Little Cherine Book 06 - BPost013
We all joined them, Cherine swirling and building us into one mind-searing explosion. . . . . . .
3621
By the time we had all shared with Sol, Haven was ready to call it a night. Her tiny Terran body was not used to such powerful feelings and she complained that her mind felt as if it were ready to float away. Robbie wanted his toast with honey and coffee and he picked up Haven to hold in his arms as he ate, drank and smoked.
Robbie asked her, “The girls say that anticipation is more than half of the pleasure. Are you considering doubling their pleasure by making them wait one more night?”
“You are dripping your honey onto me! Do you think I should?”
“It depends on how brave you are. They will probably torture you for making them wait.”
She pulled away and looked up at him. “You are fooling me?”
“Teasing is the word. Yes, I am. What makes you think I would want to wait?”
“This body is of a child, the sexual organs of a mature female of my people would not be suitable. Should I change it to that of an immature female, very young like I am now?”
He was curious. “What are the differences?”
“Apart from the size? The swelling, Samantha called it clitoris, it is not fully grown, only half a ring around the opening. As the female reaches the age for admitting a male organ it almost closes around the entrance so as to maximise pleasure for both. A male of our species would not find an immature female’s sex attractive. We call the clitoris of a mature female a gown, it is like a dress around the vagina, making it beautiful. The area above is softer in a child and the ribbing that is supposed to scratch at his… what do you call the area above your penis?”
“I suspect I am different from your males, they have something there that adds to his pleasure?”
“Yes.”
He caressed her cheek. “If you show me in your mind what it looks and feels like I can alter myself to suit you.”
“No, it is not necessary. You would not find me attractive if I changed my body to the shape of my species. I will only change the organs you are all so excited about seeing.”
“You do understand I will not be penetrating you? I will enjoy giving you pleasure, but it would not be right for me to treat you as a female that belongs to my family.”
“But I am family, you agreed! Did not Samantha adopt me?”
“I’m not so certain what that means. She did it more to make a point. She was hoping it would make it easier for you to see Shiyra as a human being with a heart just like yours, to help you understand that she feels pain in exactly the same way you do. Haven, your hate was directed at her. Her hate is directed at herself. I think that what she suffers is worse and more difficult to heal. We are all much more critical of ourselves than others are. I have a feeling that even should you show her love and understanding, she cannot be healed. We are thinking, trying to find a way to help her. I have found out that the souls she is a composite of were not alive when your people were attacked, she comes of a later generation and yet she burdens herself with the guilt of her ancestors.”
“You were hoping that after the sensations you flooded me with you could soften my heart?”
“Am I that obvious? Our discussion was not planned sweet Haven; until a few minutes ago I did not even know it was you I would be holding.”
“Robyn must grow fast, I need to understand you.”
Haven asked for Athia and I. When they’d returned Robbie had wanted her to lie on him, but as I said, she asked for us. She held Athia in her arms and asked me to hold her from behind and then said we should send our healers into her to make the changes. She’d thought the two of us would be in there directing the healers, but we explained she will be in charge and though we will try to monitor her emoting, she has total privacy.
3622
It took twenty minutes for the changes to be completed. When my healer returned, it reported they had to alter her internally to suit the external alterations. It confirmed the internal changes were made in line with what her mind knows of their anatomy. It complained her knowledge is sketchy at best.
Haven knows that Terrans feel revulsion for any mutation or difference so she felt awkward, exposed, when Athia pulled away and she lay on her back with legs slightly open for all of us to see. The ridges above and the half moon shaped clitoris were as expected, what we had not thought of is that instead of there being a slit in a straight line, hers is hidden differently. When not aroused, the vagina is not visible, but soon as the clitoris engorges it pulls apart, exposing the vagina. Because she was nervous, her clitoris was shrivelled and there was very little to see. It did look alien and not really sexy to me, but not unattractive.
