Markis had insisted on remaining with the revivification team, greeting each man or woman as he or she was brought back to full life, repeating a shortened version of what he himself had only just heard: that they had arrived intact in 2163 and had a great deal of work ahead of them.
All seemed happy, satisfied to be alive; none more so than his wife Elise. “It seems like I only slept one night,” she said in amazement when he told her the tale.
“We’ve slumbered through more than fifty years of the occupation of Earth, but Absen came back and liberated us,” Markis replied. “Everything has changed, but we’ll still have our team.”
“But not our children,” she said with sudden tears.
“Vincent survived the wars. He’s on his way here,” Daniel told her gently. “He left Daniela Nightingale and their children – our grandchildren – back on Afrana. The important thing is, we’re alive. We’ll see them when we can.”
Elise snorted. “What, take a forty-year trip and leave everyone we know here?”
“No. EarthFleet is working to operationalize a faster-than-light drive. Soon, trips between stars will take only weeks.”
Elise gasped in amazement, and then closed her mouth and buried her face in his chest. “Oh, DJ. That’s amazing, but I can’t be happy yet. Not with the news that all but one of my babies are dead.”
“I know.” And we can have more if we want, he didn’t say aloud, though he thought it. That’s just one more way functional immortality is slowly changing humanity: we can take the long view and try to look past personal tragedy.
Spooky – Spectre, Daniel reminded himself – had left to catch up on the inevitable demands of his planetary rule long before all the coldsleep tubes had been emptied. He wasn’t surprised that the man had ended up in charge, though becoming a Blend...that was simply weird.
I suppose I’ll have to get used to it, he thought, though I doubt I’ll ever go that route. The Eden Plague is all I need. Any more and I risk losing my humanity.
***
The revived group, over three hundred strong and composed of the scientists and staff of the Carletonville research facility, was kept in place for almost a day to adjust. The time was taken up with largely unnecessary medical exams and highly necessary briefings on the current situation.
Most took the transition with good grace, though many, like Elise Markis, wondered aloud what they would do in this brave new world of Blends, Meme and alien allies, artificial intelligence and faster-than-light drive. “What use are we if our knowledge is fifty years out of date and the Sekoi are so far ahead of us in the biological sciences?” she said, asking on behalf of her team gathered there.
“Then you’ll learn from them and catch up,” Daniel replied with his usual straightforwardness. “You all have long lives ahead of you to do it.”
The next day, the people shuttled upward on the mining train. When Daniel emerged into the bright sunlight he felt the change like a physical blow, and he imagined everyone else did as well. Elise growled deep in her throat, a sound of distress, and he knew how she must be feeling.
Their beautiful campus, green with growing things and dotted with ponds and streams, had been wiped away by the supernal winds that had raged across the globe in the aftermath of the Destroyer impacts, combined with powerful seismic waves that had laid every structure low. Daniel couldn’t recognize any nearby landmarks at all. If not for certain mountain peaks in the distance, largely unchanged, he’d have been unsure if they were even in the same place.
“I’m...I don’t even have words,” Elise said. “Where’s...is that the hill behind our house?”
Daniel craned to look. “I’m not sure. There’s no way to tell.”
The two sat there stunned as the situation sunk in. Because of Spooky’s – Spectre’s – familiar presence, some part of Daniel hadn’t really faced up to the fact that everything they knew had disappeared, as if the hand of a giant child had smoothed the landscape like sand on a beach.
As they rode buses down a recently scraped dirt track, the faint roar of heavy construction machinery in the distance soon resolved itself into a construction site bursting with activity. Rows of temporary structures lined one hillside while the rest of the landscape continued to undergo a transformation that neither Daniel nor Elise could yet envision.
After they debouched and were led to Spartan but adequate housing, a functionary knocked on the door to the Markis’s trailer. “Lord Spectre has ordered that you report to him,” the stiff young man said when Daniel answered.
“Indeed,” Daniel said with amusement. “Mustn’t keep His Lordship waiting. Elise?”
“You go on. I need to make sure my people are taken care of.”
“Your lab rats are more important than meeting with the ruler of the entire planet?” Daniel said with false pomposity and a broad smile.
“Yes, they are. And the least Spooky could do is wait a while, but he hasn’t even given you time to shower.”
“Those Scourges could show up at any moment. Somehow I don’t think he’ll be offended by my lack of hygiene.”
Elise shook her head. “Well, I’m getting cleaned up. Go on, DJ. You know what he wants.”
“I do?”
The man at the door cleared his throat, and Daniel Markis turned to follow. “I suppose I do,” he muttered under his breath. Then he said to the functionary, “We need to make a detour.”
“The Regent Lord Spectre was clear that you should be brought to him directly.”
Markis stopped dead on the packed dirt and turned to face the man. “Regent?”
“That is his title.”
“Are you armed?” Markis asked.
“No, sir, I am not.”
