Robbie was furious with himself, but also with whatever had placed the shield. He tried jumping to the other side of the shield but he found himself on the other side of the galaxy. He jumped back and returned the platform into Freddie.
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
7381
We stayed where we were for these five days. When you asked the Akiards and Robbie to bring you to us we were expecting the usual image but still, we trained hundreds of cameras of all kinds and other instruments on where you were to appear. When you left the platform as a blinding white ball of energy, growing at an astounding speed, the cameras and instrument stayed focussed on you and some of the mobile ones tried to follow. These five days they have been drawing closer to your shield and the scientists are now performing all the experiments they can think of. I think that by the time we arrive to celebrate Cherine's forty seventh birthday she’ll feel more like a hundred years old - oops, she is older than a hundred.
7382
Robbie has warned the scientists. His warning only served to excite them into thinking up new experiments. I wonder how long we’ll end up staying here.
After two days they came to see us in the middle of the day, which is unusual. “Robert, we wish to use a laser to collect a very small sample of the shield. May we request permission from Arthur?”
I shook my head, “It won’t be necessary to ask him, go ahead - if you can.”
Robbie stopped them. “Sam, go and ask him please.” So, here I am.
You set them an impossible task. Robbie has to collect dark energy and make it available to them in a way that they can use it for experimenting. Then they have to design a laser that shoots just a hint of dark energy into the normal source they use. It is likely to take them months so we are not staying for that. Robbie has promised that as soon as they have a working cutting laser he’ll bring them back.
Our future selves are very tactful. They’ve already lived through what we live through, but they didn’t spill the beans to Robert of RT (the first, like us) so we have an audience interested in our news when we return. We have allowed all of them to show/share/tell their guests.
Arthur, the galaxies all have their unique appearance, despite them falling into certain categories, but I don’t see how I could go into details that would make sense without photos. We are at the forty first galaxy.
We’re all feeling embarrassed, even Michael. We spend years, decades, telling you that we are trying to discover a way to find you without any successes. Now we’ve realised that almost every positive idea has come from you! Arthur, if you really are coming here in your dreams, then it should not be impossible for us to sense you, we often sense others who are dreaming and having an OBE.
7383
I presumed it will not take too long for the scientists to come up with theories of how the Butterfly galaxy was formed. I lay on the grass looking at a high screen, staring at the galaxy depicted in it, lost in thought. I tried to imagine how it succeeded in taking such a form. Just for fun I’ll type my thoughts, but please, nobody should take them seriously. First, I imagine, the ‘knot’ or center formed. There must have been some kind of instability that allowed it to explode with two sheets of gas or matter to either side. As vast amounts of time passed those two jets must have spread out so as to take the slightly more circular appearance they hold today. The total system must be very unstable and is probably already in the process of losing its present shape. Taken to extremes, I imagine the two ‘wings’ separating from the knot so that someday there will be two small galaxies with a third that is really tiny in the middle, and future explorers will come up with the theory that because the two galaxies were so close, solar systems at the edges were attracted to each other, forming a child or satellite mini galaxy in the area between the two ‘wing’ galaxies. Of course, if they examine the three galaxies in greater detail they should find some very puzzling aspects that will erroneously give them the impression that their theories about how galaxies are formed are wrong. They’ll find the two wing galaxies do not have a true center with the expected concentrations of older suns; the knot will be older and denser than it should be, plus I’m certain there will be dozens of other anomalies that will cause them to despair at ever understanding how the universe was formed.
R: As if we would allow her imaginings to pass by without comment! Fascinated, we first discussed them among ourselves, divided into camps that agreed with her fancies or not and then we allowed the scientists to share and now she has a group of them that support all her suppositions (apart from her imaginings of the future scientists theories, though they do concede it could happen that way, but they believe that scientists are practical and imaginative enough to see the correct answer). They are working on the basis of Sam’s extrapolations while other scientists are earnestly striving to prove their own theories. I guess that Sam originally being a creature that avoided or could not use its mobility for great lengths of time, learnt over hundreds of thousands of years to contemplate and imagine wild scenarios that its ‘parents’ must have despaired over many times. It is funny how the deeper we come to know and love our Samantha, the more we grow to love Le’sase.
