You called Robert? I see you have brought a guest.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.
1151
*This is a friend, his name is Mike. Solomon, I would ask that you send one Sparkler to us, have it gently touch my friend so that he can feel how lethal your people can be. It must not go deeply into him, just touch the edge of his being. I do not want him harmed.*
*You are asking we harm, however lightly, a friend of yours?*
*He will understand you mean no harm. It is necessary he understand your power, especially when he considers how many trillions of you there are. * A Sparkler separated from its fellows and approached him. It skirted the edge of his being and he felt the acid touch and screamed. It immediately fled.
*Michaeli (Μιχάλη), I am sorry you had to feel that. Remember it though, now imagine that whole cloud of Sparklers attacking me. Imagine my pain as I am stung by millions of them. Yet not only did I survive, but I stopped them. To say I conquered would be wrong. They tried to communicate and because I hate killing, I risked my life and flew to the centre of their cloud and established communications. Solomon, do I speak the truth?*
*Not entirely. Friend of Robert know this, when he stayed his hand he did not know we were an intelligent species, that we would try to communicate. He stayed his hand because he thought us beautiful. When he opened his mind to us, we found out that he had the ability to destroy us all, leaving not one of us alive. Think on that! He wanted us to live because we were beautiful. I do not know if he has told you, Robert has discovered how to become the void. He is able to harness the powers of the void, which are far greater than the suns that burn within it. He can destroy a whole galaxy with but a thought. If Robert has chosen you too as a friend, then you must be someone special.*
*Michaeli, do not take what he says about my friendship to heart. I do not demand your friendship. I only demand that you act in accordance with your own conscious. It is time for you to meet the other race. To explain let me start with this silver-blue World you see here. This is the World we call the Kaleidoscope World. It came into existence when Cherine, Dominique and I fused into one. If you wish we can visit it, but that is not the point of this visit right now. These other Worlds similar to ours, are those belonging to other Terran Cherinian families.
Those you see at a greater distance, can you see that they differ from ours? They are the Worlds of an alien people, the Anadir. They too are ancient beyond belief. Their leader who deals with us is called Ordinx. I hope he is free to visit us.*
On cue Ordinx appeared, creating the illusion of his natural planetary form, though greatly enhanced in size. The shimmer of colours of his skin was bedazzling.
*Friend Robert! It is good to see you. Have you come for a report on how your program of saving our people is progressing?*
*No. I am here to introduce a friend of mine. His name is Mike. I think he thought I was delusional when I spoke to him of having alien races as friends. I hope you do not consider that a presumption on your friendship?*
*A presumption? You have obviously been far too modest as usual. Mike, friend of Robert, he has not spoken the truth, or not all of it. He is not just a friend of our race, he has saved our lives, all our Worlds that you see were about to be destroyed and he saved them. He is now busy creating worlds for our people to return to in their physical form, in the reality you come from. He is to us far more than friend. We consider him one of us and our leader. We have given oath, as the Sparklers have, to obey him. He is a difficult leader for both our people to have, for he gives us orders that make no sense and yet the results somehow always far exceed expectations. His craziness we say has become our strength.*
*Michaeli, I think they have conspired to embarrass me with flattery. Ordinx, Solomon, I shall return to speak further, unless you are kind enough to visit us. I would like to dance a while now.*
I explained to him the purpose of our dancing. I asked him to remember that most of the souls he sees are in actual fact children and to be careful he does not harm them. *One of our youngest is my daughter Irene, I would like for you to taste of her love. You are not obliged to give her any love in return, just enjoy the taste.*
We danced to each other, giving our exchange kisses and Irene danced over to him, her cute soul teasing around at his edges. She sent a tendril and left in him her motes of love. This man who it seems has never felt loved gave a cry and his shape folded in upon itself. We gave him time to recover and the girls flew to him and each gave some love, just a light taste, but it was enough.
1152
We returned to our bodies and I helped him to also return.
“I do not know what to say. If that was all meant to impress me you have more than succeeded.”
“You think that was impressive? What would you say if I took you to the world where a number of races saved from the void are living? Michaeli, if I were to try and impress you I have other ways to do it. This was meant as a gift, to show our sincerity.”
“A gift to one who wanted to kill you?”
