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The grownups are all very busy, but the children are all bored.
Bored or having nightmares. But Tasárinon was not on a ship and did not see the people dying and has only heard it thirdhand and can't exactly have nightmares about the look in his mother's eyes - well, he probably could, but he hasn't - so he's bored, and he is drawing on the floor. It is an absurdly intricate drawing. He has been embellishing it for three days.
"You fools," the President says.
"We didn't think he could assassinate our King and sack the palace in Valinor. I very deeply regret having had any part in strengthening our common foe, but I still haven't really given up the hope the Silmarils can be employed for exactly the purpose the Enemy means to put them to, by someone more trustworthy."
And then someone knocks on the shelter door. "Mr. President? They didn't drop bombs. They dropped letters."
And conveniently it's in Quenya.
Please communicate to the newcomers that the tale of their violent departure from Valinor has reached us, that we commend their ruthlessness against their unarmed kin at Alqualonde, and that we are interested in negotiating a truce in the interests of unity against our common foes the Valar. We are willing to offer a year's ceasefire during which you may safely evacuate the continent. Do not attempt to begin the evacuation before we meet to speak, or we will consider this a rejection of the truce. I had the pleasure of an acquaintance with the King's eldest grandson in Valinor and look forward to seeing him, the winged man, and any two others of their choosing on the Federated Falas northern border in three days' time. Please come prepared to swear to a ceasefire for the duration of the talks.
Some are also in the local language. The President gets handed one of those. There's a minute's quiet. Then:
"How did you leave Valinor, exactly?" the President says. "If I need to know more than that the Enemy commends you for it."
"I hope I don't need to point out that he's playing you," Maitimo says.
"Yes, obviously. What happened."
"We needed lightleapers to make it here and at the Valar's encouragement we were refused them and we tried to take them anyway. Everyone was unarmed, on both sides, but it turns out ship-to-ship fighting is very deadly anyway."
"Lovely."
"I know. I'm so sorry."
"Get my people off this world alive."
"Yes, sir."
"This is obviously a bad idea in some way," Cam says, "but it is a bad idea in a predictable, exploitable way."
"I think that by default we should not," he says, "but if we knew enough about what he had in mind that might not be default."
"If he'd asked for my father I'd assume he wants him alive - wants that badly enough he might in fact trade every civilian on the planet for it, not that we could make that trade. I am pretty sure I don't know enough to be useful in that front. The Noldor are less effective if I'm dead, but if he wants that badly enough there are easier ways, I'm not spending all my time in our city. Or that could all be a diversion and the whole thing is about talking with you." He stands. "I need to speak to my King."
"I think everyone else is staying to learn Thindarin and aid as best they can," he says, looking at the President, "unless you think the notes will create to great a barrier to trust."
"I have announced your explanation," the President says. "We'll see. They can stay."
"Okay, you'll fit in the shuttle I was using," Cam tells Maitimo. "We in a scale-of-minutes hurry?"
"I don't think so, we have three days and the Enemy probably won't escalate before then, he asked us not to evacuate before then." He starts walking.
"I doubt this is at all strategic," Cam says, "but he didn't ask for me by name and I can give somebody else wings. ...I can give humans wings. You guys would be more complicated."
"I'm very annoyed we don't have the same physiology. That does not seem wise, though. The only conceivable reason to do this is that we think we could handle whatever force he bothers manifesting and without you we definitely could not. Though if we hadn't heard that he can escalate at will past rockets, we might have been tempted to try it."
"I don't know for sure that he can but... it's suspicious. Especially if you had nuclear power on Valinor."
"Best case scenario is he thinks the Valar would intervene if he pulled out toys above the local tech level but running uploads is way above the local tech level so I do not like that explanation." Shuttle?
"Honestly I'd avoid talking to them until we know the original language backwards and forwards and the exact wording of every oath they've spoken, intent matters and can sometimes be realized weirdly - I know you've already spoken with them, and also these are only seven arbitrary orcs as undeserving of Mandos as everyone else on both sides of this catastrophe, but if you want to keep them safer -"
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