Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race (35 page)

“
Fighting to defend one colony—“

“
Please, Lucius, I’ve listened to the stories of your men, the ones who served with you before Faraday.  I’ve heard enough to judge you’ve a better soul than most.  Take the position.  Take command, now or I guarantee whoever does will have a civil war in ten years.”

Lucius looked away, but Kandergain caught his eyes, “You’re the best for the job, Lucius.”

Lucius sighed and closed his eyes.  When he spoke, it seemed to take all of his determination to force the words out.  Yet, he knew he would abide by them... no matter what it cost him.  “Okay, I’ll do it.  God knows how I’ll manage, but I’ll do it.”

“
Thank you.” Dreyfus said.  “Last, we need to deal with Emperor Romulus.”

Lucius frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He doesn’t like that you haven’t returned to Nova Roma.  He doesn’t trust you any more and he has tried to pressure me, a lot, to take this fleet there, now.”

“
I thought our arguments about the Chxor—“

“
Have only made him rethink means of attack.  He’s already assembled a guerrilla strike force you know?  They’ve got a lot of recruits from former insurgents of Faraday.”

“
I hadn’t heard.” Lucius said.  He realized he’d focused too much on other issues.

“
You have to reach some kind of agreement with him, as soon as possible, before he decides to take matters into his own hands.”

“
I don’t like the sound of that.” Lucius admitted.

“
I didn’t think you would.  Right now, I know, he’s had a lot of his people in and around the captured Chxor dreadnoughts and cruisers.  I’m not sure what his goals are there…”

“
I can think of a few unpleasant ideas,” Lucius said.  “I’ll have a talk with him, and with Admiral Mund.”

Admiral Dreyfus nodded.  “Thank you.  Now, since you seem ready to shoulder me with the majority of the work regarding preparations for this battle, I think you’ll need to excuse me.”  The man shook his head as Lucius stood, “Meeting with a Shadow Lord, really?  Some people will do
anything
to get out of work.”

***

Lucius’ first stop after the meeting was a secure com where he could contact Kate Bueller.  “What’s the status of the interim government?”

She smiled and Lucius realized immediately that he had been set up.  “Why, Baron, I’m glad you asked.”  She chuckled at his sour expression, “I can't imagine why you might suddenly have taken an interest in such a minor matter.  Did something come up?  Perhaps a discussion with a certain military man?  Did he wax eloquent on the necessity of a strong leader?”

“
Okay,” he growled, “I repeat, what’s the status—”

“
Oh,
fine
, don’t let me gloat.”  She sighed, “Right now, we’ve got three types of people at these meetings.  The first group are the reformers.  They’re in the majority, since they saw how bad things went earlier. Then we’ve got the remnants of the conservative party, who want a return to the status quo.  The third group is the ambitious people who want cushy jobs for themselves and their families.”

“
Can we just hang those other two groups?” Lucius asked.

“
Just say the word, Baron.”  Her words were light... but something in her voice suggested that she wouldn't mind the opportunity, if it came up.

Lucius shook his head, “What happened to the elections?  I thought you organized a mass vote?”

“We tried that.  We had ninety three proposed constitutions, thirty seven proposed contracts, fifty three proposed—“

“
I get it.” Lucius said.  “So now you’ve got a group of politicians hammering over a compromise?”

“
Yes.  And it’s going painfully slow, there’s a lot of horse trading, and we’re getting a system that’s going to be extremely flawed.”

“
Great,” Lucius sighed, “What do you want me to do?”

“
Show up, smile at the right people, and when the time comes for the popular vote, endorse the people responsible.”  Kate shrugged, “Essentially, the only important thing I need from you is a decision.”

“
What would that be?” Lucius all but growled.

“
Are you going to be in this for the long term?” She asked, her face suddenly serious.  “Will you pledge yourself to the fate of this world and to any others you liberate?”

Lucius swallowed.  He felt suddenly self conscious.  He realized how selfish he’d been when he saw the fear in her eyes.  If even Kate, hardened politician and practical through and through feared he’d abandon Faraday, how must all the others feel?  “I will, for as long as there’s a need.”

“Good.”  She took a deep breath.  “We’ll go with my proposal then.”

“
Your proposal?” Lucius asked.

“
With your support, we won’t need the compromises and horse-trading.  I can get this one pushed through in… oh, say a week.”  She smiled at his expression.  “You don’t quite realize the effect you’ve got here.  You’re kind of like a mixture between George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower with most of the people down here.”

Lucius frowned, “George Washington didn’t really know tactics very well, and Eisenhower—“

“They were both military figures who became Presidents of the United States.” Kate said.  “And both of them had a huge base of popular support because they did what other people said was impossible.  That’s the important thing and that’s the thing that’s going to hold this thing together.”

“
What exactly is ‘this thing’?” Lucius asked.

“
It’s a representative democracy.” Kate shrugged, “It’ll have a built-in non-elected legislative branch made up of successful people in various areas, a meritocracy of sorts, as well as an elected lower house with over-turning powers.  It’ll have a separate judicial branch, partially selected by vote, and partially by the executive branch.”

“
Executive branch?” Lucius asked.

“
That’s where you come in.”  Kate shrugged, “Most democracies don’t have the… speed to react to rapid changes, such as a war or a catastrophe.  The other problem is many develop a short-term focus, an election-cycle memory where…” Lucius’ eyes had begun to glaze over and he cleared his throat.  She shook her head with a bemused smile, “Anyway, I’m going to try to short-circuit that by appointing a monarch.”

“
Wait!” Lucius shook his head, “I’m not going to be a king!”

