Same Planet Different World: Book 1 A Wealth of Energy

Same Planet
Different World
Book One: A Wealth of Energy
David Llewelyn
Pen Press Publishers Ltd

© David Llewelyn 2007
All rights reserved
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quent purchaser.
First published in Great Britain by

Pen Press Publishers Ltd
25, Eastern Place
Brighton BN2 1GJ
ISBN: 1-905621-67-1
ISBN13: 978-1-905621-67-5
Printed and bound in the UK
A catalogue record of this book is available from

the British Library
Cover design by Jacqueline Abromeit

To Tina for her belief and love.
The Author
David Llewelyn was born into a large

family in London, England, in 1951. His
early upbringing was being surrounded by
this loving family all living in and out of
each others houses. He always had a
desire to know more about the world and
the universe that it spun in and pushed his
Mum to the limits of her knowledge with
questions about the stars. It wasn’t until
after he married and left to work in
Australia that his interest in science,
fantasy, and people came together. The idea of a parallel universe
based upon scientific fact mixed with his love for fantasy led him to the
concepts that seemed to answer all his questions about life. Same
World Different Planet was researched for over fifteen years before
being turned into a story within a new genre that he calls Science
Factasy. He now lives in Brighton, England, with his wife Tina and his
children Nicola and James who reside in Sydney, Canada.
Same Planet, Different World
Chapter 1
Survival
GaMea knew that planet Earth would not survive without her and
that made her extremely angry. The news was literally earth
shattering. She had re-read the communiqué from the Executive
Council many times and she decided that she could not interpret it
any other way. It was effectively a death sentence to the whole of
mankind.
She had received the communiqué only a few hours before, along
with all other species development programme directors throughout
the universe. The missive had so shaken her that she had taken the
rare step of printing it, as if transfer to the printed word would
somehow diminish the impact. In fact it had made it worse and the
black script on the pure white paper just made it seem even harsher.
She read it again.
‘Communiqué to all programme directors from the secretary to

the Executive Council of the League of Galaxies.’
‘After a lengthy period of observation the Research Division of the

Council have confirmed that the expansion of the universe is slowing.
The current rate of expansion is half the velocity of only 100 years
ago when the Research Division scientists first noticed the
phenomena and started taking detailed observations. If the current
rate of slow-down is maintained then the universal expansion may
cease in another 100 years. We do not know what will happen at
that time but if the next event is a reversal then it will likely commence
1
soon after. The physics of a reversal are not understood but the
League of Galaxies must be ready for any eventuality. The Council
have decided to divert all resources towards analysing and resolving
the implications of this event. Therefore all species development
will cease immediately. The people and civilisations of the species
currently under development will be left to continue without the
guidance of the League. We will monitor their progress and if any
become a problem then they will be destroyed.’
She sat back in her desk chair. No matter how often she read the
communiqué it became no better. Her mind was racing but with no
coherent thought. This could not happen. The Milky Way galaxy
programme was her lifework and the people of Earth, the home
planet, were like her children. All of those years, the plans, the
successes, and tears. Threatened with abandonment. Think, woman,
think.
The planet Earth had been special for her from the beginning,
7500 years ago, when she took over the programme. She was
pioneering the techniques of species development by developing not
one but five species on the same planet. The idea had come to her in
a flash of inspiration the first time she saw the planet from space.
She didn’t know then what the creation of religions would mean but
she was privately pleased with the results. She had the idea to
separate the five species by creating sects that the people of the
individual species would follow, and adhere to the teachings of a
deity or enduring leader as the head of their sect. She hadn’t thought
of the word religion at that stage and didn’t realise what the problems
of worship would bring but the world was now as it was and she
was coping to maintain control, just.
GaMea was from the Andromedan galaxy and the Milky Way
was a close neighbour in the universe, only 2.5 million light years
away. The Executive Council had applauded the ‘religions’ concept
when they approved her approach at the beginning. Hers was the
only programme using the technique and given that the prime reason
for species development was to supply an ever-increasing need for
work forces by the League it was a proof of concept that was proving
successful to speed up the placement of transport jump stations
throughout the universe and reach the edge sooner. The League had
decided many millennia before that their main reason for being was
2
to study the origins of the universe and where it was going. The
expansion of the universe at the speed of light had been continuing
for over 5 billion years and many galaxies had been created on the
way. They were satisfied with their understanding of the mechanics
of the original Big Bang and had replicated the process in the
laboratory but it was not understood where the universe was going
or, for that matter, why or how it existed at all. To study the current
slowing phenomenon first-hand it would be necessary to be stationed
at the edge of the universe, travelling with it. To reach the edge of
the universe and travel such a vast distance, even with the jump
gate technology, needed civilisations en route in charted space to
maintain the stations for a safe journey. GaMea’s role was to develop
species to join the League and work towards the common aim of
reaching the edge of the universe by supplying a workforce to man
a jump station. This was the Earth’s species’ reason for being, if
they only knew it.
GaMea sat up. Of course, that was the key. Her mind was racing
but more coherently now. The League needed staging posts to the
edge of the universe. They couldn’t jump safely without them and
now they needed to be at the edge sooner than they had planned.
The League must be prepared for whatever was going to happen
when the universal expansion stopped. Who knows what a possible
reversal would be like? What was on the other side of the edge?
What were they expanding into? There were all sorts of theories
from an expanding and parallel universe to endless dark matter and
nothing.
League scientists had sent robot ships to the edge on exploratory
probes but the return journey had taken thousands of years because
the jump technology was not available.
The League had discovered that the barrier at the edge could not
be penetrated. Probes, scanners, nothing would go through. It was
like a huge shield. They could see only an impenetrable darkness on
the other side. Eventually they had returned the android ship frustrated.
Maintenance of the outpost at the edge was possible but it was felt
that a return to base would be more fruitful to work on the problem
with greater resources at their disposal. A small automated station
had remained but only to monitor first-hand any changes at the edge
and any other developments that might occur. It was this small station
3
that had reported the slowing of the universal expansion and it would
need immense resources stationed at the edge to investigate properly.
Without jump stations in place that investigation could only be handled
from the facilities of the Research Division at home base.
The main question to be answered was, ‘how does the universe
expand into the darkness?’ The League had to know the answer to
this question but now that the rate of expansion had slowed, time
was limited. The distance to the edge from the outermost jump station
here in the Milky Way was too much for one transfer and more
stations were needed to get there safely. It was not possible to jump
into uncharted space.
GaMea pressed her fingers into her temples as she reminded
herself again that the prime reason for species development was to
supply a population to man the staging posts throughout the universe
for safe transportation.
Her initial thought gelled. She was developing five species, not
just one, and her programme was the most advanced in the whole
League development initiative. GaMea was within 200 years of
moving into the final Stage 3 where she could deliver five new species
able to supply five jump stations with the half billion people needed
to support each of them. Her idea gelled; those five new jump stations
may be enough to transport the immense resources to the edge
required for the analysis and resolution of the slow-down.
How she hated the cold words of the communiqué. The people
of Earth in the local current year of 1958 would not survive without
League intervention. Their warlike nature was on course for them
to destroy themselves within the next 50 years. In addition to this
scenario, if species development and guidance was stopped then the
current boom in the United States economy during the 1950s would
become global and people of Earth would destroy their planetary
eco system, making them extinct anyway. All of this had been proven
by the global models that GaMea’s team monitored daily to ensure
that the species development was on course. This model wasn’t
omnipresent but it was not far off that state.
A major unknown factor in her plan was whether the 200 years
to put the jump stations in place would be too much time for the
Executive Council to investigate the slowing of universal expansion.
Was the universe going to contract at the same speed that it
4
expanded? The Executive Council didn’t know the answer to that

question today so it probably would not be considered as a detracting
factor in their plans to reach the edge sooner. With current technology
they had no choice.
She walked out of her office on Andromeda and through to her
anteroom where her immediate staff worked. Her PA, ColJan, looked
up from his desk.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
After working for GaMea for the last 300 years he knew her
every look and nuance. This time her face said they had a problem.
She gave him the communiqué to read. He looked up when he had
finished.
“What are we going to do?”
“I have an idea but it will be worthless until we know the answer
to a question.”
“What question is that?”
“From Earth’s position in the Milky Way how far is it to the edge
of the universe? Will five jump stations be enough to cover that
distance and transport the resources needed by the League to resolve
the problem?”
He rightly assumed that the question was not rhetorical.
“I’ll get to work on it straight away. I assume that you want my
answer to be accurate so give me half an hour to triple check.”
GaMea smiled. She loved his way of stating the obvious and
right now she needed something to smile about.
“Yes, you assume correctly. I’ll be in my office relaxing. I have a
feeling it is going to be a long time before we get the opportunity to
do that again.”
GaMea returned to her office, poured herself a glass of a rather
fine Andromedan red wine and collapsed into her desk chair. As she
sipped her wine she gazed around her office at nothing in particular.
She noticed that the clock said ten in the morning and she looked at
her drink wondering why she had reached for it so readily. Then she
realised that it was OK because it was probably after dark on Earth
in New York where she had her base. Her office, situated in the
Andromedan capital city of Pandroma, was immaculate as always,
with everything in its place. The walls were covered in a material
that had been hand woven in India 1500 years previously. It was a
5
subtle ochre colour with a delicate fleck design in a soft yellow. Her
desk was basically a large Louis 14th table with two original Tiffany
desk lamps that she had bought in New York in the 1920s. There
was an antique ink well for show with a desk set in fine tooled
leather. The walls had original oil paintings from the impressionist
school. None of them had ever been displayed on Earth except by
the artists from whom she commissioned them. She remembered
the lovely weekend when she bought them at Giverney in France
with Monet and his fellow artists. A large bookcase, on one wall,
was filled with rare first editions including Shakespeare and Twain.
A very old Bible and other religious texts were also there. All her
artefacts had been bought new and the contents of the room would
have been at home in any museum on Earth. They were priceless.
She pressed her temples again as she thought. Her idea had to
work for the planet and her people to survive. All those years she
had devoted to Earth, almost 7500 years ago when she had taken
over the programme at the beginning of Stage 2. All those
interventions to keep the grand plan on course; some major and
some just little tweaks to fine tune progress. Aristotle, Pythagorus,
Cleopatra, Jesus, Eusebius, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Einstein,
Bohr, Hubble, Oppenheimer, and so many more. She closed her eyes
remembering some of the interventions in Earth’s history that she
had arranged during the last few thousand years. No matter how
large they were they had all helped the planet along its path. Her
path. She remembered the time when modern Christianity was born.
A large crowd had assembled at Calvary to watch the crucifixion

and now awaited the moment of death. The crowd had lined the
route all the way along the Via de la Rosa almost as if they knew
that this was to be a momentous event in the history of the world. It
wasn’t every day that the crowd knew who the person was that
was being executed but this man had touched the lives of thousands.
His antics at the market in the church courtyard had been the final
straw however. The church hierarchy made a good income from
that market and, it was rumoured that they had persuaded the
Governor to have him executed.
6
As she watched the procession with the men dragging the heavy
crosses, GaMea was worried that Jesus wouldn’t make it and pushed
to the front with a cup of water containing a painkiller and slight
stimulant to make sure that he got there. Jesus was actually DalBrin,
an Andromedan, and well trained for the role so he should be alright
but she didn’t want to take any chances. She did not often become
involved directly in the interventions but this one was too important
to her plans.
The Romans had turned the crucifixion into a showpiece and
nailed him to the cross through his wrist and ankle joints rather than
just tie him as usual. After an hour or so a centurion thrust his spear
into the side of Jesus. This was normal practice, supposedly to speed
up the death. The execution procedure was particularly gruesome
by slowly filling the lungs with blood and causing death by drowning.
The Romans didn’t know this of course and actually prolonged the
death by sometimes puncturing the lung and letting the blood flow
out. There were people in the crowd crying and wailing. He was
their whole life, a new beginning and now he was about to be no
more. Others were just interested in yet another death at the hands
of the Romans. Entertainment at someone else’s expense.
It nearly hadn’t happened, Governor Pilot wasn’t really interested
with the problems at the temple and wanted to let him go. A quick
change of plan by GaMea with the introduction of Judas as an
informant planting information in the mind of the Governor that the
Jesus sect were actually planning an armed uprising and Pilot had
no choice. It wasn’t far from the truth because at least half the
Jews that followed him were planning to use Jesus in just that way.
The authorities of the day had no idea how powerful the symbol
of the cross was to become. If Pilot had known then maybe his
decision would have been different. No matter GaMea would still
have made a martyr of Jesus, it was central to her plans for
Christianity.
The drowsiness caused by the drug to slow Jesus’s metabolism
was beginning to become irresistible. DalBrin had performed the
role very well for such a long time. It was the first time that they had
engineered a plant from birth to death and they had replaced Jesus
several times during his life aided by some simple scientific tricks to
create the miracles. Christianity was too big an item in the plan to
7
leave to chance. Every step had been carefully planned and
engineered but the game wasn’t over yet. Almost on cue DalBrin
lifted his head skyward to raise as much emotion as possible.
“Eli, Eli lema sabach thani?”
The cry to their god asking why he had been abandoned was
misheard by many in the crowd as they were leaving the scene and
they stopped to see if Elijah was going to appear to save him. Instead
Jesus heaved his body and expelled a long breath. The death was
obvious to everybody but just to make sure the event wasn’t forgotten
the climate control section rustled up a storm that completely
blackened the skies and soaked everyone. The continental plates
running down the centre of the Red Sea were moved by a few
centimetres and created a fairly impressive set of earth tremors.
That was a trick they had used before when the seas were parted to
let Moses get away.
Some of the team that had prepared this event chose that moment
to use the antigrav lift back to the ship hovering above the clouds.
While it wasn’t planned, from that point on, they all entered folklore
forever. The pallor that all users of the lift acquired when the blood
drains to their feet from the removal of G forces had an amazing
effect on the locals. People swore they glowed “like Angels”.
Programmes needed a bit of luck sometimes. The base team used
the same antigrav lift when they broke into the tomb at Golgotha
later that day. They injected Dal to bring him round and sent him
back to the space station for surgery and rejuvenation. His work
was done as he was raised to the ship waiting above. GaMea had
instructed Jesus to leave the job of developing the Christian religion
to Mary, his wife. She was to create a religion based upon matriarchal
lines with the mother and childbirth as the powerful miracle at the
centre of faith and belief. This worked fine for the first 300 years
but, unplanned by GaMea, the antigrav lift witnessed by people at
the time proved to be very useful to Emperor Constantine when he
re-wrote the bible in the 4th century and presented Jesus as the son
of God rather than just a man who had married Mary Magdalene.
Jesus and Mary created a bloodline that still survived today and
GaMea kept a close eye on it to ensure its survival against the
attentions of the established Church.
8
That had been quite an emotional intervention by GaMea. It ensured

that another of the species’ religions were in place by breaking
Christianity away from its Jewish beginnings. In hindsight it had gone
well. Oh yes, there had been many interventions since to keep it on
track. Constantine getting Bishop Eusebius to rewrite the gospels to
remove the war like nature of the Jewish Jesus sect and effectively
make him a god were highlighted in the scriptures and then Luther in
the Middle Ages to remind everybody that Christianity was for the
good of the masses and not just the dignitaries of the Church. Yes,
the birth of Christianity was a major event in the plan. However if
she had known how much work the Christians were to be she may
have chosen another route.
Another smaller but significant intervention during the scientific period

in the Earth’s Middle Ages was Galileo. He had an incredibly brilliant
mind for his time. In fact GaMea thought for a time that someone
from her team was doing some manipulation on their own but it was
true that Galileo Galilei was the genuine article. In 1610 he was 45
and, if it had been invented, suffering from a mid-life crisis. He was
in his favourite tavern ordering another bottle of the red wine from
southern Italy that he loved so much. Galileo toasted the tavern owner
and his friends that sat with him at the table in the corner.
“Good health and God’s love to the finest tavern in all of Padua.
May our wonderful world continue its path through the heavens such
that these grapes can ripen in the sun.”
Annibale, a new friend of Galileo that day, leant over and whispered
in his ear.
“Take care my friend. That is your second bottle. Do not let the
wine rule your mouth. The Church has ears everywhere. You know
they do not take kindly to people suggesting that the Earth revolves
around the sun.”
“But Copernicus is right, Annibale. How can it be any other way?
Can they not see that it is the truth?”
Galileo looked earnestly at his new friend, desperate for the
support he needed.
9
“Galileo, you know that it is the truth but because they cannot
see any proof then the Church continues with its blind faith. Even if
proof existed they would probably still defend their position. They
are proud men who are never wrong.”
Annibale assumed his best bishop face and demeanour.
“The Earth must be the centre of all that we see, my son. It is,
after all, the home of God’s children.”
Galileo looked aghast.
“You tell me to be careful and then you mock my faith. I am
pained enough to be at odds with the Church that I love.”
“Maybe you are right, Galileo. They should be made to see the
truth.”
“How can this be, my friend? They are blind believers not
astronomers.”
“What if that recent invention of the navy for seeing ships on the
horizon could see further?”
Galileo sat forward, his eyes blazing. He pulled out his sketching
pad and started to scribble.
“Of course. The telescope. What if the lenses were further apart
and the light from the stars was captured…”
His voice faded as he continued with his drawings. Annibale left
quietly.
GaMea’s reverie and dreaming of the past was broken by ColJan

tapping her on the shoulder. She looked up at him from her chair
with a questioning look.
“Well, GaMea, it seems that the distance is OK. The jumps are
just within their limits but it is possible for five stations to reach the
edge.”
“Good. Well done. That is great news,” she replied. She thought
for a moment.
“OK, ColJan, we have work to do. Contact the president. Tell
him that I need to see him very soon. Tell his PA that I need a
special meeting with the full Executive Council and that the future
of Andromedas promotion to Level 1 status in the League is at stake.
That should get his attention. We must prepare a report for the Council
10
and we must be sure that our argument is compelling enough to save

the Earth. Go arrange the meeting and leave me to think through our
approach.”
ColJan left her alone and she took another sip of her wine. She
had a chance. What should she say to persuade the Council to change
their minds for the Earth programme?
Her mind wandered over the last 7500 years again looking for
anything in the past that would help her. The assistance that the
League had given the people of Earth was always subtle, never
direct. A nudge in the right direction here, a suggestion to the right
person there. The only exceptions had been the creation of the
religions where more direct action was required. The Jesus plant
was the prime example of such action where the people of those
Middle Eastern countries would not have taken the right course. It
took all her effort to stop them merely using the charisma of Christ
to simply start a war. A war they would have lost. She had found
that she enjoyed those episodes the best. Working with the people
that surrounded Jesus, Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama, the writers
of the Rig Veda, and K’ung-fu-tzu in the creation of the five religions
was enlightening. It was almost as if she believed the things that she
was helping them to create, the scriptures and books of religion.
No, there was nothing in the past that could help her now. She
decided that the best argument was to appeal directly to the Council’s
fear that they would not get to the edge in time and the universe
would be destroyed without them being able to do anything about it.
At least this way the people of Earth would die trying and be at the
heart of the attempt to reach the edge safely. If they were successful,
then Earth would survive. There was no way that they would survive
without her, she thought. They were like children in a playground but
with deadly weapons instead of toys. She had actually created a
monster via the religions. Their warlike tendencies all sprung from
those roots. She owed it to the people of Earth to correct her mistake
and she must win her argument with the Council.
11
Chapter 2
Hope and Despair
President MiThan rose from his desk and walked across his office
as GaMea entered. The large office was typical of Andromedan
interior design. It could be described as spartan but functional. The
floor, walls, and ceiling were almost a continuous surface made from
a cream-coloured plastic material. There were no windows and the
source of lighting was not apparent but seemed to emit from the
room’s surfaces. MiThan was sitting behind a desk that was made
from a dark brown version of the wall material. The chair was made
of steel with soft plastic covers that matched a reception area of
sofas and a coffee table of the same desk construction. On the desk
was just a very thin screen that displayed a continuous stream of
data and an old communication device. There were no other items
in the room. GaMea had entered through one of the two doors. The
other led to a private washroom.
When they met MiThan embraced her warmly then held her
away at arm’s length and appraised her. She was a sensuous looking
woman even though her look today was business-like. She looked
determined but soft at the same time and always with a thought
running through her head, he thought. He wondered whether she
turned her communicator off when she slept but he suspected that
she was always receiving, albeit in background mode. Her
complexion was between fair and dark, and lightly tanned. Her hair
was light brown with blond streaks, cut into a mid-length style that
was parted just to the right off centre and swept away from that
parting off her forehead where it fell past her shoulders. Her features
12
were attractive, not pretty, with dark blue eyes, high pert cheeks, a
nose that was straight and bordering on hawkish in profile, with a
wide mouth that could give a disarming smile when she wanted. She
stood at 69 inches tall and weighed just over 112 pounds. Her figure
was in just the right proportions with firm breasts, slim hips, and long
legs. GaMea was athletic in build and very strong both in body and
mind.
“You are looking well, GaMea. It is good to see you again.”
“I spend so much time away from Andromeda that it is always
good to catch up with an old friend. I wish that we were meeting
under better circumstances.”
“Come. Sit,” he said as he gestured to an armchair by the low
table in the informal area of his office. MiThan was part of the same
education peer group as GaMea but whereas she had craved for the
cut and thrust of development he had opted for diplomacy. He had
done well and had been elected to the position of president of the
Andromedan galaxy that now numbered 34 planets with a population
in excess of 200 billion citizens. The galaxy was prosperous and a
respected Level 2 member of the League. It was generally felt that
Andromeda would be the next galaxy to join the Executive Council
at Level 1.
“A drink? Tea, coffee,” he checked the time, “early evening,
something stronger maybe. I have some Earth spirits if you would
like.”
“No thank you, Mi. I will need a clear head tonight.”
It was earlier the same day that she had first read the communiqué
and she knew that the sooner she explored her options with people
who could make decisions at executive level then the sooner she
would know the fate of her programme and could start making plans.
“So, Ga, your assistant tells me that the fate of our galaxy depends
upon you meeting with the Council. He also told me that it has to do
with the Council directive ceasing all species development. I have
already started making plans to redirect our resources to resolving
the expansion problem. We live in potentially dangerous times.”
“Yes that is all true, Mi, but I feel that the League would be
better served by continuing with the development of the Milky Way.”
He raised his eyebrows as she continued. “Let me explain.”
GaMea spent the next ten minutes outlining her idea. When she
finished she was sitting on the edge of her seat.
13
“Maybe I will have that drink, Mi. A small brandy please, and
some coffee would be nice.”
MiThan walked over to his desk and spoke to his assistant via an
old intercom, ordering the drinks.
“I think I will join you. You do understand, don’t you, that the
Council are adamant that every effort is made to prepare us for the
possibility of a universal contraction. We don’t know how fast that
may be or if it will happen at all and won’t know for at least another
100 years. We are all hoping that, if it is a contraction, it will take as
long as the expansion. That is the best scenario and, if it is so, then
we will have lots of time to break down the barrier at the edge and
plan our actions accordingly. The worst case is if the contraction is
like a rubber band that snaps back. That doesn’t bear thinking about
but we must consider all options. I will be spending most of next
week with the Council and the Senate to finalise our plans.”
GaMea was still sitting forward when she responded in a voice
that was tense, “Those plans cannot be finalised until the Council
has considered my idea, MiThan. Continuing with my programme
will give us the option of having a safe route to the edge for all those
people and facilities that are going to be needed.”
MiThan sat back and considered what she had said. There was
a knock at the door and the drinks were placed in front of them.
GaMea reached forward and took a sip of coffee.
The taste was so familiar that it surprised her. “Jamaican Blue
Mountain! My favourite blend. How on earth did you get this, Mi?”
“Well, being the president of the race that is supplying all the
management and technology to your programme must have some
privileges don’t you think?”
She smiled. That was twice today and it made her feel better.
“OK, Managing Director GaMea,” he said with his most serious
expression, “I agree with you. Your idea for using the Earth species
is good and I shall call the Council to request a meeting.”
“It must be before your planning meetings next week?”
“Pushy aren’t you.”
“It’s life or death, Mi. Life for Andromeda as a Level 1 member
if we pull it off and death for planet Earth if we don’t.”
“Put that way you are right. Let’s contact the secretary to the
Council now.”
14
He rose, walked to his desk and spoke into his communicator.

“TaRey, get the secretary to the Council for me. I need to speak
with him urgently.”
He crossed the room, picked up his brandy and downed it in one.
“I think on Earth you call that Dutch courage.”
GaMea smiled, “You are a strange one, Mi. You were always my
favourite in our education years and even then you had your funny
ways. You were the only one to input to the computer by keyboard
and even now you still use an antique intercom.”
“My reasons are simple. The keyboard slows me down; allows
me to think before committing myself. As for the intercom here, in
the sanctuary of my office, I feel comfortable stepping back in time.
Besides at our age we need the exercise.”
The intercom buzzed. He walked over and pressed the connect
button.
“The secretary is on Line 1, sir.”
“Thank you.”
He looked at GaMea and put his index finger across his lips.
“Not a word, Ga. The secretary is very formal. Let me handle
him.”
He mentally connected to line one and opened the call to
conference. The secretary appeared as a hologram sitting in one of
the chairs at the coffee table next to GaMea.
“Thank you for making yourself available so soon, Mr Secretary.
How are you?”
“Very busy, President MiThan.”
The hologram looked at GaMea.
“My apologies, Mr Secretary, may I introduce GaMea, the
managing director of the Milky Way galaxy programme.”
“A pleasure to meet you, GaMea.”
GaMea smiled and nodded towards the hologram.
“How may I be of service, Mr President?”
“Our managing director has come up with a very interesting idea
that I think will assist greatly with our need to place a sizeable
expedition at the edge of the universe, Mr Secretary.”
“Oh and what may that be?”
“We are unable to use the tachyon jump gates to transport our
expedition to the edge, Mr Secretary, because the interim stations
are not in place.”
15
“You state the obvious, Mr President. Our current thinking is to
chance jumps with minimal station equipment into deep space that
our scans show to contain minimal matter.”
“I understand that option, Mr Secretary, but how many times
have we made a successful return journey using that technique?”
“Never, Mr President, but our needs are paramount and risks
must be taken. We suspect that, when we have tried it in the past,
the outward journey may have been successful on occasions but the
travellers have not been able to contact us to arrange a safe return.”
“I seem to remember, Mr Secretary, that jump exit is severely
hampered by the presence of dark matter and it may be this that
causes failure. It is amazing that the League, with all its knowledge,
still does not fully understand the composition of dark matter. We
know that it makes up almost two thirds of the mass of the universe
and that apparently empty space is dense with the stuff.”
“That is one of the theories, Mr President, but once again you
state the obvious. What is the idea that GaMea wants to share with
us?”
“As you are aware, Mr Secretary, when GaMea took over the
Milky Way programme at the beginning of the second stage she
proposed a radical approach to species development. She proposed
that we develop five concurrent species on a single home planet and
delineate them by something that she called religions. The advantages
on offer, if the proof of concept works, will be faster species delivery
overall plus a greater reach into the universe with each programme
completion. The Milky Way programme, based on planet Earth, is
within 200 years of the end of Stage 2 and could, if we don’t cease
development now, be in a position to place the five jump stations
required to transport our materials safely to the edge in that time.”
“Interesting, Mr President, but what if the contraction that is due
to start in 100 years is very fast. We will still not be ready in time.”
“I agree, Mr Secretary, but if the contraction is at the same rate
as the expansion then we will be OK. The truth is that we simply do
not know. If it is a faster contraction however then with the five
additional jump stations in place we will be in a good position to
deliver our resources sooner rather than later. About 5000 years
sooner GaMea informs me.”
“A compelling argument, Mr President, but what if we still cease
16
development and pick it up where we left off in 100 years time

when we know more?”
“Our managing director informs me, Mr Secretary, that the people
of the Earth are unlikely to be there in 100 years time without our
assistance. The planet resources are almost depleted and their
warlike nature will kill them off if the collapse of their eco system
doesn’t.”
The secretary thought for a moment before replying, “You have
a case that needs to be considered, Mr President. I will need to
concord with the Council to arrange a meeting. That will take me a
couple of hours. I shall return to you then. Goodbye.”
The hologram disappeared and silence filled the room.
GaMea looked at MiThan with a look that had at least a thousand
questions attached.
“Is he always like that?”
“Oh yes. Very formal. Very correct.”
“Who is he? What galaxy is he from?”
“Do you know I haven’t got a clue. It is one of those questions
you don’t ask. He has been the secretary to the Council for as long
as I can remember and is always addressed as Mr Secretary. If
ever there was a power behind the throne then he is it. Of course,
he never makes a decision but he knows exactly what questions to
ask to get the answer he wants.”
“Why does he need to take two hours to get a meeting date? I
don’t understand the science of concording but I assumed that it
was instant.”
“It is. He is going to check you out then double check your idea.
Make sure that five stations are enough. Chase up the deep space
jumps and the effects on dark matter. All sorts of things will be
nailed down before he exposes himself, let alone your idea, to the
Council.” MiThan stood and stretched. “Well, all we can do is wait.
How would you like dinner? I’ll cancel all my appointments until this
is resolved one way or another.”
“Yes,” she replied, “you’re right, there is nothing we can do so
dinner will be lovely. Where shall we go?”
“Right here of course. The kitchen and chefs supporting my office
are some of the best in the universe. They can prepare anything that
you want although I would advise you to just accept whatever is on
17
the menu tonight. I always do and it is always wonderful. I think
though that we should have a cautious celebration because if your
idea is accepted, an early start on your plans will be in order. You
can stay here tonight if you wish. Would you like an aperitif?”
“Are you still trying to get me into your bed, Mi? I’ve told you
before that our education years were different.”
“Of course I am, Ga. Those times were very good and I want
more. At least I’m honest about it. How can you refuse your
president,” he said with a hurt look on his face.
“Oh well in that case, yes,” she said, looking at him as demurely
as she could. He raised his eyebrows again in surprise. “I mean yes
to the aperitif,” she continued with an impish grin, “Do you have a
Tio Pepe sherry?”
MiThan looked deflated but with a resigned look said, “Of course.
Let’s wander through to the dining room and see what is on the
menu.”
The meal was superb as MiThan suggested. Starting with a
shellfish like scallops in a white wine and garlic sauce followed by
Andromedan Gark steak Diane and finishing with a chocolate torte.
Nothing too overpowering or filling, just lots of wonderful flavours.
Each course was served with a different wine. A cold crisp white
from Andromeda with the starter, a red from Bordeaux with the
steak, and a desert wine from the Draco nebula. They were sitting
comfortably with coffee and brandy an hour and a half later when
TaRey entered the room.
“The secretary is on the line, Mr President.”
“Thank you,” he said and gave a ‘here goes’ look at GaMea, “I’ll
take it in my office.”
When they entered the room the secretary’s hologram was seated
at the coffee table waiting for them.
“Thank you for coming back so soon, Mr Secretary. Have the
Council agreed to meet with us?”
“No they haven’t, Mr President. I have just finished concording
with them and I explained the outline of your idea, GaMea,” he said
turning towards her, “They see much merit in the idea and have
rescinded the order to cease development for the Milky Way
programme.”
GaMea’s heart leapt. She was on her feet and reaching towards
18
the secretary as if to hug him. The hologram also stood and held his
hands in front of him. GaMea stopped.
“GaMea, you may wish to shake my hand but unfortunately the
technology is not that good yet. It is not all good news, however. The
Council wants the stations to commence placement in 75 years not
200. They have already ordered the development of a transport ship
that can travel at ten times our current maximum speed to place a
jump station to get the first species in place before the universe
stops expanding. This will also allow our scanners to better observe
the edge. We will put all effort into our research on jump technology.
They realise that this shortening of your timescales will be a
significant change to your plans and have given you the time that
you need to present those plans. You can ask me for whatever
resources you need and I will arrange them on behalf of the Council.
The Council have appointed Council Member 27 to monitor your
plans and he is available when required. He will contact you in about
a week to set up a review schedule. Well done, GaMea, I think that
we will be meeting more often.” He turned to MiThan.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr President?”
MiThan was stupefied. This was unprecedented. The Council
making an instant decision happened all the time but Mr Secretary
publicly praising someone was unheard of.
“Thank you, Mr Secretary,” said MiThan, “I am sure that GaMea
will not let us down.”
“Let us hope so, Mr President. See you next week. Be prepared
to present this idea to the assembly. Goodbye.”
Ga Mea and MiThan sat silent for at least two minutes. Deep in
thought until GaMea broke the ice.
“Well, Mi, I think that you have earned a reward and I feel like
returning to our education years again for just one night.”
MiThan took her hand and led her out of the room.
The next day GaMea entered her office with a spring in her step
and plans racing through her mind. ColJan looked up from his desk.
“How did it go, boss. Did the president agree to intervene?”
“Better than that, Col. He contacted the secretary for the Council
19
and he convened a special meeting of the Executive. They are very
interested in my idea and have allowed us to keep the programme
alive until we present a plan that has to deliver the five species in 75
years time, not 200 as currently scheduled. We have all the resources
we may need and a Council member has been assigned to co-ordinate
and review our progress.”
“Wow! Now that’s what I call a good night’s work.”
“Better than you can imagine, ColJan. Better by far.” She stared
off into space remembering the previous night with MiThan. When
she returned after a few seconds she said, “Get a copy of the
finalisation plan for Stage 2. We need to review it and cut out 125
years. I’ll be in my office when you are ready.”
The approval for completing Stage 2 had left GaMea with a feeling
of relief and anti climax at the same time. Sitting quietly in her office
she realised that she had actually expected her idea to be approved.
There was never any doubt in her mind. Rejection was not on her
agenda and she had nothing planned in the way of contingency. She
made a mental note to be more aware of her arrogance in the future
and not to gamble ever again with the people of Earth. She felt
numb. Did she take a chance or was she really that good? She
smiled to herself, of course she was that good. She believed in herself
and the trust of the people of Earth was not displaced. Of course
they did not know that they were trusting her with their lives. Last
night was the most important meeting ever in Earth’s history and no
member of the race was there. From this point on she would forever
feel justified in the role that her team had given her as Mother Earth.
She was in deep thought when ColJan came into her office and
automatically set the door privacy to ‘Do not disturb’. He was tall
for an Andromedan with a muscular physique and Mediterranean
features. He was only 1124 years old and on his fourth project
assignment following Education. He wore his hair long and flowing
from a swept-back centre parting. His third assignment was to the
Milky Way programme and he organised the scientific fundamentals
period during the Earth’s 17th century. ColJan’s appointment was
due to his specialisation in the laws of universal physics and he had
enjoyed assisting the likes of Galileo, Newton, and Huygens in their
discoveries. This period in Earth’s history was dramatically
successful from a scientific point of view and required good planning
20
and patience. It was ColJan’s almost natural management and

organisation abilities that brought him to the attention of GaMea and
she appointed him as her Director of Planning and Administration
for the whole programme following the completion of his assignment.
Like all League citizens his formative 250 years were spent in
the general education of his mind and speciality development. The
peer group of students were kept together during this whole period
and those early relationships formed strong ties through the rest of
their lives. No matter how outward appearances changed, each
member of the group could recognise another. The student group
was created from well-controlled birth procedures that ensured a
balance of sexes as well as population numbers. This balance was
arranged for reasons of companionship and not just for reproductive
purposes. Females and males were completely equal throughout the
League and positions were awarded purely on merit. Just like sexual
equality, skin colour was not an issue in the League and the many
climates in the galaxies and planets that made up the League produced
a rainbow of skin colours and interbreeding expanded that even
further. Reproduction of the species was on a voluntary basis, usually
by very young females and males both outside of and within marriage.
A population quota system ensured that there were no unwanted
pregnancies. Although science was quite capable of producing
children without sex the League maintained a strong moral stance
on its position as a developer of species, not a creator, with genetic
engineering ensuring the production of sound bodies and minds.
The peer education group never initially exceeded 16 in number
and were kept together as a family unit during their formative years.
They lived together under the supervision of group leaders who
supplied all the parental care required to produce a well balanced 20
year old. From there on the group could split to pursue the specialised
education that they wanted. Specialisation didn’t usually occur until
about 40 or 50 years of age. Tutorials were held in a class environment
with no more than six students per tutor. The brain had to last
thousands of years and required relatively slow and natural exercise
to ensure that it could last the course. The brain has immense capacity
and, following basic training, information input was via neural
databases to enhance the learning process. A lot of this input was
during a state similar to sleep and directly through the optic nerve.
21
Rejuvenation techniques and excellent health care kept their bodies
youthful with regular genetic implants ensuring that body deterioration
was not a factor.
The education of citizens, known as EofC throughout the League,
was very well controlled but, because a naturally produced being
was at the heart of the process, it was still possible for people to be
spontaneous and individual with varying abilities. This variety was in
fact a great strength of League culture.
ColJan was a strong product of the system. He was confident
and assured of his skills and position within the programme. His
youth however was showing in his familiarity as he strode across
the office towards GaMea as he spoke, “We did well, Ga.”
She broke from her thoughts and said, “Excuse me. WE did
well!!”
She looked him up and down and took a deep breath before
speaking.
“Two things you should always remember, ColJan. The Milky
Way galaxy programme is my responsibility and therefore I, not we,
have received approval to produce a plan to deliver five species in
the next 75 years. Secondly, never assume to use my personal name
outside of our non-working relationship.”
If it was possible for someone over 1000 years old to look like a
little boy caught being naughty then he made a passable impression.
“I’m sorry, GaMea, I didn’t mean to…I mean I was anxious
before and…of course it is your plan…”
“Sit down and relax, ColJan. You are forgiven and we shall
celebrate later. Right now we have a lot to do to create a much
shorter plan and I need you to arrange a number of meetings.”
He sat in the chair opposite her and sent a mental request to the
computer. A terminal screen rose from the desk surface as he
muttered another apology.
“I’m sorry, GaMea, it will not happen again.”
“All right. Take notes as I review the plan. We shall not change
the structure but we will advance all activities. We may push the
people of Earth faster than they can cope and we may lose some
but that is a risk we will have to manage.
ColJan opened the terminal and entered his privacy code. All
input was neural. The screen was only to confirm progress and
22
support amendment when necessary. GaMea was reading through

her plan on her terminal.
“Arrange a programme meeting on Pleaides in six weeks’ time
with the directors of each project area. Tell them to review their
part of the plan and shorten by 60% in preparation for the meeting.
Tell them that additional resources are not a problem. Just get them
to request what they need to achieve the new schedule requirements.
Also let them know that we shall be comparing their results with my
ideas and they know how single-minded I can be. By then I will
have my latest report on the progress of the candidate on Earth to
take us through Stage 3. I will be advancing those plans also and will
give them his profile.”
She pressed her fingers together forming a spire as she thought
about the secretary’s communication.
“Council member 27 will be the programme review councillor up
to end of Stage 3. He will be arranging an initial meeting with me in
about a week following the Council meeting to discuss the issues at
the edge and I want to be ready. I need you to prepare a profile on
him for me. Not just the public information but see what else you
can gather, you know the sort of things. Background, beliefs, voting
patterns, that sort of stuff. Who is Councillor 27, ColJan?”
His screen flickered.
“He is a Dracan called XumBarens. Oh! And he left a message
for you this morning. He wants to meet with you face to face in six
days’ time on Draco. He says he prefers to get to know the people
that he will be working with first hand.”
“A Dracan, how interesting. Isn’t that where the quest for out-
of-universe knowledge started? There is a sect that studies it, isn’t
there? I wonder if he is involved in the movement? They believe
that there is a parallel universe developing and they will stop at nothing
to get to the other side. It is rumoured that they have even used
experiments on sentient races outside of the League to further their
knowledge. They apparently used them to man ships to the edge
that required intelligence to control. The people were abducted is
what I heard and the speeds they travelled at meant that none of
them survived. Nothing was ever proven of course. Was he appointed
by the Council to this review role or did he offer himself? Find out,
ColJan, but be discrete. Confirm the meeting with him and make the
report your priority.”
23
She thought for a moment.
“As I said, I shall confirm Matthew Wetherby as the Earth
candidate in our plans for Stage 3 at the team meeting. Our
development of him has provided him with a good background and
he is English. The probability systems are still showing that the political
and economic outlooks are favourable in the UK for us to control
those agendas. We shall move our Earth base to England in
preparation. It suits my cover and we will be in a good position to
monitor his progress without needing too much subterfuge. It is the
only part of the plan that we can’t speed up too much. A little boy
grows up one year at a time. We must continue to get our teachers
into his schools and when he is ready I will be able to get close to
him and give him personal guidance.”
“Don’t you think that your personal involvement is a bit risky,
GaMea? We can’t afford to have any thing happen to you.”
“He is critical to our success, ColJan. I want to be assured that
he is on course. This is a far greater task than even the creation of
the religions and I want to be sure that all is OK.”
He listened sombrely and gave her a resigned smile.
“Of course, you know best, GaMea. I shouldn’t have questioned
your judgement.”
She stood up and walked around the desk standing behind him
and rested her hands on his shoulders. She turned his chair so that
he faced her.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us and it hasn’t been easy over
the last year. You have collated and prepared all the sub-project
plans for me in preparation for the next status report and now we
are going to have to do it all again plus prepare the ground for a
shorter delivery. I couldn’t have done it alone and I thank you. Now
is the time for you and I to work well as a team and I suggest that
we recuperate first. Arrange my cruiser for the trip to Draco and
then book us in for full medical checks immediately and any
replacements that are needed. Then we shall go away for three
days to quietly review the plans and prepare me for the meeting
with XumBarens. Set up all those actions and meet me for dinner
later.”
She walked back to her chair and sat down to read Matt
Wetherby’s profile and status report. ColJan was beaming as he left
her office.
24
The next five days passed all too quickly for GaMea. She emerged
from rejuvenation as a fresh looking 35 year old and the plan review
had been positive. She felt well prepared for her meeting with the
councillor. ColJan and his staff had performed their usual thorough
standard of work on preparing a report on XumBarens and she was
reading its contents en route to Draco for their meeting. MiThan
was accompanying her as the councillor had also invited the
Andromedan president to attend. His acceptance of the invitation
was polite protocol; a Level 2 galaxy president did not turn down a
request for a meeting with a Level 1 councillor. MiThan had called
her and asked what was at issue and she honestly had to say that
she didn’t know. As far as she was concerned the meeting was
simply to introduce herself to the honourable Council member, to
give him her first impression of the plan reschedule and answer any
questions he might have.
The presidential cruiser had completed the jump to the Draco
system and would be docking in less than four hours after the flight
to the planet.
She continued reading the profile. XumBarens was a very senior
Council member although it had not always been that way.
Appointments to the Council were on a pecking order basis. The
three galaxies, Hyades, Virgo, and Dracan that made up the Executive
had nine councillors, each appointed numbers 1 to 9, 10 to 18, and 19
to 27. Councillors 1, 10, and 19 were the most senior representatives
of each galaxy, the inner sanctum so to speak. When the Dracan
galaxy was promoted to Level 1 XumBarens was the last and most
junior member of the team to be selected. Since then however he
had played the political game well and was now considered about
number 5 of the 27 strong executive. He was chairman of the Out-
of-Universe Knowledge Committee and it was his branch of the
executive that monitored the edge and had informed the Council of
the slow-down. He was also a leading exponent of the theories relating
to life on the other side of the edge and made no secret of the fact
that he would be part of the first party to cross over. This aim was
his main objective and he was ruthless in the pursuit of his goal. He
25
did things by the book however; in fact he was the prime author of
the League Charter of Principles and Guidance, the equivalent of a
constitution. There was nothing in his profile that wasn’t on public
record. It included his private relationships, project summaries,
speeches, and voting history on League policies. His last programme
before Dracan was elevated to Level 1 was to bring Andromeda to
Level 2 many millennia before.
GaMea reasoned that his interest in the Milky Way project was
probably related to his desire to be at the edge and her idea gave him
a safe personal way to get there. After reviewing his speeches she
was also concerned that he may have an unhealthy interest in the
warlike nature of the Earth’s population as it was he that persuaded
the Council to allow a lengthy study of war that was unique to her
programme. War was unknown in the League and XumBarens had
become an expert in the subject. He had used force in the past to
clear potential obstacles. The Council had approved his request to
destroy a complete sentient race from outside the League that had
reached the stage where they were putting nuclear attack satellites
in orbit around their planet. It was on the perimeter of the known
universe at that time but he reasoned that to leave an uncontrolled
force in their wake was not prudent. Such strategy was straight out
of the Middle Ages on Earth where a castle was never bypassed
and left in your wake to launch an attack from the rear. The whole
episode was, of course, presented to the letter of the Charter and
there was no guilt or recriminations attached. This event allowed
XumBarens to test the efficacy of the latest developments in terra-
forming to break up large asteroids. He used the tool to direct an
asteroid at the planet as a weapon.
This side of XumBarens worried GaMea. She made a note to
get ColJan to get someone in his team who was an expert on the
Charter. Especially relating to the treatment and protection of sentient
species. She made an even more important mental note to keep a
close personal eye on Council member 27. She shared her concerns
with MiThan and he assured her that he would keep an eye on the
political situation for her.
The cruiser landed and they were met by a transport to take
them to the executive offices close to the transfer station. On arrival
there was no need for any relaxation as the presidential cruiser had
26
all the facilities necessary for resting during the journey from the
jump station. XumBarens was waiting in his office and a PA brought
in some refreshments.
He rose to greet them, “Welcome to Draco. Have you been here
before?”
“I have, sir,” replied MiThan, “but I think that it may be the
managing director’s first trip.”
“That’s correct,” GaMea confirmed.
“Sit down. Be comfortable and thank you for making the journey
to my planet,” he turned to GaMea, “I feel that it is important to
meet face to face given that we are going to be working closely
together for the next 100 years or so and thank you, Mr President,
for attending also. I recognise that success will reflect well on
Andromeda and you can count on my support in that endeavour.”
MiThan acknowledged the implied promise.
“Today is about getting to know each other and I do not expect to
take too much of your time,” he continued as he noticed GaMea’s
quizzical look.
“Don’t be concerned, Madam Managing Director. I shan’t be
living in your pocket but I will be keeping a close eye on things. I
shall expect detailed six monthly status reports to ensure that we
deliver the new species in good time. It is of paramount importance
to the League to be at the edge as close as to when the universal
expansion stops or whatever it is going to do. The monitors are sending
us a continuous stream of data but without the jump stations it is
about 50 years out of date. I am personally managing the project to
put the first station in place ready for the new species to manage.
The ships to set that up are already on their way and they will arrive
in about 60 years. I have Research and Development working full
time on improving tachyon jump technology into the area of dark
matter so that we may progress quicker after the first station is
prepared. It is strange that we have never thought of doing it before
but I suppose that time was never a factor before. So tell me, GaMea,
what ideas do you have to reduce the timescales of your current
plans?”
Straight to the point, GaMea thought. She spent the next hour
outlining her initial ideas. XumBarens listened attentively asking some
questions along the way.
27
GaMea finished, “My project directors are currently working on
their individual plans and I shall be reviewing them on Pleaides in
four weeks. I have confirmed our Earth candidate to lead the push
for an advanced delivery and will be reviewing his progress before
that meeting. Additionally I will need to cease our detailed study of
the warlike nature of the population as it takes much time and resource
and I shall be testing some ideas on the team to bring that to a head.
I know that we created the situation by introducing religions but now
I’m planning to scare the living daylights out of the people of Earth
and get them to realise the futility of war.”
She sat back hoping that she had not taken a step too far for the
first meeting. XumBarens sat back in thought. He took a deep breath
and looked at GaMea with a pouting expression and sucking air
between his teeth before he spoke.
“As you know from the report that you had prepared on me, I am
the chairman of the Out-of-Universe Knowledge Committee and
hold strong views about the other side. It is my belief that our universe
is being constrained by the expansion of a parallel universe that
contains sentient beings.”
He paused to let the impact of his statement sink in. GaMea sat
silently, not only because Mi had his leg pressed firmly against hers
to silence her but because her mind was racing. How could he know
about her report? She thought that they had discovered a private
part of his life and here he was telling them about his beliefs outright.
He was very confident and probably very dangerous. She would not
take chances with him again. She held her breath. He continued.
“As I have said, those beliefs include the possibility that there is
sentient life in that universe. Possibly as advanced as we are. It is
imperative that the League is prepared for that eventuality. My
colleagues, however, are not convinced. Therefore I must ensure
that we have contingencies in place. I may need an armed force
ready to repel anything that may attack us once we breach the edge.
The people of Earth will supply that force and I need you to factor
that into your plans.”
GaMea found herself saying, “Yes, Councillor.”
What else could she say? She had also studied war first hand
and knew that you picked the time and place of your battles when
you could win them. Now was not the time or the place. She also
28
considered that he could actually be right. She had to get away and
think.
“As for the rest of your ideas, GaMea. They are sound and you
can count on my support when you present them to the full Council.
When do you think that will be?”
“We need to engineer some events on Earth first, Councillor.
The preparation of the candidate is key and also the limiting factor.
I expect to report my detailed plan in 10 to 12 years.”
She needed to buy some time and realised that her timescales
would probably not be well received. XumBarens sucked on his
teeth again. Thinking. He sat silent for only a minute but neither
GaMea nor MiThan moved a muscle during that period. Eventually
he spoke.
“Alright. We are agreed. Take the time and get it right. The future
of the League may be in your hands but be aware that I will make
my own plans as a contingency.”
He stood, shook their hands and ushered them towards the door.
They mumbled thank you and found themselves alone in the anteroom
looking stunned at each other. MiThan held his finger to his lips and
steered GaMea to the door where their transport was waiting for
them. They didn’t say a word until the cruiser had left orbit on its
way to the jump station. MiThan flicked an intercom switch.
“Cloak the ship, Captain.”
“Yes, sir,” came the reply.
MiThan sat opposite GaMea.
“Don’t you ever gamble with the future of the Andromedan galaxy
again; at least not without forewarning me that you are going to do
it. What were you thinking of telling him that you were going to turn
off one of his favourite study pass times?”
“I had to know. I didn’t realise until after he let us know that he
knew what I was thinking and by then the words were out of my
mouth. It was only then that I realised that I had taken such a risk.
At least now I know where he stands and what he wants. That’s got
to be worth something!”
“I had to know! I!! Listen to yourself, GaMea. Are you that
arrogant? You are an Andromedan first and foremost. Your prime
aim is to get your galaxy to Level 1. Or are you so close to your
Earth people that you have forgotten your allegiances?”
29
GaMea was stunned. Was he right? Did she put Earth first? She
had given it nearly three quarters of her life. Nearly 7500 years.
What was more important to her? She couldn’t answer. She needed
to be alone. She mumbled a reply.
“Of course not, Mi. Andromeda and the League first. Always.
How could you ask me such a question?”
MiThan studied her.
“He knew what you knew, GaMea. Either Level 1 technology is
omni-present or you have a mole in your camp.”
He stared at her. She sat silent.
“OK. Enough. Let it ride but be very careful with Councillor
XumBarens. Be very aware that he said he would make his own
contingency plans and he is not to be trifled with again. He is one of
the most powerful beings in the universe. Never forget that. If he
felt that he could advance his cause or that we were in his way then
we would be removed. If necessary he could probably persuade the
Council that Andromeda was expendable. Your beloved Earth would
not even warrant consideration. They are important to his plans for
now but as soon as they have delivered the jump stations then they
will become insignificant again. Remember what I say, GaMea. Do
I make myself clear?”
GaMea had not seen MiThan this way before and she sat in
silence with her thoughts until MiThan stood up in front of her. He
broke the silence.
“Shower, change, drink, and dinner in that order. We will jump in
three hours and be back on Andromeda in six with lots of planning to
do.”
GaMea looked up and smiled at him, thankful that he had let her
off the hook.
“Yes. That would be lovely.”
The meetings on Pleaides four weeks later thrashed out the basics
of the re-plan from each programme area and ColJan took on the
task of pulling them together. The foundation building blocks of the
plan were agreed and each project director went away to put them in
place. There was so much to do and the next ten years would fly by.
30
The summary of their re-plan was for the off planet activities to
be advanced. Transport and Communication began preparing the
jump stations for shipment. Manufacturing and Engineering were
already harvesting black holes and commenced the placement of
gamma ray capture satellites. Materials and Terra-forming located
suitable planets for the immediate occupation by the five species
with minimal changes and, as a contingency, set off behind the first
jump station transports to prepare the first planet. Agriculture, Health
and Education started work on the faster programmes needed for
the species who would populate those planets. Lastly, species
development had the most important work to do on Earth; the
preparation of Matthew Wetherby.
The days turned into weeks then into months and years as the
programme worked the re-planned timescale infrastructure and set
up an environment on Earth to enable the time savings to be achieved.
In 1958 the world needed kick starting. The 50s so far had been
OK but even that period of recovery following the Second World
War was sporadic. The USA was the powerhouse of the world but
far too much of their resources were diverted to watching the Soviet
Union and preparing for the threat of attack. The Cold War during
the 60s was a very expensive time from a world resources point of
view. GaMea needed a very large, full-time team just keeping an
eye on what the Soviets and the USA were up to. Following the
arranged election of Kennedy, with the help of the Mafia-influenced
Chicago unions in 1960, she hoped that his youth and zeal would
help to steer the world on a more peaceful course. GaMea had
banked on Cuba turning to communism to fuel a high profile problem
situation that would make the world stop and think. One of her team,
CheVara, had performed an excellent job assisting Castro overturn
Batista. It was he that supplied all the strategy training in the earlier
years that proved so successful in 1959 when Cuba became a
communist regime. As a part of the same strategy the Cold War
with the Soviet Union reached its peak when the Iron Curtain was
built in 1961 and effectively annexed East Germany with a wall that
was manned day and night to stop any communication between the
31
peoples of East and West. This represented one of the darkest periods
in Earth’s history but it was all part of GaMea’s re-planning exercise.
If she had known that she was going to re-plan then she would have
let Churchill keep going to Moscow at the end of the Second World
War as he wanted. Nothing like twenty-twenty hindsight, she mused.
She ensured that the hawks were still alive and well in President
Kennedy’s security and intelligence agencies and they exploited the
paranoia on both sides to create the confrontation with Kruschev in
1962 over nuclear missiles being sited in Cuba.
This was the event that she had been engineering and the world
sighed with relief when the missiles were removed and both sides
backed away from an all-out nuclear war. The people of the world
realised at this stage just how dangerous nuclear weapons really
were. Such a war was seen as a conflict with only one ending that
no one could win. Three billion people were very scared of that end
and it started to show in ballot boxes throughout the globe. The doves
were coming to the fore in political administrations but not for long
enough. Unfortunately, GaMea had concentrated on Cuba to such a
degree that she completely ignored the developing conflict that had
been started in South East Asia by Kennedy. In hindsight she thought
that he almost started the conflict in his spare time but what she
didn’t realise was that XumBarens had a hand in this episode to
pursue his favourite past time of making war.
GaMea’s objective during the re-plan period was always to move
the world forward on a peaceful scientific front and it was Kennedy’s
dream of planting the Stars and Stripes on the moon before the end
of the decade that galvanised the scientific community into action.
Everybody knew that putting a man on the moon was impossible
with current technology but, with GaMea’s help, they got under way.
The Mercury launch programme had started this effort and
technology from Teflon frying pans to communication satellites
flourished out of the race to the moon. Unfortunately Kennedy was
still embroiled in Vietnam and it was a shame that he never saw the
completion of his dream to reach the moon because his attack on
the armaments industry by trying to end the Vietnam War was his
death warrant. The actual assassins came from the Mafia. They
had never forgiven what they saw as his double cross over delivering
Illinois to him when he won the Presidency and then allowing his
32
brother as Attorney General to attack them. That actually surprised

