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Chapter 2: Nemtsov Palace Alexandrina slowly walked towards the Rose hall of the Nemtsov Palace feeling exhausted and exasperated at the same time. It has been several months since she visited the grand hall and coming back here did not give her any pleasure. The former sun-filled, bright room, now smelled damp and moldy. Momentarily pausing, she looked around, grimacing, struggling to remember when the Rose hall was used last. 'Probably before the Great War' she thought.Shaking her head as the memory still lingered, she carefully found her way to the old oak table in the very back. She walked around it, pulled up a chair and sat down. Her plump, rosy fingers tapped nervously on the wooden arm. 'Just as one war is over, another one must begin.' Sighing, she looked around the excessively lavish yet dusty Rose hall. 'Some think I like war. They are wrong. I love it."
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Still grimacing, she began to formulate a possible plan of attack on those pesky Chinese. "I will attack without delay, as soon as my people are in position,' she determined. 'Our neighbors will have the advantage in numbers and stockpiles of weapons, but I will have an element of surprise. A big surprise. I doubt they will expect me to use nukes, after all, I am known for my humanitarian efforts."
The situation in the Far East was deteriorating alarmingly fast, and although everyone in her council seemed hopeful to avoid a war between Russia and China, the Queen thought otherwise. She hated the Chinese. Badly. For a very long time. She craved this war. She would not allow herself to be deprived of it. Heavily sighing, Aleksandrina let her slightly heavier than usual body dissolve into the comfortable wooden chair. She closed her eyes and continued to think, 'If I can create chaos, I can create a distraction. I must deceive others to attack first and isolate my enemy.' Her fingers began to tap again, feverishly, 'It’s crucial to pick the right people for infiltration, people who lack conscience and morality, who have nothing to lose.” Queen’s left hand inadvertently formed into a fist as she forced her mind to focus harder, 'The last part should be easy enough, 'My men will push through the southeastern border all the way to Beijing and take the city. Capitol of China would be a nice prize. Besides, I've earned it.' The corners of the Queen’s mouth twitched with satisfaction as she imagined herself, victorious, riding through the fallen Beijing. “Still,” she thought, "I must consider this further."
An uneasy rustle of someone shifting their weight close by distracted the Queen from her thoughts. She sat up, automatically straightened her back with slight annoyance, and continued to pensively stare out of the great window. Zoki, who was standing in the alcove the entire time somewhat far behind the queen’s chair, was waiting for her to wave him close. He was used to Queen's mood swings and uneasy temperament. Yet, he worried about informing Her Majesty that her beloved brother, Prince Wilfred, will be arriving late, possibly not even by tomorrow. Apparently, his flight was delayed. Zoki wondered if that were true. Queen’s brother was a notoriously shameless philanderer, who cared only about himself, and having fun with the ladies, many, many ladies. His appetite seemed to increase the older he got. But the Queen adored him and doted on him relentlessly. She helped raise him when he was a small child, and carried affection for him still. 'The trick', Zoki thought, 'is to provide Her Majesty with some good news, minimizing the effect of disappointing news'. At a young age of 23, Zoki had still a lot to learn. It seemed like eternity passed by, before Her Majesty finally raised her hand, signaling him to come closer. He soundlessly ran up to her chair and lowered his head to her right ear.
"News?" The Queen turned her head to the right and awaited her trusted servant to speak. "Your majesty, His Grace has not yet arrived. His flight was delayed. Possibly until tomorrow. There was a hydraulic valve malfunction in the aircraft, its being fixed." Without taking a breath or skipping a beat, Zoki continued spewing the news, "Also, there are no news from our spy on the border with China. He is proceeding as you commanded. The nova reported some trouble with the wolves. Apparently, some severe weather has slowed things down. And today’s meeting with foreign ministers from Africa, is going to take place an hour later. They are just arriving now. It will take some time to get them settled and organized." Zoki stopped for a second to catch his breath, and then continued "In addition, we have received a cable from Antarctica regarding the broken pipeline. They are reporting that it is still broken and no resources will be transported for at least two weeks. The crews are working round the clock to fix it."
The situation in the Far East was deteriorating alarmingly fast, and although everyone in her council seemed hopeful to avoid a war between Russia and China, the Queen thought otherwise. She hated the Chinese. Badly. For a very long time. She craved this war. She would not allow herself to be deprived of it. Heavily sighing, Aleksandrina let her slightly heavier than usual body dissolve into the comfortable wooden chair. She closed her eyes and continued to think, 'If I can create chaos, I can create a distraction. I must deceive others to attack first and isolate my enemy.' Her fingers began to tap again, feverishly, 'It’s crucial to pick the right people for infiltration, people who lack conscience and morality, who have nothing to lose.” Queen’s left hand inadvertently formed into a fist as she forced her mind to focus harder, 'The last part should be easy enough, 'My men will push through the southeastern border all the way to Beijing and take the city. Capitol of China would be a nice prize. Besides, I've earned it.' The corners of the Queen’s mouth twitched with satisfaction as she imagined herself, victorious, riding through the fallen Beijing. “Still,” she thought, "I must consider this further."
An uneasy rustle of someone shifting their weight close by distracted the Queen from her thoughts. She sat up, automatically straightened her back with slight annoyance, and continued to pensively stare out of the great window. Zoki, who was standing in the alcove the entire time somewhat far behind the queen’s chair, was waiting for her to wave him close. He was used to Queen's mood swings and uneasy temperament. Yet, he worried about informing Her Majesty that her beloved brother, Prince Wilfred, will be arriving late, possibly not even by tomorrow. Apparently, his flight was delayed. Zoki wondered if that were true. Queen’s brother was a notoriously shameless philanderer, who cared only about himself, and having fun with the ladies, many, many ladies. His appetite seemed to increase the older he got. But the Queen adored him and doted on him relentlessly. She helped raise him when he was a small child, and carried affection for him still. 'The trick', Zoki thought, 'is to provide Her Majesty with some good news, minimizing the effect of disappointing news'. At a young age of 23, Zoki had still a lot to learn. It seemed like eternity passed by, before Her Majesty finally raised her hand, signaling him to come closer. He soundlessly ran up to her chair and lowered his head to her right ear.
