The Royal Sorceress: Sultan Napoleon I

Sultan Napoleon I

There was nothing auspicious about the birth of Napoleone di Buonaparte in 1769 on Corsica. Born to a poor family on a poor island (although the family considered itself to be local aristocracy) the young man was largely brought up by his mother, who forced him to undergo severe hardship to toughen him up. It was sheer happenstance that directed him towards a military career and he was lucky enough to secure a position in a French military school in 1784.

It isn’t actually clear if Napoleon actually possessed any magic. France never developed a testing system for magic until 1825 and, owing to the prevalent religious opinions of the time, many French magicians kept their heads down or fled to Britain. Some reports make it clear that Napoleon in fact possessed a limited amount of Charm, although this may well be exaggerated. When he wanted to be convincing, he could be extremely convincing – and he held the loyalty of many of his followers throughout his entire life. Charm may have played a role in his development, but others who commanded equal amounts of loyalty had no Charm to aid them.

Despite hostile propaganda, Napoleon played no role in the long period of unrest that gripped France, ending with the Battle of Paris in which the French Army brutally crushed the rebellious French underclass and allowed King Louis to start a reign of terror. However, as a Corsican (Corsica having been seized by the British during a moment of French weakness) Napoleon was expelled from the École Militaire. The reasoning has been lost to time, but is generally believed to be because the Corsican population (including some relations of the young Napoleon) enthusiastically welcomed the British invasion. It seems likely that the general historical record is accurate and Napoleon never actually returned to his homeland. Instead, he joined a small convoy of former French students and officers who were making their way to Turkey.

The Ottoman Empire (often conflated with the Turks in European writings of the time, although the Ottomans were as much a multicultural entity as the British Empire) was going through troubled times. What had once seemed certain dominance of the (known) world was slowly giving way to military decay. The once-great institutes of the Janissaries, the civil service and even the religious authorities were giving way to sloth and heading towards collapse. Turkey – once feared throughout the Mediterrian – had suffered a series of defeats that suggested that its power was on the wane. Those who tried to reform the state found it an extremely difficult (and sometimes lethal) task as they were opposing entrenched interests of both a military and religious nature.

Precisely how Napoleon came into contact with Sultan Selim III (1789–1809) is uncertain. It seems likely that Selim, who wanted to copy the improvements made by Peter the Great (known as Peter the Mad in Turkey) to the Russian military, would seek out the Frenchmen who had been trained in one of the world’s more famous military academies. The young Napoleon soon found himself in charge of creating a reformed military force that would, originally, complement the Janissaries. It was at this point, according to his official biographer, that he converted to Islam. Precisely how seriously he took the conversion is unknown, but he soon acquired three wives (including a relative of the Sultan himself) and was talking with apparent conviction on the value of Islam towards a reformed military. His first book – The Prophet and the Army of Allah – was written in 1797.

Put simply, Napoleon’s argument was that the Prophet’s campaigns against the infidels in the Arabian peninsula showed lessons for the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire. Learning from the Prophet’s successes meant studying the reasons for the Prophet’s successes – and of his failures. This made him a number of highly-placed enemies among the religious elite, who tended to prefer simplistic answers to such issues, rather than open a debate on the finer points of Islamic history that might start Muslims thinking about the current state of Islamic society. It also brought him a new friend in the form of Imam Abdul Al-Hamada, whose belief that many of the clerics were flouting the true nature of Islam made him a worrying factor for the religious elite. Indeed, his blistering denunciations of them as innovators had made him even more enemies than the young Napoleon.

By 1808, Napoleon’s reformed army – although smaller than the Janissaries – had a fair claim to being the most powerful and capable Islamic army on the planet. Napoleon commanded it in the battles between Russia and Turkey in 1804-1807 and rapidly earned a reputation as a good and capable commander. His actions stamped out the revolts in Serbia and Greece before either one could make serious headway, but his reluctance to trust in Allah (or so the conservative factions charged) made him more enemies back in Turkey. When he returned to Constantinople in 1809, he was targeted for assassination by the Janissaries, who had been spurred on by the religious elite, along with the Sultan himself. Napoleon’s life was saved, however, by what was later interpreted as the direct intervention of Allah. His bodyguards cut him free of the ambush and helped him to escape to the army camp near the city. There, he discovered that the Sultan – his patron – had been murdered and that the religious elite were in control.

A weaker man might have hesitated, but Napoleon acted at once. His army marched on Constantinople at once, gathering support from other reformers as he moved. The conservative factions appeared to believe that they could merely order the soldiers to stop and they would, but Napoleon knew his men better than that (and besides, many of the men had heard harrowing tales of what the Janissaries intended to do to their captives, once they surrendered.) The Battle of Constantinople – sometimes referred to as the Second Siege – lasted barely two days and ended with Napoleon’s troops breaking into the Palace and capturing the ringleaders of the coup. Napoleon promptly ordered them executed, along with most of the captured Janissaries. Precisely how many people died in the bloody aftermath of the coup is not recorded, but by the time it was over Napoleon was the unquestioned Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

He didn’t allow this opportunity to go to waste. Most of the religious elite that had added to the Empire’s stagnation were butchered over the following weeks and months. The Janissaries were broken and disbanded, many sent to remote colonies instead of being allowed to remain near the centre of power. In their place, Napoleon expanded his own army – the Army of Allah – and instituted a program of conscription and gradual reform. He also founded the official clerical school in Constantinople; all Mullahs would have to be certified by the school before they were allowed to practice. Mullahs who spoke out against the Sultan were removed, condemned as infidels and executed.

