

## Divine Extinction

Sequel to 'The Sacred Protocol'

Hylton H. Smith

Published by Promethean

Copyright 2011 by Hylton H. Smith

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgement

Sincere thanks to Rhys J. Smith and Anne Flint for their patience, support and suggestions.

## Prologue

Osvaldo Martinez had served only four years of his life sentence. He had unofficially changed his name. Following his incarceration in Hell's Island high security prison, the Iberian government had dramatically increased their vigilance and investment in Central Security activity. The apartheid world of Iberia and Orient had thawed slightly since they had cooperated in bringing down a conspiracy which would have altered life on Earth forever. The narrow escape, literally by a few days, from the penetration of the SACRED communication system, had illustrated their Achilles' heel, or at least one of them. SACRED was the acronym for the corporation which had provided the salvation of the Iberian Republic, when the internet collapsed in 2016. It consisted of the space elevator, a girdle of gargantuan satellites around the planet, and a lunar distribution point which had been thought to be impregnable. Signal Amplification, Correction, Revision, Encryption and Distribution were operated through membership and licence of guaranteed secure stations belonging to the corporation. Business organisations such as banks had inbuilt hardware, whereas individuals used booths, which were run by SACRED personnel. All users had to be registered with DNA, facial vectors and retinal scans before they could participate. The input side was based on Earth and covered the first four steps. The Encryption and Distribution were executed from the Moon and were thus supposed to be absolutely secure. It quickly replaced the internet and pretty much decimated the personal computer market.

Such was the confidence given by this remarkable achievement that the internet collapse didn't cause the anticipated slide to dystopian society. The initial deaths of protesters against this closed 'big brother' system were considered to be random. When links were eventually established and proven, the deaths increased almost exponentially. Central Security, with the help of the Londonis police precinct, and an independent investigative reporter, exposed an agenda to systematically control the minds of the population. This was targeted initially at the bottom of society's pyramid in order to subvert the masses, and then use that momentum to scale the ladder of control to law and order chain of command, and finally government hierarchy. It was the 'brainchild' of a right wing cult. Isolation of the neurogenic indoctrination within SACRED, and elimination of the head of the cult had prevented Armageddon this time, however most of the enlisted members were still at large, but not Osvaldo Martinez. He had not disclosed the names of any cult members despite an opportunity to plea bargain for leniency if he cooperated. This effectively meant that the task of running these people to ground had to begin all over again, in order to prevent the cult agenda from re-surfacing.

Ricardo Pierze, head of Central Security of Iberia, wanted to retain as much of the original team which thwarted the plot, as possible. Manuel Salina's presence was felt to be crucial. Manuel was the elder son of Antonio Salina, who was Pierze's predecessor and one of the most senior cult members. His exposure had led to his death, and the police suspected he was murdered by the brotherhood, despite it being made to look like suicide. Manuel had despised his father for many reasons. He had moved to Uruguay and worked as an investigative journalist until his younger brother Konrad, one of the key protestors against SACRED, committed suicide. Manuel was then approached by one of the owners of the SACRED organisation, to conduct an investigation into all such previous deaths, alleged to be associated with the very same corporation. This began in Londonis, with his brother's case, and he teamed up with Maxi Duarte and Elle Butragueno, both from the police precinct. They subsequently persuaded Pierze to work with them, and this unlikely alliance became the instrument of exposing the cult and its agenda of global mind control of the population. Manuel was the lynchpin in the strategy, via the improbable participation in SACRED's virtual reality programme – Futureworld. Konrad had pleaded with him to adopt his character after his death, to truly convince Manuel that his outrageous claims of manipulation of the mind were not only possible, but actually happening. This became the pivotal breakthrough in the investigation.

Since then the SACRED system had been purged and additional security measures installed. It was once more considered to be worthy of its former flagship reputation. The rigorous overhaul had even satisfied the government of Orient. The new accord between the two superpowers resulted in a phenomenal increase in customer base for the Iberian corporation. It also worried Pierze insofar as there was now another potential tributary open to corruption.

Osvaldo Martinez had spent all of the four years of his confinement in the pursuit of resurrecting the cult. Despite his conviction and sentence, he still had human rights and one of these rights was access to the absolute fortune he had made as a co-owner of SACRED. It was legally argued that if the wealth accumulated by the other two owners was legitimate, then so was his. One of the first things he did was to instruct his many visitors to keep him apprised of the dispersed brotherhood. He then set about authorising his shareholding in SACRED to be sold to the other two stockholders. The vast funds were then broken up and dispersed several times into untraceable accounts, mainly in Swiss-Iberia, and in proxy names. Having established the means, he began to introduce his 'currency' to the prison environment, and quickly established control of the inmates, then many of the staff. It took the best part of two years to get the funds appropriated to the reformation structure of the Sidonia cult. The research was also underway and his escape was now in the planning stage. Once on the outside again he would need to alter his appearance, voice characteristics and even undergo certain genetic modifications, to truly create a different person. When this was all in place he would once more change his name to sever all connection to his past.

The explosive charges which had been planted around one corner of the outer prison wall, completely opened up the courtyard, and caused absolute panic in the ranks of the guards, except for those who had been recruited by Martinez, with a promise of a lucrative life within Sidonia. In the midst of the chaos at the breach point, many prisoners were let out as an additional distraction. Some got through the cordon, others were shot. Martinez was provided with a guard's uniform and was accompanied by his select band of new Sidonians to the flat roof, where they were whisked away by the circling helicopter, decked in bogus police livery.

The news of the breakout was patched through to Pierze and his overtures to Manuel Salina now had concrete purpose. Even though not imminent, the threat was back.

## Chapter 1

The reconfiguration of Osvaldo Martinez had commenced, now that the various authorities admitted he had simply vanished into thin air. The years he had spent in prison had been productive in the sense that he had still managed to sculpture the new headquarters and hierarchy of Sidonia. The research facility was unparalleled in both personnel and investment. He had ensured that a much stricter profiling programme was instituted for full membership of the cult this time. He was still scarred by the experience he had in discovering that the former leader tried to save his own skin, by becoming an informant for Pierze. Because Martinez had personally killed this 'gutless coward', the remaining members of the cult were able to evade capture. This had been his constant motivation to complete the resurrection, which was now underway.

*

Ricardo Pierze was in a contemplative mood as he awaited the arrival of Manuel Salina. He reflected on the huge slice of luck which brought down the cult four years ago, and how such suppression of information was never going to be an option now. The public outcry which was precipitated by leaks within Central Security had seen to that. It had been the policy to bury any hint of just how close the cult had come to achieving its objective. This knowledge fermented and spawned a new era of openness in such matters. It was extremely unhelpful to Pierze, but 'Manna from Heaven' for Martinez.

Manuel had been delayed. His flight from Londonis to Madrid had been subject to a technical fault. He was brought up to date with the escape of Martinez. Most people had forgotten he had changed his name and missed the connection, and Central Security would be forced to remind them. "Manuel, it's good to see you after all this time, but the circumstances could have been better. We have no idea where he is, who helped him to get out, or what will happen next. The only thing we can be certain of is that his agenda will be unchanged. In the four years since his arrest we have not apprehended a single member of the cult." Manuel was included in the majority who had temporarily forgotten the association of the name Martinez with Sidonia. He had always and deliberately remembered only his original name – Constantin Boniek.

"How could they let this happen? It's not as if he was ever going to reform, he told them that himself! I must say Ricardo that I initially had no intention of coming back here, let alone enlisting in your project. I have a very good life in Londonis now, my private investigation agency is thriving and my mother is happier than at any time in her life. However, I agree with you, Sidonia has to be eliminated otherwise everything we achieved was for nothing. The evil which Mart..., no damn it, Boniek represents, requires total eradication this time. I suppose we can rule out another scourge coming through SACRED. It is much more tightly controlled, Futureworld was scrapped, and anyway Boniek will want to avoid past mistakes – unlike our prison service."

Pierze was relieved that Manuel had already taken the gravity of the situation on board. "Are you and Elle Butragueno still er.. friends?"

Manuel smiled as he nodded. "Of course, but we still live separately. We decided it was best for our careers as well as our relationship. It seems to work at present, but there will come a time when we want other things. How about Duarte, is he still helping you out?"

Pierze buzzed his secretary and Maxi Duarte strolled into the room. It was quite an emotional reunion. "I hope you are taking good care of my favourite police officer Manuel, how is she?"

Manuel gave him a letter from Butragueno. "She said it was private, so you tell me when you've read it. I don't want to seem rude Maxi, but do you really need more of this Boniek stuff?"

Duarte asked for coffee and replied, "None of us do Manuel; it just has to be dealt with. I hope it isn't going to be too time-consuming Ricardo, as my boy is on the verge of the Madrid first team squad and I want to enjoy his first, enthusiastic years for the game while the money is still secondary." They spent the rest of the day sketching the potential 'battlefield', knowing it would have to cover threat of new technology and a new executive structure of Sidonia.

*

Martinez was indeed intent on avoiding past mistakes. He had thought this through very carefully during his incarceration. Using a government department for too many aspects of the plan had in retrospect been a weakness. He felt that the previous hierarchy, being overpopulated with Central Security personnel and other civil service freeloaders, was fundamentally flawed. He did however recognise that some mass communication technology would be fundamental in priming the millions of subjects required to cause the government to implode. He felt that the only other way was for some almost evangelical revolution to emerge, but this was unlikely. The location of the research and operational headquarters had also been a key decision. It had resulted in the chosen facility potentially delivering an option for an obscure inroad to the mass communication industry.

While in prison his already active senior cult figures had used his laundered capital to purchase shares in a major technology supplier to the communication industry. The company wanted to expand their share of the market in Orient, and this was convenient, as it fitted with another requirement for Martinez. Over a period of thirty months he had steadily increased the share of equity in this company in small steps. It finally gave him the platform to cleverly stimulate a clandestine hostile bid from another big player, and the board of directors was only too happy for him to acquire a controlling interest. The board preferred the devil they knew, only to be later relieved of their positions in an orderly but unalterable fashion. The procedure was of course fronted by proxy investors. Martinez wanted to build on the good reputation of the company before embarking on the transformation of his identity. This would give time for Pierze to sweat, and for the diversion of resource to his secret research.

The proxy investors were his two most trusted cult members, who would now turn their attention to quietly extending the recruitment drive. This had to be finely tuned to the anticipated growing influence over the masses. Martinez was as confident in his strategy for this, as he was about his own 'conversion' to another person.

*

Pierze introduced Viktor Lopez to the meeting. Manuel and Duarte knew him as the instrument through which Sidonia had indoctrinated the users of Futureworld. He had been abducted and installed in a secure underground technology centre, and his unique expertise in directed neurogenic emission was the cornerstone of the subversion of individuals exposed to the 'treatment'. He had been working on all manner of possible technology threats since being rescued by Pierze. The problem lay in predicting which new breakthroughs could lend their primary function to adaptation for sinister purpose. Lopez described it aptly. "It is a bit like trying to predict when a sleeping volcano will become angry or even worse – simply become the worst natural disaster in history." He presented some of the things he'd been working on and many provoked raised eyebrows for the audience of three. The meeting ended with the agreement that they were in observation alert mode, and they would re-convene every month unless the circumstances dictated otherwise.

*

The transmogrification of Martinez was an intensive and intrusive process, including genetic alteration procedures to evade DNA checks. The recovery from the procedures took much longer than the setting up of his new identity papers. Lionel Zara came into being on the 18th of August 2027, and this would become the timeline to which several future events could be retrospectively traced. So different was his appearance that his first meetings with anyone other than his two trusted aides would be a charade. The participants would be told that Martinez had head-hunted and installed Zara as the new chief executive. The plan was that Martinez would become a recluse and never be seen or heard of again. Zara desperately wanted to get up to speed with all avenues of research in order to devise a critical path to the decision to initiate trials on real people. It would require procurement of people who would of necessity have to die, whether or not the tests were successful.

*

Olga Assante was overjoyed with her birthday present. It was just one of many to mark her eighteenth anniversary, but she was obsessed with it. Not everyone had the latest 'think-phones' and she would let most of them know that. It had all the usual facilities for those in a hurry to complete tasks, but she liked the more challenging aspect of concentrated thought to execute the same chores, and she was very proficient at it. That was the root of her obsession, and even if others had the device, they may not be capable of rendering the keyboard as one such obsolete feature. It truly was mind over matter.

Frederic Moreno ran a blue chip 'managed fund' financial investment company. It was a juggernaut amongst such institutions. He was so impressed with his recently acquired technology, that he included a proficiency test with it, as part of the interview format, for new recruits. He claimed that if candidates couldn't tap the benefits, the way he had taught himself to do, they were unlikely to excel at the position on offer. Broadcasting this openly within his staff had many of them worried about their future, even those conducting the interviews.

Patrick Kipketer, as an Olympic gold medallist, had a very busy schedule. He wasn't just running at events all over the world, but had to fit in advertising endorsements for his sponsors. He had an agent of course, but still had to be available for contact virtually all of the time he was not asleep. It was however not always convenient to reply in the middle of a training run. After all, it was his running feats which had made him rich, and in demand as a consequence. If he was to continue in this vein, his running had to come first. He had taken to this new technology immediately; it gave him so much freedom and had such a calming influence.

*

By spring of 2028, Zara had increased the stake in his chosen technology company to 77%, thus avoiding power of veto from minority shareholders, and although it was registered within one of many holding companies, he very much wanted anonymity. He would not further increase the equity for another six months, as other elements had to be in place first. One was the perfection of the research on his new brainchild, and the unexpected U-turn he made with respect to evangelism. Having dismissed this at an early stage of his master plan, he now believed it had perfect synergy with the product under development. He wanted a dispersed and uneven geographical approach with the genesis of the new faith, and this meshed well with the research hub being fronted by a legitimate technology business. This business shield now had a name – Cerberus Enterprises Corporation. It had been adopted after careful consideration, being believed to serve many purposes. The ancient Greeks often depicted Cerberus as a three-headed hound which guarded the gates of Hades, to prevent those who had crossed the river Styx, from ever escaping. The balance of symbolism and strategy appealed to Zara. Sidonia was now effectively controlled by three people. The gates of Hades were represented by the legitimate business camouflaging the hell which would be unleashed by the clandestine work of the research arm. No escape meant Sidonians signed up for life, with death upon betrayal ensuring adherence to the mission. Zara's arrogant nature twinkled when the name itself could possibly attract attention, which would subsequently stand up to scrutiny in every way, while breeding the alien venom.

*

The exceptionally hot summer of 2028 heralded the first experiment. Alberto Simone was enjoying the gentle night breeze while walking home from a fraternity gathering. Even though the temperature was still twenty-one degrees Celsius, the perception of headwind gave tangible respite from the afternoon cauldron. This heat wave was into its second week, but it was still only mid-July, and worse was expected in August. The outskirts of Bilbao were not the safest place in which to indulge in solo-perambulation. It would have been reported as a poor choice by the prey perhaps, but an excellent one for the predator. There was to be no corpse, so that judgement would simply never occur. It would merely be yet another missing person, and get lost in the morass of similar cases in that particular suburb. The park provided good cover for the operatives to tranquilise the subject remotely with a dart, and drag him into the bushes before signalling the transportation to collect the 'goods'.

Having isolated Simone in a windowless, locked room, they observed him from a hidden camera while he recovered, and tried to rationalise where he was, and why. After a few minutes he picked up a device which seemed to have been strategically placed on some papers to avoid the only other visible object in the room – a fan, from blowing them around. Despite shouting, knocking on the walls and hammering on the door for a protracted period, there was no response. Eventually he began to examine the device to determine its real purpose. After pressing a couple of buttons a screen came to life. He noticed there was no form of guide or instruction, only pictures. He soon returned it to its function as a paperweight. Immediately he did this, a cavity in one of the walls was revealed as a panel slid open. At first it seemed to house only a bundle of flex, but on closer approach it resembled a headset of some kind. He paused, stroked his chin in a gesture of concentration and suddenly began looking for signs of a camera. A smile fluttered slowly over his face, and he shouted, "Ok, it's a game, give me a signal to confirm I'm right." The lights flickered off and on again. "Do I take that as a yes?" The same thing happened. "You want me to put on the headset?" The on/off occurred for a third time. When he put on the headset he waited but nothing happened. After a couple of minutes he asked another question. "If I continue to get the flicker, do I get out of here?" It was confirmed.

He sat down and began to think about the situation. Another reflex smile accompanied him picking up the device again. Having switched it on he waited for audio contact, but it didn't come. It took longer than the observers expected for him to notice the headset could be connected to the device. He had failed the first real test. When he had connected the two he was a little disappointed that nothing appeared to happen. Suddenly the screen altered from randomly aligned coloured tiles making up a three dimensional cube, to one of total order, with each side only showing one colour, then it reverted to the random display. Only then did it occur to him that this photonic representation of a twentieth century 'Rubik's Cube' was the puzzle. His confidence soared but was then dashed when he got frustrated that he could not find any buttons which enabled him to move the tiles around. He was in danger of failing the second test when it came to him. He put down the device and simply stared at the screen intently. Instead of trying to move the tiles he focussed his concentration on changing their colour. He began to see a red one wavering between yellow and red. He shaded his eyes with his hands so that they could see nothing but the screen. The tile turned yellow and then back to red. Heavier concentration and a deliberate mental effort locked it on yellow. Laboriously, he repeated the process on all tiles on that side of the cube. With the second side, he actually grasped the opportunity to de-focus with respect to individual tiles and increase the concentration on the entire side. It locked green. When he had completed the task, he again asked the question, "Do I get out now?" Instead of the lights flickering, he felt a spasm. It was more uncomfortable than painful, but then the door slid back and two figures in laboratory attire led him out and sat him in a comfortable looking chair. His demands to know what the hell was going on were answered only by another screen which was wheeled in from one side. One of the lab men informed him of a second test. His protest was silenced by automatic restraints binding him into a fixed attitude to the screen. His heart rate went up when another device was lowered from the ceiling to face him. It was a worm screw with a drill bit of at least four inches in diameter. Panic set in as he glanced at the screen and saw the screw replicated there. The device switched on, and simultaneously a group of observers entered the room with notebooks and hand-held instruments. The worm was directed at his heart and although moving slowly he thought he could ascertain it was actually accelerating. The mental turmoil was about to be overtaken by panic, but he tried to banish any thoughts except the worm on the screen. He wasn't successful; he couldn't resist the temptation to glance at the real worm to see if it was slowing, and attempt to assess how much time he had before it reached him. Then his mind's involuntary acrobatics posed a question. 'They wouldn't let me die would they?' He was on the verge of being convinced this was just a test, but then the vague recollection of being hit with something in the park jolted him back to the here and now. He couldn't take anything at face value in this bizarre situation, unless he was dreaming. In a supreme effort of concentration he willed the screen worm to stop. It not only failed but the drill bit had gathered momentum and the distance to his chest was visibly reduced. The figures with the notebooks were feverishly writing and glancing at their instruments; no one was paying attention to him. The acceleration curve was now reaching a point where Simone could feel he had no more than a minute before contact. Out of the maelstrom of mental processing a picture emerged in the calm eye of his personal brainstorm. The screen worm was a perfect replica of the deadly mechanical version, including a number of small but visible touchpads. His focus was for the first time, exclusive to anything other than the pads on the screen. He had finally transported the success with the cube to the worm, the interface between the headset and the screen was the sole way to change any subordinate or connected equipment. The real worm was just a slave to that interface. Its high pitched whirring increased suddenly as he had activated speed control. He began to experience panic again, when he felt another uncomfortable surge. The second pad altered the attitude of the drill toward his face. The third pad was the power switch, and he succeeded in disabling the instrument with less than two inches separating it from his head. He didn't give any thought to the function of the fourth touchpad. His vision was ever so slightly blurred but he thought he could hear strangely distant applause from the notebook figures. He was then plunged into blackness, but only for an instant. He could now clearly see the applauding audience but could only hear one human voice. "Welcome to the Circle of Light. Truth is the only way. Friends can share the Truth; others may only share their fate. You have taken but the first step, friend. In the next test you will make your choice."

Simone did not remember passing out; he was surrounded by people in the park, and a paramedic was examining him. He was being prepared for a stretcher, and transport to hospital when he assured the medic that he had had a little too much to drink the night before, and had stumbled into the bushes and slept off the alcohol. He was helped to his feet and he thanked everyone for their concern as he headed back to his residence. He didn't get there on this occasion.

## Chapter 2

Zara passed comment on the episode. "Simone is an intelligent subject, yet he took time to connect the headset to the device. We must make that more obvious. It will suffice for the disciples we seek, but it must scream out at the subjects who will constitute the following flock. Colour coding and more blatant male/female geometry should help. The same comment can be made about the second test, as less intelligent people will form a large part of our first phase of the campaign. The third test will be assessed differently. If he responds acceptably to reinforcement of the 'Truth' while in a state of engagement, we can expect lower I.Q. subjects to be even more pliable. If not, we must consider a different parameter than intelligence to arbitrate on subject selection."

All but one nodded and closed their notebooks. The comment created a wave of uneasiness in the group. The female researcher was not put off, and the lack of response prompted her to repeat her assertion. "It seems obvious to me that the characteristic of emotional control is likely to be more reliable than blanket I.Q. selection in the reinforcement stage." She was on the verge of leaving with the rest when Zara asked her to stay.

"I'm prepared to hear why you persist with this notion, and how you propose to categorise subjects on this basis, when we move from single conversions to larger and larger groups. What is your name?"

Her confidence suffered a wobble but recovered. "Naomi Boniface. I am pretty sure...."

