IX
Von Schlichten raced for the telecast station, to receive a call froma Colonel Khalid ib'n Talal, aboard the approaching ship.
"I've one of Jonkvank's regiments, the Jeel-Feeders, armed with Terran9-mm. rifles and a few bazookas; I have a company of our Zirks, withtheir mounts, and a battalion of the Sixth N.U.N.I.; I also have four90-mm. guns, Terran-manned," he reported. "What's the situation,general, and where do you want me to land?"
Von Schlichten described the situation succinctly, in an ancient andunprintable military cliche. "Try landing south of the Reservation, alittle west of the ruins of the labor-camp," he advised. "The bulk ofFirkked's army is in that section, and I want them run out as soon aspossible. We'll give you all the contragravity and fire support wecan."
The _Northern Star_ let down slowly, firing her guns and droppingbombs; as she descended, rifle-fire spurted from all her lower-deckportholes. There was cheering, human and Ullran, from inside thebattered defense-perimeter; combat-cars, airjeeps, and improvisedbombers lifted out to strafe the Skilkans on the ground, and the fourair-tanks moved out to take position and open fire with their90-mm.'s, helping to flush King Firkked's regulars and auxiliaries outof the gullies and ruins and drive them south along the mountain, awayfrom where the ship would land and also away from the city of Skilk.The _Northern Star_ set down quickly, and troops and artillery beganto be unloaded, joining in the fighting.
It was five hundred miles to Krink; three hours after lifting out, the_Northern Star_ was back again, with two more of King Jonkvank'sinfantry regiments, and by 1300, when the fourth load arrived fromKrink, the fighting was entirely on the eastern bank of the dry HoorkRiver. This last contingent of reenforcements was landed in theeastern suburbs of Skilk and began fighting their way into the cityfrom the rear.
It was evident, however, that the pacification of Skilk would not beaccomplished as rapidly as von Schlichten wished--street fighting,against a determined enemy, is notoriously slow work--and he decidedto risk the _Northern Star_ in an attack against the Palace itself,and, over the objections of Paula Quinton, Jules Keaveney, and BarneyMordkovitz, to lead the attack in person.
* * * * *
Inside the city, he found that the Zirk cavalry from Krink had thrustup one of the broader streets to within a thousand yards of thePalace, and, supported by infantry, contragravity, and a couple ofair-tanks, were pounding and hacking at a mass of Skilkans whoseuniform lack of costume prevented distinguishing between soldiery andtownsfolk. Very few of these, he observed, seemed to be usingfirearms; with his glasses, he could see them shooting with longNorthern air-rifles and a few Takkad Sea crossbows. Either weaponwould shoot clear through a Terran or half-way through an Ullran atfifty yards, but at over two hundred they were almost harmless. Therewere a few fires still burning from the bombardment of the nightbefore--Ullran, and particularly North Ullran, cities did not burnwell--and the blaze which had consumed the bulk of Firkked's stock ofthermoconcentrate fuel had long ago burned out, leaving an area of sixor eight blocks blackened and lifeless.
The ship let down, while the six combat-cars which had accompanied herbuzzed the Palace roof, strafing it to keep it clear, and the Kragansaboard fired with their rifles. She came to rest on seven-eightsweight reduction, and even before the gangplanks were run out, theKragans were dropping to the flat roof, running to stairheadpenthouses and tossing grenades into them.
The taking of the Palace was a gruesome business. Knowing exactly howmuch mercy they would have shown had they been storming the Residency,Firkked's soldiers and courtiers fought desperately and had to beexterminated, floor by floor, room by room, hallway by hallway. Theyhad to fight for every inch downward.
Driving down from above, von Schlichten and his Kragans slithered overfloors increasingly greasy with yellow Ullran blood. He had picked upa broadsword at the foot of the first stairway down; a little later,he tossed it aside in favor of another, better balanced and with abetter guard. There was a furious battle at the doorways of the ThroneRoom; finally, climbing over the bodies of their own dead and theenemy's, they were inside.
