3 Months Later

United Federation of Planets Council Chambers

Paris, France Earth

He never asked to be the president.

From the time Jarresh Inyo had been elected as representative of Grazeria, the very last word that Jarresh would have used to describe himself was ambitious. He had been content to serve his people honestly and without any fuss.

Apart from his presence on the Atlantis Project, the dream of raising a new subcontinent on Earth that had been something of a personal cause for him, Jarresh had pursued a quiet life as a backbencher in the Council Chambers, never making a fuss, but making sure he still had a voice when it mattered.

His people had been happy with his service, re-electing him to stand as Grazeria's councillor on nine separate occasions. The press and the Grazerite people described him as diminutive, kind, steady and reliable.

And then an opportunity came his way. President Stonn, the man that Jarresh had worked alongside during the Atlantis Project, decided to retire from the seat in Versailles rather than stand for another election.

Among the many candidates that put forward their names, Grazeria put up a 98% referendum for Jarresh Inyo to run for the office of President of the United Federation of Planets. Jarresh never wanted that headache, but who was he to say no to the people?

His campaign had been simple. He promised several exciting reforms in education, health care and the tax code, enough to give him a comfortable if slightly underwhelming result at the exit polls.

As was his goal during his time as councillor, he intended to lead his presidency honestly and without any fuss. He maintained shaky but lasting peace agreements with the Cardassians and the Tzenkethi after his predecessor Stonn of Vulcan had waged war with both races.

Jarresh failed to sign any formal agreement with the Romulans, a disappointment to be certain, but his policies of "live and let live" allowed the two great nations to co-exist, a symbiosis that proved invaluable in the war when the Romulans broke their pact with the Dominion and came to the Federation's aid in the darkest hour.

And when Hobus exploded and brought the Romulan Star Empire to its knees, Jarresh offered the hand of friendship to D'Tann when his counterpart, Chancellor Martok, swore in a subspace transmission, "Not for a day, not for an hour, not for a second will the Klingon Empire ever give aid to the Romulans, and the only hand we shall offer them will be holding a blade, and if Khaless wills it so, our blade shall be stained green in the blood of every Romulan who ever dared to raise a hand in anger to a Klingon. Let this be known for now until the day I die to any of this filth that dares to approach our borders."

The Federation instead chose to recognize and support the new Romulan Republic, which even the Klingons were forced to admit was a far more reasonable state than the remnants of the Star Empire who insisted on stirring up trouble on the border, long after their ships had lost any kind of support or aid.

Jarresh put his best hat on his head and prepared to walk down the small hallway into the chambers that, at this very moment, looked like they went on forever.

He wanted his presidency to end honestly, and without any fuss. Fate, it seemed, had other plans.

I wish James was here with me.

James Layton had once been a friend. James – Jarresh still called him that even to this day – was an avid fisherman. On the weekends, when neither man had any pressing work on their desks, the pair would travel to every corner of Earth seeking to find the one pond or lake that had never been touched.

Though they never found the untouched waters, James and Jarresh had managed to each bag a 20-pound steelhead trout in Lake Louise, Alberta on one summer trip. The record-setting trout made the local news service, and the picture of the men holding their catches high still sat on his desk in Versailles.

When this was over, he had packed the tackle box, basket of ham and cheese sandwiches, a thermos of Turkish coffee, and his new rod from Rigel, the same things Jarresh packed all those weekends all those summers ago.

He'd pay a visit to James' ranch in the Alps and ask his friend if he cared to spend the afternoon in Lake Louise to see if they could take a few more steelheads out of the water.

Jarresh would be the first person to tell anyone that asked that he was no fighter. When the war finally started in earnest, Jarresh decided that it was wise to leave the fighting in the hands of the men and women who knew how to fight.

He asked only that his war cabinet keep him informed of all meaningful developments, and otherwise chose to let the war fight itself, using his talents as a speaker to instead make sure that the men and women fighting the war had all the tools they needed.

Even when the Breen came to Earth, and his bodyguards hustled him from Versailles into that dark bunker in a forgotten catacomb in Paris, Jarresh never felt the need to fight.

