Chapter 85

The sun was starting to hide behind the horizon.  It had been hours since the meeting began, and they were still there talking.  They haven’t been outside, not even to eat, they had asked for food to be delivered to them.  After a few hours my family and I had gone to our room and spent some time just talking.  They all had worked hard to avoid any reference to the meeting, and I knew that my children were trying to avoid any reminder or what had happened to stop me from feeling bad.

Even if I was grateful for what they were trying to do, I couldn’t help but feel worse knowing it was so obvious how affected I had been by the situation.  Even if there was no talk about the meeting, I knew they were keeping tabs on it, their mood changes and hidden silences made me suspect they were keeping communication with Kimball, or maybe even Antrax to stay up to date with what they were discussing at the meeting.

In the afternoon we decided to leave the room and went to other common area, one on the lower floor, and sat down around one of the salt water pools.  While we watched the sunset, Ethan had started a game, one we used to play when he was younger.  Using some of the pool’s water, we started to create different shapes, while the others tried to copy it, once the copy was perfect, the first one to get the perfect copy then changed the shape and waited for the other to copy it.  As soon as they had understood the game dynamics, Malkia and Greca had joined us.  Once the game started to get too repetitive, we started to create basic weapons and started fighting with them.

Fighting with water weapons wasn’t easy, so one of the first things I did was to transform them into ice.  Freezing salty water was harder than freezing simple water, but if you managed to separate the salt from the water it became easier.  Since I knew the direction the game was taking, since I had played it many times before, I had started the process of separating the salt with each transformation I did, and when the time arrived, it was easy to freeze the water around a center of salt.  Ethan knew about the freezing the water trick, but I saw the moment he realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as usual, he hadn’t taken into account the fact that we were using sea water, and I could see him having trouble freezing it.  It was easy to destroy their first weapons, since they were not fully frozen, and I watched as they struggled to copy my trick, not knowing exactly what I had done.

I was so focused on the game that I didn’t notice the figure stalking me until he took out of my seat and into his arms, luckily I noticed it was Kimball before I attacked, as I was prepared to do.  Kimball sat in my place and then set me on top of him.  It wasn’t a proper position, but that didn’t matter, I was in Kimball’s arms, and after a long, difficult day, it felt really nice.

“How did it go?  Did you manage to reach an agreement?”

“It was a very productive day, even if we didn’t get too far, that people is terrible, and when dealing with so many points of view and different ideas, it’s very complicated to agree on something, but there was a very important subject we were discussing, and we are already working on the fine details,” Kimball answered.  “You will need to come with me tomorrow, by the way, there is something we need to discuss that needs your presence, no matter what Stone wants.”

“I’m not sure if I want to be part of the meetings after I was kicked out like that.”

“Those against you are a minority, most people support you and are on your side.”

“Melchizedek asked me to get out of that place.  If it was just Stone, I’m sure I wouldn’t have any trouble fighting for my rights, but when he asked me to leave…”

“He had his reasons, as you always say.  Seers, in case you haven’t noticed, always have their secret plans, and have reasons for everything they do.  Some of the topics we discussed today, and one of the reasons we want you there tomorrow, would have been more difficult to talk about if you had been there.”

“And what was discussed that would have been affected by my presence?” Kimball smiled at me, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if the was mocking me, or just didn’t want to answer me.

“We aren’t supposed to repeat any of what happened today, they don’t want any of our plans being discussed until we have a definitive agreement.  However, I can tell you that what we want to discuss has to do with your future, and with Aquarium.”

“I guess they want Aquarium as neutral ground,” that was one of the possibilities I had seen in my visions.  There were other things, but most of the future was foggy, and I couldn’t really see it.

“Something like that.  We will talk more about it tomorrow.”

I knew that I could have pressured Kimball into giving me more information, or maybe even someone else.  It would have been so easy to get into someone’s mind and see what had happened.  I could even go into the fog and walk the set paths, the ones that showed what had already happened.  There were many things that could be done, but I decided to wait.

The next day I walked with Kimball back to the meeting room, but he asked me to wait outside.  I was starting to get angry again, but just a few minutes later William arrived and asked me to follow him.  There were three new seats in the middle of the room, and I was guided to the one in the center, but I didn’t take it, I wasn’t going to sit down so they could look down on me, I wanted to be able to look them all eye to eye.

“Thank you for joining us today,” President Yu greeted me, “especially after what happened yesterday.  I would like to start by saying you don’t have to agree to anything we are going to discuss today, you are free to refuse any of our requests if you don’t feel comfortable with any of it.”

“Thank you, President.  You should already know that I never do anything I don’t want to do,” I knew my words could be considered hostile, but I wasn’t worried about that.

“We are looking for a place where we can set our International Tribunal.  A neutral place where everyone can feel safe.  During our discussions yesterday, the possibility of using Aquarium was mentioned,” Yu said.

“For many of us, there isn’t a safer place than Aquarium.  Many of us lived there as refugees, and we remember it with affection.  For those that are not part of the Dominion, it is a safe place because it’s under your protection, and for all of us, that’s very important,” William said.

“Aquarium has always been neutral ground, first it was a refuge for all of those from Mzansi who were in danger during the war with the Dominion, then for all of those in danger in the Dominion, once we became part of them.  Right now it’s a place that’s it’s open to every investigator and developer who want a safe place to work.  Even if Aquarium is part of Mzansi, since we were the main investors in the project, as I explained to the other leaders yesterday, Aquarium has always been yours, it was my gift to you, and therefore, I can’t make any decisions over it.  Because of that, the only one with the authority to decide if Aquarium can host the Tribunal, it’s you.”

“As you say, Aquarium was a gift to me, but I can’t pretend it’s only mine, many people now call it their home.  Aquarium’s doors have always been open to those in need, and that’s something that won’t change any time soon.  Keeping it as neutral territory is a given, and if you want to use it for the Tribunal, I have no problem with that.”

“Thank you, Kaiserin,” President Yu told me.  “If you are so kind as to take a seat, we have other topics to discuss.”

I decided to sit down, feeling more comfortable with the situation.  Besides, I didn’t see Melchizede, but Malkia sitting with the people from the Light, and I was curious to know what was going on with that.  William walked out of the room again, and came back a moment later, followed by Sofia and Melchizedek, who took the seats to either side of me.

“We spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do.  One of the decisions we arrived at, was to create a new organization that helps us keep the peace and balance between all of us.  We decided to create a Tribunal, an organization we can go to when we have disagreements, one we can respect enough to listen to.  But we also need it to interfere when they think someone is about to make a mistake that can affect others,” William started to explain.

“We all agreed that the people in charge of this new organization have to be people we can all respect, people with integrity and the ability to make decisions that are best for everyone.  After thinking about it, we realized we already have those people with us, and that they have been doing a great work for a while, and that it was time to recognize their hard work and give them the position they deserve,” Luzian said.

“For your constant work and the sacrifices you have done in the name of your people, for your powers and your ability to see into the future and make the best decisions you can based on that, the people of the Light would be honored, father, if you will do us the favor of representing us in the new Tribunal.”

Melchizedek got out of his seat, with a smile on his lips.  He didn’t look at me or Sofia, but I could feel his attention on us.  “It would be my honor to keep working for the good of every person in the world as the representative of the Light, and I promise I will keep using my powers to look for the best solutions for my people, and all the people in the world.”

“Thanks, father,” Mistral said.

“I know you have said in the past that you no longer wish to take on the responsibility of a work like this,” William started, “truth is, you have already given your life to the service of our people, even if you think you let us down with what happened during my sister’s rule, I know you did your best, and eventually, you helped the Dominion to go back to what it used to be.  Because of that, I ask you to keep using your powers for the good of our people and that you accept to represent the Dominion in this new Tribunal.”

“I have always done my best, but I have let you all down in the past.  I made mistakes, I was weak, but I have learned from those mistakes and I’m willing to work in this new phase.  My time working in the Dominion ended a long time ago, but this is different, and I’m ready to give it my best, and to show you, and show myself, that I can do better, and that I can still be useful.”

“Thank you mother,” William said with a smile, and then his eyes locked with mine.

I didn’t need my powers to know what was coming next.

“When they first introduced this idea, they said they needed people capable of respecting and understanding the different points of view of all the people in this new experiment.  Immediately one person came to mind,” Molpadia said, “in our divided and war filled world, only you were capable of teaching us how to see the other people’s point of view, you taught us that people can see the same situation through different glasses, and that that doesn’t mean one of them is wrong, but it also doesn’t mean they are right.  You taught us to find the middle point.”

“You have already proven you are capable of holding a position like this, because you have done it before.  You understand how the Free Clans work, and the Allied Clans, and you have taught us how to put our differences aside and work together.  You also understand the people of the Light and the Dominion.  You know people, you understand them, and you know where to draw the line and what lines to cross when needed,” Spike added.

