The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (36 page)

He couldn't live like that, yet the alternative seemed to be to leave himself exposed.  He would have to work harder to find some middle ground... hopefully without putting his people at risk.  He nodded, “Thank you, I'll look into it.”  He would have to make time to meet with his government and make sure that they were doing what they were supposed to, as well. 
I delegated, but I need to check and make sure this is working properly,
he thought,
I need a system in place.

He turned back to Anthony and felt at a loss for words.  What did they have to talk about, without the vast portion of both their lives as an option?

“Well,” Anthony said, “How is Kaylee doing?”

Lucius smiled at the olive branch, “Growing like a weed, rolling over.  I swear, she's....”

***

The nice thing about being the head of the government, was that when Lucius wanted to talk with someone, they made time.  Lucius could have looked over the Parliament schedule and made time to meet with the various leaders of the forming groups during gaps in their schedule.  Instead he'd found when they had one of their various debates scheduled and told them to make time.

Kate Bueller had immediately called and, after she finished laughing, had congratulated him on pissing off all the political parties.  She'd then offered to meet with him prior and that was what led to Lucius being seated in one of the government lounges while Max Nguyen, Aaron Dallas, and Kate Bueller tried to explain the murkiness that was the current political system.

Aaron Dallas, still big and tough looking, seemed almost out of place in a simple, conservative suit rather than the ragged coveralls he'd sported for as long as Lucius could remember, “How in depth do you want us to go?” he asked.

“How much do I need to know?” Lucius replied.  Things had grown so big, so fast that he felt completely out of touch.  The Fleet, the campaign against the Chxor, politics here on Faraday, and his family... each of those deserved a hundred percent of his time.  How could he balance them?

“Everything,” Kate Bueller said, her voice sarcastic.  “But we don't have time for that.  Hell,
I
don't have time for it, I've been focused on all these new envoys and ambassadors... such as our new friend in orbit.”

“Yes...” Lucius frowned, “Thanks for reminding me. He's been awful patient, I'm sure that will come with a price.”  He shook his head, “So who does know everything?”

Max Nguyen laughed, “No one.  There's so many political alliances and backroom agreements... it's all the worse for that we don't have political parties yet, mostly just coalitions and temporary alliances.”  He shook his head, “I've managed to edge a seat on the economic Cabinet, but we're more behind than the foreign affairs group that Kate runs.  There's a lot of money that they want to allocate towards industries... but almost everyone has their own pet projects.”  Max snorted, “Mine, of course, being tax breaks to businesses.”

“I'm in far murkier territory,” Aaron Dallas said.  “Out on the floor with most of the other members.  And I'll tell you, while there are enough folks who want to do things right... well, there's more than a few sharks out there, trying to eat the weak and make themselves stronger.”

“The only area we really see any real formation is when foreign policy is discussed,” Kate Bueller said.  “And even then, half of the people talking aren't very coherent about what they really want.”  She cleared her throat, “I'm technically not even qualified to meet with envoys and ambassadors, because we haven't had a majority vote to confirm my nomination.  It keeps getting held up by those who want the position, but don't have the votes to get it.”

“Okay, so the government isn't formed.  This was something I was led to believe would happen relatively quickly,” Lucius said.  “And what can I do about it?”

“Let it work itself out,” Max said quickly.  “People are just trying to figure out what they stand for... and what their constituents want.  If we try to rush them... well, they're likely to hunker down and be more stubborn.  We don't want a standoff between the government and its leader.”

Lucius saw both Aaron and Kate nod.  “Okay.  So this meeting is a bad idea?”

“No,” Kate said.  “It's actually a good way to show that, while you're willing to tolerate a bit of feeling things out, you expect them to behave like adults.”  She sighed, “Really, a lot of this would be easier without some of the jackals who have slipped in.  They're trying to increase the confusion and uncertainty.  You getting out in front of them and telling them you care will counteract that, I think.”

“Jackals?” Lucius asked.

“It's a symptom of power,” Aaron said, his voice bitter, “As the saying goes, power corrupts.  I, myself, think that it is more that the corruptible are drawn to power.”  He shook his head, “The worst of the lot is Julian Newbauer.”

The sour expression on Kate's face confirmed his statement, even if the grunt from Max hadn't.  “Okay,” Lucius asked, “Who is Julian Newbauer?”

“He's, currently, the head of your military cabinet and one of the most vocal supporters of the War Party,” Kate said.  “He's a sanctimonious prick, who likes encouraging fear in order to work up a frenzy.  He's all smiles to your face while he slides the dagger in your back.  He's one of the civilians from the Dreyfus Fleet, retired military, very charismatic, old war veteran.”  She let out a deep breath, “Frankly, he's a damned nuisance.”

“War Party?” Lucius asked.  “We have a War Party?”  He wasn't certain how he felt about it.  On the one hand, it sounded supportive, on the other... just what would the party stand for after the war with the Chxor was over?

“We do,” Max Nguyen answered.  “They're not fully coordinated, yet, and they're really not coherent.  Their main platform is what brings most people in, support for the defense of Faraday and the United Colonies.”

“The problem,” Aaron said, “is that they're not just about the defeat of the Chxor.  They want other systems to help 'shoulder the burden' of the war... basically, to pay tribute.  In particular, any worlds we conquer from the Chxor, but also Colonial Republic worlds, independent colonies, anything and anyone out there.  The end-state being, of course, taking the war to any threats.  You might be surprised, but most of the deluded idiots think that's what you want.”

