'I am Anna Stephonova, my husband is Gregori Stephonovich Ivanskiy. He is General in Russian Army. He too, like my friends, has the Alien Bodyguards. He took order to have the bodyguards and so, he decided that if General Staff feel his life in danger then he should have more protection. Now he has his own troops guarding him and the aliens. The General Staff do not like this, but what can they say? He could not extend this to me though. So I, like some of you, have the alien bodyguards outside now too. I am prisoner in my own life. My husband cannot act with my life in the hands of aliens. He too is therefore prisoner. I, we, pledge our lives to being free.'
Anna sat back down, a small tear of fear and frustration streaking her mascara down her left cheek. Elizabeth held out a hand and gently squeezed Anna's, she passed her a tissue and whispered to her.
'We will be free my friend, we will.'
The group were seated in an arc; Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna on the outside, William's sister Tiffany was seated next to Anna and felt that she had to go next. She felt unprepared and out of her depth, however the actress in her rose to the occasion. She took the pledge and then introduced herself.
'Hi, my name is Tiffany. I'm not really sure why I am here, only my brother, William insisted I come. William is Jayanti's aide.'
Jay stepped forward, interrupting Tiffany.
'I asked William to invite Tiffany. She will be your contact with me through William. If that's alright Tiffany?'
'Yes. Yes of course.' Tiffany brightened, 'I'm an actress you see.' Her confidence ebbed away, conscious that there were women of import in the room.
'Well I will do my best by you all. Thank you Jayanti for your confidence in me. I won't let you down.'
As Tiffany sat down, Severine seated next to her took the floor.
'I'm Severine Pascal. I was a soldier in the French Army. I have served my country many times, undertaking special operations. I....' She faltered, she wanted to be honest with this group, felt that it was the right thing to do, but. They asked me to come here, they must know of this group and trust them. Besides if it were an issue then they would have told me not to reveal their existence, she reasoned to herself.
'I have since been recruited by the soixant-dix neurf, the seventy nine, it was at their request that I attend. I now see that I was right to accept their offer. That I am in the service of a higher cause. I willingly offer my life to the cause of freedom.'
'What are the seventy nine?' Tiffany piped up, not wanting to be left out.
Again, it was Jayanti who interjected.
'I think it is best that I explain. I was contacted, before the arrival of the Sunarr, by an organisation called Group Seventy Nine. They told me of the impending arrival of the Sunarr and that they could not be trusted. They have proved correct in everything they have told me, I believe that they, like us, are working for the good of mankind. I have placed my trust in them. I can only ask that you do the same.'
There was some murmuring at this, however as Anne-Marie approached the front of the group it died down, allowing her to speak. She too gave the pledge.
'I am Anne-Marie Courtine. I have not had the best of lives, but I have always valued my freedom. Freedom to roam, freedom to think and say what I want, freedom to be happy. I came here with my friend Severine. I came because she wanted me to and because I was invited. However, I see that the fates have given me the opportunity to do something meaningful with my life. I will make a stand for humanity, for France and for Freedom. This I swear.'
Sameena was up next. She looked at her mother, Jay standing to the side. Jay couldn't start to imagine what she was making of all this. She held her breath, waiting for her daughter to speak.
Sameena, her eyes cast down, took a deep breath and recited the pledge.
'As you know, I am Sameena Kapoor. My mother is Jayanti Kapoor, Secretary-General of the United Nations and now I see a woman who has been carrying the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. I too have Sunarr bodyguards. I accepted them because I thought my mother was scared for me. I did it to make her feel better. I now know that she had no choice in this. That they were assigned to me not for my protection, but for my mother's obedience. I guess I have been too self-involved to see what has been happening around me. No more. I don't know how I can serve, only that I will do anything and everything in my power to help.'
The last woman to speak slowly rose from her seat. She was obviously in some pain, elderly and the only black member of the group, except for Severine. A large lady, she had a presence about her that was almost tangible. A quiet confidence, born of a lifetime of struggle. When she finally spoke to give the pledge, she gave the clear impression of someone who was bright, but hadn't benefitted from a good education.
