NationStates Jolt Archive

Near New Delhi, 2:35 PM IST

The inside of the APDC-710S rattled as it hit a small patch of turbulence. Quetzalcoatl Nochtli (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/Spectrechris/randy_castillo.jpg) looked outside the window, fascinated with the landscape outside. He was not normally one for flying – while in the Aztec National League, he rather drive (or in most cases, be driven) or take the train. However, he was always fascinated by different lands – and this was his first trip to New Delhi.

He jokingly said to himself, “I swear, if politics hadn’t disrupted my life, I would’ve been a geographer or something.”

The Chief Majority Leader of the Tlatocayotl Tlactli, Jorge Arroyo (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/Spectrechris/zapatero.jpg), looked over the back of his seat at Nochtli “What was that?’

“Nothing, just talking to myself again.” Quetzalcoatl responded. He heard something coming towards him from his side. He turned to see his wife, Angelica Ixtapin-Nochtli (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/Spectrechris/rosalyn.jpg), holding their two-year old child. “How’s he doing?” Quetzalcoatl asked softly.

Angelica smiled and patted Xihuitl on the head, “Good, it’s so weird, in the spring of next year; he’ll be ready to start pre-school Pretty soon, he’ll be deciding if he wants to go to a university or enlist in the military or what not.”

Quetzalcoatl smiled at his son and proceeded to talk to him. A brief pulse of static came through the sound system, followed by the voice of the pilot – “Attention all passengers, we will be landing shortly. Please secure all items and take your seats.

Quetzalcoatl leaned over the seat in front of him and said, “Hey, Miguel, put down those reports. I didn’t bring you on this visit to do work.”

Arroyo smiled and said, “Is that an executive order? I don’t think these committee reports are willing to wait very long.”

Jokingly, Quetzalcoatl said, “Look, the only time I get a vacation is when I go to these trips. The Sultan is the only world leader who doesn’t want me to talk about trade deals, military power or defend the socialist system of our nation. If I were you, I would take a break.”

Miguel retorted in a similarly lighthearted manner, “Well, I intend to get all my work done. If something doesn’t, the Libertarians or the Conservatives will make it a political issue when I come up for re-election in 2010.”

Quetzalcoatl and Angelica laughed – “You’re in one of the most politically safe districts in the nation.” Angelica added to the banter.

Miguel gave in, knowing resistance, no matter how jovial, was futile. “Well, if the lady insists, I guess I can take a small break. It’s not like my counterpart, [Speaker of the Soviet Congress] Christobol Chavez is going to outdo the amount of work I have. Hell I can’t even get him to do his work when we’re in session.”

They all chuckle at the expense of their absent colleague…

In the back of the plane…

Jack Martin (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/Spectrechris/Kerouac.jpg), the Aztlán Intelligence Agency’s operative assigned to lead Nochtli’s security detail read over a report. He looked up and said to his Jaguar Warrior counterpart Xihuitl Iztacín, who was Quetzalcoatl’s personal body guard and chief of personal security at the family’s hacienda. “It looks like this is pretty easy time here, the KLM’s a safe nation. Obviously, the Sultan is going to protect his friend anyways.”

Xihuitl pulled off his white undershirt and put it down to put on his Kevlar undergarment. Although in good physical shape, Xihuitl’s body had several scars from the various military battles and covert operations he had gone under. Most noticeably was a major scar on the side of his abdomen, indicating where he was shot during a spy mission in Mississippi. Only a few years younger than Quetzalcoatl, he had been at the front lines of terrifying battles. While putting on the heavy vest, Xihuiutl turned around and said, “Well, that’s good. Maybe we’ll actually get to explore the city. It’s been a while since I’ve been outside the ANL.”

“Indeed.” Jack Martin said coolly. Martin picked up a revolver off the table, a TK-37/12 Cuahchicqueh, made sure it was loaded and put it into his holster. “A bit different than what the JWIs or the Red Garud are used to, isn’t it?”

Xihuitl, now buttoning down his olive green short-sleeved military uniform shirt, looked at his gun on the table; a TK-45 Tepoztopilli – “Yeah, most JWIs use the TZ-138, but I and others in the Obsidian Blade use the TZ-140. The 140 is by far a better gun, but, hey, you gotta earn it to use it.”

The other member of the security detail, a Red Guardsman sighed, “I swear, the Red Guard would love to get their hands on a 140, but no, there just has to be an obvious bias towards the JWIs.” He laughed and said, “Oh well, at least there’s more of us.”

Fifteen minutes later…

The plane landed at New Delhi’s airport and pulled to the unloading zone. Inside the plane, Jack Martin stood in front of the door and asked the small party, “Are you all ready to step out?”

They all said yes.

Slowly, the door opened and Jack Martin stepped out into the sunlight. ‘Damn this jetlag, he thought to himself’ – when they left, it was late in the night.

At New Delhi International Airport, New Delhi, India, Khailfah al Muslimeen

It was just another sunny day in New Delhi with the high of 100 F degrees with the humidity of 58%. The welcoming party was composing of Imperial Black guardsmen, since the Sultan himself couldn’t be there since he had to take of some pressing matters at home. Yet the Sultan did send his personal head guard Captain Imad Issa (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/f57486cc.jpg) who was of Berber background to greet and take the honored guest to the Sultan palace. Captain Issa always had that looked that he just killed someone or was going to kill someone..that look of mad man or just a fuming person ,a looked he constantly he had for the most of the time. Which had a habit of creeping out those worked around him and which one of the reasons why the Sultan made him his personal guard, mainly because no one wants to mess with the Sultan, while he was around.

The Captain stepped forward and smiled (and still had the look that he just killed someone or was going to), then say the following in Spanish to the group

“Greetings, please follow me to the limo and please don’t feed the monkeys…” said the Captain and he lead the way to awaiting cars and opened the doors for the honored guest to come and then took the front seat with the driver.