GaMea. She didn’t see it coming and realised that man’s propensity
to make war and mischief knew no bounds. What had she created?
The period of technology advancement was progressing well until
1968 when GaMea was presented, once again, with a number of
issues that showed the ability of mankind to go off the rails. The
year started well in Europe when the French and British joined forces
by co-operating on the development of the supersonic airliner,
Concorde, in 1967. There was a small rebellion against the harshness
of the Soviet regime by Dubcek in Czechoslovakia later in the year
but this was crushed by Russian tanks entering Prague and crushing
the rebellion. After Kennedy’s assassination President Johnson in
the US spent even more on armaments and it took the ballot box to
bring his regime to an end with the election of President Nixon.
During this year there was racial tension, also in the US, following
the assassination of Martin Luther King and the streets of American
cities became battlegrounds. GaMea managed to control these
incidents and man finally landed on the moon in 1969. She was
relieved, as the kick-start period of her re-plan had nearly reached
its conclusion.
It was now time to put in place the last foundation piece before
reporting to the Council. Matthew Wetherby, her candidate to assist
her in generating great wealth was almost ready and she needed to
weave him into the backbone of her plans.
During the 60s GaMea’s team had been monitoring and steering the
progress of Matthew Wetherby. After his birth in 1950 he was adopted
and raised by Alf and Emily Wetherby in the Midlands in England.
Matt’s Mum, Emily, was younger than Alf. They met in 1948 when
she was a serving lady in the canteen at the factory where they
worked. Alf was the accounts manager at Allsop & Sons, a local
engineering firm. At 39 he was ten years her senior. They used to
joke over the lunchtime sausage and chips and when Alf asked Emily
out to the pictures it was the start of a loving partnership. Emily was
attractive without being beautiful and she hadn’t had many suitors.
With people marrying very young in those days she had already
33
resigned herself to not meeting anyone that she could spend her life
with. She was very flattered by the attentions of this older man who
was very important in Allsop’s; almost a director. Alf had never
married and had always lived with his mother. His dad had died
during a bombing raid on Coventry during the Second World War
and Alf had cared for his mum since then. Her health was poorly
and she had died the previous year in 1947.
Alf and Emily married in 1949 and lived in the Wetherby family
home, a two-bedroom maisonette in Coventry. They continued
working at Allsops. Emily couldn’t have children but she was
desperate for a baby. Alf pulled some strings at his Mason’s lodge
and they adopted Matt as a very young baby in the spring of 1950.
Emily gave up the job at the canteen and was happy at home for a
couple of years but she had always worked and was becoming bored
with the housewife role. One evening Alf told her about an idea that
one of his Masonic friends had discussed with him. The idea was
laundrettes. They were just coming onto the working class scene
and needed very little skill, just some management. Alf told Emily
that she could run a laundrette with her eyes closed after running
the canteen so why not find some premises with a good size flat
over so that Matt was close by. As Matt’s dad had told him many
years later, “Your mother jumped at the idea. She found a shop, sold
the maisonette and away we went.” Alf had saved some money
over the years and his mother’s inheritance gave him the opportunity
to finance himself. They moved into the flat and equipped the shop
with washing machines, spinners and dryers. Emily looked after the
daily needs of the business and Alf managed the books at the
weekends. Lots of people used laundrettes in the 50s and 60s and
the business did very well and even at the initial one and nine for
each wash and a tanner for a dry they had enough money after a
couple of years to think about another shop.
It was at this stage that their formula for success was born.
Emily advertised for married couples to live in the flats rent free in
exchange for the wife running the laundrette. Electricity and rates
were thrown in as part of the business. All the properties were
freehold. This scheme worked well and Emily looked after all the
ordering and delivery of materials while Alf managed the finances.
After five years with the business growing at four or five outlets a
34
year they bought a nice house in Leamington Spa and Alf left his
position at Allsops to run the business full time. They had 18
laundrettes by 1958 and ventured out into a home laundry service.
Matthew was in his eighth year following GaMea’s meeting with
the Council and she took personal charge of his development
programme. It was an easy task and comprised mainly of ensuring
that he was kept safe and was successful at his schooling. Teachers
were planted in his schools to be ready to supply any additional tuition
that might be required but this was not needed much at all because
his natural parentage ensured that he was a bright lad. Matthew,
called Matt by his mum and dad, was a normal boy and got up to all
the usual things that a boy should. He was a good-looking lad with
fair hair and a round face that would easily break into an infectious
grin. He was the apple of Emily’s eye. During GaMea’s re-plan
period he went easily through his school years with a good pass at
the 11+ that got him into the best grammar school in the Midlands.
He was not only good academically but performed well in the school
football team as centre forward. His ‘A’ levels results were a surprise
as they did not allow entry to the Oxbridge universities. GaMea was
annoyed with that but was pleased that he had enjoyed his time
playing his football to which he had devoted all his spare time. Sussex
University was an easy choice for him however because the family
Easter holiday each year had been at the same guesthouse in Hove
and the town was well known to them.
Matt joined the faculty at the new university in 1969 and GaMea
was pleased with his development. She had stayed in the background
during this period and it was now time in 1970 for them to meet.
Following the presentation of her re-plan schedule to the Council
she would meet him again.
Matthew Wetherby was looking forward to joining university at

Sussex. Mum and Dad were driving him down with the car full of
his stuff, which mainly comprised his record player and music
collection plus all his clothes. Mum was going to take him food
shopping once he was settled into halls. The halls were on site blocks
of fully equipped apartments built around a quadrangle with four
35
students per apartment. Matt had his own room and the facilities
were shared. Matt did not know who his ‘roomies’ were to be and
was a bit apprehensive with making new relationships.
Matthew was a well-built lad, not large, not small but well
proportioned. He was good looking, according to his mum but had
not ever taken home a girlfriend. His football was too important to
him and he spent most of his spare time either playing or watching.
They arrived and joined the queue to register, which didn’t take too
long and were soon unpacking. Two other students had arrived before
him and introductions were made. The parents concentrated on the
unpacking while the boys chatted excitedly. Matthew wondered why
he had been concerned with meeting new people. He was getting
on famously with David and Paul. Paul had discovered the campus
bar and they agreed that a first night drink would be good as soon as
they could be relieved from the attention of their parents. The
shopping was easy and comprised mainly of eggs, bacon, baked
beans and bread. Mum was pleased that there was a good on campus
canteen and insisted that Matt use it regularly and not to worry about
money. Dad had been generous with a living allowance.
It was past seven when all the parents finally left and the boys
made there way to the bar. The fourth roommate was not arriving
until the next day and they soon got involved with all the new first
years.
By the end of the evening Matt was well pleased with his first
day and fell into bed into a deep sleep. The furthest thing from his
mind was Monday when he would start to learn the disciplines of
maths and he would have been surprised if he knew that one of the
new girls they had met, Lois, had reported to GaMea that Matt had
settled in OK and she would keep a close eye on him.
Another plan had been developing during the re-plan years of which
GaMea was not aware. If she had then she would have been really
concerned. XumBarens, had been continuing his study of war and,
following his insertions in the Vietnam conflict, he was impressed by
the oriental approach to his favourite past time. It was at a meeting
of the secretive out-of-uniiverse sect with the leader DraZene, a
36
fellow Dracan, at which she put forward the idea that they should
make sure they were at the heart of the research on the situation at
the edge. At the right time they could engineer a situation where
they could become all powerful in the League, by force against the
Council if necessary. Her idea shocked XumBarens at first but his
ambition forced him to listen and to accept her views if, for no other
reason, that she was extremely intelligent and very ambitious as
well as being his senior in the sect. DraZene had always been very
forthright with her ideas and beliefs. As early as her education years
4000 years previous she had always pushed herself to be top of her
peer group in all subjects and had shocked some of the tutors with
her views. She was outspoken on the structure of League in that
only a few individuals held so much power over so many citizens.
She dared to use the term democracy, which she actually explained
as a benevolent dictatorship with her in charge. She had long been
fascinated by the conundrum of the edge of the universe and was at
least in agreement on that subject with the powers that she argued
against. She agreed wholeheartedly that the prime reason for League
advancement was to reach the edge and solve the conundrum of its
existence. She learnt to hide her beliefs that the Council was weak
and needed to be led by a strong individual that could conquer any
problems that the edge may present. It was she that created the out-
of-universe sect and had recruited XumBarens when Dracan reached
Level 1 status. She had attached herself to him and became his
unofficial 2IC to research all the clandestine information that he
needed to gain his advancement. Surprisingly he was almost unaware
of the sect until DraZene had introduced him to her views and the
citizens that she had recruited. He had been easy to get to join the
sect as she had become his lover and he was besotted with her in
the early days. DraZene used her body to great effect and that was
so unusual for a female in the League that XumBarens was easy to
draw in. He felt he was in control of the situation but their relationship
was strained once he had joined the sect and reported to her.
Given his fascination with war, he was intrigued by her idea for
the creation of an army, something alien in the League, and they
would form that army for their own use. The people of Earth would
be ideal given their warlike nature and a plan was hatched to develop
this with the Chinese following the Vietnam conflict where they played
37
a huge role. DraZene suggested that she get to know the people of
China better and, in 1966 following some surgery to make her appear
Chinese, she befriended Mao Tse-tung the current Chinese premier.
It started when he was admitted to hospital where DraZene had
previously joined on the nursing staff and was assigned to look after
him during the night. Mao did not sleep longer than five hours and
she had the opportunity to talk with him in the small hours. They
discussed the state of China and it was her ideas that started the
Cultural Revolution. It was DraZene that initiated the Little Red
Book that was carried by all Red Guards and she became a power
behind the leadership of Mao Tse-tung. She always stayed in the
background and was in charge of rallying the Red Guards to put
down a rebellion the next year. It was a close thing for DraZene to
stop Mao naming her his successor ahead of Lin Piao in 1969. She
enjoyed this period and their friendship was purely platonic because
Mao was too busy with his predilection for young virgins. However
he was intoxicated by her ideas and always hungry for her plans for
the advancement of the Cultural Revolution. It was during this period
that DraZene also developed her liking for killing and led the death
squads that exterminated more Chinese than Hitler had Jews. She
learnt a lot about the Chinese during this period while, at the same
time, developing her bloodlust and carefully manipulating the thoughts
of the leadership. Her Machiavellian manipulation of this situation
only made her more intoxicating to XumBarens and by 1970 she had
made her plans for use of the Chinese in her scheme to take over
the League and was ready to move when GaMea made her
presentation to the Council.
38
Chapter 3
The Plan
It had taken GaMae and her team almost 12 years to re-arrange

world events and the programme plan such that 200 years of work
could be delivered in 75. The re-plan would require almost a doubling
of team resources with an enormous overhead in administration and
control. Some things could not benefit from more resources and a
whole new approach had been devised. The interventions supplied
during the 1960s had been very close to breaking the rules of species
development but GaMea now believed that the combined mindset of
the people of Earth was better suited to her new plans.
She sat in her office on Andromeda waiting for the conference
link to admit her to the Executive Council meeting. The secretary
had informed that she was last on their agenda and the importance
of this position was not wasted on her. All other items on the agenda
would have been completed and it was usual that the most important
agenda item was always last so that as much time could be devoted
to it as was required. The length of the meeting was not an issue.
There was no question of the Council members’ attention straying.
They were not like that. There would be no rush to complete business
so that homeward journeys could commence. The Council members
were already in their homes and millions of light years distant from
each other. A decision on her proposal may be quick in coming or
could take many days of questioning and deliberation.
The previous ten years of re-planning and positioning the overall
structure of global politics and relationships between nations had
been successful as far as GaMea wanted to take it for now. She had
39
reported to XumBarens regularly during the period and he had
approved the foundations of the plan. It was this revised plan that
formed the basis of her presentation today. He had not pursued the
issue of war any further because during the period there had been
plenty of conflicts to keep him occupied. She was still completely
unaware of his incursions in Vietnam and had no idea of DraZene
interfering in China. Research into jump technology had been
improved to allow jumps into uncharted space after the first station
was in place and the ships were still on course to build that first
station using the updated technology. This new station would receive
from the old technology but transmit using the new. It would be a
hybrid that allowed the League to transfer resources to build the
next station and so on to the edge.
She cast her eyes through the directory of information available
to her in support of her plan and felt assured by the competence of
ColJan’s team that had compiled the presentation for her. They had
not uncovered a mole from XumBarens in her team and his insight
was still a mystery. She forced herself to relax and felt the tension
ebb out of the tight knot between her shoulder blades. She had thought
through her feelings of allegiance and had decided that after 7500
years she had become a citizen of the Milky Way galaxy first with
strong ties to Andromeda. This was a decision that she had shared
with no one.
The communication screen had returned to the meeting agenda and

as she read it for the umpteenth time she wondered what a politician
from the present day Earth in 1972 would have thought of it. Outrage
probably at not being involved in such momentous decisions affecting
the future of their planet. It was best however that they were not
involved because it was their parochial views of national interests
and personal jealousies that was at the heart of so many of the
world’s problems. It had always been so, of course. She was only
doing to those same politicians what they did every day. Those most
affected by Government rarely had a say in the important decision-
making process. Unless you counted the single vote that people cast
every few years to elect their leaders. That was easy to manipulate
of course. It was a basic tenet of government that enabled politicians
to control the electorate. If you could raise in the minds of the masses
40
a problem or fear that is important to them, and if you could then

show them how you could solve that problem then, it followed, that
the majority of people would reward you with their vote. The
democratic governments of Earth exploited this simple concept all
the time and it was the same in all Level 4 galaxies. The same
technique had been used by the League for millennia to control and
guide developing species.
A message appeared on GaMea’s terminal telling her that the Council

would be ready to receive her presentation in approximately one
hour. She felt the tension return between her shoulder blades and
made herself relax with deep breaths and forcing herself to
methodically re-assert her position by running through the phases of
her plan. She finished by saying out loud who she was.
“I am GaMea, managing director of the Milky Way programme
and my delivery of five species will be the saving of the League of
Galaxies.”
Such a thought might have turned lesser beings to jelly. She was
different, however, and the feeling of power that flowed through her
body just by thinking that way was far stronger than the nervous
tension it replaced. She stretched herself back in her chair and let
her mind wander while her eyes watched the screen, waiting for the
moment when she could commence her presentation. She didn’t
often allow herself the feeling of pride and power in her achievements
but as she considered her career to date it was difficult to stop the
adrenaline flowing. She relished the meeting with the Council even
though her feelings were tinged with anticipation and some fear.
She remembered reading once of a great English actor who said, “If
you do not feel fear before a performance then you are over-
confident. That is the day that you will fail to give your best.” She
believed that then and she believed it now. Upon her performance
today hinged the hopes and futures of over five billion people of the
planet Earth. She took comfort from the knowledge that she had
represented Andromeda to the Council on two previous occasions
and had acquitted herself well.
The federal language of the League was called English on Earth.
Presentations included local colloquialisms to give the Council a wider
understanding of the indigenous species. During her two previous
41
programmes when she presented to the Council she had been the
director of Transport and Terra-forming respectively. Both
assignments had only been of about 1000 years duration but she had
been noticed by some influential people. She was promoted to
managing director of her own programme soon after her second
appearance and had submitted a bold plan to develop five species in
parallel on the same planet. To use the word species was a misnomer
at this stage of their development because all the people of Earth
were in fact one species known as humans. What GaMea had done
was to create five main religions and it was her plan to create a
separate human strain from the members of each religion at the
time when Earth joined the League and the religion-based species
took their place on distant planets in far away galaxies en route to
the edge. The League, however, considered them to be separate
species and it was easier to use that term. The estimated costs of
developing five species in parallel were twice the average programme
but would result in five being delivered as workforces rather than
one. After the exodus the remaining mixed population would remain
as a sixth species and, even with a contingency overrun of 50% and
the loss of one species, the League still received five species for
less than the cost of three. However she had no intention of losing
another species. This saving, plus the opportunity to increase the
rate at which the universe was populated, was compelling to the
Council and they had approved.
The programme was still on its original budget but the current re-
plan would use most of the remaining resources and contingency.
She was hoping that the Council would take the same view as
previous and approve her plan.
As part of developing five new species GaMea had devised
techniques to allow parallel terra-forming. This was not without its
problems and they had lost a complete species very early on. The
continent of Atlantis had been destroyed with its whole population.
They were advanced compared to the other developments and it
was a terrible waste. That accident had required a radical re-think
of procedures and the new safety regulations greatly improved the
chances of survival for the remaining species. The remaining groups
were allowed to mix following that incident but they were delineated
by the introduction of religions. GaMea smiled to herself as she
42
thought of the unexpected problems this innovation had created.

She was still annoyed at herself for the Atlantis accident especially
being an Andromedan. It had almost cost her job. She remembered
her history well. The Leo 2 incident was still the prime example of
what can go wrong in terra-forming. It was used as a case study in
college. Andromeda, at the time, was a Level 3 galaxy supplying the
workforce for the development of Leo 2. A terra-forming accident
had started a chain reaction that not only destroyed the developing
Leon species but also disrupted the Milky Way to such an extent
that it took a very long time to recover. That lesson was hard learned
and only after many lesser development and management tasks were
the Anromedans given the chance to redeem themselves. The Milky
Way was again in use and GaMea was developing it towards Level
4. It was hoped that this programme would finally lift the Leo 2
stigma and see Andromeda raised to Level 1. A lot was riding on her
shoulders.
There were still another 15 minutes before the meeting was ready
for her so she went into her bathroom to freshen up. She appraised
herself in the mirror and approved of her reflection.
“A good-looking lady for nearly 10 000 years old,” she thought.
Of course her body parts had been replaced many times over the
years and she was regularly rejuvenated. In fact her body had long
ago become a genetically manufactured receptacle for her brain
and nervous system, which were almost original. The brain was
never replaced due to a Council ruling that held it as the sacrosanct
private domain of all beings within the Universal League. The brain
did not expand noticeably as intelligence was acquired by moving
from level to level, it was merely better utilised. A Level 4 galaxy
being only used about 10% of their brain capacity and it wasn’t until
Level 1 that about 90% was utilised. Apart from executive
management it was the prime task of a Level 1 galaxy to carry out
the research and development for the League. She could only guess
at the discoveries being made by the research groups and wondered
what her role would be when Andromeda became a Level 1 galaxy.
The Council’s ruling relating to the sacrosanct nature of the brain
meant that mistakes could still occur but it was considered that
individuality was to be preserved and that mistakes were a good
43
learning tool. On Earth they had a saying, ‘We’re only human’. The
same concept held true throughout the League. Accidents included
death. If an accident occurred and the brain died then it was not
restored. Death was still a reality in the League. All senses were the
same and all the pleasures and pain were still available to all League
citizens. Species development had not devised a better body shape
as it was both functional and pleasing. She teased her mid-brown,
almost fair hair and appraised herself again. She was statuesque
and her body hugging one-piece suit was very flattering. While it
was possible for League citizens to rejuvenate their body and looks,
GaMea had maintained the same appearance since she took over
the programme.
She maintained her looks at age 35 and always maintained a
slight tan. Her light brown hair today was pulled off her face and in
a tousled style. It suited her impish good looks.
With soft brown eyes and long lashes she was considered good
looking and had entertained a number of men that wanted her to
become their partner. She always responded to such overtures by
giving them a wide grin with her full mouth and wrinkled her small
sharp nose, which had the effect of highlighting her high cheekbones.
She wore colours that complimented her mid-tone skin and took
care over the way she looked. Her style of clothes varied and today
the suit was flattering to her long neck and just allowed a view of
her cleavage. This wasn’t anything to do with attracting a mate but
more for her own feelings of how she wanted to be perceived. The
difference between males and females in the League was still very
obvious but only at a sexual level, not male versus female role model
differences as was the case on present day Earth. That was another
side product of religion with the view that God was male and therefore
special. This view would change as Earth took its place in the League.
Equality between the sexes in the League was as natural as
breathing and didn’t merit any special consideration. On Earth there
were women’s movements and equal opportunities commissions to
apparently further the causes of women. In fact they only served
the purposes of politicians to capture the female vote. She smiled at
the thought of this ridiculous situation and thought that the women’s
movements would envy her position. She often wondered how the
male population on Earth would react however.
44
She returned to her desk and sat down preparing herself mentally
for the meeting. She had realised over the years since the communiqué
that she identified very strongly with the people of Earth and hoped
that the Council would approve her plan for the completion of Phase
2. She was concerned that the advances being made in jump
technology would make the Council rethink its decision to allow her
to proceed but she was confident that the Council would recognise
the need for a workforce to maintain the stations. The improvements
would enable them to move faster rather than differently. It would
mean an incredibly fast move through Phase 3, which was a risk,
but she felt that the people of Earth were resilient enough to cope.
That was one of the things that war had done for them. They were
a tough race. She had selected Earth and the Milky Way programme
all those years ago from the five or six available because, from space,
the planet looked like a sparkling diamond floating in a black sea and
diamonds were tough. It had made her feel good when she saw it
from space and she now saw it as home. She had become Earth
Mother to the planet but more than just a mythical figure she had a
secret desire to be the first president of the Milky Way galaxy and
lead the species from Earth in colonising their galaxy. She had been
taught in her training that close bonds developed at this level of species
development and emotions had to be tightly controlled to stay
objective. However, she could not deny the strong feelings she had
for this primitive race that she had helped to develop over the millennia.
She realised, however, that before she could achieve her goal of
leading the people of Earth into their galaxy she had a major problem
to overcome. Her plans would work as long as she could control the
different religious species that made up the population. The
development of five parallel species was demonstrably working but
the introduction of religions after the Atlantis incident had been a
prime factor in leading the people of Earth to embrace war. This
development was unexpected and had never occurred elsewhere in
the species development programme within the League. Harmony
was easy to achieve with the development of only one species. It
was like an enlarged family. Of course families feud. There were
murders and crime and even some factional clashes as part of the
development process but, at their core, a single race shared the same
45
beliefs, values, and goals. This was not so on Earth. Similar values
existed within the species based upon religious doctrines and these
were the same wherever the people settled on the planet. At their
core the species were easy to delineate. The management of this
situation was breaking new ground in the techniques of species
development and GaMea was continually aware of the pressure she
was under from her peer group of programme directors.
The people of Earth had become very good at war and, because
it was such an interesting phenomena that required study, she had
allowed conflicts to develop much further than was prudent.
Occasionally she had intervened because the consequences of some
conflicts may have destroyed the planet. There were others of her
peer group, and even within the Council, who had argued that this
was a development that should be allowed to occur to see what the
race would do after such a catastrophic conflict. She had successfully
avoided such action. The people of Earth were spending so much on
so called ‘defence spending’ today that her planetary resource budgets
were in danger of being insufficient to complete her job. The planet
was dying. Her original plan had already been amended to stop
observing war and the re-plan to deliver in a much shorter timescale
required a major intervention to replenish the Earth’s resources.
The original five species were now so intermingled, with so many
factions, that it was going to be a problem to isolate them when the
time was right. The combined Earth race was quite intelligent in
their own right and were on the verge of self determination. Religions
were being abandoned by the majority of people; led by the
intelligentsia among the species who were not atheists but required
proof, much as agnostics do. If abandoned the people of Earth would
achieve self-determination and this would prove to be catastrophic;
especially with nuclear power at their disposal.
Self-determination had always been a gift from the League to
new Level 4 galaxies in exchange for a jump station workforce in a
further galaxy and that is why today’s presentation was so important.
If the Council approved her re-plan then she would see the people
of Earth take their place in the League of Galaxies during the next
50 or 60 years in the 21st century. If her plan was rejected the
probability of failure for the planet was almost assured. This
eventuality was unthinkable for GaMea and devastating for the people
46
of her beloved Earth. If only they knew how important this day was
to their future. Explaining that to them over the next 60 years was
going to be a mammoth task. Only she and her close team were
aware of the immense amount of work that would be required to get
them to follow her. Today she had to sell her plan to the Council with
certainty and conviction. They were aware of her problems but if
they fully understood the arrogance of the race they may decide
that the risk was too great and it would be best to cut their losses
now.
She felt that she had three trump cards. They were the need for
five species to ensure a safe arrival at the edge in time to do
something about the possible universal reversal; her abilities to deliver
the programme; and the needs of Councillor XumBarens.
The console informing her that the Council were assembling and
transmission would start in ten minutes interrupted her thoughts. She
made herself comfortable in her chair and imagined the Council
members doing the same in their home offices. The meeting did not
require physical attendance and, as the participants were millions of
light years apart, she had delivered the detail of her presentation
well in advance. Each member had studied this and had probably
already reached a conclusion. Today was about a summary
presentation and decision-making process to make sure that joint
responsibility was accepted and traditions were observed. There
was a lot of tradition in League culture. Her presentation was to
include a summary of the parallel species development as the
techniques were still new to the League.
Communications would ensure that her presentation was received
simultaneously by each Council member. This was simple enough to
achieve by having the local transmission synchronised to take account
of the distance. Time and space were relative and the same thing.
Distance was the problem but with tachyon jump technology this
was easily resolved. What GaMea didn’t understand was how the
Council members communicated during the meeting. She knew that
they somehow concerted their minds to exchange ideas and debate
issues and, as a presenter, you could be drawn into the concert to
answer questions. The technology to achieve this was a Level 1
privilege and she longed for the day when she understood how it
worked.
47
To relax herself she gazed out of the window at the city. It was only
about five miles across and surrounded by lush countryside with
rolling hills that were bathed in the rays of the binary suns. The blue
tinge of the hills was created by the many heathers and pines that
she loved so much. The setting was tranquil and unhurried with people
going about their routines. A personal carrier moved across her field
of vision and was probably taking someone home or on a private
visit. There was little need for work-related travel given that hologram
communications allowed people to meet face to face without leaving
their office.
Her office was on the 120th floor of her building combining comfort
with functionality. The range of soft furnishings reflected her
femininity. A large conference table dominated the room with
comfortable chairs for the lengthy programme meetings that she
held here. GaMea maintained the tradition of face-to-face meetings
for strategic sessions because it got her managers away from the
work environment of the Milky Way and allowed the senior managers
of her Pleaides workforce to see how a Level 2 galaxy operated. It
was part of their Level 3 training. Her direct reports were all
Andromedans supported by management teams. The remaining team
members were all from the Pleaides galaxy.
The Pleaides was a relatively new Level 3 galaxy and initially
had been somewhat withdrawn. They had completed their Level 3
indoctrination and had worked on other shorter projects to consolidate
that training. The Milky Way was the first where they were the lead
workforce and their hesitancy at first had been part of coming to
terms with their responsibility. The Andromedans were still a bit
godlike to them as they introduced technology that was far beyond
their reach only a few hundred years earlier. As more and more
generations of Pleaidians were introduced to the programme,
however, their new way of life became more natural. The techniques
of healthcare and body maintenance were still being assimilated by
them and it took thousands of years for the life span to increase to
its full potential. Currently the Pleaidians had a life span of about
500 years. It wasn’t until Level 2 that the technology of rejuvenation
was completely introduced. And GaMea had seen many generations
of Pleaidians come and go. After almost 7500 years, however, her
48
programme team procedures and the Pleaides’ development had

gelled together well. She was pleased with her team. In all there
were about 200 million Pleaidians in the five functional areas managed
by 2 million Andromedans.
A 60 second countdown to transmission signal on her console brought

GaMea back from her thoughts and she settled back in her chair to
watch her pre-prepared presentation and be ready to answer
questions. Her face appeared and began the most important meeting
of her career to date.
“Council members. On behalf of the Andromedan people we thank

you for this opportunity to present our plans for Stage 2 completion
of the Milky Way programme.
My name is GaMea, the programme managing director. Milky
Way is the local name given to the galaxy and, as usual, we shall
maintain that name as well as other colloquialisms throughout the
presentation.
As you are aware the Level 2 Andromedan galaxy is responsible
for all direction and management of the overall programme and our
work team is drawn from the Level 3 Pleaides galaxy. I continue to
affirm their good progress in the usage of new technology, knowledge,
and techniques made available to them upon entry to the League.”
She always took the opportunity to give credit to her team when
it was due. The Council meetings were private affairs but such
snippets often leaked out and praise was a large part of her natural
technique of team stimulation. Individual praise is important in small
teams to promote personal satisfaction and a warm glow. It is called
the feel good factor. In an enterprise exceeding 200 million team
members who are carrying the hopes and ambitions of their race
then the returned warmth sometimes challenges the sun. This was
gratifying for GaMea and represented her feel good factor.
The agenda for her presentation was now on the screen.
“I shall commence by summarising overall progress and then
follow with the detail for each project area. They are Transport and
Communications; Manufacturing and Engineering; Materials and
Terra-forming; Agriculture, Health and Education; and, finally, Species
Development. The details of the amended plan will be covered next
49
and then I will answer any questions that you may have.”
This last point was almost irrelevant. The Council represented
absolute law and they spoke when they wanted. She wished that
she could see her audience because she may be able to gauge their
reaction. Unfortunately this was not allowed. She didn’t even know
for sure who was in her audience. Her current Earth base was
England and it would become apparent from her plan that the United
Kingdom was important as it was small enough to be manipulated
but influential enough to be listened to.
“I took control of the programme at the commencement of Stage
2, 7500 years ago. My predecessor, SolHanna, had completed the
Stage 1 tasks of preparing ten planets throughout the galaxy to a
rudimentary state for habitation. The indigenous species were already
in place. I chose the planet Earth, the third planet of a star called Sol,
as my base because it is placed on the outer edge of a spiral in a less
dense part of the galaxy. This lessened the transfer time from the
jump station on the galaxy perimeter.
“The indigenous species at this time had developed to the first
primitive stage at which we could intervene with the basics of
civilisation. They were already working in stone and leading nomadic
lives. We introduced settlements and agriculture. Some of the
differences of culture, even looks, which were important for the
grouping of species were introduced at this time. This was required
for the development of the five parallel species previously approved
by the Council. During the next 3000 years and following the Atlantis
accident we introduced the religious sects and formed civilisations
by placing team members in positions of power. Some apparent magic
was used during this phase enhanced by our technology. The
civilisations included the Chinese, Egyptians, Mesopotanians, and
Greeks. During this period we were seen as gods and this long period
of direct control allowed us to steer the people of Earth in the direction
that we required. Today those early activities are blurred in the mists
of time and myths.
“It was at this time, about 3200 years ago, that we introduced the
first two major religions to give the species a separate identity. They
were Hindu and Judaism. At this point we withdrew from full-time
intervention and allowed the religions to develop their identities across
their geographical locations. Six hundred years later we coached
50
LoaTza and Siddhartha Gautauma to begin the teachings of Tao and

Buddism. Judaism was taking two different paths by this time and
the civilisations, within which the religions existed, were forming
caste systems and developing organised warlike tendencies for the
first time.
“As you know, these tendencies were new to us and we
counteracted by introducing the Roman civilisation as a powerful
police state, supported by us as gods, to ensure that the situation did
not get out of control.
“The Romans caused their own problems to the programme and
we decided to resolve the situation at the same time as overcoming
the split that had developed in Judaism. That was a major intervention
based around our first ‘birth to death’ plant armed with some simple
technologies that looked like miracles. This was the commencement
of the Christian religions.
“This was a very busy period because we now had four main
religions with others being assimilated or subsumed and they had to
be kept in step with each other. The Greek civilisation was developing
the first lasting sciences at the beginning of this period of religious
activity and they had a great influence over the Romans. The Romans
eventually embraced Christianity and became a real force in the
known world via the Roman Catholic Church. They advanced the
art of war many fold. The majority of the planet still measure their
calendar by the Roman standard and commenced counting years in
line with the birth of Christianity. This was called Anno Domini and
I shall use this notation of years for the remainder of my presentation.
“All of these developments were taking place in the land masses
of Europe and Asia. The remainder of the planet was undergoing
minor terra-forming and the indigenous people that were not within
our religious groupings were developing slowly within pagan Earth
sects. The land mass called Europe today and the Christian religions
became the dominant force in the world during the next 1900 years
and kept us very busy to keep them on course.
“The Taos, Buddhists, and Hindus were developing in their parts
of the planet and, while there was some excitement, it was by no
means as tumultuous as some of the events of the European
Christians. We redressed the middle world balance by coaching the
Prophet Mohammed around 600 AD and he began teaching the way
51
of Islam which is total surrender to the will of the one god, Allah.
The precise nature of the Islam religion, based upon submission and
success plus its ability to unite people under one banner, is extremely
important. They will perform a crucial role when we require those
qualities to demonstrate species coherence.
“The five species are now identifiable by religious groupings and,
today, represent 95% of the planet’s population. To recap, they are
Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Tao. The last draws
together the associated religions of Shinto and Confucianism.
“Planet Earth now had a period where the civilisations were
starting to form into empires. The religions had a strong hold in this
development and empires were formed on the back of even more
wars, usually with so called good defeating so called evil. There
were times, however, when it was difficult to tell the difference
between the two. It all depended whose side you were on.
“From 1400 to 1700 the next level of science was introduced via
four interventions. They were Da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, and
Newton. Their basic laws of the universe were applied by many
scientists and industrialists to strengthen the young empires via
commercial enterprises. Medicine took a lower profile during this
period and it was easy to introduce some fatal diseases to keep the
population relatively stable. It was a period of discovery for the people
of planet Earth.”
GaMea had relived the last 7500 years many times. There were
memories of extreme pleasure and despair. She was married to the
programme and had long ago abandoned the thought of a permanent
mate. Even though she was entitled to birthing she had rejected the
notion, except once for a very special reason. Her voice coming
from the console brought her back to the presentation.
“And then the 1900s brought more problems than the previous 7400
years combined. The 20th century started well with some interventions
to take science to the next stage of development. They included the
formulae of Einstein and the observations of Hubble, however the
people of Earth chose to ignore the peaceful application of this
information and indulged in major conflicts between nations. Nations
were another unexpected development. Whereas we consider
52
ourselves a galactic citizen, a nation is a microcosm of the same

idea where a parochial group of beings are contained within a
geographical boundary often speaking a different language from their
close neighbour. It is chaotic with over 200 nations becoming more
in number every time peace breaks out. Compare this with our League
of Galaxies covering the known universe with 39 galactic groupings
of citizens, all speaking one language and living by one set of ethics,
guidelines, and charters.
“The religions are duplicated within a nation and the nation is
usually put first in people’s priorities. The people of Islam, however,
consider their religion at least on a par with their nation and this
aspect will be very important to our plans. The nations actually slowed
the global development due to their parochial views and squabbles.
They have many wars over borders, trade, ethnic differences,
religions, and even personal insults. World solutions and initiatives
are difficult to achieve. When the people of Earth colonise their
galaxy we must monitor them closely to ensure that this national
problem does not grow into planetary proportions. I intend to loosen
the grip of nations during the remaining period of our plan.
“Amongst this chaos scientists finally used the work of Einstein
and developed nuclear power. This was supposed to supply a source
of energy to replace fossil fuels but national interests concentrated
the work on developing weapon systems. Expensive skills were
employed to spread the nuclear pollution over wide areas via test
explosions rather than how best to contain the residual products.
They have now left this research too late to be in place for the
replacement of fossil fuels. There was a brief period when the
scientific community concentrated on exploring their solar system.
They even put a man on their closest satellite, the moon. Since then,
however, they have reverted back to weapon production and we
predict that the break up of empires will create even more nations,
each with weapons capable of destroying the planet.
“Medical science advanced as planned but only served to
exacerbate the nationality problem as people became stronger, lived
longer and grew the populations. Living space became more cramped
and nations looked hungrily at the resources of other nations. Good
and evil was really blurred during this period as people always believed
that their nation was good with God on their side. An enemy nation,
53
by default, had to be evil. The religions didn’t help because the same
religion often existed on both sides of a conflict. In fact, prior to the
1900s, many conflicts were caused by one nation imposing its religious
beliefs on another nation.
“The nations and their empires had already created a massive
divide between the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet.
Our concentration on the European development in the northern
hemisphere meant that they became very powerful and instead of
educating and assimilating the south they were exploited and colonised
instead. There is now an under privileged sub-class on the planet
known as the third world.
“Apart from this divide there were tensions within nations based
upon religious and political differences. Our method of government
was embraced by the species but they developed a political structure
over the government. This arrangement slowed development even
within single nations because the political structure changed so often
and created tensions due to the changes in national priorities. Imagine
what the League would be like if the galactic Council membership
was changed every four or five years? Chaos. On Earth this
sometimes even led to special conflicts called civil war where the
people of one nation fought amongst themselves.
“As I said earlier, the main source of energy on the planet is
fossil-based and this was originally supplied in vast quantities by
terra-forming. This resource has been squandered and the oil burning
by-products combined with the species’ desire to destroy their life
support systems has led the planet to a polluted state today. The
people of Earth have yet to discover the extent of this pollution and
when they do in just 20 years time it will be three times worse than
today. Of course this will not affect our plan because the resources
of the planet are budgeted to be used by the development programme.
However we have already forecast that the resources will not last
the original project schedule. The new plan for an earlier delivery of
the species includes the solution to this resources problem based
upon the supply of an alternative energy source. This intervention
will allow us to become saviours to the planet in a much-reduced
timescale. If this intervention does not occur then our probability
systems paint a bleak picture for the planet.
“That briefly summarises the programme to date. I shall now
54
move on to the current situation and our plans for progress. Are
there any questions so far?”
GaMea waited for the response at her terminal on Andromeda. She

was holding her breath in anticipation because she knew what was
coming next in her presentation. The terminal flickered with the
message that simply said ‘Continue’.
“I must confess that the current situation is not as we planned. As I

said our probability systems show that the planet will be experiencing
major problems during the next 25 years not just from pollution but
from economic problems. This latter problem will stem from events
during the last year when the main oil producing nations formed a
cartel and quadrupled the price of oil. The economies of the world
are currently assimilating this problem and even considering military
intervention as a solution. They are not yet capable of thinking
through the ramifications in world terms. They have lots of
conferences and accords but it is still really the political nation state
that is in control and the most powerful has the loudest voice.
“We predict that the vast inflow of wealth to the oil nations will
create a booming credit economy amongst the powerful nations who
control the world’s most influential banks. Those banks will lend at
imprudent levels, just to place the funds, to anyone who can sign a
contract. This will include massive loans to the third world in the
name of recovery and development. In reality these loans are unlikely
to affect the state of the countries or their people and will mostly be
spent on armaments and cosmetic projects. A lot will end up in the
bank accounts of the countries’ rulers and agents. What is certain is
that the third world will be saddled with debt and have no means to
repay without destroying their own environment and peoples well-
being. These nations will default on the debts and the powerful nations
will lend them more money to pay the debts. This will be necessary
to protect the banks from collapse and the money market circle of
loans will create a false sense of wealth followed by a period of
further development and spending. All of this wealth will be based
upon unrealistic assets. Meanwhile the third world will continue to
destroy their environments to create income by clearing forests for
wood and cattle. We put these forests in place as part of the planet’s
55
life support system and they are not easily replaced. Our re-plan will
address this situation with the introduction of protein trees.
“The people of the planet are destroying the forests faster than
they can be replenished. It is like us throwing away the tachyon
drive in the middle of a jump. Unbelievable.
“The destruction of the forests combined with increased burning
of carbon-based fuels will create a build up of atmosphere smothering
gases which will warm the climate and cause so-called natural
disasters via shifts in rain patterns, soil erosion and expansion of
deserts. Agriculture will fail, followed by huge famines in the third
world. We believe that the best way to bring this destruction to the
attention of the powerful nations is to threaten their existence with a
global problem. All the time that problems are relegated to the third
world then these nations can appease their conscience by supplying
even more borrowed money. They will probably start to cancel some
of the debts once the banks have recovered but this will only be a
small gesture.
“The global problem that we will orchestrate is already well
advanced with the introduction of chlorine-based gases for propulsion
and cooling systems. With help from us, scientists will discover that
these gases are reacting with the ozone in the atmosphere and
depleting its effectiveness to stop harmful ultra violet radiation
reaching the surface. This problem does not discriminate between
rich or poor and it should create an awareness of the damage that is
being caused to the planet’s ecosystems. We will exploit this ozone
depletion to our advantage as covered in the plan later in this
presentation.
“Once this global problem takes a priority in the minds of people
and government agendas there will be a shift away from international
conflicts towards environmental protection and internal issues. It
will be realised that the combined evils of third world debt and fossil
fuels is creating a non-sustainable world environment. For financiers
it will be the realisation that four in five of the global population are
not bankable and therefore cannot buy the products that they fund.
This will be a really intolerable situation for them and will create
pressure on governments to resolve the problems. This environment
is exactly the one that we need to ensure our final intervention is a
success. Our intervention will be more encompassing than the one
56
2000 years ago and will bring Stage 2 to completion on the new
schedule. We shall review the amended plan after the reports from
each programme area. Are there any questions on the current status
and our predictions?”
GaMea leant forward in her chair and stared at the screen. She
hoped that her summary had been received by the Council as one
that showed honesty, competence, and control. Of course, they knew
that she wanted to turn a serious problem into an opportunity and
there was no point in trying to hide that fact. The gamble with
Andromeda’s future had been taken. Did the need of the Council
for six Level 3 species outweigh their possible desire to teach
Andromeda another lesson? She wondered what thoughts were going
through MiThan’s mind as he monitored the presentation from his
office. No doubt he would let her know later. Would there be a later
for her or the people of the planet Earth?
The pause in transmission seemed like an eternity to her but finally
the screen flickered with the message, ‘Continue’.
She sighed as she selected the command to choose the part of
her presentation based upon the Council’s acceptance of her
summary. It was an interactive system, which could react to different
responses. ColJan and his team had worked long hours on the
presentation in response to a negative reply from the Council. She
was relieved that she didn’t need it.
“Thank you, Members of the Council. I shall now summarise the
status of each programme area as it relates to the re-plan. First,
Transport and Communication.
“There are two major developments in this area that are
proceeding on schedule. The placement of jump stations is complete
throughout the galaxy for both inter and intra galactic travel. The
fleet of transports for materials and resources movement is being
delivered by manufacturing ready for space trials. The energy
collectors are located outside the orbit of Pluto, the ninth and last
planet of the local solar system and the gamma ray sources are
being towed into place. In line with Council regulations we shall
harvest 2000 primordial black holes from 300 cubic light years of
space such that the area is not depleted. The placement of the black
holes has occasionally caused a variation in the orbit of Pluto and
57
this has led to speculation on Earth that a tenth planet may exist.
Once placed the sources are in equilibrium to allow safe passage of
transport and not disrupt the gravitational balance of the systems
planets. We shall place our monitoring equipment on the dark side of
the Earth’s moon in 1985 during the passing of Haley’s Comet when
every astronomer on Earth will be distracted. The geo-stationery
energy beam combiner will be positioned above Earth’s southern
polar region at a later time. The technology in this satellite is alien to
the Earth and will be cloaked from surface detection. We shall
previously place a simple observation and atmospheric monitoring
satellite in the same orbit and at the appropriate time will remove it
to reveal the gamma ray combiner. This satellite will duplicate the
facilities of the other so no detection will occur. We shall co-ordinate
this with the comet Shoemaker Levy smashing into Jupiter in 1994
when all eyes on Earth will be watching that event. We shall test
burst the flow of energy through the hole in the ozone layer to our
unified containers at the Antarctic base later in the same decade.
The unified theory is still being developed by physicists and
cosmologists on Earth and we will assist scientists working in quantum
mechanics and cosmology, via our own research foundation, to
understand the theory and then use it to underline the mechanics of
the power containers that we will be manufacturing. The release of
the unified theory formulae usually occurs when a galaxy is admitted
to the League but our re-plan will require release of this knowledge
prior to that. We need the technology to enable power unit distribution
throughout the world. Our engineers have already drawn up plans
and production schedules to manufacture in our plants using materials
from the planet. We shall release the technology once the unified
theory has been accepted. The defence shield technology will be
introduced at a later stage as a by-product of power production to
safely utilise the gamma ray leakage that occurs. This is standard
practice throughout the League. On Earth, however, we shall use
this technology to convert the weapons industry into a pure defence
industry in a relatively short period of time.
“Materials and Terra-forming are preparing the five base planets
for placement in the galaxies en route to the edge. We shall be
dependent upon the Level 1 research teams to deliver the means to
transport a planet via an enlarged jump station. I understand that this
development is on schedule.
58
“Agriculture, Health, and Education have prepared all the

necessary material to handle the people to be relocated and this is
now in extensive testing and pre-disclosure via health and education
facilities world-wide. We have developed sufficient cultures for the
protein trees and they are due to start testing in a range of climate
conditions.
“Species Development, as usual, has been continually involved
on the planet to ensure that knowledge advances are made to support
our plan. We ensure that an Earth scientist always takes the credit
for these discoveries. Their involvement will increase as we approach
the completion of Phase 2 and beyond.
“That concludes the summary of each programme area. We shall
now move on to the plan details.”
GaMea then spent the next two hours covering the details of her
re-plan, answering questions as they were raised and clarifying the
use of technology at each stage. The plan was set in three stages.
The first stage was for an Earth-based corporation to create immense
wealth, which would be used as a basis for Stage 2. Stage 2 would
then buy a strong political position from which it would be possible to
create acceptance in the world for the intervention by the League.
Following the intervention, Stage 3 would prepare the five religious
groupings into populations for transfer to the new planets in the
galaxies en route to the edge of the universe. The timing of each
stage would be up to 2005 for Stage 1 then 2035 for Stage 3, and a
target of 2040 for the transfer of the populations. She promised to
try and better these targets but there was a lot to do and they could
not rush the population of Earth any faster or they would risk not
achieving self-determination, which was of paramount importance.
Without it they may not achieve anything and that outcome was not
acceptable. When she had finally finished the delivery of her plan
the secretary to the Council came through to her terminal and told
her that the Council were now deliberating in concord and he would
get back to her as soon as he had their decision. She asked how long
that would be and he replied that it could be minutes or days. She
thanked him and sat back in her chair in an exhausted state. She
didn’t realise how much the session had taken out of her but now it
was complete and there was nothing more she could do but wait.
Her communicator flashed that there was an incoming message. It
59
was MiThan. She admitted his hologram to her office.
“Well, GaMea. How do you think we did?”
“I’m not sure. We know that the Council needs to get to the edge
as soon as they can but we don’t know what other options they
have. The work on tachyon jumping is moving fast and they may be
able to get there without interim stations and into an unknown area
of space. Remember we have a monitoring station there already. I
don’t know, Mi, and I don’t like not being sure.”
He smiled at her. “Either way you have done your best and I am
proud of you. Why don’t you come over to my residence for some
food and drink. I can let Mr Secretary know where you are and
send a transport over for you.”
“That would be nice, MiThan, but I have my team here with me
and either way I think that we should be together.”
“Of course. Contact me as soon as you have news.”
It was an hour later that her communicator told her that the
secretary was coming through. She stood and admitted him. His
hologram appeared in front of her.
“Your plan has been accepted, GaMea. I am pleased for you.
Andromeda should be proud. Council Member 27 will continue to be
your main contact with the Council and if there is anything else that
you may require don’t hesitate to contact me directly. I have been
asked by the Council to give you their best wishes and to pass on a
message. It simply says, ‘Deliver our species and do not fail’. That
is the first time they have ever done that, GaMea. Good luck.”
All GaMea could say was, “Thank you, Mr Secretary.” His
hologram winked out.
She signalled to ColJan, “Bring the team in, ColJan. We have lots
of work to do but first a celebration. The people of Earth live to fight
another day.” If only she knew how prophetic that statement was to
be.
The celebrations were short lived. Every day was precious and
the programme had no time to waste. GaMea instigated the initial
plans for each area and left progress to ColJan. She had a task that
required her personal attention. Get to know Matt Wetherby firsthand
and develop him into a major force to help push the Earth in the
required direction.
60
“DraZene.”
“Yes, XumBarens.”
“I have just finished in a Council meeting, we have approved
GaMea’s re-plan and it is time that we met to make our own
plans. I suggest that you wrap up what you are doing in China
and come to Draco so we can talk about our next steps. You
can stay at my residence so that we are not disturbed.”
“Yes of course. I will finalise my research and be with you in
about a month. We can coincide the visit with the next sect
meeting so that we do not arouse any suspicions. I look forward
to seeing you again, Xum.”
“And I you, Dra. Hurry home.”
“Interesting,” he thought, “that she should use his familiar name.

