Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire (33 page)

“Besides, we’ll be under the base of the lowest clouds in a moment and we’ll pick up speed. Maggi is going to spoil our near perfect stealth anyway when she connects to the Denver communications network, to contact four of the major news outlets. Pholowela will use the same thin little sensor thread as a radio phone antenna for us.”

By the time the ship settled gently onto the grass, with a large airlock in the center of one side oriented towards the Capitol Building, Maggi had finished making her calls.

“Are they coming?” Noreen asked.

“They say they are. I imagine that when four large mobile broadcast studios are seen leaving the garages of the four major networks, that the watchdog smaller news organizations will notice, and send their own trucks out to follow them. They hate to be scooped.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That a diplomatic delegation of Kobani and our alien allies will be arriving to establish relations with the PU. There would be an advance press conference on the portico of the Capitol, forty-five minutes before the official diplomatic meeting with representatives of the Department of State. I said we wanted to give the citizens of the Planetary Union an opportunity to see representative members of the Galactic Federation, which had just made the defeat of the Krall Empire possible. I said our people would address residents of the PU through the news media, so everyone could see and hear human and alien representatives from our society.”

Sarge agreed. “Yep. That’ll bring those bloodhounds running, even with that short of a notice. You do know they’ll contact the Department of State for confirmation, don’t you?”

Maggi grinned. “Naturally. Which will fluster the hell out of the administration when they learn the media knows about our visit. Our instincts were right. None of the networks knew of our expected arrival tonight. Medford had kept it all hush hush. There would only have been government cameras at the spaceport, and at some out of the way location. I doubt they were planning to meet with us in the ornate formal conference room they use to impress what they consider rubes from the Rim World governments. We don't rank even that high for Medford, and she wanted this kept quiet. If things didn’t go the way she wanted, only her video and description of events would have been released to the news, after the fact. Then she could send us on our way, without any diplomatic recognition or an embassy here.”

Noreen shrugged. “Medford can’t keep this under the media’s radar anyway. She has to hold a press conference after we’re seen.”

Maggi smiled indulgently. “Dear, she could let them film the motorcade, let people see us get in the vehicles and get out, but she isn’t about to allow an unscripted public press conference before she knows what we have to say. I’m sure she expects us to land shortly at the spaceport, and she might discover we contacted the media about an independent press conference. If she does, she’ll force a grin while the networks set up cameras at the Capitol, a place she wouldn’t have let us go. She’ll say they were
misinformed
by us.”

****

“Secretary Oswald, they can say what they want to the media when they get the chance, but they won’t say it today. These backward hicks from outside even the Rim Worlds will not set the tone of our meeting here in the heart of the Hub worlds. My agenda still holds. I can’t keep their visit a secret now, but I don’t have to permit public access to what we can justifiably claim are
delicate negotiations.
The Kobani have a lot to answer for to me, I don't care if they
have
named themselves a grandiose term like the Galactic Federation, with one single world whose location they have kept secret from us. We have over seven hundred twenty worlds, once we retake those that we lost or abandoned. They are worse than Rim World ruffians, who at least are citizens of Human Space if not the PU, and their reckless actions by a tiny force have provoked the deaths of billions of our citizens by a ruthless enemy.

“Our navy, and the armies on Poldark and New Dublin, are on the verge of defeating those two Krall invasion forces. I understand, from information we’ve received about that enemy base in Human Space, that we should be able to retake K1, or whatever in hell that ratty assed Rim World colony was named before the Krall walked over them. We don’t need criminal Kobani help to do that.”

After a shocked moment to collect his thoughts, the Secretary of State said, “It was Greater West Africa.”

“What was?”

“That
ratty
assed colony
as you called it, Mam. We lost over eighteen million people there. There were no survivors among those on the planet when the Krall invaded. I hope you will use more suitable language if this discussion goes outside our personal talks or other secure communications.”

“Oh. Right. Of course. I was venting my anger at these upstart rebels trying to dictate what events are going to take place tonight. If their leader Mirikami is with them, I’m having him arrested and prosecuted for war crimes.”

Bewildered at the words of the woman who had appointed him to her cabinet, he wondered if she even remembered he had once been a career diplomat, and not just some political ally. That was before he aligned himself with the Leaders of the Old Republic for a political future. The LOR was on the rise as the war had continued to go poorly. If the war was ending now, he may have been better off supporting the Democratically Empowered Workers, or DEW.

As a male, he knew he’d never rise to a top leadership role in either party. After all, LOR was originally called Ladies of the Old Republic and DEW had been Democratically Empowered Women. Both parties were formed after the Collapse, by women who were left to put the pieces of society back together. As the male population recovered over the last century, regaining the right to vote, the two major parties wooed their votes with cynical name changes. Oswald was a political agnostic, and chose the party to join that seemed to be gaining seats and influence eight years ago, and he’d curried favor with Medford’s staff, when she was a rising star in the LOR.

He knew that Mirikami had been extended diplomatic immunity along with Fisher’s entire delegation. He could possibly be declared persona non grata and expelled, but he should not be subject to arrest while here. His name had been presented in advance as a military attaché of the Galactic Federation. He had not been rejected at that time, when President Medford agreed to receive and meet with their delegation.

“Madam President,” he thought sounding more formal would trigger her sense of caution in a field of which she was inexperienced. “Captain Mirikami is part of the diplomatic mission, and has the same immunity as all other members of the mission.”

“As you just said, he’s a mere captain, and that was of a civilian transport over twenty years ago. How does that qualify him as military? I think, in the absence of a treaty defining extradition, we can hold a war criminal no matter what title he or his ragtag friends give him. I can reject diplomatic relations if I don't see an advantage to us.”

“This can get ugly in the courts if you bypass normal diplomatic protections,” he warned.

