by Saxon Andrew
“The hangar door on the surface is open and I’ve notified the Prime Minister to enter via a shuttle.”
“Is this place safe?” Maranda asked.
Glenny smiled, “Sir, we have more than a thousand cutter emplacements on the moon’s surface. Nothing can get close enough to cause us problems.” The Commodore lifted his wrist communicator and listened for a moment. He looked up at Grady, “The Prime Minister’s shuttle has entered the hangar. Do you want to meet him here or in the conference room?”
“We’ll wait for him here,” Grady answered. They heard the elevator activate and after a few minutes, the huge elevator door opened, and they saw the shuttle’s door opening. Abby stood up straight and said loudly, “JOHN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
John Fowler walked down the shuttle’s ramp and smiled, “I have a meeting to attend.”
“Where’s the Prime Minister?” Maranda asked.
John turned around and looked behind him before turning back to them and raising his hands, “I guess you’re looking at him.”
Abby rushed forward and hugged John, “Thank you for warning us about the mob. You saved our lives.”
John returned her hug and Grady asked, “What happened to the Prime Minister that sent that fleet here?”
“Why don’t we all go and sit down, and I’ll tell you what’s happened.”
Commodore Hawkins led them to the conference room and everyone took a seat. John looked at them and said, “I don’t know which one of you sent the recording of the confrontation between Rory and the Prime Minister to the press on New Melbourne, but it rattled the colony.”
Drew smiled, “Uhhh…that would be me.”
John laughed, “I figured as much. You’ve always had a way of stirring the pot. Anyway, that recording was seen by pretty much everyone in the colonies and it led to a Parliamentary Investigation. I was dragged into it and the prosecutor demanded to know if I was aware that Abby and Rory were still alive on New Britannia.”
“What did you tell them, John?” Rory asked.
“The truth, Rory. I told them I warned you about the mob coming to your home and told you to try and escape to New Britannia.”
“How did they take that?”
John shrugged, “Not very well, Abby. But I told them that you had saved the populations on Melbourne and that you and Rory were being terribly mistreated. The prosecutor accused me of being a traitor to the colonies and I told him that if it came down to doing the right thing or allowing a crime to be committed, I will always choose doing the right thing. The Parliament had many of the former Prime Minister’s followers in it and I was sentenced to prison.”
“Then how are you here now?” Taffy asked.
“That recording hit the colonies like a bomb, Mrs. Henricks.”
“Call me Taffy.”
John smiled, “The voting districts in the colonies demanded a new election and Parliament was forced to call for one when more than eighty percent of the districts demanded it. While the day for voting was being set, the prosecutor came to my cell and told me I was free to go. When I asked why, he said that I was one of those being placed on the ballot.”
“What did you do?” Abby asked.
“I told him I was done with public office. I further stated that I would never represent a people as wicked as the people in the colonies. Sending a war fleet to New Britannia showed the colonies’ soul and I wanted no part of it.” John paused and added, “There was a huge demand for me to be on the ballot and the prosecutor released a recording of my statement to him.”
Grady tilted his head, “I imagine that caused quite a bit of anger in the colonies when they learned you called them wicked.”
John chuckled, “I think that’s what the members of Parliament intended but things didn’t go as they planned.”
“What happened?” Abby asked.
“My name wasn’t on the ballot but representatives in every voting district came forward to support me and called for a write in vote.” John shrugged, “Ninety-six percent of the voters wrote my name in. It was the highest vote totals in Melbourne’s history.”
“What does this mean?” Taffy asked.
“It means that ninety-six percent of the newly elected Parliament are my supporters, Taffy. And they’ve all sworn to back me in anything I choose to do.” They stared at John in silence and he took out a computer pad. “The first thing I demanded was an unbreakable agreement that could never be overturned.”
“What kind of agreement?” Grady asked.
“That the Colonies recognize New Britannia’s sovereignty and will not violate New Britannia’s space. Further, that the Colonies will never attack New Britannia under any circumstances and that if New Britannia is attacked by an outside force, the Colonies will come to its defense.” The room was silent, and John continued, “In order for the treaty to take force, New Britannia must also agree to never attack the Colonies under any circumstances and will come to the Colonies defense if they are attacked by an outside force.”
Grady stared at John in silence and then asked, “Just what force does this agreement have, John?”
“We’ve added on our requirements that any civilian, public servant, or member of the Colonies’ military that violate this agreement will be executed for treason against the state.” John shrugged, “That bit is not a part of your requirements. After all, you didn’t send a war fleet to the colonies.”
