Terra's World (16 page)

3.10

‘He’s calling it the Lance of the Occluded Ones,’ said Colonel Hardison over the radio. Preceptor Shm gave a groan of distaste that he knew would be clearly audible in T’krr.

- Named for the broken lance of office, of course.
Shm’s guts (located, like all Fnrrn’s, in his chest cavity) turned at the memory of the last time he’d seen the actual lance. Protruding from poor Lbbp’s shoulder, his blue blood staining the floor of the council chamber. Shm had seen how that lance had met its end; snapped in half by its last owner, the now-retired Grand Marshal Z’ksht, to enable Lbbp to be carried away for treatment. The old warrior’s destruction of his own sacred emblem had saved young Lbbp’s life. (And where was he now? – Shm didn’t like to contemplate.) That act had sealed the unexpected accord between G’grk and Mlmln, ending the war, but it had caused distress and alarm among the more hardline elements of his own people.

‘I guess Zst’kh just didn’t feel like a real Grand Marshal without one,’ mused Hardison, echoing Shm’s thoughts exactly.

- The real question is, will it work?
wondered Shm.

‘Well, it’s certainly big,’ came Hardison’s reply, ‘and if the specifications of the warhead’s yield I’ve read are correct, it might be powerful enough. How accurate it is . . . Well, your guess is as good as mine on that one, Preceptor.’

Shm had fleeting visions of the missile’s engines failing during take-off, the rocket falling back to Fnrr. He pushed the image from his mind, and asked,
- Will it be ready in time?

‘Just barely – the explosive elements which make up the warhead are being enriched right now – it’s a chemical process which can’t be sped up. If Steinberg’s right about the planet’s
ETA
– and he’s usually right about that kind of thing – they’ll be loading the warhead onto the missile with minutes left on the clock.’

After a moment’s delay (the translation cube had a little difficulty with the Rrth acronym ‘
ETA
’ and the expression ‘on the clock’ but figured them out after a blip or so) Shm responded.
- I’m not sure whether I’m more worried about the Black Planet or the G’grk’s solution to it,
he grunted.

‘What about the crazy dictator?’ asked Hardison.

Shm blinked and sat down.
- To be honest, I’d rather forgotten about him,
he said.

3.11

-
N
o, no, that’s not the idea at all,
said Lbbp.
You’re still thinking in terms of how you can make yourself
LOOK
mighty and important, when you need to think about how you can actually
BECOME
mighty and important.

- Oh,
said the Gfjk-Hhh, disappointed. He’d rather liked his idea of carving his face into the surface of each of the six moons, so that even after his death (assuming he
DID
ever die, of course; that was by no means a given) he could gaze down smilingly upon his beloved children. Still, he could always do that as well, he supposed.
So what sort of thing do YOU think I should do?
he asked.

Behind him, Wffk waited, scroll in hand, ready to take notes. Wffk wasn’t sure what made him more uncomfortable – being in the dank cell, or the dread presence of His Luminescence’s arch-nemesis. Why exactly His Luminescence had come to consult the Deceiver on his course of action, Wffk couldn’t begin to fathom, so he didn’t try.

- Well, think back to the last time,
said Lbbp soothingly.
What makes you proudest? What do you remember most fondly?

The Gfjk cast his mind back. It was strange, but when he thought about it he
COULD
remember his previous incarnation. How ridiculous, he thought, that he’d once believed he was faking his identity! Images passed through his mind; throngs of robed Fnrrns crowding into the Forum square to hear him . . . cheering as he passed through the streets in his jewelled chariot . . . he could see it all so clearly now.

His reverie was disturbed by the voice of the Deceiver.

- Okay, here’s a suggestion,
said Lbbp.
In your previous incarnation, you were famed for your justice and fairness. You were ruthless but also merciful. This time around, if you don’t mind my saying so, Luminescence, you’ve certainly got the ruthlessness together, but the mercifulness . . . not so much.

- I see,
said the Gfjk thoughtfully,
so I should be showing mercy to who exactly?

