That is good, especially this far back in time, as there are too many super-sized planets and suns and studies over a few hundred years show that there are suns going nova at the average rate of one every fifteen years - with the harsh flares of radiation from suns forming being just as lethal.
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One final comment which stands as a correction. We talk about it being the core of the sun but it does include the convective zone with about an estimated six percent of the radiative zone. We are informed that within the core hydrogen atoms are still fusing to form helium, but the damage to the sun means it does not have much of a lifespan left, maybe one to one and a half million years - perhaps even less. With so much of the radiative zone missing, it was expected that the solar magnetic fields would be weak but they are not. I’m hoping the fast spin may be partially responsible.
Arthur, I hope you were interested in learning about suns as I did not see how I could skip all of it.
One side effect of this visit was quite funny (in a way), though it was horrible for poor Robbie. He recalled how he played with time and space and brought a sun within a stasis bubble to our home and to the cake shop for the old king. The idea that he could play with such terrifying forces so casually left him weak at the knees and cursing himself for a while, as he imagined scenarios of losing control and what it would have done to us and two planets. Hmm, if it had destroyed our planet because of Robbie wanting to rid us of our fears, would that mean that Doris (theoretically) won the war?
PART SIXTY TWO
Chapter Three Hundred
Normally when we go on a trip with guests in Freddie, Robbie tends to return a month or more after our departure. Because of the kids he returned just before the end of November so that they would have Christmas holidays with their families. We did first take them for a short visit to see Gnolat City as I wanted Piri with us over the holidays, which means Sebura has come with. The kids were impressed by the city, but they were far more excited when they were taken by Samuel to see some of the animals that don’t exist anymore - for kids to get excited by something like that, I assume you realise the animals were big and mean.
Lord! I wish you could make us laugh this much more often. We’ve all had a great time teasing Sam and, for this once, nearly all the species joined in. Freddie has been a happy-feeling place today. (Cherine)
Upon our return to our Athens home, we all check for messages and I realised one of them was from Tibet. According to the code we’d agreed the news was not urgent so it meant the power was felt, but not for doing anything drastic. I’ll wait a few days before visiting to find out what happened.
Campbell is taking a small working group to the world of Kiris and he asked whether Sebura, Birshima and Samuel King would like to go along for a visit. I kept my grin to myself when Birshima eagerly accepted and then strove to hide her disappointment when she learnt that Samuel King had declined. I asked Samuel to meet me at the U-Planets restaurant in Rio (after first ensuring I had a table as it is almost impossible to book one at short notice, whoever you are).
Samuel grinned as he seated me and took his seat again. “I never imagined this place would appeal to you. You must have changed if you enjoy the decadent tastes of the wealthy.” The restaurant is tastefully and very expensively decorated, but their fame is with regard to the food they serve. Their chefs are excellent, but they would have been one of many gourmet restaurants if they had not come up with a little gimmick. All the food they serve is made to look like foods eaten by the Muyzith, Anadir and some of the Unation species. I’d chosen the restaurant out of curiosity and I doubt I’ll be returning soon as I am one of those people whose pleasure in eating is tied to the visual pleasure well prepared food presents. Eating something that looks like it smashed into a meteorite and then inverted its innards because of exposure to the vacuum of space is a prime example of how the eye can convince the stomach that even the most delicious meal is not wanted.
“I chose it for you, in case you were missing some Kabetu food.”
He grinned, cutting to the bone. “Ah, what is the reason you want me to go?”
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“I’m not allowed to tell you, even if you guess. What a bummer.”
He laughed. “The Samantha I know, that would not stop her.”
“This time it would. Samuel, I really don’t know whether I want you to go - it may be best that you don’t - I don’t know. Can we change the subject?”
When Birshima heard Samuel had changed his mind, she sat as if frozen, fearing I might have told Samuel how she feels (why she would think a Cherinian needs me to tell him I don’t know), until I asked her to share. She screamed with laughter and hugged me. Cherine was the only one who did not smile and almost sadly she stared at Robbie until he asked her what is wrong.
Even on our own world where everyone knows about me, if I go out alone there are many who do not recognise me because they don’t expect to see me. Everyone knows that Robert is very protective of me (my loves also, especially Sam) so I guess they think I am like one of those wives hidden away in a harem. If I meet someone and tell them my name is Cherine, they think my mother must have named me after the Cherine and some actually feel sorry for me being saddled with such a name.
Having Tserika (Tseri) among us enables me to confuse people or avoid those I don’t like. There are some very kind and lovely souls who I just can’t stand and it is very difficult for me to explain that being an empathic mutant does not mean I have to like all nice people. Robert took a long time to understand what I meant and even now he still wallows in guilt if he doesn’t like someone he feels he should. Fortunately I am more practical.
