Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 14

They went downstairs toward the kitchen area and found the whole area quiet, not a person to be found.

So Mark and Annabelle got some eggs and bacon from the food synths and started to make breakfast, before the bacon was done the rest of the crew from the shuttle showed up in the kitchen. So Mark cooked the bacon, Annabelle did the eggs and Rayven did the toast and they all sat down to eat.

Just as they were finishing eating, the chef came into the kitchen and started yelling about how he was going to fire whatever person left two pans out and unwashed. Mark was finished his breakfast, so he went in to talk to the chef and apologize for the dirty pans. The chef immediately started apologizing about complaining where the King could hear him.

Mark told him there was some bacon and toast left and he should go sit down and eat something, so the chef went to sit down, while Mark fried him up a couple of eggs and brought them out.

The chef was totally speechless, "You're serving me?"

Mark said, "Yeah, eggs are no good when they're cold. What is your name by the way?"

The chef replied, "My name is Jeff Winters and this has to be the first time in history that a King has made and served breakfast to a servant."

Mark frowned, "Jeff, you are not a servant, you are the head chef at the palace. As for me serving you, you'll find I'm a little lax on the whole protocol and expectations stuff. Finish your breakfast and I want to talk to you about some changes."

Jeff said, "I expect you want to setup some new menus?"

Mark laughed, "Nope you're the chef, I'll eat whatever you put in front of me, if I don't like it I'll let you know. But menus aren't why I want to talk to you."

Jeff was curious now, "So what do you want to talk to me about then?"

Mark smiled, "To be a top chef you must have some restaurant experience?"

Jeff replied, "Of course, my King!"

Mark looked at him curiously, "Do you miss it?"

Jeff replied instantly, "No, I enjoy making meals for the palace, my King!"

Mark looked disappointed as he shook his head, "That's not what I asked. Do you miss working in a restaurant?"

Jeff looked down, "Yes I do, my King!"

"What do you miss the most about it?"

Jeff thought for a second, "I would say, I miss the fast pace of preparing many different meals at once, my King."

Mark smiled, "Good! That's exactly what I was hoping you would say! Thank you Jeff!"

Jeff was really curious now, "What do you have in mind?"

Mark thought for a second about whether he should actually tell him of his plans or not, "After taking a tour of this place, I think you guys are going to be bored as I don't plan on living here full time like previous monarchs. If the royal family isn't here, how often is this place actually busy?"

Jeff looked shocked, "You are not planning on living here? Without you this place will only be busy for a few weeks each year at most!"

Mark replied, "I will live here when I am on Atlanterra, but I'm actually thinking of dividing my time between Earth and Atlanterra, with visits to the other planets, but Earth will be my primary residence."

Jeff asked, "So what is your plan for the palace then, my King. If I can ask?"

Mark smiled, "I'm actually thinking of turning this place into a hotel. We'd have to re-do the ground level, create a restaurant or two, maybe a bar, a spa, a bath house... it's a thought in progress."

Jeff smiled, "It sounds like a great plan, my King!"

The rest of the kitchen staff had shown up now and were preparing breakfast, as the senators were starting to file in to eat.

Jeff brought a pot of coffee out and filled up everyone's cups. Mark and the others went outside to the patio, while the senators had breakfast. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

Mark asked a question that had been on his mind for a while, "So, whatever happened to Atlantis?"

Liyana laughed, "To put it simply... Oops!"

She laid back on a lounge chair and told them the history, "A superior race of beings, called the Mazjik, had left their planet as their sun was dying. Their entire civilization loaded into several massive ships and left to try and find a new home.

One of the planets they found was Earth, but it was already populated and violent. They had approached several different leaders all over the planet, a couple of their ambassadors were killed and the other leaders they met did not install confidence in them. However, the ambassador that had met Atlas, our King, became good friends. They liked his benevolent nature and style of leadership, so they shared a bit of their technology with him. That technology is what allowed Atlantis to advance much further and faster than any other civilization on Earth, but we were using the technology responsibly and we weren't sharing it with others, as they had requested.

