Orlov had followed to the next room the delegates who had decided to stay for the post-summit banquet. The meeting had made him a little hungry, and he needed a drink to relax. At this moment he was eating some croquette canapes with a cured ham muslin stuffing, which he had gathered on a plate, while he looked out into space through the large windows, pondering. From a corner not far away, Sergeant Baxter kept a close eye on the clergyman while while scanning carefully each person who moved throughout the room.
Overall, Yuri was feeling quite satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, given the circumstances of the starting point. There had been some tension, as was predictable, but the treaty had finally been signed that was very close to the best expectations the Magister he could have even imagined, from a purely realistic point of view. However, not all the other Zoner delegates were seeing it the same way.
Celcius Abonwood, had been the only one who had seemed to agree with Orlov that the treaty itself was an opportunity not only to end that very damaging war, but to return to a previous Status Quo with the Corsairs that was highly beneficial for the Zoner. He had been very pleasantly impressed by the restraint and pragmatism of the CEO of OSI, undoubtedly a woman who was perfectly capable of thinking coldly and representing the interests of her company and its people, leaving aside her own personal feelings. Yuri mentally thanked Deux that she had been present at the meeting, because otherwise he would have found himself very alone at the summit, trying to defend the benefits of the peace treaty.
Dr. Holiday, however, wasn't looking pleased. In a way, it was normal, he had tried to negotiate with the Executor about the Empire's demand to deny docking to the Outcasts, foreseeing the future problems this could cause, but he had been unsuccessful. He had no shortage of reasons to fear possible reprisals from the Outcast, or at least unrest, but what could be done about? From the first moment Orlov had understood that this condition was one of the non-negotiable pillars of the Corsair proposal for peace. They needed to take advantage of their current position in the Theta conflict, and making the system off-limits to Outcast docking was undoubtedly essential to their plans. The treaty could be good for both parties, but the Empire was certainly not willing to give up the little it had been able to gain from this war, as was logical.
As for Jerard Voncloud... Well, it was certainly noticeable that he wasn't happy at all. Yuri had been very surprised by the Administrator's attitude, not so much because of the logical anger he had initially shown, but rather because he had not been able to calm down throughout the meeting, and have been ended up exploding against the other delegates for pretending that they had more options than signing. Regarding the signing options, in essence he was right, it was obvious that no reasonable person could refuse to sign the peace treaty with the Corsairs, because the alternative was destruction, but Yuri didn't understand where the drama was in it. He believed that fact was something all the delegates were aware of since before meeting at the Academy. Taking into account the results of the conflict, and in what position the Zoners and the Empire were, had really anyone seriously imagined that the Corsairs were going to come to the summit to beg for forgiveness, or offer the return of Freeport 9? To think something like that was to err on the side of being too naïve.
The Magister shook his head and took a sip from the glass of white wine that he had resting on a nearby table, remembering how Voncloud had faced him after his final argument in favor of the treaty. 'What a load of bollocks', he had said. He couldn't help but smile, amused, because it had been a long time since anyone addressed him that way. Anyway, that outburst had not offended him, Yuri understood what Voncloud could feel, trapped by a decision he didn't want to make, but having no choice but to do so.
After all, the clergyman knew that Jerard hadn't been in favor of war with the Corsairs at any time. He had attempted to negotiate with them, and even when his attempts were met with a wall of indifference he had hesitated to participate militarily, but just fearing the consequences for the inhabitants of Pygar. Only at the end, pressured by military escalation and by the Corsair violent actions against the Freeport's civilian hostages, had he made the decision to join. Now, things had not gone well, and he was forced to make a decision to make a treaty with those he openly considered his enemies. Considering all this, it was easy to feel angry, but showing it was generally pointless. Orlov used to think that when there is no alternative to making a decision that is imposed on you from outside, it's always better to hide your doubts about from the other party, and try to adapt their idea to the most beneficial possible for your interests. It's not very effective to express your absolute rejection when you really have no capacity to oppose, because it puts you immediately on the blacklist of possible problematic elements, and also you don't get anything in return.
Was clear that Voncloud had nothing to do with a diplomat, he was as subtle as a shotgun blast to the face, but the Magister was beginning to see what kind of man the Administrator of Pygar was. It could be that he wasn't a skilled negotiator but he was a sincere, direct and visceral man, who wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind and didn't mince words. He could understand why his people trusted him, and it was because what was seen of Voncloud was what there was, simply. The truth was that he was liking him despite being so oppositely different from him, or maybe precisely because of that, in fact. At least with the Administrator one would always know what to expect without having to scrutinize every facial expression or every inflection of his voice. Orlov was used to doing this constantly, but it was certainly exhausting work. The clergyman hoped that, despite how difficult the situation was for Voncloud, the Church and the Pygar Administration could in the near future do things together that would be beneficial for all the inhabitants of the planet. Voncloud distrusted understandably of anything coming from the Corsairs, but Yuri was quite hopeful about the peace treaty and the intentions of the Empire, and believed it was a positive step in recover peace and growth.
Orlov finished his croquettes leaving the plate on the nearby table, and drank some white wine to cleanse the palate, while he looked towards the room and around at those present. Yes, the outcome of the summit could have been unsatisfactory for some delegates, but one had to put the feet on the ground and consider that it could have been infinitely worse. Being honest, since the Outcast had retreated from the war and the Core didn't seem interested in supporting further military operations, the allied Zoner forces had no possibility of successfully continuing by themselves, so, it wouldn't have been surprising if the Empire's delegates had called the meeting to demand unconditional and humiliating surrender. Instead, they had treated the Zoner delegates as equals, and had made reasonable conditions. That terms were clearly favorable to the interests of the Corsairs, yes, but at least most of them were also interesting to the Zoners. Besides, when some amendments had been raised about their initial proposal, they had accepted most of them.
Of course this attitude, no matter how friendly it was now, didn't erase the past, nor the horrible things the Corsairs had done, but Yuri had lived and studied enough conflicts throughout his life to understand that, in terms of diplomacy, when a victorus part offers the loser something that he has no obligation to give, it's advisable to take it as an act of good faith. If the Corsairs insisted on treating this act as a treaty between equals, and not as a surrender, it was useless to persist in trying to classify it as that. After all, things are defined merely by the words that the parties involved choose to use. Surrender, peace treaty... What did it matter, if the only relevant thing was how it would affect the participants in the future? Paper can withstand anything, and in a few years no one of the presents would remember the details of how he felt during this day, but only the consequences that arose from it.
Orlov walked to the center of the room, towards the catering tables and he left his empty glass on one of them, taking another one filled with more white wine that a waiter immediately brought to him. Seeing that Dr. Holiday and Director Xi were nearby, he approeached and greeted them with a slight nod and a smile. "Director, Doctor... It seems like we've achieved something good today, don't you think?" Yuri remained silent a few seconds, thoughtful, and then he looked at Doctor Holiday. "I know that the result it's far from being perfect, and I understand your concerns, but the only thing we can do at a time like this is try to improve the previous situation. I think today we're better than yesterday, and tomorrow we'll be better than today." The clergyman shrugged and took another small sip from his glass. "At least we've stopped the killing, and... who knows? If the results of this agreement benefit the Corsairs enough, they may keep their word and we may truly see a new dawn for the Omegas and Omicrons Zoners."
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