Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour by Mark E. Cooper Page B

exercises designed to test its potential, and having done so, it would go into full scale production with immediate effect. This decision by the Council was not unexpected and came on the heels of…”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s old news,” Kate muttered as she reassembled the pulser.
    That was one problem the Alliance had failed to solve. Member worlds were separated by vast distances, and news travelled slowly. The President had announced the Council’s decision to increase production months ago, yet here on Tigris it was being aired as if it were only yesterday.
    “President Sanderson…” the announcer was saying.
    Kate stopped what she was doing to listen to the report.
    “…failed to address the harvester’s concerns yesterday when he announced a further increase in export tariffs. The news has sent shockwaves through Tigris. Rioting on the streets in towns and cities all over the continent has caused much loss of life. The decreeing of martial law, and the suppression of the riots by Tigris armed forces has, thus far, been successful in calming the situation. The use of non-lethal force has proven effective in reducing the bloodshed, and with President Sanderson’s plea for restraint from both sides calming the situation still further, a return to normality is once again in sight.”
    Kate snorted. There was nothing normal about Tigris. Arriving at a border world was always like stepping back in time, but Tigris evoked it stronger than others she had visited. Admittedly, she never had time for tours when on a job, so her experience was limited to those areas surrounding her target, but rioting ? That would never have happened in the core.
    She turned her attention back to the pulser and listened only absently to the announcer’s voice.
    “…hospitalised during the outbreak of violence were reported to be off the critical list mere hours after the confrontation took place. Our earlier announcement of deaths among the rioters has now been confirmed, but the report stating figures reaching into the thousands has been proven erroneous. Med Admin stated an increase in admission figures on the order of a few hundred, with deaths confined to a few dozen only…”
    Kate frowned; the city could be under martial law for weeks. She couldn’t afford to have her movements curtailed. She relaxed slightly when she heard that most of the restrictions were being rescinded now that the actual fighting had ceased. President Sanderson had apparently retired to his mountain retreat where he was recovering from the stress of ordering the army to open fire on their own people.
    “Stress… rigggght ,” Kate drawled. She listened to the rest of the news broadcast, but there was nothing further about Sanderson. She finished assembling her new toy and reloaded it.
    Why wasn’t Tigris a member of the Alliance? All Human worlds had an open invitation to join, but as far as she knew, Tigris had never petitioned for entry. It might be a piss-pot world compared with some, but it had the potential to be much more. Already its produce was sought after, evidenced by the huge export industry it had. Was Sanderson holding the planet back for fear of its over exploitation, as some border worlds insisted would happen, or was it something more personal? A fear of competition perhaps, or worry over a light being shone into his term of office. Whatever the reason was, the people of Tigris had no one to speak for them on the Council. Whatever Sanderson wanted done was done. His word was law.
    “How long has he been in office?” she mused, and frowned when she realised that for all she knew, Sanderson could have a life presidency.
    The Alliance presidency used a term of five years. On every Alliance planet, a councillor was either elected or appointed by his world’s government to serve on the Council for three years. One councillor per world meant two hundred and thirty-four councillors—though Kate had heard Thurston had applied to join