THE OTHER BIG SECRET 3: SAFELY OUT AT SEA / CH. 10:IMPACT
WEDNESDAY, 1ST AUGUST, 2277
Atlantis-2 and 2H, as the trade city and harbour were being called, were slowly taking shape. The ability to float the trade-city to the surface without being terrified of detection had made fitting the forcefields for the dome far easier, and it had been given a temporary power supply and its own propulsion system. Not a heat engine, but a magneto-hydrodynamic drive with no moving parts. The quantity of submarine metal needed for coating the drive units was quite significant — enough to build several large submarines. The council suggested offering the strange things called shares in it to people who where willing to invest in it, but then of course the engineers asked what about their contribution? Wasn't their time, their dropping of personal projects worth anything? Two options were considered, everyone do what they can for love of their people, or everyone got rewarded somehow. The gold was the biggest issue. That was touching people's life-savings towards a submarine. Never mind that people often traded their gold, even for things like chocolate. That was their choice. The council realised that the state needed wealth that it didn't have, hadn't needed since Atlantis was built. The amount of gold needed was compared to the total in the bank, and the number of people. And people laughed. And the situation defused. Finishing the inside of Atlantis-2 would take a few months of people's time, but that was the whole point: they were allowed to get on with personal projects and study what they wanted because sometimes the state needed them, like now.
As for the gold, it was decided that the government would borrow half a percent of the gold in the bank as a loan, and in the future take one percent of the gold that was collected in the future. That was understandable to all, and would affect everyone as equally as possible, since everyone went collecting gold, and it would hopefully ensure that the government had the gold necessary to carry out such projects. That had all been on Monday and Tuesday. The smelting plants had been programmed on Tuesday night. It wasn't that hard to make the alloy. The team of engineers installed them the next morning. Atlantis-2 was water-tight, mobile, and empty. But there was still more work to do.
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The debris-peppered remains of the SpaceGuard interceptor tumbled through space. The irony of SpaceGuard predicting the impact had been lost on no one, least of all the scientists associated with it, but the orbital data was quite clear; it would impact somewhere in the middle of the initial North Atlantic exclusion zone, so it was good that Atlantis had moved.
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Today, the vast engines of Atlantis eased their pumping, and the city slowed to a halt. The question of how long they'd stay was on everyone's mind: the citizens of Atlantis wanted to move North again soon, as the merfolk had no particular reason to want to be in the South Atlantic for winter. But there was some talk of moving South as the summer drew to a close.
The interceptor touched the top of the atmosphere, and soon it was surrounded by a halo of ionised gas. It tumbled more and some loosely attached pieces broke off. The nuclear warhead remained where it was for now, just behind the nose cone of the interceptor. Ground-based and space-based detectors focussed on it and updated the predictions on its impact point every ten seconds.
The outer skin of the craft pealed away, and the interceptor split in two, parts: the rocket motor and the heavy nose cone, intended to penetrate into rock if that was what the mission profile called for. The long, sharp-nosed cone with a warhead inside it was a well studied arrangement, it was exactly the same geometry as a warhead from a ballistic missile and it stabilised in exactly the same orientation. The low drag orientation produced a narrow shock-wave easing its passage through the atmosphere. This wasn't going to be a slow descent like a crew module from an Apollo-era spacecraft. There was no ablative shield on the nose-cone, there was no wide shock-wave to separate the white-hot gas from the metal. Surface temperatures of the titanium quickly reached its vaporisation point, and it began to burn away.
Spectral lines of Titanium became visible in the glowing trail.
All was going exactly as the scientists had predicted. And seeing the readings they confidently slapped one another on the back and told the press the warhead was exactly on course for their predicted impact site.
But they'd forgotten or ignored one factor: the nose cone was not solid. It had been designed to punch into rock and had been formed with an inner and outer cone, separated by a sealed-in pocket of air that would compress to reduce the forces on impact. The inner cone was considerably flatter than the outer. As the intense heat reached the air, it became highly pressurised. Eventually, the heat-softened outer shell gave way, and the pointed cone was blown off the warhead. The altered geometry made it unstable, and it turned. The full force of the shockwave hit the outer shell of the warhead, and the chemical explosive did exactly what a shock-detonated chemical explosive should be expected to do when hit by an intense shock-wave; it detonated.
The uncontrolled fission reaction occurred a few microseconds seconds later, as the fissile material was compressed by the explosive shock wave, combined with the shock from the air pressure. That fission reaction in turn caused uncontrolled fusion which considerably increased the yield of the device.
The air-burst occurred at an altitude of twenty kilometres. The workers on Atlantis-2, two hundred and fifty kilometres south, had temporarily stopped work to watch the trail of the interceptor as it plummeted to earth. None were stupid enough to stare into the fireball as the sky lit up, so there wasn't any permanent damage to anyone's eyes.
“Well that solves that question.” One said.
“Which one is that?” his colleague asked.
“Whether we'll be asked to try to recover the bomb.”
“I'm guessing the answer is 'oops, you set it off'.”
“Speed of sound is about three hundred metres a second, yes?”
