The Least Worst System (CLOSED)

[Hittanryan]

20 Hill End Street
New Laconia

The wargame and the barbeque were welcome distractions, but temporary. Tom wanted to get the hell out of New Laconia. He kept seeing Sarah Wendt everywhere, especially anywhere they'd been together; the movie theater, restaurants, the boardwalk. Anytime he saw a blonde in a crowd coming towards him, his heart would skip a beat. Maybe it was her, back from New Edom, immigration papers in hand. Inevitably, after sneaking any number of glances, it would turn out to be somebody else. Stupid, wishful thinking. Every day he thought he made the wrong choice. Every day he thought he would never see her again.

His dreams were haunted by lucid visions of her, right down to her smile and laugh. Once he dreamt that she was in labor, in great pain for hours, but wouldn't acknowledge him, couldn't see or hear him apparently despite his efforts to comfort her. The day of the second debate, he'd woken up beside Sarah, felt her skin and warmth against him. Every hair, every little lovely imperfection she had was just as he remembered. She stirred, smiled, caressed him, then sat up, just about to bear herself to him...and then he opened his eyes to his empty apartment and a familiar loud buzzing sound. In a fit of frustration, he ripped the alarm clock out of its socket and hurled it against the wall, smashing it to pieces. He was suddenly aware of his head throbbing at the noise, and he rather inelegantly collapsed again. Laying there for a moment, he reached for his phone, made a note to have Al pick up a new alarm clock and another new bottle of Johnny Walker, then trudged off to take an aspirin and a decidedly lonely shower.

'The one time I tried to think something through, and I fucked it up...' he thought as the water's warmth seemed to just bounce off him. 'What a chickenshit. Should've just manned up and done it. We would've muddled through somehow. Better than this.'

It didn't help that he couldn't talk about it to anyone. He found the idea of crying on somebody's shoulder pathetic. What was he, a teenage girl? He could just see the spectacle of it if he tried it with his Army buddies. It became clear during a meeting that day that he couldn't tell Rowan's people anything either. Tom was sitting in a conference room with them--doing a good job of pretending he wasn't hung over--when Snyder and his own campaign manager Ed Schultz started talking poll numbers. It started off dry enough, but quickly went in a direction Tom was in no mood for.

"Well, poll numbers are up but still not great," Schultz was saying.

"He'll get another bump or two before the caucuses are done, we've got some appearances planned that he can probably tag along for," Snyder said, glancing over at him. "But yeah, long run, you're gonna have to do something about this playboy image. It's gonna haunt you."

"How?" Tom had asked.

"Think with the right head for once," Schultz said.

"More than that, you gotta grow up and settle down," Snyder said.

"There's an idea," Schultz agreed, nodding.

"What do you mean, settle down?" Tom asked.

"What, do I have to spell it out?" Snyder said. "You're a young, womanizing bachelor. I mean it's not unheard of, but in your case it's hurting you."

"I'm not even seeing anyone right now," he said, intending to keep it that way.

"I'm sure you can change that," Snyder said.

"Just shop domestic this time, will you?" Schultz said pithily. "And no coked-out bimbos or raging social justice activists. Girl next door types are generally safe."

"Even the naughty ones with big tits, if you'd like," Snyder added.

"And ideally with enough of a brain in their head to have some judgment. Although that doesn't seem to preclude some people from running for office." Schultz said.

"Throw in some work for a good cause--paid or volunteer, doesn't really matter--and you're golden," Snyder said. "Bottom line: she can't be a liability. You'll have enough problems on your own. You don't need your wife adding to that by mouthing off about her own politics or dancing on the bar down at Cicero."

"Back up a second," Tom said irritably, holding up a hand. "Wife? I'm gonna get married before the election in a few weeks?" he asked incredulously.

"No, not this election, the next one," Snyder said as though it were obvious.

He'd had all he could stand, but managed to rein himself in. "Right now, I'm interested in this election," Tom said, pointing downwards emphatically but at nothing in particular. "If a shotgun wedding is the best you guys can come up with, I think I should be worried."

"Calm down, we're just talking. And it really isn't a bad idea..." Schultz said. Tom remembered relatively little about what was said after that. All he could think of was Sarah.

[Hittanryan]

Robert J. Long Events Center
New Laconia State University

Moving on, Madrigal announced "We're going to move onto our first voter question. First up is Eddie Bracamonte, an auto worker and union organizer at the Orion plant in Sunjiang Province's 3rd District. Eddie? Go ahead." Eddie was a rough-faced, solidly built man with a mostly bald head and a big, bushy, greying handlebar mustache. He seemed a bit distracted when he heard his name called, and moved forward after a brief moment.

"Uh, thank you, Chairwoman. Mr. Pendergast, I have a question for you," he said in a deep baritone drawl that sounded like it was filtered through gravel. "Working folks like me, we want the SDP to look out for us, even if we don't necessarily want to go as far as Mr. Bluford does. Now I was all ready to vote for you until I saw those speeches you gave to the bankers. Deregulation, free trade, that stuff really does hurt people like me. I, and a lot of others like me, we want to know why you went behind closed doors to promise all of that stuff to the banks?"

"Eddie, I understand your confusion," Pendergast said, raising a hand. "There have been many attacks against me in the press since the last debate. The fact of the matter is that President DeGroot's government also passed free trade measures and loosened some regulations. Of course, he didn't do it across the board, irresponsibly like the Liberals would have us do. I wouldn't be doing anything that President DeGroot hasn't already done. I hope that clears things up for you, Eddie?"

"Hold on a minute," Rowan suddenly piped up. Pendergast didn't seem to expect it, and although the cameras couldn't catch it from their angle, his eyes flashed for a split second at him. "I think you ought to come clean here, you said one thing to the public and another to the banks in private. That's the real issue here, I think."

"Ever since these attacks in the press began," Pendergast said, calmly, "I have been working to clarify my previous remarks in the context in which they were made."

"Come on, be honest John, you never really talked about the speeches before the tapes leaked. Usually you would say you couldn't recall unless you were pressed, at which point you gave us a sanitized version," Rowan pointed out.

"If they hadn't leaked, I bet we still wouldn't know what you said," Bluford chimed in.

"I discussed them to the extent that I could recall at the time. If I had known that transcripts even existed, I would've gladly discussed them with you and anybody else all day long," Pendergast said.

"So it never occurred to you to ask?"

"No, it didn't, George. I was recorded without my knowledge, remember? Now that I've had a chance to read them, though, there are some things that I might phrase differently now," Pendergast said.

"Like what?" Rowan asked innocently.

"What, off the top of my head?"

"What about...'the financial sector should regulate itself?'" Rowan suggested.

"That's taken out of context," Pendergast said. "I was speaking about one piece of legislation specifically when I said that."

"What about 'free trade is the future'?" Bluford added.

"It was the future. That's not really up for debate. The real question is how we respond to it in a way that benefits Adirans without sacrificing our competitiveness," Pendergast said.

Rowan shook his head and motioned to Eddie. "I don't know if that answered your question, Eddie." This drew some laughs from the gallery.

"Uh...not really," he said, scratching his bald head, drawing some laughs of his own. "Well, here's the thing. Now, DeGroot supported some of that too, but it wasn't too often, and he was up-front about it when he did. He explained how it was supposed to work, how he thought it would help everyone. He wasn't always right, it didn't always work out that way, but you knew what he intended. But Mr. Pendergast, when I heard that you said, in a backroom meeting, that free trade was the future, that got me worried."

"As it should," Bluford interjected. Just as he took a breath to launch into a new monologue, however, Pendergast cut him off.

"I know what you're going to say, Al. Free trade is all outsourcing and sweatshops. I understand that you're concerned about your livelihood, Eddie. But you should consider this. Free trade helps bring down the prices of consumer goods so that people like you can afford them. That also makes Adiran goods more competitive both domestically and internationally. That means sales and growth for your company, say, Orion cars and trucks. If we put, say, tariffs on imported auto parts, other countries will just put tariffs on Orions in turn. That means fewer sales. Orion will stop growing, stop hiring, they might even start laying people off."

"They'll lay people off anyway if they can outsource to the Imperium or automate their entire workforce," Bluford countered. "Free trade is bad for workers, period."

"I don't think I'd go that far. The truth is, it's both at the same time," Rowan said. "Yes, our exports have grown and prices have gone down with some of these agreements. Yes, there are manufacturing sector jobs which have been outsourced or automated. I don't think we should view trade in black and white, though. It wouldn't be good for the economy if we embrace neoliberalism or protectionism to an extreme. There needs to be balance. Some free trade agreements could be a good thing, where Adiron and its trading partners benefit mutually. I want our markets to be competitive, it helps bring prices down, ensure quality, and enables growth. In other cases, though, we may need to consider tariffs on select goods to help out folks like Eddie. We represent the Adiran people first and foremost, and we need to look out for our own. If certain free trade policies truly have a net benefit to the entire country, then we need to implement reforms--such as those in the recent economic report by the DeGroot government--to help alleviate the impacts on Adiran workers."

"Liberals don't really see the nuances involved. They're opposed to nearly all tariffs just on general principle, and tend to favor free trade across the board regardless of the impact it'll have on our middle and working class. Quite frankly John--much to my surprise--when I saw those speeches it sounded an awful lot like you were saying the same thing."

"I'm sorry, George, but whether it comes from you or Al, I cannot in good conscience accept policies that could lead to a damaging trade war," Pendergast remarked almost casually. "Eddie, in conclusion, I accept your concerns as valid. My government would do whatever it could for you and your fellow autoworkers. But the evidence I have seen suggests that you would be even worse off under protectionist policies which could potentially halt Orion's growth entirely. That is why I remain a cautious supporter of free trade."

Eddie agreed but didn't exactly look satisfied, though his expression hadn't really changed since he began anyway.

[Hittanryan]

Robert J. Long Events Center
New Laconia State University

"Next, we have a question for Mr. Rowan," Madrigal said as the debate continued. "Over the past few months you have broken somewhat with the government over the terms of the peace deal. Since the end of hostilities, you have argued that the State Department ought to negotiate for additional concessions from the Imperium before agreeing to lift the embargo. These concessions include demobilization of Imperial border forces, a joint Adiran-Confederate occupation of the entire Palisades Range, and for the Imperium to cooperate fully with an investigation by the CPO Human Rights Committee. You have also argued for a Confederate military buildup and expressed some skepticism about Secretary of State Deol's policy of engagement with Fineberg. If elected, will your government break with President DeGroot's foreign policy?"

"Well, first of all, Chairwoman, I wouldn't consider any of that a break from the government's foreign policy necessarily. After all, there were members of DeGroot's Cabinet and senior staff who felt the same way," Rowan explained.

"Not all of them, obviously," Pendergast said. "Be straight, George, you wanted to make the Imperium pay for attacking us."

"What's wrong with that?" Cole chimed in.

"Well, look, in my view, we need to look after the interests of the Adiran people first and foremost. That means the terror threat has to end, our borders need to be secure, and our people's livelihoods need to be safe," he said, counting off each point on his fingers. "I think President DeGroot and his government agreed with all of that in principle. On the execution of it, there were differences of opinion, not just within our party but also within DeGroot's own Cabinet. So, I stand by what I said."

"Yet a Confederate military buildup would almost certainly be seen as a provocation by any number of powers down in Arcologia," Pendergast pointed out. "The Imperium, the Union, the Edomites, even the Arvo. You'll put us right back where we started as of last year, with escalating tensions and the threat of a brushfire war spreading out of control."

"I disagree," Rowan said bluntly. "If left unaddressed, the Greater Diols could easily become the next Palisades. Right now, the Confederation is doing all it can just to defend its own coastline and fishing fleet. With strengthened air and sea power, the Confederates would be able to actively patrol the Ura Sea, reducing the threat of piracy as well as the general violence plaguing the Diols. If that happens, a number of south Cetan shipping lanes will be able to reopen for the first time since Hurricane Murray, bringing badly-needed economic growth to the area."

"And how will the Union react to that?" Pendergast asked.

"The Union has been ineffective at combating piracy so far," Rowan pointed out. "They've been relying on Imperial and Edomite support to police their own territorial waters. Furthermore, the Navy reports that a significant number of pirate attacks are still based out of the Union, with the exception of those carried out by the Arvo. It's long past time that this problem was addressed."

"What information are you basing this on, exactly?" Pendergast asked. "You and I as Assemblymen don't have access to the most detailed intelligence from Arcologia, just declassified reports. You're going to set policy without having all the facts?"

"You have to start somewhere. If I'm presented with intelligence that suggests it could backfire on us, then obviously I will need to reconsider. Unless it's proven to be unrealistic, though, I think we ought to set clear policy goals to work towards from the very start," Rowan explained.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy, or in this case, with chaos," Pendergast argued.

"So, I'm not entirely sure what you're arguing here, John. Do you think it's better not to have goals for Arcologia, which for the past several months has arguably been Adiron's most pressing national security concern?"

"I intend to make sure that whatever settlement is reached over the Palisades is carried out to the fullest. I intend to continue our efforts against piracy in the Ura Sea. I will secure peace on our borders and protect our people on the high seas. Based on your remarks, George, I'm not sure peace is one of your priorities," Pendergast said.

"It is, but you have to look ahead, John," Rowan replied. "Based on what happened this year, we all need to start treating Arcologia much more seriously. Instability to the south has already led to two Adiran military interventions within the past three years, and this year the violence spilled over our own borders. It's now more likely than ever that whatever happens in southern Ceti will be mixed up in great power politics between Adiron and the Imperium. 'Wait and see' isn't going to cut it anymore. There's too much at stake."

Madrigal glanced around the men on stage. "Any further questions or comments on this matter? No? All right, we're going to move onto another question from the voters. Amy Hargreaves is a vice president at Jaeger Fiber from the 6th District in Hongbei Province. Amy?"

"Thank you. I have a question for Mr. Bluford. In the last debate you spoke at length about the telecom industry. You said that 'there are only a few telecom giants out there,' that no one was happy with their providers, and that there's no point in offering the latest and greatest service if only the rich can afford it. You concluded that everyone would be better off if the telecom industry was nationalized as it was in the 1980s."

"Since 2013, my company has been expanding in the Tri-City Area. We're not a nationwide giant. We do have plans to invest and expand to other cities, but right now we're basically a local company. We pride ourselves on our high levels of customer satisfaction. We offer gigabit fiber optic Internet access, which is nearly one hundred times faster than cable, at affordable rates, comparable to cable, seventy dollars per month. In fact, in the Tri-City Area, Focus and Link have both been forced to lower their rates to compete with us."

"Mr. Bluford, your call to renationalize major Adiran industries such as mine has caused a great deal of concern among small businesses and consumers alike. We don't know what your plan would mean for us, especially given that some of your supporters' rhetoric on compensation. I care about income inequality in Adiron. I am a lifelong Social Democrat myself. But surely my company and other small businesses like it prove that it is not only possible but also effective to stand up to corporate interests through competition and innovation?"

"Thank you, Amy," Bluford said sincerely, even a bit gravely. "First off, there are a lot of misperceptions surrounding my campaign. If they have caused you alarm or anxiety, then I am sorry for that. When we talk about standing up to corporate special interests, we are not talking about going after small businesses or private enterprise as a whole. We wouldn't rush into it, either. My government would propose an Assembly committee which would determine which companies are engaged in anti-competitive practices."

"Al, you argued last time that the telecom industry forms a natural monopoly," Pendergast pointed out. "Amy's company is proof that there is competition."

"It's not a national solution," Bluford said. "Amy, what you're doing is great, I wish you the best of luck at Jaeger, but you said it yourself: you are one local company in a large metropolitan area. I'm sure Jaeger does fine work, but you're not going to go to small communities like Lytton, Westfeld, where Focus has a broadband monopoly and has been hiking rates with impunity."

"That's not Focus keeping competitors out, though. It's not like an Old Ceti monopoly, Al. It's apples to oranges," Rowan pointed out.

"It's just the market. It's not big enough for another company to enter and be profitable," Pendergast said.

"It doesn't matter where you live, you should have access to these kinds of important services everywhere," Bluford said, pointing at nothing in particular.

"They have access, the infrastructure is generally there. It's just a matter of affordability and consumer choice," Pendergast countered.

"I've got to agree with John, here," Rowan said. "It seems to me that one of the things we should be doing to ensure affordability is encourage small and medium-sized businesses like Amy's through tax credits, startup incentives, and loans. If someone has a good idea for a business which will add to their community, they should be able to pursue it."

"I agree, which is why, as I said, small businesses have nothing to worry about," Bluford proclaimed.

"They don't? If you exempt small businesses while running these huge state companies as nonprofits, Al, they're going to be competing against their own tax dollars," Pendergast pressed.

"Then there will be competition, an incentive for the private sector to keep their prices affordable for all,"

"All right, Al, what happens if something new comes along like Jaeger fiber optic and it really takes off. It completely outclasses your state-run broadband, spreads throughout the country, becomes the norm. Are you going to nationalize them in turn?"

"John, this is all hypothetical..." Bluford started.

"No, Al, I'm sorry, but this is important. Would you punish success by nationalizing new industries without compensation as they gain ground?"

"My campaign has never endorsed such a policy," Bluford protested.

"Is that why Katrin Faust was on Political Capital defending it on Sunday?" Pendergast asked pointedly with a smirk.

"Are you really asking me to speak for Katrin Faust here?" Bluford asked with a bemused smile.

"All right, all right," Madrigal intervened, holding up a hand. "Let's take a few deep breaths and have a bit less of everyone's spleen..."

[Hittanryan]

Robert J. Long Events Center
New Laconia State University

"Violet Thomas is a registered nurse at the general hospital in Meadowacre, Westfeld. She has a question for everyone. Violet, you have the floor," Madrigal said. She motioned to a reasonably handsome, if not strikingly beautiful, blonde woman in her thirties to maybe early forties wearing a modest dress. Unlike Eddie and Amy before her, she carried a script with her.

"Last year, Adiron faced the worst peacetime energy crisis in decades. We had gas rationing, lines at the pumps, and high prices. The energy crisis was hard on everybody, but it was especially tough in places like Meadowacre. In smaller towns like ours we don't have public transit like you do here in the city. No subways, a train station for inter-city transit, and if you're very lucky there'll be a bus with a couple of stops. There's no infrastructure to support electric or biofuel vehicles, we don't have charging stations or pumps with ethanol, biodiesel or what have you. People live dozens of kilometers apart, too, they have to drive a lot more than people in the city."

"I'd like to know how each candidate proposes that we secure our energy needs to keep this from happening again," she said, looking up from her script and then over the Madrigal. "Um, Chairwoman? I'd like for each candidate to answer on their own without interruption, if that's all right."

"Good idea, Violet," Madrigal said brightly, drawing some chuckles from the crowd. "Candidates, save any...discussion for after everyone has spoken at least once, if you wouldn't mind. Try to be conscientious of the other candidates' time so they have a chance to answer. You have ten minutes, starting now."

"Well, let me start by saying that is an excellent question, Violet," Pendergast began, smiling at her and then continuing in his confident manner. "Fossil fuels have some contentious politics surrounding them, between environmental impacts, who controls the supply, international trade, and more. There is one fact that can't be denied, however: our modern economy grinds to a halt without energy. A crisis like last year's affects us all, especially middle class and working class Adirans, so we have to treat energy seriously and realistically. That means, for now, accepting certain unpleasant realities, such as the fact that nearly all of Cornellia's largest oil-exporting states are part of FODE. My government would carry out the terms negotiated by President DeGroot, which stipulates freely trading with FODE. Embargoes are double-edged swords, they inevitably hurt both parties, and in this situation I think we stand to lose even more."

"That doesn't mean I think we need to simply abandon the search for new fuel sources, however. I don't like the idea of being dependent upon FODE imports," Pendergast clarified. "I support measures which will over time help reduce that dependence. I wholeheartedly support existing measures intended to reduce our national oil consumption, including our existing fuel efficiency standards and tax credits for hybrid, electric, and biofuel vehicles. I also support subsidies to green energy companies, backing for public transit and city planning initiatives, and support for energy research and development. My record reflects that. As Appropriations Vice-Chair, I supported President DeGroot's efforts to pass the ESS by getting it through Committee."

"In terms of moving forward, in the 21st century, nations which have never been traditional oil producers are taking advantage of new extraction techniques. They are recovering oil and natural gas from new sources which were never considered economically viable, as well as reviving wells long thought to be depleted, just like the Old Cetan wells in Hongnan and Sunjiang. There is, in fact, still oil in western Ceti. Old Ceti didn't suck all of it out of the ground. Production simply slowed to the point that operating costs outpaced production. That was eighty years ago; they didn't have access to modern technology, obviously. The possibility now exists to revive these wells, creating a domestic energy source that will ensure greater energy independence for Adiron as well as create economic growth. Furthermore, these are existing oilfields dating back over a century. Small-scale drilling is already taking place, and by and large environmental impact studies have already been completed. By restoring old wells in Hongnan and Sunjiang, we can avoid environmental damage to Adiran national parks, coastlines, and wilderness areas. Those are the general ideas behind my energy policy."

