ASSOCIATION / CH. 26:RULES
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE. 9AM WED 7TH FEB 2272,
“Mr Ambassador, there are diplomatic conventions.” the foreign affairs minister said. Bluntly, as usual.
“I am aware of them, sir. Normally it is considered polite to enquire after one another's health, for instance.”
“And that of one another's children.” the minister growled.
“Touché.” the ambassador acknowledged.
“We have made some... informed guesses, shall we say, about the probable motive for your wife's actions.”
“My son insulted our great leader.”
“Yes, that was one of the motives.”
“It is a capital offence.”
“Not here it is not.”
“For my wife not to react as she did would have been a failing in her duty, and committing a capital crime.”
“Yes. We understand that also. Again, not here.”
“Let me make it clearer. If she had obeyed your laws, she would have been liable for execution once she stepped foot on our home soil. Your agents had stated that there was a forcefield between them.”
“So you claim there was no intent to kill?”
“I claim that my wife had no alternative.” the ambassador replied.
“There is always an alternative, Mr Ambassador. She could have declared that the presence of a forcefield meant there was no point in firing.”
“The prosecution case at home would not make allowances for that kind of reasoning. Someone would say she should have tested it, to make sure there was no bluff, or followed him and fired point-blank.”
“The judge would have seen better sense, surely.”
“You clearly speak of things you do not understand, minister. There is no judge in such cases, beyond the higher ranking agent who would present the prosecution case.”
“Your security service runs out of control.”
The ambassador shrugged. What could he, a mere ambassador, do about that? He said as much.
“This clearly will have implications.” Ralph, who had been silent until now, said. “On behalf of their Majesties, I thank you, Mr Ambassador, for your honest confirmation of our assessment. His majesty has decided that if this is the attitude and training of your security service, that they can, indeed feel they must ignore the laws of this land; and the added fact that they consider it their sworn duty to carry out extra-judicial murders wherever they may be, then any person suspected or known to be a member of your security services is no longer welcome. It is expected they will be out of our territory within forty eight hours. Deportations will be enforced if necessary.”
“My wife's status....” the ambassador started but Ralph hadn't finished, and ploughed on, ignoring the interruption.
“His majesty has been informed that your security services are likely to assume she's guilty by association of her son's defection. For this reason, your wife will be permitted to stay, so long as she remains unarmed, and as long as within twenty four hours she is stripped of diplomatic immunity.”
“You ask me to allow you to put my wife on trial?”
“You have three options. The status quo of her being here, with diplomatic immunity and being an armed assassin in the service of the cult of your leader is not acceptable.”
“Three options?” He'd only heard two, surely?
Ralph ignored the question “Moving on to the visit of your nations' leader and his primary consort. We understand that she is not an active member of your security services. Her presence in accompanying your leader is thus acceptable.” he deferred to the minister.
“The view of his majesty's government, however, is that given your leader is placing his trust in the promises of his Majesty, and given that your security services are not welcome and indeed are considered a threat to law and order, it would be inappropriate for your leader to bring with him any armed bodyguard. An unarmed honour-guard of up to six would be acceptable but diplomatic immunity will not be extended to them.”
“The Great Leader may not find those conditions acceptable.”
“We acknowledge this.” Ralph said “We do not wish to have the meeting cancelled, however we cannot ignore the flagrant disregard for our laws. Your wife, you and your son have made clear, was acting as any member of your security services would. Until such time as we can be sure there will be no repeat, we will not tolerate their presence. Our constitution requires that law-abiding citizens and visitors from any country of origin, must be able to freely exercise their legal rights in safety. Those rights includes the freedom to express political and religious opinions and the freedom to urge others to consider them. His majesty has no alternative.”
“I understand that,” the ambassador said. “But I do not understand what the third option might be.”
“He's got a point, Ralph.” the minister agreed “You only mentioned two choices: he sends his wife home or strips her of weaponry and her diplomatic immunity.”
“The second choice can be split into two, possibly more, depending on other factors, minister. Some obvious factors are are who might need to not return home for a certain amount of time, because of the risk of summary execution, and how long that time might be.”
The ambassador looked at Ralph in surprise. From their point of view, of course, it was quite a reasonable presupposition. A defecting son and daughter were not the best entries on one's curriculum vitae.
“I thank his majesty's government and civil service for their concerns.”
“All our guests must benefit from the protection of our law, your excellency.”
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EVACUATION SITE TWO. 9AM, WED 7TH FEBRUARY.
“Registered truthsayers 212 and 112.” George said, presenting their truthsayer I.D.s to the bemused guard at the site entrance.
“We're supposed to be getting orientation and then helping set up the information desk.”
“Why does the information desk need truthsayers?” the soldier asked.
“We're going to be helping find lost kids, that sort of thing. Plus, of course, if there's any disputes we're happy to keep everyone from exaggerating.” George supplied.
Karen added: “And if things go really really wrong, and say radio stops working, then since we can be contacted by someone with the Gift, we play a part of your backup-emergency communication system.”
“Oh, right. So you're here just in case?”
“From what we've been told, we expect to be busy.” George said.
“I won't keep you then. Down this track for about three hundred metres, then look for the big flag-pole. That's going to mark the information tent when it's set up, and it's where the orientation will start. That's not 'till half past.”
“Thank you.” George and Karen said, picking up their rucksacks.
“Oh, Do you know your tent numbers?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“That's good. There's some kind of systems fault at the moment, so there's no info at the information tent, last time I heard.”
“Hardware or software?” George asked.
“Does it make a difference? It's broke, that's all I've heard.”
