by Tim Blagge
Blosh finally got control of the crowd and began the introductions. He introduced each person and gave a thumbnail description of the part they played in the resistance. The information was short but the subsequent ovation seemed to take forever dragging out what should have been a relatively short ceremony. I was to be last and after an hour of introductions and ovations, it was my turn.
I was introduced as the Interim World Chancellor of Velador to another ridiculously long ovation. I tried to silence the crowd with little success. Finally everything got quiet.
“My fellow Veladorians; I want to thank you for that tremendous greeting and your embrace of me as your Interim World Chancellor. Even though we have vanquished the enemy who controlled and ruled our society for several months, the work is not done.”
“As you know, on the national media, I offered the Cromwells some things in return for their cessation of hostilities. When we demonstrated that we could back up our threats of retaliation, they agreed not only to honor my demands but also to accept my proposal.”
“I offered them just two things; but they are very significant things. The first promise I made was to supply the Cromwells enough material to power their planet until they can find other sources. My second promise included our help in securing a new home planet to which they will eventually relocate. As most of you know, their planet is dying a slow death as it nears their sun so they must eventually move their entire population.”
“At the time I made those promises, I had no authority to do so. And now, even though some power to make decisions has been bestowed upon me, I must get final approval from the CEO Committee to move forward with my commitments to the Cromwell people. In my preliminary discussions, I am getting resistance from areas within our government.”
“In the interest of helping our fellow residents in the universe, I am asking all citizens of Velador to contact your CEO and demand that we, as a people, follow through on this humanitarian mission that I have outlined. Accomplishing this goal will make a powerful friend out of our recent enemy. And my friends, we can do this with only a very small sacrifice. Please act on my request. It is in the best interest of Velador and the galaxy! Thank You.
Another thunderous ovation later, I waved for a final time to the audience and asked to see General Boixnest. I was led to a large field nearby where a Cromwell ship was parked or docked or whatever space ships do. We shook hands.
“Nice tactic World Chancellor,” Boixnest said. “Asking to get your way by appealing to the masses may work in a society like Velador. Theoretically the people here have the power through their vote, but unfortunately when they are inaccurately or deceptively informed because of an unscrupulous media, that power is gravely diminished.”
“I’m relatively new here, General. Is that what you think?” I asked.
“It’s a universal truth, Chancellor. People can only understand what they perceive as the truth and if that message is twisted, the real truth can get lost.”
“Is that what you see here?” I asked. “I need to understand all sides of any argument so I’d love to hear your opinions.”
“I learned much from our occupation on Velador but I’d like you to talk to our Superior Leader first. It may change your feeling about us,” Boixnest said sounding a little mysterious.
Just before I entered the Cromwell ship, I turned around to see my family waiting to see me off. One by one we all hugged and Brenda gave me a long kiss. “Take care Chancellor,” she said. “I’ve got a hot time planned for you when you get back.”
I waved then turned and followed General Boiknest into her ship. As I looked around, its interior was more simple and stark than the old Veladorian ship that brought me to Velador. It appeared to be a large semi-circular room with a small door that I assumed was the entrance to a restroom. The only other permanent fixture was a stairway that went up to the Pilot’s station. There were two comfortable looking chairs and Boiknest had me sit in one. After we got situated and buckled in, the ship began to hum and rose into the air. Soon we were in mid-space, headed for a jump zone.
“Mr. Burton, your arrival on Velador puzzles me,” Boiknest began. “What caused you to be there now?”
“I am the fool who invented anti-gravity on my home planet. Based on what my life has become since that discovery, it was the biggest mistake of my life. Two Veladorians, who were changed to look human, were trying to help me market the technology. As it turns out, once some bad people on my planet found out about it, my life turned to crap if you understand the reference.”
“Oh I fully understand. We have a similar phrase on Cromwell. And how did the two people explain their presence to you?”
At first, they didn’t say much. It appeared to me that they were simply helpful people wanting to assist me in my fight to stay alive in the midst of the chaos stirred up by my invention.”
Boixnest then responded with a look that I vaguely recognized.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was an expression of incredulity,” I said.
“Very astute young man,” Boixnest responded. “But how do you view their participation now?”
“Almost the same,” I answered. I still think they want to help. But recently I sense a deeper, less magnanimous motive; a little darker and a little less authentic.”
“Now it’s my turn to ask a question.” I said. “Why are you asking these kinds of questions?”
“As Worldwide Chancellor of a power to which my people have just surrendered, it is my job to find out just who you are and how you think.” Boiknest answered. “I am charged with offering my opinions to our Head of State, who you will meet when we arrive on Cromwell. He is the one who will fully explain the reasons behind our positions. He will also answer any questions you may have. He is the one with whom you will negotiate the details of your plan to assist us in our fight for survival. I hope you can accomplish what you promised me. My position depends on it.”
