Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance (35 page)

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L
uke stood again, It was clear Goya's speech had given him something to think about. "Admirals, High Councilor, in the time you've been here, we have gotten to know you. By extension, we have also gotten to know of the issues you are having back home. You are correct, although we are separate nations, we are all still human. Although I cannot speak for the Council in this, as friends, you have my support. As such, I am willing to speak to the Alliance Representatives on your behalf when they arrive."

"With respect Luke, and I apologize for interrupting, but Laura has been keeping the rest of us in the loop. In this, we all feel that you can speak for the Council in this, we will support the faction of the Talosian Government that is represented here, at least, to the extent we are able," Gabriel said. "Again, sorry for interrupting you."

"No problem, Zeb, and thank you," Luke replied.

"Councilors, and Admiral, do any of you object to allowing loyal Talosian ships safe haven here?" Luke replied. "This will mean we will have entered into an Alliance with the Talosians that could be considered to be a mutual defense pact. Further, we will be extending all assistance to the Talosian ships and crews, including ship upgrades, support crews, and possibly personnel exchanges." Luke said. "This is taken from a treaty document Councilor Noren gave to me when she first arrived that I almost tore up. That document represented her hopes for this visit. Both our nations will benefit from this, in that we will be gaining more protection for this sector, as well as an experienced knowledge base to draw on.

The Talosians will be gaining a friendly port capable of repairing their ships without making them mortgage their souls in order to do it. They will also gain all of our knowledge gained as a result of studying their own. They will gain access to the advances we've made, and be able to equip their ships and personnel to prevail in the coming internal conflict, as well as in the ongoing war with the Empire.

"By doing this, we will also be taking a hand in their internal matters. We will be choosing sides so to speak. Consider this for a few moments, while we take a short recess. We will make final comments and vote on it when we return. If there are no objections, we are adjourned for ten minutes." 

Luke and one other Councilor excused themselves to use the restroom, while the rest began speaking quietly to each other. Ian moved over to Goya, Pan and Noren.

"It sounds like you've been busy while I've been gone," Ian said.

"Admiral Hjoles, ARC Chief of Operations, called me to inquire how much we could contribute to the Beta Hydri offensive. He had been personally monitoring your actions in that system so he could stay abreast of events there. You greatly impressed him, and trust me here, he is not a being that is impressed by much. As a result, he spoke to the Alliance Council who in turn called Noren to formally open diplomatic channels between the Terrans and the Alliance. As a result of that, A Benesian Ambassadorial mission is being sent here on behalf of the Alliance Council," Goya replied.

"That would explain Maia working on a Benesian Temple, but I get the impression from your speech, that matters at Talos have gotten worse?" Ian asked.

Goya nodded. "All the house ships have refused orders to relocate to the front to relieve the ships we need for the Beta Hydri offensive. We worked up a plan to replace the command crews for the ships, but with the AI offline, the ships won't allow it."

Ian nodded. "Considering the damage the House Commanders have already done to foreign relations, this could mean a death blow to the Talosian Alliance."

"Exactly, Noren feels that our only hope of retaining even a modicum of good relations with the Alliance of Races lies with your people, I agree with her. I'll have to explain the situation to Hjoles, but I can't tell you what his response will be. A few of those races could easily view this as the final insult," Goya replied.

"They won't attack us, not yet. But we can pretty much count on them barring our ships from docking at their ports or entering their space," Noren added. "But once the Empire is dealt with, they will sever all trade and contact, and consider us to be dishonorable, and therefore, hostile."

"There has to be something you can do; after all, it's not like you have been given a choice in this matter!" Ian said. "Wait a sec, they can't turn their backs on you or consider this an insult, without dishonoring themselves in the process," Ian said.

"How so? All three of the main races on the Alliance Council view this as a failure of our conviction; to them, we are cowards that are abandoning our sworn allies in their time of need," Noren replied.