“Now you know why they say I am crazy.” I grinned at him. “With the power I have Michaeli, why would I need to kill or punish? It is far more fun to give gifts. I have one very special gift I want to give to you. I would like you to meet my daughters and wives. They are all that is the most precious to me.”
The girls jumped over. I slowly introduced them, giving him time to appreciate each one of them. He stared at Diana and the twins.
“Diana touch him please, he cannot believe you are real.”
She took his hands in hers. She let the cat out of the bag - not that I minded. “For Robert to do this it means Cherine has approved you. Look at me, feel my face if you wish. Can you sense that I am different?”
“No. Just that you are far too beautiful.”
“I was not born, not as you were. Five of his girls got together and each gave a part of herself, that part that Robert loved the most in them, and they created me, with a part of their souls too. I was created for Robert, to love and be loved by him. Can you imagine the effect I had on him? Do you know what he did, he refused me. Demanded that I give him time to love me as Diana, the person that I was. We had to both suffer until he felt that he was loving the human being, not the creation of his ideal. Would you have that strength Michaeli? How can you want to kill such a man?”
Before he could reply Wendy came forward, having taken her cue from Diana. “Do not answer her Michaeli. First look into me, see who I am and what I have become.”
He stared into her almost black eyes that were swirling with flames in their depths and he was trapped, spinning off into her mind. She showed him all the terrible details of her life to the point where we met her. Then he saw what we did for her and of my fury as I attacked her father. I had not known she had taken or kept that part of my memories. When she released him and he sat with tears streaming down his face she began to sing. She sang of her love for me and it was dusted with the golden sparkles that swam in her eyes. When she ended her song she gave him a few seconds of silence.
“Now Michaeli, answer me, how could you want to kill the man I love?”
He saw the next girl coming to him and he pleaded with me, “Please Roberto, no more!”
I waved them away. “Michaeli, they are all asking you the wrong question. How could you want to kill my girls?” He did not answer, his face hidden in his hands. “Was it not out of fear. Was it not because you did not know us? Same as I did with the Sparklers. Is it not better getting to know your enemy, perhaps finding that in reality you have a possible friend?”
“You could call me a friend?”
“I already did in the void. Please understand this, I do not say turn against your group and come with us. You are free to return to them, join their fight to kill us. However, I think in your heart you will remember and there will be something of a friend in you. Perhaps it will lead you to try and see that our deaths are gentler, or you will find some other way to show it. We have given you already that which is most precious. By tasting of our motes and giving us the taste of you, when you die, the void will not claim you. Your soul will be safe, held within our World until you are ready to return to your next life.
Michaeli, I have schemed myself into a corner. I have shown you far more than I intended. I have the feeling that you want to keep the memories, not for using against us so much as for the beauty and promise given to you. I think you do not want to lose the taste of love of Irene, the song of Wendy, the beauty of Diana. If I let you go with the memories, you will be considered tainted by your group. What are they likely to do?”
1153
“I will be executed.”
“Then I must take the memories. At least we will have them, we will have known that you could have been a true friend if your beliefs had not been so different to ours.”
“Is there no other way?”
Innocently I said, “You will not lose them forever. When you die you will find your memories waiting for you in our World.”
As I’d hoped he cried out, “That would be a curse! If I have helped and caused you destruction, even a slight harm, how can these memories be the treasure they are now?”
“I think our friend Robert needs to hear you say that you wish to remain as a friend.”
“Solomon, you came, I am glad. You are not right Solomon, I do not wish anything of him. He has to wish for himself.” The girls rolled their eyes in despair and the others laughed at their action.
Savva spoke to him, his voice soft. “What do you wish? Do you still see your group as taking the right path? Forget about them wanting to kill us, that is not the issue. In a way, what is important here is the question, why did you become a policeman? Which way would serve your dreams best?”
“You know the answer to that Savva, I no longer have an option.” He paused, his eyes closed as if he were reaching deep into himself. “I have no option. I am no longer theirs. Use me if it will help bring about what you want for mankind.”
Diana gently asked, “Are you saddened because you feel you are betraying your friends?”
“No.” He grimaced. “They have never been friends. I am a tool and as a tool I was to be rewarded. Some of them have fearsome powers. I saw that and felt I was serving an elite group who would bring about the changes I craved. I became a policeman because criminals killed my father. My mother had long since died from an illness and I lived for my father. He was all I had to love and they killed him. He was not an innocent victim. He too was a criminal, a thief. I wanted to break away from that, make this a better world.