"News?" The Queen turned her head to the right and awaited her trusted servant to speak. "Your majesty, His Grace has not yet arrived. His flight was delayed. Possibly until tomorrow. There was a hydraulic valve malfunction in the aircraft, its being fixed." Without taking a breath or skipping a beat, Zoki continued spewing the news, "Also, there are no news from our spy on the border with China. He is proceeding as you commanded. The nova reported some trouble with the wolves. Apparently, some severe weather has slowed things down. And today’s meeting with foreign ministers from Africa, is going to take place an hour later. They are just arriving now. It will take some time to get them settled and organized." Zoki stopped for a second to catch his breath, and then continued "In addition, we have received a cable from Antarctica regarding the broken pipeline. They are reporting that it is still broken and no resources will be transported for at least two weeks. The crews are working round the clock to fix it."
The queen leaned forward and propped herself on one of the chair arms. She wondered if there was any hydraulic valve malfunction on her brother’s plane or he simply decided to blow her off again. Six months ago when he missed his flight he was found drunk, passed out in a room with a bunch of whores. Of course, when he finally arrived at the Nemtsov Palace, he didn’t mention anything. The Queen’s face grimaced as she thought, “something must be done about his behavior, but what? Cutting his funding would only agitate him, perhaps even put him in harms way. Speaking to him is utterly useless as he disarms anyone he comes in contact with. Charisma has always been one of his strengths. Only one option might work to keep his focus on the family, and that is war. That’s the only time when he drops everything and rushes home to provide assistance.” The Queen sighed heavily, again. It seemed to her that war was unavoidable this time.
Zoki continued to wait by Her Majesty's chair for any instructions. He also didn’t want to leave the Queen alone, in this weary, depressed state. Her, sitting alone, in a dark room, made Zoki feel protective. He soundlessly shifted his weight, hoping that she would notice or at least show that she felt his presence. Much to Zoki's amazement, the Queen did stir, turning her head towards him, smiling. Muttering to herself, she suddenly sprung to her feet, making her way towards the door way. Right before she left the room, she turned around, waiving her arm, “Clean this place up. We will be using it soon”.
Zoki continued to wait by Her Majesty's chair for any instructions. He also didn’t want to leave the Queen alone, in this weary, depressed state. Her, sitting alone, in a dark room, made Zoki feel protective. He soundlessly shifted his weight, hoping that she would notice or at least show that she felt his presence. Much to Zoki's amazement, the Queen did stir, turning her head towards him, smiling. Muttering to herself, she suddenly sprung to her feet, making her way towards the door way. Right before she left the room, she turned around, waiving her arm, “Clean this place up. We will be using it soon”.
As the Queen walked through the main hall back to her quarters, her head cleared up and her eyes came into focus. She spotted several of her advisers lingering in the hall, The moment they saw the Queen, the determination they previously felt, to grab an audience with Her Majesty, dissipated and they began to morph into the walls, lowering their eyes. Aleksandrina noticed them, and nodded permission to approach. Amelatu, Nakura and Sessum surrounded the Queen on both sides, trying to keep up the pace. “I need the latest reports regarding African countries, gentlemen. Get me a list and action items that took place within the last two months. I want updated background reports on each minister. Have Zoki bring it to my chambers.” As she walked on, the three advisers stayed behind and huddled to discuss the orders.
Arriving in her chambers, Aleksandrina began to pace along the long, heavily embroidered walls. She suspected that she knew why African ministers wanted to meet with her. Through various channels, Aleksandrina learned that the escalating medical problems in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa, and in fact most of Africa, have become unmanageable and virtually catastrophic. Lack of clean water, food, sanitation, education and god knows what else have exacerbated problems to point of no return. The solution was to find compromise and cooperation between all African countries. Of course, none of them wanted to get along. And the biggest problem was that she knew very little of Africa, its history and its culture. She was born and raised in Leningrad, Soviet Union. Growing up as a little girl, Aleksandrina was not aware of the outside world, nor did she care to know. She was very happy living in her small, protective bubble. Her grandmother kept a close eye on her daily activities. None of her family ever thought they might travel beyond the borders of their great country. Most of her knowledge and expertise applied to Eastern Europe. And the rest of her knowledge applied to the western world, where she studied and lived for a long time.
Aleksandrina willed herself to focus on analyzing similarities between what she knew in Russia and what must be taking place in Africa. “People in both of these places know how to survive on minimal resources,” she thought. “And many African countries were highly corrupt. In fact, some would say, that Africa is the most corrupt continent in the world. But tackling corruption would be a secondary task. The biggest problem facing Africa at the moment was dismemberment of the African Union. After twelve years of glorious unification, the African union proved to be unsustainable.” The experts warned the Queen about imminent collapse, and that is why the African ministers were here seeking audience with the Queen.
Upon further pacing back and forth in her chambers, the Queen decided that the first problem to address would be instituting order through extensive monitoring, bringing in army personnel and infusing money into all 53 countries comprising the union. 'So this is what I will offer the ministers', the Queen thought. Persistent knocking on the door brought Aleksandrina out of her pensive state. “Come in!” she yelled. The door opened and Zoki slipped through massive doors into her front room.
“I have brought the African report, Your Majesty. And some tea.” He said while setting the documents and the tray on a nearby tea table. “Will you require anything else madam?” he softly asked while backing away towards the door. “Yes, my sweet. How long have the ministers been waiting? I won’t be long now.” The Queen replied while motioning Zoki towards the door, “Go on, and tell them I will be arriving momentarily.”
“Yes, Your Majesty” Zoki whispered, while closing the door behind him. He raced through the hall, screeching down the corridor and disappeared behind the corner. As soon as he came into the floating hall, he jumped on the approaching seahorse stand and was lifted 4 levels to the grand meeting hall of Jau.