“I believe I can.” I said even though I felt I had failed to gain the full respect and trust of people like CEO Blosh.
“I believe my Head of State may be able to give you the ammunition that will assist you in your desire to live up to your promises and personally benefit at the same time.”
“I hope you’re right,” General Boiknest.
A voice from our pilot announced that we were entering the jump zone. After the typical bumps and jolts, our ship broke out into a bright sunlight. It wasn’t a pleasant light like Velador’s. It was bright and harsh and I had to shield my eyes until they adjusted to this more extreme level of brightness.
Our ship landed and the door went down. A rush of hot air entered the cabin and it felt as if we were walking into a sauna. It reminded me that I didn’t like really hot weather; especially this kind of ‘Death Valley in the summer’ hot weather.
Boiknest and I walked to an official looking building and entered. Thankfully it was air conditioned. As we passed down a long hall, uniformed soldiers gave Boiknest an odd salute. She nodded back acknowledging their gesture. We arrived at a large door with a carving of a ferocious animal I had never seen and some letters I assumed were from the Cromwell alphabet etched below.
Suddenly I got a strange electric feeling kind of like being gently slapped and a thought jumped into my mind. I went up to the General and whispered in her ear. “Do you have a pair of needle nose pliers handy?”
She opened a nearby desk drawer and pulled out a hand tool that appeared to be close to what I needed. I pried open the outer case of the translation device and sure enough, there was a transmitter inside. I showed it to Boiknest who also recognized it. It was obvious because it had been awkwardly stuffed into the housing. I took the tool, plucked the transmitter out and crushed it in the jaws of the pliers.
“You are starting to realize my young friend that things are not always as they appear. Now please follow me, our Head of State will see you now.”
I walked in to see a person of advanced yea
rs to put it mildly. Still possessing the narrowly spaced eyes of a typical Cromwell, this man’s wrinkled face complete with red marks and imperfections still looked alert and for some reason I couldn’t explain, wise.
“This is our Head of State, Fred.” Boixnest said as we were introduced. My face I’m sure gave away my amusement at the simple name. After we exchanged pleasantries, Fred asked, “I noticed your partial smile when we were introduced. Is it my age or appearance that you found humorous?”
“Neither,” I said. “Since I have been on Velador and now here, most people have long names that I have difficulty remembering or pronouncing. On my home planet, I have several acquaintances with the first name Fred. Sir, if I could call you just Fred, it would make me feel a little less uncomfortable.”
“Fred it is,” he said. “And to explain my background, Fred is my family name that goes back over a thousand years. I am descended from a long line of rulers on Cromwell. Even though we altered our constitution to allow our citizens to remove me if they vote to do so, I have been Head of State for nearly one hundred years and my leadership has never been questioned by our citizens.”
“Fred, if you don’t mind me asking; how old are you?”
“In your years, as I understand them, my age would be 147. Since our planet orbits our sun faster because we are little closer, I am 167 years old here.”
I assumed the small talk was over when Fred made the next comment.
“Young man, your rise to power on Velador has been nothing short of miraculous yet curious at the same time. If you are just a figurehead to make your citizens feel good after our war, any discussion we have or agreements we make will probably be meaningless. How am I to believe that I am not wasting my time? As you’ve noticed, I do not have much left.”
I figured that I needed to learn more from Fred before I answered his question directly so I answered, “Sir, before I answer your question, would you elaborate on Cromwells experience with Velador while they were helping you transition through the discovery of anti-gravity.”
An angry glare came over Fred as he stared at me. “Is that what they told you, Mr. Burton?”
“Well yes,” I stammered. “They informed me that because they had endured a war over the technology that lasted nearly one hundred years, they went on Cromwell and Earth to insure that our planets did not suffer the same disastrous fate.”
Both General Boixnest and Fred engaged in a Cromwell version of side splitting laughter and Fred got serious again.
“Mr. Burton, we were told a similar fable when a few of our people encountered other Cromwells who in reality were Veladorians who looked like us. Under the guise of providing assistance with our transition to the new technology, Veladorians slowly, quietly and with malice worked their way into our major industries. After about fifty years here, their people controlled our anti-gravity, energy, construction, media, the health care system, transportation and most other large manufacturing. The unfortunate part was that we didn’t know it. Our lives were full and we were happy and anyone who wanted a job, found one.”
“Later it became obvious that the Veladorians had been removing capital and other assets from our planet slowly over time. When we fully discovered the conspiracy, we tested every person on the planet and through DNA testing found that over 10,000 Veladorians lived here and most of them were in positions of authority!”
“When we protested, their leaders threatened to pull out of our economy completely. After a full investigation and appraisal of our situation we determined that their immediate departure would devastate our economy.”
