THE OTHER BIG SECRET 3: SAFELY OUT AT SEA / CH. 4:SECURITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, 10TH JULY, 2277, U.N. BUILDING
“My queen and my people thank the Security Council that you give me this invitation to speak.” Penelope said, “I particularly thank those countries who have already started the complex process of opening diplomatic channels with a nation that has not appeared on any map in recent centuries. That takes a significant level of courage, and we fully intend to honour those who are thus brave in practical ways, probably relating to trade or cultural interchange. I know that Greece has expressed an interest in the loan of certain artefacts and access to others, for instance. I am sure that such negotiations will eventually reach a fruitful conclusion.” the Greek ambassador smiled widely. Penelope continued “As I believe that all here know, the SpaceGuard interceptor is due to impact Atlantic ocean on the first of August. There are significant error bars, but our underwater city is certainly at risk. Therefore, for the first time in over a century, we will be seeking to move it a considerable distance. We hope and pray that the hastily curtailed maintenance on our ancient fusion reactor has not missed any problem, but as a safety measure, all our population except the reactor technicians will move into small craft for the reactor's ignition phase. That precautionary evacuation will occur on the eighteenth of this month, and assuming all starts perfectly our population will then return to their homes.
I have four main issues I wish to raise, all relate to avoiding of calamity.
The first, as I have asked of all ambassadors I have talked to, is the introduction of a military exclusion zone around our city, in order to prevent accidents. To be more precise, we would like to see a total ban on all machines of war above, on or below the surface that would be normally or abnormally equipped to launch a bomb, missile, or torpedo with a warhead capable of delivering more that then five kilograms of TNT to an underwater target. We thus do not seek to ban reconnaissance vehicles, training expeditions, transport or escort flights, nor do we see any motivation to ban any civilian vessels that have not been pressed into military service. To the nations operating stealth submarine patrols, I must tell you that our vessels have been tracking you for generations, mostly to avoid accidental discovery, of course. The ban we ask for should be considered to include all of your so-called stealth submarines, do not think you can hide from us. The question of enforcement has been raised. We are a peace-loving people, but we are easily able to enforce this ban, the title of our queen as undisputed sovereign of the deeps and shallows should not be taken as hyperbole.
“The reason for this ban is simple. A single warhead more powerful than the limit I have mentioned, whether released in panic or with ill intent, could possibly result in the destruction of the dome of crystal and rock that protects our city from the crushing pressure of the deep ocean, and so the genocide of our people. We have far more submarines than you, it us true, but not sufficient to keep our population of half a million in safety for the two weeks needed to move the city to safety. We imagine that to unexpectedly find yourself in the path of a two kilometre diameter submarine would be a terrifying experience, particularly if your submarine strayed into the area of the intakes for our propulsion system, where the currents can be intense. We wholeheartedly wish to avoid a panicked captain opening fire and thus committing genocide. We also wish to avoid any other unpleasant misunderstandings.
“Secondly, though you may only see the relevance later, my queen felt it imperative that your governments understand our oldest and most fundamental law: an oath-breaker is either shark or shark-food. That is to say that a person breaking an oath, any oath, should expect divine retribution — in the form of a shark, or other fatal accident. We do not claim it is necessary to execute every oath-breaker, but leave that to God in his sovereignty, grace and justice. Although we value life highly, we would probably not try to intervene to prevent such justice to a known oath-breaker, such a person has made themselves shark-food. An oath-breaker who has not yet been judged, we may consider a shark: untrustworthy and potentially dangerous. Not all sharks need to be killed; many types of sharks are unable to harm us or our children, others are capable, but are careful to avoid threatening behaviour. But it is our duty to our children to warn off or ruthlessly destroy any dangerous shark. We will never break a treaty sealed on oath with a formal vow. We have long memories, and we remember what we have vowed, as we value our children and know that shark-bites are sharp and terrible and come without warning. But let your governments be aware of our law, because no nation that has sworn falsely to us still ventures on the seas. It would be better to have no treaty with us than to break one. If you swear eternal friendship, we will expect that to last eternally, and a deliberately unfriendly act would make your military dangerous sharks in our eyes, and that would bring the calamity known as war.
“Thirdly, I wish to address the issue of disarmament. With the risk of deliberate or accidental genocidal attack particularly present during the cold-war era, our government at that time felt it was necessary to implement a system of automatic deterrent devices, to be revealed should some nation decide that, for instance, our city made a good target for an underwater nuclear test. These devices consist of a mass of antimatter held in a forcefield, the power for the forcefield being generated by the very gradual release of the antimatter. They were planted underground in the vicinity of all major coastal cities where a pre-existing treaty did not preclude such an unfriendly act. Thus for instance, our treaty with the Archons of Athens protected the territory of the city-state in that day. I am sorry to inform the ambassador for Greece, however, that Knossos was always too proud of its own claim of maritime supremacy to ratify a treaty with us.
“My queen shares my complete and utter disgust at these terrible weapons, and the indiscriminate nature of the destruction they would cause. She has no desire that they ever be used. It is our strong desire therefore that as normal diplomatic relationships are established we will disarm these devices. Nevertheless, these revolting devices have their purpose: to prevent genocide. In good conscience, while the threat of genocide remains, it would be fool-hardy to remove them, and in any case, disarming them will take a considerable period of time.”
“How long?” asked the Israeli Ambassador.
