A Diplomat's Discussion II
A collaboration between @InfamousGuy101, @Dyelli Beybi, and @BadarbyThe line clicked as the call connected. Crane didn’t bother with pleasantries.
“Minister,” he began flatly, “First I want to thank you personally, the vehicular inconvenience has been resolved.”
“And Ambassador Kostidis,” he added a second later, “I assume you are also present. So I will be get to the point,” he continued, “The individual in question, Mr. Carter, is now in Commonwealth custody.”
“He is no longer a matter for international escalations,” Crane went on, “This situation will be handled internally.”
"He committed a crime in Mitteland. Several as it happens" the Minister replied bluntly, "The matter rightly should be handled by the courts of the land in which the crime was committed."
“Trying to steal Inburian gold while on Mittelander soil,” Kostidis added. “To make it an internal matter just for the Ardellians to solve would be asinine.”
Crane let them finish.
“Ordinarily, yes,” he began, “you would both be absolutely correct. However by Mr. Carter’s account, this is a contractor who was trying to collect unpaid dues and being met at gunpoint. By a Favisian soldier no less. ”
He continued, "I already received a complaint from the Favisian embassy. So now we have overlapping jurisdictions and a third party involved and an Ardellian national claiming unpaid compensation,” he added, tone sharpening slightly, “which has not been uncommon with Inburian accounts tied to the Evig Trade Company at the present time. So my question gentlement, is how do we resolve it without making it worse?”
"Unpaid dues ins a contractual matter for the courts, not for your embassy," the Minister replied, "This was a crime in Mitteland, not Favis, there is no 'overlapping jurisdiction'. The Evig Trade Company has nothing to do with the Inburian gold reserve. There is nothing to discuss. Hand over the accused."
"With due respect, Minister, it does. We are dealing with foreign assets, on foreign soil, involving multiple nationals. That alone creates overlap, whether acknowledged or not. And I have little confidence,” Crane continued, “that a Mittenlander court will treat Mr. Carter with any degree of impartiality, rather than simply delivering him to Inburian custody.”
“Nevertheless,” Crane went on, “the Commonwealth has authorized a resolution that will hopefully be commensurate to all parties."
Crane paused then spoke once more as if reading from a transcript, "Ehem, Mr. Carter will be re-inducted into the Ardellian military, effective immediately. As a gesture of cooperation, he will be assigned to support the Inburian war effort as an advisor,” he added. “Under the direct supervision of Ardellian attaches and with the full oversee of Inburian military command.”
He paused once more then spoke again more casually, “In broader support of the campaign against Calarian aggression and the Communialist elements,” Crane finished, “which I believe we can all agree takes precedence over… this particular dispute.”
"This was an event that happened in Mitteland, not in Inbur. Inbur and Favis are irrelevant. Hand the suspect over," the Minister grunted, clearly irritated.
“Mr. Crane, what you just offered as a resolution is simply a useless gesture,” the Inburian ambassador replied. “Even if as you claimed that the Commonwealth is authorizing this, are they willing to send Ardellian sons across the ocean to Inbur against the Communalists while there is a giant elephant in the room that is the Iktani Confederacy at the Conmonwealth’s border to worry about? A neighbor that is likely a far more immediate threat to the Commonwealth than the Calarians?”
“With all due respect, Ambassador, Commonwealth policy and strategic priorities are not yours to assess,” Crane said flatly, "nor are they subject to negotiation on this line.”
His tone did not change, “Mr. Carter has been re-inducted into Ardellian service. This is the only resolution presently available. If that is unsatisfactory, then we are at an impasse. The line remains open should either of you wish to revisit the matter,” Crane added, “Until then, there is nothing further to discuss.”
He didn’t wait, he hung up.
Security Room
Carter sat in a new armchair, leaning back slightly, one arm resting against the side. His wound still throbbed faintly beneath the bandaging, dulled by whatever Alina had given him. He wore his usual clothes again, brown pocketed pants, boots, the blue jacket. Everything except his gear, especially the Harlan.
The room he was in was not a cell, but close enough. A single armchair, a small table, a lamp casting a steady light above him. Comfortable, in a way that almost made it worse.
