Dark Fate, Book 22 Epilogue

Epilogue – Elsewhere

President Taylor Harris groaned as the live broadcast went to a blow-by-blow replay, with full slow motion, his head in his hands. Because of course the Emperor of Ceres had made sure it was broadcast live, set to go out at noon, Ceres time, which just so happened to be the same as the Greenwich Mean Time. Seven in the morning here in DC, two in the afternoon in Moscow.

“Evie, how bad are we thinking this will go? Are the Russians going to do anything?”

Evie Walsh, the Secretary of State, just sighed. “Frankly, sir, I doubt that there’s anything that they can do. Striking at Ceres itself is impossible, with what Russia currently has available to it. They could try and attack the Earth-based parts of the Empire, but the Ceresans do have Renegades stationed there, meaning that any attempt at invasion will end badly. Assuming he doesn’t then decide to wipe a couple Russian naval bases off the map in retaliation.”

Sal Landry, his Chief of Staff, sighed. “Frankly, and I hate to say this, but given the scale of what the Russians tried to pull, they’re lucky they’re getting away with only this much of a spanking.”

“Only? That damn demon kidnapped a major world leader, and then held a live execution dressed up as a trial by combat! Because we all know there’s no way that the Russian president was ever going to be able to lay a scratch on him.”

“Actually, sir,” Kyle Richards, the Press Secretary, said, “I think this was the restrained approach. Instead of doing like he did to Israel, or that group that came after him before the UN speech, he apparently went directly to the FSB department responsible, and took it out on them, and the President. If that had happened to another country, there would have been protests, calls for sanctions, things like that, but nothing would have been done, unless someone was willing to commit an actual military strike on Russian soil. Instead, he basically said that he’s taking out the department responsible, and the man who had to give the final order yes or no. That… could play well with the public.”

“How so, Kyle?”

“Like I said, sir, the normal way this would have shaken out if the Russians had tried something against the US, or a US ally, for instance, is a lot of diplomatic back and forth, maybe some sanctions that don’t do more than freezing accounts the people in charge might have outside the country. You never actually see those bank accounts emptied, or their properties liquidated, or the actual people in charge having to face the very real consequences of their actions. It is always the lower-ranked people who take a hit, or maybe a senior official retires to earn stacks of cash on a speaking tour or with a new book.

“But this? Ceres basically went up to one of the biggest countries in the world, and said, ‘If you start playing games with us, we’re not going to bother with freezing accounts, we’re just going to grab you, the sitting Russian president, and hold you personally responsible, in a way that leaves no room for interpretation.’ That kind of attitude is part of why Ceres has grown so popular. It is precisely because they look at the way the diplomatic game is played, and say, ‘Fuck that, we’ll do it our way,’ and everyone just has to suck it up and deal with it, because no one can stop him.”

Taylor sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. But the problem is that those of us on Earth, who still have to deal with elections and democratic systems, can’t exactly do that kind of thing without running roughshod over the rule of law. And we already have too strong a history with those kinds of unilateral actions.”

“Plus, you aren’t a Demon King turned Emperor, Mr. President,” Sal said. “I talked to Bill, over at Homeland, and he confirmed with the CIA that the ‘Stalin’ figure that cameras caught infiltrating the Russian presidential estate was almost certainly Greene, himself. That, along with him actually stepping into the ring and killing people himself? Sends a message that he isn’t just going to rely on his military to go big dicking it, and make them do all the dirty work.”

“Fair point, Sal. But this is just going to kick up yet another firestorm about the treaties, and the UN, and…” Taylor sighed. “And of course Ceres is not bound by any of the treaties. And there isn’t anyone who can try and force Ceres to do anything they don’t want to do. Plus, Russian ships are still being barred from the Panama Canal. Can’t that man go one month without causing trouble!”

Evie chuckled. “Problem is, sir, other than him stomping on Israel so hard the entire country collapsed, most of the things weren’t him causing trouble, just uncovering trouble, or someone sending trouble his way. The pirates were coming, whether he was out there or not. That dungeon in North Africa was a threat, even if he didn’t go blow it up. At the very least, you can say that he does his best to ensure that any messes he deals with aren’t going to happen again in a few months.”

“So, how do we respond?”

Everyone looked from one to the other, before Kyle just shrugged. “Why not keep going with ‘adapting to the new realities of a world with the System’, and ‘this is why we need to update treaties and global structures to reflect this new reality’? It worked with the Judicial Reform Law and the Mandatory Service Law.”

“Great. That’s just great.”