The Web and the Stars (27 page)

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Everyone wants to be seen and noticed. It is an aspect of the Human condition. It is also an aspect that we constantly attempt to select and frame the pictures in which we appear.

—Master Noah Watanabe

Anton Glavine, a former maintenance man and later a prisoner, never imagined that he would one day become the highest-ranking official in the Merchant Prince Alliance, the Doge of all humankind. The suddenness of his ascension stunned him. After a midnight vote he felt as if he had been plucked from darkness and lifted into the light, with limitless possibilities for his life. Great riches had been opened for him as the heir to the House of del Velli and the Doge’s share of taxes he would receive, even if they only came from Canopa and the rest was on paper, due to the cessation of podship travel.

In the beginning Anton had to follow a tight course, at least until he gained enough power and influence in his own right to speak out and say what he felt. His concerns ran deep. Principal among them was his enigmatic mother, about whom he had mixed feelings. Anton tried to view her sympathetically for the woman’s mental illness, which seemed obvious. He appreciated the belated attention she had given him, her overtures to make up for the time they had lost between them, more than twenty years. Anton tried to feel love for her, but that was not easy, and he didn’t know if he ever could.

She might have done terrible things to the person he admired most in the entire galaxy, his Uncle Noah Watanabe. Anton had heard stories about Francella performing violent laboratory experiments on her own brother and how he had survived through some miracle and then escaped. If she really did that to him, Anton could never forgive her. He would even see that she was prosecuted, but thus far they were only stories, without evidence.

Francella was claiming that the descriptions were exaggerated, and that she had really conducted controlled experiments, with full medical technology and personnel available for life saving purposes. According to her claim, supported by Dr. Bichette, Noah gave permission to have his body cut into pieces, knowing that they would grow back, and he issued a challenge, asserting he could not be killed. Anton had seen him do that on the pod station, when Noah told his estranged sister to go ahead and shoot, since that could not harm him. He claimed immortality, and evidence suggested that this actually was the case.

Though Anton did not fully understand why, he knew that his mother had always hated Noah and had unfairly blamed him for the attack on CorpOne headquarters that killed old Prince Saito Watanabe. She might even have been responsible for that aggression herself, but Anton did not have any evidence pointing in that direction. Only the suspicions of her brother and other people. Anton wanted to believe the best about his mother. What a shame it would be to find her after all this time and then discover that she had no redeeming qualities at all.

He also found it troublesome that Francella seemed to be a master at pointing fingers, including the recent incident with Noah, the earlier attack on CorpOne, and the way she had recently cast suspicions about Doge Lorenzo, asserting that he knew all along that Princess Meghina was not Human, and had concealed the facts. That tactic was one of the key reasons for his fall from power. As far as Anton was concerned, it had not been entirely above board, but perhaps that was the way of merchant prince politics, just another day in the arena of political combat. Soon, he would learn more about how the game was played. For now, he was a child thrown into the ocean and told to swim.

Trumpets blared, and on all sides noblemen and ladies bowed their heads to Anton as he walked down the central aisle of the Hall of Princes, with his mother just behind him. Anton wore a glittering gold-brocade cloak and uniform, draped in jewels and medallions, while his regal-looking mother was adorned in a long white gown and golden headdress. Outside, the central square fronting the government buildings thronged with people, celebrating the inauguration of the new Doge, the leading prince of the realm.

On one level of awareness, Anton felt tremendous pride, and a certainty that this lofty position was his birthright as the son of Lorenzo. But he also felt a great deal of responsibility, and a fear that he might not be up to the task. He vowed privately to do his best, and to assert himself as soon as he could, getting out from under the skirts of the woman behind him and prosecuting her if he found evidence that she had committed any crimes. Anton knew he had to be his own man. He would grow into the job, beginning with humility and diplomacy and gradually changing, revealing his own personality and goals. It was a difficult time to ascend to this position, with the ongoing hostilities and the strange cessation of podship travel. He doubted if any ruler before him had ever faced such monumental obstacles.

He noticed General Jacopo Nehr and his daughter Nirella standing by the aisle. The woman glanced at Anton and smiled. She looked to be around twice his age and was rather stocky—but he found her attractive and reportedly she was still able to bear children. Her father had been lobbying through the political channels of the merchant princes, offering her in marriage to the new Doge. Anton still had feelings for Tesh, and he didn’t want to think about matrimony just yet. Nirella seemed pleasant enough the few times they had met, but he needed to get to know her better before making a commitment—no matter the obvious political and economic benefits of joining two influential merchant prince houses.

