Transformation: Compromises

"Where is he?" Caitlin glared at the empty seat, her finger tapping against her desk.

Looking up from his papers, Quinn sighed and glanced at his friend. "I'm not surprised, considering Malark knows how much his tardiness annoys you."

"Excuse me?" Caitlin's eyes narrowed as her gaze shifted to the other triumvir.

Quinn shrugged with a lopsided grin. "Why do you think he's always late?"

"Is expecting a degree of decorum unreasonable?"

"It's not. However, if you learned to ignore his antics, he'd stop squandering our precious time."

Caitlin rose and walked over to Quinn, her eyes narrowing when the door flew open. With a glance over her shoulder, she spotted the heavy-set individual waddling into the room. Caitlin huffed as she stalked back to her desk. Before she returned to her seat, the new arrival entered and spoke with a tired voice. "I apologize for being late. A meeting with several concerned citizens occupied me."

Caitlin lifted her pen as she shook her head. "Malark, it's still far too early to discuss the eventual workings of the federation that'll replace the Larian Federation."

"Why's that, my dear?" Malark marched across the room and relieved his legs of the strain of supporting his bulk. Once Malark's carved chair supported his weight, the plump man withdrew a small rectangular rod. He unclipped one end of it and opened the fan. As he began fanning himself, Malark's eyes became harder as he continued. "It's been five years since the two of you founded this triumvirate. That question still lacks a satisfactory answer the people are willing to accept. They're more worried about this issue than either of you are prepared to admit."

"Malark, there are more pressing concerns we have to deal with." Quinn shuffled the papers on his desk. "What you're talking about is fifteen to twenty years distant."

"We disagree on that, Quinn."

Caitlin narrowed her glare on Malark. "And who is we?"

"Plenty of the population disagrees with you. Besides, they possess the resolve, not to mention the funding, to alter the makeup of this triumvirate." Malark fanned himself as he offered a smirk to Quinn.

He recognized the deliberate threat and looked over at Caitlin. When she noticed Quinn's look, he shook his head. The objection on her lips died as she settled into her seat. Quinn returned his gaze to the pudgy man as he steepled his fingers under his chin. "What do these individuals desire to discuss with us?"

"We feel that the new colonization ships need to be approved." Malark swiped his fan onto his desk. Then he tapped the fan on its uncluttered surface. "The final topic we must discuss is the codification regarding the guidelines for the equality of planets. Without those laws secured, the issue will revert to the status quo of the Larian Federation."

Caitlin clenched her fists and released a breath. "You know full well every planet was equal under Larian law."

"Maybe," Malark stated slowly. "It was for some, Caitlin. However, the vast majority got no equality under the law. Hence why the great colonization ships were overcrowded."

"And you want to ensure the constituents such a law will exist." Quinn raised his hands and leaned back in his chair.

Malark leaned forward, closing his fan. "I do."

"You realize we'll have to manufacture more warships to protect the smaller colonization ships as a result." Quinn tapped a scrap of paper in front of him...