Many of the changes Napoleon made were positive. He disliked slavery and ended the practice throughout most of the Empire (although, needing men for labour battalions, he often used his enemies as serfs). The position of Jews and Christians within the Empire was much improved; he removed the hated religious tax and stripped the complex laws of the Ottoman Empire down as far as possible. It wasn’t long before Turkey was on its way to producing weapons and other equipment for war. Flying columns of the Army of Allah soon secured Mecca against Arab raiders and safeguarded the Holy City from barbarians. He even started reforming the Ottoman Navy, although he was under no illusions as to how long it would last in the teeth of a vastly superior British Navy.

The British war against the Barbary Pirates provided Napoleon with a chance to prepare his own plans for Ottoman ‘provinces’ and their over-mighty governors. In 1830, he personally led the Army of Allah through Palestine and into Egypt, which was still ruled by the Mamelukes. They claimed to be subordinate to the Sultan, but in reality answered to no one, apart from their leaders. Napoleon allowed them to challenge the Army of Allah and then smashed them with staggering ruthlessness. For all their barbarity, they were no match for what was, effectively, a modern army. The occupation of Egypt, the breaking of the Cairo mob and the establishment of a new government lasted less than a month, although refugee Mamelukes would continue to cause trouble in the south for the next thirty years. Napoleon’s armies took vast numbers of prisoners and sent them to work on the planned Suez Canal. Most of them didn’t live to complete their sentences.

With the humbled Barbary States paying homage to the Sultan, Napoleon was able to thrust his control out along the North African coastline. His armies crushed slavers, burned out pirate nests and eventually secured control of North Africa. Reformists followed in their wake, introducing modern methods to the population and slowly reforming the states. Those who protested too loudly were transported to the work camps of Suez. By 1835, Napoleon could justly claim that he had reinvigorated the Ottoman Empire. And he was far from finished.

American Revolution in SPACE…

So I was dared to come up with a new twist on the ‘American Revolution in Space’ trope…

There’s tension between Earth and some of the colonies, which have started demanding more rights and a say in what happens to them. The governor of one colony has been talking to the rebels on one hand and plotting their military suppression on the other – as it takes months to send troops from Earth, he’s stalling while his hammer arrives and he can use it to crush the rebels.

The main character is really not much more than a bureaucrat. He’s the governor’s secretary and he discovers what his master is planning. Horrified, perhaps believing that the colonists aren’t such bad fellows, he ends up betraying his master – and somehow winds up leading the revolution. Because Earth isn’t going to let it slide – and troops from Earth are on their way to put down the rebellion…

Chris

The Royal Sorceress Sequal

Something I’ve been thinking about is a sequel to the Royal Sorceress, set about a year after the first book. Sir Talbot Buxomly (a Blackadder reference), newly home from India, has been assassinated – and his killer may have used a new kind of magic. Gwen is assigned to investigate by Lord Mycroft, who feels that Sir Talbot’s death (on the verge of discussions between Britain and Russia about the looming threat from the Ottoman Empire) has political motivations. Unfortunately, a rather alarmingly large number of people have good reason for wanting Sir Talbot dead.

Oh, and if his killer isn’t found, the conference is bound to fail and war may loom on the horizon.

Chris

Brainstorming: Aliens In The UK?

I’m looking for a little help with one of my latest ideas.

Basically, the Earth has been invaded by an alien empire for various reasons (Earth is in a strategic location and they want it for power-projection capabilities). The aliens are roughly 50 years ahead of us; their FTL system is ‘slow’ and while they can call for reinforcements, it takes several months for them to receive any from their homeworld.

The story itself is focused on Britain, as there are plenty of stories about the United States being invaded. (Obviously, the US, France, Russia, China, and so on are also getting invaded and clobbered by the aliens, but the story is set in the UK.) Having spent a few months prowling around the system, reading the Internet and surveying us from orbit, the aliens manage to hammer most of the military in the opening round. They then land in London and try to capture the PM, which doesn’t work, before expanding out to occupy the remaining cities. The aliens are fairly brutal, which makes them even more unpopular than they were before.

Things I would like to brainstorm.

What happens to the UK if it gets effectively cut off from the rest of the world? The banking industry probably crashes hard, but that isn’t the major issue. What about food and suchlike? The aliens will probably starve large parts of the population by accident.

How can an insurgency be fought and maintained in the UK? Britain is largely a disarmed society. What happens when – if – the aliens resort to brutal methods to keep the population in line? Or, for that matter, what happens if they feed people in return for submission?

What about the role of the Royal Family. If King Charles is killed, along with Willy, that makes Harry the King. Can he be used as an effective rallying point or not?

Can nukes be used as a last resort? The aliens can shoot down missiles launched from Earth, but tactical nukes could probably be slipped into their bases. What about chemical or biological warfare? Could Earth devise a way of infecting the aliens with a disease?

Are there any other issues that should be considered?

Chris

The Shadow World–a brief guide

Explaining the Shadow World to an inhabitant of the Mundane World is extremely difficult. A person born to the mundane world thinks in terms of cause and effect, logic and reason and other such clinches. When confronted by a Map of Merlin, the Mundane person would find it impossible to grasp that the map actually is the territory and it is possible to use the map to step instantly from one place to another, no matter the distance between them. Very few mundane people can hope to survive and prosper in the magical world; those who do are often regarded as a little mad by their fellows.

