The Burden of Command, page 11
part #14 of Empire Rising Series
The flight to Geneva took less than four minutes. As the shuttle descended towards the town, the three massive parliamentary buildings dominated the view. The House of Commons sat between the Senate and the House of Servants. Even with the debate going on in the Commons, there were hundreds of shuttles descending and taking off from the three buildings. All told, James had been informed there were over two hundred thousand people spread between the three buildings at any one time. When a full debate was going on in any of the Houses, that number could easily triple. James could believe it. It took a large army to run the bureaucracy of the Empire. With seventy-eight inhabited worlds and a population of almost five hundred billion, keeping track of everything was a logistical nightmare. Thankfully, it wasn’t something James had to worry too much about.
When the shuttle touched down, James unbuckled himself and moved forward to the cockpit. He placed a hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “A well-executed flight, Lieutenant. You have my congratulations.”
“Thank you Emperor,” Georgia said as she turned around and grinned up at him. “Now go have fun with your friends.”
James shot his daughter a dirty look. She was taking after her mother far too much. Giving her a second squeeze, he turned and followed Christine and Nicholls out of the shuttle. The large dome of the House of Commons towered above him. Summoning his courage as if he was about to head into battle against the Karacknids, James took a deep breath and started forward. It was time to see if the last two decades of strategic planning were about to come crumbling down all around him.
Chapter 10
Only politicians like politics. That is a view I formed early in my naval career, and nothing I have observed since has dissuaded me of it. However, that does not mean I think Imperial politics are a waste of time. Our political system is vital to the strength and health of the Empire, even if it can be extremely tedious at times.
-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.
As James walked up the corridor to the Imperial viewing gallery, the words of whoever was speaking echoed out of the chamber and down to him. What he heard made him bristle.
“For twenty years now, we have been pouring billions upon billions of credits into our military. We have fortified tens of systems, constructed thousands of warships. An entire generation of our sons and daughters have been seduced into joining the Navy or the Marines. And yet, every month we get reports of skirmishes or battles going on in the Karacknid territory. Not battles with the fleets we have built however, oh, no. But battles amongst themselves. This civil war of theirs shows no signs of ending. Rather than coming against us as we have so often been warned about, they are sapping their own strength as they kill each other. Not for two decades has a Karacknid ship been spotted near our space. What then are we afraid of? Our Admirals and our Emperor would have us believe we should live always looking over our shoulders. Always expecting the bogeyman to raise his head. Yet we here are not beholden to them. We are beholden to our planets and our people. We should not be funding more expensive toys for the Emperor to play with. No, we should be reducing the burden on our civilization’s populace. We should be redirecting our funds to improve their way of life. And so, this is why…”
James couldn’t help but smile as the voice suddenly cut off as he and Christine stepped up to their seats. Gasps echoed around the chamber. Every head turned to look up at the Imperial Gallery. With Christine, he stared down at the Commoner who was speaking. They were here to make a statement, and that was what he intended to do.
The Commoner looked up at them, then turned and looked over towards the much larger viewing gallery. James didn’t see who he was searching for, but whoever it was, the speaker seemed to regain some of his confidence, though as he began to speak again, it wasn’t with quite the same volume. “And this is why, I will be voting to pass the military allocation amendment. I no longer trust the Emp… a, the eh, Admiralty’s assessment of the Karacknid threat. They should still be taken seriously, yes, but so too should the other concerns of our populace. I urge all my fellow Commoners to do the same. We must put the needs of the common men and women ahead of the expensive tastes our Admirals have for fancy weapons.”
James’ hands clenched into fists at the speaker’s last barb. Every Admiral he knew, every Admiral he worked with, felt the huge burden they had all been putting on the Empire’s citizens. No credit was spent on a whim. Not when everyone understood the cost the Empire’s citizens were paying, and the vital importance of allocating the Empire’s scarce resources to where they were needed most. Insults to his own character he could take, he was used to that. But ones aimed at the men and women he worked with were another matter. His head turned slightly towards Christine when he felt her hand grasp his fist. She gave him the slightest of nods. James hoped that meant she approved. He was trying his best not to let his face show the same emotion as his fists.
