Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (30 page)

‘
Our scientists
believe our men can survive, and thrive, on just three of these a
day.’

Rannalld sat back in disbelief. ‘That
is unheard of. Only three of these a day. Can you imagine the
difference it would make to our logistics?’

‘
Way ahead of you
brother.’

‘
Obviously. How did
they come up with this?’

‘
They didn’t, I
did.’

‘
Oh!’ Things began to
fall into place for Rannalld. ‘You discovered this by talking to
that Human Charlie.’

‘
I was curious and
asked about their rations. Next time I saw him he had a few of
these breakfast biscuits on him, made from oatmeal and honey. My
tester said they were edible, so I tried one. I was hyper all day.
I talked to him about it. He is quite the one for history. He told
me about something they called traveling cakes. They were made from
oats, dried meat, fruit, nuts and bound together with either animal
fat or honey and baked hard. I was intrigued when he said that his
ancestors could carry enough of these for weeks and simply live off
them. Just a few biscuits a day was required to give them enough
energy to walk or run between thirty to sixty Earth
miles.’

‘
Fascinating. Did the
Humans bake these for you?’

‘
No, our own people
did. Because I liked the breakfast biscuit, Charlie then brought me
a whole selection of these things called breakfast bars. They too
were edible and filled me with energy, so I requested some from the
King who managed to get boxes full. I had our people analyse them
and come up with an equivalent that our troops could eat. That is
the result.’

‘
I think it tastes
too good for the common soldier.
They will think they are being spoilt.’ They laughed at that. ‘How
much of this is supplied by the Humans?’

‘
Just about all of
it. The grass was taken from my own gardens, derived from Human
seed. The rest was supplied by the Humans. A few of their chefs
helped as well.’

‘
So we will never be
able to produce this?’

‘
Not unless we get
enough members to vote for their bid. If we don’t get enough then
they will return to their side of the great barrier and almost all
trade with them will cease. They have promised to remain friends
with the Modloch Empire. They will also give us the legal right to
distribute what we have already gained.’

‘
Even so Darrick, I
doubt if the Humans would give us all we needed for
free.’

‘
You have to remember
that most of the nobles from around the galaxy have already tasted
many of these ingredients. The chances are demand would outstrip
supply.’

Rannalld paused thoughtfully. ‘So what
is the solution then? Trade with Humans behind everyone’s back if
they don’t get into the alliance?’

The Emperor shook his head. ‘No, the
Humans wouldn’t trade. They know that at some future date we could
well end up in conflict, and they aren’t stupid enough to trade
with a potential enemy.’

Rannalld threw his hands up. ‘Then what
the hell is the solution?’

‘
Do you remember the
bio-dome that the Humans built to house the Albany
prisoners?’

‘
Who could forget it?
Miles of savanna grass blasted out into space.’ Rannalld hesitated.
‘We couldn’t afford to build such a thing. Wasn’t it tried
thousands of years ago?’

‘
For grass yes. Many
cultures have tried it, but as you said, it wasn’t cost effective.
Not for grass.’

‘
But it could be for
some of these other foods?’ Rannalld mused.

‘
The Humans are
already discussing it. Remember, their supply lines are stretched
very thin. It is taking weeks, sometimes months, to get supplies
from their planet to here. They have a number of problems though.
The farther away from their sun they get, the less cost effective
any bio-dome becomes.’

Rannalld shrugged, ‘Obviously. And the
more artificial sunlight you need then the higher the costs.’

‘
Exactly. The other
problem is their meat source. There is no way they could farm
animals on this side of the great barrier.’

‘
Are you suggesting
they tow some of their bio-domes through the great barrier and
allow them to use our sun?’

‘
For a modest price,
or for bio-domes of our own.’

Rannalld thought it over. ‘Could they
afford that?’

‘
Really Rannalld, you
need to pull your head out of that fat arse of yours and have a
good look around. Do you know how much their battle fleet cost
them?’

‘
Billions I would
presume.’

‘
It cost them nothing
Rannalld, not a penny.’

‘
How the hell is that
possible?’

‘
Because one man is
responsible for the whole damn thing. You have met Captain
Gordon?’

‘
Yes, Mya’s Captain.
What of him?’

‘
He owns everything.
Their whole solar system is untapped, and he is the only one with
the technology to exploit it.’

Rannalld’s mind raced. ‘Of course, they
were a backward race until they got their hands on the Builder’s
ships. So they are using Builder technology.’

‘
It goes much deeper
than that. Individual countries pay the wages for their
soldiers.’

‘
You mean they aren’t
paid by the Earth Defence Force?’

‘
Exactly what I
mean.’

‘
That will have to
change.’

The Emperor agreed. ‘Sooner or later
yes. No doubt one day they will have to start paying for the ships
that are being built as well. In the meantime though, Gordon is
supplying the Earth with all its needs. They give him free access
to all their ancient dumps and their converters suck up the
material and convert it into whatever they need. There are now
three hydroponic ships with the Human fleet and more coming.’

‘
It all hangs on
their bid becoming successful.’

‘
That’s right
Rannalld, but from what the other royals and nobles were saying
last night, that shouldn’t be a problem. Once their bid has been
approved by enough members then it will go forward to the galactic
council, which always takes years. Hopefully by then they will have
constructed a number of bio-domes.’

Rannalld smiled. ‘Of course, if their
ultimate bid fails then they may well just leave them here with
us.’

‘
They may well do
that, but ultimately I hope their bid wins, and I will be working
towards that, as will all of my people.’

