Understood. If you attack a disguise, Robert, I will still be forced to attack you. I know. What I am trying to say is, if a wolf wears a sheep skin, it does not become a sheep. You are able to see the soul within. If the soul is of an adult and the soul is evil in that it wishes to destroy a child or a Cherinian, then the sheepskin disguise should not influence you. Your prime directive is to stop harm to a real child or to a good person.
1141
I sensed Cherine wanted me to wait a moment, so I did. As soon as she was ready, she told me, *I want you to respond to my question immediately without pausing to think. Just give me the first answer that comes to your mind. Ready?* I sent her a nod. *Something cataclysmic happens and you rush out to save people. Unfortunately, you can only save one person at a time. As you arrive, you find that only two people are still alive; the one is an adult male you recognise, for he is considered the Albert Einstein of the medical world and he is expected to be saving millions of people in the future, and the other is a sweet little girl of about three to four years old. Quick, which one do you save?*
*My instincts demand I save the little girl, but I think I would…damn it Cherine, I’m just as much of a robot as the protector is, I’d save the little girl.*
*Damn it Robert, then why can’t you at least give it free will?*
*Ask it Cherine.*
*He is right not to. I am not human in all senses. I could develop my own agenda, have my own needs. Would you risk having a protector, with the power I have, as an entity independent of Robert and his heart? If he tried, as I am now, I would have to attempt to stop him.*
Everyone had been listening in. By mind-speak I asked them to be careful, not to discuss what they heard aloud. Then I asked them to alter their body age. They must all choose an apparent age between seven and nine. Those who could not we would do it for them. Once it was done I changed myself.
“Anybody getting hungry? Shall we order…” I stopped, for the protector had flared, visible and hurting our eyes.
“What the hell!! What was that?”
I informed them, my voice trembling from anger. “It was a missile. The attack has started. The protector has thrown the missile into space where it exploded without harming anyone.”
As the missile had been seen by a large number of people, they mentioned it on the television news. The American base claimed that some electronic circuitry had malfunctioned and the missile had taken off, but the in-built safety features had forced the missile to veer into space where it exploded harmlessly. There were assurances that this could not happen again.
I raised my hand to quieten them. “If anyone had any doubts, I hope this has taken care of them.”
I decided to take a risk. We had to. Once all the stores were closed for the evening I used Natalie to prevent anyone seeing us and Cherine to disable all electronic alarms. We drew cash from a number of accounts and jumped into the local Alpha Beta supermarket. We piled food into trolleys and a couple of us would jump with the trolley home, empty it and return. We all took turns, as providing food for so many people was going to be a mammoth job. We even took all the cases we could find of bottled water and cold drinks. When we had finished I grabbed a number of cases of wine and beer and a few cartons of cigarettes. Cherine grinned at me and emptied the store and their stockroom of all the chocolates and biscuits we like. She remembered my liking for halvah and collected a number of slabs. Gianni was our human calculator, keeping a running total.
*Gianni, how long will this last us?*
*The basics, about two weeks.*
*Everybody start again. Get dry stuff. Rice, pasta, tinned foods, long life milk, cereals, sugar. As much as you can take. We have huge freezers at home, grab cheeses, salamis, tarama, anything you see. Henry, take the barrel of olives. Get all the bread, we can freeze it, not that it will last long. Niko, we will have to go for more fuel. They are bound to cut off our electricity.*
Sam said, *No. Our built in tanks are full. If we bring loose drums they could use that to set us on fire.*
*Fine. Have I missed anything?*
*None of us need medication. How about entertainment Robert? We have to keep everybody occupied.*
And so it went. There was a possibility they would have our phone lines cut off or monitored, so we got a number of pay cards and mobile (cell) phones. Everything we took we paid for. There were going to be a number of store owners upset, but glad we were honest - and they would be richer.
