Katarina bowed to the audience.
“Now to my short talk for tonight,” he continued. “You will be pleased to know that afterwards there is wine and a lovely buffet full of vegetarian goodies supplied by our very own vegetarian delicatessen here in Aldebaran. I won’t keep you from that for too long, but what I have to say to you tonight is, I feel, quite important and does have a serious side.
Over the last couple of weeks you have all had an opportunity to act out a game that is based on the thankfully now historic Irish troubles. At the turn of the century Donald and I renamed the original hamlet of Kai Endo Sabfelt so as to reflect the Irish slant that we have given to the test and the fact that it is where Duncan and I reside when we are not out in the world conducting our peace campaigns. Like the other tests it has an educational purpose, in this case to teach the principles for world peace along the lines proposed by our Founder David Stoneman.
During the course of your assignments Duncan and I, with the help of all of our kind volunteers, sought to demonstrate to you that there is some point for every man, woman and child, no matter who, at which they will agree to take up arms. It may be by persuasion, compulsion, peer pressure, or some other reason, but it will happen. We also sought to teach you that a terrorist of any colour cannot love peace, for peace and terrorism are mutually opposing. With these concepts understood, I will now explain to you Stoneman’s solution, which has been progressively refined and applied across the world, responsibility for the implementation of which now rests with Duncan and myself.
As you know, my family is originally from Ireland and back in the twentieth century, like many Irish families, my ancestors suffered in the days of the troubles. I was somewhat more fortunate in being born here of Irish parentage. In 2070 my father left The Island for, of all places, Groznyy in the Russian Republic of Chechnya. He did this in the knowledge and belief that something really great and exciting was about to happen there, and it was.
Most of you, even before you came here, know Groznyy as that dream city down in the Caucasus where that lovely Russian wine comes from and classy people zoom off to enjoy something different. I am proud to tell you though that if it hadn’t been for The Island and a handful of entrepreneurs, of which my parents were members, as well as Donald, grandson of our Founder Anton, it may never have been so. I will show you some pictures of Groznyy before the transformation, which will astound you. It was wartorn and shattered, and may well have remained so if The Island had not intervened to restore peace.
The game which you all played is, in fact, a child’s game in Chechnya. The children play it to learn about and remember the sacrifices that their forefathers made. In the twenty-minute film which follows my talk you will be guided through each of the stages of the transformation from the initial talks with the Russian government and the dissident Chechen leaders, through the investment and construction of the new Groznyy, and on into the boom years of wine, women and song. We will invite you to take a tram ride through the streets of prosperous suburbs like Donegal and Tralee, enjoy a scene from Riverdance on Ice, and see Chechen children riding on the little narrow gauge steam railways that run at the bottom of back gardens collecting them as they make their merry way to school.
The effort and investment that The Island put into the project has been well rewarded, not least because it enabled a struggling Russian regime that had been very cooperative with us in Kamchatka, to regain its popularity by ending the problems in Chechnya and neighbouring South Ossetia, where our work continues to be ongoing. Having allowed them to take most of the credit for the achievement and to stay in office as a result, they have helped us ever since, and it has to be said that seeing the smiles on those children’s faces, as well as those of the elders, Russians and Chechens both, enjoying life playing chess in quaint old beer gardens, Guinness in hand, is extremely satisfying, knowing that it is something on the world stage that we created. The honour is ours and we know that it can never be taken from us. That is The Golden Harp proper, the way Kathleen would have wished it.
Many cultures are represented in Chechnya today, as it is seen as one of the more attractive parts of the world to visit, work in and study in. Groznyy is very cosmopolitan, unlike the city of old, and as you will see in the film the people are happy. Joy in work and pride in a job well done are the norm not the exception. It is still capitalist, but that does not matter so much when we have a population that is basically content, a gun free zone, and a virtual absence of serious crime. So, how was this miracle achieved?
For a good part of the last century poor, devastated, traumatised Chechnya was beset with problems. The Island needed the help of the Russian regime. The Russian regime was desperate to solve the problems that it had in the region. Nobody at the time had the means to solve it, or so it seemed.
Ken’s lost wife Kathleen adored harp music and contrasted especially the music of the fabulous instrument that we have just heard with the discords of guns and bombs. She in particular wanted to teach children that individuals and groups, once induced to take up arms, invariably concede to enter a zero-sum game, that is to say a game in which there can be only losers and where harmony is never accomplished.
Often the zero-sum game results from the outcome of an election which then places one group of citizens in a minority with their chances of succeeding in life automatically prejudiced by the majority. There is then a discord as what is perceived as democracy by one group is seen as being tyranny by another.
The Island has always opposed electoral systems which give rise to such discords. As a result as part of our foreign policy we ask all businesses with whom we trade to sign a declaration to the effect that they will join us in our efforts to end minority repression around the globe. This had a particularly profound effect in Chechnya and South Ossetia when The Island began to invest there introducing both wealth and a culture that was sufficiently neutral as to be accepted readily by both the majority Chechens and Georgians, and the minority Russians, all of whom wanted an end to conflict.
