Author's Note: All, names and characters borrowed from Jeanne Cavelos excellent trilogy. I wrote the orignal of this for fun after finishing the technomage mage trilogy, to flush out the interesting characters that I found to be too 1-D fluff. Updated 10/20/16 - I could not stand how poorly it was written orignally. Now Politics ahoy! No need to thank me. You're all welcome.

Chapter 2 -Technomage Politics 101

The Chamber of the Circle, Technomage hiding place - Eight Years Earlier - November 1, 2261

Federico strolled into the Circle's Meeting Chamber with his hands in his pockets, squeezing his ball. With the lights on, no illusions hid the bland, drab gray hued walls of rock. This room could really use some color, Fed thought, kinda like the Circle. Hera always wore predicatable blue, the rest, in classic technomage fashion, all black. Today Fed had chosen his favorite 18th centruy look, like a muskateer, but without the fancy hat, or high heels.

His lateness would catch flak, but he didn't care. None of them will like what he had to say. Of course, he didn't care about that either, except for Hera. He guessed she'd shout at him today and that had him fidgeting but she never could stay mad at him for long. So it'll work out, he hoped.

With a scowl, Miostro said, "Nice of you to finally join us."

The four other members of the Circle already sat about the silver meeting table. In the middle, Herazade leant slightly to her left, listening to Celaene whisper in her ear. To her far right sat Miostro and Tzakizak exchanging whispers while throwing sneers at Fed as he ambled his way to his usual chair to Herazade's far left.

The hushed conversation stopped when Herazade raised her hand. The room went dark except for a spot light on the table. Instead of the bland gray room, their table stood in the middle of the Curia Julia. The ancient Roman columns and seats acted as the only spectators.

With a wave of her hand, Herazade made a glowing script list in the middle of the table. Their agenda. Herazade spoke, "Let us begin by discussing Vergil's tech generation and feasibility report. Then we must vote on whether we will approve his request. Then…"

He released the ball and interrupted Herazade, "Before we get into all that, I'd like to bring a motion before the Circle for immediate debate."

Groans and grunts came out of everyone else at the table, except for Herazade, who merely locked him with a frosty stare.

Tzakizak shouted, "Oh give it up Fed! We've voted on the issue of leaving the hiding place 28 times thanks to you and every vote has been exactly the same. I agree with you while the others here don't. I accepted the Circle's decision. You must as well," He pointed at Herazade, "Why haven't you told your boy here to shut up and move on already?!"

Herazade brought her hands together in front of her, looking down upon the table as if she prayed. "It is his right to bring any issue before the Circle for debate, no matter how tedious he is about it. Does anyone wish to to amend or alter their position?" Herazade looked at Miostro.

He waved his hand dismissively and said with a sonorous voice, "I have nothing new to add."

Celaene, slow to realize it was her turn, softly said, "I still agree with your reasoning Herazade."

Herazade turned to Tzakizak, who immediately bounced out of his chair to argue.

With balled fists, Tzakizak said, "I'm the only one here with an chrysalis apprentice who was supposed to have been initiated this year. So yes I'm still in favor of ordering every mage capable of walking to go and scour the galaxy for more of our tech. We must hound the Drakh! The Shadows used them to provide us with tech and they stripped Z'ha'Dum. If any survived Sheridan's nuclear themed soiree, they will have it or the means to make more. I propose one from this table must go and…"

Herazade cut him off, "You are losing focus on the current debate, but you bring up a good point about the chrysalis stage mages. We will discuss them at our next meeting. Now Fed, shall we forgo your standard speech and just take a vote then move on?"

"No, I have a new speech." Time to channel Galen, Fed thought to himself. He changed his face to look like he had just attended the funeral of some one he didn't like. Fed stood up as Tzakizak threw himself back in his chair.

Fed started, "The Shadow War ended nearly a year ago. Why are the technomages still in hiding? We tell the Order it is because of the Drakh, who are a threat to us. But that is a lie. The truth is your selfish fears keep us here! (He pointed at Miostro.) You are afraid of loosing the adulation of your monastic cult. You live for their adoration. (Fed pointed at Celaene.) You are afraid of making your own decisions so you hide in Herazade's shadow. (Fed pointed to Tzakizak.) You are afraid you're the last of your line. All you want is to go on the hunt and damn the consequences. Every time you open your mouth you scare the crap out of the others and they are even less likely to let anyone leave. (Fed pointed to Herazade.) You … ," His speech faltered as his voice soften, "Are afraid of everything spiraling out of your control again so you've gone full control-freak mom on everyone."

