Ok folks, this last chapter took me SO long to write because I've simply lost my way. I've struggled with lack of interest, lack of an `end goal', and lack of time. Due to these factors, this will be the last chapter for quite a long time. I hope I've left it at an acceptable pausing point. I DO plan to pick it up, but I want to have several chapters done before I start posting again. If you're on my mailing list, I will notify you when I start posting again. If you're not, feel free to email me and get on that list.

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The sex isn't a major part of this story, nor is it graphic. If you're looking for masturbation fodder, look elsewhere. There will be many slow times in this story, just like there are in life. Other times, things will fly at you too fast. There will be boring days, and exciting days. It's just how it's flowing.

This work is fully protected under the United States Copyright Laws © 17 USC§§ 101, 102(a), 302(a). All rights reserved. Placing or posting any or all of this story on any website, or distribution of any of these works in any way (in part or in whole) without the explicit consent of the author is strictly prohibited. Any and all copyright infringements will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. With some obvious exceptions, any names, characters, or incidents are the product of the author's imagination and all are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental, and no harm or slanderous intent is implied or intended. Any characterization of public figures is purely the author's imagination, and is in no way intended to imply that they would behave in the real world like they do in my fictional world.

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Chapter 101

Every head turned to stare at Andrew, who looked like he had seen a ghost. His eyes were wide open and his mouth was opening and closing like a fish, gasping for water. I finally understood when the man sitting across and to my left stood and said "Andrew?"

Andrew recovered himself and gave a slight bow as he said "Yes, My Lord. Forgive me, I didn't know you had been changed."

The Duke of Wellington laughed as he said "Well, when Nelson visited me in '46 looking younger than he did when we first met in '05, he explained things to me, and offered me the change. Of course, I took him up on it. When did you change?"

Andrew looked embarrassed as he said "I was born this way, My Lord."

Wellington looked properly abashed, then turned to apologize for disrupting the meeting. I waved my hand, saying "It was not a problem at all, either of you. I will make sure you can get together later to discuss things. For now, I will ask each of you to stand and introduce yourselves, for the benefit of myself, as well as any others who may not know you."

As he was already standing, the Iron Duke said "I am Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington." He bowed to me as he said "I am at your service, Your Majesty."

Of course, I knew of Wellington and his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, but it was possible some here weren't, so I asked him to tell us of his accomplishments. He listed his lifetime of public service, as well as his military career, then sat.

As he did, the man to his left stood, bowed, and said "I am Horatio Nelson, Vice Admiral of the White. I commanded ships for His Majesty King George from 1771 until I was changed on my death bed at Trafalgar, in 1805." He listed several of his other major battles, then he ended with "I am at your service, Your Majesty."

I had gone to school in the US, so I was familiar with General George S. Patton. He told of his adventures in Mexico, his time in France during WWI, and of course, his time in Africa and Europe during WWII. He shocked me when he said the vehicle accident that killed him was indeed staged, as many conspiracy theories suggested. He clarified that it was not staged by the US Government, but by vampire friends who had to do this to hide his refreshing his life, for the fourth time.

General George C. Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff during WWII, as well as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense under President Truman, was not a face I recognized, though I certainly knew his name. He was primarily known for the plan that rebuilt Europe after WWII.

I had also heard of Admiral Chester Nimitz, one of several commanders of the US Navy in the Pacific in WWII, although I was not familiar with his son, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Jr. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, so I knew his name. Fortunately for me, Marshal Zhukov identified himself as a Soviet commander from WWII and the Soviet Minister of Defense under Nikita Khrushchev. Otherwise, I would have had no clue who he was. The same was true for Field Marshal Manstein, who was a German commander during WWI and II. The last was a blond-haired man about my age who introduced himself as Nero Claudius Drusus. I was intrigued to learn that he had been a Roman General of the Empire who had almost died from falling off his horse in 9 BCE.

After the introductions were finished, I stood and slowly looked around the room. Then I said "I respect everything that each of you has accomplished in your lives. The history books scream your praises, and most of you were given rank or titles in honor of your accomplishments. That said, you are at this table to serve me, and the nation of Dracul. As such, your previous titles are to remain in the history books."

I had expected some complaining from one or two of them, but no one said a word, nor did I see any indication of displeasure, so I went on "In that same spirit, your previous rank will also be left in the history books, and each of you now hold the temporary rank of General, and you make up my General Staff. As it stands right now, you gentlemen are the only ones with a valid rank in the Dracul military. Your first task will be to come up with a rank structure and an organizational chart. I will be leaning heavily on your guidance in your various areas of expertise, and as such, I ask that you hold back nothing. Every one of you has a reputation for being outspoken, and I am hoping that is in fact, true."

"For the last several decades, you have been putting together this military force, with no real mission in mind. I will be giving you that mission when I return from meeting the Alphas of the world. For now, assume our focus is on defense and stealth, like it has been from the start."

I looked across the table at Tommy. I could see the fear in his eyes as he realized what I was going to say. "Colonel McNeil, you are appointed temporary Minister of Defense. I task you with overseeing the organization of the Dracul military. I'm sure, with help from these gentlemen, you will make me proud."

Tommy tried to argue that these other men were much more qualified for the job than he was. Nero Drusus said it best, when he looked at Tommy and said "Our King only knows us from the history books, or from our own ego filled descriptions. He knows you as a friend, and he trusts you, and more important, he has chosen you. I can promise you that each of us will support you in the role our King has assigned you."

There were nods of assent all around, so Tommy agreed to act as Minister of Defense, with the request that Ted be promoted and assigned to the General Staff as well. I quickly agreed to this, as I had already planned to do just that. As I stood to leave, I asked Tommy to stop by my office after he was finished for the day, then I followed Josh, Billy, and Niko back to my office.