“Harold, we are a human society, with the Planetary Union its only government. It remains to be seen if the Kobani are legally even human, and Mirikami was instrumental in their unlawful genetic changes. That alone justifies the death penalty under our laws, and there’s little doubt he’d be found guilty. Why do diplomatic protections have to be provided for these criminals?”

“Mam, seventy eight Rim Worlds are not members of the Planetary Union, and all of them were settled pre Collapse, which was long before there even was a Planetary Union. Many of them do not wish to join us, or feel reluctant to do so because of statements they hear from our politicians, similar to what you just uttered. They each have diplomatic relations with us, an Embassy on Earth and Consulates on our other planets. I was one of the thousands of diplomats that dealt with them and an ambassador to two of them. If you don’t recognize the same rights for the Kobani, due them by right of your invitation to come here, the Rim Worlds won’t trust us enough to vote to join the PU anytime soon, if ever.”

“After the military expenditure we underwent to protect them from the Krall, we should just annex all of them, to share in the unwelcome tax burden we were forced to accept by the spend thrift DEW liberals.”

This was an argument he heard often from the far right wing of the LOR. He hadn’t realized how much Medford sympathized with their views. Her attitude, when fuelled by diplomatic ignorance, left his head swimming. He decided he’d possibly allied with the wrong political party, and certainly had joined forces with the wrong administration. For now, he had given her his allegiance, so he held his tongue. Nevertheless, the words of a future resignation came unbidden to his mind. Something else came to his lips.

“Mam, what do you want my Public Relations staff to say to the media? The four major networks have sent reporters and crews to the Capitol end of the Grand Mall, and the independent Hub world and local Denver news outlets will see and follow them.”

“
We
didn’t send them there. When no one shows up to talk to them, let that be the lead story tomorrow.
The Kobani stood us up
. I suggest you tell them to simply go home.”

She considered a moment. “No, wait. If they’re gathered over by the Capitol, they probably won’t notice a motorcade from the spaceport headed over to the McGlauflin office building. It’s nearly hidden behind the big Department of State complex. Make sure the motorcade drivers and police escorts keep their flashers and sirens turned off, and remove the little PU flags from the fenders. If they stay off main boulevards in the city, they won’t look official or noticeable.”

She was smugly satisfied she had found a way to put these offensive, self-important people in their place. She stood up, calling for her chief of staff. “Gillis, have my cars brought around. We’re going over to the McGlauflin Building early.”

****

Mirikami, standing by the airlock, took a deep breath, let it out and said, “Let’s get an early start. Pholowela, make us visible, and open both doors of this airlock. I want to make ourselves noticed. At least those of us we want to be seen.”

He had brought a thousand Kobani in armor, stealth now activated, half of which rushed quietly down the just extruded ramp and spread out around the ship. The others moved to places closer to the Capitol Building, climbing on lighting poles, leaping atop decorative walls, statues, and posted in places where accidental passer’s by wouldn’t bump into their invisible forms. It was near dusk, and it had been a very pleasant day, with clumps of tour groups and families walking around enjoying the holiday, most waiting for the nighttime lighting of the impressive government buildings and monuments to illuminate, just after sunset. The gold covered dome of the Capitol Building made for a particularly good photo opportunity from the Grand Mall when illuminated. 

There was another one thousand one hundred thirty four hopeful people aboard Pholowela. Except for a few dozen of them, most had never called themselves Kobani. About ten percent of the group had received clone mods when they had lived on Koban, never expecting to get off the heavy gravity killer planet. They had all chosen to return to Human Space if they could, and held out hope they would be allowed to do so by the Planetary Union. They too would be watching the events about to unfold, but from within the security of the ship. They didn’t want to face arrest if things went poorly.

Maggi and Tet were the first two
visible
figures to walk down the ramp, dressed in formal wear currently acceptable at diplomatic functions, as Nabarone had relayed pictures in Comtap images that had originated with the Poldark Governor.

They were followed by Wister and Nawella as the Prada representative citizens, wearing natural fur, functional tool belts with a front pouch, and translator disks hanging from their necks. Next were Blue Flower Eater and Dewy Grass for the Raspani, wearing only their translator disks and moving with a slow gait, which humans inevitably described as a waddle.

Coldar and Tramakar came next, their translator disks stuck under the front of their carapace, deliberately holding their huge claws still, avoiding the natural clicking they found soothing when tense, but which elevated tensions for humans near them. Their walk, as with all crabs, was reminiscent of giant spiders, which triggered another phobia among some people.

The last of the Federation representatives were the young and proud Kobalt, and his white whiskered sister Kit, who both sleekly strolled down the ramp, brushing frills to exchange thoughts on the exciting new odors, and reminding one another to keep their teeth as covered as possible.

The Krall’tapi had postponed their formal presentation to the rest of humanity until a later date, provided this meeting proved fruitful, peaceful, and welcoming. They had not yet formally decided to become Federation members.

The remainder of the members of the diplomatic mission, all human and dressed formally, came down in a mixed group of men and women, which being full Kobani, they all looked too young for the positions they would hold. Most of them, in their seventies or older, were originally from Rim Worlds or New Colonies, and had never actually visited Earth. They were as excited as tourist’s, ready to take in the sights of humanity’s birthplace. Until Earth grew accustomed to aliens, it had been decided to staff the mission with Kobani.

It had occurred to Maggi, in an amused bit of introspection, that the common perception of their alien allies was that the hyperactive human species was unusually preoccupied with sex. She thought the notion had some basis in fact. That was because only humans had an elaborate clothing style to conceal their bodies, and the portions of anatomy that were most sexually related were the parts social custom demanded be covered in public. As if sex might break out at any moment if too much were revealed.