xp_logs | The Gates: Friends Like These (Reply)

Nathan and Medusa are attending a meeting of the Prague working group at the UN when a familiar face appears. Istvan Barath gives them some information they didn't have. Ignorance isn't bliss, but sometimes the truth is very worrying.

"Elpis's accreditation came through at just the right time," Nathan confided to Medusa as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the refreshments table a handful of very efficient staff had laid out silently while the morning session had been wrapping up. He straightened, eyeing the small knots of conversation, trying to figure out which the two of them ought to be inviting themselves into. "Just about a week before this working group got set up. I have no idea how Joel managed to get us an invitation, but I don't question his contacts - I just enjoy them."

Medusa smiled, casting another glance around the room. "Yes, it is never wise to question where such things come from. Just take the gift and utilize it in the best way possible." She took a sip of her coffee, resisting the urge to make a face. "And perhaps bring our own beverages next time. I bet we could get a lot of people to talk just by tempting them with quality coffee."

"I'm sure that would make us stand out," Nathan quipped. "Might be an idea... I told Joel we'd meet him for a quick coffee after the afternoon session." He made a vague gesture. "Just across the plaza in the Ambassador Grill. He'll want to hear just how today went."

Her smile quickly turned to a frown. "I still do not like the way things are headed. Talking in this group is a start, but if it does not move past talking quickly, I do not want to imagine how the situation may end."

"I want to talk to that woman from Amnesty," Nathan said, scanning the crowd and trying to spot the slender blonde. "They were tracking this from the start, too. I wonder if she'd be willing-"

"I beg your pardon," came a deep - and vaguely familiar - voice from their left. Nathan turned, his eyes widening slightly as he saw who it was. Istvan Barath smiled slightly, the expression almost startling on his grave, leonine features. "I thought that was you, Nathan."

"Minister Barath," Nathan said, and reflected that he really shouldn't have been startled at all. "I didn't see you in the audience... I would have sought you out sooner, if I had." There was a note of deep respect in Nathan's voice as he shook the much older man's hand.

"I slipped in towards the end of the session. I'm not surprised you didn't see me." Barath turned his attention to Medusa, an eyebrow going up briefly before he smiled, looking oddly tickled. "I must say, young lady," he said very gravely, "you appear to be doing your very best to be inconspicuous today." He extended a hand. "We haven't met. I of course know your family, very well."

She took his hand, shaking it firmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you Minister Barath. I am glad that you have been successful with building a relationship with my family and more importantly, with Attilan." Only her years of training kept her from showing her surprise at meeting the man, or her pleasure at his apparent approval. "I know it gives the government hope that they do not stand alone in the battle for rights for all individuals."

"I respect the work your family has done more than I can say. They have quite quietly built and firmly established what we in Hungary are still working towards."

"I think perhaps you're being a little modest," Nathan suggested.

Barath gave him a wry smile. "Realistic, rather. In fact, I find it rather vexing that all the work we have done seems to have placed us in the category of 'special interest group'. Or worse, a threat." The smile turned slightly humorless. "Apparently there are a few highly placed people in the Czech government who honestly believe that my government has plans to step in and liberate the oppressed mutants of Smichov. I've tried to express that first of all, Slovakia is in the way... geographically, I mean..."

Nathan managed not to choke on his coffee. "Oh, lord," he muttered. "All we need."

"That is very troubling to hear and I fear that the Czech government stopped being logical long ago. Otherwise I cannot imagine how they could have approved the creation and containment of the ghetto." She pulled a pad of paper out of the purse casually slung over her shoulder, flipping through the notes she had taken at the meeting. "I wonder if hearing that kind of paranoia exists within the government would help change a few minds about the direness of the situation," she mused.

"Truthfully, I'm not sure how widely held a belief it is. I suspect some of those who espouse it are using it as a way to justify not taking into account some of the things we have been trying so hard to point out to them. Such as the utter wrongheadedness of this approach." Barath's expression was somber. "But they are afraid. And there are enough like Syrovy, who believe they are doing the right thing... but already there are problems."