“I was always taught it's three seconds for a kilometre, so I'm guessing three hundred and thirty or so.”
“So, that ought to have been two hundred kilometres away, so we've got ten minutes before the shock wave hits.”
“I'm just really glad we're not under ground zero.”
“I'm really glad we moved Atlantis.”
“Should we submerge, boss?” the first speaker asked.
“Oooh. Sound speed in water's faster isn't it?” the foreman asked.
“Much. One and half kilometres a second.” an engineer replied.
“So... two minutes to get out of the water, from the flash?”
“Less, probably. The shock will have gone faster.”
“NUCLEAR SHOCKWAVE! Get out of the water! NOW! Everyone!” the foreman ordered the divers who'd been working on installing forcefields that would allow underwater servicing of the drives if that was ever needed, quickly obeyed.
“I don't know how powerful it'll be.” The engineer said.
“Nor do I. Better safe than sorry.”
“Good point.”
“And do we turn the dome on?”
“I think so. Like you say, better safe than sorry. We'll get everyone out of the water first though. Just to make sure.”
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THURSDAY, 2ND AUGUST, 2277, PEOPLE'S STATE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PENINSULA
General Wenn, the man behind the loud hailer shouted at the ambassador's craft. “We do not accept any of your claims. We do not accept the propaganda that have been spoken of via the capitalist imperialists of the United Nations, or the theatrical props you call technology. We do not accept the existence of your so-called nation. And we certainly do not accept any claim over our territorial waters, our contiguous waters, nor our economic waters. We do not accept your presence here. Leave!”
“You claim to be a socialist state, do you not?” the ambassador asked, through his loud hailer.
“We are a socialist state, lead by our great leader who was acknowledged by our council, for the good of all the people.”
“Then, we are not so different. Our leader was also chosen by the high council of our people, despite her protests. Who would want such power? Do you hold all possessions lightly, willing to use them for the common good? Are there poor among you and needy? Does your leader live in the same kind of home as his people?”
“The needs of the poor are met by the generosity of the great leader.” the spokesman said from the patrol boat, a little confused by the switch to political science.
“Tomorrow, the needs of your poor will be met by the mer people, by gracious order of our great leader. It is easy to deny images, it is harder to deny the richest harvest of fish your people have ever seen. We will leave, as you have asked, but at dawn, drop fishing nets at the mouths all of your harbours, and you will find your harbour waters team with fish. This is our gift to your people, and evidence of our claims. But with our gift, I give three warnings: The first warning is this: if you drop nets, do not leave the fish to die. Serve your poor, or reject the gift and let them return from where they came, but do not destroy them without purpose. If you waste the lives of these fish in any harbour, then when fishing boats from those harbours set to sea they will find few fish. Do not bother moving boats from harbour to harbour. We will know. If a boat from a harbour that turns to a graveyard returns with ten small fish, there will be great rejoicing among the crew. This is the first warning, take heed of it.
“The second warning is this: as we have told the capitalists in the United Nations, as we have told the people of all the world: drop no depth-charges. A ship or land-emplacement which drops one depth charge will be wounded, a ship which drops two will be sunk, and a land-emplacement destroyed. A plane which drops depth charges will be cut from the sky. If your navy drops many depth charges, we will destroy them on sight. Do not threaten the lives of our children in this way, for we are well used to dealing with sharks.
“The third warning I also tell you: you have chosen to claim we are not real. That we accept. If you attack our city, we will know your words are false, we will know you seek not just to pretend we are not alive, but to kill us all. Then we will have no option: the antimatter devices planted under your coastal cities will be detonated. Your cities will be destroyed. If you accept our existence enough to make war on us, then be prepared for the consequences. Each of your cities has five hundred grammes of antimatter beside it, and has had for ten generations. We are a peace loving people, but if you try to destroy us, you will be destroyed. This has always been our way, and sharks have known this for thousands of years. These are our great leader's warnings to your leader. Ignore them at your peril, we do not make claims we cannot keep, we do not lie.”
The spokesperson for the People's State called through the loud-hailer: “You are not a peaceful people if you make such threats! I ordered you to leave, now pay the penalty for your insolence!” he gave a signal and the troops on his boat opened fire. The bullets harmlessly struck the forcefield that had been in place since before the ambassador started speaking, and ricocheted into the water. Karella had made sure that all was very prepared for this encounter.
Once the firing stopped, the ambassador spoke “I was warned you were a nation of many dangerous sharks; you have just proved that you are one. But in order that you may deliver the announcement of our gift to your people, and the three warnings to your leader, and so also you may know that we are a peace-loving people, with the technology to do all we have claimed, we will only wound your ship, although you tried to kill me. Call for a tow, for your propeller will soon be no more. If you do not deliver the message, your life is not worth preserving, so remain on land. We do not let dangerous sharks live long.” With that, he dropped into his small submarine, which vanished under the waves. General Wenn ordered his launch to return to the harbour and rocket-propelled depth-charges to be fired from the harbour walls at the last-known position of the ambassadorial submarine.