Anton continued down the aisle, then took a deep breath and climbed the steps of the central stage, where a white-robed Merchant Priest awaited him, holding a bound copy of the
Scienscroll.

Having rehearsed this event, Anton strode up to him and stopped, while Lorenzo and Francella stood stiffly on one side. Due to the limitations on space travel that prevented merchant prince nobles and their entourages from journeying great distances, common citizens were permitted to sit in the great hall on this occasion, beside those noblemen and ladies who lived on Canopa. Around the realm, other noblemen and ladies, as well as billions of citizens, watched the proceedings via nehrcom links.

The priest told the assemblage in the hall to stand. Then he sprinkled holy water on Anton and read words from the
Scienscroll:

“For ours is a realm fashioned and favored by the Supreme Being;
 

Truly, our blessings and glories are many!

Hear this now, in every princely land:

A new ruler rises like the sun, to shine brightly on us all!”

At a nod from the priest, Lorenzo stepped forward and handed his son a sapphire signet ring, on a tiny pillow. Then he stepped back.

Anton shivered with delight as the priest reached out and placed the ring on the third finger of the young man’s right hand. Every merchant prince wore such a ring, and they had collectively given this as a gift to him. In recent days, he had been wearing it, getting used to it. The ring was his bond to the other princes, signifying that he was allegiant to them, one of their peers. Now, by virtue of the inaugural ceremony and the blessing of the priest on the ring, Anton had risen to first among his noble peers, simultaneously subject to them and their ruler.

Trumpets blared again, while the crowd cheered and stamped its feet in a traditional welcoming gesture. On one of the most unexpected occasions in all of Human history, Anton Glavine, the bastard son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was inaugurated Doge Anton del Velli of the Merchant Prince Alliance.

The following day, he would move into the palatial cliffside villa vacated by his father, and still owned by his mother. Suddenly Anton’s life had accelerated, and he hoped he could keep up.

* * * * *

After the grand ball that evening, Francella sat alone in her dressing room, reflecting on the big day. It had pleased her to see her son and Nirella Nehr dancing together, and engaged in animated conversation. She would be happy to see the two houses merge through marriage, giving Francella access to one of the great fortunes in the galaxy.

The day had gone extremely well, and she felt considerable pride—but not for her son, though that might come one day, if he showed the sense of duty she hoped he had. For the moment, she felt extremely proud of herself, for rising above adversity and achieving what seemed impossible. She had not only toppled a sitting doge without him knowing of her involvement, but she had installed her own son in his place. Truly remarkable.

And, while she had been unable to stop the agreement under which Doge Lorenzo saved himself from disaster, at least she had made the best of the situation. Her son’s new position would bring great revenues into the family in the form of skimmed taxes, and she intended to receive a considerable share of them. In addition, she envisioned a sizable financial reward when her company began producing and selling the new elixir based upon Noah’s DNA. She would use it herself, and would sell it to selected clients on Canopa for more than a king’s ransom.

A name for the product occurred to her, and she made a note of it in a recording device built into one of her lockets. She would call it the “Elixir of Life.”

Chapter Sixty

All galactic races share the need to learn. It is part of the genetic coding for survival, a process that instills life and vitality into the collective organism. When learning stops, the cells eventually become necrotic, and death looms.

—Finding of CorpOne medical research study

A month passed that seemed like much longer to Anton Glavine. In his new position and responsibilities, he had many concerns.

For one, the mustachioed young Doge wondered what had happened to thousands of Red Beret robots, which seemed to have vanished. He suspected that his uncle and his Guardian machines had something to do with it, since it was now known that clever programming and inventory adjustments had been made to conceal the disappearances. The remainder of the Red Beret robotic force was under lock and key now, with the machines decommissioned and guarded.

Anton wondered about the fate of Noah, too, who continued to elude discovery and for some reason had reduced the number of guerrilla attacks, around the same time that the robots disappeared. General Nehr suspected that the Guardians were preparing for a new, much larger attack against Red Beret and CorpOne facilities, and that a machine army would form an integral part of their new plans.

But where were the Guardians? His mind ached from trying to figure it out. Once, Anton had known the location of their hidden headquarters, for he had been a trusted member of Noah’s inner circle. Then, mysteriously, the information had vanished … or had gone into hiding, like Noah himself.

