She wondered why fate had brought together the two of them for such an improbable love to be born. She’d always known that she is stronger than him, more practical, but then she blamed that on her German blood or else, on her German upbringing. He on the other hand is stronger than her psychically and, she believed, far wiser, but in an impractical manner.
“I still feel uncomfortable about just turning up at their home, we should have phoned them from the airport.”
He smiled. “We gave them a few days of privacy, they should be glad for some company by now.” He stopped the car, looked at the map again and exclaimed, “Ah, this must be it!” He inched the car forward and turned onto the dirt road. He pointed at the hill ahead. “That must be the crater, we’re very close my love.”
The first hint Robert and Cherine had was when the chimps rushed to their side and she sensed the anxiety in them, even Tippity anxious for some nebulous reason. Then she heard a car as it came over the top of the hill and began the downward journey to their home. She wondered why the chimps were so anxious and she warned Robert. He quickly dashed into the house to get his gun and shouted to her to hide in the bush with the chimps.
As the car came to a stop by the house, Eddie and Hettie saw a young woman with the chimps around her, standing and staring at them. They felt the first tendrils of power reach out from her. Hettie quickly opened her door and called out, even as the young man rushed out of the house with a gun. “It is alright dear, we mean you no harm.”
The couple were confusing Cherine. She could sense there was something dangerous about both of them, but her eyes only saw two elderly people who looked rather rumpled and tired. She decided not to tell Robert to lower the gun. “Who are you?”
“We are shareholders in SOW, our name is Mansfield.”
With an embarrassed look, Robert lowered his gun. “God, what a poor welcome! You should have called.”
“I know dear,” the elderly woman said, a fond smile appearing on her face as she glanced at her husband, “Eddie does love to spring surprises. We have not inconvenienced you I hope?”
“No, you are most welcome, please come in. Cherine, please ask Tippity to give us some time on our own.”
“He won’t leave Robert, he is also curious.”
Eddie laughed. “It would please me to meet them. Hello Tippity.”
Cherine did not know why she confided in him, perhaps it was because he felt like a kindly uncle. “The neighbours are considering selling as they want to return to England. They are afraid that if conditions worsen they might not be able to return and be stuck here amongst the black people.”
“You’re serious! You want to buy their farm?”
“We’re not very interested in the farm part of it, but if their house is anything like this one with these views, I’ll gladly pay whatever their price is. Somewhere beautiful for my wife and I to come for the odd weekend, that would be wonderful.”
Cherine asked, “Weekend? I thought you live in America?”
He did not answer her, asking Hettie instead, “Well, my love?”
“You are right, they are the ones.” Both Robert and Cherine looked mystified at their exchange, Robert even slightly anxious.
“Robert, do you know what Hettie and I are worth? You will not see our names on the Forbes list, but we are wealthier than the man who heads their list. By last count I estimate we are worth about seven hundred and six billion dollars, the next richest man, at this time, is only worth about forty eight. The money is not what should interest you. Our network should. It should excite you.”
“What network? Do you mean those who work for you in governments?”
Both Eddie and Hettie looked amused. “Many of them are in positions that can be useful. No Robert, it is the nature of the network I think the two of you will find exciting.” He paused. “They are a network composed of people with gifts and powers - extrasensory powers…just like the two of you.”
His words nearly caused Robert to have a panic attack and he wildly looked around for his gun. He saw it leaning against a tree on the other side of the garden. He knew he had not taken it there.
“What do you want?”
“We were hoping you would come to know and like us before we told you. Hettie, you tell them.”
“We want to adopt the two of you as our heirs.” Eddie took her hand in his as they saw the looks of bewildered incredulity on their faces. They expected to see suspicion next and they were not disappointed. He gave her fingers a squeeze and spoke the words that were to turn the lives of Robert and Cherine upside down.
“The two of us are old, far older than you can imagine. We do not have children and our wealth and network will be needed by the two of you to give this world a fighting chance of surviving. Until we die, we will stay in control but, in the meantime, all either of you has to do is ask for whatever you need. As a temporary measure, you will have an income of fifty million dollars per month. We expect the two of you to use the funds wisely.”