Arriving in her chambers, Aleksandrina began to pace along the long, heavily embroidered walls. She suspected that she knew why African ministers wanted to meet with her. Through various channels, Aleksandrina learned that the escalating medical problems in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa, and in fact most of Africa, have become unmanageable and virtually catastrophic. Lack of clean water, food, sanitation, education and god knows what else have exacerbated problems to point of no return. The solution was to find compromise and cooperation between all African countries. Of course, none of them wanted to get along. And the biggest problem was that she knew very little of Africa, its history and its culture. She was born and raised in Leningrad, Soviet Union. Growing up as a little girl, Aleksandrina was not aware of the outside world, nor did she care to know. She was very happy living in her small, protective bubble. Her grandmother kept a close eye on her daily activities. None of her family ever thought they might travel beyond the borders of their great country. Most of her knowledge and expertise applied to Eastern Europe. And the rest of her knowledge applied to the western world, where she studied and lived for a long time.
Aleksandrina willed herself to focus on analyzing similarities between what she knew in Russia and what must be taking place in Africa. “People in both of these places know how to survive on minimal resources,” she thought. “And many African countries were highly corrupt. In fact, some would say, that Africa is the most corrupt continent in the world. But tackling corruption would be a secondary task. The biggest problem facing Africa at the moment was dismemberment of the African Union. After twelve years of glorious unification, the African union proved to be unsustainable.” The experts warned the Queen about imminent collapse, and that is why the African ministers were here seeking audience with the Queen.
Upon further pacing back and forth in her chambers, the Queen decided that the first problem to address would be instituting order through extensive monitoring, bringing in army personnel and infusing money into all 53 countries comprising the union. 'So this is what I will offer the ministers', the Queen thought. Persistent knocking on the door brought Aleksandrina out of her pensive state. “Come in!” she yelled. The door opened and Zoki slipped through massive doors into her front room.
“I have brought the African report, Your Majesty. And some tea.” He said while setting the documents and the tray on a nearby tea table. “Will you require anything else madam?” he softly asked while backing away towards the door. “Yes, my sweet. How long have the ministers been waiting? I won’t be long now.” The Queen replied while motioning Zoki towards the door, “Go on, and tell them I will be arriving momentarily.”
“Yes, Your Majesty” Zoki whispered, while closing the door behind him. He raced through the hall, screeching down the corridor and disappeared behind the corner. As soon as he came into the floating hall, he jumped on the approaching seahorse stand and was lifted 4 levels to the grand meeting hall of Jau.
Jau was known to the world as the largest room ever built as well as most intimidating room in existence. The design of the room combined classical, ancient and art deco elements into one. The ceilings were so high, they could not be seen by the naked eye. The softly glowing dark green walls had decorative royal insignia with small frames of flags representing various countries scattered throughout. The architect who designed this room also incorporated mood changing features, so if the Queen seemed angry, the room would dim, and if the Queen seemed happy, the room would light up. Mostly, Jau was used for meetings with heads of state or executives of large-scale corporations, but occasionally executions did take place in the center of the room. Once, the Queen felt that a guest was so insolent and so offensive, she ordered his execution on the spot, in front of all the members of world parliament. That happened a while ago, and the news spread so fast, that every person who entered Jau since, didn’t dare to be anything else, other than complacent and obedient.
Zoki jumped off the seahorse lift without waiting for it to come to a complete stop, and walked into the hall. Jau was abuzz with African ministers talking to one another. There was one minister in particular whom Zoki wanted to have an audience with, prior to the Queen’s arrival. His name was Talib Magoro. He was a studious man in his early 60s, clean cut with an approachable demeanor. He limped on his right leg, because of a war injury he received in the Congo. Talib had a strong military career when he first started out, and then came to power in the Central African Republic by staging a coup. This was 20 years ago now. Since then, Talib Magoro was a big proponent of African unity and helped the Queen navigate treacherous waters of negotiation among corrupt and hypocritical leaders of Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, and countless other corrupt African countries. The Queen deeply appreciated his knowledge and experience, and very often favored him with her attention, financial support and precious resources.
Zoki spotted Magoro standing with his advisors at the far end of the enormous Jau hall and made a bee line directly for him. Other groups of ministers periodically greeted him and nodded at him as we made his way past them. Zoki waived at Magoro as he approached and pulled him aside towards an alcove by the window where they could talk in privacy.
-Good day, Minister. I hope you are doing well, Sir? Zoki greeting Magoro with a warm smile.
-Yes, thank you Zoki. Is the Queen coming soon? Magoro looked concerned. “We have been waiting for her all morning. I trust she will join us sometime today?" Zoki shifted his feet and looked up apologetically at Magoro,
- Yes Minister, she is coming right now. She has been reviewing the policies and reports she commissioned on the Pan-African conflict issues. But I wanted to have a quick word with you, sir, if I may.” Zoki lightly touched Magoro’s arm and moved a little closer. “The queen would like to canvas your support for oil buying contracts in Libya, Sudan and Gabon. As you know, the great war has depleted Her Majesty’s vast reserves of natural resources, oil in particular. If you grant her your support, she will influence the Pan-African issues in your favor and those to whom you are loyal.” Zoki stopped for a moment to let Magoro digest the news.
Magoro stared at Zoki for several seconds before he asked “Is that all, or will the Queen be asking for increased uranium production from Niger and increased titanium production from Sierra Leone, like she did last year? Does she know that we are producing at a maximum already??” Magoro raised his voice, almost yelling at Zoki. A few ministers from near by groups turned around and looked towards them in mild astonishment. It was very rare that Magoro appeared displeased and even rarer that his voice went up an octave.
Zoki tensed up, noticing that his conversation is being watched, and cursed under his breath. By now, he thought, Magoro is realizing that something is a foot if the Queen keeps asking for continuous increase of Africa’s biggest exports. “Minister Magoro, the Queen understands how important your support is to her and her family, she won’t be in your debt for long. Her Majesty will rule in your favor in the matter of border disputes between Central African Republic and Chad. She is also willing to lend her troops for instituting control over the entire region, and by..”
Zoki was interrupted in the middle of his speech, by the Queen’s arrival. Her Majesty walked in to the room with eruption of continuous clapping and cheering. The corners of her mouth appeared raised in a smile. She was wearing her usual attire for political gatherings like this. Aleksandrina was dressed in a long sleeved embroidered tunic with silver, gold and diamonds, and a dark blue royal cloak. The cloak’s train was long and it was being supported with two helpers ten feet behind the queen, so as not to catch on anything. The top of Queen’s head was adorned with a simple, but rather large crown. Aleksandrina looked rather sullen and serious, it seemed she wasn’t looking forward to the gathering of African ministers. As she made her way upto the podium, Mugoro quickly walked away from Zoki and rejoined his group. This did not go unnoticed by the Queen, she paused her penetrating gaze on Zoki and then continued scanning the room for other occurrences.
