The council quickly made the move over to the podium at the front of the main hall, large enough to hold a substantial percentage of the adult population of the colony. Renee appeared to be in a daze. With no objections from anyone else, Georges assumed the leadership role at the meeting.
Aziz found a spot in the front of the room, alone momentarily until the sergeant-at-arms opens the outside doors and people come streaming in. The room was about a quarter full when Georges banged the gavel once and spoke.
“We’ve called this emergency meeting because we’re facing an emergency and you deserve to know what’s going on. We’re still gathering information, but we wanted to share what we know and announce plans as we make them. Make no mistake, this is a dangerous moment for the colony.”
“Where’s Marianne?” a shout from the audience asked.
“Fighting the creatures as we speak,” George replied. “But you need to know the full situation. Aziz Gharbi was working his farm about an hour ago when he saw multiple creatures climbing up from the cliff. He ran to warn Marianne. She provided covering fire as he escaped on horseback with her children. Eleanor Marceau joined Marianne in surveilling the creatures, who have advanced approximately two kilometers towards town as of last report. We dispatched Patrice Gerard and Antoine LaFleur with plasma rifles to help Marianne make a stand. We just received word that they’ve fallen back, unable as yet to stop the creatures. Two houses have been destroyed by the creatures. One was the already damaged house belonging to Marianne Laurent. We do not have any details about which other house has been destroyed.”
“How are you going to protect us?” screamed a man, sounding terrified.
“Everyone needs to stay calm. With council’s permission, I would like to release our three remaining plasma rifles to fight the creatures.”
Georges paused and looked at the rest of the council. Everyone nodded except Renee.
He turned back towards the audience and spoke again. “I need two volunteers with significant plasma rifle experience to join Denis St Pierre at the front line, fighting the creatures. You need to have horses nearby so you can get there quickly.”
Seven people immediately raised their hands.
Georges looked down and said, “You and you. Denis, take them to the weapons locker and take the three remaining plasma rifles. God speed and good luck to you.”
Georges looks at the others who volunteered. “The three of you. Go with Danielle Allard. She will divide up what we think is the immediate danger zone. Go to every house and make sure that people evacuate back to town.”
“Seems like the plasma rifles are little more than pea shooters to them. Do we have anything that can kill them?” another voice shouts out.
Georges turned to look at the council. Two heads nodded solemnly yes. Jacques just looked afraid. Renee regained her self possession and shook her head sternly at Georges. He turned back to the crowd, ready to say something.
He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth to speak. Before any words could come out, Renee shouted, “You cannot kill them! This is their land that they’re defending. They promised me not to kill anyone but Aziz and Marianne.”
The room went suddenly quiet.
Georges broke the silence when he announced, “Renee Desjardins, in the name of the citizens of New Gaul, you are under arrest.” He pointed to the last two remaining volunteers. “Restrain her!”
They came up and grabbed Renee by the arms, clamping her in a chair.
++++++
The room had started murmuring again.
“How do you communicate with the creatures?” Georges demanded to know.
“Telepathically, in my dreams. Occasionally when I’m awake.”
“Why are they doing this?”
“I don’t know these three. I mostly knew the first one that the bitch murdered.”
“Do you know anything that can help us?”
“Why should I help you?”
That moment, the screen on Georges’ podium buzzed the announcement of an emergency message. He said, “Secretary, please read the latest emergency message to the room.”
“Okay. I think we need to move forward more aggressively. What you all don’t know is that some of the extra space on the last ship was taken up by new weapons. Including a plasma cannon, which should be sufficient to destroy these creatures.”
“Why did they send that?” someone shouted.
“We can talk about that later. Right now we need to get the cannon up to the front and solve the short term issue.”
Renee closed her eyes.
Someone shouted, “She’s warning them!”
A minute later, the screen buzzed again and Georges instructed the message to be read to the room.
“Get her out of here!” Georges ordered.
The sergeant-at-arms escorted the two civilians restraining her as they marched Renee out of the main hall and outside.
Once she was clear of the hall, and presumably unable to know their plans to send them to the creatures, Georges gave another order. “Send this response to Patrice. Send remaining civilians, including Marianne, back to town. Pursue creatures at safe distance to observe. Do not attempt to stop flight. Maintain watch at cliff until relief comes. Thank you for your service thus far.”
Jacques said, “That message has been sent and Patrice has acknowledged receipt.”
