Vatican Abdicator Page 17

So, no, not yet! But we have to call the combined currency something. Alliance Dollars has a good ring to it. I think it will get any hold outs to sign on with us, once they see we aren’t forcing them to become UTZ.”

  “I see. Well, do as you must. On these political issues I find I usually agree with you! You have been incredibly honest with me, with us, so far,” the Khalif says. So, no new name for anything yet?”

  “Not yet, Khalif. You’re the only one I’ve even discussed this with so far. Nope, no new name. And no book of unity.”

  “Well, I am sorry about the book. But that you would discuss the idea of the ‘Alliance’ with me, for that I am honored.”

  “You don’t have an ego-stake invested in the old names. It’s refreshing. There are many in the UTZ and the UIN who do.”

  “‘Ego-Stake’?” The Khalif notes the term. “I like that. And you, Campion, have very little ego staked, do you?”

  “I do… or, I don’t, I guess,” BC says. “I just want to see us survive,” he says.

  “Yes,” the Khalif says. “I have recognized this about you. You really are trying to keep us all alive – how ironic is that for a former assassin?”

  “Old news,” BC says. “Even then, I was only trying to do what was right.”

  “It is funny how that changes, is it not?” the Khalif observes.

  “Sure,” BC says cautiously. “But I think it all has to do with who we call ‘us’ and who we call

  ‘them’, doesn’t it?”

  “Go on,” the Khalif encourages.

  “Well, I now define ‘us’ as the human race,” BC says. “It’s a… broader definition than I used to have.”

  “True, but accurate. So… who becomes your ‘them’?” the Khalif asks him.

  “The Eldred. Dolomay. Whoever threatens us, I guess.”

  “That makes a certain amount of sense. You know, though, eventually even those ‘them’ could, and should one day, become ‘us’,” the Khalif muses.

  “That’s pretty progressive of you, Khalif. Seeing as how they’ve been trying to wipe you out.”

  “Thank you. This is a new time for Islam. We are trying to figure out just what submission to the will of Allah really means,” the Khalif says.

  “You’re… would it be wrong for me to suggest you’re kind of enlightened, Khalif?”

  The Khalif begins laughing. “Wrong? I guess we shall find out!”

  “So, then… you’re okay if I change the name… starting with the currency?”

  “I am. Go ahead,” the Khalif says.

  “Thank you, Khalif,” BC says.

  “What… the Solar Alliance?” the Khalif asks.

  “Something like that,” BC admits. “It shouldn’t be named for any one planet or people,” he explains.

  “Name it for the sun. That makes sense.”

  “Thanks,” BC says.

  “I must admit, you are still not what I expected.”

  “No? Is that good?”

  “It has been great!” the Khalif assures him. “You are a continuing revelation to me! You do Allah’s work without knowing it. You are like a demon, unknowingly moving as Allah wills.”

  “So that’s how you see me, huh? A force for Allah whether I like it or not?”

  “Pretty much. You do not stand in God’s way. That’s about as good as we can hope for from a Christian! You do not subordinate yourself to the will of Allah, but you do not actively thwart his will either.”

  “Thanks, I think,” BC replies. “Do you suppose the human race is actually worth saving?”

  The Khalif begins laughing out loud.

  “What?” BC asks.

  “Again you ask the inconvenient question. Even in the midst of doing all you can to save us all, you aren’t afraid to ask the hard questions.”

  “Don’t you ever question yourself?” BC asks him.

  “I question whether or not my ego gets in the way of my submission to Allah,” the Khalif explains. “My questions are… well… deep. I’d like to,” again, the Khalif laughs. “Have you ever read Rumi?”

  “Rumi? No, I have no idea…”

  “He was a whirling dervish, a charismatic follower of Islam and of Allah.” The Khalif pauses to smile. “We would all be better off knowing more Rumi. He was a great poet, you see? He writes of knocking on the door to madness, only to have it open to find he was on the other side!”

  “Has the door opened?” BC asks.

  “I believe it has,” the Khalif says. “But it remains to be seen which side of the door we end up on, does it not?”

