The Decade Worlds

by Patrick McClafferty

  “We hope to have the majority of Oseothan processed through to Puborg in just under a year.” Shaw added, some color finally returning to her face. “What of the other races?”

  Gareth looked thoughtful. “Vurean is a huge, metal poor world. The landmass is broken up into twenty five groups of islands. I hope to send the humans to one such group, dragons to another, and perhaps the ogres to another.”

  Shaw had a mischievous look in her eyes. “What about your friends the elves?” She cast a quick look at Chiu, who was glaring at Gareth.

  “I have a problem with the elves.” Gareth admitted slowly. “I had hoped to put them on Xolia, the same world I’m sending the dolphins and whales to. Xolia has a single large island landmass, about twice the size of Luxoroth and Pelonon combined, with fertile valleys and soaring mountains. Fresh water lakes dot the island and are filled with fish that seem ready to jump into the frying pan all by themselves. With no other races to contest the world, and a tightly controlled population, this would be ideal for the elves. Unfortunately, the gateway on Xolia is under six meters of water, which is fine for the dolphins and whales, but more difficult for air-breathers like us. The elves will have to sail to the Ojor Cay and take the transport down to and through the Jafelon gateway. The transport can deposit them on the island, and return to Eldenworld for another load. At that rate it will take some time to transfer all the elves to Xolia, although some few may wish to move to Vurean also.” His head was beginning to ache. “I’ll deal with other races as I get to them.”

  Shaw raised an eyebrow. “The Qual?”

  Gareth actually laughed. “The transport for the Qual is nearly fully operational. As soon as it is ready I will ship the Qual out, en mass, to their homeworld via starship. I hope to do the same thing for all the other off-world races on Eldenworld. When they are done I may use the starships to load large elements of the population for transfer to one of the Decade Worlds.”

  “As long as Lothar doesn’t sneak aboard, kill everyone and steal the starship.” Kiang muttered in a sour voice.

  Gareth’s face went bleak. “There will be a self-destruct built into every ship for that very eventuality, and that includes the shuttles.” He shut his eyes. “I would sacrifice the thousands aboard a transport ship to prevent Lothar from getting to a populated world. Who cares if he is immortal?” Gareth concluded in a hard voice. “Unless he has a warp drive up his butt, if his ship blows up he will simply float around in the void for the next few million years, or until he actually gets bored to death.” His laugh had an edge to it. Somewhere in the back of his mind another piece of the puzzle dropped into place.

  Shaw’s eyes were sad. “You were a much nicer young man when we first met you. You’ve become hard, Ernst Gareth Köhler.”

  “I was never nice, and I’ve seen too many people die along the road, Shaw. I made a deal, and I will see all of you to safety, dammit.” He rumbled.

  “But what of you, Gareth? What becomes of you?” Shaw asked intently.

  Gareth grinned, showing white teeth. “Bora Bora.” His grin widened. “There’s always Bora Bora.”

  Shaw shook her head, and the rest looked confused. Somewhere in the back of his mind Athena groaned. Gareth shut his eyes and continued in a dreamy voice, as if he were reading it from a travel brochure, which, in a way, he was. “Bora Bora is a small South Pacific island northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Surrounded by sand-fringed islets and a turquoise lagoon protected by a coral reef, it’s known for its scuba diving and wonderful climate. It's also a popular luxury resort destination where some guest bungalows are perched over the water on stilts.”

  He opened his eyes. “When I was in the marines, we all memorized that description from the internet. When someone asked where we were going next, we would tell them Bora Bora. I guess it was our version of heaven, and the thought held us together through many tough times.”

  Shaw had tears in her eyes. “I didn’t know you had a death wish.” She whispered in a rough, emotion-filled voice.

