Part 19

The Invasion

For three days after the President died, the people took to the streets. Despite the curfew, the police could do nothing to stop them. From somewhere, no one asked where, they had got placards, white with red lettering, saying ‘President Desailly’ on one side and ‘The people have spoken’ on the other. They wound quietly through the oldest part of the capital, from the high buildings looking like nothing so much as an illustration from a Terran history, blood smeared on snow.

After the second demonstration, Desailly, modestly, suggested the senate should convene an emergency session to decide how to deal with the problem. The crowds were hotheads, he said, and he had no desire for anything other than the proper procedure. But when the people were roused, you never knew what they would do. He would hate for it to become violent… The senators took the hint. After a night of deliberations half drowned out by the crowds outside, they declared that the election had taken place by popular acclaim and named Desailly President. Desailly appeared to the crowds on the balcony of the Presidential palace, waving while in practiced harmony they sang his name.

On the second day of the new presidency, the state news company picked up a report from a Benan outlet that the Chi!me had called a special session of UP to debate ‘the Benan Ty problem.’ They didn’t explain what the problem was, seemingly even for Benan it had suddenly become a given. They did, however, show the speech the Chi!me First Representative made for the press.

It was repeated so often that many people in the cities could quote it verbatim. In every bar, in every home, over and over, the case against Benan Ty. The people to whom it was addressed were Chi!me and its dependents, Gargarin and the remnants of their Empire, a few Terrans on the edges, not daring to speak up. It wasn’t said where it was, presumably Zargras where UP was based, or Chi!me itself. There were no windows, no scenery, nothing to place it, just a plain mauve screen behind him that could have been anywhere at all.

The Chi!me First Representative, Flavian Singolo explained on TyCorp’s rolling news, was the leader of the Chi!me Council and the nearest thing those egalitarian people had to a President. Dir’Kennan, his name was. He was tall for a Chi!me, thick around the shoulders so that his tunic hung inelegantly, bulked under his arms and tight around the neck. He had come up, so Flavian reported, through the Office of Interplanetary Protocols as so many of the leaders they affected not to have had done before him. He spoke not like a politician, not like Desailly, but as if he meant what he said. Even through the translator on his shoulder, it was as if every word was only spoken because it was necessary, manifestly true.

‘Ar’Quila went to Benan Ty in friendship,’ he said, and in the bars of Airdrossa it seemed as if all over the galaxy people were agreeing that this was so. ‘She went to bring peace between the government and the rebel guerrillas who have been fighting each other for the best part of eight cycles. Her thanks for this were no support, no help, no security and an avoidable, shameful death.

‘She went to help the people of Benan Ty. She went to save their lives and in the end, they killed her for it. I am sure you have seen the footage of her mother, dealing with the news that her daughter, her only child, will not be coming home. You will have seen the pictures of the Dome One on Zargras hung with black for the woman who was very much a central part of that community and will never walk there again. I don’t need to tell any of you how much value we place on one life and how precious it is, not only to those who had the privilege of knowing Ar’Quila while she was alive, but to all of us.’

His voice shook slightly on the last word. He glanced down, took a moment to swallow before he went on.

‘But these are private griefs. They are not for UP to worry about. What is for UP very much to worry about is that Ar’Quila was on Ty not as a representative of the Chi!me but as an Ambassador for UP. When he killed her, Desailly was doing his best to kill UP too, because of what UP stands for. UP is for the rule of law, for order and security and that’s what he hates. We have to show small-time thugs like Desailly that we can stand up to them, that we will not permit our galaxy to be ruled by their whims.’ Even before the translation you could hear the scorn in his tone, grated on the edge of his teeth. Their whims.

‘We will not allow violence and tyranny against any of our representatives and we will not allow the people of Benan Ty to suffer under this oppression any longer. Desailly is a danger to all of us and he is a danger to the people he is supposed to rule. That is why we have called UP to meet and that is why our motion calls for the most stringent measures against him. Of course, we require an immediate, complete apology for the murder of Ar’Quila, both to UP and to us. But we need more than that, we cannot allow Desailly to go unchecked. We have a responsibility and we must face up to it.’

