Starcorp 1: Escape from Sol
Trouble in Purgatory

London, England is a vague resemblance of the city it once was one hundred years earlier. The historic buildings were mostly hidden behind dozens of skyscrapers that were built in the century before World War III. The towering edifices of glass and steel appeared to be the only buildings that were being methodically maintained. All the structures built before the twentieth century looked to be little more than patched up ruins. Streets that once catered to hundreds of thousands of automobiles daily were mostly quiet of vehicular traffic. In its place, massive numbers of people moved about on foot or bicycle. An electric vehicle would occasionally whirr through the midst of this mass of humanity. Each block was its own market with scantily put together kiosks situated along their sides. Goods of all type could be found peddled here.

At the end of World War III, the country known as Great Britain broke apart into seven fortress states, not counting the island of Ireland. The British Isles was made up of eleven States and more than two dozen independent islands. The megacity of London was in Thames, the State that encompassed the southeastern corner of the Island of Great Britain. In size, it consisted of one-fifth of the state that was formerly known as England.

A third of the state of Thames was comprised of the city of London. One of fifty-four megacities around the globe, metropolitan London had expanded to ten times the area it was a century earlier. Its population had grown fifty times greater over the same time. Better than half this growth was due to repercussions from World War III. The land area of the State encompassed the southeast quarter of the island nation that was once known as the United Kingdom. Better than eighty percent of the population was compressed into the city of London.

The current governing authority of Thames is Prime Minister James Hagerman. Despite his eighty-six years, Hagerman was a surprisingly agile man. Standing six-feet-five-inches in height, he was slender of build. Short thinning white hair covered his entire head. The sag in his facial features came closer to betraying his age than his physique did. His carriage and movements seemed more in place for a man half his years.

Hagerman had held claim to the title of Prime Minister of Thames for the past eleven years. This was through no accident. Competition for the position was fierce in every election he participated in. Despite these electorial battles, his victories were always by a sizeable margin. James Hagerman was a very popular politician with people of both sexes, all ages and races. His appeal extended far beyond the borders of Thames. His appeal even reached out into the solar system. His charisma and his grandfatherly demeanor earned him the love and trust of most moderate and passive voters. The populace that was militantly anti-starcorp voted against him in mass.

The relationship between Hagerman and the starcorps was a powerful one. Over the past ten years, the starcorps directed more aid to Thames through Hagerman than any other state on the planet. These gifts were a testament to the importance of Hagerman to the starcorps. His ability to sway large blocks of people to vote as he directed was a powerful utility. It was more valuable to the starcorps because of Hagerman’s passive stance with regards to them. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. Hagerman sold the agendas of the starcorps to the masses and they favored his ministry with aid and trade that he converted into jobs and votes.

The political landscape of Earth was divided between politicians that had taken one of two popular positions within a single argument. To win a seat in a political election, it was a given that they had to be either fiercely anti-starcorp or passively so. The passions of the people of Earth were so high on the subject that no politician could reasonably expect to win an election by sitting on the fence with regards to it, and they had less of a chance if they expressed support for the starcorps. The Earthers hatred of the starcorps dwarfed most other concerns and was near to the equal in importance as food, housing, and health care. These basic needs made the starcorps an aversion that they had to endure. Starcorps’ in vitro meat factories, farms, and access to an abundance of raw materials were resources that Earthers could ill afford to ignore.

Prime Minister Hagerman’s public position towards the starcorps was mildly hostile. He quietly echoed the discontent most Earthers had toward their ex co-inhabitants that abandoned the planet for the comforts of space. He chafed at the starcorps’ manipulation and meddling in the affairs of Earth. He railed against the starcorps’ practice of lording over them as if they were the authoritarians and Earth was their subordinate. But in private consultation with starcorp emissaries, Hagerman was a completely different person.

“Please have a seat,” Hagerman proffered to the professionally attired gentleman standing just inside of his study.

Neil Fitzgerald was not a handsome man. The features of his face were narrow, long, and angular. Despite this genetic disposition, he managed to exude an attractive appearance. Well-groomed and perfectly tailored, his stance was erect and proud. He was dressed in a gray suit with short, high, lapels and a tieless white shirt with a wing tipped collar. Ties were an affectation that was rarely used in this age.

“Thank you,” Fitzgerald acknowledged an instant before setting off for the sofa to his right.

