All That Glitters Ch. 42

"Are the Harradi that good with agriculture?" Aurelia asked.

"They are," Junelliya assured her. "You should have seen what they did at Denders Resort. They turned desert sand into arable land in the space of a week. It was amazing. We have been back since they started. They have already made one harvest and are starting on two more. Those plots of land will be feeding all the local resorts, saving money in the long run."

"Saving money will be the key to breaking the slave model of the Landstradt," Aurelia admitted. "If we can do that, we could persuade the members to think differently."

"OK, we have an approach as to how to start the Landstradt talking to us, however, we not only need someone to ask the question, we need someone to allow the Harradi to investigate their holdings and make suggestions," Liana noted.

"OK, you have your Guinea Pig," Aurelia said with a smile.

The group went through what to do over many different scenarios for the next few days in the Landstradt. The scenarios were varied and ran through the gamut of mild incidents to the Landstradt outright refusing to cooperate on any level...

Landstradt HQ, Planet Adenomere, The Adenomere System

The Landstradt reconvened the next day at 0900 hours. The Chair brought the Landstradt to order then rose to formally apologize to Lady Adenomere.

"Lady Adenomere, it was through the actions of people employed by the Landstradt that you were potentially imperilled yesterday. It was through sheer force of good fortune that you were not injured or killed.

"The Landstradt formally apologizes for this and ensures all members that in future, no chances will be taken with the security of this building. New protocols have been emplaced to prevent any such future incidents," the Chair bowed low to Aurelia and the floor.

Aurelia rose. "Chair, this was an assassination attempt that was enacted from within House Adenomere with the assistance of House Burling and House Climb. In this case, Aedan and Adolphus Adenomere wished to remove me as Matriarch of House Adenomere, with the explicit hope that one of them would take over as Patriarch of the House. In order to complete this attempt, they sought out the aide of the members of House Burling and House Climb. These two senior Houses joined with Aedan and Adolphus because they hoped to sow dissension amongst the members of the Landstradt. They were hoping to have the senior members of their Houses released from the charges they were imprisoned for.

"Beside the charges of rape and attempted murder of a prisoner, Aedan and Adolphus now have additional charges of five capital counts of Second Degree Murder, in that they killed five people during their attempted assassination. They also have thirty-three counts of Injury Causing Bodily Harm conducted during the course of a Criminal Act. These two will be going to jail for a long time, if not visiting the executioner. The exact punishment will be a matter for the courts to decide.

"The members of House Burling and House Climb who assisted those two, are also included in the charges of five capital counts of Second Degree Murder and thirty-three counts of Injury Causing Bodily Harm conducted during the course of a Criminal Act. I do not yet know the full number of people, nor the names of those from House Burling and House Climb, however, I am told that most of the male members of both of these houses are now in jail. Like House Adenomere, House Burling and House Climb are now being guided solely by women.

"House Adenomere wishes to apologize for the actions of two of its sons which resulted in injury and death here yesterday. Those two no longer have access to any devices that can relay their orders for a repeat of such acts. Their funds have also been cut off, returning to their respective branches of House Adenomere.

"I have taken action to ensure there is no one left in House Adenomere who will act against me, or against other members of the House, or allow such actions to spill over to harm others. I hope the women of House Burling and House Climb will follow my actions." Aurelia sat down.

A murmur swept through the floor as Aurelia finished. The Landstradt had witnessed many power struggles over the years but none had ever been finished so quickly nor so effectively. Aurelia had made a statement that all would remember. She had effectively dealt with three former Great Houses who had been hostile to House Adenomere, House Gordon, House Palay, and House Pendar, turning them into potential, if not open allies.

She had sidestepped several attempts to discredit her, turning those into opportunities to build her mystique within the Landstradt. And now, she had ruthlessly quashed an internal House struggle to unseat her as Matriarch. She had dealt with an internal House power struggle without resorting to extreme violence.

Not only that, she had become the host to the Union representatives, leaving her as the person that all the members wanted to have an invitation to dinner at the Adenomere estate, just to speak with the Union reps.

