The Sol 3 Agenda

by Brian Kitchen

  “They do, John,” Medb answered. “Your grandfather started the VarTech Corporation in the early 1950s and was the majority shareholder. I believe that you have a letter you always carry with you. Is that correct?”

  “Yes,” John replied. John’s father had given him a letter on his sixteenth birthday, which had been left by John’s maternal grandfather for him. It had instructions for John to go to a firm of solicitors in London when he was 21 years old and claim his inheritance. What that inheritance was, John had had no idea.

  “Your inheritance is probably the shares in the VarTech Corporation that your grandfather left to you in his will,” Medb informed him.

  “Surely he would have left his shareholdings to my mother?” John questioned looking in surprise at Medb.

  “We think that there was a rift between your grandfather and your mother before he died,” Medb explained, “but we don’t know what caused it.”

  “Right, well I don’t know what it was.”

  “Your mother died when you were seven years old, John. Do you know the cause of her death?” Medb asked, looking searchingly at him.

  “Not really, I think there was an explosion at the laboratory she worked at” John shook his head. His father would never talk about it and John had the impression as he got older that his father blamed himself for it.

  “There’s no easy way to say this John. Your mother was assassinated. She was the VarTech Corporation’s chief scientist and the explosion at the laboratory was deliberately caused. It was a bomb, John.”

  “I always thought my father blamed himself in some way for her death,” John told Medb, shocked at what she’d told him.

  “There was no way he could have prevented what happened,” Medb answered.

  “Who was responsible for the assassination?”

  “We don’t know for definite. The Imperial’s were blamed for it, but nothing was ever proved.” Medb looked at John in concern. “Are you all right to carry on?”

  “Yes, I want to know what this mission is that you want me to carry out?”

  Medb nodded. “Well as I was saying earlier,” she continued, “for some time from the intelligence data that Morann and the other androids who are operating on Earth have gathered, we have grown concerned at the rapid rate of growth in technology. Advances are being made in a great many different areas, far beyond what we would expect from a race at humanity’s level of civilisation. We feel that there may be another alien race active on Earth that is interfering with humanity’s natural progression. We need you to carry out an investigation, John and find out if this assumption is correct and if so, who the alien race is.”

  “Ok, but why me?”

  “Because the VarTech Corporation, along with the Aossi Corporation in the USA are the main corporations that are making these advances in technology. So, if another alien race is behind all of this, then that is where you’ll find the proof.”

  “Right, so where do I start my investigation?”

  “At the VarTech Corporation. If as I suspect your grandfather did leave you his shareholding in the VarTech Corporation, then that gives you a way in to them. By claiming your inheritance, you will then have every right to know exactly what the VarTech Corporation is doing and how the advances in technology are being made.”

  “I can see that, but there’s a slight complication,” john pointed out. “I can’t claim my inheritance until I’m 21 years of age and that won’t be until November 1972.”

  “You look at least 21 years old now John,” Medb told him.

  “That’s as may be, but it’s still 1969.”

  “We can do something about that.”

  “What do you mean ‘we can do something about that’?”

  “We can send you forward in time. The Deltoids have the capability for time travel.”

  “Wow!” was all John could reply.

  “But first we need to prepare you for the mission.”

  “Hold on, I haven’t agreed to the mission yet,” John interrupted.

  “John, if you don’t agree to the mission, Earth will be in great danger. If another alien race is involved, then there will be an ulterior motive for it and whatever it is doesn’t bode well for the people of Earth. Besides,” Medb smiled now, “like all young men you no doubt enjoy an adventure.”

  “Ok, I’m game for owt as they say where I come from, but am I going to do this all on my own?

  “No, John. You’ll have all the help that you need. First however you must be trained for the mission.”

  “What does ‘game for owt’ mean John?” Morann had to ask and John told her.

  Chapter 6

  Cornwall, July 1985

  Kate looked at Cath with her mouth agape and then started laughing.

  “You had me there for a moment, Niamh. ‘We’re both androids’, indeed. Good joke,” Kate said, but then saw that Niamh wasn’t laughing, but looking rather perplexed.

  “They are both androids, Kate,” Cath said and when Kate looked at her great aunt, she saw that she was serious.

  “I don’t understand,” Kate said, perplexed herself now.

  “I think you’d better show her, Niamh,” Cath said.

  Kate looked back at Niamh and saw that she’d pulled her blouse from out where it had been tucked into her skirt and was unbuttoning the bottom three buttons. Niamh then pulled her blouse open exposing her smooth flat stomach. With her right index finger, Niamh then pressed her belly button. There was a very faint hissing noise and then a circular section of Niamh’s stomach slowly flipped open like the door opens on a washing machine. Kate gasped and then saw inside the now exposed hole in Niamh’s stomach, what appeared to be a larger version of the type of cell batteries that were used in watches.

  “I still don’t understand, surely the technology doesn’t exist to create androids,” Kate said, watching as the circular section of Niamh’s stomach slid back into place, leaving no visible signs whatsoever of its existence.

