Little Cherine Book 11 - BPost075

arthur.grafo13 (53)in #sfandf-fiction • 4 years ago

This is turning into a massive venture, but we are all happy to give of our time and effort as it means all the known realities will be so much healthier afterwards. As the Inguel are fond of telling everyone, this is not a program we undertake and then forget about - all species must continually monitor their worlds, as the large populations, roads, towns and cities do and will continue to create imbalances that have to be rectified before they grow serious, creating a domino effect.

7791

During one of the chat shows we took turns at appearing in, a Normal admitted he has a phobia and is terrified of spiders. He asked whether it is true that Cherinians are never bitten by insects, snakes and so on because they radiate love and goodwill. Everyone knows that we think of Dommi as our ‘Mother’ and believe that her love is ‘special’ so it caused some amusement when she ruefully related how a tick decided she would provide a rich source of food for it. That led to others making jokes about me being covered in bites when I went to the reality of Efineh as a Normal. They joked about insects having a mind of their own, with me as their food being at the top of their ambitions and then the chat turned more serious and we admitted that emoting friendliness and love does affect, to an extent, the way nature responds to us. As everyone said, when we feel fear (as an example) we emit a scent that tells other animals of how we feel and we thus provoke their hunting instincts.

The Unation warned all realities (at the same time, so that none would feel slighted) that they have an important announcement they will be making the next day. That evening their leaders met with us, determined they would tell us first. Robbie tried insisting we should wait and learn what it is at the same time as everyone else. They did not want to tell him their reason was that they felt he should approve their decision, as their leader, as they knew how he would react to it, so they only spoke of the joy it would give them if they are allowed to share with us first. Robbie had to give in. I consider this sort of thing a joy - knowing we are being manipulated, but out of love and respect.

Arthur, we and they hope their news also makes you happy. The Unations of all the realities that are in contact with each other have decided to unite and become one entity. In practical terms it does not mean much as each reality will still have their own governments, but emotionally it is very important. Apart from the species and solar systems that made up the Unations in the past, there are a number of other species that have joined them - a Terran one also! The Earth which had suffered a nuclear war and the Unation then helped them, they also asked to join the Unation. This has given the ‘new’ Unation great joy for it means they have a Teller family of their own, but they felt they had to discuss with Robbie how he would feel if they elect that Robert onto their Council. Not only do we feel it is a great honour to all Roberts, we also want to be present when they swear him in - or whatever their ceremony of induction is. I’m going to enjoy teasing Campbell once the news is made public.

Greetings, this is a Robert you have not met. I am writing here (in the story of Allan as I see it, until proven otherwise) at his request. He claims that the ‘original’ Allan made a rule allowing only all Teller ‘families’ to write in his story and has agreed to my first entering my qualifier so that I do not feel stupid doing this for him. I will now write exactly as he dictates (I hope he’ll never show this to anyone as I still feel I’m being taken for a ride somehow):

My greetings to all Teller families and Allans who are sharing this diary. I also send my greetings to Arthur and I thank him for allowing me to ‘receive’ his story, it has provided me with many moments of amazement and joy. I will first supply you with some background so that my reason for asking my Robert Teller to write on my behalf become apparent.

I have been moderately successful and was able to provide for a comfortable early retirement. I chose to retire in Greece and bought a house in a village about half an hour out of Kifissia. Despite having a number of friends to visit and many books to read, I did find retirement boring and stultifying. I needed something to keep my brain working. The teenage daughter of a friend suggested I buy a computer and subscribe to the internet. She kindly spent time with me to help me get started and I admit I found my world expanded enormously.

One morning I felt I did not want to surf, but with the cold blustery weather there was little point in leaving my home. I switched on my computer and looked through some articles I had downloaded and then, just to pass the time, I started writing a short story about a man who is gay falling in love with a woman. I wanted to see how my imagination would deal with two facets of his situation. First of all, it would surely be embarrassing for him having to ‘come out’ to all his gay friends and, secondly, what would happen the first time they are to make love? Would he find her body a source of joy for him or would he be turned off, his love for her not extending to the sexual? For some reason I created a non-gay but minor character called Robert Teller and as I wrote about him I found the idea of his falling in love with a little girl an intriguing complication that should make my story even more interesting. Once I had Robert meet Cherine I was hooked into their story and forgot about my main character, deleting him.

