The Return (Istkalen-Spain Summit)
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"Please, don't have fear, Mr. Aguilar," said Rikkalek. "This is perfectly normal, the government merely has a shortage of cars, and so it must adapt what it does have. On top of that we - it is bound to at least some frugality by
custom, it cannot purchase for its own use that which others don't have, only adapt."He paused. His opinions on the subject that Aguilar spoke of differed from the state line; what was he supposed to say? If he were to speak incorrectly, they, Malk and her followers; they would swallow him up. It was an inevitability, he thought, but one he wanted to delay as much as possible. But then again, who would know?
Then there was his last name. IIt forever marked him as descended from Relem, from Listrestesz, from those he hated. When he was younger he had hated them, hated himself, even more; he had wanted, whenever he heard that name, whenever he was addressed by that name, to tear his own heart out, to tear himself apart. He felt constantly dirty and filthy, he had felt almost cursed by it; he had wanted to die.
He now had found himself taking a bizarre pride in it. The man who might have been emperor a republican. Wasn't that a triumph of sorts, to escape one's heritage? HIs ancestors were rolling in their graves, and that had made him happy.
But he remembered again those few months where he had commanded near total power. Power had been intoxicating. The curse, to be made drunk by power, any power. Had they entrapped him in the end, had they gotten the last laugh?
Regardless, he spoke, trying to avoid answering the question that he felt was indirectly asked, whether the atrocities actually occurred. "Our country was indeed scarred deeply. I believe, if my files are correct, that you have already been told, by one of my predecessors, that some of the reports that have reached your country might be incorrect; this remains true. Our investigation have been...hampered as a result of the occupation. However, what you speak of, of the reported indiscriminate bombings - this was indeed true, and caused great human tragedy." He looked out the window, which he pried open. "There, to your left" - outside the window there was a faint black pile, bent rods sticking out of it at odd angles, standing on a plain dotted with snow and occasional ponds, each almost exactly circular - "there, there used to be a housing complex and a hospital. Both gone, now. And the ponds, those are the marks left by bombing. Their retaliation," he said. "Our leaders, crazed as they were, were responsible for beginning it, this tragedy, this I know, I understand; and yet their target was not them nor the military which followed them blindly but the people who resisted this insanity..."
Such morbid sights he continued to point out occasionally, until at last they came to a plain outside the capital, where abruptly the tram stopped.
"The line ends here," said the Head of State. "Follow me."
They exited the tram car, a small scattering of other passengers exiting from the other cars - "government officials," explained Rikkalek. No guards were present, which he didn't care to explain, thinking it normal.
On the plain was a pile, on which flowers and painted portraits were laid.
"We have no prophets or religious figures in our history," said Rikkalek, "only philosophers. Our foremost was Liris. She was executed for what she said, and buried here, with the convicts. That was a...monument to her, above her tomb. Destroyed by the firing, although I doubt, at the very least, that that was purposeful."
Before them was a great wall, worn by time, within in gaping gaps.
"It was perhaps 2000 years old," said Rikkalek, "and the Reitzmics fired upon it. Before then there were not these gaps, these holes. Their revenge, again."
They walked to what had once been a gate, still somehow intact; Rikkalek spoke to a guard, and they were allowed in.
Before them, more ruins. Buildings next to the wall were in ruins. While ancient, not as ancient as the wall but still quite old, Rikkalek said that they were unimportant.
It took some walking, sometimes through crowds, to get to the former imperial palace, where the functionings of government were housed. Through the main entrance, where they were checked again, through dark passageways, and finally through a door into a small room, furnished sparsely, where the two at.
"As I said," said Rikkalek, "the reports are, to an extent, exaggerated. But here there was little to damage, only government officials live here. They do not even have people to sell things, everything is brought and rationed to us, and regardless we are prohibited from having any holdings. In Kirelesile the destruction was worse. People still cannot live in some of the areas, they have not yet been repaired. Most of our industry was also there, on the outskirts; that was also quite badly damaged. Most had fled the cities in fear of bombing some days before, but the sick, the elderly - they suffered tremendously, there. You said that you wanted to see the destruction; but it is quite some distance. I could of course arrange for us to travel there, but I am worried that we would occupy you for too long..."
