FEDERATION Complete Trilogy (Federation Trilogy), page 3
Her hands and face were an ochre colour. She had two deep-set eyes and a sponge-like organ slightly above and between them. The lower part of her face was covered with a breathing apparatus. Her overall appearance was not so inhuman as to scare many more in the crowd. The noise level fell a smidgeon.
Colin Hall stepped forward and stood a couple of metres from the bottom step. He bowed to the ambassador who reflected the movement before gracefully descending the stairway.
Immediately behind her, emerged another of the powder blue apes. This one did inspire some additional noise from the spectators. He was indistinguishable from a full-sized gorilla apart from the fact that he wore a loose-fitting green outfit and his hair and skin exhibited a rather lovely powder blue colour. He said something to someone inside and a small humanoid figure flew out of the doorway and hovered above the ambassador’s right shoulder. Its wings were vibrating at an incredible rate and it looked, for all the world, like a fairy, but with jet black skin, a face like a shrunken head and enormous ears. It, too, wore a green outfit matching that of the powder blue gorilla. The flying creature did cause panic and many of the crowd ran off as they realised this thing could easily pursue and overtake them. To be fair, the bulk of the crowd was quite calm, and the well-trained soldiers gave no indication of any apprehension they felt. Just as well, really, as they were bristling with weapons.
The ambassador reached the bottom of the stairway.
Colin Hall said, ‘Welcome to Earth. My name is Colin Hall and I am a career diplomat. How should I address you?’
The voice which emerged from the face mask sounded slightly electronic but spoke very clearly. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Yol Colin Hall, and to visit your planet. My name is Ambassador Ya Garincha Dela Moroforon, but you may address me as Ya Moroforon. This flying person is Ya Heldy Mistorn and my main assistant; behind me, is Yol Slindo Merofort.’
Indicating those behind him, Colin Hall said, ‘These people are Whitley Bark, Morwenna Blaney, and Charles Eden. The meeting with the leaders of our planet is planned for three this afternoon. Does our timekeeping method mean anything to you?’
The powder blue ape said something in another rather guttural language and the Ambassador said, ‘Yes, I understand. You said, “leaders”, are there more than one?’
‘Yes, Ya Moroforon, there are several and most will be present this afternoon. As we’ve some time before the meeting, would you like to accompany us on a short tour of the city?’
‘Thank you. That sounds interesting, Yol Hall.’
‘Please come this way,’ said Colin and the diplomatic team all turned towards the edge of the meadow. They were followed by the ambassador, her assistant, and the fairy person who flitted among the human delegation, looking closely at faces, causing the people so inspected to cringe or step backwards. Charles Eden stayed at the ship in case any other passengers needed information.
Whitley Bark began talking to the ambassador and pointing out some features in the park including the baseball diamonds over which the ship hovered. The ambassador seemed to be interested but had few questions.
They all boarded a midi-coach which was parked in West Drive, just a short walk from the ship. There was also a selection of limousines and large coaches available in case the party had been smaller or larger.
The guided tour took in many features of the city and ended at the United Nations building at three in the afternoon.
Once the coach had departed from Central Park, all manner of strange creatures and, amazingly, robots disembarked. By this time, the xenophobes in the crowd had already run off. Those who remained were more curious than frightened. Soldiers stood between the aliens and the inquisitive bystanders. Their orders were to protect the aliens unless there was an unmistakable act of aggression.
Charles Eden approached the nearest group, introduced himself and let them know he was at their service. The largest of the four, a stocky biped with aubergine-coloured skin thanked him. He said, ‘I am Yol Mariol Breton and speak English. Your world is very green. A pleasure to see. This is Darklang.’ He indicated a tall, gangly individual standing beside him.
‘Glad to meet you, Darklang. You are all welcome to travel within our world. Let me know if you would like to do so.’
‘Thank you, Yol Eden, but for the time being we are not allowed to leave the proximity of the vessel, but many wanted to sample the aroma of your atmosphere and stretch their limbs.’
‘You prefixed my name with yol. What does yol mean?’
‘Simply your sex. It is an honorific. Yol is male, ya is female, yo is hermaphrodite, and ye for agamic, cryptogamic people or those with no designation.’
‘I see. Thank you, Yol Breton. Why does Darklang not have an honorific?’
‘I am an automaton,’ said Darklang. ‘We do not use honorifics.’
‘You’re not alive?’ asked Charles.
‘I’m a mechanical being.’
‘Are there a lot of automatons with you?’ Charles asked.
‘Yes,’ said Yol Breton. ‘There are a good number in our party.’
‘One hundred and ninety,’ added Darklang.
Charles looked up and down the robot. ‘I would never have known that you were not alive.’
‘Most of us, visually, are clearly not living beings, but almost all are self-aware. We are the driving force behind the Federation, providing almost all of the labour.’
‘Fascinating,’ said Charles
‘Our pleasure. Is there more you wish to ask?’ asked Yol Breton.
‘Do you mind?’
‘Not at all,’ and ‘no.’ they both said.
