SWNOVELS Chapter 3
A few years passed. General panic declined, as did reports of people uprooting and disappearing. Rumors about the presence of Alphites in society persisted, but by far and large the new race of men and women seemed to have vanished along with their engineer. Studies were performed on the bodies of the three dead Alphites - for yes, both Abbot and Watkins also belonged to the evolved race - in an attempt to replicate whatever process had been performed upon them, but whatever had been done to them remained out of reach. The only potential source of the secret was therefore the blood of the first one who had instigated the whole affair...but whatever had been introduced into his system became unstable after a few months following his death, and any attempt to transfuse his preserved blood into a living subject resulted in convulsions, madness, and death.
By 2055, when the organization reemerged, people had returned to their normal routines. Of particular note is that during this historical period the United Nations still existed, and had made great strides in establishing global diplomacy save for a few holdout nations. In this age of global unification, a request was received to address that august body...by a representative of what was now calling itself the Psi-Omegan Empire.
Shock was felt the world over, concern that the company had amassed such a population as to nationalize itself, moreover that they had done so under the nose of the entire globe. However, the then Secretary-General, Phillippe Oiseau of France, ruled that they had before allowed representatives of nations guilty of far greater crimes to address the General Assembly, and so allowed it.
On May fifth, a strikingly beautiful woman strode towards the podium before the amassed diplomats. Olive-skinned, dark haired, of obvious Mediterranean extraction, and a stark reminder that these “evolved humans” looked like everyone else. She introduced herself as Calixta Morsalis, and began her speech.
Yes, the collected Alphites had nationalized, and had elected Paul Stragdoc as their leader. He rather wanted to address the group himself, but was concerned for his safety should he make himself publicly available. The American ambassador interrupted and demanded to know where the group had settled, drawing combined shock at the interruption and whispered agreement to know where they had been hiding.
Ms. Morsalis waited until the assembly had quieted before answering.
“I was going to address this shortly anyway, but if you would rather know now, our home is somewhere we could settle and not be persecuted. We became concerned following the Trial Riots of ’47, and relocated somewhere we considered safe, and free. Somewhere we would not be obligated to any particular nation or leader in exchange for Sanctuary. As such, we have removed ourselves approximately three hundred sixty thousand kilometers away in lunar-synchronous orbit.
We dwell aboard the vessel Chancel, orbiting the moon.”
Shouting and outrage spread across the crowd, with citations of the Outer Space Treaty and Moon Treaty, which both forbade national ownership of the lunar surface. Raising a hand for silence, Morsalis simply pointed out “Lunar surface. We are in lunar orbit. Nor do we claim ownership of that orbit, merely our homes aboard the Chancel.”
The assembly continued in uproar, albeit a bit more subdued at the technicality. Morsalis continued over the grumbling, “And if our current orbit is that concerning to all of you, we have no problem relocating our orbit to a different planet or moon. But we would much prefer to address that particular debate another time.” The crowd began to quiet now, interested in what the ambassador would say next. “All we request is recognition as a distinct nation, with all rights therein. We want to have tourism, immigration, and yes, even emigration. Imports, exports, everything that every other nation in our solar system has. We do not want hostility, we simply want to be recognized and enjoy a friendly, peaceful relationship with our original home.”
The silence that followed that pronouncement could have been cut with a knife. Finally, the British delegate, Anthony Prendergast, rose and spoke. “My dear woman, has it escaped your...leader’s attention that he is a wanted criminal here? That people were deliberately killed in an effort to escape justice? Why in God’s name would we want to have a relationship with a people who willingly choose to follow a man such as that?”
Morsalis’ reply was curt and to the point. “Your people followed Churchill, and he was an absolutely horrible human being. The Americans re-elected a man who started a war that most of them did not believe in. Do not speak to me of who we choose to follow as a leader. I’ve made our request in the interest of friendship, not in the interest of conquest or ill-will.”
The German delegate, Johann Mueller, now rose. “Fraulein, I for one would welcome the chance to begin this sort of relationship with your people. My concern is however also related to your choice of leadership if only because there seems to be a certain cult-like fanaticism regarding him. I would express hesitation if only because I recall the unfortunate case of Jonestown in the late 1970’s. Would your government consent to inspection if only to ensure that sort of incident might not be about to be repeated?” The crowd of ambassadors murmured agreement.
Morsalis seemed deep in thought. “I would naturally have to bring this request to his attention before confirming anything, but I do believe that would be acceptable if it would lead to our nationalization.”
There was a certain amount of surprise in the room upon hearing this. Morsalis continued, “And just to provide further proof that this is not a Jim Jones sort of situation, I would be willing to remain as a guest of the inspector’s home nation in order to guarantee their safe return. No tricks, no hostage crises, no assassination attempts. All we want is to prove that we are on the same side as our Earth-bound brethren.”
At that point, she requested time to contact the Chancel and discuss the arrangement with the Emperor. Secretary-General Oiseau granted the request, and moved to recess any further discussion on the topic. That done, the gathered ambassadors frantically contacted their heads of state to discuss precisely what to do. By far and large, leaders in the Western Hemisphere wanted nothing to do with the relocated Alphites. Europe and Asia however were more receptive, which began to alienate the Americas. Mueller reported that the German government was more than willing to provide an inspector in the person of Mueller himself. Several other nations such as Russia, Japan, and France also wished to send a delegation to view the Chancel.
Morsalis herself had contacted Stragdoc, who according to her was warmly excited by the opening of diplomatic relations with any who were willing. Both the American and Canadian ambassadors left the chamber in protest against the idea, the former stating in no uncertain terms that the United States would have to seriously reconsider its relationship with any nation willing to deal with a criminal such as he. Morsalis volunteered the location of her transport, leading the gathered ambassadors to a boat, explaining that her vessel was located in the Atlantic, to avoid general panic if the shuttle had landed in a public space.
Mueller and the German government welcomed Morsalis as their guest while he toured the Chancel, and less than two days later the ambassadors were travelling to the shuttle’s location.