In the space of days, Aurelia had made her mark on the Landstradt as a formidable member of a formidable House.

Many who had made plans to sue House Adenomere for the attempted assassination suddenly changed their mindset. They realized that going against such a formidable foe would be a mistake.

"Shall we begin today's session?" the Chair asked rhetorically. "Bring out the Union representatives."

The side door opened and Junelliya, Fayad, Kim, Dr. Seito, Ambassador Flynet, and the six prisoners came in, Sgt. Wilder in an anti-grav float chair she was controlling. The prisoners now all wore formal Navy and Marine uniforms, including all of their bling, which caused an instant uproar in the Landstradt. The Chair gavelled this down.

"That will suffice!" he thundered. "I will have no more of this in this Landstradt."

"Chair, why are the prisoners wearing clothing?" an incensed Master Lindelle of Planet Vuelta questioned.

Junelliya turned to look at the man who asked the question. She could easily sense his anger and frustration. She could see that he had been one of those who had been seriously hurt by the loss of slaves from other holdings. He was dependent on the products of other holdings to allow his to function properly. While he did not have any Union Slaves, he was required to work with holdings that did.

"They are clothed, sir, because I am a married woman who loves her husband," Junelliya began. "While I like the look of the bodies of these men, I prefer not to be tempted when I can avoid doing so.

"Temptation, sir, is a two-edged sword; you must be tempted, and you must give in to that temptation. I chose to remove the temptation that their bodies potentially force on me.

"These people have been given parole. That means they are to be treated as human beings. That was understood when I asked for and paid for their parole. To me, treating them as a person means giving them respect, giving them back their dignity, and clothing them.

"If you cannot understand, or refuse to understand that, then you and I will find ourselves on the opposite sides of a battle line, sir," Junelliya snapped. She allowed her anger to seep into her emotions and pushed them at the Landstradt with her empathic abilities.

While many people bristled, most wilted before her. Junelliya deliberately turned her back on the person who had asked the question, letting all in the Landstradt understand, through her abilities, that she was snubbing this person.

Anger at being snubbed flared in Master Lindelle, but then Raymond Clark began to laugh. He tried to keep it quiet, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger.

"Do you find something funny, Capt. Clark?" the Chair demanded, anger entering his words.

"Yes, Chair, I do," Raymond stated, standing. "I was reminded of a quote from Shakespeare: 'The apparel oft proclaims the man'. The quote was bastardized by Mark Twain into the phrase we know today: 'Clothes don't make the man; the man makes the clothes'.

"We five proved this the other day when we entered the Landstradt naked, covered in the wounds we suffered in Hollern Prison. You expected to see broken men and women, yet we rose with dignity and marched into the lion's den with heads held high, surprising the members of the Landstradt, who did not expect defiance from your prisoners.

"In 1642, Richard Lovelace proclaimed in his poem: 'To Althea, from Prison - Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage.' That attitude was expressed by us as we entered, naked, into the Landstradt.

"Now, you are upset that we wear our uniforms. In this case, Shakespeare's original quote proves true: 'The apparel oft proclaims the man'. We take no shame in who we are, Master Lindelle. Quite the contrary. We are proud members of the Union Navy and Marines.

"Each of us has faced foes before, as proclaimed by the medals we wear. Some of these medals proclaiming a point in our lives where we faced peril and survived. Others proclaim where we have been, and what we have accomplished.

"Our lives, our deeds, our sweat, and our tears are proclaimed in these baubles we wear.

"I will continue to quote Lovelace: 'If I have freedom in my love, And in my soul am free, Angels alone that soar above, Enjoy such liberty.'

"We all make our choices in how we live life. No matter by who, or how, we are restricted, mankind continues to soar above the mundane, above oppression. You can make us prisoners, slaves, you can beat us, or break us, yet still we fight against you.

"These uniforms do not proclaim the man, because we who wear it, must earn the right to wear it." Raymond stated, then sat.

"Pretty words, Navy," Lindelle sneered, however, his words were met with stony silence from those around him. That just angered him more. "I don't want pretty words, Navy, I want vengeance!"

