Humanity is naturally individualistic, creating in the image of the divine as we are. That individualism is our strength, the quality that makes us unique among all creation. And it is a curse, the trait that stops us from leveraging the might of our collective potential. Yet we still formed kingdoms, still accomplished miracles. Still ascended to the stars. All because of Law. Law acts as the chains that bind the actions of individuals to a greater whole. It establishes order in the endless chaos of life, allowing people to unite around common rules. Law is the glue that holds a people together, and like glue, sometimes it must be reapplied. The ascension of humanity to the star was one of these times. An event of such magnitude it required an entirely new code of law, one adapted to the new reality humanity found itself in. Individualism will be the trait that will one day allow man to ascend to divinity, yes. But it will be upon the shoulders of those that came before, a cumulation of all of humanity, enabled by the stabilizing power of Law. Law is the glue that holds the stage together. And all stages need a star.
“Your proposal is denied, Fredrich Smith, Third Admiral of the Forerunners.”
Shock bloomed in Fredrich’s chest, spreading throughout his body on seas of adrenaline.
“The law is as it should be. What right do we have to project binding law beyond the boundaries of our planet? What right does the minority have to speak for the majority?”
“But, madam secretary! This, more than ever, is a time for unity! Look around this council,” he motioned to the hundreds of delegates in the vast chamber.
Some were glaring at others, some were not even paying attention, and some were quietly whispering.
“We have never been more divided!”
Taking control of his tone, he stepped forward once more, projecting the full weight of his passion onto the Council of Nations.
“Law is the glue that holds our society together. And like glue, it sometimes must be reapplied. Now is that time.”
More eyes turned to him.
“We teeter on the brink of crisis. The masses starve and we lack the resources to feed them. The members of this very council quarrel endlessly without laws to guide them. But out there” he pointed a single figure straight up, seeming to pierce through the great glass dome to reach the stars. “Out there, there is no such shortage. Enough for every man and woman.”
The secretary waved her hands dismissively, “We are exploring the depths of space, in case you've forgotten, Forerunner.”
Fredrich shook his head, “To slow. We are divided and quarreling. Children without the guiding hand of law to show us the way. This council stands as the reflection of humanity. What does it say in its endless quarreling? It is divided, and it speaks in the voice of division, tearing down the bonds that have sustained us for so long.”
By now, the majority of the council was watching him.
“But if we unify? If we join together under the guidance of a new code of Law, as our ancestors did so long ago? We will stand taller than we ever have before.”
Fredrich felt their teetering, and with the full force of his ethos he struck.
“I am a Forerunner, first to enter the vast void, and as such I speak nothing but the truth. Space is nothing but another expanse to be conquered, should we band together against it. But should we quarrel in the face of it? We will fall. It is a new age, and we must be willing to band together under new laws. With my pencil I wrote law, but without your votes it remains a mere piece of paper. But with your votes? It will glue the fragmented shards of our world into united whole, one worthy of standing in the greater cosmos”
I watched the pendulum swing in the wake of his words. It teetered like a pencil on the edge of a desk, a second from freedom’s glorious fall. Until the child's fat hand seized it,
“A impressive speech Mr. Smith,”
…brought it to their lips…
“But,”
…and ground it to splinters in their slobbering mouth.
“The verdict cannot be changed. The motion is dismissed. There shall be no establishment of unjust law in these hallowed courts.”
I groaned in the shattering of colliding planets, but a finitely small part of me, a part that had been slowly growing since HER death, rejoiced.
A second closer to the lonely end.
—-----------------------------------------
Fredrich watched silently, heart heavy, as the gutted remains of a once-mighty starship crashed through the thin atmosphere of the protoplanet.
The twisted steel ignited in a brilliant conflagration and careened to the distant ground like a falling star.
Fredrich closed his eyes at the moment of impact, unwilling to see the blossom of fire of its contact with the ground.
He sighed deeply, turning to his second-in-command.
“That’s the third this year. What gave them the leave to be this bold.”
His second in command, Justin, echoed his sigh, “Well, It’s technically” he said, raising air quotes, “legal” he finished sarcastically.
“That’s bullshit. It's not ‘legal.’ There’re just no laws about it”
“Bullshit or not. It stands.”
“How are we supposed to explore the expanse of space if we have to deal with this” Fredrich demanded, “Why are we so divided in a time where we should be united!”
“Easy man. I’m with you”
Fredrich groaned, “Sorry, Justin. I’m just so sick of this shit.”
Justin put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, I know. So am I.”
“It just seems like a time we should come together,” Fredrich lamented, “A time we can finally unite against a common goal. Instead, all we’ve done is quarrel further.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Yeah”
“And over what” Fredrich scoffed, “The emptiness of the void? The infinite resources out there? Both are equally futile to quarrel over.”
“I know.”
“And don't even get me started on the goddamn courts. ‘The laws of Earth only apply to Earth’ my ass!”
“Yep.”
“And even if they did apply to space, they’re so hopelessly outdated. Did you know it's still legal to shoot a Fraldian in Nirvivan on Sundays?”
“Really?” Justin replied, suddenly looking interested.
“Only with a bow though.”
“Oh” came the disappointed reply.
“We need new laws! A new government! It's a new age, why should the law stay the same! What we need it to s…”
“Fredrich!” Justin interrupted.
Fredrich immediately stopped, a guilty look on his face.
“I'm doing it again, aren't I?”
“Yep” came the faintly amused reply.
Fredrich groaned, slumping over in the admiral's chair.
“What do we do?” he whispered, “We just lost 20 good men. And for what?”
Justin offered him a sympathetic look. “Well, there is one thing.”
Fredrich slumped further in his chair, “They already rejected it, or did you somehow forget the most humiliating day of our lives.”
