“Oui… Yes,” Remy replied in a thick French accent, leaning back into his chair and crossing one leg over the other. “I have been authorised to speak on behalf of the entire European Union.”
“And I am negotiating on behalf of the UK, Scandinavia, and the other European countries not part of the EU.” Catherine Rose added, “The UK is also representing parts of the old commonwealth; I believe that you have already met with the Australian Prime Minister, the Canadian and Indian Prime Ministers would also like to meet you at some point tomorrow. I am also speaking for NATO, although in something of an unofficial capacity.” I was a little surprised to hear that last piece of information but said nothing. “In total, there are 56 nations represented in this meeting.”
“I’m grateful that you have chosen to speak with me, Madam Prime Minister.”
Catherine Rose smiled before starting the negotiations. “Atlantia is already a valuable trading partner to the UK and the rest of Europe – albeit an unofficial one – and the application of your various technologies into our respective national infrastructure has been a significant boon to the economy. Obviously, that trading partnership is one we would like to see continued, if not expanded, so supporting your application is the natural conclusion.”
“However,” Jacques Remy spoke up, “The United States is very opposed to your admittance into the UN and have made some significant threats against the European nations if they chose to support you.”
“What kind of threats?” I asked with concern.
“We will let our chief negotiator handle that aspect of the talks, she will be joining us shortly, but for now it is sufficed to say that America is threatening to sever economic trading completely and – more importantly to our discussions today – they have threatened to pull out of NATO.”
My eyes widened in shock. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – or NATO – was a military alliance between, primarily, the European countries and the Nations of North America. Set up in 1949, its purpose was to provide a mutual military defensive pact between all nations involved, mainly against the threat posed by the old Soviet Russia during the long years of the cold war. Although its purpose had expanded slightly during the last 70 years – involving actions such as the two gulf wars – its primary mission was to counter the military might of Russia.
America’s withdrawal from NATO was the equivalent of the US abandoning its alliance with Europe and leaving them to deal with Russia alone. The Grand European Army – the combined and newly centralised military force of all European countries – had been expanded and upgraded to a massive degree since the second Korean war as America’s reliability had come into question, it had grown to an extent that it could match the US in terms of numbers, but American forces still made up almost half of the NATO military strength, losing them would be catastrophic to European security.
“The European nations have decided that our reliance on the United States for military and economic security is more of liability than we can afford.” Rose continued, “Especially considering their increasingly friendliness with the Russians over the past decade or so, but that means that we need to find an alternative. Your military and technological prowess in Africa didn’t go unnoticed; the whole world is aware of what your Spartans can do and a nation with an advanced military and a developed economy is a potential ally that can fill the hole left by the Americans.”
“Our technology is…” I started.
“not up for negotiation,” Rose interrupted, “yes, we know, and we are not asking for it. The US never shared technology either and we managed fine. We fully expected you to deny everyone access to that kind of weaponry. Our support for your application for UN membership does not hinge on access to the Spartans, but it does have three conditions…”
I looked suspiciously at the British Prime Minister as she began listing her demands. “First of all, full trading rights. Atlantian companies will have access to the entire British and European markets and will be able to trade freely – although they will be expected to pay taxes on income earned in our markets – and European companies will have the same access to Atlantian markets.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” I confirmed, this had been an expected condition of most nation’s support.
“The second condition is that if Britain and the rest of Europe are not allowed access to your military technology, then neither is anybody else. We understand and appreciate your reasons for keeping that kind of weaponry out of other government’s hands and we accept that those rules apply to us. But we don’t want another nation to get access to it, Russia or somebody else gaining access through them and wake up one morning to find enemy controlled Spartans marching across Europe.”
“Well I can defiantly guarantee that.”
“the last condition is that you join NATO if America follows through with their threat to withdraw. If they don’t - and remain in the alliance - then a separate mutual defensive pact will need to be drawn up, but if the worst happens – to either of us – assurances of intervention will be needed by both sides.”
I sat in silence for a while as their third request ran through my mind, but unlike his Australian counterpart, Jacques Remy wasn’t about to give me time with my thoughts. “I appreciate that this is a significant commitment and we are not expecting an answer today, with that in mind, we have asked the British Ambassador to the UN to join us. She is a highly respected diplomat and has been nominated and agreed upon by all the nations we represent as the best person to continue these talks. She also has access to intelligence and diplomatic files relevant to the negotiations. We hope that you will be able to give us an answer once you have spoken to her.”
“I would like to introduce the Duchess of Norwich, Princess Charlotte.” Catherine Rose and Jacques Remy rose to their feet as the doors to my office opened and in walked the stunning woman who had joined me on the balcony earlier that day. I instinctively stood as well as the Princess approached, her broad smile lighting up her features as she strode toward my desk with the grace and confidence reserved for a woman of her stature.
“Mr Speaker.” She smiled.
“Princess.” I grinned back.
