Scaevola's Triumph (Gaius Claudius Scaevola trilogy Book 3) (28 page)

There were the inevitable speeches, but the essence of the matter was that under each library was a complex of critical nature to the future of Ulse. Gaius' analysis had been correct. That had been a raid to end the Ulsian confederation forever. Thanks to the personal bravery of Gaius and of the newly promoted Colonel Klendor, two of the complexes remained totally intact. Thanks to Gaius' training, all but two of the remaining complexes had sustained no more than moderate damage and were easily repairable, and only one was totally destroyed.

The tactic had been to land and send nuclear type devices down the service ducts. The landing craft had been destroyed on approach to all but three libraries. At one, the enemy had accidentally bombed out the air inlet ducts, and by the time they had begun to find the ducts, ground forces had arrived and captured them. A bomb had been sent down into each of two complexes; in one the bomb became stuck in a cave-in and detonated early, completely destroying the defenders but being sufficiently far from the intended target that most of those down there would survive, but in the last one the radiation was so intense no life could enter the zone for at least a hundred years.

But, apart from that serious setback, the attack had failed in its objectives, and it was fully conceded that the defence had prevailed solely because of Gaius' presence. And now, some well-earned refreshments.

And, thought Gaius, a secondary photo opportunity for second level politicians. But suddenly he felt too tired to care. And he also felt more than a little proud. He, from a civilization so far behind it was simply not funny, had analyzed a military problem of this time, he had correctly assessed what would happen, he had drilled the defenders in the Roman style and he had won. Yes, his troops had done the fighting, such as it was while sitting behind screens, but if he had never turned up they would have lost. Their reliance on the machines would have cost them because they would never have fired until they found the ships, and they had only found them by firing on them. And once the bombs started falling, the early Ulsians would have fled.

It seemed that while the nature of the weapons had changed out of all recognition, the underlying principles had not. He might yet work towards getting on a ship, to burn up those important centuries.

Chapter 22

They felt some sense of anticipation, for they were to see what it was that had been the target of the alien attack. The initial excitement was somewhat diluted by the ridiculous degree of security they had to put up with. For the fourth time, Gaius, Vipsania and Lucilla were scanned for weapons and alien bacteria. At their apartment, their outer skins and clothes had been sterilized to almost ridiculous levels before they were allowed to dress, at which point they were then sealed in special plastic suits and conveyed by tube to the site of where the great library had been, then they were carried into a further elevator, sealed, the outer suits resterilized, then the elevator descended. This elevator did not stop at the defence level but kept dropping. Then, deep below, the elevator stopped, the door opened, and the suited party emerged for their final sterilization and inspection.

This routine finally over, a small doorway at the end of a corridor was pointed out to them. They were to go through the door; no Ulsian would go closer than this unless specifically invited. Somewhat surprised, they walked towards the door, which opened just before they reached it, then they went through to emerge into an enormous room, the far wall of which was filled with a strange honey-comb-like layered structure.

"Welcome!"

They looked up to see a monstrous Ulsian-like face emerge from one of the hexagonal tunnels to look down on them. The face appeared to be attached by a very thick neck to a cylindrical body that disappeared into the honeycomb.

"Thank you," Gaius replied politely.

"Our appearance shocks you?" another similar head appeared. Gaius, by now, had recognized that the expression corresponded to the Ulsian form of a smile, at least from the Ulsians he had met before. But none of them had looked remotely like this. None of their heads were remotely as big, and these creatures appeared to crawl or slide, although then again there were not very many alternative ways of moving through a pipe.

"It surprises me," Gaius replied.

"You know who we are?" another challenged. It's eyes seemed to penetrate right through them, but even so Gaius decided that the expression was more that of an amused challenge than any attempt to be overpowering.

"Different sort of Ulsians?" Gaius ventured.