- Well,
began Lbbp,
for a start, how many political prisoners do you currently have detained?

The Gfjk mulled this over.
- Not as many as you’d think, actually. I’ve arrested
LOADS
of them, but I don’t tend to detain them for very long, if you get my meaning. I only hold them until I find space for them in the gshkth pit. There’s a
BIT
of a waiting list but—

- There you go,
said Lbbp.
That’s a perfect way to demonstrate your mercy. You could offer amnesty to all your political prisoners. That’s a proper wise and noble leader gesture.

The Gfjk’s face fell.
- No more Scary Gshkth? The people will be SO disappointed.

Lbbp gave a shrug-wobble of his head.
- We all have to make sacrifices for the good of society, Luminescence,
he said solemnly.

The Gfjk sighed.
- I suppose you’re right. Wffk, write this down. Scary Gshkth to be suspended indefinitely, amnesty granted for all political prisoners.
Yes, both of them, the Gfjk thought to himself. It was a
VERY
short waiting list. He stood up and stretched.
Ah! You know what, I feel nobler and more merciful already! Thank you Deceiver, you’ve been most helpful. I’ll be back in the morning.

The Gfjk got up and turned to leave, Wffk bustling after him. As he approached the cell door, he turned and addressed Lbbp.

- Oh, wait, you didn’t think . . . You weren’t expecting me to release
YOU
, were you? Oh dear me, no.
He went back to the crystal.
You’re not a political prisoner, Deceiver, you’re my most trusted adviser.
The Gfjk smiled coldly, then tapped the crystal.
Well, I SAY trusted . . .

He turned to go.
- Don’t worry, Deceiver,
he said as he strode to the door,
my mission will soon be revealed to me. I feel it in my . . . my . . . that place where you feel things.

The Gfjk-Hhh and his scrivener swept out. As the cell door clanged shut, Lbbp sat down. He hadn’t really thought it would be that easy. Worth a shot, though.

3.12

-
W
ell?
said Pktk.

- It’s black,
said Fthfth.

- Brilliant,
said Pktk, pacing up and down in the astroscopy lab. The lab had been as quiet and deserted as the rest of the Preceptorate, but unlike some of the facilities on the lower floors, it hadn’t been vandalised. Good job the Gfjk’s thugs were as lazy as they were stupid, Terra had thought. It had meant they could remote-activate an orbital astroscope, and Fthfth was now perusing its readings on one of the lab’s visualiser screens, her brow furrowed.

- No, seriously,
said Fthfth,
it’s
BLACK
. As black as it’s possible to be. The surface is completely non-reflective, either to visible or invisible light frequencies, or any sort of long-range scan. It’s like a gap in space, a ball of nothing.

- If only it were,
said Terra.
Keep trying. As it gets closer, you might spot something.

- Yes, and my last words will be ‘Oh look!’
Fthfth smiled anxiously.

Pktk stopped pacing.
- I think we may be going about this the wrong way,
he mused.

- How do you mean?
asked Billy.

- Well, if there’s no information to be had from looking at the planet itself, then maybe there’s information to be found elsewhere.

- Such as?
asked Fthfth, looking up from the screen.

- History,
said Pktk.

Fthfth groaned.
- Not you and your history texts again! Not all wisdom is to be found in your crumbly old military memoirs, you know! This problem is happening here and now, not on some battlefield in the twenty-fifth era!

- Not military history this time,
said Pktk,
natural history. There’s a database of every planet that has ever been surveyed – by this Preceptorate or any other institution that came before it, going back for eras and eras and spanning the whole galaxy. There are records of the position, dimensions, mass, composition, every physical detail of every planet in existence or that’s ever
BEEN
in existence.

- How will that help?
squeaked Fthfth.

Pktk pointed at the image of the Black Planet on the screen.
- Whatever that is, if it is actually a planet, then it’s on that database somewhere. If we can find out
WHICH
planet it is, then we can figure out what happened to it to turn it into that . . . thing. Then we might actually know what we’re dealing with.

