Pax Galactica - A Space Opera

Interlude - Consequences

The Rezabeik-Shelkernon gestalt returned to the office on his ship, still semi-permanently docked at Concordance Station. As soon as he walked in both of his implants pinged and he saw he had received a fatline while he was out.

He walked over to his desk and sat down. He brought the message up on his terminal. The face of Lodge Mistress Quartermass appeared on the screen.

"Hello Mr. Rezabeik-Shalkernon. I know I'm probably not your favorite person at the moment but I need to ask you a favor.

"It seems after the Old Ones withdrew support for the Great Important Powerful Triumvirate there was a coup on Dididi-Dididi-Dididi. All three branches of the new government took just enough time to draft a constitution before surrendering unconditionally to A.R.C.

"We've accepted their surrender but we'd like to throw this one over to the Cooperative. We're not a government, we're not really equipped for something like this. I was hoping you could get me in touch with the right people to make that happen.

"As I said they've already overthrown their old government on their own. They're ready for self-rule. All they need is a generation or two to build up faith in their new institutions.

"As for what you asked about Suit technology: we still don't know how Helios was able to attack another ranger using a Suit. Our best theory is that it was a matter of ideology. She won her Suit over to her cause. It's a one-in-a-trillion fluke. I don't think there's any danger of it repeating.

"Let me know how the emergency session of Parliament goes. Goodbye."

The Rezabeik half of the Rezabeik-Shalkernon entity sighed. He shook his head.

"Begin reply," he said, and his computer chirped in the affirmative. "I just got back from the emergency session. I'll bring you up-to-date.

"Obviously the Old Ones were sanctioned. There was too much evidence for them to have ever weaseled their way out of it. The Parliament advisers to the Old One Deep Command have been withdrawn, their access to the athenaeum galactica has been strictly limited, and their vote in Parliament has been suspended for one five-hundred-thousandths of a galactic year. The Parliament seriously considered expulsion. The Successors were advocating for a military reprisal. The Old Ones have had their feet, metaphorically speaking of course, cut out from under them in terms of galactic influence.

"More unnervingly, however, the Cooperative was sanctioned for A.R.C.s actions violating the order of the Council of Peerage not to interfere with the gug-gug-gug invasions. It's being suspended because of A.R.C.s actions in stopping Usagi Helios. It didn't hurt that you were basically vindicated in everything you were saying about what was happening from the start.

"So in terms of legal impact it's a wash, but the government is not happy. The Cooperative is being held accountable for the actions of A.R.C. This is everything I was afraid of. For all intents and purposes the uneasy equilibrium your organization enjoyed with the Three Rings is over. The government is going to have to react to this. I can't begin to imagine what they'll do. None of the simulations I've been running are promising.

"As for the gug-gug-gugs, I don't think that's going to happen. The Cooperative is incensed over being sanctioned, suspended or not, over the behavior of your organization. Your cache is at an all-time low. There is no way you'll convince the Cooperative to involve itself with the surrender of that world."

Rezabeik shook his head.

"I don't know what to tell you. There's a storm coming. The political fallout from this is going to be gargantuan. I'm not going to be able to help you. You're on your own.

"Goodbye."

He pressed a button to end the recording.

"Send reply," he told the computer. It chirped back.

The ship fired off the fatline signal.

Rezabeik-Shalkernon sighed again. He turned in his chair to look out the window at unfamiliar stars.