Federation Complete Trilogy: Federation Trilogy

By Tony Harmsworth

THREE BOOKS FOR THE PRICE OF TWO (816 pages)

 

FEDERATION Complete Trilogy (all three books) - is controversial, political, near-future science fiction for the reader who enjoys using their own imagination to think about how the world might react to real alien contact from vastly advanced civilisations.

 

When the first volume was released, it became the subject of vitriolic hatred by readers of a particular political persuasion who seemed incapable of understanding that they were reading a speculative and imaginative story. Instead, they believed the stories were actually a political treatise, and wrote angry reviews which clearly showed that they failed to grasp the difference between fiction and fact. They were patently incapable of working out what would happen to our economic system when automatons became capable of carrying out all work, faster, more efficiently, more cheaply and more accurately than humankind. With the exception of the billionaire cybernetic business owners, everyone else had to starve, or exist on government or charitable handouts. The author suggests that anyone unable to understand this simple fact of life finds something else to read.

 

The Galactic Federation had, during hundreds of thousands of years, managed to overcome all of the problems and sentient beings lived in utopia. They did not achieve that without facing the same violent and corrupt power struggles which come to Earth in this trilogy.

 

Federation (book 1) speculates what would happen when an ambassador from a peaceful alien Federation asks to be taken to our leader. Who would that be? There is no world leader. The ramifications of the request lead to fudged responses. They, in turn, result in civil unrest and shocking violent events on Earth, as the problems which would inevitably be created by cheap and efficient automatons are applied to our political and economic structures.

 

As a result of events in book 1, Federation and Earth (book 2) finds the Earth banned from all space exploration. A dictatorial US president, backed by the military, shuts the USA off from the rest of the world. A new UN secretary general tries to mediate, while a group called FREE AMERICA, begin to challenge the oppressive administration. Will the Federation be no more than interested observers or might they break their own rules and offer a helping hand?

 

Hidden Federation (book 3) begins with an interim solution. With the exception of United States of America, who will follow a free and independent path, the rest of the world joins the Galactic Federation. More problems arise as California declares UDI and the American crisis deepens. Meanwhile, the million year history of the alien civilisations is revealed, and readers discover how they dealt with the very same problems which applied to the newly fragmented Earth.

 

Although set in today's world, this trilogy provides a fascinating insight into one possible future for the Earth, once automatons become ubiquitous and sentient.

 

Free thinking, open-minded readers have loved the individual books.

 

This eight hundred page combined volume offers all three volumes for the price of two.

 

Buy it today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harmsworth.net
• Release date: May 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201513863

Book preview

FEDERATION

Complete Trilogy

Tony Harmsworth

I dedicate this trilogy to Frank Hampson, whose artwork and storylines in the Eagle, inspired my lifelong interest in science fiction

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Details can be found at the end of FEDERATION Complete Trilogy.

FEDERATION

Federation Trilogy Book One

Tony Harmsworth

Introduction

This introduction is extremely relevant to the story which I am about to tell and the readers about to read it. There was no introduction to the original book but I began to get a series of one star reviews which accused me of being an atheist, anti-American, an ecological snowflake and a communist.

Only the first of those is true. I admit that once I escaped childhood religious indoctrination, at about sixteen years of age, I rapidly thought through all the lies I had been fed and gradually became an atheist. I try not to let it influence my writing but having now read both the Quran and the Bible, what I have learned inevitably comes across in some of my stories. As everyone who is not an atheist, believes in some sort of God or spiritual world – they should be able to forgive or pity me, but that does not appear to be the case as I have received hateful emails. It reminds me of a line in a famous sixties’ pop song called Eve of Destruction - ‘Hate your next door neighbour, but don’t forget to say grace!’ Don’t worry, though, I forgive them and hope their delusions will not harm others. In case you struggle with the British sense of humour, that was intended to be irony.

I am not anti-American, but I do have issues with the gun culture and a political system which can occasionally cause a popular president to be unable to get the plan upon which he was elected through the House and Congress. Like many people, I didn’t find number forty-five to be honest or trustworthy. Some say that President Spence, in this story is based on him. That is most certainly not the case, but you might find similarities between the Donald and the later President Slimbridge. I admit to him sharing some of forty-five’s faults. In general, however, I do like most aspects of America and have many friends who live on the far side of the Atlantic.

As for being an ecological snowflake, I follow the science, seeking out and reading a wide variety of scientific documents which reveal humankind’s influence on the environment. I am also seeing the actual effects of global warming on the place where I have lived forty-three years of my life. It seems to me that manmade global warming is not theory, but fact and this will be demonstrated to everyone in the decade we have just begun. I worry for our world if it does not see the light and take action.

Am I a communist? Not at all. My politics tend to be slightly left of centre – the left of Blair and Brown – but not the far left policies of Foot and Corbyn, nor communism, which never appealed. I do believe those of us in this world who are better-off, should help the disabled, disadvantaged and downtrodden. Where people are born should not mean that they have no prospects for a better future. I know that, in the USA, these views are sometimes seen as socialist and, some hate socialism almost as much as communism. Yet, in 2021, we have all seen the USA passing generous aid packages to those who have been made unemployed owing to coronavirus – that is socialism. In my country, Scotland, socialism has worked extremely well and that is also the case in the rest of Europe. If you cannot see the difference between socialism and communism, then it might be better if you do not read this trilogy.

Let me end this introduction by inviting you to now read my work of fiction. It is based upon automatons which are so advanced that they can perform any function and carry out any task. During your lifetime, whatever job you do or did, these automatons would replace you. No exceptions. My story is based on that principle. Imagine they took all of our jobs, throwing every single one of us into unemployment, except, of course, the owners of the great robot manufacturing conglomerates who created this future mechanical workforce. They will live lives of unadulterated luxury, but the chance of any person joining them is shut off – they have created a monopoly, the like of which will never have been seen before. The unemployed must starve or survive on some sort of government hand-outs. Can you imagine that scenario? If so, you will soon understand my Federation Trilogy and might even want to give a review which carries more than one star.

Tony Harmsworth; 20th May 2021

[Note for non-British readers – Tony writes using UK English spelling, punctuation, and grammar.]

[For the avoidance of doubt,  the story starts here.]

1 Thanks

FEDERATION by Rummy Blin Breganin

Thanks to:

Ambassador Hareen Trestogeen’s Family Files; The Central Galactic Library; The Orion Spur Archives; Estraine Gorachy (my tutor); Belarin Tlim Fleradoran (translator) and, of course, The Frame.

