Solis Ortum — Sunrise, One Hour to Hora Prima

"President Solin," Justin Marius tried, "you must immediately declassify any projects that may have contributed to this solar phenomenon."

The sun rose early this morning. The sun rose early. Justin tried not to think about it, which was why he kept using the phrase 'solar irregularity.' How can the sun rise early? kept intruding on his thoughts. Even that phrase, a dead metaphor from a time before a modern understanding of the movement of celestial bodies, was a euphemism, concealing what it meant. The sun is a star, and stars don't rise. Planets orbit them, and rotate. So how could the sun rise early?

He wanted to yell. Long ago he had burst out of his seat at the conference table, high up in a glass fish bowl office in levitating Pleione Tower.

Pleione gave Gaia home field advantage at the emergency meeting Justin had called. Every executive could easily have been linked to Justin's complex in Eosphorus, as he had requested as leader of the opposition faction, but the president had ignored him. She named Pleione the base of operations for dealing with the 'solar phenomenon.'

Pacing the office high in the clear blue sky, he found himself repeating himself: "All departments must contribute to diagnosing the source of the problem, putting all other projects on hold for today. President Solin, all classified projects must be revealed at the least to the entire board, if not to the public, immediately."

The magic cast surface of the table rippled occasionally, like a quiet creek, now reflecting glints of late morning sunlight when the time on his watch read solis ortum on the dot. Sunrise on the dot, one hora to prima.

She wasn't listening, and hadn't been listening. Arms crossed over a violet kimono, she whispered unabashedly with Amadeus Solace. Seats around the conferance table were filled with other allies, such as Tony Solari, who would have been fired by now if Solin had what Justin had on him. Maybe Justin should have simply gone with that play. And wasn't old Amadeus supposed to be retired by now? It seemed Gaia had talked him into staying around for election day.

She was surrounded by allies. Yet Justin had a few of his own linked in between their morning meetings. He had tried not to laugh as Portia had tip-toed oh-so-reluctantly through a portal. He placed her strategically far from him at the table so as to make the far corner seem like a mob of support, while Candra Satiri stood at his back like a body guard. Or a snarling guard dog.

Tony Solari, on his feet now too, answered for Gaia. "Absolutely not. We cannot release sensitive research. If the sun's behavior is the result of any Constellation experiment, the department responsible will handle it."

From her far corner, Portia piped up, "The sun's behavior? Sol is a self-luminous, spheroidal, celestial body of great mass at the center of a planetary system, not a puppy with a bladder problem." A few executives seated in her corner couldn't keep from chuckling, unintentionally aligning exactly with Portia's intentions.

Now that they were softened by humor . . . "All projects must be made transparent. Classified projects dealing with weaponry," Justin ticked a finger, "or flight," he ticked another, "time travel," another, "or any amendment to the current star dial . . . configuration — it must all be revealed to this board. President Solin's opposition has zero confidence that the entities that created this mess will be capable of fixing it. Before it gets to the point that the sun is speeding through the sky twice its normal speed, oversight must be given over to our control."

The meeting, however, was still out of Justin's control, not least because Gaia Solin kept trying to walk out of it. For the fifth time, by Justin's count, Gaia squirmed toward the door. It seemed the president of the company that invented magic had forgotten that if she really wanted to escape, she could take a link wherever she was going. Even she hadn't developed that instinct yet. Every time Justin asked a hard question or made a strong argument, her body weight shifted toward the door — yet there were many enemies and desk chairs between her and escape.

Portia took another round with, "Which of this company's projects caused the sun to rise early?"

Gaia put her hands out, calmingly, as if to tamp down on the outrage. As if outrage were floating out in the air between them. She said, "It's not anything I did," as if her mere word would reassure Portia Nero.

From between the president and the door, Candra Satiri scoffed, perfectly timed, "Whatever the cause, the president is responsible for Constellation's impact on our customers'—"

"Yes, I am," Gaia interrupted. "And the day someone else takes the office of the president, that person will decide how to handle the responsibility. Today I hold the office of the company presidency, and I intend to address the Solari empire. Excuse me."

Candra refused to budge. Hands on hips, she seemed immovable even in heels. Her temper, often and at present, made Justin's outrage look temperate. As she told Gaia, "Not until we're finished having this discussion," most exequis kept wide eyes on her; she blocked the door like a bouncer unimpressed with a fake ID.

Thus, no one seemed to find Justin's next tack to be all that out of line. "I know what you're going out there to say. Speeding up the clock on the day of a scheduled vote for leadership change? That's very inventive."

Solin made a sound in her throat. A grunt or laugh, a dismissal. "Inventive, impossible, and a ridiculous idea to even entertain." Halfway to a chuckle, she exchanged conspiratorial eye contact with Tony Solari.

From the door, Candra said, "The public has no idea what's impossible and what's not as they wait for you in the shadow of your floating office tower."

The tactic was working perfectly. The less Justin had to say that might anger the people in this room, the better; he still needed a number of their votes.

Yet Tony Solari knew who to keep his eyes on, and it was Justin he addressed when he came to Gaia's defence. "If you claim the president did this intentionally, the public will see through you."

Gaia put a hand on Solari's arm and spoke for herself. "Does anyone really expect a leadership change in twelve hours? Does it matter if you only get six? I didn't speed up the clock, yet it may be a good idea to continue to adhere to it; to confront this threat, we should solidify consistent power and concentrate all of our resources to confronting a greater threat."

"I thought you didn't plan to concentrate the resources of all departments, President Gaia."

"Perhaps I've taken your suggestion under advisement, Exequi."

"Don't downplay my concern for the integrity of the election process. I need until hora duodecima to make alterations to my platform with the new foresight I've been given into how the controlling faction tampers with dangerous forces. And I claim that the president is at the very least taking advantage of a dangerous situation to affect the results of the vote, and hold the election early."

Silence fell between the grown adults who had been shouting at each other. It was a heavy accusation, and made loudly, and in most situations Soliari handled such confrontations through whispers, quietly. A quiet moment was taken to let the words settle like the aftermath of a blast.

Finally Tony Solari said, "Not early. You've had a year to prepare a platform, and the meeting will be held at crepesculum, the half hour of sunset twilight, according to schedule."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Justin had one last prepared speech in him. "President Solin, respectfully, I will let you go address the Soliari people in a moment, but let me say first that this is your last chance to do the right thing. I stand before you on the day of the electoral vote on behalf of millions of Soliari who have deep concerns about the way you run this company. The rapid advancement, new implications for magic, experimentation with dangerous forces . . . And today, when I seek to gain the office of the presidency, the sun has risen ahead of schedule. What greater portent could there be that Constellation leadership is out of control? 

"Our citizens beg you to slow magic advancement and ensure all of our safety. If you do not take every appropriate measure to correct the speed of the sun's course through the sky, the people will hold you accountable. This board will hold you accountable. I promise you will not get away with whatever irresponsible tampering created this threat to our existence. And if you haven't fixed it by crepesculum, you will face the consequences."

The speech was powerful. He could feel it. Just like when he gave orations to his followers. As he said it, it occurred to Justin that the best way to secure electoral victory this evening would be to ensure that the president did not correct the speed of the sun's course through the sky. He wondered whether he could put anyone on that.

A/N Thank you for reading Stars Rise, a novel in the Constellations universe. Please stay tuned for the chapters to come, and if you like the story, you will love the short Constellations on my profile: When Inyanga Goes to Magicians College, Bay Works At the Cloud, and It Feels As If A Spell Has Been Placed Over Izara's Neighborhood.

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