“Because of all that, we think that the right person to represent all the clans, it’s you, Kaiserin,” Pompeyo said, formally.  “We already asked you to open the doors of your home, and now we are asking for your time and work.  Aunt, right now I’m asking you to represent our people in this new tribunal.”

I glanced at Kimball, who had a satisfied smirk on his face.  William and Mistral were looking at me eagerly.  I had the impression that Melchizedek already knew this was going to happen the previous day, and that was why he asked me to step outside, he wanted to catch me by surprise, he didn’t want to give me time to think about it.  During all our history together, Melchizedek had always been there to support me, but it also wouldn’t be the first time he went full Seer on me and hidden information from me.  I couldn’t be mad at him, but I wasn’t happy about the trick he had played on me.

“During all my life I have used my powers to help others, I don’t see why I would have to stop now.  If there is a way I can help others have a better life, then that’s what I will do.  I accept to represent the Clans in this new tribunal.”

I could feel that some of them had been unsure as to what I would respond, and they were more calm after my agreement.  I was surprised by the acceptance I could hear and feel from the people around me, I didn’t expect so many people to support me, especially not after being kicked out of the place just the previous day, but at the same time I understood those were different circumstances, and that they seemed more comfortable choosing me for a new position that to recognize me as part of the governments I had left behind me.

To represent my own people, make me feel connected to my roots.  I knew it wouldn’t be an easy task, but at the same time it felt right.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about people, and that if my powers needed me, I would do my best to help people, which would be so much easier from my new position.

There wasn’t much time to think after accepting my new position, because they immediately went to explain what had happened the previous day and what was the part they wanted us to play, while we started to give our own suggestions about it.  Little by little the new world was taking shape, and my role in it was starting to come together.

We still had a long way to go, but the foundations were set.  And even better, I wouldn’t be alone.  Melchizedek was a strong presence, but at the same time he was the pillar that could hold you up and would be always be there to support you.  Sofia was a woman that had lived a long life and was full of experiences, that made her a fountain of wisdom.  Despite the three of us being high level Seers, we didn’t always share the same ideas, and that was something that was going to be useful in our new job.  I knew they would temper my fighting instincts, and I would give them the strength and push to act when needed.

Ch 84-b

The first vote was to decide if they should let the observers stay, and it was a long and complicated process, setting the bar for how complicated the rest of the negotiations were going to be. Some of the leaders were content to wait and listen as the others were engaged in heated arguments. Some were worried people would start to migrate. Not only the people from the Dominion worried that people from the clans or the Light would start moving to the Dominion, but the clans were worried that people from the Dominion would go to their territories and try to change the way they thought or acted, and people from the Light recognized how vulnerable they were and worried that some people would decide to take advantage.

At the end it all boiled down to lack of trust. The three powers barely knew each other and there wasn’t enough trust between them. While some were eager to start relationships, more than one was ready to find a way to take advantage of the others while others worried about being the ones being taken advantage of.

“You have a clear advantage over us,” Molpadia was saying. “While we lost most of our history before the Great War, you still remember. When you say you want things to go back to what they used to be, it’s hard for us to understand what you mean, since we don’t share the same stories, we can’t know for sure that things were better before.”

“Besides, if it was so perfect before, how come we ended up fighting the Great War? It’s clear something went wrong,” Spike added. “Instead of trying to get things to be like they used to be, why don’t see into the future? Start new?”

“We look into the past to learn from it so we can correct our mistakes,” Melchizedek said. “It’s true we can’t do things the same way, but we can take what happened in the past and improve on it.”

“When we created the Dominion it was thinking of that,” William said. “After World War I, the nations created an institution that was supposed to stop another war, but just a few years later the World War II started. The countries learned from their mistake and created the United Nations, among other institutions created to stop that kind of war from happening again. Many people think that their lack of a real army was one of the reasons they were unable to stop the war, so when we created the Dominion we gave it their own army, but we all know what happened with my sister. I guess even you have heard the story?” William asked the clans and the Light.

“Both my aunt and my sister told me a little about what happened to the Dominion, what I can’t understand is, if your government already failed you once, why go back to the same method? Why tempt fate?” Pompeyo asked.

“Queen Sofia tried to warn us what was going to happen, and we have set some rules to avoid it from happening again. We also have to admit that what we are doing here is another way in which we will try to stop it from happening again. These alliances that we are building are a way for us to keep ourselves in check and stop our government from losing control again,” Yu explained.

“What we have been thinking about, is building some kind of international tribunal, an institution capable of stepping in when there’s trouble, to act even if there is no one asking for help yet,” Melchizedek said. “But we need a law, a set of rules in which we all agree that sets the tone and defines what can be done and what not. Which crimes we can’t let go and which are to be managed by each country. We need to work with the details, and I’m sure we won’t all agree about them, but we will need the majority to decide what path to follow.”

“What have you seen?” Luzian asked, she was the only one representing the Light’s clergy. “I know you have an idea of what to do. The Seers have always been a source of wisdom and comfort for the rest of us.”

“It’s not my place to say it,” Melchizedek answered.

“We need people capable of understanding the different points of view of the people in this new institution,” Luzian said, “someones who not only understands, but respect the different points of view and is able to reach the best solution for everyone. We need someone capable of understanding the consequences of their decisions, and capable of acting accordingly.”

“I think there is a person that is perfect for the position, if you are willing to consider her,” Spike said. “Her actions while she was with us prove that she is capable of doing all of that and more.”

“When Kaiseirn arrived to the Amazon’s territory, she was looking for sanctuary, but she ended up being our salvation. She not only helped us with the war we were fighting, but her actions helped prevent a future war with the Empire, and what could have ended killing thousand of people.”

“Besides her actions and teachings were the foundations in which we build the alliance that now unite all the Free Clans,” Spike said.

“You all give that woman too much credit,” Felinae interrupted. “You are so blinded by her that you don’t realize she is using you all. I know her, and I was a victim of her ambition. She not only destroyed my people, but she captured me and then gave me to our enemies as payment for an alliance that would secure her position in her clan. You all are falling into her game without realizing that all she is doing is looking after herself.”

“As Seers, our job is mostly difficult. For Kaiserin, it wasn’t easy to give you to Rex. While she was visiting me, I had a vision of you, next to Rex, and I shared that vision with her, we both knew it was important for the future for you two to be together. Your choices were to die with your clan, whose ending was inevitable, or to join a new clan. One path led to certain death, the other at least gave you a chance at a future,” Melchizedek explained.

“I don’t care about your stories. Neither you, nor Kaiserin can understand what I suffered at Rex’s hands, she just didn’t care what happened to me. She had no idea what giving me to him would do to me. They just used me to get more power and to destroy my own clan.”

“You are wrong about that, if someone knows what you had to go through, that’s Kaiserin. You may be just a couple of years younger, but by the time she gave you to the Predators, she had already experienced more than most people, she had already gone through harder tests than you faced. You think she didn’t care about you? It wasn’t easy for her to leave you in Rex’s hands, and she even threatened to take you back if Rex kept mistreating you,” Melchizedek replied.

“My wife is a complicated woman. She has never claimed to be a selfless person, she herself recognized she has flaws. What is true is that she always tries to go for the best scenario, one in which everyone wins, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be willing to sacrifice others to achieve her goals. When she left the Empire and went looking for heaven with the Amazons, she did it for selfish reasons, but once she was there and knew how the situation was, she decided to stay and fight in a war that wasn’t hers, and she saved the Amazons. She also did it for the Empire and what could have happened if the Amazons had lost. Still, after all that, she could have just walked away, but she stayed longer to make sure she could set the seeds of what it’s the Free Clans Alliance.”

“We are aware and recognize all that Kaiserin did for us,” Spike cut in, “I know that without her help I would be dead, and I also know that without her teachings, our people would probably be dead, or at least in a situation that is much more unstable and dangerous than our current one.”

“Kaiserin is always worried about people’s wellbeing, and she takes as hers the people she lives with. Just as she took the Amazon’s fight as her own when she was living with them, once she arrived at Mzansi she took our fight as hers. It was a hard and long journey, and once we realized we couldn’t save Mzansi from becoming part of the Dominion, she focused her efforts on turning the Dominion to what it used to be. Maybe not everyone liked her methods, but Kaiserin did her best trying to minimize the damage and maximize the benefits.”

“From what I have learned from my mother, knowing the future doesn’t mean you have control over it. She saw the Dominion’s crisis coming, and did her very best to prevent what was going to happen, but at the end she was powerless to stop it. For years she had to stay at my sister’s side and witness all the crimes she committed. But she knew that sooner or later Kaiserin would arrive, and that together they would be able to save our people from the nightmare we were living. From what we have seen, being a Seer doesn’t make you infallible, but it helps them search for the best way of doing things,” William said.