You ask why I am saddened. It is because I have seen you, the love between all of you. I see that I can only be your tool, and that will be good, but I also see what I will not have since I can never become one of you.”
“What do you think it takes to become one of us?” I asked softly.
He shrugged but did not reply. Theresa did. “You cannot become one of us because you cannot love.”
He nodded again. She stood up and went to him. “Wendy, I do not know how to do this. Help me? Let him see inside me.” She was the right choice so I kept quiet.
It was time for him to go, when he returned to his own body. He sat without reacting, lost in a world inside himself. He shook himself and looked at me directly. “It does not matter. I have no choice. Roberto, ask me what you would know of the group.”
“Is there even one other amongst them worth befriending?”
“One, but he will not be so within hours.”
“What do you mean.”
“You met him. The Chief of Police. He is the only one amongst them whom I admire and respect. He truly wishes to improve the life of people.”
“Why will it be too late within hours?”
“When I am in his office he will have to kill me for failing, or else he will be killed. He saw to it that I take the position of Savva so that I could raid you this morning.”
“Shit! You mean I do not get a chance to rest for a while.”
1154
“What are you talking about! You must not go up against him!”
“What are his powers.”
“They are of the mind. He would make you obey him, compel you to do whatever he wants.”
“Oh that! I’ve dealt with that before - haven’t I Cherine?”
She laughed. “I owe you one for that Robert.”
“And you may collect with pleasure love.”
I decided I had to act fast. First I got my healer to paralyse him. He stared at me without fear and I gave him a plus for that. “Listen to me carefully so that you do not end up going through hell for nothing. You have been accepted as a friend and we do not send our friends off to die. This is what I intend doing.
I have paralysed you, but it is only temporary. What I actually intend doing is putting you into a coma. A part of your brain will be activated so that you mumble away continuously. We will call the Chief and insist he personally collects you. He will panic that you may be saying things you should not and will do as I ask. When he arrives, he will take you away. You will suddenly have a miraculous recovery and he will let you go, in front of his men. He will then leave them to go home.
What will actually happen is quite different. Soon as he arrives he will be put into a coma. One of us will assume his appearance and take you out. When you are released you will both return here. Do I have your promise that you will do so?”
“He will kill you.”
“So what! I’ve already died about five times. I do not like staying dead, I need to be with my loved ones too much. Promise me you will return.” My casual banter at a time of such stress must have made everything sound very unreal to him, but he did as I asked and replied, “I promise.”
He slipped into a coma and began to mumble, I opened the front door. “Officer, there is something wrong, Officer Assimides has collapsed and seems to be in a coma. Please come in, we need to get some help immediately.” I was busy planting suggestions into his mind as he entered.
“I better call the Chief.”
“Please do so.”
“Stratige (Chief of Police or General), officer Assimides is in a coma. The only sign of life is his continuous mumbling. He has not stopped talking. The people here refuse to release him into my custody. They say they gave you an undertaking and insist you take him personally.” He listened for a while. “I understand. I will do so.”
“The chief insists I stay here with him. He asks that you leave the room immediately until he arrives.”
“With pleasure. It will take a while for him to arrive, would you like a sandwich and coffee?”
Dommi took it to him. She smiled when she saw him trying to listen to the mumbling. I was not allowing him to say anything of importance. At that moment he was re-living a day at the beach with friends.
“Is it really safe to talk?”
“Yes. The protector worked out how their minds were reaching into here. All it had to do was block all gifts from passing through it.”
Savva was all agog, not believing what I planned. “You really are going to kidnap the Chief of Police of all Greece?”
“Unfortunately yes. Guys I really am tired, that is why I say unfortunately. Maybe we can spare an hour, keep him in a coma while I get some sleep?”
1155
Concerned, Alki asked, “Are you wearing yourself out Roberto?”
“No. The girls would be the first to squawk if I did. It is just a natural tiredness. I was worried and could not sleep much last night.”
“Squawk indeed!!” They were all indignant, hamming it up, hoping to revive my spirits that way. I grinned at Cherine.
“I have worked out why we called ourselves Cherinians.”
“This better be good.” she answered fiercely.
“Oh it is! Do you remember how, in the beginning I got angry with you for manipulating people? What more fitting name, than to have us named after a manipulator. It seems to be all we do.”