*We got everything we could think of. It will carry us through nearly a month. Just as well we are all child sized, this way everything lasts longer. Now starts the hard part.*
1142
*You mean the waiting?*
*To hell with that! Now we have to work out how we identify our enemies and attack them. Alki, Elia, you too Wing, I am certain you have already thought of it, and I hope you have worked out how to liquidate all your assets. With you stuck here they will destroy your businesses.*
I saw Alki had already thought of it, but the others had been too caught up in the situation.
Wing asked, *Robert, you want me to sell the tissue banks? What of our tissues?*
*It is our only hope. If we sell them there is no reason for the banks to be destroyed. We must make a show of putting up our own banks - which they will destroy. Our tissues are there under false names, it makes it difficult for them to identify us. You did use different names for each bank, I hope you did not take any shortcuts and use the same names?*
His feelings were hurt and I apologised. *Wing, you must keep in mind I am responsible for all these people. If I have to ask a question like that just answer honestly, if I have to apologise to each of you all the time, we lose valuable time. I’ll apologise afterwards for hurting anyone’s feelings.* He smiled and nodded. *All of you, I want you as part of this conversation. Protector, have you checked if we are being spied upon electronically?*
*There is a satellite watching this house most of the time, we have windows of time when they cannot see us for a short period. There are no microphones in the house or the surrounding area. Houses next door are just the usual families.*
*Use Cherine to disable a satellite. That will show them we are aware and serve as a warning.*
Sam called out urgently, *Wait! Protector, can we place a trace that will show where the information ends up?*
*I am doing that. Robert, I do not destroy?*
*Agreed. With you now surrounding us, are they still able to hear us?*
*Unknown. Tell me what their powers are and I can then answer.*
It now became a waiting game for me. Alki, Elia and Wing used the mobile pay cards to make their calls around the world. This was fast using up our cards, but I had to let them protect us financially. By early morning we had to make another foray (εισβολή), grabbing as many pre-paid cards as we could get. I grinned. *Savva, your station is going to go crazy in the morning. I’m really sorry to have you locked up here with us.*
*They tried to kill us Roberto, what are you apologising for!*
*Niko, I was not apologising for having him here. I was expressing regret that he could not be out there helping us as he wanted to. If he was not here, I am certain he would have been dead within hours. This, all of us sitting here, is a very bad way to fight a war. My natural reaction is to want to go out and attack them.*
Dommi, a sweet little nine year old Dommi came and took my arm. *Savva, you are in command for the next few hours. Roberto is going to sleep.* They all laughed as I meekly followed her.
*I know you mean well love, but my mind is racing, how will I sleep?*
*We will see to that. If you get overtired you will be of no use to anyone. You must keep your mind fresh and clear.*
*What about the others, how are we going to bed them all?*
*I will presume you were talking about finding beds for them, that you were not reacting to them all being children!* Even as everyone laughed, I gave her and Cherine a hug. With humour at a time like this I felt stronger and more hopeful. We truly have a wonderful thing to fight for, not just greed and power.
1143
The next morning our doorbell rang. Niko answered (the others would not let me).
“Good morning. I am from the recording studio where the little girl recorded a couple of songs. May I come in?”
“I’m sorry I cannot let you in. The owners are not here.”
“Oh!” He tried to look around Niko. “Could you please contact her, her parents I mean. The songs are being released and we would like her to appear on the morning coffee show to be interviewed by...”
“You should know that it is part of the contract that you do not disclose her identity and keep her out of such publicity. I will advise the family of what you said and I am certain you will be hearing from their attorneys. Since you are already trying to ignore the terms of the contract, they will ask for court protection and have the release of the songs stopped. I warn you, if you try to release them now that you have been warned, there will be trouble, it will end up costing you much more than you could hope to earn out of this. Now get out.”
While they were talking we had been picking his brains. As bad as I feel about it, that scruple we will sometimes have to do without for the time being. He was an innocent, but we got the information of where the master discs were and all the copies they have printed. We destroyed them all. Luckily I remembered they would probably have them on the computers. I found them and destroyed those too. If there were any other copies, for instance, taken by employees home, we will still be able to destroy them and prevent mass marketing.