“The bombs are a minor modification to a power storage device we once considered using for our submarines. As such, they are able to generate power. If the governments concerned wish, the 'defusing' of the device might simply be a case of removing the modification, and connecting cables to the appropriate connectors, at which point, the city previously under threat could then use the electricity generated for the next fifty to a hundred years. I am not a specialist in this area and we only have a few, but I understand that the work would take approximately a week per device. Alternatively, there might be other uses elsewhere for the devices, in which case, making them safe for transport would take slightly longer. If there is no desire for them anywhere.... we made them, we would store them, use the power for our city, and accept the minuscule risk of a malfunction.”
“How much power are you talking of?”
Penelope consulted her notes. “I am told I was wrong in what I told some of you..
Each device contains approximately half a kilogram of antimatter, I understand that is the equivalent of roughly three hundred megawatt-years of electricity, but there are some inefficiencies, of course. I believe that the peaceful use of these devices is by far the best and having come to understand the terrible use to which they can be so easily turned, my Queen and I do not believe my people should ever make these storage devices again, for any purpose. I therefore ask that the Security Council seriously consider outlawing the storage of such an amount of antimatter. Let us disarm before any arms-race develops, and so prevent the calamity that would arise should such a device fail. If the Security Council takes such a step, we shall vow to never make these dangerous things or disseminate the technology to do so.
“I have spoken of three calamities, and now I wish to speak of a fourth. Perhaps it is not as significant on a world scale, but personally it is close to my heart. Depth-charges: you have long known the damage they do to fish, to reefs, to whales. You still use them, may God forgive your careless attitude to his creation. I used to have a sister. My sister had a husband and a daughter. As sometimes our folk do for relaxation or a holiday, they went for a swim near a deserted patch of coastline. They noticed some of your warships nearby, but they were not in a submarine, they were just diving, exploring, looking at the reef-life, playing tag with dolphins. Indeed they knew there were no submarines anywhere to be found nearby. They did not know your warships were pretending to hunt a submarine. The 'naval exercise' killed my niece and brother in law with the first depth charge, my sister was wounded but sent a distress call, and you killed her with the third. I was nearby and eventually recovered their remains. We can and do hold you guilty for the devastating effect on habitat, but we do not hold you guilty for that innocent blood, you never knew we were there. Now you do! Would you pretend to hunt a sniper by throwing grenades blindly into a school? Surely, never. Would you use that method if there was actually a sniper? I certainly hope not. Would you ever again use napalm on a village? Would you sow land-mines on a playing field? I believe you now consider these actions crimes against humanity. Good! You have matured, I assure you that the Romans did such things and worse. Let the indiscriminate destroyer known as depth charges be added to the list of banned weapons. Until you do, I inform this council of a decision made by the undisputed sovereign of the deeps and the shallows. Any ship or aircraft dropping depth charges near merfolk, knowingly or unknowingly, of whatever country, shall be considered a dangerous shark, or if you prefer, a rabid dog. For the sake of the sailors or airmen on board, some attempt at warning must be given. But for the sake of our children, and our brothers or sisters, continued use of depth charges will not be accepted, and the dangerous shark will feel our long sharp knives slicing its belly, its keel, or its wings. It will be allowed to limp home if it is able, so long as it drops no more charges. But if it dares to bare its teeth once more, its captain or pilot should expect to fall from the sky and sink to the deep. This is not a military decision, this will not be an act of war, it will be an act of self-defence, by a father or mother against those seeking to destroy their family. Let the destroyers of reefs, fish and mer beware, and let such catastrophe be avoided.”
“You claim that an ordinary parent would routinely carry such a weapon?” the ambassador for Israel asked.
“We have tools we use for making our homes in cliffs, cutting rock to make tables, carving granite and obsidian. They are dangerous, but very useful. They cut rock, but they will also cut other things, at a long distance through air or water. In the past, when you threatened to kill us by these deadly toys, our law said we could flee or cower, but do no more, because our existence was secret. I tell you that now our existence is not such a great secret. If a ship or plane drops these un-aimed killers near any mer, our queen has authorised the use of appropriate and reasonable force to save mer lives. Cutting holes in a ship or plane seems a reasonable and appropriate response to devices dropped haphazardly that rip limb from limb. Likewise, if any land-man decides that trying to shoot mer-folk is a good sport, as has happened in the past, the mer-folk do not need to stay their hand. For three thousand years we have fought sharks with two legs and with none. We are a peace-loving people, we have no intention to start any war, but we will defend our loved-ones.”
“Do you not realise that cutting bits off a ship is an excellent way of starting a war?” Jim Right, Lilly's friend asked.
“What would you call it, if we fired high explosives randomly onto land? Would you not call it an opening of hostilities? This you have been doing for generations. Now we say, let it stop. We do not demand you pay for crossing our territory, but we will now demand respect.”
“The laws of the sea cannot be done away with so quickly, maam!”
Penelope had been prepared for this one. “The law of the high seas has always presupposed there was no territorial claim. Territorial waters have always allowed innocent passage. What we tell you is that all the world's oceans are our territorial waters, and have been since before most of the countries represented here came to be. We will continue to allow innocent passage, even of those who refuse to recognise our claims, but we will not allow the indiscriminate destruction of innocent life by depth-charges, other explosive means, or poisons. We ask that you cease to regard the ocean as your rubbish tip, and clean up after yourselves like adults. We desire trade, the protection of innocent life — on both sides — and peace. It has been millennia since we interdicted sea travel by any nation, I trust we will not have to do so again.”
“You did, then, in the past?” Jim asked.
