Chapter 10: Office of the Minority Whip in the House of Lords
“Your Lordship,” his personal assistant entered the office leading a man in a monk’s robes. “Brother Davis wishes to discuss the details of the evacuation with you.”
“Oh,” Lord Ramsey replied looking up from the details of the Queen’s proclamations. He was very unhappy. Not only had she pulled an end run around the House of Lords by not getting its approval to appoint Wilson. She had told the government what she expected. As per custom, the monarchy could only advise the government, asking that they consider her request as that, a request. The decree she had sent to parliament was carefully written, citing royal law, and crown cannons informing the parliament that as per the constitution she was suspending certain rights and privileges of the parliament. Everyone had expected this queen to be weak and a push over. Her father had died when she was fifteen. On his death she became queen. Her mother had died a few years later. Some said she just could not go on any further with out King Owen. Her regent had been selected by the parliament to ensure that parliament got what it wanted. She had turned out to be a very strong willed young woman who usually got what she wanted. Not often by charm but not often by force of will either. Her mentor and regent Lord Mercer had taught her well. He had fooled them all, he was no push over. The minority party had insisted on Lord Mercer being the regent, now the loyalist were the party in power in the parliament, while the Trena Free State Party was now the minority. Now as the monk from the Church of the One God sat down in the chair in front of his desk he was intrigued by what the monk would have to say. At the very least it would distract him from the mess that lay on his desk.
“How can I help you?” Ramsey asked, skeptically. He knew who this man was, an Agent of the Cardinals of the Church of the One God. In other words he was a spy. Because of that he really didn’t want this man in his office. Even talking to the man could cause problems for him. If the monk was found out to be working against the people of Trena. , and Rammer was found to have helped him it would not be good for him or his family. It could be bad news for him until he could prove he was not helping the monk in his business. The word treason ran around in his mind and on Trena Treason was a serious business for nobles. When found guilty of treason, Tthe Crown executed the noble, and then required abdication of their lands back to the Crown. Their families were required to give up estates going back centuries to the Crown who by law either made them into parklands or sold them as compensation to the individuals the treason may have harmed directly. He would have to tread carefully lest he be accused of treason.
“I’m not an expert on Trena’s Constitution, but from what I understand, your queen is not allowed to do what she did. The appointment of Marshal of the Royal Constabulary requires approval by the House of Lords.”
“Yes,” The noble replied, “I am aware of that. Except for in cases of national emergency she is required to get our approval.”
“Has she proven that Trena has a national emergency?” The monk asked, “She has said that this catastrophe is heading our way; but has the House of Lords investigated her claims and proven it? If you can prove she is over reacting, or has been ill advised, you can force her to abdicate, and get Wilson removed.”
“Some of us have checked her sources and she is right the asteroids will collide with the planet.” The noble responded. One of the first things he had done; thinking along these same lines was to check her assertions hoping that she was wrong. That proved to be dead end. Even scientists and experts who seldom agreed with each other agreed that the planet would be bombarded by the remains of the asteroid and comet.
“But is she right saying Trena must be evacuated? Surely that is a draconian measure?” The monk asked, “Certainly we can harden our home world’s population centers and find some way to stay on our beloved Trena.”
That hooked him. That was the part that was bothering him. He had never been a good student of anything but politics having learned at his father’s knee how to be a politician. He had nearly failed science in school and trusted his advisors implicitly when they advised him on science and technological issues.
“A couple of our scholars,” the monk continued, although they were few and far between, the Church of the One God did have engineers and scientists. Though severely restrained by the church in what they could research and teach, there were a few in the Theocracy. One of them had been assigned to Trena to review the heathen’s technology to see if there was any godly work that the faithful could use. That monk now sitting in the office of the one man who could make things happen for the church in the Pparliament was following the edicts of his church. “One of our engineers believes that a force field over major cities and major farm lands may allow Trena’s people to survive.”
What he didn’t say was that it wasn’t the falling asteroids that would cause the problems. it would It would be thbe dust and debris blown up into the atmosphere from the countless collisions of the asteroids colliding with Trena that would be the major reason for the death of Trena. It was the dust cloud kicked up by the collisions that would block sunlight for years, possibly for a centuries,y that would kill the very things the planet needed for survival, the green things that created oxygen for man and animal alike to breath. For an hour the monk talked to him about the research he and his small staff of brothers had conducted. In the end Lord Ramsey was convinced that he now had a plan to prevent the evacuation of Trena. The monk left sure in the knowledge that the first piece of sabotage had been committed. Tying up the Trena Parliament in a series of hearings on the merit of the evacuation was the first step in making sure the people of Trena would get their just deserts.
Every Last Mother's Child Page 23