Zara cut her off as a traffic controller would with a 'halt' hand gesture. "Don't be pretty sure, be absolutely sure. That's why you are paid so well, and it is what I expect. I don't want my staff to simply agree with me, as the rest of your colleagues have just done, but when a challenge is offered, I want it to be something I can expect to be capable of evaluation. Go – think about your proposal and update me within two days." She departed with a cold shiver, courtesy of Zara's menacing smile.

*

Pierze was continually obsessed with trends, both social and political. His collection of raw data on such broad spectra had to be massaged into meaningful categories before he was presented with analytical comment. The one which caught his eye this month was the relative rates of growth of the electronics sector in Iberia and Orient. Allowing for the much lower starting point of Orient and the vast difference in population density, he was still surprised that the predicted crossover point with political shift to democracy was dramatically shortened. He decided to re-prioritise the entire programme to flesh out this trend with more specific research, particularly breaking down the sector into discrete technologies.

*

When Alberto Simone was nearing the park exit closest to his residence, his communicator ringtone disturbed his train of thought. "Hello, Simone here."

"The Truth is elusive." Simone suffered another momentary mental blackout. He was not to know his communicator had been modified during the first two tests. "Illusion confronts us at every turn. Salvation will come gradually within the Circle of Light. You are chosen. Do not spurn the one and only opportunity to be enlightened. The time to decide is upon you. Your response is required." Simone was comfortably confused; it was felt as engagement of pleasant curiosity. He slurred his words.

"What must I do to know more?"

"Proceed to the Chapel of the Truth."

"I, I do not know where that is, please give me..."

"You are resourceful. You will find it. If you do not - then you are unworthy." The line went dead.

*

Ricardo Pierze and Lionel Zara were each contemplating the future – from very different locations and the opposite sides of the situation. Pierze was surrounded by operatives who lived in a relative comfort zone, while outwardly exuding dedication and efficiency. The complex hierarchical command worried Pierze. It would vastly outnumber that of the potential threat at present, and the price of such complacency could be very heavy indeed. He recognised the gradual drift to a 'cry wolf' syndrome – and continual emphasis on a nebulous prediction would actually have the opposite effect to that which was desired. He preferred to keep counsel with only his small team, which had lived through the narrow margin of previous success, at least for now. He was almost impatient for something to happen.

Lionel Zara would exploit the advantage of an almost vertical chain of command. His main concern was to achieve a significant momentum before the authorities realised there was a problem. The technology was not the concern; it would take time, but it would emerge. The means of creating a 'new religion' from within the people – an apparently self-generating, innocent hope was the real challenge. Such faith had to pass through the Pierze scrutiny firewall until it was too late to halt the tide. He was certain that the fatalities amongst protestors within Futureworld had been the undoing of the previous campaign. There would be no repeat of this. He had to nurture the Circle of Light as the choice of the people at all times. This was his paradox; the vertical command of millions in the shortest possible time.

This was the arena which beckoned the two gladiators. They were each familiar with their adversary, and yet this was only useful up to a point. The last battle was fought with a known threat but no idea of the identity of the foe. The current vacuum represented precisely the opposite.

*

When Alberto Simone eventually arrived back at his residence he realised he was extremely hungry. As he prepared some cereal and coffee, he tried unsuccessfully to banish the assertion that if he could not find the Chapel of the Truth, he would be unworthy. He simply couldn't rid himself of the intrigue implied. Finally, he made the connection indirectly – he asked himself – 'How did they know my communicator number?' Once on this train of thought he checked the device; it led to the logical discovery that satellite coordinates had been entered into the appropriate application. Although they didn't specify the target, he knew for certain he had not entered them himself. With his sustenance only partially consumed he checked out the location on his communicator. It wasn't too far away, and toward the other side of town. The urge to investigate further was so compelling that he departed without finishing his cereal. On the way, he tried to rationalise what had happened over the last twelve hours, and why he was unable to let go of this highly suspicious chain of events. He eventually settled for the probability it was merely his perennial obsession with needing to solve a problem, now that it existed. Marginalising the close brush with death vaguely drove him to an expectation of some reward.

When he arrived, his first thought was that the building was unremarkable, if not dilapidated. He had somehow visualised a much more pretentious context to match the imagined image of the Circle of Light. The large, creepy-looking door was locked and he walked around the grounds. At the rear he met a gardener who was engaged in superficial maintenance of the untidy borders. "Excuse me, I've been asked to come here to meet someone. Would you know if there's anyone inside?"

The rather skeletal individual was startled by Simone and appeared to be very nervous. "I know nothing of the building Sir, I am not employed here. I only do voluntary work to keep the place tidy." As the gardener turned back to his toil, a figure, attired as one would expect a clergyman to be, beckoned him while indicating the need to avoid attracting attention. The previously locked door was now standing slightly ajar and he followed the priestly figure inside. The interior looked nothing like a chapel or church, except for the pew-like seating arrangement. He was led to a side chamber, which was spotlessly clean and full of technical equipment. The contrast with the rest of the building strangely produced a sense of foreboding. Without uttering a word the 'clergyman' bade him to sit in a seat which resembled a dentist's chair, and left the room. Simone did not accept the invitation to sit. It was fully five minutes before an individual he thought he recognised from the previous tests entered and welcomed him. The voice was not that of the person extoling the virtue of the Truth. "Thank you for coming. I have been asked to conduct the third test – that is assuming it was the reason you came?"

Simone hesitated. "Well, I suppose you could say that my curiosity is aroused, but I'd like to know a little more about the purpose of the tests, especially as I seem to recall the first two not being voluntary."

The technician stalled. "I am sorry but my only remit is to conduct the test."

Simone began to back-pedal. "I'm not comfortable in taking another test similar to that with the drill unless I have some idea of the purpose or verification that it would've shut off, had I failed to grasp the solution. Surely that's reasonable?" The white-coated man was steadfast.

"I can only repeat what I have already said - my remit is only to conduct the test. Would you like to speak with someone else or perhaps come back at another time?"

The tug of war between curiosity and fear culminated in requesting conversation with a person who could answer his questions. He waited in isolation for almost fifteen minutes, and then his communicator rang. It was the voice he expected. "Welcome once more friend. I am told you have doubts."

Simone wasn't happy that he couldn't put a face to the voice. "Not so much doubts as questions. I haven't been given any explanation of the reason for my involvement with you or the repeated reference to the Circle of Light and the Truth. I believe anyone would find this strange."

The silence was awkward and Simone said, "Hello, are you still there?" The reply came immediately and there seemed to be a more sympathetic intonation.

"I can certainly tell you more of the Circle of Light. As far as your involvement is concerned I have already informed you that you were chosen – and that is all that needs to be said. You are free to choose your path." A cautious Simone asked for more information on the Circle of Light.

"We are of one mind, which deals in the Truth. Other faiths demand belief before acceptance, which can only be truly delivered after death. There is considerable and growing disaffection with this kind of spiritual bargain. The Truth is inescapably enshrined in the laws of physics with respect to our existence. If we breathe poisonous gas or touch high voltage cable, we will die. We are also dying from the moment we are born. There are ways in which medical science can prolong this period, not all of which seem to be without consequence. We believe that people should always have access to truth in these matters, and in that spirit they are elevated to the Truth. In all other faiths the Great One is never accountable for disaster, but always credited with wonder. Civilisation is a word whose definition is rooted in progress, yet since mankind became agrarian and abandoned the nomadic life we have relentlessly diluted 'society' and corrupted the natural world on which we depend. We must ask ourselves – 'Is society not supposed to be one of the benefits of civilisation?' We also owe it to ourselves to question how this rape of the planet will end; it surely was not in the grand design at the beginning? Our philosophy is simple. The great one will not save us from ourselves. We must embrace the Truth and deal with its laws as commandments; we must begin to pay off the mortgage for the civilisation we have taken out over the centuries. The species is under threat from itself. The more our flock grows – the greater the Light of our Circle – and the more we can welcome those who wish to deliver change. We do not discriminate between or deny anyone's religious leanings. The two faiths do not have to be mutually exclusive. We do however stress that ours will be judged within our lifetime and that of our grandchildren. Finally, I would urge you to consider that no matter how unpleasant it may be, the Truth is simple, it is the bending of it to comply with objectives of control which cloud the sky." Simone was aware of another mini-blackout, but only just. He wasn't aware of why he was no longer confused with any aspect of the last twenty-four hours.

"I'm ready to take the third test."

A third chamber was windowless and devoid of light. He was led to an enclosure and then halted and given the familiar headset. Before he could articulate the question, he was in receipt of the answer via the headset. "The Truth requires that you are absolutely certain of your desire to continue. The test will be explained and if you decide to withdraw you must leave and never return. If you elect to continue the test must be completed. The most common obstacle within any faith has always been fear of the unknown. It may however also be considered as the foundation for believing – the 'I have nothing to lose syndrome.' We must all clear this hurdle in one way or another. All members of the Circle of Light need to convince themselves through this test. We all seek to know what, if anything comes after death. If you proceed to the enclosure we will take you there. You will be put into gradual stasis and then briefly experience the state of being clinically dead before being revived. This will potentially allow you to glimpse the alternative to being alive, or conclude like many of us that there is nothing to glimpse. At that point you may accept or decline the final ceremony to membership. Should you declare you have indeed glimpsed evidence to support another faith you will be encouraged to return to the life you already have. If however you still wish to join with us, you may pledge acceptance of the need to subordinate this faith to that of the Circle of Light. It is not necessary to renounce the other faith, but it may limit your involvement in certain activities if conflicting priorities develop. In such circumstances, you may be offered a fourth test, which would result in a definite pass or fail judgement. You must now ask any final questions you may have before proceeding to the enclosure or the exit to the building."

Simone was not unduly shaken by the prospect of 'momentary death' but did want to know if there were instances of failure to revive any subjects.

"No, we had to be certain of this by developing the technique with applicants who had nothing to lose, as they were terminally ill. They were all restored to their former condition. In almost all cases the experience helped them face their already known fate. Some of them are still with us."

When Simone elected to proceed he felt as if he was actually two people, and was being advised by both. With every challenge by his logical self, the thirst to experience a return from the dead actually increased. His niggling apprehension was like the morning fog which miraculously sublimed to total clarity. He entered the enclosure and was positioned on a gurney. The blackness looked and felt solid. He was unable to see the four medical staff, all of whom had a distinct role in his journey to the Truth. The hypnotic voice of the person who he had never met helped his relaxation and prepared him for the anaesthetic delivery. As he went under, his last recollection was one of wondering why he did not pursue the question of what happens when the Circle of Light has all the members it seeks. His revival was even more pleasant than his 'departure'. Still immersed in darkness he felt for the headset and spoke slowly. "Where am I?"

The same familiar voice responded. "You are now returned to us, friend. You will soon recall your agreement to experience clinical death. We await your observations." Simone asked how long he had been 'under'.

"It is four days since the first anaesthetic. The stages of stasis were deepened over two days and the opportunity you had to glimpse the 'other side' was just under one minute. Your revival from stasis was also two days, reflecting the same metabolic change as your entry to the condition. If you need rest, take all the time you want to evaluate your journey."

Two hours later Simone felt that he wasn't going to recall any more than he already had and asked to speak to the 'voice'. He was very surprised when a figure entered the enclosure and the place abruptly switched from total, tactile blackness to soft illumination in the form of a circle of light emanating from the ceiling. The voice and the face were now connected. "Tell us of your journey - in your own time."

Simone stared for some time at the individual before uttering a word. The physical appearance seemed mismatched with the compelling voice. He had rather weak features and yet managed to invoke a shiver of pure evil in the observer. Simone dismissed this as part of his recovery and spoke at last. "I feel nothing. It was reminiscent of a childhood operation I had for removal of my tonsils, but without the discovery of soreness. I'm still a little light-headed, but that's all."

The question came quickly. "We are pleased. How does this make you feel about the Circle of Light?"

Simone was alert enough to begin asking practical questions, such as how members would function and obtain the essentials of life. He was assured that he needn't concern himself over minutiae; the work would be rewarding in every respect. He was also comforted with the statement that he wouldn't be required to change his existing commitments unless or until he was ready. "This is a faith and will help you in your life plans. If you felt the desire at some time to spend more time with us, for example in bringing others to the Circle, then you would be further assessed with that task in mind."

Simone got the feeling that he should go away and give this serious thought. "I can say I am intrigued, and will join the Circle of Light. My family is steeped in the Roman Catholic faith, but I have never been convinced of its merits. So as not to annoy my father I've regularly attended church, but not with the family, at weekends. I like the solitude of the place, especially if there is nobody else there. It affords me space to drop out of the bustle and demands of everyday life, and therefore enjoy quality thinking time. I now feel that the Circle of Light will give me this without the hypocrisy."

A slow smile passed over the face of the figure in front of him and the voice reflected the mutual joy in Simone's decision to join. "Excellent. May I offer you my congratulations and this token of preliminary membership?" As he approached to slip the chain of Truth around Alberto Simone's neck, the subject lowered his head to receive the honour. In an instant of perfectly rehearsed timing, another figure concealed in the peripheral darkness lowered a wire noose over the subject and yanked him toward the circle on the ceiling. There was no cry or struggle as the wire slowly gnawed through Simone's neck. It didn't matter to those observing whether his final seconds were defined by asphyxiation or severance of his head from his body. They merely celebrated a successful experiment. Instructions were left with the noose-operator to take the corpse to a fourth chamber, through an internal door and dispose of it in the furnace. Part of the building was a legitimate pet crematorium. Simone's ashes would be blended with some of the normal clients and scattered on the borders by the skeletal old man on one of his voluntary shifts.

## Chapter 3

When the group convened to assess the Simone experiment, Zara prefaced the discussion by informing everyone that he was expecting an update from Naomi Boniface, on her recommendation, that a change may be beneficial for the third test. This gave an additional edge to what felt like circling vultures picking on the carrion of the pre-combusted Simone.

Zara opened the assessment by asking his chief technical guru, Roland Hernandez, if he was satisfied with the effectiveness of the subliminal input sequences which helped coerce the subject to be relaxed, while leading up to the short, temporary termination. Hernandez was already nervous about the reply he had scripted, even before the prospect of hearing Naomi Boniface lobbying for change. "I'm generally happy with the outcome, but I want much better control of the ramp rate and the interval recommendations. I feel that this requires more work on the equipment, in order to achieve optimum effect. I realise this is disappointing; however, we must bear in mind that this branch of the technology originated in the first decade of this century. From its introduction, it has undergone honing and maximisation of the concept, and this leaves us some way short of certainty with the wide spread of intellect we will encounter. I have to say there will be a delay as we need a paradigm shift in capability."

He was about to add additional padding as justification of more development time when he was cut off by the fury of Zara's response. "Hernandez, you had better state right now how much delay we are facing, before I ask Boniface to outline her proposal, which may well affect the subject differently, with or without over-reliance on your gadgetry." Hernandez considered this threat to his position carefully before answering, and luckily hit a note which placated Zara a little.

"Snr. Zara, I must ask you to verify what I'm about to say with Osvaldo Martinez – this was before you joined us, and I stated that this possibility was always there. It is also in the minutes of one of the early meetings, that I suggested a thorough re-think of the then current state of the art. He acknowledged this, but authorised me to continue with implementation, in order to test my assertion. I accepted this, just as he accepted the possible need for a re-design if results were not reliable enough."

Zara was really rather pleased that he had brought this up, as it had served as confirmation that no one suspected he was actually Martinez. He did also recall the conversation to which Hernandez referred. However, he now wanted to inject new urgency. "Very well, I'll take what you say on trust. Please get on with outlining the delay envisaged and what it will achieve." Hernandez was playing from a strong technical hand, but knew that poker was also rooted in bluffing, or at least embroidery of what was already known.

"We can all recall the first forays into this technology, which were nothing more than a rather simple drawdown of electro-encephalograph design. These crude units were based on a single electrode which measured small electrical neural impulses generated by thought or mental state. Phase two saw additional electrodes into double figures and allowed some personalisation or calibration to the individual subject. Up to that point there was no real feedback to the brain other than visual evaluation. The development of effective devices to deliver non-visual feedback took more than a decade. However, as with many advances, there were side-effects. Such concerns were seizures and minor shutdown bouts. Overcoming this also proved to be a lengthy process, when taking into account many variations within the subjects. It was akin to allergies, where substances can have no effect, death and anything between. That is where we found our starting point and although we have minimised the more serious effects, the trade-off is in personalisation or sculpturing the correct balance for the individual. We must change from evolution of technology to revolutionary design of both hardware and software. First, we require complex hardware filters with independent adjustment of many parameters. The software, which must then relate the individual's profile to specified limits in the hardware output, is of utmost importance. The question of time has been tabled and I cannot see this being prototyped in less than a year. I know this isn't very helpful, but it is absolutely necessary if we are to avoid testing every subject from a central laboratory. For our plan to succeed we are heavily dependent on de-centralised, field testing capability; anything else would attract unwanted attention." The import of this was both annoying and logical to Zara.

"I will judge this proposal when I have heard the update from Naomi Boniface. We will hear that now."

She rose nervously to her feet, cleared her throat and handed out copies of her report. The sheer depth of her research was in stark contrast to the off-the-cuff gambit of Hernandez. The tension ratcheted up a notch. There were many references to experiments, performed by different eminent scientists which supported her assertion that intellect was less reliable than emotional pattern when trying to influence the conclusions of subjects with regard to un-provable propositions. High intellect was more than four times more likely to respond to logic, statistical probability and weighted evidence than rigid emotional profile. It was cast in the uncertainty theorem; lower levels of intellect had to rely heavily on 'transferred belief'. The studies covered many ratios of intellect to emotional stability. "I realise that none of these studies specifically cover our exact process, but for the third test I'm utterly confident that we will have a lower level of conversion if we don't at least include emotional profiling in our algorithms. Just because intellect is easier to quantify doesn't make it a better yardstick. I would respectfully ask you all to take time to digest the scope of this research before tendering a conclusion on my proposal." Zara thanked her and surprised everyone by endorsing Hernandez' request, as long as it catered for the possible inclusion of the Boniface proposal.

*

Zara had always wanted to tour Russia. While he had been contemplating the implications of the enforced delay to the campaign launch, he had read an article in an Iberian newspaper. It was tucked away, as column filler, at the foot of page seventeen, and amongst the eccentric stories of the day. It was treated as a legitimate target for ridicule by the journalist. Zara was amused at first, but then considered another aspect of the story. He was going to need a distraction in order to avoid meltdown of his patience during the technical delay. The article referred to a geologist whose ancestry included a great-grandfather and his family, who had lived on the very edge of the Tunguska fallout zone. Alexei Stepanov claimed that this long-deceased relative, Roman Kondarenko, had been working in Kiev when the disaster occurred. He had returned home to find many of his family had been terminated by secondary collateral damage of the impact. Roman's brother and his wife had survived despite their home collapsing completely. Fortunately, they had been alerted to the fireball in the sky by a neighbour, and had ventured outside to witness the harbinger of death. They were amongst a group of onlookers who had always disputed the 'official' reports of the sequence of events. Despite the absolute consistency in the account given by these people, the authorities in Russia at the time dismissed it as lacking in feasibility. The scientists charged with advising the government as to the cause and aftermath were adamant that the pocket of survivors at this location had suffered distortion of their vision, due to refraction of the medium through which the immense explosive force was propagated.

All subsequent studies and evidence gathered, failed to produce convergence on exactly what happened. The current recessionary situation in Russia had effectively branded Tunguska research as a waste of essential resource. Although many foreign government and individual applications were received, the policy had been modified to prohibit such investigations. It was therefore to become the province of extremely rich Russian nationals, and apparently there were none with any interest in such an indulgent appropriation of funds. Zara was particularly drawn to the claim by Stepanov, that his great-grandfather's brother and others had seen the detonation of the 'object', which inflicted the horror in the atmosphere and on the ground. They had also seen a second, smaller bright object leave the parent just prior to the devastation. They had also described the direction of travel and possible location of impact of this 'Tunguska Minor'. This impact occurred before the main devastation was felt by the observers; otherwise they would not have seen it. Andrei Stepanov had only inherited this account from his father eight years ago, and had been met with scepticism at every attempt to create interest. He had then changed tactics. He obtained permission to personally investigate the claims. The government didn't care whose money was used, as long as it was a Russian who could lay claim to any success, but then acknowledge any accrued artefacts or knowledge was the property of the state. Zara authorised one of his two trusted aides to speak with Stepanov, and if his checklist proved interesting, bring him to a remote venue for face-to-face discussions.

*

Ricardo Pierze was already burning a lot of personal and departmental energy in scanning the entire planet for any kind of aberrational behaviour. It was adversely affecting other important security programmes, and he knew he could expect more regular grilling from President Sanchez. He had not however anticipated what actually came over the transom. "Ricardo, we often have to deliver good news and bad news together, but they are usually separate items. This latest report embodies both in the same sentence. Orient has helped diplomatic relations by declaring further trust, advocating more cooperation, especially now that additional colonisation of the Moon is considered to be futile." Pierze was so focussed on his own maze of operations that he unwittingly transmitted indifference.

"Why is that? Is it really so bad?"

Sanchez' restrained anger jolted Pierze back to reality. "Where have you been lately, surely you saw the Orient lunar geological map. The lack of certain minerals, when added to the extremely poor terraforming potential pretty much writes off the attainable self-sustainability targets. You need to lift your snout from the ether of conspiracy theory every so often Pierze; we do have the here and now to manage. Don't you see that this doesn't diminish the need for off-world exploration? It merely moves the target to a much more expensive one – namely Mars. It also brings the sharing of knowledge into sharp focus, as we will have to be seen to cooperate on propulsion research. You are, and will continue to be expected to monitor this programme, from the sculpturing and screening of the participating teams, through to the implementation. I suggest you exit your cocoon and prepare your people for such a concrete task."

