Colin Kapp - THE SURVIVAL GAME
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Colin Kapp
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Colin Fry
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The Survival Game
Colin Kapp
CHAPTER ONE
Evening cupped blood-red hands around the city of Tenarensor. The quaint towers of the capital of Ortel became less distinct as the yellow sky darkened through maroon to a deep crimson, shot with the bright stars of the Hub. In mounting chorus the bright horns called over the rooftops, summoning the faithful to give thanks to the gods and call blessings on Oontara, the star king, whose imperious grip on more than a hundred habitable worlds kept the trade lanes free around the Hub and assured the vast fortunes of the empire.
Inside the palace, the twirling shadows of the triple suns at last found rest in the motionless crimson of night. A capricious breeze dallied with the ornate drapes, penetrating the window frets and disturbing the priceless fabrics around the gaming table. Star King Oontara watched the result of its antics, a little surprised, and turned to his guest.
"My Lord Xzan is cold, perhaps?"
Seated at the gaming table between two windows, each of which contributed its fiery glow to the villainous outline of his face, the visiting star lord could adequately have personified the principal of some ancient demonolatry.
"My dear Oontara, you grow soft on this torrid world of yours. I've said so before. I mind when you could wage great battles with the blood cold as ice in your veins. Yet now you're disturbed by the merest draft."
"I was thinking only of your comfort, Xzan. I welcome a breath of fresh air."
"Maybe. But I repeat, you're going soft What use is it for a star king to ply trade with Terra?"
"Oh, so that's what's been on your mind all evening!" Oontara set about stacking new tokens on the gaming table. "And I thought you'd tried too much of the wine, or too few of the women. We sadly misjudge each other, old comrade."
"We used not. We were a fair match in cunning and guessing."
"Nothing's changed. There's still no matter in which I can't equal or better you. As for your opinions of Terra, they're born of ignorance."
With a deft movement of his hand, Oontara spread the gaming tokens across the board, each one falling with mathematical precision. The gesture was not lost on Xzan, who attempted to follow suit but failed.
"Is this what Terran influence has reduced you to-a gamesmaster?" asked Xzan critically. "Those who consort with the weak themselves become weaker."
"You think Terra's weak?"
"The Terrans are a race of weaklings. There's scarcely one I couldn't destroy with a single hand. And none I couldn't tear apart with two."
"Physically that may be true, but you've forgotten the strength of their technology. If you want to see controlled power in action, you should see my Terran-built bark. It's the most singular ship in space."
"I've heard of your ingenious toy. History proves innovators count for little when faced with trained arms. Come, Oontara! You and I have the empires to prove it. Would you pit a Terran expeditionary force against a legion of hereditary star warriors? Of course not."
"Since you answer your own questions, you presumably don't want to hear my views," said Oontara silkily.
"Heh! It was the ransad, the old knowledge, which carved the parsecs off the galaxy and made the star empires possible. That was a thousand years before the infant Terrans even discovered the wheel. All their technology's won for them is eight habitable planets-all of them self-governed. They don't even have the strength to rule what they've gained. I give such playthings to favored concubines."
"You're trying to make me angry, Xzan." Oontara bent low over the table, examining the geometrical de-signs. "You'll not succeed. You've already shown your hand."
"I have?" Xzan's evil visage scanned the game and found nothing amiss, then looked up to meet Oontara's crafty smile.
"Yes. You thought Oontara's flirtation with Terra so unlikely, you had to come in person to find out what the star fox was up to. You felt impelled to know what advantage Oontara could gain from Terra which might be to your detriment. Aren't I right?"
"I admit a certain curiosity."
"Had you asked me direct, I'd have told you. I've seen the light."
"The light?" Xzan's hand faltered on the board, and he misplaced a minor token, but dared not withdraw.
"Certainly!" Oontara saw the false move and was heartened by it. "We were taught that the ransad was absolute-that nothing further could ever be known. The Terrans have proved that knowledge is unending. Whatever you know is only a steppingstone to the infinite possibilities of what could be known. Already they can step a tenth of the way to the next galaxy. Why be limited to this one alone when the universe contains more galaxies than the Milky Way does stars?"
Xzan was dubious. "You haven't mentioned price. What do these wonders cost?"
"Merely the promise to assume membership in the Galactic Federation."
"Federation!" Xzan's scorn was terrible. "Once there were no laws around the Hub but my word and your word, my whim and your whim. That has been the way of star kings since time began. Yet you seek an alliance with upstart weaklings, and talk of federation. I can hear the gods laughing from here."
"The alliance serves me well. I've access to technology the ransad said couldn't exist. And if the promise of my plans is fulfilled, I'll one day control a million worlds where now I've but a hundred. Even Kam Kanizar, the King of Kings, will sit at my feet."
Xzan spat expressively at the immaculate drapes. "In a federation you'll control nothing. In return, you'll have lost your warrior's soul. You're selling your birthright for a handful of platitudes and a headful of ideas."
"You speak as if there were a choice in the matter. There isn't, Xzan. Our way of life became extinct the day Terra independently discovered hyperdrive."
"What sort of heresy is this?"
"No heresy-a revelation. We've been worshipping false gods."
"Mine are the gods of strength and terrible vengeance. Show me anything in the universe stronger than these."
"I intend to. He's a little, fat Terran by the name of Hilary Rounding-Commissioner for Terran Outspace Technical Aid. Neither you nor your gods stand a chance against him."
Oontara reached for a golden tassel, which evoked a distant, soulful bell. A servant appeared, approaching with the deep, obsequious bows which the presence of star nobility demanded.
"Tell the Commissioner well be pleased to see him now."
The man who entered made no attempt to follow protocol. He strode into the room with a broad smile and a hand ready for shaking. Oontara had described him as a little, fat Terran. He could have added that Rounding was bald, suntanned, and seemingly unaware of the awe in which star nobility was held.
Xzan regarded the white-clad dumpling with much surprise, and shook the proffered hand before he had time to consider what the salutation meant. His reaction to the soft, fleshy skin was one of considerable distaste. He looked at Oontara appealingly. If this was the star king's idea of someone who could depose the ancient gods and draw the teeth of hereditary legions, then Oontara had indeed gone soft.
"Lord Oontara, Lord Xzan," the jovial Terran was saying, "I'd like to introduce a colleague of mine- Colonel Bogaert, known to the rest of the universe as Colonel Bogey." He waved his hand toward the door, and a second Terran entered. "Bogey's my technical and military aide. You warlike chaps should find a lot in common."
While Rounding had been speaking, his eyes had been active, noting the devillike scowl of Xzan with a questing interest. Xzan had the uncomfortable feeling that the fat Terran was reading a lot more from his face than the star lord wanted him to know. The arrival of the second Terran served to divert the unwelcome attention.
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