* * * * *
Here there was no question of quarter whatever, at least as long asFirkked lived; North Ullran nobles did not surrender under the eyes oftheir king, and North Ullran kings did not surrender their thronesalive. There was also a tradition, of which von Schlichten wasmindful, that a king must only be killed by his conqueror, in personalcombat, with steel.
With a wedge of Kragan bayonets around him and the picked-upbroadsword in his hand, he fought his way to the throne, where Firkkedwaited, a sword in one of his upper hands, his Spear of State in theother, and a dagger in either lower hand. With his left hand, vonSchlichten detached the bayonet from the rifle of one of his followersand went forward, trying not to think of the absurdity of a man of theSixth Century A.E., the representative of a civilized CharteredCompany, dueling to the death with swords with a barbarian king for athrone he had promised to another barbarian, or of what could happenon Ullr if he allowed this four-armed monstrosity to kill him.
It was not as bad as it looked, however. The ornate Spear of State,in spite of its long, cruel-looking blade, was not an especially goodcombat-weapon, at least for one hand, and Firkked seemed confused bythe very abundance of his armament. After a few slashes and jabs, vonSchlichten knocked the unwieldy thing from his opponent's hand. Thisraised a fearful ullulation from the Skilkan nobility, who had stoppedfighting to watch the duel; evidently it was the very worst sort of abad omen. Firkked, seemingly relieved to be disencumbered of thething, caught his sword in both hands and aimed a roundhouse swing atvon Schlichten's head; von Schlichten dodged, crippled one ofFirkked's lower hands with a quick slash, and lunged at the royalbelly. Firkked used his remaining dagger to parry, backed a stepcloser his throne, and took another swing with his sword, which vonSchlichten parried on the bayonet in his left hand. Then, backing, heslashed at the inside of Firkked's leg with the thousand-year-old_coup-de-Jarnac_. Firkked, unable to support the weight of hisdense-tissued body on one leg, stumbled; von Schlichten ran him neatlythrough the breast with his sword and through the throat with thebayonet.
There was silence in the throne-room for an instant, and then, with ahorrible collective shriek, the Skilkans threw down their weapons. Oneof von Schlichten's Kragans slung his rifle and picked up the Spear ofState with all four hands, taking his post ceremoniously behind thevictor. A couple of others dragged the body of Firkked to the edge ofthe dais, and one of them drew his leaf-shaped short-sword andbeheaded it.
At mid-afternoon, von Schlichten was on the roof of the Palace,holding the Spear of State, with Firkked's head impaled on the point,while a Terran technician aimed an audio-visual recorder.
"This," he said, with the geek-speaker in his mouth, "is KingFirkked's Spear of State, and here, upon it, is King Firkked's head.Two days ago, Firkked was at peace with the Company, and Firkked wasKing in Skilk. If he had not dared raise his feeble hand against themight of the Ullr Company, he would still be alive, and his Spearwould still be borne behind him. So must all those who rise againstthe Company perish.... Cut."
The camera stopped. A Kragan came forward and took the Spear of State,with its grisly burden, carrying it to a nearby wall and leaning itup, like a piece of stage property no longer required for this scenebut needed for the next. Von Schlichten took out his geek-speaker,wiped and pouched it, and took his cigarette case from his pocket.
"Well, this is the limit!" Paula Quinton, who had come up during thefilming of the scene, exploded. "I thought you had to kill himyourself in order to encourage your soldiers; I didn't think youwanted to make a movie of it to show your friends."
Von Schlichten tapped the cigarette on the gold-and-platinum case andstared at her through his monocle.