Pierze returned to his office, reflecting on how this could weaken his vigilance on the re-emergence of Sidonia. He reluctantly accepted that he had become obsessed with hunting down and eliminating Constantin Boniek or Osvaldo Martinez once and for all. Perhaps it was time to consider that his adversary may have decided to enjoy his new found freedom rather than risk being recaptured. When he shared this with Manuel Salina and Maxi Duarte, they both uttered the same word in unrehearsed unison, "Never." They reluctantly altered the agreed monthly meetings to a quarterly schedule.

*

Hernandez and Boniface had agreed to strike a partnership. They both realised that their chances of surviving in Zara's crusade would be diminished if they battled one another. They agreed that tests one and two could be optimised by equipment modifications, under the control of Hernandez. These tests would be solely for selection of disciples. Test three, which was to be conducted by those disciples, to attract the requisite flock, would be redesigned by Boniface. It would be split into evaluation and conversion phases. The first part would be a comprehensive personality profiling interview. The second would only involve subjects who passed part one, and then they would be subjected to emotional coercion with equipment specified by Boniface, and built by Hernandez.

*

The aide sent to check out Stepanov, Fernando Moya, was a descendent of a Basque family. He was extremely thorough, and it was said he had an inherited 'distrust' gene. His misshapen physique may have been truly hereditary, and he was universally perceived as someone who should be avoided, unless you happened to be Lionel Zara. His meeting with Stepanov ruffled the Russian in a multiplicity of ways. Having presented Moya with reams of convincing evidence of his authenticity, he was unable to get any answers to questions of his own. Moya indicated that if there was interest from the people he represented, to take the matter further Stepanov would have to travel to be interviewed on more detailed budgeting. The makeup of the personnel involved in the project would have to be available, and a definite period, after which the sponsors could withdraw funding, if nothing of note was discovered, should be set in stone. "You will be assessed on these criteria by the panel acting on behalf of the sponsors."

Stepanov could no longer resist unleashing his nascent sarcasm. "You seriously expect me to furnish such precise information on this project to people I don't know, who are themselves expected to convey this precious data to a set of faceless sponsors. Even if I was stupid enough to comply, the Russian authorities would block the application. They have to know where the money comes from and that it is clean. I fear, Snr. Moya that you are not up to speed with this kind of research and what it entails. I'm not prepared to waste my time on your 'offer', so please tell your source to invest elsewhere."

Moya was not nicknamed the limpet solely as a derogatory gesture. He had earned it, and there was an element of grudging admiration in that judgement. "If that's truly what you want me to do, then so be it. However, I don't see too many other candidates on the horizon, and in my experience with Russian authorities, everything inevitably comes down to the price they require in order to quell their conscience. That's why your budget finessing is needed. I'll leave you a contact number; you can call me when you've had a chance to digest the reality of the situation. I'm authorised to terminate our interest if I hear nothing from you in fourteen days."

The meeting was concluded despite Stepanov trying to restore some of his own brinkmanship. Moya's return and briefing of Zara caused the latter to reflect on the structure of Cerberus Enterprises Corporation. It had sufficed so far, but the technical delay and the potential foray into the unscrupulous Russian regime, warranted change. The portfolio covered critically related activity, and he now considered this to be an invisible threat to Sidonia, unless it was made to appear simply as ownership of businesses operating in markets with minimal synergy. Digital Component Industries was the hardware arm, which was also a cover for the top secret research. Trans Global Connections was a provider of network access for mobile communicators. The third head of the Cerberus hound was hopefully going to be the burgeoning ranks of the Circle of Light, which had to be completely separate, yet run by members of the faith. In reality, Digital Component Industries supplied the constructors who assembled and sold mobile communicators – all of the major players. Trans Global Connections offered some of these communicators as a bundle with their various contract tariffs. This is where the link was to be disguised. The software which could be employed from their signal would only offer control with those communicators in which the secret technology had been installed. This would be rotated with different models to avoid the links being vulnerable to trend analysis. The companies to which the components were supplied would, if they asked, be told that certain hardware elements were built in for general future-proofing, and would remain unused if not required within a certain time frame. All of this influenced Zara's thinking with respect to company ownership and traceable stockholders. He had already used proxy names, but now felt this wasn't enough. He decided to set up a charity which would fund the genesis of the Circle of Light, with the funds coming from Digital Component Industries. This would be concurrent with that company becoming employee-owned. This would give phenomenal motivation to those employees. Other charitable beneficiaries would enjoy similar support to that of the Circle of Light, thus providing the 'haystack in which to bury the needle'. Trans Global Connections was to be owned by Zara, Moya and his other trusted aide Miguel Angel. This demanded absolute loyalty to Zara from both of them. In terms of management structure, Zara would remain with DCI, Angel would head up TGC, and Moya would sow the seeds of the Circle of Light, which would gradually become predominantly self-funding.

Angel was pretty close to the antithesis of Moya. Blessed with good looks and an impressive physique he outwardly appeared to be free of imperfection until his bizarre vulnerability was exposed. His speech impediment surfaced whenever he felt he was under intense pressure. Fortunately, that only occurred frequently in the presence of Zara, who had harnessed this to his own advantage. The only characteristic Angel had in common with Moya was utter ruthlessness. Conducting the rivalry between these unlikely captains proved to be an experience verging on addiction for Zara.

Although Moya and Angel were delighted with the promise of such affluence, in the form of shares, Moya was distinctly unhappy at being 'lumbered' with the Circle. He was placated by Zara, who reassured him this was a temporary arrangement. "I need you to be the figurehead we recognise internally. To the outside world it will be a self-generating entity. I couldn't ask Angel to get it up to speed, with the risk of his impediment surfacing while addressing ever-increasing gatherings of recruits. Public parks, football stadia, and famous auditoria wouldn't make him comfortable – in fact it would undermine his confidence. When the time is right you and I will change positions." This scenario flipped Moya from despondency to absolute delight. The new-found enthusiasm transmitted through to the meeting with Stepanov.

## Chapter 4

The contact from Stepanov was quite predictably, after ten days, just long enough to encourage Moya to believe there was another sponsor in the wings, but well within the specified exclusion period of two weeks. He agreed to meet in Cairo and provide the additional detail requested. He was curious about the location, but finally accepted that his data would be assessed by an Egyptian expert in searching for artefacts, which had eluded others for millennia. He was assured that a decision would be forthcoming, if this expert was satisfied that there was sufficient correlation of data, to identify a credible starting point.

The venue was at the private residence of the expert, hotels would have attracted too much attention. Serif Mohammed welcomed the Iberian party first, in order to sketch in the guidelines and no-go areas for the discussion. Zara, Moya and Angel had arrived under the usual false names and passports. Stepanov entered an hour later, accompanied by another person. The introductions were awkward. It suited Zara, as Stepanov explained that his 'friend' was a government official who could rubber-stamp the permits, but had to remain anonymous. Zara introduced Mohammed and said, "We understand completely, in fact we also want to remain anonymous. It is the project which matters, not who is financing it or indeed carrying out the work."

Stepanov looked at his travel companion who nodded and then whispered something in Russian. Stepanov cleared his throat. "My colleague believes this is the best way to proceed as it is going to be quite a sensitive situation. You already know that the government will not grant permission to any foreign explorer. Their rationale is quite straightforward. After all the previous attempts to come to a definite conclusion about the event, we still have no unifying theory. Most of the dissenters to the commonly held Russian view are experts from other lands within Iberia. This is part of their reasoning, that in the event of finding this agreeable, any discovery is to be attributable to a Russian national. There will be no glory-hunters or money-spinning rights to anyone except Russian explorers and the government. I know this means that any funding from you is basically a philanthropic gesture, but there's no other way. The powers that be are fed up with amateurs scavenging in their midst, and in their view, representing a security risk which needs constant shepherding. The fact that nobody finds anything new simply spawns yet another theory."

Mohammed was not the only one who expected Zara to close his notebook and walk out. Moya and Angel anticipated a rant at Stepanov for not making this clear before having everyone assembled in the desert. In fact they couldn't comprehend his fascination with such a hobby when there was so much work to be done. Zara's slow smile was followed by a question directed to the unknown Russian. "What is your facilitation fee in all of this?"

Stepanov continued as spokesman after conferring. "It is modest and self-financing. My colleague explains that you will save much more than his financial compensation by his provision of the use of state equipment and personnel to conduct the investigation. If you had to employ Russian nationals yourself it would be much more expensive. He's correct, as I know myself in having tried to interest other sponsors."

Zara then asked if Stepanov had brought all of the requested detail. "I have very comprehensive information which should cover the questions arising. I also have with me an account of why there has been difficulty in so-called experts finding agreement. With your permission I would suggest going through this first. It would help set your enquiries into the known context."

This was agreed and Stepanov proceeded with his background stage-setting. "The event itself occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now known as Krasnoyarsk Krai, at 7.14am on 30th June 1908. It is believed to have been an air-burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5-10 km above the Earth's surface. Different studies have yielded varying estimates of the object's size, with general agreement that it was tens of metres across. The number of papers and scholarly publications of the event are in excess of one thousand, mainly Russian, but many from other parts of the world. This is one aspect of the lack of agreement in the conclusions. Although the consensus was that the object burst in the air, it has still been classified as an impact. Energy release estimates fall between five hundred to eight hundred times that of currently known nuclear bombs. Trees were flattened over approximately 5,500 square km. As a consequence of the blast being capable of the total destruction of a large metropolitan area, the discussions moved more to future asteroid deflection strategies. Government financing was directed to this at the expense of further research into the precise mechanism of the event. There was a plethora of eye-witness accounts. I will only cite three to demonstrate why the argument still rages over the nature of the object, and how this may have channelled opinion into such a narrow debate. First, there is general picture emerging from a position northwest of Lake Baikal. A column of blue light moved across the sky. Ten minutes later a flash was immediately followed by a sound, something like artillery fire. Those repetitive sounds were accompanied by a shock wave which knocked people over, hundreds of kilometres away.

"The S. Semenov investigation, shortly after the incident quotes one account – I was sitting having breakfast at the Vanavara Trading Post, 40 km south of the explosion, and facing north. The sky split in two and fire appeared high and wide over the forest. The split grew larger and the entire north side was covered with fire. I became so hot that I could not bear it. Then the sky closed and a strong thump sounded, and I was thrown a few yards.

"A later report in 1926, from Chuchan of the Shanyagir Tribe is somewhat different. We were sleeping and were awoken by whistling. We felt a strong wind and could see and hear trees crashing down. Thunder began and a strong wind knocked over our hut. There was something Russians call lightning, and immediately a second louder thunder occurred. The morning was sunny, there were no clouds, the sun was shining brightly as usual and suddenly there was a second one.

"There was a report from a Krasnoyaretz newspaper in 1908, from Kezhemskoe village. At 7.43 the noise akin to a strong wind was heard then a horrific thump sounded, followed by an earthquake. This first thump was followed by a second, then a third. The interval between the first and third thumps was accompanied by an unusual underground rattle, similar to a railway upon which many trains were travelling at the same time. Afterwards, for 5-6 minutes an exact likeness of artillery fire was heard. The sky at first appeared to be clear, no wind or clouds. However, upon closer inspection to the north, a kind of ashen cloud was seen near the horizon; it kept getting smaller and more transparent. By about 2-3pm it suddenly and completely disappeared.

"Gentlemen, you can appreciate that from these accounts, there is variation and similarity. This can partly be explained by what could be seen from the direction it was viewed. Light and sound travel at different speeds, even though it is fractional over these distances. It is also worth considering what state of panic the observer was in while trying to recall events and their sequence. I chose these three examples because they were considered as bona-fide. The tribal one which was not reported until 18 years after the cataclysm was from the same area as my great-grandfather's account, yet his has been ignored. The appearance of the second sun by Chuchan, was his final observation, or to put it more accurately, his recollection of the order his observations. My great-grandfather's assertion was downgraded as he was relating second hand information. His family's Russian was very poor and when they were questioned directly, the authorities could not make too much sense of their claims. Although my great-grandfather was fluent in both languages, and he tried to point out that the second sun his family had seen was support to that of Chuchan, rather than contradiction of the other two accounts, it was still dismissed. The crucial point about the viewing location being partially responsible for this was given little weight. Because Chuchan's account was published years later my great-grandfather tried again to be taken seriously. He maintained that the first blue light was the original marauding object, but the yellow second sun had splintered off this fragmenting body prior to the main explosion. He even tried to estimate the final resting place of the bright fragment by comparing notes with those of Chuchan. As you can appreciate, if this body could be found intact, it would surely give us definitive information which the air-burst parent has failed to do."

Moya and Angel were finding it difficult to stifle a yawn, while Mohammed and Zara were hooked. The Egyptian was prepared to delay his questions until they had all seen the specific data Stepanov had handed out. His expertise was not in spacefaring objects, but he had lots of experience in evaluation of rock and soil strata. Zara was almost consumed with the prospect of such a clandestine mission. He was uncharacteristically behaving like an enthusiastic schoolboy. "I would like to progress to your data now Snr. Stepanov, could you and your colleague please give us an hour or so to peruse the report? We offer you lunch and a chance to relax in the beautiful garden of Serif Mohammed."

The report was basically a factual embellishment of an extremely large and detailed map. This had been painstakingly been produced by Stepanov and had information on every known recorded observation. Colour-coding made it easy to distinguish exploration sites, eye-witness reports, extent and type of damage to the terrain, wind direction and the generally agreed trajectory of the object. An area shaded in red was about 9 square km. and was keyed with the designation 'second sun'. After some fifty minutes of ploughing through reams of reference data and its relationship to the map, Zara asked Mohammed for his input. The Egyptian was impressed with the data, particularly its reluctance to draw speculative conclusions. "Tell me, Snr. Zara, what is it exactly you hope to unearth?"

The reply was almost beyond the comprehension of Moya and Angel. "The challenge is more important than the prize. I've always wanted to do what others considered impossible, or something the best had tried to achieve and failed. However, in this case there is something else. I need to ask Stepanov one more question if and when you are satisfied." Mohammed asked a servant to show the Russians back into the meeting room. He issued a challenge to Stepanov. "You have not indicated any references to data inside the second sun area of impact. You don't even state whether any geological profiling has been carried out. If it has, then it must have been negative otherwise we would not be having this discussion today. Would you care to elucidate?"

Stepanov looked at his associate, who squirmed and then suggested he would like a private moment with Alexei. After much gesticulating and shrugging of the shoulders they returned and Stepanov nervously began to explain. "There have been only a handful of attempts to excavate in a location which has no official recognition of being part of the Tunguska event. Most of those were at the time of the calamity. There have been two in recent times. The first was unproductive, and carried out by myself and friends. The more recent foray was simply a follow up of something I had observed on the first occasion. I had seen my compass go crazy then return to normal within seconds. I checked this out a few times again and it only recurred once in several days. I felt my co-workers would think me to be suffering from delusional obsession if I told them and couldn't prove it was happening. I was afraid they would desert me. When I returned with my friend here a year later, we patiently searched for the phenomenon and on the eighth day we saw it again. Being able to monitor it continually we saw a pattern. Having returned home to try to decipher this anomaly, we became frustrated, but worse still we felt strangely nauseous. Checks showed we had been exposed to radiation. We have been following our health signs closely since then, and we believe we have somewhere between two and five years to live. This is not simply a calculation based on theoretical data, but on the death of three friends from the first excavation. We have discussed this prognosis many times already between us and we don't want to share this, for fear of the project being hijacked. We both want to see it through, and we have already expensed safe working protection for anyone who will be invited to join us. We want our names to be associated with whatever we discover."

This revelation stunned the audience, even Moya and Angel perked up their interest. Mohammed resumed the dialogue. "So you don't have more information on what may be down there, but you know where it is and that it is a magnetic anomaly which is emitting radiation." Before they could reply Zara asked what they had made of the data they had tried to interpret.

Stepanov said, "Only that it was a repetitive pattern with irregular intervals. There was apparently no pattern with the intervals themselves, but when the spikes occurred they were similar if not identical in magnetic aberration." Zara finally got to his own question, which had been partly answered by them knowing exactly where they had to look.

"How remote is this location, and how would we ensure we do not receive visitors?"

The smiles returned to the faces of the Russians, as Stepanov joked, "No one other than the insane would venture there. During the short window of acceptable weather for survival, the place is awash with flying insects, including some of the largest mosquitos I've ever seen. With respect to anyone following us, we believe we need our own helicopter to ferry in rations and supplies as required. Unless that is, you have a better idea. I would add that my friend has considerable official veto over people even wandering through this region. This edict is still underpinned by disagreement over the nature of the falling body itself. A comet would be expected to completely vaporise, leaving no traces. This theory suggests it would not have reached the lower atmosphere. In 2001 Farinella and Foschini proposed the object had curved from the direction of the asteroid belt. If however, it wasn't a comet, why was there no crater? In the last decade of the millennium, scientists found resin in the trees in the impact area, which was impregnated with materials found in asteroids but not in comets. But then a later study in 2005 suggests that Comet 2005NB5C bounced off our atmosphere, and left a detached chunk heading Earthwards, while the rest went back into orbit around the sun. It's anticipated that this comet will pass close to Earth again in 2045. It would contain evidence which would rule it in or out, but I'm afraid we won't be here to see it."

Zara was happy to tell them he would finance the hire of a helicopter in Russia for the duration of the project, the livery would be left to them. "Please choose something that will not attract attention, a second-hand, reconditioned one, rented as locally as possible would make sense. Gentlemen, we have an agreement. Please return and begin the planning, but only for myself and Doctor Mohammed from our side. This is my private number – memorise it and erase it. Send me a secure bank account to which I can transfer funds to get us started. I'll have the rest available in currency by the time you are ready with the timescales." The meeting ended with this accord, yet Stepanov and his friend didn't quite understand why Zara was so casual about such a weighty investment.

*

The space programme continued to throw up diverging views on when and how to proceed. Orient had become the real driving force for a launch to Mars in 2033, when the planets were closest. Losing this window of opportunity was unthinkable for them. Iberia was not only dragging its heels on economic grounds, but was falling behind in technology terms. This was rather ludicrous, as they had kick-started Orient's appetite just a few years ago by technology licences. It illustrated once again that it can sometimes be easier to take bigger steps when there is less redundant industry to mothball; it can be leap-frogged. President Sanchez and his Orient counterpart, Din Chow Zen could see their hard work to bring trust and cooperation between their nations being eroded. They got directly involved in trying to bridge some of the areas of incompatibility. President Sanchez was to appear on all of the Republic's TV channels to outline a new initiative on the Mars project. It was one of those speeches which could end up affecting everyone on the planet, and the anticipated audience was staggering. It was scheduled for the best compromise time for citizens of both regimes. Ricardo Pierze and Nelson Ortega, the President's chief aide, clashed over the security issue. Ortega claimed that the Presidential residence was not technically equipped or big enough to accommodate the number of international journalists who had applied for attendance. Pierze insisted that the TV studios in Madrid were much more vulnerable to all kinds of incursion. Ortega played the political high card – claiming that the entire population of the world was waiting in judgement. They couldn't afford to compromise the opportunity by selecting who could attend and who could not. The President deferred to Ortega. As he took his position in the TV studio, with the countdown to going live, Nelson Ortega was refreshing his 'cheat sheet' to allow him flexibility, whenever a leading question could not be addressed sufficiently by the pre-prepared autocue.

*

In a multi-storey car park in Madrid, two individuals were busy painting new layout lines on the sixth floor. This floor had been declared closed by multiple signs. It was a sensible decision as most people were expected to watch the broadcast. The two workmen had crates for their spraying equipment and paint supplies. When darkness crept over the city, they retrieved further equipment from the crates, amongst which were black, hooded sweaters and rocket launchers. They settled in the cover of early evening blackness, in position to strike the TV studio fifth floor. They had been given inside information on exactly where in the building the broadcast was to be made. From opposite ends of the car park floor they released their grenades, which flew through the windows of the studio floor. The carnage began. Twisted steel supports buckled under the now uneven weight and the structure lurched toward total collapse. Panic erupted throughout the building as flames licked out of broken windows to parts of the exterior, searching for oxygen to propagate combustion. With seemingly foolhardy arrogance, the two men reloaded and despatched a second round of grenades into the ground floor, presumably to disrupt rescue services getting immediate access. By this time, the employee sitting at the exit toll of the car park had run out into the street, and having seen the second round of rocket fire, rushed back to the camera video output. He saw the two hooded men strolling past the sixth floor camera, completely unconcerned. He contacted the police immediately and was told to get out of there – now. The hooded figures sprinted down to floor 5 and climbed into the stolen red off-road vehicle. Within thirty seconds they had crashed through the exit barrier and sped away into the darkness. Several witnesses were almost mown down by their erratic driving, and some got the plate number.

