On every other occasion in recent months, Ambassador Pearson had strolled into the State Department office building with confidence. That was with good reason, as through time he had not only developed good relations with many of the staff, but he believed that he had gained the upper hand in many of the negotiations with his counterpart. However on the morning of Monday the twelfth of June, he could not claim truthfully that he felt even the slightest measure of comfort.

As he drew closer to the outer office of the Secretary, the Ambassador had no idea of what could be waiting for him. Due to the multiple events which had transpired since their meeting of May eighth five weeks prior, he couldn’t help but wonder how he would be received. Perhaps the only positive in that question was the knowledge that he represented the injured party from those events as opposed to the aggressor.

In truth the answer to that and other questions paled when compared to the thought of how Agent Bishop could influence this and future meetings with the Secretary of State. With the revelation of him still being alive, it raised the question of whether or not he had been continuing with an investigation into Texas and the organization. To that end, if the man had persisted with that endeavor, then what if anything had been discovered?

The Secretary of State was waiting in the outer office for his guest to arrive, and greeted him in the same jovial manner as always. Although flashing a return smile toward the man whom he had conversed with nearly two dozen times, number eleven also showed signs of not being at his happiest for this particular occasion. He had a specific agenda to pursue, and would do his best to see it through. However what Ambassador Pearson didn’t know as they shook hands was that the Secretary had been ordered to stand firm in spite of how pleasant their upcoming conversation and deliberations could be. The United States would maintain the blockade until they decided otherwise, and that was final.

Moving into the private office of the Secretary, number eleven wasted little time. He believed that he could as in previous meetings, steer the results of their discussions in his favor. He spoke at length of how the blockade had disrupted the ability for Texas to export trade goods, and that the movements against two military bases within the republic could not be viewed as proper behavior between two neighboring nations on friendly terms.

The Secretary listened respectfully, but showed no visible signs of agitation.

When given the opportunity, he responded with, “Mr. Ambassador, as always you have presented the position of your republic with professionalism. Now I can’t say that I always agree with the decisions of President Harwell, but I do serve at his pleasure. Therefore you and I can continue to debate several issues, and perhaps we will find common ground to agree upon in certain instances, but the blockade will remain in place.”

Number eleven knew that it was vital to have the blockade lifted, as the lack of export ability was already having an impact on the value of the Texas dollar. Therefore he cautiously moved forward with various provisions which would hopefully lead to that end. Within the course of the next hour the attempts of number eleven to crack the man in two ways were unsuccessful, as the Secretary met him at every advance with sturdy resistance. Throughout the process he was impressed by the grit of his counterpart, and once again secretly admired that in certain situations the Secretary possessed the best poker face he had ever seen. Although hoping that the Secretary would reveal something which could help to answer the question of a potential ongoing investigation by Agent Bishop, there was none to be seen. Therefore number eleven finally came to the conclusion that one did not exist, and the interests of the organization where not threatened in that regard.

While attempting to maintain his dignity as he rose to leave the office, the Ambassador said, “Well Mr. Secretary. I’m sorry that we have reached an impasse on this particular challenge, but perhaps we can address the matter again in the near future.”

Reaching to shake his hand, the Secretary replied, “Yes Mr. Ambassador. I suggest that we place emphasis on the topic during our meeting four weeks from now on July tenth.”