“
Oh, no, far too pretentious... for the time being.”  She shrugged, “Right now, you’ll retain your current title, though I’ve left provisions for you to be ‘promoted’ should the populous feel your rank not equivalent to the size of the realm.”

“
You’re kidding.”

“
Not at all.”

Lucius winced, “This is
not
what I expected.”

“
Of course it isn’t, then again, that’s probably for the best.” Kate laughed, “I haven’t even gotten near the enfranchisement of voters and the bill of rights.  I’ll say this, I’ve done my best to neuter the government regarding the rights of the people.”  She smiled, “I’ve had my best weasels, one of them your favorite lawyer, do his best to find loopholes for the government to follow.  Short of actually breaking the system, or a very long-term subversion, I think I’ve protected the people from the government.” She paused, “Then again, I’ve had a few thousand years of governments to plagiarize from.”

Lucius sighed, “Fine, send me a copy—“

“Oh, no, I’m not going to let an amateur muddle with it.” Kate snapped.  “You may be in charge, but you’re no more going to muck with it than any of these wanna-be’s at this interim government.  Most of them will find themselves out on their asses anyway once this gets ratified by a popular vote.”

“
You expect me to back a constitution I haven’t even read?” Lucius asked incredulously.

“
Lucius, you know me, would I do any less than the best?”

“
No, but everyone makes—”

“
If you finish that, I’ll make sure your title is ‘
Princess
.’” Kate snapped.

“
Ah.” Lucius cleared his throat.  “And what exactly, is your position going to be?”

“
I have no idea.  Either I’ll try for an upper house seat, or I’ll run for office with the other schlubs,” She shook her head and Lucius saw with surprise that her blonde hair had gray streaks in it, “Maybe I’ll take a break for a few years.  God knows, I’ve had a busy year with you.”

Lucius nodded in response.  Part of him wondered at how the stress had affected her.  She'd seemed so energetic when he first arrived at Faraday, but now he noticed the weariness in her posture and the exhaustion behind her eyes.  “When do you want me?”

She frowned, “Today’s what, March fifteenth?”  She cocked her head in thought.  “Show up tomorrow morning for my presentation.  I guarantee I’ll have the current constitution thrown out before lunch and my own proposal ratified before dinner.”  She tapped her teeth.  “Give me a couple of speeches on the twenty eighth, and then… hmmm.  I think I can push for ratification by the second of April.

“
Not the first?” Lucius smiled.

“
No.  April Fools Day is
not
the day to ratify a constitution.  I can just foresee the legal implications.”  She shook her head.  “The vote will be on the second.”

“
Good.  I’ll be departing on the third then.”

“
You… but…
what
???”

“
I’ve got some important business to attend to.” Lucius said.  “It shouldn’t take more than a week, maybe two.  I assure you it is vital to the survival of the human race, though I can’t say much more than that.”  He shrugged, “I’ll be out of contact the entire time, I’m afraid.”

It was several minutes before Kate could speak.  When she did, she glared, “You’re really batting for that
Princess
title, aren’t you?”

***

Private Frank Lopez snapped to attention as the door to the corridor opened.  He felt a nervous tremble as he recognized the officer’s face. “Good morning, sir!”  He mentally cataloged his uniform and he really hoped he hadn’t scuffed his boot’s shine.

“Good morning, Private, how are the prisoners?”

Lopez grimaced, “Some of them are… disturbing.  I do my best to just ignore what they say, as per the standing orders, sir.”

“Don’t let them get to you, Lopez.”  The officer sighed, “Go ahead and open it up, I’ve some questions to ask Admiral Mannetti.”

Lopez frowned, “Shouldn’t I wait for the Sergeant of the Guard, sir?”  On the standing orders, it had said that the prisoner’s door was to remain locked unless an officer and the NCO of the Guard were present.

“Private, I’ve dealt with prisoners worse than this before.  Do you know how long I’ve served with Baron Giovanni?”

“
Sorry, sir, right away.”  Lopez turned around and hunched over to fumble with the lock.  As the door opened with a click, he heard the snap of the friction release of a holstered pistol.

Lopez straightened up, just as the man he had trusted put two bullets in the back of his head.  The officer stepped over the body and the spreading pool of blood and into the cell block.  He walked down the corridor to the cell he wanted.  He typed in the code to open the lock.  It had been simple enough for him to get those, even if he had no direct authority over the prison.

“Ah, darling, so
glad
you could make it.  I’d wondered if you… rethought our previous relationship,” Lady Kale stood from her cot and strolled over to stand before him.

The officer gritted his teeth, “I just killed five good men to get you out of here.”

She stroked one finger down the side of his face, “Yes…and I’ve killed a lot more to preserve our little secret.”  She brushed past him and strode past the other cells.  She paused over the corpse of the guard as she lifted his sidearm free, “Pity... he was such a
cute
boy.”

***

“
Hello, Baron.”  The young Emperor greeted him with a politely bland face.

“
Your Highness.” Lucius bowed politely.

“
I hear you’ve entered politics.”

Lucius winced, “I had my arm bent, but I finally agreed.”

“I’m sure.”  The Emperor didn’t hide his bitterness.

Lucius sighed.  “I think we need to discuss the future, your Highness.”

The young man clenched his jaw, “Are you now deigning to tell me my place in the universe?  Now do you finally acquiesce to lend me the aid to save our home world?”

Lucius looked over to Admiral Mund for support.  The old man shrugged.  Lucius spoke slowly, “Your Highness, it comes down to this…  I can’t fight multiple wars at a time.  Tactically, we can smash the Chxor at Nova Roma.  Strategically… if we take it, we’re screwed.”