Unsurprisingly, the next leader to rise to their feet was David Turnbull. “Spineless and duplicitous…” the President mused with a predatorial smirk on his face, “I guess Uganda and her neighbours would rather the US send their aid money somewhere else then!” A burst of laughter erupted from the back of the hall, the Presidents smirk widening until he – like I – realised that it was coming from the African delegation themselves. Turnbull’s aide was desperately trying to get his attention.
“What?” he whispered, just loud enough for the microphone to catch what was being said.
“Your father stopped all aid to Africa twenty years ago, we don’t send them any money for you revoke.” The laughter in the auditorium grew louder as – apparently – the rest of the congregation also heard the aide’s correction of his leader.
The President glowered at his subordinate but straighten himself back up undeterred. “The Atlantian speaker is a criminal, a traitor and a terrorist!” he shouted over the laughter, which eventually quietened down for him to speak. “He was a contractor who was working on research for the United States when he stole that work and faked his own death…”
“oh Jesus…” His aide muttered again, apparently neither men we aware that the mic was picking up everything they were saying.
“What now?” the President whispered.
“Technically true, but the other delegations have seen the leaked reports, they all know that Marcus was not working on any of the technologies you are demanding when he left US employment.” I looked at Alice and frowned at the mention of leaked reports, she looked as confused as I did, maybe this was Charlotte’s doing.
“For fuck sake, why wasn’t I informed? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did, sir… Twice.”
Another wave of sniggers rippled across the crowd as Turnbull returned his attention to the assembly. “This is a simple matter!” the President announced, doing a remarkable job of ignoring the humiliating laughter directed at him, “Atlantia and its leader are enemies of the United States, I am a man of honour and integrity…” another burst of laughs and guffaws “…so you can take me at my word when I warn you that any support for, or cooperation with, this terrorist state will be met with the strongest possible consequences! The USA has the world’s strongest military and the world’s greatest economy and between those we can reduce any nation who defies us to ruin. You may all vote as you see fit, but if Atlantia gains recognition today, they will be at war tomorrow, and once we have dealt with that pariah state and retrieved what rightfully belongs to us, we will remember who sided with them against us and come for you. Consider yourselves warned!” David Turnbull returned to his seat.
“Are there anymore statements?” The Secretary General asked the council after a short pause, his question was met with silence. “then we shall proceed to the vote. Afghanistan, in the matter of international recognition, how do you vote?”
“Nay”
“Albania… how do you vote?”
“Aye”
“Algeria… how do you vote?”
This went on for a while with Alice keeping count as the votes came in. Part of me wanted to turn off the screen and wait to be told the result by the secretary general once the count was confirmed, to curl into a ball and hide away from my own nerves and the realities being played out on screen. Alice on the other hand wanted to watch the whole thing, I felt myself becoming envious of her ability to deal with these situations without emotion. Turnbull’s outburst hadn’t been unexpected, but the threat of war or economic sanctions from the US – despite their diminished international standings – would still be a daunting and terrifying prospect to some of the smaller nations who had committed to supporting us. It wouldn’t take many dissenters for the whole application to fail.
“Canada has voted against us.” Alice announced, pulling my thoughts back to the vote.
“Not surprising, their Prime Minister said they might have to if the US became too belligerent.”
“it’s a shame, we could have done a lot of good work with the Canadians, but I suppose with the US being their closest neighbour and largest trading partner it was a risk they couldn’t take. I liked… wait…”
“What?”
“China just voted in our favour!”
“What!?!”
“The Chinese just had their vote; they are supporting our application!” She shrieked, her face contorted into a mix of shock and excitement. The screen flashed to a very surprised and nervous looking President Turnbull as the murmurs echoed from the speakers, apparently, China’s decision was as much as a surprise to the Americans as it was to us.
The count was into the ‘E’s by the time the commotion had died down. “East Timor… How do you vote?”
“East Timor is a Chinese client state, if they vote for us…” Alice quickly said before being interrupted.
“Aye”
Alice shrieked and spun in her chair towards me. “the Chinese bloc are all voting with us too!”
“But… why?” My confusion was outweighing the amazement and excitement bubbling away beneath the surface. “They didn’t come for a meeting, I openly criticised their politics in my speech and China are not known for taking criticism well, I thought their position was clear.”
Alice shrugged, her excitement was plain to see, “I guess you’d better ask them.” She smiled.
“France… how do you vote?”
“Aye”
The President’s head shot around again, maybe realising for the first time the scale of dissent from his orders. He would have known that France would vote in line with the rest of the EU and if France voted in favour of Atlantia then the rest of Europe would almost certainly do the same.
The favourable votes kept coming in, Germany – only a few votes after France – also voted in our favour, but the real surprises came a few minutes later when Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras – all countries in the American bloc – voted in favour of Atlantian recognition. President Turnbull was watching the American Empire disintegrate before his eyes.