Supporters of The Island in Ireland were invited by my father to become settlers in Chechnya and to begin work to rebuild the shattered land. The Island would be behind them, as would Moscow, as negotiations between the Russians and Chechen rebels were on the rocks. Moscow offered us a free hand to solve the problem, whilst allowing the Russian government to take the credit so that they would perform well rather than badly at the polls. The Kremlin promised not even to mention The Island, whilst the Chechens simply saw us as a team of outside volunteers from Ireland who were willing to invest in their people in order to turn the place around.
Stoneman’s theory introduces the concept of a flashpoint, that is to say a point at which a critical number of people will take up arms and use them aggressively. To illustrate, Northern Ireland had in the 1970s a lower flashpoint than the Irish Republic. The flashpoint is, however, not the same as the point at which arms are simply taken and left in a mothballed state. Arms may exist, but so long as they are never used the flashpoint will not be reached. Such a system may be said to be stable and, as you will have learnt from Deming, there is no need to tamper with a stable system.
In Chechnya our priority was first to raise the flashpoint and then to decommission the arms, strictly in that order, with the help of people from a place where the flashpoint had already been successfully raised, Northern Ireland.
As our power in the world grows, it is anticipated that we will acquire a greater ability to raise flashpoints. Neither the soldier nor the terrorist has a place in a civilised society. The soldier, by his presence, will be forever a legitimate target for the terrorist, who is in turn an outlaw. Similarly the lawman who wears the minority’s colours in the majority’s force contributes to a lowering of the flashpoint by virtue of providing a service to that which is being opposed. Where orange officers, in an orange force, police orange streets there can still be harmony, but where green or orange officers, in an orange force, police green st
reets the flashpoint will go down and there will be a discord. Green streets cannot be expected to respect orange law. They need green law and green law enforcers.
In Chechnya in the seventies we assumed that the zero-sum game that existed was the consequence of the prevailing system of majority rule in a minority state, just as it had been in twentieth-century Ulster. We assumed the existence of a sizeable prejudiced minority, that arms were freely available, and that the flashpoint had been breached. We then applied Deming’s theory which told us that where there was disharmony the root cause was likely to be the system rather than the people and, therefore, we had to all work together to improve the system. This being the case, the system upon which we had to work was the nature of government from Moscow, and the question that we had to ask was ‘did we really have to have red laws policed by red officers on sky blue pink streets?’ The answer clearly was no.
Today, uniquely in the capitalist world, Chechnya is policed by the Greencoats. Everyone has accepted a modified form of Irish law and a modified form of The Island faith, which demands tolerance from all sides. Guns were banned and a full programme of cooperation instituted, with vastly increased rates of pay for all those who participated. Unemployment was reduced to zero. Then, we gradually merged the Irish law with a combination of different laws in different areas. Russian law was retained in some areas, for example, but importantly people were given the freedom to choose the laws which they wanted at community level. So we have, in effect, different laws for different people. Simple, isn’t it? Worth working for, isn’t it?
Ladies and gentlemen, I commend to you The Golden Harp, a careful blend of old and new, a tolerable gap between rich and poor, and no gap eventually with Non-Capitalist Economics. Pride in one’s culture, joy in work and harmony when being played. It’s a commitment to excellence that will endure forever.
Enjoy the film and the buffet.”
Chapter Fourteen
Searching for Sawicki
Three days later.
Gary and the others had arrived at the ice rink for their training. This time, however, the training had a new element. With her now familiar whistle Jobine summoned them to the centre of the rink.
“Today,” she said, “I am going to introduce you to something new”.
As she spoke a harness dropped as if by magic from above and landed in her hands.
“It’s known as flying, and what you will all need to be able to do before you leave here is to be able to perfect a routine that involves not just skating but elevation also. The Kamchatskiy trainers require me to train you in this, although your particular routine for Carnival will not feature the harness. Had you been on course for a place with Kamchatskiy Aerospace or Kamchatskiy Maritime then it would.
First of all you need to become accustomed to strapping yourselves into it, and then taking small steps from the ice so as to become airborne. So I will ask each of you in turn to strap yourselves in and begin to experience the sensation.”
Jobine then demonstrated to the set how to attach the straps around their waists and then to attempt a small bunny hop to provide sufficient spring to enable the skater to part from the ice so as to reach a height of about three feet before completing a simple turn in the air and returning with a neat touchdown.
“The touchdown is very important,” stressed Jobine. “The landing should be soft and with a straight free leg extension. You will need to get used to this for a while before we start to increase the height and the complexity of moves.”
