by Saxon Andrew
Abby snorted slightly, “Let’s call it for what it is; it’s an ultimatum. How would Earth and Britannia be represented in Parliament?”
“The same as every other Colony,” the President replied. “Each Colony has the same number of representatives to Parliament.”
Abby shook her head, “Earth’s population is larger than all of the Colonies combined; are you saying they will not have more representatives than the Colony with the smallest population?”
“That is how the Central Government is structured, Mrs. Dunham.”
“And if we refuse to agree to your offer, you intend to attack and destroy our fleets?”
“That is an unfortunate by product of this,” the President said with raised hands.
“And just how do you expect Britannia to defend itself?”
The Prime Minister spoke up, “The Colonies’ fleets will defend Britannia if it’s attacked. You would actually be safer due to our warships being far more powerful than your own?”
Abby’s eyes narrowed, “And just how do you know that if the Colonies have not sent ships out to Britannia?”
The Prime Minister knew he had made a mistake. It wouldn’t do to reveal Britannia was being scouted. The First Assistant moved forward and whispered something in the Prime Minister’s ear. The Prime Minister nodded and turned back to Abby, “I know that because I have faith in the Colonies’ engineers and scientists. I have complete faith that our fine sailors and ships are far superior to your warships.”
Abby blew out a breath and asked, “Something caused you to do this. You didn’t just decide to issue this ultimatum out of the blue.”
The President raised a shoulder, “About ten years ago, Britannia stopped all communications with the Colonies and forbade any Colony ship from going inside Britannia’s territory. That is problematic Mrs. Dunhan. It indicated that Britannia was up to something that might be dangerous to the Colonies.”
Abby’s eyes narrowed and she said, “The Prime Minister contacted Britannia and stopped all communications to the Colonies! He said he was worried the civilizations in Andromeda would be able to track our communications and lead to the location of the Colonies being discovered. He stopped us sending ships to the Colonies for the same reason!”
Every eye in the chamber turned to the Prime Minister. He stood up and said, “Mrs. Dunhan, you know that’s a lie. Britannia is the one that stopped communications.”
Abby’s expression turned angry, “We have a recording of you doing it! I have a copy of it in my folder on a data cube.”
“And that is where it will remain,” the Prime Minister replied harshly. “Britannia must have fabricated the recording to cause dissention.”
Abby looked out at the representatives, “Are all of you this incredibly stupid?! You believe that Britannia represents a threat to you? Your warships outnumber ours more than ten to one. You just heard the Prime Minister state that your warships are far more powerful than those defending Britannia. And you believe that Britannia is planning to attack the Colonies? It would be suicide if we did and you have to be incredibly stupid to believe Earth or Britannia represents a threat to the Colonies. The Prime Minister is lying; he stopped communications and played on your innate fears to cause you to move against Earth and Britannia.”
The Prime Minister stood and spoke loudly, “We will not listen to your lies and propaganda! Decide!”
Abby looked at the Prime Minister leaning forward on his arms and she turned back to the President, “If your offer is accepted, will Earth and Britannia have the same rights as all the other colonies?”
“Absolutely! You will have the same rights given by the Charter to every Colony.”
“Are you certain about that?”
“I am, Mrs. Dunhan.”
Abby looked around the room and said, “Britannia and Earth agree to become the sixth and seventh colonies.”
The Room was shocked into silence and the Prime Minister fell back in his chair. The President gathered his wits and asked, “Do you have the authority to make that decision?”
“I was given the authority by both Earth and Britannia before I left to come here. Earth decided to follow Britannia’s lead in this because they don’t know much about the Colonies and how they’re run.”
The President smiled and said, “All if favor of accepting Earth and Britannia as an official Colony, please enter your vote now.”
Everyone turned to the huge monitor hanging on the wall behind the Prime Minister’s desk and the votes were unanimous. The President turned to Abby and smiled, “Let me be the first to welcome Britannia and Earth into the Colonies.”
The Prime Minister was amazed; he now ruled all humanity and it didn’t require any fighting. He then heard Abby ask, “Just to be sure I understand everything, is there anything I don’t know about becoming one of your colonies.”
The Prime Minister stood up, “Since our warships are far superior to Britannia’s and Earth’s, we will be sending a fleet to defend each of them and remove your old outdated warships.”
Abby stared at him and then asked, “Anything else?”
“Yes. Parliament has passed a 35% tax on Britannia and Earth to help defray the expenses of the Fleets defending them.”
Abby turned to the President and looked him in the eyes, “So, you were planning to destroy our fleets no matter what we did?” The President was silent, and Abby said accusingly, “You lied about Britannia having the same rights as the other colonies?”
“No, Mrs. Dunhan, I did not! You have the same rights as every colony.”
Abby said, “Let’s see about that. Mr. Parliamentarian, please open the Colonies’ Charter, go to section one, sub-paragraph three, and read it out-loud.”
The Parliamentarian pressed buttons on his console and looked down. He started reading out-loud, “The Central Government may not pass a tax that does not apply to all Colonies equally. It is forbidden to tax individual Colonies.”
Abby looked up at the Prime Minister and said in a deadly tone, “And since you will follow the Colony Charter down to every word, letter, and syllable, then every Colony will be hit with a thirty-five percent tax on their economies. Britannia and Earth will pay the tax but once all the other Colonies’ economies crash from the weight of that tax, I suspect no one in this room will be here after the next election and that includes you Mr. Prime Minister.”
The President turned to the Parliamentarian, “Is she right?”
“Yes, Mr. President, she is.”
Abby smiled and said, “Mr. Parliamentarian, please stay in section one and go to sub-paragraph eight, section one, and read it to the representatives.”
The Parliamentarian looked up and the President asked, “What?”
The Parliamentarian began reading, “Every Colony is required to construct the forces necessary to defend it against outside aggression. Those forces are owned by the Colony that built them and the Central Government may not take possession of them or interfere with their operation. Forces from one Colony may not be used to defend another Colony except in the event that all Colonies are attacked by an outside aggressor. They may then be combined to fight off the aggressor but are required to return to their Colonies at the completion of combat.”
The room was silent, and Abby smiled, “So, the forces that Britannia has built to defend it are owned by Britannia and the Central Government may not take possession of them. Further, the Central Government may not send warships that were built on any of the other Colonies out to defend Britannia. That would be a violation of the Charter and I know how much everyone present would never violate the Charter.”
The Prime Minister’s expression was ugly, “The Central Government has many laws that Britannia will have to follow! You have nothing to be smug about.”
Abby looked around the room, “Have any of you actually read the Charter. Mr. Parliamentarian, please look at Section two, sub-paragraph four, and read it.”
The Parliamentarian read, “Every Colony
has the freedom to rule itself free from outside interference. The Central Government may not pass laws that impact a Colony’s structure of self-rule. The Central Government will only pass laws that govern the commercial and social interactions between the individual Colonies.”
Abby immediately stated, “Which means Earth and Britannia are free to continue to govern themselves as they have done in the past. And since neither Earth or Britannia will be interacting with the other Colonies economically or socially, you are free to pass whatever laws you choose; they will not affect us at all.”
The Prime Minister stood up, “Mr. President, vote to have those sections removed from the Charter.”
The Parliamentarian turned around, “Mr. Prime Minister, the Charter details what steps must be taken to change anything in the Charter. Whatever changes are desired, every Colony will vote on the changes and an eighty percent approval is required on each Colony. The Colonies must be in unanimous agreement to make the changes.”
Abby laughed, “And since Earth and Britannia will not approve removing those sections, you’ll never get a unanimous vote to make it happen.”
The President looked at Abby, “You appear to know quite a bit about the Colony Charter.”
