by Mike Luoma
"No, your holiness, not exactly,” BC interrupts him. “You see, sir, he's suggested that you make simultaneous announcements. So neither one of you goes first or last."
"Really? That's impressive. When would this happen?"
"Well, we have to set a time," BC tells him.
"Tomorrow some time?" The Pope asks BC.
He's asking me? I've got him! But when? Jeesh, uh...
"uh… Good! We'll try to set it up for 12 Noon Greenwich Mean Time tomorrow, then," BC says, committing to the bluff in full.
"Excellent. Get back to me when you have the Ayatollah's confirmation of the time. And Campion?"
"Yes?"
"I like this idea. It's workable. It's likely I'll be at your conference next month. But it is not official yet, got me?"
"I understand. So we'll speak later?" BC asks.
"Yes. I'll call you in six hours."
"Good enough. Thank you, sir."
There's silence as the connection ends.
Now for the really tough one...
" Get me Mars Central, UIN Command, please," BC asks the com.
"Opening communications," the com informs him.
There's a delay. Communication takes longer to Mars.
"Greetings, Ambassador Campion."
"Greetings, Mars Command. May I ask the favor of a communication with the Ayatollah Al Salid, please? It is a matter of great urgency."
"I see. A moment, please."
This will be a harder sell.
"Hello, Ambassador Campion," the Ayatollah says.
"Greetings, your excellency."
"You flatter me. I am Ayatollah, no more. All praises to Allah."
"All praises to Allah, Ayatollah."
"Why do you disturb me?" The Ayatollah asks him directly.
"The Pope has agreed to attend the peace conference. But he is unwilling to make that official announcement until you announce that you are willing to attend."
"So, we remain at this foolish impasse."
"Not exactly. Please hear me out. He is not suggesting that you must make the announcement first, before he does, but, rather," BC pauses for effect, "you'll both announce your intentions to attend simultaneously."
"Simultaneously? Hmm... Interesting. An interesting idea. When would this be?"
"Tomorrow. Twelve noon, Earth Greenwich Mean Time."
"I see. This has promise, this idea. I will consider this and call you back. This is a step in the right direction. I believe we will be there for your conference."
"Excellent. I eagerly await your call. Thank you, Ayatollah." Again the silence of the ended connection echoes in Campion's chambers. I may actually pull this off after all!
BC hears back from Pope Linus in the afternoon.
“I will be attending with a full staff contingent of 50 people,” Pope Linus tells BC. “We will require rooms for the entire weekend of the twelfth through the sixteenth. I will make a simultaneous announcement to this effect tomorrow at Noon, GMT. You will coordinate this with the papal communications office. Thank you, Campion.”
“Thank you, your holiness,” BC says. An underling from the communications office replaces Pope Linus on the line. He coordinates the timed announcement with BC.
BC has to cut that conversation short to accept the call from Al Salid confirming that he will attend with 30 staff members. An underling of Al Salid’s makes the final arrangements after the ayatollah’s message to BC.
It’s all beginning to fall into place…
BC nods off at his desk, tired after his interplanetary negotiations. He falls asleep, only to wake up then the com unit beeps.
"What? Yes?"
"Ambassador Campion?"
A woman's voice...Who?
"Yes? This is Campion."
"It's Governor Erskine, Ambassador. I thought we were to meet?" She sounds pissed! What time is it? Oh shit... She’s going to hate me even more!
"Governor! My apologies! I… I fell asleep at my desk! I didn't realize the hours had passed. But I have some great news to share with you! Can you forgive my tardiness and can we still have dinner?" BC
tries to salvage his meeting and his honor.
She waits before she answers. "I'll order pizza in. Meet me in my office, and we can still do this." She sounds more than a little put off.
"I'll be there soon!" BC tells her.
BC freshens up and heads off, making for the Governor's Offices.
He's buzzed in and puts on his best "so sorry" look as he walks into Amanda Erskine's office. She stands up behind her desk to greet him.
Huh. Forgot how short she was. She always seems taller. She's got a no bullshit presence. I like that.