“I'm not bad with hardware, he's great with software.” Karen supplied.
“Oh? That's great!” Karen heard him decide they'd be really useful after all.
“Are you saying that there's no network access for wrist units either?” Karen asked.
“Wrist units work, just. But we're in a bit of a valley, reception isn't great.”
“And fifty thousand people are about to arrive, about half of whom are planning to spend their entire time watching video on their wrist units?” George asked.
“They've put up a proper tower.” the soldier volunteered.
“Good.”
“But just one, so data rates are going to be restricted, so people wanting to watch videos over the net are going to be disappointed. You'll hear all this in orientation.”
“You'd need ten towers for as many people as we're having turn up here.”
Karen agreed, “Has anyone thought to tell the press about this?” Karen asked.
“Pass.”
“And is network access better here or at the tent?” she asked.
“Here. Why?”
“I think we need some reporters. Are any due to turn up to orientation?”
“No, it's just for information people.”
“What are reporters, then?” George asked.
“I'm going to make some calls, and try to get that changed,” Karen said.
“You'll need to get that cleared.”
“That's why I'm going to start with the site commander, and escalate to the palace if necessary. Tell people now, they can pick their viewing pleasure from home. Tell people when they get here and you've got a load of angry people yelling 'why weren't we told?'”
“Yeah. OK, I see your point.”
“It's going to be the same at all the sites, isn't it?”
“They've all got their quirks. Network access is a common one, except at site one where there's great network access but the rumour mill suggests the water supply might be a bit tight.”
Karen called the site commander. “Commander, Truthsayer 112 here, sorry for interrupting whatever your doing, but I think this is urgent and important.”
“Hello, Truthsayer, go ahead.”
“I've just heard that there are no reporters coming to the orientation. Do I have your permission to correct that oversight, or is that a policy decision I need to try to get changed? This morning's news said that about half the population are planning to spend most of their time at the camp huddled under blankets watching videos. I predict a near-riot if we don't tell them quickly they won't be able to view on demand. I'm sure there are other things that are common knowledge on site but will come as a shock to people who arrive in the next few days.”
“Hmm, no one asked to come. Let me check... key dates for the press. The document I see on the palace press site says reporters are welcome the day before the camp opens, but it is out of date, since it also states that the camps open on Saturday. Consider it an oversight from shifting timetables.”
“Thank you, sir. I'll contact the palace press office and while I'm doing that my husband will call some reporters we know.”
----------------------------------------
“Hi, Tony.” George said “Palace press office mix-up. Orientation at the evacuation sites is happening this morning, nominally half past nine, but it used to be scheduled for Friday, and the old info is still on the palace press office site, apparently. No reporters expected at site two's orientation, so far. Can you pass on the message to whoever ought to know?”
“Of course. How flexible is the start time?”
“No idea, I'll be suggest it might be sensible for it to be delayed when we get there.”
“Anything headline-worthy?”
“Not much network access, certainly not enough for network film watching. Except at there's a rumour that at site one, I think it was, there's plenty of network access but water might be an issue.”
“For drinking, or washing?”
“Pass, sorry.”
“Never mind. I'll tell my editor.”
----------------------------------------
Karen meanwhile was still trying to get through to the palace press office. The system at the other end had gone through the normal triage questions: was she a journalist? No. Was she calling about the colour Prince Albert's socks? No. Was she calling about information on the press office site? Yes. Did she need more information? No. Was there a problems with the information on it? YES! Was there personal information? No. Was there missing information? No. Was there inaccurate information? Yes. Had she provided information that had been badly summarised? No. Was she an organiser of an event about which there was inaccurate information? No. Was she involved in an event about which there was inaccurate information? Yes. Was the event this week? Yes. Was the event today? Yes. Pick from these events ..... 9 Some other event. We're sorry we don't have any other events for today. Is the event listed for another day? YES. You are now being connected to an A.I. system.
Please state the name of the event.
Karen said “Press briefing at evacuation sites.”
The A.I replied “Sorry the database does not have that event listed. Could you try again please? You may state the misinformation in full.”
“The evacuation sites open tomorrow. Reporters should be at orientation meeting today, at half past nine.”
“Thank you. You have supplied information about the opening times of the evacuation sites, which were listed as opening on Saturday. Your information will need to be confirmed, but the old information will be marked as suspect. This system did not understand the rest of what you said, but it will be reviewed by a human in due time. Do you still need to speak to a human?”
“Yes. Urgently.”
“Thank you for calling. Please wait.”
She'd been waiting for several minutes now. Part way through the A.I had told her that everyone was busy, and to save time could she identify herself, if she was willing to do so. She did, then called to her cousin.
[Eliza, is there some sort of problem at the palace press office? I'm failing to get through to a human, and even five minutes ago this was urgent. Ha! It was urgent before I got up this morning, if only anyone had realised.]
[Well, I know the normal receptionist is on maternity leave. There should be a temporary replacement there, and that shouldn't make much difference. What's up?]
[The press office site still lists the evacuation sites as opening on Saturday, and tells journalists they can come the day before, 'more information later'.]
[Uh oh. I bet that one stayed on the receptionist's mental to-do list.]
[The maternity leave was unexpected?]
[She'd previously planned to be working until after the impact, I know that.]
[That's probably not good news then, poor thing. The orientation they should be at is in twenty minutes, and there is certainly information that needs to be made public, like network access is not going to great, so people shouldn't assume they can view video on demand, as half the population of Restoration is planning, according to a survey we saw today.]
[I'm not doing anything right now, so I'll go down there in person. I'll get someone to call some editors, too.]
