The Fall of the House of Collingwood

Twenty-five days ago, John "Tiger" Collingwood arrived on Regina, not only as the new military governor, but as the "Duke Presumptive". Collingwood has a distinguished military career behind him and the connections among the ruling classes to make his elevation a "fait accompli". Regina however is a furnace that either forges personalities to trueness or reduces them to glowing slag.

The first challenge which met the governor was the wildly unsettled matter of the death of his predecessor. Aside from the allegations that it was Collingwood himself who had ordered Corina Ling-Raleigh's death, the death itself left very thorny political problems for Collingwood.

Collingwood initially was successful in bringing order to the disturbance which occurred outside the offices of Regina Security Up Port, without massive civilian casualties. However, his course down the political path came to resemble the struggles of a man in quicksand. The more he fought, the faster he sank into the quagmire. First came the embarrassment of the Regina corruption hearings upon which he had initially staked his reputation. The downward spiral had begun.

Although Collingwood had previous experience as the military governor of a planet he seemed to flounder in his dealings with the civil bureaucracy, and later with the new military government of the planet. As his administration became mired down, his personal behavior became more brash. Known to his men by the nickname "Tiger", Collingwood lived up to his reputation as a man of action, if not one of premeditation or forethought.

This brashness was demonstrated during his brief tenure by his carousing with the brass of the new military junta, his dueling in Aguilon Park and finally, in his tragic suicide.

Friends of the Collingwood family have described an unceasing rivalry between John Collingwood and his father, Spencer Collingwood, the Exchequer of the Domain of Deneb. No matter what "Tiger" accomplished it never seemed to surpass the exploits and achievements of his father. Collingwood was then faced with a plausible challenge to his elevation to Duke of Regina, by Corina Ling-Raleigh. This was merely the electric current supplied to the firing line of a previously constructed demolition charge that destroyed John Collingwood's character.

He personally wielded the pistol that he used to take his own life. But he was destroyed by the father that he could never please, the years of combat fatigue, the unrelenting pressures of success and his ambition. The surprise would not be that he took his own life, but that he didn't so it sooner.

Lest people say that we have been too harsh in our judgment of his family, consider his father's fate. The ill fated rivalry between father and son also destroyed the father. Spencer Collingwood arrived at the hospital on Regina in time to make an ugly scene over his son's body. Apparently the elder Collingwood was furious that his son had finally escaped his wrath. Unable to destroy his son any further, within 24 hours Spencer Collingwood had also taken his own life.

If there is any truth to the existentialist theories - these two are still contending in the afterlife. They are linked together by their mutual hatred in a way that not even death could destroy. If Spencer Collingwood had been present at the wedding reception, perhaps John would have shot Spencer prior to killing himself, given the opportunity to do so.

The real question is, given only one bullet, who would Tiger have shot?