Chapter 27: The Birth of a Nation

The next few days proved to be busier than normal for Simon. There was a lot going on. The four Princesses were finding all sorts of excuses to spend time with him, especially over meals and when he was traveling. Simon was beginning to get concerned over this but nothing appeared to be threatening. It was a pleasant distraction, however, as they were very difficult to ignore. He even found it enjoyable at times. Blaze seemed to be amused over it all, Simon thought, but even that, in itself, was a bit disconcerting.

Simon spent considerable time discussing the creation of The Island Nation of Pacifica. Preparations were well underway. An extremely sophisticated satellite was placed in a station holding position above Kiribati such that most of the Central Pacific could be watched and served. This included several other countries, not just Kiribati and Pacifica. In fact it was fully capable of defending itself from many forms of attack, both physical and electronic. It had the equivalent of a limited AI on board.

Most importantly, details had been worked out between the Republic of Kiribati and Star Force Galactic. Kiribati would divest itself of all of the Line Islands under their control and all the territorial waters from 165 degrees west longitude to the East associated with the previous territorial waters of Kiribati. That was eight islands, only three of which were inhabited. In doing so, the new nation of Pacifica, and by inference, SFG, would agree to develop said islands and expand them as required, guaranteeing the protection of all the citizens until such time as they were relocated, compensated, accepted as residents of Pacifica or joined SFG. Further guarantees were included regarding protection of all ecosystems within the control of Pacifica.

The most important agreements between the two parties was regarding compensation. Kiribati received a huge donation of cash to immediately assist the other citizens to purchase food, medicines and goods to help them initially. In addition, SFG agreed to perform island rebuilding services on the remaining twenty-five islands of Kiribati over a period of time. As Pacifica rebuilt their islands, they would rebuild islands in Kiribati. Specific details would evolve but almost everyone considered it a win win situation.

There were other perks offered to Kiribati as well. Pacifica would provide Internet access and communications to all the islands from their new satellite and weather advisory services. At that point, Kiribati did not have any Internet access and limited communications capability. Finally the door would be left open for additional ‘good neighbor’ policies and possibilities of treaties and agreements in future that would mostly benefit Kiribati but cost Pacifica little in reality. Some of these involved co-operation in environmental, health and welfare issues.

Simon and his advisors had decided to establish an AI as a Country AI similar to a Base AI. One requirement, since Pacifica required some form of earthbound currency in order to do business around the world, was a series of very sophisticated computers under the control of that AI that would handle all of the financial requirements of Pacifica. True enough, it was a subset of that AI’s protocols but it was felt that it was better to offload most of the financial activities to avoid the possibility of affecting that AIs performance in times of stressful activities. This was primarily due to the fact that there would be no physical currency in Pacifica. All transactions were going to be handled electronically through a simple Identification Card. This included visitors as well as citizens. No card, no credit. In reality, the current members of SFG already carried the equivalent for identification purposes and communications. Adding the concept of a bank account was no big deal. All current and future members of SFG did not really require a bank account, since all their requirements were free anyways. The bank account would now provide an option for the future, should they wish to travel outside of SFG controlled environs.

This Identification/Bank card would provide the visitors with the ability to pay for any services they required while visiting. Each visitor was required to bring enough monetary resources to exchange for ‘Pacifica Credits’, which would be placed on the card. When they left the country of Pacifica, they had to relinquish the card and they would be reimbursed all amounts remaining on the card. This required that any entry/exit location would require very sophisticated electronic communications.

So the currency would be the ‘Pacifica Credit’ or simply ‘P-Cred’. In reality, all transactions in all of SFG would also be based on this system. Citizens were guaranteed a basic ‘income’ loosely based on the level of service to SFG and now to Pacifica. All citizens were expected to contribute to SFG or to Pacifica. There were going to be no free rides. Health and Education problems SFG could easily handle. Those people with no motivation would be relocated.

The decision was made to move most of the functions of SBE from Canada to Pacifica as soon as possible. SBE was to be retained, but in a less active role. In order to accommodate all this, construction was begun on the Island of Kiritimati first. A seawall had to be constructed around the island and built up to the level of low tide. This reduced the potential of wave erosion of the coastline and beaches. This was no small task as it involved surrounding the island and worked out to slightly more than 100 kilometers of seawall. Fortunately, construction droids designed for this function were easily re-purposed and therefore were not in short supply.

A second seawall could then be started, inland of the first and would contain the expanded beach and would be as high as the anticipated maximum high tide of the future. This inner seawall, actually a double seawall, would define the harbor area as well and effectively turn 200 square kilometers of sandy lagoon into 25 square kilometers of harbor and protected shoreline. The current shape of Kiritimati lent itself to this design quite nicely.

In the center, roughly, of the island, massive amounts of the base undersea seamount was excavated and became the home of all the computers and AIs necessary to run the country and base. This was hardened, waterproofed and protected. In layers above this, the various military housing and support facilities were constructed. The material removed from this massive underground facility became the bedrock underlying the raised surface of the island. The experience gained in constructing a base on the moon was of great value. On the surface, the sand and vegetation were shifted and/or replaced to bring the whole island up in elevation to a height easily able to allow for increasing ocean levels in the future. From the ocean to the center of the island, the land gradually rose so that the highest land on the island surrounded the central base.