“Man…I am so out of it…whoa…” said the Russian Imperial Blacks guardsmen Driver in Arabic

“Eh?” remarked the Captain

“Aye,….last night, I drink under the table some bloody Eurasian Dominion Cossack officer, who challenge me to drinking match..end of story…I won and drink about a gallon and a half of vodka….so yea..I beat a Cossack..huzzah..” said the Russian Driver in Arabic

“ As long as you don’t hit something or pass out…we’re good.” Replied the Captain in Arabic

20 minutes later, the Limos pulled up to the gates of Sultan New Palace

http://www.myblumberg.com/India/002%20Delhi%20-%20Presidential%20Palace%20%20small.jpg

(Occ: feel free to post your peoples reaction to the palace and the city.)

Angelica was captivated by the city outside – whereas the last time she was in the KLM, she and her husband stayed in Istanbul. She had grown fond of Istanbul and was at first concerned that she wouldn’t acclimate as well to the new environment. However, her concerns were quickly dispelled.

She leaned over and tugged on Quetzalcoatl’s shirt sleeve, indicating she had something private to say to him He leaned over and said in Nahuatl “Damn, I wish all of our troops seemed as intimidating as Capitan Issa did…I wonder if it’s an act, or if that’s how he really is?”

Quetzalcoatl chuckled lightly and responded in Nahuatl, “Regardless, I wouldn’t want to mess with him.”

Angelica went back to looking out the car window, taking in the views…‘Very impressive city…’

When the limousine pulled up to the palace, Quetzalcoatl couldn’t help but have a small bit of envy. While he was happy with the rather small hacienda he inherited after the revolution, the palace was something else – unlike anything he had ever seen. In Spanish, he said “I’m glad to see that the Sultan is doing well...I see that he has good tastes in palaces.”

Captain Issa replied in Spanish “Meh, it the British build this place for their viceroy back in the days of British Raj, and after we took over India…we use it as the Governor Residence…and now its Sultan palace…oh the irony. It was designed by Imperialist British…bah oh well, just follow me and avoid the Monkeys and the man smoking bamboo cigars with the monkeys too..” Then Captain Issa lead them down the path to the front doors of the Palace, they didn’t really see any monkeys running or on the palace grounds, yet one in while a monkey or two do manger to get into the palace grounds and cause havoc for the palace staff.

At the steps of the Palace, Sultan Suleiman Al Bashir II (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/5c7c1c2d.jpg) was waiting for them and when they finally came the steps, the Sultan nodded to his deranged Captain and said the following in Spanish with smiled

“Greetings, friends I hope your flight to New Delhi was good, so how are things?”

Quetzalcoatl Nochtli stepped up to greet his friend, “It’s good to see you again. Things have been going great. I’m sure you remember my wife, Angelica.”

Angelica greeted the sultan politely, still taking in the environment. Their son, Xihuitl was at her side, looking up at the Sultan with curiosity. Little did the kid know that he was meeting another world leader for the first time. Angelica said to Sultan Bashir II, “This is our son, Xihuitl…” Smiling, she continued on, “he’s still a bit shy, so please don’t be offended if he doesn’t talk much.”

Quetzalcoatl looked behind him, signaling for Arroyo. Seeing him nearby, he signaled for him to come over. Turning to the Sultan, he said, “May I introduce you to my good friend and the majority leader of the Tlatocayotl Tlactli (the Senate), Jorge Arroyo.”

Arroyo walked up to the Sultan and said in his usual slow, clearly enunciated manner, “Sultan Bashir, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m glad I was offered to come along on this visit during the summer recess.”

The three guards, Jack Martin, Xihuitl Iztacín and Dario Hernandez stood back from the main group, but close enough to the group if need be. Dario looked around, noticing a small monkey near by, distracted by whatever monkeys get distracted by. Quickly thinking that the small animal didn’t pose a threat, he turned back, facing the group…

The Sultan nodded as the Premier spoke and then when his wife spoke. Then Sultan smiled at their son and said” All children go though that sage..its perfectly normal..I should know..I have quiet a few kids of my own.”

The Sultan smiled and said to Arroyo “ Its good to have you come, now everyone please follow me for a tour of this place…I assure you it will be quiet interesting to say the least.”

Then the Sultan took them on a tour of the palace and shown them the sights and the rose gardens. When they reached the rose garden, they saw a number of Sultan groundskeepers running tending to the roses and other plants. Then the Sultan led them inside for some drinks and refreshments, a servant bought the Sultan’s guest mango lassi’s, and lucky enough these lassis were not made by his wives, but were made by the kitchen staff. The Sultan thought to himself as he drink his lassi..” Thank goodness my wives didn’t make the lassi or my guest and myself will be in of medical attention from the forcing the stuff down..”, Then the Sultan turn to his guest and asked them

“So how are you guys taking the tour, big place no? Well if I had it my way…I would be living in a nice humble home…but bah the Imperial Government wouldn’t allow that and just I am stuck here…oh well I guess..I got plenty of space… for what exactly..I have no clue..”

Quetzalcoatl sat back, enjoying his mango lassi. Although he wasn’t diabetic or easily went into hyperglycemia, the drink was sweet enough and had a bit of a kick in it - enough to be a treat, and yet wasn’t going to cause some sort of illness in the future. Not knowing of the Sultan’s predicament with his wife’s version of the drink, Quetzalcoatl said, “Complements to the chef, this is excellent.”

Angelica thought for a second as she held the drink in her had. She remembered reading in one of the sociology textbooks that she used in her lectures at the university that there is a form of this drink that has cannabis oil in it - Bhang lassi. Of course, the Sultan would not serve them such a drink, but it was still fun to imagine.

Quetzalcoatl paid attention to the Sultan’s question and replied, “This place is amazing. You’ve certainly moved up a bit.”

Since cannabis was a illegal durg and forbidden in Islam, it wasn’t going to be likely that Sultan or his staff would serve the Bhang Lassi..if one really wanted to get one, they just have to know where to look..

