Alone At Windows On the World: No 9/11

January 3, 1997
Somewhere in Papua, Indonesia


The arms dealer smiled at the clearly uncomfortable oil company executive. Those guys might not be used to humidity, but he was. And clearly the executive was not used to dealing with "uncivilized natives". But he knew that the people of Papua had agriculture for millennia. Just a few years before, he wouldn't even be dealing with these ineffective rebels (even through their support was broad in Papua, bow and arrows are no match for a modern military like Indonesia's). But Suharto had betrayed him. And he would make sure that Suharto would have something coming back at him.

The executive wiped sweat off his brow and forehead. He would prefer not to be here, but his company could get unfettered access to all the potential oil and minerals Papua had, without dealing with competitors. All that, just for supporting these uncivilized savages, who were basically naked all the time. Well, not this one. He had on some grimy t-shirt and pants...of some sort. He signed the document and offered the pen to the rebel leader.

The Free West Papua Revolutionary Council chairman took the pen and signed the document, ironically written in both English and Indonesian (Indonesian being the language of the occupiers). By God, he had accidentally met with this arms dealer who had been jilted by Suharto, severely. The man wanted revenge and he offered him an avenue to get it. After that, he had gotten the dealer to contact an oil exec in order to get the money he needed to free his homeland. Doubtlessly, the oil exec thought that he could probably pull a fast one on this ignorant native and get unfettered access to West Papua's resources while raping the land. No, I have better plans for Papua, he thought, as he took the document to discuss with his fellow Council members. Soon, he thought as he fingered the metal cross necklace given to him by the sympathetic local Catholic priest and missionary, soon all of Papua will be free...

Note: Yes, the chairman is Catholic. My apologies if the characters in this part come across as too one-dimensional and stereotypical now- I'll flesh them out in later parts.
 
Short Update and Bump

"Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC was born 12 May 1944 in Cleveleys, Lancashire. Patten was a Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment in the United Kingdom of Great Britain from the 1970s to 1990s and chairman of the UK Conservative Party from 1990-1992. He would have been only known as the last British Governor of Hong Kong, presiding over the handover of the British colony to the People's Republic of China if not for his drastic pro-democracy reforms in 1997 before the handover and his activities after the handover which are often credited by historians with keeping Hong Kong a democratic city-state, leading to it becoming a center of the Global Revolution in 2068..."

Lady Priya Sarah Almsley, Cadet at the Naval Academy of Earth, Annapolis,, Atlantic Seaboard, Republic of Earth, in an essay for Earth History 238- European-Asian Relations Throughout History. She was of Mappila Muslim Indian and British aristocratic ancestry. Almsley would later become a Lt. Commander in the Solar Confederation Navy before going into politics and becoming Prime Minister of Earth in 2265...
 
January 16, 1997
Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine


Knesset Votes 66-34 In Favour Of Hebron Protocol
Left Demands Accelerated Peace Process Rather Then 'This Delaying'; Right Demands 'No Protocol' At All

February 11, 1997
Belgrade, Serbia


Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia, begun to speak.

"The government shall accept the opposition's victories in the local elections of 1996 as valid, although the government and my party are not responsible for..."

He never got to finish his sentence, as a sniper blew Milošević's head out...
 
I'm seeing some utopian stuff coming up, which is a refreshing antidote to much of what I've been reading and writing lately. Excellent work so far, and very fun.

Bye, bye, Milosevic. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fella.
 
February 18, 1997
Busang, Indonesia

Michael de Guzman flipped through the reports he had written for this month on estimates of gold deposits at his company's Busang site. They were all faked, of course, but the investors and media seemed to happily lap it all up. He smiled as he thought about his impending "death" by falling from a helicopter over the jungle...

"Who are you?!"

De Guzman swung around upion hearing someone coming into his office, only to see some Indonesian man swing a huge bat at him before he would see no more...

===

February 25, 1997
New York Times Front Page

Protests Continue In Indonesia Over Suharto's Alleged Involvement In Mining Scam
Protesters Say President Knew About Scam and Planned To Sell Shares in Bre-X Before "Exposing" It; Reformists Continue to Focus On Corruption And Suppression of Democracy, Too
 
January 5, 1997
Principality of Sealand, North Sea

"Good morning, assembled members of the media. I'd like to thank you all for getting up at an ungodly hour to come all here to Sealand. Without further ado, here's Neal Stephenson."

"Thanks, Roy. Good morning and thanks again for coming. You may know me as a science fiction author and technology writer, but I am also a libertarian. [1] Therefore, I believe in the unfettered trade of ideas and products throughout the world. The company that we are announcing today, HavenCo, will further this cause. Sealand will house a secure colocation facility which will house Internet data servers that will NOT be limited in their ability to host almost anything, as we are free from international intellectual property law. Things such as child pornography, spamming, hacking, and terrorism will not be permitted, and we will cooperate with international authorities in investigating any attempts at basing these activities on our servers, but for the most part, HavenCo shall be a data haven, dedicated to freedom of thought and commerce! Now..."

January 5, 1997
New York Times Front Page

A Even More Decentralized Internet?
International Telecommunication Union To Dicuss Taking Over And Reforming IANA And Regional Internet Registries, Among Others

[1] Stephenson is more ideological in this TL and has self-identified as a libertarian, unlike in OTL.
 
Good more please :)

I think statichaos is right about the utopian stuff, especially with the last posts Libertarian content.

Nice TL I hope you continue to flesh it out.
 
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