For a year or more, I continually patted myself on the back, amazed at the wealth of ideas my imagination was supplying me with. I grew to love the characters because they represented and fought for a dream I would sacrifice my life for. Having spent almost all my time at home writing, I felt I was going stir crazy and I decided to buy myself a laptop and spend a month on an island so as to swim a little and meet people. I feared that spending all my time alone could bore my Muse and I’d lose her. I believed that my mind needs to be stimulated by external stimuli for it to keep generating new ideas.

7792

I had not spoken to one single soul about my story, the idea of confessing that I was writing about an adult having sex and being in love with children embarrassed me - as if I would be confessing to such an interest in children myself. As luck would have it, I met a Zachos, a Greek I’d seen on television. He is reputed to be a womaniser, a man in his sixties with a penchant for women in their early twenties and even late teens. He has a strong charismatic personality and is learned, known also for two books he has written (the one being autobiographical but written honestly and with a wicked sense of humour that often makes fun of himself). For some reason he chose to spend an evening with me and we both had too much to drink. I made a joke about the press describing him as decadent and he found it amusing and asked whether I was decadent or just a typical prude. I don’t know why I allowed myself to speak.

“If I told you all about myself, you would claim I am far more decadent than you.”

He instantly perked up, hoping for something scandalous, a new bit of gossip to spread around.“Stop being coy and tell me.” He must have sensed I’d regretted speaking and was drawing back into my normal defensive mode. “Allan, I have never betrayed a confidence.”

“I heard that you do, that you did when writing your book.”

He only laughed at me. “Those confidences? Petty people with petty secrets - I did them a favour. Allan, I keep company with many important people, did you read anything about any of them?”

“You might think my secret is petty and that you are doing me a favour.”

He filled his glass and toasted me, “To your petty secrets.” He looked away as if losing interest in me.

Again my mouth opened of its own volition. “I’ve written two books - I mean, one story, but I’m writing the third book.” Of course he just had to know what it was about. I explained that I had wanted to examine how empathy would affect the world if it became stronger. I spoke about a mutant girl being born with the gift of empathy. He looked puzzled.

“Such a book, you should be proud of it, I don’t understand.”

I quailed inside as I replied, “She is eight years old when she meets Robert Teller and they become lovers - which helps open his mind to other gifts.”

“Ah!” he rubbed the side of his nose with a finger. “You must be brave and show the world your story and damn those who would censor the human mind!” He put his hand on my arm. “It is not a petty secret, satisfied?” I nodded. “I do insist you let me read your story. Where did you get the name Robert Teller? Where does the story take place, in London?”

“No, in Athens. In my story, Robert works for a Greek called Alki and he is a graphic artist and designs websites.”

“Alki Georgiades?” His face had tensed, but he saw the shock on my face. “They both exist, you did not know? Robert is quite famous and popular in Greece as he has helped make a Greek internet company successful - the first one ever!”

“They can’t exist, I made them up!”

“You must let me read the story - I’ll be at your villa at ten in the morning.”

I temporised. I could not refuse him when he came and insisted on reading the story, so I opened the laptop and offered to let him read the first chapters - up to where Cherine and Robert become lovers. At least I did not have to worry about him having the story and passing it on. He did not argue, asked for coffee and started reading. Within a few pages his face grew hard, his eyes cold as he looked at me, and I guessed he had read about Dommi - it turned out he had not at that point, he had just been shocked to see that I had also included Nicko and his family in my story. When he did read about the ‘Sunday’ of little Robert and Dommi, he actually grew angry with me, but refused to stop reading. I realised I had committed a terrible blunder, a social and legal one, that could destroy my life and foresaw not only trouble but great embarrassments. With the contacts he has, I thought he just might have me deported from Greece. If he spoke the truth and my characters actually existed, I could sympathise with his anger, he must have thought I had done it deliberately. To tell the truth, I was not capable of thinking straight, I was so afraid it felt as if I could not breathe properly.

7793

He asked for my phone and called a taverna and ordered lunch for both of us and did not stop reading as he ate. The wine he’d ordered must have kick-started my mind back into working again, for I suddenly asked him, “They all exist in real life?” He nodded. “Cherine also?”

He looked up. “No, I would have heard if she did.”

He was back in Athens before me and when I arrived home I found he had invited me to supper. I did not think it would be wise to antagonise him by refusing, but wondered that he’d remembered me. I am like the British, I am punctual. Zachos is not and he arrived more than half an hour late. His other guest, being British, was also punctual, so I had a little time to grow used to his presence before Zachos exposed me. To tell the truth, I did not like Robert and I was ready to argue should he take exception to being in my story. At least he solved a puzzled for me. I have had many people tell me I look like someone else they have seen and it was obvious that Robert is that person.

