President Wilson thought he was angry when four nerds ran off with a collection of national secrets and advanced technology that could have turned his country into the ultimate nation on Earth. Today though, today they had returned in a highly advanced warship. A warship that he suspected single-handedly dwarfed the entirety of his own armed forces in raw firepower. He nearly burst a blood vessel when satellites picked up the massive wedge-shaped ship approaching at a speed that used to be considered impossible.

“Two months! It took them two months to build that monstrosity! Now they’ve returned with a massive warship to threaten us into submitting to their will! Everything they’ve said until now has been a sham! A farce! They don’t want to protect us and improve our lives! They want to rule us!”

“Mr. President, we have no way of confirming that their vessel is a warship. They announced themselves as a science vessel, and the messages from members of the crew confirm that the majority of people aboard are indeed scientists. They are also inviting world leaders, including yourself, up for a meeting and tour.”

“Of course they are, what better way to seize control of the world than to remove the leaders from all the most powerful countries.” Wilson snorted, then pulled up an image of the ship that floated above them like the sword of Damocles. “It rather looks to me as though it isn’t quite finished. I will go to their sham of a meeting, but I want every nuke we have that can reach it aimed at the gaps in its shell just in case.”

“Yes sir.” The general he was talking to said. He chose to refrain from telling the president that they didn’t actually have anything that could reach it. They could fire intercontinental missiles into space at the ship, but it would expend all their fuel in the process. Which would make the missiles very easy to dodge for such a fast ship, or easy to shoot down if they wanted. It wouldn’t be hard for the ship to spot missile launches from space even if all they had was the regular human detection systems, for all he knew their advanced systems would pick up the missiles being prepped for launch long before the launch itself.

* * * * *

“Your Majesty, you and the prime minister have been invited aboard the starship Raziel for a tour and meeting. Would you like to attend or shall I send your apologies?”

“We would very much enjoy visiting such an impressive vehicle. Besides, it would be the height of foolishness to refuse an offer our fellow nations will no doubt avail themselves of. This will be a grand opportunity to secure a favorable relationship with a powerful new nation. We can readily forgive their trespass if it means we will receive access to their technology.” The Queen of England replied. She was relatively new to the role, but already the people adored her.

“Besides, I would never want to miss the chance to see the U.S. president try and make nice with the people that made off with such a wealth of technology right under his nose. He must be absolutely furious, and the fact that he has to pretend he isn’t upset in order to mitigate the damage will only make it worse. I expect it to be quite entertaining.” She had dropped out of the queenly persona and was giggling at the thought of that oaf having to suffer. She had decided to hate him the moment she was crowned. Instead of offering her congratulations like the vast majority of other leaders and politicians she had met, he had seen fit to remark about how archaic it was to even have a monarch at all and how foolish it was to hand that kind of political power to a ‘child.’

Her private secretary sighed. “Your Majesty, please remember to maintain your decorum while aboard the Raziel.” He shook his head. “They are taking quite the risk with their naming scheme. Many will no doubt see them as blasphemers falsely claiming to represent God.”

“If they truly intend to adhere to a role of protecting the world as a whole, I can’t help but feel it is fitting. Religious zealotry is fading anyway, we will get protests of course, but people will protest anything these days. When must we be ready for this meeting?”

* * * * *

Evan and Rebekkah were waiting in the hangar for their guests to arrive. Jason and Kinzie had made the smart choice to avoid the stuffy, stressful meetings, and found ways to busy themselves elsewhere. Evan didn’t really get a choice though, and Rebekkah was practically born to meet and deal with powerful people. His only consolation was that he was essentially a figurehead for proceedings like this, and it wouldn’t be long before he wasn’t needed for them at all.

Shuttles began landing and disgorging their passengers two and three at a time. They could have brought everyone aboard at once if they used all the bays, but they were at different ends of the ship and it would be impossible to greet everyone in person. It was a pain, because the whole ‘atmosphere barrier’ idea in sci-fi wasn’t something they had managed to replicate. Which meant they had to squeeze in as many shuttles as they could fit, seal the doors, and repressurize the hangar.

It was inefficient and frustrating, but unless they were willing to risk insulting someone by not being there to greet them it was their only option. They eventually got everyone aboard that had agreed to come, which ended up being nearly everyone. One hundred and fifty different heads of state gathered in one place, many of which were practically mortal enemies. Evan was absolutely certain this would be a disaster.

