End of an Empire

Sci-fi novel following four women/femmes who in their own ways destroy an empire; the novel explores the history of empiricism in a society that explicitly promotes inclusivity, while also conducting genocide.

Excerpts

Vegere

PS 985 - The Wall Pt I

Blisters formed on three of my fingers, while cuts streamed down my arms. Every day I have been here has been a test. Maybe it was because of the many things I did not have in common with them or I rarely complained of the physical pain I had. When everyone else slept, I bathed away the blood and soaked the wounds so that they could health properly. I used my own recipes from home to heal myself, mixing weeds from the edge of the base into a fine paste and rubbing it against the infected areas. We had weekly check ups of our injuries, we would stand in a single line, comparing our injuries. This was the most interaction I had with my compatriots.

I hissed as I picked at one of the bruises that was healing. Another advantage I found over my other comrades was my ability to health faster than them. The Medical visits became a non-essential for me but they were mandatory for all Privates.

“Private Vegere,” I looked to the side to find Lt. Brainie adroit at my door, “Medical check, why the hell aren’t you over there?”

“I apologize Lt. Brainie,” I ran past him towards the Medical tent. The base I was assigned to was one of two bases on my home planet, this one being the oldest and the other one currently under construction. Over 100 Privates, 3 Lts, 1 Head Lt and a Commander were stationed here. The Privates were mostly Empire descendants who came from the other colonies, same goes for the Lts up to the Commander. We were seen as entry level, we had 1 year to prove ourselves to be worthy for the Lt track then we could qualify to be the Head Lt who oversaw all operations, and finally the Commander who reported directly to the Empire. If you did not get to the Lt track in your first year, you had to wait until you were 20 to re-apply or they could re-assign you to administrative duty until a war broke out. This base in particular only elected 10 Privates to join the Lt class who would go on to serve either here if there was a spot open or on the other colonies.

When I first arrived on the base, I was surprised with its simplicity. There were 13 tents, 10 for the Privates, 1 for the Lts, and the others for the Head Lt and Commander. Sides of the tent were ironed down to the dirt ground but their loose material still created a frightening sound when it was windy. We had a mess hall where food was prepared and under that was where we held the weapons. The real eyesore of the base was the 3 story wall that I had to climb next month in order to prove that I could be on the Lt. track. It was made by long thin pieces of wood, where you could stick the tip of your finger into. If you fell off the wall, your back would break guaranteed yet you only had to climb it halfway to get into the track. Climb it all the way and you were guaranteed a spot. Stories circulated that only 1 other person had made it to the top, but they fell off and died instantly.

“Late again I see” Private Samuels spouted at me when I arrived at the Medical tent line.

“My tardiness is my own qualm, do not inherit it.” I retorted, looking to the ground as I wiped some of the sand off my pants. While the clay was red, it was usually covered by a thin sheet of yellow sand on the non agricultural parts of the planet. It became a common tick for everyone to wipe themselves every half past the hour. Although I had only been here half the year, my bravery had grown.

“When did you got those blisters?” He studied my hands from afar, his green eyes gawking at my hands. Only about an inch taller than me, so he did not have to look down far and could easily be caught staring at my chest.

“Yesterday, on the ropes course.”

“Really? They already look half healed. I gotta learn how you do it. Is it a Native thing like the red hair?”

I had not touched up my hair yet and I guess I did not notice the red peeking out. Or was he talking about the occasional burn I would get on the seam of my hair? I tried to cover my center roots by tying up my braids into a central knot. It was not until I entered the military did so many people ask me so many questions. The red scalp thing was common but so was the questions of why I wore so many clothing and if I slept with my father?

“Beat it Samuels, you already got a check-up this week,” Lt Tonks came up aside from us, shooing away Pvt Samuels. “How’re you doing?”

“Fine.”

“How’d you get the blisters?”

“Wall practice, I only have 6 months until the test. How was your wall practice?”

“Didn’t have it. I trained on IP, Ice Planet, got trained there then transferred here. Their challenge was a 5 mile run without clothes. Nearly froze my clit off, but now I'm here. Much better than going home to Shaker Heights to work at a diner for horny space pirates.”