“Have you never been surprised that the Romans so feared the sea? It did not take so very long before the senate of Rome accepted our sovereignty, but long they remembered they were outnumbered and out of their element. It was only when we'd withdrawn to the Greek coastline that they even started thinking of expanding across the water.”
“Do you know why you withdrew?” Jim pressed.
“Because the Romans expressed their fear and hatred of us by using us as target practice for their scorpions. That's when we really started working on our city.”
“So you had no treaty with Rome?” the ambassador for Greece asked.
“No. The letter we have from the Roman Senate roughly says, 'Yes, you're ruler of the deep, but we rule the coasts as far as our arrows fly.' I believe the origin for your so-called territorial claim over the sea is an extension of that idea. I hesitate to point out to this august body, but by that logic, we ought to be able to likewise claim twelve kilometres of land from any point on the sea. We do not do so, we have no need of so much land.”
“Might we inquire as to why you need so much sea?” another asked.
“We do not. But apart from a few historic anomalies, very few countries have ever tried to claim any portion of it. And we have both points in our favour which have long been decisive in matters of international law: not only were we living there first, but we still are. Our submarines criss-cross the globe freely, and you have had no idea they are even there. But no, we do not need all the sea, so one item for detailed discussion at another time is whether any nation would be interested in learning our techniques for underwater building, or hiring our experts to build for them. The trade negotiations would, I think, be quite interesting. But for now, the question I put before this council is will the calamities I have outlined be avoided?” Penelope sat down.
More questions were asked, clarifications requested, arguments raised, and eventually a woman ambassador, Helga, asked “Exactly where is your city?”
“Madam Ambassador, it is under the ocean. I do not believe your nation has a military submarine capable of finding us, but... we have been hiding from you a long time. Please allow us a little patience before you ask us to point to a spot on the map and say 'If you want to drop a missile on us, we're here.'”
“You trust us so little?” she replied.
“It was only five years ago that your fellow land-folk who hear thoughts revealed themselves with fear and trepidation to the world. A little over half of us have that ability. We can also hold our breath for about quarter of an hour under water, have natural sonar like dolphins, and I was born with webbed feet, though the webs were removed after I chose to walk among you twenty years ago, so I wouldn't be quite so obvious. We can interbreed, and I have two lovely daughters as proof, but we are not the same sub-species of homo-sapiens as as you. On average, you are better at many things than we are, but based on the evidence, we are far better at keeping our vows and playing in the water than you.”
“So you have fear of racism, or rather speciesism along with the fear of someone burning you at the stake for witchcraft.” Helga concluded.
“Not to mention the entirety of our people in one vulnerable place. Strategically that's a disaster, we know. But... we could never really summon up the paranoia to think that Atlantis might really be destroyed.” Penelope laughed, “Ironic, really, given the name we gave it.”
“Tell us, then, of your proposed exclusion zone.”
“Assuming we will move South, we would like this zone.” She handed out papers with the exclusion zone marked. “You see that the zone is a hundred nautical miles wide, and it is deliberately not centred on our location. The east-west lines indicate north-most and south-most ranges from day to day. We are aiming to reach our top speed of ten knots after three days, but felt we needed to include some allowance for contingency purposes. Of course, if the Security Council preferred, the entire area could be made an exclusion zone, which would be simpler, but we did not wish to cause such a large disruption to normal traffic.”
“In your introduction you stated that you had no objection to civilian traffic, or reconnaissance.”
“That is true.”
“Surely, if you allow reconnaissance traffic, you acknowledge that we might see you anyway”
“Yes, that is true. We are actually thinking of inviting the media, once the reactor is known to be functioning correctly and the danger is over. You cannot see much of the drive pumps, you must realise, because of the pressure differences involved, but what you can see is quite impressive. Without a doubt, it is the world's largest Stirling-cycle machine, and is a thousand years old. Even if we do not invite the press, our heat signature will be obvious. So, in any case, our expectation is that our location will no longer be a secret by the end of our journey.”
“How did you move previously, then?”
“You will have seen we're close to the mid-Atlantic ridge. Volcanism and tectonic activity are quite common in the area. We had a years notice that time, so there was time to stage some rumbles, and we moved considerably more slowly.”
“It is one purpose of this council to consider disasters. Could you explain what you fear might go wrong with your reactor?”
“Ah, I am not prepared for that question, but I will try, urm, there's a song I learned as a child.” She closed her eyes to remember the song, “The water is moved by the so-called small pistons, the song says 'each one about the size of this room' but I can't remember which room that is. So, urm, sorry, I think I'll need to just translate the whole song.
“The water is moved by the little pistons, each one just as big as this room, the little pistons get pushed by big ones, great fat big ones as big as big as big. They're moved by the gases, helium, squeelium, hydrogen, bang. It gets hot by the reactor, or cold by the water that is coming in. In to take the space as the gas gets smaller, cooling the gas, more as it comes. The gas gets moved from hot end to cold end by the heat-exchanger, hot gas, cold gas, push, shrink, move!
“But when we're turning on, the poor heat exchanger, it's shivering cold just like the sea. Turn on the reactor, magnets working, fire burns hotly, hotly hotly, burn the hydrogen, like the sun. Slowly the gas gets heated, warms up, slowly it gets bigger, slowly growing, into the heat exchanger, slightly, slowly it pushes the water out.
“But everything is so cold, too cold, and the heat exchanger must get half-hot. Or the gas will be shrinking far too quickly and the water will rush and the pump might burst!
