Peacemaker

Peacemaker

'Michela Corbin, what did I just say?' The class began to snigger. I looked up, dismayed. There, right in front of my desk, stood Teacher Faber. I hadn't seen her coming! I tried to cover my literature screen with my hand but the teacher was too quick for me. She snatched screen and started to read the story I'd been writing.

'Michela Corbin, you are supposed to be writing an essay on Section 415 of the Peace Treaty between the Alliance and the Inthral Sector. Not this... this... this!'

'I'm sorry. I'll erase it.' I grabbed for my screen. Teacher Faber snatched it back. 'Let us take a look at what has so

captured your attention,' said the teacher sarcastically. ... I spun around, quick as a Pogett snake. Davin lunged at me with her laz-sword. Immediately I swung my weapon down to parry her thrust. The sound of laser beam on laser beam zinged almost musically. With a furious roar, Davin whipped her laz-sword upwards towards my head. I ducked and stepped back simultaneously. I didn't want to hurt her but one touch from the laz-sword was lethal - and I wasn't about to die. I...' Teacher Faber stopped reading, but not before my face was on fire.

"This tish-tosh is dangerous nonsense. I told you the last time that you'd had your final warning. Now you'll go on report - again!' said Teacher Faber with satisfaction. And I shall make sure that your mother sees this... this story of yours.'

My blood ran icy cold. 'My mother will go nuts! I'll do the essay. I'll stay behind and work late. Oh please, you can't...' 'Watch me,' said Teacher Faber. 'I don't know what's wrong with you, Michela. You persist with writing these kinds of stories." They're adventure stories,' I protested. "They're just fiction.'

'You humans are supposed to abhor. violence of any kind - even in stories,' said Teacher Faber. And yet, Michela, you insist on reading forbidden books like Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers, and on writing this kind of fantastical, dangerous foolishness.'

It wasn't my fault I read forbidden books. If they weren't forbidden in the first place, then I wouldn't get into trouble for reading them! Mother owned an impressive collection of nineteenth and twentieth-century fiction books, most of them now classified as forbidden. I'd been caught with Mother's books more than once and Mother threatened to burn them all if I was caught with just one of them again. So instead of reading them, I'd taken to writing my own - but that seemed to get me into even worse trouble!

'I won't read or write any more,' I pleaded. 'Please don't report me.'

Teacher Faber keyed in some commands on the console that was situated on her stomach.

'It is done.' Teacher Faber moved away. 'A full report has been transmitted to your mother.'

I scowled at her. Rotten, Pogett-brained, Valunian weasel! I groaned. What was my mother going to say?

'Teacher Faber sent me yet another demerit report on you today.'

'Mother, I can explain...'

Mother flopped down into her favourite recliner and kicked off her shoes. 'Michela, I don't want to hear it,' she sighed. 'I've reasoned with you, pleaded with you, argued until I'm blue.' 'It was only a story, Mother,' I said quietly.

'A story! Why can't you write stories about proper subjects? What's wrong with peace and diplomacy and friendship? Why must you revel in violence?'

'I don't,' I said furiously. 'They're only stories, Mother...'

'They're a way of thinking. They're a way of being,' my mother replied. 'You persist in embarrassing me in front of my colleagues. Think of what your father would say if he was still alive.'

And with that one single argument, Mother forced me to shut up and not argue.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

'Michela, have you been recoding your Peacemaker?'

'Of course not!' I blustered.

After the Treasure Island' incident, I'd been sent to Doctor Bevan to have my Peacemaker checked out. Everyone had a Peacemaker permanently attached to the inside of their left wrist on their eleventh birthday. The Peacemaker was a small, grey disk which looked like one of those old- fashioned buttons people used to use to fasten their clothes. Doctor Bevan explained that it was a behavioural inhibitor - supposed to ensure that the non-aggression we'd all been taught for the last century was more than just a lesson. The Peacemaker was supposed to make sure that it was physically impossible for us humans to be aggressive. No more wars, no more fights, we couldn't hurt each other any more.

Only it didn't stop there. Books and films that had once been considered classics had now been banned. And more and more things these days were taken as signs of belligerence, like talking, laughing and singing too loudly - and as I do all three, I'm constantly on report!

And that was the problem really. I was always letting Mother down - and we both knew it.

Mother shook her head sadly. 'Why do you do it? read your story, Michela. Is that really what's in your head - in spite of everything I've tried to teach you?"

'It was just a story, Mother,' I whispered unhappily.

