"It does, somewhat," replied Lucie, taking a short drink of her own. "I am of course aware that our "public image", so to speak, is less than stellar among many Sirian groups. Zoners, naturally, appear to have fallen into that category, although they are markedly less militant than many others."
She leaned forwards in her seat, her expression guarded.
"I am not sure how much you know of Gallia's cause for this war - and I am not here to lecture you on such - but it is just. The atrocities of centuries past are finally being answered for, and with it our Kingdom flourishes. Those who have earned the Crown's ire were well informed of our intentions and reasoning behind such, but the Kingdom has not once taken up arms against any group without either sound cause or prior provocation on their part."
Again, she took a long drag on her cigar, blowing the smoke out slowly before continuing:
"Note our relationship with the Independent Miners' Guild, for example. They have been permitted to continue operations in their Tau homes, although we could have easily ousted them in favour of Gallic Metal Service - a Crown-sanctioned organisation. We are not here to wage an indiscriminate, bloody campaign across each and every Sirian group we come across."
Lucie glanced over at Doc, the ghost of a cold smile playing about her lips. "I am sure you already knew much of this, administrateur, but it bears reiterating even so. I hope that whatever you do learn from today's meeting also proves beneficial to yours and Gallia's continued relationship."
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"Admittedly, I don't know the cause of your war," replied Doc, "I have, however, heard the stories of crimes centuries old."
Doc wore a puzzled look, "It baffles me, really. Those people that committed these acts are but dust now and the people of today have to answer for it. But, it's not my place to dictate policy to you nor will I."
He watched the cloud above her head from her cigar, "I'm not tight with the Independent Miners Guild but it is good to see that they can continue on making a living. They have enough problems with the Maltese as it is."
He finished the contents of his glass and put it down. "As I stated before, I seek a peaceful co-existence with Gallia. One thing that really intrigued our late founder, Malaclypse, was the Privas Planetary Cluster in Dauphine. He flew to it as a sabbatical once only to be driven out by Royal ships. I shared his interest but we never again tried to visit it. I would like the chance to do so again.....in my old friend's memory."
"I am curious, Madamoiselle, as to what Gallia would want of a small group such as TAZ?" he asked. "We keep to ourselves, have little influence on current events and trade not for profit but for our temple and in my case, Med Force Enterprises, something I work entirely on my own. I realize that to this point nothing has been asked but I'm guessing that will come about soon enough."
Again, he watched the cloud of smoke above her as it swirled and changed shape. To him it seemed strange, a woman smoking a cigar but he said nothing of it.
"Want, administrateur?" began Lucie, raising an eyebrow. "The Crown wants nothing from your group, no. This summit is merely to defuse these, ah - unpleasant tensions - that have arisen so recently, as they have previously in the past."
As she spoke, she set down her drink and rose to her feet, crossing the room and picking up a data-slate from her desk.
"Peaceful co-existence will be more than agreeable," she continued, tapping away on the slate's touchscreen. "As for Privas, monsieur, I am afraid the planetary cluster suffered some sort of implosion event. There is now just one, very large, Planet Privas."
Making her way back over to the table, Lucie carefully sat back down, sliding the slate across the table for the Doctor to see. On the screen was a looping animation, showing the Privas cluster's implosion into a singular blue planet over and over again.
"I am sorry." she said. "Perhaps a visit of sorts can be arranged, as part of an affirmation of cordial relations, but the cluster itself is no more."
Lucie looked as if she were about to say something further, but then she stopped. Instead, she put her cigar back in her mouth and inhaled deeply, caught somewhere between looking awkward and looking sombre.
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Doc nodded at the mention of a visit to planet Privas. He smiled softly at the gesture, "I would like that, if for nothing else for my old friend. Maybe there's still something left of what drew his interest."
He watched as she deeply inhaled the smoke as her chest expanded to fit it all. Again, the doctor in him wanted to speak but he stopped it. He took the moment to realize why he was really here. He had largely achieved what he wanted, peace. Now, he had to make it stick.
"I think my mission here has been a success for us both," he explained, "we at least want peace and will at least go home with it. I will be instructing my people to check their feelings and curb their mouths to keep it. It's a start. I only ask two things. One, that trip to Dauphine to Privas. The other? I ask that if any one of my people should fire upon any Gallic Royal Navy ship, please send me the time stamped photos and I will turn him or her over. I just don't want my entire group judged for the actions of one."