So, we heat the gas up, hotter hotter, and we heat the exchanger, hotter, hotter. But not too quickly, not too hot, or the metals might melt and Atlantis burns.” Penelope was a little embarrassed by her translation by the end “Urm, sorry that ended up was so literal. Everyone knows the song, like, you know, a more educational version of London's burning. I understand that at least one of the problems happened when they first tried it.”
“So the danger's not actually the reactor, but the pressures in the pump?”
“I guess so, unless the metal that might melt is the reactor wall itself. There were some modifications a few hundred years ago, which are supposed to have helped, but mostly it's cutting edge technology from, roughly speaking, when the Normans were busy conquering Britain. We know about that event because one of our people was in the area and went to see what all the shouting was about. He wrote a song about trying not to snigger as they were telling him how proud they were of their wonderful boats, and imagining what they'd say if they saw Atlantis overtaking them with its new fusion reactor. Of course, it's even bigger now, we had to extend a lot, two centuries ago.”
“And your submarines work on the same principles?” the Greek ambassador asked.
Penelope looked at him curiously “Mr Ambassador, do you really think we could go at a continuous hundred and eighty knots underwater using that technology?”
“I withdraw my question.” he said, embarrassed.
“At that speed, what do you do about cavitation?” another ambassador asked, obviously aware of some of the problems of moving fast in water.
“I'm sorry, I don't know any more than the answer I got when I asked that as a teenager: 'We understand what's going on and then cheat'”
“You spoke of trade.” The Israeli ambassador said. “Does that include in your submarines?”
“Mr Ambassador, I would not like to comment on any specific trade deal, but the materials our submarines are made from are by no means commonplace, or every family would have one. Some families I know are still saving for one after three generations. You should not think of them as disposable items like seem to consider your cars and even ships. Perhaps our standard materials could be replaced with mere titanium, for example, I don't know how that would impact the performance though. I do not know.” she shrugged, and had another thought. “Plus of course there is the problem you would have navigating them.”
“Navigating?”
“You cannot catch a fish in your hand with your eyes shut. I have done it many times.”
“You are speaking of your natural sonar?”
“Yes. To adapt to piloting a submarine takes some practice, especially a submarine at speed. In reality, sir, you do not want one of our submarines, you want our drive technology in one of yours, or more probably, a whole new hybrid design. That.... that is something we mer would never ask for, I am sure.” she looked sharply at him, did he get the message? Maybe. “So it would take some negotiating with her majesty, I believe. It might be possible, depending on one's starting point, and what is offered in exchange. I do wonder what we would get in return that is so valuable.”
“What do you value most?”
“Free time, to swim.” she answered immediately.
“Freedom to come and go on our coastlands, then?” he offered.
“Your government has decided not to accept Solomon's treaty, then?”
“Ah! Sorry, I was merely speculating.”
“But this is not the time or place for such discussions, ambassador.”
“I think most of us here are confused, ambassadors.” Jim said, to a murmur of agreement.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“A vow was taken between our ruler and Solomon, our people and the people of Israel and Judah. A lasting covenant, that the people of Israel and Judah have forgotten. We have reminded them of it and ask if they accept it as still binding. We understand that there have been many changes in the fortunes of Solomon's people, and it may be that their government does not consider the covenant still applying to them. We have asked them if they wish to accept it or not. Of course there will probably be terms in it they would not like to see, as there are on our side. But we are the same people, and if the ambassador's government decide they are of the same line and descent then the covenant made by oath will have stood for three millennia, and cannot be broken. Of course, if they decide not to accept the covenant as binding, it might be more convenient, but it might also cause some dissatisfaction, internally.”
The ambassador for Israel's face turned pale. “You asked if we would accept or renounce it, madam ambassador, not if we considered ourselves the descendants of Solomon's people.”
“Are they not one and the same thing, Mr Ambassador? No, I can see from your expression they are not. We will not say you deny your link to the great kings of your past if you renounce the covenant.”
“But some might.”
“I do not know, Mr Ambassador. Ask your scholars and lawyers, not to mention your politicians.”
[What have you said to the Israeli Ambassador, you naughty woman? His mind's alternatively cursing you to hell and heaping blessings on you.] Karella asked.
[He wants a boat, surprise surprise. I pointed out that he didn't because he can't do sonar, and he wanted a mixture of technologies which isn't what one of our people would ever ask for. I asked what he might offer that'd make you accept that deal. He offered freedom of their nice beaches. I asked did that mean he was declining the covenant, he said ooops, no, sorry. Lilly's ambassador asked what on Earth we were talking about, and I explained it in terms of them deciding if modern Israel traces its lineage back to Ancient. He'd obviously not thought of it that way, I apologised and said of course we wouldn't say that they were denying the link.]
[Whose side are you on?]
[Ours. We've got friendly relations, that doesn't mean prime beach property, so my saying he'd be denying the covenant was just banter.
He's not realised yet that if they offer us enough gold then he can buy the boat and learn to drive it with some kind of electronic sonar thing. Even if they just look at one in detail they can probably understand out how they work. But we can't deny them a boat, Karella. Not according to the treaty, it wouldn't be friendly, or treating them as equals. And nor can I let him walk into a political minefield. I need to be a friend to this man, by our oath.]
[Ah, Penelope. I learn much from you. Thank-you. We must remember our oaths.]
[Yes.]
“Madam ambassador?” Jim asked.
“I'm sorry, I was ah, mulling something over.”
[Penelope, my name is not a secret. Let the gift that gave it to me not be a secret either. I have decided.]
[You're sure?]
[All our people know. Let these others, too. Apologise for my interruption.]