Inside the burgeoning inferno, the President's security contingent had been seriously reduced in number, particularly by the second blast at the entrance. In the broadcast studio there were many injuries due to the direct explosive force, but even more with shards of flying metal and glass. The President had a gaping neck wound which was going to need emergency hospital attention. His remaining bodyguards formed a protective ring around his prostrate form until first aid staff got him on to a stretcher. The elevators were seen as an additional risk. Nelson Ortega was in contact with Pierze and his security forces remaining on the ground floor, and instructed them to get paramedics up to the fifth floor immediately. The evacuation process of the building was not going well and the chief paramedic, after having staunched and clipped the President's wound, called for a helicopter rescue and Sanchez was taken up two floors to the roof. As the chopper approached, a figure crouched at the top of the rooftop fire escape, was suddenly illuminated by its powerful lights. The man had climbed up from the ground after the first grenade strike and appeared to be trying to settle his laser sight on Sanchez, but the melee of people fussing around the President made his decision very difficult. He knew he would only get one shot. He was not exactly a back-up man, the perpetrators knew that the rockets may not get Sanchez, but he did have the back-up plan. He seemed to make an instant choice. He threw his sniper rifle to the floor and held his hands in the air. Two of Sanchez' personal guards motioned him to one side. Nelson Ortega yelled at them to take him alive, as they needed to extract information from him with respect to any cell which may be responsible for this operation. "Pierze is on his way up here; get this man into his custody, now." The man took advantage of this slender lapse in concentration Ortega's command had created, and sprinted towards the stretchered target. Ortega reacted by blocking his route, and this intervention was critical, as the man pressed the micro-detonator in his coat lapel. The suicide bomb blew many people clean off the roof. Amongst them was Ortega, but he was now in so many pieces it would be difficult to account for each fragment. He had however, saved Sanchez, even though the stricken President took additional trauma to his legs.

In the meantime the two men in the red vehicle pulled up in a back alley less than quarter of a mile from the carnage. They levered off a manhole cover, threw the hooded garments into the sewer and replaced the metal cover, changed into smart suits from the car, left the keys in the vehicle and strolled back to the blazing studio. As they arrived, police were acting on instructions from agents of Pierze in ushering the crowd away from the immediate area. The two men reluctantly complied after taking photos with their communicators.

Ricardo Pierze was contacted by Duarte as soon as the breaking news bulletin interrupted all programmes to reveal the assassination attempt. He was asked to come to the scene. Pierze realised immediately that he would be inextricably bound to this event and its fallout for an indefinite period. "Duarte, I want you to contact Manuel and get him over here. Both of you should begin a period of observance for anything which could be connected to Sidonia."

Duarte frowned. "You mean you don't think this is?" Pierze shook his head.

"No, this is not his style, and anyway the one thing they did get right in pursuing their objective last time, was to start from the bottom of the pyramid. Taking down the head first would be an announcement which would complicate further proliferation. This is either a distraction, or nothing to do with them. Please do as I ask – in case it is a distraction."

Duarte did not really buy into this assessment but respected the fact that Pierze would indeed be deluged by media attention during every waking hour until he had identified the source of the attack. In addition, nobody knew if Sanchez would survive, or even want to return to office. There could be a vacuum, and with Ortega's demise Pierze would be grilled on the advice he gave about the folly of using the studio. He would be seen by the public, in Orient as well as Iberia, as someone who should be part of the interim decision-making team in the absence of Sanchez.

## Chapter 5

The inquisition was underway. Pierze was continually on TV, deflecting questions to which he did not yet have answers. The ripples of the incident had washed over Orient too, causing intensification of security around Din Chow Zen. The sparse intervals which Pierze had, to actually study incoming evidence, only seemed to yield support for his gut feeling. The two individuals responsible for firing the grenades had left the weapons at the scene, along with the paint and the crates. The rocket launchers were just over a metre long and bore the insignia – 'Compact 39DZ' in Iberian and Oriental script. The manufacturers name 'Sukahara' was also evident, but the serial information had been filed off. Fragments of the grenade casings found in the studio confirmed that the system had been produced in Orient. Pierze had pictured these two men abandoning the weapons, flaunting their presence in front of the sixth floor camera, ensuring that bystanders got the number of the truck, and left it where it would be found quickly. He was mulling over the possibilities; it was either a blatantly obvious message from Oriental dissidents or it was intended to look like that. When forensic results began to filter in, he wasn't surprised that no fingerprints were found on the weapons, paint equipment or the truck. Elimination of the DNA of the legitimate owner of the vehicle and his friends and family, left none to be accounted for. The rifle of the suicide bomber was also clean and it was proving very difficult to isolate and match DNA of those who were blown apart. Identification was laborious, as there was no exact way of knowing who all of the peripheral people were on the rooftop, because of the panic. Added to this, there was the small matter that many who were 'alleged' to be there, were not on the DNA database. There were still people unaccounted for, and they could still be trapped in rubble as well as being blown off the rooftop. This may well have included the perpetrator. When Pierze had time to share this data with Duarte and Manuel, he confessed his concern that he would be unable to re-join them on the Sidonia case for several months. He urged them to be extremely vigilant. Manuel agreed with Duarte that the previous Sidonia campaign had been orchestrated to cause Iberia to fall from within. "Although killing the President would constitute a clear alert, it could in itself, ignite a more subtle unravelling of the Republic, especially as the finger is pointing at Orient. We should not rule out the objective of the distraction being global conflict."

Pierze reflected on this analysis. "You may be right Manuel, and certainly Boniek is arrogant enough to try and pull something like this off, but his life-blood is order and control, and this current mess will create chaos. I'm still of the opinion that this is a different threat, and maybe even more dangerous. Keep me informed."

*

Zara had watched this unfolding drama with great interest. He studied every interview with Pierze, trying to read between the lines of what he had to divulge and what he may be trying to protect. He was also curious as to whether his adversary would be bold enough to make the first telling move on the chessboard of this new campaign. Would Pierze remind the world of Sidonia, Boniek, Martinez and the whisker by which the world was delivered from the threat of Armageddon? Or would he steer classification of this assassination attempt toward overt terrorism? He was beginning to believe the technical delay could actually turn out to be a fortuitous advantage. He asked Moya to chase up Stepanov and add a little pressure, by explaining that the President's uncertain life expectancy could assist their cover in Tunguska. He wanted to disappear while the soap opera played itself out. Sanchez was still on the critical list, and his condition was not stable.

Stepanov had good news and better news. The influence of his associate had helped to recruit the necessary Russian personnel for the excavation. The real breakthrough was in the transport search; he still had a little haggling to do, but he had secured a decommissioned forestry helicopter with their livery, so it could operate without attracting any attention. "I believe we can start in one month, maybe three weeks, it depends on finding a suitable pilot."

Moya called him back after briefing Zara. "We don't want to compromise, take your time and get the best pilot – and that means discretion as well as local knowledge. We'll plan on four weeks."

*

Events took a turn for the worse for Pierze. Sanchez had developed a serious infection in his throat wound and it had spread very rapidly through his bloodstream. Backstage preparations were being discussed, as the medical prognosis wasn't good. If he succumbed there would have to be an election, but in the interim an emergency structure would be required while the date was decided. The deputy President didn't have total governing power beyond three months, and the constitution of the Republic didn't allow automatic, full term succession. Pierze was resigned to taking even more responsibility, especially as Ortega was gone. He settled for becoming temporary special adviser to the deputy President, for the three month period, if that became necessary.

*

The situation in Orient was almost as tense. The people were angered by finger-pointing from the Iberian media, who kept on alleging a link between the origin of the rocket launcher and the assassins. They rightly maintained that there were a number of ways in which the weapons could have found their way to Madrid. The government was beginning to pass the buck upwards, and Din Chow Zen found himself under serious pressure to challenge such Iberian arrogance. He knew of Sanchez' condition and decided to contact Pierze, who had impressed him at the summit meeting between the two nations, which had been crucial in neutralising the original Sidonia plot. Pierze reacted positively to discussing the situation, primarily because it would afford him an opportunity to speak directly to Sukahara technicians about the weapon markings. His more difficult task would be to persuade the deputy President not to accompany him. He asked Zen to officially request his presence to discuss security input because of unrest at the border. The deputy President wasn't happy at this rather disrespectful bypass, and Pierze feigned agreement, but also pointed out the overall predicament within the homeland. "Sir, although I don't like broaching the subject, we both know the chances of President Sanchez are not good. This means there is a high probability of an election sometime soon. I'm overstretched myself, and would dearly like to decline Zen's request. You however would be meeting him on rather an uneven playing field. I'm not only talking about rank here, it is perhaps more about you being a front running candidate for the honour in a full time capacity. As we don't know his precise agenda, it may be prudent for you to avail of the option of having someone who doesn't carry the seal of Iberian government in the first session. It could constitute a risk with respect to your election campaign if we engage in unpopular dialogue so soon after the assassination attempt, especially if Sanchez doesn't pull through. I know it could be claimed that I'm advising you in my new capacity, but this is purely a personal concern I have. Any diminishing electoral support at this highly charged emotional time could benefit the far right – they are already showing gains due to Ortega's error of judgement over the broadcast location."

He didn't need to remind the deputy President that the crisis would never have happened if his own advice had been heeded. The response was a clear demonstration of why this man would never succeed to the ultimate authority. "Ricardo, I would actually have declined Zen's invitation if it had been intended for me personally to travel to Orient. I'm needed right here, right now. Our people want strong leadership at this critical time. I am merely disappointed he didn't request your presence through me, I would have endorsed it. It's reassuring that we're in total agreement on how to deal with this man. Make your travel arrangements." Pierze left the Presidential office and with his back turned to the deputy he silently mouthed, 'Thanks - you ignorant, transparent airhead'.

*

When he arrived in Din chow Zen's private palace Pierze couldn't help recalling the stakes that were on the table during his previous visit with Sanchez and Verdasco, trying to convince the Orient leader of the most preposterous conspiracy in their midst. His enduring memories were of Zen's absolute pragmatism, and the statesmanship of Sanchez. He was met by Zen's inscrutable smile and they got down to business. He listened carefully to the account of the outrage felt by Orient's masses at being treated once more by Iberia as some kind of underclass. "It has made my task more difficult than ever, as I was the one to trust your republic again. I want to help you in any way I can to find those who are responsible, beyond any doubt. We need absolute proof, even if that turns out to identify the guilty ones as citizens of Orient. I would hope that you can exercise some influence over your news media, without of course asking for censorship. I am appealing to them through you, to realise that President Sanchez has paid the price of trying to do the right things for his people. I am facing the same kind of threat now, and it is from my own hierarchy. If we were to speculate rather than gather real evidence, we could claim that probability indicates this was a non-Oriental plot. That is primarily because your own findings so far tend to illustrate that those involved were virtually making a case for this to be of Oriental design. The planned carelessness of leaving evidence of everything other than ethnicity is just as compelling as the rocket launchers being made here. There is no repeat of your people jumping to conclusions when you discovered that the suicide bomber was carrying a sniper rifle made in Southern Iberiana. I am afraid that if we cannot see a shift to a more objective way of reporting, I will be forced to concede that we must re-evaluate our diplomatic accord. The question of motive is interesting; I could claim unfairly that the broadcast was likely to be the trigger. Your nation is very nervous about the subject matter – the Mars project. I could speculate that the poorer parts of your republic condemn the policy of 'wasting resources on unrealistic dreams' and being put ahead of real needs. What do you say?"

When Pierze told Zen that he felt exactly the same concerns, the discussion progressed rapidly. "It's why I asked to meet the Sukahara people. I feel sure there will be something traceable they can tell me to nullify or confirm the tenuous claims of our media. I would propose we meet them together and as soon as possible." Zen motioned for something to happen, and within seconds, no less than twenty-three individuals, clad in identical and very expensive looking navy-blue suits filed into the room. They didn't sit until they were introduced by their position in the company. From the General Manager down, every single department was represented. Zen spoke some words in his own language and this initiated a sequence of hierarchical seating arrangement. He then addressed Pierze. "If your questions cannot be answered by these people, you can visit their company and speak about details with other workers."

Pierze could scarcely believe this was happening, but quickly appreciated that it reflected just how serious Din Chow Zen was taking the Sanchez incident. This was also something he could confront the more irresponsible media with on his return. The photos he now shared with the Sukahara people provoked much noise and activity. The seating arrangement became fluid and the jabbering reminded Pierze of a squabble within a flock of jackdaws. There was little, if any abatement to this chaos until one of the technicians whispered something into his supervisor's ear. The gabbling receded with every transmission, and it quickly reached the General Manager. In the now eerie silence he passed a note to Zen. A nod from the leader produced a question from the originator of the observation, who spoke perfect Iberian. "Why have you not removed the bracing clips from the rocket launcher?"

Pierze was confused. "Why would we need to do that?" The explanation made Ricardo Pierze feel pretty inadequate.

"These clips are mostly needed for defensive tactics, when it is important to regroup swiftly, and the weapon is mounted on an open-top vehicle. Because of the precision in our tooling process, which is important for accuracy, we always need to ensure the clips and the barrel stay together. Your military people will know this, and on certain occasions adjustment or temporary removal may be authorised. Therefore, we always have the serial numbers matched on the barrel and the clips. They are engraved on the inner surface of the clips. I would also suggest that if you check the clips and the numbers are still there, the users are unlikely to have had military training. Your own people will probably confirm this."

Pierze thanked the technician for this revelation and did his best to exercise humility while privately seething at his own staff missing such evidence. The Sukahara gathering formed into an orderly exit line and left the room. It was painful for Pierze to watch this twenty-three person delegation, which had travelled over a thousand miles, snake its way out of his sight. He apologised to Zen when they were alone. The Orient leader spoke with dignity. "These things can happen when one wrong decision produces a cascade of consequences, demanding answers ahead of analysis. You now have a new opportunity, but let us not join the throng of speculation. I wanted to speak about the trouble at the border. As you know, since the last time we met, an acceptable level of emigration of our people has been accommodated in Iberia. This incident has inflamed feelings on both sides, especially in the border area. I have had to authorise deployment of army personnel to protect the border control people from anti-Iberian protestors. I do not want to close the border again, even temporarily. It is different for you, because we have little or no immigration to worry about, whereas the Orientals now in Iberia may be vulnerable. Are you able to offer protection if the need arises?" Pierze indicated that he would discuss this with the Foreign Office and they would take joint action, to mirror Zen's military presence on their side of the border checkpoints.

Finally they turned to the subject which may yet cost Sanchez his life. Zen recognised that the insistence from Orient, that Iberia should keep the pledge on joint space exploration may have been the blue touch paper. He therefore told Pierze that he was going to exercise a moratorium on the subject for a period. He wasn't going to announce this; it was just going to be naturally replaced in the pecking order by a few items his people had been calling for over time. He asked Pierze about the deputy President and the advisability of this declaration being passed on. Ricardo Pierze could not help rewinding the tape to the Sukahara meeting. Since becoming head of Central Security he had really had no time to dwell on ideology in a detached way. He was a man who was characterised by order, neatness, duty – banishing emotional overlay at every fork in the path. For the very first time he wondered how the Republic could import some of the advantages of the regime of Orient. This jolted him back to Zen's question. Iberia wasn't doing all that well at the moment, and here was a statesman with considerable gravitas asking about trusting Hugo Falcorini with custody of a subtle timeout to give stability a helping hand. He smiled as he mentally substituted Hubris for Hugo, but knew his reply would be interpreted correctly. "I dearly hope President Sanchez will return. You may be aware that if he doesn't, we are compelled to have an election within three months. My conservative nature guides me to say that you never told me of your intention. In three months I could foresee both Iberia and Orient recognising the need for a shift in priorities."

Din Chow Zen, for the first time, rose to bid farewell to Pierze – a definite sign of respect.

*

When he arrived back in Madrid Pierze had a lot to think about. The same could be said of Lionel Zara. The unlikely cooperation between Hernandez and Boniface, borne out of mutual fear of the boss, had yielded a breakthrough. Although the redesign of components and software was slow, Hernandez had picked up on Boniface's recommendation to tap into emotional patterns of individuals, and it had been fruitful. One of the more enthusiastic technicians had managed to harness certain properties of experimental isolinear microchips in the receiving hardware. These chips had been created by modification of single-axis optical crystals to create a one-way only, repeating instruction. The signal provider would embed the software link to the ringtone and/or vibration instruction to access specific memory in the subject. This implanted memory would be reinforcement of the virtues of the Circle of Light, ingrained during the recruitment phase. The trials had demonstrated that this would apply to changed ringtones on the same device, or on a different device with the same chip, as long as the same signal provider, and hence the embedded software, was used. The import of this was that anyone contacting the subject via the same signal provider could be unknowingly reinforcing the faith of the subject.

*

Zara was therefore preparing to leave for Russia in good spirit. Stepanov had sent the inventory required for the excavation, other than the helicopter and the personnel. These items would absorb the currency Zara would take with him. Because of the radiation risk, they would need many hazmat suits – they were considered to be one-time use only for all but Stepanov and friend. The campsite was to be at least two kilometres from the dig site, for the same reason. There was a requirement, even with these precautions, to have a decontamination shower facility at the campsite. There was a small lake at the site, but they needed water purification pumps. The excavator, like all food and other equipment supplies, had to be ferried to the location by the chopper; fortunately it was a 'flat pack' assembly model with detachable generator. The helicopter was to be fitted with a winch to assist with extraction of any object discovered. The sleeping accommodation was fashioned in state of the art breathable fibre. When zipped up at night, they needed to be totally inaccessible to insects. Liquid air canisters inside these tents would be linked to oxygen measurement monitors to control accumulation of carbon dioxide. A cache of AK-47 weapons would help deter hungry bears and the like. The plan was for Zara and Mohammed to arrive in Kiev, linking up with Stepanov. The government friend and the hired-hands would go ahead of this trio and organise as much as possible on-site before their arrival. Mohammed was on his way to Kiev, with his own array of special gadgets. Zara confirmed his departure time with Angel and Moya, and instructed the latter to get the feel for running Digital Component Industries.

*

President Sanchez had lost consciousness, and his family had been prepared for the worst. The nation was in suspended mourning, with many keeping vigils at their place of worship.

## Chapter 6

Pierze was undecided on the precise way in which he would follow up the Sukahara lead. His proclivity was to keep any crucial information to himself until the maximum benefit of disclosure could be assured. In this case however, he had to weigh up the potential impact of removing the shadow of accusation against Orient. He was mindful of Zen's valid point about the origin of the sniper's rifle. He hit on a compromise, by asking Manuel Salina to meet with him. The session was brief. "Manuel, I have discovered an instance of sloppy investigation in my department, and it could be a simple oversight or a deliberate act. I tend to think it was the former, but I cannot yet dismiss the possibility of the alternative. It is therefore necessary for me to have total confidence in the next phase of the enquiry. I'm asking a lot of you; I hope you can help me out." Having explained the situation with the rocket launcher and the origin of the sniper rifle, he stressed the sensitivity this could have for the entire relationship with Orient. Manuel's expression betrayed serious concern.

"If I was to accept your request, it would alert and probably involve the Southern Iberiana 'mafia'. Are you prepared to accept this risk?"

Pierze knew what he was suggesting. The veracity of any evidence offered from that quarter would be held up as highly unreliable at best, and at worst seen as the government 'sleeping with the Devil'. He paced up and down his office and eventually replied, "Manuel, I know you are right. I also know that the discovery of an internal cell in Central Security would be worse. The timing is also a problem, as you know Sanchez is hanging on to life by a thread. I shudder to think what could go wrong in the vacuum his death would create. The anger in Orient at what they consider to be a false accusation would be dwarfed by a tide of reprisal demands. And then we have Falcorini presiding over the rising tension. I have to take the risk you have placed at my door. You have a lot of experience in dealing with such shady organisations in Southern Iberiana, will you help me?"

Manuel nodded. "Give me the information and I'll make some initial contact through people I can trust." Pierze suggested that they should examine the weapons together and at night, when nobody else was around.

"I don't want anyone to know we have suspicions. We should do it tonight."

*

When Zara and Mohammed met in Kiev they stayed overnight in modest accommodation. Stepanov was to collect them for the onward train journey in the morning. Mohammed described his array of gadgetry to Zara, who was most interested in a laptop programme he had devised for modelling any underground object before any attempt to bring it to the surface. "This is especially important as we are told there is radiation in the vicinity." It was quite ingenious in its concept. Sources of measurements of a different nature could be fed into the programme and harmonised or omitted, depending on the perceived relevance. Magnetic field pattern, thermal imaging, sonar tracing and laser profiling could be input and used to describe the object in their own 'language', or combined to produce a picture. It was likened in effect to building up a recognisable face from a skull, in forensic science. It also could map out the path of least resistance when trying to extract an object.

Stepanov arrived at seven. They breakfasted together and took a taxi to the main train terminal. They had planned to cross the Ukrainian-Russian border and arrive in Stalingrad, change trains there to Irkutsk, on the edge of Lake Baikal, where the helicopter would pick them up. It was to be a weary journey, but it would not attract as much attention as meeting with Stepanov in Moscow. It would also provide Zara with the opportunity to discuss all further financial arrangements with his travelling companions in the privacy of their separate berthed cabins. Mohammed's situation was less complicated. Although he was disappointed that he would receive no joint recognition if they found something significant, he was realistic. He was being well remunerated, and it could easily be a wild goose chase. The conversation with Stepanov impacted Zara more than he had bargained for. When he opened the discussion Zara was immediately put on the defensive by Stepanov. "Can I ask why you are paying such a large amount of money to help us, when you know there is no official recognition on offer for you or Mohammed?"

Zara claimed it was pure fascination with the stories surrounding one of the greatest natural disasters of all time. Stepanov persisted. "We have already explained that my friend and I will get credit for this, and that is all we ask, as we will be remembered for it after we die. There is however, another dimension to what may follow if we find something significant. There will be rights to all manner of distribution of the story, including documentary film. We want to make sure our families are taken care of, and that is why we want recognition. We realise you will not want to be on any footage we produce, so we have something to ask you. If the revenue stream from any discovery was sufficient, we would like to set aside whatever cost you have incurred to pay you back and thank you for making this possible. It is all we have lived for since we found out we were on borrowed time. It isn't much to offer, but it is all we have, or if we are realistic, may have."