“I haven't forgotten” Justin replied grimly, “But…”
Justin stared out into the void of space, eyes fixed on a small planet far beyond their sight.
“Sometimes,” he began, “Things must get worse before they get better.”
Fredrich slowly sat up and faced his best friend, “You’re not suggesting…”
Justin hesitated in turn, “Maybe. If things get any worse…” he trailed off, letting the suggestion hang heavily between them.
“I’m not even sure the code is worthy of being used. I never was a good lawmaker. Remember? That's why I joined the Forerunners.”
Justin chuckled. “Yeah, I remember. You ran from the school like Octavian himself was on your heels.”
“I did not run,” Fredrich protested indignantly, “I just decided the Forerunners would be a better career choice.”
“Sure” Justin chuckled, “But I have read the code. And it's solid. Besides, nothing is perfect. And your code is certainly better. It's a start. Sometimes a start is all that’s needed. Put the idea there, and the people will fill in the blanks.”
For a second they were content with their silence, one resolute, one thoughtful, accompanied by the gentle hum of the stardestroyer they called their home.
Finally, Fredrich looked up.
“What would I do without you, brother?”
Justin grinned, “Probably break your neck on the way to the mess hall. Or pilot us into a star. Or accidentally open the airlock. Or…”
“Ok. Ok. Enough. I get it.”
But try as he did, he couldn't suppress the grin spreading across his face. Nor could he ignore the matching grin across Justin’s.
Their laughter was a joyous sight to behold indeed, a hope of a better future, a sign the end had not yet come.
I watched and I rooted for them.
My children wavered over the precipice of destruction.
How could I not root for their salvation?
—----------------------------------------------
Justin lunged at the smug man, murder in his eyes. Fredrich strained as he struggled to hold Justin and himself back. Attacking a hologram would get anything done.
“I’ll kill you!” Justin roared, “I’ll kill you!”
“Oh will you?” The smug man lit a synthetic cigarette, “And how, exactly, will you accomplish that?”
“I’ll rip your throat out! Crush your bones as you bleed out!”
“Oh my. You're quite violent, aren't you?”
Justin stopped struggling for a moment.
“Me?” he questioned in breathless shock, “You just massacred a full scouting fleet, for a single class-c planet!”
“It was nothing personal. Just business.” He ran a finger across the arm of his chair, holding it up to his face as to inspect it for dust, “This, however, seems personal.”
This time Fredrich was the one to rage,
“Of course it's personal! Those were our men! Our friends!”
The smug man waved them off as if sweating an errant gale,
“They knew the risks.”
“There shouldn't be risks like this!” Justin fumed.
The smug man shrugged, “Well, there are. Adapt or die.”
He continued to speak and Fredrich and Justin starred in furious silence, “Anyway, as I was saying, I'm claiming this sector. Enter and die. Nothing personal. Anyways, you gentlemen have yourselves a wonderful day.”
With a final sweep of a centuries outdated top hat, the hologram flickered out.
Justin immediately slumped down to the floor, Fredrich was only a second behind.
“Oh Jasun. What are we going to do?”
Justin remained silent.
“227 men, a tenth of our fleet. And they did it with weapons and technology I've never seen before. With tech like that we could explore 5 times as fast. I…I just don't know.”
It was a quiet silence they resided in, the silence the drinks the essence of everything around it, somehow making it all lesser. A silence that drives all to destruction, for even destruction is better than the wretched nothingness of the void.
I know that feeling well, the void clawing at the sides of your vision, struggling to be let it. The world fades away at its very presence, giving way to that horrible silence, that herald of the end.
I have fought it for so long it has become a part of me, less a foreign invader, more like a dormant aspect of my being, just waiting for the chance to be expressed.
As the void crept up on them, it too manifested in me.
Devouring. Destroying. Reaching. Consuming.
“It's all wrong” Justin whispered, a weak attempt at stopping the inevitable.
Fredrich turned his tired eyes to his brother in arms, “What?”
“It's all wrong” he repeated again, this time with further power.
Still far from enough.
“This is wrong!” he spoke again, the weak yell kindling a spark within him.
The void hesitated.
“This. Is. Wrong!” he yelled, his desperate cry calling on the flickering of a weak flame. But a flame nonetheless.
“This! Is! Wrong!” he roared, the flickering flamer blooming into an inferno as he shot to his feet.
Fredrich stared with wide eyes.
“I don't care what the law says! The law is wrong! I don't care what the council says! The council is wrong! I don’t care what anyone says! They! Are! All! Wrong!”
Flame roared, the glory of desperate hope driving back even the all-consuming void.
I looked on with new hope.
“If they won't accept law, we will force it on them.” He declared, lips drawn back in a snarl, “Like parents forcing unruly children to behave.”
“Justin…that's…rebellion.” Fredrich shivered.
“Against what? A government that refuses to uphold law is no government.”
“Still”
Justin fell to his knees before his still sitting brother and pressed their foreheads together.
“How much is a life worth, brother.”
“W…What?”
“Answer, brother. How much is a life worth?”
“...Everything” came the whispered reply.
“Then, how can we not rebel? We are Forerunners, trained to see and traverse the paths no one else can see. This is the path I see. To feed the starving people. Stop the inevitable war. To explore the expanse of space.”
Once more, I watched the teetering pencil go through the motions, on the brink of that glorious plunge. And this time, there was no hand to stop it.
With an almost reverent silence, it toppled over the edge.
“Ok” Fredrich whispered.
They remained on the floor, foreheads locked together, for the entire night, gathering strength to face the challenges to come.
And when they rose the next morning, they had a new purpose.
Bring Law to that lawless cosmos.