Zachos acted as the perfect host and saw to it that we had the best wines, instant service from the waiters and he kept the conversation light-hearted and amusing. With the coffee and cigars he sat back and stared at Robert as he asked, “Do you have a relationship with Dominique?”

“Yes. I’m surprised you heard about it as we’ve kept it to ourselves.”

Zachos pointed at me. “There is no chance of you keeping it a secret with him around. Allan is writing a story about you.”

“That’s not fair! I’m not! I only gave my character the same name as you, but I did not even know you exist.”

My dislike for Robert melted when he asked, “So, how does it go, does Dominique marry me?”

“Yes and no…in my story. Dommi has to first leave you for a while.”

“I hope not.”

“The man she’ll leave you for will treat her very badly and it will help her appreciate the kind of person you are. I’m sorry, that is how it is for the Robert in my story. I do think that Zachos should have mentioned that I have no intention of allowing anyone to read my story, so you are welcome to forget me the instant we part.” I should have known that Zachos had no intention of letting me off the hook that easily. He suggested to Robert that he should insist on reading the book. Robert insisted. “Fine! Read the damn thing, but I warn you, straight after you’ve stopped reading I’m deleting the story!”

Robert arrived at my house with a small bag and after informing me that he was inviting himself to stay with me for the weekend, I let him use the laptop for reading the story as it is less tiring on the eyes. I decided to hell with everything and went to the local taverna for some wine.

“You have a strange way of writing. To the moment Dommi leaves me I have lived everything you write of with only minor variations to what you describe and yet, the way you write it, none of it feels true.” He shook his head and it tilted to the side as in my story. “I need a drink. Do they serve lamb chops, chips and beer?”

Robert must have spent most of the rest of the night reading and he followed the same pattern over Saturday and Sunday. He still had a few hundred pages to read of book two when it was time for him to leave. He asked to visit after work and I agreed. To be honest, I was puzzled, I’d expected him to be angry, not friendly the way he was.

Since those days, three years have passed and I continued writing because Robert was so devoted to reading what I wrote. Only once the Robert of the story started becoming a hero did the real Robert ask me to swear that I will never allow anyone else to read the story - as it embarrassed him. He did tell me when his Dommi left him and I spent many nights with him, drinking and listening to his heart tearing itself apart. One very drunken night he confided that he wished Cherine was real, that she did exist. By then, so did I.

7794

Four and a half years of writing and I did not once consider the possibility of the story being true, of it being true in some other realities. If Cherine had existed, I think I would have woken up to the truth far earlier. As it happens, your Sparklers and Anadir have not found our reality, for our world is not suddenly healthier - if anything, it grows unhealthier year by year.

Robert phoned me to ask whether I’d listened to the news on television. I had not and he demanded I be at home as he was on his way to me. I do not have international television coverage, only the local Greek stations, so I waited for Robert, as I could not be bothered to search the internet without knowing what I am looking for. I made a coffee for the two of us and he arrived with a new dent on his car.

“I think the fire-world is coming our way.” The news had barely made it onto a couple of stations. Astronomers warned that they had found a moon-sized rock that seems to be heading our way. They did mention that it puzzled them as it was behaving oddly for a lump of rock. I turned to stare at Robert.

“You’re nuts!”

“Am I? How do you explain me and Dommi, Nicko and Alki? You must write for the real Robert and Cherine to save us.” So much for his disclaimer at the start of this message .

I have only had a brief moment to consider the possibilities and ramifications should it be true that you all exist. We argued what had to be done should it be true. The first point I made was that my writing would not come through as Arthur banned all Allans from being able to write into the diary. Robert however can, so I’m dictating most of this while he writes. Robert did ask why it is that you speak of having to send Cherinians to other realities to pass on the news or need for help when all you should have to do is write in the diary and ask. I explained that it is likely the other Teller families do not read the diary out of respect for the privacy of the prime family.

Robert and Cherine (and my beloved Samantha), I’m now convinced the meteor is the fire-world; it was just announced that it changed trajectory, adjusting for the movement of our planet around the sun. even our governments have clammed up, so I guess they are considering the possibility that it is a spaceship and they are frightened of any civilisation that can create such a massive spaceship.

Please write here that you are willing to come to save us - and, if possible, how do you expect to find us? With untold billions of realities for you to search, I don’t see how you can.

I am now writing for myself (Robert). I just wanted you to know that I am desperately hoping you exist and will come to our aid. I’m hoping far too much for me to be able to reason the possibilities or impossibilities.