Robbie ignoring her sex pulled her into his arms. Safe from our eyes she began to relax. Gently he rubbed her back and arms. As he felt the tension dissipate he asked Athia to move away and placed Haven face down on the sheets. Dommi helped him move over her and he began to give her a thorough massage.
Robyn mindspoke us, telling us that their people spent a lot of time massaging each other, that for either a male or female to attempt sex without massaging their partner first was considered un-loving and boorish, showing no consideration for the other. That meant Haven expected to have to massage Robbie in return.
Robbie ‘asked’ that one of us project as a man and jump to Leicester Square, go to a sex shop and buy an aromatic massage oil. Dommi did so and returned with a strawberry tasting oil - the best she could do she said. Robbie rubbed some on his hands and asked Haven to smell them. She agreed that the scent is pleasant so he began his massage again. Since she is about six years old there was not that much of her to massage, but what there was, Robbie thoroughly loved massaging. When she had to turn over she did so without thinking about our eyes being on her. She was feeling the pleasure in Robbie and that made it beautiful for her. As Robbie massaged her shoulders and chest, Robyn moved in for a good look and then sniffed at her sex. She gave a little smile and ‘told’ us Haven had not altered the scent to mimic that of their species.
At the moment Robbie would have normally planned for his massage to turn erotic, he stopped and moved over to lie down so that she can reciprocate. As he tried to swing his leg over, his foot dragged and hit her on her ankle. She felt his chagrin as he apologised.
“I did it to you Robert, please don’t feel bad.”
He rubbed his thumb along her jaw line. “You did not do it to me Haven, I planned for you to do it so that we could get back the original person you would have been before hate darkened your soul. I miscalculated, I underestimated you, not thinking you would be clever enough to realise that my sliver would make you stronger.” He grinned. “Actually, I had not thought of it as a possibility at all. It was a stroke of genius on your part.” We were all very, very careful to hide our grins; this is the Robbie we love, turning everything upside down as usual to take the blame.
It did not take long for Haven to realise that her size and strength made it impossible to massage him as she wanted to. She also felt from him that it did not matter, her light small strokes were all he craved. He enjoyed it far more when he lay on his back and could see her look of intense concentration. She interrupted herself to look up and give him a shy smile and she froze as she felt his reaction. She hid her face in her hands and cried. Robbie softly rubbed her thighs and waited. Her sobs ended and she sat with her face hidden for a while.
“Robert, if you find me attractive like this,” she pointed at her sex, “I would like you to have sex with me. I want to feel I give you pleasure.”
“When the time is right and when you make yourself a bit older. Tonight I only want us to learn about each other and what gives the other pleasure. Haven?” She stared. “I don’t want you to make love because of guilt or any other emotion except love. Can we wait for that to grow?”
When she nodded again he pulled at her so that she lay upon his chest. There had been too many emotions for arousal to keep her body captivated, so he stroked her gently until she fell asleep. Most of us were asleep before her.
“I have felt your other male Cherinians, they are not like Robert. He is more like a female than a male.”
Cherine smiled. “Do you think living with so many little girls made him like that?”
3623
“I do not know - did you?”
“No Haven, Dommi and I found him like he is. Perhaps what you said explains why he is more comfortable with us remaining children. An adult woman has different demands. She wants a man who is like Robert, but if she has him, she then feels contempt for him, seeing his tenderness and adoration as a weakness. I think only a child is capable of enjoying the love of a man like him. Take Alki for instance, we all adore him because he has a tenderness almost like Robert's, but at the same time he is more masculine and can be impatient of the sensitive side of females. He is too nice a man to show it often though. He married my mother who was a tough woman who wanted a strong and demanding man. She has mellowed, but we are nothing like her.”
“But Robert is stronger than Alki!”
“He has more powers, it is not the same. Robert in himself is weak, he gives in to us too often. He is only stronger than everyone else we know in one aspect. His love and need to protect us. For that he will fight any power without a second thought. He is also the weakest man we know in another way. Do you know in which way?”