His hand, lying on the side of the lectern, clenched into a fist.

‘We are asking UP to require Ty to pay reparations of fifty million Chi!me din’arii. We demand the surrender of Desailly for immediate criminal trial at UP for his part in Ar’Quila’s murder and his many other crimes. And we require the stationing of a permanent UP force on the planet to enforce and maintain a ceasefire between the government and the rebels.

‘These measures will ensure the safety and stability of that whole region of space. They will make sure that Ar’Quila did not die in vain and they will free the people of Benan Ty from the tyranny they have suffered under for too long. If Ty will not agree to these conditions, or breaches them in any way, we are asking that the most serious consequences should immediately follow. We think that these measures are a fitting memorial to Ar’Quila, who worked so tirelessly in the cause of peace and more than that, a fitting future for the people of Ty. We very much hope that the members of UP will vote for them.’

He stopped. The screen was immediately obscured by blurred journalistic arms; the Benan station was obviously rather far back in the crowd.

‘What happens if they don’t?’ someone shouted out.

Dir’Kennan’s face was hidden, but he sounded unruffled.

‘We hope for their sakes that they do the right thing. We don’t want, we have never wanted, to have to resort to extreme measures. But we will do what we have to do. Their fate is in their hands.’

***

Desailly sat in the President’s – no, his – best transport outside the cathedral, waiting to be blessed. The inauguration wasn’t often done any more. Old Juan had never bothered with ceremonies, he could almost see him pulling a blaster on the Bishop and telling him it was by that, and not the Church’s approval, that he ruled, alright? Sept Karne had disapproved of ceremonies too, although for different reasons, and had been equally disdainful of God. He had walked the streets of Airdrossa on his own for the whole day after his election, shaking hands with everyone he met. ‘The people will be my bodyguards and if they are not sufficient, I deserve none,’ he was supposed to have said when his aides protested. He was never going to be a long-lived man, Sept Karne.

Felipe Silvio before him had had some strange secular ritual in the main square; it had rained and hardly anyone had come. Before that he didn’t know, he had been a child, not caring. Maybe no one had done it properly since Benan had given them Carlo Morales to be their first President after the civil war a hundred years ago. He remembered being taught at school how shocking it was that the Benan leader had handed the Archbishop the holy oil to anoint Morales with, and how it had always seemed fitting to him, like coming home.

He had always thought it would be important to hold the ceremony, both as a symbol of a new start after the long years of Juan’s illness and as a sign for everyone who might have doubted it that there was no link at all between Desailly, Juan Gutierrez’s faithful servant, and Desailly the President. He had had it planned down to the last detail for months, Agana’s pert little secretary had had to stand on a chair in her heels to get the archive cubes down from the high shelf when he had stopped by last week to look over the arrangements.

The words were the same words used in that first ceremony a hundred years ago, when the Archbishop had blessed Morales and declared him President by the grace of God and the will of the people, and Benan had looked on from beside the altar, approving. Tradition said that the Archbishop, who was a tough old fighter who had routed looters out of the cathedral in the civil wars swinging his crozier like a mace, had said to Morales after he’d poured the oil: ‘My son, I will pray that you may be worthy of the great trust that has been given you. May you have the strength to lead our people into the dark places where they must walk.’ He had always liked that, it had the combination of doom and philosophy of which good ceremonies were made. It seemed remarkably prophetic now.

A few spots danced on the windscreen and the chauffeur wiped them away. The cathedral bell began, slowly, to toll. The leader of his guard for the day opened the side of the transport for him and he stepped out. The rain was just beginning, nothing more than a drizzle hanging in the air, misting the shoulders of the guards’ dress coats. The west front of the cathedral was still covered in scaffolding from the fire five years ago, the famous colored window flicking in and out of sight as the tarpaulin rattled in the breeze. From the other side of the building he could hear, muffled with distance, the singing of the crowds. His organization, at least, was better than Silvio’s, he said to himself, and snorted with laughter at the thought. The nearest guard turned to him, concerned.