  Gareth rolled his eyes. “I’m pragmatic. I’m up against an immortal assassin who can call up RPGs out of thin air. My chances aren’t real good without endangering everyone else on the planet, and I won’t do that.” His smile this time was desolate. “You do the math.” He gave Shaw a quick kiss on the cheek, and hugged Kiang. “Take good care you two. Puborg is a beautiful world, but accidents can still happen. I may stop in to see you.” He gave Mairi a wink. “We should go now. I’ve been the bearer of enough bad news.” He turned to face Chiu, and raised an eyebrow. “Do I get a kiss?” He asked in a flat voice.

  She glared at him a moment before she threw herself into his arms and kissed him soundly. “You can be a real pain in the ass at times.” Her voice was gruff. “Take care of each other.” Turning away, she began to cry.

  As they walked to the central lobby people pointed to Gareth and his daughter. He couldn’t tell if it was awe or fear that kept them as far away as they could get.

  “How many people are here right now, Ell?” He asked to the air.

  “There are one hundred and eighty two people staying in the Yeugate at the moment, in various stages of the inoculation program. There are also forty two marines.”

  Gareth raised an eyebrow. “Is this taxing your systems?”

  A rolling laugh echoed through the room, and people stopped to look around in concern. “Gareth, this hotel was designed to hold ten thousand. The Yeugate city was designed to hold another six million. No, this isn’t taxing my system, but thank you for asking.” The voice paused. “There is a doctor approaching you rapidly. I believe he wishes to speak with you.”

  Gareth scowled. “Thanks a million. I was hoping to avoid him.”

  “Any time.” Ell replied cheerfully. Mairi was stifling a laugh.

  “Mister Köhler!” The man shouted across the room as he waved his arms. His white lab coat flapped as he ran. “Mister Köhler, I need to speak with you!”

  “Could you possibly say it a little louder?” Gareth asked as the man came to a puffing halt before him.

  “What??” The doctor blinked. “What did you do to my patient?”

  “And just who is your patient, doctor…?” Gareth let it hang.

  “Ohhh! I am Doctor Jun Yen Kwak.” The man said proudly. Gareth bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “My patient is Corporal Mei Yong. Surveillance videos show you touching her this morning, and when I went to change her dressings later in the day, I discovered that she was completely healed. That slash up her leg was bone deep, and she is lucky to be alive, let alone completely better. In addition,” he went on in an animated tone, “her broken arm has completely healed. Compound fractures do not heal overnight.” He was staring at Gareth’s left arm, the arm that had been hanging by a shred after the fight with Lothar.

  Gareth held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. “A friend of mine healed me, and then I in turn healed Mei. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of it.”

  “But… but that’s impossible.” The doctor ranted. “Impossible.” The man stood trembling. “People cannot heal that level of damage in such a short time.”

  Mairi touched the doctor’s arm as Gareth turned away. “My father can.” There was a note of pride in her voice as she followed Gareth from the room.

  “Ell, would you please inform the Sergeant Major that he and three more marines are needed for a foray. They will need weapons and body armor. I am not expecting trouble, but am simply being cautious.”

  “Cautious is good.” Ell commented from the air. “Can I ask what your itinerary is?”

  “I plan on going to the Brivrelsea Gate first, to check on the progress. Then we go to speak with the dragons.”

  “Dragons??” Mairi gasped at his side.

  “Yes, dragons. Our last stop will probably be to see the elves. It shouldn’t take us long to…” Gareth was interrupted by a dull rumble, and the floor shook under his feet. Back
in the lobby came the crash of a dropped glass, and a woman screamed.

  Mairi clutched his arm. “What was that?” She asked, her eyes wide.

  “That was a minor earthquake.” Ell commented before Gareth could open his mouth. “There were no casualties, and only a few broken glasses.” Her voice was wry.

  Gareth looked back at the lobby. “These people are supposed to be pioneers?”

  “They will learn, Gareth.” Ell murmured.

  “They had better learn pretty verdammt quick.” He grumbled.

  “How long have you been on Eldenworld, sleeping in a tent and fighting for your survival?” Ell asked in a level voice.

  “It’s been…” He began, and stopped. “Three or four years. Maybe more.”

  “And where is your home, Gareth?” Ell continued.

