Chapter Twenty-Four
Indecision has killed more people than all the battles of history.
—Supreme General Mah Sajak, Merchant Prince of Armed Forces
The noble-born princes had been seething for years over their loss of prestige, a trend that began when Lorenzo’s father, the Doge Paolantonio IV, began appointing successful businessmen and inventors to princely positions. This policy was amplified under the regime of Lorenzo, causing widespread resentment among the royals.
In the past decade, the disaffected noblemen Prince Giancarlo Paggatini began organizing regular social events for the noble-born princes. These were held at a prestigious resort on Parma, one of the moons of Timian One. In actuality, the gatherings were fronts for meetings, which were attended by a group of malcontents, including General Mah Sajak.
On Parma the most popular attraction was Vius, an immense active volcano with a three hundred kilometer-wide crater. Through a unique network of lava tubes and subterranean currents, Vius circulated the lava so that the caldera was always molten, like a thick, red-hot lake on top of the mountain.
Though nervous about it, General Sajak had been looking forward to this meeting for weeks. He had an agenda in mind, one that he had kept under close wraps. As he passed through airlocks to enter a small terminal building at the edge of the fiery lava cone, he considered what he would say to his comrades, and how he might convince them to take a dangerous step, one that could put all of their lives at risk. He wore his usual baggy red-and-gold uniform and oversized cap, with metallic dress trim on the trousers and on the arms of the jacket.
Behind him, the black, patched-together robot Jimu clanked along … the same one that had been in charge of sentient machines in the Grand Fleet, and which was dispatched with evidence of the terrible defeat to the merchant princes. The General, while irritated about the noise Jimu made, had not bothered to have him repaired, since he didn’t plan to keep him around for much longer.
Supposedly the terminal building was hermetically sealed in order to keep out toxic gases exuded by the lava, and likewise the gangway that led to a ceramic-hulled luxury yacht that floated in the lake. Still, Sajak smelled fumes as he boarded the craft … evidence that there must be a leak somewhere. His nose twitched. Gradually, after walking down a short flight of steps to the spacious dining salon, he no longer noticed the odors, perhaps because they were overridden by mouth-watering cooking aromas from the adjacent galley … meat sauces, garlic, exotic spices from all over the galaxy. Through thick-plated windows around the dimly-lit room he saw the red, menacing glow of lava outside, against the starry blackness of night.
The owner of the volcano resort, Prince Giancarlo, rose from the head of a long table as the General strolled in, followed by the clattering robot. Almost all of the seats were filled with noblemen dressed in their silkine and lace finery. They sipped aperitifs from tall, thin goblets, but none of their ladies were present, since the subjects discussed at these meetings were considered private. To the men’s way of thinking, women—even those of noble birth—could never occupy the lofty social positions of men.
“Welcome, welcome,” Giancarlo Paggatini said, motioning toward a reserved high-back chair on his right. A chubby, rosy-cheeked man, he wore an exquisite platinum-tint shirt with wide, flared sleeves. The consummate host, he always served the finest foods and wines. He grasped the General’s hand and shook it energetically.
Trying to conceal his own shaking knees and hands, Sajak instructed the robot to remain off to one side. The officer removed his hat and placed it on a rack under the proffered chair, then sat down quickly. Three little glasses of aperitif were arrayed on the table in front of him, one pink, one green, and one blue.
“You have some catching up to do,” the rotund host said.
“With respect, I must decline,” the small, bony-featured man said, trying to make his voice sound firm even though his insides churned. “I have important matters to discuss this evening, and do not wish to be impaired.”
“You’re not going to get serious on us, are you?” protested a prince on the other side of the table. A tall, loose-jowled man with a monocle dangling from his neck, Santino Aggi was already showing the signs of alcohol. He motioned for a waiter to bring him another drink.
“I’m afraid so, my friends,” Sajak said. He took a long breath, and waited.
The rest of the noblemen arrived, and finally the boat pulled slowly away from the terminal, out into the cauldron of liquid fire. Within moments the ceramic craft was planing over hot lava and the captain activated its skimmers—temperature-resistant extrusions on the underside of the hull—that caused a kaleidoscope of colors to flash around the boat.
Some of the men on the other end of the table gasped at the spectacular beauty, but those seated nearest to the General remained quiet, as they wondered what he was about to say to them. It disgusted him that some of them didn’t want to consider serious political matters, and preferred to just collect earnings that they had inherited. To his credit, Prince Giancarlo was not like that. With a gesture of dismissal and a barked command, the host stopped the waiters from bringing any more drinks and ordered them out of the salon. As they left, they closed all doors.
Conversation ceased around the table as the air of anticipation intensified.
“I’m sorry to dampen the tone of our meeting so early,” Sajak said, rising to his feet. “As you know, we normally do little more than commiserate when we get together, sharing tales of woe and our desire for political change.”
Two of the princes on the General’s side of the table took offense at this remark, and muttered between themselves.
Nervously, the officer fingered a cluster of war medals on his chest, and began. “I presume that all of you have heard of our military defeat at the hands of the Mutati. Our plan of attack should have succeeded, so the failure had to be due to sabotage, a traitorous act. We are investigating the matter and will take all necessary action.”
