King David’s Spaceship

by Jerry Pournelle

CHRONOLOGY

1969: Neil Armstrong sets foot on Earth’s moon. 1990: Series of treaties between United States andSoviet Unioncreated the CoDominium.

2008: First interstellar drive tested.

2020: First interstellar colonies. Great Exodus begins.

2110: Coronation of Lysander I of Sparta

2111: Formation Wars begin.

2250: Leonidas I proclaims Empire of Man.

2250–2600: Empire of Man enforces interstellar peace.

2273: Prince Samual’s World becomes Member Principality of Empire.

2603: Secession Wars begin.

2627: Prince Samual’s World drawn into conflict.

2632: First bombardment of Prince Samual’s World.

2637: First Battle of Makassar.

2640: Secession Wars continue. Dark Ages in many systems. Effective termination of First Empire.

2658: Second battle offMakassar; remnants of loyalist fleet take refuge on Prince Samual’s World.

2680: Battle of Prince Samual’s World. Loyalist officers deposed.

2681: Brief occupation of Prince Samual’s World by secessionists.

2694: Loyalist-engineered coup on Prince Samual’s World.

2711: Bombardment of Prince Samual’s World; effective end of high-energy civilization.

2723: Last starship visits Prince Samual’s World; many loyalist families evacuated by remnant of Empire.

2740: Prince Samual University founded to preserve knowledge.

2748–2770: Local independent cities and petty states battle for possession of Prince Samual University; townsmen defend University.

2770: Treaty establishes independence of University under protection of coalition of local city-states.

2791: Plague Year on Prince Samual’s World.

2800: Interstellar trade ceases. Piracy and brigandage. Dark Ages throughout former Empire of Man.

2810: First Hundred Year War begins on Prince Samual’s World.

2864: Petty kingdom of Haven begins expansion, consolidates gains.

2870: Effective end of Secession Wars in Old Empire.

2903: Leonidas IV ofSpartaproclaims the Second Empire of Man. The Oath of Reunion is sworn.

2915: Fifty Year War begins on Prince Samual’s World. Many petty states eliminated.

2917: Plague Year on Prince Samual’s World.

2990: Haven begins new campaign of unification.

3013: Prince Samual’s World discovered by units of Imperial Navy.

For Dan Alderson and Gary Hudson with many thanks.

PART ONE

COLONY

CHAPTER ONE

THE BLUE BOTTLE

The crowd was noisy in the Blue Bottle, although it was early in the evening. Tavern girls squealed as customers pinched them, gaily clad waiters brought round after round of drinks, and throughout much of the room everyone was shouting merrily.

The reason was not hard to find, for in one corner of the crowded room three officers of the Imperial Navy held court, buying drinks for anyone on Prince Samual’s World who would sit with them and laugh at their jokes. Some of the regulars held back, their distaste for the enforced association more evident with every round, but for each of them there were four others from Haven City more than willing to share the Emperor’s humor and liquor. Before the night ended the officers would doubtless have new recruits for the Royal and Imperial Marines, young lads suddenly sobered to find themselves in an iron service out among the stars, never to see their homes and discovering that Imperial officers were not such jolly good fellows when you were under their command.

For the moment the whiskey, brandy, and grua-distilled from a cross between a berry and a peach grown only on Prince Samual’s northern continent — flowed freely, the jokes were new to the locals even if they had been told a century before in the barracks at New Annapolis, and His Imperial Majesty’s crimson-and-gold-jacketed officers were relaxed, feeling as at home as they ever did on a barely civilized planet.

The three of them were classmates, not six years out of the Academy, the gold and silver stripes of lieutenants only recently sewn on their sleeves. Closer inspection would have revealed that one of them was a year younger than his friends, a school prodigy admitted early to midshipman status as much because of his talents as his family influence, and that young-and-only-just-lieutenant Jefferson was very, very drunk. His classmates had discreetly opened the top clasp of their stiff tunic collars, but Jefferson’s was half unfastened, revealing a none-too-fresh shirt and a tiny breast-pocket computer beneath.

His natural shyness overcome by countless thimble-sized glasses of grua, Lieutenant Jefferson basked in the esteem of the flatlanders. He had almost forgotten that they were barbarians, and that he and the tiny Navy outpost on Prince Samual were the only representatives of true civilization within ten light-years. The others were singing, and when his turn came he added a verse so obscene it shocked the tavern girls. He grinned and looked about for approval, then tossed off another glass.

Across from Jefferson a young native, browned by field work, too young to be in the Blue Bottle if he were not sitting with the Emperor’s overlords, beamed at his new friend and shouted approval of the song. “Great, Lieu — uh, Jeff, great. Tell us more about what it’s like out there. Tell us about other worlds. Are we the most backward place you’ve ever seen?”

Lieutenant Jefferson belched loudly, murmured an automatic apology, and focused dizzily on his admirers. “Oh hell, no, Simom, not by a full broadside. Samual’s got guns, and factories, and — and long-distance communications, and hydroelectric power; man, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve got no world government, and those wars you’re always in stomp you down or for sure you’d be Class Two status in the Empire instead of a colony. When I think how bad you got torn up in the Secession Wars, it’s amazing you got this far in a few centuries … standard centuries, that is. You’re doing fine here. That right, laddie?” he asked, digging his elbowinto his classmate’s ribs.

Lieutenant Clements turned his black face to Jefferson and grinned, his teeth sparkling. “Sure that’s right, Jeff, you tell ’em this is the best duty we’ve had since we left the capital. Maybe better,” he shouted, turning back to the tavern girl beside him.

“Hear that?” Jefferson asked his companion. “Simom, we’ve been to places where they don’t even have hydrocarbon power, no electricity, no pellet guns, nothing but horses and men running around in iron pants the way you see — well, the way we see in Imperial history books, books about the time when Earth was all there was to it. Friend, you almost have space travel. Another hundred years, another fifty years even, you’d have found us instead of the other way around. Too bad you didn’t,” he added, his voice changing. “Been better for you if you had. Class Two status for sure, maybe Class One. if you’d had real space flight before we got here. Not your fault; the survey ship just happened by looking for a gas giant to scoop some fuel from and decided to look you over. A real pity.” He looked at his empty glass. “Host! Host! More grua!”

Two of the regulars of the Blue Bottle made a point of walking past the officers as they stamped out of the tavern, their kilts swirling, but Jefferson did not notice them. As the headwaiter brought more drinks, Simom asked, “What was it like, that place where they wore iron pants? It is far from here? Have you colonized it? Can we go there?”

“Ho, one at a time,” Jefferson shouted. “Far? Not more than twelve light-years, one jump from here, I think. Let’s see, yeah, there’s nothing between the two suns and theirs is a big one; hell, it’s that thing you people call the Eye of the Needle; you could see it right now if you went outside. And no, no colonies there, not enough to make it worthwhile yet. And we’re spread so thin. Keep a little observation post there to watch for outies, a first lieutenant and a couple of middies, few Marines. Not even a ship in orbit. Detection gear, observation satellite, that’s about all. Nothing important there, except, of course, their Temple.”