The Mazjik continued looking for a new home and found this planet, where they began setting up their civilization. That was when they realized the radiation, from their dying sun, had done something to them and they were no longer able to reproduce.

Realizing the inevitable mortality of their race, they sent a ship back to Earth to talk with us, only to find out pretty much every nation had declared war on us, to get their hands on the technology.

To save us, they loaded up our people onto their ships and then tried to remove all traces of their technology from the island. They aren't sure what went wrong, but as they were deconstructing the technology, somehow it destabilized the island, turning it into a big quagmire of muck, until the ocean currents spread everything around.

The Mazjik introduced us to more of their technology, took us under their wing and helped establish us as their legacy. They taught us everything they could in the hundred or so years that they lived, but eventually they all died. We've been trying to carry on their legacy to be benevolent and help other civilizations live peacefully and to respect their planets ever since."

At the conclusion of the story, everyone sat in silence, thinking about what they had just been told.

Then Senator Marsbe came out to the patio and informed Mark that the senate was about to convene.

The Senator and Mark walked to the senate chamber and she showed Mark to his desk on the bottom level. She had told him, that he more or less just needed to be present and that the senate session was led by the head of the committee.

Senator Marsbe then went to her desk, which was immediately to his left. The rest of the senators made their way in and sat down at their respective desks. Senator Rigat came and shook Mark's hand and sat down at his desk to Mark's right.

Mark figured he was going to be here a while, so best get familiar with his office. It was a nice desk, just a table with a display to his left and a device in front of him with a light and two rows of buttons. The furthest row had 10 black buttons with white numbers 1 thru 10 on them, the closest row had 4 buttons in front of it, a blue one labelled TALK, a yellow one labelled AWAY, a green one labelled YES and red one labelled NO.

He figured that must be some sort of push to talk button, you could probably push AWAY if you had to go to the washroom and he figured the YES and NO buttons were for votes, the number buttons must be for multiple choice votes. There was a tablet device to take notes on or to read the notes being recorded for the session.

On the right side of the desk was two empty glasses upside down on top of some napkins. There was two taps nearby so he took one glass and put it under the blue tap and it filled with water. He took the other glass put it under the black tap and it filled with coffee. Kind of like drink synths, but less options.

The senate chamber was built very much like the old Roman Coliseum only smaller, the throne was in the middle of the bottom row, one spot to the left of the senate head, which was located directly across from the entrance. The rest of the senators sat at desks spaced around the two tiers. There was a clear dome above them to provide lots of natural light

The floor area had media people and the session note takers and recorders. It also had a podium in the middle where presumably people could come and petition the senate and some chairs for guests or the petitioners.

Once everyone was seated, Senator Rigat pushed a button on his desk and a chime sounded, that was when Mark noticed the senator's desk had two displays and more buttons!

Mark's display showed the Senator at his desk as his voice was broadcast around the chamber.

Mark thought, that little black device, sticking up in the middle of the front, must be a camera and microphone.

Because it was an unscheduled emergency session, there wasn't much real business to conduct. Mostly it was a chance for every senator to introduce themselves.

As each senator spoke Mark could touch icons on the display to see the senator's profile, the region they represented and recent motions and requests they had put forward and the results.

After a while Mark had to go to the washroom so he pushed his AWAY button, but waited until the current senator finished before getting up. As soon as they finished, Senator Rigat announced a 15 minute recess.

He went to the washroom and immediately returned to his desk. Senator Rigat was still at his desk, so Mark asked, "Did that announcement happen because I pushed my AWAY button?"

The senator laughed and answered, "Yes, I see who pushes their buttons. Since this session is for everyone to introduce themselves to you, as soon as you pushed your button, I waited until they finished, then I announced the recess. Thank you for staying until they finished, by the way."

When the session resumed, they continued with the introductions. They eventually broke for lunch and Mark had lunch with Senator Marsbe, Senator Rigat and Senator Shintobe.

During lunch, Mark asked them questions as he wasn't sure which questions were senate worthy.

His first question was, "Do I have to live here in the palace?" To which the answer was no, he could live wherever he wanted.

