Chapter 9: A New World Government

While America had somehow pulled off a narrow victory in Vietnam, it was a wake up call they wouldn't soon forget. After that more effort was put into expanding their unmanned warfare division. Russians were far from idle during this time period. Pushing into Afghanistan, they were tried to expand their territory, and despite efforts from the United States to covertly aid the Afghani freedom fighters they were slaughtering the local inhabitants. On the verge of pacifying the populace by killing it off if necessary, the massive Russian army was hit by a surprise attack that no one expected: the Peacekeepers. News cameras showed men in full mechanized armor firing energy weapons and killing any Russian soldier in their path. Even the Soviet Union's best tanks and aircraft found themselves outmatched by the highly mobile and well protected foot soldiers. Leading the attack, a man named Nikolai Pachev stroke terror into the hearts of his enemies by showing no mercy to any who were responsible for war crimes. No matter how many men the Russians sent they simply couldn't match the firepower the Peacekeepers had at their command. When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the Pachev and his Peacekeepers stayed with them, hounding their every step. Some men panicked and deserted, unwilling to face such a terrifying enemy.

Russian generals launched non-nuclear missile strikes, fearing to use nuclear weapons but becoming more and more desperate to stop the Peacekeepers that were retaking captured nations and territories until they were knocking on the doorstep of Russia itself. While the missile attacks were knocked out of the sky before they had a chance to hit, it was the Peacekeepers who ended the conflict by halting right at the border without further incident. While Russia licked its wounds and the rest of the world held its breath, the Peacekeepers sought a base of operations in the now liberated countries, offering to share technology and offer protection in exchange for social and economical support. Those who agreed to this could also join the Peacekeepers as recruits if they proved worthy. Those who could not would instead have a chance to join the regular army that would support the Peacekeepers. All but Afghanistan and the eastern half of Germany joined. Pachev respecting their wishes, ordered his people to take down the Berlin wall, unifying Germany once again. When they were invited to be an ally while Afghanistan refused, the Germans accepted and became the Peacekeepers first ally. With several countries under their influence the new world power sent a message to all other governments.

"It is not our intention to conquer. Our goal is simple: let any man, woman, or child who faces great oppression from a government unworthy of their dedication and loyalty call out to us, and we will offer them a better one. We will share our strengths with them, and they with us, so both might become stronger through our common unity. For those who seek alliance and wish to remain separate, we ask only good will, trade and an open discourse as the price of our assistance should you ever be threatened." The message said delivered to news broadcasters across the globe.

While few joined the Peacekeepers, even those who were threatened by their presence didn't dare attack them. Reports of new technologies that were only shared with citizens of Peacekeeper countries drew the notice of the many immigrants who tried to move there. The waiting list quickly became longer than even the United States when it became clear that you couldn't enter illegally as the Peacekeepers carefully watched the borders and new energy fences kept people on foot from entering. Trying to damage or destroy any of the metal guide posts that marked the edges of every few meters of shielding brought out automated defenses that could knockout a person or vehicle. Even before you came near you the energy barrier, you were already being watched by hi-tech sensors that tracked your every movement.

One Russian general made the foolish mistake of firing a barrage of missiles into Peacekeeper territory and watched them explode as energy shield appeared in their path, absorbing all the damage without harm to the people below. The retaliatory strike was pinpoint and immediate, as the Russian general's car was destroyed by a laser strike fired from space. The general and his driver were both inside and had been on the way out of one of his bases. The general's attack had not been ordered by Moscow and they were quick to send a message to Pachev to point this out, for fear that a second strike was coming. Nikolai Pachev accepted their explanation, but suggested that they keep a better eye on their domestic affairs, or he would. When spies from several countries were caught trying to steal technology, they were executed. Even the United States lost a few before they gave up trying. America didn't have to be afraid of the Peacekeepers spying on them since they didn't need to risk people when they could just use a satellite and a detailed scan, and because America didn't have anything their new rival wanted to steal.