  “It does exist, and we possess it,” Cath told her.

  “How long do the batteries last?” Kate said, her mind in a whirl.

  “A thousand years at normal use,” it was Niamh who answered. “I have an emergency back-up battery too, Kate. This enables me to still operate efficiently when the main battery is being changed.”

  “Thank you, Niamh,” Cath said. “I think Kate and I now need some time on our own.”

  Cath waited until Niamh had left the room and then turned to Kate with a look of concern on her face.

  “This must be very difficult for you to grasp, Kate and there’s a great deal to tell you Perhaps now that Niamh has shown you that she’s an android, it will be easier for you to accept what I have to say.

  “They’re so human looking, the facial expressions, skin, eyes, everything about them,” Kate shook her head. “I still don’t understand how this technology has been kept secret. There’s been nothing about it in the press, or on the media.”

  “That’s because even the Government doesn’t yet know that androids exist. We’ve kept it a secret from them.”

  “So how long have androids existed and how come you have one?”

  “I have more than one android, Kate and androids have existed for hundreds of thousands of years,” Cath announced. “Since the day Aos Si scientists created the first one.”

  “Now you’re scaring me, Cath. Who are the Aos Si?”

  “Our ancestors, Kate. Well, yours and mine, Kate. I think I’d better start right from the beginning.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Three hours later, Kate’s head was reeling with all that Cath had told her about the Aos Si and the war between the Imperials and the Varns and the war against the Aos Si’s enemy the Fomoire. Of how the colonies on Earth had been established 13,000 years ago, at the end of Earth’s last ice age and the great disasters which had befallen them.

  “Our ancestors were Varns, Kate, the Aos Si dissidents who had first settled in Antarctica, before moving to
Cornwall, nearly 10,000 years ago, along with the ancestors of the Trevaskis and other families, who were also Varns, when the settlements in Antarctica became unviable.” Cath had told her. “Cometary debris, along with a tsunami had destroyed much of the settlement, then came the ice.”

  “That must have been during the Mesolithic age,” Kate said incredulously. “How did they survive?”

  “They had transportation and were able to erect some buildings from prefabricated components. They also had the androids to help them too and built a small domed settlement. The aboriginal population was very sparse then, mainly hunter gatherers and they looked upon the Varn survivors as Gods.”

  “Even so, there surely wasn’t a viable population to sustain life?”

  “There were 173 survivors. 98 females and 75 males.”

  “Surely that wouldn’t be enough?”

  “The Varns had medical technology far in advance of what we have today, and each couple agreed to have as many children as possible. With fertility treatment, each female had a minimum of three children each pregnancy, sometimes four or five and within ten years the population had reached well over 500. From then on it grew rapidly over the years and other settlements were established elsewhere in the world. In time, certainly within the last 3000 years, the Varn survivors intermarried with humans.”

  “Then there must be thousands of descendants of the Varn survivors,” Kate said, but Cath shook her head sadly.

  “There should be, but unfortunately there aren’t. At most there are only another 5,000 people on the planet who are descended from the Aos Si Imperials or Varns.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Earth was supposed to be in quarantine for its own protection following the outbreak of the ‘Infertility Plague’ I earlier told you about,” Cath answered, “but unfortunately the plague had spread here before the quarantine could be imposed. Some of the descendants of the Varn survivors and the Aos Si Imperials who had also settled on Earth in time became infertile. Others were killed by either some of the humans or from the outbreaks of violence between the Varns and the Imperials which still occurred from time to time.”

  “They still fought each other then.”

  “When the war between the Imperials and the Varns ended, there was peace for a while. Then when it was discovered that the Infertility Plague had reached Earth, there were sporadic outbreaks of violence as each side blamed the other for bringing the plague to Earth. It has only been during the past 2000 years or so that a fragile peace has existed. There has even been some intermarriage between Varn and Imperial survivors and some of those marriages resulted in children, although unfortunately infertility was usually the outcome.”

  “So how many Varn descendants are left today and for that matter how many Aos Si Imperial descendants?” Kate asked.

  “We’re not entirely sure, but think around 3000 Varns and a lesser number, probably in the region of 2000 Imperials. When the Aos Si started to intermarry with the humans, more pregnancies had resulted, but even so the number of children were limited. You have two brothers you tell me.”

  “Yes, Dave and Steve.”

  “That is quite exceptional Kate and gives us some hope for the future.” Cath answered. “You inherited your Aos Si ancestry from your father, but your mother is a human. Perhaps the mixing of human and Aos Si genes has started to negate the effects of the Infertility Plague, we can but hope.” Cath looked across to her great niece. “That has been a lot for you to take in, Kate and there is a lot more to tell you. I suggest we leave all that until tomorrow.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Detective Sergeant Marcus King had not been idle during the past day. Following the conversation, that he’d had with his contact in the Rectifiers, King had telephoned his superior, Detective Inspector Hardgrave and explained the situation to him.

  “So, King, what’s your plan now?”