Hagerman was already standing in front of the opposing sofa. A coffee table was situated between them. Fitzgerald sat his five-foot-eleven-inch frame down in the middle of the sofa. Hagerman did likewise. The two men were alone in the room. Fitzgerald’s personal assistant waited just outside the closed doors to the study. Hagerman’s Chief of Staff kept him company there.

“How’s the family?” Fitzgerald inquired with a pleasant demeanor.

“They’re fine,” Hagerman answered with a nod of approval for the query. “I would inquire about your family but spacers don’t have health problems, do they?” Hagerman added with a smile.

Fitzgerald gave him a half grin before responding while displaying an amused expression.

“They’re rare, but not unheard of.”

Fitzgerald was a BX01 lawyer that had spent the last ten years of his life serving as a delegate to the state of Thames on behalf of the starcorps. His association with Hagerman went back for the whole of this time.

“So, Neil, what can I do for you?” Hagerman questioned with a hint of exasperation.

Hagerman was, fairly, certain that Fitzgerald was there to discuss the Thames/BX01 investment treaty that he recently attempted to get ratified. Unbeknownst to the public, the agreement was authored by the starcorps. This fact was never disclosed but generally believed. The agreement encompassed the eleven states that made up the British Isles at this time. It required all eleven states to be signatories. The benefit for the eleven states was a large investment by the starcorps in their industrial development. For the starcorps, it meant an insignificant dip in their expenditure on Earth.

“Prime Minister, the League is interested in knowing when you will be making your next attempt to ratify our investment treaty.”

The League that Neil Fitzgerald spoke of was the BX01 Starcorp League Congress. It consisted of representatives from all member starcorps.

“And they would like to know what adjustments they can make to help get it passed,” Fitzgerald added behind his first statement.

“It’s dead,” Hagerman responded with finality in his tone. “There won’t be a second attempt.”

Fitzgerald was not surprised by this answer. The agreement was decisively defeated in the first attempt to ratify it. He understood enough about the politics on the British Isles to know that political support for it would likely be weaker the second time around, but his purpose there today was to sell the idea of another attempt to the one person that was indispensable to this effort.

“The Board is prepared to make major changes to the agreement if needed,” Fitzgerald countered without hesitation.

“I’m not going to do it,” Hagerman calmly responded. “The price is too high.”

“With some adjustments and a heavier push, we can get it through,” Fitzgerald asserted with confidence.

“There is no we in this,” Hagerman argued back with a stern expression. “I lost a lot of political capital in the first attempt. I can’t afford to try again.”

Fitzgerald understood what Hagerman was saying here. By trying to push through a largely unpopular investment treaty, he alienated a lot of voters he might need in the next election.

“James, we need this,” Fitzgerald emphasized by using the Prime Minister’s given name, “and so do you.”

Hagerman was quick to pick up the veiled threat in Fitzgerald’s remark. However, the tenor of his response did not do justice to the anger it engendered inside of him.

“Are you suggesting that the League will renege on their promise to me?”

Fitzgerald was reluctant to make that statement. He had no knowledge that that would be the case. Just the same, he wanted this thought inside Hagerman’s mind.

“This agreement is important to us,” Fitzgerald insisted in a soft voice.

Hagerman gave Fitzgerald a steady look for several seconds before asking the question that had just unfolded in his thoughts.

“Why is this agreement so important?” Hagerman questioned with a frown on his face. “Why now?”

Hagerman understood the monetary value of this agreement. He knew that it would lessen the amount of aid that the starcorps had to provide to Thames and the British Isles in general. He knew that in the long run it would be financially profitable to both sides. What he did not know was the reason behind the urgency that the starcorps were giving it. In his mind, this agreement, or one like it, was destined to happen at some point in the future. He saw no need to force it into effect sooner than it was ready to happen. This thinking seemed more valid to him when he factored in the minuscule affect this agreement would have on the overall financial health of the starcorps.

Fitzgerald took a noticeably deep breath as he studied Hagerman for several seconds. He knew that the answer to the question that Hagerman put to him was not a secret, but he was never given specific instructions to tell him. This conflict was a debate in his mind for about five seconds. At the end of this deliberation, he concluded that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“We see this agreement as the beginning of a reformation that will engulf the planet,” Fitzgerald began with an earnest expression. “We believe that if we can tie the eleven states of the British Isles together into a collective agreement with us then we can—induce a reconstruction of the British Government of old.”