That’s it for now. Bye
We mentioned the above comments by Cherine on a chat show and indirectly it led to a lot of trouble and suffering for billions of people.
About a week after Robbie’s birthday, a Robert came to visit. Something was upsetting him and we sensed it had to do with Robbie. Finally he decided there are no words for softening what he has to say. “I’ve come on my own as my family felt too embarrassed to come with. Robert, we all know the signature of your personality, it is distinct and does not resemble that of any other Robert, not even the other half of you.” Robbie nodded, he already knew what he was being told, each of our alternates has a different ‘feel’. “For two nights in a row we’ve felt you spying on us in the bedroom through our Cherine.” We all flared in anger and he held his hand up. “I know, I don’t believe it was him either, but the truth is it definitely felt like him.” He pulled a face. “No wonder my loves wouldn’t come with, they must have guessed how you’d emote - it is a trifle overwhelming.”
I laughed, sensing what an understatement he’d made - it felt as if his innards were quivering. “Do you think Robbie is spying on you from inside his dreams, like I attacked Campbell? Girls, I guess that means Robbie is frustrated and not getting enough sex.” The imps helped and soon everyone was relaxed again. Robert shook his head.
“Thank you Sam, it was getting a bit hairy. The truth is, we can feel your Robert is totally aware of what he is doing and enjoying it - even sending to Cherine lewd suggestions. That alone would prove that it is not Robert, but we can’t work out how it could not be. If we try to consider various possibilities then it is far more likely that the person, whoever he is, is a Robert. For a stranger it should be impossible to mimic a Robert that effectively.”
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“Haven and I will come to your reality to watch for the Peeping Tom and Vincent can be with as the void to help us freeze his powers.” It made sense that Robbie should not go, so we agreed to Jade’s plan. They watched for two nights but returned when we let them know that another Robert has complained of the same problem. Over the next weeks another three Robert's came to tell us of the same problem and then they stopped. We waited but it seemed that the person responsible had lost interest. It bothered all of us, we could feel it never had been just a prank.
I had decided not to write of what was occurring so that I could write once we have the complete story. I opened the diary to check for any comments by you and saw the last sentences Cherine and I’d written. It was only then that I started to see how this person had accomplished the impossible.
During Robbie’s birthday party, which was outdoors and spread out over hills and streams to accommodate the eighteen thousand guests, a Cherinian stranger who seemed to have drunk too much lurched against Robbie. He extended his empathy to sense whether Robbie had been hurt or felt annoyed with him. Robbie felt how the guy had opened up totally, soaking all he sensed of Robbie into his own psyche. Robbie pulled back, dismayed, but thinking the man must be newly linked and not aware that he should protect his individuality. The man apologised, Robbie briefly lectured him about handling his empathy gift in a way that does not harm him and then they parted and Robbie danced, drank and met too many people for that encounter to be more than a memory tucked away amongst a multitude of trivia.
“As Cherine said, empathy must be handled with care. In this case I think it was used as a weapon or a tool so as to get what he wanted. I don’t understand what he thought he’d benefit by mimicking you.”
Tina said, “If he made himself look like Robert and emoted his psyche also and claimed he was Robert, he could ask for whatever he wants, since any Cherinian would confirm it is Robert. Imagine he enters a bank and asks for money, they’d give him whatever he asks.”
“Since he hasn’t done so and he must have thought of it, he must be after bigger fish. We must warn all Roberts and Mansfields to stay alert.”
The man had been present at the party under an assumed psyche, but it only took a few days to find out his real name. He was found in all the realities he exists in, except for ours. Acquaintances of his confirmed they have not seen or heard from him for weeks.
Robbie went back in time to just before his birthday party and found the man. His first name is Craig and he comes from California. Many years ago he worked in an estate agency until they found out that he is a Cherinian and he was then fired - the company were worried that a customer could sue them, claiming they had not wanted to buy the house but he used his powers to influence them. Craig left the company feeling very bitter and angry as he had been scrupulous about not using his gifts. He did not find much sympathy among his Normal friends and their families, many of them only half in jest asking why he needs to work since he has so many powers.
Craig did not concentrate on making himself rich, he used his gifts and powers to earn just enough to keep him comfortable but below the radar and spent most of his time learning to open new powers within his mind. For a while he became an Ipohin in the hope that they would be more willing to help him acquire new powers, but he left them a few months later and continued to call himself a Cherinian for the next few years.