Claudia was the first to try. Jobine helped her to adjust the straps so that they were tight and offered minimal discomfort. Then she took three small steps on her toe-picks using the first two to gain speed before using the third to acquire height. Then the harness took over, providing her with the necessary assistance to complete a single rotation.
“Keep your head up as you come back down,” Jobine urged.
Claudia gave a slight shriek as she completed the rotation, not quite sure at first when to prepare her skating leg for placement back on the ice. She completed the landing, however, sufficiently well to gain a quiet “well done” from Jobine.
The others attempted the same one by one with varying degrees of success. Then the height was increased and a somersault introduced. Then a variation was added which allowed for an immediate return to the air following a single touchdown. It was not long, however, before the inevitable disorientation and nausea effects became apparent for all of the setmates, as height and speed were increased and positions varied from the simple upright posture which they had assumed at the start.
“Don’t worry too much,” Jobine said as the setmates predictably complained of sickness and disorientation, almost to the point of collapse in Gary’s case. “I know none of you are used to this but the discomfort will subside, trust me.”
“Good show,” said Jobine, applauding as Gary eventually completed the troublesome somersault. “Now we will do it again, but with increased momentum so that it will look a whole lot better.”
“It’s not very good, is it?” Gary remarked as he slowly completed the movement once more. “I feel as if I’m going to be sick if I try that again.”
“We will build on this exercise week by week,” she explained. “We will experiment with different rhythms and get you performing a greater variety of movements whilst in the air. I now have to tell you that when you return to your cottage Joanie has something special for you, so I will now call time on today’s lesson and let you get back so you can hear her television message.”
*
When the set returned to the cottage the setmates immediately congregated around the television to await The PM’s announcement.
“Setmates,” she said. “It now gives me great pleasure to inform you that the holograms from your family and friends have been compiled and will be beamed to you shortly. I therefore call Claudia to the hologram suite.”
They cheered as Claudia departed to the back room. The others waited until she returned, calling Michael through. Gary followed Connie.
The small back room contained a small stage and a single seat. Onto the stage were projected the three-dimensional images of Gary’s parents.
“Gary, we are so pleased for you,” said his father. “As soon as you had left we knew instantly what had happened and that you had received the prestigious Queen’s Ticket.”
“The embassy called an hour later,” his mother continued. “They told us that you had been summoned by Her Majesty Queen Katie of Kamchatka, and your father said that he did know of the special place where you were to be taken, although he didn’t know exactly where it was. They also told us that you would be joining the skaters of the Kamchatskiy Auto Company and going on tour after you had completed your training.”
“The embassy assured us that nobody ever turns down an invitation from Queen Katie, and that she has many supporters in Britain as elsewhere,” his father added. “We have been advised not to disclose our knowledge to others, but have been assured that the Kamchatkan authorities will take good care of you. There is no reason to disbelieve them, but of course we would like to see you if only in two dimensions. We are therefore sending this message via the British embassy hologram link to Petropavlovsk, who have assured us that we will have a confidential link to you through them.”
“We all wish you well,” said his mother. “We have seen pictures of you with your setmates, and are under no illusion that everyone is very contented in this place, wherever it is that you are. Anyway we are glad that we have seen you and that you are in the best of health.”
As the images faded a voice issued the instructions to return a message.
“To return your message, stand on the white circle in front of the stage”.
Gary duly stood on the spot.
“Hello, Mum and Dad. I have received your message in fab 3D and thank you. You are right everyone is very contented here. I have a great partner and am adjusting to life in a set of twelve which
is great. Everyone works together here and it is like living in a dream. Today we learnt flying on ice, which was great. We have had some interesting challenges and there are more to come, but they don’t worry us because nobody ever fails them, as long as we try, which everyone invariably does. The place is a really beautiful island, magical and full of mystique. It is also the birthplace of the most fantastic revolution that is happening in the world today.
We have dined with The Queen and she even acted as tour guide for us around the very first Non-Olympic stadium, which to our astonishment is nearly seventy years old. The Prime Minister, no less, is educating us personally on how to adapt to life in the new society. I thank you for your birthday gifts and look forward to spending some time with you next year. I will probably be married by then.”
“Hello,” said Connie briefly as she sneaked into the background for a second.
“That is my future wife, or principal, as partners are known here. I’m sure you will like her. We are going to the Jeweller’s tomorrow to choose a wedding ring. I can’t believe how my life has been transformed through this place. The only unanswered question so far is who sent me the Ticket. Perhaps all will be revealed in the end. Goodbye for now.”
Gary then returned to the set and called Graca through.
“So, how did it go?” Claudia asked.
“Great. It was a relief to see my parents again.”
“I think we all feel a bit like that. Most of us have been worried that there would be people back home that would be worried about us fearing the worst rather than the best. I was just surprised at how quickly our folks knew exactly what had happened to us. I’m glad to know now that nobody is worrying at all.”
The Island of Dreams Page 16