The burden of command, p.12
The Burden of Command, page 12
part #14 of Empire Rising Series
When the Speaker turned to a new Commoner, James was proven wrong, there was an even worse scenario some members of the house of Commons were contemplating. “Commoner Justin Farnsworth, of the Quebec colony. He leads the Democracy Party,” Nicholls explained as she whispered in James’ ear. James nodded; he was all too aware of Farnsworth. He didn’t expect the Commoner’s words to be just as alarming however.
“Commoner Patel speaks wise words,” Farnsworth began. “She truly perceives many of the problems that our worlds are facing, problems that cannot be solved by lowering taxes alone. There is real unrest and disillusionment with the Empire and with what has been done over these last years. Our peoples’ desire freedom and the right to make their own laws and decide their own taxes. Yes, some may argue that the Imperial Constitution allows them to do just that. Yet electing a representative to make laws on your own world is very different to electing one to sit in a parliament hundreds of light years away. This concern is exasperated by the free colonies. Colonies like Houston benefit from the protection of the Imperial Fleet, and yet face none of the overbearing costs. Many other worlds I believe wish they lived under similar circumstances. Unrest is inevitable, I now fear, whatever we decide today. It is a pity, therefore, that the wise writers of our constitution didn’t see fit to provide a provision for worlds that once joined the Empire to peacefully leave it. For when something cannot be done peacefully, it leaves room only for violence.”
At Farnsworth’s last sentence, pandemonium broke out in the house. Commoners sprang to their feet and began to bellow at one another. The speaker banged his gravel loudly trying to regain order, yet to no avail. James heard it all, but took none of it in. He was looking at Christine, the blood had drained from her face. Farnsworth was talking about secession. Or worse, about some kind of armed revolt. Either would be deadly for the Empire. Even if such an attempt didn’t fracture Humanity’s cohesion, the Karacknids would see it as a golden opportunity. If Humanity was divided against itself, just one of the three sparring claimants to the title of Imperator could swoop in and crush Earth. And it was just possible pulling off such a victory might win them the support they would need to defeat their rivals. Suddenly, James realized that the future of the Empire itself was being debated among the Commoners. From the concern in her face, Christine clearly recognized that too.
It took the best part of five minutes for the speaker to regain control of the House. When he finally did, it was obvious even he was concerned. The next four commoners given permission to speak were all from the Empire Loyalist or Constitutionalist parties. As expected, they denounced Farnsworth and called for unity. James found himself only half listening; instead, he was watching the faces of many of the Commoners he knew would be swing votes. To his relief, some nodded here and there at what was being said, though not quite as many as he would have liked. Is this where we have come to? He found himself asking. He knew he didn’t pay as close attention to the internal politics of the Empire as Christine did, yet he didn’t recall anyone believing thoughts of secession were on the cards. Surely, they must all be as shocked as we are? When James glanced back up to the public viewing gallery, he realized that not everyone was. Teal was still staring at him. This time, there was the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. He knew, James was certain. Beside him, Governor Varma likewise did not look disturbed. What if there is something bigger going on? James asked, now even more concerned.
When he glanced at Christine to see if she was thinking along the same lines, his wife didn’t look up at him. Yet neither was she watching the debate as it continued. Her mind was clearly elsewhere. James tried to get her attention, but to no avail. All too aware that there were several holo recorders focused on him, he didn’t want to appear too worried. Content that she knew what she was doing, he turned back to the debate and feigned interest. Yet now bigger things were on his mind.
Chapter 11
All three Houses of Government have gone through several enlargements and refurbishments. They have had too, for as the Empire has grown from a body of sixty-four worlds to one of over a thousand, many hundreds more Senators, Commoners and Servants have had to be accommodated than was initially envisioned.
-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.
James only realized the debate had come to an end when he noticed the Speaker was on his feet and was banging his gravel. “So ends the final debate on Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight. Every Commoner who wished to speak has now spoken. The House will retire for two hours to deliberate this matter before we return to vote. Thank you all for your participation.” Movement to James’ side made him turn around. His eyes widened when he saw Christine standing to her feet. The Speaker’s arm froze mid-swing. The noise of everyone shuffling in their seats filled the chamber as every head turned towards the Imperial Gallery. The Speaker cleared his throat, set down his gravel and then nodded to Christine. “We have been honored by the presence of our Emperor and Empress at this debate. Empress Christine now wishes to exercise her right to address us. Empress Christine, I yield the floor to you.”
Now James understood why Christine had been so distracted. The Imperial Constitution gave the Emperor and Empress the right to visit each of the three Houses and observe the deliberations going on. It also gave them the right to address each House if they thought it necessary. Intentionally, since the Empire’s formation, Christine had insisted they only attend debates on the most important bills. Never had either of them actually spoken at one of the Houses. Christine had often said she didn’t want to set a precedent of abusing the power. James found himself nodding in approval. If ever there was a time to break that unwritten rule, it was now.
