Flight

: MAIN STORY
: The Alembic Plot

Sunday, 01 Mar 2572



The flight started out as interesting, if uneventful. Cortin exchanged

courtesies with the Royal couple, then joined her team, taking a window

seat. It was her first flight--well, she thought, the first one she'd

been awake for, anyway--and she wanted to see everything she could.

She'd had a passing interest in archaeology once, so she was aware of

pre-war population statistic , and knew the unnaturally straight lines

of vegetation in the areas they flew over marked roads or buildings

that no longer existed. For the first time, the two came together and

became real for her. There had been so many of them! Dear God, it

must have been unbearable, especially in the cities, crowded so closely

together! But it was fascinating, seeing what they'd left . . . and

they'd been thriving, not declining . . . She forced that thought

aside, not for the first time. It was for Kings and Popes to concern

themselves with the fact that humanity in the Systems was dying out,

not for Enforcement officers.



As the plane droned westward, though, she discovered she couldn't

dismiss it any longer. Whatever she'd experienced during her drugged

recovery wouldn't let her. Like it or not, if she believed the vision

or hallucination or whatever--and it didn't seem to be leaving her much

choice in the matter--she'd been saddled with responsibility for

reversing the decline.



It wasn't fair, she protested to herself. She was an Enforcement

officer, not a secular or Church noble; she didn't have the kind of

power or backing it would take to make the tremendous changes she'd

been shown were necessary. Though, she admitted grudgingly, she'd also

been promised help getting the power and people she'd need to do the

job--and a Strike Team Leader/Inquisitor just promoted to High King's

Inquisitor wasn't exactly powerless. Not popular, which she'd have to

be to gain widespread support for the changes she'd be trying to make,

but certainly not powerless.



Odeon's voice broke into her thoughts. "You look disturbed, Colonel.

Is it anything we can help with?"



Cortin wanted to say no, but nodded instead. She couldn't accomplish

either of her objectives alone, and who better for her closest helpers

than the team she and Mike had hand-picked? "I'm afraid so. See if we

can use the conference cabin, please, so I can brief all of you at

once."



"Right away." Odeon stood, then hesitated. "What about Colonel

Bradford and Major Illyanov?"



"Fine. And civilian input wouldn't hurt, either, so see if Their

Highnesses would care to join us."



* * * * *



Even on an aircraft of the Royal Fleet, space was limited; the

conference cabin was full when Cortin began the briefing. "Your

Highnesses, gentles--thank you for coming. This is difficult for me to

talk about, and it will be difficult for you to hear--but it not only

has to be said, it has to be acted on."



She paused, scanning the group's faces. Yes, she had their full

attention, though both Odeon and Chang looked apprehensive as well as

attentive. That was all right; everyone here would feel the same

before she got through. "While I was recovering from Lieutenant

Chang's surgery, I had a series of what I can only call visions. You

can decide the source for yourselves when you've heard what I have to

say; my own opinion is that the medication I was under either allowed

or forced me to put together a number of facts and arrive at some

uncomfortable conclusions.



"Although we've eliminated war and most illness, leading in turn to the

elimination of poverty in any sense the Terrans or prewars would

understand, the human race faces two great--and immediate--threats.

One is the terrorists, particularly the Brothers of Freedom and their

chief Raidmaster, Lawrence Shannon. Eliminating them is a job we've

all--except Your Highnesses, of course--sworn to do, and the Strike

Force has personal reasons to do it thoroughly and quickly."



She took a deep breath. "As bad as that threat is, the other is both

worse and harder to deal with. Everyone knows, although no one wants

to talk or think about, the facts of human infertility and a declining

population. The only thing that has been done about that, and it was

against considerable opposition, was the granting of Enforcement's

sexual dispensation. Although some families are blessed with numerous

children, the average birthrate is less than two per family--and there

are many people who choose not to have families at all. On the other

hand--Major Illyanov, how many children have you fathered?"



The Dmitrian smiled. "Three by my wife, six more I am aware of by

other women--the children live with us, their mothers nearby--and my

mistress is currently with child."



"Seven children that wouldn't exist without the dispensation," Cortin

said, "since Major Illyanov honors God in both word and deed. As does

Bishop-Colonel Bradford. Colonel?"