“Because he is soft, as you said?”
“Because of his love for us and his need to protect us. A paradox, because of us he is strong, but also weak. Athia promised to show you how to win. She spoke the truth Haven. Make him love you and you will have won. What she did not explain properly, is that if you win you also lose. It is impossible to feel his love and not love him in return. With your love for him you also assume a heavy responsibility. The only people who can fatally hurt him are those he loves. He has no defences against us. You saw what happened when Sam and most of us told him we were leaving him. He withdrew into a fantasy world because he could not bear the pain.”
“When you do the storytelling again, I think I will understand it better this time. Too much did not make sense before.”
Cherine was thoughtful for a while. “Haven, you have been told that it is important that we all love any one person one of us loves. I think you have found it easy to love Robert, but are struggling with the concept of making so many females love you. Am I right?”
“I do not expect to be loved by all of you. I must not be loved by you or Robert. Cherine, I still have my duty to my people, that must come first.”
“If you did not feel that way we could not love you.” We expected her to explain further, but she kept quiet. We presumed she had her reasons so none of us spoke up.
A few hours later Haven said to Athia. “I think your family need to feel I do not hate Shiyra anymore.”
“Shiyra is only one person. Haven, the Ii is a tormented entity because all the souls it is made up of came to it with a burden of guilt that they cannot forget. Think of Adam, doesn’t he have a different feeling to him? Isn’t he great?”
“Hmm, but not the Ii, it feels evil.”
“The evil you feel is because it hates itself, not because it hates you or anyone else. Time has twisted it and seclusion and a need to compensate, find a justification, made it think of itself as a god and it became arrogant. It is our job to give it peace and a place in the universe again, a role that makes it part of the evolution of life. For that to happen it must be offered an opportunity to pay for what was done to your people. Can you see why it is not enough just to stop hating it? You have to be able to empathise, feel what it is like to be one of them and offer them hope through redemption. They cannot be taught to love themselves if you do not love them.”
“You ask the impossible!”
Athia gave her a cheeky answer, “I always do.” When we went to bed Athia kissed her goodnight (it was to be a non-sex night, Robbie was in a worse condition and needed rest) and whispered, “Would you like to try to start with Shiyra and Merlin?” Haven did not reply.
3624
Days went by and she still did not reply, but we hardly noticed. Our Robbie has suffered a relapse, his coordination worsened steadily and we were taking turns in entering his mind to strengthen and repair him. Robbie it turned out had been correct. Themi had tried to reassure him, saying our minds have a way of healing with time and Robbie had disagreed.
“You know very well that there are people whose eyes have not suffered any damage and are in perfect health, and yet the connection to the brain has been damaged and they are blind.”
“But that is a physical damage, it is not the same.”
“I gave it as an example. The mind has a way of repairing itself when the trauma is of an emotional nature. In my case the physical existence of my mind has been damaged - please do not argue what the physical existence of a mind means. You have seen that our souls are able to exchange motes which means our souls are made up of something, whether energy or matter or something in-between.”
Taking him to the void and passing motes of our own souls is not enough. We do not share the same connections to our brains - none of us share the
Sorry, I got an idea and rushed away without concluding my thought. I rushed to the girls and Robbie and by the time I got to them they already knew what I was about to say. Cherine was rising to her feet, getting ready to jump.
“Cherine, wait!” She paused. “Not any Robert, it must be his shadow, the one we called Rupert for a while.”
“Why him!”
“Because he is our Robert also, their makeup is exactly the same. The other Roberts, they may have slightly different connections. Let it be him Cherine, please.”
“Sam is right Cherine.” Wendy said. “Let him be the one to give back to our Robert, perhaps he will find peace at last.”
Dommi added her voice to ours. “Make clear to him that he is the only Robert who can save ours.”
Cherine stretched out her hand. “Gina, will you come with me?” Once they were gone I smiled. Cherine often uses Gina as an indirect way of saying she loves or forgives me. I know the what and why, but still it works.