Raising herself up to her full height, Christine squared her shoulders, raised her chin, and put a regal expression on her face. “Thank you Speaker,” she said slowly. “Commoners of the human Empire, I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude for the service you have all given our species. Whether we are political allies or not, whether we agree about certain key issues or not, I know at heart each of you has the best interests of those you represent, and of our civilization. For that, I thank you. It is no secret that Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight has been a controversial issue in this house and throughout our Empire. I feel just as torn as many of you do. On the one hand, I know how real and ever present the Karacknid threat is. Nor can I forget the price that we have already paid fighting them. I lost my father and mother and all of my siblings in our war with them. My husband has lost countless friends. All of us here know someone who suffered at the hands of the Karacknids. Because of this, I have sworn to protect our people at any cost. This oath drives me to fight tooth and nail to protect our fleet and our fortifications, for only in their strength does our species endure. And yet, I love our people. It pains me to see the burden that so many of them face. Yes, I am not ignorant of the cost our military build-up has had on our worlds. High taxes, restrictions on our economy, the constant recruitment drive for new Navy personnel and Marines. Our focus on these things has stunted other aspects of our economy. So much of our potential has been flowing into our military rather than improving the lives of our citizens. Whether you believe it or not, this does hurt me. I want nothing more than for our species to flourish.”
As James knew Christine liked to do, she paused and glanced around at many of the Commoners. Some nodded to her, others looked away when their eyes met, here and there a a few returned her gaze defiantly. “Balancing these two competing demands is no easy task. Your debate today demonstrates this well enough. Navigating our future falls on all of us, but today, on each of you especially. Therefore, as the Empress of the human species, chosen by all of our people, I wish to implore you to think carefully as you deliberate. The Karacknid threat will not always be hanging over us. Someday, they will renew their offensive, when that day comes, it is my hope that we will be ready to meet it. That we will be ready to defeat them once and for all. Then, we can allow ourselves to turn to other priorities. But I implore you, do not lose sight of why this Empire was founded. Do not lose sight of the responsibility each of you has to your people and to the generations that will follow us. We cannot let our guard down. We have accomplished too much and sacrificed too much to make this mistake. And finally, let us not forget all those who have already gone before us from this galaxy. Millions have died that we might have the freedoms we enjoy now. Let us not throw them away before the task of defeating the Karacknids has been accomplished.”
As Christine sat down, one solitary Commoner began to clap. He continued on his own for several seconds causing James’ heart rate to rapidly accelerate. To his great relief, two more joined the solitary Commoner, then others followed suit. Soon, the chamber was full of applause echoing throughout it. James couldn’t help but glance down at all the Commoners as he tried to see how many were clapping and how many weren’t. More than half were, he was sure of that, yet almost as many weren’t as well. And how many are clapping just to fit in? He asked himself. There was no way to tell, they would just have to wait for the vote.
When the clapping for Christine died down, the Speaker stood to his feet once again. “Now, I declare this debate over. We will recommence in two hours.” As soon as his gravel hit his bench, the chamber became full of the sound of people speaking and getting to their feet. Christine jumped to her feet as well. She held out a hand for James and gestured with her head for them to leave.
Standing, James took his wife’s hand and they stepped out of their gallery. Fairfax was standing in the corridor waiting for them. James nodded to him. He had been wondering where Christine’s Chief of Staff had been. Supposedly, he had been getting their gallery ready for them. No doubt they would find out what he had been up to momentarily.
“I have a room prepared for you,” Fairfax said. “We can wait there until the vote, unless you would like to return to the Palace?”
Christine shook her head. “There’s no point flying there and back.”
“Then follow me Empress,” Fairfax said as he turned and quickly headed off down the corridor.
As they started to move, Christine turned to Nicholls, “Can you invite the House leaders of the Empire Loyalist and Constitutionalist parties to join us, and Commoner Maddison as well?”
“Of course Empress,” Nicholls replied. “I saw Senator Grimshaw in the gallery, shall I invite him as well?”
“Yes, please do,” Christine said.
The more the better, James thought as Nicholls turned and disappeared. Grimshaw led the Empire Loyalist party in the Senate, and was recognized as the party’s overall leader. The more minds they had working on the problem, the better. James sensed Christine was in the mood to do even more. Yet just what that was, he had no idea.
When they got to the room Fairfax had prepared, James and Christine sat down. Fairfax joined them. Though there was food and drinks arranged on a table, neither of them moved towards them. “That was far worse than I was expecting,” James said to break the ice. “But your speech was exactly what everyone needed to hear.” He reached out and squeezed Christine’s hand. “It was good that we came.” James turned to Fairfax. “How do you think it will go?”
Fairfax shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been trying to get an answer to that all afternoon. I’ve been speaking with the chief aides of many of the undecided Commoners. I thought things were starting to swing our way as the debate continued, but after Patel and Farnsworth spoke, I am not certain of anything anymore. Many who were on our side may now be fearing riots or worse. That may cause them to choose the lesser of two evils and support the bill.”