Having learnt the above about Craig, Robbie went further back in time to watch him practice his powers. He could not do so for most of the time as he could not be on our Earth when we were here. He was also very careful of watching him in alternate realities so that the local Cherinians would not sense him there and he mostly stayed away if he sensed us visiting. He did stay a couple of times when he should not have (feeling himself arrive) because he was interested in seeing what Craig was doing. He actually saw himself out at sea (during a honeymoon). It was that time that Robbie turned and saw the island disappear and reappear and then saw the back of the man who’d made it happen. Robbie felt he’d seen enough and returned to us.
“Sam, I don’t see that he concentrated on any powers of domination. I’m not going to waste more time on him unless he does something to justify my continuing interest in him. I hate spying on other people.”
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It is not that my morals are any more lax than Robbie's, but I felt uncomfortable not knowing where he is and what he is planning. Robbie only sees his spying on the lovemaking of Roberts and Cherines as being deviant, he does not see it as being part of a plan. I want to know what that plan is before I forget him.I asked Vincent to check on his last position. Vincent and Kirsten returned and we all felt fear underneath their confusion. Robbie instantly became alert as he sensed them, his senses now searching for danger.
“You can relax Robert, what we learnt is not of any danger to us, only to Craig himself. He seems to have killed himself in the strangest way.” He then shared with us so that we would not question his claims, for it truly was unbelievable to all of us. Vincent was watching Craig’s mind to see where he was about to jump to. Craig jumped to another reality without a clear picture of an area within a specific reality - even the reality he aimed for was unspecified. There is no way he can have survived doing that. Despite all he’d done that had angered us, we were very upset. As far as we know, the dissolution of such a death does not only affect the body, it could mean final death. If, on the other hand, he is forced to another reality anyway, it could be an Earth without oxygen or even a reality without an Earth. If there is no sapient life his soul could be forced to regress by who knows how many generations so that it can return as an animal, insect or whatever is available.
The assumed death of Craig lay like an ominous pall over our days, most of us not sharing, trying to hide the way we’d been affected. Cherine was almost permanently held on Robbie’s lap, her eyes dark and broody as she stared at us. Finally she left his lap and taking Lynda’s hand she jumped. Lynda returned on her own, going directly to a guest bedroom - so we knew that she was going to be reality searching. We all sat up with the feeling that blood was racing through our hearts once more. We each had guessed what Cherine had asked of Lynda and somehow we half believed she would find Craig. The period of time that had passed did not matter as, if he needs rescuing because he arrived in a vacuum, Robbie or Vincent can time event their jump.
An hour later Lynda cried out in anger and grief and instantly Cherine was by her, her tiny arms holding her as her mind entered Lynda’s to soothe her. Cherine was not very good at doing so, for we felt her mind explode like a sun of rage and fury. I do believe she would have jumped on her own if Robbie had not instantly jumped to hold her.
Know then, the shame of evil does exist in our realities, despite all that Arthur believed and hoped.
Craig has found himself a new reality with no Talents capable of resisting him. Eddie and Hettie both died with their natural bodies and during their lifespans they used their powers to help direct the technology and cultures of the most powerful countries so as to bring about a better future for all. The Robert of that world had not met Cherine so he was just a Normal, but to ensure he would never be a threat, Craig killed Robert. He found Cherine and using his powers he convinced her that he is the man she was waiting for by sharing with her memories of ‘their’ previous lives that he’d stolen from our tellings and his spying. Their relationship only lasted two years, was never one of love, just pampering to his needs and demands and when she rejected all he stood for during her thirteenth year of life, he sadistically showed her the truth and then killed her.
He has blasted hundreds of thousands of soldiers governments stupidly sent to fight him and is now world dictator. He provided scientists with the information they needed plus large sums of money to develop nuclear bombs. He has placed the first ones in Washington, London, Moscow, Berlin, Cairo, Tokyo and Beijing and ultimately intends placing at least one within each city of over five hundred thousand people. All the bombs will detonate with the push of one button so no government or rebels can ever hope to fight him.
Robbie’s face looked like a mask as he examined all we’d learnt, planning carefully as he feared the slightest error could leave Craig precious minutes or seconds in which he would be free to kill hundreds of millions. This time we are determined not to underestimate him, our own sense of guilt not to be allowed to goad us. It tore at our hearts to feel how Robbie was determined that only he and Vincent would deal with Craig. I felt Cherine’s eyes on me so I knew that she could not refuse Robbie what he wanted, but she hoped I would find a way without hurting him.
“Dad?” I waited until I sensed he would hear me. “I don’t know why, but the days of our war with Hettie are roiling almost at the surface of my mind. I keep on hearing you say the same thing every time we had to attack someone powerful - you kept on bewailing the loss of his or her gifts.
