Alien Diplomacy

here?”
    “Only because I expected and was looking for it. Transitions are always difficult. Especially if you’re…used to being in a more…active role.”
    Chuckie and Mom had said he knew about Centaurion Division, meaning he probably knew who I was, outside of my relationship to Caroline. Still, I was supposed to be keeping the profile low.
    “Yeah. How did you handle it? I mean, you’re a war hero. Can’t imagine a more drastic change than moving from that to what you do now.”
    “Oh, yes, it’s very different.” He sighed. “Let’s stop pretending, just for a moment. When you’re used to being actively involved in things, especially things like protecting innocent people from very real and very threatening dangers, focusing on compromise and diplomacy can be a rocky road to travel on. How are you really doing?”
    “I suck at it. Big time. Why don’t you? Is it just that you’ve been doing it longer?”
    “No. There are times, many times, when I feel just as you do. Like I’m a failure.”
    “Why do you keep on? You’ve been a senator for a long time now. I mean, I know you have a big ranch back home. Why don’t you retire and just have fun for a while?”
    McMillan was quiet for a few long moments. U2 shared that “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own.” I agreed with their sentiments. “I think about it, periodically. Certainly when it’s time to campaign for reelection.”
    “So what makes you go for it?”
    He gave me a small smile. “Long ago, I was complaining to Kelly about some county ordinance. She got fed up and told me if I really wanted to fix things, then I needed to get involved. So I did. One thing led to another, and suddenly, there I was, on Capitol Hill, representing my entire state.”
    “Was it cool?”
    “It was hell. War is worse, but it’s also more straightforward. The other side wants to win as much as your side, and that means lots of killing, on both sides. And within that, there’s strategy, maneuvering, and more. But the overall goals are simple—especially if you’re fighting in the trenches. The business of politics is all compromise. You break a promise over here so you can get a more important agreement over there. It’s hard not to go to bed feeling dirty.”
    “So, again, why do it? Why keep on?”
    “Kelly asks me that, every election year. But she also asks me this—do I know the hearts and minds of my opponents?”
    “Why does that matter?”
    “I know my own mind, my own heart. I know that what I’m doing, I’m doing for the right reasons, to protect and serve my constituents, this country, the world at large. But I don’t know and can’t know my opponents’ hearts and minds. Or at least, so far, I haven’t believed any of them are more committed than I am, more willing to make the hard choices, more able and willing to call foul when it needs to be called. And until that time…” He shrugged. “I don’t do this so much because I want to, but because I haven’t yet found someone I trust with the job more than I trust myself. And I know I’m not the only one in government who feels like that. There are more of us than I believe most people think. It only takes a few high-profile bad apples to ruin the entire barrel.”
    I looked around the ballroom while I digested this. The former Diplomatic Corps had screwed their own people, as hard and as viciously as they could, for what had turned out to be decades. They hadn’t been willing to step down, ever. White, however, had been a great leader, for a long time. And he stepped aside when he didn’t feel he could lead the hearts and minds of his people as well as Gower could. But he didn’t step down until he knew Gower was ready.
    Jeff and Christopher had done the same thing, left jobs they’d loved and worked hard to get, because there were others they could trust with those jobs—and they were needed elsewhere. BecauseWhite had felt there was no one else we could trust to take over the Diplomatic Corps and do the job that needed to be done.
    “So,” I said slowly, “you’re saying that sometimes you need to do the job you hate, that you don’t think you’re good at, because there’s no one better available, and at least you know that you’ll do the best you can.”
    “Yes. I’m saying that unless or until you can trust someone else, you have an obligation to do the job, and do it well, to the utmost of your ability. At least, if you’re a leader,” he