CHAPTER 9

Admiral Augesburcke could not say that his homecoming to Terra was a pleasant one. A military man through and through the Australian had little use for politics or politicians, and unfortunately for him his duties on Terra kept him in the constant company of each. He missed the Iowa and its disciplined no nonsense routine. He enjoyed space, and it was somewhat strange to so dislike being planet bound. A year ago he could not have imagined any of this, and now he could not imagine being without it.

Augesburcke was about to adjourn his daily CODOTS meeting when an aide handed him a message. The conference was uneventful, relatively speaking, as there was nothing they could do about the Chem situation but wait. The other matters of importance, the Scythian "rebellion" and the emigration fiasco were now in the Senate’s hands and out of CODOTS jurisdiction. The Scythian’s had not so much rebelled as withdrawn from the Galactic community. They ate and slept, but did little else. They certainly did not offer any assistance to their new masters, no matter the threats or offers. It was becoming a problem because of the sheer lack of understanding Terran’s had with their newfound technology. Reverse engineering took time when you didn’t understand the basic concepts upon which a machine was built. At the present there was no immediate threat on the horizon, but the newness of Terra in space made this event an important one.

The emigration problem was of Terran making in its entirety. There were suddenly two hundred plus habitable planets in the Terran Federation and now every nation, religion, and philosophy wanted a planet of their own to colonize. The response of the Senate was mixed, but CODOTS, under Augesburcke’s leadership, was steadfastly against the idea. He feared a partitioning of the species just at the time when they were realizing a Human dream of unity. As a result of the uproar CODOTS was removed from the decision making process. The Senate debated the policy, but several nations threatened to withdraw from the Senate and strike out on their own if they did not get their own planet. An ugly stalemate resulted, and as a result no planets other than those with troops on them were being colonized. It was a tense time, but as CODOTS influence waned Augesburcke saw only darker days ahead. His brow furrowed as he read the note handed him. After reading the message twice, he told the council, “Excuse me, but I have just been informed that CODOTS is dissolved. The military functions have been absorbed into the Department of Defense, of which I’ve been named Chief, and all other functions will be divided amongst the departments and agencies reporting to the newly formed Federation Senate. I am also informed that the Senate will be voting for a Federation President this afternoon.” Augesburcke raised his brows and looked across at his colleagues. “Well, it appears we’ve become superfluous. I’ve a list of government assignments for all of you, if you’ll stand by, otherwise I will call our council adjourned, permanently. Thank you all for a job well done.”

Faizah Sadat waited for the Admiral to storm out of the room and then left the table somewhat placidly. Her colleagues noticed her to be more withdrawn over the last couple of weeks and they were surprised to see her become an ardent anti-Alexander force in CODOTS. Her usual nature was as a decisive and very intuitive statesman. If there was a question as to her recent manner it was forgotten in the all pervading crisis. She gathered her staff around her and headed towards her office. Once there she sat silently behind her desk while her staff briefed her on every nuance of the Terran situation. She’d always been a demanding taskmaster, but recently her staff noted that her desire for information, especially information concerning Alexander, was insatiable. The briefing lasted several hours, with very few questions from Sadat.

A merciful knock on the door brought the ceaseless droning to a halt. An aide got up and opened the door. It was one of Ms. Sadat’s colleagues from CODOTS. There was a broad smile on his face.

“Congratulations Ms. Sadat, the Senate has just elected you the first President of the Terran Federation.”

Sadat’s answering smile was one of enormous satisfaction.