Just to prove the point one diplomat from a Peacekeeper country read back the day of the United States' Secretary of State right down to what she had said to her husband before coming into work, and the chemical composition of her breakfast that morning when she asked why they didn't need spies. For many in the Intelligence world this was astounding, as they rightly believed that the diplomat hadn't revealed everything. Two months later the Peacekeepers entered the space race and surpassed the Russians and Americans again, launching a ten person space station, they used it to begin constructing an even larger space station that was the size of a small city. American spy satellites tracked the first starships ever to be built, and the world received the live recording of one of the ships traveling to Mars in a matter of hours. Every major network wanted an interview with the man who was now called the most power man in the world: Nikolai Pachev.

Monica Wilson was given her chance to be one of those people when the lead field reporter became sick and she was chosen as his replacement. She was very surprised to be given the first interview with the foreign leader at his home inside of his main base near Bucharest Romania. The outside of his home matched the other uniform buildings throughout the base, so without an address you couldn't tell one from another. Part of Monica wondered if that was by design. A young woman of twenty years of age, she had noticeable Asian features as a result of her mixed heritage. Her mother Mariko Wilson had been very supportive of Monica's dream to become a famous new reporter. While her mother didn't use her influence to get her daughter the job, thanks to their relation Monica had gained contacts growing up that aided her in her career. Specializing in advanced medical science she had a special interest in the Peacekeeper Government and what it could offer the world if everyone decided to join. No one knew exactly how advanced they were, or their true origins. Even their leader's face and past were a mystery, as no one had ever taken a picture of him.

When she was dropped off at his residence, Monica walked up to the door and knocked to announce herself. The door opened and she came face to face with a man she had seen in a picture: it had been in her family album of her grandfather.

"Grandpa?" Monica asked in surprise.

"Hello Monica, please come in." Nikolai said nonchalantly.

Her mind reeling she followed him in and closed the door. Nikolai sat down in a cushioned chair in front of a fireplace and motioned for her to sit across from him on a couch.

"How are your mother and uncle?" Nikolai asked.

"They are fine ... how is this possible?" Monica replied.

"The full explanation would take some time to explain. What I will say for now is that I have been on a long journey and in that journey I met your grandmother and we had your mother and uncle, which eventually led to you." Nikolai explained.

"But..." Monica began to say.

"Later. There will be plenty of time for that. You came here not only to learn about me, but to also learn about our medical inventions. I thought we stop a nearby hospital on base." Nikolai said.

"Ok..." Monica said hesitantly.

She was dealing with a lot all at once. Monica had spent a lot of time with her grandfather before his disappearance and assumed death. It wasn't simply a physical resemblance between the two men, but mannerisms as well. Nikolai had the same attitude of urging others not to be bogged down by something they didn't understand, but would use something they did understand to make them more comfortable. By recognizing what he was trying to do, she smiled seeing the man she had lovingly called, "grandpa."

Following him out into another room, they took the stairs down to another door which opened up into what looked like a garage. Inside the room was a single craft two person craft that had a rear opening hatch, which opened as they approached.

"Care to take a ride?" Nikolai asked with a smile.

Seeing the fantastical looking machine before her Monica eagerly said, "Sure!"

Getting in she watched him press a button on the console in front of them as she sat in the passenger seat beside him. Above them two solid doors parted to let them out and manipulated the controls to lift them off using maneuvering jets. Once they were clear of the door and had enough altitude he eased in the main thruster which pushed them forward.

"This is amazing!" Monica said looking out the view port, trying to see everything she could, including the ground as it blurred below them.

"This is nothing compared to the starships being constructed above. They can move far faster than this and have inertial dampners. There is the hospital below." Nikolai explained.

Leaning forward she saw a very large building below with a big red cross on it marking it as a hospital.

"It's huge." She commented.

"This hospital serves not only the base, but the civilian populace. Here both military and non-military doctors come to train under our best instructors." Nikolai explained.

"Your making the Peacekeeper bases centers of learning, rather simply focus points of defense." Monica realized.

Cutting the forward thruster he used the maneuvering jets to bring them down smoothly on the landing pad behind the hospital.

Turning off the engines he grinned saying, "An astute observation. You are quite correct in your belief. It was my intention for my government to be a source of change for the good of all."

"If that's the case, then why not share your technology more freely?" Monica asked as they sat there quietly.

"Have you ever handed a child a gun when they didn't know how to use it?" Nikolai asked.

"Of course not." Monica answered.

"Then why do you expect me to give other governments our technology without first earning it by showing they accept our values?" Nikolai asked.

"You assume you're giving them a loaded gun?" Monica replied.

