Epilogue

Two years later, Day 1, Year 1 of the Alliance (Alliance Date 1.001)

In the intervening two years since the John and Phee both declared themselves as unified, much has changed. Helen gave birth to her baby girl two months after, about 670 days before the Alliance Calendar was officially drawn up. It was a bittersweet moment, bringing the daughter of the man she loved into the world after her father had perished, and having to raise her alone...

Only she didn't.

Everyone pitched in to help out. Edward found himself being a fountain of useful anecdotes and was useful as a man who pulled funny faces for the bubbling infant. Janet and Stephen found that they were enjoying having a young person so healthy in their midst, so happy and joyful at times, even though they were both relieved to hand her back over to her mother at the end of the day. John took great pleasure in inviting all of his friends to sit and eat with him and Phee on a regular basis, and even Leila happily played the big kid sister to the youngster.

Jason was slowly coming to terms with what happened, although progress for him was slow because there were no trained psychological experts and he was a wilful and difficult patient. Slowly, he mended his relationship with his sister, and while he still didn't get along particularly well with his father, the incident had taught them both a respect that hadn't existed before. Jason no longer sought to push any boundaries, although he refused to let anyone push him around either.

To everyone's astonishment, it became clear after a year, that Jason was not interested in women, but men. No-one really noticed, because he had kept himself away from everyone as he dealt with his trauma, but one day, he had been caught by John as he engaged in an intimate tryst with another of the young men in the settlement. John surprised Jason by being understanding and supportive, even though Jason's initial reaction was mortification and defensive retaliation. The young man in question didn't stay around for long, but the knowledge of Jason's preferences made its' way around their core group, where it stayed strictly among them. If Jason wanted others to know, he would discuss it himself.

His father had made that clear, which was the major reason hostilities between the pair had ended. It was a hopeful crossroads for them both.

No-one was really sure what Jason would do with his life yet. There was still time.

Practically everyone who had entered into a relationship or unified with others had moved in and joined their allocation of residential space. John and Phee were the first, with Stephen and Janet closely following them. Davidson and Miradima took up permanent residence on the Tau Cetian home-world, though they maintained a residence aboard the Kl'Deesius, and Helen found herself living near John's own place, her and her child.

Earth's terraforming project had borne fruit. While it was still going to take time to seed the land with the necessary flora and fauna for the ecosystem to operate entirely by itself, the air was breathable, and settlement of the surface was slated to begin in the next few months. This was not the only project to reach fruition, as the final assembly pieces supporting Earth's first ship, the Sol, were cast off into space for recovery by the construction platform at a later date.

While the Sol was primarily a low-tiered defensive vessel intended for deployment across the Sol system, it was equipped with on-board fabrication facilities to make pre-fab space-borne parts. The ship therefore would be instrumental in building the next space dock for the next scheduled spacecraft, the Mars. It would be built directly above Mars stationary orbit above Olympus Mons, and would eventually result in a dedicated construction vessel whose purpose would be to help build future ships far more quickly.

The plan was to have a full manufactory facility around Mars within the next decade, followed by plans to deploy another one at the edge of the system in the decade following that. Each one would be able to deploy a frigate-sized vessel at least once every two years without rushing production or cutting corners, and the intention was to construct a heavy capital-class assembly dock somewhere in the system within the next thirty years. A new space station for transfers from Earth to vessels in space was planned, and a name had even been picked out already. Marlon Greenfield would have his name emblazoned on the side of the space station as a dedication, and while the station would remain a major hub for transit to and from various space craft, it would have everything aboard from leisure facilities to conference rooms, manufactories to vessel outfitting docks, military berths and scientific research stations. Its construction would depend on the completion of the Mars, and so nothing other than a permanently-placed navigation beacon in Earth orbit currently existed.

The regular briefing sessions at the auditorium on the garden world had borne success. While initially skeptical, the population eventually realized the need to prepare themselves for what was to come in the future, and that everyone was playing a long game. It didn't hurt that in the two years since being rescued from Earth, everyone's own individual situation had drastically improved beyond anything they dreamed. Restrictions had been eased as everyone settled into a new way of life, and privacy protections began to make their way into the rule books. A legal system grew from the ashes of the old court-martial system adapted for simultaneous civilian and military use, and the rule of law became the standard by which their society operated, as opposed to the tribalism that Earth had descended to while the Tau Ceti crew were away on their mission.

EarthFleet was officially enacted as a governing entity and as a military force three hundred days ago, with the first military orders cut for General Davidson, holding a position that would not exist upon his eventual retirement. The overall commander-in-chief of the military would be the Admiral-Of-The-Fleet, a position that would not be filled for some years as people were vetted, recruited and trained into the fleet. For the time being, training officers were recruited from the ranks of the Klankharis Fleet Arm, the military division of the Realm, and would eventually be phased out as competent, trustworthy officers were able to take their positions and release the KFA officers back to their own military.

