The Praxis Read Free Page B

cried. “ Nothing! Don’t you understand that elementary fact of our service? We—all this—” He made a savage gesture toward the window with his hand, encompassing all beyond the transparency, the millions in the Lower Town, the great arc of the antimatter ring, the ships and wormhole stations beyond. “—it’s all trash! ” His voice was an urgent whisper, as if overwhelming emotion had partially paralyzed his vocal cords. “ Trash, compared to the true, the eternal, the one thing that gives our miserable lives meaning…”
    Enderby raised a fist and for one horrified second Martinez feared that the Fleet Commander would strike him down.
    â€œFor the Praxis!” Enderby said. “The Praxis is all that matters—it is all that is true—all that is beautiful!” Enderby brandished his fist again. “And that is the knowledge for which our ancestors suffered. For which we were scourged! Millions had to die in agony before the Great Masters burned the truth of the Praxis into our minds. And if millions more—billions!—had to die to uphold the righteousness of the Praxis, it would be our duty to inflict those deaths! ”
    Martinez wanted to take a step back to evade the scorching fire in the Fleet Commander’s eyes. With an effort of pure will, he kept his shoes planted on the office carpet, and tipped up his chin, exposing his throat.
    He felt the commander’s spittle on his neck as Enderby raged on. “We must all die!” he said. “But the only death that gives meaning is one in service to the Praxis. Because I am who I am, at this perfect moment in time, I am privileged to have an honorable death, one that gives both myself and the Praxis meaning. Do you know how rare that is?” He gestured again out the window, at the invisible millions below. “How many of those will die in a meaningful way, do you suppose? Practically none!”
    Fleet Commander Enderby stepped close to Martinez. “And you wish to deprive me of a meaningful death? The death proper to a Peer? Who are you to do that, Lieutenant Martinez?”
    Instinct managed to find words amid the clouds of fear that shadowed Martinez’s mind. He had learned early that when he was caught out, he should always admit it and then beg forgiveness in as endearing a manner as possible. Honesty, he’d found, had its own brand of charm.
    â€œI regret the suggestion extremely, Lord Commander,” he said. “I was thinking only of my own selfish desires.”
    Enderby glared at Martinez for a few long moments, then took a step back. “Over the next few hours I shall do my best to forget your very existence, Lieutenant,” he said. “See that those letters are delivered.”
    â€œYes, Lord Commander.”
    Martinez turned and marched for the door, ignoring the strong impulse to run. See if I ever try to save your miserable life again, he thought.
    And, damn the Praxis anyway.
    Â 
    I t was the alien Shaa, the Great Masters, who had imposed their absolutist ethic, the Praxis, on humanity after the surrender of Earth following the destruction of Delhi, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and a dozen other cities by antimatter bombs. Humanity was the second intelligent species to feel the lash of the Shaa. The first being the black-scaled, centauroid Naxids, who by the time of Earth’s surrender were sufficiently tamed to have crewed most of the Shaa ships.
    No one knew where the Shaa originated, and the Shaa were not forthcoming on this or any other aspect of their history. Their capital, the city of Zanshaa on the planet of Zanshaa, was clearly not their planet of origin, and had been chosen in historical times for its convenient location amid eight wormhole gates through which the Shaa could access their dominion. The Shaa “year,” .84 Earth years, had no reference to the period of Zanshaa’s orbit about its primary, or indeed to