Chapter twenty one: fighting against the tide
The noise in the Great Hall suddenly stopped. The people still standing made their way to their seats and when the lights went opaque, the exit doors were closed. But the main entrance at the other side of the hall remained open and stood out in the distance because the lights outside were brighter. Amelia saw a male officer entering through it in a rush; he called a R.U.P and got up in the vehicle. She couldn't distinguish him very well but his hat was like Frederick's so he had to be a high-ranked officer; probably the one who would preside the meeting. The R.U.P went to the center of the hall, where a podium was over a floating platform; he parked his vehicle beside it and let the officer get down. Now that he was closer, the Captain could recognize him.
"Magnus Gray" Amelia told herself.
He was a robust human, wearing a white uniform with many medals and badges pinned on his jacket. His advanced age was clearly noticeable due to his gray-haired beard and mustache. He got close to the podium and touched a panel above, making the speakers to screech.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he proclaimed. "honorable members of the Galactic Parliament, distinguished officers from the Interstellar Armada, ambassadors, representatives and leaders of the Federation of Planets; allies of the Terran Empire…" he held over his presentation for a moment and that seemed to be the sign for eight people to stand up in the entrance; forming two rows of four on each side and raising golden trumpets. "…her majesty; Queen Illysa II."
Everyone stood up by hearing the trumpets playing a hymn, Amelia did it slower since she was shocked and didn't know what to think about what was happening. Then, the Queen walked in; she was human too but younger. She had an elegant red dress of full flared skirt and a bodice; both decorated with all kind of laces, a ruffled collar, puffed sleeves and wearing white silk gloves. Her hair was blonde and she combed it with three plaits that reached her waist. Her head was crowned by a beautiful five-crested diadem with incrusted jewels. She approached to another R.U.P that was waiting for her and one from her retinue helped her to get up in the vehicle. They departed right away and, as they moved forward, the people bowed their heads and hailed her saying: "long life to the Queen." During the process of taking her and her retinue to the platform, Frederick came back and placed himself beside Amelia interlacing his hands on his belly.
"Sorry for the delay, did I miss something?" he said with a bit of humor in his tune.
Amelia turned to him and frowned, if he was thinking using humor would make her feel better, he was more than wrong. "What the blazes is going on, Frederick, what is the Queen doing here?"
"How could she miss the meeting? The Queen summoned us." The Admiral responded without taking his sight off the platform. "I beg you, please have a little patience; you'll know why she is here, shortly."
The Captain stared at Frederick because she didn't like the answer, she knew about another meeting (where she wasn't present) that the Queen made in Crescentia a long time ago and it wasn't precisely to tell good news.
The officer moved aside as the Queen approached to the podium and everyone took their seats. Above the panel there was some sort of crystal orb, it sparkled when she touched it and lightened up her face. Several feet over the platform appeared six giant holographic screens with the image of the Queen; visible from everywhere in the hall.
"Thank you, Mister Gray," she said with a soft voice. "and I thank everyone for coming to this emergency meeting. I know some of you are already aware of the chain of events that have been taking place for the last weeks. There are some that probably don't know anything and I apologize, but we had to keep this matter in secret to prevent unnecessary problems. It's difficult enough to handle the disaster in Aniketus that has pushed us to the edge of a crisis. Before going any further, there is something you need to watch." The officer Gray, who was standing next to the Queen, activated a device in the panel and her image was replaced with one distorted by the static.
"…gency… …messa… …for th… …ation… …tre of… …Armada…" it was all that could be heard. The image started to be clearer and a creature showed up that seemed like a rodent because of the big incisive teeth of its mouth. "…I repeat, this is an emergency, we are under attack. I'm Lieutenant Ronald Miller reporting from the frigate Anaheim. We have been ambushed by an invisible enemy and we can't answer the fire, the engine has been disabled and the Captain McDack is wounded. He ordered the evacuation but was ineffective. We are receiving informs that the Leonid is being attacked too. I send this signal along with our coordinates, hoping that it can be retransmitted to the Operation centre of the Armada as soon as possible. Please, we need your…" suddenly, a lighting flashed in the porthole behind him, he was thrown through the air, hit against the wall and landed face down. He got up from the floor; stunned and came back to the screen. "…something's happening… it seems like we crashed… hmm… no, that's not it… it's… it's… the ship… she's being pulled by a force, I feel the gravity is increasing…" it was there when the message got interrupted.
The image of the Queen appeared again on the screens. "As you can see, the Aniketus incident was a deliberated attack. We don't know who is responsible yet, but this happened in the worst moment, on board the Anaheim was traveling the Ambassador Howard Anderson and on board the Leonid was Norman Lang; ambassador of Procyon. They were supposed to rendezvous to discuss a peace treaty."
The Great Hall was filled fast with murmurs, the officer Gray called for order through the speaker with a notably angry voice, that stopped the noise but there were some people still whispering.
