Unforgiving

There is, this evening, an unforgiving coldness to their beauty. We are at the entrance of the steel and glass building that adorns the long perspective in front of the Bundestag. Sarah and Melissa are standing, superb in their sober grey suits and white silk shirts. They have adopted the same hair style, and today they are both dark red, and wear sharp black high heels.  

We walk slowly to the gate, welcomed by a platoon of  dark-blue clad officers. I notice their badges, which I do not recognise. I notice the blond hair tightly held under the strict berets: the Chancellery is guarded by women warriors.

We walk in as part of a small group of about twelve guests. Classical music – is it Schubert? – floats through the endless glass corridors. Late afternoon light filters through the large bay windows. We are all assigned numbered seats through specific doors. We are shepherded by the silent guards to one of the larger conference rooms in the building. As we enter the room, one guard invites Sarah and Melissa to follow her, while another guides me to my seat. My wife and lover disappear through a side door. 

Audience

I sit back and look at the audience which as it slowly fills the large auditorium. Guards in uniform stand at all corners. Large flags of the United Nations and the Federal Republic, as well as the Union’s, adorn the wide stage. The auditorium is large enough for three or four thousand people. 

I recall our briefing in Brooklyn, the prospect of a new Alliance. Schubert plays on. Sarah and Melissa’s seats remain empty for another half an hour. I remember that we were given portable audio guides as we entered the building. I connect mine. There is a live broadcast, and on the little screen, one can observe the speaker. It is a man, in a USAF uniform, and I immediately recognise the officer who was our host in Brooklyn. He’s introducing the programme for the conference and explaining the purpose of this pre-conference meeting.

Insignia

I stand up to let a group of journalists access their seats a little further down on the same row. They are all women. I notice an insignia on their jackets. 

Soon, Sarah and Melissa join me, smiling, stunning in their suits and shiny makeup. Sarah kisses me lightly on the cheek and insists I sit between her and Melissa. Melissa briefly touches my knee. As I turn toward her, I see she wears the same insignia as the journalists. So does Sarah. I realise that this is a smaller, more discreet version of the insignia worn by the Chancellery guards. It’s an eagle seizing a small sphere. In the middle of the sphere is a heart and the female symbol. 

On the stage now stand four people. One of them is Gabrielle. I also recognise the Chancellor herself, the same US officer, and a tall woman in a Chinese Navy uniform. As the four of them stand to attention, Schubert stops and the audience stands up for the German national anthem. The three of us know the words and the melody well. It is a moving moment. As the audience sits again, a film appears in the background of the stage, silent. The Chancellor stands up and speaks. 

Peace

She introduces the conference and states its main purpose, which is to launch a universal movement for peace and the end of all wars. She emphasises the participation of the Alliance and of the Union, augmented by countries from Eastern Europe, China, and Japan. The film shows the horrors of recent conflicts, then switches to views of recent meetings and diplomatic events. 

The Chancellor then introduces Gabrielle – I hold my breath – as “our friend from the East”. There is no mention of the Coven or of Andromeda… The eagle and the sphere emblem appears on the screen. As the Chancellor concludes her introduction, Gabrielle stands up. Her voice is high and clear, without accent. Her German is perfect, the online translation equally so, although the portable audio device gives us fifteen language options. 

Demographics

Gabrielle’s words reach my consciousness as Sarah takes hold of my hand. There will be four strands of work for the conference: diplomacy, military disarmament, environment, and ‘demographics and gender’. 

I feel dizzy. Gabrielle explains the purpose of each strand, and expands on the diplomatic work undertaken by the UN, the Great Power and her “partners” since the last crisis. The Air Force general talks about the military side of the conference. Fluently, he describes the work done so far, since the “disappearance” of the missiles in East Asia. He mentions the recent crisis in the Middle-East and how this is being resolved, “in the best interest of mankind”.

Mathematics

The lady in Navy uniform then introduces the environment part of the programme. She’s evidently an expert. The screen displays a series of views describing threats to the planet, as seen from space. The speaker describes the mathematics of carbon reduction. I wonder how many in the audience follow her exposé. 

Suddenly, Gabrielle is back to the fore. I must have missed the last minutes of the environment presentation, lost in a dream. At first, I do not understand what Gabrielle is saying. The screen is again full of equations, this time about demographics. Sarah holds my hand tighter. 

Gabrielle is talking about her people. She talks about their ancient history, how they overcame the threats to their survival, how they conquered space. The audience is totally silent. No one moves. The film is now showing old newsreels. Soon, Gabrielle concludes that one of the objectives of the conference is to achieve agreement on population control, as a condition of peace. As she sits down, smiling, the Chancellor rises, wishes the audience a positive experience during the conference, and explains that we will be individually called in, in small groups, for the follow-up debriefing.

As I am called in, my companions stand up with me and escort me holding my arms along the corridors. I cannot believe what I heard, what is happening. Sarah and Melissa guide me through another corridor and up a flight of steps. Melissa knocks at a door and enters, followed by Sarah who ushers me in. We follow another short corridor and stand by another door. Gabrielle opens the door. She smiles at my companions and shakes my hand.

Lucky

“You are a lucky man, Julian,” she says in her softest and yet unforgiving voice, “thanks to your friends, your conference will be only hard work.” At those words, Melissa hugs me. There is a new strength in her body. 

I am invited to sit down in one of four comfortable leather chairs that face a wide bay window opening toward the Bundestag. I feel my destiny is no longer mine to control. 

“Julian, you may not have followed all of the presentations this afternoon, there was a lot to absorb. You have been attached to the demographics strand of the conference. You should know that you are one of a very small number, a minority, of non-expert male participants, invited to join us for this project.”

Melissa says something, very low, in my ear, and I shiver. “Trust us.”

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