He paused for a while. "Regardless, let me not occupy too much of your time. Before we get to business, here -" Rikkalek got up and brought a package - "is a copy of LIris - the philosopher I spoke about earlier -'s collected writings, translated into Spanish. She writes quite a bit about how a country is to be managed, about the ideal ruler - perhaps it will be helpful for you? A return, of sorts, for the book I understand you gave one of my predecessors some time ago. Anyways, firstly, how are politics in Spain, in a very general sense? Navigating politics here is...more than a nightmare, right now, at least for me, hopefully things are smoother there. There's also an odd question I've been asking to maybe too many people, very odd. I have, um, an acquaintance, her name is Dorothea, who behaves very...queerly, it's difficult to describe. The odd thing is that everyone I know who knows people of the same name - never the same Dorothea, I and probably they would know - seem to have had the same experience. A coincidence, probably, but it is quite...queer in itself. I'm just wondering, really, whether this has been your experience, if you know, of course, anyone with such a name or maybe a similar name....I've heard that one of Simon Bridges's aides has such a name, perhaps she was there at one of your summits with him - you have summitted together, I assume? I imagine she does behave oddly, even if you haven't met her, Reitzmics are like that...And of course, after that, let's discuss a possible agreement. What does your country hold an interest in in our country?"
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Aguilar observed the landscape, the ruins and the damage the bombings had caused; horrified and shocked, not that he seemed to be to anybody eyes, but mentally he was shocked to see that and how nobody had dared to speak up about this; but the Spanish President solution to that question did not take a long time to appear: nobody spoke about it because nobody had seen it, nobody dared to visit Istkalen, thinking it was too dangerous and that their life would likely be put into risk, what his wife and his eldest child thought as well. However, those were just prejudices, fakes extracted from the tales and the reports that had reached the Kingdom of Spain and the many other places around the European Union.
The President felt the need to speak, but he was sometimes speechless, and today was one of thise days. As best as he could, he managed to speak to his Istkalenian counterpart about what both of them were able to see: "It is cruel, to say the least, to see what the Reitzmics did when they started their retaliation. As you said, your leaders were crazy and responsible for beginning this tragedy, but one thing is attacking them and a very different one is attacking innocent people on purpose like they did here, Mr. Rikkalek." Both reached the end of the line and made their way to the former imperal palace, with Jesús looking closely and listening to all that his counterpart had to say. When both got to the monument to Liris, Aguilar listened and kept silence. He was impressed to see the violent war ha not only endevanish public services in Istklane, it had also vanished part of their monuments, their culture. When Rikkalek finished, Jesús Aguilar looked around a saw an old man, around 75 years old, selling flowers. "Give me a minute, Mr. Rikkalek, I'll be back in a second", said the Spanish President, who approached the seller and bought two red roses. He went back to where Rikkalek was, and gave him a rose: "I thought it would be a good idea to leave a flower in memoriam of Liris, as well as of those who lost their lives during the conflict."
Together, the two main characters of the summit left the roses and then headed to the imperial palace, going through the described places, until getting to stop about Kirelesile. Jesús listened carefully to the explanations his counterpart had to give, and then answered: "You have my permission to arrange it when we get to the former imperial palace, Mr. Rikkalek; it does not matter the time we spend there. I have plenty of time for you and the people of Istkalen, nothing will be wrong if we spend mor star td to trust Rikkalek more and more as the visit advanced. Both got to the designated summit place; and Aguilar thanked his counterpart for the gift.
"Politics in Spain are calm now that we have some stability. We will be having a regional election in Castille and Leon in three weeks, as the relationship between my party and Ciudadanos are not going through the best moment. The thing is that, for every regional government that we break up for their possible backstabbing to us, the Government coalition shakes. But our cabinet is formed by just my party and it is quite stable, so is the social atmosphere with territories such as El Rif or Catalonia, the most conflictive ones as you might know; and the rest is doing fine, it's a well-working machine and I fell very lucky to be in charge of it. About Mrs. Dorothea, I cannot remember if she was there, but the name is not familiar to me, so I am sorry to dissapoint you on this matter. And now, on to the business: Spain is very much interested on the supply of rare earth metals, as well as making several investments into Istkalen and discussing some other topics that I will reveal as long as we go through the summit. I want to make you aware, Mr. Rikkalek, that the position your country holds is a very priviledged one, not just for the resources it hides, but also for its geographical position on the globe".
