“I apologise for my tardiness!”
Vice General Elkay glanced up from his, well, the High General’s desk. Standing in the doorway was Aesop Korinna, the Prime Minister and overall leader of the Cassids, with two well-dressed Cassian bodyguards to his side.
“We… weren’t supposed to meet until 5pm this afternoon?” Elkay sat up, flicking through a small diary, before getting up and looking at a clock. “It’s 4:37pm. You’re not late.”
Aesop stopped in his tracks, then checked his pocket watch. He smiled awkwardly. “I got time zones messed up. Apologies. Can we speak now?”
The Vice General looked through his paperwork and sighed. “I guess. Although I was not informed of what this meeting was to be about. It was arranged by Photeianos.”
“Ah, then we can…”
“No, please!” Elkay stood up and dragged Aesop to a sofa to one side. “Sit down. We can talk.”
Aesop reluctantly sat down, as Elkay waved to one of his Ksa and asked them to call a caterer. “Would you like anything to eat or drink?”
“No thank you. Well, Photeianos told me that you could help me persuade the Cassids into not being… excuse my language, fucking retarded.”
“I… I don’t follow? Is this about the mutterings of the Cassids leaving the Maza?”
“Indeed. It is more than mutterings though. Clearly you have not been paying attention to our politics? After you all saddled us with the aftermath of the Feralheart Plague, there were cries of anger, that the Maza is a bad thing. I know for a fact it isn’t, as it boosts our economy and protects us, but the common Cassid is being whipped up into a frenzy by members of our government. We are going to have a referendum in three weeks and I am terrified that the vote to leave the Maza will succeed!”
Elkay tutted as an Ethran-type arrived with a plate of fried potato slices and gently placed it between the two leaders. He nodded a thank you and the Rethan headed off. “I didn’t realise you were having a referendum…”
“You haven’t been paying attention to us Cassids, clearly,” Aesop snapped. “No one ever does.”
“Excuse me, I have been busty lately, busy convincing the leader of a race of twenty billion vastly intelligent Thanatians to not enslave the Rethans and destroy the Vohra. And it’s not like we don’t listen to you, your vote was the vote that stopped the relaxation on fossil fuel laws. In fact, most trading laws end up being dictated by you. All the Maza races are treated equally.”
“We don’t feel like we are.”
Elkay rolled his eyes. “If some bastard Rethan decided to create and release a plague that made every other race violent, you’d be damn sure we would be paying for everything. Every race pays a proportionate amount based on how rich or poor they are. Everyone follows the same laws… Why am I telling you this? You know!”
“Yet the Cassids don’t!”
“Then tell them! And if that doesn’t work, keep on telling them. While taking every lie the enemy says and explaining with facts and sources why they’re wrong! If the Cassids leave the Maza, do you REALLY think you’re going to get better deals with everyone else? You’re going to have to renegotiate everything and it will take forever. And in the meantime, what will that do to your economy?”
Aesop sighed. “But they don’t listen!”
“Then keep on telling them. Over and over and over. Ram those facts down their votes and destroy any and all lies you come across.”
“I guess…”
Elkay shook his head. “Why are you even asking me? You know all of this. You just need to shout louder.”
“I know…” Aesop got up to leave. “Thank you for talking to me. Sometimes one just wants reassurance.”
“Um, no worries, I guess?” Elkay replied as Aesop walked out, disappearing outside. After a few moments, he got up, taking the plate of untouched food with him, then sat back at his desk.
Was it always like this? the Vice General wondered.