04-08-2023, 06:43 PM
The warm, wood-panelled walls of the historic Bruton House, the headquarters of the Sanctarian Department of Foreign Affairs, belied the fact there was a sprawling compound beneath the building, bustling with civil servants at all hours of the day. Ambassadors on home leave, analysts on secondment from the Sanctarian Intelligence Service, political advisors formulating policy - there was rarely a moment the place was quiet. There was always something going on, always something happening in the world to give the politicians "upstairs" a headache. For the permanent civil service, each new thing that popped up was a opportunity to either put in place well-established procedures, or learn something new when the politicians went off-script and wanted to "get involved" or "change things up". That's not how the Foreign Service works.
But the civil servants didn't have that to worry about often. The Foreign Secretary, Kathryn Stewart, was a shrewd and experienced politician. She was previously the nation's Homeland Security Secretary. She didn't have time to go off-script. She knew the intelligence community, and had a sound understanding of world affairs. She had a good relationship with most of her peers, even in countries where Sanctaria historically had much cooler relations. Stewart didn't seek the limelight, she sought results. She expected her civil servants, her intelligence agents, and even her political staff to do their jobs, go where they were told, and to keep Sanctaria's reputation whole. In general, this was achieved.
Stewart herself was rarely seen without her phone. Most people have heard of "back-channelling" between governments, political factions, and even in intra-party controversies. But the world had moved on from code words and telegrams. Nowadays when one hears of "the government engaged with their foreign counterparts through back-channels" on the news, it generally means one Foreign Secretary texted the other from a non-government phone or had an off-the-record telephone conversation. Stewart learned very quickly when she was Homeland Security Secretary that those third-party messaging services with end-to-end encryption of messages often had better security firewalls than those actual governments deploy. She always put it down to the fact the private sector could pay more, and therefore attract better engineers and cybersecurity professionals. So she was always on her phone; checking emails, speaking with diplomats in the Sanctarian Foreign Service, sometimes speaking with her peers abroad. And today was no different.
Ping. It wasn't a loud sound. Enough to grab the attention of Stewart's aide who took her phone and checked the incoming mail. Lauchenoiria. Back Channel. Estevez. was all the message said, but it was enough for the aide to nudge Stewart and hand her her private phone, a call already placed to someone in the Lauchenoirian Foreign Secretary's office. "Juan Pablo Estevez, ma'am", the aide said pushing the phone into Stewart's outstretched palm.
Stewart nodded, took the phone and spoke right away without even checking to see if it was answered, or who it was on the other end. "Juan Pablo, how are you?" she said in a matter-of-fact, slightly impatient tone. She listened to the response. Her silence, and her nods, with the occasional "mmhmm" indicated the other speaker too dispensed with niceties and went straight into it. "How many", her question punctuated the silence in the ante-room of her main office. "Warriors or Watchdogs?", another question that hung in the air. "Juan Pablo, how many times have we told you to sort out this group", she scolded firmly, fairly obviously cutting across the other person on the line. Chatter on the other end resumed after a brief pause.
"Ok, I'll reach out to our Ambassador - and Juan Pablo", Stewart began, "Lauchenoiria needs to deal with these people once and for all. Xiomera taking matters into their own hands was always going to happen, and dithering put you in this situation. I'll send updates through our Ambassador in Buttercity." She hung up without even saying goodbye, tossed the phone on the couch beside her, and picked up a pen and a pad. "Harvey", she said not even looking up to her aide, "get Densi on the phone". The aide just sat there, almost afraid to ask a question. He cleared his throat. The Secretary sighed. "Densi. Denise Adams, our Ambassador in Xiomera. Some idiots from the WOE got themselves arrested in Tlālacuetztla, and we don't know if they're the harmless Watchdogs or the other ones, the Warriors", she said Warriors with more than an unsubtle hint of disdain in her voice. "Lauchenoiria still don't have their embassy re-established, they want us to provide consular assistance". She scribbled as she wrote, and didn't look up as her aide, Harvey, went to execute her command.
"Oh", Stewart said, again not looking up, "see if someone from the SIS can get us more information on the arrests and the individuals in question. I don't think the Lauchenoirians have any concrete intel from the ground." She sighed and put her pen down, finally glancing up at the aide. "And get our Ambassador in the Novella Islands too, I want to find out the condition of the person they have." The aide looked surprised. "Novella Islands, ma'am?" Stewart shook her head, "it's a long story, just get Densi, the SIS, and our NI Ambassador in that order." She paused. "I'll need to let Ethan know at some point too, but let's have as much information as possible first."