His gaze lingered on nothing in particular. He used this time to think.
Piece by piece, it all came back to him. The decision to take the gold, the panic when he realized he was being aimed at with a rifle, the moment it stopped being a plan and started becoming something else entirely.
It had been reckless and desperate, that much he admitted to himself now, and he couldn’t blame anyone else.
Not Kentz, not Itzi, Arkadios or even Urses, as much as he might’ve wanted to. This one sat squarely on him.
He had made the call and now everything that followed was just the consequence catching up to him. Still, his posture didn’t change. He sat there, steady and composed, whatever frustration or regret there was kept well beneath the surface.
Then the door opened and Carter’s eyes shifted toward it as Ambassador Crane stepped inside. The man carried himself the same as always with that polished exterior that barely hid the sleazyness that was underneath.
“Well, well, well,” Crane began, closing the door behind him.
Carter didn’t respond.
Crane took a few steps into the room, hands loosely behind his back as he studied him for a moment, “You’ve caused quite the disturbance, Mr. Carter,” he continued, tone almost conversational.
Carter remained silent.
“I’ll be direct,” Crane continued, his posture straightening slightly, “This situation has grown… inconvenient. For all involved.”
Carter let out a faint breath.
“Yeah,” he muttered, “noticed.”
Crane ignored the remark.
“This is not about saving you,” he continued plainly, “Nor is it about any sense of personal loyalty. What I am doing here is containing a situation before it becomes something far more problematic than it already is.”
His gaze narrowed slightly.
“For you. For the Commonwealth. And,” he adjusted his tie, “for myself.”
Carter’s eyes shifted just slightly at that, but he said nothing.
“You were seen,” Crane went on, “by multiple parties, pursued by multiple nations and then you took refuge in my residency.” He let that remark be supple for a moment, “which creates… complications.”
Carter huffed faintly, “Yeah. I can see that.”
Crane sat onto a chair opposite of Carter.
“As it stands,” he continued, “my options are limited. I can hand you over.”
That certainly was not a shocker, Carter thought.
“No protection, no intervention or assistance. You will be processed by the Mittenlanders and the Inburians as they see fit.”
Carter didn’t interrupt.
“Or,” Crane let the r’s roll, “we arrive at a more… productive arrangement.”
Another pause.
“The idea was for you to serve as an ‘advisor’ to the Inburian war effort,” he went on, “but that arrangement has been rejected outright.”
A faint exhale left the ambassador.
“In any case, the matter has moved beyond negotiation. The embassy is to be closed and all personnel, yourself included, are to be returned to the Main.”
He adjusted his tie slightly.
“I will be facing a committee inquiry regarding my handling of this situation,” Crane continued, “one I intend to argue was done in the interest of protecting a Commonwealth national from what I consider an excessive response.”
His eyes settled on Carter.
“That argument holds considerably better if you cooperate.”
Carter looked at him now, properly. The proposal felt somehow worse than prison.
“Your reinstatement into service will stand as restitution for your actions,” he added, “and more importantly, it ensures you remain under Commonwealth protection once we depart.”
“You may consider this an offer,” Crane continued, though there was no illusion in his tone, “but in truth it is simply the most favorable outcome still available to you.”
A brief silence settled between the two men.
“One way or another,” Crane finished, “you will be of use to the Commonwealth again.”
Carter leaned back slightly in the chair.
“Right,” he muttered.
His eyes drifted for a second, then returned to Crane.
“…And if I say no?” he asked.
Crane’s expression didn’t change.
“Then I open that door,” he said calmly, “and you take your chances with the Mittelanders before we depart. I would not recommend it.”
Carter let out a faint breath through his nose.
Of course.His gaze lowered for a moment, then he nodded once, slowly.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Crane gave a small nod, as if that had always been the expected outcome.
“Good,” he said simply, “then we’ll see to it that the rest of this proceeds without further complication.”
Member
Badarby
Bingelly
Flarbinia
teenangstlife
MaeB
Lunamaria Hawke
Thayr
Terrans
Ikan
PrinceAlexus