Turkish Conference: A Tuesday on Aaronworld-1456
Chapter 1: Lemons in the Sky (Italian Diplomacy)
It didn't take much to wake up Jen Lemons when she was 5,000 feet in the air. She awoke to a sunrise that was caressing the Easternmost parts of Europe (or westernmost parts of Asia, if you prefer). She got out of her private cabin's double bed, put on purple slippers to match her bra/panties, walked over to a large circular window and looked outside. She saw what was the final remnants of the Black Sea (although to call it black would be giving it a compliment these days).
"It never gets any easier for me, seeing the ground around this world so devastated by overpopulation set forth on this earth by our ancestors. I hope my friend's worlds are real and that he put less people on them"
There was still a lot of finger pointing to this day as to which country was the most to blame. Was it the Chinese who were the first nation to hit 1 billion? The Indians who were the first nation to reach 2 billion? The whole planet reaching 14 billion just as the "natural" food supply ran out? It didn't really matter. Starting in the fall of 1975, mankind had 2 choices: Go underground where it isn't as crowded or put aside all differences in order to build cities in the sky. Those who chose to live underground thrived for a few years, then resorted to cannibalism when the food supply got shorter. Those who chose to build skycities survived (and even thrived), but never ate "natural" food again (with cloned food becoming the standard).
A knock came on Jen's door, she quickly put on a black plastic robe and went to open it (walking past a recent photograph of her taking the oath of office as Canada's prime minister (or the first Canadian Sky Minister, as the New Toronto Star had called it).
"Morning Tommy." said Jen with a grin. Tommy was the pilot of the Prime Minister's airship, she knew he wouldn't let his co-pilot take over unless it was protocol for him to do so or an emergency.
"We'll be in Istanbul in approximately 15 minutes plus an additional 30 minutes to decompress and gradually acclimate you, me and the rest of the people on the ship to adjust to Istanbul's domed climate."
"Thanks Tommy, I'll get a book to read to kill the time in decompression. Dismissed!"
Tommy saluted and headed back to the cockpit. The Prime minister's airship looked like an old pirate ship, only with wings. But, the metal in many of the previous generation's aircrafts was melted down in order to help finish the skycities. Jen had (with supervision) the pleasure of walking around what was the main deck of the ship when it was over the Atlantic Ocean (she even tied herself to the back of the ship and went skysurfing against the wishes of her security detail, as she was quite vulnerable to the elements as well as assassination attempts as she was out in the open). Jen looked at her bookshelf, but there was only one option for her.
"Mechanisms would be a perfect read in 30 minutes."
She tossed the book onto her bed as she put on an all-black New Chanel suit, then put it in her front waist pocket. She then grabbed her suitcase with her toiletries and 4 days worth of clothes (she had learned to travel light since becoming Prime Minister). Upon exiting her cabin, the entire passenger compliment (mainly her deputy prime minister, personal assistant and security detail) saluted.
"Stand easy ladies and gentlemen, for the entire duration of this summit meeting. We are here in the name of goodwill and a militaristic stance will make the other countries paranoid."
The entire airship (reluctantly) nodded and relaxed themselves. The personal assistant then handed her a can of BC Cola (to her specifications it was chilled at exactly 7 degrees celsius). He was an older gentleman named Stephen, and he struck Jen as being such a conformist that he had no original personality of his own whatsoever. Still, he did do Jen's bidding, and that's all she cared about.
"Madam Prime Minister, May we please review the day's schedule again?" asked Stephen.
Jen was too busy drinking the BC coke to care what he was saying, upon completing it she answered "Oh how I love being in charge of a country that has over-the-counter birth control that's drinkable (and readily available to all citizens). Yes Stephen, you may begin the review."
Stephen cleared his throat and began reading off of his itinerary in front of him "Very good madam. After dome acclimation, we check into the floor of the Istanbul Hyatt Regency assigned to us upon arrival. After a quick unpacking and breakfast consisting of cloned eggs and bacon with freeze dried orange juice, we head over to the United Nations Eurasian assembly hall to announce that the treaty discussions can now begin."
Jen nodded enthusiastically, as it was a treaty that she was all for. In order to stop overpopulation from happening again, all adults were going to be limited to having 2 children. The start date and terms still had to be ratified but Jen was happy to have such a crucial first assignment as prime minister.
"And will all of the G7 will be there?" asked Jen.
"Yes, The United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Japan and Russia are already there. The leader of the Italian Commonwealth of European States needed a ship change due to a terrorist atttack. thankfully no one was hurt."
Jen momentarily gasped in concern "Oh thank goodness everyone is alright, remind me to send her some cloned flowers with a card offering help in any way that they need."
"Will do, and the other 6 members of the G7 unanimously accept your apology for being late on account of you voting to increase production of air filters throughout the Canadian skycities."
"I'll thank them in person, but I really had no choice but to stay behind a few extra hours. New Halifax could only breathe recycled air for so long before everyone got poisoned."
Stephen could sense that something was amiss as there was a slight drop in the ship's altitude.
"You're still nervous about this meeting, aren't you? I don't blame you. You were only sworn into office 6 weeks ago and frankly were not expected to get the majority government running under the...Democratic Marijuana party."
Jen giggled, knowing that the more conservative part of Canada was pissed that the stoners run Canada now (including Stephen by her best educated guess).