“Marcus…” her smile widened,
“Charlotte.” I nodded slightly, my grin spreading to match her smile.
“Told you we’d speak again soon.” She said with a wink as she took the seat between Catherin Rose and Jacques Remy, both leaders remained standing, as did I, neither of them seemed remotely surprised that Charlotte and I had already met.
“Mr Speaker,” Rose said as Charlotte made herself comfortable. “President Remy and I will leave you two to your negotiations, you have a lot to discuss. It was a pleasure meeting you.” She finished as she reached across my desk.
“the pleasure was all mine, Prime Minister,” I shook her hand and then took the outstretched hand of Remy, “and you Mr President.”
“Au Revior, Monsieur Oratuer.” He nodded before both world leaders turned and left the room with their army of aides. Charlotte and I were left alone.
Charlotte sat in her chair staring at me for a while, a strange smile playing across her lips and a Maria-like glow in her eyes. “That was a nice speech you gave, Marcus.” She started, “national pride, declaration of intent and thinly veiled insults against political rivals… it was very entertaining.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I think you are a little too entertained by Atlantia’s mission here.”
“What can I say? you are a very entertaining character.” Her amused grin had started to spread.
“and how is that?” I asked, under normal circumstances I would be more than a little irritated by this point in the conversation, if not openly annoyed. But something about Charlotte’s demeanour didn’t suggest any malice whatsoever, this back and forth – although confrontational and combative on the surface – was almost playful, maybe even flirtatious.
“let me see…” she stared counting off her fin
gers. “Political intrigue, futuristic technology, conspiracies, plots, murders, diplomatic manoeuvring, the balance of international power… a political newcomer with no diplomatic experience and no desires for power has well over half of the United Nations climbing over themselves to get in your good books, the other half nervously watching to see what you are going to do next. It’s fascinating to watch.”
“and yet, you are representing a group of nations who are – apparently – in the former of those two classifications.”
“of course, they are. “she shrugged nonchalantly, “your support would drastically alter the balance of power in the entire northern hemisphere, let alone Europe. Russian aggression could be checked without any need for conflict… the very point of the UN’s existence, wouldn’t you agree?”
“So, where do you come in?” I asked, leaning back in my seat and looking the princess in the eye. Beautiful as she may be, I couldn’t help but feel like a pawn on her chess board. “Prime Minister Rose and President Remy laid out their conditions pretty clearly and yet both of them have given up negotiating powers to you. Why?”
“See, this is why I like you, Marcus.” Her strange grin had now stretched into a dazzling smile. “No pretences, no messing about and a very strong eye for spotting the bullshit. I am here because I have access to information that is – frankly – above the minster’s pay grade…”
“the Prime minister’s pay grade?”
“…and the President, of course.” She nodded while still smiling. “You see, Catherine Rose will be in power for another 6 years, assuming she wins the next election, Jacques Remy will have to give way to his successor in about half that time, the nature of their respective countries will change when their governments do; it is a political variable, we cannot be sure of the nature of the next administration. I - however - am royalty, which means I will always have my position and that makes me a constant, governments may change, but for the most part, their diplomatic relationships with other nations stay the same… as does the generally perceived identity of that nation.”
I frowned, not following her logic and prompting her to continue. “Catherine Rose and her policies could be voted out of government tomorrow, but Great Britain will still be a former colonial superpower, part of the G8, with a large economy, largely Christian, vaguely capitalist, western orientated parliamentarian government ruling over a cold and damp island off the north west coast of Europe. Those facts will remain the same no matter whether Catherine Rose is in office or not and those facts define how we are perceived and dealt with by the international community.”
“So, what is Atlantia?” I asked, starting to understand where this conversation was going.
“An unknown.” She smiled back, “at least to them, and that’s what makes you so entertaining. The rest of the world are fumbling around in the dark, trying to see how you will respond.”
“and you’re different, I suppose.”
“Of course. I get to watch…” she smirked. “I already know who I am dealing with. As a ‘constant’, I have access to the sort of information that allows the diplomatic machinery of all of Europe to keep running. Politicians are useful, but they are not diplomats, no Politian would know what to do with some of the information I have access to and most of the people in that hall are politicians.”
“Information… About me?” I asked, suddenly growing suspicious.
Charlotte smiled, like I was finally catching up with the conversation. “Marcus, what do you know about the British Diplomatic Service?”
“Errr… nothing really. Aside from them being diplomats.”
“If you were talking about the US diplomatic Corps, or the Russian Foreign Service, you’d be right.” The Princess said, “but the British Diplomatic Service is based on centuries of experience and a much more detailed model, The Chinese have come the closest to a decent copy but even they are somewhat ‘lacking’ in their approach to international diplomacy. We work – for example – very closely with the intelligence services, MI-6 specifically and although the American CIA and the Russian SVR both work with their respective foreign services and are reasonable facsimiles of MI-6 – the original intelligence organisation – there was a lot lost in the translation. MI-6 is far, far better at what they do than any other intelligence agency out there. And I know everything that they know.”
