“Which gives them more assets and attention to spend on harassing Pannia.”
“Apparently so, sir.”
“Very well. Let me discuss this with the Emperor, Mr. Matson. You have a briefing book for me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Matson pushed the briefing book file to Saaret in VR.
That briefing book ended up distributed to Saaret’s senior advisers, including Amanda Peters.
“What else do we have this morning, Mr. Saaret?” Dunham asked.
“Our ambassador has received a request from the King of Pannia, King Harold II, to have a meeting with Your Majesty in VR to discuss matters of mutual interest. No description beyond that. I’ve sent you the briefing book from the foreign service department handling that volume of space.”
“Do you have any idea what is going on there, Mr. Saaret?”
“We’re analyzing the situation now, Sire. I hope to have more for you in a day or two.”
“Very well, Mr. Saaret. Keep me informed.”
“Yes, Sire.”
The next night, Dunham and Peters were lounging next to the fire pit after dinner. It had been too cold for swimming lately, and the fire pit was their go-to spot for chill weather. Dinner tonight had been stuffed game hens, with blanched vegetables, a garden salad, and a creme brulee with berries for dessert.
Peters lay on the double lounger facing the fire, with Dunham curled up behind her. She snuggled back into him with a sigh.
“Are you one of the people Saaret has looking into this Pannia thing?” Dunham asked.
“Yes.”
“It sounds like he’s in trouble with those neighbors of his. I think he wants us to help him defend his country. A treaty or something.”
“Yes, but that wouldn’t solve all his problems. Maybe not even his most serious ones.”
“What else is going on?”
“He has a succession problem.”
“Really.”
“Yes. King Harold and his father, Harold I, unlike their ancestors, are enlightened rulers. They opened up a lot on civil rights, got rid of privileges for their nobility, a lot of other reforms. And now he has a problem. His son runs with the sons of a lot of the other former noble families. He doesn’t see anything wrong with the nobility having privileges, and would likely reinstate them, undoing a lot of his father’s work.”
“Can he adopt someone else to inherit?” Dunham asked.
“Pick a different successor, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps. I don’t see anything that indicates who that might be, though. Harold’s pretty young yet – just sixty or so – so there’s likely some time. But he’s got a succession problem. And his economic problem just makes it worse.”
“Economic problems, too?”
“In a sense. The economy, without the nobility choking off progress with their privileges and monopolies, is going great guns. If the nobility, under Harold’s son, tries to put the genie back in the bottle, they’re going to find themselves in a civil war, which opens them up to being taken apart by their neighbors.”
“Wow. So what does he want to talk about?”
“I don’t know, Bobby.”
“Think of it this way. What would solve all his problems – with the neighbors, with the nobility, with the succession – and how does talking to me bring it about?”
“Hmm.”
They lay there, staring into the fire, but Peters thoughts were light-years away, on an aging monarch and his troubles. If he doesn’t leave his throne to one of his sons, then to whom? And whoever it is, they still have the problem of defending it against their neighbors, who are swirling around like vultures, waiting for the old man to die.
“Bobby? Bobby, I think I’ve got it. He wants you to annex Pannia to the Empire.”
“A king of an independent country, with a five-hundred-year history. I think it unlikely.”
“I don’t. He and his father ran against the grain there. He really does want what’s best for his people. How would being part of the Empire not be best for his people? He stays on as sector governor of the Pannia Sector, doing what he’s doing now. They get a huge influx of Imperial technology and medicines and the like, plus free trade with the Empire. And the Imperial Navy defends it all against his neighbors. Compared to leaving it all to his son to screw up his life’s work and make his people miserable, it sounds like a heck of a deal.”
“You almost make it sound reasonable.”
“It is reasonable, from his point of view. What about from ours? I’ll have to look into their economy some more. See what their GDP is, that sort of thing. It may be a money loser.”
“Over the long haul, it’s probably not. I can think of a bunch of reasons it would be good politically for us even if it were. People willing to join the Empire is always good PR. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get some more.”
“Mr. Saaret, have you heard Ms. Peters’ thoughts about King Harold and the Pannia situation?”
“Yes, Sire. I find them oddly compelling for as much as they seem unlikely. There were some precedents with the Roman Empire, I believe.”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Saaret. Countries pressed hard by their neighbors, which decided being a Roman province was preferable to being, for example, conquered by the Assyrians.”
“That’s the case I was thinking of, Sire.”
“So the question then is, Is it good for us? For the Sintaran Empire? Pannia is Harold’s worry. I need to worry about the Sintaran Empire. Are we better or worse off with a Pannia Sector?”
“Better, I think, Sire, although we’re still working the numbers. Some of it depends on how much better their economy gets under Sintar’s law and infrastructure than it is under theirs. It may take twenty years or so, once their VR is more widespread and we have a whole generation of people coming up with more modern schooling. King Harold’s been limited in what he can accomplish, mostly because of their wealthiest class fighting his idea of a classless society.”
“Are we going to have trouble with those people, Mr. Saaret?”
