Fifty-eight
Commander Biester and his group return to their
respective vessels and prepared to disembark and return to the Alliance
core worlds. Lee Wokan wandered the flight deck of the Amikol like a
ghost, taking comfort in the way Biester exercised his authority aboard
the Amikol with such stilted, professional confidence. "I wonder what it
all means," he muttered from time to time.
“Relax,” Biester barked at him. “Go find something
useful to do with yourself."
In the standard days that followed, all of the
colonies of the Alazhir Alliance fell deathly silent, waiting to see if
the Hive's change of heart was for real, or just another manifestation of
its madness. Slowly at first, and then more quickly, the Hive responded to human orders to return to commercial service, although their
self-defensive capability remained committed to Myla's protection and
remained in the vicinity of the eight surviving cities of Covonia.
Myla spent several quiet days in Jeremy's company and
then paid a visit to Basil Whalyk. "Jeremy and I want to visit Covonia
before the cities go back. I'm not like I used to be. I can't do nearly
as much as I could when I was an avatar, but we still have Dikki and the
courier to help us."
"You'll miss the election ceremony for the new
Overlord," Basil said. "We don't have many candidates. Some Council
members think you'd make an excellent choice. You've an especially smart
young girl, even as a human being. Remember that Mesina created the
Dalikor technology. You have her intelligence."
Looking small in the adult-sized chair facing Basil's
desk, Myla cocked her head to one side. "Are General Hague and Shesel in
the city?"
Basil's expression turned grim. "They're both under
armed guard. We haven't quite decided what to do with them."
"I have a suggestion."
Basil studied her expressionless face. "Would you
like to address your suggestion to the Council at large?"
Myla slid off her chair. "Sure. How do I do that?"
Basil led the way into the adjacent Council chamber.
He took his seat and gestured to a podium that adjusted itself to her
size. Myla stood looking out into darkness. "There's nobody here but you
and me," she commented with a shy smile.
Screens flashed to life around the circumference of
the room. One by one, the seven other city Council Executives responded
to Basil's call for a meeting. "Myla," Basil said. "Do you wish to
speak?"
"General Hague and Shesel should be here." She
gestured to the screens. "Not like this. For real."
"That can be arranged. Give me a short period of
time."
Basil murmured. Smaller screens flashed with a
sequence of nodding heads and grim faces. Long moments of silence
passed. Myla glanced at each of the faces of the Council members staring
at her, and then back at Basil in growing self-consciousness. They all
looked so old and tired.
"Soon, now," Basil said.
A door opened in the back of the chamber. On the
other side stood two robots. Myla knew they were not. The smaller one
had a human arm and the side of a human face. Myla had never met Shesel
in person, and she had seen General Hague only on rare occasions. As a
little girl, she had once thought they were just robots. Eventually,
someone had corrected her misperception and explained that they contained
flesh and blood. They had lost most of their bodies in the same war that
had killed Dalikor.
And Mesina.
They grew visibly tense and entered the room
hesitantly, glancing at the screens, stopping well back of the podium
occupied by a tiny, familiar form.
"Come closer," Basil coaxed.
Shesel and General Hague approached the bench and
stood staring straight ahead.
"Myla tells me she has a suggestion on what Covonia
should do with the two of you. She requested an audience with the
Council. Myla, you may speak freely."
Myla stared at Gorlon Hague for an unsettling
moment. "You never recognized me. You knew Mesina. You never knew her
as a girl my age. I think they did that for security. It was a kind of
camouflage.”
She smiled at his shock and confusion.
“Basil told me that Covonia needs a new Overlord. He
said he doesn't know what to do with you and Shesel. Basil said that some
even think that I could be the new Overlord."
She glanced back at Basil Whalyk. "But I think
Executor General Hague may well have the qualifications needed to fill the
position of Covonian Overlord."
The Council roared in outrage. Basil raised a hand
to silence the group. Shesel and Hague looked around and at one another
in confusion.
Myla raised her voice in annoyance. "He hated me
because he thought I was a monster. He betrayed Overlord Nome because he
thought Jzon Dalikor would destroy all of humanity in his quest for
victory. He murdered my foster parents and Jeremy's parents because he believed
ordinary people don't have the capacity to speak for themselves in a
Technocratic society. He took upon himself the authority to protect the
human species from itself, but he knows by now that machines cannot
make decisions for us and can never take care of their masters."
Myla studied the expressions of astonishment on the
faces on the screens, and the indecipherable faces on the mechanical
exterior of the two people standing before her.
"General Hague can never be forgiven for the crimes
he has committed," she said in a softer tone of voice. "I will never
forgive him, but I do not hate him, and he does not need to be punished to
know the mistakes he has made. Punishment is vengeance, and even the
simplest Naturalist has evolved beyond the need for revenge. All any of
us ever wanted was to live in peace and harmony with the universe, and
Gorlon knows far too much of the nature of the mistakes we have all made
to be punished for them. Instead, he is the perfect Overlord to steer us
clear of the errors of the past. Remember that Boris speaks for the Hive,
and Boris always has been his friend. They would work well together, and
Gorlon would be far more at peace with himself than Khalin Nome ever was,
because he has Shesel at his side, and Shesel knows who she is, and they
love each other."
Myla looked around at Basil Whalyk. "Is this what
you thought I was going to say?" she said with a smile.
"It was what I was fervently hoping to hear from you,
child," Basil said. He glanced at each of his associates in turn. "It
was what we all badly needed to hear. Given the opportunity to heal old
wounds, and to honor Khalin Nome for the promises he made to us, and the
promises he fulfilled, how could we possibly refuse the opportunity you
have given us?"
"I'm supposed to be smart, but I haven’t your
experience in life,” Myla reminded him. “I have a long ways to go.”
"You’ve had wise mentors. You just said so
yourself.”
Myla looked embarrassed, but pleased. "I guess I
did.”
Basil gestured a nod of dismissal. "I quite suspect
that Jeremy is waiting outside and anxious to leave. Take your friend, go
back to Covonia and stay for as long as you wish. If you need anything,
anything at all, you know whom to ask."
Myla stepped away from the podium. "I will. Thank
you." She looked about the room. "All of you. Thank you."
She slipped away like a wraith, leaving behind
ancient warriors to finish the arduous and ponderous tasks she had
sparked to life.
