Mike stood at the table without sitting. The cabinet all bowed their heads and covered their eyes. Mike then took her seat on her stool, which was pushed forward as she sat by an attendant dressed in loose fitting dark green trousers and a tight fitting dark green tabard. As soon as she was sat, the cabinet dropped their hands and took their seats, so Mark sat too. He didn’t like sitting on Herassan stools. They were a bit too narrow for his mammalian hips and although the Herassans could use their short thick tails to hold them upright and they could lean back on them, he and Sally had to use the muscles in their lower backs to keep themselves upright and balanced, and they began to ache after a while.
“I see you have brought your mammals with you again. And why have we got armed soldiers in here with us?” the First Advisor demanded.
“Mike looked down at the table setting in front of her and said quietly, “You will address me correctly, First Advisor.”
“You will answer my question, - First of the First.”
Mike looked up and banged her fist on the table, “I will NOT be spoken to by you in that manner! You will address me correctly and with due deference First Advisor or I will have you escorted from the Palace and banished! Do you understand!”
“Yes, of course First of the First.” the First Advisor said calmly. “Would you explain to me and the other members of the cabinet why we have armed guards standing over us? It is most unusual.”
Mike stared at the First Advisor coldly, then said, “I realize this must be difficult for you First Advisor,” looking around the room she continued, “and possibly for some other members of the cabinet. You are used to dealing with my father, who, like most of the First Born who are raised to First of the First, was kept captive in the Palace and had his spirit crushed for centuries before inheriting the honor of becoming leader of this great empire of ours. You could push him around and manipulate him to agree with you and to do whatever you wished. It is different now. I am, by right of birth and by the blood of Herass An Sur which flows in my veins, the legitimate and absolute ruler of the Herassan empire, and you will do my bidding without question or hesitation. If you are unable to do so you have two choices. You can resign and leave in honor, or you can be removed from your office and on my whim, may lose all your family’s possessions, your family’s position in the aristocracy and be banished from Herassan space. I will run this Palace and this empire as I see fit and I will have whoever I wish accompany me, whether they are reptiles, mammals or even insectoids. I am fully aware that my predecessors who attempted to assert their rights were, sooner or later, assassinated. That will not happen to me. If you are not aware of the reputations of General Sally and Mark, Friend of the People, and you do not understand their ability to protect me and keep me alive, I recommend that you acquaint yourselves with them. I have fought with Sally’s army for over three millennia, and during that time we took no prisoners. I do not propose to start taking prisoners now. Do I make myself clear?”
There were nods and words of agreement from round the table.
“Treasury Advisor,” Mike said. “You seem to have trouble assenting that you understood me. Is there anything you would like me to clarify?”
“No, no. First of the First.” the Treasury Advisor said nervously. “You have made yourself wonderfully clear, I have never heard a point made so clearly, and so eloquently.”
“One other thing I need to tell you,” Mike said, “is that I can’t stand all that sycophantic bollocks. You can save that for official communications and dealing with each other. I expect to be treated with respect, but I don’t need you pushing your noses up my cloaca. I hope that is clear enough for you.”
Mark suppressed a smile at Mike’s statement, his AI had just explained to him what a reptile’s cloaca was. He was also amused by the shocked looks on the faces of the cabinet members. He glanced across at Sally who was attempting to suppress her laughter without a great deal of success, and consequently pulling some rather unusual faces and almost choking in the process.
Mike signaled to the attendant standing behind her to step forward, and quietly and politely asked for the meal to be served. Almost immediately the door opened, and four attendants entered pushing trolleys with covered plates on them. The meals were placed in front of the diners quickly and efficiently, then the attendants and their trolleys just as quickly and quietly left.
“I hope we can enjoy our first meal together in a friendly and civilized manner.” Mike said. She was about to take her first mouthful to signify that everyone else could start eating when Mark snatched her plate away and replaced it with his. Mike looked at him and smiled, then took a mouthful on her two pronged fork and started to eat.
The First Advisor leaned towards Mark and said quietly, “Are you concerned that she will be poisoned?”
Mark was taken aback by this blunt question. He hadn’t expected the First Advisor to acknowledge him, let alone speak to him. She had shown every sign of being as prejudiced against mammals as most reptiles were.
“Yes. My AI is better able to recognize toxins than the First of the First’s.”
“Who does she think would make an attempt on her life while she is in the Palace?”
“Your name is top of the list.”
“Me!” the First Advisor said loudly in a shocked voice. “I am sorry, I did not mean to speak so loudly, but she suspects I might mean her harm?”
