Now came the hard part. Ted was going to have to confront Kenneth again.
It had been exactly one week since the order from Dreve to cease military action. Reluctantly, Kenneth had agreed to free his few Drevi prisoners as a show of good will, and the Drevi had cooperated as well, shutting down all of their facilities and releasing every human they had in their custody. It seemed in defeat the Drevi were pretty honorable, and many of the remaining troops had been extremely apologetic in the wake of the horrifying facts that had come out. Vandoraa said several of the Houses had actually ordered their subjects to help in making reparations. Not all of the Drevi had been so willing, however, and there had been reports of skirmishes, but fortunately the incidents had been neutralized rather quickly. Most of the Drevi troops were allowed to return to their home world unmolested. In retribution for what had happened, however, there were plans to set up joint military tribunals in the months to come, with the Koleans being the somewhat neutral mediating third party. Some officers, scientists, and commanders had indeed crossed the line and were going to be sentenced for war crimes, as were some of the rather brutal human resistance leaders. Queen Sostewa herself had been removed from office and her trial was to be the final one. For the moment, a council of the Heads of the Houses was the highest governing body on Dreve. Tavron, General Toka, and Kenneth had worked out the details of the withdrawal and the war tribunals, and while the agreement wasn’t popular in some circles, all parties involved seemed to think it was the best they could do at the moment.
The December had remained in orbit around Earth throughout the initial negotiations. Alana was with her mother on one of the Kolean ships and Ted had no clue where Bea was half the time. When Bea was on board, she was working hard repairing the December. Trell alternated his time between being with Alana, keeping the December running properly, and being in the communications center on the Yulasa, where he was sending messages back and forth to his parents. Vandoraa was almost always on the bridge, if he wasn’t sleeping or eating. Ted continued to recover from his injuries, but the process was slow. Every once in a while he was called down to the planet’s surface for something or another, and he’d had several meetings with General Toka, but nothing seemed to be happening. He continued to inquire about Rachel’s whereabouts, but continuously came up empty.
Eight days after the cease fire, Ted finally got a summons from Kenneth. He was sent coordinates and a meeting time and that was it. Of course, the time he’d picked was an hour before Juiya’s funeral was set to begin. Many of the Kolean troops who had died in the fighting were getting two funerals, a military one and a private one once their bodies were transported home. The crew of the December, except Bea who hadn’t known him, were planning to attend Juiya’s ceremony and Ted hoped whatever Kenneth needed to say wouldn’t take too long. In spite of the time constraints, he was ecstatic about actually getting to do something and informed Vandoraa that he’d be gone most of the afternoon.
Vandoraa, who was the only officer on board at the time, said, “I’ll be here. I hope you get back in time.”
A small, older ship came from the planet to pick him up, something Ted appreciated since he hadn’t been able to practice flying the December’s shuttles, not to mention the December herself, due to his injuries. The resistance ship was so small there was only room for a few people to sit, with some chairs and a table and something akin to kitchen cabinets in the back. The three people on the ship didn’t say a word to him the entire trip.
The ship set down in a small port just outside of Washington D.C., and he was met by an entourage of armed former resistance members, who now seemed to be the makeshift police force of the area. They escorted him down the streets of the city and into the Capitol Building.
Inside was bustling with activity. There were people of all sorts running, actually running, left and right to see to their duties. Communicators were beeping constantly and obsolete phones were ringing off the hook. People were shouting at all registers, creating a deafening din. Doors slammed. Someone was babbling hysterically. All the noise and commotion was giving Ted a headache. More than once his security guards had to bump someone out of their way, or push someone aside who was going to collide with Ted. It was a relief to enter one of the offices into relative silence, the noise outside being muted by the walls. A man of African heritage sat behind a desk in the back of the room, whom Ted figured had to be Jesse, judging by his name plate.
“Jesse?” Ted said, offering his hand. “Pleased to meet you, I’m Ted Anderson.”
The man looked up from the paper he was writing on and shook Ted’s hand. “Yeah, I’m Jesse Murdoch. Been Ken’s friend and hunting buddy for a long time now. He’s told me a lot about you.”
Ted wasn’t sure that was a good thing. “Is Ken in there?” he asked, indicating the closed office door to their right.
