Ice Planet

by Nicole Stuart

  “This is our chance!” Aria tapped at her keyboard, instructing the computer to insert the text she typed on a presidential letterhead. “How is the head of StateSec addressed?”

  “I think it is ‘Commanding Officer, Department of State Security.’ Head it ‘Confidential’” Cora was smiling as she watched Aria type the words of the letter.

  “I’ll deliver the letter to the secretary,” offered Savi.

  “No, I think it will be safer if I do. All the typists are women, so I’ll take it into the President myself to get it signed. He’s issued at least five letters to StateSec since we’ve been watching, so he won’t be suspicious if there’s another one.”

  Cora waited a minute for the computer to produce the document, and then she walked to the transporter cabinet. Aria placed a cabinet in an unoccupied office down the corridor from the typists’ offices, and Cora transported there.

  The two watchers in the chamber observed how Cora walked confidently down the corridor and put her head in the doorway to the typist’s office.

  “Do you have the documents for the President? I have to deliver some, so I’ll take yours as well.”

  There was an expression of relief on the woman’s face as she handed over two documents for signature. It was clear that she did not enjoy interacting with the President.

  Cora moved on down the corridor, collecting documents from the other typists. She knocked at the President’s door, waited a moment and then walked in, eyes downcast.

  “Yes?”

  “I have the documents for your signature, your honor.”

  The President put his hand out for the documents, not looking at Cora. She handed them over. Once again, he glanced at the top document, then signed each one, not bothering to look at the rest of them. He flipped the batch over the desk to Cora, and they slid off the desk onto the floor at her feet before she could catch them. She bent over to retrieve them.

  “Incompetent! Get out of here!”

  Cora made sure that she had all the documents and backed towards the door, feeling for the handle. She found it, and exited the office, much to her relief. The President had not noticed that she was a stranger. She hurried down the corridor to the office of the typist they had seen, and handed over the documents.

  “He said that I must give these to you to send off immediately,” Cora said as the woman took them. “I don’t know how much longer I can put up with the way he treats us.”

  The comment earned a commiserating smile from the woman, who picked up the telephone and called in some messengers. Cora was gone before the men arrived.

  Savi met her at the transporter cabinet with a smile.

  “That was perfect. Let’s see what happens.”

  The three sat at the desk, watching the events unfold.

  The typist glanced at the address lines of the documents and transferred the words to envelopes, then placed each document in a separate envelope, checking that they matched their intended recipients, affixed impressive seals to the flaps, and handed them over in batches to the messengers who arrived. They watched as the messenger carrying their document walked across the road to the offices of StateSec and to the top floor, where he handed over the documents to the Commanding Officer, a man dressed in a tight-fitting tailored dark blue uniform with gold on the padded shoulders and rows of medals on his chest. The Commanding Officer took the envelopes, inspecting the seals, and then signed for them before dismissing the messenger and cutting the envelopes open and reading the contents. He smiled when he came to the letter instructing the arrest of the Chief Justice.

  “There’s some bad blood between him and the Chief Justice,” commented Aria.

  “They’re probably competing for the favor of the President. He’s happy to see his competitor take a fall,” replied Cora.

  The Commanding Officer called two of his men into the room and issued the order to arrest the Chief Justice.

  “I want you to take a team of our best men to the Court House and arrest the Chief Justice. The charge is treason. Execute the order now,” he instructed, “and make it as public as possible. Take the television news people with you. Rough him up a bit. Blood always looks good on TV. If his bodyguards show any sign of resistance, take them down.”

  The men left the office, and Aria instructed the computer to follow them. They collected another six men, and drove the short distance to the office of the Chief Justice, where they were met at the front door by a TV news team. The group marched into the office of the Chief Justice, who was packing up for the night. When he saw them, his fear was almost palpable. He knew what was coming. He had been party to many such an event in the past. He jumped from his chair, and two of the StateSec men moved in, one clubbing him in the face with a short truncheon. Blood smeared over the Chief Justice’s face from his broken nose and split lip, and he went down. The two men dragged him erect and spun him around, so that the injuries on his face could be captured by the news team while they handcuffed him.

  “You are under arrest on a charge of treason,” the lead officer informed him. “We always know what is going on, and people like you should know that we will grab you and all your accomplices. Enjoy your stay behind bars. It won’t be long before you’re tied to a stake, facing the firing squad.”

  The three watchers saw the reality of what he had done so many times start to sink into the mind of the Chief Justice as he was marched through the door of his office towards the cells.

  *~*

  “That went well,” commented Aria as she turned to smile at her companions. “What do we do now?”

  “The system worked so well, why don’t we use it again? We can get the President and his entire Cabinet to resign. A written resignation from him, addressed to the Speaker of Congress, will be the trigger for the dissolution of Congress and the calling of a new election. We can organize the released prisoners to set up a new political Party to contest the election. That will give the people of the world the chance to make a fresh start. With a little luck, they may choose to go the right way.” Cora smiled at the thought. It would be a huge undertaking, but she was confident that their team could pull it off.

