by Eric Thomson
“For a man of faith, you possess such an insultingly small amount in me, the one charged with the Hegemony’s security and its future.”
“And yet, here we are, asking for forgiveness rather than permission because in this case, I fear the former will be more easily granted than the latter would have been.”
“Then you fear wrong.” Her fingers danced on the arm of her chair. “You, I cannot touch, Archimandrite. But the two who are ultimately responsible for this gross violation of the Ruling Council’s prerogatives...”
Torma successfully kept an impassive expression and knew Ardrix did as well without glancing at her.
“You’ll order these two fine servants of the Hegemony arrested and tried for treason? Why? They did what was necessary because they feared for our security.”
Mandus scoffed.
“I can’t allow a senior State Security Commission officer to blatantly disregard government policy. That would only encourage more to second guess those set above them, and on that path lies anarchy, the sort capable of destroying us.”
One of the office doors opened, and four armed troopers wearing the Wyvern Regiment's insignia entered. The lieutenant in charge saluted.
“You summoned us, sir?”
Mandus pointed at Torma and Ardrix.
“Arrest them on charges of treason and hold them in complete isolation in the regimental cells. No contact with anyone absent my authority, and that includes members of the Ruling Council.”
“Yes, Regent.” The lieutenant turned toward them. “Please stand and place your hands on the top of your heads.”
“Now see here—” Bolack half stood.
Mandus raised a restraining hand.
“Even though Sister Ardrix belongs to the Void Reborn, this is now out of your hands, Archimandrite. Please tell those who hide behind your robes that their days are numbered, not for violating Council policy, but for hiding something this momentous from the Hegemony’s legal rulers. This meeting is over.”
She stood, imitated by Bolack, while the troopers chivvied Torma and Ardrix out of her office.
“I’m disappointed in you, Archimandrite. Of all the ways this could have played out, you chose the worst. The Council and I will decide how we deal with this information, no one else, and we will not be stampeded by anyone anxious to profit from it.”
Bolack inclined his head.
“As you wish. But it would be a mistake if you ignored this new reality in favor of a comfortable, though untenable status quo.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, Regent. A warning from history. Goodbye.”
With that, he turned on his heels and walked past Mandus’ aide, standing by the open door, and made his way back to where the abbey van waited.
**
“Her informants don’t know about the Lyonesse Brethren tucked away in Grenfell Priory? Or is she deliberately ignoring their existence?”
Rear Admiral Godfrey gave Archimandrite Bolack a dubious look as they and Major General Robbins strolled through the abbey orchard shortly before the evening meal that same day. Bolack had invited them to dine with him after leaving the Wyvern Palace, so he could update them on the afternoon’s events.
“The first could well mean the Network isn’t betrayed, and what we see here is just another example of informal backchannels working overtime. As to the second possibility, who knows what’s brewing in her devious mind.”
“She made no mention of them, but Vigdis Mandus is nobody’s fool. She doesn’t give away that which she can barter.” Bolack shrugged. “We might still be compromised, and she’s merely giving us the rope her executioners will eventually use. Do you know anything about Colonel Torma’s and Ardrix’s fate, General?”
“According to my backchannels,” Robbins said, “they’re under something more like house arrest in apartment suites kept vacant for high-ranking detainees in the Wyvern Regiment’s garrison.”
Godfrey let out an amused chuckle.
“She’s hedging her bets. Shoving Torma and Ardrix into the Commission’s dungeons would irreparably damage them in the eyes of others and incur not only the Archimandrite’s anger but that of the high-ranking officers who sponsored the Hatshepsut expedition.”
“Our Regent is good at triangulation, which is why she now sits in the Wyvern Palace. I just hope they know better than to interrogate them. Crevan Torma has been conditioned, and Sisters of Void who work for the Commission are beyond anyone’s ability. Though I wonder what message she’s sending with the arrests.”
Bolack made a dubious face.
“I suppose Vigdis is telling the admirals and generals any wrong moves on the Lyonesse matter will result in more arrests. I’m afraid First Secretary Vermat was right. Colonels and Sisters are expendable under the present circumstances, though I hope the Regent and her counselors won’t realize that just yet. Otherwise, she may get the idea of executing them to make a point.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time a Regent and his or her Ruling Council felt a tinge of worry at losing their absolute grip on power because of unexpected events and lashed out in ways that annoyed the Conclave. Thankfully, whenever it was time to replace either before their terms ended, it happened peacefully, at least in as far as outside observers could tell.”
Godfrey glanced at his companions.
“And finding out about a rival already reuniting human worlds is about as unexpected as it gets. Can you imagine the fear of losing control by sending missions and colonists beyond our star systems? Large, interstellar polities are, by definition, decentralized, which was what allowed the various viceroys to rebel so successfully against the Ruggero Dynasty.”
“Do you think we did her wrong?” Robbins asked. “That we should have asked permission for Task Force Kruzenshtern’s mission instead of seeking forgiveness now that we were found out?”
Godfrey shook his head.