As Pendergast finished, Bluford responded more or less instantly. "I can't help but notice two things about Mr. Pendergast's plan. First, he was very careful not to say the "f" word: fracking. When he says "new extraction techniques," that's what he means. There was no mention of the air and groundwater pollution--or the associated health risks--that have been documented in numerous areas near fracking operations."

"Second, John, you completely ignored one of the greatest international threats in the world today: anthropogenic climate change..." he began.

"Mr. Bluford, Violet asked that you save your attacks for later," Madrigal warned him pointedly.

"I'm just saying there is more to the oil issue than carelessly exploiting it," Bluford said, holding up a hand. "We're already seeing what some of the impacts of climate change could look like. In the past three years, we've seen the devastating impacts of more intense hurricanes making landfall in areas they don't normally track. Hurricane Murray destabilized Arcologia and could be considered an inadvertent factor leading to the Palisades Crisis. Isidium is still rebuilding from Hurricane Scarlett, which left two hundred and seventy eight Adirans dead and caused billions in property damage. Rising sea levels will threaten many millions of people living in coastal cities and islands. Tericio and Callaban could be underwater a century from now. Refugees from the Diols could create more instability in Arcologia where we can least afford it. As local weather patterns change, agricultural regions could be profoundly affected by drought, storms, invasive species, disease, any number of other factors. That will cause tremendous economic upheaval and create even more climate refugees."

"We should be weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels to mitigate the effects of climate change as well as the economic instability brought on by volatile oil prices, not doubling down on a nonrenewable, unsustainable energy strategy," Bluford concluded. "My government would begin an infrastructure program aimed at making renewable-fueled vehicles viable throughout all of Adiron, including, Violet, in places like Meadowacre. That means charging stations for electric vehicles, and filling stations with biodiesel, ethanol, or what have you. We would also explore ways of reducing the cost of hybrid and electric vehicles so that they're affordable for working people. That would create tremendous growth in our automotive sector, create millions of new manufacturing jobs, and give Adiron a head start in what will undoubtedly be a major export market in the near future. We need to look forward, not back."

The others looked at Bluford to confirm that he was indeed finished, and then Cole spoke up. "We can safely lay the blame for the energy crisis squarely at the feet of the Imperium and FODE. If FODE's goal was to undermine embargoes on its member states, then it has been successful. If the Imperium's goal was to force open our markets to their exports, then they have been successful. Trade with the Imperium will keep the Curia in power and support the Imperial war machine. This is unacceptable long-term."

"During the Crisis, however, it became apparent that there were divisions within FODE about Adiron. The loss of Adiran oil imports was almost certainly damaging to their economies, or perhaps there were ideological differences in play, we don't know exactly. What we do know is that the Shrailleeni Empire in particular offered to effectively defy the Secretary General, break the cartel, and resume trade with Adiron. This was a serious enough offer that the Navy was already organizing convoys before the Imperium sent terms. The Shrailleeni have even deployed peacekeeping forces to the Palisades. Adiron has an ally within FODE, one who is willing to counter Imperial and Urdnot influence within the organization in the event of tensions in Ceti."

"My government would also substantially expand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to the equivalent of six months of total oil imports. I would support existing efficiency standards, perhaps increasing them if feasible. We might also look into alternative sources of oil like Mr. Pendergast said: restoring Old Cetan oil wells through hydraulic fracturing or perhaps allowing some drilling on the Norgate Shelf, but strictly as a wartime measure, born of necessity," he said. There was a brief pause before he said "I'm finished, Chairwoman."

"Right, Mr. Rowan, you are last up, you have the floor," Madrigal said.

Rowan looked thoughtful a moment before speaking, his delivery a bit professorial while still trying to address it to Violet. "As I said before, we should not give into demands to open trade with the Imperium without first guaranteeing our own security. If a satisfactory arrangement can be reached, though, we shouldn't unnecessarily risk damaging the economy and hurting thousands of vulnerable communities like Meadowacre and millions of people like Violet. The Palisades Crisis also highlighted a simple truth: we cannot provide for the defense of our country without oil. It remains and will continue to be a vital strategic resource, and our military will continue to rely on it for the foreseeable future. If we can gain substantive national security concessions from the Imperium, then we should accept trading with FODE while paying special attention to both the Shrailleeni Empire and New Edom for their roles as allies and peacemakers during the Crisis."

"Domestically, we should continue moving towards energy independence and sustainability. Our goal should be to make green energy competitive, which over the long term will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. I would support and, if feasible, expand the energy provisions of the ESS; as John said earlier, the efficiency standards, subsidies and incentives for green energy businesses, and grants for energy research. The energy crisis led to a boom in electric cars and biofuels. We should keep that momentum up instead of backsliding as soon as oil prices dip, as has happened all too often over the years. "

"In addition to that, I could see my government supporting other initiatives as well. Moving towards renewable energy is a good long-term goal and I would support that, but in the meantime that's not the only thing we can do. We could probably stand to expand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to better guard against emergencies, although I'm not sure if I would necessarily double it, as Jim said earlier."

"Oil exploration is another potential solution, but we would have to consider any environmental impact that would have. I don't support speculative exploratory drilling in our national parks or wilderness areas. Fracking does have potential, but it's a new technology and there simply hasn't been a great deal of in-depth research on its impacts. Reports of groundwater contamination keep coming up; they're not universal, it's not everywhere, but they are there. Industry writes off most cases of contamination as accidents, yet they do keep happening. Before I support fracking, I would want to get to the bottom of that. My government would support the kinds of in-depth studies needed to determine the risks, then seek to establish regulations on best practices to minimize pollution."

"That would be the jist of my energy policy, Violet. It's not an easy subject, but the goal is to do as much good for as many people as we can," Rowan concluded.

"All right, we have a few minutes for further discussion. Keep the gloves on, people," Madrigal said.

"Ah, good, because after listening to Mr. Bluford I have a number of questions for him," Pendergast said confidently. "Al, renewable energy sources can't replace fossil fuels yet. How will our planes keep flying? Aviation biofuels are years behind those for cars. And you said exports? How will you export electric cars if other countries don't have the infrastructure? What if the cars are only affordable through subsidies here in Adiron? People abroad won't be able to afford them or even physically put them on the road. And how long is this infrastructure going to take to build? People like Violet will be stuck in the same situation until it's finished. Finally, how are you going to pay for it all?"

The ensuing exchange lasted until the ten minutes were up, with Bluford maintaining that once the infrastructure was in place the renewable fuels and energy sources would start to pay for themselves, especially as oil prices became increasingly volatile with dwindling supply. Pendergast countered that new technology and new discoveries like those in northern Ghant were not indicative of peak oil coming anytime soon. Madrigal ended up calling time on the two of them before either would budge.

[Hittanryan]

20 Hill End Street
New Laconia

In Adiran caucuses, the second debate was traditionally the rougher of the two, and this time had been no exception. The first debate was an introduction to the candidates and their policy positions, usually a fairly polite affair. After that, the press starts digging up dirty laundry on the most prominent figures, the public starts to form initial opinions on the candidates, and some of the candidates get weeded out. At the second debate, the narrowed field of candidates gets subjected to tougher policy questions and more scrutiny on the individuals. After that it was the home stretch, where the last few hangers-on threw in the towel and the contenders began advertising and getting more aggressive on the campaign trail.

The morning after the campaign, Rowan walked into the big conference room to find much of his senior staff in high spirits for the meeting.

Cruise said "There he is, man of the hour!" raising his coffee cup in a toast before taking a bite out of a glazed donut, a few crumbs already in his lap.

Carvalho raised his own mug with a genial smile. "You read the Times, George?" he asked brightly.

"I did, looks like we did all right," Rowan said.

Even Snyder seemed to have a light smile on her face. "Took a chunk outta John's numbers, that's how 'all right' we did."

"I was actually starting to feel sorry for him," Carvalho said, seemingly genuinely.

"Hey, he made his bed," Snyder said. "Besides, he's proudly proclaiming that he fended off..." she said, picking up a newspaper "...'relentless attacks' by the media and his debate opponents."

"That Addington thing, that was a gift from god, wasn't it?" Cruise asked, mouth half full of the remainder of the donut he'd been eating.

"I don't know," Rowan said. "In a way his people have a point, the evidence isn't really that good. I don't know how much we should go after him on that."

"Oh, we don't have to," Snyder said. "ANBC just finished a snap poll, his approval ratings are down by eight points since the first debate."

"And I told you about our survey, right?" Carvalho added.

"Right," Rowan said. "My point is, I don't think we should go any lower than we have."

"No," Snyder agreed. "A lot of people are agreeing you were the adult in the room last night. You saw Al out there, making his wild speculations and personal attacks. Hasn't helped him. We're beating him in most polls now, neck and neck in a few others."

"All he's got is his hippie base still," Cruise said. "He's got a bunch of loony ideas and nobody thinks he can compromise."

"I don't think his base wants him to," Rowan pointed out. "Al's getting his people all fired up. You can see it at his rallies, I saw his people at the debate last night. I think we need to take a harder look at them, see if it's even possible to be a second choice for those people."

Snyder looked at Cruise a bit warily. "Well, George, we've already sort of committed to that as our strategy. We've been teasing carrots for them all week, at the debate last night..."

"Yes, I know. But we know the kind of people behind him. We need to make sure as best we can that his delegates won't just abstain at the caucus. Find out who's likely to be a Bluford delegate, find out their backgrounds if you can. If all or most of them are hardcore socialists who are ready to buck the whole party and won't pledge to us after Al's eliminated, we might want to give up on appeasing them."

"All right...without the Bluford delegates though, we've got a lot of ground to make up," Snyder cautioned him.

"Well, we'll never make up that ground if we scare away the centrists we need to steal from John," Rowan pointed out. "So, you and Johnny work on feeling that crowd out. You know what to do," he said, motioning to him and Carvalho.

"What about Cole? Are we still all right on that front?"

"He's got no chance," Cruise said dismissively.

"I know. I meant will we still pick up his delegates?" Rowan asked.

"Oh sure. To Cole's crowd, John'll sell us all out to the Imps and Al...well he's Al," Snyder said. "You're the only other candidate who talked about getting tougher about the peace in terms of national security."

"All right. So, with all that in mind, John's still ahead. He's starting to lose ground, but he's still ahead. I don't really need to know by how much, but why? What are people saying about him?"

"Well, by themselves, the Boggs thing or the tapes wouldn't've really mattered, we would've needed to press it home or dig a bit more," Cruise explained.

Snyder added "The Boggs thing he can dismiss, sure, it's not too solid, can chalk it up to shoddy reporting. The speeches he owned up to, been doing damage control, rationalizing them after the fact."

"Not like he had a choice with the tapes in the papers," Cruise remarked.

"If it was just one problem at a time, he probably could've handled it. All at once though, it's all starting to snowball," Snyder explained. "People are getting this rather unpleasant picture of a gladhanding career politician willing to do and say anything to get votes or funding."

"Let's keep chipping away at the center, then, and keep an eye on Bluford. If we're going to reunite our party, we'll need to make everybody happy somehow," Rowan concluded.

[Hittanryan]

A Challenger Appears

It was just after 5 PM the day after the second debate when Alan Cruise at Rowan's campaign headquarters got a phone call. From the perspective of those in the office, the portly political advisor wiped his fingers on his shirt, grabbed his phone, and said "Hello? Wait, wait, slow down. Who?" He then burst out in giddy, raucous laughter, prompting about half the office to pause what they were doing and look over towards his office. Cruise joyously thanked the man on the phone before hefting himself out of his chair. He started for the door before he stopped himself, turned back and snatched a bottle of scotch from behind his computer monitor.

Cruise made his way through the office at as brisk a pace as he'd ever been seen moving until he got to Snyder's office, where he found her putting on her jacket in preparation to leave. "Dana, you're not gonna believe this. Troy fuckin' Donahue is challenging Saito for the Liberal leadership!"

Snyder blinked and stared at Cruise a second until she said "Well, don't just stand there, crack that thing open! Lemme call George." Snyder dialed a number before opening her bottom desk drawer and produced a couple of glasses while Cruise happily did as she asked.

Each major campaign had a different reaction to the press statement. At Rowan's campaign, Alan and Dana drank a toast while watching the press statement. Pendergast's campaign was largely distracted trying to stop the bleeding. Bluford's supporters were summoning their outrage.

On paper, Donahue didn't seem all that different from Saito. Both had been successful heads of major Adiran corporations. Both had been married multiple times. Both were very wealthy. Both were devoted Liberals. Yet there were few men as reviled as Troy Donahue by the left. In manner he was blunt, confrontational, and stubborn. He'd been an unrepentant critic of DeGroot and the SDP even during the war, blaming military defeat or a lack of success solely on DeGroot, sometimes contradicting himself in his opposition, while promoting various conspiracy theories on social media. When it came to policy, Donahue was farther right than the average Liberal. He was a long advocate of lower taxes on the rich, relaxing campaign finance laws, and privatization of healthcare, utilities, and infrastructure. A staunch opponent to regulation of all kinds, he called for repealing the Investment Banking Act in its entirety, relaxing the stock market regulations of the Securities Act, ending net neutrality, and repealing environmental protections. According to Donahue, outsourcing was the fault of the unions and the government for making it too expensive to do business in Adiron. Social Democrats in turn openly mocked Donahue as an out-of-touch fat cat with no taste, a big mouth, a new trophy wife every year, no political experience, poor knowledge of major issues, and having run a company hated by many of its customers for its subpar customer service and the local monopolies it established under Donahue's leadership.

Saito, on the other hand, was treated as a major threat and a serious political operator, shrewd, nuanced, intelligent, and manipulative. He had nearly shattered the SDP-Green coalition in 2015 over foreign policy. The FODE embargo and the Palisades Crisis had created a surge of Liberal support, with Saito front and center, slamming the government for failing to honor its promises of national security. With DeGroot gone, Saito was every Social Democrat's boogeyman; Pendergast was scaring up support by arguing that the only way to beat Saito was to rally around an experienced old hand, rather than pushing for radical change. Saito seemingly had the SDP on the ropes.

To hear Donahue, though, none of that mattered. "Look at what's happened to our country. First an oil embargo, then we get invaded. We're lucky DeGroot's lungs gave out when they did, I don't think we can take six more years of him."

Kevin Urrutia, one of the MAs who had urged Donahue to run, was only paying half attention to the television as he shook a cocktail shaker at the bar in his house, the ice inside rattling around.

"Of course, one of the reasons we got stuck with him for six years now is that Howard Saito just doesn't have what it takes. How else could DeGroot have lasted so long? What has he done since 2010? Everything the Opposition tried failed. It's like they just gave up. Something's wrong with them."

Urrutia suddenly did a double take, losing his grip on the shaker's lid and dousing his countertop and his pants with the martini he'd been mixing. His wife shouted from the other room, asking if everything was all right, to which he said everything was fine while rummaging around the room for his phone. As he dialed his Assembly colleague and co-conspirator Larry Tsai, Donahue was saying "I mean, six years, and he didn't beat DeGroot, pneumonia did! I don't know why nobody thought to do something sooner. When I get in, I'll make sure to have people who actually know how to win. We're gonna start to win again."

"Larry, what is he doing? This isn't the speech we gave him," Urrutia said to Tsai in a hurry.

"I know, I don't know what happened," Tsai said. "Who did he get as campaign manager?"

"Adam Allen, that's who I sent over to meet with him," Urrutia replied.

"All right, let me see if Adam can explain why our candidate is giving a speech effectively denouncing his own party," Tsai said, hanging up.

With a worried expression, Urrutia watched Donahue for a little longer, waiting for him to get to the talking points they gave him, when abruptly Donahue said "But if elected President I will bring us back bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Thank you, thank you very much." Donahue then waved to the crowd with a confident sort of smirk, stopping just shy of a smile.

Urrutia was still standing in front of his TV gobsmacked when Tsai called back. "He's done already. Didn't say anything about the tax plan, regulations, Arcologia, the peace, nothing!"

"That's not all," Tsai said. "When I called Adam he told me he didn't get the job."

"What?" Urrutia asked, alarmed.

"Said he met with him, Donahue said they would call him. He got a call saying someone else had filled the position," Tsai said. "Do you know who Bradley Clayton is?"

"Bradley who?" Urrutia asked.

"Clayton," Tsai repeated.

"No, no idea," Urrutia replied.

"So far nobody else has either, not on the political scene anyway. My staff found something online that said he was a banker or stock broker of some kind," Tsai explained. He said he would keep working on Clayton, while Urrutia volunteered to call Donahue.

He called once and there was no answer. A few minutes later, however, he picked up. There was a considerable amount of noise in the background. "Hey, Kevin, how are you? You see that speech? The applause lasted...I'd say about a whole minute," Donahue said amiably.

"Yeah, Troy, we saw it, Larry saw it too," Urrutia said. "Hey, listen, did you meet with Adam the day before yesterday?"

"Kevin, come on, we're gonna talk shop tonight? Right after? I'm heading back home now," Donahue said.

"Won't be long, Troy. I just want to know, how did the meeting go? Did anything happen?" Urrutia pressed.

"Nah, not that I can remember," Donahue said.

"Well, Larry said that you hired someone else, a...Bradley Clayton?" Urrutia asked.

"Oh, yeah! Brad's great. A whiz, smartest guy you ever met," Donahue assured him boisterously.

"We're just...we don't know him," Urrutia said apprehensively.

"We'll all go out to dinner sometime, then. He's great," Donahue said, starting to sound impatient.

"I meant we can't seem to find if he's managed any previous campaigns," Urrutia said.

"Oh, he hasn't. Adam was a good guy, but we need some new blood I think, a fresh angle," Donahue explained.

"Listen, has Brad advised you on anything so far?"

"Well, he said Carmen's speech was good, I thought it was a good start," Donahue said.

"So, wait, Troy, you had the speech notes?" Urrutia asked, eyes widening.

"Oh, yeah, yeah I got the notes. It was good, yeah. Brad said I should just go with what you gave me. But once I got up there, in front of the cameras, you know, it needed some energy, you know?"

"I don't..." Urrutia trailed off.

"It didn't have the oomph, you know? No punchline, no big pitch. Just started out and stayed flat the whole time. So once I got some momentum up I just spoke from the heart, right? And I didn't want it to drag out, people won't pay attention for a long speech. Short and sweet sticks with you, I say."

"Well...Troy, you know that when you went after Saito the way you did, you were making the whole party look bad too, right?" Urrutia said.

"I don't think I said that," Donahue protested.

"You said everything we did failed, you said something had to be wrong with us, that we'd finally start to win. It's all implying that all of us incumbents were, well, incompetent," Urrutia explained.

There was a pause on the other end. "Huh," Troy said, it clearly having not occurred to him. "Well, people should forget about that by the election. And besides, that's what we talked about over dinner when we started this whole thing. And you have been losing, that's why you came to me. Besides, the voters'll turn out. You should've been there and seen the crowd, they were great, it was huge. Listen, Kevin, we'll talk tomorrow, all right? Bye."

Before Urrutia could protest, Donahue had hung up on him. The Assemblyman was left to clean up the counter and his pants.

Howard Saito for his part watched in his penthouse with a flat expression, scratching his chin occasionally. Calmly, he picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said "Bill? Yes, I saw it. I am not angry. I just want to know why we did not know about this, and I want names. Find out who is backing him. I want names before...midnight tonight. Get yourself and your people down to the office now...no, we'll talk more tomorrow. Go now."

[Hittanryan]

Lemay Campaign District Office
Puerto Rojas, Adiron

The morning of the debate, Pauli and Hoover recommended that Holly come in early to the district office at 7. She reacted at first with dismay but quickly acquiesced. To make it to the office at that hour, she had to wake up at about 4 to squeeze her morning routine in. When she started on her morning run, the sky was still black, she had to plot out a well-lit route with streetlights. By the time she finished, there was just enough light in the sky to see by, but the sun had still not yet crested the horizon. Aware that she had to look her best for the debate, she spent nearly an hour just in the shower and on her hair, washing, conditioning, combing, air drying, and spraying. She spent nearly another half hour applying makeup, including eyes, lips, foundation, and various creams and lotions on her skin.

Luckily her wardrobe was largely decided with feedback from her advisors and laid out the night before, or that would have been another ordeal she would have had to fit in before going to the office. Upon thorough inspection in the mirror after getting dressed, she was satisfied with the long-sleeved blue silk button-down blouse and black business skirt they had agreed upon. On this subject, she and her staff had to compromise and haggle a bit, moreso than on any policy issue so far. Upon Pauli suggesting that Holly get fitted for a suit, she had instinctively wrinkled her nose and said "Ew...I hate everything about pantsuits." Pauli happened to be wearing a suit of her own at the time, and Holly very quickly added "Oh, it's a good look for you though..."