Perhaps the best explanation is that the Shadow World and the Mundane are reflections of one another; indeed, one of the easiest ways to slip accidently from one world to the other is through a looking glass. Where science dominates the Mundane World, Magic (in all of its forms) dominates the Shadow World. The creatures of human nightmares – ranging from goblins to elves, faeries, gods, anthropomorphic personifications and demons – inhabit the Shadow World. Humans are very low on the food chain; indeed, one of the most common causes for a Shadow Human choosing to abandon the Shadow World and moving into the Mundane World is a close encounter with a far more powerful being. Curses and hexes from gods and demons, which cannot be removed by any human agency, have no power in the Mundane World. However, the price for embracing the Mundane World is becoming mundane. A sorcerer who chooses to become mundane loses all of his power in the process.

While the Mundane World follows the strict law of cause and effect, the Shadow World is far more slippery. Time does not follow a straight line; it bends and twists back on itself, often causing problems for the more restricted thinkers. Conflicts have been known to start between different factions in the Shadow World because both sides believed that the other started it – and, from their points of view, both sides are perfectly correct. It is not possible to actually rewrite time – insofar as time can be said to exist within the Shadow World – but it is possible for some people to experience an alternate future, which they manage to prevent from having taken place at all after using the temporal geography to walk into the relative past. Some scholars believe that alternate timelines can be viewed through the Shadow World – while the Mundane World hews to its single timeline – but this has never been proven.

One important part of the Shadow World’s laws is that the symbol for an object is – in some sense – the object itself. The simplest example of this lies in personal names, which are always closely guarded within the Shadow World, if only to prevent them being used against the person. All humans and many other creatures within the Shadow World tend to go by chosen names rather than risk having their real names exposed by their enemies. Names can also be used to summon gods, anthropomorphic personifications and demons, although this is commonly believed to be unwise. Such creatures are less limited in the Shadow World than humans and can take advantage of a badly-prepared magician to break free and wreck havoc.

Connected to this, oaths and curses have very real effects within the Shadow World. To promise to do something and then fail to do it – deliberately – can have disastrous effects as the oath rebounds upon the one who swore it. Curses can also shadow their target, although curses are inherently less powerful than oaths, being wished upon someone rather than sworn by their target. However, curses can be diverted through protecting one’s true name and most – human – curses can be easily removed.

Where humans are concerned, the rulers of the English Shadow World are the Thirteen Families, thirteen bloodlines that consistently produce powerful magicians. According to legend, the Thirteen Families were given their patents of nobility by Elizabeth I of England (who was reportedly of elfish blood) after they bred with Faerie women and produced the first human magicians. (This is of doubtful accuracy, as Merlin, Friar Bacon and a number of other famous magicians existed prior to Queen Elizabeth. But it is in the nature of the Shadow World that two contradictory things may be true at once.) Each of the Thirteen is headed by a Master who is styled after his family (so the Master of Burghley Family is always Master Burghley) and, upon investiture, takes on the debts, obligations and oaths of the family. Precisely how new Masters are selected from the ranks of their families is a closely-guarded secret, which leads to a great deal of speculation from outsiders.

The Thirteen Families have a habit of inviting newcomers to join them through marriage to a member of the family. These marriages are generally arranged by the Family Master and the family member selected to be the bride or groom has little say in the affair. However, outside maintaining the all-important bloodlines (and breeding new strength into the family from outsiders), there is little concern about adultery or outside romances. Marriage oaths do not prevent adultery (through careful wording), but they do generally prevent the birth of illegitimate children.

As a whole, each of the Family Masters has a seat on the Council of Thirteen. Being composed of the most powerful magicians in the Shadow World (or of men who have the allegiance of the most powerful magicians) they have the power to make their will felt throughout the human side of the Shadow World. They also have considerable power to affect the non-human entities, although that power is badly limited and is only rarely invoked. In public, the Council will claim that they do not wish to upset the delicate balance of power within the Shadow World; in private, they will admit that challenging the often far more powerful non-human entities would be very dangerous for humanity.

The Shadow World is policed – insofar as it is policed – by the Inspectors and the Enforcers. It isn’t actually clear precisely who the Inspectors work for, but they serve to keep the peace when it is threatened by human activity and protect humans who stumble into the Shadow World by accident. The Enforcers, by contrast, work for the Council of Thirteen directly and carry out its orders, policing human magicians who threaten the Council’s authority or the balance of power. It is often suspected that one day the Inspectors and Enforcers will clash directly – Inspectors have sometimes sanctioned members of the Thirteen Families – but for the moment there is an uneasy peace between both forces.

Outside the Council of Thirteen (and the Inspectors) there is very little law and order within the Shadow World. It has often been described as a ‘dog eat dog’ world, with many humans enslaved by other humans or non-human entities. Humans who stumble into the Shadow World are often very vulnerable to more experienced predators and can get into a great deal of trouble before they realise what is going on. The Inspectors rarely interfere and the grounds that allow them to interfere (on the rare occasions when they do so) are unclear.

Outside the human aspects of the Shadow World are the domains of non-human entities. Some of them, like the Faerie Court, can only be accessed with the permission of the Faerie – being allowed to leave is a different matter. The rules have a nasty habit of changing depending on which part of the Shadow World one enters, although almost every part of the Shadow World recognises the rights of insult and theft. To steal (and be caught) or to insult one of those entities within earshot can have the most drastic consequences, consequences that are enforced by the Shadow World itself. Many of the human captives within Faerie fell into their hands after accidentally transgressing the rules.