While the book has been written in Galactic Standard language, many sections have required translation, particularly material from the working notes of the ambassadorial team during their meetings with the people of Earth. This is the English version.

I’ve registered this work with the central registry and acknowledge that I’m using other registered work as part of the book. Mostly this is with permission of the families, but there’s also material for which I have no permission. That material is used under the rule of fair criticism.

Rummy Blin Breganin has asserted his moral rights.

First Published: GSY(new era) 745,822 New Era

Category: Modern History

Sub-category: Earth

Style: Dramatised non-fiction

Dedicated to: Perfect Okafor and Jack Spence, for reasons which will not become clear until the Trilogy is complete.

Glossary: See https://harmsworth.net/glossary.pdf

2 The Author

The author is Rummy Blin Breganin. He’s a Daragnen and was born in 745,783 in the city of Glas.

He was schooled in Glas to age fourteen when he was invited to Dinbelay University. A brilliant student, he left Dinbelay in 745,804 with multiple qualifications and five published works to his name.

His interest in the events which led to Earth’s notorious attempt to join the Federation began after a visit to the Orion spur of the galaxy.

Now aged thirty-nine, his work is recognised as of galactic importance, particularly this recently updated account of Earth’s interaction with the Federation. His three-volume work provides a fascinating insight into a species which exhibits an extremely high level of intelligence yet failed to meet the Federation’s membership criteria.

In addition to studying, writing, and historical research, Rummy enjoys shossball, boarding, sailing, and dimplert.

Today, the author lives in Dinbelay, where he’s a professor of modern galactic history at the university. He has a wife and two teenage children.

3 Forward

When I began my tour of the Orion galactic arm, there were the usual must-see attractions including the palaces of Tirrell and the argoshalt herds of Doranel. There were also lesser-known places of natural beauty. The golden rings of Trastel 3 and two unusual features in the system of Sol: the amazing red spot storm on its fifth planet and the phenomenal reappearing hexagon of the sixth. I was unlucky with the latter on my arrival but witnessed it during a later visit. How can such a geometric shape appear in nature? Apparently, it’s caused by the interaction of the jet streams in the clouds, but it looks, for all the world, like something nature could never have had a hand in.

During my visit to Sol, I stayed in the outpost on the fourth planet; a dry, dead world known locally as Mars. It was cold, had no atmosphere, and no obvious attractions other than a very long, deep canyon. Why the Federation had a settlement here was a mystery to me until, one night, after too much beer and a successful game of dimplert in Bar Maximus, I got a ship’s first mate, a Vestal, to open up to me.

He told me the beautiful third planet, known as Earth was being watched, to ensure it wasn’t infringing any of the Federation’s prohibitions.

I’d never heard of Earth or, for that matter, of the Federation prohibiting against any world. Prohibiting what? I was immediately intrigued. What were we stopping them from doing?

I probed for additional information, but I think he’d already divulged more details than were strictly allowed. No one else in the bar would talk about Earth at all, so I could get no confirmation or denial of the first mate’s claim. I resolved to hunt him down the next day.

Late morning, I managed to find the Vestal, but he refused, point blank, to say more once he’d sobered up. I went to the local spaceport and asked a freighter operator if I could get a ship to Earth and was looked at as if I were insane. The answer was no. It was illegal.

Trying a different tack, I asked if I could get a close look at the planet from orbit? The answer was yes. He said it was a beautiful planet, but wasn’t on any direct route used by the operator. I offered to pay for the fuel, and he said he’d take me in four days’ time when he’d nothing else of interest on his agenda, as long as I didn’t mind being stuck on the freighter while it collected supplies from a nearby star system.

I was impatient and spent the intervening time trying to discover more about the planet. There was very little information. Actually, that wasn’t true. There were lots of files, but almost all had been redacted, leaving just the file name on the Frame but no content.

One file I could download was a video. It called itself a documentary and was presented by a person called David Attenborough. Although I couldn’t understand the language, the images were fascinating. It dealt with the ocean life of the Earth and the diversity was quite extraordinary. This enhanced my curiosity about this mysterious world.

Four days later, I transferred the promised afeds to the skipper and the freighter, an ancient D-class rust bucket, set off from Mars. Its intermittent quantum drive and failing artificial gravity meant an uncomfortable and slow trip. What should have taken a few hours dragged into almost three days.

Eventually, the freighter hung above the Earth, in a low orbit, and the view explained why the title of the Attenborough video had been translated as Blue Planet.

It really was a stunning blue and white world, probably more than fifty per cent water. The operator gave me six orbits, and as we passed over the night hemisphere, I was staggered to see the magnificent network of lights illustrating the coming and going of the species which lived here. Jewel-like clumps were cities and towns. The population must be in the billions. The seas were dark, apart from occasional dots of light. How I’d have loved to be allowed to sail this planet’s huge seas and oceans.

After a delay while produce was loaded at Wierala, a week or so later, we returned to Mars. Further research on the Frame led me to discover the name of the last Federation ambassador to deal with the planet. He was Hareen Trestogeen and lived on Pestoch. I immediately booked a flight.

Pestoch was in the same system as the Federation capital, Arlucian. It was a very busy world, packed with universities and engineering colleges on the land as well as in the oceans. I had trouble tracking down the ambassador, the reason being that his species had a short life-expectancy and he’d sadly died at quite an early age. However, Ambassador Trestogeen’s family threw open his files to me. Even better, they allowed me to work in the ambassador’s office. I was faced with hundreds of papers, video and audio recordings, plus lots of personal notes, which would help me fill in gaps in my knowledge. A researcher’s dream environment. Among it all, I discovered souvenirs of an earlier diplomatic team’s time on the planet and many photographs of the residents; a bipedal called humankind.

During the first year on Pestoch, yes, I was there that long, I did little but try to understand the sequence of events. The more I discovered, the more fascinated I became. I took two months out to concentrate on learning English and that opened up my understanding of more of the files. Most Federation languages could be esponged into the mind within an hour but searches of the Frame for the program for the language called English drew an absolute blank. Puzzling, because it was obvious from the files that ambassadorial staff all spoke the language. Once I’d learned it the old-fashioned way, I found correspondence, videos, and audio recordings in the planet’s language. Ambassador Trestogeen had apparently done everything in his power to be inclusive with this species. Why had he failed?