“I think it’s clear what we must do,” Luzian said. “The Seers have been carrying the difficult task of guiding us for years. Even if we don’t always understand their actions, the results they have given us are clear. The Goddess herself gave us a powerful weapon that we should not let go to waste: the power of the Seers. We have one from the Light, one from the Darkness and one from the Domain. I think they are the right people to guide this tribunal or whatever institution we want to set in place.”

“I guess that when you said we have one from each of the powers you meant Melchizedek, Kaiserin and Sofia. But there is a problem with that,” Stone said, “first of all, Melchizedek is one of the leaders of the Light, so he can’t take on another position of power. Kaiserin is part of the Dominion, so to pretend she can represent the Darkness, or the clans, however you want to call them, is not accurate, and since Queen Sofia has already rejected other positions of power, there is nothing to assure us that she will agree to occupy this new position.  We also know that Kaiserin has ties to many groups, in the clans and the Dominion, so we can’t guarantee she will be impartial on this.

“Those are valid points,” William said, “but Luzian’s proposal makes sense.  Maybe you haven’t noticed, because you don’t have as much practice dealing with Seers, as some of us do, but from Melchizedek’s words, I think this is exactly what he was thinking of, isn’t it?”

“There are certain points in time that are hard to see, but between what I have been able to glimpse, the chance of a scenario like the one you described is very high.  I would be willing to quit my current position to be part of this new institution you propose.  I can’t speak for Sofia or Kaiserin, but if this is the direction the Goddess wants us to take, I’m sure both of them will accept.”

More voices joined the discussion.  While others thought the proposal was the perfect and the solution to their problems, others insisted that it was crazy to trust their future on those people.

The conversations started to change, they started to discuss the possible structure of this new organization and what locks could be put into place to stop them from abusing their power.  How could they trust the Seers were telling the truth?  If they were truly looking at some distant future, how could they believe that what they were saying was the truth and that their decisions were truly for the greater good?  So much power in few hands was dangerous, and they all agreed that they needed strict and specific rules created especially from stop possible abuses of power.  They thought that it would be better to have more people, not only the three Seers as Luzian had proposed, they would put other people there, representing all the powers in a proportional matter so they could act as helpers and supervisors of the Seers.

Kimball knew it was a good idea and that Kaiserin was going to accept.  No matter how much she insisted she wanted a quiet life, he knew that she couldn’t stop from getting involved if she had a vision telling her that someone needed her help.  The new position would give her the tools she needed to act in case she saw something in her visions, but also to have a more quiet and relaxed life.

At the end of the day, there were still a lot of things to discuss, but at least they had the idea to build their future around.  They still had to talk to Kaiserin and Sofia, and wait for Melchizedek to define his situation, but the future was getting closer, and the end of the road was in sight.

Chapter 84

The sound of hundreds of voices echoed in the room.  The Dominion had a more extensive territory, but between the clans and the groups of the Light, the representatives of the Dominion were outnumbered.  I knew that was an unbalance that had to be included in the discussions, but for the moment it wasn’t the most pressing matter to discuss.

The people from the cruise had prepared a room and had divided it into three sections.  In the front of each section the three representatives of each power were seated, while behind them the ones representing each nation or group, the ones that would be the voices of their people were sitting.  Behind them was another section where a few more people, myself included, were waiting as observers, for the meeting to start.

“Silence, please!” Yu called to order.  “Please, we need silence to start this meeting.  You all have your universal translators?  Because of the number of languages that we all have, it will be better for everyone of you to activate them to avoid misunderstandings.”

“The translators were given to each person walking into the room, I trust everyone has one,” William said.  “If no one has anything to add or do before this, then I call for this meeting to start.”

“I think this reunion is very important, we are about to make history in this room.  Nothing will be the same once we leave this place.  Because of that, I believe that we need to take this seriously, and make sure we act with total confidence and freedom,” Stone said.

“I agree completely,” Melchizedek said, his eyes turning to me.

“I believe there shouldn’t be any outside interference during this process.  We can’t risk the results of this meeting to be affected by anyone.”

“I think we all agree on that,” William replied, “what’s your point?  Where are you going with this?”

“I think we shouldn’t allow Kaiserin to be here during the meeting,” was Stone’s answer.  “We all know how strong she is and the influence she has over many of the people here.  From the beginning I rejected the idea of having observers during the meeting, but it’s her presence in particular that I think shouldn’t be tolerated.  We can’t ignore the risk she represents, she could take this chance to take over the world.”

Everyone around me started talking at the same time, the volume was rising, but still a few voices could be heard over others.

“That’s stupid.”

“I agree.”

“How dare you!”

“Get her out of here!”

“Silence!” William finally said.  “We won’t get anywhere by talking all at the same time.  I think that we should take turns talking, we need to respect everyone’s right to speak and don’t interrupt each other, otherwise we will never reach an agreement.”

“If you allow me, King William, I would like to speak first,” one of the representatives from the Dominion said.  “I don’t see the point of denying Kaiserin to be here.  It’s absurd to think she will use this meeting to take control.  We are talking about a woman that had all the control of the Dominion, and let it go.  Not just that, she freed us from a very difficult situation and gave us back our old power.  If she wanted, she could have seized control of the Dominion, and if I understand correctly, she could have fought her way to the top of the Dark Empire.  With that kind of power, taking over the rest of the world would have been easy.  Why set us free, give us the weapons we needed and then walk away from power just to take it back by force?”

“We all know that Stone is after reelection, and we also know that a few very vocal leaders still resent the power that Kaiserin has.  Stone is trying to use that resentment to secure her reelection, not realizing that the people that supports and respects Kaiserin is the majority, even if we are not as vocal as the others,” Natasha said, speaking out of turn and not minding it at all.

“This is something that we can solve easily,” another of the leaders, one that I recognized as one of Jeong’s contacts said, “we simply need to vote on it, and I’m pretty sure most of us will agree to let her stay.”

“I think we are giving her too much credit,” another voice said, “a lot of you keep thinking that she still has our best interests on mind, but we can’t forget that her family is part of the Empire and that her loyalty could be divided.”

“That’s something we worried about at the beginning,” Pompeyo said, “but that changed as time went by.  I realized she will never put the Empire over the Dominion, but is also true that she won’t benefit the Dominion at the expense of the Empire.  Anyway, I think we are blowing this out of proportion, she is here only as an observer, after all, she won’t even be part of any discussion.”

“That’s a good observation, as an observer, she doesn’t exactly have any role.  But we need to think that if we are going to exclude Kaiserin from the meeting, we will need to get rid of all observers, that’s only fair,” Yu said.  “Anyway, I don’t see why we need to lose our time discussing something so superficial when we have important matters to attend.  I think we should take this opportunity to explore the voting method we are going to use, and propose that the first matter to put on vote to be: should observers stay or go?”

“If I’m allowed to give my opinion,” Melchizedek cut in, “I think it’s very noble what you are trying to do, but if a sole person’s presence can cause so much trouble, wouldn’t be easier just to ask her to leave?”  I had been feeling pretty good with the show of support people was giving me, but Melchizedek’s words made me feel betrayed.  I never expected him to treat me like that.  “As an observer, she won’t be part of our discussions, and because of that her presence it’s not necessary.  She will be able to access all the information about the meeting later, I’m sure more than one person would be willing to share everything with her.  She won’t be missing anything.”

“I think the same,” Stone said, “she is not needed here, and the risk of her taking over and affecting our minds is less if she is not here.  Despite the blind faith some of you seem to have, I’m sure many people will feel better if she is away.”

I realized that I didn’t have any choice but to leave the place, it looked like my presence was only going to cause trouble for everyone, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it.

“Melchizedek is right, I will find out what happens in this room one way or the other.  You don’t need me here because I won’t be part of the conversation.  But in the same way, nothing that happens here is going to chance just because I’m in the room.  What are you so afraid of, Stone?  Why do you insist on sending me away?  You know very well that if I wanted to take control, there’s nothing you could do about it.  My power goes beyond what you could imagine, and the fact that I’m not using it should be proof enough of my good will.  But if what you want is to deny me the chance of being part of something I have been working my whole life to accomplish, then I will grant you that wish.”

I heard some voices calling my name, at the same time someone was calling for order in the room.  Some of the other observers left the room after me.  I wasn’t sure if they were acting in solidarity or were leaving before someone had the chance to ask them to leave.  I started to walk with no real destination in mind until I found myself in one of the cruise’s terraces, watching the ships floating around the cruise.  Malkia and Ethan moved to stand on both sides of me, watching the horizon with me, showing me their support.  Greca hadn’t been in the room with us, but I was sure that if she had, she would have been there with us.

“Couldn’t you see what was going to happen?” Alukah asked, making fun of me.  “Aren’t you supposed to be a seeress?  You could have saved yourself the humiliation.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Ratu answered for me, “besides, so many seers in the place make everything around the meeting hard to see.”