Zara was completely thrown by this gesture. He had never experienced respect for another individual in this way. His entire life had been set out on the premise of driving down the cost of getting what he wanted. What others would deem as ruthless, he clearly and unemotionally saw as logical leverage. People only figured as a minor variable in this equation, expendable or an indirect form of currency. This man was not feeling sorry for himself – which did register with Zara – but there was something else. It was a cause in which he wasn't going to let anything, even death get in the way. He realised slowly that what really shook him was that it was an unselfish cause. Zara excused himself to wash his face and rid himself of this debilitating experience. He felt better now and returned to thank Stepanov. However, his discomfort returned when he conceded to himself that his gesture was motivated to make Stepanov feel better. He felt physically sick.

*

In the dead of night Pierze and Manuel found the watchman snoring in his swivel chair in front of the cameras. Pierze tapped his shin with his thick brogues and the man was startled, then profusely apologetic. "Just exactly what do you suppose are we paying you for?" He professed his utter regret but Pierze was unrelenting. "Give me your keys and your accreditation. Call your supervisor now."

The man knew his boss would really appreciate a call at this time of night. When it was answered Pierze grabbed the handset, and the supervisor recognised the voice. "I've just discovered your subordinate sleeping soundly as I paid an unannounced visit to the laboratory section. I could have been anybody. What do you think the press would make of this if I had been someone connected to the recent assassination attempt? Is it just me or do you think this is a time for extra vigilance? Well, feel free to interrupt at any time." Trying to make sense of the conversation when still only half-awake, the supervisor inadvertently made things worse.

"I'm sorry Director - I will take severe disciplinary measures first thing tomorrow." Pierze jolted him with a demand to get to the office immediately to suspend the watchman, pending a check by the departmental staff to see if there was any evidence of intrusion by unauthorised personnel.

"You had better get a replacement here otherwise you will be expected to cover the rest of the shift yourself."

The resigned acknowledgement was followed by Pierze stating that he was going to conduct a cursory check of the premises himself. The handset was replaced and the watchman was told to go to the canteen and await the supervisor. Pierze wiped the CCTV camera recording from the start of the shift, which would imply the watchman had forgotten to set the new disc to record, and ensure he and Manuel would have total privacy in examining the rocket launcher and the rifle in the Laboratory. This stroke of fortune had avoided Pierze having to concoct a convincing reason for the watchman to let them into the lab.

*

The clips on the rocket launcher did indeed have serial numbers and Pierze conveyed to Manuel what the Sukahara technical man had implied. "Most users of this equipment in Orient were military personnel and government security people. It was strictly illegal for civilians to own them. However, any which fell into the hands of the populace via criminal organisations were almost certain to know of the clip identity markings, and their requirement to match the barrel. It's not proof, but does require us to cast a wider net."

The rifle was a different matter. Manuel said it was a model frequently used by mercenaries employed by drug barons. "This is relatively easy for me to check out, but it is in my opinion unlikely that these people would leave markings on a gun which would lead you directly to their door. I'm beginning to agree with your theory that this is a stage-managed attempt to throw suspicion away from the real source of those who paid for the hit."

Pierze was conscious of the impending arrival of the supervisor. "Well, Manuel we are agreed then, we must be open-minded about what the evidence really means until we have solid links to individuals. It's unfair to cast aspersions upon a nation because of the source of manufacture. It would be considered ludicrous if we were drawing such conclusions from a Kalashnikov." They locked the laboratory complex and went to the canteen to await the supervisor.

*

The train from Stalingrad to Irkutsk was distinctly second class compared to the previous one. The three men had just about exhausted their range of common interest, and the never-ending number of stops at tiny hamlets was infusing mind-wipe into their growing restlessness. It was therefore a cause of relief, mixed with concern, that a delegation of soldiers boarded the train at a stop about 200 miles short of their destination. Stepanov listened carefully to the questions they asked some of the local travellers. They were looking for a particular individual who had left a trail of dead bodies in a place they had passed through some hours ago. He explained to Mohammed and Zara that there would be a delay for a couple of hours while they questioned everyone. They weren't allowed to alight from the train and visit the station cafeteria or sanitary facility until they had been accounted for. The boredom had been temporarily fractured by the heavy presence of the inquisitors. Stepanov asked why soldiers were involved, rather than police. He was told that the suspect was a soldier, so they were assisting in the manhunt. "You will probably be stopped by the police between here and Irkutsk. We are trying to close the net before he slips through."

Stepanov whispered, "The soldier had let slip that this man was an animal, and should have been kicked out of the army a long time ago. He had apparently killed a fellow recruit a few years ago, but had managed to convince the brass that it was a tragic accident, while on a tour in Georgia." The train departure was announced and they drank the awful coffee from the cafeteria down to the dregs, and then hurried aboard. Another fifteen miles down the line the train slowed dramatically when it reached an upward incline which twisted and turned as if it made the climb easier for the engine to gather breath. The dusk provided sufficient cover for a figure to leap from the top of the walled tunnel and remain motionless on the carriage roof until he was sure he had not been detected. The creeping darkness prompted him to take the next step of locating the heavy luggage and cargo carriage. He waited again, and then climbed carefully down into a position where he could open the door and gain entry. A few minutes later, after some superficial grooming, he confidently took an empty seat with his newspaper. There had been about a dozen stops in these fifteen miles, with people getting on and off the train, so he went unnoticed. He was seated across the aisle and down two rows from the trio heading to Tunguska, and he reached across to a man and his wife sitting opposite for a light for his cigarette. They struck up a conversation and it gradually got around to the manhunt. The man's wife expressed her opinion that such a callous murderer should be executed, no amount of rehabilitation or faked remorse could even begin to atone for the indiscriminate butchery he had dealt out. Her husband joined in and said that the bastard would probably get away with an insanity plea, and be assessed by egocentric psychologists who had the arrogance to believe they could cure this kind of amoral retard. The stranger laughed and said he was a psychologist.

"I take no offence. My profession has, in some ways, become hostage to its own theory. It took me years of practicing the 'science', if I may call it that, to accept that when the victims are displaced from the central argument about the death penalty being barbaric, the killer becomes the victim." This made the couple feel better about their outspoken views. The husband said it was extremely refreshing to hear this analysis from a psychologist. The stranger asked if they would, in theory, be prepared to execute the subject of the manhunt themselves. "Or would you expect someone else to take care of this, you know, in a paid capacity?"

The couple squirmed a little and made it obvious that they didn't want to continue the conversation. The stranger kept going. "You say things you don't mean. People like you always want others to take care of their whims – no questions asked. That would suggest that the executioners could be as devoid of intellect as you are."

The strain in the conversation was beginning to percolate to the locals, and Stepanov. In the middle of the carriage, the couple rose to head for the refreshment car, and others shuffled in their seats. Stepanov was explaining to his friends that the scene was becoming ugly and they should go to their cabins. The stranger had the final word as he blocked the couple's path. "You people are amongst the non-contributors in society, with your quick judgement and solutions, washing your hands of any cause and effect. You are precisely the weak-willed specimens who would never survive in the real world, the one without welfare safety nets, wealth-related medical care, and scavenging for your own survival without supermarkets."

The husband drew on his small reservoir of dilute courage and began to protest. In a flash his head was blown off. His wife took the next two rounds in the chest. The shock precipitated the other passengers to run for cover, but it was futile for those in his sight line. A second automatic pistol joined in the carnage and seven more innocent souls were shot at frighteningly close range. It was fortunate that Stepanov had alerted Zara and Mohammed in Iberian, they were behind the madman, and they were first through the adjoining carriage door. By this time the gunshots had spread panic throughout the train and fighting spread amongst the passengers. Some even dived out of the train, accepting the risk of death as opposed to certain death. It was a gruelling effort to get to Stepanov's cabin, but once inside, he opened his case and retrieved a powerful Taser he had brought along to demonstrate to the others ahead of arriving in bear country. He was nervous, but pushed his two colleagues behind him.

"If the door opens I'm going to fire, stay down." They sensed the train stopping. Amongst the muffled voices they continued to hear sporadic gunshots, which were actually getting closer. There was eventually a short period of silence, then footsteps and the chilling sound of a new magazine being loaded. The door of the next cabin opened and several seconds later it was closed. Stepanov braced himself and his eyes were incredibly focussed on the door handle. As soon as it started to move his attention was switched to the latch mechanism. He moved fractionally to the hinged side. He grabbed the handle and pulled it as hard as he could. This gave him a crucial element of surprise. The gunman's balance was temporarily shifted, and in the gap of the half-open door he discharged the Tazer. The shock delivered the knockout blow but also triggered muscle contraction which resulted in a 'reflex' squeeze on the trigger of the pistol. Mohammed slumped to the floor. Zara stood in a petrified frenzy while Stepanov yelled at him to help in getting Mohammed out of the cabin. It culminated in the Russian slapping him about the face, after which he complied with the order. The melee outside the train was unaware of the gunman's incapacitation until Stepanov informed a guard, and said he had better hurry to the cabin and recover the weapons before tying him in some restraining cord or rope. Mohammed was bleeding from a shoulder wound and was already unconscious. Stepanov told Zara to follow the guard back to the cabin and recover their luggage. Not being used to taking orders, he didn't respond. Stepanov yelled at him again and he re-boarded the train. As the news spread of the neutralisation of the gunman, many others followed suit. The train driver was trying to tell everyone that the police were on their way after the emergency call had been picked up. This provoked a quick assessment of the situation by Stepanov. He made the call to his friend and summarised the situation. He told him to divert the helicopter to the region, and they would make their way to a point some distance from the train. "I will transmit the exact GPS coordinates when we find an acceptable landing spot, with some cover." Stepanov didn't want the project to become mired in police business, and him emerging as the hero who stopped the killing. They would have to deal with Mohammed later. Zara was updated, and for the second time he was slightly in awe of the Russian's single-mindedness. Horror was added to the chaos as the dead were being brought out of the train, and there were many. This provided the chance for Mohammed to be carried out of sight at the rear of the last carriage. They hauled him over the embankment and proceeded to look for a suitable 'helipad'. The luggage was fortunately not excessive, and the two of them clambered over a grassy rise into the hollow behind. They left their belongings there while they returned to get Mohammed. His supple unconsciousness made him infinitely more difficult to carry than the luggage. They were both in severe oxygen debt by the time they reached their hideaway. Stepanov made another call and said he would transmit coordinates shortly, as they were not far enough from the train.

## Chapter 7

With Manuel working on tracing the registration of the assassins' weapons, Pierze called in Duarte. He knew of many eccentricities the ex-DCI had, but this was a new one. Duarte turned up after having been to see his son, Emile, going through his paces with the first team squad. There always seemed to be a significant number of fans in attendance for these practice sessions; there was also an unhealthy sprinkling of fast food vans. Duarte had developed a penchant for trying everything on offer, as long as it sat on top of a burger. Today was beetroot day. He had come directly to Pierze's office and attracted some attention from the staff as he strolled through the corridor of desks. Pierze looked at the perfect application of purple lip-liner, and his normal suppression of repulsion for once gave way to a smile, then a bout of controlled laughter. He had to sit down in order to retrieve some notes from the bottom drawer of his desk, and this gave him a chance to contain wave after wave of this strange sensation. "Are you alright Ricardo?" This made it worse and the repetitive rush distorted his speech.

"Yes, mm, of c-course, plee-ease take a...sorry Maxi, I er, excuse me...ee."

Duarte's mouth movement, coupled with his genuine concern was the final brick being removed from the dam. Ricardo Pierze fled to the restroom. It was a first. While in the shelter of a locked cubicle, he regained control, and mused that during this serious threat of losing the President, some things just had to go on. Maxi Duarte was a perfect example. Pierze took some tissues back to the office and handed them to the dumbstruck, retired policeman. "You have never called me Maxi before – Jesus, this must be serious." Pierze kept control this time and pointed to a mirror on the office wall.

"Oh," said Duarte, "yeah, I look like a clown on his way to a kid's party." He wiped away the source of mirth which had by now spread through the entire office floor. "What's so urgent? I thought you'd be submerged in this attempted assassination."

Pierze pulled down the blinds in his office. "I am, but there is also the problem of managing the day-to-day stuff which would have gone to Sanchez. I'm helping to babysit Falcorini. I have Manuel on the weapon side, and I would like your help in simply trawling through events in this department in the days or weeks leading up to the broadcast." Duarte threw the used tissues into the waste bin and stared directly into Pierze's eyes.

"You mean you suspect you have a mole?"

Pierze handed him the file which had, amongst other information, a summary of his meeting with Din Chow Zen. "I can't rule it out, but before you ask, I still do not believe this is Sidonia. However, we have to keep an open mind, and I can't be certain. There is good reason to connect the attempt with the subject matter of the broadcast. This wrangle over space exploration is what caused the breakdown in relations between Orient and Iberia last time. I would dearly love to find solid evidence that Orient isn't involved in this plot. Making such a conclusion public would go a long way to stabilising the situation, thinking rationally about who should follow Sanchez if he doesn't make it, and allowing us to resume our watch on Sidonia. Will you help me Duarte?" The response was typically acerbic.

"Of course Pierze, as long as you don't continue to call me Maxi. I don't want people to think we are friends. I have my reputation to think about."

*

Mohammed had recovered consciousness and was informed by Zara that he had taken a bullet to his shoulder from the madman on the train. The relationship of the entry and exit wounds indicated that it had been deflected by a bone. Mohammed began to wonder what he was doing here in the first place. "Why am I sitting in a field? I should be in hospital." Zara explained that a helicopter was on its way to do exactly that. "Where is our Russian friend?" Zara was evasive.

"He's looking for a suitable place for the helicopter to land." This didn't match up in Mohammed's mind.

"Where is the train? And where are all of the other passengers?"

Zara decided to level with him. "This is a very remote place and the police will take some time to reach the train. The rescue service may take even longer. Stepanov called his colleague to despatch our helicopter to pick you up. We needed to get away from the train to avoid others trying to board our transport; it could have got ugly. Stepanov managed to stun the gunman, but not before you were hit. He sent the guard to secure this madman and didn't want to be identified as the hero who 'saved the day'. So, we are out of sight of the train. There were so many people killed and wounded that it will take some time before they realise Stepanov isn't there. We would have been held up and you need medical attention. You are losing blood even though we have a primitive first aid kit and have tried to staunch the flow. We need to get you to Irkutsk." Mohammed felt tired and lapsed into semi-consciousness again.

Stepanov had found a large clearing amongst the trees at the bottom of the hollow. It was the best compromise between total obscurity and the distance they would have to carry Mohammed. He sent the coordinates to the pilot and decided to wait for him to arrive before attempting to carry the injured Egyptian to the landing site. He returned and began carrying the luggage and equipment to the rendezvous point while Zara tried to keep Mohammed awake. After fifty minutes they could hear the changing pitch of the rotor as it approached. Stepanov ran to the proposed drop point and waved his arms furiously. He backed off as the descent was carefully negotiated. The pilot was asked to switch off the rotor while he was acquainted with the plan. It was a painful transfer for Mohammed but once back in the air he concentrated on trying to avoid passing out by rambling on about his new laptop programme. The trip to Irkutsk was shorter than the outward leg of the chopper and the pilot was able to set down within a mile of the hospital, which he knew well. An ambulance which had advance notice of their arrival screamed toward them, with its siren blasting, and in less than 10 minutes Mohammed was admitted, and being prepared for surgery. Stepanov smiled at Zara.

"There is nothing money can't influence. There will be no questions asked."

The pilot re-loaded all of the luggage and equipment other than Mohammed's new stuff. Stepanov had been told that the patient may have to remain in their care for two days. This was not disputed, so the Russian wanted lessons in the use of the programme as soon as Mohammed was up to the task.

*

Manuel hadn't come up with any solid leads from his first general trawl of weapon-associated informants, so he decided to follow the trail of the specific sniper rifle serial number in the hope that it might lead to people who he knew. There was much more chance of this giving a genuine starting point than pursuing the rocket launchers, but it was also risky. He received help out of the blue from one of his former contacts in Montevideo. A reliable informant, this man had sought him out via conversation with his former editor. Manuel agreed to give the man his Londonis communicator number rather than use the office line. When the man contacted him he said he had important information and wanted to know what may be on offer as compensation. When Manuel said it was negotiable the reply was instant. "The first step is for me to come to you. I would need to get out of here. You know me well enough to understand I wouldn't be suggesting this if it wasn't necessary."

Manuel concurred but asked how long he would need to stay. "Forever, if and when you agree to this, and I'll need to become invisible over there once you have the information."

Manuel wanted to know more before undertaking such a commitment. "You don't have to sell this information do you? If you do nothing, why would you need to get out?" There was a hiatus; his voice evoked a sense of real fear.

"Maybe this call was a bad idea Manuel. Let's leave it."

The call was ended and Manuel was angry with himself for pushing too hard too soon. He redialled but there was no response. He called a former colleague at the Montevideo Independiente newspaper and asked him if there was any nervousness about disclosure of specific knowledge that the rifle was made in Brazil, but the serial number was still being withheld by Iberian Central Security.

"Yes there is. Many assassinations have yielded a similar scenario, but the killing of a President is seen as uniting the populous against the perpetrators. Some really heavy organisations are jittery. The word is that they are worried about the lack of information disclosed about the suicide bomber."

Manuel asked, "In what respect?"

The voice became slightly sarcastic. "Come on Manuel. This guy was blown to pieces, but some of those pieces must have been recovered. They know more than they claim to know. In any failed assassination the problems recede as long as the patsy accretes all blame. They must have run all recovered DNA against the criminal databases. Even if they don't have a name they must have a match. Nowadays you go on to these databases if you are caught pissing in the river. Surely you aren't going to tell me that any competent conspiracy to take down the President would recruit a choir boy for the job." Manuel tried to convey the magnitude of the recovery task of all available evidence.

"The fire complicated everything; there was foam everywhere. There were attendees from all over the world and referencing these people, dead or alive, with prints or DNA on wine glasses, furniture, handrails, laptops and briefcases is nowhere near complete. Believe me they're working flat out on this; the pressure to find any lead is intense."

His colleague was unmoved. "I imagine it is, however, why do you think there's a lot of effort going into taking Orient out of the firing line? Why has there been a top level meeting there and yet nobody of any standing has been to Southern Iberiana?"

Manuel paused before asking, "How do you know that?"

There was finality in the intonation of the caller's statement. "Not all of the Iberian government heavyweights are discreet. There's an element of convenience for this to be dropped on our doorstep. Maybe you should look at who stands to gain from responsibility being neatly attributed to gangs who have a lot to lose. A clever picture is being crafted of Sanchez being prevented from saying something which these clans could not and would not accept. Manuel, don't discount the possibility of Sanchez becoming a liability to the Republic in the eyes of those who crave power. I think you'll find it difficult to get more information from this part of the world. Good luck."

Reflecting on this and the previous call, he now regretted even more that he had been less than sympathetic to the cry for help. He was totally surprised when he received a second call from the same contact in the middle of the night. "You tried to get me via call-back. What do you want?"

Pushing back a yawn Manuel said, "I only wanted to say I would have to clear your request with someone I know I can trust, in the same way you and I have worked in the past."

The man was extremely impatient for an answer. "How long will this take, I don't have much time?"

Manuel went with his gut. "I can call you in an hour."

This was refused. "No, I'll call you again. If it's agreed I'll leave tonight. I'll need protection from the moment I get off the plane. In one hour then."

*

Stepanov and Zara boarded the chopper for the dig site, having promised Mohammed they would return for him in two days. The preparations had already begun and the spot of their previous discovery of the strange magnetic readings had been marked out again. The Geiger counters had been employed even though the terrain was quite boggy underfoot, and with all of these factors documented, the team had decided to follow the instructions of Mohammed. Stepanov recalled that the insects appeared to be even bigger than he remembered. It was one of the hired hands who said it could be due to their exposure to radiation over more than a hundred years. Zara's first hike to the object zone left him with the lasting impression that it had to be a candidate for the most depressing place on Earth. Even the polar caps or the ocean bottom had redeeming features to offset the danger to human life. Snow covered mountain peaks and phosphorescent life forms took one's breath away. Tunguska simply neutralised the mind, so that it no longer seemed necessary to breathe. The scanning equipment was set up as Mohammed had prescribed and the laptop was connected to the interface architecture. Apparently it would take between 15 and 30 minutes for sufficient data to be received and rearranged before the final compilation was uploaded to the profiling software. This was going to seem like a long time in the hazmat suits. It wasn't advisable to have gaseous exchange with the outside atmosphere this close to the radiation source, and it was approaching the hottest part of the day. Anyone suffering from claustrophobia would have already run for home. After twenty-one agonising minutes the four LED's flashed from red to green and this was the signal that the upload had started, so they could now head back. The profiling would start automatically.

When they arrived they were all relieved to get out of the suits and take their decontamination shower. They all donned respiration filters and queued for the welcome shot of bottled oxygen-rich air. "My God," shouted one of the recruits, in Russian. Stepanov and his friend were first to react, and joined the young man at the laptop. The emerging picture was roughly cylindrical in shape and currently estimated at a depth of eighteen metres. There was apparently no distortion which would have been expected with an impact.

As more data was interpreted by the software, they couldn't believe what was being suggested. There were three distinct layers; the inner one cigar-shaped? This inner layer was by far the hottest, and the likely source of the radiation. As yet there was no explanation of the magnetic spikes. The layers differed considerably in density and again the inner one was singled out as extremely heavy. If this estimate of weight was correct, the helicopter may be inadequate as a lifting tool. The screen flashed up a rectangular green box stating 'programme complete'.

The discussion turned from disbelief to fantasy. Stepanov eventually shouted down the runaway enthusiasm. "Gentlemen, please calm down. This object has apparently been here for a long time. I say apparently because we are guided by observations made over one hundred years ago, during a massively destructive event. If this object is some part or by-product of that cataclysm, we are justified in thinking it doesn't appear to be a naturally occurring fragment of either an asteroid or a comet. However, let us not forget that this picture we see is the product of technology we are not familiar with. So before we get carried away, I suggest we confront Mohammed with the output of his programme. I will fly with Zara to the hospital in Irkutsk and ask Mohammed to talk us through the findings, before we authorise any more activity."

