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[Extracted from Lara Horvat’s self-taken minutes. Again I apologise for the large amount of dialogue in this section. RBB]
‘I call this summit to order,’ said Lara Horvat, bringing down a gavel on the leather inlay of the table in the Downing Street cabinet briefing room.
Seated around the impressive slab of teak were Che Yang, president of China; Phillippe Ramseur, president of France; Maureen Church, prime minister of Britain; Marat Olov, president of Russia; Malcolm Gorman, the British defence minister; and Lara Horvat herself, the secretary general of the United Nations.
‘I’d like to start by calling upon the British minister of defence, who has been gathering intelligence,’ said Lara. Eyes turned towards Malcolm Gorman.
‘Our man in Washington says that there is no change in the actions of Slimbridge. He has the US armed forces under his thumb via the joint chiefs. However, keeping his ear to the ground, our man says there are small pockets of resistance forming around the country. The trouble is that there are more than a few supporters of Slimbridge’s xenophobic policies. Several opposition groups have been betrayed and the results have been disastrous.’
‘How you mean, disastrous?’ asked the Russian president.
‘There’ve been a number of raids and several hundred arrests. One group of forty faced a firing squad. Our man says that is likely to be repeated with the others. We haven’t been able to verify the numbers.’
‘Does the man ’ave no shame?’ asked the French president.
‘Peter Stone, the Internet guru,’ continued Malcolm Gorman, ‘is still managing to frustrate all Slimbridge’s attempts to shut down online communications. He’s created a black web which can be accessed through any telephone line. It’s text only, but now has thousands of ingress points in the US. They really can’t stop it without shutting down all international communications.’
‘Okay,’ said President Yang. ‘We must find a way forward, or forget the Federation and get back to running our own countries as best we can.’
‘For the record,’ said the secretary general, ‘how do each of you feel about Federation membership? Prime Minister Church?’
‘We recognise that membership has huge drawbacks for the wealthy, but it has so many benefits for the general population, that we feel we must support it. I’d like to visit other worlds, though. Ken Hood visited a number of Federation worlds and I know his initial scepticism, like President Spence’s, was assuaged by the visits.’
‘And is that the view of your cabinet?’
‘Yes, it is.’
President Yang said, ‘We are in favour. The super-rich will survive. Again, though, I rather annoyed with Federation for cutting us off from learning more about them.’
‘Yes,’ said President Olav. ‘We most certain in favour, but fear that we need much help in controlling oligarchs.’
‘La France is very much in favour, but ’ow can we argue for ze Federation when we ’aven’t experienced it ourselves.’ said President Ramseur.
‘For such an ancient organisation, they don’t seem to know much about self-promotion,’ said the prime minister.
‘No, good points all, and thank you,’ said Secretary General Horvat. ‘I believe our next move is for me to go and see President Slimbridge and see if there’s any way of persuading him to change his stance.’
‘Can’t. Can’t change stance. He’s committed war crimes. Such person will never surrender,’ said President Olav.
‘I must try to convince him to, at least, communicate with us.’
‘I, too, zink the task will be impossible, but, oui, you must try,’ said President Ramseur.
‘If you fail, Lara,’ said the Chinese president, ‘we need then attempt something military.’
‘How you mean?’ asked the Russian president.
‘A covert force. Take out him and his government,’ said President Yang.
‘I agree,’ said the minister of defence. ‘Our man says that there is little real support for Slimbridge in the nation, despite the isolated cases of groups being betrayed. If he were gone, his support could vanish very quickly. It could solve all of our problems at a stroke.’
‘Well, let’s keep that option to ourselves for a while. I’ll try official channels first,’ said the secretary general.
‘Also,’ added the minister, ‘the word “communism” is very emotive. I think it’s one of the biggest problems in the USA. It conjures up a hatred which grew during the cold war. The trouble is that the Federation sounds like a communist organisation.’
‘That’s true,’ said the prime minister. ‘I wouldn’t underestimate the feeling against the Federation. I did tell the cabinet under Ken Hood that there should be a much longer period of education and introduction. Ambassador Moroforon offered any number of additional exploratory trips to Federation worlds. The problem is that the politicians who went on those trips were so impressed they were almost immediately convinced.’
‘Yes, same with President Ivanov. He returned talking about the Federation in glowing terms,’ said President Olov.
‘We should all have slowed things down. There did not need to be such a headlong rush. We mustn’t make the same mistake if we get a second chance,’ said the prime minister.
‘Again, not being able to talk to the Federation about this is a real drawback,’ said the secretary general.
‘I have some information on Federation activity which might be of interest,’ said the defence minister.
‘Fire away, Malcolm,’ said the prime minister.
‘I’ve received communications from a number of observatories. They’ve been watching the build-up of a considerable fleet of what can only be Federation ships in orbit,’ he said.
‘Are they massing to strike America, do you think?’ asked President Yang.
‘Surely not. But there’s no way of knowing,’ said Malcolm. ‘At the last count there were over ten ships. They’re holding in an orbit about two hundred and fifty miles high. Some of the ships are rather large. I don’t think we can do anything about them, anyway.’
‘How large?’ asked President Olov. ‘When I flew out of Russia, I had a message to speak to a group of our astronomers. Probably the same information.’
‘Many over a mile in length and have considerable girth. They’d be pretty obvious, even with only a good pair of binoculars,’ said Malcolm.
‘Amazing! What should we do?’ asked Lara.
‘Do not know,’ said President Yang. ‘I too been told astronomers seen things. Should have looked into it.’
‘We can’t do anything,’ said Malcolm. ‘We do have missiles capable of reaching that orbit. I assume China and Russia do also, but how would the Federation view such launches. I suspect they’d be swatted like flies.’
‘We have spacecraft too,’ said President Yang.
‘We could launch a Soyuz,’ said President Olov. ‘It could only go and observe though.’
‘We cannot attack them. It would be foolhardy,’ said the prime minister, ‘and I don’t think there’s much point going to visit them in orbit. That would achieve nothing.’
‘I wonder if we should prepare a communique and use the QE transmitter to contact the Federation for assistance. What do you all think?’ asked the secretary general.
‘Oui, zat would seem a good move,’ said President Ramseur.
Presidents Olov and Yang nodded in agreement.
‘He was pretty explicit that we shouldn’t use it until we’d got the whole world ready to join,’ said the prime minister.
‘But might never happen if don’t get their help,’ said President Yang.
‘Look,’ said Lara Horvat. ‘Let me get my attempt at diplomacy with President Slimbridge underway and then we could consider contacting the Federation after we’ve seen his response. How does that sound?’
‘Yes. Federation hardly likely attack us,’ said President Yang.
‘We are very vulnerable, are we not?’ said President Olov.
‘Oui, all our knowledge and technology is as nussing compared wiz zem,’ said the French president.
There was general agreement to continue to observe until after Lara’s visit to Washington.
‘Right, other business,’ said the secretary general, and the Security Council began discussions about North Korea and Israel who were potential stumbling blocks to any agreement.
««o»»
[From Jim Collins’ iPad minutes. RBB]
Congressman Charles Mayne sat in a leather executive chair behind a contemporary desk in an anonymous looking hotel conference room in Pittsburgh. With him were some twenty smartly dressed senators and members of Congress. By the door, in military fatigues, were four soldiers bristling with arms.
‘Thank you all for coming to this update,’ he said in his characteristic Boston accent. ‘I appreciate that you’re all risking life and limb to be here.’
He surveyed the room and began his next sentence rather more forcefully, ‘Fellow Americans, our country has been usurped by a tyrant. While I was no fan of Jack Spence’s domestic policies, I appreciate that he was a properly elected president of our nation. John Slimbridge is nothing more than a powerful thug... a gang leader. He has no mandate for his actions – they are based on greed and selfishness. He’s killed almost every leader of the world and can never be forgiven for his actions. He’s a war criminal!
‘I’ve been inundated, over the black web, by offers of support from small militias all over the country, many being led by ex-military men... the sort of men who could command armed forces. My problem is that I don’t know how to make use of that support. How do we turn a ragtag number of armed squads into a coherent force which might be able to challenge Slimbridge?’
‘We could assassinate him,’ said a small man with a bald head in the front row.
‘Is that a possibility?’ asked Charles.
‘I have a connection in the White House who would not be averse to spilling information about his movements,’ said another suited individual.
‘Morally, can we assassinate him?’ asked Charles.
Calls of ‘sure can’, ‘yes’, and ‘you’d better believe it’, rang out from around the room.
‘Kill the bastard!’ was shouted by a woman on the left. Many looked around. They recognised her as Helen Bond, President Spence’s sister.
‘I’m sympathetic to your feelings, Helen, but we must ask ourselves if we’ll be able to look each other in the eye if we stoop to Slimbridge’s level,’ said Charles.
‘Charles, don’t be concerned about that,’ said the diminutive bald man. ‘After we’re successful, the Federation will take over and any charge which may be levelled at us would be quickly justified.’
‘My brother was a good man,’ said Helen Bond. ‘He was vehemently opposed to the Federation initially, but I watched him learn about them, particularly after his return from Arlucian. He came to realise that the Federation would be good for the world, even if it upset the wealthy and influential.’
‘I wish we had Federation help now. Their technology could solve this,’ said Charles.
‘My cousin in Denmark saw a news broadcast about a visit by the Federation ambassador in which he insisted the world must sort itself out before we contacted them again,’ said one of the senators.
‘Yes, I’d heard about that too,’ said Charles.
‘Charles, one of the militias which made contact is headed by General Beech,’ said a man in the front row.
‘What, Dick Beech?’ asked Charles.
‘Yes. Why not get him to lead the armed uprising?’
‘Would he be the right man?’ asked Charles.
‘Very experienced. He was Jack Spence’s main go-to man for military advice before he retired a year or so back.’
‘So, he’s a Republican,’ said Charles with regret in his tone.
A man who’d been silent up to now, sitting next to Charles Mayne, said, ‘That won’t matter to him, Charles, he’ll be as loyal to you as he was to Spence if it causes the overthrow of Slimbridge. The top military brass suppress their own personal political views.’
‘Okay, Jim,’ said Charles. ‘Can someone make contact with him and ask him if he’d come to meet with me? Where are they based?’
‘Florida,’ someone called out.
Jim Collins said, ‘We need to get something going before Slimbridge finds a way to shut down the black web. Our only advantage is that Peter Stone is orchestrating the protection of the web from outside the US.’
‘I met him,’ said Helen Bond. ‘He was at the White House and Jack introduced me.’
‘He escaped to Canada after Slimbridge began his crackdown on those who’d been on Federation familiarisation trips,’ said Jim.
‘Once we get something organised, it’d be good to involve him,’ said the small bald-headed man.
‘Yes, Burt, we’ll do that,’ said Charles. ‘Everyone remember to keep quiet about this meeting. We’ll never be sure who are secret Slimbridge supporters. His accusation that President Spence was handing over power to the aliens really struck home with some of the general public, and, sadly, many of them seem to have become a little paranoid about it. He also seems to have stirred up the extreme right. Take care everyone.’
««o»»
[Extracted from Captain Ya Istil Sperafin’s log and communication records. RBB]
The Federation freighter Medorin descended towards a scorched area of land, dotted with scrubby patches of plants and trees struggling to survive during their battle with the lack of rainfall. A tented city, home to several thousand malnourished and almost starving men, women, and children, suddenly decamped its population to watch the enormous spaceship’s descent. Dozens of volunteers from the various NGOs also turned their attention to the unexpected phenomenon.
The ship, over a mile long and the diameter of at least two football pitches, was now moving very slowly as it slid along its invisible glide path to the arid plain below.
A booming voice broke the silence which had fallen upon the mesmerised refugees. ‘We are a Federation supply ship, packed with food, water and medical provisions. We are also carrying almost a thousand medibots to assist the human medical teams. Do not be afraid. Our ship will hover a metre from the surface. Please stand clear to allow ramps to be extended.’ It was repeated in several different languages broadly relevant to those within earshot.
Almost as one, thousands of the occupants of the city, disregarding the warnings, moved towards the landing spot, wanting to be among the first to get access to grain, rice and anything else on the ship. As they approached the vessel, they ran into a force field which held them back at a safe distance. People pushed against it and looked at their hands, trying to figure out what this invisible wall was made of. Some charged it, others put their shoulders against it. Nothing was able to penetrate.
The ship was mainly dark green, but with highlights of mint, emerald and sage. At the front, a glazed area allowed the occupants to see out and the people to see in. Many aliens of all different sizes, shapes and colours were looking down upon the canvas city, the population of which stared back at them in bewilderment. A fear began to grow, fear of the unknown. Some backed away.
A six-wheeled blue truck trundled down the first ramp and set off towards a tent which was clearly the hub of the NGOs. The vehicle contained two humanoid robots. This really frightened some of those trying to get through the force field. A few ran, more stood still, blankly staring at what appeared to be the cast of a Star Wars film, but the shapes of the robots made it very clear that these were not humans in costumes.
The almost deafening voice from the ship roared, ‘NGOs, please go to the destination of the blue vehicle so that information can be provided about the supplies we are carrying. Others, please do not be afraid. We are here to help you. Soon, you will see large trucks exiting. Each contains hundreds of packages which contain a variety of foods and water. Please help yourselves and remember to take some for those who are less mobile.’