All of us are either helping with the building of the spaceships or else we are assisting those who are planning the celebrations for the Day of Unification - both Cherinians and Normals are eager to show the Unation that we rejoice with and for them. Those times one or the other of us is free for a short break, the requests for appearances at chat shows to discuss the effect of what the Unations are doing upon our own Earths are pouring in daily, plus there never is a day that some charity organisation, school class and so on is not pleading for a visit by us. We really did not have time for new emergencies, so we viewed the above message both with wonder and with a feeling of what do we tell everyone - they’ll be nice and understanding, but they’ll feel let down (which is not true of course). However, there is no question, we have to find them quickly and I’m only bitching because I still suspect that Arthur contrived for this to happen (whether deliberately or not) so as to end off his book with an interesting ending.

7795

Because Arthur had to write for everything to happen, we expected Allan and Robert to know we had arrived. Since we knew they were both in Athens, it only took a minute or so to find the whereabouts of both of them. It was agreed that Robbie and Dommi will handle first contact this time. Robbie disguised himself and walked into the office of Alki and asked for Robert.

Politely he shook hands with Robbie as he asked, “Can I help you?”

Robbie grinned, “Not by designing a website for me. However, I do require you to take a trip with me to the fire-world. I suggest you arrange with Alki an absence of three to six months.” He held Robert by the arms until he recovered. “You did not really believe we exist?”

“But…you don’t look anything like me!”

While Robbie had his fun with Robert, we also watched our Dommi who was visiting Allan. He opened his door, recognised her (Dommi had changed herself to look the same age as her alternate), stared with wonder and asked himself how he’d been so blind to her real beauty. Dommi smiled. “May I come in?”

As he gestured for her to enter, he asked, “Are you here to discuss Robert? I think it would be wiser for you to wait for me to call him to be with us.”

“He has been contacted.” She gave a wicked grin. “I hear you have been writing a story about Robert and I? How have you presented me, am I supposed to be the evil woman?”

His face turned a pasty yellow and he stammered, “You’re Dommi! I mean, from another reality. Are you from Freddie?”

“Now why do you have to spoil the joke? How did you guess?”

“Dominique dislikes me, she would not speak to me as you did, and Robert would not have told you - I mean her. Really? You really are?” His knees gave way and Dommi helped him sit on the sofa. It felt as if he were about to have a heart attack or else just die from fear. She sent her soothing love as she verbally did all she could to relax him. I’d say Robbie had more fun out of first contact than Dommi did - despite Alki refusing to give Robert unpaid leave and firing him when he insisted on leaving. We always keep on forgetting how easily terrified Allan can become because of the way he acts against his fear. He is the only person I know who is admired by all for his courage and yet he thinks of himself as a coward. He is such a mess of contradictions that it is no wonder we cannot use him - and probably should not - to try and understand our Arthur! .

7796

While they guided the fire-world to another sun, both Robert and Allan talked with Robbie, trying to make him understand that the people we consider our friends are not the same. Robert explained that once he’d read Allan’s story, he recognised the strength and good qualities as being true of his Alki and had tried to become friends with him. His efforts were rebuffed politely but firmly and Alki only seemed to become colder and more distant. Robbie enjoyed listening to them and encouraged them to believe what they already believed out of fear. Freddie travelled alongside them, but remained out of sight and whenever Robbie felt like coming for a beer or coffee he indulged himself and Freddie took his place without the fire-world or Allan and Robert realising the switch. We moaned that it was not fair and he should give them a break also as we were dying to chat with them and enjoy their reaction to us, our alien friends and Freddie in general, but he insisted this is an important adventure for them and refused us. Once the fire-world happily settled by its new home, Robbie brought the two into Freddie for the first time. Robbie encouraged them to drink beer with their meal and they relaxed enough for a few jokes to be made and us girls then indulged our curiosity.

“What did you think when Zachos told you that Allan was writing a story about you?”

“To be honest, I thought it was some kind of publicity stunt he had thought up and I was reluctant to show any interest. If he had told me that I was supposed to be having a love affair with a child I definitely would have refused to meet either of them. Reading the first book was a series of shocks until I realised I should switch off any reactions to the sex and concentrate on what else was happening. I did feel like hitting Allan a number of times, but he was so obviously anxious, close to the point of collapse, that I ended up trying to reassure him.”

Robbie nodded, knowing he was provoking our Allan. “I know exactly what you mean. However, when he’s not like that, he is a good friend to have around.”