Lucius shook his head “That's not exactly what I have planned.  Certainly not the outright conquest of other human systems.” 
Well,
he thought,
some of the worst systems it might not be a bad thing, but one thing at a time. 
He had no intention of turning the United Colonies into some mirror image of what the Nova Roma Empire was during it's conquest days. 
Probably with similar results,
Lucius thought.

“Regardless, there's a lot of folks who are afraid and angry,” Kate said.  “Their response is to lash out... and people like Newbauer whip them up against a convenient target to get some political power.”

“Okay, so Newbauer is apparently a big player, who else?” Lucius asked.

“Sara Cassin,” Max Nguyen said instantly.  “She was one of the leaders of the resistance against the Chxor.  She's built up a lot of political favors and she's well established as the leader of what she's calling the Moderates.”

“Moderate, how?” Lucius asked.

“Basically they want the people to be left alone as much as possible,” Aaron Dallas said.  “Honestly, I find myself falling in with her group.  They're more focused on citizen's rights and limiting the overall reach of the United Colonies government and empowering the local officials.”

“They want an end to the war with the Chxor,” Kate said sharply.

“The Moderates don't have a problem with fighting back against the Chxor... but they're not big on trying to tear down their entire Empire,” Aaron said calmly.  “And in case you didn't realize it, we don't have the manpower to hold that many systems.”

Kate flushed, “We might if we managed to pass some kind of budget...”

“Okay,” Lucius interrupted.  It bothered him to see that his original advisers, while still loyal to him, had also developed their own ties and political leanings. 
Or maybe
, he thought,
they had them all along and they're just now coming to light? 
Once again, he wondered if he could trust anyone, really.  The answer, he felt, was complicated.  He could probably trust them to do what they thought was best... maybe even what he wanted, but how could he know if they were doing a good job if he wasn't involved?  “Anyone else important enough worth mention?”

The three looked between one another.  Finally, Kate spoke up, hesitantly, “The two other parties that are coalescing are the Conservative Party and what I'm calling the Architects.  The Conservative Party is primarily made up of Faraday's original colonists.  They stand for returning things, as much as possible, back to how they were.  They don't have much of an actual loyal base, but some of what they talk about, particularly going back on the defensive and becoming semi-isolationist, has some serious traction among the more fearful representatives.”

Lucius grimaced at that.  “Okay, and the Architects.”

“I'm going to list myself and Max, here, among their number,” Kate said.  Lucius saw Aaron nod at that.  “We're trying to build a nation and I like to think that most of us are thinking through the second and third order effects, possibly to the fourth and fifth order effects, of our actions.”  She shrugged, “It's less about what we accomplish now and more about the traditions and behavior we encourage in the long term.”

“That sounds something like social engineering,” Lucius said suspiciously.  Amalgamated Worlds had operated on the principles of social engineering.  They'd tried to shape what people thought, how they behaved, and that had caused huge sections of earth's society to collapse and had brought the colonies into insurrection that led to the current events.

Kate shook her head, “We're not trying to change
people
.  We're trying to change the behavior of
government.
  Specifically, we're affecting what the people will accept from their government.”  She cleared her throat, “To be honest, the way most people are getting along without much government interference is actually a positive benefit.”

Lucius shook his head, “Alright.  I'm going to need to do a lot of research.”  Hopefully he could manage some, tonight, while he rocked Kaylee to sleep.  He wasn't going to miss his father-daughter time, if he could help it. 

***

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Lucius said to the assembled parliament.  “I'm here to update you on some recent developments.  As you know, the Fleet went to seize Melcer from the Chxor over twenty days ago.  You've already heard that we took the system and I am happy to announce that we did so without any losses.”

“You may also have heard that we have received an Ambassador from the Centauri Confederation, who appears willing to open up direct communications with our government.  What you may not have heard is that we also have an envoy from Shadow Lord Imperious.  Both of these individuals are of enough importance that I feel that you should be informed.”

He looked around the assembled men and women.  He heard mutters of conversation at his announcement and saw a mixture of worry and confusion on most of their faces.  The Shadow Lords were almost mythical, pirates who had looted entire worlds.  To hear that one of them had sent an envoy was not something that any of them expected or really knew how to react.

“In the coming days,” Lucius said calmly, “our government will need to deal with such guests.  In addition, we have other diplomats and envoys here who wish to make their own offers.”  He thought, once again, of the envoy from the Shogunate. 
One more thing I need to address while I'm here,
he thought.  “We also need at least some of a framework for our government to function.  In that interest, I'd ask that you select a president of parliament, a foreign minister, a minister of commerce, and a minister of war.”  Those were the positions he felt they needed at least some leadership.  The constitution they had ratified had a dozen more official positions, but he wasn't as concerned with positions such as the Minister of Education at the moment.  That kind of thing, he felt, would be better if they took the time to select the absolute best person.  Right now he needed people who could speak for their respective areas in both diplomacy and war.  Their economy would power both those areas and he needed someone who knew the Faraday and United Colonies economic strengths and weaknesses and could discuss their limits.

“The Centauri Confederation has invited me and other notables to their diplomatic ship tonight for an introductory party,” Lucius managed to keep any sign of distaste off his face and out of his voice.  Not that he hated such social events, though he wasn't particularly excited to attend them.  No, his distaste was for the chaos and civil war that had shattered the Centauri Confederation and the poverty that many of its citizens lived in, while their political overseers lived lives of pure luxury.  “I would like to bring our official government representatives to that event.”

The assembled parliament broke out into immediate discussion at that.  Lucius smirked a bit at the furious action his words seemed to have evoked.  “Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen.”