The Armageddon Inheritance

“But why is she so determined?” Hatcher asked.

“She was designed that way, Ger,” MacMahan said. “Mother was the Empire’s Praetorian Guard. She commanded Battle Fleet in the emperor’s name, but because she wasn’t self-aware, she was immune to the ambition which tends to infect humans in the same position. Her core programming is incredible, but what it comes down to is that Herdan the Great made her the conservator of empire when he accepted the throne.”

“Accepted!” Hatcher snorted.

“No, the Empire’s historians were a mighty fractious lot, pretty damned immune to hagiography even when it came to emperors who were still alive. And as far as I can determine from what they had to say, that’s exactly the right verb. He knew what a bitch the job was going to be and wanted no part of it.”

“How many Terran emperors admitted they did?”

“Maybe not many, but Herdan was in a hell of a spot. There were six ‘official’ Imperial governments, with at least twice that many civil wars going on, and he happened to be the senior military officer of the ‘Imperium’ holding Birhat. That gave it a degree of legitimacy the others resented, so two of them got together to smash it, but he wound up smashing them, instead. I’ve studied his campaigns, and the man was a diabolical strategist. His crews knew it, too, and when they demanded that he be named dictator in the old Republican Roman tradition to put an end to the wars, the Senate on Birhat went along.”

“So why didn’t he step down later?”

“I think he was afraid to. He seems to have been a mighty liberal fellow for his times—if you don’t believe me, take a look at the citizens’ rights clauses he buried in that Great Charter of his—but he’d just finished playing fireman to put out the Imperium’s wars. Like our Colin here, it was mostly his personal authority holding things together. If he let go, it would all fly apart. So he took the job when the Senate offered it to him, then spent eighty years creating an absolutist government that could hold together without becoming a tyranny.

“The way it works, the Emperor’s absolute in military affairs—that’s where the ‘Warlord’ part of his titles comes in—and a slightly limited monarch in civil matters. He is the executive branch, complete with the powers of appointment, dismissal, and the purse, but there’s also a legislative branch in the Assembly of Nobles, and less than a third of its titles are hereditary. The other seventy-odd percent are life-titles, and Herdan set it up so that only about twenty percent of all life-titles can be awarded by the Emperor. The others are either awarded by the Assembly itself—to reward scientific achievement, outstanding military service, and things like that—or elected by popular vote. In a sense, it’s a unicameral legislature with four separate houses— imperial appointees, honor appointees, elected, and hereditary nobles—buried in it, and it’s a lot more than a simple rubber stamp.

“The Assembly confirms or rejects new emperors, and a sufficient majority can require a serving emperor to abdicate—well, to submit to an Empire-wide referendum, a sort of ‘vote of confidence’ by all franchised citizens —and Mother will back them up. She makes the final evaluation of any new emperor’s sanity, and she won’t accept a ruler who doesn’t match certain intelligence criteria and enjoy the approval of a majority of the Assembly of Nobles. She’ll simply refuse to take orders from an emperor who’s been given notice to quit, and when the military begins taking its orders from his properly-appointed successor, he’s up shit creek in a leaky canoe.”

“Doesn’t sound like being emperor’s a lot of fun,” Horus murmured.

“Herdan designed it that way, I think,” MacMahan replied.

“My God,” Hatcher said. “Government a la Goldberg!”

“It seems that way,” MacMahan agreed with a smile, “but it worked for five thousand years, with only half-a-dozen minor-league ‘wars’ (by Imperial standards), before they accidentally wiped themselves out.”

“Well,” Horus said, “if it works that well, maybe we can learn something from it after all, Colin. And—”

He broke off as Jiltanith and Amanda stepped off the balcony onto Dahak’s pressers. Amanda carried a little girl, Jiltanith a little boy, and both infants’ hair was raven’s-wing black. The little girl was adorable, and the little boy looked cheerful and alert, but no one with Colin’s nose and ears could ever be called adorable—except, perhaps, by Jiltanith.

Horus’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline.

“Surprise,” Colin said, his smile broad.

“You mean—?”

“Yep. Let me introduce you.” He held out his arms, and Jiltanith handed him the little boy. “This little monster is Crown Prince Sean Horus MacIntyre, heir presumptive to the Throne of Man. And this—” Jiltanith smiled at her father, her eyes bright, as Amanda handed him the baby girl “—is his younger twin sister, Princess Isis Harriet MacIntyre.”

Horus took the little girl in immensely gentle hands. She promptly fastened one small fist in his white hair and tugged hard, and he winced.

“Bid thy grandchildren welcome, Father,” Jiltanith said softly, putting her arms around her father and daughter to hug them both, but Horus’s throat was too tight to speak, and tears slid down his ancient cheeks.

” … and the additional food supplies from the farms aboard your ships have made the difference, Your Majesty,” Chiang Chien-su said. The plump general beamed at the assembled officers and members of the Planetary Council. “There seems little doubt Earth has entered a ‘mini-ice age,’ and flooding remains a severe problem. Rationing will be required for some time, but with Imperial technology for farming and food distribution, Comrade Redhorse and I anticipate that starvation should not be a factor.”

“Thank you, General,” Colin said very, very sincerely. “You and your people have done superbly. As soon as I have time, I intend to elevate you to our new Assembly of Nobles for your work here.”

Chiang was a good Party member, and his expression was a study as he sat down. Colin turned to the petite, smooth-faced Councilor on Horus’s left.

“Councilor Hsu, what’s the state of our planet-side industry?”

“There has been considerable loss, Comrade Emperor,” Hsu Yin said. Obviously Chiang wasn’t the only one feeling her way into the new political setup. “Comrade Chernikov’s decision to increase planetary industry has borne fruit, however. Despite all damage, our industrial plant is operating at approximately fifty percent of pre-siege levels. With the assistance of your repair ships, we should make good our remaining losses within five months.

“There are, however, certain personnel problems, and not this time—” her serious eyes swept her fellow councilors with just a hint of wry humor “—in Third World areas. Your Western trade unions—specifically, your Teamsters Union—have awakened to the economic implications of Imperial technology.”

“Oh, Lord!” Colin looked at Gustav van Gelder. “Gus? How bad is it?”

“It could be much worse, as Councilor Hsu knows quite well,” the security councilor said, but he smiled at her as he spoke. “So far, they are relying upon propaganda, passive resistance, and strikes. It should not take them long to realize other people are singularly unimpressed by their propaganda and that their strikes merely inconvenience a society with Imperial technology.” He shrugged. “When they do, the wisest among them will realize they must adapt or go the way of the dinosaurs. I do not anticipate organized violence, if that is what you mean, but I have my eye on the situation.”

“Well thank God for that,” Colin muttered. “All right, I think that clears up the planetary situation. Are there any other points we need to look at?” Heads shook. “In that case, Dahak, suppose you bring us up to date on Project Rosetta.”

“Of course, Sire.” Dahak was on his best official behavior before the Council, and Colin raised one hand to hide his smile.

“Progress has been more rapid than originally projected,” the computer said. “There are, of course, many differences between Achuultani—or, to be correct, Aku’Ultan—computers and our own, but the basic processes are not complex. The large quantity of hard-copy data obtained from the wreckage also will be of great value in deciphering the output we have generated.

“I am not yet prepared to provide translations or interpretations, but this project is continuing.” Colin nodded. Dahak meant the majority of his capability was devoted to it even as he spoke. “I anticipate at least partial success within the next several days.”

“Good,” Colin said. “We need that data to plan our next move.”