Badly shaken, Robert still found the presence of mind to reply, “We are grateful but…Alki Georgiades controls the group and…”
“You may ask him to administer the funds if you wish, his reputation is spotless. Robert, he will be the first to advise you that the money is the least important of the benefits. Once the world knows that the two of you are to be our beneficiaries, you will find presidents and kings opening their doors to you. However, we must ask that you do not divulge to anyone the existence of the network, its survival depends on its existence being a secret. Give us time to explain and you’ll understand why.”
The hours passed without the trembling wonder and excitement in Robert and Cherine subsiding. They heard of men and women with powers they had not dreamt of. Robert however was the one to ask. “If you know of us, then you must know we have no powers like those you’ve been telling us about. We only have empathy. Why choose us.”
“It helps that you have at least one gift and empathy is not a bad gift to have considering the needs of our world.…Robert, if you had what we have, the money and power, would you blindly hand it over to the person with the strongest powers or the person who has the biggest dream that is also the closest to your own dream?”
The elderly couple were in the guest bedroom and as Robert and Cherine walked out of the house onto the lawn, Cherine said, in an exasperated tone, with a hint of tears in her voice, “That was not fair! We already had too much to think about, telling us about teleportation was too much!”
Robert stared at her with an incredulous look and then he burst into hysterical laughter, carrying Cherine along with him. The two of them sank to their knees as they fought to stop the laughter, their sides aching and their chimp family jumping about and screaming and hooting with excitement.
“I don’t understand why you chose us, despite all you said, surely you must know many people more capable?”
“We have our reasons Robert. If we grow closer in the time we have left, we might confide in you. Now, shall we deal with matters in the required order? Cherine, have you phoned your neighbours?”
“We are welcome to go over whenever you want.”
“Let’s get it over with.”
When the price was quoted, both Robert and Cherine had to control themselves so as not to betray the fact that their neighbour was asking for too much. Eddie gave a smile and agreed to their price, on condition that they leave all the furniture, fixtures and fittings and are out of the house within three days. They asked for half the price to be paid in cash in London so that only half is declared locally. Eddie nodded his agreement and turned to Robert. “Will Artem be capable of handling the added load if I give to you the farm fields? If the coffee is good, I would not mind receiving in turn a few pounds of coffee each year.” Both of them were amazed when they sensed that their neighbours are envious of them, resenting the fact that they are benefiting from the sale of their farm. Their emoting prevented Robert from protesting and he only confirmed Artem can manage the bigger farm and offered to make them a cup of coffee from their own production as soon as they return home, for them to judge for themselves the quality.
As they walked back, Eddie said, “The small difference in angle means that the view from our home is not of tropical jungle only. Who owns the farm on the other side?”
“You’re not going to buy their farm also are you?” Eddie did not look at Robert, his eyes taking in the natural beauty they were walking through, but he did find Hettie’s eyes on him. “I meant, at a time that we are doing all we can to increase production so as to get through the years of changing climates, it does not feel right to think of destroying a good farm just for the sake of the view.” Cherine was a little shocked that Robert would be so small minded about a few coffee trees after their unbelievable generosity.
Eddie smiled at Hettie, as if the couple were not with them. “If he never learns to bend, then we will have chosen wisely my love.”
Tippity had not accompanied them to the other farm as they have dogs, but he and his little juvenile harem now appeared, his hand slipping into Cherine’s as he looked up at her. An idea hit her and she spoke before giving herself time to think, “Robert, we have only been thinking of how to save mankind, what about the animals? If all this area became jungle again, maybe apart from the homes, and we brought chimps here, would this kind of forest suit them? It would be much easier to protect them here than in their natural habitat, where hunters kill the mothers and steal their babies.”
Robert stopped, looked around and up into the trees. “It should be heaven for them. How do we keep them from straying onto the farms outside? If they damage crops, you know that the farmers will kill them, protected species status or not.” He looked at the Mansfields. “I’d have to use some of that money for SOW to buy all the surrounding farms for us to shield this area and the chimpanzee tribe living here.”