“That was François Garnier of New France,” Nicholls whispered as she leaned in to inform James. “He is the leader of the Populist Party on his homeworld. They have thrown their support in with the Republic Caucus, though they are even more radical.”
James nodded, he hadn’t heard of Garnier before, but he remembered the Populist Party from a couple of intelligence briefs. Though they hadn’t carried out any violence, they had certainly threatened it over the last couple of years.
“Thank you Commoner Garnier,” the speaker of the House of Commons bellowed. “The House now recognizes Commoner Lafayette from Marseille to speak on Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight.”
A man who had been sitting just a few seats away from Garnier stood. James nodded in approval. He knew Lafayette well. The Commoner led the Constitutionalist Party in the House of Commons, served on the Naval Oversight Committee and for the past two years, on his and Christine’s Inner Council. “Mr. Speaker, my fellow colleagues, let me first begin by paying my respects to Commoner Garnier. I understand his concerns about our citizens’ rights and freedoms. I share many of them, as I know all of us here do. However, we cannot downplay the Karacknid threat. To do so would be to risk our very future. Their civil war will not last forever. Twenty years is a long time, that is true. Yet on a galactic scale, it is but a second. We cannot take our eyes off the true threat. We must be prepared. For when they attack us again, and I believe strongly that they will, we will not have time then to build up our forces. When the Karacknids renew their attack, we must be ready to beat it off, for if we are not, we will lose everything. All of you here lived through the Karacknid War. All of you know the cost we paid because we did not have a fleet able to stand up to them. Hundreds of millions of lives were lost. I know it is hard on our people. The taxes we demand do limit our economies’ growth; they do limit our people’s freedoms. Our situation is not ideal, far from it in fact, but it is where we find ourselves. We did not choose to go to war with the Karacknids, nor do we now choose for them to still count us among their enemies. Yet here we are; therefore, I for one cannot vote for this bill. My conscience will not allow me, and nor should any of yours.”
As soon as Lafayette sat down, many hands shot into the air requesting the right to respond. “The House recognizes Commoner Maddison,” the speaker said.
Maddison sprang to her feet. “One other point should be added to Commoner Lafayette’s important arguments. Because of our position and the accomplishments of our fleet in the Karacknid War, we are not just responsible for our own people, but for our neighbors and allies. Throughout our history, it has always been the burden carried by the strong to protect the weak. We should not shrink back from this burden now. The Varanni Alliance, the Kalassai, the Vestarians, the Conclave species, the Mindus, the Nanee, and all the species in The Wilds… they are all threatened by the Karacknids, same as us. We have made binding agreements with them all, agreements to protect one another, and agreements to build up our fleets. We cannot embrace Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight. To cut our military spending and reallocate our funds would not only put our own people in jeopardy, it would break the terms of our alliances and put all of our friends at risk.”
As Maddison sat down, James turned to Nicholls and raised an eyebrow. She leaned in towards him. “A new Commoner from Connecticut, she was just elected six months ago. As far as I know, she is an independent, she hasn’t aligned herself with any party.” James turned back to Maddison; he took a mental note of her. With politicians only being able to serve two terms in any of the three Houses of Parliament, there was a constant turnover of names and faces. He was always on the lookout for new like-minded leaders who he could work with.
