Peace Palace

Pat hurries down the hallway toward Penelope's room, his footsteps echoing in the quiet house. "Penelope! Get up and get dressed — it's almost time to go!" he calls out, raising his voice so she can hear him through her bedroom door. "We've been summoned!"

"Huh? Summoned?" Penelope mumbles back, clearly still half-asleep. "By who?" She stumbles out into the hallway a moment later, rubbing her eyes and sporting the kind of wild, frizzy bedhead that only comes from a deep sleep.

Pat stops short when he sees her. "Good grief, what's all that black stuff smeared across your face?"

"It's makeup, Dad," she says with the exasperated tone only teenagers can master. Pat shakes his head in bewilderment. "Well, I'm glad your mother isn't here to see that — she'd scrub you raw. Now hurry up! We don't have much time."

"Time for what, exactly?" Penelope persists, still wanting answers. "And who's summoning us?"

"The Council," Pat explains, his tone growing more serious. "The old Earth Council. They've reassembled in Capital City, and we've been asked to appear before the 3 of 9 to answer some questions. Go get cleaned up and I'll explain everything on the way there."

Penelope lets out a dramatic sigh. "Great. I can feel a boring day coming on already." She grabs a towel from the linen closet. "I'm definitely taking a book — and a pillow in case I need a nap during whatever this is."

Pat is busy gathering papers and notes when John walks in. "Are you ready?" John asks. "Mike's outside waiting for us."

"Still waiting on Penelope," Pat replies with a slight grimace. "She's in there trying to perfect what I can only describe as the most bizarre makeup job I've ever seen."

"Hey there, sweetheart," John says warmly as Penelope emerges from the hallway. But his tone quickly shifts. "Now turn that little butt of yours right back around and put on something more appropriate — and wipe that mess off your face while you're at it."

"Grandpa! No!" Penelope protests, shooting him an indignant look.

"Don't make me come in there and wash your face myself, because I will if I have to," John says, his voice carrying the kind of authority that comes from years of parenting experience. "We're going to speak with the Council, and you need to look presentable."

"Ugh! This day started out terrible and it's getting worse by the second!" Penelope grumbles as she stomps back toward her room to change.

Pat watches in amazement. "You've got to teach me how you do that. She doesn't listen to me at all anymore."

John chuckles. "It's simple, really. Raise two more kids after her, and by the third one you'll have it down pat, Pat." He grins at his own wordplay.

A few minutes later, Penelope reappears looking like a proper young lady instead of, as Pat had been thinking, the self-proclaimed queen of weird.

"Hey, Michael!" she says brightly, spotting him. "You got summoned too? Wow! We're like the Magnificent Four — except I guess I'm playing Mom's role." Her eyes light up with sudden enthusiasm. "Maybe this will actually be fun! So what's our mission, gentlemen?"

"To be completely honest, honey, we're not entirely sure ourselves," Michael admits. "All we know is that the newly reconstituted Earth Council has summoned us for some kind of committee hearing, and we figured we should probably show up. None of us have been to the new Capital City yet, so it could be an adventure."

Just then, a rectangular vehicle approaches and begins descending toward their front lawn, hovering about a foot off the ground. John's eyes widen. "Good God in heaven, what in the hell is that contraption?"

"Oh my gosh, it's a hover car!" Penelope squeals with delight. "Can I drive it? Please?"

Pat grins at his daughter's excitement. "Not a chance, sweetheart. Besides, this is a limo — it already comes with its own driver. Come on, guys, let's go."

The four of them settle into their seats, with John visibly nervous as he buckles himself into what he keeps calling "this contraption." The hover car rises slowly at first, climbing to about 100 feet before accelerating rapidly away from Penny Lake. Penelope has her face pressed against the window in wonder, while John sits beside her, white-knuckled and gripping his armrests. As they approach the perceptual boundary of Penny Lake, a small vortex appears in the air ahead, growing larger as they get closer. The craft enters the swirling portal and, with just a slight shudder, emerges on the other side in less than a second.

"What was that?" Penelope asks, eyes wide. "There's like a hole in our world! Where did that come from? Did Ben create it?"

"Ask your dad," John answers. "He helped design it. Ben used to be our resident technology wizard in Penny Lake, but I think your father has surpassed him."

"It's called a trans-dimensional conduit — TDC for short," Pat explains. "It's based on the same technology that our interdimensional friends use to travel between different dimensional frames in their universe. Ben's mother-in-law, for instance. It also works here to transition from one perceptual bubble to the next. We've just entered the bubble that houses Capital City. This particular perceptual framework is actually the joining of over twenty separate perceptual bubbles, so it's incredibly dense — even more so than Powder Junction. There are more than thirty million souls living here. It almost feels like being back in Level 3."

"Perfect! I love being in dense areas," Penelope says with a mischievous grin. "I miss that Level 3 body I had for, oh, maybe a whole day. With thirty million people here, there have got to be tons of cute boys."

"I'm sure there are, honey," Michael says, laughing more at the sick expression crossing Pat's face than at Penelope's interest in boys. "And you're not talking to a single one of them. You are so much your mother's daughter."

"Aw, damn!" Penelope sighs dramatically. "My first trip to the big city and I'm stuck with my dad and two grandpas. When I get a boyfriend, we are definitely coming here alone!" Her excitement quickly returns. "Hey, wait — if this place has hover cars, that means it has movies and videos and VR theaters and carnivals and all that cool stuff, right? Doesn't it, Daddy?"

