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Jasmine had done it. She’d thrown that silvery little disk Crow had secreted in his palm to shock me. She’d thrown it well, as only a Star Force trained fighter could. It had landed inside Crow’s torso, which had been wide open at the top.
The jolt hadn’t been enough to stop my hardened hand, but delivered internally to a cyborg—right on top of an exposed brain—the shock had turned out to be deadly.
After we’d adjourned and cleaned up, the peace accords committee met again. The Imperials were full of apologies and platitudes. I’m sure that if Crow had kicked my ass, things would have been different—but he’d lost in his final bid for supremacy.
The peace treaty was signed. Really, the treaty amounted to an unconditional surrender.
I took my people out of there as soon as I could and headed back up into space where I felt more at home. I thought I’d relish my return to Earth, and in a few ways I’d enjoyed the taste of the air, the sounds of a real city…
But it was harder to get used to Old Earth than I’d thought it would be. I decided to take it slow. If nothing else, there were probably a few million disgruntled loyalists sulking somewhere, wanting to take a shot at me. I figured they’d cool off if I spent most of my time in orbit.
A very busy time passed, and things settled down on Earth. Aboard the reincarnated version of Gatre, I met with Jasmine. She was happy to have her old ship back, and I was happy to return her to a real command.
“You’re in charge now, Colonel,” she said, giving me a beaming smile. “You’re in charge of the whole world.”
“Thanks in no small part to you,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe that whole mess really happened.”
“Crow went into the signing ceremony with a plan. I think he knew what he was going to do from the very beginning.”
I nodded in agreement. “He thought he could take me.”
“He thought wrong.”
I looked at her, troubled. “What do you think would have happened if Crow had managed to kill me? What if he’d been standing there alive and I’d been dead on the floor? Would the people have embraced him again?”
Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t think he had a chance. He hasn’t been fighting for years on the front lines. He was soft.”
Privately, I had to disagree. My knuckles were skinless after punching that metal-armored gut of his.
“But what if he had won? People like a winner. They like a king who throws his enemy down.”
“Star Force would still be here. We’d still have Phobos.”
I nodded, frowning. Privately, I thought it would have been a disaster. Miklos and Jasmine would have been left in charge, with Miklos being the higher ranked. Frankly, I didn’t think either of them could cut it. Don’t get me wrong, they were both fine officers. But some people don’t strike me as ready to lead an interstellar civilization. Hell, I wasn’t ready myself.
If not Jasmine or Nikolai, then who? And how would Crow have reacted? I figured he would have refused to sign, saying the Imperials needed time to sort things out. I felt sure my people would have let him get away with it, too.
But more important than the level of competition he faced would have been the symbolism of it all. Star Force would have lost in the eyes of the world. With weak successors to my position trying to figure out what to do, Crow might well have secured himself some kind of legitimacy. Perhaps they’d try to place him in exile, like Napoleon on Elba. Historically, that hadn’t worked out so well for the French.
I had to struggle to bring my mind back to the here and now. I turned to Jasmine, and looking at her made me smile.
She was glowing. I could tell, looking in her eyes, she didn’t share my self-doubts. She wasn’t replaying the events with disastrous variations. She had utter confidence in me now. I could do no wrong.
“What now?” she asked me.
“Do you want to go on a date?” I asked. I couldn’t help it. Like most guys, I’m a natural opportunist, and the look in her eyes presented serious possibilities.
We ended up back on Earth. I took her to San Francisco, a city every woman seemed to love. We went to a restaurant that had until recently been only available to Imperial party members. The courtiers weren’t showing up there anymore, and the place was practically empty.
We didn’t go alone, of course. We had about a hundred marines with us. The suited fellows at the door looked alarmed. Burly marines in full kit marched in by the squad. Many of them were Centaurs, and that really freaked out the ma?tre d’. They questioned me about bringing animals into their establishment. I shamed them for their racial intolerance.
Once we were seated—a full company of us—I assured the waiters that they would be paid in full tonight. They seemed relieved. Apparently, the Imperials didn’t always settle their debts.
Jasmine was out of uniform, and so was I. It felt strange to be under normal gravity, listening to cars honk on the streets outside. I couldn’t get over it.
“This table is real wood,” I said, tapping on it.
“It’s lovely. Don’t break it, Kyle.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
But even as I leaned my weight forward on my elbows, I felt it give slightly. I weighed too much for a wooden table. I had to pretend, holding myself rigidly upright while appearing relaxed.
The date went well, but we eventually got around to the topic of politics.
“Are you going to dissolve the Imperial Senate?” she asked after a course of abalone appetizers.
“I don’t know,” I said, scraping my fork on the plate. “You know, these meals are always so light and insubstantial. It’s like eating five hundred dollar cotton candy.”
“What are you going to do? How will Earth be governed?”
I shrugged. “I thought I might hold a vote. Let them put someone in as president. Everyone seems to be of the opinion we need a single world government. It’s their planet. I guess they should be able to run it as they wish.”
Jasmine frowned at me. I think it was the first frown I’d seen on her face in a while. She’d been staring at me like I was some kind of holy relic all night.
She slipped a hand over the table and touched mine. “Let’s talk about the present.”
“Yeah, good idea,” I said, thinking about her and our date. She was looking good. I rarely saw her out of uniform, and she looked like the kind of girl I’d never have had a chance with back before the aliens arrived.
“What about an interim government?” she asked. “Before some kind of structure can be worked out, there must be someone in charge.”
I sighed. “I guess you’re right. We have martial law now, and that will stay in place until we sort things out.”
Her smile was back.