[George has called Tony, so you can assume N.W.N. know, at least.]
[Thanks.]
[I'll carry on trying to get through, just in case.]
[Do that. You might as well get the glory.]
[Well, Truthsayer 112, anyway.]
[Oh, I won't say who told me then.]
----------------------------------------
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE. 11AM WED 7TH FEB 2272,
Lilly's mother looked at the investigating officer, a woman her daughter's age, and vaguely familiar. “So far, I still have diplomatic immunity.”
“Yes. And you're leaving soon if it isn't revoked.”
“Why?”
“Because you ignored our laws and shot at your own son.” Eliza replied, simply.
“No, I mean why do I recognise you? Why have they sent someone so junior? Why do you remind me that I face separation from my husband either because of distance or jail?”
“You do have other alternatives.” Eliza pointed out.
“Such as?”
“You're a highly intelligent woman, you don't need me to point out the obvious, surely? As to why you recognise me, you might have fallen for the ruse earlier this year that Prince Albert was interested in me.”
“Ah. Yes! Of course, you are Agent Eliza Smythe, the 'Prince's red-head'.”
“Now the Prince's body-guard's red-head, when I've got my wig on. Or you could say I share a body-guard with the prince. But I've been watching videos. We're not going to release it, by the way, but did you worry at all that your son would dive the wrong way?”
“Pardon?”
“Would you like to tell me about the shot you fired at your son? Did you worry that he might dive into the path of the bullet?”
“I aimed to kill him.”
“That's a rather poor line to take if you're going to tell it to a court. Especially since it's not true.”
“You can't tell that.”
“It's amazing what top of the range security cameras can do these days. We've got three frames showing the bullet in flight. You aimed remarkably poorly for an expert of your calibre trying to kill someone.”
“I'm sure we can blame that on the stress of the moment.”
“Mrs Ambassador, please consider the following facts: one, we're not in your country; two, I'm not in the service of your security agency, or otherwise linked to your government; three, this interview is not being recorded as evidence for a court-case, and will be erased in a week as long as neither of us make a complaint against the other, only my written notes might be used in court, if necessary, and as you see, my paper is blank at the moment; four, I'm here for multiple reasons but I'm certainly not interested in separating you from your husband.”
“You're not?”
“No. I'm interested in the inner workings of your mind, what you knew or didn't know when, how likely you are to want to stay, and so on.”
“I know how these things work. There will be a show-trial, I will be locked away for a decade or three more as an excuse to ruin the relationship between our two countries.”
“You really have no idea, do you, maam?” Eliza asked, surprised.
“What?”
“No mention has yet been made of your diplomatic immunity being removed retrospectively. Furthermore, there is no reason for it to be spoken of, as long as you don't keep on lying that you aimed to kill your son, and can convince me of what Ree told me — that there was no other course of action you could take, given the mental framework you were under and what he'd said, then we can blame your actions on the system and pressures you were under as an agent. The removal of diplomatic immunity is first and foremost to ensure that if you stay here you have no special status to hide behind for your future acts, while you adapt to life here, and to thus protect the public safety. If you stay, you will of course be watched, carefully, and if you make any move to acquire any firearm or otherwise engage in a hostile act then you should expect to face every penalty you deserve.”
“I don't understand.”
“Perhaps you can understand that his majesty appreciates your husband's efforts, Maam, and that he would rather not have his concentration split in even more directions than they must be already, or have him replaced by a new ambassador who does not understand us nearly as well. So... will you please give me your honest appraisal of you aim?”
“I believe my bullet was heading towards his left shoulder.”
“Correct. He threw himself to his right. The forcefield caught the bullet, but it hardly needed to: the bullet would have barely scraped his skin.”
“No one can react that fast!”
“Your son did. He was convinced you would shoot, of course, so he was prepared. And perhaps you drew a little more slowly than you might normally, but if so there wasn't any noticeable hesitation.”
Eliza didn't say that his leg and back muscles had moved at almost the same instant as his mother's hands. “If he'd moved the other way, of course, it would have been a different story. Had you discussed it? He told me that you'd instructed him to defect.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“The foolish boy.”
“Why do you call him foolish?”
“He tells everyone he's on the wrong list!”
“Ah. You want him to pretend he's on the list of fake asylum seekers and deep-cover agents? You think he's putting himself at risk?”
“Isn't he?”
“It depends what perspective you look at it from. As I see it, he's fed up with deception and decided he could trust me.”
“But why then do you trust me with the fact he trusted you? You put him at risk!”
“Because you've been working very hard for a long time to keep your children safe, Mrs Ambassador. Because your loyalty to your children is making itself evident, no matter how you try to wrap it up and hide it. Other than asking the agent last night, did you look up the explanatory Bible verses that Lilly told you about?”
“No. There is no Bible in our embassy.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“There used to be. I understand that Ree took his with him.” Eliza put a crystal on the interview table, and a piece of rice-paper. “I asked him to make a copy. The ink and rice-paper are edible or you can just put it in the document destroyer in the corner, there.” Eliza pointed. The passphrase was ' “Tulip Icecream, I love you and cabbages, too!” said the caterpillar.'
“Not the most secure pass-phrase.”
“Not bad for an eight-year old. And it kept you out.”
“He encrypted half his collection of old films. I asked him about it once.”
“What did he reply?”
“That Lilly had told him all about encrypting things and it sounded a fun idea.”
“Did you try to decrypt them?”
“Yes, of course. I obviously didn't get to this one, though.”
