<h2>Planet 5 / Ch. 41: Homecoming</h2>


    </a>Heart of the Empire


    “Say that again, Naneela.” the emperor said, “I think I must have misheard you.”


    “I said the alien device has gone home, father.”


    “What do you mean, gone home?”


    “I mean it no longer listens, it no longer watches, it has gone to remind the descendants of its makers about our planet. An alien came, to check up on how we were doing, and she had been taught some Windwardese. Hayeel was just expressing her fears to Sashan, that any delay was dangerous, and the alien understood.”


    “And so she sent the device home?”


    “There were two of them on the ship; her colleague told the probe to listen at the frequency we were talking on, and I sang the sequence, Sashan whistled it, and the probe left. The frequency was not chosen to be hard, father, it was chosen to reach space reliably from a simple transmitter like Tesk has.”


    “So now you have nothing to do?” The emperor asked.


    “No father, now I can work on solving the problems that the size of the empire brings. But have there been riots, father?”


    “A crowd started to gather at the palace gates demanding to know if the rumours of the end of the world were true. The sentries read out the prophecy, and said, ''your emperor asks you to consider joining the faithful who pray, please also pray for blessings on crown-prince Salay, who has met and married the woman detailed in the full version, Hayeel duchess of Repink.'', and then they handed out a list of churches. Apparently there were quite a lot of extra people attending every church in the city. There was also an angry young man shouting about the changes to the social changes law not going far enough. Then his sister started remonstrating with him and then his mother came along, grabbed him by the ear and publicly berated him for shaming her in public, and asked the palace guards to put him in prison for a week.”


    “And they complied?”


    “Certainly. She was a lady eleventh rank, so it was her right to ask and their duty to do so. For their public-spirited action, the mother and sister have been advanced to ladies eighth rank and granted a small income. The son has been barred from gaining from his mother''s rank, of course. If he wishes rank, he will have to find a way to gain advancement, such as convincing a noble girl he''s not really a threat to the social order.”


    “Father, I meant to ask before we left. Have you considered those nominations to advancement for the workers in the research centre?”


    “Considered, and rejected, Naneela. Instead, I have signed an order that recognises that working to improve the empire is a noble pursuit, covering the research centre and also teaching.”


    “You''ve raised all teachers and researchers to be nobles?”


    “Technicians also, but not all, just those commended for working for years in a publicly-minded manner or who are clearly in publicly-minded projects, such as the slave-schools, or in other uncomfortable situations. Two years gains an advancement to nobility, five years gives them tenth rank, ten years ninth rank, twenty-five years eighth rank, the same scale as you were suggesting for your colleagues, I believe.”


    “You are changing the dedication of the recruits for the slave schools, if they have automatic advancement,” Naneela warned.


    “In every case, there will be some input from others. In the case of the slave schools, that will probably include asking parents and students. My intention is to address the recruiting problem they''ve been having.”


    “I understand. And you also make the lower rank of nobility more common.”


    “And provide a mechanism for those like Bilay who cherish their titles an easier way to preserve them than suicidal military adventure. I wean the nobility away from the army, Naneela, and ennoble some demanding but humble professions, extending the values of the Heart of the Empire into the rest of the empire. That is my intent. Oh, I didn''t say: as slave ownership is a social evil, it bars any advancement.”


    “That''s an excellent clause, father!” Naneela said.


    “Other news is that your letter and his new faith have brought Count Tarok of Tuma to the attention of my second cousin Valene.”


    “Really? That isn''t a match I''d ever have considered!”


    “Apparently, she''s publicly challenged him to stop playing worldly games, and use his wealth to help educate the people in his domain. In reciprocation she''s unambiguously told him all he could expect to earn from her in return would be her smile, but that grace was better than earnings and without her smile he had no hope of winning her heart.”


    “She''s a widow, isn''t she?” Naneela asked.


    “Yes. One daughter, who you played with when you were younger, but I can''t remember her name, though I expect it ends with ''lene''. Feel free to ask Malene her cousin''s name.”


    “Father, I don''t think you''re supposed to transmit that in that context,” Salay said.


    “Probably not,” the emperor agreed. “Who heard that end?”


