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reassigned soon, but I’m sure my replacement will be able to work quite well with whoever the emperor appoints.”
    Dani rolled her eyes. No one believed Temple’s politically correct statement, knowing that rarely did the military get along with civilian authorities. “So, who is going to be running things?”
    Stone grinned. “You are. However, according to the emperor’s message, you’re not going to be Governor Storovitch. He’s been after me for quite a while to upgrade the appointment in a manner that takes control of the planet out of the hands of politicians.” He tossed the message crystal to Danielle. “You check this for yourself. I’ve decoded it and removed the password protection. What Emperor Garza has ordered is for you to take over as — well, right now — as queen. So, may I be the first to say, long live Queen Danielle Elizabeth Wright Storovitch, queen of Allie’s World and the system surrounding her. May your reign be long and fruitful!”
    Danielle stuttered, “But, I don’t want —”
    “No backsies,” Stone laughed. “Oh, I hate to dump this in your lap, but I’ve been stalling Admiral Temple about what we’re going to do with the hundreds of Hyrocanian prisoners we have on another island. They’re too smart to leave trapped on an island and we don’t want them getting lose on the planet, or even worse, stealing a shuttle or a ship and getting off the planet. We can’t keep feeding them, they’re going to eat the planet bare. I couldn’t figure out whether to kill them or order the navy to take them somewhere else. Now, it’s your problem.”
    Temple joined Stone laughing at the horrified look on Danielle’s face. “Congratulations, your majesty.”
    Shaking her head, glaring at the message crystal as if the message itself was at fault, Danielle patted her distended belly. “Majesty comes from the old Latin meaning greatness. I guess I’ll be called your highness, but the next person who calls me “your greatness” in any language will be in big trouble. Wait! I’m queen, right? Off with their heads!”

 
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Stone packed his personal items from his bungalow to carry to his new quarters. He was prepared to clear his office, making room for the new queen, but Danielle declared her VIP quarters were nicer than his quarters and she planned on staying put. Nevertheless, he did what all junior officers had done since Alexander the Great had been Alexander the New Guy and began carrying his belongings down the path to the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters.
    A tiny room in the BOQ was set aside for him as befitting a low ranking ensign. His room was the third smallest room in the whole building. The smallest room was a broom closet at the end of the corridor. The FNG, the ensign from admin, who had a lower promotion date than Stone did, occupied the second smallest room. Unfortunately, Stone’s room had a view of the parking lot, whereas the other ensign had an ocean view. His new quarters were also far too small to share with any of his drascos. His new room was barely big enough for him and a bad gas attack.
    As an ensign, he didn’t rate any security guards so the marines were pulled off that detail and assigned to protect the queen and her escort. Maggot was slightly upset about his wife being crowned queen. Stone thought he was miffed only because he was relegated to consort or escort, not king. He did rate military protection until Queen Danielle was able to hire and train her own protection detail.
    The drascos were his responsibility, just not a part of an unnecessary protective detail. No one doubted their intelligence, but he’d dragged them out of their natural surroundings and they couldn’t go back to living in the wild. He would have to find quarters for them. All eight of them walked along beside him, each carrying their own possessions, chatting lightly amongst themselves.
    Ell tried to tie her bundle of personal goods on her cousin