The O.D. (18 page)

Vaalon’s appointee in Paris had failed them at the last moment, fearful that support of Lonnie Pilot against the interests of France would poison his reputatio
n−
a reputation already dead as far as Forrest Vaalon was concerned.

Three and a half thousand miles away in New York City, the emergency session of the UN was just coming to order. The French Ambassador, whose tour of duty had so far been routine and undemanding, suddenly found himself centre stage with his trousers down and had been up since midnight trying to think of a way of maintaining French honour in the affair. The Kerry Jackson incident had multiplied his problems a hundred-fold. He couldn’t believe that the incompetence of his colleagues back in Paris could have risen to such damaging heights.

As Eydos had no seat at the UN, Iceland demanded that the French forces retire at once and that diplomatic relations be established with the settlers. The French Ambassador thought this provocative, not to mention impudent, implying as it did that the settlers had a valid claim on the island. He would have done better to agree, though, because his reply was greeted with derision and disgust by all but France’s closest allies.

Under pressure, he had agreed to move the troops a thousand metres away from what he called the ‘alien settlement’, but under no circumstances would they leave Ile de Bonne Fortune. He added that his government was prepared to grant temporary resident status to the settlers until their removal. The island was a natural extension of France, he insisted, and its fate could not be decided on the accidental presence over the surfacing shelf of a fleet of ‘Gypsy barges’. France’s official policy towards ‘travelers’ wasn’t unfair, he went on, digging himself even deeper into his hole, and the so-called settlers would be removed to the destination of their choice at the government’s expense as soon as it was convenient. In conclusion, he explained that the impersonation of Lonnie Pilot had been a ruse of the trespassers and
not
of the French government, which had only been trying to clarify matters.

The question was then passed to the member nations to decide. As one of the five members of the Security Council, it was France’s right to veto any resolution passed by the General Assembly. When the latter duly called for France’s
complete
withdrawal from the island until the matter could be resolved by the international community as a whole, France invoked her veto.

Back on board
Ptolemy
, the French forces were preparing for their third night in occupation. They had been unable to set up their tents the previous two nights, owing to the fact that tent pegs weren’t designed to penetrate solid rock, so they had slept fitfully in their helicopters instead. Pilot and his crew had been forced to sleep under guard in the mess room, access to their cabins having been forbidden. Every chair, tabletop and available stretch of floor had a body on it.

At 10pm that night, however, as the same process was about to be repeated, the French Colonel received a general order from Paris to withdraw immediately to a line one thousand metres from the convoy in compliance with their agreed undertaking.

As the last commando grudgingly left
Ptolemy
shortly before midnight, Pilot noted that it was 60 hours since they had first stormed the convoy. Exhausted and relieved, he pulled his sleeve down over his #60 and followed the others to their cabins.

X

Pilot’s statement on the shooting of Ali Jeckyll reached the iPatch satellite just two hours after the 1,000 metre withdrawal of the ‘Commandos Marine’. It was short and to the point:

From
the
barge
,
Ptolemy
.
Eydos
.
0210
hrs
.
8
/
8

On
August
5th
at
1530
hrs
,
one
of
our
people
was
shot
dead
by
a
trooper
of
the
French
platoon
occupying
our
flotilla
.
Alistair
Jeckyll
was
33
and
from
Glasgow
.
He
was
unarmed
,
as
are
we
all
.

We
understand
that
the
perpetrator
had
mental
issues
and
that
the
French
command
was
not
complicit
in
the
killing
.
Through
their
swift
action
in
restraining
the
gunman
,
they
may
have
prevented
further
deaths
and
for
that
,
we
thank
them
.
However
,
the
French
Commander’s
claim
that
the
soldier
fired
in
self
-
defense
after
being
attacked
is
a
fabrication
−
a
gross
defamation
of
a
good
and
gentle
man’s
character
.
Such
dishonesty
pollutes
the
integrity
of
this
island
and
will
not
be
tolerated
.
We
demand
the
total
withdrawal
of
French
forces
from
Eydos
forthwith
.

Within minutes, the statement had travelled from the iPatch satellite into the dishes of the world’s hungry news media, and from there back into space and down to a dozen smart phones in the news village outside the convoy. The Ali Jeckyll killing played out exactly as Pilot thought it would: The journalists had beaten a path to the French commander’s helicopter, demanding either confirmation or denial of Pilot’s claim and reminding him that the shots they heard had occurred at the exact time of Jeckyll’s alleged killing. The French Colonel had played dumb until international pressure had forced his superiors in Paris to issue their own statement three hours later, which Pilot pulled up online.

Oui
,
il
y
a
eu
une
fusillade
sur
l’Ile
de
Bonne
Fortune
.
Un
de
nos
soldats
a
été
attaqué
par
les
intrus
et
a
tire
en
auto
-
defense
.
Notre
revendication
était
juste
et
vraie
.
L’ordre
a
été
rétabli
et
nous
faisons
le
nécessaire
pour
la
répatriation
du
corps
du
défunt
et
le
retour
a
la
famille
.

“What does it say, Odile?”

“That one of their soldiers was attacked by the interlopers and discharged his firearm in self defense. That their claim of self-defense was not a lie. That order has now been restored and arrangements being made to repatriate the corpse of the deceased to his family.”

Whether the world would ever learn the truth, Pilot doubted, but he had planted enough of a seed of veracity to keep France firmly in the hot seat of suspicion.

“Should we invent something new, or use an existing model?” Pilot said, opening the discussion on devising a system of government for the island. There was an air of excitement and apprehension in the messroom. No one knew where this was going to go.

“Why reinvent the wheel?” Jane Lavery said.

“Because the wheel has fallen off the wagon.”

