News From the Edge...
Jordan Cramer, News from The Edge Magazine, 26 August, 3069
an interview with Archduchess MacAulliffe
The drive up to the MacAulliffe farm from Grantsberg is a long one-nearly five hours passing through fields, stands of woodland, and up a narrow gravel driveway nearly two kilometers long. As we passed the gate into the main yard, Our driver could see the famous "Stay Away" sign-the remains of the raiders have, of course, mostly decayed away, but the bones are still dressed in rags with a hand-lettered sign that says simply "Mind your Business".
What we didn't see, perhaps on purpose, were the body-guard detail that had our reporter's car in their sights from Kelway Crossing right into the dooryard of Arluna's most famous (Or notorious) resident.
The MacAulliffe Farm, of course, is now registered as a historic place-it was here that the first provisional government after the Plague was formed in a meeting that lasted nineteen days, it was here that the Star Adders agreed to leave Arluna in the hands of its people, and it was here that Debbie Mac shook the Inner Sphere by meeting with three foreign governments and dealing with them as an equal. One might be tempted to see that winter of 3068 as the true birth of the Union.
She met us at the door, and poured Jaslisle tea, brewed with sunlight in a thick, glass jar on the porch.
The house, of course, is still the rammed-earth and clapboard two-story that has stood here practically since the first colonists came to Arluna from Donegal, Skye, and Korea.
"Have a seat." she offered me one of the folding deck-chairs, then sat down herself in the porch-swing, "Any trouble comin' up?" she asked. Of course, there was none-the route is rather well marked on tourist maps, though the long driveway is usually closed to traffic.
Of course, I indicated I had no trouble at all. She smiled, and sipped her tea, before prodding me to ask my questions.
What made you decide to take the step to Independence?
Deb: "I didn't. That decision was made...well, you could say it was made for me-Initially when the Committees asked me, I was against it, but after news of Jessenice, the wildfires on Mahone, and Pol Nguyen's stand on Kwangchowwang, and then the thundering silence from the Commonwealth, I started to change my mind-sure, they had units nearby to all those places-but those units were under orders to remain-in-place, and the High Command was pretty insistent-it was clear to me that the guys at Mount Asgard were dead set on following the McClaren Memorandum, that they would only defend 'hard points'-read, worlds whose Leaders could grease the right palms on Tharkad, and let the rest to rot-but even that didn't do it, I could still appeal to Peter."
Interesting, you use the Late Archon's first name? Were you on a first-name basis?
"Yeah, I was. Me, Maddie Schrakenberg, Bill Kurst, Dan Russell, we were his...ya might call it 'troubleshooter team'-find where there's a problem in the system, draft a plan to deal with it, and hand it to the Archon-but then..."
Tharkad.
"Yeah, Tharkad. Two nukes, no waitin', killed the Estates General an' th' Archon and most of the parasite social generals lurking around Mount Asgard-at least, most of the competent social-generals. No Peter, no chance of fixing the problem the normal way...and then, well..." she shakes her head, "They lied about it-an' it was an obvious lie."
You mentioned that you knew Daphne Rowe was alive before? and that some members of LIC thought Adam Steiner was, as well?
"Part of my work for Peter again-I came across information indicating she'd been interned at a classified military prison, and that they were still looking for Adam-even had some sighting-reports. Pete wasn't concerned, he called it 'routine', but he DID ask me to stop looking."
What did you do?
"I was Nineteen and doing something you see in Holovids, of course I clammed up and didn't talk to him about it again...I verified instead, kept it as quiet as I could, I think maybe Bill knew what I was up to, or Maddie...next question please?"
Current Events, then... I understand a number of LCAF units have defected to the Union-care to comment?
"Not at this time-I'd as soon NOT be tellin' Sharon Mulcahy how many troops we've got, if that's alright-I know she's got people will read damn near anything, I'd as soon give her a couple surprises."
So you think the Arc Royal Estates is a threat?
"We left the Commonwealth, we're not playing condom in a war against the Clans with no suppport anymore, I expect she's foaming at the mouth a bit more than Robert Kelswa Steiner is over that, since we're not playing speedbump anymore and they'll have to actually deal with the invaders instead of tossing worlds to them as they run away."
You think that's what Arc Royal intends? They ARE on the front line, after all...
"In a word? Yeah. I do. I Know Mulcahy personally, I sat on the Jury in the Morgan Kell Trial, I've bumped heads with that jumped-up tax collector a time or two...besides, who do you think those Estates General Reps are?? They're the ones that were sodding-off from work, playing grab-ass with Lobbyists and Special Interest groups, or who couldn't be bothered to show up to the Session because it interferes with their leisure time. Mulcahy's a pretty competent accountant, a vicious prosecutor, and an indifferent leader who relies on threats, bullying, and her office or position to motivate her subordinates-in short, she's a bully, that's her character. It's a fine one for a tax-collector or a bureaucrat, but...honestly, she's about as fit to govern as a Reaver with a sore a- I mean, toothache...yeah...one that itches...in the bum..." she sips her tea for a moment, "The woman has no concept of priorities-nor does she have the ability to compromise or form coalitions-that's bad news for the folks out Arc-Royal way, an' it's bad news for us, too-she's going to be looking to start a war to take their minds off the one they're losing, and we're closest, we look easy, that makes her government the second largest threat we face."
What's the largest threat?
"Self Destruction. Our greatest danger, is that we really can't afford to take missteps dealing with the Clans, or the Inner Sphere. Our independence draws from our Neutrality-the second we chose a side, all the other sides are going to come pouring down on us like an Avalanche, and that will be the end of our nation, as well as the end of millions, or even billions, of lives. Entangling foreign alliances are likely to be our doom-especially as a young nation in a perilous position with only a small industrial base to draw on."
What about the Rim Worlds?
"Daphne Rowe's people loosed the Arluna Flu on us, Adam Steiner drew thousands of young men and women to follow him-only instead of following him to glory, he led them to their deaths-Deliberately. The Rim Worlds Republic has been preying on border-systems for the last two years, and I suspect they're behind the "Reaver'' Pirates that hit Jessenice-either directly behind 'em as sponsors, or indirectly behind 'em with what the covert-ops people call a 'cutout'. Hell, Daphne's 'restitution act' was financed with selling bad parts to jumpship crews, embezzlement, bribery of Court Justices, intimidation and blackmail of officials, and financial corruption of military personnel-and they had the LIC penetrated at multiple levels to boot. For all of that, well...I like the term Congressman Judd from Winter used-'Rim Worlds Delenda Est'- it's latin, it means 'The Rim Worlds Must Be Destroyed.' Sooner or later, the man's going to come around for 'em, and they'll reap what they have sown."