By the time they arrived, Dr Maria had come to watch. She thought it might be of use sometime in the future. It does not make sense to me, who else has a shadow? Anyway, it is not up to me to make any judgements. Alki sensed our anxiety, our fear that this, what seemed to be our only chance might fail, so he came to give us his support.
“Thank you for coming Robert. Cherine has explained?”
“She has. What I do not understand is how you will copy that part of my mind. It is not something the healer can do and I don’t know how to.”
“You’ve heard of the painter? Solomon will also be there to help.”
Haven was trying to be unobtrusive, hoping not to draw attention, but Robert’s eyes searched her out. “You did this to him? Using his sliver of course?”
“Yes.”
“Has anyone asked the sliver if it can undo what it did?”
“Fucking hell!!!” Robbie added, in a distracted way, “Sorry.” He stared at Haven and she came to him.
“It’s in Robyn, I don’t have it.”
“No baby, it is part of me, she gave it back. That was not why I wanted to speak to you. I know you have been suffering all this time along with me and I wanted to apologise to you. If you will excuse me?”
He went into his mind and searched the part of himself he had given to Robyn. He returned.
3625
“As I thought, the sliver did not hold any pertinent information. I only gave of the part of my soul that loves her. Robert, back to you. I think you side-tracked us there for a moment. It is not my soul that is damaged, the soul regenerates, it is my mind.”
“I do not understand how they differ.”
“Nor do I. Perhaps every soul has a mind, but not every mind has a soul? It may be the mind that holds the type of personality and character that singles each of us out as individuals. If we take the thought to an extreme, it might also explain why it is we do not instantly remember all our previous lives when we are in the void as souls. Perhaps the soul creates a new mind every time it is reborn. That may be why I have been resisting the idea of an over-soul. Would our melding also create an over-mind and if it is so, what happens to the individual? Two over-souls we have met have kept the individuals as distinct entities even though their souls melded. It is confusing.”
Robert must have also been giving it some thought. “I wonder, you’ve said we all become parts of an over-soul, or mother-soul as you used to call it. Then later on you evolved the theory that all over-souls meld at the end of time. What if the end of time really is the end of time? Perhaps, I’d like to imagine, the mother of all over-souls feels the need to love and experience love and it forces time to start all over again so that it can break up into individual souls?”
“That could explain why most species have a belief in some kind of God. We are all part of that God, parts of it, like children are parts of us. I like that, it means some day we will create our own time for our children to start anew.” We could sense Meli was already forming ideas for her next novel. Alki laughed.
“Would it not be better, more practical, to do your theorising after Roberto has been healed?”
Robbie laughed. “Ideas are more important Alki, and far more exciting.” He looked up at Robert. “Shall we meet in the void?”
With Solomon in charge they began. First the correct parts of the mind had to be identified, comparisons made and only then could the repairs begin. Adam was taken in as part of the team since whatever knowledge he gains belongs to all of us. The process was very slow and we had to return to our bodies and only the next day were they satisfied that all important damage had been repaired. Solomon noticed that certain parts of those areas were better developed in Robbie than in Robert and without asking teased at the structure of Robert’s mind until they also developed. When I heard of this, I worried that he may have touched on those parts of the mind that made it possible for Robbie to create the protector, but Solomon assured me they were all connection nodes for controlling the brain and body.
Back in their bodies Robbie asked Robert to come out into the garden. With enormous grins we watched as he walked out, no debilitating signs left in the way he moved. Robbie had not indicated that he wanted privacy, so we all crowded the door to follow them, until those at the back gave up and jumped to the garden.
We were all shaken, Robert’s Cherine outraged, when Robbie swung his fist at Robert’s face. They must have fought for nearly two minutes when Alki stepped in to part them. They both smiled at him and we saw neither of them had been hurt.
