“My father is dead, and I must become your new King far sooner than I had hoped. The Archfather has counseled me through this difficult time, giving me the blessings of Unison, and now I am ready. I promise you I will never serve with less than my utmost ability … if you will promise to do the same for all of humanity.”

The crowd cheered, and Basil nodded to himself. These times call for a strong and decisive leader. And a likable one wouldn’t hurt, either.

The coronation date was already scheduled, as was the funeral of Old King Frederick. Such spectacles would distract the people from their fear of further hydrogue strikes. The deep-core aliens could return at any time.

“As my first duty to you,” Peter continued, his strong voice echoing across the torch-lit plaza, “I must issue orders to General Kurt Lanyan, the leader of our Earth Defense Forces. The hydrogues have committed an unforgivable aggressive act, not only by assassinating my father and your King, but by threatening to cripple the Terran Hanseatic League. We cannot tolerate this!” He raised a fist and the people roared their approval. “We must stand up to our enemies. They are gravely mistaken if they think the human race will cower from an unwarranted threat. They cannot deny us the stardrive fuel our civilization requires!”

Basil was astounded to hear the shouts and cheers of absolute conviction. Prince Peter had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

“Therefore, I command the launch of a full-scale military assault using our newly upgraded battleships. Hansa cloud harvesters will proceed under full EDF escort and take all the ekti we need! Our first target will be Jupiter, right here in our home system. The hydrogues have no right to deny us our own resources.”

Basil smiled. The population, though grief-stricken, was enthusiastic, and apparently willing to sacrifice anything.

“In the face of hydrogue posturing and threats, all of humanity must remain brave. We have never intended these aliens any harm—but harm is certainly what they will find if they interfere with us in any way.” Peter raised his voice, hurling his words into the tidal wave of the crowd’s response. “I command that the ships be launched immediately!”

Basil sat back in his alcove, pleased at how well the speech had turned out. Peter had changed a few words to make his mark, probably a petty gesture to resist where he could. This Prince was perhaps just a bit too much his own man still, but that could be taken care of. Basil would knuckle him under by the time of the coronation.

107: TASIA TAMBLYN

107TASIA TAMBLYN