“What did he mean about them going with us?”
“Going with us? I suppose, that they will be on our side. I don’t know love.”
3991
PART THIRTY NINE
Chapter One Hundred Eighty One
We arrived within hours of leaving. I can’t describe how strange it feels to open the fridge to use milk that to us is almost three years old. Shelif and Aven ran around getting to know the house. They’ve already seen it in our minds, but the physical presence of an object feels different. A house is also made up of the scents of the family who live in it, rooms have a presence that is not so easily communicated mind to mind. With time you get to know which rug slips, the sound of your footsteps on the floors, the cold of walking on marble barefoot in winter and so on. Even the way your voice sounds in a house is sometimes unique. Listening to the two of them calling to each other, their voices and odd shrieks of discovery, we felt the house is now richer with memories. Luckily the girls still want to use the guest bedroom as we do not have any spare beds in the main one. Robbie walked around and around the bedroom trying to work out how he can make space.
“We would end up losing half our livingroom space and it would only add another two beds.”
“We can’t do that!”
“The only solution I can think of is to pull down this house and put a two storey house in its place. The top floor will have to be one bedroom and twelve bathrooms. Only four of them will be fitted with a bath, the rest only showers.”
“We love this house Roberto. It is our home. Can’t you find another solution?”
“I wish we had a Cherinian architect!”
Laura clapped her hands with delight. “But we do, we have thousands! We can borrow one from another Cherine.”
“Good thinking sis. I’ll go tomorrow.”
The Alki of that reality sent him a Greek architect. She did not make a comment as she viewed our bedroom. She is very good at sketching and she did a sheet with our present layout, then using a see-through plastic page, like thick cellophane, she sketched in her ideas. The lounge expanded by about a third, the two guest bedrooms became smaller and a third one became possible. She added a room for us to study in with lots of shelving for books. She placed three concrete columns inside and columns on the outside to bear the weight of an extra floor. She managed to fit fourteen bathrooms and calculated, by stepping up the outer beds, she can fit beds for sixty persons. She suggested she gets rid of the beds and by creating a base that goes all around the room, on the top tier and on the middle tier, splitting the base wherever a passage to a bathroom is needed, she can fit eighty of us.
“Unless you want a bedroom the size of a football field, once you go over eighty you will have to start sleeping in different rooms.”
Robbie waited until she was gone and then asked us to all sit in the lounge with him.
“I’ve been meaning to speak to you for a long time now. I’m sorry I did not do so before today. You all heard what the architect said. We will not plan for the sixty beds. I’m choosing to have the odd arrangement she suggested so that eighty of us can fit in our bedroom.
When I think of how we started, babies being born and within weeks or months planning to have babies…that was scary!” Many of us laughed. “We had a talk and you girls made your own decisions. To tell the truth, because I could feel the yearning in each of you for a child, I did not expect you to keep to your decision. Even if you tried to, I thought you would be emoting such a need that the rest of us will be forced to give in and almost order you to have a child.
You all amazed me by the maturity you showed. You found the strength within yourselves to clamp down on your own instincts and I have not had one wife of mine for years now, ask me for a baby. When special reasons appeared for certain wives to have children, as with Agapi, Haven and Shiyra, I did not feel any resentments, only joy.
From the first of you to the last, I had a need today and perhaps because I am not as strong as you are, I have to indulge myself. I need to let you know, not just by my emoting but with words, you make my heart burst with pride. If every Cherinian male had wives like you there would be no reason for any of us to fear the future. Every single one of you plays a part in being my strength and in helping to make our dreams come true. Thank you my loves.”
3992
“You forget you are our strength also Robert.” One voice said the words, but they came from all our hearts.
I can imagine that for a Normal it would be difficult living with people as emotional and sappy as us, but it harms no one and we enjoy it. Being constantly bombarded with emoting makes it easier to show love with words and actions without feeling vulnerable or ridiculous in any way.
That night I was half dozing, the time ideas come to me, usually the crazy ones. I chuckled and told myself to remember it for the next day. Sleepily Robbie asked me by mindspeak what I’d thought of. I told him and he sat up, sleep forgotten.
