The Theta summit

[Doc Holliday]

He gave Jill a wink as she passed him to her seat. She was someone that he respected and had built a friendship with especially now that she was balancing work with motherhood and doing it quite well. Much was riding on the summit and it wasn't his first rodeo. Tensions were as high as the stakes were and beneath the professional look of John Holliday's face was concern and a bit of anger, the latter of which he was suppressing quite well. He greeted each delegate at the table starting with Executor de Creta.

He stood before him. Shaking his hand, he placed his left over his chest and greeted him in his own language. "Buenos días, señor y bienvenido a la Academia de la Fuerza Médica," he stated perfectly. "Know that your presence here is appreciated."
Moving around the table, he did the same with Magister Orlov with the handshake. "It is good to finally meet you, Magister."
He then greeted Von Cloud in the same way only he placed his left hand on his right shoulder. "Good to see you again. It has been too long."
He moved along to Miss Abonwood. He had not met her before and placed his left hand over their handshake. "Miss Abonwood, I have not had the privilege of meeting you. It is an honor. He then moved to his seat and stood before them.

His professionalism contained anything he might be feeling. His dress was his simple black robe and now that the conference had started, he removed his hat. He first addressed de Creta.
"Senor, some of your pilots that were rescued were treated and I released them to your people. Their files are with them and they will be OK," he told him handing him a list of the pilots recovered.
He then dropped a folder on the table. His face was stern.

"We cannot allow this to happen again," he stated. "This is a list of remains I have in the morgue. No one was spared. On that list you will find Corsairs, Zoners, Core and an Outcast. I think we owe it to these people and these are the remains we recovered to prevent this from happening again."

He started a slow walk around the table. "My history with the Corsair empire has always been positive. Co-existing with The Brotherhood long ago under the leadership of Elder Miguel Sephardi here in Omicron Theta and the Omegas themselves. I have received more respect from them than I have from either the Bretonian Crown or the Liberty government." He had his hands together in front of him. "Freeport 9 has always been a beacon of friendship. Granted, at times, it was abused. I remember Miguel once telling me that he wanted the Freeport to stop the Outcasts from staging raids around it. I understood his frustration. I also understand the frustration with the current leadership and bounty hunters on the base. For me personally, I tolerate hunters at best but what happened on that Freeport as a result of a hunter was tragic."

"While I do not condone the acts of individual Zoners attacking the Corsairs, I can certainly understand why they did it. Freeport 9 has been a home to many a Zoner to include my own medical staff so those Zoners defended what was home. Now it lays in ruins as a reminder of how dangerous space can be. Those same Zoners, the Zoners of Pygar and my own people are nervous. They have been pushed out b the Bretonian Crown, assaulted by the Liberty government over the guise of Insurgency cleaning and now they feel threatened by the neighbors they have lost blood with with those same Bretonians." He gave a reminding look. "I am sure we all remember what happened on Gran Canaria." He then continued as he came around to where his chair was.
"Our hope today is to work out a new agreement, a new peace so that we may again live as neighbors. It is not dying that is hard for us all as we have done plenty of it at the hands of those I mentioned before, it is living that is hard when everything you value is taken from you or just plain butchered. The Corsairs want to live in peace in Omicron Theta and so do we. Nothing signed can re-enforce this but the our honor can. Yes, those here will have strong feelings but they must be respected. Let us learn from each other, our mistakes and forge a better future for all who live here."

With that, he took his seat, awaiting to see who would say what next.

---

[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises