“Just so I can be a target and the sign of MDL suppression so that everyone else continues to fall into the Heartland Block like dominoes? I don’t think so!” the Co-Chair said, harshly despite the sudden hunger in his eyes.
“Consider the offer, as it’s an expiring resource,” Governor Isaak said over his shoulder as he walked away.
“At the risk of sounding completely power hungry and solely focused on myself, why didn’t you take his offer?” asked the High Captain after Isaak was out of earshot.
The Co-Chair snorted. “I might be the First Speaker of the New Confederation, but I’d also be the shortest lived one in its history for years to come,” sneered the Co-Chair. “Don’t get me wrong: I’d take the job in a heartbeat if I thought I could hold it. But I recognize a predator when I see one, and that Governor is at the apex of this particular food chain. Within a year, if not weeks, he’d be after my job. And then what? He’s right. Despite the fact that Sector 25 is hosting the event, we’re viewed as potentially having the power to form our own block and dominate the early days of the New Confederation,” he said with a sigh. “We can’t fall into that trap.”
“Then perhaps we should propose a compromise candidate?” suggest Kong Pao.
“Judge Pao,” the Co-Chair said condescendingly, “you may be a brilliant man when it comes to the law—no, strike that, you are one of the most brilliant legal minds of this or any other time, but please leave politics to the experts. It would be wonderful if you could propose a compromise candidate but you just heard the man: there’s no one the Governor, and especially his Sector, would accept that comes from our Sectors—and I, for one, can’t imagine anyone other than Manning or another one of our own that the MDL would accept when we returned back home. We don’t have to win but we can’t go home with a loss, especially when it comes to the military. Other areas, yes, but not the military.”
“What if underneath this compromise candidate we placed both Harper and Manning as co-Vice-Commandants?” prodded Pao.
“Fine, since I don’t seem to be able to dissuade you,” the Co-Chair rolled his eyes condescendingly, “if you can find a compromise candidate, one that the MDL can accept and secure Manning a Vice-Commandant position, then go for it.”
“I appreciate the Committee’s support,” the Sector Judge said with a bow and then turned away.
“Lawyers are bad enough but Judges are ten times worse,” the Co-Chair complained as soon as the Judge had moved away, “they think that just because they know the law they are geniuses waiting to burst onto the scene when it comes to politics. I just hope our Sector Judge doesn’t embarrass himself too much. We still need his prestige for the duration of the convention.”
“I think you underestimate Judge Kong,” Captain Manning warned.
“Sweet Murphy, I hope so. His reputation has worked wonders but his bungling nearly cost us dearly,” said the Co-Chair pursing his lips.
The High Captain looked as if he wanted to say something but then settled back in his chair with a shake of the head, obviously thinking better and deciding to keep whatever he was thinking private for the moment.
The Temporary Speaker, who was right now simply a delegate randomly assigned by the computer on a rotating basis, straightened up in her chair with a look of surprise on her face.
“A new candidate has been proposed and his sponsor, Sector Judge Kong Pao, would like to address the floor. Without objection, the Delegate will speak,” she said, the surprise fading as no one objected.
Kong Pao stepped down to the podium at the base of the chamber and when no one stood up to object started to speak.
“My fellow delegates, some have argued that, while a noted strategist and master of logistics, Admiral Harper lacks practical experience in large formation fleet battles. Others contend that High Captain Manning, despite his combat experience and many victories in battle, could be considered too closely aligned with the home sectors of the Mutual Defense League by some,” the Sector Judge paused to sweep the assembled politicians with a steely gaze. “That is why I would like to take this moment to propose a compromise candidate. The man I am thinking of is a tactician whose exploits speak for themselves. Experienced in both fleet and individual ship-to-ship actions across the Spine, he not only has a powerful fleet already at his command but he is no stranger to working with coalition fleets and disparate units drawn from SDF’s across multiple sectors. I call him a compromise candidate because, not only does this candidate not hail from the Mutual Defense League, he is a native born son of this glorious sector, Sector 25,” Judge Pao said, cupping his hands and bowing. “An ally of all who fight against human oppression, he has traveled across the Spine smiting Bugs, Droids, pirates, and Imperials. I personally can think of no greater person for this job of Confederation Commandant than Vice Admiral Jason Montagne, of the Spineward Sectors' own Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet!”
For a long moment there was a stunned and angry silence—then the chamber erupted into a storm of confusion and furious recrimination and debate.
****************************************************
“Well, that tears it,” snapped Pluto VonIkeman.
“We can still head this off if we work at it,” Isaak’s policy adviser said less than enthusiastically, sounding more like someone who felt obligated to speak than a person who genuinely believed in what he was saying.
“I thought you said you’d already quashed this,” Governor Isaak said in a light voice.
Pluto VonIkeman colored. “I said that I’d handled the Border Alliance minus whatever that woman from Tracto might chose to do. I mean, technically she’s family and you can’t always get a good handle on what family will do in any given situation. Besides, I did,” Pluto said defensively. “The MDL Alliance voting block never showed any indication that they wanted to promote anyone but Manning. We even tapped their private internal communications! And no one else has any reason to promote the Tyrant to anything except a jail cell.”