“You might have.” Eliza handed over another piece of rice-paper which read 'Lilly is cool!'. “This is the password that encrypted the film. The first clause of the other password retrieves a data stream buried in the film with keyed steganography. The stream is mostly noise, but starts with an encrypted photograph of an actress. Ree couldn't remember who, and he didn't bother remembering the key. The second clause retrieves the cyphertext from the data stream. The entire phrase will give you the plaintext.”
“Ah. Layers within layers! He did this when he was eight?”
“I understand he had some training from Lilly while she was at spy school. You don't need to take this, but you may. I think I would consider it quite secure from unwanted attention.”
“I too, especially as part of my son's film collection. But why might I want it?”
“You are not curious about the faith of your son? The context for the verses Lilly sent?”
“I admit some curiosity. Lilly warned me the verses were dangerous though.”
“Ah. But in what sense?”
“Pardon?”
“What sense are you considering them dangerous? That they might cause you trouble if you were known to be holding them, or dangerous to your position in your society? Or perhaps dangerous to ignore, dealing with matters of eternal life and eternal punishment, as they do.”
“Do you know where my daughter's loyalty lies?”
“Don't you?” Eliza replied.
“No.”
“That's sad,”
“That's safe. For a while, before we spoke last night, I wondered if I need to fear her, for her brother's sake, and for my own, that she might denounce us. Now... now I know enough that I could easily denounce both her and her brother for crimes against the state, especially with this piece of evidence you've just given me.” she pointed at the crystal. “If I knew she had no loyalty to the state... I would interpret something she said to me in a certain way, and be most tempted to think I have protected both a counter-agent and a Christian, and that it would be far safer for me to never set foot on home soil ever again. If I knew she remained loyal to the state, although she is loyal to her family more, then I would remain uncertain about what she meant about that other thing, but to think about these things she has called dangerous would be to ignore a well-given warning. And you sit there, knowing which I should do.”
“I have not spoken to Lilly, but Ree who you failed to try to kill out of love, pleaded with you to listen. Risked his life, because to him telling you the most important words he knew was more important than the risk that you kill him. I will not hide from you that I am a Christian, maam, nor will I hide from you the admiration I have for your son that he take such a risk to share his faith with you. I am here for several reasons, as I've said, one is to help you understand the faith I share with your son.”
The response to that surprised Eliza “This is not how it is supposed to be!”
“Pardon?”
“It was all planned out perfectly: Lilly went to a top secret school for spies, and then becomes part of the programme to infiltrate our enemy organisations.
You seem to talk about her being at spy school as though it was common knowledge! Has she shared that, or has her brother compromised her as a spy? She infiltrates so well they ask her to work in their propaganda department, wonderful. I tell her to hold out for a passport for Ree, so that he is somewhere that food is regular and his studies do not mean the military decide he can be used as an expendable slave. But that's not disloyalty! That is making use of natural links and your soft-hearted approach to emotional ties to get both of my children into your system where they can work for the country from outside it! Now I find out that my son is a Christian, my own loyalty is suspect, and even my daughter's is too! She who I thought was loyal beyond question! Now here you sit, telling me that your decadent capitalist society is willing to forget that I almost killed my son because I couldn't bring myself to aim straight, and you're even hoping to explain to me just why I should follow the same God my son does, when you ought to be quizzing me about who's a member of our security forces!”
“Ah. You can tell me if you like, cooperation will certainly help convince his Majesty that your loyalty to your system is even further away from total than I can say now.”
“What sort of interrogation technique is that, girl? /'You can tell me if you like!'/ Oh!” she looked at the door “You have a colleague outside who's about to burst in and attack me, once you've been all friendly, don't you? I know that technique.”
“No. At the end of the interview, you will be escorted back to the Embassy. If at any time you feel you have been entrapped, humiliated, threatened, put under undue pressure, beaten or tortured you may request a copy of the video recording of this interview, and make a formal complaint. Such a copy and complaint can be made by any legal representative, but due diligence will be made to ensure that the representative truly represents you, and is not some other person seeking to invade your privacy.”
Lilly's mother shook her head. “This is how you treat all your prisoners?”
“These basic rights apply in all cases of investigation by the police and Internal Security field agents. Certain aspects do not apply in exactly the same way during interviews by members of Auditing, however, Auditing only have powers of arrest over civil servants, and the information they gather during an interview of anyone not in the civil service may not be used in a court of law or passed on to other agencies in any form which would make the interviewee identifiable.”
“But they are allowed to pressure, threaten, beat and torture?”
“They are not allowed to torture or to physically harm any person. Deception and entrapment may be used.”
“But you will not tell me about my daughter?”
“I will not breach her absolute right to privacy, no. You may of course ask her.”
“During this interview?”
Eliza shrugged. “I'm not sure what time it is there, but if you like. What are you planning to say to her?”
“That I am less certain of her loyalty and my loyalty than I used to be, and find my loyalty to my family is greater than my loyalty to my country. So I do not know if I should act on my curiosity about what Ree believes or listen to her warnings. Or something like that.”
“Before you call, what sort of curiosity do you have about Ree's faith? The detached intellectual curiosity that will, at the end of the day, think 'now my desire for knowledge is satisfied, I think I understand his behaviour.' Or the genuine curiosity that will say if this is truth, I must respond to it.”
“How can I know, when I know so little about it?”
“Will you tell me what you do know, and what you are curious about?”
“You call your God the judge of all the world. I am curious about what that means. You speak of Jesus as God's son, but not his son in the normal way, and also as God; that's just confusing. Why do you smile?”
“I smile because you're right, it is confusing, can I try to explain?”
“You may.”
“The Bible promises that a human would defeat the forces of evil. Abraham, who you might have heard of as the ancestor of the Israelite people, was promised that through his seed, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Moses, who was pretty much the first religious leader of the Israelites as a people that we know of, and who is traditionally credited with writing down the first five books of the Bible, said that after him, God would send another prophet and law-giver. King David, who had a really important role in the development of Israel as a centralised monarchy was promised that one of his descendants would have an everlasting kingdom. Also around this time, the phrase 'son of God' enters the Bible, meaning a king, a royal figure. But Israel as a people and a political entity was as big a bunch of sinners as the other nations around them, although they claimed a special relationship with God, and they suffered a similar fate. A few hundred years later, as the people were being exiled and enslaved by the Babylonian empire, God's prophets repeated those promises and made some more to go with them, that God's representative would suffer and die to save everyone. Roll on about seven hundred years later and Israel is a rebellious little province in the Roman empire, buzzing with the idea that maybe now God was going to send the promised anointed king. There hadn't been a major prophet for a long long time, but suddenly an elderly priest with a barren wife gets told by God that they are going to have a son, who will prepare the way for God to come to his people.”
“This is your Jesus?”
“No. That was his relative, John the Baptist. While Elizabeth was pregnant, her unmarried cousin Mary got visited by an angel and told that although she's a virgin, she's going to be pregnant with God's promised saviour. Joseph, her fiancé, was a bit worried, as you might expect, about what she'd been up to, but he got visited by an angel too.”
“What's an angel?”
“Supernatural messenger and servant of God. They get drawn with wings in art but according to the Bible they look just like people but don't normally bother with normal things like walking away, but just disappear.”
“Oh, spirit beings.”
“Yes. But they are not to be confused with ghosts.”
“You believe in ghosts?”
“There is nothing in the Bible that says they exist, but nothing that says they don't. There are clear verses in the Bible that talk of people living one life, dying, and staying dead or asleep until they are raised to life at the end of time, to face judgement for what they have or haven't done.”
“Ah, that is where the Judge of all the world will act?”
“Then as well. God is all powerful, and if he decides to give a certain day twenty six hours, then that will happen. You have free will, but only within the parameters he has set. Your choices are important, but as far as I know, no-one can choose to fly. You felt you had to shoot, but you choose not to aim for Ree's chest. You exercised your free will, but actually you were freer than you thought — you could have not shot him at all.
"But perhaps you didn't think of that, perhaps God limited your thoughts so you didn't, in order that we might have this conversation. I don't know.”
She considered that enormous challenge to her philosophy for a while and then said “Tell me more of your Jesus.”
“I will confuse you first, do not allow anyone to tell you that Jesus was a good man.”
“But...” she gave up “Oh, carry on.”
“He said things which if they were false were either the ravings of a mad-man, or he was the worst kind of deceiver. He made claims to be equal to God. He lived a life without sin, he astounded people with depth and understanding that he had about God and God's law, he demonstrated that he had power over nature, power over sickness, power over evil spirits. He called people to live revolutionary lives, putting God at the absolute centre of all they said and did. To a few people he revealed that he was the Christ, which meant by then the anointed king, the promised descendent of king David. He claimed that he was alive before Abraham, thousands of years before. It is impossible to say that he was a good man, a teacher. For his claims to be true he must be more than that. The religious leaders hated him, and had him executed by the Romans, as he'd told people would happen. On the third day, like he'd told people, God raised him back to life. But somehow changed, different, and after forty days he was taken up into heaven.
“He was born and died a human being, of that we should be sure; but his followers realised that he was not only the son of God in the royal sense, but also in the literal sense: God the Son, the pre-existant God who made the universe had been walking with them, getting his feet dirty in the mud, healing the sick, making the blind see, sharing fish with them, living the live of a homeless preacher. Eventually we Christians came up with the idea of trinity, which affirms at the same time that there is only one God, but that when Jesus prayed to God, and called him his father, he wasn't just talking to himself. There is only one God. God the Father is God, God the Son is God, God the Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the son, nor is the Son the Spirit. It's confusing, and you can make analogies, though they're a long way from perfect, like ice, water and steam are all hydrogen oxide, but water isn't ice, and ice isn't steam. Or a leaf with three lobes. Nothing will make the left hand lobe the right hand one, but they are still the same leaf.”
“You're right. It is confusing. When Ree told me to let Jesus wash away my sins, what did he mean?”
“When Jesus died, he died the death of a criminal. He was innocent, innocent of every single sin. He is the only human who has loved God will all his heart, every minute of his life. He is the only human who, by God's accounting, had not earned death. And he choose to die so that in his death he could take our sins on himself. No one else can accept anyone else's sins, since we each have earned death. How can one criminal take the punishment for another? He was without sin, but he became sin for us, taking the punishment we deserve. There is no other method for getting rid of sin than to ask God to forgive it. And there is no basis on which God will forgive except that Jesus died in your place. Only his death, his blood, can wash away sins. And you cannot earn that forgiveness. All you can do is turn away from your old life, accept forgiveness, and then trust in Jesus. The Bible says, I can give you the reference if you like, 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.'”
“And if I did that, accepted this gift, I would be a Christian?”
“Yes.”
“No other ritual required?”
“It is normal to be baptised, which is a symbolic washing, a public declaration of what Jesus has done for you. But while it is obedient to God, and so normal, it does not make you a Christian.”
“No wonder it has been so hard to get rid of you. You offer eternal life, hope, forgiveness!”
“Not us, God.”
“And once forgiveness is granted, you could pretend nothing has changed.”