“What the hell are you talking about! How could we have as many children as we want!” I chuckled, touched that crazy as I sounded he showed me the respect of treating my statement seriously.
“No pain, no gain. Robert, everything in life has a price. I do not see us doing it now,” I saw all my loves had woken up and were listening, “but who knows, maybe someday? As an example only. Say I desperately want a child and because I love Dommi so much and she loves me, she offers to die and be reborn as my child, what would the increase in souls or bodies be?”
He relaxed, just a tiny bit, annoyed I’d woken him up with a fanciful theory that can never happen.
“Maybe I’ll do that for you some day Sam, I’d love to have you as my mother.”
Our poor husband forgot about being relaxed and annoyed with me. He was now too scared, as if we are threatening to do it immediately. The idea of it ever happening, of losing any of us as we are now, terrifies him.
“Robert, what is so different about what Sam suggested to our ideas years ago that we will get tired of being who we are and after living on our World for a while we will come back as new people? This way we will still be together, loving each other, but continually changing.”
“You could keep Dommi’s body for her in stasis so that she can come back whenever she wants and…”
Soon everybody was taking part in the discussion and listening to them my eyes closed and I fell asleep. That must have been what annoyed Robbie so much, I could hardly get him to say good morning to me.
Perikli came to visit. Kirra is not staying with him yet. She lives with the family of Tasso and Perikli spends lunch time and evenings with her. He spoils her rotten of course. The poor tyke is totally confused, but that does not prevent her from understanding he is her guardian. We think we can see signs of her accepting him as a father figure who sees to it that no one hurts her. When she heard he is a policeman, she lived in terror until Perikli explained he thinks of her as his daughter.
They have problems communicating. He can understand her, but she is not a Cherinian and cannot understand him, unless Claudia is within range. All she can speak is Russian and her grasp of the language is far below normal for a child of her age. Theresa is spending a lot of time with them so that she can translate for him. The presence of someone she knows from her past is a comfort. Theresa did all she can to show she loves and trusts Perikli and plays little games to make Kirra jealous so as to provoke her into claiming Perikli as hers. It is not working yet, because she learnt early in life not to expect anything good to happen to her.
The day Perikli turned up with a doll for her, one that talked and wet itself, was the first time she fell in love. With the doll. Theresa assured Perikli that it is a great step forward.
Perikli did not come to see us about Kirra. He’d asked Savva to join us about an hour later. He explained.
“If I resign now, Savva will be under an officer I do not like. Before I became a Cherinian I thought the man was cold but efficient. Now I can see that he has no understanding of human nature or the weaknesses that drive most people. Under him the force would become less Cherinian than it has over these years. Roberto, I can manoeuvre him into a position that side-tracks his career so that if I move Savva up quickly he could be in the running. My opinion will be asked and it might tip the scales in his favour. To do all this I have to stay at least another year, but many are already grumbling about my two year extension.”
3993
Robbie grinned. “Are you above playing political games? What if Hettie arranges for an American official, one whose position does not entitle him to express an opinion, rudely demand Savva not be the next Chief of Police?”
Perikli smiled. “If he speaks to the right people, it just might help.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Robbie was being really wicked now. “You know of a businessman who intensely dislikes Alki and also has pretensions about being a political power? He has made some almost insulting comments about Alki, just avoiding slander. If a bird were to whisper in his ear that an American official wants to visit Greece in the hope of meeting a few ministers and Alki fears him coming because he is trying to cause him financial damage, do you think an invitation is likely to come about?”
“How would the American explain his being a threat?”
“His government has information about the technology Alki is using to create his range of electronic equipment and they are trying to find the proof they need to prove he bought secret military information from a spy. It could end up costing Alki billions of dollars, which would destroy him.”
“Theé mou! (My God) Alki is right, you have become a real Greek!”
“In the meantime, Alki and Elia warn the minister who became a secret shareholder in their company that this man was behind the attack on me to stop us from marketing our inventions. We have information his people are angry that Savva played a role in stopping them and as they are still trying to steal our secrets, they want to ensure the Chief of Police is a person in their pay. Since the American will mention that he would like to see your cold friend as Chief…we can play around with the idea, I’m certain that between you, Hettie and Alki, a good plan that is realistic could be worked out?”