Humankind comprised a warm-blooded animal with one head, two arms and two legs protruding from a central torso. There were two sexes and several gender and colour variations. In addition to a variety of skin shades, they had hair or fur of even more colours, although some, like purple, pink, bright blue, and green, were apparently unnatural. Strangely, while some males had a little body hair, the bulk of it was on their faces and heads. Females, however, had virtually no body hair but sported the most extravagant, flowing locks on their heads, manipulated into amazing styles. They reproduced by females being impregnated by males and giving live birth nine months later. The other genders seemed to not have reproduction systems. Females used artificial insemination, but male couples were restricted to adopting unwanted children from others.

Humans spoke in a huge number of tongues, but Federation interaction was usually in English or French. The latter being a beautiful sounding language which I might try to learn if I found more material written or spoken in it.

What follows, I decided to write as a dramatised account of events. I wanted to bring it alive for the reader. Inevitably, this meant that much of the dialogue had to be reconstructed from stories, minutes, documents and, to be honest, a hefty dollop of guesswork. I tried to look at events from various points of view and to recount individual’s stories from their perspectives. My research into species and individuals has helped me do that, but the process is likely to be imperfect. However, I’m confident that I’ve correctly pieced together the overall story of the only planet I’d ever heard of to be denied Federation status.

4 Encounter

Earth had long been known to the Federation, but there was a policy of non-interference until observed worlds reached a certain level of technology. Cloaking techniques prevented Federation ships from being seen by people or detected by the military. Usually contact was made once the new world achieved interstellar travel, but humankind had not reached that stage. Instead, they had invented a technology which involved the same principles as interstellar travel. Humankind had missed one of the stages.

Interestingly, there’d long been stories of aliens arriving at Earth in spaceships and flying saucers, even leaving markings on mountains in South America, and aliens themselves in ancient artwork. None of that was related to actual Federation visits, but was part of humankind’s particular love of conspiracies, monsters, and other non-existent beings.

Let me begin the story.

I reached eighteen, in 745,801… or, I suppose I might as well use Earth years, as it’s an account of Earth. So, let me start again. Earth years are so similar to galactic years as makes no real difference.

When I was aged eighteen, in 2029AD, the first experiments with QE (quantum entanglement) transmitters were taking place on Earth. One of the machines was put in a habitation on the planet’s moon and the other was installed at Jodrell Bank in England. Jodrell Bank was home to a huge radio-telescope. England was a province of the world, part of a small island area, near one of the larger continents.

The QE devices worked on the principle that electrons can be in more than one location at the same time. That made it possible to send a message to the moon instantaneously. When the inventors of the system realised that it worked, they were delighted. It also opened the door to technology which would eventually lead to interstellar travel and matter transmission, although it is important to understand that the people of Earth weren’t aware of that at the time.

The QE transmitters were connected to computer monitors in the same manner as email and other transmission devices. A message was typed into the machine, it organised the data into strings, which then excited the electrons at the receiving end. The message was decoded and appeared on the destination computer screen.

So, in general terms, it didn’t look dissimilar to email, messenger or text, but the transmission was instantaneous, as if faster than light.

What the inventors didn’t expect was to suddenly get a message from an unknown location, telling them to desist using the QE transmitter. The first simply stated, ‘DESIST USING DEVICE’.

They wondered if it was some kind of practical joke, but each time they used it, a similar message came in telling them to stop. ‘DESIST TRANSMISSIONS’. ‘STOP USING DEVICE’ and other brief variations. The messages often contained spelling mistakes.

Who could be sending them? Was some alien race telling the world which experiments it could or couldn’t conduct? If so, how could it be in English? Could it be some illiterate juvenile hoaxer who’d managed to hack the system?

The operators spoke to their supervisors, supervisors discussed it with managers, managers told their politicians. In no time, the messages were being discussed in the corridors of Earthly power. Scientists insisted hoaxes could be ruled out, but politicians didn’t believe them. At the very least, there was considerable doubt. More discussions about the demands to stop transmitting took place, and eventually they came to the attention of people at the highest level.

It was decided that if, whoever it was, could transmit in English, then they should be able to receive English. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Ken Hood, authorised the following reply:

‘We don’t know who you are but have no intention of shutting down our transmitters without good reason. If you wish to discuss the situation, come and talk to us.’

If, as many still believed, the messages were the actions of an innovative group of hoaxers, nothing more would be heard. If they were real aliens, the response might take years. The message was sent and those in power tucked the incident away in a file which could be all but forgotten.

Science got back to its main purpose and it was actually a few days before the QE transmitter was used again. There was no message to desist. Had the hackers been exposed for what they were? It seemed so.

The response came the next day and it took the people of Earth totally by surprise.

««o»»

Earth was a space-faring planet, but only in recent decades. Two astronauts were living in the small Chang space station. A further group of eight inhabited an orbiting device called the International Space Station. This wasn’t, however, a colony. It was more the temporary home of scientists trying to understand the trials and tribulations of living outside the protection of the planet’s atmosphere. They’d also built a moon habitat after a fifty-year absence and were preparing to visit the neighbouring planet, Mars. Ten astronauts lived and worked in moonbase and in a factory area which had been created near the South Pole where water was being used to produce both fuel and oxygen.

The species was very innovative. Their ingenuity was amazing. They had achieved so much yet were still utilising primitive rocket and jet technology. Their achievement of visiting their moon with the huge, explosive technology they’d had nearly sixty years previously, had been quite extraordinary and was to be admired.

On the day Earth received its response, two astronauts, Darren Goodman and Annette Playell were conducting a spacewalk, as they called it. Two people in miniature environments, moving around outside the ISS, carrying out repairs and replacements.

Anything conducted in the vacuum of space was dangerous. Crews were never sent outside the space station without hours of preparation. One mistake could cause instant death.

Darren, a recent arrival on the ISS, was enjoying his first ever EVA. He stole glances at the beautiful vista of his home world between his intensive work on the current project. He manoeuvred an inspection panel back into its original location. Once it was in position and ready to be secured, he looked towards his fellow astronaut to see why she hadn’t begun attaching the bolts.

It was strange. Annette was by far and away the most experienced crew member on the space station and had carried out over ten previous space walks. She was ultra-efficient and absolutely reliable, yet here she was staring past his shoulder and exhibiting an expression of total shock.