Pauli had rather slyly tried to schedule Holly's town hall debate on the same night as the second presidential caucus debate, but Caudill's staff loudly--albeit accurately--complained that the Lemay campaign was trying to sweep the debate under the rug. To save face, Pauli had to pretend to have misheard something. "No, of course we didn't want to do it on the same day as the second debate. I thought that's what you said."

The day before the debate was a mixture of prep and attempts to de-stress. "You can't go on stage if you're all tensed up," Hoover explained. "She's gonna want to play up your inexperience. If you look nervous, she'll go in for the kill and everyone watching will be able to tell." In practice, Holly seemed to be better at managing her stress than Hoover, who was fiddling with his stress ball nearly the entire day. Pauli managed it differently, taking a couple of shots of the bourbon she kept in her bottom drawer at lunch and at 5. For her part, Holly was treating it like a show. She did some yoga during the day, then as the hour drew closer did some vocal warmups and limbered up by dancing a bit to a pop song through her headphones. Aware of how things tended to look on camera, she touched up her makeup one more time as the day went on as well.

The debate was booked in an auditorium at a local convention center. Moderating the debate was the district's local city councilman, an older man with an almost entirely bald head, a white trimmed beard, and a rather slow pace of speech. The two opponents contrasted like oil and water. Caudill never cracked so much as a smile, her somewhat drooping face looking stern and disapproving, her white and dark grey hair in a rather tight bun, and her dark suit tailored but almost wholly devoid of any kind of flair. Holly on the other hand was young, pretty, smiled easily, and wore flattering clothes.

Holly had a few good moments. One of the high points for Holly in the debate was during a question on foreign policy. A veteran had mentioned the peace and asked each of them to sum up their own personal views on foreign policy, and how that would translate into action. Caudill had just given a rather dense list of foreign policy priorities, most of them ripped straight from Al Bluford's platform.

Holly gave an honest, genuine reply. It had admittedly been practiced, but since she had mostly penned it on her own, she could deliver it convincingly. "I know I don't have a lot of experience on foreign policy, so when it came to matters of national security and complex diplomacy, I would generally listen to the advice of my constituency, senior party leadership, and my own advisors. I know I have a lot to learn, and I accept that."

"That said, I saw war up close when I was with ANBC. I saw just a fraction of what it does to people; loved ones lost or hurt, homes destroyed, livelihoods ruined, hunger, disease," she said sadly. "The reason I went into journalism was that there were so many stories that needed to be told which weren't. I want to do more for the least fortunate among us, just like the brave volunteers with Isidium and the Red Cross have been doing. If elected, I want to do whatever I can to help the poor and refugees, including supporting the organizations dedicated to helping them. I think that's something we can all get behind: relief for refugees and the poor around Cornellia, in places like Arcologia, Ashab, New Edom, and others. That is one international issue which I would be prepared to fight for on day one."

On the other hand, for most policy questions she deferred to the rehearsed answers, many of which were noncommittal. A factory worker asked about free trade. Holly said "It's a complex issue. We need to look out for Adiran workers but protectionism could probably hurt them too." She concluded by saying it needed to be examined further. Caudill scoffed that it needed to be examined at all, siding with Bluford's protectionist stance, largely citing the same sources.

A teacher asked about the rising cost of living, specifically local property taxes. Holly tried to relate a personal anecdote about a friend complaining about high property taxes, but she ended up rambling a bit about how she now had to commute from Cambrai. When she got back on script she ended up giving a somewhat vague answer, agreeing that property taxes were too high and that maybe a cap on property tax increases should be considered, but naturally that would be a municipal issue. Caudill took a jab at her, saying "Well, that was a...fascinating story," before suggesting a rather wonkish proposal.

A little bit more than halfway through the debate, Holly ran into trouble. A rough-looking man in bluejeans and a button-down got up to speak. "Good evening uh, everyone, my name is Mike Mendenhall, I'm a member of the Merchant Marine. I work on cargo vessels, along with thousands of other Puerto Rojans. Piracy in Arcologia has been a serious issue the past few years, with attacks becoming more frequent and more violent over the past year. A few different solutions have been tried and proposed. President DeGroot sent a naval task force to the Lesser Diols, New Edom launched a campaign against the Arvo farther west. Since then the attacks have started to slow but they haven't stopped entirely, and piracy's probably going to be an ongoing concern for merchant vessels like the ones I work on. As the MA representing our district here in Puerto Rojas, what approach would you support to fight piracy in Arcologia? Ms. Lemay, you haven't served in elected office before, I'd like you to go first."

Holly seemed to mull over the question a bit longer than normal. As she waited, in the viewing room Pauli looked over at Hoover and realized he had gone pale. "What?" When Hoover didn't respond Pauli went wide-eyed and slapped him on his arm "How could you forget piracy?! You idiot!"

"Well, I saw the stories about what happened to the crews of those ships taken captive. That was terrible, I felt so bad for them," Holly said, expression softening to one of genuine pity and sympathy. "We need to make sure that doesn't happen again. If we can, we should go in and stop the people who did this. Maybe New Edom could help."

The reaction was immediate. The crowd started humming, with a couple chuckles heard. Hoover had to sit down in disbelief. Pauli started pouring a drink. Caudill seized on the opportunity and let loose. "That's ridiculous! New Edom is conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing!" she exclaimed. " I mean, whose side are you really on here, that of the Imperium's ally or the indigenous peoples of Ceti? If anything we should be stopping them."

"But why? They're not going after every tribe, just the one that's been attacking ships, right?"

"I thought you were supposed to know something about New Edom. They're an authoritarian regime with a terrible human rights record. How could you have spent so much time there and learned nothing? Weren't you supposed to have been a journalist? Weren't you paying any attention at all?"

"Wow, I don't know why you're being so rude, Mrs. Caudill," Holly almost scolded her. Pauli facepalmed. "Think about what those poor people taken prisoner went through. Yeah, New Edom might've made some mistakes, and we shouldn't do things exactly the same, but they're trying to help protect sailors."

"Concentration camps are 'some mistakes'?" Caudill asked incredulously.

"Well we should go and make sure the people there are okay," Holly said.

"They won't show us the truth, they'll send inspectors to a Potemkin Village, just like the Imperium," Caudill said dismissively.

Holly didn't seem to know what 'Potemkin Village' meant, so she continued "Um, I think I heard that before he got sick, the President suggested sending the Isidium Foundation. Some candidates for President said the same thing. I think that would be a good idea. New Edom trusts them, like really trusts them. So that's what I'd support."

"And Mrs. Caudill?"

"Obviously we need to stop the Edomites' destructive campaign of ethnic cleansing. We must raise this issue with their government at earliest opportunity, and investigate them through the Human Rights Committee," Caudill proclaimed.

"But how does that stop the pirates?" Holly asked innocently.

"The Navy can stop the pirates! Without bombing women and children," Caudill said, before going into more detail.

The debate continued largely without further incident, Holly giving her lines in an upbeat manner, Caudill consistently giving more detail. Hoover never stopped kneading the stress ball, and Pauli had a couple more drinks. When it was over, Holly and Caudill had to shake hands, the younger candidate smiling in a friendly way while Caudill managed a sort of smirk.

The two candidates did a brief walking meet-and-greet with members of the audience who lingered. Caudill largely walked straight through, only offering a few words to each person who wanted to speak while Holly stopped to chit-chat with several of them. At one point she squatted down to pet a dog who had been brought in, who apparently approved, seeing how when she stopped the dog nudged her hand to continue. She stopped to talk to a young mother with a baby in her arms as well, even getting the baby to laugh with a brief game of peekaboo. There was no immediate post-debate commentary; it wasn't really seen outside of the district and the local news outlet didn't have the analysts on hand to do a breakdown. Pauli and Hoover called Holly to debrief her and congratulate her on keeping it together; she thanked them both then said she was exhausted. The two advisors shared a cab back to their hotel, Hoover ending the night by discouragingly muttering "Goddamn Bitch from the Bay...".

The next day, one of Pauli's staffers approached her. "They're saying some good things in the Tribune about last night." holding up a copy of the Puerto Rojas Tribune opened to one of the back pages.

In no mood for jokes, Pauli snatched the paper out of his hands, sarcastically saying "Yeah, yeah, I bet..." She stopped short as she saw the headline: Lemay Holds Her Own, Caudill Rattled.

Skimming through the article, Pauli caught snippets:

...despite being her first foray into public life, Ms. Lemay demonstrated surprising poise in the debate initially called by Mrs. Caudill...

Caudill seemed flustered at times, belittling Lemay at several points...

When confronted with complex issues, the younger candidate showed humility, acknowledging her relative inexperience while consistently expressing a desire to learn and listen before jumping to conclusions or pursuing new policy.

Caudill as usual went into great detail on her policy platform, and demonstrated intimate knowledge of a number of issues...

...Lemay's debate performance was marred by a lack of clarity on policy, however she did express strong support for international humanitarian causes...

After the debate, Caudill rushed out of the auditorium in an apparent huff, while Lemay stayed behind to chat with voters.

Pauli went to find Hoover, who she found with a copy of the Tribune and his morning coffee. He looked up at her, a confident smirk on his face. "See? I told you we could beat her." Pauli rolled her eyes and tossed her copy of the paper into his lap, but she allowed herself to smile in relief.

[Hittanryan]

On the Campaign Trail
Solus Province

With the second debate over, the SDP candidates hit the road, traveling across country by train, plane, and automobile. Pendergast tended to fly almost everywhere, but made the mistake of flying first-class, a fact quickly noted and publicized by Bluford sympathizers. They didn't give him credit when he switched to coach, either, despite efforts by his supporters to correct them. Rowan took the train for a series of stops on the West Coast, but for the sake of time took a few flights cross-country. Bluford traveled exclusively by train, largely because most of his support base was concentrated on the West Coast. This didn't stop snide pols from speculating it was due to a lack of funds.

Solus Province was just north of Clarke and was an initial stop for several candidates. An ongoing major environmental battle raged in Solus, turning it into battleground province. It all started in 2005, when Thorco announced that its geological surveys had uncovered a potentially large offshore deposit of crude oil on the continental shelf north of the town of Norgate. The Liberal Vanleuven government accordingly ended the short-lived moratorium on offshore drilling. Thorco was cleared to begin drilling exploratory wells, although it would take two years to assemble the oil rigs, move them into position, and drill the wells themselves.

Thorco did not have an easy time of it. Environmental groups and some fishermen's unions opposed the move, with the fishermen claiming that spills could wipe out their livelihoods and the environmental groups arguing that industry environmental practices had not markedly improved since the Delta Oil Spill nearly a decade ago. Their case was aided by several accidents caused by negligence. Hackers managed to obtain company emails which strongly suggested the projected reserves had been intentionally, vastly overstated in order to sell the oilfield politically. Although Thorco did what it could to discredit those documents, claiming that projections had changed since then, the company hit another snag when it completed its first few test wells, which produced far more natural gas than crude oil. Other wells were more productive, but there was now serious skepticism as to the true value of the Norgate operation. Finally, Vanleuven's government collapsed as a result of the Overhauser War in 2006. DeGroot's government was allied with the Greens, reinstating the drilling moratorium and halting further exploration in the Norgate oilfield.

DeGroot hardly had the last word on Norgate, however. The issue became politicized, with Liberals doubling down on their opposition to the drilling moratorium and gaining the support of northern Solus residents who hoped the oilfield would bring jobs, people, and wealth to the area. Many Solus Liberals regarded the environmental groups and unions as outside interlopers and hypocritical champagne socialists who didn't care a whit about their livelihoods. Now in 2016, a year after a major energy crisis, Liberal support in Solus was the strongest it had been in over a decade, with several SDP seats almost guaranteed to turn. The safer Social Democrats were mostly moderates, willing to at least consider the possibility of developing the oilfield as long as its economic benefits could be proven conclusively. According to Solus Liberals, not only was the drilling moratorium hurting their own prospects, but the Norgate Oilfield was something the entire country clearly desperately needed.

Any Social Democrat hoping to pursue a truly national strategy for the party had to manage Solus carefully simply to minimize losses. The debate in Solus was watched carefully by Adirans in other provinces with large primary sectors, including mining in the north and agriculture in southern and central Adiron.

If Al Bluford considered any of that, he didn't seem to care. He took a train straight to Valles Port, Solus' largest city. A good portion of the city, especially near Valles Port State University (VPSU), was an enclave for leftist students, whose patronage supported a number of farm cooperatives, vegetarian restaurants, artsy coffee houses, and a major alternative music scene. Valles Port was also the primary hub for environmentalism and opposition to the Norgate Oilfield in the province. In short, it was ideal Bluford country. The city's shoreline, by contrast, was dominated by Triton Shipyards, Adiron's largest naval dockyard, and Naval Base Valles Port. Blue collar shipyard workers tended to regard the students with disdain, while the military personnel tended to enjoy the nightlife on shore leave thanks to the often-unrestrained hedonism of the student body.

Bluford's venue was Grennell Square near the university. It was a pleasant area at the end of an open air mall with mostly locally-owned small shops, red brick paving stones, cutoff antique lampposts, and trees lining the mall on either side in brilliant yellow and red fall colors. A young crowd was there to greet Bluford on arrival, giving the 75 year old socialist almost a rock star's welcome. He began his speech talking about the usual clashes with the top one percent, with Terranova Street bankers, and a couple of jabs at Pendergast. Eventually, however, he got onto Solus' singular issue.

"Many of you here today have also been at the forefront of one of the most important fights of the twenty-first century, the struggle against man-made climate change and the fossil fuel industry causing it. Adiron must lead the world in combating climate change and transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and sustainability. The debate is over. The scientific community has spoken in a virtually unanimous voice. It is no time for denial, greed, cynicism or pessimism. That means we need to be developing new alternative fuels, not destroying the coastline and fisheries off Norgate by drilling for a dead end energy source. We are not gonna go back, we are gonna move forward," he said, gesturing demonstratively with a raised hand. The crowd cheered, and just like that, Bluford lost the vote of every working class Social Democrat in the province.

Pendergast took nearly the opposite route, eager to move on from his bad week and recoup some of his losses. He mentioned nothing of his speeches or Boggs unless he was asked point-blank, and even then he offered little. Instead, he threw out red meat for the working class Social Democrats spurned by Bluford. He was holding a rally right at the epicenter of the controversy, Norgate, where he booked an outdoor venue at a park overlooking the coastline. The small town's streets ended up clogged with traffic from the surrounding area. It was sunny but a bit windy, although somehow Pendergast's hair stayed perfectly in place.

He began with introductory remarks, all smiles, thanking the hosts, then discussing a bit of his core principles before getting to the elephant in the room. "I'm going to level with you folks now, because I was there myself. In 2010, when he took office, President DeGroot agreed to the drilling moratorium as a concession to the Greens to bring them into his coalition. At the time, I held my tongue, we were trying to form a government after three years of aimlessness, and you have to compromise in these things, especially considering we were on the brink of war. But times change, and we must change with them. When President DeGroot signed the moratorium, there was no FODE cornering the regional oil market. There was no energy crisis hurting millions of Adirans every day. The full impact of new technology in the energy sector wasn't fully understood."

"Now, Al Bluford is down in Valles Port right now..." Pendergast said, raising his hand with a smile as he heard a chorus of disapproving mutterings from the crowd. "...he's telling people who have never been to Norgate that the drilling ban is good, and it needs to stay. George Rowan, admittedly he's at least got the guts to show up north here, but all he's going to do is overthink and talk around things, hedging his bets like he usually does. Me, I think it's a poor Social Democrat indeed who can't bring himself to fight for working people." Applause broke out throughout the audience.

"The moratorium was about politics. It's negotiable. Over the years I can't tell you how many times I've heard the Greens remind us that we need them. Well, they need us too. They needed us to pass the ESS, which, by the way, I fully support and will continue to do so. We also sought reconciliation with the Greens when they broke with us over foreign policy. They cannot accuse the Social Democrats of being unfaithful coalition partners. That means they must be willing to negotiate, starting with lifting the drilling moratorium." Scattered applause broke out once again.

Perhaps shamed by Pendergast lumping him in with Bluford or simply sticking to his goal of reunifying the party, Rowan tried to take the middle ground, walking a very thin tightrope indeed. It wasn't clear if he was successful. He made two stops, a short media appearance in Valles Port, and then a rally in Norgate held at a local museum having been rained out at the park. Rowan started off with a meet-and-greet on the museum floor, mingling with the crowd, listening to people's concerns, before moving into the museum's theater for the rally itself.

"Now, I was lucky enough to talk to a lot of you outside, in fact I wish I had more time. I think I'd like to publicly acknowledge a simple truth here: the Norgate Oilfield does represent an opportunity for you and your communities. One gentleman I talked to, his name is Louis from right here in Norgate...where is he?" Rowan said, eventually spotting a man waving. "Louis, you said it represents jobs, good jobs that you can raise a family on. I also talked to Nadia, she's a teacher over in Hemet, who said that she's been teaching for twenty years, watching children grow up, graduate, and then leave Hemet. She said it's because there aren't more good jobs here. They have to leave this part of the province if they want to make it on their own, and it's chipping away at the community. And you know what? You are absolutely right to be concerned about that. As Social Democrats we shouldn't just be writing all that off."

"Now, that doesn't mean Thorco can just do whatever they want. I want clean air, clean water for everybody, and I think most of you would agree. After all, what good is a new industry if it's going to endanger your health or ruin other peoples' livelihoods? If Thorco can't or won't exercise due diligence, then they need to be held liable for any accidents. Balance is the key: balance the need to conserve our natural resources with economic growth. That is what our regulatory process is supposed to do."

"If elected, I would open talks with Green leaders about how best to minimize the risks by establishing and diligently enforcing proper standards and practices for the industry. My energy strategy is a bit of all of the above, even if it means negotiating over the moratorium. Last year's energy crisis demonstrated how important oil remains to the Adiran economy as well as its national security. We have to take that seriously, and we shouldn't squander economic opportunities. At the same time, I also think that renewable energy is our best long-term hope, and that human-caused climate change is a serious issue. That's why my party will continue to partner with the Greens in promoting renewable energy; there is plenty of work to be done still on that front."

With these appearances finished, the candidates quickly had to touch base with their local campaign organizations and then move onto their next stops. The caucus would be here before they knew it.

[Hittanryan]

Lyon Theater
New Laconia, Adiron

The Liberal Party debate took place at the Lyon Theater, situated on the coastline and looking out onto the ocean. It was an Old Ceti building, a philanthropic effort by a retiring railroad man and patron of the arts named Philip Lyon. By the end of the Civil War it had been thoroughly looted, but the structure was still largely sound. After restoration it hosted concerts, plays, and the opera for New Laconia's upper crust, including members of the government.

Both Saito and Donahue appeared confident, as though each of them had it in the bag. Saito beamed a smile, waving to the crowd until he approached the podium and straightened his tie. Donahue was managing a cocky smirk without seeming too warm. Donahue's hair looked slightly darker than the last time he had appeared, and it seemed slicked back with just a bit more grease than usual. As with the SDP debates, the party chair served as moderator. Matthew Alonzo was largely the opposite in appearance of Erina Madrigal, being male, grey-haired, wrinkled, and slight in build. He nevertheless carried himself with esteem and authority in his capacity.

After the introductory remarks, the fireworks started with the very first question. Clearing his throat, Alonzo began. "Mr. Donahue, you launched this challenge to Mr. Saito's leadership mere days before this debate. You have not previously held public office, nor expressed a desire to do so. Many voters are asking: why have you decided to run for the Liberal party leadership at this time?"

Donahue pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. "I have great respect for Howard. No one has more respect for Howard than me. For twenty years, though, Liberals have been wanting to pick up where Velez left off. Howard, what have you done to get us there as Opposition Leader? We still have these ridiculous taxes on businesses and top earners, punishing success, discouraging investment. Our companies, which could've been the greatest in Cornellia, are held back by all this pointless red tape. Our national debt keeps growing."

"The reason why DeGroot lasted so long and got so much through was that there's no Opposition. Our Opposition doesn't oppose. I couldn't tell you what it's been doing, because we've got nothing to show for Howard's entire leadership of the Liberal Party. This war in Arcologia for instance, that never would've happened the way it did if I had been party leader at the time."

"Opposition Leader, would you care to respond?" Alonzo asked.

"I'm willing to let the inaccuracies in Mr. Donahue's statement go," Saito said genially, all smiles. "After all, Troy, you did not have access to the same intelligence that I did. It's not your fault that you could not know what was at stake at the time."

"What's at stake?" Donahue said incredulously."Howard, under your leadership, on your advice, our party just sat by and watched--or even supported--all these military adventures. You told our party to vote to intervene in Arcologia, and now look where we are, because you were weak, because you caved. You should've stopped it."

"I'm not in the habit of putting partisan politics before country," Saito said, tone shifting for the serious. "In 2014, the Imperium had just invaded Arcologia. The intelligence community had established a link between Badlands Security and the Urdnot regime. There were direct threats to the Adiran people and our economy. Our party therefore voted in favor of a limited intervention in Arcologia. What we didn't vote for was this mismanaged proxy war that the government started down there. After 2014 the government ignored our input on Arcologia, allowing things to fall apart until the Palisades Crisis and the latest violence in the Diols broke out."