"Hey, I'm down to just taking pot pills as I promised the nation that I would. Smoking in a domed city damages the air filters much faster. But to answer your question, I'm OK with 5 of the other 6 countries attending. But Canada and the Italian commonwealth of European States have not attended the same summit meeting in over 67 years. Shortly after World War 2 ended, in fact."
Stephen nodded, accepting that, and took his leave as the airship began its' final approach to dock with the dome. Jen had already begun reading Mechanisms as he left her field of view, when she realized who the lead singer in the band was, she gasped in total shock.
"If the finest author in Canada put the 2 of us together in the same story, surely I can let go of a decades-old grudge, if only for a few days."
"I hate air tanks and masks."
It was a perfectly understandable grievance for Premier Malvestiti to have, given that it was the safest way to walk around the main deck of her flying aircraft carrier when it was this high in the sky. She was almost certain that all of the ammunition had been stripped out of her ship (in an effort to shed excess weight to increase maximum altitude), but she didn't want to chance touching an anti-aircraft gun and have it accidentally go off in front of her. It would be an anti-climactic end to a storied political career, and she would hate to be able to have her remains fit in a shoe box.
Chiara Malvestiti was only 4 months away from reaching her 2-term maximum as premier of The Italian commonwealth of European States. She was the first leader in European history to never spend a penny of her own salary, had every European state completely out of debt in just her first 2 years in office and had her first budget surplus 3 years later. Unemployment is currently under 0.5% across her commonwealth and she actually divided the entire surplus evenly amongst the citizens. Her turnover for cabinet ministers however, was quite alarming (it was the worst in world history, actually). They seemed to not be mentally capable of accepting a politician that was so unwilling to play a game of bureaucracy that she was actually...kind to other people.
Chiara could see Second Istanbul to the south of her ship. Understanding that they were close to docking, she went inside before anyone came to get her. Once inside, she was in a changeroom (designed no doubt by men in her eyes. 1 shower designed for a dozen or so men, 6 urinals, 6 stalls, all white tiles) where she struggled to get her air tank and mask off, and it was pretty obvious as to why:
"Sometimes having long hair is such a bitch, I had to pull it back when I read Mechanisms last night, gret read."
Italian and German were her native languages (The 2 most widely spoken across her commonwealth), but she did so much media and foreign press over the years that English had become her default third language. Once the issue with the hair had been settled, she exited the changeroom and entered a conference room where she met her deputy premier named Inga. A brunette from the state of Hungary who had actually started as the treasurer but moved her way up over the years on account of everyone quitting above her except Chiara herself.
"Morning Inga, are you still getting hounded by the old men trying to stay on my empire's payroll?"
Inga merely nodded and adjusted her glasses (A pair of brown aviators), saying nothing.
"Don't let them get to you, OK?" said Chiara in an effort to encourage her deputy.
"I actually agree with them on something." replied Inga as she looked up and into Chiara's eyes.
"Oh?" asked Chiara as she raised her right eyebrow, as it was rare for Inga to disagree with her.
"They don't agree to your request to cut the amount of security around you by half."
Chiara had actually been expecting to hear that since last night as the chiefs of staff entered the room. She was part of a new, idealistic generation of people that were in politics and nearly everyone around her was still part of the older, more cynical generation. Chiara was moderate enough in her views to where she did see their point of view sometimes, as the media from outside her empire were turning pretty much everything that she said and twisted it into propaganda that painted Europe into a cruel dictatorship that it used to be in reality at one point, but not any more.
"I am tired of being a villain in the eyes of a world so twisted by media propaganda. Since Joan of Arc wasn't granted a pardon by the Vatican 558 years ago, our world had seen such a meteoric rise in population that we had to abandon Mother Earth's surface to live among the clouds in the sky. My mission is premier is twofold, as it has always been: To be disarming to all of the other world powers in the interests of peace, and to get this treaty ratified so that we can keep our use of resources under control, which needed to be done decades ago, quite honestly."
Chiara grabbed a bottle of recycled water, opened the cap and took a sip before continuing: "I got elected leader on a platform of compassion, kindness and a determination to fix the errors of my predecessors. I don't have the luxury of a third term of office, and I want to go out with something for my continent to remember me by. Surely, even all of you can understand that European idealism and not cynicism works."
They didn't have time to pretend to nod as a token of courtesy, as the carrier had docked.
The media had gathered by gates 27 and 28 of Istanbul's skyport. There were cameramen, reporters and translators from all over the world. A few of them had even begun talking to each other in different languages in an effort to lessen the anticipation amongst them.
"The last 2 leaders to arrive for this summit meeting are not only next to each other, but will finish decompressing within a few seconds of each other." was the most common statement made, in fact nearly everyone had said it in nearly 50 languages when Chiara and her staff exited from gate 28.
"Good morning everyone, how do you plan to villainize me today?" asked Chiara while grinning (Kindness was a virtue to her, but trolling the media who bastardized her was so much fun). She had been waiting to ask that question for years without fear of international reprisal and with only 4 months left on her last term, what were they going to do to her? Have her impeached?
Then the focus of the media shifted to Jen as she and her team exited out of gate 27. Jen and Chiara locked eyes immediately, which filled Jen with dread.
"She is not her nation's past, I was going to bump into her sooner or later, might as be now so that we can get it over with." Jen thought to herself.
"Madam Prime Minister, Madam Premier. In light of what promises to be the most talked about treaty signing in over a century, how do you 2 feel about each other at this very moment going into the summit meeting?"