“Yes, this is place rather interesting..but a bit big for my taste..but oh well best to make due with what you have or get.” Said the Sultan and waited for everyone to finish their lassi and then he spoke up again

“Well here is today’s agenda.. well first of all ,Premier and Chief Majority Leader, would you two care to join my brothers, the President of Imperial Senate, Uthman and my younger brother Aziz in watching the football(soccer) finals in the entertainment center. And Angelica, my wives would love to have tea with you.” Said the Sultan

Quetzalcoatl leaned back and said, “Sure, I’m always up to watching some futból. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to see any good games as of recent with everything going on. I’m sure Miguel wouldn’t mind it either.”

Arroyo nodded, “That sounds good.”

Angelica perked up – the prospect of a soccer match, her husband’s favorite sport, wasn’t her idea of a vacation. “Sure, that sounds lovely. I’m glad they offered.”

The Sultan smiled and said “ Then it’s settled, gentlemen, would you please follow me and Angelica my servant will you to the tea room.” With that the Sultan lead the Premier and Chief Majority Leader the hallways, and the servant led Angelica to the tearoom where the Sultan wives were in.

When the Sultan and his guest finally reached the entertainment center, , the Sultan introduce them to his brother, President of the Imperial Senate-Uthman Bin Bashir (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/bc5179e6.jpg), who was the PM of KLM for nearly seven years and the Sultan also introduce them to his youngest brother Vizier Abdul Aziz Bin Bashir (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/260d1103.jpg) who was a rising start within the House of Viziers, then the Sultan old friend and second in command Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasa Sokollu (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/7bcc8e31.jpg) and there some people that they have already met such as the Captain Issa and a number of his Berber guard friends

“Well, gentlemen. I hope you enjoy the game…it’s the our football series final game between Istanbul and Algiers..its going to be quiet game. But we all know the outcome.. Naturally Istanbul shall be Algiers..” said the Sultan

“Yea..right…everyone knows that Istanbul is going to be get owned!” remarked Captain Issa

“Indeed…Istanbul better get owned they are too full of themselves at times..”remarked the Grand Vizier

“Gak…such nonsense…everyone knows that Algiers made it to the finals by sheer luck…” remarked Vizier Aziz

“Enough gentlemen…lets just watch the game then to getting into a pointless debate over who is better and the answer is Istanbul..” Said President Uthman and the Sultan turn on the flat screen plasma and the game just started, and also a number of servants bought in snacks and more lassis or fruits smoothes for everyone to enjoy.

At the tearoom


Angelica was greeted by the Sultan wives in the tearoom

Empress Sophia al Fuad al Bashir (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/SandraBull_SLov_4681357.jpg)(the sultan first wife) smiled and said “Angelica its been too long how are you doing and how’s your son?”

“Oi Suleiman is now watching the game....let me guess he dragged your husband into watching the game with the him no?”asked Empress Roxelane al Bashir (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/Eva-Longoria-The-Sentinel.jpg)(second wife)

“I wouldn’t be surprise, he and football…he can’t be without that or basketball..thank goodness that season is over for now..” remaked Empress Haziqah al Bashir (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Ottoman01/Sh86.jpg) (third wife)

As they chatted away, the Servants bought in the sweet mint tea and sweets

After being introduced to the Sultan’s brothers Grand Vizer Sokollu, Quetzalcoatl sat down…‘Impressive television’, he thought…‘with the economy of the Aztec National League favoring the production of capital goods, it was rare to see a television like that.’

Arroyo, who was already drinking a fruit smoothie grinned at his friend and said, “Eh, doesn’t this remind you of home?”

“Yeah,” Quetzalcoatl mused, “With how the soccer games are back home, I’m surprised they hadn’t gotten into civil war over it.”

Arroyo cut in, “Yeah, first’s the fight before the match, then the actual match, then another fight to finish the night…I remember, after my favorite team won a year ago, I wrote a resolution congratulating them…That was one of the few times where I lost a vote on a resolution and got trounced by the media and even members of my own party.”

“Yeah, I remember that, and I also remember threatening to veto the resolution should it pass, since it was my team that lost in the finals.” Realizing that this would lead into another debate over who was better, Quetzalcoatl quickly changed the subject, “So tell me, how are your fans in the KLM?”

…

Angelica sat down with the Sultan’s wives and greeted them. She had met many of the wives of her husband’s friends – some of them within the ANL and others outside. However, the wives of the Sultan were her favorites. Yet, there seemed something ever so slightly intriguing about all of three of the wives all sitting together, seemingly unbothered that all of three were married to the same man. Oh well, sociologists like herself were usually in different and intriguing situations.

Listening to Empress Sophia’s question, she responded cordially, “Well, I’m doing fine. I’ve been busy working, much to the distain of the political advisors that seem to think they can run how I or my husband conduct our lives. It’s been a while since I’ve had a break from student papers, department rivalries and dealing with the university officials. Outside of that, things are good at home, hectic as usual. Xihuitl is growing up fast, it’s amazing. Soon, he’s going to be starting in a pre-school program…it will be interesting to see how that goes; hopefully the media won’t hound him while he’s learning the alphabet or sharing with others.”

The sweet mint tea was a pleasant surprise, as she hadn’t had mint tea in ages – it’s not that she couldn’t get mint tea, but it was an item that hadn’t crossed her mind too often. Responding to Roxlane’s question, she sighed, “Well, it didn’t require too much pressure to get either Quetzalcoatl or Miguel to go see the game. I bet right now, they’re talking about some cheesy story about Miguel drafting up a bill to congratulate his team and how Quetzalcoatl threatened to veto it and ultimately, the bill was voted down. I mean, sports are alright, I don’t mind playing sports once in a while, but I swear it’s like a bloody addiction! If Quetzalcoatl’s not running around between carrying out his duties, political events and dealing with other world leaders, he’s either playing some sort of sport or at a game.”