The mer-woman on lookout beside the harbour wall, who'd half-expected such an attack after the first one, screamed a warning to her colleague who was cutting the propeller from the launch. Both engaged their personal forcefields as the first salvo hit the water. Theophilus, the ambassador, was safely out of range long before the depth charges exploded; he liked his fast little submarine a lot. The response of the Mer to the depth charges followed swiftly, once the first shock wave had passed, and before another salvo could be fired. The warrior beside the wall engaged her rock-cutter and methodically sliced off the quad barrels of the coastal defence rail-gun, which pointed out over the sea from above where she was stationed. She'd swum away before the shocked soldiers manning the wall or the men on the launch could react. Furious, at the destruction of the railgun, the general ordered further salvos.
As they flew, the construction submarine which had been providing the forcefield swung its gigawatt laser into action. First, it cut the depth-charges from the air, and then cut down all of the depth-charge launchers. The operator was pleased to see that the computer had done its job well, and no people had been wounded. Then, once the mer-women had boarded, it systematically sliced the harbor wall into twenty sections as though it was a cake; a few metres of harbour wall was an easy task for a rock-cutter with the power to cut hundred-metre cubes out of bedrock. All the soldiers ran from the incandescent beam, despite the commands of the general, safe on his drifting boat. He did not order his own troops to fire. Then a second pass was made, and each section developed a message, carved ten centimetres deep: 'Use no more depth charges', a different language on each piece. Then a final pass was made. The wall was cut below the waterline and a frictionless forcefield inserted behind the sloping cut. The sections of the wall slid and toppled over into the harbour, leaving the writing just above the water. No lives were lost, but the harbour was not going to be as useful against a storm has it had been previously.
It had taken about thirty seconds. The observer submarines, undetected by the People's State, stopped filming, and the reporters concluded their reports.
Lilly, who'd been subtitling the English of the shouted discussion, spoke her own conclusion in her mother tongue “As you see, the merfolk gave warning, and demonstrated their care for life as well as the truth of their words. Nobody's son or daughter was hurt today, only the pride of a general who single-handedly bears the responsibility for this restrained demonstration of power. So let the fisher folk of our beautiful peninsula harvest the gift that will be delivered to their harbours tonight, and pass on this goodwill gift to feed the poor and hungry workers. It is surely not the will of the great leader that the arrogant generals with their bellies full of stolen grain prevent this, but if they do prevent the harvesting and distribution of the fish, allow the fish to swim away. For surely a people who can herd fish into a harbour can herd them from your nets.
“The mer came asking for a simple treaty of peace, and were shot at. The treaty the merfolk asked for is that their children might swim safely along our beautiful coastland, that perhaps some families who choose might make their homes at the foot of our inhospitable cliffs. We have plenty of those, do we not? And we would only know they were there if we saw them playing in the water. They asked that they might trade with us, exchanging fish for meat and oysters for bread, that they might bring us the treasure of the sea, and keep our children safe from sharks. For this they came; and General Wenn ordered their ambassador be shot.
“Their ambassador warned what would happen if depth charges were used, and so the general, like a stupid boy told not to poke the bee-hive, did what he had been warned against, and provoked the response you saw. I beg of our brave soldiers, of whatever rank: defend your people against the consequences of stupidity, do not obey orders to use depth charges, next time someone might get hurt. And whatever you do, do not allow any missile or torpedo to be fired towards Atlantis; keep our peninsula beautiful, and do not force the merfolk to wipe our cities from the maps.
“Two months ago, the leader of the Mer was a humble housewife. She still lives in a house just like any other person in Atlantis, but the council decided she should be queen. She begged and pleaded with them not to make her take this role, but they did not relent. She is not hungry for power like some generals. As many of our women, she has kept guard over her children as they play in the sea, lest sharks come, but she is one of the merfolk. Their response to sharks is not to run away from the water, but to draw their knives and ensure that the dangerous shark harms no one again. She has defended her children in this way, risking her life to defend her son and two daughters. Now she has a bigger family to protect: her people. What mother wants to see her children killed in war? But if war-hungry generals threaten, we can be sure her response will be effective, and quick.”
She then uploaded the report to various sites she knew about. One account, which she'd been keeping for something really special, fed directly onto the national news channel. She'd actually done almost all of the hacking necessary as a student in spy school. The teachers had given her top marks, hastily corrected the bug she'd exploited and then deleted the account she'd made as a demonstration. They didn't spot the other account she'd made at the same time. It's privilege level had let her make other accounts, over the years, which let her submit things as a normal journalist, sometimes they even got through the censors. She'd been careful, of course, but surely it wasn't too difficult for someone to realise what what was going on? This account, this master account, was a special one because this one had been created from the spy school with full rights. Being made there meant it was on the same network as the office of the 'great leader', so it had override authority. With that, she could interrupt the current broadcast, and get her report to almost everyone, just like a journalist with the blessing of the 'great leader'. It would be a real shame to lose it. So, since she wasn't sure which network the port authority connection she was accessing now was on, she made a new user and checked. Wonderful! This new account had no override authority, but she did have military priority — no censorship. Also, she could mark an article to be the first news item. Since the news was in five minutes, that was just as good. She quickly back-dated the account, and set the person authorising it to be General Wenn, just to cover her tracks a little better, and add a little more more confusion.
