Méridien (The Silver Ships Book 3)
Page 8
When Clayton sat down, the Speaker invited Alex to respond. Rather than start with a rebuttal, he apologized to the Assembly for the disruption his return to New Terra had created, and he lamented the loss of President McMorris.
“According to your President pro tem,” Alex began, “you can’t believe anything my people have said. Yet half a year ago, this Assembly believed everything we said. It resulted in a tremendous technological windfall for this world, and Méridien medical nanites have saved thousands of lives. Yet this man,” Alex said, pointing a finger at Downing, “would have you believe that during the time we were gone, we changed so dramatically that now we manufacture evidence.”
Alex paused to gather his thoughts. The evidence could be manipulated by either side, and it would take too long for financial consultants to determine the truth if they had the opportunity to do so, but Downing would see that didn’t happen.
“Assemblywoman Lorne asked me what my intentions were if my requests for my flotilla were fulfilled,” Alex said. “I told her that we would return to Libre and free the Confederation from the silver ships and their host, the giant mother ship. After that, I would take my people and we would find another world. Méridiens and New Terrans are not ready to mix. I am here today because I expected a warm welcome from New Terra. I expected to work together in a common cause to defeat the silver ships, the nemesis of all humans. Instead I’m refused entry to the system. I’m told that despite my need to deliver services to an ailing ship full of 122,000 refugees, my flotilla would be attacked if we crossed the ice fields. And when I did come ahead to save those lives, we were attacked from Niomedes.”
The audience reacted with murmurs and questions to one another. Alex quieted them with upraised hands. “We managed to turn back all five Strikers with a show of force. And it required my Commander go head to head with a Striker while holding her fire, just to convince the final Striker pilot to turn aside. Once here, I discover that New Terrans are being defrauded, so I chose to speak out. But know this; I am not your enemy. Those consist of the silver ships, your President pro tem, and some of your most powerful company leaders.”
A buzz of noise went around the Assembly as readers announced emergency news downloads. Alex linked to Julien, who had been monitoring proceedings through the Assembly’s comm station.
Alex glanced over to the Speaker of the Hall. The elderly man lifted his reader a few centimeters and smiled briefly at Alex, then resumed his reading.
“Power to the people,” Alex murmured, scanning the Assembly’s members, whose heads were down over their readers.
* * *
The Assembly’s session took an extended break to view the vids. In the midst of their review, the Representatives received a follow-up story. The investigative journalists had gathered together and aired their own story through community groups. They had been dismissed from their jobs for expressing the desire to pursue the Admiral’s story. This piece of news brought Assembly scrutiny down on the media station owners, several admitting that they were threatened by the Minister of Communications that they would be cut out of all government and ministerial reports if they didn’t cooperate.
The stories kept coming through various channels, none of which belonged to the media companies, until the people had finally had enough and told their Representatives so. Tens of thousands of messages were received by each Representative’s staff every day. A common question asked how the Representatives could have let the situation deteriorate to such an extent in so short a time. Most of the Assembly members were wondering the same thing. The answer was fairly simple. The arrival of the Méridiens with their advanced technology and the warning of the silver ships were too much to absorb quickly. It was a crucial time in the planet’s history, and suddenly they lost their leaders, the President and his Ministers. The coincidence had most of the populace and many Representatives wondering if the death of President McMorris was truly an accident.
Assemblyman Pritchard put forth a measure to recall the President pro tem and seek an alternate candidate. Nothing Downing’s supporters did could derail the measure. Clayton Downing was removed from office within a half-hour of the overwhelming vote approving the measure. That majority vote even included a few of Clayton’s supporters, now aghast at the extent of his corruption.
The Assembly called for candidates and four names were put forth. Two candidates were ultra-conservatives. One was a well-known moderate, and the fourth was Maria Gonzalez.
Alex debated for hours with his staff and Julien on how best to communicate his candidate preference. In the end, no consensus could be reached. It was decided to leave it to the will of the people and, ultimately, the will of their elected officials.
The four candidates went through extensive sessions with Assembly review committees. The committees selected three of the candidates. One of the ultra-conservatives held ties too close to Downing and his supporters to be acceptable. The Assembly intended to vote on the three candidates, selecting the top two, and voting again on those two to ensure the winner received a majority. After the initial vote, they were done. Maria Gonzalez had received a majority of the votes and was elected the new President pro tem.
