Nuan came in to my cabin, and saw me frusturated; sitting on a desk with my head between my hands. I was thinking hard, sweating... Perhaps I could get some help from her.
"Nice work." she said. I couldn't understand if she was being sarcastic or she was geniunely complimenting me. Either way... it didn't matter.
"What will I do, Nuan?" I asked her. "They have given so little time for us. This is not something that can be decided in a day or so."
"That was the point where you had to stand up and object to the methods of the talk!" Nuan said. "Well... at least you didn't panic and just say something that would have doomed us."
"Okay, I know, but this is what we have in our hands now." I said. "What do I need to do?"
"This is not your decision, it is the Republic's." Nuan said. "Contact the government so they can get the democracy working."
"There is no government, Nuan." I said. "The Grand Admiral became the 'temporary' president and the National Assembly-"
"Yeah, I know, but they are the only people we can trust." Nuan said.
"I don't trust the Grand Admiral." I said. "It was like he rushed to earn the title of the president at the first opportunity, and..."
"But it was his idea to start the peace talks, right?" Nuan said. "He trusted you the most, so he sent you to do the negotiations. I think you should trust him back a little bit here."
I sighed.
"Maybe... I think we should have a voting session to decide Mars' future." I said.
"That's the way things should work, since there is no longer an assembly, yeah." I felt relieved when I heard that Nuan agreed with me. "We should suggest that to Mr. Rashid. A nation-wide voting. Direct democracy."
"In that case, I will be contacting him." I said.
"Don't forget, Comman- Sorry, Admiral." Nuan said. "If there will be direct voting, we will need more than one day. You will have to ask the Federation for more time."
"I can handle it this time." I said. "I know I did poorly the first time, but trust me."
"I trust you." Nuan said. "The entire Republic does. Don't fail us."
I got out of the cabin and went to a long-range communication station on the spaceship Equinox. I stated my identity and asked for a direct contact with the interim president Rashid. Nuan followed me to listen to my conversation with him. Of course, because of the lag caused by the distance between Luna and Mars, the conversation was more like sending letters to each other rather than talking face-to-face.
"Nice to hear from you once again, Admiral. I've got the news that you have started the talks with the Federation. Well done... Now, what is it that you wish to discuss?" he asked.
"We have a most important decision to make." I said. "By 'we', I mean the whole Republic. The Federation offered us two choices..."
I explained the situation to him with all the details. Nuan occassionally added her own comments on the situation. Rashid didn't interrupt us and listened curiously to the very end.
"...so we agree that getting all the citizens to vote would be the best way to do it." I finished my explanation.
The interim president didn't reply for a while, simply thinking on the subject.
"I am afraid this won't be a possibility in the near future, Admiral." he said. "Our most populous... I mean, the remaining most populous cities are in disorder. Terrorizm and strict curfews won't allow the citizens to vote, or those who can vote will not be able to vote without external influence."
"Then, what will we do?" I asked.
"I... I hate saying this, but as the president of the Republic, I don't know." he said.
"Maybe I can try to postpone the talks a little while the ceasefire remains effective." I suggested.
"I don't know how long the situation will last." Rashid said. "The terrorist groups have taken hold of some districts. We are dealing with a whole other war here."
"Isn't there a law or... a procedure we can use when voting isn't available?" I asked. "The National Assembly must have thought of these possibilities in the past."
"Usually, a group of experts on the subject are chosen to make the decisions in such cases." Nuan said.
"Except we don't have experts... or basically anyone right now." I said. "I am surprised that the government can still function."
"I don't know how it looks from outside, but most of it doesn't even function anymore." Rashid said. "Looks like we will have to make the decision ourselves."
"What?" I wasn't expecting such an idea. "Is this... legal?"
"I am the president of the Republic, and one of you is a military expert while the other one is a foreign affairs expert." he said, referring to himself, me and Nuan in order. "This group shall make the decision." "This... This council shall make the decision."
"First of all, you are not democratically elected. Secondly, I am not the commander of the Navy... and thirdly, Nuan is our ambassador to the Alliance, not the Federation." I argued.
"What do you want me to do, Kagan!?" the interim president called me by my name. "There is no other way. Look, the civil war here is so bad that the Homeland Defense Fleet is literally bombarding the outskirts of Martian cities to force the anarchist groups to retreat. There is no one around here to form a new government. Everyone is suffering and running from bullets and bombs and stuff. No one has time or will to get out of their homes. How will you get everyone to vote and make it fair?"
He was right... I never thought that the situation could get that chaotic.
"But fine." he continued speaking. "I am promoting you to the rank of Grand Admiral, and Ms. Nuan Qing is now the Republic's ambassador to both the Alliance and the Federation. I hope this solves two thirds of your problems."
"This whole thing sounds like oligarchy with extra steps." I said.
"Please don't make so sudden decisions without-" Nuan tried to join my argument, but was interrupted.
"...and don't worry, I will make sure the whole nation votes to choose a new president and parliament once this civil war is over." he said. "Now, please stop complaining and brief me on the talks once again, so we can come up with ideas!"
So, just like that, a council of three started brainstorming on the fate of the Republic.