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FORTY-NINE Sleeping Dragon

When PRC forces began appearing near their camp, the Americans were treated to a surprise. Not one was wearing anything describable as a uniform. Their leader (and all the rest as it turned out) spoke perfect colloquial English.

"Hi there!" A young oriental in Levis and flannel shirt greeted Owen, the first person he encountered. "I'm Colonel Tai of the People's Republic Extra-Special Forces. Could you direct me to the officer in charge? I've orders from Admiral Hoong to place myself under his or her command. We're the cavalry, arriving in the nick of time."

Sweating in the double-shadowed light of one sun too many, Owen looked to his companions, Danny and Tl*m*nch*l. Amidst the sound of faraway gunfire, the two men were trying, with scorpionoid assistance, to defend this sector of their perimeter. They'd already had a bit of sporadic shooting, nothing anyone would call a firefight, with Russian or American intruders (they weren't certain which) deeper in the forest. Whether this had produced any enemy casualties was something else they weren't sure of. They themselves were unscathed.

Owen inspected the young PRC officer who, despite his casual clothing and a kerchief he'd tied to a branch, wore a large autopistol slung under one armpit in a black nylon harness, and an even larger knife suspended handle-down under the other. "That'll be General Gutierrez," Owen told him, shifting the shotgun on his shoulder and lifting a broad thumb toward a canopy much brighter than when they'd first arrived. "He's busy right now and so are his seconds, Colonel Sebastiano and Major Ortiz. I'm Corporal Owen—" He gave Danny a nudge. "This is Lieutenant Gutierrez."

It was Danny's turn to blink, realizing that he was the officer in charge. "I suppose you're stuck with me, Colonel."

"Fine by me," the officer responded. He lifted fingers to his lips and whistled. Men and women in civilian clothing, more heavily armed than their leader and with a startling variety of what were clearly personal weapons, began melting out of the forest. They formed up loosely around the two surprised and skeptical Americans.

The scorpionoid laid a foreclaw on Danny's shoulder and did his best to imitate a whisper with his voice simulator. "Why do you and Roger not take Colonel Tai with you. I will stay here with his people."

Danny saw the sense of it. "Good thinking, Tl*m*nch*l, but all alone?"

In the distance, a grenade crumped. Chitin-armored manipulators rattled on Tl*m*nch*l's synthesizer where it hung beside his pistol. "No, Lieutenant, my people are scattered throughout these woods and are alert. We encircle them, should this prove to be a trick. Show the colonel your camp, I'll wait here."

"Okay." Danny turned to the young officer. "Colonel, I can't bring your whole unit back with me. If they'll wait here with Tl*m*nch*l, we can go see Mr. Empleado or Pin—I mean, Major Ortega y Pena."

Tai glanced at Tl*m*nch*l as if he were used to seeing aliens every day. "Okay, Lieutenant. One question: what do you want done with these?"

At a gesture, several of his troops dragged half a dozen figures forward, arms bound behind them, and threw them at Danny's feet. It was less cruel than it might have been at full gravity. Danny looked down at two Russian Spetznaz officers in battle dress and four bruised and disgruntled ASSR Marines.

* * *

"—estimates from my experts that our artificial sun will be short-lived, merely lasting a couple of thousand years. They're readjusting the temperature and humidity as we speak."

At camp, Mister Thoggosh was more in charge than anybody else. He'd returned with the general from the dig, but had decided to direct his own defenses from here, drinking beer through a plastic tube in his protective suit. Sporadic, faraway gunfire could still be heard as the PRC, the American expeditionaries, and the party of the Elders' people continued mopping up invaders.

"I'm impressed, Colonel Tai," the Proprietor admitted once a kettle had been set on the fire for tea. "We and our allies—with individuals from the ASSR expedition—welcome your support with gratitude. We nautiloids are amateurs in a field in which humans are the acknowledged experts."

Adjusting his weapons harness, the colonel settled by the fire despite the warmth overhead. He glanced around at the tents and other evidence of people roughing it on the terraformed asteroid. "And that would be?"

"War, my dear Colonel. `Killing people and breaking things.' We haven't fought one in thousands of millennia. And in this particular battle, I'm afraid, nobody has the proper equipment or is altogether certain what to do. It was pure good fortune that our canopy was `smart' enough to filter out the radiation from atomic weapons. Which reminds me—would you mind telling me how you got through it?"