* * *
Maria’s first act as President pro tem was to contact every Minister under McMorris who had been dismissed, and tell them simply, “Get your butts back to work.” She walked into the office of every Minister who had been appointed by Downing, and dismissed each individual on the spot. TSF officers whom Maria had known and trusted now accompanied her to each office to protect the office’s access and any digital files until the new Minister arrived. She brought in a small cadre of TSF techs to secure Government House’s servers and network. She wanted nothing erased.
Next Maria made a blanket statement to the media stations. It read, “Our society lives or dies by the veracity of our news and the openness of our society. Do your jobs.”
To the station owners who had dismissed their investigative journalists, Maria made personal comms. The owners’ elation over the opportunity to speak to the new President pro tem wilted in the face of her statement: “Hire your employees back, apologize for your error, restore their lost pay, and add a pay raise—or face prosecution for breaking our fair labor laws.” Maria made sure the message was transmitted to the journalists. Subsequently the reporters enjoyed lunch at Government House with the new President pro tem. It was a major broadcast event. Afterward Maria gave a brief speech, publicly thanking the journalists for their pursuit of the truth.
* * *
Alex waited patiently for three days following Maria’s election to office. He knew she had a great deal to accomplish before he could request any favors. But time was wasting, and it wasn’t just for the silver ships. The Joaquin’s services and miscellaneous expenses had cost him 85 percent of his savings. He calculated he had only enough credits for thirty-eight more days of service for his flotilla.
On this evening, Alex had retired early with Renée, and they were enjoying some of Mutter’s music when Julien flashed a priority signal to him.
.
“Thank you, Admiral. In the future, I’ll give some thought to how I may repay you for this honor.”
Maria’s booming laugh echoed though the comm. “First order of business, Admiral. Would you be so kind as to visit me at Government House tomorrow at 10.50 hours? Bring your key players and leave your armed escorts on the ships, except for the twins, of course. I think the populace has been frightened enough.”
Alex replied.
-10-
The Rêveur landed at Prima and disgorged Alex, Renée, Andrea, Tatia, Tomas, Eric, and the twins. TSF hover-cars flying the President’s flag waited on the apron.
Alex took note of the Captain who had previously attempted to escort them to Government House. He now stood alongside the lead hover-car. He snapped a smart salute to Alex.
“Good morning, Admiral,” the Captain said.
“Punishment assignment, Captain?” Alex asked as he returned the salute.
“Not at all, Admiral. I asked for the honor when I heard you were coming. Had to fight a ranking officer, my Colonel, for it,” the Captain replied, which made Alex smile.
The group was quickly loaded into three hover-cars and whisked toward Government House. Alex, riding with Renée and Étienne in the first car, tapped the driver’s shoulder and said, “Slow down, Sergeant. You have first-time visitors back there.”
In the second car, Tomas and Eric were glued to their windows. Both had been born on Méridien and both had lived on Libre. New Terra was nothing like either of those two worlds. Where Méridien had consumed all available space, New Terra was spacious and exhibited natural beauty everywhere. And where Libre was mostly plains of grass and meadows, this world had immense trees, which the two men had never seen. Snowcapped mountains loomed in the distance. And the people—there was no conformity here, much to Tomas’s delight.
“Look at the people,” Tomas murmured, his eyes wide in fascination. He was trapping images in his implant just as fast as he could store them.
Maria waited for her guests in Government House’s rotunda. As Alex and Renée approached her, they stopped and gave her a Leader’s greeting.
“So now I’m no longer a friend,” Maria said and held out her arms toward Renée, who broke into a broad grin and ran into Maria’s arms for a hug. “And you,” Maria said after she and Renée separated. “Are you so elevated, Admiral, you can’t extend an old woman a hug.” When Maria saw Alex’s ears redden, she was relieved to see that the young Captain still resided inside the impressive uniform. Maria hugged Alex with great relief. She had not become the commander of the entire TSF force without being able to recognize those that coveted positions of power. She and Alex were two of a kind … neither of them wanted the power.
Maria was also an astute student of human behavior. When Eric and Tomas extended her a Leader’s greeting, she returned it in kind. “Welcome, Directors Monti and Stroheim, to New Terra. I understand from the Admiral’s chat with his sister that you have had a most harrowing time. I’m pleased you and your people have found safety with us, and I’m very sorry for the loss of your elders.”
