Uprising [Book Two of the Mission Orion Series]

Chapter One

"We are here at the annual Senate meeting and this year sure is one to remember. It is the first time the mayors of all the provinces would be attending the meeting along with a record twenty four ambassadors from other species. This year, the President of the Senate has promised to find a solution to the brewing discontent amongst the people due to shortage of food in the North Eastern Provinces. The protests, which have been peaceful so far, are expected to intensify during the time the Senate is in session with protestors flying into the Capitol City in large numbers. Although a ban has been imposed on group passenger bookings by people flying from the North Eastern Provinces into the Capitol City, this doesn't seem to deter the protestors from getting their voice heard. This year, the new Mayor of the Human Provinces, Luke Jottingham, would be taking his oath in the Senate. The Human Province, which is still reeling back from the shattering corruption scandal under George Bennington, has voted Luke's party into power yet again in a stunning victory and this would be seen as a testament to the growing popularity of Luke amongst the humans. The Human Province, which lies adjacent to the North Eastern Province, has promised to send some relief food materials to the latter. But protests against the Human Province have grown multifold over the weeks, with people claiming that the humans had refused to send aid packages even as people were dying from starvation. Things do seem tensed between the two provinces for now..."

The reporter on the television continued her coverage of the Senate Meeting, highlighting the various issues which are expected to be addressed in this years' meeting. I was shuffling through the various papers and speech drafts on Luke's desk when the door slammed open and Robert walked into the office. "Luke is inside the Senate Hall. His speech is expected to begin soon. Thought you'd want to watch it." He said. "I'll be there in a minute." I replied. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Luke and I had been planning our strategy for handling the aggression being exhibited by the North Eastern Province. This was the D-Day. We would either come to a compromise or things would just go south. I picked up a few papers with Luke's speech written on it and walked out of his office, gently shutting the door behind me.

"Has he started his speech?" I asked Robert, who was watching the television with a glass of scotch in his hand. "You made it just in time." He replied, motioning me to take a seat alongside him. "Flamson promised to find a solution to this mess. And when the President of the Senate promises something like that, people actually expect results." He said. "Well, we are trying our darn best." I replied, pouring myself a drink and finally settling down beside Robert.

"All rise for the oath of Luke Jottingher, the Mayor-elect of the Human Province." The speaker said.

"I, Luke Jottingham, promise on the constitution of the Human Province and the Senate, that I would work to the best of the interests of the humans, and Photrox as a whole. I will not back down, even in the face of death..."

Luke completed taking the oath, which was followed by the Senatorial Anthem. Luke then started with the speech we had been planning since months. "All your hard work is finally paying off, huh?" Robert asked me. "I guess we will have to wait and see what the other side has to say before we call this a success." I replied. "Fair point." he replied. The both of us watched keenly as Luke spoke about how the humans had fought amongst themselves to a point where is almost led to certain extinction and how, if not contained, the present scenario would drive a wedge between the two species on Photrox as well. He spoke about how the Human Province wasn't able to provide relief and aid to the North Eastern Province as they weren't resource surplus till last month, but now that we were, we were willing to send relief to the North Eastern Province. This earned him a round of applause.

Suddenly, the screen went static. "What the hell?" Robert exclaimed. "We've never had a signal outage, especially when it's the official coverage of the Senate Meeting." I said. "It was probably some attempt by the protestors to disrupt the proceedings. I'm sure they have back up systems in place. Last time I heard, protestors had gathered in thousands outside the Senate Hall."  Robert said. "Let's wait for it to come back up. Anyway, once they get the information that we are willing to send relief to them, the focus should shift away from us. It is not a secret that the over-industrialisation led to the shortage of cultivatable land and hence the shortage of food." I replied. "Yeah, I guess it will." He said.