"That'd be cool. But I think we can work with your history and our ideas. This is already a lot to do."

"Eh, I think political philosophy is pretty important to making sure that what you end up with is stable. My country's basic laws - the things that restrain the government - do a good job of that. If only I could remember what they said..."

She giggles. "Do you remember what they said? At various points in history?"

"Not in detail. I know the general structure of the government and why it was built that way and how it changed, because the structure it took was the result of a lot sexy intrigue and campaigning. I don't remember much else, though."

"Do tell anyway."

"Uh, OK. So, there's a concept called 'separation of powers' that means that various powers of the government are vested in independent bodies, so that no one person can claim absolute authority. This also makes the government easier to oppose, if necessary, since various parts of it are in a power struggle with each other. The power to create new laws is vested in one branch; the power to judge the law is placed in another; the power to levy taxes, accumulate debts, and write budgets is in a third; and the power to manage the projects that money is spent on is in yet another. None of these are able to dominate the others, and the individuals who constitute each are chosen separately. If one branch exceeds its limits, it may be vetoed by another. This is a multi-layer pattern. We have governments at the level of individual towns and cities, for states, and for the country as a whole. Each level has control over different activities, and each of them has the four-part division of government branches... Did that explanation make any sense to you?"

"Yes, I think so. It...sounds better than what we've got. I still think you could abolish the whole system."

"And I think that, at the very least, you have to have someone who can wield force legitimately. Even if only a few private companies. No legitimate, predictable force means lots of unpredictable force, and I prefer the former to the latter."

"We'll try it," she says briskly, "and learn and see. My friend's back, shall we make her dinner and you can tell stories of your world?"

"Sure. Though 'we' should probably mean 'you', since I have no idea how to prepare food you could eat."

She laughs. "Oh, right, sorry!!! I'll cook our host a meal and you charm her."

"I will try to be charming, but no promises. However, I can go on at length about the history of my people. Do you know what types of stories she likes?"

"You are very charming, don't worry!"

"Why, thank you. But still: what stories? Wars? Political intrigue? Romance which fosters political intrigue?"

"Uh, do you have one on the safer side? Nobles are so sheltered..."

"Safe? In history? Um, there's the story of the guy who discovered the Senkuku Islands. I can make it a rousing adventure tale, and skip the unfortunate details about murder, rape, disease, and eventual colonisation."

She beams conspiratorially. "That'll do."

"Great! You cook; I'll embellish."

Their host seems vaguely nervous and ill at ease about the whole thing. "You know you're wanted?" she asks Gimlith when she brings out some steaming edible-to-this-world's-people-presumably.

"Aww," Gimlith says, "I'm pretty into you too."

"By the government."

"I'm irresistible."

"Are you doing anything illegal?"

"Would I do that to you?"

Carmen is unsure whether to add anything to this. She just observes while trying to look really trustworthy.

And then Gimlith flits off and their host turns to her, fascinated and slightly frightened. "You really drink blood?"

"Indeed. Pigs, cows, birds - not people, though. Don't worry."

OK, maybe she wasn't doing a good job of looking trustworthy.

She listens from a distance while cooking. Carmen is so earnest it's adorable.

"...I mean, I assume you eat animals, right? The only real difference is that I eat one part of the animal, and you eat another.  After all, isn't it quite efficient to have us eating different parts of the same creatures?"

"It is," their hostess agrees, a bit hesitantly. "It's just so strange. And not very efficient if we live on different planets."