We can NOT let fear govern this decision! So I ask AGAIN that the Circle reconsider and break the wards on the hiding place. Let the Order return to its rightful place in the galaxy. We should be helping the InterStellar Alliance clean up the enormous mess left behind by the Shadows and Vorlons- not sequestered away in this rock."

With a wave of his right arm in anger, a cold wind blew across the table momentarily. Everyone about the table sat stunned as Fed retook his seat. Staring at the sharp cold blue of the reflect light, the relief of the speech being done made him giddy. That sounded Galeny, he reassured himself. His hand went back into his pocket to fiddle with his ball.

A harsh slow deliberate clap from Tzakizak made him look up.

Tzakizak said, "Oh well said … Galen. Does he even know he has a willing disciple in you? My guess is no since he seemed reluctant to give you the time of day and now he's left us without so much as a, by your leave. (His gaze flickered to Herazade.) You know Fed, you're adorable when you give us glimpses of your idealistic side. I just figured out how you get all those women to sleep with you. Hell, I can barely resist you right now."

Herazade slammed a hand on the table, startling everyone with the sound of a thunderclap that echoed once about the room. "I will not tolerate petty insults in this chamber, Tzakizak, you have been warned." (She spoke like a judge handing out a sentence.) … Our fears do not matter as long as we stay united and focused on our work. Federico you are hereby censured for disrupting our meetings and worse, for wasting our time! If you bring this issue up again you will be dismissed from the Circle summarily and replaced. Am I understood?!"

Fed couldn't look at her, he expected a warning at worse, not this. He was in trouble. His leg began to bounce and he spun his ball fast in one hand in his lap. The illusion of the Curia dissolved. The room once again looked gray.

Herazade continued to fill the silence, "We will take a one hour break then resume. (Everyone but Herazade rose.) No Federico, I will speak with you."

Tzakizak laughed deeply as he headed for the exit.

Once everyone exited, Fed sat back down and played with his ball, throwing it back and forth between his hands. Just play it cool, he told himself. If he could shift the blame enough, he'd get away with it. A slow smile spread across his face as he looked at her, "You know this is all your fault. You're the one who insisted I run for the Circle."

Herazade allowed herself half a smile. "That thought has occurred to me, and so has the thought that I should have disciplined you more as a child. You realize I'm serious?"

"About booting me from the Circle? Sure. I'll back down."

She let out a relieved breath and said, "Good, I would loathe having to do it."

His hands and legs calmed. She wasn't upset. He'd gotten away with it. "Tzak's right. Why didn't you tell me to shut up months ago?"

"Frankly, you needed the practice in formal discourse. You've improved considerably. I especially liked your little flourish at the end." Herazade brought her hands together in front of her face, her slight smile morphing into a severe frown. "But you admire Galen far too much."

"That's because he's the best of us Hera. Not just the most powerful, forgive me, but I think the wisest. Remember, all those times you lectured me about the greatest precept in the Code was the last- 'Good.' He's the only one doing any."

The lightning flash in her eyes, made him want to hide under the table.

"It's a shame he ignores the first, 'Solidarity.' I see I need to put my distrust of him in simple terms you can understand. … He is arrogant, unyielding even when he can and should, more self-righteous than Elric ever managed, and the most divisive figure in the Order. Then there are his various little psychoses: He is above influence because isolates himself from everyone, obsessive compulsive, has suicidal tendencies, and he harms himself to maintain control. Last of all, the one that concerns me the most because it affects the entire Order, he can not be trusted to obey the Circle."

Fed spoke up, "That's not fair and you know it! I've watched him closely, might I remind you at your request, and okay, I'll admit he's the Emir of Ennui, but he hasn't had any issue, psychotic or otherwise, since he returned from helping Sheridan on Z'ha'dum. He's been the ideal technomage."

"For his sake, I hope you are correct but his explanation as to why … this supposed becoming 'one with his tech.' What does that even mean? He might as well say he sprinkled fairy dust on himself. He's had a year to teach us but no one has been able to duplicate it or even understand what he's talking about. It's NOT science until someone else has reproduced his claim."

"I don't get it either, but I believe in Galen." Herazade rolled her eyes and relaxed back in her chair letting out an annoyed grunt. "He said Blaylock managed to become one with his tech but he couldn't confirm it because …"

Herazade interrupted him, "Because Blaylock immediately died. That is more cause for concern than celebration!"

