Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (2 page)

There was a slight buzzing in his ear
and Hailey’s voice spoke in his mind. ‘Captain, the President is
here to see you, will I show him to your quarters?’

Steven was surprised, ‘Yes please
Hailey.’

A few seconds later the ex-American
President, new Earth President, descended into his living quarters.
Steven got up and met him halfway across the floor. They shook
hands warmly.

‘
Good afternoon Mr
President, this is an unexpected pleasure.’

‘
It has been a while,
Captain Gordon.’ His eyes flicked up to the view, ‘Oh wow... may I
take a moment?’

Steven smiled, ‘Help yourself.’

The President went over to the sitting
area. ‘Is this a window?’

‘
Not really, the ship
can make her hull translucent, you are actually looking through a
section of the hull sir.’

‘
Amazing! Never in my
wildest dreams did I ever think I would be standing looking down on
an alien planet, and it is all thanks to you.’

Steven shrugged, ‘I don’t know what to
say sir.’

The President shook his head, ‘I don’t
suppose you do. I don’t think I would know what to say either if I
were in your shoes. However, the fact remains that Humanity owes
you a great debt that can never be fully repaid.’

‘
I simply did what I
believed had to be done sir.’

‘
I know, and we
didn’t make it easy for you either. My predecessor
especially.’

‘
Water under the
bridge now sir.’

‘
Glad to hear it,
still it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and that of many
Americans.’

‘
If it wasn’t for
your cooperation sir, we could never have got the fleet
ready.’

The President smiled, ‘I let you
salvage rubbish from old landfill sights. Hardly a great
contribution. In fact you solved a growing problem for us as
well.’

‘
America did far more
than that sir, and is still contributing. A lot of Americans died
in the war. I will never forget that.’

‘
Do you feel
responsible for their deaths, Captain?’

‘
To some extent, yes
sir.’

‘
Without you, none of
us would exist by now. Every war is a tragedy. You did not start
it, neither did mankind, but we won it. The first battle anyway. I
realise that you pulled us kicking and screaming into a new era.
However we are here now, and I believe you are being pushed to the
side-lines. I don’t like that. The question I would like answered
is: what would you like to do now? Do you want to take a political
role in what is to come or not? I for one will make sure that you
will get any job you wish to undertake.’

Steven smiled, ‘I have no political
aspirations at all sir.’

‘
Then what can we do
for you?’

‘
Release me from the
military bonds I have been placed under.’

The President grinned, ‘You mean let
you please yourself what you do?’

Steven smiled back, ‘Just about,
aye.’

The President laughed openly, ‘How
about we send you on a mission to discover new life and new
civilizations?’

‘
To boldly go where
no man has gone before,’ Steven finished the line from the old TV
series with a laugh. ‘That would suit me fine sir.’

The President mulled something over for
a few moments while he studied the planet below.

‘
You can’t really
just go around wherever you want, can you?’

‘
No not really, but
it’s far more difficult if your ship is designated as a military
vessel.’

‘
I see. Would it help
if you and your ship were designated ambassadorial?’

Steven consulted with Babes, ‘Actually
it would. According to our data banks, those designated as
ambassadors, even if they do not belong to the great alliance, are
accorded special dispensation when it comes to traveling through
different sectors of space.’

‘
Good Will Ambassador
to Earth it is then,’ the President offered his hand and Steven
shook it. ‘Congratulations Captain Gordon on becoming our newest
ambassador. I have no doubt that you will do us proud.’

‘
I am sure we will
all do our best not to let you down sir.’

‘
Now that is out of
the way, I have a rather unpleasant task to perform, concerning a
member of your crew.’

Steven’s good mood evaporated, ‘Who
would that be sir?’

‘
A Scottish soldier
that has been placed under your command. A Sergeant Charlie
Morrison.’

‘
It’s Murison, not
Morrison.’

A note had crept into Steven’s voice
and the President noticed it. He held up a hand, ‘It came to my
notice that certain members of our armed forces tortured the
sergeant, causing him grievous bodily harm, and attempted to have
him executed. I merely wish to apologise.

Steven took a deep breath, ‘I will give
him a call sir. In the meantime, would you like something to
drink?’

‘
Coffee,’ the
President suggested.

Steven sent a silent request to Charlie
and fetched the President a coffee. They sat and watched the world
below.

The President took a sip and sighed, ‘I
hear this Charlie is a friend of yours from your younger days in
Scotland.’

‘
We were neighbours,
we grew up together until my mother and father moved to the States.
Most years I went to Scotland for a few weeks during the summer
break. Charlie and I were really tight back in those
days.’

The President nodded, ‘Was he in a bad
way when you rescued him?’

Steven put his cup down, ‘Charlie is
more cyborg now than he is Human. My ship saved him and repaired
him, but it cost him. By the time those animals had finished, there
was very little of him left that she could save. Hands, feet, eyes,
all gone. The only reason he was alive was because of the
stimulants they gave him. Just about every bone in his body broken.
Masses of brain damage.’ Steven shrugged, ‘The list goes on.’

‘
You mean she
replaced his limbs with synthetic ones?’

‘
Aye.’

The President shook his head, ‘I had no
idea it was that bad.’

‘
Babes, can you show
the President some film footage of Charlie as he was when we
rescued him?’

The President was forced to watch as
Amanda Freeling, the ship’s doctor, listed all of Charlie’s
injuries. When he turned as white as a sheet Steven stopped the
replay. The President swallowed hard and Steven could see moisture
gather round the man’s eyes.

‘
Animals,’ the
President choked, ‘how could they? How the hell did he survive
that?’

‘
It took my ship
three weeks to heal and repair him, but Charlie has always been
very strong.’

‘
How is he coping
now?’