    “Me, Hayeel and Bilay who is looking rather stunned. Possibly something to do with Malene announcing at lunch yesterday that she''s fed up with trying to keep her talks with Bilay secret, and that therefore she was publicly declaring that she''d privately accepted him as suitor some weeks ago.”


    “Ah. And she''s been keeping her rank secret even from him has she? Oh yes, I did know she planned something like that. Apologise to her for me, Salay.”


    “I shall, father.”


    <hr>


    </a>Embassy of Dahel, Caneth


    “Malene, thank you for coming,” Hayeel said. “Salay has something to tell you.”


    “Third cousin, father apologises, but he spoke about your first cousin to Naneela and, failing to remember her name, suggested that Naneela ask you her name. Bilay overheard, as did Hayeel and I.”


    “Ah. My embarrassing rank has become known. Is Salene in trouble?”


    “No. Naneela wrote a letter commending Count Tarok of Tuma for the very kind and generous way in which he ended a relationship with someone younger than you, who was so naive about Central Zone games that she didn''t reciprocate to any gifts from him, and he''d been making very wrong assumptions. He came to faith after talking to father, and it seems your aunt has noticed him, and challenged him to stop spending money on worldly games, but added that he could earn her smile by educating the poor of his domain, and quote ''without her smile, he''d never win her heart.'' So there''s a possibility that Salene might eventually gain a step-father and become heiress to a county.”


    “Well! That''ll be a change!” Malene said. “I''m not sure she''d like to be a countess, but she would be good at it, I think, if it does happen. She''s been telling her mother for years that she ought to remarry. One of the last things her father had said to her, before he died, was that he expected her mother to mourn for a year or two, but he''d be in heaven and her mother would feel lonely and useless if she didn''t have a living husband to look after and organise.”


    “It looks like Tarok is going to get organised,” Salay said. “Now, you on the other hand, have a broken secret and an emperor in your debt.”


    “I''d have probably told Bilay one day, assuming we get married,” Malene said.


    “Father was aware of your intentions, cousin. I expect he simply forgot that the radio meant he was talking in public and was not having a private chat with Naneela. I know that he feels badly about it. You can request redress.”


    “What redress might I want, cousin? Is it not just a game I play that I pretend to have no rank of my own?”


    “It allows Takeel to give you orders, and allows you to avoid other social situations you find distasteful, so I think it is more than just a game,” Hayeel corrected. “What I would like to ask is how you feel about the system that means a steady decline in rank as generation succeeds to generation.”


    “How could it be any other way, duchess?”


    “There are titles administered by the state, are there not?” Hayeel asked. “Should the principles of limiting social change not require that an emperor grant at least a barony to relatives who will never inherit the crown?”


    Malene looked to Salay to respond, but he indicated his desire to hear her response. “There are reasons why that is not done, duchess.” Malene said, “For a start, the gift of a barony is normally a reward for great service, it would... I suppose the word is demean the grant if it was automatically handed out to relatives. Secondly, never inherit is too uncertain a thing. Naneela will inherit the crown after Salay if, God forbid, you have no children. And if she also has none then the rule would pass to cousins.”


    “And since father has no brother, sister or first cousins in the ruling line,” Salay said, “When Malene speaks of cousins she means second and third cousins such as Salene and herself.”


    “That is what you didn''t want known, Malene?” Hayeel asked. “That your mother is next in line after Naneela?”


    “Mother married a trader and once aunt Yalene was married and Naneela was born we moved to Kunga. Being known as anything to do with the imperial succession there might have been very dangerous. The Kungans have a strange concept of who you can claim as a relative, it might have been that the Kungan queen would have been overjoyed to think that she could claim the emperor as one in their system as her uncle lived next door to us. But mother was never sure if her links to the imperial throne would have got us welcomed to the palace or kidnapped to extract some kind of concession from the emperor. Or both.”


    “Would it make Queen Kunthel happy to be greeted as a relative?” Hayeel asked.


    “Urm... maybe.”


    “Because it occurs to me that some other people might have been listening in too.”


    “Ah, that''s true,” Salay agreed. “And I didn''t think to ask if anyone else was listening.”