Haven was grinning and she softly asked Athia if this was what she called machiavellian. Athia answered no, Robbie was being like her mother, just manipulative. Cherine was not amused until she saw in her daughters’ mind and ripples of amusement spread out from her.
Savva arrived and was told that Perikli wants to stay on so as to ensure he takes over. “Stratigé, I am flattered, but I do not think I am suitable for the position. I’m also too close to retirement age.”
Perikli dryly replied, “That is for those above you to decide.” We found it interesting that despite both being Cherinians and extremely close, at a moment like this, a lifetime of training dictated his reaction. We’ve seen that Savva is worried about his family. His office would no longer be in the area he lives and travelling to and from work will eat up an extra two to three hours of his day and he is not willing to sacrifice time he has with his family, as he is conscious of the short time he has left with Niki, she is already aggressively showing she wants him as her lover, not willing to tolerate him just being her father anymore. The driving time is real, since he cannot arrive without a car and driver.
“Savva, why not get a small apartment within walking distance?”
“He can have mine. If I’m to have children I have to get out of the centre of the city. I want a plot of land big enough for them to run around and play.”
“Use it as a base to jump from.”
Savva sat listening to us unhappily. Aganthi sat by him and gave him a hug. “Your family will be proud of you. Chief of Police! You deserve the position.”
Hettie had to oversee the gearing up of ADFI for the marketing of their products, but she found time to arrange for the visit to Greece by an official and the businessman who hated Alki did exactly as Robbie predicted, taking him to all official functions. Hettie’s official was careful not to make any public statements but did, when the right opportunities presented themselves, approach government ministers and finding an excuse to discuss the proposed change of the Chief of Police he would rather too boorishly hint it would make certain people happy to see the other man promoted/appointed - with the desired/foreseen effect on them.
3994
When Savva was designated as the next chief, Robbie cut out the announcement and had it framed and hung it in his office. He is inordinately proud of himself, while in a strange way amused. Under pressure he gave in and confessed. He sees this as the first time he has ever pitted himself against men of power on Earth and won. His amusement comes from his pride in his achievement. He found it petty of himself, but it has not stopped him feeling the way he does.
Arthur, thanks for your idea and we will make use of it, but it is not possible for us to take all of them within days, as it will cause the collapse of the markets all over the world. We will do the best we can and the first we take will be the worst of them. Have I told you that sometimes you are brilliant? (It was safe for me to say that, since he cannot respond…
* * * * *
ADFI made their announcement, on a planet-wide scale, and there was a storm of protest from scientists. Their arguments are valid. They said no scientists who have any knowledge of the subject are involved and such sophisticated technology cannot appear out of thin air, there has to be a series of developments leading to it.
We suspect ADFI had not come to the attention of the security agencies (spies) of any of the major countries and they were caught with their pants down. It did not take them long to find out that ADFI is registered in over thirty countries and that manufacturing plants exist in nineteen of them. Only France was stupid enough to raid our offices and try to stop the marketing of our products worldwide. Hettie has her ways of getting inside info and she let us know the Americans had thought of taking the same action, but seeing how spread out we are, had stopped so as not to make fools of themselves. There was a lot of self-congratulations behind closed doors when they saw France come out of it with red faces. The fact that France did not relent and would not allow the sale of any of our products for over a month brought such an outcry from the public that the party in power had to resign and the opposition was voted in.
Why the outcry? Imagine a train leaving London and arriving in Edinburgh on a glass of water. An aeroplane capable of carrying 2,000 passengers could leave Heathrow, fly to Kennedy Airport, land, take off for Los Angeles, then Hong Kong, Singapore and back to Heathrow with one bucket of water for fuel. Extend the examples to ships, spaceships and anything else you can imagine and think of no pollution, no dependency on any nation for your energy requirements, no maintenance costs for engines with an expected life in the hundreds of years (the Anadir claim they had engines thousands of years old that worked without a problem since there are no moving parts). Cost of living is directly linked to the cost of energy. As computers revolutionised the way we live and do business, so will anti gravity.