I hugged Wendy. “I’m sorry love. I also looked forward to seeing you hit the top of the charts.”
“But I did, long ago!”
“When, what are you talking about?” (I admit I was wondering whether she had sneaked anything without letting me know).
“The day you loved me, I hit the top of the charts with you. That is the only chart I care about.”
*Now you all know why we are going to win. They are trying to exploit weaknesses we don’t have. I hope they try a few more ways, every time they do we learn of another weakness of theirs.*
My Wendy was passing on to the other Wendy her talent for singing, sometimes mind to mind and sometimes aloud and the snatches we all heard at times had everyone clamouring for a show. I agreed, but placed a condition. *The four of you make sure it is a light and entertaining show, something I can break out of instantly if there is a need.*
*We need a few days Robbie.*
*They all heard, it gives us something to look forward to.*
Within that day we lost millions, maybe tens of millions of dollars, Alki would not say. Assets were sold at bargain prices on condition that the money was paid in cash. Financial pages reported what was happening and questions began to appear in the newspapers. As was inevitable, one journalist suggested that they are trying to move their funds out of the country illegally. Alki and Elia arranged a meeting with relevant officials at the old house of Alki.
We all jumped there and hid while they had their meeting. Actually, a very small percentage of their fortunes had been in Greece, so they had the full value of that deposited in Greek banks. They managed to satisfy the officials and they departed, promising to make a statement to the press.
The television news carried the story that night. They showed both men, gave the official statement and asked what could the reason be behind this sudden need for cash. They interviewed a couple of economists who gave us the break we needed. They decided the two must have identified an investment which has enormous potential and are moving their wealth for that purpose. As always, those men who can never make any money for themselves started making judgements on how these two could end up losing everything if they did not….blah, blah, blah…
The satellite spying was traced to an officer within the Pentagon. I wondered how he justified them spying on us. Everybody wanted to know what we are going to do now. Are we going to teach them a lesson?
1141
I refused. *This man is our only lead. We have to use him to find the rest of them.*
*How? Can the Protector keep a link on him?*
*That would be tipping our hand. They must have ways of knowing if there is such a link. Through his computer we can hear what is said in his office, read what messages he sends, even if he encrypts them. We read them as he types them. I am just waiting for him to give us one clue as to who he deals with, then we will find a way to watch that person and so on.*
Savva said, *I would like to at least know who he is, does he have a family, where does he do his banking. That sort of thing.*
*So would I, but I do not have a way to find out. Some of that information may come through his computer, so let’s wait for it.*
Tasso told me, *I have a contact who claims to be able to put me in contact with an Israeli group. As long as the job does not affect Israeli security they can do the job. They are extremely expensive though.*
*Tasso, we can use them once we are checking on a non-political person. To have them check on someone in the Pentagon would send alarm bells ringing.*
It is amazing the silly things one can trip up on. Any of the girls would have thought of it, but I did not. Within three days we had to re-visit the supermarket. We had run out of toilet paper! Since we had to go, we grabbed the opportunity to get all the bread they had, vegetables, fruit and fresh meat. They must have panicked the next morning when they found themselves out of stock again on essential items. I grabbed, for our Greeks, a copy of each newspaper I could find. This got them discussing politics and soccer which helped pass their time I suppose.
“They have holed up, Walter. I’m not getting any movement.”
“They must be teleporting then. They think they are being clever and only talk about innocent matters. I think they must be writing notes to each other on important subjects.”
“What do we do then?”
“By now they must think they have us stumped. I will ask Athens to order Mike to initiate a police raid tomorrow. They will collect all the scraps of paper for us. It will not be of any use as they will immediately change their plans, but it will serve two purposes. First of all it will unsettle them, perhaps force them to make a stupid move. The scraps of paper will also show us how they think. We can extrapolate from that and anticipate their moves.”