The ministers and their associates quickly began settling down in their designated sections across the gigantic Jau hall. Each section housed each member country of the African Unity, and was decorated with the flag of the country they represented. The most important ministers were sitting in front rows in their elevated chairs, facing the stage and Queen, and their associates were behind them, in slightly lower chairs shuffling their manuscripts and papers. Slowly, the hall began to quiet down until complete silence was achieved.
By this time, Aleksandrina made her way to her throne on the podium and plumped down on golden cushions lining the heavy, stone made throne. Alexandrina looked out at the audience with a steady, intense stare, calculating in her mind which country was going to be the most difficult to deal with. Her advisors, Amelatu, Nakura and Sessum, took their places behind the throne, ready to help Her Majesty.
Aleksandrina looked around the Jau hall one last time, leaned forward, and began to make her speech: “Members of African Unity Organization, please allow me to warmly welcome you to my home, the Nemtsov Palace. I hope you had a pleasant journey getting here and I hope our meeting today will bring results that are most desirable to you. Before we begin, please let me remind you that this is an informal meeting and you may be as frank with me as you choose to be, my final decisions on any laws, legislature or royal decrees will not be made today. I will take into consideration everything you have for me today, and will make my final decisions next month. If all of you don’t mind, I would like to begin today’s meeting with border dispute issue. As we all know, the African continent is plagued with violence due to over 100 border disputes in all four sectors, North, South, East and West Africa. Please do not site precedents as I am very well aware of them. I will not be making my decision on previous European established laws, so please let’s not go back in history, especially to the Berlin Conference. I look forward to hearing fresh, new ideas and compromises on how to end this never ending struggle. Once, my decision is made, the map will be re-drawn, and I will have no more violence. I sincerely hope that I make myself very clear with you, my dear Ministers. I do not like to play games and I do not like to waste my valuable time. Let us begin with the West African sector. Nigeria and Cameroon, you will go first. Nigeria has the floor.”
The Queen leaned back and shifted in her seat to get comfortable. She knew the man who was about to speak and knew that he had a reputation for giving long, poignant speeches. The border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon has been a major sore point in the Queen’s ability to control production of crude petroleum. Alexandrina sighed and willed herself to concentrate on the speech.
Abubakar Monjola was a stout, heavy set man with an impressive grey beard. He wore a red rich Yoruba tribe garment, which looked like it was made out of cotton fabric or something similar. He had funny looking thick lensed glasses on top of his wide nose, which he constantly moved up. To most people who have never met him before, he appeared academic. And that was no coincidence, because in his previous life, before he got himself involved in politics, he was a professor of Nigerian history and political science at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University. Minister Monjola was a very well educated man and cared very much about the future of his country.
The Nigerian Minister slowly got up, waited for the floating microphone to approach and position itself in front of him, before he turned around to look at his advisers for any last minute reminders and some moral support for his speech. Monjola breathed in and addressed the Queen: “Your Majesty, I welcome this opportunity to present to you with great candor the current situation in my country with respect to border dispute struggle between Nigeria and our neighbor Cameroon. My advisers and I have conducted laborious examinations of the cause and effect of this dispute which has been going on for many decades. One of many reasons why we cannot come to a peaceful conclusion to this discourse is the lack of cooperation from our neighbors. They continuously impede our efforts by harboring dangerous individuals and granting them asylum, in some cases tens of thousands of Nigerian people. When our president requests that they are transferred to our territory, our neighbors defy it. Thus, we are unable to build a trusting relationship between our countries and move forward towards a bright future. Furthermore, this conflict is escalated by Cameroon stealing our crude petroleum resources. As your majesty is aware, our biggest export is crude petroleum, most of which is located underneath the ground close to the border with Cameroon. Our neighbors have taken upon themselves to extract this resource through underground wells that cross our border. This is the primary reason why we are unable to meet the production demand you have bestowed upon us this year. And yet, Cameroon continues to state that they do not have the capability to extract petroleum from the ground. It is my strong conviction, within my own mind, that no compromise can be reached regarding this border dispute. Cameroon has laid claim to over 300 square miles of Nigerian territory, and the Nigerian population find that unacceptable. Our country asks that you rule in our favor and maintain our control over this disputed land. Thank you, your Majesty.”
The Queen sighed heavily and looked towards the Cameroon minister who appeared indignant, shuffling papers in his hands and waiting for the floating microphone to reach him for his opportunity to present his country’s position on the matter. Alexandrina knew that Nigerian position was wrong, even if she did favor the great Abubakar Manjolo. Interestingly, she thought, he made his country out to be completely innocent, when in fact, it is quite the opposite. However, being the Queen, she knew she had to sit still and hear all sides before ruling in Cameroon’s favor.
Severin Limbane was a recently elected Minister to the National Assembly and was voted to represent his country at the African Unity Conference with the queen. He was the youngest minister at the meeting, and by far the most athletic one. At the sprite age of 39, he led his country to their first semi-final victory at the World Cup. No African country has advanced that far in that competition before. Needless to say, Limbane was a national hero. His victory on the football field cleared a political path to the National Assembly. Alexandrina has never met him before, but has heard of his reputation. Manjolo has recently complained to her in a private conversation that Limbane was arrogant, theatrical and fiercely cocky in his views of Nigerian attempts to resolve border dispute.