By this time, there were almost a hundred ramps on the city side of the freighter and a thousand trucks were making their way down and parking around all sides of the camp.
The smaller truck arrived at the NGO tent. The robots got out of the cab and waited for the volunteers to gather around while setting up a table before them.
The lead robot stood about two metres tall with a rectangular head the size of a microwave oven. Its torso, a metre in height, was roughly half a metre in diameter. Six arms projected, two just beneath a natural shoulder position, two directly in front of the robot and a further pair emerged from its back. Three sturdy legs, one on each side and a third slightly behind the others, gave it balance.
One of the robots picked up a package with its front, central arms, and emptied its contents onto the table. It spoke. ‘Each of these packages holds about three days’ supply of some green vegetables, some root vegetables, meat protein, fish protein, dairy protein and eggs in addition to three litres of water.’
The volunteers approached the table and examined the strange looking produce. It was like nothing seen on Earth. Purple, apple-sized tubers with yellow leaves lay beside carrot-length, currant red vegetables and warty potato-sized marigold objects. Eggs of various shapes, patterns, and colours sat in protective transparent boxes alongside blood red, sepia, white, lime and amethyst shrink-wrapped meats, fish and other proteins. Among all of these rested bizarre fruits of spectacular colours.
‘All of this is safe for people to eat?’ asked one of the volunteers who was dressed in medical scrubs.
‘Everything is safe for human consumption. It is possible that there might be some allergic reactions, but they will be as rare as might be encountered from any earthly produce.’
The robot turned and cast an arm in the direction of the rear of the ship. ‘You will see hundreds of transports parking to the rear of the ship. These are autonomous, solar-powered vehicles which have been esponged with English.’
‘Esponged?’ asked one of the volunteers.
‘They understand English,’ explained the robot. ‘Esponging is an education technique. We are leaving them with you, and you can direct them to take you wherever you feel the need is greatest. On the other side of the ship we are unloading sufficient supplies to feed one hundred thousand people for one month. The packets contain a gas called thorbon. It is harmless but shuts down bacterial development even more effectively than freezing. Packets have a shelf life of many months, even these meats, fish and spurras. The transparent film used to cover the cardboard packets is made from a vegetable protein and decomposes quickly once opened. The thorbon inside only protects the cardboard and film until it is split or cut.’
‘Wow,’ said the same volunteer. ‘That’s ingenious. We’ve been battling single-use plastic for nearly a decade. Thank you so much. What are spurras?’
‘A protein made from large numbers of microscopic aquatic invertebrates,’ said the robot.
Four shorter, more spindly robots arrived in another vehicle and joined the first two behind the table.
‘These,’ said the main robot, indicating the new arrivals, ‘are medibots. They have been esponged with human anatomy and we are providing them to operate under your direction. They are also esponged with English plus French and Sudanese Arabic. Use them as you will.’
An enormous tracked truck, a hundred metres long and twenty metres square pulled up behind the robots.
‘This,’ said the robot, pointing towards the truck, ‘is full of medical supplies. Many are obvious. The medibots will be able to identify the drugs and their uses for you. Who is in charge here?’
‘I suppose that I’m the leader of the biggest organisation operating here, the World Food Programme,’ said a tall black man, dressed in contrasting brilliant white scrubs.
The robot handed the leader an envelope. ‘This contains a four-digit number which will open the container and allow access to the medical supplies. Bringol, here, also knows the code and is fully conversant with everything we are providing.’
‘What is your name?’ asked Bringol.
‘Albert. Albert Harrison.’
‘I am pleased to meet you, Albert,’ said Bringol.
Albert put out his hand towards Bringol, but the robot just looked at it. Suddenly the appendage came out and took Albert’s hand in a gentle handshake.
‘Sorry, Albert,’ said the main robot, ‘the medibots are not made fully conversant with all human customs. Now, I must continue to oversee the unloading of the supplies and then we will leave. The medibots and supply vehicles are yours to do with as you wish.’
‘Are you serious. You’re giving them to us?’
‘Yes, they are yours and they are all solar powered.’
‘Thank you, thank you. You cannot imagine how grateful we are.’
The two main robots hopped back into their vehicle and, within a minute had vanished up one of the loading ramps.
Sixteen supply ships visited some seventy areas of the Earth which had medical or famine problems. They didn’t stay long. Within twenty-four hours they had all left, either into orbit or back to their home planets.