“Some, no doubt, Sire. We may have to make examples of a few. Were we to proceed, that is.”
“We need to be considering in what manner we might proceed, Mr. Saaret. How could this be accomplished? I will want a full briefing on my options prior to any meeting.”
“Of course, Sire.”
When the meeting between His Highness King Harold II of Pannia and His Majesty Emperor Trajan of Sintar finally took place, the VR setting was a featureless room, without any adornment, or even doors. Dunham’s avatar was just himself, in his business suit. He was standing at parade rest. King Harold’s avatar appeared on time, also in a business suit.
“Your Majesty,” Harold said, walking forward, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
They shook hands.
“And you as well, Your Highness.”
“Shall we sit?” Harold asked, and a couple of club chairs appeared.
“Of course.”
Sitting in the club chairs, facing each other, they sized each other up. Harold saw a direct, intense young man with startling white-blue eyes, well-muscled and with a military bearing. He could, no doubt, look intimidating or threatening, but Harold had the sense that would be, if not a mask exactly, a less well-used aspect of his persona. He had more the air of a protector – a bodyguard or fireman, say – who used his carefully modulated strength to noble ends. This might work out after all.
For his part, Dunham saw a small older man who reminded him a bit of Saaret. The dark, intelligent eyes, set in a world-weary face that had more laugh lines than frown lines, a kindly-grandfather persona over a keen intellect. A face it would be easy to trust, as if it had been unmarred by prior treachery.
“I wanted to meet with you, Your Majesty, to put forward something of a proposal. First, though, some background is necessary.
“My father and I were something of an anomaly in our family line. It makes us less than pop
ular with our upper class, but wildly popular among the bulk of Pannia’s population. We are, simply, dedicated to improving the lot of Pannia’s population, unlike our forebears.
“One thing I have found interesting about Sintar is your rulers have, for the most part, seemed the same way.”
“We swear oath to rule for the betterment of the people of Sintar, Your Highness,” Dunham said.
“Oh, yes, Your Majesty, but many other rulers do the same or the equivalent. The difference is the rulers of Sintar seem to actually mean it.”
Dunham snorted.
“Your Highness, I can tell you the last two Empresses of Sintar, as well as myself, do not consider the Throne as the source of government, but more as the limitation upon it. The bureaucracy sees no end of things it can ‘improve’ upon in people’s lives, where the people mostly just want to be left alone to live their lives in peace. It is our job to hold back the government, rather than to head it.”
“Excellent, Your Majesty. You anticipate my next point. Most of the job of ruling Pannia for the betterment of its people has been to reduce its government, in particular to reduce the privileges of the wealthy. And yet I find prying that power, those regulations, that oversight away from the bureaucrats who are the wealthy’s natural allies is a daunting task. You, by contrast, seem to have done quite well at it, and in a very short time.”
“I cheated, Your Highness. I killed the bureaucrats.”
“Yes, I am aware. If you didn’t already have a day job, Your Majesty, I would recommend you consider going into consulting. Your management skills could do a lot to improve governance across human space.”
Harold chuckled and Dunham smiled. Dunham found himself liking the king.
“Further in the same vein, Your Majesty, I was impressed by your recent restructuring of Imperial Law. You condensed three dozen volumes of incomprehensible legal gibberish down into two volumes of law, individual and corporate, in plain language, along the way losing about ninety percent of it. This is clearly the multi-year effort of dozens of people. I can only gape at it in envy. I find myself unable to attempt, much less complete, such an exercise.”
“We’ve been working on it a long time, Your Highness.”
“Clearly, and with splendid results. I recently turned sixty years old. I have been on the throne nearly fifteen years. My father was on the throne for twenty years before me. I may have as much as twenty years to go, perhaps even a few more if I am lucky. Yet I can only marvel at such an accomplishment.
“Which leads me to my proposal, Your Majesty. I cannot even attempt the things Sintar routinely does for its people. At the moment I have my hands full simply defending Pannia from the jackals around us. Meanwhile, the erstwhile nobility dreams of the day I pass on and they can reimpose their will on the people, which is likely to prompt a civil war. The jackals then will have us, and my people will be parceled out between conquerors.
“I had about lost hope there might be a better way out. But your new book of laws, your handling of the border wars that had been threatening you as well, gave me an idea I would like to discuss with you, Your Majesty.”
“I’m listening, Your Highness.”
“What I wondered – what I propose – is that Pannia become a part of the Sintaran Empire.”
“My advisers had actually anticipated your request, Your Highness.”
“Indeed.”
“Yes. I have given it a great deal of thought, Your Highness. And there is only one way in which I would consider such a request, only one set of conditions under which I would accede to it.”
What would it be, King Harold wondered. Secondary status? A mere protectorate? Vassalhood in return for the physical protection they so desperately needed?
“The only conditions under which I would consider such a thing is for Pannia to have full and equal status as a province of Sintar, subject to all the same laws and taxes, privileges and responsibilities, as any other province of Sintar. No special privileges, no special duties – no distinction at all.”