Erskine is about five foot five. She wears her straight brown hair in a sensible cut at her shoulders. She seems to favor standard issue jumpsuits over fashions, although BC has seen her in sensible suits at formal events. She's wearing a neutral gray jumpsuit today.
Very sensible. Everything about this woman screams sensible. She makes me think of my old schoolteachers, or the ladies at the library. But with more drive or something.
"Hope you have a good excuse. I suppose it's backed up by your great news?" Governor Amanda Erskine says with a dismissive, accusatory tone in her voice.
She can be a hard ass. She doesn't talk like a librarian!
Just gotta tell it like it is.
"Yes, it’s all tied together!" BC starts with some urgency. "It's been extremely difficult for me to get to see you. You know that. I had no intention of messing this up, believe me, but... well, stuff happened today! It's important we talk about it, now, tonight."
“Okay, fine,” Erskine says. “Sit down. I’ve already ordered the pizza.”
BC lays it out, "Look, I’m sorry I'm late, but I was speaking with the Pope, The Ayatollah and a top UTZ CEO trying to make this upcoming Peace Conference mean something." So there!
"And will it?" Erskine challenges him.
"Well, strangely enough… that's now up to you," BC admits.
Erskine smiles.
Maybe not such a hard ass...
The pizza arrives. While they eat, BC fills Governor Erskine in on the day’s successes. He doesn't tell her exactly how he got the two sides to agree, but she seems to figure it out. It remains unspoken, but she nods knowingly when he doesn't answer her questions in every detail.
“I already knew that the new head of the UTZ Council, DeMag, put out a press release today saying he would be here in one of his first official capacities for the UTZ,” she tells him as he finishes. “And now you’ve arranged this simultaneous announcement for tomorrow by the Ayatollah and the Pope?”
“Tomorrow at Noon, GMT.”
“So,” Erskine closes her eyes, adding things up in her head. “I guess you’ll be needing some rooms for all these folk?”
“Probably around 150 rooms, altogether,” BC figures.
“Right. We can open up the unused residential section. That’ll work. Needed to be done, anyway. It’s just been sitting vacant since last June, not enough people to warrant opening it up,” she says, thinking out loud.
BC is grateful.
“That’s even better than I’d hoped for,” he says, smiling.
“Great. So, who’s gonna be paying for all this?” she asks him.
“Paying?”
BC stops smiling.
“It costs money to power up and pump air into a new section,” she explains.
“But… wait,” BC stops her, “didn’t you just say you’ve been needing to do that anyway?”
“Sure. But we wouldn’t be doing it yet,” she tells him.
Hardass, indeed.
“I don’t know how it will be paid for,” BC admits. “I can try to find a way, maybe through corporate sponsors or other donations, I don’t know.”
“Huh,” Erskine says. “I appreciate your honesty. Well. I’m willing to work under the premise that you’ll somehow attempt to compensate Lunar Prime for costs a
nd any damages.”
“I promise to try,” BC says.
“Good enough,” she tells BC.
She grins a little.
“Look,” she says, softening her tone, “we want an end to this war as much as anyone. I want this peace conference to succeed, even if I still don’t appreciate how you roped me into it,” she says with a frown.
“The Moon has a lot to gain in a lasting peace,” she admits, “But that’s because we’ve paid a LOT!
Lunar Prime has been beat up by both sides! You guys do the fighting, and we pay for it!”
“I see where you’re coming from,” BC tells her.
“How empathic of you,” she says with some sarcasm.
“Do you want me to pay for this pizza?” BC asks with a smile, trying to lighten things up.
“It’s a start,” Erskine jokes, finally cracking a smile.
They finish eating the pizza. Erskine agrees to support BC’s peace conference efforts with proper security arrangements and her full participation. As long as BC agrees to pay for it. Somehow. BC shakes her hand as he leaves, and thanks her for everything.
“Don’t thank me yet,” she says. “You haven’t seen the bill!”
“Jeesh,” BC jokes, “How much does a cheese pizza cost these days?”
She laughs and sends him on his way.