“The Minister of Agriculture is not going to approve it, he’ll only care about the decrease in coffee crops that earn foreign exchange.” Eddie did not answer him, obviously waiting for him to give his own answers so Robert gave it some more thought. “The other five farmhouses could be converted into very exclusive tourist camps and that should cover most of the loss of foreign exchange and some of the loss of jobs. I guess we could guarantee to employ the rest on our other farms. That maybe takes care of the one Minister, but what about the Minister responsible for protecting the ecology.” He gave a sudden grin. “Hettie, did you know that in this country that Minister is also the Minister of Tourism - they don’t consider a conflict of interest as being important. We just might pull this off.”
Cherine asked, “Are we going to ask David to help? I’ll tell him that if they agree, it will buy them a lot of goodwill all around the world and I’ll do my best to see that it does.”
Robert glanced at Eddie and laughed. “Is this how you became so wealthy? You’ve only owned your farm an hour or two and it already is worth three to four times the price you paid for it - and it all came about because you selfishly worried about the view!”
Hettie frowned coldly at him, but Eddie burst out in laughter. Later, as they sat on the verandah, Eddie told Cherine, “Don’t worry about it, your network will see to it that all permits are issued, this will become the ‘Cherine Chimpanzee Haven’.”
Cherine blushed. “I prefer ‘The Duluti Lake Chimpanzee Haven’.”
Neither couple knew how much their lives would change from that day. Eddie made the announcement and it electrified the world. Suddenly all the media was digging to learn all they could about the young couple (thanks to Tippity and SOW they already had quite a lot of information) and invitations from governments, charities and businessmen flooded in. Robert told the local reporters that Alki will be administering their funds as he and Cherine are more interested in continuing their work for SOW.
There was little point in staying once Eddie and Hettie left, as visitors were calling at their farm every day. Artem employed guards and placed a barrier across the entrance to the farms, but that was only to reduce the likelihood of people breaking into the houses while they were absent. Artem hardly reacted to the news that he would earn twenty five percent of the profits from the coffee farms but they could sense him. What did shock him was the news that they want to buy all the surrounding farms. The reason was another shock.
“Please explain to them that we intend turning this area into The Duluti Chimpanzee Haven. With all the best will in the world, the chimps cannot be controlled and kept within the Haven, there will always be a few who are attracted by the crops. Rather than having to worry about compensating them, we would prefer to pay them a good price for their farms. Artem, you will have to appoint managers and it could be that some of the farmers who sell would make good managers? It looks to me like your job has changed, far less hands-on and more focussed on administration, organising and planning. Since everyone will be working for SOW, I presume they will consider it an advantage career wise?”
As soon as they could, they flew back to Athens.
Alki agreed to handle the administration and to use the funds for implementing their plans, but he insisted that the money is for them to use as they see fit, he will only do the administration of their projects. Ideas flooded the emails of SOW and the personal emails of Robert and Cherine. Robert kept asking Cherine, Nicko, anyone who would talk to him, whether this project or that one was worth investing in, but nobody wanted to advise him, not even Cherine. Days, then weeks and then a month went by without Robert spending any of his fifty million and the next allotment was deposited in his account. Cherine saw that he was hardly sleeping and realised they had to have help. She went to see Alki on her own.
He listened to all she had to say and nodded. He called his accountant. “Yianni, please arrange for ten million Euros to be deposited in the account of Mrs Cherine Teller every month.”
Aghast at what he’d done, she stared at him. “Have you gone crazy!? I came for help and you make the problem worse?”
Elias and Claire came to visit and it was obvious that Elias had discussed the situation with Alki. “You are both feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility and fear making a mistake. The only mistake either of you could make that will upset your sponsors, is the mistake of doing nothing. They trust you to find sensible but visionary ways to invest the funds. If you lose some on projects that are not practical, they expect you to learn from the experience.” He smiled. “In the financing world, the people or institutions who provide this kind of start-up funding are sometimes called angels. I find it difficult to think of Alki as an angel.” He chuckled.
Elias wheedled out of them which projects they were considering, helped them analyse them and the projects that stood up to their analysis became their first investments. It felt ironic to Cherine that she had to pass on her project to Alki for him to organise it and use the funds sitting in her account.