Jen motioned for Chiara to take the lead non-verbally by motioning to the media with an open hand. It was an unwritten rule that the leader with the most tenure has precedence when jointly answering a question and no matter the feelings on either side, Jen had every intention of honouring it. Chiara elected to travel the road of eloquence in order to break the ice:
"Prime Minister Jen Lemons...my compatriot. For too long, your nation and my empire have been content to hide behind invisible doors and trade paranoia with each other for reasons that ceased to exist decades ago. We have a minimum of 2 things in common: Characters in Mechanisms written by 1 mutual friend of ours, and we were both elected as symbols of a changing of the guard. We need to prove our people right, and we need to do it within 96 hours."
Jen for the most part, felt very awkward after that speech. It was a kind of awkward one feels when they confront a bully from their past, and they're completely apologetic (and you know that they're being sincere). Still, Jen was Prime Minister. She had to respond somehow.
"Firstly Chiara, please accept my country's heartfelt sorrow at the terrorist attack that forced you to switch to a flying aircraft carrier at the last minute. If your empire needs any assistance, please let me know over the course of this conference's proceedings. Secondly, I commend you for speaking so eloquently (in a language that is not your own, no less) about the relationship between our lands. I wish I could say that Canada's apprehension over being at the same conference with your empire for the first time in over two-thirds of a century was dissolved, but I can't as I do not wish to lie to you or any other leader. I can however, say that my mind is open for that to be a reality in the future."
The media seemed to focus only on Jen being more reluctant over the prospect of peace than Chiara was. "So will there be another war if this conference dissolves?" was a question that came from an American Journalist in the back of the crowd.
Jen and Chiara laughed before Jen remarked "Quite frankly, both of our nations will be too busy breeding amongst ourselves to start a war if this treaty for population control isn't ratified."
Chiara's laughter then escalated, "I agree with my compatriot. Make love, not war indeed as they said in the 60's."
The press then joined in on the laughter, finally getting the joke. Jen's and Chiara's laughter however had ceased, as had a few of her staff. They all saw the same thing...
...a red dot on each of the respective leaders heads. Thankfully the guards on both sides (as per their job description) leapt to meet the forthcoming bullets to protect their leaders as they were fired...
BANG! BANG!
...the bullets struck down 1 each of Jen's and Chiara's guards (in the head no less). Chiara grabbed Jen and hid behind an air pressure regulator (hoping that their would-be assassin wasn't crazy/stupid enough to shoot at it, as it could destroy the part of the dome that they were in). Jen watched over a dozen guards from both her's and Chiara's teams get shot to death and the global media squad scatter like cockroaches (the ones that weren't getting shot to death themselves) before Chiara pulled her even more behind the regulator.
"I didn't think someone would want to kill me so soon into my tenure. At least give me time to screw up first" stated Jen, coldly.
"Happens to me all the time, I'm sorry to say. One thing I won't miss when I leave office in 4 months. Although based on the materials that I need to rebuild my ship, I might need to reconsider Russia's trade agreement proposal that I rejected 2 months ago." replied Chiara.
"Maybe we should postpone the conference. What's the point of limiting the number of children born per person around the world if we're all too busy shooting each other to death?" lamented Jen.
"Two things: 1) The other 5 players of the G7 are already here and it'll be nearly impossible to get all 7 of us together again for at least another year and by then, I'm out of office and my replacement may not share my optimism. And 2) Regulating global population has been decades overdue, if not centuries."
Jen nodded in agreement as the Turkish Police and airport security finally arrived and returned fire. After a minute, one of the officers shouted "O kacti!"
"I regret that Turkish is not a requirement to learn in European universities. If it's not spoken by at least 2 million people in the empire, it's not worth teaching according to the professors. That whole Esperanto thing in Mechanisms was frustrating for me to read because of that." lamented Chiara in sadness.
"He said the shooter got away, I think. It's been a few years so I may be a bit rusty." whispered Jen.
"They teach Turkish in Canada? I'm impressed." stated Chiara.
"All languages and cultures welcome." replied Jen with a smile.
Just then, a Turkish police officer showed up staring at Jen and Chiara. He waved them out from their hiding place as if to say "The coast is clear" without actually saying it.
"Ingilizce biliyor musunoz?" (Do you speak English?) asked Jen, hoping that she got the pronunciation right as the Turkic language family was challenging to most outsiders.
"I do. I've been the liaison to New London's third Scotland Yard for almost 10 years so I've grown to speak it fluently. My name is Abdullah Colak, I know who you 2 are, obviously."
Chiara stared at all of the dead bodies, there were 18 of them altogether. She wished that this was the first time that people have died in order to protect her, but her vast empire is not without its' cracks.
"We had received word that a shooter might try to kill you all last night, but we had no way of relaying that information to your staffs as you were already on your respective ships and the radio signals were jammed. We would've been here to greet you as soon as you walked out from being acclimated but most of my men are now acting security detail for each of the other 5 nations. The premier of Russia even took a round in his right shoulder but is pressing on with the conference."
"Then so are we. Mr. Colak, our saviour. May Jen and I myself borrow as many men as you can spare that are not protecting the other 5 leaders?"
"All of these officers are yours for the duration of your time here. I will however, be the go-between officer between all 7 of you so you won't be seeing much of me (assuming things go smoothly). The world population must be controlled ladies. My Uncle is the mayor and would not have agreed to host this conference if our family did not believe in its' objective."