But something changed in him all the years after the war. Anna McClair had risen in the chambers and began challenging every move he made in the war. Her rivalry irritated Jarresh. It irritated him more when she called for the War Inquiry Board. He was even more irritated when she used her influence to back him into a corner for her Federation Marine Corps. And he reached his final level of irritation when the man she chose to lead her Marines was revealed as a drunken, gambling criminal by the name of Marcus Castle.

In public, Jarresh gave his support to Anna and even endorsed Castle personally. But in private, he felt nothing but hatred for this perversion to the paradise that was his second home of Earth. His hatred would be his last mistake.

Jarresh stepped through the open door and took his place at the podium before the council. On either side of him, the rows of representatives stretched back in a half circle, five rows deep and twelve seats long in three levels of seating. Two hundred worlds were represented in this chamber, including his second home of Earth, seated front and to his left, and Grazeria, third row and centre to the podium.

The chamber was as quiet as a tomb. Every representative here waited eagerly for the President to speak.

He decided not to stretch this out any more than he needed to.

He placed the PADD with his speech on the podium and began as though this were any other day.

"My fellow citizens, and representatives of this United Federation of Planets. One year ago, terrorists attacked our fellow planet of Risa, in an attempt to win reparations for a war they lost many years ago. A thousand Federation Citizens paid with their lives for this shameful deed. On my orders, a special task group consisting of Starfleet and the Federation Marine Corps was sent to Risa to contain this violence, and it was with valiant effort that this group was able to stop the attack quickly and with minimal loss of life."

"Several months later, allegations had been made to me by the office of the Legal Adjutant that an officer who served with this group had acted contrary to Federation Law while working to contain this deadly attack. One of my strongest goals as your President was to ensure that every officer of our Uniformed Services conducts themselves with respect to the rule of law. With my orders and support, the Federation Legal Adjutant announced his intention to call for a hearing into the matter, to investigate whether sufficient evidence existed to charge this officer in a court of law."

"Over the last several weeks, it has become apparent that the former Legal Adjutant had his own agenda in this affair, and sought to use his influence and position to unlawfully make an attempt upon the lives of the officer and other members of the Federation Marine Corps. The Corps rightfully considered themselves under attack and took up arms to defend their officer, who has since been exonerated of all charges facing her."

"It was only the cool heads and determination of the leading officers of our Uniformed Services, Admiral of the Fleet Douglas Mitchell, and General of the Marine Corps Marcus Castle, which prevented this unfortunate and tragic series of events from spilling even further out of control."

"I never meant for any of this to happen. The Legal Adjutant has been removed from his position of authority, and he will face the full force of the law that he took an oath to defend and enforce. But it was on my orders and support that these events occurred, and ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law. Therefore, it is with both regret and necessity that I appear before this Council today, and announce my resignation as your President. "

"As a leader, I cannot, in good faith, expect those who serve this Council to uphold the law when I am guilty of perverting it for my own ends. Until the forthcoming election has chosen a new individual to serve as your President, the day-to-day governance of the United Federation of Planets will be left in the hands of this Council".

"Our uniformed services will report to the Honorable representative of Earth, Anna McClair, and the other ministries will oversee their responsibilities as determined by this council. As my final request, I ask only that this Council not judge me by my recent and misguided actions, but by the intent of my presidency to preserve this United Federation of Planets as a force for peace, fairness, and justice in this galaxy".

"That is all. I thank you for your time. And now if our business is concluded, I'd like to take my friend fishing for the afternoon."

And honestly, without a fuss, Jarresh Inyo stepped down from the podium, retrieved his speech and in its place left his best hat.

He turned for the hallway and left the chambers in the same silence he arrived. His top aide was waiting for him at the end of that hallway that seemed to go on forever.

The aide passed Jarresh his tackle box and told the now former president that his friend James was waiting for him on the shores of Lake Louise and that James hoped Jarresh was bringing the sandwiches along.

It was lunchtime, and James was quite hungry.