THE LAST 100 YEARS
After receiving the distress message from deep space, Ahkamians knew they had roughly 100 years to prepare.
The years that followed this call for help were some of the most tumultuous in the history of Ahkam. Leaders knew that it was falling on them to set in motion events that they themselves would not live to see come to fruition. Their grandchildren would be the ones to bear the fruit. It was up to them to plow the field, for in turn their children would plant and then their children’s children would flower. Infighting, procrastination and power struggles plagued the Ahkamians, they were never able to be fully prepared for the arrival.
THE SETTLEMENTS
After the message was received about Earth’s demise and refugees that would be arriving in a hundred years time, construction of three settlements began. Ground was broken within ten year's time of the messages arrival.
Each settlement city would be built identically and there would be an architectural competition to decide the settlement’s design. Once the design was chosen, the Senate would choose the three cities where settlements would be built. They would be Sister cities. Of course the Capital was chosen, but the other two locations became a debate.
Questions began to arise concerning the potential danger to existing populations, additional pressures on infrastructures, and whether the cities chosen wanted a settlement built near them. After much infighting and political favors exchanged, Senators chose locations for the two other settlements.
Once construction of the three settlements began, a new problem became clear. A subversive group formed which felt it was their duty to protect Ahkam. They called themselves “Saros”. The Saros would organize bombings and enact missions of espionage to prevent the building of these settlements. What was built often would be destroyed and need to be rebuilt. This was a constant drain of resources.
The Senate decided, in order to keep the sister cities the same, they would move the settlements a considerable distance away from each city. Each of the three settlements would be connected to their sister city by means of a single rail line. Security around these ports of entry were built up considerably to protect the construction of these new “homes”. It would be nearly impossible to reach the settlements by foot and if attacked, rebels would face an expansive wall encircling the refugee camp.
It was widely accepted that once occupied, the Earthling settlers would be responsible for securing their own walls and have their own security requirements for entering and leaving the cities.
The Settlements were completed in the Year 2020 AG. They were manned with skeleton military crews that lived in, maintained and protected the city until the newcomers arrived. One of the military's primary jobs was to protect these structures and maintain them. Having the cities built ahead of schedule was certainly a load off the leader’s minds. However, problems of cohabitation and what that meant were far from solved.
THE SENATE
The Senate was a governing body that was laid out in the Two Blue. Both planets would have an identical political system. This system was based on democratic principles, but was not a pure democracy.
It was clear that, because correspondences took generations to complete, a reactionary form of government would not serve the Chromos’ purposes. A new, more forward thinking government would be required. Each area of the world would be broken into “Districts”. Each District would be managed by two elected officials (Senators). There were no governors. It was unconstitutional for the Senators of each district to belong to the same party; they could consist only of the two most popular parties globally. This ensured that the global Senate was always a 50/50 split. Each of the Districts had a congress or house of representatives. These Houses varied wildly in political makeup and these houses, along with the Senators, were elected directly by the people.
Senators spent half their time in the capital city and half their time in their Districts. These periods were known as “Districts” and “Sessions”, all Senators were on the same schedule. Which meant the capital city had huge influxes of political going ons and doldrums. All the Senators would be there or they would all be away.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The President was elected executive leader of the entire planet, a monumental task. There were no term limits on a president's time in office. Experience in a job of this magnitude was rare and changing between administrations was laborious.
This is how presidents were elected:
The Senate could call for an election at any time with a two third majority. When the Senate called for an election it would take place in two years, which would allow time for candidates to be chosen by the separate Districts and, subsequently, narrow the field to three choices. The three candidates would run against each other. In order to win the Presidency, one candidate would have to receive a a two third majority from the Senate and a majority from the Districts, which was a direct vote from every citizen. If these requirements had been met, the government would begin transition immediately. If not met, the current President would continue on as if no election had occurred. To be clear; It was illegal for the current President to involve themselves in any way in the election process.