BC makes the pre-announcement of the impending simultaneous announcements at 11 am the next morning, an hour before they occur.
News services are alerted. A communications whirlwind ensues. Amazingly, everyone is where they’re supposed to be when the announcements begin.
At Noon GMT, The Pope and The Ayatollah both announce they will attend the next conference themselves, in person. Both will travel to the Moon in five and a half weeks, on February 12th. The announcements are shown side by side in most media, giving BC the image he was hoping for. And all I had to do was stretch the truth, just a bit.
Don't know how else I could have gotten around the stubborn bastards!
Chapter Eleven
On the twelfth of February, the "stubborn bastards" arrive for the conference on the Moon, also at the same time.
The sudden, simultaneous appearance of two entourages sends the LSC into overdrive, and BC finds himself wishing he could be in two places at once.
I should have called Wentworth… gotten him to make me one of those greeting drones like he has... damn it, who do I see first?
He settles for simply calling Pope Linus as his ship arrives, from a booth near the port where Ayatollah Salid's ship is likewise approaching.
"Your holiness," BC says, greeting Pope Linus.
"Father Campion! Hello! I didn't think I'd hear from you again before we arrived."
"You are arriving, sir. Welcome to the Moon!" BC says with mock enthusiasm.
"Why thank you, Father. Does this mean you won't be meeting us?" Urgh. He's on to me immediately.
"I'll be meeting you, sir, just not at the port. My secretary is there with an honor guard and a group of parishioners to greet you and show you to the Vatican Mission. I'll meet with you there," BC tries to explain.
"So." The Pope lets the silence echo for a while. "You're meeting him first, then, aren't you?" God, the man sounds like a jealous girlfriend or something... Well, can't lie.
"Yes. I worried more about the Ayatollah taking offense than you, sir. I knew you would understand."
"Hmmph. Okay, then, I'll see you at the Mission," he says, clicking off. Okay, so you're pissed off. You pissed off I can deal with. I don't know that the Ayatollah would shrug off a slight like no greeting. Speaking of... Gotta go!
BC leaves the booth and rushes over to the port where Ayatollah Salid is arriving. Governor Erskine is there waiting as well.
"Ambassador," she says, inclining her head. "So glad you'll be here with me to greet our guest. I wondered whether you'd be here or greeting your Pope."
"As you say, he's 'our' guest. It would be impolite not to welcome him properly, now, wouldn't it?" BC
says defensively.
"Glad to see you get it, Campion, that's impressive," she cracks sarcastically. The port's airlock doors open. In march several rows of UIN soldiers, two-by-two. They fan out around the port area, surrounding BC, the Governor, and her accompanying LSC officers. BC can't see out past the UIN soldiers for a moment. Then the crowd parts and the Ayatollah Salid walks up.
"Governor Amanda Erskine? Ambassador Bernard Campion? I am Ayatollah Salid." Impressive. He's got a real presence in person. Charisma.
"I'm honored to meet you," BC says, "I'm Ambassador Bernard Campion."
"I'm honored to meet you, too," Governor Erskine adds. "Ayatollah Salid, I am Governor Amanda Erskine. Welcome to Lunar Prima and the Moon."
"Thank you," Salid says almost absent-mindedly. He begins looking around, absorbing his surroundings, mastering his personal territory. His gaze comes back to BC and Erskine just as they look at each other, wondering.
Okay...
"I hear the Pope is arriving now, too, at the same time," Salid says sharply, snapping their attention back to him.
"Er, yes, he is. He has," BC tries.
"We have tried to treat you and the Pontiff with equal respect, and your entourages are both equally welcome to utilize the resources of Lunar Prime while you are here for the conference," Erskine says formally.
This draws a small smile to the lips of Salid.
"Thank you," he says, with a small bow to Erskine, "You are a most gracious host." He turns to BC.
"Ambassador, I thank you for the honor of your presence here and now, for seeing the wisdom in greeting myself upon landing. It may not sit well with your employer," Salid says the last with a hint of a snarl, "and so I know you've done this on your own, and done me honor. I think it is a good start, eh?" Salid's smile returns, larger this time.