‘Sir? Is there a problem?’

He considered explaining, but the blank incomprehension was all too easy to imagine.

‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Never mind.’

***

‘Continuing our extended coverage of President Desailly’s inauguration here exclusively on TyCorp news extra, this is Flavian Singolo at the news desk. As the President leaves the cathedral for a well-earned rest before tonight’s celebrations at the Presidential palace, over on News 2 we have a special retrospective on the President’s life and career so far. If you’ve ever wondered what makes Petrus Desailly tick, this is for you. That’s coming right up on News 2, but here on News 1, at the slighter later time because of the extended inauguration coverage, here is the evening news.

‘First up this hour, more news from Zargras as the special UP session, convened by the Chi!me last week to discuss the death of UP Ambassador Ar’Quila at the hands of ViaVera, gets underway. We have exclusive footage from our sister station on Benan of the proceedings, including interviews with the various ambassadors who will be voting. But first, Maria Morales brings us this special report on the workings of the United Planets. Maria.’

Maria, her hair swept back so that it made a crest round her face, stood poised against a backdrop of Zargras, as seen from space.

‘Thanks, Flavian,’ she said. ‘Tonight, all eyes are fixed as never before on UP while we wait for the result of the vote on the Chi!me’s appeal. Are the members of UP going to see sense, or are they going to agree to this unreasonable thirst for misplaced revenge over the death of the envoy? To know, we have to understand where UP comes from. What it does, what it represents, and whom it serves.

‘This,’ she gestured at the screen behind her, ‘is Zargras, home of the United Planets organization since it was set up in the wake of the Chi!me/Gargarin war to promote understanding and dialogue between the different forces in the galaxy. Originally an unpopulated planet, the Chi!me have quickly made Zargras their own. Not only UP and its enforcement and special operations arm the Office of Interplanetary Protocols, but many major Chi!me businesses are based there. In Dome One, it is only the fact that you are in a dome, they say, that tells you that you are not on Chi!me itself. In the same way, there has always been the suspicion that the Chi!me have undue influence over UP.

‘When UP was founded, there were only five members: the Chi!me, the Gargarin, Zhairgen, Terra and Orrorin, which at that time had newly seceded from the Gargarin and indeed, was renowned for its consistent opposition to Gargarin motions for the first hundred years or so of UP’s existence. Now it has grown to over two hundred members, covering huge sections of space, but the way those two hundred members are allocated has not always been fair. I spoke to Dr. Ersine of Benan, an expert in the UP constitutional history.’

‘Of course, as UP grew, so did the problems.’ Dr. Ersine, grey-haired with an improbably pointed beard, leaned back in his chair and steepled his hands. ‘Inequalities such as the fact that Herantive, in the Chi!me sphere of influence, has its own representative whereas Ty, with a much larger population, shares representation with Benan are bound to create disagreements, especially when the advantage always seems to go the same way. UP has also failed to move with the times, so that Darien, which is hardly more than a smugglers’ lair, still has a representative while much of the former Terran empire does not. UP has been allowed to become monolithic and unresponsive, and any independent observer would conclude that that is just how its most powerful member wishes it to be.’

The picture of Zargras reappeared and Maria went on.

‘In fact, the Chi!me now count around one third of all the UP members as their direct dependents, including once-proud systems like Zhairgen, one of the founder members, and have often been able to swing the votes of many more. In fact, many observers feel the hope of a correct vote hangs on only a very few worlds.’

A younger man appeared, captioned as ‘Dr. Benite, political scientist, Carthia.’

