Ran, p.11
RAN, page 11
“Please sit,” Thorpe said, pointing to the couch. “It’s not ideal for your anatomy, so use the cushions as necessary to get comfortable.”
Kenred flipped his tail to one side and placed a cushion under himself. Boszut watched and then did the same.
“Tell me about your organization,” Thorpe said.
“I’m sure you already know about Leader Arclando. He is a dictator of the worst kind. He came to power when I was young by overthrowing the current weak government. His army of storm troopers invaded every branch of government, killed all the supervisory people, and he installed his own lackeys. He rules with a harsh, brutal hand, and anyone who opposes him is summarily executed. I head a surreptitious like-minded group that wants to overthrow Arclando and his cohorts, and install a representative form of government like Amred. We live in the shadows with virtually no access to communications and weapons. We grow larger every day, but until you came along, we could not see our way clear to overcoming Arclando without massive loss of life on our side. My people have been willing to make that sacrifice, but what you offer may make that unnecessary.” Boszut’s scales rippled lavender.
“Dale and Kenred will work with you to get things set up. The spread spectrum comm system will require a swarm of mini-satellites in LEO. Dale will take care of that. Each of your people will need an earwig…”
“A what?” Boszut interrupted.
“A small earpiece that fits entirely inside your ear canal,” Kenred told him. “Short of actually examining the inside of your ear canal, Arclando’s people cannot detect it. The earwig will respond to whispered voice commands, and yet it does not hinder normal hearing.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Thorpe continued. “Kenred will supply the earwigs. Just let him know how many.” He stopped and cleared his throat.
That was a Human gesture that Kenred still did not entirely understand. He knew the physiological function, but he had learned that Humans also used this to pause a monologue, perhaps to gather a thought.
“This brings us to EMD weapons. I know you have projectile weapons, some that function well over long distances. Unfortunately, they are noisy and messy. An EMD weapon will take down any living thing out to at least a hundred meters with no permanent damage to the target, unless you choose to inflict serious damage or death. The moving charge has no visible path, so the lizard using it can remain concealed. Dale will supply you with as many as you need. You can replace the charge unit with a fresh one any time. The charge units can be recharged as a batch in a recharger we will supply. The charge is good for five hundred medium shots. Dale will also supply you with extra charge units and chargers. Any attempt to dismantle an EMD weapon or look inside with x-ray will fuse the mechanism solid. This will keep them out of Arclando’s hands.” Thorpe smiled broadly at Boszut.
Boszut turned to Kenred, silently questioning.
“That,” Kenred said, referring to Thorpe’s smile, “is the Human equivalent of a smile.” He opened his eyes wide, and Boszut reciprocated.
“The more time you spend with us,” Thorpe said, “the more natural our expressions will seem. Since I have gotten to know Jocara and Kenred, I understand their expressions intuitively. Your changing scale colors,” he added with a grin, “help a lot.”
Thorpe shifted position in his chair. “Let’s talk portals,” he said. He turned to Boszut. “You experienced a portal when you came here. We use them everywhere in our daily lives. Portals bring hot and cold water to our sinks and carry away the wastewater—no pipes. Portals deliver electricity to wherever we need it—no wires. Portals supply cool or warm air, so we don’t have piped-in air conditioning or heating. This starship is five klicks across and has two very different sides—a cityscape and a pastoral landscape. While it is possible to walk to any destination on either side, typically, crew members go to their destinations by portal.
“I believe if you and your resistance members can move anywhere in Ceffid quickly and safely, you are more likely to prevail. Distributing portals across a wide matrix is complicated and impractical. If we establish a hub somewhere in Ceffid, there is always the chance that Arclando’s people will find it. Here is what I propose. We will establish a hub on Andromeda. All your Locuses will reside in the hub. You can establish as many portals as you need with hyper-disks. Every portal transit by your people will transit through the hub. Can you give me an estimate of how many portals you will need?”
“That’s a difficult request,” Boszut answered. “I’m not sure how to answer.”
“I need a number, Spajo. You are the best lizard to give me that number. We can always add to it later, but I need something to start with.”
“Okay—a hundred. That’s a large number, but we…”
Thorpe cut him off. “I don’t need an explanation, Spajo, just your estimate of what you think you might need.” He smiled broadly again.
“Thorpe,” Kenred said tentatively, “may I bring up E-disks and internal Links?”
Thorpe sat quietly for several seconds. “Do you think it wise?” he asked Kenred.
“Yes, Sir, I do. It will cement the relationship.”
Thorpe turned to Boszut again. “Kenred asked me to discuss another topic with you.” He turned toward Kenred. “Show him your E-disk.”
Kenred pulled out his E-disk and handed it to Boszut. “Just look—don’t depress anything.”
Thorpe continued. “You are holding an E-disk, short for Emergency-disk. It senses the immediate environment of the holder, you. Should there be a significant change in your environment, a drop in pressure, sudden heat or cold, submersion in water, for example, the E-disk will transport you directly to our central hub, no matter where you are or where Andromeda is, so long as you are within range. Furthermore, you can purposefully activate it to take you away from any threatening situation. Let’s demonstrate.” He handed his E-disk to Kenred. “Kenred, please activate the E-disk and wait for Spajo.”
