The two women sat, facing each other across the table. Li took off her shoes with a sigh of contentment. “Please forgive me, but I made the mistake of wearing new shoes when the situation really called for comfortable ones. Now that is much better.” She massaged the soles of her feet by rubbing them across the carpet.
Peri grinned. “Be careful of the cheap carpets in here, Lixia. You might electrocute both of us.”
“If it meant no more meetings like that one, I’d welcome it. So. To business. First, thank you very much for your presentations this morning. I would also add, thank you for your patience in answering stupid questions, except that of course, being Peri, you showed none.” She laughed. “You were justified in questioning the point of preparing written reports if the delegates could not be bothered to read them.”
“I did not say—”
“I know, you did not say ‘bothered’. You dropped the deadly F-bomb on a roomful of people, without mercy or remorse.”
Peri opened her eyes wide in mock surprise. “Am I being reprimanded?”
Li laughed. “I would not dare. No, your report on the demise of Chen Yongjun was an exemplar of clarity and conciseness. It left no questions unanswered.”
“And yet questions were asked.”
“By idiots who had not read the report.”
The two women shared a laugh.
“Your summary of the Welsh incident was also excellent.”
“But short of detail, I know. The British government would have preferred even less, but I let Damon Wilkinson run with that, and he can be very persuasive.”
“It certainly helped support the argument of the third presentation,” observed Li. “Particularly the casualty figures, given that the creature never made it out of the caves.”
“Yes, the third part. How was the discussion after I left?” asked Peri.
“My, my, you are impatient! I will come to that.” The Chinese woman flipped open a notebook and glanced over what she had written. “So,” she continued. “First, the facts presented. There was some debate about the accuracy of your data.” She held up a hand, seeing Peri about to speak. “Patience, Young Carlton, patience. The committee members were very supportive. They attested to the accuracy of information supplied by their own countries and their allies. The assembly agreed, in the end, that the rising trends over time could not be disputed, and that the extrapolation over time that you produced is, if anything, conservative. So, your first conclusion was accepted. The threat level is rising at an accelerating pace.”
Peri permitted herself a smile of satisfaction.
“Debate moved on to the question of what should be done about it. A stronger, Security Council led, initiative, well, that was the inevitable conclusion. We expected nothing else, let us be honest with ourselves. Expanding the remit, powers and global presence of the Transnational Incidents and Emergencies team was the main option considered, though some delegates did propose alternatives on the fly. But your suggestion of building on UNTIE was accepted in the end. As expected, there were objections to the suggested fine detail. Just about everyone, all fifteen permanent member nations and a dozen or more from the non-members, suggested that their country should host a regional team. They could all smell the gravy-train, and all wanted a share of gravy.”
“I’m shocked. Truly shocked,” Peri interjected.
“You do not sound shocked. Anyway, the argument was accepted that thirty regional offices is far too many. The council President was quite firm in insisting on two principles, namely co-location in existing UN premises, and starting with the minimum presence to provide a follow-the-sun management structure. It could be expanded in future if necessary. So, the conclusion reached was that there should be four regional offices, to be sited in New York, Vienna, Bangkok and Seoul.”
“Not Geneva?” Peri asked.
Li gave a snort of derision. “The council President needed to leave his fingerprints on the proposal. The task of mobilising the new organisation was given, as expected, to Ad-Hoc Committee 23. The job of director of the new organisation was debated.” She smiled at Peri.
“No! Not me!” Peri looked genuinely alarmed.
Li laughed. “No, not you. Your carefully planned F-bombing run earlier in the day had the effect you intended.”
“I don’t know what you mean…”
“Yes, you do. I know you think you would be a disaster in such a role. No, the honour goes to the People’s Republic of China.”
“You?”
“Me. On a two-year secondment to the UNSC.”
“Congratulations, I think.”
“We’ll see. What is the phrase the Americans use? A hospital pass? I suspect it was intended as a hospital pass. But my eyes are wide open.”
“And now you need to recruit your team.”
“Do I hear you volunteering?” asked Li.
Peri laughed. “I might be persuaded, as long as you don’t have crazy ideas about letting me anywhere near politicians. I’m not only an expert in dropping F-bombs, I’m good with a lot of bombs in a lot of different languages.”
Li smiled. Peri suddenly realised it was not a happy smile. “Could I trust you, Peri?” she asked.
Peri stared, and stayed silent for a minute. Li just sat there, and waited.
“Damon Wilkinson asked me that, six weeks ago, in the Annex,” said Peri, slowly. “He asked, because you asked for me by name. He wondered why. He wondered whether I could be trusted.” She sat forward suddenly, and observed that she had startled Li. “It was because you knew, didn’t you? Somehow, you knew.”
Li looked slightly nervous. “I knew? I knew about what?”
“You know about what. How did you know?”
Now it was Li’s turn to remain silent.
Peri asked again. “How did you know?”
“I was stationed in Shanghai, eight years ago. My work required that I take an interest in foreigners. Your saving a small boy came to my attention. The Public Security Bureau preserved camera footage for the purpose of prosecuting the taxi driver, so they carefully studied the vehicles. I believe I was the only one who paid closer attention to the pedestrians, simply because one of them was British.”
“So?”
“Did you realise how fast you moved, to reach the boy?” She shook her head, reliving her own astonishment. “Inhumanly fast.”
The silence stretched out. Li was tense. Finally, Peri sagged back into her chair with a sigh. “Being quick is a long way from being untrustworthy.”
The stiffness in Li’s posture faded slightly. “Help me, Peri,” she said, softly. “Tell me what you omitted from your report. It does not need to be written down, but for us to work together there should be no secrets.”
There was another lengthy silence. Li more than half expected Peri to question whether either of them could trust the other. In the end, though, she heard Peri begin, “I became aware on Anifail Island that I am not human. It seems I never have been, not one hundred percent, and now I am less human than ever…”
About the Author
After a varied career in the IT industry, David Wallace retired from consulting and is now spends his time writing, and independently publishing novels. He has two grown up children and a lovely grand-daughter. His debut novel, “Child of the Servator” was published in 2017.
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