DESPOILERS
OF THE
GOLDEN EMPIRE
BY DAVID GORDON
Illustrated by Freas
I
n the seven centuriesthat had elapsed sincethe Second Empire hadbeen founded on theshattered remnants ofthe First, the nobles of the Imperiumhad come slowly to realize that theempire was not to be judged by theexamples of its predecessor. TheFirst Empire had conquered most ofthe known universe by political intrigueand sheer military strength; ithad fallen because that same propensityfor political intrigue had gainedover every other strength of the Empire,and the various branches andsectors of the First Empire hadbegun to use it against one another.
The Second Empire was politicallyunlike the First; it tried to balance acentralized government against theautonomic governments of the varioussectors, and had almost succeededin doing so.
But, no matter how governed,there are certain essentials which areneeded by any governmental organization.
Without power, neither Civilizationnor the Empire could hold itselftogether, and His Universal Majesty,the Emperor Carl, well knew it. Andpower was linked solidly to one element,one metal, without which Civilizationwould collapse as surely asif it had been blasted out of existence.Without the power metal, noship could move or even be built;without it, industry would come to astandstill.
In ancient times, even as far backas the early Greek and Roman civilizations,the metal had been known,but it had been used, for the mostpart, as decoration and in the manufactureof jewelry. Later, it had beencoined as money.
It had always been relatively rare,but now, weight for weight, atom foratom, it was the most valuable elementon Earth. Indeed, the mostvaluable in the known universe.
The metal was Element NumberSeventy-nine—gold.
To the collective mind of the Empire,gold was the prime object inany kind of mining exploration. Theidea of drilling for petroleum, evenif it had been readily available, or ofmining coal or uranium would havebeen dismissed as impracticable andeven worse than useless.
Throughout the Empire, researchlaboratories worked tirelessly at theproblem of transmuting commonerelements into Gold-197, but thus farnone of the processes was commerciallyfeasible. There was still, afterthousands of years, only one way toget the power metal: extract it fromthe ground.
So it was that, across the greatgulf between the worlds, ship aftership moved in search of the metalthat would hold the far-flung coloniesof the Empire together. Everyadventurer who could manage to getaboard was glad to be cooped up ona ship during the long months ittook to cross the empty expanses,was glad to endure the hardships onalien terrain, on the chance that hisefforts might pay off a thousand orten thousand fold.
Of these men, a mere handfulwere successful, and of these one ortwo stand well above the rest. Andfor sheer determination, drive, andcourage, for the will to push on towardhis goal, no matter what theodds, a certain Commander Frankhad them all beat.
II
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