An honor guard from the Terran Marines, in full dress uniform, greeted the Aschen delegation at the helipad behind Government Center, escorting them into the building through one of the restored -- and quite lovely -- entrances. Ordinarily, the helipad's use was a privilege conferred only upon members of Parliament and the occasional agency head, but once in a while, Božidar Dvořák, as was his right, granted special privileges to diplomatic arrivals for formal visits. Today, amazingly, the esteemed guests were Elanna Torres, Leda Travell, and Marlene McGregor, on behalf of His Majesty, Emperor of the Aschen. Božidar only agreed to this visit upon Prime Minister Khayyam's insistence that he accept the request for it.
The man had not been anyone's guess as to whom would be Terra's next Minister of Foreign Affairs, not since election of ministerial heads had been removed to the Prime Minister's appointing power, and Salma Y. H. Khayyam had friends and business partners spanning multiple planets, multiple systems, multiple empires. Any one of them, surely, would have been her appointee.
Perhaps Chester M. Taymoudjian, chairman of Taymas Industries, or L. Jemeli Ngomba, heir to the Ngomba-Shah fortune (rumored to be nearly four quadrillion credits now) and founder of New Shah Tech, which had reaped exponential dividends for its shareholders ever since Ngomba's strategic choice to launch an IPO on her great-grandmother's 120th birthday, culturally significant on her homeworld of Tau Beta. Maybe even Luis Galdámez, Terra's second Prime Minister, who had served with distinction and honor, leading Terra's people through a constitutional crisis.
Not Božidar Dvořák.
He was aged, fat, and mild-mannered, preferring to stay in the background and advise quietly, skills that had made him an effective diplomat, and later ambassador, offworld. But he had few political connections to speak of, unless you counted his mother-in-law, Terra's spymaster and intelligence director, whose calls he refused steadfastly to even accept the majority of the time. He was not of aristrocratic or even bourgeois origins. He looked uncomfortable in a suit, and entirely out of place with his untamed dark curls, and now nearly belly-length beard, among the other ministerial heads during Government meetings with the Prime Minister.
But here he was, and today, tasked with hearing out the Aschen delegation's no doubt duplicitous requests, while entertaining them with an official dinner. God, he was exhausted already.
"Bring them in," Božidar said, pressing a button to speak via intercom to his majordomo. And with that, the Aschen were escorted into the Ministerial Parlour for reception. Božidar straightened his tie, and went to meet them.