Chapter 18

“And so, with regret, I order the surrender of the New Zealand government and armed forces to this ... Leviathan and his ... Commonwealth. I also resign the office of Prime Minister and await the appointment of a new government or administration for this formerly sovereign nation. I will continue to serve as a caretaker until a new custodian is appointed...,” the Prime Minister of New Zealand declared, just as I appeared next to her and brought my harem in tow.

“No, you won’t. I hereby appoint George as the new custodian of New Zealand. No, he’s not a Kiwi, but I have to ensure the loyalty of the territorial government during the transition. Quite frankly, I don’t trust you, especially given your reluctance to submit to my proper authority. Your agenda and mine are candidly quite different. You seem focused on wokeness or whatever, rather than the best interests of the community, society, and people.

“For instance, your legal ‘reforms’ have undercut due process of law and the presumption of innocence. We can’t have that, can we? Time to abolish that claptrap now and posthaste. Proper legal jurisprudence will be restored and I will not tolerate any kind of end run around the necessary burden of proof. In the future, all citizens will have their day in court, no matter what the cost,” I stipulated, earning a terrified and bewildered look on the former prime minister’s face.

“What will become of me?” she asked me with a very sincere and worried tone in her voice.

“Time will tell, but for now, take a nice, healthy retirement with your man here, preferably somewhere outside of my domain. We’ll decide the future of New Zealand and the rest of the world without your input, thank you very much. You’re relatively young. You can start fresh, can’t you? Maybe even be a star on the lecture circuit or something like that,” I rolled my eyes, frankly no longer as interested in her as I used to be.

She was a bit dull these days, very woke and prudish, anyway. Of course, she did me a useful turn with the gun thing, not that I opposed guns, just that it would make resistance to my rule that much more difficult to create without any serious civilian ordnance. Rogue police and military units might be a threat, but they would be quashed in time. There would be no real underground or asymmetrical peril to my annexation of New Zealand to my Commonwealth. Any sympathizers with armbands could be armed in haste to help me consolidate my rule.

“Very well, we’re going to Stockholm, right, dear?” she turned to her boyfriend, who began distancing himself from her physically already.

“No, you are. I’m staying put, if that is permitted,” he told his girlfriend, the former PM, “oh, and can I get an armband somewhere?”

“We’ll look into it, sir. I think that you just became a single woman again, madam,” I informed her curtly that it sounded as if she had just been dumped.

“Yes, she has,” her boyfriend, or rather ex-boyfriend, made it plain as day.

“So be it. Go to hell for all I care,” she stormed off and began packing for her move.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the ex’s opportunism. He didn’t wish to fall on his sword like the former PM, did he? She was fine as long as she was a rising star. He would put up with her rubbish for the moment for a brilliant future. It was another matter entirely when she was on her way back down. As Pompey once told Sulla, “more people worship the rising than the setting sun.” Yeah, he was a survivor, wasn’t he?

“Okay, enough of that noise. Now, George, take your pick of the local women, of course, but most of all, prepare this land for full integration into the Commonwealth and compliance with its laws and my vision for the future. Don’t forget to bug that bitch before she leaves. I don’t want her to be able to shave her twat without me knowing about it, okay? I want to know what she is up to at all times, in case she gets any funny notions of reclaiming her previous authority,” I warned George as he took office as temporary viceroy of Leviathan in New Zealand.

The Kiwis would be mine, too, and I couldn’t wait to see what they did under my auspices, just as with the Aussies, Canadians, etc. I would build my new global social, economic, and political order, whatever the cost. The old elites would have to join me or get out of my fucking way. Their days were numbered as the rulers of Earth.

It was MY turn, damn it, and I would make them feel my full wrath before the end of it.