Realizing that she was doing much of the talking, she asked casually, “So how do you all like India and your new home? How are things with you in general, it has been a long time since we last shared some tea and caught up with each other.”

“Well our fans tend to very passionate about the game to say the least…very so often a football riot might occur after a major upset..so how have occur so far for this year?” asked the Sultan

“Well, this year about four riots have occurred..but its down from ten from last year…so I guess we’re improving on that aspect at least..” remarked the Grand Vizier

“Bah, Football riots are the best…watching fans club each other or the cops nailing them.” Remarked Captain Issa

“Indeed..it is a quiet a interesting thing to watch…sometimes more action then the games..at times.” Remarked President Uthman

“Good thing they picked a neutral city like Cairo for the finals…if they had this game at one of the hometowns of the teams…all hell could break loose so to speak..” remarked Vizier Aziz

“Enough talking and more watching the game is starting!” said Captain Issa

And sure enough everyone agreed and just watch the kick off and just the game had started

The KLM was very different place while compare to other nations of the world, sure Polygamy was allow and legal, yet the KLM had many requirements if one man wished to marry more then one wife, such being financial able to support them and also to treat all of his wives equal in most aspects. And if the wife didn’t feel like she being treated fairly or just wanted out of the marriage, they could just apply for divorce, in KLM women or men could easy apply for divorce, for a list of reasons. Cultural in KLM, divorce wasn’t looked down upon, in fact its calls in order to end unhappy or unproductive marriages after they try other means to come to terms with their problems within the marriage.

Another thing that Angelica would have notice was the fact they were not wearing their Hajibs, since they were only in the presence of women and there were no males in the tea room and just they had no need to wear the Hajibs for now at least.

Sophia nodded and said “ Ah, yes…I understand fully…advisers can be a pain at times..since they always want to see the Sultan and he little free time at times with work and etc…just leaving the us to run our clothing line company(which all three wives were owners of and rise the kids..oh well at least two of old daughters are already in college and going Istanbul State University, mine how our children grow so fast at times, no?”

Roxelane smiled and said “ That’s sounds like Suleiman too… in-between his duties..he always finds time to watch his games or race around in his car…and drives like a manic while racing..if I must say..well that’s men for you…always doing crazy stuff at times..” and then Roxelane took a sip of her tea

Haziqah answer Angelica question “ Well…we do love Indian food and music and all…but the move was a bit hard for us to get use to the different climate and all that humidity doesn’t help too..but meh we’re get use it over time I guess..but in general things are going well for the most part, and yes it’s a pity we don’t get to see eachother that often..maybe one of these days we’re come and visit you.” And Sophia and Roxelane nodded in agreement

Angelica put down her tea cup, surprised at the similarities between the Sultan and her husband. “Oh, the Sultan likes cars as well? I can relate, I swear, if Quetzalcoatl wasn’t a political leader, he would be a full time car collector...motorcycles too. Although he only has one car and one motorcycle, he goes to every major car show possible, especially the one in Los Angeles. His particular favorite cars are late-1960s and 1970s British and American sport cars and modern European sport cars. Although he’s not a terrible driver, I still prefer that we have a driver take us somewhere.”

Angelica also noted what Sophia said, “That’s great to hear two of your daughters are attending university in Istanbul. That’s quite an accomplishment. I’m hoping Xihuitl in the future gets to go to the National Autonomous University of Mexico or one of the major technological institutes, but with how that boy is, he’ll probably end up in the military…We’ll see, though.”

Intrigued by Haziqah’s question, Angelica nodded and said, “I can imagine that the different climate and such would be harder to get used to, especially with your different backgrounds.” She picked up her cup and tea and said, “So tell me, do you often get to see your families back in your home lands? Do you also get to see many people from your home countries around the KLM?”

Haziqah smiled and said “ At times it’s a bit hard to see the family…we still manger to get together very so often...most of my family on father side is form Bilad al Sham from Beirut, so I get seen more often at times then my mother side which is a mixed of Spanish and Moorish Spanish, they all live in Al-Andalus, a faction of mother side did use to live in Algiers for while..but they left during the years of chaos…a long story to say the least..anyways..I mostly see my two brothers or two sisters since they tend to visit me , as for my mother and father..I have to go to them in order to see..oh well that’s how it goes.”

Then Roxelane spoked up “ My sisters tend to visit very so often..my family is mostly of Moorish Spanish backgound..they all live in Rabat or Madrid..they are very busy running lives…we still manger to make time to see each other..”

Sophia sip her tea and said “ As for me…I see my sisters more then my brothers..both sides of my family are from Damascus, Bilad al Sham..we’re arab..but not really in matter of speaking ,we’re in fact Levantine of German background..long time ago say late 1890s the German part of my family who were traders move to Damascus and went native so to speak..they married with other Arab- Levantine families of Greek and French background.”

Angelica listened to the three, “I’m glad to hear that you get to see part of your family at least. My family lives on the outskirts of Tenochitilán, so it’s about a fifteen minute drive to see them.” She looked over to Xihuitl, who thankfully behaved himself, “It’s good that he has a good set of grandparents and a good family to associate with. His father’s side doesn’t come around too much…I haven’t even met his parents.”

Angelica didn’t want to say to her friends that most of Quetzalcoatl’s family, including his parents, disappeared in the revolution. When he was younger, he always blamed himself for their disappearance – much of them were arrested because of his “dissident activities”. Of course, back then, dissident activities could be interpreted as anything. By now, that burden wasn’t on him, but to this day, neither the state nor any private entity could track down and reunite him with the majority of his family.

Realizing that her mind got momentarily off track, Angelica took a sip of her tea and said, “So tell me more about Al-Andalus and Sophia, have you ever been back to Germany?”