“It is just as I thought, both of us have benefited. You recall those nodes that were better developed in me, Solomon could not see that certain nodes in Robert were better developed than mine so when mine were repaired I was also given the benefit of his development. Neither of us landed a blow on the other, our reflexes have speeded up.”
His Cherine stood with hands on hips, little fists clenched as she faced our Robbie. “You did not need to frighten us, you could have warned us that it was just a testing of your abilities. You made me think you wanted to hurt my Robert!”
“Warning you would have warned him. I had to see how well he would react to an unprovoked and unexpected attack. Cherine, I apologise to you, but I am also truly pleased. It would have saddened me to think I benefited without him also getting something in return. Feel him, he knows he will be a more effective protector of his family and you… “
3626
Our Cherine told his Cherine to stop being stupid and take her man into the guest bedroom. Laughing, as if drunk with health, Robbie asked that we all take a walk. It turned out the walk was only to our neighbourhood coffee shop. Robbie was in a silly mood and teased us, most of the time saying things for their shock value. Only one he did not tease; her he kept on his lap so that his hands could return to caressing Haven again and again. Like a little cat she leant back against him and watched us out of half closed eyes and a tiny smile curling up the corners of her mouth.
At supper that night Haven said to Robbie and Athia, “I think I am ready to try. Could Shiyra come to stay here for a while?”
“Just Shiyra?” Robbie asked.
“It is easier to try to like just one person first Robert.”
It is a pity that she had changed her tiny flower back to our shape, for Robbie loved her that night (without taking her virginity) until she could not be loved anymore and had to be allowed to drift on clouds of a blissful sleep.
Shiyra was nervous and hung back worried that Haven was up to her tricks again. Athia asked Haven, “What affected you, why did you change?”
“Do you really want to know? What if it was not you that changed me?”
Athia grinned. “I know I didn’t, I did not expect to.” Serious now, she added. “I was only trying to prepare you so that when the right moment comes you react to it correctly.”
“Yes, the right moment…I would call it that. Your words could not touch me because I felt contempt for Robert. To me he was a coward, I had more respect for you, even though I thought you were a foolish child, at least you showed yourself to have the courage of a warrior.”
“But you saw he battled your over-soul, you sat through a storytelling and saw he laughed at those who tortured him. You saw him fight powerful foes, how could you think he is a coward?”
“He did not laugh at those who hurt him - he loved them! If you do not avenge yourself, what kind of warrior are you?”
Dommi asked, “You did not realise it takes more courage to forgive and love than to hate and avenge yourself?”
Haven did not reply, only her eyes glancing at Robbie showed she was aware of how her silence might be construed.
Robbie interceded on her behalf. “Not quite fair Dommi. I have never been put to the ultimate test. What if an enemy managed to kill all of you forever, as far as I knew. You do not think that in my grief I would forget what I believe in and hate with all the passion I’ve shown for loving? I would not seek to redress the balance by avenging you before killing myself? I do not think I am that good yet, or ever will be.”
In a small voice Haven asked, “You understand me?”
“If I did not, would I risk everything for you?”
She straightened and looked Shiyra in the eyes. Athia interrupted her.
“So, what changed you? Why should you care if Robert risked his life for you? I thought your hate was too strong for you to care if another suffered because of you.”
Thrown off her planned action Haven stared at Athia for a moment. “I saw the courage I could not see before. When I saw his eye stuck to the wall, I knew it was not a trick, he had truly risked himself to save a life.”
“Now that you know it was a trick?”
“Now I know he is braver than I thought. To suffer as he did for me, it did not make sense, but it showed me that love to him is not a weakness, even if I thought so, to him it is his strength. Love makes him a warrior, even though it is not in his nature to be a warrior.”
3627
Determined now she faced Shiyra again. “You have heard, perhaps they asked me these questions for you to hear my answers. They can all feel me, I still feel anger and hate when I look at you and know that you are of the Ii. Robert was more cunning than I’d realised, he did not give us the shape of our species, as he should have for our own comfort. He gave us the bodies of his girls so that we can learn to see the person, not just an enemy. Shiyra, do not expect me to love you as they wish of me, I will not, but I am willing to try and see the person you are. If I can see that there is no evil in you, perhaps with time I can understand you and even agree to help you.”