And the part where you were fighting with the laz-sword?' Mother asked. 'I put that in because it's the only weapon I've seen a hologram of,' I said. 'You told me that you wanted to train in Je-kan-ia for the exercise, to teach you balance and co-ordination. It's obvious what's in your mind as you use the Kan-ia - you pretend it's a real weapon instead of the plastic stick it is. I forbid you to practise that so-called sport in the future,' said Mother.

'But it's the only thing I'm any good at,' I protested. Don't take that away from me. Not that as well, I thought desperately. But from the look on Mother's face, I knew she really meant it.

And you can go to Doctor Bevan right this minute and get your Peacemaker checked out. And if you have been tampering with it...'

'CON ONE! CON ONE! Captain

Corbin to the bridge immediately. Captain Corbin to the bridge.'

Mother was interrupted in mid- sentence. She slipped her shoes back on to her feet and within seconds she was out the door. I stared after her. What was going on? What had happened to take us from Condition Four - our usual state - to Condition One, which was only used for extreme, imminent danger?

I was used to Mother, as captain of the ship, being called away at a moment's notice. At first it'd seemed exciting to have such an important mother - captain of the Kitabu, one of the most prestigious ships in the Alliance fleet. Recently the excitement had faded away to leave something else, something less noble, in its place. I hardly ever saw her And it seemed to me that Mother was always Captain Corbin first and being my mother came a long way down the list. I didn't want to feel the way I did, but I couldn't help it.

'Come on, Michela,' I muttered, trying to pull myself together. What should I do now? I glanced down at my Peacemaker. Whatever the emergency was, it'd saved me from getting into real trouble.

There was only one way to find out what was going on. I left the room and headed up to the bridge. Maybe I could sneak in without Mother seeing me.

But the moment I stepped on to the bridge, I gasped, then froze. There, directly in front of the Kitabu was the biggest ship I'd ever seen. Only a small portion of it filled the entire viewscreen. It must have had some kind of sensor-jamming device to appear before us like this without any warning.

There was no way anyone would throw me off the bridge. All eyes were on the colossal ship before us.

'Ensign Natsua, activate the universal decoder. Open a channel,' Mother said. She was sitting before the viewer on the bridge, her face solemn. 'This is Captain Corbin of the Alliance ship, Kitabu. We come in peace. Our mission is to negotiate trade and route lines through this sector. Do you understand?'

Each encounter with a new alien species called for Mother to issue a similar blurb. The idea was that the alien ship would analyse the words spoken, so that any further communication to them could be translated. That's the way our universal decoder worked as well.

After only a few moments, the face and upper body of one of the alien crew appeared on the viewer. And such a face as I'd never seen before. My breath caught in my throat and refused to budge. The alien's face held only one eye in what was presumably its forehead. Its nose dominated its face, moving in a series of ridges downwards and outwards. It had lips - different from humans but similar enough to be recognizable as such. But the thing that made me stare without blinking and turned my stomach over was the alien's skin. It was transparent. I could see grey liquid running through tiny canals in its body. I could see the tops of two organs, one on either side of its upper body, contracting and expanding. The two organs had to be the alien's hearts. The whole thing looked strange, bizarre - and totally disgusting!

"This is Captain Corbin of the Alliance ship, Kitabu. We come in peace. Do you understand?' Mother repeated.

'I am Fflqa-Tur, a Chamrah knight. And I understand perfectly,' the alien replied. 'You have entered our sector without permission and must pay the price.'

'The price?' Mother questioned sharply. 'Our ships are now at war,' said Fflqa-Tur

'We were not aware that permission was required. My ship is the first Alliance ship to enter this sector. We in the Alliance are peaceful, non-confrontational. We meant no harm.'

'Harm or not, it is Chamrah law. We are now at war.'

'We will not fight you.'

'You have no choice,' said the alien. 'We are prepared to leave this sector and never return,' said Mother.

'You cannot retreat,' Fflqa-Tur said. 'Your path lies ahead.'

Silence.

'Comms down,' Mother instructed the ensign. That way she could hear what Fflqa-Tur had to say but not vice versa. 'Lieutenant Dopp, what's the maximum speed of Fflqa-Tur's vessel?'

Vel Five, according to our sensors,' the navigation officer replied.

'Comms up,' Mother ordered, to resume two-way communication. 'Fflqa-Tur, I must repeat, we in the Alliance are peace- loving. We will not fight with you. Our ship can travel at more than twice the speed of your craft. I am prepared to use that speed to withdraw so that our meeting does not end in violence.