Zara pondered this 'wet blanket' from Stepanov. He deduced from the visual exchanges between him and his government friend that they wanted to rule out any possibility of unsupported claims; including clever hoaxes from within the group, such as pre-prepared graphic evidence of something too heavy and dangerous to recover. He agreed to make the trip.

When they arrived at his bedside, Mohammed was sitting up, enjoying a coffee. The doctor said he was weak from loss of blood and he had a cracked bone in his shoulder, but there was no infection and he was expected to make a full recovery. Stepanov asked the doctor if they could have a private conversation with the patient. When they showed the laptop analysis to Mohammed he surprised them by his rapid-fire questions. "This is extremely interesting, what is it? When do you plan to scan for the fragment? Can you get the doctor to release me? I am just killing time here." He suddenly stopped and when he was met with silence he said, "What is it? What do you have to tell me? Has the doctor told you something he has not told me? Why have you come back here so quickly?...... For God's sake tell me."

Stepanov gathered he was on morphine and lanced his concern. "Don't worry. We are here to see if we can get you out today so you can return with us. First we need to look at this object. It could be in the way of our excavation of the fragment. We need you to tell us how accurate you think this description is. For example we think the weight may be too great to lift with the chopper. Do you think will we have to excavate around it and descend to get more reliable estimates?"

Mohammed took the laptop and punched in a few commands, then showed the output to his visitors. "The accuracy of overall prediction is circa 87%. There is variation. The shape of this inner material is lower than the average at 59%, and the density of the middle layer is even less at 26%. The total weight however, is much more reliable at 94%. We would be well advised to scan from various angles instead of directly above if we want to improve the reliability further. Anyway, where exactly is this thing in relation to the fragment?"

Stepanov was satisfied and Zara was relieved. They gave him the truth. "Dr. Mohammed, this is the fragment."

The Egyptian temporarily forgot his restricted shoulder movement and winced as he turned the screen back to them. "This is... this thing is the fragment? Surely you are mistaken – look, it is obviously man-made." He looked at them appealingly and realised from their smiles that they had considered this themselves. Stepanov shrugged his shoulders.

"That's why we need you to come back with us. It's difficult to see how this could be man-made in 1908 or before. Even if our government at that time possessed the means of predicting this impact, and kept it secret to avoid panic, this thing doesn't fit. We have thought about efforts to deter any new intruders – a bomb maybe, but we cannot subscribe to this. If that had been the case they would have retrieved this object prior to granting exploration licences to maintain the cover-up. We want to avoid speculation by simply getting on with the task of excavating the surrounding terrain to confirm your laptop predictions. I'm now going to discuss your discharge with the doctor."

As the arrangement to admit Mohammed had been 'off the record' his discharge was of mutual benefit. When the helicopter dropped the returning contingent at the camp site the others were thirsting for news. A quick thumbs-up from Stepanov was greeted with cheers. Now that Mohammed had accepted that the laptop was describing their prized object, he recommended additional scans to be performed. He chose the four magnetic reference points of the compass from which to get lateral profile data. The weather was more forgiving this time, cooler and a few scattered but welcome showers, which helped reduce the plague of airborne chitin.

## Chapter 8

Manuel's contact had arrived in Londonis via a circuitous route. Montevideo to Buenos Aires was logical, but the next transits were intended to complicate any surveillance which may already be on to him. Arriving in Lagos he took an arduous overland journey to Tunis, a sea crossing to the Northern pillar of Hercules, an internal eight seat propeller flight to Seville, and finally Iberian airways economy to Londonis. He was over two hours late compared to the touchdown he had given Manuel, but it was a small concession to ensure his safe deliverance.

They drove to a quiet suburban hostelry by the river. It was a venue in which it was relatively easy to recognise outsiders, and 'foreigners' tended to stand out even more, so Manuel asked the barman to scan the clientele. After the pleasantries Manuel asked his friend where he would like to start. The reply was unambiguous. "I need to have a 'safe house' before I begin to burden you with what I know, and I want to live there for long enough to be sure I haven't been traced before I talk. Once you have the information we will be at a crossroads. We can decide not to exit and just leave it there, or proceed. All exits are into one way streets and will stir up a war. It's just a question of which war."

Raul Ibanez had been interconnected to several illegal organisations and corrupt government heavyweights in Southern Iberiana for a long time. This chameleonic life had aged him prematurely and although he rarely got it wrong, this time he had broken a cardinal rule. He had fallen for an elaborate sting. All of his disclosures to Manuel in the past had been verification of suspicions already publicised in the press as speculation. This helping hand was always in the interest of a particular organisation, which would benefit from a rival gang's exposure, by a corrupt government official turning a blind eye to some of their lucrative operations. In this instance he had satisfied himself that his girlfriend of over three years was genuine. She had groomed him slowly, backed up with passionate sex, and her convincing portrayal of a poor girl swept off her feet by the extravagant lifestyle he provided. The gang she worked for fabricated a situation where the information delivered to the prosecution could only have come from one source. When it could be absolutely proven to be false, he knew he had been cornered. He had been lucky insofar as, at the time they chose to take him out, set up by his girlfriend, he was injured in a car accident. He was unconscious in hospital and his communicator had been broken in the crash. He had heard on the news of the information he passed on being bogus and he left the hospital without discharging himself. He spent two days amongst the homeless, having had no problem in trading his riches for rags, and he then sought out a seaman's mission in which small change could get a bed for the night. When he felt the search for him had cooled a little, he racked his brain for a name that could help him get out of Southern Iberiana. Manuel came to mind and he rang the Independiente from a public phone, asking to speak to Snr. Salina, knowing that Manuel was in Londonis. He explained to the editor that he had information which would benefit the paper, but he could only trust Manuel. He said he had lost the number as his communicator had been accidentally wiped. 'I know he's in Londonis. This is urgent, please contact him with the code word 'Calibre' and he will confirm I'm genuine. I've helped him many times before.'

The editor had been cagey. 'It is probably better if I ask him to call you.'

This had been curtly refused. 'No, it doesn't work like that. I'll call again in 48 hours and you either give me the number to contact him or forget it.' The editor had complied, but Ibanez didn't purchase a new 'pay as you go' communicator, with false personal details until he had Manuel's number.

Manuel was thinking hard on the safe house, and took on board what his former colleague at the Independiente had implied – namely Iberian government involvement. When he aired this with Ibanez, he asked him how he felt about the Londonis police providing his cover. "Are you serious? If I'd known this I would never have come here. Of course I already know of specific and unnamed individuals in the Madrid hierarchy who are in this plot, but asking me to trust the police with my life – no way."

Manuel lowered his voice. "Hear me out. My partner, Elle Butragueno is Chief Inspector of the precinct, and we worked together on the Sidonia conspiracy. If there's anyone I can trust in this world, it's her. She's in a position to lay a false trail, so we can be alerted to any 'sniffing' around, and only you and I know where you actually are."

Ibanez breathed a sigh of relief. "I see where you're coming from. When do we begin the search for a suitable location?" Manuel eased his concern further.

"I'll call Elle tonight, and we start in the morning."

*

The lateral scanning data was uploaded and the constantly changing outline of the object, due to the four viewing points, was generating incredible excitement. Mohammed urged them to be patient; there would be many adjustments before the 'sketch' was completed. That moment was virtually lost amongst the premature celebrations. The side views had shown the overall shape to be like an egg-timer rather than a cylinder. The top was capped with a hemispherical dome, which appeared to have four shaded areas. The bottom half wasn't a perfect match; and this was the cause of the unbridled joy. There was no hemisphere, it was a sharpened pencil. Below this was the crowning discovery – a tripod with what could be shock absorption mechanisms. All of the heat was generating from the innermost layer, and there was evidence of a slight breach through the mid and outer layers, which probably explained the radiation leakage. The density picture was also enhanced by more detail. The mid layer was very low compared to the others, with the inner core being by far the heaviest. The weight assessment was confirmed, and was too high for the helicopter to retrieve. Mohammed suggested excavating a long ramp with a gentle slope down to the 18 metre depth, and then they could consider winching the object up the ramp. They would need to be sure they could lay it gently on its side on a flat plate, and drag it upwards slowly so that the plate could benefit from the 'lubricating' effect of modular roller sections. These would have to be made to specified drawings and laid on 'railway tracks'; he suggested four tracks to distribute the weight. They would need to clear space to land the helicopter and anchor it to a number of sturdy trees. Although the load on the winching chopper would be a fraction of that when trying to lift it vertically, he wanted to do more calculations to ensure over-specification. "We will have to get the plate, rollers and tracks made in a foundry by a steel stockholder. Can you get on to this immediately?" He was addressing Stepanov, and after he had consulted with his friend they agreed that both of them would check out the possibilities in Irkutsk. They were hopeful as it was a major terminus, and consequently a rolling stock provider for the rail network. Stepanov looked at Zara and gestured that it meant more money was needed. Zara nodded and they began the necessary calculations for the fabrication and also the safe ferry loads for the helicopter. While the two Russians were on this procurement mission Zara quizzed Mohammed on his interpretation of the new data. The Egyptian was guarded, but couldn't deny that there were really only two explanations. Firstly, it was made under some secret government project to observe, destroy or deflect the object. "It patently failed to achieve the last two. It may have recorded certain data. This theory is weak because at the time of the event, there is no knowledge of such technical capability. Furthermore, the structure of the object itself suggests nuclear fission is present in a controlled way as opposed to natural occurrence. We know that it was later in the twentieth century that this process was discovered. This leaves the second scenario that it did not originate on Earth. This is a big leap, and any uncontrolled spread of this claim would cause an influx of world media which would be very unhelpful. It wouldn't need to be true – hinting at such an explanation would be enough. If we can get it free from the clutches of the strata in which it is bound, we can hopefully learn more. What intrigues me most is the magnetic aberration. It has to somehow fit with the rest, and it is the only facet of the programme output which remains blank. The consistent inconsistency is a real puzzle. The spike being consistent and the frequency being random could be due to some periodic polar inversion process, or it could be programmed according to some other prevailing condition which has eluded us. It all adds up to the need to get it out of there."

*

Zara was in some kind of suspended reality. He hadn't tried to contact either Moya or Angel since he arrived in what he perceived as a 'hell hole', and he had a strong feeling of belonging to this disparate band of pirates, who were just as motivated by the adventure on the high seas as the promise of bounty. It was a freedom which was addictively new to him. Zara didn't need to worry about Cerberus anyway. Everything was progressing well. In fact, the collaboration of Hernandez and Boniface continued to flourish. Following on from the ringtone success, they had simplified the emotional profiling approach which the disciples would employ to 'pigeon-hole' the potential converts. With the timescale in mind and the difficulty of covering all of the permutations and combinations of personality traits, they split the objective into achievable sub-targets. Boniface had convinced Hernandez that although the required flexibility may be achievable in the future it was beyond their capability within a year. She said that reliability was more important than fancy technology with blank spots. "We should get experience with partial categorisation via interview, the results of which are overlaid with a grid of possible recommendations. The disciples can easily assimilate this approach and assign the final rating out there in the field. This will also be formatted in the required structure to import to our hardware and software ambition, and indeed help to design it in a practical way, rather than a purely theoretical one. The feedback from disciples will form the design template for your equipment research, and it will be a continuously statistical approach, which can only become more valid over time. So, you have a fluid evolvement of requirement instead of projected steps. The final benefit is that this could be ready to go inside a year, which should make our leader a little more understanding." Hernandez concurred with her logic and it had the advantage of being her idea if it failed to measure up.

*

When Manuel floated his request to Butragueno she was resistant to the idea. He persevered and kept emphasising it would only be short-term. He stressed that the precinct wouldn't have to pick up any cost, and she could use his name as the occupant. "This will give credibility. I'm on the assassination case and I'll get Pierze to authorise this on that basis, so you aren't telling lies. It's only stretching the truth because I'm putting myself in the firing line by getting involved in this murky plot."

She relented. "Manuel, I don't like the idea of you sticking your neck out either, but I know I'm wasting my time trying to talk you out of it. I'll let you know when we have the keys, but make sure you have Pierze's written backup - for the files, otherwise you and I will have a problem. Do I have to meet this person?"

She was thrown for a millisecond when he replied, "I hoped you wouldn't, otherwise my plan would be scuppered – it is actually another woman."

She returned the favour. "In that case I would like to meet her. Set it up and move in yourself." Manuel smiled and thanked her seriously for the favour. She got up to leave and couldn't resist a final jibe. "Call me when her demands on your time are less than her demands on your body."

*

While Stepanov and friend were in Irkutsk, the others began the excavation of the ramp. The boggy topsoil made the task a little easier. They were also guided by the laptop programme, which had identified rocky obstacles. The optimum route was for the slope to begin from the southwest. Progress was slow as the earth mover was designed to be more efficient to bore down in a vertical direction. They improvised by drilling down from directly over the object for a metre, then turning toward the intended ultimate ground level point to the northeast, and finally excavate in that direction at the same rake specified from the 18 metre depth. This cycle was repeated for two metre verticals, three metre verticals and so on. It did require reinforcement of the ever-deepening sides of the ramp but it also kept everyone usefully occupied. After a week they were on the last downward vertical section and it happily coincided with a call from Stepanov to say the plate and rollers were ready to be despatched in relays. The helicopter had already delivered the standard length rail-tracks. The object's final exposure was a momentous event. Mohammed declared that something – the atmosphere, the light, the change in temperature – whatever, had triggered a different magnetic signature from the object. It had also begun to generate this on a uniformly repetitive interval. This was perceived as representing a message to somewhere or someone, or both. Stepanov was on his way with the first consignment of rollers when he received the news. The air around the camp site and the incoming chopper was filled with a delicate but alternating diffusion of history in the making, and latent foreboding.

The next three days witnessed a dedicated operation and its supply chain. The magnetic signal had now altered its period of transmission, but not the content. Just as they completed the roller installation and set about securing the helicopter, Mohammed once again made a worrying observation. "The magnetic output has stopped altogether!" After some discussion they returned to their allotted tasks. The plate was positioned and the steel harness cable was secured around the outer shell which now appeared to be ten-inch thick solid lead – but it wasn't. The tension was unbearable – literally. As the winch began to rock the object, the team charged with the role of being the losing side in the tug of war, held their rope as taught as they could to avoid the object crashing down on to the plate. They knew there would be a tipping point at which they couldn't hold the weight. Two of the volunteers were ready with cupped steel struts to support the object, hopefully before this point was reached. The struts were braced together and locked on to the rails. The design called for gradually shortening struts to be applied after the helicopter had replaced the tug of war team. Its job was now to slow the descent of the object to a gentle supine position. There was relief all around when this had occurred. A brief emotional hiatus only served to mentally move on to the prospect of returning the helicopter to its original winching post and hope the calculations of Mohammed were not flawed. It seemed like an eternity for those merely looking on at the pilot; he was by far the coolest of the group during this phase. Silicone lube had been sprayed on to the rollers. Halfway up the slope the object suffered a tendency to slide to one side, so the tug of war team had to try to compensate once more. It was much less stressful while occupied than it was when simply in observation mode. The last part of the ascent was achieved without further incident. It was now time to contemplate the task of restoring the object to its upright stance. They had previously settled for an extension of the ramp equivalent to the height of the object and dragged it to the pre-tipping point over the edge of this extension. It was still secured to the plate and the third session for the tug of war team saw them split into two groups. Each was positioned at a corner which would represent the upper resting plane of the plate. The plate was chocked by jamming the struts between rollers. The combined function of the tug of war boys and these struts was to maintain stability until the chopper played its most defining role. The pilot delicately applied drag to find the fulcrum. They had deliberately made this wide enough for the plate to be able to retain stability, but not so wide as to make the next job more difficult. Switching positions for the last time, the helicopter was ready to hold the plate and the team began to remove a small amount of earth directly under the furthest side of the fulcrum. The pilot signalled that the strain was high enough. They changed sides and took the earth away from the bottom of the ramp extension and used it to back fill the adjacent part of the excavated ramp. By meticulously alternating these actions the attitude of the object was nearing a point where a second plate was placed on the horizontal back-filed trench. When they were satisfied that it was on level ground it was pushed slowly under the suspended object. The helicopter now applied sufficient pull against the leaning plate plus object, and the renewed balancing force of the tug of war squad, to stand their trophy the right way up. All that remained was to free it from its companion steel plate and secure its vertical attitude with steel guide ropes. Despite the draining experience there was a clamour to begin analytical work. Common sense prevailed and they would sleep on prioritising these analyses.

## Chapter 9

Ibanez had spent over a week in his new surroundings and had gradually gained confidence to venture out for walks, food, and simply travelling around to see if he was being followed. He was very experienced in this respect, and also in how to lose anyone acting suspiciously. Manuel made a scheduled visit. He let him know that Butragueno hadn't observed any unexpected reaction in the precinct to Manuel's bogus need for protection, and none of her staff knew of the address. The authorisation she needed from Pierze was not disclosed to Ibanez as Manuel didn't see any point in giving him another reason to be nervous. She accepted this explanation, which was just as well because Manuel had not requested it; he had forged it on official stationery picked up during his visit to Madrid. He hated this deception, but he was highly sensitive to both Ibanez and his former colleague at the Independiente advising him that there was a whiff of government involvement in the plot.

"Very good, now Manuel, can we discuss my permanent hideaway?" It was a good sign; maybe he was even ready to start talking.

"Of course, did you have any particular location in mind?" Ibanez surprised him by the choice and the certainty that the trade would depend on it.

"Somewhere quiet in Orient. Korea would be okay or perhaps Japan. I don't want to go to China and I don't want to remain anywhere in the Iberian Republic." Manuel reminded him that he would be conspicuous in Orient and it would take some high leverage brokering to get this done officially.

"It would, in my opinion be risky. I would have to involve Iberian officials, something I've been careful to avoid."

Ibanez laughed at Manuel's concern. "Who said anything about doing this through official channels? Just get me a long stay package holiday, and I'll simply blend into the new Iberian – Oriental trade membrane. I'll let the travel company know I'm not returning, so they don't look for me. I'll say I have a sister in the country and I'm going to stay on for a while longer. I'll assure them I'm not looking for a refund for the return leg. I'm resourceful at this kind of disappearing act, don't worry I'll find unofficial work. Once I'm settled I'll seek brokered protection as a double agent. Can you get me some brochures to browse?" Manuel nodded and returned to his office slightly confused and a little concerned.

*

The early morning cloud was a blessing for the close-up analysis of the object. They did have to chase a curious bear away from the ramp area. The egg-timer had a thick waist; this had not attracted particular interest while they had conducted the tricky ascent up the ramp. The explanation was quickly revealed by the first new scans. The inner component was not cigar shaped. The all-round access for the scanner resulted in the laptop picture of two pyramids with the bases connected to one another at the central part of the waist section of the egg-timer. One pyramid's pinnacle pointed to the bottom and the other to the top. By examining each pyramid face in turn they saw that only one had any distinguishing marks which could show through the middle and outer layers. The mark was at the top right hand corner of one face of the lower pyramid. It was a large, dark circular dot contained within a larger circle. This motif or engraving displayed such precision that they all knew it was accomplished by some process associated with sentient life. They returned to the camp site and discussed the implications of this. The entire group, except Zara, conceded that they needed the best and most sophisticated scientific expertise on the task. Stepanov made the suggestion that his friend should make an official request to Moscow for assistance. Zara asked why these 'experts' would believe this thing was 18 metres below the surface. "They are just as likely to think we or someone else put it there, and then claimed an Earth-shattering discovery. I would be sceptical in their position."

Mohammed disagreed, arguing that the separation of the layers would surely indicate this was not of terrestrial origin. Stepanov concurred. "The lake was much larger a hundred years ago, and if the object landed in shallow water or the boggy outskirts, it would surely have sunk quite quickly through the strata close to the surface, and continued over time. The other consideration is one of safety; we don't know what we would release into the atmosphere by opening this up."

Zara conceded and the call was made. Mainly due to Alexei's friend's reputation in an official capacity within the Russian Government, their attention was assured. The prospect that this could be the most important story in history, and that it was in the Motherland also had gravitas. It ricocheted very rapidly to the highest political level and hit the news desk before the assignment personnel had been decided. The money which was unavailable previously was miraculously pouring in from all directions, and legal specialists were already busy constructing a bandwagon of tiered participation for foreign interest. It would be ruthlessly exploited – unless something about it was discovered which turned it into a 'weather balloon in the New Mexico desert'.

Yelena Tourisheva, as the current Minister of Science and Technology, was to head up the invasion. She delegated the safety aspects to Vladimir Porec, the government advisor on nuclear science. He was despatched immediately to Tunguska, to make preliminary recommendations before other personnel arrived. Acting on the information provided by Stepanov, Tourisheva selected Anatoly Priskin to recruit a team who would take care of the equipment specification to open up the object and contain any perceived threat. Analytical programmes fell to Georgi Tomashevski, one of the most respected molecular biochemists in the world. When knowledge of this hand-picked team of experts found its way back to the group camped near Lake Baikal, it met with differing reaction. Stepanov and friend could see their place in history being secured. The volunteers imagined a big payday looming, even if they were feeding off scraps falling from the table – they would be immense scraps. The pilot foresaw redundancy. Mohammed cancelled long standing commitments in order to muscle in – as part of the nucleus of pioneers who actually made the excavation possible. Zara felt his new family was being absorbed into an orphanage of bureaucracy. He announced his departure. It was Stepanov who pleaded with him to stay. "This wouldn't be happening if you hadn't been willing to invest in the dream of two men already on death row. Your faith in us has ensured we will be able to repay you in financial terms ten times over, but we want you to share this amazing experience with us. It will simply not be the same without you."