“Yes, of course. You must have heard of her plan to replace the rule of the aristocracy by an inclusive democratic voting system. You have more to lose than anyone.”
“Of course I oppose the idea. It is ludicrous and I will do everything in my power with every fiber of my being to prevent it from happening, but I would not harm the First of the First! I have implemented additional security to ensure that she will be safe while she is in the Palace. I have met with Colonel Drad Ki Jass, who is commander of the City and Palace Guard and Major Bryd Sa Dett, head of the Palace Guard. They have both assured me that the soldiers under their command are loyal and will spare no efforts to protect the First of the First, no matter what she does.”
“But, I don’t understand. You have shown nothing but hostility towards her. And to me and General Sally too.”
“Of course. That is the way politics works. There’s nothing personal in it. I have no prejudices against mammals. When I was younger I spent many years as a diplomat, traveling throughout the galaxy. I met a mammal from a race called the Renzen. Have you heard of them?”
“No, I can’t say I have. I am fairly new to the galactic culture.”
“Of course. You haven’t been off Earth for very long, and as it is pre-emergent, you wouldn’t have been aware of other civilizations. You have acquired a remarkable reputation in a short time, particularly for a pre-emergent. I am not surprised that the People recognized that you would be an asset to them as a Friend of the People.”
“You know all that about me? How, and why?”
“Of course I do. I have researched you, and General Sally. I know that you grew up near a city called Winchester, and that your world still has independent nations. The one you come from is called England. You had an unhappy childhood and were in a lowly job which made you unhappy.” she smiled, “You really were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. You must have had a spiritual guardian who guided you to Ker Din Ser Forn and General, or Colonel Sally as she was then.”
“What, I mean where did you… I mean why… how did you find all this out? It’s not in the Earth archive.”
“I’ll let you into a secret, although it’s not very secret. My role in the diplomatic service before my father died and I became First Advisor wasn’t just diplomacy, it was information gathering against potential rivals and threats to the empire. My network of agents is still in place and still active. As I am sure you would expect, I also have agents in the rebels, or Freedom Movement as they like to style themselves. I was saying, I met a Renzen, a mammal, with whom I formed a close relationship
, a close companion, if you know what that is.”
“Yes, it’s like Touren Ud Sen and Bekkreshan an Errett. Two species that are physically incompatible but have a deep spiritual love for each other.”
“Well put Mark, Friend of the People. I have no prejudice against mammals.”
“Where is your companion now? Not on Tefran I’m sure. You seem to be in the minority of Herassans, not being prejudiced against mammals.”
“No, he’s not on Tefran. He died a long time ago.”
“I am sorry.” Mark said. “Do you mind me asking, how did he die? Not from old age I presume.”
“He was a diplomat too, for his civilization. The diplomatic mission he was with was attacked by outcasts. Everyone was killed.”
“Oh god, I am so sorry.”
The First Advisor put her hand on Mark’s, “Thank you Mark, Friend of the People. It was a long time ago.”
“Do you know what happened to the outcasts?”
“Yes, I was blinded by my anger and my grief. Without permission and entirely against our diplomatic protocols, I set my entire network of agents to tracking them down. Outcast groups are quite fluid. They split up and join other groups and move on again and again. That made it difficult to track them all down, but over the years, I identified all them and the groups of outcasts they were in at the time. Twenty four attacked the diplomatic mission. Four had already died before my network caught up with them. As I identified each of them, my network passed the information to a contact in Sally’s army, who eventually killed them all. Looking back, Mark, Friend of the People, I am ashamed of what I did. There are those who are killers, you are one of them, and I am glad there are people like you in the galaxy, but I am not one of them. I have nightmares about what I did, it diminished me. So you see, the First of the First has nothing to fear from me. I would put my life before hers to protect her.”
“Shit.” Mark said. “That puts a different complexion on the situation. But you are very hostile towards her. You treat her with contempt.”
She smiled. “It’s politics. In my position, I have to work with her. Now that she is confirmed as First of the First, she will need my help – and she will get it. But I will continue to press her by force of argument and logic to step back from what she is proposing. I will publicly distance myself from her. If I am unable to change her mind, I will do everything I can to ensure a carefully planned incremental change that doesn’t damage the empire, Her proposal, as it stands, will lead to chaos and disruption. It will weaken the empire and could lead to it splitting up. So for the time being, my public face will be as aggressive as it has been so far. Now, I need to ask you a favor. I would like you to facilitate a private meeting, one that cannot be eavesdropped on, where she and I can come to a working arrangement. In the circumstances, I would like you and the General to attend.
“I see. So you were just being pleasant to me because you need something from me?”