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I know that compared to what we know of Craig, the details I wonder about seem trivial but…maybe at least one of them could be important? How did he jump to the reality he wanted to teleport to without seeing it in the eye of his mind? Imagine, if we learnt his trick you’d never be able to track us if we want to hide from you - as I did when I first went to the reality of the Orati.” Cherine was the first to stifle a grin as we all felt Robbie react. As long as I’d kept the discussion at an abstract level he had been determined to ignore me, but even posing the possibility of his losing any of us was enough to focus his attention on what I’d said and look for an answer. I saw in his eyes that he saw through me, knew what I had done and why, but he only gave me a tiny nod.
“As usual the curiosity of Samantha will have to be catered to or else I might regret not knowing how Craig pulled his disappearing trick.” He got his laughs, but nobody extended his teasing of me.
I pretended I could not sense his ‘under-thoughts’ (usually written of as ‘undercurrents’ by Normals). “The thought crosses my mind that this is a God-given opportunity.”
With a wry twist to his lips he responded, “It is?” We all felt something like a warning from him, he would not give in and allow any of us to go with, however clever my arguments. My loves tensed up as they sensed me about to answer him.
“Of course! We tell the worlds and all species that it does not matter that we are split according to paranormal abilities or not and according to a set of beliefs or the rejection of them. We say that we are all one: humans! As humans, we must all be responsible for each other and all other life. Let our response not only be an example but also a warning to others that all humanity will not tolerate their greed. As for Craig, turn your arrival in his reality into an assault by such a multitude of species and powers that he does not have time to concentrate on you, thus allowing you to pull the rug out from under him before he has time to react to you. Dad, one thing we all demand you ensure - he must not be killed. He must be sentenced as a common criminal and made to pay for the murders. Yours is not the only heart that cries out for revenge, but we must not give in to that side of us.”
I’ll probably go into more details about their beliefs at another time, but there is a new group of Talents - though I’m not certain I should call them Talents since they are all souls. They believe that the only way for us to evolve is by remaining souls, but using our knowledge, abilities and gifts to help all life evolve. They have a nice fancy name for themselves, a name that all the species belonging to the group can mind-speak. We prefer to call them the Icicles because someone commented that they wish to freeze their own evolution.
The Icicles, Independent Talents, Normals, Ipohin and Campbellites were all invited to join us. For the first time ever we are all going to act as one - in a manner of speaking, they are all acknowledging, by their agreement to join us, that we are humans and that none of us are willing to tolerate people like Craig.
A joke by Jade and Cassie, our beloved imps, backfired on them and I paid the price. They quipped that I should not be allowed to take part as I would find a way to deal with Craig before anyone else can do anything and then I’ll want to hog all the glory and the brave statement being made about all the groups cooperating will turn into mud in their mouths…well, something like that. I did not mind the teasing until everyone realised it was being taken seriously and Robbie meant it when he said I should stay at our Athens home. The poor girls desperately needed my love and hugs when they saw that Robbie was being inflexible about it.
To help them recover their spirits, I laughed and pretended a sassy air as I said, “That’s fine with me, but I must warn all of you, you’re going to regret you did not stay with me…you know how things have a way of working out when I’m off on my own.” My lovely imps volunteered to stay, but I insisted they go.
Now that they are all gone (except for Dimi who stayed to help me should I need him), I guess I can confess. Robbie was not being nasty, he was only pretending. While we were in our World, we discussed the possibility that either Craig expects us to find him and it is a trap, or else, he has an accomplice on this side who will take action the minute we’ve been drawn out of our reality. When Robbie had returned in time to watch Craig, there seemed to be intervals when time was smoky and impenetrable. After those slippery times, Craig would emerge changed in personality and his mental signature was stronger, a sign that suggests he had learnt new powers by opening doors in his mind. My idea of bringing in all the species and groups is wise when considering the future, but it has resulted in denuding our reality of the most powerful Cherinians and other Talents. In a way it is as if I have one of the most powerful Talents (Cherinian) with me but Lusalith isn’t much of a team player, she’ll just sit by me and if anything happens she’ll probably decide what she wants to do according to some impulse that springs from her instincts and god powers. Mostly it is Dimi and I with friends like Tasso, his children and many others whose hearts are stronger than their Talents, offering what help and protection they can.
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The easy task has fallen to me, for I am to record the war against Craig. Samantha will have to write of her supererogation (effort above and beyond the call of duty), despite her dislike for blowing her own trumpet. Arthur, I hope you have noticed that she avoids giving credit to herself whenever she can or downplays the importance of what she said or did by immediately speaking about us teasing her, as if she were some kind of much loved buffoon.