++++++
Aziz noticed Eleanor entering the hall at that moment. He waved to her and she sliced her way through the crowd towards him. There was a murmuring in the crowd as people recognized her and realized she had been at the front line.
“Lots of news to catch up on. Creatures are retreating. First, tell me Marianne is safe.”
“She’s fine. Certainly if the creatures are retreating. It was getting close to needing to make a stand soon. So what’s going on here? Where was Renee going?”
“Renee has been telepathically communicating with the creatures for some time. They promised her they would only kill me and Marianne.”
“That bitch! I’ll kill her with my bare hands!”
“She’s under arrest right now. It turns out the colony has a plasma cannon. She warned them that it was being sent to the front. That’s when she was removed from the room. I’ve no idea where they took her.”
“They have a small holding cell. Renee had threatened to send Marianne there more than once in the original go round after Andre’s death.”
Bang. George shouted, “Let’s get back to business, we have lots of things to deal with today. I’ll start with a brief explanation of the plasma cannon. The Foundation sent word that the German colony would also be armed. The cannon was supposed to be the centerpiece of our new military.”
Eleanor shouted, “Why wasn’t the defense committee told of these weapons?”
“Oh, welcome back, Eleanor. And thanks for your efforts out there. I know I wouldn’t want to be out there within a kilometer of those things without a plasma rifle. And I guess someone who actually knows how to use one.”
“Oh, I had Marianne. But I was prepared to give it a nasty stab all by myself if it came too close to me. But why weren’t we told? Did Danielle know about the cannon when she was designing a defensive system?”
“I’m ashamed to say no. The council, in a close vote, decided to maintain secrecy about its existence. We did not want the Germans to know, just in case.”
A shout arose from the crowd. “Are you President now?”
“Choosing a new President is one of the first orders of business. I also think it’s time that the council members are chosen by the citizens, not the foundation.”
A large cheer arises.
“And speaking of citizens,” Georges continues, “I see our brave citizen soldiers are returning. I think all three of them deserve our thanks for being willing to stand toe to toe with those creatures to defend all of us.”
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Aziz was not surprised when the crowd chose which of the returning citizens to glorify. Chants of “Mar-i-anne, Mar-i-anne” filled the room.
She stood silently looking across the room for a moment before she nodded to the crowd briefly. The crowd then parted mostly easily for her to make her way to Aziz, although she had at least fifty people pat her on the back or shoulder as she passed by.
“Marianne for president!” rang a voice in the crowd. That started the hall chanting her name again. Marianne shook her head no, but the crowd did not give up that easily. She looked up at Georges, asking for a microphone. He nodded to her and Michelle came down to hand her one.
Marianne stepped up on the side of the riser. “Thank you for the honor. I’m thrilled that my efforts are more appreciated this week than last.”
There is a lot of murmuring in the crowd as people remember the incident with the German flag.
“But as El here can tell you, I’m no politician. I'm no diplomat. I have strong opinions and I don’t suffer fools very well. I’d make a terrible Councilor and a worse President. All I want to do is tend my farm and raise my family. I nominate the man of the hour for President, Georges Clements.”
The crowd applauded in agreement, if not nearly as enthusiastically as it welcomed Marianne.
“I will accept the nomination,” Georges said. “Are there other nominees?”
The crowd murmured for a few minutes, Aziz saw a number of people turning to a companion, who always shook their head no.
“I will accept the role as interim President until proper elections can be held, hopefully within the next month. But that means we need an interim council member to replace me as well. Do we have any nominations for that position?”
Jacques Piton raised his hand. Georges turned to him, “Yes, Jacques.”
“I wish to tender my resignation from the council. As everyone here knows, I enabled Renee’s behavior on the council. I had no idea of her treachery, but I still feel guilty for my actions. It’s time for new blood on the council.”
“Thank you for your past service, Jacques. So it sounds like we have two openings to fill on the council. Unless anyone else wants to step down, prior to the elections?”
Georges looked at Jean and Michelle, but neither of them seemed inclined to resign.
“I actually think some continuity and some new blood will make for a stronger council. Do we have any nominees?”
Eleanor raised her hand. Georges noticed her immediately. “The interim President recognizes the brave citizen, Eleanor Marceau.”