‘Look!’ she said, pointing at something behind him.

Darren grabbed a handhold and turned himself. What he saw took his breath away and almost doubled his heart rate.

It wasn’t enormous, like the giant saucers which appeared in the science fiction film Independence Day, but it was just as spectacular compared with Earth’s small manned capsules.

Stationary, about quarter of a mile from the ISS, it had the shape of two side-plates glued face-to-face. They were made from what looked like gleaming chromium or similar metal. Red stripes ran around the circumference and there were hieroglyphs on the side – a name or designation, presumably. Annette later estimated its diameter at about two hundred metres, so its overall size dwarfed the space station. The top central section of the ship, for that’s what it must be, was raised and glazed. Inside, things – maybe people or animals, were peering out towards them. They were watching the most advanced, mobile, humanmade device ever constructed, but by their gaze, in fact by their very presence, they were announcing to the Earth that its space station was hopelessly primitive in comparison to their own ship.

The space-walkers’ suit radios crackled into life. ‘Think you two had better come in,’ said Brett Pinner, the ISS commander.

‘Right. On our way,’ said Annette, helping Darren secure the panel before the two of them headed for the airlock.

Brett watched the alien device and the watchers within it, watching him. He’d already told NASA, who, in their inimitable manner, said, ‘Stand by, ISS.’ as if such an event was commonplace.

By now they had video of the machine too, and not just NASA, for the live ISS feed also showed the device. In short measure it went viral and everyone with an Internet connection was seeing the flying saucer and discussing their thoughts about it.

‘What do you think it is?’ asked Brett’s deputy, Fiona Ferguson.

‘A flying saucer! How’d you describe it?’ was his rather condescending response.

‘I know that, but why’s it here?’ she asked, rather put out by his attitude.

‘Heaven knows. Hope it’s peaceful. Look at the figures in the dome.’

‘Yes, aliens. Real aliens.’ She lifted a pair of binoculars. ‘I can see a green one and a tall yellow one with four arms and what looks like a small black one with wings. It’s beyond science fiction.’

‘It certainly is,’ said Brett.

‘NASA here. Can you please transmit, Welcome to Earth. Please advise reason for visit, on all frequencies?’

‘Will do,’ said Brett, and he floated over to the communications console to complete the action.

Within a minute there was a response.

‘Ken Hood requested a meeting.’

‘Who the hell is Ken Hood?’ asked Fiona.

‘I think that’s the name of the British Prime Minister,’ said Brett, scratching his head.

To NASA he said, ‘NASA, did you see that reply?’

‘Yes. Stand by ISS.’

‘But what do I tell them?’ asked Brett.

‘Just say, Message received, thank you, and leave it at that.’

‘Will do.’

Brett sent his reply and waited, in awe of the machine which just sat there, unmoving, its occupants continuing to observe the ISS and the planet beneath.

««o»»

Down on Earth, stock markets and currencies joined the space station in freefall and supermarket shelves were soon reflecting the vacuum of space as frenzied buying set in. Humankind, educated by myriad space invasion movies, knew exactly what to do when a real close encounter was about to take place – panic!

««o»»

When the Prime Minister of Great Britain was told about the alien visitor, he was, to use the parlance of the time, absolutely gobsmacked. He’d truly thought the scientists had been dealing with hoaxers.

With a stock market crash in progress, a run on the pound, and panic setting in on the streets, he was rather put out about the aliens. After a few phone calls, it was decided that the American Space Agency should deal with the situation.

Using the same message system, NASA said, ‘We’re sorry, but Prime Minister Hood is unavailable. I’m from NASA, the space agency, can I deal with your query?’

‘The Federation requires you to desist using the QE transmitting device.’

‘Please provide a reason,’ said NASA

‘Each time you send a message using QE transmitters, it produces interference on every other QE device in the galaxy. That is a serious problem for Federation members.’

‘Is there a way for us to stop our QE transmitters causing interference?’

‘There are Federation protocols and frequencies, with which you would need to be familiar.’

‘Please advise us of those protocols and frequencies,’ said NASA.

‘You would require Federation membership.’

‘In that case, can you let us have details of membership and the cost? We know nothing about a Federation, not even its existence until you arrived.’

‘I will report back to central administration and they will send an ambassador to speak to you. In the meantime, please do not use the transmitters as they are causing a serious problem to members.’

‘I acknowledge your request and will pass it on. Thank you,’ said NASA.

Thirty seconds later, the ship vanished as suddenly as it had arrived.

As far as I’ve been able to ascertain, that’s the first documented visit of non-humans to the Earth. Later research showed that there were conspiracy theories about previous alien visitations, but none of them had any conclusive supporting evidence.

5 Ambassador

Even the Federation needed time to plan and organise, but it was quite remarkable that an ambassadorial team arrived only four weeks later. Earth scientists were dumbfounded that anything could travel from one star system to another so swiftly and there was much speculation about which star the aliens came from. In the meantime, good to their word, there had been no further use of the QE transmitters by the people of Earth.

Down on the planet, although there had been some violence and a riot or two, the population was calming down. The stock market soon bounced back to just below its normal levels and the same with the foreign exchanges.

Soon, suspicious people began to wonder if the brief visitation were some sort of hoax. Conspiracy theories developed, many along the lines that the flying saucer had been connected with Area 51 and NASA had taken the occupants hostage. Anyone who’d actually seen the visiting vessel would have immediately known that it was not something which could have been captured by the, still experimental, Space Force.

The arrival of the ambassador took wonderment to a whole new level. The vessel was spectacular. This wasn’t a saucer shape like the previous one, but more of a graceful space liner. The ISS estimated that it was in the order of four hundred metres long and twenty in diameter. The front section was a mass of glazed panels and a number of aliens could be seen looking out towards the ISS and the planet beneath. They appeared to be the same sort of colourful mixture of strange shaped alien beings.

‘Ambassador Garincha Dela Moroforon brings greetings to the people of Earth and requests a meeting with your leader,’ came over the radio in perfect English.

‘That’ll flummox them!’ said Brett.

‘Why do you say, that?’ asked Fiona.

‘Who is the leader?’

‘Oh, yes, see what you mean.’

An hour went by before NASA responded, ‘It will take some time to set up a meeting. Would you prefer to wait in orbit or descend to the surface?’ Obviously, a diplomatic team had been put in place and was applying itself to the conversation.

