A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 57

One of the Officers escorted the last group of leaders from Folkar into the room where we were waiting. I went forward to greet them. One of the older men stopped as he saw me. "Surely you are not the Captain..."

The Officer sent an unimpressed look at him for his rude exclamation of disbelief. I leveled a stern look at the visiting leader. "I am the Captain of the Starsong."

He shook his head, not in disagreement, but in refusal to accept that fact. "There is no way that someone so young was made a Captain."

And right on cue, here was our troublemaker... My voice was icy calm as I replied, "Anyone on board will tell you that I am the Captain. Do you have a problem with my age?"

He promptly turned around and began to walk out. "I refuse to even entertain the idea of considering an official political document that was overseen by someone who is the age of my granddaughter."

The airlock door in front of him slammed down with unusual speed, which was a sign to the Officer and me that Starsong himself was not about to let this man simply walk out. These people didn't have the faintest clue about who was really in charge and probably thought that one of us had done it.

Starsong quietly gave me some tips, and I decided to use my charm to club this man upside the head to knock some sense into him. Cynthia had previously proven that blackmail was still common and most effective. I was willing to stoop to that level if need be.

I walked towards him with an unimpressed expression. "Tomas Finch. You were elected by the people two and half years ago. The next election is coming up in a year and a half, but I am very sure if the people were aware of some of your past actions, that you will not last in office that long."

He rounded on me, furious that I was forcing him to remain in this room. "You have no right to hold me hostage here. My time in office has seen the poverty level drop and the average income rise."

I came to a stop in front of him. "I am aware of that. I am also aware that your assistants created most of those plans for you. For that matter, I am also quite aware of what you did to cause the poverty level to drop. Does the Cleansing Project ring any bells?"

My voice had been quiet and deadly soft as I spoke the last sentence, too quiet for the others to hear. All color drained from his face as I mentioned the undercover event that none of the other leaders were aware of. He had hired some off-world people to quietly round up and forcefully take any homeless people they could find to a different star system before dumping them once more into the streets there.

He simply stared at me, completely dumbfounded as to how I could have possibly uncovered that rather incriminating piece of knowledge. I could also see the hints of fear in his eyes as to what my discovery was going to mean. Considering some of the other leaders from Folkar were watching us, they were undoubtedly going to be asking questions about his odd behavior when they got back to their planet.

I blandly gestured towards the table. "Please have a seat. The representatives came up with a beautiful proposal that will benefit both planets. Hear them out, and then you can ask any questions you may have."

He stared at me blankly for a few more moments before sullenly walking over to sit in one of the open seats. His world was very likely unraveling right before his eyes, and he knew full well the weight of the blackmail I was holding over his head. His cooperation meant I wouldn't say anything more on the matter, but if he caused problems, then I would likely spread the information far and wide.

The others were looking on in confusion. Most hadn't heard my quiet words and were stumped as to how I suddenly had this man's complete cooperation. They would have been watching his facial expression and were likely assuming that I had issued some sort of ultimatum or threat.