Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree) (27 page)

"Sure. That's fine."

Δ

We stood in the shuttle dock, in our formal blacks, peaked formal caps and gleaming black knee-high boots. We each had a low-profile vac gun in a pouch holster clipped to our belts. We had been on the firing range, refamming ourselves with the vac gun. It seems that was the only weapon we could carry downside.

"Attention!" Doggie ordered. We snapped to. The
Wasp
's captain, Black Jack Carter, was accompanied by two Legion officers in black. They paused before us.

"This is your security detail, sir," the captain said.

"I'm not sure I'll need a whole squad," one of the officers said. "But that's all right. If you can spare them, that's fine."

"Men, this is Ambassador James Wester," the captain said. "Your mission is to ensure he is returned to me intact."

Wester smiled at us. "I doubt there's any danger downside in this case, boys. But you never know. Keep those vac guns handy." He looked young, dark brown hair, a neat little dark mustache, but I knew different. He was an immortal, and anyone who had risen to the rank of Ambassador had certainly been around for awhile. I was puzzled why he was wearing a Legion uniform if he was a diplomat.

Δ

We took the captain's yacht. The trip down was exhilarating. Pandaravos 8 was a beautiful world when viewed from the vac – glorious blue-green oceans blazing reflected sunlight like liquid gold, tremendous wild continents covered with ancient forests, majestic snow-capped mountain ranges and vast deserts of sand and great rivers running through the forests like highways, winking at us as we approached. Saka pressed his nose against the plex, anxious to take it all in.

We neared our target – the ancient capital city of Sajadhervana, from where Saka the Invincible had ruled over much of the known galaxy. I had seen pix of the place in my history books – a huge pile of rubble, strangled by forest. But it wasn't that way anymore. A magnificent stone city appeared from the forests. Amazing, glittering palaces, bright golden spires reaching to the skies, basking under that white-hot sun. A great series of public buildings, built in an elaborate, ancient architecture. Wide stone avenues. A wide canal, penetrating right into the city. We floated slowly over this astonishing sight, then glided in to a gentle landing at what looked like a brand-new starport on the edge of the city.

As we disembarked down the landing stairs facing a large terminal building, I took my place just in back of Wester to his right and Saka took his place on the left. We were the immediate security in case anything crazy broke through the security barriers. The rest of the squad was dispersed within a few steps if needed.

We were greeted at the bottom of the steps by a small delegation of Assidic officials and one Outworlder.

"Greetings, sir. I am Ambassador Burke." He was a slender, intense young man in a formal suit. "Please let me make the introductions for you. General, this is Ambassador James Wester. He represents the Executive Council of the Confederation of Free Worlds and he is the personal representative of Antara Tarantos-Hannah, the Director General of the Executive Council of the Confederation of Free Worlds. And this is General Aran Sze Sias, Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Assidic People." The general snapped off a Legion-style salute to Wester, who returned it. The general was an alert, sharp Assidic clad in a dark green uniform that had several low-key campaign ribbons over his left breast. The Assidics were immortals, of course, just like us. For some reason, I had been expecting a delegation of fat corrupt comic-book officials with loads of shiny medals. I'm not sure why I was expecting that, but there wasn't anybody like that here. They were all military types, alert, lean and mean.

"Welcome to Pandavaros, Excellency," the general said, in perfect Inter. "We are certain you will find it an instructive and valuable visit. You will, of course, have an audience with his Imperial Majesty Tse Guo Liang Kwan, hereditary ruler of the greater Assidic Empire and the heart and soul of the Assidic people. But that will come later. First we have critical matters to discuss with you, and we wish to acquaint you with the facts as soon as possible. Please come with us, sir."

We accompanied the general and his group around a corner of the terminal and found an impressive honor guard awaiting us. We walked past a flurry of colorful flags and banners and then between a long, double row of camfaxed troopers in A-vests, holding their gleaming black battle rifles at attention for us. The weapons were new to me. The troopers were impressive – all young male Assidics, braced at attention, immaculate camfax fatigues, matching field caps, mirror-shined black combat boots, faces impassive, a double row of stone soldiers, all set to do or die. It was a good introduction all right – I was impressed.