“Sorry, Shaker Heights is a collection of asteroids. Empire kind of forgot about them except when it comes to taxes and assignments. Best jobs you can get there is robbery and forced sex work. I'm not cunning enough for either so now I’m here.” He continued, “There’s this movie that came out, before your time but it shows up every once in a while usually around World Colony Day. You know the day we are all supposed to unite, blah blah blah. Ever celebrated?”

I shrugged my shoulders, but it was my turn to go into the tent. Lt Tonks followed me in and stood on the other side of the privacy curtain. The nurse gave a once over to my hands, rolled her eyes then gave me a tube of cream. This was our usual routine. She spoke to everyone else with joviality then kept silent when I came.

“Stop picking at your blisters,” she scrawled on a piece of paper for me to give to her.

The moment she finished, Lt. Tonks said “The movie, It was about the forming of the colonies, used to love it as a kid but its problematic in today’s light. The Fire Planet part is pretty egregious. The only people they showed were prostitutes, pimped out by their dads, you could identify they were prostitutes by the red streak along their scalp. The Empire looked brave with the right intentions, but yeah it was my first time seeing a real live native and not just a poor Empire kid like me. That’s why I told you to dye your hair.”

“I got caught though, I have a red streak in my hair,” I displayed my scalp to Lt Tonks who gave it a once over.

‘Bullshit, that Samuels kid was just messing with you. Your scalp is fine. He’s probably the only Private who had to pay his way…” A gasp came from the distance. Everyone took out their vidscreen, staring at the central Empire channel. Tonks, whipped his out as well, pulling me over to him to watch it too.

“A special report from the central Empire today,” a woman with blonde hair and a crisp pink suit appeared on screen. I had seen her before when others watched the nightly report. “We can report exclusively that the son of the Head of the Empire, Prince Clofiel has defected from his post and we have the exclusive copy of his manifesto.

“I was born into the Empire, son of the Head of the Empire and next in line to rule. It has come to the attention of anyone paying attention in government that the sovereignty of the Empire is false and is only maintained through the proliferation of the religion of the Holy Spirit and resource siphoning by the Empire. The colonies are isolated, impoverished, stuck in a cycle of bigotry. I cannot do the work you need me to do so I must go into hiding. I have published this manifesto to warn you about…”

The screen cut off.

“Well shit, that was interesting while it happened.”

“What does this all mean?”

“Whelp, that means when the Head finally kicks the bucket, its election time. I dunno after that, but last time this happened there was a war.”

A few hours passed since the initial incident. During afternoon practice, everyone’s vidscreens were inspected, probably to see if they had the manifesto. Thankfully the sun was not as fierce since most of the time was spent on fight practice. Being near so many hard bodied people my age was exceedingly uncomfortable, feeling their sweat on my fists. The siren on the loudspeaker rang out, signaling dinner. Tonight was a soy loaf with a side of greens and white carbs. No one could name these substances, they were never seasoned enough but they sufficiently provided us nutrition in order to commit our bodies to hard labor every day.

I sat at a table alone before I was joined by three other Privates from my tent. We usually sat with the people from our sleeping tents. The conversations we had were mostly mundane, all the foods that we missed, the friends we once had, our parents. While I found their stories more interesting than my own, many of their questions would be directed towards me. What they were most shocked about was my lack of vidscreen technology and how I had to depend on the phone and regular land monitors to catch up on popular culture.

A bang came from the corner of the room. The Commander shot off his laser inside. The Commander was well into his elder ages, around the time of retirement. He wore a long white mustache that reached his chin, a stature that barely made the height requirement, always a sneer on his pale lips. On my first day, I heard the rumor that he was part of the Empire elite until he slept with a married person, banished to the Fire Planet.

“Well now you fuckers look at me.” He waved his thin arms up, no longer bulky with muscle like the rest of us. Every end of his sentence came a bit of intense spit that caught in the setting sun.

“Some of you are Privates, few will be Lts, some will come back to the cushiony lives of your wealthy parents, but you are here in the Military now. This may be a barren planet, but here you are representatives of the Empire. You have a duty to be objective, to protect us from our enemies. Sometimes, our enemies are each other! Today was shameful, you all carrying your little vidscreens around. From now on, keep that shit in your tent! And if I catch reading anything other than news from the Military, you will never be Lts.” He looked straight at my table. “Show me that you are more than just gossip mongers. Now get me the fuck down from here.”