“Not
our
wagon,” said Mara. “We’ve never had a wheel before. There’s nothing to say that Marxism or some other system wouldn’t work here.”

Pilot stood up. “Does everybody agree with Macushla? That we construct a wheel using all the broken pieces out there?”

“Just as long as it gets us where we want to go, that’s good enough,” Lavery said.

“Okay. As a starting point, who thinks Eydos should be Marxist? Show of hands. Let’s make this quick.” Pilot looked around the room and counted just three raised hands. Mara’s wasn’t one of them.

“Who thinks we should be a democracy?”

“Majoritarian or Consensual?” Aaron Serman said. “Who do we want to rule us, the majority of the people or as many people as possible?”

“Everyone on this island should have a say in how it’s run and how our political agenda is determined,” Pilot said without hesitation. “Our government needs to be equitable, transparent and accountable.”

The pros and cons of democracy were discussed for half an hour, with several alternative systems suggested, voted on and rejected. In the end, they settled on consensual democracy, with 80% consensus required to carry a motion. The vote itself had been 100% in favour.

“Right, then. Nominations for leader,” Pilot said, proceeding to the next item on the agenda.

“Vaalon told us
you
were in charge,” someone said.

“For the moment. We needed a leader at the beginning and he chose me. But his work is done and he’s out of the picture now. It’s one thing to have Forrest Vaalon’s backing, but I need the support of all of you if I’m to carry on as head.”

“Then I nominate Lonnie Pilot,” Serman said.

“Seconded,” a number of voices echoed around the room.

Pilot scanned the assembly twice. “Come on. Doesn’t anybody else want to run?”

“I nominate Jane Lavery,” Mara said. “It wouldn’t be an election otherwise.”

“Seconded.”

“Can I nominate myself?” Bradingbrooke asked. Everyone laughed.

Pilot thought for a minute. “We don’t have a rule yet that says you can’t. I’ll second you.”

As there were no further takers, a polling booth consisting of a table and chair surrounded by curtains made of sheets was constructed. Aaron Serman, the island’s resident IT expert, placed a laptop containing the Fingerprint Voting Program on the table and booted up. He’d been looking forward to using FVP and explained to the crew how it worked. “First of all, we register our prints. Place your left thumb in the box on screen, press Scan and, when prompted, type your information in the required fields. Once everyone is registered, I’ll enter the three candidates into the program. Each will have a box below their name. Place your left thumb in the box of your choice and press Enter. It’s simple, fast and tamper proof.”

“What percentage of support is required for a candidate to be elected leader?” someone asked. “I suggest the standard consensus of 80%.”

“All in favour?” Pilot said. Seventy-nine hands went up.

After the prints were registered, voting commenced. When the last thumb was cast, Serman sat down at the laptop and clicked Result. No one was holding their breath. “Lonnie Pilot has been duly elected Leader of Eydos. Seventy-six in favour, zero against.” The three candidates had all abstained.

“What about checks and balances?” Bradingbrooke asked.

“Because of our size, checks and balances won’t be a problem,” Pilot said. “A group of four or five elected people under the leader could provide the first level. The remainder of the population, with the power to vote a leader out, would provide a second.”

“How would that work?” Mara asked.

“Every four or five years, or at any time a consensus demands it, a vote of confidence in the leader could be taken. If they lose, then an election for a new leader should be held.”

Everyone seemed happy with that, so an election was held for the five members of ‘The Pentad’, a name suggested by Macushla Mara for Eydos’ first level of checks on the leader. From the twelve candidates, Bradingbrooke, Serman, Mara, Lavery and Josiah Billy were elected. A natural hierarchy had already begun to establish itself on the island. The rest of the day and half the next was spent defining the powers and responsibilities of the Leader and The Pentad, structuring their consensual democracy and writing a constitution that included 10% minority veto power and the right of anyone to call for a referendum on any issue at any time.

Just before the lunch break, the question of what to do with those who didn’t follow the ‘Eydos line’ was discussed. It was decided that no-one would ever be forced to support ideas they didn’t believe in. Nor would they be forced to stay on the island. They called it the ‘There’s the Door’ option.

The first item on the agenda after lunch was the Eydos Bill of Rights. The laptop was switched on and the crew invited to enter their suggestions in their own password-protected file. They were given the rest of the day to do so, and when Serman clicked Harvest late that afternoon, 256 proposed rights were extracted from the 81 files onto a single list. When duplication was taken into account, the actual number of unique rights boiled down to just 13, ranging from ‘the right to leave the island at any time without ostracism or hindrance’ to ‘the right to petition.’ Under a proposal by Serman, if eight or more people objected to any proposed right, it would be stricken from the list. Of the 13 proposed rights, only one failed to make the cut: ‘The right to bear arms’. Pilot had thrown that one in as a test and it had been rejected by 81 votes to zero.

Dan
Heiberg
pulled
the
last
tent
peg
from
the
ground
and
threw
it
on
the
pile
with
the
others
. “
Bag
‘
em
up
,
Johnny
,”
he
said
to
his
son
. “
Looks
like
weather
coming
.”
After
three
baking
hot
days
in
Elk
City
State
Park
,
Kansas
,
the
heatwave
had
broken
,
and
the
blue
skies
were
being
painted
over
from
the
southwest
by
a
growing
mass
of
grey
-
black
cloud
.

“
Dan
,
come
here
,”
Heiberg’s
wife
called
from
the
front
seat
of
the
car
. “
They’re
playing
our
song
.”
Heiberg
settled
into
the
driver’s
seat
and
smiled
as
You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma
rattled
the
speakers
.
Halfway
through
the
song
,
the
music
was
interrupted
by
the
station’s
engineer
.