  “I like the idea, Cora. To do that, we’ll have to get the resignation letter delivered tonight, before the President realizes what we’ve done in his name. How do we go about that?”

  “That’s easy. Aria can arrange the letter, and I’ll delver it for signature by the President. Once we’ve done that, we can give copies to the newspapers and TV stations, perhaps even arrange a ‘breaking news’ item first thing in the morning. We’ll also have to set up teams to collect the released prisoners, so that we can brief them on what’s happened, and get them to start their planning.”

  “I’ll do the letter, if you’ll help me with the wording, Savi. I think you should transport back to the laboratory and warn the others about what’s coming, Cora. Get them all to come here, so that we can coordinate our planning. Are you up to delivering the resignation letter to the President for signature?”

  “No problem, Aria. In fact, it will be a pleasure.” With that. Cora dashed across to the transporter cabinet. Time was too short for a leisurely stroll! She was back in time to collect the document for delivery to the President.

  “The same typist has almost finished another four documents for the President, Cora. She’ll probably be pleased to let you take them in to him.”

  Cora transported to the same unoccupied office in the President’s palace. As they expected, the typist was delighted to hand over the documents to Cora to obtain the President’s signature. The visit to the President went as smoothly as before, and Cora returned the documents to the typist.

  “He said I must tell you …”

  “I know. They must be delivered urgently. He’s never yet produced any document that was not desperately urgent. I sometimes wonder what he thinks we do.”

  “I think that one of these documents will solve that problem for you,” replied Cora, smiling. “M
aybe your next boss will be a decent human being, but, for now, no-one else must know about this”

  Surprised, the typist looked at the documents in her hand, at least half of which she had not produced herself. The watchers saw a smile break out as she saw the resignation. She copied the document several times before she called the messengers to deliver these important documents. The letter of resignation would be a treasure that she would hand down to her grandchildren.

  Cora returned to the chamber, to find several separate meetings under way. She was met by Petros at the transporter cabinet.

  “Your performance was amazing, Cora. I admire your courage. I’m not sure that I could have done that job as smoothly as you.”

  “It was easy, Petros, but I appreciate your comment. It has made taking the risk worthwhile.”

  “There is still a lot to do. I'd like to work with you on the next actions. I don’t want you to take that sort of risk alone.”

  Cora looked sharply at the young man. She was not sure how she should interpret his comment. His smile reassured her. His request gave her a warm feeling inside. She took his arm and they moved over to where Aria was working with Savi to coordinate the work.

  Savi looked up as they came up, and smiled.

  “Aria and I will be meeting some of the prisoners as they are released, Cora. We'd like you and Petros to meet some of the others. We plan to transport them to lecture halls in your old university. It’s empty now, so the arrival of a few thousand dirty prisoners won’t raise any concern. Once they’re there, we can tell them what has happened, so that they can start to help us. We need to move quickly.”

  “I'd like to make one small amendment to that plan, Aria. We agreed that we should inform the TV news people about the resignation of the President and his Ministers. I think that you should make the announcement in a televised newscast, including interviews with some of the released prisoners. You might also include a brief interview with the Commanding Officer of StateSec to confirm the arrest of the Chief Justice.”

  Aria was surprised.

  “Why me, Cora? I’m a stranger to all of this.”

  “You’re not, Aria. Without you and your team, this could not have happened. You are an important part of the history that we’re making now, and your role in it must be recorded. You’re not a stranger. You are completely one of us.”

  Aria sat back in her chair, smiling at what Cora had said, then she spoke.

  “If you think it’s the right thing to do, Cora and Savi, I’ll do it. Could you draft the announcement?”

  “With pleasure. Let’s get to work.”

  The work was completed quickly, and then the team turned to the numerous small tasks that would make their work the next day successful. They were able to turn in for a couple of hours sleep before the next day began.

  Chapter 17

  The day began early. Savi and Aria transported to one of the prisons, the one that had initiated their moves the previous night, and collected the prisoners as they emerged from the gate, blinking their surprise at their freedom on this bright new day. They had been marched unceremoniously from their cells to the gate and ordered to disperse, without any explanation being given. Aria had placed a transporter cabinet in a derelict building. They recognized that the prisoners were still dazed by the events, and unable to think for themselves, so Savi ordered them to walk to the transporter, and they transported them to a lecture room in Cora’s old university, where they were greeted by a team of Phelan’s employees, who had prepared meals to fortify them for what they now had to do. The food, and the smiles which accompanied their service, were welcome. Good food and smiles had been scarce commodities in their prison lives, and these started the process of bringing the prisoners back into the normal world. When the last of the prisoners had eaten, they all sat in the student chairs and waited for the next event to start. To their surprise, several large-screen TVs came to life, with a live broadcast of the news, a series of sycophantic announcements made by the old hacks employed by the government to disseminate their propaganda. It had been years since the TV news had contained any item that was not strongly favorable to the government. That was interrupted by a banner across the screen: ‘Breaking News’. The banner disappeared, and a beautiful young woman appeared. Some of the ex-prisoners recognized her as the woman who had led them to the transporter cabinet. They watched, entranced.

