The Network Strikes Back

by Gary D. Snyder

Prologue:

It is a dark time for the sector. Although Meldar Prime and his show Intergalactic Showdown have been overthrown, corporate raiders are determined to return the exploitive and highly profitable genre to galactic programming.

To that end, these opportunists have financed the construction of the VIDEO STAR, a secret transmitting station with enough power to control the programming on every video channel in the galaxy. Special agents, on secret orders of the First Alliance, have learned of its existence and reported their findings to the Alliance world of Felangie.

With their plans in peril, the malevolent profiteers have unleashed an all-out secret assault on Felangie as Princess Leama, pursued by their sinister agents, races to warn other members of the Alliance and preserve freedom of the spacewaves…

The sleek cruiser shuddered as another bolt of energy found its mark, unleashing a shower of sparks and threatening to overload the deflector shield generators. The young Felangian swayed slightly but did not stumble. Over the past several days (as her planet understood the term) her ship had come under attack several times and she had quickly learned how to shift her weight so as to keep her balance. Her quiet demeanor and calm dignity in these times of peril had rapidly earned her the crew's respect and had helped them to harden their own resolve to persevere to the end, come what might.

Her example had not had a calming influence on everyone, however. A small orb about the size of her fist that had been hovering near her left shoulder suddenly circled around to position itself just to the right and in front of her. "Your Highness," it chirped in a high-pitched and somewhat rapid tone.

The princess did not shift her gaze from the starfield on the monitor before her as she answered. "Yes, Bubo?"

"Forgive my impertinence, Your Highness," the orb squeaked as it somehow gave the impression of genuflecting, "but doesn't Your Highness believe that perhaps withdrawal is our wisest course of action?"

Princess Leama smiled to herself at the perpetual fawnings of her personal assistant. "Withdrawal is the wisest course," she replied, "but it is not our best course. We must deliver this data to the First Alliance if we are to rally them against this secret threat."

"Forgive my asking, Your Highness, but how is this a threat?" Bubo swung slowly back and forth through the air. "This new network won't actually be forcing anyone to watch their programming. Does it really matter if their new station comes on-line?"

Another robot which had, up to this time, remained silent and motionless at the princess' side, swiveled its head to regard the orb as it answered. "It matters. Choice always matters, because freedom always matters."

The orb hummed quietly for a few minutes. "That does not compute, Exjay Nine," Bubo concluded at last. "Will not the viewers have a choice to watch or not? Is that not a choice?"

"Not everything that matters computes," Exjay Nine replied. "Some day, perhaps, your circuits will assimilate that."

"Yes," the princess agreed. "Everyone should have a right to have real choices in their lives. My own father believed that, and so do I. That's why I've always tried to -"

The deck rocked again, more violently than before, and Exjay Nine instinctively threw out an arm to protect the princess. She clutched at the metal appendage and with a supreme effort steadied herself before losing her footing. An urgent beeping began to sound from one of the speaker grilles on a control panel.

"What's that noise?" Bubo shrilled.

"We've lost the deflectors," the technician at the panel announced, as though in reply to the small automaton. "They're trying to lock a tractor beam on us." At these words the ship seemed to shiver all over and then was suddenly as solid and unnaturally motionless as a rock. "They've got us," the crewman concluded.

The orb circled around Princess Leama dizzyingly. "We're doomed!" it wailed. "We'll be disassembled for sure!"

"As you were, Bubo!" the princess snapped. She faced Exjay Nine and spoke to him in low tones as the crew broke out sidearms and streamed off the bridge to take up battle stations. "Listen to me, Exjay Nine. This is of utmost importance. You have the necessary information to pass on to the Alliance. You must find the Royal Guard on Felangie or one of the Alliance worlds and pass it on to them to deliver for me. They're the only ones I can trust, now. Do you understand?"

"I'm not certain I do, Your Highness," the robot replied. "But if that is what you wish, I will obey. But surely I will be taken as well, or destroyed."

Princess Leama shook her head. "No. I want you to conceal yourself -"

"What about me?" whined Bubo. "Don't I count?"

The princess glanced quickly at the orb and then turned her attention back to Exjay Nine. "Forgive me, Bubo. I want you and Bubo to conceal yourselves in one of the main corridor lockers. When they scan the ship after they capture everyone they'll find nothing. Just to be sure they'll hull it to ensure that no organics are left alive but the vacuum won't harm either of you. I'm certain that…"

The sound of distant blaster fire slowly drawing closer distracted her for a moment. For the merest fraction of an instant the cool, dignified mask dropped to reveal a young and frightened Felangian girl. Then she mastered herself and continued with her instructions.

"I'm certain that they will not destroy the ship. My disappearance without any trace would be too suspicious. They'll probably make it appear as though pirates or outlaws scuttled the vessel, but it should still be operable. I want you to take it and find the Royal Guard. Do you understand?"

Exjay Nine nodded. "I do."

If Bubo could have frowned the little orb would have done so. "I don't."

