The Morning After
Kristiana awoke with a startle - feeling strange sheets as a strange alarm went off. No partner in the bed - and then she realized where she was - who she was - and what she had done last night.
"Well, it has started". Will last night be a tipping point in the history of humanity ? Possibly - but in all probability the answer will be long after I am gone.
Well, what now ? Her role is supposed to be primarily ceremonial, but also moral and acting in the greater national - and now human - interest. Her time as Minister of Energy, Foreign Minister and Prime Minister will give her tools to manipulate behind the scenes.
One goal is to influence Antarctica. It has been almost a century since the President made a personal trip to Antarctica - perhaps now is the time to help reunite the two cultures again. Towards the end of her time as Prime Minister she had set in motion a new Grand Convoy to Antarctica just as the last one returned - but with two new ships.
Her housekeeper had asked before her inauguration her food and morning preferences, so she left her bedchambers and found a note on the table saying "Skyr and fruit are in the refrigerator" with an arrow pointing in that direction. She ate that while scanning the morning paper "Late Night Festivities at the Presidential Inauguration" was mentioned in a sidebar. The rest of the front page was largely about the inauguration.
She quickly showered and dressed and then left her personal chambers. Promptly at 8:30 AM, as she had earlier requested, the staff arrived. It all seemed so surreal - a new life had begun.
"Today's schedule is relatively light, Madame President. The Norge champion football team will arrive at 1:30 PM and the Union Prime Minister will arrive for his weekly consultation at 6 PM. We will be glad to show you around the Presidential Palace at your convenience."
She toured her new residence, meet the team - a fine group of young women - and was sitting in her private reception room when the Prime Minister with his personal secretary arrived. Once her Minster of War when she was Prime Minister, she knew him well. She almost rose to greet him, then she remembered protocol. Once upon a time, she had been the one going to the Presidential Palace to brief the President.
He briefly bowed, expressed his congratulations and then sat down. "Madame President, first let us cover the other issues before we discuss the decisions of last night". So they covered the upcoming opening of the Union Althingi, and her opening speech, the outlines of the budget (with more detail to follow), the diplomatic situation, and the upcoming election in Svei.
"And that leaves Antarctica. How are we to notify them that they need to make a decision ?"
"Perhaps I can help do that in person".
The PM gasped. "No President has visited Antarctica in almost a century !"
"Then it is well past time to do so."
"Due to the risk, we must keep this secret".
"All Grand Convoys sail in secret. And we need to tell the radio and newspapers to not mention the decisions of last night under the State Secrets Act. Several of the Caliphates have ambassadors here, plus merchants. Scandinavia has already made their decision with a plebiscite- there is no further need for public discussion here. And Antarctica has no Islamic embassies or visiting merchants."
"Delta Pavonis is deep in the Southern sky. It is always in the Antarctic sky, and never in ours. If your government will agree, I would like to sail with the equipment needed for another interstellar communications station. Antarctica can fabricate the antennas and wire, but not the computers or the rest. I think that such a project could fire their imagination".
"Yes. We will discuss this at the next Cabinet meeting".
"Till next week ?".
"Yes, Madame President".
Her housekeeper had asked before her inauguration her food and morning preferences, so she left her bedchambers and found a note on the table saying "Skyr and fruit are in the refrigerator" with an arrow pointing in that direction. She ate that while scanning the morning paper "Late Night Festivities at the Presidential Inauguration" was mentioned in a sidebar. The rest of the front page was largely about the inauguration.
She quickly showered and dressed and then left her personal chambers. Promptly at 8:30 AM, as she had earlier requested, the staff arrived. It all seemed so surreal - a new life had begun.
"Today's schedule is relatively light, Madame President. The Norge champion football team will arrive at 1:30 PM and the Union Prime Minister will arrive for his weekly consultation at 6 PM. We will be glad to show you around the Presidential Palace at your convenience."
She toured her new residence, meet the team - a fine group of young women - and was sitting in her private reception room when the Prime Minister with his personal secretary arrived. Once her Minster of War when she was Prime Minister, she knew him well. She almost rose to greet him, then she remembered protocol. Once upon a time, she had been the one going to the Presidential Palace to brief the President.
He briefly bowed, expressed his congratulations and then sat down. "Madame President, first let us cover the other issues before we discuss the decisions of last night". So they covered the upcoming opening of the Union Althingi, and her opening speech, the outlines of the budget (with more detail to follow), the diplomatic situation, and the upcoming election in Svei.
"And that leaves Antarctica. How are we to notify them that they need to make a decision ?"
"Perhaps I can help do that in person".
The PM gasped. "No President has visited Antarctica in almost a century !"
"Then it is well past time to do so."
"Due to the risk, we must keep this secret".
"All Grand Convoys sail in secret. And we need to tell the radio and newspapers to not mention the decisions of last night under the State Secrets Act. Several of the Caliphates have ambassadors here, plus merchants. Scandinavia has already made their decision with a plebiscite- there is no further need for public discussion here. And Antarctica has no Islamic embassies or visiting merchants."
"Delta Pavonis is deep in the Southern sky. It is always in the Antarctic sky, and never in ours. If your government will agree, I would like to sail with the equipment needed for another interstellar communications station. Antarctica can fabricate the antennas and wire, but not the computers or the rest. I think that such a project could fire their imagination".
"Yes. We will discuss this at the next Cabinet meeting".
"Till next week ?".
"Yes, Madame President".
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