  “We bring you some breaking news, citizens of Kinair. Last night, the President and his entire Cabinet resigned, clearing the way for new elections to take place within two months. The notice of resignation was delivered to the Speaker of the Congress, who announced the date for the new elections in accordance with the constitution. That announcement was final, and it cannot be rescinded for any reason. This resignation was made shortly after the StateSec arrested the Chief Justice in a sensational move. The Chief Justice has been charged with treason, presumably for the numerous actions in breach of the constitution he has taken against citizens in support of the edicts of the past President.” The screen changed to a cut of the Commanding Officer of StateSec issuing the instructions to his subordinates, followed by the Chief Justice being arrested. Aria reappeared. “We have been given a copy of the order transmitted by the President, before his resignation, to arrest the Chief Justice. Presumably, the charge of treason arose from the Court Order granted by the Chief Justice in favor of all prisoners, instructing their release and granting them indemnity for all past actions, whether or not they have been charged with crimes in respect of those actions.”

  The scene changed to a recording of the prisoners streaming from the gates of the different prisons, then to one of the conditions that Savi and Aria had witnessed inside the prison. Aria’s face appeared again in a small panel in the top right corner of the screen.

  “Those are the conditions in which prisoners were held. Many of those prisoners have never been tried. They were simply arrested, and thrown into those Hell-holes in a flagrant breach of the rights of citizens under the constitution. I now bring you live footage of some of those prisoners.”

  The scene changed, to show Professor Netteos, talking to Cora.

  “You were arrested nearly a year ago, Professor Netteos. Can you tell us what the charge was?”

  “I don’t know.” The Professor’s face was gaunt, his eyes haunted. “I was arrested at my office by StateSec officers, who beat me up and dragged me away in handcuffs. When I asked what the charge was, they just laughed. I’ve never been formally charged or brought to trial. I have not been allowed access to an attorney, or given the chance to talk with my family. I knew that the rule of this government was wrong, but I had never realized just how arrogant and inhumane it was.”

  “What do you plan to do now, Professor?”

  “My first action will be to find like-minded people so that we can organize a resistance to this government. No sane citizen can tolerate this abuse of power.”

  “Have you been informed that the President and his entire Cabinet have resigned?”

  The Professor’s face brightened.

  “I did not know that. At last, we will have the opportunity to vote in a government that will know that it is the servant of the people, that it can act only in the interests of the people.”

  “Thank you, Professor. I would like to inform the people who would wish to join you in your efforts that they may make contact with you at the old University of Edevall, in South Vidia. I return our viewers now to Aria in our studio.”

  “Thank you, Cora. I understand that there are presently some eight thousand released prisoners at the University of Edevall in South Vidia, where relatives and friends are invited to join them. A list of the names of the prisoners who have been released is being prepared, and will be published within the next hour. We now return you to our regular schedule.”

  The face of Aria gave way to the ‘Breaking News’ banner, and then to the regular announcer, who droned on. She had obviously not been warned that the bro
adcast had been interrupted.

  Savi walked up to the rostrum. The buzz of conversation in the audience subsided slowly, and he spoke.

  “We welcome you, citizens of Kinair. I believe that you are all entitled to know what has transpired in the last days. Before I bring you up to date with the events of last night and this morning, I wish to inform you of a momentous event. Some weeks ago, my colleague, Cora, whom some of you have already met, and who interviewed Professor Netteos in that news broadcast, were requested to investigate a formation of rock structures that was discovered by a mining team at the foot of Mount Kina. You may be aware that Mount Kina is the highest mountain on the planet, and so is a prominent landmark. The structures were found, partly buried in ice, but the ice was removed so that the area around them could be investigated for the presence of a valuable mineral, and the unusual nature of the rock structures was revealed, possibly for the first time in thousands of years. Cora and I are both lecturers at the University of Kinair, in the fields of archaeology and geology, and we were retained by the mining company to advise on the importance of the rock structures, both in geological terms, and in terms of their possible historical significance. We came to the conclusion that the rock structures could not be natural formations, but there was no trace of their origin. Investigation of their surface material indicated that the structures had been exposed to the atmosphere for at least ten thousand years.” Savi smiled at the murmur of surprise. “They originated before the date on which our government and religious leaders would have us believe to be the date of creation of the planet. The formation of the structures seemed to point towards a location high on the mountain. Cora and I decided to investigate further. We found that, not only was the location the result of human intervention, it also led us to a door. We managed to open the door, and found inside a huge man-made chamber.” Savi smiled at the surprise that statement aroused.