The Ambassador’s response took less than a minute. ‘The Ambassador will descend. We understand you use a system comprising three sixty degrees around your equator and the zero line passes through a place called Greenwich. Please provide a suitable and convenient location reference for our ship. It will hover a short distance from the surface and will not require any special facilities other than a clear area.’

‘Please stand by,’ was the NASA response.

[I discovered, much later, that there was considerable panic taking place in the seats of power around the world. This was because there was no world leader, only the leaders of individual countries. Unrest was developing among the Muslim countries and the world’s largest democracy, India. China sat quietly as a brooding giant in the east and Russia was scrutinising every action. RBB]

As luck would have it, a climate crisis meeting had just finished at the United Nations, so the Secretary General called a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the Headquarters. The leaders of the countries of the world actually felt embarrassed that they had no single individual to speak for humanity. Smaller, non-security council members were not at all amused with the situation, particularly the large Muslim bloc countries and the African nations. They felt they were being side-lined, but the Security Council promised to be inclusive. Many smaller countries like New Zealand and much of Latin America were dismayed, and Canada protested that, as the world’s second largest country, it should be added to the Security Council for the meeting. The others felt they couldn’t do that for just one nation without setting an unwelcome precedent.

Canada eventually relented, but considerable bad feeling had been generated throughout the world. The Secretary General managed to calm things down by suggesting that the Ambassador could address the entire General Assembly. Almost all leaders cancelled their plans to return home and remained in New York to await developments.

[A book I stumbled across in Ambassador Trestogeen’s archive, was a biography of the United Nations Secretary General, Perfect Okafor. In the section which dealt with the arrival of the Federation starship, it said that the meeting would be held in the presence of the entire General Assembly of the United Nations, but only Security Council members and the Secretary General would be allowed to actively participate in any discussions. RBB]

The inclusiveness of this decision pacified even the smaller nations eventually, but the United Nations were put on warning by the Muslim nations, to ensure inclusiveness and to not assume their agreement to decisions taken.

Arguments flared up between individual nations. Smaller nations lobbied for the permanent members of the Security Council to include other countries on an improved roster in the future. Whether that would be enacted wasn’t clear. There were, of course, a number of other countries who took part in Security Council meetings, but only as temporary members. It was still only a small percentage of the total number of nations in the world.

[I think this clearly shows the total lack of any organisation on Earth in the 2020s. It seems no one ever expected the planet to have to speak with a unified voice. RBB]

A location in Central Park, New York was provided, and an American diplomatic team was hurriedly prepared to meet the ambassador when the ship touched down.

Brett Pinner and Fiona Ferguson watched from the ISS as the starship slid out of orbit and soon disappeared from view through the mantle of swirling, pristine white clouds above the North American Eastern Seaboard. There’d been no atmospheric-entry heat or jets fired, as far as they could tell.

Only eighteen minutes later it was hovering, a metre above the ground in the North Meadow of Central Park. A military guard surrounded it and the diplomatic team waited to discover from where the ambassador would emerge.

««o»»

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning in Central Park. The only dull thing about the ship was its matt silver-grey colour for most of its length. Some brightness was added by the sunshine reflecting from and passing through its forward windows, casting rainbow lighting effects upon the sandy coloured baseball diamonds over which it rested. Hieroglyphs ran the length of the main hull, framed between two red lines, and a circular logo or badge appeared at each end of the text. It comprised a yellow circle, surrounding a blue interior. It was adorned by a spiral galaxy being pierced by a rocket, not unlike the ship itself. Either side of the galaxy were two distinctive hieroglyphs. The Earth people correctly assumed it was the logo of the Federation.

The welcoming team comprised Colin Hall, white, sixties, silver hair, immaculate blue suit, once Ambassador to the Court of St. James; Colonel Whitley Bark, black, wearing a suit instead of uniform, forty-eight, distinguished looking, one of the negotiators in the recent Palestine agreement; Morwenna Blaney, thirties, white woman, fluent in more than twenty languages, interpreter from the UN, wearing a chic skirt and jacket; Charles Eden, White House media consultant, mixed race (white and Asian), sharp suit, forty, balding and short.

They’d been chosen because they all had experience with difficult situations and could be guaranteed not to overreact or be fazed by the momentous event which this represented. As there was no protocol for such a visit, these four talented individuals had been given carte blanche in dealing with the ambassador until he arrived at the UN for the meeting.

Circling the ship was a contingent of lightly armed, elite US Marines. They had specific orders to do nothing but keep human spectators from approaching the ship or any of its occupants who disembarked.

A line appeared in the hull. It took the shape of a doorway, with the logo central at the top. The crowd fell into silence. The door swung outwards and back towards the hull. A platform extended from the doorway and, from that, a stairway descended smoothly to the ground, comprising approximately forty steps. Two strange-looking creatures emerged onto the platform. There was a lot of mumbling in the crowd. One or two people screamed and were seen to run off. Perhaps they hadn’t believed it was real until actual aliens appeared. One of these was a slender, green-looking individual with feelers rather than arms. The other was a powder blue coloured apelike animal. They seemed to be checking the arrangements and fittings, before returning to the interior.

The diplomatic team looked to the top of the stairway in apprehension, but also with curiosity. Ten minutes passed. Colonel Bark asked Colin Hall if they ought to climb to the entrance, but consensus was that the first move should come from the visitors.

After what seemed an age, Ambassador Garincha Dela Moroforon, presumably, emerged from the door onto the small platform. Again, excessive mumbling was being emitted by the crowd. It was growing in volume. From the human perspective, it was difficult to work out if this alien was male or female, but she was, in fact, a female Racutaan. Her dress might have provided a clue as it was a flowing gold, red, and black garment which fell from her neck and encompassed her forelimbs, ending a third of the way down her two-metre height. Beneath that, loose trousers fell to meet what looked like practical, but glossy black shoes. However, any assumption that she was female because of her garb, would’ve been wrong. It was later discovered that male Racutaans actually wore even more flowing and flamboyant outfits when meeting socially.

Her hands and face were an ochre colour. She had two deep-set eyes and a sponge-like organ slightly above and between them. The lower part of her face was covered with a breathing apparatus. Her overall appearance was not so inhuman as to scare many more in the crowd. The noise level fell a smidgeon.

Colin Hall stepped forward and stood a couple of metres from the bottom step. He bowed to the ambassador who reflected the movement before gracefully descending the stairway.