    “It is not known that you are in the guard, Lady fifth rank Malene,” Hayeel pointed out. “So if you wish to stay completely out of it you may. I think your presence here would be hard to explain otherwise.”


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Oh, that''s easy to explain. Having been kicked out of Kunga as a child I decided that I would put as much distance between me and her majesty''s arbitrary policies as possible, and I''ve not managed to get to the Isles yet. Teasing answers such as that are not taken very seriously, but she would never challenge me about it, or she would be inviting a more... complex response. But just in case I''d better come up with one.”


    <hr>


    </a>The radio room, Dahel Embassy to Caneth


    “Queen Kunthel, I''ve just today learned we are now relatives.” Hayeel said, as the meeting drew to an end.


    “You are my relative? How?”


    “My husband''s third cousin grew up in your kingdom, living next door to your uncle.”


    “Truly? Which uncle?” Hayeel looked to Malene, who grinned, and accepted the microphone.


    “I used to walk to school with Walek son of your uncle Gindar, your majesty. Until you decided that my father should close his business and leave.”


    “Ah. You would be the famous Malene who caused Walek give me a toad for my every birthday for five years?”


    “I did not know of the toads, your majesty, but I am indeed Malene.”


    “And you can claim his imperial highness as third cousin?”


    “I tend not to claim it, your majesty. But it is a fact I cannot deny. Mother was concerned that we might experience some unexpected change in status should it become known that she was born lady fourth-rank.”


    “You might have indeed, since I had no faith at that time.” Queen Kunthel sighed “For what it is worth, expelling the merchants and similar policy shifts were not appreciated by many of my subjects or relatives, and the toads from Walek were a quite mild response. I was a foolish queen when I was young, and I did not just drive your family away, but my inconsistency also drove away a man I had hopes concerning. I had drive, but no direction. I have since learned faith in the Unchanging One, and have a goal, a destination if you like. And the toads and Walek''s faith which he learned from you helped enormously. If you choose to visit, my relative, you will be welcome to come and go freely. But I should perhaps tell you that Walek is a married man now.”


    “I''m glad he is not hoping I would return, or thinking to chase after me your majesty, my suitor might become jealous.”


    “Perhaps you can answer a question for me Malene. I revoked the ban on traders from the Empire four years ago, but very few have returned, and the economy still suffers from the lack of trade. Why do they not return?”


    “Ah, your majesty. I''m afraid that the populace in the Central Zone have long memories, and bear grudges. They felt the empire was insulted by the ejection of the traders, and the intricate Kungan handicrafts they used to pay high prices for and put on display with pride became things that were treated with contempt, and I know that some were even burned as firewood.”


    “I thought I was helping my citizens to trade, but in fact I destroyed the market?”


    “I do not know elsewhere in the empire, but certainly in the Central Zone, Tungan artisans and traders in their work played upon the fact that Tunga is within in the empire, and so made their cruder designs more preferable to many people. I have been called unpatriotic for wearing a necklace from Kunga, just within the last year.”


    “Duchess and Empress-apparent Hayeel, I have repented of my arrogant stupidity, but the economy is in ruins and my crafts-people must damage their hands farming because they cannot sell enough to buy food. We have wood and glass for making artifacts, and fine crafts-people, but it seems we are unlikely to regain our old customers. I appeal to you as my relative, do you have any suggestions?”


    “Apart from the unpalatable and obvious, you mean?” Hayeel asked.


    “Kunga should give up its independence, you mean,” Queen Kunthel asked “so it is no longer outside the empire?”


    “I was actually thinking that maybe you could seek new customers or new products. Princess Naneela is busy creating a new market for precision-made glassware, for instance.”


    “Did I hear my name?” Naneela asked, joining the conversation having been listening in with half an ear.


    “Yes, Naneela,” Salay said, “Please tell Queen Kunthel, who is our third cousin''s old neighbour''s cousin, about how her glass-workers might be able to help make your valves.”


    “My relative, it seems that my glass-blowing colleagues at the Imperial Research Centre grossly underestimated how easy it would be for a typical maker of windows and drinking vessels to adapt to their methods. If your glass-blowers can embed metal into glass as precisely as is needed for the radio components, then I''m sure that we would be interested.”