I was close enough so I could hear Wester ask Ambassador Burke, "Any hints as to what this is all about, Burke? All we know is that it is of the highest importance and will determine the future of relations between the two nations."

"I've used all my sources and come up with nothing," Burke said. "Even my info spook couldn't help me. The A's are not talking. I've reported in detail on the renaissance, but this one is a puzzle. They wanted to meet directly with the Director of ConFree. They wanted her to come here."

"What do you think of our soldiers, Excellency?" the general asked Wester.

"Very impressive! I'm going to ask our spies to steal the plans for that battle rifle," Wester replied, with a smile.

"Oh, don't bother – we'll give you the plans. And we'll sell you as many weapons as you need. We are friends and allies – brothers in arms, in a hostile galaxy." He gave Wester a giant smile.

They took us in an open aircar, skimming leisurely along a wide stone road to the city and then into Sajadhervana. It was set in a forest all right, just like in my history books, but the forest was now cut back around the buildings, which had all been rebuilt. Massive, stunning palaces of white stone, glittering in the sun, spotless, immaculate, tall golden towers reaching for the blue-white star that glared overhead. Brilliant silken flags and banners floated gently before the structures. Some of these palaces were set on mounds, reached by steep stone stairs. As we drove past, it became clear just how gigantic these buildings were. The individual stones were single blocks that must have weighed hundreds of tons. Saka the Invincible must have been a megalomaniac. Or – wait a mo. Megalomania involved, well, delusional fantasies of wealth, power or omnipotence. But if you really were totally wealthy, powerful and omnipotent, there were no delusions involved, right? Maybe he was just a regular guy who liked large buildings. And killing large numbers of people.

The central square was astounding. It was a great open space where you could have landed a fleet of spacecraft. The ground was all stone, huge stone blocks set into the ground and all interlocked. The square was surrounded by giant buildings with crimson tiled roofs. Full-color statues and sculptures were set before the buildings. Golden and green dragons were carved into the stones around the grand entrances. Those lovely colorful silken flags and banners were everywhere, floating in a light breeze. The gravity seemed perfect – how do they find these places? We stepped out of the aircar and walked up some marble steps into a huge, colonnaded building guarded by maybe fifty soldiers clad in formal dark-green uniforms and armed with those Assidic battle rifles. They snapped to attention when we started up the stairs and the noise startled me. What was I doing here, I wondered. What if those troopers decided to grab the delegate from ConFree? I sure wasn't going to be able to stop them with my little vac gun, but the word was that the Assidics were going to be providing security, not us.

We all regrouped in a very large conference room that was open to the square along one side. Wester and Ambassador Burke were shown to their seats and we were directed to stand against the wall directly behind them. A long, gleaming wooden conference table was rapidly filled by Assidic military officers, and other Assidic troopers joined us along the wall. Doggie was keeping a close watch on us and ordered, "At ease," in a whisper. I didn't know how civilians dressed here, but couldn't identify any. Introductions and welcoming speeches were next. A cool morning breeze touched me lightly. Cups of tea were served to the guests. There was some conversation. Finally General Aran rose, said something to an aide, and a metal sheet slowly dropped from the ceiling to cover the open side of the conference hall, blocking the sunlight. A slight hiss followed, my ears popped and soft white ceiling lights illuminated us.