Dejected, Fed said, "You're probably right. Anyway it doesn't matter. Everyone's given up trying, even Miostro and what's left of Blaylock's lot. Look, Hera … we're all arrogant and Galen's style doesn't matter because he always does what's right. Officially, you've disapproved of Galen loudly enough for all to hear, but I've always wondered why you never really punished him, apart from a tongue-lashing. Hell, you punished me worse when I mouthed off at Miostro during our first full Circle meeting. I still can't get the smell of sewage out of my boots. Not to mention, in one breath you called him a traitor who deserves flaying then in the next you entrusted him with the most vital job we have, monitoring our probe network. And now he somehow slips off quietly into the night, you don't mention it or declare him rogue. Nothing. It doesn't add up."

With a wave of her hand, she dismissed his comment. "There is no point to continuing this discussion. It is clear we will never agree about Galen."

"I'm coming to a point. You want to know what I think? You don't want to draw attention to how flagrantly he flaunts our authority and you just might have secretly approved of his leaving."

She shook her head no and silently studied him. Fed squeezed his ball until his knuckles turned white.

"Then why?" Still mute she just stared at him. Fed began throwing his ball at a far wall talking to himself. "If you disapproved him leaving you would've cut off his access to our network when he left yesterday but I checked and you haven't. So tell me what happened with Galen. (Herazade looked away but stayed silent.) … Oh come on Hera, talk to me! … You once said I'm the only one you totally trust. Prove it. Don't hide things. That led to Kell's downfall, or at least that's what you told me. We're here to share the burdens of leadership." Her eyebrows moved up in surprise. I got her, Fed thought.

After a dead breath, she spoke, "Perhaps you are ready to hear. … Galen came to my office two nights ago. He was 'concerned' about the Drakh. They appear to have started settling on Centauri Prime and have been raiding some of the ISA trade routes. He believes they are gathering supplies to build a fleet of warships. He said I should release him to investigate further and to stop them if he can. I said no. It's too early to move on the Drakh.

You were correct about the Drakh, Fed. They are not a threat to us, that is until we involve ourselves in opposing their schemes. We are few, our numbers shrinking, they are many and growing. Everyone is well hidden. The only sane and safe course is to wait patiently and watch for the day the Drakh leadership reveal themselves. Only then can we strike with one sure blow eradicating them. In the mean time, the threat of the Drakh, a common enemy, will further unify the ISA."

Fed shook his head no and interrupted her saying, "I see your point, but no. What about the people they're killing right now? The Drakh might do huge harm if they're allowed to become a power. If we nip them in the bud as they grow."

She held up a silencing hand, "Galen already made your argument and more eloquently. We can debate them another time. Getting back to what happened with Galen. He said he was leaving regardless of my opinions. That he only came to tell me out of politeness and if I wanted to stop him, I'd have to make good on my threat to flay him. He ended by saying, and I'll quote him here because I think you will enjoy it… 'I'll give you a head start. I'll go sit in my quarters quietly for the next two hours. I have no idea how many technomages it will take to subdue me but I would bring at least two dozen if I were you. I await your convenience. Have at me.' Then he got that amused, self-righteous look he's perfected recently. You can image how I reacted."

Fed covered his face with his hands to muffle his laughs. He said, "So he called your bluff, then what?"

With a huge frown, she said, "Once I stopped feeling like I wanted to electrocute him and instead just needed to smack him, I explained that if I wanted him dead I would never come at him like some sort of horde of Huns. Then I took him to his quarters, he packed, and I let him out the east airlock. Just before he left he revealed the true reason why he had come to me. He asked if I would allow him to keep his Circle level network access. I told him he can have unfettered use to our data and probe networks, if he does not compromise the hiding place. In return I asked him to not arbitrarily destroy any more of our tech that he encounters, but to inform us of it. He got a disgusted look and said, 'I will let you know if I find anything useful.' Now you know all. He is essentially a free agent."

"I'm glad you let him go… Wait how did you let him out without a majority authorization code?"

Herazade shrugged. "I forget."

With a finger snap, Fed lit up and said, "Oh man, you built back-doors into the locking wards and servers. I'm going to have to go looking now."

She approvingly nodded, "Seeking knowledge is an integral part of the technomage Code."

