Chapter 20: Misunderstandings
General Markeil paced the room nervously, with his hands draped behind his back. There was an expression plastered on his handsome face which denoted so much worry and apprehension that Gina could simply not help her being alarmed. Every now and then, Markeil would let out a massive sigh and shake his head.

Gina got up out of the chair and walked over to him. "Markeil? What is it?" She did not love him, she knew that. However, she did care for him, so she wanted to know what was causing him to act in such an odd way.

He shook his head and then finally stopped pacing. "It does not concern you," he said icily, before continuing to pace around the room. His hands were held up to his forehead and he was quite obviously thinking very deeply.

She frowned and then stood in front of him, subsequently blocking his path. "Markeil, tell me."

Markeil sighed and then looked at her, saying, "I have a meeting with President Jevail soon."

"What sort of meeting?" She asked. She had already figured out that it probably was not going to be a pleasant conversation which Markeil and Jevail would soon be having. However, she just wanted to be one hundred percent certain.

"You wouldn't understand," he said simply, trying his hardest not to look her in the eye. Although, it couldn't really be avoided, at least, not very easily anyway.

Ignoring his rude tone of voice, Gina said to him calmly, "I'm just trying to help."

"I know, I know," he said, finally giving up.

"Why would Jevail want to speak with you, anyway?" She asked him.

He sat down after sighing loudly. Gina sat down beside him. "I am not only the governor of this prison complex," he began slowly.

She cocked her head slightly to one side, saying, "What do you mean?"

"I am also the deputy head of state for Hypnos," he admitted, looking rather uncomfortable as he did so.

Gina was so taken aback that she failed to reply straight away. Instead, she just simply stared at Markeil in disbelief. Then, she finally managed to talk, "But… if you've got so much power, can't you put a stop to this madness?"

He shook his head. "It is beyond my control."

"How is it beyond your control?" She demanded, feeling relatively befuddled.

Markeil simply shrugged his broad shoulders, thinking of something to say in response to her question. "We are not like your…" he paused, thinking of an appropriate term to use "…democratic Federation. Although I am an aide of the President, he will always exercise supreme control over the entirety of the Hypnos people."

"Well, do you believe what is happening is right?" She asked him. "Is this war necessary?"

Shaking his head, Markeil answered simply, "I have to admit, when I first became aware of this… conflict, I was a little unsure as to why it was happening in the first place. However—"

Seeing that there really was no more to say, Gina laughed sarcastically and said bluntly, "There is no 'however'."

Markeil ignored her and continued. "However," he began again, picking up where he had left off, "I know see that it is necessary for securing the place of the Hypnite peoples as the dominant race in our stellar system. The Thanatosians were always weaker than us, and, they always will be."

"What about that attack on the Parliament?" Gina said, reminding him of the recent Thanatosian-led bombing raid on the Parliament houses of Hypnos.

He waved it off. "That was nothing," he said bluntly.

"Twenty five Hypnites died!" She said angrily.

"Then, we must assume that that was the Thanatosian's way of trying… and failing… to be our equals," he said, his voice rather matter of fact.

She frowned, before asking, "Why wouldn't they be your equals?"

"Ever since the dawn of time, Hypnos and Thanatos were, we think, equals. However, Hypnos, understandably," he smiled broadly, "began to develop at a much faster pace than Thanatos."

"So, you thought you were better simply because of that?" She asked, not totally understanding his logic.

"No, no," he said. "It was all quite reasonable. When Hypnos was undergoing an industrial revolution, Thanatos was basically only starting to develop the wheel. When our scientists were beginning prelimanry work on interstellar travel, the people of Thanatos hadn't even left the orbit of their home planet yet."

"My planet," Gina began slowly and carefully, "Earth, was once like Hypnos. The lower in status people cowered in fear at the very sight of the king or queen, but we aren't like that now. We no longer think of money and status being important." She looked over at Markeil.

He nodded, apparently seeing the judgement in what she had just said. "And, so, knowledge is power? Is that correct?" He asked, regarding her as if searching for her seal of approval.

"It is. Knowledge is power," she agreed.

"That is exactly the reason why we enslaved the people of Thanatos," he said. And, as soon as he had spoken, he realised his mistake.

To his annoyance, Gina had picked up on it. "Enslaved?" She echoed. "You enslaved them?!"

"That is my point," he replied hurriedly, defending his corner. "Hypnites are, by nature, more intelligent than Thanatosians. That's why we chose to use their… disadvantage and make it into our advantage."

"That doesn't make any sense," Gina muttered. "What I meant was knowledge isn't just of the academic type. It also involves the moral side.

"So, someone who is stupid but kind is, in your words, more knowledgeable than a clever person who is mean?" He asked, feeling a little perplexed.

She nodded, and managed to smile. "Exactly."

"Ah," he said, nodding slightly, "I see your reasoning."

After some time, Gina managed to build up the courage to ask Markeil, "If you have any chance, of doing so, can you not persuade the government to change their minds? To stop this madness and end this war?"

Markeil pulled a slight face and looked at her deeply. "I will try, Gina, if that will make you happy."

"It will," she said, nodding.

"It is highly unlikely," Markeil admitted.

She smiled and said softly, "Nothing is impossible, though."

"I envy you Humans for your fervour and belief, sometimes," he confessed, sounding rather solemn and he subsequently slumped back into the chair.

"And so you should," Gina said, grinning.

"I've been reading up about your Earth history," Markeil said as he scanned the computer readouts on the large display.

Gina made her way over to the computer console station and sat down in the chair beside him. "And, find anything interesting?" She asked.

He shook his head and said simply, "Some of it is quite intriguing. But a lot is rather…"

"Boring?" She offered.

Markeil nodded and the carried on. "Your twenty first century appears to be an extremely pivotal moment in your history," he observed.

Gina nodded in response. "That's true. There were many good and bad things that happened then."

"Like the war," Markeil said.

Gina had remembered learning about World War Three in History class. "Yes, and First Contact."

"Our species achieved interstellar flight quite some time before yours did," he pointed out.

She smiled sarcastically, saying, "I know, but your planet is two billion years older than ours. That's probably why."

The general just smiled back. "However, it is still extremely surprising that Humanity has managed to get where it is now."

"It is," she pondered. "But, we only got where we are now, travelling among the stars, because we had the instinct to work together as a whole and solve our age-old problems like conflict, poverty and corruption."

"They are the things which make us Hypnites who were are," he stated to her, obviously feeling a deep regret for the actions of his entire race.

She put her hand on his arm comfortingly and he kissed her on the lips. When she saw his face coming closer to hers, for a moment, a very small moment, she thought it was Data. But then, she managed to regain her focus on the situation and she knew that it was Markeil. However, since their first ever meeting, which took place many weeks ago, she and him had grown closer and closer and formed a special sort of bond.