by A. J. Dobbs
The group entered Peter’s office just off the far side of the data centre and he picked up a sealed letter. Just at that moment Paris Blondfeld looked quizzically at her friend Jade McQuiston, as in unison the seals within the pockets of their min-ed cloaks started to vibrate. A soft glow soon joined the vibrations and was now piercing the material fibres, highlighting the intricacy of the cloaks and the mastery of the weavers…
*
Before we step out into a new area of our tale I feel a brief interlude to give you an explanation on how the Earth Protectors came into existence would be of great benefit…
Throughout history, the pace of growth of human knowledge was such that the role of the Keepers was relatively straightforward; light touches here and there to ensure things were in balance. That didn’t mean we stopped people fighting or killing; that was not within our gift. We had watched for millennia with despair and dismay at the cruelty that one human could inflict upon another in the name of one cause or another. Centuries of bloody fighting eventually delivered relatively sophisticated societies on both Earth and Arthe, but we never had to look too far to see the tell-tale signs of self-interest playing out some dastardly play.
Our role is to ensure that a natural order is maintained; whatever that order looks like. We don’t always get this right, of course, and within Earth and Arthe history there can be seen countless examples of where injustice has prevailed for too long. We are forever trying to manage the scale of the difference between justice and injustice, right and wrong, and our efforts are always channelled to try to get an equitable balance to avoid the rise of evil.
We have one simple principle: that every living thing has a right to life, a reasonable chance of survival given the changing environment in which it lives. We reluctantly have to accept that all things can happen and so our view of the concepts of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is not as opposing forces but as relative life experiences that each of us may have to face in the time we are afforded.
We take no sides; we simply seek an equitable balance. I realise this is somewhat strange, but think of us as an integral part of nature. As the wind blows, the sun shines, the rain and snow fall, they do so with no favour to anyone or anything; we are the same in the way we maintain balance. We are locked into the very systems of nature.
By the late 1800s Earthiens and Arthiens were developing their understanding of the atomic structure of their world and the power it could yield. Albertus was concerned; you were thinking about powers you had no understanding of and he made a bold decision to send a Theran to Earth to inform some of the thinking. This was not a popular decision amongst the Council, but in the end it was agreed. Einstein Peart’s assistant at the time, a lovely fellow called Frank Rose, was sent; he was a gifted man with a sharp brain and had learned much from his time with the Professor. It was a courageous decision for him too because in doing so he had to give up his long life in favour of the shorter human timescale. The Professor had to speed up his ageing to that of Earth time to ensure that he did not stand out, and so off he was sent.
Frank was given a position in the Swiss patent office and took a new name in honour of his mentors, becoming known as Albert Einstein. Quite unintentionally Albert, or Frank, became famous; his theories were so ground-breaking for Earth, although a little elementary for Thera, that he sparked a chain reaction of new thinking that we hadn’t all expected. We had also thought, incorrectly, that once Earthiens realised the power of the regulus that they would not dare use it; however, those assumptions were wrong and we created an unintentional imbalance between Earth and Arthe.
By 1939 Earth was back in another world war and this proved to be the catalyst for technological advances to feed the military machines. By 1945, using Frank’s equations Earthiens finally harnessed the power of the regulus in a nuclear bomb and Albertus became extremely worried and many of his critics on the Council felt vindicated in their original opposition to sending Frank to Earth.
The science they had employed, however, was crude and not capable of control. Moreover, after the initial effects of the bomb, the uncontrolled regulus energy kept on attacking the body, causing terrible illness. On Thera we were shocked by this development and we could see that the speed at which science was developing and the use that was being made of it were things we could no longer keep in balance without assistance. Albertus, after much thought, consultation with the Council and knowledge from the Great Book, came upon a name: Sir Richard Lord, Peter’s father.
Richard was head of the Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom, MI6 and Albertus contacted him with a view to helping all of mankind. You can imagine even for a man who works with secrets that Albertus’ story was somewhat difficult to take, but a quick trip to Thera left him in no doubt.
Richard set up a small group, the Earth Protectors, a handful of people, with its main role to monitor world events and feed the information back to Albertus on Thera so that the Keepers could be deployed anywhere, ensuring that correct balance was maintained. The operation was hidden within the small cottage, or more accurately beneath the small cottage somewhere near London, that Paris and Jade had just visited, but I cannot divulge this exact location. We provided the funding via mined gold deposits, which Richard was able to convert to money; you will have to forgive my lack of understanding here, as the economies of Earth and Arthe are something of a mystery to me.
The original team of Sir Richard, Frank and an intelligence officer named Ian Flemming grew steadily. They set up initially with rudimentary communications, which with the passing of time turned into quite complex machines of which I had no understanding or any inclination to understand. Ironically some Therans seemed quite adept at their use and when many years later we sent Tolemak’s Bursar of Goods, Stephen Hobs, to Earth he quickly embraced these new computer machines and with Earthiens, Steve Hadthenack and William Bates they quickly moved this new technology along at a pace.
