4th September 2010
08:28 GMT -5
Kaldur and I stand as the United States' Ambassador to the United Nations
Doctor Susan Rice walks into the conference room. Oddly, Atlantis doesn't actually have a representative here, which means that my
first choice was impossible. On the other hand, Dr Rice has on several occasions spoken out against Bialya's human rights abuses and the whole… 'The nation is run by a supervillain' issue.
"Madam Ambassador, thank you for agreeing to see us."
She takes her place at the head of the table and Kaldur and I return to our seats.
"Gentlemen. You said that you have something I need to know about?"
I nod. "Yes. Ah, I'm sorry, I think there are a few things you need to know in order for.. the reason why we're here to make sense, and… How much do you know about galactic politics?"
She sits back slightly. "Not a lot. I know Krypton blew up and that Hawkman and Hawkwoman come from Thanagar. We don't even have regular communication with Mars. I don't think any country on Earth has diplomatic relations with any alien world."
"That's… I believe that Bialya
does. A little while ago I.. detected… Very
particular gravitational anomalies coming from a.. location in the Bialyan desert. Through observation I was able to identify the source as… Something called a 'Boom Tube'. It's… A particular type of wormhole portal. You can open one
from anywhere
to anywhere, and move… Anything from one end to the other. Anything that can
fit; it takes more power to open larger ones."
"Okay." She nods. "That's worrying, but Bialya never signed the Ozma Accords. There's no
obligation on them to declare extraterrestrial contacts."
"That's not-. If anything I'd be
happy that countries on Earth were talking to more alien species. The problem is-. There are lots of different ways to travel faster than light. So… Usually, me detecting that a particular method had been used wouldn't tell me anything. For example, there are a dozen species who use gravitational spatial warping in this Sector alone. But… There's really only one species that uses Boom Tubes. And they're… Um, extremely dangerous."
"How so?"
"Their society is split into two competing groups, each occupying a different planet. But they're both… Fairly hardcore fascists. In the case of
New Genesis, that only extends to believing that their leader is an unquestionable emissary from God, excluding the majority of the planet's population from their flying super cities and having a generally contemptuous attitude to other species. If Bialya were dealing with them… It might not be a problem. But the people of New Genesis
don't deal with aliens very often, so it's more likely that they're dealing with the other guys, and that's very very bad."
"How bad?"
"Apokolips is a fully industrialised super-Earth controlled by an individual their culture identifies as the New God of Tyranny. It's a total autocracy, the majority of the population are slave workers conditioned to regard their conditions and misery as normal and good… It's not an efficient form of industrial production, but the point is that their leader derives power from their suffering. He's turned his entire planet, with a population of hundreds of billions of people, into a giant algemantic generator. They don't conquer and occupy places, but they
do routinely invade planets and burn them back to the stone age. They've got a huge fleet, a huge army and their elite are the equivalent of mid to high tier supervillains."
Dr Rice's face gradually fell as I was speaking. "And you think Bialya is dealing with those people."
"I… Recovered an AI from New Genesis at the site which claims that they are. However, I can't authenticate its claims. If they were dealing with New Genesis it would obviously have reason to lie."
"And how can
I confirm what
you're saying?"
"I… Don't know what the process for formally requesting privileged information from a Justice League member in the know is, but any of the local members of the Green Lantern Corps should be able to confirm what I'm telling you. The Green Lantern Corps has fought Apokolips before and I'm sure that they have far more information than
I do."
Dr Rice nods solemnly.
"And…" She looks at Kaldur. "What exactly is the Atlantean position on this?"
"I am not empowered to speak for the government of Atlantis. But as an Atlantean citizen, I have no desire for the Earth to be invaded by such a race of malevolent demigods."
"Are you two working together?"
"Orange Lantern has had little contact with the Justice League." And it's okay to say that for the purpose of a mission, even though it's obviously a lie. "As I do not have a secret identity, he came to me for advice on how to present this information. Since the Justice League is unable to operate in Bialya, I suggested that he come here."
She nods again. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Would you be willing to explain exactly what you saw to someone from the Central Intelligence Agency?"
I nod. "Yes, perfectly happy. I can even bring along the AI if that would help."
"Okay, I'll-." She blinks and look at me anew. "I don't suppose you've got a cell..?"
"Ah… Sorry, no."
"Okay. Phone my-" She passes me a card. "-secretary tomorrow, we'll give you a time and an address."
I take the card. "Thank you. Will you be talking to the League about this?"
"That's up to President Horne, but I expect so."
"If you do..? It..
might be worth asking for information on other galactic threats. So you can identify them early. There isn't all that much that Earth militaries can do against them other than.. fight their local agents and call in the League, but just
knowing could save
a lot of unnecessary difficulty."
"That sounds like a good idea."
Kaldur actually
frowns. "Forgive me, but I am surprised that your government has not already done that. I know that King Orin has such a list."
"Yeah." Dr Rice frowns back. "Now that you point it out, it
does seem a little odd. Rest assured I'll be pushing the President to do the same."
I nod, smiling. "I'm glad to hear it."
"Well. Thank you for bringing this to me. Is there anything else?"
I shake my head. "No." Kaldur and I push our chairs back and stand up. "And thank you for taking this so seriously."
"Thank you for coming to the government instead of throwing together a superhero team and charging in there." Kaldur and I
don't flinch. "Dealing with rogue nations like Bialya is exactly the sort of thing the United Nations is designed for."
I nod. "Because none of the other permanent members of the Security Council have a stake in Queen Bee remaining in power."
"That's.. not.. quite how I'd put it, but it won't hurt."
The three of us file out, and Kaldur leads me in the direction of the exit. I'm.. feeling.. quite good about how that went. All of those comic book governments who basically exist to miss things that superheroes need to fix -when they're not backing the villains- rather made me think that this wouldn't go anywhere.
"That went well."
"Yes. Though I am not sure that Batman will approve."
"Intimidating as he is, keeping Batman happy is very much
secondary to keeping the world uninvaded. If we can't arrest
-or kill- the people doing this, we need to hand it over to politicians who can authorise extraordinary measures." I glance at him and smile. "I suppose working directly for King Orin lets you bypass that sort of thing."
He nods. "I imagine that my legal situation is more simple than that of our colleagues."
He presses the 'call lift' button and we wait.
"Will there be further difficulty between you and Artemis?"
"Ah… Probably."
"You had appeared to be cooperating well. What is the source of your dispute?"
"I-. Some of it's personal to her… A… Member of her family had a serious injury and I repaired it with this ring." Kaldur frowns. "And then I asked the person in question out to dinner. Um. Artemis is
disquieted by that."
What I
shouldn't-.
Probably shouldn't tell him is that I'm dating Artemis' mother, and that while Paula and Lawrence had been separated for years they haven't actually
divorced yet. And that seeing Paula and I kiss one another when she came back from patrolling Star City was a
bit of a shock and means that she now thinks that I'm stalking her, rather than what
actually happened which is that I met Paula through
Jade.
"Given how protective American superheroes are concerning their personal information, I will trust that the two of you can resolve this without my intervention."
I nod. "Yes, we'll.. talk about it later today." We step into the lift. "I'm sure that we'll be able to sort something out."
"I am glad to hear it."