Roxelane smiled at Xihuitl and then she replied to Angelica question. “ Well Al-Andalus was once upon a time old Spain and Portugal, and before it was old Al-Andalus..then Ottoman Khailfah took over that area…in post the years of chaos, ..After Franco of Spain got killed in when his plane clashed or so..nowsdays its compose of Moors of Arab or Berber background and a bunch of Spaniards and Portuguese, and there is sizeable population from Latin America, mostly from Brazil ,Chile, Peru,Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina. it’s a very rich area in culture to say the least.”

“Yes, quiet a wonderful place to visit in terms of historical buildings and sites.” add Haziqah

“ As for myself I haven’t been Germany yet…my family hasn’t much luck tracking down our roots in Germanys, since the records have lost for some time..oh well I guess.” Said Sophia

Now back to the game, a bit later( about a half hour or so later)

The clock was counting down and it was still tie and it appeared the game will go into overtime…by in the ten seconds the Algiers player mangers to make a goal, and just setting final score Algiers 2 and Istanbul 1. The announce yell out “ GOALLLLLLLLLLL!” And everyone in the stadium went wild, the station cut to scenes in Algiers where the entire population was celebrating their team win in the finals. Most of the Imperial Black guardsmen at the Sultan Palace where from North Africa join in the celebration before their XO could yell at them to stand attention.

Captain Issa was smiling the whole time and remarked” Told you so…now, excuse my Sultan, I have my duties to attend to.” And he left the room and so did the Grand Vizier who said had to attend to some meetings at the given time

In Istanbul, everyone was in a state of shock..how the hell could this happen..

“Well that was a fun game…I am best off to leave now…to attend to some Imperial Senate related matters…with that I take my leave.” Said President Uthman and Vizier Aziz follow suit after saying his good byes

The Sultan span out of his daze and look at the Premier and his counterpart and asked “ So who is up for lunch?”

Quetzalcoatl was quite surprised about this ending. It had been a while since he had seen an exciting soccer game. Both teams, in his mind, had done very well – they would give any Aztec team a good run for its money. Secretly happy for the Algierian team, Quetzalcoatl looked up and said, “Lunch sounds pretty good. Will Angelica and your wives be joining us?”

Arroyo, who was still impressed with the television caught on soon enough and said, “Ah, yes. About now would be a good time for lunch.”

…

Angelica was still intrigued by the conversation she was having. “I knew there was a contingency of people from Latin America that moved to Spain, but there hasn’t been a lot of studies on these populations. I’m glad to hear though there’s a lot of culture there. If I were to go there, what part would you recommend I go to?”

As for Sophia’s comment, “Well, tracking down family heritage is a long process. It’s kind of become a major thing back home. I wonder if any of the municipalities in Germany have any records.”

The Sultan looked at his watch and said “Yes, they should be done with their tea by now…just follow me to the dining room.” Just the Sultan led his guest though the hallways. In till they reached the dining room and took their seats. The Sultan remarked

“ The others should be here shortly.”

(Lets just assume by the time the soccer game was over, the teatime was already finished)

“Well, Granada, Cordoba, Seville and Madrid are good places to start…a lot of stuff to see in those cities and have great markets for shopping to say the least.” Replied Haziqah

“Well…I’ll look into it when I have the time…looking the vast database…may take a while..but might be worthwhile..” remarked Sophia, then she looked at her watch and said

“ Well…its lunch time and I bet the football game is already over by now and they are waiting for us to join..I’ll lead the way.” Said Sophia, right before they left the tearoom, all three wives pull on their hijabs and then Sophia led Angelica and her son to the dining room, and Roxelene and Haziqah followed suit

They found the Sultan, Premier and the Chief Majority Leader already there and waiting for them. The Sultan introduce them the Premier and Chief Majority, then Sultan said the following

“You guys are in for a treat..since we’re in New Dehli..why not eat some of the local cuisine, today we’re going to be eating Mughlai cruise, a popular style of cooking for the northern regions of India. Hope you enjoy.” Said the Sultan; it was rare event for Sultan and wives to be eating five star food that was made by their five star chef..most of the time, the Sultan and his family ate normal everyday food, which they made themselves then using the kitchen staff, yet the kitchen staff didn’t mind it, it decrease their duties for a bit and they only called to the palace whenever a guest came or the Sultan was hosting a party or so. Nothing to fancy nothing to pricey was the rule of thumb for the Sultan family; they ate whatever the common folk ate.

Soon the waiters came in and bought in the dishes and the Sultan said” Enjoy.”

(http://www.indiaexpress.com/cooking/mughlai_index.html here is a list of what they are serving)

OOC: Sorry for the long delay in posting…I’ve been doing a lot of work everyday, so being able to stay on top of the posts has become a problem.

IC:

Quetzalcoatl took a seat and said, “Ah, trying the cuisine of India is just what I had in mind.” Quetzalcoatl thought to himself, ‘Good thing I like spicier foods.”

Angelica noted what the Sultan had said and asked, “I’m curious, how does the food from Northern India differ from the food in the central or southern regions? I would expect their to be some differences – on our occasional trips to Europe, regional differences are pretty noticeable.”

Arroyo chirped in, “Even in our own nation there’s a great deal of differences, northern Mexico’s food is different than southern Mexico, which is vastly different than Honduran and so on and so on.” He also said, “This food’s pretty amazing, that’s what I’ve liked about Indian food – some of it’s simple, while other things are pretty complex.”

Quetzalcoatl said briefly, “Oh, certainly, although Belize, Costa Rica and Panama have pretty western tastes. I guess that’s what happens when Europe plays a big influence in your political, economic and cultural life for hundreds of years.”

Angelica, always the curious traveler asked her hosts, “So how are things going on here? I can imagine with such a large an diverse nation it can be a bit hectic to organize everything.”

The Sultan smiled and said “Why yes..there are some differences region to region..the differences are more profound in the southern regions where there more Hindus are the majority..where most of the people are vegan..just the dishes are vegetarian for the most part. And they tend to use coconuts often in their dishes. But yea..its depends on where your going and what areas…some areas you can notice a different and others you can’t.”

