Chapter 51 - Dinner and the Business of Government
"Hey Massy," Medoferro said, looking at his plate, "Is this food or is the remains of a bad science project?"
"Their cuisine here is a bit exotic," Massimaferro chuckled, "It won’t kill you though. Some of it is quite good."
"I prefer food that doesn’t look back at me," Medo said, poking at the Sheep’s eye soup, "Do I gotta eat?"
"Make an attempt," Massimaferro suggested as he chomped on some of the food, "They’ll take it as an insult if we don’t eat at least some."
Medoferro made an attempt to put down a good chunk of the food, but a lot of it didn’t agree with him. Massimaferro ate with gusto, making Medoferro wonder if the man had an iron stomach. Massimaferro chomped on sheep’s eyeballs with certain gusto, enjoying the looks Medo was giving him.
"I grew up on the coast," Massimaferro reminded him, "After a steady diet of the disgusting stuff we pulled out of the ocean I can eat pretty much anything."
"Do they eat this all the time?" Medoferro asked, under his breath.
"Not always," Massimaferro said, shaking his head, "It is a local delicacy."
"Do I get to snack later?" Medo asked him.
"Sure," Massimaferro nodded, "We’ll have crackers and ale when we talk business after dinner."
"I can’t wait to get to Skolnik," Medo said, "At least the food there will be good."
"Food is good in a number of places," Massimaferro told him, "This is good too if you can get the taste for it."
"I’ll take your word on that," Medoferro said, eating a little of the tamer stuff and sipping on the drink, "Really."
Massimaferro chuckled and kept on eating. There was very little discussed at the table, as this was intended to be a relaxation after a long trip and the speeches. It continued on for a good long time, dragging out long enough that it began boring Medoferro seriously.
"Welcome to the business of government," Massimaferro said, "Dinner is almost over. After that it’ll be just a small group of us. You, me, and a couple of the higher up locals."
"I can live with that," Medo said, "I’m sick of people already."
"And this is just the first day," Massimaferro laughed, "I was the same way with Tali. You get used to it."
The dinner finally finished, though not a moment too soon for Medoferro. A few final things were said and the leaders headed off to a sitting room. Massimaferro, Medoferro and Colonel Serim took seats on a couch and were served a fine local brandy and some mints, which a handful of which were readily scoffed down by Medo to get the taste of that dinner out of his mouth.
"Something tells me the young man has a problem with fine cuisine," Colonel Serim laughed, "Where are you from again, Medoferro?"
"Skolnik," Medo said, "Not used to your style of food, but it was very good."
"You chose well, Massimaferro," Serim chuckled, "He’s more diplomatic than you’ll ever dream of being."
"Someone has to polish off my rough edges," Massimaferro agreed, "Insegniferro can only do so much."
"You’ll need it with the Siraqis this year," Serim nodded, "Word is that that bastard is going to be trying to take us to the cleaners again this time."
"He usually does," Massimaferro nodded, "One of these days he is going to push us too far and we’re going to find it cheaper to go the long way."
"Or to start bringing things overland through Sotanberg," Serim nodded, "So is that the only reason you’re out and about now? The negotiations?"
"There’s always more than one reason," Massimaferro told him, "We need to get out of that place every once in a while."
"I imagine with Cirrus heating up like it has been," Serim said solemnly, "This negotiation is going to be a walk in the park."
"Putting it mildly," Medoferro muttered, earning a chuckle.
"I know," Massimaferro nodded, "That’s why we’re doing this now, so we can turn our attention to the problems down south."
"Guard recruitment is way down, Massimaferro," Serim told him, "Everyone is hearing the stories about how things are going down there. Nobody wants to have to be sent there."
"We just found out a little while ago about some things that were being done that shouldn’t have been," Massimaferro told him, "There have been mistakes made. Paulus Tally is down there now trying to get a handle on how serious it is."
"My sister’s kid was down there," Serim told him, "He told me some very disturbing stories about what is going on there."
"Massacres and the like?" Medoferro asked him, deciding he should at least try to be present.
"You know about those?" Serim asked him, "Word on the street is that your people ordered them."
"We just found out about them ourselves," Massimaferro said, "It was Medoferro who found out that someone was performing some monkey work with the records. That’s a fact you can keep under your hat, by the way."
"So you’re not ordering the slaughter of civilians down there?" Serim said, almost sounding surprised, "Someone is."
