Méridien (The Silver Ships Book 3) (10 page)

Alex could see the indecision in the Colonel’s face and body language. He had the upper hand and decided to show it. “Colonel, you might look above you.”

The Colonel glanced up to spot news drones hovering over the group. When they had arrived, the Colonel couldn’t say, but they had probably recorded his exchange with the Admiral, including the Admiral’s critical question. However, it was still not enough to force him to disobey his orders.

It was at this moment that the Assembly Hall’s side exits opened and Representatives poured out into the morning sun. They pushed their way through the lines of troopers with imperiousness, and the troopers belatedly cleared way for their world’s foremost personages.

“There you are, Admiral,” Assemblywoman Lorne called out. “We’re about to start our session. We thought you might not be coming.” She walked up to Alex and hooked an arm in his and guided him through a corridor of the Representatives. “All you people with weapons can stay outside and play,” Nemea commanded. At the Hall’s doors, she noted that three of Alex’s people had followed them, Renée de Guirnon and the twins.

Alex sent a quick message to Tatia to stay with the transport.

Tatia shot back.

Alex sent Tatia an image he had recorded during her training sessions. Her body was a blur of action. Only her face was recognizable as she took down an opponent. Alex added a flare of bright white light behind her image.

Tatia replied.

Renée and the twins were offered seats in the Hall’s visitor gallery, but Étienne politely ignored the attendant’s directions and accompanied Alex onto the Assembly’s dais. Downing was already seated in one of the ornate chairs on the opposite side of the platform. Two huge TSF Sergeants stood behind him.

Alex offered Downing a Leader’s greeting, hand over heart and a nod of the head. The President pro tem stared back coldly, hatred burning in his eyes, and Alex returned Downing’s black stare with a generous smile.

Étienne sent.

Étienne replied.

The Assembly was brought to order, and the Speaker of the Hall announced President pro tem Clayton Downing. Clayton’s oratory was as refined and powerful as Alex remembered. He did a thorough job of besmirching Alex, Julien, and the Méridiens. What he didn’t do was present a single fact to refute Alex’s claims that he’d broken the Pact and subverted government funds.

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. he said, the pride in his voice quite evident.

“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.