James BeauSeigneur - In His Image James

Only the United States could truly claim a right to permanent status based on its position as a world power. Yet in a very real sense, this proposal might be seen as a logical next step toward the 'New World Order' first proposed by former U.S. President George Bush, and it appeared to have the support of, if not a majority, then at least a large and vocal minority of American citizens as well as a majority of those in Congress. The U.S. would not stand in the way of reorganization if that is what the members of the United Nations wanted.

Hansen's proposal would eliminate the permanent positions of the 'Big Five' and instead structure a newly defined Security Council around representatives of each often major regions of the world. The details would have to be worked out by all member nations, but it was expected that these regions would include North America; South America; Europe and Iceland; Eastern Africa; Western Africa; the Middle East; the Indian subcontinent; Northern Asia; China; and the nations of Asia's Pacific basin from Japan and Korea, down to New Guinea, along with Australia, and New Zealand. Each region would have one voting member and one alternate member on the Security Council.

As he stood before the great assembly of nations, about to give the most important speech of his life, Hansen was running on adrenalin. He had spent night and day for the past several weeks lobbying for approval. Now was the moment for show business, but immediately afterward the lobbying and arm twisting would continue anew. Hansen came to the speaker's lectern and began.

"My fellow Delegates and citizens of the world: I come to you today as the Ambassador of an empire now divested of all her colonies. I say that not with regret; but with pride. Pride that over time we have grown to recognize the rights of sovereign peoples to set their own course in the history of the earth. Pride that my beloved Britain, though she will bear a great cost at its passage, has placed justice ahead of power and has authorized the introduction and the support of this motion.

"For more than sixty years since the foundation of this august body, five countries, Great Britain among them, have held sway over the other nations of the world. Today the history of nations has come to a new path.

"A new path – not a destination; for there is no stopping.

"A new path – not to a crossroads; for in truth there is no other way that just and reasonable men and women may choose.

"A new path – not a detour; for the path we were on has taken us as far as it will go.

"A new path – not a dead-end; for there can be no going back.

"It is the most tragic of situations that has brought us so abruptly to this point in history, and yet, were it not so we would have reached it still. From the first days of the United Nations, it has always been the visionaries' dream that one day all nations would stand as equals in this body. We have come too far toward that dream to refuse now to continue the advance toward its fulfillment.

The time has come for all peoples of the world to put off the shackles of the past. The day of the empire is gone, and just as certainly the day of subservience to those bom of power must also come to an end. Justice is not found in the rule of those who consider themselves our betters, but from the common will of peers. The greatness of nations comes not from the superiority of their armaments, but from their willingness to allow and aid the greatness of others."

Decker listened closely, anticipating the pauses and hoping for the applause he expected each line would draw. Although at the U.N. the timing of applause can sometimes be embarrassingly delayed by the translation to another language, Decker was not disappointed. Clearly the motion would do well.

In the end, the vote turned, as history so often does, on an ironic twist of fate. Sixty years before, the Soviet Union had insisted that two of her states, the Byelorussian S.S.R. and the Ukrainian S.S.R., be granted admission to the General Assembly with the full rights of sovereign nations. At the time it had been a way for the U.S.S.R. to gain two extra votes in the General Assembly. Today the independent Ukraine cast the deciding vote to expropriate Russia's seat on the Security Council. The motion passed.

One week later

The vote to reorganize the Security Council did not mark the completion of the effort, but only the beginning of a new phase. Now that the motion had carried, the press from around the world were calling, wanting information about this man who likely would become the new Secretary-General. Decker brought in extra personnel to support the more routine functions of the effort, but he was wary of delegating too much. As he went over a press release for the third time, he realized he had no idea what he was reading. He was just too tired. Closing his eyes, he slumped down in the chair and thought back to his days at the Knoxville Enterprise. It had been a long time since he had worked this hard.

Unnoticed, Jackie Hansen had entered the room and was now standing directly behind his chair. As he sat with his eyes closed, she reached down and placed her long slender fingers on his shoulders. Decker jumped but seeing Jackie's smiling face, relaxed as she began to massage his tired, knotted muscles. "Oh, that feels good," he said gratefully. "I'll give you just twenty minutes to stop it." It was an old joke but Jackie laughed anyway.

"Your back is one solid knot," Jackie said, sympathetically. "I'll bet you're tired."

Decker started to nod his head but decided it might interrupt the massage and instead answered, "uh huh."

"My father really appreciates all the work you're doing. He told me you were working so hard that sometimes he wasn't sure which of you was trying to get elected." Decker appreciated the compliment. It was nice to know his work was appropriately acknowledged. He smiled up at Jackie, then closed his eyes again to concentrate on the relaxing feel of her hands. Suddenly she stopped. "You know what you need to really relax?" she asked, rhetorically.

"What's that?" Decker responded.

"Well, whenever I get real tense, I meditate." Jackie started to rub his shoulders again. "I may seem pretty relaxed to you most of the time, but I used to be a jumble of nerves. When I first started to work here I was so concerned about doing a good job. I didn't want people thinking that the only reason I had the job was because my father was the ambassador." Jackie found a knot and began rubbing in circles to work it out. "That's when I met Lorraine from the French Mission. She invited me to a go to a meditation class at the Lucius Trust." Jackie stopped again and looked at her watch. "Oh, my gosh," she said in surprise, "speaking of the Lucius Trust: it's 7:55. If I don't hurry I'm going to be late. I've missed the last three weeks because of work; I really don't want to miss tonight."

"Miss what?" asked Decker.

"My meditation class," Jackie answered. "It meets at the Lucius Trust every Wednesday. Tonight Alice Bernley, the director of the Trust, is going to show new members how to reach their inner consciousness, the source of creativity. It's like an inner guide."

"Oh," Decker said, making no attempt to hide the fact that he had no idea what Jackie was talking about.

"Come with me."

"Uh… I don't know, Jackie. I'm not really into this New Age stuff. I'm pretty square, I guess."

"Oh, come on," she insisted, as she took his hand and gave it a tug. "Really, I think you'll enjoy it. When you leave there tonight you'll be more relaxed than you've been in weeks. I find it helps me reach a higher plane of thinking. It frees my creative mental processes."

Decker sighed. "Well, I guess I could use some of that, but we'll just have to be a little late. I refuse to run."