Teela of Kolander, page 20
At the end of the long isle, Teela turned around and faced the assembled people from all of the twelve scattered planets of the Barkol Empire. Each planet had been under the rule of the Empire for at least a thousand Bardonian years, some for much longer, and she knew change would be hard. Mary moved to the side of the hall and returned to Juleeta in the rear of the great hall.
“Teela of Kolander,” intoned the Chair of the Council of Twelve. “Daughter of Emperor Kregus, having had your bloodlines proven, and having had your claim to the throne verified, and having had Emperor Kregus' incapacity to rule validated, the Council of Twelve accepts your ascension to the throne as legitimate and proper. Do you accept the title and the crown?”
“I do.” Teela stepped forward, fighting the instinct to bow as the crown was placed on her head.
“All hail, Teela, Empress of Barkol.” The chairperson announced.
The room filled with shouts of approval and support that Teela sensed were less than sincere but not malicious. She was escorted to the front of the raised dais from where she was to place her hand on the head of each the twelve planet's representatives as they bowed, and accept their oath of fealty.
Each planetary representative walked up, placed both hands over their heart and knelt while reciting a pledge that was thousands of years old. “I pledge our people's hearts, our planet's wealth, and our military might to the Empire of Barkol. We surrender our future and our safety to the Empire. Long live Teela, Empress of Barkol.”
“In the name of the Empire, I accept your pledge of fealty. Rise.” Teela accepted each of their pledges and they retook their seats in the great hall. Three of the twelve had radiated outright hostility to Teela's heightened senses. The others were neutral or totally submissive.
Her carefully constructed abdication announcement began to seem inadequately prepared. She looked toward the rear of the chamber, knowing her mother was quietly waiting there just behind the crowd, ready to move forward at the right moment. Need to tell her about those three planets, though.
After the last of the planetary representatives retook their seats, the members of the Council of Twelve rose as one, and recited the pledge. Teela responded as before and they also retook their seats.
Teela looked at the Council of Twelve sitting across the entire first row of the audience chamber and then out across the audience. “Citizens of the Empire, change is upon us.” She heard an undercurrent of murmured sound begin from the audience.
“The Empire has existed for just over five thousand Bardonian years and has grown to encompass the twelve planets of the Central and Outer Regions. Our military might is prodigious and our technology is very highly advanced. But an Empire must be is more than its military might and more than its technological prowess. An Empire's greatest asset, must be its citizens! No so with our empire. Its citizens are its least utilized and least developed asset. They have been forgotten and we have lost our way over those thousands of years. We now drift aimlessly, mindlessly into the future, repeating the same old mistakes over and over … never learning from them.”
The audience had fallen silent and Teela could sense the full suite of responses from across the crowd, from fear, to doubt, to veiled hope. She took a deep breath and hoped Mary was ready with Juleeta at the back of the audience chamber.
“It is time for change! The Empire established itself in order to combine resources and provide for protection for its citizens with the goal that all citizens have the opportunity for a safe, good, and fulfilling life.” She paused and took the time to look at many in the crowd directly in their eyes. She did not push anyone to accept her ideas, though the had to fight a mild temptation to do so.
“I have seen how the lives of our citizens on Bardonis and Kolander transpire, at every layer of our great civilization. I'm sure that the other planets are no different. Most of our citizens live in fear and poverty, having no voice in the Empire that controls their fate. Some may have better resources but tradition restricts their ability to better themselves, to become more than their parents. Within the Empire, as it currently exists, the height of a citizen's elevation does not reflect their qualities as a person and can be altered by the whim of any Imperial functionary.
“I know these things because my father, Kregus of Bardonis, exiled my mother and placed me in the care of nursemaid at the age of three. Then, when I was four he altered and blocked my memory just before he gave me to a vassal farmer on his lands to wipe away any hint of royal upbringing. I lived there for over two years when he returned to alter my memory once again, just before he sold me … SOLD ME to his brother, Korg of Bardonis ... for hunting rights on Korg's private preserve here on Bardonis. I lived and slaved there as a personal servant to the royal family with no memory of who I was until he rose up and slew Korg, forcing the Empress to flee. She died as did Tulorus in the process. I was lucky and lived through those tragic events, knowing only that I was a servant whose memories had been wiped.”
Teela could sense the disbelief and the disgust building and knew she was heading down the correct path. “I was returned to Kregus by his henchmen and he restored my memories. These returned memories also revealed, that from the very beginning, he had implanted a mental suggestion in me, that I was to kill Tulorus as she slept when she was named heir to the throne … which I did not do. Kregus was a paranoid madman. Korg was no better, nor was his father or grandfather. Their power, the royal family's power had become so great, it totally corrupted them and they corrupted the Empire.”
