[Atrocities]

2369.6

The Decree

It was truly a dark cloud of events that were now rampaging across the planet with hurricane force. King Chandler Gore the Fifth, having declared himself Emperor, ordered the attack of several Alliance member states. Emperor Gore had decreed that all members of the Global Alliance were to adopt the strict laws of the Salideen Religion. Any member state that refused would be subject to invasion and pacification. Many of the Alliance’s member states denounced the Emperors decree and were subsequently invaded. Their leaders were executed and the populations bombed into submission.
“The Senate will never support these actions. I mean how could they?” Tom said as he read the morning paper vid. From the tone of his voice, Mira his wife could tell that he was truly concerned over the current state of the Alliance.
“Tom, King Chandler has gone insane and broken the Alliance by attacking its member states. The Senate, what is left of it, has no control over him now.”
“My God!” He said with shock in his voice, “This means civil war.” Tom looked out the window of their apartment at the heart of the Capitol city, which lay before them.
“This civil war is going to tear our planet apart Mira and we are powerless to do anything.”
Tom threw the paper vid across the table angrily.
“Now that the Praetorian Republic has condemned his actions, its only going to be a matter of time before they vote to succeed from the Alliance and you know damn well what that will mean.”
Mira smiled softly as she leaned over and hugged her husband. She was truly a beautiful woman, one of the prettiest on the planet. She had long black hair that was softer than anything Tom had ever felt in his life. Her deep green eyes were gifts from Salideen himself and possessed the power to pierce a man’s soul. Her skin was soft and tan and smelled pleasantly of helter roses. Tom smiled as she embraced him; all that really mattered to him was that he had her love.
“I am sure the leaders of the Praetorian Republic know what they are doing. The King would never dare attack them over this.” She said softly.
Tom and Mira both knew better than to believe this, they were both officers in the Global Alliance and they both knew that by condemning the King and his actions, the leaders of their home continent, Praetoria, had put them all in harms way.