'Run if you must,' said Fiqa-Tur. 'But I will spend the rest of my days searching for you throughout the galaxy. The challenge has been issued. It is not yours to reject.'

"But this makes no sense. Why won't you let us leave? Why must we fight?' Mother asked, an edge creeping into her voice.

'It is our way. And if you leave, not only will our two ships be at war, but my people on Chamrah will be at war with your so- called Alliance,' said Fflqa-Tur. There was a pause before he added, 'I am also bound to inform you of an alternative option, as you did not deliberately break our laws.'

'I'm listening,' Mother said eagerly.

You may send over your champion to fight against the best knight on my ship,' said Fflqa-Tur

Mother's shoulders slumped momentarily. 'We have many champions - but not of fighting. Never of fighting.'

Then how do you propose that we proceed with our combat?' asked Fflqa-Tur.

'As far as I'm concerned, we don't proceed at all. No one on this ship will fight you. It's against everything we believe in.'

Mother began to finger the necklace that Father had given her years before. It was her only sign of nervousness. I could almost hear her thinking, her expression was so intent. 'I have an alternative of my own to suggest.'

'Proceed,' the alien barked.

We surrender,' Mother said, seriously. No one on the bridge moved. Fflqa- Tur's expression was as unreadable and as immovable as an Earth monolith. He beckoned to one of his own bridge crew, and they whispered together for a few moments.

Fflqa-Tur turned back to the viewer. "We are unfamiliar with the word "surrender". Explain."

'It means we concede defeat, we submit, we yield. We will give ourselves over to you,' Mother said. 'We will not fight.'

Fflqa-Tur smiled. 'Your Alliance is worthless. A Chamrah baby has more courage, more valour. You will stand and fight. Or you will stand and die. The choice is yours. You have fifty locshans to prepare.'

Fflqa-Tur's image disappeared from the viewer to be replaced by his ship.

'Locshans?' asked Mother.

A moment, Captain,' said Lieutenant Dopp. Silence reigned for several seconds as the lieutenant manually keyed into the universal decoder. 'Fifty locshans would appear to be the equivalent of ten Earth minutes.'

'Ensign, open another channel. I've got to try and reason with them,' said Mother after a pause.

'They're not responding, Captain,' said the ensign.

'Keep trying.' Mother went back to her seat.

'What do we do, Captain?' asked the ensign.

'If they don't answer... we prepare to die,' Mother said, still staring at the viewer.We will not endanger the Alliance. We will not fight.'

'We could leave this sector,' suggested the ensign.

'No. We're not going to run,' said Mother. 'I'm not going to let this escalate into a full-blown war between the Alliance and the Chamrah nation. We must try to get through to them, but if not...'

Mother didn't say any more, she didn't have to.

I stared at her. Would she really let us all die, without even a fight? Looking around the bridge, everyone wore the same expression as Mother on their faces. I had my answer.

I looked down at my Peacemaker. How I wished I hadn't tampered with it. The others on the bridge were obviously prepared to do as Mother had said and die rather than go against their beliefs. Me? I wanted to fight. And the feeling was so strong that it scared me. What could I do? I was only thirteen. 'Mother, can I...?' I began.

Mother's head whipped around. 'Michela, get off the bridge. You're not supposed to be let me finish.

I looked at her. She looked at me, worry and resignation on her face. And at that moment, I knew it was hopeless. We were going to die. I turned away. Unexpectedly, Mother called me back and hugged me.

'Go to our quarters, Mother said gently. 'I'll join you later.'

After a pause, I left the bridge without another word - but it wasn't to go back to our quarters. It was too late to wonder what I would've done and how I would've felt if I hadn't tampered with my Peacemaker. The point was, I had. And if Fflqa-Tur of the Chamrah wanted a fighter, he would get one.

'Shuttle pod three, you are ordered to identify yourself. My mother's voice echoed all around the small shuttle pod. I didn't answer. I couldn't answer - not yet. Not until I had finished rejigging the remote control codes and the forcefield cycle. Once that was done, I opened a channel to the alien ship.

This is shuttle pod three. I wish to speak to Fflqa-Tur.' I kept repeating the message.

'Michela? What do you think you're doing?' Mother's face appeared on the shuttle pod viewer to my right. Her expression was incredulous, her voice furious. 'Michela, bring that shuttle pod back to this ship at once.

'I can't, Mother. Please don't try to stop me,' I said.

