FOW Snippet 3

Chapter 3

 

Antigua

 

Jeff Randall, Vice President of the Federation stared out the window as he examined his life choices. He was an average sized human dressed in slacks and an open collar shirt. His homeworld's beauty embraced him, making him feel... well, not quite at peace but as close as it came to it these days.

So far so good, he reflected. He was second fiddle to Admiral Irons, but that just meant he was one step away from the presidency. He could live with that, after all, he'd had anti-geriatric treatments and would live for centuries.

His wife had also been treated to stablize her aging, but out of their pocket. It had been expensive, and initially they'd both resented that the Federation hadn't paid for it. Intellectually he understood though, it would have opened up a political dynasty issue that they didn't want to fight over. At least the Federation had allowed her to get it, normally the only paths for a civilian to get such treatment was to either A, join the military, or B, get into office, or C, emigrate and become a colonist somewhere. Admiral Irons had worked in an acception for the spouse of someone in the military or government service, but with the caveat that they pay out of their own pocket. He and his wife had managed to afford it, along with paying for the kids to go to college.

They were officially empty nesters, something they were both starting to explore and get used to. Just not having to worry about disrupting the kids plans was great. It definitely made his work-home life balance a little easier to deal with. He did miss the kids, but he checked in when he could. They were horrible about doing that though, which was typical for their generation. They were getting wrapped up in their own adventures and stretching their wings as they explored what this new civilization had to offer.

He envied them a little, he thought as he stared off to the slowly setting sun. He envied them but understood what it had taken to get them this far. It was normal for every generation to improve things for the next. His had made the leap to as close to old Federation standards of living, medicine, and education as possible.

If any of the kids wanted to get anti-geriatric treatments they'd have to find their own path. There were several available to them, including the easiest, military service. He shuddered mentally at the thought of one of his kids going off to war. Bad enough that he didn't see them for a month or more but knowing they would go off to get shot at... it had to be difficult for any parent to handle.

Fortunately, he didn't have to deal with it. The kids had all gotten into college with an eye to civilian careers. He winced at the thought of them changing career tracks though. The costs were getting high. But it was all a part of the process of their finding themselves and their way, he reminded himself firmly.

At least they keep their grades up, he thought as he felt a gentle breeze.

That was another good thing about being second fiddle to John, he could still spend time on the planet of his birth. John was anchored to White Station entirely too much these days.

He was going to be traveling again soon though. They had a six month block to travel Rho. Sandra was finally coming around to looking forward to it as a second, or was it third honeymoon? He snorted wryly at the thought.

The following year he was destined to travel around Pi sector. It was one part to show his face and make connections, and another to show the people that the administration cared about them. Obviously John couldn't do it, so guess who was elected? Not that he minded. Well, he did mind the idea of traveling around dangerous space, but the navy was getting a handle on that. He wouldn't go far either, and they'd have a warship escort the entire time.

Hopefully when the other gates came online they'd have the process down and maybe even find a way to juice Federation Two's speed a bit more.

That would be nice, he thought as his hair ruffled in the evening breeze.

His HUD blinked to get his attention and he turned away from the glory of the sunset to look into the shadows of the balcony nearby to see what his AI was trying to show him. He snorted at the minor headline and dismissed it for the moment.

Politics might be the bane of some, but for him it was the lifeblood of his existance. He'd started out getting into politics in order to improve things for his family and for his community, and eventually the world.

When Admiral Irons had come years ago he'd seen the opportunity to strike. At the time he'd seen Irons as an authority figure standing in the way of his ambitions. He had used that as a way to rally some figures on his planet in order to catapult him to the governorship of the planet.

He hadn't anticipated that Admiral Irons would take the attacks personally. Nor had he anticipated that the Admiral would not be hobbled. Instead of setting aside his plans to build a Navy in Antigua Irons had shocked him and his followers by leaving. He'd gone off to find another place to start the Federation and it had taken the starch out of his plans.

He'd been embittered for a time, but the attack by the pirates had awakened him. He'd spent a lot of sleepless nights in fear of what they'd do next. He'd realized his short-sighted stupidity had nearly cost him everything he'd worked for and more. The rescue by the heavy cruiser Firefly had become the thing of modern legend. He had been humbled and had requested that the admiral return.

Fortunately the spirits had been listening and the admiral had returned from his adventures with a core fleet.

Antigua was at the forefront of change in the sector. He had seen it and felt his chest swell with pride. His view had expanded during his time running for the Vice Presidency, and beyond when he'd settled into the new position.

The firestorms the administration had weathered after Horath had been destroyed had been tough on many. To his surprise, Admiral Irons had grown a thicker skin and had not buckled under the constant pressure to resign. He had remained neutral, not coming to the defense of the administration for fear of alianating certain political parties.

He'd done it out of political expendency, in order to cover all bases in case the admiral did eventually step down. He knew the game, he had to keep all of his options open. He had tried to keep up his personal relationship with John and make it clear it wasn't personal. Their relationship had cooled a little though. They were still friends though.

He snorted to himself as his eyes went back to the headline on his HUD. Himalaya's government settling in. That was rich, the population there was under five hundred people. Most of the people there had gotten off the planet as soon as they could. The remaining mountaineers were trying to forge a government on the planet when there were few people there and not much of an economy. It was amusing to see certain parties trying to prop up as many star systems as possible in order to build a bloc of voters for the sector.

The same for two of the other star systems in that culdesac. New Brunswick was better off, but not by much. The Ssilli on Aquarius had no organized government to speak of. Another group being propped up and pushed to organize. He shook his head in mild annoyance. At least the Ssilli had a strong growing economy. Some of their young were joining the Federation military as pilots and navigators. Some of those people were sending their credits back to their homeworld to help clean it up and modernize it.

Already their population had quadrupled since contact had been initiated. The Ssilli colony on Antigua were considering moving there or to the seas of Agnosta.

At least he'd finally killed the movement to get unpopulated star systems to be accepted as voting members! That had been a foolhardy ploy by the kingmakers in congress. They hadn't realized that it could set a precedent and open the door to the same practice in the other sectors.

Their current ploy was to delay the acceptance of star systems to their ranks. That was slowly erroding though under the steady pressure of other star systems who had endured the same treatment.

The new movement that was growing was to colonize. They were looking at finding ways to colonize some of the uninhabited star systems in order to maintain parity with the other sectors. He snorted to himself. They'd have a lot of hurdles to overcome, including all the rules they'd set up to delay the process. A solid economy running for five years was the biggest. A population above a certain number was another. A self-sufficient one was the biggest.

He shook his head as he turned back to the sunset. A soft sound of breathing and then hands snaking their way around his hips made his lips twitch in a smile. He twisted slightly as he felt his wife's lovely head settle on his side. "Hi," he murmured.

"Hi yourself," she said with a soft husky tone of voice. She smelled nice and had a flowing silk outfit on that fluttered in the evening breeze nicely. It was funny, three decades ago he was the mayor of Doonburg and they dressed in Victorian fashion. She would have been scandalized then at her current wardrobe. He enjoyed it, and from the gleam in her eyes when she found something new to tantalize him, he knew she did too.

He turned and kissed the top of her head gently and then went back to looking at the sunset with her, content in the moment.

>>><><<<