Robbie went to the void to move us to the next galaxy. From there he saw a galaxy he had not noticed in normal space and it looked very strange to him. As he put it, it looked unnatural and it was doing something he’s never seen in the void before. It was blinking. He tried to sense himself and asked Vincent whether he feels any unease at going to the blinking galaxy. Vincent and Kirsten conferred and confirmed they do not. Pleased that he has found something so different he laughed with joy at being the one bringing to Cherine a special galaxy and prepared to tease me that now he will have to be called ‘Fate’ by me. He folded and unfolded the void and we were there. Freddie stuck out a tip to check on normal space and quickly withdrew it again.
“Robert, there is a fleet of ships waiting here. There must be hundreds of thousands of them!”
A Robert jumped from a Freddie to us and his face was glowing with his excitement. “Robert, I’m making an exception this time and not respecting your wishes. Give us the word to move into normal space, there is no danger.” Before Robbie could blast him with angry words, he jumped back to his Freddie.
With a disgruntled look on his face he told Freddie to give the order to the others and enter normal space.
We barely had time to register the ships and universe outside on our screens when the old man appeared before Cherine. His face still in shadow, he gave her a nod in greeting.
7384
“Seeing as to how it is your birthday this time, will you leave with me?”
“Wh-where?”
“Do you fear me child?”
“No. Maybe. I’m not certain I trust what you plan for me.”
“I believe it is fate you need to trust?” Cherine turned to stare at me with huge eyes.
“Hold on a moment, you’re not taking Cherine anywhere without us!”
He stared from the depths of his hood at Robbie and then chuckled at his aggressive stance. “Everyone in Freddie is invited. Those from the other Freddies have gone ahead of you. Christós and Jesus, it is good to see you joined the family.”
He reached out his leathery hand and Cherine placed hers in it. We all (that includes all aliens and visitors) suddenly found ourselves in a Sparkler World. As if our arrival was a signal, the spaceships from normal space suddenly filled the skies. The old man pointed up at them, “Watch.”
Nervously we realised that all the ships are aiming their weapons at a space lower than halfway between them and us. A ball of energy formed, burning as fiercely as any sun and yet we felt no heat.
“Cherine, do a circle of love and send it into that miniature sun.”
She glanced at him. “Do I include you?”
“Not at this time, heart of my life.”
She stared at Robbie and the flow of love began with him and grew to include all of us and then all the people around us. Meli, Jade and Rosie her daughter stepped to her side to help her control it as it spun with a fierceness to rival the incandescent ball above it. Suddenly she sent it spinning into the ball. Instead of it exploding as we’d expected, it contracted slowly, the golden ring sinking into it, the ball altering shape as it did so. Within less than half a minute Arthur floated before us. This was an Arthur that still glowed with energy and he looked far more alive than any image has ever been. He glanced down at us and smiled.
“Cherine, my loves, all the species known to you at their time have returned in time to celebrate and show their love. Please welcome all your beloved Cherinians from four hundred and seventy thousand years in your future.” He raised his hand. “If you bother to count them, you will find that the number of ships from your future, number forty seven thousand. Samantha and Robert, I trust your need for symbolism is satisfied and we can now relax to enjoy the coming together of friends?”
Every single spaceship began to glow with a golden light so that they seemed to be creating their own golden circles of love. The glow exploded like a golden shower of motes of love, tiny golden stars floating down to us. Stunned we waited, not certain what comes next. Arthur floated down until his feet stood on the ground. His eyes flickered, glancing at each of us and the look on his face was one of rapture.
I nearly had a heart attack when he called out just loud enough for only us to hear him, “Samantha, you are going to attack me again?”
“We found you? You are really here?”
“You have a choice my love. Consider me as being here, or else remind yourself that science is bound to have advanced within the nearly half a million years and they are able to help me speak as I should and look more natural in my movements. The third possibility is that I am hiding, using the image because you must not know from now this part of your future.”
