by M J Dees
“Signal the surrender,” Ay-ttho ordered the crew.
The crew looked at each other, unsure of what to do but none of them looked like they were ready for a fight.
Another explosion nearby was all it took to encourage the panicky crew member to signal the surrender and the Corporation Security Forces left on the bridge seemed to relax a little.
“Where did Barnes go?” Sevan asked.
“Not sure,” said Ay-ttho. “Maybe he was never here.”
“Good plan,” said Tori.
“Thanks,” said Sevan who didn’t mention that it had only occurred to him at the spur of the moment.
They brushed the dust from the debris off themselves and waited for the Republic forces to arrive.
CHAPTER 15: BARNES ACCUSED
Sevan’s experience of shuttles was increasing and the Republic shuttle on which he sat to be transported back to the Concession was the most comfortable so far. Not only was his seat large and well-padded but a crew member had given him a large cup of his favourite pish before take-off. He smiled at the thought of Ay-ttho and Tori who sat opposite enjoying cups of similar liquids. The Council had invited them to the Concession because that was where President Man intended to hold the trial of Barnes in absentia.
As they left Tomorrow behind, they passed the grey sphere which Sevan still considered to be the Giant Cup. Seeing it, caused Sevan to reflect on his journey and how different he now felt compared to the first time he had seen the sphere.
Sevan felt so comfortable he thought he might fall asleep before they reached the planet’s surface but he was also too excited. Through the observation windows he could see the patchwork of communities which bordered the concession. Thousands of makeshift containers which housed the poorest of the workers. He looked to find the terminal where he used to queue for the filthy shuttles, which he used to get from his container district to his work district.
As they drew closer, he could see the lights of the many propaganda screens which punctuated the settlement. He couldn’t be sure but he thought he had seen his own image on some screens. In the centre of the concession, rose the far more elaborate structures of the council chambers and the quarters of the elite citizens.
They were low enough for him to see the dirt and squalor of the streets surrounding the Council buildings. He could almost see the individuals doing deals, bribing officials, buying black market fushy fushy, illegal vendors selling anything that wasn’t nailed down.
Sevan wondered about his aunt. He wondered whether she had missed him or whether she had even known he was gone. Given all that he had learned on his trip, he wondered whether she was even his aunt. All her ramblings about the Concession and the corporation turning them all into slaves didn’t seem so crazy any more. He resolved to visit her as soon as he could.
Sevan appreciated the Concession more now than he had when he left. They may have treated them like slaves, but at least they had a home and work and now, maybe there would be hope for improvements.
He wondered whether he would still be the representative. The idea wasn’t the worst disaster imaginable anymore. He didn’t mind if they took the role away. He would happily go back to his old job.
His aunt would have to wait. There was the trial to think of and they told Sevan that President Man wanted to speak with them about plans he had for them all.
As the shuttle approached the private docking terminal in the council buildings, Sevan could see, through the windows, hundreds of other shuttles flying around the Concession all of them in a much worse state of repair than the one in which Sevan was sitting.
Sevan disembarked. From a distance, the council building had looked impressive and inside, Sevan remembered how beautifully it had been decorated. Smart, green, staff hurried around making Sevan feel important.
Outside the building the sky was blue and the whole Concession looked beautiful, even the crowded container communities on the margins. He watched the workers as they rushed around in the streets below and knew none of them realised how close they had come to liquidation.
They led Sevan to his quarters. They were as he had left them and an attendant brought him another cup of pish and suggested he might want to ‘freshen up’.
Sevan thought about his old container on level 110 of his stack and wondered who might live there now.
After he had ‘freshened up’ and sat down in his armchair with another cup of pish, which had appeared, he fell asleep.
*
“Sir, sir.”
Sevan cursed the voice for disturbing his slumber.
“Sir, they request your presence in the Council chamber.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Sevan got up and gave himself a few moments to regain his marbles before leaving for the chamber.
Sevan entered the chamber to a round of applause from the other councillors. Ay-ttho and Tori were also there, looking smarter and cleaner than Sevan had ever seen them. They all sat around the large banquet table and Sevan noticed the softness of his chair. He resolved to take his role of representative more seriously and fight for cushioned chairs on the Concession shuttles, and for more shuttles so that the workers weren’t as packed in as they usually were.