3995
We have made enemies of all the major powers though; not just the governments and the disappearing Cabal leaders, but the people and media (including the alternative media) also. Why? Because we launched our products at special ‘launch’ prices in third world countries. We claimed the demand is so strong we will not have stock to supply the wealthy countries for a year.
We sell our products only to private companies. We finance them and create partnerships. We try to help them establish themselves so that they will have an edge when the big boys come in. It did not surprise us when the multinationals tried to take over our customers or agents. They found themselves blocked, we have taken their shares as collateral and bought into their companies so that no shares can be transferred without our approval. What also upset many people is that we tried to cushion the blow to countries that depend on sales of oil for their survival.
We also desperately tried to prevent the collapse of Stock Exchanges throughout the world. ADFI launched a marketing company for the major transportation equipment and shares in the company were offered for sale only to the investors who held shares in the companies that were expected to collapse.
No non-Cherinian would have believed the sight of rooms full of children avidly following the effects of our entering the market and manipulating it to save the man in the street. Such a large number of shares are held by Funds and Pension Funds, that the collapse of the shares would have caused widespread misery and even made us responsible for many committing suicide. The last thing on our minds was profit (oh Iziko, where are you?). We are transforming an entire planet, but are determined not to allow any suffering. We’ve set ourselves an impossible target!
Hettie aged herself to about forty and we are now used to seeing her on the news. Some journalists even flew to Africa to interview her eccentric husband. They could not work out how it is they always arrive where he’d been the day before.
The day CNN showed the German police arriving at her mansion to arrest her, Hettie visited us to talk with Robbie.
We watched as it was announced she has not been found. Eddie joined us. Hettie did not show any emotion as they went through her house, but Eddie was angry. She put her hand on his knee.
“Robert, do I evade them or do I allow them to arrest me?”
“Your home is near Switzerland. If you show up there, are they likely to hand you over?”
“No, I don’t think so - it maybe depends in how dire are the threats made by the United States.”
“Have all the offices of ADFI announce that our rules of incorporation foresaw this possibility and if you are arrested, you no longer represent the company as its Chairperson and have no authority to negotiate or bind ADFI in any way.”
“Who takes over?”
“For security reasons, you do not know. If necessary we will change our Chairperson every day, but no government will be allowed to try and dictate to ADFI by arresting our officers. We have not broken any laws and our products may be smashing monopolies of the wealthy nations, but it is to the benefit of all of Mankind.
Eddie, announce you have taken over as Chairperson of the Space Technology Department of ADFI and offer the United Nations forty percent of the shares in the company to be created especially for space exploration, colonisation etc. The forty percent will be distributed by us equally to all nations, so that they all have the same share - and none of the shares are to go to any financial Institutions or banks, especially those owned by the five - or, as it seems now, the seven families. Eddie, not even one share is to remain in the hands of the United Nations.
Before you do any of what I just said, meet with Alki, Elia, Luigi, Wing and discuss it. I do not expect you to do as I suggested, but use my ideas to formulate your own.”
Everybody recognises the signs by now, so when Robbie lit a cigarette and paced up and down thinking, nobody said a word, aware that he is about to change his mind. A hollow feeling in our tummies warned us he is working his way to something dramatic that will change our lives forever.
“We made a mistake. The whole thing is going to collapse like a pack of cards. We are playing according to their rules and they have the right to change their rules, suspend them and make new rules. We cannot fight them that way.”
3996
Aganthi jumped to the kitchen and brought him some coffee as he stood staring out at the garden. We could feel how troubled he is and waited without trying to peek. Cherine went to him and stood by him, her face staring back at us proudly. It scared all of us. We realised he has made a Cherinian decision.
“Eddie, Hettie, please order all the offices of ADFI to shut their doors. Send the code to all their computers to destroy all information on them. We have copies in the tissue banks computers on the moon. Sol, I urgently need a spaceship, ask if we can borrow the one the Anadir built.”
He stared at Hettie and she stood up. He smiled and took her hands in his. “How does it feel Hettie? You and Eddie are the leaders of the first Terran nation in space. Tomorrow, after ADFI officials have announced that the company is moving its base into space, you must send a message from the spaceship declaring our independence from Earth. Tell them you are sending your husband as your Ambassador to the United Nations to discuss terms of cooperation.”