    “How precisely?”


    “It is delicate work. The metal screens and other components are put into a special holder, six wires are connected — I''m sure your jewellery makers can do that — and put through separate holes in a glass bead, which of course needs to be pre-made. Then the bead is squashed onto the wires and joined perfectly to the outer tube. The metal pieces must not move relative to one another more than the thickness of a fingernail. Then the air is removed, which needs special equipment of course, mostly of glass and the liquid metal. It takes a long time, and then the tube must be sealed. Again, perfectly, and without touching the metal pieces at all.”


    “I will ask if they think it is possible. How much could the Empire pay?”


    “I do not know, your majesty, but at the moment we have five workers who also do other things as well, and are very flexible in what they do. They live in the Central Zone, where food is not cheap. We estimated that that we could reach the desired production numbers with two hundred workers, working full time, also in the central zone. We have found some local people, but only another five.”


    “For how long?” Kunthel asked. “And how long until your five becomes two hundred and fifty?”


    “The demand we expect for years, cousin of my third cousin''s old neighbour.” Naneela said, “Perhaps it will be decades, though of course I expect there will be some modifications. But you are correct in one thing, if this were being done in a part of the empire, it would be much easier for Father to decree that for quality control reasons the work should only be done by a certain workshop. An alternative option, of course, is that your workers produce consistent quality at a substantially lower cost than would be possible in the empire.”


    “Are you arguing for a larger empire, Naneela?” Hayeel asked. “I thought you were saying it is too big all ready?”


    “Oh, it is too big for direct rule. For that reason Father and Grandfather have only wanted to offer vassal-kingdom status to anyone thinking of joining, like Walunga accepted.”


    “And so my people would have to pay the empire its tax and host empire soldiers like my neighbour Walunga does?” Queen Kunthel asked. “No, thank you.”


    “This is Salay, my royal relative. The so-called tax paid by Walunga is the soldier''s pay, because when the king of Walunga negotiated his treaty to join the empire he begged to not have to raise his own army. If you are comfortable with continuing to have your people patrolling your own borders, you may be surprised at what the accession requirements are.”


    “You do not wish to surprise me yourself?” Kunthel asked. “It is getting late here, your majesty.” Salay said. “And the details are a little complex. If I remember correctly, three quarters of the reduced military expenses from the empire accrue in your favour, as does the amount you''re spending on education and other things that directly benefit your people, and then a fraction, I can''t remember, perhaps two or three percent of your tax income, counts in the empire''s favour, as does the cost of any extra military expenditure that you ask the empire to provide. And then there are various limiting figures that get applied on both sides depending on population size and things like that. I''m sure that father''s ambassador can fill you in. But at the end of the maths then we find out if you pay the empire or if the empire is so happy that peace has broken out and you''re joining that it pays you.”


    “The empire might pay Kunga to join?”


    “Peace has its dividends, your majesty. Of course as a vassal state you would need to commit the country to never attack any part of the empire, and to seek imperial approval before any other war of aggression, and so on. The payment is recalculated every five years, and the military savings component reduces by ten percent each recalculation.”


    “So after fifty years that component is gone.” Kunthel said.


    “After fifty years, that component is smaller, but it''s ten percent of the previous amount, not of the original.”


    “I shall talk to your father''s ambassador, my relative. It is a very different thing to agree to honourable peace with a relative you can talk to than to capitulate to a greedy empire that makes unreasonable demands. Malene, you are still listening?”


    “I am, your majesty.”


    “In discussing this with my ministers I expect to be saying that I have today learned that had I not expelled traders from the empire, there is a reasonable chance that you and Walek would have formed a closer tie than just being neighbours who walked to school together. I hope you will not object to that statement.”


    “Walek and I discussed many things on our way to school, your majesty. When we were eight it seemed inevitable to both of us that we would marry. When I was eleven or twelve I told him it was not inevitable, that I would never marry a non-believer, and he should put all ideas of romance away until he was baptised. When I was fifteen he was baptised and a week later you ordered us to leave. It was just before the school''s week of sports, with different practices before and after school, starting at different times, so we never had the chance to start to talk about if we should change our relationship from friendship to love. I wasn''t sure, and there were some things I felt would need to change in him, but I remember looking forward to him starting that conversation and wondering how it would go and what our parents would say. So yes, if history had been different, a chance of love and a chance of broken hearts. Now I have the attention of a man with very few things that need changing, and I''m glad that my heart has never been broken by a man, only by a change in policy.”


