CHAPTER 46
THE ROOM THREATENED TO ERUPT. Humans liked to talk a lot when they were panicking, and though A-Cs were normally quiet when thinking, they were a lot more like humans when they were frightened. The noise level was intense and getting higher every second.
“Enough!” Jeff bellowed. No one could bellow like my man. The TV screens and curtains shook and everyone stared at him. Everyone also shut the hell up. “No one will be speaking other than me, Kitty, Chuck, or Walter. If one of us asks one of you a question, by all means, reply promptly. Otherwise, if you want to panic, leave this room right now. I don’t need the emotional stress, and panic won’t solve anything. Clear minds, calm emotions, and silence right now. Period.”
The room went still. Noted that Uncle Mort and Mom both looked quietly impressed. Yeah, Jeff was an amazing leader.
Crossed my fingers and sent up a prayer that our first arrival wasn’t going to be the Faradawn Treeship. “Which one, Walt?”
“The ship Mister Wruck identified as being from the Sirius system, the Roving Planet of the Themnir.”
“How close are the others?” Jeff asked.
“Unsure, but they still appear to be behind the Themnir ship.”
“Walt, can we tell what part of the world they’re heading for?”
“Not yet, Chief First Lady. They’re near Neptune at this time. But I have more data coming in from the Alpha Centauri planets, because they’re tracking as well.”
“So it’ll be a little while,” Chuckie said, “but not what we were hoping for. Hours, not days.”
“Will something called a Roving Planet even attempt to land?” Jeff asked Wruck.
Who shook his head. “I don’t know. The Turleens may have an opinion.”
Muddy stood up on the conference table. It was the only way he could be seen or heard. “Because the Themnir are coming to seek refuge, they will request a landing. They will most likely be heading for a large body of water—it will be difficult for the Roving Planet to land on flat ground. It’s possible, but we,” he nodded toward Mossy and Dew, “have discussed it and feel that water is the most likely choice.”
“What are the odds they’ll go for the Bermuda Triangle area?” I asked him. Mouths opened. Put up the paw. Mouths closed. “Per the Turleens, that’s a standard landing site. So is the area where the Planetary Council landed as part of our pre-wedding festivities. Basically, we should start looking at any major triangular area as a potential alien spacecraft landing site. But, the only person who gets to talk next is Muddy. The odds, in your opinion, of the Themnir going for the Bermuda Triangle?”
“Very good. It’s a known landing site and would put them near to where you are, which is their goal.”
Hoped he was right and that the Themnir weren’t headed for the Persian Gulf. Felt the need to race off, but knew we had to handle as much as we could before I left for the other side of the world.
“We could have a problem if they’re presumed to be landing in international waters,” Chuckie said quietly to Jeff.
“Why?” I asked.
“Some countries will consider that ‘claiming’ the new aliens will give them an advantage.”
“Will one of those countries be the UK?” Jeff asked now. “I mean that question seriously—they’re our ally.”
Chuckie shook his head. “I have no idea, we’re in brand-new territory. Countries have betrayed each other for far less than what we’re about to experience.”
“It will not matter,” Alexander said, breaking Jeff’s no speaking until spoken to edict. “We are on this planet, and, as an emperor, should the need arise, we are more than willing to announce Earth as part of our empire.”
Uncle Mort chuckled. “I like your moxie, son, but that won’t fly here, and it could cause problems, too.”
“Frankly, wherever they land is going to be an issue,” I pointed out.
Muddy was still on top of the conference table. He stomped his foot and everyone looked at him. “I see I must repeat this again. I would greatly appreciate if all of you would listen to me this time.” The entire room went still again, this time focused on the Turleen. “Every single ship and every being on those ships are all coming to meet with the same two people.” He nodded toward me and Jeff. “The King and Queen of the world.”
Mouths again opened. Put up the paw. Mouths again shut. The FLOTUS Paw In Action. Oh well, there were lamer superhero powers. “Muddy is choosing his words quite carefully. Before you all freak out at us, Jeff and I are really clear that we’re not the King and Queen of anything, let alone Earth. However, we literally have a galaxy full of hurt heading toward us. So, in the interests of my getting on my world tour faster as opposed to slower, we’re all going to stop worrying about policy and who ‘owns’ what newly arriving aliens. They own themselves. Period.”
Jeff nodded. “They’re either coming to ask for asylum or to attack. Those coming to ask for asylum will have that granted.”
“You can’t make that decision, Jeff,” Hochberg said worriedly. “Congress has to approve.”
“Oh, so glad you brought that up, Fritzy.” Looked back at Alexander. “Now’s the time to go all We Are Emperor Alexander, dude. For the rest of the room, I’m going to point out Jeff’s cousin, Emperor Alexander, sitting with the Planetary Council from the Alpha Centauri system, and share that they have more firepower than we want to contemplate. They can use it to help us, or they can use it to force us to cooperate with the Greater Galactic Community.”
“I vote for helping us,” Chuckie said dryly. “If my vote counts at all in this monarchy.”
“Dude, of course it does. Jeff gave you permission to talk freely and everything. And I’m perfectly willing to play nicely with others. They just need to keep to our timeline.”
Alexander cleared his throat. “I wasn’t trying to ‘take over,’ Kitty. I was saying that I was willing to make an official announcement.”
“Want to explain that?”
“Of course. Per our royal lines of succession, despite Jeff refusing the crown on Alpha Four, the bloodline is still that of our royal family. Technically, Jeff would be the King Regent of Earth, since this was the planet he chose to remain upon. That is how we refer to all of you on Alpha Four. And based on how our royalty works, that makes you the Queen Regent, Kitty. Jamie and Charlie are the Princess and Prince Regent. All of Alfred’s line, and Stanley Gower’s, and my late aunt’s, have a claim to our royalty and all the rights and such contained therein. Hence what I was saying was that I’d share the fact that, since we have a King Regent on Earth, Earth is, therefore, considered to be part of the Annocusal Royal Empire.”
Let that sit on the air for a moment while I enjoyed Jeff and Christopher’s totally shocked looks. They matched most of the rest of the room’s quite nicely. “I thought that the rules said that if someone said ‘no way, José’ that they were out of contention. And that Alfred, Stanley, and Terry being banished here removed them from the royal line.”
Alexander shook his head. “Per my great-uncle? Yes. Per Councilor Leonidas, who reviewed all of our royal history once I was put onto the throne, King Adolphus was a traitor to our people and our world, and therefore any decrees he made against another member of the Royal Family are null and void. The entire Martini, Gower, and White families, including the former and current Supreme Pontifexes, are all Alpha Four royalty of some kind, either by blood or by marriage. Alfred is the most direct descendant in the bloodline, but remains a Royal Prince since he officially abdicated once relations between Alpha Four and Earth were normalized. Therefore, Jeff, as his only son, has the strongest claim.”
“Ah, I refused the throne on Alpha Four,” Jeff pointed out. “We all did, me, Christopher, Paul, and Michael.”
Alexander smiled at us. A little nervously. “Yes, you did. However, that does not affect this situation, as it was interpreted by our laws as a specific refusal of the Alpha Four throne only. In other words, should you wish it or it becomes necessary, you actually can say you’re King Jeffrey and Queen Katherine of Earth.”