“Our leader at that time, my father, struck a deal with the Veladorians that cost him his position and condemned him to a life of shame. You see our planet has been slowly dying for thousands of years. We have known that the only way we could survive was to find and relocate to another more hospitable planet somewhere in the universe. Anti-gravity and its ability to allow us to travel great distances renewed our hope that moving our world’s population was actually possible. Our hope grew and our world rejoiced when a few of our explorers actually found a planet that met our needs.”
“What did your father do to cause him to be removed from his position,” I asked.
“He traded this new world; our new home, to the Veladorians if they would leave slowly and return our industries to our people after the proper training was completed. Unfortunately, after the deal was signed, the Veladorians were gone completely within sixty days stating that they had completed their side of the agreement.”
“Our economy went into freefall. Our expertise on managing our evolving new industries, like fusion reactors for instance, were inadequate. It took over fifty years to sort through the economic disaster. Many of our people starved and new diseases took millions of lives. In addition, we lost our new home planet and the future of our civilization.”
“Now that you’ve heard our story, I have one question my young friend. Does this sound like the type of assistance you would hope to get on your home planet; what’s it called, Earth?”
“Certainly not” I answered. “I’m sorry Fred but I need to fill in a couple more blanks in my understanding. Was it the Veladorian government who orchestrated the economic destruction of Cromwell?”
“I will call upon General Boixnest to answer that question,” Fred said.
“While I was in Prossfell for the last few months, I was able to access some old records hidden away by the government. It revealed much, but to answer your question as briefly as possible, the original incursion into Cromwell was masterminded by one of Velador’s companies; one that saw a profit potential in their actions. Some officials within their government were aware of the company’s motives and even assisted in their cause. However I did find that most of Velador’s leaders were not associated with the company. Also the entire general population of Velador was uninformed of any of the company’s operations here.”
“How was that kind of information kept from the people?” I asked.
“The offending group’s primary business on Velador has been a media company. They have successfully manipulated the population’s knowledge and understanding of the true facts with the goal of furthering their own interests. Even though they portray themselves as a socially conscious entity, they are not!”
“I have a suspicion but I need to know their name, General,”
“I discovered that they have changed their names several times over the last two centuries. They are currently called Mindcon.”
“I thought so,” I said as I pondered the details of my life the last year. “My helpers on Earth work for Mindcon. With my help, it sounds like they are setting Earth up for the same fate as Cromwell. Damn it! I was fooled. They are really good at what they do too.”
“Cromwell was the first victim, but I also found evidence that it has been done on other planets too.” Boiknest added.
“I will need your evidence if I am to put an end to this kind of deceit.” I said. “I may be able to expose Mindcon but I’ll need to be careful. I wouldn’t put it passed them to kill me if I try to put and end to their operations.”
“General, you were correct,” Fred said. “The new Veladorian leader is wise beyond his years.”
“And getting wiser by the minute,” I said. “I just hope I’m wise enough to keep myself alive when I get back to Velador. If you don’t mind, let’s hammer out the details of our agreement now. And if you can figure a way to allow me to get any information you give me back to Velador, that would make me feel better. If it’s possible could you send a ship to the jump zone and see if there is a Veladorian vessel there. Since I’m certain they bugged my translation device, they will need a ship to receive a transmission.”
“One more question,” I added. “I’m not sure who I can trust now. As far as you know, who in the Veladorian government is a pawn of Mindcon? Specifically, can I trust CEO Blosh?”
“I found no connection between him and Mindcon. I will get you
the names of the CEO’s who are currently aligned with Mindcon. If new CEO’s are elected to replace the ones who were killed; I have no information on them.”
Was Chancellor ‘B’ working with Mindcon? I asked.
“Even though he did receive huge amounts of money for his campaign from them and his interactions were frequent, it doesn’t appear he was part of their overall conspiracy.” Boixnest answered.
“Mindcon knew if we took over Velador they would be the first entity we would destroy along with their managers”. Boixnest continued “To counter our threat they first put pressure on Chancellor ‘B’ to approve and promote the rearmament movement. Knowing that that was a long term proposition, they also put pressure on him to go along with our demands to buy time. Because of our shortage of fissionable materials, we played into the delay game that eventually gave you the time to produce your counter threat.”
“We also found out that Mindcon was kept constantly informed of the progress of your resistance efforts by people within your movement. Unfortunately we found that information out a little too late to do us any good.”
“I need to get any proof you have back to Velador but I’m afraid Mindcon will steal or erase it before I can get it into the proper hands,” I explained. “Do you have ant suggestions?”
After another brief discussion, we all decided to keep the agreement to help the Cromwells short and to the point. As I promised, it had only two tenants. One was to supply enough fissionable material to Cromwell so they could maintain their energy production. The second was to assist them in getting established on a new planet. The specific details would be determined later.
When our agreement was complete and documented, an assistant came into the room and whispered something into Boixnest’s ear.