Immediately behind her, emerged another of the powder blue apes. This one did inspire some additional noise from the spectators. He was indistinguishable from a full-sized gorilla apart from the fact that he wore a loose-fitting green outfit and his hair and skin exhibited a rather lovely powder blue colour. He said something to someone inside and a small humanoid figure flew out of the doorway and hovered above the ambassador’s right shoulder. Its wings were vibrating at an incredible rate and it looked, for all the world, like a fairy, but with jet black skin, a face like a shrunken head and enormous ears. It, too, wore a green outfit matching that of the powder blue gorilla. The flying creature did cause panic and many of the crowd ran off as they realised this thing could easily pursue and overtake them. To be fair, the bulk of the crowd was quite calm, and the well-trained soldiers gave no indication of any apprehension they felt. Just as well, really, as they were bristling with weapons.

The ambassador reached the bottom of the stairway.

Colin Hall said, ‘Welcome to Earth. My name is Colin Hall and I am a career diplomat. How should I address you?’

The voice which emerged from the face mask sounded slightly electronic but spoke very clearly. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Yol Colin Hall, and to visit your planet. My name is Ambassador Ya Garincha Dela Moroforon, but you may address me as Ya Moroforon. This flying person is Ya Heldy Mistorn and my main assistant; behind me, is Yol Slindo Merofort.’

Indicating those behind him, Colin Hall said, ‘These people are Whitley Bark, Morwenna Blaney, and Charles Eden. The meeting with the leaders of our planet is planned for three this afternoon. Does our timekeeping method mean anything to you?’

The powder blue ape said something in another rather guttural language and the Ambassador said, ‘Yes, I understand. You said, leaders, are there more than one?’

‘Yes, Ya Moroforon, there are several and most will be present this afternoon. As we’ve some time before the meeting, would you like to accompany us on a short tour of the city?’

‘Thank you. That sounds interesting, Yol Hall.’

‘Please come this way,’ said Colin and the diplomatic team all turned towards the edge of the meadow. They were followed by the ambassador, her assistant, and the fairy person who flitted among the human delegation, looking closely at faces, causing the people so inspected to cringe or step backwards. Charles Eden stayed at the ship in case any other passengers needed information.

Whitley Bark began talking to the ambassador and pointing out some features in the park including the baseball diamonds over which the ship hovered. The ambassador seemed to be interested but had few questions.

They all boarded a midi-coach which was parked in West Drive, just a short walk from the ship. There was also a selection of limousines and large coaches available in case the party had been smaller or larger.

The guided tour took in many features of the city and ended at the United Nations building at three in the afternoon.

Once the coach had departed from Central Park, all manner of strange creatures and, amazingly, robots disembarked. By this time, the xenophobes in the crowd had already run off. Those who remained were more curious than frightened. Soldiers stood between the aliens and the inquisitive bystanders. Their orders were to protect the aliens unless there was an unmistakable act of aggression.

Charles Eden approached the nearest group, introduced himself and let them know he was at their service. The largest of the four, a stocky biped with aubergine-coloured skin thanked him. He said, ‘I am Yol Mariol Breton and speak English. Your world is very green. A pleasure to see. This is Darklang.’ He indicated a tall, gangly individual standing beside him.

‘Glad to meet you, Darklang. You are all welcome to travel within our world. Let me know if you would like to do so.’

‘Thank you, Yol Eden, but for the time being we are not allowed to leave the proximity of the vessel, but many wanted to sample the aroma of your atmosphere and stretch their limbs.’

‘You prefixed my name with yol. What does yol mean?’

‘Simply your sex. It is an honorific. Yol is male, ya is female, yo is hermaphrodite, and ye for agamic, cryptogamic people or those with no designation.’

‘I see. Thank you, Yol Breton. Why does Darklang not have an honorific?’

‘I am an automaton,’ said Darklang. ‘We do not use honorifics.’

‘You’re not alive?’ asked Charles.

‘I’m a mechanical being.’

‘Are there a lot of automatons with you?’ Charles asked.

‘Yes,’ said Yol Breton. ‘There are a good number in our party.’

‘One hundred and ninety,’ added Darklang.

Charles looked up and down the robot. ‘I would never have known that you were not alive.’

‘Most of us, visually, are clearly not living beings, but almost all are self-aware. We are the driving force behind the Federation, providing almost all of the labour.’

‘Fascinating,’ said Charles

‘Our pleasure. Is there more you wish to ask?’ asked Yol Breton.

‘Do you mind?’

‘Not at all,’ and ‘no.’ they both said.

At one point, another sort of robot, much more metallic, with wheels, trundled over to Yol Breton and provided him with a cylinder which he attached to his helmet. The automaton took the empty one back to the ship.

‘Robots do all the work?’ asked Charles.

‘No, not all, but most,’ said Darklang.

‘I had not expected to be outside quite so long and Argnot brought me a new supply of gases I require.’

Charles continued to learn about the aliens until later in the afternoon, when a klaxon sounded, and they all returned to the ship. The crowd, becoming bored at the lack of action, had begun to drift away. There was, of course, a continual stream of sightseers who just wanted pictures of the starship and its crew.

6 United Nations

When Ambassador Garincha Dela Moroforon and her assistants arrived at the United Nations Headquarters, the skyscraper was silhouetted by cloudless blue sky. She left the vehicle and stopped to admire the cascade of flags.

‘Colin,’ she said, ‘what is the reason for this decoration? So many beautiful designs. Is it a festival?’

‘Ya Moroforon, these are flags. There’s one for each of the almost two hundred nations who are members of the United Nations.’

‘Do I understand correctly, these are provinces of the Earth?’

‘We call them countries or nations,’ said Colin. He gave her a few minutes to look at the flags. When she seemed ready to move on, he guided her towards the entrance.

As the party approached the foyer, the permanent members of the Security Council emerged to greet her. The fairylike Heldy Mistorn shot into the air and began flying up the side of the tall monolith of a building, hovering occasionally to look in through the windows. Everyone’s heads looked upward to follow her progress and you can only imagine what the staff on the inside thought when this strange black cherub peered inwards at them from tens of metres in the air.

Colin stopped to introduce the ambassador to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Perfect Okafor, a black Nigerian woman in an immaculate grey trouser suit.

She, in turn, introduced the permanent members of the Security Council: Ken Hood, the British PM; Dimitri Ivanov, President of Russia; Jack Spence, the US President; Da Cheung, President of China and Jeanne Meunier, President of France.