I shall begin by introducing myself. I am Spice (the Wendy split from the time of Noname). It should not be necessary for me to record my name again as all my efforts were only part of the group effort and none of it worthy of special mention.
We did not arrive en masse and blindly trust to good fortune. Too much was at stake, too many lives could be lost if we did not plan and act wisely. The first to arrive were to be the Sparklers, but we did not dare allow them to openly arrive in the void. Solomon was very proud when Sol came up with the idea that worked. She suggested that Robert (no, I’ll stick to Sam’s style where I can so I’ll call him Robbie) create a very small platform, about the size of a tennis ball. Inside the platform, in a vacuum, the Sparklers should place their World and the platform could be hidden in orbit around the moon - the energy of solar radiation would camouflage the presence of the platform energy. When the Sparklers do not want to be sensed there is not one person of any species who can sense them. They agreed to each adopt one Terran of this enslaved Terra and to stay close to them until we hold Craig, (only Craig and his ‘ministers’ would be ignored since we would be grabbing and immobilising them,) so that within a second the Sparklers could literally transport the entire Terran population to their World.
I have been asked to point out that when the safety of the people truly is prime, there is more often than not a way to protect them if we think hard enough. As a group or team we are all obsessed with not only saving lives, but avoiding all suffering if possible - so we found a way. All of us are very proud of Robbie, he has shown once again the qualities that caused so many species to think of him as their leader. We relaxed once we knew that Craig no longer holds the populations of cities and the world in general as hostages, but Craig did not know it and we wanted it to stay that way for the time being.
The next step was to destroy the triggering devices and or electronically controlled detonators (we were not certain what systems he’s employed and we could not spy on the manufacturing plants as Craig kept Talents permanently employed in guarding the areas from psychic monitoring. We had to study one of the bombs en situ and it made sense when Robbie chose the bomb hidden in Washington as he feared they may guard the bombs that are far from them more zealously. Vincent became the void and blanking all emoting he went to the bomb and penetrated the casing so that he could show the scientists the mechanisms inside. Finally they confirmed they know how to disarm them.
Robbie made a decision that split us girls. We did not discuss it with anyone outside, but some of us felt that Robbie was being unfair. He decided that anyone who came with Craig from one of our known realities should be punished more harshly than his followers from this reality. Some argued it was not fair, that they are all equally guilty, as they know that what they are doing is evil. We came to agree with Robbie as we understood what he was saying. Those who know Cherinians and what we represent have committed a greater crime than those who just backed a dictator. I recall when Sam demanded we punish according to the sensitivity of the transgressor not only according to the crime. I guess this is something similar, if a person has only known self-interest, greed etc, then they cannot be punished equally to those who have lived in a world of empathy for all life.
We carefully analysed gifts and powers and scrutinised how well those abilities are known, friends and others playing a very important role in blowing up our little bubbles of deception we need for our comfort zone. For example, sending a Sparkler to use the energy path of a power being used so as to burn out that power or, doing so directly ourselves, would be stupid as everyone now knows of those abilities and traps have been developed by the most powerful Talents, that could damage our minds. When I say our friends played a crucial role in helping us develop strategies and avoid fooling ourselves, it should be kept in mind that not one of us from within the family could think correctly. We were influenced by having shared the murders of the local Robert and Cherine and were far too biased to remain neutral about Craig and his cronies for us to think and plan as dispassionately as we should.
One of the Unation officers reminded us of the time Robbie had to block those who’d tried to attack Sam through Sebura. Robbie had made the one man think he would be using his powers to enforce his will and as the man prepared to fight him with mental powers, Robbie shot him with a pistol. He told us that that manoeuvre by Robbie has made it into the text books on strategy and he felt the trick was unique enough for some similar kind of action to succeed here.
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Alki said, “Our biggest problem is that we don’t know how he jumps to other realities. If we cannot sense where he intends going we risk his disappearing at the first signs of attack and he’ll be free to destroy another world. This must end here.”
Meli left her seat and went to sit on the lap of our Hettie. She looked into her eyes with a big grin before speaking. “One of the reasons our Hettie lost the war was because she saw an opponent who had no meaningful powers, the powers he exhibited being mostly of love and empathy. Contemptuous of his potential, she toyed with us, thus opening herself to Robbie. It is funny in a way, even when the next Hetties and Eddies met us and learnt of our war with their alternates, they still could not rid themselves of their contempt for our powers of peace and love, for they knew that their powers were so much more devastating and destructive than ours.
What if those of us who are not known, insinuate themselves into the community they choose to be part of and then form a weak organisation with stupid plans to take over the world. Craig will think they are a pitiful joke and will play with them, taunting and daring them to try and attack him. At the right instant, when his male macho instincts have caused him to expose himself, we attack.”