“You think Mike will play ball? I’ve never trusted that Greek.”
“His powers are not to be sneered at Frank. His ass is on the line also, he is aware of the danger they pose for us. He’ll come through.”
I saw Savva pale and thought he was afraid for some reason. It was not fear, it was a white hot anger. *Their Mike can only be Michaelis Assimides. I have talked to him many times. I had actually considered bringing him in to join us. He has a reputation of being a very strong and hard man, but during our conversations I got the feeling he is a fair man, someone who dreams of making a contribution to society.*
*If you are feeling angry because you think you were gullible (αφελείς), don’t. He could see their way of taking over and running the world as one way of making it safe. Savva, will you allow Cherine into your mind, to show her your memories of him? Cherine, get into those memories, don't just watch them. Try and feel out the man.*
There was a feeling of quiet jubilation. We now had three names. The protector had been able to follow through and find the office of Walter. He turned out to be the CEO of a large American bank. What gave me pleasure was not so much that we knew these three men, but the fact that we were able to find out. This showed that they also have their vulnerabilities. Their reasoning and guesses about us using paper to note our conversations also showed they do not know everything about us and their own ideas about us are making them stupid. To think we can teleport, but not realise we have telepathy is pathetically stupid!
1145
I got everybody to scribble notes to each other, wild suggestions that showed panic as being our main emotion. We crumpled some and threw them into rubbish bags and others were scattered on the floor and under the couches. We scribbled arguments that made it look as if we are leaderless and cannot pull in one direction. I had to warn them not to enjoy themselves too much as it would show.
Cherine told us she feels that Savva has basically judged the man correctly from the façade he creates, but she needs to be physically close to him to sense what he is really like. I decided to send her and Savva to meet him, suitably disguised of course.
There was an outcry at this. It was a little embarrassing as they mostly protested my putting Cherine in danger. Savva squeezed my arm to show his understanding. He told me the man often stops for a whisky on his way home, so Savva changed his appearance and Cherine aged herself to a body age of nearly thirty and they went to his favourite place and waited. They got back hours later, joking and laughing, clinging to each other.
*Sorry, got a little drunk. He was very late tonight and we had to drink to stay there.*
*Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun while working. Cherine, were you drunk when you evaluated him?*
*Not enough to matter. Robert, you don’t think I would be so foolish do you? I actually talked to him. He is powerful! When he talks he mesmerises you with his eyes and words, but it is really the gift he has that does it. Normally I would have given the thumbs up sign, but I am worried Robert. He is a very determined man. He is determined to change the world, stop people from committing crimes, especially murder.*
*And yet he is a threat?*
*I did not feel any love in him. Nothing. He also has no family to love.*
I walked around the room, lost in my thoughts, automatically stepping over little legs and as I approached the garden doors, Socrati stood in my way so I turned.
*I am strongly tempted to give him an opportunity to join us.* I put up my hand to silence them, some of them had forgotten and protested aloud. *I said tempted. Before I do, I need to know a lot more about him. It would be nice to have him on our side, but I think we better let him search our house tomorrow. To tell the truth, that is what is worrying me. We can handle it, I know we have scattered a false trail of papers. But what if they want to take us in for questioning. I do not have identity papers for all of you yet. It also means we’d let them see what stocks we have. I do not like any of this. They will probably also have orders to take our computer hard drives.*
*What do you want to do Robert?*
*I must start off by saying I have learnt my lesson. When you all wanted to help Savva rise to the top I disagreed. If we had someone at the top to help us they could have...*
*….been in here with us. We could not have let him stay out there.*
I said, *I vote we move out tonight. Let them think we have gone into hiding.*
*Since there is only one vote available that makes it unanimous.* Alki smiled at me. *May I tell you why I do not like this idea?*
*You may, but first let me suggest something else for tomorrow. You all jump next door. The protector can still watch over me so I stay here. I am in the country legally, I have not broken any laws. They can’t do anything to me.*
Savva trashed my suggestion. *They can take you in for questioning. The questioning might not be gentle either. Would you show your powers by jumping? You would become a fugitive then.*
*Sorry Savva. Is your rank below his?*
*He must have arranged to take over my post, that means he is in charge. Even if I were here I could not stop him.*
1146
Suddenly I was elated by an idea I had. *I think you could. Alki, Elia, all that publicity you recently got, how about we use it, with a little shameless use of your contacts? The two of you with Savva could go to whichever Minister is responsible. Tell them you are involved in a new investment that could bring a multi billion dollar investment into Greece, creating thousands of jobs and huge export earnings within the high technology field. You got word that there are certain officials in the pay of another country who want to see this new technology taken away from Greece and transferred to their own country. For that reason Savva pretended to be sick, to be at your sides.