That would need to be explored further.”
XumBarens called his PA for a drink and wandered through to
his garden. Yes, things were coming together well. The Earth people
would be perfect for his plans and the League would have no defence
against him. He smiled as he strolled and thought about his plans for
the sect meeting.
As usual the meeting of the Sect was in secret and all the members
arrived incognito. The meeting place had the feel of a temple with
subdued lighting and a head table that had the look of an altar. All the
members nodded solemnly as DraZene entered the auditorium and
took her place at the centre of the table with XumBarens sat at her
right hand. She stood and started her address.
“My esteemed members, we are meeting today to agree our
approach towards the situation that is developing at the edge. As
you know the Council have approved the continued development of
the Earth species so that the League can put in place the remaining
jump stations to ferry all the resources that will be required to carry
out the necessary research. I put to you a simple resolution. The
sect must be in control of that research so that we are the first to
cross into the new universe. To ensure that we are in a position to do
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that I propose that the Sect must take control of the League and,
with the assistance of Councillor XumBarens, we will create an
army from the warlike Earth species to enable us to carry out a
coup d’etat and replace the Council with our own people. How do
you say to my proposal?”
The room was eerily silent as the immensity of her proposal sunk
into the members. They all looked sideways at each other and, after
XumBarens raised his hand in support, slowly raised their hands
until DraZene had the support of the whole room.
“Good,” she stated quietly, “we can now make our plans to carry
out this bold endeavour and I have an outline that needs a lot of
work. I am not in a position to share those plans with you today but
I promise to convene another meeting when I have met with the
councillor. For now I suggest that we hold a celebration to cement
our agreement so please join me …” The wall at the end of the
room quietly slid aside to reveal a large table set for dinner with
enough cutlery and crystal to suggest that they would be there for a
long time. DraZene sat down and leaned towards XumBarens. She
whispered in his ear, “I have arranged for a suite for you and me
after the meal so that I can outline my ideas and we can celebrate in
a way that I hope you will find better than the food.”
XumBarens smiled and allowed himself to be led to the table.
The meal was superb and lasted for nearly four hours. Everybody
was excited and had lots of questions but DraZene would not allow
herself to be drawn any further than confirming that she would
reconvene the meeting once she had a firm plan that she could share
with them. Later that night she took XumBarens away to a suite of
rooms above the meeting room. The effect of the drink did not allow
them to discuss the plans for the army any further but he did not
complain as she performed for him in a way that he had only
fantasised about before. XumBarens slept soundly and DraZene
was pleased that she was able to avoid a discussion and keep her
plans to herself. Everything was progressing well and when she
was sure that he was asleep she got out of the bed and left
XumBarens to wake in the morning and wonder where she had
gone. She transferred off the planet to her cruiser and was on her
way back to Earth to set up the infrastructure of companies that she
would need to develop the weapon systems to take over the League.
62
Chapter 4
What a surprise!
Matt was in that dozing state between sleep and awake. He was
aware of the sounds from the seafront drifting through the French
windows. The waves rolling shingle up and down the beach mingled
with the traffic on the south coast road. He rolled over and snuggled
into the warm back and bottom of Susie lying next to him. The klaxon
of the Volks electric railway sounded as it ferried holidaymakers
between the Palace Pier and Black Rock swimming pool. Herr Volks
had built the little electric railway to ferry Edwardian holidaymakers
to Brighton from the old Chain Pier to the saltwater swimming pool
a mile along the coast at Black Rock. It was the first electric railway
in the world built in 1874. The pier was lost in a violent storm but the
railway still survived. Susie stirred and rolled over to give Matt a
cuddle.
She murmured as she gently squeezed him. “This is lovely. Let’s
doze for a while.”
Matt returned her squeeze and kissed her on the nose. She smiled
and turned over. Matt rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
He was relieved that the room was no longer spinning as it had been
last night when he collapsed on the bed. He checked the time. Ten
thirty. It was only yesterday afternoon he was saying, “Thank God
it’s Friday,” but now he was equally relieved that it was Saturday
and he could stay in bed. His bladder had other ideas, however, and
he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Walking didn’t feel too
bad, just a bit slow. He found himself sitting in front of the dressing
table, which surprised him. Someone had told him once that if you
63
drank lots of water after a drinking session and before sleeping then
the water would have the effect of flushing the alcohol through the
system. Unfortunately the other side effect was a desperate need to
pee the moment you opened your eyes. He realised that this would
be easier said than done. Like most 20 year olds, upon waking he
was aroused and ready. Susie was right, it did have a mind of its
own, and he thought again of snuggling up against Susie to see if she
was interested but he looked at himself in the dressing table mirror
and his reflection suggested that she would probably not appreciate
the attentions of a puffy eyed, unshaven sex maniac with a mouth
like a cess pool. He poked his tongue out at himself and even he
didn’t relish putting it back in his mouth let alone Susie’s. He walked
slowly to the bathroom and sat on the toilet to force his offending
appendage under the seat to enjoy one of the few remaining pleasures
in life that was still free.
The drinking yesterday had been heavier than usual and he was
feeling decidedly fragile as he walked back to bed. He lay down and
closed his eyes trying to remember the previous evening. It had
been the last day before the long summer break and the celebrations
had started early in the Crypt bar on campus. It seemed that nearly
every student had continued the celebrations in the King and Queen
pub, which was the local student haunt in Brighton. The pub was a
cacophony of noise with all the students swapping stories about results
and plans for the summer. It seemed as if every Sussex Uni student
was there and whether it was celebration or commiseration the order
of the day was still more beer. This continued until closing time and
then in the various flats and houses that were home to the off-campus
community.
Drinking in the King and Queen was the usual entertainment for
students on a Friday night so Matt was used to the lethargy of a
Saturday morning. As he lay in bed the fog in his brain was slowly
clearing and through the mist a message was getting through of
something that he should be doing. He checked the time again. Ten
forty-five. Nearly opening time to have some ‘hair of the dog’ and a
pub lunch. Oh no! Lunch. His mind came alive like a siren going off.
He was having lunch with his mum and dad at the farm before
taking them to Heathrow for their flight to Rome at six o’clock.
Lunch was at one and Mum had said that he should get there early
64
because Dad wanted an important chat with him so be there by

twelve thirty.
Matt’s mum, Emily Wetherby was of the old school, she never
demanded anything but implied in such a way that carried more
weight than a command.
“I only do it because I love you and want you to do well,” she had
once said when Matt didn’t recognise one of her subtle commands.
He had become very attentive to her suggestions ever since. It wasn’t
just for a quiet life; Matt loved his mum very much and secretly
enjoyed being managed by her. Being late would be worse than
hurting her and he wouldn’t hurt his mum for the world.
Lunch would be roast lamb, potatoes and two veg followed by
apple pie and custard. Matt’s favourite meal according to his mum.
Apparently it was always his choice on daytrips to the ‘seaside’
when he was a child and old memories died hard, especially when
Mum told every girlfriend that he took home. Lunch would take all
morning to prepare and cook. It was an event with everything coming
together at one o’clock. The green vegetables would be white because
they had been put on at ten o’clock and boiled to death. Gravy would
be the greens water mixed with Bisto. It was a ritual and he loved it.
No, he mustn’t be late so it was time to get his back off the bed.
He kicked the duvet back, jumped out of bed and slapped Susie
on the backside all in one movement.
“Do us a favour, babes. Make some coffee and iron the white
Marks and Spencer cotton shirt that Mum gave me last Christmas.
I’ve got to dash to make the farm by twelve thirty. Must be out of
the house in the next half hour and wearing St. Micheal on my back.”
Susie rolled over and squinted at him through half closed eyes.
“Yes, master. At once, sir.”
“Oh come on, Sue, please. I’ve got to get into the shower and
Mum doesn’t understand not shaving at weekends.”
“OK, just this once. Didn’t your mum ever tell you that it’s rude
to point?”
She was looking at his rising member. He hit her with a pillow
and headed for the bathroom.
“Thanks, babes,” he said over his shoulder.
As he stood under the shower he recalled another time when
Susie had remarked on his morning affliction. He said that men were
65
martyrs to their bodies and women had it easy. On that occasion she
had hit him with a pillow and the sight of her jiggling breasts had lead
to the age-old method of making his member relax. Sex in the
morning. Another of life’s little pleasures. Warm and snugly. No
pretence, just nice. Usually on the side with tongues exploring mouths.
Matt woke up. Dreaming in the shower again. Cold water needed,
down boy.
Mentally Matt went through the checklist of things he had to do
to get out of the house. Shower, shampoo, shave, put on some of the
cologne that was part of the Christmas gift with the shirt, Brut, another
of his favourites according to Mum. That Henry Cooper had a lot to
answer for. He thought about wearing his one tie but decided that
having a shave on a Saturday was enough of a sacrifice. His mum
was convinced that he was unwashed most of the time and wore
the same clothes. She didn’t understand that the Levi’s and a Ben
Sherman shirt were a uniform and in fact were regularly changed.
Mum didn’t understand the youth of today and she always bought
him sensible things from the good saint at Marks and Spencer. Socks,
underwear, and white shirts. He had to admit the crisp cotton did
look good tucked into his Levi’s.
Dad was more practical. At the start of his second year when
Matt had to vacate halls he had bought the seafront house that Matt
lived in and let him keep the rent he got from other students studying
in the same year as he at Sussex University. The second year had
just finished. His housemates had become good friends and were to
be with Matt for a long time. The house was like an incubator where
telepathy and intuition had developed between them. It was a small
house by Victorian standards when it was built but had four floors
including a basement and a terrace on the roof overlooking the beach
the other side of the main coast road. It was very handy for the
town and not too bad for the trip into uni each day. It was just a drive
along the Lewes Road against the main flow of traffic in the mornings.
The lounge, where they sat with friends and discussed their futures
until the small hours of the morning, overlooked the sea and had a
balcony with large French doors. It was a lovely room with large
sofas and beanbags and there were plenty of places to sleep, which
was often needed by friends after some of the parties. On warmer
nights they would sit on the roof terrace listening to the traffic and
66
the sea while looking at the stars and contemplating some of the
bigger issues of life. Was there a god? Were they alone? What was
it like in the stars and other galaxies? The only problem with these
nights was getting back down the very steep steps that led from the
landing to the roof. After a few drinks they took some negotiating.
Matt’s car was a gift from his dad as well and while it wasn’t the
Lotus Cortina that he lusted after it did at least give him the freedom
of movement he loved. Driving to uni was a luxury that a lot of the
other students struggling on grants would have killed for as they
stood in the rain at a bus stop.
Matt stepped out of the shower and went back to the bedroom
as he towelled himself. Susie was sitting up in bed, wrapped in the
duvet, drinking fresh coffee. “If you’re going to poison yourself do it
properly,” she always said and always made fresh ground coffee.
French or Espresso in the morning and Jamaican Blue Mountain at
night.
“Yours is on the bedside table,” said Susie as she put her mug
down and stretched under the covers. Matt watched her and felt
quite aroused considering that she was completely covered. Susie
was pretty with petite features and blonde cropped hair. It was
bleached and her collars and cuffs didn’t match. She wore size eight
in clothes with pert breasts and a cute rear, which he imagined under
the duvet. Her eyes were a startling blue with a small, slightly hooked
nose and full lips. He thought her to be quite lovely and she had
become a really good friend since they first met nearly two years
before.
“Thanks darling,” Matt said as he noticed the coffee on the
bedside table.
Susie appraised his body wrapped in a small towel. He was not
handsome in the movie star way but he was good looking, she thought.
His face was round with big cheeks that she loved to bury her face
into and play with his shoulder length fair hair. As he leant across the
bed the towel opened and she slapped his backside as he reached
for his coffee.
“No time to play, girl. I’ve got to rush. What’s the time?”
“Eleven ten,” she replied as she stretched across the bed to see
the alarm clock. The duvet had slipped and her right breast was now
exposed. Matt felt an involuntary twitch in his loins and he reached
67
out to cup her breast in his hand. Susie twisted away and rolled back
to her previous position. He shifted to be astride her knees. The
towel was lost in the move.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Just a quickie, Matt. Mummy will understand,” she teased.
Matt leant over to put his coffee on the bedside table as Susie lay
back beneath him.
Their lovemaking was well rehearsed but not stale. Susie liked
the soft warm feel of Matt first thing in the morning and he lasted
longer at this time of day. An orgasm wasn’t always necessary; she
enjoyed his closeness and kisses. He could always bring her to climax
but that required more foreplay. Matt grunted and collapsed onto the
bed beside her, his leg draped over her stomach.
“That was worth being late for. Thank you, kind lady. You are
superb.”
“And you are easy, Matt Wetherby. Now get off me and let me
get to the loo. This isn’t Hollywood where they fall asleep in each
other’s arms. Come on, get dressed and get going. If you’re a really
good boy I’ll let you play again later. Your shirt is on the chair.”
Matt rolled off the bed and started to dress. He was picking up
his wallet and keys as Susie came back into the bedroom. She
appraised him and confirmed that she thought he was rather tasty.
Dressed in the blue jeans and white cotton shirt she considered him
to be an attractive proposition. Matt had just turned 20 and had a
trim body. Weighing about 11 stone with broad shoulders, slim hips
and long legs. He was about 5 ft 11 tall. His face was round with a
nose that Susie called a strawberry. Eyes were hazel with lids that
drooped somewhat. Almost a ‘come to bed’ look with tousled
shoulder-length fair hair pulled back from his forehead.
“What do you want to do this evening, Sue? I should be back by
about eight thirty.”
“Well most people are heading home for summer, so it’ll be quiet
in the usual pubs. David and Paul will be leaving during the day and
Lois is going to meet an aunt in London. She’ll be coming down with
Lois tomorrow and staying for a few days. We’ve got a long drive to
my folks tomorrow so an early night might be a good idea. I’m going
to lie on the beach for the day so how about we have a quiet meal at
home and a bottle of wine.”
68
“Good idea.”
He took a fiver out of his wallet and gave it to her.
“Remember my mum’s stuffing me at lunchtime so a steak and
salad is my order. A salad would be good for you as well. Your love
handles were easier to find than usual.”
He ducked the pillow as it flew threw the air at him as he dashed
for the door.
Five minutes later he was driving past the Royal Pavilion heading
towards the London Road and out of Brighton. The Pavilion was a
magnificent replica of an Indian palace that was built by George the
Fourth when he was Prince Regent in 1815 as his summer residence.
The history of the place always enchanted Matt, especially the story
that when the palace was built it was discovered that it was over 50
miles from Buckingham palace where his father, the King, resided.
There was a rule in place that stated the heir to the throne could not
be more than 50 miles from the monarch at any time. The Prince
paid to have the road between London and Brighton straightened to
be within the rules because he loved Brighton so much. By the time
the palace was finished in 1822 he was King and it didn’t matter.
Matt was always enchanted by the palace and loved wandering
round on visitor days to marvel at the splendour inside.
He gave a mock salute to the King and Queen pub as he passed
and checked his watch. Eleven thirty-five. The farm wasn’t too far,
about 15 miles out of Brighton south of Haywards Heath just outside
Burgess Hill. Matt was a fairly frequent visitor to the farm and the
car more or less knew its own way. He was wondering what his dad
wanted to talk about and decided that whatever it was he would be
in an agreeable mood. He was very proud of his mum and dad and
also very grateful for all they had done for him.
Matt had grown close to his dad over the last couple of years
since Matt had been at university. Mum and Dad had retired to a
hobby farm in Sussex soon after he started at Sussex. Matt enjoyed
the weekends that he stayed at the farm and Susie often came with
him but they slept in separate rooms in deference to his mum. She
refused to understand the morals of the young and pretended not to
notice that Susie did not have her own room at the house. Some
things were best not discussed.
69
Alf Wetherby was an astute man and while he may have been
retired he kept a close watch on the world and had strong views on
most of the important topics. His retirement gave him the time to
read and even research subjects that interested him. Matt enjoyed
the long after dinner conversations that they had over a few Irish
whiskeys. An old Bushmills was Alf’s favourite.
“Really smooth,” Alf would say, “it’s the triple distillation that
does it you know.”
They would talk about all sorts of things – politics, religion, the
economy. It was like a second education at times. Alf had spent his
business life building up the chain of laundrettes with Emily and,
when they reached 60 outlets, a large laundry company, owned by a
pharmaceutical concern, decided that it was a good business to be in
to promote their wash powder in the high street. They made Alf a
very attractive offer, which he decided they could not refuse.
Alf was 64 and bought the farm in 1969 during Matt’s first year
at Sussex University to study maths and economics. He and Emily
had spent their whole life in the industrial Midlands and they had
always dreamed of living in the country. This arrangement not only
put them close to their only child but also located them in a part of
the country that they both loved. They were very proud of Matt and
Alf had great dreams for him. He and Emily had working class
backgrounds and had succeeded in building their own business. Matt’s
childhood had been significantly more luxurious than theirs.
As he drove off the A23 towards the farm Matt remembered the
way his dad had described how he had swept his mum off her feet.
Matt heard the story after they had just finished dinner at the farm
one Saturday evening the year before and they were on their second
Bushmills. Matt and Susie were staying for the weekend and they
both sat enthralled as his mum and dad recalled how they had met.
“I was a real catch in those days, a good looking executive with
a future. Well your mum immediately accepted when I asked her
out for a drink and a film.”
“I felt sorry for him,” Mum had piped in, “he was obviously lonely
and I had nothing better to do that evening so I accepted.”
She winked knowingly at Susie in that way women have when
they are putting their men folk down.
70
“Oh no! It wasn’t like that at all. She didn’t know what hit her, I
was as suave as Cary Grant. Anyway she soon said yes when I
popped the question.”
Dad raised his glass, “I propose a toast. To Em. My best mate.”
As Matt drove through the lanes towards the farm in the car that his
dad had bought for him there was no doubt in his mind that he owed
everything he was to them and their success with the laundrette
business that they had built. Following the offer from Universal they
had all sat down for dinner at the Old Ship hotel on the seafront in
Brighton to discuss what to do. Dad was nearly 60 now and the
administrative load of the laundrettes was becoming too much. He
could have employed more people but that would have destroyed
the family feel of the business. Their tenants were like family. They
knew them all well and trusted them to run the laundrettes properly,
just like Emily did the first one. The exchange for free accommodation
was still as valid in 1969 as it had been in 1954. Emily always ensured
that she found the right people and Alf had already made sure that
their positions were secure with Universal Cleaners.
They were all staying at the Old Ship in Brighton, as usual, during
a visit to Matt in his first year at Sussex University. Matt was living
in halls and always enjoyed their visits because they booked him a
room at the hotel and he felt relaxed within its traditional style and
old-fashioned service. It was almost like being at home again with
his mum fussing around his needs. He was enjoying life at uni and
had made some new friends who all enjoyed their drinking together
in the student’s bar on campus. The university was still fairly new
but what it lacked in Oxbridge old world charm was certainly
compensated by the facilities. They were first class, especially the
sports and recreation, and the Students Union made sure that Falmer
House was a well-run headquarters. The red brick and paving stones
of the quadrangle were always full of hand-produced adverts for
the many events in either the Meeting House or the Gardner Theatre.
Rock music and band practice were often to be heard from the
windows around the quadrangle. The open grass areas between the
different faculty buildings gave a feeling of openness and tranquillity.
The whole Park Village complex had a holiday camp of learning feel
about it. Matt’s eyes had been opened in the short time that he had
71
been at uni. The faculty not only taught the curriculum but stimulated
debate about surrounding issues. In economics it wasn’t just dusty
actuary tables but also the effect that economic strategy had on the
people of the world in their everyday lives. Professor Biggs had
once said that economists were seen as accountants without a sense
of humour and that he was on a mission to at least give them a
human face.
Matt was coping well with his studies and, that night at the Old
Ship, when his dad asked him if he wanted to come into the business
and manage the day-to-day issues while he remained as chairman, it
was a tough decision to say no. He had explained that he didn’t
know what career he wanted to pursue but he did know that he
wanted to finish his degree and get a Masters. That would take
another four years and he couldn’t run a company, even part time.
Matt knew that the offer was coming because his mum had warned
him, so he had time to think and his decision was not taken lightly.
Matt didn’t know what he was going to do but he knew that he
wanted to make a difference and running a few laundries was not
going to do that for him. He could never say that to his dad, of
course, because he knew that Wetherby & Son was dear to him.
Matt had been expecting arguments from his dad over dinner that
evening in the Old Ship and Alf had sat very quietly for what seemed
like an age when Matt said no.
Finally he spoke, “Well, Son, I don’t deny that I’m disappointed.
I think that we would have made a good team.” Matt had a lump in
his throat and was on the verge of tears. Dad continued.
“But that’s an old man’s dream and the future in cleaning belongs
to the bigger companies like Universal and their computers. It’s either
going to be small one-off laundrettes or big chains. The in-betweens
like us will be squeezed out. It was fun in the beginning and me and
your mum had some good times building it up. It’s given us a good
living.”
He reached over the table and covered Emily’s hand with his.
“The best thing to ever happen to me, your mum was. My best
mate. And you, young man, were the next best thing. Always
remember, we chose you and that makes you special. Never forget
that.”
The tear in Matt’s eye found its way down his cheek and Mum
joined in. At that moment he felt more love for his dad than ever
72
before. It wasn’t the first time that he had felt such love. It had been
no secret that Matt had been adopted and he had no idea who his
real mother and father were. All he knew was that they would never
take the place of his mum and dad.
“Well, Son. I thought that would be your decision and I respect it.
It’s given me the opportunity to think about the options for me and
your mum. She warned me about your decision as well you know.”
He had a twinkle in his eye.
“It’s time for us to retire and enjoy what life we have left. See
some of the world. Take a few cruises. I’ve arranged for Tom
Jackson, the MD of Universal, to meet me here tomorrow with his
legal people. Your Uncle Jack is coming down to handle our legal
side and I reckon it will take a couple of weeks to sort out the details.
Then we’ll come back down for the Easter holidays to do a bit of
shopping.”
Emily recovered her composure at the thought of shopping. Alf
had never shopped since they had married.
“What shopping do you want to do, Alf?”
“Well I thought that we would buy a little retirement place in the
country down here. We both like Sussex and the sea and Matt is
going to need somewhere to live in September when he has to get a
place out of the university halls so a place for him will have to be
found. Oh, and I suppose that we will have to look in a few clothes
shops to buy you some frocks for our first cruise.”
They all burst out laughing and Alf ordered some champagne to
celebrate.
The turning off the Haywards Heath road for Burgess Hill was
approaching and Matt indicated right. He checked his watch. Five
past twelve. Plenty of time.
The Wetherby’s cleared nearly three million pounds after all the
details were settled for the sale of the business. The Easter shopping
trip was very rewarding. The little retirement place turned out to be
a small farm just outside of Burgess Hill between the town and the
A23. It was 40 acres of grazing land with a large rambling Sussex-
style farmhouse, a good-sized manager’s cottage, and out buildings.
Alf had decided to work the farm on a break-even basis to raise a
herd of prize Herefords. He appointed a manager to run the day-to-
73
day farm and had extensions and renovations planned for the main
house. Alf fancied himself as the gentleman farmer.
The place for Matt to live in was on the seafront overlooking Marine
Parade in Brighton.
After some renovation he moved in during the summer break
with three friends from uni. The ground floor and basement were
used for kitchen, eating and study areas. The first floor was a lounge
on the front and Matt’s bedroom, bathroom, and study area. Susie
shared with Matt and their room was full of books from her English
literature course. The remaining two floors had three good-sized
bedrooms and a bathroom. The three friends were all students in the
same year as Matt and they were a fairly close-knit unit. David was
very bright and found his studies in maths and physics fairly easy.
Lois was studying English and art and spent most of her spare time
reading or sketching. The walls of the house were littered with her
work including some nude sketches of Matt that had led to further
activity on more than one occasion. Paul was not as academically
bright as the others and he was studying economics and history. He
hadn’t made the grade to attend the LSE in London but Sussex had
a small economics faculty and he was accepted. Paul did not enjoy
the theory and was much better at being creative with money. His
east end upbringing from a family of market traders had made him
street smart. Paul sorted out the rental payments to Matt such that
Alf did not have any tax liability as freeholder and he also kept a
ledger of all the house expenses to make sure that bills were paid on
time.
Matt had turned off the A23 at twelve ten. The lanes were not full
of tractors today and he was making good time. He would make the
farm with ten minutes to spare and his stomach reminded him that
he had skipped breakfast. He was looking forward to his mum’s
lunch. She enjoyed the country life after all the hard work during
those years in the Midlands and was now enjoying their twilight
years. They travelled to places that they had only dreamed of and
the latest trip was a cruise from Hong Kong to Sydney with some
sightseeing time en route. Rome, the pyramids and Ayers Rock were
on their agenda.
74
Alf was enjoying his retirement as a gentleman farmer, pottering

in the garden and he now had more time for his son. That was fine
by Matt. Dad was genuinely modest and told Matt on more than one
occasion that a business man was only as good as his back-up team
and his mum had been a tower of strength. Matt loved listening to
stories of their earlier days and felt a mixture of love and pride as he
caught himself grinning like a Cheshire cat in the rear view mirror.
Alf’s formula for a successful business was simple – you planned,
worked hard and it fell into place. Matt suspected that the world in
which he was growing up was going to be a lot tougher.
He checked his watch. It was twelve twenty as he was pulling
into the farm drive. After all the renovations and extensions the house
was still in the Sussex farmhouse style with white weatherboard
facings and windows with small square insets. It was now just a lot
larger. The inside had been completely overhauled with more living
space and bedrooms complete with all mod cons. It was at the end
of a rather grand gravel drive and surrounded by an acre of garden
that was his parents’ pride and joy. Mum had developed green fingers
and used Dad as the jobbing gardener to do the heavy work. The
garden was an oasis in the middle of grazing land for the cattle. The
farm manager’s house and farmyard were nearer the road to the
west of the property.
As Matt parked he spotted his dad pushing the lawnmower around
the side of the house. He sounded the horn and Dad gave him a
wave. Alf Wetherby was like a lot of other men of his generation,
striving to be ordinary and unassuming. He was of medium height
and average build with conservative clothes bought from places like
Horne Brothers or Dunne & Co. Standard size in everything although
his stomach had relaxed with his retired lifestyle. His brown hair
had receded right over his head, leaving just the sides, and his exposed
scalp was permanently tanned which brought out his freckles. Even
today, in his gardening clothes, he was conservative with check Van
Heusen shirt, cardigan, grey flannel trousers and Hush Puppies.
Matt walked through the open front door into the hall and was hit
by the aroma of freshly baked cake. His mum always gave him a
cake to take back to Brighton “to share with his friends” as she said.
He smiled at the thought. Matt loved this house. It was home and
reflected his mum’s orderly nature. The hall was a reception room
75
in its own right complete with comfortable chairs, a round drum
table with magazines and family photographs in silver frames. The
original oak panelling was still in place. A central staircase split into
two directions at the top of half a flight and led to a gallery that
overlooked the hall. Six bedrooms led off the gallery. His mum and
dad enjoyed visits from their friends all over the country and the
bedrooms were warm and comfortable suites. Off to the right of the
hall were double glass doors that led to a day sitting come TV room
and then off to the main drawing room at the rear of the house. To
the left of the hall was a study/library with a snooker room behind. A
central wing led off from behind the stairs containing the kitchen,
pantry, laundry and dining room that over looked a courtyard shared
with the drawing room. A door under the stairs led to a large cellar
where his dad kept some very nice wines. He bought a case of
Petrus each vintage. Matt walked through to the kitchen.
“Hello, Mum. I’m here.”
“Hello darling,” she replied and came over to give him a kiss,
“you’re just in time for coffee. I’ve made a pot for you and your
dad. Has he finished the front lawn?”
She looked behind Matt, “Where’s your young lady?”
“Her name is Susie, Mum, and I didn’t think she was invited.
Anyway we were out late last night and she is going to collapse on
the beach to recover.”
“You mind she doesn’t burn. I’ll give you some witch hazel to
take back just in case. Susie is always welcome. You know that,
silly. Still, it’s nice to have just our little family for lunch. Like old
times. Did you see your dad?”
Matt took a breath before answering. His mum’s conversations
took some hanging on to. She mixed topics, went off at a tangent,
and all in the same breath. You normally had to wait until she drew
breath to get in a reply and then your reply was often several topics
old. She wrote in the same way, without punctuation. Some of her
simple philosophies of life were difficult to follow at times as well.
Matt remembered once she was talking about the mystery of socks
in launderettes. She said that everybody knew that if you put five
pairs of socks into a washing machine that three pairs and two odd
ones would come out. Further the lost ones would never turn up until
you had thrown away the odd ones. His mum was convinced that
76
the role of odd socks in the grand scheme of things was to go away
and make wire coat hangars because they always appeared by
themselves overnight. Matt was working out his response to Mum’s
last, thankfully short, little outburst.
“I’m sure that Susie will use plenty of sun tan lotion and, yes,
Dad’s just putting the lawnmower away. Tell me again, why does he
cut the grass?”
“Oh, he only does the front. He has never had a lawn and he
always admired the bowling greens in the park when we took you
there as a child. It’s his hobby. He spends as much money on that
lawn as his wine. That’s good, he’ll have plenty of time to have a
chat with you before lunch. We’re all packed and ready to go to the
airport later. Dad says we’re flying BOAC on that new VC10. That
will be good because, as you know, we are breaking the journey in
Rome, Cairo, Bombay, before catching the boat in Hong Kong to
Sydney. I’m right excited. It will be good for Dad because he has
always wanted to do the grand trip and he wants to be here next
year for your graduation. I’ve made your favourite roast lamb. I got
a nice leg from Mr Smithers in the town. He gets all his meat local.”
Emily Wetherby smiled at her son. She was so very proud of him
and it showed. She was an attractive woman and looked after her
figure with regular walking through the Sussex countryside. Her
hair was still naturally blonde but now the grey was showing and she
had begun using a rinse to even the colour. She put cups and saucers
onto a tray.
“I’ll put the coffee in the conservatory and tell your father to join
you after he’s washed up. Give Susie our love, won’t you, and don’t
forget to take the cake I’ve baked for you.”
Matt smiled to himself. He sometimes thought his mother went
away just to be able to send postcards. This ten-week trip would
probably produce at least 20 if history was to be repeated. Matt had
given his mum the address of Susie’s parents in Yeovil where they
would be spending most of the summer so he would not miss each
instalment. Emily was carrying the coffee into the conservatory that
ran the length of the east side of the central wing of the house and
backed off the drawing room. It was almost as large as a Victorian
orangery. Breakfast in the spring sunshine in the conservatory was
wonderful or on the patio the other side of the conservatory. There
77
were lots of pots with herbs and flowers scattered almost at random
but Matt knew that each one had been carefully placed by his mum
within a plan that only she knew. Matt followed his mum, sneaking a
biscuit as they went. He was hungry and his stomach was reminding
again of the missed breakfast. He made himself comfortable in a
wicker armchair just as his dad came in.
“Is that coffee I can smell, Em?”
“Yes dear, I was just pouring a cup for Matthew. I’ll do yours
and then leave you boys alone while I finish off lunch. It’s such a
nice day I think we’ll eat on the patio.”
Matt sipped his coffee and waited for his dad to speak. Alf reached
for his coffee and begun.
“Thanks for giving us a lift to the airport today, Son. It will save
us a lot of trouble.”
“No problem, Dad.”
“Actually, Son, the reason we need to talk is about the family
trust and to sort out some legal details before I go away. There have
got to be some changes.”
Alf lifted his cup and took a sip of coffee. Matt wondered what
changes his dad had in mind.
“It’s a long trip and you never know what might happen. As you
know, the trust has three beneficiaries – me, your mother, and you.
I’m the head of the trust and sign all papers relating to it. Well, that’s
changing. I’m setting you up as head of the trust when you are 21
next year. Then you can look after me and your mum until we pop
off. If anything happens to me and mum in the meantime then the
date just comes forward. It’s all arranged with the solicitors and you
just need to sign the papers this afternoon. Jones, the solicitor, is
coming over after lunch to witness and counter sign. He’ll then keep
the papers as legal advisor for the trust. What do you think, Son?”
Matt was dumbstruck. “I’m not sure. Why? You can’t just get up
one morning and decide to give me all your money. You and Mum
have got a long life ahead of you. “What’s behind it?”
“Well you know me, Son, I’ve researched it thoroughly and have
been thinking about the move for some time. I’ve had meetings with
the bank, and our financial advisor, I’m not getting any younger and
we need to start planning for death duties. This new Tory government
has got a lot of election pledges to pay for so who knows what new
78
taxes we will see and I reckon that Edward Heath will have trouble
with the unions. That means Labour will get in at the next election
and they always tax the so-called rich. Anyway rather than react I
reckon we should plan our own changes. I’ve been investigating our
position with some people who know and they recommend that I
should change places with you now rather than take the risk of getting
clobbered. Under the existing trust you will receive a third of the
total on your 21st birthday anyway so we are only talking about a
larger sum. Like I say, you will have to look after us until we pop
off.”
“And like I said, you won’t be popping off anywhere for years
yet, Dad, you’re as strong as an ox. What happens if I die first?”
“That’s a calculated risk. Technically I will inherit from you but
even after loads of tax there will still be plenty for me and your
mum. Anyway that’s not going to happen and this is a way to set you
up with a fund to start your business when you finish university next
year. I’ll be chairman to keep you on the straight and narrow.”
Alf finished off his coffee and put his cup back on the tray. Matt
was still lost for words. He had just become a millionaire and didn’t
know what he wanted to do next week let alone next year as the
managing director of some company or other.
“Dad, this is amazing. It’s too much to take in right now. What do
you mean set up in business? I haven’t got a clue.”
“Don’t worry, Son, we’ll chat about that when I return. For now
we need to get the legals in place today so that I can relax on my
trip. While we are away I have arranged for you to meet with our
solicitor and his new tax and investment law expert. Her name is
Mae Smith. She is very good. As for business opportunities we can
discuss ideas over some Irish during the next year. You just get a
first class honours in maths and then we will take a nice cruise
around the Caribbean next summer to decide on the first venture.
Susie will come, of course. I’ll explain to your mother that you have
to share a cabin because there are only so many upper class suites
on board,” he said with a knowing look. “That’s enough for now. I
can see your mother hovering in the kitchen so it probably means
that lunch is ready. Let’s go. Would you like a glass of Chablis?”
Lunch and the rest of the afternoon passed like a floating cloud.
Jones witnessed the document signing and left. Matt remembered
79
snippets of his dad going on about inflation, strikes, and unemployment
but really his mind was elsewhere. They checked into BOAC at
Heathrow with plenty of time to spare and Matt waved them through
passport control. He would not have let them go if he knew that he
would never see them again.
Luckily the car remembered its own way back to Brighton. Matt
was still on cloud nine. It was 7.45 and the sounds on the seafront
were quieter than in the morning. The rush of day-trippers had
abated. It had been a glorious sunny day at the seaside, and all was
normal except for Matt. His life would never be the same again. He
opened the front door and went upstairs to the lounge. Susie was
there with Lois and a woman that he hadn’t met before.
“Hello, babes. Good lunch? Did you mum and dad get away OK?”
“Yeah we made the airport in plenty of time. They are probably
deciding which nice restaurant in Rome they will eat at right now.”
Matt glanced over at the lady sitting on the sofa with Lois.
“Oh! This is Lois’s aunt. They decided not to stay in London and
came down this afternoon. Her name is Mae. Mae Smith.”
80
Chapter 5
The Beginning of the End
Matt was quite surprised as he walked across the room extending

his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs Smith, I’m Matt Wetherby.”
She was an attractive lady, probably about 5’8” and could easily
have been a model with her attractive features, long legs and slim
hips. She was dressed casually in black ski pants and a clinging blue
top. She looked very relaxed in an understated elegant way with her
hair tied back in a ponytail. He judged her to be mid 30s.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Matthew. I feel as if I know
you already. Did you know that I work for your father’s solicitors? I
knew that Lois shared a house with fellow students in Brighton but
I didn’t realise it was your father’s property. What a coincidence.”
“I learnt about you only today. I met with Mr Jones after lunch.
We signed some papers that set me up as head of the family trust.
Dad said that most of the advice was yours. It is obvious that he
thinks highly of you.”
“Well thank you, Matthew. It is always nice to know that you are
appreciated.”
“I must admit that I am still dumbfounded by all of this trust
handover though. I woke this morning with my only concern being
to drive away for the summer holidays and, suddenly, I’m responsible
for managing the family trust. I don’t know where to start.”
Matt looked over to Susie. She was standing in the doorway with
her mouth open.
“You’re in charge of the family trust?” she stammered.
“Yes, apparently so. I can’t believe it either. Something to do
81
with tax planning and death duties. Isn’t that right, Mrs Smith?”
“Well, that’s it put simply but, like most things legal, it is slightly
more complicated and please call me Mae. We will be spending
some time together so that I can explain the handover to you. Did
Mr Jones tell you that we shall be arranging some meetings?”
“Yes he did, and please call me Matt. Only my mum calls me
Matthew and usually when I’ve been naughty.” He smiled his little
boy caught smile.
“Wel,l I will remember that Matt and then you will know if I think
that you are being naughty. I am going to be staying with Lois for the
weekend so, if it’s OK with you, why don’t we make a start while
I’m here? I can phone Mr Jones and let him know that I will be
staying a bit longer. If you don’t wish to start now then there is no
rush. The trust is already set up and well administered if I may be so
bold. It is a matter of you understanding the structure and investments
so you can make decisions about changes when required. The trust
has always had just one signatory and that is now you.”
Matt sat down in a chair looking dazed. “So it’s true. I really am
in charge. I was waiting for someone to pinch me or wake me up.”
He looked over at Susie. “You’ll have to start calling me sir, young
lady.”
They all laughed and Susie flopped into his lap and gave him a
cuddle.
“Do we celebrate?” she questioned, “Can we go out for dinner?
The steak I bought for us will keep.”
Matt looked over at Mae with a questioning look in his eyes.
“I don’t see why not,” she answered, “but it is probably
appropriate that Mr Jones pays the bill until you understand how the
trust works. Where do you suggest, Matt?”
“Oh I think we should go to English’s and have some Oysters
with Chablis followed by sea bass. Mum and Dad have taken me
there before and it is rather nice. It is way above a student’s level of
income but I think that it is appropriate, after all Dad would want me
to become accustomed to my new life style.”
“I see that the sooner we start your education, Matthew, the
better.”
They all laughed again and stood to get ready to go out. The walk
along the seafront to the Lanes was leisurely and only took ten
82
minutes. It was a lovely evening. There were tourists strolling, the

sun was about an hour or so above the horizon and throwing red
hues under the cotton wool clouds in the west. The horizon seemed
sharp enough to stop the sun dipping below it. Lois and Mae walked
together deep in conversation while Matt and Susie followed just
strolling in silence with their thoughts.
English’s was one of the oldest restaurants in Brighton and had a
deserved reputation for excellent seafood. They couldn’t get a table
straight away and had a couple of drinks in the pub opposite while a
table came free. They eventually sat down at just after nine when
all the better off day-trippers were leaving and the locals were starting
to come in. Matt was true to his word and had a dozen oysters
kilpatrick with over half a bottle of Chablis to himself. The others
joined him in the same but didn’t drink quite as much. The sea bass
to follow was cooked in white wine with shallots and a touch of
ginger. It was served on the bone and Matt declared it to be superb.
It was past eleven o’clock when they strolled back to the house and
the evening was still warm with a few stars. The sun had set just
less than an hour before and when they reached the house it was
Matt that insisted they all sat on the roof terrace with nightcaps. He
drank a Bushmills Irish whisky and the girls opened a bottle of white.
They sat talking until one o’clock and when Matt declared himself
to be very tired they all negotiated the steep steps to the landing and
were soon all asleep.
The next day was lazy with a simple breakfast of toast and coffee.
They decided to spend the day on the beach and maybe stroll along
to a beachfront bar in Hove for a lunchtime drink. Matt was used to
seeing Susie and Lois in bikinis, a lot less at times, but he had to
admit that he was quite taken with the sight of Mae in her black one
piece. It was quite low cut and showed a very nice cleavage. Mae
and Lois spent a lot of time in deep conversation while he and Susie
just dozed off the excesses of the previous night. During the day
Mae outlined some of the basics of the trust set up but kept it very
low key. The one thing that Matt did remember was that the value
was more than two million pounds. He relaxed and said very little
after that news. It was late morning when they walked to Hove for
a drink and Mae insisted that they should eat rather than just spend
the afternoon drinking. This time they had fish and chips, which
83
Matt insisted on buying. It was late afternoon when they decided to
return to the house to get freshened up and changed for a quiet night
around the TV. What with the excitement of the trust and a large
amount of alcohol Matt and Susie were saying goodnight at about
ten o’clock.
The next morning Mae was away early to get the Wetherby trust
file from the solicitor’s office in Haywards Heath, promising to return
later to meet with Matt. He and Susie had arranged to delay their
departure for the West Country for a day and were still in bed
recovering from the excesses of the weekend.
When Mae returned she explained that there really wasn’t any
great hurry but she thought it wise to bring him up to speed with the
basics of the trust operation so that he could enjoy his summer break
without worrying. She was true to her word and it only took a couple
of hours for her to explain the investment portfolio and his
responsibilities to Matt. The trust was a portfolio of shares and deposit
accounts all operated through a family corporation in Bermuda to
minimise taxation. She explained that the set-up was such that
inheritance tax would still apply to a substantial part of the portfolio
and that was why his dad had accepted Mae’s advice to transfer
control to Matt. His head was spinning with all the things that were
covered by the trust but Mae assured him that the detail would sink
in when they met after the summer holidays in September. They
actually made a date for late August because Matt and Susie were
planning to return in plenty of time to pick up his mum and dad on
their return from holiday. They exchanged numbers and addresses
as Mae explained that the solicitors needed to be able to contact him
at all times. She told him that she was single and lived alone in
Haywards Heath and there was no problem with him contacting her
at any time. She was a private investment advisor and the solicitors
used her to assist with their better off clients. She herself only had a
small number of people that she advised and thought after their initial
meeting that they would probably get on well together. She felt good
about their first meeting and Matt concurred. Mae said that she was
planning on a trip herself to coincide with the summer recess when
most of her clients took holidays. The investment markets were quiet
during the summer months and it was a good time to escape. She
84
was going to be flying out that evening to connect with a cruise ship
out of Miami that was sailing around the Caribbean for ten days.
She intended to follow the cruise with a few weeks in Barbados and
needed to be leaving soon. It was only just after midday and, because
he was feeling much better after an early night, Matt decided that
there was time for he and Susie to set off for the West Country that
afternoon and arrive in Yeovil in time for dinner. They all said goodbye
and went their different ways.
The journey to Yeovil was uneventful and unusually quiet. Susie didn’t
know what she should or could ask about his new situation. Did he
consider it to be newfound wealth? Was he concerned about being
responsible for his parents? Did he think that he would change? If
only she knew that he was asking himself all the same questions
then they could have had a useful discussion. As it was the journey
was uneventful and they listened to Radio Caroline. They had phoned
ahead to let Susie’s parents know that they were coming and dinner
was served soon after they arrived. After the events of the last two
days an early night was in order and they were both sound asleep
again by ten o’clock, the long summer ahead of them.
Mae’s trip was a bit further. Her position at Jones & Co was actually
part time and, in fact, she had only one client and that was for the
Wetherby trust. The solicitor didn’t know that and because the
Wetherby trust was an important client for the small practice, Mr
Jones was pleased to have the services of Mae with her immense
tax and investment experience. As she had said to Matt she had
arranged to take time off for a cruise while the Wetherbys and Matt
were on holiday and to coincide with the quiet markets during the
summer months. The trust was in tick-over mode but she would
check in regularly. Mae left her house that evening to catch the ship.
What nobody knew was that the ship was her star cruiser and she
was flying to Draco for a meeting with XumBarens.
GaMea’s star cruiser took 12 hours to reach the Milky Way jump
station and another 16 to XumBarens’ home planet from the Dracon
85
station. This gave GaMea over a day to sleep, review the programme
status report prepared by ColJan, and get herself ready for the first
update meeting with Council Member 27. She remembered their
first encounter and made herself a promise that she would not be
caught on the back foot again. She was fully refreshed when the
ship docked for her transfer to the planet surface. As she waited to
use the transfer she read a short report that ColJan had prepared
about the planet itself. It was called Draco 1 and had been renamed
when the galaxy joined the League many millennia before. She swore
then that the Earth would not be renamed when the Milky Way
joined the League. It was the name that she had chosen and it was
right. Draco 1 was a universal orange colour caused by the one
colour of the soil across the globe, which ran off into the oceans. A
ring surrounded the planet where a moon had disintegrated from a
comet collision. She had only been to Draco 1 once before and she
confirmed her view that the planet looked uninteresting. Not like the
jewel that planet Earth presented as you approached from space.
She transferred to the surface and was met by TaRey, the councillor’s
PA. On the last visit they met in executive offices close to the transfer
station but on this occasion they were travelling to the home of
XumBarens in a transport. The journey was only about 100 miles
and took a few minutes. His residence could only be described as a
squat tower built of a soft green marble material with no external
windows and shaped as a perfect, seamless circle. The transport
stopped outside the building and a doorway appeared in the external
wall. The structure was over 20 metres high with a diameter of
about 100 and she guessed that it had five or six floors. There were
no people about and she realised that the only person that she had
seen since transferring to the planet surface was TaRey. Where
was everybody? Was this how Level 1 galaxies were? The door
opened and she was ushered inside to a large reception area. The
room was about ten metres wide and long with the outside and inside
walls being parallel arcs. She amended her view of the building as a
circle; it was in fact a tube turned on its side. The inside wall had
four French doors with a view of lush gardens with thousands of
plants and lawns connected by paths. The whole thing was open to
a bright blue sky, which surprised her. She was taking in the scene
86
when a voice behind her said, “Welcome to my home, GaMea.”

She turned and TaRey held out his hand indicating the other man
who had entered the room. “May I introduce Councillor XumBarens.”
The introduction was necessary as he looked a lot younger than
when they had last met. He had obviously undergone a major
rejuvenation the likes of which she had never seen before. His body
was slim-hipped with a wide chest. His gold silk robe hinted at muscle
beneath it and if possible he looked taller. His face was more chiselled
with a full head of black hair swept back and quite long at the back.
GaMea was quite taken aback. The last time they met he looked
like she would imagine a typical grandfather should look with receding
hair and a slight paunch but with experience in his eyes. The blue
eyes were still the same – full of wisdom.
“Thank you for coming to my home, GaMea. It is important that
our first meeting following the approval from the Council is successful
and, as I said to you the first time we met, there is nothing like face-
to-face contact to ensure that there are no misunderstandings. Do
you agree?”
“Most certainly, Councillor, and thank you for inviting me to your
home. It is beautiful and most unexpected,” she said glancing at the
window.
“Ah! My garden. Do you recognise any of the plants? I have
studied almost all the output of your programme botanists and
selected a few samples. The years on Draco 1 are almost ten times
longer than those of Earth so I am able to enjoy the growing seasons
for so much longer. The plants seem happy with that arrangement
but it means that the winter period is so much longer. I could
compensate by artificially controlling the climate but I prefer to let
nature run its course and have plantings from other climates that
thrive in the cold. We are similar in our respect of nature, GaMea,
and the garden has become my oasis in the uniformity of my home
world. As you may know it is the soil of this planet that originally
supplied the mineral content of the gamma ray energy converter.
We have not changed it because it is much too precious. There are
many other planets in the Dracon galaxy that now supply the material
but the first will always be dear to my people. It was the basis of our
entry to Level 1 status.”
“I agree with your point of view, Councillor, and I must say you
87
have the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.” TaRey was
fidgeting nervously and XumBarens hinted, not very subtly, that he
had a busy schedule and should be getting on.
“Shall we go into the garden and review your report, GaMea?”
“Yes, that would be lovely. Did my report answer any questions
you may have about the programme status?”
“Yes it did but let’s wait until we are seated with some
refreshment. TaRey, a drink for our guest. Iced tea, GaMea?”
She affirmed with a nod of her head to TaRey as they walked
into the garden and chose a seat by a pond with what looked like Koi
carp swimming in it.
“Yes, GaMea, your report was most thorough and I can see that
the programme is now on schedule to achieve the shortened
timescales. It even seems to be in advance in the area of terra-
forming the home planets for the new species. That is very good.”
He smiled at her as TaRey delivered the tea and then continued.
“You will be pleased to learn that the research into jump technology
is advancing well and we fully expect to be in a position to relocate
those planets to their new home galaxies in time for your people to
be moved.
“Thank you, sir. I am pleased that you approve.”
“Of course, but I expected nothing less. You are a very talented
programme director, GaMea, and your success was never in doubt.
It was the reason that I lobbied the Council in support of your plan
and, as importantly, also for the other reasons that were accepted.”
GaMea sipped her tea as she framed her reply, “What other
reasons were they, Councillor, if I may be so bold?”
XumBarens reached for his tea, sat back in the chair and took a
sip. He glanced around the garden and GaMea noticed a movement
in the branches. When she looked closer she noticed that there were
surveillance cameras that had turned away. She assumed that the
listening devices had also been switched to mute. Interesting. She
would need to be on her guard. XumBarens smiled again, “As you
know I have studied with interest the art of war that you created in
the programme. Very interesting and also very useful. I won’t hide
from you that I was annoyed at you wanting to cut back on such
conflicts but I understand your needs to bring some stability to the
planet to enable us to move faster. You may have guessed that I held
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a little conflict of my own in Indo China and it was useful as well as

keeping me amused. A small diversion and I am sure that you will
forgive me.”
He sat quietly and watched for her reaction. A small diversion,
she thought. Thousands of young men died on both sides, many
children and innocent civilians. She would hate to see his version of
a large conflict. She felt like a fly just realising that it was becoming
more difficult to move as the spider’s web restricted movement.
No, she didn’t have a clue that he was involved in Vietnam and was
annoyed at herself for not having considered it. To extricate herself
from this particular web would take all her wits.
“Useful in what way, Councillor? As you know I stated in my
presentation that it was war that had caused such devastation to the
planet and we should plan to cease such conflicts wherever possible.
Ours plans are working well in that area and we have persuaded the
people of Earth that a global conflict is futile. They are still
manufacturing weapons but at least the basic idea of peace is in
place. I would appreciate you keeping me informed in future.”
“I agree, GaMea. The Council are still behind your plan and there
is no change, but let me ask you a question.”
GaMea sat back and took some deep breaths as discreetly as
she could behind her teacup.
“What do you think is on the other side of the universal edge?”
GaMea was a bit taken aback. That question within the community
of the League was like asking someone on Earth, “What is the
meaning of life?” An easy question for a Level 3 galaxy citizen to
answer but that question was the most philosophical for the combined
intelligence of the planet Earth at all levels. Questions about the
edge were in the same category for citizens of the League. She had
spent hours discussing it with her classmates during education.
“Well, Councillor, is that a fair question for the chairman of the
Out-of-Universe Knowledge Committee to ask of a humble Species
Development programme director?”
She smiled as she raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner.
He smiled as well and leant forward.
“Of course it isn’t but I am interested in your views.”
She thought for a minute before answering.
“Well, I have an open mind and am as interested as every other
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citizen in reaching the edge and working out what is on the other
side. That is, after all, what species development is all about; to give
the League staging posts towards that goal. If I was forced to think
about the possibilities I suppose that I would have to classify my
thoughts into three categories.”
As she recalled her late night discussions during her education
years she counted them off on her fingers, “One. There is nothing,
just black empty space that we are expanding into and dissipating
the contents of our galaxy as we expand. Two. We are expanding
into another universe in the reverse of our expansion and it is heading
for a big bang as we contract the universal matter. Three is an
extension of two. The space into which we are expanding has sentient
beings that are working as we are on the problem of an expanding
and contracting universe. I am sure that we will figure out a way to
survive a collapse and big bang scenario. We must assume that an
advanced race on the other side would as well.”
She looked at XumBarens expectantly and got an unexpected
reply. Another question.
“Carry on. What are the issues surrounding each category?”
She took a deep breath and didn’t try to hide it this time. “There
is a lifetime of debate surrounding all three but I would summarise in
this way.”
She counted on her fingers again, “One. If we are simply
expanding into black empty space then how did that space get there?
How vast is it? Why is it so difficult for us to cross into it but every
second the universe in which we exist does just that? If our universe
is ceasing to expand is it because we have run out of empty space?
Two. If we are expanding into another universe how advanced are
the inhabitants of that universe? Are they aware that their universe
is contracting? Are there any beings there at all or has the contraction
destroyed everything? Three, and this is the most exciting and
worrying category of all, if the beings are sentient and they are
working on the problem of a contracting edge to their universe then
what are they like? How advanced are they? Have they solved the
problem of crossing over?” GaMea stopped to gather her thoughts
as her mind was fully embracing the topic. Finally, she summarised
her thought process by saying, “And if they have solved the cross
over problems then are they already here?”
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Why had that thought never occurred to her before. When she
was in education she remembered the many occasions when she
and her peer group had sat up into the small hours drinking and
discussing these very questions. This possibility had never raised
itself before. She looked at XumBarens wondering.
“Welcome to the out-of-universe club, GaMea. Fascinating isn’t
it? As you say, a lifetime of debate. I have spent several already.”
She felt like a child being shown a secret that every grown up
knows and a time comes when the child also needs to know.
Wonderment and simplicity at the same time. She was also aware
that as a leader of the out-of-universe movement his belief was that
they were expanding into a sentient universe.
“Another question for you GaMea. If there are many possibilities
in which one should the League invest?”
“Impossible to answer, Councillor. Any or all are possible.”
“Correct. So what should we do?”
“Prepare for each possibility. In programme terms it is risk and
contingency planning. There is a saying on Earth. What can go wrong
probably will go wrong. The trick is anticipating what can go wrong
and having a contingency in place. It’s like insurance. You hate paying
for it but you’re glad it’s there when you need it.”
“Very good. Sensible common sense advice. Just the conclusion
the Council came to.”
At that moment a bird – it looked like a swift – swooped down
over the pond and up over the trees. Why did this place surprise her
so – blue skies, carp, swifts, what next?
“The Council has performed that risk and contingency exercise
and we need to launch another huge task as part of the development
of Earth. Your programme is already stretched but it must take on
another area of development?”
“I know that I cannot take any more time therefore I may need
more resources to take on another area of development. What are
we talking about, Councillor?”
“If there is an advanced race ready to cross over to our universe
as we are to theirs then how will we receive each other? Do we
greet them with open arms or do we prepare ourselves for an attack,
even an invasion?”
“We should prepare for both eventualities, Councillor.”
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“Excellent, GaMea, but we have a problem. The League does
not know how to make war. Oh yes, we can destroy things, whole
planets if necessary, but we only do that out of scientific necessity
not for defence or attack. The recipients of our destruction never
fight back.”
GaMea thought about this and tentatively asked, “So what are
you saying, Councillor?”
XumBarens leaned towards GaMea before answering. He spoke
slowly and deliberately.
“We need an armed force just in case we need to protect
ourselves. The League is not capable of providing that force. We do
not understand war and are actually incapable of killing another being
in a planned manner that has not been considered scientifically for
many years. War, defence and attack needs immediate tactical action
to back up the strategic plans. I have learnt from the people of Earth
that even long-term strategy in war is usually less than one year. We
just do not think that way. Your Earth species do. Each species that
you will deliver will number about 500 million beings for jump station
support. For each species we need another ten million as an armed
force and we need them ready from day one. An army of 50 million
beings ready for defence and attack.”
GaMea was flabbergasted. How was she to do this?
“How do you suggest that I create this army, Councillor?”
“Well, GaMea, I have decided that you will not do it. I will. I will
appoint another programme director to build the force.”
Surprise on surprise. What on Earth was next.
“But, Councillor. My programme controls everything on the planet.
How will you operate without me?”
“Oh, not without you GaMea, alongside you. I will obviously leave
the detail of assembling the forces to my programme director and I
am in a position to supply the resources. I have set up a Research
and Development unit to develop weapon and delivery systems. War
ships and fighters, as you call them on Earth, with both attack and
defensive capabilities. The manufacturing and transport resources
of Draco 1 will build these facilities. I have also arranged for my
terra-forming team to build a training planet for the forces to familiarise
themselves with the systems. I estimate that it will take two Earth
years for that and we will need to deliver the forces prior to the main
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exodus of the species to their new planets. It is my job to deliver the