The Queen carried on. "I see this surprise you and that's to be expected, for centuries we have been contending with the Procyons; hard skirmishes that fortunately haven't caused too much damages. However, the situation has become very serious; we are dealing with the greatest menace our empire ever had to face…"
She made a pause and looked at the hall from side to side; everyone was paying close attention to the screens. Amelia heard Frederick whisper: "Here it comes…"
"WAR!" the Queen said aloud. "That's right, ladies and gentlemen, a full-scale war without taking prisoners and not stopping until reaching total annihilation. The Procyons have taken this attack as an insult to their willingness for peace and now they are preparing to answer with all their might."
The hall was flooded with thousands of voices that sounded worried; this time the officer Gray had more troubles to impose the order.
"Nevertheless," the Queen continued, raising her palms to calm the crowd down. "due to the fact that the Procyons have no evidence that we perpetrated the attack, they gave us the benefit of doubt. Their Empress Clio Zodiana IX agrees with me that negotiations have to be reestablished and she has sent an emissary to find out more about this lamentable event. It's imperative for us to avoid a war and that's precisely the reason which I gathered you here. Unfortunately, I can't stay; nothing pains me more than leaving you on our darkest hour but my presence is more useful on some other place to help in this affair. So, please, I ask you do all your efforts to find a solution as fast as you can; now I leave you in the hands of Chief Gray." She departed in the vehicle once more; the people stood up and exchanged confused glances.
After the Queen walked out the hall and everyone sat down, the officer spoke again in the podium. "Now, we must proceed to assign a commission to investigate the Aniketus incident, we'll choose who's going to be in charge, which ones of you are going to be part of it and then we'll vote to…"
"Wait a minute!" a voice interrupted him and everyone turned to the direction it came; a Tuskrus was standing. It was a hunchbacked creature with light brown skin and a horn in the middle of his eyes; which made him look like he was frowning (by the sound of his voice he would have been wrinkling his forehead even if he hadn't had the horn) "What makes you think we agree with this nonsense of a peace treaty?" apparently, he touched a point several in the hall shared because they nodded when he said that.
"Please, Governor Aikan," the Chief Gray answered. "if possible, we must try to solve this conflict without using weapons…"
"Why not?" another voice said, this time was a Zirrelian who stood up. "The Procyons are preparing for battle, aren't they? These so called 'negotiations' could be just a diversion to divert our attention. I say we deploy our fleets and start planning strategies." Some in the hall expressed their agreement by raising their fists and exclaiming: "YEEEEES!"
"Gentlemen, that's enough," the Chief Gray firmly asked. "I'm not saying we shouldn't take precautions in the worst-case scenario, but right now what's more important is to find the real perpetrators and bringing them to justice…"
"That's just crazy," a Zandarian captain intervened. "Aniketus is a huge system, even if we knew who attacked the ambassadors, we could never find them; not even using all the ships from the empire. Not to mention, Aniketus is a neutral zone, they would never allow an armed intrusion in their territory."
"Hmph! All Zandarians are cowards; they always have an excuse to skip battles." A Mantavor commented. It was a being that looked like a dark red spider with pincers instead of hands, six long feet-less thin legs and bright yellow eyes. He didn't bother to say it quietly, even though the captain couldn't hear him, who did hear him was an ambassador in the Canid section (they were known as old allies of the Zandarians).
"How dare you say that!" the Ambassador exclaimed, indignant. "They have proven their courage on hundred of stellar battles. Besides, if we talk about cowards, you fled scared and abandoned us in the battle of Apistos."
That's how it all started, small quarrels that soon became into big disputes. The hall exploded into yelling and despite his efforts; the Chief Gray couldn't do anything else to stop the uproar. Some were shouting that certain allies of the Procyon Empire recently destroyed a fleet and that wasn't the attitude of someone with peaceful intentions, some others were arguing that they spent too much of the empire's budget in defense without getting satisfactory results.
Amelia didn't even blinked and remained in her place, frowning. She was watching two captains discussing which one of its fleets had fought more in battles. She also was hearing a parliamentarian and an ambassador criticizing each other about what should be the correct behavior of a public servant inside an official facility. Frederick was calming and holding one of his fellows because one soldier from another section labeled him as incompetent. Amelia couldn't believe it; the future of the empire was hanging on a string and the ones, who were supposed to lead it through a good path, were more concerned in fighting one another. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, when she saw a R.U.P descending in his vehicle from the second floor, she jumped over the table using a hand, she made a dangerous leap from the balcony and intercepted the vehicle; airborne.
"What the hell you think you're doing?" the R.U.P exclaimed, startled.
"Take me to the platform, quick." She ordered him.
"I shall do no such thing," he refused. "this vehicle is exclusive for governors and dignitaries. Get off immedi…"
She interrupted him by pulling his neck to put him face to face with her. "Listen to me; it will be worse for you and your partners if a mutiny is started here, so do as I say, NOW!" looking at it that way (or maybe intimidated by the fierce expression of the Captain) the R.U.P acceded to drive her, once in the platform she wasn't surprised to find Chief Gray arguing.
"Are you talking serious?" he said hacked off. "We cannot suspend it; the Queen trusted us to reach an agreement."