“Right,” she said. “For now, you’re the ruler of all Earth.”
I didn’t feel comfortable with that. I remembered Sandra telling me it would end up this way. I hoped it wouldn’t last long. I was a soldier, not a politician. I was better at winning battles than building roads and schools. And I totally sucked at schmoozing.
“So far it’s been endless meetings,” I complained. “I can’t wait until we find someone better suited for the job.”
Jasmine frowned at me again. The bread and soup arrived, and I dug in. The bread was the best part of the meal so far. She watched me eat quietly, nibbling.
Finally, she sighed.
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t believe you intend throwing this opportunity away.”
“Huh?”
I was confused. The only opportunity I was interested in involved getting her out of her dress.
She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “You can’t just let them vote in some baby-kissing fool, Kyle. Our species is in danger. We aren’t playing around. The Macros or someone else could come after us again any day.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly, not really following her.
“When that day comes, do you really intend to listen to Earth’s government?”
I shrugged, but I had to admit it was a troubling thought. When Crow had tried to order me around, things hadn’t gone so well between the two of us. The end result had been a bloody mess on live TV.
“You know what they’ll do, don’t you?” Jasmine pressed. “They’ll bring in their own generals and admirals. All of whom will be loyal to them. Pretty soon, they’ll give you an order you don’t like—something small maybe, just to try it out. Eventually, you’ll be kicked out of Star Force altogether and ‘retired’. You’ll end up doing appearances on net talk-shows and documentaries.”
“No I won’t. I hate those things.”
She rolled her eyes at me. I get that a lot from women.
“They’ll try to push you out. They’ll have to. You’re too frightening for them.”
My food was gone by this time, so I pushed my plate away. I didn’t like what she was saying, but she had good points. I’d been down that road before with Crow. I remembered the day I’d found out about the three generals he’d appointed to lord it over me. I smiled, thinking of one of them, a man named General Sokolov. I’d disliked him strongly enough to arrange a one-way trip out of the star system for him.
“Let’s just eat our meal and enjoy the night, Jasmine,” I said. “Our troubles will still be there in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m such a worrier. I just want you to understand, I’m not fascinated by power. I’m not trying to romance a dictator. I’m just worried about Earth’s future.”
I gave her a blank look. It was the best I could do, because I figured she was doing all those things and more.
“What I’m talking about is responsibility, Kyle,” she said in a near-whisper. “You’ve toppled a government—the only government. You can’t leave everyone in chaos. And you can’t let them choose a random fool to run this planet. They will, you know. And when the time comes, the fool will screw up. After that, we’ll all be dead. All of us—forever.”
I was finally listening to her. I didn’t like what she was saying, but I had to admit, she had excellent points. History strongly supported her case. Normally in the course of human events, rulers came and went. The best of us avoided the task, knowing in our hearts the job was a serious pain in the ass and not worth the perks.
But times had changed. A bad ruler now could mean the end of everything.
“I don’t know if I can enjoy my steak now,” I complained.
“Sorry.”
“Let’s forget about it,” I said. “Just for tonight.”
“But you understand what I’m saying? You see that leadership can’t be left to chance now?”
“I know what you’re saying. I get it, but I want to enjoy our time together. Can we drop it for the rest of the night?”
Our main course arrived, and when the waiter glided away she leaned closer again.
“Yes,” she said, “for tonight. You deserve that.”
We had wine and excellent food for the next hour. Then I asked her if she wanted to see the rest of this hotel.
She looked at me almost shyly. “Sure.”
I took her upstairs. All the way upstairs, to the penthouse. There was marble, gold, incomprehensible paintings—the works.
Jasmine walked around the place making appreciative comments and sounds. We stood on the balcony outside in the dark, even though I’d assured my security people I wouldn’t.
We stared down at the living city. The streets were rivers of white and red lights. A breeze caught Jasmine’s long hair and fluffed it around her face.
“I can’t believe we’re really home,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d ever get back, you know. I want to thank you for this lovely evening.”
“Is it over?” I asked her.
She looked at me seriously. “Not if you don’t want it to be.”
I guided her toward the couch, where we sat and had another bottle of fine wine.
“What about the rest of the people in this hotel?” she asked. “Won’t they be wondering what we’re doing? Or taking pictures in the morning?”
I smiled. “There aren’t any other people in this hotel. I rented the whole thing. Nothing but marines on the bottom floors, and us at the top.”
She melted then, and it was good. I’d waited a long, long time to make love to Jasmine. It was worth the wait.
But later, when she was sleeping next to me, I couldn’t turn off my mind.
She’d planted thoughts there that wouldn’t go away. How was I going to handle this transition? Was I really going to put a civilian government in place and let them run this planet however they wished?
There were other possibilities, of course. I could establish a local planetary government, but place it under Star Force control. Maybe we’d call it a federation of planets or something.
I was thinking of more than what Jasmine had mentioned. There were so many things to work out. This wasn’t just about Earth; it was much bigger than that. The Worms of the Helios were involved, as were the worlds of the Centaurs, and the free humans in the Eden system. I had to remind myself we’d only seen seven star systems so far. There were bound to be more biotic aliens somewhere.
The Macros were still out there as well—and God knew what else. How did one build a government which could easily absorb newcomers for the joint protection of all?
I thought of empires and confederations. None of these plans conformed to the traditions I’d been born and raised with, and that bothered me.
I sighed deeply. Sometimes, I wished I could just go back to my farm in the Central Valley and wake up in the morning, as if from a very long, strange dream.
I listened to the sounds of traffic drifting in the windows with the sea breezes. Earth was alien to me, and yet homey, all at the same time.
The End