"Thank you kind sir, now could you please help 2 ladies stand up?" asked Jen.
"Of course." answered Abdullah.
He pulled them both up simultaneously, but gently.
"Well Premier Malvestiti, I believe that you just got your wish." whispered Jen.
"Why do you say that?" asked Chiara.
"Because we'll have to work together in order to figure out who our would-be assassin is." replied Jen.
Chiara nodded, and they both let the Turkish officers escort them to the hotel.
Chapter 2: An Opera in negotiation (Canadian allegiances)
Chiara was relieved to be out of that aircraft carrier, to say the least. The cleaning crew that was on the ship didn't take quite as good care of the carrier's bathroom as she would've liked due to budget cuts across the board made by her weeks after she had entered office. While it did give her a sense of approachability amongst the European public (in that she is not above doing what everyone else has to do in order to keep the empire's books in the black), she hated the lack of hygiene that was an inevitable side effect. She did have to share a suite with what is now her makeshift entourage, but they showered after her, so Chiara had 20 minutes all to herself in the bathroom (according to her itinerary).
She was 3 minutes into her shower when she began to openly weep. She knew that by now that her Empire was in complete chaos over the news that she was almost assassinated and she had a decision to make very quickly:
"Do I finish what's left of my career without a cabinet or do I hire new people knowing that they may be out of a job only 4 months from now anyway? And what adjustments will I have to make to my empire's budget if I hire new people?"
Under the articles of the constitution of the Italian Commonwealth of European States, both of those options were on the table as there were less than 6 months to go, but decided that she would make that decision on the aircraft carrier and announce it to the world when she returned home, hopefully alive and safe.
"Madam Prime Minister, It's time to go."
Jen wasn't taking any chances anymore (as she didn't quite share her Italian counterpart's idealism, although I doubt Chiara would blame her now), she was inside a circle of 8 heavily armed and large Turkish police officers starting from the moment she exited her hotel room until she reached the conference room. It was a simple walk to the elevator (less than 10 metres) and all 9 people got inside the all red elevator with relative ease.
For the second time in just a few hours, Jen felt awkward in regards to how to communicate with those around her. Other than for purchasing food at restaurants, Jen had never really needed to speak Turkish before outside of school. She just took it as an elective in her senior year of York University to complete her doctorate in Political Science. Then again, they were men, and at least some of them should like sports (the great bonding tool amongst the masculine):
"Beyler, ulke dunya kupasi ev sahipligi yapabilir sizce?" (Gentlemen, do you think your country can host a world cup?)
2 guards were too busy being stunned that the Canadian lady in front of them was speaking their language well enough where they could understand her, 2 simply shrugged their shoulders in complete indifference (suggesting to Jen that they weren't soccer fans), 2 began looking up at the ceiling seriously thinking about it, 1 shook his head and the last joined him, adding "Quite honestly, we don't have the infrastructure to host an event on that scale. We are looking into hosting the Asian championships in the future, however."
The elevator stopped moving and the door opened. Jen silently guessed that only 1 of the 8 guards could actually speak English, so she quit speaking Turkish while she was ahead. No sense in pushing her limits in speaking Turkish any further.
The press corps who had tried to harass Jen and Chiara (that didn't get murdered) when they entered Istanbul's skyport had not only re-gathered in the main conference room at Istanbul's Hyatt Regency, but had doubled in size. Photos were snapped so quickly that for 2 minutes, the conference room didn't need to be lit. All seven leaders of the G7 entered the centre of the room simultaneously. Barack Obama from the United States of America, Graham Chapman of the United Kingdom, Jackie Chan from China, Nikolai Shmirnoff from Russia (complete with his arm in a sling from his assassination attempt yesterday), Shinzo Abe of Japan, Chiara Malvestiti of the Italian Commonwealth of European States and Jen Lemons of Canada.
The centre of the room had a custom-made 8-sided conference table made entirely of cloned Turkish Oak (as were the chairs). They were waiting on their mediator, who arrived shortly thereafter. He was Ban Ki-moon, the secretary of the United Nations. He was short but imposing (even at the age of 70) with bifocals, a custom-tailored suit from John Phillips in London and very short black hair that was just starting to turn grey (and without a hint of a dye job, to boot). With no side of the table being larger than any other, the G7 leaders showed a sign of respect by letting Ban Ki-moon pick his seat first. Once he did, Shmirnoff took the seat to his immediate right while Obama took the one to his immediate left. Chapman took the one to Putin's right while Chan took the one to Obama's left. Malvestiti took the one to Chapman's right while Abe sat on Obama's left. Jen sat down last, as this being her first major action made her a bit nervous.
"For the first time in 67 years, all of the G7 leaders are in 1 room together. For this, I am most honoured to be here both diplomatically and personally for all of you. I have also been made aware of the fact that each of you have had multiple attempts made to end your lives over the last several hours. Please accept my heartfelt sorrow for the actions of the unenlightened as well as my joy that none of you used it as an excuse to back out of what we will be ratifying today. Even though I cannot honestly say I would blame you if you did."
Regardless of the differences between the leaders of the G7 amongst themselves, they all had a great deal of respect for Mr. Ki-moon for his reputation. He was well spoken in 22 languages, had an I.Q. around 200 and never once got angry at anyone since he took his seat as secretary general on New Years Day 2007. There is literally no other individual on Earth that all 7 trusted to handle this matter more than this man.
