Exodus:Empires at War by Doug Dandridge

Author:Doug Dandridge
Language: eng
Format: epub

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Chapter 13

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures. Earl Warren

The golden globe of the Go star shone down on the playing field. A gentle breeze stirred the pennants around the edge of the stadium as the pitcher wound up his arm. A swing forward and he launched the ball toward the tall, muscular man standing at home plate. The batter swung almost as soon as the pitcher released the ball. With perfect timing he struck the ball as it was on near approach to the plate. With a crack the ball rocketed into the air. The eyes of the fielding team followed it as it arched over two hundred meters, over the reach of the leaping outfielder and into the stands.

The crowd roared its approval as the batter, first baseman Nogio Natashi of the Capitulum Central Barracudas, ran lazily around the bases, waving. Five hundred thousand throats screamed in the sold out stadium, as the planetary champions went ahead of their hated rivals from the northern sector of the city. The batter reached home plate and stood for a second, his eyes looking at the Imperial Box and his hand raised in salute.

Emperor Augustine Ogden Lee Romanov I raised a thumb up at the batter. In his team shirt and hat he did not look like the Emperor of mankind. The box and his surrounding guards put that mark on him. He wished he could feel the breeze along with the rest of the crowd, but the transparent armor dome over the box cut him off from the environment.

“Wish you could give a thumbs down to the opposing team?” asked his guest for the afternoon’s game, Prime Minister Count Mejoris Jeraviki, sipping from his expensive wine. The Emperor picked up the beer that went more with the current festivities as he looked over at his political opponent. The Prime Minister was also in a Barracudas shirt and hat, just like the majority of the fans in the stadium.

I wish I could be like Caligula and throw the members of my Senate to their deaths, thought the Emperor, looking at the overweight man sitting beside him. Unfortunately I have to follow the ndes of law.

“Actually they gave a thumbs up when they wanted somebody dead, Prime Minister,” said the Emperor with a forced smile. “A thumb to the side meant life.”

“Interesting,” said the Prime Minister, giving one of his patented false smiles in return. “Where did you learn that piece of trivia?”

“Despotic Rule 101,” said the Emperor, looking back over the field where another batter was getting ready in the box. His eyes drifted above the outfield wall, to the upper deck of the stadium. The tall spires of the Imperial Cathedral shone under the sun. To their right was the clock tower of the House of Lords; a reminder of the power of the man who sat in the box of the most powerful man in the empire.

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