Doc was reserved now. He had accomplished more than he had ever done before. For the first time in awhile, he was......speechless but in a pleasantly weird kind of way.
There was a brief period of silence as Lucie considered the two requests, her flinty gaze boring into the him before she at last nodded curtly.
"A short visit to Dauphine should be easily arranged. A formality, let us say, to symbolise the reconciliation of the Crown and your - group, as it were." she declared. "As for the second matter, should any of your organisation's vessels breach Gallic law, they will be treated as any other ship would be in accordance with their violations - be it firing on Naval personnel or otherwise. Naturally, any collected evidence would be forwarded to you personally. I should hope that it would never come to that, however."
She transferred her gaze to somewhere beyond the viewing window, looking contemplative.
"Soon, Gallia's wars will be over, and then the Kingdom's peace will hold dominion over these regions of space - over worlds like these," she said, gesturing to the world of Gaia. "This planet would have been strip-mined by the Bretonians, just as they have spoiled and abused other such planets, but under the King's rule, this unspoiled world will be treated as the natural wonder that it is. Once the wrongs of the past are brought to account, Sirius will be a better place, administrateur."
She returned her focus to the Doctor, with the merest hint of a satisfied smile on her face.
"But, of course, you will see for yourself. You have not seen Gallia, I believe - or if you have, certainly not from the proper perspective - but the splendour of the Kingdom's many worlds is something to behold. You will see the truth of this, I think, during your journey to Dauphine."
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Doc looked out to Gaia as the General did and nodded in agreement, "I don't doubt it. I was never close with the Gaian rebels but they fought hard to keep the Crown away from the planet for the very reason you mentioned. I respected that and steered clear of it myself."
Doc turned, his hands behind his back. He thought a moment before respectfully turning back to Lucie. "A trip to Dauphine to view Privas would be most appreciated and I accept. I will await details as to when for this. If you would be willing, I would like some deep scans of the planet, scans I cannot get from the yacht that you see outside which I would go to visit it in. Keeping communication lines open would also be desired."
He then stood a few steps from her, "I do think we've begun to get by an old past. It's a start. Until the Crown says otherwise, we will continue to avoid Gallic space until such time as we are trusted enough to visit." He gave a light smile, "I'm sure there is much beauty to be seen there."
He then returned to the window, "I'm sure, Madamoiselle, that you have much work to do. Being that we have accomplished much here, I don't want to keep you more than I have to. If so, we could walk back to my shuttle."
Lucie raised a single eyebrow. That had been a very brief meeting indeed. Still, at least the Doctor was cutting out all the small talk they'd have otherwise had to keep going. If only all diplomacy were this easy.
"Bien, allons-y," she declared, leading the way out of the room and back down the metal corridor.
Again, the hall was deserted, as all the Toulouse's staff had been told to keep themselves out of the way. No doubt Lucie's usual entourage of guards were enjoying their extended break.
"I shall see about forwarding those scans to you at a later date," announced Lucie as the pair headed towards the Taureau's makeshift docking bay. "And, of course, it is my hope that relations between our groups shall continue on this upward-trending, positive note."
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Doc again admired the design of the ship he was walking through. It was a beautiful ship, almost too beautiful to be using in combat. Still, he took it in.
"Merci, Madamoiselle," he said in response to her when she mentioned the scans of Privas, "I do look forward to being able to see it for myself. Perhaps in the future, I can bring the services of [i]Med Force Enterprises[/] to Gallia. It is my personal endeavor and creation. Of course, with time and trust might this be possible."
Doc then stood before the still-closed door to his docking bay as he offered his a handshake. He still wasn't up to par with Gallic custom so he only hoped that she would accept.
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"Yes, Madomoiselle, brief our meeting was but I do think productive," he answered as he released her hand, "I do hope we can meet again soon and improve things further. For this time, I didn't want to ask too much, just to begin the re-building of good will and some trust."
Her icy blue stare had his attention. He gave a light smile in response as his old southern gentleman instinct set in. He gently scanned her before he turned to leave and for a moment, allowed himself to compliment her. "Vous êtes véritablement une belle femme, Madomoiselle. Je ne voudrais pas voir que ruiné avec du tabac."
He then finished in his own tongue, "Perhaps I can help you with that as I don't miss it myself."
He gave a respectful nod, almost a light bow as he stepped through the door into his ship.
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