"You want to talk about vengeance?" Raymond roared at Lindelle. "I come from New Anglia!" he shouted. The Landstradt went absolutely silent.

"My entire extended family, 400+ lived in the capital, the first of six cities bombarded by C-charged rocks launched at a neutral planet by Confederation Naval Vessels. Only three of my family survived, three who were not in the capital that day.

"I volunteered to go to Emporium to settle a score, to enact my own vengeance. I and thirty-five other members of the Black Lightning Brigade entered Emporium and brought it to its knees. We indiscriminately destroyed planetary communications systems, rail lines, shipping ports, shuttle ports, food processing systems, and anything else we could to demoralize the citizens of Emporium. We succeeded, but at a heavy cost. Thirty-six of us went in, eight came out.

"I got my vengeance, but at a stiff price. The things I did to demoralize a population left scars on my soul. I spent ten years in self-isolation in the Piscium system, working as a Rockhound driver. I did it to give myself time to reflect, to gain back my soul. I eventually came to terms with what I did. Some of my fellow Black Lightning members did not. There are only three others from Emporium left now.

"The Union estimates that there were 500,000 Union citizens taken as slaves by the Alliance over the last twenty-four years. We got out 163 thousand plus in the recent raid. That leaves roughly 336,000 people still illegally being held by the Alliance. That's 336,000 times the number of families still affected by the loss of someone dear to them, taken from them by pirates. Pirates working for the Alliance. How many stories of potential vengeance against the Alliance are in those numbers?

"When you call for vengeance, you had best be aware of the price that vengeance extracts," Raymond kicked his chair aside and stomped out of the main chamber into the side room. No one opposed him.

In the ensuing silence, Ambassador Flynet stood.

"Chair, we have much to discuss about many things over the next few days, we cannot have successful negotiations if all we do is point incriminating fingers at one another," Flynet began. "We need to move beyond this and move to worrying about how to fix things for the Alliance and not by increasing the animosity between the Alliance and the Union."

"What makes you think the Alliance is broken?" someone from the floor sneered. His words were also met with silence.

"Chair?" Flynet left the question hanging.

Someone on the floor rose.

"The Chair recognizes Master Petracian of Gaetan's Planet."

"Thank-you, Chair. I would like to pick up on a comment that was made by the Union representatives a couple of days ago, that we could engage the services of the agricultural specialists of the Greater Community?" Marcin asked.

"You are speaking of the Harradi," Flynet replied. "We can contact them if the Landstradt wished to speak with them directly."

The Chair rose. "That would be ideal, however, we need to determine who would be the host of these Harradi as they look at our agricultural systems.

"Who among the Landstradt would provide space for the Harradi should they decide to assist us?" the Chair asked.

No one spoke.

Junelliya could feel the tension spike around the Landstradt. They knew they needed help to get by the next three to twenty-four months, however, they were loath to be the person who hosted the aliens. She understood that they were trying to save face but with the potential collapse of the Alliance staring at them, saving face was not the way to go.

"Lady Adenomere, you are already hosting guests from the Union and from the Greater Community, will you once again assist the Landstradt and give the Harradi a place of comfort while they are here on Adenomere?" the Chair asked.

"Chair, are you asking me to be their chaperone?" Aurelia demanded.

"We are asking you to provide a roof for those who might help the Alliance," the Chair conceded.

"Very well, Chair. As no one else will provide shelter for these people, I will once again assist the Landstradt," Aurelia stated.

While outwardly being passive and calm, inwardly Aurelia was ecstatic to be the host of another new species. Her doors would be opening to afternoon tea for the members of the Landstradt. It would only help her prestige.

Junelliya opened her comp and sent a request to the Harradi Ambassador on Liramor-23. A minute later, she had a connection and flicked it to the large 3D monitor behind the Chair.

"Hello, Junelliya, it is good to see you," Ambassador Clend smiled at Junelliya. "Are you in the Alliance Landstradt, Junelliya?" Clend asked, noting the people behind her.