“Up to a limit, attitudes change, especially towards sin.”
“But you could pretend... or could you? Would you actually deny you had any links to Jesus?”
“It would be a sin, a very grave sin. Jesus said that if anyone disowned him in front of men, Jesus would disown that person in front of the angels. But, one of Jesus' first followers did deny knowing Jesus, and he was forgiven. It is one of greatest tests a Christian can think of: would I deny knowing Jesus if I knew it would mean my torture or death if I didn't? I hope I would choose torture or death, rather than deny the Lord who saved me.”
“Foolish young woman, you should not have told me that. I am charged to purge your kind from my country.”
“May the Lord of life and death grant that you use the well-known knowledge I have told you only for good and not for evil. If you intend evil, may he stay your hand and protect the lives of those he has called to himself. May he also call you, that you will know the power of Jesus' blood to change lives and destinies.”
“I will use what you have told me. But.... I hope it is not for evil. It had not occurred to me to ask Lilly straight out if she is a follower of Jesus. I may do so?”
“You have said that it will affect your decision making process. I am sure that it will be safer for both of you to have that conversation here than at the Embassy. You may do so, and I will make the call. But... is there any chance that your wrist unit might act as a bug?”
“You should have asked that a long time ago. My original wrist unit suffered an unfortunate accident some months ago. I had to replace it.”
“How regrettable.” Eliza said, with a straight face.
“Not particularly. I didn't like the colour.” It had been white, just like the one she was wearing now. It was the colour of the lights on her bug-detector when the previous wrist-unit was officially off that she really hadn't liked.
Eliza made the call. “Your mother wishes to speak to you.”
“She must like the sound of my voice.” Lilly joked.
“Are you in a secure location?” Eliza asked.
“Fairly.” Lilly replied, she was at home.
“Your mother and I are in a secure interview room. I'll be initiating encryption. Do you have a wired earpiece?” Eliza said.
“Yes, I'll get it. Sounds serious.”
Eliza enabled a second layer of encryption, and then instructed her wrist unit to initiate a third layer, send a series of a thousand genuinely random keys, and use them in rotation, swapping every second. It would be quite a while before her wrist unit had collected enough randomness to generate that many keys, but it was as secure as she could make it. “As far as I can make it, this is now a fully secure channel. The random keys will be repeating after a thousand seconds, at which point security will be degraded.”
“I thank you.” Lilly's mother said, “I doubt that we will need that long.”
“I am at my home, I swept for bugs last night.” Lilly reported.
“If you wish to re-sweep before giving any answer, I'm sure your mother will be patient.” Eliza said.
“Lilly, you spoke of danger in those numbers.”
“That is true, mother.”
“There was one of our tails who was able to explain them, far from any listener. But I wonder which danger you were speaking of.”
“Ah.”
“Agent Smythe here even suggests that one danger might be that I listen but do not respond.”
“And you have been listening, mother?”
“I have been listening, but there is a question in my mind regarding loyalty.”
“Whose, mother?”
“Yes. I find that I am unsure of your loyalty and also of my loyalty. Love, family, people and confusing pigs in sacks.”
“My fault then?”
“Or your brother's. You are alone?”
“Yes.”
“You may blame Agent Smythe for the next question, who somehow knows you went to spy school. She has explained to me her faith, and her greatest fear, that if she were put in the position, she might not have the courage to choose torture and death rather than deny Jesus. Do you also feel you owe so much to Jesus?”
Lilly was quiet for a while, struggling against the urge to drop the connection or cop-out by pointing out what a dangerous question that was. But she'd been praying she might talk to her mother about Jesus one day. “Jesus died to save sinners, mother. I know I'm one, how could I refuse such a generous offer? Can I tell you how I came to believe?”
“Yes.”
“It was my first year here. I had been through indoctrination camp, and as you know, I was sent to see how the capitalist-imperialists treat one another with contempt and tread the poor and foreign underfoot. But my classmates showed me acceptance, curiosity and love. I was here to learn, and I listened without showing disapproval as I'd been taught. They invited me to church, these classmates of mine, and I was curious about what had prompted Ree's risk-taking. I convinced myself I could listen and sift out the lies and see the credulous fooling themselves, and also thought that it might help me understand some parts of their vocabulary I didn't understand. So, anyway, I went. There was a visiting speaker, from home. That's what had prompted them to invite me, I think. He talked about home, about the good parts and the not so good parts, and he spoke about how God's kingdom was better than the good parts. I agreed with everything he said about home, and agreed that God's kingdom sounded better. He spoke about how God's kingdom was different to the society here, and he called upon these capitalist imperialists to listen to their God, and not their wallets, to learn that what we had right at home showed it is possible for humans to care for one another without expecting repayment. He spoke about how much more the Church ought not to just be happy to be a little bit more of a caring community than the community they were in, but should be genuinely caring, like Jesus had been. Genuinely putting God first, like Jesus did.
