We checked out of the hotel and caught a ride to the airport; while waiting for the flight, I called Talia. "How are things going, baby?"
"Good but still busy," she said. "This election has to get over so I can get away from the paperwork!"
"You'll survive. How is the election process going?"
"Better. We've got seven nominations for the Chair; all the regional elections wait until after that in case their guy doesn't make it. The first round of voting is tomorrow, and Dad was the first nominee." Election as Chairman required a majority of Alphas to vote for you and was done using the videoconferencing software poll function. Each round the lowest vote getter was eliminated until someone got a majority. "Today the nominees got to speak for five minutes on why they should be the next chai