The Districts could also call an election, though this was far more rare. If the Districts wanted to hold an election, all of the congresses around the world would have to agree on three candidates prior to the call of an election. Once called, the election would take place in one moon cycle. This would be an election that, by design, would elect the populous’ choice. In an election such as this the Senate had no vote. The candidate would have to win the popular vote by a two third majority. Under such an election the senate had no vote or veto power over the transition.
The Chromos looked at a District forced election as a fail safe. Consistency and continuity were considered the most important aspects of Global Government. However, this did create a problem. Ultimate power, ultimately corrupts. There must be a way to overpower a system of government without bloodshed if it fails to adhere to the people's wishes.
President Calum, was elected in this fashion, and was the only President that had ever been elected this way. He holds a great deal of political capital, however, was not well liked by many senators and political elites.
Global Laws can only be written with two third majority and a President's signature. President Calum was voted into office only three years prior to Earthling’s arrival. Calum inherited the task during the most critically fragile period in Ahkam’s history.
SAROS
Saros defined: The periodicity and recurrence of eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). It was known to the Chaldeans as a period when lunar eclipses seem to repeat themselves, but the cycle is applicable to solar eclipses as well.
Saros was an organization deep underground in society, similar to Earth’s Illuminati. They grew through the ages to have fingers of influence in all aspects of the World, but at the time of the “Arrival” they were widely unheard of. After the Senate solved the problem of attacks directed at the settlements, the Saros focused much more on political espionage and positioning.
They identified with the Saros Cycle, they were predicting a time when the sun would be eclipsed. A Dark Age to come. Every member of Saros took a blood oath to die for their people if necessary.
The third track of the Golden Record is a recording of Mozart’s “Queen of the Night”. In the song the Queen hands her daughter a dagger and instructs her to kill Sarastro, her husband to be. The Queen feels that Sarastro will do her family harm, so her daughter must protect them and make the ultimate sacrifice.
Saros believed this to be a warning, a form of divine intervention being passed through the ages. It was their duty to heed the call. Upon taking the oath they would receive a distinctive tattoo upon the right arm. It was a dagger dripping with blood with the words Sarastro scripted ornately. The fact that this Aria was sung in the “non-native” tongue of Earth was considered further evidence that this message had lasted through subversion of a culture. A culture that had been taken over by the people that were coming here. Saros often referred to this unknown culture as “Mothers of the Sun”.
WHAT LEAD TO THE SPECIAL ELECTION
As the day of Earthling’s arrival aproached, the population of Ahkam became increasingly unstable. Most of the world’s people were excited about what was to come; they would finally meet their brothers in the stars. So much had been learned from this galactic alliance, and the possibilities for a bright future was almost within reach. But as the day grew closer, unease began to spread. The socioeconomic disparity between the general population and the political elite had driven a wedge in society, and anxiety turned to fear that the Global Government was unprepared to welcome the “aliens” peacefully.
The political elite were in the grips of hubris and were confident they were in control of the forces that were in store for them all. During this time they had become increasingly preoccupied with their ability to maintain their powerful positions in office. This political infighting created a blindspot that allowed new groups of political operatives to undermine the government’s ability to work towards a peaceful transition to a new society once Earthlings arrived.
Massive propaganda projects were funded. One of these programs was the Bristol Report which was constructed to try to gradually instill fear toward the outsiders on their way to Ahkam. The Bristol Report increased in viewership for 30 years as preparations for the coming settlers continued. There were far more right leaning news programs, radio shows and newspapers, however, the Bristol Report was considered to be mainstream and relatively moderate.
The general population felt that families with generational wealth had put policies in place that would create mistrust among the people they had made their oath to. A call for an election grew progressively louder until the worlds’ congresses were filled with representatives that understood the the people’s demand. The die was cast and the world called for a special election.
In the case of a special election, a quorum in the Global Senate is not required If the Districts elect a single representative with a two third majority vote. Two third majority around the world with a three candidate election was something the elite had thought would be impossible. This is how Robert Calum came into power.
His leadership is the result of years of protests and social organizing on a massive grass roots level.