damaged by this? All the same. By that time Elena was already on final approach to Trading Station Profitcentre and she waited until they had docked before reviewing the drone's data, leaving Marc to handle registration and pay what she had learned was the customary bribe to avoid having to report in person to the Station Supervisor.
Elena hooked the drone's memory store to the Getsu Fune data interface and went through the video recording at high speed. Lots of empty space, stars and multi-hued nebulae and if Marc had not frozen the frame she would have missed the target. She examined the image with new respect for the camera designers. To pick up an image at that speed it must have shutter speeds measured in nano-seconds and be capable of picking out single photons.
It was the green-silver egg with the distinct engines Marc had photographed previously.
"Marc, we have this ship in our data base - where did we first meet it?"
The computer specified on-board time, star system and the name of the station, in whose docking bay he had photographed the "shadow" for the first time. It was the second station they had docked at and it was the same ship, no doubt about that – identical finishing and Teladi hieroglyphics.
"Do we have further information on this… this egg?"
"To which egg do you refer? Requesting explanation."
"I mean the ship, the ship we're referring to just about all the time!"
"Negative."
Elena magnified the image in stages, the high-resolution permitting layer after layer of detail to unfold until she could clearly identify a solitary Teladi squatting in the command seat under the transparent ship canopy.
Well, a merchant Saurian! Elena felt that she should have guessed one of that avaricious species would have sensed secrets in her activities and smelled potential profits. The realisation took the edge off her tension. Teladi, even in her short time here, she knew, were always keen to put a lot of vacuum between themselves and trouble. They would use weapons only as a last resort and this ship did not exactly seem to be brimming with them.
"Okay Marc, let's get going. Immediate launch." The computer paid the advanced launch slot penalty and minutes later the Getsu Fune slipped from the station hub. Elena watched the Gravidar intently as the majestic space wheel faded into the distance. They had docked for less than fifteen minutes and no doubt her shadow would be surprised to see them again so soon. She planned to take advantage of that surprise.
The egg-shaped craft showed up almost immediately – holding position just a few thousand kilometres away.
"Gotcha!" Elena thought and gunned the Getsu Fune engines. It took nearly half a minute before her shadow realised she was on an intercept trajectory and began ponderously pivoting on thrusters to an escape vector.
"Stupid saurian. Silly manoeuvre!" Elena said grinning to herself. The Teladi could have outrun her if he had not tried to turn his ship. If he'd gone full thrust straightaway he could have burned straight past her and she'd never have caught up. The Getsu Fune ate the distance between them and as it closed the alien ship flickered momentarily, its energy shields surging to full power. "Impressive." Elena conceded, reading their signature. Conventional lasers would barely scratch them and if she didn't act quickly the Teladi could still escape despite his bad tactical decision.
She decided to fire a warning shot across his bow as the Getsu Fune swept over the egg, calculating the Teladi would not gamble a long profit grubbing life on his shields. The yellow flare of the shot still glowed on her retina as Marc put the incoming video transmission on screen. The rapidity of the contact surprised her; the reptile must have had his claws on the comm. system before she'd even fired.
The video displayed what appeared to be a very young Teladi, with yellowish pupils and pale forehead scale. He was gesticulating wildly. "Hello, hello dear colleague! Please, do not shoot at my beautiful ship or I will be compelled to take counter measures!"
Elena tried not to laugh aloud. The poor saurian was clearly scared out of whatever wits it once possessed. His whole demeanour suggested he'd never been in a fight before and so the threatened counter measures were most likely a bluff. Elena, cut the engines and fired the reverse thrusters, bringing the ship to a halt and put on her most friendly face. "Hello, my friend. If you could be so kind as to close down your engines before we lose contact, just so we'll have time to talk."
"I'm sorry, but I am on a important mission on behalf of the Ceo that brooks no delay!"
"That mission is certainly not to run away but to keep an eye on me, isn't it colleague? You've been following me for a long time!"
The young Teladi stared wordlessly for a few seconds. "Tshhhhhh! Got me!" he conceded haplessly. He fiddled with off-screen controls and his ship decelerated to a stop.
"Marvellous. Thank you very much! See, perhaps we can reach an agreement, which we can both draw profit from?"
"Dear Mister Colleague, you may think that…" began the Teladi.
"Madame Colleague", Elena interrupted. "My name is Elena. I am a Goner."
"Oh… Excuse me!" The Teladi snatched at one of his ears and bashfully twirled it between his claws. "My name is Nopileos. Brother Elena, it may appear unusual to you, but profit is not what I seek."
Elena stared doubtfully at Nopileos, forgetting to point out that he should address a "Madame" as "Sister" not "Brother." She'd never heard a Teladi using such an intimate form of address, or state a lack of interest in profit. There was something strange about this one. "Nopileos, perhaps we can meet in person and talk in detail?"
The Teladi waggled his ears - the Teladian sign for "Yes", as Elena had recently learned. "Oh, that would certainly not be wrong! But am I safe in your presence, colleague?"
Elena could not hold a smile back any longer. It was just the question she'd expect any Teladi to ask. "Why, do I look very dangerous to you?"
"Less dangerous than a Split, but by far not as harmless as a Boron." The scale crest on his head rippled. "After all you fired at my ship!"
"Not at, but in front of. And I could hardly have penetrated your splendid shields!"
"Oh, that is probably true… Brother Yayandas adored them as well. But one can never know!"
Elena laughed with pleasure; the young Teladi was so refreshingly different! "If it is all right with you, I will come to you over there. Unarmed, in peace and in the name of all mankind." An historical allusion the extra-terrestrial would probably not understand.
"Brother Elena, it will be enough, if you came in your own name. Without the peace however I would not like to meet. I look forward to meeting you in person!"
Elena grinned and agreed.
It took a few minutes to match speed and velocity. The Getsu Fune was not equipped with a docking device but Nopileos' luxury yacht naturally had the best available and once the respective computers exchanged protocols the two ships joined together.
Elena rose from the pilot seat and stretched. She'd spent half a day sitting and her complaining body craved exercise. Unfortunately the obsolete spaceship had very few of the mods and none of the cons modern Earth ships sported, including a gymnasium.
"Marc, let me know immediately, if any object approaches within ten minutes of the Getsu."
"Affirmative."
She went to the airlock and double-checked the atmosphere and pressure beyond the heavy door. Sati
sfied, she opened the inner hatch, stepped into the chamber, sealed it and cracked the outer lock.
The young Teladi stood ready to greet her in the subdued red light of a spherical interlink chamber. "Hello, I am Isemados Sibasomos Nopileos. I am pleased to be allowed to make your acquaintance, brother!"
Teladi were generally not very tall, but this one was several centimetres shorter than the others of his species that Elena had come in contact with, but judging by his yellow pupils he was young enough for another growth spurt.
"The pleasure is all mine, Nopileos. My name is Elena Kho, Goner on the way to Cloudbase." She had an impulse to shake hands but remembered that the saurians did not have a special greeting ritual. Nopileos however stretched the right claw in expectation of the human gesture, but took it immediately back again, when he noticed that Elena did not return it. He sketched a bow instead. Elena had the feeling the young Teladi was a little disconcerted, almost intimidated; but her experiences with the merchant Saurians were too sparse to be sure about that judgement.
"Welcome on board the Nyana's Fortune, Brother Elena Kho, Goner from the depths of the universe. You truly make no threatening impression on me! Please do step inside."
Farnham's Legend: The beginning of the X-Universe saga (X Games Book 1) Page 23