“He's no longer the King Mira, he has declared himself Emperor. And these recall orders tell me something that I don’t want to believe.” Tom said as he picked them up from the table and looked at them. “Our leaders are recalling all military men and women to help defend Praetoria.” He looked up into her eyes, and felt the weight of the world upon him as he spoke. “These recall orders can only mean one thing, they are expecting an attack and that will lead us strait into a civil war.” She released her hold, breaking their embrace and sat in the chair opposite of Tom’s. She was no longer smiling.
“This holly war that the King,” She paused, “That the Emperor has brought upon us is not your fault Tom. You must know that.” She said solemnly as she took her husband’s hands in hers. “No one could have foreseen these events. The loss of that shuttle did not bring this war upon us. You have got to accept that this is not your fault Tom.”
“Isn’t it though? I mean if not for that shuttle disaster, Gore would not have had the ammunition he needed to gain the support of the religious right. This war would never have come to be if only we had succeeded.”
“Gore is insane, he ordered the murder of half a million people because they refused to accept his decree to abandon their way of life and adopt the beliefs of the Salideen Religion. That is not something a sane man would do.”
“You know what we must do?” Tom said softly. Mira said nothing as she softly nodded yes.
“It’s only going to be a matter of time before we are arrested.”
“Why?” Mira asked in an alarmed tone of voice. “Why would they want to arrest us? We are not absent from our duties, we haven’t left the city or committed any crimes.”
“The King, I mean the Emperors decree that all members of the Global Alliance are to strictly follow the laws and beliefs of only the Salideen religion condemns us. Think about it, the Salideen religion is the belief that man was created on Pandor in the image of Salideen himself and to explore the stars was a crime against Salideen punishable by death.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I am one of only a handful of men who have ever left our planets atmosphere. Under the Emperors decree I am now a criminal, as are all those who have ever worked in any capacity for the Space Exploration Division. There is no way that the Emperor is going to allow you and me to remain free.”
“Tom that’s crazy!” She said dismissively. “Devon won’t let his father harm us.”
“Look Mira, I know this sounds ludicrous, but Devon has changed, and you yourself just said that his father was insane. Trust me, they will come for us and Devon won’t stop them. Our only hope is to leave the city and head for Camellia before they do come for us.”
“But our careers?”
“There over.”
Just then the door chime announced that they had a visitor. The sound of the chime startled both Mira and Tom and they both let out a light laugh.
“I’ll get that,” Tom said as he stood.
Mira went about cleaning up the table and organizing her paperwork for the day. She was assigned to house duty during her pregnancy and was given accident reports to review.
Tom walked to the door and looked at the outside viewer. It was his commanding officer Lt Colonel Robert “Bob” Benton. Tom opened the door and saluted.
“Good day sir.” He said as he waited for the Colonel to respond.
“Oh relax Tom,” he said as he stepped into the room. “Your on leave, no need to salute me.”
“Thank you sir.” Replied Tom. “In that case may I offer you a drink?”
“Sounds good.”
“Take a seat Bob, I’ll let Mira know you’re here and get that drink for you.”
“Wait.” Said the Colonel quietly. “We need to talk privately first.”
Tom could not hide the concerned look that spread across his face. He simply nodded yes and gestured that they should enter his study. Once inside Tom closed the door and locked it. Went to the bar and poured two glasses of Brandon Weed Whisky. The Colonel had taken a seat in the Studies couch and accepted the drink from Tom as he sat down next to him.
“What’s going on Bob?” Tom asked.
“You and Mira are in danger, you both need to get out of the city by tonight.”
Tom could feel the blood leaving his face, he felt the sudden urge to black out, the kind of feeling that one gets when one is delivered extremely bad news.
“What?”
Bob leaned forward and as he spoke. “There is a transport, the Hiru, leaving the city tonight from the East Transit Platform. You both need to be on it.”
“Why are you telling me this Bob?” Asked Tom after he drank the entire contents of his glass in one gulp. “How could you possibly know that we are in danger?”
“Not just you Tom, but all of us. I am leaving as well with my wife and children.”
“My God!” Tom said as he fathomed the situation. “We were, Mira and I, just discussing this.”
“Discussing what?”
“The possibility that we would be arrested because of my involvement with the S.E.D.”
“Well your correct. The order to arrest any and all personnel connected with the Space Exploration Division came down from Head Quarters today. I don’t think they realized that the order would first come through my office though. Or perhaps someone at HQ did and wanted to give us advanced warning, I simply don’t know, but I do know one thing, we have less than thirty hours to get the hell out of this city and off this continent.”
“How many others have you told?” Asked Tom.
“You’re the first on a very short list.”
“How short?”
“Short.”
Tom’s expression began to take on a more serious look. “Bob we have to warn the others.”
“Tom we have no time. And if word leaks that we’re planning on leaving, we are all dead.”
Tom considered this for a moment before responding; the thought of not telling so many people that their lives were about to be forever changed was haunting.
“There must be a way to warn the others.”
Bob finished his drink and stood. He was not happy about his decision to limit the number of people that he would be telling, but the choice had been made.
“Make sure you and Mira are on that transport tonight Tom. Make damn sure you are.”
Tom just looked drained as he walked the Colonel to the door. His thoughts were racing as they exchanged their good byes. Tom stood silently for a moment, attempting to calm himself. ‘This cannot be happening.’ He thought to himself.
“Tom who was it?” Asked Mira. She had stepped into the greeting room curious as to see who had come to the door.
“Pack some things, we’re leaving tonight.” Said Tom as he looked at his wife.
“Tom what’s wrong, who was that?”
“It was Bob Benton, he said we need to leave the city by tonight.”
Mira looked positively bewildered. The shock on her face was a clear as glass.
“What the hell?” She finally asked as Tom headed for their bedroom and she followed.
“Tom we are not leaving our home!”
“Mira,” Tom shouted not really meaning to. He looked down at the floor for a second, then back up at his wife who now had the look of a scared child. He took in his arms and softly spoke, “We have to go.”