The First Speaker stood in the beautiful gardens in the forward section of The Hades, looking out at the sun they now orbited. It still amazed him to walk about this great vessel, this man made world, that carried a population greater than some of The Republics' planets.  He wished he could stay here and enjoy the peace, but he knew he had to get up to the operations room, that the other parties would be arriving soon, and he would have to cordially greet each one, representatives of races that had agreed to take part in this great project. 
     He heard footsteps and knew it was Peter.  "I'm coming, Peter! I'm coming!" he moaned.  "I know, The Solars are arriving, and The Krackens, and who knows who else."
     "Yes, First Speaker!"  his aide answered.  "But I thought you would like to know the ship from Earth has arrived, with the people from your homeland."
     "Oh, excellent!"  The First Speaker praised.  "Put them in a separate room and when I'm done with the Ambassadors I'll greet them personally."
     "Yes, First Speaker!"  the aide snapped, and hurried off. 
     Several hours later The First Speaker managed to get a break, and entered the room where the party waited. 
     "Speaker Panguene!"  one of them cried.
     "James!  James!"  The First Speaker answered, "We mustn't forget protocol.  I'm The First Speaker now.  I'm only called by my title.  I no longer belong to any world or, any family."
     "It will be very hard," the young man answered, "not to address you by your name, sir.  Thank The Lords your father decided to send you back to Earth to be educated, and you overthrew the plot to break up The Republics."
     "It was pure luck!" The First Speaker answered, "just pure luck, and I wasn't alone. Thousands of us took part in that battle.  As The Lords warned, we have to be constantly vigilant!  The creatures of Darkness will try to destroy the good every time they think they have an opening."
     A young woman spoke up.  "First Speaker, many people are complaining you shouldn't be continuing this project, that there are many other things all this time and effort could be put into, and they worry about boogie attacks."
     The First Speaker shook his head.  "There has not been a boogie seen for a hundred years!" he answered.  "Our grandfathers made it too unpleasant for them in this galaxy, and they decided to go someplace else.  This project is keeping hundreds of thousands of people busy, and every race that has contributed to it has contributed willingly.  All the other projects that need to be done are continuing.  Sending our first ship to another galaxy is a very important endeavor.  Even though it will take fifty to sixty years to know if we've even succeeded, the attempt has to be made."
     The young woman smiled.  "If you think it's important, First Speaker," she answered, "I'm sure it is.  Do you think you could get me an audience with The Pulp Emperor?  I would like to discuss the possibility of importing some Peekatus to Earth. They don't breed well, and the demand for them is phenomenal!"
     "My dear young lady!"  The First Speaker answered, "I'm quite sure The Pulp Emperor would want to talk to you about anything, but I will arrange an audience and let him know what you're interested in, if that's all you're interested in.
     "Everybody laughed, and the young woman blushed. 

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