His next question was, "Since I don't have to live here, could I get a small atmosphere friendly shuttle that I could use as my residence?"

They answered, "Yes, but why?"

Mark explained, "I plan to spend my time not only on Earth and Atlanterra, but on all the planets in the federation as well as possibly other planets, not yet in the federation. It makes more sense just to live on a shuttle, that way my home is wherever I am."

Senator Rigat said, "My King, while you actually being out among the public is music to my ears, why would you want to live in a shuttle? Wherever you go, there's going to be a Battlestar with you! Why not just live on the Battlestar?"

Mark said, "That is good to know! I was not aware of that," his next question was, "Am I allowed to lease technology to non-federated planets, as long as the federation maintains control of it?"

They said that should be proposed to the senate for decision.

His next question was, "Is there any reason why we can't give our stun gun technology to non-federated planets? It's a simple non-lethal limited range device, that would go a long way toward increasing safety and curbing violence on a planet."

They said that should be proposed to he senate.

His last question was, "Is there any reason why a part of a planet can't join the Federation, rather than only full planets?"

Senator Rigat furrowed his brow, "That's how it is already, when we discover a planet, we don't always meet all of the leaders and species, so we only deal with who we meet. Sometimes there's a global government, but often not."

Senator Marsbe suggested that Mark word his proposals so that yes was pass and no was fail.

After they finished lunch, they returned to the chamber and finished introductions by mid afternoon.

At that time Senator Rigat asked, "I have been informed that the King has some proposals to present. My King, you have the floor."

Mark's TALK light (it wasn't a button) went solid blue, so he began to speak, "Thank you all for your introductions, as each of you talked I looked through your profiles. I look forward to working with you all."

The senate chamber erupted in cheers.

Mark held his hand up and they quieted, "My first question to the senate is, can we lease technology to non-federated planets as long as the federation maintains control of it?"

Senator Rigat said, "Vote now!", and after everyone had submitted their votes, he announced, "98 for, 2 against, do any against wish to speak?" After a few seconds, "Senator Julitsin."

Senator Julitsin said, "We have all heard about your new security business and about your recycling proposal. How are you protecting our technology?"

Mark replied when his TALK light went blue, "Everything is connected to my AI, if anything is compromised, she is to issue a deconstruct command."

Senator Rigat said, "Any further questions from against?" He looked at his display and saw both had changed their vote to YES so he announced "Passed! Anything else, my King?"

Mark spoke, "Can we give our p-shooter or stun gun technology to non-federated planets? It's a simple non-lethal device with a limited range, but it would go a long way toward controlling violence and keeping the population safe."

Senator Rigat said, "Vote now!"

After a minute or so everyone had voted, the Senator announced, "Passed! Any further business?"

Everyone started tapping buttons, then Mark remembered something, so he pressed his YES button.

Senator Rigat announced, "The King has the floor."

Mark spoke, "I forgot to ask, I do not plan on living in the palace full time, therefore the palace will be unused for most of the year. Would it be ok to turn the palace into a hotel resort, that the public can visit, except for the weeks that the senate convenes?"

The Senator said, "Vote now!"

When everyone was done voting, the senator announced, "57 for, 43 against, do any against wish to speak?" Then after a few seconds, "Senator Julitsin."

Senator Julitsin asked, "What if there's an emergency session like this one and the hotel is booked? Where would we stay?"

Mark's TALK light lit up, "Actually, I was just thinking we should construct a Senator's only wing between the palace and this chamber. It would be a permanent structure that is never rented out."

Senator Rigat said, "Any further questions from against?" He looked at his display and all had changed their votes to YES so he announced "Passed! Any further items to discuss?"

Once everyone had pressed NO, he announced, "As I said the other day, I will be retiring. Think about it tonight, talk amongst yourselves if you want. Tomorrow we will elect a new head and also meet with our lost representatives. This session is continued until 10am tomorrow morning."

Senator Rigat, spoke to Mark from his desk, "In case you were wondering why there was only 100 votes instead of 101, your vote does not count. Your vote only counts when the senate itself cannot come to a decision."

