The Bishop was smooth to the touch and expertly hand crafted from its simple rounded base to the sharp cleft on the head. Carved from Taneaux, a dense hard wood found only on Bellerophon. A chess set made from this wood cost a good deal of money on any planet. It was weighty and warm and felt good in the hand, as if it was meant to be held. But more than that – it felt as if it had purpose.
The Minister turned the chess piece in his right hand, admiring the simplicity of the unadorned base, the long curve of the body, the small spherical knob on top and the black lacquer finish. He placed the piece carefully back on the spot lit board between the black queen and knight and adjusted the lone lamp on the table to better illuminate it. As he sat in the otherwise dark room, he wondered why his life could not emulate the elegant ease of the finely crafted piece. He envied the simple piece of wood, its completeness, its contentment.
The chessboard on which he laid the piece was equally well crafted, made of a smoky gray marble and white alabaster. Illuminated in an oasis of light, it was arrayed with the other pieces as if in the middle of an unusual match. The black queen's side of the board was mostly intact, lacking only the rook, while the king's side was decidedly decimated. The king itself was the only capital piece left on the right side of the board. To add to the peculiarity of the strange match, only the king and queen occupied the white side of the board with an array of pawns strategically placed across the middle. The other white pieces were neatly placed to in the left corner of the board, just out of play. Each of these pieces had a small nametag taped to the base. An odd game to say the least.
But odd had become the norm for Minister Loe, the Minister of Justice, in what was fast becoming known as the Alliance's Illumination era. This was the most turbulent era Loe had ever known. Not only had the social order of the Alliance been disturbed by the events of the past year, but the political landscape had been greatly altered as well.
The effects of the Reaver disclosure to the public had been politically more devastating than the war for independence ten years earlier. As the public digested the facts around the Reavers and their creation, the Alliance was falling into political chaos. Loe was determined to get a handle on things. Illuminating the public to the facts of the Reaver experiment gone wrong, and those responsible, had been a very dangerous affair, but one that was necessary. Now, however, it was time to salvage what remained of order and build on it.
The minister sighed as he settled back in his soft leather chair and tried to relax. He touched the silk handkerchief in his left hand to his lips and coughed lightly. Anthony Loe had a need for order in his life that bordered on an obsessive compulsion. As the Alliance's top officer of Justice he was well know for the tight reigns he kept on the Ministry, but few knew how deep that need for order ran. He considered it perhaps the most important quality of life itself. As he waited in the dark, he contemplated his family crest, which hung on the wall behind his deck, a constant reminder of his family's glorious past.
He smiled as he pondered the symbolism of the red dragon clutching the black lotus – strength and cunning with deadly beauty. It was time for the Black Lotus to again insert its influence into the politics of the day.
'This was no way to run things.' He thought stroking his thin white beard.
The ancestors would have agreed with him.
His musings, however, were suddenly interrupted by the blue light of the vidcom switching on. The appointed time had come faster than he anticipated.
"How was the hunting brother?" The Minister asked as the form of a naval officer took shape, a shape eerily like his own, but younger.
"Not so good brother." replied the younger twin.
The heavily medaled officer on the vid screen did not look happy.
"Not good – how so? I'd heard rumor that you bagged the buck you were hunting. That is what you wanted – no?"
"Yes, yes – but I prefer to hunt for only one target at a time brother."
"He was not alone?" The Minister's voice tightened with a tinge of concern. He swabbed his forehead with his kerchief as his brother explained.
"He was joined by a passerby, a random interloper."
"Did you …"
"No, they escaped. It proved to be elusive for a Firefly." The Officer replied. "I lost one of my G8's pursuing it."
"So - how much did your guest see?"
"I am unsure, however we do have a good description and a location. They proceeded to Persephone."
"Do you think we can shift the blame to them, have them taken into custody if they prove to be trouble?
"It was a Firefly brother. With no weapons it could not have made the kill. Arresting them would just draw attention to the facts of the case. Right now the facts are in our control. We will have to take care of them another way."
"Do what you must to keep them quiet."
"I will take care of it." The younger twin promised. "And how are things with you brother?"
The older twin paused as he stroked his white beard, gazing at his younger self in the Vid-Com. His twin – his clone actually, was gazing back at him with the same intensity he'd had when he was that age. The older Loe now understood what his own father had seen in him when he was that age. So much potential, but so little understanding of true meaning. He had mastered the ways of the Alliance, its political ins and outs, but now he must learn the unseen ebbs and flows of the Verse. Now he needed to embrace the true struggle between order and chaos, the two sides of Tao Xu.
"Everything is ready." Anthony sighed. "Blackwell's health has not improved. By this time next turn, brother, you will be at the head of the most powerful fleet the Alliance has ever known and I will be in the seat of power."
"And the parliament - will they go along?" The Minister's twin asked.
"Half of them will comply now if pressed. I have but one more, big obstacle to surmount and the others will fall in line." Loe concluded. "Have you taken care of the Vice Admiral?"
"Yes, he will no longer be a problem." The other Loe replied. "Only Blackwell is left."
"Do your job well brother and we will start a dynasty that will rival that of our ancestors. For now – take care of that Firefly."
"It will be done." The screen went black.
The minister snatched up the black bishop and after tapping it on the table nervously for a minute, tossed it in the box next to the other black pieces. Carl Tso, Admiral Pinkerton and now Minister Raven were no longer obstacles. But it appeared that simplicity was not part of this game, and elegance may have to be set aside. Was it Blackwell behind this Firefly or perhaps Jacobs? He thought for a moment on this latter possibility, then advanced the black queen's pawn two spaces. There might be more players in this game than he anticipated.
Loe's plan was delicate and carefully laid out. An unexpected third player could complicate things. But he could adjust to the additional player. What concerned him more was the chance that his current adversary might have figured out that Loe was in the game.
The minister coughed again and tucked the kerchief into his sleeve. The darkness in the room seemed to thicken, seeping in through the glass wall of full-length windows. Creeping in from the starless night outside. Morning would be coming soon to the world outside and with it the end of the nightly rains, the warmth of the sun, the lure of the vast seas and distractions. But for now the darkness permeated the Minister's surroundings and was starting to creep into his formerly optimistic mood.
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