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CONFEDERATION DAY
Planet Hilthros;
TCNSA Academy
The Sirius System, Terra Quadrant, Sol Sector
AUG 23 2679/2679.235; 0725 Hours (CST)
Senator James Taggart, Assembly Master of the Confederation Senate and chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, stepped forward. He stopped just short of the podium, taking a careful moment to gather himself as his gaze traveled across the young faces within the crowd in the auditorium stretched out before him.
Young... so brash... if they only knew.
With a thin, perhaps forced smile he didn't bother to hide from the cadets, Taggart took podium from Admiral Benson, who applauded along with his Academy onlookers as if some curtain had just been lifted and he was now on stage. Rustling the set of papers for the speech he had prepared, the Scottish senator cleared his throat and began.
"As you know, cadets, this August the 23rd we celebrate Confederation Day," Taggart addressed the gathering of Academy cadets. For a moment, Cadet Lance R. Casey felt the old Tiger’s Claw vet’s glance fall on him. "Today we honor the sacrifice of those who fought and gave their lives for what we can far too easily take for granted."
Lance heard snippets more of the long, drawn-out speech, but not much. His headphones, booming with tracks from the "MuthaFUX" minidisc in his player, drowned out pretty much everything.
Lance switched his walkman off when it looked like Taggart was finally brining things to a close. Applauding along with all of the other cadets and instructors to be at least a little polite, he started to file out with them into the main corridor. He had a F-108A Panther training run with the rest of Delta Squad at 0900 to look forward to.
Skipping along, bobbing his head like he could still hear his music while he tried to see where his buddy, Maxwell Garrett, had wandered off to in the exiting crowd, Lance leapt a foot in the air when a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw its owner. Senator Taggart.
"Cadet Lance Casey," Taggart spoke to his face.
So that was why Max had left in such a hurry. Lance stammered, groping for some words, any words, "Um, Senator..."
"You probably don’t remember it, but I saw you when you were just a lad. In diapers."
"Really? I didn’t know that."
"I went to comfort your mother and see the son of the Iceman," he went on. "I knew your father during the war with the Cats, you know."
That Casey did know. What he also did not know was what to say to the legendary senator. "So... um... how’s life on the, uh, Senate?"
The pleasantry to the man’s face disappeared. "You know, it’s rather difficult to hear a speech when you’re wearing headphones."
"Y-you... you saw that?"
"Aye," Taggart replied. "Any particular reason?"
"Well... y’know... speeches, lectures... it’s all the same. Not like I haven’t heard all that shi... that, uh, stuff before."
"Is that so?" Taggart started pacing before Lance. "Tell me, then, Cadet... enlighten me... how was the Confederation born?"
Lance grimaced, then burst, "It all began with Zefram Cochrane! He invented Jump Drive after World War III and then we made first contact with pointy-eared Vulcan people. I... I guess that’s kinda when it was born."
Lance could tell right away that Taggart found neither his attempt at humor nor his displayal of Star Trek trivia the least bit amusing. "I’d ask you again, if you don’t mind."
"All right." Lance straightened up and recited the terse textbook summary about the formation of the Confederation, putting on his best sarcastic face. "The Terran Confederation was formed in 2416 as a loose alliance of colonies, planets, and star systems, each with autonomous governments. Confed decided to provide economic support and a common defense between the interstellar outposts of humankind. Happy?"
"And the Galactic Civil War from which the Confederation consolidated itself?" chided Taggart. "Oh, but I suppose you know all about that, don’t you?"
A hundred grueling essays and boring Tri-D films from the archives and TCN danced through his memory. "Everybody knows about that."
"Everybody?"
"Everybody! While the Pilgrims were off doing their own thing outside Sol System way before the Pilgrim Wars, that World Economic Consortium became like some kinda evil empire-type situation and kicked off the Terran Federation government after the whole Yan thing, a disgruntled-sorta Confederacy forms, lotsa killing and stuff, and then voila, we got ourselves a Confederation like I said before. That and a new holiday to boot."
"Just like that, eh?"
Lance scratched his neck. "Something like that, yeah." He grew uneasy as silence ensued between the two. Lance gave in first. "What, you going to tell me that’s wrong or something?"
Taggart sighed. "A vague summary... with empty words. No meaning. No understanding."
"Look, man, it’s just reading material now—ancient history. Hey, I wasn’t alive back then, and with all due respect, Senator, neither were you!"
"That’s right," Taggart agreed. "But I listen, try to understand, and give a damn about what my ancestors died for. You don’t."
Lance looked away. He seldom thought about his family tree, mostly because of what traced back through his father. He’d often told himself he went to the Academy to follow in his father’s footsteps, to do Major Michael "Iceman" Casey’s image proud, but he found early on the weight of that responsibility was not an easy thing to bear.
"I’m not here to lecture you, no matter what you think. I want to help you understand. For the sake of your father and the sake of your future and the man you will one day leave this Academy and Flight School to become, I respectfully suggest you listen."
Lance listened.