"Paulus is trying to find out who," Massimaferro told him, "I’m right on the edge of sending an entire division down there and throwing out LaPorte and his people."
"Ellis LaPorte is running the show down there?" Serim asked him, "No wonder you’re having problems!"
"How so?" Medoferro asked, "His file reads like a model citizen."
"Taliaferro himself suggested him when the last Colonel retired," Massimaferro said, "Medoferro is right, by the way, his file does read…"
"I could care less what it says," Serim told them, "Ellis LaPorte is a con artist. He could care less about the empire or its people, just so long as he gets ahead. Cirrus sounds like it was ripe for a rape, and if he doesn’t have any close supervision..."
"What makes you think he’d do that?" Massimaferro said, "It doesn’t make sense."
"I went to school with him, thirty years ago," Serim said, "Ellis was ambitious as all hell, the one who would be there when there was something to gain and nowhere to be found when things were going to hell. Nobody I’ve ever met who knew him had a kind thing to say, except people who had the ability to touch his records."
"I wish someone had told me this before," Massimaferro grumbled, "It’s still going to take a back burner to the Siraq negotiations."
"Yes," Serim nodded, "I do have some requests for those negotiations, by the way."
"I figured you would," Massimaferro nodded, rubbing his head a little, "What type of Brandy is this?"
Medoferro looked at the Mullinix and wondered what was wrong, but Massimaferro shrugged it off. Colonel Serim handed over the bottle and let Massimaferro examine it a little. He poured himself another small dose of it and offered it to Medo, who declined.
"You ok, Massy?" Medo asked him.
"Yeah," Massimaferro nodded, "Gotta get the Medico to give me a headache tea."
"Rachel!" Colonel Serim yelled, "Can you have Massimaferro’s Medico prepare some headache tea for him?"
"Sure!" came the reply.
"What requests do you have?" Massimaferro asked Colonel Serim, "I make no promises, but I’ll see what we can do."
"Don’t put our clock machinery on the block this time," Serim said, "Most of our manufacturers are barely making ends meet with the low prices they are getting from the Siraqis. With the reduced metal supply from Sotanberg, we could get better prices from Gottgol or even Damascas."
"That was a big one last time, Serim," Massimaferro told him, "I’ll try, but I don’t know if we’ll get the deal without it."
"You might well get a tax revolt with it," Serim said gravely, "They’ve been wanting to kill that deal for a while."
"Colonel Serim," Medoferro said, remembering something he read a while back, "Are your farmers still having problems with overproduction?"
"That’s one of my problems here, yes," Serim nodded, "Not much you can do for that though."
"What are you thinking, Medo?" Massimaferro asked hi
m, eager for a solution.
"Siraq had a really lousy set of crops," Medoferro said, "Too many mountains and the last few years haven’t been kind weather-wise. They are using way too much of their currency to buy food. Any bets that they’d take your overstock and save their currency?"
"That could work," Serim nodded, "Even a low price buyer would be welcome for the local crops."
"We’ll even offer to kick in some for it," Massimaferro said, "I had almost forgotten about that. Good call, Medo."
"I’m trying," Medo smiled, "So what else do we have on the table?"
"Nothing much, really," Serim shrugged, "I’m just hoping you can clean up that problem down in Cirrus before it blows up into a full scale war. I can’t promise that people here won’t start protesting and refuse to deploy if that happens."
"I know," Massimaferro nodded, "It’s been a long day, Colonel Serim. Would you be offended if Medo and I made our call back to the palace and retired?"
"Not at all," Colonel Serim chuckled, "Especially since you have to face session tomorrow."
"How many are lined up?" Medoferro wondered, not knowing all the protocols yet.
"About twenty," Serim told them, "One of which is a murder case that happened two days ago. We held him here because we knew you’d be here and it was easier than doing a transport."
"That’s fine," Massimaferro said, "We should be able to handle that quickly and be off to Polonion the next day."
"Very well," Colonel Serim said, "We’ve prepared two rooms for you. Rachel will show you the way once you use the line room."
"Thank you," Massimaferro said.
Colonel Serim nodded and stood up, retreating to his own quarters. Massimaferro, having been in this building a few times before, let Medoferro to the line room, instructing the young operator to open a line to the palace for a conference with Insegniferro.
"Massimaferro," Medico Ari Coblein said, walking into the room with a cup, "I have the headache tea you wanted."
"Thank you," Massimaferro said, sipping on it, "This tastes terrible."