The net effect of this first phase was to establish the island as a base first, then place back the infrastructure required. Things like a hospital, desalination plant, food processing, storage areas, construction facilities and military assets were added as required. The second phase involved most of the visible above-surface improvements.

The harbor and airport were mapped out and started on as well. The harbor was designed to accommodate several large cruise ships and deepened so as to allow the equivalent of a large United States Navy fleet a safe harbor and mooring. There was facilities designed for unloading all kinds of container ships as well. Simon had considered that it would be good to have some product exchanged by ship. All the many wrecks located around the island would be removed and used in reconstruction. The North East of the island, where most of them were located would be restored to pristine and become considerably safer for boating and recreation.

The airport was completely raised, redesigned, lengthened and expanded at its current location on the North Center of the island to allow for any possible earth based aircraft to land on one of the four new runways. In addition there was accommodation for a huge covered area designed to house SFG’s aircraft in secure underground hangars. The airport would be constructed in two different areas, one for Civilian and Foreign tourists and guests and the other for SFG personnel only.

The slight slope from the beach up to the island center, allowed for a sensible approach to habitation. The beach front properties, were limited to one storey with a two lane roadway behind them. Across the roadway, properties were limited to two storeys. Behind them, properties were limited to three storeys etc. There were beach access roads every few properties to permit easy access to the white sand beaches. This design allowed every residence a view of the ocean and beach. The areas for the hotels were centrally located away from the beach and closer to the Island center. The inner most areas were commercial buildings and public service areas. There were several Hospitals included in this mix along with anything else a thriving population could want.

Although Simon had stated on numerous occasions, that tourism was not their intended attraction, it was inevitable that many people from Earth would require accommodations and facilities on the island. Therefore it was designed in prior to its need. Simon also considered that visitors from other star systems would need a place to reside during their visits here. Friendly visitors would be made welcome.

The central core area was exclusively for SFG personnel and facilities and designed much like SBM. It was mainly underground but a large administration building was designed to allow for meetings and many other above ground activities.

After slightly over a week, one could notice some differences. Most of the first steps were not noticeable. Underground, however, a city was being designed and built. Simon even had run ads on the Internet asking for architects looking for a challenge! They had even received a few responses! Some of those who responded were already now working with SFG personnel in designing and building some of the facilities.

Several days later, Simon was in his quarters on Blazing Star midway between Earth and the Moon when Blaze announced. “Call for you Admiral, it is Dan Blake, the President of the USA.”

Simon replied. “I’ll take it. Hello Dan, how are things Earth side?”

“Could always be better, but we hope for the best!” replied Dan. “I’ve got a couple of questions for you Simon. Do you have some time?”

“Certainly Dan. Fire away!” replied Simon.

“First, Kiribati and Pacifica, what is the status and your timeline like? What is happening?” asked Dan.

“Well Dan, we have finalized the agreement with Kiribati and have effective control of the eight islands. We have also started construction of a seawall around the Island of Kiritimati. We have also delivered our financial obligations as well. Now, we only have to set up all our services and continue construction.” responded Simon. “We should be ready to announce our existence in a couple of weeks. We will not be ready to accept visitors for at least a month, perhaps longer. A lot is still in design stage.”

“You’re kidding me?” exclaimed Dan.

“No, seriously, it is amazing what you can accomplish with the resources we have developed over the last year or so. Also remember, we have been preparing for a new base for a long time now, so had much of the design work and construction equipment ready.” stated Simon.

“But still, that is fast!” said Dan. “I guess I better crack the whip around here about those other islands. We are close to a solution on them. They are remote, uninhabited, very rarely visited and a drain on our resources in that area, so I am hopeful we can also come to an agreement. Our only real concerns are purely ecological. I am going on the assumption that Pacifica can do a much better job in that respect than we can.”

“I would agree with that, although it will be a few months before we can take a real serious look at their situation. We will be concentrating our efforts on several other islands first.” explained Simon.

“That makes a lot of sense all around.” said Dan. “When do you intend to surprise the world with your announcement to the UN?” asked Dan.

Simon replied. “It is looking like three weeks, unless something extraordinary happens. Fingers are crossed!”

“How about security, Simon?” asked Dan.

“Already in place and active!” replied Simon. “That was the very first thing we deployed! Our security net covers most of the island nations in the Central Pacific.”

“You know that this is going to stir the pot considerably. China will not be ignoring you for long. They have had ambitions in that area for many years now and desperately desire a base close to Hawaii to be able to monitor the US Fleets.” stated Dan.

“Although we have continued to state in all our conversations with countries on Earth, our primary focus will be on protecting this planet and our Solar System as a whole from any Alien attack or invasion, now, we will defend our presence on Earth just as strongly. It will simply be a matter of ‘leave us and our allies in peace and we will do the same!’” said Simon.

“One last question, Simon, and we can both get back to work!” said Dan with a chuckle. “What is going to be the basic stance on the attitude that some people have regarding their own personal truths? You know what I mean?”