Betrayal
The Third Gleise Monarchy was a relatively small polity, as these things go. Five systems linked together by StarGates established at the trojan points of their largest planets. It wasn’t a major player in galactic politics, nor did the Monarchy have any imperial aspirations.
Its neighbor spinward, the Stellar Administration, did.
MiniPrime was assassinated on a Tuesday. His Second, 5Talia Norn, was sworn in while the Royal Family evacuated the planet to their private battleship. Norn’s first move as Prime was to recall the Trojan Fleets guarding the StarGates to their bases at the gas giant, Enlil. They were to to prepare to burn for the Throneworld, ostensibly to defend the King.
Admirals that protested the orders were relieved. The Royal Battleship could not be reached for comment, due to a comm failure.
AdStar invaded on Friday, through the trailing StarGate. MiniPrime Norn promptly surrendered and called for all ships en route to Enlil to comply. The fact that they had already reached the point of turnaround in their respective trajectories was lost on no one.
Maybe half of the Leading Fleet decided to continue accelerating past turnaround. As they passed system’s giant, they were fired upon by their former homeport. The Trailing Fleet, caught by the inexorable laws of motion, was trapped between the invaders and the planet. Those that did not surrender were destroyed outright.
The High Admiral of the AdStar fleet had control of the system’s StarGates by the following Monday. One brief transmission was made by the King while in orbit of Throneworld before an unforseen reactor malfunction destroyed His Majesty’s ship and presumably, the entire Royal House. In it, the King dismissed MiniPrime Talia Norn and dissolved the Parliment in favor of Emergency Succession.
Few heard the transmission. The Third Gliese Monarchy was already dissolved.
By the time the news reached the diplomatic cruiser Varangian, 3Gliese was well on its way to becoming an integrated province of AdStar. It was left to 1Donner, Executive Assistant to the Minister of State 2Vonday Ginal, to inform his supeior of the new order.
“Priority pouch for you, Lord Minister.”
“Bring it in, then.”
Donner sailed through the door with a package in his hands, in the national colors. Vonday reached for it.
“News from home?”
“Sort of.” Donner agreed, and pulled a gun from the pouch. Vonday sighed.
“I must say, I half expected this. Did Norn put you up to this? Or AdStar directly?"
1Donner flashed a wide grin. It was the first time Vonday could remember him smiling.
“Does it matter? Sufficed to say, my salary is larger than yours for this trip."
“You’ll never live to spend it.
“Don’t plan to. 2Donner’s half a sector away, waiting for the bank deposit to clear."
“Oh there’s a 2Donner, now?” Vonday smiled mildly.
“Part of my fee.”
“So Norn bought you. AdStar’s hardly fond of forking."
“I could care less what AdStar’s fond of. And Lady Norn didn’t buy me. I was always hers. And your precious Forgien Service spies never knew it."
1Donner was an adequet assistant, but an excellent shot. His gun hissed twice, but the first shot ended 2Vonday Ginal all by itself.
Donner had little time. He was a dead man, he knew that, but in order for 2Donner to get paid he had to make sure Vonday Ginal was entirely dead.
He locked the late Minister’s office and precceded to the VIP suite Vonday used for his private server. Being an Abassador meant having a separate computer system from the ship’s, which made Donner’s job much easier. His security clearance as the Diplomat’s assistant allowed him access to the servers, which meant access to Vonday’s backup. The door to the suite recognized Donner and he floated inside.
1Donner may have been an excellent shot, but it’s possibe 3Vonday was better. At the very least, 3Vonday had the element of surprise.
“I half expected this.” The new Prime sighed, once he was alone again.
1Donner flashed a wide grin. It was the first time Vonday could remember him smiling.
“Does it matter? Sufficed to say, my salary is larger than yours for this trip."
“You’ll never live to spend it.
“Don’t plan to. 2Donner’s half a sector away, waiting for the bank deposit to clear."
“Oh there’s a 2Donner, now?” Vonday smiled mildly.
“Part of my fee.”
“So Norn bought you. AdStar’s hardly fond of forking."
“I could care less what AdStar’s fond of. And Lady Norn didn’t buy me. I was always hers. And your precious Forgien Service spies never knew it."
1Donner was an adequet assistant, but an excellent shot. His gun hissed twice, but the first shot ended 2Vonday Ginal all by itself.
Donner had little time. He was a dead man, he knew that, but in order for 2Donner to get paid he had to make sure Vonday Ginal was entirely dead.
He locked the late Minister’s office and precceded to the VIP suite Vonday used for his private server. Being an Abassador meant having a separate computer system from the ship’s, which made Donner’s job much easier. His security clearance as the Diplomat’s assistant allowed him access to the servers, which meant access to Vonday’s backup. The door to the suite recognized Donner and he floated inside.
1Donner may have been an excellent shot, but it’s possibe 3Vonday was better. At the very least, 3Vonday had the element of surprise.
“I half expected this.” The new Prime sighed, once he was alone again.
Claudia H. Blanton:
ReplyDeleteInteresting story! looking forward to reading more throughout this challenge - good luck on your A to Z Journey!