Then the Sultan listen to Angelica and answer her question “ Yes, it was a bit chaotic at first..we manger to work things out for the most part, all the regions within the KLM are hand their own local affairs..they have their own local assemblies and my governors to manger to day to day matters of the provinces. For certain areas…we have the dominion system in place, which gives more control of affairs to the local governments..but we still have a final say on things…its work out for us and cuts overhead in the long run. For the most part..as long as the regional governments don’t act out of line or do something counter to our edicts..we leave them alone for the most part..its our policy of indirect rule more or less. To sum it up our system is Government is centralized and Administration is decentralized for the most part..hope that answers your question.”

Quetzalcoatl responded, “Hmmm, I wonder where the food is spicier?” The Premier continued on, “Some of the spiciest food I’ve had were vegetarian dishes.”

Intrigued by the Sultan’s response to Angelica, the Premier pointed out, “Hmmm, we’ve too had some problems with local governments. Not too much, but every once in a while, you have to deal with a mayor, city council or distribution board that’s controlled by one of the anti-socialist parties. Although these small political skirmishes make local news headlines and seem frequent, they’re pretty infrequent and usually end out with a more-or-less happy compromise.”

Intrigued, Angelica asked, “Well, I’m glad to hear that the transition wasn’t too difficult. Kind of on the same note, how are the rest of the people in the KLM taking to India?”

The Sultan smiled and remarked” Well some were a bit shocked at first..but they are getting accustom to the change…things take time to get use to I guess.”

After everyone was finish eating their lunch, the Sultan asked the Premier and Chief Majority leader the following

“Gentlemen would you two like to join me in driving the round the block in which I can point out some landmark and etc.” asked the Sultan

But the Sultan wives knew better this was code for speeding around the city for no good reason and just doing it for kicks. Knowing the Sultan, he would use his BMW Sedan or Cope for that job…hence they just rolled their eyes and waited to see the Premier and Chief Majority leader.

Quetzalcoatl knew that the wives would be uncomfortable with the Sultan’s suggestion. He didn’t need to see the role of their eyes, but rather in a detailed, top-level classified report he had read a while back. In it, there was anecdotal information regarding the Sultan’s wives having a vocal distaste for the Sultan’s “vices”. Although he considered himself to be on good friends with the Sultan and felt like he knew him pretty well, it was the policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Intelligence to collaboratively and remotely create psychological profiles of the heads of state and the families of the heads of state of nations that Aztlán dealt with. That was a basic lesson learned in 20th century international politics, and it frequently can be of great use in both business and personal interaction.

Quetzalcoatl, being slightly roguish in any case said with mild enthusiasm, “Sure, I’m up for it. I’m pretty sure you have fine tastes in cars anyways.”

Miguel Arroyo, who wasn’t privy to that report nor familiar with the antics of the Sultan naively said, “Sure, I would like to see the city a bit more.” Joking referring to what Quetzalcoatl said, “If Roxelane, Haziqah and Sophia and Angelica are coming with us though, I somehow doubt we’ll be in a sports car or such.”

Angelica looked at Xihuitl, and although not having any major concern about her husband in the same car as the Sultan, thought, “I certainly hope he doesn’t get himself injured or killed one of these days.”

Roxelane look at Sophia and Haziqah and then replied “ We would love to..but, we have some other things that we have planned today that doesn’t leave time for joy riding.. so Angelica, would you like to join us three in a tour of the art section…we got some recently additions from some renowned local painters.”

The Sultan quietly waited for Angelica answer before he said anything. He knew about the rumors about his joy riding and etc. He just shrugs it off and besides he was a petty good driver for the most part.

Angelica looked over to the Sultan’s wives and said, “Sure, I’m always up for an art exhibit.”

Quetzalcoatl said in a jovial manner to Angelica, “You can’t get me away from cars and I can’t get you away from art. Oh well, maybe one day, we’ll find a car that is as good as art. Now we need to just get Arroyo from his work and Speaker Chavez away from the cameras, and everything will be alright.”

Sophia smiled and remarked “ Good..just follow us..” and She led other wives and Angelica the away to art gallery to look at painting of landscapes and cities, plus some paintings that dated from 1400s during the Mughal period.

As for the Premier and the Chief Majority leader, the Sultan led them to his car in the driveway, which was a BMW E35 M5 1998 model, painted jet black with all the windows tainted. The Sultan pull out his ray-band sunglass and put them on, then he remark “Gentlemen, relax and enjoy the ride.”

As soon as the Premier and Chief Majority leader were seated, the Sultan started the car and drove out of the Palace, with one Imperial Black Guard sedan following them to insure nothing bad was to happen during their ride. The Sultan drove at leisure pace not too fast or slow. They pass thought the many sites of New Delhi such the historical building and landmarks, when the Sultan stop at a light stop something unexpected happen …

A crazy English aka Dr.Maxwell and his stoned sidekick aka Crazy Eyes drove up in their BMW 2000 Z3, they were calling out to the Sultan car to race them, they didn’t know who was in the car, because all the windows were all blackout and no one could see in.

The Sultan looked at his friends and remarked “Well apparently they want us to race them..luckly this is not a main intersection nor busy street..just a open road..hmm..what should we do eh gentlemen?”

Quetzalcoatl looked at Arroyo, who was usually known for being quite and leading a rather straight-laced life. Of course, the Premier would like to be in a race. It had been too long since he last felt the thrill of a street race. However, if Arroyo would get in the way of his fun, this would be the moment.

Arroyo cleared his throat and said very matter-of-factually, “Well, a fine high-performance sports car isn’t just for looks. Why the hell not?”

