Alexander was not at all surprised by Mr. Young's reaction. It was pretty on par with how he expected most people to react upon seeing him for the first time.

Before they made it to the building entrance, the crowd and reporters recovered from their shock as well, and Alexander caught snippets of questions thrown his way.

From the reporters, it was stuff like, 'Is that robot a standard BSE model? Is that what you used to defeat Harlow's fleet?' Etc. It was rather ridiculous to think he could defeat a fleet of ships with robots.

The questions that he heard coming from the civilians were even stranger, and most he chose to forget. Some people truly were odd.

They entered the building a moment later, silencing the crowd and allowing Alexander to focus more on what he was going to discuss. The UEC had a packed schedule, but they had been generous enough to offer Alexander ten minutes to discuss what he had come to present.

That wasn't much time, but he had spent the last week going back and forth with Katalynn about their main talking points.

The biggest thing he needed to focus on was getting them to recognize the Asgardian Union as a legitimate political entity instead of a cluster of pirates.

Not an easy task, but he had plenty of evidence to support his argument, as well as a recording of the Asgardians helping to take down Harlow.

Alexander hoped that would be enough.

A white-gloved usher opened a door for them, and the group stepped inside. He could immediately tell they were on the side of some raised stairs, and it reminded him of how a movie theater was set up.

As they walked forward, Alexander could make out someone's impassioned plea about… cabbage hybridization efforts.

Mr. Young let out a soft sigh of exasperation and held up his hand to stop the group. "We should wait for Councilor Min to finish so we don't cause an uproar during his presentation. The man isn't known for being very forgiving. Also, please ensure your guards don't raise their weapons at anyone. They shouldn't even have weapons inside the UEC building, but we made an exception because of the odd circumstances surrounding your visit."

Alexander did find it strange that they hadn't banned him from bringing armed security in with him, but he thought it might have been because of his sovereign status.

"Odd?" Alexander asked in concern, keeping his voice low.

"Surely you must know?" Young asked. When the man realized Alexander really didn't know what he was talking about, he continued. "Ahem, sorry. I figured you were aware that your friend, Chairman Rush, came and put in a good word for you ahead of your visit."

"I was not," Alexander stated before glancing toward Katalynn, who looked equally surprised by that statement.

Mr. Young didn't seem to know what to say to that, so he simply didn't say anything.

The cabbage aficionado, Mr. Min, finished his speech a few minutes later to scattered clapping that felt more like an involuntary reaction than actual joy. Unless it was joy that the man was finally done talking.

"Alright, I'll lead you to your seats. It'll be a few hours before your scheduled time to speak, but that was the only slot we were able to accommodate for you on such short notice. Most of the daily schedule is booked out a year in advance."

The joys of bureaucracy.

It seemed like Alexander wasn't alone in his annoyance at having to wait. He spotted Katalynn's mouth twitch down slightly before she recovered. The way of the Asgardians wasn't for everyone, he knew that, but he had to admit, they didn't have much red tape. When they wanted something to get done, it got done.

Alexander had been expecting a lot of bureaucracy and nonsense when visiting the STO, though, so he had been prepared. It felt normal in an odd way.

As their guide predicted, their arrival caused a stir within the room, and the next speaker, who was about to take the stage, frowned in annoyance at being cut off before she too spotted Alexander's group.

They were led around the wall that delineated the hallway to the door they entered through and up a side set of stairs to the very top and back of the council hall.

Most eyes were on Alexander, but he saw others nervously glancing at the heavily armed and armored soldiers trailing their small party. A few others eyed Katalynn like a prize, which disgusted Alexander, but he knew the woman could handle her own, so he ignored it.

True enough, one man made the mistake of scanning her body with his eyes while within her line of sight. She turned her raptor-like gaze on the older man until he turned away in embarrassment. Alexander had no pity for the idiot. A man his age should know better, or at least have some tact. Even after he looked away, Katalynn's stare of pure derision bored a hole in the back of the man's balding head until Mr. Young cleared his throat quietly.

When she turned that glare on Young, he swallowed thickly before speaking. "I'm sorry if the Icelandic representative's actions disturbed you. If you wish, I can file a complaint on your behalf."

"Don't bother," Katalynn stated coldly. "If it had truly bothered me, I would have dealt with it personally."

The man chuckled uncomfortably, but when nobody else joined him, he must have realized she was being serious.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Alexander would have loved to see Katalynn kick the shit out of the lecherous old man, but he would have stopped her if it had gone any farther than a staring contest. There was too much at stake to let something like that prevent possible reconciliation between the STO and Union, and while he knew the UEC didn't have the power to make a decision for the entire STO, it was a start.

***

Frank could feel sweat trickle down his back after Char's last statement. He had no doubt she meant every word of it, too. Standing next to Kane and Lagertha Char of the Asgardian Union–whatever that was–felt like standing between two lions ready to tear you apart at a moment's notice. Yet somehow, the eight-foot-tall robot came across as the more rational of the two.

If it wasn't for council decorum, he would have loved to see someone put that disgusting old man, Ketill Gamli-Rassálfur, in his place.

Frank reminded himself that he only had to keep them from making a scene for a few more hours. Once they finished their presentation, he would walk them right back to their ship, and his role would be over. If everything went without a hitch, his career would remain intact.

He was curious as to what the pair might bring up. Unfortunately, he didn't have time or funding to dig into Kane or Blue Star Enterprises. That information was locked behind damnable STO paywalls. All he knew was that they had some hand in helping take down Harlow, oh, and they were seemingly good friends with the Gravitational Solutions Chairman.

