Chapter 30, intrigue.

(Callie)

Despite Taniyas previous statements, she was actually pretty influential. On the first day, they met with the eccentric minister of finance, the mayor of Berdant, and for the last two hours, the minister of security. Their meeting with the minister of security was the most interesting so far, drawing Callie's attention. Callie sat in a plush chair, sipping on some iced water. She was listening in as Taniya discussed the pros and cons of an armoured escort for the high-ranking officials of the city.

Their second to last meeting of the day was with an older man in his late seventies. Despite that, he was slim and looked healthy for his age. He was lean with perfect posture, his wrinkled face marked by years of stern expressions. Despite her usual joking attitude, Taniya was no nonsense for this discussion.

"An armoured limo and two escorts are costly and show off importance! The senators of our cities would rather die than be carted around in a humiliating fashion."Said the minister of security Garen.

"I can agree with you on that, but wouldn't it be better if our high-ranking officials were less conspicuous?" Taniya asked. Garen shook his head, his long grey hair falling around his eyes. "Perhaps, but they won't go for it."Garen said. Taniya turned from Minister Garen, giving Callie a questioning look.

"What do you think, Callie? An armoured limo, and two escorts? Or a less obvious single car transport to stay away from notice."Taniya asked. Much to her surprise, Taniya asked for her opinion yet again.

"Well, I am siding with the minister on this one. Taniya, have you considered the fact that senators aren't fond of going unnoticed? They are like peacocks, they have to show off. It's in a politicians nature to be dramatic.They cannot help themselves."Callie said.

"Peacocks, hah, good one!" said minister Garen. "Then it's settled. We can have a six person escort for each senator, and at least one guard for each minister, including yourself."Taniya said, settling it easily.

"You will need to convince major Farlen to lend us some of his enforcers, also some armoured vehicles would be nice. I don't have that much personnel with the protests."Minister Garen said, smoothing his button up white shirt.

"Of course, I will send you a link by comm later for you to sign. If things go well, I should have the enforcers and equipment you need by tomorrow evening."Taniya said, standing from her chair with a smile.

"If it was anyone else, I would scoff at that assertion. But I am pleased to see you back, and doing so well."Minister Garen said, a grin splitting his wrinkled face.

"I dont know if I am doing well, but it is good to be doing something."Taniya said, with a forced smile. Minister Garen rose from his chair and embraced Taniya. Taniya leaned into the older mans embrace. "If you need anything, just let me know. Also, I can probably spare several people to guard you if you like?" Minister Garen said, concerned.

"Thank you for the offer, but your short manned already. And besides, that is what Callie is here for."Taniya said with a smile for the old man. Minister Garen gave Callie a once over, nodding his head in approval as his eyes rested on her combat knife and her pistol.

"Oh, one last thing. Can you put in a good word with the minister of finance for me?" Minister Garen asked.

"I can try, but I doubt it will help. He is keeping a tight grip on the city's purse right now."Taniya replied with a wince for apology..

"It makes sense, especially with this whole war business with Etria. The minister of finance has been devoting most of our budget to the military. Hopefully now that most of the terrorists have been killed, we can return the budget to more productive areas."Minister Garen said.

Taniya nodded, and gesture Callie to follow with a wave of her hand. They left the building and Taniya hopped in the driver's seat of her model seven Bileran. It hovered low to the ground for optimal speed with a sleek black frame and tinted windows. The doors hissed and opened upward, revealing the sleek leather interior.

"Can I drive?" Callie asked excitedly. "No way! Dustin told me about your bad driving."Taniya said, slipping into the driver's side. Disappointed, Callie slipped inside the passenger seat, already planning on borrowing the keys at their next meeting.

Unlike Dustin's piece of junk, this thing was more on the lines of a super car, and its engine hummed as Taniya pressed on the accelerator. "Who are we meeting with next?" Callie asked, glancing at the clock on the dash. After three meetings, it was in the early morning, nearing four pm on a Sunday when Callie usually went to sleep.

"We are going to meet with the minister of foreign affairs."Taniya said with a look of displeasure on her face.

"I take it you don't like the minister of foreign affairs?" Callie asked, noting Taniyas scowl."Just wait and see, I hope he isn't too deep into the rot gut. If he is, this meeting might need to be reskeduled."taniya said with a wince.

Taniya drove them through the richer parts of the city, and were only stopped by a tall chain link fence. Taniya flashed her ID and the two bored looking gate guards let them passed. Callie gaped, the mansion sprawled covering two blocks, which was crazy when space was limited. Taniya led the way inside through large wooden double doors to a wide open living room.