“Then how are you going to make me do something I don’t want to?”
“If you do not obey Lord Spectre, the Skulls will enforce his will.”
“Skulls?” Daniel raised his eyebrows in question.
“Yes. They have weapons and do not fear to use them.”
“Some kind of Gestapo?”
“I don’t understand that word.”
“Political police.”
“That is accurate.”
“Why are they called Skulls?”
“They are named for a hero of Old Earth.”
Daniel chuckled. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? I knew him, you know.”
“You knew Lord Skull?”
This time Daniel laughed out loud. “Skull was many things, but never a lord. He was probably the most common man I’ve ever met.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“I mean, I think, that the world has changed very much indeed and we hardly have a common culture anymore. What’s your name?”
“My name?”
“Yes, son, your name.”
“Smith, sir. Layton Smith.”
“Well, Mister Smith, your Lord Spectre used to work for me back before the Meme conquered Earth, so pardon me if I don’t kowtow to his every whim.”
Smith’s mouth gaped for a moment. “But...”
Daniel clapped the man on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You won’t be blamed. Now we need to find a particular someone in one of these trailers...”
***
“Spooky! You look different. Taller, I think,” Larry Nightingale said as he entered Spectre’s office with Markis.
“Larry. It’s good to see you.” Spectre stepped out from behind his desk to clasp hands with the enormous black man. “Your son Ellis followed in your footsteps aboard Conquest and was invaluable to us on our mission.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m looking forward to seeing him.”
Spectre shifted to shake Daniel Markis’ hand as well, and then waved the two to seats. “Forgive the minimalist surroundings. The world capital is at a place called Shepparton, Australia. It was the largest city on that continent to survive the Third Holocaust relatively intact. This,” he waved a hand, “will not be as grand, but I hope it will be adequate as a symbol.”
“A symbol of what?” Markis asked.
“Of the revival of Earth.”
“Why not just move everyone to Shepparton or some other place? I heard Vienna survived relatively intact.”
“If that’s what Elise and the research team want.” Spectre looked at Larry. “What are your feelings on the matter?”
“Hm. My gut instinct is to stay, but I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that everything around us is gone. No Johannesburg, no Pretoria...”
“It will be an outpost, now. A new settlement dedicated to biotech. You’ll be employed and funded by the planetary government. Eventually the support services will grow up around you, and with the new city will come civilian investment, business and so on.”
Daniel broke in. “But it won’t be a governmental center. What do you expect my role to be?”
“Let me first address the question of where,” Spectre replied. “I’d like you to accompany me to Shepparton. Suborbital flights can have you back here in two hours for visits, or Elise can come to Australia. Eventually you can return here to stay, if that’s what you decide.”
“Stay and do what, exactly?”
Spectre cleared his throat as if mildly embarrassed. “Take over as Emperor.”
“Emperor!” Markis shot to his feet. “Are you insane?”
“Hardly. I’d crown myself, but I don’t want to keep the job any longer than I must. That’s why I call myself Regent, holding the office in your stead. But our planet, represented right now by EarthFleet, is already an empire of sorts, and for most of the people of Earth, it replaced the Meme Empire. It needs an Emperor.”
“So you want to dump it on me.”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“Wait, wait...” Markis held up a hand. “Let’s back up. Why do you even want to ‘crown’ me anything at all? How is a return to a powerful monarchy going to help the human race? You should be organizing some kind of representative government, not a dictatorship!”
Spectre leaned back in his chair and put his booted feet up on his desk. “The people of Earth have lived for fifty years under the thumb of the Meme and their underlings. They’re accustomed to strict authority. The other two major factions, the rebel insurgency and EarthFleet, are also used to a strong hand. Face it, Daniel. Democracy is only a concept anymore. The best we can do is gradually give people more and more say in their affairs as Earth recovers and makes its own way. That’s why I want you: to oversee that transition.”
“When do you envision such a thing?”
“I expect to rule as Regent for a few more months. Then I will announce my abdication and you will take over. Until then, I want you as my right hand, my viceroy, a powerful symbol of the past brought to life. You will gradually assume more and more of the day-to-day affairs of leadership even as you do what you do best – smooth ruffled feathers, make deals that everyone can live with and get humanity and our allies behind us. Afterward, when it’s your throne, you can move toward a constitutional monarchy or call elections for a presidency, whatever you like.”
“Get humanity and our allies behind us for what?” Daniel asked.
“You had the briefings on the last half century, yes? You understand the threat of the Scourge?”
“I think I do. So we’ll be fortifying the Solar System and Gliese 370, and eventually spreading to other star systems.”
Spectre steepled his fingers and tapped his nose with them, glancing over at Larry.