Alex and Lucas were waiting for us when we arrived, and before we could sit, Alex said "Before I go over what I've learned in the lab, would you and Prince Niko join us on the balcony, Your Majesty?"

Niko looked to me and I shrugged, then pushed him through the French doors and onto the balcony that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. Sitting by the railing were two of Niko's new chairs. The one stood just over a meter tall and had tracks, like a bulldozer. I picked Niko up and moved him to the track chair. While Lucas helped Niko strap in, Alex adjusted the armrests and knee rests. Lucas opened the owner's manual to show Niko what controls did, but like any teen male, Niko ignored the book, looked at the controls, and started pushing buttons. After raising himself to standing, he made a few laps around the balcony, and came to a stop facing me. The smile on his face said it all.

He lowered himself to the seated position, then Joshua moved him to the other chair. This one had six wheels, with the center ones being about a foot in diameter, while the other four were basically casters. Again, once he was buckled in, Niko simply pushed the controls as he around the balcony, getting the feel of his new chair. After a few minutes of getting used to the handling, he rolled to a stop facing me with tears streaming down his face.

He cleared his throat a few times, and once he found his voice, he quietly said "Thank you, Father."

I kissed his cheek, then pointed at the track chair and said, "You won't thank me if I have to punish you for tracking sand or mud into the castle with that one."

He got a devilish grin, then said "I suppose we'll need to have Leonard put a car was in the courtyard then."

We all laughed, then headed inside to find out what Alex had learned from his scientists.

Alex spent hours describing how Dracul was on the cutting edge of technology, decades ahead of the rest of the world. The scientists had been concerned with giving too much information to our larger group, so they had only answered our direct questions. And even then, choosing to be vague when they talked about the Bluetooth communications used by our subs and the speed of our jets. What Alex told us was incredible. I directed him to work with Leonard and incorporate the latest advances in the residence. I didn't want outsiders knowing how advanced we are, so the office and public areas of the castle were to use technology that was just a step ahead of the humans. I doubted anyone would notice, and if they did, we could simply push it onto the market and say we were their test subjects.

When I asked about military issues, Alex hesitated, then said "Rather than miscommunicate, might we discuss this with the appropriate Minsters present?"

I agreed, so we took a short break while Niko gathered Tommy and George. While he was gone, I explained to Alex that Tommy was now the Minister of Defense, and George was Minister of Foreign Affairs. Niko quickly returned,

accompanied by Tommy. George followed a few minutes later.

Tommy started "After talking to the Generals, I feel I will be able to present you with a tentative organizational chart, with ranks, when you return from your trip, Sire. As much as I would prefer to be your personal security, someone pushed me into a different job, and I will be unable to travel with you." He then asked "Do you want Alex to go into what the future holds? Or should I go into our current capabilities?"

I glanced at Alex, who pointed to Tommy, so I said "Tell me what we can do now. And, in the interest of time, try to make it simple."

Tommy leaned forward and said "Simply put, Sire, if you decided you were so inclined, we could conquer the entire world. With the technology we have, there isn't an army that could resist. Our jets fly faster and higher than anything the human nations have. Our submarine force can deploy our forces anywhere in the world faster than our chosen target could react. If you remember, Prince Niko asked if our jets only fly from the carrier subs, he was told to wait for the military briefing?"

I nodded, so he went on "As they said, we have covert control of every military surveillance system in the world, and the ability to provide them with false information, or withhold information completely. Until recently, our jets have been based on the carriers. Construction was just completed on the second of three airbases. The first was in Antarctica, the second in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the third, which will be completed within the year, is in Nunavut, Canada. None of these will ever show up in any satellite photo, nor will the planes ever be detected by radar."

Alex added "If anyone were to attempt a long-range missile strike, we are able to take down any, or all, missiles around the globe. When we started developing the system, it was leaked to President Reagan. He called it `Star Wars', and the US Congress wanted it. We let them assist in developing it, then we arranged for several failed tests, so they would think it wasn't feasible. Of course, we developed it, and implemented it in the late 1990's."

George turned to me and said, "With all due respect, Your Majesty, but do we plan to conquer the entire world?"

I gave a slight smile as I said "No George, we do not. In fact, we have no desire to conquer any part of the world, as long as the world leaves us, and ours, alone. With the resources the former council has provided, I can face world leaders as their equal. I can meet with vampires around the world, and honestly tell them that I can ensure their safety. From the moment I was changed, that has been my only desire. First, keeping Scott safe, then our pups, then our pack, and now, the world pack."

I looked at Tommy and said "General, your mission is to establish offensive capabilities, with the intent that we remain defensive, indefinitely. There may come a time that we need to act, to keep the peace. I do not intend to meddle in the affairs of other nations, but the time may come that we need that ability."

As Tommy nodded his understanding, I turned to George and said "After I've spoken to the Alphas of the world, I will meet with a few, carefully chosen, world leaders, to advise them of our intentions. I hope they will understand our desire is to allow vampires to live as they have for centuries, peacefully alongside our human friends. I have no plans to reveal our military, financial, or technological superiority, but if pushed, I am certain that we can arrange a demonstration that will convince them."

George and Tommy asked a few more questions, then I dismissed them and turned to Billy "Tomorrow, we leave for London, then on to the rest of the world. My plan, as with the world leaders, is to infer our position of power without revealing the facts. When we return home, my hope is that we can relax, and enjoy life."

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Again, this will be the last chapter for quite a while, several months at the least. I hope there are no real issues `hanging' to upset my faithful. This has been an amazing journey, which I will continue, but for now, I need a break.

Thanks for all your encouragement!