“I can take that first part for you, Madame President.” The Director-General asserted. DeWinter nodded, glad to put some distance between herself and this problematic legalese. The man with the shining eyes answered the Speaker. 

“The Cradle has always been categorised as a ‘colonised habitat’ belonging to Outremer, ever since we founded New Antioch. For the past...three hundred and sixteen years it has been sub categorised as a ‘Tier 1 government installation’. This means we are authorised by Diaspora law to deny access for any reason. Given these unique circumstances, if this intelligence can prove that the Cradle is it’s home we are prepared to fast track it’s repatriation. But we cannot do that if you are holding it hostage and withholding it’s equivalent of medical assistance. You may well be contravening the Native Populations framework if you refuse to move it to Outremer.”

Freyr hung, speechless, on every word of this exchange. It was noticeable how much better prepared the Director-General was now, when compared to the last time they’d been together at the Rothian embassy on Outremer. She saw a man who had inadvertently opened up a can of worms, and was now painstakingly catching and killing all of the loose fugitives with the precision of a surgeon. Freyr also noticed that after his initial admonishment of herself, Smith had become utterly emotionless, perhaps to mirror the Speaker herself. 

“Thank you, Director-General. I would like to add that we are well aware of the scale of this discovery. We’re looking forward to working together [b]as allies[/b] to find a solution. I’m sure we can find some middle ground with regard to data sharing. We will also of course involve Rothia and any other civilisations in the decision-making process.”