Page 78 of The Champion
“We are peaceful but not blind. We’ll help sort the mess that you have brought upon yourself. And we’ll make sure the soldiers from the North keep to the agreements we made with Khan Aurelius.”
“Then what do you call this?” Joseph pointed to his nose, which had traces of dry blood. “I was beaten by the soldiers.”
“That’s a lie!” Thor shouted. “You were told to come peacefully and when you refused, you were moved with force. Fighting one of our soldiers will get you a bloody nose. Deal with it as a man and stop whining.”
When the prime minister defended himself in a shrill tone, Jonah stopped him.
“Joseph, we aren’t here to argue with you. For years we’ve patiently waited for you to adhere to our directions when it comes to basic human rights for your people. Unfortunately, you haven’t complied as requested and that has consequences. It’s long been a concern in the world that French citizens are subjected to what we consider modern slavery.”
“Slavery?” Joseph scoffed loudly and a wave of white noise arose from the parliament members muttering among themselves with disturbed expressions. “How dare you accuse us of slavery?”
Thor straightened to his full height. “What else would you call it when you take away people’s freedom and force them to work and breed?”
Jonah’s tone was softer. “We’re seeing your politics as an extreme overreach. Forced breeding might have been necessary at one point when you thought that you were the sole survivors in the world, but those days are long gone. With your stonewalling of the protesters this past week, and your grotesque treatment of Victor Xavier, you have shown the world a complete disregard for human rights.”
“What about our rights to be a sovereign country?”
Jonah used hand gestures as he explained, “Khan Aurelius was ready to send in his troops months ago. We in the Council of the Motherlands kept hoping that you would see reason. You were given a deadline and now we’re here to make sure that human rights are being respected. In this conflict, our role is to ensure that things are done peacefully, and to help you understand what we expect of you.” Jonah continued while looking around at all fifty members of the parliament:
“In order for France to stay an independent country you will need to comply with human rights. We told you as much when you were first discovered by our environmental workers almost two decades ago. We’ve expressed our concerns many times that you weren’t doing enough to meet them. As I said, with your continued disregard for our deadlines, our patience ran out. There are two major points that we are firm on. Every person on this planet must have freedom from slavery and forced labor. And everyone must have freedom to travel freely in and out of their country.”
“You want to steal our people!” Joseph Faubert piped up and was instantly supported by his colleagues. “Everyone knows that we have a higher level of intelligence and education than the rest of the world.”
“If you’re so fucking intelligent then why do you have to enslave your people to make them stay?” Thor challenged.
I sat listening as it was made clear to the French how all progress in France would cease if they cut off contact with the outside world. With their back against the wall, the French government voted to change two laws. Breeding would no longer be mandatory, and all citizens would be free to travel.
When the meeting was over, Solomon, who was the oldest son of Magni and looked a lot like his father, asked me if I wanted to bring anything from my apartment.
I declined and explained that everything I had of value had been in my penthouse, which had been taken from me along with my money.
With a pissed-off expression, he talked to Thor, who was quick to offer his help in reclaiming my belongings and wealth.
“That’s not important. All I want to do is see Freya.”
Thor relaxed a little. “Good. Jonah can take care of the situation with your belongings before he leaves. Magni and I will bring you back home to Freya while Mason and Solomon will stay until the last soldier is back in a drone.”
The thought that in six hours I could be kissing Freya again made my heart gallop with excitement. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
CHAPTER 23
His Voice
Freya
The first sound of Victor’s voice released a massive batch of butterflies in my stomach. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“Now I am. It’s been four miserable months without you.”
“Did they punish you?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you all about it when we arrive. I’m okay though.”
“He looks like shit,” I heard Thor shouting in the background. “Like he hasn’t eaten properly.”
“Is that true? Tell me you didn’t go to prison, Victor.”
“I only went to prison for a few days, but they took away my apartment, money, and work.”