"My dear friends," the general began, "we are now safe from covert audio/video surveillance devices and our aircleaners are finishing off any eyemotes that may have strayed into this hall by accident. I'm sorry, Ambassador Burke, we've destroyed more of your excellent and very expensive devices, but this time you won't need them as you will be personally inside this room and also inside the next room to which we will take you. And we will tell you everything. These are momentous times. I wish to personally assure you that the Assid-ConFree relationship continues to be healthy, strong and meaningful. Our two peoples have faced identical challenges and stood side-by-side against the United System Alliance and all those slave states that followed it. We are friends and allies. We are brothers and sisters in arms. The Assidic people and the Assidic government have the strongest admiration for ConFree. When we – the Assidic people – first learned that the Director of ConFree has the blood of Saka the Invincible running in her veins, we were thrilled and overjoyed. We are believers in history, and in making history. We send greetings and salutations to our blood sister, your Director, Antara Tarantos-Hannah. We can assure you that it is our deepest desire that the Assid-ConFree relationship will further strengthen. And we believe it will. After centuries of decline, our people have stood up. We will face the future with ConFree at our side. And if you want something, you have but to ask."

He nodded at someone and the metal sheet rose up again and sunlight flooded the conference hall. That's it? The general hadn't really said anything new. I was pretty sure that Wester and the Ambassador were disappointed.

"This way, gentleman, please." The general led us to a wide balcony overlooking the public square. I saw immediately that things had been happening while we were in conference. The square was completely full of green-clad soldiers, lined up in platoons, companies, and battalions, facing us. Silken flags fluttered from guidons. Behind the troops, thousands of civilians stood, so thickly that they appeared to be one creature. Hundreds of thousands, I thought – a half million? Deadman! It was deathly quiet. We lined up along the balcony ledge to see.

A command rang out in a foreign tongue. A great bang shot over the square as the troops snapped to attention simultaneously, flags and pennants quivering. More commands, a flurry of activity off to one side. I saw the black flag of ConFree, rising. Music began. It was the "Black March", ConFree's national anthem. It was followed by another tune, presumably the Assidic anthem. The troops stood like stone statues, perfectly disciplined, perfectly aligned. As I scanned those stony Assidic faces, I realized how fearsome the Assidic horde must have been, all those centuries ago. These were good allies to have. And only a few years ago, this was a sleepy tourist town with an ancient city of ruins mouldering in the forest. Look at all these troopers! How did they do it?

A gigantic bang deafened us. A huge metal dart shot past overhead. Fighter, I thought. Then one two three more, in rapid succession, trailing sonic booms that rattled us all. Higher overhead another flight of fighter starcraft passed over us. There were twenty of them, in groups of four. Then another flight of twenty followed them. And another after that one. I was not a fighter expert but I knew that Bird would be paying close attention.

Something else caught my glance way, way over head. Three vapor trails, but they were at a tremendous altitude, we could tell immediately. We could just barely make them out. My eyes watered as I stared at them; dots and floaters spotted my vision from the strain. Now it was clear – three starships, glowing pink, tearing their way through the upper atmosphere, silent, magnificent ships, like delta speartips, slicing from horizon to horizon until they vanished from sight.

"Our new stellar starfleet and stellar army is at peak readiness," the general said to his visitors. "We are fully prepared for war. Our people are resolute and highly motivated and will meet any challenge. Our weapons technology is similar to your own. We have made some improvements that we will be happy to share with you. Well – we hope this has given you some idea of our military resources. Now we have something very important to show you."

Δ

What he had to show us was located out of town. We were told that the ambassador and His Excellency could bring only two companions this time. Doggie chose me and Bird. He said later that he figured if we were going to be shown any new military tech, Bird should be there. He was right. "Don't screw up," he advised us as we departed.

Our aircar entered a thick forest that looked like something out of a child's horror story – huge, ancient black trees, gnarled and covered with creepy vines and tangled brambles. We shot along a very narrow dirt path and continued for some time, weaving around seemingly in circles. Finally, we drove right into an opening that appeared out of nowhere, past some tangled growth and sliding to a stop inside an ultra-modern aircar bay. It was located inside some kind of camo bunker. There was a roof overhead lined with spotlights. A squad of Assidic troopers in black A-suits stood around us armed with those neat battle rifles. They stood aside as the general led us into a small conference room within the bunker. We took our seats in airchairs set around a rectangular table. There were only seven officers accompanying the general at that point. A hissing announced that the room had been sealed and cleansed.