  He sighed. “I don’t have one.” He admitted at last. “I see where you’re going with this. These people are regular citizens, living in regular homes, with regular jobs. They have no experience fighting for their very survival, and seeing loved ones die before them.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “You’re right. They will learn.” Or they will die. He finished to himself.

  Sergeant Major Chihu and his three young marines, two women and a man, were standing beside the inactive transportation pods, glaring at the sleek alien looking weapons they held in their hands when Gareth and Mairi arrived. The marines snapped to attention, and Gareth returned the sergeant’s salute. “New weapons, Sergeant Major?” Gareth asked, looking curiously at the strange rifle.

  “I thought that I would wait until you were all together before I made my explanations.” Ell announced out of the air above them. “The weapon should be at least moderately familiar to you, Gareth.”

  The sergeant handed Gareth one of the two unassigned weapons. Gareth frowned at it for a moment. “Energy weapon?”

  “Yes. You will see that it has three discharge settings; low power, high power and continuous beam. Low power, or single shot will give you a thousand rounds. High power is roughly three times the output of the low setting, and you will get only three hundred and thirty shots. The last setting is continuous beam. It will discharge your entire energy reserve in four seconds, and release approximately a half kiloton of energy. If this weapon will not kill Lothar, it will certainly make him wish he hadn’t gotten up that morning.”

  Gareth chuckled. “Ell, I believe you are developing a sense of humor.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  Gareth pondered the weapon for a moment more before he answered. “In my books it is.” He handed his daughter a rifle. “Is this thing Ecothiax technology?” He asked the air.

  “It is.” Ell replied matter-of-factly. “These weapons were released to Ecothiax ground troops just before the end of the war. If they had come out at the beginning of the conflict, things might have gone differently for the human forces. As it was, a goodly number were captured, and reverse engineered. What you are holding is Ecothiax design, but made by humans. My repair drones came across several cases stored in the Destroyer Constellation. They were banned and supposedly destroyed according to the Peace First Accords.”

  Gareth marveled at the light weight of the weapon, and the sleek metal stock and body that held a greenish hue. “I seem to remember an isolated meadow near here, where we can try these things out. I would not take troops out with untested weapons.”

  “The Sergeant Major has the spare charges for the weapons. Have fun.”

  "Set a suborbital course for Brivrelsea Gate, best cruising speed.” Gareth said softly. The pod rose silently, circled once around the churning black and red mushroom cloud that rose from what had once been a nondescript wooded hill, and streaked for the sky. The six passengers sat white faced, saying nothing. The shooting exercise had gone exceptionally well, right up to the point where Gareth pointed his energy weapon at a forested hill a kilometer distant, and flipped the switch to continuous beam. The blast had knocked them all back ten meters, vaporizing the top of the defenseless tor. The really terrifying part was that Gareth’s weapon had only a half charge available when he pulled the trigger. It was his own fault, really. He had asked for a weapon with a kiloton output. He never imagined that Ell would produce said weapon, or that it would scare the scheiße out of him.

  Sergeant Major Chihu sat staring at the rifle that lay at his feet, along with all the other rifles. “Do we really have to use these… things?” He mumbled with only the slightest hesitation. The edge of his lip curled in distaste.

  Gareth pulled his gaze from the soothing depths of space. “Did you see the recording made of our encounter with Lothar?” He responded, answering the question with another question.

  The Sergeant Major looked chagrined. “No Sir. I heard all about it though.”

  Gareth’s look hardened. “You should watch it through. As a matter of fact, I insist. Computer, bring up a screen for our marines, and replay the firefight with Lothar for them. I do not wish to view or hear the audio from the incident.”

  “Would you like to listen to something else?” The neutral voice of the AI asked.

  “Beethoven would be very welcome.” Gareth confessed. As the music started to play softly in his audio implant, he could see the attention of the marines, and his daughter as well, riveted to the slightly curved screen that hung invisibly from the ceiling. He shut his eyes, concentrating on the music and trying to forget the screams that shrieked out from his memory.

