S. Andrew Swann - Hostile Takeover 03 by Revolutionary

Author:Revolutionary
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-12-03T22:55:26+00:00

“Are you all right, Mr. Magnus?” came Zanzibar’s voice.

Dom realized his eyes were shut, and he forced them open to see all of them staring at him. He nodded at Zanzibar. “Y-yes. We’ve all been through a lot.”

“We can do this later,” Shane said.

“No,” Dom said. “Timing is all we have left—and it might already be too late.” Dom struggled to recapture his thoughts. “We’ve seen evidence of critical political tensions in the Confederacy. No arm of the Confederacy would even propose the invasion of a nonmember planet if it weren’t under considerable stress.”

Dom straightened and opened his right hand, releasing the table. “Proudhon’s war of conquest is at the behest of the TEC, but behind that are two arms of the Confederacy: the Sirius Community and the Centauri Alliance. For a while it seemed that might be all there was to it. SEEC and Centauri wanted a State on Bakunin to levy taxes, raise tariffs, and otherwise plug up the economic hole in their back door.

“That is not all there is to it. Sometime during the last nine days a fleet of ships from the Indi Protectorate tached into our system to face off against the SEEC ships already here. I have little doubt that if one ship, from either side, moves to intervene groundside, it would start an interstellar war.”

Ivor spoke up. “Gavadi told us to ask Indi to intervene.”

“He wanted the resistance to ask for assistance,” Dom said. “Gavadi asked for a de facto State to officially request Indi’s intervention. If they’re asked, they can justifiably lay waste not only to the Proudhon army, but to the SEEC fleet up there. They have the firepower to do so. But that isn’t in our interest.”

It was the non-Bakuninite, Shane, who asked, “Why not?”

“It would simply be a trade, one arm of the Confederacy for another. If we accept Indi assistance, Confed law will treat the Indi army as a native force. Indi would become the ruler that Proudhon and my brother are trying to force upon us. If we survived the subsequent war between Indi and the SEEC.”

Shane still looked confused. “Why—”

“Why the schism?” Dom asked.

Shane nodded.

“Economics is a rationalization. The reality is more fundamental. If economics were all, the SEEC, the Alliance, Indi, anyone could invade Bakunin and impose a State. There is no reason to follow Confederacy law here—it doesn’t apply.”

“But the Confederacy would never recognize such a State,” Shane said.

“Exactly,” Dom said. Shane looked at Dom, not understanding his point. “Money recognizes few laws. It wouldn’t matter if the State imposed on Bakunin were extralegal by the Confederacy’s definition. It’s not part of the Confederacy. Any State, invalid or not, would achieve the economic goals.”

Zanzibar began to look a little disturbed, as if the premise frightened her and she expected the orbiting fleet to land right now. “What’s the point, then? The mercenary army, all this posturing?”

“It’s not posturing,” Dom said. “The ‘validity’ of the State imposed on Bakunin is of pivotal importance. You see, they want us to join the Charter.

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