"Not exactly," the first said, and after a pause, added, "If all you can manage is to guess that we look different, I'd say your guessing lacks imagination." There was a Hrrmph from other pipes, then the Ulsian looked directly at Vipsania and said in a kindly tone, "Your efforts at liberating Ulsian women through your plays were doomed to fail, you realize."

"And why's that?" Vipsania replied, a little crossly. She was now becoming a little tired of the criticism of her efforts on this matter.

"Because . . . It depends on how you look at it," came the answer. "One way is, there aren't any Ulsian women."

"What?" Vipsania said in complete surprise. "Then how . . ?"

"The other way of looking at it is that you are the Ulsian women?" Gaius ventured.

"What?" Vipsania now looked at Gaius in surprise.

"Not quite correct, but near enough," another said. "Definitely a better guess, anyway. We are the reproductive class."

"You mean," Lucilla gasped, "you stay down here, and . . . well . . . all you do is breed?"

"We do a little more than that," another cackled, "but breeding, as you call it, can only be done down here. Our society is structured more like that of bees on your planet."

"Bees?" Vipsania asked curiously.

"If you like, I am like a Queen bee, and I lay eggs. Up above, they are like workers. Of course you must not carry the analogy on too far. Those above are far from mindless, but they have no sexual function, and they cannot breed. Also, we down here do more than breed, as you put it."

"I didn't mean to be rude," Lucilla started. "I was just so surprised, and . . ."

"We understand."

"I think I'm beginning to too," Gaius added.

"And you conclude?" came a challenging voice.

"The attack had nothing to do with libraries. It was designed to kill all you . . . er. . . Queens."

"But . . ." Lucilla gasped as she began to realize the consequences.

"They wouldn't have to defend their conquests," Gaius continued, "because after all the current Ulsians died of old age, there would be no further Ulsians."

"What about those who had gone to other planets?" Vipsania frowned.

"Klendor might travel through space," Gaius said, "but do you Queens? If not, then definitely no more Ulsians."

"You are correct," came the reply. "Had the breeding complexes been destroyed, eventually there would be no more Ulsians on Ulse. There are colonies on other planets, but these would also presumably be targets. The object was to remove the ability to produce new troops, or for that matter, workers."

"Could they have really prevented future Ulsians from, well, living?" Vipsania asked.

"Yes. Our science can keep living beings alive much longer than nature would normally permit, and we can clone life even from the dead, but the means of doing much of that is down here too. If you had not defeated that raid, our race would have been exterminated eventually. You, Gaius, have saved a civilization. Accordingly, Ulsian law requires us to thank you by granting you some wish, some service. What can we give you?"

"The head implants, for all of us," Gaius replied quickly.

"Agreed!" came a quick response.

"But . . . can we? There might be problems," came another voice.

"There may, but they will be overcome," the Queen in front of Gaius ordered.

"Otherwise we might ask for something else," Lucilla added, almost a little piqued at her brother's rapid response.

"And that might give us worse problems," the Queen who had acceded to Gaius' request agreed. When Lucilla began to give Gaius a very sour look, the Queen added in a softer but quite emphatic tone, "You would not have been permitted to return to Earth."

"Even saving your civilization isn't sufficient?" Lucilla muttered.

"We haven't done that," Gaius said to her, in an effort to calm her down. "All that's happened is that the first attack's been repulsed, through, we should add, the efforts of the soldiers there."

"We understand your frustration," the Queen addressed Lucilla, "but we cannot send you back. The damage to your civilization at the stage it's at could be catastrophic."

"By the time we got back," Lucilla pointed out, "it could have evolved to a sufficient level where we wouldn't do any harm."

"That is part of our dilemma," the queen said, "however we are not prepared to shoulder the responsibility for any disaster that might ensue if it hasn't. I'm sorry, but that issue is closed. And there is a second reason why we won't, and I'm afraid I can't tell you that yet. Now, Vipsania and Lucilla, would you please leave Gaius with me for a few moments?"

Vipsania nodded, and took Lucilla's hand, and they walked back towards the elevator.