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Rikkalek was slightly disappointed that Aguilar had never met the so-called Dorothea, aide of Bridges, although he was slightly cheered up by the fact that Aguilar hadn't mentioned whether he had met anyone in general named Dorothea or Dorothy or Dorotea.
"That is good, that your country is calm and stable," said Rikkalek. "You're clearly a good helmsman of state. Regarding Ms. Dorothea, Bridges's aide, please, don't be disappointed, it was merely a frivolous question, I am really the one who should be apologizing for the distraction. Although I really do hope you meet her one day, I've heard all kinds of stories about her...queer activities."
His expression became more serious as he continued to speak. "In regards to supply of rare earth metals, please keep in mind that the Republic intends to engage in an agreement with other rare earth metal producers which may affect supply. The agreement may bar us from exporting to Spain, for example, or may limit us to a certain percentage, in order to prevent competition and allow for mutual benefit and cooperation. We also intend to make agreements involving the trade of tungsten with other tungsten producing countries, although this will occur sometime further in the future. However, in regards to uranium and cobalt supply, we are completely open to an agreement. As for investment; well, that is always good, but I think it is necessary for me, or really the Republic, to know more about the conditions of such investment - interest rates, for example, There are also some other countries which make so-called investment but in reality this investment goes to benefit them; in Nofoaga, for example, the United Duchies gave aid and then required that the aid be spent on their companies, which is not something that would be particularly appealing to anyone in this country. In regards to our geographical position - I believe I know what you are referring to, my curiosity is piqued, but I would like to hear from you before saying anything."
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Aguilar took some notes about the comments and remarks his counterpart, Rikkalek, said. He knew about the Rare Earth Metals alliance, but trying was always allowed, wasn't it? The Spanish President spoke, once again:
"With all due respect, Mr. Rikkalek, I do believe this kind of alliances limit member states foreign policy and are not the best way to move forward; I am not saying that you should leave those projects apart or not join them, but rather review if it would be benefitial for your country to be conditioned by other countries with the same resources and what you can and cannot do with it. The European Union was never intended, to my point of view, to be like that, and I guess that one of our recent members is starting to desvirtuate these principles. Again, this is just my opinion, but I guess you have already considered all of this things I have said.
Concerning Uranium and Cobalt, we are interested on an agreement. Along with the enterprises that could start investing in Istkalen soon, I do believe the best way to proceed is a free trade deal, which would ease the arrival of Spanish capital into Istkalen as well as the business of metals between us. On Economical aid, I am proposing an aid worth 1.2 billion EMUs, to be paid in 20 years at an interest up to 1,9% per annum, with the first payment taking place in January 2024. I believe two years might be enough for your Government and the Republic of Istkalen to get ready to pay the money back. 1 billion would be used as the Government wishes while the two hundred millions left must be used to help the people of Istkalen and recover their basic services, such as health; as well as to provide potable water and food to those in the need. The fundings use will be supervised by Cooperación Española, which is in charge of supervising this loans as well as the Spanish foreign aid.
And about your geographical position, I believe we both are thinking the same. I would like to offer you, Mr. Rikkalek, the establishment of a air-army military base here, in Istkalen. We believe the country has a very important geopolitical position, which is attractive as well. I do not know if there are more countries interested on having a base here, if there were we would also be happy to share the base with them as long as they are part of the same alliance we are members of. Is there any information I should know about that refers to establishing a base here?"
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"The Republic has already considered these things, in regards to the alliance," said Rikkalek. "It has decided that it is simply a better choice in every way for this country rather than to remain outside."
"With regards to free trade, there is not very much support for it in the country. It would severely damage domestic manufacturing. It is definitely possible to do so in the electronics sector, although we are considering attempting a separate agreement with others. I might also be able to liberalize the lumber export markets in this direction, although that might be hard, and regardless I don't think you're interested in that - perhaps you already have an agreement with someone else, perhaps you're planning to make one with someone else, or perhaps you and your government have no desire for...lumber."
