Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 55

The crowd didn't disperse. Many of the women and children in attendance asked many questions, about a wide variety of topics, even the guards asked some questions.

Mark and the group just relaxed in the plaza, answering any queries.

Eventually, one man asked, "I'm now worried that once you leave, things will go back to the way they were."

Mark answered, "I'm coming up with a plan to deal with that, but I want to wait until we get the report back from the volunteers who went to visit Colonia and Atlantis."

A woman asked, "How long do you think it'll take for them to return?"

"I'm not sure. I'll go ask." He said as he went back into the shuttle. He didn't need to use the equipment, but he didn't want to look like he was just making stuff up in his head.

"There was a bit of a delay. After leaving Colonia, one of the elderly men had a heart-attack when they were weightless. They detoured to the space station and got him into a medibed. He's OK, but he and his wife didn't go to Earth with the rest. The tour just came back through the gate, so they'll be picking them up momentarily."

"It wasn't the Cardinal's father, was it?"

"No, it was a gentleman named Herman, and his wife, Edna, stayed with him. They both went into the medibeds."

"Thanks babe."

Mark exited the shuttle and announced, "The shuttle will return shortly. Apparently, Herman got a bit too excited, and they had to rush him to medical. Don't worry, Edna stayed with him, while everyone else continued on with the tour. They were just on their way back from Atlantis to pick up Herman and Edna."

The crowd then started asking about diseases and medical care. Rayven then got to answer most of those questions, as she had read all about them when she was the medical officer on the Pegasus.

After many questions about medical, diseases and treatments, one guard asked about training and security. Gyges got to answer those questions and once Gyges spoke, it was like everyone just relaxed, satisfied that he would do nothing drastic.

A little over 2 hours after the tour had left, the shuttle returned. The boisterous excitement from the returnees prompted the Pope to reappear on his balcony.

The crowd had heard about Herman's distress, but Herman and Edna were spry and chipper and acting much younger than their age. In fact, all the elderly tourists had a spring in their step and elation in their voices.

The Cardinal broadcast loud and clear, "Where is my father?"

Nicholas, the Cardinal's father, stepped forward, standing full upright and without his walking cane.

"Father, what have they done to you?"

"They've fixed me up and shown me a different way of life."

"Father, can't you see they've brainwashed you? You know not what you are saying."

"I know perfectly what I'm saying. They took us to Colonia, where they are just converting from ways similar to ours into the Federation ways. All the people have new houses, everyone has access to food and water, they fly between towns in boxes and play a game called golf. Off the planet, they have structures larger than our city. They call them space stations. Herman's heart stopped, which is nearly always fatal here or it left the person in a fragile state. The Federation just shrugged it off as nothing major and dropped Herman and Edna off at the space station medical centre, while the rest of us went to Atlantis through this star gate. Atlantis is beautiful and incredible, with vast cities with millions of people living in..."

The Cardinal cut him off at that point as he shouted, "Charlatans! You have corrupted my father with lies and deceitful dreams. You are all suffering from a mass delusion. Guards, take all of this group to the dungeons!"

The guards looked at each other, but didn't move, until the Cardinal shouted, "Now!"

The crowd then started shouting, but not at the returnees or Mark's group. They were shouting at the Cardinal.

Mark stood up and raised his hands for quiet, even the guards relaxed as they waited to see what he had to say.

Before Mark could talk, though, the Cardinal shouted at the guards, "If you will not listen to me, then you will all die! Archers!"

Even the archers looked at each other, knowing what would happen if they notched an arrow.

Mark spoke, with Cricket amplifying his speech through the drones, "Guards... archers... you already realize what will happen if you try to attack innocent people. Instead, ask yourselves why the man you've been worshipping is trying to kill the very people he claims to be serving, including his own father?"

Mark gave everyone a moment to ponder his question. "It's because you now realize that he has been telling lies, and he has realized if enough people learn the truth, he will lose his power and influence. It's called desperation."

