somewhere in the middle

“Sir, the United States ambassador is here.”

She looked up from her terminal, her good eye boring through the messenger. “Is that so,” she replied in her usual bored manner, “and what, pray tell, would the United States ambassador want?”

The messenger, a young lieutenant stepped to the side to reveal a haggard looking woman appearing to be in her late forties or possible early fifties. Her hair was cut short and her dark eyes were sharp behind the small round glasses she wore. “Sir, with your leave, I think I’ll let the ambassador speak for herself.”

Her dark eyes took in the large room and its occupants in one graceful sweep, “ I am Melissa Thorne, and I have been sent to inquire regarding terms.”

“Well Melissa Thorne, exactly what terms are you referring to,” came the reply with a toothy one-eyed wolf grin.

“I’m not here to play games,” Ambassador Thorne retorted sharply.” I’ve been sent to offer you our surrender.”

“Then it seems you have wasted a trip ambassador.”

“Why do you say that? A call for peace can never be a waste of time.”

“Your nations hypocrisy truly is astounding, Ambassador Thorne. Or is it that you simply have a terribly short memory? Well, let me refresh it. This war need never have started. We begged and pleaded with you to find some peaceful solution, but you thought that because ours was a new and small nation you could dictate to us. You thought that we would be awed and overwhelmed into submitting to your demands. Before any blood was spilled we told you how this would end. Leave here Ambassador Thorne and tell your nation, surrender is denied. Tell them that those who wish for war so very badly have no say as to its conclusion. If they ask you when this war will end, you tell them that once we’re done killing your soldiers we’re going to keep on killing until there is nothing left but some arbitrary lines on a map full of orphans living in the burned out carcasses of what used to be cities. Now, run along Ambassador, the death of a nation doesn’t happen by itself and as you can imagine it is terribly time consuming.”

Ambassador Melissa Thorne was left standing wide-eyed, mouth agape and thoroughly forgotten. She felt like a child sent to her room without supper after a stern scolding. Deep down, buried deep beneath the horror of what she’d just been told she couldn't quite shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe they deserved whatever was about to come next.