The Sultan nodded and remarked” Gentlemen let the race begin…he put his hand on the stick shift and nodded to Dr.Maxwell to start the race as soon as the light turn green. Dr.Maxwell then start to play the theme song from Dr.Who at full blast..then the light turn green, the maximum speed limit for the area was 65 mph both cars had suppress the speed limit within 60 seconds and were now reaching 75 mph and going higher. It was neck to neck, as both cars reach 90 mphs in the wide streets. The Sultan was handling the tight turns like a pro, he really knew what he was doing.

Dr.Maxwell muttered to himself has he manger to the tight turns..” Crazy Eyes its time we use nitrous oxide injection systems and beat this guys…muhahahaha!”

“Aye aye..Kaptain!” yell Crazy Eyes and he press the NOS switch and by mistake…he turned the “don’t turned this switch unless you’re stone out of your mind.” Switch..which release more NOS by ten fold.

When Dr.Maxwell realize this, he yell out “OH SHIT…” But it was too late and car begun to speed up at a super insane rate of 200 mph and went out of sight..of the Sultan car. Yet Dr. Maxwell manger to slow down the car..40 miles later, but it was now loyally mess up from the incident, but the Sultan and co wouldn’t find out in till later.

Right when the car disappear, the Sultan just pulled over on to the side of the road and was dumbfounded and remarked

“Can someone tell me what just happen…because..I am under the impression…that I must be smoking something good or that car really went over 190 mph..”

Quetzalcoatl had a shocked look on his face – “Wow, I haven’t seen a car do that, well…ever. It’s a good thing that this was a wide street; I could imagine what sort of havoc could happen in small narrow streets like those of some towns back home.”

Arroyo sat back and said, “Damn, I wish I could get whatever that guy installed on my car. Things like NOS are a bit difficult to obtain as it’s not produced much either by public or private firms. I think the majority of it is imported in, actually.

The Sultan snap out of his daze and said” Well…that most interesting…best to move on…would you guys care to go to a local cha house with me..its perfectly safe..for most part and plus we can enjoy some chai and hookah too up to you guys.”

Arroyo looked up and said, “Ah, now that’s something that I haven’t had for a while. Before the 1990s, hookah was pretty hard to obtain. However, things have lightened up quite a bit.

Quetzalcoatl leaned back and said to Arroyo, “I’m glad you aren’t cloistering yourself with work.” He then turned to the Sultan and said, “Sure, a bit of chai sounds good for me.”

The Sultan remarked” righto” and drove them to the nearest Chai shop, a oddly about the KLM was the fact that Public officials didn’t stay cope up in their offices all day, they kept it real by interacting with the local people and listening to their problems and opinions whenever they can. Plus, the people acted normally around the Sultan and other officials whenever they show up..it was nothing to special to them.

Just the Sultan and his guest took their seats in the Chai café and a waiter took their orders and the Sultan body guards took their seats a table away to keep a watch on things.

The Sultan smoked some of the mint favored hookah and remarked” Ah Hookahs..one of the best stuff on the earth….better then cigars and more health for you then cigars.”

Arroyo smiled after smoking some of the hookah and responded to the Sultan’s comment, “Indeed, I’ve always enjoyed hookahs. I used to smoke cigarettes a lot, particularly when I was in college. However, this proved to be a more worthy alternative, to say in the least.”

Quetzalcoatl looked around, sipping a small bit of chia. It was a little odd seeing Arroyo this relaxed. In any case, he had a question to ask the Sultan,

“The environment here seems considerably relaxed compared to that in Istanbul. Do you find it more peaceful here or about the same?”

A waiter came and gives them their cups of Chai, the Sultan took a sip of it and remarked

“Istanbul has a lot of history to it needless to say it makes things a bit less relaxing at times, not to say New Delhi is lesser while to compare Istanbul it doesn’t have as much political history as Istanbul…just I find more peaceful while compare to Istanbul for now at least.” Then he took a sip of his Chai and asked

“So how goes the political situation in your nation?”

Quetzalcoatl looked up and said, “Well, things are going alright for the most part. However, things have been a little tense since the last legislative elections. The moderate party that mediated a lot of disagreement between the socialist parties and the conservative parties has collapsed due to defections and some high profile controversies. The libertarians also lost a lot of seats as well. That allowed the far right to gain a lot of seats, and although we didn’t loose any and still hold an absolute majority, the political environment is polarized more than ever. In our North American terrertories, Utah and Nevada are the only local governments refusing to apply for statehood. Outside of that, though, things are going good. Economically, we’re going to be having a major growth spurt - we’re going to start doing a lot of shipbuilding, aviation development and infrastructure construction.”

Arroyo, who was a bit more involved with legislation said, “We expect to have many of our northern territories officially recognized as states within the next month as well. It will be interesting, since when they become states, another set of elections will have to be triggered so they can have representatives. Although we expect to make a lot of gains, the libertarians may make a come back since there’s a lot of them up there.”

The Sultan took a sip of his chai and remarked, “ That’s good to hear that your nation is managing to integrated its new territories…as for KLM…two protectorates have just been added to the Imperium as Dominions…just a sign that Imperium is still alive and well..yet as for our Parliament…well its Parliament to say the least…always with the infighting and etc…between the two main groups , the hardliners and reformist elements..meh its how things go I guess…lucky for us, my party the moderates are in power and manger things perfectly well for the post…we do have our short comings…but we’re all human after all.” Then the Sultan smoked the hookah and smiled

“Oh how, I miss smoking hookah…pity the wives don’t let me smoke it that often..”

Arroyo’s attention was piqued, “Two new protectorates? That’s good to hear. What lands did you recently acquire?”

Quetzalcoatl chuckled at the Sultan’s comment and said, “Ah, that’s a shame. Angelica’s been pretty ok with my hobbies and other interests, although she never misses on opportunity to say that I spend too much time playing sports and going to car shows.”

The Sultan smiled and answer the question “ We had those two protectorates for while…they were known as Oceaniastan and Romluan Imperium…one settled by people of Indonesian decent and the other by Europeans of Roman background…its just recently they decide to apply for dominion status and were given the go ahead by my government to join…so more fun for me in terms of paperwork..yay me..”

