Disputed Sea - 2. Disp Ch 2

Level 5 is entirely conference and recreation space, with a large conference room, 2 medium conference rooms, 4 meeting rooms, a kitchen and pantry, a formal dining room, a relaxation lounge, a fitness gymnasium and a swimming pool.

Levels 3 & 4, as I said before are divided into 4 sections, with each section containing, six large two-bedroom guest suites, and 6 staff mini-suites, that have two bedrooms each, so 24 guest suites and 24 staff guest mini-suites on each level, also each section has a small kitchen and pantry, to provide meals and drinks on demand when requested,” Joshua informed me just as there was the sound of a doorbell, and the shocked look on my face made Joshua laugh as he went to the door.

“Mr Alliston, my name is Patrick, I am your butler for the length of your stay here, just dial 11 on your phone when you need me and I will be right there,” the young man at the door said to us, as I arrived just behind Joshua. “This is my business partner – Kipling Ashburton,” Joshua said making the introduction to the butler. “A pleasure to meet you both sirs, I will leave you to settle in, just call, when you need anything,” the butler said before leaving.

“This is all part of my grandfather's plans to provide the very best of service, at the top end of the Northern Territory,” Joshua said to me after closing the door again. “Ok, so what happens now? Where are we meeting these dignatories,” I asked, “Right here in this hotel, our fleet of Posiden Submarines are collecting them from their home countries and delivering them here, directly to the beach,” Joshua announced to me.

“What about customs and quarantine and all of that stuff?” I asked sounding a little concerned, “They will meet the dignatories as they arrive here, you see that open bungalow down near the water, with the jetty leading out into the ocean, that is where they will arrive tomorrow evening just after dark,” Joshua informed me. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing, including spending some time in the pool, which was on the floor below.

“You didn’t say what is on levels 1 & 2 and the ground floor?” I asked once we had returned from our relaxing swim, with no one else in sight while there. “Well they are also split into four sections, but there are a total of 18 mini-suites in each section, which is 72 in total on each floor, to accommodate additional staff for major conference events, with a lounge room and two small meeting rooms also locate in each section,” Joshua informed me.

“I am presuming that the ground floor is all mostly staff areas, apart from the reception lobby?” I asked, “Almost all of it. There is a semi-outdoor pool, that has a roof over it, plus change rooms, also a library, a meeting room, a lounge room and a café for guests on the ground floor too,” I was informed. Our suite consisted of a very large living room, with a large balcony overlooking the ocean, a semi-formal dining area, a butler's pantry, a large study, a master bedroom suite, with a bathroom, plus a smaller bedroom with its own bathroom.

Patrick arrived at 7.30 pm as Joshua had arranged, and served our dinner on the balcony overlooking the beach and ocean, with the last of a spectacular sunset disappearing over the horizon. “I thought the sunsets at Abrolhos were fairly spectacular, but I must admit, the sunset I saw just now was better here,” I commented, after Patrick left the suite, and he returned half an hour later to clear away the first course and serve the main course.

“Mr Alliston, the lead teams for the six groups of dignatories have arrived, and are settling into their accommodations on the 1^st and 2^nd floors. Is there any information that you wish to pass on to them?” Patrick asked Joshua, “Only that there will be a briefing at 11 am in the main conference room on level five, please,” Joshua responded, and Patrick nodded his head before leaving us again. After serving desserts, Patrick informed Joshua that all six groups agreed to attend the briefing.

Once Patrick had cleaned up and left for the last time tonight, we sat down and relaxed in the living area. “Do you think that the leaders of six leading South East Asia countries will agree to this plan to restrict the movement of Chinese military ships and fishing vessels?” I asked Joshua, “Let’s just hope so, I am counting on you to assist me as much as possible, and that means putting in your views and responses to anything discussed over the conference,” Joshua replied.

I nodded in agreement, although I was a nervous wreck already, knowing that tomorrow, I would be meeting with the President and Senate President of the Republic of Philippines, the President and House Speaker of the Republic of Indonesia, the Sultan and Crown Prince of the Nation of Brunei, the Sultan and Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaysia, the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore and the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam.

Although I slept reasonably well, Joshua had me up and about by 7 am, with Patrick serving breakfast half an hour later, before we headed down to one of the meeting rooms, along with all the information that we had brought with us from Ocean City, and we spent the next two hours going through the details of how we would lead this conference in the evening, once the VIP guests have eaten and settled into their suites.