"What is the greatest weapon the United States or any other nation possess?" Nikolai asked.

"Nuclear weapons." Monica answered.

"And not counting Chernobyl, how many disasters has humanity barely avoided in peacetime and in war?" Nikolai asked.

"I believe I see your point." Monica acknowledged.

Squeezing her hand Nikolai said, "One day I believe the others will be ready, and I am trying to encourage the growth required to reach that moment in time."

"That's why you invited reporters like me." Monica said.

Nodding Nikolai said, "I believe you are the key to make our goals global, uniting humanity in one mission. When this is all over I want you to consider this offer: stay as the head of my public relations. I have watched your career with great interest and when I heard it was you who would be coming I saw it as a sign from God."

"I don't know ... what to say." Monica replied.

"Just promise me you'll think about it. While I cannot share my true identity with others, I was hoping I would not have to hide from everyone." Nikolai said.

"But why do you?" Monica asked.

"How old do you think I am granddaughter?" Nikolai asked in response.

"I'm not sure." Monica answered.

"Try over five hundred years old." Nikolai said.

"Alright you have to explain that." Monica said.

"I have lived at least seven life times Monica and I've been to many different places and met many people along the way." Nikolai explained.

"Without asking the how, what about family? Are we your first?" Monica asked.

"My parents died in what you would call the future, and I was adopted by the man my father worked for and raised as one of his children, but I'm guessing that was not the family you were referring to." Nikolai said.

"No." Monica replied.

Sighing Nikolai said, "I had a feeling that this day would come."

"Did you marry anyone else other than grandma?" Monica asked.

"Yes, I have had many families and married many women. Some of them I loved and some of them I didn't. I would like to think I was always a good man, but I will say I did what I thought was necessary. By my actions and decision men have died by the thousands, empires have risen and fallen, and fortunes have been changed." Nikolai said.

"And you don't sound the least bit sure of yourself." Monica joked.

Chuckling Nikolai replied, "I imagine do sound a bit arrogant, but you would too if you ruled the Roman Empire or were the President of the United States."

"What?" Monica said.

"Civil War?" Nikolai prodded.

"I thought he was simply an ancestor." Monica replied.

"One only removed by a generation or two." Nikolai joked.

"I forgot about your particular brand of humor grandpa. I missed you." Monica said laughing and crying at the same time.

Wiping away her tears Nikolai said, "I'm hear now child. Come with me and I will show you what your dear old gramps has been up to."

Shaking her head Monica hugged her grandpa and said, "Let's get going."

Walking into the hospital Monica saw plenty of things that kept her in a state of awe: people and autonomous machines taking care of the wounded and sick side by side. Some were bipedal; walking on two legs, while others moved on treads for locomotion, and a few of them even hovered with a grace that made her gasp in wonder.

"Would you like to see more?" Nikolai asked.

"Please." She said seeing things that she had only seen in movies, or read of books.

Showing her to the labs Monica got to see what she had seen upstairs in more detail and more variations of technology. In one lab she saw watched through a viewing window surgeons attach the first biomechanical arm, and was there to see the patient wake up to find that it worked nearly as well as his old one.

"For those who are worried about rejection of body parts or can't afford growing a new one, mechanical limbs like this can be easily produced with our replication technology once the designs have been inputted. As surgeons like these men and women become more common I hope to help those physically crippled by violence and life's many troubles." Nikolai explained.

"What about organs?" Monica asked.

"Those too are being worked on. Very soon I imagine we will be able to re-grow or replace almost any major part of your body short of your brain." Nikolai answered.

"But you could eventually do that if you wanted to right?" Monica asked.

"That opens up a whole new world of problems, most of them ethical." Nikolai said.

"How so?" Monica said.

"When I was a child I read a series of books by Lois McMaster Bujold; in it she described criminals transporting the brain of one aging person into a younger clone. The criminals received vast sums of money, making it highly profitable to them, but at the cost of the life of the clone. That clone's only purpose in life as they saw it was to die for the convenience of their customer, and mentally they were no more than a child at the moment of their death, though their physical bodies had been altered to bring them to adulthood in a short period of time. They were told that they were going to be adopted and when they were taken away they went willingly and happily." Nikolai said.

"That's horrible!" Monica said, visualizing something like that occurring all too easily.