‘I’m pleased to meet you all. So, each of you govern a province of the Earth?’

‘Yes, Ambassador,’ said Perfect Okafor, ‘but there are many more countries. There are another ten temporary members of the Security Council and representatives of all the remaining one hundred and eighty members. You will see them inside the General Assembly auditorium. Shall we enter?’

The Ambassador let out a high-pitched whistle and, within a couple of seconds, Heldy was hovering over her shoulder. For such a delicate looking creature, she had an extraordinary turn of speed. The powder blue gorilla-like alien struck up a conversation, in perfect Mandarin, with Da Cheung as they entered the reception area and passed through to the Assembly room.

Secretary Okafor began the meeting by emphasising the unique nature of the day and welcoming the Ambassador and her party. She expressed a hope that they could come to a good agreement with the Federation and that this was the beginning of an illustrious future relationship.

Huge applause accompanied the Ambassador, with Heldy hovering over her right shoulder, as she approached the lectern. A hush fell over the assembly as she began to speak.

‘I’m flattered that all the leaders of the different provinces of Earth have been kind enough to welcome me. I was expecting only a meeting with Ya Okafor and her assistants.’

[At the time, Ya Moroforon clearly thought that the Secretary General was in charge of the Earth. This was a mistake which was to perpetuate for far too long and had ramifications. RBB]

‘As there are so many of you present, it would probably be useful for me to give you a basic understanding of the Federation.’

Heldy flew off and made her way around the members, the movement of her wings disturbing their hair and papers as she hovered over them. Some delegates recoiled almost in fear and others raised their arms to protect their faces.

‘Ya Mistorn,’ she said, indicating the flying creature, ‘is an aid to my memory. Everything she sees or hears is indelibly recorded in her mind. Please forgive her intrusion into your personal space.

‘So, what is the Federation? We comprise 247,213 planets on this side of the galactic core.’

Delegates let out involuntary sounds of surprise and amazement.

The Ambassador continued, ‘A further dozen or so have a loose relationship with us without full membership.

‘The main members are fully integrated. We trade together, share economic systems, the same currency and, mostly, share the same language – Galactic Standard is taught as a first or second language in all schools. The Federation looks after each of our member’s needs, whether as individual people or whole planets. Government is by a democratically elected General Council located on Arlucian. The president is currently Ye Dimorathron and this changes in rotation every ten years.

‘All planets wishing to join are expected to adopt Federation standards. Such a possible membership is open to Earth if you were willing to fulfil the criteria.’ She paused as Slindo approached her. The powder blue creature whispered something to her.

'Yes, my assistant reminds me that the reason we are offering membership is that you’ve been using some technology which has been interfering with our own. As part of membership we’ll help you improve such systems as well as assisting you to become interstellar travellers, so that your citizens can visit other worlds. Becoming part of the Federation has been the making of most worlds and it will open up amazing opportunities for education and exploration for you. We live in a wonderful universe.

‘With the Federation representing so many planets, the central council comprises four hundred and thirteen delegates. Each represent a large number of civilisations, and councillors regularly hold surgeries with representatives from each of their planets.

‘We’ve a small armed security force to deal with any unfriendly planets we may encounter, although it’s extremely rare that a civilisation has an issue with us which cannot be resolved through negotiation.

‘I’m happy to take general questions, although details would be better left to your representatives.' She looked around to Secretary General Okafor, who walked up to take the microphone.

‘I thank Ya Moroforon for the information she’s provided. I know there’ll be many questions members would like to ask. I intend to restrict it to thirty minutes.’

The Secretary General looked at her tablet. ‘The assembly recognises the United States of America.’

The US President asked, ‘Ya Moroforon, what cost is involved in membership?’

The alien took the microphone. ‘There’s no cost to the planet, Yol Spence.’

‘There’s always a cost,’ said President Spence.

‘There’s no direct cost. All costs are absorbed by the Federation, particularly so for new members,’ said Ya Moroforon. ‘We often subsidise new members for decades.’

‘But where does the Federation get its money from to pay such costs?’ he asked.

‘From general revenues.’

‘And how much do we contribute to that?’

‘Every individual person contributes the same amount and it’s announced annually.’

‘I understand that, Ya Moroforon, but what is that amount? There must be a figure.’

‘Yol Spence, the figure cannot be calculated until you join the Federation, but you’re welcome to visit Federation planets to see how the economic system operates and speak to individuals or councillors. Understanding will soon follow. If I were to say an amount to you, it would be meaningless as you do not have any knowledge of the value of the Federation’s currency.’

The US President leaned back in his seat. He was clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

‘The assembly recognises China,’ said Perfect Okafor.

President Da Cheung spoke in Mandarin and the Secretary General offered the Ambassador an earpiece.

‘What is this for?’ she asked.

‘To understand President Cheung, who speaks Chinese,’ said Perfect Okafor.

‘It’s not necessary, Ya Okafor. I learned Mandarin and Cantonese yesterday.’

To say that the Secretary General was taken aback, in fact, shocked, would be an understatement.

‘Good day, Ya Moroforon. Can you give an indication of what laws or rules we would need to follow for membership?’ said President Cheung.

‘Again, Yol Cheung, this is something which is best carried out by visiting, so full understanding can be achieved. There are safety standards for manufactured goods, health standards etc. A simple example would be that all planets have the same electricity, water, and fuel standards. The prime requirement is absolute equality. Every individual must have the same opportunity as any other, and each has the same worth, whether he or she lives somewhere on Earth or in the furthest outpost of the Federation. It would help if I knew more about your planet and its current economic system.’ The Ambassador turned to the Secretary General. ‘Would that be possible, Ya Okafor? We’ll need to study your people and culture.’

‘Certainly, Ya Moroforon, we’ll facilitate it, letting you visit countries of the world with a representative of each and myself to aid in interpretation,’ said the Secretary General.

Quietly to Perfect Okafor, the Ambassador said, ‘I didn’t expect the individuals from the provinces to have such questions. I expected them to be presented through you and your staff.’

‘Our United Nations does not quite work in that way. I’m the nominal head, but I can’t overrule or speak for the individual national leaders or their representatives.’

‘This is a strange situation. I’ll need to know more, but not immediately. For now, I’ll answer these leaders of the provinces as if they’re questions from you. We’ll need to set up a working group to discuss how membership works in detail and your and our requirements.’