The precise nature of the gods (and demons) is imprecise and they tend to discourage questioners. It is generally believed that the gods walked the Earth when the barriers between the Shadow World and the Mundane World were weaker, giving rise to humanity’s religions and allowing the gods to feed off the belief expressed by their worshippers. Gods have been known to lose their power and fade away into the shadows, should they lose all of their believers, although the time-twisting nature of the Shadow World ensures that many still maintain a presence even when their worshippers are all dead.

Above – perhaps – the gods are creatures of vast power, but completely incomprehensible to human minds. Several of them have their own tendrils that leak into the Mundane World, while others seem to keep themselves to themselves, too alien for humans to understand. Even looking at such creatures can be fatal, while close contact can result in death, madness or physical transfiguration. No one has ever been able to communicate with them and they are generally believed to be above the law of the Inspectors. Their true nature is unknown.

Precisely why the Mundane and Shadow Worlds are separated by barriers is perhaps the greatest mystery in a realm of unanswered questions. Given the fact that the barriers started to appear during the time of Jesus Christ and were firmly in place by the time of Mohammed, it is generally assumed that God Himself dictated that the barriers were to protect humanity from the creatures that lurked within the shadows. No one knows for sure, but one thing is certain; the ‘gods’ within the Shadow World reserve their greatest hatreds for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Those who enter their territory rarely come out again.

There are no diplomatic relations between the Mundane World and the Shadow World. As far as the people who exist mainly in the Mundane World know, the Shadow World is nothing more than something rarely glimpsed out of the corner of one’s eye. The governments are not aware of the existence of the Shadow World and wouldn’t be able to interfere with it if they were. For reasons unknown, the fabric of the world seems to adapt to the presence of both worlds, allowing people from the Shadow World to walk unnoticed among the Mundane World.

It is difficult to explain the practice of magic within the Shadow World, as it takes a number of different forms. The most common form involves spells created with the Shadow Voice, a language that can only be spoken within the Shadow World, which – when recited by a person with a magical gift – invoke magic. An advanced magician is able to form new spells in the Shadow Voice and use them without relying on common spells. Other magic spells draw on the gods – there is, as always, a price for such power – or sacrifice humans or animals for magical power. Some magicians are capable of standing up to the more powerful entities, with sufficient preparation, while others are simply unable to touch them.

Despite the nature of the Shadow World’s society, there are places that are accepted as neutral ground. One of them is the Shadow Library, located in the part of the Shadow World that corresponds to Edinburgh. It is the largest collection of magical books in the Shadow World and can be consulted by anyone, provided they can gain entry to the Shadow World. Very few magicians would dare to risk causing trouble within the library. The library itself would turn on them. This does not, of course, stop them from using the library as a place for scheming, intriguing and plotting fiendish revenge against their enemies.

A second neutral ground is ‘Paddy’s Bar,’ tended by a man believed to be an Irish god (presumably the god of beer, but no one knows for sure). The first drink is always free; after that, patrons have to pay for each round of drinks with a story. ‘Paddy’ can be in multiple places at once within his bar and is never seen outside it. Whatever his true nature, he very definitely has the power to evict troublemakers (including Enforcers) from his territory. A number of his bar staff are, in fact, refugees from Enforcers or their former masters. What happens to them after they finish working in his bar is unknown. Inspectors have never attempted to enter his territory, for reasons unknown.

Rumour has it that Paddy’s Bar is linked to every bar in the Mundane World and sometimes Mundane people can enter the bar, enjoy the storytelling and excellent beer, and then return to the Mundane World, unsure of quite what happened to them. No one knows if this is actually true.

Aliens Infiltrators

Imagine a highly advanced civilisation, maybe like Star Trek’s Federation. This society is basically post-scarcity, so it’s fairly settled rather than expanding outwards into the galaxy at high speed. It’s also the most powerful force in the galactic neighbourhood by a long way, not unlike the US today.

And then one of its internal security services discovers an alien infiltrator. There’s an unknown race worming its way into the Federation, setting up the stage for a total power grab and humanity’s enslavement…

How does that sound?

Chris

Aliens in the UK?

Yet another idea going around and around in my mind.

There aren’t many alien invasion novels set completely in the UK. Ok, I wrote the Posleen in UK story (that may not count) and there are Nick Pope’s two excellent novels, but apart from that there’s very little – apart, of course, from The War of the Worlds.

It does make sense, unfortunately. From space, the UK doesn’t look very big, not when compared to America, Russia, China or even France. And while I like to think we can hold our corner at war, we don’t have the same level of deployable firepower as the US. Simple logic means that the US will get the brunt of any major alien invasion force – save, perhaps, for a Posleen-like horde.

So I was thinking about an updated WOTW. The Earth is being invaded by an alien force roughly 50 to 100 years ahead of us. All major countries are being hit, including the UK. The main body of the story, however, would follow the war in the UK, with slight diversions to other parts of the world.

How does that sound?

I admit I’m still thinking about the ending. I’d like to have one with hope, but it may have to be the aftermath of giving the aliens a bloody nose.

Chris

Earth After The Aliens Leave…

Here’s an idea I came up with (well, I came up with it some time ago, but I returned to it) after reading Ghosts of Afghanistan.

Let’s assume that travel at FTL speeds is possible by transiting into hyperspace, as in David Weber’s space opera books. However, it can still take months to travel any meaningful distances – maybe a week per light year for capital ships. Most of their other technology isn’t too far advanced over our own; maybe something like the Axis of Time books. They’re tough, but they’re not godlike.

