> When Kettering finally spoke, he was polite, but some how unconvinced. "Admiral Kitanya, you speak gracefully. What you said moved me greatly. Bringing Starfleet back to it's roots.... Worthy ideas, but we need more than just ideas. We need strong leadership. Decissive leadership that will do what it takes to bring about meaningful change to Starfleet. Do you really see Samuel Lasiter as that man? The same Samuel Lasiter that has been CinC for almost 9 months now, with little to nothing to show for it. But I forget the police actions that continue to drain resources and eat at very fiber of Starfleet. The fact that we are in half of these actions hints of tyranny. But he does nothing. He has had time to do many things, but does nothing. Why should we now decide to give him more time, when he has squandered what he has had up to now?" Kettering asked, politely if mocking of the CinC.
"Nine months. Yes, it has been nine months. But the task before him is to fix a fleet that has been in disrrrepairr forrr *yearrrs*. In that time, the weeds, the deadwood, the schemerrrs, the corrrupt... They have a strrranglehold and have consolidated theirrr own powerrr into fiefdoms. No one, not even someone who has absolute authorrrity would be able to clean that mess up quickly. And Admirrral Lasiterrr does not have absolute authorrrity. He is trrrying to worrrk within the laws, laws set up durrring and forrr a Starrrfleet that was verrry differrrent than it has become." She turned to the audience. "On Terrrra, therrre is a legend. Once, in the Brrritish Isles, therrre was a time much like this one. Petty kings and warrrlorrds consolidated powerrr into little kingdoms, and they fought overrr these constantly. One man, howeverrr, had a vision. He drrreamed of a united England, one wherrre these constant battles ended and the people of the nation could live in peace and justice instead of fighting and dying forrr men who carrred nothing forrr theirrr lives orrr well-being. Arrrthurr Pendrrragon achieved this, but it was not in a day, orrr a week, orrr even a yearrr. It took yearrrs of fighting and negotiations to achieve consolidation and orrrganization. Now, I am not comparrring Admirrral Lasiterrr to King Arrrthurr. But Starrrfleet today is in a state of nearrr chaos. And he *is* contrrrarry to popularrr belief, worrrking verrry harrrd to brrring orrrderr to that chaos. Just because he doesn't splash it acrrross the headlines doesn't mean it isn't happening. Half the fleet out therrre arrre prrractically enemies; they will fight us tooth and nail if we prrropose change which would affect theirrr little kingdoms they've crrreated forrr themselves. The firrrst thing any commanderrr is taught is not to give away one's plans to the enemy. So no, he isn't doing interrrviews on GNN. But that doesn't mean he orrr the rrrest of us at Starrrfleet Command arrren't worrrking." She looked back to Kettering. "Today, I have made sweeping changes to the infrrrastrrructurre of Special Operrrations. Ineffective commanderrrs have been rrreplaced with experrienced operrratives, field posts arrre now rrreturrned to SpecOps command frrrom the fleets that had usurrrped them and used them forrr theirrr own purrrposes. Is that doing nothing Admirrral Ketterrring? Spec Ops is the fleet's firrrst line of defense, and we arrre becoming strrrong once morrre. What have you done in yourrr command to make it strrrongerr, Admirrral?" She phrased and toned that last question very carefully. It was not a challenge. It was a sincere, curious question, and she made sure that it came across like that. She did not want to fight Kettering. He wore the same uniform as she did, and she wanted to avoid conflict as long as possible. If he had made changes, if he was working hard to make things better, she wanted very much to know that. He was a strong, charismatic leader, and if she could convince him to give up this power quest and work with Starfleet Command rather than against them, he would be a powerful ally. She really wanted him to come out and say what he was doing to make a difference in his own command, not just for her benefit, but for everyone's there to see it *could* be done, that it was not a futile effort. (resp?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God.... I could be eating a slow learner! --Lynda Montgomery
