Journal
‘To Athene,’ Stella says raising her glass.
‘To Athene,’ say Father and I in unison.
Stuart and Bella are in bed. Father, Stella and I are celebrating Athene’s appointment and discussing the day’s events in the Symposium.
‘A good beginning to the new regime,’ Stella smiles.
Father and I nod in agreement. ‘She made a terrific speech,’ I say, ‘but do you think Athene’s proposals will be accepted?’
‘Some of them,’ says Stella. ‘I feel sure Isis will be allowed to have her baby in Hos-sat, for example.’
‘Is it Isis who is pregnant?’ I ask innocently. I already know that but I have to keep up the pretence that I have no knowledge about what’s going on in the sectoids. I can’t help thinking how I dislike this continued deception and hope that Stella will soon relent and allow me legitimate access to Worldwideculture.inc.
‘Yes. I forgot you knew her in C55,’ says Stella.
‘We were brought up together. She’s only two years older than me. I can’t believe she’s having a baby. Who is the father?’
‘One of the hostages about to be returned. A young warrior.’
‘Great. She’ll be pleased to see him again.’ I’m sincere about that, but my mind is still on Lizzy. I wonder when I will see her again.
I try to keep my mind on the present conversation. ‘Do you think they’ll agree to allow mutant humanoids to apply for university courses?’
Father shakes his head. ‘I doubt it. Most of the members of the Symposium will think that’s a step too far.’
He must see the disappointment on my face as he adds, ‘Maybe in the future, Michael. Who knows?
I can’t help wondering if he will vote against integration, not on principle, but because he’s afraid that someone will find out about my previous mutant status.
Journal
I call Lizzy before I go to bed and again the next morning. The line is dead. I go to uni, determined to do some work. When I turn on my computer, I find a message from Heracles.
It’s more or less a rant. He’s furious that he hasn’t been selected as CEO of Worlwideculture. He slags off Stella for not appreciating him and complains that Athene is acting in a very high-handed manner. She’s taken away his captives, sent Durga back to C98 with the warriors he captured. She’s to take charge of the whole army again with Jaga continuing at her post of chief administrator. In addition, she’s given Sati control of another sectoid, C77.
‘She’s rewarded them both and taken away my warriors,’ Heracles protests. ‘It’s not fair. She’s told me I can stay as her number two for the time being but any funny business and I’ll be out. She’s insufferable. So patronising it makes me want to puke. But she can’t manage without my compu skills. I know that.’
I skim through more of his grumbles until, near the end, I find the following: ‘Thing is, Mercury, you may be able to help me. I need to get in touch with someone called Orlando Wolfe. I have the feeling that he and I could prove useful to each other. Do you know him? If so perhaps you could put in a good word for me. Thanks in anticipation, your good mate, Heracles.’
Good mate? In his dreams! Mind you I suppose I was a good mate to him in getting him sent back to Earth. I’m just about to delete the auto-mail when I change my mind and print it out. I’ll give it to Father. I did promise to let him know if I had any further communication from Heracles and meddling with a politician on Oasis could prove disastrous. Father needs to know about this. I was right in my assessment of Heracles. He is dangerous. Not only could he bring down Athene, but others as well – including Father.
Journal
Jonathan puts his head round my compu-cube.
‘Susie’s dumped me’ He pulls a face.
‘Sorry to hear that.’ I give him a wry look. ‘I suppose that means you want to go for a coffee and tell me all about it.’
‘I know I’ve neglected you but you’ll find out what it’s like when you fall in love.’
‘I expect I will but I hope I won’t drop you.’
‘I’ve missed you, man. You must know that. Well, are we going for coffee or not?’
‘Sure,’ I say, glad to have my friend back again, even if it does mean I have to listen to the story of his doomed love affair while I keep mine a secret.
Journal
Here we are again, Father and I. Same restaurant. Same table. Same view, except it is raining hard, sheets of water pelting down against the plate glass and the grassy slope. I wonder if the lake ever floods.
I can’t wait to tell Father about the message from Heracles. As soon as we’ve ordered our lunch, I hand him the printout. He reads it intently, frowning and shaking his head from time to time.
