Méridien (The Silver Ships Book 3) (8 page)

Alex replied, “Captain, if you find yourself in trouble over this, comm General Gonzalez and explain the situation. Tell her I asked you to call.”

As the Admiral and his entourage passed around Peters and his troopers, the Captain mumbled to no one in particular, “Thank you, Sir.”

Alex sent privately to Tatia.

Tatia replied.

Alex smiled to himself. Tatia had found her implant’s true calling. Games were fine, but if implants could be a tool of offense or defense, then she was an adopter.

On the apron, a civilian transport vehicle capable of carrying the entire group had settled to the ground, and the driver stood next to his vehicle, smiling in anticipation of the day’s earnings. Before Alex’s group reached the transport, a TSF troop transport pulled up between them and the civilian transport.

Tatia, said on open comm to the group.

While Alex’s people were boarding the TSF troop transport, Tatia walked around to the civilian transport and asked the driver for his reader. In moments, she returned it. His reader showed a day’s service paid with a handsome tip.

“You have one stop to make today, driver,” Tatia said, “and then you’re done for the day. Drive from here to the T-2 Station. Wait five hours and then drive back to your transport terminal. Understood?”

“As you request, Commander. It will be done,” the civilian driver replied.

As Tatia boarded the TSF transport, she spoke briefly to the Sergeant at the wheel, who nodded his understanding before she took a seat in front of the Admiral.

“I hope I was generous with the driver’s tip, Commander,” Alex said. During Andrea’s meeting, he had been told the group would need access to funds, and Alex had given permission to Julien to transfer whatever they needed. It occurred to him that the faster he got off New Terra, the better it would be for his bank account. Minister Drake had paid the original purchase price of his g-sling program into his account. The new Minister had not made the first-year installment payment. The credits from the program’s purchase would have lasted him a lifetime if he was frugal. Paying for a quarter-million refugees and servicing a flotilla of starships—not so long.

“You have always been generous, Admiral,” Tatia replied, turning around to face Alex, a mischievous glint in her eye.

The transport remained quiet for the ride to the outskirts of Prima. Tatia’s twelve troopers had surrounded their charges while ten TSF Sergeants and Corporals sat quietly in the back. The troopers had been under Major Tachenko’s command at one time or another. When she contacted two of them for a favor, the senior enlisted personnel had arranged a “troop exercise” for the day. TSF transports were by design unable to be tracked by any entities but TSF command. It was the reason that Tatia had set up a civilian transport as a decoy and had redirected her people to the troop transport at the last moment.

The transport turned off the main roadway on to a well-laid gravel track half an hour’s travel outside of Prima. The hover jets sent up small cloud of dusts as the transport wound deep into the woods, eventually arriving at a centuries-old two-story lodge, which occupied a large expanse of the wooded hillside.

As the transport settled down beside a collection of hover-cars, Tatia stood up and signaled the Sergeant behind the wheel. In response, he and the ten TSF troopers filed off the transport and spread out around the lodge’s grounds. Then Tatia’s troopers followed suit and created a corridor from the transport to the four-meter-wide stone steps of the lodge. When Tatia was satisfied, she signaled Alex and the remaining people, who left the transport for the lodge.

Alex noted that Étienne and Alain closely shadowed both him and Renée. For the first time in nearly a year that Alex could recall, the twins wore stun guns on their hips and some sort of small device attached to their harness. He was about to ask Étienne about it when they gained the lodge’s porch, and Assemblyman Eugene Pritchard stepped spritely through the lodge’s wide double doors.

“Admiral, I’m so pleased you arranged this meeting. Please come this way. Our people are waiting in the dining hall.”

Through Julien’s research, over thirty Assembly Representatives had been identified as outspoken critics of President pro tem Clayton Downing. After Alex set the meeting location with Assemblyman Pritchard, requesting a large out-of-the-way venue, he had invited the other Representatives to attend. Most had accepted. From the moment contact had been made, the SADEs had monitored the communications of the invited to ensure that the opposition wasn’t informed of the meeting.