"We come here today to ratify and sign a treaty whereby all of the nations of the world agree to a 2 children per person limit. Upon you 7 signing it, I will personally travel to the other nations of the world in order to acquire their signatures. Let us begin by reviewing the agreed upon rules of the summit."
Ban Ki-moon then took a white scroll out from inside his jacket pocket and began reading "We hereby agree to the following rules throughout the course of the conference:
1) Bathroom Breaks every hour
2) No vulgar language
3) English only
4) Civility must always be maintained at all costs
5) The conference must never get silly
6) The laws of Turkey and by extension Istanbul must be followed at all times even if they conflict with the rulles of your home nation
7) The treaty must be agreed upon by all 7 parties
Are there any questions before we proceed?"
The G7 leaders whispered amongst each other for a minute, then all of them shook their heads.
"Very well." stated Ban Ki-moon as he took something else out of his pocket before putting the scroll back in. He then continued speaking, "This is a custom made 7-sided dice. Each of you were given a number 6 weeks ago. The person whose number I roll speaks first."
He then rolled, a 4 came up.
"Mr. Obama, you may begin first, or pass (in which case I will roll again)."
Barack Obama cleared his throat before speaking "I call for the 2-children cap to be implemented as soon as possible, 6 months from now at the most. Anyone who already has more than 2 and/or is in the process of making a third already will have a grandfather clause, as well as future pregnancies that lead to triplets or more, of course. The world cannot handle 14 billion as it is, frankly half of that was a push when I was born."
A mixed reaction was the reaction of the press (which Ban Ki-Moon controlled just by running his finger across his throat and staring at them). A mixed reaction was amongst the G7 members as well:
"I for one support the motion made by President Obama. As we are the ones who invented it, I will be willing to give away foreign distribution of BC Cola to every country on Earth to help with this transition. Just keep it cheap and don't alter the formula, please." spoke Jen, ever the polite Canadian.
"I third President Obama's idea. Even without Prime Minister Lemons' generosity of giving us Birth Control Cola." added Chiara.
Then came the critics "It's way too extreme to bring about a global reproductive paradigm shift so suddenly. It's silly, and I'm warning President Obama not to get silly again." demanded Prime Minister Chapman.
"And what if the gender ratio becomes unbalanced?" asked Premier Chan, even Jen silently admitted that that was a valid counterpoint.
"Or if the child dies before the age of say, 21?" asked Premier Abe, even Chiara silently admitted that that was a valid counterpoint.
Premier Shmirnoff unfortunately, was caught in the middle, and he knew it. All he could say is "Both sides make great cases."
Ban Ki-Moon felt that a different proposal from the opposite perspective was needed before compromises could be made in ratification. He rolled the dice again, it came up as 7.
"Premier Chan, you're up." he spoke, glad that he rolled someone who could play devil's advocate to Obama.
"While I agree that immediate action needs to be taken, something more gradual would be more realistic to implement. I propose a cap of 3 kids now and go to 2 kids in 50 years time. Anyone who already has more than 3 and/or is in the process of making a fourth or more kid already will have a grandfather clause, as well as future pregnancies that lead to multiple babies, of course."
Another mixed reaction came from the press (which Ban Ki-Moon controlled just by running his finger across his throat again). A mixed reaction was (not surprisingly) amongst the G7 as well:
"That's a lot more reasonable, I'll sign to that right now." opened Premier Abe.
"Definitely easier to implement across the globe, I must say." replied Prime Minister Chapman.
"Please, we'll be at 20 billion people in 50 years at that rate. How many more domes will we have to build?" asked Chiara.
"Or maybe you just want the Earth to collapse even more than it already has." added Jen.
"Something in between is probably the only way we will settle this." said Premier Shmirnoff, hating being the odd man out for a second time but not wanting to pick a side just yet. The media had grown rowdy again, which Jen took advantage by silently mouthing the following words to Chiara, hoping she could read them:
"I suspect the Chinese are behind this. Note how quick Premier Chan was to argue with us. It's as if he wants us to go away."
Chiara could read them (and understood Jen's point of view), but had a different idea:
"I think it's the British. The maker of the bomb on my old ship was British."
That stunned Jen, but not as much as...
BANG!
The Turkish police quickly got the G7 and Ban out of the conference room. The press however, were not so lucky. Most of them died immediately from the explosion, the rest mostly bled to death before doctors could arrive to save them. They were in the hotel kitchen, getting their bearings.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Jen. Everyone nodded.
"I'm sick of this, I say we investigate the attacks ourselves." shouted Chiara in a rare moment of anger. Everyone agreed, mostly in fear. Chiara then took out one of the bomb fragments from the device that blew up her former ship out from her purse, began rubbing it like one would do with a genie's lamp then began staring at it in confusion.
"Premier Malvestiti, what seems to be the problem?" asked Ban with more than just a keen curiousity.
"This used to say 'Made in the UK', but after I rubbed it, it now it says 'Made in Russia'. Prime Minister Chapman, I believe that your empire was framed to look guilty in an attempt to throw us off of the scent of the real saboteur." whispered Chiara.
"Still glad that we liberated ourselves from you 22 years ago." mumbled Jen from under her breath while looking at Prime Minister Chapman.
"My Science team analyzed the poison used to try to kill me last night, it's Russian too." added Premier Chan.
"Same here, although my deputy was not so lucky." replied Premier Abe with a tone of regret that implied that his professional taster died.
