Governor-General Marcus Bentine was stood at his office window, staring out over the Government buildings. They were old, stylish in their day but now were archaic. Ivy twisted up a few, some were ruined and just really for show. His own quarters were modernised, but stood in the oldest part of the Admiralty, almost castle-like in its construction. He checked his watch, and on cue the sun seemed to flicker, and finally sunk behind the horizon. Near instantly, the crimson sky began to fade away as the little moon was plunged into darkness. Stars lit up in the sky, and the huge rounded body of Morlos began to glow softly. The factory-cities' lights glowed brighter than the stars. He sighed, and began to close the window. The old glass, criss crossed with lead locked with a dulled thud. 

Marcus was just about to leave, switching off the lights with their round, enameled switch before a beep sounded at his desk. He rushed over in the darkness as a hologram erupted above its walnut and green leathered surface. Blue eyes scanned back and forth as reams of text flowed from an unseen source. His mouth fell involuntarily. The text balled up, changing into a schematic of the planet, Calludium, facts, figures and equations scrolled down beside it. Bentine closed his mouth, and folded his bare arms, looking to the door. As if on cue, Ferval Savic, dressed as informally as he was, and a couple of navy officers entered, ripping off salutes.

He turned to them. "When can we leave?"

"Twenty minutes, sir."

"Good."

Marcus nodded, leaving the room.

The voice blared back in Captain Ferrel's ears. He blinked twice, switching the channels irritably, slamming his headset down with a groan. He left the clean, clear and attractive sounding traffic controller with one of his officers, and strode off his console to the centre of the bridge to look to the large screen behind him, showing the trajectory of the . A couple of  sailors came up to him with little data slates, pointing out the finer details of the space-port. An infantry colonel strode over to investigate. Over in the corner, a lieutenant perked up after seeing a message on his monitor. He bent a boom microphone to his lips and cleared his throat.

"Turn-face and salute the bridge, transmission from His Excellency Governor-General Marcus Bentine the Second."

Men about the bridge scrambled to stand, caps, berets and helmets flying up to cover bare heads. On the large screen, Bentine's face blurred into focus. He was wearing a cushioned waistcoat and had a crumpled shirt rolled up his arms. He smiled, tapping the screen.

"Captain Ferrel?"
"Yessir!" said Ferrel, heels clicked to attention. He saluted.  Marcus raised his hand.
"Thank you, Captain. I wished to address you regarding this 'Kingdom of the Everlight'. My own ship is about to enter warp-speed, and I will be there in around two hours, maybe less. I'd like you to take your vessel's diplomats and any members of the Political Corps with you and formally greet the envoy's from both the Kingdom and anyone from the Commonwealth. Try to look as impressive as possible."
"Of course, sir."
"Good. I'll be bringing along the best, of course, and the Virtue. So I expect we'll put on a show. Get the boots and brass polished, what ever it is you sailors do. Go dressed to impress, but it's a desert world, and the foreigners could be aggressive, so think practical. I want a full escort when I'm down there, too. Land the ship somewhere defendable if you can. And don't say anything that could be taken as offensive on any level, or regarded as a threat or as foreign policy. Understand."
"Certainly, your excellency."
"Glad to hear it, well that's all." There was a computerised voice on the other end of the line. "Preparing to jump." Bentine looked away for a moment before turning back to the camera. "Right, transmission end. Good luck."
"Thank you, sir." said Ferrel, saluting. The Governor-General's face disappeared from view, replaced with a blank screen.

Ferrel smiled briefly, before turning about. "Right, you heard him. I'm off to get changed. Colonel? See to the diplomats, will you?"


...another post, sponsored by Powergen....
Edited 1 time by Charley Mar 5 11 5:20 PM.