The sharp stench of liquor and sour sweat filled Callie's nose, the smell washing over her. A well-stocked bar covers one entire wall with bottles of every colour in stock. Each of those glass bottles glimmered under the bar light, their expensive glass reflecting the soft light of the room.

A man in his late fifties paces behind the bar talking on his comm, with a half full glass of an amber liquid in hand. A mostly empty bottle was open on the countertop. The bathrobe opened partially, revealing his flabby chest covered with a rug of greying hair.

His face looked pained, and his greying hair were a mess of curly white. The man wore a bathrobe open at the front over boxers.

His voice carried across the room, and he still paced with his back to them. Occasionally turned, giving them both a look at his expression of frustration.

"I understand your concern, ambassador. Let me state again that we of the empire have no intention of engaging in hostile action." The minister paused in his speech and listened for several long seconds.

" Let me state again, the Heron clans are a long-standing ally of Zrixia. We have no intention or desire to invade your planet or our other nearby allies!" said the Minister.

There was another pause and the ministers face soured further as he listened intently.

"Your allegations are unfounded. We didn't invade Etria. We liberated them from the regime of the terrorists and their supporters. Etria is a free country and in a few weeks we will pull out our forces entirely to allow their self rule again." Said the minister.

The minister's shoulders tensed, and he shook his head like a wet dog. "There is no need to be worried. And sanctions against us are completely unnecessary. I can promise you on my honour that we of the empire have no desire or plans to invade the Heron or our other Allies. If you doubt my claims, watch the news. If you doubt my word, then the prime minister of Etria is going to be traveling to the capital in several days. Have your ambassador talk to the new Etrian Prime minister." the minister said, feigning calm.

Another pause, this time longer. But the man's face grew red, and he gritted his teeth.

"Rumours that the Slax ambassador is in danger is propaganda, and you know it!The Slax is trying to get you and our other allies to side against us. Please assure your people we have every intention of protecting the ambassador with the might of the empire's defence force."The minister of foreign affairs said.

The minister glowered as he listened, only just maintaining his calm." The privateers on the fringes of the empire are in your jurisdiction, not ours!" He shouted, finally losing it.

"Privateers?" Callie whisper curiously.

"Pirates! They prey on merchant ships transporting cargo to our neighbours. With the recent war, our forces are mostly tied up in Etria to maintain peace."Taniya said, offhandedly. Anger filled Callie, but she pushed it down. It wasn't Taniyas fault Etria fell. She was just doing her job. It was the fault of these politicians, not someone like T.

"You could let me infiltrate the pirates? I would board one of their ships, kill their captain and, before long, control an entire fleet of pirates?" Callie asked excitedly.

Taniya laughed softly as they watched the unaware minister of foreign affairs."I would feel bad for the pirates. They would probably turn themselves in to escape your brutal training regimens."Taniya said with a laugh.

The minister scowled as the being on the other end of the comm hung up. Callie knew they hung up because the minister of foreign affairs threw his comm as hard as hard as he could across the room. The comm fell far short of the courtyard wall, clattering undamaged to the carpeted floor of the foyer.

With a scowl, he downed his fist full of amber spirits in one gulp. Callie raised an eyebrow at Taniya, who shrugged helplessly.

"I take it the other nations nearby don't appreciate Zrixia conquering our neighbors."Callie asked, noting the conversation she just heard.

"No, they don't, it's been a mess to deal with the backlash from our neighbours." Taniya reply wearily.

The Slax ambassador dying in the empire could cause immense trouble for Zrixia with her allies . She wasn't sure what she would do with that information, but it would be valuable to Villus. She smiled. Callie hadn't known the backlash of the invasion in Etria was this bad. Apparently, the other nations and clans of the galaxy were pissed at Zrixia. If she was smart about using that information, it could bring the empire to its knees.

The minister of foreign affairs, still dressed in a bathrobe, turned and his eyes widen as he took in his two unexpected guests.

"Good morning T, you are early."The minister said, self consciously pulling his bathrobe tight over his protruding gut.

"Minister Jorgensen. Sorry for barging in, our previous meeting ended early."Taniya said.

"Who is your beautiful friend?" Minister Jorgensen asked, his eyes roving Callie's body lecherously. His eyes rested on the curves of Callie's breasts lingering there.

Callie scowled, already disliking the man. She brushed back her jacket casually, revealing the hilt of her knife and the butt of her pistol. It wasn't the fact he was looking at her, but how he looked at her. She felt unclean having those eyes ogling her.

