May 15, 038 SDE:
Countryman adjusted his uniform and stepped out of the bathroom, there was plenty of activity out in the main room. He could hear it from the bathroom. Reaching his main room he smiled as he found the four youngest of his nine daughters on the sofa each with a controller in hand and jovially playing a racing game. Iris and Daisy were both lovely young ladies, with Ruri as their mother, and were the older set of twins. Sometimes it amazed him that it had been 23 years since they were born, but like Rika they could be a horny handful, ever since they discovered sex they’d been bringing girlfriends and the occasional boyfriend home.
Sitting opposite them were their younger sisters born from Vera on April 2nd, 015 SDE. Ema and Emi Rel Countryman and the two of them were just as lovely as the other pair, only with pale blue skin.
Iris looked over, “Hey Dad, weren’t you off shift today?”
“I’ve got a council meeting.” he replied, while taking in their state of dress, or lack thereof, “And where are your clothes?”
“In the wash, they were kind of sticky after our love juices got all over them.” said Iris with a straight face.
Countryman sighed, one thing his daughters were honest about was their sex lives. “Right and you didn’t think to at least put on a shirt?”
“I’m wearing panties,” she replied. Unfortunately that was all she was wearing.
Countryman started to speak, then stopped, let out a breath and just dropped it. He’d been trying for years, why would they change now? “Have fun girls, I need to get going.”
With that he headed out to the foyer where he found Rose cleaning. She saw him and said, “Off to the meeting sir?”
“I am,” then he gestured to his daughters, “Could you get them to wear a little more?”
“I’ll try, but I think at this point it’s a bit of a lost cause.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“Right, well you have other worries now. Ruri has child-brain again.”
Countryman blinked, then sighed, “Well I don’t have time to think about that, today’s a very important meeting.”
“Good luck!” she called as he rushed out the door.
As he hurried towards the lift he focused his thoughts on the meeting, it was something they had been working on for years now. Decades actually and over the years they’d been systematically reforming the government and preparing for the transition. Today was the day that they would sweep away the last vestiges of the U.E.F and replace the provisional government that their Officer’s Council represented with one that was properly laid out. All it would take was one final review and a stroke of the pen to ratify the Articles of Governance they’d been writing.
Countryman had been a major driver for the articles and hated implied powers, so instead they’d painstakingly elaborated and detailed every power the government had, right down to what it could and couldn’t do. Mechanisms for removing ineffectual and corrupt officials had also been detailed.
They had settled on a power structure with two branches of government. The first was the Protectorate. The current military leadership would be folded into the new structure of the Protectorate, which was tasked with executive powers of government and would be helmed by a Supreme Protector. The office of the Supreme Protector had full command of the fleets, if they had any, and would also manage foreign policy and affairs. Meanwhile the other branch of Government was the Elders’ Council.
The Elders’ Council would replace the Officers’ Council and would comprise eight seats with a special seat for the Supreme Protector to fill. The final seat of the Supreme Protector was there both to give the protectorate a voice and to break ties when needed. At his or her right hand would sit the Chair of the Council, nominal leader of the Elders’ Council. The duties of the Elders’ Council included writing laws, appointing judges and managing the government budget. In large effect they were invested with the legislative powers of government. Judicial powers however would be shared by both branches, the Elders’ Council would enforce civilian law, while the protectorate would enforce military law.
Another item on the list was the final ratification of the revised Ration Credit, and formalization of a new rank structure and payout. They had divided military ranks into a series of tiers; promotion to a higher tier gave one a stipend increase of ten credits.
Starting at the bottom of the rank structure with no rank, you had no stipend just like the average civilian. A new apprentice rank had been created instead of the traditional cadet system to help fold new recruits into the military and to reflect the new culture of apprenticeship they’d been working under for years now. Language had also been added that said the council had the right to revoke your stipend under certain conditions such as failure to complete one’s assigned duties. It wasn’t right to reward someone for doing nothing, it wasn’t welfare, just a little bonus to recognize one’s achievements. With all that in mind, they’d ended up with the following:R0-No rank, no bonusR1-Crewman Apprentice, 10 creditsR2-Crewman, 20 creditsR3-Junior Petty Officer, 30 CreditsR4-Petty Officer, 40 CreditsR5-Senior Petty Officer, 50 CreditsR6- Chief, 60 creditsR7- Master Chief, 70 Credits
R8-Officer Apprentice, 80 creditsR9-Ensign, 90 creditsR10-Lieutenant, 100 credits
R11-Lieutenant Commander, 110 creditsR12-Commander, 120 creditsR13-Captain, 130 creditsR14-Rear Admiral, 140 creditsR15-Vice Admiral, 150 creditsR16-Admiral, 160 creditsR17-Fleet Admiral, 170 creditsR18-Lord Protector, 180 creditsR19-High Lord Protector, 190 creditsR20-Supreme Protector, 200 credits
Some of those ranks hadn’t existed before like the two apprentice ranks, which meant every officer just received a free 20 credit bump to their pay. Maybe you might think it was more but they had already been doing the stipend system for years now. The main difference was that they were formalizing it, not only that but they had also formalized the equivalent civilian positions and their stipends as well. The Ration Credit system was now formally detailed and will be fully integrated into their economy as a permanent currency system. Pay structure worked with a fixed base stipend, plus additional credits earned based on position and quality of services rendered. All jobs had to submit a pay structure plan that would be approved by a committee whose members would be appointed by the Elder Council. There had been some debate about extending how long credits last before they expire but in the end they’d kept the system as credits only being valid for a month. They’d been using this system for decades. Changing it now would be difficult, hell most of them had grown up with expiring currency and never knew anything different.