forces. I will deliver those resources under the umbrella of your
programme as you have carte blanche for anything that you need.
You will authorise all my needs.”
Well, GaMea had wondered where the next surprise was coming
from and this was certainly a good one. She sat silently not knowing
what to say and knowing that she could only say yes. So she did.
“Of course I will assist, Councillor. Who is your programme
director?”
“Good, GaMea. I am pleased that you will assist as I would not
have liked to replace you. I shall not disclose my other programme
director just yet. Suffice to say that she is already in place and starting
her plans.” He stood up and offered GaMea his hand as he said, “I
think that is all we need to discuss for now, GaMea. I will talk to you
some more about my plans and expect your plan status reports in
future to reflect my requests for the delivery of the forces as if they
were a part of your programme. We will return to transmission mode
and holograms for those reports, there will be no need for you to
come here in person each time. Are you clear on your instructions,
GaMea. Is there anything else you wish to know?”
Only about a thousand and one questions but she said, “No sir.”
“Good. I will summon TaRey to escort you back to the transfer
station. Thank you, GaMea.”
TaRey appeared and the next she knew she was in the transport
on her way back to transfer to the ship. XumBarens’ reasoning was
impeccable. She couldn’t argue with it. Her problem was that she
didn’t like it. Her people were going to be turned into a League army
possibly to be sacrificed if necessary…but that was what an army
did, wasn’t it? What she really didn’t like was that she would not
control the exercise and that the person who would had already
started. Was probably on her planet right now. She needed to get to
Andromeda to talk with MiThan and then make her plans with ColJan.
This was not for transmitted communication. She needed to think.
She couldn’t ignore a direct order from the Council. She would have
to accept the preparation of the forces but she would need a way to
turn the situation to the advantage of Earth – but how? She could
not just allow them to be sacrificed. There had to be something in it
for them…and her.
93
*
Matt and Susie woke up early the next day fully rested and raring to
go. They had fallen asleep discussing all the questions they hadn’t
voiced the previous day. They were both ravenous and Susie’s mum,
Pauline, was cooking a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushrooms
– the lot; all washed down with good coffee. They tucked in as they
planned their day. The first card from Matt’s mum arrived that
morning. It was from Rome and they had stayed at the old Spanish
embassy, which was now a hotel and gave its name to the Spanish
Steps where the building was situated. The view from their window
was across the steps and they could see the Villa Borghese the
other side of the Piazza di Spagna. They were only there for two
days and Dad had walked Mum all over the city as usual. She loved
it, though, and was enthralled with the Coliseum and the Vatican.
The food was good, as usual, and Matt could imagine his dad finding
the best restaurants in town even in two days.
That first day was spent relaxing and planning trips. There was
so much that Susie wanted to show Matt and their holiday was to be
about seeing the sights of the West Country and relaxing for a couple
of months to set them up for their final year at uni – the toughest and
most important year. They planned to walk across the moors and
visit the coastal fishing villages. Matt had never been to Lands End
and Susie loved wandering around the shops in Bath. If any night it
was too far to get home or they drank too much at dinner then a
local bed and breakfast would come in handy. Some days they would
just laze in the garden or on a beach and read.
The summer passed away quickly as good times always do. Cards
from Matt’s mum arrived at regular intervals and they all enjoyed
reading them. Cairo was the next stop and had a picture of the
sphinx on the front. This stay was a about a week and they had seen
the great pyramids and took a trip to Alexandria to see the remains
of the library founded by Alexander the Great. Dad had tried to get
Mum onto a camel but she refused.
Matt and Susie stayed over for a few days when they went to
Bath and found a nice little B&B on the outskirts of the town that
was just like staying with Susie’s mum. Susie loved the feel of the
town and they just enjoyed walking around and looking in the antique
94
shops. Upon their return from that trip another card had arrived and
it was from Bombay. This was only an overnight aeroplane change
and Mum was appalled at the opulence of their hotel compared to
the poverty on the streets outside. They were en-route to Hong
Kong to catch the cruise ship to Sydney and were boarding the
Queen Elizabeth on one leg of its round-the-world cruise. They had
a stateroom for the leg into Sydney and Mum was looking forward
to dining with the captain. The card from Hong Kong was all about
the masses of people everywhere and how hot it was. Mum had
discovered the joys of air conditioning for the first time. Once they
reached Australia the cards were almost every other day. Sydney
was thankfully a lot cooler than Hong Kong and Mum had never
realised before that the seasons were the other way round in the
southern hemisphere. They had trips to the Blue Mountains and
Melbourne, even took a long train ride to Alice Springs and out from
there to Ayres Rock. She was excited about their next place to stay
in Cairns, where they were going to a rain forest. They were also
planning a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef. They seemed to be
having a really good time.
It was a surprise when Matt and Susie got home one night early
in August and they had an unexpected guest waiting for them. They
parked the car and walked up the front garden path. Pauline came
out to meet them and said that Matt had a visitor, a lady called Mae
Smith. She was waiting for him in the front room. Matt said that it
was probably something to do with the trust needing a signature and
told Susie to go ahead and freshen up for dinner. They would go
down the pub later and have a drink.
As Matt entered the front room Mae stood up and shook his
hand. Quite formal, Matt thought, but her hand lingered longer than
usual for a normal handshake.
“Nice to see you, Mae. Something to sign? I got a card from
Mum and Dad last week – they are in Australia now. Picture of
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Looked fabulous, they are having a
wonderful time and…” He saw that Mae had sat down and had a
tear rolling down her cheek.
“What’s wrong, Mae?”
She looked up, was obviously distressed, and she was taking deep
breaths.
95
“As you know, Matt, we need to know where the trust signatory
is at all times and during this period of handover your dad is still
carrying our name and address. We have received a telegram from
Australia. Your parents died in an accident two days ago.”
96
Chapter 6
A Time for Change
Matt stood as if frozen, his eyes turned to the carpet. He didn’t

breath for what seemed like minutes. Mae got up and stood in front
of him. He looked up, met her eyes and gasped an intake of breath
as tears rolled down his face. She took him in her arms and he just
sobbed with his head on her shoulder. His whole body was heaving
with emotion.
The door opened and Susie came into the room. “What’s wrong?
What’s happened?”
Matt drew away from Mae and drew Susie to him. “Mum and
Dad are dead.”
“Oh no,” exclaimed Susie as she began to cry and started Matt
off again.
“I’ll go into the kitchen and see if Susie’s mum can make some
strong sweet tea. Maybe something stronger to settle our nerves,”
Mae said as she walked out of the room. In the kitchen she explained
to Pauline what had happened and she rushed into the front room
calling to her husband, Chris, to make the tea. Chris came down
from upstairs and came into the kitchen where Mae explained again
what had happened.
“Oh shit,” he said, “where’s that bottle of whisky?”
Mae went back to the front room and Susie was sitting on the
sofa next to Matt with their hands entwined. Pauline was sitting on
the floor at Susie’s feet. They had stopped crying but their eyes
were red and puffy.
“What happened, Mae?”
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“Well, Matt, we only have the information that we received in
the fax and we called the Australian police to check the details straight
away. You were right about them being in Sydney but after that they
flew to Cairns and headed for a week on one of the islands on the
Barrier Reef. A place called Dunk Island where they were going to
relax before coming back to Sydney for their flight home. Apparently
they hired a small boat, just them and the skipper, to take a trip out to
the reef. The boat had viewing panels below the water line so they
could see the fish and coral. Well it seems that a freak storm came
out of nowhere and a wave overturned the boat. They didn’t have
time to get life vests on or put out a distress call. All three were
drowned. When the boat didn’t return at the end of the afternoon a
search was launched and they quickly found it upturned about 20
miles off shore. The bodies of your parents and the skipper were
found further down the current stream.”
“Where are they now?”
“In the morgue in Cairns. The authorities are waiting for our
instructions.”
“I want to go and bring them home. Can I do that?”
“Yes of course. Would you like me to make the arrangements?”
“Yes please.”
Susie, fighting back tears, sobbed, “Do you want me to come,
Matt?”
“Yes I would like that. OK Mae?”
“No problem, Matt. I should probably come as well to handle any
legal paperwork?”
“That’s a good idea, Mae. Go ahead and arrange it.”
“Pauline, may I use your phone to contact my office?”
“Of course. It’s in the hall.”
Chris walked in at that moment with a tray of tea and a bottle of
whisky. Mae went into the hall to use the phone to get her office to
make arrangements including the necessary paperwork to transfer
the bodies. This done, she went back into the front room where all
were sitting silently with their own thoughts and sipping tea. Matt
and Chris were drinking a rather large whisky. Matt remarked that
his dad would have preferred an Irish and it broke the mood. They
smiled and embraced, all on the verge of tears again. Matt reminisced
about the times he had drunk whisky with his dad and said that the
98
world wasn’t fair. It was as if his dad had had a premonition by

setting him up with the family trust. Strange how things happened.
The memories were interrupted by the phone ringing. Chris answered
and called through the door, “It’s your office, Mae.”
“Thanks Chris.” She took the phone and listened, made some
notes then came back into the room with the others when she had
finished.
“The flight arrangements are made. Three seats on a Qantas
flight out of Heathrow the day after tomorrow. That will give us
time to drive back tomorrow, pack ours bags and hopefully get some
sleep before the flight. It’s not until twelve thirty so we will have
plenty of time to drive up in the morning. I will get a hotel room in
Yeovil for tonight and be back tomorrow to drive back with you. Will
you be OK to drive, Matt?”
“Yes I’ll be OK.”
Pauline cut in, “There’s no need for you to go into a hotel, Mae.
You can stay here overnight. Come on, Chris, we can make that
spare bed up. Give us something useful to do. Are you OK, Matthew?
Do you want something to eat?”
“I’ll be OK, Pauline. It’s going to take some time to get used to
the thought that I won’t see Mum or Dad again. The only time we
have been apart was the first year of university and then they moved
down the next year. I’m going to miss them.”
“I know, love. I remember when Susie’s Gran died. It broke my
heart. I cried for days.”
Susie cuddled Matt to her and the tears flowed again. At that
Pauline fought back her tears and pushed her husband out of the
room. Mae thanked them for the invitation as they left the room and
turned to Susie and Matt.
“You two should eat something. You’re going to need all your
strength for the days ahead. We shouldn’t impose on Susie’s mum
tonight. Are you OK to go down that pub with the restaurant on the
main road? We can take Pauline and Chris along as well. Maybe
you can have a couple of Irish whiskies to help you sleep, Matt.”
Pushing back his sobs he thought for a minute and replied, “Yes
you’re right, Mae. Probably the best thing to do. All we’ll do is sit
around here and mope. Mum and Dad wouldn’t like that. Thank you
for coming down to tell us in person, Mae. It is really good of you.”
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“Nonsense. I can’t say that it’s a pleasure but you know what I
mean.”
“Thanks anyway.” He pulled away from Susie and looked in to
her face. “Susie, why don’t you go tell your mum and dad that we
are going out. It’s not far. We can walk. I think some fresh air will
do us all good.”
“OK, babes. I’ll try and sort my face out while I’m upstairs.”
The walk, meal, and especially the whiskies did Matt good. It is
quite amazing how, for the majority of people, the mind becomes
accustomed to new situations, even the death of a loved one. The
saying that life goes on is true. The pain never completely goes
away but it does dull. Even on that first night Matt was able to talk
about his parents and remember the good times. GaMea was pleased
that the shock hadn’t lost her to him. The death of his mum and dad
had been a calculated risk that she felt she had to take and, so far, it
was working. This would give her the closeness she needed over
the coming years. Matt wouldn’t know just how close to him she
really was but she would know and that made her glad and guilty at
the same time.
They still had the trauma of bringing the bodies home and the
funeral but, from what she had seen so far, she was confident in
Matt’s ability to pull through. It was good that she was here in person
and she was glad that she had not listened to ColJan when he advised
that such close proximity was a risk. She was sure that this was the
best place for her. Matthew Wetherby was too important to the
programme and he was, after all, very dear to her. She should be
with him at this time. Strange, she never believed that she would
feel maternal but she couldn’t deny that was how she felt right now.
She recalled with a warm feeling his impulsive cuddle when she
gave him the news. She had never felt the love of a mother and it
felt good. She felt good.
100
The journey back to Brighton was uneventful. Not much traffic from
the West Country on a Wednesday even in the height of the summer.
As they drove across Salisbury Plain Mae remembered that the last
time she was here was to finalise the alignment of the stones at
Stonehenge as part of the education for the emerging species to
understand the growing seasons. The stones still looked good and
were still proving useful as a tourist attraction. When they reached
Brighton she made sure that Matt and Susie were settled in. The
only other person in the house was Lois and, after a brief discussion
with Mae, she would make sure that all was OK. They were going
to re-pack, have a bath, a quick meal of whatever was in the
refrigerator, and an early night. Mae said that she would return in a
taxi at seven thirty so that they would have plenty of time to check in
at Heathrow the next day.
The Qantas flight was on time and as they settled into their first
class seats the stewardess offered them a cold lemon-scented cloth,
orange juice or champagne with a choice of magazines. They
changed into loose fitting tracksuits and thick socks for the long
journey. Twenty-four hours flying with re-fuelling stops at Bahrain
and Singapore lay ahead of them. Under normal circumstances it
would have been exciting but they spent most of the time sleeping or
watching a film. Bahrain airport was definitely not an exciting place
with nothing but tired seating and a duty free shop at one end of the
terminal. The only other passengers seemed to be Indian workers
on their way home for a break from servile work in the Arab state.
Singapore was different. It was night when they landed and the
plane parked out on the apron. A bus took the passengers to the
terminal and the walk down the steps of the plane was like a sauna,
110° and 99% humidity. The terminal was like a five star hotel by
comparison with Bahrain and seemed to be the size of a small town.
A stroll from end to end passed the time well. The plane touched
down in Sydney early Saturday morning and they transferred to an
Ansett, flight reaching Cairns in the afternoon. It was a pleasant 75°
in the Queensland winter and they settled into their hotel. A quick
call to the police confirmed that the morgue would be ready to receive
them at ten the next day and that the funeral director arranged by
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Mr Jones would be on hand for selection of coffins and preparation
of the bodies for travel. They had a light meal and were in bed by
seven o’clock ready to give in to jet lag.
The next day was sombre. Matt was not looking forward to confirming
the identity of his parents but he knew that it had to be done. They
arrived on time at the morgue and were greeted in an anteroom by
an inspector from Cairns police who was acting as intermediary for
the other agencies involved. His name was John Carruthers and he
introduced Doctor Carter, attending the morgue on a locum basis.
He was mid-50s, tanned and a bit overweight for his height. He was
wearing a loose cotton shirt and trousers and seemed very relaxed.
He offered his condolences and introduced the morgue official, Sam
Stuart. They all went through to the room with the storage drawers.
The doctor checked the post mortem report and confirmed the cause
of death as drowning. A drawer was pulled out and Matt reached
for Susie and Mae’s hand on either side of him, squeezing tight. The
sheet was pulled down to reveal Emily Wetherby. Matt gasped and
almost collapsed. Susie and Mae supported him. She had been dead
for almost a week and all bodily fluids had vacated. She looked very
thin and half the depth she should be. Her face was a mask like the
painting ‘The Scream’ but without such a slack mouth. Her hair was
combed straight back. This was not his mum, she was not there any
more. He had to stare really close into her face to discern the features
of the woman that had bounced him on her knee and rested him on
her breast until he fell asleep. It all came flooding back. He buckled
and silently cried. If Mae’s strength wasn’t there supporting him he
would have collapsed. He whispered, “Love you, Mum. Sleep tight,”
and leant over to kiss her cheek. He took a deep breath, looked at
the doctor and the morgue official and nodded his head. The official
covered Emily with the sheet and pushed the drawer closed.
“Are you OK to carry on, Mr Wetherby?” enquired Doctor Carter.
“Yes. I would rather get this done than come back later and go
through it again.”
“OK. Can we see Mr Wetherby, please?”
Sam Stuart pulled open the drawer next to Emily’s and Matt was
better prepared this time. He repeated the goodbye kiss and Alf was
slid back into the darkness.
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“Well done, Matt,” Mae whispered into his ear.

They all retired into the anteroom where the doctor issued the
death certificates. Another man was waiting for them and he was
introduced as Paul Simpkins, a local undertaker.
“My condolences, Mr Wetherby. A sad loss. I have brought my
books with me so that you may choose the coffins.”
“Yes, of course,” Matt murmured, “but please assure me that
you will make them look better than they do now. We haven’t brought
any clothes with us for them. I thought that it would be good to send
them off in their holiday clothes. They were on a trip of a lifetime
and it seems fitting that it should go on forever. Can you have the
clothes cleaned?”
“Of course, Mr Wetherby. Anything that you want,” he said as
he opened his books.
Matt glanced at them and chose dark wood coffins with brass
handles. It reminded him of the mahogany furniture at the farmhouse
that his mum loved so much. Oh God. The farmhouse. He had to go
there yet.
Sam Stuart reached into a drawer in the desk and pulled out a
bag.
“These were your parents’ effects, Mr Wetherby. You’ll be
wanting them.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Matt looked through the bag and pulled out two wedding rings
and a brooch, handing them to the undertaker.
“Please put these on them for me. They should be with them.”
The undertaker accepted them without a word. Mae broke the
silence.
“How long will your preparations take, Mr Simpkins?”
“Only a day. I will prepare Mr and Mrs Wetherby this afternoon
and tomorrow. They will be ready for the flight Tuesday morning.”
“Thank you.”
Inspector Carruthers asked if all the formalities had been
completed and when all confirmed then he asked Matt if they could
come back to the station just to finalise the paperwork for transfer
of the bodies out of Australia. They all followed him out of the morgue
into the bright sunshine and got into his car. At the station he poured
some coffee and brought a bottle of scotch out of his desk, waving it
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in question. They all said yes and he poured a small nip into each
coffee.
“This won’t take long, Mr Wetherby, we have arranged for all
the papers to be here for you. All you will need to do is present them
at the airport for carriage and at customs.
Australia has a reciprocal agreement with the UK, a bit like the
living with passports really. The same paperwork will get you entry
into the UK. Oh! By the way all your parents’ luggage is at your
hotel. We had it transferred for you. Just ask at the front desk. The
undertaker will transport the coffins to the airport for you. When do
you think that you will be leaving?”
Mae answered, “We will take a flight to Sydney on Tuesday and
see if we can get onto the evening flight to London the same day.”
“OK, I’ll make sure that the airlines are ready for you and give
you clearance priority. Who are you flying?”
“Qantas.”
“Consider it done. Just arrive at the airport and I will arrange
everything for you. Let me know which flight you will be on. Here’s
my card.”
“Thank you, Mr Carruthers,” replied Mae, “you are very kind.”
“Least we can do. It was our bloody storm that tipped the boat
over. Freak if you ask me. I can’t remember when we last had a
storm like that in winter, if ever. Storms like that are normally whipped
up by the heat in the summer. Bloody strange.”
He handed an envelope of papers to Matt as they finished their
coffee and showed them to the door. “Can I give you a lift to the
hotel?”
“No,” replied Matt, “we’ll walk. Thank you for all your help.”
John Carruthers turned around and walked back into the station.
“Well I’m glad that’s over,” Susie sighed, “I don’t know how you
did it, Matt.”
“It wasn’t easy I can tell you. What should we do this afternoon
and tomorrow? Any ideas Mae?”
“Well I think a relaxing afternoon is in order. We have that long
flight back. Tomorrow I’ll make all the flight arrangements and
collection for us and your mum and dad at Heathrow. Why don’t
you collect their luggage from the hotel ready for taking home? Do
you want to start sorting here Matt?”
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“No I don’t think so. It’s going to be a while before I can do that.
I’ll take it to the farm when we get back and check everything is
OK with Bill. We rushed out here so fast I completely forgot about
him. He and Dad were very close. They were together most days
pampering those Herefords. I’ll go there at the weekend and break
the news. I’ll need to sort out the farm as well. What am I going to
do with the house?”
Mae interrupted, “Not so fast, Matt. There is plenty of time for
all that when we get back. There is no rush. I can handle some of it
for you as we discuss the trust arrangements. We will have to decide
whether a trust is the best arrangement now. For now, however, we
do nothing.”
There was nothing to do for the next day but to sit around and reflect.
A walk around Cairns did not take long and shopping was not on
anyone’s agenda. Mae arranged a one o’clock flight to Sydney and
confirmed the late evening flight to London. It would mean sitting
around Sydney airport for a few hours but they would have done
that in Cairns so the airport was as good as anywhere. She gave
their flight details to John Carruthers and he went ahead to arrange
their transfers. Monday passed slowly and Mae left Matt and Susie
to themselves while she sat in the sun working hard with the status
reports from her team that were continually arriving inside her head
via the implanted communicator. Susie was a real comfort to Matt
during that day and she just let him talk about his mum and dad and
slowly come to terms with the fact that they were no longer there.
She even made him laugh a couple of times when she reminded him
of the time when his mum had caught them in bed at the farmhouse
on a Saturday afternoon when they had not expected them to return
for a few hours. His mum never knocked and just walked in. After
that she was a lot more discreet and started to have more detailed
talks with Susie about what her little boy did and didn’t like.
After a lazy day they showered and had an evening meal but all
retired early to be ready for the long journey home.
The undertaker was true to his word on Tuesday morning leaving

Matt with his parents for a final time before he screwed the coffins
down.
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“Thank you, Mr Wilkinson. They look more like I remember them.
How much do I owe you?”
“Oh everything has been taken care of by your solicitor in
England.”
Matt turned to Mae with a questioning look.
“Everything is going to the company account. We will sort it out
when we get back to the UK. The trust will reimburse my firm.”
“OK. I will probably need to understand the trust better now.”
“That’s true, Matt, but as I said the other day, those details can
wait until we get back.”
They travelled to the airport in a funeral car behind the two
hearses and were waved through the freight entrance and cleared
customs without going into the airport proper. At Sydney they were
escorted to the VIP lounge where they spent the evening reading
and relaxing until it was time to board. The flight home was a reverse
of the flight out via Singapore and Bahrain. They landed at Heathrow
early in the morning and were met by an airport official who handled
all the transfers for the coffins. A van was waiting at the security
gate for the coffins plus a car to take them back to Brighton. The
van took Matt’s parents to the undertakers arranged by the solicitor
awaiting the funeral. Their car took the rest back to Brighton where
Matt and Susie thanked Mae for her help. She left to return to
Haywards Heath and they collapsed onto the sofas in the lounge.
They stayed awake for as long as they could but were sound asleep
in bed by six o’clock. The next thing that Matt knew was the doorbell
ringing.
He opened one eye and the sun streaming in the window made him
close it again. The doorbell was insistent so he got up, threw on a
shirt and made his way downstairs. Mae was on the doorstep looking
fresh and raring to go.
“Good morning, Matthew. Still in bed I see?”
“Susie and me haven’t known anything since early yesterday
evening. If you hadn’t rung the bell I would still be asleep. What
time is it?”
Mae checked her watch, “Just after ten. We have lots to do
today. None of them pleasant but necessary. First will be
arrangements for the funeral, then over to the farm for a brief visit.
I’ll do all the driving if you are going to be comatose for the day.”
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“No. I’ll be OK once I’ve showered and dressed. You’ll see.

Look I’m awake,” he said as he slapped his cheeks.
“Good for you. Off you go and I’ll go into the kitchen to get some
breakfast and coffee going.”
Matt turned round and started up the stairs. Mae followed him
and watched him go. As he bounded up the stairs his shirt rode up
and she noticed that he had not put on any underpants. She sighed
and thought that he was going to be a lot of work. She made her
way to the kitchen.
Matt bounced onto the bed and jumped on top of Susie.
“Come on, girl, we have orders to get up. Mae is downstairs
making breakfast. You coming.”
Susie opened one eye, wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“OK. Please yourself. You stay there I’ll be back later today.”
He went into the bathroom turned on the shower and reached
for his razor. Ten minutes later he walked into the kitchen and bounded
up behind Mae.
“Here I am, Miss. Do you want to check behind my ears?”
Mae turned round, “I hope that isn’t necessary at your age young
man.”
Matt sniffed the air, “Bacon. I didn’t know we had any in the
fridge?”
“You didn’t. I assumed that you were like most students in the
world and I picked up breakfast on the way. How do you like your
eggs?”
“Just fried please. Can I pour you a coffee?”
“Yes please. Where’s Susie?”
“Still sleeping. She has decided to stay behind.”
“Oh! OK. We can manage. We’re going to need all those papers
you were given in Australia. Especially the death certificates for the
undertaker and insurance companies.”
She put eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and mushrooms on a plate and
put it on the table. There you are. Toast?”
“Yes please, Mae. This is good. I didn’t realise how hungry I
was. You’re spoiling me. Just like Mum when I visit for the weekend.”
He stopped, went silent and sat down with a blank look. Mae sat
down next to him and took his hand.
“It will take a while to get used to, Matt. It will hurt with memories
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at the most unexpected of times but it will slowly get better. You are
responsible now and you have some priorities to deal with. First are
the arrangements for the funeral and making some adjustments to
the trust. We can leave the issue of the house for as long as you
want. It’s not going anywhere. Next is to get you through university
with a good result. Then the future. We must start planning.”
Matt took a deep breath.
“You’re right. I don’t know what I would do without you Mae.
Thank you.”
He squeezed her hand, “Now breakfast. Are you having any?”
“Yes. I’ll get mine now. Do you want some more. We have Susie’s
to share.”
“Yes please. I really am starving. Where’s that toast?”
Mae smiled and brought the toast to the table.
As they ate they made a list of the friends and relations who would
want to come to the funeral. About 30 people in all. Alf and Emily
didn’t have large families.
“I think that we will have a cremation. Mum always said that she
didn’t want to be put in the ground with worms. I suppose we should
have a little gathering afterwards as well. What do you think?”
“Yes that would be nice. It gives everyone a chance to remember
the good times. What would you like?”
Matt thought for a while. “I think a room at the Old Ship would
be nice. Mum and Dad would like that and the hotel can do the
catering.”
“OK. We’ll arrange that today after we have a date from the
undertakers and the crematorium. Let’s wash up and get going. It’s
nearly eleven o’clock. Where are your parents’ bags? I’ll put them
in the car. We can leave them at the farm later.”
The undertakers arranged the crematorium at Wood Vale in Brighton

for the afternoon of the following Tuesday and the hotel was booked.
A phone call to Vicar Meredith at the local church in Burgess Hill
confirmed that he would officiate at the ceremony. There was no
need to give him any background to Matt’s parents as he knew them
as regulars from his congregation. It was one thirty as they were
heading out of Brighton to the farm. Matt was quiet.
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“Are you OK, Matt. You’re very quiet.”

“Oh it just seems so mechanical. It’s not until something like this
happens to you that you realise that it happens every day. It’s an
eye-opening experience, plus I’m not looking forward to going to the
farm.”
“That’s understandable but we won’t be there long. Mainly to
see Bill and let him know what’s happened. I told Mr Jones not to
tell him. Thought it would be best coming from you.”
“Yes, you’re right, but I’m still not looking forward to it.”
They drove on in silence and reached the farm 20 minutes later.
They avoided the house, drove round to the farm manager’s cottage
and parked the car in the yard.
Matt got out and knocked on the door. Bill’s wife, Linda, answered
the door.
“Hello Matt. Surprise to see you. I thought you were in the West
Country until your mum and dad came back.”
“Yes I was but something’s happened. Is Bill around?”
“Yes. He’s in the barn mucking out. What’s wrong?”
“I’d rather tell the two of you together. Let’s go over to him.”
They walked over to the barn and found Bill shovelling fresh
manure into a barrow. He looked up as they approached.
“Hello, Matt, what brings you down here?”
“Bad news I’m afraid, Bill. It’s Mum and Dad. They were killed
in an accident on holiday.”
Matt told them the news of the last week and they stood in silence.
Linda silently wept as he told them about the funeral next week.
“Well,” said Bill, “that’s shocking news. Awful. Let’s go over to
the cottage and make some tea. I need to sit down.”
They walked over to the cottage and Mae joined them. Matt
introduced her. They sat round the kitchen table as Linda put the
kettle on. It was Bill that spoke first.
“Well Matt, I don’t suppose that you have thought what to do
about the farm, have you?”
Matt looked at Mae and she pursed her lips as she tilted her
head. Matt took this as a ‘No plans’ with an ‘It’s up to you’ look.
“Well, as I understand it the farm is part of the family trust and I
am now head of that trust. Right now I have no plans and won’t be
doing anything to change it. Dad was very proud of his herd; it was
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his pride and joy. That is a great credit to you Bill. I thought that we
would leave things as they are and keep the farm going. I know that
you ran it anyway so you won’t need me to help. The only difference
is that I won’t be down here most days asking if I can do things.”
“That’s a shame, Matt. Your dad was one of the best muckers I
ever had. Your mum’s roses were spoilt rotten with the stuff.”
He smiled and so did they all.
“Thanks Bill. Memories like that actually help.”
Matt sipped his tea and thought for a minute.
“How old are you Bill?”
“I’ll be 55 next birthday. Why?”
Well, how does this idea grab you. You run the farm until you
retire and then the trust will give you the cottage as part of your
retirement settlement with a cash sum for you to invest to top up
your pension. Can I do that, Mae?”
“You certainly can, Matt, and I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
“What do you think, Bill?”
Bill took Linda’s hand, “What can I say. That’s terrific. Are you
sure?”
“Certainly I am. That’s it agreed. Let’s shake on it.”
They shook hands and hugged.
“I think it’s what Mum and Dad would have wanted,” Matt
whispered, “Well, Mae, we had better get up to the house and drop
off those bags. I’ll see you at the funeral next week, Bill. We will get
together to sort out the details for the farm and Mae will sort out any
paperwork if required. OK Mae?”
She nodded. They said their goodbyes and got into the car. The
drive to the house only took a few minutes and they parked in the
drive. As they got out Matt noticed that his dad’s front lawn was
quite long.
“I bet Dad would have been out cutting that as soon as he got
back. I’d better tell the gardeners to include it in their list of things to
do in future. I think they come on Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer.
I’ll come down tomorrow and let them know. We’ll just dump the
bags for now. I’ll sort them out tomorrow.”
“Good idea, Matt. We need to be off to my office in Haywards
Heath to sign some letters to insurance companies and a visit to the
DHSS to register the death.
110
They entered the house and Matt wandered around silently. Mae
brought the cases in from the car and left them in the hall. She was
putting the last one down as Matt came down the stairs.
“OK Matt? Ready to go?”
Matt walked over to her and took her hands. He was cold.
“It still doesn’t seem possible, Mae. Why?”
She pulled him to her and cuddled him.
“Who knows, Matt. These things happen. I’ll be here for you for
as long as you want. I only have one other client that will take me
away but I’ll be available when you need me.”
“Yes I’d like that, Mae. Thank you.”
They walked out of the house and closed the door. Haywards
Heath was only ten minutes away at that time of day and they were
soon pulling up outside Mae’s office. The papers were all ready in a
file marked ‘Wetherby Trust’. Mae explained them and that there
would be no Death Duties to pay because his parents had died without
any estate, save some money in their cheque account and Alf’s car
which Matt decided he would drive. It was a fairly new Jaguar S
type. The insurance would be expensive for Matt but he reckoned
that he could probably afford it. He would advertise his Cortina on
the campus noticeboard. The big shock was that Alf Wetherby still
had life policies, even with his wealth, and a pension that he had
never cashed. In all they would pay out close on half a million. Matt
was amazed but Mae told him that she had been thinking about re-
evaluating the trust portfolio and the extra money would be a useful
addition for some investments she had in mind. It was probably a
good time to do that and maybe £100 000 in an interest bearing
account for Bill and Linda would be a good idea. The interest over
the next ten years would probably at least double that amount and
that would be a nice retirement nest egg for them. Matt agreed.
By the time they had finished it was past five o’clock and Mae said
that she would run him back to Brighton.
“Where do you live, Mae?”
“I have a small house here in Haywards Heath. Just by the
station.”
“Well I won’t allow you to drive me home and then drive all the
way back. Drop me at the station and I’ll get a train to Brighton.”
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“That’s a good idea, Matt, thank you. Would you like a drink at
my place first?”
“Yes that would be nice. I suppose I should know where you live
now that you are my own personal financial adviser.”
“Good. This lot is all done now. The secretary will get everything
into the post and file everything away. Let’s go.”
Mae’s house was a large semi-detached Edwardian property on
the residential side of the station just down from the Council offices.
It was a good size with three bedrooms, one of which Mae used as
an office, and a bathroom upstairs. Downstairs was a through lounge
diner with a reasonable sized kitchen. The garden was mainly terraced
patio with plants in pots. They were sitting in comfortable chairs on
the patio drinking a glass of Chablis.
“What are your plans for the weekend, Matt?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it, Mae. What are you doing?”
“A bit like you really. I thought that a quiet weekend would be
good to unwind from all the hectic travelling we have done this week.
There is nothing further to do for the funeral arrangements and all
the paper work is done. Yes that’s a decision. A quiet weekend with
some nice food and some more of this Chablis sounds good to me.”
“I think you’re right, Mae. I’ll do the same. Maybe go on the
beach with a book. I know that Susie will like that.”
“Good for you. Just unwind. Remember, though, if you and Susie
feel down just give me a call and come over. You can stay if you
like. The third bedroom is ready to go and Lois tells me the bed is
comfortable so don’t be lonely.”
“Thanks, Mae.”
Matt looked at his watch.
“I’d better be going. Susie will wonder where I am. When will I
see you again?”
“Tuesday morning at your place. We can go to the funeral together.
OK?”
“Yes that’s fine.”
“I will probably do some thinking on the portfolio over the weekend
and put an outline proposal together on Monday. We can discuss it
on Wednesday. Why don’t you and Susie come here on Wednesday
and stay over. I’ll cook us a meal.”
“Lovely. You’ve got a date.”
112
Mae took Matt to the door and pointed him in the right direction
for the station. He walked off and Mae went back inside.
She went up to her office and placed her hand on a pad in the wall
next to the door. The locks clicked and the door opened. She stepped
inside and sat at her desk. She powered up the laptop computer
thinking that IBM would kill for the technology in this machine, just
as Chubb would love to understand how the door lock worked. She
logged on and called up the Wetherby Trust portfolio. It was a fairly
straightforward collection of FTSE 100 shares and guilts. It gave a
nice return and was operated by a family company based in Bermuda
for tax reasons. It was time to step up a gear and make this portfolio
really work. She typed in a command that would generate faxes to
the share dealers to sell the portfolio and turn it into cash. With the
income from the insurance and pension policies that would generate
about £3.2 million at the closing prices that day. Her next command
was relayed via the satellite dish in her attic to the financial probability
system server on her cruiser in geo-stationary orbit outside the asteroid
belt. She gave it a task to return a high value and risk portfolio for
her to present to Matt next week. The system acknowledged her
requests and she logged out leaving the system to get on with its
work. She logged in to the programme status system and downloaded
the latest report onto her communicator. She would listen to it in the
garden while she finished the bottle of Chablis. Then a Chinese take
away and an early night. She was tired from the travelling as well.
The funeral passed off OK. Everyone was full of condolences and
Matt looked the part in his new black suit. His first ever. Susie and
Mae wore black dresses. It was a sad occasion but the reception
wasn’t a wake – more of a celebration of his mum and dad’s life. As
Matt said in his speech in the crematorium, “We are not here to say
goodbyes. We are here for good memories and to celebrate the life
of my mum and dad,” he pointed to his head and carried on, “They
will be here forever.” The congregation wept as the coffins
113
disappeared behind the curtains at the end of the ceremony but they
remembered the good times at the Old Ship.
The day ended back at Matt’s house on the seafront. All his student
friends came back from their breaks to be there so the house was
full. Matt got out the Irish Whisky and Mae made a quiet exit.
The next day Matt and Susie arrived at Mae’s house after one o’clock
and a little worse for wear. They sat in the garden as Matt read
through Mae’s investment proposal.
“Well I have to say, Mae, that I haven’t heard of most of these
companies but it seems OK. For example what is ‘The Berkshire
Fund’?”
“It’s an American investment company that started in 1965. I
have been watching it and it has been returning over 20% per annum
and has had issues during that time, in addition to dividends, to share
out profits to shareholders. It is a good investment in the long term.
You are only putting in £100 000 so it is not a risk. I have done the
same for Bill and Linda. There are some up-and-coming electronics
and computer companies that are looking good as well.”
“OK Mae. I trust you. Just don’t blind me with science, especially
when I am hung over.”
She smiled and poured him some wine.
“Help yourself to the snacks and relax. I see that Susie is already
making the most of the sun. Did you bring your book?”
“Yes I did. Can we do anything?”
“No. It’s all in hand. We are going to start with a cold asparagus
soup so that’s already done. Then we are going to have some smoked
fish and prawns with salad. Just toss a salad and serve the fish.
Simple. Then for desert I have really cheated and have an American
cheesecake in the fridge that I bought yesterday. You relax. I’m just
going up to my office to prepare the confirmation of these investment
instructions.”
Mae went upstairs and let herself into her office. She booted up the
computer and had to agree with Matt. She didn’t understand why
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the investments had been chosen either. She just knew that the
probability system server was never wrong. She didn’t understand
the technology because it was part of Level 1 privileges. She had
been given access to it at the first approval by the Council and ever
since she had a team of over 10 000 people putting data into it about
Earth corporations and economies plus political regimes. She just
knew that the portfolio was guaranteed to make money. Lots of it.
She set up the fax system to send all the faxes to the share brokers.
She needed to study the recommendations just in case Matt asked

more questions. She was lucky with the Berkshire Fund because it
was one of the few she had read up on. She must not make that
mistake again. She set up a command to feed her with the information
that she required. She put on the receptors for her eyes and ears
and sat back. The stream of information bombarded her senses but
it was all being remembered. A wonderful thing, the brain. It just
needed to be programmed to recall information when you needed it.
She was almost complete when she felt a hand on her arm. She
whipped off the receptors and looked up at Matt staring at her.
“What do you want,” she said in too loud a voice.
“I came up to tell you that I was just popping out to get some
beers. Your door was open so I came in. Wow! What’s that?”
Matt was looking at her laptop and she saw that she had left the
door open.
“Damn. Not another mistake.”
115
Chapter 7
Proof
“What do you mean another mistake, Mae?”

She quickly surveyed the room, her mind racing. Luckily the only
technology on show in the room that didn’t make sense was the
laptop. In fact it was all she needed. It was her window on all the
other technology that she accessed, so all the other equipment was
out of sight. The communications to the satellite was in the loft and
even the door entry system was not really noticeable.
“Well, Matt, what do you think I mean?”
“Well, I haven’t got a clue but that isn’t a strange feeling for me
these days. In fact since we first met just over a week ago now a lot
of strange things have happened. What is that thing, Mae? It looks
like a computer but not like anything that I have ever seen.”
“Oh this. It’s a typewriter with a difference. It’s the latest thing
from the US. Not in the shops yet. I have a friend in some research
labs in Palo Alto. He’s field-testing it on me. Instead of keys printing
on a piece of paper it puts the words on the screen so you can go
back and change them.”
“That’s terrific. What do you do with it when you’ve finished?”
“You can store it on a tape and print it with another programme.
I do my printing at a bureau in Haywards Heath,” she lied, “Their
computer is one of those new small Digital PDP’s. When you came
in I was typing the instructions for the trust portfolio selling order
and I’d just put the wrong figure in. I’m sorry if I made you jump.”
She closed the laptop and stood up, “I don’t know why I’m doing
this now anyway. It’s such a lovely day. I should be having a drink
116
with you. I’ll walk to the off licence with you to get some beer.”
“Oh! OK Mae, lets do that. It must be useful to do that sort of
stuff at home.”
“Yes very useful. Let’s see if Susie wants to come. She can get
a magazine to read while we relax before dinner. Come on, let’s
go.”
She walked to the door and ushered Matt onto the landing, closing
– but not locking – the door, behind her. Matt had had enough surprises
for one day. She would lock it later.
The rest of the day passed without incident and they discussed the
future over dinner and into the evening. They were relaxing on the
patio watching the sun go down. Matt was sipping an Irish whiskey
while Mae and Susie were enjoying Baileys with coffee.
“So, Matt,” said Mae, “When does university restart?”
“Another three weeks yet. Susie was suggesting that we return
to her mum’s for a couple of weeks. Be spoilt and do nothing in
particular. Sounds good to me. Why don’t you give your mum a ring
tomorrow, babes,” He turned to Susie and smiled.
“OK. I’ll tell her that we’ll be down for dinner tomorrow night.
Yeah?”
“Oh I forgot I was going to the farm to sort out the cases and
chat to the gardeners.”
Mae interrupted, “Don’t worry about that, Matt. You will still
have a week before uni starts and I can pop in to see the gardeners
on my way to the office on Friday.”
“Thanks, Mae. I’m not really looking forward to that task and,
the more I think about it, the sooner we get away the better.”
“I’ll use the two weeks that you are away going around the brokers
restructuring the investments and when you return we can get
together and complete your education of the trust. Maybe at the
farm if you want some company.”
“Sounds good, Mae. Now where do you keep your whiskey?”
Mae smiled and went to fetch the bottle. They stayed up chatting
for a couple of hours and then retired at about midnight. They all
slept well thanks to the alcohol and after breakfast the next day
Matt and Susie returned to Brighton to pack a case again.
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During the next fortnight Mae reshaped the portfolio with the share
brokers and it was soon time for Matt to return. They had spoken on
the phone and arranged to meet at the farm the next day.
Mae arrived at the farm before Matt and wandered around the
side of the house into the back garden. It was lovely, a real oasis of
colour in the middle of the grazing land with roses, honeysuckle, and
lots of green with dwarf conifers. Emily had done a wonderful job
with her gardeners. She sat on one of the sun loungers that were left
out during the summer months. It had the making of another beautiful
day. The summer had been glorious with day after day of warm
sunshine with hardly any rain and, when it did rain, it always seemed
to be overnight. A bit like the magic of Camelot in Arthurian days,
she recalled. What had happened to the magic, she mused. She
would get someone in her team to look into that. The house and
farm would appreciate a lot over the next ten years and it would be
a good addition to the wealth-building infrastructure that was the
priority for the next 20 years or so of the plan. She would have to
decide how to break the news of his future to Matt. She had almost
done it at her place when he stumbled into her office and saw her
laptop. When she thought of the inane explanation she gave him she
was lucky to have got away with it. His need for a beer was obviously
stronger than his curiosity at that time. She became aware of
movement and sounds behind her. She looked over her shoulder at
the kitchen patio doors as Matt was just emerging from the kitchen.
“Hello, Mae. Another lovely day.”
“Yes beautiful. I was just admiring the garden. Your mum certainly
developed a green finger when they moved here.”
Mentioning his mum was a chance she had planned to take by
raising it so soon.
“She certainly did. Mum would spend hours in this garden and
Dad would sit where you are and watch her. He figured that he paid
for the gardeners and his bit was the front lawn. Did you sort that
out with the gardeners by the way?”
“Yes. All arranged, although they said they would never be as
good as your dad. Something about not having a pair of nail scissors
in the shed.”
Matt laughed and Mae was relieved that he was reacting so
well. The two weeks with Susie’s mum had obviously done him
good.
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“Yes he was just a bit obsessive, wasn’t he? Would you like a
cup of tea or coffee? I picked up some milk on the way.”
“Tea please, Matt. What’s this, a new domesticated you?”
“I’ve done a lot of thinking over the last two weeks, Mae. I’m
alone now, if you know what I mean, and I have had to grow up
during the last weeks. It has been one of those life-defining moments.
Yes, I’m sad – very sad – but life goes on as they say,” he paused
and sighed, “One cup of tea coming up.”
He turned and went back into the kitchen. Mae’s heart soared.
He had survived and seemed to have emerged in one piece. A
calculated risk that had paid off. She would not rush him just yet but
she could start planning the next stage. There was a lot to do. Matt’s
education would take quite a while. She allowed herself to drift off
into the lovely garden again.
“A nice cup of tea for Madam. Do you take sugar, Mae?”
“No thank you, Matt. Sugar is a poison to the body and stops
your pancreas from working correctly. I try to avoid additional intake
but I do have a terrible liking for sweet deserts and that is one of my
biggest failings.”
“Excuse me. What is that about? I just thought it tasted good.”
“I’m sorry, Matt. I watch what I eat and try to look after myself
therefore I have read up some research to make sure that I eat a
balanced diet. You know three meals a day and don’t eat the wrong
combinations of food. That sort of thing.”
“No I don’t know but I’m sure that Susie would love to hear it.
She is always worrying about her weight.”
Mae changed the subject, it was not the time to cover the basics
of how the body worked and that every citizen of the League ate
correctly, quite naturally, and definitely no smoking. She was glad
that at least Matt didn’t indulge there.
“I have seen all the brokers and re-arranged the portfolio. Come
over to the table and I will run you through it.”
They spent the next hour going through the investments and finally
Mae sat back looking at Matt and smiling. He picked up the summary.
“Wow. Just over three million.”
“Generating around £300 000 income per year into the Bermuda
holding company. You will have noticed that I have set up a £100
000 trust for Bill and Linda ready for their retirement. Is that OK?”
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“Of course it is but what am I going to do with that sort of money,
Mae? It’s more than I could possibly need.”
“That’s true if you only intended just to retire very young but
you’re not going to do that are you?”
It obviously wasn’t a question, more an instruction.
“What do you think I should do?”
“I think that you should finish your degree then get an MBA.
That will give you a good grounding to set up an investment company
to turn that three million into a lot more.”
“That sounds good, Mae, but why should I bother?”
“Because I think that you are the type of person who will enjoy
the cut and thrust of dealing in the money and share markets. When
you are wealthy it is not like a job but more like a hobby that makes
good money. By doing that you are not only investing for yourself
but you are supporting companies that employ people like your mum
and dad when they worked at Allsops all those years ago. Your dad
understood the worth of building a business. He gave a lot of people
good jobs. Making money for yourself is almost a by-product. The
real pleasure comes from helping other less fortunate people to live
their lives in comfort.”
Matt sat back forming a church steeple with his fingers, thinking
a long time. At last he spoke.
“When you put it that way, Mae, it’s almost my duty to do it. I
think Dad would like it.”
“Your dad would be proud, Matt. He told me that he intended
much the same for you with him in a chairman, guiding role.”
“Yes he told me the same the last time I saw him, but he’s not
here. Where is that guidance going to come from now?”
Matt looked sullen, thinking again. Mae let his mind wander. He
looked up and studied her face.
“Would you be my guide, Mae? Be the chairman that Dad was
to be?”
“Well that is very flattering. Do you think I have enough
experience?”
“I think so…well…how old are you, Mae?…I mean…well I don’t
want to be rude…I just meant…”
“It’s OK, Matt. I don’t mind. I’m 35.”
“Gosh that is older than I thought…I mean…you look…Oh, God,
I’m stuttering again. I’m sorry.”
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“Don’t worry. I think you just paid me a compliment. Didn’t you?”

“Yes. You don’t look that old. Not that 35 is old.”
‘No,’ she thought, ‘nearly 10 000 is old but that’s for another
time.’
“I will be pleased to work with you, Matt. We would have to
discuss terms when you set up your investment company but that’s
a long way off yet. For now you must concentrate on your education.”
“Agreed. More tea?”
“No thank you, Matt. We should sort out the clothes.”
“Oh yes. I’m not looking forward to that.”
“Well, how about this for a suggestion. There is no point in keeping
any of the clothes. Why don’t we pack them all up and take them to
a charity shop. There is a Cancer Care charity shop in Haywards
Heath that will do a lot of good with the money they get from selling
the clothes. Why don’t I do the clothes and you sort through the
personal items like jewellery and that.”
Matt looked relieved.
“Do you think that will be OK, Mae?”
“I think your mum and dad would be very pleased. Some good
coming of their stuff.”
“OK let’s do it. What about the house itself?”
“I was thinking about that earlier before you arrived. You shouldn’t
sell it because it will grow in value over the next ten years. You will
need a base for the investment company and I think your dad would
like you to use this house. All you need are telephone and fax lines.
Some of the bedrooms could be used as offices and the lounge as a
boardroom. You can even entertain when necessary with the kitchen
and the dining room. The snooker room is good for relaxing in the
evening when your team has drinks. It has good communications
for the airport and trains to London. It might need some extending
as your company grows but that’s OK. What do you think?”
“Sounds great. I think you’re right. Dad would like it. After all it
would have been his office if he were chairman. I can use his office
as mine, can’t I?” He smiled at the thought.
“You certainly can, Matt. Do you want me to arrange regular
cleaners while you finish you’re education. Bill will keep an eye on
the place. We can give him a key. In fact Linda might like to look
after the cleaning of the place for a bit of income. What do you
think?”
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“Done. It’s a deal. See, I’m getting into it already. Who do you
think I should have in my team, Mae?”
“There’s plenty of time for that later. Just you and I will do to
start and right now we have things to do so let’s get on. I’ll sort the
clothes while you review the jewellery.”
They spent the rest of the morning with their chores and took the
clothes to the charity shop where the volunteer workers were
amazed at the extent of their generosity. The jewellery was put into
the safety deposit box at the bank where Alf kept some important or
valuable items. The box had been taken over by Matt as part of the
probate settlement. He decided to think about the jewellery and
personal effects at some other time. It was one o’clock and they
were sitting in the Red Lion on their way back to Brighton having a
pub lunch.
“Thirsty work sorting jewellery,” Matt remarked.
“I think that you are thirsty most of the time, Matthew,” Mae
replied.
“Oops! Do I detect disapproval?”
“Not at all but you can certainly put away your beer and Irish
whiskey.”
“A natural talent that I inherited from my dad.”
They smiled.
“A toast,” beamed Matt as he raised his glass, “to Mum and Dad
wherever they may be and to the future.”
“Well said, Matt.”
They drove back to Brighton, spent about an hour wrapping up some

loose ends of the trust, and arranging regular times to meet. They
agreed to meet sometimes at Brighton or Mae’s house in Haywards
Heath, whatever was convenient. Mae was getting ready to leave
and Matt was showing her to the door. She turned and held out her
hand but Matt impulsively reached out and pulled her to him, kissing
her on each cheek and finishing with an affectionate hug.”
“Thank you, Mae. I couldn’t have got through it without you. I
really mean that.”
She couldn’t reply, only wave her hand and shake her head. She
turned away and walked to her car with a tear on her cheek. She
wasn’t sure whether her feet touched the ground.
122
Matt rejoined uni and life got back into a routine again. Mae got
together with him on a regular basis with updates on the trust position,
making some changes occasionally and they became really close
with long chats about the future and the form that the investment
company would take. Mae persuaded Matt to take a fast track MBA
at the University of New York that specialised in the financial markets.
It was a year’s course supported by the Wall Street investment banks
and very prestigious. Quite expensive but well worth it. Mae said
that she would go with him as she could run the trust from anywhere.
She would fly back to the UK occasionally to see her other client
and would use the opportunity to check out investments in the
emerging technology sector in the US. It was decided to sell the
house in Brighton after University finished and use the money to
buy an apartment in Greenwich Village not far from the university
as a base for the year.
Matt’s finals’ year wore on and it was one Saturday evening in May
when they were having dinner at the house in Brighton. It was eleven
thirty and Susie declared that she was tired and went to bed. Lois
and David were there. Paul was away for the weekend. They were
discussing their finals, which were due to start in the next few weeks.
“Well I don’t know about you guys,” said Lois, “but I’m not at all
confident about my chances. I never realised how tough something
that you love can be. I’m fine with the practical side of art. I love
painting and my sculpting is improving but it’s the theory that is killing
me. I actually find it boring.” She sipped her wine.
“Well I think it will be a doddle,” David mused.
“We haven’t all got a brain the size of planet though, do we?”
Lois replied as she threw a cushion at him.”
Matt was sitting quietly.
“What about you, Matt?” asked Lois.
Matt sat and stared, “I’m not sure. It has been hard to revise.
There is so much to take on board and I’m not sure whether I am
storing the right stuff away.”
David smiled at Matt. “Well you can only do your best mate. I
think you’ll be OK,”
123
“Thanks, David. I wish I had your confidence.”
Mae spoke, “Maybe I can help Matt. I have some economic
texts and learning aids that are very good. Why don’t you come to
the house during the next week and I’ll show you.”
“That might be good, thank you, Mae.”
“Well I think I must make a move,” Mae said as she stood up.
“I’ll see you to the door,” Matt said as he got up with her, “I’ll
give you a ring about coming over. OK?”
“Certainly, Matt. Don’t leave it too long.”
“No I won’t. During the next few days.”
Matt arranged to go to Mae’s house later the same week and she
led him into the lounge.
“OK Matt. What I’m going to show you is more than just a book.
It is a complete learning system. Are you ready?”
“Sure I am, Mae. Anything that will help. What do I do?”
“It’s upstairs in my office. Follow me.”
They went upstairs and Mae put her hand on the entry pad. The
door clicked and opened and Mae walked in. Matt stopped at the
door looking at the pad with a quizzical look on his face.
“That’s pretty exotic, Mae.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Come and sit at my desk.”
The laptop was open and switched on. Matt sat down studying
the keyboard.
“I hope I don’t have to type on this thing, Mae. I’m not a typist.”
“No, Matt, that won’t be necessary but there are some other
things that you need to know that will make typing seem trivial.”
“Now you’re getting my curiosity up, Mae. What’s going to
happen?”
Mae sat next to Matt.
“Do you trust me, Matt?”
He thought for a while, “Well I hadn’t really thought about it to
be honest with you but, I suppose that I do. After all you handle all
the trust money and I just sign. That’s trust I suppose.”
“I mean at a personal level. Would you trust me with your life?”
Matt looked at her trying to figure out what was going through
her head and where this was going.
124
“Yes, Mae. I think that I would.”

