Chapter 95: Bring the House Down
Collingswaggle was working in his office when he received a message from the parliamentary secretary. It was informing him that there was an emergency session in Parliament. They were voting to ban the House of Divine Knowledge. Collingswaggle was furious. He called the parliamentary secretary, demanding to know who had called the emergency session and vote. He was told that it was Governor Dratsab from Adoy and Governor Rotiart from West.
Collingswaggle called Dratsab’s office. He was told that Dratsab was busy and would get back to him at his convenience. Collingswaggle called his security team. They set off to Dratsab’s office.
Collingswaggle stormed into the office. ‘Where is he?’ demanded Collingswaggle to the member of staff on the front desk.
‘If you don’t mind taking a seat, the governor will be with you eventually,’ said the staff member sarcastically.
Collingswaggle walked past the front desk. He pushed open Dratsab’s office door. He was not there. Collingswaggle pushed open the conference room door. Dratsab and his Business Sector friends were in his conference room smoking cigars and sipping blended fruit juices from giant novelty coconuts.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ shouted Collingswaggle. Collingswaggle’s security entered the conference room behind him. They forced Dratsab’s guests to leave.
‘You have no right to interrupt my meeting. I am the Governor from Adoy,’ said Dratsab indignantly.
‘Adoy is gone. You will soon be the governor of nothing,’ shouted Collingswaggle. ‘You can spend all day with your entitled punks, but you do not mess with our politics.’
‘I have proposed the final blow to the House of Divine Knowledge,’ shouted Dratsab. ‘Never again will we have to tolerate their nonsense.’
Collingswaggle rubbed his face with his hands. He walked over to Dratsab and sat next to him. ‘You have just become a representative for the first time. Then a week later, you are governor,’ said Collingswaggle as he tried to remain calm.
‘Proof I am just that good,’ replied Dratsab in a cocky tone.
‘No,’ said Collingswaggle, ‘proof we had a shortage of viable candidates. So, we pushed an inexperienced kid like you.’
‘No,’ replied Dratsab, ‘proof I could achieve more in a week than you could in twenty years.’
‘Listen to me, you arrogant little shit,’ said Collingswaggle angrily. ‘The Business Sector controls both Government and Parliament. That’s all we need.’
‘That won’t last, you old fool,’ said Dratsab. ‘We need permanent total control.’
‘Reliable and predictable opposition is essential for our fake democracy,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘The House of Divine Knowledge limits the scope of opposition. They distract from more troubling forms of opposition, which could lead to the fall of our species.’
Dratsab frowned as he stared at Collingswaggle. ‘Wouldn’t you rather we debated cake than property rights?’ asked Collingswaggle as he stared back at him. Dratsab smiled in response.
Their emotions began to settle. The two of them chatted for a while longer. Collingswaggle continued to press the importance of the role of the House of Divine Knowledge. It appeared Dratsab had been swayed towards Collingswaggle’s way of thinking.
Collingswaggle stood up. Then he placed his hand on Dratsab’s shoulder. ‘So, will you speak out against this bill?’ asked Collingswaggle while still maintaining eye contact with him. ‘We can just cast it out as a slight error of judgement based on your inexperience.’
‘You can trust me to do the right thing,’ replied Dratsab.
‘Excellent,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘I’ll see you in Parliament.’
Collingswaggle left the conference room. Dratsab sat back in his chair with a big smile on his face.
Collingswaggle tried calling Pardi. He still did not pick up. He had also not responded to any messages he had sent him. Collingswaggle was also concerned about Pardi’s recent obsession with trains. Collingswaggle wanted Pardi’s help to convince the governors and representatives to vote against this bill. He knew many of the younger, inexperienced representatives who aligned themselves with the Business Sector would be in favour of it. A whole day and night passed, but Pardi had still not responded.
The next day, Parliament was in session. Collingswaggle looked up at the observation floors to see if Pardi was there, but he was not. Rotiart and Dratsab entered the Parliament lobby together. Collingswaggle approached them.
‘Have both of you sorted things out for today?’ asked Collingswaggle assertively.
‘I just arrived back from West this morning,’ said Rotiart. ‘I experienced firsthand the treasonous behaviour of that smelly house.’
‘Watch your language, boy,’ said Collingswaggle angrily.
‘They murdered the Head Enforcer,’ said Rotiart.
‘That’s an unverified rumour,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘He had it coming,’ said Rotiart. ‘The filthy Sapien choked. He should have expected a backstabbing.’
Dratsab began giggling.
Collingswaggle grabbed Rotiart’s arm. ‘You have a little something on your lapel,’ he told him.