"What did you expect?" Donahue asked pointedly. "Of course they ignored you after 2014, they didn't need you! And if you complained they could just come back with 'well, you voted for it.' In fact, when anybody came out against the war, DeGroot would just come out there on Question Time and talk about how it had 'bipartisan support.'"

"So, Troy, you are saying I am responsible for the President misrepresenting his support in the Assembly? Do I have that right?" Saito asked bemusedly.

"Yes," Donahue said flatly.

"All right, just making sure," Saito said.

"You gave him a blank check. You didn't hold his feet to the fire, and by the way, this isn't just about Arcologia. We've got troops all over Acheron now. What stakes were there? What's in it for us in New Othman, Peregrino, or New Edom? What are we doing there and why'd you roll over?" Donahue pressed.

"Troy, you're blatantly ignoring that we publicly opposed many aspects of those interventions, and in the case of Peregrino, in its entirety, from the outset. However, if I may follow up to the Chair's question: all you have done so far is attacked me. Although that might make for good TV, I would like to know what actual policies and strategy you would pursue were you in my position. Be specific."

"On policy, you've been fine, Howard. You know I support the Liberal platform one hundred percent. The difference between you and me is that I'm gonna get stuff done," Donahue proclaimed rather proudly, finger raised in the air for emphasis.

"And what does that mean, Troy?" Saito asked.

"It means we are going to keep our eye on the ball and start winning again," Donahue said as though it were obvious.

"How are you going to do that?" Saito pressed.

Waving a hand, Donahue said "Look, I'm not going to let the details bog me down for now."

"In other words, you don't know," Saito admonished.

"Look, I've been making deals my whole career, important deals which have made me and my company a tremendous amount of money," Donahue said.

"I have too, and not once did I ever go into a deal without a plan," Saito argued. "If you end up in Opposition you're not setting policy, you're keeping the government in check. How would you do that? How do you stay relevant so the government doesn't simply disregard us? Do you have a strategy to support down-ballot tickets and win back seats? Or, let's say we are elected to a majority, you'll need to form and manage a coalition. Who would you approach? What would you offer?"

"I appreciate your passion for our cause, Troy, but if you haven't thought any of this through, then you are not prepared for this responsibility," Saito concluded.

Kevin Urrutia and Larry Tsai were watching apprehensively for any more off-message moments from their candidate. In their own viewing room, Saito's campaign manager Nicole Ibarra was nodding, clearly satisfied, while his political advisor, exhausted from an all-night session of opposition research, was looking on with a furrowed brow. On the other side of the aisle, Alan Cruise gleefully remarked to Dana Snyder that this was only the first question, crunching away on some potato chips.

[Hittanryan]

Boulevard Pub
Puerto Rojas, Adiron

The starkly-named Boulevard Pub was decidedly not where freshmen college students went to black out or where yuppies went to be seen drinking the latest wine. The interior was largely brick and hardwood, well-worn in places. There were no frills whatsoever. The fanciest items in the bar were a couple of large flatscreen TVs in the corner with a different football game on each. Occasionally someone would shout out the name of a player, either out of excitement or exasperation. There was also a dartboard and a couple of pool tables in the corner, All of the seats, with the exception of the barstools, were wooden chairs at round wooden tables. If you wanted food, they had mixed nuts, chips, egg rolls, and wings. Anything fancier than that, they would direct you to a pizza place a few doors down. Most of the establishment's clientele consisted of middle and working class joes, young and old, looking to unwind over a beer or two after work rather than party hard. It was rare that a group of rowdy college students stormed the place; usually these would turn out to be out-of-towners. The Pub's reputation as a "dad bar" preceded it to the point that it was largely avoided by all of the local students. An old classic rock song was playing over a speaker system set up around the bar, not so loud that you would have to shout too loud over it.

One of the younger regulars was Assemblyman Tom Alvarado, who had frequented the place since he came here on leave as an enlisted man. Making his way inside wearing a button-down and khakis, there were a couple of double takes but most others didn't really blink. A number of people stopped him and started chatting him up. Several of these only lasted a matter of seconds, talk about football scores and such. A heckler was rather quickly talked over by one of these. Some of them were introductions, Tom introducing himself or being introduced to a friend of a friend, listening to concerns or various stories. Several of the people Tom spoke to conveniently had a problem that he was well-positioned to solve, or at least claimed to be.

"Hank, why don't you drop by the office tomorrow and we'll get that zoning thing off your back, all right?" he offered one man before offering a smile and a handshake.

"Listen, I'll talk to the Commissioner first thing...no, no, he owes me, don't worry," he said, raising a hand to assure him.

"Tell you what, I was going to see Art this week, do you want me to say something to him?" he asked another man, spreading his hands.

After several minutes of shaking hands and trading favors, he said a few words to the bartender, who also seemed to know him. After a moment the barkeep handed him a pint glass with a darker-looking porter.

Tom managed to muster up a parade voice to cut through the noise of the bar. A few people largely ignored him, but he generally commanded enough of a presence to get their attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I might take a moment of your time as one of your elected representatives, I'd like to make a shameless political plug..." he said, looking around the bar and hearing a number of shouts of approval with a couple of boos "...by sincerely thanking you for seeing fit to send me to the Assembly. For that honor, I'd like to buy you all a round of drinks."

"What if I'm a Liberal?" a heckler shouted from the back.

"Well I don't see Isabel Petersen in here buying..." Tom said as he pretended to look around, referring to the district's Liberal MA. "...so you're stuck with me, I'm afraid." There were a few chuckles.

With that, Tom began low-key campaigning, same as he'd done down at the Fourth Regiment's Club the day before. As Tom mingled he struck up conversations with people. Al was tasked with trailing behind him, trying to jot down anything he might be able to use in the election. He struck up a conversation with a group of middle-aged joes at a table.

"I don't know Assemblyman," said a white-bearded man named Bill, motioning to him with his bottle. "They say you're in bed with the Edomites, have been for years."

"I wouldn't put it that way. Before I even got elected, I mouthed off to Perrin Pahath-Moab," Tom said glibly.

"What?" Bill asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "Where'd you meet him?

"I was on Ambassador Friedman's staff, I ended up tagging along on business to New Edom and I met the guy before the second civil war," Tom explained.

"What'd you say?"

"I may have insinuated that he bought his commission. Uh, for the record, he did not," Tom replied.

Bill looked skeptical. "No offense, Assemblyman, I think you're full of it." The rest of the table laughed.

"That is a true story, one hundred percent. If you don't believe me, you can ask the queen of New Edom," Tom said, putting up a hand like he was swearing on it.

"Oh sure, I'll just call her up," Bill replied with a smile. "So I guess that means you're to blame for FODE."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Tom said jokingly.

"Maybe you shoulda slept with him," one of the other guys joked, prompting laughter from both Tom and the rest of the table.

"Listen, I'll go get shot at for a couple more years, but there are some things even I won't do in the name of public service," Tom joked.

Other times his constituents came up to him. The last constituent he interacted with in an official capacity that night was a tall, thickly-bearded man in a t-shirt and cargo shorts who approached him about public transit. In truth the man didn't seem like he entirely belonged, and Tom suspected that he had tracked him down. However, Tom wasn't about to say that.

"RP Bike is always coming up short on bikes on weekends," the man was saying, referring to Puerto Rojas' bicycle sharing program. "It's obviously popular." Despite speaking to Tom, his elected representative, the man was speaking as though everything he was saying was already self-evident.

"Of course," Tom said, doing his best to look interested after having already heard the man's pitch a few times already and having already promised repeatedly to look into the matter.

"So not only does RP Bike need more bikes and more stations, I think every big city would benefit from it, and I think there should be a national effort in the Assembly," the man was saying. "The ESS only got the groundwork laid, it hasn't really expanded it since then. For every public bike on the road, that's one less person driving or one less person using public transit..."

Tom continued to appear as though he was listening intently when he felt a hand on his shoulder and someone leaning into him. A familiar voice talked right over Tom's, saying "Listen, don't listen to a word this guy says. Don't vote for him. He's a lawyer and a scumbag..."

It was a tall, husky man with short dirty blond hair who reeked of cigar smoke. "This is how they teach us to say 'hello' in the Army," Tom said before introducing the constituent to the man. "Kyle, Rob Brewer."

Brewer managed to throw the conversation off enough with gossip and talk about the latest football game that the cyclist shook hands with Tom, made one last pitch, and walked off. Tom discreetly thanked Brewer and invited him to join him at the bar for a drink, seeing how he'd missed the first round. They started catching up, Brewer talking about his new job as a programmer, some of the spark going out of his marriage, before they moved onto Tom.

"Yeah, I saw the bullshit you had to put up with," Brewer was saying about Tom's political fortunes. "I mean these reporters don't fuckin' know you, man."

"So, at least I can still count on your vote, huh?" Tom asked.

"Uh, I moved across town, man. I don't think I'm in your district anymore," Brewer replied.

"Oh. Well, shit. Now what am I gonna do?" Tom joked. "Where you live now?"

"Over on South Page," Rob replied.

"Ah, I think that's...4th District? Who's there, Faulk?"

"Yeah, him and the fucker who went to prison," Rob said with a grin.

"Oh shit, Quintanilla," Tom said, chuckling. "You know, if you look at the guy, those sunglasses are never gonna turn him into Cliff Westwood."

"Maybe if you went into one of those old-fashioned hall of mirrors, you might be able to get it close," Rob said.

"Yeah...so we're not just giving the seat up, are we? Who's running?" Tom asked.

"One of Quintanilla's old rivals came out of the woodwork, and then there's some newbie. So we've got Anne Caudill and Holly Lemay," Rob said, struggling a bit to recall their names.

Tom shook his head. "Never heard of either of them."

"Surprised you haven't been keeping tabs on Lemay," Rob said.

"Why?"

Digging a battered smartphone out of his pocket, Rob said "Well, because here's a picture of her."

No sooner had he given the picture a full inspection then thoughts of Sarah came flooding back. Where was she now? Was she all right? Had she written him off as a mistake? To humor Rob he managed to nod approvingly and say "Not bad..."

"Not bad? Look at those eyes. She probably has to remind guys 'hey, my tits are down here,'" Rob joked, chuckling.

"I don't think she has to remind anyone," Tom replied and took another drink, eager to change the subject.

Rob sensed Tom's mood and looked him dead in the eye. "You're still hung up on this chick, huh?"

"Huh?"

"You gotta get over this shit, man," Rob said, patting Tom on the shoulder with enough force to knock someone off balance. "I mean, I liked her too, but face it, she's an Edomite. It's never gonna work. They got all their weird naked Christian bullshit, and they're in bed with the fuckin' Imps."

"Tell you what, I'll do you a favor and vote for Lemay so you can get a crack at her. Work on some binding resolutions together, if you know what I mean," Rob said.

"Yeah I'm sure she's single," Tom said sardonically.

"So? Never stopped you before," Rob joked before looking up. He nudged Tom with his elbow and gestured with his chin towards the door. "Hey...those guys look familiar?"

"For fuck's sake..." Tom said with a wide smile. Five guys, all of whom had been in Tom and Rob's circle of friends in the Army, had just walked in the door and were fast approaching them.

"Say guys, Tommy looks like he's in a rut," Rob said, pretending to study him.

"I'm not in a rut," Tom protested.

"Look at him, don't he look like he's in a rut?" Rob asked the group, ignoring Tom.

"Sure does, Brewer," said a bearded, wiry man nicknamed "Retriever" for an unlucky incident involving a practice grenade during weapons training.

"Big shot lawyer, Assemblyman, and he's in a rut. Ain't that the saddest thing you ever saw?" Rob asked rhetorically.

"Break your heart," Retriever said.

"Hey, boys, you know, I think I know just what can cheer him up. A bit of sugar and spice. I can think of three: Candy, Cinnamon, and Ginger..." The guys started shouting in rowdy approval.

"You horny bastards are still going there?"

"Oh come on, Tom, you're breaking the girls' hearts, they miss you!" Rob proclaimed.

"You guys are lucky they don't accept credit cards," Tom remarked.

"One of 'em declined mine when I swiped it," one of the guys piped up in the back.

"Come on, you're done with your PR, send your boy home and let's go,"

"Yeah, real great idea when you're running a campaign..." Tom said sarcastically.

"And all this moping around won't win you any votes either," Rob said. "No excuses, you're single again, you're going."

Reluctantly, Tom acquiesced, sending Al home, then rising to his feet, nodding and giving a hand signal to lead the way. Quickly he was ushered out to a waiting car.

'Shit...' Tom thought.

[Hittanryan]

Nine to Five
Delta Region
Hongbei, Hongnan, and Sunjiang Provinces

After Solus, the candidates swung south of Clarke Province into Adiron's industrial heartland. The three states of Hongbei, Hongnan, Sunjiang were known colloquially as the Delta after the branches of the Markovnikov River which either flowed through them or met the sea on their coastlines. Old Ceti had once relied on the Delta for oil, and the region had been one of the most industrialized parts of western Ceti. When the oil wells started to run dry, it sent shockwaves through the Cetan economy and hastened the nation's collapse.

In the 21st century, the Delta faced a new set of challenges. Although the service sector was the primary driver of the Adiran economy, the nation still sported a substantial manufacturing base, a good deal of which was in the Delta. Trade and automation, however, were creating a great deal of uncertainty, and were among Delta voters' primary concerns now that the peace deal threatened to open the floodgates to cheap Imperial-made goods and components. The Delta was also densely populated with numerous cities, with tens of millions of votes on the line. It was therefore imperative for each of the candidates to make a strong showing in the area.

Pendergast was still largely reeling from the damaging revelations in the press, and was eager to avoid those topics whenever possible and rehabilitate his image. In the Delta, much as he had in Solus, he tried to improve his image with working class Social Democrats. The result was one of those awkward-looking tours of a Rotary Energy factory floor in Leadville, Hongbei, which was owned by an old friend of Pendergast who set the whole thing up after a phone call. The plant was a sprawling complex which manufactured the components of steam turbines for use in nuclear power plants, hydroelectric generators, and increasingly wind turbine engines. Some of the smaller generators were also assembled on-site and shipped. An industrial rail spur also ran through the factory, connecting it to national freight lines. For an industrial workplace, it was relatively tidy, with clean concrete floors and a minimum of clutter. A considerable portion of the work was automated, with a number of robotic arms servicing the main assembly lines. Most of the human-operated workstations, which were off to one side, were manned by skilled operators such as welders, machinists, electricians, and pipefitters.

Pendergast wore a suit with a yellow hard hat, trying his best to look interested. They were making their way down the assembly line, which was largely automated. He started asking about the machinery to keep other people talking while he nodded and looked as though he was listening intently. It seemed to be going well enough until Pendergast approached a device that appeared to be a couple of metal boxes with a monitor on it and said "Ah, and what might this do?"

The foreman looked confused a moment before saying "Uh, that's a desk, Assemblyman." Pendergast furrowed his brow and gave it a second look, realizing there was a chair behind it just out of view and a filing cabinet just to the side. The foreman explained further "Yeah, that's just the computer that runs the uh, assembly line."

"Right...of course," Pendergast said, thoroughly embarrassed. He tried to play it off with a joke. "Getting old. You know what they say, mind's the first thing to go..."

Regardless of whatever hiccups happened inside, he managed to get some decent photo ops. There was one picture of him in front of several assembled wind turbines in a row. Another featured Pendergast standing, smiling confidently with about fifty of the factory workers, all dressed for work. He did not mention free trade; he was advised that simply mentioning it would simply reopen the whole can of worms of the speeches all over again. Pendergast's campaign didn't spend much time the Delta, seemingly eager to move onto his home turf: the financial center of Puerto Rojas.

Bluford took nearly the exact opposite approach. He didn't bother taking a factory tour engineered to make him look better, nor did he attempt to fraternize in a disingenuous way with the workers. Instead he did what he knew: held a rally on university campus. Rather than going to management, his campaign went to the unions to try to publicize it. It worked to an extent. A majority of those present at Bluford's rally were employed in the manufacturing sector. On the other hand, a considerable number of leftist students also showed up.

Generally speaking Bluford made the same points he usually did, but he did focus on one policy which spoke to the crowd in particular: free trade. Gesticulating as was his custom, he said "For over twenty years, our disastrous trade policy has been hollowing out our working class. I do not believe in unfettered free trade. I believe in fair trade which works for the middle class and working families, not just large multinational corporations. In the nineties, I was marching on the streets in opposition to the Velez Tariff. We heard people tell us how many jobs would be created. I didn't believe that for a second because I understood what the function of free trade is, it's to say to Adiran workers, hey, you are now competing against people in the Imperium who make less than a dollar an hour minimum wage." The entire audience, as opposed to just the students, broke out into applause. This was the only time this happened however. Only the Bluford party faithful seemed convinced of his other, more radical ideas.

Apparently the Bluford campaign ran into some kind of organizational difficulties just after this, however. A second rally at a Delta region university had to be cancelled due to a scheduling conflict; somehow most of Bluford's senior staff had a date wrong for a media appearance on ANBC. Those looking forward to seeing him felt snubbed. The crowd at a third rally ended up populated entirely by students; apparently the local unions failed to get word out to their members in time. Maybe it was a miscommunication, but rumors suggested that some of the union leaders in question were not necessarily as sympathetic to the aging socialist as the candidate might have assumed.

Aware that Pendergast was vulnerable on trade and Bluford was still just a bit out there, Rowan's campaign made several stops. He did hold a few more traditional rallies, but he also appeared at the opening of a large new expansion to PhiCell's main lithium-ion battery plant in Hill Valley, Sunjiang. Awash in fresh business from the electric vehicle boom, PhiCell doubled the plant's production capacity and hired nearly a thousand new workers. As a result of the expansion, PhiCell projected that the price of their batteries would fall by ten to twenty percent, which would further accelerate the growth of electric vehicles throughout the country.

Rowan was there to cut the proverbial red ribbon and make a few remarks before an assembled crowd of factory workers. "I remember reading about when they broke ground here. Since PhiCell built it with ESS subsidies, Howard Saito and his friends were hopping mad, saying it was a waste of taxpayer dollars, that it wasn't viable. Well, look at it now," he said, turning and motioning to the new building. "This is the kind of thing Adirans are capable of when we put our minds to it. This is the future."

The last stop was at a job fair at a convention center in Lishan, a smaller city in western Hongnan Province. The area had been hit economically by a one-two punch of the energy crisis and a Sky Appliances plant sharply downsizing its staff. Sky had outsourced the production of most of its cheaper components to several countries with cheap labor. The remainder of the production process was being automated steadily, which had resulted in waves of layoffs.

At the job fair Rowan didn't give a big speech. Instead he mingled, looking for common ground and grievances. He met a number of people anxious about the future, frustrated at the trend towards globalization, and willing to talk. Rowan was careful not to make the conversations about him, instead talking about policies, ideas, and opportunities while sympathizing with their troubles.

"How many job fairs have there been since the last round of layoffs?"

"...I see, well I'm actually going over to Christine West's office tomorrow. I'll mention that to her, see if there's anything we can do."

"Well it was good talking to you, good to meet you. You said you worked with machine tools? Well I don't know the details, but I think that gentleman right over there is looking for someone like you..."

"Yes, I was serious when I suggested raising some tariffs. I want to be smart about it though. I want to keep Adiran jobs here, not just hurt Main Street with a tax hike."

"The Imperium? Look, assuming we even end the embargo, they're not getting a free trade agreement or anything of the sort. Any company that goes there is looking at taxes and tariffs, I can promise you that at the very least."

[Hittanryan]

Political Capital
ANBC Political Talk Show

(An older news anchor with greying hair and a full, neatly trimmed white beard appears on screen in front of a morning Puerto Rojas skyline)

"Good morning and welcome to the Political Capital Caucus Roundtable. I'm Jeff Chapman. Our guests today are two contenders for the Presidency from very different backgrounds."

(The camera cuts to John Pendergast, who is smiling confidently, looking relaxed and in his element, shoulders back and hands in his lap. Chapman continues to speak.)

"From the SDP we have John Pendergast, a longtime Assembly veteran and Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee."

(Camera cuts to an unsmiling Troy Donahue, his lips pursed and chin in the air. His posture seems like that of a coiled snake, looking as though he's bracing himself on the table)

"Representing the Liberals with us today is retired Focus CEO Troy Donahue, who is running for public office for the first time this year."

(Camera cuts to a shot of two middle-aged regular contributors seated at the table with the rest)

"We'll also be joined by two of our regular contributors, political commentator Carmen Fletcher and ANBC National Security Analyst Neil Zimmerman. Gentlemen, and Carmen, thank you all for being here today.

(The camera shifts now to whoever is speaking)

So, Mr. Donahue, Assemblyman Pendergast..."

