Robin took a seat, fidgeting with a holopen under the table so the rest of her body could remain still.
She had never seen a Tulian up close. Their accent had a lot of twangs and clicks at strange moments, and they butchered the pronunciation of certain words which gave Robin a twinge of satisfaction.
“Your nation has always had a connection to planet Tulia.” The ambassador was saying. “Some of our species found refuge here when Tulia itself wasn’t safe. Populite is the only place on Sparkalia with such a large gurtian population, we believe that makes us natural allies.”
Councilor Baso spoke up. “Yes, we have a long and textured past with your people. Now let’s get to the brass tacks. What are the terms of this deal?”
“We would love to sample some of the goods that are unique to your planet. Most of us have never tasted Sparkalian fruit! And there are all kinds of goods here that have a certain novelty appeal for my people. But we wouldn’t simply extract these things without making a fair trade. So we offer something most valuable in return - advanced technology.”
Baso spoke up again. “And…I see the details are nicely laid out in this memo you sent us. A cure for cancer? A cure for diabetes? That’s already treatable.”
“It’s a better treatment.”
Yonda chimed in, frowning. “Assuming this checks out, it hardly seems like a balanced trade, does it? You get fruit in exchange for priceless knowledge?”
“And the cementing of our alliance.” They said. “We seek an open border policy that would allow Populiteans to visit our planet freely, and allow Tulians to visit Populite freely. We also request that citizenship be granted to any Tulian who seeks it.”
“That might be amenable.” Blaise states. “As long as reasonable caps are placed on the number of Tulian immigrants we receive each year and you allow us to conduct thorough background checks.”
Tye spoke up. “Thank you for this proposal. If that’s all, please give my colleagues time to confer.”
The Tulian nods graciously and exits the chamber.
Robin tried to get a temperature check of the room. The Technocrats were moving in favor of it, no surprise there - as soon as cures for major illnesses were mentioned they had concluded that the deal was likely to do more good than harm for Populite’s people.
The Interstellar party was clearly in favor of it. Their public platform was based around the position that Populite should join Tulia - becoming a colony for the planet. They were the reason for the growing dislike of gurtians amongst the humanoids of Populite. To be fair, not every gurtain supported their position.
So that was five votes. Robin was relieved to see that most other councilors seemed to see through this transparent attempt for Tulia to gain more of a foothold into this nation.
“I know many of us think that this proposal is a transparent attempt for Tulia to gain more of a foothold into our nation.” Blaise said. “But who’s to say we can’t have our cake and eat it too? If we water down the deal enough we can reap some of the rewards and mitigate the potential damage, the people of Populite will thank us.”
“I’m currently inclined to vote against this deal.” Baso muses. “But there’s never harm in negotiating.”
“I see a great deal of harm actually.” Dalian chimes in. “Tulia has all the power here, they’re using people’s lives as leverage - And if we give them so much as an inch, then in fifteen years this nation won’t be called ‘Populite’ at all.”
Tilgarb, one of the Interstellar councilors hisses in offense. “You’re talking about Tulia as if they’re an evil empire and not one of our oldest friends. They have given Populite a lot of aid in the past with no strings attached. Is it so wrong that they want their people to be able to come to this planet without facing open hostility?”
To Robin’s surprise, ever apathetic Gelri speaks up. “You’re mischaracterizing the situation.” She says. “No party believes in open borders more than mine, but there is a clear power imbalance here. Tulia is a peaceful planet with bountiful resources. They have no need to come here. What they want is a foothold into Sparkalia.”
Now Yonda speaks. “You’re right.” They say, with a pointed look at the interstellar party. “I don’t know why the Tulians want a stronger presence here. Everything I know of my ancestors’ planet is that they are peaceful and not self-serving. To my knowledge they have never been interested in colonizing other planets in the past. Whatever their reasons, we cannot engage with them in trade.”
Robin felt a twinge of relief.
Councilor Glenda snorted derisively. “You have no idea of their intentions?”
Yonda’s eyes narrow. “No. I must have missed the memo. You know, the memo that every gurtian got explaining the internal politics of the planet we’ve had no contact with for two hundred years.”
Spice Hudson clears his throat. “I will say, using cures for various ailments as leverage is a bit tasteless, and goes well against the socialist values of this country. But Councilor Blaise has a valid point. If we have a chance to save people’s lives in this negotiation then we have to try.”
Robin felt a pit in her stomach as she saw his words have an impact across the room. If Spice was moving towards the deal, then five votes became six and if Basso moved off the fence that was a majority.
She leaned forward with a smirk. “Life isn’t always like a pop song Councilor. I know some nuance can be lost in these discussions to the less politically inclined. But I’m sure we can put things in layman’s terms so everyone understands. Shall we confer amongst ourselves?”
Yarken shot her a frown of paternal disapproval: That was too far.
Robin knew he was right. She wasn't thinking clearly.
As the Councilor’s stood to talk amongst themselves, Robin was surprised when Ambrosious pulled her aside.
“You see what I’m seeing, right?” He said. “This is way too close for my liking.”
“Why are you talking to me?” Robin asked. She didn’t mean it in a rude way, it’s just that the two of them had never spoken more than a few words to each other in the two months since the start of the term.
“I’m a fan of your work.” He said. “I've been following your career for a long time."
Robin wondered what it was about her career that interested him so much.
“I think this is serious enough.” He continued. “I’m going to consult ORACLE.” Abrosious’ perpetually confident face betrayed a flicker of fear. “Want to come with?”
