Monday, April 18, 2050

The King of Pluto

August 22, 2039 was an important day for me. On that day, I had been a resident of Pluto for exactly one year, and thus under the terms of the International Space Treaty of 2026 I qualified for Plutonian citizenship. I transmitted my application for citizenship to the appropriate authorities back on Earth, and the next day my application was approved.

As a citizen of Pluto, I was entitled to establish the form of government here, within certain restrictions outlined by the 2026 treaty (for instance, I couldn't pass any laws discriminating against minorities). During my trip out from Earth, I had drawn up a constitution establishing a constitutional monarchy, and now I was ready to impement it. I called a constitutional convention to order, reported out the draft constitution I had drawn up, and unanimously approved it. I then scheduled a plebescite, during which I voted to enact the constitution. After that, I held elections for the Planetary Assembly, and voted for myself. As Pluto's Assemblyman, I voted for myself to fill the vacant Plutonian throne, then held a coronation. Five minutes after gaining Plutonian citizenship, I had become the first King of Pluto.

My first act as King of Pluto was to formally annex Charon, Hydra, and Nix to the kingdom, and grant myself the subsidiary titles of Duke of Charon, Baron Hydra, and Baron Nix. In addition to these purely local titles, I was also, in my capacity as a member of the International Space Agency, Commander of the Pluto mission, as well as Commander of the Hades and Commander of Pluto Station.

This may seem like a lot of unnecessary foolishness, but I felt it would be a good idea to establish the forms of government as early as possible. As the history of the Lunar settlements shows, all sorts of problems can crop up when there's no established government, and when, in due course, other people settle on Pluto (long after I'm dead and gone, I hope), they'll have a tradition of government to fall back on.

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