Perfect Okafor began to understand that this meeting was not what the Ambassador thought it was, but now was not the time for explanations.

The questions and answers went on for about thirty minutes. Perfect Okafor called an end to proceedings because questions were increasingly aimed at aspects which couldn’t be answered until the Ambassador had a more comprehensive understanding of life on Earth.

As soon as the Ambassador had departed the UN complex, Jack Spence called for an immediate meeting of the UN Secretary General and the other four permanent members. After lunch, they assembled in a private room.

Once the Ambassador’s party left the UN HQ, Colin Hall continued to accompany them, eventually returning them to their ship in Central Park.

««o»»

Jeanne Meunier and Dimitri Ivanov spoke fluent English, but Da Cheung brought two interpreters into the room with him, even though it was known he spoke good English.

Language was one of the biggest obstacles to smoothing international affairs and the Secretary General wished they had the ability to learn a new language in a single day, as the Ambassador had with Mandarin.

The leaders took their seats around an oval oak table.

‘Jack, you called this meeting. Fire away,’ said Perfect Okafor.

‘Frankly, it looks as if we’re being signed up to a communist regime. Absolute equality of individuals, what sort of system is that? Does it mean the lazy, good-for-nothing individual in the ghettos of Chicago will have the same privileges, wealth, and home as someone who works eighty hours a week on building his own business and creating jobs for others? I can’t see this working for us.’

‘No, not for Americans,’ said Da Cheung, and he laughed.

‘Jack, they’re exactly my thoughts, too. We need to find out how their economic system works,’ said Jeanne Meunier.

‘Yes, too soon to come to a judgement,’ said Dimitri Ivanov.

‘We do need to learn more,’ agreed Ken Hood.

‘So, what do we do?’ asked Jack Spence.

‘I think we should take up the offer to visit other worlds and let the Ambassador tour the Earth. After that we might be able to work out a common interest which would allow us to move forward,’ said Perfect Okafor.

‘That seems logical,’ said Dimitri Ivanov.

‘With all due respect, Perfect,’ said Jack Spence, ‘I’m concerned that you are seeing yourself as rather more elevated in authority than you actually are. You are an appointed official, the nominal head of the UN. You’re not the President of Earth!’

‘And at no time have I given that impression, Jack. You know that!’ she said. ‘It does seem, however, that the ambassador expects us to have a single leader.’

Ken Hood said, ‘It does appear that there’s been a misunderstanding, but I’m sure we all know that Perfect is acting in good faith and she’s aware she can’t commit any of us to any agreement.’

‘Thank you, Ken,’ Perfect said.

Ken Hood continued. ‘Let’s set it up and take television crews to see the other planets. This is a great discovery, knowing we’re not alone in the universe. This morning we had no idea about a Federation, now, just a few hours later, we’ve learned of a quarter of a million other civilisations. A quarter of a million! It’s amazing and fascinating. Let’s explore the options, even if we don’t sign up.’

‘Yes, Ken’s right. We must learn all we can from this situation, and, my God, the chance to visit another world!’ said Jeanne Meunier. ‘This is the greatest and most profound discovery of our time and we mustn’t miss any opportunities it might offer.’

‘Jack?’ asked Perfect Okafor.

‘Okay. We do need to learn from this, but I smell a rat. Let’s keep our eyes wide open… and, Perfect, you don’t agree to anything on behalf of the United States!’

‘Jack, I understand that, but we need to find a way of getting the ambassador to understand that she’s not talking to a world leader,’ said the Secretary General. ‘I shall make that clear as soon as possible, by the next meeting if I can.’

The session broke up and the leaders returned to their embassies.

Elsewhere in the world, the Earth’s residents who had clear skies that night, spent some time looking into the heavens knowing that many of the stars they could see had planets which were home to other civilisations very much like theirs.

In Central Park, the Federation’s four-hundred-metre-long starship floated a metre above the surface.

A palpable excitement was building in all quarters of the world.

7 Journey to London

We know, from Paula Wilson’s biography of Perfect Okafor, that she emerged from the Security Council meeting in some anguish. She felt that the leaders were parochial and governed by self-interest.

The Secretary General stopped all incoming phone calls, cancelled all of her meetings, and spent an hour thinking through the issues and attempting to plan some sort of strategy. President Spence had hurt her feelings, trying to belittle her in front of the Security Council and accusing her of overreaching her authority. She didn’t like him as a person or many of his policies, which she was able to watch first-hand, being based at the UN building in New York.

After a quiet hour, she picked up the Federation communication device she’d been given by the Ambassador. It was smaller than a cell phone and had only a single blue key on one side. She sat back in her comfortable leather chair with the desk before her almost cleared and pressed the key. It produced a steady, quiet, gong-like sound. She waited.

A few seconds later, an anonymous voice announced, ‘You are connected.’

‘Ya Moroforon, Perfect Okafor here. We’d like to set up the tour for you.’

‘Good evening, Ya Okafor. This is Yol Merofort. The Ambassador has asked me to liaise with you. What do you have in mind?’

‘President Spence has offered us a Boeing 797 which will be ready to leave within an hour’s notice. I thought Britain might be a good first visit.’

‘Britain sounds like a fine first visit, Ya Okafor. However, I think we’ll decline the offer of your aeroplane. If we use the Ambassador’s personal shuttle, it is equipped for her, Heldy, and me to stay overnight on board. It will be faster too. Would that be okay with you?’

‘Yes, of course, Yol Merofort, we think Paris would be a good second stop.’

‘Fine. Come to the ship tomorrow at nine and we’ll be ready to depart. Do please thank Yol Spence for the offer of his aeroplane.’

‘I will. In addition, Prime Minister Hood and President Meunier and their assistants would like to travel with us as far as London.’

‘That is not a problem. The Ambassador’s shuttle hovers in the same manner as this ship. Could you ask Yol Hood for coordinates in London where we could arrive and park during the visit? The shuttle is only fifty metres long.’

‘Certainly, Yol Merofort. I’ll ask for them and call you back.’

‘Many thanks, see you at nine. Goodnight, Ya Okafor.’

The Secretary General called each of the leaders to bring them up to date with the arrangements then, quite fatigued, left the office for her Manhattan residence at Sutton Place. By the time she’d packed for the visits, she crawled into her bed at three in the morning, still concerned that she’d not had the conversation with the Ambassador about her actual role.

««o»»

[One of the