"Yes, I believe it does," Pat says, trying to maintain his composure. "And when you're old enough to date — after I've thoroughly vetted the boy, and all your grandpas have given their approval, and you've both reached the mature age of, oh, say thirty-five or so — then you two can come here alone." He manages a grin while trying to suppress the nauseating realization that his little girl is growing into a woman who will soon be doing very adult things that his mind absolutely refuses to contemplate.

"Sure thing, Daddy," Penelope says sweetly. "But when Mom gets back, we're going to have a little chat and make some modifications to your plan. Hee hee." Her expression turns more serious. "Speaking of which, what's this '3 of 9' stuff about? And when is Mom coming back, anyway? She said it would be about six months to a year, and that was a week ago. That's like twelve years on Earth time. She's going to be an old lady when she gets back!"

"Not really," Pat explains patiently. "For one thing, here in Level 5, we seem to age when we're young — like you and your friends at school, or puppies and kittens — but when we reach maturity, the aging process stops. So she won't be an old lady when she returns. The older women you know here, like Penny, arrived that way — they didn't age here. The other thing your mom is working on back on Earth is helping to bring Earth and our Level 5 domains into temporal sync. So Earth isn't aging at such an accelerated rate anymore. Soon we'll be perfectly synchronized, and time here and there will move at the same pace."

"And you know this how, exactly?" Penelope asks suspiciously. "Who told you what Mom is doing there?"

"She did," Pat says simply.

"You and Mom are TALKING?!" Penelope practically shrieks with excitement.

"Yes, we do communicate," Pat explains carefully, "but only about business matters. She still doesn't... well, she's still not very fond of me."

Penelope's expression grows wistful. "Well, it's a start, I guess. I really miss the days when we would all kiss each other goodnight at bedtime. I haven't slept as well since that stopped."

The hover car begins to decelerate as they approach their destination, quietly touching down on a designated landing pad. The limo staff quickly secure the vehicle and open the doors for the passengers to exit.

"So where exactly are we," John asks, looking around, "and what is this building?"

"This is a recreation of the building that housed the original Earth Council," Pat explains, gazing up at the impressive structure. "It's called the Peace Palace. Back at the end of the 19th century, the wealthy elite and royalty of planet Earth were working toward creating lasting world peace. Vast fortunes were donated to build this very building — well, the original one on Earth — and after about a dozen years they had it completed and ready for the serious business of peace-making."

"Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bit premature," he continues with a rueful shake of his head. "Humans simply didn't possess the maturity necessary for true peace at that time. They had barely finished construction when the First World War broke out, followed by many more global conflicts over the decades. Humanity had matured considerably by the 21st century, but then everything fell apart again, and we had barely recovered from those catastrophes by my time. We were at peace then, but I was concerned that tensions were building toward extra-global conflict with the other planets and moons. In my era, the Peace Palace was used as just another government building, and peace wasn't exactly high on their agenda. I sincerely hope the Council has evolved since then, or this meeting is going to be rather unpleasant."

John grimaces. "If they're anything like the politicians from my time, this ain't gonna be pretty."

"So what exactly is this '3 of 9' thing?" Penelope asks again, clearly determined to get an answer this time.

Since Pat has some experience with the Council structure, he takes on the explanation. "After the great war of 2053, the planet was reorganized into twenty-seven provincial territories. Each province elects one representative to the Earth Council — that's twenty-seven representatives total. The Council also has a single Director. But here's where it gets complicated: these twenty-seven representatives don't speak directly to the Director."

"Instead, they're organized into groups of three — we call them triads. Each triad elects one delegate to represent their group, which gives us nine delegates total. But it doesn't stop there — those nine delegates are also organized into three triads, and each of those triads elects a speaker."

"In formal Council hearings, it's these three speakers — known as the '3 of 9' — who actually conduct the proceedings. They sit in the front row of a semicircular arrangement of benches. Behind them, in the second tier, sit the remaining six members of the nine delegates. On the third tier sit the other eighteen representatives. While they all discuss matters among themselves, only the three speakers are permitted to address witnesses during hearings or speak directly to the Director."

"The Director sits in an impressive chair next to a podium in case he wants to make an address, though he's rarely present except for special occasions. So if your province's representative manages to get elected as a delegate — one of the nine — and then also gets elected as a speaker — one of the three — your province wields considerable power. The process for selecting the Director is similar: each province nominates a candidate, and the twenty-seven representatives elect one of them by majority vote."

"The Director's position is extremely powerful because if there's a tie vote among the representatives, or if a decision falls just one vote short of a super-majority, the Director can cast the deciding vote. However, before any decision becomes law, it must also be approved by a nine-member Council of Elders. These Elders are appointed for life by the Director, which makes the Director's position incredibly influential."

"If the Elders reject a decision, the Council can still force it through with a super-majority vote, though they're reluctant to do so. If such decisions prove unpopular with the general population, those representatives likely won't get re-elected. So that's how the whole system works. Today we'll be testifying before the 3 of 9, so you'll get to see it all in action. Their names are Richard, Robert, and Nancy. I actually appeared before them many years ago to discuss our concerns about potential extra-global conflicts."

"What exactly is a super-majority?" John asks.

"It depends on the type of vote," Pat explains, "but it's usually either three-fifths or four-fifths of the total. This is different from a simple majority, which is just one vote more than fifty percent."

"That sounds incredibly political," Michael comments with a grimace. "I've always hated politics — it gives me a headache."

Since the four of them had left before breakfast in their rush to get ready, their first order of business was finding the cafeteria for something to eat. There they were met by Council staff members who briefed them on the day's proceedings and helped prepare them for the hearing. The waiting area had a large, comfortable couch, which Penelope immediately claimed, making good use of the pillow she'd brought along for a pre-hearing nap.