| SORCEROUS SIGNALS |
| Written by Robert Collins / Artwork by Holly Eddy |
| Power For All |
Trent Tinker walked into the shop of the “Castletown Weekly Journal.” He saw a young man sitting at a
desk, writing. He cleared his throat, since the man hadn’t heard him enter.
The young man looked up. “Yes?”
“Are you Alan Smith?” Trent asked.
“And you are, sir?”
“Trent Tinker.”
“Oh, yes. Pleased to meet you. Come, sit down.”
Trent walked to the desk and shook hands with Smith. He took a moment to glance around. Dominating
the shop were two modified printing presses that could handle sheets of paper twice the normal size.
Along one side of the shop were three desks, two small ones and Smith’s desk. Stored along the wall
opposite the desks were stacks of paper, both large and regular sizes, buckets of ink, and a great many
letter holders for the presses.
Smith took a chair from behind one of the small desks and placed it next to his desk. He motioned for
Trent to sit down; Trent did so.
“Well, Mister Tinker, I must say it’s a pleasure to meet the legend in person.”
“Please, call me Trent. And only use the word ‘legend’ in jest.”
“Very well. Call me Alan.”
“Thank you.”
“Although, I would have thought, given the public mood, you’d want to invoke your accomplishments.”
“I’d rather obtain new accomplishments than rely on the past.”
Smith smiled. “So you’ve been quoted.”
“I didn’t know you’d heard that.”
Smith tapped his head with his right forefinger. “I have a memory for good phrases. It’s important in this
business.”
“I see. Well, it’s the public mood that’s brought me here.”
Smith lifted a piece of paper. “May I take notes? Or is this a private conversation?”
“Oh, no, by all means. If I’d wanted to speak in private, I’d have asked you to dinner or something like
that.”
Smith set aside the piece of paper. He drew a blank sheet off a stack of such sheets on his desk. He
dipped his quill in an inkwell on the desk. “I’ll remember what you said about dinner, should you ever
invite me. May I start by asking you a question?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you something first,” Trent replied.
“All right.”
“My idea of a steam-powered rail road. Can you see how useful that idea is?”
“Of course. But do you feel the people should be taxed to pay for it?”
“I did consider forming a private enterprise to build and run it.”
“Did you drop that notion?”
“Yes. It struck me that, sooner or later, such an enterprise would have to put its profits ahead of other
aspects of the business.”
“That’s bad?”
“It would be if it became too expensive for all but the rich to use. It would also be bad if it charged more
than was fair for government transportation.”
“I can see that.”
“I also worried that the cost to build it would be more than what it would make in the beginning. That
could put the enterprise into debt at its start. That could lead to the problems of overcharging for
services, but to other problems as well.”
“A fair point, but do you believe our taxes should be raised?”
Trent took in a breath. “Alan, if you feel this rail road will be beneficial to the kingdom, would you be
willing to pay your share of its costs?”
The young man seemed to give his answer some thought. “I suppose I would.”
“Is your objection to the rail road, or to having to pay more taxes without being asked?”
“You mean, if I had some say in this tax increase, would I support your rail road? If that was the case,
then, yes, I would support it. Why do you ask?”
“Alan, Duke Ryan and I have been spending the day talking to King Andrew about all the criticism that’s
arisen since I proposed this rail road, and the tax to pay for its construction. We think we have a plan
that might ease the people’s anger. I’d like to talk to you about it. Find out what you think of our plan.”
“Very well. Is it a secret?”
“No, depending on your opinion of it.”
“Meaning, if I approve, it’s not a secret.”
“No. It’s only a secret if we have more work to do. The King doesn’t want a flawed plan released. He
wants to avoid some of the improvising that was done in the Council of Dukes with the law on
spellcasting licenses a few years ago. He feels such improvising now might make us look unprepared.”
“I see. All right, Trent. What is this great plan?”
“The plan is to create a second council, a Council of Citizens.”
“Like the Council of Dukes?”
“Yes.”
