CHAPTER 56: Woman of the World
'How do you do this?' Tali asked abruptly as I entered the meeting room.
'You're going to have to be specific. I do a lot of things.' I replied, not entirely sure what she was talking about.
'This! All of this! The Prothean Empire!' Tali asked, exasperated.
'With a little help from my friends!' I smiled my best politician smile so that she knew I was having a laugh at her expense.
'There's no way you actually planned this.' She stated with an amazing amount of confidence for someone without any evidence.
She was right, of course, but no one else I met seemed to agree with her.
Aside from Wrex, anyway.
'Then how did it happen?' I asked Tali, with a shiteating grin.
'I don't know. But you'd have to be a time traveler to actually pull something like that off!' Tali asserted.
'Maybe I am?' I grinned. Was I? Well, I guess even without dealing with relativity, and the impossibility of the mass effect, we were all time travelers at a rate of one second per second.
'Be serious, Krell! How do you do this stuff? People expect me to be this amazing diplomat who ended the Quarian Exile and returned us to Rannoch and I have no idea at all what I'm doing! I'm an engineer! Not a diplomat! How the hell do you manage stuff like this!"
'Well, I've already taught you everything I know. So I'm not sure what you want me to say?' I admitted, realizing that Tali was actually distressed about this.
'You didn't teach me anything about being a diplomat!' Tali protested.
'Sure I did. So, there's a human philosopher, Clausewitz, I think his name was. Said that war is merely the continuation of policy by other means.' I started.
'That doesn't sound like you at all, Krell.' Tali observed.
'That's cause he's full of shit.' I admitted. 'War may sometimes be necessary. But it is never preferable.'
'Clausewitz makes sense, if you think that the goal of policy, of diplomacy, is to win what you want for your polity at any cost. But that's just a fancy stupid method to end up bankrupt, both morally and otherwise.' I continued.
'What diplomacy really is? Is the methods by which we avoid war. It's friendship. There really aren't any winners in war. There's no glory in it. War is a last resort for when you can't solve your problems any other way. Every War is failure of diplomacy. And once you realize that? Diplomacy is easy. Because here's what diplomacy really is, it's friendship. Friendship backed by force of arms.'
'What do you mean friendship backed by force of arms? You don't threaten your friends!' Tali protested.
'There's another human philosopher. His foreign policy was to speak softy and carry a big stick. The stick is the implicit threat of force. It's there. It's present, but it's being carried, not brandished or aimed. People pay attention to the stick in that sentence, but really the important bit is the other part of the sentence.' I explained.
'Speaking softly?' Tali asked.
I nodded.
'Humans have an interesting quirk. Salarians too, actually. They pay more attention to low voices than loud ones. So the trick in the saying is that you have force available to use if needed. Open, obvious force. It's a deterrent against war. But you don't use the stick. Using the stick isn't diplomacy. It's bluster and war. You don't command respect that way. You command respect by making people want to listen to you and you keep it through your the content of your words.' I explained.
Tali's shoulders tensed.
'I still don't get it.' she admitted.
'The Quarian flotilla is the largest navy in the galaxy. That's your big stick. Your alliance with the Geth is another. So don't worry so much about that part. They will be there if you need them. Worry about the content of your words. Think about what you are trying to accomplish when you speak. How are your words going to make the other party feel? What is the other party going to think that you are asking for? What does the other party think that you mean? Talk slowly and calmly. Don't make yourself seem rash or impulsive. Be a steady rock that others can plan around. Don't change policies without reason. And make sure that everyone knows the reason you are changing them.'
'That all makes sense.' Tali admitted.
She paused.
'That can't be all of it, can it?'
'There is one more thing... Be kind. Whenever you can, even if no one is watching. Be kind.'
'Be kind? But that's not your reputation at all!'
'You're thinking of me as a warlord. But war is what you do when you're weak. War is not diplomacy. War is when diplomacy breaks down. You need to think about the other things, my diplomatic wins. The Humans, the Rachni, the treaty of Firaxis, my victory at your trial. They don't come from violence, they come from kindness. Violence is a necessary tool. Even war is necessary sometimes. But without kindness and compassion and empathy to direct it, it's just tyranny. It's a sign of weakness and insecurity. Any idiot with a weapon can wage war. But kindness? Kindness is the domain of the strong.'