- And what if it’s not a planet?
said Billy quietly.
What if it’s just some vast planet-sized weapon, left over from some ancient space war? It certainly seems to work like a weapon.

- Well, if it’s not in the database, we’ll know, won’t we,
said Pktk simply.
Process of elimination.

- It’s a start,
said Terra.
And it’s the closest thing we’ve had to an actual idea all day. How do we access this database?

- Difficult,
said Pktk,
if we can’t request it from the Source.

- Yes,
frowned Fthfth.
Is anybody else getting
REALLY
annoyed about the Source being down?

3.13

-
G
o away,
murmured the Gfjk-Hhh.

The door to his chambers tinkled again. The Gfjk thrashed around in his sleep-well.
- I said
GO AWAY
, or I’ll have you thrown into the Gshkth . . .

Oh yes, he thought. No more Scary Gshkth, by order of me. Gzzks.

Miserably, the Gfjk deactivated his sleep-well and unlocked his door. It was Wffk. Of course it was Wffk. He was getting a bit tired of seeing Wffk.

- I’m so sorry to disturb you, Luminescence, but I thought you should see this,
stammered Wffk.

REALLY
tired of seeing Wffk. What to do with him, in the absence of Scary Gshkth?

- Several citizens reported seeing something odd in the night sky. I realise the observatory was closed down by Luminescent Decree, but . . .

Feed him to something? Like what? Wild znks? How do I get hold of wild znks at this time of night?

- I felt that the phenomenon merited closer investigation, so . . .

No, far too much hassle.
AND
dangerous. Once the znks had eaten Wffk, then what, eh? See, when you’re a leader you have to think about these things.

- I found one of the College of Astroscopers in the Reformatory, Luminescence, and I set him to work . . .

Shove him off the top of the Forum! That was it. Yes. Come up here a moment, Wffk. Now, look down there . . . Whoops! Splat.

- . . . and he has reported that the object . . .

No, no, not the Forum building, far too low. High enough to do the job, obviously, but not high enough to be fun watching him go. Something higher.

- Wffk, old thing, what’s the tallest building in Hrrng?
asked the Gfjk chirpily.

- What, Luminescence? I’m afraid I don’t know. I could find out?

Hang on, whatever that was that Wffk was on about, it sounded like it might have been a bit important.

- I’m sorry, Wffk, I wasn’t listening to a word you were saying. Could you repeat it, please?

- Certainly, Luminescence. A mysterious object has been sighted in the night sky. It appears to be a rogue planet. It is completely black and featureless . . .

The Gfjk suddenly remembered how tired he was.
- And what does this have to do with me?

Wffk coughed apologetically.
- Forgive me, Luminescence . . . but there is an old legend I recall hearing as a child.

The Gfjk perked up.
- Legend, you say? Nothing wrong with legends, Wffk. Very useful things if used correctly. Let’s hear this legend.

Wffk related the legend that he remembered from his youth. And as the Gfjk listened, his eyes opened wider and wider.

3.14

-
W
ow. That’s actually very clever,
mused Fthfth.

- Well, we know he’s not stupid,
said Terra.
Crazy, but not stupid. What exactly has he done?

Fthfth was holding up her slate for the others to see. Reams of characters raced across it. Billy tried looking at the display and got an almost instant headache. Even if those had been Earth numerals, he wouldn’t have been able to make any sense of the hurtling figures. As it was, he found himself unpleasantly reminded of the swirly colours you saw when you poked your fingers in your eyes.

- What is it?
asked Pktk.

- Look at this,
said Fthfth.
I sent a little data-parcel to zip round the Source as far as it will go. I can track it ’cos it’s me who sent it; I’m not trying to extract any information. And wherever it tries to go, it’s getting blocked. It’s like the Source is full of tiny custodians, turning it away from every place it wants to get into.

Billy had a flash of understanding and seized upon it.
- So the Gfjk’s given the whole Source a virus or something?