“I owe you another one - a big one! And don’t you dare say ‘a pleasure’!!”
I had taken a gamble and luckily I turned out to be right. He did not come with ambulances and so on. He came in and ordered the men to carry the body to his car. We stayed out of the room, pretending we had not heard him enter. Soon as they left the room he collapsed and we ran in. Savva had already changed himself and we stripped him, Savva putting on his clothes. A couple of the others had gone out to talk and delay the return of the men, just in case they were thinking of returning for any reason.
The Chief walked out and ordered the men to follow his car to the hospital. About four blocks away Michaeli opened his eyes and sat up. He looked at his Chief, not certain, but Savva winked at him and ordered his driver to pull over. The other car came to a halt directly behind them and the men came over to see what is happening.
“Are you sure you feel well enough to go home on your own?”
“Yes sir. I had a difficult night last night and today was a shock. I just need to eat something and go to bed.”
“Take the day off tomorrow. I expect to see you in my office after tomorrow at eleven.”
“I’ll be there sir.”
“You let me down today, I am disappointed in you, but I do not forget all the good work you have done. So have a good rest and we’ll see what we can do for you. Luckily none of them are pressing charges.”
“Yes sir, they told me so.”
He left and Savva now had the problem of getting away from his driver. He told him to take him to the kafeneion near his house as he needed a drink. It must have been something he did sometimes, for the driver was not surprised and dropped him off.
“Will you be needing me tonight sir?”
“No. Wait for me at the office tomorrow. I am being picked up to go to a meeting first. Get my secretary to cancel any early meetings.”
“Yes sir, goodnight sir.”
It did not take him long to find an empty spot and he jumped back. Soon afterwards Michaeli was back. We arranged a room for him and I went to bed for a short nap. Only Tina came in and sitting by me massaged my back, letting her healing hands calm my mind and heart.
I asked, “Before I wake him up Michaeli, I need to know a little about him. The Stratigos, what are his strengths and weaknesses, what he believes in, what angers him. Can you help in any way?”
“My powers were very small and I was a subordinate so there was not much contact between us. It is not as if he ever invited me for coffee and had chats with me. Still, in all organisations the men slowly build up a picture of their superior and that impression of the man gets circulated, becoming almost a reality in itself. I know from what my men think of me that their picture of me as a person is not very close to the truth.”
1156
“True. It is difficult to have a superior who has too many flaws. If you can command respect, then they tend to overlook those flaws and mostly see and exaggerate what they admire. Even that will help me.”
His voice was filled with his surprise, “You do not ask of his powers!”
I shrugged, “No, those do not interest me at this stage.” He stared at me and I felt him turning into another Savva. “Michaeli, please do not. I am not a superior to be admired and I do not want you thinking of me as being without flaws. I have many and you will see from most Cherinians that they are amused by them and, in a strange way, amused at themselves that they accept me as their leader. Perhaps one way to look at me, is as an artist who does not respect the things most men do. That sometimes gives the wrong impression. It is not that I do not fear, it is just that my mind tends to wander off into strange territories and I forget to worry about what I should fear.”
It took him a minute, but once he’d decided to ignore what I said, he was able to answer. “As you have seen he can have a terrible temper. He believes in discipline and he believes in the job he does. I have never heard of him using his position to enrichen himself. I have heard stories that suggest he has helped families of policemen who were in financial trouble after their husband or father was killed. He keeps it very private. I think that best describes him, he is a very private man and it is almost impossible to know what he is thinking.”
“I suppose there is no point in putting it off any longer. Stay here in case I want you to come in.”
I told the healer to bring him back out of his coma, checking with the protector first that he is completely blocked.
“Welcome back Chief. I trust you had a good rest?”
He wrapped the blanket about him. “So. You have decided to move out into the open?”
“Me? No, I prefer to stay in the background. One moment please.” I mind-spoke to Savva and he came in. “As you see you are still going to go to your office, attending all your meetings. I expect you to also be accepting phone calls from Frank. Why do you still need to use the phone Chief? With so many gifts aren’t you exposing yourselves that way to people like me?” I nodded to Savva and he left.
He had been trying to summon his power, but he is not the kind of man who hides from the truth. He quickly saw it was gone and concentrated on me again. “We obviously miscalculated.”
