Empire of the Ring

“What? We didn’t even make a deposit yet but the Jets are coming now?”

“No, the company’s going to offer a trial ride service because you’re a VIP customer. So the message was already sent from our control tower to Atyrau Airport.”

Because the autonomous state’s airfield did not have a radar installation, it followed the restrictions of Atyrau Airport. The airfield did not even receive a code from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Any aircraft would have to follow the instructions provided by Atyrau Airport and when it entered the airspace of the autonomous state, it was guided by the autonomous state’s control service. There was no instrument landing system, a pilot had to continuously communicate with the control tower to land, which was an old-fashioned way of landing. The control tower was managed by a retired Koryoin air-traffic controller.

Although not an official airport, the runway was about two kilometers long and 25 meters wide that a mid-sized airplane could land at the airfield.

“That Cessna is a great company to recognize the autonomous state’s status. Tell them that we’ll be buying bigger planes in the future.”

“Got that, Boss.”

Suh Min-seok’s voice was full of vibrancy.

The follower couple congratulated when the state became a special administrative region than anyone. Kim In-hwa even had tears in her eyes, so Youngho asked why, and this was what she said,

“Our autonomous state is small, but it’s like an independent country now. The Republic of Arirang! Hooray!”

Youngho was touched by the couple’s loyalty to the state. That day, he promoted Kim In-kwon as the chief secretary and gave the couple the title of secretary to both.

“Suh Min-seok. What did you say to the staff of Cessna that it’s offering a trial ride?”

When Youngho told him that he was a VIP of Cessna, he was only joking. The company had much bigger buyers than him even though he had bought seven light-airplanes from the company.

“I told them that the head of the Republic of Arirang would be using the jet.”

Youngho was utterly dumbfounded by what he just heard.

“What do you mean by the republic and the head?”

“Mr. Park Jong-il told me that I could say that. Also, he said that we’d be buying a medium-size private airplane soon, so I told that to the company staff too.”

Youngho now nodded. It was indeed strange that the company would bring a jet for a trial just because he was buying two six-seater jets. Believing the lie that Suh Min-seok told the staff, the company must be offering an excessive service since he seemed to be a big customer that it did not want to miss to another company.

“That may happen in several years later, but the six-seaters would be enough for my lifetime. Argh, Jong-il, this dude is ruining you guys. You need to get approval from me with business-related stuff.”

“Okay, Boss.”

Youngho wondered if Park Jong-il had said about more things than he should have.

“You didn’t hear any strange story from Mr. Park, did you?”

“He said that you’re a generous person who gives away successful companies to your friends.”

“Oh, he’s out of his mind. A successful company? He received a shipping company that’s on debt.”

“Mr. CEO, so that was really true?”

Suh Min-seok looked at Youngho with eyes of respect.

***

Park Young-sun was taking a glass from Youngho with a smile.

“It’s good that we won’t have to worry about the Commissioner’s complaint today.”

“He’ll be away for several more days since there is a lot to discuss with the central government in Astana. We need to drink as much as we want when he’s not around.”

Since the amount of the underground water discovered recently was quite large, Youngho had gathered up some people to celebrate it. It was not stagnant water but a flowing one, and it looked like there would be greater news when the investigation on it was finished.

“Doctor, if the water was connected to the branch of the Ural River, it would be perfect. Is there a slight chance?”

“We’ll have to explore it some more but it’s not an impossible story.”

“I hope it is flowing around the whole autonomous state.”

Jong-il even wished for a bigger dream.

“If that’s the case, that can’t be good for the autonomous state. There will be so many people that will be jealous of the state. Just think of it as a water supply that would meet the needs of our residents.”

“Man, do you need to be afraid when you have enough now?”

In Kazakhstan, water resource was valued more than any mineral resource, so it was not a good idea to boast plenty of water resource.

“Doctor. Wouldn’t the underground water dry out later?”

“There’s nothing in this world that’s unlimited. Everything is finite just like this earth is.”

“Are you saying that the earth will perish?”

Startled by his remark, Jong-il asked back.

“If the earth’s expected age was a year, only 18 hours are remaining for its life now. According to Stephen Hawking, the life of the earth is only about 1,000 years left. If you think about that its age is older than 4.5 billion years, it’s a scary story.”

When everyone was frozen at his explanation, Park Young-sun made another comment.

“We’ve got to think of ways to revive the earth now. We should save things so that our descendants would have at least a few hundred years more.”

After listening to Park Young-sun, Youngho did not want to drink anymore. It was a heavy topic.

“Well, there was a philosopher who said that he’s going to plant a tree even if the world ended tomorrow. Let’s cheer for the future of the autonomous state!”