Relief flooded over King Harold. It was a dream offer. Could it be real?
“It seems too good to be true, Your Majesty.”
“Perhaps. But you do realize, Your Highness, it means no special status for yourself beyond being the initial sector governor, serving at my pleasure. No special status for you or your family, or for anyone else’s. No title of nobility, for instance. You would simply be Mr. Harold Walthers, Sector Governor of Pannia. It would mean equal civil rights as Sintaran citizens for everyone in Pannia. Equal access to the courts, and equal standing before them. Universal VR. Universal education. Free speech. Freedom to criticize me, or you, or anyone else, with impunity. I will not divide the Sintaran Empire internally. I will not maintain different statuses, or rights, or policies in different provinces. There will be neither second-class citizenry nor enshrinement of nobility.”
“I understand, Your Majesty, and it is the direction in which I have labored, although with halting progress. This would accomplish all my goals in a single stroke.”
“And leave you a commoner, Your Highness.”
“A proud and happy one, Your Majesty. And what about the defense of Pannia?”
“As a province of Sintar, Pannia will be defended with the same vigor and care as any other province, Your Highness. No division there, either. I will commit the resources required to defend the Empire without regard to prior history of nationhood. Of course, all your military forces become Imperial forces, under the command of the Throne. You will have no separate military, no forces under your command.”
“I understand, Your Majesty. Assuming we are agreed, how do we go about carrying this out?”
“It’s mostly simple, I think, Your Highness. We set some conversion rate of Pannia dinars to Imperial credits. Where anything now says Kingdom of Pannia, it becomes Sector of Pannia. The Royal this or that becomes the Pannia Sector this or that. We will establish Imperial courts in Pannia. We will deploy Imperial forces in Pannia. We will provide absolutely everyone with VR nanites. We will make modern schooling available to everyone. We will deploy our health department to bring Imperial standards of medicine to the sector. We will bring hypergates and VR systems up to Imperial standards. And of course, we will impose Imperial taxes, at the same rates and with the same structures as every other sector.”
“It all sounds wonderful to me, Your Majesty. What do we do first?”
“The first thing we need to do, Your Highness, is to move Imperial forces into Pannia. Were you to announce any such thing as this prior to Imperial forces being in place, your neighbors would try to seize advantage before we could organize. It is much easier to reinforce territory than to regain it.”
“At which point, could you not simply declare us a conquered territory and fulfill none of your promises, Your Majesty?”
“Not and be Emperor of Sintar, Your Highness. My sister died rather than sully the Throne with a pre-emptive attack on the Imperial Council. She waited for them to attack her, knowing she would likely die, rather than sully the Throne. I will certainly sully it for nothing less.”
King Harold nodded.
“Very well.”
King Harold rose from his chair, and Dunham followed suit. King Harold held out his hand and Dunham shook it.
“It’s an agreement, then, Your Majesty?”
“It is an agreement, Sector Governor Walthers.”
Annexation
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Dunham said as he sat down. “Be seated.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Admiral Leicester and Generals Kraus and Daggert replied and took their seats.
“The subject of this meeting is a state secret, and you are all under Imperial Order to keep the following fact to this group alone. The Kingdom of Pannia has requested annexation to the Empire, and will become the Pannia Sector. King Harold II will become Sector Governor Harold Walthers.”
Daggert simply nodded, while Leicester and Kraus exchange
d raised eyebrows.
“Pannia is currently hard-pressed by its neighbors Berinia and Celestia. The announcement is thus being held until we can get our forces into place, as it is easier to hold territory than to take it back.”
“That is certainly true, Sire,” Leicester said, and Kraus nodded.
“Our presence there will certainly leak. We want it, in fact, to be noticed, to restrain Berinia and Celestia. The cover story, and the official story for your subordinates, will be that we are engaging in joint military exercises with the Pannian Navy. That will, in fact, be true as far as it goes. I expect Berinia and Celestia will hold back their current provocations, planning to wait out the exercises before resuming those activities. Once we are in place, King Harold will announce the annexation.
“Our forces are to defend Pannia as they would any sector of the Empire. There will be no second-class sector within the Sintaran Empire. You are therefore instructed to make such deployments, with such orders, as you deem appropriate, given the prior state of Pannia’s defenses and the military postures and prior activities of Berinia and Celestia. I am expecting a certain amount of testing, and we may have to make an example or two in the area to prove to the Berinians and Celestians we are serious. Plan your forces accordingly.
“We will also need to base a fleet presence at the sector capital of Pannia. The initial deployment of forces may include that presence immediately or not, depending on what in your judgment is the best course to defend the sector.
“Any questions?”
Fleet Admiral Dexter McGee considered his orders. They were curious, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.
He had most recently been the commander of an Imperial fleet, Imperial Fleet 97, defending ten provinces – a thousand stars – of the Carolina Sector. Based out of the provincial capital of Draco, he had a total fleet presence of forty-five hundred ships under his command. Two thousand of these were picket ships, which spaced in hyperspace almost continuously, mapping the telltale hyperspace wakes of fleet movements.
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