They led the horde of politicians and dictators on a tour of the ship, avoiding the dangerous or sensitive areas, and ending it at the park, where a platform had been set up for them to address the crowd. “We chose to begin our fleet with the largest class of vessel in our catalog of designs just in case the mere construction of a ship brought… guests. Lisa assured us that we must leave the system before they can legally contact us, but we have no way of knowing how desperate they are or what laws they are willing to bend. With any luck she is correct and we will be able to build and crew an entire fleet before initiating contact. If not, we will at least have something in our favor for the negotiations.” Evan explained.

It was also because having a battleship was really, really cool, but they weren’t about to tell the world’s leaders that. Rebekkah took over from there. “As you know from the material we sent you, the Confederation is looking for help in their war. We will eventually be negotiating with them. We want that to be perfectly clear. Earth cannot defend itself against the might of a galactic power that spans dozens of worlds. Ultimately we will be forced to join or doom ourselves to be, at best, an isolated neutral species confined to a single system. At worst, we will be destroyed to prevent us from endangering their own citizens.

“Our goal in establishing a space-borne military power for our species is to enable us to negotiate from a position of relative strength. It would be preferable to contribute fleets of warships to their war effort instead of infantry.”

“Why should we agree to participate in their war at all? It has nothing to do with us!” Someone called from the crowd.

Rebekkah nodded. “You are correct in a way, their conflict shouldn’t have anything to do with us. However, our own history has shown that when two superpowers engage each other, smaller nations inevitably get drawn into the conflict. This is a war on a scale that is difficult to comprehend. We are the small nation in this. We will be drawn into it eventually, and if we fail to demonstrate that we have the ability to participate in the war effort in space, they will request ground forces and the death toll will be unimaginable. Lisa, an image of the Gnarlath if you would?”

A floating image of a creature that looked to be a horrendous cross of gorilla and insect appeared where everyone could see it, rotating slowly. It was covered in layered plates of what looked like thick chitin, with four eyes and sharp looking mandibles. “We have but one choice of side in this war, as their opponent, the Gnarlath, are highly aggressive and vicious. They are strong, fast, hard to kill on the ground, and reproduce very quickly. They also enjoy hunting and eating sentient beings. That should be enough Lisa, thank you.”

As the image vanished she continued. “So the goal is simple, and one you are all no doubt quite familiar with. We fight for a better position. For more say in our people’s fates. To do this, we must be united. Humanity must cease squabbling amongst ourselves, for we have a much larger threat to face. We invited you here to negotiate the placement of embassies and recruiting centers in each and every country in the world. We also hope to create a World Council that can guide Earth into this new era and represent humanity in the Confederation, but if that proves impossible Archangel stands ready to fill that role.”

The crowd was silent for a moment before erupting into bedlam as everyone tried to protest at once, shouting over each other. Rebekkah raised her hands to call for silence, waiting patiently until she got it. “We will get nowhere this way, I imagine most of you have the same or similar enough complaints, so just one person need speak. You, your objection if you would?”

The man she pointed at nodded. “I, and many others here I expect, do not appreciate you threatening to take control of the entire planet. Our nations are sovereign and we will not stand idle while you conquer us.” There were nods and shouts of agreement.

“You misunderstand me, we have no desire to rule the world. Nor do we intend to depose anyone or interfere with your internal politics. I am simply stating that we cannot send someone from every nation on Earth to represent us in front of the Confederation. If we cannot establish an organization capable of making decisions that will affect our entire race, they will choose whoever they think is the most powerful faction among us and let them fill that role. Since there is only one organization amongst our race that possesses a starship and the capability to produce more of them, it would be a simple choice.

“Again, the decision is binary, we choose to push for a role in space combat or fight an implacable foe in a manner that gives them a huge advantage over us. You unite the nations of Earth under one banner, or Archangel becomes the representative of Earth on the galactic level. Change is upon us, whether we like it or not, and we either adapt or pay a terrible price. That is all. I hope to hear from everyone about our embassies and that you will consider my words carefully.

“Oh, many of the scientists onboard are eager to share some of their new discoveries and advancements with the world. We whole-heartedly approve of this, and we will be sending everyone home with copies of their research.”

She stepped down from the platform, with Evan close behind. The crowd of powerful people broke apart into smaller groups as they conversed amongst themselves, many approaching Rebekkah and Evan for clarifications on various things. Hours passed by, though Evan felt as though he had been there for days, until the time came for everyone to leave. As the last of them flew off in a shuttle bound for home he sighed in relief.