‘When we talk about UP deciding, what we have to remember is that effectively, it has already decided. Most of the so-called independent worlds are now so dominated by the Chi!me, or afraid of repercussions, that they will vote how they are told regardless of the issue. But interestingly, under the UP constitution, a simple majority is not enough. A resolution has to be passed by seventy-five percent of the members, and those voting for it have to include at least three out of the five original groupings.

‘Now, it is very probable that the Chi!me will get their seventy-five percent, although many of the independent worlds will be reluctant to vote with them. But, out of the five founder members, only Zhairgen can be relied on to vote with the Chi!me. Leaders from Terran worlds will find it very difficult to justify to their own people voting for action against Ty, and, remember, Terra’s membership is still suspended, so we are talking about the colonial democracies, like Ty is, who are accountable to their people.

‘Orrorin, after its flirtation with the Chi!me, now votes consistently with the Gargarin, so if we assume that the Terrans will vote no, to get their three out of five votes, the Chi!me need the Gargarin. It really comes down to how the Gargarin will jump. Do they have the will to vote against the Chi!me? They are opposed to Chi!me expansion, that’s certain, but can they stomach another trade war with their economy in such a weak state? This is what we will find out.’

The backdrop changed to a view of a street in a Gargarin city, thronged with people.

‘With so many cheap flights to Gargarin worlds,’ Maria went on, ‘many Terrans and Terran colonists have got to know Gargarin culture: their food, their music, the teeming life of the narrow streets which are such a feature of their major cities. Holidays on Gargarin are popular because of their very exoticism, because it is a culture so different from ours. So what does make the Gargarin tick?’

Dr. Ersine again. ‘The Gargarin are consciously a mysterious people. It’s their way of relating to the outside world. You only have to remember their obsession with mazes to realize that. We’ve all had the experience of being lost in a Gargarin city, because they are designed precisely to disorientate the visitor. What began as a defense mechanism against invaders has continued as a way of defending their culture against those who they might see as attacking it.

‘What you have to remember about the Gargarin is that they lost the war. They are a proud people and they do not take losing lightly. For them, the UP mission has been a difficult, an uncharacteristic thing to engage in. They might have their problems economically – they are dependent on Chi!me trade in sectors which have been hit by the galactic downturn – but we know that the economy is never crucial in these sorts of situations. They know that this vote comes down to them and the question in everyone’s mind is whether they will be able to resist the chance to defeat the Chi!me. It may be too close to call, but in my opinion, everything we have learned about the Gargarin says no.’

***

Terrenkomo Barcharin, the new head of the Gargarin delegation at UP, squinted at the thronging cameras barring his way into the chamber.

‘Ambassador Barcharin,’ someone shouted, ‘is it true that you knew Ambassador Ar’Quila?’

His heavy face betrayed no expression. ‘Yes, I knew her. We were together on Iristade, where she made a peace no less lasting and historic than the peace on Benan Ty.’

‘How did you feel when you heard she was dead?’

‘She was someone who worked very hard for the cause of peace. I know that there were many people who wanted her dead, but I was not one of them. I regret her death and though I do not have much hope of it, I would be glad if one day, those responsible would be brought to justice.’

‘You don’t feel, then, that UP can do anything to bring her killers to justice?’ the voice, sensing a story, was suddenly avid. ‘Does that mean you will be voting against the resolution today?’

Terrenkomo’s snout lifted.

‘We are a simple people, my people,’ he said. ‘We do as we must do; our great days are done. Who are we to stand against those who know how best to right the wrongs of the universe, when we do not do these things anymore?’

‘So you’re voting yes?’

Terrenkomo held up a steadying hand.

‘As to how we will vote, I am sorry, but you will have to wait until we have voted. I know you have your story, but you will have to be patient, yes? But, we are not an unreasonable people. I will tell you one thing.’ He did not move, but there was a sense, in the brief hush, of leaning forward confidentially, of the imparting of secrets.

‘We have become accustomed, perhaps us more than most, to compromise and disillusion,’ the Gargarin Ambassador said. ‘But on the day Ambassador Ar’Quila’s killers are brought forward to be judged, there will truly be a new beginning for peace and justice in the galaxy, even if none of us are there to see it.’

