There were two major factions that came to be when Springfield started
trying to form a new society on Durus. They were completely cut off from
Earth, and now the responsibility fell on them, and them alone, to survive.
Some people followed Smith and his despotocracy, while others were loyal to
Councilwoman Hardt. People on both sides at least liked her, so an all out
war would have spelled trouble for everyone. Still, she was never able to
maintain enough power to take control of the situation, and Smith ruled over
everyone for years. He was the one who figured out how to protect everyone
using the Baby Barrier, and that won him too many points to overcome,
because even those on Hardt’s side knew they had to protect themselves from
the monsters. Even within these two factions, there were those who were more
peaceful, and those who were more violent. The latter wanted a war,
believing that the winner would decide how things played out for the next
several years. There seemed to be no doubt that the special children would
grow up and lead them one day, but that wouldn’t be for a long time, so
there was a lot of work to do until then. One subgroup decided after about
three years of Smith’s rule that it was time for an official change in
leadership. They started planning a coup, which they felt had to include
Smith’s assasination. Now, there weren’t a lot of people with experience
with this sort of thing. There were a few law enforcement officers, but they
had all chosen Smith. Some in town were part of the military, but nearly all
of them had died, because they were always first to place themselves in
danger for the greater good. Only one veteran was still alive at this point,
and he was pretty old, so while he could teach the would-be assassins how to
carry out their mission, he wouldn’t be able to handle it himself. Either
way, they needed to convince him to help the cause. He was quite reluctant,
since he had left all that violence behind him, and he was never gung-ho
about it in the first place. In the end, he agreed that a transfer of power
was the only way to turn this town from a place of inequality, to a thriving
community founded upon fairness.
Smith had too many people in his pocket, so instead of trying to get them
all out, perhaps their only choice was to simply destroy the pocket. They
had just spent this whole time trying to use reason, and it had gotten them
nowhere. Violence was not ideal, but they had always considered it the last
resort, and now they believed this was the moment to descend to it. They
chose their best marksman, which wasn’t saying much with this lot, but it
wasn’t like it would have been on Earth. There was no federal government to
come down on them, or significant public outcry. The primary obstacle was
going through with the act itself; not getting away with it afterwards. That
wasn’t to say there wouldn’t be any fallout, but they felt prepared to deal
with the aftermath, because justice was on their side. Unfortunately,
conviction was not enough to make this work. Their assassin was caught, and
sentenced to death by exile. She held strong, though, and did not give up
any of her compatriots. Only she was ultimately punished for treason. Smith
and his loyalists were twisted, but they were also cowards. No one was
willing to execute her themselves, but if they forced her outside the
protected perimeter, there was a chance she would survive, and that cleared
their respective consciences, and gave them comfort, so they could sleep at
night. Of course, intellectually, they knew there was no way she would last
the week, because they were ignorant about how this world worked. Time
monsters were drawn to people, but more than that, they were drawn to
crowds. It was much easier for a single individual to move about the lands
undetected. That didn’t mean the exile was completely safe, but she did
survive, and their lack of follow through would prove to be Smith’s people’s
downfall.
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