Everyone cheered together but they did not feel like drinking anymore either. Soon, the party was over since people started to go home.

“Why did Dr. Park have to spoil the party by talking about the end of the world?”

“We might even have to develop a spaceship to go find a new planet like earth in the universe, in the future.”

Jong-il was bummed too for the party was dismissed.

“Seek what? We should just enjoy what we have here and leave when the time comes.”

“Oh, hyung. You’re saying like a 1,000 years is a day away.”

“Il-kwon. I’ve lived three more years than you. I’m three years wiser than you are.”

“Hey! Park Jong-il! Why did you ask such a question to Dr. Park? It’s all because of you.”

After Park Young-sun was gone, they were left with heavy hearts.

“Oh, how come you men are discouraged by such thing? You can try to save the earth. First, you can plant a lot of trees at the autonomous state and make pasture to increase the age of the earth. Then, everyone in Kazakhstan will follow what you’ve done afterwards.”

Fatima spoke confidently. It was not an impossible story. Since Kazakhstan was a huge country, if what was done in the autonomous state could be spread to the entire nation, it could have a huge effect on Central Asia and moreover, to the earth.

“The Archduchess is indeed bold and insightful. Hey, ya’ll hear that, right? We can save the earth. Il-kwon bring us two more bottles. I’m in a mood for the party again.”

They laughed at Jong-il’s remark and restarted the party of their own.

***

Whether the end of the earth was coming or not, the autonomous state was operating like always.

Today was the opening day of the central library of the state.

Many things were still needed to be completed inside the building but books had been gathered enough to open the library for public’s use, so the reading room and the library area were tidied up and open. It was a little hasty, but Youngho hurried up to open the building so that kids could come and read throughout the long winter.

The library was a lot smaller than what H Corporation’s consortium was building in Astra as a contribution to Kazakhstan, but it would have every necessary facility when it was done.

It would have two underground floors to store about 500,000 books. Many long novels were mostly written in English but Youngho also got many different types of literature in Kazakh, Serbian, Russian, and Korean as well.

“Commissioner Kim. There are so many Korean books but we don’t have a lot of Kazakh books.”

“I requested more books in Kazakh at the central library in Astana.”

“That’s great. It’ll be a problem if people don’t know Kazakh when they live in Kazakhstan. I’m concerned that Russian is used more than Kazakh in big cities.

“The government officials I met this time were worried about that too. That got me thinking. We should start teaching Kazakh in our autonomous state.”

The schools in the Arirang Autonomous State had been focusing on teaching English and Russian only. So, the state was also guilty of not emphasizing the importance of the Kazakh language.

“How did the officials think of the autonomous state?”

“They were glad that the autonomous state had now become a special administrative region. They think it’s going to strengthen Kazakhstan’s national defense.”

It was good news that government officials approved of the autonomous state. It seemed that emphasizing on the country’s military strength was a good idea.

Since Kazakhstan was a big country with plenty of mineral resources, many Kazakhs were worried that other nations would covet what they had. Therefore, Kazakh people considered sparing quite a lot of national budget on national defense. That was why they liked the fact that the autonomous state helping out the Navy by taking over the maritime police job.

“Commissioner, please make sure to tell our residents to act polite for visitors and other Kazakh people. We don’t want to lose the support of the public.”

There were many workers that came to work at the state from outside. Youngho worried that the residents of the state might hurt their feelings in any way. Since the state was newly formed, public opinion could threaten its existence.

“We shouldn’t receive technicians from outside anymore. Many residents had learned the construction work now. We’ll have enough workers of our own.”

“Then that’s great.”

Now that the central library of the state was finally open, Youngho was feeling happy that the state had hit a milestone. The future generations of the state would be grown on this foundation. To think that the autonomous state was now becoming a city with necessary infrastructures, Youngho could not help to smile, but Suh Min-seok spoiled the mood.

“Mr. CEO, are you fine?”

“Do I look like a sick person? You are always asking me if I’m fine. Come on, I’m a perfectly healthy person.”

As Suh Min-seok now had the secretary title, he literally started following Youngho around all day long while checking his condition.

“The trial jet from Cessna will arrive here tomorrow.”

“The company is quite fast to act. Did you order the flight simulator as well?”

Because new companies that sold jets were increasing recently, Cessna was actively trying to sell the jets to the state. Since jets were quite different than light airplanes, Youngho was excited to see them.

“Yes, I ordered that too, and Cessna would be sending us a trainer for the jets soon.”

Youngho was going to send people to get trained to learn how to maneuver the new jets, but it was great that the company was sending a trainer. The jets would be opening a new era for the autonomous state.