Another man that was front and centre, but hadn't gone on the tour or said anything until now, spoke. "Everything this man has said since his arrival makes sense. Considering he is not from here, he is speaking from experience. Based on that alone, I find myself believing everything he says. He hasn't tried to force us into anything. He has simply told us to open our eyes and think for ourselves."

He then stepped out and looked around at everybody. "I say we let this man become our new leader."

A roar of cheers erupted all around the plaza, with shouts of agreement and support.

A quick glance at the balcony revealed the Cardinal was nowhere to be seen, as Mark raised his hand and the crowd quieted, "While I appreciate your support, I must decline. A true leader needs to live in the community. They need to know the people, the history, the traditions, the strengths and the weaknesses of the community."

The man then shouted again, "Even when we practically beg him to lead and control our city, he has declined with a valid explanation that I think we all agree should be qualities in a leader. I trust him even more!"

Again, there was another round of applause and agreement.

Mark responded, "The Federation also believes in democracy. It is a leadership selection process that gives the power to the people. You get to choose who your leader is. If most of the citizens no longer support their leader, then they won't remain the leader, so it's in the best interests of the elected leader to do what is right for the community."

The one guard Mark had decided must be the captain of the guard spoke, "After you leave, things will go back to just as they were."

Mark looked around at all the people, "Is everyone in favour of electing a new leader for Corinth?"

The crowd unanimously voiced, "Yes!"

"You are probably also worried that the Cardinal or Pope will try to punish people after we leave, so I'm going to leave you with some of our security devices that will protect you while I am away."

Cricket revealed a drone that was hovering near Mark as people gasped.

Mark pointed to the drone. "These are our security. They are very effective at their task because you can't see them. If anyone attempts to harm anyone else, they will incapacitate the aggressor. I will leave a bunch of these here to protect you. Then in two days' time at noon, I will return to this location.

Anyone wanting to put their name forth to become the new leader must come and see us. They must announce their intention publicly and what they will promise to do as the leader. We will then make sure what you have said is available for all to see via the information kiosks."

Mark let that idea sink in for a bit. "Once all the candidates are announced, you will have 3 days to think about and discuss what they said. What they say will be viewable at the information kiosks and will broadcast every day at noon.

When we return, we will hold an election and every adult in the community will have the opportunity to vote for their candidate of choice. At the end of the vote, the majority will have chosen the new leader and they will remain the leader until the next election. While you are voting, you can also vote to join the Federation. We will work with your elected leader to establish a community that allows everyone to live safe and productive lives."

Nicholas then asked, "Will we be afforded the same type of technology that Colonia has?"

"Yes, as long as your community is a member of the Federation, you have access to the technology."

One man commented, "So, if we want to live with your technology, we need to follow your laws. So what makes you different from the Cardinal or the Pope?"

Mark said, "Can we all agree that the absence of law is anarchy, which never works out for anyone except the most ruthless and immoral of people?

The Federation believes in letting the leadership of each community advance and grow the community. The Federation merely provides every leader with the tools to do that, as long as they follow our laws, which follow a basic moral compass of right and wrong and have been fine-tuned over thousands of years to create safe, satisfying lives and cohesive communities.

Remember what I said about treating everyone equally? Even though the Federation doesn't recognize any religion, if someone wants to believe in a religion, they are welcome to do it; just don't make a public spectacle that disrupts the harmony of the community. People are allowed to be different, just remember to treat all people equally. Treat others the way they treat you; do not judge people based on the actions of others."

A man then asked, "What happens if we decide the Federation way isn't for us and we choose to leave?

Mark instructed Edward, Rayven, and Maren to get off the couches. "The technology will simply go away and things will go back as they were." He waved his hand and the couch, table and water dispensers all disintegrated.

After a minute, there were no more questions posed, so Mark announced, "If there are no more questions, I will survey your city and build some simple information buildings. They have an avatar that can answer many questions and have library access to learn more about the Federation. They will also distribute fresh water for everyone to use."