"One by my wife, who's expecting our second," Bradford replied,

frowning. "Three others I know about."



"Less prolific, but still well beyond replacement. No one else in this

room has had any."



Princess Ursula echoed Bradford's frown. "Are you suggesting that we

do away with families, or make all married women attempt to have

children by Enforcement men?" she asked quietly.



"Not at all, Your Highness," Cortin said. "A strong family structure

is necessary to a healthy society, and no woman should be compelled to

have children, by any man. I'm not advocating anything of the sort.

What I am saying is that family structure has to change in response to

changed conditions. Monogamy means that if either spouse is sterile,

that couple will have no children--which is the case with almost half

of our families. And that is as tragic for the individuals concerned

as it is suicidal for the race." She paused. "Some infertile couples

adopt, of course, and some seek Enforcement help, but neither is

statistically significant. Fortunately, a few of those we've helped

have been nobles otherwise unable to fulfill their duty to provide

heirs."



Prince Edward winced, then nodded, looking grim. A trooper's partner

naturally shared his dispensation for that act, and if a child came of

it, the trooper was almost always named the baby's godfather--though

the legal father was the husband. "A service the Kingdom cannot

acknowledge," the Prince said, "but one it's nevertheless extremely

grateful for. Unfortunately, it's one that has been of no benefit to

Ursula and myself. If you have something that might work, we'll be

glad to consider it."



"Polygamy," Cortin said promptly. "More than two spouses improve the

odds dramatically. Four to eight per family, ideally half men and half

women, would do wonders for the birthrate."



"Be better for the children, too," Bain put in. "Like my brother's

family--when he was killed, they lost the only adult male, and were

left with one adult to care for three young children, no steady role

model for the boys. Jo--the Colonel's way, that'd be a whole lot less

likely. One parent's death would still be tragic, of course, but it

wouldn't cause complete disruption."



"Which," Cortin said, "--and I admit to considerable personal interest

here--would mean Special Ops personnel could have families. That

includes my team, though according to what I saw it doesn't include me."



It wouldn't, Odeon thought regretfully, at least not until the real

Protector manifested. Her family, until then, had to be all the humans

in the Systems; she couldn't be restricted to a few individuals. If he

were permitted a family, though, Joanie'd be as much a part of it as he

could manage--and he had a pretty good idea how.



The Royal couple whispered to each other for a few moments, then Prince

Edward looked back at Cortin. "We agree, Excellency. Show us how it

can be done legally and without sin, and Ursula and I will bring others

into our family." He raised an eyebrow at them. "Although we have

come to love each other, it's common knowledge that isn't necessary to

a Royal marriage, the primary purpose of which is to beget heirs. If a

polygamous marriage can permit us to fulfill that purpose it is--as you

pointed out--our duty."



Cortin swallowed, uncomfortable. "I intended no offense, Your

Highness."



"None taken, Your Excellency. Although it's not by intent, we have

failed." He turned to Bradford. "How do you think Enforcement

personnel and their families would react to the idea, Colonel?"



"Favorably," Bradford said. "Many of us already have such arrangements

informally, as I'm sure Your Highness knows, and quite a few--myself

included--would like to formalize them."



"And most of the nobility," the Prince said, "would be more intrigued

than offended, if it could be shown not to be sinful. The Church would

resist that, though, I'm afraid, and the landfolk would probably have

strong objections."



"I know," Cortin admitted. "I don't have any choice but to try,

though. I saw two possibilities in the vision, or whatever it was, and

I've got to work for the second. In the first, humanity kept on the

way it's going now, a slow decline with the terrorists getting stronger

until they reach a critical number and Shayan takes them over openly,

uses them to wipe out the rest of us in a final bloody massacre, then

amuses himself by torturing them to death one by one--which he and his

demons continue, of course, once they're in Sheol.



"The other wasn't quite as clear, maybe because there's more than one

way for it to go--I can't be certain. In it, we recognize the Satyr

Plague for what it is--"



"Shayan's attempt to corrupt us," Princess Ursula declared.