“It’s true that it didn’t come from the Border Alliance,” Isaak said after a moment's consideration. “Curse it, we could have handled anyone from the Border Alliance, including that witch of a mother-in-law he’s sent to represent Tracto, by crying favoritism and acting with alarm. But this...a Sector Judge throwing his weight behind the man we’ve labeled the greatest criminal of our time?”
“He could essentially be a rogue operator from within their ranks, this Sector Judge,” Policy said after a moment.
“What’s the read on this…Sector Judge Kong Pao?” asked Isaak.
“He’s the man that initially recruited the MSP, in the form of the Tracto SDF, to come join the fight against the Droids under the Command of High Captain Manning. Though there’s some indication that he pulled some kind of double cross over on the Tyrant, who when he initially arrived appeared expecting to lead the defense and ended up subordinated to Manning,” said Policy with a frown. “That said, we’ve put out a few feelers through the Justice Ministry and he’s been oddly resistant to the idea of prosecuting the Admiral Montagne for piracy. There’s probably a lot more to the story than we currently know.”
“I expect there’s a great deal to the story that we haven’t heard,” Isaak glowered then grunted. “But ultimately that’s spilt milk and sour grapes. At a certain level we always knew that this was a possibility. We may have ruined his reputation in the heart of this Sector, but Jason Montagne’s proven himself too wily or too much of a crusader or both to stay put and take fire. His willingness to go out into other Sectors, where our media can’t reach or is secondhand and extremely limited, makes dealing with our own base if he actually gets elected highly problematic.”
“We could have Demon-cursed riots across the Sector if they find out the first act of their New Confederation’s was to make the Tyrant our preeminent military commander,” said Policy.
“You overstate things,” Isaak said dismissively, “we handled the media when we placed him in command
of the Sector Defense. We can handle this as well.”
“Originally we overstated his forces and all but told the people we’d swindled one warlord into fighting another so that the Sector Guard could later sweep in and pick up the pieces. At this point, unless we’re willing to pardon him for his heroic defense of this Sector and completely rehabilitate his image, I don’t see how this is going to work out for us in the long run,” warned the Adviser.
“Having the people skeptical of our new Confederation isn’t the end of the world,” Pluto VonIkeman interjected eagerly, “it makes pulling back out again later a stronger option.”
“Try not to be more of a fool than necessary,” warned Isaak.
“I don’t think—” said Pluto VonIkeman.
“That’s the problem: you didn’t think,” Isaak rebuked him, “and now we have to fix a problem you were supposed to make sure never happened in the first place!”
“What can I do?” asked Pluto after a taut silence.
The Governor grimaced. “Not much,” he admitted.
“Surely you don’t intend to let his nomination pass unopposed?” asked Policy his voice dark.
The Governor’s grimace turned into a scowl. “The Judge’s voice carries weight, and even if a lot of our Sector is against him there are some who would rather see a Sector 25 man in charge than someone from the MDL. On top of that, it looks magnanimous and it would be hard to explain why we rejected one of our own as well as their High Captain, to the short contingents from 22 and 23,” he said.
“It won’t go well for us if the Tyrant of Cold Space takes command of the Confederation Military,” Policy warned grimly. “You should know this better than me.”
“We don’t want to appear obstructionist,” Isaak said, a calculating expression appearing on his face, “that’s the last thing we need at this juncture. We might have to take the win and move on.”
“Take the win?!” the men around him looked appalled.
Isaak grinned nastily. “That’s what it’ll look like on the outside. At least it will until we make a big deal about agreeing to the MDL's demands and that, even though Montagne is currently a wanted criminal for several cases of interstellar piracy, we’re willing to let bygones be bygones…in the spirit of inter-sector unity of course,” he said sardonically.
“Thus back-footing them,” nodded Policy slowly, “but I don’t see how that helps us.”
“Not short-term,” agreed Isaak, “but after we make it clear to the smaller voting blocks that we’re compromising with the MDL’s choice for the good of the Confederation…in the slightly longer term, if properly couched, it will help make the inevitable happen just that much quicker.”
“The inevitable, your Excellency?” asked his Sector Military Attache, speaking up for the first time.
“Why, my reluctant ascension to the position of Grand Assembly Speaker, of course,” Isaak said coolly.
“That's one way to play it. It could backfire though,” warned his adviser.
“Everything has the potential to backfire. At this point everything’s a risk. Simply nominating Montagne to the post could cause him to attack us,” shrugged Isaak, “we have to take chances if we’re going to get the prize.”
“Why would the Tyrant turn down the most powerful military post in the Spineward Sectors?” the Military Attache asked with disbelief.
“Don’t be an idiot,” scorned the Policy Adviser, “if he wanted the post at all his people would have already nominated him for it, or at least been maneuvering behind the scene trying to gain support. That Border Alliance of theirs leaks like a sieve. We would have heard something by now.”
“They don’t seem to care that everyone else knows what they want, which is the usual sweetheart deals for their individual worlds, and how much they dislike the rest of us in this Sector,” Pluto VonIkeman nodded his head.