Kenred activated his E-disk and found himself standing in Andromeda’s Central Hub. A moment later, Boszut joined him, his face registering astonishment, his scales rippling yellow.
“Are you alright?” Kenred asked.
Boszut patted himself all over, opened his eyes and blinked them, and said, “I think so. What happened?”
“I am guessing Thorpe instructed you to press the activator on that E-disk, and I’m assuming you did.”
“That’s about it,” Boszut said.
Kenred pointed to a door labeled Thorpe. “Let’s return to his office.”
They passed through the door into Thorpe’s office that they had just vacated.
“A lizard could get used to this,” Boszut said, blinking his open eyes.
They took their seats, and Kenred handed the E-disk back to Thorpe and accepted his from Boszut.
“Every one of our crew carries an E-disk,” Thorpe said, “and we have supplied some of Amred’s senior people with them as well.” Thorpe held up his E-disk. “The E-disk has another function I want to tell you about.” He leaned back in his chair. “I see Kenred fitted you with a Link. He probably told you we all carry a similar unit integrated into our bodies. One of its functions—and yours does not have this function right now—is to maintain a real-time digital backup of the wearer.”
Boszut’s scales started to ripple in various colors, indicating his uncertainty.
“I know this is a foreign concept to you, Spajo, but we developed the ability to upload anyone to a digital version, a backup if you will. We also learned to generate a new body from an individual’s sequenced DNA and microbiome and download the digital version into that body.” Thorpe stopped talking.
Kenred could almost hear Boszut’s mental gears turning.
“Let me see if I understand you, please,” Boszut said. “You create a continuous, real-time digital backup of everyone, and then…and then…” He looked at Kenred. “If you die, you are rejuvenated. Did I get that right?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Kenred answered.
“So, if I have a Link and one of those,” pointing to Kenred’s E-disk, “if I am killed, I get whisked back to Andromeda, where my digital backup is downloaded into a newly created body?”
“Close enough,” Kenred said. “You connected the dots rather quickly.”
“That’s why I lead the resistance and not someone else.” Boszut looked around the room at Thorpe, Dale, and Kenred. “So, you guys are immortal!”
“In a manner of speaking,” Thorpe said, “so long as we are in range of Andromeda. Our E-disks sense our physical condition. If one of us is seriously injured or killed, we are whisked to the Rejuvenation Lab, where the staff decides to repair or replace. It makes no difference from your perspective.”
Boszut took a deep breath that ended with a sigh. “If I undergo that treatment, I will be immortal. What happens when you leave?”
“You lose your immortality,” Thorpe said.
“Can we do the backup thing without the internal Link?” Boszut asked.
“We will need a sample of your DNA and make a onetime recording of your essence. After that, your Link will keep it updated. We won’t need your microbiome, because we already have the Arcan microbiome in our files.”
“This is a lot to process,” Boszut said, scales rippling multiple colors. “You hardly know me, and you are offering me immortality.”
“Not immortality so much as rejuvenation while you are using our help to overthrow Arclando. We’ll readdress the topic when this is all over.” Thorpe came to his feet. “Dale will take you to Medical for the DNA sample, and then you three will work out the details for our assistance.”
Resistance Headquarters—Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Resistance headquarters was in a nondescript house in the capital city Ceffidia’s suburbs. A resistance family actually lived there. An underground passageway provided member access. They entered the tunnel through a public restroom in a small park near the house.
Boszut returned to the coastal village safe house by portal. He carried his E-disk and a hyper-disk that connected to the Ceffid Hub on Andromeda. He briefed the resistance member at the safe house on portals and the new comm system, and gave him a dozen earwigs to distribute to members as they passed through.
Boszut made his way to Ceffid. He avoided public transportation by hitching rides with a string of his colleagues. His final driver dropped him off at the park near headquarters. He had changed into running togs and jogged a lap around the park before entering the restroom. A full-length mirror responded to his triggering a hidden latch and opened inward. He stepped through and closed the mirror door behind him. Five minutes later, he climbed up through a floor hatch into the basement of his Ceffidia headquarters.
Boszut pulled out his hyper-disk and activated it. A moment later, Kenred and Dale stepped into his basement.
“I see you made it safely,” Kenred said, scales rippling lavender. They gripped hands, and then Boszut took both Dale’s hands in his in the traditional Arcan greeting.
“We are in the basement of a Ceffidia house several klicks from city center where Arclando has his headquarters. I keep a low profile and run resistance activities from here. I want to bring several dozen hyper-disks and a thousand earwigs here so my people can distribute them throughout the country. Once my people are familiar with portals and the new comms, we’ll plan the next stage.”
In two weeks, 100 hyper-disks sat in secure locations. Most resistance members could use the portals several times. People were getting used to entering a portal to the Ceffid Hub on Andromeda, and then passing through the destination portal. Everyone wore earwigs. Programming them was effortless. Tell your earwig your name—that was it. Call anyone by saying their name, or by saying the destination name—Headquarters, for example. Earwigs became ubiquitous within a few days of their introduction. Portals took somewhat longer.