Solar rays shone in beams of light from the windows illuminating the table, covered in the most delicious looking spread of food that Sevan thought he had ever seen. He couldn’t wait to eat but he also couldn’t help thinking about his old life and all the workers busy at their jobs at that moment, frightened of committing the slightest infraction in case the Concession penalised them.
Sevan looked out the window and there was the Giant Cup, just as it had been, watching over them all. He remembered praying to the Giant Cup that they not choose him as representative. After all, he had been through, being the representative didn’t seem so bad any more. He ran through a list in his marbles of all the things he used to have to do before he was the representative that he would never need to do again such as commute on private shuttles, receive penalties for even the slightest failure to observe regulations or eat what passed for food in the canteen. He began to avail himself of the beautiful spread in front of him glistening in the sunlight.
“You’re quiet,” Ay-ttho commented.
“I was just thinking,” said Sevan. “In the area where I used to work, the container stacks are so high that the solar rays don’t even reach the street level.”
“Did you like your work?”
“No. There was this worker called Fore. He used to bully me.”
“Well he won’t be bullying you anymore,” Ay-ttho laughed. “Let’s go there and scare the marbles out of him.”
Sevan laughed.
“It was just because he thought he was greener than me.”
Ay-ttho’s smile fell.
“Let’s get him.”
She began to rise from her seat.
“No,” Sevan gestured for her to sit. “Let’s eat.”
Sevan picked up his cup of pish and proposed a toast.
“To the Giant Cup!”
“To the Giant Cup,” everyone around the table repeated before taking large gulps of their drinks.
Sevan felt comfortable with his nice food and his pish but he also felt motivated to do something. To use his role for good and try to improve the lives of the workers. With Barnes gone, maybe he could make improvements. He would give himself new targets, targets that he could meet, targets to provide adequate, accommodation and transport and decent food and more meaningful participation work. He was determined that the role of representative would no longer be just for show but would mean something.
*
After the meal, the staff cleared the food away and made preparations for the hearing in which they would accuse Barnes of crimes against the Republic and try him in his absence.
The council had called an assembly and the Concession workers would witness the proceedings from the stadium.
Sevan thought the councillors looked a little
too eager for the trial. Most, if not all of them had been appointed by Barnes and had been complicit in everything he had done on the concession, even if they had not taken part in his attempt to overthrow the republic.
There had been terrorist attacks in the Concession for as long as Sevan could remember but he thought none of these were anything to do with overthrowing the republic.
In the centre of the huge table, an image crackled into life and an image of President Man appeared. The councillors all stood.
“Please be seated,” President Man spoke. “You all think you know why we are here, to try Barnes for his treacherous crimes against the Republic. Barnes is guilty of the worst crimes against our republic and its citizens but I will try him at the Supreme Court in the capital.”
The councillors all glanced at each other.
“I have gathered you here today to discuss the future of the concession. As you now are aware, Barnes was intending to liquidise the Concession and destroy the planet to remove all evidence.”
Judging by the councillors’ reaction, they weren’t aware of Barnes’ plan.
“I intend to ensure that the Concession continues to function, at least for the foreseeable future,” said President Man. “But it must not continue to be run as it has done in the past. There are several changes which I am expecting to be made and therefore, it is important for the Concession to have the right leadership.”
Sevan observed the councillors’ reactions to the president’s words. He thought about the members of the resistance who would have loved to be in this room with a hand held weapon. Sevan had never understood before, why anyone would want to overthrow the council. He had always been satisfied with his mundane life but now he realised that there was more than just going to work and trying to meet targets.
“There will be no time for the usual speeches,” said President Man who must have noticed the Chief Council Member itching to say something. “I wish to make some appointments as quickly as possible because there is much work to do.
Sevan imagined the Chief Council Member was desperate to justify his tenure in the position and distance himself from Barnes.
“With immediate effect I am dismissing all councillors who will, as of tomorrow, go back to their previous jobs in the concession.”
There was a collective gasp following the president’s words. Everyone was surprised and almost everyone looked disappointed. Sevan was the only council member who didn’t mind going back to his old job, it didn't seem so bad. Sevan imagined the commotion there must be in the stadium.
“I will appoint a new Chief Council Member who will oversee two other appointments I intend to make,” the president continued. “Head of Internal Concession Security and Head of External Security. The new Chief Council Member will appoint a new council in a process to be decided in consultation with myself.”