Earthiens, however, unlike Therans, have a passion for limelight and money; Ian Flemming eventually left and successfully turned his hand to spy novels using his own real life experiences as the sustenance for his outlandish plots and the two Steves decided to set up a company called Pear Computers, whilst William, better known as Bill, set up a rival business called Winux, both of which seem to be doing very well even today.
Stephen Hobs, however, was Theran and finding himself in the public eye did not please Albertus. Although it put him right at the heart of this technology surge and he had great influence on the balance he could not stay forever on Earth. He was returned to Thera a few years ago and now lives a quiet life in Willowdale, a small village near Tolemak.
The value of the Earth Protectors in maintaining balance was highlighted not too many years after the Second World War, when in Cuba in 1962 the Russian and American governments on Earth were caught up in a very dangerous stalemate; the closest yet that Earth has been to what it called a full-scale nuclear war.
With an ability to speak any of the languages of Earth and Arthe and using information provided by Sir Richard I was placed within the Russian inner government in a group known as Maskirovka. They were an intelligence organisation that used denial and deception to support whatever the government was trying to achieve and in this conflict there was plenty of that going on. From within Maskirovka, I introduced the idea of ‘mutual assured destruction’, the idea that there could be no winners in a conflict carried out using atomic bombs. This was of course a lesson in balance that I was attempting and one that I delivered with great success, even if I say so myself.
This interplay between Thera and Earth is still a reluctant one in the view of the Council, but we accept it as a vital part of our ability to fulfil our role, an evolution of nature if you like and so the group continues to operate, now under the leadership of Peter Lord and with far more complex machines than I ever could have imagined. Let us now return to our tale…
*
Jade and Paris were transfixed as t
hey stood in Peter’s underground office.
‘What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘It’s our seals… they’re… calling us home…,’ said Jade, with some distress.
Peter looked on nervously, as if some terrible secret about him was about to come out. Jade continued.
‘It just doesn’t happen, not since 1962 has the emergency call been used. What’s going on, Peter?’ said Paris angrily, now letting out some of her frustrations.
‘What are you hiding?’ she demanded.
‘I’m not hiding anything.’
‘You seem nervous, like you don’t want us here,’ added Jade.
‘I’m sorry… I have a lot to deal with here. I’m busy, so if I don’t lay on the red carpet for your arrival it doesn’t mean anything more than that.’
Jade wasn’t convinced and remained on guard.
‘What is in the message, Peter?’
‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you, it is for Albertus only.’
Paris looked at Jade and whispered, ‘We don’t have secrets amongst the Keepers, let’s get back to Tolemak.’
Jade looked at Peter. ‘Could we have the message? We must leave for Thera immediately.’
Peter handed Jade an envelope with a wax seal embossed with the Theran triangle and the two Keepers departed.
Peter took a deep breath as they left and walked over to the far wall of his office. He looked for a moment at a picture of several horses and hounds readying themselves for a hunt before pressing one corner. The picture clicked and popped out from the wall just like a cupboard door opening. The picture was hinged on one side and he opened it right up revealing a regulus viewer behind. He pressed a purple crystal on the corner of the screen and waited until the figure of Albertus appeared on the screen.
‘They’ve just left.’
Albertus acknowledged Peter’s message with a simple nod of his head, all the while noting his demeanour and signed off.
*
Albertus greeted Paris and Jade as they returned to Tolemak.
‘Good afternoon, ladies, did you have a pleasant trip to Earth?’
‘Uneventful, but…’ Jade paused.
‘But what, Jade?’ said Albertus, probing with a tone of inquisition.
Jade remained a little guarded, unsure for the first time in her life about who she could trust.
‘Oh, nothing, I guess, it was Peter; he just seemed a little… nervous; here’s the letter.’
‘Oh, I’m sure there’s nothing wrong. Peter always has a lot on his mind… thank you for this. We’re just waiting for James and Elias; we’ll convene the Council in the morning,’ he said, waving the letter as he turned and left.
‘What’s going on, Jade, why all the secrets?’
‘I don’t know, but we don’t have long to wait before we find out.’
10th September 2012, Arthe
James McFarlane, a stocky 6ft 5in giant of a man, was the Keeper of the First Seal and was thrashing his way through the dense jungle of Ecuador on Arthe. Humidity was high and his body was relying heavily on his min-ed clothing to wick away sweat and keep him cool. He was in the Machalilla National Park on the western coast of the country and being chased by an angry mob of locals from a nearby fishing town; the actions of a meddling outsider, even when they are a Keeper, are not always welcomed…
James was there because on Earth the destruction of large tracts of rainforest was causing complete imbalance in the eco-systems. We had therefore decided to encourage some degree of deforestation on Arthe to balance the pace of destruction on Earth; I admit this does sound rather heavy-handed, like using a drows to butter your toast, but this was the burden of our duty. It has been an increasingly sad fact to us Therans that as the complexity and sophistication of life on Earth and Arthe increase, our ability to maintain balance becomes harder. Our best intentions are sometimes not only dangerous and unwelcome but we can also just make matters worse.