'My name is Hillary Banks. My grandnephew is Leroy Banks. He is stuck in a camp in Mexico. I got a letter from him telling me how bad things are there. I know that according to the Mexicans, he committed a crime, but really, he was just protecting people. He and I are quite wealthy, and perhaps this is how I can help. I know that he would want me to. I only have one thing in the world that I care about and if this group can help free him then count me in.’ Hillary moved slowly back to her seat, she was walking taller this time though.
'Thank you Hillary. Thank you all. I think that we need to agree what this group should achieve, how we will do it, who and what else we need, but first I think we should take a break for refreshments and to just talk amongst ourselves so we get to know each other better.'
They retired to the refreshment buffet, the caterers delivering fresh coffee and tea for the group. Once they left, Jayanti sought out Hillary.
'Hillary, thank you so much for coming.'
'I must admit the invitation was out of the blue and I've never been into these women helping women things.' Hillary replied.
'Oh really,' asked Jay, 'and why is that?' She was genuinely interested.
'Cause they tend to be rich folks helping each other to get rich.' Hillary replied, gauging Jay's reaction.
'You're right of course. Real people, real women, are generally too busy to have meetings.' Jay sighed at this; her face was shadowed with deep regret.
Hillary stared intently at Jay, taking her measure. 'You really care, don't you?'
‘What,’ Jay had been elsewhere, 'Yes I do. My parents were uneducated, house servants. If I don't care about the least fortunate then what am I doing with my life?'
'I'll tell you a secret.' Hillary leaned in closer to Jay. 'I hardly spend my income. When Leroy gave me half the business, half his business I was set for life. But I know my roots, I know the people I grew up with. So I bought a little store back where I grew up. I used it to set up a community loan and savings club. People save for a year and then I lend them up to three times what they have saved. They pay back at the rate they saved at, so I know that they can afford it. If it’s for a business, I tend to invest a similar sum. If they want to buy out my investment in them they can do this or not as they choose. I employ a couple of retired folks who know accounts and stuff and they help those with businesses to work out costs, sales prices, and profits. The businesses also bank with us so their profits are effectively re-invested in the neighbourhood. Those that grow beyond the owner-worker, tend to employ from the area too. It seems to be making a real difference too. Shops are re-opening, crime is going down, and health is improving too.'
'And you've done all this yourself.' Jay commented.
‘No.’ Hillary replied, 'I have had a lot of help. Once I got the idea, I got those with businesses in the area to be part of the solution. At first, they thought that they might be creating competition for what little business there was in the area. I persuaded them that these new businesses could be customers of theirs and would also attract more shoppers and opportunities. The results have been very good.'
'I envy you, you know.' Jay said.
Hillary, somewhat taken aback by this statement, asked her why.
'You have made a re
al difference in people’s lives. You have seen the improvements yourself. I just deal with numbers, people in the abstract. The worst is I can't do what I want to do.'
'What do you want to do?'
'I want every person born on earth to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.'
'And what's stopping you?'
'It's complicated. National governments, regional conflicts, acts of god you name it. It’s the politics of it really that's what complicates it all.'
'Complicated is just a word for saying you haven't found the right way yet. Just change the way you do things, that's all.'
Jay was about to retort, but she stopped herself and looked at Hillary, thinking about what she had said.
'You know, you're right. It can't be done the complicated way, so I have to find a simple way. Thanks.'
Jay smiled at Hillary and headed off to mingle feeling much more positive. The meeting recommenced with Jay taking the lead. She wrote three headings to give them some structure to their discussions. Political. Military. Social. She decided to hand over to Severine to lead the discussion on the Military situation.