In the center of the Representatives sat ex-General Maria Gonzalez and the other two members of the McMorris Team, ex-Ministers William Drake and Darryl Jaya. The assembled New Terrans paused to take in the flotilla’s personnel, resplendent in dark blue Méridien uniforms tastefully adorned with gold stars of rank, House patch, and a Leader’s or ship’s patch.

The quiet was broken when Renée spotted Maria. A soft cry of joy escaped Renée’s lips as she threaded the tables with lightning speed. Maria rose up to greet Renée, a huge grin spreading across her face. It was fortunate that Maria was a New Terran. Her heavy-world body absorbed the impact of Renée as she threw herself into Maria’s arms.

What has become of my quiet, non-demonstrative Méridien?
Alex thought.

Maria’s smile threatened to overtake her face, as did Renée’s, and the women were slow to untangle themselves from each other. Their embrace did much to lower the tension in the room, reminding everyone of the bond the New Terrans and Méridiens had first formed.

“Well, Admiral, I don’t believe introductions are necessary. It seems relationships are alive and well,” Assemblyman Pritchard quipped, indicating the two women who now faced the assembly with smiles and arms wrapped around each other’s waist. “If you will, Admiral,” Eugene said, indicating the front of the room. “You did call the meeting.”

Alex and Étienne stepped to the front of the room. Étienne carried the same case Alex had once carried to the Assembly, which contained a portable holo-vid. As Alex set it up, he said to the group, “I believe most of you have witnessed one of these in action before.” It drew a round of smiles and chuckles from the Assembly Representatives. “Before I begin, let me say, from all of my people, how saddened we are by the news of President McMorris’ death. He was a fine man who will be missed.”

Alex paused for a moment, remembering the powerful and good-hearted leader he had left behind. But, recalling the man who took his place, his demeanor changed. The sad face of the explorer-tug Captain was replaced with that of the flotilla’s Admiral. On Étienne’s signal, Alex said, “This presentation, narrated by Julien, has been assembled from the research of three of our SADEs. I apologize for the length of the presentation, and I beg your patience, but I would not expect this august body to act without sufficient proof of what has been uncovered and to respond as I expect you must.” He signaled the holo-vid’s start.

Julien began with the theft of the T-1 database and his tracking of the people and credits that had hired the Frazier brothers, who had perpetrated the theft. When the credit trail ended at Samuel Hunsader’s doorstep, the dots did not need to be connected for this audience. The Assembly knew whom the Purity Ores’ CEO supported. When the audience learned that the information had been sent to President McMorris on the exit of the
Rêveur
from the system, even those who had believed the President had died in an accident began to doubt those thoughts.

The next batch of information was an analysis of the financial records of many of New Terra’s largest companies, especially those engaged by the Ministry of Space Exploration. As the enormous profits accumulated within the companies, Julien correlated their financial windfall with the implementation of Méridien technology. The advanced technology had been approved by the Assembly to be carefully managed through government channels to benefit the populace. Instead the technology was being distributed to companies that were making the public pay for its implementation through the companies’ service charges to the government and public.

“You will note, Sers, the approval for these services has been granted by the Minister of Space Exploration. The cost of your FTL stations throughout the system totaled more than 3.65 billion credits—funds all charged by companies to your government. At this time, Méridien technology is entirely in the hands of your companies.”

There was more to the presentation, but Alex ended it due to the furor in the room. William Drake, the ex-Minister of Space Exploration and one of the key people who had developed the New Terran-Méridien Pact, had been the first on his feet, yelling at the holo-vid in anger as if such an act would be transmitted to the man who now held his ministerial chair.

While most of the Assembly Representatives were now on their feet in fierce discussions with one another, Alex was watching Maria. She had pulled Drake back down to join her and Jaya in discussion. Their heads were close together. At one point, Maria said something to the two men, and they all swung their heads to look at him. Alex figured that was his cue to move the meeting on to the next point in his agenda.