Abby shrugged, “I should; I’m the one that wrote it.” Everyone in the room was stunned by her statement. Abby paused and continued, “More than forty years ago when the Core Aliens and Fagan civilizations combined their fleets searching for Melbourne, I had all of Melbourne’s citizens transported to five colonies. Each of those colonies chose representatives and they came and requested I write the Charter that the Central Government would follow. I refused to do it; but I told them I would write whatever they wanted in it. It appears the founders of the new Colonies were wise, especially in light of what this government has become now. On our way to this meeting, I noticed that all of the Colonies’ fleets are gathered in this system; which represents a clear violation of the Charter. Contrary to what you say, following the Charter is not something anyone here does.” Abby looked at the Parliamentarian and said, “You are the one charged with making sure the Charter is followed. You are the worst at your job more than anyone I’ve ever encountered.”
“Madam, I told them that what they were doing was forbidden by the Charter but was ordered to keep silent!”
Abby’s eyes narrowed, “Who ordered you to do that?”
The Prime Minister stood up, pulled a blaster, and shot the Parliamentarian. The Prime Minister scowled, “So much for traitors. I demand a vote rescinding the offer to Britannia and Earth. They were operating under false pretenses and have no intention of joining the Colonies in a cooperative manner.”
The Opposition Leader stood up, “The vote has been taken and passed unanimously!”
The Prime Minister screamed, “TAKE THE VOTE!”
The President sighed and said, “Please vote on whether the offer to Britannia and Earth should be rescinded.”
Abby looked at the Monitor and saw every member of the Opposition Party voted against rescinding the vote; but the Prime Minister’s Majority Party passed it. The President looked at Abby and said, “Mrs. Dunhan, you are free to go.”
Abby looked around the room and said, “I’ve always loved the people in the Colonies. I hate that I’ll never feel that way again.” She looked at the reporters in the rear of the chamber and said, “Be looking for a fake attack by a Britannia Warship on a Colony Warship in less than a week. The Prime Minister intends to take total control of all humanity and he will go to any lengths to make it happen. Britannia and Earth will never attack the Colonies.”
The Prime Minister’s rage took him and but for the First Assistant grabbing his arm, he would have shot Abby with his blaster. Abby saw the interaction and the last thing she said over the microphone was, “I won’t ask that Section Seven, sub-paragraph eight, be read. The one that could do it has been murdered. That section dictates that anyone that brings a weapon into a session of Parliament will be executed. I suspect you won’t follow that rule; you don’t follow any of them.” Abby stepped down from the podium and walked out of the room in silence. The Prime Minister turned to the First Assistant and snarled at him. Abby noticed it as she stepped down from the podium and she saw the First Assistant shake his head. Before she turned to walk up the long aisle she saw the Prime Minister grab the First Assistant by the neck and the First Assistant nodded. Abby knew what that meant. She walked quickly out of the building and boarded the large interstellar shuttle. She rushed to the bridge and shouted, “Get us out of here now!”
Rory pushed the thruster handles forward and said as Abby went to her chair, “I watched the meeting on the display; it was being sent out live by the news agencies. I think you pulled that Prime Minister’s tail pretty hard.”
“I think when I told him any law he passed wouldn’t affect us, he lost it. I should have just kept my mouth shut and we would still be a Colony and out of his control.”
“He’d still find a way to attack us.”
“Rory, I think our shuttle is going to be attacked.”
Rory looked at her as the shuttle moved into orbit. He set the shuttle’s autopilot for Britannia and said, “We need to get out of here!” Rory ran off the shuttle’s bridge into the landing bay with Abby right behind him. They rushed in the bay and each of them went to a small needle shaped ship. Abby reclined back and was practically lying down. She activated the dark matter drive and looked at Rory through the cockpit. He gave her a thumbs up and she pressed a button on her console opening the shuttle’s bay door for three seconds. The two speeders leapt out of the bay just before it closed behind them. They moved out from the shuttle and then moved parallel to it.
“Rory, I don’t see any of their ships moving toward us.”
“That only means they don’t want to be seen attacking us; we’re still inside their fleets. They’ll wait until we’re outside New Sydney’s Star System.”
The Shuttle continued to move through the thousands of warships and eventually cleared their ranks. Rory touched his small console and the shuttle picked up speed. “Rory, I have three Colony Garrions leaving their ranks and headed in our direction. They’ve just accelerated to full speed.”
“Record what they do.”
“I have it running now.”
The three Garrions flashed in on the shuttle at maximum speed and all three fired a powerful blaster beam at the shuttle; it went up in a huge explosion as the Garrions came to a stop and began using their blasters to vaporize all of the debris from the shuttle’s destruction. Once that was completed, the three Garrions turned and flew back toward the Colonies’ Fleets.
Rory saw the green button illuminate and he said over the shortwave communicator, “I’m sending a recording of the meeting in Parliament along with the destruction of the shuttle to Cami.” Rory aligned the telepathic communicator and pressed send.
After a moment, Cami appeared on Rory’s display, “Wade sent us a live recording of the meeting, Rory. He also informs me that the Prime Minister has called an emergency meeting of Parliament in five days. They will pay for attempting to kill you and Abby.”
“What do you think happens next?” Rory asked.
“This is where it all hits the reactor,” Cami replied. “Stoney and I are reasonably certain the Prime Minister will launch the fleets sometime tomorrow. It will take them three days to arrive at Britannia and that coincides with the emergency meeting he’s called. I expect him to declare martial law during the attack and dismiss Parliament until the crisis is over. Once that’s done, he will declare the Colonies at war with Earth and Britannia and continue martial law until he can take control of the Colonies.”
“How can he possibly get away with that, Cami?”
“Rory, I’m reasonably certain he has agents at every Colony that will start attacking government facilities. That will give him the excuse to keep power until the crisis is over and ultimately cause him to declare himself as the protector of the
Colonies and total ruler.”
“The Colonies will never stand for it!”
“Wade and Charlotte have been reporting that a large number of soldiers have been moved inside the Capital over the last month and I have no doubt they are loyal to the Prime Minister. He’ll use them to take control of the Capital and as long as he controls the fleets, the Colonies can do nothing about it. You are aware that most of the Fleet Commanders are loyal to him ahead of the Colonies, right?”
“Even so! The average citizen of the Colonies will never stand for it.”
“Rory, if he conquers Britannia and Earth, they will cheer him as a hero for removing the threat they represent; he’s been planning for this to take place for nearly ten years and he’s ready to carry out his plans.”
“So, what do we do about this?”
Cami shrugged, “Why, we stop him of course. I’m sending you a coordinate and I want you and Abby to meet me there in twelve hours.”
Rory looked at the coordinate and his brow furrowed, “We’ll be there in four hours.”
“Then wait for me to arrive.”
“Cami, that coordinate is a long way from Britannia.”
Cami smiled, “I know; see you there.”
Rory moved the speeder over, touched a wing to Abby’s speeder, and used the induction communicator to speak to her, “Cami has ordered us to meet her in twelve hours.”
“We won’t get to Britannia for another twenty hours.”
“The coordinates she gave me is a lot closer to us than Britannia. We’ll arrive there in four hours.”
“What’s going on?”
“I have no idea. Follow me and we’ll find out in twelve hours when she arrives.” Abby shrugged and fell in behind Rory’s speeder.
• • •
The First Assistant listened to the Prime Minister as he ordered Admiral Bellemy to launch the fleets to attack Britannia. He knew that having the reporters present during the meeting was not good! He was already getting messages from the Colonial Governments that the treaty that was discussed during the meeting was a valid treaty and they were demanding to know what was going on. The level of anger among the citizens was growing and the Prime Minister was walking a very tight line. His calling an emergency meeting of Parliament in five days was the only thing that was delaying the Colonies from taking action.