‘I think Wolfe was a member of the team who interrogated Heracles. He was not very pleased to say the least when I intervened to have him released.’ He looks at me. ‘I wonder if Heracles told him about you?’
‘I don’t know,’ I say, ‘but something happened the other day that I found – well – unsettling. It may not mean anything but….’ And I tell Father how, on the day of Athene’s visit, Orlando Wolfe scanned the crowd with those steely eyes of his as if looking for someone and that they rested on me for several moments.
‘Why haven’t you mentioned this before?’
I shrug. ‘I haven’t thought of it since. I may have been mistaken and it was just chance he looked at me. I don’t know. Getting this auto-mail today reminded me. What’s he like? As a man, as a politician?’
‘Power-crazy,’ says Father and smiles up at the waiter as our plates of steak and chips arrive. When the waiter leaves he adds a few more adjectives to describe Orlando Wolfe, ‘unscrupulous and immoral.’
‘I take it you don’t like him much,’ I grin.
‘Let’s put it this way, I don’t think I’ve ever voted the same way as him on any issue in the Symposium and I certainly wouldn’t invite him as a guest to our house.’
We eat our steak and chips in silence for a while. I’m beginning to appreciate different food and this steak is particularly tasty.
‘Talking about inviting someone to our house,’ I say, ‘do you think I could invite a friend home one evening?’
He looks surprised. He has no idea I have a friend. ‘Of course you can.’
‘His name’s Jonathan Dowell and he attends some of the same seminars as me.’
‘Martin Dowell’s son?’
‘I think so, yes. His father’s a scientist or something.’
Father looks pleased. ‘He’s the most eminent nuclear physicist of his generation.’
‘Famous then? Like you.’
He chuckles. ‘Me? I’m a mere politician. Martin Dowell has a brilliant mind. It’s good you’re friendly with his son. I look forward to meeting him.’
I can’t help thinking what a long way Father and I have come in our relationship since we met. He’s taught me so much. And he’s a good man, a man I respect and he makes it clear that he respects me too and is proud of me.
That last thought disturbs me. I feel guilty about the secrets I haven’t shared with him. I can’t tell him about Lizzy. Not yet. But I can tell him about the deception that’s been playing on my conscience for so long. I decide to come clean.
‘Father, I have to tell you something. I’m sorry about this. I’ve hacked into Worldwideculture.inc because I just had to know what was happening on Earth. ‘
His reaction takes me by surprise. He bursts out laughing. ‘So my son’s become a hacker? I didn’t agree with blocking your access to the site, but Stella was insistent. I had to go along with it to keep the peace. You know how it is with women sometimes – or perhaps you don’t. Yet.’
‘You won’t tell Stella what I’ve done?’
‘Not if you promise not to tell her that I know.’
We shake on it, complicit in our deception of Stella, and I feel closer to my father than before.
‘I don’t regret it
,’ I tell him. ‘It’s been so exciting to watch the dramatic events that have recently taken place on Earth. Imagine, if I hadn’t accessed the site I wouldn’t have known that Kali had been reinstated.’
We begin to talk about the happenings we have witnessed on Earth: the spectacular trek across the wilderness by Durga, Kali and the golden warriors; Jason’s death and Sati’s mock death; the abortive attempt by Sati and Durga to take over C99; and Heracles’s triumph in capturing them both. And about Stella’s intervention which led to her decision to appoint Athene as leader.
‘Do you agree with her intervention? Appearing on Earth in person like that?’
I see him hesitate but he says. ‘Stella is her own person, makes her own decisions. Even I don’t know what was said in the individual interviews, but I trust Stella’s judgment.’
‘Let’s just hope Heracles doesn’t mess things up,’ I say.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll deal with him. And with Orlando Wolfe.’ Father’s confidence is impressive. He drains his glass of ruby red wine.
I have another question I’m dying to ask him. ‘Do you think there will come a day when mutant humanoids and completes will live together in harmony side by side?’
‘You might be interested to hear, Michael, that the case for integration is already being explored. I am on the sub-committee looking into various possibilities….’
‘That is really good news, Father.’
With my father actively involved what could possibly go wrong?