“You’re talking about rebuilding industry and commerce clear across the British Isles,” Hagerman pondered out.

“Yes,” Fitzgerald acknowledged. “A decade from now we can see Great Britain as the most powerful state on the planet.”

“And the rest of the world will have to follow our lead to keep up,” Hagerman added on in a knowing tone of voice.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Fitzgerald agreed with a nod.

Hagerman thought about this for a moment and then he softly shook his head before speaking.

“It’s not going to work,” Hagerman began in a soft voice. “The political climate right now won’t let it happen.”

“It can happen,” Fitzgerald insisted, quickly. “The British Isles are the perfect starting point. You have history to bind you together. The social/political makeups of the eleven states are much the same. And the starcorps are prepared to make a massive investment in this project.”

“It will never pass,” Hagerman countered in a gruff voice. “The opposition against the starcorps holding the financial reins to the redevelopment of Earth is too great.”

“But you can push it through,” Fitzgerald argued back. “With the right leverage, the heads of the other ten states of the British Isles will follow your lead.”

“You don’t get it,” Hagerman countered emphatically. “Local politics doesn’t exist on Earth when it comes to the starcorps. Every deal we make with you is scrutinized and debated by political leaders all over the world, and this agreement has caused a firestorm of reactions. It’s never going to go through as long as Eckhart and politicians like him are telling everyone that the starcorps are trying to buy Earth.”

Fitzgerald took a moment to garner his self for the response he planned to give. At the end of this, he gave Hagerman a fierce stare and spoke.

“Prime Minister, we see ourselves moving toward an armed conflict with politicians like Eckhart at some point in the future. We must do something to change the political landscape on Earth, and we have to start now.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Hagerman responded after shaking his head with incredulity. “The Eckharts of the world are a century away from doing anything other than just talk.”

“Our best analysts are predicting thirty years at the most,” Fitzgerald softly countered.

Hagerman took a pause to give a shake of his head with a huff of laughter before responding with a look of incredulity.

“Your best analysts are paranoid.”

“Prime Minister, we need you to do this,” Fitzgerald quickly asserted with a severe expression.

Hagerman had become exasperated with this subject. From his perspective, he appeared to be talking to someone that was incompetent in regards to Earth politics. He saw the reformation of the British Isles into a single state as something that was bound to happen on its own, and that this would likely happen within the next fifty to one-hundred years, so long as the starcorps kept their distance. He knew that it was public opposition to the starcorps that killed the first attempt at the Thames/BX01 investment treaty. He feared a second attempt would crush his political career. He had little doubt that his staunchest allies would abandon him in favor of salvaging their own jobs.

Hagerman saw his political future as being tied to the hard realities of the people and politicians of Earth. In his mind and in the minds of most Earthers, Spacers were dreamers that gambled on pie in the sky causes. He had neither love nor hate for the people of the starcorps. In contrast to what a significant portion of Earthers believed, he understood that the starcorps’ secession from Earth’s authority was inspired by a sense of self-preservation and was not to a belief that they were the inherent leaders of humankind.

There was no doubt in Hagerman’s mind that there were some in the starcorps who believed they were the future of humankind and that these Spacers were also of the belief that Earthers should defer to the guidance of the starcorps. But he saw this as a fool’s folly and he found much amusement in the Spacers that thought like this. In Hagerman’s eyes, the starcorps was a temporary occurrence. He saw them as something to use to the Earth’s advantage, and there was no doubt in his mind that they would be reintegrated with Earth at some point in the future.

In Hagerman’s view of the future, Earth would one day return to industrial prominence. He saw the feudal states of Earth as a temporary condition, and he believed that they had to congeal into a collective government out of necessity. Hagerman had no doubt that when this happened, the starcorps would become obsolete. He was not the only politician to think this way. This was a common selling point for moderate politicians. They all believed that the unification of Earth and the development of their industrial potential would force the starcorps to join them or go bankrupt. For the ambitious, earthbound politicians and industrialists, the future of their planet was sparkling bright. In their eyes, only a fool gambled on the starcorps ahead of Earth.

“I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen,” Hagerman began with an inflection of finality in his tone. “It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of effort. And to even try would do more harm than good.”