History of the Galaxy II

[Jmenschenfresser]

Chapter 1--Part 2
2400.0

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OVERLORD
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Keer-ree, the High Holiday, celebrated by all tribes. Yesterday, the Day of Dawn, the day before the three weeks of festival which bring in the new year, found the Overlord in and out of meetings with the Circle of Fifteen. He considered the issues petty. For the most part the schedule had been decided. Taking a cold bottle of Boohrisian Head Tea from the concealed cooling unit behind his desk, he removed the lid and gulped down half the bottle.

What would my Omon brethren think if they knew I preferred Boohrisian tea over our own root ale, the old Omonite thought. He would have liked to take it as a sign of his tribelessness as Overlord, but that would be fooling himself. He'd always been a cosmopolitain. Friends in all tribes. Lovers in more than one. How many other Omonites could boast they'd bedded a Sa'ah. He loved multiplicity, not homogeneity. He snorted.

Sitting the bottle upon the transparent face of his desk, he struck two keys and the agreed upon itenerary scrolled up from the bottom:

2400.0 Space Yard requisition.
2400.0 Commencement of construction of the Vellon colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.2 Completion of Vellon ship.
2400.2 Commencement of construction of the Omon colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.4 Completion of Omon ship.
2400.4 Commencement of construction of the Rellan colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.6 Completion of Rellan ship.
2400.6 Commencement of construction of the Boohr transport ship, Class Under Consideration
Open - Completion of Boohr ship.
Open - 2nd Vellon colony ship
Open - 2nd Omon colony ship
Open - 1st Sa'ah colony ship.
Open - 1st Boohr colony ship.
--To Be Determined--

The Overlord slapped two more keys and a grid of the known galaxy appeared. Two more keys and a graphical representation of the stipulations of the first ever Ring (title of treaties produced by the Circle of Fifteen) descended upon the grid.

He studied it for a time, sipping his tea and massaging his left bicep.

The Vellon would head toward the center of the galaxy. The Omon would head toward its edge. The third spacial lock remained unclaimed. All further exploration was done on a finders keepers basis, with one exception--the system to the south, if inhabitable, would belong to the Rellan so that they might retain a strong centralized node of power for the Heru. The Boohr were granted right to one planet per system of the owner's choice. No rights have been given to the Sa'ah except a general promise of initial colony ships. Few want to see them prosper given that it almost invariably leads to raiding and extortion.

The Overlord didn't really relish the thought of returning to the Lighting of the First. His wife made a horribly bitter sweet nut stuffing. Probably the worst. Work was better than choking that stuff down. He resolved to spread around a little tribelessness with a personal letter to the Vellon captain chosen to pilot the first colony ship. He'd write the entire letter replacing all tribal references with references to the Heru as a whole. Damned Vellon needed all the pride they could get as people of Heru and not children of the Vellon. The Vellon had only recently rewritten their textbooks to cut off all geneologies with Vellon, instead of the traditional extension to Heru.

First steps toward another war, thought the Overlord.

He grabbed his left bicep, almost spilling his drink in the process. The line across his bicep itched on the inside. It always had..ever since a Vellon soldier almost hacked it off with a piece of glass tied to a splintered table leg.