Chapter 3

Power

Gabrielle smiled down at Trish, but a nagging thought occurred to her and she wanted it taken care of sooner, rather than later.

"Um, about the whole Chief thing. I think this time the leader should be decided by vote. I mean when you guys put me in charge before, it was out of necessity, sort of." She cleared her throat. "If you guys do vote me as Chief, I'll continue to lead the group the same as I always have. The group's survival comes first, individuals' opinions second. I'll make sure that we are as prepared as we can be to go back and create a working society that will survive and grow. I want this to succeed and I will do everything I can to make it work."

She started to climb down off the table, but Trisha posed a question, stopping her descent.

"Will you go, if you're not chosen to be Chief?"

Gabrielle thought about it for a few seconds.

"It depends on who's chosen as leader in my place, but I'll probably go no matter what."

Gabrielle could see Gregory's brow furrow and he raised his head to speak.

"Who would you have a problem with leading the group?"

She smiled.

"Well, actually, you for one. You'll make a good military leader, and you should be considered for that position, regardless of whoever ends up being Chief. But you wouldn't make a good community leader because you're too strong-willed, though that'll come in handy as a military commander."

Gregory grinned at her. She knew he understood her reasoning and that she was right.

Justin raised his hand and Gabrielle nodded at him.

"Who would you consider to be a good replacement for you, if not Gregory?" he asked, his quiet voice causing those around him to cease their whispered conversations in order to hear him.

Gabrielle looked down at her best friend leaning against the table near her feet.

"I'd choose Tristan, though I would advise him to select three lieutenants to work with him, so that he could have other viewpoints around him at all times. He sometimes gets a little tunnel vision." She smiled down at him. "And I'm serious about there being three advisors, instead of one or two. With three advisors, he won't get forced into choosing sides between his lieutenants, and it also ups the likelihood that at least one of them will side with him, though," she cautioned, "if the same lieutenant always sides with him, that could cause problems of an entirely different nature."

Gabrielle looked around at the group.

"Are there any other questions?" No one raised a hand or spoke, so she continued. "I'd appreciate it if no one bullied anyone else into voting a particular way. I don't want to hear later that someone was shouted down because they disagreed with the majority, no matter whether that majority is for, or against, my leadership abilities. Everyone should get a chance to say their piece, and convince others that they're right, before you all vote."

She climbed down off the table and headed through the main archway and down the hall to leave the mansion by the back door. She crossed to the middle of the backyard and began practicing her forms. Since she was wearing jeans, she couldn't get her kicks as high as she usually did, but running the patterns helped her to clear her mind of worry and anxiety.

She hoped if she were chosen to lead this crazy venture, the vote would be unanimous. A few kicks and punches later, she sent a prayer to Mother Gaia for whoever was elected to lead.

'Let them be voted in unanimously, so that the entire community will feel undivided in their choice of leader, and let him or her be capable of fulfilling the post with compassion and fairness.'

She went through all the patterns she knew and had just started repeating them, when Tristan came out to get her. He led her back to the meeting and stood in the archway with her. Gregory stepped up to her and held out his hand.

"Congratulations, Chief. You won by a landslide. It was unanimous," he said, and a grin broke out on his face. It was quickly matched by a similar grin on her own face and she grasped his forearm and was pulled into a one-armed hug. "I can't believe we're really going to do this," he whispered into her ear.

"I can't believe Tony agreed to leave his precious computers behind and come back with us to the dark ages," she whispered back.

She had been absolutely shocked to see the dark-haired man move with the rest of the group, after Tristan's announcement.

They pulled apart and Gregory winked at her. Gabrielle was quickly drawn into the embraces of her people.

'It feels so good to be able to call them that again,' she thought warmly.

Finally, she progressed through the crowd of well-wishers and climbed back up onto the table.

"Thank you for choosing me to be Chief again. I promise to do my best to make you glad you chose me to lead you. And I'm really touched by your confidence in me. I'll try not to disappoint you."