"Just John's fine, Jeff," Pendergast says amiably.

"All right. You've both joined the race under what I would call interesting circumstances. One year ago, I don't think anybody could have predicted how this election would turn out. John, your party lost its leader to pneumonia; Tavish DeGroot is the first Adiran president to be incapacitated in office and transfer power to his Vice President, who is not seeking the Presidency. Mr. Donahue, you've joined the race as a dark horse, surprising everyone including your own party by challenging Howard Saito. How and when did each of you decide to run?"

Donahue puffed out his chest to talk. "As you know, I'm not a politician. I officially retired two years ago, I could've stayed there, I just built a new house. Now, it's sad, but Howard Saito just isn't a fighter, he's got no energy. He's a great guy, tremendous success with his company, listens to his constituents--I was one of them before I moved--but he's just not a good party leader. I paid attention to what's going on in this country because I love this country, and I saw DeGroot and the socialists mucking it up. We had an energy crisis for no reason, no reason but him being stubborn and short-sighted. Then we get invaded? We're a joke now. I couldn't stand by any longer. It's stupid, what they've been doing. Stupid, plain and simple, and I don't see that you or any of the others on your ticket are gonna be any different," Donahue said, pointing at Pendergast. "We've got to stop these stupid socialist policies and start winning again."

At a glance, it isn't clear that Pendergast has even heard Donahue. His expression remains calm and secure in himself. "Well, Jeff, I'm afraid there wasn't really a sudden epiphany, if that's what you're asking. It was basically the result of a lot of discussion and consideration. When President DeGroot went to the ICU I was just as shocked as the rest of the country. I really believed in what the President was doing. Even if we didn't agree on every single policy, I had full confidence in his leadership. Despite the divisions within our party, I expected the President to be able to heal them. Then, just like that, he was gone," he said, a bit sadly. "Naturally, I was worried and so was the party. I spoke with a number of my colleagues in the Assembly about how we were going to handle it. Next thing I knew I found myself leading those discussions and speaking to Chairwoman Madrigal, until finally someone suggested that I put my name in the ring myself. At the time I remember almost laughing. It was my staff who finally convinced me when I mentioned it to them. They told me we had the resources, the rest just depended on me."

Fletcher then comments "Well I have to admit, I've been wondering if leadership challenges weren't on the way for a while now. President DeGroot was a popular wartime leader, but eventually new security concerns cropped up and he just sort of found himself caught up in events rather than leading them. There's still serious controversy over the peace deal he negotiated. There are divisions within his party and his coalition, and if you think back that's how Ridgeway and Russell were brought down as well. At the same time, on the Liberal side, Opposition Leader Saito couldn't dislodge DeGroot even with all of this. He's now at the 2016 general saying 'okay, now's our chance.' It's not unreasonable to say he's been ineffectual and expect a spill."

Zimmerman adds "And the issues at hand all come back to national security, too. Oil, the border, Arcologia, terrorism, even things like piracy, human rights, and New Edom in the Diols. When those kinds of big things creep up on you, there are going to be political ramifications. We're seeing that in candidacies like Al Bluford's and your own challenge to Saito, Mr. Donahue."

"Look if there's one thing Howard and I agree on, it's that this government has not kept its promise of keeping us safe," Donahue begins. "We got tax hikes, military interventions, failed containment, all supposed to keep us safe, and we still got invaded. I mean look folks, how can we have the security DeGroot promised when we've got an absolute mess just to our south?"

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Troy," Pendergast says sincerely, prompting Donahue and Zimmerman to look at him bemusedly. "Instability in Arcologia led to war with the Imperium. It's a tinderbox down there. One wrong move today could be a spark that sets off another conflict years from now. That's why before we make any changes in policy, we need to gather intelligence, do some fact-finding, and in the meantime keep things stable enough so we have enough breathing room to do that. If the whole place is in a state of flux constantly we'll always be a step behind the situation on the ground."

"I'd like to bring up another issue on most Adirans' minds: energy," Fletcher says. "It was heavily featured in the SDP debates and in their campaign stops in Solus. We haven't heard as much about it in the Liberal camp though, so I think now's a good chance to discuss it now that we have Mr. Donahue here."

"My position's not complicated," Donahue says, gesturing. "We have oil that we're not allowed to use because of really stupid regulations. There's a huge oil deposit off of Norgate, we can't use it because we might hurt some seagulls or something. Fracking could bring back the Delta oilfields from a hundred years ago, we can't do that because it might leak. Then you say 'if we don't have our own oil, we'll have to buy it from FODE,' and they say 'no, you can't do that either, put this vegetable oil in your car instead at $20 a liter.' Of course we're gonna get an energy crisis that way. We need to open up our drilling laws. There could be all kinds of oil where we just haven't looked for it before, or haven't been allowed to look for it before."

It looks like Donahue is finished, and Pendergast starts to speak. "We face significant challenges in energy. Some of our party's policies might need to be reexamined, others however are already starting to bear fruit--"

"No, you've been a total failure on this," Donahue abruptly interrupts, trying to talk over Pendergast, finger in the air. "All the socialists did on energy was prop up their buddies and cause an energy crisis--"

At this, however, Pendergast puts a hand on Donahue's arm and says "Yeah, hang on a second, Troy." Surprisingly, Donahue stops talking, stiffening and glancing down at Pendergast's hand for a brief moment.

"The drilling moratorium in its current form is a one size fits all policy adopted during a time when oil imports were basically a given. The geopolitical situation has changed since then with the creation of FODE. There's also new technology which potentially gives us access to new sources of domestic oil. It's just a question of setting proper standards for it. Also, if you think about it, we're not exactly reducing our environmental impact if we buy all our oil from nations with terrible environmental records like the Imperium. Really we're just outsourcing our pollution that way. As demand increases, they expand their dirty operations. So you have to question how much good the blanket drilling ban is really doing now, and I think it should be modified."

"On the other hand, the ESS helped fuel--no pun intended--the growth of renewable fuels, high fuel efficiency standards, and the electric vehicle industry. That means good-paying jobs and the growth of startup businesses, both important to the economy. Newer technologies are becoming more affordable. Our civilian oil consumption actually fell nationwide from 2014 to 2015 before the energy crisis."

(The debate continues on much like this for the next half hour)

[Hittanryan]

The Night Before

The candidates continued campaigning right up until the caucuses, making stops around the country. All of them toured the West Coast, including the Tri-City Area, Puerto Rojas, and Isidium. Pendergast and Rowan both made stops in the Tharsis Plains region, where Pendergast's comments on natural resources in Solus had helped him out with agricultural workers. Rowan continued on alone to Adir and Plainterre where he met with General Anderson and visited two Army bases.

Pendergast's appearance on Political Capital turned out to be just what he needed to stabilize his position. After weathering a few days of negative press coverage and attacks from his rivals, Pendergast had reminded everyone just why he was the front runner. Anxieties were building in the Social Democratic camp over either of the Liberals' possible leaders. One was the familiar shrewd political operator who had hounded DeGroot for years, the other was a reviled firebrand who had seemingly built a political career on conspiracy theories and hurling invective. Saito as President would be bad enough, but Donahue would be abysmal. Although some idealists wanted someone like Bluford, a majority of Social Democrats wanted a serious candidate who could handle either Saito or Donahue. Once he turned on his old charm, Pendergast demonstrated he could do just that, deflecting and disarming Donahue publicly. The episode also boosted support for Saito among Liberals, since it didn't look like Donahue would be able to handle the presumptive SDP nominee.

As far as Pendergast's scandals were concerned, they started to work their way out of the news cycle and his slide in the polls halted. At a rally in Puerto Rojas Pendergast even referenced the stories obliquely. "Listen, the voters deserve to know the truth about their candidates. The press is doing exactly what it's supposed to in a free and open society. And I must say, it must've taken some really fine reporting. Now, you the voters have the full story and I've had a chance to clarify things."

By midnight of the day of the SDP caucuses, the party's candidates were back in the capital and had finished their final rallies and media appearances. In a matter of hours the polls would open and voters registered as members of the Social Democratic Party would vote for delegates to send to the National Caucus in New Laconia. Those delegates in turn would elect the party leader by a majority vote. If no majority was reached in the first round, the candidate with the fewest delegates would be eliminated and there would be a runoff. The losing candidate's delegates can either pledge to another candidate or abstain, removing themselves from the running and reducing the total number of delegates. If no majority is reached after the first runoff, successive runoffs are held under the same rules as the first until a majority is reached by a single candidate.

Each candidate responded differently. Pendergast was assured of his lead, and by midnight he was brushing his teeth, getting ready for bed at his house in the suburbs. Walking back into his bedroom, his wife was laying his suit out for him tomorrow. She just happened to be bending over, so he gave her a playful pinch. He'd run into a few scrapes along the way, to be sure, but the polls showed that even at his absolute weakest showing he would still beat Rowan by five points. Bluford's delegates, Pendergast's staff was convinced, were naive enough to abstain in protest, and that would be enough to give Pendergast the nomination. By midnight Bluford himself, pushing 75, had already taken his medications and gone to bed an hour ago.

Rowan and his staff, meanwhile, were burning the midnight oil at his campaign headquarters. He had just flown in from Plainterre where he'd been scrounging for votes and now he was going over polls with Ober, Snyder, and Cruise.

"Well, there's finally some numbers I'd be more willing to trust, if you want to trust the polls," Snyder said.

"I wouldn't take them as gospel, but I'm not brave enough to ignore them either," Rowan commented.

"Nobody has John as high as he was two weeks ago, but...the polls still have him five to fifteen points ahead of us..." Snyder said.

"Fifteen?" Ober said incredulously.

"It's just a couple of poll numbers, Dale," Rowan reassured him.

"And not many of them at that. He could be within five. Still...there's no way we get to fifty percent of the vote," Cruise said.

"Good news is that John's not likely to either," Snyder pointed out. "Cole's likely to get...five to ten percent and his people will go to us during the first runoff. If John's lead is narrow...might be enough."

"Might. What about Al?" Rowan asked.

Cruise shook his head, Snyder sighed. "Already talk of abstentions," Snyder said.

"Buncha crybabies," Ober remarked bitterly.

"Agreed, but we might need some of Bluford's people," Rowan pointed out.

"You won't get them without scratching his back," Cruise warned.

"What do you think their price will be?" Rowan asked.

"Something like a Cabinet post," Cruise said.

"Posts," Snyder corrected, emphasizing the plural. "Or you can give one to Al himself."

"I don't want him where he can do any damage," Rowan said. "Labor and Environment. That speaks to their issues."

Snyder said "Not enough. They'll have leverage; either we give them what they want, or John clinches it. Conceivably they'll want State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General--"

"No," Rowan said firmly. "I'm not trusting that crowd with anything that important."

"We might not have a choice," Snyder cautioned.

"I'm not going to commit to that unless we're about to lose it," Rowan said. "What about John's people? We don't need to convince too many of them."

"I think his delegates are locked in tighter than the chastity belt on a Cardinal's daughter," Cruise said. "They know they just need to wait out the runoffs."

Rowan massaged his temples a moment and said "All right...let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've done everything we can so far. Let's all get some sleep. Whatever happens though, I want you all to know how grateful I am to all of you. I think we've waged the strongest campaign we could, and even if we don't make it tomorrow, we'll be in a good position for next time."

"Aw, you're gonna make me tear up, boss," Cruise said chidingly. "It ain't over till the fat lady sings."

[New Edom]

New Edomite Journalists
New Laconia

Adam Tached, from the Fineberg Times, had bought a falafel sandwich and sat on a bench munching on it as he read a newspaper about the recent summation of the debates. He was quite interested, and now and then flakes of his food fell on the newspaper as was normal in his country. Then you crumple it up and throw it away. Probably birds or stray dogs would get it.

He wore a grey suit, a light green tie, razaor pressed slacks, a vest, little round glasses and had a shoulder bag. He was 24 years old and had resigned his active commission in the 42nd Field Artillery (the Red Thunder Regiment) and went on reserve status so he could become a journalist. He had been the Public Information Officer. Now he had a chance to really put his skills to work. He was looking forward to covering the election now. But there were others present who would need to understand the lay of the land, his seniority and the skills he brought to bear. He got up, sighed with relief at the food, which tasted odd but decent, and then made a final check to make sure he was in the press pool for the caucus. Always did well to check. He wiped his hands and face with a handkerchief and strolled away. He paused at a bush in the park to have a satisfying piss before heading on. Now and then he bowed to others he saw.

Meanwhile, Clorinda Jacobi walked to the window balcony of her hotel and sighed. Here she was in the great city of New Laconia, the new field reporter for NENN news! How exciting! She was so tired after her trip, all her clothes so sticky, she removed them, showered, combed out her long dark hair and walked to the balcony again. It was so delightful, being in this ultra modern friendly place. She slipped on her sandals, hummed to herself and went to get some more ice from the machine down the hall. The air was pleasant around her body, drying naturally and she smiled at people who seemed surprised to see her. She bowed to them courteously, and went to her room and went back in. God grant that she would do her job well. Until recently she had just been reporting on elections in Northern Bara, now she was here. She opened her laptop and began to type in some of her final ideas after having done some research on arrival.

[Hittanryan]

Silicon Coast
Hongnan Province

Will Moore was a software engineer at a tech startup called Line. Before he graduated college, a friend of a friend had the idea for an instant messaging and voice over Internet program which combined the best aspects of various older programs. There was always at least one serious drawback to each of their competitors. Early programs were simple to use but had serious problems with latency and call quality depending on the users' Internet connections. Some later programs tried to solve that issue by providing dedicated servers, but they charged people for the privilege. VoiceOver, the biggest messaging program in Adiron and considered the current state-of-the-art, provided dedicated servers free of charge for voice and one-on-one video, making its money off premium services such as video conferencing. As VoiceOver grew successful, however, it tried to expand, adding features to try to be all things to all people. The program grew bloated, hogging system resources and bandwidth while its interface got progressively clunkier with updates.

By the time Will had graduated, Line had managed to raise startup money through venture cap. Their elevator pitch was that they had VoiceOver's call quality and successful business model, without the overwrought interface and bulk. Will thought it was a good enough idea to risk getting in on the ground floor of a Silicon Coast startup. The risk was real. Startups paid lower starting salaries but offered better compensation in stock options. If the company took off and grew fast, you could potentially be set for life. If it didn't, startups failed all the time, while it took a long time or an utter catastrophe to take a corporate giant down.

Will had gotten his friend, a fellow alumni of Hongnan Polytechnic and friend of Line's owner, to give him a reference. He liked working there. It was the newer kind of office that eschewed cubicles and suits, provided in-house amenities to their employees, and tried to generally look after their employees. The catch, naturally, was that its staff was still relatively small, and it tended to be picky in choosing the cream of the crop. Luckily Will not only had a reference but also excellent grades and a number of tech internships which worked in his favor. The water cooler talk was different. In a typical office it was limited to football or movies. Instead, with a fresh coffee in hand from the pot, Will approached his buddy Adam's desk and said "Finally did it."

"Did what?" the other man asked without stopping typing or looking up from his screen. Adam might not be too bad looking if it wasn't for the fact that he was utterly scrawny.

"Beat the Abyss Walker on New Game Plus," Will proclaimed proudly.

Adam seemed to lose his train of thought on his screen, pausing, frowning in confusion, and then shaking his head. "You got a problem, man."

"I know it," Will said, almost proudly.

"And you died...how many times?"

"Oh, at least thirty," he replied nonchalantly.

"What'd you use?"

"Bastard sword and Wolf Knight greatshield," Will said.

Adam leaned towards him on his desk with a smirk and said "You know, real men don't use shields."

"Okay, you first," Will said before heading back to his own desk.

From Will's perspective, it was so far, so good at Line. Their user base had grown explosively from about 1 million in 2015 to over 20 million by 2016. They were going to need to upgrade their server infrastructure and possibly expand their staff soon, which might require another infusion of venture capital. Line's stock price was up, which was good for everybody. When it came to politics, the last thing someone like Will wanted was a guy like Al Bluford who, despite knowing nothing about the tech industry, would send shockwaves through the Adiran economy. If he messed around nationalizing entire sectors of the economy, who knows what impact that would have on the tech industry? That much uncertainty could sink Line.

Liberals weren't any better, however. Their general inclination towards deregulation would only further favor corporate interests over the little guy, especially a radical like Donahue. Donahue wanted to end net neutrality, which would disproportionately favor big business over smaller startups. The fear was that ISPs would throttle Internet traffic to certain websites unless the content providers or customers paid extra for access. Large companies like VoiceOver would be able to work out a deal, but startups like Line wouldn't, putting them at a disadvantage.

Will Moore was therefore going to stick with John Pendergast, who seemed experienced and understood business the best. Although he would keep working until after five, the polls would stay open all day and well into the night to accommodate people's work schedules.

---

Lau Liberal Arts University Campus
Puerto Rojas, Adiron

Julia Xi was a sociology student at Lau Liberal Arts. Xi was a slender bespectacled woman with dark hair stained by a narrow streak of pink on her bangs. She was rarely seen without a latte and designer clothes. Despite having only worked at--and been fired from--one summer retail job, she spent a lot of time saying that workers, women, and minorities were "oppressed" by the consumerism created by the one percent.

Since the caucus began she'd been talking about volunteering for Al Bluford, but flaked out until yesterday when she finally canvassed for him. The organizer who had held Julia to her previous commitment, a tall bearded man named Mike, quickly regretted his decision.

"Hi, you're voting for Al Bluford tomorrow right?" Julia nearly accosted one passerby as if it should be self-evident.

The young woman, who was a bit plain looking but dressed well enough, looked surprised a moment and stopped in her tracks. She then just looked confused. "Uh...no?"

"What? Why not? Who are you voting for?" Julia asked accusingly.

The other woman looked annoyed and walked away briskly. Julia said "Hey! I asked you a question!"

Mike saw this and took her aside by the arm. "Uh, Julia, we're just supposed to be getting people registered with the SDP," he reminded her.

"Well I don't want them registered if they're not going to vote Bluford," Julia said matter-of-factly.

"We can't do that. Just ask people if they're registered to vote, then go to the survey," Mike said.

"Yeah ok--" she said, suddenly stopping and looking pointedly at Mike's hand. "Let go of me," she said, pulling her arm free.

Mike managed to get her to stick to the line for a few people, but then there was another problem. Julia said dutifully "Hi, are you registered to vote for the caucus tomorrow?"

A man engulfed in a punky aroma wearing a beanie and carrying a skateboard said "Oh, you know what? No I've been needing to do that..."

"Great, here's the form..." she said, handing it over to him. The man didn't stop walking, however.

"Hey listen, I'm late for class though," he said.

"It won't take too long," Julia replied.

"No, like I gotta get there now, I'll do it later all right?"

Julia rolled her eyes and muttered "Likely story..."

"Whoa, what?" the guy said, his face falling, puzzled.

"You really can't take two minutes?" Julia asked, clearly annoyed.

Mike intervened, stepping between the two of them. "Hey man, we'll be here most of the day. You can come back after class."

The skater nodded with a lackadaisical grin, saying "All right, right on," seemingly forgetting in an instant the interaction with Julia before throwing his skateboard down and pushing off. Mike had to remind Julia not to make snide remarks to people they were trying to secure the votes of.

After that, Julia was approached by a pair of burly-looking guys with polo shirts and cargo shorts. One of them was fumbling with a phone. "Hi, are you registered to vote?"

"Yup, Donahue 2016!" the other man said before high fiving the other and laughing before walking on, making a few jokes at Bluford's expense as they did so. The way one of the men was holding up his phone, it was clear he had been filming the entire time, probably intending to record it to show his friends. Mike rolled his eyes a bit but shook it off. Wasn't the first time they had run into Liberals. A few other bystanders looked at the two guys' childish display a bit oddly as well.

Julia, however, puffed herself up and shouted after them "Oh, so you want a misogynist and a plutocrat to be Adiron's president?!"

"Yup! That's right! Just what we need!" one of them yelled back with a shit-eating grin.

"Yeah well fuck you and every dudebro shithead pig like--"

"Whoa, whoa, chill, chill!" Mike intervened. To the other organizers this was the most they'd ever seen Mike raise his voice.

"No, fuck that, you heard them--"

"I don't care what they said, they're just trying to troll you. You are representing Al Bluford here, you have to keep your cool," Mike said. He continued to try to explain, but Julia stood there with her arms crossed looking annoyed. It wasn't clear that she had been listening at all, so Mike and the others at the nearby desk contrived an excuse to get her away from the public. They said they were changing shifts, and it was her and Mike's turn to man the desk which few people other than Bluford supporters engaged in conversation.

Eventually Julia, who started playing with her phone, suddenly said to the other organizers that she forgot she was meeting a friend at the local mall. It was a half hour earlier than she said, and it seemed clear that she had just been invited, but they politely encouraged her to go anyway.

"Sure, we got this, go ahead," Mike said. As soon as Julia was gone, they all sighed with relief. "Fuckin' psycho bitch..." Mike whispered to the others at the table.

