Barry Longyear - Enemy Papers

Footsteps entered the room. "Ah, my parent, in your game you have overlooked the two most important parties to the negotiations. Where is the Mavedah? Where is the Amadeen Front?"

Raga Gia snorted out a scornful laugh. "I refuse to have the Front at the talks." Its voice changed direction. "Does this comply with your game, Soam?" Raga’s voice turned again in Kia’s direction. "The United States of Earth will represent the interests of the Front, and the Dracon Chamber will represent the interests of the Mavedah."

Tora Kia laughed. "No, no, my parent’s most respected guest. The interests of the Dracon Chamber are not identical to those of the Mavedah."

Sergeant Benbo spoke for the first time. "Raga Gia, if the Front is no part of the negotiations, there can be no peace. If negotiations ever happen, the Amadeen Front will want its own representative. The Front only wants an end to the war under certain terms. It is the same with the Mavedah."

The direction of Tora Kia’s voice changed. "Human, how are you called?"

"Amos Benbo."

"Have you done your time upon Amadeen, Amos Benbo?"

"Yes. And you?"

"Yes."

Zigh Caida spoke: "Kia and this human speak the truth, Soam. There will be four sides at the negotiations. I propose that we enlist Tora Kia to represent the Mavedah, and Amos Benbo to represent the Amadeen Front."

Nicole heard Mitzak stand. His voice sounded deeply troubled. "Ovjetah, I do not wish to participate in this game. I am a student at the Talman Kovah. Therefore, my loyalties, as well as my method of thinking, would corrupt my performance as a human."

"You are a human, Mitzak." Tora Soam’s voice was deadly. "Whatever your views or methods of thinking, the first thing the Drac negotiators must overcome is the sight of your face." She heard Mitzak sit down. "Very well, Deputy Zigh, we now have four parties to this session. Who shall begin?"

"Ah, games such as this would best be left inside the walls of the Kovah," Zigh grumped. "Very well, each side should formulate its goals-what it hopes to achieve from the negotiations. Once we have all seen the diagrams-"

Nicole spoke: "There will be no diagrams, First Deputy. Human negotiators are not familiar with talma."

"Surely there must be a human equivalent?"

"Situation assessment, goal formulation, and path construction and evaluation are not systemized disciplines among humans."

Exasperated wheezing seemed to come from First Deputy Zigh’s direction. The wheezing paused. "Goals must be stated in some manner!"

Mitzak laughed. "Yes, they will be stated with force, bombast, and fine-sounding subjective phrases that cannot be taken literally. Their true goals must be deduced from the fog of words they will spread in front of you, and from their actions which will probably contradict what little true meaning their words might contain."

There was disturbed silence from the Drac side of the table until Ovjetah Suinat Piva of the Fangen Kovah burst out in laughter. "I see your game, Tora Soam. Very clever, and you have my compliments."

"My thanks, Piva. May we continue?"

"Of course. Let us say that since Amadeen is the root of this war, we should hear first from the Front and the Mavedah."

Nicole felt Benbo stand up. "I think I can save some time here. The positions of the Mavedah and the Front are similar. The Front won’t be satisfied until every last Drac on Amadeen is either dead or removed from the planet." He sat down.

Tora Kia spoke. "And the Mavedah will settle for nothing less than the human population on Amadeen being either dead or removed. How much room, Tora Soam, does that leave you for problem solving?"

"Apparently none, Kia. However, I think you already can see the error in depending upon the apparent for your answers. Joanne Nicole, would you state the position of the United States of Earth?"

She rubbed her temples and let the stories of The Talman race through her mind. So much of talma involved goal choices; fitting the desired within the possible. She could not separate the formulas in her mind. "I would hear, first, the position of the Dracon Chamber."

A murmur of approval came from the Dracs. Then Zigh Caida spoke. "In gross phrases, then, we would see an end to the fighting-at least a confinement of the fighting to the immediate area of Amadeen. The Drac fleet would stand armed, as would the USE forces. But there would be no fighting."

"A cease-fire?"

"Yes."

Nicole thought upon Zigh Caida’s words. "If war could continue upon Amadeen without our two sides fighting, why is there fighting now? The truce must include a truce upon Amadeen. A separation of the combatants by a policed, demilitarized zone."

Zigh Caida asked, "And, Joanne Nicole, who shall have the responsibility for policing this zone?"

"A third party we could both agree upon; or a joint Drac-human force."

"Emmmm. This is… agreeable; but it does not solve the problem upon Amadeen. Amos Benbo?"

"Yes?"

"If we could establish a truce with a demilitarized zone in the manner described by Joanne Nicole, what would the Front’s position be?"

"No change. The Front won’t put down its weapons until every last Drac on Amadeen is dead."

"What of the demilitarized zone?"

"What of it?"

Nicole shook Benbo’s arm. "Amos, quit fooling around."

She could feel the rock-hardness of Benbo’s muscles. "I am not joking. Tora Kia knows that I am not joking."

Zigh Caida’s voice changed direction. "Tora Kia?"

"The human speaks the truth. The Mavedah has many old scores to settle. The Mavedah can settle for nothing less than Amadeen free of human life."

Tora Soam spoke. "Amos Benbo, your position does not allow the machinations of talma to work. There must be at least some degree of flexibility on your part; otherwise there can be no resolution."

"Let the Mavedah be flexible."

Tora Kia laughed. "My parent, you are more blind than Joanne Nicole. Can you not see that the Front and the Mavedah are way beyond rules? Beyond talma? They are beyond ultimate objectives. They are even beyond what will ultimately serve their own best interests. The Mavedah wants the Front dead; the Front wants the Mavedah dead."

"That serves nothing, Kia."

"My parent, until you have put in your time upon Amadeen, you have no idea what such position serves. But I will tell you what such a position serves. It serves death. On Amadeen, death must be served."

Nicole heard Kia’s footsteps move from the room. Later, Benbo talked to Tora Soam, saying much the same things said by Tora Kia. But while he talked, Nicole remembered that moment upon Storm Mountain when the Tsien Denvedah was falling back.

The universe was extremely small at that moment. There were absolutely no considerations beyond the fact that the Dracs were falling back. Cooler heads would have seen that any resistance at that point was futile. But on Catvishnu, there were no cooler heads. No one was thinking about anything other than scoring against the Dracs, and to hell with other considerations.

Tora Soam spoke, and its words filtered through her growing headache. "Joanne Nicole, do you have a comment?"

She stood. "I would return to my apartments. Tora Soam?"

"Yes?"

"Your game has failed. And it is not because anyone of us wanted it to fail. It failed because it had to fail. If a truce should happen, it will die as it has to die. The war, then, will resume. Before there is any solution, much more blood must be spent." Nicole held out her hand. "Baadek. Baadek!"

A Drac hand enclosed hers. "Yes?"

"Take me to my apartments. I have had enough of this foolishness."