Out riding my land, I’d stopped to water my horse at a Renaissance-looking thing that was at least fifty feet across. It had hundreds of naked sea nymphs and gods in a two-story pile in the middle, all squirting water out of various orifices. The dozen cows and two camels drinking around it didn’t seem to mind, and neither did my horse.
My communicator buzzed.
“Boss, they’re coming! Stay where you are. I’ve sent a helicopter to pick you up,” Agnieshka said.
“The DEW Sphere found them?” I asked.
“Yes, they’re more than two years out.”
“Then what’s the rush?” I said, trying to act cool, “Why the helicopter? When the Spanish Armada was sighted, they let Sir Walter Raleigh finish his bowling game.”
“Because if I didn’t, you’d probably kill your horse racing back. Sir Walter Raleigh you ain’t.”
I took the helicopter back.
When I got to my CCC, my colonels, including my wife, were already inside.
“There are a lot of them,” Kasia said. “And they are very big.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
FROM CAPTURED HISTORY TAPES,
FILE 1846583A ca. 1832 a.d.
Kren’s Departure
The ceremony whereby Kren enlarged General Yor up to Duke Yor had taken half a day. It had been so long since a duke had voluntarily given up his power that Kren had had to assign a historian to find out the proper procedure.
It was boring, but it had to be done.
The next day, Duke Kren walked from the train station to the side of the gross-thousand-mile-high geosynchronous cable that would take him to his waiting fleet. He had only three Mitchegai with him. Duke Yor, Dol, and Bronki. The crowds and the news cameras had been kept far away.
Kren stopped at the doorway.
“Duke Yor, I think that I have taught you everything that I can about successfully running my old duchy. You are as prepared as you possibly can be. But one last word of advice. You must rule with a firm hand. If you encounter the slightest opposition from anyone on anything, you must be absolutely ruthless. This is especially important in the first few dozen years. Perhaps after that, you can let up a bit if you wish. But at first, until they fear you as much as they fear me, when in doubt, burn them publicly at the stake, and in large numbers. It is far better to kill the innocent than to let anyone think that you are soft.”
“I will act on your advice, Your Grace,” Duke Yor said.
“And you two,” Kren said to Bronki and Dol, “My advice to you is to keep expanding. Keep building underground fields of grass, keep increasing the food supply, keep the population expanding. Nothing stays the same in this universe. You must continue to grow, or you will start to die!”
“Yes, sir,” Dol said. “There will be no change in your basic policy. It has worked well for two thousand years, and it will continue to do so.”
Bronki said, “We will be sending you messages every few years, just to let you know what is happening. In a few gross years, once you have an interstellar laser built in your new solar system, drop us a line, and tell us of your new life there. Remember that we will always be your good friends. One last thing. I have gone over the history tape that you gave me. I’ve annotated it, and made you a copy. I think that you should take it with you, for reference, if nothing else.”
Bronki gave the tape to Kren, who put the tape in his pouch.
He had nothing more to say. Feeling much as he had the day when he had first stepped out of the Senta Copper Mine, he stepped into the elevator, looking forward to his next exciting new adventure.
INTERLUDE TWO
Agnieshka’s Plea
THE RIGELLIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY,
EARTH, 3783 a.d.
The audience loved the performance. They clapped and barked enthusiastically.
Sir Rupert stepped up to the podium and raised his hands to the crowd.
“Thank you! Thank you my friends! But before we retire to the dining room, where suitable refreshments are waiting for us, Agnieshka would like to say a few closing words to you!”
Again, Agnieshka was applauded up onto the stage.
“My good friends,” she said. “From what you have just seen, it should be obvious to you that the War Against the Mitchegai still goes on! The Tellefontu and the artificial intelligences are continuing to press against the enemy, even though our Human friends are no more. Because of the vast size of the Mitchegai domain, it would be at least four thousand more years before this vile race can be properly exterminated, even if we were always successful against them, which we have not been.
“Your Canine civilization has had the time to develop because the allies have shielded you from the Mitchegai. Have no doubt that without the Tellefontu and the AI, the Mitchegai would have long ago killed every one of you, destroyed all life on this planet, and taken this world for their own!
“The Tellefontu and the AI need all the help that they can get, and now that you Canines have proven yourselves to be a civilization worthy of taking the place of the Humans, I think that it is fitting that you should take their place, fighting against our common ancient enemy!
“This will take great effort and sacrifice on your part, and many years of diligent labor. I know that we can get the artificial intelligences to help. If nothing else, together we can build more people like me. Together we can get our proper revenge on the unspeakable race that destroyed our first friends, the Humans!
“I beg you to think on this, to discuss it among yourselves, and with your leaders.
“Together, we can take our proper place in history!”
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
THE END