  “Indeed,” BC agrees. “Thank you, Khalif. Campion out.”

  BC signs off, shuts off the com.

  The Solar Alliance. Huh. Well. At least the Khalif is on board. The rest of the UTZ council will need convincing. And Wentworth… Wentworth! He wanted me to talk to him. BC gets Wentworth on the com.

  “Campion! I was beginning to wonder if you’d gotten lost in the labyrinthine corridors of the Vatican!” Wentworth jokes.

  “Wentworth,” BC greets him.

  “Campion, I’ve been receiving some complaints from independent stations. Do you have people out harassing the indy stations?”

  “Harassing?” BC asks. “No, not harassing. Surveying, asking some questions so they could put a report together for me. I’m working on getting the indies to join us,” he explains. “It’s tied into changing the name of our currency. I wanted to see where they were at. I didn’t want to surprise them.”

  “The name of the currency? Those ‘Alliance dollars’ you’ve mentioned? Would you combine the UIN and UTZ currencies, too?” Wentworth asks.

  “Yes, I would. A unified currency.”

  “Replacing both currencies… and their governments, too, perhaps?”

  “Not replacing their governments, just asking for their help and support,” BC argues.

  “Don’t play games with me, Campion! I’ve been at this way too long!”

  “Ultimately? You’re right. We need unity, Richard. We need an alliance, don’t we? A single entity pooling and controlling our resources, helping us present a unified front against the Eldred and Dolomay.”

  “And that’s you? I never figured you for a power hungry dictator, Campion. I guess I’ve underestimated you!” Wentworth says, scorn dripping from his words.

  “That’s not what I mean. And I know you know better,” BC admonishes him. “Look, Wentworth, right now everything is in pieces. Some here, some there, some somewhere else. We need to face them as one. We’re stronger together than apart against these enemies. It’s just common sense.”

  “Come on, Campion! If there was such a thing as ‘common’ sense, everyone would have it!”

  “Touché, Wentworth,” BC says. “But I do hope I can count on your support for the Solar Alliance.”

  “The Solar Alliance?” Wentworth says. “Solar Alliance, eh? That’s the name? Best you could come up with?” He rolls the idea around in his head. “Sounds like science fiction to me, Campion.”

  “Wentworth, we’re dealing with aliens who want us dead! This is science fiction.”

  “Touché right back at you, then, Campion,” Wentworth says. “Are you going to abolish my UTZ

  Council?”

  “Nah,” BC answers. “But we do need a better system of representation. The UTZ Council can become more like a… well, a cabinet, I guess, to a prime minister who leads a house of commons, that sort of thing.”

  “You’re a regular political scientist, aren’t you?” Wentworth says, his tone dripping sarcasm.

  “Can’t we be a House of Lords?” he jokes.

  “Not enough of you,” BC explains.

  “Your system sounds vaguely British.”

  “My ‘system’ is just good ideas right now,” BC points out. “And I’m open to suggestions.”

  “When were you going to address this with the council, Campion?”

  “I brought up the currency idea once already and got shot down,” BC
notes. “I’m going to try again at our next UTZ council meeting. But I was planning on calling you tonight all along. Wentworth. You and I really are the UTZ Council. You know it! So if you and I agree to the Solar Alliance… that’s it, really, isn’t it? After the ‘council’ agrees, we set up a representative democracy. Put a structure in place, with representatives voted on by the people. We’d only run things while we set up the government. Then we step aside,” BC explains to Wentworth. “I hope it will give people something to fight for. I don’t want to be a dictator.”

  “You think that will work? You’re an optimist!”

  “Hell, Wentworth, I’m just making this up as I go along,” BC admits and sighs.

  “Do you really believe Dolomay and the Eldred will continue to give you the peace and quiet you need for your experiment in governance?” Wentworth challenges him.

  “They could hit us at any time,” BC says. He pauses for effect, looks around as if waiting for an attack to start. It stays quiet. “Nothing? Good! Not yet, then. So… I keep trying. And if you’re really as smart as you think you are, Wentworth, you know that the real reason for an alliance is to finally, once and for all, unite the UTZ, the UIN, and the Project fleets and militaries.”