"With all respect, Your Highness," Cortin said firmly, "that's not

possible. I can't deny that Shayan has tremendous power, but there's

one power God has reserved to Himself, and that is the creation of

life. The satyr virus isn't very high on the scale, I agree, but it is

life, with no detectable connection to any other form in the Kingdoms.

So the Satyr Plague is from God, and it must be His Will that we use

it, within the limits of morality He's given us, to reverse the

decline."



"The Satyr Plague used within the bounds of morality?" Princess Ursula

sounded highly dubious.



"It can be done," Cortin said. "Troopers don't use their dispensation

to spend all their time having sex, do they?"



"No," the Princess admitted, "not even all their spare time. But

troopers are far better disciplined than the average civilian--give

landfolk the freedom to indulge their drives the way troopers do, and I

dread to think of the consequences."



"I think you're underestimating them, Your Highness," Cortin said,

allowing herself a smile. "I was raised in a farming family, and I can

assure you they're every bit as disciplined as troopers, although in a

different way." She grimaced. "I'll take drill, and transfers, and

orders, and getting shot at, any day, over milking and plowing and

feeding and getting up before dawn every day! Even with the virus'

help, farm life doesn't leave enough energy for overindulgence. I'm

sure most would be happy to keep their sexual activity within the

family."



"Happier than now, I'd bet," Bain said. "That way, they'd get the

variety the virus makes you want, without having to go outside the

family--which would be a major reduction in adultery all by itself."



"That sounds reasonable," the Princess said. "Your argument about the

virus being a new life form is one I can't refute either, so go on. We

recognize the Satyr Plague as God's gift; then what?"



"The first thing, as Your Highness has already agreed, is to get

polygamy approved," Cortin said. "And, as His Highness has pointed

out, convincing the Church to sanction it is going to be difficult.

Assuming we can manage that, even on a small scale to demonstrate its

effects on the birthrate, the next step is to eliminate the terrorists.

I don't know for sure, but I think that's going to mean a showdown

between me and Shannon--the real one--and that, gentles, terrifies me."

She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm herself.

"Assuming the new family structure and Shannon's defeat, what I saw was

God's Kingdom, here in the Systems. That tells me the Final Coming

must have taken place sometime between now and then, with the

protection from sin Jeshua said the Protector would bring to those who

sought it. I didn't see that part, though."



The Princess crossed herself. "The Spirit Who will come to correct and

comfort," she said softly.



"'Who will come in a form none can predict,'" Bradford quoted,

"'bringing God's Wrath to those who persist in sin, and His Eternal Joy

to those who forswear it.' Are you claiming to be His Herald, Colonel

Cortin?"



"I'm not claiming anything, My Lord Bishop. All I'm doing is telling

you about some things I saw in what may have been nothing more than a

drug-induced hallucination. But it's one convincing enough I have to

believe and act on it, even though I'm certain it's going to kill me."

She shrugged. "Not that I expected to live long when I went into

Special Ops. All I can ask is to go out doing my best."



"That's all any of us can ask," Bradford agreed. He'd have to talk to

Odeon about this soon, in private; the scar-faced man's expression,

though he was trying to remain impassive, told the Bishop-Inquisitor he

knew something he wasn't saying. "I wouldn't tell anyone else about

this until we get some hard evidence one way or another, and I'd

suggest the rest of you keep it within this group as well."



"As the Colonel commands," Illyanov said. "I, however, intend to act

as if Colonel Cortin's vision was precisely that." He gave Cortin a

deep, seated bow. "I am yours to command, Excellency."



"So's the team, of course," Odeon said.



"And I'm willing to give serious consideration to anything that will

give us an Heir," the Prince said. "I'll speak to my father about

this, and I'll expect you to keep us informed. For now, we should be

getting ready for landing." He paused. "Before we return to the main

cabin, though, Your Excellency, I have a favor to ask."



"If I can, Your Highness."



The Prince took four cartridges out of his pocket. "For us and my

parents, then, if you would be so kind."



Cortin sighed, but only to herself. "Of course. I'll need holy water;

is there any aboard?"



"At your service." The Prince handed her a small vial.



Cortin took it, blessed the cartridges, and returned them. "With my

personal hope you're never in a position to need the special blessing,"

she added.



"Which would be a form of protection, wouldn't it?" The Prince smiled.

"Thank you, Colonel."