Chapter 345 Eden's Proposal
A week after the announcement of the countries’ verification of Eden’s discovery, the day of the UNSC meeting finally arrived.
The delay was long enough to allow countries to come up with ideas on how to handle the “visitors”, but not long enough to allow the citizens’ anxiety to boil over into panic and its accompanying rioting and destruction.
It was also enough time for certain parties to profit from the discovery. A few cults had sprung up seemingly out of nowhere, one of which claimed that the visitors were merely a branch of humanity that had left long ago and were coming back to retake their ancestral home and uplift its current occupants. To them, the aliens were known as “the Progenitors”.
Another cult believed that they were peaceful aliens, and that humanity’s preparations for war would enrage them and cause them to turn hostile. To them, the aliens were known as “the Peacebringers”.
There were many more small cults, but those two seemed oddly popular and had gained traction rather fast. Still, the cults were merely an insignificant blip compared to the number of people who had no firm beliefs either way.
Along with cultists, there were the conspiracy theorists. They believed that the aliens were a hoax meant to distract people from various pet conspiracy theories, like the deep state, the illuminati, the freemasons, and so on. Soon enough, once those secret societies faded back into the background, the hubbub surrounding the incoming aliens would gradually be silenced as the people who had “awakened to the truth” fell back to sleep once again.
The most pitiful groups were those who got together and committed group suicide, much like the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, under the instigation of Jim Jones, an American cult leader; or the Heaven’s Gate incident of 1997, which mass suicided under the instigation of Marshall Applewhite, one of the co-founders of the cult.
And while the cults and conspiracy theorists were rising, so were the orthodox “UFO religions”, which had long held extraterrestrials as part of their belief systems, like Scientology, whose adherents were firm in their belief that humanity had been entangled with various alien civilizations since the species’ conception; and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, who believed that the Earth was created 6000 years ago near the planet Kolob, then moved to its present location in the solar system.
The various cults, conspiracy theorists, and formerly minority UFO religions undergoing a wild surge, or resurgence, in popularity, the nations’ leaders were in something of a bind. Practically all of the non-UNSC member nations were clamoring to change the hearing from a special session of the UN Security Council to a special session of the UN General Assembly so that their voices may be heard.
Except Australia, who, weirdly enough, had chosen to remain silent on the entire affair. When questioned about their silence, their ambassador shrugged and said, “Australia already has seven of the ten deadliest species of animals, insects, and plants in the world trying to kill us every day. So if the aliens come in peace, great! And if they’re coming to kill us, well... they’ll just have to get in line. I wish ‘em luck with the magpies and the ‘roos. And the spiders.”
Their equanimity in the face of the chaos sweeping the globe was admirable, to say the least.n-/0velb1n
But despite all of the official, and unofficial, protests in the UN, the Security Council refused under the justification that it was Eden that called for the special emergency session, so only Eden could make the call.
Eden, coincidentally, had been staying just as silent on the issue as the Australians.
Thus, as a compromise, the only thing the members of the UN Security Council could do was decide to hold the emergency session as an open session and allow the media to broadcast it live. After that press release went out, the number of people on the streets had fallen to an all-time low as everyone who was old enough to understand what was going on was currently sitting on their couches, or laying in their beds, their eyes glued to screens of various sizes.
......
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, esteemed ambassadors, and citizens watching at home and abroad, I now call this emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to order,” Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, the Egyptian permanent representative to the United Nations and president of the UNSC for the month of August, announced with a bang of his gavel. “We stand charged today with the solemn duty to determine the direction of the entire world in the face of the visitors, a group of extraterrestrials who are headed our way with unknown intentions. Let us bear that in mind and consider the issue with the gravity it calls for and deserves.
(Ed note: The UNSC only has five permanent member nations: France, China, Russia, the US, and the UK. However, their representatives are drawn from the UN general assembly, which consists of a “permanent representative” from each of its member nations and the UNSC representatives still hold that title in addition to their temporary titles as members of the security council. Ambassador Aboulatta has been the Egyptian representative to the UN since 2014 and served on the UNSC from 2016-2018; non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms.)
“I invite the Permanent Representative to the United Nations from the Republic of Eden to the floor to present her argument on behalf of the Republic of Eden. Ambassador Foster, I yield the floor to you.”
Eden’s representative, Ambassador Olivia Foster, stood and moved to the podium amidst the sound of camera shutters madly clacking in the background as the press fought to record this historical meeting. “Thank you, Ambassador Aboulatta, esteemed members of the security council. I’d like to take this opportunity to first thank you for agreeing to our request for an emergency session....” She spoke for close to half an hour, only occasionally pausing to moisten her throat, explaining the reasoning behind why they should prepare for the visitors’ arrival by considering them a threat to humanity.
Only after finally finishing her explanation did she move on to the most anticipated part of this emergency session: Eden’s proposed solution.
“Our proposal is to form a unified world government, with a singular space force—a naval fleet that will be the face of Earth’s security. But that won’t be enough, as at the moment, we’re incapable of putting people in space for long periods of time without suffering a loss in health just from the adverse long-term effects of zero gravity, let alone space combat. Thus, in order to solve those issues, we’ll need a joint research institute to which every country contributes, whether in terms of money, human resources, or both.
“As for the raw materials required to build the force, we propose that the research institute uses the material reserves in international waters that have already been discovered, or will be discovered as a result of their investigation.” She paused for a moment to let people digest her words so far, then changed gears and moved to another part of the proposal.
“The unified government will have more power and authority than the current United Nations, which will step back and become a venue for hosting sessions to resolve issues that arise on the planet. The united government's authority will be absolute in matters regarding the preparations for the incoming visitors. As for the rest of the matters, the UN will remain mostly as it is, with the addition of a permanent president in the General Assembly and Security Council from the united government.
“That would ensure that no hindrances to our preparations can arise while still ensuring that non-urgent matters can be handled as usual. Our proposal is only in the initial stage of development, so all of the details need to be discussed in meticulous fashion, but in order to allow the greatest preparation lead time possible, we suggest that a fully-fledged plan must be drafted and agreed to before the end of this year, so within four months from today.”
Ambassador Foster paused, this time for longer than just to moisten her throat, before beginning to wrap up her presentation. “Over the thousands of years that humanity has developed, from discovering fire, learning to speak, to using stone tools and weapons to hunt, then learning agriculture, entering the iron age, the bronze age, and so on, we are now at a crossroads. In order to allow humanity to progress further, this is a hurdle that must be overcome. It’s time to put aside our petty infighting and tribal state and stand united as a single monolithic species. Should we succeed in that, I believe that in our unity, nothing is impossible. Esteemed ambassadors, President Aboulatta, members of the press, and people watching at home, thank you. I yield the floor to President Aboulatta,” she said, then stepped away from the podium and retook her seat.
“Madame Ambassador, thank you for your proposal. I now open the floor for questions,” Ambassador Aboulatta said and a few people immediately raised their hands.