Hettie grinned, “Like the gorilla male of Samantha who raises himself to his maximum height and beats his chest?”
Robbie pretended to misunderstand, “Are you calling me a gorilla?” A bit of laughter was a wonderful tonic and then Meli’s idea was discussed, torn to bits and then accepted as the best strategy available to us at this time. Meli blushed with pleasure when Gina shared with Aganthi that Sam would have loved Meli’s idea.
The next morning, at breakfast, Meli asked Robbie, “Would you be angry if I do a Samantha?”
He grinned. “I guess someone has to. What have you thought of?”
“I tried to think of what she would think, but nothing came to mind, I could not see any way to alter the plan we have for the better. As I was falling asleep I had a thought and recognised it as being exactly what she would demand of us. Robert, there is too much anger, even hate, of this Craig and his gang. Please, we must not be the ones who decide his punishment. Also, when we attack, you must please be careful you do not use the opportunity to hurt him more than is necessary for him to be incapacitated.”
Robbie scowled, but Meli’s heart soared when he pretended to be angry with Samantha for hobbling him. She spent over an hour on his lap, her heart content and happy before she forgot herself and wandered off into her inner worlds, excited by her latest chapters in her seventeenth book. Samantha does not often write about Meli so I want to grab this opportunity to mention a strange fact about her. Although Meli spends so much of her time within the stories she writes and rarely speaks, she is within the short list of the girls in our family loved the most by everyone. Sam has made it clear that Wendy of course adores her, but luckily Meli feels the same way about her.
Once the ‘sitting ducks’ team volunteered, we had to cut them off from us as they took their place in society. About three quarters of them have alternates and we quietly kidnapped them so that our alternates can take their places. We did discretely monitor them so that we would not be sensed and I admit I hated watching them from the comfort and safety of Freddie while they risked their lives - even if Robbie would not have let them stay dead, dying can be painful.
Craig has not hidden that he has powers and neither have most of those closest to him. However, he did consider it prudent to keep a large number of minor Talents as his secret backup - also making it easier for him to learn of any talk against him. As with most people like him, he was totally unforgiving of any criticisms and we wept for many who were psychically given a whipping and then killed.
Our ducks pretended not to know an acquaintance of one of them was part of Craig’s team and they brought him in as a member of their group. He pretended great enthusiasm and reported them, word for word. Craig reacted exactly as predicted once he examined them and realised how minor their talents are. It did not make him merciful, he did not try to seduce them into joining him; his anger at their presumptions and his sadistic nature decided him so that he toyed with them, inciting them through his secret supporters to take action against him so that he could crush them in public so violently, that no man or woman would ever dare to challenge him again.
The day of confrontation arrived. Craig asked the ducks to meet him for a talk. He expressed an interest in drawing them into his organisation and hinted at power and wealth being their reward. His supporters stayed in hiding, but were prepared in case Craig found himself in a nasty situation. Innocently, the ducks walked into the square that was filled with cameras from multinational television companies. They looked around and grinned at each other, as if amused at the non-appearance of Craig.
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“Kneel before me.” Craig had suddenly appeared and once again those monitoring him had not sensed a destination in his mind as he jumped.
Jeering, they acted over-confident and demanded he kneel to them. As he lashed out at them they were encapsulated within a stasis shield and Craig and his hidden buddies were attacked. The radio device with the button that was meant to bring a nuclear winter for all of mankind was the first target and once that was taken from him, his nerve endings reported excruciating pain for a second or two and as all his muscles cramped and his attention was concentrated on dealing with his pain, Vincent entered his mind and blocked off all his powers - including his healer. Yes, we had decided Samantha was wrong, she had been arguing emotionally, not logically or practically. When anyone has to have his powers blocked we also block their healer. After all, Sparklers are on a constant watch for anyone needing to be healed or brought back to prime health (as happens with those who over-indulge in alcohol, drugs and so on) so nobody is going to suffer because we blocked their healer.
There was almost no mopping up required as we knew in advance who supported Craig and they were all immobilised at the same instant as Craig. Our biggest job was dealing with the public. They were shocked, stunned and delighted, but unfortunately many seemed to think that the change in their fortunes justified them going on a rampage to destroy, burn and loot. We knew that any police who tried to limit the damage would be attacked. We had accepted from before that we will have to make a strong appearance and as Freddie appeared in a fast orbit around the planet, hundreds of millions of uniformed Cherinians appeared and used their powers of persuasion and soothing to prevent riots.
The best way to convince a world population that we are not there to subjugate them is by sending healers and bringing their bodies to prime health. We soon had an entire planet celebrating and we helped with food and drinks to the limits we could (we do have a lot of food machines in Freddie, but not enough to feed an entire planet).