"He also challenged people that they weren't particularly thankful for the good things they had, and that at meal times they should be truly thankful for the food on their plates, and rejoice that they've never gone shopping from a house with no food on the shelves and returned with half-mouldy maize. And I agreed with that too. Then he invited people to pray that God would change them, and make them new in their attitudes and their lives, that he would free them of their sins and enable them to trust Him with their future, not just their eternal future, which is the way it's often put here, but also for everyday things like food and drink and housing. I agreed to what he said in the prayer too, and prayed it in my heart. Afterwards I heard my class-mates moaning about all the negative things he'd said about their culture, and how it wasn't that bad, and asking why he had painted such a rosy picture of our system. And someone asked how was that supposed to convince me about Jesus. I plucked up the courage to tell them I'd agreed with everything he said about home, and that God's kingdom sounded like something I really wanted to be part of and that I'd prayed the prayer at the end too. That stopped them moaning, and eventually I think I convinced them that he'd been at least partly right on other things too. I remain loyal to our people, mother, but not to the way the people are mistreated. My God, the God who will judge all people, is against those who use their power to abuse the poor, the weak and the fatherless, and I am sure that he will grant them relief from their real oppressors. And one day he will judge the dead for their deeds, and those who have decided to seek forgiveness in this life will be saved from eternal punishment in the next.” Lilly listened for a moment to the silence on the other end of the connection before adding, “Thank-you for taking the risk of giving me the chance to tell you this, mother.”
“Rightly, I would now report you.”
“Rightly mother? Is it right to put you, any mother, in that position? Is it really right that the proper obedience to the God who created the whole universe should be banned overnight because one man decided it on it?
"I often struggle with God that he allowed him to continue breathing as long as he did. Is it really right that a man sets himself and then his son in God's place? Is it right that 'the needs of the military come first' when children are starving? Did we really need those extra weapons? What for? I saw the caches in spy school. I saw the delivery dates on the unopened boxes that were sitting in pools of rust-coloured water under the leaking roof.”
“You did not say.”
“How could I? It might have been a loyalty test. All I could do is raise the issue of the leaking roof, and the water on the floor.”
“And you did?”
“Yes. I wrote that it seemed the capitalist-imperialists had now trained pigeons in damaging the roofing tiles made by our hard-working labourers, and somehow concealing their damage during inspections of the roof. I added that perhaps these destructive pests would make good targets for our marksmanship training sessions.”
“Was there a reply?”
“That a stray bullet might do the sabotage work of the pigeons, so they would not be forwarding my suggestion, but that we would be climbing the roof during our mountaineering practice, and could practice interrogation techniques on any such avian spies we could catch while replacing the broken tiles.”
“Oh, yes, I remember, there were a lot of broken tiles.”
“We had no training in crossing the roof, and broke as many tiles as had needed to be replaced before we got there. One bundle of replacement tiles had not been fired properly, and started to crumble as soon as it got wet. One of my classmates recognised the warning signs before we had put any up, and suggested that we wash the tiles so that they would not drop tile dust onto the clean courtyard.”
“The courtyard was mud, wasn't it?”
“Yes. We worked out why he'd suggested it fast enough though, when we got that bundle wet and saw what happened to the tiles. Of course, in another culture he could have simply said 'these might need to go back to the kiln to be fired properly.' without being arrested for unwittingly insulting some party official who wasn't doing their job.”
“True.”
There was another pause. “So. Now you know, mother, that both of your children are Christians, you presumably have worked out what I hinted earlier, about executing a pig on live video.”
“Yes. Your intended victim acted well.”
“He didn't know. I'd prepared the pig earlier, it was entirely real for him. I couldn't risk it not being.”
“As your mother, I'm proud of your ingenuity. I was totally deceived, as were others.”
“So, mother, should I hide, or shall we continue the pretence?”
“If I return home, it would be difficult for your father, and I understand that the king here does not want to lose your father as ambassador. It would also, quite honestly, be difficult for me, even if he was with me. If I remain here, my role will be limited, but I think that I can argue that they will find it most suspicious for me to stop communicating with you and someone else take over.”
“I am your loyal daughter, as always, mother.”
“Yes, daughter. I see you are indeed most loyal. Though it seems your loyalties are placed differently than I used to think.”
“When is father due to return home?”
“Three more years.”
“I'm sure that might be extended if there were some suitably complex negotiation in progress.”
“That is... possible, daughter.”
“Alternatively, of course, you could tell Agent Smythe that you'd like a more permanent arrangement, but I assume you'd need to move house for that to work out.” Lilly said, hinting that they could seek asylum too.
“I doubt that would be an individual decision.” Eliza said, getting the hint immediately.
“And I don't know how to contact Agent Smythe.”
“Prince Albert does, I'm sure.” Lilly pointed out. “Or perhaps you'd like to practice your archery, mother, if that's allowed.”
“Daughter, I don't understand that reference one little bit.”
“Perhaps you should ask Eliza when she'll next wear her wig then. It would be a cultural event, mother. I'm sure father would not mind attending. He likes swords and things, doesn't he?”
“Some people I could mention seem to know far more about me than they ought to.” Eliza commented. She wasn't worried though, it was all public information, after all. “But the answer is that, God-willing, there will be a grand fair this twenty fourth of February, but I don't know if I'll be able to get there. You are practiced with a bow?”
“It has been a while. But does it not count as a weapon?”
“I don't know if borrowing a bow to shoot at straw targets at a cultural event counts as acquiring a firearm. I will ask my superiors.”
----------------------------------------
Eliza reported soon after the interview, “Quick summary: I'm pretty sure she's not going home, but I don't think she's going to be a threat, Maria. She's been an obedient cog in the system, hadn't realised at all that we weren't planning some kind of show-trial and she claimed that Lilly's pig trick had entirely convinced her and others.”
“You believed her?”
“Yes. Her words were entirely controlled the whole time, of course, but I think I saw a lot of tension go out of her shoulders when she heard her daughter claiming Christ as Lord.”
“I'd have thought that would worry her more.”
“She listened when I told her the gospel, and she listened even better when Lilly told her her testimony. I get the impression that she's discovered that her family matters to her far more than the regime she's been supporting, and it's all a strange world now.”
“So, you think she's staying?”
