Chapter Twenty-Fou
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For a week, life returned back to some semblance of normal. There were articles about the Vinellian Capitulation as the newssheets were calling the creation of the Gussellian Empire.
There was talk of enlisting allies from off the continent of South Fenola, and Marena said there was talk of the international quarter expanding with an expected influx of foreigners. Marena’s rumors made it into Quint’s reports.
On top of the periodicals, Colonel Gerocie had placed a thick book written in common. The book was an analysis of empires that had come and gone in the last two thousand years, and it was written by a diplomat from Narukun in North Fenola, the continent to the northeast of South Fenola.
Gerocie had slipped a note into the book. All it said was “Read this. High priority.”
Quint flipped the pages. It looked like a textbook. Too many pages were his first thought, but after he quickly went through the periodicals, he opened the book and began to read.
What he thought was dry and uninteresting was the opposite. The author, Fedor Danko, a professor at Narukun University, made the historical events read like fiction. As Quint read on, he wondered if it was fiction.
Quint began taking notes to remember all the empires. Danko had a master list at the beginning of the book. There were twenty-three that Danko identified, and at two times in two thousand years there were empires that embraced the whole world.
The book had a list of the empires and the dates of their beginning and their end. None lasted more than three hundred years, and most didn’t make it past fifty. That was enough for one, two, or three emperors.
The worldwide empires lasted less than one hundred years before they crumbled.
Now it was time to read the details. Quint was fascinated by the reasons for the empire, the assimilation of cultures, and what factors led to the end. With his experience analyzing hundreds of publications, Quint knew how to pull the pertinent information out of Danko’s writings and after notes for the first three empires, he knew what notes to take.
He worked late at his desk and then took the book home, working through the night. Quint asked Marena to deliver a message to Colonel Gerocie that he would be absent for two days and return with the book report.
Quint spent lunch and dinner as a break from his reading and used the time to think about what he had read. His concept of the world began to change.
There once was a hubite empire that spread from North Fenola to South Fenola. The empire was built by an emperor with a thirst for power and blood. The hubites treated their willot subjects no differently than the willots who currently hated the hubites.
Quint wondered if that hatred for hubites had been the result of the subjugation.
Like most empires, it started to crumble with power struggles within and revolts externally. As Quint read on, it was the most common cause for most of the empires.
The powerful emperors typically wanted their progeny to rule, and the descendants were never the equal of the first emperors. The longest lasting empires did not permit relatives assuming the imperial throne, and when times changed that rule, the empire inevitably declined.
Quint had first wondered how empires failed. As he finished the book, his viewpoint changed to wondering how an empire could ever succeed in the long-term. There were too many factors to overcome that could result in a long-lasting government. Were monarchies like that? He wondered about a council model. He found that he would like to spend time with Fedor Danko to answer his questions.
His book notes covered forty pages before Quint replicated the chart of empires. He spent the night of his second day away from work distilling his studies to a ten-page summary for Colonel Gerocie.
He waited for the colonel to arrive with his report in a portfolio. The book was still at home along with his book notes. While he waited, he reread the page that characterized what he thought Pacci Colleto was about. It was unclear if Colleto was really interested in expanding out of South Fenola as it was too early in Colleto’s empire-building to determine that.
The colonel arrived and let Quint follow her inside.
“You’ve finished that thick thing?” the colonel asked.
“It was enlightening,” Quint said.
Gerocie smiled. “When are you starting your own empire?”
“I don’t think I would make a suitable emperor. There is a certain ruthlessness that I do not possess,” Quint said, “and every successful emperor had a streak of that in their personality.”
“I can breathe easy then?” the colonel asked.
“You can, ma’am. Here is my report. My book notes are more comprehensive, but this tells the story.” He gave the portfolio to the colonel and sat down.
“Can I read this in front of you? I might have questions as I go.”
“My time is your time, Colonel Gerocie,” Quint said.
The colonel asked a few inconsequential questions before sitting back. “Your usual incisive job. What you are telling me is that if Racellia is patient enough Colleto’s empire will fade away.”
“Guaranteed, ma’am, but we may all be dead by the time that happens.”
“Maybe me, but certainly not you,” the colonel said.
“The factors of decline vary all over the place, but decline there will be, according to Fedor Danko.”
“Yes, Fedor Danko. He is coming to Bocarre at the end of this week with his daughter, Calee Danko. The council has given him a one-month contract to analyze the current situation on South Fenola. That is why I gave you the book to read.”
“Aren’t I doing that?” Quint asked.
“You are, but the council has less faith in a teenage hubite from an obscure southeast Racellian village. That is why Henricco Lucheccia requested you for another assignment. You are to escort the Dankos if they are in Racellia. They are hubites, like you, captain.”
“Do you want someone to check on Danko?”