The public were bombarded via television, radio and even loudspeakers over their cities with the news that we were there to help and as soon as they have re-organised their governments, we will meet with them to negotiate the cleansing of their environment and the supply of new technology that will improve their lives. Robbie delegated all of it as he wants to concentrate on bringing back all those Craig and gang killed, especially Robert and Cherine. He did manage to surprise us once again. He first returned in time and brought the local Hettie and Eddie back to life within Freddie. Their alternates spent a few days talking with them and we rejoiced at what we felt within them.
Robbie’s breakfast had been a cigarette and coffee as he moodily stared into the distance. Softly, so that no guests would hear him, he told us, “I don’t think I have the courage to take the next step.”
“Cherine?” Dommi asked. “She’ll break all our hearts Roberto mou, but we have enough love to heal her and part of the healing will be the pain she senses in us.”
“I think we should bring her back as a baby so that she can forget that bastard.”
Haven shook her head, “No, Jodine, her memories are part of her, all we’ll do is bury them.”
“Still,” Cherine admitted, “It might be a good idea we bring her back as an eight year old. We could do the Kolonaki thing in the Sparkler World so that she first learns to love her Robert and only then remembers her past.”
Robbie stared at her with horror in his eyes. “To recall rape and betrayal afterwards! It would poison their love.” He lit another cigarette. “First we bring her back and help her heal and then we do the Kolonaki thing if she wants.”
We all agreed so Cherine said to him, “Okay.” She then stared at him, waiting.
His eyes widened, “May I finish my cigarette first? Are you coming with, we don’t want her bonding with me.”
“Take Tserika.”
Robbie first collected Robert. His soul was confused as he had not seen an assailant, so had not understood he was being murdered. It took days for him to make sense of his life and seeing us did not make it easier for him. Cherine and Tserika stayed home so that he would not meet them and widen the complexity of our problems. His lack of reaction to learning of his murder did not sit well with us. He does not seem to have the fire and spirit he’ll need to win and hold the love of his Cherine.
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What I last wrote was written before retiring to bed. This morning Dommi woke up before dawn, threw on some clothes quickly and jumped to Robert. She found him sitting on his bed, hunched over and violently shaking. As his tears streamed she sent on to us his violently conflicting emotions that were tearing him apart - that was the reason for his tears. Dommi used her gift and sent him into a deep sleep. She sat by his side, stroking his hand whenever he moaned.
Dommi emoted a slight satisfaction underneath her feelings of compassion for Robert. “He will now heal. Roberto, he must not learn of the fate of his Cherine until he is stronger and believes in himself and all Cherines. I think we should take him somewhere quiet, where life is lived at a basic level without too many complications. I suggest we go to visit Orgg and Jeskine. He should stay in their city, not in Freddie.”
Robert was still in shock and because he needed time for healing he should have been taken somewhere boring and filled with comforting routine. I’m still trying to work out why Dommi thought he should be taken to a Nean Robert. Whatever her reasons, she was right. Orgg felt him, shared from us what had happened to him and sort of adopted him.
Orgg joined us early as we sat for breakfast. “I have not been to see how the tribes you brought forward in time are handling the changes in their environment. I think it would be good for Robert to come with me. We can forget about being Cherinians and walk and hunt and survive by our wits, I think it will make him start living in the present.”
They left and since Orgg would not allow him to come to any harm, we concentrated on Jeskine and all our friends in this world. Maybe we also needed a little holiday without amazing things happening, for we mostly sat at the cake shop and talked or jumped to places of great natural beauty that have been changed to tourist hotels and camps on our world.
Whenever Freddie is at our home world, there are always a few Normals visiting who choose to stay for the trip when we have to leave. Robbie encourages all Cherinians, even Ipohin, to bring as many Normals as they can, as being in Freddie for a while changes what we represent from something abstract to something real that can now be seen as part of their lives in ways they had not imagined. Once that happens, many start to think about all that ‘nonsense’ we talk about, such as empathy, and then a number of them change inside and are linked - whether as Cherinians or Ipohin does not matter.
One such guest who had not joined us specifically for dealing with Craig, was an older man who looked rather scruffy, but was popular because he is always cheerful. Jade and Angelica both claimed that his ‘scruffiness’ was calculated so that it would appeal to the wild side of us without repulsing us by seeming to be unhygienic. Once Robbie met him and they had a conversation, Robbie invited him to join us very often. Although he is a drinker, luckily he stops after three or four and then seems to stay on a high without needing more to drink. He approves of the Greek way we follow, mezedes to nibble on while drinking, and jokes about opening a bar back home that serves mezedes. His name is Daniel and he teases us (as if we really are children), telling us that the song ‘Danny boy’ was written for him (and then he insists on singing it, much to our dismay - his voice does not obey the directions from his mind as often as it should).