By this time, the floating microphone has reached Limbane and positioned itself in front of him. He rose from his seat and addressed the Queen in a loud, even baritone: “Your Majesty, as a representative of the great country of Cameroon, allow me to thank you for your attention to this on-going conflict in the West African sector. I stand here before you to present my country’s position and I request your ruling to be in our favor against our northern aggressor, Nigeria. Containing our neighbor in its violations of our people’s freedom is paramount to achieving peace and cooperation, as well as to renew the supply of our biggest export, crude petroleum.” He stopped for a moment, looking down at the documents in his hands, flipped a page and continued his speech, “Over the last year, Cameroon has received over one hundred thousand refugees from Nigeria, and twenty five thousand of those refugees have petitioned my country for asylum as well as citizenship, Your Majesty. In my government’s estimation, in large part due to continuous turmoil and lack of governance in Nigeria, my country will be receiving twice as many refugees this year. As you can imagine, Your Majesty, our resources are severely strained with the influx of so many people. We are unable to provide the most essential necessities ranging from clean water to food to shelter to medication. Our border towns are on the brink of civil uprising if we do not react immediately, Your Majesty. The longer this conflict continues, the harder it will be to rebuild our people’s faith in their leaders and their government, and indeed Your Majesty, in you.” Limbane stopped and threw a defiant gaze directly at Alexandrina. “Well, well,” she thought. “I know what Manjolo means by ‘theatrical’ now.” However, Limbane’s remark had an effect on the Queen as she felt her cheeks had treacherously flushed. Aleksandrina slowly moved her head to see if anyone noticed. African visitors sitting closest to her did notice, and had a look of bewilderment on their faces, complete with eye popping, mouth gaping, ‘what is she going to do now’ stares.
After a small pause, Limbane continued on with his speech: “My country is consistently accused of non-cooperation by our northern neighbor. They accuse us of stealing their resources through underground means. That assertion is preposterous. The whole world knows of our precarious economic stability and insufficient resources. Even if we were able to have infrastructure and equipment to retrieve crude petroleum from underground, we have no means of transporting it. Not to mention the fact, that people would notice trucks and ships moving along our border with Nigeria.” Limbane stopped his speech and reached for a glass of water. Jau hall was very still. African ministers and their advisers were listening, digesting information and making note of Aleksandrina’s reactions throughout the speech. The Queen appeared to be in thought, slowly nodding to Limbane’s argument. When Limbane reached for water, Zoki has made his way to the entrance of the hall, and quietly slipped out.
“Your Majesty,” Limbane continued with renewed vigor, “Cameroon has not harbored Nigerian refugees against their will, as Minister Manjolo would have you believe. We routinely deport Nigerian citizens as Nigerian government requests us to do, but within days our border patrol finds that these same people have crossed the border into our country again, even at their own peril. Our country welcomes them, and takes care of them at our risk. As you may know, Your Majesty, rogue military groups on Nigerian side has numerously attacked our military and our villages along the border. This year alone, we have lost eight thousand highly trained Cameroonian soldiers. Some of those soldiers have been trained by High Command in your army. We protect Nigerian refugees even if it costs us many lives.” Limbane’s voice has become increasingly exasperated, his nostrils were flaring. He struggled to maintain his composure, while continuing to speak. The floating microphone backed away half a foot, as if feeling immense heat coming from the Minister.
“In addition to severe refugee influx into our country, we also firmly believe that the 300 hundred square kilometers of disputed land from which many of those refugees originally came, should be transferred under our control. Historically, this part of land has belonged to Cameroon. Last century, this territory was transferred to Nigeria when African countries were still considered colonies. Your Majesty, this territory must be transferred under our control as soon as possible. Do you not see that Nigeria has become completely unstable and the threat of complete destabilization in the region is here. Your time to act is now!” Limbane was screaming, shaking his hands. “Close the border before they destroy us, and their other neighbors!”
The Queen raised her hand and motioned for Limbane to sit down. “How many more people have to die?? How long must we WAIT for you to finally SEE our suffering?” Limbane was unaffected by the Queen’s raised hand. Aleksandrina rose from her throne and shouted, “SIT DOWN! NOW.” Her face contorted and her menacing voice was amplified by her own personal microphone. The decorative walls of Jau hall emulated vibration and turned deep red color. Suddenly they flashed with blinding white, like an explosion of a bomb where nothing can be seen. The whole room was noiseless. Slowly, the walls returned to their original deep green warming glow.
“Minister Limbane,” the Queen continued standing, looking directly at him, “You will not shout at me, or in my presence, or in my COURT!” The Queen raised her voice, and the walls flashed with deep red color again. “I am the Supreme Ruler of Planet Earth, and I will have total compliance in my domain. One more outburst of this nature, and you will be beheaded. Try my patience once more and you shall see how serious I REALLY am. I am ordering you to be removed from Cameroon representative council, until you learn how to address the Queen properly. However, I will have extra supplies delivered to the affected areas of your country immediately, especially fresh water.”
The Queen finally sat back down on her stone throne and continued “Royal Guards will escort you to the Kishar prison, where you will be held for five nights. After your detainment, you will be released and shipped back to Cameroon. It is my hope, that you will reevaluate your approach in addressing the Queen if you are lucky enough to have that privilege again.” The doors of the Jau hall flung open, and four royal guards appeared.
Few people have ever seen Cossacki guards up close. Unlike others in the room, they were energy based life forms, translucent and glowing very bright. They didn’t have feet, as they didn’t require them for movement. The Queen originally met the Cossacki on her first intergalactic trip through the Pinwheel galaxy. A strong signal was picked up by her Majesty’s battle ship, Elvira, as she was traveling on her reconnaissance mission, farther than any human has ever traveled in outer space. At first, the Queen wanted to bypass and ignore the signal because it could have been a trap. But against her better judgment, the Queen succumbed to her human nature and ordered the ship to be turned towards the planet Manzazu, from which the signal came. Manzazu was a dying, desolate place with no visible life forms. Only a handle full of Cossacki remained alive deep in the caves. At her own risk, the Queen decided to grant asylum and invited the poor creatures onto Elvira. At the time, they seemed very grateful to be rescued by the humans and vowed to stand by their Queen for as long as she would have them.
The Cossacki guards moved through the opened Jau hall doors, leaving behind vapors of bright yellowish energy, towards the Cameroon section. They approached and grabbed the astonished and mesmerized Minister Limbane under his arms, and hauled him back towards the hallway. The rest of the African visitors watched these proceedings with bewilderment. Most of them believed they would never see Limbane again. As everyone watched the royal guards take away the minster, The Queen noticed that a few of the ministers and advisers crossed themselves in holy fashion. She sneaked a tiny smile. “Fear,” the Queen thought, “is a very useful tool to control disobedience.”