"They usually do when they work," the medico reminded him, "Is there anything else before I retire?"
"That’s fine, Ari," Massimaferro said, "Thanks."
The medico nodded and slipped out of the room, leaving Medo and Massy alone while they waited for the line to be established. Medoferro looked around and admired the architecture of the building, something else that this area did well.
"That was good thinking in there, Medo," Massy told him, "I’d forgotten about the overproduction problems in this area."
"So I’m doing ok?" Medo asked him.
"No complaints from me," Massimaferro said, "If you have ideas I want you to say something."
"So do I do sessions tomorrow or do you?" Medo asked him.
"I do," Massy said, "I’m not going to throw you head first in. You get to watch tomorrow, especially with the murder case. I’ll let you take the ones in Polonion."
"I’m in no hurry," Medoferro chuckled, "None at all."
"I have the line," the operator said, "Insegniferro will be there in a few."
"Come on in," Massimaferro told Medoferro, "You need to learn how to work one of these too."
They entered a room not unlike the one Paulus had tried to use down in Cirrus City, one equipped with two chairs and an operator. Massimaferro took one of the chairs and directed Medo to the other one.
"Is the line open?" Massimaferro asked him.
"Yes sir," the operator said, "Do you need me to stay in here?"
"I can handle it from here," Massimaferro told him, "Thanks."
The operator nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Massimaferro tapped the unit in front of him.
"Can you hear me on palace side?" Massimaferro asked.
"Yes," a scratchy voice said, "Insegniferro is on the way. He will be here shortly."
"Thank you," Massimaferro said and then turned to Medo, "This is our main way of communication when we’re out. You’ll get to know these units well."
"I’ve heard about them," Medo said, "Never actually seen one before I came to the palace."
"We make nightly calls to make sure Iggy is up to date and to make sure we aren’t missing anything," Massimaferro explained, "Every major city has one of these stations, all meeting at the palace complex in Mullinix Centre."
"Makes sense," Medoferro nodded.
"I hear you survived your trip in grand style," Insegniferro’s scratchy voice came over the unit, "How did Medo do with the food in that place?"
"I did all right," Medo said, "I can live without having my food look back at me though."
"Same thing I said thirty years ago," Insegniferro laughed, "Anything I need to know about Nessun Cucchiaio?"
"Nothing major," Massimaferro said, "They’re concerned, rightly so, about the mess in Cirrus."
"So am I," Insegniferro said, "I’ve been reading files half the evening. There is no reason for this sort of thing."
"Colonel Serim knew Ellis LaPorte," Massimaferro said, "Told me that he’s a conniving schemer that does what he has to do to make himself look good."
"He’s sure not distinguished himself in that department," Medoferro said, "He looks pretty bad right now."
"Unless he has another card up his sleeve," Insegniferro said thoughtfully, "I still haven’t talked to Paulus, though he did call in."
"What happened?" Massimaferro asked, suddenly concerned.
Insegniferro spent a few minutes explaining what had happened earlier, causing Massimaferro quite a bit of concern. He and Medoferro looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Are you sending someone down there?" Massimaferro asked him
"As soon as I talk to LaPorte," Insegniferro said, "I’m going to instruct him to get Paulus on the line as soon as possible."
"We’ll call in tomorrow night," Massimaferro said, "Let me know what you find."
"No problem," Insegniferro said, "How is Medoferro doing?"
"He saved my butt tonight," Massimaferro said, winking at the young Mullinix, "Came up with something that made Serim happier and gives me ammunition for the trade talks."
"Good," Insegniferro agreed, "I think you have it well in hand. I’m going to retire to my chambers and read a bit more before I go to sleep. Good luck."
"You too," Medoferro said.
"That’s it," Massimaferro said, "The rest of the evening is ours."
"No ceremony for half the night?" Medo grinned, "No more sheep’s eyeballs?"
"Nah," Massimaferro chuckled, "Though we can crack a bottle of wine and see if we can beat Suvorov at cards."
"You mean you can see if you can recover what you lost to him on the way here," Medoferro chided him as they left the room, "I’m all for it, though we should probably skip out on the wine."
"They do make cider here that is heavenly," Massimaferro said, silently agreeing, "I’ll have Rachel send up a bottle. You round up Suvorov and meet me in that common room."
"Works for me," Medoferro agreed as he headed off, "Just prepare to lose again…"
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 54