“Are you requiring us to share our technology with you, John?” Taffy asked.
“Absolutely not! Your sovereignty is guaranteed and that includes anything that belongs to you!”
The room was silent, and Grady finally said, “I can’t accept the agreement in its current form.”
Abby jerked her head around, “Why not?! This treaty is more than fair!”
Grady turned to her, “It’s not equal, Abby.” Grady turned to John, “Any member of the colonies may come to visit New Britannia without having to get prior permission to come. Further, New Britannia and the Colonies will work together to provide the best defense possible and that includes sharing any technological advances. We will also add that last bit to our requirements as well.”
John started to speak, and Grady held up his hand, “There’s more, John.” John nodded for him to go ahead. “Parliament will not vote on this. This treaty will be made public and a vote will be held by all the people in the colonies. We will do the same here.”
John nodded slightly and then sighed, “I think that is a very wise decision, Grady.”
“Set the vote up for a month from today,” Grady replied.
John nodded and turned to Abby, “May I humbly request that you and Rory return to the colonies?”
Rory interrupted, “That will never happen, John!”
Abby looked up at Rory and John asked, “Why not? Both of you are heroes in the colonies. Can’t you forgive us?”
“Some things are unforgivable, John, and attempting to kill my wife is not something I’ll ever accept. We may visit the Colonies when some time has passed but we will never go back there to live.”
“You should want this, Prime Minister!” Taffy interjected.
“Why?”
“Because as long as they remain on New Britannia, the Colonies will never be allowed to forget the crime that was done. They must remember what they did.”
John sighed and then nodded. Then he turned to Maranda and Drew before asking Grady, “May I have my two best Admirals back?”
Maranda shook her head, “That is also not going to happen.” Everyone in the room turned to Maranda and she raised a shoulder, “But not for the reason you suspect.”
“Then tell me why!” John requested.
“I spent my entire life chasing a goal of being the Supreme Commander of all Melbourne’s military forces. Once I accomplished that, I felt a heavy weight lifted from my shoulders.”
“But you are our best leader, Maranda.”
Maranda smiled slightly and turned to
Drew, “Do you remember telling me when you were wooing me that allowing goals to run my life would leave me unloved and alone.” Drew’s eyes softened, and he nodded. Maranda turned back to John, “I’m pregnant and my military days are over until I raise my family. The best place to make that happen is here.”
Taffy and Abby beat Drew to Maranda. They pulled her out of her chair and started jumping up and down screaming as Drew tried to get to Maranda. Finally, he moved in and took Maranda in his arms, “When were you going to tell me?”
Maranda smiled impishly, “I thought this meeting would be a good place, my love.” Drew wrapped her up in his arms and Maranda said over his shoulder to John, “Since the day I was promoted to command a carrier, Admiral Tarangelo has been my backup. He’s been involved in everything I’ve done, and he is more than qualified to lead your forces, Prime Minister.”
John shook his head and smiled before saying, “The reason you’re giving is one that I can accept Maranda. I pray long life and health for you and your family.” John turned to Drew and he held up his hands, “Forget about it! Where she goes, I go.”
John chuckled and turned to Grady. “I’ll make the changes in the treaty on my pad and if you have a printer, I’ll print two copies. If you agree, then we’ll sign both. The treaty between us will only be valid if more than seventy percent of our populations vote to pass it.”
Grady nodded and stood up.
• • •
A month later, the vote was held. More than ninety percent of New Britannia and close to a hundred percent of the Colonies voted to accept the treaty. The agreement immediately took effect and free humanity was joined together once more.
• • •
Grady sat on the stage in the huge science building on New Melbourne and felt deja vu. He had stood in the science building on Melbourne years ago when he first arrived on the planet addressing a huge audience on the Rex Rabbit’s technology. Now Joshua was addressing the gathering and Grady smiled at how far things had come since that long ago beginning. He heard Joshua say to a question asked by an engineer, “No, it’s not possible to install a cutter on the Garrion warships. Only the carriers are large enough to have them on board.”
“Why is that?” the engineer asked.
“We use five reactors to power the cutters and the Garrions don’t have room for that many extra reactors. The carriers can probably have ten of them installed and that will make them extremely difficult to attack. However, the Garrions are too small.”
“Is there nothing we can do to improve the Garrions?”
