Stars Rise

XCI. Novus and Claudia Make A Promise

Novus Fortunato had been invited to have a drink with Justin Marius in his department's downtown offices, located in Constellation's hovering north tower in Soliara. He strode into a link from the Invernali building's lobby and out of it into another much smaller party.

Portia Nero handed him a flute of sparkling wine that she had poured herself. Apparently the meeting was too clandestine for servers. Lucian Acario, Exequi Angelus Gloriam I, and Angelus Gloriam II raised their half-empty flutes to Novus in more of a salute than a cheers. Novus raised his glass in reply.

"Thank you all for coming," Marius said, and glasses were raised in his direction too, many of them close to empty. "Please, lower your glasses. Before we can celebrate, we should secure our victory." Marius gestured to Novus, to his slight surprise. A flap of his hand said to step forward. "Exequi Fortunato, let's make your commitment official, shall we?"

Marius commanded the audience with a woman on his left side, an excitable plump girl in a purple summer dress whom Novus didn't remember ever having seen before. Novus went to stand on his right, turned halfway around, feeling as if he were part of a display in a storefront.

"Thank you, Exequi Fortunato, and Exequi Solace, for supporting a movement that everyone in this room has been fighting for, many for a long, long time.

"Gaia Solin refused to listen to voices of her opposition, forgetting that her choices impact all Solari, not just those who agree with her. Unfortunately, speaking ill of the deceased, even on the night of her passing, cannot be avoided. Solin ignored our criticism, she ignored our dissent, she ignored the revolution forming steps from her office and seats down from her position at the board table, right under her nose. And today, to be honest, she lost as a result of her own short-sightedness.

"She is dead, and the revolution lives." Applause broke out from the hands of the attendees of the small gathering.

"Solin's surviving supporters would have you believe that what I want for Solaria is dangerous; it's just the opposite. Constellation's primary objective will be to improve safety and security in the Solari Empire. Safeguarding a dangerous force none of us understand, limiting who can toy with it, reversing negative side effects, reducing dangerous experimentation that could destroy all of existence. Magic won't hurt people or take lives, or create tragedy. Not any more.

"Furthermore, we aren't going to continue in this state of immortal misery, mourning the loss of those we love for eternity. Immortal life the way it was designed by Constellation was a horrific experiment gone wrong, the greatest proof that magic needs to be limited. And it will be." The speech was broken by another applause from his people, a dozen faces Novus recognized as fellow board members, a few dozen unfamiliar others blending into one another, blank faces in evening gowns and dinner jackets.

He wondered if they were all Constellation employees, or just Marius's personal friends. They liked his ideas.

Novus didn't; they sounded one step from what his father liked to rave every morning at breakfast over his newspaper. "Magic is dangerous. See, I told you so. Look at this. A research team of six wound up halfway across the planet, losing contact with the star dial, experimenting with linkless teleportation. They couldn't come back once they weren't connected to the star dial any more.

"They had no idea where they were going, it was sheer luck they ended up on dry land and not in the middle of the ocean. But it would have served them right had they drowned. Another team had to locate them, save them the walk back home — or rather the hike to a port at Zama City over the Presicus mountain range. It took the second team ninety-five hours to find them as they survived the four days foraging for food in the wilderness while at risk of winding up in the crossfires of rebel groups in the area wondering how in the stars six Solari citizens wound up in the middle of their jungle."