"Sit down, colonel." He lit the cigarette. "Your politico-militaryeducation still needs a little filling in. At Grank, we have twoships. One is the
_Northern Lights_, sister ships of the _NorthernStar_. The other is the cruiser _Procyon_, the only real warship onUllr, with a main battery of four 200-mm. guns. How King Yoorkerk wasable to get control of those ships I don't know, but there will be aboard of inquiry and maybe a couple of courts-martial, when things getstabilized to a point where we can afford such luxuries. As it is, weneed those ships desperately, and as soon as he gets in, I'm sendingHideyoshi O'Leary to Grank with the _Northern Star_ and a load ofKragan Rifles, to pry them loose. The audio-visual of which this isthe last scene is going to be one of the crowbars he's going to use."
"But why did you have to fight Firkked, yourself?" she asked.
"I had to kill him, myself, with a sword; according to local custom,that makes me King of Skilk."
"Why, your Majesty!" She rose and curtsied mockingly. "But I thoughtyou were going to make Jonkvank King of Skilk."
He shook his head. "Just Viceroy," he corrected. "I'm handing theSpear of State _down_ to him, not up to him; he'll reign as my vassal,and, consequently, as vassal of the Company, and before long, he won'tbe much more at Krink, either. That'll take a little longer--there'llhave to be military missions, and economic missions, andtrade-agreements, and all the rest of it, first--but he's on the wayto becoming a puppet-prince."
* * * * *
Half an hour later, a large and excessively ornate air-launch,specially built at the Konkrook shipyards for King Jonkvank, wassighted coming over the mountain from the east. An escort ofcombat-cars was sent to meet it, and a battalion of Kragans and thesurvivors of Firkked's court were drawn up on the Palace roof.
"His Majesty, Jonkvank, King of Krink!" the former herald of KingFirkked's court, now herald to King Carlos von Schlichten, shouted,banging on a brass shield with the flat of his sword, as Jonkvankdescended from his launch, attended by a group of his nobles and hisSpear of State, with Hideyoshi O'Leary and Francis X. Shapiroshepherding them. As the guests advanced across the roof, the heraldbanged again on his shield.
"His Majesty, Carlos von Schlichten,"--which came out more or less asKarlok vonk Zlikdenk--"King, by right of combat, of Skilk!"
Von Schlichten advanced to meet his fellow-monarch, his own Spear ofState, with Firkked's head still grinning from it, two paces behindhim.
Jonkvank stopped, his face contorted with saurian rage.
"What is this?" he demanded. "You told me that I could be King ofSkilk; is this how a Terran keeps his word?"
"A Terran's word is always good, Jonkvank," von Schlichten replied,omitting the titles, as was proper in one sovereign addressinganother. "My word was that you should reign in Skilk, and my wordstands. But these things must be done decently, according to customand law. I killed Firkked in single combat. Had I not done so, theSpear of Skilk would have been left lying, for any of the young ofFirkked to pick up. Is that not the law?"
Jonkvank nodded grudgingly. "It is the law," he admitted.
"Good. Now, since I killed Firkked in lawful manner, his Spear ismine, and what is mine I can give as I please. I now give you theSpear of Skilk, to carry in my name, as I promised."
The Kragan who was carrying the ceremonial weapon tossed the head ofFirkked from the point; another Kragan kicked it aside and advanced towipe the spear-blade with a rag. Von Schlichten took the spear andgave it to Jonkvank.
"This is not good!" one of the Skilkan nobles protested. "That youshould rule over us, yes. You killed Firkked in single combat, and youare the soldier of the Company, which is mighty, as all here haveseen. But that this foreigner be given the Spear of Skilk, that is notat all good!"
Some of the others, emboldened by his example, were jabberingagreement.
"Listen, all of you!" von Schlichten shouted. "Here is no question ofKrink ruling over Skilk. Does it matter who holds the Spear of Skilk,when he does so in my name? And King Jonkvank will be no foreigner. Hewill come and live among you, and later he will travel back and forthbetween Krink and Skilk, and he will leave the Spear of Krink inKrink, and the Spear of Skilk in Skilk, and in Skilk he will be aSkilkan. That is how it must be."