This still allows the development of empires, and with a number of alien races expanding in all directions, conflict is inevitable. Unluckily for Earth, we are placed along the border between two powers – I’ll call them the Reptiles and the Hamsters – and utterly unaware of this. The agreement between the two superpowers is that neither one will interfere in the affairs of the primitive races in the neutral zone without an invitation. However, the Reptiles pick up SETI transmissions and claim that it’s an invitation.

So they send a fleet to invade Earth, partly because they need an undisputed claim to the solar system to keep the Hamsters out, and partly because the story wouldn’t work without it. The opening days of the invasion are pretty much a combination of Footfall and Out of the Dark – the aliens kick major ass, most organised human militaries are scattered after crippling blows from orbit and they have no difficulty landing forces all over the globe. Unluckily for them, humans don’t really roll over and die and they find themselves the targets of a large-scale insurgency. This happens partly because they’ve messed up the world and hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, starving or finding themselves pushed aside by the aliens, partly because they’ve crushed most world governments – the only people who can surrender. (Killing the only people who can order a surrender is not wise…)

So the next 10-15 years sees a growing human insurgency against the aliens. The aliens generally control the skies and can mount attacks directed against rebel bases, but they don’t always control anywhere outside the reach of their guns. They’ve been doing their best to raise a collaborator army and government, but again – the collaborators simply don’t have much power, outside the areas controlled by the aliens. Some collaborators genuinely do believe that the aliens mean well, others are mercenaries or grateful for alien favours. Maybe the aliens land in Dafur, prevent the genocide from resuming, and then recruit among the humans who are grateful to them. There would be some places that simply couldn’t support an insurgency very well, and other places where the aliens could only go in force.

The aliens do try to help us, although not for our own good. They do offer us new technology, although firmly under their control, and they do help us to set up asteroid mining projects, perhaps even a small interstellar shipping company. These efforts aren’t too attractive when the aliens are still killing humans in job lots, while tricky inventive humans soon find ways to use alien technology against its creators. All in all, the aliens are getting sick of Earth – all the more so as humanity’s resistance groups are banding together and coordinating their efforts. They even have some help from other alien powers, who are quite happy to see the Reptiles getting their heads kicked in by Earth. Worst of all, the repressive fascist government that rules the Reptile Empire is getting the impression that the war against Earth is…slightly unpopular. The Emperor might just be overthrown by his own people.

(I’ve decided that genocide is not on the cards, as it would pull all of the other alien powers into a war against the Reptiles.)

So eventually they declare victory and pull out of Earth’s star system. Earth is free again, after 20 years of alien occupation…

And that is where the story would go. How would Earth react when the unifying force is gone? What would happen to a suddenly-free Earth?

Chris

Alexander’s Revenge-Snippet

Comments, as always, welcome.

Chapter One

“I’m afraid it looks bad,” the doctor said. “We did the best we could, but…”

Alexander Carmichael II barely heard her. The stasis tube in the centre of the room held his attention; he couldn’t look away from its ominous presence. There was a click and the blue light faded away, revealing a man wearing one of his father’s tailored suits. His father’s head was gone, the neck ending in a bloody stump. They’d beheaded him after they’d killed him. He felt his gorge rise and turned away, suddenly uncaring about showing weakness in front of the doctor, or his companions. His father…his father hadn’t deserved to die like that, not at the hands of men unworthy to even look at him. His father…

Bill – his bodyguard – sounded unaffected by the sight. “His head is missing,” he said, causing Alexander to scowl at him. Pointing out the obvious wasn’t his bodyguard’s normal way of talking. “I don’t suppose there’s any hope…”

“We checked,” the doctor said, briskly. She was a middle-aged woman, perhaps the best doctor in the entire sector. His father had sponsored hundreds of young children from the Rubicon Sector, paying for their education in the Core Worlds. Most of them returned to the sector with skills they couldn’t have developed along the Rim, where the Empire’s influence slowly faded out into the interstellar night. “I’m afraid that there’s no chance they took his head as a hostage. The disintegrated brain matter matches his DNA.”

“They wanted to destroy his neural network,” Bill said. The bodyguard sounded troubled. “I think there’s something odd about this whole…”

“Of course there’s something odd about it,” Alexander snarled. “My father is dead!”

He stared down at the body, remembering the times when he and his father had played together, back when he’d been a small child. And then he’d grown up and found that he hardly needed to work, not when his father had given him the largest trust fund in the sector. It had been easy to attract female companionship and enjoy himself, even though his father had clearly disapproved. What did the son of the richest man in the sector have to prove, even to his father?

Alexander Carmichael I hadn’t been an easy man to love. As a young man, he’d inherited an old broken-down freighter from his parents. By the time he’d reached thirty, that single interstellar freighter – not even jump-capable – had become ten starships, serving the worlds of the Rubicon Sector and even reaching towards the Core Worlds. Seventy years of near-constant growth had followed, turning Carmichael Enterprises into the biggest employer in several thousand light years. Millions of people – humans and aliens – had worked, directly or indirectly, for his father. Alexander hadn’t ever understood why his father had disapproved of his lifestyle, not until it had been far too late. His father had watched his son wasting his life.

And now he was dead. It was too late even to say goodbye.

He turned back to the stasis tube, staring down at his father’s headless body. “What happened?”