“and what do they know?”
“Well, for starters, we know about Maria.” Charlotte paused for a second as my eyebrows shot up. “We know who she was and who she was to you. We know what the pair of you designed and built in Santa Rosa, we know that the US government tried to steal your work and we know what they did to her when that failed. We know about your work after Maria, we know about Montana and the cabin in Harlan, the President’s personal involvement in all this and – most importantly – we know that is why America has classified you as a criminal.”
“Impressive… But a lot of journalists have also put that together and it is pretty common knowledge in the Atlantian security circles.”
“Is Alice common knowledge?” Charlotte said with a wry smile.
My jaw hit the floor as all semblance of normal conversation or playful negotiation disappeared in an instant. I tried desperately to form a coherent sentence, but my mind was blank, wiped clean by the years of fearing Alice’s discovery.
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” Charlotte laughed, assumedly at the look on my face, “We’ve suspected for a while, but didn’t know for sure until the African crisis.”
“But… how?” It was the only thing my addled brain could come up with.
“Trade secrets I’m afraid.” She smiled again, “That, and I don’t have the slightest idea how MI-6 do what they do, they just give me the information when they find it. I am a big fan; I’d love to meet her.”
“I don’t think that…”
“It’s ok.” Charlotte interrupted in an attempt to ease my fears “The few people who know about Alice have all decided that it would be better if her existence – and nature – remain a secret; World peace and all that. I thought I would show some good will by laying all my cards on the table, give you a reason to trust me, I was hoping you could reciprocate…” she left that hang there with a cock of her head, a raised eyebrow and another smile. She was enjoying this far too much.
I couldn’t see any way out. Charlotte, and by extension, the British, maybe even all of Europe already knew about Alice - or at least their intelligence service did. – so, denying or trying to hide her existence further would be futile. On the other hand, Charlotte could have done any number of things with this information, but instead she had chosen to trust me with the truth. At some point I would have to reciprocate that trust to someone so why not now, where it could do the most good?
“Alice…” I called into the thin air of the office. “there is someone here who wants to meet you.”
Alice had been monitoring this – and every other – meeting from the second room of the office. During our meeting with the Australian Prime Minister, she had entered through the adjoining door, but understanding my gesture in front of Charlotte – an echo of my introduction of her and Maria – Alice faded into existence behind my right shoulder.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.” Alice said with a polite smile and a slight bow.
“The pleasure is all mine, Alice.” The Princess rose from her seat and stepped forward, extending her hand, apparently not fazed by Alice’s materialisation in the slightest. “I have been a great admirer of your work, especially with this one…” she nodded at me with a wink and a grin as Alice shook her hand “and please, call me Charlotte.”
“He is a work in progress.” Alice laughed.
“Well then, I can’t wait to see the finished product.” Charlotte joined in with the laughter, eventually it died down and Alice took a seat on the end of the table to my right and able to join in with the rest of the talks, which had obviously been Charlottes goal.
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“So, my people tell me you are one of the most effective security operatives they have ever seen.” Charlotte smiled at Alice.
“An operative?” I interrupted.
“Someone who deals with the acquisition or protection of sensitive information,” Alice qualified, “It would be an accurate description.”
“My people would love to work with you, assuming Atlantia choses to join NATO, that is.” Charlotte continued. “They were especially impressed with the information you gained from the Oval office and how you used that footage to call off the federal authorities in Harlan. Take it from me, it takes a lot to impress MI-6” The two women were all smiles for each other.
“Thank you.” Alice smiled, almost with a blush “But please explain something for me; I don’t understand why Europe wants Atlantia to join NATO.” she asked, steering the conversation back on track.
“that is the reason I wanted to talk to you, Alice.” Charlotte nodded, the smile fading from her face for the first time since she entered the room. “As good a security operative as you may be, there is still something to be said for a man with a telescopic lens, sitting in a tree and watching an official’s house. I’m afraid to say, you’ve missed something very important to the safety and survival of your country… and mine.” She pulled a laptop out of her case and placed it on the desk. “You both need to see this…” she said ominously as she pulled up a video file and pressed play.
Chapter 34
More Revelations.
Demetri Krustov had been with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for longer than he could remember. He had cut his teeth on the types of assignment that hadn’t been used in decades, been trained on equipment that wasn’t just out-dated, it was downright ancient by today’s standards and he had seen the fall of the wall with his own eyes. He was what the younger men would call a dinosaur.
But dinosaurs had their uses; able to remember a time when wire taps and button cameras were a relatively new technology and so, able to operate perfectly well without them. Digital technology was all well and good, but sometimes, there was no replacement for a good old-fashioned face-to-face. No cameras, no recording devices, no microphones, no digital or analogue trace of this operation whatsoever; a real soviet style mission.
The Rise of the Speaker Page 40