Someone rang from the gate and Robert looked at the screen. Quickly he pushed the button for the gate to open and called out to Cherine. She rushed upstairs to their bedroom to change and brush her hair. Robert had seen Eddie in the vehicle waiting to enter.
“If the two of you intend spending most of your time in Greece, then this is a man you must know. He is the Chief of Police and his name is Perikli. Robert, he is part of the network working for us.”
After the introductions, Perikli told Robert, “It would not be a good idea that we meet often. I will transfer Michaeli Assimides as station commander to your local station so that he is on hand to assist should you encounter any problems requiring the assistance of the police.”
Once Perikli had left, Eddie asked the two of them to stand close to him. “Will Tippity be alright without the two of you for a few hours?” They confirmed he would and with mouths dry from anxiety, they allowed him to touch them. Suddenly they found themselves in palatial surroundings. “This is our home, Hettie will be with us just now, she has prepared a pot of coffee for you Robert.”
As Hettie walked in, she smiled and said, “So, now both of you have teleported. Not as frightening as you thought - was it?”
“I don’t know about Cherine but I’m still trembling. Have our bodies been disintegrated and put back together again?”
Eddie laughed. “You sound just like one of our scientists. If they are faced with one impossibility they try to explain it by theorising something else that is even more complex or impossible. As far as I’m concerned, teleportation is instantaneous, so there is no time for us to be shredded to atoms and brought back again.”
Robert thought they collected him to get a report of how he’d spent the money. Eddie stopped him. “You only have to answer to your good conscious Robert, we do not want you to ever account for even one dollar. Keep in mind that the amount of money, however vast, is finite and the problems are infinite. There is only a certain amount of good you can do with it. If we had appointed committees to choose the projects and implement them, they would not have been considered through to the last possible step, their main considerations would have only been two: garner enough paperwork and signatures from experts to show they acted prudently and are therefore not responsible for failures and the second and equally important point, after diverting each step through dozens of contractors and corporations, they ensure a good percentage of the funds find their way to their secret accounts. We trust Alki to prevent either of the two from occurring, but we hope he realises that he must not control your funds for long, he is only meant to help you while he teaches you.”
Robert complained, “He refuses to help us decide which projects to choose!”
Eddie chuckled. “I think it might be time I meet the man. We are about to have lunch, which for you would be your evening meal. We hope you can join us.”
These visits became fairly regular, about once a week. Once Eddie and Hettie felt that the young couple were more relaxed with them, they decided to take the next step. That day, another man was at their house when Robert and Cherine arrived.
“I’m not sensitive to the auras of people, but I know why you don’t like him. Cherine, the two of you no longer represent yourselves only, you are the leaders of a movement that could evolve to control the destiny of Mankind. Such a movement must be headed by good people like the two of you, but you must have men like Frank so that you can enforce decisions when it is necessary.”
That night, Cherine clung to Robert and wept. “If we need people like him to enforce our decisions then we should reconsider our decisions, not use men like him to kill and hurt people so that our decisions are implemented through brute force. I don’t like what is happening to us Robert.” As she spoke, her grief changed to anger.
“Shh, don’t cry love, I’ve already done some thinking and I just might have found a way to get rid of Frank and any others like him.” Cherine pulled back to look into his eyes, unable to believe he had such a solution. “Next time they collect us, we’ll tell them that instead of them teaching us, we want to teach them. Cherine, you must try to open their minds as you did with mine. If their empathy becomes strong enough, we will not need to say a word, they’ll only need to sense him to realise that Frank should not be allowed to hold so much power in their network.”
Nicko listened as Robert talked, rarely interrupting with a question. What he was hearing pleased him as it meant Robert is maturing at last, learning to think deeper instead of just responding to what he has heard or read and adopting them as his own opinions.
“What you’ve told me Roberto in many ways reflects what Alki told me when we first started SOW. You are right, most of our fears and worries - and plans to prevent them becoming a fact, did not take into account the rapid changes in technology. We will have more time than we thought and the margins are slightly better than we originally dared hope for.”