“I think so. How long have you been watching me, since the angel of Athens story?”
“About then. What do you intend doing with me? I somehow do not see you killing me, nor can I imagine you would be foolish enough to let me go. Are you hoping to convince me to change sides?”
“You see me as being unable to kill?”
“We all are capable of killing if the right buttons are pressed. I do not intend pressing any of your buttons while you hold me at your mercy.”
“I like you. That would make it difficult for me to kill you. Tell me Chief, if I turned you back into a baby and my girls brought you up, would that make you one of us?”
“You can do that!!”
“Ahh, curiosity at last. You want to get to know the real me. Since you miscalculated, it would give you a huge advantage if you could return with knowledge of me to pass on to your group.” He did not smile, but his eyes were hard and trying to probe me. When I saw he was not about to comment, I continued. “We should simplify matters a little. If I am not going to release you or I am about to do something else that takes you out of the picture, what is the point of you scheming to find out all you can about me? Let’s make the game more interesting. I give you my undertaking that I will release you and your powers will be given back to you. I will not even wait for you to be out of sight before returning your powers.”
“If you are able to take them away at will (κατά βούληση), there is no reason for you to fear me.”
1157
“Too simplistic (πολύ απλοϊκό), Chief. If I tell you about my powers that would be a waste of our time, since you are not likely to believe anything I say. Will you set aside our enmity, suspend it for a short time, and allow me to show you who I am and what I can do? I would even agree to take part in some experiments you will want to try.”
“Such as?”
“I think you would like to try me under fire so to speak. I can tell you from now that you are going about it the wrong way. I do have my Achilles heel, it is just not where you think it is.”
“Where is it then?”
“In my heart. Your group watched me for a long time. You saw me die and die again I presume. You saw that a tear in the eye of a girl I love can kill me. That convinced you I was weak?”
“This is news to me. We have not seen you die. Are you trying to claim that if you die you can come back to life?”
“It has only happened about five times up to now, so I cannot claim total immunity. Actually it is usually the girls who bring me back. They refuse to let me go and since I do not enjoy being dead, I let them bring me back. If you did not know, why did you decide I was weak?”
“You based your powers on empathy and love. You cannot rule the world based on those powers.”
“That is strange, I thought it was the only way to rule. Look at your group Chief. Are you truly a group? Do you not spend half your time watching your back, jockeying (συναγωνίζοντας) for power? On a regular basis I try to convince the Cherinians that I am not worthy of being their leader and that seems to entrench me (εδραιώνει) in their hearts and they refuse to listen to me. I never have to watch my back, they do so for me. Just on that one fact, which would you prefer, to be leader of your group or mine?”
He laughed. “I have read that book also. Get me to agree point by point until I find there is nothing left for me to disagree with.”
“I would appreciate you lending me that book, it sounds interesting. The truth is I do not have a plan of action. I just feel that by talking, getting to know each other a little, I will be more comfortable with you. Sitting here like this is not very civilised, it would be far better if we could sit in the lounge drinking coffee while we talk. You will feel something happening to your body, please do not be alarmed.”
I changed his appearance to that of Savva. I let him get up and look at himself in the mirror. “How did you do it? Is it a method of projecting a hallucination?”
“That is the actual shape you have. I will change you back before I release you, though you will not look exactly the same. You did have certain health problems which are being fixed. That means you will also be slimmer than you were. I hope you do not mind.”
His eyes were cold and hard. “So now we start with the gifts, you intending to bribe me to join you?”
“No Chief, I do not want you to join us. If you did you would weaken us. We would be far stronger having you on their side.”
That rattled him. “You puzzle me. And please do not tell me that you puzzle yourself, I am starting to get an understanding of how you talk.” The Cherinians laughed in my mind.
“Touché. I was going to say that.” I laughed. “A cup of coffee? Metrio? (slightly sweet)”
I had arranged for most of the Cherinians to be sitting in the lounge. They had left two seats for us and our coffees were waiting, just as if this was only a normal social occasion. Dommi had also made some sandwiches for him.
“Why are they all as children? That is Mr Georgiades!?”
“Correct. This way we can all fit in here comfortably, we need less food and, more important, I can defend them more efficiently. Do you know why?”
“You will tell me no doubt.”
1158
“So you do accept that I am telling you our secrets. I suppose you are trying to hide the thought that I must be crazy.”
Alki chuckled, “It is not necessary to hide it, we all think he is. According to conventional logic, knowledge is power. Our Roberto, he believes that the better you and your enemy know each other the less likely it is necessary for you to be enemies. As you see, he takes logic that step further and says that knowledge empowers both sides.”
“That is stupid.”
I stepped in, “I will welcome your comments at the end. If you make judgements from now, you will be doing yourself and your group a disservice. You will be blinkered, blinded to certain truths that could show you how to defeat me.” He looked around him and saw they were only amused at my comment, only Michaelis betraying anxiety.
“You would only talk this way if you were convinced that we cannot harm you.”
“To the contrary. I expect you to succeed in killing me at some stage. That will of course win you the battle, but lose you the war.”
“Michaeli, did he talk to you this way also until he confused you and got you to join them?”
“No. He took a knife and cut me then gave me the knife and told me to cut or stab him. He cannot be cut Chief. He then healed my wound within seconds, not even leaving a scar.” He put up his hand to show him.
He turned to me. “Why the change in tactics then. Are you trying to talk me around?”
“You are not Michaelis. You would not be convinced by the same methods. There is also another very important reason. I have to do this, it is important and that is why I brought you here. There is no reason why I should in the process bore the hell out of myself by repeating everything I have done before.”
“You are not going to give me proof that you cannot be killed?”
“I thought I had already told you that you will kill me. At the right time of course. You want a demonstration then? It would let your mind concentrate on the more important issues?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“A knife would not be as convincing to you. If I was shot, you would say we used blanks. You choose.”
“Would you sit on a case of dynamite while it explodes?”
“That would convince you? I am disappointed in you, surely you know that I am capable of teleportation? What is to prevent me from jumping at the split second before the explosion and returning immediately afterwards. You would not even know I was gone. I have a better idea. What if I place you on the case of dynamite and protect you from harm. Would that convince you?”
“It may, but no thanks.” Of course my girls couldn’t help grinning.
“Dommi, do you still have that old cloak I don’t like?”
“Yes.” She brought it to us. I gave it to him and handed him a knife.
“Test it, make only small cuts please.” He convinced himself it is just a flimsy cloth.
“You have a place where you test new equipment? If you ordered your men to bring your most powerful weapons and they all shot at me. Would that convince you? You could tell them we are testing a new bullet-proof material. I’ll up the stakes for you. You see Michaelis as a traitor. Let him join me. If I can protect him too…”
“I see you do not offer to bring your loved ones.”
I cocked my head, showing him I was puzzled. “How would you get your men to shoot at little girls?”
1159
“I would be satisfied with one weapon of my choice.”
“Alki, I am going to have to waste money again. I am not prepared to leave you unprotected while he shoots at me. Would you all please become adults and empty this room. Take out the furniture and our electronic stuff...”
“Don’t be silly Robbie, we can take our stuff out by ourselves.” Without any signs of effort or concentration, the girls lifted everything and sent it all to the other rooms. He watched them and knew it was a demonstration for his benefit.
“Give me your hand. Concentrate, visualise where you keep the weapons you want to use.”
“Then you will be able to take whatever you want for yourselves.”
In reply the girls moved from the American base case lots of guns and other weapons, letting them pile up on the floor.
“Would you want to see a nuclear bomb also? For that we would have to get them from elsewhere, I did not sense any at the American base.”
“No.”
He was now in shock, so I stood up and turning my back to him walked around the room. He got up and opened a case and stared at the guns.
“Do you know how to use them? The magazines are there too. I believe the bullets are of the kind that explode on impact?”
“Yes.” His throat was so dry he could hardly speak.
“Test it. Shoot a bullet into a wall. I’ll stop any shrapnel from hitting you or us. The explosion will not affect us either. Girls, you better block your ears, I think it will be very noisy. Cherine, see to it that the noise is not heard outside please.”
His hands were trembling as he loaded. I put up my hand. “On second thought, there is no need for this to be unpleasant for us at all.” The girls materialised enough ear-mufflers from the base to protect us all. “You may fire at will.”
He shot at the furthest wall. The explosion totally destroyed the wall, we could now look out into the garden, able to see the home of Alki and Marian. He swivelled the gun around, pointing it at me and the girls. He stared and lowered it. “That was very tempting. I agreed to suspend enmity.”
