"Well,"
How the hell does everyone know what I'm thinking? thought Prime Minister Shroom the 777th as he graciously thanked the Exarch for the booze.
Am I that obvious? Am I that
transparent? "I hope Emperor Heraclius won't take too long, or else he'll miss out on all the fun!"
Shroom would remind himself later on to push for the secret development of anti-telepathy nanomachines...
"And whatever do you mean, my friend?" Shroom asked, though right now he was rather confused - deep down inside, in the recesses of his so-called mind. Aside from phobias of telepaths, he had also problems recalling the exact name of the Byzantine Exarch, the Exarch who he was apparently good friends with. "This place, there is no paparazzi here. We are safe -"
As if to spite him, he saw intrepid
Shroomanian Sentinel reporter Ron Burgundy lurking by the punch bowl, annoying various world leaders and diplomats who went in for a drink. Right now, he was bothering the Baernish dude.
"Uh. Nevermind," Shroom corrected himself, maneuvering himself so that the journo would not see him, but only the Exarch's Byzantine backside.
The Prime Minister turned around, and saw that King Paul was approaching the both of them. In no time, Shroom was sandwiched between the Exarch and the King.
Paul wrote:"Yes, thank you: my wife is quite well. If it is not too bold, I would like to inquire you on the possibility of signing a formal pact formulating joint air defence requirement between PeZookia, the USSR, Byzantium, Canissia and Shroomania. I know we are not formally allies, but constructing such a system would benefit the entire continent greatly."
Exarch wrote:"The Emperor has indeed expressed interest in such a joint air defence pact. Linking our radars together and coordinating air defenses is indeed a good idea. Might I suggest also that there will be an overarching authority coordinating the defences, where all nations involved would send their representatives to ensure smooth operation?"
"Before we go too far too fast," Shroom interjected. "We should also consider the autonomy of our nations' individual defense grids."
He thought fast, despite his displayed drunkenness, and thought of how to best put into polite words how he didn't exactly trust the USSR - the Shadows - with an integrated defense networked that linked all of their air defenses, from Byzantium, to PeZookia, Shroomania and Canissia. Despite their apparent FUN friendliness, Shroom was still suspicious of the Shadows.
His close military friend, Commander Cornelius Coot, had told him about worrying signs of Shadow militarization. And SOFIA chief Johan Ludwig Baylor (the indestructible) had emphasized, in his Shroomanic Shreutsch accent, how the SOFIA was locked in an invisible but perpetual tooth-and-nail struggle against Shadow NOD operatives.
"Um, what I'm trying to say is, we should be careful to ensure that while a chain of command and
information exists to link our nations, this chain should not have - ah - unnecessary weak links," Shroom looked around, making sure no one was listening in on them. "So that nothing falls into the wrong hands. You'll understand my cautiousness, since our continent has been ravaged by two War of the Worlds."
Started by the Goddamn Shadows, Shroom mentally added, for the benefit of any mind-readers present.
Who wouldn't stop trying to kill me the last time!
The conversation carried on and the Exarch voiced some concern over the Prime Minister's alcohol tolerance (he had every right, since Shroom did get tipsy easy). King Paul smiled, knowing all too well what problems a drunken Shroomanian Prime Minister might cause.
Exarch wrote:"I have also been asked by the Emperor to inquire on possible avenues of collaboration. The Emperor is most interested in whether you would like to "bring back" the International Sea Commerce Agency. He might add that he would it expanded to include air cargo, though users are more than free to choose their choice of aircraft. Our shipyards are more than ready to build ships for commerce.
Further, the Emperor is inquiring whether you are interested in nuclear energy projects, as well as in particle accelerators as well."
Shroom's ears perked. The prospect of dockyard workers hammering pieces of metal to build boats always excited him.
"He's right, you know. Our shipping industries have been in a lull. 'Renewing' the ISCA, breathing some new life back into it, might revitalize certain parts of the economy.
"As for particles and atoms, I've got my boys at the Atomic Research Science Experiment - the ARSE, hehe geddit, working hard and together with PeZookian universities. We should really look into that Hadron... HUEG thing.
"And we cannot let the Shepnukistanis beat us with an atom gap - "
King Paul suddenly excused himself.
"... yeah, atom gap," Shroom continued, this time to the Exarch. "I mean, it's a volatile situation over there at Shepistan OD, they're waging a constant war, and with the destructive potential of weaponized atomics..."
He carried on and drank more booze.
]
"
- PeZook