"I'm pretty curious about that, myself." Still in his spacesuit, Gutierrez strode into camp with Sam and Eichra Oren. Toya rose from the fire to stand at the latter's side. Rosalind, who'd started to get up, sat down again. Danny suspected that Eichra Oren was about to have trouble. "Before anybody asks, the shooting's stopped upstairs, at least for now. The Russians and Americans have withdrawn amidst ugly muttering and threats from the Banker. Ortiz and Sebastiano are still out there patrolling, backed up by Admiral Hoong. My ship's refueling, so I can relieve them."

The man looked drawn and pale to his son and held his head at an angle. Perhaps only Danny understood that there was more to it than refueling or his father would have stayed with his ship. The PRC fleet was out there which meant that, having long avoided it, the rest of the expedition would now be forced to choose sides as the shuttle commanders had. It was a situation unlike any they'd faced before. In his mind were old movies about West Point on the eve of the War Between the States.

"Enzymes," replied Colonel Tai. "Your first reports were analyzed and, well, passed on, both to Russian and Chinese intelligence. I believe we arrived at the solution first, but . . ."

Gutierrez laughed. "Your secrets are as volatile as everybody else's?"

The colonel grimaced. "In any event, spray-application opened the canopy and closed it so that little air was lost. You've seen our prisoners?" He indicated the Russians and Americans, squatting in a row against one of the modules removed from the shuttles to make room for fuel. "We captured these Marines on the ground, having killed many of their comrades, but the Russians were trapped halfway through the canopy like flies in amber. These are the survivors. Their aerosol spray was too dilute."

"Russian quality control—or somebody's brother-in-law watering the stock to make an extra ruble." Gutierrez shook his head. "Very well, Colonel, what do you intend doing now?"

"Whatever you ask, sir, consistent with my nation's interests. I'm to assist under your orders. This group's one of twenty-three of which I'm in command. Altogether we are five hundred twenty-nine." He tapped an earpiece he was wearing. "I'm told we now have a great many more prisoners, too."

The gunfire did seem to be tapering off. The general whistled at the prospect of his command increasing more than tenfold. "Thanks, Colonel, I'll get back to you. If you'll excuse me . . ." He turned to Danny. "Lieutenant, have the company fall in, those not engaged in essential tasks."

"Sir!" Danny snapped a salute and began gathering the shuttle crews together. Perhaps the others had anticipated what was about to happen; the task was accomplished in only a few minutes.

It was obvious that Mister Thoggosh was satisfied. Rounding up personnel, Danny overheard him tell Eichra Oren—without benefit of implants—that it was a sign that "these organisms" were "learning to think for themselves. Despite Aelbraugh Pritsch's contrary urging," he told the Antarctican, "I intend to refrain from offering them any advice. As I informed my assistant, if they can learn to do the right thing, perhaps even bird-beings might learn to relax a little." Eichra Oren glanced at Toya and chuckled. Sam said something about Hell freezing over. Danny assumed the message had been meant for American ears although he didn't know why he'd been chosen to hear it. He'd pass it along to his father. The assembled company was asked to sit on the ground.

"So far," the general told his people, "events haven't left us much time for choices. The arrival of three fleets from Earth was a surprise even to the Elders, and we were fired on without warning. All we've done is defend ourselves. It may take some fancy legal work, but if anybody's interested, I'm willing to bet the offer from Admiral Delacroix is still open, and that the Banker will be willing to talk a deal, as well. Now that we've bought the time, we all have some thinking to do."

Gutierrez reminded his fellow human beings of everything that had happened here on 5023 Eris. On one hand, he pointed out, there were the Elders who, in their gruff, perplexing manner, had befriended them. They owed their lives many times over to these odd beings from a parallel reality. On the other hand, there were the governments of their own planet, made up of human beings like themselves. Did the expeditionaries owe them any special loyalty?

"Loyalty," Rosalind spoke aloud—and yet almost as if she were speaking to herself—"is supposed to be a two-way street."

"Excellent point," answered the Russian agriculturalist, Valerian. "Have these institutions ever done anything but exploit those of whom they demand loyalty—and in our case, betray and abandon us?"

"General Gutierrez, I demand that you put a stop at once to these disgusting amateur individualistics!" It was Empleado. "Our duty is clear! This talk is treason, not just to our government but to humanity itself!"

"Blow it out your ass, you KGB cockroach!" Danny watched his father carefully avoid seeing who'd said that. Some time passed before similar replies, mostly obscene, began to taper off. As his father continued, Danny found that his own choice wasn't all that hard. It was true that, if he sided with the Elders, he might never see his family—mother, brothers, sisters—again. His father had to be aware of that, and of the fact that the government might take his defection out on his wife and children. Danny also knew that this didn't make them different from anybody else here.