“We are at a crossroad, in a hard time to see, with so many seers involved, it becomes more difficult to see something already hard to see.”

“Then you can’t see what’s going to happen to my sister?” Alukah asked.

“Your sister has many paths to choose from, so nothing is decided yet.  A lot depends on what happens on today’s meeting.  The most probable path is one when all come to an agreement that takes us into a new era of peace and prosperity.  But that peace and prosperity can take many faces, and I’m not sure which one it’s going to take.  There are some spots I can’t see yet.  So I will have to wait, just like everyone else.”

“Don’t worry,” Ratu told her, “everything will be fine.  You know my brother will support you in all you need.”

More people started gathering in the place, and Greca’s arrival confirmed my suspicion that her siblings thought I needed the support.  In truth, I was feeling betrayed, and I really wanted to be there.  History was being written right at that moment and I deserved to be there, not outside after getting kicked out of there.  I needed to accept that Mlechizedek hadn’t been acting in bad faith by trying to stop a fight, but I still expected more from him.  He had always been my support, an unconditional friend.

The silence around me was heavy, but at the same time it wrapped me in a secure feeling.  Those people were there for me.  I could feel it.  I would have their support while I waited for the meeting to end.

Chapter 82

The beginning of the end.  All my plans were coming to an end.  It was hard to believe that everyone on Earth, or at least most of them, would be connected.  I had heard a lot of stories about how the world used to be before the Great War, and even if things weren’t perfect back then, and even if conflicts between countries had always existed, the cooperation and communication between them had caught my attention.  When I decided to get the Dominion back to how it was before Faakhir and Emily, I didn’t realize that I also wanted to bring the world back to what it was before the Great War.

I understood that it couldn’t be the same, the world before and the world at that moment were very different, but I was doing my best to get is as close as possible.  I was fighting to leave my children and my allies’ children a better world.  And we were about to take the first step.

I watched as the Corsair’s ship approached the cruise, it would arrive almost at the same time as the helicopter I could barely see on the horizon.  The groups from the Free Clans would be arriving at the same time as the representatives from the former Kingdom of Light.  People from the Empire and the Dominion had already arrived and were in their rooms.  I knew that sooner or later they would have to get out and spend some time with the other groups, but the official reunion wouldn’t be taking place until the next day, so they all had enough time to rest and get ready before having to deal with the others.

For a moment I considered going to greet them, but going after a group or the other would be the same as stating a preference, and that was something I wasn’t ready to risk, I needed to say as neutral as possible, which was already hard since I had connections to all of the groups.

“If everything goes as planned, we will be a step closer to reaching our goals,” Sofia said, speaking my thoughts out loud.

“I know what my goals are, but I’m not sure about yours.”

“To stop what happened with my daughter from happening again.  The more exposure between groups, and more people involved, the easier it gets to keep the balance.”

“Really?  I would think it would be the other way around, more elements just make it more complicated, fewer elements keep it simple.”

“The Kingdom of Light, or what used to be the Kingdom, is in chaos, and for a while it will be the pet project from the rest of the world, but there will be a moment when it will become another power.  The Empire is shifting its focus, and opening the doors to talks between them and the other clans, they are the most dangerous element right now, it is enough to keep the countries in the Dominion in check and stop them from doing something crazy.”

“The Empire is afraid of the Dominion after the show Kimball and his people gave them.”

“And that’s good, because that will stop them from doing something crazy.  But you know that your people are extremely powerful and it would be a bad idea to ignore them.  They are a force capable of bringing balance.  It’s time to start working on making sure the balance is sustained.”

“We can’t move that far ahead, first we need to make sure the meeting goes well and then we can start thinking about the World Summit, when we will finally have all leaders, and not just their representatives.”

“You are right, let’s take one step at the time.”

Sofia went away in the direction of the people from the Light, she didn’t have to worry about showing any preferences, since that group had been responsible for her grandchild’s care for years, it was understandable she felt a connection to Melchizedek and his family.  I knew it wouldn’t take Mistral long to come looking for me, maybe even Molpadia would.  The best setting to interact with both groups was during dinner, so I went looking for my room on the cruise ship, it was likely my family would be there, waiting for me.

My time with my family flew by, and soon we needed to go to dinner, a relaxed setting for the groups to interact with each other.  Each group was set apart, with only a few exceptions like Ethan that had no problem moving around them, or Ratu that had no problem approaching the people from the Dominion, Malkia was also moving between the Empire and the Free Clans, while Camil was spending more time with people from the Light than his own and William was visiting each and every group.

The exchanges between groups were cordial, and even a little friendly.  I knew that I couldn’t let myself be fooled by appearances, and that at least a few of them were just looking for a way to get an advantage over others, no matter who could be affected, but as long as most of them had good intentions, it would be enough to make it work.

To stay out of their way the next day, ended up being harder than I thought.  I was there as an observer, from the beginning it had been agreed that only three people from each area would participate in the discussion, but it wasn’t easy for me or the other observers to stay out of it.  I knew that more than one leader was having a telepathic talk with their advisors, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to talk to them, and if it was, I wasn’t sure who to talk to.

“So far all we are looking for is to open the doors for trade agreements with all of you,” William repeated.  “The Dominion is constantly growing and it’s getting harder to fulfill everyone’s needs.  Most of our countries are very interested in acquiring some basic goods from you, and we are willing to share our technology and knowledge in exchange.  Our intention has never been and never will be to conquer or convert the rest of you into part of the Dominion.  If you talk with some of our people, you will realize that we don’t force anyone to stay with us, some countries have actually left the Dominion without repercussions.  If you want, I can give you the contact of the ones who left, but I don’t think they will be interested in trading with you.”

“You claim you have no interest in turning us into part of the Dominion, and that you are willing to let us make our own decisions, but at the same time you put conditions and restrictions intending to make our people share your values,” Pompeyo replied.  “Even if we have changed the way we deal with our slaves, even giving them an option to gain their freedom, not every clan in the Empire thinks the same, but you made it very clear that you won’t acquire any products coming from slave work, limiting our options greatly.  Isn’t that a way for you to control and dictate the way we do things?”

“Slavery is something the Dominion cannot accept, but it’s not something we will impose on you, those are our rules, and if you don’t like them you can simply not trade with us,” Stone said.

“Slavery can take many forms and many faces,” Melchizedek said.  “In the Kingdome of Light such title would have never been applied to any of our citizens, however, the way of life humble people lived for many generations, was not that different from that of a slave.  We called them servants, workers, even volunteers, but in reality they were nothing more than slaves for the Royal Family and the Priests.  In the same way, from what I have learned from Kaiserin, I know that there are people in the Dominion that are in fact slaves, maybe illegally, making you fight for them, but there is also a small percentage that falls into something that could be legal, but is not that far from slavery, a situation where maybe they are technically free and have the option to leave if they want to, but in reality they are as much prisoners as the slaves of the Empire.  What we are discussing here is semantics, when we need to discuss the spirit of the issue.”

“Basically all we have to do is change the way we refer to those in charge of the menial work in our societies,” Molpadia added.  “Would that be enough to satisfy the people of the Dominion?”

“That is not fair nor correct.  We have worked very hard to stop social injustices.  Besides, we can trust what Kaiserin says or suggests.  She was part of this government not long ago,” Stone said.

“No, we have to accept that what Melchizedek said is not completely wrong,” Yu said, “we are horrified by the word, but in some places the labor practices are not that far from how slaves are treated in the Empire.  From what I’ve heard from Kaiserin, and yes, I do talk to her and trust her, the way slaves are treated in most clans has improved a lot in the last few years.  Besides, most of them started as war prisoners, and they have the chance to regain their freedom after a while.  It’s not that different from the work programs we have in some of our jails.  As for the quality of life and their human rights, we need to take into account that their values are different from ours, they don’t see what they do as a bad thing.”

As they kept discussing the issues, I realized we have come a long way from how we related to each other.  I could see they were all considering the others points of view, not only their own.  Some of them were more convinced they were in the right, but others were trying to find a middle point.  Hearing them gave me hope that things could work between us.  Still, the people from the Light was still a wild card.  Mostly they just let Melchizedek act as their spoke person, but I wasn’t sure they truly shared his ideas.  At least everything was going well, which could mean that there would be another meeting, one with all the leaders, where each and every one of them would have their own voice and their own vote, that would generate more opinions and show their differences, but it would take us one step closer to the future.

“So we agree?” William finally asked.

“It seems so,” Spike said.  “If no one else has any complaints, protests or objections, I think the next step will be to get together with all of the leaders of the groups we represent.”

“We still haven’t agreed when or where are we going to meet,” Sotne said.

