EFFECTS OF OPENNESS / CH. 14:CEREMONIES
CHURCH HALL, SATURSOL, 18TH SEPTEMBER, 10.50AM.
“I must say... the vows that James and Margaret took were a little more complex than I'd expected.” Alice commented to Ruth after the wedding ceremony.
“Yes. It's was certainly not a traditional set from my point of view. But it does reflect what we'd expect to happen if there is trouble, so I think even my cousin Lara would approve.”
“I liked the bit about the church supporting them, too.”
“I'm very glad that Tom told people to think about whether they'd be able to live up to the words beforehand, and not make them lightly.”
“I wasn't sure I could vow to it all, actually.”
“No, not as ambassador, or even his superior. You wouldn't want to, I'm sure, there might be some time you needed to assign them to tasks that separate them for a bit.”
“I guess so. I had wondered why James told me yesterday I shouldn't make vows I might not be able to keep, but it makes sense.”
“Party now?” Heather asked.
“Little party now, Heather,” Simon said, “but Mummy, James, Margaret and Ruth have to be at another thing. The proper party is after that.”
“I like parties,” Heather said.
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COUNCIL MEETING ROOM, SATURSOL, 18TH SEPTEMBER, 2PM.
“I hereby conclude the presentation to the council of my credentials,” Ruth said.
“Be formally welcomed, your excellency.”
“My first act as accredited ambassador is to present to the Martian-born Mer princess, Hathellah granddaughter of Hathellah granddaughter of Hathellah, princess of the Outer Mer, a coronet symbolising her status. It is in no way to be confused with her crown, of course. May that stay forever laid aside, and the Mer people united. Personally I think the coronet is much prettier, anyway. I also present to her some other symbolic gifts: a stylus representing the unchanging laws which govern all Mer, a shark-tooth necklace representing her right to decide which sharks are dangerous and defend herself and others against them, on the necklace are also a pearl and an iron nut, representing that values of things change, while the value of life remains. When they get here, I will also present to her a copy of the scriptures in the Mer language, brought to us by a land-man, representing that like herself, the things we value most sometimes come from outside our community, and the great seal of the Outer Mer, hers by right of descent.”
“Thank you, your excellency.” Hathellah said.
“Also, without in any way prejudging the judicial process on Mars, let it be known that following recent events here, there will be a hiatus of not less than three years on all treaty negotiations between Atlantis and Russia. During this time, Russian ships will be allowed continued free passage on the high seas, but any aggressive act towards other shipping will be taken as further evidence that the leadership of that country puts unworthy persons in positions of authority and met with an appropriate reaction. Let it also be known that, other than those currently present, no Russian politician, diplomat or military person of rank higher than a commander of ten will be permitted to enter Atlantis.”
“Do we take it that someone gave orders that have upset their own government?” The Chinese ambassador asked.
“Orders were given, your excellency. You will have to ask the Russians who exactly was outraged beyond their foreign ministry and their ambassador to Atlantis. Since there was, at that time a certain ambiguity about my status, and I came to no harm, her Majesty allowed herself to be convinced that a more forgiving stance than a full declaration of interdiction was appropriate.”
“A declaration of interdiction?” Alice asked.
“A declaration of interdiction is one that states their warships will not be harmed as long as they stay in harbour, your excellency. It is a few steps below an outright embargo, where we would permit no traffic to their sea ports except what had come directly from their own river ports, and that of course is a few steps below limited war.”
“Limited war?” the Chinese ambassador asked.
“We did not engage in full scale war even during the times of the Romans. We never attacked their cities or those who stayed away from the coasts. We are a peace-loving people who have no desire to annihilate innocents.”
“But your antimatter bombs...” the Chinese ambassador asked.
“Are a deterrent. We have one antimatter bomb, deep under Atlantis protected by a number of forcefields, that could be triggered manually. The rest are a fully automatic system. I do not believe we could trigger them without destroying Atlantis.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“The prisoners allege you stated your pod might be protected by an antimatter-based boobytrap,” Claudia said.
“I do not know. It is probably fusion, but I know that one byproduct of fusion is positrons, and other nuclear processes produce anti-protons and anti-neutrons. It is entirely plausible that a few milligrams of antimatter were included in the design. Fusion can be electrically initiated, but you need some energy source to start it, and for all that it's hard to recharge, you can't beat a little pile antimatter for energy density.”
“You're saying that you routinely use small quantities of antimatter?” Alice asked.