She uploaded the story and sat back to watch the news broadcast with a grin on her face.
“Having fun?” her pilot asked.
“Oh yes. I've just uploaded the recording to the national news channel, posing as a military news broadcaster. It ought to appear on the news broadcast in a couple of minutes.”
“Oooh, that's a nice twist.”
“You'd think that they'd be much more careful of their systems, wouldn't you?” Lilly asked “But for some reason the broadcast system isn't given military-grade protection.”
“It might be soon.”
“I know. I worry about that every time I upload something. But this one is well worth the risk, I think.”
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FRIDAY, 3RD AUGUST, 2277
[Your majesty, his majesty, my father in law has a question he'd like to ask.] Eliza thought to Karella.
[Hello Eliza. Why do I get the feeling he's not particularly amused?]
[Well, we are mostly on speaking terms with the People's State.]
[We wanted to be too. We want to be too.]
[Oh, so it wasn't the well-planned military action it looked like?]
[Plan A was that he decided to accept our Ambassador's credentials. Plan B was that he didn't, and our ambassador said his piece and left. Plan C was they react badly, which is why we had the force-field in place. We really didn't expect they'd try and depth-charge our ambassador, which was plan D, but we were ready for it. And them failing to stop after we'd shown that we really did have rock-cutters, and they could do what we said, that pushed us into plan E. So, in terms of things that went well, at least they've not launched against us.]
[And submitting Lilly's report into their news-channels? That's really upset them.]
[Lilly's own idea, not discussed with me at all.]
[Oh.... OK, I guess I'll tell her off later, then.]
[I thought the broadcast was quite carefully respectful of their monarch.]
[It was, actually. Everyone knows that General Wenn didn't act alone, of course.]
[We don't. Not officially. So, our ambassador will try again, probably in a week's time. The good news is they've accepted the fish. It would have been really annoying to have carried out that threat.]
[I presume you considered that when you made the treat. Why did you?]
[The reasons we said. We don't want to make war on them, we want peace, and giving them the fish seemed like a good way of demonstrating that. They've accepted the gift, they've not left them to rot, like some might have.]
[I wonder if it was the people or the military?]
[It doesn't matter. What it means is that somewhere in that country are people we can deal with.]
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
[You realise that almost the entire world has been totally failing to get through to them, don't you?]
[They know you and they don't trust you.]
[And you think slicing up their harbour will help them trust you?]
[Yes. It'll help them understand that we're people who mean what we say, that we don't issue idle threats or make promises we can't keep. That's pretty important. And of course, broadcasting footage what we can do with a construction sub if we have to, might help some other nations decide not to use terror weapons either.]
[Speaking of which, we're very glad that you moved Atlantis away from the impact site.]
[Not as glad as we are. Were there any injuries at all? I checked for anyone on the water who'd been hurt or injured as soon as I heard.]
[There were some people on an island who watched the fireball too long. I don't know if the damage is permanent or not.]
[Sad.]
[Yes. It looks like whatever fall-out there is will be spread world-wide.]
[Yes. Why wasn't it diverted into the sun or something? That's surely the right place for dangerous things in space.]
[The scientists predicted what happened wouldn't happen.]
[Hmm. Ours gave that event a ten percent chance, blowing up when it hit the sea a five percent chance, and polluting the ocean with radioactive chemicals an eighty-four percent chance.]
[And the last percentage point?]
[That somehow it would land intact, not break up and we could dispose of it safely.]
[Dispose of it safely?]
[Yes. A real favourite would have been to split the plutonium into gold, but I'm not sure what else you'd get.]
[You urm, routinely transmute elements?]
[I wouldn't say it was routine, but we've done it before, like when we stopped using a fission reactor to power Atlantis. What did you do with the radioactives from your unwanted reactors?]
[We bury them, as far as I know, and let them decay.]
[What sort of a solution is that?] Karella was aghast.
[Best we've been able to come up with, other than bombard them with neutrons to split them into more radioactive things.]
[I guess that's something else we could offer then, isn't it?]
[Safe nuclear waste disposal? I'm sure. What would you like in return?]
[Oooh... how about permanent settlement rights to some coastline, maybe with woodland beside it that people could hunt in? Shocking as it might seem, some of us have been known to prefer rabbit or deer to fish sometimes.]
[I'll have to talk to my father in law. How much land were you thinking of?]
[I expect that depends on how much waste you're going to need dealt with doesn't it?]
[{smile}Almost certainly.]
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1ST DECEMBER 2277, 10A.M. COASTLINE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PENINSULA
To the accompaniment of the twenty merwomen flautists playing a soft tune no land-man recognised, the cameras watched as the two parties to the treaty read the agreed words. The foreign minister had had some input at the beginning of the negotiation, but he'd fallen out of favour recently when his son had been found guilty of unpatriotic behaviour — he'd dared to give some soldiers advice about how to avoid `volunteering' for a second ten year term.
