It was an odd group at the conference table. Eric, Jason Smith, Lt Peterson, and Colonel Melendez, plus a General Parker from the regular Army. Kendra and Special Agent in Charge Gonzalez, Soryeong Pak and Mr. Yong from the Koreans, and Tilly. Eric sat next to Lt Peterson as the group was rather heavily supportive of the orc side of the question.
“We need those orcs,” Mr. Yong insisted, “My homeland depends on their support!”
“Togobel fell over two hundred years ago,” Tilly added.
Jason, as the 'trade representative' felt he needed to add, “The orcs have become valuable trade partners.”
Eric cleared his throat. “No one is saying the orcs are bad,” he saw Tilly glaring at the young Lieutenant, “The question is, can there be peace between the orcs and goblins.”
“Never!” Tilly shouted, surprising Eric.
“Er, why not, Tilly?” Eric asked.
“They are all savages!” She responded.
“They are not the savages, you are. They have technology and industry while you lot run around like...like the native Americans did!” Lt Peterson argued.
“If you know your US history, that isn't the damning insult you think it is,” Colonel Melendez said.
“Oh come on, don't tell me that noble savages shit. Our nation was built on industry, on expansion.” Lt Peterson continued. He didn't seem to realize he was turning an already skeptical crowd more belligerent.
Eric interrupted again, “There are ways to make peace, or at least some sort of armistice. But being hostile won't help.”
“Yes, it will,” Tilly yelled. “The goblins are vermin and the hobs are rapists and murderers!”
Eric was beginning to realize that inviting Tilly may have been a mistake. “Tilly, um, maybe this needs to be a conversation to discuss later. We need some agreement that will keep humanity from being pulled into a war that isn't ours.”
“We are fighting your war for you!” Tilly pointed out, “You need us, and we only fight for you out of kindness and honor. Goblins have no honor!”
“Goblins have more honor than orcs!” Lt Peterson retorted.
Tilly stood up, and so the Lieutenant followed suit, they glared at each other.
“Sit down!” General Parker ordered, and to Eric's surprise both obeyed. “No one is suggesting that we abandon the orcs or turn on them. We are just trying to figure out why this war is happening.”
“They invaded our lands!” Tilly said as Lt Peterson said “They invaded goblin lands.”
“Croats and Serbs?” General Parker asked rhetorically.
Lt Peterson scowled and crossed his arms.
“Nixon's China strategy?” Eric offered.
“Are we just saying random words?” An annoyed Tilly asked.
“What if humanity purchased the land around the rift from both sides? Giving us an indisputable claim, and it will be a zone where no orcs, goblins, or humans kill each other. We will also purchase land to build a short road towards the closest major goblin and orc settlements with the same rules.” Eric explained.
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Tilly growled, “That would probably be acceptable to us, and it would be near the border anyway. Obviously you would have to pay Jatya for the land.”
“Glad she is on our side of the rift then. What about you, Lt Peterson, are you willing to go negotiate with the goblins for the land we want?”
“It will mean we stop hunting goblins for sport?” He growled.
“Uh, yeah, I guess so,” Eric answered. “General Parker, could we get a civil engineer from the Army Core of Engineers?”
“I think I could arrange that,” He answered.
“Jason, negotiate with Jatya once we plot the land we want. We want enough room for a medium city, as I expect it to be a major trade center, a place where three races can trade who otherwise can't.”
“Where are you going to get the money?” The general asked.
“Congress.” Eric answered, simply.
The call to Dr Cohen was, well, not great. “While I empathize with your goal, we can't just buy land like this.”
Eric asked, “Would it be ok to have a private party purchase the land?”
Dr. Cohen answered “I don't see why not.”
So Eric called Katie Smith, “Katie, this is Eric Brown, do you remember me?”
“Yes, you are my nephew's boss.”
Eric sighed, that wasn't how he wanted her to think of him. “So I wanted to ask a favor. Do you know someone with money who is smart enough to buy the best investment since Manhattan?”
She snorted, “What is this great investment?”
“I'm negotiating for a trade concession on the other side of the orc rift, which would be an area where not just orcs and humans, but also goblins could trade. Not only would it be the site of a city where humans trade, but the orcs and goblins have been at war for a long time, this would let trade goods move between them.”
“How much of an investment are we talking about?” She asked.
“Well,” Eric paused, embarrassed, “I don't really know? I think we want to pay both sides the 'full value' of the land, and pay them the exact same amount. But right now it is just a chunk of desert, even with the rift it is likely people won't realize the value.”
“Eric...” she sighed, “OK, I'll handle that part. You just, I donno, keep doing what you do.”
“Find trouble, it feels like.”
Alicia caught up to him afterwards. “That guy you were meeting with, the new one...” Her voice trailed off.
“Lieutenant Peterson?” Eric asked.
“That's the one. One of my new class skills went off when I first saw him. It, well, it tells me if someone has broken an agreement.”
Eric looked at his assistant. “What do you mean?”
“I don't know, exactly, it isn't like it is super specific. It just tells me if someone has broken agreements, so I know if I can trust them in making new agreements, filing paperwork, stuff like that. It is a clerk ability.” Alicia explained.
“That, well that isn't a lot to go on. If I bring it up it will just sound like I'm trying to help the orcs by sabotaging a friend of the goblins. I'll need more if I'm going to act on it.” Her face fell, so he hurredly added “But I really appreciate you telling me. It is useful information. I just wanted you to understand why I won't act on it right away.”
“Oh, ok, well, you're welcome.” Alicia responded, and Eric went to go find Tilly.
“Tilly,” Eric called when he found her, “Can we talk for a minute?”
She turned around, and he saw that her eyes were purple and puffy. “I, look, I get it, but I can't forgive and forget. My, I never told you about my mother.”
“I wasn't going to talk about...” Eric started, then looked at her face, “Um, go ahead.”
“Wait, what did you want to talk about?” She asked.
“You first,” Eric insisted.
“OK, well, I don't like remembering it, so I'm going to skip the details. Dad was off chasing some sort of bandits, and mom and I were on a picnic. It had been years since the last time the goblins pushed in our area, so we didn't worry about being out a bit. Apparently mom was kinda tough too, before. A group of hobs found us, mom told me to run and hide. I ran all the way home, found another law-keeper, and brought help to my mother. We were too late. She killed two of them, but they, well, they did things to her body. I wasn't allowed to see it but I've read the report. If I see a hob it dies.”
“I'm, well, I'm sorry. I know there is nothing I can say, but, well, that was horrible.” Eric tried to comfort her.
She wiped her eyes, “It's fine, what did you want to talk about?”
“That symbol on the Lieutenant's hand, does it mean the same as mine? Just for goblins?”
Tilly frowned, “No, it is a loyalty mark, not a friendship mark. Orcs have friendship, goblins have pawns.”
“Fuck,” Eric swore. “That was what Alicia saw. Since it is magic, it can't be fooled, right?”
Tilly paused to think, “Well, it could be, by a high level mage, maybe?”
“So not by a level 5 or something, right?”
She laughed, “No, not by a 5 or 15, or 50.”
“If he swore loyalty to the goblins, after he swore loyalty to the US, I bet his oath to the Constitution is what she detected.”
“I hate to admit this, but he could be loyal to both, as long as he thinks he can serve both. It is only when he breaks a trust that one of the loyalties will be broken.”
“But he has already broken an oath. The question is, what does this all mean?”