“Yes. She said it would be difficult to return home, even together. Oh, I don't know if it's new information, but her husband is only supposed to be ambassador for another three years.”
“I knew there was a maximum term. That ought to be plenty of time for them to work out everything. Anything else to report?”
“Lilly's been reading up on me. She basically suggested to her mother that if she wants to talk to me some more then she could contact me by turning up to one of the reenactment events. Apparently archery would make a natural point of contact. I promised to check if a bow counts as 'stunner or firearm'.”
“Hmmm. You couldn't take up crochet instead? We're talking about a lethal range of a fifty meters?”
“With my bow, I'm sure I could pick out a target at a hundred, no problem. General mayhem type range is more like two hundred plus, depending on the draw-weight of the bow.”
“But aiming and rate of fire....”
“An expert archer can beat a muzzle-loading musket at both, but not any sort of rifle, of course. I don't know how expert she is. Perhaps we should be limiting the power of any bow she uses? That'd limit the range and danger.”
“Sounds sensible. Is that easy to tell how powerful a bow is?”
“Not unless you're there to pull on it.”
“So, target-shooting with a tested low-power bow, and someone with a stunner watching in case she points the thing the wrong way, maybe. Anything else, no.”
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3PM, WED 7TH FEBRUARY.
“Husband, I am returned to your side.”
“For how long, though, Min? That is the question, is it not? Have they said?” the ambassador asked.
“I was interviewed by a girl who had interviewed Ree. She said no one has said 'retrospectively' concerning my immunity. His majesty appreciates your efforts, and does not want you distracted or replaced.”
“It is not a trap?”
“I don't think so. She was quite clear, our son has convinced them that I had no choice once he'd said he would defect. They ask my immunity to be removed for my future actions, not my past ones.”
“That is news that warms my heart. This news is not so good.” he handed her a document reader.
“From home?” Min asked.
“Yes.”
She read the first line. “Both your parents?”
“The computer recorded them as present for an appointment at the clinic just as the building collapsed. It will have been mercifully quick, we can hope.”
“They are sure?”
He shrugged, managing to not give way to tears. “The entire block fell.”
“Do they know why?”
“Bad weather, they say. Construction work was happening next door, deep construction work, for a citizen's bunker. There has been heavy rain.”
“The foundations failed?” Min asked.
“Yes.” he replied.
“Have you told our loyal daughter?”
“Not yet, I only finished reading it just now.”
“Shall I?” she asked, knowing how distressed he was.
“I will do it.” he said.
----------------------------------------
“They told me once they wanted to be together until they died and ideally die together.” Lily told her father, not trying to hold back the tears. “They loved each other a lot, didn't they?”
“Yes, they did.”
“I will call a number I know. There may be someone trapped in the rubble, but still alive. If there is, someone from the truthsayer association will call the embassy.”
“You know such a number?”
“I do work at the information office, father. We have numbers there for all sorts of things. There aren't any direct lines listed of course.”
----------------------------------------
[Honoured and loved grandmother of my friend Lilly, I greet you.] Vivian thought across the planet to the trapped, dying woman. She'd passed on the word to others, who would contact the embassy; there were currently fifteen survivors in the rubble, including two elderly people, a husband and wife, who probably wouldn't survive until a rescue team could reach them.
[I am dead aren't I? Imagining things, talking to angels....]
[You are seriously injured, but you're not dead, maam. And I'm not an angel, just human, a Christian with a gift from God. Is the pain bad?]
[Not so bad. You know Lilly?]
[Yes. Your son called Lilly, about the collapse. She called me.]
[And... she knew you have that gift?]
[Yes.]
[No, that's dangerous! My grand-daughter is a spy. Don't trust her! She executed someone for being a Christian.]
Vivian checked. Yes, this woman was a Christian, and also her husband.
[Lilly's very good at keeping some secrets. Like her brother's faith, her own faith, how she faked the execution. The man she 'executed' is in Alaska now, he's a pastor. I know: I checked.]
[Lilly's a Christian?] She spoke it aloud, and explained to her husband. [Yes.]
[We've been praying for her to turn to Christ so long!]
[Your prayers were answered soon after she got here. She told her testimony to her mother earlier today.]
[Her too? Even Min, our daughter in law, has become obedient to the Gospel?]
[Not yet. Not yet, but she knows of her children's faith, is not willing to betray them, and has heard the gospel.]
[Glory be to God on high!]
[Amen.]
[And our son? Do you know where he stands before God?]
[I do not, but I know they have been talking. You have a very brave grandson - his mother had told him to pretend to defect, and as he defected he begged her to turn to Christ. She started to worry about Ree's safety with Lilly, that's what started her doubts about the system, and persuaded Lilly to openly tell her of her own faith.]
[It is getting cold. Death will not be long, will it?]
[The future is in God's hands, but... I expect not.]
[We wondered, why God had not let us die quickly. Now maybe now we know. Somehow, please get word to our son... remind him that when he was young he prayed and God answered. That God always answers! He has a daughter and a son he can be proud of, a good wife he can talk to, and a home amongst good people.]
[I will tell him.]
[And tell Lilly and Ree of our love and prayers. Please... leave us now. It would be good for us to pray and praise God.]
[Of course, honoured one. May the love of God surround you and protect your hearts and minds.]
----------------------------------------
[Lilly, Ree, I have just been thinking to your grandmother. I'm sorry, she and your grandfather are dying, but they do so praising God to hear of your faith.]
[They are together?] Lilly asked.
[Yes. They are together, and the pain is not too bad. I have a final message for your father from his mother.]