Chapter 4

She had been waiting outside the large, ornamental doors of the Grand Council chamber for a little over thirty-four minutes now. In silence, she watched the small specks of dust that danced in the shafts of light entering the corridor through the large open windows along the western wall, through which the beautiful green garden outside was visible.

Special Agent Nyasi did her best not to fall prey to her own impatience. Half an hour really wasn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, she thought. She could, of course, simply have called the Secretary General of the Solar Council from her office on Jerr, but she had felt this was a matter too important to discuss over the phone. Instead, at her earliest convenience, she had boarded the next Sunguard ship scheduled to travel from Jerr to Mars—a small surveillance vessel returning to the Sunguard Research and Development Division for retrofitting—and had arrived in the capital of the Terran Federation within a day.

Now, she sat on one of the long marble benches in the curved corridor outside the council chamber, waiting for the current meeting of the government to end—and hoping to catch Secretary General Lorg-mark-tel-nul on her way out.

Special Agent Nyasi was not entirely comfortable with having to wait on another individual like this. She didn’t exactly have a problem with it, but, given the rarity of such events, she simply wasn’t used to it. Of all the individuals and organizations within the Terran Federation, the Solar Council, together with the Solar Command, were the only two entities she couldn’t command at will, and of those two, the Solar Command operated under the supervision of the Council anyway.

Which made the Solar Council, and by extension its Secretary General, accountable only to the people of the Terran Federation.

This was, Nyasi thought, exactly how it should be. The Terran Federation was a direct executive democracy. It didn’t have a parliament; instead, the makeup of its government was decided by direct popular votes, where each citizen was, at any time of their choosing, allowed to provide any name they wanted for each position in government. This perpetually changing matrix of government positions and supported names was constantly monitored by the intelligent computers of the Constitutional Secretariat, and whoever had, at a given moment in time, the most votes connected to her or his position officially held that position. The only exception was that, to ensure stability in case two candidates ended up with virtually the same level of support, a Council secretary couldn’t be removed from their position unless their popular support changed by a certain—and rather small—margin.

With a creaking sound, the heavy doors to the Grand Council opened as the two regular Sunguard soldiers, standing on each side of the door and acting as honor guards, ceremoniously pretended to push them apart.

The secretaries of the Solar Council started to leave the chamber, some in a hurry to get to their next meetings, others eager to continue discussing their current agendas with their colleagues in a more informal environment.

Across the human flood of officials from the four races, Special Agent Nyasi caught the eye of Secretary General Lorg-mark-tel-nul, who immediately acknowledged her from across the chamber and started to push her way through the crowd toward the Terran. Her long black hair ripped down her back as she weaved between the parting secretaries.

“Good afternoon, Special Agent Nyasi,” the Secretary General said. The words coming from her hard, blue lips were warm and welcoming. “It is a genuine pleasure to see you again. What can I do for you?”

Nyasi stood up and started to walk toward Lorg-mark-tel-nul, and when they met, the small Kelar greeted her with an outstretched hand.

“I need your urgent attention on matters concerning the Fotar-mer massacre on Jerr,” she explained bluntly while simultaneously shaking the Secretary General’s hand.

“We are starting to see the practical consequences of certain Council policies I have been warning you about for centuries now,” she continued. “Mainly, I am concerned about how non-Terrans are increasingly being seen as second-class citizens, and the practical consequences this shift in policy has led to.”

Secretary General Lorg-mark-tel-nul made a sound Nyasi supposed was intended to give the impression of a Terran sigh, but its guttural nature made it clear to any listener that it was not the alien’s natural way of expressing weariness.

“Walk with me to my office,” she said. Nyasi nodded and followed the short parareptilian down the corridor.

“I am well aware of your criticism of Council policy, and I fully respect your opinion, Special Agent. But you do, of course, realize that the current Secretary General of the Solar Council actually is a non-Terran—and is also democratically elected,” Lorg-mark-tel-nul continued with a dry smile.

Special Agent Nyasi chuckled lightly.

“Of course, ma’am. But you are also aware that for the past three centuries, non-Terrans have not had the same democratic rights as Terrans.”

“And so it should be,” the alien explained patiently to her guest. “The decision to limit certain voting rights for non-Terrans while we help your race escape the Solaris system was made democratically and according to the principles of the constitution of the Terran Federation. A majority of the members of all four species supported that policy.”

Secretary General Lorg-mark-tel-nul looked up at Special Agent Nyasi.

“Besides, you know as well as I do that voting rights have not been generally abolished for non-Terrans. It is just a time-limited policy to bar non-Terrans from voting on the positions of Secretary of Exploration, Secretary of Colonial Management, Secretary of Economy, and Secretary of Justice, to prevent potential interference from non-Terrans with the evacuation process,” she continued.

“I am aware of that,” Nyasi replied. “I do not disagree in principle—the limitations are according to the will of the people, and I respect that. And I do understand the necessity of these limitations, provided they will indeed be abolished after Nova Solaris, that is. What I am questioning is the practical way those policies are being interpreted now.”

They continued to walk in silence for a short while. The wide marble columns lining the curved passageway made the past of the place seem to literally hang in the air above them. For seven centuries, this had been the seat of the greatest democracy in history. Since even before the founding of the Terran Federation, back when the Solar Council was formed as the government of united mankind in the aftermath of the Fall of Old Earth, the buildings they walked through had hosted the elected leaders of generations past.

“I have one additional concern,” Special Agent Nyasi said eventually. “As you said, the decision to place temporary limitations on non-Terran voting rights was made democratically by all four races of the Terran Federation.”

Secretary General Lorg-mark-tel-nul nodded as she walked beside her. “Indeed.”

“But the Terran Federation is no longer just the four races,” Nyasi continued. “Now, during the Second Expansion, we have absorbed six additional races. The Terran Federation of today is not the Federation it was three hundred years ago, yet still only the four original races have voting rights. If non-Terrans are second-class citizens, the new races are practically third-class.”

“The new races do not have the same history with the Terran Federation as we have, and would not understand the needs of your people during this time of crisis,” the Secretary General said, after a short pause. “And we neither have the resources nor the time to integrate them all into our political system before Nova Solaris. We are on a ticking clock here. Things will be better once the evacuation is complete.”

But Special Agent Nyasi could hear there was little conviction behind the Secretary General’s words.

Author's Note

The story you're reading is one of many set in the Lords of the Stars universe I've been creating over the past 30 years, where familiar characters and places reappear, and new favorites await discovery. Check out my profile to explore more stories from this universe.

While Soldiers of Heart and Steel is entirely standalone, I think you’ll particularly enjoy Twilight Duty, which serves as something of a prequel to this story, and Choices of Steel, which is a sequel.

Visit the official Lords of the Stars blog for more information about this hard sci-fi universe: https://lordsofthestars.wordpress.com

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