“I think we could use this place as our meeting place once again,” Pompeyo said.  “Even if the ship is part of the Dominion, it’s placed near our territories.  I think we can agree is a neutral point.”

“I think we are the only ones who could complain,” Melchizedek said, “since we are the only ones who depend on others to reach this place and it’s farther away from our territory.  Still, we have no issues about our meeting place.  We only have to decide when are we going to meet again.  Since our people are still working on rebuilding, it won’t be easy to convince all the leaders to leave their territories to come here.”

“We don’t have to agree to a date right now,” Molpadia said, “that’s something we could discuss with our people and then we can talk to the other groups using the communication methods given to us by the Dominion.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Pompeyo agreed.  “The Clan’s Reunion will be in three months, so I propose we look for a date later than that, and I will take the opportunity to discuss this during our meeting with the other leaders of the Empire.”

“I agree with that timeframe,” Spike said, “I’m sure it will take us longer than three months to organize our own people, after that we can have a few tentative dates to discuss with the rest of you.”

“Perfect, then, if we all are in agreement, I think we can finish this meeting,” Yu said.

Some of the other observers went to their leaders, while others walked out of the room.  I was surprised to see Ethan, whom had been watching all the proceedings with great interest, being one of the first ones to leave.  I stayed in my place, waiting for the room to get empty before leaving, but before that could happen, several people approached me.

“What do you think about the results of the meeting?” William asked, being the first one to reach me.

“I have to admit it turned out better than I expected,” I answered.

“I think we haven’t reached our goal yet,” Melchizedek said, he and his daughter were the only ones left from the Light, “I’m not entirely sure about my people’s sincerity.  I think their focus is on how much they can gain, and not in working for the wellbeing of everyone.”

“They better keep their promises,” Pompeyo said, joining the group, “if they try to renegade our deals, we will be forced to fight back, and I don’t care what the Dominion or any other group has to say about it.”

“No one would blame you for that,” I quickly assured him, trying to avoid trouble.  “But I really doubt we would have to go that far, the recently formed nations in the Light are still trying to find their footing, but it will be easy to remind them of their obligations.  And they are in no position to fight any of you right now.”

“It’s too soon to think about war,” Melchizedek said, “but maybe a little scare wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“We will worry about it once the time comes, it’s not worth it to worry about something that haven’t happened yet.”

“Before we need to go back, I want to talk to you,” Pompeyo asked, “since we will spend the night here, I was wondering if you would like to join us for breakfast.”

“It will be a pleasure,” I replied immediately, I was pleasantly surprised by the way he had phrased his order, as if it was an invitation.  We have come a long way from our first interactions, when he had been convinced I was trying to take away his position.

“I feel it’s easier for me to find an opportunity to talk to you, so I will leave you to talk to your allies,” William said, before leaving the place, leaving only Melchizedek and Molpadia, who was standing away from the group, waiting for us to finish our talk before approaching me.

“We both know when our time will come,” Melchizedek said, cryptically, but I knew what he was talking about, as seers we had a better understanding of the right times to talk and exchange ideas, and when the right time for us to meet arrived, we always found a way to find each other.

“Molpadia?  If you are not busy, would you like to join me for some coffee?”

“I was actually thinking of inviting you for a drink with me and Spike.”

“I think that’s and excellent idea,” I agreed.  I had to take advantage of our time together.

Chapter 72

It was more complicated than I first expected to get the logistics for the meeting between the Amazons, Militaries and Dominion people ready. I would have liked to have the meeting ready the day we arrived, but it took a couple of days to get everyone’s schedules aligned.

“It’s all ready,” Ethan said after a while. Molpadia and the rest of the Council had been waiting in the hallway, none of them had wanted to be in the room while Ethan was setting things up, I wasn’t sure if that was a sign of trust, or a precaution in case something bad happened.

“Perfect. What do we have to do?” Molpadia asked, walking into the room, followed by another five Amazons.

“These places,” Ethan said, signaling the seats to the right of the table, “will be occupied by the guest’s holograms. You, Molpadia, need to sit here so they can see you. The others can take any seat, they won’t be able to see you, but they will be able to hear if you want to talk.”

“You know them, what can I expect from them?” Molpadia asked me, a little uncomfortable by the lack of information.

“They are good people, they’re fair. You can trust whatever they tell you. None of them wants to hurt you, and if they did, I wouldn’t allow it. So you can believe whatever they say to you.”

“Everything is ready, the transmission is about to start,” Ethan said, and as soon as he stopped talking, Spike’s hologram appeared sitting next to Molpadia.”

“Greetings, sister, what do you think about this little surprise they got us?”

“Hi, brother. I must say I didn’t like that they dropped by unannounced, but Kaiserin’s visit has been quite nice, and just because of that it was worth it.”

“Talking to Kimball about the old times has been entertaining. What do you think about this Dominion people?”

“I can’t say until I meet them in person,” Molpadia said, just as the image of William started to form.

“Greetings, esteemed leaders,” William said. “I must say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Kaiserin has told me so much about you. Just like you, I was taken under Kaiserin’s protection as was trained by her. I must admit I wouldn’t be the leader I am not if it wasn’t for her and my mother.”

“It’s good to know we are not the only ones Kaiserin experimented on,” Spike said, but before William could answer to that, the President’s and Prime Minister’s holograms appeared.

“I see we are all here. Allow me to start this meeting by introducing you all. I’m here with Queen Molpadia, the leader of the Amazons. Next to her is Supreme Commander Spike, leader of the Militaries. Molpadia, Spike, here we have the leaders of the Dominion: King William, the Justice Chief, President Yu, Executive Chief and Prime Minister Stone, Legislative Chief.”

“Thanks for agreeing to this meeting…” Yu started, only to be interrupted.

“Are we just going to ignore this again?” Stone asked. “What is Kaiserin doing there? Are we going to allow her to be involved in something this big?”

“We already talked about this,” William said. “Both the President and I put our trust in Kaiserin and her intentions, therefore she is acting as our representative, no matter if you like it or not.”

Both Molpadia and Spike’s hologram turned to me, the question was clear even with their silence, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to answer or just ignore the situation.

“As I was saying, we are very grateful that you accepted our invitation for this meeting.  I trust that both Kaiserin and Kimball, who are there as our representatives, already told you a little about who we are.”

“Kimball told me about the Dominion, how it had moved away from their initial goal and about how Kaiserin got involved and helped them get it back on track, but right now I’m not so sure if all that was true.  I mean, if things got as bad as they told me and Kaiserin helped you save the situation, then I think you should be a little more grateful, and the attitude I’m getting from your Prime Minister is not the kind you would expect towards a savior.”

“That’s part of human nature,” Yu said, “few people are really grateful.  Everyone claimed for a savior while they were suffering, but as soon as they were able to stand on their own again, they forgot all about the hand that helped them up.  Most people admires and respects Kaiserin, William and myself included, but there are people, that just like you said, doesn’t appreciate what was done for them, and some people resent or fear the power that she has.”

“There were a lot of campaigns against me during my time in the Dominion, many that wanted to make people afraid of me, making them think I was worst that the evil I had taken down.  Some are still waiting for me to prove all those rumors true and turn into the monster they all think I am.”

“That doesn’t inspire confidence,” Molpadia said.  “We haven’t had the chance to talk to Kaiserin in a long time, but that doesn’t change the fact that our positions wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for her and her help.  It’s even possible we wouldn’t be alive without her interference.  Our trust in her is full, even if is not blind.  We won’t make any deals with you just because she says we should, and so far, you haven’t do anything to make us think we can trust you.”

“Why don’t we start again?” William suggested.  “The Dominion was founded on the principle of separations of powers, we are three people that are in charge of the government, we all have a vote, we all have our own voice.  Two of us need to be in agreement for any important decision to be made, so if one of us doesn’t like something, but the other two do, then we respect what the majority wants.  Is true that one of us doesn’t fully trust Kaiserin, but as long as the other two are on her side, then you can be assured that the Dominion is on her side.”

“That sound similar to how the old Free Clans Alliance used to work, when the New World Clan still was here,” Molpadia said.

“It’s not a proper comparison, that clan spent most of its time trying to compromise what our parents wanted to do, they were always at each other’s throats.  The New World Clan could have managed to get them to work together, and offered on several occasions the deciding vote, but what the Dominion people are talking about sounds a lot more civil.”

“What we can take up from that is that both work under a tripartite system, both use a third power to try and break ties when making decisions.”

“Interesting,” Molpadia commented, it was as if she was analyzing her brother’s words under a different light, seeing his point.  “Then we should keep going with this and then decide what we are going to do about it.  It was mentioned before that your people’s main goal is to be known by others, but Kaiserin assured me this is not an intimidation attempt, but a cooperation offer.  You want to trade with us, but I don’t know what we could possibly have that you might be interested in, and I don’t know what you have to offer that we could want.”