'Ensign Natsua, lock on to that shuttle pod and bring it back, Mother commanded.'I can't, Captain. The remote control codes have been changed. We can no longer control that pod,' the ensign replied. 'Then use the tractor beam to bring her back,' Mother snapped.

'Sorry, Captain,' the ensign replied after a few moments. "The pod's forcefield frequency has been recalibrated. I can't get a lock.'

'Michela, bring that pod back now and I promise we'll say no more about it. Running away from this ship isn't the answer. Your pod can't outrun the Chamrah. Your place is on this ship - no matter what happens,' said Mother.

I stared at her. I couldn't believe it. Did she really think I was trying to run away, to escape the Kitabu's inevitable fate? Is that what she really thought of me?

'Bye, Mother,' I said quietly, and I switched off the viewer. I carried on sending out my hailing message to Fflqa-Tur. Without warning his image appeared on my viewer. I swallowed hard.

Fflqa-Tur.' I coughed to clear my throat. 'Fflqa-Tur, I am Michela Corbin of the Alliance ship, Kitabu. I have come to accept your challenge.

Fflqa-Tur's eye narrowed, 'You are a human?'

'Yes.'

'You are a knight?'

'Not as such.'

'You are a warrior.'

'Not quite. But it doesn't matter what I am. I'm accepting your challenge,' I said.

There was a deathly hush. Then came a moment when every part of me, every drop of blood in my body, froze, as if I had been suddenly plunged into a bath of liquid nitrogen. The next thing I knew I was standing directly in front of Fflqa-Tur. "W-what happened?' I whispered.

Fflqa-Tur spoke to me but I didn't understand. I shook my head. Someone behind him came up to me and injected something into my ear. It was uncomfortable for a moment but it didn't hurt.

'You have been brought aboard our ship via our conveyor beam.' Fflqa-Tur spoke and this time I could understand every word. 'I wanted to see you for myself."

'Well, here I am. What happens now?' I asked.

I felt so strange, so calm. For the first time, the enormity of what I was doing struck me. I was actually doing this. And unlike in one of my stories, I wouldn't be coming back. I'd never see my mother or the Kitabu crew again, but they would be safe and free.

And, as consolation, I was in the middle of an adventure. This was real. Not a fantasy I'd written. Not a dream in my head. Real.

'You will fight against the champion knight of my ship,' said Fflqa-Tur. Are you the captain of this ship?' I asked.

'I am.'

"Then I will fight against no one but you,' I said quietly.

Fflqa-Tur stared at me. Then he started to smile. I wondered if the look on his face meant that he was impressed, although for all I knew it could have been indigestion.

'Your challenge is accepted,' said Fflqa- Tur. 'Let us go to the arena."

'One last thing.' I swallowed hard, afraid I was pushing my luck. 'I'd like our fight relayed back to the Kitabu. I want my... Captain Corbin and everyone else on the Kitabu to see our contest."

Agreed,' said Fflqa-Tur. 'You will now come with me. You will be clothed as a Chamrah knight and you must select your weapon.'

The arena was a small circular pit only about five metres in diameter and filled with what felt like Earth sand, only dark green in colour. Others like Fflqa-Tur sat around the arena. Funny, but they didn't look so disgusting any more. In fact they looked noble. I supposed that, given time - and the right frame of mind - you could get used to anything.

Shouts and cheers filled the air. In walked Fflqa-Tur. He was clothed as I was, in a neck-to-toe outfit that resembled an Earth-England medieval suit of armour, but the Chamrah version was almost transparent, very light and comfortable. In his hand Fflqa-Tur had what looked like a pendulum on a stick. For my weapon, I'd chosen the closest thing to a laz-sword I could find. This one was more primitive - solid metal but with a laser-sharp edge. It wouldn't have made much difference what I'd chosen really. I had never faced a real opponent in my life. An instructor robot programmed for Je-kan-ia had been my teacher. But a robot's programming would be no match for a knight skilled in the use of Chamrah weapons.

Fflqa-Tur stepped into the arena. The crowd around us fell into an expectant silence. I looked around. Was Mother watching me now? I hoped she was. If she was, what was she thinking? I would have given anything to know. Here I stood, in the arena facing Fflqa-Tur - and even now it felt as was failing her. If only I'd left my Peacemaker alone - how much easier it would've been.