* * * * *
That seemed to satisfy everybody except Jonkvank, and he had witenough not to make an issue of it. He even had the Spear of Krinkcarried back aboard his launch, out of sight, and when he accompaniedvon Schlichten, an hour later, to see Hideyoshi O'Leary off for Grank,he had the Spear of Skilk carried behind him. When he was alone withvon Schlichten, in the room that had been King Firkked's bedchamber,however, he exploded.
"What is all this foolishness which you promised these people in myname and which I must now carry out? That I am to leave the Spear ofSkilk in Skilk and the Spear of Krink in Krink, and come here tolive...."
"You wish to hold Skilk?" von Schlichten asked.
"I intend to hold Skilk. To begin with, there shall be a great killinghere. A very great killing: of all those who advised that fool of aFirkked to start this business; of those who gave shelter to the falseprophet, Rakkeed, when he was here; of the faithless priests who gaveear to his abominable heresies and allowed him to spew out hisblasphemies in the temples; of those who sent spies to Krink, tocorrupt and pervert my soldiers and nobles; of those who...."
"All that is as it should be," von Schlichten agreed. "Except that itmust be done quickly and all at once, before the memories of thesecrimes fade from the minds of the people. And great care must be takento kill only those who can be proven to be guilty of something; thusit will be said that the justice of King Jonkvank is terrible toevildoers but a protection and a shield to those who keep the peaceand obey the laws. And when the priests are to be killed, it should bedone under the direction of those other priests who were faithful tothe gods and whom King Firkked drove out of their temples, and it mustbe done in the name of the gods. Thus will you be esteemed a pious,and not an impious, king. It must not be allowed to seem that the cityhas come under foreign rule. And you must not change the laws, unlessthe people petition you to do so, nor must you increase the taxes, andyou must not confiscate the estates of those who are put to death, forthe death of parents is always forgiven before the loss ofpatrimonies. And you should select certain Skilkan nobles, and becomethe father of their young, and above all, you must leave none of theyoung of Firkked alive, to raise rebellion against you later."
Jonkvank nodded, deeply impressed. "By the gods, Karlok vonk Zlikdenk,this is wisdom! Now it is to be seen why the likes of Firkked cannotprevail against you, or against the Company as long as you are theCompany's upper sword-arm!"
Honesty tempted von Schlichten, for a moment, to disclaim originalityfor the principles he had just enunciated, even at the price of tryingto pronounce the name of Niccolo Machiavelli with a geek-speaker.
* * * * *
The sun slid lower and lower toward the horizon behind them as theaircar bulleted south along the broad valley and dry bed of the HoorkRiver, nearing the zone of equal day and night. Hassan Bogdanoff drovewhile Harry Quong finished his lunch, then changed places to begin hisown. Von Schlichten got two bottles of beer from the refrigeratedsection of the lunch-hamper and opened one for Paula Quinton and onefor himself.
"What are we going to do with these geeks,"--she was using the nastyand derogatory word unconsciously and by custom, now--"after this isall over? We can't just tell them, 'Jolly well played; nice game,wasn't it?' and go back to where we were Wednesday evening."
"No, we can't. There's going to have to be a Terran seizure ofpolitical power in every part of this planet that we occupy, and assoon as we're consolidated around the north of Takkad Sea, we're goingto have to move in elsewhere," he replied. "Keegark, Konkrook, and theFree Cities, of course, will be relatively easy. They're in armsagainst us now, and we can take them over by force. We had to makethat deal with Jonkvank, or, rather, I did, so that will be a slowerprocess, but we'll get it done in time. If I know that pair as well asI think I do, Jonkvank and Yoorkerk will give us pl
enty of pretexts,before long. Then, we can start giving them government by law insteadof by royal decree, and real courts of justice; put an end to thehead-payment system, and to these arbitrary mass arrests andtax-delinquency imprisonments that are nothing but slave-raids by thegeek princes on their own people. And, gradually, abolish serfdom. Ina couple of centuries, this planet will be fit to admit to theFederation, like Odin and Freya."