A tall humanoid being with three eyes and little tentacles coming out from his chin, was looking at the officer with an impressive contempt. He came with the Queen's retinue and stayed there for some reason. "These people are in no conditions of reaching any agreement, Gray, and obviously, the situation is no longer in your hands."
At that moment, Amelia took the word. "I beg you pardon for my interference, Counselor Ebiluk." She bowed before him and then; making a salute to the officer, she added: "First Space Lord."
The Counselor looked at her from top to bottom. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he inquired as if her sole presence was an offense to him.
"I'm Captain Amelia," she answered, calmly. "I came up with an idea to stop this ruckus, so I'd like to ask Chief Gray to allow me to talk in the podium."
"Talk?" the counselor said, nearly laughing with incredulity. "Only high-ranked officers and the Queen can address to this audience, coming here like this is outrageous, I demand you leave immediately!"
"Hold on, Counselor," the Chief Gray asked him. "it would be prudent to let her speak, she's a well-known and esteemed captain within the Armada; she could make them listen."
"That's rubbish!" the Counselor answered, furious. "Why do you think they're going to listen to her if they don't want to listen to the First Space Lord of the Interstellar Armada himself?"
Chief Gray folded his arms. "What's the matter, Counselor? I get the feeling you don't want this meeting to be successful, or should I remind you that's exactly the reason which the Queen left you behind?"
Ebiluk and Gray looked at each other as if they were having a mental fight. The screaming in the hall was louder and it was just matter of time before it turned into physical aggressions.
"Do what you want, but if anything should happen, it'll be your fault, Gray." The Counselor warned him.
The officer turned his head toward the Captain and nodded to let her proceed, she stood in the podium; took a deep breath and shouted with all her lungs: "LONG LIFE TO EMPRESS CLIO!"
The reaction was almost instantaneous; the hall was dominated by the silence and no one moved its sight away from the screens. Those who knew Amelia looked upset at her and those who didn't looked mad at her, it was inconceivable that a captain so loyal to the Terran Empire yelled such a blasphemy. The counselor was looking at Chief Gray with a twisted smile; delighted. Frederick, who just realized that she wasn't beside him, was looking worried at her.
"Is that the hail you want to hear within these walls?" she said rhetorically. "Because, I assure you, that's what you're going to be hearing from now on if this war is unleashed. Now is not the time to discuss who did what to whom or why; the Procyons will use our differences to divide and conquer. It really disappoints me to think that the lives our ancestors gave to forge these bonds of friendship have been given in vain." She looked down for a second. "I know how you feel; everybody has lost something… or somebody in this conflict with the Procyons and you hate them too much to forgive them, but do you actually want that our hate lasts forever, shouldn't we give peace a chance? You say it's risked, you say it's impossible, you say it won't last, didn't they say the same things about building our empire? And you have been witness of how great and powerful it has become. It's not an easy task to put your rancour aside, but it's worth the hassle if we can create a prosperous future for our children."
No one said a word after the Captain was finish; she didn't move an inch and looked at the public with absolute stoicism. Then, the sound of isolated claps was heard; it was Frederick, who didn't seem to care that they sounded out of place. Before long, their ex-classmates from academy joined him; applauding slowly at first but shortly afterwards it turned into a deafening ovation. At the end, almost everyone was acclaiming Amelia.
"Very touching words, Captain," the Chief Gray congratulated her, clapping softly. "I think no one else could have said anything better."
"Think nothing of it, Chief Gray," she answered, getting away from the podium. "but the captain who intervened a moment ago is right about Aniketus; the Pact of Miseo strictly forbids the incursion of any ship with warlike capability in neutral zones. However, diplomatic ships are allowed to be escorted by armed vessels in high-risked zones. An undercover convoy could be sent to Aniketus and it could easily travel around the system, inconspicuously."
"What an interesting idea," the Chief Gray commented with a bit of enthusiasm on his face. "would you like to propose it yourself to our audience?"
"I'm so sorry, Chief Gray, but my part in this meeting is over and I take my leave. Have a good day, gentlemen." She made a salute to the officer again, bowed her head before the Counselor and left in the R.U.P's vehicle. Gray's enthusiasm disappeared as he followed her with his eyes. Ebiluk was looking spitefully at her.
The acclaim had already stopped when she reached the door; she sincerely apologized to the R.U.P for being harsh to him, crossed the door and walked through the hallway in a hurry. Frederick came out of the Great Hall a second later and went after her; he caught her at the foot of the stair that led to the hall of the monument.
"Amelia? Amelia, wait. Why did you leave the meeting so soon, don't you want to know how is going to end all this?"
"No, Frederick, I don't want to know and I'll tell you why." She exclaimed walking enraged toward him. "What happened back there is an obvious sign that politicians and the Armada haven't changed since I retired. I don't know what you were expecting to achieve by bringing me to the meeting but you knew perfectly that I didn't want to get involved and it hasn't changed either. I left because now, more than ever, I must stay with my family since no one else seems to be interested in protecting them. I can only pray that the Queen doesn't let any of you do something stupid."
Without anything else to add; she left Frederick there and went to join her children, who were waiting for her along with Professor Hooks in front of the monolith.