“I know, but in stalling us they are giving us time. If my people attacked with yours now, they would send those fleets whether they are ready or not. Time they take to dissuade the Empire from providing you with military aid is time that we can use to build more fleets that can help you against them,” Adrian said.
“The best course of action would be for us to attack now,” Anessa started. “Take back as much of our territory as possible and fortify it for that fleet. Unless they split it up, they will be forced to move through hyperspace, which will give us some more time than if they go through trans-space. If they do split them up, we will be able to ambush them, provided that we know where they are going. You should order your stealth ships to that system to monitor them.”
“If you plan on restarting the fighting, you should do so only after we have eyes on them and after my people speak with the Erasi government, because they will certainly speed up their preparations once they get word that you attacked them,” Adrian said. “I will send messages to Tarabat for our people to put more pressure on the Erasi government and tell them that you won’t wait for them to deliberate and that you will stop the hostilities only if they agree to serious talks. Perhaps we can get more information out of them, if nothing else. But once that fleet starts to move, you will have my ships.”
“That is acceptable,” Anessa said.
Two hours later, Anessa and Adrian were in their quarters with Sora and Akash lying down in a corner of the room that had been refurnished for them.
“You promised us aid against the Erasi; I can’t understand why you are hesitating now. We planned to attack once your fleets arrived,” Anessa said.
“Yes, but that was before we opened a diplomatic dialogue with them, and before we knew about those reinforcements. My six fleets will not make much difference,” Adrian said.
“You know that they are stalling you. They will never bow to your demands,” Anessa argued.
“I know, but they think that they are stalling us, when they are in fact giving us time. Time for your people to start using technologies that my people gave you.”
“It will take more time for all my Legions to be retrofitted with your ‘skim’ drives than what they will give us,” Anessa said, and then sat down on a Shara Daim-style backless sofa.
“You already have one Legion with the skim drives; others will be retrofitted, and even one of your Legions with skim ability is an asset,” Adrian said. “Your shipyards are constructing ships as fast they can, and our fabricators—once they arrive—will speed up your ship construction considerably.”
Anessa remained silent, thinking. Adrian could tell that there was something else bothering her.
“What is it?” Adrian asked.
She turned to look at him with her white eyes, her face expressionless. “My people don’t like it when you challenge me, argue with me. Especially when in the presence of other Dai Sha,” Anessa said.
Adrian nodded and knelt at her side. “I know. You are the ruler of Shara Daim, but I am the Lord Sentinel of the Empire. When you speak to me as Kar Daim of Shara Daim, I can only speak as the voice of the Emperor. I cannot answer you any other way.”
“I understand that, it is they who do not,” Anessa said, her expression turning grim. “I think that the Dai Sha’s fear of me is lessening,” she added. “Not all of them, but a few of the more powerful ones, the ones that were away when I killed the Elders and when you killed Farran. The stories that those present spoke are losing their effectiveness. There are even rumors that I bested Farran and gave the credit to you.”
Adrian remained quiet. He could see that she was not finished.
Finally she spoke again. “I was trained to lead a Legion, and I believed that one day I would guide the Shara Daim as a respected Elder. But now I have taken the power for myself, and I forced my people to follow me. I did not inherit the title that was respected and owed fealty—I created a new one. Many followed simply because we had the Erasi threatening our people, and I was strong. Now that we haven’t had anything more than a small skirmish with the Erasi in months, the other Dai Sha have had time to think, and as I am very aware now, not many of them liked me all that much. How does your Emperor keep his power?”
Adrian sighed. “Tomas is a very different ruler than you, and the people of the Empire are a very different people than the Shara Daim. Tomas has very little personal power; all his power comes from the people. Those of us from Earth followed him because he promised us something better than what Earth at the time was. Those who were born into the Empire follow him because his legend has grown; Tomas had saved the people of Earth, he gave us a new start. Now, all follow him because he has given us equality. He has made sure that all, no matter who they were, can become whoever they wish to be. All have had equal opportunities, equal access to knowledge, and equal life standard at the beginning.”
“How can they all be equal? Some must have more talent, some are smarter, others stronger than others,” Anessa said.
“You misunderstood. Of course not everyone is equal in ability; what they are equal at is opportunity. Basic needs of everyone are always met; you don’t need to work in order to have the basics of what is required for survival. Anyone can learn whatever he or she wants to learn, anyone can try to become whatever they want to become. There are no requirements for getting knowledge, but there are requirements necessary for getting a position. A person that is naturally more talented at something will pass those requirements much faster than someone who isn’t, and even if the less talented person fails to meet those requirements, they will have a second chance,” Adrian said.
“Does that not breed people who abuse your system, who fail constantly?” Anessa asked.
“Our people are raised to believe that their purpose in life is to seek to improve themselves and others in the Empire, through whatever path they decide on. But of course there are laws that prevent constant failing. If someone fails to meet requirements for their desired post twice, they will not be allowed to take those tests for a period of ten years, and for every next failure, another ten years are added to the wait time. In that time, they might decide to pursue other paths, or they might choose to survive on the bare minimum and prepare for the test. But we have the luxury of having that kind of system, as our people don’t age.”
“I still don’t understand how your Emperor keeps his power,” Anessa said.
“His way will not work for your people, not unless they change drastically. Tomas has power because people gave it to him willingly. The Empire’s founders trusted him to lead them because of many things, but the most important one was that they knew that he would never abuse their trust. That he would never work for personal gain. The generations that came after had inherited that trust from the older generations. He doesn’t really rule like you do, he delegates between the Clan Leaders, who in turn rule their smaller territories. Each Clan has a different set of laws and customs, without breaching the broader Codes of the Empire. But the title of Emperor has power. He can order anyone to do anything, and he keeps that power because people trust that when he gives an order, it is for the good of all,” Adrian said. “Tomas is a ruler that rules by the grace of his subjects; without the power they gave to him, he would have nothing. You need to decide what kind of a ruler you want to be. Will your people follow you if you appear weak? Will they accept your rule if you delegate it to others? How long will they follow you if they fear that you will kill anyone who doesn’t agree with your rule?”