Angie should have been in bed. Nauseating, phlegm-filled snorts accompanied her exhaustive catalogue of the problems requiring urgent attention. Suddenly choking on a particularly large gob of mucus, she coughed violently, spraying her two listeners with malodorous slime before scuttling back inside.
No one took any notice.
Not daring to wipe Magus mucus from their bodies, Peteru and Uretep conferred softly until Ishbel impatiently demanded to know what they thought
‘The problems are daunting, but stimulating,’ Peteru said thoughtfully, itemising them on his fingers. ‘Oasis power generators are no longer up to the task; most other services are run down; buildings are crumbling due to age and a series of minor earthquakes over the last year; malfunctioning negrav chutes are dropping people to their deaths; air-conditioning plants need an upgrade; there’s been a noticeable rise in average temperature and increased humidity and air pollution, with a corresponding increase in lung infections over the last two years. Vassals are becoming difficult because of food shortages due to disease in algae beds; the mines beneath the city are exhausted, and toxic waste has filtered into the deep drinking-water wells. In other words, Oasis is on its last legs and it’s a case of rejuvenate or perish. How am I going?’
‘You’ve grasped the essentials.’
‘Your solution is to construct a new Oasis.’
‘Exactly. In fact the replacement is already completed, and plans for the construction of three new Oases are underway.’
‘That’s astonishing!’
‘Yes, and it’s thanks to me,’ an oleaginous little Mage with slicked down red hair, moist fat lips and very little in the way of chin, announced proudly. ‘I’ve always had the tools, but for centuries have asked in vain for a workforce. Eventually, twenty-eight years ago I persuaded Elbert to start a breeding program that produced enough Vassals to fell the forest that used to extend right up to this terrace. After clearing we blasted a gigantic hole in the nearest granite outcrop, then brought in trained Vassals to finish the work by laser-carving replicas of Oasis modules into the walls; the ideal design for a city state as I’m sure you’ll agree.’
Peteru nodded.
Uretep had been watching his friend with growing alarm and interrupted before he could raise objections. ‘So there is a totally new empty city just waiting to be populated?
‘Yes.’
‘Aren’t the Freemen and Vassals that built it living there?’
‘Of course not! Apart from the fact that having built the city they know it’s safe to live outside, they’ve been worked to death and were needed as starter fodder for the algal beds.’
‘So the city is completely uninhabited?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
Everyone cast accusing looks at Elbert.
‘He hasn’t even started to breed the Vassals, Freemen and Aristocrats that will be required to inhabit the cities,’ sneered Job.
‘Untrue!’ Shouted Elbert. ‘You know damn well that all the spare incubators have been out of commission until recently. I’m doing everything I can but…’ his voice trailed off and he stormed over to the railing, affecting interest in the distant forest.
‘Now you’ve offended him,’ Nell sniggered.
‘It’s not funny,’ Fabien yawned.
‘It certainly isn’t,’ Ishbel said with a sigh. ‘Elbert fucked up. He relied on continuous power and didn’t install back-up generators so the frozen multitudes who should have been living in the new city rotted in their capsules during several power failures.’
‘Even if that hadn’t happened, you had no way of moving them to the new city without them discovering it was safe to go outside,’ Nell said with a sly wink at red haired Job. That’s why you’re so interested in NumbaCruncha.’
‘Where is the city?’
‘Not far—you can see it from here. Come and look.’
They followed Job to the rail.
‘There,’ he pointed.
It wasn’t surprising they’d missed the large dome that barely protruded above the rough plain. It was the same colour as the soil, and partially hidden by intervening scraggy shrubs.
‘How far away is it?’
‘About three kilometres.’
‘How were you intending to move everyone between the cities?’
‘Tunnels.’
‘But?’
‘But although the surface is solid enough to support moving the workers and equipment when it’s been dry for a while, we discovered while tunnelling that a few metres beneath the crust is quicksand. In fact after the rainy season, just jumping on the surface turns everything into a quagmire. We lost several transporters that way. We knew the granite outcrops in which we’ve built were the product of ancient eruptions, but didn’t know they were originally islands in a vast inland sea that had silted up. Our glorious engineer didn’t think to test.’ He directed a venomous glare at Ishbel who pretended she hadn’t heard.
