Cambridge
Cambridge is an ancient city on Earth in the Sol system. It is one of a small number of Earth cities that recovered from the ravages of World War III in the mid-21st century and remains partially preserved in its historic form. The city is divided into two sections: modern Cambridge, which features a historic spaceport and a mixture of post-WWIII and modern structures, and old Cambridge, which contains the city's oldest buildings and is protected from wind and precipitation by an energy dome as well as a no-fly zone that prohibits all aircraft and spacecraft to reduce noise. One of the buildings in old Cambridge is Jesus College, which contains a collection of over 9,000 books that survived WWIII, the only such collection known to exist. Entry to old Cambridge is heavily restricted and usually only available to leading archaeologists or exorbitantly expensive public tours that are only permitted to enter certain buildings.[1]
In March 3301, Senator Kahina Tijani Loren of the Empire traveled to Earth on a diplomatic mission to the Federation on behalf of Cuthrick Delaney, the Imperial Ambassador to Prism. Lady Loren landed at the Cambridge spaceport before traveling to London, where she spent the duration of her visit.[2]
In January 3303, after her staged death while being transported via prison convoy to the Imperial prison Koontz Asylum, Kahina Tijani Loren secretly traveled to old Cambridge as a representative of Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval to take part in negotiations to reduce tensions with the Federation that resulted from the dissolution of the London Treaty. Cambridge was chosen as the meeting location specifically because of its lack of surveillance. Loren met directly with President Zachary Hudson inside Jesus College's library, and agreed to convey his plan to de-escalate to the Emperor: Hudson would publicly claim to have pressured the Empire into backing down in the negotiations, thus giving him the political room needed to also pull Federal forces back. At the instruction of The Club, Hudson also persuaded the unwitting Loren into believing that the recent tensions were the result of Alliance manipulation and part of a plot to weaken the Federation and Empire in preparation for their conquest.[1]
Timeline
20 JAN 3303
- Animosity between the Empire and the Federation has been growing for months, but leaked communications suggest that clandestine negotiations may be taking place between the two superpowers. Jason Nygaard, a reporter for The Federal Times, said: "We believe the Federation is meeting with Imperial dignities behind closed doors. The nature of these meetings isn't clear, but we have noted unusual ship movements around the historic Cambridge space port." Cambridge, once of the few ancient Earth cities preserved in its historic form, is notably free from surveillance. It has been associated with many remarkable events in its long history.[3]
27 MAR 3301
- In an open letter addressed for the attention of Senator Kahina Tijani Loren, Alliance representatives from Alioth have extended an invitation for her to visit their star-systems with the assurance the her trip will be free from "bungling bureaucracy, petty-minded procrastinators and deranged docking debacles." Apparently Lady Kahina's visit was placed on the agenda at a recent diplomatic exchange between the Alliance and the Federation with assurances sought by Alliance representatives that "somebody competent would be checking the paperwork in detail, and if at all possible, that landing pads could be reserved in advance." Lady Kahina is currently being entertained on Earth, where she was greeted by enthusiastically cheering crowds on arrival at the historic Cambridge spaceport before being taken to London to be met by Ambassador Waite. The Mail on Mars even commented that "We should have more Senators drop in for visit, she's done more for Imperial Federation relations in a month than all those ambassadors have done in decades."[2]
Trivia
- Cambridge contains the headquarters of Frontier Developments, the developer of Elite Dangerous.