Joshua turned to the scientist, “Yes. We are shipping the cutter’s barrels to the colonies and the Garrions can use one of their reactors to power the larger blaster. It will be far more powerful than the current blasters on the Garrion Warships. You can also modify their gravity drives to the three-stage gravity drives we use on our warships which will make them incredibly faster than their current maximum speed. I suspect the Garrions will be too fast to target even by computer-controlled blasters.”
An engineer raised his hand and Joshua pointed to him, “We’ve tried to construct the larger hulls being used by your warships and have failed completely.”
“That’s due to the atmosphere on New Britannia and how it affects the hull material,” Joshua replied. “Unfortunately, New Britannia doesn’t have the capacity to build enough hulls for the Colonies and meet our own needs. Each of us will have a different role in future combat situations. We’ll have to work together.”
Joshua was in his element and Grady remembered Taffy getting bored and leaving the conference years ago. That was when she met Abby. So many small chance occurrences that led to huge differences. The biggest of them all was Taffy managing to slide under the rolling door to his lab before she was killed by the alien’s beam on Britannia. His life would have been so different without her in it. She was like a diamond found in an oyster; unexpected and priceless. He closed his eyes and saw her impish smile in his mind. He heard a whisper and opened his eyes, “What are you thinking?”
Grady looked at Taffy sitting next to him and she saw the love in his eyes, “Just what a lucky man I am, Taffy,” Grady whispered.
Taffy smiled and said quietly, “I hope you know that I am terribly bored by all of this.”
Grady laughed and shook his head; some things never change.
Epilogue
“Grady, one of our scouts has reported that the aliens have managed to defeat one of the civilizations they’re fighting on the other side of the galaxy!”
“What are they doing, Drew?”
“They’re moving huge numbers of their warships around to our side of the galaxy.”
Grady huffed out a breath, “That means they will move to eliminate their enemies on this side of the core.”
“Are you suggesting they will attack Earth?”
“Yes, I am Drew and the Fagan as well.”
“Are we going to stand by and watch them destroy Earth?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you need to decide quickly, Grady! The numbers of their warships moving around the galaxy is unbelievable.”
“I’ll let you know, Drew. The Colonies need to have a say in this.”
“Grady, Earth is not the only humans in danger. The two-hundred planets they’ve colonized will also be in jeopardy.”
Grady ended the call and tried to decide what should be done. Could he allow humanity’s home world to be destroyed? They certainly deserved it… but… could he allow it to happen?
The End
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Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
(The seven books above are also audio books at Audible.com)
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Dahlia’s Deception
Annihilation-The Complete Series Box Set
The Annihilation Saga:
Lost Royalty
The Warrior's Destiny
No Way Out
Fight... and They Will Come
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Lens of Time - Star Rover:
The Worst of Time
Running Out of Time
Chosen to Die
The Fight for Creation:
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase:
The Lost Prince
(Also an audio book at Audible.com)
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Probe Predators
Jesse's:
Jesse’s Starship
Mike’s War
Joshua’s Walls
Nemesis:
Revenge is Best Served Hot
The Search for Orion
Trapped in Time:
The Time Takers
Taming a Planet
Extinction
Escape to Earth:
Running From Fate
Fighting for Space
Defending Holy Ground
The Legacy of a Conqueror
Living Legends
The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth - Defending Earth:
Searching for Death Feeders
Discovery Means Death
The Death Prophecies:
The Coming of the Prophet
The Prophet's Eyes
The Unknown
Enemy Will Kill You
No Technology is Invincible
Survival is Never Free
The Last Prophecy
Stories from the Filament Universe:
Gregor’s Run
A Pirate’s Tale
Soul of the Swords
The Death Filament
Death Never Leaves a Calling Card
Gregor’s Search
Jimmy's Dreams Stories:
Jimmy’s Dreams
Jimmy’s Dreams II - A Recurring Nightmare
The Assassins Guild:
Earth Must be Stopped
Defending the Colonies
Rage of the Brotherhood
The Last Man Standing
Britannia series:
The Fight for Britannia
Saving America
Fighting for Melbourne
Other:
The War Against Earth
The Book of Life
(a short story)
Coming Soon:
The Fight for Britannia IV – Fighting for Humanity
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew is a former social worker with a degree in Psychology and Education from Mercer University. He has taught school, managed several sales organizations and owned his own business.
He has devoured science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of years of personal experience and exposure to the universes created by the genre’s great authors.
He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs who still appreciate his sense of humor after all these years. "Dogs are always ready to smile."