“Why can’t you just give us a straightforward answer for once!”
7385
He laughed and rose into the air again. Arthur pointed and the image of the galaxy of this space appeared in miniature. “Cherine, your Samantha requested a special galaxy just for you. Behold, this is a gift from all Cherinians and will stand as a symbol of their love and devotion to you for billions of years. They returned in time by billions of years and collected gas and dust from millions of lightyears all around here, compressed it and helped give birth to this galaxy. As you see it has the form of a cylinder. To create that shape they had to stretch out the center of the galaxy in a thin long line. They set it spinning around itself so that the suns surrounding it would form a cylinder. One revolution takes four hundred and forty seven million years - at this time. It will gradually slow down as entropy exacts its price.”
I wished myself far away from the crowds and the ships looking down at us with their equipment and walked for a while as tears flowed down my cheeks. My mind was punishing me by regurgitating every single instance of my nastiness towards Arthur and my empathy and love for him tore at my heart as I faced how deeply he has loved me. I could no longer fool myself, I could sense that Arthur had meant it, he does not want me as part of his life when we bring him to us. I saw a wavering form through my tears and blinked them away. It was Arthur. He waited for me to draw close, just in case I decided I do not want to meet with him. As I stood before him, looking up at his face, I saw pain in his eyes. If this is an image, it is truly far advanced.
His voice was infinitely tender, “I know you have seen what is true Samantha. If it helps, consider this. We will be as close as two friends can ever be, whereas, if you did split for me, I would end up devoted to that part of you and this Samantha would not have felt I am the best friend she needs. Come my love, let’s not spoil it for Cherine, this is her special moment. When it is over, if you need time alone with me, I promise you’ll have it.” He raised his hand and I placed mine in it, amazed at how real, warm and comforting it was.
The distance had not prevented my family from feeling me and sharing. I saw tears in Cherine's eyes as she sent me her love. Tactfully she kept her hold on Robbie’s hand so that he could not come to me. For most of the time of the celebration in the Sparkler World, Arthur kept my hand in his. At one point he ran his fingers through my hair and whispered to me, “Beautiful.” When he did so I pulled at him and kissed his cheek. With time I began to notice a delay, just a fraction beyond what was normal, so I realised I only have two probabilities to worry at, not three anymore.
The species that only belong to our future stayed in their ships throughout the celebrations, but even the presence of so many ships worked their magic on all of us. Robbie was the strongest affected, so when Cherine had to greet in return those who came to greet her, she made certain that he had Diana to his one side and Goldi on the other.
A platform was waiting for us in normal space and it was filled with food and drink for all the species. The platform has gravity, about sixty percent of one gee. The species that need anti-gravity sleds move around without any apparent need for help, so I asked and was told their gravity controls are built into their clothing or decorations.
One of the things that made the party special was that there were no speeches, apart from the brief one by Arthur in the Sparkler World. Another amazing thing was the platform itself. The circular disc we stood on must have been about one and a half times as large as Freddie, but flatter, or should I say the surface was more even, so that we were surrounded for as far as we could see by people dancing, eating, drinking and talking. At various heights were massive ledges and there were people up there dancing or sitting at the edge enjoying watching all of us below them.
An hour after the dancing started, Arthur went to Cherine. “Have I earned what I asked for?” Cherine was feeling too giddy with happiness and from dancing to concentrate and she stared at him for a moment blankly. “May I have a dance with you? It will have to be a blues.” ‘Blues’! it sounded so archaic! And here he was, coming from nearly half a million years in our future. I giggled and some who heard me thought it was the drink affecting me.
Robbie stood watching Cherine dance and suddenly all the Wirms darted down towards their friends and then the air just above us filled with fairies. I’ve controlled my curiosity about the fairies since the talk with Robbie, but seeing fairies for as far as I could see meant there had to be hundreds of millions of them and it got me started again. A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped guiltily, thinking it was Robbie. I looked back and saw it was the old man.