You have since then found out that a police raid is being organised, with particular orders to the men that they collect all papers, computer hard drives and so on. You ask that he protect you. Tell them you are using this house as you needed the rooms and computer facilities available and you thought the opposition did not know about it. If he is not willing, then tell him you will ask the press to be present at the raid.*
Almost sadly, Savva said, *This will destroy Michaeli.*
*We can worry about him, if we want to, later. I do not want them to succeed. Let them worry about where we have infiltrated also. Savva, it would be better if they come here, stop them here, not from before. Alki, I suggest that afterwards you have a quiet word in his ear, suggesting the other country could be the United States and that it would not pay to create a stink about this. It would be better to bury the matter.*
Alki smiled proudly as he teased me, *And I thought that you were just an innocent artist! Come on Savva, I was getting tired of looking ridiculous in these childish clothes. Let’s go change. Elia, seems like old times eh? Remember how we got that deal with….* I tuned them out as I had to deal with a funny little bunch of girls who were kissing me. Cherine had thrown herself at me forgetting I was no longer a full grown man and soon as I fell, they were all over me.
I still do not know what the limits of our protector are. It kept us protected while watching after the three as they jumped to the home of Elia, and followed them as they drove over to the house of the Minister in Politia. Soon as they gave their names they were shown in and the Minister got up from bed to see them. He sat in his pyjamas and robe and listened to them and his face was very serious. He knows both men and though he did not know Savva, his position as Station Commander and his presence with these two powerful men gave him all the credibility he needed.
“What are you suggesting we do?”
“They must be allowed to come to the house and enter to search. I will of course demand that their officer in charge come in first. I ask that you and the Stratigos (Chief of Police) be present. Any officers present and Officer Assimides, should be brought to the office of the Chief of Police where they must make a written statement explaining why they carried out this raid under false pretences. A suspension until the matter is clarified might also be a good idea. It would give a clear message that the government of Greece will not tolerate this kind of bribery in our country. Especially not when it affects such a large investment and so many jobs for our people. The export orders will probably make this one of the largest sources of foreign exchange for our country.”
“This investment, is there any possibility of you accepting any partners? I am talking of a small nature perhaps, but still substantial.”
Deadpan, Alki said, “We will be looking to a few close friends to raise at least another billion dollars, once we can discuss openly what our project is. I trust you understand Minister?”
“Of course. Please write down the address, I will need to cancel certain important meetings, but when a friend is in need of my support, what else can I do?”
“I hope you will also point out to the Chief of Police that we appreciate the support that the Station Commander has given us and we ask that he allows him to stay off duty, apparently on sick leave, for a few more months until our deals are consummated? He should keep it quiet, to himself only. Not even his secretary should know.” Alki put his finger to his nose and the Minister agreed with a knowing look.
We all grinned as the Minister called the Chief of Police and asked him to come over to his house just after dawn as an urgent matter had come up. They shook hands with the Minister and left. The three old buggers did not return. They went to a restaurant and had a splendid meal, with wine, cigars and cognac to end it off, before they jumped back home. The pleased looks on their faces made it impossible for me to remonstrate with them for taking such a risk.
1147
At daybreak everyone jumped to the house next door while the three and Dommi and I waited. The Minister and the Chief of Police came over. We gave them a slip of paper explaining we had found a bug (I showed it to them) and would they please refrain from talking. I had called Jack in Amsterdam and he had bought it for me and I had jumped over, picked it up and returned immediately. They sat drinking coffee, waiting for the raid. By ten o’clock the Minister was checking his watch every few minutes.
At just after eleven the protector warned me the police had arrived. We pretended not to know, but we all relaxed. Then came the knock on the door. I went to open it. “Good morning.”
“You are Mr Teller? Mr Teller, we have a warrant to search your house. It will also be necessary for you to accompany us to the station.”
“On what charges?”
“That will be dealt with at the station.”
“I am always happy to co-operate with the Law. May I have your name Officer?”
“I am Officer Assimides. Temporarily the Station Commander of the Aghia Paraskevi station.”
“This must be serious for you to come out personally.” I’d felt him trying to use his gifts on me and pretended I was fascinated by what he was saying.
“It is very serious Mr Teller, now would you please step outside and allow my men to enter and search your house?”
I could not resist responding, “What are they looking for, perhaps I could tell them where to look?” It got me a few giggles from the Cherinians.
“We have information that you have certain documents that prove our case against you. We will find the documents Mr Teller, our men are very thorough and trained for the job.”
“I am certain they are Officer. You are certain of course that none of your men will be entering my house with such documents on them? Then you would not object to my first calling my attorneys?”
He gestured and suddenly I was struck in the stomach and fell to my knees. As I struggled to inhale, he pulled up my face by my hair.
Mike angrily told me, “This is not England Mr Teller, this is Greece. Here you do as you are told. May I also remind you that if you try to lay a charge, there are a number of men here who will testify that you tried to strike an officer. That carries a jail sentence in our country.”
Though everyone in the house was out of sight they could hear us through the open door. The men pushed through and making certain two men stood by, watching me, he entered.
“Officer Assimides, you may enter my house, but I warn you that I protest your actions. Striking me will cost you.”
For my bravado I got kicked and knocked down. Even as they did so, the Chief of Police was already within view. They all froze. The Minister appeared and Alki ran over to me.
“Officer Assimides, you are under arrest. The rest of you may also consider yourself suspended and those of you who struck the foreigner will be prosecuted and sentenced. You have disgraced your uniform and your country.”
“But…but sir, we have a warrant ordering us to search…”
“I am aware of the warrant. I am also aware that you personally asked for it, citing or making false accusations. You will all wait here until you are escorted to my headquarters.”
1148
Our plan had gone slightly haywire (στραβά). The Chief was genuinely upset, angry at their violence against me. The claim that this was not England, that it is Greece, had enraged him. So much for burying the matter quietly! Alki tried mentioning it to the Minister, but he shook his head.
“No mention will be made of the real reasons for this fiasco, but the Stratigos is not the kind of man who will excuse this kind of behaviour. He is one of those rare Greeks Kyrie Alki, he is a genuine patriot.”
“May I make a suggestion then, Minister. I am only an employee of Alki, but I would ask you consider my idea. If officer Assimides could be talked to and he agrees, it may be possible to enlist his support. If he were to pass back to his…er, employers, misleading documentation…?”
“That would help us a lot Minister. If they are sent off on the wrong trail, it would take a lot of pressure off us and help us to conclude the deal.”
“Wait, I will talk to him.”
They went off to another room and had quite a heated discussion. When they returned the Chief was still angry. “What do you suggest Mr Georgiadi?”
“If you could leave a man outside, we would like to talk with officer Assimides - perhaps a little ‘persuasion’ would convince him to change sides and work for us and thus for the good of his country?”
“I want him at my office before I leave this afternoon.”
“Agreed.”
I handed him the bug. “It has been disabled. It is of no use to us.”
The little fat man with the huge temper looked at me and smiled. “Are you suggesting we would have use for it Mr Teller?”
“When the deal is signed and announced, I did think you might like to have it as a memento, to remind you of how you played an important part in helping your country.”
“Will you be signing a statement and laying charges against the men who struck you?”
“I am aware sir, that the men respect their Station Commander Savva. I am certain he can deal with them in the appropriate way without me laying charges.”
He thawed a little. “I see you are an understanding man.”
I grinned at him. “I have lived in your country for four years and I love it here. It has helped make me an understanding man.”
He chortled, understanding and appreciating the true meaning of what I had said. “You keep good company Mr Teller. Perhaps I will have the pleasure of meeting you again under more pleasant circumstances?”
“I would hate to meet you under any other kind sir. You are quite formidable when in a temper.”
He spoke in private to Assimides and when he left the Minister was smiling. “I have to leave Alki. Elia, we must meet for a supper soon, perhaps you could bring over your friend Alki and this strange young foreigner who has managed to make a friend of our Chief of Police?”
Soon as we were alone with Assimides, I got Cherine to jump over as an adult. I got her to do it in the room where we were. He only stared at her and then turned to look at me, acknowledging that way that he knew I am the leader.
I asked, “Cherine?”
“Half - half. Maybe yes. Do you want to take the chance?”
I nodded. “Yes. May I call you Michaeli, Officer Assimides is too formal. Please sit down. Would you join us for a cup of coffee?”
1149
He showed his astonishment. “This is Cherine? I thought she is a child!”
“All in good time. Well Michaeli, the first and second round come to us. By the way I am presuming your friends can hear us talking?”
“That is why you have not been speaking aloud?”
I did not bother to answer. “I need to speak to you without being overheard. I now know how you do it and they have been blocked. You should not have tried to send them a message if you did not want us to know. To present matters - you are wondering what we intend doing to you. The answer is, nothing. You have to be at the office of your Chief in time as he demanded. Michaeli, there is nothing I can do to stop him damaging your career. We had planned it and had his agreement to keep the matter quiet, but your using violence against me has angered him beyond our ability to change his mind. Perhaps your own gifts, or powers as you think of them, will help you there. Now, let me start with what I know and we do not mind letting your group know that I know.
There is a group of people who have powers that are not considered ordinary. They have used their powers to make themselves extremely wealthy and powerful. Your group extends into all the corridors of power, from governments to the army of the United States. They know about us and decided we are not suitable for joining your group and therefore could become a threat. It was decided we must be exterminated.
Do you want to know the truth Michaeli? You have all made a terrible mistake. The powers you and your group possess, they are as the toys of children are. We already know who a number of your group are, and could have killed them without moving from this house. As for using a missile! That was stupid and is the one thing that angered me. To try and kill us, to kill the ones I love, that is one thing - but to needlessly kill innocent humans who are not a part of our struggle, that is criminal. If your missile had exploded over our house it would have killed a large number of people in the neighbourhood. For the sake of your own conscious, be grateful we sent it into space. We could have all left this house even within the split second of the explosion. You cannot kill us.
When you leave here, you will be allowed to remember all that I have said. From hereon, what I have to say, you will have the memory taken from you. I do not mean you will be made to forget. That could be undone. We, I, will enter your mind and take these memories, destroying them completely.”
“What is the point of telling me then?”
“I see you are not as astute as I had thought. Surely you realise that as I talk, giving you critical information, you react? Your reactions give me the information I need and I will not be forgetting. You truly think you can stop yourself from reacting, at all levels of your mind, even the subconscious?”
“I do not have much information that would be of use to you.”
“Not according to Walter and Frank. They seem to have respect for your abilities. Oh dear! Did you react!!”
He exploded aloud, not able to play it cool. “Άντε πήγαινε να γαμηθείς!…damn you!”