“To be more precise, members of this council, I was discussing something mind to mind with my queen. She has just instructed me to tell you she has the mind-reading gift. That is why we call her Farspeaker, that is how the Association of Truthsayers got involved. She apologises for interrupting, and I apologise for not hearing the question.”
“I think it has just been answered.” Jim said. “I asked how you hoped to be able to enforce a four hundred nautical mile perimeter, let alone if it was extended to the full size, which would be what, two thousand nautical miles?”
“Our boats have sensitive detectors, we are able to detect most of your warships several tens of kilometres away. And we have a lot of submarines, and as I just pointed out to the ambassador to Israel, they travel quickly.”
“How large is your navy, or is that a military secret?”
“Not very secret. I'm afraid I only give you rough numbers, can someone help me with the maths? We have a population of half a million. Approximately seventy-five percent of those aged between twenty and fifty would consider themselves as reservists in our navy. Assume each boat, sorry, each submarine, would probably carry a pilot and three frogmen. Lots of unknowns there, but it gices you a number. Oh, I've just thought: I've heard there's going to be ten or eleven in a boat on average for the evacuation? Does that match?”
“Urm. Not exactly.” Jim said. “Method one gives me a hundred and sixty thousand reservists and forty thousand submarines, method two says forty-five thousand submarines.”
“Yes, somewhere in that range. I assure you that parking for those boats is a complete nightmare.”
“We are asking about military submarines, Maam.”
“I'm sorry, were you expecting our navy to have torpedoes and the like? We are a peace-loving people. Our defence for millennia has been secrecy or one-on-one combat. It was only when talking to you, Mr Ambassador,” she nodded to Jim Right, “That I realised our rock-cutting lasers would work as anti-ship weapons. Otherwise, we were planning such things as entangling propellers, or making interesting uses of forcefields.”
“So... really, you've got no military, no defensive missiles and you're totally vulnerable to attack.” Helga said, “you'll get slaughtered!”
“No, Madam. We have forty something thousand attack boats and a hundred and sixty thousand warriors, all of them are armed with razor sharp knives, and able to swim faster than a shark. That is our traditional enemy, but we can learn to fight others, I am sure.”
Penelope drew a breath and added “I expect maybe a quarter of our people would go into a battle armed with a tool which was never designed to cut anything but a metre of rock with each cut. We fully expect they will cut metal out of the sky or out of a ship's hull. We have not tried, because we have no enemies yet. Some of our boats have more powerful versions, linked to their generators, which we used to cut the base rock for expanding Atlantis and have used since to reclaim metal from the ships you keep on sinking. Would you pit one of your lumbering warships against one of these? I wonder how long it would still have a rudder, or blades on its propellers. And if it used a depth charge, then it would soon have other problems. So no, we do not believe we are totally vulnerable, but we have no intention of starting a war, and every intention of taking oaths of non-aggression with every peace-loving nation in the United Nations.”
[Penelope, swear in my name, and in the name of our people, that we will defend ourselves and our children against dangerous sharks and likewise our sworn allies as much as we are able, but will not start any war, nor will we shield any ally who thinks our treaty with them allows them to act as dangerous shark to others, nor act as arms supplier in a proxy war.]
[You are sure of the wording?]
[Ask our friends in the Security Council.]
“My friends in this Security Council, in order to build trust, my queen asks me to swear a binding oath in her name and the name of our people. Would the following oath be acceptable?” She repeated the words Karella had dictated.
“What is the time limit on such an oath?”
“If it had been in her name alone, then her lifespan. Sworn in the name of our people, then as long as we survive.”
“If I understand what you have said, such an oath once sworn is unalterable, is it not?” Jim asked.
“It is, unless it contains some mechanism for alteration.”
“What would you do if a war broke out between your allies?” Helga asked.
“If there was no clear aggressor, I expect that we would try to shelter the innocents on both sides, and if we were able, blockade arms supplies to both sides so that they eventually think to stop shooting and start talking, or failing that, have to resort to fighting hand to hand. Actually, we might suggest both sides' political classes resolve it by trial by personal combat. That's often been a good way to resolve such issues in the past with minimum bloodshed. And of course it's very popular with the rank and file soldiers and their families, who'd have to do the bleeding otherwise.”
“That's barbaric!” exclaimed a significantly overweight man who Penelope decided obviously had no place on any battlefield.
“If being civilised means sending millions to die wallowing in blood and entrails, while the politicians who call the shots stay safe in their plush air conditioned offices, then I'm all for a little barbarism.” Penelope replied. “A land-man who came to walk among us once called our people 'an ancient and extremely complex semi-barbaric civilisation.' Now, I would say we are not as complex, nor as barbaric. But we appreciate the description.”
“So, you would expect your queen to enter the battlefield?” Helga asked, as though it was something amusing.
“Our queen has swum in personal combat against sharks, defending her children, madam ambassador, do not malign her personal bravery. But she has the gift. I expect we would ask her not to fight, but instead to tell us of the positions and intentions of those who attack us. But I assure you that the women of the high council who were not elderly or carrying or nursing a babe would be among our warriors, and probably some of the men, too, though our men are more hunters than warriors.”
[She's shocked its the women.] Karella sent.
Penelope smiled, “Among us, madam ambassador, it has long been the role of the women to protect the children and the men to use their big strong muscles to bring home the hunt. We're not cannibals, we don't need to carry home dead enemies.”
“And what of your dead comrades?”
“It is more than two millennia since we went properly to war, madam ambassador. Allow us to forget some things, please. I am probably wrong, actually: I expect the men and the women would be fighting side by side. Who would be hunting when the nation is under attack?”