“Good because what I am about to show you will need a lot of
trust, a fair degree of faith and will change your life.”
She opened a drawer in the desk and brought out a small set of
headphones and a pair of, what looked like, swimming goggles. She
leaned across Matt and tapped a command into the keyboard. The
screen showed a set of questions that Mae started to fill in with
Matt. The type of degree curriculum, which university, and language.
Matt was bursting with questions but Mae told him to wait until later.
“Trust me,” she said.
The programme signalled that it was ready to download and Mae
plugged the headphones and goggles into the laptop. She also asked
Matt to attach a heart rate monitor to his chest, which he did.
“The system will monitor your heart rate. Learning this way is
like exercising and the system will react to your heart rate. If it goes
too high then the system will slow down. I have set it to a maximum
of 160 which should be well inside the limits of a youngster like
you.”
“But what if…”
“No questions yet, Matt, just put on the glasses and earphones.
You will feel relaxed, almost as if you are not here. The system will
cause this effect. Keep your eyes open. It is the best way to receive
information when you are completely involved and not distracted.
Are you ready?”
Matt sighed, put on the equipment and made himself comfortable
in the chair. Mae hit the enter key.
Matt felt as if he was completely alone in a floating state. He couldn’t

feel the chair or anything else for that matter. All he was aware of
was the rhythmic beating of his heart and the soft bombardment of
noise in his ears and lights in his eyes. He wasn’t aware of time until
the lights and noises stopped and a voice told him that the download
was complete and he could remove the headset and glasses. He did
that and blinked as if he had just surfaced from being under water.
He looked around the room and noticed that the light was on and it
was dark outside. He looked round and saw Mae sitting in an easy
chair to his right. He looked at his watch. It was ten o’clock. Eight
hours. He had been ‘out of it’ for eight hours.
125
“Wow. Where did that time go? I was supposed to be meeting
Susie this evening.”
“She rang at seven. I told her that you were engrossed in the
material and not to worry. How do you feel?”
“OK. What the hell was that about?”
“As I said. It’s a learning system and you now know all there is
to know about your maths and economics degree. It will be like
breathing to you. Basic instincts. You will not have to think about the
answers you will know them instinctively.”
“That’s amazing, Mae, but I’m not sure that I believe you. If it
was that simple and this technique is available then why do we spend
so much time going to school. Why not just plug in and go?”
“A good question, Matt, but I don’t think that I want to answer it
yet. Keep trusting me. Right now you need proof that it has worked.
How would you like to do an exam?”
“Now? It’s gone ten o’clock. Susie will worry.”
“This is important, Matt. You can phone Susie and tell her that
you are so engrossed that you are going to keep going and stay over.
Can’t you?”
There was that question that sounded like a command again.
“I suppose so. I’ll ring her now.”
He phoned Susie and told her that he would see her tomorrow.
“OK Mae. What do I do?”
“Simple. I have set up a program that will ask you exam questions
from a previous year. It’s like mock A levels. All you have to do is
answer.”
“I told you, Mae, I’m not a typist. This will take a long time.”
“There’s no need to type, Matt. Just talk. The computer will hear
you. I have only been using the keyboard so far because I didn’t
want to freak you out straight away.”
He looked quizzical again but Mae stopped his question before it
was uttered.
“Keep the trust, Matt. Just accept it for now. I will tell you more
after your end of degree exams. In the meantime I must know that
I can trust you with this information. You mustn’t tell a soul, OK?”
“Of course, Mae. Mum’s the word.”
“OK. Lets get on. Amy, run the test that I installed.”
A female voice from the computer replied, “Yes, Mae,” and a
126
maths question came up on the screen. Matt looked at Mae in

wonderment.
“That’s not possible. Computers don’t do that.”
“Not yet, Matt, but they will. Now answer the questions and be
nice to Amy. When you want the next question say ‘please’.”
Matt smiled and said, “This is unbelievable but here we go.”
He spent the next two hours answering a series of maths
questions. Amy eventually told him that the test was at an end and
that he had scored 100%. Matt was astounded.
“That was outstanding. I just knew it. It just came to me.”
“I told you it would. Didn’t you believe me?”
“No but I do now.”
“Come downstairs and we will have something to eat then you
can do an economics test.”
“Aw, teacher, you’re pushing me too hard.”
Mae smiled. “Come on, I cooked a boeuf Bourguignonne while
you were under the tuition and I’ll let you have some claret for being
a good boy.”
They ate and Mae spent most of the time avoiding Matt’s
questions except to say that what she was doing was important not
only for Matt but for many people. He spent the next two hours
after eating doing an economics test and scored another 100%. Mae
explained that he would not score 100% in the real test because
while he would be factually correct there was always the subjective
factor of the way a particular examiner wanted to see the answer
presented. That was OK; he would still do well. By the time they
finished it was nearly three o’clock and Matt wanted to carry on.
Mae explained that he wasn’t tired because he was technically asleep
while he was under tuition but she was tired and it was time for bed.
In the morning Matt was full of more questions but Mae put him off.
“When is your first exam, Matt?”
“Next week. We finish at the end of the following week.”
“OK. Here’s a promise. When you have sobered up after the
celebrations of finishing the exams you will come here and I will
answer all your questions. Is that OK?”
“I suppose so, Mae, but this is quite amazing. I feel as if I am
bursting.”
127
“The acquisition of knowledge does that. You are using parts of
your brain that you have not used before.”
“There you go again. Who are you, Mae? Where did you get this
stuff?”
She put her finger across her lips and whispered, “Shh. After the
exams. OK?”
“OK.” He looked at his watch, “I’d better get going. Will I see
you before the exams?”
“No. I have some things to do that will take me away. You will be
OK. I might pop in for a drink when you celebrate. The King and
Queen as usual?”
“Where else?”
“See you then.”
Mae spent the next two weeks on Andromeda reviewing the approved
plans with her team leaders and was pleased that all seemed to be
on course. She also had a status meeting with XumBarens and he
left her to authorise a lot of materials and people to join the programme.
When she asked what they for he simply said that he was preparing
the defence force research programme and that his other programme
director was conducting that work. She needed the materials. A
female, Mae thought, at least she had learnt something. She would
get ColJan to run a search on all the female programme directors in
the League and track them down.
It was at the end of the two weeks that she walked into the King
and Queen at about eight o’clock on a Wednesday evening and it
was heaving with students drinking. She saw Matt surrounded by
his housemates and other students celebrating the end of university.
All they had to worry about was their results and how to land the job
that they wanted. A lot of them had job offers subject to results. A
tense time but not tonight. Tonight was for celebrating freedom.
Mae threaded her way through the bar and tapped Matt on the
shoulder. He turned, smiled and grabbed her in a bear hug. Lifting
her off the ground. When he put her down she took a deep breath to
recover.
“How did it go?”
128
“Bloody marvellous. It was easy just like you said. After the first
exam I actually found myself looking forward to the next. What do
you want to drink?”
“Just a lemonade, Matt. I’m driving.”
“No way. You can sleep on the couch at the house. Tonight we
celebrate.”
“No I won’t stay, Matt. Tonight is about you celebrating with
your friends. I will have one gin and tonic though. Is Susie here?”
“Yeah. She’s over there somewhere. I’ll bring your drink over,”
and he staggered off to the bar. Mae found Susie in a corner of the
bar with a group of friends.
“Hello Susie, how did you do? Have all your exams finished?”
“Yes they have, a couple of days ago so I’ve had a head start. I
think I’ve done OK. The results will tell.”
“Well you’re looking OK. I’m just staying for one drink. Matt
seems happy with his performance.”
“Yes he is. I don’t know what you did to him that night at your
place but he has been on cloud nine ever since.”
“Yes he seems that way now. Here he comes with my drink.”
“One gin and tonic.”
“Thank you, Matt.”
Mae sipped her drink and they all started to chat about their
exams and going to New York. Susie said that her job offer was
going to put her in London with a publishing company. She was
joining their PR division and arranging book launches so she may be
working in the US on short assignments with authors. Matt had
promised to come home at each break in the MBA course. David,
Paul, and Lois joined them with some other friends and the evening
was warming up nicely. Mae accepted one more drink but never
drank it and then she made her excuses to leave. She pulled Matt to
one side before she left.
“You will probably need most of tomorrow to recover. Come to
my place the next day. We have a lot to discuss.”
“OK Mae. See you Friday.”
“Come early, we will need the whole day. Do you have any plans
for the evening?”
“I think we will be down here again. That’s when we all break up
and go our separate ways. A big night.”
129
“OK, I’ll finish by four o’clock so you can get back down. I
expect that you will all be starting as soon as the pub opens.”
“You bet we will.”
“OK, Matt, see you early Friday.”
Matt was ringing Mae’s doorbell at eight o’clock on Friday morning.

Mae let him in.
“Have you had breakfast, Matt?”
“No. I was so anxious to get here that I just showered, threw on
some clothes and drove straight here.”
“Good. I’m glad that you’re so keen but we have a long day so
breakfast first. Eggs, bacon and the works.”
“Yes please. Do you want me to help?”
“You can make the coffee and toast for yourself while I cook.
Just tea and toast for me.”
“OK. The new domesticated me can manage that.”
Mae got out the frying pan and reached for the eggs that she
kept in a blue and white china hen on her window ledge. Matt was
not very co-ordinated this day and Mae took over making the toast.
With breakfast underway Matt got the job of pouring hot water onto
the ground coffee. He could contain his curiosity no longer.
“All right, Mae. I’ve held off long enough. What was that night
about when I learnt all about maths and economics? I’ve done a bit
of research, discreetly of course, about computers and there are no
papers in our science or computing lab that get anywhere near the
sort of technology that you have in your room upstairs. And as for
the learning system, well, that is definitely not on anyone’s agenda.
Where on Earth did you get it from?”
“Ah. Well there you go, Matt, that’s the thing. I didn’t get it from
the planet Earth.”
Matt went visibly white and sat down.
“What did you say? Not from Earth. How can that be?”
Mae smiled and put a plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes,
and mushrooms in front of him.
“Do you want ketchup? Some butter for your toast?”
She turned away and spread her toast at the counter by the cooker.
130
“Yes…yes. Wait a minute you’re ducking the question. What

gives?”
“Eat your breakfast, Matt. I’ll explain.”
She started on her toast. Chewed very slowly and swallowed.
She was thinking.
“Remember you said that you trust me, Matt. Well you’re going
to need all that trust today. Now, where should I begin?”
She thought while she chewed another mouthful of food. Matt
was eating his breakfast as if he hadn’t eaten before. More a reaction
to have something to do rather than just sit and gawk at Mae.
“From the beginning of time, before recorded history, there has
been an alternative reality being played out on this planet that we
call Earth. Most of the important events that have taken place have
either been arranged or closely monitored by a, what you would call
it, an alien civilisation that is guiding the people of Earth to the next
stage of their development. I am a citizen of that alien civilisation
and my role is the managing director in charge of that programme
here on Earth. You have been selected for a very important role in
the next stage of my programme.”
She sat and looked at him with an appraising eye. Gauging his
reaction. He was looking back at her, thinking. She hadn’t faltered
as she told him. He believed that she was telling the truth or, at least,
she believed that she was telling him the truth but it was just too
fantastic.
“What is your reaction to that, Matt?”
She had changed. She was no longer just Mae, the lady who had
helped him through the most difficult time of his life and looked after
his money, she was very obviously in charge. This lady was not used
to being questioned. She had moved several stages on and was asking
a question that was actually a command. That was just technique.
The way she had spoken, almost matter of fact, exuded power and
authority. The way she looked at him was as if he was transparent.
He wanted to run but didn’t know what she would do if he did. He
was scared and curious at the same time. He took a deep breath.
He would be reasonable. He would not panic. Yet.
“I have no reason to disbelieve anything that you tell me, Mae. I
do trust you implicitly but what you say is just too fantastic. If it is
true then I am fascinated and want to know more.”
131
“Good answer, Matt. I have been in your background one way or
another for many years and I felt certain that you would not panic.
You have always had a burning desire to know more ever since you
questioned who God was and where he lived when you were at
infant school many years ago. Your Religious Instruction teacher
was quite taken aback. One of my team was in your class that day
as a trainee teacher. Miss Robson. Do you remember her?”
Matt thought before replying, “Yes I do but how did you know
that?”
Mae just smiled as Matt carried on.
“You have to understand that I find it hard to accept that you are
what you say you are and that you know so much about me?”
Mae smiled. “Later, Matt. Let’s go upstairs and I will give you
the full story. I have had my team prepare a summary of my
programme’s involvement to date on a learning program. It’s the
same system that you used the other day. Oh, by the way – you are
the first person from Earth to use the system so I am not surprised
that you could not find anything about it in research papers at the
university. The computer on my desk has access to many more times
the computing power than NASA used to put a man on the moon.
Are you ready?”
Matt stood up, “As ready as I will ever be, Mae.” He looked at
the dishes on the table.
“Do you want to clear up first?”
“Matt, you are precious. Here I am about to show you the true
history of the planet. Give you knowledge that will make you the
most informed and probably the most important person on the planet
and you want to do the washing up.”
“The truth is, Mae, I’m shit scared. It’s like the dentist. You try to
put it off as long as you can.”
“Don’t worry, Matt. I will not let anything happen to you. You
have been under my wing since the day you were born. I’m not
about to let anything happen to you now.”
Matt thought about that.
“Did my mum and dad know about this, Mae?”
“No they didn’t, Matt.”
“Do you know who my real parents are?”
Mae stopped and took him by the shoulders, looking him in the
eyes.
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“Your mum and dad were your real parents, Matt. Always
remember that. They loved you more than life itself. Your natural
parents could not raise you. I chose your mum and dad to bring you
up and they did a better job than I could have dared hope for. I will
always love them for that.”
Matt felt a tear running down his cheek.
“They were rather special weren’t they?”
Mae pulled him to her and squeezed him.
“They were the best.” She was crying softly as well.
“Come on, young man. We have a lot to do. Upstairs with you.”
They walked upstairs and Mae sat Matt down in front of the
computer.
“Same as before, Matt. Lights and sounds. You will learn about
the history of your world from my perspective. The true perspective.
It will take about five hours,” she looked at her watch, “so you will
be under until about two o’clock. I’ll clear up downstairs and get
some lunch ready. OK?”
“Yes that will be good. I can’t help feeling like a condemned man
having a last meal prepared though.”
“Don’t worry, Matt. Everything will be fine. You start the program.
Just tell Amy and she will take over.”
“OK.” He sat down and stared at the screen for a long time.
Mae let him relax and compose himself. “Do you know how daft I
feel talking to a television screen?”
“Get on with you and don’t talk that way. Amy is listening and
she’ll think that you don’t like her.”
Matt smiled. “OK here we go. Amy, this is Matt. Are you ready
to begin please.”
“Hello Matt. I know it is you. I can see you and recognise your
voice. Put on the glasses and earphones and tell me when you are
ready.”
Matt put on the glasses and earphones. “Ready Amy.”
The lights and sounds were similar to before and, just like last
time, Amy eventually instructed him that the session was complete.
He took off the goggles and earphones and squinted his eyes to
adjust them to the room. Mae was sitting in the same chair to his
right.
“You’re GaMea, aren’t you?”
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“Yes I am.”
“But how can that be possible? You were present throughout the
whole presentation. From the beginning. That would make you about
2500 years old.”
“Actually, Matt, I’m a lot older than that. I have been managing
the programme for 7500 years and I am 9876 years old.”
Matt was visibly lost for words. He stood up and paced the room.
When he was on the verge of saying something he stopped, shook
his head and carried on pacing. She let him carry on. Finally he
stopped and sat down. She got up and knelt down in front of him so
that she could look him in the eye.
“I find it incredible, Mae or GaMea, or whatever I should call
you? I can see the technology that you are using and accept that it is
way in advance of anything else around at the moment but that story
I just watched, all those interventions as you call them. Jesus Christ!”
He stared ahead, “You want me to believe that I am sitting here with
someone who has actually met Jesus Christ. That is mind-boggling.
I can’t take it in.”
“Actually his name was DalBrin and he is a member of my team.
He was the last major intervention that we guided from birth and
you are about to become the second. Call me Mae, by the way.”
Matt had stood up again.
“I need proof, Mae. Trust isn’t enough. I want to believe you but
I need proof.
I just can’t accept this. My God, you’re not human. You’re an
alien.”
Mae smiled what was, to him, becoming her infuriatingly enigmatic
smile, “What is human, Matt? I’ve actually been human for a lot
longer than you. You should realise that the people of Earth do not
own the copyright on humanity and as for me being an alien what
did you expect? Green skin? An enlarged head? How alien am I?
You have known me for a year. What does alien mean?”
“I don’t know, Mae. I’m confused and just a bit scared. What if
I don’t want this? What will you do?
“Well, Matt, I won’t point a ray gun at you. As I said earlier I
have been watching over you for many years. I will not let any harm
come to you, especially from me.”
Matt was edging towards the door.
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“It’s OK, Matt. You can go.” He looked at her, disbelieving.

“Really, Matt, it’s OK, I understand. It is pretty incredible. Even
I am sometimes amazed at what has been achieved. OK, I’ll prove
it to you. What do you need?”
“I don’t know. Something that only an advanced race could do.
There must be no way it could be rigged by you as a trick.”
Mae smiled. “You make me sound like a magician busking on a
street corner but OK I will arrange something. In fact you are
reacting as I thought you would. I would have been disappointed if
you had not questioned me. That would not be like you and I would
have been concerned. You must be bursting with questions but they
can wait again. Proof first. Go away for the weekend. Think it through.
Write down all your questions then come here on Monday morning
packed for a week. We had already planned to go to New York to
find a place to live and confirm the MBA at New York University.
While we are gone I will prove to you who I am and where I come
from. OK?
“And what if I don’t come on Monday?”
“That’s a risk I’ll take but I think I know you. I think that your
curiosity alone will bring you back.”
“Yes, Mae, that’s fine but let’s see what happens. You’re right
when you say that I want to know what this is all about but right now
I don’t know what I am going to do?”
“Think on that over the weekend, Matt. There are two questions
in your mind right now. One. I am a crank and why am I playing this
elaborate trick on you and, two, I might just be what I say I am and
why am I doing this with the planet Earth. True?”
“Well yes I suppose so but…” She didn’t let him continue.
“No more questions yet, Matt. Proof first. Without that you will
do nothing. True?” He nodded and she looked at her watch. “It’s
three thirty. Let’s finish now so you can get back to Brighton.
Remember not a word to anyone. Have a good evening and think
about it over the weekend. Either way I will live by your decision but
I hope that you will be back here on Monday morning.”
“I am going to be so jittery over the weekend, Mae. If what you
say is true then nothing will be the same again. I don’t think I’m
going to sleep much.”
“Oh. I think after a few beers you’ll be OK. Now let me see you
out.”
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Matt drove home on autopilot. His mind was definitely elsewhere.
Just where it was he couldn’t say but it was wandering in some
strange future and an even more fantastic past.
The evening with his friends celebrating the end of university was
boozy, loud, and at times wild. When the King and Queen closed at
eleven o’clock they staggered along the seafront to get burgers and
chips from Uncle Sams and ate them as they walked back along the
beach. It was a lovely warm evening and they all ended up skinny-
dipping under the Palace Pier. By the time they got back to the
house the effect of the cold swim had almost sobered them up so a
lot more drinking, and talking and playing music continued until about
five o’clock when everyone crashed more or less where they were.
The rest of the weekend carried on in much the same way and by
Sunday night Matt was ready for a long sleep. Even through all the
drinking the question as to what he was going to do was always on
his mind. Susie had noted that he wasn’t himself and he put her off
by telling her that he was going to miss her while he was doing his
MBA. It was not a lie; he had strong feelings for Susie and it would
be a wrench not having her around. So much was changing in his
world that he felt that nothing could surprise him. During the weekend
he had come to the conclusion that if he didn’t return to Mae’s on
Monday he would wonder what might have been for the rest of his
life and now that he was sober he could barely wait until the morning.
He was in bed by ten and his dreams were full of the sights that he
had seen on Friday on Mae’s machine. He was excited and very
scared at the same time.
Matt was at Mae’s by seven o’clock the next day. He had woken at
six, showered and dressed straight away. Susie was still asleep and
he had lightly kissed her as he left the room with a case that he had
thrown a few essentials into. If he had forgotten anything then he
would buy it. When he arrived in Haywards Heath Mae showed
him in and they went through to the kitchen. She gave him a cup of
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coffee and some toast saying that he didn’t want too full a stomach
given they would be travelling. She led him up to her office and they
sat down in the armchairs either side of a coffee table.
“What time is our flight, Mae? We’d better watch the traffic.”
“That’s not a problem, Matt. Everything is arranged. First let’s
run through our itinerary for the trip. Amy, get ColJan on the
communicator for me please.”
“Yes, Mae.”
“Who’s ColJan, Mae?”
“He’s my personal assistant. He’s very good, but don’t tell him I
said that.”
A face appeared on the computer screen. “Hello, GaMea, how
are you?”
“I’m fine thank you, Col. I have Matt with me and we are
preparing to leave for our trip. Are all the arrangements made?”
“Yes, GaMea.”
“Good. Can you come here and tell us about them.”
“Certainly, be there in two minutes.”
“Where is he, Mae?”
“Andromeda – my home planet.”
“How on Earth is he going to get here in two minutes?”
“He will project his image. We call it a hologram. Our
communication systems are many times faster than light and we use
a tachyon jump gate system to transmit the image.”
Matt was just taking that in and about to ask what a tachyon
jump gate system was when there was a shimmer in front of them.
A person that Matt assumed to be ColJan appeared.
“Hello, Matt. I’m ColJan. It’s good to meet you at last.”
“Hello, ColJan,” Matt replied in a slightly shaky voice, which he
hoped they hadn’t noticed.
“Now, ColJan, tell Matt what is on our agenda for the next week.”
“Certainly. First you will transfer to GaMea’s star cruiser for a
tour of the local solar system and an inspection of the energy source
construction. You will then return to Earth orbit and transfer to our
office in New York. I have booked you into the Waldorf Astoria.
Tuesday is a rest day for Matt. It takes a time for the body to recover
after the first time you transfer but all will be OK. On Wednesday
you have an appointment at New York University to sign your
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enrolment for the MBA. That is at the Stern School of Business on
West Fourth Street. It is an executive course that only requires
attendance on Tuesdays, Fridays and some Saturdays. That will give
plenty of time for Matt’s real education. You have been enrolled as
the CEO of Wetherby Trust and Investment, the company in Bermuda
that operates the Wetherby family trust. It is a legitimate position
and the company has an excellent trading record. You must
remember to bring the cheque book for the trust company. Take
your passports. The office will stamp them as if you came through
immigration at JFK just in case you have to produce them. The rest
of that day is free to take in some of the sights, maybe some shopping.
Thursday and Friday you will be in the hands of an agent who has
some apartments for you to look at. They are all in the Greenwich
Village area and not far from the university campus around
Washington Square Park. Saturday is deciding which apartment.
Our office in New York will handle the purchase. Sunday you will
return here. I have taken the liberty, Matt, of booking an appointment
for you on the Monday to see an estate agent in Brighton to start the
process of selling the house. Well, that’s about it. I have transmitted
the details to your communicator, GaMea. Are there any questions?”
Mae looked at Matt. He couldn’t believe the matter of fact way
in which ColJan had presented their itinerary. He supposed it was
nothing to him. At that point Matt would have been happy with just
the hologram as proof but he wasn’t going to let Mae know that. He
reached forward and waved his hand through ColJan’s body. The
image wavered but held in place. Mae smiled.
“OK Matt?”
“Yes, sounds fine.”
“Thank you, ColJan. I’ll talk with you on our return.”
The image shimmered and was gone.
“So how do we transfer, Mae?”
“I have a transfer station in the loft here. Grab your bag and let’s
go. Matt got his bag from the kitchen while Mae fetched hers from
her bedroom. They were standing on the landing under the hatch in
the ceiling that led to the loft. Mae put her hand on another pad on
the wall and the hatch clicked and slid back. A solid set of loft ladders
lowered to the floor and Mae invited Matt to go up. The loft was
prepared as a proper room and had more equipment in it that Matt
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didn’t recognise. There was a dish supported by three legs pointing

to the roof that Mae said was a satellite communication module. She
explained that all her computing power was located on a satellite in
a geo-stationary orbit outside the asteroid belt. Astronomers on Earth
would never spot it. There were some boxes that she explained
were the local electronics for the up link. In the centre of the room
was a square cabinet about 7’ high and 3’ around each side. That
was the transfer device, she said. First they put in the luggage and it
disappeared. Mae told him that it had been transferred to the ship.
When Matt asked how it had been transferred she told him that the
molecular structure was broken down into DNA or molecular strands
then turned into a neural code for transmitting via the up link.
“Your turn, Matt. Get into the cabinet.”
“I’m not sure that I like the idea of being broken down into
molecules, Mae. Is it safe?”
“We have been doing it for many millennia, Matt. You will be
OK.”
He sighed and got in but he squeezed his eyes tight shut. When
he opened them he was no longer in the loft. The room was like he’d
imagine a control room at a power station to be but without the dials
and flashing lights. A person looked up from a console and smiled.
Welcome to the GaMea, Matt. Do you feel OK?”
He tapped himself all over. Everything seemed to be present. “I
think so.”
He stepped out of the cabinet and walked across to the console.
“How was that, Matt?”
He spun round and saw Mae stepping out of the cabinet.
“Alright, Mae. This is one hell of a proving your putting me
through. Why did he say welcome to the GaMea?”
“Oh it’s the name of this ship. It is my personal cruiser so I
named it after me.”
“Matt pursed his lips and slowly nodded his head. “Impressive.
What now?”
“Follow me. There’s something I want you to see.”
She led the way out of the room and along a corridor with doors
on either side. At the far end there was a staircase. They ascended
them into a comfortable looking lounge with a door at the far end.
She crossed the room and opened the door. They entered another
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control room with a console facing a large viewing screen. Matt
almost sank to his knees. He was looking at the Earth from outer
space. Between him and the planet was the moon.
“Beautiful isn’t it? I never get tired of that view.”
Matt was aghast. It was just like the pictures that came back
from Apollo when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969.
That was an amazing thing to see and here he was beyond the moon
looking at the same view.
“How far?” he murmured.
“About half a million miles. We have to be careful being this
close to the Earth in case we are detected. Occasionally we do get
sighted as UFO’s but we usually get away with it. There was one
incident where we lost a scout ship. It developed a fault and crashed.
Before we could recover it the US military had taken it away. They
are still trying to understand the technology but not getting very far.
I have some people on the inside keeping an eye on the situation.
The most amazing thing, as far as the US military were concerned,
was that the pilot and co-pilot were human as far as they could tell.
We only develop carbon-based species the same as us and the body
physiology is still the best for the job so my body is the same as
yours in all respects. They still think that the USSR was responsible.
What are you thinking, Matt. You’ve gone very quiet.”
“Well wouldn’t you in my position. Three days ago your learning
system told me the most amazing story ever told. I was thinking it
would make a good film. Fiction, I thought, but you tell me it is true.
Prove it, I said, and here I am. You’re showing me the most amazing
things and you’re so matter of fact. You simply state that you only
develop carbon-based species as if you were dealing with laboratory
rats. What happens if you find a non-carbon based species. Do you
destroy them?”
GaMea smiled her teacher smile and replied, “No Matt we do
not destroy them and there are many non-carbon species in the
universe that are developing along their own path without our
assistance. We monitor them and at some stage we will introduce
ourselves and suggest an alliance. That hasn’t happened yet, which
is why I know that this ship can outrun anything else from whatever
species. And you’re right, Matt, it is matter of fact to me. Yes, of
course the technology has changed during my lifetime but I have
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grown up with the wonders that you are just discovering and so it is
second nature to me. I do understand your position though. Don’t
forget that I have opened a few eyes in my time on Earth. You
should have seen the look on Moses’ face when he parted the Red
Sea for him to escape the Egyptians. He didn’t believe that it actually
happened until the day he died.”
“There you go again. You’re telling me that you met Moses and
you expect me to believe you.” He looked out at the vista of Earth
again. “Half a million miles.” He turned to Mae. “I do believe you,
Mae. This is one hell of a proof trip that you’re giving me. What
have I got myself into?”
Mae smiled, “Come. Sit down. This is the bridge of the ship but
the whole thing is computerised with very little intervention once it is
programmed. We’re going for a ride and while we are travelling I’ll
tell you what you have got yourself into.”
Matt sat down and one of the crew brought some refreshments.
The ship smoothly turned away from the Earth and headed out into
the solar system. Mae told him the story of the League and the
problem with the edge of the universe. He listened attentively. She
explained about their journey today.
“We will travel at half full space speed about five times the speed
of light. We are on our way to an orbit about ten million miles outside
Pluto. It will take about eight hours because we will slow down so
you can take a look at the planets – Mars, Saturn, Neptune, etc. We
will be at the jump station area for about two hours and then return
to Earth at close to full speed. All in all a round trip of about 14 hours
from now back to the other side of the moon ready to transfer to my
New York office. How are you feeling after the transfer by the
way?”
Matt felt himself again, “OK, which is a surprise. I just hope that
your system has put everything back in the right place.”
“Better than when you started actually. If the transfer system detects
anything that shouldn’t be there then it eliminates it. Brain tumours,
for example, do not survive a transfer.”
“You can really do that?”
“Of course. It isn’t difficult. Just like a car mechanic on Earth
taking an engine to bits and removing all the carbon build-up then
putting it back together again. As good as new.”
141
“I suppose that I will get this blasé after a while but for now let
me be in wonder.”
The ship slowed and Mae pointed out of the viewing screen.
“Look, there’s Mars.”
Matt just stared as the red planet drifted across the viewing screen.
He reached for a drink and sat back. This was definitely better than
the tourist bus around London he decided. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune followed. Mae gave him a potted summary of each
planet as they slowed down.
“Have you been on any of these planets, Mae,” Matt asked.
“No Matt, they are not capable of supporting our life forms
therefore there is no point. We send in probes just to monitor but
only for observation.”
The ship speeded up on its way to Pluto and Mae explained that
it would take about an hour. They would not be stopping to view
Pluto because it was just a large chunk of frozen methane gas and
quite boring. It used to be a moon of Neptune but got hit by a comet
many thousand of years ago and veered off into deep space. Her
terra-forming team had captured it and put it into orbit around the
sun so that it didn’t cause a hazard further out in the galaxy. Matt sat
transfixed.
“How do you capture a planet?”
“With another planet, of course,” she was obviously having fun,
“We use a small, moon sized body or a large asteroid with a
gravitational pull to attract the planet that we want to capture and
then, by moving the body by use of engines we can capture the
other body and position it.”
“Oh! Of course,” Matt replied with what he hoped was a note of
sarcasm.
“We are about an hour away from our destination. I have a kitchen
and dining room on board, would you like some lunch?”
“A dining room? How big is this ship?”
“Not that big. It is about 500 ft of accommodation excluding the
tachyon drive systems and lifeboat housing. About 1 000 ft. You’ve
seen the bridge and lounge already but apart from that the ship also
has dining facilities and a few bedroom suites as well as crew
quarters.”
“And this is yours?”
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“Technically no. Like everything else, it is the property of the

League but I have use of it because of my position.”
“There aren’t many heads of state or royalty with yachts this
size on Earth. You must be like royalty.”
“Oh, much more important than that, Matt. Lunch?”
As they walked Matt continued with his questions, “Do you have
any weapons on board to defend yourself from attack?”
“No, Matt, we don’t. This ship is one of the fastest in the known
universe and it can outrun any attack. If we did get caught then the
ship is protected by a defence shield that can repel anything –
including a nuclear bomb.”
They left the bridge and walked through the lounge and back
down the stairs. As they walked along the corridor she opened doors
and showed Matt the bedroom suites. The last door was the dining
room where a salad with cold meats and fish was sitting ready to be
served. They sat down and Mae served some chilled Pouilly Fume.
As they ate she continued to tell him about the work that the League
did. She didn’t cover the details of her plan or the removal of the
species at this stage but told him that there was a lot to learn and he
would be educated while they were in New York. They finished the
meal and coffee was served. As they were drinking a crewman
entered the room and spoke quietly to Mae.
“Thank you, MauJon.” She turned to Matt and told him that they
were approaching the jump station.
“Let’s return to the bridge,” she said as she stood up.
They left the dining room and walked back to the bridge. The
sight in front of Matt on the viewing screen left the others for dead.
It was a space station but much bigger than anything he would have
ever imagined. It looked bigger than Brighton. Beyond the station
was a large cluster of lights slowly rotating around a point at its
centre.
“You are looking at the station that maintains and operates the
jump point you can see out there in space. The jump point allows us
to travel between galaxies instantaneously. The station also houses
the work teams who are constructing the power sources that you
will learn more about. We will be docking for just an hour so that you
can meet some of my team. After we will travel on a bit further to
see the power source assembly.”
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Matt sat down in the same chair as before and suggested to Mae
that now would be a good time for an Irish whiskey. She smiled and
asked the crewman to bring them both a glass. The ship slowed and
docked at the station. After they disembarked Matt was enthralled.
The station really was like a small town complete with boulevards
and even transports for people to move around. Matt was surprised
that he thought of them as people especially when Mae explained
that most of them were from the Pleaidian galaxy. They looked so
ordinary. Just people doing a job. She told him that every citizen was
kept by the League and that money for working was not the objective.
There were obviously managers and team workers and while their
benefits differed with seniority it was a comfortable existence with
a lot of relaxing time alongside a worthwhile role that was the real
pay. Some had families that were working alongside them and others
visited their home planets for extended leave. Everything was paid
for with electronic credits and these were supplied by the League.
Matt was introduced to some of Mae’s directors and was amazed
that they were actually building planets and transporting such huge
amounts of materials through space. The directors were all
Andromedans and they obviously held a high regard for Mae. Their
hour stopover soon passed and they were back on board the cruiser
speeding off even further out of the solar system.
After a while the ship slowed and came to a halt. Matt could see
lots of ships manoeuvring what he could only describe as a moon,
and dragging something that he couldn’t make out.
“What am I looking at, Mae?”
“We are placing small black holes in orbit around the sun. We are
about ten million miles outside of Pluto. Eventually there will be 2000
of these in position placed far enough apart that they don’t attract
each other. Pluto sometimes wobbles in its orbit but it won’t
deteriorate. We are attracting the black hole that you can just make
out with the gravitational pull from the moon that we are manoeuvring.
Like the way I described us capturing Pluto.”
“Oh. Well it looks very complicated but where do you find the
black holes?”
“They are peppered throughout the universe, Matt, leftovers from
the Big Bang. We call them primordial black holes; we locate them
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and bring them here as you can see. It is not complicated but it is
time consuming. The holes leak gamma rays and we turn them into
electricity. This power station will take another 20 or so years to
complete. Locating the black holes is not difficult but attracting them
here via a gravitational pull takes time and we also have to find a
large enough asteroid or moon for each black hole. When it is in
place we turn off the engines and let the asteroid spiral into the hole.
I consider it like a reward to the hole for all the hard work it’s done.”
Matt looked at her to see if she was joking but she was wearing
her enigmatic smile again. “And all these people work for you?”
“Well, strictly speaking, they report to my director of Terra-forming
but he reports to me so, yes, I suppose you could consider that they
work for me.”
“Impressive,” Matt stifled a yawn, “I’m sorry, Mae. All this travel
must be tiring me.”
“It can have that effect. A bit like jet lag. Why don’t you have a
lie down while we travel back to Earth?”
“Sounds like a good idea. It could be the weekend excesses
catching up on me.”
Mae took him back to one of the bedroom suites, showed him the
bathroom and left him to his slumbers.
The next thing Matt knew he was being shaken gently by Mae.
“Time to wake up, Matt, we are ten minutes away from transfer and
you might like to freshen up. The return journey was much quicker.
Just over two hours. You went straight off to sleep.”
Matt stretched and yawned. “I’m sorry, Mae. Here you are
showing me wonders and I fall asleep.”
“Not a problem. There is plenty of time for wonders. We have
only just begun, but tell me, have I passed the test?”
“Test. What test?”
“Proof. Do you believe me now?”
“Believe you. You bet. I believed you when ColJan popped into
your office. All this is just icing on the cake.”
“Good. Now splash your face and come back to the bridge when
you are ready.”
Matt freshened up and made his way to the bridge. On his way
he took a closer look at the lounge. It was a room about 20 ft square
145
and furnished with sofas and chairs in a soft beige material with
coffee tables scattered between them. In one corner was a desk
with a monitor similar to the one in Mae’s office. The walls and
carpets were also of a beige colour that complemented the furnishings
to give a cosy cocoon effect. Lighting was not apparent but the
room was bathed in a warm glow that added to the relaxing effect.
Matt noticed two other doors in the room but ignored them and
opened the door at the far end that led to the bridge. Mae was
waiting for him, looking at the viewing screen. They were stationary
back at the place they had started outside the moon’s orbit. The ship
had no sensation of movement and he didn’t realise they had stopped.
“OK, Matt, let’s grab our stuff and transfer to New York. It’s
only coming up to mid-afternoon there because, as you remember
from your knowledge of relativity, time passes differently when you
travel at speeds greater than the speed of light.” She smiled her
‘teacher’ smile and led the way off the bridge. Matt took one last
look at the view of the Earth and sighed. He thought to himself
again, ‘What have I got myself into,’ and then he realised that it had
nothing to do with his actions and decided to sit back and enjoy the
ride and he had to admit that so far it had been the ride of a lifetime.
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Chapter 8
Further Education
Matt’s transfer to Mae’s New York office in a building just off Wall
Street went as smoothly as his first to the ship and he was sitting in
a comfortable chair with a cup of coffee served to them by one of
Mae’s assistants, ManniTor. Mae was talking with her about getting
an entry stamp in their passports. ManniTor was a girl in her early
20s, about his age, Matt thought, but then he considered she could
easily be 1000 years old. Mae finished with ManniTor and came
over to join him. “What do you think of the offices, Matt?”
“Impressive, Mae, they are a lot larger than I imagined. I noticed
a lot of people and a proper reception area as I went to the loo. The
view is impressive as well. What floor are we on and what do you
do here?”
“We are on the 20th floor and we have three floors with two
more either side of us. It is a legitimate business. A specialised
investment bank called Lambert Newton. We set it up in the 1950s
and have a niche position in the market. We specialise in putting
new ventures to market. A necessary thing in our position to make
sure that certain technologies thrive.”
“Yes, I can see that would be useful.”
ManniTor entered the room and returned their passports stamped
as if they had arrived at JFK complete with exit visas. The national
emigration system had even been updated via an illegal tap into the
system. The world would learn about cyber pirates and viruses at a
later time but it was easy to do in 1970 with the right technology.
Their car was ready to take them to the Waldorf Astoria and they
headed for the elevator.
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The ride took about 30 minutes from the downtown financial
district to Park Avenue in the lunchtime traffic and Matt was
enthralled with the sights and sounds of New York. They drove along
Broadway, through Houston and Greenwich Village, where Mae
pointed out some of the university buildings and when they were just
south of 42nd Street on Fifth Avenue, Matt was craning his neck out
of the window to look up at the Empire State building. They arrived
at the Park Avenue entrance of the hotel and walked through the
small exclusive shopping precinct to the reception area in the middle
of the hotel. Mae checked in with the desk clerk while Matt wandered
around the foyer on the Lexington Avenue side of the building. It
was magnificent. The building itself was an Art Deco masterpiece
and the period was continued inside with lots of marble and a large
mosaic on the floor. A black marble staircase led to a balcony
overlooking the foyer where you could sit and have a cocktail before
dinner. There were more foyers and hallways with jewellery, antique
and clothes shops, none of which had many prices on show. However,
he did notice a Rolex watch with a price tag of $35 000. Matt’s
experience of hotels had never included anything like this. It was
certainly more imposing than the Old Ship in Brighton, which seemed
a million miles away right now.
Mae’s office had booked a suite with two bedrooms. Their cases
were brought in from the car and they were shown to the elevator
by the bus boy. Their rooms were on the 20th floor with a great view
of the Chrysler building. After Mae had tipped the boy she suggested
that they unpack, shower and change before having dinner in the
hotel. Maybe a cocktail before their meal and an early night to combat
jetlag. Matt laughed at that when he thought of the way he had
travelled to New York but agreed enthusiastically and went to his
room to unpack.
About an hour later they were sitting overlooking the foyer with
a martini and listening to a pianist entertaining the early evening
drinkers. It was six thirty and Matt had said that he wanted to
experience New York and a martini seemed appropriate. The bar
was slowly filling as people staying at the hotel returned from their
business day. Mae agreed that a martini would be nice and joined
him. She was toying with her olive when she looked at him with a
serious expression.
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“So, Matt, what do you think of my proof.”

“Well, as I said on your cruiser, Mae, you hold all the trumps. I
can’t question the truth of what you have told me. I still find it fantastic
and frightening but, I must admit, the thought of it excites me and I
want to be involved.”
“That’s good Matt, very good. I’m pleased that you are on board
because now we can move to the next stage. So far all I have given
you is proof of what I have said but next we must prepare you for
your future role within the programme. I have told you very little
about that and you need to understand before we proceed. This is
the point of no return. The details of the plan, your role in it and
many things that you need to know will be taught to you during the
next year but for now I need to know you accept that I will be
guiding your life over the next 60 years or so.”
Matt sat up and became very attentive. He wanted to reach for
his martini but thought that he should probably be as sober as he
could be during this bit.
“Sixty years, Mae. That’s a long time. Will I survive that long?”
She stared at him questioningly and he looked sheepish.
“I suppose that 60 years isn’t very long by your reckoning and 80
isn’t that old, is it?”
“Quite, Matthew. Now let me briefly outline where we are going.
The next year is important because you will be taught all about the
technology that I will make available to you. Alongside that you will
get your MBA but that will only take about a week of learning sessions
to teach you. When we return to the UK then we will set up your
investment company and spend the next 20 years or so turning the
trust fund into a much larger amount of money. About £40 billion
should be enough.”
Matt almost fell off his chair and now he reached for his drink
and downed it in one.
“How much? I thought that three million was more than any one
could possibly need. What on Earth are we going to do with that
amount?”
“We are going to set up a global corporation that will dominate
the world energy market. The energy source you have already seen.
It is those black holes that my team are harvesting. As I said, they
leak gamma rays and the League uses them throughout the universe
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as a clean and cheap source of energy. We convert them into
electricity for all uses – heating, engines, driving machinery,
everything. The world will not be able to resist your offer and the
corporation that you will set up will generate huge profits. I have
been toying with a name for the company and I quite like UPI standing
for Universal Power Industries. What do you think?”
“If it’s OK by you, Mae, then who am I to argue but why are we
making the money? I’m sure that the League could just give us the
money, couldn’t they?”
“That’s true but it is important that the people of Earth believe
that you have done this yourself. The League cannot be exposed at
this stage and if you popped up with £40 billion then it would certainly
raise some suspicions and we need to be above suspicion for some
of the political and humanitarian things that you are going to do with
your money.”
“If suddenly acquiring a fortune would raise suspicions then how
the hell am I going to explain that I am tapping black holes?”
“Good question and it is for that reason that UPI will be based in
the Antarctic. There is a convenient hole in the ozone layer that lets
gamma rays pass through. It is one of the threats of ozone deletion
that there will be an increase in gamma and UV radiation. You will
set up a monitoring station to watch this effect on behalf of the UK
government who have sovereignty over the islands where UPI will
have its HQ. The details will be arranged later. During this monitoring
the rate of gamma inflow will greatly increase and UPI will develop
the technique of converting gamma rays into electricity. The fact
that my team is causing the effect is incidental. Of course the energy
is clean and you will be seen as a saviour. So there you are with
immense wealth and the next stage will be turning that into democratic
political power over the people of the planet. That part of my plan is
fluid at the moment but, if I have learnt one thing during my time
here, we can depend upon political events to play into our hands. All
we have to do is manipulate them. OK so far, Matt?”
This was even more amazing than the first time that Mae told
him via the learning system what was going on in the world but this
time he needed no proof.
“As you might expect I have thousands of questions but since
we have been together I have learnt something about you. When I
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ask a question I expect you to say, ‘Not yet, Matt, later.’”

“Good boy. You learn fast.”
“There is one question, however, that I insist you answer now.”
“And what is that?”
“Why? Why does the League develop species? I’m sure it’s not
for fun. What is their purpose?”
Mae sat quietly for a moment, thinking. Matt did not interrupt.
Before Mae answered she ordered another round of drinks. She
then spent the next half hour telling Matt about the League’s need to
analyse the edge of the universe, which required jump stations in
place. She briefly outlined the size of operation to maintain a station
and Matt knew that to be true. The station outside the orbit of Pluto
was huge plus it needed the surround industries and support
infrastructure.
“And so we develop species like Earth to join the League and
move us closer to the edge by supplying a workforce for the jump
stations. This has now become urgent because the universal rate of
expansion has slowed and I am stepping up my plans to deliver the
five species in a much shorter time than I originally planned.”
“Wait right there. What do you mean, deliver five species?”
She explained what species development was and that she was
the first programme director to develop five species in parallel that
were based upon the religions that she had created. Plus she told
him that the League wanted to close all programmes down to
concentrate all resources on the new problem at the edge but she
had persuaded them to continue with the Earth programme as it
gave them a good chance of getting to the edge safely because the
five species would allow for five jump stations to be put in place
quickly. All other programmes had been shut down and if that
happened to the Earth she thought that it would destroy itself.
“And at the appropriate time the League will be introduced to the
people of Earth and they will be asked to join the League. The price
of entry to the League is to supply two and a half billion people, half
a billion from each religion, to man the jump stations in other galaxies
on planets that we are preparing right now.”
She had decided not to mention XumBarens or the defence force
issue at this stage. Matt looked amazed. Totally speechless for about
five minutes. This time Mae left him alone with his thoughts. She
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sipped her martini. Eventually he spoke.
“I’m going to be involved in doing all that? How?”
“Well actually, Matt, I’m going to do it and you are going to help
me. The details are what the next year is all about and you already
know the answer that I will give you if you ask me more questions
now. More important, right now is your answer to my question. Are
you completely with me no matter what? I need to know before we
go any further.”
She looked at him in a most sombre way, almost as if she were
boring into his head to see his thoughts. Matt was afraid of that look.
It occurred to him that if he said no then he would probably not see
tomorrow but then again Mae had said that she had looked after him
since the day he was born and would not hurt him. How could he
say no, he was even more excited now than before. He picked up
his drink and swallowed what was left in the glass. He took a deep
breath.
“Yes I am with you, Mae. No matter what.”
“Good. Let’s not talk about this any more tonight. Let’s celebrate.
Some champagne I think.” She called over the waiter and ordered a
bottle of vintage Bollinger. When it arrived and was poured Mae
raised her glass to Matt and proposed a toast.
“To the future and our success.” Matt touched his glass against
hers and the crystal chinked expensively.
“So what do you think of the little you have seen of New York,
Matt?”
“OK. Lots of people rushing around. A bit like London really.”
“Well we will get to know it well while we live here for the next
year. We will take it easy tomorrow just in case you need to recover
from the transfer. We’ll stroll around the city, Central Park maybe, a
spot of lunch, and some shopping at Bloomingdales. I thought it would
be a nice idea if you took something back for Susie. Good idea?”
“Sounds fine to me. Whatever you say.”
They chatted about nothing in particular for the next half hour
until one of the bar waitresses came over and told them that their
table for dinner was ready. They followed her directions to the
Peacock Alley restaurant back down the staircase to the lobby and
across the other side. Mae gave the maître d’ her name and room
number and he showed them to their table. Mae had reminded Matt
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to pack a jacket and tie and he had joked that it was a bit of luck that
his mum had bought him sensible clothes. Mae was wearing a simple
black dress that he suggested made her look like his aunt. She wasn’t
overly amused at that observation and they sat down with Matt
grinning broadly.
Matt continued his American theme by ordering a clam chowder
starter followed by a New York strip steak with fries. Mae started
with a Waldorf salad and had grilled tuna for her entrée. Matt declared
that he was very thirsty and downed a Budweiser while they waited
for their starters. Mae ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from
Sonoma County and remarked to the sommelier that she was surprised
it was the only Californian wine on his list. He shrugged his shoulders
and suggested that he catered for the tastes of his clientele but agreed
that some excellent wines were emerging from the Californian
vineyards.
The food was excellent and they chatted about their plans for the
week and the sort of apartment they would like to buy. Over coffee
and an Irish whiskey for Matt they agreed that they would return as
soon as the house in Brighton was sold and Mae would start his
education at her place in Haywards Heath. They didn’t discuss too
much detail because of the people around them in the restaurant.
Mae just told Matt enough for him to understand that there was a
plan in place and he needed to understand his role in that plan plus
the support that Mae would be supplying. They finished their meal
at nine o’clock and returned to their room where Matt succumbed
to the beer, wine, and whiskey and was soon sleeping soundly.
They rose quite early the next day and had breakfast in the same
restaurant. Matt did justice to the buffet returning several times with
different items, all washed down with coffee that just kept coming.
Mae just had coffee and toast. The remainder of the day was like a
sight seeing tour with a walk up Broadway to Columbus Circus, a
buggy ride around Central Park, the subway down to Wall Street
and a round trip on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty
and the Manhattan skyline. Lunch was in a deli just off Wall Street
with a pastrami club sandwich and more cold beer for Matt. Mae
remarked that if he kept this up then she would have to rebuild him
at the end of his study year. Again Matt looked at Mae to see if she
was joking. She looked so serious that he left the rest of his sandwich.
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They returned to the hotel at five after visiting Bloomingdales
and buying some underwear and perfume for Susie. Matt had a nap
before getting ready for dinner and they were getting into a taxi at
six thirty. Mae had arranged to eat at a bistro in Greenwich Village
quite near the university and they had another enjoyable evening.
Mae was pleased that Matt seemed relaxed following his initial
reaction, to which she was, and was even pushing Mae on her plans.
She put him off for the time being and suggested that it would be
better to use the learning system with discussions after each session.
He accepted that but was obviously quite keen to get on. Mae was
relieved. She would have not have liked giving the order to have him
replaced but if he had given the wrong answer then her plans would
have been switched to the back-up player. Jonathan Goodall would
now live out his life totally unaware of what might have happened to
him.
The rest of the week went as planned. The course was signed up
and they found a spacious apartment just off Union Square park. It
was within walking distance of the university campus and the Lambert
Newton office was only a short subway ride. The apartment had
two good-sized bedrooms and two reception rooms. Mae said the
extra living room would be useful for the studying that Matt would
be doing. All the technology for learning was installed in Mae’s office
at the bank and they would be there most days.
They caught the plane out of JFK on Saturday and arrived back in
London early Sunday morning. A car was waiting for them at the
airport and dropped Mae off at Haywards Heath on its way to
Brighton. Matt let himself in the house and realised how empty it
seemed with all his friends gone to their new lives. Susie was there
and he was thankful for that. He gave her the underwear that he
had bought and she promptly stripped and tried it on parading in
front of him in the lounge. That was enough to arouse both of them
and they made love on the sofa. It had been a while for both of them
and their lovemaking was urgent. Afterwards they sat at opposite
ends of the sofa in dressing gowns sipping tea that Susie had made.
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“Well how did it go, Matt. What’s New York like?”

