What is to Become of Us? - Part I

12th March

Fort-Lieher Offices, Artemis, Freehold Territory

"Firstly, all people whose bones are deficient for Terran gravity, or who are born on the moon, will automatically gain citizenship. Others who plan to stay on the moon long-term, will be able to apply for citizenship in the near future..."

God damnit, Frank Scuderi.

"Secondly, the Freehold of Artemis guarantees the human rights of all those living within its' borders. All citizens and residents of the Freehold are guaranteed air, water, shelter, food, freedom of though..."

Shut up, Scuderi.

"Thirdly, all citizens and residents of the Freehold of Artemis are guaranteed a fair trial by law, and are expected in return to follow the rule of law..."

I punch my desk in frustration. Frank Scuderi played us all. Surely the others didn't agree to this. This is not beneficial to the transnationals. It seems no one, even the other people on the stage, knew Frank Scuderi was going to be speaking, until he was already at the podium. And what a speech it was. In five minutes, he's managed to declare the independence of the moon, and get the people on his side. A clear show that he believes he doesn't need the tigers anymore. The fool. Betraying even one of the five tigers is the biggest mistake you can make on the moon, and Frank has betrayed all five. He's done for. He probably thinks he's won already, but he'll be dead before the end of the day.

I call up Hue-Song Jun. Huesong has eyes and blades everywhere. It's entirely possible that Ms Hue-Song is already ordering Frank Scuderi's death. My call goes through without being picked up. I can imagine that Ms Hue-Song might be busy, but her receptionist wouldn't ignore my call. She can't have sided with Scuderi, can she? It isn't like she ever said she would go against him, but there isn't any benefit to siding with him. Maybe for the smaller transnationals like Ingprad and Medano, who's lunar revenue makes up the majority of their total, but for Huesong and Fort-Lieher, it makes no sense to side with Scuderi.

I try her again, but my call once again isn't picked up. That settles it. She must be ignoring me. But what could he possibly have promised Ms Hue-Song to convince her to join his side? It just dosen't make sense to me. That's fine. I know that Mr Jianmin is also opposed to Scuderi's plan, and together we should still be able to challenge him, even without Ms Hue-Song. If Ms Hue-Song stands against us, I'll just have to factor that in. Together, myself and Mr Jianmin probably can't win, but if we can disrupt Scuderi's plans for long enough, help will come from the Earth.

I dial Mr Jianmin's office. There's no response. No, this can't be right. There's no way Mr Jianmin sided with Scuderi. Jianyang takes its' orders directly from the Chinese government. There's no way that Scuderi managed to convince them to support him. It has always been clear for a long time that China was opposed to DELOS, and envied the position of power that Singapore had on the moon. Chinese is the second-largest nationality on the moon, precisely because their government didn't want any other powerful nation to have a dominating presence on the moon. So, I know that Mr Jianmin is not ignoring my calls because he's not on my side, there must be some other reason.

Think, think, think. What reason could there be? Why would Mr Jianmin be unable to take my call right now? No, it's more than just that. If even his receptionist didn't answer, which means something is happening at the Jianyang offices right now. Of course! Frank Scuderi must also know that Mr Jianmin would never side with him, and would probably be a centre of opposition to his plans on the moon, wouldn't he? And so, he's getting rid of him before it becomes a problem. His speech, the rally, the declaration of independence... all of it is just a ruse, just grandstanding, to distract as he removes his political opponents. I press my face against the window, and look up the valley towards the Jianyang offices, but I can't see them from here. That would be something Scuderi would do though, wouldn't it? Silence his opponents before their even a threat? It seems likely to me. I reach for my phone once more, to call my head of security.

"Sir, what can I do for you?"

"I need as many men as possible ready in the lobby in ten minutes' time."

"Yes sir, but what for?"

"We're needed at the Jianyang offices."

"Sir, with these crowds, it'll be impo-"

"Shut up, god damnit!" I yell into my phone, "be ready in ten minutes!"

I throw my phone on the ground, and swear once again, as it shatters all over the floor. Whatever, I'll just get another one out of my desk. I should calm down, and think through this again. Everything is serious now, one wrong move, and I'm probably dead. Frank Scuderi just declared the creation of a nation on the moon. No nation on Earth will accept this, that's for certain. It's possible that there will be a few who attempt to take advantage of the situation that Scuderi can ally with, but the vast majority will refuse to recognise this state. If I can save Mr Jianmin, and have the support of the resources of Jianyang at my disposal, I'll have the ability to mount a resistance against Scuderi here on the moon, long enough for reinforcements to arrive from Earth. As such, this is the best move I can make right now. I don't want to do it, but I have to if I want to stop Scuderi. If Mr Jianmin is really being attacked by Frank Scuderi's supporters, perhaps it might even make the others think twice before they continue to support Scuderi. But first, I need to save Mr Jianmin, and get Jianyang onside.

As I'm on my way down the stairs towards the lobby, I run into Dora Qemali. I forgot that she was still here, to be honest. She should've just gone back to Iowa already, the stupid woman. Better then, go all the way back to Earth.

"Mr Fort, I need to talk to you."

"Dora, I've got some urgent business to attend to right now. I'm sure whatever it is can wait."

"I've been given a message to relay to you from the President."

"From William? Why wouldn't he message me himself?"

"He believes that his messages to you are being watched," she explains.

Well, that makes sense. It seems likely that our messages are being watched. Probably by more than one party. I guess this must be really important then. He'll probably be telling me what he wants to do in regard to Scuderi's announcement. It's already too late, however. I've made my decision, and if he's unhappy with my choice, it's his own fault for taking so long with a decision. I was forced to make the decision, because he took too long with his. Me and my security forces will announce to the world through action that we're opposed to Scuderi's plans, and if William doesn't like it, then he'll just have to sit through it. And then when I win, my path will be clear to take the Presidency from him.

"Fine, try to make it quick."

"Yes, Mr Fort."