“The answer would have been insufficient evidence, permission denied, under the tried-and-true principle practiced by authoritarian regimes throughout history. If you suppress knowledge about something, then it doesn’t exist.”
Bolack let out a bark of laughter.
“Until everyone sees that it does.”
“And that’s when regimes collapse, often in an orgy of violence. No, we did the right thing for our people, though probably not for our rulers or our system of government. But if it means Colonel Torma and Sister Ardrix must pay the ultimate price, then so be it.”
“Rather cold-blooded of you, Johannes. Those two are patriots who willingly went beyond the call of duty and, at our orders, broke the very rules they enforce.”
“Agreed, but you can’t say I’m wrong.”
Robbins let out a soft grunt. “No, I can’t.”
“What happens now?” Bolack asked as they turned back toward the abbey proper.
“That depends on her next move, which must happen within the next eighteen to twenty-four hours,” Godfrey replied. “She can’t wait much longer before control over events slips through her fingers. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s summoned the Ruling Council for a late-night sitting.”
Robbins gave him a sly smile. “Meaning you know she’s summoned them.”
He nodded. “I wish I could sit in on that meeting. It should be quite the performance by dear Vigdis.”
“You mean you’ve not planted surveillance gear in the Regent’s conference room?”
“Tried and failed. Her close protection people are rather good at keeping the Wyvern Palace clean. I’ve been luckier with the Chancellery, but the intelligence we gather isn’t particularly useful. Gossip, on the other hand...” He winked at Robbins. “By the way, whatever happened with the hapless merchant captain who triggered this?”
“He’s learning the ways of the Void at an isolated priory on the other side of the planet. It was that or my cells a
nd a date with the executioner. No one will look for him there.”
Godfrey let out a delighted burst of laughter. “Serves him right.”
— 40 —
––––––––
“How is it none of you knew five of our ships, along with a company of Special Forces operators and a detachment from the State Security Commission, left the Hegemony for months on an expedition to the Hatshepsut star system?”
Grand Admiral Vigdis Mandus, Commander-in-Chief and Regent of the Wyvern Hegemony, paced back and forth behind her chair at the head of the conference table as she vented her spleen. Without warning, she stopped and gave the three service chiefs a venomous glare.
“Are you not in control of your branches?”
“That’s a bit unfair, Regent,” Admiral Marco VanReeth, Commander, Hegemony Guards Navy replied in a measured tone. “You know we rely on our chiefs of operations for the day-to-day running of the services. Our duties on the Ruling Council absorb much of our time. It simply takes the three of them to form a little cabal, and we’re none the wiser.”
“I can assure you my deputy was wholly unaware,” Chief Commissioner Cameron Bucco said, “and so was the commander of the Wyvern Group, General Cabreras. This was cooked up at lower levels in my branch.”
“Be that as it may.”
Mandus resumed pacing under the eight Council members' guarded eyes. Five were present in the flesh, the service chiefs, the Chancellor, and the Consul ruling Wyvern, and three, the Consuls of the Torrinos, Dordogne, and Arcadia star systems via subspace radio. The latter hadn’t said a word, both because they weren’t directly involved and because the delay in transmission quickly became irritating. Even with powerful subspace relays in geosynchronous orbit above the four planetary capitals and interstellar relays between the four systems, it was hardly instantaneous. And the Regent seemed irritated enough.
“It’s clear both the Navy and Ground Forces operations chiefs were involved. There’s no way around that. Which leaves us with the question of what next? Conspiring to violate the laws this Council has decreed in the interests of state security is a serious matter. Civilians who do so receive the harshest of penalties, including death.”
“Only if they’re not well connected,” Chancellor Elrod Conteh muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, Regent.”
She glared at him for a few seconds, then let her eyes roam around the table and across the three displays at its far end.
“The way I see it, we have two options. One, we bury the whole matter, execute Torma and Ardrix, replace the Navy and Ground Forces operations chiefs and those who directly helped them, including Commodore Watanabe and the five starship captains, along with the officer commanding the Special Forces company. Then, Chief Commissioner Bucco conducts a thorough purge of the Guards Corps ranks, starting with his own service, because we obviously face a core of dissenters who do not respect this Council or its authority.”
Bucco nodded.
“We’re due for a serious purge anyhow. There’s too much laxity in the senior ranks.”
“Including the Commission, it seems.” Mandus gave him a hard stare. “Don’t become overly enthusiastic at the thought of shooting your own people, Cameron.”
“Regent.”
He and his seven colleagues might form a Ruling Council with Mandus at its head, but she wielded the ultimate instrument of absolute control, the Wyvern Regiment. Not only was it under her personal control, but it acted as a military police unit that could easily counterbalance the Commission in and around the capital if necessary.
The Regent personally selected its commanding officer for unbreakable loyalty to the Hegemony’s supreme office above anything else. He or she would defy anyone of higher rank other than the Regent, with force if necessary.
