Chapter 1: Home gets a Government
Suzy Gabriel was one of the many people traveling from all over Home, to Ellis. Suzy Gabriel was coming down river on the Maritime Rescue Boat Deliverance. She had been approached by one of the agents of the Evacuation Command’s Civil Affairs unit to be a member of the Great Council in Ellis where they were to meet to form a government. When the crew had found out that she needed a lift down to Ellis, they had talked to their headquarters and got permission to take her down river. The captain had given up her quarters for the representative. Suzy and the crew had discussed the upcoming assembly before they left Sunrise Cliffs. It had been the home that Ebio’s planetary manager lived in when Ebio occupied Home. No one had wanted it so when it was offered to her she took it. She shared it with Admiral Klond, and the crew of the Deliverance. As the trip continued downriver the crew felt free to continue discussing the upcoming assembly.
“I don’t see why the Queen can’t be our ruler here on Home.” the chief of the boat said the first night out, “Queen Aggie has taken care of business better than many of the monarchs we’ve had.”
“The Queen doesn’t own Home.” Suzy replied, “Because of that the Queen’s rule doesn’t extend here. Since Jill Wilson owns the planet she could be considered our monarch. But Miss Wilson hasn’t set up a system to run the planet. She more or less has decided to let us do our thing. I don’t understand some of this myself. It is benign neglect. I would have thought Lord Mercer and a couple of the others would have formed a government. I don’t know why they haven’t.”
“I heard that some of the lords are angry that they have not retained their nobility.” The cook said, “There has been some talk about forcing Miss Wilson to recognize their special status.”
“Yeah, I had a show down with one of them a few months ago.” Suzy said, “They want to have what they had on Trena. That’s just not going to happen. Their nobility is tied to the Trenan court. As such there is no court here. If I understand what the Evac guy said, the Queen’s monarchy ends when Trena is destroyed. There is some question about her rule over the orbital industries and the things off Trena. But the Trena Court will cease to exist once the planet is destroyed.”
“So the Queen will no longer be our monarch,” The chief said, “So this Jill Wilson is our new queen?”
“Well she does own the planet,” Captain McNally commented, “Just like Queen Agatha does Trena.”
“So she is for practical purposes our queen,” the apprentice replied.
“I think all but the nobles will agree to that!” the petite woman retorted. That brought a round of chuckles around the mess table.
“So this assembly or council is not to find a planetary leader; but to develop a system of governance that Miss Wilson will accept and our people will want to live under.” The captain asked.
“More or less,” Suzy answered, “with the Wilson family our new royal family?”
Most of those around the galley table nodded.
“But what form should our government be,” Suzy asked.
“Why not the same as we had one Trena?” the gunners mate asked. “That seemed to work.”
“Trena has what is known as a constitutional democracy.” Someone said, “The Queen is the planetary leader; but the prime minister is head of government elected from the parliament, the crown departments are managed by the prime minister. The courts are independent of the monarch and the parliament. The courts act as a balance between the monarchy, the government and the people. The courts handle all the issues that can’t be resolved by the crown or prime minister and to handle other legal matters.”
“That seemed to be working,” The chief commented, “Most of the time. The in fighting in the parliament was getting fairly bad though.”
“Before the evacuation,” the captain remarked, “it was almost grid locked. It surprised me that the Queen has had as little trouble with the parliament as she has over the evacuation.”
“So this council,” the apprentice asked, he was a young man barely 19 years old with brown hair. He had no real assignment on the rescue boat. He spent his time between the deck division, the galley, the engine compartment and occasionally the bridge. His real job was to learn all the systems aboard the one hundred foot craft, “is it to build a complete new government. Or is to create a government for us?”
“I think it is to create a government for Home,” Suzy replied. “But what type of a government. A constitutional monarchy like we have on Trena or some hybrid? We come from the Thonian Realm, the Earth Empire, the Republic, and of course Trena. All of them have working systems. But I am no political scholar; but it seems to me we have an opportunity to take the best from all of our worlds and make a gestalt of them.”
“Do you think that the Marshal and his daughter would stand still for a constitutional monarchy,” the captain asked. “I mean they own the planet. Why would they consent to something like that?”
“Well if their duties were somewhat ceremonial they might sit still for that,” Suzy replied. “But I can’t see the Marshal allowing his daughter to be a figure head.”
“You know,” The chief spoke softly, “would it make any sense at all for a parliament to rule the planet to write the laws that a head of government would enforce, but leave some of the power in the hands of the monarch.”
“What do you mean chief,” Suzy asked.
“I am not sure,” the chief a man in his early sixties who’s whole life, since the passing of his wife was on the boat. “It makes a bit of sense to me that the monarch be the commander in chief of the military or maybe emergency services. Be the top cop, fire fighter, medic, dog catcher etcetera.”
“That’s a lot of power chief,” Suzy remarked.
“It is. But she could only mobilize the troops for a planetary emergency she couldn’t go to war without the parliament’s approval,” The chief continued. “It seems to me there should be one and only one commander in chief for all of us. The monarch would be the CIC and wouldn’t change because of whim of politics. Also it might prevent a prime minister from going off halfcocked if the monarch didn’t feel a threat existed. If the situation was such that there was ample evidence that there was a threat and the monarch and the prime minister disagreed either to the scope or whether to prosecute or not to prosecute the emergency then the planetary bench could be asked to rule. But if done right that will never come about.”
“So you would put the welfare of the people in the monarch’s hands rather than the crown departments.” Suzy asked.
“Yes,” The chief said, “within reason. I would put all life safety operations in the monarch’s hands. But have her advised by crown departments. In other words like captain McNally here. She is the Deliverance’s master; but her department heads advised her on the status of her boat and the best way to approach a given situation. Then she takes the best action accordingly. The crown departments who would be populated out of the parliament or other political body would advise her on the rules and regulations that her various emergency service and military organizations would follow. I don’t know; but there has to be a balance between the power of the monarch to use the military and the power of the parliament and the ministers.”
“That makes sense,” Suzy commented, “So you want a parliament, a representative government in other words?”
“Yes; but it has to work better than the republic’s and the one on Trena,” the rescue tech said, “Two houses. One house where one person who represents so many people. The other house, a senate or a house of lords would represent a large district or province.”
“But done in some way that the partisan politics can be hosed down and controlled,” Captain McNally commented.
They discussed the prospects for a government all the way down river to Ellis. It gave Suzy a lot to chew on.
Every Last Mother's Child Page 222
