Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(106)

“I know.”

Exasperated, he responded. “I know? I know? Is that all? You cannot simply throw away twenty-five years of diplomacy!”

“Monroe, trust me when I say that there is nothing simple about this.”

He paced around the room, thinking if there would be anyway to salvage the tattered remains. He knew the answer, but asked it anyway. “What about all the neutral territories?”

“The neutral territories are still just that.”

“There is nothing that is going to enforce that now.”

Declan’s silence was just further confirmation that he was right. He finally replied. “The Tribunal will do what it can.”

“The Tribunal are the ones that are causing this, so please forgive me if I do not find that a comforting thought at this time. Unbelievable.” Monroe had always had the utmost respect for the Tribunal, but this was plain foolish on their part.

Declan bristled. “Monroe. You know as well as I that it was only a matter of time till this happened.”

“So obviously, the international negotiations are off.”

“Yes.”

The negotiator in him groaned internally. All the hours he had wasted setting it up was for naught. “This is a dangerous move.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” It was a simple question, with a not so simple answer.

“Because this chapter of our story has ended and the Tribunal, the Council, and even I finally recognize that. Our people cannot hide forever. We also cannot continue to live under the false belief that the treaties were keeping peace between our people; they weren’t. You of all people know that.”

“Declan, I have tremendous respect for the Trust. But I do not agree with it. Now is not the right time.”

“If we wait, they get stronger. If we do this now, well, it will set them on edge, hopefully make them pause and think. It will buy us some time.”

“It could do the opposite. Nathaniel Livingston is not exactly known for thinking things out.”

“It’s a chance we have to take.”

Monroe looked down. “I will need time to put this into the proper channels.”

Declan reached into his jacket, pulling out a thick document. When Monroe did not reach for it right away, Declan placed it down on the table next to him. “They are out of time. This is the declaration we drafted up, confirming that everything is voided as of this moment. There is also an offer of immunity and protection to anyone who wishes to switch sides and provide information.”

Monroe rubbed at his temples. “You mean, once you confirm that they are not spies for the Cine Tofa.”

“Well, yes. Not that they would be given any kind of security clearance that would grant them access to anything important.”

“And here I was thinking that this was just a regular Sunday evening.”

“It’s never just a regular Sunday evening. And with how quickly everything is spiraling, I am not sure you will ever have another one either.”

Monroe pinched the bridge of his nose. “That is the understatement of the year.”

“Agreed.”

Monroe began to feel a headache coming on. “I need a drink and from the looks of it, you could use one too. Care to join me?”

Declan smiled. “More than you know. Please.”

It was easy for Monroe to forget that Declan was not his age sometimes. The fact that the Tribunal had always given him so much responsibility had to weigh heavily on him and gave Declan this air of maturity that his peers would not achieve for years to come. Monroe had known Declan very well for almost ten years now. While he was frustrated at the situation that was now laid out before him, he could not find it in himself to be angry at Declan. Instead, he sympathized with the situation that the Tribunal and Council placed him in time and again.

Monroe leaned out the door. He knew his wife was nearby. “April, can you bring us two scotches please?”

Monroe sat back down in the seat he was in, letting the gravity of everything that was occurring hit him. His beautiful wife of twenty years, April, walked in bearing two crystal glasses. She handed on to each of them. Monroe gave her a small kiss. She was his sanity. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Everything okay?” She gave him a look that she knew something major was occurring.

“Business as usual, I’m afraid. April, I don’t believe you have had the pleasure of meeting Declan McPherson yet.”