“But you have no modern weapons?” Helga pressed.
“You are right to say we do not make weapons, except our knives, spears, hunting bows and blowpipes. But we have tools, as I have said. We have the nightmare weapons, of course, and if, after we disarm those, we find you are an entire race of dangerous sharks as our forefathers believed, and that treaties are not enough to defend us, then perhaps we will have to hide or die once again.
We hope, by making our vow to this Security Council that you will not allow such a situation to develop. I ask again, are the words of my Queen acceptable?”
Jim Right said “My only question is whether the vow would allow you to participate in military or policing operations sanctioned by this council.”
Penelope chose her words carefully, “On the assumption that such operations would not be motivated by political or trade issues, and only be against those whose attitude to international law is clearly posing a danger to the well-being of other nations, then I think we would not find it difficult to classify them as dangerous sharks, at which point we would be willing to help defend against them. If we felt that politics or trade was a significant motivation, then we might take another opinion.”
“I understand, you are saying that you would judge each on a case by case basis, that is perfectly in line with our practice and charter. But the restriction on starting a war made me wonder.”
[Karella, do I tell them how one defends against a dangerous shark?] Penelope thought and said “Ah, I see.” to give Karella a little time to respond.
[Let them rather understand the phrase 'starting a war' does not apply.]
“Would you consider such an operation to be the starting of a war? To us, starting a war would mean the first act of aggression of a planned series, taken to change a country's policy in trade or to conquer their territory. If one day one of your sailors seeks to board one of our submarines, it would most certainly be a war-like act, and should expect a war-like response, but an isolated incident, quickly resolved either locally or politically, need not start a war. To make an army withdraw to the boarders of its own country is not starting a war, the war has already been started, and we would be defending our allies.”
“But... what if you are not allied to either country involved?” Helga asked.
“We fully intend to be allied to this council, Madam Ambassador. It is perhaps a little early to speak of terms for such an alliance, but I think we have been presupposing such an alliance.”
“I think I don't understand how such an operation defends this council.” Jim said.
“Then why do you plan them and authorise them?” Penelope asked “Is not their purpose to defend the Security Council's honour and place in the order of the world, to ensure that the treaties and laws of the world represented by the United Nations in general and this council in specific are respected? Such a noble institution certainly needs defending when it is treated with disrespect.”
“Ah. You speak of the defence of the law!”
“It is hard to negotiate a treaty with a set of books. They have no faces, no hearts and lawyers twist what they mean one way or another so easily. Are there any who say that the words of the oath would be a problem?”
“I think the fact that your queen is willing to bind herself and all future generations in this way is admirable and speaks very well of her.” Jim said. “I believe that my colleagues on this council will confirm that such a binding and eternal oath is, quite simply unprecedented in the history of this organisation. I am personally uncomfortable with the idea of a nation as new to our awareness, long in history and intensely vulnerable making such a commitment, and would prefer you not to give it.”
“You feel we would not be able to keep it?” Penelope asked, trying not to feel sharply insulted.
“No. I feel that it is probable though, that we would not be able to understand what you understand by it, and that, through our misunderstanding its terms, serious insult might be given.”
There were murmors of agreement around the room.
[He's almost certainly correct about them misunderstanding it.] Karella agreed, [Especially since they've never seen us defending ourselves proactively against sharks we deem dangerous. If they're willing to trust us without it, then fine.]
“We do not insist on limiting ourselves and our children in this way.” Penelope said.
“It is clear that you are a truly peace loving nation.” Helga said, “I recommend we accept the first request of our guest immediately, for this is within this council's power. And I will certainly press my government to take our guest's other requests most seriously.”
“I second the recommendation, we want no part in genocide.” declared the Israeli ambassador. “Also I will personally squeeze my government until it hurts to get these other measures passed into law and I call on all nations to support them. We don't want any more innocent blood on our hands.”
----------------------------------------
[Lilly.] Karella thought to her [Thank you. We have the exclusion zone, and our people owe you a debt.]
[It still may not work.]
[We can now tell people they are breaching the exclusion zone, and that they must stop. They will understand, they will know they are trespassing. And if they continue, they will be stopped, and they will not be quite so surprised.]
[I'm glad.]
[The matter of our debt to you, I am not sure how to repay it.]
[Surely, your transporting the Bibles...]
[Is a joy for us, to serve God's people so. You owe us no debt for that. But you took our ambassador to the right people, and further, you prepared her well, telling her of their character, their people, what they held valuable. That is far more than we expected, and we are sure it helped make the negotiations successful.]
[I seek no reward, your majesty. It cost me nothing.]
[Exactly. Such an attitude makes it even more imperative that you be rewarded appropriately. Do you like to swim?]
[Yes, why?]
[Then, I think I know what to offer you. Lilly, which also costs us very little. I name you a friend of our people. You may come and go in our city, and all places that mer may walk or swim. As a friend of the Mer, you may request scales — a fish-tail such as we wear to swim, and with practice you will be able to leap from the water as a dolphin.]
[I... I don't know what to say! Thank you, your majesty! Thank you!]
[Also, as a friend of the Mer, you may also request some of the potion. It is almost certainly the foulest substance you have ever tasted, and it might make you sick for a day, but is is one half of what makes us who we are. We cannot offer you the other half: that is genetic.