The doctor hesitated. “There are limits to how much we can disclose…”

Alexander clenched his fists. Doctor Claiborne wouldn’t have had the chance to become a doctor without his father, let alone serve as his personal physician. “You will tell me everything you know,” he said, icily, “or I will personally see to it that your next position is on an independent asteroid along the Rim.”

He barely heard Bill’s sharp intake of breath. He’d surprised himself. But his father was dead…

“The ship was attacked and boarded by pirates,” the doctor said, finally. “They ransacked the ship and killed the entire crew, including your father. The Imperial Navy recovered the hulk twenty hours ago, drifting at the edge of the system. They brought the body back to Fuller’s World.”

Alexander nodded. His father had refused to headquarter his growing corporation on Rubicon, the Sector Capital. Instead, he’d based his headquarters on Fuller’s World, a world that had grown populous on his father’s largess. It wasn’t a decision that had sat well with some of the people who ruled the Empire, but they hadn’t been able to object. And the Imperial Navy had even provided a pair of destroyers to protect the system. It hadn’t saved his father’s life.

“Thank you,” he said. It struck him that he should apologise, perhaps try to ensure that the doctor got a prize assignment somewhere in the sector, but he refused to speak aloud. His father was dead. “Please…reseal the body. My father…”

“She knows what she’s doing,” Bill said, seriously. “It’s time we left her to her work.”

Honey met them outside, her normally bouncy face grim. Alexander hadn’t called her, but he wasn’t surprised to see her, not when she and Bill spent half of their lives trying to control and direct him – for his own good, of course. Honey was a combination of personal assistant, lawyer and concubine, something he found a little embarrassing. His father had chosen his girlfriend! But then, most girls who knew who he was wanted his money and the social cachet that came with his name, not Alexander himself. Honey might be bought and paid for, but at least it was honest.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Honey said. Bill beckoned them both forward into a private room, his head turning from side to side as he checked it for traps or surveillance devices. “He was a very good man.”

“I know,” Alexander said. He’d barely known his father, not really. There were thousands of people who’d known him better than his only – acknowledged, at least – son. The thought was a bitter one. His father should have had another hundred years left in him before he died, passing the corporation to Alexander. He’d thought that there would be time to mend his relationship with his father. “I…”

Bill had finished checking the room, pulling the hatch closed to block out all sound – and outside surveillance probes. Interstellar corporations could afford the best security, something that was desperately needed when they spied on their competitors constantly, looking for weaknesses they could exploit. His father had been a past master at winning every last scrap of advantage from a contract – and leaving the other party convinced that it was the winner. Alexander knew that he didn’t have his father’s flair, let alone his experience.

“Your father was assassinated,” Bill said, flatly. Alexander’s head jerked up. He hadn’t even considered the possibility. “Someone targeted him specifically.”

Alexander stared at him. “Who…?”

Honey’s question was more practical. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve accessed the read the report the Imperial navy crew filed when they boarded the ship,” Bill said. Alexander hadn’t even thought about their report. He cursed himself for the oversight as he activated his neural network and downloaded a copy for himself. Bill’s training would allow him to absorb it almost instantly. Alexander would take longer to read it thoroughly. “There are a number of oddities about the whole incident.”

He ticked them off on his finger as he spoke. “First, your father was almost certainly worth more to them in ransom than in anything else,” he said. “They could have taken him alive and sent you a finger to prove he was still alive – and demanded billions of credits in exchange for his safe return. But they killed him. Why? Second, I’ve seen the remains left behind after pirates hit helpless freighters and they are almost always nightmarish. The crews – the women in particular – are abused horrifically before they are killed. But here…there’s no evidence that any of the crewwomen were raped before they were murdered. There’s also no forensic evidence that might lead to their capture in the future. And finally…they took care to disintegrate your father’s head, destroying whatever files he had stored in his implants.”

Bill looked up at Alexander, his face dark. “It was a planned assassination,” he said, flatly. “Your father was deliberately killed.”

Alexander shivered, despite himself. “Who…?”

“Your father had a great many enemies,” Honey reminded him. “One or more of them could have outfitted a private starship and manned it with a crew of mercenaries. They would carry out their mission and then withdraw into interstellar space.”

“It could have been anyone,” Bill said. “What do you want to do?”

“Find them,” Alexander snarled. “Find them and kill them.”

“The Imperial Navy will do all they can,” Bill said. “You can’t hope to find them on your own.”

“But I’m not on my own,” Alexander said. Cold ice was burning through his soul. His father had left him his entire corporate empire. Millions of employees, hundreds of commercial starships; interests in a thousand different star systems… He’d never given much thought to money as anything other than a means of influence, but now…he could use his father’s money to find his father’s killers. “I have my father’s corporation.”

Honey winced. “The Board may wish to dispute that with you, Alex,” she said. She only called him Alex when she wanted him to pay attention. All of a sudden, Alexander wished that he’d paid more attention to the monthly briefings before attaching his secure e-certificate to the files. His father had kept most of the reins of power firmly in his own two hands, but there was a Board of Direction, composed of lesser shareholders. “They’ve already called a meeting for 1430.”

“That was quick,” Bill observed, sardonically. The bodyguard’s surprisingly ugly face – ugly, in a universe where anyone could afford cosmetic surgery to become a god or goddess – twisted. “You want to bet that one or more of the Board was working with the killers?”