“Help me!!?”
“Yes. They tell me your people feel a strong need to pay for what they did. If I find a way, will I not be helping you?”
Shiyra did something very Terran; she sat with her mouth hanging open. Robbie burst out laughing, breaking the tension.
“If she ever calls Alki ‘pappou’ he will be very proud, she is a real pallikari!” Shiyra could not conceal her amazement and we all smiled.
Athia earnestly asked of Shiyra, “Trust Haven, be willing to pay and let your punishment be at her discretion. You will not regret it.” Her words annoyed Haven, but helped Shiyra and she relaxed.
“I owe that at least to her.”
“Shiyra, will you stay with us until the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both of you?”
Having Shiyra around has sort of cramped Haven’s style. She avoids sitting on Robbie’s lap and tries to act very staid and dignified all the time. We are wondering how long she will last. It amuses us that she denies any feelings for Robbie by claiming she only admires the warrior in him.
The phone rang and Robbie called out, “I’ll get it.”
“Robert? I’m in town, would you like to meet at the usual bar?”
“Sure…be careful, that area has quite a lot of crime at this time of night, so go to the bar directly.”
“See you.”
Robbie glanced at us, “John - I sense he is without any of the men of Feizal. He’ll be here any minute now, so those of you who are not decent, jump to the bedroom and get dressed, please.”
Claudia said to Haven, “We have the oddest husband in the world; when he wants us to undress, he just tells us, but when he wants us to dress, he says please! Maybe we are not training him correctly?”
Cherine laughed. “He has his priorities exactly right, maybe we should arrange for you to receive some proper training?” She turned to Robbie, “Why the talk about a bar?”
“Perhaps he is worried that someone is listening to his or our telephone.”
Since I can sense Robbie will want me to be with him, I went to change and comb my hair. When I returned to the living room, John had arrived. He gave me his hand, greeting me as if I am an adult.
“How are Feizal, his family and men?”
“It is the reason for my visit. Robert, what Arthur asked of them, it is changing them and I don’t like what is happening to them - even Feizal has grown harder.”
“Can you arrange a meeting? John, how effective have they been? We have kept an eye out for the kind of news their operation would generate, but we have not seen anything.”
“Do you expect them to report their failures and losses of their double agents?”
“I do not, but I have grown to respect some of the alternative news channels; amid their exaggerations, they often broadcast news the governments don’t want made public.”
He turned to me. “Samantha, my impression is that you know Arthur the best of all of your family. Do you think it will upset him to read that we have cancelled his project?”
3628
“I think it will upset him that he ever asked - what Arthur dreads more than almost any thing else, is affecting us in a way that can spoil the dream of Cherinianism…and growing harder will have that effect.”
“I’m sorry, but can you ask him? I will need to show them a printout of his exact words. They have taken his fears very seriously and will not stop just because we say they should.”
“I’ll do so. John, can you give us any details of what they have accomplished? Don’t tell us if you feel it may increase their risk of being found out.”
He smiled. “There is something…and I think you will appreciate the irony. From contacts in various government agencies - they do not know they are ‘contacts’ - we have learnt that they are convinced that some of the more independent multi-national corporations have created a spy ring of their own…the Americans and Europeans think that they are backed by the Russians or Chinese and are also being assisted…by secretly providing the expertise and equipment they lack, whereas those two powers think the Americans and Europeans, on behalf of the Cabal, are funding the new agency.”
Robbie chuckled. “You are right, it is amusing. John, if the new agency is concentrating on destroying the Muslim extremist teams, plus those training them, how do they explain the interest of the corporations in becoming involved in such activities?”