The briefing with the representatives from the six countries, went surprisingly well, with the initial response from each group being positive, after giving them a brief introduction on what will be discussed during the conference.

The main conference will run from 8 to 10 pm and again from 8 to 10 am, before the guests depart to return to their respective home countries, soon after the conclusion of the morning conference, with all of them arriving back in their home countries by early evening that same day.

Joshua took the lead with most of the evening session of the conference, and at the start of the morning session, I started by welcoming everyone back and hoped that everyone rested well, before introducing our host and the lead architect for this project, Mr Hamysh T Lloyd, who owns the submarines that the guests had travelled on to get to Darwin, as the giant projector screen came to life at that point and Mr Lloyd took over proceedings.

This is when it was revealed to our guests, that the network of sensors is already in place on the sea bed at 14 nautical miles from the coast of the outer islands of each nation, creating a net that will pick up all ships, boats and smaller vessels, and to a height of 500 metres above sea level, all aircraft, that enter the region below the 14 degrees south mark of the South China Sea.

After an hour of explaining how the network of sensors will work, Mr Lloyd paused for a few moments, until the screen split with a small group of people on the second screen, with the flag of the United Nations in the background appearing. “Wow!” I said out loud which made Mr Lloyd smile. “Since you seemed to know who has just joined us, maybe you can make the introductions please Kipling,” Mr Lloyed announced to everyone.

“Well sir, if I am not mistaken, we have the honour of having with us, the Secretary General of the UN General Assembly, as well as the President of the UN Security Council, the President of the Economic and Social Council, plus the President of the UN International Court of Justice and her colleague, the Member Judge of the UN International Court of Justice from Jamaica, who specialises in Law of the Sea and Law of the Air, Treaties and Armed Conflict,” I responded.

“Very good, Mr Ashburton, and welcome to you all and thank you for taking the time to be with us at this special event…” Mr Lloyd said as he continued to speak, before those that had just joined us, gave their points of view on this project, with all of them agreeing that it was a peaceful solution to a worrying event, that didn’t seem to have any successful outcome on the horizon.

With those views spoken, the leaders from all six South Asia nations agreed to accept this offer by Lloyd Corporation to put a stop to the behaviour and threatening actions of China, by activating Project Bermuda Triangle, and it was agreed that the United Nations Security Council will deal with any fall out in regards to protests from the Chinese government, once the project is activated, which will be 24 hours after the conclusion of this conference so that everyone is back in their home countries before anything happens.

Once the teleconference with the members of the United Nations had concluded, the conference was announced to be officially concluded, and an invitation for a social light meal and drinks was made before the members began their journey home, which all of them agreed to, and we all headed to the formal dining room, where a buffet was laid out for everyone.

After meeting all of the delegates from the six countries, we slipped out of the dining room, to check that preparations were in place for a smooth departure of our international guests, before we saw them board the three Poseidon Submarines, and disappeared below the surface of the ocean and out of Australian waters, heading north to their home countries.

“Thank goodness, that is finally all over, I don’t think I want to do anything like that ever again,” I commented, and I saw Joshua smiling, “I am just wondering if any of our international guests, especially those from the Islamic countries, which was most of them, realised that they were being hosted by a couple of gay guys?” Joshua said to me and I just burst out laughing, knowing that if and when they do find out, I bet they will not be at all impressed knowing that information.

After a peaceful lunch in our suite, we had a video conference with Mr Lloyd to debrief on how the conference went, and we mentioned what Joshua had said to me earlier, and at first, Mr Lloyd frowned before laughing, and agreeing that yes they would not be at all be too happy about that. We also discussed the question that was mentioned at the conference, that being, what will happen to all of the building infrastructure that has been built on the small islands and reefs by the Chinese Government.

The question had been discussed a lot by the delegates, but there was no clear solution on what to do about it, so it was decided to leave it for another time to discuss again, once the Project is in full operation, and the military bases have been permanently shut down. Once the video conference concluded, Joshua announced that we would be spending a bit of time in the Darwin region having a bit of a holiday, as well as monitoring the launch of Operation Bermuda Triangle, before we return home to Ocean City on the West Coast of Australia.