“Great. We saw most of the sights, stayed in a fabulous hotel,
The Waldorf. Mae said that I ate far too much and she would have
to put me on a diet when we live there. We have found an apartment
and…” He went quiet as he noticed Susie’s long face. “I am going
to miss you, Susie. You know that don’t you? I will come back for
trips and you can come over when you want. I need to do this. So
much has happened that getting away will help me recover. I just
wish you could be with me.”
“I know, Matt, but we have discussed this. I need to get my
career going and I agree that being somewhere completely different
is what you need.” She looked pensive, “It won’t stop me missing
you, though. I am very fond of you.”
They were both avoiding saying that they loved each other and it
hurt. Matt put his tea down and reached over to her. She nestled into
his arm and laid her head on his chest. They sat like that for at least
15 minutes deep in their own thoughts. Eventually Susie stirred and
said, “Breakfast?”
“Yes please. I could eat a horse. It must have been four o’clock
when they served breakfast on the plane.”
“Well I’ll cook you a big breakfast with everything. Mae might
starve you but I won’t. Come on. Shower, get changed and come
down and tell me all about New York.”
Susie went off to the kitchen and Matt went upstairs to shower.
Over breakfast Susie was enthralled as Matt told her about his week,
describing the apartment and the university campus. Susie was more
interested in Bloomingdales and said that she would definitely come
over to shop. After breakfast Matt cleared up while Susie went
upstairs to get dressed. She came down just as Matt was finishing.
“Good timing, Susie.”
“It’s a knack. What do you want to do today?”
“Well I expect that I will be tired pretty early so a relaxing day is
in order I think. How do you fancy going down on the beach with a
book with some lunch in one of the pubs on the front.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll go pack a cossie and towel.”
As they walked across the road to the beach they talked about
the rest of the week. Matt explained that an estate agent was coming
the next day to get the house on the market and that he would probably
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return to New York when that was progressing nicely. Mae’s solicitors
practice would handle all the conveyancing work so he could leave
it in their hands. Susie said that she was going to stay until the weekend
and then she was going to take a break at her mum’s before starting
her job in September. She would take trips up to London to sort out
somewhere to live and would probably flat share with some other
girls until she was ready to get a place of her own. She had got used
to having people around and didn’t want to be on her own to start
with. Matt offered to take her down but she said that her dad was
coming to get her and all her stuff. Matt looked sad and she gave
him a hug, “It’s probably best that we break sooner rather than later
anyway.”
The day passed nicely and Matt was pleased to be surrounded
by normality for a while. His life for the past week had been unusual
to say the least but he had come to terms with his future, even if he
didn’t have a clue what it was yet. He wondered if Mae was coming
down tomorrow. Matt managed to stay awake until about seven
o’clock when he declared that he was whacked and went to bed.
The next thing he knew was Susie waving a cup of coffee under his
nose. It was eight o’clock the next morning and the agent was coming
at nine.
“Up and at ‘em, big boy. Drink your coffee and get into the
shower. I thought that we could walk along the seafront to the
Roedean cafe and have breakfast after the agent has been. Pick up
some papers and be lazy. He shouldn’t be more than an hour. What
do you think?”
“Great. I feel better than I did last night but I don’t think I’m
ready to run a marathon just yet.”
The agent was a guy not much older than Matt called Mike Wallace
and he was quite impressed with the house. He couldn’t understand
why the place wasn’t a pigsty like his place was when he was at
university. Matt explained that the ladies who lived here wouldn’t
allow it and his mum had always brought him up to be tidy. Mike did
his measuring and photographing then said that he had a couple on
his books who were looking for a seafront property and could he
arrange a viewing. They lived away and could be down at the
weekend. Matt said OK and gave Mike a key just in case he wasn’t
in. The apartment in New York was about four times the price of the
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house asking price but, as Mae said, he could afford it.

When the agent had left Matt and Susie walked along to Roedean
and had breakfast, chatting as if they had just met. Nervy. They
both knew that they would be parting on Saturday and didn’t know
what life held for them. They enjoyed the week. The weather was
good and they strolled across the South Downs, sat on the beach,
and had pub lunches. They ate out most evenings. Matt spoiled Susie
and they ate in the best restaurants. It was almost like a honeymoon
but in reverse. They were saying goodbye.
Susie’s dad, Chris, arrived on Saturday morning, they packed all
of Susie’s stuff into the car, and she was gone. It was midday by the
time she left and Matt spent the afternoon just walking around
Brighton. He got back to the house at four o’clock and found a
business card from Mike Wallace on the kitchen unit with a message
to call him. He picked up the phone and dialled the number.
“Mike Wallace, hello.”
“Hello, Mike, it’s Matt Wetherby. I’ve just returned and got your
message.”
“Oh hello, Matt. I brought that couple around this afternoon and
they love your place. They’ve made an offer, which is a couple of
thousand less than your asking price. What do you think?” Matt
didn’t think for long.
“Accepted. Go ahead. You’ve got the name of my solicitor. I will
let them know and they can handle it for me.”
“Good man. Excellent. I’ll phone them back right away and let
them know. Thanks a lot, Matt. Can I pop round Monday with the
paperwork?”
“Yeah sure. What time?”
“About ten OK? I’ll sort out the mail in the office first.”
“Fine. See you then.”
Matt clicked the receiver and dialled Mae’s home number. He
realised as he was doing it that he hadn’t seen or heard from her
since they returned from New York and he missed her a bit.
“Mae Smith, hello.”
“Hello Mae, it’s Matt.”
“Hello Matt. How have you been?”
“Fine. Susie and I just spent the week relaxing. She’s gone now.
Her dad picked her up this morning.”
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“Were you OK with her going, Matt? I stayed away to leave you
two alone.”
“Yes I’m OK but I will miss her. She loved the underwear and is
already planning a shopping trip to New York.”
“Good for her.”
“The reason I’ve phoned is that some people liked the house and
I accepted their offer this afternoon. I need to hand the details over
to Mr Jones. Can you arrange that for me?”
“Of course, Matt. No problem.”
“Thanks, Mae.” He went quiet and Mae spoke.
“What are you doing tomorrow, Matt?”
“I don’t have any plans. Why?”
“Well why don’t you come to me for the day. I’ve got a piece of
lamb and I know that it is one of your favourites. Come for lunch
and we can talk about timing for New York. The contracts on the
apartment have been exchanged and we can start planning our move
in. I also have the first part of your training programme and you can
start on that.”
“Terrific, Mae, that will be great. What time?”
“When you are ready. See you tomorrow. OK?”
“Sure thing, Mae, thanks a lot. Bye.”
Matt replaced the receiver as he heard the front door opening.
“Hello, anybody in?” It was Lois’s voice.
“Hello Lois. Up here.”
Lois came up the stairs and gave Matt a kiss on the cheek.
“What are you doing here, Lois?”
“I’ve just popped down to take my paintings and leave the key.”
“Good timing. I’ve just sold the place and need to think about the
furnishings. Are you staying over?”
I hadn’t planned to but I can if you like.”
“Yes that would be good. I can help you load your car tomorrow.
You must let me take you out for a drink and dinner tonight.”
“Well that would be very nice but I’ve taken all my bed linen
away.”
“That’s not a problem, Lois. There’s plenty on my bed. We’ll be
OK.”
“Good it’s a deal. Let me freshen my make-up while you figure
out where we shall we go.”
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They had a really good evening reminiscing about the last three
years and spent the night in Matt’s bed.
The next day Matt helped Lois load her car and waved her off
before driving to Mae’s. It was about twelve thirty when he got
there and Mae waved him into a chair in the kitchen while she
continued with lunch. She asked him to open a bottle of Chardonnay
that was in the fridge and he obliged. As he was sipping his wine he
asked her when they should be thinking of setting off to New York.
“Well, Matt, once the house is definitely going through then we
can set off.” She was peeling some carrots as she thought about it.
“That should be in about a couple of weeks if everything falls into
place. I’ll set up a power of attorney for you with Mr Jones so that
he can complete the sale as soon as it is ready. We will be gone by
then and there will be no problem with us meeting the date that the
new owners need to move in. I think that you should think about
what you want to do with the furniture and stuff.”
“Oh yes. I hadn’t thought of that, and the car. I’d better get onto
that tomorrow. I wonder how I set about selling the furniture. It’s
well worn by now. We bought it second hand when dad set the place
up. He didn’t feel that he could trust me and my other under graduates
with new stuff so he kept the price down.”
“Why don’t you sell the whole lot to a house clearer, take out the
things you want to keep, records and the like, decide what you want
to take with you to New York and store what is left at the house in
Burgess Hill. You can leave the car in the garage there. The solicitors
sometimes have to clear a house from a deceased estate. I can
contact one of the companies that we use if you like. They won’t
diddle you. If there is some time between the house being cleared
and us flying out then you can move in here if you like. I have a
spare bed and we can start your training.”
“Good idea. Let me know who the clearers are, I’ll get onto it
tomorrow and start going through my stuff. I’ll only want my records
in New York and some clothes so the rest can go to the house
clearers. I suppose we’ll have to go into a hotel in New York until
we have furnished the apartment.”
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“That might be necessary but because the place was empty and
the sale is completing next week my office can get on with the
décor and furnishings straight away. We can stay here or go to a
hotel in New York if you like. We’ll decide in a couple of weeks. It
might be quite nice to stay somewhere in the village and get to know
the place. Actually it will be useful if you stay with me before we go
because I need to get you to the jump station for some surgery.”
She finished the carrots and put them into a saucepan.
“Surgery, Mae. What surgery?”
“We will need to know where you are all the time, Matt, and be
able to contact you. All League citizens have an implant that is
connected to the optic, oral and aural systems so that we can
communicate. We do not snoop and always announce before we
connect. You can even revoke a call if you like. Just like not answering
the telephone. Oh that’s another thing, we must arrange to disconnect
you from all the services at the house.”
There she goes again, thought Matt, in the same breath as she is
matter of fact putting me under the knife she is talking about cutting
off the electricity.
“Is it really necessary for me to have a communicator, Mae, and
when did I become a citizen of the League?”
“I’m afraid it is necessary, Matt. It’s also for your protection.
You will be continuously monitored and if you get into difficulties we
can get you out. The implant will allow us to think with each other
and transmit information. You can also send commands to computers
with it. You are about to become the most important person on the
planet and we can’t take any chances with you.”
“Well I suppose if you put it like that and I did say ‘no matter
what’ when I accepted the kind invitation to join your club so, why
not.”
“Good I’m glad that’s settled. I’ll set it up for the week after
next. OK?”
“Yes that’s fine.” He would have to practice his sarcastic replies
he decided. She was very good at getting what she wanted and he
needed to score some points of his own.
The rest of the day passed away very nicely. They chatted about
New York, investment strategies, all sorts of things. Mae set him up
on a training session, which summarised some of the other
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technologies they would be using as part of the plan and outlined the
investment system that would help them make financial decisions. It
was seven o’clock when Matt said his goodbyes and made his way
back to Brighton. Mae said that she would phone him in the morning
with the house clearer’s number.
When he got home the house was really empty and he felt really
alone. He took a bottle of Irish up to the roof terrace and watched
the sun go down. He sat up there until after midnight having a long
chat with his mum and dad about all the things that had happened to
him and hoped they approved.
The next day Matt went through all his stuff and was surprised how
little he had apart from his clothes. The records fit into two boxes
and there was only one other box of things like photographs and
some books he wanted to keep. The rest, he decided, could go. His
life was starting afresh.
By Friday the house was empty, his boxes were stored at the
house in Burgess Hill and he was on Mae’s doorstep with two
suitcases. Mae settled him into her spare room and they prepared to
go out to dinner. The next few weeks flew by. Matt had his implant
surgery and continued with his training. His head felt as if it were
bursting and he was amazed at just how advanced the League was.
The graduation ceremony for Matt’s degree from Sussex University
was held in July and Mae attended with Linda and Bill in place of his
mum and dad. Once his degree was conferred they all had an early
evening meal in the Lanes and that led on to another boozy reunion
with his housemates followed by a lovely night with Susie at the Old
Ship. The house sale reached the stage where he could leave it to
the solicitor to complete. The proceeds would be placed in the trust
fund. Matt’s car was in the garage at the house and they were being
driven to Heathrow to catch their plane to New York.
“Why are we flying, Mae. I thought we would transfer.”
“Not on this occasion, Matt. We must be very normal for a stay
like this and therefore we take the plane.”
“Oh OK. I suppose it won’t be too bad. I could get used to first
class.”
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They spent a couple of weeks in the Washington Square Hotel before
moving into the apartment. While Matt enjoyed the Waldorf he had
to admit that this hotel had real charm. It was more homely and in a
continental style, a bit like the hotel in Paris that his mum and dad
had taken he and Susie to a few years ago. He liked it.
The apartment was tastefully furnished with rugs on polished wooden

floors and easy chairs in the Eames style made of wood and leather.
A wall unit in the lounge had a TV and a good stereo system that
Matt was really pleased about and began to educate Mae in his idea
of good music – mainly soul and Tamla Motown. While the MBA
course would take the whole year it only took a couple of weeks for
the learning programme, prepared by ColJan’s team, to bring him up
to speed with his MBA curriculum. He relaxed and enjoyed the
course after that and the tutors were pleased that he not only picked
up their teaching well but his course work was excellent. They were
also amazed at his command of languages and he was well on course
to passing with flying colours. Of course, the real reason for being in
New York was his education for the next 60 years and that was a
session every other day. Matt’s training sessions were held in a private
room at the bank and he really enjoyed the attention that he was
given by the bank’s staff. Apart from the senior management they
were, of course, legitimate citizens of Earth and had created a well-
earned reputation on Wall Street as a bank to go to if money was
needed for the more risky technology ventures. The management
team actually made all the investment decisions and had use of the
probability system that Mae used for the trust portfolio. Other banks
envied them because they rarely made a bad call and even the ones
they did were actually planned by the management team. There
were many approaches from other banks to try and get staff to
leave but it became obvious that the bank was run by six individuals
who would never leave. Mae had regular reviews with them and
Matt discovered that the bank was actually her other client and she
assisted with a lot of the investment decisions.
She spent a lot of time learning about the developing anti-trust
laws because the US was a huge market that they had to control
with their energy company in the future and could not run foul of the
law. Each evening they would retire to the room that was set up as
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Matt’s office in the apartment and Mae would quiz him on his
knowledge learned that day. His mind was expanded daily and Mae
answered all his questions as his knowledge grew. She was pleased
with his progress and was sure that he would pass the real test at
the end of the year to become a fully equipped citizen of the League.
Matt was not aware of that objective but was happy to take the
knowledge on board.
He also practised at communicating with Mae via his implant
from all over the city and got used to the device as second nature.
Mae was right; it wasn’t intrusive but very useful to keep in touch.
Some of his training sessions showed him the facilities of the implant
including how to receive information as data in background and to
access and review it at a later time. Their time in New York was not
all work, however, and they became regulars at some nice Greenwich
Village restaurants, especially Michael and Ennio’s Italian bistro on
La Guardia Square. The first time that they went there Matt was
convinced that the statue of the old Mayor of New York was Jimmy
Cagney until Mae educated him. They took in shows on Broadway
for Mae as well as some concerts at Madison Square Gardens.
Even Mae admitted that she enjoyed the Four Tops and the
Temptations. Susie came over for a shopping trip twice and those
were good weekends for Matt as Mae did not accompany them and
he was able to show off his knowledge of New York to Susie. They
stayed at the Washington Square hotel during these breaks and Susie
thought it to be enchanting as well. Matt returned a couple of times
to check on the progress of turning the house in Burgess Hill into
working offices. Mae didn’t ask him if he met with Susie during
those trips but Lois bumped into them once in London and they all
had dinner.
The year flew by and soon it was a Friday in July 1972 and they
were attending Matt’s graduation ceremony at the university. He
received his diploma and smiled out at Mae in the auditorium. It
wasn’t the normal audience of proud parents because the course
was aimed at middle executives. There was a smattering of wives,
husbands and colleagues. Mae was quite flattered when asked if
she was Matt’s mum but looked too young. They had dinner that
night at their favourite Italian bistro in the village and Michael did
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them proud. They ate and drank far too much but it was, after all, a
celebration. They walked back to the apartment on the warm evening
and were just turning into their street when two men stepped out of
an alleyway, brandishing a gun demanding money. Mae told Matt
not to do anything via the implant and he stood very still. Mae made
a move towards her handbag to get her wallet but as she handed it
over, and when the mugger reached for it, he suddenly convulsed
and fell to the ground. His friend was so confused that he just stared
at Mae. She touched him and he did the same. Now it was Matt’s
turn to be confused. “What happened? What was that?”
“That was a reminder to you of who we are and that we are not
to be messed with. I discharged my defence shield into them and it
has knocked them out,” she explained as she retrieved her wallet.
“They’ll recover in a while with a headache like they’ve never had
before.”
“What defence shield? I can’t see anything.”
“It’s a bi-product of the power generation system. It’s part of the
communications implant. It will stop a bullet but can be used as a
stun device. As you can see.”
“I certainly can.”
“Come on,” said Mae. “We must go before anyone gets
suspicious.”
They walked to their apartment and had some coffee with a
nightcap to calm Matt’s nerves. Mae was icy calm as she explained
that she had also contacted her ship to fix a lock on them just in case
they needed to be transferred out. That would have really confused
the muggers.
“Bed now I think, Matt. Tomorrow we plan our return to the UK
and the next stage of the plan. The defence shield was something
that I was going to tell you about in due course but I think that I will
bring that forward when we get back to the UK. I’ll get ColJan to
have yours turned on and he will instruct you in its use.”
They spent the weekend packing and took the Monday flight into
Heathrow. A car took them back to Matt’s parents’ house and the
office refurbishment was finished. It still looked like the house that
his mum and dad had loved but it was different. It felt like a new
house and no longer a home. Matt was sad. Linda had kept it spotless
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and the changes were subtle. Matt could still recognise it as his
mum and dad’s home because of the furnishings and the decor. Two
of the bedrooms were untouched for Matt and a guest. Both had
dressing rooms and en suites. The loft had been converted and a
satellite communication system plus transfer cabinet had been
installed.
“It looks OK, Mae. Just about still a home. I suppose I will
eventually enjoy working here but why did we need to convert four
bedrooms into offices?”
“Not at first but soon we are going to need some help as time
goes on with the volume of business that we will be doing. A lot will
be out of New York and we shall use the Newton Lambert offices.
To start it will be fine for just you and me but pretty soon we will
need some additional help. I was thinking that it might be a good idea
if I moved in. As chairman you will obviously be my only client.
How do you feel about that?”
“I think I would like that very much, Mae. This house has too
many memories and it will be nice to have a friendly face around.”
“Good, then that’s settled. We’ll arrange for cleaning and cooking
and the like. Maybe Linda will be interested in continuing. I’ll arrange
to dispose of the property in Haywards Heath and formally resign
from the solicitors. We will probably keep them on for our legal
tasks and they can connect us to a firm of commercial lawyers for
the business side. Sound OK?”
“Certainly, Mae. Whatever you say.”
“Good. Now I must leave you for a few days. I have to report to
my superiors about the next stage of the plan and will do that from
my office on Andromeda. You stay here and get used to the house
again. Go through the trust details. We need to liquidate a lot of it for
other investments. Start thinking how we might diversify. You’d better
get some food in as well; we can’t always eat in restaurants. Have
a chat with Linda about cleaning and cooking. It might be that we
can eat with Bill and Linda some evenings together at the house
here in the evenings. It will give you a chance to keep in touch with
the farm in a social way. Make the place more homely. Now will
you drive me to my place, please?”
“Yes of course, Mae. When will you be back?”
“Probably a couple of weeks. I have to review progress with my
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project managers before the meeting with the Council and ColJan
will need some of my time.”
The Jaguar started straight away and he dropped Mae off at
Haywards Heath. He drove back to the house, poured himself a
large whiskey and sat in his dad’s favourite chair. He felt this was
going to be a long night.
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Chapter 9
Defence Plans
GaMea entered her office on Andromeda and ColJan stood up to

greet her.
“Hello ColJan. Are the project managers ready for their reviews
tomorrow?”
“Yes. They are arriving today.”
“Good. We will go through your admin section today and then
review the status report for the Council meeting in three days. I
assume that it has been sent?”
“Yes it has, plus an open section if anything unexpected comes
out of the project manager’s reports.”
“Are we expecting any problems? Is anything behind schedule?”
“No GaMea, but it never does any harm to have the opportunity
to include something that we consider may become an issue. It’s
called contingency planning. Remember?”
“True, ColJan. Thank you for the education. I just thought, possibly,
that you may be aware of something.”
“Not at all. It’s a good idea to get my bit out of the way today.
The others are usually bored with budget and admin issues.”
“Yes it will also give me a chance to ease my mind back in as
well.”
He proceeded to go through his section of planning and
administration with the usual budget reports and forecasts. All sub
plans were reporting OK against the new schedule and the status of
the programme was on schedule. The review took most of the day
and it was getting towards late afternoon when GaMea stretched
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and suggested that they call it a day. ColJan was tidying his material
and closing down the computer system when he asked, “So why are
you seeing the project managers here, GaMea? Their reports have
told us all we need to know.”
“I need to see them as a group every so often just to remind them
that I still really exist as a person and not just a message in their
communicators. It also gives them an opportunity to slip in an extra
trip back home. I will be spending a lot of time with Matt during the
next 20 years or so and want to be sure that there are no unknown
issues on the horizon that we should be thinking about. The review
tomorrow is really about our team dinner when I can get them into
an informal frame of mind. It’s amazing sometimes what they
remember when you ask them how it’s going with a drink in your
hand.”
“I shall remember that, GaMea. What are your plans for tonight?”
“Well I am going back to my apartment, have a nice relaxing
bath, and then I am being collected by the president’s driver. President
MiThan and I are dining together this evening.”
“Sounds nice.” But he had hoped that he would be able to take
her out. “Remember our early start tomorrow. We have a long day
with the team.”
“Thank you for the reminder, ColJan, I will make sure that I get
my beauty sleep.” She stretched again. “If there is nothing else then
call for my transport and I will be going.”
After her bath the transport had collected her and was pulling up
outside the presidential residence. It stopped, the driver opened her
door and GaMea walked inside. The receptionist on duty told her to
go through to the president’s office and she walked through the house
until she reached his anteroom. MariSan, his PA, was waiting for
her.
“The president is just in conference with the secretary to the
Council. He has asked that I introduce you when he signals. Would
you like to sit down, GaMea? Coffee?”
“Yes please, MariSan, that would be lovely.”
She disappeared into a side room and GaMea could hear cups
being placed on a tray. MariSan was very old fashioned and looked
after MiThan like a mother spoiling her child. Nothing was too much
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bother and she always seemed to be on duty. She returned with two
cups on a tray and a pot of coffee.
“He will probably want a cup after his meeting. I think he drinks
too much coffee but he won’t listen to me,” she tooted.
GaMea accepted her cup and took a sip. It was Jamaican Blue
Mountain again. Lovely.
She had just finished her coffee when the intercom on MariSan’s
desk buzzed. “Yes, Mr President.”
“Has GaMea arrived yet, MariSan?”
“Yes, she is just having coffee.”
“Ask her to come in please and bring some coffee for me.”
“There, I told you he would want some,” she clucked with a
knowing smile on her face.
GaMea went into the office and saw MiThan talking with the
secretary’s hologram in chairs around a low table.
“Come over here, GaMea. You remember the secretary to the
Council don’t you?”
“Certainly, Mr President. It’s nice to meet you again, Mr
Secretary.”
“Likewise, GaMea.” The secretary turned to MiThan as he
continued to speak.
“I have been talking to the secretary, GaMea, about some
interesting items in the minutes of the Council meetings. It concerns
the progress being made by Councillor 27 with the preparations for
a defence force.”
GaMea hoped she didn’t look surprised, “Oh really. The councillor
told me that he was going to start plans the last time I met him on
Draco.” She remembered the time in his garden when the security
cameras pointed away and was surprised that the subject was being
discussed so openly.
“Yes, GaMea,” the secretary continued, “the councillor tells me
that you are making good progress and will be contacting you after
the next Council meeting to plan the next stage with you. I thought
that you would like to know. I won’t steal his thunder but he has
developed the prototypes of weapon systems and I would like you to
keep me informed of the testing of these. Please call me after your
discussion with the councillor. I would like to review the situation
with you.”
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GaMea had loads of questions like ‘what situation’ and ‘why a
separate meeting with the secretary’, but she felt that it was not the
right time to ask. She simply said, “Yes, Mr Secretary, I will do
that.”
“Good. Well, President MiThan if that is all then I will be leaving
you now. The aroma of your coffee is tempting to have some myself.”
“Thank you for meeting with me, Mr Secretary, I shall update
GaMea with our previous conversation if that is alright with you.”
“Of course it is, in fact I think it is essential.”
“Thank you, Mr Secretary, and goodbye.”
The hologram winked out and MiThan turned to GaMea, “Well,
what do you think?”
“What do I think? What am I expected to think? You bring me in
here for a surprise meeting with the secretary of the council of the
League of Galaxies and he asks me to call him. First some answers
is what I think.”
“OK, GaMea, that’s reasonable but first a drink. What can I get
you?”
“Champagne I think, Mr President.”
“Certainly.” An orderly came into his office as if by magic and
delivered the drinks.
GaMea looked around to see if she could spot the camera that
was listening for her order but could see nothing. She sipped her
champagne. Vintage Bollinger. Very nice. She continued. “First, Mr
President. What did the minutes of the Council meetings contain?”
MiThan took quite a large gulp from his glass and answered, “In
my position I only receive the edited highlights of the meetings and I
noticed recently that there had been some reviews with a programme
director working for you and XumBarens called DraZene. Have
you heard of her?”
MiThan sat back and studied her face. GaMea thought before
answering and decided to come clean about her last meeting with
XumBarens.
“No I haven’t and there is something that you should know.”
She then proceeded to tell MiThan about the strange meeting
with XumBarens when he disclosed the creation of the defence
force and that she was surprised it was openly discussed with the
rest of the Council. She thought that XumBarens was keeping it to
170
himself and she was going to try and find out more before she brought
it to his attention. She finished with, “And who exactly is DraZene?”
“Well she’s a Dracon and she is apparently running the sub-
programme for you to develop the weapon systems for a defence
force that has been approved by the Council. So far the weapon
designs are on the drawing board and manufacturing of prototypes
will start some time soon. She will also be responsible for testing
them in due course. It seems that she intends using the Earth as a
testing area.” He took a step back as if he was dodging a charging
bull.
“What? Where? How?”
“Calm down. I have just told you all that I know but I thought you
should be aware, as did the secretary. Apparently the secretary
suspects that you are not as aware of progress of this sub-programme
as the councillor leads the Council to believe. I don’t know when the
tests are scheduled to occur but he thought that you should be aware
and didn’t want to embarrass you by telling you the news himself.
He did not want you to have to lie to him like you nearly did to me.”
MiThan sat back and sipped his drink. GaMea also took a sip of
hers before continuing.
“Thank you, MiThan. I really was not sure of what I should do.
The secretary is a very astute man.”
“Very astute, GaMea, and don’t you forget that. He is hoping
that you will be able to continue the charade with XumBarens and
also be able to find out some details when you meet with him after
the next Council meeting. I contacted the secretary for more details
after I read the last minutes because you had not told me about a
defence force and it was he that was actually looking to find out
more for himself. He says that he is not in a position yet to question
the councillor directly but certainly wants to know more. I am
becoming increasingly aware that there is quite a bit of politics
between the members of the Council and the secretary steers a
route through it with diplomacy and influence. Are you OK, GaMea?
You look a bit taken aback.”
“Yes, Mr President, I am OK. I suppose that I am relieved that
the situation is out in the open. Politics is not something that a citizen
of the League is taught and I genuinely did not know what to do.”
“That is OK, GaMea. You should have come to me straight away
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but I forgive you.” He smiled and poured them another glass of
champagne.
“It is interesting because since dealing with the secretary like
this I have also discovered that he is not a member of any of the
three galaxies that make up the Council. He is from a different galaxy
and no one seems to know where. Interesting eh?”
The door opened and the orderly brought in a tray with an ice
bucket and a bottle of cognac. He opened the bottle and offered to
pour for GaMea. She looked questionably at MiThan.
“I thought that you might want something stronger by now,
GaMea.”
“Not yet, MiThan, I am happy with the vintage Bollinger right
now.”
She was beginning to regain her composure and smiled.
“Well I’m glad that you have come off the ceiling at least. The
secretary believes that there is more to this situation than meets the
eye and he has asked us to keep him informed. It would look odd for
him to contact you direct so he has asked for me to be a go between
as they say.”
“Well I can understand that and it is certainly intriguing as well as
very annoying to find out second hand that there is a rogue female
wandering around my planet. I will have to tread very carefully until
I know more.”
“You certainly will, Ga, and we will need regular reviews to update
the secretary.”
The same orderly came into the office and announced that dinner
was about to be served.
Their dinner was superb, as always at the presidential residence
and GaMea relaxed, determined not to let the earlier news spoil it
for her. She was distracted, however. Her mind was working
overtime. What was XumBarens up to and where was DraZene?
The next day she greeted all her project directors into her meeting
room and ColJan fussed over them to make sure they all had
refreshments. After the pleasantries they were all seated and
KalSone, the director responsible for Manufacturing and Engineering
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was giving his report. His prime task was still harvesting black holes
and building transports for relocating the species to their new planets.
He finished his report with a late update.
“Just before leaving I was visited by a programme director called
DraZene. She said that she worked for Councillor 27 and that she
would be using some of our facilities to manufacture living
accommodation. She has all her own resources and is only looking
for storage. It doesn’t affect our schedule so I waited until now to
raise it. Who is she, GaMea?”
GaMea was grateful that she had been forewarned the previous
evening and replied, with a straight face, that the councillor was
conducting his own initiative to test some terra-forming equipment.
“Oh that explains why she also visited me,” raised TardPol, the
director of Materials and Terra-forming, “she has asked for our
surveys of suitable planets in the Milky Way for habitation. What is
she doing?”
GaMea decided that hiding the truth was not going to be possible.
“I’ll tell you but first has anyone else had a visit from DraZene?”
SillTen, of agriculture, health and education, raised his hand. “She
has asked me for use of our training programme systems but hasn’t
said when or what for.”
“And I have been asked to supply some transports,” added
PeenSar. She looked hard at GaMea. “So what is she doing, GaMea?”
She looked at ColJan with a questioning look but he just raised
his eyebrows with and ‘I haven’t got a clue’ expression.
GaMea explained that the Council had decided that a defence
force was a prudent contingency for when they breached the edge
and that because the people of Earth were so good at war they had
decided to create the force from the Earth species. She was aware
of it but they did not want to disrupt her schedule with extra workload
and DraZene had been appointed to create the force alongside their
programme. She left out her meeting the night before with the
secretary and didn’t make it obvious that she had not met DraZene
before.
“Does that explain it for you all?” she asked.
They muttered and nodded their heads.
“OK then, team, lets return to our status reports, shall we? Let
me handle DraZene and just be as helpful as you can for her
important task.” She smiled and the reports continued.
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It was late afternoon by the time SillTen had finished explaining that
the designs for the species training programmes in their new
environments were well advanced and that they were biased towards
the religious teachings of each species. GaMea was pleased with
her team’s progress and confirmed with ColJan that the report to
the Council would only need updating with the defence force
information.
“We will work on that tomorrow in time for the report to the
Council the next day. Good reports everyone. We are looking OK.
I’ll confirm when the Council releases the technology for the next
stage and we can move on. Now, though, it is time to prepare for
dinner. I have arranged for us and partners to dine at the presidential
residence. President MiThan will be our guest of honour. Go freshen
up and a transport will collect you in two hours. OK?”
They all stood, talking excitedly about visiting the presidential
residence. The men knew that their partners would want to wear
something different than they had planned for just a team dinner and
PeenSar was wondering whether she had time to buy another outfit.
They all left talking excitedly to each other.
The transports pulled up outside the presidential residence and GaMea

was at the entrance to greet them. ColJan partnered her as they
filed into the state dining room and met the president over drinks and
canapés. The evening was perfect. MiThan was charming and spread
himself throughout the team as if they were all long lost friends. He
was well prepared and asked the wives how their children were
doing in education. He even knew the names. GaMea spoke privately
to each of her team and was pleased that there were no unreported
issues that she need concern herself with. Even if there was any
dissension within the programme beforehand, and there wasn’t, then
there certainly wasn’t afterwards but GaMea knew that would be
the case. She worked her team well. The evening was a success
and she thanked MiThan on behalf of her team before they all headed
home feeling very good with themselves.
The next day she and ColJan put an addendum to the Council report
that showed she was aware of the involvement of DraZene and
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was accommodating her requirements. The fact that she was seething
inside was something that she would control. They spent the rest of
the day running through her presentation to the Council. She was
confirming that Matt Wetherby was ready and that the programme
needed to move onto the next stage and begin working with the
remaining league technology required to bring the species to
culmination. This latter point was merely a matter of protocol. The
technology was already in use and it was highly unlikely that the
Council would refuse access after the work that had already taken
place. The only possibility was the use of the protein trees. This was
new technology that was pioneered for specific use on Earth to
restore the rain forests and give the world back its lungs. The idea
was spawned by the need to reverse the effect of fossil fuel burning
and the lifestyle habits of the planet. Rain forests were being
destroyed for timber and to make way for cattle to support an
incredibly unhealthy appetite for meat. The protein tree idea had
been devised by the programme’s agriculture team and perfected
by the Council R&D facility. The trees would grow in any climactic
conditions and bear fruit after only two years from planting. Each
tree produced two fruits the size of a very large pumpkin and there
were five varieties. The fruit contained flesh that was identical to
beef, lamb, pork, and chicken plus one that was a fish-like whale
meat. Even the sap was like animal blood. The trees produced fruit
for ten years by which time the tree was large enough for timber
usage. The wood was similar to mahogany. On the 11th year one
fruit was produced by the tree and this was planted in the same
place as the old tree was cut down and produced another tree capable
of bearing fruit in two years. The cycle, properly managed, would
produce more than enough ‘meat’ and timber for the world’s needs
while restoring the rainforests and habitats for wildlife. It was a
simple and effective solution. The League usually insisted in
quarantining such new plant life for at least 100 years but because
of the urgency created by the collapse of the edge it was highly
likely that this rule would be overridden.
The only other unknown was a modification to the power
generation unit to allow the production of desalinated sea water.
This was necessary for irrigation of the trees in desert regions like
the Australian outback. The Council facility had been given that
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problem and GaMea was confident that a solution would be found.
They were working on use of the heat generated by the production
of electricity from gamma rays.
The day of the Council status meeting dawned and GaMea was
at her desk early. The secretary came onto the link and told her that
she was the only topic on the agenda and the meeting would convene
in ten minutes. That surprised her and she composed herself quickly.
The ten minutes seemed to last about 30 seconds and she was
surprised when the secretary came on the link and informed her that
the Council had already concorded to review her report and reached
a decision. He was pleased to inform her that everything was
accepted. She was congratulated on her progress and the technology
was available so that she could proceed as planned. She was surprised
both by not having to present her plans and also at the speed of the
response. She was not, however, surprised at the result and the next
thing she was aware of was her communication link telling her that
XumBarens was ready to meet with her. She was to transmit her
image to his garden where they had met previously to which she
said yes.
The garden was as she remembered but it was late evening, very
warm and different flowers were in bloom with an intoxicating
bouquet. The garden was lit with subtle lighting and it looked like the
inside of a Cuban nightclub. XumBarens welcomed her as another
person joined them.
“GaMea. I would like you to meet DraZene.”
She turned to DraZene and said, “Hello, DraZene, it is nice to
meet you at last. I have heard so much about you from my project
directors – I feel that I know you already. Are you getting all the
assistance you need?”
She seemed startled but replied, “Yes. Thank you.”
“That’s good. They are a good team. If you don’t get what you
need then please contact me.”
‘Nice move, girl. One to me’, she thought. ‘That’s distanced her
to your first line reports in front of her boss.’ DraZene had dark hair
cropped close to her head and her complexion was also dark with a
face that was oval with high cheek bones and a small button nose
below hazel, penetrating eyes. Her figure, which could only be
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described as voluptuous, had an ample bust, slim waist and full hips.
She was wearing an all-in-one black suit that did nothing to hide her
figure and the whole package was stunning GaMea had to admit.
“And what exactly is DraZene’s role, Councillor?”
‘While I’m on a roll let’s see if I can keep the lead,’ she thought
but with a tinge of trepidation. You didn’t upset a councillor.
He smiled. “Touché is what I think you would say on Earth,
Managing Director. I would expect nothing less of you than a direct
approach. Let me explain.” He sat down in a chair and motioned for
GaMea to join him. She sat down in her office and her hologram did
the same. DraZene sat down the other side of XumBarens.
“As you know from our last meeting I felt that your schedule
was already critical enough and decided to assist you by bringing in
DraZene to manage the creation of the defence force. She will report
to me so that you are not distracted from your task. I expect you
feel that you are more than capable of taking on the extra task but
after our last meeting I felt that it was asking too much of you.
Besides I need to be able to utilise the force at a moment’s notice
and feel more in command if I direct their creation. I am sure that
you will work well with DraZene. She will be based on Earth and
will liase with you regularly. Is that OK by you?”
This was not a question. It was an order. “Of course it is,
Councillor. May I review the defence force plans to see if we interact
at any points. We must ensure that we do not trip each other up.”
“Of course, GaMea, but the plans are at an early stage and it is
not possible to do that yet. We have only just agreed the design of
weapon systems and I need to agree the detail with DraZene during
the next few days.”
“I understand, Councillor. I assumed that you were further
advanced given the resources that DraZene has been asking for
from my programme.”
“That is part of my planning, GaMea,” chipped in DraZene, “I
need to know what could be available to me. You understand resource
planning.”
“Of course I do. I look forward to going through your plans with
you at some stage.”
XumBarens stood up and they both did the same. “Good. I knew
that you would get on well. I feel confident that we will reach a
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successful conclusion. Well the main reason for asking you to meet
with me GaMea was to introduce you to DraZene. If you have no
further questions I must get on. I can see TaRey hovering inside and
I mustn’t upset his carefully planned schedule for me.”
“Of course, Councillor.” She turned to DraZene. “I look forward
to meeting with you soon, DraZene.”
She disconnected her link and called for ColJan.
“How did it go?”
“Well the Council meeting was as we expected. Everything is
approved and you can pass that on to the directors. As for the meeting
with the councillor I am not sure. I need to think. Bring me some
coffee and cancel my schedule for the rest of the day.”
“Certainly, GaMea. I’ll get your coffee.”
She sat back and pushed her fingers into her temples. What did
he mean about wanting to direct the force at a moment’s notice?
What did he envisage? She was not concerned about DraZene. She
could keep an eye on her when she transferred to the Earth but she
would feel better when she had reviewed her plans. She was not
happy about giving away control of a significant part of her programme
and she needed to think about that.
It was later in the day when she put in a call to the secretary and he
admitted her straight away.
“How was your meeting with Councillor XumBarens, GaMea?”
“Very brief, Mr Secretary. Primarily it was about introducing me
to his project director, DraZene. She is responsible for creating the
defence force from the Earth species. I am not involved and she will
report directly to the councillor.”
“And how do you feel about that, GaMea?”
“May I be frank, sir?”
“Of course you can. This conversation is only between us.”
“Well, sir, I am uncomfortable. I do not know what is being planned
and suspect that I will never know the full extent and I do not relish
another programme operating in the same space for which I do not
have control. I had hoped that the defence force would be centred
on the Milky Way galaxy with reports back to that centre to ensure
objectivity. The councillor, however, wants to be able to utilise the
defence force ‘at a moment’s notice’ were his exact words.”
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“Interesting. I can understand your concern and I am a bit

surprised that the creation of the defence force is not under your
control. All programmes must be approved by the Council and it has
been understood that your programme would be under your control.
Hence no need for an approval. It was accepted as an extension to
an existing programme.”
“Will you talk to the councillor about it, sir?”
“No. Not at this stage. I would prefer to keep our conversations
private and to confront the councillor now would mean that he would
know you have spoken to me. We do not want that. No. We will
devise a way to give you some oversight. I shall ask for a review of
the plans for the defence force as part of my normal review process
and will ensure that you receive an open copy. I like your idea for
the force to be centred on the Milky Way and will persuade the
Council to approve that position. That means you will receive a copy
of the plans as part of your oversight for the overall programme.
Yes, that will work. It will be interesting to see how the plans are
presented as yours if you had no part in preparing them.”
He smiled at GaMea and said, “OK?”
“Yes, Mr Secretary. Whatever you think to be best. Is there
anything that you need me to do?”
“No I don’t think so. If there is then I will contact you. Please
update President MiThan of this situation. Let’s finish it there. I
must plan my approach to the Council. You may go now, GaMea.
Goodbye.”
She was disconnected and sitting alone in her office. Well that
was an interesting development. What was XumBarens planning?
How would the secretary handle it? He certainly seemed very
confident and MiThan was right – he was obviously very influential.
No power behind the thrown that one. It seemed to GaMea that he
was steering the ship. She called ColJan, “Please locate President
MiThan for me. Ask him if he would be so kind as to call me. Tell
him it’s important. The future of Andromeda may be at stake again.”
“Well tell me, DraZene. What did you think of GaMea?” asked
Councillor XumBarens.
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“Professional and calculating. She will try everything to locate
me and find out what I am doing. She may even attempt to stop
me.”
“Well if that is the case, my dear Dra, then you will have to
arrange for an unfortunate accident won’t you?
“Oh that doesn’t concern me, Xum. I can handle GaMea. I think
it is time that I changed my appearance again so that I can hide
amongst the Earth masses. A slightly lighter complexion maybe and
a bit slimmer.” She reached for his hand and toyed with his fingers
as she ran her other hand down her body. “How would you like me
with longer hair my dear? Maybe with a hint of red.”
He laughed, squeezed her hand and led her into the house.
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Chapter 10
Wealth
The night at the house wasn’t as bad as Matt thought that it might
be. What with the jet lag and a few whiskeys he fell off to sleep as
soon as his head hit the pillow and didn’t wake until nine the next
day. It was a lovely day and the sun was streaming in through the
window. Matt sat up, stretched and yawned. He showered and
dressed then went downstairs to make coffee. Black coffee was all
he could have because there was no food in the house and the coffee
was courtesy of a very old jar in the cupboard. He was ravenous
and he decided that shopping was a high priority but first would be a
hello to Linda and Bill to let them know he was back in one piece.
As he drank his coffee he wandered around the house to get a
better look at the renovations. The downstairs was much the same
as before and he pulled dust covers off the furniture where they had
been left by the builders and decorators. He sat in his dad’s old
office and rearranged the things on the desk to suit his needs. The
main thing that was different was the computer terminal that sat on
the desk now. This was Matt’s link to all the technology that Mae
had introduced him to. Upstairs was still the same shape but had
been remodelled and was bigger because of the extension. His
bedroom and, what would be Mae’s room, were much the same.
Both were good-sized suites and had a dressing room, en-suite
bathroom, and a separate sitting area. They were on the back of the
house and both had a balcony with stairs that led down to the patio.
The other four bedrooms had all been large before but now looked a
bit smaller because a toilet and shower had been installed. There
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were now two further rooms making eight in all. There were no
beds in six of the rooms but desks that were attached to the wall
with more computer terminals installed. Each room had new
wardrobes that covered two walls and hid a pull-down bed as well
as storage for clothes and office papers. Air conditioning had been
installed as well although Mae called it climate control to maintain
the required temperature. Whether heat or cold was needed was a
problem that the system sorted out. The house also ran on power
containers that were supplied by Mae’s team. For most of the time
the house drew power from the local utility companies but the
containers would cut in if there was a power cut. Matt thought that
the office bedrooms looked OK and tried one of the beds. They
were very comfortable king size beds and Matt noticed that the
wardrobes were double depth to accommodate them. They were
heavy and lifted up or down by means of an electric motor.
When he finished his coffee he started to walk over to the farm
cottage on the other side of the property. It was nice to feel the dirt
under his feet after so long spending time with New York concrete
under them. The land smelled good – earthy with a tinge of manure
mixed in. The herd of Herefords were quietly grazing in one of the
fields and they looked in good shape. Not that he would know if they
were in bad shape, he thought. He felt good to be alive and was
excited about the future. His training in New York had expanded his
mind many fold and he was now as familiar with the advanced
technology of the League as if he had known it all his life. His training
had not all been alien, however. He had also been given a sound
understanding of business with ratios for company performance now
coming as second nature to him. He found that he actually enjoyed
reading the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. Not only because
he understood it but also because he was conversant with the
probability computer technology that Mae had used to set up the
trust portfolio. He had actually predicted a couple of financial coups
before they became public knowledge with the help of the system.
He knew that Mae had a small army of people feeding information
into the system but he was still amazed at the accuracy of the
predictions. The problem was not going to be how to make money
but where to invest for the best return.
Given the learning system that Mae had put Matt through it was
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not surprising that he had graduated with his MBA at the top of the
class. His faculty had been most impressed with his language skills
as well. He had to admit that he was still surprised at being able to
switch between English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese,
Hindi, Russian and Mandarin as easily as he could. There was
definitely a future for the training techniques of the League, he
thought to himself. His friends were going to be surprised when they
discovered his new talents but he and Mae had worked out a story
based upon his use of a new learning technique that taught you via
tapes that played to your subconscious while you slept. The technique
was not fool proof but it seemed that Matt had an aptitude for it.
Flimsy but plausible, they felt, and hopefully good enough for a friend’s
examination.
The sun on his face was getting warmer and it was going to be
another nice day. There were all the makings of another good
summer. Soon Matt was walking into the farmyard and he saw that
Linda was hanging washing out on the line. The house in the
background was a large cottage with bedrooms in a thatched roof.
He had never been inside the house but it looked a good size and he
imagined the kitchen to be the heart of the house.
“Hi, Linda. How are you?” he called across the yard.
“Matthew,” she cried as she dropped her washing into the basket
and rushed across the yard to him. She gave him a hug and he felt
that this was the moment he had been waiting for. Someone from
his past that knew him and felt for him. He hugged her in return. She
stood back to admire him.
“You’ve grown up,” she declared, “not older you understand, but
more worldly.” She seemed to be flustered as if she had said the
wrong thing. “How was New York?” she stammered. Matt smiled.
It was true – he had grown up. More than Linda could ever know.
“It was great. Exciting and scary at the same time. I had a lot of fun
and have got my MBA.”
“Oh that’s wonderful. Your mum would be so proud. I’m proud
for you as well. Well done.”
“Thank you, Linda. That means a lot to me. Is Bill around?”
“No. He’s off to market today. Your dad used to keep the herd at
about the same size and we sell the calves and heifers that are
surplus this time of year.”
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“Oh! OK. I suppose I should get to understand that some day.
When will he be back?”
“Later this afternoon.”
“OK. I’ll pop back then. We need to talk about the future and I
was wondering whether you would like to continue looking after the
house and maybe take on some of the cooking as well. Like a
housekeeper.”
“Sounds good to me, Matthew. I would enjoy that.”
“We can talk about salary later but right now I need to go shopping
for food and get some breakfast. I’m ravenous.”
“Well now, how about if I start my new job straight away. Come
inside and I’ll make you a big farmhouse breakfast with a mug of
tea and then we can go shopping for the house.”
“That sounds wonderful, Linda. Now I know I’m home. Tonight
we will all go out to dinner, my treat, and discuss the future of the
farm. Are you and Bill free?”
“Definitely. Now come inside and let me welcome you home
properly.”
Matt beamed like a Cheshire cat and definitely felt that he had
the cream. Breakfast was excellent and Matt pushed his plate back
when finished, “That was really good, Linda. I don’t think I’ll be
eating for a week.”
“Oh, so we won’t be going out to dinner after all?”
“Oh, I think I will have recovered by then. No worries.”
“Good. Let me wash up and then we’ll go shopping. There were
still a lot of sauces and things in the cupboard at the house I noticed
when I first went. I threw them all out because they wouldn’t keep
so we’ll need everything. Meat for the freezer and some vegetables
as well.”
“I’m glad you’re in charge, Linda. What I’ll do is pop into the
bank in Burgess Hill this afternoon while you’re with me and set up
a housekeeping account that you can draw on. I’ll top it up each
month. Don’t go getting two lots of shopping. I’ll cover the food for
the farm as well and it would be nice if you and Bill joined Mae and
me for dinner a few times a week.”
“Oh! Who’s Mae?”
“I’m sorry, Linda, I will have to introduce you. She is the financial
expert that looks after the trust fund that Mum and Dad left me. I
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will be setting up my own business working out of the house and