Some Elipian children were visiting us and Daniel told them his story about the song being written for him and he then sang it for them. All Elipians, from birth it seems, have a reverential attitude towards music, so it pained them hearing him mutilate the song. Wendy asked them whether they would like to hear her version and once she’d sung it, Daniel sat without speaking, emoting a moody feeling. Robbie asked him what was wrong.
“After what she did to the song, how can I ever dare to sing it again? However talented I am, I’ll never be as good as her.” Stunned we looked at him to see whether he is joking, but we realised that all this time he’d thought he was singing the song as it should be sung.
Robbie stared at him for a moment and then said, “I guess Wendy will win the ‘public service’ medal this year.” Daniel stared at Robbie without showing any emotion and then his face cracked into a huge grin. Robbie, as usual when he jokes, burst into wild laughter that soon had Daniel holding his sides as he laughed with him.
7880
The Elipians might be boastful, but they hardly ever lie. The kids told their people and they all, thereafter, showed Daniel great respect, for he is a man who has had a song written for him. We kept that joke to ourselves - partly out of embarrassment, not liking the feeling we’d feel if the Elipians realise it is a lie. Robbie made certain that Daniel understood what had happened and he softly cursed, mumbling he’ll never be able to play that joke on anyone again.Daniel told us that he used to be a doctor (a surgeon actually). He must have been in an introspective mood that day, for when he joined us in the late afternoon he started talking about the past.
“In the days before you Cherinians took over the world…”
“We did no such thing!” Rosie exclaimed.
“You did, my dear, but we can discuss that later. As I was about to say, before you Cherinians took over and used your gifts to heal everyone, I worked in a hospital in Houston. In the early nineteen nineties we were approaching, throughout the United States, a crisis situation. Hospitals that had a trauma unit could not refuse to treat anyone who was in danger of dying, but it also meant that we usually could not charge for the service. In Texas alone trauma care was costing about $300 million a year. Hospitals mostly belonged to corporations and they could not afford the losses. Trauma units in all the cities were overcrowded and as hospitals began to shut down their trauma units, the ones remaining had to turn away patients, knowing they would die. It is said that the first hour after a wounding or accident is the golden hour. Any delay after that reduces the chances of saving that life. We knew it and, added to our exhaustion, was a sense of guilt that we could not rid ourselves of by logical arguments.
The only answer to our problem was for the government to compensate the hospitals by adding a tax to cars, guns and so on. Unfortunately no politician wanted to be seen as being responsible for adding new taxes and nearly three quarters of the hospitals had closed their trauma units by the time you Cherinians appeared and relieved us of the problem - and the guilt.”
He sat sipping his drink, lost in his memories and we waited without speaking. “I was in a hospital that did not close our trauma unit and as crime increased, society also losing the battle against drugs, the increase in use of assault weapons changed the nature of the majority of cases from blunt injury (such as car accidents) to penetrating injury, contributing to a spiralling number of cases we had to reject because we were already swamped. I usually worked between fourteen to eighteen hours a day and I felt permanently exhausted, terrified that my exhaustion could lead me to making mistakes that would give the patients an excuse to sue me and, to top it all, every time I saw patients being left to die because we could not get to them in time, I felt as if I personally were responsible. Just before you Cherinians made yourselves known I had a nervous breakdown and also had to be committed to a centre to be dried out - for those of you too young to know, that means I was an alcoholic and needed help to stop drinking.”
“Why do you drink now, alcoholics who stop should never drink again.” Claudia bluntly told him.
“I never stopped, once I stopped working I came to my senses and realised that if I wanted to continue to enjoy my wine with my meal and the odd glass of stronger drink as I talked with friends, I had to control the amount I drink. I have done so, despite being told I’d fail.”
“You never went back to the operating theatre?” Robbie asked.
“What for, I would not have had any patients. At least the Anadir were fair and compensated us for the loss of our careers. I was able to pay off my house and invest a little in ADFI, I was soon given a food machine and bought a second one that belonged to someone who died, so I had a nice variety of foods and with my vegetable patch I earned enough to pay for the odd drink with friends. I’m happy with the way things are now.”
Cherine asked, “Has anyone offered to link you as a Cherinian or Ipohin?”
He pretended he was trying to remember. “Not that I can recall.”
“How would you respond if someone offered?”
“Politely.”
Robbie grinned. “You would politely refuse?”
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.
- posted: 9th Aug, 2020
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