After that the leaders started to discuss their needs and wants, and what they had to offer.  William and Yu were the ones most interested in the talk, therefore doing most of it, with Stone just sporadically adding something.  It was all going much better than I expected, especially if compared with the meeting we had with the Imperialists.

“All of this has been very interesting, but no matter what people might think, we don’t speak for the other clans, we just represent them, so we will have to talk to them before we can make any promises to you,” Molpadia said.

“That’s totally understandable, and in fact we were thinking that might be the case.  A good leader always listens to others before making an important decision.  As a show of good faith we will be leaving you the equipment you need to make contact with us, and we will be waiting for you to contact us once you speak with the other clans,” the president said.

“I’m sure that Kimball and Kaiserin will be able to stay with you for another couple of days, long enough to explain how you can contact us again, and answer any doubts you may have about the Dominion,” William added.

“Thanks,” Molpadia accepted.  “We have a lot to think about and to discuss with the other leaders, but I believe we can all find an agreement that can be beneficial for all of us.  It’s been a pleasure to talk to you and we hope we will have the chance to do it again soon.”

The holograms started to fade out, first the Prime Minister, then the President, but William’s image lingered a while longer, enough to say his goodbyes.

“That was certainly interesting,” Spike said.  “Would it be possible for you to leave this system open a few more minutes?  And to have some privacy?”

“Of course,” I said immediately, “Ethan and Kimball can explain how to turn the equipment off, and then we will leave you to talk in private, you can take all the time you need and turn it off once you finish talking.”

“Thanks,” Molpadia said, but didn’t add anything else, just waited for us to leave so she could talk with her brother.

After giving them the instructions they needed, Ethan left, leaving just Molpadia with Areto in the room.  From what I could see, Areto had become her right hand woman, her weird power allowed her to make sure that what other people was saying was true or not.  Besides, if my intel was correct, she also had an intimate relationship with Spike, because of that I wasn’t surprised she was the one to stay behind.

“I must point out that that went better than I expected,” Ethan said.  “You old disciples are much more accessible than the Imperialists.”

“Their path has been very difficult, they were born in conflict and forged in war.  Their experiences have taught them how things can be when you are the one in a vulnerable position, when you have everyone against you.  That made them appreciate certain things in a different way.”

“But you know it could have gone in a different direction.  After Molpadia was bullied and underestimated by her equals for years, she could have become a tyrant obsessed with putting everyone in their place and humiliating those who had looked down on her.  And Spike, being Ace’s favorite and then falling as low as to become a slave, he could have gone back to enslaving everyone to take back control.  Both of them decided to learn from their experiences and they went, not to punish their opponents, but to help those under their control so they wouldn’t have to go through the same experiences they did.”

“That’s what differentiates a good leader from a bad one.”

“And that’s why you are such a good leader,” Ethan said, “it’s good you taught those two the same principles, because they became good leaders.  I just wish that Pompeyo will see beyond his personal desires and see what’s really best for everyone.”

“It’s not just about the leaders, but the people around them.  Areto is part empath and understand people and their needs and desires, that makes her a great advisor to both Molpadia and Spike.  Pompeyo on the other hand has some advisors, like Alukah, that are more focused on gathering power than to make sure their people is fine.  I’m not saying she is a bad person or that her advice hasn’t been good for Pompeyo in occasions, but the path she wants him to follow, is not the best.”

“What do you think will happen now?”

“I still trust everything will turn out right.  There are still good probabilities that they will all agree to start trading with the Dominion, and maybe, in time, with each other.  That will significantly decrease their need to fight each other.  I really hope that once this is finished, we will have some stability in the world.”

“That sound good, but you have to consider that two countries already asked to be out of the Dominion, and with the guerrilla problems we have in the Light, it doesn’t look as if world stability is right,” Ethan said.

“Human nature is not compatible with stability.  All we can do is our best to make things happen and hope that human nature won’t ruin it.  The problem is that people forgets too fast, the new generations didn’t live through the horrors of the Emily’s and Faakhir’s Dominion, so they don’t get that things could be worse.  The people from the Empire that didn’t fight through the old battles only know the stories about their ancestors’ glory, and they forget how much blood was spilled to get it.  The Rebel Clans, or Free Clans as they call themselves still remember the war from before Molpadia and Spike formed their alliance and started this new era, so they are in a different frame of mind.  The same way that the Light is just learning what war really is, it will take them a while to find peace, and a lot longer to get tired of it.”

“It depends a lot of the people in charge,” Ethan comments.  “The new generations are ready to take the Dominion to the next level.  Like me, I won’t let things get out of control again as long as I can do something to stop it.  Some day I will be in a power position in the Dominion and I will follow your example to make sure everything is well,” Ethan said.

Part of me felt like Ethan was just thinking out loud, he wanted to be part of the government, but part of him wasn’t so sure about his future.  But I knew that his dreams were not just a possibility, there was a high probability of that being his future.  Some day, Ethan would follow in his father’s footsteps and then mine at the front of the Dominion.  He was going to be a great leader, just like his sisters, all three of them had great futures ahead of them.

Chapter 70

Two days after my talk with Pompeyo, I got a call from William letting me know that the new law had been approved and that after discussing the issue, the Dominion had decided they were going to contact the leaders of the different governments.  All I had to do was go to Pompeyo and convince him to talk to them.  I knew that I had given him enough time to think about what I had said, and the fact that no order against the Light had been given was giving me hope that he was at least thinking about my words.  Maddan has been visiting me and had promised to let me know the moment any order against them was issued, so I knew nothing had happened yet.

First of all I needed to ask for a meeting with Pompeyo, to my surprise, he accepted immediately, in just a few hours time, the same day.  Trusting that things were going according to plan, I walked into the throne room and found that the group of people there was bigger than I expected, even Fedelm was there.

“Greetings, Emperor,” I thought it was best to start by showing at least some respect.

“Greetings, Kaiserin,” Pompeyo said, watching me with distrust, “I got your message saying you needed to talk to me.”

“That’s right.  People in the Dominion decided to change their laws and start to show themselves to the rest of the world, they won’t be isolated anymore.  The first step is for them to talk to the leaders of the different territories, and in the Dark Empire’s case, that means talk to you.  If everything goes well, they are planning to be present during the next reunion with the clan leaders.”

“Meeting with me?  Are they coming here?”

“We have different ways to have meetings between people in different places.  All I need from you is to know if you agree to this meeting and I will take care of everything.”

“Are we going to trust her?” Alukah asked.

“There’s nothing to lose if we agree to meet the leaders of the Dominion,” Pompeyo said out loud, but then he stared at Alukah and I knew they were having another conversation, or maybe discussion that I wasn’t hearing.  “Tomorrow afternoon I have free time for this meeting.  I will send Maddan later today so you two can prepare everything.”

“Thank you, you won’t regret this,” I said.

“I hope you’re right,” Pompeyo said, pensively.

I needed to wait for Pompeyo’s instructions, but I knew that the time difference was going to make thinks a little more complicated, I needed to convince him to have the meeting late in the afternoon and then convince the people in the Dominion to have it early in the morning.  But the first step was to talk to William and let him know so he could start setting everything for the meeting.  Luckily, they were very eager to make sure everything well, and were willing to adapt to any situation, whichever it was.

“What is this and how does it work?” Maddan asked the next day while Fatima was setting the holographic projectors.

“This is what makes it possible for the leaders of the Dominion to be in this meeting, and those cameras right there will help the people in the Dominion to see people here.”

“I would like to bring a technopath, not because I don’t trust you,” he quickly assured me, “it’s just that this is unknown technology and I would like to have a better idea of what’s going on.”

“Sure, no problem, I want to make sure you all see that we are not planning anything bad,” I knew they wouldn’t find anything, most likely they wouldn’t even be able to completely understand what the machine was about.  Of course, I didn’t know much about what a technopath was capable of, that was one of the powers I was less familiar with, even if it was one of Ethan’s favorites.

When the time for the meeting arrived, I realized that once again Pompeyo had all of his most important advisors with him, Fedelm again was part of the group, as well as Ratu and Alukah, others  I knew like Inionri and Maddan, and others that I recognized but didn’t really had a chance to know.

“Is everything ready?” Pompeyo asked.  “What is it supposed to happen now?”

“Now we just need to establish the connection,” I said.  Luckily, Fatima was there to take care of it, because I wasn’t good with the technical part of it.  In just a moment the first hologram appeared and I saw William’s hologram at the other side of the table, as if he was sitting there.  A few moments later both the Prime Minister and the President appeared on either side of William.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” I greeted them, I knew that they were going to be able to see me and Pompeyo, but I wasn’t sure if the cameras were showing the rest of the people there.  “Allow me to introduce you to Emperor Pompeyo from the Regal Family.  Pompeyo, these are King William, Prime Minister Stone and President Yu, they are the leaders of the Dominion.  The three of them work together for the good and the future of the Dominion.”