There was a short silence. Then,

‘But, Ambassador…!’

‘Ambassador, do you mean…?’

‘Ambassador, are you saying…?’

He held up his hand again, pointed teeth appearing at the side of his long mouth.

‘No more, no more questions. Now, if you will excuse me.’

The picture, wobbling, showed his bodyguards pushing through the throng, his bulk stepping into the chamber. There was a brief impression of light, of red and green hangings, then the doors slammed back and there was only dark.

***

It was the Benan Ambassador who brought Desailly the news. He had his people glued to the broadcasts, of course, but news reporting was restricted from Zargras. There would always be some delay. Claudius Dixon had been a consistent supporter of Desailly’s; in his five years on Ty he had almost become a friend. When he was shown in to the Presidential office he hadn’t really needed to speak at all, what he had to tell had been clear enough on his face.

‘I’ve just heard from our people on Zargras,’ he said. ‘It’s yes.’

Desailly nodded.

‘I’m sorry, Petrus. We did what we could, we tried to tell them…’

‘I know, I heard the speech yesterday. What was it, ‘this misbegotten drive for empire, unknown since the days before we discovered the stars and justice, that masquerades under the banner of freedom…’? It was a good speech. Your guy couldn’t have done any more.’

‘It was those blasted Gargarin. We really thought we had a chance to turn them, but in the end…’ Claudius shook his head. ‘I thought they had more guts.’

‘They might have guts, but there’s not much you can do when your balls are on the block. The Gargarin are bought and paid for, we know they had no choice but to vote with the Chi!me. It would have been suicide for them to do anything else, they might be sympathetic, but they don’t love us that much.’

‘But still, there must have been something we could have…’

‘I know you did what you could,’ Desailly said. ‘I wasn’t expecting anything else. I know well enough that nothing anyone could do would change it.’

He got up, strolled to the end of the room where the window looked out over the forecourt. Claudius watched him.

‘What are you going to do now? Negotiate?’

Desailly didn’t turn. ‘What would you expect me to do?’

‘Can you surrender? Submit to a trial? You know how difficult it would be to pin anything on you.’

A guardsman crossed the courtyard, whistling. Somewhere out beyond the gate, a transport squealed with an outburst of hooting.

‘I am not the stuff of which martyrs are made,’ Desailly said to the glass, ‘nor have I ever believed that a long death in prison was the purpose of my days. We may be outnumbered, outgunned, out-planned, but we are going to fight. It has never been said that the people of Ty lacked for courage.’

‘Bravo.’ Claudius clapped, half ironic. ‘That’s exactly what I thought you’d say. You know I’ll have to pull my people out?’

Desailly turned to face him. ‘I’d be disappointed if you didn’t have the transport already loaded. Leaving in half an hour?’

‘Three quarters.’ Desailly raised a questioning eyebrow. ‘I don’t like to run up gangways. At my age, it’s bad for the digestion.’ He paused. ‘Petrus. You know I hate to leave like this. Ever since I arrived here, you’ve been… well, I wish it could be different, that’s all. But, then,’ he went on with forced jollity, ‘When you’ve driven the Chi!me all the way back to Zargras, I’ll come back, we’ll have drinks at the embassy, what do you say?’

Desailly curled his lip. ‘I say have a safe journey, and give my regards to Sophie.’

Claudius’s bodyguard, at the door, saw the two men shake hands, dark heads almost meeting as they bowed. Then his boss came striding out with his head down. He went swiftly down the stairs, much faster than usual so that the bodyguard had to hurry to keep up, and on the turn, he stumbled, as if for some reason he couldn’t quite see.

***

‘By now you will have heard the news from Zargras,’ Desailly’s face, grainy with size, looked blindly out over the main square from the hastily-erected screen. All over Airdrossa, all over the planet, every screen in every bar was tuned to the same channel, an audience crowded around each. The words, at different pitches, echoed off the shuttered windows; soared choral over closed and tumbled roofs.