Eleanor took the microphone that Marianne still held, stepping up the half step that Marianne had used to address the crowd. “Thank you, President Clements. Let me be the first to thank you for taking charge and turning the colony in a new, better direction. I have much higher hopes for this administration than the last. But I didn’t ask to speak just to thank you. I want to speak in favor of encouraging nominations for our new settlers to be on the council. This should be every bit their colony as much as ours, but they’ve been largely shut out of decision making thus far. I want to see them sharing in the power and the responsibility for our common future. To start that process, I nominate Aziz Gharbi, the hardest working colonist I know. And apparently, an intended victim of the previous administration.”
Aziz was shocked. He was no more a politician than Marianne was. Rania would have been a perfect choice. He failed to see how he was appropriate. But he listened to the crowd. The initial reaction to Eleanor’s speech had been subdued, but slowly, as the message sank in, the crowd had warmed to it. Aziz said nothing, but hoped other, more appropriate nominees would arise.
“I nominate Jeannette Marcotte, a new settler and a member of the defense committee.”
“I decline the nomination,” she said loudly. “Council willing, I will remain on the defense committee. Today’s happenings have shown me how poor my judgment has been. I have damage I have already done on that committee that needs to be repaired.”
Aziz watched Eleanor release a breath of relief. She looked uncomfortable with that nomination.
“I nominate Belle Durand.”
“I accept the nomination.”
“Are there other nominations at this time?” Georges paused to give the crowd a chance, something Renee never seemed to do, before he said, “Then I name the two nominees as interim councilors. I will tell you that you do not need to run for the openings, but I do ask that you agree to serve until the elections when new full councilors are chosen. And anyone who wishes to run for councilor should submit their name to me in the next week. Aziz and Belle, I ask you to come up to the podium to join your new colleagues. And I ask the audience to give a big thanks to the two of them for agreeing to serve in our time of need.”
As the crowd applauded politely, Aziz began to move towards the platform where the councilors sat. Before he could even take the first step, Marianne grabbed him with a hand on his side. He turned to see what she wanted, only to be kissed by her. Then she nodded to him, and he climbed the steps, a big smile pasted to his face.
As soon as the new councilors were seated, Georges turned to the crowd again. “We have a few immediate actions to take, then I will open this meeting to any questions from the citizens. Although, I apologize in advance for how many answers are likely to be ‘I don’t know.’”
A supportive murmur rises from the crowd.
“Obviously, our most pressing need is keeping us safe from the creatures. With the approval of the new council, I’m going to ask three citizens, Eleanor and the two volunteers from earlier to take shifts with the three council guard members to watch the cliff for another attack. We will maintain rotating shifts around the clock. The goal is not to repel any attacks, but to alert us to the presence of the attack. I will also direct the guard to take possession of the cannon, in order to have it prepared to deploy for any upcoming attack. Is there any discussion about this plan from the council?”
Georges paused long enough to give each councilor a chance to react, before he said, “Or are there comments to the plan from the citizens?”
“Could we share the duty a bit more with other citizens?” said one of the pair of volunteers from earlier.
“That’s an excellent suggestion. I ask for six more volunteers to assist in the guard shifts. In addition, I will re-authorize the design of an automated sensor system for the cliff that the defense committee had originally recommended.”
That suggestion drew a louder applause.
“In deference to a more open process, I ask the councilors to vote by raised hand. All in favor of the proposal, please raise your hand. Any opposed? The motion passes unanimously.”
Polite applause. Aziz smiled.
“For our next action, I will direct Danielle Allard to inspect all buildings impacted by today’s incidents. She will work with the building committee to find an accelerated schedule to reconstruct any houses that need to be replaced.”
Strong applause.
“And the council will use council funds to pay to replace any personal items that were irreplaceably damaged today. But some items may not be available immediately. I ask all citizens who have temporarily excess household goods to notify me with a list of such items. The council will arrange to lend those items to the colonists who suddenly find themselves missing them. We probably have some families who will need housing starting tonight. I especially ask any new settlers who already have their new house to consider hosting a family now in need. The council will also look at impounding the house currently assigned to former President Renee Desjardins for temporary use for an unhoused family.”
That statement brought cheers from the crowd. Aziz realized he knew how to feed blood to them. He wasn’t happy with that rhetoric.
