Another reporter stands, eagerly hoping to be acknowledged over the din of others.
Sir Sir! Admiral Windsor! How will this new treaty affect Bretonian and Molly relations with the rest of Sirius? Will the other Houses accept this new agreement as Her Majesty does?
"Well, that entirely depends...We've certain provisions in our agreement, that the Molly Interim Government act as a lawful body with interests in pursuit of a stronger economy, and if they don't follow up with that, we will have a problem ourselves...If those provisions are met, and the other houses still do not recognize the Molly Interim government as a peer to their nations, I believe economic pressures may be applied, though that is entirely up to the civilian governments."
Recruit Alistair Price stood on the sides, observing the security of the meeting and making sure nothing goes wrong. He looked around everything is working out. He hopes thay this treaty can end the pointless dispute for Dublin.
The two men embraced, then sat down. President Abelard regarded Michael Gideon for a moment.
"More and more you remind me of your father, always running about the galaxy with gossip on his lips."
"Yes sir, only I hope my daughter doesn't resent the absences as much as I did."
"Does she?"
"She has her mother of course, and a home, both of which I did without. Times have changed to be sure."
"Yes, we are blessed."
"But I'm not here to speak of my family..."
"Yes, your message said something about Dublin?"
"Something unbelieveable has happened. The Crown has struck a deal with the Union of Gold."
The president laughed,
"What did they do, agree not to kill each other on Sundays?"
Gideon smiled
"No, peace...and a nation for the Mollys."
The president stopped laughing, Gideon was serious, despite the smile.
"Its right here in black and white."
Gideon passed a folder to the president and watched as he read the document.
"How did you get this? It looks internal?"
"Our friends at CRI again, they were alarmed. They said all of Cambridge is rejoicing. Decades of civil war over, only so fast it smells fishy."
Again Gideon observed the President....
"What? Something happen while I was away?"
"Our units at the Hood reported in yesterday, they say the UOG have disengaged completely in Dublin. Our inexplicable shooting war with the UOG seems to have ended...as unexpectedly as it began. And judging from the time stamp on this document, they pulled out right after this thing was signed..."
"You know...I wondered about that. Commander Elias seemed to think the war started without provocation. Just a simple convoy traversing Dublin with common cargo. Maybe the UoG were making a play for the Queens favor even then by attacking us?"
"Yes, they bribed the crown with our blood and got two star systems in return...not to mention a full pardon...and a sheriff's badge to boot! Next thing we'll see is BMM poking their greasy fingers around Arranmore. Molly memory has suddenly gotten very short."
"What does this mean?"
"It means the Bretonians have upped the ante against us. I guess our little xeno-archeological stunt a few months ago pushed some more wrong buttons in her majesty's brassier. Now they're turning their own in-house terrorists on us. It means our Dueterium corridor is in even more danger. And it means we've lost our preferred Plutonium buyer."
"Fracking Dueterium, what do the miners say about possible alternate sources?"
"They haven't a clue. The IMG are great people in an emergency...their emergency...like when the Outcasts found Falklands. Got them off their asses pretty quick and motivated them to go find Tau-44 with us. Now that they have their secret hideaway again they could care less about finding Dueterium fields...or even Hydrogen pockets suitable for refinery facilities. They're always coming up with excuses (pissing off the GMG...money...money...) This isn't their emergency, its ours. Those pot-heads on the Hood don't have to worry about their shipments getting hit."
"So the UOG don't have the BAF keeping them busy in Dublin, they can concentrate on other things..."
"Yes. We'll have to increase our presence out there just to keep the Dueterium flowing. More deployments...longer rotations...it wont be easy."
Michael Gideon saw the strain on the President's face. He knew history spoke of ancient wars over natural resources and their inevitable catastrophic ends... This one would follow its own path, but the amount of ancient inertia pulling their fates towards the jagged cliffs seemed unstoppable.
![[Image: Tex3.jpg]](http://free-sk.t-com.hr/Freelancer/Tex3.jpg)