“Would you dance with me?”
7386
As he held me, dancing the blues, I looked up, but still could not see his face. “Why do you make yourself look so ancient? As a Cherinian you could not look that old unless you chose to. Is it meant to be a disguise?” Robbie must have been curious about me dancing with the old man and was sharing, for he chuckled in my mind when I asked my question.
“There will come a day when you will know the reason and you will not need to ask why.”
“I suppose being enigmatic is also part of your disguise?”
He chuckled. “If you are going to ask questions throughout our dance, perhaps I should change partners with Arthur?”
“Just one more question then I’ll stop. Why have you only taken Robert for his lessons? Why none of us girls? Don’t you think we are important to the future?” By now Robbie was dancing with Efineh, a few dance floors further away as she loves fast music with a good beat. He froze and waited for the reply.
“You are each of you important, Samantha.” He hesitated. “What gives you the impression I would dare try to take any of Robert's girls from him?” I laughed. Gravely he continued, “I cannot take any of you for the simple reason that you are all needed where you are. Each of you is, from time to time, his further lesson. They’ll never end Samantha.”
I stared up into the darkness of his hood. “You’re a fraud!” I giggled. “Forget it, as you said, someday I’ll know the truth.”
“The truth will bring you joy and sorrow Samantha. I am sorry, but that is your lot it seems; for every joy you anticipate you also bring yourself a sorrow.”
I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my heart. “Won’t you at least tell me whether we succeeded in bringing Arthur?”
He sounded amused, “Is that another question? I think I’ll stop for a coffee.”
“I’m sorry, I did promise. You asked me for this dance so allow me to ask you for the next one.”
There was an odd sadness to his voice as he said, “Why is it that every life you touch you become precious to them without you realising how special you are?”
“Do you really want that to happen or are you just being nice? If you mean it, then it shows you do not understand why it is so important to me that we succeed in bringing Arthur to us. It is a debt all of life in our realities owe to him and I, in particular, care enough to make it happen. Life and the needs of those I love distract me from devoting myself solely to bringing him to us, so I cannot think as highly of myself as you seem to think I should. I don’t understand why everyone from our future will tell us other things they shouldn’t, but none will answer this one question even when we ask.”
He was silent for a while. He stopped dancing and pulled my chin up. “Samantha, there is a reason. Knowing the future could affect his ability to make certain assumptions and then you will fail for certain. Knowing that, do you still want me to answer you?”
The unfairness made my eyes fill. “No.”
“Oh Sam, you break my heart. I’ll risk telling you this, pursue your objective with the same courage you have just shown and you will at least partly succeed. As I said with regard to joy and sorrow, you will succeed and fail. That is the best I can answer you.”
“Is the fail part inevitable?”
“No.”
“Thank you.” I burst into tears and hugged him tightly as I said again with all the feeling I could, “Thank you.” Within seconds Robbie stood behind me, but he did not pull me to him, only staring at the old man.
7387
“We all thank you, you have given us the courage to do our best, not only for Arthur’s sake, but for Samantha also.”
“And Cherine.” I murmured.
I was not exactly the soul of the party, so I ended up at the fringes, watching others enjoying themselves. It was close to the time we would be returning home when Arthur approached me. “Do you wish to talk alone for a short time?”
Though it was not real, I created a grin for him. “You won’t expect me to delete our chat afterwards will you?”
He chuckled. “Give me your hand.”
“Is that a proposal?”
For a moment he looked stunned and then grinned, one of those kind of lopsided grins I’ve always found attractive. “Let’s have our talk before I’m totally enchanted and can’t refuse you anything.” I gave him my hand and he jumped us. We were in the Sparkler World, standing on a hill that overlooks a tropical jungle. The sky was dotted with birds of all kinds and we could hear the chatter of monkeys and calls of other animals. Even the air had that tropical smell to it that I like.
“Shall we sit?”
He was silent a long time as we both pretended not to look at each other, assiduously staring at the treetops. He sighed.