Mae is my partner. I supply the money and she provides the brains.
We will be investing in shares, money markets and things. Mae is
going to be the chairman of that company. We will be working
together and she is going to move in. It will be nice because I will
always have company.”
“Oh and how old is this Mae then Matthew?”
Matt looked at her and could detect a gleam in her eye. “It’s
nothing like that, Linda. Mae is almost old enough to my mum.” A
few thousand times over he thought and didn’t realise just how close
he was with his jest.
“Oh that’s alright then. Now, will you drive or will I?”
“I’ll get my car and come back to pick you up. About ten minutes,
OK?”
“See you then.”
Matt left the farmhouse and started to walk back across the
farm to his house, pleased that all had worked out so well. It would
be good having Linda in charge as it would also be nice having another
familiar face around the house from his old world. She and Bill had
never had children. Matt remembered overhearing a conversation
between Mum and Dad once suggesting Linda couldn’t conceive
for some reason. It had made the bond between Mum and Linda
that much closer.
As he walked back he realised that Mae, Bill and Linda had
become his family. His mum and dad’s relatives were still all in the
Midlands and seemed quite remote. Even when Mum was alive
they had only got together at Christmas, weddings and funerals. A
typical family really. He liked the idea of having Linda close to hand.
She was a bit younger than his mum and it would be good to have
her almost like a surrogate when he needed a shoulder to cry on. He
made a note to get on the phone to Susie as well. He must let her
know that he was back and it would be good to see her as well.
Shopping and banking were straightforward with someone as
organised as Linda along. Matt set up a standing order to transfer
money each month and over coffee they agreed a salary, which
would be included in the transfer. Matt said that Linda could draw
on the account for her own use and then they could avoid tax and
employment issues. She would handle all the house bills and set up
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some further standing orders for regular payments. Matt told her to
include the farm utility bills in the deal as well. It was all so simple
once done and Matt felt that a weight had been taken off his mind.
They took the food back to the house and Matt helped Linda pack it
all away. He gave her a key and explained the alarm so that she and
Bill could come and go as they needed.
That evening they had dinner at a local pub and Bill updated Matt
with the state of the farm. He explained that his dad had handled all
the bills himself and Matt suggested another account be set up for
the farm, which Bill would run as if it was his own business. Matt
increased his salary a bit and said that if the farm made a profit then
it would be paid to Bill as a bonus. They chatted about the farm and
at the end Matt felt as if he had a good handle on things. He dropped
them back at the farmhouse and was back in his house by ten. He
went into his office and called Susie at her flat in London. She
answered almost straight away.
“Susan Jones, hello.”
“Hi, Susie. How are you doing?”
“Matt, how lovely to hear you. Where are you?”
“Back in England. I got home yesterday and I’ve been sorting
the house out. What are you up to this weekend? Can I come and
see you?”
“Yes of course you can. That’ll be great. When should I expect
you? Do you have the address of my office?”
“I’ll meet you from work on Friday. Still the same place in
Cavendish Square?”
“Yes. I finish at five thirty. We can talk then. It will be lovely to
get together again. Friday’s a date.”
“Terrific. That’s good.” They chatted a bit longer about her job
and other things then rang off.
The next day Matt spent some time revisiting the trust portfolio
and, by using the probability system that was set up in his office,
identified the shares that would be best to liquidate. His next step
was to ask the system for the best investments over the next three
to five years. The system accepted the request and said that the
search would take between three to four hours so Matt left his office
and locked the door behind him. The lock was the same as the one
in Mae’s house in Haywards Heath and was set for his palm print.
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He thought that it would be necessary to set the system up for Linda

when she cleaned the house. He would discuss that with Mae when
she returned. It was still early, only nine o’clock, so he thought that
a leisurely breakfast was in order. It felt strange cooking in his mum’s
kitchen but he had to admit that the pain was fading slowly. People
had told him that one day he would have difficulty recalling their
faces and he swore never to let that happen and kept a photograph
of Mum and Dad on his desk. He spoilt himself with another full
English breakfast and a mug of coffee. Linda had asked him to keep
a list of food that was required and he added single cream. During
his time in New York he had picked up the habit of taking cream
with his coffee and now he missed it when it wasn’t available.
It had been good talking with Susie the night before and he was
looking forward to the weekend. She sounded as if she was enjoying
her life and it seemed that she had just finished decorating her flat in
Fulham. He had asked her whether she would like to see a show but
she said that just being together would be good. There didn’t seem
to be anyone special in her life and Matt found that he had mixed
feelings about that. He loved being with Susie but he didn’t know
whether he loved her. That was a situation that he had decided a
long time ago would resolve itself. It was now June 1972 and they
had only seen each other three times in the last year. He had decided
to play their relationship by ear and see what happened without forcing
any issues. He believed that Susie felt the same way.
He washed up the breakfast things and decided to walk to the
town to buy some newspapers. He would relax in the garden and
catch up on the news while the computer finished its task. The walk
was pleasant and he bought four papers including the Financial Times.
It was eleven o’clock when he returned and he settled himself in the
garden with a cup of coffee.
The news was still full of the impact of the miner’s strike and the
three-day week. Inflation was rising out of control and the economy
was not looking good. Just that week the chancellor had announced
a decision to float the pound on the money markets and sent the
currency into free fall. There were articles that suggested the
government were considering a wage/prices freeze and that Ted
Heath, the British prime minister, was in trouble. From elsewhere
the Vietnam war was still raging, the IRA had declared a cease fire
187
in Northern Ireland, and the Duke of Windsor was finally coming
home to the UK to be buried. All in all an interesting time with the
state of the economy being at centre stage in the UK.
There was an interesting article that reported the world, especially
the US, were using energy resources at an alarming rate and oil
supplies were very dependent upon the Middle East where nearly
all the oil states were in some kind of conflict with Israel. It was an
explosive situation that they should be able to exploit and it confirmed
to Matt that Mae’s plan for a new energy source was right on target.
At about twelve o’clock he went into the kitchen, poured himself
another cup of coffee and then went back into the garden where,
with the effect of jet lag still catching up, he dozed and dreamt about
space and moving planets to create electricity. It was two o’clock
when he stirred and he was surprised that he had slept for so long,
but he felt refreshed. He went into his office and the computer was
showing a message telling him that his report was ready. There were
instructions to save it and he stored it into the investment folder that
Mae’s team had created. The report was a summary covering equities
by region and industry, plus money markets and finally commodities.
It was the latter that caught his eye because it confirmed the
newspaper article about the US oil consumption and that pressure
was mounting on their self-sufficiency. A new spot market in petrol
was flourishing in Rotterdam and oil prices were expected to rise.
He made a note to review that with Mae. The report also stated that
computer technology would advance almost exponentially and that
it was an area for investment. He read the rest of the report and the
remainder of the afternoon passed quietly. He walked over to the
farmhouse and chatted to Bill about his needs for a bank account to
run affairs. They agreed to go into town the next morning to set it up
and then Bill would drop him at the station to catch the train to
London. Linda cooked a meal for them at the farmhouse that evening
and Matt took a couple of bottles of decent wine from his dad’s
cellar. Matt felt really good afterwards and as he walked back to the
house in the dark he was whistling to himself.
Friday morning Matt packed a bag for the weekend and Bill picked
him up at nine. Their business at the bank was straightforward and
he was on the train to Victoria by eleven ten. Susie worked in a PR
agency in a large converted town house in Cavendish Square just
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behind John Lewis in Oxford Street. Matt was going to meet her
from work and go home together to her flat. He was in Cavendish
Square by twelve thirty to confirm Susie’s office address and he
decided that a pub lunch would be good. He sat in The Cock sipping
his beer and reading the paper. He supposed there were better ways
to spend Friday lunchtime but right then he couldn’t think what they
might be.
During the afternoon he planned to walk up Oxford Street and
across Hyde Park to Harrods to buy Susie her favourite perfume,
Parfum de Hermes. He knew it was expensive so he was going to
spoil her and get the complete range gift-wrapped. He planned
sausage sandwiches for breakfast the next day so a stop in the food
hall was called for. Mum had always said that they made the best
Lincolnshire sausages and they weren’t expensive so he bought a
few packs. After the shopping he walked back down Park Lane and
into Oxford Street reaching Susie’s office by about four thirty. He
sat in the square waiting, thinking of all that had happened to him
since meeting Mae and how much different his life was to the one
that he had imagined. It was at times like this when he was alone
that he felt just a bit overwhelmed.
Susie came out of her office on the dot of five and rushed into his
arms. She kissed him hard and said that they should get home to her
flat in a way that answered all of Matt’s questions about their
relationship. They were making urgent and very passionate love five
minutes after Susie had closed her front door. Matt had only had
time to drop his bag by the sofa in the lounge when Susie had returned
from the bedroom naked. She performed a twirl and asked him if he
had missed her. His response was to just stare and take a step towards
her. She held up her arm and told him to stop. He found it very
difficult to keep his hands off her as she undressed him and laid him
back on the sofa. She straddled him and was rocking backwards
and forwards slowly controlling her pleasure. Matt, on the other
hand, didn’t last long and he lifted his buttocks as he climaxed. She
fell forward on his chest as he breathed deeply and relaxed.
“Well it seems that you needed that as much as I did,” she
whispered in his ear.
“Yeah it seems that way. Oh, by the way, hello. How have you
been?”
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They both laughed and fell off the sofa. She rolled on top of him
and looked into his eyes.
“You will do that properly for me later, Matthew Wetherby, and
you will spend more time on the things that I like, OK?”
“Yes M’am, whatever you say.”
They stood up and cuddled. Matt picked up his things and Susie
showed him the bedroom. He gave her the gift-wrapped parcel from
Harrods and walked back into the kitchen to put the sausages into
the fridge. It was a small, but cosy, flat. Susie had decorated it well
in warm colours with comfortable sofas and lots of cushions. He
went back to the bedroom and Susie was beaming.
“My favourite perfume and the whole range, so much of it. Thank
you, Matt.”
“The least I could do after abandoning you for all this time. It’s
lovely to be with you again. What do you fancy doing this evening?”
“Well first a shower, put on my war paint and some of this lovely
perfume. If you’re a good boy I’ll let you rub some of the body lotion
on my back. Then I thought we’d have a drink at my local and a
leisurely meal somewhere in the Kings Road. There are plenty of
restaurants to choose from so we should be able to find somewhere
nice. OK?”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll shower and change first then, while
you’re getting ready, I’ll pop to the off licence and get some wine
for the weekend.”
“Off you go then, I need to run the iron over my dress. Do you
need anything pressing?”
“Yes please – a shirt. I’ll get it.”
He showered, dressed and popped out to pick up some wine. As
he came back into the flat Susie called from the bedroom.
“Put the wine in the fridge then come in here and give me a
hand.”
Matt put the wine away, opened a bottle of red and poured two
glasses. He walked into the bedroom and Susie was lying face down
on the bed naked.
“Put some lotion on my back, Matt. I can’t reach.”
He put the wine down and squeezed a line of lotion down her
back. He rubbed it in well and turned it into a proper massage. Gently
kneading her muscles as she relaxed and closed her eyes. He used
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up the rest of the lotion from his hands on her buttocks, slapped her
and said, “Done, milady. Will there be anything else that I can do for
you?” as he reached for his wine. Before he could get to it she
rolled over and pulled his lips down onto hers. After a long kiss she
pushed him away whispering, “My turn I think.”
Matt kissed her again and slowly moved down her body, kissing
and nibbling all the interesting places on the way. Matt had always
been very good at foreplay and treated Susie’s pleasure as importantly
as his own. She pushed her hips up into his face and started to
moan. It wasn’t long until she climaxed and pushed him away when
she could take no more. Matt did not let her rest and she was soon
climaxing again and it wasn’t long until Matt did the same. He
collapsed on top of her and they cuddled while they recovered their
breath.
“A lot of good it was you ironing my shirt. You might have let me
take it off.”
“You know how much I like it when you have your clothes on,
Matt. Besides that one was for me so we played by my rules.”
“Do your rules teach me how to breathe through my ears?”
They both laughed and got off the bed. Susie grabbed her clothes
and went to the bathroom. Matt was drinking his wine in the lounge
as she returned saying, “Well that has given me quite an appetite
and I’m thirsty. Let’s go down the pub and I’ll introduce you to some
of my friends.”
They walked to the Golden Lion on the Broadway and as they
went in Susie steered him to a corner where she had arranged a
surprise. David, Paul and Lois were waiting for them.
“Wow. Bloody fantastic. Susie you’re a darling.”
Matt turned to his friends, “How have you all been?”
They all stood up, cuddled, shook hands, and kissed. A pint was
on the table waiting for Matt and, if possible, the evening got better
from that point on. The beer flowed, they all updated their experiences
over the last year and then they went to a small French restaurant
that Susie had booked and stuffed themselves silly. Good food, fine
wine, and great friends. Matt was in heaven. The others were quite
amazed when Matt ordered the whole meal in fluent French after
the waiter started talking to them in French. He tried the ‘learn
while you sleep story’ and they seemed to accept it, although Paul’s
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quizzical mind wanted to know more. Lois rescued Matt by saying
that she had read something about it and her bank were about to
fund some of the development finance.
David had joined an accounting practice and was coming to the
end of his professional year to become a qualified accountant. He
hadn’t changed much although he now wore his fair hair in a more
conservative way. It made him look more professional and suited his
rakish good looks. Paul was a management trainee for a large
manufacturing company in electronic components. He was currently
in the purchasing department. He looked completely different with a
beard that was trimmed close. Matt commented that it looked as if
his hair was starting to recede which made Paul laugh. His smile
could easily fill a room and Matt tousled what hair he had left. Lois
was a junior account exec in an investment bank learning about
corporate finance. She hadn’t changed at all. Everything about her
was the same and Matt considered her to be lovely. Her hair was
still a salt and pepper blend with brown eyes, a wide but small nose
with freckles and pert lips. She said that she had joined a gym to
keep herself trim.
The weekend carried on like Friday evening with them sleeping
anywhere they could find a spot in Susie’s flat. Saturday was spent
with a boozy picnic in the park and Matt bought them all dinner in
the evening. Sunday afternoon came round all too quickly and Matt
was back on the train to Burgess Hill, pleased that he and Susie
were going to see each other at weekends. He decided that he liked
that idea.
It was Thursday evening of the following week and Matt was sitting
in the kitchen eating when Mae walked in.
“Hello Matt. Been good?”
He looked up with a startled expression, “You made me jump.
Where did you come from?”
“Well from the other side of the moon actually via the attic.
Remember we had a transfer system installed up there.”
“Of course. I forgot. That will take some getting used to with
you popping in and out and we must think of a story for Linda with
her in the house all the time. How was your meeting?”
“Good. The Council have approved the use of all the technology
we need and my teams have got everything on schedule.”
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She decided not to share her meeting with XumBarens or the

introduction of DraZene. She would handle that situation in her own
time and her own way.
Mae filled the kettle and waved it at Matt to see if he wanted a
cup of tea. Matt waved his glass of beer back at her.
“Did you take a look at the investment portfolio, Matt? Any ideas?”
“Yes. I used the system to review the mix of shares and
investments and it has recommended some to liquidate and some
other investments. It also supplied a good summary on energy and
oil usage that might be an opportunity but I don’t know how to pursue
it. Oh, and computer technology should advance fast and investments
in that area would be good.”
“Yes that makes sense. I have a lot of people placed in that
industry making sure that it advances properly. Good Matt. The
system is pretty good at its predictions but we can discuss that
tomorrow. I’m quite tired now so I think I’ll get an early night. Are
the bedrooms made up?”
“Yes. Linda has done a super job. I’ve set her up as permanent
housekeeper, by the way, and also Bill with an account to manage
the farm.”
“Well done. We will be too busy to worry about the domestic
issues. Which room should I use?”
“Mine is the one at the back of the house to the right of the stairs
and yours is next door.”
“OK Matt. See you in the morning.” She picked up her tea and
left him in the kitchen.
He went into the lounge, poured himself a Jamesons and sat
down in a comfy chair. He considered that his life was indeed strange.
He had been genuinely taken aback at Mae’s appearance ‘out of
the blue’ or rather ‘the blue yonder’. He had already travelled further
than any other human being and he wondered whether Mae would
take him to Andromeda at some stage. The thought of travelling to
another galaxy called for another drink and Matt obliged himself.
He switched on the news and saw that the money markets were still
in turmoil over the floating of the pound but there was nothing else
on the energy situation. Yesterday’s news, he supposed. He realised
that he hadn’t told Mae that he was going to see Susie tomorrow
and on his way to his bedroom he wondered whether to tell her
tonight or wait until the morning. He saw a light under the door of
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her bedroom next to his and was about to knock when he stopped
himself with the thought that he didn’t want to disturb a 10 000 year
old woman in a state of undress.
Unusually it was raining the next morning, not heavy just a persistent
drizzle, but sufficient to be good for the garden. Matt was looking
out of his bedroom window at the garden thinking of his mum and
how much she had loved pottering with the flower beds and
supervising the gardeners. He sighed and turned into his en suite to
shower. It was seven thirty and he had slept well. The day ahead
was going to be interesting. His first working day in reality. He turned
the shower to cold as he finished and felt invigorated. When he
returned to his bedroom a cup of coffee was on his bedside table.
Mae was obviously up and about. He put on a white cotton shirt that
his mum had bought for him one Christmas and a pair of jeans, then
went downstairs to the kitchen.
“Breakfast Matt?”
“Yes please, Mae. Just some toast will be fine. Thank you.”
“Where do you want to work today, Matt? Here, in the lounge or
in your office,” Mae said as she was cutting slices of bread.
“I don’t know. How about my office. It’s plenty big enough and
has a coffee table with a sofa. We should be comfortable there.”
“Yes. That’s OK. More coffee?”
“Yes and thank you for the cup earlier by the way. You’re spoiling
me.”
She smiled and put the bread in the toaster. Matt got the butter
and spreads out of the fridge.
“I read through the investment report that you prepared before
going to sleep last night. There’s some interesting material in there.
I think you are right about the oil situation. We need to investigate
that further. Bring your toast through to your office and I’ll load up
the computer.”
When Matt walked into his office Mae was sitting in an armchair
with the computer screen close by on the coffee table in front of
her.
“I didn’t know it did that,” he said, “Where’s the wire?”
“It isn’t connected by wire, Matt. It uses something like radio
waves.”
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“Excuse me?”
“Its like a telephone transmission that can hold data and connects
the pieces of equipment.”
Matt looked bemused.
“Don’t worry about it for now, Matt. Just use it. I don’t suppose
you know how a car engine works in detail but you still drive it.”
“True I suppose. Oh, by the way, I visited Susie in London last
weekend and we had a great time. All my housemates from uni
were there and I’m seeing her again this weekend. Is that OK?”
“Of course it’s OK, Matt. You don’t need to ask me. You live
your own life – we just need to let each other know what our plans
are. I suppose our lives will be a bit more intertwined than most
other work colleagues but that’s to be expected. How were they
all?”
Matt was silent for a while as he mulled over being considered a
work colleague with the most powerful person on the planet. He
shook himself out of his reverie, “Mmm. What? How are they?
They’re great. They’ve all got their jobs going. David is finishing his
professional year with a firm of accountants and will be a full
accountant himself in the next few months. We all joked with him
about being a boring accountant but he seems to like it and obviously
knows about the finance issues of a company. Paul is a management
trainee for an electronics components company and is currently
working in the purchasing department, and Lois is working for an
investment bank learning all about how companies raise money and
invest any spare cash. Susie is doing well at PR and is in the middle
of a book launch at the moment. They are all having fun and doing
well. We had a great weekend catching up.”
“And what did you tell them about yourself, Matt.”
“Don’t worry, Mae, I was very cagey and just said that I was
living well off the trust fund and was planning a few investments
with your guidance. They were impressed with me ordering dinner
in French but seemed to accept our story. Lois was supportive and it
seems that a company is actually trying to develop the technology.”
“Interesting, I must look into that. Well it certainly sounds as if
they have found their feet and they are all in interesting jobs. You
must keep in touch with them, Matt. They could be useful to the
investment company at some stage in the future. I’ve always liked
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Susie and thought that she would make a great organiser for admin
and PR. Is there the making of a long term relationship there Matt?”
Matt looked a bit shy, as if his maiden aunt had asked him if he
had any little girlfriends yet.
“I don’t think so, Mae. We’re very good friends at the moment
and long term has never been discussed. We’ll see what happens.”
Just like the maiden aunt he decided to change the subject. “Have
you had any relationships over the thousands of years that may have
led to marriage?” he asked.
“Not of the sort that you would think of as relationships, Matt.
The League of Galaxies has never embraced the concept of marriage.
You should understand that marriage is a religious thing and religion
is unique to Earth. In the League we do have long-term partnerships
even with children but also short-term ones as well. Sometimes even
during long-term relationships. You might call them affairs. We don’t.
The League is very liberal about sexuality and there is no need for
marriage to support procreation. The majority of childbirth is carried
out by young females and males of their choice but they do not raise
their children in a single family unit. All children are raised in peer
groups of 15 with house parents and educated together for over 200
years. All League citizens are very well educated and naturally
intelligent. Occasionally older females may have a child for particular
reasons but it is quite rare.”
“Gosh. That’s a bit different, isn’t it? It’s almost as if the men
have got their own way.”
“Why would you say that, Matt. The contrary is true. Of course
the League recognises the differences between the sexes but in all
things both sexes are truly equal. If there was a decision to be made
about the way that we are then it would have been jointly taken. But
it doesn’t happen that way. We wouldn’t consider that it was a joint
decision. It just is.”
“That all sounds fascinating but what will happen when the League
is made public and the people of Earth are offered the chance to join
new civilisations. Will they follow the League ideals?”
“An interesting question, Matt, and I don’t have an answer. We
will need to work that out with them. Maybe they will want to keep
the religions as a lifestyle rather than a faith. A lot for the future to
consider but right now we must think about today. Time for work.
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The first thing on our agenda is a name for the investment company.
Any ideas?”
“To be honest, Mae, it hasn’t crossed my mind. What sort of
name should we have?”
“Well usually such companies have a name that is related to the
founder with some kind of twist. I have thought about it and think
that the name Wetherby Burgess has a nice sound. What do you
think?”
“That sounds really professional. Can we do that?”
“We can do what we like so long as the name is available. I’ll run
a check later today if you like. OK?”
“Yes fine.”
“Good that’s settled. Wetherby Burgess Limited it is. I’ll get the
lawyers working on setting it up and we’ll incorporate it in Bermuda
to minimise tax. Now let’s spend a couple of hours thinking about a
broad outline for the next couple of years. Our objective must be to
increase the value of the investment fund many times so that we
can start making some large plays in the markets. We may have to
seem to take some risks but that’s usual for large gains. I was thinking
more last night about the energy situation with the world worrying
about future supplies for oil. My team are in a position to manipulate
that situation and I think that we should concentrate in that area for
the next year or two. So long as there are sufficient funds to cover
our costs then we should use the rest of the fund investing in oil in
some way. What do you think?”
Matt thought for a moment. “The report from the probability
system was quite clear. As I recall it was suggesting that the onshore
US oil production facilities are at the point where they can no longer
cover all their needs and the onshore reserves that are left are in
places that are environmentally unacceptable to drill. That means
that the big US oil companies will be looking to control more overseas
supplies and exploration for new fields will become a priority.”
Matt sat quietly for a moment while he mulled through what he
was thinking.
“Yes I agree with you, Mae. What if we hire a wildcat driller
from the oil industry and sink a well to uncover a new oil field
somewhere in the world.”
“Excellent, Matt. You have been thinking about it, haven’t you?
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Those are the same recommendations that my team have come up
with. Of course we have an advantage because we know where
the untapped oil fields are. The terra-forming team of my predecessor
put them there many millennia ago. Sinking a test well that uncovers
an untapped reserve of oil will be a miraculous stroke of luck as far
as the world is concerned, won’t it? Where did you learn about wild
catters?”
“I seem to remember them from a book I read once.”
Matt smiled, not only at the thought they had a pretty good
advantage with Mae’s team behind them but also at the praise from
Mae. He felt like the kid at the top of the class.
“Coming up with the idea wasn’t that difficult, Mae. Your system
was pretty good with the advice.”
“That’s true, Matt, but it doesn’t tell you what to do. That’s the
real skill with the probability system; you need to be able to use the
information to make a successful decision.”
“So, Mae. How do you think we should proceed?”
It was her turn to smile. He was learning the role of leader fast.
Have an idea of the direction to be taken but allow the team to
supply the detail. Joint ownership always stimulated a team better
than overt direction.
“Well we need three things. First we must secure funding because
the trust fund won’t be able to cover the cost of an exploration
operation. I’ll arrange that through the bank in New York. Then we
will need to hire a good oil well driller or wildcatter as you called
them. I’ll set up the bank analysts to track some down and see if I
can meet with them. I’ll go over to New York today and be there for
the weekend while you’re visiting Susie. Finally, and most importantly,
we need to locate a new oil field to drill. I’ll arrange for my director
of Terra-forming to transmit plans to the New York office for me.
Then on Monday with all that information we can start making some
decisions and liquidate your investment portfolio to fund the operation.
It is acceptable to have 10% equity on a final payment loan and I
think we’ll probably need about £20 million but I’ll check that with
the analysts. The liquidated fund should cover our needs. OK?”
“Yes OK. Will you fly or transfer to New York, Mae.”
“I think I’ll fly from Gatwick. I’ll probably need to fly inter state
in the US and don’t want to alert the authorities that I am an illegal
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alien.” She laughed at the unintentional joke. “Let’s finish now so

that you can drop me off at the airport, I’ll pick up the ticket when I
get there. I’ll pack a bag for the trip while you get on to the airlines
at Gatwick to see what flights are available.”
Mae went upstairs and Matt took the china into the kitchen. He
washed up and then called a flight agency. There was a flight to
New York on the Laker Skytrain at three o’clock so Matt could drop
Mae at the airport and still give himself time to drive back to Haywards
Heath, park the car and get a train to Victoria in time to meet Susie
from work. He might even have time for a drink and a bite to eat.
He went to his bedroom, threw a change of clothes and wash things
into a leather holdall for the weekend and went downstairs to wait
for Mae. She was in the kitchen waiting for him with just a handbag.
“You were quick, Mae. No luggage?”
“I keep clothes in all our locations around the world, Matt. It’s
something we will arrange for you. Makes travelling easier. My
offices supply local currency as well.”
“I’ve been thinking about my role in this plan, Mae. Your operation
obviously has plenty of money and good connections. Why do you
need me?”
“Good question. Let’s drive to the airport and I’ll explain.”
Matt brought the Jaguar up to the front door and Mae made
herself comfortable in the front passenger seat. They pulled out of
the drive and headed for the A23.
“You’re right, Matt, the League doesn’t need you from a money
or resources point of view. We have all that now. What you must
understand, however, is that people – not just from Earth but the
universe over – are suspicious. If I turned up overnight with the
technology that we are going to use and the infrastructure in place
to distribute it then the press, politicians, and establishment would be
all over me. They might discover that my background was very long
and create the wrong impression for the mass of people that we
need to support us. You, on the other hand, are ordinary. You will be
considered fortunate to have inherited a lot of money at such a young
age but your upbringing was working class. Your mother was a
canteen lady and your father an accountant who worked hard and
built a business that made them comfortable. You will use that
opportunity and the education they gave you to do even better. The
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majority of people in the world will like that story. You will be
acceptable. That is why we are going to spend so much time
generating the sort of wealth that will be required. It is that wealth
that will be the foundations for the next part of my plan. The
technology that you will use will also be credible. The people of
Earth do not need to know how the gamma rays get to the planet,
they will only know that your satellite collects the background radiation
from the universe and channels it to the ground station where
electricity is generated. I will have positioned sufficient people in the
scientific community to allay any condescending points of view if
necessary, but even that will be a healthy debate. Throughout history
great leaps forward have always had scientists that disagree. It
happened to Galileo, Marconi, Einstein and many others. We will
handle it. You will hire the best scientific minds in the world to develop
the technology and they are already in place developing their careers.
They work for me in my species development team.
We won’t patent the technology because no one will be able to
copy it. The electricity generation component will be in an impregnable
container. For saving the world from a disastrous increase in gamma
rays you will be considered as a saviour, will become extremely
wealthy and the vast majority of people in the world will love you
because you are ordinary.”
She stopped talking and relaxed in her seat. She realised that she
had been sitting forward as she summarised the next 20 to 30 years.
“So you see, Matt, you are central to my plans which is why I am
spending so much time with you. I cannot leave this job to one of my
team. My whole programme lives or dies on your success. I did not
even get involved directly with the creation of Christianity nearly
2000 years ago until the very end but this is much more important.
There will be many millions of people who will see you as the saviour
of the second coming and we may be able to use that to our
advantage. I haven’t decided yet.” She paused for thought. “As you
may have guessed I don’t have a detailed plan at this stage but my
team are working on it the whole time. It depends on so many factors
and we do not control everything that happens in the world. Each
day is a re-plan depending upon world events.”
Matt was silent for a moment as he digested what she had said.
“Well, Mae, that’s a hell of an admission. I thought that you had your
finger on the pulse of everything.”
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“Not everything, Matt, but I am aware of most things. If you like

I will let you listen in to the receivers in my head some time, but not
for long because it takes a lot of development to manage such a
huge amount of input and filter what you need.”
“You really are very important aren’t you, Mae? GaMea is a
good name for you. You really are like Gaia Mother Earth.”
“Not a coincidence, Matt, not a coincidence.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Matt was just a bit
overwhelmed at her speech. He knew that he was in the middle of
something important but not until now did he realise the scope and
size of what it was. Mae had only given him snippets of information
about her vision and he wondered at the things that were in her
mind. He would have been really concerned if he knew what she
and the secretary suspected about Councillor XumBarens and
DraZene but for now he just occasionally sneaked a look at her as
he drove. She was sitting quietly, breathing deeply with her eyes
closed. He couldn’t begin to imagine what information she was being
fed or what she was processing or replying or thinking. All he did
know was that he was glad that she was on his side. He also knew
that he would need to develop the use of the implant in his head
much more as well.
They parked at Departures outside the terminal and he got out of
the car to get Mae’s bag for her. As she took it he leaned forward
and kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank you, Mae. I only hope that I live up to your expectations.”
“You’ll be OK, Matthew. I’ll be with you all the way. We’ll do it
together.”
She checked her watch. “Now I have to go. Have a good
weekend and I’ll see you Monday or Tuesday next week. If there
are any delays I’ll contact you on the communicator. Have a nice
time with Susie.” She turned and was gone.
Matt drove back to the station at Haywards Heath and was soon
on his way to Victoria station in London. The train pulled in at just
after three and he walked across Green Park and Mayfair to Oxford
Street. He was in plenty of time and went to John Lewis for a coffee
and a piece of gateau. His mind was still taking in what Mae had
said and as he sat at his table he involuntarily said, “Wow.”
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The lady at the next table looked at him and said, “Excuse me.”
Matt shook himself and looked at the lady. “Oh! Nothing. Just
thinking out loud.”
He finished his coffee and checked his watch. Four forty. Just
time to go to the florist and get a bouquet for Susie. He chose
something huge with lilies and roses and lots of ferns. When Susie
came out he was peering around the flowers as if he was hiding
behind camouflage. She laughed.
“You dolt. They’re enormous. How are we going to get them on
the underground?”
He looked sheepish. “I didn’t think of that. I know. We’ll get a
taxi. There’s a rank outside that hotel over there. Come on.”
She grabbed his hand and giggled as they ran across the square.
The taxi driver didn’t take too long getting them to Fulham by a
route only London cabbies would know. Not long after getting into
the flat they were making love surrounded by flowers on Susie’s
bed.
They lay cuddling after and Susie said, “Mmm that was nice.
What do you want to do next?”
Matt smirked and grabbed for her. She wriggled away and leapt
off the bed.
“Oh! no you don’t, Matthew Wetherby. I’m going to shower and
get ready. You gather up the flowers and put them in a vase. You’ll
find one under the sink in the kitchen.”
Matt smiled at the sight of Susie’s pert bottom as she walked into
the hall. He collected the flowers, took them into the kitchen and put
them in a vase. He helped himself to a beer from the fridge and
went into the lounge to put on a record. He selected Led Zepellin
and wandered through to the bathroom. Susie was just stepping out
of the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and slipped by
him.
“Shower, you. Then get dressed. I want dinner in town tonight.
You think about where to go.”
Matt did as he was told and it was just after seven thirty when
they were walking up Fulham Broadway to get a taxi. Matt told the
driver to take them to the GPO Tower where they managed to get a
table for two by the window with the help of a fiver to the maître d’.
The food wasn’t the best but it was compensated as the restaurant
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revolved around and gave them magnificent views of London plus a

glorious sunset.
Lying in bed that night Matt was cuddling Susie and they both fell
asleep full of dreams.
Saturday was spent shopping in the Kings Road during the day and
a night in with a dinner cooked by Susie. Sunday morning was raining
and they decided to read the papers in bed and have a leisurely
breakfast. They went to the cinema in the afternoon and Susie went
to Victoria with him to catch his train in the late evening.
“You must come down to the house next weekend. Do you fancy
that? I know that Mae will be pleased to see you again.”
“Mae lives with you, does she?”
“Don’t you start. I get enough of that from Linda on the farm.
Mae is my business partner and she happens to live with me. That’s
it. OK?”
“Fine, Matt. I believe you. It will be lovely to come down. I’ll call
you from the station and let you know what train I’ll be on. You can
pick me up at the station.”
“That’s a deal. My train leaves in five minutes so I’d better get
going. Call me and I’ll see you next week.”
Mae didn’t return until Tuesday. She contacted Matt over his
communicator on Monday and explained that she had a trip to Texas
to see a freelance oil well driller. She was going to catch the American
Airlines flight back to Gatwick out of Dallas and she gave him the
flight number to be picked up.
On Tuesday evening he was at Gatwick Arrivals waiting for Mae
to fly in. It was just gone seven. She was almost first out because
she had no luggage. He waved and she made her way over to him.
“Successful trip, Mae?”
“Yes very good. Let’s get home and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Mae sat quietly on the journey home and Matt concentrated on
his driving. Once indoors Mae went upstairs to freshen up and he
made a cup of tea. Mae joined him in the kitchen.
“Oh no, Matt. Not tea. I think that we should open a bottle of
champagne.”
“The trip was that good eh?”
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“Definitely.”
Matt went to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of Bollinger that
Dad had always kept in there. ‘Good old Dad,’ he thought. The cork
ejected with a pop and Mae proposed a toast.
“To Matt. The latest member of the oil industry.”
“Wow. That’s sounds good. What have you done?”
“Well first I set up a £30 million draw-down facility with the
bank. We have quarterly interest payments at an interest rate of 5%
on the outstanding balance. I have bought the contracts back for
you to sign. The report from my terra-forming team has identified
three prospective sites each with big reserves to be tapped. They
are all accessible and no one else has explored them yet. And lastly
I met with a wildcatter in Dallas called Jake Bishop and he is available
when we want to start. He said he knows all there is to know about
‘th’awl bidness’, as he says it. His fee will be $1 million per year,
50% payable in advance, the rest on completion or end of year plus
all expenses plus a 100% bonus if we strike oil. The salary and
bonuses for his people will be additional and will be in the region of
another $2.5 million for the ten-man crew.”
“Two million dollars! How can he charge that much?”
“It’s peanuts, Matt, when you realise that we are on a sure thing.
All we need to do is point him in the right direction and set him up
with the materials. He will put together his own drilling team.”
“I suppose you’re right. Can I wear a Stetson and cowboy boots?”
“No, Matthew, you cannot. Besides Jake already does that. I
have said that we will get back to him either way by the end of the
week and if we go ahead then we will discuss our plans with him
next weekend in Dallas.”
“Oh. I’ve invited Susie down for the weekend.”
Mae looked at him with a schoolteacher look.
“I’ll call her and say that some business came up and I need to
go away.”
“Tomorrow we need to review the suggestions for drilling and
decide on which one we want to progress. Jake will handle all the
local issues like permits and we will buy the mineral rights for the
property that we want to drill on. Now I think I’ll get an early night.
We have a busy day tomorrow and I want to be fresh. We’ll fly
back to the US. I suggest that we set off early on Thursday and set
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up a meeting with Jake on the Friday. We can fly into Dallas on

American Airlines and come back on the red eye the same day if
you like. That will give you time to see Susie if you can stay awake.”
“Oh! That’s an idea but I think I would rather not. Seeing her late
is one thing but falling asleep all over her is something that I would
rather not contemplate. I think a bit of shopping in Dallas would be
good to buy her something nice. You can help me if you like.”
“OK. Probably best. We’ll check flights tomorrow. The oil reports
are on the system. Have a read through them tonight so we can
make a decision tomorrow. See you in the morning.”
Matt went through to his office and turned on the computer. While
it was loading he poured himself a drink and settled down on a sofa.
The screen was still on the coffee table. Since he had discovered
that he could put it anywhere he wandered all over the house with it.
He hadn’t tried the garden yet and he made a note to check with
Mae what its limits were. The report was quite short. A summary
with details behind if required. There were four sites identified and
three of them were off shore. They were in the Southern Atlantic,
off the coast of Sri Lanka, and in the North Sea. The fourth was in
Nigeria. Matt read all four summaries and thought that the Far East
and Nigeria might be a bit political. In fact in the detail the report
covered the potential issues with getting grants and licences. The
South Atlantic was in disputed waters between the UK and Argentina
around the Falkland Islands. Possibly difficult. The fourth site was
in a North Sea fishing area called the Ninian Field. Matt pulled up
the detail. The area was not in dispute. It was in the 200-mile fishing
exclusion zone around the UK and the political situation was stable
if erratic at the moment with a bad economy and trouble between
the government and the unions. There was a huge field of oil below
the seabed and a few oil companies were exploring in the area but
none were near the largest reserves. British Petroleum was close to
a small reserve but they had all stayed not far off shore at this stage.
The report contained a summary of the drilling technique with
platforms that floated and were anchored to the seabed to maintain
position. It was a rough environment but achievable according to the
survey. Looked good, thought Matt as he poured himself another
drink. He would recommend it to Mae in the morning. He checked
his watch. It was half past midnight and the time had flown. He
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downed his drink and went upstairs to bed. He was soon asleep and
dreaming of crashing waves and gushing oil wells.
He was wakened by a tap on his door.
“Mmm. Come in.” He lifted his head over the covers and saw
Mae enter with a mug of coffee.
“Morning, Matt. Rise and shine. Lots to do.”
“Mmm. Yeah if you say so.”
“I certainly do, young man. Now shake yourself awake, drink
this coffee, shower and come downstairs. I’ll start breakfast. You’ve
got 15 minutes.”
She pulled the curtains to let the sun in and left him alone with his
thoughts. He looked at his bedside clock. Six thirty. ‘Is she mad,’ he
thought. Still better do as he was told and get up. He sat up and
sipped his coffee. It was good and started to revive him. He swung
his legs off the bed and went into his bathroom. It didn’t take him
long to get through the start of the day routine and he was soon
walking into the kitchen to the smell of bacon sizzling. He poured
himself another coffee.
“It’s a beautiful day, Matt. I thought we could have breakfast on
the patio. Then work out there in the fresh air. Good idea?”
“OK by me, Mae.”
“Good. Go into the office and load up the computer. Bring the
screen outside and put it on the table.”
Matt loaded the computer and carried the screen into the garden.
He sat and watched the system come up and was surprised that he
could see the letters in the bright sunlight. Mae carried out a tray of
eggs and bacon with the coffee pot.
“How does this screen work, Mae? I thought it would be too
bright.”
“It’s polychromatic, Matt, and it adjusts to the glare. You’ll be
able to get glasses like it one day.”
“Oh, and how far will the screen work away from the computer?”
“Well as far as you want. It works on a transmission system if it
doesn’t have line of sight. The further you go then it may pick up
interference but given that this system is the only one in the world
then there isn’t a lot of interference around.”
Matt tucked into his breakfast and washed it down with another
cup of coffee.
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“That was good. Thank you, Mae.”

“You’re welcome. Lets clear these things away and get down to
work. Did you read those exploration reports?”
“Yes and I agree with the recommendations. The North Sea looks
good but I don’t understand how we can buy a bit of water.”
“Well we can’t. We would have to get a licence from the
government. When I read the report I came to the same conclusion.
I picked Jake because he has experience of off shore drilling in the
Gulf of Mexico.”
“That’s useful. Do we want to consider the others?”
“I don’t think so, Matt. For the North Sea we need to think about
how to approach the government department to get a licence. I can
ask our solicitor to find a lawyer who works in this area and we can
get some advice.” She picked up the phone and dialled a number.
“Hello Mr Jones. It’s Mae Smith. Sorry to ring you at home so
early but Matt and I need some advice on oil exploration in the North
Sea and would like you to locate a colleague who understands the
area. Things like government permits and that sort of thing.”
She listened to his reply and said, “OK, that sounds fine. Ring me
back later with a name and we’ll take it from there. Cheerio.”
She updated Matt and told him that Mr Jones was aware of a
small firm working in the area and they had been working for British
Petroleum so they sounded OK.
“Now we need to book some flights. What’s the time?”
Matt checked his watch, “Its only a quarter to eight.”
“Oh! Still early. That’s good. Let’s pull up the detail of the report
on the North Sea and prepare a summary for Jake when we meet
him. He will need a rough location, sea depth, and the rock formation
to start with. His team can work out the rest with our help once they
start.”
Matt pulled up the report and they prepared a package for Jake.
Linda turned up at eight thirty and made them a cup of tea. Matt
mentioned to Mae that they should give her some information about
the security on the house and Mae went off with Linda to explain
enough for her to get access. Linda wasn’t interested in the
computers, only needing to know that she could dust them without
causing any damage. Matt finished off the report and drove into
town to get a paper. When he returned Mae was on the phone to Mr
Jones.
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“Thank you for coming back so quick. I’ll get on to Mr Quentin
after nine. See you.”
She replaced the phone and told Matt that the lawyer was an
Alistair Quentin and he had an office in Aberdeen. “I’ll set up a
meeting with him for our return from Dallas next week. We can get
him moving on the licence issue.”
Matt reviewed the exploration report with Mae and they agreed
that it was probably enough to get them started. Any additional
information that Jake would need could be sent to him on their return.
They arranged for a mid-morning flight on Thursday out of Gatwick
and then set up a meeting with Alistair Quentin in his office in
Aberdeen for Tuesday the following week. It was midday by the
time they had everything tied up with the exception of arranging a
time to meet with Jake on Friday in Dallas. They had to wait until
two o’clock for the time difference but at two thirty it was done and
they had arranged a meeting for the Friday afternoon in the Stoneleigh
Hotel in downtown Dallas. Jake told them it was a good hotel with
nice surroundings and he recommended they stay there themselves.
He also said that it was his favourite place to eat as they served up
big helpings of good, traditional food.
“Well that was a good session, Matt. I think that we are on our way.
I need to catch up with ColJan and review some status reports from
my team. How about if you get the train up to London and surprise
Susie with dinner this evening? Pack your bag and I’ll put it in the
taxi when I leave for the airport tomorrow. You can pack it for the
weekend. If you drive to Gatwick and park your car there then we
will have transport when we return. I’ll get a taxi to the airport
tomorrow.”
“That’s a good idea, Mae. Thank you. I think I’ll do that.”
He packed his bag, left it in the hall and went upstairs to Mae’s
room to say goodbye. She was in the middle of a meeting with
ColJan’s hologram.
“Hi, ColJan. How are you?”
ColJan’s image turned round and said, “I’m fine, Matt, and you?”
“Pretty good. I’m quite excited at becoming an oilman. Has Mae
told you?”
“She was just updating me now. It all sounds very interesting. I
wish you luck.”
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“Oh I don’t think luck will come into it – not with Mae on my
side, do you?”
“True, but there are still lots of issues to be sorted out.”
“Well I had better get going. Just came to say goodbye, Mae.
See you at the airport tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Matt. We’ll meet at the American Airlines
ticket desk. Don’t forget your passport.”
Matt left and drove to Gatwick. He was outside Susie’s office at
five and decided to call just to make sure that she was in. She
answered her phone, “Susan Jones, hello.”
“Susie, it’s Matt.”
“Hello Matt, what do you want?”
“Well nothing actually. I wondered if you fancied dinner tonight.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m outside your office.”
“Really. Dinner would be lovely. I’ll be out at five thirty.”
The evening was good and they went to the little restaurant in
Chelsea where they had the first dinner with all his old friends. Susie
was disappointed that the weekend was off but she was amazed
when Matt explained why and their plans for drilling for oil. They
were in bed by eleven o’clock and went straight to sleep. Matt was
pleased that everything had gone well and that Susie was not too put
out about the weekend. The next day they got up together and Matt
took the underground with Susie on his way to Victoria to get the
train to Gatwick. He met Mae at the airport ticket desk and they
were taking off soon after. They would arrive in Dallas at about four
o’clock local time and have plenty of time to settle into the hotel in
time for a meal and an early night.
They spent the next morning running through their meeting agenda
with Jake Bishop and Mae had a bank cheque drawn on Lambert
Newton prepared for $1 million – $500 000 fee to Jake and $500
000 for initial expenses. Matt wondered at her trust in Jake and she
said that these sorts of people were often more trustworthy than
real businessmen. They traded on their reputations and cheating was
not part of their make up. Matt was still wondering as they made
their way to the restaurant bar where Mae had arranged to meet for
lunch. They sat at a table and ordered a drink. It wasn’t long until a
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man walked in wearing boots, a large hat and a black leather jacket
over faded Levi’s. Matt guessed that he was 6 ft 2 and probably in
his mid-40s. He was deeply tanned and looked very fit. His face
was round but long at the same time. Everything about this man said
big. He looked around the room, spotted Mae and made his way to
his table.
“Hello Jake. It’s nice to meet you again.”
“The pleasures all mine, little lady.” He looked over at Matt.
“This is Matthew Wetherby. He is the owner of Wetherby
Burgess, the investment company that is funding this deal.”
“Good to meet you, boy. Can I get you two another drink?”
“I would like a white wine please, Jake, and I expect Matt is
ready for another beer. Am I right, Matt?”
“Definitely. A Bud please, Jake.”
Jake ordered the drinks and they moved through to a quiet table
in the corner of the restaurant that Jake had reserved. When they
were settled it was Jake that led off.
“Well Matt. Mae tells me that you need a test well drilled and
that I might be your man.”
Matt was a bit taken aback by this approach. He had expected
to enjoy a nice lunch and follow Mae’s lead. He looked at her and
she stayed silent. However he heard inside his head. “Over to you,
Matt. Do the deal.”
“Well that’s about it Jake. We have good information about a
possible oil reserve in the North Sea and we want to test it out.”
“Interesting and where is the site?”
“As I said it’s in the North Sea about 100 miles to the north east
off the Scottish coastline.”
Jake sat back and thought for a while. “What makes you think
there’s oil there?”
“What do you think Mae?”
“Tell him that we have carried out some initial surveys using
satellite data and it looks OK. BP are in another part of the
North Sea so there is a big player out there already.”
“We have commissioned some good survey data based on satellite
input and the chances look OK. We will be competing with BP.”
“What are the conditions?”
“We have prepared a survey report for you,” said Matt as he
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handed over the report. “Anything that’s missing we can get next
week.”
Jake read through the report as they ordered their meal. He
recommended a New York strip that he said was one of the best in
Texas. They all joined him. Mae had a salad with hers. Jake ate
mouthfuls in between reading and on occasions his eyebrows raised.
When he had finished he put the report down and ordered another
drink.
“Well. It’s a challenge. It’s not the sort of place where you can
jump in the truck when you run out of beer, is it? We would need a
good supply operation in place. Transport from the shore, that sort
of thing. It won’t be cheap.”
Matt answered him. “We understand that it will cost real money,
Jake, but we are not a bottomless pit. We need to be in place by
October before the heavy winter weather sets in so we need your
ideas fairly quickly. Are you interested in joining us?”
Jake took a swallow of his beer. “Yeah. Why not? It won’t be as
warm as the Gulf but the depth is similar and I can drill through
anything. If you can finance the deal then I can do it.”
“Good,” said Matt as he reached across the table and shook his
hand, “We can have a contract drawn up by the end of next week
and you can start moving.”
“And the money?”
Matt asked Mae for the cheque and she handed it over. Matt
showed it to Jake.
“Five hundred for the first instalment on your fee and another
500 for initial costs.”
Jake reached for the cheque but Matt put it back in his pocket.
“That’s for when we have a legal agreement, Jake. I’m sure that
you understand.”
“Of course, boy. That’s OK. Worth a try, though, wasn’t it?” he
smiled.
“It certainly was, Jake. Do you think that we can get in position
by October?”
“Well it depends on how long it takes us to get a rig. Have you
got contacts for that sort of thing?”
“There’s a growing supply industry in Aberdeen but I haven’t
investigated it personally yet. I will be in Aberdeen next week to find
out what is what. What are your contacts like?”
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“OK but I won’t know for a while. I need to do my plans and
make some calls.” He sat back, thinking. “There is an alternative.”
“What’s that, Jake.”
“My rig is in dry dock at Houston right now. What if we shipped
it across and used that. We could break it down and it would sit on
the deck of a container ship. That will save a lot of time. I could let
you have it for a good price. Only one careful owner.” He smiled.
“What do you think, Mae?”
“Sounds OK to me if he can ship it.”
“And how much is a good price?”
“A million dollars should see it on a ship and on its way.”
“Five hundred thousand.”
“Seven fifty”
“Sold, including shipping.”
They shook hands and Matt handed the cheque over. Jake looked
surprised.
“Consider it an act of faith Jake. We are going to be in each
other’s pocket for the next year or two so we had best start on the
basis of trust. You do your plans and start preparing the rig and
we’ll get a contract drawn up and back to you with another 750 000
next week. How soon can you be under way?”
“I should be ready to go by the end of July and in Aberdeen by
end August. That will give us a month of fair weather to get the rig
in position. Should be OK.”
“Good. Then we have a deal. Can I get you another beer, Jake,
or is a bourbon to your preference.”
Matt ordered some coffee, a Makers Mark bourbon for Jake
and a Jamesons for himself. Mae had a glass of domestic champagne.
“Well done, Matt. We are on our way.” She raised her glass,
“To success.”
They finished their drinks and all stood up. Jake declared himself
pleased with the deal and Matt agreed.
They spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls and
leaving messages to get things moving. Mae arranged for another
cheque to be drawn and then they had an early evening walk through
Dallas. They walked past the School Book Depository and ended up
standing on the infamous grassy knoll where they stood looking back
at the city and Matt was lost in his thoughts.
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“A penny for them,” said Mae.