Detective Colak entered the kitchen from a door behind them with a small plastic bag labelled "Evidence" in his right hand. "I put a rush order on the bullets that Premier Shmirnoff provided me from the attempt to kill him. They were fired by a Dragonov Sniper Rifle. The design is over 50 years old but they're still manufacturing them today."
Premier Shmirnoff could only reply "One of my own people tried to sabotage this summit meeting?"
Jen wasn't buying what she saw as feigned worry and concern "And you're conspiring with them."
Chiara's eyes went wide with shock, everyone else in the room was outraged at such an accusation. Jen indulged them. "You have a sniper shoot you first so that you're easily removed from the list of suspects. Then the poison targets the countries in the summit meeting that are closest to you geographically. You leave Prime Minister Chapman alone and alter the bomb fragments to say that they're British and not Russian in a very bad effort to frame him. You blow up Chiara's transportation to the meeting because your application for a trade agreement with her empire was rejected then shot at both Chiara and myself at the gates to try to scare us, subsequently killing our security and in Chiara's case, her entire cabinet. Finally, your performance in the summit meeting itself was designed to stall for time until that bomb went off, killing the press corps."
Shmirnoff's only reaction was very slow sarcastic clapping while staring directly at Jen. "Very good Prime Minister Lemons. You should've been a detective, not a politician. Your friend's mystery book might've been a lot shorter if he had picked you to represent his non-yfe friends. Yes, I conspired with an elite member of my military to take you all out, because my country would not benefit from either an immediate or gradual transition to a breeding cap of 2 children per person. We're a phase 5 society already..."
"...A what?" asked Premier Chan.
"He lives in a country that has zero population growth or is declining in people. I'm guessing Russia is one because of the extremely cold temperatures and a lack of immigration into the country. Some of Premier Malvestiti's states are like that due to socialized medicine providing free condoms to its' citizens. The UK is like that due to a rapid increase of homosexual marriages over the last 10 or 20 years. Obama's and Lemons' countries are almost there due to that birth control cola of hers and America not really having any room left for 'new arrivals' to come in." ranted Premier Abe as he pointed at Jen.
Shmirnoff continued his confession, "So as you can see, this meeting needed to be sabotaged. You can't take away the primal need to reproduce in human beings no matter how bad the population gets."
Prime Minister Chapman walked up to Premier Shmirnoff and punched him in the face, knocking him out instantly "What a silly person. The only way that he could be even more silly is if his name was pronounced 'Throat Wobbler Mangrove'".
Detective Colak technically should've been reading Prime Minister Chapman his rights for assaulting Premier Shmirnoff in his presence, but there were bigger issues at hand. "His cabinet would like me to inform you all that they have voted to...relieve him of his duties. Come on in, acting Premier Nabukov."
Acting Premier Nabukov entered the kitchen from the same door that Detective Colak had used just a few minutes prior. He was nearly six feet in height, had a shaved head and looked a little nervous (although given his recent promotion, no one in the room could really blame him). "Ladies and Gentlemen, please accept my nation's formal apology for...former premier Shmirnoff's views as I assure you that they are not a reflection of the Russian people as a whole. Furthermore, I believe that this summit needs a positive resolution in an effort to benefit all mankind. I would like to continue if the other 6 nations are agreeable to the task"
The other 6 members of the G7 nodded in agreement, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was pleased.
"I guess I better find us a new conference room. At least the press won't bother us this time."
Detective Colak (being the sole local resident in the kitchen) replied smugly "We have one, follow me."
Chapter 3: A Resolution, A Dinner Party and a Coupling that could never be
It was a smaller all-white conference room (free of any media presence inside of it) but, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was pleased as he began to summarize the terms that had been ratified less than 1 hour after Russia changed its' premiers "So. I believe that we're in agreement on the following terms:
a) A cap of 3 children per person effective immediately
b) We switch to a cap of 2 children per person in 25 years
c) Anyone who already has more than 3 children or has a child on the way who would be a child that is more than #3 will have a Grandfather Clause immunity
d) As there will be no Grandfather Clause in 25 years time, in 24 years we will announce to the citizens of mankind that they must stop reproducing temporarily
e) Future pregnancies that lead to quadruplets (or triplets in 25 years time) or more will be granted immunity automatically
f) Canada will give away the formula for the drink known as "Birth Control Cola" free of charge on the condition that all other nations still provide Canada 10% of all sales, the formula must not be altered in any way and the Cola itself be affordable to all of Earth's citizens.
g) Any nation with a gender imbalance of more than 5% in either direction amongst citizens of breeding age (ages 18-40) must be reported to the United Nations immediately for possible temporary modifications to this treaty for that nation only.
h) If a person's child dies before the age of 18, one child is removed from their breeding record and they have the option to make another child without any disciplinary action taken against them
i) A person found guilty of breaching this treaty by a jury of their peers must be sterilized immediately (but humanely in an accredited science lab) followed by a prison sentence of no less than 10 years
j) Nations being established as "Phase 5" by the United Nations (Zero growth or population decline) are granted immunity in the interest of preserving that Nation's civilization
k) Annual reports from all nations for the previous calendar year must be submitted to the United Nations no later than March 1st of the following year, no exceptions
l) All reports to the United Nations must be completely free of error, no exceptions
m) Any nation violating these terms are guilty of an act of war and will be disciplined in accordance to the Treaty of New York signed in good faith on September 11th, 2002
All in favour?"