Lt Tonks and Lt Brainie helped the Commander, voices started to rise again. While they cajoled about, I observed the Commander leaving the mess hall alongside Lt. Tonks. Once they went through the doors, I swept up my barely eaten food, dumped it then went outside to intercept them. This was my first chance meeting the Commander and I wanted to make an impression before he simply could just stare at me as an outsider.

“Wait!” I yelled as I got to the bottom of the staircase. The Commander and Lt. Tonks stopped, waiting for me to go around them with little breath left. I stopped, saluted with a circle over my heart.

“Commander, greetings, I wanted to introduce myself,” I spouted, still saluting.

“Put your hands down, Pvt Vegere,” Tonks signaled for me to hold my hands behind my back. Even I had a few inches over the old Commander. “Commander, this is Pvt Vegere, she is the native recruit.”

“Don’t have much experience with Natives, thought they were short and had red hair. I’m surprised you got in, but glad you’re here. We needed more of your kind. The Military needs to be inclusive.” The Commander said. “Now tell me, what does your father do for work?”

“My father is a farmer as well as my mother. My brother was assigned to Labor.”

“Very good, I had a good friend who was a farmer. So tell me, what’s your goal?”

I took a deep breathe. “I would like to climb the wall because I want to be Lt and then a Commander like you, the first Native to do that on FP. I want to set a good example for others so that all members of the Empire can defend it, sir.” Lt Tonks gave me a thumbs up.

“I like you. ” The Commander walked off on his own, Lt Tonks standing back with me in salute. Once out of sight, Lt. Tonks punched my shoulder. “You climb the wall, I will automatically promote you to Lt. How does that sound?”

Head Lt Tonks

PS 985 - The Wall Pt 2

A question has always pondered me since I reached the age of maturity: was death or hangovers worse? I was quite aware in my 25 years of existence that I had quite a few hangovers and only 2 brushes with death. The first brush was when I acted cowardly during a military drill on IP, falling through the ice when I was in the wrong position. My death had lasted less than a minute before revival but the blue of my fingers was taken more seriously than the current green of my pale face. Second time happened when a bullet passed through my chest during the battle of East Plain on Planet L. East Plain was a hilly place so I was among many who were tactically targeted by the locals of that place, now called Rebels of the Empire. These were both in my early days when I was less aware of the dangers of my position, before I replaced my foolishness with the drink. It is silly to reflect on my own indiscretions when I could easily just prevent others from repeating it.

Since I had been Lt for nigh 5 years there were now conversations around me about promotions, especially since I found and recruited Pvt Vegere. I had found the brownie point they could use to appeal to the FP Natives, who had been the most reticent of the Colony natives to join the Empire, to follow its rules. The problem had always been they did not meet the strict new height as well as the testing requirements. As the Commander once said: “These Natives, they were not meant to reach the sun, they were meant to harvest the dirt. You know, the Clay they produce is sent all over the galaxy. They used to be artisan but that profession fell off when they took up arms rather than pottery. It was quite a shame what we had to do. The Empire has a long reach and to not even colonize its own moon until now? That would be uncalled for but they also need to evolve to our standards.”

The Commander was a prejudiced old man, so beholden to the Empire that he would launch all the Pvts into the Outer Reaches if it meant he could kiss the feet of the Military Minister. I never had those same sort of sentiments, I'm very plain with what I need. Thank god I was tall enough to join or else I’d fall under the heading of Labor probably, the fate of both of my parents. Stuck on Shaker Heights, probably robbing just to feel something. We didn’t talk much, my parents or I. I did not own a civilian phone, they did not own vidscreens. I was only forced to go home once a year for Colony Day, last year they had decided to take a vacation instead so I had to break into the house and eat at the diner for every meal.

My vid screen ran for 6 in the morning, its green light and vibrating music exacerbating my already woeful head ache. It had been 3 days since the attempt on Lady Hope’s life. Damn, I was proud of Vegere but also I had recruited Pvt. Samuels. Fuck, what was that kid thinking? Doing it in the open? Why the fuck did he do it? He was being commuted to the Peace Command Center now for interrogation and probably he’s going to be stuck on the Water Planet for the rest of his life. Maybe he’ll get to leave when he’s dead? I doubt it since she is the Ministers daughter, as well as a potential candidate to the Head of the Empire. I was no fool, this must have happened before in some capacity but the Military is very good at burying things.