“Commoner Maddison brings us to one of the key points in this debate,” a new Commoner said after being recognized. James didn’t catch his name, only that he was from New Delhi. That was enough to allow James to guess his position. The revolt that had brought about Bill Four Hundred and Ninety-eight, and that was how he saw it, had largely come from the colonies to the south and east of the Empire. They were the ones furthest away from the Karacknid Empire. They had been impacted the least during the Karacknid War. The horrors of fleet battles and orbital bombardments were unknown to their populaces other than in holo documentaries. The problem James feared though was that if they got their way, one day in the not-too-distant future, they would end up learning of them with their own eyes. As he continued to speak, the Commoner confirmed James’ guess. “It is true, our allies as my esteemed colleague has aptly pointed out, are in as much supposed danger as we are. Yet, I say supposed intentionally. For we all know that few of them have met their own promises when it comes to the build-up of their fleets. Look at the fleet numbers of the Varanni Alliance, or of some of the Conclave species. They have not met their own promises. For more than a decade, some of them have not been devoting the resources they promised towards improving their defenses and constructing new warships. Their politicians have seen what we should have seen already; the Karacknids are a spent force. Every world they fight over, every fleet that savages itself against another, reduces their strength. Their empire is almost half the size it was when they first attacked us. Their threat is diminished even more. Whereas we are far stronger. We have integrated military technologies from all of our allies. Together with them, we have tens of thousands of warships ready to stand against the Karacknids if they would be so foolish as to attack. For two decades, our people have paid the price to construct these defenses. Now it is time to alleviate this burden from our people. Now it is time to allow them to enjoy more of the freedom so many of our own citizens sacrificed their lives to protect. If our allies will not put such an onerous burden on their people, why should we?”
“You’re ignoring the facts Commoner,” another Commoner contradicted when she was given permission to speak. “The Karacknid threat is not diminished. Yes, they have fought many battles, and many of their worlds have been savaged, but you have seen the same intelligence briefings I have. For every shipyard they are losing, new ones are being built. Where once their economy was spread out and inefficient, they are now increasing the capabilities they give to the species they have conquered. Those same species now fear being bombarded from space by opposing Imperatorial factions, and so they work now like their very lives depend upon it. If one of the claimants to the title of Imperator manages to unite the Karacknid people, they will be an even deadlier threat than we faced in the past. In that light, we are still not prepared. To vote in this bill could doom us all.”
James shared a glance with Christine. The speaker was Marline Wang. For the past five years, the independent Commoner had opposed most of the legislation the Empire Loyalist and Constitutionalist parties had tried to pass. They had both been expecting Wang to be an ardent voice for cutting military spending. It seemed they had been wrong. Her words were a positive development. They would likely sway others who were on the fence. As the Speaker recognized a new Commoner, James’ gaze glanced up from the Commons chamber to the public gallery that was opposite his own. He started when he found one man staring at him. When James locked eyes with him, the man slowly allowed his lips to peel back. Though it looked like a grin to James, the man’s face was full of hostility. James couldn’t help but frown. He had never seen the man in his life before. At least, if he had, he didn’t remember it. He was used to people not liking him, but the anger he felt was unusual. Not wanting to goad him any further, James slowly let his gaze move past whoever it was. He wasn’t in the least bit surprised to find Governor Varma of New Delhi sitting beside the man. She wasn’t looking directly at him, but she too had a sinister expression on her face. James waited another couple of seconds and then half turned. Nicholls moved up to his shoulder. “What is it Emperor?”
“That man over there, in the black jacket, who is he?”
Nicholl stood up slightly and casually glanced over at the viewing gallery. “I believe it is Cornelius Teal. He is the owner of Teal Trading Industries. They’re the largest mining and shipping company out of Quebec. He has operations all over the southeast sector of the Empire. He supports a lot of political causes.”
“Thank you,” James said as he turned his attention back to the debate. Mentally, he marked Teal down as a new political rival. Going from past experiences, James guessed it was likely Teal had been his rival for quite some time now. That was usually how it went. Anyone who wanted to work against him and Christine, often remained in the shadows for as long as they could. That Teal was so blatantly making his thoughts known now was concerning.