Within three weeks, Boszut was ready for the next stage.
“We are ready to receive the EMD weapons,” Boszut told Dale by Link. “Can you send twelve weapons to each portal, along with seventy charge units and one charger? This will give each lizard carrying the weapon three full reloads, with the ability to replace the three charges and the operational load at one time.”
“Do you have people standing by at each portal?” Dale asked.
“I do.”
“Okay, we’ll start passing them through in five minutes.”
The guns were small, easily concealable, fit the Arcan hand perfectly, and were accurate out to 100 meters on stun or kill. Boszut tucked one under his belt and slipped three charges into his pockets. Kenred stood beside him.
“This will make a big difference,” Kenred said.
“More than that,” Boszut said, “it will give us the victory.”
Boszut called an online meeting with his lieutenants and Thorpe. Since holoimage projection was not available with the spread spectrum system, his people presented themselves audibly. He invited Kenred to be there in person, and Thorpe’s holoimage joined them.
“The illusion of your presence is quite amazing,” Boszut said to Thorpe.
“It’s a technology we have developed for over a century, now,” Thorpe said.
“Okay, Lizards,” Boszut said, “we’re going to pull off a remarkable subterfuge in which each of you will play a role. If we pull this off successfully, I expect the Arclando regime to fall.
“I want each of you to understand your role thoroughly. Should your part of this plan go awry, know your exit strategy implicitly and don’t hesitate. We’ll mop up those elements afterward.”
Boszut then laid out the details of his plan and issued specific assignments to each lieutenant. When he finished, he said, “I’ll give you a week to familiarize yourselves with the details and brief your people. Then I will set up my meeting with Arclando and will inform you of the exact date and time. You will need to have your piece of the plan in place and ready to go then. Should something go wrong at my end, enter a holding pattern as detailed in your instructions. If your judgment tells you to implement your exit strategy, do so—don’t wait for instructions. If, for any reason, I cannot communicate with you, Astronaut Kenred Zlaxiz will be my spokeslizard. Follow his orders as if I were giving them.
“The offworlders have given us the chance of a lifetime. We’re going to take it, and we’re going to take back our country!”
Chapter Ten
Ceffid Leader Bopr Arclando’s Office—Ceffidia, Ceffid, Planet Arcan
Resistance leader Spajo Boszut placed a regular call from his Ceffidia headquarters to Leader Bopr Arclando’s offices. As received by Arclando, however, the call appeared to come from a small village in a remote corner of Ceffid, thanks to Dale’s manipulation of the Ceffid communication system with optical tensors he had inserted into their system.
“This is Spajo Boszut,” the resistance leader said, knowing that Arclando’s comm people would initiate an immediate trace. He wanted the trace to locate the remote village. By the time secret police arrived there, he would have long since implemented the next step in his plan. “Please connect me with the Leader,” he said.
Had any other caller made this request, Boszut was certain he would have been disconnected and perhaps traced and punished. He waited for several minutes while the wheels of dictatorial bureaucracy turned. Finally, Boszut heard a click.
“This is Leader Arclando. You are resistance leader Spajo Boszut, I presume.” Silence filled the line for about thirty seconds. “Why have you called me?”
“I want to turn myself in,” Boszut said matter-of-factly.
“You what?”
Boszut didn’t answer that. Instead, he said, “But I have conditions.”
“Conditions…?” Arclando’s voice rose a notch.
“Let me explain, Sir.”
“Conditions…what do you mean, conditions?” Arclando was close to shouting.
“I will turn myself in, Sir, and you can deal with me as you wish, but you must grant amnesty to every other resistance member.”
“What?”
“And this amnesty must be completely public and without conditions of any kind.”
“Why would you do this?”
“There has been too much fighting and dying—too much suffering. My people are tired of running and hiding. They want to settle down and raise their families. It’s what they want, and the only way it can happen is if I take myself out of the equation.”
“What if I say no, and make an all-out effort to capture and kill you all?”
“You can’t do that, Leader Arclando. You are not strong enough. You can keep going like you are, and a lot of us will die, but so will your people. I am offering a much better solution. If we can make this happen, everybody wins.”
“Except you,” Arclando snarled.
“Except me, and I’m willing to make the sacrifice for my people,” Boszut said.
“Alright,” Arclando growled. “I accept your offer.” Boszut could hear him hissing at the other end of the line. “Call me back in two days to work out the details.”
Boszut called Thorpe. “Arclando accepted the deal. I call him back in two days to formalize the arrangements.”
“We follow the plan,” Thorpe said. “Can you join me in my office for a few minutes? You need to meet someone.”
Boszut passed through the Ceffid Hub into Thorpe’s office. eThorpe’s holoimage was present, apparently sitting in an easy chair.
“Spajo, this is eThorpe. He is a digital copy of my upload. The whole thing is a bit complicated, but think of eThorpe as an independent digital individual.”
Boszut clasped his hands together and greeted eThorpe. The holoimage reciprocated.
“Arclando and I have already had a run-in,” eThorpe said. “I am very much looking forward to your encounter.” He gestured to the couch. “Please sit and let’s walk through our plan.”
