Lords of the Starship

"Lords of the Starship" is a 1967 science fiction novel which marked the debut of author Mark S. Geston, written while he was at college. The novel takes a darkly cynical view of human nature; some critics have called it a very black comedy.

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In the far future, on an Earth devastated by millennia of war, the Caroline Republic exists in a permanent state of war or cold war with its neighbors despite sharing their dire economic straits. Outside what little remains of civilization lie polluted wastelands populated by mutants and monsters. There is a general feeling that humanity has lost something vital, although nobody is sure what.

The situation seems hopeless until the battle veteran General Toriman, whose insignia comprise a mailed fist and pegasus, proposes an ambitious scheme. In his travels Toriman has discovered the remains of what seem to be ancient shipyards, far to the west, which were apparently used to build spacecraft millennia ago. Toriman's proposal involves the Caroline taking control of the shipyards on the pretext of building the "Victory", a new starship that will carry the population of the devastated world to the mythical paradise planet "Home". The project will take almost two centuries to complete, and the ship (constructed horizontally on a giant slipway) will be a colossal seven "miles" long with a wingspan of three miles, capable of carrying millions of passengers in suspended animation.

In reality the "Victory" will never be completed, but the effort will stir the people, revitalize the nation's economy and perhaps even restore mankind's missing quality.

The route to the Yards is reopened following a bloody battle between the Caroline and a group of mutants. During the battle the ghost of the ancient hero Miolnor IV (who also bears the mailed fist and pegasus insignia) appears and helps the Caroline win the day.

The shipyard is reopened and work begins on constructing the ship. This is helped by the fact that, despite their apparent antiquity, all of the Yards' machinery and buildings seem to have been perfectly preserved for millennia. Even more astonishingly, everything necessary for the construction of the ship is already available in the Yards' underground workshops and warehouses.

Close to the Yards are two huge, ancient weapon systems: The Fortress and Gun Hill. Legend has it that these structures were used to attack the "Dark Powers" of the West, the darkest of which was Salasar. From the vague descriptions given by various characters over the course of the story, it seems that Salasar was the technological equivalent of Tolkien's Mordor.

Over the course of several decades a magnificent city called Gateway grows up in the hills above the Yards while the "Victory's" hull slowly takes shape. In order to perpetuate the 'myth of the ship', the Yards' society is strictly divided into two classes: the Technos, who are aware of Toriman's original plan and are responsible for supervising the ship's construction; and the People, who believe that the ship, and the planet Home, are real.

The Technos are disturbed by the gradual realization that, although the Gateway has become rich and prosperous because of the "Victory" project, prosperity has "not" found its way back to the Caroline, which is still just as miserable as its neighbors. But before they can decide how to act on this knowledge the People revolt against them, led by a man named Coral who also bears the fist and pegasus insignia. Coral claims (truthfully, but misleadingly) that the Technos have lied to the People and have no intention of completing the ship.

After a brief but bloody battle the Technos are killed, all except for one woman who is "encouraged" to leave for the Dresau Islands, far to the east. The Dresau Islanders are one of several nations that believe the "Victory" project has a sinister purpose, and see the woman's arrival as a challenge from Coral and the People - a challenge that they and their allies intend to answer just as soon as they can muster sufficient force.

Eventually, after almost two centuries of construction, the "Victory" is completed and all of the People's women and children are crammed aboard in hibernation. At the same time the enemies of the People attack in force using whatever weapons and vehicles they can coax into operation. Coral's defenses prove strangely ineffective at preventing the invasion, and an apocalyptic battle rages on the Yards, with more than a million fighting on each side. At the height of the battle the sea turns red with blood and even the dead of past wars rise up against the People. Meanwhile Gun Hill and The Fortress reawaken and fire countless missiles toward their ancient targets in the west.

Before any of the People's menfolk can board the "Victory" its doors close and it makes its way down the slipway into the sea, indifferent to the damage caused by its passing. Then it turns its huge engines toward the shore and ignites them. The immense rocket exhausts incinerate all of the fighting armies, friend and foe alike, and set fire to the city of Gateway, creating a huge firestorm.

Meanwhile the ship uses thrust reverser plates to redirect its rocket exhausts onto its own hull, destroying itself and its millions of passengers - just as it was always designed to do. Finally, two gigantic balls of fire descend from the far west onto Gun Hill and The Fortress, destroying them as well as anything and anyone that has not already burned.

After the earth has cooled for three months to a bearable temperature, a man with a mailed fist and pegasus insignia arrives to survey the destruction. The entire "Victory" project has been masterminded by the unholy nation of Salasar, which built the "ancient" shipyards for the express purpose.

Now the man who has been called General Toriman, Miolnor IV and Coral sends a signal to Salasar that the surviving nations of the east are defenseless, impoverished and ripe for invasion.