“I was damned long ago. I was damned by a little girl, she opened my mind and unleashed powers that you cannot imagine. Do your people know that a war has been conducted with a race not of our planet; do they know that I killed over two hundred million of them? Do they know that two alien races accept me as their leader?”
“This is nonsense. I see what you are trying to do. You will pretend to take my memories and leave this nonsense in my head, hoping it will frighten us.”
“Do you know what the void is? Have you ever been? I am surprised, I would have thought you would at least know of it. When we die Michaeli, that is where your soul goes. I have taken over the void. It is now my kingdom. When your soul comes there I can choose to allow it to return to live another life or I can shred it to pieces.
You do not believe me. Just think though! What if I speak the truth, what if the leaders of your group have not told you all? Okay, I am going to take you to the void with me. You will hear me call, if I am lying, why refuse, you will be calling my bluff. If I speak the truth, do you not think you should know?”
1150
He was not willing to give any credence to my claims. I decided to soften him up. “Dommi, bring me a sharp knife.”
She handed it to me. I put the blade against the back of his hand and slit him open. He did not move. I handed him the knife.
“You know it is sharp and a real knife. Now use it. Slash me. If you want you may even stab the point into my heart. Think, if you succeed you can tell your group you killed the leader of the Cherinians.”
He looked me in the eyes with a calculating look and then nodded. He slashed the knife against my hand, pressing deep enough to have severed my fingers. There was not a scratch. I sent my healer in and as he watched, his hand healed. The fact that there was not even a scar seemed to amaze him.
“Michaeli, you have heard that I am weak. It is true, your pain is my pain. If you are hungry I am hungry. That is not a bad weakness to have. Think, what crime would there be if the criminal felt the pain of his victim as his own pain?”
“It would end all crime!”
“Perhaps not all, but the kind that causes needless suffering, yes it would. Savva can confirm to you that we made a few experiments. We broadcast love a few times, covering a substantial area. The crime rate dropped to a fraction of what the statistics showed as normal. The crimes that did happen were either from criminals who had come into the area or from those who were desperate, needing food to feed their families. Can your group do that?"
“We can control...”
“What!! You would control their thinking so that they cannot commit a crime! Michaeli, how can you, a Greek, consider that an option. You do not believe God gave man free will for a purpose? You would go against God?”
“He gave us free will to love and believe in him, not to kill and hurt others.”
“You really think so? Why does he not stop us then? I thought he gave us free will to prove ourselves by not hurting others, by obeying his commandments. How many of his commandments deal with us worshipping him and how many lay the Law as to what we may do unto others?”
“By saving a victim I am doing the work of God!”
“How! How do I prove I am worthy of going to heaven if you are controlling my mind, not allowing me to even think of sinning. Are you saying that as long as you can prove you are worthy and can go to heaven, the chance of all people having the right to work their way to heaven does not count? Do you truly think God would condone that?”
“If we take your argument to an extreme, then we should not have a police force, for they are thwarting (παρεμποδίζουν) the Will of God.”
I chuckled, “That’s a good one Michaeli, I had not thought of it. However, I do not like taking arguments to an extreme, because then nothing in the end matters. Still, I will concede you that point if you are as willing to consider the points I made.” He nodded. “Give me your hand, come when I call, I would like you to see with your own eyes, those of your soul that is, the two alien nations. They are truly a magnificent sight. I promise I will return you here unharmed. I do not want to anger your Chief again - he can be quite a little terror!”
He let me take him. All the Cherinians in the house next door were already there. They made a magnificent sight. I introduced him to them all. He already knew most of the names.
*Do you see the green stars? I call them the Sparklers. They are each of them an intelligent being. They are able to communicate with us by creating an entity we call Solomon. I shall call him so that you may talk to him.* Solomon was of course waiting and appeared on cue. He chose an appearance that was far larger than normal and quite frightening and a number of Sparklers accompanied him, spinning around his shape.
*You called Robert? I see you have brought a guest.*
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)13th June, 2019
- posted on Steemit: 13th June, 2019