Four
Stevan
I paced the room, trying to figure out what to do. Each of the Peoples ruled themselves and I had no right to interfere with their affairs, but if I didn’t so something, the Peoples were going to tear themselves apart. Kergah stood at parade rest and watched me prowl, saying nothing.
There was a strong uprising on Pearakut in a clear example of mob rule. Pearakut was and always had been a problem. Six-hundred thousand years ago, the Pearakutian people had overthrown their corrupt government, with the help of the Firaspatciti, and had rejected any form of centralized government ever since. What had started out as a grand experiment, had devolved into the group with the loudest voice often winning the day. Every issue was decided in a planet-wide vote, with a simple majority all that was necessary to win.
Twice in the past, a vote had been put forth to issue a call for a council of thirteen to address my actions in bringing Catherina to Firaspatciti. Twice it had been voted down, the first time by a large margin, the second by a much smaller. Now the issue was scheduled to go up for a vote again, and the results were uncertain.
No matter how they voted, it had no direct effect on me. They had no more influence on my rule of Firaspatciti than I had on their planet, and unless twelve other planets joined with them, their vote was irrelevant. But as Kergah had pointed out, even a small collapse in a defensive wall weakened the whole and could be exploited by the enemy.
I stopped pacing and faced Kergah. “I can’t stop the vote. Not only would that break the oath our people have taken to uphold and protect the Peoples of the universe, it would be a dishonorable act.”
Kergah nodded in agreement. “We are helping those who support what we are doing with information, but our opposition sense a victory and they are pouring all their resources into winning this vote.”
I began to pace again. I was trapped. If I meddled, I dishonored myself and my people. If I did nothing, I could face a council. All knew the Pearakut system was a mess and it probably wouldn’t be taken seriously, but it would be the first breach in our defense and I wanted to prevent that if I could.
“Maybe it’s time to do as you suggested.”
Kergah looked at me, clearly trying to recall what I was referring to. “Sage advice, I’m sure my Lord, but what did I say?”
I chuckled. “You said I should show the Peoples how what Catherina is doing is everyone’s best interest.”
Kergah nodded. “Yes, I remember. But if you attack straight ahead now, and still lose the vote, that will weaken you in the eyes of the rest of the Peoples.”
He was right, of course. He normally was, but sometimes charging into the teeth of the enemy was the only tactic open to you. “You think we’re going to lose the vote on Pearakut?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, my Lord, and that worries me. If the resistance gains as much support this time as last…” He paused, obviously not wanting to state the obvious.
“All the more reason to be bold.” I paused as I thought about it a moment more and then made a decision. “Kergah, get me the birth rates for Pearakut and Aquallia the year before Catherina arrived.”
Kergah lowered his head and left to get the information I’d requested. I sat down at my desk and began to make notes.
-oOo-
Two hours after making my decision, I stepped through a portal to arrive on Pearakut. There was no leader I could meet with to coordinate my visit or give me an audience, so I simply showed up at the speaker’s corner situated in the center of the public square in Mettlephorn, their largest city.
Kergah hadn’t been happy that I took only two personal guards. I admitted it was a risk, but I didn’t want to arrive with my normal contingent of six personal guards and more than a hundred additional security guards. The trip was unplanned and hastily put together. Because of the impromptu decision, it was unlikely anyone would make an attempt on me, and I didn’t want the Pearakuts to think I was leading an invasion.
I had no more or less right to speak than anyone else, so I took my place at the end of the queue of people waiting to speak. It took a few moments before people began to realize who I was, and though I asked no one to step aside, people in front of me began stepping out of the queue, giving up their space to me.
A healthy crowd was gathering as more and more Pearakuts arrived to hear what the Lord of the Firaspatciti had to say. The crowd rumbled quietly as I waited at the steps leading to the speaker’s corner stand, the man currently occupying the platform arguing against the use of animals for food. There was no time limit, and the stand was on a first come, first served basis, but he seemed rather distracted as I stood at the bottom of the steps, waiting for my chance to speak.
A man approached me and my two guards went to alert, their hands falling to the hilt of their short blades. The man noticed and stopped, holding a recording cube where I could see it. I motioned him forward.
