Mike grunted. “Good. Better news, really-much better, in the long run-than His Bimboship and Pestilenz hanging from the neck. I’ll be looking forward to meeting him, when he comes to Magdeburg.”
Nasi cocked his head a little. “Ah… Michael. The general elections for the United States of Europe won’t be held until next year. Ableidinger is running for one of the new Franconian seats in the congress of the SoTF. He’ll be in Grantville, not Magdeburg.”
Mike’s grin, this time, stayed on his face. “Don’t be silly. A man that smart? It’s called ‘stepping stone,’ Francisco. You watch. He’ll run in the nationwide election, come next year. And he’ll win handily, I bet. I’m expecting Wilhelm Wettin’s party to win in the USE as a whole, but I’ll be very surprised if Thuringia-and now Franconia, too-doesn’t remain one of our bastions.”
He rose to his feet and went back to the window. “That means Ableidinger will be here, sometime next year. Like I said, I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
Without turning around to see, he added: “You aren’t rolling your eyes, I trust?”
“I was thinking about it,” Nasi admitted. “The thought of you… and Ableidinger… A bit frightening, actually.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. I’ll sure we’ll get along just fine.”
“Yes. As I said. A bit frightening.”
Mike laughed. “One thing more. Send Ableidinger a letter asking him to have a tailor take his measurements. He’ll need a proper suit, now, and I doubt very much if he owns one. I also doubt if he’s got much in the way of money. Leading a revolution’s not generally a well-paying proposition.”
He swiveled his head, and laughed again. Now, Nasi was rolling his eyes.
“Don’t tell me,” Francisco stated.
“Of course I’m going to tell you. We’ll have the suit made here, by my own tailor, and send it to him with my compliments. Best tailor in Magdeburg, probably the whole USE. Make sure you pay for it out of my personal account, though. I wouldn’t want any accusations of pilfering official funds for partisan purposes.”
Nasi was still staring at the ceiling. “God forbid.”
“The ceiling’s not that interesting.”
“Only because you have-so far-failed to have it plastered with one of those grotesque political paintings.”
But he did lower his gaze. “I will say that being in your service is never dull. ‘A bit frightening’ just went to ‘a bit more frightening.’”
“You’re being silly, again. But enough on that. Does Noelle Murphy have some free time? I’d like her to come up here again, as soon as possible.”
“Now you’re scaring me to death.”