“Yes. You /still/ routinely use batteries that'll catch fire if you bend them the wrong way, we routinely use minuscule quantities of antimatter in microscopic forcefields that you can't bend. I know which one I'd prefer in my pocket or on my wrist. Don't worry, you're catching up fast. That's one reason we decided we couldn't hide much longer — you're probably only a decade or so from the storage technology. It's just the public acceptance you'll need to work on, as well as issues like can you persuade yourselves not to ever use it as weapons. Or, alternatively, work out that it is much safer for everyone if you make sure the inventors can have a nice swim, find themselves a girlfriend, and play with making the forcefield glow pretty colours, rather than design antimatter loaded bullets and the like.”
Hathellah decided she'd ask Ruth later if she was talking about Boris there.
Ruth decided Hathellah should ask Boris, not her.
“You're saying that you have designs for antimatter-loaded bullets?” Mack asked.
“I'm saying that if you can make explosive-loaded bullets,” Ruth said “some overly foolish scientist might decide that a sniper-shot that could deliver a kiloton-blast might be just what the general ordered. The wise scientist would talk to their monarch about getting such orders rescinded, preemptively in an ideal case. That way they would make sure no one could ever have a stuck-round event capable of taking out the barracks and the surrounding countryside. It is very simple, council members, your excellencies. Mars has set a good example of banning firearms, I wonder if Earth's governments could be persuaded to place an absolute ban on the use of antimatter as an explosive. Alternatively, perhaps Mars and Atlantis should work together at keeping advanced forcefield technology away from Earth governments until they do. I know some results have been published, but neither landfolk not Marsfolk possess antimatter technology yet, and perhaps Mars scientists should self-censor until such time as Earth governments stop thinking that war is a good strategy.”
“You say that, but you have just been speaking of interdicting military vessels, which is a violation of long standing rights.” The ambassador of China said.
“I believe, madam ambassador, that your government has agreed in principle to the Mer claim to rule the seas, and thus the rights you have ignorantly presumed over the past few hundred years are secondary to our right to have peace in our territory. Would you not say that the sensible teacher, faced with a child who thinks with their fists, should be prepared to walk beside the child during playtime to make sure they remember to play nicely, and point out that if they cannot, then what will happen might include tying their wrists together or banning them from the playground?”
“An interesting analogy,” she observed.
“If I might push it further, I believe it would be an unusual child who refuses to learn to stop punching his classmates until you've cut both their arms off, and what I trust is your disgust at the idea of performing that operation would be akin to our distaste for limited war.”
“You then consider yourselves our teachers?”
“Perhaps the analogy is not good on that point, but we do currently have the power to influence your behaviour in, under or above the sea, we do have a very long history of not going to war, and we do not make empty threats or promises. The blunt wording at the end of my credentials is traditional, but let it be firmly understood that my queen means it: an attack upon my person will be considered an attack against her majesty.
There will be consequences.”
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WEDDING RECEPTION HALL, 5PM
“I wondered why there was a pile of plastic knives over there,” Alice said to Simon, “Now we know.”
“Yes, I notice Ruth and Margaret have real ones.”
“Margaret told me there was very traditional dance that Ruth's been teaching her and Hathellah, I didn't know it involved so much high speed sharp metal.”
There was very little chance of anyone deciding to take a short cut across the dance floor during this dance; Every fifth beat, the three of them would spin round with their knives out at arms length. Ruth and James had recorded the music earlier.
“Hmm, I notice that Robert is looking rather nervous.” Simon said, “Does that mean that there's a role for men in the dance?”
“Margaret did call it a couple dance.”
“So who's Hathellah going to dance with?”
“She asked if she could borrow you.” Simon looked at his wife in shock, “I hope you didn't say yes.”
“I know your thoughts on the matter, Simon, so I said you'd prefer not to.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyway, I want to dance with you myself.”
The music changed, and Ruth and Margaret spun to their partners with their knives held at their hips. Hathellah spun to the side of the room, and began to clap to the beat. What followed next was rather like a waltz.
Margaret, Simon noted, swapped her knife to her left hand, so it was held between James' hand and hers, but Ruth kept hers at her hip, in her right hand.
“Do I take it that there's some kind of symbolism about Ruth's dagger being positioned ready to carve out Robert's tripes, whereas Margaret's is held jointly?”
“Probably,” Alice agreed.
“No wonder he looks nervous. Did you seen Ruth's little demonstration of steel-whittling?”
“Yes. Heather told me she'd asked Ruth for one for Christmas.”
“Eek.” Simon said.
“Not as eek as Ruth's answer, if you ask me.”
“What was it?”
“She said 'Not until you're at least four, and maybe even six or seven.' And Heather accepted that.”
“Uh oh.” Simon said.
“Exactly. She meant four to seven. What do you think of having a daughter who can use deadly force to defend herself?”
“It's got its plus points. Ruth's offered to train her?”
“Yes, I've been meaning to ask you.”
“I think accept.”
“OK. Now, let's get a plastic knife and join in the dance. It looks fun.”