Eric had told Tomas that Tomas should lead the conversations for the two of them, and Eric would follow. He still didn’t trust that he knew how to behave with an entire planet full of Independents.
“We are most grateful for your assistance, President Gonzalez,” Tomas said. “And your sentiment for our loss is truly appreciated.”
“We are pleased to help, Director,” Maria replied. “You and Director Stroheim must dismiss the political upheaval of the past days from your minds. We start fresh today.” Then she whirled around, striding toward a conference room. “Come, people, we have much work to do.”
In the conference room, Alex was pleased to see Ministers Drake and Jaya. It would make their efforts so much easier with the original Transfer Team in place. They sat around a conference table and hammered out problems. In most cases, Maria assigned her two Ministers the work of opening the T-Stations, reviewing the trade of Méridien technology for the services of the city-ship contractors, and ensuring the safety of her visitors. On the latter issue, she eyed Tatia.
“And how do I call you, Ser?” Maria asked, using the Méridien honorific.
“My rank is Commander, Madam President,” Tatia responded.
“Admiral, is it appropriate that the Commander manage your security and transport with my TSF appointee?”
“Most appropriate, President Gonzalez. The Commander has been keeping my people alive ever since we left.”
Maria looked down the conference table at her ex-Major, who sat with a small smile on her face. Maria was pleased Tatia had found someone who appreciated her unique skills.
Ministers Drake and Jaya requested the communication and organizational structure for Alex’s staff regarding the T-Stations and Barren Island.
“We had a solid organization on Libre, and I want the same thing here,” Alex replied. “Andrea has overall command. Mickey, who is on the Unsere Menschen at this time, is our Chief Engineer. Sers Monti and Stroheim will oversee their city-ships. Commander Tachenko will reinvigorate the T-Stations and Barren Island, and Commander Reynard will manage fighter training.
“The T-Station Managers as well as Commander Jameson, Admiral, were replaced. Is that going to be a problem?” Maria asked.
“Your pardon, Madam President,” Alex replied. “We need the original people who understood Méridien production quality and training. Furthermore, our present circumstances are unlike that when we repaired the Rêveur. Commander Tachenko, status, fighters and parts?”
“The Money Maker has twenty-two fighters and the parts to build thirty-one more, Admiral.” Alex wasn’t surprised to hear the number of assembled fighters had grown.
“You see, Madam President,” Alex continued. “We need Barren Island to assemble our remaining fighters and polish our pilots’ training. Most of the work done by the T-Stations will be for parts they have not previously made and will be supplied to the contractors to complete the work on the Unsere Menschen and repair our shuttles.” Alex sat back in his chair for a moment and regarded the entire table. “My next comments will be news for my people, President Gonzalez. Please excuse us a moment.”
Maria was surprised by Alex’s imperiousness, thinking he was asking her to leave the conference room. Then she noticed that all of Alex’s people had entered the fugue state that indicated they were deep in communication via their implants. She exchanged glances with Will and Jaya while the three of them waited.
After a while, Will whispered to Maria, “Must be a special announcement.” He glanced at Darryl. His fellow Minister had a wistful look on his face as if he couldn’t wait to have an implant of his own.
There was a long silence.
tely,
Alex reached under the table to grasp Renée’s hand and sent her a vid of her in Cordelia’s holo-art—the pasture, sunshine haloing the trees, and a soft wind blowing through the grasses and her hair.
Alex sent to the group.
Maria and her Ministers were still waiting patiently when Alex’s people twitched in their chairs. Several broke out of their implant fugue with surprised exclamations.
“Well, Admiral, I see I’m not the only one you can surprise, or should I say shock?” said Maria, leaning forward on the table and observing the heightened emotions washing through Alex’s people. “Is this a secret, or are you allowed to share?”
Alex was watching Tomas, who despite his Méridien training was on the verge of tears, anguish written across his face.
“Madam President,” Alex said, “as you are aware, 2,200 of Ser Monti’s people were left behind on Libre. You will understand why most here are finding it difficult to comprehend me when I say we must rescue the inhabitants of the silver ships.”
The group broke out into individual discussions, but Alex continued to focus on Tomas as the Libran brought his emotions under control.