“I’ve never had a high opinion of myself and yet I’ve never found it easy to love, always expecting and demanding too much. Both times I’ve loved I’ve felt that I did not deserve the love of such a wonderful girl - so I didn’t. From your writing and our shared thoughts I’ve seen that becoming a Cherinian does not rid us of such baggage. I guess that what I’ve just said makes you sad for me, the truth is that it also makes me sad for me. I crave love so desperately, but because I cannot believe in any love offered me, I’ll never have the love I need. I can believe in my being loved as a temporary possibility, but then I expect the woman to show the good sense she should have, and her instincts to also warn her, so that she stops loving me.
Samantha, I do love you and I always will. It is because I love you so desperately that I cannot face the idea of seeing your face and the look in your eyes on the day that will inevitably arrive when you’ll realise you do not love me. By love I’m talking of being in love - as for love in a more general sense, I think that will not die. With regard to that kind of love, I do trust your heart.
At this time and until you split yourself, you only love me. If you do split yourself for me, you will obviously saddle the poor girl with the inclination to fall in love with me. Can you prevent her from asking questions and seeing through me? At the loss of any other girl I would only suffer my own pain. With your split half I would also have to bear her pain. She would need a Robert and I will have stolen that possibility from her. Knowing what my selfishness has cost her will destroy me Samantha. Even if I could be shown that it is only a distant possibility and not really likely to happen, I cannot take the chance of harming her.
As I also mentioned, I happen to love you. I know I can love my Samantha, that is not a problem. However, what about you? If I am in love with her, we’ll still be very close friends - until the day she stops loving me. Then? I could not bear to be close to you after that. Can you see that?”
“May I say what I have to say without you feeling hurt? Arthur, you are a coward. For as long as you thought there was no chance of us finding you, you encouraged me to love you. The moment you saw that we might succeed, you became afraid. That was not only cowardly, it was also extremely selfish of you. If we had not succeeded and I loved you as much as I do, you would have died happy that I love you, but you would not have cared about the grief and pain I would have carried within me forever?” I saw the same look on his face that I’ve seen on Allan’s when he is suffering more than he can bear, but I refused to allow empathy or compassion to soften me, I was fighting for something I deeply believe in and my beliefs were not selfish, his fears are.
7388
“You owe it to me and I demand the right to woo you when you arrive. As a Cherinian most of your fears will prove themselves to be groundless because you will sense and know directly how you are loved. Arthur, nobody falls in love with any guarantees, you’ve seen how Robert’s own fears nearly cost him his chance of having love, but luckily he had some very strong-willed girls who refused to give up on him. What gives you the impression that I am any the less strong-willed than them? You will agree to giving me the chance I demand.”
“How can I Sam, to do so you would have to split? It would then be too late if she finds she’s stopped loving me.”
“That is my right, you will not steal it from me!” I do have an answer to his worry, but I refused to give it because it does not matter, what is of importance is that he does not have the right to sacrifice love on my behalf. I turned and stared at him, my eyes demanding an answer.
His shoulders slumped and then he looked startled. He grabbed my hand and jumped. Surprised I saw the spaceships and wondered why he’d brought us here. His relief was instantly visible. “Thank god! I was afraid that by changing our future it might have affected them also.” He grabbed me by the shoulders. “On one condition Sam.”
I’d won this round, I did not see why I should agree to any conditions, but, as always, curiosity won. “What condition?”
“I don’t know, I just have the feeling that I have to put a condition. Sam, I may have returned to you from the future, but I also have not. All I’ve assumed is that I returned in time with them for Cherine's birthday. I do not know what the future holds - not any more than you do, perhaps even less. I have a feeling I should demand some condition should be fulfilled before you split for me, but I don’t know what it is right now. Will you write me a blank cheque my love?”
If he’d had a condition, whatever it was, I’m certain I would have refused him. As it was, I could not. “Arthur, I’ll agree on the basis that you also trust my judgement at the time. If I disagree with you, then there will be no conditions, I’m splitting.”
“I think you’ve made a total mess of my programming.”
I touched him. “This is not an image, it’s a robot?”