"No, they won't. Trust me here, they won't directly help you, but they will certainly buy you the time you will need to get this issue dealt with," Ian said cryptically. "I'll handle this Hjoles myself."

Luke returned then and joined them. "Sorry about dropping all this on you Ian, but a lot has been happening."

Ian chuckled. "Luke, contrary to popular belief, the galaxy does not revolve around me and my ship!"

"No, but there sure isn't a dull moment around you!" Luke replied, grinning.

"If you'll excuse me a moment, I need to make a couple of calls before we reconvene," Ian asked.

Both Luke and Noren nodded to him and he moved away.

"Why do I get the feeling our young Admiral is up to something?" Noren said.

Luke snorted. "Probably because he is. I swear, that man is always thinking and planning something."

"Well, I for one am glad he does," Serena said, speaking for the first time. "I only wish we had a hundred more like him."

"I am still in awe of all that has been accomplished in the short time I have been gone. It would have taken decades for a shipyard of this size to be built at New Talos," Egran said.

"Indeed," Goya said. "Our people have lost heart and no longer support or trust us. We need to correct that, or we will lose them."

"Then we will have to find a way to show them the truth of the matter," Luke replied. "Come on, I need to call the meeting back together."

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I
an still hadn't returned from his calls when Luke reconvened the meeting, but there was a lot to do and not a lot of time to get it done. "Does anyone have any comments or thoughts on ratifying the Talosian Accord?"

Councilor Michaels stood once again, and Luke nodded to her. "I think we will agree in principle with the accord, but we will have to actually review the document before we sign it. Considering our current relations with the representatives present, I believe if there is something we disagree with in the formal document, we should be able to work it out." The woman then took her seat.

Luke nodded. "Just to be clear, the current Talosian Council has not ratified this document either. Perhaps we should just call it an emergency aid agreement, and leave it at that. Once the smoke from all this clears, we can work up something more formal, agreed?"

To that general consensus, Luke called a vote and it was agreed. "Now, as to the ARC request. If we agree to it, we have a lot to get in motion, so if no one has any more to say on the matter, I would ask for a vote on this issue as well."

"One moment, please, Chairman?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes, Councilor?" Luke asked.

"Although it doesn't really have a bearing on my decision, could we ask Admiral Williams to try to expedite the arrival of the Commodore? I believe we will need him very soon if we agree to this," Gabriel asked just as Ian returned to the room.

"Councilor, Former Admiral Isaak Hawkins is submitting his resignation as we speak and has formally accepted the position of Station Commander. In light of this, I have dispatched the crew of the Raptor Damocles to watch over him during his family's transition. Mrs. Hawkins will be departing Phoenix Base in the morning and should be on station by tomorrow evening. She has already been working with Maia and it was, in fact, her recommendation that started work on the Benesain Temple. She will be bringing a shuttle full of people with her to help fill positions in the recreational areas of the station. Commodore Hawkins will join her here as soon as he can depart the planet," Ian replied smiling.

"Thank you, Admiral!" Gabriel replied grinning. "One step ahead of us again I see."

Ian returned the man's smile. "I have to be Councilor, you're a fast bunch!"

Because Gabriel sat, yielding the floor, Luke again called for the vote on the ARC request. It was unanimously approved.

"One last thing, before we dig into the domestic stuff. Councilors, we are facing a temporary time of military chaos, I feel we need to let Admiral Williams have increased freedom to act during this time. If he needs to shift construction focus, or approve a major change, he will not have the time to wait for us to approve it. Although what I have in mind is pretty much the way it already is, I would like to make it official; until the conclusion of the Beta Hydri Campaign, we should allow Admiral Williams free reign to do what he needs to get done."

"I'll second," Gabriel added, nodding. "Like you said, we're only making it official."

"Third!" Two other councilors said at the same time.

Luke chuckled and struck the gavel. "Motion Carries. I've been wanting an excuse to say this; Admiral; 'git 'er done'!"

