Benjamin Gold

Location: Gold Island, Aurum, Gold Technologies Corporate Territory, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Everything was perfect; beyond perfect. It took place on a terrace overlooking the ocean on a private island. A literal ton of rare genetic-hybrid flowers surrounded everyone with a sweet smell as they literally bloomed during the ceremony. It was a personification of the new life Ben and Jacobi were beginning. Trained doves were let loose as they said their vows, and did a choregraphed routine to everyone’s amazement. Everyone they loved and cared about was present, smiling, and happy for them.

Still, it felt all wrong.

“You may now kiss the bride,” the official presiding over everything was an old man, with a genuinely kind face, who’d said some very moving words about marriage and love.

Ben had only been half paying attention, which wasn’t a good look. He tried to keep a lid on the anger bubbling in his gut, but it was hard. What his father had done was such a violation.

he could practically hear the response if he complained to anyone about this. The only one who felt his pain was standing right in front of him.

As he refocused on her, everything else seemed to fade away. Jacobi was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. The mother and mother-in-law of the bride had gone to work on her hours before and returned an angel to him. The sight of her quenched the anger, and as her lips met his, he forgot about everything else going on around him.

“I’m an honored to present, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin and Jacobi Gold.” Ben couldn’t help but smile at the old official.

The crown erupted into cheers as Ben and Jacobi walked back down the aisle lined with flowers and smiling guests. Ben couldn’t help but smile. Hearing their names linked together sent a flood of positivity through him that felt like it would last forever.

It lasted until he hit the end of the aisle where his father was waiting; along with his mother and Jacobi’s parents.

Her mom was crying as Jacobi went to them and was enveloped in their embrace. he couldn’t keep the wistful look off his face as he stood before his father. The man made no move to embrace his son. His mother reached out and rubbed his arm thoughtfully.

“That went well,” he looked out over the people waiting to leave the terrace for the reception in the estate’s main ballroom. “I’ll meet you inside.” He looked hungry, and not in the ‘I’m going to eat a good steak’ kind of way.

Thomas peeled off with Ben’s mother on his arm, while Jacobi came up behind him with her parents. “I guess I should call you son now,” Jacobi’s father looked a little flush in the tuxedo he’d been given for the occasion.

He was a chubby man, who worked as a surveyor for a minerals company back on East Newfoundland. He made a decent living, but was in a separate universe as far as Thomas Gold was concerned. To make the man happy, and not interfere with anything ever again, Thomas was probably going to buy the company and put the elder Wentworth on the board or something. He’d live what he thought was the high-life until he died, and the Wentworth’s would owe the Gold’s their prosperity.

That was how a Gold thought. By looking in Greg Wentworth’s face, Ben could tell the portly man was just happy his little girl had found someone who loved and cared for her.

“I guess you should,” Ben was surprised when Greg opened his arms and drew him into a hug. He was substantially shorter than Ben, but it didn’t matter.

When the embrace broke, Ben saw his wife tearing up. he smiled at the thought. It felt right.

That was when the people started exiting the terrace for the reception. Ben and Jacobi formed the end of the receiving line with her parents as the people passed through. Gifts were bestowed on them, probably worth more than the GDP of some planets. Neither of them cared, but their last name was Gold. That demanded a proper offering.

Many of the men disappeared from the reception hall as they entered, shown away by Curtis and a small army of security personnel. Ben watched them go with a raised eyebrow. Jacobi saw it and just shook her head. It might not be the wedding they wanted, but it was still their wedding, and she didn’t want any more drama. With close to a thousand people in attendance, you hardly noticed a couple dozen missing.

“Mr. Gold,” Curtis stepped to his side as the receiving line drew to an end. “Would you please come with me.”

Ben shared a look with Jacobi, and she nodded. If he was going to blow up at his dad, better it be away from everything. “Lead the way,” he motioned for Curtis to go.

The former SEAL led Ben through an outer perimeter of guards stationed at the door leading out the of the ballroom. From there, he saw several extra layers of manpower and technology, including something that made his IOR go offline. Since that had never happened before, it freaked him out just a little bit. Eventually, he reached a study where about thirty of the richest and most influential men and women in the Commonwealth sat comfortably with refreshments. Ben took a place by the door.

“Welcome all,” Thomas stepped to the center of the room. “I can’t tell you all how happy I am to see you here on the day of my son’s wedding.” Eyes swiveled to Ben as murmured congratulations were echoed. He just nodded and smiled.

“This is a momentous occasion,” there was a vibration to his father’s step that Ben rarely saw. The man had boundless energy, but it was never on display.

Ben scanned the room. Everyone was nodding along with his father, even the few uniforms present.

“We are about to embark on a journey, and together, as one unified front, we will change humanity.”

“Have you all had a chance to peruse the document?” Heads around the room nodded. “any questions?”

