The Fight for Peace (8 page)

Chapter 9

PRIME MINISTER BYRAN VASQUEZ

MEETING THE ENEMY

That Europe wasn’t alone in the world against the FLF was welcome news as Byran prepared to meet their delegation. It gave him a bit more confidence, as did arriving in a war plane. The FLF had driven in Soviet-era overland tracked vehicles. Byran had been impressed to see gas powered vehicles until he’d seen them next to the Guard’s planes. Europe might be using horses for transportation, but in other ways they were advanced beyond anything seen before the war.

“You still don’t trust their intentions?” Byran asked when Arinna arrived to escort him and the rest of the delegation to the meeting room.

“Oh, I trust their intentions. I just don’t think it has anything to do with peace ... unless it is created by them controlling Europe,” she replied.

Unlike anytime he’d seen her in Guard uniform, she wore medals and insignias as befitted her rank. She was now Captain of the Guard even if most continued to call her the Lady Grey.

“Does it bother you to be called Captain Prescot?”

They were alone at the moment as Byran gathered the remainder of his items, but it wasn’t fear of being overheard that kept his voice low. If they were not old friends, close friends, he would never have dared ask that question.

She flicked him a glance, her eyes darkened with old pain. But that was the only sign she gave that his question affected her. “It makes me miss him,” she said, equally as quiet. “Are you ready?”

“No, not in the least,” he answered, finally walking to the door. “You’ve truly seen nothing to suspect the FLF is here for more than talks?”

“If I had, you wouldn’t be standing in this old monstrosity, Prime Minister.”

He chuckled. She was riled, and her mood fell towards offense rather than defense. Which, oddly, made him feel more relaxed. Usually the thought of Arinna ready for battle unnerved him. But then again, he rarely was the one leading the way into a fight as he was today.

“I’m glad you are here, that you came for the opening of this,” he admitted as they swept along the hallway together.

“Oh I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said with a half smile.

It had been arranged they would meet the FLF delegation in the nave of the small chapel. After a brisk walk through the snow whipped courtyard, soldiers at the entrance held the door and waved them inside the building. Eyes adjusting to dim light cast by stained glass windows, Byran finally laid eyes on the first FLF soldiers he’d seen besides those who had attacked his family a month before.

A group of seven men stood near the altar, all wearing black uniforms accentuated with crisp gold lines. Arinna walked forward without pause, which kept Byran from hesitating in the rear. The two groups met in the aisle at the mid-point of the nave. There they stopped.

“Prime Minister Vasquez, a pleasure to meet you at last,” the lead man said. He was a tall gentleman with dark hair that greyed at the temples. “I’m Sergi Novikovich, the leader of Irkrist, what you would call Crystal City,” he said, offering his hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Novikovich. I hope you were not the one who sent agents to kill me and my family?” Byran answered. Next to him Arinna coughed on a suppressed laugh.

“No. I sent agents to blow up your Parliament. They found an offer of much more interest. Although it failed, which leads us to today. Come, you sent agents to my city as well,” Sergi said.

“Not with orders to kill anyone,” Byran pointed out.

“But they did. Several soldiers,” Sergi said with a cold smile. “I must say how unexpected a pleasure it is to finally meet you, Lady Grey,” he said to Arinna. “I did not think you would be escorting the Prime Minister.”

“I’ve been wanting the opportunity to meet you for many, many years,” she said with enough steel in her voice that the politeness froze on Sergi’s face.

Sergi snorted, which led to nervous chuckles shared between the other six FLF members. The chill in the old church stemmed from more than the ancient stones and an over-taxed wood stove. If the FLF had guns on them, Byran didn’t doubt they would have shot Arinna in that moment. The fact that they didn’t convinced Byran that no matter how distasteful the meeting was and how poorly it was going at the moment, the FLF intended the negotiations as more than a trap. Hopefully it meant they held some interest in peace.

“Well, with that out of the way,” Byran said into the awkward silence. “Let me introduce the rest of Europe’s delegation, if you would then be so kind as to introduce your members?”