"But I still don't get it. Why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

Exasperated, Herazade impatiently chided, "Haven't you been listening to me?! He's divisive, uncompromising and disobedient. Our new Circle is too young. We are still weak and easily divided. Deciding Galen's fate would only lead to another maelstrom among us. Oh sure you would have been tickled pink, however... Tzakizak would have wanted him flayed but he would have settled for siding with Miostro and Celaene, who would both insist he be stripped of his privileges; his ship, his staff, his access to information and cast out of the Order as unfit. I was not sure if I could persuade Celaene otherwise. Galen does not have my approval but I will protect him."

Throwing his ball around again, Fed said, "That still doesn't make sense to me. Why would you?" She didn't help him. Her unblinking stare reminded him too much of when he was still her apprentice and she thought the answer obivous. The trouble was this had no obvious answer. Why would she protect Galen? What did he have she'd want? He was the most powerful mage in the Order. He snapped a finger, "Oh, I get it. Galen's a loose cannon, but the rest of the Circle thinks he's your loose cannon. Your personal agent. That scares them, and you like that because it makes you look stronger. So they don't challenge you. Am I right?"

A tiny yes came out of Herazade. Her eyes flashed pride in his figuring it out. It made him happy to have her approval. Time to lose it again.

"That's some Grade A politicing bullshit Hera. You're already stronger than the rest of us combined," Fed said with a smile.

The lecturing master replaced the proud one. Herazade found her voice, "It's not bullshit, when there is one on the Circle who would very much like to see me stumble, and worse would love to see you fall."

They both say at once, "Tzakizak."

Her fingers began to dance in front of her, as if she were warding herself from the devil. She stared off into the distance past Fed and said, "I protect Galen because, for all his faults, Galen is your friend, and you will need powerful friends to stay alive with this Circle. And second, at least he has never tried to kill me."

The memories of the fighting in the dining hall reared up in Fed's mind. He'd seen plenty of people die before then, but that was the first time he'd had to kill someone, and worst it was a fellow brother in the Order. "Oh ya, our little civil war. Your forgive and forget speech at Tzakizak seemed to placate him then. Has he …?"

"No he's been quiet and well behaved since than. I forgave because I had no choice, but never forget his breaking our solidarity led to 40 of our number dying. Be careful with him Fed."

"I'll try. But what are you going to do when Galen comes back?"

"I'll start with pretending he was never gone and hope the others play along. I'm making Galen your problem." With a smile, she pointed a finger at Fed.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of this," joked Fed.

"I don't want to talk to him unless I have to. He infuriates me too easily. Create a daemon to watch all his network activities and let us know if he does anything dangerous or interesting."

Fed stared off beyond Herazade with unfocused eyes for a second before saying, "Done."

"I think I deserve a guess about the fears that motivate your vote to leave the hiding place."

"Shoot." Fed raised his hands in an inviting gesture.

"You are afraid that you'll never see a real sky again, that you'll spend your life trapped here on this rock and you'll never get to prove to yourself that good can come from the powers you've been given."

Talking to her like this was fun. Fed's smile got larger. "You got it all, except I usually call this (he lifted his arms in a grand all encompassing gesture) a shithole instead of a rock."

"Aldous no doubt would have been proud to hear that. Be patient, your time will come. Meanwhile the Order needs every mage to pour their energy and creativity into solving the most pressing problem we've ever faced. I want you to review these. (Fed's tech received dozens of files from Herazade.) I want your comments before I submit them to the rest of the Circle."

Every file appeared to contain elaborate schematics to expand or rebuild parts of their hiding place.

While continuing to examine the designs, he asked, "Are you turning our rock into a research facility?"

"Very perceptive Fed."

"What are all these little spec files at the end? … We don't have most this stuff, and there are … people listed here … are these jump gate components?"

"Yes."

"This'll take forever."

"If we stay united, and can overcome the technological hurdles, I estimate 15 to 20 years."

"Sweet Zombie Jesus! I'm never getting out of here."

"You'll feel better after you've eaten. Go get us some food. We'll discuss everything in more detail over dinner."

Fed stood to leave, but paused to ask, "Was I at least right?"

"About the others? Yes." Herazade already distracted, looked lost in thought as her fingers danced on the surface of the table.

"No, about you." Fed got her attention.

"Me? You know me, I'm no power crazed tyrant." She waved him away with a dismissve hand.

Fed crossed his arms, not accepting the answer. "That's not what I said. Forgive me Hera but, your plans… it feels like you're basically hugging the Order to death."