He laughed. “I’m talking about my mind that is still sitting in my elderly body.” I laughed and hugged him. He brushed my hair with his fingers. “I didn’t last long, did I? I should have known I’d lose any argument with you.”
“Arthur, I promise you that you never will, when you are right.”
“Damn, if I was here in my own body I’d kiss you, even if you belong to Robert.”
“If you were, I’d let you and I’d kiss you back. Thank you for stopping my pain.”
He looked bemused for a moment and then asked, “Do you think you can enjoy the party now? Shall we return to them?”
My family felt my happiness and went bananas trying to ‘see’ why, but I refused to share and had a crazy few hours of happiness and letting myself go. As we were about to leave I rushed over to Arthur and found his image was no longer animated by his will. I called to Robbie and he enclosed it within stasis and we brought him back to Freddie. For some reason he has a sad look to him and it makes me feel like crying.
7389
Cherine made me cry today. She handed me a tiny parcel and said, “This is the stone given to me by Faïssa. Keep it for the day you can feel Arthur’s love for you and store it so that you have his love to feel forever.” I cried (because of her love for me), but I refused to accept it.
We are on our way back home, taking the trip in one long and fast jump. We could have dawdled, but Dommi asked Robbie to do it within one day of our time. He did not ask why, but we all know she felt that it will impress all our non-Cherinian guests - probably the Cherinian ones also.
That brings me to another subject I’m not too happy about. We had on the trip with us many Ipohin and Campbell with his supporters (about two hundred and eighty of them). We’ve had, counting only those in our Freddie, about one and a half million asking if they can be linked as Cherinians. The Ipohin had about two and a half. What has upset me is that Campbell had about two hundred and forty thousand. We know how many, because Freddie sees and hears all, but we do not know who they are. Robbie complained that Freddie should not have divulged to us any information because all of it was confidential. I’m glad he told us because, as a warning, it proves to me that even at our best and most impressive, even with Arthur showing his love and the future showing how the love for Cherine has grown among all species, there are such large numbers preferring to become Ipohin or followers of Campbell. The faster we lose our illusions the better it will be for us.
Watching the reaction of our world to the videos and interviews with a few of our guests has been stunning. All the media companies received exactly the same material from us and they all broadcast at the same time so they had to come up with unique approaches to attract more viewers. David contacted me and asked whether I would mind if he invites Campbell as his main guest. I told him I look forward to learning how Campbell will present the trip and of seeing the attitude of Campbell on his show. We’d all seen Arthur speak privately to him for about three minutes and we are curious as to what had been said.
I’ll revert to the Campbell show directly after the one I want to describe because this sort of reaction is important to me. Why? Because it serves to remind me that it does not matter how brightly white the light that is beamed, there will always be those who see the other colours, even those who see it like a negative - as a black light.
A Middle Eastern television studio which broadcasts in English also, started off as follows: the camera panned back from an exotic spaceship so that all the spaceships were seen. Then the concentrated beams appeared and then the golden ring of love sinking into it and the form of Arthur materialised. The picture freezes and moves onto a screen behind the host of the show.
He says, “What you have just seen seems to be a standard procedure when the form of the one known as Arthur is about to appear. A high concentration of energy is gathered so that his body can be created, just as with the lowliest of stage magicians who appears from a puff of smoke. Would we really be presumptuous if we ask ourselves the question, is it possible that the energy is only gathered to dazzle us and the body of Arthur teleports into it? That supposition leads us to an obvious possibility. What if Arthur is a Talent far more powerful than any known to us and he controls and directs the Cherinians behind the scenes? Have we not been shown his writing in the diary of the Teller family proving that he in fact does so? Has he not told them in his writings that there is a very powerful Talent who for the time being remains hidden?
We are asked to believe that our universe, even all the alternate realities, were not created by a god, they even tell us that Arthur is not a god and they want us to accept that everything was created by an ordinary man from some other mysterious universe. They stress that he is not successful in his reality and his only gift is his imagination. In other words, they wish to replace Allah and the God of the Christians and those of other religions, not with another God, but with a man who admits to being a total failure and a social misfit in his own world!
