The Goodenough Answer

Jason Goodenough was far from a leader that was merely good enough.

Rising to fame after Constance Rainsford’s departure, whom he cared for if she was her own daughter, the former Material Science professor was inducted into a major political party as a Member of Parliament. Within a few years, the charismatic and composed man exploited the political chaos following the humiliations at Elven and Kexteran hands.

Riding on a wave of revanchism, the people of Earth chose him as their representative. To the dispirited people, he promised hope; and hope he delivered. Leading the Federation through the Second Human-Elven War and inspiring the populace with his leadership and charisma, Jason Goodenough eventually led humans to victory.

The tragedy of Enterprise had been avenged, and the seizure of Earth’s outer colonies reverted. To victor, the spoils: the Elves’ national treasure, responsible for the death of millions, became a possession of the Federation.

But it was no secret that the amicable former professor only wanted to get his former student back, his every achievement but a step towards the final goal.

And now he and she met again. Not as a part of a triumphant tour, but as a part of a diplomatic visit. Not sitting face to face in a comfortable café, but separated by electronic screens. Not as student and tutor, or as junior colleague and her senior, but as heads of states.

Her human outlook yet unchanged from a decade ago, she delivered her ultimatum, an unshakeable determination leaking out of her kind, polite voice.

I still wonder: what went through Jason’s mind back then?

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The twenty-four hours had passed.

“So, have Jason replied?” I asked as I sat on Charon’s bridge.

“Not yet.” Reina replied, managing dozens of AR windows with her tentacles. “I wonder if he fell asleep or something.”

“I don’t think he can sleep right now… but anyways, let’s do our jobs too. Burgundy, have you checked with the Bibliotheca?” I inquired.

“I did and all preparations are in place.”

“Great. Let’s just take our seats and grab some popcorn. Emerald, you can have some too. I have a hunch that a show is about to start.”

“Is that precognition?” Emerald asked in Paddington’s body, while curiously bit into the crispy popcorn the food synthesiser created.

“Maybe.”

Alerts suddenly started blasting, as new objects showed up on the space-time radar. “Incoming high-energy signals! Likely warp-out signals… 14 of them!” Reina reported, her tentacles waving in excitement, even if we had also received the information via our cybernetic implants. “Warp-out signatures confirmed optically. Showing on screen.”

13 starships, each 10 kilometres in length and with nano-cermet front armour, broke into the void in front of the Charon. Leading them was a cone-shaped object, more than double the smaller ships in length. With the smaller ships positioned in a ring around the cone, the ships began to approach us, their bright white livery dazzling under the sun.

“Country-class battleships, huh. EFS United States, China, Europa, South Africa, Yamato, Korea, Australasia, Mexico, Russia, Arabia, India, Brazil and Antartica. And leading them is the EFS Calibur, the obsolete little toy you bought me with.” I said to Archon Burgundy without a hint of excitement. “The Charon is really being underestimated, isn’t it. Just because it is 1/10th the size of the Calibur.”

“And you used to think it was big and advanced.” Archon Burgundy sighed. “But what are they planning to do?”

“I was an admiral’s secretary for a while, so I know their tricks. They are planning to saturate the Charon’s shields with Calibur’s tachyon beam, endure our attack, and ram the battleships into our ship. Their goal is probably to disable the Charon, then send a boarding party to capture the ship.”

“…I see. That would work against the Elven ships because those ships have a lot of shields, but structurally they are weak.” Kante was somewhat impressed. “The Corporation had a mercenary company that used similar tactics for raiding Elven shipping --- perhaps the humans learnt that from them? I wonder how much they paid…”

“…Are they suicidal?” Archon Burgundy was shocked. “This is a test and their tactic is the answer, the humans have undoubtedly failed.”

A bright light shone through the panoramic dome. The Calibur had fired, a bright beam of blue glow hitting the edge of Charon before being dispersed by its shields. The rest of ships broke formation, and began to charge towards us.

“Is that so? I am willing to call their answer good enough. It is barbaric and costly, but it is easy to execute, and it will work against the vast majority of ships.” I replied. “But enough. Reina, let’s show them what we’ve got.”

“Understood. Let’s go!”

From the formless void, a million beams were sprouted. As they approached the United States, the beams suddenly bent around her front armour and hit the engine. The ship went up in flames. China, her sister ship, desperately attempted to perform evasive manoeuvres, but was hit at the middle and snapped in half. The rest of the beams ignored the battleships, combining into a singular beam and headed towards the Calibur.

In response, the Calibur once again fired off its tachyon beam. But the Charon’s beam simply deflected the Calibur’s and went straight down the slit in the middle of the ship. Moments later, Calibur violently disintegrated, its exterior dissipating into stardust. The Federation fleet, now ex-Calibur, attempted to continue their charge, led by the Yamato.

The Yamato hit the Charon’s shield and compressed into a metal pancake.

The Kexteran delegation, watching the spectacle unveil before their eyes, leisurely sipped their drink and ate their popcorn. The rest of the ships, starting from Antartica, adjusted course and disengaged.

-------------------

Soon after Yamato’s desperate charge, an image popped up on the panoramic dome.

“As the President of the Federation of Nations of Earth, and the representative of all humanity, I accept your proposal. The Flower of Yggdrasil will be moved to your designated spot as soon as possible, and while we prepare that, please feel free to land on Earth and enjoy your stay here. Of course, I will make sure the incident will not repeat again.” Jason Goodenough, now with bags under his eyes, politely stated his answer.

“If only you had agreed earlier… you tried to kill a head of state. You do understand I can take that as a declaration of war?” I said.

“I apologise for my subordinates’ insolence. Though they acted without permission, I am aware that the ultimate responsibility lies with me.” The Federal President paused, seemingly hesitating a bit. “We understand the danger we put you in, and we are willing to offer any compensation in our power. But Your Excellency, could you please forgive us this time?”

Now, that was a good enough answer.

“In addition to the Flower of Yggdrasil, you must turn over the rest of the Elven artefacts you seized to us. We will also demand unlimited freedom of navigation and landing within Federal space, as well as the freedom to recruit Federal citizens. On behalf of the Elves, we will demand that they must be allowed pilgrimages into Federal space. Finally, we forbid the Federation from breaking their truce with the Elves for 50 years, the same we had demanded from the Elves.

“The above conditions will be enforced by the Kexteran Fleet, a part of which is on its way here. Now, your answer?”

The Federal Parliament briefly debated the issue, but quickly came to a conclusion. Jason Goodenough, finally with a relieved look on his face, spoke:

“We accept.”