James was now in such a dangerous position, having failed to convince the local people to change, to embrace the wider use of the natural resources around them to greater effect; he had raised anger and resentment from people who were quite happy with their lot. In the end he was declared an evil spirit by the village elders and they wanted to kill him.
The irony is, of course, that the lifestyle he was trying to get them to change from was the one that we Therans followed. Our view of wealth is quite different to most on Earth and Arthe. We see no value in commodities, wealth for us grows from within. For now James had no such thoughts on his mind however; he just had to get out of there alive.
I know what you’re thinking, why not use his seal? Well our way was to stay inconspicuous; we had managed to keep our activities quiet and hidden for many centuries and that’s how we wanted to keep it. He needed to lose them in the dense forest before using his seal.
Snapping branches, uneven ground and echoing shouts from behind were overloading James’ senses as he tried to outrun his pursuers. He was, however, at a clear disadvantage in that they knew the terrain and he didn’t. He had to exercise some caution on ground he didn’t even know was solid, so was unable to match the speed of his pursuers, hence they were catching him. Swallow holes in the underlying rock could easily be hidden by moss and general forest detritus and his speed was picking up as the topography changed and he headed downwards.
In the distance now he could hear the faint sound of water; his mind raced with possibilities, risk assessing and analysing his options. If it was a river, could he cross it? What if it was a waterfall, a sheer cliff face? He would be trapped. He did not have long to wait or much choice in the outcome.
The forest floor was slippery and as the incline increased, he lost his footing, the leaves and detritus acting like a set of wheels under him and sending him even faster towards his future. In front of him he could see a fallen trunk of a tree that had sufficient space for him to slide under but also for him to grab and he immediately decided his plan would be to halt his progression forward by grabbing it.
It was a good plan, but he just had too much forward momentum and the trunk gave way, joining him on his journey. Within a few moments he was looking out over a vast river with the tree trunk stuck to him as a result of his forward momentum; he then launched off the edge of a rock face. The trunk as it turned out was a lightweight balsa wood tree and he and the trunk parted company for a brief while as they fell into the river below.
James hit the water first and the trunk, luckily, landed six feet away moments later. He landed feet first into deep water and quickly bobbed back up to the surface, scanning around for the log. Above him he could hear the shouts from his pursuers, but they had no inclination to follow in his footsteps and he swam to the log, lying himself wearily on top of it thinking his ordeal now over.
Swoosh.
A single, narrow scale of notes filled his left ear, then another, then his right ear. He lifted his head and could see the arrows piercing the water around him. They weren’t following him anymore, but they were still trying to kill him. The arrows were flying in faster now, each one a little more accurate than the last, the bowmen’s aim only spoiled by his erratic movement on the surface of the water and the distance between him and them.
Clearly they were at the limit of their range, he thought, but these were experienced bowmen and it was not long before one hit the log, the swoosh now replaced with a crack as it split the soft balsa wood log. He had to get out of range and began kicking with all his strength. This had an advantage and a disadvantage. It put him on a direct course away from the arrows but stabilised his erratic movement in the water and gave the bowmen an easier target. They did not need much time to prosecute this advantage and with the next swoosh came a shout of pain as an arrow hit him in the back, around his shoulder blade.
He didn’t remember what happened after that as he fell unconscious and woke up some time later having been pushed into reeds by the gentle river flow. The pa
in in his shoulder was excruciating, but he was alive and he still had his seal. Alone now he used it and returned to Tolemak, unaware that he had been receiving an emergency call home.
10th September 2012, Tolemak
‘You blundering buffoon of a man,’ Albertus thundered into the Professor’s laboratory. ‘Where is he, Professor?’ There was a moan from the other side of the regulus chimney.
‘I’m fine, thank you for asking,’ said James.
‘We found him in the vegetable patch outside, apart from half a season of carrots ruined, we’ve patched him up and he will be fine,’ said the Professor laughingly.
Albertus rounded the chimney to the stocky figure of James McFarlane with a gun belt-esque breast bandage, sipping on a cup of herbal tea in one of the chairs from his chamber.
‘I hadn’t realised you cared so much, Albertus, you kept that quiet,’ James said mockingly.
‘Oh, shut up, you idiot, we have a serious situation brewing here and you were off playing cowboys and Indians… Smee has escaped.’
James choked on his tea, which then blurted out of his mouth in hot spray all over Albertus’ shoes.
‘How?’ he quickly replied, in a slightly muffled voice as he recovered his composure.
‘It’s a long story, but you were called back for an emergency meeting of the Council, a call you didn’t know about, I gather?’
‘Well I was slightly busy trying to stay alive.’
‘Indeed! Well, Paris, Jade, Thomas and Lucius are here so if you’re quite finished with your antics we will convene at first light tomorrow… get some rest and stay out of trouble.’
Albertus played with his chin, pondering over the recent events and then turned and left the room, leaving James to probe the Professor for some answers.