‘Enclosed trains on well-cushioned rails?’ Peteru asked.
‘During the wet season even the slightest vibration turns it into a slurry.’
‘I reckon you’re going to a great deal of trouble to avoid telling people what they have the right to know—that the planet isn’t a death trap.’
‘We decide what people have the right to know, and you’ve been told why that is not one of them,’ Ishbel snarled.
‘Well, this puts NumbaCruncha even more at the centre of things!’ Uretep quickly interrupted, seeing irritation on several faces. ‘Instant transport between the cities means no one will be required to go outside.’ His enthusiasm seemed perfectly genuine, but a quiet, pale woman sitting at the back whispered into her notebook then looked the young man in the eyes.
‘You’re a smooth talker, Uretep,’ she said softly, ‘flattery will get you just about everywhere.’
Uretep laughed easily. ‘Thanks ah…’ he paused as if embarrassed at not knowing the woman’s name.
‘Alice.’
‘Luckily, Alice, I’m already exactly where I want to be, thanks to you Mages.’
Peteru, belatedly realising he might have aroused suspicion, became suddenly enthusiastic. ‘A new city is fantastic, and three more on the drawing boards. After they’re finished will there be more?’
‘Many more,’ Xanthippe purred. ‘A great many more; and larger. Properly handled, population increase will be exponential. I’ve calculated that within twenty years as far as the eye can see all the forests will be replaced by cities with a total population of at least five hundred million. With the technology at our disposal there’s no limit to our expansion… if Elbert gets his arse into gear.’
‘I assure you it is well and truly in gear!’ Elbert growled as he sauntered back, softly adding as he sat, ‘Impatient bitch.’ Turning to the inventors he almost smiled. ‘We recently stopped adding chemical sterilisers to foods and fluids, and tests indicate that females have already started ovulating, so the Empress has had to teach them about menstruation.’
‘Males are also doing well; sperm is viable and copious, thanks to the continuing health and vigour of most people.’ Justinian added morosely.
‘Nice of you to wake up, Justinian. If you stayed awake more often we might have avoided many of our problems.’
‘It seems clear to me that Oasis can’t be repaired while its full of people,’ Peteru interjected thoughtfully, ‘so I reckon the first thing to do is make the entire population familiar with NumbaCruncha, then we can send everyone to the new city, leaving a crew here to make repairs.’
‘I was on the point of suggesting that,’ Fabien muttered. ‘As you’re so smart, how do you suggest we introduce Vassals and Freemen to these things?’ indicating the enseemat. ‘Not to mention the bloody Aristocrats.’
‘You’ve also been asleep!’ Alice snapped. ‘We decided at the meeting last night that Ishbel will announce at the next Arena Gathering that she has met with the gods, Domino and Domina, who instructed her to remove all laws restricting sexual activity, and sexual activity is now a requirement of faith. Furthermore, those who copulate with as many different partners as possible, as often as possible, in as many places as possible, will be the most loved by both Domino and Domina.’
‘Exactly,’ Ishbel interrupted. ‘That’ll be followed immediately by an official demonstration of NumbaCruncha by the Emperor and Empress, who will be transported instantaneously across the Arena and copulate in front of the entire population—in case anyone should think the gods are not serious.’
‘You can’t be serious! The fellow’s not interested in females.’
‘A trip by NumbaCruncha will at least make him randy, we’ll threaten him with castration if he doesn’t fuck the bitch.’
Peteru scowled.
‘That’s brilliant, Ishbel,’ Uretep gushed to prevent Peteru saying something critical. ‘Seeing the Emperor and Empress doing it will put the seal of approval on everything. It’ll remove any residual shyness that might have prevented success.’
Ishbel smirked disgustingly.
Holding a large handkerchief to her nose, Angie wandered back onto the terrace. ‘And to facilitate conception,’ she announced with absurd solemnity, ‘I will ensure that the protein content of food is increased.’
