It was twenty minutes later when a buzz interrupted Vanmarek's thoughts. He glanced at the small console next the door. A small image showed Henry Willow standing in the corridor outside, looking suitably glum. Vanmarek pressed a button on his desk and the door slid up into the ceiling.
Willow stood between two troopers with a dejected look upon his face. His hair was dishevelled as though he had just woken up and a thin film of sweat covered his upper lip. His chest rose and fell beneath his voluminous blue robe as he recovered his breath.
'Apologies for the delay, Commander,' one of the troopers said. 'He insisted on changing his shoes and robe before he would leave his quarters. He takes longer to dress than my wife.'
Vanmarek chuckled.
'I do not,' Willow said, stumbling forwards as the guards pushed him into the room. He straightened his shoulders and raised his chin as he dabbed at a sprinkling of sweat on his forehead with a small white cloth that he produced from his pocket.
'Do you need us to wait, Commander?' the other trooper said.
'No. You can go now. Thanks for bringing my guest.'
'Guest?' Willow said, raising his eyebrows. 'Is this how you treat your guests? I have cousins in the South with better manners than you.'
Vanmarek chuckled again. 'I'll bet you do. My own cousins don't speak to me anymore. I can't say that it bothers me much. Perhaps if you answered your comms requests, you could have travelled here on your own two feet and saved us both some time.'
'Ah, well...'
'Never mind that. Take a seat.'
Vanmarek tapped a button on his desk and the door dropped back into place. Willow watched it close behind him before turning to face Vanmarek with an audible sigh, his shoulders sagging.
'Henry Willow,' Vanmarek said.
Willow shuffled on his seat, straightening his robe. 'I really must complain Commander...'
'Vanmarek.'
'Commander Vanmarek, I am not accustomed to such treatment. I am a simple diplomat. Could you kindly inform me why I have been brought from my room at such short notice and paraded about like a common thief. One of those troopers ate my cake while I was dressing. Neither would admit taking it. As you know, good cake made from non-synthesized ingredients is hard to find.'
Vanmarek laughed out loud. 'Ah, Willow, it's been a tough day for us both hasn't it?'
'It certainly has. My robe will require an additional cleaning cycle. I shall be sending a claim for the cost to your office.'
Vanmarek held up a hand to stop Willow from detailing any more of his domestic problems. 'Mr. Willow, I have called you here because your name was mentioned to me by a group of rather angry guildsmen this afternoon.'
Willow winced and folded his fingers together in his lap.
'They told me that you were the Special Trade Envoy to Admiral Gail Thompson.'
Willow shook his head. 'There must be some mistake, Commander. Perhaps they were confusing me with someone else.'
'Initially, I had the same thought. To be frank with you, Willow, I have never heard your name before today. When I asked Operations to look you up on our internal systems, I thoroughly expected them to tell me that you didn't exist, but here you are, too big and blue for anyone to doubt. You look quite real to me.'
'What? Of course I'm real.'
'What puzzles me,' Vanmarek said. 'Is that when I checked our records to see who Gail Thompson's Special Trade Envoy was, I found that the job title doesn't exist.'
'Guildmaster Gumptor is clearly mistaken. Perhaps he was thinking of somebody else.'
'I didn't mention Guildmaster Gumptor.'
'He was there wasn't he? You said the guildsmen? I assumed...'
'He was not there, no.'
'I'm sorry, Commander. On this occasion, you have the wrong man.'
'Take a look at this,' Vanmarek turned his console around. In the centre of the screen it showed Henry sat in small a meeting room, talking with Guildmaster Gumptor.
'What is this?' Henry said.
'I was hoping you could tell me. It's a visual log from meeting room eight. It was taken a few weeks ago. The audio is turned down, but I have listened to the entire conversation.'
Willow leant back in his chair, offering a wide smile. 'In my duties as diplomat, I may have spoken to Guildmaster Gumptor on one occasion, purely as a favour to the Admiral, you understand.'
Vanmarek stared back with unblinking eyes. 'Here's the deal, Willow. The guildsmen seem to think you are whatever envoy you previously claimed to be. The role doesn't exist, so what you did here...' he said, tapping a finger on his console, 'is against regulation 2-2-9 of Central Command's charter of acceptable conduct. I could have you placed in a detention cell until a full investigation has been carried out into your affairs.'
Willow bristled. 'I think you take me for a fool, Commander. You would not take such excessive action. I heard that you were a good man, despite your unpleasant words.'
'Wouldn't I?'
'Admiral Gail Thompson approved my title as Special Trade Envoy,' Willow said. 'I did nothing wrong.'
'I don't see any evidence of that approval, and regrettably, she's not here to confirm whether she authorised your actions or not, so it's your word against mine, Willow, and your word stinks.'
Willow jumped to his feet. 'This really is unacceptable. I shall take this matter to General Markov, if he is now in charge of all this.'
'Be my guest. He already knows. Let me tell you your options in advance, just so you have something to think about while you're wasting your time trying to squeeze your belly into the Air Route.'
'Really, Commander, I must protest.'
'Either you accept the role of Special Trade Envoy, and continue to meet the guilds to resolve their current disputes and grievances, or I'll have you indefinitely detained in Tower Two with the Bronkey brothers.'
'I have no idea who you mean but-'
'The Bronkey brothers are being held for sexual offences against a man in the Old Quarter. It's not their first offence'
Willow looked pale.
'Have a good long think about it. You have twenty-seconds to decide. Become the envoy for real or share a detention room for a couple of months.'
Willow buried his face in his hands and groaned.