Today was the day the Treaty of the Alliance would be ratified. Over the past several months, candidates had been selected from the survivors and from the Tau Ceti crew to take positions of leadership in the new government, and elections were held by direct vote. The controls for the process were strict. Candidates were permitted to outline their plans, they were expected to be clear and honest about their plans for their roles, and no forms of bribery were permitted, including "campaign contributions", a scathing euphemism that Stephen, John and Davidson had all remembered from their time on Earth before the old world fell. The positions were voted in, with Janet gaining a clear win against two others who had run for the position of Civilian Governor (a position equivalent to a President), an advisory team consisting of Stephen, Edward and several members of the Earth population from all manner of places around the world, and since there was only one region at the present, no regional governor was selected to run that year.

Elections would take place every five years, with a three-term limit, more than long enough for one person's career.

Judges were selected based on merit, not vote, and they were regularly rotated to ensure none would become stagnant in their positions. Each held equal positions within the hierarchy, and none operated outside their carefully-defined area of expertise, which in the early days of the new world, was rudimentary.

Nonetheless, all of these systems were going to be expanded, clarified, built upon, and refined over the next several decades, all toward an end of gearing the people of Earth for an all-out war against the Possessor enemy. Davidson was certain, as was Miradima and every Klankharis citizen they ever spoke with, that the Possessor threat was not only malignant, persistent and dire, but they would not now be complacent. They would seek to expand their own power and abilities, and there was a very real chance that they had managed to steal some technology or knowledge through the recent insurgency they had engineered.

Today was to be a good day, however. The official signing of the treaty would take place between Janet Fletcher as leader of the Earth people, and Prime Hendirim as leader of the Klankharis Realm.

Helen was present, as was John, Stephen, Janet, Edward, and Security Officer Mephicia in her official capacity as Security Commander, a position she had been promoted to in recent months. Leila stayed with Jason, Davidson and Miradima had their respective duties to take care of, and so Helen had been forced to bring young Marlena with her to this event. She was with a team of creche supervisors in an ante-room off of the conference room so that they could work peacefully.

As they all filed into the signing ceremony room on Tau Ceti 3, the home-world of the Klankharis Realm, Stephen got a good look for the first time at the styling of the Tau Cetian people's highest office. It looked like a highly-polished granite substance, a glossy sheen to the walls and ceiling that reflected soft yellow lighting wherever it existed. Dark green drapes emblazoned with a gold relief of the Klankharis Realm's official seal sat from high portals that undoubtedly led to interior rooms, and a tiled marble floor that looked like it could have been cast from a marble quarry somewhere in Egypt. Curiously, the styling of the roof traveled up in a pyramid construction, stepped at regular intervals and supported by columns of granite embedded with some form of metallic alloy. It looked solidly built, and put Stephen and the others in mind of Egyptian pyramids, except for the modern technology permeating the space.

As the last of the people filed in to the room, chairs materialized in a yellow flash of light, and a conference table rose up from the floor. While this seemed awful flashy for someone like Stephen, none of the Tau Cetians present looked particularly smug about it.

Perhaps this was an everyday occurrence among their people in official spaces across the Realm.

John was certainly enjoying the visit, having noted with some enthusiasm, the bustling activity of the city itself, with people going about their daily lives, pollution-free vehicles flitting about from one location to another via the air, and open air markets, vendors and entertainment facilities were commonplace. Amusingly, some of the people were going about their business and hated being interrupted in their progress by any visitors. Clearly not an orchestrated scene in John's view.

Amused by these thoughts, he looked back to where Phee was standing her post as security officer for this event. She looked incredibly uncomfortable, green in the face even, causing John to frown in concern, but she didn't acknowledge his presence, something that was decidedly odd. He nudged Helen next to him, who took a quick look, then stood out of her seat and strode quickly to stand with her, their conversation low and unintelligible to John.

There was a quick look of startlement, then Helen grabbed her portable med kit, took out a scanner and waved it over Phee's torso. Immediately after reading the device, she put it back, and in what John considered somewhat relaxed movements, applied an injector to Phee's neck, who continued to look green for a few more seconds before the color returned to her face and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did she notice John was staring at her, and she gave a slight smile before resuming her neutral stance and stared straight ahead.

Helen stepped quickly back to her seat next to John.

"What was that about?" he asked quickly.

"I had to give her an anti-emetic," she told him in a low voice. "She's fine, just a little queasy."

John frowned. Did she get some kind of infection? "Any idea what the verdict is, Doc?"

Helen shook her head, seeming to suppress a smile. "You'd best discuss it with her when you're both free."

John was sure to have an interesting conversation in the near future, he realized, but kept his remark to himself. He really hoped Phee wasn't ill.

Everyone was called to order as Prime Hendirim stepped into the office, surrounded by an entourage of security officers. He confidently strode to the conference table and stepped besides Janet, as his entourage began their own tasks of securing the facility. The operation was a show of precise security checks and clockwork timing.

