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Albany, NY - The man at the center of the political turmoil in Albany said that he and his fellow senators could strike a deal that would end the 17-day upstate circus.

Sen. Pedro Espada said that Democrats and Republicans have "put down their armors and their swords and are really talking to each other in a respectful way."

Gov. David Paterson issued an ultimatum last night, demanding that senators return to the chamber for a special session today or he'd dock their pay. Once it became clear that both sides seemed open to the first full session in nearly three weeks, Paterson may have felt like patting himself on the back.

Not so fast, Espada said.

"We're all embarrassed that we've embarrassed ourselves, the process, the institution through this impasse," he told NY1. "We all agree that the lack of leadership by Governor Paterson has hurt this process."

In addition to threatening to dock their pay if they don't appear today, Paterson said he'd dispatch state troopers to bring those senators playing hooky straight to the Capitol. Such bullying prompted Sen. Carl Kruger to accuse the governor of violating the Constitution and holding senators hostage.

"(If he thinks) he’s going to extort or extract some kind of agreement on legislation that he thinks will, you know, change the course of political events next year, he’s playing in a vacuum," Kruger said.

Thirty Democrats and no Republicans showed up for yesterday's special session, which didn't even last 10 minutes. It was the second straight day that "extraordinary" sessions failed.