“There is another cost that must be factored into this decision as well,” the next speaker was saying. “Whether we like it or not, we have become the de facto police force for much of The Wilds. I have been told first-hand by some of our senior Admirals that if the Navy’s budget is cut, one of the first things they will have to cut back our patrols in The Wilds. The results, as most of you can probably imagine, would be devastating. Pirates and slavers would move in and take over. Entire worlds could be enslaved again. Species that are already at one another’s throats could go to war. Millions of lives could be lost. As much as I know the people of Gulangyu, whom I am charged with representing, wish to see the burden on their lives lessened, they would not be willing to sacrifice the lives of other sentients to achieve this.”
When the Speaker acknowledged the next Commoner, James held his breath. He instantly recognized another one of the three representatives from New Delhi. The former Indian colony had been a thorn in his side years before anyone had even known about the Karacknids. Every time he had a run in with Chaya Patel, it seemed like she went out of her way to embody the hostility James felt the planet had for him. “All this discussion of Karacknid threats and our responsibility to our allies is all very noble and commendable. Yet I would remind this esteemed House of some famous words spoken many centuries ago. A house divided against itself cannot stand… I fear that many of my colleagues are not giving adequate weight to the concerns that are being brought before them. I know that when I speak for the people of New Delhi, these taxes that we have endured for twenty years are not just light burdens that we may complain about one day and easily forget the next. Before the formation of the Empire, New Delhi was a free world. We set our own policies, our own tax rates, and gave our people the freedom to better themselves.” James had to grind his teeth together not to shake his head or even shout out. New Delhi had been anything but free before the Empire. The other Commoners should all know that yet, as he looked around, none seemed like they wanted to object. “Many in New Delhi therefore look back to those days with envy. Yes, we are thankful for the Empire and what it has done to protect us from the Karacknids. But as that threat wanes, the restraints on our economic freedom feel like they bind all the tighter. Many here have warned that passing this bill would hurt the Navy. No doubt that is true. Yet what would happen to our military industrial complex if protests broke out on many of our planets? Or what about strikes and riots? If our industrial nodes were disrupted, it wouldn’t matter how many credits we had sitting in the Imperial coffers to spend on ship construction. We might even have to divert forces needed to protect the frontline back home to deal with such issues.” Patel paused as she slowly turned round to look at all of the over seven hundred Commoners gathered for the vote. James was certain that if he wanted to, he would be able to hear a pin drop. She had grabbed their attention. “Let me be clear, I am not making threats, but I am trying to read the sentiment on my planet. My people will not allow a government hundreds of light years away to impress undue burdens upon them forever. They will reach a breaking point. A point that may be bad for all of us.”
James did his best to keep calm. He shared another glance with Christine. Her face said exactly what he was thinking. The debate had just taken a very serious turn. Three months ago, Bill Four Ninety-eight had been first introduced to the House of Commons. Since then, it had been debated in several committees and on every holo news broadcast. The focus had always been on the hardships the heavy taxes that were needed for the continued military build-up put on the Empire’s citizens, versus the necessity of having a fleet large enough to fend off the Karacknids. Patel had just put a very different spin on things. Whether she said so or not, James knew she did mean her words as a threat. He didn’t have to consult with his close friend Andrea, who headed up the Naval Logistics Division to know New Delhi counted for about two percent of the Empire’s tax revenues and nine percent of the production capacity devoted to constructing mark VII missiles. And if New Delhi is just one of a number of planets where production could be disrupted, we could be in very serious trouble, James thought as panic filled him. Intentionally, the vast majority of the ship building and munition producing factories had been constructed in the southern half of the Empire, for they contained the systems furthest from Karacknid territory. In the event of another attack, it would mean most of Humanity’s industries would survive any initial invasion. But if half the worlds start rioting, it will be worse than passing the bill! James looked up from Patel to Governor Varma, both she and Teal were now looking at him. They weren’t quite smirking, but their sense of victory was there all the same. For the first time since he had initially learned about the bill, James suddenly feared it would actually pass. Until today, he had still held out hope. But now that Patel had outlined just where things might go if the Commoners didn’t pass the bill, his hope was fading.