Eleni tried to stop Allan from pretending to fall for Robbie’s wit, but she failed. “I am? A good friend? Why has it taken you so long to let me know?”

“Well…I had to make sure.” After some more joking and teasing we ended the night with everyone in a good mood.

Robbie waited until we’d finished breakfast. “Because of the way you contacted us, we have decided to encourage all the Teller families to keep a copy of our diary so that they can contact us quickly if they have an emergency but cannot jump to us. We have a choice now, we can either return you home to find your Cherine or else you can come with us on a trip into the realities of Arthur and back in time by about eleven billion years to experience the universe when it was brand new. Your choice.” Reassured that very little time would pass in their reality during their absence, they chose to come with us. Then they changed their minds because Robert thought it would be wonderful to have his Cherine with on the trip and then, when Robbie warned him there would be danger, they changed their minds again and we jumped back to our reality.

We always announce the arrival of new alternates, so we then had to put up with official functions and television interviews. This is the first time we’ve brought a Robert without his Cherine (whether she loves him or not) and everyone wanted to learn how he thinks as a Normal. Robbie decided we might as well announce our imminent departure for the after-big-bang visit so as to get through the official parties and interviews in one go. Since we had no success in finding the man who brought us the psycho-cloth, I asked the media to announce our request that he join us on our next trip. When there was no response, everyone decided he must have returned to his reality. Robbie, my family plus a few others close to us and I, feel that he is around, but keeping quiet for his own reasons. He has managed to kindle my curiosity. I suspect he plans something rather nasty for us (I don’t know why I feel this way) so I have to find new ways of confronting or blocking him when he does appear - for I am convinced he will reappear when he is ready to put his plan into action. Mr Mystery man does not represent himself, I’m certain he is here on behalf of his reality and in the hope of ensuring they dominate us. Perhaps he thinks he can succeed because his reality is more ‘real’ than ours? If so, he is very wrong - in our reality we are more real.

Michael and his family have been far more relaxed about visiting us than they have been for a long time. New generations of Talents have joined his group and they reflect the changes in society and are not hostile to us, even acknowledging the Cherinians as their parent group. They claim that as with families, each generation must move on and explore new ways of solving the problems of ethics, but that whatever they evolve it will have grown from us. Unfortunately, for us, it is very rarely that we are alone with Michael and even when we are, he is uncomfortable with the idea of being a child for us. He has had to face too many hard decisions for him to find the child in himself - so say his family, Ahní, Zenon, Simito and Zwithinia, in the hope, I suspect, that we’ll find a way to make it happen for him. We are looking forward to enjoying his company on this trip and we won’t mind if it takes years of Freddie time.

7797

Jesus and Christós, with a team of magi (Alexander is not included), have arrived, as they want to spend some time practising emergencies that us girls will create for the two of them, plus Robbie, Lusalith and Freddie-Cherise, so that they’ll grow to react as a team, their different powers or gifts balancing and complementing until they act as one unit. We have been asked to surprise them and they admitted that the worst time for them was as they ‘saved’ us from one disaster, Haven hit them with a new one that was potentially even more catastrophic. At the end of their tether they had to find ways to strengthen each other so as to save us. As that emergency ended they watched Haven suspiciously, but she had sensed their exhaustion and felt that pushing any harder could only damage their self confidence. Hopefully when there is a real emergency we will also be able to help them - Angelica is really upset that she was not included, but her mentors both told her she should remain as a backup in case they are in danger of failing. The sudden infusion of her power could make a big difference. Cherine, Michael and family, Alki, Gregory, us girls and others have formed a second team so that we are ready to help should we be needed. We’ve made certain that the new Robert (his mind has been opened) is part of our team and it has done wonders for his self-confidence.

Many Cherinians, Terran and aliens, plus Normals are questioning why we are taking this trip or why we don’t modify our ambitions since Robbie is this uneasy. Robbie told Michael that he would have been much more relaxed about the risks if we were not with, but that he dares not try to live his life avoiding all risks when there are lessons to be learnt and experiences to deepen the wealth of our souls, that that kind of life would, in the short and long term, be far worse than losing our lives. Those who think Robbie is being wise, I wish they could sense him as he broods on his own when he thinks we are all asleep. Losing even one of us is still his greatest fear.

I arranged for Dimi and Campbell to meet me secretly. I asked them to both pretend a lack of interest in the trip so as to remain behind to watch for the a-reality stranger. I allowed both of them to sense me when I think of him and then asked that they work as a team to protect our realities while we are away. Dimi was upset at missing out on such an important trip, but also pleased that I had called on him for help. Campbell put his huge arm around the almost tiny shoulders of Dimi and with a grin told him he will teach him how to play snooker. Dimi matched his show of bravado and I left them making all the right noises of friendship.