“We cannot do that Robert. If we were to do that, we should have done so from the beginning. We have a couple of billion dollars of stock which they will confiscate.”
He smiled, his head leaning over as he asked with an amused calmness, “Are you sure Hettie?”
“You have taken it?”
“By the time you make your announcement it will all be gone. So will the machinery we used in our manufacturing plants.”
“This is going to destroy the world economy, especially the poorer countries we based ourselves in. They are still in the middle of the crisis we caused and now you want us to withdraw?”
“You will make a very strong statement explaining or…committing us; Hettie, tell them we will honour all our agreements. We will pay taxes on all profits earned and we undertake not to take more than five percent of those profits in cash off planet. At least another five percent will be taken in goods. The cash five percent will be held by us as guarantee for our own currency. Use your own expertise to turn it into a workable plan, I do not have the knowledge to handle any of the details. I’ll just concentrate on doing the donkey work.”
To say that every Cherinian cowered in terror for the next twenty four hours would be true. To also say that every Cherinian was excited and bursting with pride that we are finally taking action to make this a better world, would also be true.
None of the family had time to feel either too strongly. We went with Robbie to lend him our strengths, but mostly for company. If he was alone he’d think too much and have doubts about himself. He took us to the spaceship hiding behind Noelle. We were shown the holds and then we returned to earth and began stripping the warehouses and factories. Alarms went off, but armed guards stood at a loss as they saw machinery disappearing without any visible thieves. We had not finished by many of the local mornings in various countries around the world so we continued until it was time for Hettie and Eddie to make their announcements.
We took a break, other Cherinians had prepared us a lovely breakfast and we all ate like pigs. Then we sat and watched CNN. Nothing was said and then as breaking news, FOX announced that most of Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Singapore have issued warrants of arrest for the Chairperson and Board of Directors of ADFI and all assets, stocks, factories etc., are to be frozen. The first thing to be frozen are the funds our company hold in banks.
As the void, Robbie went looking for Eddie and Hettie. They were in their apartment in London, surrounded by armed men while some suits sat talking to them.
*What happened?*
*The United Nations met in secret and passed new rules. We are under protective custody.*
*Did you inform them ADFI are moving off planet?*
*Yes. I think that is what made them move so fast. They took our threat seriously!*
*Close your eyes. Soon as you see a flash jump to our home.*
3997
Robbie was careful not to cause permanent damage to the eyes of the people there, but for those two or three seconds they could not see, the couple vanished. Still as the void, Robbie came to us and created a form.
“Would you like to freshen up and have breakfast before we take you to your new home?”
Hettie laughed. “They did feed us Robert. I would have liked to have a change of clothing with me though.”
“You have your best stuff in Germany? I’ll bring it. Whatever else you need we can get later. Hettie, you will not have to live there. They will not know if you jump back here. The one bedroom is yours for as long as you need it.”
Sol grinned. “It is just as well they can jump here. They would not enjoy sleeping on Anadir beds.”
Robbie rapped his forehead with his knuckles. “Of course! They will need a bathroom and furniture!”
We should have checked with Ordinx. Robbie turned up on board carrying stuff for the two of them and the Anadir were then forced to tell us their secret. They had built an apartment for our family and a few others for Terran Cherinian visitors and officials from Earth, once there is diplomatic contact. They’d been meaning to have a ceremony when they’d tell us.
Robbie went back to removing everything belonging to ADFI from Earth. By the next morning he had just about everything and he returned to his body. He slept for two hours and got up to see the broadcast from the Anadir spaceship. It was being beamed directly to the satellites and replaced all major networks.
We stayed tuned to the FOX channel. They admitted that news had come in that all stock and machinery has disappeared. A map of Earth was shown with red dots showing where ADFI had factories and warehouses.
“Authorities from all these countries are announcing that all top officials of ADFI are not available for…”
The screen blanked for a second and then Hettie and Eddie appeared.