“Thank you. Now, please shoot.” He tried to, he pointed it at us and tried to squeeze the trigger, but could not.
“Chief, allow me.” I took it from him and gave the gun to Tasso. “Shoot at Cherine and me.” She stood in my arms as he too tried and started shaking.
“Oh for god’s sake! Dommi, take the gun and shoot.”
Tasso lifted the barrel and quickly shot, giving a cry as he did. The bullet exploded within a metre of our faces, contained in a fiery ball that died. I put out my hand and let the fragments fall onto it and onto the carpet. I went to the Chief and handed them to him. He quickly dropped his hand with a cry of pain, staring at the severe burn marks on his palm. I showed him my hand (I had not actually been holding the fragments, the protector was). I healed his hand.
“All this was totally unnecessary for a man of your mental abilities. All you had to do was recall the missile you sent at us. Still, they say it is sometimes necessary for the eye to see.”
“How are we going to kill you then?”
“Who knows, maybe you won’t. In that case you lose the battle and war. You do realise that either way you win?”
“I thought you said we lose the war either way?”
“True, but by losing the war you also win.”
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“That would only be true if we subscribed to your theory that your way is better.”
“You all already do, that is why you are attacking us. If we were so ineffective why bother?”
He laughed. “You have the wrong man here. God! If Frank could have seen this!”
“I have no intention of giving him a demonstration nor of ever meeting him. He is the one of your group that I have no wish to convert. I will happily lose whatever his gifts could have been. Chief, I warn you now, when it is time, I will kill him.”
“Why him?”
“He sent the missile. Whoever else was responsible for that will also die.”
My face and tone of voice were implacable and he saw the faces of my Cherinians. Dommi came to me, her face and voice gentle, her eyes tender. “Is it really necessary Robert? He is not worth what it does to you. Would it not be enough if you took away all his powers?”
“Ask the Chief. He sent the missile to kill all of you, that by itself is reason enough for me. How dare he try to kill my loved ones just because he fears love. He knew the missile could kill hundreds of innocent neighbours. He did not care, to him, they are just collateral damage, not human beings. He has already caused the death of many people. I suspect that many of them were only killed because they were gifted, but not of use to him. It would be an offence against his victims to allow him to live.”
“Robert, we are not protesting because he deserves to live - but because you do. If you do it, then we will all have to grieve for you and help carry your pain. I grieve too for our little girls who will have to.”
“Dommi my love, what are you doing to me? You know that…” I stared at her and I could not bear the pain. “Chief, he lives. Damn him!! If he kills one more person, if he tries to harm my girls I will kill him, I swear. You tell him, he wants to fight a war, I am his target. For that, if he loses, there will be no reprisals. He even tries to harm them, I will cause such a death as he cannot imagine.” Before I could regret it I sent him in one burst the killing of Richard. He staggered and fell to the floor, the gun dropping out of his hand.
I changed him back to his own shape and we gave him his own clothes to wear again. I released his mind and he felt the return of his power. He looked up at me, still sickened by my memories and fearful because I had returned his powers.
“Go! You are free.”
“What are you going to do?”
“To you? Nothing. When the time is right, when I am tired of playing with your group, or if they anger me, then I will steal all their powers, not one of you will be left anything but the memory of what you had. I liked you and wanted to try and bring you to us, but now I need you as my enemy. You are my messenger and warning. They play according to my rules or else. One more thing.” I spoke as if speaking to him directly. “Walter, if you try to use your financial muscle to destroy or harm my friends I swear I will bring down your bank to it’s knees within weeks. Your size will not protect you, it will be your weakness, causing other American banks to also collapse. I am able to travel in time, back to the past and forward to the future. Use your imagination as to how I could destroy you and your bank. That is all Chief.”
“Will you allow me to be an intermediary?”
“Whenever you give your word of truce, you will be welcomed in here. Do you know how to transfer your memories?”
“No.”
“Then that is my gift to you.” I showed him how, but blocked his ability to pass on the gift. “Show them. Let them see my face and know they face their doom if they do not obey. Tell them I want that if we are to play this game they must make certain they keep me amused with new and inventive ways. Soon as they bore me I will bring the game to an end.”
He staggered out a very shaken man - and I knew he would be back.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)18th June, 2019
- posted on Steemit: 18th June, 2019