Choosing who should help represent Europe had been difficult. Among those Byran trusted, Derrick had shipped himself off to Argentina and Byran wouldn’t risk his wife. Of those he didn’t trust, but were amazingly skilled in negotiations, the members of MOTHER remained under arrest and Danielle, although free, was such a wild card that he’d only bring her to meet the FLF if he were then going to order the place destroyed.

That left the mediocre, semi-dedicated Senators. Ones who might have attended sessions as much for MOTHER’s benefit as any true inclination to represent Europe. Robert Cairns had worked in finance prior to the war and had often disagreed with Miralda’s reports. He also spoke Russian despite appearing so native Scottish that the last thing anyone would imagine was the man’s fluency. Natalia Lennon and Sophia Obella had proven to be good allies when Byran had championed the election proposal, winning over delegates with strong arguments. Gaffery Hegerston, Willhelm Frederick, and Nicko Ramoff comprised the last three delegates. All had fairly solid attendance and voting records.

Arinna listened to the names of the FLF delegates like she was memorizing them for tombstones. Her intensity nearly made Byran miss what Sergi said. It didn’t help that many of the introductions began with the same word – General. General Vasiliy Kavorski was a big man with a reddish beard. Ivan Petrovich was one of two besides Sergi himself introduced without a military rank. Generals Matvey Votyakov, Luka Avilov, and Andreai Ranosky barely nodded as their names were given. The last, Damir Stovik, offered a half smile, which was the most animated response out of all the FLF delegates. It also sent a chill down Byran’s back, especially when it hardened as Damir’s gaze flickered to Arinna. The initial hours were going to be long and tense. The only way through was to start.

Sergi seemed to be of the same mind. “Shall we begin introductory talks?” he asked Byran, sweeping his hand toward the tables set in the open space before the altar and near the fire meant to warm the building. As Byran followed the FLF delegation, Arinna turned the opposite direction.

“You are not joining us?” Damir asked her.

Arinna paused, her glance flicking to Byran. He could ask her to stay, but that had never been a role they’d discussed. It wasn’t the Guard’s duty in Europe.

“There is separation between the military and government in Europe,” Byran said.

“Yes, I had heard that. I’d forgotten,” Damir replied, implying with his tone that he didn’t believe it fully.

Arinna didn’t reply, she simply turned and walked to the door. Byran thought she’d leave. She didn’t. Her eyes stayed on the delegates for the three hours they met to state the main points a peace agreement would need to hold – the borders of nations, sovereignty and respect of current governments, and a recommendation to leave the Wasteland as a demilitarized zone for a period of years.

Byran ignored the voice in the back of his mind that said many of the aspects the FLF proposed were most likely the same they’d worked out with David Eldridge. But he did think it. And he was very aware of the FLF soldiers that hovered along the walls, imitating the Guard positions on the opposite side of the nave. Only Arinna walked freely, spending time in the choir loft and even casually walking before the FLF soldiers as if they were statues. Otherwise the FLF and Guard soldiers alternated between ignoring and staring each other down. The tension in the room gave Byran a headache. When the initial proposals were laid out and adjournment offered to discuss and reflect separately on items made, he nearly jumped at the offer.

“Shall we meet?” Robert asked wearily as the Guard escorted the delegates back to Europe’s section of the monastery.

“An hour, no two,” Byran replied. “We’ll meet in the room set aside for my office. Unless you heard something?”

“Nothing today. They barely spoke amongst themselves,” Robert said.

“I’d have lunch, but I’m not certain I can stomach anything after that,” Nicko said with an exaggerated moan. It broke the lingering tension, rippling laughter through the delegates as they parted ways.

“Tell me,” Byran said to Arinna when she followed him into his office.

“Not here,” she said. “Jared needs to hear this too, and Derrick.”

Byran swore, rubbing the ache in his temples. Arinna gave him a sympathetic, and amused, glance as she peeked out his door. She waited a moment.