“We apologise for interrupting the broadcast you were watching. We will return you to your favourite show within minutes. Allow us to introduce ourselves, besides me is my husband Edward Mansfield, Chairperson of ADFI Space Developments. I am Hettie Mansfield, Chairperson of ADFI. In case you did not know, ADFI stands for Anadir Development Fund Incorporated, a network of companies incorporated in many countries on Earth.
Our scientists made a breakthrough and as our funders are persons with a strong social conscience, it was decided we will restrict ourselves to a small profit, but the focus of our group will be on improving life for all on Earth, not helping make the rich and their banks wealthier and the poor destitute.
Because we refused to release our technology for the use of the military, and because we spread our manufacturing secrets over continents so that no single government can seize our knowledge, after various Agencies failed to kidnap us, warrants of arrest were issued for all the top officers of ADFI, including my husband and myself.
We have no quarrel with the people of our planet. To tell you the truth, we do not have any problems with the governments either. We understand their panic and are willing to do all we can to help prevent disruption or economic chaos. We are not willing to see our products adapted for killing, not even if the description used is self-defence. We are not willing to allow the corporate world to hi-jack our technology so that they can increase their profits tenfold while the ordinary family continues to suffer.
Even with our very small profit margins, we expect to make profits in the tens of billions of dollars per year. After paying taxes we will only be keeping ten to fifteen percent, the rest we plan to reinvest in people. By that we mean hospitals, schools and many other such projects. Planning to build a hospital does not solve many problems if there is a shortage of doctors and nurses, so we will provide incentives for young people to study. It is important many small businesses are created or else we will never break out of the poverty trap next generations are born into.
3998
My husband will be telling you of developments with regard to exploitation, exploration and colonisation of space, but I have to mention from now, ADFI Space has a spaceship already. No radar or satellite saw us leave Earth and yet we are making this broadcast from space. We will be moving closer to Earth so that you can all see us in your skies. We hope you will see us as a symbol of hope for all of Mankind.
It is with great sorrow we have to make the following declaration. Due to events in the last month or two we were forced to move out into space. We have taken with us all our stock, factories and technology. ADFI is no longer a company based on Earth. All our offices on Earth are only representative offices and hold no information of use to your governments.
We of ADFI in space, herewith make our official declaration of independence. We will be known as of today as Cherinians. We are an independent nation and though there will be a growing number of Cherinians living in space, our loyalty will always be first to you, the people of Earth. Our reason for existing is to improve your lives and spread Mankind throughout our galaxy in a healthy way and based on respect for every human being, whether of Earth or other star systems.”
Robbie was furious that she’d used Cherine’s name. That was his instant reaction, but then he felt us, felt Cherine and he held back his anger, forcing it to subside as he calmed his mind, accepting what cannot be undone.
Eddie took over.
“You will now see a picture of our spaceship. For those who are interested, its measurements are: One thousand three hundred and forty six metres long and the circumference is four hundred and sixty one metres. It is capable of achieving a top speed of close to half the speed of light. Star Trek fans will be happy to hear that we are at present developing the prototype of an engine that will enable us to cover a thousand light years within months. It is not just theory, we have successfully sent a robot out fifty light years and brought it back.”
We saw the Anadir spaceship from the outside. A human figure in a spacesuit appeared and it became obvious the ship is gigantic. The camera zoomed in and appearing to pass through the wall it entered the ship. We saw corridors, the engine room, a hydroponics room - the plants were deliberately totally out of focus - the cabin built for Terran guests and then last of all the camera went through a corridor, a door slid open and we entered the command centre. The camera panned around the room, showing the equipment and then it swivelled around two seats and we were back at Hettie and Eddie.
He gave that gentle, warm smile we love. “There are many other developments in the pipeline that are more important in the short term, which will have a direct impact on the lives of each man, woman and child on Earth. We expect to soon give prime health to every human being with a projected lifespan of over one hundred and fifty years, despite the poisonous food you have been surviving on. Soon it will not be necessary for you to read science fiction or the bible to hear of people living a thousand years. We dare not do it now, for you first have to show you are capable of acting responsibly and lowering the birth rate worldwide.
