Greed

Chris Vorhis

 

            “The stars are beautiful at night”, Emperor Chaput said.

            “Yes, but in space, it is always night”, his trusted advisor, Jean commented.  They sat in the observatory of their spaceship Argos.  It was most unusual for the Emperor to leave his palace on Terra Prime.  There was only one reason that he could possibly make him leave the mighty blue oceans and the everlasting beaches.

            “Do you have any estimates about how many credits it is worth,” Chaput asked.

            “Our top scientists say that when the star goes supernova, there is an estimated 4 trillion credits worth of metal.  That includes the future inflation the influx of metals will cause.  I have to admit, my Lord, that this was a very clever idea of yours.”

            “Of course, it was actually quite complex,” Chaput replied.

            “But to surround the entire star with a net, that is truly amazing.”  Jean’s voice wavered for an instant.  He tried his best not to let his utter contempt of the Emperor get in the way of his own flight for power.

            “When the star explodes of course, billions upon billions of particles of all sizes will be sent hurtling in every direction.  Our partial enclosure of the star was costly, to say the least.  The last estimate put it at several hundred billion credits.”

            “Sire,” Jean exclaimed.  “Hundreds of Billions of Credits!  How did you get away with such a gargantuan sum without the Senate finding it!”

            “Just some political maneuvering.”  Chaput was being modest, well there’s a first for everything.  It had taken thirty years to ascend the throne his father once held.  All it took was waiting.  Chaput waited.  And waited.  Years passed and his father seemed to grow even younger.  Eventually Chaput grew tired of waiting for time to take its course.  When Chaput was thirty, he contacted some terrorist organizations to “eliminate” his own father.  His elderly father had some suspicions when he saw Chaput always smiling when he was present in a room.  Soon he learned the other arts of political usurpation.  He learned how to discredit his opponents and replace them with more “suitable” people.  Chaput did become a good emperor.  He made sure that his people were always fed and that he always had plenty of gold and fine wines.  This was never enough, of course.  Chaput wanted to control financial markets, because whoever controlled interstellar markets controlled the entire Universe.  Chaput only held control of Terra Prime, a valuable yet somewhat lacking planet.  Pollution limited the planets population to only several billion citizens. 

            From the door behind them burst forth a young navigator.

            “Your Majesty, you told us to tell you when we reached the danger zone.”

            “Yes, of course.  Angle the vessel so that we may see out the Observatory.” 

            After the adjustment, Chaput and Jean were astounded.

            “The star, I never imagined that it had so much color….”

            It seemed as though you could reach out the triple layered glass and touch the volatile star.  It was emitting a deep blue, not a peaceful Neptunian blue, but the kind that shows age beyond comprehension.  An aurora was surrounding the star, it was evident that the star was bursting lighter elements from thousands of holes in its surface.  In nova explosions, usually only light gas would be released.  This star, on the other hand, was undergoing a synthetic nova explosion.  The faraway mad scientists on Draconus V designed a new weapon; which allows a temporary black hole to be formed by ripping space and time.  Three such gravbombs had detonated several hours ago. The planets core was under extreme pressure to split the star in three chunks.  The huge energy of the star, however, would create the largest such explosion since the last Big Bang. 

            “Sire, the first piece has separated!”

            A rough third of the star was crumbling under failing gravitational support. 

            “Now, the kicker.  Ensign, fire the remaining nuclear weapons.  Aim for the weaker sections of the new star.  Make sure that the blast will be sure to spray my net with huge pieces.  We don’t want anything to slip by. ” 

            With any luck, he should be able to obtain hundreds of thousands of pounds of Carbon, to be used to create metals that are more valuable to consumers across the galaxy. 

            Everything went off without a hitch.  The star’s remnants were quite heavy and were also entirely inside the Emperor’s new web.  The ends of the web were firing their rockets to tie a knot around the most valuable bag in the universe.

            “Say, it looks like there is a hole,” remarked Jean.

            “No!  It must have been those cursed technicians!  How much will we lose?”

            “Five Hundred Billion, at least,” replied a scientist. 

            “We only have one viable option.  The hole is only a hundred meters across.  Move the ship to cover up the hole until sufficient patchwork can be accomplished,” Chaput ordered.

            “Sire, you could get us all killed!”

            “The radiation!”

            “The tremendous heat and pressure, the ship can’t take it, the ropes were designed to work under tremendous heat and pressure!”

            “Do it!  Everyone, I order you to evacuate on the escape pods.  I will pilot it myself.  This ship was designed for such a mission.  What mission would possess more glory than extra credits for the empire,” Chaput screamed!

            Everyone, including Jean, left as soon as possible. 

           

            “We will not lose what I have spent the entire family fortune pursuing!”  Renault Chaput moved the Argos into position.  The entire ship was reverberating with the particles slamming against the vessel.  A crack had punctured within the third pane of glass. 

            Chaput watched in horror as a crack formed on the second pane.  He searched desperately in the observatory.  All he needed was some tape or glue.  ANYTHING!!

            “Aha!  Eureka!  I have found it!” Chaput screamed half-maniacally, half-desperately as he ran to the pane of glass with a container of hot wax used in case of small hull breaches.  The crack was forming on the first pane by now, just as Chaput smothered the crack with wax. 

            “I have done it!  I am the richest man in the Universe!”

            A slight crackle came from behind him.  Chaput turned, only to find the hot hydrogen and helium gases all around him.

            Truly, stars are best enjoyed at a distance. It was the last thought Chaput wondered as he joined with his own fortune for eternity.