“No, don’t say anything. Speak with your people, decide with them, and then give me your answer.” Tomas said.
“But this… This is so much more than what I hoped for.” Sumia said stunned.
“Yes, but it also carries with it a great responsibility. If you accept this, your world will change. Everything will change.” Tomas said.
Sumia looked back down at the datapad, “Yes. It will.”
Chapter Thirty Three
March 2172 – Sanctuary
Tomas sat in the same conference room from which he and his four friends and advisors led Olympus. Laura, Elias, Seo-yun and Nadia sat in the room just like they did so many times before. But today there were two more people present. One was Lanai Sumia that sat on Tomas’ right besides Seo-yun. And the other was the person that was sitting on the other side of the table besides Nadia, Doctor Asis Singh.
No one knew what Tomas wanted to say. They knew parts, and could guess something from the presence of Lanai Sumia, but no one knew the full picture.
“Thank you all for coming.” Tomas started, “The last month or so, has been one of the hardest periods in the human history. And I have thought long and hard about what we need to do.” He paused and looked around the room. “As all of you know, this last month I had our people vote on whether or not they still wish for me to lead them. The response has been almost unanimous yes. The people of Olympus had always trusted me, and I feel like I had not lived up to that trust.” He took a deep breath. “So from this moment on, I proclaim Olympus no more.” Tomas said. Elias, Laura, and Nadia started to speak, but he cut them off. “Olympus has served its purpose. Olympus was a company that became something more. Its structure cannot sustain us for much longer. In its stead, I create the Empire.”Stunned silence met his words. After a moment, he continued, “I proclaim the Sanctuary system as the heart and the capital of the Empire. And as my first act as the Emperor, I accept the Nuva system and all of its people into the Empire. The people of Nuva had chosen Lanai Sumia as their leader. If she accepts the Empire’s offer, then Nuva will no longer be just a colony. I will rename it to the Nuvan Clan, the first Clan of the Empire. Sumia will no longer be Lanai, but Clan Leader Sumia. The leader of the Nuvan Clan. From that point on, they will be free to expand and colonize new systems in the name of their Clan and the Empire. And to govern themselves in whatever manner they wish. As long as they follow the Codes of the Empire.”
“The Codes of the Empire?” Nadia asked softly.
“A Clan owes its loyalty to the Empire as a whole first, and the Clan second. A Clan cannot knowingly take any action that will result in harm coming to the Empire or its people. Each Clan is required to further the goals of the Empire, expansion and growth. The Empire as the whole is required to provide protection to all Clans.”
Tomas turned to Sumia, “Do you and your people accept my offer?” He asked.
Sumia stood up and then bowed, “The people of Nuva, and I as their elected leader accept your offer. We swear our loyalty to the Empire.”
“And I as the ruler of the Empire, promise to you and your Clan, that the Empire will always protect and serve your people.” Tomas said. He stood, and gave Sumia a bow of his own.
They sat back down, and Tomas looked to the rest of the room. “Things will be changing. I am taking all the responsibility of ruling the Empire on myself. But the way we govern our people will change, as we grow and colonize new worlds, they will become Clans. And then all the Clan Leaders will form the Council of Clans. They will be there to advise me in the rule of the Empire. But I won’t be making the mistake of letting the power of ruling seep to the council, they will be advisors in the matters of the Empire. Within their own Clans they will be free to do as they wish. As long as they obey the Codes. I have picked the most likely systems for colonization, and will allow people to petition the Empire for the right to colonize and create a Clan. But I will explain that more to the people in the future. As for you four,” Tomas said, addressing Nadia, Laura, Elias and Seo-yun. “You will remain as my personal advisers, and rulers of Sanctuary. I plan on it becoming the heart of the Empire.” He then looked over to the last person in the room. Doctor Asis Singh.
“As you all know, we are few in numbers. And with what happened to Earth, humanity is in trouble. If we don’t increase our population, and do it soon, we risk going extinct. And I will not let that happen. Doctor Singh, had been working with me for the past weeks. We had done projections, and devised a way to increase our population tremendously in a short time. But it will require strict laws.”
“What kind of laws?” Nadia asked, it looked like she had recovered a bit from Tomas’s proclamation.
“We need children, and we need to boost our population fast. To that extent we have decided that we will offer encouragements to have more children. Offering rewards and enticements for every child after the fourth. But also that every woman older than the age of eighteen, will be required to donate her eggs twice a year until her first child, and continuing after five years have passed since her last pregnancy. All men older than sixteen will be required to donate their seed twice a year, always. The eggs would be artificially inseminated, and placed into artificial wombs. The children would come to term in this manner. And after their birth cared for by special institutions, that would place them into small family groups with five other children. They would be cared for in group homes where they would go through their education, and after they reach sufficient age, allowed to choose their future.”
“And you think that our people will accept this?” Nadia asked.
“They will have to. There is at best ten million of us left in the universe. And their lives will not be affected at all. Their donations will be paired randomly and be anonymous. The process of having children brought to term in the artificial wombs has been practiced for a hundred years. It is perfectly safe, and the children are completely healthy. Doctor Asis Singh will oversee the project. And she can tell you how much of an increase in population we can expect. Doctor?”
Doctor Singh got to her feet, “According to our calculations, if we pass this law, within ten years we can expect our population to reach forty million, within twenty years double that, after twenty five years the rate of population increase will rise significantly. Thirty years from now our population would reach two hundred and thirty million. And hit a billion by the fiftieth year.”
Stunned the others looked at the doctor and then back at Tomas, “How long do you plan to keep this law active?” Elias asked.
“At least one hundred years, by then our population should hit one hundred and thirty billion.” Tomas said.
“But, that much of an increase. It can’t be right.” Nadia said.
“The real numbers would probably be a bit smaller, but not by much. It discounts natural deaths. We don’t age, if you take that into account the numbers make perfect sense.”
“What about the Nel?” Seo-yun asked glancing at Sumia.
“They will be exempt from the law. If your people manage to acquire agelessness for the Nel, then we will speak again.” Tomas said.
“Can we even sustain such a growth?” Nadia asked.
“With the help from Nuvan Clan, we can.” Tomas said. They grew silent then, thinking about everything that he had said.
“We will have more meetings in the next few days as we start changing our society. But for now I need you all to review the new laws, proposals and plans, that I have sent to your imps. We will go over them on our next meeting.” Tomas said and then turned to Sumia, “I have sent everything to your datapad, but we really should look into getting your people implants. Perhaps you can talk with Seo-yun about it.” With that Tomas dismissed them, all save for Elias. He motioned for Elias to follow, and led him to his library. He moved behind his big wooden desk and sat down in the comfortable chair. Elias stood in front of his desk. Tomas looked at him and Elias studied him in turn. Then the corner of Tomas’ mouth twitched, “You can say whatever it is you need to.”