“Hey, Guatemala…” Alice laughed, her excitement as infectious as ever “…maybe you can finally get your coffee.”
“Korea… How do you vote?”
“Nay”
“Kuwait... How do you vote?”
“Nay”
I could only watch in astonished silence as the number of ‘aye’s quickly approached the magic number of 128. Finally, after over two long hours of voting, it was Norway who finally pushed us over the edge, their vote of support was immediately followed by a resounding cheer and thunderous round of applause as the rest of the council realised that – despite the best efforts of the US – Atlantia would be a nation. Several of the African delegation were openly hugging and congratulating each other and the members who had already voted joined in with the applause.
Turnbull didn’t just look angry, he was seething. Atlantia’s recognition into the international community wasn’t simply an indictment of US foreign influence, it was an abject denunciation of America’s place in the world and it had happened on his watch, moreover, by the look on his face, he knew it.
The vote had been continuing as the celebrations and congratulations were raging around them. “Poland… How do you vote?”
“Aye”
“Portugal… How do you vote?”
“Aye”
“Qatar… How do you vote?”
“Nay”
The camera flashed to the Russian delegation as their turn to vote approached, Alexi Ivanov was in deep discussions with some of his aides, one of whom Alice quickly recognised as Demetri Krustov, the man from Charlotte’s video footage.
“Romania… How do you vote?”
“Aye”
The Russian Premier – although not looking as angry as Turnbull – was still visibly nervous about the landslide victory this was turning into. Krustov, on the other hand, was at least as furious with the situation as Turnbull and
was sending withering glances to the diminished American President which was missed by neither us nor him, Krustov and Ivanov were still in a heated debate when their turn finally came around.
“Russia… How do you vote?”
There was a pause as Alexi Ivanov turned back towards the Secretary General, the nervousness in his face was gone, replaced with a look of steely determination, apparently, whatever Krustov had said to him had worked.
“Nay” he announced proudly
The voting continued. St kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine all voted against us. The rest of the ‘S’ and ‘T’s – including Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga and Tuvalu – voted in our favour.
“Uganda… How do you vote?”
“Uganda is proud to vote Aye!” A cheer went up from the African section of the hall.
“United Arab Emirates… How do you vote?”
“In solidarity with our American partners, we vote Nay” The screen flashed to Turnbull in time to see him give the UEA’s ambassador a respectful nod.
“United Kingdom… How do you vote?”
Catherine Rose stood from her chair and glanced quickly at Charlotte in the seat next to her, the princess gave a single nod. “The UK and the United States have enjoyed a special alliance and partnership for the better part of a century…” Turnbull turned his head towards the British prime Minster hopefully, “but the erratic and divisive leadership of that once great country is taking the UK down a road we can no longer follow, in light of new security concerns and in agreement with our European neighbours and friends, we have no choice but to vote Aye.”
Turnbull’s face twisted into a snarl, his rage barely contained.
“United States… How do…”
“Nay, I vote Nay and I consider any and all votes other than that once – form any country – as an attack against myself personally and the United States as a whole. Diplomatic relations and economic trading will be ceased immediately… Oh and Europe can see how they do without us when I announce our departure from NATO this afternoon, good luck dealing with Russia, you backstabbing bastards… They already have plans for you.
With that, he stormed out of the auditorium. Krustov had to physically stop himself from banging his head into his desk.
“err… Ok… Uruguay… How do you vote?”
“Aye”
In hindsight, it was probably Uruguay – after seeing the President’s reaction and the threats that had accompanied them – that cast the most courageous vote of the day. Zambia was the last nation to cast a vote – Zimbabwe, due to their civil war had been discounted from the proceedings – one last ‘aye’ to add to the pile.
The auditorium descended into the rumbles of conversation as the votes were counted and rechecked.
“The final count…” The secretary General announced, drawing an immediate hushed silence from the room, “… in the matter of UN recognition of the Atlantia Nation… Ayes: 158, Nays: 33 Abstentions: 1.” A huge cheer and a standing round of thunderous applause rocked the camera as Alice and I looked at each other is stunned disbelief. “… The motion passes, Atlantia is now formally recognised as a full and equal member of the international community and the United Nations.”
“Well… err…. Shit.” Not the most inspiring words ever uttered after such a historic moment but given the magnitude of what had just happened, they were the best I could come up with.
Chapter 37
A new nation
By all accounts, the celebrations that spread like wildfire across the newest nation on earth were the most vibrant and unifying in Atlantia’s brief history. An enormous fireworks display lit up the sky over every city, town and village as people flocked into the streets to celebrate the nervously anticipated result. It was like the nation had been holding its breath – one reporter had said – and the long-awaited announcement that Atlantia was now a recognised sovereign state was all the permission the people needed to exhale and allow their nerves to turn to jubilation.
The party lasted for two days.
