and a meeting to select the one to lead it.”
“I thought it would be you,” Tag said.
“They might select me, but to just appoint me would smack of favoritism and would start us out on the wrong foot. We have to allow the leader and his second in command to be selected by all our members.”
“You’re right. I’ll get Danielle to make the announcement. If you’re not selected, can you serve under someone else?”
Kosiev cocked his head to the right and said, “What do you think I’ve been doing with you? I know who has the real power here.”
Tag smiled and said, “Maybe, but you’re the one that made it happen. Don’t sell yourself short.”
Kosiev said, “Ensign Orton, get Terl and Tgon-Gee on a channel.”
Tag and Kosiev went to the mess and got a bag of popcorn and a sweet drink and came back to the bridge just as the two leaders came on their display. “What do you need Mr. Gardner?” Tgon-Gee asked.
“We’ve been discussing the organization of our fleet now that we have the new Megaships coming on line and we think we have a suggestion and would like your take on it.”
“Go ahead,” Terl said.
“We think that instead of having 837 navies we should have a fleet that is commanded by our Queen. It will be the Stars Realm Navy and the members will provide the crews that man its ships. The purpose of the fleet is to protect the members of the Realm from all dangers both foreign and domestic.”
Terl and Tgon-Gee looked at the display and then Terl said, “You expect us to give up our warships?”
Kosiev said, “Absolutely not. Only the ships that all the members have contributed to build will be in the fleet. All the members will keep their ships. Only the ships built on Sten’s planet and Ross will be in the fleet.”
“Who will command the fleet?” Tgon-Gee asked.
“That’s why we called you. We should get all the member worlds to send a military representative to a gathering where the Fleet commander will be selected. This is a Navy of all the members and all of them should participate in its founding.” Tag paused for a moment and then said, “We should also have an Academy where the crews of the fleet are trained. The first crews will actually be existing sailors on current assignments but once our fleet is manned, the next generation should be trained by the Stars Realm trainers.”
Tgon-Gee looked at Tag and said, “I initially felt huge reservations about this suggestion. I felt I was giving up my independence and protection but the reality is that I would trust that fleet more than any other fleet in our membership other than Earth and Cainth of course. We will instill in those crews that the duty to protect our worlds is the most important role they play. We will also have multiple races on each ship so we can start building commonality among our members.”
Terl listened intently and then said, “I don’t care if you took all of my ships. Except for your forgiveness, we would have no ships. I think the idea is outstanding. Where will the fleet be headquartered?”
Tag hesitated but then said, “It will be located at the Capital of the Stars Realm.”
Tgon-Gee said, “So Earth will have control of the fleet.”
“Danielle has chosen to locate her Capital on the planet named Ross in honor of those that gave their life there to found our new brotherhood.”
Tgon-Gee started laughing.
Terl looked at him and said, “What’s so funny?”
“Every time I fall back into my old distrustful ways, my Queen does something to show me just how much I’ve yet to grow. Ross is the only choice for our capital, fleet, and academy. It is the spiritual founding of our coming together. It represents what can come from the worse of us to be the best of us. I however, do disagree about how you’ll select the Fleet commander.”
“How is that?” Tag asked.
“We are not a democracy anymore, if we ever were for that matter. We are a monarchy. What the Queen decides, that’s what we will do. If you start trying to get 830 worlds to agree on any course of action, then we’ll never get anything done. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t trust those new ships under anyone else’s control and I’m quite sure after having seen how it destroyed that Plant Scout, most of the member worlds would agree with me. They trust their Queen and rightly so.”
“Gentlemen, do you mind if I include the Queen in this conversation?”
“No, please invite her,” Terl said.
“Ensign Orton,” Kosiev said, “Please com the Queen and ask if she has a moment to talk with us.”
“Danielle,” Tag thought.
“Yes, Love.”
“You have a call coming in requesting you join our meeting. I think you really need to be in on this.”
“Leila is taking the call now; Leila, I will take that particular call. Hang on, I’ll be right there.” Leila raised her eyebrows wondering how Danielle knew about these calls before they came into her board.
“Good day,’ Danielle said. “How can I help you?”
Tag explained their conversation with Tgon-Gee and Terl adding their views as Tag finished. “Tgon-Gee is of the opinion that you should choose the fleet commander and not the members.”
“Your majesty, that many cannot make a decision in less than a season. Everyone will want the leader to be from their planet.”
Danielle listened to them and Kosiev remained silent and watched her. “She’s communicating with Tag. I can see it. How; can they hear each other’s thoughts?”
Finally Danielle said, “Tgon-Gee is right, I should make the decision. I’ve been told by everyone that the members trust me so it’s appropriate that they should back whomever I choose. However, I can’t leave my people out of the decision making process. Here is what I want to see happen; I want each member planet to elect a representative to be their voice to the Queen. We will build a structure on Ross, which will become our government center where they will meet and offer their opinions on what they would like the Queen to do in the various decisions that have to be made. The name of their organization will be “The First Family” and they will be charged with protecting all families in our Realm. They will be asked to offer multiple choices for the Queen. I of course will do what our psychics say is the best thing to do to insure our future. If I don’t do what the assembly asks, then I have to explain why, but I think a lot of the time we will be in agreement. Tgon-Gee or Terl will lead those meetings and I think they would listen to their wise council.”
The four looked at Danielle and Terl said, “I am amazed again. Who will make the announcements?”
“I will have my staff do all the things to make this happen. We should have our structures built within six months. We will announce our move to Ross and ask for selections to be done within that time frame. This will give those who wish to campaign for a position in the new Stars Realm government the time to organize. This should also make the new Navy easy to mandate.”
“Thank you, My Queen,” Tgon-Gee said and then Danielle smiled and disappeared from the display. Terl and Tgon-Gee broke the connection leaving Tag and Kosiev with their popcorn.
“Well. Let’s see what we can do to make this happen,” Tag said.
Three months later Tag and Kosiev were on board the Moscow discussing the plans for using the new ships that had been completed.
Tag looked at Kosiev and said, “The fleet academy is moving right along. We need to start putting a list of instructors to be assigned to teach there.”
“I hope you will forgive me but I have a trip to make,” Kosiev answered.
Tag looked at him and said, “Dremel?”
Kosiev nodded and said, “The Plants have not found them yet and we need to get ready for them. I’m taking fifty more Megaships out to Admiral Dorg and I’m going to take a good look at the situation there. The new crews will need some training to fit in with the existing ships and Dorg has told me he can use some help. I’ll jump back if you need me.”
Tag thought a minute and said, “No, go ahead with your plans. I’m sure the military staffs can put together a list that will do a good job. We’re still at least three months away from completing construction. Good luck, Admiral. Stay in touch and keep us up to date on any developments,” Tag Said.
“I’ll be glad to do so. I’ll see you in six months if nothing happens.”