“With the same power?”
“With equal power. Both Councils will have to pass laws and tax increases for them to take effect.”
Alan was quiet for a moment. “Will the people on the Council of Citizens serve as long as the Dukes?”
“No. They will hold terms of five years.”
“Who will select them?”
“The property owners in each town and village. Every town will elect one member to the Council of
Citizens. Villages and rural areas will be grouped together so they will be represented as well.”
“And they will be able to decide if this rail road tax is to be approved?”
“Yes.”
Alan was silent again. “The people will want to know more about your idea.”
Trent raised his hand. “This idea is not mine alone.”
“It isn’t?”
“No. In fact, much of it was thought up by Duke Ryan. It was he who pointed out to the King that the
people have much more control over their lives these days.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Perhaps. Ryan asked the King what good that power was if the people had no control over their rulers.”
“That makes a great deal of sense. Why give him credit? I think if the people believed this idea was
yours, they’d be very supportive of it. I’m not so sure they’d feel that way if they thought it came from
the nobility.”
“Maybe so. I feel, first and foremost, any person who comes up with an idea should get credit for it. If
this rail road is any sort of a success, I intend to give credit to Lord Master Bearkiller. He presented the
idea of the steam boiler to me, and suggested it might be used for something other than heating water.”
“I’m not sure I’d be that generous to the man who chased me from my hometown.”
“He didn’t chase me away. Even if he did, how did it hurt me?”
“True enough.”
“As I was saying, Alan, this idea was Duke Ryan’s. I think he should get credit for it. Not only because it’
s his, but because the people need to know there are members of the nobility thinking of what’s best for
everyone, not just themselves.”
“That’s not always the case, Trent.”
“No, but times are much better now than they were twenty or thirty years ago. The nobility can’t get
away with a third of what they did back then. We should credit the late King Michael for bringing the
nobility into line.”
Alan let out a breath. “All right. This Council of Citizens. Will it have the power to advise the King?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The King will select a list of advisors called ‘Ministers.’ The senior of these will be the First Minister. There
will be Minister of the Treasury, a Minister of the Army, a Minister of the Navy, a Minister for Foreign
Affairs, a Minister of Justice, and a Minister for Spellcasting. The First Minister can be from either the
Council of Dukes or the Council of Citizens. The other six Ministers must be evenly split from both
Councils.”
“What would these Ministers do?”
“They would advise the King on policy. They would administer those who serve under them. For example,
the Minister of Spellcasting will bring license applications before the King, investigate complaints, and so
on.”
“I see. So, the King chooses these Ministers, and that’s that?”
“No. The King presents his list of Ministers to both Councils. Both have to approve of each Minister by
majority vote.”
Alan nodded. “The King won’t be able to install his allies as Ministers.” He frowned. “Can’t the Dukes stop
any Ministers they don’t like?”
Trent smiled. “Yes, but so can the Council of Citizens. Both Councils will have to get along if the
government is to function.”
“Oh, yes, I see.”
“Furthermore, the King can use the Council of Citizens to oust a Duke who acts beyond the law. Right
now the Crown can only strip a Duke of his title for acts of treason. With this new Council of Citizens,
the Crown may call for a title to be taken away if it proves its charges of lawbreaking against a Duke to
the satisfaction of two-thirds of the Council of Citizens.”
“That might keep the nobility in line.”
“I hope so. So does Duke Ryan and King Andrew.”
“It might be hard to sell that to the Dukes.”
“It might, but I think they’ll see that now there’s a process in place for the Crown to strip a title from a
Duke. There were times when treason was poorly defined.”
“Absolutely.” Alan paused for a moment. “You said that this Council of Citizens would serve for five
years. Who says when their five years is up? I could see a King counting five years, election to election.
But I could see a King maybe going by the calendar. Say, calling for an election at the start of the year,
even though the actual time would be in the autumn.”
Trent nodded his head. “I thought of the same thing. The Crown has the power to call for an election of
the Council of Citizens. In fact, a King could call for an election in three years, or four, or even two.”