"Well, won't that depend a lot on whom the Company sends here to takeHarrington's place?"
"Unless I'm much mistaken, the Company will confirm me," he replied."Administration on Ullr is going to be a military matter for a longtime to come, and even the Banking Cartel and the mercantile interestsin the Company are going to realize that, and see the necessity fortaking political control. And just to make sure, I'm sending HidO'Leary to Terra on the next ship, to make a full report on thesituation."
"You think it'll be cleared up by then? The _City of Montevideo_ isdue in from Niflheim in a little under three months."
"It'll have to be cleared up by then. We can't keep this war goingmore than a month, at the present rate. Police-action, and mopping-up,yes; full-scale war, no."
"Ammunition?" she asked.
* * * * *
He looked at her in pleased surprise. "Your education has beenprogressing, at that," he said. "You know, a lot of professionalofficers, even up to field rank in the combat branches, seem to thinkthat ammo comes down miraculously from Heaven, in contragravitylorries, every time they pray into a radio for it. It doesn't; it hasto be produced as fast as it's expended, and we haven't been doingthat. So we'll have to lick these geeks before it runs out, because wecan't lick them with gun-butts and bayonets."
"Well, how about nuclear weapons?" Paula asked. "I hate to suggestit--I know what they did on Mimir, and Fenris, and Midgard, and whatthey did on Terra, during the First Century. But it may be our onlychance."
He finished his beer and shoved the bottle into the waste-receiver,then got out his cigarettes. "There isn't a single nuclear bomb on theplanet. The Company's always refused to allow them to be manufacturedor stockpiled here."
"I don't think there'd be any criticism of your making them, now,general. And there's certainly plenty of plutonium. You could makeA-bombs, at least."
"There isn't anybody here who even knows how to make one. Most of ournuclear engineers could work one up, in about three months, when we'deither not need one or not be alive."
"Dr. Gomes, who came in on the _Pretoria_, two weeks ago, can makethem," she contradicted. "He built at, least a dozen of them onNiflheim, to use in activating volcanoes and bringing ore-bearing lavato the surface."
Von Schlichten's hand, bringing his lighter to the tip of hiscigarette, paused for a second. Then he completed the operation,snapped it shut, and put it away.
"When did all this happen?"
She took time out for mental arithmetic; even a spaceship officer hadto do that, when a question of interstellar time-relations arose.
"About three-fifty days ago, Galactic Standard. They'd put off thefirst shot, six bombs, before I got in from Terra. I saw the secondshot a day or so before I left Niflheim on the _Canberra_. Dr. Gomeshad to stay over till the _Pretoria_ to put off the third shot. Why?"
"Did you run into a geek named Gorkrink, while you were on Nif?" heasked her. "And what sort of work was he doing?"
* * * * *
"Gorkrink? I don't seem to remember.... Oh, yes! He was helping Dr.Murillo, the seismologist. His year was up after the second shot; hecame to Ullr on the _Canberra_. Dr. Murillo was sorry to lose him. Heunderstood Lingua Terra perfectly; Dr. Murillo could talk to him, theway you do with Kankad, without using a geek-speaker."
"Well, but what sort of work ...?"
"Helping set and fire the A-bombs.... _Oh! Good Lord!_"
"You can say that again, and deal in Allah, Shiva, and Kali," vonSchlichten told her. "Especially Kali.... Harry! See if you can getsome more speed out of this can. I want to get to Konkrook while it'sstill there!"
It wouldn't be there long, the way things looked. King Orgzild hadfour tons of plutonium, and with Prince Gorkrink probably able tobuild A-bombs, Keegark would be set to bring Ullr its first taste ofnuclear warfare. Von Schlichten shuddered as he pictured thathappening. At the moment, shuddering was about the only thing he coulddo.