“Some corporations have issued statements to their shareholders that the extremists are responsible for the serious dip in their profits and are projecting even larger losses, with closure of their factories in the problem countries if the extremists are not dealt with immediately, so they are the natural suspects.”
Arthur, I told John that you no longer wish for Feizal and his men to be involved in dealing with the extremist organisations and those creating them. Can you please write for Feizal, so that he knows what you really want them to do?
3629
I printed the above for John to take with him and he laughed when he read your final paragraph and told me of news he has, which delighted all of us.
The father, Amr, was troubled by words spoken by Robert at their first meeting. He had told them of words you had spoken, of the way the Cabal are using professors and other respected men of learning, who are able to influence the young, into believing that their families are no longer important, that their first and only duty is to the human species as a whole, not to family and friends.
Recently he came up with an answer, a way for us to fight them on that front, while also increasing the family wealth. Feizal has created a corporation which is intended to become multi-national, called True Friends Club. The first office opened in Dubai just six weeks ago and we already have our first members - seventeen thousand of them! The Club promotes the idea that friends, of both sexes, are what are most precious to each person after their families. Here is where the idea is made to be unique. If you and a friend wish to sign up, to publicly declare your bond of friendship, what you do is take part in something called a ‘friendship wedding’ where you make your vows in a manner similar to wedding vows. More than two may take part in such a declaration, even should they be made up of five, they each make their vows to each other, promising to hold them dearest after their own families, but each, before themselves.
There is a small fee of three Euros - or four dollars - per friend, so that two friends will pay two fees, one each, three friends will each pay two fees and five friends will pay four fees. Should you be good at arithmetic, you will realise the potential of money earned is substantial. However, the main use of such funds is for marketing of the idea, through advertising that does not seem to be advertising, through paying for teachers to promote the concept with their students and in other ways, so that people begin to think once more that family and friends are of the greatest importance and that politicians are not of such value to anyone, unless they happen to have family and friends of their own…which is highly unlikely. We are using american marketing ideas, for instance, we are selling badges, caps and jackets which are then written of as being very much in fashion.”
We laughed, but we also found we love the idea of their club. I cannot see how it can grow to gather friends in their millions, even the idea of some time ago of women naming their friends as sisters only had a limited success. But then I decided it is important we do all we can to make the idea work, to whatever extent possible. I grinned at an idea of mine.
“Is Feizal and his father willing to offer a franchise or agency for Greece?”
“He has named the concept ‘sponsorship’. You wish it for your family?”
“No, yes, for Allan.”
He smiled slightly, before answering, “Should I but mention your request and ask for their agreement, both Amr and Feizal will become angry with me.”
I was confused and a little bit hurt. “Why?”
“They will be angered that I shamed them by not instantly offering whatever you ask of them. Despite your Cherinian gifts, Samantha, you have not sensed how both admire you and that they have grown to love you? What you ask for, all that is needed to make it official is a copy of the documents to be brought to me so that I can sign them. All of Greece - and any other country you wish to hold, the sponsorships are yours to dispose of as you wish.”
John stayed with us for the night and we prepared a delicious supper. Although we talked of other things, I could not help but return to their idea of the Friendship Club. Robbie was caught by surprise and laughed when John answered a question as follows.
“All Arabs know of the way our emails are read by the Americans and none trust those who promise encryption and anonymity. We all use a simple solution that mocks the millions being spent on spying on us - though I do not doubt they will find their way around our solution.
As you know, all emails, even one sent by you, Goldi, to you, Diana, first is sent to London, where Echelon computers read it and watch for red-flag words, such as ‘bomb’, and if any such words are found, it is marked for being read by a human being. Only then is the email sent on to Diana. This happens even though you both are linked to the same service provider and it is the same for all emails sent, from anywhere in the world.
3630
Our solution is so obvious that you will wonder. Say that I should wish to communicate with Robert now and then. All I have to do is open a new email account and send Robert the password. When I wish to communicate, I write my email, save it as a draft and he then reads it, deletes it and saves a draft of his answer - with no emails being sent between us.”