“Dislike? I’d almost say 'hate' is a more appropriate term,” disagreed Policy.
Pluto looked at him in surprise.
“What, you’re the only one with contacts in the convention?” he sneered. VonIkeman stiffened. “What’s a name like 'VonIkeman' anyway?” sniffed the Adviser.
“It's German-Nipponese extraction, my great grandparents emigrated from Imperial space,” the fixer explained.
There was a lull in the conversation.
“So we’re just going to let them vote the Tyrant in,” Policy finally said with evident disappointment.
“Let? No we’re not, just going to 'let' them do anything. We’re going to get out there and actively push for it. Instruct everyone in our pocket inside the Heartland Block to vote for Admiral Montagne,” Isaak said, his mouth twisting as he said the last two words, “we want the vote count to be overwhelmingly in his favor.”
“There’ll be more than a few waverers,” warned the other man.
“If they balk, remind them that the esteemed Admiral is just as likely to refuse the office as he is to accept, and that if he rejects it then he’ll be nothing more than the common criminal and warlord he’s been accused of,” said the Governor.
The military attaché winced. “How likely is a power-mad criminal like the Tyrant to give up power once its handed to him?” he wondered aloud.
“The ‘Tyrant’ likes to claim he’s a steadfast servant of the Confederation—in fact, his entire claim to power lies in his supposedly loyal service to the ‘Confederation’,” the Governor said with relish. “So either he accepts our office and overtly or technically renounces the old Confederation, becoming the supposedly loyal servant of the Spineward Confederation and thereby placing himself within our power, or he remains loyal to a Confederation that sold the Spine to the Empire. If he does, not only will he become the enemy of the new Confederation, including most of his former allies, but he’ll also have to explain himself to the population. Either way, by not just welcoming him, not just inviting his people and his alliance into our convention and eventually Confederation, but by actively voting him into a powerful post totally in-keeping with his myth and supposed ethos to this point, he’ll be trapped.”
“And we’ll have him right where we want him,” said Policy, looking less than entirely convinced but willing to go along with it.
“Either he alienates himself from the people of the Spine or he fights the Empire for us at the head of our combined fleet. And if he accepts, then those warships he stole?” Isaak said with a smirk. “They’ll be on the front lines fighting the Imperials.”
“He could always hide?” said the Military Adviser. “That’s generally what criminals do.”
“This Montagne is far too invested in the screaming adoration of the common masses to simply stand by and do nothing,” the Governor said sardonically, “so don’t fear: he’ll act one way or the other. Maybe after our fleet is crushed and he can try to claim everything for himself, I'll admit, but he’ll certainly act. We just have to hope he’s dumb enough to accept the post and then sacrifice his fleet on the Alter of our new Confederation in the Spine.”
“No criminal would be dumb enough to do that,” his Military Adviser said certainly.
“Don’t be so certain. After all, he’s done the very same thing before,” said the Governor.
The military adviser looked surprised, then contemplative, and finally concerned. He shot a searching look at the people around him before apparently resigning himself to this new plan.
****************************************************
“The Delegate from Blackwood, how do you say?” asked the Rotating Speaker of the Grand Assembly.
“The Delegation from Blackwood votes aye!” thundered the jet-black-skinned man from Blackwood.
“Remember: we’ll give it one good push on the vote for the Vice Admiral’s confirmation before caving to pressure and withdrawing the nomination,” instructed the Co-Chair of the MDL steering committee.
“But we’re still allowing those worlds that need to abstain or vote against the nomination on the fi
rst vote to do so, right?” prompted the third Committee Member.
“That’s the plan. So long as we get more than 80% of the Block to vote in favor, we won’t take things as far as a second vote unless the vote is very close. Depending on how things play out, a third vote is entirely out of the question unless something cataclysmic happens. We need to show our support for the Sector Judge and his candidate Vice Admiral Montagne and all that, and we’ll keep voting until we get above the 80% threshold if necessary. But once we’ve gone that far, if we don’t have a win in hand—and honestly who thinks that’s going to happen—then at that point we’ll have no choice but to reluctantly withdraw the nomination and move forward with the serious business of cutting a deal. We’ve got to get our candidate, preferably Manning, in a position of power and influence in the new fleet structure,” said the Co-Chair.
“The Delegate from Aegis, how do you say?” asked the rotary Speaker.
“Despite our strong misgivings, Aegis is willing to set aside its deep concern in order to stand in solidarity with our MDL brothers in Sector 23 and 24. In the interests of inter-sector harmony, Aegis reluctantly votes aye,” grumbled the Delegate.
“I didn’t expect that one. Doesn’t it seem like Admiral Montagne is getting a surprising number of crossover votes from the Heartland Block?” the MDL Committee Member asked with surprise.
“Now that you mention it…” the Co-Chair said, looking up at the vote tally with surprise.
“The Delegation from Prometheus, how do you say?” the temporary Speaker asked enthusiastically.
“Prometheus votes aye! When it comes to military leadership, 'any Prince is better than no Prince,' we always say,” cried the Promethean High Prince, who was the head of their delegation.
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