The big man shifted in his seat and said, “Daniel, we can’t simply sit and defend. No fortifications in history ever held forever against repeated assaults. We can’t assume the Scourge will remain technologically stagnant. They’ll see that their expeditions are getting wiped out and they will send more forces. The briefings said that the Meme believe the Scourge conquered tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of systems. They have unlimited resources to throw at us.”
“And what do we humans have?” Spectre prompted.
“Adaptability. Technology from several different highly intelligent races, including true AI.”
“And,” Spectre said, “the warrior spirit of the Ryss, the steadfastness of the Sekoi, the long memories and dispassion of the Meme. All the Scourge has is mass and ferocity. Ours is the superior society – if we have time to expand and grow.”
“That’s exactly what strong defenses will buy us,” Markis said. “Time.”
Spectre nodded. “True as far as it goes. But the old adage that a good offense is the best defense applies. Therefore, once we have defenses in place, we will be going on the attack...and I intend to travel with the fleet.”
“Ah, now the truth comes out,” Markis said with evident disgust. “You want to have your fun while I’m stuck here on Earth again.”
“Like it or not, Daniel, this is what you’re good at. ‘That Others May Live,’ remember?”
“That’s dirty pool, Spooky. Call yourself what you like, but you haven’t changed.”
“Which is precisely why I need you. Do you really wish me in charge for longer than necessary? As human society re-enters its cultural adolescence, whom do you want guiding it? You or me?”
Markis realized how neatly Spectre had trapped him with his own logic. If he refused the offer, the little sneak – not so little anymore, he realized – would find someone else to do it, possibly someone without a long tradition of strict observance to the spirit as well as the letter of constitutional representative government.
The truth was, Spectre was right. Probably, no human being was more qualified than Markis, and his skills were fresh, not atrophied or warped by five decades of struggling under oppression. With a little time to learn the ropes, there was no reason he couldn’t do what Spectre had asked of him. People were people and interest groups only changed their goals, not their methods.
“All right. I agree in principle,” Markis said in a firm voice. “But I’ll want a lot of autonomy and some real power, even before I’m crowned. If you try to make me your lackey it won’t work.”
Spectre stood, holding out his hand to seal the bargain. “Deal. You will speak for me directly. I will make all to understand that your orders are my orders. Of course, I will expect consultation, but there is no man I trust more to be, in essence, my co-ruler.”
Markis clasped the hand of his old...friend? They’d not always been friendly, but some bonds went deeper than compatibility. Spooky had never been someone he felt a great urge to hang out with, save for a few times they shared drinks and reminisced about the old days, but he thought he knew the man as well as anyone could.
That was enough.
***
“How’d it go?” Elise said as Daniel entered their tiny trailer.
“About as expected. He wants me to rule the world.”
“Daniel!” She embraced him. “And of course, you agreed.”
“What could I do? As he told me, do we really want a man like him in charge of Earth forever? Besides, he doesn’t want to do it, and if there’s one thing I’ve found out as Chairman, if someone doesn’t like their job, they’ll suck at it.”
“And you like being Chairman.”
Daniel stepped out of his wife’s arms and rubbed his jaw. “I guess I do. Once you have the power to do major good in the world, it’s hard to give it up. I was resigned to losing the power when we went into the bunker, but now...”
“Now you’re looking forward to regaining it. I’m glad. You wouldn’t be happy puttering around here.”
“I could have been the lab’s administrator.”
“Then what would Shawna do?”
“Good point.”
“And you’ll have Millie to help you.” Daniel’s administrative assistant, Millicent Johnstone, had been among those in the coldsleep coffins.
“True.”
“How soon do you leave?”
Daniel stared at Elise. “You’re too damn smart for me, aren’t you?”
“Glad you noticed. But it’s not hard to figure out. You can’t work from a construction site, not while learning all you need to.”
“What about you?”
“They’re taking us on a world tour, starting with Vienna. We’ll be meeting with the leading biotech researchers. Okay, we’ll be taking classes from them... Daniel, we’re so far behind. The Blends and Sekoi biotechnicians can do amazing things! It’s breathtaking.” Elise’s eyes shone with the joy of discovery, and Daniel was glad she’d not been discouraged by how much there was to learn.
“Good. And to answer your question, I can leave when I want. Spooky – Spectre, I mean – will be heading to Australia tomorrow on a suborbital transport. He said he’d like me with him, but maybe it’s too soon.”
Elise came back into his arms. “I don’t see any reason to wait. We’ll be enormously busy for the next year or so, and as soon as the basics are finished here we’ll be setting up the new lab. How long have we been married, Daniel?”
“I lost track after our hundredth anniversary.”
“Then you should know by now that I’m okay with you doing your thing and me doing mine.”
“I love it when you go all twentieth-century on me.”
“I’m gonna go all something else on you tonight. After all, according to my calendar, I haven’t gotten laid in fifty years.”
Daniel smiled as he kissed her, and then turned to lock the door. “Why wait?”
“After we shower.”
“Hmm. Shower. That works, too.”