One of his interrogators at Max One had referred to it as a “convenient memory,” and perhaps it was that, or a selective memory. Or maybe it was, as Noah suggested, stress-induced. In any event, Anton had not been lying. He really could not remember.

Anton recalled his early life with Noah, and being on the orbital EcoStation with the great ecological teacher and his Guardians, but there were significant gaps after that. The Doge saw faces in his memory, such as those of Subi Danvar, Tesh Kori, Giovanni Nehr, and the robot Thinker, and meetings with Guardians, but he could not recollect the backgrounds, could not tell where the meetings took place, or many of the details that were discussed. Anton also remembered the dramatic events at the pod station, where Noah confronted Doge Lorenzo and Francella Watanabe. Both Noah and Anton had been taken into custody that day, and imprisoned at Max One.

An odd thought intruded, that the gaps in data suggested he might actually be a robot, or a bionic man, and someone had tampered with his internal programming. But that was preposterous. He knew he truly was Human, and that he was the biological son of Doge Lorenzo and Francella Watanabe. Medical tests had proven it.

But why can ‘t I remember more about Noah?
he wondered.

Oddly, he had so many concise memories of other things about Noah. It occurred to him that maybe he was protecting his uncle from harm by enemies, and had somehow blocked the memories in his own mind.

Perhaps I don ‘t want to know, because if I did, I would have to go after him and harm, or even kill, him. This man who has done so much for me, and whom I have always admired more than any other.

The harder Anton tried to remember, or to figure out what was preventing him from doing so, the farther away the memories seemed to go. It was almost as if some higher power was interfering with his thought processes, preventing him from revealing secrets that were hidden and layered deep in his psyche.

A higher power that was protecting Noah Watanabe.

The youthful Doge worked hard each day, studying holohistories and other electronic documents to learn as much as he could about the merchant princes and the most important commercial and industrial worlds. Much of his training regimen was provided by his mother, but he went beyond anything she put in front of him, and he opened up his own channels of inquiry through his staff and the local government library.

Nirella Nehr was a big help as well. In her position as half owner of her father’s corporate empire and its nehrcom transmission system, she obtained information from all over the galaxy and shared it with him. They were spending a lot of time together, and rumors were circulating that a royal wedding would soon take place.

While undergoing an intense, on-the-job learning process, Anton was anxious to put his own new policies into force. He had a lot of ideas, including reaching a cease-fire with Noah. But his own position was complex. First he needed to be more sure of himself and of how his mother would react to such a step. Anton had been probing her on this issue, talking about political necessities that might point to the necessity of a cease-fire, and how a cessation of internal hostilities could benefit the entire Human cause. Thus far she remained unconvinced, but gradually her arguments were becoming less vociferous, less emotional.

As Anton accumulated information, it amazed him how much he had not known previously, especially about history and politics, and how many important activities were going on without the public having any knowledge of them. Instilled with fresh enthusiasm for the new things he was learning, he looked forward to getting up each morning and going about his activities. He was so excited about his new life, in fact, that he began sleeping a couple of hours less each night than before. In part this was because he was so tired at the end of each day that he slept more soundly. Essentially, he had two speeds now: like a hyperactive child, he went full tilt all day, and then fell sound asleep. In some respects he felt like a child, too, discovering new things with each waking moment.

While Anton got to know Nirella, it surprised him what a close bond they were forming, despite the difference in their ages. They clicked together, but she didn’t press him for marriage, and claimed it was her father doing that, and Anton’s mother. “I hear that’s the best way to ruin a great friendship,” Nirella said once.

He liked her sense of humor, and the way her blue eyes danced when she laughed. As time passed he thought less and less about how much older she was, and began to think of both of them as around thirty … the approximate mid-point between their ages. One evening as they shared a late meal, Anton surprised himself by proposing to her and sliding a glittering engagement ring across the small private table.

“Are you sure?” she asked, holding the large diamonix ring up to a candle to see it better.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Nervously, Anton polished off a glass of redicio wine, then refilled it.

“You are the Doge,” she said. “If you want to marry me, I cannot say no.”

“Don’t be silly. I give you permission to turn me down.”

“To be honest, I would marry you even if you weren’t the Doge, and I think you would do the same if I weren’t filthy rich.”

He smiled. “You’re right. I wish we’d met earlier.”

“If we had, I’d be a child molester.”

“I mean two or three years ago. I feel like I’m missing out on life when you’re not around.”

“What a sweet thing to say.” She extended her left hand. He slipped the diamonix ring over her wedding finger, and then leaned across the table to kiss her.