Fflqa-Tur raised his weapon and started moving towards me. Immediately, instinctively, I backed away, raising my sword between us. Fflqa-Tur and I circled warily around each other. My heart was about to explode from my chest. I could hear the blood roaring and rushing in my ears like a stormy sea. Fflqa-Tur lunged at me. Too terrified to even cry out, I leapt back. Staring at him, I took a deep breath, then another. Then I relaxed my grip on the sword. I'd been holding it so tightly that my fingers were turning numb.

Slowly I stood up straight. I'd made up my mind. I might lose, but Fflqa-Tur would know he'd been in a fight! The battle between us lasted longer than I thought it would - a good 45 seconds at least. That wasn't the only surprise.

I won.

Heart pounding, head throbbing, palms sweating, I won. My first two moves stopped Fflqa-Tur's attempts to lunge at me. With my third sword stroke, I knocked his weapon out of his hand. It sailed up into the air away from us. I thrust forward until the point of my sword was against Fflqa-Tur's body. He didn't say a word. No one around us moved. The silence was deafening. I watched him, he watched me. Then I threw my sword down on the ground.

I waited anxiously, unsure what to do next.

There was a long pause. Then, without warning, Fflqa-Tur tilted his head back and laughed or rather, he did what had to be the Chamrah equivalent. The others around the arena joined in, until the air was filled with their laughing.

Is that it?' I asked, confused. 'What appens now?'

Well done, little one. You have passed our test.

'Test?'

'You accepted my challenge. You fought, but you did not kill,' said Fflqa-Tur

"Test?' Then I realized. 'You let me win! But... but I could have killed you.' I stared at him.

Fflqa-Tur beckoned to one of his crew. The crew member left his seat and came into the arena. He picked up the weapon I had just thrown on the ground. Before I could stop him, before I could even cry out, he lunged at Fflqa-Tur. I watched, wide-eyed with horror as the sword blade passed right through Fflqa-Tur's body. The captain didn't even flinch. In fact he laughed again at the look on my face.

Then I saw what had happened. All the canals filled with grey liquid and one of Fflqa-Tur's hearts had moved out of the way of the sword. They had all shifted to be either above or below the blade.

Every part of me has a life of its own,' explained Fflqa-Tur. 'And they could see the sword coming."

'But I don't understand. Why this test?' I said slowly, trying to take it in.

'We Chamrah have to choose our friends carefully. We are a peaceful race. We do not want aggressors as friends. Nor do we want aggressors using our trade routes. But we do not want cowards as our friends either. You showed that you were prepared to fight for what you believed in, no matter what the outcome - but you didn't kill me. You could have done but you didn't,' said Fflqa-Tur.

'Because killing is wrong,' I said "Then why did you accept the challenge?' Fflqa-Tur asked.

'Because... because it seemed to me that sometimes... sometimes you have to take a stand, even if you know you're going to lose.' I frowned. 'And I couldn't let you destroy our ship and kill all those people, not when I thought I could do something

about it. How could I sit back and not do something about it?'

You are indeed very brave,' said Fflqa- Tur. 'And bravery is everything.'

Bravery... Would Mother see it that way? But then a strange thought occurred to me. By refusing to kill, but not running away, didn't Mother do exactly what I was doing now? In her own way, Mother was just as brave as Fflqa-Tur. Only I'd never realized it before.

Can they still see me on the Kitabu?' 1 asked.

'Yes.'

I turned to the viewer. 'Mother, I need to see Doctor Bevan. I did recode my W Peacemaker, but don't worry. I won't tamper with it any more.'

'Peacemaker?' said the captain.

So I explained.

Fflqa-Tur said, 'But you have proven that you do not need to wear such a device. You were prepared to fight and die for your ship and your comrades, but you weren't prepared to kill needlessly. You showed compassion. That was all we needed to see.' I looked down at my Peacemaker... and wondered.

'I will escort you to my bridge. You will be sent back to your ship from there,' said Fflqa-Tur.

As we walked back, I turned to the captain and said, 'Fflqa-Tur, may I keep my weapon and armour? As a souvenir?' Fflqa-Tur nodded. 'Will you be punished when you return to your ship?" he asked. 'I should think so,' I sighed. Thoughts of the essays I'd have to write and the endless lectures I'd have to listen to filled my head. 'Is there no one on your ship who will be proud of you?' asked Fflqa-Tur.

'I... I don't know.' I shrugged.

Somehow... somehow I thought that Mother would understand. But even if she didn't, it wouldn't matter.

I'm proud of myself,' I said at last. 'And that's enough.'