“Kaiserin,” the Prime Minister said, “I should have known that you would be involved in all this.  Despite your words I knew that you weren’t going to settle with being the governor of a small community, now you are working with the Empire.  What are you planning now?”

“I’m just here visiting family, and took the opportunity to start working on building bridges between the Empire and the Dominion.”

“What does this have to do with your family?”

“Well, Pompeyo is my nephew.”

“Again, I have to ask if this is a good idea,” the Prime Minister said.  “I don’t like that she is involved in this, how do we know that this is not part of her plan for world domination?”

“Do you really believe those stupid rumors?  She had her chance to control the Dominion and she let go of her power for the good of our people, why would she do now what he didn’t do when she had the chance?” the President asked.

“Are you planning on using us to take over the world?” William asked, and I felt the power behind his words.

“Of course not,” I answered automatically, not even trying to resist his power.  I could see that my family and the others Imperialists were watching the exchange with curiosity and distrust.

“As if that meant something, your power doesn’t work at a distance, you need to be in person for it to work.”

“My powers work at several levels, in fact, most of the time just my tone of voice is enough to get results, of curse visual contact is preferred for better results, and being in person helps with some kind of psychic waves I emit, but that doesn’t mean my powers are useless through this media.  Besides, this is not the first time I ask that question, and the answer is always the same.  Kaiserin doesn’t have to lie to us, if she really wanted to get her power back, she would have already found a way to do it.”

“Then we have to trust your word.”

“Of course we can trust his word,” the President protested, “and we can trust in Kaiserin’s word.  You have been so involved in the bad press her enemies create that you can’t see what’s in front of you.  Anyway, we are not here to talk about Kaiserin’s possible plans for world domination, we are here for something far more important: to start a relationship with the Dark Empire.  Both William and I decided this was the best course of action, and you know what that means.”

‘As interesting as this little chat seems, I would like to understand what’s going on,‘ Pompeyo said directly to my mind, and decided it was best to offer an explanation.

“The Dominion works under the principle of power division.  The reason three people are in charge is because when an important decision has to be made, at least two of them have to agree.  In this case, both the King and the President agreed to make contact with the Empire, so even if the Prime Minister does not agree, she has to accept what the others want.”

“You mean that three share the power and at least two of them have to agree for a decision to be made?”  Alukah asked, and I knew that even if they couldn’t see her, they could at least hear her.

“King William is the one that has something that resembles a permanent job in the Dominion, his position is inherited, in part because his family has the power to find the truth behind every situation, and that makes them perfect for the Justice Department, he is in charge of making sure justice is met and that those who break the laws get punished.  The ones that create those laws are the ones that work with the President, she is elected by the representatives.  They all have the chance to vote for the one they think is best suited to guide them, and that person gets that position for four years.  The Prime Minister is the one in charge of making sure everything works, following the laws written in Congress and sending those who break laws to be judged.  The Prime Minister is chosen in a similar way as the President, the difference is that the ones who get to vote are the leaders of the different countries that are part of the Dominion.”

“That sounds unnecessarily complicated,” Pompeyo said.

“I thought the same at first, but it works most of the time,” I replied.  “But enough, we are not here to know how the Dominion works, we are here to see if we can establish a relationship between our us.  The other day I told you a little about the Dominion and how the countries in it relate to each other.  In a way it is similar to how the clans are joined inside of the Empire, with the main difference being that, in the Dominion, is not one country ruling over the others, it’s a mix of people from all over setting the rules for the rest of them to follow.”

“The Dominion was created to avoid fighting, even if it hasn’t always worked as we expected, for the last few years we have been working on taking it back to its original function.  We know that the Empire is all about fighting and conquering, but we also know that the last few years it was more about protecting than destroying.  We want to open communication with you, help you understand our past and help you create your future.  But because of our ideals, we can’t help if that means that someone else is going to suffer for that, we can’t allow our collaboration to end up with the destruction of someone else.”

“I’m not sure what you expect from us, we have always been a warrior nation, fighting and conquering is in our blood, and we are not going to change who we are for someone else’s wishes.”

“My nephew grew up in the Light Kingdom,” William said, “he arrived there when he was running away from the problems in the Dominion and spent most of his life there.  I’m afraid that his time there created a connection that can’t be ignored.  After all the problems the Dominion has gone through, we don’t want to be involved in any fights, we don’t want our actions to be misinterpreted by the countries that are part of the Dominion or for someone to think it’s ok to go back to the time when all the countries were under our control.  We are going to offer our help to the Light in the best way we can, but that doesn’t mean we are going to fight for them, but neither are we going to let them defenseless if someone else tries to take advantage of them.”

“I feel like there is a threat hiding in those words.”

“It’s more like a warning,” William said.

“You control most of the resources in the region,” the President interrupted, “resources that are hard for us to get.  One of the reasons we are willing to open communication with you, is the opportunity to get our hands on some of those resources.”

“I think that no negotiation will go well if we found out that those resources are being paid in blood.  We can’t allow our people to benefit of other people’s pain,” the Prime Minister interrupted.

“What they are trying to say, is that they don’t support slavery of forced labor, and they are not willing to pay for products taken by force from others,” I explained.

“So far I’m not seeing the benefit to our people.  All I see is that they are telling us there is another world that is out of our reach, with people who feel they can come and threaten us, and dictate how we do things.  They say that they don’t want to interfere in how we do things, but they think it’s ok to manipulate us into doing what they want.  Even if they say they don’t want to get involved, they made it clear that they are siding with the Light Ones and that they won’t let us take advantage of the opportunities we see,” Pompeyo said.

“Besides, they want our resources, but they even pretend to tell us how to get them,” Ratu added.  “My brother is right, I don’t see how that would benefit us.”

“In the Dominion people has a skewed image of the Empire, they see our customs as barbaric, when they are not that different from theirs,” I tried to explain, “in reality we don’t have to change much of what we do in order to fulfill their demands, besides, we don’t really have to change if we don’t want to, we can just decide not to trade with them.  But there are things in the Dominion that could be good for us.  Even if some of the clans share their technological knowledge with the Empire, the Dominion has so much more they could give us.  It’s just a matter of seeing what they have to offer before deciding if we should turn our backs on them.”

“I don’t like their attitude,” Pompeyo said, “I don’t like that they think they can come here and dictate how we do things.  We haven’t decide what we are going to do about the Light, but we will take their words into account, not because we are scared of them, but because, despite what you may think, I worry about the Empire and what’s best for it above all.  We will stay in contact to discuss the possible benefits of an alliance between us, but I want to make it clear that we are not going to be taken advantage of.  We are warriors, and we bow to no one.”

With that, Pompeyo got out of his seat and left the room, followed by most of his entourage, only Maddan, Inionri, and surprisingly Alukah, decided to stay.

“Well, I have to say that went better than I expected,” the President said.

“Really?” the Prime Minister asked.  “I’m pretty sure this was a mistake, we should have never tried to negotiate with them,” with that his hologram went off.

“I think that it’s better to give them some time to think about the situation, I trust that in the future you will be able to help them understand better our position and expectations,” the President said before going offline too.

“Are you ok?” William asked.

“Of course I am.  I must say that I get Pompeyo’s attitude, I think we were all a little on edge during the meeting and things didn’t go well.”

“I think you were at the excellent, as always.  From now on, you will be acting as the Dominion’s Ambassador, we will represent us in the Empire.  Any doubt, you can talk directly with me,” with that, William also disappeared.

“That was interesting,” Alukah said.  “It’s good to see that I’m not the only one who distrust you.”

“The thing is, it really doesn’t matter what the Prime Minister thinks about me, as long as the President and the King trusts me, I’m in.  But what matters right now is what are you going to do about the knowledge of the Dominion and their offer to open trade between the territories.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, of course you can always tell us the possible benefits and try to convince us that it’s better for us to get an alliance with them than to try and conquer the Light.”

What she was saying was true, I needed to prove to them that what we had to offer was best for the Empire, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.  Fortunately, I had a good idea of what the Dominion had to offer, and what the Empire could find interesting.

Chapter 39

The trip back to the Dominion was very different, we all could feel Sofia’s happiness, but Camil emotions were harder to read.  One moment he was happy, then worried, then angry or even scared.  His face didn’t betray any emotion, and because of that Sofia didn’t see them, or chose not to, anyway.

“Do you want me to use my powers to calm him down?” Ethan asked mid trip.

“No, he is too used to Melchizedek’s influence, it will be good for him to be able to experience his emotions freely.”

“Your friends are very nice,” Kimball said.  “I’m glad to know you had them to help you through your hard times.”