‘I will also inform the masses,’ Ishbel said in primly pious tones, ‘that Domino and Domina have decreed that it is the bounden duty of every woman over the age of fourteen to bear children in their honour. Pregnancy, and the natural birth of a child to every woman will result in the blessings of the gods.’
‘As you said yesterday, Ishbel, it almost makes you believe in divine intervention,’ Xanthippe laughed. ‘We thought it was going to be difficult to sell free sex and pregnancy after centuries of religious prudery, sexual guilt and artificial breeding. Now it looks as if it’ll be a breeze.’
‘All we’re waiting for is enough enseemats and control boxes,’ Augur said peevishly. ‘Have you any idea how long it will take?’
‘Plans and specifications are ready for mass production,’ Peteru told him.
‘That’s my field,’ Ishbel announced. ‘I’ll get the engineers onto the problem as soon as you give me the plans.’
‘We can only guarantee the results will be foolproof, Ishbel,’ Uretep said politely, ‘if Peteru and I are totally in charge with no restrictions, no interference, and no pulling of rank by other scientists who will want to take over. It’s incredibly complicated so absolute precision is vital. We don’t want people to arrive with bits missing—or not arriving at all!’
‘Obviously,’ Ishbel agreed. ‘Therefore I’ll issue an edict that whoever interferes, gets in your way or irritates you will be tossed down the exit chute.’
Peteru nodded seriously. ‘We’ll not abuse our power. As long as everything’s done properly it’s perfectly safe because we’ve designed plenty of intermediate testing programs to ensure every stage is flawless.’
‘Of course.’
‘Has anyone considered that in nine months children will be popping out all over?’ someone asked. ‘Have we thought about what the mothers are going to do with them? They won’t know who the father is and the nurseries won’t be able to cope.’
‘It is unlikely that all maternal instincts have disappeared,’ Xanthippe snapped. ‘Instructions will be given by the Empress for delivery, and Justinian will arrange for birthing assistants.’
‘It’s going to be interesting,’ Ishbel added with a laugh, ‘to see how people react to the idea of squirting children out from between a woman’s legs!’
‘The worrying aspect of this program is the uncertainty,’ said Elbert. ‘What will the offspring be like? Will they be amenable, or will they refuse to accept the roles demanded by their caste? Until now, building a stable citizenry has been a predictable science; anonymous donors, eggs and sperm genetically modified, labelled according to caste and potential usefulness, then stored until needed.’
‘Rubbish!’ snapped Xanthippe. ‘It’s my brainwashing that does the trick. We’ll just make a few more education headsets the mothers can apply to the infants once they’re relocated in their new apartments. No problem.’
‘Can you get the entire enseemat system up and running within nine months?’ Fabien asked.
‘Given a free hand and all the technicians and equipment we need, it’ll be ready well before then.’
‘Excellent. That means we can ship everyone off to the new, sterile city before they give birth.’
‘There’s going to be a problem with men demanding to know which child is theirs,’ observed a quiet, heavy woman with an incipient moustache.
‘Not if we tell them the child is conceived solely by the mother, and the only function of the male is as a catalyst to precipitate pregnancy by inserting his penis and ejaculating,’ suggested a tiny young woman with a curly mop of black hair and bright blue eyes.
‘Excellent idea, Ruby—why didn’t I think of that? Ignorance is bliss, as someone once wrote. That way they’ll just fuck and won’t even think about the consequences,’ Ishbel laughed. ‘And every pregnant female and whoever her partner happens to be at the time, will be required to commit to support each other and the child until it’s old enough to work.’
‘As I’m responsible for accommodation,’ Ruby announced proudly, ‘when the pregnancy is confirmed I will guarantee, as a reward for their commitment, that both adults and their infant will be transported via NumbaCruncha to their modern clean new quarters in the new Oasis.’
‘Ha! That’s good, considering they’ll be going anyway.’
‘And will we tell them they’ll have to work and live in the same way there as they do here, maintaining us and the Aristocrats in the style to which we have become accustomed?’ Job asked dryly.