  It was in the middle of Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the Pastoral Symphony when Gareth heard someone throw up. The sour smell of fresh vomit hit his nose momentarily, and then cleared. He turned just in time to see the offending matter sink through the floor of the transportation pod and into the outside air. One of the two young female marines was wiping her face. All the marines were slightly green. Mairi was the color of chalk.

  “The recording has finished, Gareth.” The AI said helpfully. “Is there anything else?”

  The air in the pod was slightly cooler than normal, and now held the scent of pines. “How long to Brivrelsea?”

  “Thirty minutes.”

  “Thank you. That will be all.” Gareth turned to the Sergeant Major. “You were saying something about the weapons, Sergeant Major?” He raised an eyebrow.

  The sergeant looked up. “I would be more than happy to be equipped with these weapons, Sir.” He swallowed. “They scare the hell out of me, but that Lothar thing scares me even worse. I would not have my family and children torn apart by that… abomination.”

  “I thought that you might see things my way.” Gareth’s voice was flat. “Are you all right?” He asked his daughter, his voice gentler.

  Her hazel eyes were full of fear. “Oh daddy, there was so much blood, and you and Mei were hurt so badly. You shot the thing and it, and it didn’t even react. It just ran Lyndra down and killed her.

  He stood up in the cramped compartment and moved beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, holding her as she cried. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He said at last.

  “I’m not.” She sniffed. “I loved Lyndra too, you know.”

  “I know, Mairi. I know.” They sat like that for several minutes.

  “We are beginning our descent to Brivrelsea. We should set down in fifteen minutes.” The AI murmured.

  “This is where the ogres live, isn’t it?” Mairi asked casually.

  “This is where Wokeg was born, and where his tribe lived, so the answer is yes.” Gareth replied in a level voice.

  Sergeant Major Chihu exchanged wide-eyed looks with the other marines before he turned to Gareth. “Ogres are dangerous, aren’t they?” He submitted in a shaky voice.

  Gareth gave Mairi a surreptitious wink, before he turned back to the sergeant. “Ogres are very dangerous, Sergeant Major. If you’d like, when we land, my daughter and I can get out first, to make sure it’s safe for your marines.” Beside him he heard a snort of laughter from Mairi and deep insid
e he smiled, glad that he’d managed to break her bleak mood, if only for a few moments.

  “That’s quite all right, Sir.” The sergeant almost spat. “We know our jobs.” When he bent to collect the rifles, Gareth met the eyes of the other young marines, noting that all three were having great difficulty not laughing aloud. He’d obviously broken the mood for more than just his daughter.

  The transparent pod dropped to the ground lightly, directly beside the main Brivrelsea dome. The dense tangled underbrush surrounding the dome had been cleared, and manicured lawns made the city look more like a park than anything else. A walkway of crushed white stone led away from the concrete landing pad to a wide portal sporting two heavy brass doors that swung aside soundlessly as the party approached.

  “Welcome to Brivrelsea, Gareth.” The female voice was low in the mezzo soprano range, and reminded him somewhat of Lyndra.

  “Thank you.” He acknowledged. “I don’t believe I caught your name the last time I was here.”

  “You were a little rushed.” The voice said smoothly. “I was programmed to respond to the name Iona.”

  Gareth smiled, thinking of Thomas that he’d first met in Jafelon so long ago. “Do you like the name Iona?” He asked gently. “It translates out to purple jewel, I believe.” Thomas, the former AI in the city of Jafelon, before the sea reclaimed it, had hated his original name. Gareth had to admit that he would have hated the name of Saint Brendan of Clonfert, also.

  “I didn’t know that I had a choice. Iona will do quite nicely, and thank you for asking.”

  “You’re welcome.” A long moving slideway arched from the entry foyer down to the main level. The room was well lit, and the air smelled fresh and appealing, although Gareth couldn’t pinpoint the particular scent. “I’ve come to check the operation of the gateway.”

  “Take the slideway to the main atrium, and then take the elevator down to the sixth level, and follow the west corridor. You will see a wide archway on your right, with a large arrival and departure area. That is the gateway.”