“Why?”
“Everyone worries about a King having too much power. The Council of Dukes was formed to prevent
that. This Council of Citizens follows that logic. We have had a few weak Kings, and one Queen, who
were at the mercy of the Dukes.”
“Like King Andrew’s grandfather?”
“Exactly. Now, there is a chance that both these Councils might decide to do what they want, regardless
of the public mood. If that was to happen, a King could try to stop them by calling for a new election of
the Council of Citizens.”
“Wouldn’t that be a great risk?”
“A very great risk. But if the majority of the Council of Citizens was ousted, the King who called the
election would be vindicated and the people kept happy.” Trent smiled to Alan. “That part of the plan I
will take credit for.”
“You thought of this? Why?”
“The Council of Citizens is supposed to represent the people. But all of the people? Maybe, and maybe
not.”
Alan shook his head. “I don’t follow you, Trent.”
“It takes a majority of that Council to act, yes?”
“If you say so, yes.”
“Who comprises that majority? Could representatives from the more populous dukedoms band together
against those from the least populous? Would there be more representatives from towns than from the
rural areas? Might these representatives be more inclined to listen to their supporters, instead of friends
and foes alike?”
“I suppose those could all happen.”
“In each of those cases, who speaks for all the people?”
“I guess not the Council of Citizens. Probably not the nobility.”
“No. That’s where the Crown comes into this part of the plan. The King, or the Queen, let’s not forget
little Princess Rose, the Crown can represent the people.”
“Through the power to call for elections?”
“Yes, and through the power to veto laws. If the Crown vetoes a law passed by both Councils, they may
overturn that veto, but by two-thirds majorities.”
“So that part of this grand plan, that’s your idea?”
“Yes.”
“What inspired you to come up with it?”
“At the end of the debate on the spellcasting license law, King Michael said he felt the best way to ensure
peace in the kingdom was for there to be a balance of power.”
“Between the Dukes and the Crown. And now, between both Councils and the Crown.”
“Yes, but what does that balance mean? It would be one thing if the balance is to keep everyone happy,
and quite another if it’s to keep those in power, well, in power.”
“Well said, Trent, if I do say so myself.”
“Thank you.”
Alan kept writing for a few moments. When he was done he put down his quill, let out a breath, then
turned to Trent. “This plan appears to be quite good.”
Trent knew enough about people to suspect that there was something Alan wasn’t saying. “Something
about it bothers you. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I think the readers of my weekly would have two questions. It’s the questions I have about this plan.”
“What are they?”
“First, would support of this plan be conditioned on support for the rail road tax? Would we have to
swallow the tax to gain this new Council of Citizens?”
“No. The rail road can wait until the new Council is in place.”
“I think that would go over well, then.”
“What’s your other question?”
“What will this new Council of Citizens do for me?”
“For you?”
“For the lives of the ordinary people. I think what my readers would want to know is, what effect will this
new Council have on their daily lives?”
“It will give them a say in government.”
“Yes, I know that. But what does that mean? Will it mean more food on the table? More coins in our
pockets? Or fewer coins in our pockets? How will this affect us in our daily lives, and jobs, and families?”
Trent leaned back in the chair. He took a few moments to think about answers to Alan’s questions. At
last he shook his head. “I honestly don’t know the answer to that,” he replied.
“I see.” The room was quiet for an instant.
“That doesn’t mean your readers shouldn’t support this plan,” Trent said.
“Why not?”
“It occurs to me, when I put up those street lights in Greenford, all those years ago, all I was trying to
do was light up the night to help catch a killer. To make streets safer.”
“And they are.”
“Yes, but something else has happened. With those street lights, and with safer streets, it became
possible for shops to stay open longer. That’s brought an increase in commerce. Merchants have more
coins in their pockets.”
“They’re also busier.”
“True enough. My point is, I had no idea that street lights would change how business is conducted. No
one at the time even considered that.”