  “Yes, I was getting to that,” Wentworth says.

  “I’m heading out to the Project,” BC tells him. “They’re promising to show me breakthroughs they’ve made in reverse engineering the Eldred technology. We need to be unified so we can apply the new tech to all of our ships, across the board, with no questions or confusion.”

  “You’re making a lot of sense. When do you want to meet with the UTZ Council again, then?”

  “Some time after the weekend,” BC tells him. “Maybe Monday, the 7th?”

  “Good enough,” Wentworth says. “What should I tell them until then?”

  “Whatever you want to.”

  “And the indy stations?”

  “Join us and get the new currency. Or stay indy and hold on to worthless currency.”

  “Harsh! Not trying diplomacy?” Wentworth questions.

  “Diplomacy is done. Join us or die,” BC says with mock harshness. But he means it.

  “How progressive,” Wentworth says.

  “Well,” BC muses, “That should be incentive enough.”

  “Be careful not to reach for too much, BC.”

  BC can’t help himself. He starts laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Wentworth asks.

  “You!” BC manages to get out past his laughing. “You’re funny! The man who’s made his fortune reaching for too much telling me not to reach for too much! That’s rich!”

  “Careful Campion, you might hurt my feelings,” Wentworth mock protests.

  “Yeah, right! You have feelings!” BC says. “Goodnight, Wentworth.”

  “Goodnight, Campion.”

  BC stays at the Vatican through M’Bekke’s first official papal liturgy the next day. He catches a Stinger out to Ceres after the ceremony. His mind races through his mental to-do book. The Muslim and Christian negotiators have agreed to reconvene on March 8th. Alliance Dollars should go into effect April 1st. Meeting with the UTZ Council sometime after the weekend. See if we can make that happen.

  Dolomay is rampaging on out there, somewhere. The Eldred continue to hang out there, too, a threat waiting in the wings for the right excuse to attack us again. At least we have the Domo and the Flaze representatives on the Moon, entertaining the media and showing the general public that not all aliens want to kill us… least not directly. The Domo still freak me out!

  Well, look at that!

  BC smiles. They’re approaching the Ceres base, and as he looks out the ship’s viewport, BC

  sees The Project has several new ships lined up, lining his arrival route, all glimmering with new tech adapted from the captured Eldred ship.

  It’s a start! Hope the news is that they can reproduce the new tech on a larger scale. I feel like the next attack is coming any minute now… a gut feeling. I may just be paranoid. BC’s ship lands at the new base on Ceres. Krish and Dell lead the welcoming committee waiting for BC alongside his ship in the landing bay as he disembarks.

  “BC! Did you see them?” Krish asks, before anyone has a chance to say hello.

  “I did! They look nice,” BC tells him.

  “Nice?” Krish responds, a little exasperation in his voice.

  “He could only see them,” Dell points out. “How much can you appreciate from mere appearances?”

  “Krish, Dell, it’s great to see you two!” BC says. “Those ships out there did look good. I hope that’s just the beginning…”

  “We’ve made some amazing breakthroughs!” Krish insists. “We’re throwing a party in honor of our achievements! You’re in plenty of time to join in the festivities.”

  “I believe you will be very pleased,” Dell tells BC. “We’ve come quite far in applying the tech we’ve uncovered. Making sure we can use it easily, plugging it into our current systems.”

  “Can you? Have you made it that easy already?” BC asks them. “Plug-inable?”

  Dell hesitates before he answers.

  “Well, yes. To some degree,” he says.

  “What Dell isn’t saying,” Krish says, “is that once we cracked the language and the codes, it became remarkably easy to figure out. It really wasn’t that hard!”

  “The ‘cracking’ as Krish describes it was somewhat difficult,” Dell says. “But the application, once the tech was deciphered, almost took care of itself, really.”

  “Really?” BC asks, surprised. “How’s that?”

  “The Eldred seem to follow the same sort of thought processes we do,” Krish tells him. “Does that make sense to you?”

