Shelby 8 Snippet 5

 

Chapter 4

 

TauG9-77

 

Governor Harden sat and listened to the other governors' talk. The conference was running long, no surprise there. They generally ran long since everyone said hi and talked in the initial bit before they got to the outline. By the time they got to the schedule, they were behind schedule and it went downhill from there.

It usually meant yanking things from his later time slots to compensate. He flat out refused to sacrifice time with his constituents or his family, however, or hell, sleep.

“So, Governor Harden, you are still on track to take the Pele refugees?” Marcello, the State Department AI running the meeting asked formally.

“If they show up,” the Neofox governor replied with an ear flick. “We still haven’t seen hide nor hair of them. Has there been any word from the Confees?”

“No, sir,” Marcello stated. “You have the facilities for them ready?”

“As ready as they can be. Lieutenant Kade shifted from defensive works to finishing the islands. They were almost done when the Confees invaded. The engineers had some cleaning up to do but it is done. Everything is ready for the refugees to move in.”

“Better you than me. I wouldn’t want the competition,” Ebenezer stated.

“I doubt they will be much competition,” The fox replied. He had done the political calculations. Sure, the Pele people had their own leaders but they would be isolated on the islands. He might lose in that state but he was confident the rest of the population would swamp their numbers without issue.

“They were well cared for by the navy. I hope they are good when they get here. Whenever that is,” the fox growled. “Marcello, look into it, will you?”

“We are trying. The Confees are still trying to figure their political situation out.”

“Ah.”

“Didn’t you folks order the release of EPOWs?” Governor Gyro, the leader of Rumbling Mountains asked.

“We issued a swap as a proof of faith. Five hundred enlisted. Half are able-bodied; some were critically injured and recovered. All have been shipped to Stunning Sunsets to get to the Confederation,” Marcello supplied.

“Why not through my neck of the woods?” Ebenezer asked.

“We drew them from Sparkling Seas so they would not have to be shipped across Federation space and then back again,” Marcello supplied.

“I meant straight to that Confee base that has the refugees from Pele. Shame the bastards into giving our people up.”

“I’d hardly say five hundred of their enlisted for fifty-five thousand refugees in stasis is a fair trade,” Governor Rufus Salazar, a big black and brown mastiff governor of Tau-15A922 stated.

“True,” Governor Harden stated along with other governors. He checked the clock. The good thing about the meeting was that it was virtual through the ansible. He could do it in his boxers if he wished. It was also time limited. Commander Enki had blocked out two four-hour segments each day for the five-day conference.

They were nearly done with the first block of time for the day.

“What do we do about the refugees coming from the Confees? We know that they are going to swamp us with them eventually,” Ebenezer stated. The elderly governor did not look pleased.

Then again, he always had a grimace on his face the fox thought. It was his default setting.

“I can take a couple thousand,” he offered.

“What? More? Are you glutting for punishment?” Governor Salazar asked.

“Hardly. He’s a fox after all. A sly fox. His world gets all sorts of tax rebates and help for the refugees. That’s why he took on the Pele refugees,” Ebenezer supplied.

That started a chatter from the other governors. Commander Enki dutifully reported what each said but stalled some of the comments since they were stepping on each other.

Governor Harden sat back and took a sip of his juice and let them chatter. He didn’t care. The optics might be a little cynical but Ebenezer was correct in some ways. Well, most ways, he admitted in the privacy of his own mind. He had done the political calculus and it had been the impetus to get his people to accept the refugees. Not only had he gotten so much out of it, but it made him look good while the others looked stingy.

“What about that world that got cleaned out by the pirate plagues? Can’t they resettle there?” a governor asked.

“There will be a lot of places for the refugees to go. In fact, we are to discuss such options on day three,” Marcello said. “If we can get back to the schedule …”

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First Lieutenant Berl Kade felt relief that they were finally wrapping things up. All of the defensive works had been wound down. The hidden refugee centers had been evacuated and sealed for future use. Some of the people had not been happy to return to their former homes. Others had been ecstatic, right up until they had found out that their homes had been destroyed in the fighting.

His unit had helped along with the Army Corps of Engineers to get that sorted out. Their last task had been to make sure the Pele islands were ready for the refugees. They were, and when the natives had found out that those homes were sitting vacant, many had demanded that they get them instead.

Governor Harden had stepped on that firmly. His administration had made it clear that the islands were located in the tropics away from any other cities or locations. The natives had given the idea up, although not with the typical griping at wasting their precious tax dollars.

He shook his head. He was getting cynical as of late. He shouldn’t be; they’d won after all. They had done the impossible and torn the invading Confees apart while also securing the safety of as many natives as possible.

I’ve been seeing too much backbiting, he thought in annoyance.

He had found out the day before that he was the highest ranking Spacebee in the sector. He had been bewildered by that news. BuShips and Spacebee command had yet to get back to him on why that was. He hoped to get an answer before he shipped out in a few weeks.

 According to his last set of orders, he was supposed to be shipped back to the capital. But he had received an email asking him if he and his unit were willing to hook southeast and visit some worlds along the route home to help with the rebuilding.

He had yet to put it to his team. He wasn’t sure how receptive they would be to the idea.

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