'What do you mean, kindness is the domain of the strong?'
'It's risky to be kind. It's a sacrifice. You open yourself to pain and loss. It's easier to close off the universe; to build walls around your heart, around your species, your planet. It's safe. It feels like you're protecting yourself, and you are! But it's an admission of weakness as well. You need to protect yourself. You aren't strong enough to handle the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. You can't bear to weather the risks of betrayal. Those who are strong, not just physically, can afford to be kind.'
'Just be kind?'
'Just be kind. Kindness reaps opportunities. People remember those who are kind to them; for better or for worse. You're more likely to ask someone kind to you to invest in your infrastructure project, to ask them to lecture at your universities, to defend them when they are attacked, or even just to give them a heads up when the enemies come knocking at their gates. Kindness takes effort. It takes resources! But kindness is an investment, not just in actual reciprocal returns, but in a better future for everyone.'
'With the Reapers here it seems a bit late to be focused on the long term, Krell.'
'Is that what you believe?' I frowned.
'Isn't it true?' Tali asked, perplexed.
'Who do you trust with your survival? The Asari who has a future they want and look forward to? Or the Asari who has no intention of even thinking on the future, fully focused on the defeat of the enemy at no matter the cost to her or her allies?'
Tali frowned. 'Is this a trick question?'
'No trick. Who do you trust with your survival. Not with defeating the enemy, but with making sure you're around to celebrate afterwards.'
'Well, with no other details... it's the Asari who is looking towards the future? But there are always other details!'
I grinned.
'Tali. You are the Asari. The only difference here between the two Asari is their outlook; because otherwise they're both the same person. They're both you. One emphasizes kindness in all they do, and the other is willing to forego kindness whenever they believe it is necessary.'
'Be kind?'
'Just be kind. The galaxy is at its darkest, Tali. We need kindness now more than ever.'
'Then, I guess it's up to us to be kind.'
'It won't be easy. It won't be cheap. But in the long run? Kindness isn't a sign of weakness, it's a show of strength.'
_
It took almost a week for the Admiralty Board to finally come to a consensus, but I finally had my answer. The Quarians would join the Empire. Honestly, it was structured more as a federated republic of mostly independent states right now. That would change in the future of course, hopefully in favor of a little more centralization, but for now just having the empire was enough.
It really is a strange feeling, to have a working interstellar government that has no real laws yet. It's a nervous feeling too, like there's a biotic singularity in the depths of your stomach.
Don't try that at home, by the way. Most unpleasant assassination attempt I've ever been part of.
Left me unable to eat more than grilled cheese and tomato soup for two whole weeks.
Mostly because I couldn't leave New England.
Tali made it through the negotiations without having a panic attack, so I was counting that as a win.
Legion also didn't have a panic attack, which I'm adding to my score even though I almost certainly wasn't the cause of that.
Legion did insist on negotiations for Geth residence in my Library. In the interest of growing my granddaughter's skills as a librarian I connected them with her to handle the final details. How much trouble can Liara get into negotiating with the Geth? Tali managed it and she'd never even negotiated before!
Liara on the other hand had something they wanted. And unlike me she probably already knew what it was.
Clearly she was the right Asari for the job.
The negotiating job. She definitely wasn't right for head librarian, yet.
Maybe I should have done the negotiations after all? I could have made sure that they enforced proper email signature block standards...
No. Probably best to let Liara have a nice easy negotiation with her potential new staff.
She needed an easy win to boost her confidence.
_
After tearful goodbyes (mostly Tali's tears since Legion wasn't exactly a waterworks and Krogan have nictating membranes instead), I jumped aboard my ship and headed to my next destination: the citadel.
It was time to open diplomatic relations.
And to unfake my death, of course.
Author's note:
Happy Valentine's Day. This chapter title is from the musical Shucked. It's a corny song from a corny musical, but very fun. The song is about a young (naive) girl who left her small town on a pilgrimage to save it (from a corn blight) and succeeded (she thinks) by finding a corn doctor (ostensibly a podiatrist, actually a conman) to bring back to save her town. It's a great comedy in the Shakespearean sense.
Anyway. Next chapter should be fun! Once I finish writing it.