She paused again and looked to the back of the hall hoping to see Mary, ready to move. She raised her voice. “Did you know that there was a free nation existing within the Empire's territory, one that the Empire never conquered? There is, on Kolander. It never accepted membership and was restricted by force to remain within their borders. My mother was not Kregus’ concubine, as has been suggested. She was a royal Princess of that nation, the free nation of Ander, and was legally married to Kregus in a public ceremony within the traditions of the Empire. This marriage had received the full support of the Council of Twelve and the Queen of Ander, her mother. Kregus and my mother were never divorced and by all rights, when Kregus assumed the crown as Emperor, even if by virtue of a coup, she was also elevated. When he became incapacitated, it was she who should have become Empress.”
Teela pointed to the back of the chamber. “She awaits, ready to assume the crown.”
Now the audience did break out into a cacophony of voices and the scraping of furniture on the floor as many rose to their feet to stare toward the back. Teela raised her voice. “May I present Juleeta of Kolander, Queen of Ander and rightful Empress of Barkol!”
Mary moved the hovering chair into the isle where Juleeta took over the controls. She held her head high and moved forward with a deliberate and slow pace, projecting a regal sense of command by her composure and expression. Teela was relieved when she sensed that Juleeta was not pushing anyone to accept her, relying on her charisma, instead.
When Juleeta, followed by Mary, looking equally as royal, reached Teela, they faced the audience. Mary stepped forward to address the chamber. “The rightful Empress, Juleeta is temporarily confined to this chair because Kregus tried to kill her twenty days ago just after he murdered his illegitimate son Torval, whom he had held in involuntary servitude as his personal servant sense he was a child. His insanity then took him completely over.” Mary adjusted a dial on the chair to amplify Juleeta's weak voice. “But Her Highness can still speak for herself.”
Juleeta patted Mary's hand and then gazed out across the audience. “Kregus had exiled me from his life and from the life of my daughter after our son Borander died. I had no part in the coup on Korg.” She looked at the Council of Twelve across the front row. “Council Chairperson, do you acknowledge the legitimacy of my standing in this court?”
An elderly man rose from the center of the Council's row and activated a holographic computer terminal from his wrist. He made several inquiries and then caused a document to be displayed on the large screen at the end of the chamber. He glanced at it once again before speaking. “Our records attest the validity of your marriage to Kregus in an Empire sanctioned ceremony and to the absence of a divorce. You are eligible for ascension to the throne.”
Teela walked up to Juleeta's left side and Mary remained on her right. Teela looked at her mother. “Mother, I wish to abdicate the throne of Barkol to you as a proven leader and the rightful Empress. Do you accept?”
“I do.”
The chairman of the council of twelve stepped forward and transferred the crown from Teela to Juleeta who then had her chair float a little higher and raised her hands for attention. “The Governors of the twelve planets and their associates will join me here along with the Council of Twelve. Please do so now. I will accept your fealty pledges after I tell you of the first changes to the Empire.”
Teela felt the swirling emotional responses from the twenty-four governors and the council members who now stood at the front of the room as they tried to prepared themselves for the unknown. She knew her mother also would sense the few with malicious intents. She and Mary stood aside as Juleeta instructed the entire group of twenty-four to arrange their seats in a circle and then took her place in the circle as well. Teela and Mary stood behind her chair.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, my first duty is to designate my heirs, in case I become unable to execute the duties as Empress. Be it known that first to the throne is Teela of Kolander, followed by Mary of Earth. Record that in your records and then we shall proceed.”
“What?” they both gasped.
Chapter Twenty-Six
-Empire History-
In the early morning, eight long Bardonian days later, Teela and Mary were walking toward the vertical lifts, hoping to take a tube shuttle to the lake shore for some swimming. They felt comfortable that Juleeta was creating logical and practical processes for altering the Empire and its operations. To date, she had wrangled the planetary representatives and the Council into a more democratic advisory body to her and the Governors.
Teela and Mary had tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to avoid the long and boring conferences, whether large or small. The many one-on-one meetings were the worst. They knew, however, that through these meetings, Juleeta had cemented her rule in the Empire and assured a place in the minds and hearts of the new council and planetary representatives for Teela and Mary as well.
Teela knew her mother had not pushed any of her ideas and had relied strictly on logical persuasion. Her promises of more autonomy in exchange for additional iron-clad treaties for mutual safety, carried a lot of weight with the representatives. The Council of Twelve had become a stronger body for advising the crown. They had initially resisted the idea that council membership would no longer be hereditary and each planet would have to elect and send a new member every ten years.
Teela and Mary felt comfortable with the changing Empire. Though the changes made it easy to forget that dangers still existed, Juleeta had required them to travel, at all times, with bodyguards appointed specifically by her. One was male, and one was female, to cover all possible situations. They had almost become accustomed to the bodyguard's presence and they talked and walked as if alone. This morning, their path toward the exit through the palace, took them by the entrance to Dalnee's new suite and Borander suddenly emerged, directly in front of them.
“Sorry, Your Majesties,” he said with a hasty bow.
Teela laughed. “Please, Borander. Do not bow to us, not here while alone. And please call us by our names, not out titles.”
Mary looked at the large box of computer data crystals under his arm. “Where are you going in such a hurry with all that data?”