In the end, the Great Leader himself had negotiated a great many of the terms himself. Of course, he also agreed to all terms.
Having further demoted his former prime consort from justice minister to chief of anti-corruption investigations over the military, the Great leader had recently instigated a crack-down against competent lawyers for such “crimes” as honestly representing clients, attempting to interpret the law in as it was written, or daring to suggest there might be other interpretations to his own.
Possibly the distinct lack of competent lawyers outside prison or foolhardy enough to venture an opinion unasked for might have had something do do with the treaty being almost entirely his own work, from their side, anyway. It hadn't occurred to him to ask for opinions, or that the ambassador he was negotiating with might have been a dedicated student of history, with a special interest in treaty law. Every word had seemed fully agreeable to both sides, including the oaths that would be taken.
“The people of the Beautiful Peninsula hereby recognise the claims of the merfolk to rule the deeps and shallows, and the merfolk recognise the claims of the People's State to rule it's internal waterways and the beaches on the peninsula exposed at low tide. The merfolk will permit sustainable fishing and the peaceful passage of its waters by all ships of the Beautiful Peninsula, and the people of the Beautiful Peninsula will permit peaceful passage of their waterways by the Mer. The people of the Beautiful Peninsula will not pollute the rivers, coasts or seas. The merfolk will safely dispose of the nuclear waste currently on the Beautiful Peninsula, provide free power to cities from the antimatter batteries, and further clean energy supplies when those run out for the duration of this treaty.
Under this treaty, the merfolk shall also have right of peaceful trade with the people of the Beautiful Peninsula, the right to establish up to fifty trade outposts, each one extending up to five hundred metres along the coast and three hundred metres inland. The first one being at this historic site of the founding of this treaty.
“Between them, these outposts may include homes for at most one thousand merfolk. Within the trade outposts, the laws of the merfolk will be held to be supreme.
“In return, the merfolk will assist in defending the Innocent People of the Beautiful Peninsula, their coastline and economic area around, against all who encroach. The people of the Beautiful Peninsular will not attack the merfolk, nor use any depth-charges. We vow to a state of peace between our people, binding for fifty years.”
Theophilus raised his hand and stated formally “Subject to both of us vowing the agreed terms, on behalf of and in the name of queen Karella, ruler of all merfolk and undisputed sovereign of the shallows and the deeps, I accept this treaty, and vow that the mer people will not harm the innocent people of the Beautiful Peninsula, nor allow them to come to harm, if it is in our power to prevent it.”
“On behalf of the people and state of the Beautiful Peninsula, I swear we will uphold this treaty and that my people will not attack the merfolk.”
“It is done.” Theophilus stated, offering the great leader his hand.
“Yes. And a vow made must be kept.” the great leader agreed, shaking Theo's hand for the cameras, while thinking with glee of how much nuclear waste these foolish merfolk had just agreed to deal with.
“It must, indeed. Swearing falsely or oath-breaking is a terrible thing, and surely will bring disaster on the oath-breaker.”
“You got by far the worst end of the deal.” the Great Leader said.
Theophilus raised an eyebrow “I'm glad we both think that, it makes it a good treaty.”
“You'll be reprocessing that waste for a very long time.” the Great Leader added, convinced of his own cleverness.
“We'd much rather do that than live beside it. But anyway, my friend, about your political and religious prisoners.”
“What about them? None of your business.”
“Under the terms of the treaty I must request that you release them.”
“Don't think to interfere in our internal affairs, friend, that's not funny.”
“I fear they are innocent of any real crime and are coming to harm. A vow must be kept, and the words of my oath are clear, my friend.” Theophilus said, as though confused. “We will not allow any of the innocent people of this Beautiful Peninsula to come to harm if it is within our power to prevent it.”
“It is not within your power.”
“Oh, I think you'll find that it is.” Theophilus replied. “Our treaty is quite clear. You recognise we control the water except the rivers, and we recognise that you control the rivers and beaches, and except for our trade outposts of course, there's no discussion of land. And you won't attack us. I don't know why you didn't claim the land of the peninsula, but that's obviously not as important to you, just like it isn't to us. Or maybe you shouldn't have executed and imprisoned the lawyers who could think clearly, but anyway, we've now got a duty to defend the innocent people of this peninsula from all who wish to harm them. One who wishes to harm the innocent, of course must not be innocent themselves. We have made no vow to protect such a one.” He addressed the cameras and said “Let this time of peace be celebrated by all.”
“This is an unacceptable interference!” The great leader shouted.
“I do not understand, my friend, you knew what we were agreeing to, surely?”
Theophilus replied calmly. “But in any case, an oath must be kept, for the oath-breaker is shark or shark-food. We have vowed to protect the innocent, and you have vowed that your people not will attack any of us. So it is surely within our power to carry out our obligations under the oath.”
The Great Leader shouted “Treachery!” and his soldiers immediately raised their guns to fire at the ambassador. They then collapsed to the floor as the blow-darts' muscle relaxant took effect. The flautests then realigned, pointing their blowpipes towards the great leader himself. “We really don't want an international incident here, my friend.” Theophilus pointed out to the Great Leader. “Your soldiers will recover in about half an hour, but it would be very disappointing if having sworn this peace treaty you made yourself an oath-breaker so quickly.”