The laughter was genuine.
‘And then we’ll continue building more and more Oases until we’ve covered the planet in Vassal states,’ Peteru enthused with barely a hint of irony.
‘You don’t approve?’ Job asked softly.
‘What’s not to approve?’ Peteru responded seriously. ‘We are the pinnacle of all life; the planet is ours for the taking, so why shouldn’t we use it as we see fit?’
Silence.
‘Although the best use for NumbaCruncha is going to be travel for Mages and enforcers between the cities,’ Peteru continued brightly, as if unaware of his audience’s growing distrust, ‘the replacing of energy-gobbling negrav chutes with enseemats that will transport everyone to and from work instantaneously so they can work longer, can’t be discounted. It will free up enormous amounts of energy for other purposes. And instead of a dozen workers having to make a dangerous climb to a high place to repair something, only one would have to climb with an enseemat, then the others can be transported.’ He nodded happily as he considered other possibilities, unaware of suspicious glances between the Mages who were becoming increasingly distrustful of these strange young men. Why were they so excited about new things, but unimpressed with their elevation to the status of Mage. They had to have an ulterior motive—but what could it be?
An awkward silence lasted several long minutes until Ruby asked if they would like to be shown to their new apartments on the Mage level, where they would have access to the exterior as well as the rest of Oasis. They should also meet their Vassals.
The offer of an above ground apartment was very tempting, but the young men respectfully declined; they needed to remain where they were until NumbaCruncha was fully installed and running without problems. All their experiments and work were laid out in their laboratory apartment and much too complicated to move. Instead, they arranged to meet for a conference with the Mages every day after the third meal, and to meet with the Aristocrat engineers and Ishbel in two hour’s time with the plans.
An even more loaded silence greeted their refusal of this unprecedented offer. There was definitely something very suspicious going on. Both young men had been so enraptured at their discovery of the pristine, clean wide world outside Oasis, it made no sense that they’d refuse to live above ground. Ishbel exchanged a furtive nod with Fabien. Surveillance would have to be increased.
Affecting unconcern at their refusal of luxurious accommodation in the same space as the Mages, Ishbel insisted with more than her usual force that they were not to tell anyone working on NumbaCruncha the true purpose of the work —not even the Chief Scientist. Instead, everyone was to be told that this was a new individual health analysis and diagnostic tool.
As if responding to an inaudible signal, the Mages levered themselves out of their chairs and wandered back inside, leaving the two inventors on the deck. No one thanked them, offered to shake hands or gave any other indication of appreciation. After a couple of minutes indecision, Peteru and Uretep returned to the living room where the Mages sat in silence, staring at them. Embarrassed and wondering what they’d done, they stood together on the enseemat, pressed their wrists and vanished.
The silence lasted only seconds before erupting into acrimonious disputes between those who trusted the two young men and those who insisted they were planning to take over the city and replace the Mages as overlords. It was essential, they insisted, that both young men were eliminated the minute they had handed over the plans.
‘How did those two escape your brainwashing?’ Ethel shouted at Xanthippe.
‘Don’t shout at me you venomous vixen,’ Xanthippe snarled. ‘If you read the briefings instead of screwing every male Vassal you can lay your scrawny claws on, you’d know that as part of the experiment to create super inventive scientists we decided to waive the mind-bending in case that was affecting imagination and creativity. The results speak for themselves. Those two are geniuses. Fortunately, they don’t realise it. I agree they’re potential problems, but they’re not irreplaceable. We’ve several clones of them in storage so once this is over you can do what you like with them!’
A compromise was reached. Until the complete system was up and running perfectly with trained technicians to ensure maintenance, the inventors were to be given the freedom of Oasis like any other Mage.
‘Always wait until the goose has laid the last golden egg before eating it,’ said sly, soft-spoken Melvyn. Everyone nodded, albeit reluctantly, and retired to their apartments.
Forty-one floors beneath the Lords of Oasis, the two young geniuses shook their heads in despair.