Donovan Desmond gave just a hint of a smile as he sat down. Chloe made a point of being useful by unpacking the picnic basket. It was full of sandwiches and a selection of pastries, albeit from one of Berlint's most expensive and exclusive restaurants. "I have been meaning to make time to meet with you," the former Prime Minister said to Steven Stahl. "It seems you have someone new in your life." He kissed Fiona's hand, pointedly not commenting on her ring. "Melinda says you had a lively conversation the other night."
"Yes," Fiona said. "I do like history. Sometimes, I get carried away."
"Now, what's this?" Melinda said. She leaned over to examine the ring. "This doesn't look casual. Steven, tell me you didn't-?"
"I suppose I did," Steven said. "Yes, I proposed to her."
"And I have accepted," Fiona said. "Well… anyway, I haven't said no." She looked toward Steven. There was no sign either of elation or disappointment. "Now, I have to ask… Is this something he does a lot?"
"Quite the reverse, actually," Donovan said.
"Oh, no, I've never seen this at all," Melinda affirmed. "He's been married twice. The first was his steady girl from secondary school. The second time, they were on and off for eight years."
"I hadn't heard this before," Fiona said. It had been in her briefing, but Steven had indeed said nothing about it. "How did Steven Steele do as a married man?"
"The first time was a mistake," Steven said. His face remained neutral. "It was really over after six weeks. It took 18 months to get a divorce back then. The second time, we stayed together four years. She had wanted me to retire. She wanted children, too. She chose to leave. We stayed in touch. Now, she has three children."
After more small talk, Donovan spoke up. "I suggested this meeting to Melinda, because I am told you have been asking questions about us," he said. "It's entirely understandable, especially considering how quickly your relationship with Steven has progressed. I am giving you the chance to ask me anything."
"All right," Fiona said. "Were you really against the last war?"
"Melinda says you had talked about this with her," he said. "It is what my party will say: We didn't want the war; we would have stopped the war; we could have won the war if we had had more control sooner. The truth is, I acknowledged war was unavoidable, and I approved it up to a point. I simply dictated that we had to be able to say we had exhausted our options. We demanded a democratic referendum whether Luwen would remain part of Westalis or join Ostania. We had no illusions that the results would be acknowledged or honored by either side, but we had ways to know the real results."
"But then Luwen blew up," Fiona said.
"Yes," Donovan said. "It blew up."
Fiona considered, and let it pass. "What about all the talk about destroying Westalis?" she asked.
Donovan did not sigh, but might as well have. "It's destroying the West," he said. "It was a propaganda slogan. I did not like it, because I knew how the west's propagandists would use it."
Melinda spoke up. "Donovan always made it clear what it meant to us," she said. A pastry crumbled in her tightening grip. "An end to the remnants of the monarchs who kept mountains between themselves and their own subjects. An end to imperialist intrusion and collaborationist leaders'. An end to assimilationism, and consumerism, and replacing Westalian and Ostanian culture with trash in the name of modernity. We never pretended any of those things were only on one side." She set down the pastry. "Sorry. I must sound like I'm making a speech."
Fiona looked thoughtfully at Melinda. "So what about the uniform education' measures in the outer territories and the eastern republics?" she said. "You said before, teaching can be genocide…"
"Now you just sound like an old radical," Donovan said.
"Yes," Steven said. "I told Melinda you would like her."
Fiona looked back to Donovan. "So what do you do consider yourself responsible for?" Fiona asked.
"I led the coalition that stopped the Brandt Plan, of course," Donovan said. "What we really did was stop a mutiny by the military. I rejected essentially the same plan when it was presented to me after Goessen. A third of our advisors supported it. I listened to the ones who said we could still establish a line of control in the occupied territories. The advisors loved that phrase, even more than 'limited war'. I am sure Steven has told you what he thinks of that."
He pondered, visibly and sadly. "Our real mistake was thinking war is still about land," he said. "We occupied more than 50 times the area of Luwen. Before the end, we were offering Westalis 10 times as much to withdraw to the Elwe. In the modern age, land is free sausage, and I'm sure you've heard Steven talk about that." He smiled. "If you spend time with Majars, you will notice most of their sayings are about sausage."
She considered her next question. "Do you think any of the other countries could change the balance of power?" Fiona said. "Like Hugaria, or Frigis…"
Donovan laughed. "Frigis," he said. "What was it you used to call them, Steven? A rabid tortoise…"
"Yes," Steven said. "They think they can conquer the world a thousand hectares at a time."
They continued to talk about matters of no consequence. Finally, Fiona asked a final question: "So do you think another war is unavoidable?"
"I think the people who say a war could not be prevented are usually the ones who failed to prevent it," he said. "But what I think does not matter, now. I have allowed my party to withdraw my power to that of chairman. If I ever try to be more than that again, it will be when the question of war is settled, one way or the other. I know my limitations better, now. I have my gifts, but they do not include waging war, whatever Steven says."
He politely pushed away his plate. "I do need to leave," he said, "I would guess that Melinda will have other things to do also. I am glad to meet you. I will say one more thing." Fiona looked at him curiously. "It is a matter of record, only one Ostanian plane was in the air over Luwen on the day the war began. Steven was flying it."
Fiona continued to gaze after the Desmonds, well after they had departed. "I did it," Steven said.
"What the Hell are you talking about?" Fiona exclaimed in surprise.
It was Chloe who spoke. "He killed Minister Brandt," she said. Fiona looked at her. Steven did not bother. Chloe gave a wide smile. "Now, what do you say we celebrate your engagement?"