'Our situation can be described in both simple and complex terms.' Severine began, 'In simple terms we are prisoners of the Sunarr. However, we have the advantage in terms of numbers. It is, unfortunately, more complex than that. The Sunarr have effective control of our Political and Military leaders. This means, in essence, that any act against the Sunarr is an act against the state and that state can use the military, our own people, to fight us. It also means that they can use the civilian forces against us. The police and intelligence services for example. Our objective, I suggest, should be two fold. Firstly to free ourselves from the control of the Sunarr. Secondly, to secure our gold and ensure that it doesn't leave the Earth. If we are to prevent further invasions we will have to do so in space and for that we need the Gold.'
'Have you any idea how many Sunarr are on Earth?' Elizabeth asked.
'I would estimate anywhere from around eighty to a hundred and forty thousand. Although the actual number is probably in the middle of that range.'
'How do we kill so many?' Mary asked.
'Who said anything about killing people?' Hillary interjected.
'It is Malovyero-yatno,' Anna Stephonova observed, 'excuse me, unlikely, that they will leave if we ask. Proklyatye, after all why should they? We have what they want, they are taking it.'
'And', Severine continued, taking back the conversation, 'they are not, technically speaking, people. Our choice is simple. Take action or not. Taking action means using force. Besides it is not the death of the Sunarr that concerns me, it is the collateral damage.'
'Collateral damage?' Jay hadn't considered this.
'Yes. Put simply we will have to expect some humans to die in the fight for freedom. I would expect this to be high.'
'How high?' Again, this was Hillary's concern.
'Probably at least ten per cent of our Political and Military leaders. Up to seventy per cent of their human bodyguards. Plus non-combatants.'
'What about in the camps?' Hillary was becoming more and more worried about her Leroy.
'That depends on how the camps are liberated. There are a lot of unknowns there. Look I think it best if we defer further discussion until we know more and have had chance for the others to be party to the solution.'
'Others? What others?' Anne-Marie inquired.
'We cannot do this alone. We need to build a network of people dedicated to the cause. We will have to be organised and have a command structure. It will need to be global and local at the same time. We will effectively be resistance fighters.'
'I think,’ Jay said, interjecting 'that this is the perfect time to talk about the Political situation.'
The room went silent. The only politician present was Jay and they were all looking to her to tell them the situation. The silence continued.
'Doesn't anyone have an opinion? Don't any of you vote?' Jay asked.
'I vote.' Hillary responded.
'Well what do you think?'
'About what?'
'About...,’ Jay hesitated before going on, aware that it might not be apparent to this group what the situation facing them was.
'Okay. I think we are at a turning point in our history. The human race faces a single foe. If we are not united in our response to this threat then I suggest that we are finished.'
'But what can we do?' Hillary was looking lost.
'Tell me Hillary, or rather please tell the group what you have done in your old neighbourhood.'
Hillary explained about how she had set up a Savings and Loan, engaging with local traders and local people and how her old neighbourhood was now starting to flourish again.
'That's what I think we should do, but on a global scale.' Jay said.
'A Savings and Loan for the world. Why?' Mary asked, knowing that in her country Savings and Loans hadn't had a terribly good time of it in the past.
'Of a sorts yes. As Severine pointed out, our security in the future will depend on our ability to fight in space and having gold to build ships. No single nation on Earth has the resources to do this. Every nation must contribute to the protection of Earth. This can only be achieved through a new organisation. It will be part military, part economic but it must be politically run. The question before us is what the Political structure will look like. How will it function? How should decisions be made? This is what we need to decide. To make winning this war worthwhile we need to have a plan for peace and protection.'
Jay started by drawing up the structure she had outlined. Two boxes, one with Military written in it and the other with Economic in it. Over this, she drew a long, oblong box and wrote Political in it. The discussion centred on the Political. It was clear and sensible that the Political strata would have control of the Military and Economic functions. What was not clear was how the Political strata would be controlled or chosen. Elizabeth pointed out that the Political should be answerable to the Legal; otherwise, they might be replacing one despot with another. Jay drew another oblong box on top of Political and wrote Law in it. This provided oversight of the Political strata. In order to make it work they put Elected in brackets under the Law, establishing the convention that the people would elect the ultimate arbiters of what the new organisation could and could not do.