“Then we should make an announcement, I know for a fact that we have terrified a great number of people…”
“Think before you take any such action. If we admit that the situation is not as dire as we projected, what do you think will be the reaction of the public? They’ve girded themselves to face the worst, and for the first time we can hope that the world population in the poorer countries might also begin to show a negative growth within the next decade. People are careful not to waste water, consumption of electricity has decreased in the private sector, although, unfortunately such decrease is offset by the increase in the commercial and industrial sectors, but it is a temporary side effect due to the vast changes industry is planning for because of our projections. If we make any announcements that show we exaggerated the dangers, we’ll lose the impetus and then we will end up facing the worst case scenarios. It makes more sense to stagger our announcements so that they coincide with reports that the public is losing heart or tiring of making sacrifices. Every time we announce a small improvement and commend everyone for making it possible, they’ll feel they are achieving something and they’ll be inspired to try harder.”
Robert was silent for a while as he considered what he’d heard. “I understand that we must do all we can to make the public feel and see that they are an integral part of the effort to save our planet and ourselves, however, it seems that with every month that passes I learn that running SOW involves dirty politics and I don’t feel I can be a part of it anymore. What we are doing should be a joint effort, a partnership between us and every single man, woman and child.” Robert raised his hand to stop Nicko from speaking. “I am not stupid, I can see that you are right in your arguments, but for Cherine and I to continue would mean we would be acting against our beliefs and principles. How long will it take for us to agree to compromise on other beliefs? How long before we become just as corrupt as the worst politicians?” He put his hand on Nicko's arm as he asked him, “How long before Cherine and I sicken and can no longer contribute? We must do whatever is needed in a way that is also part of our dream - the ends do not justify the means, they never do.”
Nicko hardly dared ask, “Are you telling me you are both withdrawing?”
“No. I became involved because I was asked to run the farms. The money from Eddie and Hettie changed that and we were expected to become politically active. Let Alki and the rest of you handle that and let Cherine and I revert to being farmers.”
“I have heard all you’ve said and I understand the possible repercussions and I agree, it is frightening. However, the truth is that I found it difficult to concentrate on all you said as I was feeling too proud of Robert and Cherine for anything else to matter.” He turned to look into Hettie’s eyes. “Hettie, you know how we succumbed to necessity and allowed it to change us. Finally we turned away from all that life had taught us and in a belated effort to right the wrongs we committed, we chose Robert and Cherine to represent us into the future. We did choose wisely my love, for this once, we really did!”
There was little anyone could say to that. They now began to plan, for the first time, on succeeding in accordance with the needs and beliefs of Robert and Cherine. As they planned, made adjustments and found solutions, for the first time ever, the eyes of Alki seemed to glow.
The journalists stared with eyes filled by speculation at the young couple sitting on the dais. The young man, Robert Teller, was introduced by the United States chairman of SOW. “…and as everyone knows, SOW came into existence because of the recognition that the world could be facing a crisis that would cost hundreds of millions of lives. It is appropriate that the acronym SOW, for Save Our World, should primarily represent the determination by our organisation to provide the basic foods for all of mankind by intensive and new farming methods in every country throughout the world. Here, to make our first official report, is Mr Robert Teller.” He stood aside for Robert to position himself before the microphones.
Robert stared at the journalists and then into the cameras. “A few years ago, mankind launched an initiative which at best was only hopefully going to reduce the number of deaths globally. We were starting the race against starvation, massive loss of important species from our ecology and a number of other threats, just a little too late for us to dare hope we could save everyone. We formed SOW, secured large investments and announced our existence. Many have warned of the dangers before we did and some have even coupled their warnings with sensible recommendations. We offered the same warnings, but we also offered a plan of action and showed the world that we had began to implement it. Since then, tens of thousand have dedicated their lives to making a success of SOW. We are proud of our men and women, for their belief in us helped us remain true to our own beliefs and commitments.