“Yes,” said Jesse. “He’s been on the phone all morning with some guy who’s proclaimed himself King of the Asian States. Ken’s threatening to mow him down if he doesn’t get in line and run in the elections like everyone else.”
“I guess it’s been kind of hectic.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jesse said with an emphasized groan. “You’ll have to wait a minute until he’s off the phone.”
“That’s fine.” There was a pause. “Did you get the November?” Ted asked, trying to make conversation.
“We did,” he said. “But damn, that was nothing compared to what you did. Turned the whole Drevi army against their Queen? Forced them to rethink their policies? I have to hand it to you, man, that was pretty badass.”
Ted grinned at the compliment.
The voice on the other side of the door died down and Jesse pointed his pen in that direction. “Go on in.”
Ted nodded slowly and entered Kenneth’s office. It was mostly bare, but there were several odd decorations, namely a rather atrocious-looking tapestry. Kenneth, clad in a fancy red suit, sat behind the large desk.
“Ted.” Kenneth sounded tired as he set the phone down. “Sit down. Please.”
Ted did just that.
“How are you feeling? Bea told me you were hurt pretty bad.”
“I’m doing fine,” Ted informed him. Ted had made an effort to get back to Neptune Station for a checkup after his hopefully final encounter with Gavton. The lung was fine and Ted was in good shape. But Ted wanted to get down to business. “So, what’s going on?”
“I want you to dock the December at Earth Station,” Kenneth said. “We’ve got a bunch of volunteers there right now, some of them returning to their original posts from before the Drevi came. We’re trying to find as many ships as we can to fix up and register who’s on them. I already sent some ships to Neptune Station. We’re going to try and set up a better communication system with them that’s more or less instant.”
Ted nodded. All this was sounding good to him.
“We still haven’t gotten hold of Alice Phantomwise of the May or Archie Barrer of the July,” Kenneth continued. “But they’re bound to come back sooner or later, and then they can be incorporated into the force as well.”
“The force?” Ted inquired, wondering what he meant by that.
“I’m planning on taking the remaining ships of the Twelve, as well as other Earth ships, and incorporating them into a larger military fleet to be governed by a new space administration that will be set up as soon as a new government and constitution of planet Earth is established,” he said.
Ted did not like this at all. “The December is my ship, Ken. I won’t turn her over to you,” he said, his anger rising. That protective anger didn’t surprise him anymore. When this had all begun, it would have, but... The ship was his. He’d fought for it and nearly died for it. He had spilled blood upon its decks, and cried with only the ship to witness his tears. To him, the December was a close friend and ally, just the same as any of the people who had helped him retake Earth or who were a part of his crew, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to turn h
er over to some new government bureaucracy led by a romanticized rebel in a nice suit.
Kenneth glared at him, but Ted didn’t avert his eyes or even blink. He would not back down on this. “Ted...” Kenneth said dangerously.
“There needs to be a central space administration for defense, I won’t deny that,” Ted said. “But I won’t let you incorporate any existing ships against the wills of their crews. I’ll take the December to Kolea if you try and force me, and you’ll never see either of us again,” Ted threatened. “By their laws, I own her already.” It was unfair to play that card, and Ted knew it. After all, his thoughts were selfish. Humanity needed his ship if they were going to establish themselves as an interstellar power, and even then it wasn’t a sure bet. But the December was his, and he was not going to see her become a warship.
Sensing Ted’s determination, Kenneth backed down. He knew the loss of his flagship would be devastating and this kind of infighting would only end in catastrophe. “Let’s make a deal, then. Once a government is formed, I will propose this policy: the existing ships are the property of their captains, who may choose their own crew. However, these ships may be called upon in times of war and that order must be obeyed, or there will be consequences. New ships will be built for a military fleet once a planet-wide military is formed. I’ll have my people draft the law, and we’ll go over it together before anyone signs it officially.”
Ted thought it over. It was a reasonable agreement. “Agreed. The ships wouldn’t be of much use if they couldn’t defend us when we needed it, now would they?”
“I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding.”
“If that’s all you have for me, I’m afraid I need to go.” Ted stood to leave.
Kenneth said, “I’ll keep in touch with you and the Parliament of Kolea. With any luck, we’ll figure out the Drevi situation once things settle down with them and a new monarch is in place.”
Ted stopped in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder. “Let’s hope so.”
December Page 52