A wave a murmuring passed around the room as the now ex councillors speculated who the president might appoint and what the process might be.
“The new Chief Council Member for the Concession will be Sevan Thowsandantwentee For.”
Sevan thought he would faint but he didn’t. A ripple of polite applause circled the table. He wondered what the reaction in the stadium had been.
“That concludes the meeting. I shall now meet with the new Chief Council Member. I dismiss the former council.”
The ex-council members stood, unsure of what to do. Republic Guards escorted them from the room.
“Ay-ttho and Tori, I would like you to stay,” the president instructed.
When the room was empty save for Sevan, Ay-tth, Tori and a handful of Republic guards, the president began to address them.
“Ay-ttho and Tori, I would like you to be the heads of internal and external security. You will need to help Sevan implement his plans.”
“What plans?” Sevan asked.
“The plans you are about to formulate. For example, how do you intend to appoint a new council?”
“I’ve always thought we should allow the workers to choose the council. Then they could choose their own representatives and the whole council would represent the workers.”
“What about the interests of the Corporation and the Republic?”
“They may appoint representatives of their own.”
“Very wise, Sevan. If the workers are to choose their own members, then you will need elections and in my experience you will need Ay-ttho and Tori to help organise security to ensure the elections are fair.”
“Thank you for everything you have done for us,” Ay-ttho thanked the president.
“Thank you for everything you have done for the Republic. There are other concessions like yours and I intend to ensure their workers receive the same freedoms as yours. It may be helpful, in time, for you to visit other concessions to share your experiences and exchange good practice. I will be in touch.”
The image of the president disappeared, and he left the three friends sitting, staring at each other.
“I suppose we should work out what to do,” said Ay-ttho.
A waiter approached.
“More pish?” it asked.
“An excellent idea,” said Sevan.
*
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CHAPTER 1: SUDDEN DESTRUCTION
The Concession was a mining colony on a smallish planet on the edge of a system which itself was on the edges of the influence of the Republic which had brought peace to this part of the galaxy for as long as anyone could remember.
Shuttles buzzed across the sky taking workers from their homes in the container stacks, to work in other container stacks. The concession had been one of the earliest and everything was now old and disintegrating.
The concession would have shut down, in fact the Corporation had scheduled the entire planet for destruction but the president of the Republic stepped in and appointed a former worker whose ideas he had insisted would change everything for the better.
Sevan sat at his desk in his chambers in the council building in the centre of the concession. It had all seemed so simple when President Man had appointed him the Chief Council Member and told him to appoint a new council. He had started by dividing the number of workers by the number of council positions which had given him the number of workers each council worker would need to represent. He then started to try to divide the concession into districts with that number of workers and each district would elect their representative.
On paper, it had seemed simple, but since he had announced his plan groups had inundated him with requests from all over the concession to move from one district to anoth
er. The problem seemed to stem from individuals wanting to stand for election having support in a neighbouring district. Sevan wanted to remain unbiased and had refused all requests for boundary changes but the frequency of requests was getting his antennae in a twist.
Despite his idealistic plan of a whole new council being born out of the choice of the workers, he had noticed that many of the candidates for the election had been members of the old council which had been appointed by the Corporation which ran the concession as a dictatorship before the Republic stepped in.
There had also been controversy about whether only workers living in official container stacks should get a vote or whether the poorer workers who lived in unofficial self-built stacks called communities should also get a vote. Feelings were running high in the concession and a number of fights had broken out following disagreements about the election.
Sevan had the help of Ay-ttho and Tori whom President Man had entrusted with the roles of heads of internal and external security. The president had left some Republic guards to ensure that the Corporation security forces did their job and only their job but the situation was tense.
At least the occasional terrorist attacks from the resistance, which had blighted the concession when Barnes was in charge of the Corporation had seemed to have ended, but the atmosphere was charged and Sevan worried about the chances of the elections passing without incident.
Ay-ttho and Tori had taken a detachment of Republic guards to a district called Hygiea where Corporation security forces had reported that tensions were running high. Sevan had scheduled the election for the next day and it was becoming difficult to keep a lid on tensions.
An image in front of Sevan crackled into life and the amorphous gas that was President Man appeared. Sevan stood up.
“Be seated, Sevan.” the president said. “I understand that you’ve been having a spot of bother in some of your districts but Ay-ttho has everything under control?”