"In regards to the proposed aid, we are fearful of becoming overly indebted. We would thus like the loan to be limited solely to 200 million EMUs, with interest at most at 1.5% and repaid only over five years, with repayment beginning still in January 2024."
"Finally, on the military bases - we may agree to this, but we must first wait for the end of the occupation, which will occur, hopefully, on 1 January 2022, although we have been promised such things before and then denied these promises. Finally, again, we might might look to others for such bases in the future, and while cooperation might be possible, we do not want to risk catching the ire of the Reitzmics. We are more than a little scared of them."
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"Well, lumber is sometimes attractive and it is growing in its use, so we can include it and see how the whole business goes. We are very much interested on applying free trade on the electronics sector, and I look forward to hearing what you have got to offer to reach a deal concerning Cobalt and Uranium. I do believe the conditions of this Treaty will be a very fair ones that we will have no problem to accept, but I would love to hear them first before so we can discuss them properly.
Concerning the proposed aid, as it is a smaller amount of money, we accept your proposal, Mr. Rikkalek. The payment will be done on March 1st, 2022, and you will receive the 200 million in a single payment. Also, as we have significantly reduced the amount of money, I would like to inform you that you are allowed to use the money as you wish, but I encourage you to use it properly and spending it on things that the people of Istkalen really needs. I trust you will, though.
Now, onto the bases, we are obviously planning to announce and establish the base after independence by the Reitzmics has been granted. At first, we would like to use the base we are granted mostly as a training base with logistical attachments, and rotations of personel for this reason, to begin with. Apart from this, we would be up to singing a document in which we guarantee the no-establishment of nuclear weapons in the base. I do know the Reitzmics might be seen by you and your Government as scary, but as someone who has dealt with them a year ago, if you know how to treat them, you will be successful.", said Aguilar.
The Spanish President meanwhile ordered one of the Spanish delegation members to start writing up the loan conditions, as that seemed to be going ahead. He wanted to save time, not only for Rikkalek not to get bored, but also for that pending visit to Kirelesile he wanted to do before departing. Nonetheless, the President did not want to seem as impatient, so just gave the situation a normal look. He had been trained for that in the University after all.
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“We will agree to free trade in the electronics sector, as well as lower controls on the export of cobalt and uranium to Spain. I think it might be better to discuss the question of lumber later.”
“In regards to the military base -we will contact your government later on this subject, particularly because we are still of the belief that, even now, the Reitzmics will never end the occupation.”
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Aguilar smiled and extended his hand, shaking it with Rikkalek's, then spoke:
"Well Mr. Rikkalek, we have a deal. As I do not want to complicate the situation further and would like to have a single document instead of two published, I hope you don't mind waiting for the agreements ratification until the occupation ends, around January 2022, with all the proceeding, I estimate 2022 will be agood month. I would also like to ask you for a favour: to suppky Spain with tungsten when that alliance you have mentioned is formed, if it is not a huge inconvenient for you."
Both signed a pre-agreement, in which all the discussed terms were compiled and the agreed compromises during the summit were written. The Spanish President then gave his to one of his delegation's members and added: "It has been a pleasure to do business with you. Would it be a problem to visit Kirelesile now, or should that wait for the following visit?"
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"Thank you. We will try in our negotiations," said Rikkalek.
"As for Kirelesile, it is whatever is most convenient for you, we are fine with either."
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Both leaders, after finishing to discuss the deal, left the Palace and headed to Kirelesile. There, Aguilar could appreciate the destruction, the damage that the war between the Istkalenians and the Reitzmics had caused to the area. Once again, the Spanish President listened to what Rikkalek had to say or comment on what both had in front of them; he was shocked by what he was seeing.
Then, both returned to the airport, where they shook hands once again and said goodbye to each other. Jesús then entered his Presidential Plane, which 15 minutes later took off, leaving the eastern European country behind. The summit had not been as dangerous, or mysteryous as someone would have expected, and the Spanish President had came up with a conclusion: "never judge something without getting to know it firstly". He was wrong with Istkalen, but in the end, they were people like him or anybody else. In a call with his wife, she asked about his conclusions, and he summed them up briefly, but clearly at the same time: "never judge a book by its cover".
The Presidential Plane then left the Istkalenian air space, and the summit was over.
The Kingdom of Spain