“I have to admit, given the revelation about Madame Desjardins earlier today, I’m currently concerned about everything we’ve been told about the German colony and what they’ve been told about us. I propose we form a committee composed of some councilors and some interested citizens. This committee should re-establish communications with the German colony. If we need to defend ourselves, we will, but I strongly believe that it is in both colonies interest to develop good relationships. Leave the problems of Earth lightyears away.”
Aziz was far happier with this tone and this message. And the crowd was still appreciative, which made him happy.
“Unless any councilors have any other issues, I think that wraps up the immediate business of today’s meeting. I will take questions for a while if anyone has them.”
The sergeant-at-arms followed the same process as at the last public meeting, handing the microphone to people he saw with their hand raised.
The first questioner, a man Aziz had seen, asked, “My farm is against the cliff, just like Marianne’s. Are the creatures going to come back?”
Georges looked at him for a moment, then said, “We honestly don’t know. Maybe, since they appear to know about the cannon, we have scared them off for good. We seem to get some time between attacks, so hopefully Danielle will have time to get the early warning system installed first. That way we can dispatch the guards and the cannon before the creatures can actually attack any of us.”
Although not a comforting answer, the crowd seemed to accept it. Aziz heard no one heckling.
The next question was a woman, who asked, “What’s going to happen to Renee?”
Georges took a deep breath before answering. Then he calmly stated, “I don’t know exactly. Probably the second thing I want to turn the current council’s attention to is figuring out a process for dealing with her. I strongly believe it needs to be fair to her; I do not want a kangaroo court to hang her.”
Aziz notices more grumbling in the crowd. No open heckling, but definitely discontent.
Georges waited a moment, then spoke over the crowd, quickly quieting them. “But it’s also crucial that the colony and the intended victims, one of whom is now on the council, feel that justice is served. We will try to draw on French law and tradition as much as possible, while living up to the ideals of the colonial charter. This is definitely uncharted territory and I, for one, think we need to proceed deliberately, although quickly. I would like to see a resolution of all this within a few weeks.”
That seemed to settle the crowd a good deal more.
The next questioner asked, “What weapons do the Germans have.”
“Once again, I have to answer I don’t know. Here I do not even have a definitive plan to handle this. As I already announced, I expect to send a new committee, drawn both from the council and the greater community, to the German colony. I have no illusions that they will simply tell us what they possess, but I hope to begin a dialog that will eventually lead to more openness. My hope is to find a path to turn most of the weapons on both sides to a more useful purpose, swords into plowshares if you will.”
That last line got applause from the crowd. And from all four members of the council.
“When are the elections.”
“My first answer continues to be ‘I don’t know.’ But that is my highest priority for the council right now. My charge to them will be to enable elections quickly, within four weeks. I hope to be able to announce more concrete decisions about the elections with the next few days. And I remind all interested citizens to tell me of their intent to run for my interim position or one of the council positions.”
The crowd murmured their approval. He has at least bought himself and the council time with his first hour of running the colony. The colonists seem to trust him, something Renee had never engendered. How long that will last remained to be seen.
The next questioner, surprised Aziz. He did not ask a question, but merely stated his opinion. “We should have a statue of Marianne in front of this building!”
Georges smiled. He looked at Marianne, who was vigorously shaking her head no. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. But not my top priority at this moment. I think we need to transition our government to be more democratic, and as Eleanor Marcotte pointed out, more representative of all of the colony. I think the interim councilors are moving us more in that direction.”
The crowd nodded, murmuring their agreement.
“My highest priorities now have mostly been addressed by the earlier questions, the creatures, the election, dealing with the former president, understanding the situation with the Germans more completely and trying to find a way to work with them rather than going to war with them. After that, a statue may well be due. Do we have any sculptors on the planet? That may be an appropriate medium term goal for the colony, developing our own arts and culture. With the new colonists and cooperation with the German colony, maybe we can move beyond just trying to survive to learning to thrive and define our own destiny.”
Loud applause.
“Were there any other pressing questions?” Georges paused for over a minute to wait for anyone else to raise their hand. Seeing none, he said, “I think this may be an appropriate time to end this meeting then. This has been a momentous day. I for one intend to go home and give my children a hug before starting to look for replacement goods for the unfortunate colonists who lost their possessions today. Just a reminder that if you have excess household goods of any sort right now, let me know as soon as you can. Thank you everyone. I think we showed today what we can do if we come together as a community.”
More applause, then people started turning to leave the hall.