On the day of the caucus, Julia woke up at 11 in the morning after a night at the club, stopped by a CoolBucks for a latte, then pulled the lever for Bluford.

[Hittanryan]

Late Morning
Caucus Day

By late morning the waiting was getting to Rowan. They were between rounds, so to speak. It was by now too late to campaign, but there were no results to speak of with which to start politicking for the National Caucus tomorrow. He found Ober and said "Dale, I think I will be taking that break after all. You can hold down the fort here until one or so?"

"Sure thing. The usual filter then? No calls? Take messages?" Ober asked.

"If it's an emergency, you text me. Otherwise, hold them until one, if I'm not back by then, go ahead and call, I'll probably be on my way," Rowan said.

"You could probably take a bit longer, boss. I doubt anything's really gonna be solid until at least...six, if that, when the eastern polls start really coming in," Ober offered.

"Lead from the front, Dale," Rowan commented. Ober shrugged then nodded.

Heading out to his suburban house, a respectably-sized colonial affair, he tried to push the poll numbers from his mind. When he stepped through the door, Rowan loosened his tie and took a few deep breaths.

"George?" he heard his wife say.

"Yeah, it's me," Rowan said.

"Oh, you actually did take a break. I'm in the kitchen," she said. He found his wife Leslie in front of an easel cleaning her paintbrushes. She had her dark hair tied back, was wearing a pair of jeans smeared with countless splotches of paint, and a cheap button down that was much the same. There were some lines on her face starting to show, crow's feet and laugh lines clearly visible up close or in the right light.

There were several items on the kitchen table illuminated by the sun from a window, including a bowl with apples, a bottle of scotch, and a crumpled paper bag, and upon inspecting Leslie's easel Rowan saw that Leslie had painted a quick watercolor still life of them. Although not particularly lifelike as an oil painting might be, she seemed to capture perfectly the hues and lighting, with particular attention to the way the light played through the glass bottle and the shadows cast upon the wrinkled paper. Her fingertips were smeared with pigment, but she gave him a hands-free peck on the cheek with a smile.

Appraising the painting, Rowan said "Very nice."

"You think?" Leslie asked, apparently unconvinced herself, glancing from the paper back to the table. "I just needed something else to focus on. I've been too nervous to turn on the TV. Henry called to wish you good luck, by the way. Said he's just back from voting," she said.

"Ah good, I should call him back. And Jen?" Rowan asked.

"She hasn't called yet," she said, sounding more hopeful than certain.

The two of them watched an old black and white movie together on the couch after Leslie cleaned up a bit. During the early stages of the Civil War, Cetan movie studios fled the country and tried to set up shop in expat communities around the region. None of the studios themselves survived to the present day, having either been bought out or gone defunct, but the films were still around, at least the classics were.

Back at Rowan's campaign headquarters, Ober was manning the helm. While their candidate was decompressing to keep his mind sharp, all that mostly happened was a confirmation that they had carried the military vote over Cole. The military liked Cole, but he had for some reason solely campaigned in the east, and his numbers were low.

"Maybe he knows the jig is up," Cruise speculated, finishing off the last donut from the morning and licking his fingers. "I mean he's from out east himself, he's what, Second North Tharsis? Tau City, right? He's gotta get reelected to the Assembly."

"Yeah, but he went to Aldrich too, he's doing all right in exit polls there," Carvalho pointed out, scanning a sheet of paper.

"Makes sense. Can't blame 'em either, I imagine former guerrilla fighters from a city that's been occupied by the Imps are more inclined to fight like Jim wants to, especially after this year," Cruise said.

"He's trailing everywhere else though," Snyder pointed out worryingly. "We don't want him to cut into our numbers, but we do want Cole to do as good as possible. We need his support in the national tomorrow. This isn't looking good..."

"It's still way too early, Dana, you know exit polls..." Cruise assured her, although he might have been assuring himself as well by the way he said it.

[Hittanryan]

Returns Come In
New Laconia

Technically speaking, the votes could have been reported in real time. Adiron had adopted electronic voting machines nationwide--as well as worked out the kinks--years ago. Naturally for legal and ethical purposes, the votes had to be confirmed by humans the old fashioned way, which accounted for most of the time spent tallying things up. Eastern Adiron was one time zone ahead of the coast, so returns always came in from Plainterre, Adir, and Calaveras first, an hour early. Three of the least populous provinces in the Republic were hardly indicative of the overall results, however.

Although national election days were designated as national holidays to give everyone a chance to vote, the caucuses were not. Polling stations were plentiful, set up in public buildings like schools and town halls as well as larger private businesses like grocery stores and shopping malls. To accommodate as many people's work schedules as they could, most of the parties' polls opened between five to six AM and stayed open until midnight, albeit with reduced staff from regular hours. If even this was impossible, a voter could apply for a mail-in absentee ballot in advance. Upon arrival at a polling station for a caucus, Adirans had to present their government-issued ID. It would go faster if voters also presented their registration with the party, but their names could be looked up relatively quickly by poll workers on computers.

A significant number of military personnel voted via absentee ballot ahead of time, including all of those deployed abroad and most of the combat forces on the border. There were polling stations on military bases as well. However, you could not run for public office while in uniform, nor could officers publicly endorse one candidate over another. Despite some grey areas, such as vets like Tom Alvarado running for office, the buildup to the Civil War led Adiron's founders to consider an apolitical military vital to the country.

Students and retirees tended to vote most reliably during the day, although there was usually a bump during lunch hours. The surge usually came after five, when the workday was done for the vast majority of people. It was at this time when the candidates started to watch for returns more anxiously.

At 3 Greywell, Pendergast's people were crunching numbers and taking phone calls across all three floors. They were trying to set benchmarks and targets to try to predict the election ahead of time. Right around five, however, there was a bit of commotion on the first floor. Pendergast himself had shown up in person, and unlike his only other visit so far was going around and talking to staff, however briefly. There was a rush to look busy and collect some bits of information or reports to present to the candidate.

Bluford had gone into his office at the Assembly to catch up on things, riding the subway and walking about half a block flanked by aides. Press who caught him would have found Bluford slightly taciturn by his standards, but he may have simply been abiding by custom not to campaign on the day of a vote. While making his way through the park, Bluford saw Adam Tached in his suit apparently staring off into a thicket. Thinking nothing of it, one of his aides almost did a double take and looked mortified. Although the aide tried to quicken his step, the elderly Bluford wasn't keeping up.

Rowan finished his break and headed back to his HQ, refreshed. He knew they were going into a nailbiter. Several TVs were going at once with a couple of different news networks, as his campaign staff strained to hear what was going on. Dale Ober was unflappable as usual. Cruise broke into his bottle of scotch early and offered some to staff, which several of them accepted. Snyder was curiously nowhere to be found for nearly a half hour.

Tom Alvarado gave his official endorsement of George Rowan. In a local press release he announced that he was not only voting for him but was also on the list of delegates to the National Caucus, should he be nominated by the voters. To his constituents it wasn't a surprise, he had talked Rowan up frequently whenever he mingled with them. Holly Lemay voted in an SDP caucus for the first time, a point which Hoover stressed she could not allude to in small talk. This was perhaps prescient, as she chatted the ear off of a woman next to her in line, in the process unwittingly securing the vote of her and her book club.

By nine, the moods at the various headquarters were reflecting the returns so far. At Pendergast's headquarters at 3 Greywell there was excitement, moreso than usual for what was mostly a cold office environment. People were shouting across the office on the second floor.

"Hey, they're gonna have the votes finished for Second Vernon in a half hour, get on the line with Bill..." one man said, catching another as he was walking away.

"We just hit our target for Rizal!" a woman yelled to a man who shouted approval before stepping to a whiteboard and marking something down.

In about an hour, however, the urgency had relaxed. There were relaxed smiles, a couple of people who had been working all day even having fallen asleep at their desks contentedly. Just then, Bonner emerged from the elevator and snapped everyone to attention by popping a champagne cork.

Bluford's supporters sat disheartened. Many of them were young and unused to disappointment. Students began to filter out of student unions and auditoriums where the returns were being reported publicly. There were a couple of tearful faces. Others were expressing outrage. A video was posted on social media of several students tearing up and burning their registration with the SDP. Others vowed never to support a "corporate puppet" like Pendergast.

Soon a new slogan started trending on social media: BlufordOrBust.

Rowan's HQ was largely busy planning for the next day. Snyder had emerged from wherever she was seemingly reenergized, even snapping a dejected Ober out of a funk.

"Eleven points...eleven points..." Ober had been muttering dejectedly.

"Hey, it's not over," Snyder said pointedly.

"We can't catch John. Right now it looks like even with Jim's delegates..." Ober started.

"No, cut it out with the defeatism," Snyder snapped. "There's still tomorrow. Now George," she said, looking over at their candidate. He was obviously tired, head resting on a hand and looking pensive. "You saw the final numbers. John got 43 percent of the vote, we got 32. Add Jim's 5, that brings us to 37. Now we have to face facts: we need Al to get a majority. He's got 20."

Rowan looked skeptical. "I think we'll have to give up too much."

"Look, do you want this or not?" Snyder said.

"Not if I can't even have my own government," Rowan said. "If it were anyone else, I'd know it's negotiable, but you know what those kinds of people are like. All or nothing. I think I saw video of Bluford's people tearing up their SDP registrations to go Green?"

"You know the news, of course they're gonna give the loudest morons the most airtime," Snyder said dismissively. "This was our strategy, right? This was why we shifted a bit to the left, right? We just need all of Cole's delegates then half of Bluford's delegates, less than half, and we'll beat John. We'll just have to give some of what we want up. When we figure that out, you need to talk to Al."

"I will talk," Rowan agreed. "But I'm setting boundaries. I don't want a bunch of inexperienced or inept radicals I can't control in my Cabinet, and furthermore I'm not willing to throw my voters under the bus by effectively giving them a Bluford government. If Al will only pledge his delegates to us if I make Sara Paquin Secretary of War, then I am walking." Cruise gave a hearty chuckle at that before stifling himself under Snyder's gaze.

Snyder then said "Hey, they may have stupid policy ideas, but not all of them are stupid people. I don't think Al is stupid. He's gotta know that without us, they get John. You've got leverage too."

"What if they just assume go Green?" Ober asked.

"If that happens, if the party splits and we get defections in the Assembly to the Greens, that means the Greens have to pick up the slack in the general. Everything I know about them suggests that's an iffy proposition," Snyder explained. "Meanwhile the SDP could end up with more infighting that lasts through the general. Then we're looking at President Saito or worse, President Donahue."

"Perish the thought," Ober said. "Guess the pressure's on, then."

"That's right Dale," Snyder said with a tight-lipped smile, "so pull up your frilly stockings, hike up your thong, and quit being such a pansy! We got work to do!"

[New Edom]

New Laconia

"Mr. Bluford! Excuse me, Mr. Bluford!" cried Adam Tached, hurrying to catch up to the assemblyman and his staff. "Pardon me, Adam Tached, Fineberg Times! Mr. Bluford, congratulations on your admirable showing in the caucus race! Sir, may I ask if you are considering forming a coalition with Mr. Pendergrast, Mr. Cole or Mr. Rowan? And would you be willing then to reconsider your position then on the nationalization of resources and companies in your country?"

Meanwhile, Clorinda Jacobi began making phone calls with her Sleek-5 which she did not now how to use. First she called thus: "Hello my name is Clorinda Jacobi of NENN News! I hope God blesses you today. I am calling you, Mr. Rowan, because I am wondering if after your glorious victory in the caucus you are nevertheless missing some numbers and will perhaps form a coalition with one of your rivals--perhaps Mr. Cole? Hello?"

"Clorinda, this is Esau," said the senior editor at NENN. "How are you doing?"

"Esau? But I called Mr. Rowan's campaign office!" she exclaimed.

"No Clorinda you did not. Why don't you try again? May God guide you always," said Esau.

"Oh...and you too...hello?" Clorinda frowned at the phone. She pushed some more buttons, looking at it more cautiously.

There were a list of numbers before her of people who worked at the campaign office. So she thought. She punched in Julia Xiu's number and said, "Hello, I'm Clorinda Jacobi from NENN and I would like to talk about the caucus race and the eventual presidential campaign with you. Ultimatelly I would like an interview with your candidate. Would it be possible to set up a meeting with you?"

[Hittanryan]

Allen Convention Center
New Laconia, Adiron

The Adiran National Assembly consisted of 600 Members elected from 120 districts. Each district sends five MAs to the Assembly elected by single transferrable vote with a twenty percent threshold. Under current Social Democratic Party caucus rules, each district would nominate three delegates to the National Caucus, also under STV rules with a thirty three percent threshold. Each candidate drew up lists of delegates before the caucuses, and it was up to their campaigns to make arrangements for transport and lodging. Delegates could be almost anybody, from MAs to students, and they were typically a mix of New Laconia locals and people who traveled from the home districts throughout the country. It was expected that all prospective delegates be in the city at least a day before the National Caucus. Policy wonks periodically debated whether or not this was ideal. Some argued that the system was unfair to minor candidates and that each district should instead send four or five. Others said this would bolster fringe candidates and draw out the caucuses too long. However, this was not the time to make changes.

Pendergast was only twenty six delegates shy of an absolute majority and victory; his 155 delegates came from every province in the country, with many Social Democrats impressed with his charisma and the way he handled Donahue. The scandals were only a deal-breaker for leftists, and his voters were not overly concerned with relatability so much as experience.

Rowan was in second place with 115 delegates, who also represented a fairly wide swath of the country. His supporters felt he had more integrity and was more relatable than Pendergast while still having a good sense of the issues, but others harbored doubts. Too academic to take on Donahue, some would say. Too junior, others would say, to beat Saito, allowing that maybe it would be Rowan's turn next time around.

Bluford was sitting on 72 delegates almost entirely hailing from the West Coast. On social media his supporters were already talking about how they had been cheated by the caucus rules, how there needed to be more delegates per district, how a 33 percent threshold was far too high. All eyes were on him to see how his people would react in the second runoff.

Cole received 18 delegates scattered throughout the east, with more than half concentrated in and around his home district. His hawkish comments in the debates had disquieted many in the West, while hawks saw another option in Rowan. Cole's elimination in the first runoff was a foregone conclusion.

The first candidate to gain the support of 181 of the 360 delegates would win the nomination, assuming no abstentions. Delegates whose candidate lost a runoff but did not pledge to support another candidate were removed from the total pool of delegates. The threshold for victory would also be reduced accordingly. Beyond that, there were no official rules governing how delegates voted in a runoff. They were expected to represent the wishes of their constituency however they saw fit, and be held accountable in turn by their constituency. A candidate could ask his delegates to pledge themselves to another, but this largely depended on the force of the candidate's word. Delegates could and did go rogue if they felt their candidate's decision was not in their constituency's best interest. It was therefore entirely legal and fair to seduce individual delegates on the Caucus floor in between runoffs. Whether or not that looked good depended on the circumstances.

The Caucus was being held in the Allen Convention Center, a modern-looking building with a glass facade in the heart of New Laconia. Delegates, officials, and campaign workers crowded the main floor, with activists and spectators alike filling the seating surrounding them. The candidates were in attendance with their senior campaign staff, each of them with aides working out of offices in the back to receive and account for their delegates.

Bluford's people came with a train of guests who turned out to be activists. They didn't seem to have any clear objective other than stirring things up on the floor. So far the Bluford campaign proper had given no public assurances of what he would do. When journalists approached him about his plans, he was vague. For instance the previous day when Adam Tached approached him, his staff at first tried to keep him away, saying the Assemblyman was unavailable, though this may have had more to do with the fact that the man had just been pissing into the brush. Bluford himself was oblivious of this, and said "If you would like me to comment, Mr. Tached, I have not committed to any course of action at this time. I plan to consult with my delegation after the final vote has been tallied so that we make sure we best represent our constituents. Based on meetings with my supporters, however, at this time I consider a partnership with Mr. Pendergast unlikely. Thank you." When Bluford was saying this to Tached he didn't break stride, and eventually he reached the steps of the Assembly and went inside.

A small group of younger students was arguing with the Pendergast crowd. Leading one of the main arguments was a woman with her hair in dreadlocks wearing a beanie, her manner anything but that of a typical hippie. "You know what's gonna happen if you vote for Pendergast? You're gonna split the party, you're gonna lose the youth vote and the next generation."

"Listen miss, you're young yet. You're not going to win every time. That's just life," an middle aged man in business casual said calmly, putting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, although he was clearly paying more attention to something going on not far away.

The woman wrenched her shoulder away. "It's also, you know, principles, morals...things that Pendergast and people like you don't seem to understand."

That seemed to actually get under his skin, as he finally looked her in the eye and his expression hardened. "There was a vote. The person with the most votes won that vote. That's democracy. Now you're trying to scare us into ignoring all those votes? Why should we listen to you?"

"We are your base! You can't ignore your base," she said agitatedly.

"If you were the SDP base, you would've won, and you wouldn't be threatening to quit the party because you didn't get your way. Face it: you're the fringe," the man concluded.

Craig Bonner and Ralph Boggs on Pendergast's staff actually encouraged antagonizing the Bluford crowd. The more riled up the Busters got, the more likely they were to abstain and end the threat of a Rowan-Bluford partnership. Boggs himself even came out and said to one of the groups of agitated Bluford supporters arguing with his people. "Hey, what's going on here? Look, Al lost fair and square. Instead of trying to force the entire party to change, maybe you should just try focusing on working within the system and getting along for the good of the party." Naturally this only outraged the Bluford stalwarts, sending them back to their caucus to start a chant of "Bluford or Bust."

Among Rowan's people, Ober and Cruise were the main guys out on the floor. While keeping an eye on everything in general, Ober was acting as the gatekeeper. If people said they needed to meet with Rowan, they would first speak to his imposing campaign manager. At one point a young woman with blue streaks in her hair was presented to him by staff. "Dale, this is...Ivy Amis? She said she wanted to talk to George, would only talk to George himself."

"Okay, who are you?" Ober asked simply, remaining seated not looking up from his phone.

"I write for Lean Left," the woman said, a little indignantly.

"Write for? Whaddaya mean write for? Is that a paper? Are you press or...?" Ober asked, standing up, towering over Ivy.

"Uh, well, it's a blog, Mr. Ober," she said, more politely this time.

"I see. Well the first runoff's coming up, I don't think he'll have time to speak to you, but the press secretary's around here somewhere," he said, looking around. "Sam, take her and find Johnny. Thought I saw him over with the Vernon people," he said, pointing before sitting down again.

Cruise, meanwhile, was acting as their eyes and ears. At one point he nudged Tom Alvarado. "Hey, who is that? Over there, talking to Cole's people?"

Tom craned his neck a bit and managed to see him over the crowd. "Don't know."

"That aide you brought. Send him like he's going for a piss, see where he goes," Cruise said. Tom sent Al, who conveniently always looked a bit hapless anyway, to wander the halls.

Within a few minutes Al came back. Tom relayed to Cruise "Made a beeline for Pendergast's office."

"I figured," Cruise said as he crunched on some flavored tortilla chips, wiping cheesy dust from his fingers. "I let Dana know, she already talked to Jim. Shouldn't be a problem."

In truth Cruise was more worried about Bluford, and so far his earlier suspicions were being confirmed. He'd been calling Bluford's people bugging them for a one-to-one, but they had kept putting him off. The Bluford Or Bust crowd was their main obstacle now. Everyone he sent over to scope out the mood of the Bluford camp suggested that the Busters were gaining ground. At one point a few of his staff came back, and each of them added to a growing pile of clipboards, cluttering up one of their tables.

Cruise caught one of them, a weedy man in his thirties, and said "Hey, what's going on over there? And what's all this crap?"

The staffer turned over a couple of the clipboards. Each had a stack of papers on them. "It's a Buster pledge, trying to get delegates to commit to abstaining in writing. We uh, we got as many of 'em as we could."

Cruise furrowed his brow, then chuckled as it registered what they had done. "Good thinking. How'd you get them?"

"It was a buncha dumb kids handing them out. They didn't realize we weren't delegates or staff," the aide explained.

Eventually Erina Madrigal appeared on stage and called the caucus to order for the first runoff. There didn't seem to be much of a drop in activity on the floor, but it did get a bit quieter as the delegates recorded their votes. They were divided up by province and candidate, so there was a long sequence of statements.

Some were efficient, with a designated lead delegate to speak for a province. "Chairwoman, as John Pendergast's lead delegate for Luzhou Province, I wish to record the votes for the following districts..."

"The Second Candis proudly casts a vote for James Cole, and we'd like to thank him for his service to our country," a stern-looking middle aged man with a crew cut said.

Others tried to draw it out. "Noting his long career in fighting for workers' rights, fair trade, equal pay for women, and a more just and fair society, not one under corporate domination, the First Solus District proudly wishes to note one vote for Al Bluford!"