Then the Sultan rolled his eyes and sips some of his chai and then replied to the Premier

“Well they are not against my hobbies…they just have a distain for my hobbies that they see as unhealthful in their humble opinion..but oh well what can you do..” said the Sultan

After everyone finish enjoying their chai and hookah, the Sultan drove them back to the Palace and after they got out of the car, the Sultan asked

“So gentlemen is there anything that you wish to discuss with me within the context of government related matters?”

Quetzalcoatl looked around and said, “Well, now is as good of a time as any time to discuss a small business proposal. Due to our increased economic growth, we’re dealing with two issues that have arisen simultaneously. First, there has been an exponential increase in the demand for communication equipment entirely at the consumer level back at home. While the technology we have is sufficient for what we need, we don’t have the manufacturing capabilities at the moment. The government’s manufacturing system neither the interest nor the time to convert some of its manufacturing plants to specialize in these electronics. In addition, the private sector doesn’t have the production capabilities to satisfy demand. Given this situation, we’ve decided to open the market to either public or private foreign firms.

In addition, we’re also dealing with the issue of power generation. To be blunt, we’re using a lot of electricity these days with our increased production and such. With that said, we’re relying heavily on nuclear power. However, the government is interested in acquiring safety technology to ensure our power plants are as safe as possible. Furthermore, we’re dealing with the scarcity of fuel. While we have plenty of uranium, we’re interested in extending the usable life of our fuel and reprocessing technology.”

Arroyo chimed in as well, “We are willing to trade many things. We have plenty of gold to trade with, and a lot of agricultural or manufactured goods as well. Although the legislature will have to approve any trade deal, we can finalize it within a week.”

the puppet on my left accurately conveys my views. i also belive the puppet on my right accurately conveys my views

The Sultan nodded and said” I see, I believe we can come to workable arrangement, the KLM has a very large communication equipment industry that fill that need or help invest in your nation industries to set up one of your own and as for nuclear technology…we can gladly help you in that aspect, since roughly 50 percent of the KLM power gird is base on nuclear power, just I believe we might be able to help you in that aspect. In return, the KLM would very much like to trade for all this in return for gold and your nation chilies…my people have growth a taste mainly in the big cites to your cuisine and want more access to key elements of your cuisine. Also how about if our nations encourage our private sectors to invest in one another?”

Quetzalcoatl was amused by the proposed trade deal before him…Nuclear technology and civilian communications equipment for gold and chilies. However, both nations had the comparative advantage – the Sultan had the technology and the means to produce it while the Aztecs had a vast amount of gold – the lifeblood of the Khailfah’s economy and had an absolute advantage economically in the production of chilies. Quetzalcoatl smiled and said, “I have no objections to that.”

Arroyo, who easily push through any trade agreement said, “Well, when we get back home to the ANL, I will certainly get the senate to enact legislation to approve of this proposal. I’m curious though, how much gold do you believe would be appropriate? Considering how our economy is, we have plenty to spare.”

The Sultan smiled and remarked “Let me put this way…we’re buy as much you can produce in terms of gold.”

Indeed gold was very important to the Imperium, the chance to gain a stable supply couldn’t passed up.

Arroyo said “I believe we can transfer $500 million over the next five years. That will give you quite an amount over the long run and give our domestic markets that rely on gold to some extent to adjust accordingly. It will also allow the ANL government to acquire more gold should we need to, although our government cache is pretty healthy right now.”

The Sultan nodded and remarked “That sounds good..also we shall discuss the idea of opening up our private sectors to invest in each other to promote of our two nations respected economics?”

Quetzalcoatl nodded and said, “Investing in our private industries would certainly help build our economy and investing of yours will ensure long term growth. Although one of our strongest sectors is mining, it’s all state run. Our major private growth industries right now are shipbuilding, civilian avionics and construction right now. We have the capital and the workforce; it’s now just getting the business and investment.”

Arroyo said, “We would be equally interested in allowing our private and public firms invest in your nation’s industries. What would you suggest would you suggest would be good industries to invest in?”

The Sultan smiled and said “We our most rapid expanding industries the are a good place to invest would be our light industries aka the consumer related product industries. Also my private sector would be happy to start investing in your nation as soon as possible. Is there anything else to be discuss about?”

Arroyo smiled and said, “Good, I will introduce legislation to ensure this happens as soon as possible. Much of the groundwork is already laid down; it will take about a month to get all of the legalities taken care off.”

“Actually, there is one more thing that we should discuss.” Quetzalcoatl said. “I feel that Arroyo though is more up to date on the issue than I am at the moment, so he’ll explain the issue.”

Arroyo said, “Well, the ANL has had very strict laws on foreign military units operating in our lands and seas. One of our more unreasonable and draconian laws was prohibiting any foreign military ship from having docking, disembarking and repairing in our military ports except in extreme circumstances. The legislature amended the law to allow our allies the ability to do these things. So far, we have only discussed the matter with one nation, but, we are willing to extend the same privileges to you as well. However, in the interest in fairness, we would expect a similar arrangement for ourselves as well.”

The Sultan thought for moment, and weighted carefully before replying, after doing that he replied, “Well this can be arranged, we’re be most happy to make this happen…its sign of how relations between our states have progress...”

“Understood,” Quetzalcoatl said, “we will be willing to appease any arrangements you may need.”

Arroyo said, “Since we’re making many strides into getting involved with the international community, we felt that this measure would be good to help maintain our closest friendships with other nations.”

Quetzalcoatl mused, “It was actually pretty fun trying to get the legislature to compromise on this issue, needless to say, there was a bit of opposition from the more isolationist wings of the political spectrum.”

The Sultan nodded and said “That’s government for you…always need to reach a agreeable stance within your government before you can display it publicly ..besides opposition is need to keep you on the feet without them..you grow soft and too one sided on most matters.”