The sound that came out of her was somewhere between a sigh and an annoyed grunt. She crossed her arms to match his stance. "I do not fear loosing control over the Order, Fed. I want you above all to understand this. Our tech is the one thing that kept the Order united, the thing that connected us throughout our history. Not our traditions, not the Circle or not even the Code. It's all about the tech and the handing it down from one generation to the next. That is the true reason we all came together every 3 years at our convocations. Right now we have nothing to bequeath but some lucrative investments and well tended databases. You spoke of doing good. Yes, the Order could do good right now, but only until your generation dies out, another fifty to seventy years perhaps. Instead, shouldn't we provide the next 100 generations of technomages with the means to do good? That will not be possible if the Circle breaks the wards. Everyone will scatter to do their own thing, and it will guarantee our … (She sketched a complex burning rune in the air between them.)"

"I don't recognize that rune."

"This is the only fear that keeps me awake at night. It is the ancient rune for extinction and I will not allow that to happen. Or at least I refuse to go down with out a spectacular fight."

Federico stared at her unsure of what to say. Whenever this happened before, he trusted Hera and hoped her plans would work out. Sometimes they did. "Okay I'm with you, but what if we can't research our way out of this hole and what we need is out there?" He pointed to the ceiling while plastering a challenging smile on his face.

With another dismissive wave, she said, "Just between the two of us, soon I will be ready to agree to Tzak's fondest wish, well a limited version anyway."

Fed's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Wow, now that's what I call cognitive dissonance. If you agree with him, why the hell have you been tripping him at every turn?" Herazade raised an eyebrow at him. Fed snapped his finger, "Oh ya, he tried to kill you."

"Here is some extra homework for you. Start working on a list of technomages who are completely loyal to the Circle and you would personally trust to be our eyes, ears and hands. (Fed's eyes lit up.) And do not put yourself at the top of the list."

Pouting, Fed asked, "Where are they going?"

"Wherever we need to, but we will start with the Centauri Prime and Mars."

Eight Years Later - Excalibur Docking Bay - December 23, 2269

Anger, worry seeped into Galen words, "Have the others been harmed? What has happened?!" Fire and destruction fueled Galen's imaginings. Who would attack someone as benign as Fed? Had the hiding place been discovered?

With a relaxed step back, Federico held up a calming hand and said, "Hey, calm down. The burns are just a souvenir from my encounter with a Drakh engine exhaust port. I want talk to you." He looked pointedly at Gideon. "Privately." Galen forced calmess. No, clearly Fed was involved in something less apocalyptic. Turning inward to his tech he listened to the new mage's tech. It hummed. Fed had low level spells running in a loop and the edges of repressed pain prickled Galen like splinters in his palm.

Unruffled, Gideon commanded, "Look, Federico was it, if there are Drakh near here I need to know their strength and where they are. Also you should let our doctor take a look at you first before your little reunion."

Galen took Federico by the arm and drug him along to the exit out of the docking bay. "Matthew is right, be a good boy and come along to their Medlab. I will go intercept the Drakh. Uplink everything to my ship."

"I prefer to be called Fed, Captain. And before you run off, Galen, I've dealt with the Drakh while I was aboard their fleet master's ship. I reprogrammed their navigation and tracking systems. They won't be bothering you unless one of them manually checks the hyperspace beacon and notices it doesn't match their computers, but the Drakh aren't renowned for their individual initiative. I'm tracking all the ships just in case. So they are irrelevant. I'm here about something else."

The three men climbed into the transport tube. Galen's tech connected to Fed's to receive the tracking data. The pain grew, enough that Galen had to shunt it aside. Studying Fed, his friend's face looked as jovial as ever, he must have turned off his pain receptors. Galen relayed the tracking data to the Excalibur's computer. He sent a response to Fed.

/A direct course for Minbar. They're in for a surprise. /

/I should have thought to warn the Minbari defense forces. Oh well, I'm sure it will all work out. /

/What are you doing out here Fed? Are you here on the Circle's business? /

/Here specifically, no. I am just collecting supplies for a mission./

/What could you possibly need from a Drakh ship? /

/Nothing. I was tracking the Excalibur when I noticed them following you. They obviously meant to attack. I guessed that would be bad for you, so I snuck aboard and hacked their system. A total piece of cake. I took a real good look at their control systems. It was fun poking around until I was slipping back out an exhaust port and they kicked their engines into overdrive. I was a bit slow reinforcing my shield. Some plasma leaked through. Ruined my favorite jacket but I'm alive, so it's all good. /

/I'm glad to hear it. What do you want with me Fed? /

/You're the last item on my supply list. /