This went on for some time until all 360 were accounted for, which meant the politicking continued in the meantime. The candidates assembled onstage, sitting at a table which extended from both sides of the central podium. When the votes were tallied, Madrigal read off the results: "John Pendergast, 155. George Rowan, 115. Al Bluford, 72. James Cole, 18. No majority has been reached. Assemblyman Cole, do you wish to address your delegation at this time?"

Cole took a moment to respond, for a moment looking slightly more pensive than normal. Eventually he leaned forward and spoke into the microphone in front of him. "Chairwoman, given his values and experience, I ask that my delegation vote in support of George Rowan for the party leadership." Cole then leaned back in his chair once again amid a wave of noise and applause.

Watching from the crowd, Dana Snyder squinted and shrugged, remarking "What? Is that it? Don't do us any favors, Jim."

Madrigal then announced that the next runoff would take place in one hour. Unless any of Cole's delegates went rogue, Rowan was now looking at 133 delegates. Now they had one hour to bring Al Bluford's intransigent caucus into the fold rather than abstaining and giving the whole thing away to Pendergast.

[Hittanryan]

Allen Convention Center
New Laconia, Adiron

It was now do or die for the Rowan campaign. After Cole's laconic statement, two of his delegates actually went over to Pendergast, citing high turnout for him in their districts. Rowan now stood at 131 delegates, Pendergast 157. The next runoff in one hour would determine what happened to Al Bluford's 72 delegates and, by extension, who would become the SDP's next leader.

Cruise managed to finally make a breakthrough. Out on the convention floor he had to plug his ears to hear his cell phone, answering it with "Yeah?" His eyes then went wide and he started budging his way through the crowd, which owing to his girth required no small number of "Excuse mes" and a few people getting knocked aside until he got to a back hallway. Cruise stayed on the phone for a brief time, giving monosyllabic replies until he finally thanked the person on the line and hung up. As soon as Cruise got out of public view he did what might have seemed unlikely: he ran. By the time he got to Ober, Cruise was completely winded, doubling over and harshly motioning for Ober to come closer. Once Cruise managed to whisper something to him, Ober took care of the rest.

George Rowan was waiting in a conference room in "neutral ground" with Snyder. There were two pitchers on the table, one with ice water, the other with lemonade. They were finishing up a debrief when the door opened. Snyder glanced between Rowan and the figure in the door nervously before standing up. Rowan smiled a bit wearily and stood up. He offered a handshake and said "Al, I'm grateful that you could make it."

Al Bluford nodded and smiled a bit curtly and shook Rowan's hand. Rowan went to the pitchers and poured himself a glass of ice water. He held the pitcher up and asked "You want something to drink or can we get you anything? I know there's tea and coffee just down the way."

"Some water would be fine, actually," Bluford said. Rowan gave him the first glass he poured before pouring another and sitting down. He dismissed Snyder with a nod, who exited the room and closed the door firmly behind her.

"Al you were in the Assembly in '92, right?" Rowan asked.

"I was," Bluford replied, seemingly not expecting the question.

"I was in my first year of law school. What do you remember about Ridgeway in that election? You actually worked with her," Rowan said.

Bluford sort of hunched over, hands on his thighs. "I remember...she was tired."

"Didn't think that word was in her vocabulary," Rowan remarked.

"Well, you had to look carefully," Bluford said. "I was just a backbencher, basically a foot soldier, you know how it is your first few years. The few times I saw her though, I could tell."

"What about the people who voted no confidence?"

"Most of the higher-ups knew them. A lot of the leaders of the Greens and the others, Cutts, Guerrero, they were former Social Democrats. Used to caucus with us, still went out for lunch together. We didn't think of them as enemies," Bluford explained.

"I see," Rowan said. "I'm worried we're looking at another '92, Al. The coalition is dealing with internal divisions just like back then. I know how your people feel about John. I know that if he's nominated, your people are talking about quitting the party for the Greens..."

"George, I know some of my supporters are young and frustrated--"

"Just a second, Al. You got a fifth of the vote. We can't ignore that. Those young voters represent the future of our party," Rowan said, not quite believing it himself. Bluford, however, seemed to pay attention with greater interest.

Sensing this, Rowan made his pitch. "John's nomination will split the party in a way that I think will be a disaster. We lose your people, and we might lose not just the student vote but also up-and-comers, activists, organizers, maybe a whole generation. A divisive party leader will also sap enthusiasm on our side, and that might be all it'll take for the Liberals to get a majority. When that happened in '92, we ended up with almost a decade of Velez. We're still dealing with the consequences of his presidency."

"So I'm asking you, Al. Pledge your delegates to me. Help me bring our party back together so we can stop Saito and Donahue," Rowan concluded.

Bluford's expression didn't really change. He seemed to be studying Rowan for a long moment, before saying "Well George, there's more to this than just party politics. My delegates here today care about a specific set of issues. Now I have noticed, to your credit, that you've been trying to build some bridges there. I don't know if that's enough."

"That's why I need you to convince your delegation," Rowan said.

"As I said, it's about the issues. It's not about me," Bluford said.

"I don't think I agree. It is about you," Rowan countered. "It's about you because you've been tackling these issues for decades."

"And if it looks like I'm cutting a deal for my own sake rather than the issues, then I think my delegation will not listen to me, nor should they," Bluford said, gesturing in a familiar way.

"But they have to realize that if they abstain, John Pendergast will be the next leader of the Social Democratic Party," Rowan pointed out.

"Well, if that happens, they think they will be more welcome in a different party," Bluford said, somewhat unhappily.

Rowan looked Bluford in the eye, folding his hands on the table. "Suppose your delegation knew that you would be in a position to influence policy in my government?"

Bluford's expression didn't change. "I suppose that would depend on what kind of policy, George."

"You've been fighting your whole life for workers. I want the best for Adiran workers too, and I can't think of anyone who I'd trust as much as you to look out for them. That's why I would make you Labor Secretary."

Bluford seemed to consider this, pursing his lips. "George, you know I appreciate that, but if we don't also rethink things at State, I'm just going to be plugging holes in a dam with my fingers, aren't I?"

"Wait, you want State?" Rowan asked, his expression falling.

"Our issues with labor in this country are directly related to foreign policy, globalization, trade..." Bluford started.

"Yes, I agree, but be reasonable here. State?" Rowan said.

"Why not?"

Rowan hemmed and hawed. "It's just that you don't have direct experience with foreign policy..."

"George, be fair here, neither do you, really. That's what the State Department is for," Bluford said.

"No, Al, this isn't the time to learn on the job," Rowan said firmly. "I'm worried about how things are going internationally for us."

"So am I, with our trade policy, with our shrinking middle class..." Al began.

"But we're going to need to hit the ground running with this peace deal. Lives depend on it," Rowan said earnestly.

Bluford didn't seem bothered in the slightest. "Well, George, my delegation is ready to walk. I have to be able to assure them that they'll be represented in a major way."

Rowan chewed on his lip a moment. "Let me meet you halfway then, Al. I'll still give you Labor, and I will accept your recommendation for State, as long as they are qualified and have suitable experience."

Bluford mulled this over a moment, then said "Michelle Swan."

"I'd rather keep her as International Relations Chair until her term's up," Rowan said.

"All right...Annette Nelson," Bluford offered.

"Al, someone with experience," Rowan reminded him.

"Annette doesn't have experience?" Bluford asked incredulously, raising his eyebrows.

"Not really," Rowan said bluntly. "CPO HCR business in the past year is all she's done, right? What about Ron Weaver?"

"When has Ron ever talked about fair trade?" Bluford countered.

Outside, Ober was trying to get rid of a determined Chris Olsen, who had managed to spot Cruise rushing to the back offices from the convention floor and then a glimpse of Bluford. Standing at eye level with the well-built journalist, Ober was steadily walking him back from the door.

"I saw Mr. Bluford go in there. Is George Rowan in there too?" Chris asked.

"Just cool your jets a second. I told you if you want the Assemblyman's comment we'll give it to you when he's available," Ober replied, a hand up.

"What are they discussing?" Chris pressed, practically ignoring him.

"I don't even know who's in there. You said you thought you saw Al Bluford go in...there?" Ober asked, pointing and playing dumb.

At that point the door opened and Al Bluford strode out at a brisk pace. "Well I'll be damned," Ober said unconvincingly as Chris broke off.

"Mr. Bluford, Chris Olsen, ANBC, are you in talks with the Rowan campaign?" Chris asked, keeping up with Bluford as he kept his stride.

"I have no comment at this time, Mr. Olsen," Bluford said calmly.

"Were there Rowan officials in there with you?"

"Again, I have no comment at this time," Bluford maintained.

Chris turned around and saw the door to the conference room was open. He stuck his head in and no one was left inside. He looked down the hallway and saw a group of men walking away from him into an area designated "ROWAN CAMPAIGN STAFF ONLY."

Rowan was in the group, which was hurriedly joined by Dana Snyder and Alan Cruise. "Well?" Cruise asked. "Did he go for it?"

"He's crazy. Wanted Secretary of State," Rowan said bitterly.

"So?" Cruise asked. "You gave it to him, right?"

"Of course not," Rowan said, causing Cruise's mouth to hang open. "You realize the kind of damage he could do there?"

"What..." Snyder said, stunned. "So that's it?"

"No. I told him I'd make him Labor Secretary, and I would take his recommendations for somebody else for State."

"And? You agree on somebody?" Cruise asked.

"No," Rowan said. "We couldn't agree on anyone, he said he'd have to talk to his staff for someone else."

"For god's sake, George, you just threw it away," Snyder griped. "This was our shot. You had to get Bluford alone so those nutcases with him couldn't talk him out of it."

"That's the other thing. He's also not even sure he can convince his delegation," Rowan added. "If we're risking abstentions anyway, we might as well try to get someone we can stomach."

[New Edom]

New Laconia

"And we're on in three...two..."

"Hello, God bless you all!" chirped Clorinda Jacobi. "I'm Clorinda Jacobi here with the NENN news team at the SDP caucus where things are tense and down to the wire!"

Clorinda's long dark hair shone like raven's wings alongside her triangular face; her smile showed little white teeth. "Mr. Pendergrast, looking very handsome in his latest attire, is leading the race as anticipated by our political analysts, and he appears on the edge of a glorious victory! However Mr. Rowan, who is more dour and serious, has apparently just met with Mr. Bluford! And Mr. Cole has given his votes to Mr. Rowan! So what does the future hold?"

The camera moved around. "So many delegates! So many faces! Everyone is running around, saying things and doing things! Er...we're about to speak with Mr. Adam Tached of the Fineberg Times...as the Times says, 'Our man in Adiron'. Mr. Tached, can you shed a light on the abyssal darkness that is our speculation on the caucus?"

"Miss Jacobi," said Tached, with a faint smile, "Politics is not so easily deciphered, but I imagine some deals are being made. of course Mr. Pendergrast has a simple majority, and if Mr. Rowan did not give Mr. Bluford exactly what he wants, he may get it from Mr. Pendergrast. is in a stronger position and can bargain moe powerfully though. Time will tell."

"Time will tell indeed," said Clorinda, smiling for the camera. "And speaking of time, I believe the folks back home will see it is time for breakfast with Golden Buds Miracle Millet..."

[Hittanryan]

Allen Convention Center
New Laconia, Adiron

With no word from Bluford's camp, Rowan and the rest of his staff grew concerned that he was unreliable. The threat of abstentions remained, as neither Bluford nor any of his people could promise that they could get their delegation under control. If most of the Bluford camp abstained, the nomination would go to Pendergast.

In a last minute gambit, Rowan's people tried to start picking off Pendergast's delegates, trying to appeal to their pragmatic side for the sake of the party. All efforts, however, were rebuffed. Pendergast's organization was far more capable than Bluford's, including in their selection of reliable delegates. Bonner, Boggs, and their staff were quick to intercept Rowan's people and stamp out any rumors they started. They had also surreptitiously put more of the Buster pledges back into circulation among the Bluford delegation.

With fifteen minutes to go, Rowan and his senior staff were in a back office when Ober's phone rang. Everyone in the room paused and stared as he picked it up. Saying a few words, he then put the phone on hold and said "Bluford. They have a name for State."

"Who?" Snyder asked impatiently.

Ober looked at her and then at Rowan. "Amy Bailey."

All eyes shifted to Rowan. His eyes searched for a moment, then he said "Let me see a phone." He thumbed over it a moment, then seemed to register something before handing the phone back and sitting down, looking at the floor.

Finally he looked up at Ober and said "Fine, do it."

Soon the candidates were once again called out to the podium. For this runoff, Madrigal asked if there had been any vote changes since the last runoff. "That means the total stands as follows: John Pendergast, 157. George Rowan, 131. Al Bluford, 72. Again, no majority has been reached. Assemblyman Bluford, would you care to address your delegation?"

There were disappointed cries from the Bluford crowd. Approaching the podium, he assumed his usual posture, sort of hunched over, almost looking like he was bracing himself. As usual he gestured wildly to make a point, waving his hands or pointing. "Let me begin by thanking the millions of Adirans who voted for me during this caucus. Let me also give a special thanks to the people in Indigo Coast whose support for so many years has sustained me. I am humbled, truly humbled by the outpouring of support I have received."

"Let me also thank the thousands of volunteers throughout the country who worked so hard on our campaign and the millions of our contributors who showed it was possible to run a successful national campaign based overwhelmingly on small individual contributions."

"I am proud of the campaign we ran. Our campaign won seventy two delegates here at the National Caucus. That's a lot of delegates, but ultimately it is not enough to win the nomination."

"I have spoken with many of you. I understand how you feel, but know that we are not finished. Together, we continue the fight to create a government which represents all of us, and not just the top one percent--a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice."

"We are not alone in this fight. While we may disagree with some individual members of our caucus, sometimes vehemently, we must not cut off our nose to spite our face. The Social Democratic Party needs us to act as its moral anchor, and we should support our allies wherever possible."

"I therefore ask my delegation to vote in support of George Rowan for leader of the SDP," Bluford said.

There was an uproar on the floor and in the stands. The press started descending on the Bluford caucus to gauge their reaction. It was decidedly mixed, no one could tell how they were going to vote.

Chris Olsen spoke to an elderly delegate, about the same age as Bluford but not nearly as mobile, who said bluntly "I came here to support Al. If Al says he wants us to vote Rowan, that's what I'm gonna do."

Adam Tached and Clorinda Jacobi meanwhile would run into a Buster. "He's selling out!" said a younger man with shoulder-length hair and a thick beard. "I came here to vote for Bluford and no one else. That's what the people in my district sent me here to do."

Madrigal then took the podium once more. "We're now going to record the votes of the Bluford delegation, same order as last time." Rowan and Pendergast's staff watched anxiously, with several staff members keeping track of the votes on scratch paper, tallying them up manually.

The first of the Bluford delegates in line was a stout, balding man with a red face. "Chariwoman, the first delegate from First Indigo Coast...ab-stains!" he said, seemingly putting special emphasis on the second syllable on the word.

"Shit..." Snyder said. In the Pendergast camp, Bonner was nodding emphatically.

A woman with rather frizzy greying hair got up next and said "Chairwoman, the second delegate from First Indigo Coast casts a vote for George Rowan." Snyder felt her intestines unclench a little. That was Bluford's home district out of the way. Hopefully that meant a bandwagon wouldn't get started.

The votes kept coming in. "Second Indigo Coast votes for Rowan."

"Third Indigo Coast must abstain in good conscience."

"The delegate from Third Luzhou will support George Rowan..."

"First Solus, after consulting with our constituents...abstains."

It was a nerve-wracking vote. To Snyder it felt like every time they started to get ahead, there would be a few more abstentions. Bonner looked hopeful at each abstention, just a few more Busters and Pendergast would have a majority.

As the numbers came in, Snyder stared at her paper, eyes widening, then slapped Ober on the arm and holding it up to show him.

Arguments were already breaking out in the Bluford caucus on the floor before things were even tallied. Madrigal spoke to an official, who handed her something before she approached the podium. "The final votes from the Bluford delegation have been counted: forty six have pledged to George Rowan, twenty six abstentions."

The entire convention started humming. "This brings the total to the following: George Rowan, 177, John Pendergast 157. A majority of the remaining 334 delegates has been reached. Ladies and gentlemen, George Rowan is nominated as the next leader of the Social Democratic Party and its candidate for President."

The convention hall practically erupted, good and bad. John Pendergast was seen to meet Rowan's gaze, a facsimile of his smile still on his face, no real expression in his eyes as he rose and clapped as was expected of a good sport. Rowan immediately stood up, however, and offered Pendergast a handshake. Pendergast naturally accepted, and they were seen exchanging some words which would be lost to history, after which Pendergast's usual expression seemed to return. After that Rowan also went to Al Bluford, shaking his hand and putting a hand on his arm warmly. Bluford was seen smiling. The press, meanwhile, eagerly geared up for Rowan's acceptance speech...

[New Edom]

Fineberg

"I've been talking with Ramoth," said Hosidius Geta, swirling his drink, which was vodka and lemonade, "And he recommends that Rowan is the best man for the job for our interests. There is a full report, but ultimately it comes down to this clip. Let me show you."

"Right," Rowan said, returning her smile. "So Jim, with due respect I think you've jumped the gun on these prison camps. Leaving aside for the moment exactly how you plan on getting the Edomites to leave, I think it's too early to assume there's nothing we can do for these Arvo detainees. Sunlight is a good disinfectant for these kinds of situations. My government would seek access to the camps by foreign press and aid workers. I do agree with Jim that the Imperium and the Union have effectively barred neutral press from the area, and will probably continue to do so.

"However, New Edom is a member of the CPO in good standing, and the detention program is operated at least in part by the New Edomite Armed Forces. My government would propose that an investigation be launched by the Human Rights Committee to determine the truth of the conditions in the camps, ideally with the aid of the media and relief organizations. I'm sure, given some of the rhetoric we've already heard tonight, that the Edomites themselves would prefer to dispel some of the ambiguity surrounding their campaign in the Diols."

"We can thank God that neither Cole nor Bluford one. With the one, we'd have a hard liner committed to getting us out of the Diols. He'd have forced a confrontation," Geta continued.

"That does not sound like the end of the world, we should support our allies," commented Princess Jocasta.

"Of course, Highness, but with all due respect, the Imperium doesn't want a long term border war either. Their concern is with internal stability and their economy. It is only the young hardliners in the Imperium's Curia who want war--and...well..." Geta glanced at Ashdod. "our sources, we agree, General Ashdod and I, that this is unlikely. What they want is power."

Princess Jocasta shrugged her beautiful bare shoulders. She was on her way to a gala and was in a scarlet evening dress that showed off her bosom and upper body magnificently. In fact half the room was in full dress or tuxedos or evening dress. "As long as we stand by our allies, it has my vote."

"And mine," said Prince Enoch. "When can we expect to be able to withdraw General Hesperinus?"

"I don't see any need for that," countered General Nicanor. "Mr. Geta is right. We can hope for Mr. Rowan's election. A reasonable man."

"Pendergrast was also a reasonable man," said Count Lalery, inhaling the scent of his cigar. "Now we'll have a coalition. We have n idea who he will appoint. A coalition may be weak. This could result in the election of Mr. Saito."

"Or Mr. Donahue," offered Geta slyly.

The room erupted into chuckles.

"By the way, who is Clorinda Jacobi? She has more tits than brains," said Lalery iritably.

"She's blowing the NENN Director," said General Ashdod.

Nicanor squinted at him like an elderly elephant. "Really?"

"Yes," said Ashdod tersely.

"Maybe we should hire her," offered Lalery. Half the room cracked up.

"Enough of this obscene foul language!" cried Princess Jocasta. "it's disgusting! If my sister or brother in law were here he'd...he'd have all yoru guts for garters!"

"Hm? Hey? What?" snorted Count Beroth, at the opposite end of the meeting table, waking up. "Oh yes, let's order lunch now."

"It's evening, sir, time for dinner and the gala," said Lalery courteously. "I think we should adjourn."

"Before I give you all leave to go..." began Princess Jocasta, as everyone was in mid ascent from their chairs.

"What is it now?" demanded Lalery.

Prince Enoch hid a smile.

"We are always eager to hear Your Highness' additions," said General Nicanor.

"I want that woman out of there," said Jocasta. "We can't have a whore representing us in New Edom."

"It was a joke, right?" said Lalery looking at Ashdod.

"Of course not," said Ashdod, looking insulted.

"See? I want her gone," said Jocasta. "Get someone virtuous. Like...Tim Stanton. He's one of our best journalists. That's all."

Marcus Cotta, the Minister of Culture, looked annoyed. "I'll take it under advisement, Princess." He met her stare evenly.

Jocasta nodded slowly. "You know, the King, my brother-in-law--"

"You know what? I don't give a shit!" shouted Cotta, slamming his hand down on the table. Everyone became alert. "You're here as a courtesy,Highness, not to order people around and micromanage things! I wil not be browbeaten by a woman of no accomplishment."

Prince Enoch leaned to her and whispered, "Don't start a fight you cannot finish. I'll save this. You owe me."

