Saving the Royal Federation

Your jurisdiction, my jurisdiction

After the meeting was over, Jack was exhausted, but sleep was not on his mind. All he wanted was to get a drink. The building where his room was in, was in ashes, he went to the only other place he knew still had alcohol, the Greenhouse bar.

Jack was not the first to arrive, the bar was full of people. What he noticed that it did not have any Royalty. He went to the counter and sat on the empty seat. When the bartender saw Jack, he grabbed his hand:

“Thank you for saving us, Minister Sera”

Jack pulled out his hand and said:

“Not me, but my fleet. What’s your name?”

“Benjamin” bartender responded.

“Let’s pour me a whiskey, Benjamin” Jack asked. The bartender gasped:

“I apologize...right away!”. Benjamin grabbed a new bottle of whiskey from the top shelf, opened and poured it into a large glass. Then he put the bottle near the glass “It’s on the house, General Sera”.

Jack sipped the drink a little bit and felt warmness flowing through the body. Jack thought about the meeting. It was a disaster. He still did not hold any power, all everyone wanted from him was to hold the weapon and protect them, not to share ideas or suggest something.

He drank his glass to the bottom and started to pour more whiskey.

“Will there be any left for me?” a familiar voice asked. Jack raised his eyes and saw Princess Maeve standing beside him. He was so tired that he did not notice when she entered the room. Now, that she was so near, she was smelling wonderfully, just like the first time they met. She sat down on the chair next to him and laughed:

“Will you just stare or share this old whiskey?”

Jack woke up from his thoughts and told the bartender:

“Benjamin, Give Dr. Maeve a whiskey glass”. Then he slowly poured the whiskey into the glass “I thought Royalty do not come to the Greenhouse bar. They have their own special, more better places for drinking their worries away”

Maeve smiled.

“Sure, but we are out of this” she raised her glass and drank whiskey to the bottom, then moved the glass closer to the bottle “It was a stressful day”.

Jack poured the glass full again.

“Yes, it was stressful for everyone” Jack agreed.

“Though, YOU are our hero, General” Maeve started “Saving the palace from total destruction. If your fleet would not have come, we all would be dead and Federation in chaos. Clementine would have won the war.”

She sipped the drink.

“I was just doing my job.” Jack looked into Maeve eyes, then to his glass “When I think about it now, I understand that it was a perfect plan.”

Maeve looked confused.

“Perfect plan for Clementine to end the war, to destroy Royalty, cripple the Federation” Jack continued “The inauguration meant that almost all the Royalty would be here. All the Ruling Council, the King, the heir. Those ships just flew past all our barriers into the heart of the Federation.”

“It is frightening indeed” Maeve agreed and sipped the drink. Jack looked around. The bar was full of people, but most did not seem sad at all. They were celebrating that they are still alive. The Golden Palace was seen as the safest place in the whole Federation. Hell, the planet was seen as the safest spot. Everyone who had money or wanted to get a job, they tried to live here. Now, as half of the Golden Palace is in ruins, no one thinks that. Everyone’s frightened to their bones.

Maeve crossed her legs and with her chair pushed closer to Jack.

“So, why are you really here” Jack asked “Not that I do not think that the whiskey here is the best”.

“I sensed that we started with a wrong foot” Maeve smiled “You seem hostile towards me and as I noticed during the meeting – not only me, but most of the Royalty. We will be working pretty closely now...” she paused, briefly looked into Jack lips. Jack felt his chest getting warm. Then she continued “...I would like us to work as a team. For that I need to know more about you, need to know what are your next steps.”

Jack sighed, then poured him and Maeve more whiskey.

“I think you noticed, that I do not like Royalty, but I am loyal to the Federation. It’s nothing personal. Just do not like that the birth right is above experience and knowledge.”

He looked into her eyes, expecting her to get angry. But she didn’t:

“Why do you think so? Most of the Royalty never stop seeking knowledge, they do not have any childhood. From the time they start to speak, the school begins.”

“Of course it looks like that for you, dear Princess” Jack was becoming irritated “The fact is. When it comes to war, the regular citizen or, even better, the person who, according to your law, does not deserve to have citizenship, dies first. They are sent to battle, while the Royalty are drinking whine in some safe diamond hall with all the tiaras and Princesses running around.”

Jack looked into her face, analyzing her expression. Nothing, she was still calm. She broke the brief silence:

“That is not true. Lots of Royalty died in the battles themselves. Ten years ago, I was 357th in place for the throne. Now more than 300 Royals are dead, the line is dying out and the ones left alive, do not want to have more children just to see them die too.”

Jack could see sadness in her eyes. She grabbed the glass and finished the drink.

“Are you one of those royals?” Jack asked calmly and poured her glass again. He could see her left hand shaking. She put the other hand on top of it, to make it stop. “Was she getting nervous?” Jack thought to himself.

“Yes” she answered “There is no place for children during this kind of war.”

“With this logic we will die out soon” Jack added.

“So where are your children, General?” Maeve laughed.

“Attack is the best form of defense” Jack laughed too. Then he saw her leg showing through the side of the long dress. He could sense the warmth of her body, feel his lips tingling. The desire to grab her close and kiss, touch the skin of her leg, hear her heart beat faster. There was a little silent pause.

“As long as you are still here, I wanted to ask you something” Maeve looked deeply into Jack’s eyes and leaned closer to him. He could feel her breath on his face. All he was thinking was for her to get even closer.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“When do we leave for the Clementine ship?” her eyes were still looking deeply into his.

“What do you mean?” Jack pulled away a little.

“I mean, my Royal scientist group is already informed, they will be ready to go in two days. It will be enough for us to prepare all the necessary equipment.” her voice was so inspired and eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Hell no!” Jack stood up “Clementine ship is my jurisdiction, my team will examine it first if it is secure enough for everyone.”

“Oh stop it, General Sera” she casually sipped her whiskey “Your jurisdiction is my jurisdiction now, remember? This is normal practice. We are both ministers now.”

For Jack it felt like a wet slap to the face. He woke up from her charms and his blood started to boil.

“YOUR JURISDICTION, MY ASS!” he shouted angrily while getting up. All the people around them started staring, some of them moved a little away. Maeve’s bodyguards came closer to her, but she shoved them with her hand showing to stay away. She seemed very calm. Jack grabbed the bottle and shouted to Maeve while leaving “NO MORE WHISKEY FOR ROYAL PRINCESS!”.

He was so angry that it seemed that he flew out the door. Just another way to make him a puppet, to manipulate him. He went into his newly ready room, which from the first sight was a room of one of the servants. It was dark, small, but it had a bed and a shower, which was enough for Jack. He put the half empty bottle of whiskey on the table near the bed, then dropped his clothes on the ground and went in to have a cold shower.

“Was this it?” he thought to himself “Is this all I am going to do? Be the soldier for the Royalty and do not change anything? NO!” He tried to push these thoughts away, to calm himself. It was refreshing, but when he got out of it, he could feel the exhaustion finally kicking in. He got into bed and the worst part was that as angry as he was, he could not stop thinking about her.