Stepping off the lift, he weaved through the congested traffic on the way to the council room. Traffic was often pretty heavy across the ship these days, it was home to seven hundred thousand people and growing. Something they were all happy to see, and it was the result of the high pop growth trends they had going on now. He sighed, of course the fact that today’s youth saw sex as no big deal was perhaps part of it. It was honestly amazing what a difference thirty years had made, even if the math had predicted low millions, actually seeing it was something else. Although they were also somewhat ahead of the predicted curve, that had a lot to do with the high rate of twins these days. Hell he was already a grandfather, Rika had given birth to quadruplets just last year and they were just the cutest things. It was only a matter of time before his other daughters found mates and started having children of their own.
Reaching the door to the council chamber, he made his way inside. Many familiar faces were already waiting, so Countryman took his seat and settled himself. Greyman placed a copy of the draft in front of him. Countryman took a look around the table, then took a look over the draft. Finally he spoke, “Alright, we’ve all read these things. If anyone has an objection to the Formal Articles of Governance, speak now.”
Greyman commented, “I have a problem. We should have come up with a better name.”
Countryman chuckled, “Yes, well it might be a little late for that unless someone has a suggestion?
Kirk shifted in her seat, her belly swollen with another child. Countryman was aware that she planned to retire from leadership this year to focus on her children. With the officer council being disbanded now was as good a time as any. He was also aware that she already had a replacement for her position as a general and leader of one of their marine divisions. “Forrest and I were chatting about that, perhaps we should title it ‘Charter of Sol’?”’
“Framing things off the old U.E.F Charter?” commented Countryman, he looked up and then finally said, “Well it’s not a bad name. Vote?”
A round of votes went around the table, a couple alternates were proposed and finally they agreed on going with the Charter of Sol.
Countryman leaned forward, “Alright now that the name is out of the way, is there anything else that needs to be changed or are we ready to sign this Charter into law?”
Several looks were exchanged, then Drakes, one of his oldest advisors, leaned forward and signed his name to the page. That triggered a round of signings and in moments the final ratification was complete. It may have seemed easy but they’d been drafting it for months, decades. They’d all gone in knowing they would ratify it today, any changes left at this point would have been minor.
Greyman filed it on the computers and then took a breath, “Alright now for our final actions as the Officers Council, the appointment of the Supreme Protector and the seating of the Elders’ council. For the first I nominate Jon A Countryman Captain of the Enterprise and leader of the fleet for the position of Supreme Protector.”
Reynolds, the first captain of the Enterprise, stood up, “I second that nomination.”
Countryman sighed, “Any other nominations?”
No one spoke up and with no further names being proposed Countryman found himself taking the office of the Supreme Protector without opposition.
Countryman let out a breath, “Alright now that you’ve all railroaded me in as Supreme Protector, we have eight seats to fill. I nominate Richard Greyman for a seat on the Council.”
These nine positions had been detailed extensively, each one was worth a 200 credit stipend and wielded significant influence, which was why they were lifetime positions. They’d detailed how these positions were to be filled but they had also given the Officer’s Council the right to fill them right away, so as to avoid a period of instability. The long story short was that the Elder’s Council would in the future elect its own members but the Supreme Protector would have the right to veto any given appointment. As for the office of the Supreme Protector, that position had to be earned, candidates of sufficient rank would prove their right to rule through a series of trials. They’d even written in exactly what form these trials would take and who had the right to take them first. Everything to ensure a smooth transition of power when the time came. Disputes always led to stability problems and that was one subject they’d all been worried about.
Names floated as various officers and civilian leaders were proposed and nominated for a seat on the council. Countryman put forth his votes on the name and the process continued. A couple hours ticked by before they had all the seats formally filled.
Countryman took one last look around the table, there was something about this moment. It wasn’t an end but a new beginning. A changing of the guard that would preside over a new era. He took a breath, then began to read off the list. “It is my pleasure to announce the first seats of the new Elder Council.
Richard Greyman Chair and head of the CouncilHis wife Samantha Greyman, Second Seat and Chief of EducationFor the Third Seat, Ruri Countryman our Chief of ScienceCaptain Ashly Drakes, Forth SeatFifth Seat, Captain Will ReynoldsFilling the sixth seat, William Kurtz our Chief Quartermaster and Chief of housing and transportationSeventh Seat will be filled by Joseph Redfox, our Chief of AgricultureAnd finally, for the Eighth seat we have Reia of Clan Urko.”
He paused and surveyed the faces at the table. “Any objection to these appointments?”
Greyman commented, “I’m not sure how I feel about being head of the council.”
Redfox said, “Yeah, well I’ve gone from lowly technician to council member, try thinking about that one!”
Everyone gave him a look, then Kurtz commented, “Um, hate to break it to you but you haven’t been a lowly technician in years.”
“Really? Then why do I keep introducing myself as Technician Redfox?”
Kurtz gave him a look, “Old habits, I’d say.”
Countryman sighed, “Well we all knew things would change today.”
Ruri commented, “I’d hoped I’d finally be rid of a council position. It distracts from my time in the lab.”
“Think of it this way,” interjected Countryman, “You get a vote on budget approval for your projects.”
“I guess that is a plus.”
“Well if there are no legitimate objections.” interjected Countryman, taking one last moment to consider how everything would be different from now on. No longer would there be an Officer’s council. These people had been his advisors, confidants and more. Sure they weren’t saying goodbye, but things wouldn’t be the same. He took a breath, a lump in his throat. For a second he hesitated to say the words but finally he gave the words, the words that meant the meeting had ended and with it the Officer’s Council was no more. Next time they convened, it would be a smaller company with only himself and the eight seats of the Elder’s Council.