“To record your speech for broadcast later to all who care to listen,” the man said, placing the cube in my hand.
I smiled and closed my hand around it. “Thank you…?”
“Leezer, Gretum Leezer, sir, uh, Lord.”
“Just Stevan,” I said. “I am not your Lord, nor do I pretend to be. I’m just another citizen of the universe here to have my views heard.”
Leezer bowed his head and shuffled backward until he was well out of range of my guards. I looked at the cube before I waved my hand over it. It displayed nothing, indicating it was blank.
The man ahead of me finally stumbled through the rest of his speech and hurried down the steps, nodding to me as he passed. I slowly walked up the four steps to the raised platform, my two guards blocking the steps behind me with their bodies. I gave the cube a tap to activate the record mode before I touched it to my temple to link it to my nanites so it would record my speech in its default language—probably Pearakut—and then placed the small cube on the stand in front of me.
It had taken almost forty minutes for me to take the stand, and the central square was now packed with Peoples. I waited until the dull rumble died away. I wouldn’t speak until they were ready to listen.
“I am Stevanualfutherac Gerretterdedsath, Lord of the Firaspatciti,” I began when there was silence. “I’m here today to speak to you, Peoples of Pearakut, on an issue that affects us all.” I paused, using the silence to my advantage to build anticipation.
“In two days’ time, a vote will be taken on Pearakut on whether to issue a call for a council to address my actions of traveling to Earth to bring a Human woman back to Firaspatciti in violation of our Prime Law.” I paused again. “I’m not here to debate the legality of what I did or declare my innocence. My guilt or innocence in breaking the Prime Law will be determined in due time. If I’m found guilty of breaking the Prime Law, I will present myself for punishment and will go into the long darkness without protest, secure in the knowledge that what I did has brought hope to the Peoples of the universe.” I looked over the crowd again.
“Today I’m here to state, for all who care to listen, that the problem that we, the Peoples of the universe face, are far greater than one man. Greater than one planet. We are facing the very survival of the Peoples of the universe. My guilt or innocence in breaking the Prime Law compared to the threat that faces us is inconsequential.
“Before Catherina Hume arrived on Firaspatciti, there hadn’t been a birth to a Firaspatciti woman in eight years. The Aquallian birth rate was near zero. Less than two thousand children were born on Aquallia the year before Catherina arrived. Our two cultures were dying, and the problem was spreading. In perhaps a generation the Firaspatciti will have gone to the long darkness, the Aquallians joining us soon after. But how long before the Thath, the Hedordians, or the Xzarettery joined us? Do we wish to condemn the Kullearian to our fate? The Pearakut birth rate has just slipped below sustainable levels. Are you ready to go into the long darkness?”
I paused again. All the Peoples knew the problem, and they knew the problem wasn’t going to fix itself. I just had to remind them of that.
“In the time since Catherina’s arrival, thousands of Aquallian females have mated with Firaspatciti males, and most have conceived or have already born children. Now Aquallians and Firaspatciti are beginning to mate and conceive with other Peoples. This miracle that has eluded us for hundreds of years has been brought forth entirely by Catherina’s hand. Now she is traveling among the Peoples, spreading the message of hope.
“The battle isn’t won. There is much work yet to do and the long darkness still looms near, but for the first time in a generation, there’s hope. Children are being born and there is hope where there once was neither. This is the miracle of Catherina Hume.
“I am here today to ask you, before you cast your vote, to think about what she has accomplished in only three Pearakut years, and think about how much more she can accomplish if the Peoples give her our support. With her message of hope, she is bringing much joy to the Peoples as we once again hear the happy laughter of children in our homes. We have much to learn from this Human. I ask that you don’t throw this opportunity away, to stand with the Firaspatciti and the Aquallia, and say with a clear voice, ‘No! We will not go quietly into the long darkness!’”
I looked the crowd over and decided I’d said what I’d come here to say. I tapped the recording cube again to end the recording and turned to the steps, leaving the cube behind. I was on the first of the four steps when I heard the first shrill whistle, but the air was ringing with approval when I stepped onto the ground between my guards.
I gave no acknowledgment of the support. I wasn’t there to win a popularity contest. I nodded to Bruth, my most trusted guard. He opened a portal and we stepped through.