Princess Leama shook her head at Bubo and smiled and smiled at Exjay Nine, seeming to be relieved and almost light-hearted. "Good. Let's get you two hidden."

Together the three of them proceeded off the bridge and down the main corridor. About halfway down she opened a locker, assisted the two automata inside, and then closed and locked the hatch. She then backtracked down the passageway and waited. The sounds of battle drew closer but decreased in volume as the heavily outnumbered defenders were steadily overcome. It wasn't long before two figures, clad in armored environmental suits rounded the intersection and leveled unmistakably lethal firearms on her.

"Hello," she said pleasantly. "It's so nice to have a change from the flowers that visitors always bring me."

The two figures stared at her, unnerved by her studied composure, and then stared at each other. As they hesitated, unsure of what to do, they were flung aside by a large, hulking figure in black who had come up from behind them. At the sight of the princess the new arrival paused and then advanced with slow, deliberate steps. The apparition did not appear to be armed, but it worried the princess far more than the squad of heavily armed troopers that followed behind. The dark shape stopped in front of Princess Leama, towering over her, and motioned the others to check out the bridge behind her.

"Your Highness," the ominous intruder rumbled, the voice grating harshly like gravel being crushed beneath a steamroller.

Princess Leama tried to keep her voice steady. "Have we met?" she asked.

"Up to now I have not had the pleasure, Your Highness. You may address me as Lord Versile. Perhaps you've heard of me."

She had heard the name before. It was whispered among the Royal Guard the way human children whisper about boogeymen and ghosts. Even the High Captain of the Royal Guard did not speak openly of him. "I've heard," was her terse reply, "but nothing to your credit."

Lord Versile looked up as the squad returned from their inspection of the bridge. "Nothing," the squad leader reported. "Scans show no other persons aboard."

"Excellent," the dark lord replied. "Then we have them all. Breach the hull to evacuate all atmosphere just in case any passengers were missed. Then send out a distress signal and set her adrift. It will appear as though the princess and her entourage has met with an most unfortunate fate, completely unrelated to the Network."

"Why keep them alive?" the squad leader asked. "Why not just terminate them?" Lord Versile fixed the trooper with a sinister glare, the dark lenses of his armored mask glinting in the glow of the overhead lighting panels. He made no move, but the squad leader fell back as thought struck. "I was just asking," the soldier whimpered unhappily.

"You won't get away with this," the princess told Lord Versile. "You're subterfuge won't fool anyone. When my Royal Guard find out -"

A low growl that might actually have been amused laughter emanated from the dark form looming above Princess Leama. "I'm afraid that won't be possible," he told her in mock sorrow. "Some time before we boarded you vessel, I received word from our forces at Felangie that the Royal Guard is no more. You should have known that really are disadvantages to maintaining absolute radio silence, even when one is on a mission as secret as yours. And you should really have kept them at home with you , rather than out spying, and avoided all this unpleasantness." The massive head moved forward until it was only inches from the Felangian's face, making her shudder involuntarily. "I'm afraid that you're really quite alone now, Princess."

"I've never been alone," she spat back defiantly. "And I never will be. Never."

Lord Versile simply straightened and motioned to his men to take the princess in charge. As they led her away and he followed, he paused and looked around uncertainly. For an endless time he scrutinized the hallway, as if searching from something, but finally shrugged and marched away. His echoing footsteps died away, followed soon by the rapidly fading sounds of atmosphere leaking away into the vacuum of space.

Perhaps an hour after the last sounds in the ship died away the door of a locker in the main corridor appeared to explode silently outward, forced out by an inhumanly strong metal arm. Exjay Nine slowly unfolded and extricated himself from the small compartment and waited patiently for the small spherical form of Bubo to emerge after him.

"What now?" Bubo electronically signaled his companion.

Exjay Nine made his way towards the bridge without comment and began to re-activate the navigation systems.

"What are you doing?" Bubo asked as star charts took shape on the forward monitor.

Exjay Nine pressed several buttons, isolating one arm of the spiral galaxy on the display, then one whisp of the arm, and then on small cluster of stars. "Following the Princess's orders," the robot replied tersely.

"What orders?"

"To find the Royal Guard." Exjay Nine caressed a few more controls and the selection of starts thinned from hundreds to dozens, then to several, and finally to one.

Bubo squeaked in electronic confusion. "But you heard what Lord Versile told the princess. The Felangian Royal Guard are all gone!"

"No." The robot touched a final control and a planet centered in the navigation reticule, a breathtakingly beautiful image of blue and green and white, turning slowly in the warm glow of a yellow star, the third planet in the system. "There is another."

End of Prologue

Author's Notes:

Well, I'm finally back! And I hope that this story will be worth the wait. For anyone who hasn't read "The Eye of the Llama" this will prologue will make no sense whatsoever at this point, but even without reading that predecessor to this tale everything will make sense in time. I'm hoping to update fairly quickly, so bear with me for a little bit to come up to speed.