  “I think it does,” BC grants him. “Bottom line, what do you have for us?”

  “Dell?” Krish says, deferring to the older, taller scientist.

  “Thank you,” Dell says. “We now have shields that match their shields, based on our adapted tech. We have what we’re calling ‘blasters’. We started with their beam weaponry and converted it to turn the media it passes through into a building kinetic mass, creating a beam weapon that not only melts and burns but also delivers a kinetic wallop.”

  “I think I’ve felt that wallop before,” BC comments.

  “Not actually likely,” Dell corrects him, “Or you would be dead. And our adapted beams?” Dell cracks a small grin. “Even deadlier.”

  “Nice,” BC compliments the man. “So now we can withstand their attacks and hit them back even harder than they hit us?”

  “Pretty much,” Krish confirms. “Slightly harder.”

  “We’ve also developed new navigational equipment,” Dell continues. “We have a new array of sensors and survey tools. We are, however, still working on the majority of the data storage. The language barrier is still posing a problem in these areas, and there seems to be additional encryption on the non-technical stored data. It’s hard to tell for certain.”

  “We guess that there are navigational charts, histories, survey data,” Krish adds, “we just haven’t cracked those codes yet.”

  “Treasure yet to discover,” BC notes.

  “Their drives are not as impressive as their armaments,” Dell says with a small measure of disappointment. “There are even some aspects of their drive systems where we have developed superior technology. Our Transpace Drive beats their faster-than-light drives,” he says with some pride. “We’ve found some tweaks we can make to our drives, small refinements, based on what we’ve learned.”

  “Great,” BC says.

  There’s an awkwardly long moment of silence.

  “That’s, um… that’s kinda it,” Krish says a little sheepishly.

  “That’s fine, it’s good,” BC reassures them. “It’s enough. Now, again, I gotta ask, can we reproduce these improvements on a massive scale? How fast can we retrofit our ships?”

  “Which ones?” Krish asks.

  �
�All of them!” BC tells them. “Project ships, UTZ, UIN, all of them.”

  Krish and Dell look at each other, both a little surprised.

  “All of them?” Krish asks meekly.

  BC nods. “And we need to crank out more new ships equipped with the latest tech we have, fast as we can.”

  “Ambitious!” Anita cracks, appearing out of nowhere to startle the other three.

  “Necessary,” BC replies, finishing the thought. He jokes with Anita. “Did you sneak up on us?”

  “I’m just naturally stealthy,” she says, amusement in her voice.

  “Do you want us to retrofit ships here?” Dell asks BC. “We’ve built the facilities that allowed us to fix those ships you saw outside. We’re small, but…”

  “Better idea,” BC says. “Let’s take back the asteroid base, locate our retrofitting operations there. That leaves the shipyards open to crank out new ships.”

  BC is thinking on the fly.

  “Send those ships I saw out there back to Mars and Earth right now. Have them replace ships there, take their place as those ships come here, so that we don’t lose any numbers back there. Then we’ll repeat that process, upgrading our ships in shifts,” BC explains. “How many ships are ready to go right now?” he asks.

  “Seven,” Dell tells him.

  BC thinks out loud, “Let’s see… Send three to Mars, four to Earth. Split the crews when they get there with the ones from the ships they replace. Leave a training crew and half of the original ship’s crew on board our Project ship, Bring the other half of the crew back here with their ship, and we’ll train them here as their ship is retrofitted.”

  “Done,” Dell assures him. He turns and leaves to put the plan in motion. Krish turns and leaves with Dell. He shoots a hurt and angry look back at BC before they leave the room. What was that for? Was I too harsh? Damn.

  “How long until the party?” BC asks Anita.

  “About twelve hours,” she says. “If your majesty is sure he can allow such celebrations…” she says with heavy sarcasm.

  “What’s that for?”

  “You came on kind of authoritative, kind of abrupt.”

  “I did not! How long were you listening?” BC protests. “I just gave them instructions on what to do next.”

  “You didn’t praise their efforts,” she tells him.