At one point, another sort of robot, much more metallic, with wheels, trundled over to Yol Breton and provided him with a cylinder which he attached to his helmet. The automaton took the empty one back to the ship.
‘Robots do all the work?’ asked Charles.
‘No, not all, but most,’ said Darklang.
‘I had not expected to be outside quite so long and Argnot brought me a new supply of gases I require.’
Charles continued to learn about the aliens until later in the afternoon, when a klaxon sounded, and they all returned to the ship. The crowd, becoming bored at the lack of action, had begun to drift away. There was, of course, a continual stream of sightseers who just wanted pictures of the starship and its crew.
6 United Nations
When Ambassador Garincha Dela Moroforon and her assistants arrived at the United Nations Headquarters, the skyscraper was silhouetted by cloudless blue sky. She left the vehicle and stopped to admire the cascade of flags.
‘Colin,’ she said, ‘what is the reason for this decoration? So many beautiful designs. Is it a festival?’
‘Ya Moroforon, these are flags. There’s one for each of the almost two hundred nations who are members of the United Nations.’
‘Do I understand correctly, these are provinces of the Earth?’
‘We call them countries or nations,’ said Colin. He gave her a few minutes to look at the flags. When she seemed ready to move on, he guided her towards the entrance.
As the party approached the foyer, the permanent members of the Security Council emerged to greet her. The fairylike Heldy Mistorn shot into the air and began flying up the side of the tall monolith of a building, hovering occasionally to look in through the windows. Everyone’s heads looked upward to follow her progress and you can only imagine what the staff on the inside thought when this strange black cherub peered inwards at them from tens of metres in the air.
Colin stopped to introduce the ambassador to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Perfect Okafor, a black Nigerian woman in an immaculate grey trouser suit.
She, in turn, introduced the permanent members of the Security Council: Ken Hood, the British PM; Dimitri Ivanov, President of Russia; Jack Spence, the US President; Da Cheung, President of China and Jeanne Meunier, President of France.
‘I’m pleased to meet you all. So, each of you govern a province of the Earth?’
‘Yes, Ambassador,’ said Perfect Okafor, ‘but there are many more countries. There are another ten temporary members of the Security Council and representatives of all the remaining one hundred and eighty members. You will see them inside the General Assembly auditorium. Shall we enter?’
The Ambassador let out a high-pitched whistle and, within a couple of seconds, Heldy was hovering over her shoulder. For such a delicate looking creature, she had an extraordinary turn of speed. The powder blue gorilla-like alien struck up a conversation, in perfect Mandarin, with Da Cheung as they entered the reception area and passed through to the Assembly room.
Secretary Okafor began the meeting by emphasising the unique nature of the day and welcoming the Ambassador and her party. She expressed a hope that they could come to a good agreement with the Federation and that this was the beginning of an illustrious future relationship.
Huge applause accompanied the Ambassador, with Heldy hovering over her right shoulder, as she approached the lectern. A hush fell over the assembly as she began to speak.
‘I’m flattered that all the leaders of the different provinces of Earth have been kind enough to welcome me. I was expecting only a meeting with Ya Okafor and her assistants.’
[At the time, Ya Moroforon clearly thought that the Secretary General was in charge of the Earth. This was a mistake which was to perpetuate for far too long and had ramifications. RBB]
‘As there are so many of you present, it would probably be useful for me to give you a basic understanding of the Federation.’
Heldy flew off and made her way around the members, the movement of her wings disturbing their hair and papers as she hovered over them. Some delegates recoiled almost in fear and others raised their arms to protect their faces.
‘Ya Mistorn,’ she said, indicating the flying creature, ‘is an aid to my memory. Everything she sees or hears is indelibly recorded in her mind. Please forgive her intrusion into your personal space.
‘So, what is the Federation? We comprise 247,213 planets on this side of the galactic core.’
Delegates let out involuntary sounds of surprise and amazement.
The Ambassador continued, ‘A further dozen or so have a loose relationship with us without full membership.
‘The main members are fully integrated. We trade together, share economic systems, the same currency and, mostly, share the same language – Galactic Standard is taught as a first or second language in all schools. The Federation looks after each of our member’s needs, whether as individual people or whole planets. Government is by a democratically elected General Council located on Arlucian. The president is currently Ye Dimorathron and this changes in rotation every ten years.
‘All planets wishing to join are expected to adopt Federation standards. Such a possible membership is open to Earth if you were willing to fulfil the criteria.’ She paused as Slindo approached her. The powder blue creature whispered something to her.
'Yes, my assistant reminds me that the reason we are offering membership is that you’ve been using some technology which has been interfering with our own. As part of membership we’ll help you improve such systems as well as assisting you to become interstellar travellers, so that your citizens can visit other worlds. Becoming part of the Federation has been the making of most worlds and it will open up amazing opportunities for education and exploration for you. We live in a wonderful universe.
‘With the Federation representing so many planets, the central council comprises four hundred and thirteen delegates. Each represent a large number of civilisations, and councillors regularly hold surgeries with representatives from each of their planets.
‘We’ve a small armed security force to deal with any unfriendly planets we may encounter, although it’s extremely rare that a civilisation has an issue with us which cannot be resolved through negotiation.
