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Prologue

Prime Minister Frederick Wallace sat at his Martian Oak desk, going over a new set of 'issues' that required his attention. They were no more than requests and pleas for him to do something, the things that were expected of him to keep the plebs happy. Someone wanted to increase the number of schools in the north districts of New London. It was pointless to build more schools, as far as the Prime Minister was concerned, there were enough. Just last year he had attended the opening of three, two of which were named after him. He didn't understand why they always wanted new schools. If he went ahead and got the funding, he would have to cut some programs to get the money. That wasn't good. What did they expect him to do? Shit bricks of gold to just throw at them? Only if he could just beam of these people in the head with it.

With a chuckle at the thought hitting a begging petitioner in the head, he dutifully rejected the request with a single tap of his finger on the small data pad he carried around everywhere. There were enough schools and too many children. The underclass bred like animals, as far as he knew, most of them were animals. The filthy Canis that continued to fill the daily reports. Poverty, crime, famine, all of them, they all concerned Canis Sapiens. It was one issue that he nor his predecessors were ever able to get rid of.

Twenty years ago, Prime Minster Jordan Finch tried to simply kill them off, but that just led to his assassination at a military rally. Damn dogs were everywhere and although they were considered the lowest of the low, if you pissed them off enough, they would get you somehow. Some terrorists had planted a Canis among the kitchen staff at the rally and he poisoned a glass of wine which went straight down Finch's gullet. Man died in the middle of his speech and shit his pants with his last dying breath. What a way to go, right in front of the troops.

The dog was caught eventually and executed promptly in public of course, but now everyone who got near someone of importance was human. Couldn't trust a dog to do anything nowadays. Let them stay in the slums where they couldn't get him. They didn't do much there any ways, and yet somehow petitioners continued to fill his priority message box with relief requests. Not enough this or that, they whined. It would drive him insane before the next election. He just wished that there would be a way to deal with them without starting some bloody revolution, which was not a good PR move. For now though, he would leave them alone, like he always did, that seemed to satisfy enough people. Let the petitioners whine, it's all their good at.

Prime Minister Wallace finished going through all of the petitions and requests, he didn't read half of them anymore. He only needed to look like he cared while he rejected every last one. That was politics, just look like you care and the gullible voting population would melt in your hands. Though to be truthful, there was no reason to do this anyways. All of the right people in the right places were in the pocket of his party. The last twelve Prime Ministers had been form his party, The Sol Dominion. He only tried to keep the people happy so he wouldn't have to deal with rioting. They were so loud at times that it kept him awake.

The Sol Dominion had been a major party ever since the colony fiasco some one hundred years ago. Ever since the AI War, mankind has always been afraid of another alien incursion. It was this fear that gave the party power, it was easy to play off of the fear. When some 'random' accident caused the colony ships which carried nearly two million people in cryogenic suspension to jump to the wrong place, the population panicked. Unknown to all but a few, including Prime Minister Wallace, the 'accident' was a set up. Just put some money in a man's pocket to plug in a random set of coordinates pulled straight from the few AI navigation computers and hit the big red button and bam, you got yourself a tragedy to milk. In a way it was, two million simply gone, sent somewhere. The man who was paid off didn't even remember what the coordinates were. They were lost forever, but it was for the betterment of the party.

Like expected the people flocked to the loudest and most inspiring voices. Voices that blamed the Canis for all of our troubles. They had a strong hold in the government a small scandal that had been setup to be revealed at the most opportune moment allowed them to become a scapegoat. Scapegoats, they are truly great, it makes the people mad and diverts their attention away from the real action. Certain Canis and people in the government who held more morale beliefs were promptly and less than quietly removed to create the illusion of a coup. The Dominion led the charge in what was called a crusade to rid the government of the corrupt who led us astray and let the colonists disappear. People were so gullible.

The door to the Prime Minister's office opened up and a large man in a dark green military uniform stepped in. His chest was covered in ribbons

Speaking of gullible.

It was General Jason Corrin, the head of the Defense Department. He had been away for several months on one of his 'preemptive strikes' against the alien threat as he would call it at times. The man was a radical xenophobe who not only feared aliens, but wanted to kill anything not of Earth. He would go off with his fleet of ships and jump to whatever star that took his fancy the previous night in search of an alien threat to eliminate before they could come to us. He was a lune to the Prime Minister, but easy to control which was why he kept him around.

Prime Minister Wallace put on a wide fake smile and stood up from his chair, more to stretch his legs than to actually show any sign of respect. "My good friend." He hollered to the man. "How was your latest expedition to the stars?" He walked around the desk and graciously shook the General's hand after letting him take off his hat. He had done this so many times now that his acting was now second nature.