The potion is an ancient medicine of our people, some stories tell that it was given by God. If you drink it, it will change you. Not very much, not visibly, but it will change how your body reacts to holding your breath. Normally your body fights for air when you have too much carbon dioxide in your blood, and is nothing to do with the oxygen you need to stay alert. If your body fought for air based on oxygen levels, then you could almost certainly hold your breath at least twice as long as you can now. After someone has drunk the potion, their lungs will still hurt from the carbon dioxide but the overwhelming urge to breath which blots out thought is less, and it becomes linked to the oxygen in their blood, not just the carbon dioxide. So, if you drink of the potion, once you've stopped throwing up, you will be able to swim underwater twice as long, perhaps longer.
It brings its dangers: if you push yourself you will be able to hold your breath until you black out, which is death under water. But if you enjoy swimming, and if you want to play in the water like a dolphin, then being able to hold your breath longer is helpful. I offer you this knowledge, friend of my people. Guard it well, please, whatever you choose. Penelope will be in touch, to take your measurements for the scales. I assume you'd like them?]
[Very much so!]
[Swim well, young one. Swim far, swim fast, and may your dagger be quick to your hand for any sharks. However many legs they have.]
----------------------------------------
Penelope saw the Israeli ambassador leaving the U.N. building, and approached him. “Sir, I thank you for the friendship you have shown us. In return I am duty bound to tell you part of what you do not know, and want to.”
“I'm not sure I understand.”
“Our submarines, as we make them now, we expect, will never be sold to land-men. One reason we would desire to forbid their sale, is they are the basis of our power at sea. The other is cost. I suppose the very rich could afford a small one. I don't know how well it would sit with their people though. They are made from a complex structure with different alloys. The outer three millimetres is the toughest and most corrosion resistant alloy we know of, which is what enables them to reach the depths they can and last as long as they do. A significant proportion of that alloy is gold. It's a long way from pure gold, heaven forbid, but even a one person submarine needs about three hundred kilograms of pure gold. The work and other materials we currently value as another two hundred kilograms.”
He let out a low whistle. “No wonder it takes a long time to save up for one. But I don't understand why you're telling me this.”
“Because though your government has not yet decided on whether you uphold the covenant, we must consider it valid until you decline it or show signs that you are not doing so. You have acted in friendship, therefore I must treat you as a friend, with trading rights as one of us, and let you know this part of what you accept or decline. Another part is that based on the treaty, you only have trading rights as one of us. No mer would sell on his submarine to a non-mer, it would be an act of treason. No mer will allow an enemy to take his submarine, that would be failing to protect a military secret. The self-destruct built into the submarine would be used if there is no alternative. No mer would try to take his submarine apart, that would be violating his oath to the builders and putting himself and his passengers at risk, not least through the anti-tamper devices that would trigger the self-destruct, which are in place to protect the submarine in case an enemy should find one parked somewhere. If your government decides to uphold the covenant and one of your people, or your government wishes to purchase one of our submarines on that basis: buying under exactly the same conditions as one of us, then the covenant will permit such a trade, and we cannot forbid it.”
“But you would be able to forbid one of lesser materials and with more instrumentation? A hybrid design?”
“I am not sure. I expect, only expect, that such a trade might be possible, assuming your government upholds the covenant and the historic friendship between our ancient peoples, keeps our secrets secret, and so on. It would be a long and complex negotiation, not just involving politicians but potentially grumpy engineers also, who resent being asked to use materials they view as substandard. It might also be that when allowances are made for the materials you would have us use that there is little advantage to you. After all, I'm told you already know the principles upon which they work. I tell you all this in a spirit of friendship and openness. Enjoy your discussions with your lawyers and politicians.”
“May I ask... how complex is driving one of your submarines?”
“Our children start practicing with the basic controls when they are about eight. On battery power, those controls are sufficient for medium length journeys, up to about a day, if you go slowly. The advanced controls are to do with the fusion generator, how to go through water too quickly, the limited autopilot, and so on, so using them needs more awareness of scientific principles.”
“You let an eight-year old control a vehicle that cost half a tonne of gold?”
“Not alone, no.”
“I'm relieved.”
“But most parents will let their children pilot alone for short battery-powered journeys by the time they're twelve.”
----------------------------------------
ISRAELI EMBASSY
“Have the lawyers looked at that covenant yet?”
“Yes, they're not really very impressed.”
“Please add into the mix some politicians from all parties, including the nutters, and ask the following hot potato: does renouncing it also renounce our ties to the people Solomon ruled, and all associated questions? Their ambassador seemed to think it was implicit, then said 'Oh of course we won't claim that' But someone might want to, so you'd better get a consensus view on that.”
“May the One have mercy on your twisted soul! How can we get consensus on that?”
“Pass. But, I also now know why they don't want us to ratify.”
“Oooh. Now that's interesting. Spill!”
“Their subs. That covenant gives us the right to buy some. It also attaches a whole heap of strings, like we wouldn't sell them or take them apart, let them fall into enemy hands, and so on.”
“We've got subs.”
“Not like these. Their subs are small, average size fits eleven uncomfortably, four normally. She spoke of a typical military compliment being one pilot and four frogmen, but that's probably just because they've got forty or fifty thousand of the things. So... tell me of a use for an undetectable midget sub, capable of going at a sustained speed of a hundred and eighty knots, with one pilot and let's say eight sweaty frogmen. When other than our new-found allies, we're the only state with one.”
“You're talking worldwide commando insertion, aren't you?”