We are constantly monitoring the changes in our world. Not only the global warming, the rise in sea levels, both which did not happen; changes in weather patterns, including the possibility of a new ice age and so on, which we have realised were grossly exaggerated, we also monitor the changes in the way mankind thinks. We monitor and analyse the way people are responding and the changes that brings. Perhaps of all we monitor, the way people think is the most critical of all we study. No group, however wealthy or powerful can save our world, only the united purpose and willpower of an entire world can do so. You, each one of you, from the youngest to the eldest, from the poorest to the wealthiest, each of you as one have reached into my heart and given me the courage to believe and hope we might pull it off, we might manage to save all lives - not only human lives, but also hundreds and maybe even thousands of other species. We need them all and I feel humbled by the hope you have given me by your determination to save our world for our children and all future generations.
When I knew that I was to make this report, that I was to spell out for you our successes and failures, I found it easier to tell you about all the dangers we still face and the hardest of all was telling you about the tiny victories that were brightening our prospects. As I speak, you must be asking yourselves, why? Why does he say so? Surely it would be easier to tell us of all that gives us hope and joy?
I am not a politician so I have to admit that telling you the good news terrifies me. Telling you the good news could become warped so that it turns into bad news. Allow me to explain my thoughts before I go into the details you are all eagerly waiting to hear.
When we started, we did not foresee that others outside of SOW would find ways to bring about changes, whether for economic reasons or out of altruism, that would extend our margin, giving us more time to put into place all we plan for saving our world. We all know that the issue of fuel is the most critical of all our problems. We estimated we only had six to ten years of fuel left, if we are careful and set aside enough for farming. With the latest technological developments, we now hopefully have nearly doubled our period of grace. Who knows, if we remain as determined and inventive, we just might find that problem receding again and again, losing its importance, while also greatly reducing pollution. However, perhaps one of the most exciting developments, for me, is the possibility that we could be farming without the use of petroleum fuels within three years!
What is it that gives us any hope of saving ourselves and our world? The answer is: your determination to make it happen. Unfortunately, as a species, we do not have the self discipline to hang on to that determination for long periods unless we are spurred by fear. That is what our past tells us. I could have played at being wise and kept the good news from you. Please take to heart what I have to tell you. If you relax in your determination and willingness to make sacrifices, even just slightly, we will lose and my soul will be cursed till the end of time with the responsibility for the death of an entire planet.
For good or bad, this is my personality. I need to know that every single one of you is working with us as our partners - and partners do not lie or manipulate each other. I do not have the right to mislead or lie to you for your own good. I have to trust that most of you are wise and caring and determined to give future generations hope for the kind of life we stupidly threw away.
I do not advocate a future without the benefits of technology - all that I ask is that we are wiser in which fruits of technology we adopt. We will succeed in saving our world. We will continue to evolve and grow in knowledge and maybe within a century our technology will have gone past its destructive phase and mostly be of benefit to us and all the species of mother Earth.”
Robert talked for another twenty minutes and then other specialists spoke with more details, explaining and asking for whatever SOW had decided is needed. Even as Robert, Cherine, Tippity and family, Nicko and the personal secretary of Hettie drove out to the estate of Eddie and Hettie, reports were coming in regarding the reaction to the speech by Robert. Some reports, tongue in cheek, stated that Robert's popularity, for the first time ever, has eclipsed that of Cherine and Tippity. Because of nerves, Robert found that very funny and laughed until Cherine pulled him to her. Tippity looked concerned and put his arms around both of them and nearly cracked a few bones as he squeezed.
It has been known for a long time that solar power can be harvested far more effectively in space. Plans, at that time, were made for the energy collected to be beamed by microwaves down to collection points on Earth. The danger of such microwave beams straying and passing over cities prevented the theory from being converted to fact. Luckily, as it turned out that it would not be healthy for Mother Earth to be bombarded by constant streams of microwaves - in addition to what the Universe throws at her already. Stealthily, year by year, solar panels grew more efficient and batteries developed that can provide all the electricity a normal home needs with three hours of sun per day. These were augmented with wind power and SOW financed the owners of homes so as to reduce the need for new electricity stations being built - whether coal or nuclear. This section of technology was given a boost when scientists announced a radical breakthrough, claiming that they soon expected to succeed in mimicking the abilities of leaves - both in converting sunlight to energy and in the ability to store that energy without having to use poisonous substances for the batteries.
