The Blue Marble

It is not easy to buy a gift for the Emperor. There is very little he does not have and rarely anything he cannot get. But the Queen is determined to present the perfect gift for his upcoming birthday. Her last few attempts were adequate to say the least, a rare mineral or an exotic creature. The Emperor would attempt an exaggerated smile when he saw it, before flashing an even bigger smile towards her, his eyes communicating gratitude more than surprise.

The adoring crowd assembled to commemorate the event was always filled with applause and awed gasps, which frankly made the Queen feel worse. The Queen thought she had finally nailed the perfect gift on his last birthday when she presented the first sword he wielded as a young officer, one thought to have been lost. He was a young artillery officer then, and already a brilliant commander and soldier. He was awarded the sword like every commissioned officer, a long sabre made of the finest metal in existence, as a symbol of his command. The Emperor wielded it throughout his career, up to the point when he ran it through his greatest foe, and finally ascended to the position of the almighty Emperor. The Queen always loved the story but was saddened by its ending, the sword went missing in the heat of that battle.

The Queen thought she had the chance to redeem the story when she finally found the sword at great expense, paid in both currency and blood (not hers of course). She presented it to him, thoroughly restored and polished to the point where it was more brilliant than a diamond, but she received the same customary response. The Emperor then offered to donate the sword to the museum as a gift for his subjects. It was a grand gesture to the public, and a deep stab into the Queen’s heart. 

She spends weeks nursing her wounds before she has an epiphany and curses herself for knowing so little about her beloved. The Emperor is a person of great vision who always looks to the future, the sword is a relic of the past which of course meant little to him. The Queen feels herself reinvigorate by a new sense of purpose as she finally knows what the Emperor would want for his next birthday!

After a month of preparation, the Queen summons the General she tasked for the project to brief her on its progress. The General places a small silver orb on the ground which projects an elaborate, virtual map into the air. He highlights the target before launching into a briefing on its background and features. The bored Queen promptly interrupts the General and hurries him to unveil the part she is most concerned with, the options to obtain her prize.

The General nods in obedience and presents the first, a massive operation that will involve all arms of the empire’s military might. The logistics of assembling such a force will require significantly more time to prepare but the conquest of the target is likely to be swift with a greater chance of success. The Queen spends a few moments to survey the additional details on the virtual presentation. They make it even more unreadable to her and she feels a headache coming on. The Queen is of the impression that native resistance will use primitive tactics and weapons, their vastly superior forces therefore should make it a quick endeavor. She considers if the General is probably exercising a trademark caution typical of military commanders, and that her prize can be obtain much sooner. She twirls her finger for the General to unveil the second option.

If the first option is the hammer, the second is a scalpel. They will take a stealthy approach of sending operatives to infiltrate and destabilize before taking over. The operatives are ready to be sent immediately, but the surprisingly complex administrative governance of the target means it will take longer to accomplish their goals. Furthermore, success is less certain given the myriad of factors to control. The Queen inquires how much longer than the first option in which the General estimates a timeline of between a year or several. The Queen shakes her head vigorously at that reply, the target has to be taken and ready to be presented under a year. She inquires how sophisticated can their governance be that will take such a long time. The General explains the target mostly adopts a democratic system of rule and while they merely need to control a significant few, the process will still take time.

The Queen therefore decides option number one as the only viable choice and dismisses him to prepare. The General stiffens his body for a salute before collecting the silver orb off the ground. Privately though, the General worries he may have overstated the success rate of option one, but decides to keep it to himself. As he is making his way out of the Queen’s room, she casually adds another condition to his mission, it must be kept a secret. She wants to present the conquest as a surprise for the Emperor. The General curses to himself, that last criterion would have made the second option the simpler one.

After months of breakneck preparation, the General is about to send a telecommunication message to the Queen when she strolls in the assembly area with her entourage.

“Are my quarters ready, General?”

“Your Eminence, I didn’t know you will be coming along?”

“You don’t think I’m going to sit on the sidelines while you retrieve my prize, do you?” The Queen said with a tone of incredulity.

“Forgive me, but it is a military campaign and highly dangerous. It is not proper for…”

The Queen cut him off before he has a chance to finish, “Don’t worry about me, General. You just make sure your forces do not fail.”

The Queen ends her sentence with a piercing stare at the General, who quickly understood she is not asking for permission. He manages a hasty bow before summoning a subordinate to take the Queen to her quarters aboard the flagship.

After she took a moment to freshen up, the Queen made her way to the bridge of the flagship and admires the military force massed in front of her. The size of the armada is impressive enough and assembled in secret no less, the General has certainly outdone himself. A tear in space soon turns into a black circular hole, after which the fleet speeds through it and arrives at their destination in mere seconds.

“Your Highness, our forces are ready to begin on your orders.”

The Queen looks out the main window as the flagship closes on her target, from the distance it looks like a shimmering blue marble with white swirls on it. It is the planet the native humans call Earth.

“Alright General, go secure my prize and be quick about it. I have a schedule to keep.” The Queen said with an almost gleeful smile.