"I am Ambassador Clend," Junelliya admitted. "The Alliance is about to lose a good portion of its agricultural labour force. They would need to make up the difference with new farming practices, new crops, and other sundries. They would like to ask you about engaging a few of your more experienced Harradi to look at what they are doing and make suggestions as to how to improve things on their six planets, starting with Planet Adenomere."

"I see. Who is the spokes-person?" Clend asked.

"I am Martin Grovern, Chair of the Landstradt, the governing body of the Alliance," the Chair formally introduced himself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir, I am Hollard Clend, Ambassador at Large for the Harradi, out of our embassy on Liramor-23. How may we be of service?"

"Ambassador, as Junelliya has stated, we may soon be losing much of our labour force. We need to adopt our practices to take into account this loss. However, this loss does not fall evenly across the Alliance. Some of us will suffer more than others, due simply to the fact we have lost more of our labour force.

"We need new practices that may have to be tailored to specific estates, regions, and planets," the Chair explained.

"A tall task, though not outside of our ability," Clend indicated. "but what kind of timeline do you have for your requirements?"

"Sir, there are some of us that are currently in dire straights due to the near total loss of their labour force. They would not survive much beyond three months without immediate changes," the Chair explained.

"Then they should be given priority in the assessment," Clend indicated. "We would need to have data on who is hard-pressed, what kind of crops they are planting, what long term labour force they are left with, and more importantly, what you are willing to give up for this service, both in terms of currency, crops, labour, and other items.

"What you are asking of us is a complete retooling of your agriculture on a planetary scale, that will not be an easy task. We can do this; however, I am not sure that it can be done within a three month timeframe, sir," Clend advised.

"Could you inspect the estates that are expected to fail in the short term and provide immediate support for them?" the Chair asked.

"That is potentially doable," the ambassador replied. "It all depends on the number of our people you wish to engage. Because we are working on a planetary scale, I would suggest that we bring in six Harla, a director of 100,000 workers. The position also denotes the level of learning this person has attained. We will need one for each of the Alliance Planets.

"We could then bring in ten Harge for each Harla, who would be sent to different regions of the planets and potentially to those who are in dire need.

"With that size of a work force we would be able to assess your planetary needs and determine what is needed to provide and teach new practices appropriate to the planets and the planetary regions, and even down to the individual estates, giving priority to those who are hard pressed in the near-term.

"You are looking at sixty-six Harradi, eleven to each Alliance planet, to work with you for the next three months, though we will start with one Harla. Is that acceptable to the Landstradt?" Clend asked.

"Sir, if you can provide us with new practices that will help us move forward, then that will be acceptable," the Chair replied, not daring to ask for comments from the floor.

"You stated that we could pay in currency, crops, and other trade goods. We understand that we are not allowed to trade in anything other than basic needs with the Union and the Greater Community," the Chair indicated.

"Food items are basic needs, Chair. We can arrange a temporary injunction for large-scale food trade if it will lead to better relations between the Alliance and the Greater Community.

"The Harradi home world is much colder than many of the worlds in the Union. Our planet is just coming out of an ice age. There is only a narrow strip of arable land near the equator that we can effectively farm.

"The Harradi have had to learn how to farm in the most remote of locations and in the worst possible conditions that includes deserts, tundra, rocks, swampland, flooding, extreme weather, and other issues.

"The Harradi have not always had enough food for the population of our home world. In times of old, we enacted what was euphemistically referred to as The Lottery of Life. No one was exempt from the lottery, not even royalty. If your name was chosen, you were expected to walk out onto the ice in order to allow for others to have enough food to live. The names of those chosen have been engraved in history, their names spoken every year in the towns and cities from whence they originated.

"When we left our planet, we took our agricultural expertise with us, helping others to build and grow their abilities in new and challenging environments. In return, we took in food for our home world.

"The Harradi Lottery of Life has not been enacted since we have become members of the Greater Community, some four hundred years ago. We never want to see it enacted again. What currency you provide us, will be used to purchase food stocks, if not from the Alliance, then from other worlds with a surplus. We are more than ready to accept food stocks in place of currency, in fact, we will make it a part of our negotiations," Clend stated.