‘You will know what the Chi!me have demanded. They have demanded that we pay them fifty million din’arii, that we allow them here, in our land, in a permanent presence, that you give your leader up for their “justice”. These are their demands, but they have demanded still more. They have demanded our heart, our soul. They have demanded that we give up our pride to them, that we become an enslaved people like so many others have done and bow down. I have eight days to give them an answer. It is generous of them, but I do not need eight days to know your answer. I do not need eight hours, or eight minutes. I know that you say, as I say, no. We are Ty, we bow down for no one. We say, no. Whatever comes, we say no.’

***

‘I am here today to express my thanks to our fellow members of United Planets,’ Dir’Kennan said to the press conference. The Benan camera, at the back as usual, bobbed over the assembled heads to get a clear picture. ‘In any great enterprise, it is doubly important that we go forward together, and I am proud to say that the yes vote for our resolution on Benan Ty was carried with the largest single majority for any vote at UP in the last ten cycles. I came here to ask the community of planets if we had the courage to deal with a rogue in our midst, to free a people suffering and broken from years of tyranny and I am glad, and proud, that the answer was yes. That however hard it may be, whatever we will have to do, we say yes.’

***

‘They talk as if they want peace,’ Desailly went on ‘but they have only ever wanted war. They roam the galaxy looking for likely victims and we are their latest prize. They think they will capture us, that they will be able to tame us and make us dance to their tune. Well, we have to show them that they are wrong. That we are not their easy conquests that they have had before. That we are the sticking-place, the place that brings them down.’

***

Dir’Kennan shifted position behind the lectern. ‘We have given Desailly eight of their days to respond, but to be frank, we do not expect him to do so. Desailly is a desperate man by now. He has never recognized the rule of law, and he cares so little for his own people that he would even use them as living shields if it would buy him a little more time. We have never wanted a war, but we are prepared, if Desailly forces us, to remove him by force. You appreciate I can’t give you confidential details of troop movements, but we are ready.’

***

‘They are coming and we are ready for them. We have been preparing for this ever since the Ambassador went missing, because we know what they are like. And we need not be afraid of them. All they have is armaments, whereas we have the heart and spirit of a people fighting for their homes, who will not be beaten. Make no mistake, they will have no mercy on us. Soldier or civilian alike, we can expect nothing from them. So we must fight them from the moment that they land until the last Chi!me corpse is lifted off into space. If we cannot fight them openly then we will fight them secretly. We will follow them, surround them, every man, woman and child will be a warrior, until every step they take on our Ty soil will be bought and paid for in their blue blood.’

***

‘We will of course make every effort to minimize civilian casualties, using surgical strikes to take out key military installations while leaving the hospitals, schools and homes untouched. We are coming for Desailly, not for the people of Benan Ty. They were not responsible for the murder of Ambassador Ar’Quila. They have suffered enough; we have no quarrel with them. But I give them this message: ‘Rise up! Overthrow Desailly, put a democratic government in charge. We are not your enemies; we only want to help you. And you can help yourselves. You can break with the past and make a better future for yourselves.’

***

‘They are not only coming for me, but for all of you. I will lead you, but it is for you to fight. We will stand together and together we will fight the Chi!me as no one has ever fought the Chi!me before. We will make history together, and they will say our names in free Ty with awe for a thousand years.’

***

‘We do not want a fight; we would always prefer to settle a conflict with peaceful means. But we have right on our side, and justice.’

***

‘It is our right to resist every attack on our planet, every attempt to take our land. We know that our cause is just.’ ‘We are coming, not for conquest, but to free the people of Benan Ty. And we resolve now not to shrink, not to yield, until they are free.’

***

‘We are fighting together for our freedom, and we will not stop, will not give in until we are free.’

***

‘Until we have won.’

***

‘Until we have won.’