The aide named Harvey nodded quietly and backed out the door. It was his first week on the job, and he was supposed to manage the Secretary's diary. He was just covering for his manager, Stewart's personal secretary, while she stepped out for an appointment. Evidently, Stewart felt everyone on her team, no matter their role, had to row in when necessary.
But the civil servants didn't have that to worry about often. The Foreign Secretary, Kathryn Stewart, was a shrewd and experienced politician. She was previously the nation's Homeland Security Secretary. She didn't have time to go off-script. She knew the intelligence community, and had a sound understanding of world affairs. She had a good relationship with most of her peers, even in countries where Sanctaria historically had much cooler relations. Stewart didn't seek the limelight, she sought results. She expected her civil servants, her intelligence agents, and even her political staff to do their jobs, go where they were told, and to keep Sanctaria's reputation whole. In general, this was achieved.
Stewart herself was rarely seen without her phone. Most people have heard of "back-channelling" between governments, political factions, and even in intra-party controversies. But the world had moved on from code words and telegrams. Nowadays when one hears of "the government engaged with their foreign counterparts through back-channels" on the news, it generally means one Foreign Secretary texted the other from a non-government phone or had an off-the-record telephone conversation. Stewart learned very quickly when she was Homeland Security Secretary that those third-party messaging services with end-to-end encryption of messages often had better security firewalls than those actual governments deploy. She always put it down to the fact the private sector could pay more, and therefore attract better engineers and cybersecurity professionals. So she was always on her phone; checking emails, speaking with diplomats in the Sanctarian Foreign Service, sometimes speaking with her peers abroad. And today was no different.
Ping. It wasn't a loud sound. Enough to grab the attention of Stewart's aide who took her phone and checked the incoming mail. Lauchenoiria. Back Channel. Estevez. was all the message said, but it was enough for the aide to nudge Stewart and hand her her private phone, a call already placed to someone in the Lauchenoirian Foreign Secretary's office. "Juan Pablo Estevez, ma'am", the aide said pushing the phone into Stewart's outstretched palm.
Stewart nodded, took the phone and spoke right away without even checking to see if it was answered, or who it was on the other end. "Juan Pablo, how are you?" she said in a matter-of-fact, slightly impatient tone. She listened to the response. Her silence, and her nods, with the occasional "mmhmm" indicated the other speaker too dispensed with niceties and went straight into it. "How many", her question punctuated the silence in the ante-room of her main office. "Warriors or Watchdogs?", another question that hung in the air. "Juan Pablo, how many times have we told you to sort out this group", she scolded firmly, fairly obviously cutting across the other person on the line. Chatter on the other end resumed after a brief pause.
"Ok, I'll reach out to our Ambassador - and Juan Pablo", Stewart began, "Lauchenoiria needs to deal with these people once and for all. Xiomera taking matters into their own hands was always going to happen, and dithering put you in this situation. I'll send updates through our Ambassador in Buttercity." She hung up without even saying goodbye, tossed the phone on the couch beside her, and picked up a pen and a pad. "Harvey", she said not even looking up to her aide, "get Densi on the phone". The aide just sat there, almost afraid to ask a question. He cleared his throat. The Secretary sighed. "Densi. Denise Adams, our Ambassador in Xiomera. Some idiots from the WOE got themselves arrested in Tlālacuetztla, and we don't know if they're the harmless Watchdogs or the other ones, the Warriors", she said Warriors with more than an unsubtle hint of disdain in her voice. "Lauchenoiria still don't have their embassy re-established, they want us to provide consular assistance". She scribbled as she wrote, and didn't look up as her aide, Harvey, went to execute her command.
"Oh", Stewart said, again not looking up, "see if someone from the SIS can get us more information on the arrests and the individuals in question. I don't think the Lauchenoirians have any concrete intel from the ground." She sighed and put her pen down, finally glancing up at the aide. "And get our Ambassador in the Novella Islands too, I want to find out the condition of the person they have." The aide looked surprised. "Novella Islands, ma'am?" Stewart shook her head, "it's a long story, just get Densi, the SIS, and our NI Ambassador in that order." She paused. "I'll need to let Ethan know at some point too, but let's have as much information as possible first."
The aide named Harvey nodded quietly and backed out the door. It was his first week on the job, and he was supposed to manage the Secretary's diary. He was just covering for his manager, Stewart's personal secretary, while she stepped out for an appointment. Evidently, Stewart felt everyone on her team, no matter their role, had to row in when necessary.