“Our second option is to get ahead of the matter. Accept Task Force Kruzenshtern’s findings and make them our own by saying we approved the expedition. Then, announce Lyonesse’s existence and plan our own expansion using similar means. I’m sure Archimandrite Bolack can scrape up Void missions to seed our first colonies beyond the four home star systems.”
Admiral VanReeth glanced at Bucco.
“Can the Commission scrape up enough teams to make sure those missions don’t threaten our security by their activities on planets we can’t effectively control? Teams that don’t show this Colonel Torma’s unfortunate tendencies I mean.”
Bucco gave VanReeth a dirty look.
“The Commission serves the state and will do what it requires.”
“Enough!” The word cracked like a whip above the Council members present in the flesh. Those at the far end of a subspace link flinched a little while later. “Two options and no leeway, my friends and colleagues. What is the safest path for the Hegemony?”
“Bury the matter,” Bucco replied without hesitation. “News that after two centuries of believing we were the last survivors, it seems there’s not only another but one who’s seizing former imperial star systems, will destabilize the current order. And that is the road to ruin.”
“For whom?” Chancellor Conteh asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Precisely what I asked. Who will be ruined by acknowledging we are not the sole survivors?”
“I’m with Cameron on this,” General Kristianne Farrah, Commander, Hegemony Guards Ground Forces, said before Bucco could answer Conteh’s question. “We can’t acknowledge the existence of a rival outdoing us until we have his full measure and can show the people we will become the sole heir of the fallen empire. Anything less means unrest and upheaval. After almost two hundred years of peace and stability, we cannot afford a breakdown of the social contract.”
Mandus turned to the Commander of the Guards Corps Navy.
“Marco?”
“I’m with my fellow service chiefs, Regent.”
“Chancellor?”
“I’d still like to hear Chief Commissioner Bucco explain for whom not burying this issue is the road to ruin?”
A faint sneer briefly crossed Bucco’s face.
“Surely you get my meaning.”
“Of course, I do, though I’d rather hear you say it. But since you won’t, please allow me. The knowledge we’ve held back for two centuries, comfortable with our illusion of absolute control over four planets, while another surviving chunk of the empire is slowly reunifying human worlds, can ruin our very system of government. And with it, those of us around this table, the members of the Conclave who elected us, and elites who profit from the way we’ve run things for so long.”
“Illusion?” A frown creased Bucco’s forehead. “My dear Chancellor, it’s not an illusion if the people believe it to be real. And after all this time, none would tempt fate by pushing the boundaries.”
“Yet many already are, such as the people behind this merchant’s voyage beyond our sphere. How many others escaped your notice altogether? I tell you, we’ve been riding a dangerous beast for generations, and it’s hungry. We must stay ahead of the news, whatever the consequences or that beast will surely devour us. Our denying the truth because we find it inconvenient will end in disaster. That which cannot go on forever will not go on forever. And ignoring the galaxy at large because we’ve become ossified is something that cannot go on.”
Mandus studied Conteh with greater interest than ever before.
“Why are you so passionate about the subject, Chancellor? I’ve never heard you talk about the need for change. Our system works. The worlds in our care remained safe since Dendera’s defeat. Why upset everything? Sure, we can’t deny reality, but we can adjust to it slowly, without saying anything about Lyonesse or even intimating someone else is reunifying humanity. That way, our current system of government will survive.”
Conteh chuckled.
“It might survive the annexation of three, four, or even ten star
systems. But as Dendera proved, absolute control over a thousand star systems, home to countless worlds, non-planetary habitats, and unregistered colonies, is impossible. I won’t even mention control over traffic through the entire wormhole network and the unimaginable vastness of interstellar space. We should face reality right here, right now, and adapt. If that means changing how we govern the Hegemony, then so be it. Yes, I can give you a long list of those who will strenuously object and perhaps even sabotage our efforts. They’ve become the closest thing to the old imperial aristocracy, a caste for whom any change to the system of government means loss of power, influence, wealth, or all three. And that includes a fair number of Conclave members.” Conteh turned to Bucco. “But I’m sure the Commission can rouse itself to finally arrest saboteurs who are part of the upper crust, even though they’ve been quite literally getting away with murder for longer than anyone can remember.”
“Careful, Chancellor,” Bucco growled.
“Instead of executing him, why not promote the colonel who triggered this? He strikes me as rather fearless and unimpressed by rank, even though I’ve never met him.”
Mandus rapped the tabletop with her knuckles.
“Back to the debate at hand. The three service chiefs favor burying the entire story and presumably purging their organizations, the two going hand in hand. Let’s just be sure what a purge implies. It means I will execute the most senior officers involved. We can’t just force them out and watch as they build an underground opposition network.”
Admiral VanReeth shrugged.
“I’m good with that. Sandor Benes has been eying my job with undue interest. He’s the sort who might just engineer my removal.”
“No love lost there,” Chancellor Conteh said to no one in particular.
“Benes wasn’t my pick, and he’s been scheming behind my back from day one.”
Mandus turned to General Farrah.