“We cannot allow that to happen,” Christine snapped. “We cannot. It will undo everything we have done.”
“Then what can we do?” James asked.
Before anyone could answer him, the door into the room opened and Nicholls glanced in. “They are here,” she said. Christine waved for James’ Chief of Staff to show them in.
James stood and greeted each of them. “Commoner Maddison,” he said as he shook Madison’s hand and gave her a smile. “I enjoyed your speech today.”
“Thank you Emperor,” Maddison replied. “I must say, I was not expecting an invitation like this.”
James chuckled despite the gravity of the situation. “Don’t worry, we’re not trying to recruit you to the Empire Loyalist party. We just want to pick your brains.”
Maddison nodded and moved to greet Christine. Next, James shook hands with Senator Grimshaw and Commoner Havertz, the leaders of the Empire Loyalists in the Senate and House of Commons. Last to come in was Commoner Lafayette.
“Thank you all for coming,” Fairfax said as he took charge of the meeting after a glance from Christine. “I have no doubt we are all concerned about the threats Patel and Farnsworth made. Whether they are real or not, they have put the cat among the pigeons. Empress Christine’s speech has helped, but she wishes to know, is there more we can do to sway the vote?”
The three politicians glanced at one another. Havertz spoke first. “I’m not sure what you might have in mind,” he said as he held Christine’s gaze. “With just two hours to go, there is not much more that can be said. Your intervention was timely. I’m still confident enough Commoners will see sense.”
“What about if we announced some kind of tapering of the military budget?” Nicholls suggested. “We have already been discussing such a possibility,” she continued as everyone looked at her. “Yes, that was for ten years from now, but we could bring it forward slightly. Maybe by five years? We could reduce the tapering, of course. My sense is that people just want to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. All our projections suggest that in another ten years, we should have reached parity with the Karacknids. If we taper our spending slightly, it may take us an extra year or two. I know that is risky, but it is better than having our budget slashed this year rather than in five years’ time.” When she finished speaking, Nicholls glanced guiltily at James. She knew James hated any mention of reducing the Navy’s budget. Yet James understood, they were in dire circumstances. He gave her a conciliatory nod.
Maddison shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it would be enough. Promises of a slight reduction in spending in five years will not allay the fears of those who are on the fence. Most who are undecided or wavering are up for re-election in the next one to three years. Their people want them to deliver results for them now. Their electorates will not want promises that might be fulfilled when their candidates are out of office.”
“And I assume we would only be talking about a one or two percent reduction in the Navy’s budget to begin with,” Grimshaw said. “Even if that directly translated into reduction of one or two of percent in our tax rates, that would make little difference in the lives of our people. I’m afraid we have come too far for small actions to be deemed acceptable. Those who want to pass Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight have already decided drastic measures are required.”
“Then what if we announce plans to incorporate all of the free colonies into the Empire,” James suggested. It was an idea he had been pushing for several years, though few on his and Christine’s Inner Council had supported it. “It is clear their existence gives fuel to those pushing to pass this bill and now it seems, to those thinking of taking more drastic actions. We have the economic might to force the free colonies to join us. If their tax bases were added to the Empire’s, we would not need to burden the rest of our worlds so much.”
“I would not advise that Emperor,” Grimshaw said slowly. “Today shows the danger of that all the more. Farnsworth’s threats were shocking to many. Yet even after just an hour to consider them, I realize I should not have been surprised as I was. All of our planets agreed to join the Empire because of the threat of the Karacknids. Many would not have joined such a governmental structure otherwise. Yes, the last twenty years have been good for all of us, even taking into account the high taxes. But there will always be those who bristle at the thought of being ruled by an Emperor or Empress on Earth. I fear that if you tried this, you would be putting out one fire only to ignite a hundred others. The worlds we would force to join us would feel like their rights have been trampled. Others within the Empire would grate against the idea that they were part of an organization that would do such a thing. We might ease the tax burden only to really stoke the fires of secession.”
“I agree, if you don’t mind me saying,” Maddison said. “Not being privy to Inner Council discussions, I assume this is not a new topic. I can only speak for my planet, of course, but forcing colonies like Houston to join the Empire against their will would not go down well at all. Many on Connecticut look at Houston with envy, that is true. Yet we haven’t forgotten the Flex-aor invasion of our space, nor have we forgotten the Karacknids.”
“And we do not wish to become that which we oppose,” Christine said, repeating an argument she had often used against James. “The Karacknids impose their will upon others, we do not.”
James pushed his lips together. Christine knew he wasn’t suggesting they use military force to bring the free colonies into the Empire. Just exert a little economic and political pressure. He saw no reason why Houston and the four other pre-shift drive colonies that had been rediscovered shouldn’t pay their fair share to protect against the Karacknids. Nor why the more than fifteen other colonies founded in the last twenty years without Imperial support should enjoy the same protection. He let it go though; clearly, he was in the minority. “What else can we do? Lafayette all but threatened to take Québec out of the Empire. Is that even possible?”