Steven relieved a crick in his neck
with a twist of his head and rubbed the area with a hand. ‘Our
doctor believes he is suffering from PTSD; Charlie refuses to
acknowledge it. He says he is fine. If you didn’t know him you
wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with the man.’ Steven
smiled, ‘He has changed though, he rarely smiles or laughs
anymore.’

The President mulled something over for
a moment, ‘Would you like him transferred? People with PTSD can be
a bit twitchy and unreliable. No insult to your friend
intended.’

Steven shook his head vigorously, ‘No;
if anything goes wrong with Charlie, or if he gets hurt, there is
no one else capable of helping him. That was one of the main
reasons I had him transferred here.’

‘
I understand,’ the
President went into deep thought. ‘I read once that one of the
worst things you can do to a soldier who may be suffering from PTSD
is to remove him from his friends and companions, where they feel
safe. You might want to consider taking on board some of his
friends. Every ambassador is allowed an armed body guard for
protection.’

‘
That might be a good
idea sir. I certainly have the space now the ship is almost twice
the size it was. Aye, and those lads can fairly fight. Now we know
there are a lot of hostiles out here, the extra manpower could come
in handy.’

The President had a stupid grin on his
face.

‘
What is it sir, did
I say something amusing?’

‘
You speak with an
American accent, yet you are talking like a Brit.’

Steven laughed, ‘I may have lost my
Scottish accent years ago sir, but there are words I have never
lost. My mother and father have never lost their accents and every
argument in the house turned in to a Doric slanging match. That is
the accent that is particular to the district they were brought up
in,’ Steven explained.

‘
I passed through
that part of Scotland when I was a student,’ the President laughed,
‘it was certainly an eye opener.’

Steven joined his laughter, imagining
the look on the young President’s face the first time he heard the
Doric accent. ‘What’s really funny is the way the crew have picked
up certain words from the other accents and dialects surrounding
them. Bloody and bugger, seem to be the two most popular.’

The two men laughed.

CHAPTER 3

Charlie was dozing in his quarters when
the request from Steven came. When he had returned from the
ceremony he had taken his kit off carefully, gave it a quick clean
and put it away. After exchanging his kilt for a pair of shorts he
had slipped off into a dreamless sleep.

It took him a moment to orientate
himself. ‘Tell Steven I will be with him shortly please. I am going
to grab a quick shower.’

Charlie stripped off and caught himself
looking in the full length mirror. He moved closer to it and
touched the skin on his face. It wasn’t his skin, he knew that, but
it felt real. He didn’t need to shower these days as he didn’t
sweat, but it made him feel a little more Human. He didn’t need to
shave either. The thick mat of hair that once covered his chest was
gone, along with every other hair. His body looked buffed but
Charlie knew it was an illusion. He would never grow old like
others. He had been told that he could have children if he wanted
to, but what woman would want to live with a man who would never
age like she did?

Babes had told him that his brain would
still age, but probably at a much slower rate now most of its
functionality was redundant. It was no longer needed to regulate a
body more cyborg than Human. Small computer chips the size of a pin
head would do that.

Dark clouds began to form in the
recesses of his mind, but he pushed them brutally away. He was
alive and there were many that weren’t.

He took his shower and dressed in a
tracksuit for ease and comfort. Going home on leave had been hard.
He had personally known so many of those who had died on the city
ship. Many parents and loved ones had sought him out while he had
been on leave. Returning to barracks and the reforming of the
regiment had been a relief at first. The familiar routine and
training had been welcome. The feeling hadn’t lasted very long
though.

Within a short time his super-Human
abilities had been noticed, and very soon Charlie began to pick up
unhealthy thoughts directed at him by those who were jealous or
just ignorant. When the request from Steven had come through he had
jumped at the chance. Now, stuck on the ship, he wasn’t so sure he
had done the right thing. To be blunt, there was just nothing for
him to do. The ship was manned by young professionals straight from
the space academy – idealistic young men and women who were much
brighter than he was, and he knew it.

His mind reading abilities had been
kept secret and only a select few knew about it. He was grateful
for that. Only God would be able to help him if the intelligence
community ever found out. Over the months he had been able to get
control of the ability and switch it on and off at will.

Buzz greeted him as he came onto the
bridge, ‘How are you doing Charlie?’

‘
No bad Buzz. Any
idea what this summons is about?’

Buzz shook his head, ‘None, but I’ll
warn you, the new Earth President is with him.’

Charlie hesitated for a moment, ‘OK,
thanks for the heads up man.’

‘
No bother.’ Buzz
grinned cheekily and Charlie laughed at his attempt at a Scottish
accent. He liked Buzz a lot.

Buzz watched Charlie disappear down
into Steven’s quarters. Things had been a little tense between them
at first, but they had soon grown to like each other. Buzz was glad
he had been able to make Charlie laugh. It was a rare thing to
see.

As Charlie descended into Steven’s
quarters the President stood. Charlie switched on all his senses
and was aware of what the President was going to say before the
words even came out of his mouth. Charlie stood to attention.

‘
Please excuse my
attire gentlemen, I wasn’t aware of the company I would be
joining.’

His pleasant response helped steady the
President’s nerves a little. ‘Sergeant Murison. Obviously you know
who I am, so I won’t beat about the bush as some folks like to say.
I just wish to apologise for the behaviour of some of my people and
for the way you were treated while in the hands of some of my
fellow countrymen. I also realise that your actions with Orlath
Canaries was exactly the right thing to do. In our haste to scrape
together qualified men, we ended up scraping up some shit along the
way. I know you will never be able to forgive us, but I just wish
to convey my regret for what happened and thank you personally from
myself and from the citizens of the United States for your
service.’