Kren's Departure
The ceremony whereby Kren enlarged General Yor up to Duke Yor had taken half a day. It had been so long since a duke had voluntarily given up his power that Kren had had to assign a historian to find out the proper procedure.
It was boring, but it had to be done.
The next day, Duke Kren walked from the train station to the side of the gross-thousand-mile-high geosynchronous cable that would take him to his waiting fleet. He had only three Mitchegai with him. Duke Yor, Dol, and Bronki. The crowds and the news cameras had been kept far away.
Kren stopped at the doorway.
"Duke Yor, I think that I have taught you everything that I can about successfully running my old duchy. You are as prepared as you possibly can be. But one last word of advice. You must rule with a firm hand. If you encounter the slightest opposition from anyone on anything, you must be absolutely ruthless. This is especially important in the first few dozen years. Perhaps after that, you can let up a bit if you wish. But at first, until they fear you as much as they fear me, when in doubt, burn them publicly at the stake, and in large numbers. It is far better to kill the innocent than to let anyone think that you are soft."
"I will act on your advice, Your Grace," Duke Yor said.
"And you two," Kren said to Bronki and Dol, "My advice to you is to keep expanding. Keep building underground fields of grass, keep increasing the food supply, keep the population expanding. Nothing stays the same in this universe. You must continue to grow, or you will start to die!"
"Yes, sir," Dol said. "There will be no change in your basic policy. It has worked well for two thousand years, and it will continue to do so."
Bronki said, "We will be sending you messages every few years, just to let you know what is happening. In a few gross years, once you have an interstellar laser built in your new solar system, drop us a line, and tell us of your new life there. Remember that we will always be your good friends. One last thing. I have gone over the history tape that you gave me. I've annotated it, and made you a copy. I think that you should take it with you, for reference, if nothing else."
Bronki gave the tape to Kren, who put the tape in his pouch.
He had nothing more to say. Feeling much as he had the day when he had first stepped out of the Senta Copper Mine, he stepped into the elevator, looking forward to his next exciting new adventure.