- It’s cleverer than a virus,
said Fthfth,
it’s more active, more self-aware. It’s some sort of artificially intelligent program, overriding all the security protocols it finds and substituting its own.
She looked up from the slate.
This explains why
EVERYTHING
has stopped, including all the long-range transmissions. Everyone’s been trying to solve the wrong problem – they’ve been trying to figure out how the Gfjk was jamming the signals. But he wasn’t; he’d just found a way to persuade the transmitters not to send the signals in the first place!

Terra had been listening intently; so that was why she hadn’t heard anything from Fnrr for so long. With a stab of panic and guilt, she remembered Lbbp. In spite of her friends’ doubts, she just knew that he was still alive, although at the mercy of the Gfjk. As soon as she could find an excuse to slip away, she’d set off to find him. She had no idea where to start, but she
WOULD
find him.

Fthfth went on,
- Of course, he probably didn’t come up with this on his own. He’ll have had the best programmers in the nation working on it under threat of punishment . . . If we could find them, they might know how to get rid of it.

Billy interjected.
- Erm, I don’t want to be the voice of doom here, but I wouldn’t have thought the Gfjk would take the risk of keeping them around. I reckon as soon as they were finished he’d have . . .

He let the silence hang.

Pktk had been deep in thought but now spoke.
- He missed one of the nation’s best programmers, though, didn’t he? My father. Let me show you some
REAL
programming.
He produced his own slate.
Here,
said Pktk.
This is what my father was working on just after the G’grk withdrew. Remember why they’d invaded in the first place?

Terra remembered. She would always remember. Sh’shk’s shrill voice, declaiming, -
We will harness your space-bending technology and make it our own. We will set out and take the G’grk’s gifts of purity and death to all the worlds of the universe!

- To achieve interstellar travel and invade other planets,
she said simply, although Billy noticed her shudder.

- Right,
said Pktk.
And it was decided that we couldn’t allow that to happen at any cost.
He turned to Terra.
The thing is, after you went back to Rrth, it was a tense time. No one was sure if the ceasefire would hold. So the Forum authorised a secret project. And this was it.
Pktk held up his own slate now. It showed a spiral of characters, twisting around itself.

- This,
said Pktk,
is called the Off Button. Just a few lines of three-dimensional code. If it’s loaded into any system anywhere, it rips right through the whole Source in a matter of blip
s, smashing through security protocols and wiping out
EVERYTHING
.

Terra’s nose wrinkled.
- Why have you got a copy of it, then?

Pktk smiled.
- I helped Father out with some of the programming,
he said
.

Billy thought he might even be keeping up with this bit.
- So in case of an invasion, you upload that, and it destroys the whole inter— I mean, the whole Source?

Pktk beckoned him over.
- Yes and no,
he said.
Look here, at the penultimate spiral of code. It’s the
REALLY
secret part. It wipes out the whole Source – but only for
ONE ORBIT
. The Source would look dead, but it would just be dormant. After one orbit – by which time, the idea was, the invaders would have given up and gone home – everything restores itself.

Fthfth was amazed
- Why didn’t I know about this?

- That’s what secret means, Fthfth,
said Pktk.
Nobody knew.

Fthfth frowned.
- I
HATE
not knowing things.

Pktk had begun tapping away on his slate.
- Now, if I can just isolate that penultimate spiral, and change one thing. . .

- Which one thing?
asked Terra.

- The time frame,
said Pktk, his brow furrowed with concentration.
I’m taking ‘one orbit’ out and replacing it with ‘sixty-four blips’.

Terra’s eyes lit up with excitement.
- So we load this into the Source, everything goes blank for sixty-four blips then comes back? And the Gfjk’s blocking program?

- Should be purged during the restarting process,
said Pktk.
We’ll have control back.

Billy snorted. He stifled a titter. He couldn’t contain himself. He guffawed. The others stared at him in confusion.

- Are you all right?
asked Terra.

- Yeah I’m all right,
said Billy, weeping with laughter,
it’s just . . .

- What?
demanded Fthfth.

- You’re going to switch it off and switch it back on again,
hooted Billy, before collapsing, helpless with mirth.

- Why is that funny?
asked Pktk.