Journal
Jonathan comes to Home-Court-Jameson and I visit his home, Home-Dowling-Palmer. We spend hours in one or other of our study-bedrooms and have long talks about every subject under the sun. We call it “putting the world to rights.” We mean our world, Oasis. We talk about the future a lot. Sometimes we disagree but we always listen to each other’s opinion and counteract it with a balanced and intelligent argument. Or so we believe. For example, Jonathan doesn’t believe that the integration of mutant humanoids with completes will work.
‘I’m not saying it’s wrong, Michael, just that it’s not practical. You’re a dreamer. You spend too much time with your head in the clouds.’
‘Naturally. Because we live in the clouds!’
He gives me a punch on the top of my arm to show he appreciates my sense of humour.
I’m incredibly fond of him and we make a pact that if either of us has a girlfriend we will still make time to see each other. It’s great to know that our friendship is solid.
He’s told me quite a bit about his relationship with Susie – more than I want to know actually – but I haven’t told him anything about Lizzy. Not much to tell. I haven’t seen her. She doesn’t answer my calls or reply to my messages.
Journal
I wake up to find a message from Lizzy, asking me to meet her by the Obelisk at one o’clock. ‘That is if you want to see me again.’
Do I want to? Can she doubt it?
‘I’ve fixed my brothers,’ the text continues. I assume she means that they won’t bother us. I set off, excited at the prospect of seeing Lizzy again. We have many problems to overcome but I’m convinced our story will have a happy ending. After all, Elizabeth Bennett came from an impoverished family and she landed up mistress of Pemblerley – so why shouldn’t a girl from the Project find happiness with her Darcy?
I stride out towards Oasis Project and think how l lucky I am. Everything in my life is falling into place. My relationship with my father and my friendship with Jonathan are solid. A beautiful mutant humanoid has become the new CEO of Worldwideculture and has been clever enough to begin negotiations for a more egalitarian world.
I believe that I too have a role to play in the shaping of this new world and that if I work hard enough it will come to pass…. Note the biblical language, dear Journal. I treasure the weight of those words and make no apology for using them. I’m not religious but I am an idealist.
As I approach the Project, I see a beautiful girl dancing round the white obelisk. The blue of her skirt catches the sunlight as she dips and twirls, moving fluidly like ripples of water. I increase my step, eager to be with her, to hold her and tell her how much I have missed her.
The End
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people for their support.
Hedley Alcock, my first reader, who read each chapter as soon as I had written it, always eager to find out what the characters would do next. His enthusiasm kept me going when I thought of giving up and his comments were always helpful.
Maureen Blundell writing as Roz Colyer, my fierce but fair editor, who has such a keen eye for detail.
Last but not least, my husband, TJ, who has given me so much help. He deserves thanks not just for his practical assistance but also for his personal support throughout the writing process.
Author’s Note: I’d like to invite you to take a look at my website. If you would like to be informed when my next book comes out please leave your name and email on the Contact Page. http://jeannievanrompaey.com/
About the Author
Brought up in a village in Northamptonshire, Jeannie van Rompaey has lived in London, The United States and Spain.
Jeannie considers herself an eternal student. She trained as a teacher at St Gabriel’s College and studied Speech and Drama at Rose Bruford, both London based colleges. She has a BA from the Open University, a Diploma in English as a Foreign Language from the Bell School, Cambridge, and an MA in Modern Literature from the University of Leicester.
Her varied career includes teaching, lecturing and running drama and creative writing workshops. She is also a theatre director, actor and voice-over. As Jeannie Russell she is a senior member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators and adjudicates drama festivals in the UK and Europe.
Jeannie is married to historian and artist, TJ. They live on the subtropical island of Gran Canaria where she spends much of her time writing and painting. She makes frequent trips to London to see her daughter, Anieka, attend literary events, visit art galleries and go to the theatre.
Also by Jeannie van Rompaey
Novels
Life Drawing
After
Devil Face
Short Stories
Betrayed
Afternoons on the De Keyserlei
The Idealists
And her mother came too
Anna-Belinda
Swap
Recognition
Copyright
Published by Clink Street Publishing 2016
Copyright © 2016
First edition.
Jeannie van Rompaey has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978–1–910782–67–5
E-Book: 978–1–910782–68–2
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