As the crowd was dispersing, Mark motioned to the guard captain and the outspoken man that had riled up the crowd earlier. The captain introduced himself as Karl, and the boisterous man introduced himself as Griffin.

"Thank you, Griffin, for telling people to open their eyes. I was trying to tell them without actually telling them. Coming from someone they knew made the difference. I certainly hope you are considering running for the leadership of this community. People seem to look up to you."

Griffin's eyes were wide. "Sir, I am a scholar. I do not want to be a leader. People know me because they all come to me to create machines to do something."

Karl laughed. "He makes some unique machines, some of them quite revolutionary, but there have also been some catastrophic and sometimes hilarious failures."

Mark laughed as well. "Good! Success without failure isn't satisfying, as you have learned nothing. The satisfaction will be fleeting, but soon forgotten. Success after many failures will be remembered far longer and be more satisfying because you learned."

Griffin smiled, "I never thought of it that way, but now that I think about it, you are correct. You truly are a wise man with a lot of experience. Thank you for that insight. I must take my leave and return to my shop."

Mark acknowledged his departure and as Griffin was walking away, "You really should consider running for leadership."

Karl asked. "He would make an excellent leader. He thinks things through and makes the best decisions. Did you need me for something, sir?"

"Yes, Karl. In your position, you would have an excellent knowledge of the entire city, would you not?"

Karl nodded his head.

"Good! Could you escort me and my colleagues to places that are common to many residents, so I can build those information buildings?"

Karl said, "Certainly, there are a dozen market places that function as a sort of crossroads for each of the city sections. All have large open areas with lots of shops."

Mark looked at his cohorts, then turned to Karl, "That's perfect! But I think we'll need some help. Would you be able to assign someone to each of my colleagues? Then we can assign 4 locations for each and get them up and running much faster."

Karl nodded, then called 3 names and three men rushed forth to stand in front of him.

Mark addressed everyone, "Karl says there are a dozen market places in the city that function as a sort of crossroads for the city sections. I think each of us could take 4 construx and cover off 4 locations each. Then meet back here when we're done. After that, I'd like to visit this chariot racing stadium to see what we have to work with there."

Maren retrieved 4 construx each and distributed them, then gave Edward a quick lesson on how to start a construx as Karl assigned each of his men 4 locations.

Soon, they were all off to their first locations.

During the walk to their first location, Karl expressed his concern about the Cardinal. "They way he disappeared, I don't doubt he went to Alexandria, which is where the Pope lives."

Mark asked, "Why would that be a concern?"

"Alexandria is the home of the Pope. They have a vast army and I'm worried they will try to take back the city. It will take him at least one day to reach the city and inform the Pope. Then if they march, it would be another 3 to 4 days to return. Our forces would be outnumbered and easily overwhelmed."

"Relax Karl, I'm leaving thousands of my security drones over the city. They'll protect everybody from being harmed, plus if anything happens, we can be here to assist in minutes. A word of advice though, if your men try to attack any of their men, they will also find themselves incapacitated. The drones react based on what they are seeing. They don't care which side you are fighting for."

An hour later, they were all back at the cathedral plaza and saying they would see each other in 2 days' time.

As they were leaving the city, there really wasn't much in the way of space for an outreach centre, obviously the cathedral would be the ideal place since it was large and central, but from their elevation, they could soon see what looked like horse racing track. The stadium was actually on a ridge above the city at the top of a ravine. The position of the stadium was such that the ocean breezes would blow the racing dust away from the city, which was almost entirely in the valley around the bay.

There were a few other buildings around the stadium, likely barns, but there was just the one wide cobblestone path that followed the ravine down into the city. From their elevation, it didn't look like there were any other ravines or paths to the top of the ridge and the valley walls were pretty steep, so it was probably the main entrance into the city for land-based travellers and traders.

Mark started thinking maybe they could build a large outreach centre that spanned the entire width of the ravine, allowing people to pass straight under it, but it would also be a handy security gate if the Pope's army came to town.