“It is part of my research into the history of the peoples of the Empire. I am headed to the University's library now to return most of them and maybe get a few more after my first class.”
Mary looked at Teela for a moment, deep in thought. “I heard that Boranni has transferred to the university here on Bardonis to finish his studies. I wonder if he might be in the library or on the campus, somewhere.”
“Boranni? Boranni of Kolander?” Borander asked, surprised. “You know him?”
Mary nodded. “Yes, met him on Kolander. He was finishing his final internship in cosmology there when he gave me a private tour of an astronomy center.”
“Well, he's teaching the introductory course we all have to take, called Astronomy of the Empire and its Planetary Systems. It's my first class this morning. Want to come and sit in the class?”
Teela grinned. She would gladly give up their swimming trip for a chance to see what Borander was studying and she knew Mary felt the same way, if there was a chance that she could see Boranni again. “That would be great. I would dearly love to see what you have discovered. The history of the peoples of the Empire and their migration patterns as the Empire formed is one of my greatest interests.”
“And astronomy is my interest,” Mary added.
Borander smiled. “Let's go then. I don't want to be late. It is my first university session, after all.”
They took the tube shuttle to the University, a quarter tenthday trip, and walked into the astronomy complex. Borander walked into a circular classroom, a pit, ringed with descending rows of seats. He took his assigned seat half way down while Teela and Mary sat in two unassigned seats in the uppermost ring.
Boranni entered and began teaching the class about the relationships of the planets in the Empire to each other in three dimensional space. The entire classroom filled with a holographic projection of the Empire as a star field. The Central and Border regions were slightly colored. Lines of light connected each planet with Bardonis and the planets closest to it with distances marked in FTL travel times.
Mary's mouth hung open as she stared into the floating image. “Geez,” she whispered. “Look, Earth is also marked and it's right in the thick of it with the other Border region planets. Who knew.”
Her whispering had not been as quiet as she had intended and Boranni looked up at her from the pit where he stood. He smiled widely at her and pressed a few buttons on his console before he continued lecturing.
The video screen at the desk where she sat came to life with a message. “Hi. Mary. Good to see you. See me after class. Also, place your wrist communicator on the terminal transceiver. It will download this view of the Empire for you study at length later.”
Teela enjoyed the class but Mary had been enraptured. When the class ended and the students began filing up the isles and out, they went down, picking up Borander on the way. At the bottom they walked the few steps to Boranni.
He bowed. “Your Majesties.”
Mary grinned and then frowned. “We talked about that back on Kolander. Don't 'Your Majesty' me or bow. Hey Boranni.”
Boranni nodded to Teela and then Borander. “Borander. How do you know theses ladies?”
Borander did not answer right away and Teela smiled at him. “Borander, may I?”
“Sure.”
“It turns out that Borander's mother was my nanny when I was young and ... a hidden, half sister of Kregus ... and therefore, my Aunt. Borander is a cousin, removed by ... I don't know.”
Boranni nodded to Borander. “Congratulations. Now, to what do I owe the honor of your presence this morning?”
“I met them on the way to class this morning. They were going to the shore for a day of sun and water, but when they heard that I researching the history of the Empire for a paper, Teela wanted to come to the library with me. Mary wanted to see you teach this class.”
Mary smiled and blushed a little. “But I never dreamed of seeing that holographic display. It was great ... and your explanations where good to.”
Boranni laughed. “Thank you, but even that doesn't seem enough reason to skip a day at the shore.”
Teela sighed. “Mother is always busy with the Empire and we needed to escape those meetings for a while. When this opportunity presented itself, we grabbed it. One of the things Mary and I both would like to investigate is why there was compatible DNA on so many planets. We would like to discover why and how did it get there. I may technically be a Princess of the Empire but I know precious little about it's history.”
Boranni nodded and gestured for them to sit down in the lowest ring of seats. He sat with them and projected a control panel from his wrist unit. Using that panel, he re-displayed the Empire's star map. “The study of the cosmos is primarily physics at the level of the this map. And the universe operates by immutable laws that govern all matter down through the smallest particle. One of the types of matter that is ubiquitous to the universe is life. So, astronomy, biology, evolution, and sociology often intersect.”
Borander nodded vigorously. “Exactly. Each of the planets that were inhabited prior to joining the Empire, had been so for ... well, we don't really know. My area of study is just that. The evolution of our biology and the evolution of our culture. The individual planets may have their own evolutionary history but the Empire has little or none of that data in a central location.”
Boranni turned to Teela, “From what you have said before, your interest lies there as well. Yes?”
“Absolutely.” Teela smiled and glanced at Borander. He smiled in return.
“If the development of species and how they spread across the universe is your interest, I suggest that you start with the history of the Empire, from the first Planet, Bardeenis, to the last one, Kolander.”
Mary frowned. “On Earth, we have solid scientific evidence of biological evolution of humans, from one celled animals through the current Homo sapiens, humans. We weren't brought there, we evolved there.”