‘Now the Political strata could be appointed rather than elected.’ Jayanti observed, then added upon reflection, ‘Although the Law strata would be very large and this may make it difficult to make decisions.’
‘Maybe we have a Secretariat in Law strata?’ Anna Stephonova offered.
‘You mean like an Executive? Elected by the Law strata from its own members and responsible for appointing and ratifying all the Senior Politicians.’ Jayanti said.
Mary jumped in, getting it. ‘Then they would directly select and appoint the leader of the Political strata and that leader would be free to choose their own Political Senior Staff. The Senior Staff would need to be ratified by the Executive however.’
In this way, they envisaged that the organisation would be a fair balance of what the people want, against who are the best people to get things done. They knew that they had more to do. They needed to have the Law strata fairly represent the opinions and values of every individual. This was why the Law strata was going to be so big and why they would need to elect an Executive.
Time was now running against them. Jay wrote Social up and underlined. She wasn't clear in her own mind what she meant this to be, but she felt that it was right to discuss it.
'Shouldn't that be Social and Cultural?' Asked Hillary.
‘Yes,’ Jay replied, 'that makes sense. Social and Cultural it is.' She added Cultural to the heading and looked expectantly at the group. Fortunately, they were quicker coming forward this time.
'How do we balance this against the Political and Military objectives?' Severine asked. 'After all, I'm guessing that you want to respect all Social
and Cultural values of people. However, often they are in opposition to hard Political and Military facts. What are we to do then?'
'Your right, on both accounts.' Jay replied. 'I do believe that we have to respect everyone's beliefs. If we do not, then what is the purpose of liberating Earth? I also realise that people's Social and Cultural beliefs often clash. However, I feel that we must find a way forward. This cannot be something that we just pay lip service to, it must be fundamental to the organisation that we create. This must be our moral compass.'
This started a heated debate. Everyone had an opinion, several opinions. The discussion went round and round. They argued amongst themselves about what rights, whose rights should be paramount. They couldn't decide, indeed it appeared impossible to decide, they moved instead to create a list. A list of fundamental rights for every person they had titled it “The Twelve Laws of the Individual” and it would inform the Law strata when they were deciding upon an issue. Jay read it out to the group.
'Every individual of Earth has the right to:
Life
Religion
Protection
Privacy
Expression
Over throw their government
Representation
Pursue happiness
Pursue procreation
Pursue learning
Pursue trade
Pursue change'
They reviewed the list, no one could fault it. It would mean that every person’s Social and Cultural views were considered equal. How it would work in practice would be up to the Law strata to decide.
20 The Dead Letter
08:45 13 December [07:45 13 December GMT]
Porto Garibaldi, Milan, Italy.
Solomon and Natasha arrived back to the bus station having spent the night in a hostel. The bus timetable was very confusing; Solomon continued to stare at it hoping it would miraculously make sense to her.
Since their arrest and subsequent release she had relaxed a little, they had had some pasta and now, somewhat revitalised, Solomon was trying to decide where they should go next. Admitting defeat, she led Natasha to the Tourist Information stand she had noticed earlier. A small queue was ahead of her and this gave her the opportunity to browse through the leaflets, some of which had been thoughtfully translated into English. As she scanned the leaflets, one had a pretty view of what appeared to be a very beautiful lake on it. “Visit Lake Como” it declared. I'd love to, Solomon thought, but I have to get to Switzerland. Something about it seemed familiar though so she pulled out her atlas and thumbed her way through it looking for Lake Como. She found it close to the Swiss border. She looked closer at her map; within a few miles of the lake was a Swiss border town, Chiasso. If we get to Lake Como, then it’s only a short distance to the border. Solomon was now at the front of the queue, the people in front of her apparently being just one large group.
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