“You call this peace! This is a declaration of war!” The leader growled.
“No, this is fulfilling the terms of our oath. You saw it beforehand, you agreed to the exact words. If you failed to understand the implications, that is hardly our problem.”
“We will make a new treaty!”
“Very well. But we will swear to no treaty that alters the terms of this one. An oath made must be kept. If you wish, we can discuss our interpretation of the terms of the treaty. Perhaps at the United Nations international court? In the unlikely case they agree with you then we'll allow you to put your innocent prisoners back in jail.”
“I will destroy this treaty!” the Great Leader said.
“Your oath has been made. It binds us and binds you, your army, your population. Do not make yourself an oath-breaker. Under the terms of the treaty, and your oath, our laws apply here now.”
“You intended this all along!” the leader of the People's state said.
“It seems that you deliberately misled us about how much nuclear waste we would be processing. Still, we will keep our side of the oath, and you will keep your oath, or you will be shark-food.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“We already know you are a shark. This we told you at the beginning. But for the sake of your people, we have given you a chance to reform, and accepted your oath, emphasizing again and again that an oath cannot be unmade. Now there will be peace between our people, and your people, all your innocent people will benefit from our protection. I expect that they will enjoy peace. But be warned, if you break the oath, our knives will be sharp.”
“That's what I love about you people.” the leader said with a smile, seeing something funny in the threat. “You are so honest! I wonder what you would do if I simply ordered that the people you want me to free to be executed?”
“I think you might find that hard.” Lilly said, in her mother tongue as she entered the room; some of the cameras pointed at her.
“I recognise you,” the not-so great leader said, trying to place her face.
“We've met, the first time was about a decade ago when you congratulated me on graduating top of my class as a loyal spy. I have always been loyal to my country, and my people. But I have never been loyal to you. Now I work with the information department of the United Nations, and I bring a message, Mr Ambassador. On hearing that the self-proclaimed 'Great Leader' of the People's State was standing on ground where the laws of the merfolk held sway, the United Nations Court of Justice has published a warrant for his immediate arrest.”
Genuine fear showed on his face “You can't arrest me at a treaty signing!”
“An oath has been sworn, that when a United Nations arrest warrant is issued, it shall be honoured. You must consider yourself a prisoner.” the ambassador said. Adding with some feeling, “It is not polite of the United Nations court to do this, but we have no choice.” He turned to Lilly, “I presume that you have a copy of the warrant?”
“Yes, your excellency.” Lilly confirmed, handing the crystal to him.
“I'm going to need to confirm the authenticity of this warrant.”
“Of course, your excellency.” Turning to the not so great leader, she added, conversationally, “I must say, I've been waiting for this day a long long time. I'd really love to see you try to run, except I probably wouldn't get the chance to do even one throw on you, and we don't want to ruin this nice new carpet do we? I've seen what happens when someone is shot with too many blow-pipe darts; it's not fatal but it is messy.”
“Taunting an arrested head of state is not polite, either, Maam.” Theophilus said, while checking the details on the warrant.
“But he was my head of state, your excellency, before I defected. I suffered and many friends died because of this untrustworthy shark.”
“No shark is trustworthy.”
“This one is particularly dangerous.” Lilly said “He had his first wife executed.”
“She planned to overthrow me!” the prisoner said.
“She was pregnant. She was heard to tell her unborn son that she hoped when he was ruler he'd be a better ruler than his father.” Lilly said. “The spy who heard this reported it, the mother was executed and so was the spy.”
Lilly heard Theophilus decide he'd ask her how she knew that sometime. She decided in reply she'd tell him that the spy had been a fellow student at spy school when he did. That earned her a surprised glance; Theo had seen her around with the other journalists, but hadn't ever talked to her.
“That's not why it happened.” the prisoner retorted.
“But you admit executing your wife and unborn child.” Lilly pressed, knowing the horror of that crime in the eyes of the Mer.
“I thank you for bringing the document, messenger, but must ask you to leave.”
“Mer-friend, wait, please.” one of the merwomen asked, and spoke to Theo in the language of the Mer. “This is Lilly, ambassador, named mer-friend for her role in preparing our ambassador at the United Nations.”
“She did not prepare me for this turn of events, nor tell me anything about this place.”
“No. Karella asked her to stay away so that you could negotiate with this one who is oath-breaker, baby-killer and dangerous shark.”
Theo nodded; it would have been very hard to negotiate with a baby-killer. “Do you deny this accusation against you?” he asked the prisoner.
“She planned to overthrow me. The evidence was entirely clear.”
“And the child?”
“What of it?” the prisoner asked callously, mostly just for effect. It was a habit of his.
“By your mouth and your attitude you stand self-condemned, oath-breaker and baby-killer.” Theo said “Be glad the arrest warrant is valid. You will be sedated if you move while we address the issue of transporting you to your trial. I do not think any mer would accept the risk of transporting you.”
