AUTHOR'S NOTES:
EDITED BY TACO1085 THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT JOB LARRY!
*****
It was nearly six in the morning before Bob finally satisfied the last of his ladies. Even though he felt that sleep was the best way to restore his mind and body; he said, 'fuck it for today.' He turned to Kadir and to her surprise said, "I want everyone, including me, to feel clean, refreshed, and alert as if we all had a good night's sleep. I've got a lot of long-term defensive planning to do and I expect everyone to participate in a round table discussion. There will never be another disaster like Tranquility City as long as I'm alive."
Cailin spoke up as they were heading downstairs for breakfast. "I realize that we have to improve our defensive capabilities, and I know that you're hurt and angry over the loss of so many precious lives. We all feel the same way. Personally, I think you should hold off on making any such plans; at least for a few days. Lyssa, Lactivia, and the others will be here in a few hours. They should be involved in any long-term discussions.
Also, you need to take some time to bury our dead, put your new leadership teams together and allow everyone a day or two to clear our heads so that we can focus better. In the interim I'd suggest keeping all planetary shields at maximum and just adding a long-range orbital sensor array to every planet. If we set them up so that I can monitor all of them constantly; we'll have plenty of time to respond to any potential attack.
"I agree with Cailin," Cassandra added. "Think about it for a minute, Master. You were confident enough to give the crew of Cassandra's Vengeance two weeks planet side leave knowing that if something happened, all you had to do was wish them all back aboard. Installing long range sensor arrays will give you even more time to react. You also know Cailin's right about Lyssa, Lactivia, and Lactivia's guardians. They should definitely be part of any strategic planning session. They'll be here in a few hours. Then you'll have nineteen young virgins on your hands and that'll keep you too busy to even think about anything else."
Bob sighed deeply as he sat at the table. He thought quietly for a minute or so then said, "you're both right. While defensive capabilities are a major priority and we need to enhance them as soon as possible; it's not something that can't wait a week or two. Especially when we have other things that need doing first and there's no way they can be put off." He turned to Cailin and continued. "Search the t/s channel. Find me the best long-range sensor array that ever existed. I'm not talking about just range; though I do want them to be able to give us several hours advance warning even if the ships are traveling at warp nine. I need them to be highly accurate. What class of ships? How many of each class? What are their offensive and defensive capabilities? Make sure they have auto IFF and anything else you think may be useful. Then work with Selena to get them built and in place around every planet in the Federation. Let me know when you're finished."
He closed his eyes rubbing his forehead then ran his fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes and looked at Cassandra. "Stacy's pretty adamant about rebuilding Tranquility city. I'd like to hear your thoughts about it."
"Stacy's already expressed how I feel about it better than I ever could, Master. I agree with her wholeheartedly. It's something we NEED to do. Not just for Amanda and the others who were slaughtered there; but for ourselves as well. It shows resilience and screams defiance; we may get bloodied, but we won't be beaten or stay down."
"I hadn't quite thought about it that way but it's a valid point, Sweetie. Stacy how are you doing on your 'all clear' announcement?"
"I'm kinda stuck right now, Master. I'm trying to figure out exactly how much I should say. I could send out a generic all clear, but it seems to me that we should give more information than just that. People know we were at war, but they don't know what happened or why. I don't have the exact number of casualties. I don't know if any next of kin need to be notified before making a full announcement. In fact, I don't have any specific information to work with at all. So, I just don't know what to do right at the moment."
"That's okay, honey. Let's see what we can do about getting some facts and then we can go from there. I'm thinking that if we're gonna make a full statement then it should probably come directly from me. Maybe after we know what's what you can pull a rabbit out of your hat and help me put together something to tell the people."
Stacy giggled. "but I don't have a hat, Master."
Bob shook his head with a soft laugh. "Smartass. Is Cassandra rubbing off on everyone around here?" He turned to Kadir. "what can you tell me about the number of casualties?"
"The casualty rate was actually higher than we expected. There was a total of three thousand nine hundred seventy-one KIA. One thousand three hundred eleven were Lyssa's people. There were thirty-seven children on a class trip along with two teachers and four teachers' aides killed while visiting Tranquility during the attack. They came from Hera and their next of kin have yet to be officially notified. The rest were government officials, their aides, and residents of Tranquility City and their families. Twenty-three of them have family on other planets that haven't been notified yet as well."
"How many of those residents were children? Also, how many children did Lyssa lose in that massacre?"