“Hallway is clear, come on.”

Arinna led the way to the first floor of the wing. The arrangements made by the Guard had housed all of the delegates on the second level of the three and all bedrooms on the outside wall. Offices were facing the courtyard. They’d also claimed the dormitory facing the graveyard, which Byran wasn’t fond of. Except Arinna had tucked her plane between it and the building. As he followed Arinna the short distance between a side door and her dactyl, he understood the chosen arrangements.

Arinna turned on the video as Byran tried to get comfortable in the second pilot seat. Between being nervous he’d touch something he shouldn’t and the lingering tension from the meeting, he felt out of sorts and a little overwhelmed at his inexperience in both politics and defense. Asking Arinna for Ilse Boje’s release and help would have been a serious consideration if he wouldn’t risk losing standing as Prime Minister.

“Kehm, patch me through to Captain Vries,” Arinna requested as the video link came on.

“He is waiting for your call, my Lady,” Kehm replied.

“Anxious?” Arinna asked as the screen changed to Jared, who despite Arinna’s comment sat lounging with his feet on the dash of his dactyl.

“About you being surrounded by several dozen FLF soldiers? Nah,” Jared said. Everything from his pose to his tone indicated Jared wasn’t bothered, but Byran saw the relief in Jared’s eyes and tightness across his jaw. “So how did it go?”

“Who’s there?” Derrick asked from off screen. Jared widened his camera to show Derrick, who leaned forward on his elbows. Derrick’s eyes flickered with acknowledgement as his gaze met Byran’s. Otherwise, he didn’t change his focus.

“You’ll love this list. Sergi Novikovich is the man who took Pyotr in, correct?” Arinna asked. “Do you think he is the leader of Crystal City?”

Derrick swore. “He’s there?”

“He is the leader of the FLF delegation and introduced himself as the leader of Irkrist,” Byran confirmed.

“That isn’t the impression I had,” Derrick said with a shake of his head. “He is very high up in FLF Command, but I think there is at least one person above him. I think they are playing you.”

“That is what I’m worried about,” Arinna said with a sigh. She looked at Byran, waiting for his take on the news.

“I could have sent someone in my stead ... even though I wouldn’t have had them lie about who they were,” Byran said. “We know so little about them. He could be telling the truth to some degree?”

“FLF Command could be shared? An oligarchy?” Derrick asked.

“Considering how widespread the group was and how much influence they had across the globe, that wouldn’t surprise me actually,” Jared said.

“Maybe we’ll learn more as the meeting goes on,” Byran replied.

“So it went well enough you are continuing with this?” Jared asked, gaze jumping between Arinna and Byran. He didn’t look happy.

“They didn’t expect Arinna to be here,” Byran said, knowing he fed Jared’s unease but doubting Arinna would tell him. She snorted at the comment. “You would find it funny. I seriously thought they would shoot you. The fact they didn’t is the only reason I believed they were unarmed,” Byran said with a bit of heat.

“Aw, you’re making friends!” Jared drawled.

“You are just in a good mood because you’re not here, much less having found the free people you were searching for,” she quipped to Jared before sitting back in her chair with arms crossed. “It is true though. They didn’t seem to have expected me.”

“I thought you meant they looked like they were ready to shoot you,” Jared growled.

“Oh that’s true too,” she tossed back, adding a cool smile. She and Jared stared each other down a moment until he looked away swearing.

“Who else is there?” Derrick asked when Jared refused to say anything else.

“A few Generals: Kavorski, Ranosky, Avilov, and Vatyakov,” Arinna said.

“Kavorski is the one who met us on the way to Crystal City. He’s tough, but ... fair really. I didn’t mind him. Considering,” Derrick added when Arinna raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“There is an Ivan Petrovich,” Byran added. “Not introduced as military.”

Derrick shrugged. “There was an Ivan we met who was Pyotr’s cousin, but I never heard his last name. You’d need to ask Pyotr to be certain.”