RP: A Senator and his Thoughts

[EternusIV]

Interim Secretary-Senator Admiral Helianthos Eternus IV and his many flowered vines hovered under the large glass dome exposed to the vast expanse of stars and nebula of the Spawn’s latest colony success on Crumnady-5. His political advisers were stern and unwavering in their latest analysis of the galactic landscape, making his trip to the outer rim more pressing. The words of his best cartographer dominated his every thought as he watched a streaking comet plummet into a nearby moon:

 

“The distance to other sentient worlds is an illusion.  New technology on the very edge of the horizon will cause a dramatic spike in crossroads….and chaos.  Our colonies are potentially in the middle of many spaceways.”

 

The reports from other sentient races tended to support the theory. System probes and beacon data confirmed what he had long feared.

Many ships are literally passing in the night. We’re right on top of each other and we don’t even realize it.

 

For years, the pressure of hostile borders was suppressed with the lack of alien activity and sightings. Empire anthropologists believed the Spawn were born in a "cold zone" - an early stage of astrobiological expansion that produced several upstart races, most of which would implode from internal politics. Reports from the rim around the "cold zone" were disconcerting however. The reports on younger races indicated a better grasp of technological prowess fused with a strange aggression unheard of in most of the more civil elder races.

 

The Admiral looked down at the now dusty console deck of the Galactic Senate, covered with buttons and switches unused since the Pirate Propaganda Era. Mapping theories, combined with the disturbing reports of cloaked vessels and secret agents, prompted him to make one last attempt to convene the Senate.

 

What obligation does a mere secretary have to an entire Senate?

 

The Admiral gently pushed the Senate Console into the wall panel. The wall swallowed the console and replaced the vacancy with a laser-enhanced storage unit of the original, signed Galactic Charter, complete with the bioprints of over 20 different species.

 

Behind him, new data streamed overhead, holographically, until it found his line of sight:

 

OFFLOAD CARGO SECURE Simultaneous Delivery of 1400 Colonists and 950,000 Improved Construction Materials For High Yield Lumber Colony Completion.

 

The Admiral smiled at the report and placed his attention to the cameras following the swarm of colony pods descending into the placid atmosphere of Crumnady-5.

 

What am I so worried about? I’ve been doing fine. My first obligation is to the protection of my colonies and peaceful propagation of my species. My second obligation lies with my neighbors.

 

The Admiral was on the verge of slipping back into his familiar ignorance until he heard a faint alien voice within a deep recess of his plant-mind: “Ah…but how many neighbors do you think you have?”

 

He would only find peace of mind years later when another Senator, shouting above the ramparts of an alien civil war, told him “What? You think you’re the only one with that problem?”

 

To Be Continued………