It beeped again, taunting my need to be allowed to sleep more. I heard Privates shuffling outside during the morning sun. Some of these little assholes woke up way too damn early for teenagers. They are technically not supposed to leave their tent without a commanding officer allowing it. Everyone knew that was complete slipshod and it happened constantly. Hey, if I was younger I would be joining them in their late night outdoor drinking festivities, but I was more of a fermented at the bar sort of guy. That’s where I first saw Vegere. She was out with her mother at some crappy secondhand shop. She towered over everyone there, looking around, so aware of her physical form. When they left I asked the shopkeeper their names, but they did not know so I had to hunt down their farm. Once I found that, it was easy to find her school records in the database.

Ugh, they were all running now. Why the hell are they running so early in the morning?

“Lt Tonks! Get your ass out!” It was Lt. Brainie at my door, what a wonderful visit. I looked around and apparently there was no fire, just clothes. I arose with my blanket wrapped around me. I had already been yelled at by the Commander this week for the way I dress in my own home, so if Brainie says one word I'm going to wring his little neck. He has been especially pouty lately. Probably because it was a Pvt and not her own brother that saved Lady Hope’s life. What a bastard, I hated working with him but he was dumb as a brick and as mature as a puddle so I was stuck with him.

“Good morning, you look well,” I muttered out, rubbing my face while my other hand held onto dear life around the blanket. “What’s up?”

“Pvt Vegere just woke the Commander. She wants to climb the wall. He’s going to allow it.”

“Spirit, she isn’t ready.” I slammed the door in Brainie’s face which he too offense to then opened the door himself.

“Spirit, Lt., put on some damn clothes,” He covered his eyes. “Why must you sleep in the nude?”

“Because I fucking feel like it. You’ve seen me nude five billion times. Just wait till I get my bottom surgery, wink” I put on my clothes and I zipped up my boots, signaling Lt Brainie to come with me outside. There was already a crowd forming, looking up to the wall. I pushed through along with Brainie. Pvt Vegere was at at the wall, not yet climbing it. She was standing in front of him, climbing gloves on with the minimal amount of uniform allowed. Her feet were exposed on the hot sand, white tank top, black slim pants. In this state of dress, I noticed how much muscle she had put on form the curvy person who came to the camp. She was still criticized for the shape of her hips but those could be sculpted over time. Her hair was twisted into a bun, the sun was already beating down.

“Well it was my surprise that this young lady decided to come to my door.” The Commander pointed out. “I had barely finished my breakfast when she all but demanded to climb the wall. I thought she wouldn’t be up to it for quite awhile. But here she is. Young lady, I hope you do not fail, shit I will even award her with a pretty girl.”

The Commander walked away to sit in his viewing chair that was just a mess hall chair that we brought outside. Vegere took the last few minutes she had left to stretch out her body. She only had 5 minutes left until she had to go on the wall as per the rules. It was 6:25 now and she needed to reach at least the midpoint by 10am when Pvt training began. She kept on looking at the top though.

“I am going to climb to the top,” She bluntly said.

“Why would you want to do that?!” I whispered.

“The Commander, he thinks I will fail. I will exceed everyone else.”

“The last person who did that fucking died. The spotter even looks away for a second and you could fall to your death. You have 6 more months…”

“No I don't, I overheard Lt Brainie. He wants me gone. I will find a way to stay.” She rose from her sitting position, signaling the 2 spotters to come to her aid. I had never before felt fear for another person. A blaster went off behind us, the Commander signaling for her to begin.

She started off fast, for the first 30 minutes. That was when the Commander shooed us all away and traded out spotters so that we can get to breakfast and stretching. This was at 7am, by 9am she was halfway up already. The Privates took notice and started cheering for her. The Commander repeatedly called for her to come down but she kept on going. Her pace did not cease. I could see the flecks of blood that were now on the wall from either her feet or her hands, who knows. We all were now staring, some taking videos with their vidscreens. I was worrying, her pace was beginning to diminish 3/4 of the way up. She stopped for a second, looking around, her hands and feet parallel, shaking, her back heaving in and out.

“Vegere, you can do it!” I called out. She stood still for 5 more minutes before she reached the top at 10am. Her body rolled on to the top of the slim wall. Cheers roared out, sounds of resounding disbelief in the feet that she just pulled. Holy shit, even I was amazed by this, I could even feel a tear. “Alright, now get the net on either side and the lifter to get her off of there…”

They were too late.