President-for-Life

[Crotobaltislavonia]

Banja Luka Airport

The word had come down, the State would begin to seal up the borders again any day now. Which meant the freedom of movement Crotobaltislavonia had enjoyed for the last eight weeks was coming to an end. And for Herut and her group, it was now or never.

The last eight weeks had been interesting times for Crotobaltislavonia. Refugees who had fled to uncertain futures were returning home to their lives. More prosperous families who had gone abroad to visit relatives or take holidays were returning home to exhausted bank accounts and stolen businesses. Technocrats had used State funds to import luxuries they would enjoy and then sell off in lean times. And the underworld had seen a windfall from a Blud bubble that had subsequently burst from oversupply.

For Herut and her group, the closing of the borders pushed up their timeline. But it also presented opportunity. With the mad dash to return home, the SPA and the Border Guards were focusing on screening arrivals for Enemies of the State while giving minimal attention to departures.

Herut was a typical Yiddish girl from the farm: large nose, wide across, busty, and big in the rear. It didn't hurt that she was wearing the tightest sweater and shortest skirt she had. The customs officer and pair of Border Guards manning the checkpoint, all three young and bored, looked Herut up and down, grinning from ear-to-ear, their lust palpable. Herut beamed at the blatant male attention as she passed by towards the exit. And then her handbag slipped from her hands to the floor and the men were beside themselves as she bent over to retrieve it.

As the official and Guards ogled Herut, Emil walked through the checkpoint, past Herut, and out the door onto the tarmac, completely unmolested. Just to make sure Emil escaped notice, Herut spilled the contents of her bag onto the floor and the Guards rushed forward to help. Outside, Emil scanned the waiting aircraft. As expected, there was only an airline official to check tickets. Just a week ago, there would have been a second security checkpoint for drugs. But the street price of Blud had collapsed and Nekmit was holding on to what it had for now. At the bottom of the stairs, Emil showed the official his ticket and ascended to the hatch. After exchanging greetings with a stewardess, he took his aisle seat midplane and waited. A few moments later, Herut appeared and took her seat forward, close to the cockpit. They waited for departure.

 

[Polesia]

Peesidential Palace
Amstov
Trivodnia

While a major political storm battered most of Amstov, the Presidency was a relative sea of calm. Meier Lauterpacht's handling of the Christmas Crisis had won him plaudits at home and abroad, and his gracious defeat at the hands of the Supreme Court over the issue of a second election only secured him further admirers. More than 30 years after leading the first Jewish People's Party government in Trivodnian history, Lauterpacht knew his legacy as a great statesman was secured. Sitting in the latest intelligence briefing on Crotobaltislavonia however, he did not feel like one.

"...the rebellion exists in name only, what is left of General Alexander Radek's Home Army for Salvation has permanently broken into criminal gangs and rival factions, with no hope of reconciliation or unified leadership.."

"...what weapons we supplied appear to have mostly ended up in the arms of non-state actors not under our influence and with no clear political goal. This includes the anti tank and aircraft missiles..."

"...Raoul Farrago seems to have eliminated any potential domestic rivals, while Kadikistani forces stamp his authority outside of Banja Luka.. "

The bad news was never ending.

By the time Free State Intelligence Bureau agent Uziel Gantz had finished reading the assessments, Lauterpacht looked a broken man. Millions wasted, thousands of lives ruined and no obvious benefit beyond a few dead Kadikistanis. It was now the President was especially grateful for Trivodnia's stringent national security laws, meaning none of this would see the light of day.

But in truth the documents said what the world already knew: Trivodnia had lost and was now encircled by hostile or indifferent regimes. The reactionary Catholic kingdoms of the North seemed to prefer the reality of a communist Crotobaltislavonia over the myth of a Jewish-controlled one, and so sided with Ivar, while the progressive Catholic monarchies of the Trier Concord appeared unwilling to challenge it. As commander-in-chief, Lauterpacht could not help feel some dishonour in an obvious defeat.

"The one piece of good news your Excellency is that the Kadikistanis seem intent on pulling out once Crotobaltislavonia is 'stabilised'. I think we have reason to believe them," Gantz suggested, seeing how disheartened the President looked.

Lauterpacht scoffed.

"Your Excellency?"

"If the Kadikistanis were going to leave anyway we shouldn't have wasted so much time and money," sighed Lauterpacht, clearly exhausted, "once they go, Farrago will follow soon enough, just like all the others."

 

[Rheinbund]

Kanzleramt
Trier, Eiffelland

"This Stefan Furst is an arrogant piece of dirt," Chancellor Von Seydewitz said after having read out loud Chancellor Furst's letter to the ministers, Generaloberst Feders and Staatshauptdirektor des Staatsschutzes Farnbach. "And an idiot who prefers to jump head-first into a ravine over trying to find out how to climb down. It looks like the whole world wanted us to ignite a world war because of Crotobaltislavonia. Are we suddenly the only sane people in this world? By the way, Carinthia-Harkány didn't intervene in Crotobaltislavonia, either, so why does that arrogant prick think he can haul us over the coals?" He sighed. Then he continued.
"Anyway, I think they will grant us right-of-passage when Trivodnia comes under attack. They'll have to if they don't want their soldiers to end on a Kadikistani barbecue. For now, we have to make sure that our investments in Trivodnia won't get into imperial hands. All hands on deck for that from my point of view."
"I agree with that, Herr Kanzler," Minister for Economic Affairs Dr. Stephan Röpke said. Normally the ministers were per du with each other, but only when no other people were taking part in the conversation.
"Talking about Carinthia-Harkány, I have something to tell," Farnbach said. "We noticed that Imperial-Air conducted the regular service between Linz and Amstov with planes equivalent to the

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several times. Mind you, normally there are planes with about 150 passengers on the line Linz-Amstov, and now suddenly Schwäne."
The people looked at Farnbach, not understanding what he wanted to indicate.
"The problem is, that we don't have any obvious indication why the flight Linz-Amstov is suddenly so popular. There was no big party or big other event in Amstov. Of course it could be that more people need to go there for business reasons, but why Schwäne then? The Carintho-Harkáner business interests in Trivodnia did not suddenly become four times as big. We have the impression that those planes were filled with employees of the Empire on a mission. And that means that the Empire is cooking up something."
"Do you by any chance know what kind of government employees we are talking about?" Von Seydewitz asked.
"We are trying to find that out, but that is difficult," Farnbach said. "In any case, we know from the Carintho-Harkáner news that the Empire wants to take over our contracts in Trivodnia. When those Schwäne were filled with business people, we have to answer soon."