"Another empty system sir." General Corrin bowed his head in defeat. He genuinely felt defeated every time he went off in a full sense of bravado with his fleet at his back only to find a sun with shit brown rocks floating around them. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Prime Minister Wallace exclaimed and patted the man on the back. "Space is large and it takes time to see all of it. Now sit and tell me about it." He gestured back towards his desk and the plush seats that sat in front of it.

They sat down with the Prime Minister at his own chair and the General sat down directly across from him and put his hat on his lap and rested his hands on it. The desk created a large gap between them that was designed to make any guests have to speak up to be heard. The Prime Minister had a small voice enhancement chip in the collar of his shirt that made sure he was always heard in his own office. It was all part of the political game.

"Now tell me, what was in this new system you went to?" The Prime Minister asked and poured two cups of Venusian Whiskey. It was extremely expensive alcohol that was only made once every decade in small amounts using barrels treated in the harsh atmosphere of Venus. He quite like the unique bitterness it had and made sure to always have a bottle to woo guests with. He offered the glass to the General who took it, but didn't drink it.

"Just rocks and a few gas giants, no signs of any kind of life." Just like every other time, he silently added.

The Prime Minister swirled the amber colored liquid around in the glass as he contemplated if he should continue to support General Corrin's little trips. The people liked to see the military going out and doing this kind of stuff. That was why he initially gave the go ahead, but after some time the more intelligent types began to see each failure. The General was already the butt of many jokes in the government and it wouldn't be long before the bad vibes rubbed off on him. Then again, if he were to find something... The AI navigation computers had lots of coordinates in them, but were kept secret in fear of accidently running into something like more aliens or worse, the colony. But what were the chances? There were hundreds of coordinates on that list. Each one would have planets that would contain the remnants of a civilization that the AI's had destroyed, it would be great for his PR. Yes, the chance of something unexpected happening was small.

"...Scans did indicate some ores that could be useful in the production of more ships. Perhaps we could send out a mining team to start drilling." The Prime Minister began to listen to the General again. Even though he had been off with the fairies for the entire conversation, he kept eye contact and a small polite smile.

"Of course. More ships is always good." The Prime Minister expertly pulled the important sounding information from the last few sentences to create the illusion that he cared or was listening. "But before we do that." He added. "I want you to go out one more time. Some people in my department have an interest in this one particular star system." He lied to the man without the slightest hint showing on his face.

"Another one?" General Corrin asked, growing weary at the thought of going out again after just getting back. This was literally the first place he came to after his three month journey. His home and wife was to be the next stop on his list.

"Yes." The Prime Minister nodded his head and took a sip of his drink. He savored the bitterness that reminded him of dark chocolate. "I have been told that there have been interesting readings from this particular system. I want you to investigate as soon as possible."

General Corrin thought about it. The Prime Minister seemed oddly excited about this, it could really be the break that he needed. He had no reason to doubt the man, he was the only one among the higher chain of command who had continued to support him despite his failures. Most of the time he would just pick out a star at random, if the man had actually coordinates then the chance of success must be higher. He would finally have a chance to get back at the nay-sayers who mocked him behind his back. He wasn't deaf, he knew they made fun of him like school children. This would be his break, but family first. "I would love to out one more time for you sir." General Corrin confidently replied to the man whose smile widened greatly.

"Wonderful." The Prime Minister roared and stood up, nearly spilling his drink. He leaned slightly over the desk and held up the nearly empty cup.

Catching on, the General stood up as well and made the motion to clink their glasses, but stopped just shy. "If you don't mind, I'll like to spend some time with the wife first. It has been a good long while since I had seen her." He requested, his hand shook slightly, concerned that he was asking too much.

"Of course." The Prime Minister said softly, the audio enhancer kicking in so that he was heard clearly. "I was too hasty. Go home and be with you family and when you are done, I will provided you with the new coordinates." He didn't mind the wait that much. The next election wasn't for another year and he was a patient man when he needed to be. Plus, he would only gain disrespect by denying the man time home. Let the man have some time for himself, he was after all, going to be famous and guarantee a reelection.

"Thank you sir." General Corrin moved the glass the few centimeters forward necessary to finish the toast.

"No, thank you." The Prime Minister drank the last half finger of his drink, planning out how to present the news of the discovery of a new alien civilization to the people. The doubts of failure crept up into his mind, but he quickly suppressed them. There were hundreds of coordinates. He told himself again. What were the chances?