Mark laughed as he hadn't even caught on that his vote wasn't being counted.

Mark met up with Elisha, who sat in the press section all day, and they walked back to the palace as the place was just getting ready for supper service. They found the girls and Annabelle upstairs in the hot tub.

When they saw him, they invited him in. So he quickly stripped off and hopped in. They asked him how his day was, and he said, "I'm not one for sitting in those meetings all day, but I understand why I need to do it. I did get a few ideas of mine passed though!"

Annabelle asked, "Oh yeah, which ones?"

Mark explained, "The one to turn the palace into a hotel resort, but we need to come up with a plan to add a new wing between the hotel and the senate chamber, just in case of an emergency session like this, and they also approved my proposal to allow our p-shooters to be given to non-federated planets."

That night was actually quite relaxed, Solara and Maren were redesigning the palace, so Mark, Annabelle, Rayven, T'Soona and Liyana were hanging out in the hot tub. Eventually everyone decided to turn in for the night, as usual Rayven slept with Mark and Annabelle.

The next morning, Mark was up early again, but both girls were still asleep. Mark wandered out in the hall to head toward the kitchen.

When he got to the kitchen it was empty, so Mark made himself a cup of coffee and sat down to read some news on his wrist console. Apparently there was celebrations almost everywhere welcoming the new King, but there was even more articles about the Prince's attempted assassination of the new King.

Mark checked in with Cricket, "How's the security company doing?"

Cricket replied, "The breakfast club is doing awesome, They've got the system running in over 30 buildings so far and the trials at the schools are drawing a lot of media attention, they're now drug and weapon free and the lack of stress is actually improving grades in those schools, plus the parents are liking the safety. I think all the schools will be on board soon."

Mark then asked, "How about the embassy? Anymore issues?"

Cricket replied, "No issues, but Henry has taken it upon himself to start the embassy transportation business. So there's been roughly 50 people per day going up to visit."

Mark was amazed, "Well keep me posted if anything does happen."

Just then Jeff came in the kitchen, Mark offered him a cup of coffee. The two drank coffee and talked as Mark was frying up some eggs and Jeff made some toast and bacon.

As they were eating their breakfast, Mark told Jeff that the senate approved his recommendation to turn the palace into a hotel resort, so he asked Jeff to think about what he wanted and then talk with Solara about the design. Mark also mentioned he was going to be adding a bar, so maybe have the kitchen in between those, plus there would be room service.

Jeff was happy to hear that and Mark could see new menu ideas forming in Jeff's head.

Soon Jeff excused himself to go get breakfast ready and within a few minutes, people started coming in for breakfast.

Once everyone had eaten, an announcement was made that the senate would be convening at 10am and the first order of business was to be the lost representatives.

Once everyone was seated in the chamber, Senator Rigat pushed a button on his desk and a chime sounded.

Everyone got situated and quieted down, the senator then requested the representatives be brought in.

They were escorted in and guided to some chairs off to the side of the podium.

The senator then spoke, "It delights me to know you are alive, but I apologize on behalf of the Federation for leaving you stranded for so long. We hope the compensation of 100,000 credits for each of you will suffice."

Then after a pause he continued, "Laruun, Candaules and T'Soona. After being unable to locate you for many years, Savann has since appointed new trade representatives. Your services are no longer required. You are now free citizens and you may choose to return to Savann or begin new lives on any planet. If you choose to return to Savann, we will cover the cost of your fare. Do any of you have anything to say before being dismissed?"

None of them put up their hands, so the Senator said, "Thank you for your service ladies. You are dismissed."

"Solara and Rayven. Atria has not yet appointed new trade representatives. Your options are similar to the others, with the exception that you may resume your previous appointment. Please step up to the podium and indicate your preference."

Rayven and Solara both stepped up to the podium. Solara spoke, "Rayven and I have discussed this already and we have both come to the same decision. We wish to return to Atria, but only to tell them we are still alive, we would like to remain with the King to help Earth as he is doing, just not as representatives."