I had one more visit to make for me to travel in Freddie without spending all my time worrying. I went to our World to speak to Adam. I shared with him and he told me to wait for him on the island. When he appeared he did not walk directly to me, standing at a small distance he stared out at sea before coming to me. “You have a gift of doing what has never been done before in a way that changes what is accepted as custom. Whether I agree to do as you ask or not, just the fact of you asking will cause changes for many species.” I did not ask the obvious, that he does not confide what I asked to other World entities, for it would not be ethical of me - either he can and does continue to share with all of them, friend or foe, or he does not do as I asked.

My last two days on Earth I spent with Natalie, my mother. Themi has a number of speaking engagements and cannot leave, so both Rose and my mother decided to stay with him. Unlike Michael, I find that having to face the darker side of life leaves me with a yearning to be a toddler or a baby for a day or two. Doing so in the arms of my mothers is pure bliss for me. Robbie did not regress himself, but he did surprise us by spending a day with his mother (which, in a way, meant he was with me also) and a day with his father and brother in Cyprus. Soon all the girls whose parents or other family were not coming with went to spend their last day with them. I’m glad that Alki, Marian and the kids are coming with. You did notice, I hope, that I still think of Julia as their kid even though she is also their wife - making her step mum to Cherine, Meli and Bernie while also being their sister .

Apart from Alki and his family, Gregory, Allan and family are coming with us with the new Allan also remaining in Freddie. Robbie insisted that Vincent and Kirsten must stay behind and all the other close friends and family so that if anything goes wrong Hettie and Eddie will have their support. Vincent is not happy about staying behind and stared at Robbie as if he’d gone crazy when Robbie told him that if we do not return, he then becomes the prime Robert and leader of this reality. Hettie and Eddie confirmed Robbie’s words. Now everyone really is starting to worry for they see that Robbie’s instincts are warning him of something very bad. Alki tried to convince him to cancel the trip, but for the first time Robbie’s ego is getting in the way. That is a comfort to me, for he would never risk us just for the sake of his macho ego. When I wrote that, I sensed Cherine’s mind brooding within mine, but she did not comment and left.

7798

We are on our way, the first jump taking us into the a-reality. We are taking it slowly as we return in time, stopping often for the scientists to gather data about the universe. As Robbie says, afterwards we may be too tired and eager to get home. The new laboratory is capable of supporting all species within their own laboratories and their computers, which are the newest and fastest ever, are all linked to each other through a server that has its own programs - for instance, as one scientist makes an observation or discovery that is pertinent to the area of expertise of other branch(es) of science, scientists are notified. One other important point. Accidents in the past have caused massive losses of data so this time the computers are secured so that they’d even survive a nuclear explosion - sudden and sharp inertia of course is what causes most of the damage, not nuclear explosions, but the effects can be similar.

The new Robert and Allan were linked (to Cherise) so that we can teach them how to protect themselves, go to the void, use their healers to create new bodies should the necessity arise and so on - with Robert also training as part of our team, as I mentioned earlier. Almost equally important is that they, and everyone else within Freddie, be capable of hearing telepathic commands or warnings. Normals and new Cherinians won’t be able to react fast enough, as it take years and practise for an ex-Normal to speed up their reflexes close to those of a born-Cherinian, so we’ll have to try and call out warnings a little bit faster/earlier. We have been aware and have been doing so for others on previous trips, so it is not a problem. It was hilarious watching them, for they keep on trying to get out of doing the most difficult exercises. The reason we find it hilarious is because Robbie appointed Haven as their instructor and it is funny (even for strangers watching) as the two of them try to fool Haven, continually forgetting to think of her as an adult and Cherinian. Haven only lets go and laughs once we are alone in our home. Her most difficult task is helping the two of them overcome their fear of heights and Robbie had to show them by sharing how he’d fought his own fears. Once they’d shared from Robbie they felt a lot better about their weakness. As Allan said in a mocking tone to Robert, ‘If the great Robert Teller had the same fears I guess we don’t have to feel so bad about it.’