Phew...
"Thank you, sir," BC says with a small bow to Salid.
A short man in LSC garb appears at Governor Erskine's side.
One of her assistants. What's his name? Used to work for Edwards, too if I remember right. His appearance is Erskine's cue.
"Ayatollah, if you'll follow me we'll show you to your accommodations," she says to Salid. "We followed your requests in preparing your lodgings. I hope they'll suffice." She turns to BC. "Ambassador, I trust we'll see you first thing in the morning?" she asks him.
"But of course," BC says, nodding, appreciating Erskine's giving him his out. The woman has skills.
"Ayatollah Salid, I shall see you in the morning as well. A new dawn, eh?" BC tries to engage Salid with hopeful humor.
"We are on the Moon, Ambassador," Salid replies. "There's neither dawn nor dusk, and our 'days' here are at best artificial. And, we'll not be keeping a Martian day, but an Earth day, as agreed to," Salid says with simmering intensity. "I consider that a concession to us, confirming the primacy of Earth as the home for us all, our home, denied to us as of now."
What kind of can of worms did I... fuck, he's not done...
“So I will see you tomorrow, at your earth’s morning.”
Salid, finished, turns back to Erskine. "Shall we go?" he asks, and Erskine leads Salid away. BC watches the Ayatollah's entourage pass by.
Did that go well or badly? Did he say earth's morning or earth's mourning? I'm not sure. And now I get to deal with the angry Pope. Off to the mission.
No way!
Once again, BC catches a glimpse of a woman who looks like the UIN spy, disappearing into the space port crowd.
That was her again!
I'm sure of it! That Nita woman!
Here in the spaceport!
As the UIN arrives, of course! She looked a little different… but it sure looked like her. She’s got a lot of nerve showing up again!
BC casually tries to follow the woman he saw. He catches another glimpse of her as she turns around.
Maybe she felt like she was being followed… she looks just like Nita Bendix!
The woman sees BC looking her way and ducks behind a short man in long robes. The two of them disappear behind a group of UIN underlings moving through the terminal. BC tries to follow her, but the crowd is too big. Ayatollah Salid travels with a large entourage, laden with luggage and travel gear . BC doesn't get far before he reminds himself he has to get back and see to the Pope.
How does she keep showing up and disappearing?
How does she dare?
How does the UIN dare expose her again after the McEntyre fiasco?
BC finds the Pope in his quarters surrounded by staffers unpacking luggage. BC takes it as a good sign when he's let right in to see the old man.
"Campion! Good. Finally,” he says grimly. “And how is the Ayatollah?" Pope Linus asks BC, almost sarcastically.
"He strikes me as a no nonsense sort of man, much like yourself," BC says with a bit of a barb. Pope Linus arches and eyebrow and answers.
"You dare to compare us?" The Pope challenges BC.
Ooopses...
"You're both powerful men, both religious leaders. I wasn't trying to be snide or disrespectful, your Holiness," BC says modestly, trying to emphasize the capitol H.
"I see," says Pope Linus. “So...” he says, leaving it hanging. BC stands, waiting. He finally says, "Yes?"
"Aren't you going to brief me?" Pope Linus says.
"About what?" BC asks.
"About what to expect… What's going on? Tell me about this Ayatollah, for example. What can I expect from him? What is he like?"
After all this time, he finally asks for my analysis... I wonder if he has been reading my reports?
"Salid is a mullah, a teacher of the law, and is regarded as a holy man by his people,” BC tells Pope Linus. “They call him Ayatollah, a Shiite term of respect, though he leads all of the Muslims of the UIN. He commands a great deal of power and respect in the Muslim world. It's a real sign of progress that he's here at all,” BC notes.
“I’m afraid he seems to see you, your holiness, as an ally of the UTZ at best, a puppet at worse. And he probably doesn't think he needs to deal with you directly on any political matters."
"Is that so?" the pope says, pondering, quiet. "Then why am I here? Why did I need to be here for him to be here?"
