By David C. Daoust
Charles made his way through the crowded landing bay. It was the central landing area of the starport, now cleared of the majority of ships that usually filled it, all to allow the people to congregate. The sky above was clear, the smell of foods of all types wafted through the area, as those smart enough, found ways to make their menus readily available, among the throng of constituents.
Groups of people were scattered throughout, milling about, chatting. It was a mix of Grady citizens and First Wave, all working together, all vying for a say in the moons future, and its future with the UM.
The moods among the people varied, from serious low toned conversations, to boisterous people trying to pull as much attention to themselves as they could.
Holographic representatives from the separate parties of the UM, made their way through the crowds. Others appeared on screens set up throughout the makeshift assembly ‘hall’. Still more holograms gave great speeches from tiny stages in their separate corners of the grounds.
The people milled about, hearing what was said, and then moving on to hear the rest.
Charles knew the UM was a new voice throughout the belt. They had yet to make such a bold move, as Twin Crown had, when they overthrew Red Faction, rounded up the remaining Red Soldiers, and refused to answer to the Confederate Judges… The UM was quick to clamor to their cause though.
The UM Assemblies sprang up throughout the Colonies. They spread from small theater houses that pocked the belt, and grew into fairs and festivals. Theater Houses tended to be much more popular among the colonies than the movies that circulated through the rest of the Onion. Something about live actors, telling real stories, which made more sense to them than what came out of the Core. They simply no longer related to the types of lifestyles depicted within the big movies.
Most of the UM were farmers and ranchers that, depending on who owned the moon, were either tired of only being able to sell their produce to the Royal Alliance, or watching the Trade Consortium factory farms strip their moons like a plague of locusts. Each gave more and more cause to want to pull away. The problem, of course, was that they could not agree on how. Rather than allowing these differences destroy the vision, they found a way to stay united in the divide. Two major parties formed from this, the ‘Arkwrights’ and the ‘Cavaliers’.
The Arkwright Party which touted what was accomplished in the Ark-Age- when those that worked together to build the arks, not only saved humanity, but preserved all life. All thanks, in their eyes, to strong institutions. They wanted to extend governments reach beyond merely a rule of law, regulate everything, taxing the people to pay for it.
The Cavalier Party was the opposite. They maintained that government only existed to proclaim the market as free. And provide a basic rule of law. They believed institutions could only hinder the progress of humanity. In fact, the more extreme of their speakers, argued strong government itself was Godless and that all those that look to government, fail to look to God; Depicting government itself as a false idol, rerouting God’s will to those ‘undeserving’.
Charles was new to the whole thing. Both sides definitely had their arguments, though he wasn’t sure about that whole God thing; seemed a bit presumptuous. He was raised in a crawler, as a ‘Native’ of Twin Crown, one of the first. He’d never experienced the Narrows or the Crag, or any of the other colonies; never really experienced government at all- Just family. To him, it seemed, First Wave had always included everyone in their dealings; trading with other crawlers, helping each other when they could. Things didn’t get split ‘til Grady showed up.
Charles, still, was not a fan of Grady, for all he cared- they got what they’d deserved. He knew his father, supporting talk of a Representative Democracy, was only protecting the family from the repercussions of the Drone Raid. Now that the people of Grady were ready to listen though, Charles felt maybe they could be included. It reminded Charles of the time his father was being so stubborn, he wouldn’t listen to anyone- ‘til his Mom slugged him right in the face. Everyone was shocked, but his dad changed his tune on the matter. Charles found himself smiling, wished he had someone to share that memory with; he knew Ratchet would laugh.
Charles enjoyed Mr. Denali’s speeches the most, they seemed to reflect his own ideas the best. Charles had said many times, how government should be tied together. As long as the politicians were busy manipulating themselves, they weren’t manipulating the people. Let them suckers duke it out, while we live our lives, if they start messing with that, well, we’ll know it’s time for another punch in the face… or Drone Raid. Charles chuckled to himself at the thought.
He came up on a group of boys from Grady. They were pushing each other around, horseplay and all that, talking about things they knew nothing about. He heard just a bit of what they were saying.
One of the boys was talking about First Wave girls. They were mostly just joking about whether or not the different Crawlers, that took their families in, had any pretty girls on it. Sounded pretty harmless, but one of them commented on how Royal Alliance girls, had contraception implanted at birth. Charles snorted. He could tell none of the other boys knew what he was talking about. In fact, he was pretty sure, the speaker himself, was hoping someone else could fill him in on what he was saying.
Charles, who was at first just going to tread on by, stopped a minute to hear the end of the conversation.
The boy continued to say his brother’s friend had a First Wave girl like that ‘on the side’. He said it was a sweet deal, because he didn’t have to worry about anything. The rest of the boys all agreed how good he must have it. Charles thought they were a bunch of idiots.
He didn’t like what he heard, but they were too young and too stupid to interact with, so he just walked away. Letting the boys words tumble around in his brain. He didn’t like the sound of it. He started to dislike Grady even more. He knew his father was having a heck of a time; he’d been locked in council chambers for some time now. Some of the First Wave, however, really weren’t interested in helping the refugees. At first, Charles decided they were cowards, too scared to help the homeless. Now, he was wondering if these people from Grady, needed another punch in the face already.
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