“What. Oh! A few things actually, Mae. Did I look as nervous as
I felt this afternoon?”
“You looked and acted like a natural, Matt. You handled the
situation very well.”
“Well thank you. I think that it will work out well. It was a stroke
of luck that Jake had an oil rig ready to go but I was very nervous
spending a million dollars.”
“Well you had better get used to it, Matt, because that’s the world
we’re in. Remember it was a stroke of luck for him as well I think.
What else is on your mind?”
“Well standing here looking at that scene I was thinking back to
the assassination. I was only young but I still remember where I
was. I had just come home late on the Friday afternoon and my
mum was sitting down in front of the radio. They had just announced
what had happened down there on that road. I wonder what did
really happen.”
“Would you like to know?”
“What? How?”
“Well, Matt, my team have recorded most events in the history
of the world. It will be one of the gifts that we will give the people of
Earth when they join the League. We can replay most events. Would
you like to see this one?”
“Yes please.”
“OK. Sit down on the grass and close your eyes. I will arrange a
download to your receiver and you will see the images and sounds
as if you were there. If you turn your head then the aspect will
change so don’t do it too much because people will think that you
are strange.”
Matt sat down, closed his eyes and after a couple of minutes the
scene changed in front of him. There were lots of people, some
waving flags, as a motorcade came round the bend at the top of the
hill heading for the underpass. As the car reached halfway down the
hill there was a loud bang and pandemonium broke out. The
presidential car slowed and there were people rushing everywhere
then, from behind where Matt was sitting, he heard another shot and
the president slumped forward. Matt whipped his head round just in
time to see a man climbing over a wall and handing a rifle to another
213
man in a uniform. He opened his eyes and broke the transmission.
He turned to Mae.
“So there was an accomplice.”
“Not so much an accomplice, Matt. Just someone to make sure
that the job got done. I decided not to intervene at the time.”
Matt was deep in thought.
“But who did it? Who was that other person?”
“That’s a very long story, Matt, and for another time.”
The rest of the day was relaxed with a light meal in the evening.
The next day they did some shopping for Susie and bought some
underwear and a handbag that Mae thought she would like. Their
flight was late afternoon and they were back at Gatwick early Sunday
morning. Matt drove them back to the house. As they walked into
the hall Mae stopped and stood as if she was listening. Matt almost
walked into the back of her.
“Sorry, Mae. What’s wrong?”
She stepped out of his way still listening then appeared to return.
“Sorry, Matt. It was a message from ColJan. I need to get onto
my computer. She went upstairs and put her hand on the security
pad. Her computer was soon up and running and she logged into her
message file. The one she wanted was flashing and she opened it. It
simply said, “DraZene is on the move. We need to meet. Best face
to face. Not sure of the transmission security. ColJan.”
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Chapter 11
DraZene
GaMea was sitting in her office on Andromeda less than 24 hours

later. She had explained to Matt at the house that she had to go
urgently and he should carry on and finalise the arrangements with
Jake Bishop in Dallas and meet with Alastair Quentin on Tuesday.
She had pressing things on her mind and, while she had received
updates from ColJan when she was travelling, she agreed that
Andromeda was the right place to be such that she could meet with
MiThan and the secretary in a secure environment if necessary.
ColJan was sitting the other side of her desk with a report on the
computer screen.
“So, ColJan. have you found out any more about what DraZene
is up to?”
“Well we don’t really know for sure but we do know that she has
set herself up as effectively controlling the research and development
of at least three Earth-based weapon development companies.”
“Really. How interesting and what are these companies?”
“Well we know of three. They are all specialised firms in the
arms industry. They do a lot of prototype work on new weapon
systems and sell the prototypes to the large arms manufacturers and
directly to governments after they have sold their ideas to a buyer.
The firms are existing concerns in the USA, another in France and
the third in the New Territories in Hong Kong. On the face of it they
are all owned by locals as is required by the governments within
which they operate but the owners are really plants from the League
operating in a full time Earth role. The companies have been in
215
operation for about five years and DraZene is effectively controlling
their new products. We suspect that the fast rise of the companies is
based upon access to technology from the League. The name that
she is using, Drew Zenner, has appeared in board meeting reports of
all three in a consulting capacity. Almost a special director without
brief. She is not trying to hide and, in fact, is playing her role by the
League species development book as if she was a part of an approved
programme. We discovered her position with our search facilities
for the business information system that we maintain. It was unusual
for the same name to appear in the reports of three, apparently,
competing companies at the same time. After some enquiries it seems
that she has been involved for over two years now. The companies
were originally started with funding from an off shore bank in the
Cayman Islands that also turns out to be a League operation. Further
to that DraZene has recently been in touch with our project directors
asking for resources. She has requested training systems,
manufacturing plans for factory premises and transports. We have
not yet supplied them.”
“Do we know if these company operations have been authorised
by the Council?” GaMea knew the answer to this already because
if they were then she would have known about it via a communication
from the Council in her role as the managing director of the Milky
Way galaxy programme.
“No, GaMea, they are not. We have searched all the databases
of Council business and there is no record. It could be a clandestine
operation without formal documentation but even things like that
pass through you don’t they?”
“They certainly do, ColJan.”
She sat back from the report on the screen and thought.
“DraZene has only just been introduced to me by Councillor
XumBarens and she only appeared in the company accounts a couple
of years ago, so who set up these fronts and why?”
“We don’t know the answer to that, GaMea, but I would guess
that the councillor is involved and has had some plans in place for a
lot longer than we imagined.”
“My thoughts exactly.” She sat back thinking. “Did President
MiThan answer my request for a meeting by the way?”
“No he hasn’t but his office said he was at a League meeting
and would be returning tomorrow.”
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“OK, ColJan. I’ll handle that and give him a call on his private
communicator. I need to discuss this with the secretary plus the
issues of the defence force meeting that I had with the councillor. If
the councillor set up these organisations without Council approval
then he is in direct conflict with one of the prime objectives that
stops us intervening with lengthy operations without a directive from
the Executive. Our bank in New York has been approved as a
necessary support operation for our many activities on Earth that
need legitimate funding but these arms companies are something
completely different. Councillor XumBarens must have some
important plans to violate League law that way. Oh! And talking of
plans – has the secretary sent copies of DraZene’s programme plan
to us? He said he was going to review them with the councillor.”
“No. We haven’t received anything.”
“OK then.” She relaxed. “There’s nothing that I can do until I
meet with President MiThan. I shall leave for my apartment. I want
you to compile a report on these companies. The sort of work that
they do, who they sell their research to, financial reports, that sort of
thing. I’ll contact the president now to arrange a meeting tomorrow.
I’ll review the latest programme status reports at my apartment.”
ColJan left her alone with her thoughts, which were about trying
to figure out what XumBarens was up to. She contacted MiThan as
he was on his way back to the planet in his cruiser and arranged to
meet him the next day. Apart from the situation with DraZene the
programme was OK and she decided to release the resources as
she had requested. This would support her promise during the meeting
at XumBarens’ residence.
The next day she went to see President MiThan and after arriving
at his residence she was soon sitting in an armchair being served
coffee by MariSan.
“So, GaMea, why are you about to threaten the future of
Andromeda again and why couldn’t you tell me over the comms
link?”
“Well I don’t know that it’s a threat yet and I didn’t want to tell
you over the comms link because I don’t know what eavesdropping
technology the Council may use.”
“Why would the Council want to eavesdrop on us? What are you
up to?”
217
She updated him with the news of DraZene’s involvement in the
arms companies and how they were set up, finishing with, “What do
you think XumBarens is doing, Mi?”
“I don’t know but it sounds very suspicious. How did your meeting
go with the secretary after the last meeting with the councillor by
the way?”
“Oh it went well. He asked me to update you. He seemed
concerned at the introduction of DraZene because it represents
another programme if she doesn’t report to me and the Council has
not been asked to approve a separate programme. He is going to
review the plans for the defence force as part of the normal review
process that he has with all councillors. He said that he would ask
for a copy of my plans on the subject. He seemed quite amused at
the thought of seeing how XumBarens would present plans that he
knows I have no part in. The secretary seems quite calculating to
me. I would say he is very influential.”
“That’s certainly true, Ga. I have seen him in action during the
Council meetings. He is a long way from being a servant to the
Council and the councillors all seem to defer to him. Now what
should we do?” He took a sip of his coffee. “I think that the secretary
needs to know about the arms company set up because that is definitely
a contravention of the League Code of Conduct by the councillor.
Let’s have some lunch and I will ask MariSan to contact his PA
about a meeting.”
While they were having lunch MariSan interrupted with a message
saying that the secretary would meet with them in 15 minutes. Could
they join him at his residence?
MiThan raised his eyebrows, “Now that is unusual. I don’t know
of any other occasion when the secretary has asked for a meeting
at his residence. I wonder why? We’d better finish up and transmit
from my office.”
On their return MariSan had the link programmed into the
transceiver and they waited until the time to join the meeting. At the
allotted time their hologram images were shown into an office with
the secretary sitting behind a desk.
“Welcome, President MiThan, and it is nice to see you again,
GaMea.”
“Thank you for receiving us so promptly, Mr Secretary,” said
MiThan, “I feel that the subject is quite important.”
218
“I got that impression from your PA and thought it best that we

meet here where the cloaking in this room is the best in the universe.
There will be no uninvited listeners here and the transmission of
your holograms is also cloaked by the same technology.”
GaMea looked at MiThan with an ‘I told you so’ look.
“So what is the issue, Mr President?”
“I think it best if GaMea explained, Mr Secretary.”
He looked at GaMea and nodded to her. She retold the story
about the arms companies and the issues surrounding them. She
finished by asking, “Did the councillor review his defence force plans
with you, Mr Secretary?”
He smiled and said, “No not yet. My reviews are on a schedule
that does not occur with him for another few weeks and I decided
not to change the schedule. I am looking forward to the good
councillor presenting your plans to me”
He stood up and paced the room, obviously thinking. GaMea and
MiThan sat quietly, not interrupting. Finally the secretary sat down.
He took a deep breath.
“What I am about to say must never leave this room.”
They both nodded.
“I don’t know what the councillor is doing but I intend to find out.
I suspect that he is using the out-of-universe sect to take control of
the League and I will need irrefutable proof before I can take that
accusation before the Council. GaMea, I want you to keep a close
watch on DraZene and report to me. When is your next meeting
with the councillor?”
“We do not have a schedule. The councillor contacts me when
he wants to meet and arranges a time.”
“I see. Well then I suggest that you ask for a meeting to review
the plans of DraZene as you are concerned that you are now supplying
resources and you want to make sure that you can help by being
better informed. Do that sooner rather than later and report to me
on the outcome.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmured, “what about the councillor running an
operation on Earth that is not authorised by the Council?”
“I think you will find if you visit your programme records that you
probably approved the operations a long time ago.”
“But I know that I did not…” She stopped as she realised what
the secretary was saying. “Oh, I see. ”
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“Now, President MiThan, thank you for bringing this to my
attention, I will talk to you some more about it after my review with
the councillor. Thank you for your time.”
Their holograms winked out and they were back in MiThan’s
office.
“Well what do you make of that, Mr President?”
“I think that Mr Secretary is quietly displeased and I also think
that he is not quite ready to make an issue of it at this stage. The
Dracon galaxy would take a very dim view of being implicated in
something so serious without good proof against Councillor
XumBarens. I think he will play out enough rope for the councillor to
snare himself and also to disclose what he has planned. I am very
concerned that the secretary thinks the out-of-universe society has
something to do with this.”
“Why?”
“Because the councillor is going out of his way to keep his moves
away from the Council and that action is a lot like the sect which is
also very secretive. There are many rumours about the activities of
the sect and none of them are good. They seem to practice murder
to achieve their ends and that type of activity has been very alien
within the League for many millennia. When will you contact the
councillor?”
“Later today when I get back to my office. Shall I return here
this evening to update the secretary?”
“Yes that’s a good idea. What are you going to say to the
councillor?”
“I think that I will just keep it simple and do as the secretary
suggests. An enquiry to see if the defence force plans are ready so
I can be more helpful. Do you think that I should raise the issue of
DraZene being involved with the arms companies?”
MiThan sat down and invited GaMea to join him.
“I don’t know. How do you think he will react? Will that make
him suspicious? He would be a very powerful enemy.”
“Yes I agree but how else are we going to get him to divulge
some information?”
“No, GaMea, I think that for now you should just play the role of
the dutiful servant and leave it as if you are trying to be helpful.”
“OK. You’re probably right.”
220
“I’ll get MariSan to call your transport.”

“Thank you, MiThan. I’ll update you after my call.”
GaMea returned to her office and asked ColJan to contact the

councillor’s PA to see if he was available to talk. She went into her
bathroom to freshen up and when she returned ColJan was waiting
for her.
“The councillor is not contactable until tomorrow and suggests
that you call then.”
“Damn. That means I’ll be delayed another day. Contact the
president’s PA and let him know that I will not be with him this
evening.” She checked the time and paced up and down the room
finally coming to a decision. “Oh well, I shall make the most of being
home. I shall take a walk through the city this afternoon and I’ll let
you take me out to dinner tonight. Can you pick me up at seven?”
ColJan smiled, “Of course, GaMea. Will we need transport?”
“No. We’ll eat locally. See you later.”
GaMea enjoyed her walk. She had forgotten how beautiful the
city was. It was a long time ago that she had been born here and
joined her learning group in the suburbs.
Dinner that evening was relaxed and she enjoyed the light-hearted
chatter with ColJan. She insisted that the programme was not on the
agenda and realised that she had forgotten how nice it was to be
normal. They ate good local food and drank Andromedan wines
followed by a local aperitif called Manterey, which was made from
a plant extract that was not alcoholic, but mildly mind-bending. It
had the effect of making you warm and tipsy but without the after
effects. More than two or three and it became a hallucinogenic.
When ColJan took her back to her apartment she opened the door
and pulled him in. He didn’t resist and they went to the office together
the next day.
“Try calling the councillor again, ColJan.”
She went into her office and soon ColJan came in and said, “The
councillor will be on the link in five minutes.”
She sat behind her desk and composed herself.
Her screen signalled an incoming call and she activated the receive
mode. The face of Councillor XumBarens filled her screen.
“GaMea, nice to see you. How may I be of assistance?”
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“Thank you for your time, Councillor, it is nice to see you as well.
I have been reviewing the status reports from my project directors,
Councillor, and they show that DraZene has been requesting
resources to be made available. I have arranged for these to be
supplied but we do not know where, when, or for what they will be
used. If you recall I asked for a review of the defence force plans
and I think it would help me respond better if I could align our efforts.
The resources that she has requested need configuring for the
environment within which they will operate and we could save her
time by doing that for her.”
XumBarens pursed his lips and sucked in his breath. “Yes, GaMea,
I see that but my plans with DraZene are not something that I want
to release until I have completed some reviews and tests. Therefore
I will not release them to you yet.”
“I see, Councillor. Would it be possible for me to contact DraZene
to at least discuss this particular set of requests and expedite them in
the best way.”
“I don’t see why not. I will ask my PA to contact her and ask her
to give you a call. Is that alright?”
“Yes of course, Councillor. When do you think that I will be able
to review the plans?”
XumBarens frowned. “You are quite insistent aren’t you, GaMea?
As I said I will release them when I am ready and that will not be
until I have completed some tests and that may be a year or more.”
GaMea was exasperated but there was nothing she could do.
She simply replied, “I understand, Councillor. I will wait for DraZene
to contact me. Thank you for your time.”
The screen clicked off and she let out a long sigh. He had come
as close to warning her off without actually saying it and she had
pushed him as much as she dared. She was about to get ColJan to
contact the secretary when she remembered his comments about
cloaking for listeners. She wondered if XumBarens would be
suspicious and monitor her office communications. She walked out
to ColJan’s office.
“Get President MiThan for me please. Confirm that I am pleased
to accept his invitation to lunch where I will update him on the
programme progress before returning to Earth.”
“What lunch date, GaMea, I didn’t realise that…”
“Just do it, ColJan. I’ll explain later.”
222
“DraZene.”
“Yes, XumBarens, what can I do for you?”
“Can you talk, DraZene? Will anyone around suspect that
you are communicating?””
“No. I am in my laboratory at the arms company in France.
We are about to conduct tests on a new missile guidance system.”
“Good. I have just had a meeting with GaMea. She is asking
about your plans and I have made it clear that she must wait
until we have completed some research and tests. She was quite
insistent and has asked to contact you so that she can be sure to
supply you with the right equipment from your latest requests of
her programme. I have told her that will be alright and you will
contact her after I have spoken to you.”
“OK. I will call her.”
“Be careful, DraZene. GaMea is no fool and she will try to
trap you into giving more information than you should.”
“She can try, XumBarens, but I can handle her. Is that all
you wanted?”
“Yes and I’m sure that you can handle her, DraZene. Just be
careful. Let me know how the conversation goes.”
“OK. I’ll do it straight away and get back to you.”
“GaMea.”
“Hello, DraZene. Thank you for contacting me. Where are
you?”
“You don’t need to know that, GaMea. What can I do for
you?
“I would like to review your plans for the defence force so
that I can supply the right equipment to you. When can we do
that?”
“Not for a while, GaMea. My plans are not finalised yet and
won’t be until I complete some research.”
“But I am concerned that we may overlap in some areas and
that would not be good.”
223
“I wouldn’t be concerned about that, GaMea. I will make
sure that my plans do not interfere with yours. As you know I
have access to your plans and can ensure that we will not meet.”
“Some of the equipment that you have requested needs to be
configured for the environment within which it will operate. I
need information to do that for you.”
“Once again, GaMea. Don’t concern yourself. I have
expertise in my team to do the configuring for me.”
“Your team, DraZene? Where are they? What size is your
team?”
“My team is my business, GaMea, and I keep them off
planet.”
“Off planet? Does that mean that you are on planet?”
“I didn’t say that, GaMea, and, again, that is information
that you don’t need.”
“Oh, I don’t agree, DraZene. I need to know about everything
that is happening on this planet.”
“Well, GaMea, you will have to be satisfied that there are
some things you don’t know, won’t you? Is there anything else
that you wish to ask me?”
“No, Drazene, not for now. I will contact you when I need
more information.
“As you wish, goodbye.”
“Goodbye, DraZene.”
GaMea sat back in her office and closed her eyes. She hadn’t learnt
much from that call but at least the approach was consistent.
XumBarens and DraZene were not going to share their plans and
that meant that they were up to no good as far as she was concerned.
She needed to get to her meeting with MiThan.
An hour later GaMea was entering the presidential residence. She

was shown to MiThan’s office.
“Well it’s always a pleasure to have lunch with you, GaMea, but
it’s not often that I have to cancel one to do it. I assume that something
has happened.”
“Yes. I have spoken to Councillor XumBarens about the defence
force plans and he was not at all forthcoming. I was about to contact
224
the secretary and I remembered what he said about eavesdroppers.

Can we use your cloaked room to call him please?”
“Of course we can. Let’s really have lunch and I’ll get MariSan
to set up the link for us via the secretary’s communications
technology.”
This time their lunch was not interrupted and afterwards they
made their way to the cloaked room. MariSan made the connection
and left them alone. It wasn’t long until the secretary was on the
line. GaMea played back her conversation with XumBarens and sat
waiting for his response. It was a while until the secretary spoke but
when he did he looked as if he had come to a decision.
“Thank you, GaMea, that small piece of information is very useful.
Since our meeting the other day I have been making some enquiries
of my own and now I will need to make some more about these
tests. I think that you have uncovered something that I need to get to
the bottom of. My people have researched DraZene by the way. It
seems that she is grand master of the out-of-universe sect and that
means Councillor XumBarens reports to her.”
225
Chapter 12
First Investments
You wouldn’t normally have heard a pin drop in the cloaked

environment of President MiThan’s communications room because
of the talking that always seemed to be going on between the
participants. On this occasion, however, a feather floating through
the air would have been deafening. The secretary finally broke the
silence.
“So you see, we have a situation where one of the most influential
members on the Council of the League of Galaxies is in a position
where he has to make a decision between the needs of the people of
the universe and the plans of a secretive sect that believes it must be
in control of whatever is on the other side of the edge of the universe.
An interesting conundrum, don’t you agree?”
GaMea and MiThan were not sure whether they should respond
or not but GaMea spoke first. “Mr Secretary. What do you
recommend that we do?”
“At this time I recommend that we do nothing. I need to make
some further discreet enquiries and you should continue as the
obedient servant but, very carefully, try to find out the details of the
councillor’s plans for the defence force. Be aware that the councillor
is the only member of the Council that I know of who has been
personally involved in murder even though I have not been able to
prove it conclusively and no action has been taken. Report to me
with anything that you discover no matter how trivial you think the
information may be.”
“Yes, Mr Secretary.”
226
“For now, Mr President, and Madam Programme Director, we

tell nobody of our meetings and we agree to keep each other informed
of anything that we discover. Agreed?”
“Yes, sir,” they stated as one.
“Good. We shall leave it there for now and I will call the next
meeting when I have further information that I can share with you.”
The image of the secretary winked out and GaMea turned to
MiThan.
“What have we got ourselves into and what did he mean about
personally involved in murder?”
“I don’t know but the secretary is obviously quite concerned
especially to include us in such privileged information and to be making
plans that involve us. Believe you me, GaMea, even a galactic
president is not normally involved in such things that involve Council
members. I suggest that we do as he recommends, carry on as
normal as you can and report anything unusual to him. I don’t want
to hear that you have met with an unfortunate accident. There was
a rumour a number of years ago surrounding Councillor XumBarens.
As you know when Draco became a Level 1 galaxy he was the
most junior member of their delegation. Today he is Number 2 and
deputy leader for Draco but the councillor who was the deputy was
killed in an accident mysteriously. You know how well protected
these councillors are so this was considered impossible but there he
was – dead. His star cruiser collided with a rogue meteor and, to
this day, it is not known why the deflector systems failed. I suspect
from what the secretary said that he suspects foul play, as you say
on Earth. What do you think?”
GaMea was unsure of her thoughts, an unusual position for her.
She prided herself on her control and did not like not being in control.
“I have to say that I am at the same time scared and excited by
being involved with the secretary in this way. He is obviously much
more powerful than I imagined or his position suggests. I don’t know
what to think right now. Have you been able to find out any more
about the secretary since our last meeting, Mi?”
“Not much but I am making some discreet enquiries. The one
thing I have discovered, however, is very interesting. You know the
structure of the Council, don’t you? Nine members from each of
three Level 1 galaxies, plus the secretary to the council. Twenty-
227
eight executives in total. Well, it is a matter of record when each of
the three galaxies was elevated to Level 1 status and we know the
order in which they were elevated. An interesting question is how
the first galaxy came to be on the Council? What do you think?”
“Well, MiThan, we’ve been here before, you and I. That is the
big question isn’t it? The one that all students discuss late into the
night. On Earth it is the equivalent of the meaning of life debate. We
know the answer to the Earth question but we have the same issue,
don’t we. How did the League start? It seems amazing that we are
so technologically advanced with everything recorded and yet we
still do not know the answer to that question.”
“Well, Mae, that’s true but I suspect that we do know the answer
because it is a privilege of the Level 1 members of the League. I
don’t know the answer but I have discovered that the secretary is
not from any of the three member galaxies and that he has always
been in that role. There has never been another secretary and that
means that he must have been around when the first galaxy was
appointed many, many millennia ago. I suspect that he was the person
that did the initial appointing. He must be the oldest being in the
universe by a long way and, as I said, he is not just influential he in
fact has great power within the Council. I suspect that he is actually
the ultimate power and we all, including the Level 1 galaxy, work for
and report to him. What do you think of that?”
“I think I need a drink. That’s amazing but also so simply obvious
when you know what we know. Are you going to be able to confirm
what you just said?”
“I doubt it but after our meeting with him today I think that we
are in a better position to find out than we were before.”
He stood, opened a drinks cabinet and poured her a Pleaidian
brandy. He poured one for himself and sat back down, handing her
the glass. She sipped in silence. When they had finished MiThan
stood up.
“OK, GaMea, back to my office and I’ll get MariSan to arrange
your transport for you.”
She returned to her office and prepared to return to Earth. She had
been gone for almost a week and as she was finalising her plans she
wondered how Matt had faired with the oil exploration deal.
228
Matt had woken up on the Monday morning almost a week earlier

and Mae was gone. The night before they had discussed what was
to be done to finalise a contract with Jake Bishop and she had gone
to her room. Or so he thought. In fact she must have gone to the
attic and transferred out. She had left him a note confirming their
discussion and he was reading it over breakfast. It was a list of
actions culminating in a meeting with Jake in Dallas later in the week.
First on the agenda would be a meeting with Alistair Quentin in
Aberdeen to agree the contract, then pick up a cheque from the
bank in New York for the extra $750 000 and finally meet with Jake
to finalise the deal. Mae had faxed the solicitors with the outline of
the deal and also the bank to arrange for the cheque. He thought
that she must have been up half the night and felt quite lazy going to
bed with his jet lag.
He cleared away the breakfast things and was in his office by
eight thirty. He called the solicitors and was pleased to find that
Alistair was already there. They briefly discussed the contract and
confirmed a meeting the next day in Aberdeen for Matt to finalise
the words of the contracts. He would return to Heathrow and fly
immediately to New York on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday
morning he would pick up the cheques from the bank and take the
midday flight to Dallas to spend the afternoon and night in bed to
recover from the flights before the meeting with Jake on Thursday
lunchtime. Fly back overnight and get back into Gatwick on Friday
morning. If he slept the day away then he could probably have Susie
down for the weekend and make up for the time they didn’t have
together the previous week. A busy week but achievable, he thought.
Matt assumed that the schedule was OK and got onto their travel
agent to arrange the flights and hotels. That done he called Susie at
work and she was really pleased that he had invited her to come
down for the weekend. He packed a case for the week’s travel and
got hold of Jake on the phone at two o’clock. Thursday lunchtime
was fine at the Stoneleigh hotel. By the end of the day everything
was arranged and Matt settled down for a quiet evening. His flight
to Aberdeen was early so he was in bed by ten o’clock.
229
The next morning he was up at four o’clock to catch the seven
fifteen out of Heathrow. It was annoying to drive past Gatwick but
it was the only way he could make the meeting in Aberdeen at eleven
and be back at Heathrow for the early evening flight into New York.
Alastair Quentin was everything that Matt imagined a Scot to be
except bigger. He was 6 ft 2 with fiery red hair, freckles on his
round face and built like Hadrian’s Wall. ‘Rugged’ came to mind
and the only thing that was missing was a kilt and sporran, although
he did wear tartan trousers. His handshake was very firm as he
showed Matt into his office in a typical granite Aberdeen building.
He looked as if he was in his mid 40s.
“Well, Laddie. So you want to be in the oil business? There’s a
lot of that going on up here at the moment and my practice is at the
forefront of the new industry. What time is your aeroplane to
London?”
Matt checked his ticket. “Three thirty. Gets in at five and I fly to
Dallas overnight.”
“Plenty of time. We’ll have time for a spot of lunch and I can
introduce you to a couple of people on the supply side of the rig
operations if you like.”
“I would like that very much, thank you.”
“I’ve drawn up a draft agreement that covers all the sort of issues
that you need with a freelance driller and we only need to fill in the
particular details for your well. The licence to drill is a well-trodden
path at the moment with the government down in London. The
government are in so much trouble that so long as you can grease
the right palms or come up with an acceptable deal then they are
happy to have as many companies exploring as they can and almost
all the oil companies in the world have a licence of one kind or
another. Not many have started yet and BP is the most advanced.
Mind you no one has asked for permission to drill where you’re
going. What do you know?”
“Oh, just some good geological data that I believe is worth a
gamble on.”
“Good for you. It’s like the gold rush all over again. Some will get
burnt but some will make a fortune. The government don’t care
because they will win with the winners and forget about the losers.
They still get something from all. The contracts that I have drawn
230
up are fairly standard. The one for the government licence, when
you have negotiated it, is in line with their format. You must adhere
to that and they expect you to bear all their costs. But that’s for
later. For the one between the driller and yourself, well, I’ve borrowed
a lot from my work with other oil companies and you get that head
start advantage as part of my exorbitant fee.”
“Which is?” asked Matt.
“A flat £100 000 for the initial agreements and then standard
time and materials for any work thereafter. Getting started is easy.
It’s after that the fun begins.”
Matt was stunned. £100 000!! He was about to comment when
he heard Mae in his head.
“Matt.”
“Is that you, Mae?”
“Who else would it be, you dolt? Don’t argue about the price.
We cannot do it alone and he holds all the trump cards. Just
agree and get the names that are required for the cheques. Let
me know and I will arrange for them to be ready for you. I’ll
also arrange for a car from the bank to pick you up at JFK and
be at your disposal while you are there. They will arrange the
hotels for you as well.”
“Thanks, Mae, but how did you know what I was doing?”
“I asked you once if you wanted to listen into my
communicator for a while, do you remember”
“Yes.”
“Well you are one of ten high priority interrupts that my system
handles for me and I am alerted if I need to contact you. On this
occasion your vital signs suggested that you were about to argue
so here I am. OK?”
“Yeah, OK and thanks.”
“No problem, Matt. Close down the deal.”
The interchange had only taken a couple of seconds and Alastair

just thought Matt was thinking.
“OK, Mr Quentin, that sounds OK. Let me know to whom I
should make the cheques payable and I will courier them to you
early next week.”
Matt extended his hand and Alistair Quentin shook it.
231
“Good for you, Laddie. Now let’s go through these papers and
agree the details so that we can get ourselves to the club by twelve
thirty.”
They spent the next hour going through the contracts and Alastair
arranged for the finals to be printed while they had lunch.
The club turned out to be a golf course just outside of town and
Matt was introduced to his first taste of haggis and tatties with ‘a
wee dram’, as Alastair called it. Matt decided not to explain that he
preferred Irish and enjoyed the Glenmorangie instead. During lunch
Matt was introduced to Brett Olsen and Ben Durant. They owned
and ran a logistics company that supplied almost everything to operate
a drilling operation. From drill bits and tools to tins of beans, it seemed,
plus the transport on land, sea and air to get it to where it needed to
be. They did everything and had been in the industry for 20 years
working wherever there was oil drilling going on. Matt took their
cards and promised to contact them the following week.
By two o’clock Alastair had Matt back in his office to finally
check the papers and was at the airport by two forty-five in plenty
of time for his flight. Matt endured yet another fierce handshake
and thanked Alastair for all his help and said he would be in touch
soon.
The flight to London was on time and the connection from
Terminal 1 to 3 was smooth. The only delay was that he had to
collect his luggage and check in for his flight but he still had time to
have a quick beer in the first class lounge. The flight left on time and
during the flight Matt contacted Mae and updated her. He gave the
names for the cheques and she said that they would be ready at the
bank in the morning.
Matt felt good coming out at JFK to see his name on a card being
held by a chauffeur and was soon being whisked down the New
Jersey turnpike and over the Triborough Bridge into Manhattan. It
was nearly ten o’clock when he checked into the Marriott in the
World Trade Centre and he was soon asleep. Luckily the combination
of the hectic day before and a few drinks on the plane kept him
asleep until six o’clock the next morning and he felt wide-awake.
After a shower he enjoyed a large breakfast and was entering the
reception of Lambert Newton just off Wall Street at eight o’clock.
232
He was shown into a waiting room and given a cup of coffee until
ManniTor came in with an envelope. She confirmed that the cheques
were both there for Jake and Alastair and, by nine o’clock, his job
was done.
“Would you like me to arrange for an earlier flight to Dallas for
you, Mr Wetherby,” ManniTor asked.
Matt thought for a while and replied, “Yes please. The sooner I
am in Dallas the sooner I can relax. Thank you.”
ManniTor arranged for his luggage to be put into the car and he
was soon on his way to LaGuardia airport where all domestic flights
were serviced for New York.
The flight took off at eleven o’clock and with the hour’s time
difference Matt was checking into the Stoneleigh at just after five
that afternoon. By now jet lag was catching up so Matt spent the
evening in the bar over a few beers and had a chicken salad. By
eight o’clock he was tucked up in bed and sleeping soundly. He
woke at three, four and five o’clock and eventually gave up trying to
sleep at six o’clock. He felt OK and after a leisurely breakfast and
a read of the Wall Street Journal he decided to take a taxi into the
city to buy something for Susie. He decided on a range of underwear
and was quite pleased that he remembered her size, 34C, which the
sales assistant translated into an American size for him.
At eleven thirty he was in the bar waiting for Jake and he turned
up exactly at twelve o’clock just as Matt was finishing a beer.
“Hello there, boy. How are you hanging?”
Matt laughed inside with the thought that Jake was actually an
American version of Alistair and he was looking forward to
introducing them to see who broke off the handshake first.
“Hello, Jake. I’m fine but a little tired. Too much flying around
the world.”
Jake waved to a waitress and ordered two more beers.
“You’ll be OK, boy. Have another beer.”
“Thank you, don’t mind if I do.”
Jake sat down and asked, “So where are we with the deal?”
“I think we are in good shape, Jake. I have the rest of your
money and also a contract that you should read.” Matt handed the
document over.
233
“Sure thing, boy.” He started to read and after a few pages
suggested that they have a steak and fries while he finished reading.
They went through to the restaurant and gave their order while Jake
continued reading. The food arrived as Jake put the contract down
and declared, “Well, that all looks OK. Fairly standard stuff. Where
do I sign?”
Matt was relieved and they both signed two copies of the contract
and Matt handed over the cheque for the remaining money. Jake
confirmed that he had started to assemble his team and the rig would
start preparation for transport within the month. They shook hands
and enjoyed their steak.
The week had gone like clockwork and on Thursday evening as

Matt settled into his seat on the American Airlines flight back to the
UK he realised that he was in the oil exploration business. Jake had
been true to his word and the shipment of the oil rig was underway.
He was also pleased to receive another large cheque. Quentin’s
contract had done the job and he had signed up Brett Olsen and Ben
Durant for the supply and transport operation. He would contact
them next week to set up the land side support of the operation and
give Quentin his cheque. So far so good. It was still a big gamble,
however, because the most difficult part was still to come – arranging
the licence from the UK government. They had made initial enquiries
with the Scottish Minister and had received an encouraging response
when they had pointed out that there would be work for the local
community and this backed up Alastair’s view of the situation. Jake
would be bringing his core team with him but the support operation
would generate a lot of local income. Matt had a second whiskey
and decided to worry about that another day. He went to sleep.
He slept for a good four hours and woke quite refreshed. The
good thing about first class was that the flight crew did not disturb
you because they had to serve food and the seats were very
comfortable, almost like a small bed. He pressed his call button and
asked for his meal to be served to him in the upstairs bar after he
had freshened up. He returned to his seat and spent the rest of the
trip reading and listening to the excellent audio service. The plane
touched down at Heathrow at six thirty and he was walking into the
house in Burgess Hill at just after ten. He called Linda to let her
234
know that he was home and went into the kitchen to make a cup of
tea.
Matt spent a quiet Friday making plans for the following week
and wandered over to see Bill and Linda. Bill gave him a quick
update on the state of the farm and afterwards he drove down to
Brighton and walked along the seafront to keep himself awake. Finally
he returned home late afternoon and decided that he could resist his
bed no longer. Susie had plans in London for that evening and was
getting the early train down to Haywards Heath in the morning. She
would phone just before the train was leaving and he was going to
pick her up from the station. He fell straight off to sleep and didn’t
hear another thing until just after five when he heard a noise in the
hallway outside his room. He was wide-awake in a second. The sun
was up so there was no need to put on the light. Matt slept naked
and he got out of bed and crossed the bedroom to the door and very
carefully opened it so as not to make a noise. He stepped onto the
landing but could no longer hear any noises or see anything untoward.
He thought that he must have been dreaming things but decided to
check the house anyway. He quietly went downstairs and checked
the rooms. There was no sign of entry and the alarm was still set
when he cleared it to allow him to move around. He went back
upstairs to check the rooms there. The office bedrooms looked OK
and that only left Mae’s room. He quietly opened the door and stepped
in just as she came out of the en suite bathroom, also naked.
“Oh! Shit. I’m sorry, Mae. I heard a noise and thought we had a
burglar. I didn’t know you were back,” he stammered as he looked
hastily away from her body to the floor. He noticed that his penis
was reacting to the situation in a most undesirable way and quickly
covered himself. He looked up and felt his face colouring quickly.
“Don’t worry, Matt,” Mae said, “I just transferred in and didn’t
want to wake you seeing as it’s so early. I didn’t communicate with
you because I knew it was early and didn’t want to wake you.” She
smiled and looked down at her breasts. “And don’t be sorry for
coming in also naked. You weren’t to know. I was about to take a
shower and change. Don’t worry; it doesn’t matter. In the League
we don’t have the same hang-ups as you do on Earth. A naked body
is simply a person with no clothes on. No big deal. OK?”
Matt lifted his eyes and mumbled, “I suppose so but it was a bit
235
of a shock. Something else I need to get used to I suppose.”
“No, Matt. It’s not a good idea for us to stroll naked around the
house. Linda would get the wrong idea and I’m sure that Susie
wouldn’t understand. Now go put some clothes on and make me a
cup of tea then you can tell me all about the oil deal with Jake.”
He smiled at her, shrugged his shoulders while still covering
himself and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He
went to his room and slipped his jeans and a tee shirt on then went
downstairs to put on the kettle. When he returned he knocked on the
door and waited for Mae to tell him to come in. She was just out of
the shower and wrapped in a towel while drying her hair with another
towel.
“Thanks, Matt. Just put it down by the bed. I’ll be downstairs in
a while and we’ll have breakfast. I slept well on my cruiser on the
journey from the jump station and I’m starving.”
“OK, Mae. I’ll quickly shower and see you downstairs. Oh, there
is one thing you should know.”
She continued towelling her hair and said, “What’s that?”
He pursed his lips and pointed at the towel wrapped around her,
“Not bad for a 10 000 year old.”
She laughed and threw her hair towel at him. He made a hasty
exit.
Over breakfast Matt updated Mae with the oil exploration deal and
said that Jake had given him a checklist of the facilities he would
need when he arrived with the rig. He told her about the logistics
company that Alistair had introduced him to and that he wanted to
go and meet with them next week.
“Oh, and by the way, Susie is coming down for the weekend.
She’ll be arriving soon, after nine I expect.”
“OK, Matt. That sounds lovely. Let’s have a quiet weekend.
We’ve both had a busy time this week. You have fun with Susie and
I’ll review the checklist so that we are ready to put things in place
starting next week. Maybe we can join up for dinner. I would like to
meet Susie again – that will be nice. I’ll finalise my ideas for what
we need to do to get the drilling licence from the government. I’ve
got some ideas and need to make a few calls. Maybe I could cook
dinner for the three of us tonight. Would you like that?”
236
“Sounds good to me, Mae. Thank you. I’m sure there’s plenty of
food in the house. Linda usually goes shopping on a Friday.”
“No matter. Anything that’s missing I can go to the shops for.
What are you and Susie doing today?”
“Well, if the weather’s OK I plan to go down to Brighton and
walk along the front to Black Rock. Then take the Volks railway
back to the pier and do the tourist thing. We might even have a drink
in the King and Queen. It doesn’t seem possible that it was only a
year ago that we were students. Thanks to you my life has changed
out of sight. If you had told me then that I would spend a week
buying an oil drilling operation for almost two million dollars I wouldn’t
have believed you but here we are.”
“And there’s a lot more to come before we’ve finished, Matt.
We are off to a good start. Now let’s wash up these things and I’ll
check out the food situation.”
Matt met Susie at the station and they had a great day revisiting all
their old haunts. As they came back from Black Rock on Volks’ little
electric railway they both looked longingly at the house they had
shared while at university. It looked almost the same except Susie
noticed that the curtains were different and it looked as if it had a
new coat of paint on the outside. The salt air on the seafront needed
a paint job doing at least every two years or so. Susie remarked how
simple life had been then and now here they were with her keeping
celebrities in line and him jetting around the world signing up oil
deals. Matt thought, ‘You don’t know the half of it.’ He had told her
about the investment in the oil exploration and she was aghast.
“That’s almost £700 000. What’s it like to spend that much in one
go?”
He surprised himself by saying, “Surprisingly easy actually.” It
was true, he thought. It had been easy but then he reminded himself
that he had Mae and her operation behind him. ‘Keep your feet on
the ground kid,’ he told himself.
Mae surpassed herself with a fabulous dinner of lamb noisettes
in a Shrewsbury sauce with a lemon cheesecake to die for. Matt
raided the wine cellar again and reminded himself to restock it before
it was all gone.
Sunday was quiet and it was all too soon that Matt was dropping
Susie back at the station. At the house that evening he and Mae
237
were sitting in the lounge drinking coffee and she was updating him
about her review of the checklists and the calls she had made about
her oil drilling licence ideas.
“Apart from the local employment issue from our operation, Matt,
I think that we can play another card. Have you heard of the Cod
War?”
“I remember reading something in the papers. Isn’t it about
Iceland extending a fishing zone where our fishermen usually catch
fish and the UK government are saying its illegal?”
“More or less. Well, I have found out that the navy is a bit
stretched in patrolling the disputed waters and we could offer to pay
our helicopter contractor to sweep the area on a regular basis and
feed back information about trawler and Icelandic navy movements.
I think it might be the bit extra that we need to get the full mineral
rights and a development licence in addition to exploration. When
we find the oil we don’t want to develop the field, we want to sell
the licence and take the money. We can talk about that tomorrow
because we need to split up the tasks between ourselves. I can
handle the licence and the bureaucracy while you manage the drilling
operation. Let’s get some sleep now and start our plans in the
morning.”
The next day they made their plans and went their separate ways.
Matt headed for Aberdeen to set up the land operation to support
the rig and Mae walked the corridors of Whitehall. She also handled
the flow of funds for Matt to support the supply contracts. Aberdeen
was starting to buzz with oil people. BP was already there with an
exploration rig; Matt’s operation was just setting up and Burmer Oil
were also bringing in a team close behind. Matt met with Brett Olsen
and Ben Durant the next week and after some haggling agreed a
complete supply line with them that not only covered purchasing but
also all the transportation. They didn’t have their own helicopters
but they negotiated a good deal with Scottish Aviation and confirmed
that they were OK to carry out additional flights to support Mae in
her negotiations with the licence people in the government. Matt
had his first ride in a helicopter and took a look at the bit of the North
Sea that they would be sited in. It looked very cold and rough even
in summer.
238
For their part the government officials were well used to the
issues surrounding licences and also the sums that had to pass into
the hands of officials to expedite the agreement plus a sizeable
donation to the Conservative Party. Mae phoned Matt one Thursday
evening a few weeks later at his hotel in Aberdeen and confirmed
that she had countersigned the licence that day for full mineral and
development rights covering the whole area of the field. She
suggested that the government department should be renamed ‘under
the table’ monitors and laughed.
“But never mind, Matt, we have got what we wanted. A full
exploration and development licence so we are on our way.”
Her terra-forming team had confirmed that the field they would
discover could not be broken into from anywhere outside their licence
area and that a number of test attempt sites had been identified to
make the operation look legitimate. The odd failure would make the
operation so much more credible.
Matt had some good news of his own. He had spoken to Jake
that day and he was ahead of schedule. The rig superstructure had
completed loading that day and the time had been reduced because
he had decided to tow the main platform rather than break it down
and lift it on deck. This would speed up assembly on arrival as well.
The tow would make the crossing about a week longer, but overall it
would save almost a month. Jake would be setting off at the weekend
once his team had arrived in Houston. They were travelling together
to finalise their plans during the crossing and be ready to go as soon
as they arrived. The captain had given him an ETA in Aberdeen of
15th August.
“Matt, that’s wonderful. Will our support operation be ready in
time?”
“Brett tells me that all his contractors are just waiting for a start
date and they will be ready to go. I will finalise the contract for them
with Alistair next week now I’ve got a date. We had to fund an
additional helicopter for the fisheries patrol but it only cost a £100
000 including the running costs for a year’s contract. Yes, we’ll be
ready.”
“Good, well done. I suggest that you come home tomorrow, call
Susie and we’ll all celebrate in London. We’ll stay at the Savoy, see
a show and have some nice food. If we can wrap everything up
239
next week then all we are waiting for is for Jake to arrive. Why
don’t you see if Susie can get some time off? Go lie in the sun for a
week or so. You’ve got a hard time ahead because I think you should
be with Jake on the rig and in Aberdeen. I’ll stay down here. Rigs
are no places for females and I’ll be better placed sounding out the
main oil companies to see who may be interested in taking over the
licences at some stage in the future.”
“Terrific, Mae. I’ll get the morning flight into Heathrow. Can you
pick me up?”
“Of course. Don’t forget to phone Susie.”
As usual, like all good things, the weekend flew by but so did the
following week when all the support contracts were signed. Mae
arranged for an advance payment to be made via Lambert Newton
and all was set waiting for Jake to arrive with his team. Susie
arranged to take some time off and spent a fortnight with Matt
cruising around the Greek islands just relaxing.
During the time that Matt was cruising Greece, Mae went to
Andromeda for an update session with ColJan and her project
directors. She needed to bring this stage of her plans, where Matt’s
company made a very large amount of money, to a swift conclusion
so that she could move onto the planning for the intervention of the
galactic League to the people of Earth. The fate of the universe
hung on that being successful. Her big fear was the unknown activities
of DraZene under the apparent control of Councillor XumBarens.
She had this problem in the back of her mind throughout the review
reports of her team. All the items required by DraZene had been
delivered but there was still no contact from her to discuss her plans.
GaMea avoided contacting her direct because she did not want to
give her the pleasure of knowing that she did not know what she
was doing.
GaMea had met with MiThan but he hadn’t discovered any more
about the secretary or his investigations into the councillor’s intentions
since their last meeting. The whole issue was a big hole in her
knowledge and she didn’t like it. Her demeanour was not helped
when she was interrupted by ColJan with a report from her terra-
forming team that said they had detected the use of a defoliant on
earth that was developed by the League. It was called Agent Orange
240
because of its colour and was used by the terra-formers to clear

jungles on developing planets. Apparently it had been used by the
Americans in North Vietnam and more than that they had followed
up with a substance to burn the trees called Napalm. This could only
be from DraZene and GaMea was incensed that she had introduced
League technology and had killed thousands of people – many of
them women and children. She could control herself no more.
“DraZene.”
“Oh, GaMea. How nice to hear from you. How are you, my
dear?”
“Don’t give me that innocent miss routine, DraZene. You have
been using League chemicals in a war zone and I have no option
but to report you to the Council.”
“Come now, GaMea. It is only a little bit of weed killer with
a burn afterwards. A bit of slash and burn. What is the problem
with that?”
“You killed thousands of people, DraZene, and that is against
the League’s directives for the protection of sentient life forms
as written by Councillor XumBarens himself. What do you think
he will say to your indiscretion?”
“What a fuss you’re making over a few species. There are
plenty more where they came from so what is the problem?
Besides, if you check your terra-forming records you will see
that you authorised the use of the agent to clear some ground in
preparation for a training camp for me. It was an unfortunate
accident where some people got killed. Shame really, but these
things happen.”
GaMea was fuming but she knew that the councillor could
tamper with her plans and reports and there was nothing that
she could do about it. She took a deep breath.
“DraZene, I will take real pleasure in bringing you down
one day and that day is not far away.”
“Tch tch GaMea. So nasty of you and over such a little thing.
You really should control yourself.”
“Control myself. I could easily control myself by transferring
you out to deep space and dispersing you over a square parsec.”
“What a pity that you don’t know where I am then, isn’t it. So
that is not going to help you and I don’t think that the good
241
councillor would be pleased to learn that you have such a nasty
streak so let’s not make any more threats, eh? Now it has been
lovely chatting with you, GaMea, but I must get on. Lots more
weapon tests to plan. We must do this again sometime. Bye.”
And she disconnected. GaMea was incensed but realised that
DraZene and the councillor had her over a barrel and there was
nothing that she could do.
She had dinner with MiThan that night and they decided that it
was best not to push either XumBarens or DraZene too far given
that they would probably be very dangerous if provoked. GaMea
still remembered the implied threat from the councillor at their last
meeting. Wait and see was the best course of action. MiThan
promised to find out as much as he could about how DraZene was
importing her materials and also about the out-of-universe sect. He
would also get his security forces to infiltrate the Andromedan
chapter.
She came back to Earth at the end of the week and spent her time
apparently relaxing in the garden. In fact she was attempting to
trace DraZene’s movements and checking with her team on her
whereabouts and activities. It was frustrating that her trace could
not follow her to all the places that she went and she was obviously
transferring around the planet so she must have set up transfer
stations in her company headquarters. It was obvious that she had
placed some kind of shield around herself and, in reality, GaMea
was no better informed at the end of the week when she pick up
Matt and Susie from the airport.
DraZene had not been relaxing behind her shield, however. In fact
she had been very busy. Since her last meeting with XumBarens,
DraZene had been busy. Her first stop was a rejuvenation clinic and
a facial makeover. She was no longer a cropped haired Afro-
Caribbean but now her appearance was a lot lighter skinned with
longer dark hair that framed her face. Her facial features were
similar with the same bone structure but her eyes were now a dark
soft brown and she had her nose changed from a small button to a
242
longer, slim version. Her body was slimmer and her breasts were
firmer than before. She was no longer voluptuous but she was still
stunning.
She had returned to Earth and taken up residence in three places
around the world that allowed her to be close to her armaments
research companies. Each facility was cloaked with technology
supplied by XumBarens.
In the US she was based in Seattle where she spent most of her
time working on satellite systems that allowed the US to snoop on
the USSR from miles above their heads and to communicate securely
around the globe. She had a steady stream of buyers from the
Pentagon and also emerging satellite companies who were interested
in her applications for commercial purposes. Vietnam was a perfect
live test bed as far as she was concerned and she used it with or
without the knowledge of the US Army. In France her company
was based in Toulouse and was working with the European Space
Agency and the surround aerospace companies to help them with
rocket launch systems and satellite positioning systems. Her base in
Hong Kong was different as her main customer was the Chinese
even though she was based in the British Colony in Canton. She
used the base to service the Chinese with technology that helped
them to electronically monitor their huge border. They were paranoid
at infiltration and the early days of CCTV were developed here.
DraZene was kept very busy and also had a stake in the newly
developing robotics industry. Via Taiwan from her base in Hong
Kong she supplied the Japanese with production line technology that
sent them into the forefront of electronics and car build techniques
that the West would take decades to recover from.
All of this was easy for DraZene because it was all simple
technology that she was taught in her history lessons during education.
She liked the Earth saying of “easy peasy” because that is how it
was for her with the help of League technology and the companies
that she privately controlled flourished due to this help and grew
very fast.
She was pleased with her progress and would soon be ready to
carry out some more weapons tests. The thought of this made her
smile because she knew that GaMea would be shocked again at
some of the events she planned and she so enjoyed annoying her.
243
*
GaMea was with Matt the morning the cargo ship, The Oklahoma,
docked in Aberdeen on the morning of 15th August. Jake swung into
action immediately. A dry dock was already booked to reassemble
the rig and it was three weeks later that an ocean-going tug was
towing it into position. The weather was almost perfect and the dive
team only took a week to secure the mooring chains to the seabed.
The operation was ready to go by mid-September. Mae flew up and
they cracked a bottle of Bollinger on the first drill bit that was poised
to sink to the seabed and search for black gold, as Jake called it. A
junior minister from the government accompanied Mae because they
wanted to show their gratitude for their helicopter being the first on
the scene to pluck some fisherman out of the water when an Icelandic
gunboat sank two trawlers in the disputed fishing grounds. Money
well spent, Mae and Matt agreed.
A local boarding house had been arranged to accommodate Jake
and his crew when they were not sleeping on the rig. Matt had
decided that it was cheaper to buy it rather than rent the rooms.
Mae thought that he was penny pinching but let it go. The owners
agreed to stay on as managers. Life in the North Sea got into a
routine. Matt spent a lot of the time in Aberdeen ensuring that the
support operation kept on course and ensuring that bills got paid on
time. He also spent some of his time on the rig to be part of the team
that was actually doing the drilling. A year passed very quickly with
the routine of sleeping at the boarding house, on the rig and trips to
London to be with Susie and update with Mae.
It was October 1973 and OPEC had massively increased the price
of oil causing the western world to panic. A renewal contract had
been negotiated with Jake and his team to continue into the second
year of operation. The rig had been moved three times looking for a
better entry point. Matt couldn’t understand why this was necessary
when they knew exactly where to drill but Mae explained that it
couldn’t look to be too easy. The bars of Aberdeen were full of
rumours that BP had struck oil further south and in January 1974
they announced their first breakthrough. It was greeted with much
244
bluster from the government as they tried to take the eyes of the
country away from the worsening economy and failing discussions
with the unions that were bringing the country slowly to a standstill.
Mae had opened discussions with both BP and Burmer about selling
the licences but both companies thought that Matt’s operation had
decided to give up and wanted to recoup some of the £20 million
that the exploration had cost so far. Both companies offered a
derisory amount and Mae turned them down.
It was four weeks later on a cold February afternoon that Jake
broke through and with a gush of crude oil from the well there was
also a gush of interest from the oil companies in the Wetherby Burgess
licences. The oil was analysed and found to be of a very high grade.
A survey was carried out of the size of the oil field and it was declared
to be as big as some in Saudi Arabia. An auction commenced between
the big US oil companies, the Dutch and the British. The government
were desperate for a deal to be struck because they could see
themselves thumbing their nose at OPEC and maybe solving the
problems they were having with the miners.
Mae set up a closed bid auction and on March 2nd all the bids
were opened in the lounge of the house in Burgess Hill. The rules
were simple. The highest bid would win and the winner would be
informed the same day. There would be no further negotiation so
the bid would have to be genuine. No low bids in the hope of winning
for a cheap price or coming in later when you knew what the ballpark
was. There were five envelopes and the bids ranged from $1 billion
to $1.875 billion. At the end of the day Burmer Oil were informed
that their bid was successful and Wetherby Burgess was £750 million
better off.
If life had been busy before then it was a whirlwind for the next
couple of weeks. Contract signing and secrecy arrangements to keep
Matt away from the press. Jake’s platform was included in the deal
and Matt paid him the full second year contract plus bonus and a
special bonus to him and the team amounting to $1 million in all. The
whole operation, including interest on the line of credit from Lambert
Newton, had cost $35 million. Not a bad, return Matt thought.
It was agreed that Burmer would announce in April that their
undercover operation had discovered oil and the Ninian Field was
245
born. A cheque for $1.875 billion was handed over to Matt in the
bank used by Wetherby Burgess in Hamilton, Bermuda and, after
Matt had deposited it at a good rate of interest, he and Mae had a
small celebration where they drank a lot of vintage champagne and
ate some very expensive food.
GaMea was pleased with this important step. The foundations of

her final plan were now in place. Wetherby Burgess had real wealth
to work with and she could start planning confidently towards the
League intervention. What she didn’t know was how far DraZene
and Councillor XumBarens had advanced their alternate plans for
the intervention and the devastation that they would wreak on the
planet. GaMea felt good for now but she would need all her skills
during the next stage towards intervention to overcome the new
threats that was facing not only Earth but also the Galactic League.
***
246
Here ends Book One in the Same Planet, Different World trilogy.
Next will be the delivery of planet Earth to the League of Galaxies
and the battle with the out-of-universe sect for control of the universe.
247
248

Same Planet Different World: Book 1 A Wealth of Energy

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Same Planet Different World: Book 1 A Wealth of Energy

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Same Planet

Book One: A Wealth of Energy

Pen Press Publishers Ltd

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No part of this publication may be reproduced,

First published in Great Britain by

Printed and bound in the UK

A catalogue record of this book is available from

Cover design by Jacqueline Abromeit

David Llewelyn was born into a large

‘Communiqué to all programme directors from the secretary to

‘After a lengthy period of observation the Research Division of the

expanded? The Executive Council didn’t know the answer to that

A large crowd had assembled at Calvary to watch the crucifixion

That had been quite an emotional intervention by GaMea. It ensured

Another smaller but significant intervention during the scientific period

GaMea’s reverie and dreaming of the past was broken by ColJan

and we must be sure that our argument is compelling enough to save

Hope and Despair

He rose, walked to his desk and spoke into his communicator.

development and pick it up where we left off in 100 years time

and patience. It was ColJan’s almost natural management and

support amendment when necessary. GaMea was reading through

brother as Attorney General to attack them. That actually surprised

Matthew Wetherby was looking forward to joining university at

It had taken GaMae and her team almost 12 years to re-arrange

The communication screen had returned to the meeting agenda and

a problem or fear that is important to them, and if you could then

A message appeared on GaMea’s terminal telling her that the Council

thought of the unexpected problems this innovation had created.

programme team procedures and the Pleaides’ development had

A 60 second countdown to transmission signal on her console brought

“Council members. On behalf of the Andromedan people we thank

LoaTza and Siddhartha Gautauma to begin the teachings of Tao and

ourselves a galactic citizen, a nation is a microcosm of the same

GaMea waited for the response at her terminal on Andromeda. She

“I must confess that the current situation is not as we planned. As I

“Agriculture, Health, and Education have prepared all the

“Interesting,” he thought, “that she should use his familiar name.

because Dad wanted an important chat with him so be there by

Alf was enjoying his retirement as a gentleman farmer, pottering

The Beginning of the End

Matt was quite surprised as he walked across the room extending

minutes. It was a lovely evening. There were tourists strolling, the

when a voice behind her said, “Welcome to my home, GaMea.”

a little conflict of my own in Indo China and it was useful as well as

exodus of the species to their new planets. It is my job to deliver the

A Time for Change

Matt stood as if frozen, his eyes turned to the carpet. He didn’t

world wasn’t fair. It was as if his dad had had a premonition by

“Well done, Matt,” Mae whispered into his ear.

The undertaker was true to his word on Tuesday morning leaving

“No. I’ll be OK once I’ve showered and dressed. You’ll see.

The undertakers arranged the crematorium at Wood Vale in Brighton

“Are you OK, Matt. You’re very quiet.”

She needed to study the recommendations just in case Matt asked

“What do you mean another mistake, Mae?”

“Don’t worry. I think you just paid me a compliment. Didn’t you?”

They drove back to Brighton, spent about an hour wrapping up some

“Yes, Mae. I think that I would.”

Matt felt as if he was completely alone in a floating state. He couldn’t

maths question came up on the screen. Matt looked at Mae in

Matt was ringing Mae’s doorbell at eight o’clock on Friday morning.