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"W
hy are we staying up here when we have a very nice house on the planet?" Talena asked.

"Sorry, Little Kitten, I have to stay close to where the action is, and that's up here," Ian replied. "Besides, we have to stay close to the ship in case we have to launch."

"Don't worry about her, Ian. She's just pissed that she couldn't go back to Earth with Cindy," Beth replied.

"We're not doing anything, the Prometheus is handling system patrols, and the ship is being worked on. We couldn't launch right now anyway!" Talena replied.

"In case you forgot, there is an entire Imperial fleet less than twenty light years from here, and they're not very happy with us right now. What would happen if they decided to go looking for the ship that destroyed their shipyard?" Jenny asked.

"I know, I know," Talena replied. "It's just that, Cindy just got back, and she had to leave again!"

"I'm sorry, Talena. I had to send them to protect Commodore Hawkins while he handles things on Earth. If it helps, she would have been leaving again anyway to take the Damocles back to Phoenix Base for upgrades, that’s just the way it is for a Raptor commander," Ian explained.

"Mommy Ta'ena, why did Mommy Cinny leave us?" little Sean asked.

Joshua nudged his brother. "Shh, it’s secret!"

Ian almost cried and sat down in the middle of where the kids had been playing. "Gather around kids."

The four little ones moved close to their father, and he pulled little Sean onto his lap. "Mommy Cindy didn't want to leave you, kidlings. But she felt she had to. You see, there are some very bad men out in the galaxy, and Momma Cindy felt it was up to her and her team to get the training needed to stop them from hurting people. She now has the training, and she has been working hard to make sure that no bad men come here and hurt any of us. It's not a secret, but some of the things she does are. Do you understand?"

Angela looked up at him. "They must be really bad men for Momma to do that."

Ian nodded gravely. "They are very bad men, sweetheart. So bad that Mommy Cindy and her friends have to search for, and stop them before they can hurt people. That's why what they do is secret, so the bad men don't know they are coming."

"When will she be coming back, Daddy?" Sean asked.

"I don't know son, there are a lot of bad men out there, but she is working very hard to stop them. Some of the bad men are very important, and very hard to find. I do know she really misses all of you," Ian said.

"We miss her too, Daddy," little Jean said.

"I'll tell you what, if you're all really good, we'll try to call her tonight, and you can tell her how much you love her okay?" Ian said.

"Okay, Daddy! We'll be really good!" Joshua said, smiling. "Promise!"

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I
an took a few minutes to play with the children, but duty called to him, and he had to get back to work. But as he stood up, the woman stopped him.

"Ian, we need to have a family discussion. We don't need to do it now, but I wanted to tell you what it's about so you can think about it," Beth said. Both Jenny and Talena stood beside her in support.

"Have I done something wrong?" Ian asked, a little intimidated by their united front.

"No, of course not! It's only that we want you to agree to this. You see, Talena wants to have your baby," Beth explained in a matter-of-fact voice.

The dead-pan delivery caught Ian flat footed. "Uh..." Ian said, intelligently. "I, uh, thought she was too small to have children?"

Beth nodded. "She is, but she still wants to be a mother. She decided she wants you to be the father," Beth explained.

"I don't think..." Ian was sinking fast and he knew it, the problem was; he didn't know where the eject button was. "Look, I love you very much, Talena, but I just couldn't... you're like my daughter!"

"Ian, she doesn't want to have sex with you!" Jenny said, rolling her eyes. All of the girls were enjoying this.

"Hold it!" Ian said putting both hands up in front of him. "You just told me Talena wants to have a baby by me, You confirm that she can't have children because of extended cryo-sleep, and you tell me that she doesn't want to have sex with me. I'm really confused here."

"I will donate an egg, you will donate sperm, Beth will put them together, and Jenny will carry and give birth to it." Talena said, reasonably. "I love you too, by the way!"