    “Thank you, my relative. I will not ask why you''re in Caneth, but I will ask if you are at risk of policy hurting you again.”


    “Those with such authority have also voiced their approval, your majesty, so I do not fear such a drastic policy change. But let us pray that the aliens can find a solution now they know of the problem. That is a more concerning issue, I''m convinced.”


    “Indeed.” Kunthel agreed.


    <hr>


    </a>Bubble ship hanger, Mars


    “I know its a bit silly, but I''ve missed you,” Humph greeted Samantha, as she stepped out of the airlock and he took her suitcase from her. Bonnie had left earlier.


    “Hmm. I think that is a case of emotions getting ahead of themselves, don''t you?”


    “Absolutely,” he agreed. “On the other hand, Dad said you''ve actually talked to people on Planet Five?”


    “By radio. It seemed rather rude to God not to. I mean, you just happening to give me that vocab, Bonnie just happening to tune into their conversation, them just happening to switch into Windwardese as I was saying that I didn''t understand a word of it, and one of them just happening to reiterate why any delay in meeting the challenge was a bad thing? How many hints do I need to get? So I said hello and Bonnie re-tuned the probe. Has the monitor probe disgorged all its gorgeous data yet?”


    “It''s working on it,”


    “There''s a sequence you should probably show your Friends of Planet Five group. An execution, or rather, disposal of an executed criminal''s body, followed by an explanation of why he died, and a history lesson. Recorded a few weeks ago. The woman asked the probe if it really needed to wait for the signal. It replied the signal was necessary, which I thought was pretty decent language skill for an observation probe A.I. But then it was transcribing in two scripts I don''t recognise, so I guess it must have been programmed to actually use the local scripts too.”


    “Makes sense, I suppose,” Humph agreed.


    “Assuming you can read them,” Samantha said.


    “Yeah. Back to school for both of us,” then he blushed, “Assuming, of course....”


    “Assuming I want to go back and watch some more sea-monsters eating half-grown predators the size of a smallish hippo? I''ve got some scary footage. Yes, I want to go back. How is the course going?”


    “Well, thanks. Filming is going OK too, and we''ve written five new songs which is keeping the manager happy, even though he realises that we''re going to stay on. Other news is that as of about half an hour ago, Vincent hasn''t asked Sheena to walk with him yet, but she says he''s thinking of it every time they meet, and they seem to find excuses to do that quite often. They seem to find a lot of things to chat about.”


    “Has she said what''s she thinking back at him?”


    “She''s really not interested in dating a fan. But privately she tells me that she is interested in exploring possibilities with a certain God-fearing astronomer working in the Bubble group — he applied the day you left, by the way — and she also says that interstellar dust jets are cool.”


    “Not if you''re on Planet Five, they''re not. There''s already a serious excess of Oxygen and Nitrogen in the solar wind after the planet, so I agree with the guy who got them worried: they need help. I hope someone can rustle up some influential contacts and some ultra-bright people. Combining what we measured and what I remember from Vincent''s hand-waving summary, there''s a cloud about two light years long, weighing in at maybe a solar-mass or maybe ten, coming at about a twentieth of the speed of light to mangle their atmosphere and do nasty things to their sun.”


    “I thought the Bubble Ship programme had the monopoly on planet-sized brains.”


    “Just for bubble stuff,” Samantha replied.


    “Well, that''d work, wouldn''t it? Make a big bubble, move them out of the way...” Humph said.


    “You want to put their whole solar system into a bubble? Eeek! Can''t be done.”


    “Not their whole solar system, though I suppose that''d be really neat. But can''t you just move their planet to another star?”


    “Michelle, did you hear that?” Samantha said to a passing technician who was clearly trying not to laugh at the preposterous idea, “This man is daft! I like him though, he clearly has really big ideas.”