The Purge

Von

Sep 09, 2024

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“So, tell us,” Tomirosh said, picking up his cup, “How did your grandfather survive the purge?”

Illoia stared at him, wide eyed. No one had ever dreamed of asking that before, or even talk about that whole time period. But here was her husband, and a three time DO winner, and who knows what else, asking her about it, in public!

She glanced quickly around in a panic, and saw that the other leaders, and their wives, were looking at her askance. But when she looked back at Tom he was eating quietly, humming between bites.

“I… ummm… My grandfather was a Duke before the purge,” she began, very quietly. “Our planet was, and is, in charge of our entire sector. The, ummm, problems that other sectors had were much less in our sector. The issues with the, umm, the lower… I’m not sure how to say this,” she admitted.

“Feel free,” Tom said, waving his fork. “You are describing history. You may use historical words.”

“Yes, well, then, the problems with the lower classes were not as extant in our area, on our planet or even in our sector. My father had kept a bit of a lid on the other nobles. There was much less, ummm, bastardization and servility.

I don’t actually know what happened first that night. I was only four at the time. I remember waking up to shouting, my grandfather shouting, and I wandered out into the hallway, crying. But my nurse caught me and we stood, together, as all the lights of the house came on and everyone began moving.

I will tell you the story as best I understand it, making up parts as needed…

Call a meeting for all staff, my office, right away!” the Duke shouted, storming down the hall. This was a potential disaster. This was potential death, for all of them. This had to be handled right, and right away.

“Sir?” Father said, rushing into the meeting room, “What is it? What has happened?!”

“Death and destruction is what has happened, and what will happen, unless we act, now. I’ll fill you in with everyone. Get the communication net set up. I’m going to do an emergency broadcast in a few minutes.”

Father got the com techs working, and, by the time the last of the Duke’s aides had come into the room, the vid system was ready. “Gentlemen,” the Duke said, “I’ll be going on the air in a few minutes, to make some major policy announcements. You all just need to help me decide what those will be.”

“What has happened?”

“A purge. The Dictator has had his fill of the obfuscation of his orders, and has started a purge. We had a fast merchant come through a few minutes ago and I got tight beamed. The military has… well, they haven’t taken over, they’ve just started executing people, nobles. They’ve declared nobility ended, they’re cutting off their heads for all of the standard abuses… especially sexual.”

“Cutting off their heads?!” one aide spluttered, clutching his throat. All of the aides were minor nobility themselves.

“Not literally,” the Duke scoffed. If the lad hadn’t been his nephew… “They are beaming them down, in public, on video. Down to ash!!”

“What can we do?”

“Well, its obvious that the Dictator is displeased with the way we have been dragging our feet on his commands. We’re used to everything coming down in triplicate. He wants to just whisper in our ears and have us just jump to do it.

So I’m going to start with an announcement…” his voice trailed off as everyone had stopped looking at him and was looking at the doorway behind him. There stood a man, an officer, in military uniform, flanked by two other men, also in uniform, and very well armed and armored.

“No, no, don’t let me stop you,” the lad said. “Please, continue.”

His voice was soft, but the undertones were ominous. The Duke turned back, cleared his throat, and said, “I’m going to start with an announcement. We are going to resign our titles. We are going to announce our loyalty. And we’re going to do our absolute best to figure out what is required of us.

We all know what is wrong, or, at least, a lot of it. We know we were losing the war, and why. We know the Dictator turned all of that around. I like losing my title as little as the rest of you, but I don’t see any other choice. We dug this swamp pit, we need to drain it.”

The room grew silent and the eyes again turned to the officer at the door. “Very good,” he said. “My orders were… open ended… as far as the government of this planet was concerned, and I think you have started well. I have something for you that will help.”

So saying he handed the governor a paper. “These are the new Articles, the fundamental law of the Empire. Indeed in some ways it might be said they are the only law of the Empire. Obey these, I am told, and all shall be well.”

“I, well, I’ll read them,” the Duke said:

Article 1: The Jurisdiction of God shall be everywhere respected. His name shall not be taken in vain, nor His worship prohibited.