There were dozens, and most went over Ben’s head. Some of the biggest financial minds in the galaxy were here, so that’s where their minds went. Ben watched them all, getting a sense of where this was going, and felt the simmering anger returned, along with a healthy doze of dread. He wasn’t sure until the RADM in charge of the Commonwealth detachments asked his questions. Then he just wanted to leave the room. He looked over at Curtis, who just shook his head.

“It is settled,” Thomas smiled like a kid in a candy store. “With your signatures, our combined assets will assert their rights under Article 50 of the Commonwealth Charter. The information will be instantly delivered through Gold Technology’s QE communications network to New Washington as well as all the system governments. Is everything in place on your ends? I do not expect a violent reaction, but there is no telling how the former Admiral will react to this. She is a hammer, and if all she sees are nails, she only knows one way how to deal with them.”

“We’ve taken the actions you suggested,” a woman in the crowd, who Ben didn’t recognize, replied. “We’ve pulled our representatives so they cannot be used as leverage, and as agreed, the loss of some corporate property has been factored in to our fiscal calculations.”

“It is regrettable, but unavoidable,” Gold sighed. “I hope to negotiate for the return of a portion of that, but I expect the next year to be rough.”

Everyone in the room nodded, but Ben just shook his head. He was a witness to history: a bloodless coup that was about to hobble the greatest civilization in the history of mankind. It made him sick.

One by one, the people in the room: all CEOs, Presidents, or Chairmen and Chairwomen of the boards of the biggest corporation in human space; stepped forward and pressed their GICs to a reader. As far as technology went, the GIC was antiquated. The IOR was vastly more secure and didn’t involve the government writing all over your body. Still, the GIC was required for the Commonwealth’s systems to authenticate the petition.

Ben watched as green icons appeared next to names. Last, but certainly not least, Thomas Gold stepped forward and affixed his digital signature to the document. His name appeared the largest at the top; like Hancock on the Declaration of Independence.

Ben shook his head. He had always been a staunch member of the Eagles Party, but this was too much. All the points Jacobi had made during the last election seemed much more founded now.

With a simple press of a button, the document vanished from the holo; off the tell the galaxy that it had fundamentally shifted. Thomas turned to the new members of the ruling Board of Directors. “Welcome to the Confederation of Corporate Interests.”

***

Admiral Sonya Berg

Location: CWS Jack Frost, Alpha Centauri System, United Commonwealth of Colonies

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She closed her eyes, counted to ten, and reopened them. Prime Minister Deja Simmons was still addressing the Commonwealth on the emergency QE band; currently, the only instant Commonwealth-wide communication system available. All of Gold technologies QE buoys had dropped offline midway through the PM’s address.

Having known Deja for decades, Sonya could see the barely contained anger on her face. Sonya was pretty sure she looked exactly the same. At the time when the Commonwealth was at its weakest, when humanity was being tested by alien invaders, Gold had gone and done this. It was beyond depraved. The man was the lowest of the low, and if he was standing here right now, she would have chocked the life out of him herself.

she growled, as the list of systems that were part of the coup scrolled below the emergency alert headline of the address.

It was a coup; it didn’t matter what Gold’s Article 50 declaration stated; especially since Article 50 declaration had to be approved by the Council of Representatives. The list of systems stopped scrolling, and she was sure her heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. Nearly a third of the Commonwealth had seceded to this new confederation.

as a lifelong member of the Eagle Party she knew she’d had a hand in this. It was not her intention, and it had never been a goal of the weight she’d thrown behind certain political candidates when the asked for her endorsement, but it was the outcome nevertheless.

With a surprise attack on Earth, and the secession of dozens of systems, she was fairly confident she was going to be out of a job. It didn’t matter how tight she was with the PM. Intelligence failures like this had consequences.

she wanted to punch something, but sitting on the flag bridge of Jack Frost was not the place. Thankfully, everyone’s eyes were on the address, so they didn’t see her hands gripping her chair.

An incoming transmission lit up her IOR and she accepted it. She half expected it to be orders to rally the troops and storm Aurum, but it was confirmation that the refugee fleet had safely deposited their hundred thousand civilians on Alpha Centauri’s surface. There were no follow up orders, and no way to talk to the PM just yet. The old admiral was still going on about how dark a day this was, that it was a stain on the soul of humanity.

Sonya gave props to the speech writer who’d whipped this up on short notice.

She took several more deep breaths and braced for what was to come. Whether it was back to Earth to take on the aliens, or to take on this new confederation, or even to keep the Windsor’s at bay. Something was going to happen. The PM knew the importance of violence of action. That last thing she was going to do was sit on her ass and wait.

As Sonya looked around the bridge, she saw the sentiment mirrored on the faces of her staff. They wanted to do something.

she waited for the speech to end and the orders to arrive.