All present dropped to their knee as I stepped through the portal. “Rise,” I said. I could tell by the way Kergah was looking at me, he had something to say. “Speak freely.”
“We watched your speech on the portal.” He smiled. “A most moving and clearly articulated argument.”
“Do you think it will be enough?”
Kergah’s face twisted into a sad smile. “I can’t say, my Lord. If the Pearakut have five brain cells among them, it should be. The whistles seemed to indicate that you got through to the assembled Peoples.”
I started toward the door and Kergah fell into step beside me. “That’s only a tiny part of the population.”
“Yes, but every mighty river begins with a trickle.”
I smiled. That was another of Catherina’s idioms, and it had caught on with the Fires and was being used by more and more people. It never ceased to amaze me how such a quiet woman could exert such influence. She made it appear almost effortless with the way she won people to her way of thinking. With the announcement that she was taking a personal interest in helping the Fire women and Aquallia men, I think the entirety of Fire and Water would gladly follow her into the long darkness if she said we should go there.
“I hope there’s time for the trickle to become a flood.”
Kergah took my shoulder and I stopped to face him. “You are but one man,” he said, holding my gaze. “The Peoples have to want to save themselves. Try as you might, you can’t save them from themselves. The Aquallians will stand with us, of that I’m sure. Those that wish to join us to battle against the long darkness will. Those that will not…” He shrugged.
“A rift?” I asked.
It had been millions of years since the Peoples of the universe came together, working as one for the betterment of all. Would I be the Lord that presided over the fracturing of the People? I sincerely hope not, but I wouldn’t allow the Firaspatciti, and now the Aquallia, to slip into the long darkness without a fight, not so long as my heart beat and I could draw a breath.
“If that’s what they wish, then so be it,” Kergah said firmly. “With the Aquallia, and perhaps the Humans at our side, we can thrive as the rest of the Peoples wither and die.”
I stared at him. “You opposed going to Earth and bringing Catherina back,” I reminded him.
He lowered his head in acknowledgment. “I was wrong.”
“And now you propose fully breaking the Prime Law and contacting the Humans?”
We began to walk again. “You’ve heard Catherina. She believes they would welcome us as friends and allies.”
I nodded. Soon after her arrival, Catherina had lobbied hard for contact with her home planet. She had sworn that we would be welcomed and that our technology could solve many of their problems. Perhaps she was right, but it was forbidden. We had talked about it at length, and she admitted that even on her own world when a more advanced culture made contact with a lesser, the lesser was usually destroyed or consumed. This was the very basis of our Prime Law, and why we couldn’t contact the Humans. Despite the best of our intentions, the Humans as a culture would probably last only a generation.
I shook my head. “No. I won’t be remembered as the Lord that destroyed a People only so his own could survive. I won’t dishonor Firaspatciti in that manner.”
Kergah pulled me to a stop again. “Stevan. You are a great man and you hold the honor of the Firaspatciti in high regard, as is your duty. But if the only Peoples who are left are Humans, who will remember our honor? They know nothing of us or of the Peoples of the universe. Don’t be so quick to condemn them to face the long darkness alone.” He offered me a smile. “Catherina has shown me what an adaptable people they are. They are like a young child… wild… unruly, but perhaps destined to do great things. I agree that we should follow the Prime Law, but the law was never intended to condemn the Humans to being alone.” His eyes softened. “Making your children orphans for the sake of honor, is in itself, dishonorable.”
I pursed my lips with his words. My father had taken his own life for the sake of honor, having mated with another while still bonded to my mother. When his dishonor had come to light, he wanted to end the bond with my mother and bond with his new mate. She had refused to allow the dissolution of the bond, not wanting to give up her position of power and influence. During the duel, she’d refused to yield, and he’d killed her. His proposed mate had taken her life for her own dishonor, leaving him alone. Over the years, his dishonor had weighed heavily on him as the Firaspatciti people turned from him. Four years ago, he’d taken his own life with a short blade, thrusting me into the position of Lord. I was still young, not even thirty, and not ready to take on such a heavy burden. Had it not been for Kergah’s steadying hand, I would have been crushed under the weight of my responsibilities.
“The humans aren’t our children,” I said softly.