"I am curious," the Queen addressed Gaius. "Why did you not request to return to Earth?"

"Because I didn't think you would permit it," Gaius said simply. "Accordingly, I asked for the best thing I thought I had a show of getting."

"You realize we can't let you wander around Ulse doing what you want either? There's too much scope for unintentional strife."

"You think you have to protect me?" Gaius said flatly.

"I think I may have to protect some of the Ulsians," the Queen countered with what Gaius suspected to be the equivalent of a smile on her face.

"You don't trust my self-control?" Gaius challenged back.

"After the defence of the library," the Queen changed the subject promptly, "you mentioned something about a prophecy?"

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Gaius mused.

"Would you explain?"

"If you wish," Gaius shrugged, and told about how he went to the temple, what he heard, and how much had come to pass.

"And you believe this?" the Queen asked curiously.

"To the point that I asked for the implants rather than the return home," Gaius explained. "I don't know what it was, but if it were real, there were more things I must do before I return."

"I see," the Queen nodded. She thought for a moment, and said, "When you saw this woman who made the prophecy, describe what the walls of the temple behind her looked like, while she was speaking."

"The walls?"

"Yes, describe them."

"They were stone," Gaius shrugged. "All temples are made of stone blocks."

"Think carefully," the Queen said. "What did you actually see, as opposed to 'know' what ought to be there."

Gaius frowned, and tried to remember. Eventually he had to admit, "I'm sorry, but . . ."

"But?"

"As far as I can remember, there was nothing there at all. Obviously the light was so poor I couldn't see the stone, but I assure you, the temple was made of stone."

"Yes, but were the inside walls while she was talking?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't say. But they must have been, mustn't they?"

"Not necessarily," the Queen said, "and if you say there was nothing there, maybe there was nothing there."

"There has to be something," Gaius frowned. "Just because I couldn't see the wall doesn't mean it wasn't there."

"No, but there could be a reason why light from the wall doesn't reach you," the Queen mused. "Still, there's nothing more to say on this."

"So, do I go now?"

"Before you do," the queen said cautiously, "what would be your response if I asked you and your family to go into space and fight for Ulse?"

"My family?" Gaius frowned. "Do the women have to come?"

"You can't leave them behind," the Queen said, "unless you don't wish to see either of them again. If you did, they'd be dead by the time you returned."

"Of course," Gaius muttered. "Sorry, I forgot." He paused, then in an effort to make sure he did not look too enthusiastic, asked curiously, "And why should I do this?"

"Well, you did command the defences in our recent battle," the Queen pointed out. "On top of that, the lot of you are bored on Ulse," the Queen challenged, "because you can't really join in our society. Also," she added with almost an enticement, "if you went on a number of space flights, you would effectively burn up a large number of centuries without your aging significantly."

"I see," Gaius said slowly. They were prevented from returning to Earth now, but if sufficient centuries passed that Earth might develop independently, the need for the restriction would diminish. "But no promises to what you're implying?" he added.

"No, but you might be pleasantly surprised. Now, what would your response be, remembering that it is not binding?"

"I don't understand," Gaius replied. "You have plenty of soldiers, don't you?"

"True," the Queen smiled, "but right now we are quite short of winning commanders."

"Commanders? You would put me in command?"

"Of course," the queen continued to smile. "As you said, we are not short of soldiers."

"I don't know anything about operating space ships," Gaius frowned. "Yes, I know they fly automatically, but good strategy requires a knowledge of operational constraints, and everyone tells me I don't know enough about −"

"You have been learning, and you could learn more!" came a challenging interruption.

"From?"

"Assume the information would be made available. Assume every support aspect is our responsibility. The question is, would you? Would you risk your life for a race you really have nothing to thank for?"

"And if I did?" Gaius asked curiously.

"You would join the military class. That would give you a role, a position, in Ulsian society, and you wouldn't have to sit around being bored."