“Sers,” Alex announced loudly, gaining the room’s attention. “For several reasons, I do not wish to share my next information with you through your readers. It could compromise your safety. We will need a more appropriate time to share this with a broader audience.”

“And what is that broader audience and when would that be?” Will Drake asked.

“The audience would be the public at large,” Alex replied. “The dispersal of this information should give the Assembly all the reason it needs to vote for a new President pro tem. As to the timing, it will be soon.”

“But, Admiral, without a suitable candidate, the Assembly might be locked in session forever while every faction puts forth their nominee,” said an elderly Assembly woman.

Alex quickly matched her face to a bio of the Representatives he had downloaded, and then said, “I quite agree with you, Assemblywoman Lorne. I have a candidate in mind and have suggested they put their name forth. However, at this time, I have not heard back from that individual. I believe that to be a good sign. Someone anxious to wield the power of the presidency is a dangerous person.” Alex was careful to not look in Maria’s direction, but from the corner of his eye, he could see Drake and Jaya staring at her.

“It would help us, Admiral, to know the name of your candidate,” Nemea Lorne said. “I would hope it’s not someone on your staff.”

Alex stood quietly in front of the group. The longer he was quiet, the more anxious the Representatives became, fearing it was a member of his group he was nominating. Several were about to protest their indignation, probably bringing the meeting to a swift ending, when Maria stood up and Will Drake loudly cleared his voice to swing heads in their direction.

“The Admiral is referring to me,” Maria said. “I admit I thought it was hubris on his part that he should suggest a new President pro tem candidate. But without his efforts, would we even know the silver ships existed? More than likely, at some time in the future, we would be like one of the Confederation colonies suddenly concerned at this giant ship entering our system. We would probably attempt to communicate with them right up until the moment they began burning our populace to ashes.” Maria paused to gather her thoughts. She straightened her shoulders, assuming a TSF officer’s posture. “President McMorris had a plan to secure the safety of our system with Méridien technology. Instead we see it being used to fatten the bank accounts of our richest companies. If our people knew the truth, they would be outraged as many of us are here today. And I have met Julien and worked with him. I do not doubt the veracity of this information.” Maria paused again, taking time to regard the faces in the room. Something she saw encouraged her. She looked at Alex and said, “So I would be proud to be the Admiral’s candidate and submit my name to the Assembly if they reelect a President pro tem.

Maria hadn’t any idea of the reception her announcement was going to receive. She had braced herself for a backlash of negativity. What she received was a roar of approval and a sudden mob of handshakes, pats on the back, and statements of congratulations. Through the crush of well-wishers, she looked to the front and saw Alex looking back at her, a crooked grin on his face. She gave him a resigned smile in return.
It appears neither of us appreciates being thrust into the world of politics
, she thought.

Alex shared several last thoughts with the group before he left the meeting. The first was that he hoped they would keep private what they learned today. Release of the information, he told them, had to be properly timed. Second, once the information was released, they needed a plan to deal with those companies that controlled the Méridien technology. Third, once Maria was elected, he would need the T-Stations up and running quickly to supply his ships.

“I have two questions for you, Admiral, before you go,” Nemea Lorne said. When Alex nodded to her, she continued. “What are your intentions after we outfit your ships? We’re arming you to such an extent that you could become the ruler of New Terra.”

Alex held up his hand to quiet the room from the outburst. “It’s a fair question,” he said. “Assemblywoman Lorne, you should know that I have enough power to do that now if that was my intention, but it isn’t. When my city-ships are completed and we are outfitted, we will be leaving New Terra and only returning on invitation of your government. The people who depend on me need your help only temporarily. It is my belief that, at this time, New Terrans and Méridiens are not suited to mix as one people—perhaps in a few decades or more.”

Alex could tell that the answer was not what Lorne had expected. She was still considering his response when he asked, “Did you not have a second question, Assemblywoman Lorne?”