The Ikon

[arvg]

"Enough," Katz's voice was quiet, but it rang across the chamber clearly. Cutting off the speaker, and allowing the Premier the floor.

He stood, shooting the cuffs of his finely tailored suit. He allowed himself so few personal pleasures, but a well made Vologograd suit was unlike anything in Sirius. He glared at each of them, as he walked around his chair, circling the great table.

"We cannot proceed as if nothing has happened, and we cannot keep going as we were," Katz said evenly. "The coup attempts come because of uncertainty, from a percieved weakness in us, the leaders of the Coalition. The iron grip of McIntosh has relaxed, and so the sand begins to pour out of our grasp. This is the road that inevitably led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I will not be seen as the second Gorbachev."

He rested his hands on the back of the empty seat normally occupied by General Eichel.

"The Volkhan's revolution has taught us a great many things about the will of the people, and the strength that lies in Party unity. But it also teaches us of the dangers of slipping, of allowing Counter-Revolution to take hold." He shook his head. "We cannot allow this, I cannot allow all that we have built here to fall into ruin. We lost JiangXi because we were too arrogant, we nearly lost the whole Coalition for the same reason."

He moved on around the table.

"The New Economic Policy has worked to bring in a great deal of wealth to the Coalition in the run up to the Volkhan's disaster. It allowed us to build the planetary shields that now protect Volgograd and JiangXi from a repeat of the Phantom attack. It allowed us to prosper in a way we had not been able to before. The Social Credit, New Economic Policy, these are but two of the tools we need to rebuild in order to change the hearts and minds of those who still long for the Iron fist."

He stopped now at the empty seat that had belonged to Admiral Karchov, "We must bring our work force to bear, not just as an importer, but as an exporter as well. We produce the cheapest and best alternative medications to Cryer, we're a source of water to the Red Hessians and to the Zoner outposts in Omega-50... but we should look at our other resources, our technical know-how gleaned from reverse engineering the Gallic Redemption Battleship, that has already revealed Hydrocarbon power generation, fabrication, and a new form of rubber sealant that is more durable than anything the houses possess. We lie at the cutting edge of a new form of technological and economical advantage, and we should seek to exploit it."

Folding his arms he looked pensive, "we might want to consider that the Volkhan has shown all of Sirius how advanced we truly are."

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