‘I’m happy to take general questions, although details would be better left to your representatives.' She looked around to Secretary General Okafor, who walked up to take the microphone.
‘I thank Ya Moroforon for the information she’s provided. I know there’ll be many questions members would like to ask. I intend to restrict it to thirty minutes.’
The Secretary General looked at her tablet. ‘The assembly recognises the United States of America.’
The US President asked, ‘Ya Moroforon, what cost is involved in membership?’
The alien took the microphone. ‘There’s no cost to the planet, Yol Spence.’
‘There’s always a cost,’ said President Spence.
‘There’s no direct cost. All costs are absorbed by the Federation, particularly so for new members,’ said Ya Moroforon. ‘We often subsidise new members for decades.’
‘But where does the Federation get its money from to pay such costs?’ he asked.
‘From general revenues.’
‘And how much do we contribute to that?’
‘Every individual person contributes the same amount and it’s announced annually.’
‘I understand that, Ya Moroforon, but what is that amount? There must be a figure.’
‘Yol Spence, the figure cannot be calculated until you join the Federation, but you’re welcome to visit Federation planets to see how the economic system operates and speak to individuals or councillors. Understanding will soon follow. If I were to say an amount to you, it would be meaningless as you do not have any knowledge of the value of the Federation’s currency.’
The US President leaned back in his seat. He was clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
‘The assembly recognises China,’ said Perfect Okafor.
President Da Cheung spoke in Mandarin and the Secretary General offered the Ambassador an earpiece.
‘What is this for?’ she asked.
‘To understand President Cheung, who speaks Chinese,’ said Perfect Okafor.
‘It’s not necessary, Ya Okafor. I learned Mandarin and Cantonese yesterday.’
To say that the Secretary General was taken aback, in fact, shocked, would be an understatement.
‘Good day, Ya Moroforon. Can you give an indication of what laws or rules we would need to follow for membership?’ said President Cheung.
‘Again, Yol Cheung, this is something which is best carried out by visiting, so full understanding can be achieved. There are safety standards for manufactured goods, health standards etc. A simple example would be that all planets have the same electricity, water, and fuel standards. The prime requirement is absolute equality. Every individual must have the same opportunity as any other, and each has the same worth, whether he or she lives somewhere on Earth or in the furthest outpost of the Federation. It would help if I knew more about your planet and its current economic system.’ The Ambassador turned to the Secretary General. ‘Would that be possible, Ya Okafor? We’ll need to study your people and culture.’
‘Certainly, Ya Moroforon, we’ll facilitate it, letting you visit countries of the world with a representative of each and myself to aid in interpretation,’ said the Secretary General.
Quietly to Perfect Okafor, the Ambassador said, ‘I didn’t expect the individuals from the provinces to have such questions. I expected them to be presented through you and your staff.’
‘Our United Nations does not quite work in that way. I’m the nominal head, but I can’t overrule or speak for the individual national leaders or their representatives.’
‘This is a strange situation. I’ll need to know more, but not immediately. For now, I’ll answer these leaders of the provinces as if they’re questions from you. We’ll need to set up a working group to discuss how membership works in detail and your and our requirements.’
Perfect Okafor began to understand that this meeting was not what the Ambassador thought it was, but now was not the time for explanations.
The questions and answers went on for about thirty minutes. Perfect Okafor called an end to proceedings because questions were increasingly aimed at aspects which couldn’t be answered until the Ambassador had a more comprehensive understanding of life on Earth.
As soon as the Ambassador had departed the UN complex, Jack Spence called for an immediate meeting of the UN Secretary General and the other four permanent members. After lunch, they assembled in a private room.
Once the Ambassador’s party left the UN HQ, Colin Hall continued to accompany them, eventually returning them to their ship in Central Park.
««o»»
Jeanne Meunier and Dimitri Ivanov spoke fluent English, but Da Cheung brought two interpreters into the room with him, even though it was known he spoke good English.
Language was one of the biggest obstacles to smoothing international affairs and the Secretary General wished they had the ability to learn a new language in a single day, as the Ambassador had with Mandarin.
The leaders took their seats around an oval oak table.
‘Jack, you called this meeting. Fire away,’ said Perfect Okafor.
‘Frankly, it looks as if we’re being signed up to a communist regime. Absolute equality of individuals, what sort of system is that? Does it mean the lazy, good-for-nothing individual in the ghettos of Chicago will have the same privileges, wealth, and home as someone who works eighty hours a week on building his own business and creating jobs for others? I can’t see this working for us.’
‘No, not for Americans,’ said Da Cheung, and he laughed.
‘Jack, they’re exactly my thoughts, too. We need to find out how their economic system works,’ said Jeanne Meunier.
‘Yes, too soon to come to a judgement,’ said Dimitri Ivanov.
‘We do need to learn more,’ agreed Ken Hood.
‘So, what do we do?’ asked Jack Spence.
‘I think we should take up the offer to visit other worlds and let the Ambassador tour the Earth. After that we might be able to work out a common interest which would allow us to move forward,’ said Perfect Okafor.