The entire G7 immediately responded with "Aye". No individual nation was getting everything that they wanted but everyone was getting more than half of what they wanted. China, Russia and the UK raised their hands first, followed by the U.S.A., Jen, and Chiara. Japan was last, because he took out several fountain pens first. They were all black ink and each nation had their flag engraved on it. When the other G7 members began smiling at him in approval, he merely shrugged his shoulders and responded "Consider them a gift, in the interest of diplomacy."
Ban Ki-moon smiled and nodded at the gesture (there was even a pen for him with the UN logo on it beside the flag of his native South Korea). Those 8 signed happily, knowing that they were signing the most relevant document made since the domes were first built. Ban Ki-moon then took the treaty into his hands, announcing: "In accordance to my duties, I must now leave you all to travel to the other nations of the world for their signatures."
The G7 nodded, and saluted him in unison in accordance to their nations militaries.
"Good luck sir." stated Premier Nabukov.
"Thank you, secretary general." added Premier Chan
"I hope that they all agree." suggested Prime Minister Chapman.
"If they don't, they're basically kicked out of the United Nations and lose all of the rights and privileges that they were entitled to." stated President Obama.
"I have faith in our brother nations." replied Premier Abe while staring at President Obama.
"Farewell, our great mediator." spoke Chiara softly as she bowed slightly.
"Best wishes to you sir, on behalf of the entire G7." said Jen. Ban Ki-moon waved goodbye. He exited out the back door with several Turkish police officers escorting him to his skyship. The G7 took the front door (also guarded), where a new press corps had gathered:
"Is it done?" asked a journalist from Egypt (based on the flag on her shirt).
Jen took the lead in answering: "Yes, a treaty has been signed that the entire G7 can live with."
The makeshift press corps cheered, the G7 grabbed each others hands and raised them in unity. Chiara then interrupted the celebrations by saying "And on a more personal note, I am proud to say that 67 years of tension between my empire and Ms. Lemons' nation has finally dissolved."
Jen and Chiara then walked towards each other and embraced, leading to the other 5 members of the G7, the press corps and the Turkish police officers cheering. Detective Colak then privately told the G7 "We have a state dinner prepared for all of you if you would like to attend."
"Good, I'm starving." announced Jen and Chiara simultaneously. The other 5 leaders nodded in agreement.
It was a feast of epic proportions. The appetizer was Turlu (a type of Turkish vegetable stew), the main dish was broiled cloned fish which everyone got full on. The dessert menu had options to be voted on, but everyone agreed to baklava.
"A shame that our world was so overspent on resources before I was born that I likely will never know what non-cloned food will taste like." lamented Chiara. Jen nodded to share in that sentiment (as she was even younger than Chiara).
"They more or less got it right." offered Prime Minister Chapman (who was by far the elder statesmen at 73) before adding "The global cloned consumables act of 1977 was what convinced me to give up alcohol and tobacco for good. I was so afraid that the sub-atomic structure of what we were going to be putting in our bodies would kill us due to abnormal mutations caused by gaps in the DNA that it scared me sober. I was actually a Doctor before I got into politics, so my fear was more intense than most others around me at the time."
"That's...quite a re-invention of careers in one's lifetime." said acting Premier Nabukov.
"Indeed it is. I ran for mayor in Maidenhead on a lark in the 1980's and won. But my one regret in life was turning down an offer from my friend John in the early 1960's to write comedy. I might have been on TV regularly a few years later if it had worked out."
"I did movies to fund my political career. People in North America like the old punch-kick movies that I made in my younger days." added Premier Chan.
Premier Abe turned to Jen and Chiara while pointing at Chan and Chapman, suggesting "Maybe your mutual friend can write their alternate stories."
Jen laughed at that idea, replying "Knowing him, he probably already has."
The baklava had arrived, and Chiara raised her glass of recycled water:
"A toast. To new friends, to peace, and the restoration of Mother Earth."
"Cheers." said the other 6. Glasses clanked across the room, and even some of the security had cried in joy at what had been accomplished today.
Several hours later, the majority of them had retired to their hotel floors for the evening. Prime Minister Chapman was in his room, cuddling with his husband David Sherlock. Premiers Abe and Chan were also in their rooms, quietly reading books written by some Canadian that Jen and Chiara knew. While President Obama was going over his plans for the next day with his chiefs of staff (as he would be the first to leave Turkey out of the G7 tomorrow morning).
Jen however, was very restless this evening. She wandered around the top floor of the hotel (by sneaking out of her room as she knew that the local police wouldn't allow her to do anything by herself), finding a grand piano. Pianos were commonplace in the higher end hotels of this world, as the buildings could afford to be soundproofed. She cracked her knuckles and began looking for sheet music around the piano. Upon finding none, she declared:
"Fuck it, I'll improvise."
Her warm-up was "O Canada." as it had always been since she began playing the piano as a child. The late night hotel staff tried their best to ignore her (as they had their own work to do for the evening), but couldn't help but be impressed that the Prime Minister of a foreign country had non-political talents. Her second song was a number from Canadian rock band Rush called "Limelight", the elevator opening didn't even distract her from playing...
...she didn't even notice Chiara walking out (also alone) from the elevator. Jen did however notice Chiara knowing the lyrics as she sang:
"Living on a lighted stage, approaches the unreal..."
Jen immediately stopped playing. There was an awkward moment of staring between both of them.