Alan nodded. “I suppose that wouldn’t be obvious.”
“The same thing happened with the calculator. I had no idea that making it easier for tradesmen to do
math might make it harder for dukedoms to collect taxes. Or, for that matter, that the increase in
business might require more business to be done in writing.”
“All true, I suppose.” Alan picked up his quill again and started writing. “What does it have to do with this
plan of government?”
“We can never quite know what’s going to happen when we do something. Things happen that we never
expect.” Trent smiled. “When I sat down, you said it was nice to meet the ‘legend’ in person. If I have a
good reputation, it’s because of the things I do for others. The inventions I’ve had a hand in. The plans I’
ve encouraged. Some people call me the greatest spellcaster in the history of Arcandia. I don’t think that’
s true, but I won’t be the one to say for certain one way or the other.
“I didn’t start out trying to be a legend. All that I cared about then was making a little money, and
solving a problem for my father. We can’t know where our choices or actions will take us. What we can
do is make the best choice, or take the right action, based on what we know at the time.”
Alan put down his quill. “So, my readers will have to accept this plan, or reject it, based on what seems
best right now?”
“If what they want is more say in what laws are passed, in how taxes are raised and collected, then
accepting this new Council of Citizens will give them what they want.”
“I see.”
“Tell me, Alan, why did you go into this trade, and not any other?”
“I write well. I believe there are stories in this town people need to know about. I suppose I want my
voice heard.”
“Is your voice heard?”
“Even the King reads my weekly, Trent.”
“Yes, but, is your voice heard?”
“Not always.”
“If the King and the Council of Dukes want to pass a new tax to pay for this rail road, they will do so.
You can protest that tax all you want, but right now, if that’s what they want to, there’s nothing you
can do stop them.”
”Except taking up arms against the King and the nobility.”
“Yes, but are you so opposed to this rail road that you’d consider rebellion?”
“No. I’m not certain anyone is that opposed.”
“We’ve been lucky, that way. King Andrew is a decent man. So was his father. They listen to their
people. But there have been times when we haven’t been so lucky. We have had our share of rotten
kings.
“Alan, you’re a symbol of how things are changing. As I said earlier, people have more control over their
lives. That increase means they’ll want to have control over their government. You, and the other editors
of these new weeklies, you act as their voice. Unless they have power, their voice won’t be heard. That’s
a concern now, but not a crisis.”
“One day it might rise to become a crisis?”
“It could.”
“If this new Council of Citizens voted down your rail road, would you still support the idea of the Council?”
“Of course. That would mean that either my rail road idea needs work, or that I just have to try again.”
Alan nodded. “I think saying that will go over well, Trent.”
“So do you like this proposal?”
“Talking to you, I think I might be inclined to support it. I’ll need some time to consider the details.” Alan
put down his quill. “Is this the secret of your success?”
“What?”
“Talking? Persuading?”
“If I’ve had any success in my life, it’s due more to thinking than to talking.”
“If you’ve had any success?”
Trent smiled. “One of my flaws.”
Alan smiled back. “Actually, I think that might be the secret to your success.”
I've had three SF novels published: "Monitor," "Lisa's Way,"
and "Expert Assistance." I've also had a coming of age novel
published called "True Friends." I've had stories and articles
appear in periodicals such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy
Magazine; Tales of the Talisman; Space Westerns; Sorcerous
Signals; Wild West; and Model Railroader. I've had two
biographies published, one of "Bleeding Kansas" leader Jim Lane,
and the other of a Kansas Civil War general.
I've had six Kansas railroad books published by South Platte
Press.
and "Expert Assistance." I've also had a coming of age novel
published called "True Friends." I've had stories and articles
appear in periodicals such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy
Magazine; Tales of the Talisman; Space Westerns; Sorcerous
Signals; Wild West; and Model Railroader. I've had two
biographies published, one of "Bleeding Kansas" leader Jim Lane,
and the other of a Kansas Civil War general.
I've had six Kansas railroad books published by South Platte
Press.