Letter of Resignation from the Central Committee of the Governorate of Luna
TO: Cyril Brook, President of the Executive Council of the External Service
FROM: Artemon Sankaran, President of the Central Committee of the Governorate of Luna
DATE: 17 December 2308
SUBJECT: Letter of Resignation
Cyril,
Please accept this letter as notice of resignation from my post as representative and president of the Central Committee of the Governorate of Luna.
I have spent six years on the Committee, serving as its president for the past two. Even now I still consider it the honor of my life. Throughout my 21-year career in the External Service, I have been nothing but dedicated to the Restitution Project and to our mission of efficient and just administration of the interplanetary settlements. I do not think it an overstatement to say that my record of faithful service is beyond reproach. Never have I imagined that my career would end here, but the events of December 6-8 have left me with no choice.
I want to impress upon you the scale of the disaster which has just occurred. The latest reports suggest that at least 10,147 people died in the span of three days, the vast majority after the depressurization of part of Apollo Station on Dec. 8. For comparison, 6,761 people died in the Okamura Station Fire and 3,919 people died in the bombing of the Aristide Durand. The use of military force so close to Earth is unprecedented, and the damage from which might never be repaired.
Before, during, and after this catastrophe, however, the Committee and I have had our authority utterly disregarded. We were not notified in advance when the Executive Council issued new speech and assembly laws for Luna, nor were we kept informed of events when violence broke out. We learned that the External Marines were coming to restore order after they had already arrived.
In fact, I still don’t know who gave the order to depressurize a densely-populated residential neighborhood in Apollo Station. I understand that the External Tribunal has issued an arrest warrant for Flight Commander Ashanti Vuong-Teague. From my connections with members of the Tribunal, I also understand that this warrant is legally and factually baseless. If Commander Vuong-Teague did not issue the order, who did? Certainly not the lawful governing body of Luna, since we only learned what happened after the fact.
I am furious that the External Service has chosen to circumvent my authority in order to slaughter people for whom I am ultimately responsible. The law is very clear as to our respective duties, and so I can only reason that we were purposely kept ill-informed and thus incapable of carrying out our responsibilities. If the Central Committee is not allowed to govern, then I see no reason to remain at my post, especially not to be party to a massacre. I resign my positions in the Committee effective immediately.
TO: Artemon Sankaran
FROM: Cyril Brook, President of the Executive Council of the External Service
DATE: 23 December 2308
SUBJECT: Re: Letter of Resignation from the Central Committee
Mr. Sankaran,
Your letter of resignation has been received. Please do not refer to me by my first name.