“Or merely had a source in the local Imperial Navy office,” Honey countered. “If they’d been caught paying to have the Chairman assassinated…”

Alexander shook his head. “I’m going to use the power and influence my father left me to ensure that his killers are utterly destroyed,” he said. He meant every word. “And if the Board doesn’t like it, they can go fuck themselves.”

“Then you may wish to consider your strategy for the meeting,” Honey said. “Telling them that you intend to invest in such a venture will not please them. And believe me; they can make life hard for you.”

“My father…”

“You’re not your father,” Honey snapped. “You have a great deal of power; more, I think, than you fully understand. But your father commanded their fear as well as their respect.”

She shook her head. “It’s going to take nearly an hour to reach Foresight,” she added. “I think…”

“We’ll take the Sam Gunn,” Alexander said. His father’s yacht was still in orbit around Fuller’s World. If his father had taken his private starship instead of riding on a defenceless freighter…he pushed the thought aside, angrily. “We’ll be there in plenty of time.”

***

Foresight wasn’t a natural asteroid cluster. Over the years, engineers employed by Alexander Carmichael I had moved seventeen giant asteroids into an independent orbit around the system’s star, using them to create a headquarters for his corporate empire. Three of them spun to produce gravity, serving as homes for the staff who kept the corporation running; the remainder served as industrial production nodes and sources of raw material. It had taken Alexander some time to appreciate the logic behind using the asteroids, rather than Fuller’s World itself as a base, but it made a certain kind of sense. The government on Fuller’s World might eventually start trying to legislate against the corporation.

They’d have to be insane to try, Alexander thought, as he strode into the boardroom. It was the most tightly secure room in the system, at least outside the imperial Navy office on Fuller’s Word. My father’s enterprises turned Fuller’s World into a bastion of productivity – not too bad, given that the original settlers didn’t have a pot to piss in between them. If they annoyed my father…

The thought chilled him. His father had been the unelected monarch of the system; hell, he’d been the most powerful man in the Rubicon Sector. There were richer and more powerful corporations up towards the Core Worlds, but few of them cared to compete along the Rim. If his father – or Alexander himself – had coughed at the wrong time, it could have caused a financial collapse, or worse. He cursed his own stupidity under his breath. If he’d spent more of his childhood learning from his father, rather than rebelling against him, he would be in a much better position to seek revenge on his father’s murderers.

“Alexander,” a low voice said. Li Maxilla was as stunning as he remembered, an oriental woman with long dark hair and a perfect smile. She was also over two hundred years old, he reminded himself sharply, using the most advanced cosmetic and rejuvenation technology to retain her youth. Her climb into the business world had left a number of knives in her partners’ backs, sometimes literally. “I was so sorry to hear about your father.”

Alexander nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Let them think of him as a weakling son, no matter how badly it rankled. It would make their surprise all the more entertaining. Honey had briefed him extensively during the flight to Foresight Asteroid, discussing the members of the Board and their weaknesses. His father had kept them in check, somehow, despite their behaviour within their own corporations. Alexander didn’t understand how he’d mastered his partners.

Khan Garbanzo grunted in agreement. He was a dark swarthy man, given to overindulgence in all parts of his life. Honey had noted that he prided himself on bedding a different girl every night, before pushing his unfortunate victim back into the gutter. Despite modern medicine, it was hard to hide the signs of his lifestyle from casual onlookers. He was only pushing seventy years old, but he looked the oldest person in the chamber.

“He was a great loss,” Rupert Hastings agreed. Like Alexander’s father, Rupert Hastings had crawled up from small beginnings; unlike Alexander’s father, he’d put his company up for sale and invested in other companies as soon as he had secured the money. He had considerable energy, Honey had explained, but he was also remarkably lazy. Hastings wouldn’t jump unless someone prodded him into jumping – and he would always insist on ensuring that there was something below to catch him. “We will all miss him terribly.”

Alexander nodded. “The privacy shield is in place,” he said. His implants reported that all network connections to processors outside the chamber had been cut off. The only processor left in the room was the one his father had installed, years ago. “I believe…”

“I believe that we should consider the issue of electing a new Chairman,” Maxilla said, cutting him off. “Our vested interests require a firm and steady hand at the helm or…”

“There will be no need for such an election,” Alexander assured her, cutting her off as rudely as she had cut him off. “I have secured my inheritance from my father. As the majority stockholder in Carmichael Enterprises, I am the rightful Chairman.”

There was a brief pause as the members of the Board exchanged glances. “I’m afraid a case could be made that you have not yet reached your majority,” Garbanzo grunted, finally. “You are young and Imperial Law clearly states that certain inheritances, particularly those that might cause instability, are to be held in trust until the receiver reaches his fiftieth birthday.”

Alexander looked up at Honey, who smiled. “With all due respect, Master Garbanzo, your citation of Imperial Law is inaccurate,” she said. “There are cases where swift transfer of power has taken place, despite the recipient being under age. In any case, it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters,” Garbanzo snapped. “Do you have any idea of just how much is at stake?”

“In the event of the courts deciding that my client was underage,” Honey said sweetly, “control over his shares would pass to the duly-appointed trustee, as laid down in the will. I must inform you that Mr Carmichael named his son both the primary heir – and the trustee.”

Her smile widened. “He will be effectively holding the shares in trust for himself,” she added. “There is a wide body of case law that would provide ample precedent for this position. Furthermore, there are terms in the will that provide funds for fighting a series of court cases to ensure that the will was upheld. Indeed, a court case would very likely be thrown out by the judges.”