“You have no idea how grateful I am for having Melchizedek and his family in my life.  Some of the best memories I have, are from the time I spent with them.  I have no idea what I would have done if Melch hadn’t been there to teach me how to use my clairvoyance powers.”

We spent the rest of the journey sharing memories, even Sofia and Camil joined us at some point.  Even if the chat was light and happy, Camil was getting more nervous as we approached our destination.  We knew it wasn’t a good idea to take him directly to the Dominion, so we were taking him to one of his family’s castles, Sofia was going to be with him, teaching him about our society and giving him time to get used to the Dominion.  At first we had considered taking him to Aquarium, but he didn’t need a secure place like that, there were no longer any threats against him.

We stayed at the castle one night, in part to make sure Camil felt at easy, in part to make sure everything was ok, but at the next day we continued our way to Capital City.  As soon as we landed, a car approached the plane, and William came out to greet us.

“Black lady, it’s good to have you back.”

“William, what a surprise, I didn’t expect you to come welcome us.”

“You know I didn’t want to leave the Dominion with just one of us here, but now that you arrived, I think there won’t be a problem if I go visit my mother and nephew.”

“No, I don’t think it will be, take as long as you need.”

“Thanks, Kaiserin,” I could tell he had a lot of questions, but instead of asking, he turned around and went into his car, without even bothering to greet Kimball or Ethan.

“I’m surprised he wasn’t at the castle to greet his family,” Ethan said, coming to where I was standing.

“Someone had to be here, one of us gone is no problem, but two of us is another matter,” I said.

“It’s not like your work intercedes that often, you all have different tasks to do.”

“Still, we always have to be prepared in case something unexpected happens, the Dominion is a huge place, and there are many scenarios that need the attention of all of the Dominion’s leaders,” Kimball explained.

“We have been lucky, there haven’t been any crisis lately, but that’s not a reason to neglect our responsibilities,” I said, but I couldn’t help but recall all the occasions I had left the Dominion to take care of personal problems, or just because I needed some rest.

We didn’t wait to see William leave, we went directly to the Palace, back to real life.  Even if I wasn’t officially back until the next day, I couldn’t help but go to my office to check my messages and make sure nothing had happened while I was gone.  Even if it had been just a few days, I couldn’t help but feel unease, I wasn’t sure if I was just feeling guilty about leaving, or if it was something else, but I knew that it was better to make sure everything was fine, instead of taking unnecessary risks.

Ethan had been more and more interested in my work, and anything related to the government, so it didn’t surprise me when he asked to go with me, and I didn’t bother trying to tell him no, I knew that any training he could get by my side would be useful for him in the future, no matter what path he decided to take.

Everything was just as I expected, the reports and files were what I would normally find on my desk, nothing out of place, mostly just routine work, but still, that didn’t make me feel better.

“What are you worried about?” Ethan asked.

“Nothing specific, I just had a feeling something was wrong, but maybe I’m just feeling guilty for all the time I was away, leaving my people unattended.”

“Isn’t the Dominion’s advantage the fact that it is just a regulatory body?  Once all the rules are set and the programs are running, most of the work is done by the different countries, you only have to make sure everything is going as planned, just supervising work.”

“That’s a rather simplistic way of explaining it, but you are right, if our work is done well, then sooner or later we reach an equilibrium where everything is fine.  Of course, we still have to be on our guard in case something unexpected happens, like a conflict between nations or a natural disaster, that’s when we really need to work.”

“But right now, everything is fine, right?”

“That’s right.  I think I just needed to make sure by myself to be calm, we only were away for a few days, still the trip was not something planned, and we had only returned from Aquarium, so I feel like I’m not doing my job, that I’m leaving my responsibilities.”

“Have it ever occurred to you that you take on too many responsibilities?” Ethan said, and I could tell he was serious, and even if his words were sincere and his worry was real, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you want to rule one day, you can’t think like that.”

“You know I’m not talking about that, I know your main responsibility comes from being the Prime Minister, but still, you worry about things going on in other places, first it was only the Empire, but sometimes is what’s going on with the Allied Clans, and not what happens in the Light Kingdom.”

“I’m a Seeress, Ethan, if I have a vision about something going on in any of those places, then I’m going to worry, but you know that most of the time I don’t even have to interfere.”

“I really admire everything you do, still I think you could take it a little easier.”

“I’ll try,” I said, mostly just to calm him, but in part I knew he was right.

We went back to our side of the Palace and I went to rest, but the next morning I was still feeling uneasy and I knew that it wasn’t my imagination, I couldn’t keep telling myself it was just guilt, what I was feeling was a premonition, and that meant something bad was about to happen.

While we were having breakfast the feeling got worse, and then I noticed that Kimball was receiving messages.  My fears were confirmed when one of my assistants arrived, followed by a couple of my guards.

“I’m so sorry for interrupting your breakfast,” Keith apologized, “but there is a situation that requires your attention.”

“No need to apologize,” I said, as I took one last bite, and got up from my seat, I looked at Kimball, waiting to see his reaction, he didn’t hesitate, he said goodbye to Ethan and got up after me.  “Can this wait until we are in the office?  Or do you want to explain what’s going on right now?”

“I think it would be better if I can explain at the office,” he said.

It didn’t take long to get to the office, and as soon as we arrived, I took my place at the desk, with my guards, who had followed us from the moment we left the Suite, taking their places around the room and outside of the door, while Kimball took his position behind me.

“I think that you can tell me what’s going one now.”

“We got some reports that one country is not paying taxes, when we asked about them, the King said that they are tired of the Dominion taking everything from them, and decided to declare their independence, and war to us.  Everything is here,” he added, giving me a stack of reports with a detailed explanation of everything that had happened.

“Just when William decides to take a few days, this happens,” I said.  “I suppose we will need to call the President, she will want to discuss about what to do, and we can’t agree on a course of action, then we will have to interrupt William’s family reunion, but not until it’s necessary.”

“Do you want me to call the President?” my assistant asked.

“Please, as soon as she can come,” he left the room right away and I was sure that it wouldn’t be long before the President arrived.

“We knew something like that would happen sooner or later,” Kimball said.

“But I didn’t think it would be in such an aggressive way.”

“What are you going to do about this?”

“You know that I had already been thinking about giving them the choice to leave the Dominion if they wanted, so I think I will give them what they want,” I said.

“Something tells me it won’t be that easy” Kimball said, his voice suspicious.

Not long after someone knocked on the door, and a moment later, President Yu walked into the office.

“Good morning,” she greeted me formally.

“Good morning.  I guess you already know what’s going on.”

“Of course, I was informed about it early this morning, in fact, I already programed this issue to be discussed in the Congress.  I know it’s your job to deal with this directly, but we also need to go over the situation and see alternatives.”

“We had already talked about this, when you took over Dante, even if it was superficially.  I think it’s time to change the law to open the possibility of countries leaving the Dominion if they want.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?  The Dominion’s power resides in our union.”

“Before Emily took charge, not every country was part of the Dominion, and even those who were, had more freedom than they have now, as far as I know.”

“You’re right, but despite all the problems Emily caused, there were a few good things, and one is that as long as everyone is under the Dominion, they have to follow the same rules as everyone else.  If a country gets outside of the Dominion, then they will be able to do whatever they want and we won’t be able to do anything about it.  All they want right now is independence, but, what would happen if they decide they need more territory?  Or if they start taking what is not theirs?”

“If they do, then they will get exactly what it means to fight the Dominion.  Any aggression against their neighbors will be dealt with all of our force.  Besides, after a while they will realize just how hard it is to be without our support.”

“You might be right, but I don’t like this situation.”

“You said you are going to discuss this on the session today, tell them about my plans, lets see what they say about this.  Give me some time, and I will go and present my point of view directly to them, and if they decide to support me, I will present a series of proposals on how to proceed.  Obviously we can’t use the same rules that were used before Emily, because we are no longer in the same situation, and we need to make sure what the advantages and disadvantages of being part of the Dominion are.”

“That seems fair enough.  I will leave you to your work, I will tell you at what time you can address the Congress.”

“Thank you.”

“Have you talked to William?”

“Not yet, but I will, soon, for the moment he is with Sofia, dealing with some family issues.”

“We don’t need him right now, but we need to keep him updated.”

Yu walked left the room, and Kimball moved to the other side of the desk, to the place that Yu had just left.

“While we work on the situation, we should move our troops to the border, to keep the situation under control,” Kimball suggested.

“That could be taken as an aggression and cause things to escalate.”

“Maybe, but they already declared war, and just the act of leaving the Dominion could be taken as an act of aggression.”

“Not necessarily.  But you are right, we need to take precautions.  Sent some people to make sure they have no surprises waiting for us, they shouldn’t have any weapons, but it’s better if we check on that.  If they want to leave the Dominion, then we will make an example out of them, they will help us show that we won’t force anyone to be part of us, but they will also help us highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the Dominion.”