Robert believed that the most important contribution he could make was by overseeing the farming projects. Alki and others saw him as being more effective at inspiring others and cajoling government leaders into changing laws so that SOW can react faster. Eddie, on the other hand, believed that only one thing was important at this stage, Robert and Cherine must grow psychically stronger. He was determined that they learn how to teleport, open their minds to other gifts, such as telepathy, the channelling of energies for defending themselves and so on. He did not consider the gift of healing as being of primary importance. Once Eddie made his wishes known, all the others planned to operate without Robert and Cherine and encouraged the two of them to study with Eddie or his Talents.
Robert sat facing Eddie and Hettie and by the nervous way Cherine placed herself against him, the couple realised Robert had a problem he needed to discuss with them. He was asked to confide his worries to them.
“It is not as easy as it would be if the problem only involved the two of us. For you to understand why we consider our thoughts on this subject very important, I’ll end up insulting both of you.” He dared to give Hettie a smile. “I’m not that worried about Eddie, he might feel hurt or insulted, but I trust him to set his feelings aside so as to understand what drove me to make the comments you won’t like. With you I do not have that comfort zone. You might be angered and offended by how my words reflect on you, but your greatest anger will be on behalf of Eddie - I have noticed that you are his protector.”
“You both wish for Cherine and I to expand our range of psychic gifts and powers. As part of your wish to help us grow, you have tried to enter our minds and failed. I know why you failed and this is what will sound insulting to you. Without us intending to, I believe we are both blocking the two of you because your minds are anathema to ours.” Hettie noticed that even Cherine was upset by his wording and realised she’d expected Robert to be more tactful.
Eddie ignored his own reaction and spoke gently so as to encourage Robert. “Please explain why our minds are anathema to you.”
“You have both hinted at a dark past, but it is not something either of us can sense. We know both of you to be nice people, your generosity and love for our world still stuns Cherine and I, yet, despite our growing closer to you, what I said is also true. It has very little to do with what is normally considered good or evil. Cherine and I find our minds opening to each other in new ways so that it feels as if we are blossoming, growing into one immensely and unbelievably beautiful flower. With empathy being the driving force for both of us, there is no reason for any part of our minds to wish to hide from the other. We not only need to open to each other so that our love grows, we can do so because we are already one in the most important way: we both have empathy as our prime gift.
Our minds pull back, fold inwards when a mind that does not have empathy as a gift tries to enter or share with ours. Can you understand what I’ve tried to explain? Hettie, it does not mean you are devoid of empathy, it is just that empathy is not the prime motivator in both of you.”
Eddie nodded. “Life has taught us to be practical and to an extent cynical, even cruel when necessary, so we are not as open to empathy.”
Robert shook his head, sensing that Cherine agreed with him. “No, that is what I was trying to explain, it is not the normal empathy people have or not that we need to sense, we need to sense that empathy is the prime filter for every thought you think. Eddie, we desperately need both of you to allow Cherine to help find the gift of empathy within you. You won’t believe how magical it is, you’ll feel as if you have become human beings for the first time, that before, as you are now, you were only superficially so.”
Eddie said, “I have wondered about it. I could not help thinking that it must be painful being empaths in the world we live in. From what you say, it seems I was wrong?”
“You were right, it can become a nightmare at times but…it is also as I described it.”
Eddie turned to Cherine, his eyes filled with kindness. “Can you enter my mind to help open the gift in me?”
“If you really want it. Eddie, Hettie, if you are telepathic, you’ll think that you already know how the other loves you. I do not think it is anything like the knowing Robert and I feel.” Cherine had found the right incentive and she sensed how the mind and emoting of Hettie opened, no longer quite as defensive as it had been.
Cherine felt that the opening of Eddie and Hettie to empathy could not be achieved by them meeting at intervals. It was agreed that they would live together for a fortnight. After that, if they both felt it was needed, they would remain as long as Cherine needs. Even as they talked, Cherine was playing with their emoting. If Hettie glanced at Eddie with a feeling of tenderness or fondness, she would send it to Eddie, build on to it the automatic response by Eddie and send it back to Hettie. Within half an hour the two of them were emoting and looking at each other with such adoration that both of them felt like crying because it felt so beautiful. Eddie was the first to realise and he turned to stare at Cherine with wonder and awe.