I am authorised by my leader to extend our hand in friendship and ask that your governments accept me as an ambassador of the Cherinians. If I am invited to meet your representatives at the United Nations, we promise we will work out a way to include every country as our partners. Let us go out into the dark of distant space as one nation, as one people - but not under the stranglehold of any dictators or Cabals.”
Hettie came back on. “Reports are reaching us of young people causing trouble in cities throughout the world, demanding the resignation or overthrow of their governments. This is our sternest warning. Anyone who kills in our name, anyone who harms any other human, will never be allowed to become a Cherinian. We have said we will work with your governments and we demand you only use peaceful means to express your wishes. If you do not know what we mean, I suggest you read up on the life and beliefs of Mahatma Ghandi - or, as an equally simple guide, behave in an opposite manner to those groups who use the fake name Antifa. Thank you. We are returning you to your regular station now.”
CNN and FOX came back on again. Bleakly we watched as the broadcast was discussed over the next hours. The president of the USA spoke, his attitude was that their government will protect Americans and the world from these pirates who have no respect for law and order. He demanded Hettie and Eddie turn themselves in and ridiculed their story about being in space. Specialists were interviewed who told of how our technology can be used by terrorists to kill millions in one blast, destroying whole cities. They distorted truths to make the point that we are criminals out to destroy the world and take over as dictators. Within hours they made the name ‘Cherinians’ sound like it is the most hated and despicable name in the world.
3999
Robbie left his body for the void. As the void he created a platform, a ball of energy that shimmered, silver with a smoky movement. He gathered himself and pushed it into normal space. Knowing the Japanese do not have nuclear weapons he appeared over Tokyo. Only then did we see it is the largest platform he’s ever brought to any Terra.
Poised a hundred metres above the tallest buildings, it covered over half the city. As millions looked up with awe and fear, a message began to scroll over the surface. “A WORLD OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR ALL WITH ADFI”,
It jumped from there to city after city. When it arrived over New York, fighter planes were waiting for it. Missiles were launched and we felt Robbie cursing. He had to deflect the explosions so that they do not affect the buildings under him. He sent Hettie a message and TV stations were taken over again.
“Our message of peace has been met with missiles over New York.” Her face disappeared and we saw the platform with the jets circling or attacking. “Whoever authorised this must be considered a criminal. We have appeared over most of the major cities of the world without causing harm. Why then is the American Airforce using such violence? If we were not deflecting the explosions away from New York, they would be shattering buildings and windows, killing innocent people.”
Her face appeared on the screen, looking troubled for a moment, showing her unhappiness at what Robbie had asked her to say. “It would be better we finish with this kind of reaction. Mr President, we challenge you. We will move away from New York, back out over the ocean where people cannot be affected. Send us your jets with nuclear weapons, lasers, whatever you wish. Throw your worst at us, we will not retaliate. Maybe we can then settle down and talk like civilised people.”
Missiles, nuclear, approached from three directions. The damage to the atmosphere would be terrible! We cannot believe men are this stupid!
Robbie had the same worries. Not certain at what distance they are set to explode, he reached out and placed all three of them in stasis. We heard his message to Hettie. Her grim acceptance was also heard by us. On the screen it could be seen she is in a cold fury.
“If we had allowed them to explode, millions all over the world would suffer from the fallout. Your computers have already told you that we have taken control of the three missiles. If we were as evil as you, we could position them over three American cities and release the mechanisms so that they explode. We prefer to send them out into space where they can explode without harming life of any kind.”
The missiles swirled in an orbit around the platform and then shot up and away from Earth. Robbie waited until they were far past the moon before allowing them to explode.
The platform appeared over Washington, then Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It then appeared over Vancouver and slowly rose higher and higher until it left Earth. Robbie placed it in orbit around the moon, brightening the surface so that it can be clearly seen by the naked eye.
The Anadir spaceship appeared between Earth and the moon. At a reduced speed it came closer to Earth. Close to Earth it stayed over the Atlantic Ocean so that it is not trespassing over any country.
“This message is for the president of the United States. We invite you to join us, so that you can be convinced we truly are in a spaceship.”
Not waiting for a reply, Robbie wrapped the president in his energy, making it scintillate so that his advisors will think it is some kind of Star Trek teleportation. We saw him appear in the control room in front of Hettie and Eddie.