"What?" Nathan asked with a frown. "We've had so little information from on the ground..."

"How many of those living within Smichov do you believe have yet received their security clearances, Nathan?" Barath asked, looking very tired. "That was a rhetorical question," he said before the younger man could answer. "None. Not a single one."

Nathan stared at him in growing horror. "No one has been out of that neighborhood?"

"Blac...the prince has been concerned that there have been no more refugees entering Attilan. The flow had been small, but steady, until the walls were erected," she said as she made a few notes. She wished she could say she was surprised, but this is where she had truly expected things to go. "And we already know the difficulty the Red Cross has had in their attempts to enter." Medusa looked up from her pad, her expression grim. "Has anyone even been in since it was sealed?"

"Ten days and no one apart from troops and the Czech government's own representatives." Barath opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if hesitating over his next words. "Certain information that has come into our hands suggests that the ban on entry extends to goods, as well. The government is still trying to set up an inspection process for shipments going into the enclosed area."

Nathan stared down into his coffee, trying to ignore the way his stomach was knotting. "They're arguing about how best to inspect trucks while the people inside are running out of food." Ten days.

If Medusa had been able to see her own face, she would have seen the same expression she frequently called her mother's business look. "Something must be done now. How much longer can we allow this to continue? The situation will continue to deteriorate and at this rate, we will only be allowed in once it is too late." With blocks on resources coming in, riots were sure to follow.

"It's a pity," Barath said, his eyes on Nathan, "that this is not a certain sort of delicate situation. But with the complicating factors, and the Czech government's unwillingness to entertain outside help as of yet..." He sighed. "We must keep approaching the situation from all available avenues. I still have not yet given up on a political solution."

Medusa glanced over at Nathan and then back at the minister, thinking back to one of their first conversations. “Perhaps you should add a yet onto your first statement. While I still want a political solution to be found, I am beginning to lose hope.”

"There are things that those of us who... address delicate situations can and can't do," Nathan said, an edge of real sadness in his voice. He paused, sipping at his coffee. "The problem is really information," he went on, more briskly. "We need to work on that."

"Agreed. It's something that the NGOs are best suited to do, I believe," Barath said, matching Nathan's brisk tone.

Medusa nodded in agreement. "We need to know what is taking place inside the ghetto and ensure that at least basic needs are being met."

A slender, dark-haired woman moved in to stand at Barath's side, murmuring something in his ear. He nodded, replying to her in Hungarian, and then turned back to Nathan and Medusa. "I must be going - the Secretary-General has agreed to give me a few minutes." He extended his hand to Nathan, shaking firmly, and then offered his to Medusa once more. "A pleasure to see both of you. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me, if there is anything that I might do to help."

Nathan straightened, obscurely heartened by the offer. From any other politician it might have sounded like just words. From Istavan Barath, it had the ring of sincerity. "Thank you, Minister."

Medusa murmured her thanks as well and watched Barath's retreating figure for a moment before turning to Nathan. "That was very heartening. At least we are not alone in our concerns."

"He's a very good man," Nathan said, gazing after him. "That delicate situation I told you about, the one where I met him... he was in personal danger himself, as a public and highly-placed mutant, but he stayed. Fought through the bureaucratic obstacles for us, and helped us help the people who needed it..." He glanced down at her with a faint smile. "We need more politicians like that. Badly."

"Indeed, though he can only do so much while he is in the minority." She smiled up at Nathan. "But he does give me some hope that one day things may be different than they are now.”

Nathan took a deep breath and then let it out again, donning a diplomatic expression so perfect that would have shocked Jean senseless. "Shall we go mingle, then?" he asked. They needed to focus on what could be done here, make use of the opportunities in this room. Getting depressed by the obstacles wasn't going to get them through the obstacle course.