Although he couldn't say why, he felt that making the right choice was the best way he could help his family. He also knew that his father faced another problem. Despite his opening remarks, which had represented nothing less than the truth, the general wouldn't want, even by implication, to make choices for others. Wasn't the whole point of this situation the right and necessity to do that for oneself? This probably meant that Danny, too, should wait until the last minute before declaring himself, so as not to tip the balance. As it was, the others seemed to be having more difficulty than their commander and his son.

"I worry most," Gutierrez told them, "that after all we've been through, we'll find ourselves peering at each other over gunsights." He looked at his audience, most carrying weapons as they had since the initial misunderstanding with the Elders. "At the same time, you can bet the Banker's preoccupied with his own great fear that we might use Predecessor technology to defend ourselves. He may not know it, but his concern is groundless."

The crowd gave him a disappointed groan. Many of them, who hadn't helped explore below, had been harboring hopes of a miracle.

"Sorry, but it'll be years before we'll understand what 5023 Eris is capable of, let alone take advantage of it. Of course that hasn't stopped Nikola Deshovich from trying to prevent it. What he didn't count on was that, even with the Predecessors' systems still inactive, we're far from helpless."

"What do you mean, General?" the geologist, Guillermo interrupted. "I thought we were surrounded."

Gutierrez sighed. "Hector, there's a lesson here if we're smart enough to learn it. Back home, we delegate personal defense to the authorities."

"So scum like Deshovich," Danny was unable to help himself, "end up running things."

His father shrugged. "Fair enough. By contrast, the nautiloids are accustomed to personal weaponry." From a pocket, he pulled the tiny Kahr 9mm pistol he'd carried since finding it on Richardson's body. "And to tell the truth, I've sort of gotten used to it myself. Eichra Oren's little hypervelocity steam gun typifies the potency of private arms available to the Elders. The point is that each of these beings controls his own destiny."

Ortega y Pena snorted. "Small arms against nuclear weapons?"

"Excuse me, Horatio, I didn't intend to interrupt." Mister Thoggosh drew himself toward the group. "You mentioned a lesson to be learned. This Banker of yours doesn't want to destroy his enemies so much as steal what belongs to them, is that correct?"

"Not my Banker, Mister Thoggosh. Otherwise, you're right."

"Still, his purpose would be lost in destroying what he wants to seize."

The botanist nodded. "Which is probably why he's withdrawn for the present. A wise barbarian loots before he burns. The only way he could do that was to come down and fight at a level where small arms are effective. And there, he lost."

"For the time being, Federico, as you say," the general answered. "The nukes he brought are an empty threat. His manpower, drawn from World Soviet `peacekeeping' forces, came expecting to assault wholly undefended territory." He indicated the prisoners. "Doctrine gave them no preparation for an armed population. Makes for an effective defense policy, doesn't it? But at a price no government today is willing to pay—"

"Limitations on its own power," Ortega y Pena offered, "set by the same armed population."

Mister Thoggosh chuckled. "They are beginning to learn, Horatio."

"Back on Earth, too," declared Colonel Tai. "Before we ran into Corporal Owen, we, well, asked our friends over there some leading questions."

Toya gasped. "You tortured them?"

Tai laughed. "We didn't have to—Pulaski, is it? They all gave themselves mental hernias thinking up information to swap for their lives. Some would have gone home for more, if we'd let them, and come back to give it to us. The point is, there are scattered uprisings all over Earth. The effort to seize this asteroid exhausted the resources of both Russia and America, weakened both governments, and deprived their leaders of any remaining credibility."

"So it's over."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far, General. If the Banker survived the battle, doubtless he'll continue to be the first-class nuisance he's always been."

"And what will your people do?"

"After things are squared away here, you mean? Well, some of us are preparing to return to Earth. If your people are concerned about events at home or worried about their families, they're free to return with us if they wish—and if you permit, of course."

"I appreciate the courtesy, but anybody can go back who wants to—including prisoners. Won't that make a crowded trip back for you, though?"

"Not for me, General. Many of us have elected to remain. After all, there's so much to be learned from the Elders."

"All right, welcome to 5023 Eris, then. Danny, please dismiss the company and let them do their own thinking." For the first time, he lifted a hand to his wounded neck. "Rosalind, can I see you a moment? I've got a paying customer for you—me."

 

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