‘
Why
Darrick?’

‘
I like them, and
they have a lot to offer.’

‘
I can’t see it. Like
it or not, they are meat-eaters.’

‘
The Humans will have
about seven years to prove their worth. A lot can happen in that
time.’

‘
I still don’t see
it.’

‘
We have changed, you
have changed.’

‘
I don’t think
so.’

‘
Don’t you supply
your little Mya with fresh fish?’

‘
They are just fish.
We use them to fertilize the land.’

‘
You are feeding a
meat-eater. It doesn’t matter which way you look at it Rannalld,
there are many out there who would deem that as
illegal.’

Rannalld shifted uncomfortably in his
seat. ‘I suppose I just don’t see her like that.’

‘
As a dirty
meat-eater? A few years ago you wouldn’t even have considered it
Rannalld. A few years ago I wouldn’t have sat at the same table as
one. But here we are brother. I suppose it helps that they aren’t
one hundred per cent carnivorous. Contact with this race has
changed us irrevocably. It will change others too. My larder is
full of Human food.’

‘
It is good.’
Rannalld sighed.

‘
People will want to
explore it too. Their President wasn’t lying when he said we had
lost the diversity that their planet has. They can give us that
back, and after yesterday the nobility will have a hunger for it.
Word will spread. The curious will come calling. Not only that,
they will have to come here to get it. We are recovering well from
our civil war. Much of that is due to the Humans.

‘
However, we are
getting way off track here and I wish to discuss this with all of
my brothers at a later date. So what was it you wanted to see
Charlie about?’

‘
I was simply
concerned for your safety. It angered me to hear you were chancing
your life being alone with a being from another race. I was just
going to give him a warning.’

‘
Threaten him you
mean.’

‘
Yes of
course.’

‘
Leave Charlie alone
Rannalld. That’s an order.’

‘
I still don’t like
it. As a matter of interest, did you try and have him
killed?’

‘
I tried to have him
tortured and killed for his insolence towards me.’

‘
You obviously didn’t
have any more success than I did.’

‘
I had a lot more
success than you Rannalld. For one I didn’t end up on the floor
with a sword at my throat. It turns out it was a simple
misunderstanding on both our parts. He apologised for his actions
by offering me his life.’

‘
How could he offer
you his life when you were going to kill him anyway?’

The Emperor reached for his pad. ‘I
recorded the incident. Watch this.’

Rannalld watched the recording with
growing disbelief and horror. He even shouted out a number of
times. When it was over he regarded his brother in wonder. ‘You had
the opportunity to shoot him a number of times. Why didn’t
you?’

‘
Because he was
testing me. Testing my word, and my honour. If I had touched that
pistol, I could very well be dead.’

‘
You did reach for it
once. I saw you.’

‘
That was simply raw,
naked fear Rannalld, and I conquered it. I admit, it was the first
time I had felt real fear. It took me quite unawares. I am actually
quite proud of myself.’

‘
I find the whole
situation frightening. So what’s with this little tea ceremony you
two have going?’

‘
There is something
quite thrilling about being served tea by the most dangerous person
you know.’

‘
You think you have
tamed him?’

‘
Oh no, I have not
tamed him. As the Humans said, you can never hope to tame a wild
beast. You may, if you are lucky, win its respect. If you are very
lucky, its devotion. I believe I have won his respect.’

‘
I doubt if you will
ever win his devotion.’

The Emperor shrugged. ‘Maybe not
Rannalld. Tell me what he said to you when you challenged him.’

‘
He told me to ask
you if I wanted to know anything. He had given his word not to talk
about it.’

‘
That is good. That
is very good.’

‘
You are
pleased?’

‘
Very.’

‘
You deem it a test
of his word.’

‘
I most certainly do.
Did he hurt you?’

‘
Winded me badly. I
have a few nasty bruises as well. That’s all.’

‘
I am glad to hear
it. It would be hard to maintain a relationship with someone who
seriously hurt one of my brothers. The next time you see him I want
you to apologise.’

‘
Me? To a commoner?
He assaulted me!’ Rannalld was shocked.

‘
If you had
approached him in a civil manner, you would have received a civil
answer. More to the point, you should have approached me. Instead
you decided to assault him. As far as I am concerned he is one of
mine, therefore you assaulted me. You will be apologising to me as
well.’

Rannalld knew he was beaten. ‘I
apologise to you now brother, and I will apologise to the Human
when I next see him.’

‘
Good, now leave me.
I have to get ready for this meeting.’

CHAPTER 36

The meeting was informal, the hangovers
gone. Jovial laughter flitted around the room. It wasn’t very often
they managed to relax like this, with persons of equal rank. The
majority of them had known each other for most of their lives,
meeting at various schools of excellence designed specifically for
the children of nobles. Marcus, Darrick and Ne´ had attended a
school of advanced military tactics together and were firm
friends.

They were standing together in their
own small group chatting about old times when King Vison and
President San Lo Tae´ approached.

‘
We have to take our
leave of you, Darrick.’

‘
What you mean is you
voted no Vison. You realise you were the only two to do
so?’

‘
We know, but what
real choice do we have? We both border the Albany, and much of our
economy is supported by trade with them.’

San Lo Tae’ spoke up. ‘I will return
the gifts to the Humans.’

‘
They will not be
accepted President. The King made that quite clear. Everyone is to
keep their gifts regardless of how they vote. Maybe someday in the
future, you will have time to read them and change your
mind.’