Zara's eyes misted up. He had experienced many new emotions since embarking on this crazy venture. "Very well, but I want to keep out of the limelight, it's your show. Well, yours and your friend's, speaking of him, when are you going to introduce me? His name will soon be known all over the world."

Stepanov told him it wasn't really a big deal now. "He is actually deputy head of a department in the Russian Intelligence Agency. You can see how it might have appeared if we had been followed or made claims which would have made the department lose credibility. His name is Boris Krasnic. You can shout it from the rooftops now – the agency is already doing so." Zara saw the implied irony and simultaneously mused, 'the Russian Intelligence Agency', that could be very interesting.

The survey by Vladimir Porec didn't take long and the appropriate measures were set in motion to stop the radiation leak with a temporary fix. This allowed the rest of the team access to the object. The media were not allowed inside the hurriedly erected exclusion zone which was policed by unfriendly looking guards accompanied by large, growling canines, which were particularly bad tempered, courtesy of the insect population. The rest of the world had plugged into humanity's first contact circus, and Zara received a call from Moya. He played it down and issued instructions to deny any speculation that he had any part in this. "I hope you're enjoying running DCI, and I expect a full interim report on progress toward our objectives. If I'm happy with what I hear we may have a discussion on bringing forward the change of roles I mentioned – on a permanent basis. So, keep my name out of all this and you'll do yourself a big favour Moya."

This was an irresistible challenge for Moya, but one in which there was no room for failure. The only aspect which struck him as strange was the apparent willingness of his boss to embrace, in his opinion, the tedious assignment of recruiting millions of plebs to their cause.

Messenger

Although Porec had fabricated a makeshift means of stifling radiation effuse, he noted that the temperature had begun to rise alarmingly. He figured that apart from whatever cooling system had been designed into the object, it must have benefitted from over a century's residence in the permafrost. He called a halt to all operations until he could restore sufficient cooling to the fission system. A gigantic lifting apparatus eventually arrived from Irkutsk. It had made its way through all manner of obstacles, mostly by brushing them aside. Its huge caterpillar treads allowed a steady five kilometres per hour. It was fitted with a pair of arms which clasped the object and lifted it clear of the plate. It was able to turn forward, back and sideways – but not just yet. Porec had determined that the intense heat was being generated from the top section, just under the hemispherical cap. Closer scrutiny under very high magnification revealed that the outer casing was not totally homogeneous. He asked Tomashevski to look into this. After some heated discussion it was decided to take the risky step of extracting a rod-shaped sample through the hemispherical cap, terminating at the middle layer. This was an extremely delicate task, but when they had drilled less than a quarter of the way the drill encountered a change in resistance. They decided to halt and think about the next step. In withdrawing the drill two significant discoveries were made. The first indicated that there was a thin layer of something else in the lead at the point of altered resistance. The second was purely fortuitous – in retracting the drill, the minute lack of precision in its exit trajectory produced a slight loosening action of the cap. Only now did the dividing line between the main egg-timer and this detachable end appear visible. They eventually found that a specific downward pressure followed by a rocking motion released it another fraction. Repeating this over and over gradually raised the cap sufficiently to be able to get in a fibre optic camera. What they saw was bewildering, and they decided to close it up again until they could improve the cooling. This would also give Tomashevski time to identify the thin layer. This thin layer was shown by computer enhancement of the highly magnified images, to be only one of a number of them, culminating with the innermost residing pretty close to the middle layer. They were also now aware that the complete removal of the cap would expose this layer.

Tomashevski returned with the printouts. "It is Zirconium Silicate." The import of this to Porec was obvious. Research in the first decade of the century had indicated this material was amongst a number of potential candidates being considered as a neutron absorber for improved radiation containment. Those in the on-looking circus, which now included the members of the Stepanov expedition, were getting restless, and this percolated to Yelena Tourisheva. She was a scientist turned politician, and her 'manual of survival' clearly screamed – 'deniability'. There was no means of passing this buck and so she enforced the virtues of caution.

The more efficient cooling system had taken three long days to rig up and they were still debating the next step. It was considered too dangerous to drill through any more Zirconium Silicate layers just to get to the middle layer. The argument shifted to the difference between the top and bottom sections. This threw up the question of why there was radioactive material in the object in the first place. It was Porec who for once removed his safety hat and reminded them all of the historical aspects of why it was here at all. "We have yet to prove conclusively that this thing arrived here at the same time as the destructive cosmic body in 1908. There is much circumstantial evidence to entertain this, but not absolute proof. So if we accept for now that it did arrive at that time and it landed softly, the observations of witnesses should be treated with both respect and caution. This second sun, which is a recurring claim, is important. This object is undeniably a sophisticated device, and its dismantling may yet reveal its true purpose. If the timeline we imagine is correct, the object – which is possibly the second sun, may have been a messenger. If it had soft landing capability it is therefore logical for it to have had a propulsion system. A nuclear system of some kind could be logical. Look at it as if the cap is the rear rather than the top, the other end is more aerodynamic and has the landing gear. It is then like a projectile. Please hear me out. If this projectile was tracking the cosmic body, this would fit with the witness accounts that it emerged rather than splintered from the destroyer. If it was monitoring the giant rock it may have slipped out of the vapour trail at the critical structural integrity breach, and chose to land in shallow water, close to the event, so it could easily be found." The silence was an indicator of either logic or hallucination. Tourisheva shifted uncomfortably at the thought of endorsing this, but like a genie in a bottle, the uncorking had occurred, it could not be unsaid.

The air of excitement had been restored. It had also indirectly led to the suggestion that if the 'nuclear part' was detachable then maybe there was another such section which could be unhinged. They closed the hemispherical section once more and applied the technique further down while gripping the bottom half of the egg-timer. It was a Eureka moment. It came apart at the narrowest part of its 'waist'. The two sections were independently sealed and the base of each pyramid could now be seen through clear material. The opposing sides of the pyramids had what looked like complimentary electronic partner devices. It was a real breakthrough and it enabled the two parts to be distanced from one another to determine if the radioactivity was confined to one, or present in both.

The good news was that it proved to be only the 'aft' section which was generating the problem, and it could now be transported to a safer distance. The main focus was now on the other part. It was assumed that although the 'forward' section was not generating radiation it may still need to be protected from it; and that there may be something in it which was powered by the fission process. They still had to proceed with care. This didn't prevent Tourisheva from stepping forward and releasing the latest situation to the media, as if she had always been at the sharp end of the tense decision process.

A second drilling operation was conducted on an area near the pointed end. This time it was decided to go into the middle layer and extract a sample. It was a very unusual material. Left alone it flowed freely as any other liquid would, but whenever the slightest shear stress was applied it became a semi-solid with elastic properties. This was sophisticated di-latency as never seen before. The white liquid phase could be transformed to the pink, rubbery elastomer by merely poking a spatula into it. Numerous theories were advanced, but it always came back to this layer functioning as protective suspension for the inner components. Confidence was robust. They all agreed to progress further, and reveal the enclosed pyramid.

They allowed the white shock-absorbing component to slowly drain through the aperture. Then by further experimentation, found that they could apply similar 'press and rock' moves, which facilitated lifting the pyramid from its leaden sheath. The anticipation was palpable. It looked unremarkable except for the dark dot enclosed in a white circle. This had been observed earlier with the scanning equipment, but now they could see the insignia was reminiscent of a cartouche, as if it had been pressed into the metallic-looking face of the pyramid. It became a bit of an anti-climax when it didn't respond to any stimuli. There was no option left open but to 'reconnect' it to the aft section. The pyramid material seemed impenetrable.

Fortunately the re-joining process was not too uncomfortable as the cooling mock-up had achieved its objective and the temperature was stabilising. The instant the connection was correctly oriented the 'cartouche' glowed. Totally out of character, Zara asked that some respect should be shown to the man who had ceaselessly believed in his great-grandfather's claim. "Alexei Stepanov has been the sole driving force behind this discovery. His friend and all the rest of us in the expedition have merely assisted. Those whose expertise this has attracted are also in that category. I hope he will not mind me saying that his initial quest to follow his ancestor's assertions left him with radiation exposure which will severely shorten his life. I think he should at least be the first to 'push the button'."

It was a moving scene, as one by one individuals nodded. It reached a crescendo when the press joined in. And so it was that Alexei Stepanov activated the remainder of that face of the pyramid. It was a display of numerals. At the sharp end was a red dot with a white circle; above this were two identical motifs. The third row had three and as logic demanded the fourth had four. The fifth however saw a departure – it had a yellow dot with a red circle. Mohammed leapt ahead to the ninth row and sure enough it displayed two yellow dots with red circles plus a squiggle of some complexity then a green dot with a yellow circle. "It is a rudimentary quaternary arithmetic progression – a counting system." Before the others could challenge this Stepanov could not resist pressing the insignia again. Nothing happened.

Somebody shouted, "Press one of the glowing numerals." He pressed the equivalent of number one. It worked, the glow of all numerals was extinguished and the corner insignia lit up again. He pressed this again and the pyramid rotated one face in an anti-clockwise direction. The same right-hand corner dot appeared and lit up. This picture did not provide a challenge. It was clearly and unmistakably a diagram of the solar system. The sequence was rotated through another dot, another face, another diagram. This was the real beginning of a debate between the scientists and the politicians. The 'drawing' illustrated a cosmic body emerging from the direction of the asteroid belt, and heading for Earth. It was being joined by another small object from a trajectory which would only just avoid capture by Mars. The implications were manifold and Tourisheva tried to close down further speculation by declaring that the object should not be examined further. She said she would make preparations to have it transported back to Moscow and exhibit it in the museum of natural history. "The people of Russia deserve to see this evidence, which at last would help bring to a conclusion the Tunguska mystery."

The members of the expedition were supported by the scientists she had chosen, in resisting this edict. Porec pressed the next button. The fourth and last face produced a highly contentious suggestion. It was however something which would have to be independently checked out. Although there was no way of determining the date of the next predicted event, there was no doubt that the cosmic body was the same parent as the one in the previous face, minus the fragment which actually hit Tunguska. What was more frightening was the critical effect given to the slight alteration in trajectory of this monster, which would turn a near miss into an impact. That dubious honour, it implied, fell to one of the moons of Mars – Phobos.

## Chapter 10

Raul Ibanez had trawled the brochures and settled for Seoul. He asked Manuel to arrange a twelve-week visa holiday for him and assured him that he would never return. Manuel asked Ibanez when he was about to deliver his part of the bargain. "I can do it now if you wish, or when you have the travel documents and new passport for me. What I'm pretty certain of is that you won't want me hanging around after I have disgorged the information. I trust you Manuel – do you trust me?" Manuel could not get others involved in this now; he would have to expense this exodus for Ibanez out of his own business.

"Of course, but if it's as risky as you say it is to have this information, I may as well have it sooner rather than later."

Ibanez asked him to take a walk with him. He was still paranoid about phones and properties being bugged. When they were seated by an artificial lake, inhabited by swans, and model boats, of both anoraks and children, he was about as comfortable as he was going to get. "Take your mind back to the days before Sanchez was elected. Your father was expected to win by a landslide. Have you ever wondered what went wrong? I don't mean that Sidonia stuff - that came out later."

Manuel shook his head. "No, I had a very strained relationship with my father. I was just glad he lost."

This surprised Ibanez, but he continued, "Can you remember the previous election?"

Manuel was losing patience. "What is this? A quiz? Just get on with it."

Ibanez did exactly that. "Ok, the previous election was won, according to the pundits, by very clever campaign management. This was headed up by a former Iberian ambassador to Brazil. His name was Nelson Ortega. Many insiders said he was a much better candidate than the President he got elected. You would have got a different story from the people I used to work with. His nickname in the underworld was 'The Lid'. He came by this accolade because, during his time as ambassador, he would talk to anyone, or do anything if it kept the lid on difficult situations. Regardless of the crime – murder, drugs, fraud or tax evasion, he was prepared to deal under the radar, to keep his career on track." Manuel looked at Ibanez quizzically. "But Ortega died trying to protect the President."

A shake of his head was the precursor to the real substance. "No Manuel, he died because he had recruited the sniper to kill the President. He didn't know about the bomb. He was trying to play the convincing hero when he saw his killer discard the gun. It was quick thinking, but as it turned out he would have died in the explosion anyway. " There was a strained silence.

"You have proof of this?"

Ibanez laughed out loud. "I had dealings with a mark from a rival organisation when Ortega was ambassador. We were going to 'off' this mark, but were frustrated when he managed to skip the country. It took a while to find out he had turned up in Southern Africana, and had somehow brokered significant protection there. When our persuasive interviews were conducted with operatives in this guy's organisation, we ended up at Ortega every time. Our 'employees' in the embassy coughed up the mechanics of the extradition, and the difficulty we might face in trying to get to him. We pressured Ortega, naturally, but we weren't aware of his impending appointment to the campaign director's post for the Presidential election. What we also unearthed was the consistent view of some of the big players that Ortega was never interested in being 'King', he craved real power by being 'Kingmaker'. We know this to be true because after he got President Moreno elected, he contacted me to tell my superiors that he was prepared to deliver the rat who he had helped to elude us earlier. His price was a favour he was likely to need in future. That turned out to be Sanchez. Former President Moreno, and this current deputy Falcorini, were considered by him to be controllable. Sanchez was not and had to be dealt with. We agreed to send one of our contractors. He was told to take a Kalashnikov, discard it and surrender, then he was supposed to employ the grenade. His instruction was to take out Ortega; with the bomb, instead of the rifle, Sanchez was to have been the collateral bonus. I was blamed for not furnishing the Russian weapon personally, and he got a cheap imitation from Brazil; also the stupid bastard didn't pay attention to the specific order to throw the bomb, probably because he had for some unknown reason decided to commit suicide rather than face incarceration in Madrid. We guaranteed to get him out; he was being paid a hell of a lot for this, and that money is still with his family. We couldn't risk taking it back without attracting attention. We believe he wasn't working exclusively for us as there is some intelligence which connects him to the rocket launch attacks. It's credible because he had to know of this to be on the rooftop at the right time; we were astonished. Our people have no idea who these rocket men were. Maybe he was under death sentence from another organisation and this was the best way to free his family. All I can say is that it wasn't my people who sponsored the RPGs. The outcome of all of this for me was that I knew I was taking the blame for the Brazilian rifle which was likely to lead the investigation to Southern Iberiana. I didn't know that I was to be taken out as part of putting the house in order, and also why I was fed 'loaded' information from my snake of a girlfriend."

Manuel tried to digest all of this, to separate verifiable and theoretical stuff, but as he knew from experience, these gangs only stayed in business by amputating loose ends. He did trust Ibanez. He had to think about it, but it did seem like a good idea to get him on his way to Korea, before he acquainted Pierze with the information. Ibanez reinforced this sequence when he told Manuel it was suspected, on the villains' grapevine, that Ortega had moles in Central Security. This was all the confirmation Pierze needed; it would justify his secondment of Manuel and Duarte.

*

The situation in Tunguska was approaching flashpoint. Touresheva's intentions had now materialised in the form of government military police to enforce her demand to remove the object to Moscow. The dissenters had not been able to access the faces of the aft pyramid, as it was still considered to be a radiation risk if they opened up that part of the egg-timer without isolating the source. They had worked through the night on a solution without finding any. Porec did recognise the sense in taking the whole object to Moscow or anywhere else which could provide a containment chamber, with remotely controlled instruments and robots to conduct the necessary surgery. What they suspected however, was that this was a political manoeuvre to avoid panic amongst the populous, and consequently turn the potential goldmine into a target of hate. The only option open to them was to incite the press and TV reporters to canvass for legal action to prevent this agenda. The media were only too willing, as it was the future of the entire world at stake. Russia couldn't be allowed to suppress information which could be instrumental in devising a solution, if indeed this predicted agenda was accurate.

The military commander advised Tourisheva that the protest situation was getting out of hand as live TV pictures were attracting more demonstrators by the hour. Moscow intervened by striking a deal which would allow the two teams of personnel – from the expedition and those hand-picked by Tourisheva, to accompany the object and assist with rendering it safe. They would then be joined by other science gurus to evaluate whatever was revealed.

The transfer took place by a special train from Irkutsk to Moscow. The existing containment chamber in the capital had been hurriedly converted to include the specific requirements for the vivisection. The world was now up to speed on this event and cameras were to relay this to their living rooms. The first welcome surprise was that when the hemispherical end was removed, the radiation threat went with it. The inside of this was a myriad of wafer thin isotope layers. The surface area of these constructs was much higher than fuel rods, and consequently they were a little easier to keep cool. The technology was not fully understood but they constituted an extremely compact mini-reactor which presumably powered the projectile and also connected to the two pyramids. Severing the hemisphere didn't switch off power to the pyramids, again bringing speculation that they had some ability to store power, and like a battery, provide temporary functionality. This unexpected bonus allowed the pyramid to be taken to another conventional containment room. There was no time to lose.

Face One

The message portrayed in the complex diagram was not grasped immediately; it took a few minutes. It was one of the newly recruited government scientists who led the way. The parent of the fragment which hit Earth in 1908 was depicted as having caused other havoc by disturbing a number of asteroids on its trip. Some of these had their gravitational influence between Jupiter and Mars shifted. Some would eventually be consumed by the gas giant, but others would be slung outwards because of their new and exaggerated elliptical orbits. They would ultimately venture closer to Mars. This is where the leap of logic was missed by some of the scientists. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. The latter was not in the picture on the pyramid face. Concentration on Phobos had caused the cosmologist who first saw the outcome in his mind, to elucidate. "Phobos is an oblong body – 22 x 21 x 19 kilometres and it orbits Mars every 7.3 hours. It is understood to be 2 billion years old and is said to have a composition very similar to carbonaceous chondrites."

He was asked to pause. "What is the significance of that?" asked Stepanov.

The cosmologist explained. "They are meteorites rich in organic substances and water, suggesting that both of the Martian moons could be asteroids captured long ago from the asteroid belt. Now the crucial importance of this is that the orbital period around Mars is only one third of the Martian day. Together with the tidal effect of Mars, we have known for some time that Phobos has a decaying orbital radius. We assumed that in millennia from now it would either impact the planet or break up into a planetary ring. What the pyramid builders are trying to tell us is that one of the disturbed asteroids in 1908 has fractionally altered this fate with a deadly consequence. It is demonstrating that it would collide with Phobos and disrupt its decaying orbit. The superimposed picture they have suggested is that the parent of the 1908 strike will return and would have had another brush with Earth, but Phobos is now going to deflect it to make a direct hit. I need not labour the point, but if we can somehow verify this, it will probably be the end; this monster is way bigger than the 1908 fragment. The calculations for this prediction are mind-boggling, but we must endeavour to identify this harbinger of death, and embark on similar mathematical computation." This was a numbing opinion which temporarily eclipsed the logical step of moving to the next picture.

Face Two

This face of the pyramid was unlike all of the previous ones. It was composed entirely of symbols. Some were obviously based on the quaternary number system, but the vast majority of them were potential derivatives of that system evolved to higher mathematics. There were two corner buttons on this face. No sense could be made of what was assumed to be the calculations, for which one of the two corner buttons should be pressed to move to the next face. If it was an 'either-or' option they agreed it would be responsible to spend some time on the symbols by trying to get powerful computers to decipher patterns or links to terrestrial understanding of cosmological movement mechanics. Although this could take weeks, it would be preferable to simply tossing a coin and find they were then locked out.

There was no other subject on the news channels, even though 'people in the street' felt the immediate risk was negligible – it would be well beyond their life expectancy. The scientists however, couldn't sit on their thumbs, they had to offer clarity. It took the eyes of the world off the assassination attempt and helped Ricardo Pierze to re-assess his priorities.

*

Sanchez' condition had improved, the infection was retreating. This was a source of relief for Pierze; the investigation could be downgraded from critical to very important. When Manuel broke the news from Ibanez, everything returned to the melting pot. They both realised that if it was true, then there was an implied agenda of the Southern Iberiana mafia assisting in the objective of having a 'compliant president'. Pierze called in Duarte, who hadn't come up with anything concrete on his search for evidence of moles in Central Security. This new source of confirmation of such double-dealing gave Maxi Duarte a new starting point. Pierze was becoming more attracted to the possibility that this was, despite his earlier dismissal, showing hallmarks of a Sidonia operation. His own participation in trying to prove or disprove this, was however to be curtailed. The Tunguska situation had ruffled government feathers all over the planet. The outcome was the formation of a World Security Body, charged with humanity's future safety. Until certain questions were answered about the extra-terrestrial object, its creators and its purpose, absolute vigilance was required. At least that was the view of elected officialdom. Ricardo Pierze was the obvious choice. In the same way that he couldn't have refused to act as special adviser to Falcorini, it would be unthinkable to say he was too busy hunting shadows to save the planet. The potential for Falcorini to be repatriated to obscurity because of Sanchez' recovery would help, but he had to bear in mind that powerful people didn't want that. He felt that his fingers were being prised, one by one, from the trophy with which he was still obsessed. In a curious way he experienced more of those clamouring waves for more order and less chaos.

*

Back in Russia, it was felt necessary to reconnect the hemispherical part. They didn't want to allow expiry of the 'battery' element of power in the separated state. This would continue until the massive computing resource had either come up with salient information or they declared the code was unbreakable. There was now enormous political pressure to reach this point in days, not weeks. This information vacuum left the door open for further debate amongst those who had witnessed the pyramid data revelations. It produced more speculative theory than cohesive direction, and this was particularly true of certain questions. The main ones were extracted from the minutes and posted on the incident board, so that the participants couldn't escape their perceived importance.

