I was thrilled because I had never flown first class before.

First class is just different. I was now the only one in the group of three, and the champagne was served free of charge.

Oh yes, and a decent meal.

A really decent meal, not the usual chemically heated, MSG plus coloring thing.

I looked left and right, curious about everything inside the ship. Leather sofas, ceramic cutlery, and bright but not dazzling lamps.

Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Izmail and I'm an officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Star Federation.

In 2219, mankind has already entered the era of interstellar voyage from the earth.

The advent of leap technology has made interstellar travel no longer a distant dream.

Going from one planet to another, for a spaceship, is nothing more than the movement between points and points, coordinates and coordinates.

What has changed is science and technology, but what has not changed is politics and diplomacy.

The nations of Earth have disappeared and have been replaced by a federation of colonized planets with Earth at its core.

In the process of expansion, we discovered that in this universe, we are not alone, there are all kinds of life forms living on other planets, and some have even produced intelligence.

The star Medawa I'm going to now is a highly civilized planet. The Medawa are on par with the Federation's technology, so they are also eligible to establish diplomatic relations with the Federation on an equal footing.

And we went there to sign a contract involving the hedron trade.

Yes, it's us, not me. You don't think that as an officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I am qualified to talk and laugh with the head of a country.

The titles of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs from top to bottom are: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Administrative Officer, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Officer.

Among them, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Officers are divided into three levels, namely the first class, the second class, and the third class.

My superior's name was Humphrey, and he was the second under-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is in his fifties and has been working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 30 years. As is customary for civil servants, he retires from the post of second-degree lieutenant unless there are exceptional circumstances.

In fact, Humphrey thinks and does.

Every day, he is the last to arrive at the office, and he must hold a cup of health tea soaked in wolfberries and other direct ginseng, and the temperature is about 40 degrees.

Then, it was a cup of tea, a cigarette, and a newspaper to read for half a day.

The fact that the Foreign Secretary chose him this time surprised not only everyone in the Foreign Office, including me, but also Humphrey's own.

After confirming that it was not April 1st and that he was not dreaming, Humphrey excitedly combed and combed his hair, which had already become Mediterranean.

I can understand why he was so excited. If this mission is successful, he will undoubtedly be promoted to First Class Lieutenant before he retires, and his pension will be twice as high as it is now, and other benefits await him.

So, from boarding the plane until now, Humphrey has been smiling all the time.

Look, he's smiling at me right now.

He whispered to me: "Mei'er, I have repeatedly asked those people in the logistics department not to be extravagant and wasteful, and not to let those media people accuse us of wasting taxpayers' money." They also pledged to cut the budget to the bone. But if you look at it, there are still so many unrelated people. ”

By unrelated people, Humphrey meant everyone else on the ship except me and him, and the pilot and captain.

These included two members of the Ombudsman's Office, as well as a delegation from the Ministry of Trade and a delegation from the Ministry of Industry, a group of staff from the Office led by a secretary, a working group from the Intelligence Service, the Information Service, the liaison officers of the ministries, the secretary of the liaison officer, the secretary of the secretary, and the clerks who printed and photocopied contracts......

The two men from the Ombudsman came with for a good reason – they wanted to monitor whether we were wasting taxpayers' money on official business.

And the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Industry sent people to follow for good reason - because we were going to a hedron-rich planet to sign a trade contract, which of course fell under the realm of trade and industry.

As for the officials and clerks in the office and other services...... Well, they really have nothing to do with this visit, but if you don't bring them, you will definitely have a hard time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Moreover, although Humphrey was complaining that the number of people on this mission was too large, I knew very well that Humphrey was actually happy in his heart, because he had successfully bribed more than 100 people, and these people would draw him a "0" instead of an "X" in the future when the democracy was evaluated.

So, they're actually very related.

"My Vice-Chancellor," I said with a smile to Humphrey, who was seated in front of me, "I think this is already a small delegation. ”

With that, I pushed a proclamation in front of Humphrey.

I wrote the announcement, and it was full of the usual nonsense about the close relationship between the two planets, what common interests, frank and helpful conversations, and all that sort of thing.

Some people may say that the contract has not yet been signed, and it is too early for me to write the announcement. What if something happens?

But please believe that in the dictionary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is never early, only earlier.

And what is the change, what is the change?

Humphrey read the announcement and could tell from his big smile that he was satisfied. However, in order to show that his status as second lieutenant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was higher than mine, relying on real talent rather than age and seniority, Humphrey took out a pen and circled my announcement.

I kept a smile on my face and looked at Humphrey, who looked focused on revising the announcement.

In him, I almost saw myself thirty years later.

But what's so bad about that?

My father was Albert Barrow and my mother was Louise Barrow. They all work in the federal department of Phoenix Star, and although they are not very rich, they are also rich enough to have enough food and clothing. Their dream was for me to become a federal worker, and I lived up to their expectations, and after graduating from the Ivy League University in Phoenix, I was lucky enough to pass the exam and enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Of course, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federation is in the Capital Star, and after I was admitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have the qualifications to live in the Capital Star.

Ten years as an officer, ten years as a third-class lieutenant, and another ten years as a second-class lieutenant, after retiring from this position, I will be able to reside permanently in the capital star, and I can take my parents over...... Yes, nothing bad.

"Izmail."

Just as I was thinking about it, Humphrey suddenly called out to me.

It turned out that he had already read the announcement I had written.

"Yes!" I replied as I sat down.

Humphrey, apparently very pleased with my seriousness and seriousness, handed me back the bulletin, and then said to me in an encouraging tone: "Izmail, your bulletin is very well written, but there are some areas that need to be polished and revised. I've circled it and marked it, so you can change it. ”

I took the announcement and opened it.

Sure enough, the announcement was circled in several places by Humphrey's circle, most of which were modifications of adverbs. For example, for "promotion", Humphrey added the word "greatly" in front of it.

I was disapproving, but thanked Humphrey.

Just as I was about to put pen to paper to add those adverbs, Polke, the captain of the Amegara, came to the cabin.

He had come to invite us to the bridge to watch the ship jump.