Expatria: The Box Set by Keith Brooke Read Free Book Online Page B

some sort of ruling pattern but there was none and soon he tired of the activity.
    He walked back to the aft hold and sat in his mahogany chair, under the shelter of a canvas awning. After rummaging in a bag he withdrew a book, opened it on his lap and wrote down the results of his counting. He would probably never read this page of his diary again but he knew that method was the key to the universe; everything must be recorded, the failed experiments as well as the successes. This was science, it had to be carried out in an orderly manner.
    Kasimir Sukui came from the southern fortress city of Alabama, capital of the lands that were ruled by the Andricci clan. He was descended from Expatria's first chief archivist and he had been reared in a lean-to that was crammed with books and diaries, handwritten histories of the first days of the colony and even histories from the Ark voyage that had brought the original colonists from Earth.
    Although Sukui did not believe in family precedents—each person must realise their own potential—he recognised that he did not deviate far from what such a tradition might have expected of him. The books had been a formative influence. He had read of inventions and of science and soon, using a borrowed pencil, he had learnt to copy the letters and then whole words.
    He had entered the Primal household as a servant but had risen rapidly through the ranks. He had studied the people around him. He had worked out what it was that made people succeed and what it was that made them stay at the same level for a lifetime. Putting his observations to work, he had associated with the right people, he had given his superiors bright ideas and then praised their originality, he had even slept with an ungainly senior vetting officer in order to convince her of his suitability for higher things.
    Now, as Prime Salvo Andric's principal adviser, his hard work was finally being rewarded. At last there was a Prime who was open to new ideas. Sukui had bided his time as adviser to three earlier Primes, all of whom had been hostile to innovation, but Salvo Andric professed a vigorous enthusiasm for his people; he often told Sukui that the citizens must benefit first from any advances made under his Primacy. Initially Sukui had been tentative about introducing the technologies about which he had read so much but Salvo had welcomed his innovations and then demanded more. After seven years Salvo Andric was the most popular Prime in Sukui's memory, and the adviser took great pride in his own small part in the triumph of rationality over the earlier ignorance of his nation's leaders.
    With Andric's Primacy thoroughly established, Sukui's role had broadened. Now, as well as being Andric's principal adviser, he had sole responsibility for Alabama City's Science Project, directing research, advising the workers, scouting for new talent to revitalise the scheme. The Project was the reason for his current barge trip across Mirror Bay. The first colonies established on Expatria had all been situated either on the island of Clermont or to the north, in regions now governed by the Hanrahan clan. Consequently, the greatest hoards of artefacts were located in these regions and Sukui had to organise frequent trading trips, often going himself in order to ensure that prize items were not missed by his juniors.
    The terrans had built their technologies to last; early records indicated that this was deliberate, so there would be ample time to set up industries and also, they said in parentheses, in case of tragedy, so that the survivors would not necessarily revert to savagery. Sukui could see that happening to the north, with the fundamentalist cults and their frequent tirades against knowledge; years earlier it had been happening in his own land but Prime Salvo had put a halt to that.
    Sukui closed his diary. He had been writing at greater length than intended. He had meant only to record the chaotic motions of the waves, no more.