She smiled again. “I would have been polite, even friendly, if I had not wanted something from you. I am a diplomat after all. You will not find me quite so friendly in public. I need to keep the mammal haters on side for the time being but with the regime change I will be able to advance my plan to gain more acceptance for other species by our citizens. I could not do this while the First of the First’s father was on the throne. He was totally against a more liberal approach to aliens, and despite The First of the First’s view that he was powerless, it was more complicated than that. Will you speak to the First of the First about a private meeting?”
“Yes, of course” Mark said. “As soon as the meal has finished. But why are you so concerned about it being private?”
“I told you that the First of the First has nothing to fear from me. The same can’t be said for others within the Palace.”
“Who?” Mark asked.
“That is not a discussion for now, Please arrange the meeting as soon as possible, and don’t let the First of the First out of your sight for a moment.”
Chapter Seventy Eight
The First of the First Gives Her First Orders
As the meal ended, the First Advisor rose to her feet and spoke.
“First of the First, honored colleagues. It falls on me as First Advisor, to welcome our newly raised First of the First to her new position, and to pledge the allegiance of myself, my office, the members of the cabinet and their subordinates to the First of the First, to serve her to the best of our abilities, to obey without question or hesitation any request or command, as the cabinet and the aristocracy have since the founding of our modern peaceful and cooperative government by her revered ancestor, Herass An Sur.”
There was a polite but un-enthusiastic ripple of applause from the other Advisors round the table. Mike glared at the First advisor.
“I will break from tradition and add some words of my own.” the First Advisor continued. A few gasps were heard from around the table. She looked around at her fellow Advisors, then looked at Mike. “Regardless of our differences, the Cabinet will remember its duty to the Herassan people. We may air our opinions outside of the cabinet, outside of the Government, but our first duty is the safety, security and well-being of the people. We, as a cabinet, will cooperate fully with our legitimate leader, the First of the First, to ensure that the machinery of Government continues to work smoothly.”
She took her seat again, and after a few moments of silence, said, “Treasury Advisor. Do you intend to make your traditional statement or do you have something else in mind?”
The Treasury Advisor, who was somewhat overweight, struggled to his feet. “Ah, no First Advisor, I have nothing else in mind.” He cleared his throat and began his speech. “First of the First, honored colleagues. I am pleased to be able to report that the Empire’s finances are in a stable condition, as they have been for the reigns of the last fifty three First of the First’s. The treasury reserves are sufficient to ensure that all the Empire’s assets are maintained and the quality of life of the population can be sustained.”
He took his seat again, muttering, for no apparent reason, “Thank you, thank you.”
Mike stood and addressed the Advisors. “You have probably realized that I, like the First Advisor, am going to break with tradition with my speech. I am not going to give you the customary anodyne speech, promising that nothing will change, that all will carry on as before. I am going to bring great change to the governing of the empire. In fact, it will no longer be an Empire. We are going to become a fully democratic republic, with checks and balances that mean that no-one can become a ruler, a head of state, ever again. Power will be devolved to the people. This will require technology well beyond our capabilities, a level of technology that only the People possess. I have asked them, and they have agreed, to make that technological infrastructure available to us, but it is down to us Herassans to write a constitution that guarantees the rights of all citizens and the integrity of the republic. This will not be a quick or simple task. I will take advice from anyone, of any species, from anywhere in the galaxy on the content of the constitution, but it is our decision on what the final constitution says. I would prefer to have your help with this, but if you are unable to do so, I will do it without you. We will meet to begin our discussion on this topic one hour after midday tomorrow. Make sure you have eaten well before we begin, it could be a long meeting. I must leave you now to confirm the positions of the Palace support staff. I will see you all again this evening for the inaugural banquet.”
She nodded to Sally and Mark and pushed her stool back. The attendant moved forwards and quickly pulled it out of the way. Sally got up and made it to the door first, opening it and preceding Mike out of the dining room, with Mark following Mike closely behind.
As the door closed, Mike said, “That was weird, what the First Advisor said after her formal speech. I wonder what the bile spitting harridan meant by it?”
“She’s not what she seems. I had a chat with her over the meal.”
“Yeah, I noticed. Did she lose interest when she found out the two of you aren’t sexually compatible?” Mike said.
Ignoring her comment, Mark said, “She’s not your enemy, she said that’s just politics. She is against your plan because it could throw the empire into chaos and lead to it breaking up. She said that she will continue to show you hostility in public but will try to persuade you to change your mind by logic and argument, and if she can’t change your mind she will work with you to ensure a smooth transition. She is totally loyal to your position as First of the First and will do everything she can to prevent you from coming to harm.”
First of the First Page 40