Rotiart smiled at Collingswaggle. ‘Sometimes, I get a little overenthusiastic when I cut into my meat,’ replied Rotiart as he dabbed the red stain with his handkerchief.
The music played out for the governors to enter the Parliament Floor. The governors took their seats. Rotiart made a long opening statement about the House of Divine Knowledge. He covered the incidences in Adoy; he discussed Lily; he discussed misinformation; he discussed Jaslene’s and Merida’s arrests; and he even mentioned the murder of the Head Enforcer.
The chair told Parliament to ignore unverified information. However, it appeared that the accusation had caused a certain amount of outrage. Many representatives stood up to defend the House of Divine Knowledge by citing all they had done over the years. None of them sounded particularly convincing, and none of them challenged anything Rotiart had said.
Collingswaggle wanted to join in the debate, but unfortunately, John spoke before him. He made a long, rambling speech that just made the House of Divine Knowledge appear weak and apologetic. After he spoke, there was no time for any other statements or speeches. Collingswaggle had missed his opportunity.
Parliament was adjourned to allow governors and representatives to mull over the debate. Collingswaggle walked around the lobby to gauge how the vote would go. He was disturbed to see a large group of junior representatives rapping to the demise of the House of Divine Knowledge.
Collingswaggle rushed over to Dratsab. He grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the toilets.
‘You better vote the right way or I’ll destroy you,’ said Collingswaggle forcefully.
‘Cool your jets, pal,’ said Dratsab. ‘I understand you fully.’
Collingswaggle patted him on the chest and left the toilet.
Rotiart appeared. He had been standing in the corner and had heard the whole conversation. ‘I think his days will soon be numbered,’ said Rotiart.
‘These oldies have lived behind lies for so long that the truth scares them,’ said Dratsab.
‘Democracy, fake or real, is just dumb. Totalitarianism is the future,’ said Rotiart.
They both smiled at each other.
The governors and the representatives returned to the Parliament Floor. They were given thirty minutes to vote on the bill. It appeared everyone had made his or her decisions within just a few minutes. They waited in silence as the clock counted down to zero.
The chair approached the podium. He pressed the result button. He paused for a moment. He looked up at the camera crews on the fourth floor.
‘Four governors voted in favour of the bill, and eight voted against it,’ announced the chair, sounding very concerned. ‘This has not reached the supermajority required to accept or defeat the bill. The votes of the representatives will decide the outcome.’
Dratsab and Rotiart glanced across at Collingswaggle. Collingswaggle stared back at them. They both smiled. Collingswaggle diverted his gaze back to the chair. The results of the governors’ vote appeared on the big screens.
The chair pressed a button on his screen to see the results of the representatives’ vote. He stared at the results for a few seconds before looking up. ‘Sixty-three representatives voted in favour of the bill, and fifty-seven voted against it,’ announced the chair. ‘When we add the governors’ votes, the bill passes sixty-seven votes to sixty-five votes.’
There was a loud roar from the representatives aligned with the Business Sector. The results of the votes were displayed on the big screens for all to see. The chair called for silence. Within a few seconds, the floor returned to silence.
‘This law means that all House of Divine Knowledge institutes will be closed immediately,’ explained the chair. ‘All members and affiliates will be given the opportunity to denounce their relationships and ties to this organisation. Failure to do so will result in arrest. This applies to all governors and representatives as well.’
Parliament closed to cheers, applause, and celebration from representatives from the Business Sector. Collingswaggle felt sick. He tried messaging Pardi, but he did not expect a response. He had no idea where his friend was, but he really needed him.
Collingswaggle walked over to John, who was looking equally dejected. ‘I never intended things to go this far,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘I’m truly sorry.’
‘We were all at fault on this one,’ replied John. ‘Faith will guide us back to the light.’ John opened his arms to offer Collingswaggle a hug.
‘Sorry, I gotta pass on that,’ replied Collingswaggle. ‘Maybe a working lunch sometime.’
‘No problem,’ said John as he grinned at Collingswaggle. ‘Whenever you are ready.’
Collingswaggle walked briskly away. ‘I’d briefly forgotten how much I couldn’t stand that weirdo,’ said Collingswaggle to himself.
Pardi was still in the operating room in the Carvaress section of the medical centre. Since he had not looked at his phone or contacted anyone, he had no idea what had been happening over the past few days. The battery in his phone had now died. Pardi's focus was purely on the twins. He sat waiting for something to change in their condition. So far, nothing had happened. They remained on life support. He still refused to give up.
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