  “Find out if Penrose is still in the area.”

  “She may not be,” Hardgrave had told him. “A phone call she made to her home was intercepted by MI5. From the conversation, she had with her brother, it appears she was intending to go back to London. She made the call from a public telephone box, near to the Penzance railway station.”

  “I’ll start my enquiries at the railway station there then, sir.”

  “Very well, and King, it’s very important that we find this girl. A lot is at stake, so don’t fail me again.”

  King had driven the few miles to Penzance and went straight to the ticket office at the railway station. When the ticket clerk eventually looked up from what he was doing, King first thrust his Special Branch identity card at him.

  “Were you on duty this morning?” King asked him.

  “Yes, I’ve been on since early this morning,” the Ticket Clerk had told him. “I’m having to work a double shift due to staff sickness.”

  King then thrust a not very good surveillance photograph of Kate, which had been taken at Greenham Common, in front of his face.

  “Did this girl buy a ticket to London this morning?” The ticket clerk peered owlishly at the photograph.

  “Not a very good photograph is it,” the ticket clerk muttered, more to himself, than to King.

  “Well did she, or didn’t she?” King demanded to know.

  “I can’t be sure. Can you describe her to me?”

  “About 5ft 5ins, slim, athletic build, green eyes, short wavy dark auburn hair. Ring any bells?”

  “Now I come to think about it there was a girl like her,” the ticket clerk answered. “She was asking all sorts of questions about the journey to London, whether the train stopped at Bristol, or Exeter and how long it took to get to there.”

  “What time was this?” King enquired.

  “About half past seven this morning. I answered all her questions, but in the end had to be quite rude to her. There were other passengers waiting to buy tickets and only a few minutes to spare before the train departed.”

  “Would you know whether she actually got on to that train?”

  “She certainly headed for the platform that it goes out from. That’s all I know. It was very busy, mind you it always is at that time. A lot of people catch that train.”

  The ticket office clerk had had no further useful information for King and so he then went to the public telephone box he’d seen near to the railway station; the one Kate Penrose had used and phoned Hardgrave again.

  “Kate Penrose may have caught the train to London early this morning,” King told Hardgrave and glanced at his wrist watch. It was about one o’clock. “It should get into London Paddington in about an hour and a half.”

  “That’s good news, King. I’ll get Hoskins and Clark to go down to Paddington. If she’s on that train they’ll pick her up. In the meantime, stay in the area and try and find out where she was living. In her hurry to leave, she may have left something incriminating behind.”

  “I’ll go back to Praa Sands, then sir.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Kate had used the secure satellite phone again later that evening and this time had got through to home and had spoken to her mum.

  “Oh, Catherine we’ve been so worried about Dave. He’s had to have two operations and the surgeon told us they were very difficult ones to perform and there was always a chance that the patient could end up paralysed and having to use a wheelchair. Fortunately, it seems he’s come through it all right and the surgeon thinks that in time Dave might be able to walk again.”

  “Oh, mum that is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”

  “What about you Catherine? Are you, all right?” her mum worriedly asked Kate. “Steve said you’d had to go on the run again.”

  “I’m all right, mum. Don’t you get fretting about me. Tell dad he was right about MI5 listening in to his phone calls. They were waiting for me outside the telephone box I’d been using.”

  “What? MI5?”

  “No, mum, they were probably Special Branch.”


  “But Kate, won’t they be on to you now, with you ringing home. I didn’t hear the call connect though, or that funny noise that’s usually been on the line these days.”

  “It’s all right, mum. I’m using a special phone that they won’t be able to trace, a,” Kate paused thinking how to describe Cath, “a friend has lent me.” It was too soon to start telling mum about Cath and the Penrose family in Cornwall. Besides which, it wouldn’t be safe and could put Cath in danger.

  “Oh, I see.”

  “I have to go now, mum, but I’ll ring whenever I can. Give my love to everybody. Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye love and you take care of yourself now, won’t you?”

  “Yes, mum. Bye.”

  Kate switched the phone off. It was a relief to know that Dave had come through his operations all right, but it was still a worry. It sounded like Dave would need months of rehabilitation and physiotherapy to be able to walk again. Still, he was alive and that was all that mattered. Kate took the phone back to Cath who she found in her study.

  “Everything all right at home Kate?” Cath enquired.

  “Dave had to have two operations and it’s still not known for certain when or if he’ll be able to walk again.”

  “Which hospital is he in Kate?”

  “Leeds, I think. That was the nearest one to Ferrybridge.”

  “Right, leave it to me.”

  “Leave what to you Cath?”

  “I can’t say at present, Kate, but you’ll get to know in good time.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After phoning Hardgrave, King had phoned his contact in the Rectifiers.

  “What have you to report King?” the icy cold voice demanded to know. King had never been able to determine whether it was a male or female that he was speaking to. All he did know however, was that whoever it was had great power including the power of life or death.

  “The girl may have gone back to London,” King said. “She was apparently making enquiries about the London train at the railway station in Penzance early this morning.”