“Maybe he should swim there.” one of the mer-women suggested.
“We are bound by oath to do our best to get him there alive.” Theo pointed out, then added “Otherwise it'd be an excellent suggestion.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Lilly asked, “There are the local fishermen, some have ocean-going boats. They could certainly remove him to the deep water, where perhaps another military vessel could take him. But they would fear reprisals.”
“We surely cannot ask another to take a risk we would not take ourselves.” one of the merwomen pointed out.
“Could he not be tied up in a small surface boat, and it be towed?” another asked.
“It has more merit, certainly.” Theo said, “That way if judgement strikes it is only the surface boat that is destroyed. Mer-friend, will you assist in this? We cannot guarantee the surface boat will return, but we will pay if it does not.”
“I will, go, but... might I have company? I don't swim very well in scales yet.”
“Of course.”
----------------------------------------
Lilly swam around the point, with two mer-women alongside her, to the first of the fishing boats.
“Citizen of this Beautiful Peninsula, I have a question for you.”
He didn't quite jump out of his skin. “You speak our language?”
“The tail is just clothing, I am from inland. Do you know where my friends might borrow a small boat?”
“How small?” he asked.
“One great prisoner, to be delivered to the United Nations. They do not want such scum on their own vessel.”
“One great prisoner?” he turned the possible meanings of that in his mind and said “I do not know if I want to understand.”
“A peace treaty has been sworn to. The mer intend to protect all the innocent people of our Beautiful home from harm, and the people of the peninsula will not attack the Mer.”
“And... what of those who many might not count as innocent?”
“They will not attack, or will be treated as rabid dogs.” Lilly said. “The mer feel that there are innocent people in prisons who need protecting from harm, so we live in interesting times. Do you have a small boat? The mer think the crimes of the prisoner are so great that God might decide to punish him before he gets to the court, but they will pay if it is destroyed.”
“I do not. But my brother does.”
“Could you ask if we can borrow it?”
“It would be nice to. But I have not seen him for some time.”
“Oh. Do you know where he is?”
“Not really. Perhaps he needs protecting. The prisoner is... a famous person?”
“Yes. The treaty made the treaty place, around the headland, to be a trade outpost, under the law of the Mer. The prisoner forgot the Mer already have a treaty with the United Nations. Maybe he would not have agreed to the treaty if he had better advice, but I think he never was one to value advice. While they were discussing those who need protecting, an arrest warrant arrived.”
“The treaty had been signed long?”
“Not very. The news coverage will be most interesting, I expect.”
“I will get my brother's boat. Such a prisoner should be moved quickly, I believe.”
“Exactly my thoughts.” Lilly agreed, and explained to the merwomen what had been discussed.
“Is he putting himself in danger?”
“Possibly.” Lilly said.
“Invite him to the trade outpost. It will be easier to protect him there. And his family, of course.”
----------------------------------------
1ST DECEMBER 2277, 11 A.M. NEWS REPORT
“Today a historic treaty has been sworn with the mer people. In exchange for fifty years of peace and a small number of trade enclaves, the Mer have agreed to be our powerful ally, defending us in case the imperialistic capitalist states attack us, and also providing all the power our coastal cities need. Also, they will make safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian nuclear programme as well as the small quantities from our defensive systems. This historic treaty has been negotiated single-handedly by our Great Leader. The exact text of the treaty follows.”
1ST DECEMBER 2277, 11.30 A.M. NEWS REPORT
“Today a historic treaty has been sworn with the mer people. In exchange for fifty years of peace, a small number of trade enclaves, and no attacks from any of our people, the Mer have agreed to be our powerful ally, defending the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, and also providing all the power our coastal cities need. Also, they will make safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian nuclear programme as well as the small quantities from our defensive systems. This historic treaty has been negotiated single-handedly by our Great Leader. The exact text of the treaty follows.”
1ST DECEMBER 2277, 1.00 P.M. NEWS REPORT
“Today a historic treaty has been sworn with the mer people. In exchange for fifty years of peace, a small number of trade enclaves, and no attacks from any of our people, the powerful mer have agreed protect the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, and also provide all the power our coastal cities need. Also, they will make safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian nuclear programme as well as the small quantities from our defensive systems. This historic treaty has been negotiated single-handedly by our Great Leader, who has cancelled his normal lunchtime speech. The exact text of the treaty follows...”
1ST DECEMBER 2277, 2 P.M. NEWS REPORT
“Today a historic treaty has been sworn with the mer people. In exchange for them providing all the power our coastal cities need and making safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian and defensive nuclear programmes, the Great Leader has committed our army, navy and air-force to not attack the technologically powerful mer for any reason for the next fifty years of this peace treaty, nor to make any use of depth-charges. The treaty also provides for a small number of mer trade enclaves which will operate under mer law. The mer have also taken it upon themselves to protect the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, as much as they are able.
The exact text of the treaty follows...”
“In further news, the United Nations Security council has issued a warrant for the arrest of the Great Leader. The exact motive for such a blatant attack on our sovereignty is unknown.”
