Good To Be Back

Posted on Thu Jun 20th, 2019 @ 11:44am by President Gruzy of New Xindus
Edited on on Thu Jan 2nd, 2020 @ 5:32pm

1,069 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Atlantis
Location: President's Office/Chief of Staff's Office, Palais de la Concorde
Timeline: 2429-12-02, 12:00

President Gruzy stepped into his mammoth office on the top floor of the Palais de la Concorde with a smile on his face. It had seemed to him like forever since he was last in his ceremonial office and he had been looking forward to this for quite some time. While his accommodations on Starfleet One were comfortable and impressive, this was the best seat in the galaxy.

His Caitian personal secretary stepped into the room with him, "Nice to see you, Mister President."

"Good to be back," he said with a broad smile. "How have you been?"

"I'm well, Sir," she answered quickly as she gave him a violet datapad. "Here are your most pressing messages based upon the criteria that you set for me. The Council session is scheduled for 14:00 today local time. Ambassador Caxl has been making the rounds on different talk shows making his play to be Speaker."

The Xindi nodded, "I was afraid of that." Caxl had been a thorn in his side for most of his administration. A first term representative from Benzar, Caxl had been proving himself quite popular. He may, one day, even be President. Not today. "Anything else?"

"Lunch is ready. Would you like for me to bring you something?"

"What did chef pick for today?" He asked hoping for something homecooked. He'd missed his chef while he was at New Vulcan.

"Vulcan today: Pok tar."

He had no delay, "I think I'll pass and grab something from the replicator. Do you know if Res has settled in?"

"I think I saw her a short time ago," the secretary answered.

He nodded, "I'm going to go pay her a visit. Be back soon."

Just as quickly as he'd arrived the President left. Stepping into his private turbolift he tapped the control for the 14th Floor. The Chief of Staff's Office was directly below his. Normally he felt confined to 15 with everyone coming to him, but he had some time.

Stepping up to the door to her office he pressed the chime.


Her office felt nice and comfortable after the slight constrictions of a starship. Even Starfleet One. Kalev was just getting some work started, seeing what occurred in her's and the President's absence, when the chime came.

"Come in." she called, wondering if it was a page or some errand person delivering important documents she needed to review from the council.

"Mr. President." she smiled. "What a pleasant surprise." Res rose from the chair at her desk. "Please, sit down sir, what can I do for you?"

The President took the offered seat, thinking about where he was in proximity to the view from his office as he did. It was a momentary pause before he moved on to the reason for his visit, "Have you heard about Caxl's performance on Illuminating the City of Light? Is he jockeying for Speaker of the Council like they believe?"

Kalev was only getting to reviewing that little tidbit of dangerous information. One could only do so much from a starship when away. But, now that she was back, the Coridan rep was reviewing her information and it was matching what Gruzy's concerns were.

She put on her serious face. "It looks like it." she admitted. I don't think he'll win, because his political voice has always been opposite as to what's known to be for the common good, sir. But, he does have some radical elements, that may back him. If they have enough sway, he could conceivably pull this off. So.." she steepled her fingers, "I think what we need to do is come up with a plan to undermine him, if necessary Focus on what he hasn't accomplished, and boister your achievements. He's going to try to weaken you, by having his allies looking for strong evidence you're weak, and have been for some time. We can't allow that to happen."

"No we can't," he answered. "I give him credit for one thing: my own shortsightedness to get him onboard may've been one of the things that bolstered him. Maybe I should've listened to you and not let him negotiate with the Son'a." He smiled and grunted as he said it. "Any thoughts on someone we could run against him?"

"Not without having time to seriously look over potential candidates. That's the danger of going on these missions to other places, rather then stay here. We accomplish a lot on the ground and on-site, but while we're away, our rivals and possible enemies are sharpening their political skills. I would say Jonathan Grayson might be an excellent choice, but I don't believe his following is strong enough. Besides, you probably need such a good and able ally where he is. Did you have any possible choices, Mr. President?"

"I wish I knew," he offered. "I would hate to lose my Secretary of the Exterior in an effort to maintain control over the Council. If it hadn't been for the Dominion War I'd be doing both," the Xindi let out his closest approximation of a chuckle. "Have you ever met Ambassador T'Nara of Vulcan?"

"Once. It's been awhile. We didn't speak much." Res opened her computer and began to look over the names of potential candidates.

"Why don't we have dinner tonight sir, and discuss this more fully. It will give me time to do some research into our allies, as well as our potential enemies."

The Xindi nodded, "Good idea. I'll see you at Château Thelian this evening. I long to actually visit home." He did miss the Presidential Mansion and he was looking forward to returning to it.

"Very good, sir. I'll see you there with a full dossier as to potential candidates we might be able to depend on for support. Including one whom I feel would be best for Speaker. Putting some clout behind that representative, combined with pulling in some favors, may put us over the top, and we'll be able to eclipse Caxl before he realizes what hit him." She smiled. "See you this evening, Mr. President."

"Until this evening, Res," he nodded respectfully and headed through the door to return to his office on the uppermost floor. They had to get ahead of this or things could get very bad for them very fast as the Speaker had a lot of power. He only hoped that they could maneuver the right person in.

 

RSS Feed