“Mr President, welcome to the world of the Cherinians. Please step this way and take a look out the window.” Numb with shock he did so and stared as he saw the ocean below and clouds close above. The ship shot up and he saw the planet fall away. Shaken he watched as his home world shrank to the size of the moon.
“Mr President.” He looked at Eddie. “You have had ample demonstrations of our goodwill. Will you now invite us to meet at the United Nations so that we can negotiate a trade agreement? We are also willing to sign an agreement undertaking to protect Earth should it be attacked by aliens.”
“Aliens?”
4000
Eddie smiled. “They do exist Mr President. Most of them are peaceful and have much to teach us.” He shrugged. “That is for the future. Right now we need to rid our planet of the chemtrail pollution and the genetically mutated plants and other organisms that are killing our pollinators, forests, oceans and affecting our own newborn. We need to minimise the cost of energy so that all of Mankind can live in relative comfort, without anybody having to use their money and power to reduce our populations by killing our children. We can help make that happen in an organised way so that the world economy is given time to adjust. All we need is to agree on procedures.” We sensed how Eddie struggled to stop himself from telling the president that those in control of him no longer are, but he is a team player when it is necessary and did as Arthur suggested.
Hettie added, “We shall return you to the White House now. Our meeting has been shown on television worldwide, so we hope you will find it easier to persuade the hawks to stop looking for ways to attack us.” Robbie returned him and stayed to listen. The president and his men were shaken.
“Mr President, we do not have any option, we’ll have to invite them and acknowledge them as an independent nation.”
“I disagree Mr President. We should appear to agree by inviting them. We can negotiate and if we word our treaties carefully, we might convince them to return with their new technology. Our scientists will take apart a few of their engines and reverse engineer them, and then we’ll have the technology ourselves. I am convinced once we learn their secrets we’ll be able to duplicate it and use it to create weapons they have no defence against.”
“We must be careful not to accept that they have the right to demand independence. We should never refer to them as Cherinians.”
The president listened to them without commenting. What impressed us was that the highest ranking military officer argued against the hawks. “We have an opportunity to leap ahead by fifty years and save our planet. With cheap energy the United States will grow stronger. Mr President, what they said about aliens, do you believe Mr Mansfield?”
“Should I?”
“I have met his wife and him a number of times Mr President. Both of them are tough, hard business people who have interests in many financial and high technology companies. They must have made discoveries years ago and foreseeing the power these would give them, they went underground with their research. What worries me sir is that none of our agents ever heard a rumour of it. If they truly have moved everything out into space, then we no longer have a choice. Either we work with them and try to control what happens on Earth through diplomacy, or else they will ignore us and move in without respecting our laws. If they were to cooperate with Cuba, Libya and another dozen such countries, how would we prevent them from growing stronger?”
“I’m sorry Mr President, their disruption of the media, their broadcasts, the sight of you in space with them, all are causing great anxiety, the situation demands that we make a decision immediately. We must declare ourselves for or against inviting them to negotiations or else matters will be taken out of our hands. Reports suggest the new French President has decided to invite them.”
The idea of the French doing so forced their hand. The president made an announcement, confirming to the press that he had been taken by some form of instant transportation to the spaceship and that he officially invited Mr Mansfield to visit the White House for negotiating a peaceful solution.
A tunnel of light appeared next to the president and as it faded away, Eddie appeared. The cameras swung to face him.
“Thank you Mr President. Regretfully we must decline your invitation. Our agreements must be with the whole planet, not with any nation, however much we admire your country and yourself. If you are able to rephrase your invitation so that we deal with the United Nations, we will accept with pleasure.” He smiled. “If your wife invites me to sleep at the White House, or for a meal, I would be honoured to accept. I’d enjoy sharing a cognac and exchanging information with you.”
“You have my word you will meet with the United Nations Council to present your terms. Is your luggage waiting on the lawn outside?”
“It will be delivered to whichever room I am allotted. May I take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of all Cherinians for visiting us and keeping an open mind, enabling us to work together to improve life for the present and future generations of this beautiful planet of ours.”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)18th December, 2019
- posted: 18th December, 2019
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