As I indicated, Robbie was amused, but he cautioned John, “It is a good idea and I will use it, though my messages will always be encrypted. John, warn the others that the system is not foolproof, they can still read your emails if they have reason to suspect you. Your ISP is forced, by law, to keep a copy of everything that goes to the web and back to your computer through the connection they supply you with.”
As an aside, Robbie cleaned a flash drive he rarely uses and copied onto it a tiny program. He explained, “Let us say that you use an encryption program, any one, whether commercial or not, however good they claim it is, the Agencies have the means for cracking it and breaking your password. It sounds good when they say that it would take all the computers of the world a million years to crack it, but the truth is that there are shortcuts which can reduce the requirements drastically. I am not good at programming, but Allan gave me an idea and I adjusted a small freeware text editor. What it does is read the encrypted letters of your message and, for instance, substitute the letter ‘m’ with the letter ‘f’ and the letter ‘f’ with the letter ‘m’. It does that with a number of letters, so that no program can find a pattern and nobody is going to think of reversing these changes before trying to decrypt, since the text looks random anyway. Please ask Feizal to use it sparingly and only within the group.” He ran the program, showing him how to use it and how to reverse what he has done (since it only alters about a third of the letters, if you don’t know which letters it was set to alter and with which other letters, it is almost impossible to decrypt, since there are no words or patterns to guide the decryption process). Robbie also provided him with a short sentence that uses the letters he will be using for encryption and John made one for Robbie to use.
In the morning, John came to us with papers in his hand. “Feizal asks that you do not use the name of Allan, nor the name of any other Cherinian. If you have someone not a Cherinian you trust, have that person sign a contract with Allan, giving him the sole management and the major part of the profit. Feizal feels it is likely the Cabal will see our effort as a deliberate attempt to cross swords with them and he does not want their attention to be concentrated on any Cherinian.” He handed me the document, the contract, and I saw that though the one party is unnamed, Feizal has signed.
When I looked at John again I saw his face is split by a huge smile. “I mentioned to the family that your family has grown - and by how many - and he tells me that Robert is worse than a Turkish pasha and…the respect all his men feel for him has increased substantially, as none of them would dare to attempt to keep so many females happy. He joked, saying that the men claim he is doing the impossible.”
We grinned as Rosie answered, “It was impossible, until Robert!”
Robbie held his arm, not satisfied with just a handshake. “John, tell everyone we feel they are family and we sorely miss them. If possible, perhaps somewhere in the desert(?), we would love to spend two nights and a day for sharing our stories and dreams now and then, so that we remain closely knit in the sanctity of true friendship forever.”
I too wished for more time with John and to meet with our Arab friends, but I also found myself allowing the words of Robbie to give birth to a wonder at the ways he has changed. The Robert of the early days would not have found it possible to speak such words, for he was still locked within the British dislike of speaking of emotions and friendship. In those days he would have said that friendship is something you prove over the years, not something you proclaim. I asked myself, has meeting so many strange aliens been the cause of his change?
With university closed, most of our free time was either spent visiting or else we went to Kefalari. It is not usually this hot in June and everyone (the Normals) felt irritable and by afternoon most people are tired. Because we are not as vulnerable and appear at the square in high spirits, we stand out, irritating many of the overweight crowd. We tried to manoeuvre Shiyra and Haven, trying to seat them together, but we had to give up on that, Shiyra found some excuse to change seats and then Haven did the same at the next place. It gradually dawned on us that we should let them solve their problems without us interfering. Robbie holds Athia on his lap and the two of them sit smiling at us, amused by our mishandling the situation.
We decided we all want to have a party for Wendy and Candy. As most of the family sat arguing, some wanting the party at Apostolis and others saying we should go somewhere cooler, Robbie sat talking with Cherine, Dommi and me.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)10th December, 2019
- posted: 10th December, 2019
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