“Exactly. Are we interested? If so, the drawback is they're made up of all sorts of super-duper alloys one of which uses a significant amount of gold, apparently. A two man version would set us back half a ton of gold, three hundred of which goes straight into the furnace, the rest pays for labour and other materials. I've no idea what their supply of other materials is like, so we might be able to cut a deal there. I've no idea how much the four-to-eleven one costs, but from the sound of it, it was a case of 'that's what the pressure hull is made of', so get someone to scale accordingly. If we renounce the covenant, then there's no way they'll part with even one, that's their tactical advantage and everything.”
“Armaments?”
“They've got a few specially modified ones which have a fusion-driven laser on board, which sounds like a nice toy, but basically no armament except pure agility. On the subject of their lasers, they've also got a hand-held version apparently. Every other dad has one for doing the odd bit of rock carving to expand the family home. Hence she was thinking that an irate dad would be carving up any ship or plane that dared to drop depth charges on his kiddies, so told us to keep our depth-charges away from the water. Speaking of which, they want those things on the same list as chemicals and land mines, which isn't surprising since apparently someone's been killing her relatives and I guess others too with them.”
“So how do we defend against their subs?”
“We don't need to. Attacking us wouldn't be friendly and we'd be sworn friends. It's all in my report, but basically they'd rather sacrifice their queen to Moloch than break a treaty, even one they don't like.”
“Is that likely?”
“What, didn't you read my last report even?”
“I'm a busy man, and we've had that covenant to deal with!”
“Yeah, I'm sure. Almost the whole bunch of them are Christians, and the ambassador claims their queen has the Spirit of the Almighty upon her and can know what you're thinking, where you're hiding, et cetera.”
“Nice claim.”
“Sounded pretty genuine to me, she missed some questions because queenie was dropping in for a chat. That 'Farspeaker' bit we were confused about is reference to it, apparently.”
“Oh great. So help me to get this right, option one is we accept the treaty which gives away our territorial water, lays claim to various bits of our neighbour's coast-lines on these mer-people's behalf, possibly sparking another war, and in return maybe get access to a couple of subs that the commandos would give their eye-teeth for, but cost maybe as much as a destroyer. Our geo-political position gets a major boost in terms of what looks like an incredibly reliable ally, and it's entirely possible they'll defend our coastline for us against aggressors, depending how they understand various words we're guessing at. Option two is we say history is nothing to do with us, decline the treaty and lose the option of ever buying one of those subs. The sea people aren't grumpy with us, because they keep their secret tech, our neighbours aren't up in arms because we're not giving away their territory, but the internal recriminations probably bring down the government. What did I miss?”
“The possibility of negotiating for cheaper, lesser subs using more readily available materials, or their drives in our subs, or something, but no promises about what they'll want in return or that the engineers won't go off in a huff that we're not using the proper stuff, or it'll work anywhere near as well as the proper stuff does. Scrap the covenant and you probably scrap that too, unless the design team manages to come up with a version of their tech which doesn't use anything too top-secret.”
“In which case anyone might be able to buy one.”
“Unless we manage to write an exclusive partnership deal into the agreement, making us their sole agent.”
“They'd go for that?”
“If we've got the covenant then in their eyes we're friends with three millennia of history as a trading partner.”
“OK. But everyone's going to be after their sub technology, aren't they?”
“But it won't be on offer. She made some hints during the session about how useless they'd be to us that made it sound like not even we'd get one.”
“So how did you get all the stuff you've just been telling me?”
“She told me, one on one, saying I'd acted friendly in supporting her in the council, and she had to presume the covenant of friendship was still in force. Since I'd shown an interest in their submarines she said she was bound out of friendship to tell me this part of what we'd be giving up if we abandon the covenant. So she told me and then left.”
“But... there's more?”
“I'm sure there is. It says we get to trade with them on an equal footing. An exactly equal footing, with all restrictions, etc. applying to any secrets, of course. But, there must be other goodies they have. Their ship-slicing hand tool, for instance. Plus I didn't ask her where Ophir was, or if there was any gold there still, but they must have some supply of gold for those subs to be as common as they are. By the way, about that there friendly act that won me all this information: I stated in the council that I'd be squeezing you 'till it hurt to implement everything she asked for. Since you don't have time to read reports, here's the four point summary: Number one, the exclusion area, which the council's agreed to; number two, don't be so stupid as to think you can tear up a treaty with them, unless you want to be cut up like they'd cut up a shark that was after one of their kids; number three, let's all agree to ban the mass storage of antimatter, like they used in the bombs they've planted everywhere except near their historical friends, Athens and us; number four, no more depth charges.”
“No bombs near us?”
“We're their friends under a covenant which lasts until one of our peoples is no more. Unless we decline it of course. Would you count planting five hundred grammes of antimatter outside someone's capital a friendly act?”
“No. Did she give any details on what those things are, by the way?”
“Yes. It started off as some kind of antimatter battery, each one storing about three hundred megawatt years, which they rigged to explode during the cold war. They're suggesting one option is they remove the booby-trap device and leave the battery to give fifty to a hundred years of free energy to the insulted city. Otherwise they could move them somewhere else that wants the power, or take them home.”
“Take them home?”
“Yes. Meaning that anyone attacking Atlantis had better realise they're going to release, I don't know, she didn't say how many of the things they'd made but let's guess fifty to a hundred kilograms of antimatter.”
“And that'd be the end of the world as we know it?”
“I'm sure it'd make a mess, but I think the dinosaur killer was a bigger bang.”
“That's quite some confidence in your engineering, to stick that under your kid's bed, isn't it?”
“I hadn't thought of that, but yes, it is rather. She did say they've had a thousand years of experience with fusion.”