Watch the behaviour of this Arthur at the party held to celebrate the birthday of Cherine - a potential god we are told, but also just a creation of Arthur.” They showed Arthur talking and dancing, accompanied by the comments of the host in the background. The way he described it, Arthur flirted and danced and tried to seduce us for a moment of passion. The host joked that our Creator could not seduce any of the girls, even those who were only children, and asked whether he would appreciate the assistance and advice of any Arab man, since they all know how to seduce women.
7390
“We have taken the unusual step of first showing scenes from close to the end of the trip so that you keep in mind that all you will see was filmed and undertaken with only one objective in mind: to weaken the faith of Moslems in Allah.”
They then began from the beginning of the trip and mainly showed only the highlights, so that where nearly all other stations needed seven hours to show the videos, they only need three. Then the guests appeared and they were either imams or well known and respected extremist Islamic scholars. They then spent two and a half hours analysing and shredding Arthur and us to pieces, doing their utmost to show us as conniving to destroy all religions for Arthur to take over with Cherine as his deputy. They came to the conclusion that all true Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Moslems should join forces with Arthur Campbell and his supporters, as they are the only Talents who have shown they have the courage and integrity to fight us.
David had just finished showing the videos with comments by him and his guests interspersed after each commercial break, and David was talking to Campbell, trying to elicit an opinion about us, Arthur, or more or less anything about the trip. It was obvious Campbell knew exactly why he was there and enjoyed playing with David, while trying to make himself appear reasonable and fair. They took a commercial break that seemed to last longer than usual and then they continued. From the gleam in his eyes, it was obvious David had found something to provoke Campbell and was going in for the kill.
“Mr Campbell, during the break I was shown an excerpt from an Arab broadcast. The guests have recommended to their viewers that Christians, Moslems and all major religions should give their support to you and your group against Robert Teller and the Cherinians because they are convinced Arthur is only one more major Talent from our universe who is pretending he created us so as to replace the Gods of all religions as our God. Do you welcome such a call?”
Most newspapers and magazines carried photos of his expression when he heard the above. He had the sense to try to hide his delight, but he was also shocked and lost for words for a long time. David had to repeat his question before he answered.
“David, that is grave news indeed and in a sense most welcome. More important than their call to assist me is the fact that for the first time major groups of Normal people have spoken out and shown they are becoming aware of the true plans of Robert Teller. I look forward to the day they understand that his son Michael represents just as serious a threat and is acting on behalf of his father.”
“Your answer then is that you do welcome their support?”
“Matters are not that simple David. Yes, I do welcome their support, but it would not be wise of them to take action. All I ask for is their moral support. They must not forget that Robert Teller and his supporters are immensely powerful and should any Normals act against them they could end up draining me as I try to protect them. I must make it clear that I cannot claim to be strong enough to guarantee their safety at this time.”
I could have hit David with a very big pillow when he asked, “How do you think Samantha Teller will react to the news?”
“I regret that partly due to your support and encouragement, her intelligence and abilities have been somewhat overrated by everyone. We should never forget that every word and action of hers has been aligned with the plans and wishes of Robert Teller and I’m certain they have to be approved by him - where he has not apparently indicated what he wants her to do or say - you should never forget that they are telepathic and though she might be sitting here in your studio and seem to be acting independently, she is in constant communication with Robert Teller.”
I gave Robbie a grin. “Goody! Now I can say or do whatever I want and nobody will blame me, they’ll think you made me do it.” Pillows came flying at me from all directions.
Apart from the two examples given, the rest of the world, including the other realities, reacted with awe and joy at the news that mankind will survive at least for another half a million years. Behind the scenes we asked scientists of all realities to explain that our future is not assured, it is only a probability. The difference is that before this, we did not have any proof that we can survive whereas now we know that if we make the correct choices we will. That is an important difference and should provide us with the incentive to exercise self discipline.
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)- posted: 25th Jun, 2020
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index: