c. 2024 Rod Ice
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(9-24)
Prime Keeper Lotharian Gardino had assembled a meeting of the coastal governors from across Calimex to consolidate his power after being reelected. Yet from the beginning of their session at the diplomatic crossroads in Toqua Platte, a sense of uneasiness from his followers was obvious. The de facto head-of-state wore a silver blazer over his tunic, which was studded with medals that commemorated various events in the history of their isolated, western republic. Following a custom kept from the civilization that had preceded their rise by the Pacific Ocean, he had not groomed himself for several weeks. He stood tall and tanned among the other participants. With a permanent glow gifted from long hours spent meditating in the daytime sun.
“I ask your consent to be declared keeper of this realm, permanently. We face many challenges and do not need the distraction of voting again and again, on every move made by this congress...”
Snorts and sneers erupted around the XR chamber. His remark only deepened the divide between citizens who had attended, and himself.
Governor Guaca, from the peninsula that had been Baja California, shook his head in disgust. He was older than his superior, and more careful when speaking before the group.
“Keeper, I think you need to take stock of where we’ve come under your watch. Get a clue, man! The mission to Alpha One, on our moon, failed miserably. Remember that? And the attack directed at our eastern neighbors. What happened there? We blew our stash and looked impotent. Now what?”
Hands slapped the conference tables, in lieu of applause. This triggered the fledgling dictator and made him sweat profusely. But instead of raging vocally, he became quiet, instead. His voice dropped low, almost to the point of being inaudible.
“I’ve been chastened by the setbacks you mention. And after much thinking, alone on the beach, it came to me like a revelation. I had thought we needed to seek out the source of C-drive emissions, and vanquish any foe that might be waiting to take us by surprise. Then, I was enlightened. Our stumbles on the lunar surface, and here on our home planet, were blessings. Do you agree? Consider what we might have done with our resources. If spent reactivating the base at Mare Frigoris, we would’ve been tapped out for a long period. And if we found the craft emanating that power signal, and eliminated it, our one chance to make a quantum leap in technology could have been erased. We were fortunate to have failed...”
Silence gripped the throng of officials. With dramatic flair, their leader had stifled the intent to instigate a democratic rebellion.
The governor pondered this odd interpretation of their incompetence.
“Fortunate? To have crashed a probe ship and wasted our missiles? That’s your take?”
Gardino smiled with determination, while stroking his chin stubble. He wanted to win them over before anyone could move to oust him from their supreme council.
“It’s a blessing, or blind luck. Either way, we are better off. I’m telling you what I realized, sitting there before the vastness of our ocean waters, is that we need to capture the C-drive vessel. Not crush it like an insect. We’ve read about the magic of our ancestors. That spacefaring machine could teach us what we need to know. With the riddle of high-speed propulsion solved, we could return to a place of prominence over this entire continent. I’ve preached a gospel to you before, one of uniting the separate states. We would be stronger together. Smarter, decidedly nimble, and ultimately, more powerful. Calimex, Torontara, and Atlantia, all under one rule. Brought together for a common purpose...”
Guaca was bald, withered, and pale. Bent forward slightly, from years serving the communities in his district. Yet sharp intellectually. He sensed that the Prime Keeper was motivated by ambition, rather than nobility. But decided that he needed to plan before speaking this truth in an open forum.
“Lothi, our best scientists have worked on that equation for years. There’s a missing link, somewhere. They can’t get us moving any faster than the first settlers did, leaving for Mars. You know, the slow crawl of Larman transports. A year or more, one way! Those space trucks were slugs. The other, regional players are behind us, behind the curve. They’d be no help, right? What could we expect out of farmers still working with horses and mules? And burning felled trees for heat, or cooking?”
Their champion turned bold, and assertive.
“Look, it’s an old adage, proved over and over. There is safety in numbers. Those far-flung states could help us do things, really important things. That would free us to focus on the task of uplifting our way of living. We’d all be better off as a single, united entity. We could spread out across the middle lands, as our forebears did. Then grow and prosper, and perhaps, return to the outer worlds, again...”
Mumbling and murmuring buzzed throughout the grand concourse. More palms began to strike the tables. A unanimous acclamation resounded.
The contrarian governor trembled a bit, before acquiescing to this mood of acceptance.
“I will move to endorse your plan, Prime Keeper. How about that? But, with one promise made before we start. You’ll drop asking us for a lifetime seat at the head of this table. That’s too much, man! We’ve voted on everything, since our families came back together after the Great Uprising. War and famine hardened those old souls. They paid a dear price for their arrogance. This big ball of mud paid a price. It’ll never be the same. None of us will ever be the same!”
Gardino fingered the medals on his lapel, and pocket. He offered a liar’s pronouncement of comity to the group. One that he hoped would sound convincing.
“You are wise, old friend. I appreciate having your voice in my ear. All of us are in your debt...”
The coastal governors dispersed, after gathering notes, and embracing each other in a spirit of cooperation. For their guide and counselor, the assembly had been a success. Yet for their willful king of the realm, it had been an exercise in making moves on a virtual chessboard.
Their future would depend on what transpired in the days ahead.
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