Part 16 (1/2)

Its head was bigger than a motorcycle helmet, was roughly the same shape, and looked like it had been carved from a block of stone. Its eyes were red, the colour of burning coals, but they were concealed far behind two plates of thick, protective gla.s.s, like semi-visors. Staines peered up at the face, unsure whether what he was looking at was the creature's head or some kind of s.p.a.ce-helmet. There was a gap in the faceplate below the eyes, and through it, softer, gnarled skin was just visible. This parted, revealing two rows of fangs packed together between thin lips. A red tongue, forked like a snake, flickered over the front teeth.

Staines screamed.

60.

Chapter Eight

Death and Diplomacy

'Ssilence that creature,' the monster hissed, raising a claw like a giant crab's. The voice filled the room.

'Be quiet, Home Secretary,' Greyhaven ordered. Staines clamped his mouth shut, although whimpering noises continued to escape.

Greyhaven tried to ignore his colleague and turned to the monster. 'Lord Xznaal, I presume?'

'Lord Geryahavunn,' it whispered. The Martian looked down at Staines. Although this monster was incapable of facial expression, or even of moving its head, somehow it managed to communicate its disdain. 'Thiss iss the leader of the United Kingdom clan?' it barked.

Greyhaven looked down apologetical y at Staines, who was cowering behind him. 'Upon your arrival, the clan leaders fled their lands. They left behind this fellow. He is a good man, but he is surprised and frightened by your appearance.'

'You are not?' it grunted.

Greyhaven looked the monster up and down. 'I admit that you are not how I pictured you. Your voice has also changed - the effects of the Earth atmosphere you have provided for us in here?'

'That iss correct.' It paused to draw breath. 'How did you ”picture uss”?'

Greyhaven laughed. 'As a powerfully-built member of my own race,' he admitted.

'Likewisse,' the monster chortled, lifting its head back to bark a laugh. 'We have only ever sseen your people in their ss.p.a.ce-armour.'

'Y-you know this creature?' Staines asked.

'Show some respect, Home Secretary. This is Lord Xznaal, leader of the Argyre Clan. He controls territory the size of Arizona.'

'Larger, now,' Xznaal reminded them.

'Indeed.' Greyhaven conceded. 'Which reminds me.' He bent down and unzipped his bag.

'Are you concealing a weapon?'

'Yes,' Greyhaven said simply.

The Martian lurched at him with surprising speed, batting him out of the way. It probed the inside of the bag with a claw, lifting out what it found. Xznaal held it between powerful pincers, examining it. 'A mace?' it asked.

'The mace!' Staines exclaimed.

Xznaal swiped the air with it experimentally. 'It iss consstructed from a ssoft metal. It would disstort when ussed in combat.'

'That is not the point ... my Lord,' Staines explained. 'That is the symbol of parliamentary power in this country.'

'A ssacred object?'

'Near enough, yes,' Greyhaven said smugly.

Staines walked over to his colleague. 'Where the h.e.l.l did you get it?'

'The House of Commons, Staines, naturally. You should have asked me how I got it. 'Greyhaven turned to Xznaal.

'Possession of this gives you at least some claim to political power. We will have to examine the full const.i.tutional position.'

Staines grabbed Greyhaven's shoulder. 'What is happening here?'

Greyhaven shook him off. 'A coup d'etat,' he explained. 'With the support and a.s.sistance of a foreign power.'

Xznaal bent over Staines. 'Thiss human iss unaware of the plan?'

Greyhaven shrugged. 'The Home Secretary here knows that my followers have been plotting a coup, using Martian technology. He did not expect the creators of that technology to turn up in person. In fact, he thinks that your race is extinct.'

'Now might be a good time to tel me.'

'Very well,' Greyhaven said,'Over twenty years ago, the crew of Mars Probe 13 encountered Xznaal's people, the native race of Mars. Alexander Christian and his crew infiltrated a subterranean city, and were caught spying in a scientific research facility. Christian was the only one to escape. As you know, I was Minister of Science at the time, with responsibility for both the Mars programme and s.p.a.ce Security, and so it fell to me to sort out a potential diplomatic disaster. Once the language barrier was overcome, the Martians demanded two things: Christian's extradition, and an a.s.surance that we would stay away from their territory. The extradition proved a logistical problem - the Prison Service would have blown their budget for the next hundred and twenty years transferring Christian sixty million miles. Eventually Xznaal agreed that we could keep him imprisoned here, but that we mustn't ever release or debrief him. We have stuck to our agreement.'

Xznaal grunted his approval. 'If a Martian had been caught at Alderma.s.ston or Ssel afield, would you have been sso lenient?'

'Almost certainly not,' Staines admitted quickly. 'And now the Martians are angry at us because the Mars 97 breaks the other side of the agreement? But Teddy, you were the driving force behind Mars 97.'

Greyhaven and Xznaal shared a laugh.

'My dear chap, why do you think that we haven't been to Mars for over twenty years?'

'Lack of funding? The money could always be spent better elsewhere.'

61.'Nonsense. Think about the prestige of being the first country to put a man on Mars. Think about al the mineral wealth in the asteroid belts, think about the possibilities of a military base on the Moon, or a steel works in zero-gravity. There are energy sources and minerals in this solar system that would provide the solution to al mankind's problems; the population boom wouldn't be a problem if we could move people to Mars or Venus. Would a few billion pounds really be better spent on social security for a couple of million layabouts on one small island?'

'Mars is uninhabitable, Teddy. It doesn't have an atmosphere, it's highly radioactive.'

Greyhaven laughed. 'If Mars is uninhabitable, Home Secretary, what, precisely, do you think that is?'

'Things might live there,' Staines blurted,'but not humans.'

'Congratulations, David, that is precisely what I want people to believe. Before the mid-seventies, most scientists thought that Mars might be capable of supporting life. The Mariner probes didn't rule it out. Why do you think Britain wanted to go to Mars back in the seventies? Because it was the only planet in the solar system, other than Earth, that might be fit for colonisation. Now, I agreed with Xznaal that no Earthman would land on Mars, and it wasn't too difficult to wind down the British Mars Programme - the death of Alexander Christian's crew made it a great deal easier. But the last thing I wanted was some American or Russian mission there. I may have some clout in this country, Teddy, but I have very little influence on NASA policy. So the British s.p.a.ce Centre reported back that Mars was uninhabitable, we released reams and reams of scientific ”evidence” proving that Mars wouldn't support a human colony, that there was far too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Almost straight away, without question, the international scientific community accepted our version of events. Only the Americans weren't sure - until one of MI6's double-O agents went to Cape Canaveral and subst.i.tuted the real data collected by Viking with our fake. Their plans for Mars missions have been more half-hearted since then, much easier to sabotage. The best they've come up with in twenty years is a fossil that might be from Mars. Even if it is, do you know what they thought the fossil was? The waste products of single-cell creatures. Three billion year old bacteria pooh that may or may not be from Mars.'

'But ...'