We arrived at one billion six hundred million years after the Big Bang (ABB) and the unmanned vessel was moved out of Freddie. The manned ship will not be used, as Robbie finds it easier to act as the g-void in the open. It does mean he will have to return the unmanned ship to Freddie and take one of the other two while the scientists collect the data and test the ship for radiation and stress induced damage. The scientists ensured everything was working correctly and then Robbie grabbed it and jumped back a hundred million years. He jumped forward a year and brought the ship back to us. It is being kept in a sealed off area within the other half of Freddie, so that we are not affected by any radiation it may be emitting. The next day the same process was repeated after the scientists confirmed they had collected all the data and made whatever changes they wanted for testing results of the first ship’s data. When Robbie returned with the second ship he suggested those scientists who have some free time join us at the taverna after supper.

“Is there any internal damage…to the hard drives for instance? The radiation was really fierce and I was worried a year might be too long so I collected it after seven months.”

“We’ll have to make adjustments to reflect the shorter period. Robert, is it safe for you to return closer to the Big Bang if conditions are already so bad?”

“The radiation is not affecting me, after all, I am energy when I’m the void. There are some awesome explosions as suns are being formed. Perhaps you could examine the data and suggest where I should arrive next trip…for instance, I thought it might be a good idea to avoid areas where suns existed during the last trip. Please confirm that a shorter period for your test ships would also be prudent or are you confident the equipment can survive such high temperatures and levels of radiation?”

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“We’ll try to identify which suns are younger than two hundred million years - there is no point in you trying to avoid the space around all suns. Our colleagues confirm it might be prudent to shorten the period to four months. Robert, we can confirm that this trip is already a success, the information we have gathered from here and from the robot ship are going to alter many of our theories.”

“Anything particularly interesting happening in our neighbourhood at this time?”

“Yes. The background radiation is still extraordinarily high and would destroy all life in Freddie if we had not found new ways to insulate ourselves with the coral from Lusalith. With the higher radiation we also are identifying, in the distance, massive fluctuations in space alongside the newly formed galaxies that might be affecting time locally, but are also definitively distorting the shapes of the galaxies. The forces reacting against each other are so powerful that should a sun try to cross the area at the time of such fluctuations, the sun would disappear within seconds as it is shredded to its basic atoms or even smaller.”

“Any chance that could happen here where Freddie is?”

“We do not think so, the conditions are not right - or should I say, in our terms, wrong. Most of space in this vicinity is settling as the main store of energy has dissipated - the remaining energy levels are far too low for anything drastic to happen, even though they are far higher than in our time. Those fluctuating areas in the distance are the exception at this time, but are no cause for concern - we consider it more important you learn from them so as to identify the danger signs for when you are in the past.” We sensed her communicating with other scientists. “It is confirmed that we are maintaining a detailed and permanent watch on the local conditions and we are confident there should be ample warning should conditions alter for the worse.”

Arthur, this is after the facts and we did not have time to ask for your help. We were very lucky, Robbie had only just returned from his next trip and as he entered his body, gravity within Freddie seemed to triple (it is believed Freddie was suddenly thrust ‘upwards’ on a wave of energy that was sweeping past the area we were in). Our reactions were not fast enough to prevent serious damage to the land, houses, spaceships and, most importantly of all, lives of those species from low gravity worlds. but we did succeed in forming a stasis shield around FTS, enhanced by the spells of Christós and Jesus and the ‘god’ powers of Lusalith - as they had practised. I have not mentioned, as I had not previously deemed it important for you to know, but the Unation installed programs that control the spaceships so that should they travel suddenly in the direction of our shields, the program takes control of the engines and keep the ships as close to the center of our skies as possible. It was considered imperative that they keep away from the shields and all other damage as being of less importance (if the program has to try and avoid all damage it could cause the program to delay making a decision by a tenth of a second with catastrophic results). Although the spaceships did succeed in avoiding our shields, most of them did either hit the ground or else crash into each other. Luckily none of the ships exploded and they can be repaired-healed.

Imagine a galaxy with its arms or spirals stretching out as it spins around itself and then imagine that galaxy is made of energy warping time and space. One of those spirals from the distant anomaly acted as a wave would - apparently, if I am to continue using the simile of a wave, Freddie rose to the crest and then was flung with great force - I heard some scientists call it the ‘slingshot’ effect. By then Christós, Jesus, Freddie-Cherise, Lusalith and Robbie had formed a stasis field around Freddie to protect us from the effects of the unbelievable acceleration. Even as we caught our breaths and turned to help those seriously injured or killed, Freddie travelled towards a galaxy of suns still being formed and within a blink of the eye we had passed through it and on towards more distant galaxies. As our speed built up (beyond the speed of light? We don’t know, but there is no other explanation for what we experienced and the distances we travelled in such a brief time…unless it is time that was distorted and what we thought was hours or days was centuries or millennia). Through the stasis field protecting us we could see the flickering of galaxies speeding by as we shot through them. I do not know how many galaxies or what distance we travelled. Robbie called out for the Sparklers to hold the souls of any who die and asked the rest of us to join the circle as the forces we were being buffeted by were so enormous that even the stasis field was in danger of being distorted and crushed. We’d been travelling for two of our days when Jesus and Christós found that with all Cherinians helping they could afford to concentrate on using spells to slow us down to a stop. As our speed reduced we had to be careful we did not hit any objects - suns, planet, debris and, this is the most difficult, anomalies of space and time.