"Minister, I must respectfully ask that you moderate your tone towards a member of the Royal Family," said Prince Enoch firmly. "Princess Jocasta was simply shocked by what she heard about the young woman's morals. I'm sure that we may find that there are some kind of extenuating circumstances and that this...let us face it minor matter compared to who becomes Adiran head of state..."

Princess Jocasta took a deep breath. The two people looked at one another.

"I was shocked, Mr. Cotta, and I beg your pardon for speaking to you inappropriately given that you are a minster of state and a man highly respected..." said Jocasta softly.

"Highness, I apologize for my vulgar response." said Marcus Cotta, inclining his head.

In the slightly tense atmosphere that followed, Lalery and Nicanor both turned at the same time to Beroth and began to each in their way suggest that they adjourn now.

"Ah yes, well, all friends eh?" said Beroth. "Let's adjourn. We have a gala to attend. Sick children!"

"It's the rail project, sir," said Lalery.

"Even better!"

[Hittanryan]

Rowan Headquarters
20 Hill End Street, New Laconia

The newly-appointed party leader's staff was still gauging the reaction to the caucuses. The Busters were gone, but there was little they could do about them. They were practically fanatics, unwilling to listen or negotiate. Far more important were the leftist MAs who were making noise about defecting to the Greens. Throwing Bluford a couple of bones had turned out to be a smart move in managing them.

It wasn't just the left that was a problem, either. Pendergast had won millions more votes than Rowan, and his people still didn't seem fully convinced on the younger usurper. Some spoke doom and gloom about the general election, saying Rowan wouldn't be able to handle it. Most worrying of all was a clip from an MA who uttered a particularly damaging phrase.

"Stole the nomination? He actually said that?" Snyder was asking Cruise pointedly.

"Well, you know, it's sour grapes..." Cruise said dismissively.

"But he didn't even like Pendergast," Snyder pointed out. "Damn it, I was afraid of this. Get the Chief Whip on the line in the meantime, have him go pay a visit. We're not outta the woods yet." She got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going? You're not gonna bother George about this, are you?"

"Of course I am, he's party leader now, he needs to know what's going on in his caucus," she said, looking impatient.

"No, this is nothing, don't tell him or he might decide he's gotta put Pendergast and his people in the Cabinet too," Cruise argued.

"Well we might have to. I'm going," Snyder said, walking out. Cruise cursed and hefted himself up out of his chair after her.

Snyder was faster than the portly Cruise and reached Rowan well ahead of him. By the time he got to his office, winded, Rowan glanced at Cruise and asked the two of them "Is this true?"

"No, I don't think we stole anything, but John did beat us in the popular vote," Snyder said. "Look, we ran on integrity. We tried to set ourselves apart from John that way. Now to some people it looks like we got the nomination through a backroom deal. You know how that looks."

"That's politics," Cruise argued.

"To you and me. Not to the public," Snyder countered. "George, I think given this reaction, we need to appear magnanimous. Given our coalition so far, I would recommend Treasury or Attorney General."

Rowan sighed wearily. "You're putting me in a delicate position here, Dana. What exactly will I tell Al's people if I start making overtures to John? We only got the nomination with their support, and we got their support by being the alternative to John. What about our own supporters who don't trust John?"

"Keep stressing the diversity of ideas within our party, that you must acknowledge the millions of votes cast for your former rival," Snyder said. "I mean face it, he kicked our ass in the popular vote. It would look bad to ignore that."

"Better hope the Bluford voters don't flee the party before Election Day, then," Cruise commented. "You saw the runoff. About a third of 'em still abstained."

"John can't really affect their core issues at Treasury or Justice. And they've got State for god's sake, how can they complain?" Snyder said.

"Dana, Dana, Dana..." Cruise said, shaking his head. "How long have you been in this party?" Cruise remarked sarcastically.

"Look, the damage on the left is probably already done anyway. Al was never going to win, and the Busters were going to leave no matter what. The Busters can go piss up a rope, they'll never be satisfied with us. If they go Green, they'll be Tao's problem. Most of Al's other people stood by him, and they'll listen to him if he endorses this plan."

"And why, pray tell, will Al agree to do that?" Cruise asked.

"Because if John takes us down, Al goes down with us," Snyder pointed out. Cruise was shaking his head.

Rowan made eye contact with Cruise. "Alan, you obviously don't agree?"

"No," Cruise said firmly. "We'll be pissing in our own well. John's not gonna give up on the Presidency. He knows how close he came. Somewhere down the line, when the chips are down, he'll come back to haunt us like a discount hooker."

"Discount hooker aside, that's why I'm saying: put John where he'll be happy and his fortunes are tied to ours," Snyder argued. "The guy wants power and status. He'll be less likely to challenge us if it means giving up one of the big four Cabinet posts."

"Don't know why you think that," Cruise said skeptically. "If he's in the Cabinet he'll be able to gear up for a challenge even better. John'll do favors, build up his own record, and amass all kinds of political capital to challenge us the instant things go a bit south."

"He'll do that in the Assembly too, and he'll have nothing to lose there," Snyder pointed out.

"I'm inclined to agree with Dana," Rowan said grimly. "John has a lot of friends in the Assembly. I'd prefer not to have him leading a bloc against us if we can help it, and we should be seen to acknowledge his victory in the popular vote too."

Cruise grimaced and sighed. "At this rate we'll barely have any of our own people in the Cabinet..."

"Plenty of Cabinet posts over the years got filled this way," Snyder remarked.

"Be that as it may, Dana, I'm not entirely happy about this," Rowan said. "You're right, Alan. I hear you. John might be a threat in the Cabinet. We will need to keep an eye on him just as we will Bluford and Bailey. But I think he'll be a greater threat in the Assembly. He'll get a lot of sympathy if people think we stole the nomination from him. Not only that but if he stays in the Assembly, soon he'll be Chair of Appropriations. Then we'll be fighting him over the budget. That could be all he needs to launch a challenge."

"Right, but if we bring John into the Cabinet," Snyder said, still trying to sell the idea, "it's all on him. He'll be turning his back on the man who gave him a key Cabinet position in recognition of his accomplishments."

"Yes, I understand that," Rowan said, "but John's not stupid. He beat us in the polls, remember? He'll know how and when to strike. We still have to be careful, and deny him the opportunity. The point is we can do that easier if he's in the Cabinet."

---

John Pendergast's arrival at Rowan HQ was very deliberately publicized. Press Secretary Carvalho made sure major outlets knew that Rowan was acknowledging Pendergast's popular vote lead and was accordingly extending an olive branch, however much they may have disagreed on politics. At the very least, the fact that it was Rowan who reached out first--and so quickly at that--would ideally demonstrate Rowan's sincerity about party unity. It would also put the ball in Pendergast's court; if he declined the invitation, it was on him. He and his supporters wouldn't be able to claim that he'd been snubbed or that Rowan only agreed to meet due to popular pressure.

As Pendergast got out of his state car, he waved to the waiting press, all smiles, keeping up the same old charm. He was dressed in a fine dark overcoat for the relatively chilly fall weather, which he removed and neatly folded over his arm as he entered, making a bit of small talk with Dale Ober who'd been sent to receive him and would sit in on their meeting. Upon entering Rowan's office, Pendergast was still genial and talking to Rowan as if nothing had changed between them. They made small talk for a bit, switching over to talking a bit of shop from the Assembly where they were still colleagues, until finally Rowan brought up the caucuses.

"Ah George, of course no hard feelings. It's all part of the game," Pendergast said jovially.

"Well, you know the press. Pundits talking about a stolen nomination..." Rowan said dismissively.

Pendergast looked surprised. "People aren't really saying you stole it, are they? What nonsense. You won fair and square. Why, if the situation was reversed I'd have done the same thing."

"Well, be that as it may, John, you whooped us in the popular vote. Eleven points. Poor Dale here was traumatized by the end of the night," Rowan said, motioning to Ober.

Pendergast laughed at that. "Craig did a great job. We had a lot of fantastic people working for us."

"More to the point, John, millions of Social Democrats out there like your message and they like you. I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't oblige them."

"Really? How's that?" Pendergast asked, feigning ignorance.

"I imagine you can take a guess. You said you had a fantastic team running your campaign. I want the best of the best on my team as well. That's why I want to make you Secretary of the Treasury," Rowan said, cutting to the chase.

Pendergast chuckled at that. "All right, George, what's the catch?"

"What catch?" Rowan asked innocently.

"Come on George. What's Al going to say?"

"I've talked to Al," Rowan said, holding a hand up reassuringly. "Treasury doesn't really affect his issues. The Busters, who didn't like you, were going to leave no matter what. We think that'll only affect the ultimate outcome of two, maybe three district races."

"Sure, but you might get even more if I'm in the Cabinet," Pendergast said.

"No, no, I don't think so. Al's remaining people are loyal to him, and we're going to jump right into the general, hitting the Liberals. That's the real fight. We have to move past the caucuses and put our party back together again. Plus..." Rowan said, glancing aside, leaning forward, and lowering his voice a bit. "I could use somebody to balance Al's people out in the Cabinet. We've worked together for years, John, and I can still barely believe I'm here. We could really use your help, and I know that you're one of the best men for the job."

Pendergast studied Rowan for a long moment, his expression largely blank. He then smiled and said "Well, I suppose I can hardly turn down an offer like that then. Although I have to wonder why you didn't make this offer before now..."

"Well, we did try to talk to some of your people on the floor but they didn't take us seriously," Rowan explained. "Besides, come on John, you weren't going to give up and join my team while you were still ahead, right? Nobody knew how Al's delegates were going to vote. Al himself didn't even know, he told me so. We both had to stick it out."

"Oh, I suppose that's true," Pendergast said genially. "Well, I'd like a chance to talk to some of my people before we call this a done deal, but they'll have to work to talk me out of it, if you know what I mean."

"I understand, it's a big decision. I can see the appeal of staying in the Assembly, assuming we keep our majority, of course," Rowan said.

"Yes, well, let's shake on it for now," Pendergast said, standing and extending a hand. With that, Rowan's team of rivals was born.

[Hittanryan]

Adiran Labor Alliance Headquarters
Puerto Rojas, Adiron

In two weeks Tom Alvarado had gone from a scandal-plagued freshman disavowed by the previous government to an early backer of the next party leader. After campaigning on Rowan's behalf, his district had nominated him as a delegate to the National Caucus. The controversies around him were drying up and being replaced with photo ops from campaign stops such as the military exercise and the convention floor. He'd gained influence beyond his years, enjoying access above and beyond the former Pendergast and Bluford supporters now trying to shift gears and curry favor. His poll numbers were climbing.

Things had finally turned around, and he had no idea what was happening to the one person he wanted to share it with the most.

Rowan's win started to sour in his mind as he thought of their last hour together. There was so much uncertainty. His career had been practically dangling by a thread. Pendergast had been almost a shoe-in. If he had just stuck things out with Sarah a little longer, held out until the caucus, things might've gone differently somehow. He would have had a more definite future and the means to provide for the two of them. 'Maybe then...maybe then I wouldn't have pussied out and played it fucking 'safe'...' he ruminated over the last whiskey in his apartment before slumping over in his armchair and nodding off.

Tom stirred awake early, groggy and with no shortage of aches. To wake himself up, he pulled on some PT gear, stretched, and went for a run. On his phone he put on an old running cadence, not to sing along but just for something familiar to set the rhythm.

I used to sit at home all day
I USED TO SIT AT HOME ALL DAY
Lettin' my life just waste away
LETTIN' MY LIFE JUST WASTE AWAY
Then a man came outta the blue
THEN A MAN CAME OUTTA THE BLUE
Said son I got a job for you
SAID SON I GOT A JOB FOR YOU
There's travel, adventure, and loads of fun
THERE'S TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND LOADS OF FUN
And we'll even teach you how to shoot a gun
AND WE'LL EVEN TEACH YOU HOW TO SHOOT A GUN
There's room and board and food to boot
THERE'S ROOM AND BOARD AND FOOD TO BOOT
And a brand new tailored business suit
AND A BRAND NEW TAILORED BUSINESS SUIT

He wasn't the only one out there. The first person Tom saw was a doughy middle aged man who--despite his admirable efforts--he easily overtook. By contrast as he rounded a corner he ended up some distance behind what he could only assume was a fitness nut, who Tom judged to be more heavily muscled than himself. Tom never saw his face, as the man was pulling away from him steadily. Just as he was finishing up he passed a voluptuous dark-haired young woman coming his way, dressed in a sports bra and yoga pants. Still longing for the touch and sight of a woman, he couldn't help but notice the bounce of her bosom, the flaring of her hips, the contours of her skin highlighted by perspiration. She flashed him a coy smile which he couldn't help but return. He returned to his apartment awake yet decidedly frustrated. It wasn't as bad as the strip club though.

He was meeting with a key donor today. By good fortune in his first campaign he had made the acquaintance of Art Lemmon, President of the Adiran Labor Alliance. The ALA was a federation of labor unions based mostly on the West Coast containing a collection of working and middle class unions, including autoworkers, construction workers, electricians, firefighters, pilots, plumbers, police, metalworkers, railroad workers, taxi drivers, teachers, and teamsters. His endorsement had moved tens of thousands of votes last time which proved decisive.

"When I heard you were a Rowan man I was relieved," Art was saying.

"What, you mean you guys didn't want to rise up in Al Bluford's glorious workers' revolution?" Tom asked blithely.

"Heh, yeah, right. I'd prefer to keep our members employed," Art said pithily. "Bluford'll at least look out for us in the Labor Department. To be honest I wasn't sure I could trust Pendergast with all that talk about free trade."

"Er...I think I need to level with you. Between us, Art, it's looking like he might end up with a spot in the Cabinet too," Tom said.

"Where?" Art asked, looking at Tom hard a moment.

"Looking like Treasury or Attorney General," Tom said.

Art relaxed and nodded. "Well that's not so bad. I just don't want him where he can mess with trade, deregulation, privatization...let's face it, Pendergast's a Terranova Street suit. He walks like a suit, talks like a suit, and looks like a suit. You can tell he's an old uptown Clothorn boy," Lemmon said, referring to the middle-upper class suburb where Pendergast was from.

"I heard he eats pizza with a knife and fork," Tom joked.

Art clicked his tongue and shook his head in stern disapproval. "Well, let's get down to brass tacks. You backed the right horse in the caucus, that'll count for something. Rowan's at least trying to look out for manufacturing in this country. Bluford said he was, but he'd just send the economy into a ditch and all our jobs with it. But you have a problem: you got yourself all wrapped up in this supposed "peace" deal..."

"Art, the ambassador led the talks while we were in New Edom, and none of us had any idea what the Imperium was really after. They lied and refused inquiries all the way up to their declaration of war. You know what the Curia's like," Tom said, having gotten used to the line Rowan recommended he take.

"Yeah but Tom, they're wanting us to lift the embargo. You know what that could mean?" Art asked.

"Yeah, I do. I had no idea what the Imps were gonna ask for. None of us did. For all we knew, all they wanted was to go back to war and do their best to beat us while we were weakened by the energy crisis. That's all anybody knew until they offered terms."

"Well, sure, but the Edomites must've been going to bat for them," Art replied.

"The men we talked to wanted to avoid war," Tom replied.

"Who'd you talk to? How high up?"

"Well, the Finance Minister, Master of Offices...in fact, the Finance Minister, Count Lalery, is running for President this year. Adiron's got some friends in Fineberg, despite everything," Tom said.

"Hmph," Art muttered. "So what did you do? What did they agree to?"

"We convinced them to pressure the Imperium into deescalating things if they could. That was what I was involved with. The ambassador and the State Department handled the rest. I didn't agree to the free trade stuff, that wasn't decided until after and it was way above me. That was DeGroot and Deol when New Edom's king came here," Tom explained.

"Okay, okay, and I suppose George Rowan did have a plan," Art said, still looking a bit concerned. "And what's this about you uh, 'hooking up' with an Edomite officer?" he asked, using the relatively new expression with some amount of distaste.

"Art, come on, you don't read the tabloids, do you?" Tom said, eager to get off the subject of Sarah.

"It's not just the tabloids," Art said, his expression hardening into a frown, not liking being dismissed. "If you want me to stick my neck out for you and get the Alliance to back you again, I need explanations. I think I'm entitled."

"All right, fair enough, Art," Tom said, putting a hand up. He took a deep breath before he started, fighting back lurid thoughts. "Look, here's the truth of the matter. We really did hit it off, she was a great girl, but in the end it was just a fling. We tried to make it work, she even managed to get transferred to the embassy staff here. But in the end, she's military. She got deployed somewhere else, as it tends to happen frequently. It was going to keep happening. We decided to be adults about it and part ways before all that distance killed what we had going."

Art studied Tom carefully. "So you tried to make a real go of it?"

"'Tried' is the word," Tom said a bit bitterly.

"You were together though. A couple?" Art pressed.

Tom's expression went blank. "Yeah, yeah you could say that."

Art looked thoughtful "Well..." he said, hemming and hawing a bit, "...still, a foreign military officer? And an Edomite? She could be leading troops against our boys someday."

"She was a staff officer," Tom pointed out.

"Staff, eh?" Art said, briefly considering the double entendre but deciding against commenting. "What kind of staff?"

"Intelligence..." Tom said hesitantly.

"Hoo boy, you don't talk in your sleep, do ya?" Art asked.

"No, and I can assure you that no state secrets were divulged by either party," Tom said. "Yes, it was a bit impulsive, I realize that."

"Oh, I was young once, believe it or not. Sometimes it just happens that way," Art allowed.

"Well, reality caught up with us. That's why we called it off," Tom explained.

"Hmm, you'll learn from this one, I think. And all you did in New Edom was get them to talk to the Imps?" Art asked.

"Basically, yeah," Tom replied.

"All right, Alvarado, I'll think on how we're going to do this and we'll be in touch," Art said, getting to his feet and offering him a firm handshake.

Just as they were leaving, however, there was a brief knock on the door before it creaked open to reveal a young woman with chestnut brown hair that tumbled over her shoulders. She had a lovely hourglass figure accentuated by a simple white blouse which almost seemed strained against the swell of her bosom as well as a black pencil skirt which flared out at the hips and hugged the curve of her rump when she turned profile. Her lips were full and pouty, and she wore some eyeshadow that seemed to make her green eyes pop.

"Dad, Jim really needs to know if you're still going to Clearmont...oh!" she said with surprise, looking at Tom with a smile. "Hi Tom, how are you?"

"Tom, you remember Tammy?" Art asked as they continued through the door.

"Of course," Tom said, shaking her hand with an involuntary smile. He remembered her all right. In one glance Tom's gaze had stripped her to her bare skin. He remembered those eyes looking into his while she kneeled, her head bobbing up and down. He remembered the sight and feel of her on all fours before him. He remembered her shuddering and crying out, her skin glowing.

Art seemed to notice the two grinning at each other and cut them off. "Did you say Jim needed to see me, sweetie?"

"Oh, well he just wants to know before lunch so he can call ahead," Tammy explained, glancing back at Tom briefly.

"All right, I'll let him know. Anyway, Tom, thanks for dropping in. Oh, and what was that name you said?"

"Bill Kinney, over at Linea," Tom reminded him.

"Right, right, Bill. Yeah I'll get in touch with him by the end of the week. Take it easy," he said with a pat on the shoulder and a brief look between the two of them again.

Tammy was playing with her hair a bit. "So, how are you doing?"

"Not too bad, considering I'm up for reelection. How about you? I haven't seen you around in the capital," Tom said.

"Oh the nonprofit I was working at sorta had a restructuring. Luckily Dad knew there was an opening here. Just secretary work but it pays the bills while I'm interviewing, you know. Congratulations, by the way, your guy won the caucuses," she said in a friendly way.

"That was a crazy convention," Tom said.

"I saw," she replied. "Weren't you there? I thought I saw your name somewhere."

"Yeah, I was the delegate for our district," he said.

She then looked and checked to make sure Art was gone and then leaned into him. Tom caught a sweet smell, either perfume or something in her hair. "So, um, I was just heading out for lunch. You want to meet me in the lobby in five?"

'No,' some part of his brain told him. "Sure, let's catch up," were the words that came out of his mouth.

"Great! How long are you in town for?" Tammy asked as they walked, her hips swaying a bit with each step.

'Say you're leaving soon, or that you don't know,' said an increasingly distant voice. What he actually said was "At least a week, we're getting into the general election season."

"Hmm, sounds like you're gonna be pretty busy..."

"Well, there's bound to be some downtime. Maybe on the weekend," Tom found himself saying.

"Oh! Let's talk about it over lunch, then, be right down," Tammy said, leaving Tom at an elevator. He enjoyed the sight of her walking away.

As the elevator doors closed and he started his descent, something seemed to dawn on him, at which point he leaned forward, his forehead impacting the metal doors with a thud. The sensible part of his brain had just broken through the cloud of his libido screaming 'What. Am. I. DOING?!'