Ben Bova - The Dueling Machine

Nodding, Spencer rumbled, “I knew it. You’re getting yourself involved in politics. Sooner or later you’ll be after my job.”

Even Hector laughed at that.

More seriously, Spencer went on, “You know, of course, that I’m here officially to attend the inauguration of General Martine as the new Prime Minister.”

“Yes,” said Leoh. “And your real reason for coming?”

Lowering his voice slightly, Spencer answered, “I hope to persuade Martine to join the Commonwealth. Or at least to sign a treaty of alliance with us. It’s the only way that Acquatainia can avoid a war with Kerak. All of Acquatainia’s former allies have been taken over by Kerak or frightened off. Alone, the Acquatainians are in grave danger. As a Commonwealth member, or an ally, I doubt that even Kanus would be foolish enough to attack them right now.”

“But Acquatainia has always refused Commonwealth membership… or even an alliance.”

“Yes, but General Martine might see things differently now that Kanus is obviously preparing for war,” Spencer said.

“But the General…” Hector began, then stopped.

“Go on, my boy. What were you going to say?”

“Well, it might not be anything important… just something that Geri told me about the General… er, the Prime Minister. She, eh, well, she said he’s a stubborn, shortsighted, proud old clod. Those were her words, sir.”

Spencer huffed. “The Terran embassy here used slightly different terms, but they painted the same picture of him.”

“And, uh, she said he’s also very brave and patriotic .… but short-tempered.”

Leoh turned a worried expression toward Spencer. “It doesn’t sound as though he’d be willing to admit that he needs Commonwealth protection, does it?”

Shrugging, Sir Harold replied, “The plain fact is that an alliance with the Commonwealth is the only way to avert a war. I’ve had our computer simulators study the situation. Now that Kerak has absorbed Szarno and has neutralized Acquatainia’s other former allies, the computer predicts that Kerak will defeat Acquatainia in a war. Ninety-three percent probability.”

Leoh’s look of gloom sank deeper.

“And once Kanus has Acquatainia under his grasp, he’ll attack the Commonwealth.”

“What? But that’s suicide! Why should he do that?”

“I’d say it’s because he’s a lunatic,” Spencer answered, with real anger edging his voice. “The sociodynamicists tell me that Kanus’ sort of dictatorship must continually seek to expand, or it will fall apart from internal dissensions and pressures.”

“But he can’t beat the Commonwealth,” Hector said.

“Correct,” Spencer agreed. “Every computer simulation we’ve run shows that the Commonwealth would crush Kerak, even if Kanus has Acquatainia’s resources in his hands.”

The Star Watch Commander paused a moment, then added, “But the computers also predict that the war will cost millions of lives on both sides. And it will trigger off other wars, elsewhere, that could eventually destroy the Commonwealth entirely.”

Leoh leaned back with the shock. “Then—Martine simply must accept Commonwealth alliance.”

Spencer nodded. But his face showed that he didn’t expect it.

Leoh and Hector watched General Martine’s inauguration on tri-di, in the professor’s apartment. That evening, they joined the throngs of politicians, businessmen, military leaders, ambassadors, artists, visitors, and other VIP’s who were congregating at the city’s main spaceport for the new Prime Minister’s inaugural ball. The party was to be held aboard a satellite orbiting the planet.

“Do you think Geri will be there?” Hector asked Leoh as they pushed along with the crowd into a jammed shuttle craft.

The Watchman was wearing his dress black-and-silver uniform, with the comet insignias on his collar. Leoh wore a simple cover-all, as advised in the invitation to the party. It was a splendid crimson with gold trim.

“You said she’s been invited,” Leoh answered over the hubbub of the hundreds of other conversations.

They found a pair of seats together and strapped themselves in.

“But she wasn’t certain that she ought to go… what with her father’s death only a few weeks ago.”

Leaning back in the padded chair, Leoh said, “Well, if she’s, not there, you can spend hours telling her all about the party.”

The Watchman’s lean face broke into a toothy grin. “I hadn’t thought of that…”

The shuttle filled quickly with noisy party goers and then took off. It flew like a normal rocket plane to the top of the atmosphere, then boosted swiftly to the satellite. The party was well under way when Hector and Leoh stepped from the shuttle’s air lock into the satellite.

It was a huge globular satellite, with all the interior decks and bulkheads removed so that it was as hollow as an enormous soap bubble. The shell of the “bubble” was transparent, except for small disks around the various air locks.

There must have been more than a thousand people present already, Leoh guessed as he took a first look at the milling throng floating weightlessly through the vast globe. They seemed to be suspended over his head, many of them upside down, others hanging sideways or calmly drifting along and gesturing, deep in conversation. Most of them held drinks in sealed plastic squeeze containers with straws poking out from their tops. The crowd formed a dizzying kaleidoscope overhead: brilliant costumes, flashing jewelry, buzzing voices, crackling laughter, all mixing and gliding effortlessly in mid-air.

Leoh put a hand out to Hector, to steady himself.

“Must be some sort of grav field along the shell,” the Watchman said, pulling one boot tackily from the floor.

“For the fainthearted, I suppose,” Leoh said.

The other shuttle passengers were streaming past them and launching themselves like swimmers away from the air lock, coasting gracefully up into the huge chamber.

Looking around, Leoh saw refreshment bars spotted along the shell, and more floating overhead. He turned back to Hector and said, “Why don’t you go look for Geri, and I’ll try to find Harold.”

“I sort of think I should stay close to you, Professor. After all, my job is to, uh, that is…”

“Nonsense! There are no Kerak assassins in this crowd. Go find Geri.”

Grinning, Hector said, “All right. But I’ll be keeping one eye on you.”

With that, Hector jumped off the floor to join the weightless throng. But he jumped a bit too hard, banged into a rainbow-clad Acquatainian who was floating past with a drink in his hand, and knocked the drink, the man, and himself spinning. The drink’s cover popped open and globules of liquid spattered through the air, hitting other members of the crowd and breaking into constantly smaller droplets. A woman screamed.

The Acquatainian righted himself immediately, but Hector couldn’t stop. He went tumbling head over heels, cleaving through the crowd like a runaway chariot, emitting a string of, “Wh… whoops… look out.… gosh… pardon me… watch it…”

Leoh stood rooted to his spot beside the air lock, staring unbelievingly as Hector barreled through the crowd. The weightless guests scattered before him, some yelling angrily, a few women screaming, most of them laughing. Then they closed in again, and Leoh could no longer see the Watchman. A trio of servants took off after him, chasing across the gigantic globe to intercept him.

Only then did Leoh notice a servant standing beside him, with a slim belt in his hands. “A stabilizer, sir. Most of the guests have their own. It is very difficult to maneuver weightlessly without one… as the Star Watchman is demonstrating.”