“Nor are you, my son,” Kergah said as he gripped my shoulder in support.
I gripped his in return. No additional words were necessary. As he looked upon me as his son, I looked upon him as my father. I would never dishonor myself as my father had, nor would I do to my children what had been done to me. Kergah was right, as usual. I wouldn’t allow the Humans to go into the long darkness alone, never knowing they were part of something greater.
I nodded. “If it comes to that, Firaspatciti will stand with the Humans against the long darkness. It will be our honor to teach and guide them, and protect them from ourselves.”
He smiled and nodded while squeezing my shoulder. “You are a strong and wise ruler, destined to be remembered as one of the greatest.”
Kergah never told me what to do. He simply gave me the benefit of his almost a century of experience in teaching Squats to become leaders, and allowed me to work it out for myself. It was how he’d changed me from a Squat into a Commander, and it was how he was molding me into a wise and just Lord. I dipped my head in respect and he did the same, dipping lower in deference to my position.
“Thank you, Kergah, for everything.”
He smiled. “I am at your weak side, my Lord, and always will be.”
“And no one could ask for a better man.”
He smiled at me. “Go. See your bonded. I told her of your speech and she said she would watch.”
I nodded and turned from him. I needed to feel Catherina in my arms, to remember what I was doing and why, and to feel the comfort of her embrace.
I entered our quarters and watched as Catherina rose from a chair. Her eyes glistened with her tears as she came to me, her lips twisted into a slightly sad smile. Each time I saw her, she appeared more lovely than the last, but never more so, than now.
Her skin had darkened under the Firaspatciti star and her hair had lightened slightly. Since she’d begun training with Peval she had started moving with a power and grace she’d lacked before. She had fuller breasts and rounder hips than the Firaspatciti, but that only served to increase her exoticness and make her more appealing still.
She pressed herself to me as my arms went around her. She wasn’t as tall as most Firaspatciti women, but with her head lying against my chest, it was the perfect height for me to rest my cheek on. We held each other for a long moment before she pulled back and looked at me with her fog colored eyes. Hazel, she’d called them. I’d originally thought her eyes were rather lifeless and without color, but that was before I’d learned how expressive they could be. Now I could stare into her lovely eyes for hours, losing myself in their depths.
She placed her hand behind my head and pulled my lips to hers. Her kiss was warm, soft and gentle, just what I needed. Though I was nearly twice her age, if measured on the same calendar, she’d taught me so much about the pleasures to be found between a man and a woman, pleasures that went far beyond the physical.
The Humans were truly a remarkable people. Many of the worlds had been studying Earth, and we’d found the Humans were a social culture unlike any other in the universe. They seemed to thrive on interacting with others and experiencing new things. It was that gift that apparently allowed Catherina to so easily bring our Peoples together. They had much to teach us and they didn’t deserve to face the long darkness alone.
She smiled up at me. “I watched your speech. It was beautiful and made me cry, but I think you give me too much credit.”
I held her gaze. “I don’t think I can give you enough. Because it is so effortless for you, you don’t understand just how amazing what you’re doing is. The Peoples have known the problem facing us for hundreds of years, but despite our efforts, we couldn’t stop the march to the long darkness. Then you arrive and have done more in two years than we’d been able to do in two hundred.”
“This… uprising… it’s what you’ve been worrying about?”
I nodded. “Yes. We are so short-sighted we can’t see the enemy right in front of us for the noise on our strong side.”
“Should I return to Earth?”
“No! We need you, Catherina. We are just now learning to crawl. We need you to help us to learn to walk, then run. Don’t worry about things you can’t change. As I told you before, you worry about saving the universe and allow me to worry about the rest.” I felt my heart clench at the thought of losing her. “I want you to stay, my dear Catherina Hume. The universe needs you. But more than that… I need you.”
She smiled up at me as tears began to leak from her eyes once more. I’d finally learned to tell the difference between her tears of sorrow and tears of joy. I smiled down at her then took her lips with my own in the way I knew she liked.
She sighed as our lips slowly parted, the warm caresses of her breath tickling my lips. She held my gaze, then smiled softly. “Take me to bed?”
I smiled at her but said nothing before scooping her into my arms and carrying her into our bedchamber.