As soon as the doors closed behind Limbane and Cossacki, the Queen raised her arm to regain attention and continued speaking: “I would like to have everyone’s attention once more and get on with business at hand. Let us continue discussing border disputes, before we tackle the issues of poverty and escalating conflicts. I believe Tanzania has something to say on the border dispute matter. Minister Jaafar Sigonda has the floor. Welcome Minister. You have our undivided attention.” As Minister Sigonda prepared to address Her Majesty and his African colleagues, the Queen has motioned one of her advisers to approach her in a discreet fashion. Nakura saw the Queen’s motioning first, and moved closer to the Queen. “Yes, Your Majesty?” “Nakura, I would like to visit my chambers for a brief time. Please stay here and listen carefully to Minister Sigonda has to say. You must retrieve me before he finished his speech, is that understood?” The Queen looked at Nakura with a cold stare. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will do as you command.” “I know you will, don’t fuck it up.” The Queen’s tone became frozen at this point. Nakura’s posture flinched at her last words. He bowed even lower.
With her left hand, the Queen raised a royal, intricately decorated navy colored hand fan to her face, and with her right hand reached down on the inside of her stone throne and touched a small, black button. As soon as the button was pressed, Queen’s hologram appeared and the Queen herself was transported from her throne in Jau hall to her royal chambers.
Zoki jumped off the seahorse lift without waiting for it to come to a complete stop, and walked into the hall. Jau was abuzz with African ministers talking to one another. There was one minister in particular whom Zoki wanted to have an audience with, prior to the Queen’s arrival. His name was Talib Magoro. He was a studious man in his early 60s, clean cut with an approachable demeanor. He limped on his right leg, because of a war injury he received in the Congo. Talib had a strong military career when he first started out, and then came to power in the Central African Republic by staging a coup. This was 20 years ago now. Since then, Talib Magoro was a big proponent of African unity and helped the Queen navigate treacherous waters of negotiation among corrupt and hypocritical leaders of Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, and countless other corrupt African countries. The Queen deeply appreciated his knowledge and experience, and very often favored him with her attention, financial support and precious resources.
Zoki spotted Magoro standing with his advisors at the far end of the enormous Jau hall and made a bee line directly for him. Other groups of ministers periodically greeted him and nodded at him as we made his way past them. Zoki waived at Magoro as he approached and pulled him aside towards an alcove by the window where they could talk in privacy.
-Good day, Minister. I hope you are doing well, Sir? Zoki greeting Magoro with a warm smile.
-Yes, thank you Zoki. Is the Queen coming soon? Magoro looked concerned. “We have been waiting for her all morning. I trust she will join us sometime today?" Zoki shifted his feet and looked up apologetically at Magoro,
- Yes Minister, she is coming right now. She has been reviewing the policies and reports she commissioned on the Pan-African conflict issues. But I wanted to have a quick word with you, sir, if I may.” Zoki lightly touched Magoro’s arm and moved a little closer. “The queen would like to canvas your support for oil buying contracts in Libya, Sudan and Gabon. As you know, the great war has depleted Her Majesty’s vast reserves of natural resources, oil in particular. If you grant her your support, she will influence the Pan-African issues in your favor and those to whom you are loyal.” Zoki stopped for a moment to let Magoro digest the news.
Magoro stared at Zoki for several seconds before he asked “Is that all, or will the Queen be asking for increased uranium production from Niger and increased titanium production from Sierra Leone, like she did last year? Does she know that we are producing at a maximum already??” Magoro raised his voice, almost yelling at Zoki. A few ministers from near by groups turned around and looked towards them in mild astonishment. It was very rare that Magoro appeared displeased and even rarer that his voice went up an octave.
Zoki tensed up, noticing that his conversation is being watched, and cursed under his breath. By now, he thought, Magoro is realizing that something is a foot if the Queen keeps asking for continuous increase of Africa’s biggest exports. “Minister Magoro, the Queen understands how important your support is to her and her family, she won’t be in your debt for long. Her Majesty will rule in your favor in the matter of border disputes between Central African Republic and Chad. She is also willing to lend her troops for instituting control over the entire region, and by..”
Zoki was interrupted in the middle of his speech, by the Queen’s arrival. Her Majesty walked in to the room with eruption of continuous clapping and cheering. The corners of her mouth appeared raised in a smile. She was wearing her usual attire for political gatherings like this. Aleksandrina was dressed in a long sleeved embroidered tunic with silver, gold and diamonds, and a dark blue royal cloak. The cloak’s train was long and it was being supported with two helpers ten feet behind the queen, so as not to catch on anything. The top of Queen’s head was adorned with a simple, but rather large crown. Aleksandrina looked rather sullen and serious, it seemed she wasn’t looking forward to the gathering of African ministers. As she made her way upto the podium, Mugoro quickly walked away from Zoki and rejoined his group. This did not go unnoticed by the Queen, she paused her penetrating gaze on Zoki and then continued scanning the room for other occurrences.
The ministers and their associates quickly began settling down in their designated sections across the gigantic Jau hall. Each section housed each member country of the African Unity, and was decorated with the flag of the country they represented. The most important ministers were sitting in front rows in their elevated chairs, facing the stage and Queen, and their associates were behind them, in slightly lower chairs shuffling their manuscripts and papers. Slowly, the hall began to quiet down until complete silence was achieved.
By this time, Aleksandrina made her way to her throne on the podium and plumped down on golden cushions lining the heavy, stone made throne. Alexandrina looked out at the audience with a steady, intense stare, calculating in her mind which country was going to be the most difficult to deal with. Her advisors, Amelatu, Nakura and Sessum, took their places behind the throne, ready to help Her Majesty.
