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[From Brad Gregg’s, Jim Collins’, and Hareen Trestogeen’s files. RBB]
Jim Collins walked into the kitchen, where Dick Beech, Bob Nixon and some of the others were enjoying a cooked breakfast. ‘I’ve just had a rather odd call from my wife on one of our burner phones,’ he said.
The general was instantly alert. Anything “odd” could be dangerous. ‘Why odd?’ he asked.
‘Whoever it was, provided her with a number and asked me to get either Charles or you to call it on a matter of some urgency,’ said Jim.
‘How long were you on the call?’ asked the general.
‘Twenty seconds, max.’
‘Too short for a trace,’ said Charles.
‘Bring me a fresh burner, Eric,’ said the general, and a soldier disappeared into the adjacent room, returning shortly afterwards with a new cell phone.
The general dialled the number.
‘To whom am I speaking?’ asked a very slightly foreign voice on the other end of the line.
‘Beech,’ the general said, curtly.
‘Lara Horvat here. The Federation ambassador wishes to meet you.’
‘When? Where? Be quick or I’ll terminate this call.’
‘Ambassador Trestogeen will contact you using their methods.’
‘Okay. Goodbye,’ said the general and cut the connection. ‘Eric, take the SIM card and battery from this phone and drive into Jacksonville. Dispose of the phone and card a mile or two apart. Smash the phone and break the card. Keep the battery with the others.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said the soldier and left with the phone.
The general told the others what the secretary general had said.
‘What are their methods, I wonder?’ said Charles.
‘What do you think they want?’ asked Brad. ‘Heard nothing about them since the nuke.’
‘Lara is trustworthy,’ said Jim. ‘Charles and I had a meeting in Washington with her. She was on her way to try to reason with Slimbridge.’
‘What happened?’ asked the general.
‘Brick wall, I think,’ said Jim. ‘She was strip-searched when she arrived in Washington.’
‘What? No respect! Let’s be prepared for a call when it comes,’ said the general.
A matter of minutes later, there was the muffled sound of air being disturbed and a voice said, ‘I am the deputy ambassador, Yol Terend Stograther. You are General Beech, yes?’
Dick Beech turned so suddenly that he almost fell off his barstool. Most of the others jumped and two grabbed their weapons.
‘You have nothing to fear from me,’ said Yol Terend and those in the kitchen visibly relaxed, although they stared at the strange looking four-armed, olive green figure.
‘Welcome, Yol Terend. I’m Charles Mayne.’
The alien materialised his secradarve and studied it as it floated before his face. ’Yes, I recognise you, the general, Jim Collins, Brad Gregg and Bob Nixon from this device. The ambassador wishes me to take you to a meeting.’
‘Travelling can be dangerous for us,’ said the general.
‘Not with me. You will be safe in my company,’ said the alien.
‘With respect, if we are even seen travelling, it could cause us to be betrayed.’
‘You will not be seen, General. Rest assured, no one outside this room will know you have travelled to meet with the ambassador.’
‘Okay,’ said Charles. ‘When do we leave.’
‘Now,’ said Yol Terend, and the six men were no longer in the kitchen in Florida, but suddenly in the conference room aboard the Eskorav.
The view impacted all of them, as it had with the members of the Security Council. Even Bob Nixon, who had been aboard Federation ships before, had his breath taken away by the amazing view of Earth below.
‘Hello, Charles, Jim,’ said Lara who was already on board. ‘This is Yol Ambassador Hareen Trestogeen. Also my assistant, Paula Wilson.’
The general, Brad and Bob introduced themselves and shook the ambassador’s fin.
‘This is some meeting room you have here, Ambassador,’ said Charles, admiring the view as India and the islands of the Far East passed beneath them. ‘Stunning.’
‘Welcome aboard the Federation rapid-reaction ship Eskorav,’ said the ambassador.
‘We are so sorry about the diplomatic team you lost in New York,’ said the general.
‘Most regrettable,’ said the ambassador. ‘When you have finished taking in the view, please take a seat. No hurry though.’
Shortly, the entire party was seated around the oval table, with the exception of the ambassador who lounged in his chaise longue.
Lara Horvat opened the meeting and explained the plan for the USA remaining independent of the Federation.
‘I don’t like it,’ said Charles. ‘If you assisted us to overthrow Slimbridge, we’d almost certainly want to join, or at least investigate the possibility in greater detail.’
The general jumped in, ‘Can you not “beam him up” as you have with us, then we’d know exactly how to deal with him.’
‘Sorry, General,’ said Yol Terend, ‘that is not the sort of intervention we are allowed to make.’
‘The plan,’ said Lara, ‘is that the isolation of the country will soon cause the people to realise that they are far worse off than they would have been as members. They will then willingly join. But, it is a Federation rule that they will not interfere militarily.’
‘Ambassador,’ said the general, ‘we’ve spent time and money, and risked our lives to build a Free America organisation which will, eventually, overthrow Slimbridge. Are you asking us to stand down and telling us that we’ve wasted our time?’
‘No, General. Once the rest of the world has joined, we can give you far more logistical support than we can while you are seen as a rebellious organisation,’ said the ambassador.
‘Uprising!’ said the general loudly. ‘A rebellion is against a legitimate government! We are rising up against a usurper and unelected government! There is nothing whatsoever legitimate about Slimbridge!’
‘I hadn’t appreciated the distinction. Even so, we cannot assist in the manner you wish,’ said the ambassador. ‘We are not asking you to stop your campaign, but we do want you to understand why the rest of the world will be joining us, with the USA as the exception.’
Charles said, ‘This policy of yours leaves most of America in the grip of an evil, murderous regime. We’d be better without your assistance.’
‘I agree with Congressman Mayne,’ said the general. ‘Either you help us or you don’t, but if you are not going to help, then we’d like to be returned home to continue our campaign.’
‘Ambassador,’ said Bob Nixon, ‘I worked for President Spence. He was a practical man. He knew that membership of the Federation would leave him out of office and much poorer, yet he had come to believe it was best for the ordinary citizens of the United States and was prepared to make that sacrifice... as was I. He would be horrified that you are actually propping up Slimbridge, his murderer, in the office he loved.’
‘We are, most certainly, not supporting him or “propping him up” as you call it,’ said Yol Terend, ‘but we cannot intervene by overthrowing him or assisting you to do so.’
‘Then what is the point of inviting us here?’ asked Charles.
‘Please. One moment,’ said the secretary general. ‘The main purpose for us being here was to keep you informed. The ambassador and I will be visiting Slimbridge and feeling him out on the independence option.’
‘But you’ll be negotiating with a mass murderer,’ said the general. ‘There must be repercussions for what he did... surely?’
‘He has, of course, broken Federation laws,’ said the ambassador. ‘Once the agreement is in place, I will apply to have him arrested, but until an agreement is settled, this is a sovereign world and we can do nothing about him.’
The general stood up and, as always, he commanded everyone’s attention. ‘Consider this – if this were the leader of a rogue country who murdered our president and a United Nations diplomatic team, we would most certainly declare war and invade. Why can’t you do that? Surely the Federation has had to fight for its principles in the past.’
The secretary general said, ‘This was discussed with other nations, General, and war was considered not to be an option because Slimbridge was threatening a full nuclear retaliatory strike.’
‘But that does not apply to the Federation!’ said the general forcefully. ‘From what we’ve heard, you could wipe him out without anyone firing a shot and you could negate his bombs!’
‘That is true, but it is not an available option for us for the reasons I’ve just given,’ said the ambassador.
‘Then, Mr Ambassador,’ said Charles, ‘you leave us no option other than to escalate our actions and, if necessary, use violence to achieve our objectives. So far, we have tried not to hurt individuals. Yes, there have been some casualties, but they have been minimised. We can promise that no longer!’
‘Can you not just accidentally beam Slimbridge into our headquarters?’ asked the general. ‘We’ll look after him from there. It would create the minimum disruption to the country... and to the world... and, for that matter, to the Federation.’
‘Allowing an independent nation within a Federation world cannot be something simple to organise,’ said Bob.
‘Okay. An end to this meeting!’ said the ambassador, now realising that it was not going to be as simple as he’d imagined. ‘We have notified you of the plan for an independent USA. We have told you that we believe that will lead to the USA wishing to join the rest of the world in the Federation. If your venture can shorten that timescale, that is fine, but we cannot help you.’
‘Yol Ambassador, the information trips,’ said the secretary general.
‘Oh, yes. Nevertheless, if you would like us to take some of your people on Federation visits to other worlds, contact Secretary Horvat and she’ll let us know and we’ll make arrangements. They could be anyone within or outside your organisation. We will not have a problem with numbers.’
‘I’d certainly want one of those,’ said the general, ‘but I cannot leave yet.’
‘Me and Jim too,’ said the congressman.
‘Let Secretary Horvat know when you are ready and we’ll arrange it,’ said the ambassador. ‘Yol Stograther, please return everyone except Lara and Paula to their point of origin.’
Everyone stood. The uprising leaders’ faces bore grim expressions. In an instant they were gone.
‘That didn’t go down very well,’ said the ambassador.
‘No,’ said the secretary general. ‘Where do we go from here?’
««o»»
[Taken from Ambassador Trestogeen’s office files and notes. RBB]
The Eskorav continued its graceful two-hourly orbits of Earth. Ambassador Trestogeen and Secretary General Horvat, together with Paula Wilson and Yol Terend Stograther made their way through its corridors to a room near the rear of the ship.
A windowless steel cell containing a long copper-topped table greeted them. At the far end there was a single seat. By the room entrance, several more seats were available including a chaise longue which would suit the ambassador. Either side of the table was a soldier in full dress uniform. One a female Purrs and the other a tall Racutaan. Both carried weapons.
Sitting in one of the chairs at the entrance area of the room, was a Teratonian, the mind control species. He sat with his long fingers constantly interlacing and separating, almost in time with his phasing in and out of existence.
The party entered and the four sat with the Teratonian, Yol Trestogeen occupying the head of the table in his special seat. The other end of the room was empty.
‘Are we all ready?’ asked the ambassador and everyone agreed.
Suddenly the far end of the room was no longer empty. John Slimbridge materialised beside the far wall, leaning forward against it and trying to regain his balance as if he’d been plucked mid-stride from the White House. He quickly recognised that something untoward had taken place and that this was not the wall of the Oval Office. It was steel. He ran his hand over it then turned to see where he was. On seeing the others in the room, he was clearly shocked and backed into the wall.
‘John Slimbridge,’ said the ambassador. ‘You are aboard the FEU rapid-reaction ship Eskorav. You are behind a force field to protect us. Please sit.’
‘How dare you kidnap the president of the United States of America?’ he said.
‘Please sit,’ the ambassador said again.
‘I demand that you return me to my office.’
‘Please sit.’
Slowly realising that his demands were being ignored, Slimbridge made his way to the chair at the far end of the copper table. ‘What do you want?’ he asked, looking daggers at the secretary general.
Lara Horvat answered, ‘President Slimbridge, this meeting is to keep you advised of the rest of the world’s actions regarding the Federation.’
‘Ms Horvat. You do not speak for us!’ said the president.
The ambassador said, ‘It would be better if you listened and thought before answering.’
‘Don’t you tell me what to do, fish!’ he said venomously.
The ambassador signalled the secretary general to wait. No one spoke for nearly three minutes, which is a much longer time than it seems when waiting for something to start or continue.
Eventually, impatiently, John Slimbridge said, ‘Well, what do you want? Say what you will, then return me to Washington.’
’Then I suggest you listen, Mr Slimbridge,’ said the ambassador.
Secretary Horvat continued, ‘Arrangements are being made for the rest of the world to join the Federation, leaving the USA as an independent, isolated nation. However, it requires your cooperation.’
‘What cooperation? Don’t expect any cooperation from me!’
‘If you agree to what we are suggesting, you will be left, unmolested, by the Federation. There will be borders with Canada and Mexico where you can trade with the Federation. You can give permission, if you wish, for tourists to enter the USA and to import certain Federation goods and services, although they will be restricted. You may export anything to the rest of the world except for products on this list.’ The secretary general passed the list through the forcefield. The president studied it – it was extensive and included drugs, guns, oil, gas, explosives and other items which would never be wanted or allowed in the Federation.
Secretary Horvat continued, ‘US citizens wishing to visit Federation territories on Earth or worlds in the rest of the Federation will be permitted to do so. An exchange rate between the afed and the dollar will be established. You can allow anyone to immigrate to the USA if you wish. That is up to you.’
‘Ha, we’ll be flooded with escapees from your regime!’ said the president loudly.
‘You have the final say on immigration. There will be conditions, though.’
‘What conditions?’
Lara continued, ‘You will give up all of your island protectorates and Hawaii, as their borders would be too difficult to manage.’
‘And?’
The ambassador spoke, ‘There is no “and”. That would be the end of the matter, but one word of caution...’
‘What?’
‘Any aggression towards any part of the Federation would be considered an act of war. That includes any aggression against visiting Federation citizens entering your country for tourism or meetings. That includes both humans and aliens. You do not want to contemplate starting a war with the Federation.’
‘You can’t threaten me or my country!’
‘It was a word of caution,’ said the ambassador, ‘not a threat.’
‘When is this happening,’ barked the president.
‘The secretary general will advise you. It will take some time,’ said the ambassador. ‘Do you have any questions?’
‘Hundreds, but I’d need time to consider them.’
‘We can arrange another meeting when you are ready. Just contact the secretary general,’ said the ambassador. ‘Do you have any further questions at this time?’
‘No.’
‘I’ll send you details of the plan as it develops,’ said Lara.
No one spoke.
‘Goodbye, Mr President,’ said the ambassador and John Slimbridge vanished from his cell.
‘Horrible man,’ said the secretary general. ‘He should be locked up for life.’
‘If Free America succeed, I am sure he will be,’ said the ambassador. ‘We can never allow him freedom in the Federation, so if America ever joins, it is inevitable that he will be punished for his crimes.’
‘It can’t come a moment too soon,’ said Lara.
‘Let me know when you’ve drawn up the document for the segregation and we’ll meet again to ensure everything has been taken into account,’ said the ambassador.
‘Thank you,’ said Lara and both she and Paula disappeared back to their room in the Ministry of Defence in London.