Christopher Nuttall - Democracy's Right

They weren’t the only ones with a price. The Free Traders, an organisation with links to Daria’s Freebooter League, wanted an end to price-fixing and the other games the massive Family-owned shipping cartels used to force the independents out of business. The exiles wanted to return to their homes and liberate them from the Empire. Various criminal organisations wanted an end to rules they considered oppressive. Religious factions wanted freedom of religion, or even a chance to preach their particular gospel to the remainder of the Empire. To all of them, Colin had been non-committal, although some of them struck more of a chord with him than others. The only group he had refused outright had been a representative from the pirates, who had been willing to offer assistance in return for permission to loot and rape freely. Colin had refused and asked Hester to make sure that no others like them were invited to the meeting.

“So you say,” he said. He asked the question again. “Is this really necessary?”

“They need to see you,” Hester said, unflappably. “They need to know that you are real and that you have lines that you won’t cross, or you will discover that they’re either refusing to believe in you or moulding you into a symbol for their group alone. Just keep smiling and it will all be over soon.”

Colin shook his head as another small group, this one composed of three young-looking women with old eyes, approached them. They exchanged small talk for five minutes before the women shook his hand and departed, leaving him mystified as to their names or the identities of the groups they represented. That wasn’t too unusual along the Rim — paranoia was a survival instinct when the Empire was out there, intent on bringing the hidden colonies into line — but that group had been odder than most. Colin caught himself staring after them and turned back to Hester, who was smiling.

“They call themselves the Daughters of Artemis, a clan of warrior women,” Hester explained, once the women were out of earshot. “They’re regarded as a cult by the Empire, but they make good friends and dangerous enemies. That said, they’re not going to trust you much; to them, you’re just another man. They may help you out, if you ask, but they will never be your friends.”

Colin frowned. The Rim still found ways to surprise him. “And can they help us?”

“Oh, yes,” Hester said. “They’re known for being savage fighters and they have a very strong intelligence network throughout the Empire. There are even supposed to be versions of the cult within the Thousand Families” — Colin looked up, sharply — “as the lines are blurred along the Rim. Who knows?”

She glanced down at her wristcom, forestalling any questions. “And it is nearly time for you to speak,” she said, with a grin. Her allies were already helping the guests find their way into the large auditorium. “I hope that you haven’t forgotten the words.”

Colin scowled at her, but said nothing, his eyes seeking out Daria for reassurance. He’d given presentations on tactics at the Academy, yet that was nothing like addressing over a thousand men and women, some of whom were almost certainly linked to the Empire. Hester had pointed out that some of the underground leaders — the ones with massive prices on their heads — had been reluctant to attend, fearing the Empire and its intelligence services.

“I see,” Colin had said. “So why are you here?”

Hester had smirked. “I’m too old to care, dear boy,” she’d explained. “If they want to capture an old crone like myself… I don’t care.”

Colin had expected that he would be first into the room, but Hester had explained that they had to make a presentation of it, something that showed how calm, relaxed and sure of final victory they were. Colin had pointed out that they were none of those things, yet Hester had explained that perception was everything in a war of nerves. If Colin and his associates looked comfortable and certain of victory, others would wonder if they were right — and, because they wanted to believe that there was hope for final victory, they would believe in him. Colin hoped that they were right.

It struck him that it was an odd way to win a war. He’d believed that they would be clashing against Imperial loyalists, first Admiral Percival’s sector fleet and then the might of the Imperial Navy when it finally realised that it had a significant problem on its hands. Instead, of all things, they were giving a dinner party! Colin knew that, along the Rim, luxury foodstuffs and fine wines were extremely expensive — algae-based food was edible, but no one could make it tasty — and they were practically giving it away. He suspected that half of the guests had come merely for the food.

Anderson had warned, quite rightly, that many of the guests would have their own links to Imperial Intelligence. Part of the reason they’d chosen the icy asteroid as a base for the meeting was because it was useless, a place that could be abandoned as soon as the meeting was finished. Colin knew that he’d put his head in the noose, but as long as he was careful, there was only a small chance of being assassinated. Anderson had insisted on disarming the guests, yet they had refused and Hester had backed them up. So many resistance and underground leaders in one place was a tempting target for the Empire — or, for that matter, their rivals.

His wristcom buzzed, summoning him through a small door into a massive chamber. He’d seen it earlier, but he hadn’t realised just how large it would be when populated, or how loud a roar would be raised when they saw him. Hester, he suspected, had ordered her allies to cheer loudly the second Colin appeared, creating an impression of a warm welcome. And part of it, he knew, was genuine. He had, after all, liberated friends and allies from the penal world. There were reunited families who had good cause to be grateful to him.

He refused to allow himself to flinch as he stepped onto the podium, Hester standing back to allow him to stand right in the centre of the room. It had been designed to pick up and amplify every word he spoke, leaving him to wonder if it could pick up the beating of his heart. It was thumping so loudly in his chest that he wondered that he could hear anything over the sound.

Slowly, as Hester had taught him, he raised his hands and the cheering slowly started to die away. He caught sight of Cordova, sitting among a group of fellow captains, waving his massive hat at him. Cordova’s approval counted for a lot, Colin realised, for his fellow captains were clapping and cheering too. He’d expected only a handful of cheers; instead, it felt as if the sound might shake the entire asteroid.

“My friends,” he said. Unlike the message he’d sent to Percival, he’d spent days with Daria and Hester, struggling to outline the speech. They’d wanted to get it just right, warning him that not every group would be impressed, or willing to play with others. The politics of the underground along the Rim were more complex than those at the heart of the Empire. “The Empire has been a problem for too long.”

There were more cheers, shaking the entire room. “We have all seen what it has done, in the past,” he said. “We have seen the scorched remains of dozens of worlds. We have seen the population of entire planets staved, crushed under by grinding taxes and corporate masters; we have seen lives destroyed and livelihoods wrecked. The Empire has become nothing more than a parasite, draining the lifeblood of humanity itself!”

This time, the cheers were slightly muted. He wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t already know. “I tell you now,” Colin continued, “that it is only going to get worse ! Now, even as we speak, the Empire overruns the last remaining independent system — the last remaining independent system that it knows about! What will it do when it locates the colonies along the Rim? It will carve them up, share them out among the Thousand Families… and destroy yet another way of life. Is that what you want for your future?”