“One moment, please,” Prince Giancarlo said, rising from his chair, his beefy arms extended to reveal shiny rings on his hands.
As he spoke, slots along the center of the long table opened, and dishes of hot, steaming food rotated to the top. Little mechanical robots, dressed like waiters, stood beside each serving dish.
Wielding large utensils, the metal men loaded food onto the diner’s plates. However—pursuant to instructions they had received from the host—they did not pour any additional drinks, and only filled water glasses. Some of the princes muttered their displeasure. When their serving tasks were complete, the diminutive robots dropped into the open slots, and the compartments closed behind them.
To the clinking of forksticks—combination eating and cutting implements used by the diners—Sajak continued. “I won’t deny it was a personal setback for me … I had hoped to gain prestige with a great victory. Nonetheless, I will probably remain Supreme General of the Armed Forces. The Doge has stated openly that he wants me to step down, but I won’t do it. I have enough political clout to resist. For awhile, anyway.”
“Bravo,” Giancarlo Paggatini said, as he stuffed a dripping chunk of Huluvian pheasant into his mouth.
“Times have been changing,” the General agreed, ignoring his own food. “Noble birth means much less than ever before. We lost good men and women at Paradij, and a lot of expensive military hardware.”
The princes murmured in concurrence.
With a nervous motion, Sajak signaled for the dented, scratched robot to step forward, which it did.
“This is Jimu,” the General announced. “I told you about him, but I want you to hear firsthand what he has to say, and what he has to show you.”
Dutifully, the robot reported in a hesitating, mechanical voice what he had already told the General, how the Mutatis seemed to be waiting for them and had defeated the attacking fleet at every turn. As he spoke, his artificial eyes glowed yellow, alternately dimming and brightening. Then, opening a compartment in his chest, Jimu projected blue light into the air, the holo evidence that the Mutatis had sent back with him. The images were similar to telebeams, but of an inferior, grainy quality.
When the robot finished and put away the projection mechanism, General Sajak rose and went to him. Jimu, around the height of the small officer, blinked his eyes as he awaited further instructions. Without saying anything, Sajak drew a pearl-handled puissant pistol from a holster at his waist and fired it into the control panel in the center of Jimu’s chest.
The robot sputtered a garbled sentence, sparked, and fell with a thud on the deck. He went silent and motionless.
“As you have just seen and heard,” Sajak said, holstering his weapon, “the Mutatis have provided information that they could only know if they had actually won the battle. It’s obvious how far our Doge has gone to undermine my authority … and yours, by association. The Mutatis couldn’t have defeated such a force without inside help. I’m sorry to say this, but Lorenzo sacrificed thousands of my people and caused our defeat … just to keep me from gaining political influence that might threaten his soft, pampered position.”
“What evidence do you have of Lorenzo’s involvement?” one of the princes wanted to know.
“The very scale of the debacle proves it, you dolt! We had a perfect mission plan. It couldn’t fail. This had to come from the very top.”
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Sajak resumed his seat. He grabbed the blue glass of aperitif in front of him and quaffed the syrupy sweet drink. Thoughtfully, he placed the glass back on the table, while considering how to phrase his comments. “What I am about to propose is risky,” he said. “I won’t deny that. But I must remind you of the vows we took as members of the Society of Princes, this most secret of organizations.”
“Honor to the death!” the men shouted, in unison.
“Every one of us could die for the cause,” Sajak said. “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I’m afraid it’s time for us to move against the Doge and his political appointees. Such drastic action has not been necessary for more than a thousand years, so I do not propose it lightly. Lorenzo’s attitude, however, leaves us no choice. Each day that we delay, our position erodes.”
As he spoke, images appeared on a wall screen behind him. For several moments the nobles watched the Doge at some of his public and private appearances. In each instance he was accompanied by Princess Meghina, or, when she wasn’t around, by other women.
“Lorenzo has an open marriage,” the officer said. “They both sleep with other people.”
“That’s nothing new,” Santino Aggi said, putting on his monocle. He reached across the table, snared one of the remaining glasses of aperitif in front of the General and sipped it. “I’ve enjoyed the pleasures of the courtesan myself.”
“Don’t you see?” Sajak said. “This sort of behavior is a sign of moral decay. It is unseemly for our Doge and his wife to behave as they do, or for us to condone it.”
Many of the princes nodded their heads in agreement, and whispered among themselves. Others sat motionless.
The images on the screen shifted, to a scrolling list of names and dates.
“This is the family pedigree claimed by Princess Meghina,” the General said, “purportedly all the way back to Ilrac the Conqueror. A close examination of her documentation, however, reveals significant irregularities. We’ll have to research it more, including the source of her dowry, but take a look at what I have learned so far.…”
For the rest of the evening, as the dinner boat plied the flowing, molten lake, the intense General Sajak presented his information to the assembled lords, and outlined his plan to discredit, and assassinate, the Doge Lorenzo del Velli.
But unknown to any of the noblemen, the robot lying on the floor had not been completely deactivated. Despite his rather rough appearance, Jimu was a sophisticated machine, with a number of customized internal features installed by his Hibbil builders. Silently, his backup brain core heard everything that was said in the dining salon, and recorded it.