The ceremony itself was blissfully short, as both made remarks about the future of the Alliance, and Janet made a good impression on the assembled as she recited her own speech, signing the treaty once she had finished.

With all of that taken care of, everyone filed out to the adjoining chamber to break off into their own discussion groups, Stephen, Helen, John, Janet and Edward congregating near a bar top, ordering a round of beverages. Helen looked about her to see who else was congregating, and a group of Tau Cetian security officers all took seats around empty tables, chatting amiably about their day and what they had planned for the night. As she was about to turn to her own group, she caught Mephicia speaking quickly to a security officer as she tugged on a loose-fitting jacket, saluted him, and then turned around to walk toward her own group. Helen gave Mephicia a knowing grin as she stepped to her side, gently squeezing John's shoulder to get his attention, kissing the side of his face in the process and whispering in his ear. Helen almost snorted at the perplexed look on his face as he was slowly walked to one side of the group where they could speak privately, and she wasn't surprised to see them both hugging each other tightly afterward, John lifting Mephicia off of the floor and twirling her around.

Obviously, she had given him the good news, Helen thought, and then sadly remembered the first time she had told Marlon about her own pregnancy, how he had almost barrelled into her from the other side of the Tau Ceti's medical bay in joy, and they'd squeezed each other joyously as they both basked in the news that they would be having a child of their own.

Hopefully, John would still be around when his own child came into being, Helen thought to herself fondly, wishing them both an easy time of it.

Stephen was sat with Janet, who was talking animatedly about the signing of the Alliance Treaty and what it meant for the future of their people. He thought back to that day in the lunar complex, where she had been so lost, unsure of herself, fraught with tension at not having a place within their new society, and smiled. Now, she was practically running the show. She had proven herself over the last few years, that she could manage more than just a shelter of three thousand people, and while the population of Earth only numbered a hundred thousand, their new measures were intended to balloon that population as quickly as possible, offering all manner of incentives for responsible parenting and contributing to growing the human population of Earth. Stephen realized with sadness that Janet would never be able to contribute herself, even had she wanted to, because of injuries she had sustained years before they ever met. Still, the news had devastated her for a time, and no doubt would cause her heartache any time she were reminded of it, like she was being reminded right now as John came bounding over to share the joyful news that he was going to be a father.

Stephen was far too slow to intercept him, and as he blurted out the news to everyone around the table, Mephicia looked embarrassed, Helen looked apprehensive, and for a second, Janet looked crestfallen. Then, to Stephen's immense surprise, she gave John a tight hug, congratulating him, before stepping quickly to Mephicia's side and congratulating her in turn, squeezing the powerfully-built Tau Cetian woman tightly around her back. This caused a stir among the others as both Janet and Mephicia burst into tears, astonishing everyone. It seemed that Mephicia's legendary self-control wasn't so absolute after all, but as Stephen looked over to John, he clapped Stephen on the shoulder, his expression both joyful and apologetic.

"Sorry," he told Stephen. "I should'a thought that one through."

Stephen gripped his hand gently, giving it a squeeze, as they both looked back to their respective partners. By that time, both had pulled themselves together, and stepped apart, dashing their eyes and laughing giddily. Janet bounded happily back over to Stephen, pulling him over to kiss him gently on the lips.

"You worry too much," she told him, her voice breaking in what Stephen could only guess were happy sobs. "They're going to be great!"

Stephen was happy for his friend, but he was worried that this would be a painful experience for Janet. "I just wish he'd acted with a little more tact," he told her quietly. "He knows better."

An enthusiastic kiss on the lips. "Shut up, I love you!" she cried out, and he wasn't about to complain about that! "One day we'll adopt, and we'll love our kid like she were our own."

"She?" Stephen gave a wry grin. "You've already decided on a girl?"

"Maybe?" Janet said, a coy, playful smile on her lips. "I hope you know I wanna keep practising making one with you!"

The gleam in her eye was wicked, and Stephen laughed as he squeezed her tight. "Lots of practice,” he said almost casually, giving her butt a squeeze briefly, causing her to growl playfully in his ear. “She'll have a great life with us," he added, his tone turning serious at that moment as she pulled back and gave him an easy smile. "We'll make sure of that."

"We will," Janet's voice was solemn as she squeezed Stephen tightly.

Over the next several decades, society would progress as technology developed on Earth, the population was slowly rebuilt, and the mantle was passed on to their descendants. Stephen and Janet's legacy was to build a society that would endure the coming challenges, Davidson and Miradima's to set the stager for their respective militaries, their own children would become critical parts of the Alliance, and John and Mephicia would go on to have a large family of their own, all playing varied roles in the upcoming war. The Mensar family would continue to have descendants, and others, people who have been relatively unknown in the course of recent events, would go on to have descendants of their own who would all be critical to humanity's success.

The enemy would return just shy of a hundred years from this auspicious day, and they would surprise the Alliance, but the Alliance, over the course of time would prevail.

That, however, is another story.