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As galaxies that had flashed by within an instant began to take seconds, then minutes and then hours and then days, weeks and months to pass by, the danger increased for now any impact with matter at such great speeds could destroy us within one instant flash, converting us to energy. There was no way we or the computers could see all matter lying across the path we were speeding on. At the speed that solar systems appeared in the distance, rushed towards us and passed by on all sides, we would not have enough time to take action to avoid a sun if it lay directly before us, never mind something as small as a cherry. Angelica was told to send a beam of energy (via magic) ahead of us as a shield so that it removes all matter smaller than a bus. Despite her efforts and successes (we saw the flares as her shield hit small bits of matter) Robbie shouted that it would be safer for us to travel in the void, so we all concentrated on helping Freddie jump us and suddenly we switched over to the void and Robbie gave an exultant yell and left his body. Freddie was still travelling at enormous speed and we were terrified that Robbie would not be able to keep up and he’d lose us, but within seconds he was back with us and took his form. He asked us not to relax and told us he is going out into the void, as the g-void, to ensure we do not hit a ‘river’ of energy that could destroy us.

Gradually we slowed down to speeds that Freddie feels he can control FTS. He warned us that he is taking over and brought us to a halt. As Robbie returned to us, most of us collapsed, drained of energy despite our healers helping. Those who had the ability to move helped Maria, her husband and the robots to deliver food and cold drinks so that our healers have something to work with to put us back on our feet. Since we were in the void and there was no danger, the first thing we did was check that everyone is still alive and that those who had died within the first seconds can be brought back. Our greatest fear was that we might have suffered the loss of a final death or two since there was no way we can find any souls left behind and there is no ‘life’ as far as we knew for them to be sent to. Once we found we had not lost anyone, most of us let go and fell asleep wherever we happened to be lying. Before I passed out I sensed B-Cherine force herself to move towards Bobby. Only once she had him in her arms did she collapse. While we slept, the Sparklers healed all of us - even if that healing was only a matter of replenishing our bodies with the energy our healers need.

When they woke up, Christós, Jesus and Robbie sat on the ground as they ate and drank beer to restore their bodies with nutrients and sugars. They praised everyone for giving all their energy for them to use in strengthening the stasis shield and then in slowing down Freddie, but admitted that without the powers of Lusalith we would not have survived. None of them had suspected just how powerful her ‘god’ powers are. We spent two days in the void and once everyone had recovered, we examined normal space and jumped so as to try and identify where we are. The astronomers have been looking for anything familiar to our computers, but they have not been successful. Robbie says that even from within the void he cannot sense any galaxies close enough for him to ‘fold’ us there. Not that there aren’t any solar systems, there are, even clusters or groups of solar systems, but the largest one within sight only has about eight hundred systems. It is almost impossible to imagine life having evolved at this time and under such stressful conditions, but we are hoping we’ll find water should we need it.

Arthur, we are lost and neither the Sparklers nor the Wirms are able to wish themselves elsewhere as they need to know where they are so as to go ‘to’ elsewhere. This business of them ‘knowing’ where they are is strange as it depends on them being able to ‘imagine’ they ‘know’ where they are so as to use it as a launching platform for their powers or wishes. Neither they nor any of us had suspected it is so. Lusalith is also stuck with us and even Lynda says she can’t seem to sense any other realities because of the fierce anomalies that surround us distorting what she sees. We tried jumping back to our reality, but found ourselves thrown into even more distant and weirder spaces - the scientists postulate that it is as if we are at the edge of our universe - even if that is not possible, it sure looks like it. This distant from all galaxies space should have been colder, but it is actually three degrees warmer than space is outside our own galaxy. The void is too dangerous for us to stay there permanently for sanctuary, but we have to keep jumping to it whenever we sense stresses building up in space as new anomalies develop while others subside. I think it may take us years or even decades to find our way out of here.