“God! You are doing this to us! Hettie, if this is what it is like, how can we bear to live with so much love?”
Within two days both had opened to Robert and Cherine and they could sense others. All four of them felt that something was still missing and because of that, Eddie found it impossible for him to enter their minds without forcing his way in. They agreed to meet in a few days and Robert, Cherine, Tippity and his girls returned to their homes in Greece.
Both were elated by the change in the Mansfields and in her eagerness, Cherine did not ask; she began to manipulate the feelings of Alki and her mother for each other. Marian accepted what was happening without suspecting her daughter, but Alki realised it is not normal to him, to his kind of personality and he did not need to look far afield for a cause. Cherine looked at him timidly, but he crushed her to himself, calling her a miracle from God.
The next day, the entire world was shocked by the news. Eddie and Hettie Mansfield had been murdered. Hours later, the police announced that they had been killed by an explosion and they explained that scientists are studying the scene of the crime as it has proven to be heavily irradiated or bombarded by some radioactive material. As the scientists explained afterwards, they did not believe the radioactivity was due to the explosion as no atomic or nuclear explosion could be so minute, that there would not have been enough critical mass to trigger an explosion. They decided that some contaminated material must have been added to the bomb so as to cause the effect.
Because of the recent bonding and opening of minds to each other, Robert and Cherine were devastated. Their friends rallied to them and Tippity and his females refused to leave their side, watching them anxiously and going to Alki for reassurance repeatedly. The United States president announced that a state funeral would take place next week Tuesday and that leaders and other well known personalities will be attending the funerals. Through Alki, Robert and Cherine were asked to attend.
Not long afterwards, a visitor called at their home. Reluctantly Robert opened the door.
Frank was trying to look as if he were grieving, but they could sense he was not, that he was trying to suppress his excitement. He said all the right things, took a long sip of his whiskey and came to the reason for his visit.
“I’m sorry to bring up the subject, but it must be dealt with urgently. Robert, you have inherited everything, including their network - which I ran for them. It would not be correct of me to presume I will continue to do so. The decision is yours to make.” He grimaced apologetically. “I would suggest that you need some time for grieving and the funerals. If you wish I will continue to run the network for the next two to three weeks and we can then meet for you to give me your decision.” His suggestion sounded sensible and they agreed. Frank opened his briefcase and pulled out a batch of documents. “There is no reason for the history of Eddie and Hettie being kept secret anymore. If I were to tell you, it would not seem real to you. I suggest you go through the documents and come to your own conclusions.” From his emoting they were able to reason that he’d delivered something that gave him much pleasure, so they guessed it was meant to discredit Eddie and Hettie.
Alki, Elias and Nicko had been asked to share the information that had shocked Robert and Cherine after they’d sworn to keep all they learnt secret. They studied the documents and stared back at Robert, unable to believe what they’d read.
Robert's voice was cold, clipped, as he summarised. “They were born over two hundred years ago. Every time they aged they stole a boy and girl and after disposing of their souls, they took over their bodies. This is such an evil story that I can’t seem to come to grips with it mentally or identify the people I’ve grown to love with what is in these documents. I did not even count how many people they’ve had murdered! Alki, how can we accept all they’ve passed on to us when it was earned by the blood of so many innocent lives?”
“If they had given the money for your own use I’d agree with you. However, they asked you to use it to save our planet. If you decide not to accept all they passed on to you, what will you do? Give it to charities? They are being run by boards of directors who pay themselves a large fee, expenses and so on. Give it to the governments? So that they can waste it on armaments? You don’t have a choice, you must keep all they’ve given the two of you and stay responsible for the way the money is employed. The same goes for the network.” Alki paused. “I think reading about the network was more of a shock to me. It seems so unbelievable that anything like it can exist in this world.”
Elias nodded. “Cherine, you have felt them clearer than any of us could, did you not feel they knew they had done evil things and were looking for ways to atone? Was that not the reason they chose the two of you?”
Cherine’s eyes filled. “How could they love each other for so many years without learning to love anyone else?”