Far across the galaxy at the Inn of the White Sun, the sentient machines had grown tired of Ipsy’s officious, dictatorial methods. The feisty little robot’s opponents formed a resistance movement that gained momentum quickly.

Before Ipsy could take counter-actions, he found himself exiled and tossed aboard a podship bound for the Hibbil Cluster Worlds. The other machines did this as a cruel joke, thinking that the Hibbils (who preferred their own regimented machines) would deactivate the patched-together Ipsy and dump him on a trash heap.

The royal wedding, held a scant week after the proposal, was by no means typical. At Nirella’s suggestion, they made it an electronic event, broadcasting it all over the Merchant Prince Alliance by nehrcom. Even on Canopa, the couple invited only a few guests to the small theoscientific chapel where they exchanged vows, choosing instead to transmit the proceedings.

Francella, not a typical mother herself, did not complain, and neither did Jacopo or his shy and unassuming wife, Lady Amila Nehr. The parents seemed so pleased at the union that they didn’t care how the formalities were accomplished. Lorenzo had no say in the matter at all, though he was invited and did attend. Keeping his feelings to himself, he sat quietly at the rear of the chapel with his Hibbil attaché Pimyt, while Francella and members of the Nehr family sat in the front.

The chapel, constructed almost entirely of prismatic glax, sat in a park in the Valley of the Princes. It had been the late Prince Saito’s favorite place to go for serenity and contemplation, and seemed to Anton like the perfect spot for him to begin his exciting new life with Nirella. The altar contained a life-sized sculpture of the Madonna cradling models of technological devices, including a silvery vacuum rocket and a white, bubble-shaped nehrcom transmitting station.

When the participants began the ceremony, the weather had been cloudy, and through the prismatic roof of the structure Anton saw that the sky was a dismal gray. Then, just as they were about to exchange rings, the sun peeked around the cloud cover and shone a narrow beam of light on their hands, making the rings sparkle and gleam.

“I’d say that’s a good sign,” Nirella said as they kissed.

He laughed, and heard soft chuckles from the small audience.

To conclude the ceremony, the white-robed priest passed each of them a chalice of holy water, which Anton and Nirella sprinkled on one another.

Just then, Anton jerked in surprise when he saw two men enter the chapel and take seats at the rear, on the other side of the aisle from his father and the Hibbil. The late arrivals were Noah Watanabe and the bride’s adventurous paternal uncle, Giovanni Nehr. What were they doing here, and how had they gotten past security?

“Look!” Anton said, pointing.

“A little wedding present for you, darling,” Nirella said with a gentle smile. “You’ve been talking about the need for a cease-fire with Noah, so I thought we might have a little family reunion on our wedding day.”

Anton exchanged nods and smiles with his Uncle Noah, across the chapel.

“I checked with your mother before inviting him, and told her what I had in mind. She was resistant at first, then agreed, especially when she realized that my father, as the MPA military commander, was arranging a cease-fire at the highest level, just for us.”

“My mother didn’t try to stop it?”

“No. Maybe she’s changing.”

“One can only hope.”

“The public isn’t being told that Noah is here, and no images of him are being broadcast from the chapel.”

Anton nodded. “This is great, because I don’t want to fight with Noah anyway. I’d been hoping something could be worked out, so that we could devote our full attention to our real enemy, the Mutati Kingdom. Podship travel could resume at any moment, and the war with it.”

“I forbid you to talk shop on our wedding day,” she said. “Now, go to him.”

Beaming with delight, Anton made his way toward Noah, and they met halfway. As he passed his mother, the young Doge heard her muttering in displeasure, but she did not seem inclined to make a scene. Anton wondered if his wife had made a demand, and had gotten her way against her new mother-in-law. He hoped the two women would get along. It would be difficult if they did not.

“Congratulations, Nephew,” Noah said, giving the young Doge a robust handshake. “Pardon me for being so familiar, but I still remember when you wore short pants.”

“I’m glad you could make it,” Anton said. “And you, too, Gio. It’s great to see both of you.”

“We’re hearing good things about you,” Noah said.

“And I’m hearing very little about you,” came the Doge’s rejoinder. “We have a great deal to discuss, but my wife says I can’t talk shop on our wedding day.”

“We can’t stay long today,” Noah said, “but perhaps we might get together another time.” He looked up at a nehrcom unit mounted in the ceiling. “Your public awaits you.”

The two men clasped hands again, and then the visitors hurried away.