Christopher Nuttall: Democracy's Right

At the core of the Empire are the most powerful people in the galaxy, the Family Heads. They sit at the centre of giant webs of patronage, commanding hundreds or thousands of sub-networks, each one headed by a Patron who has a senior Patron. Many of those networks have been in existence for hundreds of years, both securing the position of the Family and locking out or controlling newcomers. The more important sub-networks are controlled by senior Family members; indeed, their success or failure with the sub-networks may improve their position to the point where they might be able to rise to the position of Family Head. Given that regeneration treatments ensure that Family Heads may live for nearly two hundred years, it isn’t hard to see that the Thousand Families endure considerable internal turmoil, even outright resentment or even rebellion. Quite a few Family Heads have died under ‘mysterious circumstances.’

If you envisage the Empire as a giant game board, it becomes obvious that the players — the Patrons — must either control vital regions or prevent others from gaining complete control. The Imperial Navy, the Civil Service, Imperial Intelligence and the hundreds of other institutions represent regions that must be controlled or neutralised. Each of the Family Heads must work to control them, or risk having one of the other Family Heads gain complete control and use them to gain supreme power. This isn’t an idle fear. The Third Emperor and the Empress used their control of limited sections of the Imperial armed forces to place themselves on the Throne.

The Empire’s real nightmare — the one that gives Family Heads sleepless nights — is that one day the fields of patronage will run out, forcing them to actually push directly against their rivals in a conflict that will rapidly become very bloody. Fear of outright Civil War within the Thousand Families keeps fuelling a drive to secure as many Clients in vital locations as possible, which naturally causes the tension between the Families to keep rising…

Within Democracy’s Right , there are several different Patrons and Clients.

Stacy Roosevelt was born into the inner circle of the Roosevelt Family, with a direct link to the Family Head. That gave her access to tremendous connections right from day one and, because she was part of the Family, allowed her to speak for it. Admiral Percival deferred to her because she could destroy his career with a word or boost it to levels even he refused to consider. The fact that she was grossly incompetent wasn’t a problem.

Admiral Percival was born into very minor nobility, someone who inherited relatively few connections and a burning drive to succeed. He couldn’t attract many insider Clients as he had little to offer them, hence his willingness to use, abuse and eventually dump outsider Clients. His undoubted skills at political infighting and backstabbing allowed him to eventually rise to the point where he was offered the patronage of the Roosevelt Family, in exchange for putting their aims and ambitions first.

Commodore Rupert Brent-Cochrane (and, to some extent, Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham) was born into an arranged marriage between two smaller Families, which were in turn linked to the Roosevelt Family. He grew up with many of the senior aristocrats looking down on him, which bred a determination to succeed and claim the position to which he believed he was entitled. The fact that he was reasonably competent allowed him to parley the connections he inherited into a formidable support network for his career.

Colin Walker and Penny Quick were both outsiders, with no claim on any support from the establishment. Both of them were determined to succeed and, needing powerful Patrons, they allied themselves with Admiral Percival. Colin’s mistake lay in not realising that Percival didn’t need him and, in fact, could dump him with little or no fear of repercussions. Percival didn’t trust Colin’s ambition and recognised that Colin would eventually seek to surpass him. Attempting to destroy Colin’s career was the logical solution. Penny, who had other charms for him, knew that her position was unstable and, when she was offered a chance to switch to another Patron, she was delighted to reach for it.

Whatever the original motives behind the Patronage system, it cannot be denied that the system is a major contributor to the Empire’s problems. The young, talented and driven outsiders who can make a difference are increasingly frozen out or co-opted (and therefore neutralised) by the system. In their place, insiders and those skilled at playing political games — like Admiral Percival — rise to the top. The Empire is slowly grinding to a halt.

Book One: Democracy’s Right

Book Two: Democracy’s Might (forthcoming)

Book Three: Democracy’s Price (forthcoming)