"Couldn't sleep either?" asked Chiara.
"Nope. The elation that we got the treaty signed combined with multiple attempts on my life today have my adrenaline way too high for me to go to sleep." answered Jen as she took out a small metal case out of her pajama pants pocket, opened it, and put a pot pill in her mouth. She then offered Chiara one, who accepted non-verbally.
"Thank you, I rarely get to do anything rebellious these last several years, given what my job is. I wish I could tell you that it gets easier the longer that you serve your nation. But you do not deserve to be lied to."
Jen nodded as she put the metal case back in her pocket.
"How long have you played?" asked Chiara.
"Ever since I was a little girl. I stopped playing for a while as a teenager but picked it up again when I really got into politics. It kept my hands occupied while I was quitting smoking. I couldn't in good conscience keep smoking when they were polluting my dome's air filters."
Chiara laughed "An ex-smoker that's part of a pot political party. How ironic!"
Jen joined on the laughing "The high is more intense in pill form. A pity the seeds are cloned."
"Your dome wasn't Toronto proper, was it?" asked Chiara.
Jen shook her head before answering "My dome was actually New Meadowvale. But all of the Greater Toronto domes are connected by tunnels so we don't have to waste sky ships on journeys that are so short."
Chiara nodded in understanding. New Roma had a similar situation, as did Upper Berlin and New Paris so she knew the basic idea behind the tunnels in the sky.
"Thank you for being so open to peace today, despite the past of our 2 nations." said Chiara, softly, sincerely.
"Thank you for making peace so easy for me." replied Jen, which was followed by another awkward moment of silence. Chiara looked down at the piano, trying to find a new topic of conversation.
"Do you happen to know any European Opera?" asked Chiara.
Jen looked up at the ceiling, trying to search the inside of her mind for an answer.
"One, but it's been a very long time since I've played it. Please bear with me."
Chiara made her nod of understanding as Jen began playing. It took Chiara some time to recognize it, as she herself was just a little girl when it was released.
"Barcelona? You know Barcelona?" asked Chiara with the enthusiasm of a child.
Jen stopped playing before she answered "I do. I think Freddie Mercury is the greatest entertainer alive, and when I heard that he had made an album of opera with Montserrat Caballe, I just had to buy it."
"Are you OK with singing his parts?" asked Chiara.
"You're going to try sing Montserrat's parts?" asked Jen, mostly out of concern for Chiara's vocal cords.
"Well I was an Opera singer before I got into politics." answered Chiara.
Jen started the piano from the top:
I had this perfect dream
Un sueno me envolvio
This dream was me and you
Tal vez estas aqui
I want all the world to see
Un instinto me guiaba
A miracle sensation
My guide and inspiration
Now my dream is slowly coming true
The wind is a gentle breeze
El me hablo de ti
The bells are ringing out
El canto vuela
They're calling us together
Guiding us forever
Wish my dream would never go away
Barcelona – It was the first time that we met
Barcelona – How can I forget?
The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away
Barcelona – La musica vibro
Barcelona – Y ella nos unio
And if God willing we will meet again, someday
Let the songs begin
Dejalo nacer
Let the music play
Ahhhhhhh
Make the voices sing
Nace un gran amor
Start the celebration
Ven a mi
And cry
Grita
Come alive
Vive
And shake the foundations from the skies
Ah, ah, Shaking all our lives
Barcelona – Such a beautiful horizon
Barcelona – Like a jewel in the sun
Por ti sere gaviota de tu bella mar
Barcelona – Suenan las campanas
Barcelona – Abre tus puertas al mundo
If god is willing
If god is willing
If god is willing
Friends until the end
Viva – Barcelona
"If Aaron ever writes this about us, I hope he doesn't translate your part." declared Jen.
"Agreed, it would undermine the purity of the song." replied Chiara.
Chiara then held out her hand, which Jen accepted. Chiara then lead Jen to a nearby window which showed them an old building.
"That's the Hagia Sophia!" said Chiara as she pointed.
"Nice replica." said Jen as objectively as she could.
"That's not a replica." replied Chiara a bit smugly.
"They...got that church turned mosque turned museum off the ground and into the dome. How?" wondered Jen aloud.
"Co-operation amongst the people. Justinian the Great would be so proud." said Chiara in pride.
"As he should be." answered Jen, very impressed.
Another awkward pause came between them, it was a day of bonding and affection for both of them, to say the least.
"I better be getting back to my room. Thank you again, for everything." opened Chiara.
"You're welcome. Chiara, My compatriot, goodnight." replied Jen, who moved towards Chiara and kissed her like 1 would kiss their lover. It was long, passionate...
...and Chiara pulled away.
"I'm sorry for giving you the wrong impression, Jen. I know that the media calls you the pansexual prime minister and I accept all orientations but...I'm hetero."
Jen's eyes widened in horror, she had just made a major faux pas and she knew it. "Oh Chiara, I'm so sorry. I hope that this doesn't ruin today for you."
Chiara shook her head, "Not at all. Between the foreign land and the exchanges of kindness, I can understand that today could be seen as romantic for some. Don't worry about it, goodnight again."
"Goodnight." replied Jen. They hugged again, which let Jen know that Chiara would never bear any ill feelings towards Jen for such a slight misunderstanding.
They parted company as allies and friends. Still, Chiara did think about that kiss in a way that many in this world wouldn't understand:
"Why isn't this one of the Aaronworlds with Fabio on it?"