Article 2: The jurisdiction of the family shall be everywhere respected. It is the duty of every lad and lass to breed and bear children to the extent possible. The authority of the father of a family shall be sacred.

Article 3: The jurisdiction of the Dictator shall be everywhere respected.

Article 4: The chastity and morality of all of the citizens of the empire shall be everywhere respected.

Article 5: No more than 10% of anything may be taken in draft or taxes.

Article 6: Marriage shall consist of the sexual union of a lad and a lass. No other forms of sexual practice will be permitted.

Article 7: The value of each of the men of the Empire, outside of the military or direct servants of the Dictator, shall be held to be equal.

Article 8: All judicial proceedings shall be prompt and just.

Article 9: All political officers serve at the pleasure of the Dictator

Article 10: At all times the spirit, rather than the letter, of the law shall prevail in judicial proceedings.

“But… but what do they mean?” another of the aides said. “They are all so vague. How do we implement them. What laws do we pass?”

“I don’t know if even the Dictator knows that,” the lad said. “But I have this word of advice… try really, really hard. Give it your very best effort.”

The Duke turned back to the aides, “There, we have our marching orders. We can do this. The Dictator does not profit from chaos, but from order. We can take these articles, and make them work. They are a million times easier to understand than most of the laws that we pass. Now let’s get working on the details of my speech…”

“And my grandfather gave a great speech, or so I’m told. He resigned as Duke and was promptly appointed Governor, they eliminated a whole ton of laws, and announced the articles. He said that they would be working on how to implement them as fast as possible but, in the meantime, everyone was to remember what they were, teach them to their children, and ‘do their best’.”

“And as our planet did better than most other planets, there were very few executions.”

“But there were some?”

“Oh, yes. One of my uncles, for example. My father told me, later, that it was a good thing the dictator had executed him, or Grandpa would have had to do it. He didn’t tell me what he had done. Said it was disgusting.”

“Oh, and they took one of my brothers to the capital city.”

“A hostage?” Tom asked.

Illoia flushed, “We… we don’t call him that. We call him a foster.”

“Yes, a good term. Everyone knows what it means but it is milder than that other word. I knew your brother was there, actually, I’ve met him.”

“You met my brother?”

“Yes. Nice lad. We trained together in urban combat. Not something we do much, but, still, we need to know how to do it.”

“Oh…” Illoia said, her voice small.

“How… how did it happen?” Eudoria asked, leaning forward.

“I wasn’t there, and no one really told me but… but my father just got a quiet visit from the Ash and, a week or so later, my brother, my older brother, went away on an ‘exciting trip all the way to the capital’. I understood that there was no real animosity, no real feeling that my father might rebel, just a kind of careful action.”

“We were all kind of freaked out, but his twin took it the hardest. He kind of withdrew into his shell, and got all academic. He’s not bad at it, though, and my father has never pressed him. He’s married, to a very quiet lass, the daughter of an academic, and he works at the university in some laboratory.”

It had been years since she had seen her hostage brother. That was the part of the story she hadn’t told the others. Her father and the officer had had a quiet conversation and, a week later, the officer had left with a good two dozen lads from various noble families.

She took a drink and spared a glance at Marja, who had been very quiet the entire evening. Marja saw her looking and flushed. Whatever was the matter with her?

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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,

Von

Links

Article 17

Article 17 is a military science fiction story with aliens and romance. It is set in a future reminiscent of Napoleon era Britain. The war was going very poorly until the military installed a dictator. This story follows one of the dictator’s great men: Cladin Tomirosh, Leader, and thrice decorated hero.

Intro // Podcast Version

She was pretty, popular, snobby, and a planetary governor’s daughter. He was the son of shopkeepers, a social misfit, and a decorated hero. She thought she was there to dance. He had other ideas.

A Dance // Podcast Version

As a governor’s daughter, Illoia usually avoided such events, but when the captain made the announcement that there was to be an Article 17 dance, she, too, was forced to attend. If only the scum hadn’t been there too.