"This is Callie, and she is a part of my organization."Taniya said, noting Callie's glare.

The minister averted his eyes from Callie's body, nervously eyeing her long knife, looking anywhere else. She smiled, well the Devalis reputation was good for something.

"Minister, do you have word from our allies? What is their response to recent Slax sanctions on the empire?" Taniya asked calmly, straight to the point..

Minister Jorgensen poured himself another glass of amber liquid and downed it. He gasped and smacked his lips.

"It's not good. Our long time allies are worried and there are several neutral nations that are already supporting the Slaxes sanctions on us."Jorgensen said.

"And our staunch allies? What are their stances on this?" Taniya asked worriedly.

"Our three biggest allies, the Heron, the Faun and the Tallax, are threatening sanctions of their own."The minister said.

"How much time do you think we have before they sanction us?" Taniya asked, getting to the point.

"Two weeks! Maybe three. They are really upset about our invasion of Etria. But they also don't want to appear like they are siding with the Slax." Minister Jorgensen said angrily.

"Thank you, minister. Are the Slax making any new threats?" Taniya asked.

Minister Jorgensen scowled at that question. "Yeah, if we aren't out of Etria within the week, they will stop the shipments of polymer and clothing to Zrixia."Jorgensen said stumbling and catching himself on the marble counter.

"And what does that mean for us?" "The Slax supply thirty percent of our polymer and forty percent of the fabric we used to make clothing. Our stock markets will take a huge hit. Clothing prices will nearly double."Jorgensen said.

"To be fair, you aren't wearing clothing right now. Soo, at least one of those sanctions won't make a difference to you."Callie said, giving the man's flabby body a once over like he did to hers. She shook her head in disgust at his complete lack of fitness.

Jorgensen's eyes widen, and he glared at Callie. Taniya poked Callie's arm for the comment.The poke wasn't hard, only enough to let Callie feel it. Callie tensed, but poked Taniyas' side softly and used their closeness to slip her hand into Taniyas jacket pocket. She took the keys to her model seven Bileran, grinning excitedly. "Sorry about that minister, she has a difficult sense of humour."Taniya said, still unaware of Callie's theft.

The minister glowered, but nodded to the apology. "Do you have anything else for me?" Taniya asked, giving Callie a glare.

"Just a warning. Our allies and the Slax are watching closely. Your organization better not let anything happen to the Slax ambassador or they are threatening worse than sanctions."Minister Jorgensen said.

"Your warning is duly noted, minister. Thank you for your time. Now if you will please excuse us."Taniya said professionally.

They left the minister to drink more of his hard liquor, leaving back out the front door not twenty minutes after arrival.

"Did you have to make an enemy of the minister of foreign affairs?" Taniya asked after they closed the door behind them. Callie took in a deep breath of fresh filtered city air, relieved to be rid of the stench of alcohol.

"An enemy? Will he really hold a grudge for what I said?"Callie, asked, with a raised brow. She followed Taniya to her sleek model seven Bileran. Callie grinned as Taniya checked her jacket pockets, then her pants pockets.

Walking casually and trying not to smile, Callie strode around the driver's side and clicked the unlock button of the key fob. The sleek black shuttle's lights blinked and its driver side door rose into the air. Callie climbed inside, shutting the door excitedly. Taniya gaped at her in confusion.

Callie patted the passenger seat, giving Taniya a mischievous smile. "When did you take my Keys?" Taniya asked, hesitantly climbing into the passenger seat of the car.

Callie shrugged, turning the key in the ignition, feeling the thrum of the engine. Unlike Dustin's piece of junk electric car, Callie could feel the power of the engine as she gripped the steering wheel. She revved on the gass and the engine let out a deep rumble.

Taniya swallowed. "Can I get out? I'll catch a cab."

"Too late, let's goo!" Callie said, pressing the gas to the floor. The engine roared and the sleek black sports care tore out into traffic. Callie grinned as the force of the acceleration slammed her back into the plush leather seat.

They arrived back at the navy base in record time, and Callie couldn't stop grinning. Now this was a proper vehicle! She pulled into the parking garage of the naval base and put the car in park. Callie's heart was racing, and her lips were pulled into an excited smile.

She tossed the keys to Taniya, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pale faced. Taniya was gripping the roll bar in a white knuckled grip frozen in her leather chair. Callie stepped out of the car and strode away, whistling a jaunty tune, leaving Taniya speechless.