Alexander held up a hand before Garbanzo could explode with rage. “In any case, I do not intend to make major changes,” he said, firmly. Honey had outlined exactly what they’d agreed to before his father had allowed them onto the Board. They would have a little control over their investments, but there were clauses that his father could have invoked to force them out – if he considered it to be necessary. “I see no reason why the day-to-day running of Carmichael Enterprises should not continue unchanged. I trust that that meets with your approval?”

Li Maxilla smiled. “I can see no objection,” she said. “I think I speak for the majority of the shareholders, however, when I point out that you are young, and you have very limited experience in governing such a vast…range of interests. We would have grounds for a vote of confidence.”

The bitch would never have dared say that to my father, Alexander thought, angrily. How dare she…? He knew perfectly well that she didn’t give two figs for any of the minority stockholders; all she cared about was her own power and place. And if he was forced to buy her out, it would risk destabilising the entire structure. Carmichael Enterprises was designed to be study, with a hundred different sources of revenue, but could it survive a power struggle at the top?

“I do not intend to make any changes to the current structure of the corporation,” Alexander said, as mildly as he could. The bitch could probably read him perfectly. She’d had plenty of time to learn how to read people, after all. “I do, however, intend to use the resources my father left to me to find his killers.”

He studied the Board, wondering if one of them would betray their feelings. But there was nothing, nothing more than calculating eyes. They would wait and see where matters led before trying to unseat him. Despite Honey’s briefing, he was unwilling to risk pushing matters too far. They would know the legalities of the situation far better than he did.

“There are sufficient resources for me to do that using the loose funds my father created,” he continued. “The day-to-day business of Carmichael Enterprises will not be affected. They may even be improved.”

Khan Garbanzo leaned forward, quickly. “Improved?”

“I have been considering the files,” Alexander said. He used his implants to upload a file into the local processor and display it in front of the Board. “Over the past five years, we have lost no less than forty freighters to pirate attacks – and at least nine others to causes unknown. We are not the only corporation to be affected, of course, but proportionally we’re being hit worse than our competitors. My father was forced to raise shipping rates for unescorted freighters within the sector – which, as I’m sure you’re aware, is a major part of our business.”

He shrugged. “Despite considerable effort, my father was unable to convince the Imperial Navy to provide escorts for our ships,” he continued. “The results have been devastating. I think that the minor stockholders would agree with me that something must be done – and if the Imperial Navy won’t do it, we’ll have to do it for ourselves.”

“Perhaps a study could be done,” Rupert Hastings said, slowly. “We could consider the legalities of tackling the pirate problem ourselves.”

“By the time such a study would be finished,” Alexander said, sharply, “we would have lost every ship in our little fleet twice over. The losses are unacceptable and I intend to do something about them. They targeted my father deliberately. Who’s to say that they won’t come after you next?”

He stood up. “I will be heading to Rubicon this evening to discuss matters with Admiral Price-Jones,” he added. “I will ensure that the management levels within this asteroid are assured that it is business as usual. Our efforts to deal with the pirates and extract revenge for my father’s assassination will be handled separately. Thank you for coming.”

Outside, he allowed Honey to drag him into another private room. “You shocked them,” she said, dryly. Alexander grinned. He found it hard to care. “You do realise that one of them might have ties to whoever killed your father?”

“I know,” Alexander said. “I’m hoping that they’ll panic and do something stupid. Otherwise…how will I find the bastards who did the deed?”

Honey snorted. “And what happens if they kill you as well?” She asked, sardonically. “How do you intend to collect your revenge from beyond the grave?”

“Well,” Alexander said, after a moment, “I’ll just have to try and stay alive, won’t I?”

Genetically-Engineered Superhumans In Real Life?

I’ve been thinking about what might happen if genetically-enhanced people became common – in effect, designer babies. My general concept is that the treatment has to be performed once the egg has met the sperm, with the end result either implanted in the woman or brought to term in an artificial womb. It can’t actually be done after the child is born, although as technology advances it may be possible to ‘tweak’ the developing child. I think that military scientists would definitely be interested in creating a real Captain America, but that might not be possible for some time.

The changes are actually limited, at least at first. Improved disease resistance is one of them; the genies have perfect immune systems. Their skin tans very quickly, rendering skin cancer a null prospect. They can be tweaked to be stronger, generally fitter and perhaps (at least potentially) smarter than the average human. They’re not super-smart, but they do have improved memory and processing capability that tends to give them an impression of being smarter. And all of these changes are basically dominant – they will be passed on to their children, at least to some degree.

Doing this is, of course, very expensive, at least at first. It’s also likely to be one of those dodgy treatments that can’t be performed in the US or Europe because of laws intended to forbid it. (Rather like millionaires will go to Latin America to get a transplant from China rather than wait for one to be available in the USA.) What that all boils down to is that genies will be mainly concentrated among the children of the rich and/or well-connected. By the time the treatments become common (and legally available) there will probably be several generations of genies, all from richer families.

The genies are not insane, not in the sense of being Khan Singh-type superhumans with a dream of world conquest and/or using a tailored virus to exterminate mundane humans. At least, they’re not given to it any more than mundane humans are – which does suggest that there will be quite a few potential tyrants among the genies.

An additional problem is that the technology isn’t very well understood. As researchers try to push the limits, they create problems. Some kids get ill and die early, others miscarry…

So I was wondering – what effect would this technology have on human society? How would the world at large react to it? How about the religious communities? What might happen as the first genies grow up?

How would humanity respond?

Chris