Alice and I joined the rest of our more enthusiastic supporters in one of the larger conference rooms to celebrate our victory. I had lost count within the first few minutes of the number of hands I had shaken, the hugs I had been given and slaps on the back I have received. The African and European delegates were the most enthusiastic partygoers, with drinking, singing and dancing lasting long into the night, Alice was more than happy to join them in their reveries, relishing the opportunity to socialise in a way that she never could at home.
I found myself leaning against a back wall, beer in hand, trying desperately to wrap my mind around what had transpired over the past few hours. “Told you you’d be fine…” a familiar voice came from beside me, I turned to meet the dazzling smile and hypnotic eyes of Charlotte standing next to me, I hadn’t even noticed her approach, “…I also told you that you had more friends than you realised.”
“Yes, you did.” I smiled, “I should never have doubted you.”
“A man after my own heart.” She laughed. “Care to dance?”
I hated dancing, primarily because I was absolutely useless at it, but I had learned my lesson from Maria. “With such a beautiful partner? How could I refuse?”
“Oooh, and smooth talker…” she laughed as she took my hand and led me to the improvised dancefloor in the centre of the room. We swung together, our bodies meeting in a level of synchronicity that I didn’t know I was capable of, “and he has moves.” She grinned, drawing out the last syllable as I started clumsily improvising my way through some movements with Charlotte.
I laughed, looking around the sea of people, my eyes somehow managed to lock on to Alice, dancing happily with the Australian Prime Minister, Frank Bankwell, I couldn’t help but laugh. Charlotte turned to see what I was smirking at, a quiet giggle escaping her lips when she understood the source of my amusement. “He was quite taken with her in our meeting,” I told her, “Do you think he knows?”
“About Alice?” Charlotte laughed, “He doesn’t have a clue.”
“She deserves a good time,” I smiled, “I don’t know where I’d be without her.”
“The ability to give credit to others is a rare quality in a politician.” She said, still smiling as her head rested against the side of mine, her warm breath tickling my ear.
“Didn’t you know? I’m not a politician, I’m an engineer…” I grinned, “and here I was thinking you knew everything.”
“I’m afraid, Mr Speaker…” she laughed, “…after today, you most certainly are a politician, and an outstanding one at that.”
“But politicians are not diplomats… right?”
“And he listens,” she laughed, “Alice has done some very good work with you. I’ll have to thank her later.”
“Later?”
She flashed her eyebrows at me as she pulled her face from my shoulder, “No that would spoil the surprise.” She leant forward, our lips met and for only the second time in my life, time slowed down.
For the first time in more than 5 years, I spent the night in a bed that wasn’t my own.
The next morning was a maelstrom of activity as the various delegations -many of them with hangovers - finished the last of their activities and started filtering out of the UN building. Charlotte and I had said our goodbyes earlier in the morning with her return to the UK scheduled for much earlier than mine.
I was waiting for Alice to return to the office – I hadn’t seen her since the party the night before – when a knock pulled me from my thoughts. “Come in?” I announced, taking my place behind the desk in time for the doors to open.
The door opened and in strode three men, it took me a moment to recognise them as the Chinese Ambassador to the UN and his aides, I stood to greet them.
“Gentlemen, I wasn’t expecting any more visitors.” I admitted with a smile as I shook the Ambassador’s hand.
“Ye
s, I thought it would be a good idea to meet with you before we left for Beijing, I am Ambassador Ling.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Indeed, although I am surprised that you didn’t invite us here before the vote, some of your remarks had us a little concerned.”
“Invite you?” I asked in confusion, “Forgive me, Ambassador, but I was under the impression I wasn’t able to invite anybody, I was to wait and see who came to meet me of their own accord.”
The ambassador frowned and turned to one of his aides, saying something in Chinese that I obviously couldn’t understand, but from the look on his face, that Ambassador was clearly not impressed with the answer he was being given by his aides.
He turned back to me with a huff. “Well, it appears that my aides misunderstood the protocol here, in Chinese culture, one does not invite himself into another man’s house. The insult my government felt at their lack of invitation was obviously an oversight on our part. I apologise for not coming to see you when we had the chance.”
“No apology necessary, Mr Ambassador,” I said with a frown, “but – between your governments continued aversion to allowing people to emigrate to our country and your refusal to allow trade between our nations – I was under the impression that relations between our countries were… err... less than friendly. You can imagine my surprise then, when you voted to support our application.”
“A parent does not let his children visit a friend’s house until it has finished being built.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We do not conduct trade or allow emigration to any country until they are recognised by the UN.”
“I see, is that official policy?” I asked, knowing that Alice would have found that law if one existed.
“Maybe not official policy, it is just how we have always done things.” I nodded in understanding, although I was far from being convinced. “As far as the vote is concerned, despite your inflammatory remarks, our government felt that a trade and cultural relationship would benefit both of our countries, if remarks like the ones you made before the UN can be avoided in the future. Plus, being the thorn in the side of the Americans and Russians is another non-official policy that we practice regularly.”
The Rise of the Speaker Page 44