Duncan merely sat and listened as John spoke. He sat silently as John spoke of the Gallic threat to Baffin and the TAZ, and their reluctance to commit warships to far from Baffin. Duncan nodded as he was addressed, indicating his agreement with Johns words. As John finished his speech, Duncan stood again.
"Gentleman, We have all come to this meeting in hopes of settling how Zoner defense issues should be handled. Everything said thus far has been true and accurate. However, I see little progress toward the goal. As is the norm for meetings between our folk, we dance around the issue and solve nothing."
Duncan sighed
"It is quite obvious that with the possible exception of TAZ, we cannot adequately defend ourselves. The question is what do we do about it. No, there will not be nor should there be any attempt at Zoner unification. Our differences are too great, our love of personal freedom too strong for any sector wide rule to work. An agreement, as John has proposed, is by far the best solution as I see it. Then the question becomes what are we agreeing on? John mentioned tech and engineering exchanges, But I feel this agreement should do more. Zoners as a whole have three important areas, Baffin is held by the TAZ, while Omega 49 and Omicron 74 stand in a void of leadership. Large scale unification will never work, but perhaps a small, local and regional idea could work. The important areas for Zoners need leadership."
Duncan glanced slowly from John to Christian
Leadership is needed, but to gain that leadership someone needs to be in control. Given that each area already a presence of each of our group, deciding on this would be challenging."
Duncan finished his thoughts, and sat back down to wait for the meeting to continue.
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