Aleksandrina looked around the Jau hall one last time, leaned forward, and began to make her speech: “Members of African Unity Organization, please allow me to warmly welcome you to my home, the Nemtsov Palace. I hope you had a pleasant journey getting here and I hope our meeting today will bring results that are most desirable to you. Before we begin, please let me remind you that this is an informal meeting and you may be as frank with me as you choose to be, my final decisions on any laws, legislature or royal decrees will not be made today. I will take into consideration everything you have for me today, and will make my final decisions next month. If all of you don’t mind, I would like to begin today’s meeting with border dispute issue. As we all know, the African continent is plagued with violence due to over 100 border disputes in all four sectors, North, South, East and West Africa. Please do not site precedents as I am very well aware of them. I will not be making my decision on previous European established laws, so please let’s not go back in history, especially to the Berlin Conference. I look forward to hearing fresh, new ideas and compromises on how to end this never ending struggle. Once, my decision is made, the map will be re-drawn, and I will have no more violence. I sincerely hope that I make myself very clear with you, my dear Ministers. I do not like to play games and I do not like to waste my valuable time. Let us begin with the West African sector. Nigeria and Cameroon, you will go first. Nigeria has the floor.”
The Queen leaned back and shifted in her seat to get comfortable. She knew the man who was about to speak and knew that he had a reputation for giving long, poignant speeches. The border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon has been a major sore point in the Queen’s ability to control production of crude petroleum. Alexandrina sighed and willed herself to concentrate on the speech.
Abubakar Monjola was a stout, heavy set man with an impressive grey beard. He wore a red rich Yoruba tribe garment, which looked like it was made out of cotton fabric or something similar. He had funny looking thick lensed glasses on top of his wide nose, which he constantly moved up. To most people who have never met him before, he appeared academic. And that was no coincidence, because in his previous life, before he got himself involved in politics, he was a professor of Nigerian history and political science at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University. Minister Monjola was a very well educated man and cared very much about the future of his country.
The Nigerian Minister slowly got up, waited for the floating microphone to approach and position itself in front of him, before he turned around to look at his advisers for any last minute reminders and some moral support for his speech. Monjola breathed in and addressed the Queen: “Your Majesty, I welcome this opportunity to present to you with great candor the current situation in my country with respect to border dispute struggle between Nigeria and our neighbor Cameroon. My advisers and I have conducted laborious examinations of the cause and effect of this dispute which has been going on for many decades. One of many reasons why we cannot come to a peaceful conclusion to this discourse is the lack of cooperation from our neighbors. They continuously impede our efforts by harboring dangerous individuals and granting them asylum, in some cases tens of thousands of Nigerian people. When our president requests that they are transferred to our territory, our neighbors defy it. Thus, we are unable to build a trusting relationship between our countries and move forward towards a bright future. Furthermore, this conflict is escalated by Cameroon stealing our crude petroleum resources. As your majesty is aware, our biggest export is crude petroleum, most of which is located underneath the ground close to the border with Cameroon. Our neighbors have taken upon themselves to extract this resource through underground wells that cross our border. This is the primary reason why we are unable to meet the production demand you have bestowed upon us this year. And yet, Cameroon continues to state that they do not have the capability to extract petroleum from the ground. It is my strong conviction, within my own mind, that no compromise can be reached regarding this border dispute. Cameroon has laid claim to over 300 square miles of Nigerian territory, and the Nigerian population find that unacceptable. Our country asks that you rule in our favor and maintain our control over this disputed land. Thank you, your Majesty.”
The Queen sighed heavily and looked towards the Cameroon minister who appeared indignant, shuffling papers in his hands and waiting for the floating microphone to reach him for his opportunity to present his country’s position on the matter. Alexandrina knew that Nigerian position was wrong, even if she did favor the great Abubakar Manjolo. Interestingly, she thought, he made his country out to be completely innocent, when in fact, it is quite the opposite. However, being the Queen, she knew she had to sit still and hear all sides before ruling in Cameroon’s favor.
Severin Limbane was a recently elected Minister to the National Assembly and was voted to represent his country at the African Unity Conference with the queen. He was the youngest minister at the meeting, and by far the most athletic one. At the sprite age of 39, he led his country to their first semi-final victory at the World Cup. No African country has advanced that far in that competition before. Needless to say, Limbane was a national hero. His victory on the football field cleared a political path to the National Assembly. Alexandrina has never met him before, but has heard of his reputation. Manjolo has recently complained to her in a private conversation that Limbane was arrogant, theatrical and fiercely cocky in his views of Nigerian attempts to resolve border dispute.
By this time, the floating microphone has reached Limbane and positioned itself in front of him. He rose from his seat and addressed the Queen in a loud, even baritone: “Your Majesty, as a representative of the great country of Cameroon, allow me to thank you for your attention to this on-going conflict in the West African sector. I stand here before you to present my country’s position and I request your ruling to be in our favor against our northern aggressor, Nigeria. Containing our neighbor in its violations of our people’s freedom is paramount to achieving peace and cooperation, as well as to renew the supply of our biggest export, crude petroleum.” He stopped for a moment, looking down at the documents in his hands, flipped a page and continued his speech, “Over the last year, Cameroon has received over one hundred thousand refugees from Nigeria, and twenty five thousand of those refugees have petitioned my country for asylum as well as citizenship, Your Majesty. In my government’s estimation, in large part due to continuous turmoil and lack of governance in Nigeria, my country will be receiving twice as many refugees this year. As you can imagine, Your Majesty, our resources are severely strained with the influx of so many people. We are unable to provide the most essential necessities ranging from clean water to food to shelter to medication. Our border towns are on the brink of civil uprising if we do not react immediately, Your Majesty. The longer this conflict continues, the harder it will be to rebuild our people’s faith in their leaders and their government, and indeed Your Majesty, in you.” Limbane stopped and threw a defiant gaze directly at Alexandrina. “Well, well,” she thought. “I know what Manjolo means by ‘theatrical’ now.” However, Limbane’s remark had an effect on the Queen as she felt her cheeks had treacherously flushed. Aleksandrina slowly moved her head to see if anyone noticed. African visitors sitting closest to her did notice, and had a look of bewilderment on their faces, complete with eye popping, mouth gaping, ‘what is she going to do now’ stares.
