Galactic Axia Adventure 1: Escape to Destiny by Jim Laughter Read Free Book Online
Authors: Jim Laughter
why I didn’t care for the subject. Too much bloodshed and oppression.”
“And those troopers you met today, did they oppress you?”
“No,” Delmar admitted. “But they sure know how to play a practical joke!” he added with a grin.
Robert smiled but didn’t answer. After a short silence, Delmar spoke up again.
“So who runs the Axia anyway? If it’s a trust like you say.”
“The empress or emperor, whichever the case may be, is ruler by bloodline,” Robert explained. “Assisting her is the Council of Nine. They act as advisors and can temporarily rule in case the ruler is incapacitated. Beyond that are the usual government agencies and the service, which is made up of troopers and Ladies of the Fleet.”
“But if the troopers are so loyal, what keeps the empress from using them to subjugate other planets like ours?”
“Like I said, the troopers are loyal to the ideal of the throne. But more accurately, they’re loyal to the trust that throne represents. It’s a system that counterbalances the different powers in the Axia. If a ruler gets out of line, the troopers can speak back. It’s foundational in our constitution. Above all this are the citizens of the Axia. This is a commonwealth of choice, not conquest.”
“And the troopers are like the glue helping bind it together?” Delmar asked.
“Exactly!” Robert exclaimed. “The Axia is so big and has such a long history to guide it that it would be difficult in the extreme for any one person, even the empress, to try to change it into something other than what it is. If you please, what we have here is the result of social evolution over the thousands of years the Axia has existed.”
The flitter grew quiet again while Delmar pondered these things. “Can we study more about it?” Delmar asked after a long silence.
“Sure we can.”
“Good, because I want to be sure of this for myself,” Delmar stated.
Inwardly, Robert smiled. The door is open, he thought as he swung the flitter around to land at Keeler field. He was looking forward to telling Agnes about the breakthrough. This is a banner day in more ways than one! Robert thought happily.
Chapter Four
Only a year later, the courses in the mail were completed and the graduation examination scheduled. Delmar reported for work early that day, and as soon as he arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Hassel drove him to town in their ground car. Dropping him off at the examination site, they went to do some ‘shopping and such’. Delmar reported for his exam and was assigned to one of the computers reserved for the process.
While he sweated through the various subjects the computer drilled him on, Delmar wondered who programmed the demented machine. Several times, he noticed spelling and grammatical errors in the questions and became disgusted at the obvious sloppiness of the “expert” who had written this.
Delmar handed in his scoring cartridge to the test monitor after only three hours. Inserting the cartridge into the scoring machine, the man looked crossly at the boy. His elapsed time to complete the test was definitely below average and the test monitor was sure Delmar had failed.
A minute later, the machine produced Delmar’s graduation certificate. At the same time, it filed the actual score (which the students never get to see) with the central computer at the Education Department in the capital. Frowning, the man handed Delmar his certificate and the boy joyously left the building.
∞∞∞
While Delmar was taking his test, the Hassels were again checking on the legal status of the boy. They’d waited for two hours, first in this office, next in that one, each time waiting while some bureaucrat consulted with yet another supervisor. Mr. Hassel’s patience was wearing thin when they were finally ushered into the office of Prudence Hornbeck, the regional director of the social agency. Her assistant supervisor closed the door and the Hassels were left standing while a
“And those troopers you met today, did they oppress you?”
“No,” Delmar admitted. “But they sure know how to play a practical joke!” he added with a grin.
Robert smiled but didn’t answer. After a short silence, Delmar spoke up again.
“So who runs the Axia anyway? If it’s a trust like you say.”
“The empress or emperor, whichever the case may be, is ruler by bloodline,” Robert explained. “Assisting her is the Council of Nine. They act as advisors and can temporarily rule in case the ruler is incapacitated. Beyond that are the usual government agencies and the service, which is made up of troopers and Ladies of the Fleet.”
“But if the troopers are so loyal, what keeps the empress from using them to subjugate other planets like ours?”
“Like I said, the troopers are loyal to the ideal of the throne. But more accurately, they’re loyal to the trust that throne represents. It’s a system that counterbalances the different powers in the Axia. If a ruler gets out of line, the troopers can speak back. It’s foundational in our constitution. Above all this are the citizens of the Axia. This is a commonwealth of choice, not conquest.”
“And the troopers are like the glue helping bind it together?” Delmar asked.
“Exactly!” Robert exclaimed. “The Axia is so big and has such a long history to guide it that it would be difficult in the extreme for any one person, even the empress, to try to change it into something other than what it is. If you please, what we have here is the result of social evolution over the thousands of years the Axia has existed.”
The flitter grew quiet again while Delmar pondered these things. “Can we study more about it?” Delmar asked after a long silence.
“Sure we can.”
“Good, because I want to be sure of this for myself,” Delmar stated.
Inwardly, Robert smiled. The door is open, he thought as he swung the flitter around to land at Keeler field. He was looking forward to telling Agnes about the breakthrough. This is a banner day in more ways than one! Robert thought happily.
Chapter Four
Only a year later, the courses in the mail were completed and the graduation examination scheduled. Delmar reported for work early that day, and as soon as he arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Hassel drove him to town in their ground car. Dropping him off at the examination site, they went to do some ‘shopping and such’. Delmar reported for his exam and was assigned to one of the computers reserved for the process.
While he sweated through the various subjects the computer drilled him on, Delmar wondered who programmed the demented machine. Several times, he noticed spelling and grammatical errors in the questions and became disgusted at the obvious sloppiness of the “expert” who had written this.
Delmar handed in his scoring cartridge to the test monitor after only three hours. Inserting the cartridge into the scoring machine, the man looked crossly at the boy. His elapsed time to complete the test was definitely below average and the test monitor was sure Delmar had failed.
A minute later, the machine produced Delmar’s graduation certificate. At the same time, it filed the actual score (which the students never get to see) with the central computer at the Education Department in the capital. Frowning, the man handed Delmar his certificate and the boy joyously left the building.
∞∞∞
While Delmar was taking his test, the Hassels were again checking on the legal status of the boy. They’d waited for two hours, first in this office, next in that one, each time waiting while some bureaucrat consulted with yet another supervisor. Mr. Hassel’s patience was wearing thin when they were finally ushered into the office of Prudence Hornbeck, the regional director of the social agency. Her assistant supervisor closed the door and the Hassels were left standing while a
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