Whatever they had to say, he was sure it would be interesting.

***

For once, Alexander was glad he wasn't human. Sitting through the asinine political minutia of the UEC was probably one of the hardest things he had been forced to endure since the time Yulia was hurt aboard Petrov Station.

If they had been discussing actual matters of importance it might have been different, but most were like Mr. Cabbage, with dumb low-level issues that had no real need to be discussed at a national level, yet somehow were.

Was this what post-scarcity politics had become?

His ruminations on the political landscape of Earth in the early twenty-fifth century were interrupted by Mr. Young.

"You are up next, Mr. Kane."

Alexander nodded in thanks and waited for the closing arguments about the efforts to increase fish recovery for a small lake in northern Ireland.

A few of the talks had been about environmental conservation and recovery efforts so that was at least something Alexander could get behind, assuming the people delivering the dry and monotone speeches hadn't been doing it simply to get funding.

As soon as the man finished, Alexander's group made their way down the stairs and over to the central podium that faced the tiered seating.

Over the last few hours, more and more councilors had trickled in and took seats around the room. It wasn't lost on Alexander or Katalynn that they were curious as to what the newcomers might want.

He also suspected that Chairman Rush's unsolicited visit had something to do with that curiosity.

Alexander found himself wondering why a man like Rush would put in a good word for them when he had only met the man a single time, and from Katalynn's information, she had only been to their headquarters two previous times.

It was a mystery he wanted to ask Mr. Young about, but he didn't want to discuss that in such an open place.

The room broke into quiet murmurs as they approached the podium.

The speaker's gavel rang out, silencing the crowd. "The UEC Speaker recognizes the representative from Blue Star Enterprises, Alexander Kane. We also recognize your guest, Lagertha Katalynn Char, from the Asgardian Union. As per council protocol, you have ten minutes to present your case to the council. You may proceed," she stated, slamming the gavel down a final time.

Alexander wasn't sure when Mr. Young had forwarded his and Katalynn's information to the council, but then again, he hadn't been paying much attention to the man during the past few hours.

"Thank you, Speaker," he replied before turning toward the seated individuals. "Some of you might be aware of my company thanks to its efforts in helping get rid of the pirate emperor Harlow." The man's self-chosen title was ridiculous and had no basis in reality, but Alexander decided to use it to help impress upon the people here the importance of his and the Union's contributions.

A few mutters of assent broke the silence, but most of the assembled people looked surprised to hear that revelation. Alexander had been hoping for a more universal knowledge of BSE's exploits, but he would take what he could get.

"I am not here to talk about my company's involvement in the matter, but of those who assisted in bringing that man to justice and ridding the universe of his pirate armada." He gestured to Katalynn. "Without the Asgardian Union's efforts, Harlow would still be rampaging through STO space."

That statement didn't seem to hit as well as he had hoped when he heard a few snorts of derision from some of the council members. Alexander continued, ignoring those idiots. Chесk Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе (МV1LЕМР1YR) fоr thе lаtеst updаtеs.

"Some of you doubt the veracity of my claims, and that's fine. You weren't there, I was." Alexander reached into his pouch, pulled out a data chip, and stuck it into the reader on the podium.

The holo screen behind and above the Speaker came to life, showing a short one-minute clip of the fierce battle that took place over Eden's End. It showed ships breaking apart and exploding as Harlow's fleet did their damnedest to destroy everything in their path. It also showed the Valkyrie, the very same ship that was parked in orbit, pounding away at Harlow's dreadnought.

The video cut off before the fleets passed one another, and Alexander continued. "I will make a fully unedited video of the conflict available to the council, but as you saw by that clip, the Asgardians were instrumental in Harlow's downfall, which is why I find it so tasteless and disgraceful that the STO has decided to label them as pirates."

The room erupted into conversation, not all of it positive. Accusatory gazes turned toward Katalynn. She did not shy away from their hate, instead, she stared back with conviction. The guards twitched slightly, but they were far too professional to rise to a few angry glares.

Alexander stood silently as the Speaker banged her gavel repeatedly to get the room to settle once more. He had been prepared to use some of his technological advancements to grease the wheels if necessary, but thought better of it after learning of Mr. Rush's involvement. If a few words from that man had managed this much, Alexander would hold onto any bargaining chips for later.

"Order!" the Speaker yelled.

By the time she restored that so-called order, the ten minutes had elapsed.

"Mr. Kane. I wish to apologize for the rest of your time being taken by people who cannot maintain their composure," she said, glaring at the other councilors. "As for your words, we will need time to consider them before we can pass judgment one way or another. We may also have additional questions. That being said, we are not in a position where we can overturn an STO ruling. At most, the UEC could recognize the Asgardian Union as an independent political entity on Earth."

Alexander nodded his avatar toward the Speaker. "Thank you for allowing me the time to speak with your august body of representatives, Madam Speaker. And yes, I am aware of the UEC's limitations on the Asgardian matter. I have a separate meeting with the STO where I will address the matter with them as well, but I still felt it was best to speak with the group that first created the STO, as the decision had come when Earth was still in charge of the group."

He had chosen to add that last bit to hopefully play on their sentiments. Only time would tell if it was successful or not.

With one last slight bow toward the tiered seating, Alexander and the rest of his group left the podium and walked out of the room, forcing Mr. Young to jog to catch up.