After a small pause, Limbane continued on with his speech: “My country is consistently accused of non-cooperation by our northern neighbor. They accuse us of stealing their resources through underground means. That assertion is preposterous. The whole world knows of our precarious economic stability and insufficient resources. Even if we were able to have infrastructure and equipment to retrieve crude petroleum from underground, we have no means of transporting it. Not to mention the fact, that people would notice trucks and ships moving along our border with Nigeria.” Limbane stopped his speech and reached for a glass of water. Jau hall was very still. African ministers and their advisers were listening, digesting information and making note of Aleksandrina’s reactions throughout the speech. The Queen appeared to be in thought, slowly nodding to Limbane’s argument. When Limbane reached for water, Zoki has made his way to the entrance of the hall, and quietly slipped out.
“Your Majesty,” Limbane continued with renewed vigor, “Cameroon has not harbored Nigerian refugees against their will, as Minister Manjolo would have you believe. We routinely deport Nigerian citizens as Nigerian government requests us to do, but within days our border patrol finds that these same people have crossed the border into our country again, even at their own peril. Our country welcomes them, and takes care of them at our risk. As you may know, Your Majesty, rogue military groups on Nigerian side has numerously attacked our military and our villages along the border. This year alone, we have lost eight thousand highly trained Cameroonian soldiers. Some of those soldiers have been trained by High Command in your army. We protect Nigerian refugees even if it costs us many lives.” Limbane’s voice has become increasingly exasperated, his nostrils were flaring. He struggled to maintain his composure, while continuing to speak. The floating microphone backed away half a foot, as if feeling immense heat coming from the Minister.
“In addition to severe refugee influx into our country, we also firmly believe that the 300 hundred square kilometers of disputed land from which many of those refugees originally came, should be transferred under our control. Historically, this part of land has belonged to Cameroon. Last century, this territory was transferred to Nigeria when African countries were still considered colonies. Your Majesty, this territory must be transferred under our control as soon as possible. Do you not see that Nigeria has become completely unstable and the threat of complete destabilization in the region is here. Your time to act is now!” Limbane was screaming, shaking his hands. “Close the border before they destroy us, and their other neighbors!”
The Queen raised her hand and motioned for Limbane to sit down. “How many more people have to die?? How long must we WAIT for you to finally SEE our suffering?” Limbane was unaffected by the Queen’s raised hand. Aleksandrina rose from her throne and shouted, “SIT DOWN! NOW.” Her face contorted and her menacing voice was amplified by her own personal microphone. The decorative walls of Jau hall emulated vibration and turned deep red color. Suddenly they flashed with blinding white, like an explosion of a bomb where nothing can be seen. The whole room was noiseless. Slowly, the walls returned to their original deep green warming glow.
“Minister Limbane,” the Queen continued standing, looking directly at him, “You will not shout at me, or in my presence, or in my COURT!” The Queen raised her voice, and the walls flashed with deep red color again. “I am the Supreme Ruler of Planet Earth, and I will have total compliance in my domain. One more outburst of this nature, and you will be beheaded. Try my patience once more and you shall see how serious I REALLY am. I am ordering you to be removed from Cameroon representative council, until you learn how to address the Queen properly. However, I will have extra supplies delivered to the affected areas of your country immediately, especially fresh water.”
The Queen finally sat back down on her stone throne and continued “Royal Guards will escort you to the Kishar prison, where you will be held for five nights. After your detainment, you will be released and shipped back to Cameroon. It is my hope, that you will reevaluate your approach in addressing the Queen if you are lucky enough to have that privilege again.” The doors of the Jau hall flung open, and four royal guards appeared.
Few people have ever seen Cossacki guards up close. Unlike others in the room, they were energy based life forms, translucent and glowing very bright. They didn’t have feet, as they didn’t require them for movement. The Queen originally met the Cossacki on her first intergalactic trip through the Pinwheel galaxy. A strong signal was picked up by her Majesty’s battle ship, Elvira, as she was traveling on her reconnaissance mission, farther than any human has ever traveled in outer space. At first, the Queen wanted to bypass and ignore the signal because it could have been a trap. But against her better judgment, the Queen succumbed to her human nature and ordered the ship to be turned towards the planet Manzazu, from which the signal came. Manzazu was a dying, desolate place with no visible life forms. Only a handle full of Cossacki remained alive deep in the caves. At her own risk, the Queen decided to grant asylum and invited the poor creatures onto Elvira. At the time, they seemed very grateful to be rescued by the humans and vowed to stand by their Queen for as long as she would have them.
The Cossacki guards moved through the opened Jau hall doors, leaving behind vapors of bright yellowish energy, towards the Cameroon section. They approached and grabbed the astonished and mesmerized Minister Limbane under his arms, and hauled him back towards the hallway. The rest of the African visitors watched these proceedings with bewilderment. Most of them believed they would never see Limbane again. As everyone watched the royal guards take away the minster, The Queen noticed that a few of the ministers and advisers crossed themselves in holy fashion. She sneaked a tiny smile. “Fear,” the Queen thought, “is a very useful tool to control disobedience.”
As soon as the doors closed behind Limbane and Cossacki, the Queen raised her arm to regain attention and continued speaking: “I would like to have everyone’s attention once more and get on with business at hand. Let us continue discussing border disputes, before we tackle the issues of poverty and escalating conflicts. I believe Tanzania has something to say on the border dispute matter. Minister Jaafar Sigonda has the floor. Welcome Minister. You have our undivided attention.” As Minister Sigonda prepared to address Her Majesty and his African colleagues, the Queen has motioned one of her advisers to approach her in a discreet fashion. Nakura saw the Queen’s motioning first, and moved closer to the Queen. “Yes, Your Majesty?” “Nakura, I would like to visit my chambers for a brief time. Please stay here and listen carefully to Minister Sigonda has to say. You must retrieve me before he finished his speech, is that understood?” The Queen looked at Nakura with a cold stare. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will do as you command.” “I know you will, don’t fuck it up.” The Queen’s tone became frozen at this point. Nakura’s posture flinched at her last words. He bowed even lower.
With her left hand, the Queen raised a royal, intricately decorated navy colored hand fan to her face, and with her right hand reached down on the inside of her stone throne and touched a small, black button. As soon as the button was pressed, Queen’s hologram appeared and the Queen herself was transported from her throne in Jau hall to her royal chambers.