1ST DECEMBER 2277, 6 P.M. NEWS ANALYSIS.
“Today a historic treaty has been sworn with the mer people. In exchange for them providing all the power our coastal cities need and making safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian and defensive nuclear programme, the Great Leader committed our army, navy, airforce, police or security services, and also any individual citizens to not attack the technologically powerful mer for any reason, nor may our armed forces make any use of depth-charges. This treaty is unalterable and will bind present and future governments for the next fifty years, or risk a terrible war of annihilation with the Mer. The treaty also provides for a small number of mer trade enclaves which will operate under mer law. The mer have also taken it upon themselves to protect the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, as much as they are able.
In further news, while the Great Leader was discussing implementation details of the treaty, on soil that the treaty had made mer territory, the United Nations Security council issued a warrant for the arrest of the Great Leader. The mer ambassador has forcefully objected to the timing of this event, but the mer security forces were bound by their prior treaty. Our Great Leader is reportedly now on his way to face these trumped up charges against him. We expect him to return home soon.
The exact text of the treaty with the Mer follows...”
2ND DECEMBER 2277, 8 A.M. NEWS ANALYSIS.
“Yesterday's historic treaty with the mer people has had a number of consequences that the Great Leader clearly did not foresee. One being his arrest and immediate extradition to the United Nations court.
In exchange for the Mer providing all the power our coastal cities need and making safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian and defensive nuclear programme, the previous leader committed our army, navy, airforce, police or security services, and also any individual citizens to not attack the technologically powerful mer for any reason, and nor may our armed forces make any use of depth-charges. This treaty is unalterable and will bind present and future governments for the next fifty years, or risk a terrible war of annihilation with the Mer. The treaty also provides for a small number of mer trade enclaves which will operate under mer law, but provides no method for determining where they should be. The mer have sworn that they will protect the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, as much as they are able, and to this end are insisting that political prisoners are released. The former foreign affairs minister has been nominated as our leader, and refuses the title great.
2ND DECEMBER 2277, 6 P.M. NEWS ANALYSIS.
“Yesterday's historic treaty with the mer people has had a number of consequences that the previous leader of our Beautiful Peninsula clearly did not foresee. One being his arrest and immediate extradition to the United Nations court, where he faces numerous charges including misuse of power, misuse of public money, corruption, dictatorship, false imprisonment, torture, and extra-judicial execution. The council of the People's state is currently discussing with the United Nations the extent to which support for the prosecution case is appropriate.
The former foreign affairs minister has been nominated as our leader, and refuses the title great.
Yesterday's treaty specified that in exchange for the Mer providing all the power our coastal cities need and making safe the extensive nuclear waste from our civilian and defensive nuclear programmes, the previous leader committed our army, navy, airforce, police or security services, and also any individual citizens to not attack the technologically powerful mer for any reason, and nor may our armed forces make any use of depth-charges. This treaty is unalterable and will bind present and future governments for the next fifty years, or risk a terrible war with the peace-loving merfolk. A number of generals who felt the appropriate response to recent events was an attack on the Mer have been relieved of their position and are undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
Among other shortcomings of the treaty that our previous leader swore to without consultation, is the fact that while it claims the tidal stretches of beaches and our internal waters as ours, it foolishly makes no claim for the dry land of our Beautiful Peninsula. It also grants the Mer the right to set up fifty trade enclaves which will operate under mer law, but provides no method for determining where they should be, presumably leaving that choice entirely in the hands of the merfolk, as no sovereignty over the land was mentioned. Discussions are underway regarding the best way to resolve these anomalies.
The only enclave specified, and that not in precise terms, was established by the treaty as at the treaty location. This led to the immediate arrest of the dictator when the United Nations warrant was issued, a few minutes after the treaty was sworn.
The most immediately beneficial part of the whole treaty for the individual citizen that the evil dictator failed to spot is that the merfolk swore that they will protect the innocent people of our Beautiful peninsula from harm, as much as they are able. To this end, they are insisting that political and religious prisoners be released, a policy that our new leader wholeheartedly endorses. Another benefit from the treaty is now we have a powerful and reliable ally and improved relationships with the United Nations, our new leader has pointed out that we do not need the vast military budget we have had for the last decades.
Therefore, a new policy will come into effect in the next few days slashing the military budget and including provisions such that most armed forces personnel will be given the choice as to whether they wish to continue in their roles or return home.
Although the Mer are interested in trade it would be almost entirely wrong to describe them as capitalists. Almost all large-scale projects among them are organised by their government, as are health-care and education, which are provided without charge. Food is shared amongst them on the basis of mutual care and social responsibility. Their attitude in this area appears to have more similarity with a pre-industrial kinship model than any political philosophy.
Most economists who have looked at their economic model have agreed that the model is unsustainable and not based on any sensible theoretical underpinnings; the Mer shrug and reply 'It hasn't changed much for the last two thousand years, but who knows what will happen now? We don't mind too much, as long as the sick are healed, the hungry are fed and we get time to swim.'”
The End of the Other Big Secret
The next series: Visual Effects looks at what's been happening on Mars