'Were the creators of this object solar system dwellers or just passing through?'

'If they were just passing through how did they have time to identify the threat of the 1908 body, work out the threat of the next one, build the messenger, and accompany the fragment to Earth?'

'If they were dwelling in the solar system, and had done so for some time, it would answer some of the above, but not how, or where it joined with the parent body or the fragment. It also begged the question – where did they live?'

Then Stepanov asked another question, which was really a theory. "What if the projectile or a slave controlled by it actually caused the fragmentation? They may have saved us from a much bigger disaster. Up until now it has been hotly debated as to whether a parent body, in bouncing off the Earth's atmosphere, lost a fragment to our planet, or there was no fragment, just the large air-burst rock. I bring your attention back to the study from Roman Iberia which suggested that Comet 2005NB5C fitted the first of the two theories, and furthermore it is expected to return in 2045. Isn't it worth having our cosmologists run calculations on this marauder to see if it fits with this prediction of interaction with Phobos?"

It was agreed but only after the current decoding programme had concluded, and part of the fallout of this decision was for the World Security Body to be closely informed, and ahead of public dissemination of the result. It was therefore seen from a security point of view, a necessary step to interview and produce files on the main players in the saga. Implicit in this policy was another collision. Not one of cosmic proportion, nevertheless it was also a repeat of an earlier encounter, albeit in different circumstances.

*

Pierze would meet Constantin Boniek in the guise of Lionel Zara. The irony didn't stop there. With the weight of evidence suggesting that Sanchez had been targeted for what he might say on the proposed mission to Mars, there was now massive support for finding out if the projectile architects were camping in its vicinity – the solar system.

Zara had time to contemplate exactly where his grand design lurked in this new chapter of the planet's rich tapestry. He had been aware for a short while that he was looking at life a little differently; it had mainly evolved through his relationship with Stepanov. The importance to humanity which was now flowing into the Tunguska discovery added to this feeling. He had always been convinced that with Sidonia, he was a servant of a worthwhile crusade. The route and timing of his involvement in Russia, coupled with proof that humanity was not alone, conspired to fuel his schizophrenia. It was not something he needed help with; his egocentric tendency was nearing uninhibited freedom. He had, from his childhood, been intoxicated with destiny and symbolism. His reptilian characteristic of being able to cast off the redundant skin and seamlessly slide into the new one was, in his mind, set to the music of 'Also Sprach Zarathustra.' This was his destiny. He wasn't simply a servant to this cause; he was the chosen one – that much was obvious. Even his upcoming meeting with Nemesis, in the form of Ricardo Pierze, was anticipated within this belief. He now had guidance from the cosmos, confirming that the way to supplant religious faith was to offer another non-religious faith, with hope at its heart. It was blindingly obvious to him now that atheists and agnostics were peddling fog instead of clarity. Offering people theories and facts didn't tackle the root of their psyche. The ingredients of impending disaster and renewed hope through faith were much more powerful to the huddled masses. The symbolism of humanity's evolution arising 'out of Africana' appealed immensely. He would found the Circle of Light and its bible of The Truth in the Rift Valley. It was a perfect choice – ripe for the fever of salvation and out of focus of the Iberian spyglass. He would spread the waves of enlightenment from there to the 'civilised' world. He was ready to recruit his first disciple. The opportunity to parade his two personalities, on demand, was relished. He decided to contact Moya and give him the good news that the promised exchange of roles was ratified as of now. He closed the conversation with an instruction to get all possible information on a certain individual who would be considered for conversion. "I'm not talking about a rehearsal, as with Alberto Simone, this is a quest to find our torchbearer."

Moya detected something different about Zara, but cared not – this was his passport out of evangelism and into the real world.

## Chapter 11

With his new information Duarte had a loose end, with which he could attempt to unpick the covered trail of shady activity within Central Security. It didn't stop there. Pierze had visited Sanchez in the rehab ward to explain the importance of the information Manuel had unearthed. He gained signatory authorisation from the President which allowed him to bypass Falcorini. Duarte was able to access travel documents from the Presidential office. He went back several years, to a time before the internet collapse in 2016. There were numerous examples of Nelson Ortega flying to Southern Iberiana on the back of rather flimsy justification policy. They often coincided with Sanchez and before that, his predecessor Moreno, fulfilling planned tours of some of the more loosely aligned states in the Iberian Republic. It seemed strange that the return journeys of Ortega's trips were almost always via Southern Africana. When he passed this on to Pierze, Duarte asked if the President knew of this at the time. When asked, Sanchez recalled that Ortega had suggested this, in view of him not being needed on the President's goodwill tours. It was, he claimed, important to make sure that his replacement as ambassador to this unruly sector of the Republic was adhering to central policy. Sanchez had thought at the time that Ortega's reports on what he had achieved seemed trivial, but as he neither liked nor trusted the man, he was just pleased to get away from him on his own tours of 'inclusiveness' within the republican family. Ortega could be counter-productive in those situations. Sanchez now realised his mistake, he should have trusted his judgement and replaced Ortega as one of his first acts in coming to power. Pierze echoed this sentiment when Duarte was able to connect passport control data of three personnel in Central Security with Ortega's detours to Southern Africana. They were personal vacations rather than business trips. One of these officers was in management; the other two were apparently her subordinates. Duarte suggested to Pierze that they should stop digging, so as to avoid creating the buzz of an inquisition. "Now that we know of their presence in the same part of Africana at the same time as Ortega, we should begin to shadow them, rather than allow the grapevine to tip them off. They will surely have to react in some way, as the conductor of their orchestra has perished."

Pierze thanked Duarte and asked him to contract an 'unknown face' for this task. "I'm sorry to ask this of you Maxi, but your own rather loose association with us as a consultant is not understood by the department and yet your face is too familiar to be the shadow. I would engage someone myself but this damned monolith – the World Security Body is accreting so much of my time that I'm not going to be in Madrid as much as I should be in the coming weeks. I can't even keep an eye on Falcorini, but Sanchez is expected to be back soon, and I've briefed him fully on the work you and Manuel are undertaking. He will contact either of you if necessary." The thought of being summoned by the President sounded interesting to Duarte, as long as it didn't clash with his son's matches in the first team. The prospect of Maxi Duarte lounging in a chair while debriefing the President filled Pierze with apprehension.

*

The computational work which Stepanov had suggested and got approval for, was deliberately kept running slightly behind the code-breaking efforts. It wasn't difficult to confirm the comet's return schedule, or whether the larger moon of Mars was on a much slower orbital decay. The assertions about stray asteroids and Phobos were complicated and required up to date observational data from the asteroid belt. Looking for rogue rocks down to ten metres in diameter, with retrospectively altered orbits from such a distance was however, extremely challenging. Although there were unmanned explorer craft data available over a period of decades, it was a cumbersome task to dredge up meaningful reference points of even the major asteroids. They considered sending a probe, and very soon, as the worst case scenario could mean they had less than two decades to confirm such a vagrant body, even if they could find it. Alternative suggestions were offered, one of them being to try to correct the decay of Phobos' orbit. It had the advantage of not needing a search, we knew where it was. The project could begin immediately in order to devote the entire period to developing the solution. This was also rejected as many cosmologists felt a failure to achieve the exact correction could actually make the situation worse. The distillate of these lateral thinking sessions was chiefly focussed on returning to the object itself. Porec questioned the fear of pressing the next button and argued that if the messenger had been carefully instructed to warn us, it would have surely taken precautions against accidental irreversibility. "We are taking so much for granted that some benevolent alien race feels compelled to help us for some unknown, altruistic reason. If this is the case, then it is illogical to mistrust their conclusion that they knew we did not have the technology in 1908, to help ourselves. If I may labour the point, our thinking has changed orbit since we have fastened on to the prediction of possibly being two decades from impact rather than two millennia. We are creating a mental stampede when we should be collecting hard evidence. The code-breaking may yet yield a breakthrough, and the celestial data may yet identify the rendezvous which is supposed to kick off the chain reaction to divine extinction. On the other hand these resources we are committing may deliver nothing, even two decades from now. We have to press the next button."

Although the reaction to the proposal was muted, it did gather support overnight, when the group had slept on all other options. They hadn't expected further political interference. This in itself had sinister overtones and a watershed point was reached. The guarding of the object, now that it was in Moscow was increased, and state of the art detection equipment was fitted to the containment facility. This was a serious challenge to would be intruders. Pierze brought forward his interview schedule with the scientists and expedition members, specifically because once again they were using the media to portray heavy-handed, autocratic, government interference. Pierze quoted the need to be guided by cohesive scientific opinion, which did not exist at present. "It is my remit to help facilitate the consensus we seek, and I make a solemn promise that this will happen." Such a public statement brought about a rallying call behind Porec's plan, but not quite unanimity. Pierze had the platform to begin his corralling of scientific differences into acceptable compromise.

These interviews went well despite the suspicion, and its derivative, palpable tension. Mohammed was the most vociferous in his sarcasm. He maintained that in over one hundred years, no authority had taken Stepanov's claims seriously, and now they were hijacking the project. "This would never happen in my country and I am surprised that the Russian people accept that this newly formed organisation of yours has any legitimacy in their sovereign territory. After all they are not even under the Iberian flag; they are members of your 'commonwealth'." Pierze privately thought he had a point. He had actually shared the view that it was hurriedly conceived and implemented. He realised that others would be making this overture to the Russian leader without declaring such dissent during these sessions.

*

When Zara entered the forum he was extremely calm. Pierze confessed that he hadn't actually realised that there was an Iberian citizen involved in the expedition. Zara engaged with this admission. "Well, I wouldn't want to exaggerate my involvement. I'm basically the only sponsor Alexei Stepanov could find. Having agreed to help, I've become fascinated with what he has brought to our attention."

Pierze was surprised at this explanation. "Is it personal sponsorship or through a company you represent?" The brinkmanship was seductive, as the first hurdles had been safely negotiated. His appearance and his voice had not caused even the slightest hint of recognition by Pierze.

"I suppose you could say it is a bit of both really. I do have stockholding in a corporate group and indeed directly in one its companies. I had shares in two of them, but I pioneered employee ownership of the equity in one, by adjustment of projected salary increases, profit and release of reserves. It struck me that the strongest motivator in this changing world is truly shared incentive. I stand to be corrected, but I believe that the company will actually strengthen its market share and profitability this way. I made a direct plea to the new board of directors, which included people from many levels of the company, to match the contribution I had offered personally to Stepanov." Pierze was now even more curious.

"What is the name of this company?"

The reply seemed to carry a lot of pride. "Digital Component Industries; they are part of Cerberus Enterprises Corporation. I hope my legacy will not be considered as foolhardy in years to come. Anyway I'm intrigued by what your expectations are in conducting these interviews. I have of course heard the party line, but I'm hoping that we can actually do something rather than terminally discussing theories."

Pierze liked this man. He was direct without being rude. He didn't try to blind him with scientific jargon, and despite his comfort in running a large corporation, he didn't try to leverage the fact that he had bankrolled the entire operation. "Digital Component Industries – they are big, if I'm not mistaken number three worldwide." He was quietly corrected.

"Number two now, I think you'll find. We've picked up a lot of customers in Orient. I'd like to think it's because they identify with the employee ownership, but the products are good too. Anyway, I'm hoping I can help persuade you that we should push the next button."

Pierze added DCI/Zara in the margin of his notebook together with an asterisk. "Right, let me hear why."

Zara was now fully confident that he was on safe ground with respect to his identity and said, "I've listened to all of the arguments about whether we should continue to examine the object. Whilst I'm not qualified to judge the chances of either decoding what we already have, or the chances of discovering some wandering rock which says 'I am the one', I do know that it was the object which triggered these searches. It seems illogical not to try to examine the remaining faces; the creators of the information yielded so far surely want us to grasp more than a message saying 'Hello, you are all going to die, goodbye.' The chances of discovering something sinister or being prevented from accessing all eight faces seems remote. They have invested time and energy to warn us and, in my opinion, to stimulate us to think about how to stop a repeat of 1908. The odds of them residing in the shadows of the solar system do not seem favourable otherwise they would be taking care of the problem. I believe they have observed this from a distance, during their travels, didn't want to hang about, and had faith that we could figure out what they have advised us. The solution, if there is one, is in this object. Of course the solution may be to get the hell away from Earth. The sooner we know the better."

Pierze thought it refreshing that this non-scientific approach focussed on cutting short this expensive exercise. It would kill the need to guard the containment area around the clock. The only downside risk was that it would give up no further information, house a lethal device or confirm that we are heading for an extinction event in eighteen years. When he considered that the last-mentioned was what over a hundred top technicians were trying to grind out, twenty-four seven, he concurred that paranoia had taken them on a detour, which was signposted as futile – a notice saying – 'do not throw stones at this notice.'

"Well Snr. Zara I must say your argument is at least as well reasoned as that of most of the boffins I have spoken to. Thank you for your time. I will have a recommendation soon." Pierze was going to endorse this approach and get back to Madrid. He would recommend that Russian interests reflected humanity's interests in this matter, and as it was in their country, they should oversee the project on behalf of the rest of the world. This was as much a political move as one of security. He wanted to avoid Russian protest or hints of secession, and at the same time appear to underpin, in his view, the cuckoo which was named 'World Security Body'. Speaking directly to the Russian leader before delivering this decision would go a long way toward smoothing his retreat. Minutes after this call terminated he announced the decision to the Tunguska brigade.

Face Three

The two buttons were similar but not identical. The furthest to the right was in the same position as all previous ones, including those on the other pyramid. It was ever so slightly smaller. The design was exactly the same as the previous ones in terms of detail. The other button was the opposite in all three of these characteristics – ever so slightly larger, in a different position, and with subtle variation in design. They decided to go with the 'new type.' There was relief, disappointment and even laughter when the pyramid turned back to face two, with all of its calculations. Pierze, Stepanov, Mohammed, and Zara shared a smile. Stepanov immediately and unilaterally pressed the singular button to return to face three, and then the right-hand one on face three. The smiles vanished. There was a picture of Earth and remarkably detailed symbols which could only be their version of coordinates. The detonation would occur over the south Atlantic, approximately midway between the southern parts of Iberiana and Africana. Ominously Porec drew attention to a ringed set of symbols which could be the time of the event. Even if they knew what the symbols represented there would be no way of relating this to cosmic reference data, other than identifying the asteroid which was claimed to have the honour of toppling the first domino. In spite of the gloom Stepanov, who was not going to witness the cataclysm anyway, pressed the next button.

Face Four

With almost everyone in semi-shock, this face at first seemed to display a meaningless scribble. It took almost half an hour for one of the cosmologists to attach significance to the changes in colour of these traces at points of overlap. When he pointed at them one by one he got more concerted attention. Then he accidently touched one of these crossing points and everyone blinked as the area was immediately enlarged to such finite detail that it included cosmic bodies in the vicinity. They grasped the reason for this instantly. If the stars, planets and asteroids had all been on the initial display they would not have been able to make sense of it all. The enlarged picture around Mars showed the suspected asteroid or comet only by relative size and colour. Touching the screen again showed them that this was not just a pretty picture, unlike the original scribbly mess they had first seen. This gave a marker in that mess which could be extracted from what they now believed was the journey the original parent would have taken in 1908, from that time, until the deadly future collision with Phobos. They had the means to identify the 1908 intruder and the time of its expected return. It was a specific task for the computing experts rather than an open-ended one, but still a time consuming one. The originally perceived scribbles, which were reminiscent of an old toy for children, a spirograph, were indeed an ingenious means of communication.

*

Pierze found himself standing next to Zara when these revelations ultimately crunched down to the probability that Earth would have to solve and deal with the threat. Almost regardless of when it was likely to happen, one of the conclusions already drawn was that the time from identifying the asteroid or comet, to taking action to prevent its tempestuous clash with Phobos, could be too slender to guarantee survival. They had to look for and devise a plan to address the problem now. Once they were sure of its match to the spirograph on face four, this should give more time to modify the solution, but it would have to be a mighty big solution. Pierze turned to Zara and offered black humour. "I guess I'll delay my return to Madrid for a couple of days. That should be enough to come to terms with my highest priority objectives. For a moment there I thought I had a handle on getting the job done. You were right Zara; we now know exactly what we don't know. In my experience that is often the catalyst for productive action. Good luck with your employee ownership strategy. It could have wider benefits in general society, galvanising people in the same way that this little cosmic bump could spawn."

Zara shook hands and smiled, thinking 'we will meet again before we know whether we can ever hope to neutralise the advent of Armageddon.'

## Chapter 12

"Manuel it is Maxi, our friend Pierze has decided that I shouldn't tail three of his people who we think were moles for Nelson Ortega. He thinks they will recognise me from my visits to the office, and he wants me to recruit a private sleuth. I know you dug up the connection to the rifle, which got us to these people, how are you doing with the rocket launchers?"

Manuel had come to a dead end with every angle of approach. "It's going nowhere; quite honestly I struck lucky with the rifle. I don't really have the right contacts for this. Pierze seems hell-bent on proving the weapons were only made in Orient, and the attack was carried out by others. The serial numbers on the clips should have got me started but the Sukahara people could only get me as far as the distribution chain. We know they didn't go to their military outlet, but that doesn't help much. The distribution system is meticulously operated – if the article is recorded – these are not. So it looks as if these two items never existed." Duarte asked if Manuel would like to switch tasks.

"If you can use your own private agency staff to shadow these moles, I can perhaps find a loose brick in the Oriental wall."

Manuel was all ears. "You have a deal, but what about Pierze?" Duarte merely brushed that kind of accountability to one side.

"It is one advantage of being a reluctant consultant. I will take responsibility. You needn't know what I'm up to, and I just hand in your reports on the shadow operation, he doesn't care where they came from as long as it's not me." It suited them both, and Pierze was going to be in Russia for a little longer after the discovery of the spirograph.

Duarte left for Londonis. Over the years that he worked in that precinct, he had accumulated a number of informants in the large indigenous Chinese population. These families had emigrated long before the cold war period between Iberia and their homeland. There were many rival clans and he regularly benefitted from their duplicity. Overtly upholding honour, while quietly selling out friends, had become a western virus, in the population of Chinese Londonis. Many of them had still kept in touch with relatives behind the bamboo curtain, and now that it was being progressively dismantled, communication, and reciprocal visits were flourishing.

*

Moscow had become the news centre of the world. The influx of media professionals, science gurus, conspiracy theorists and space junkies stretched the hospitality of the city to its limit, and the prices of everything rocketed. Against this backdrop, Alexei Stepanov called on Pierze to concentrate solely on the cosmic bringer of death. His language was abnormally aggressive, and borne out frustration at the ivory tower attitude of the theoretical physicists. They had become, in his opinion, a self-congratulatory bunch of devil's advocates. "I can no longer take these people seriously. They simply ignore suggestions from the unenlightened amateurs amongst us, only because we do not have a certificate of having spent most of our lives seeking to understand the place of quarks in the formation of the universe. This is our lives they are procrastinating over... sorry, I mean your lives. I'll be long gone by then anyway, but the way they are straitjacketing everyone else's input, then so will you. I urge you to begin a separate project as soon as possible on testing out specific ideas which will take less time to eliminate and move on." Typically Tourisheva in wanting to avoid such a decision, tried unsuccessfully to deflect Pierze. It didn't work. "What do you have in mind Alexei?"

Stepanov reiterated that it wasn't just him who had hunches; there were others with legitimate proposals, which if they had any validity could actually be activated before the aberrant rock altered Earth forever. "I am very anxious to test one set of calculations, anxious to the point of obsession, but I do stress that there are many intriguing suggestions which have been submerged."

Pierze promised to look into this. "I see where you are coming from, so let me start with your obsession." Stepanov shifted anxiously and then began to recite his theorem of coincidence.

"I have studied the Tunguska event all my life, the reason for that is well known to you. The tie-in with what we have learned from the object should be put together with what was observed and investigated at that time. The cosmologists are really confining the historical element to the recycling basket and focussing completely on the data from the object. My leaning is that we should look at both, and rule in or out points of coincidence. The police do this all of the time when investigating crimes like murder. I have flagged up several times that a recent investigation in 2005, by scientists from Roman Iberia, put together a very cogent proposition that this comet 2005NB5C fitted a significant proportion of the observations in 1908. As it will return in 2045, it would be simple to see if that fits the spirograph traces. If it doesn't, eliminate it and move on. The cosmologists don't want know, claiming that this is not how they process data. They backtrack from the known impact trajectory and eliminate known asteroids or comets as their historical trajectories diverge from the spirograph. If I may use the analogy of the police again, the scientists' approach, although more thorough, is akin to having identity parades of suspects beginning with the population of the world. Then they would check these random groups to see if they offer correlation. The police never do this; instead they put a suspect in a small number of individuals who could fit the observations of witnesses. Surely it is worth a try." Pierze was sympathetic to this approach, not least of all because a lucky strike could get him out of Moscow.

"I'll canvass others as you recommend, and I will, while wearing my 'World Security Body' hat bring in a neutral cosmologist to check out your own idea as a starting point."

*

Manuel had seconded his best operatives from his Londonis office to keep a diary on all three moles. He discussed the line of inquiry with Elle, and she said it would be worth checking the criminal database for DNA of each, if he could obtain samples. "They may have been successful in their application to Central Security under false identities, which would show as negative for criminal records, and it's an expensive process to check every applicant's DNA. It's a way which affords a chance to slip through the net. If their false passports, birth certificates and stuff threw up no flashing red lights, then they are in. The worst that happens if they fail is that they're reported to the police. Depending where they are supposed to have originated the local police may have reason to take proceedings. Your targets got in, so it's a long shot but worth a try. If your people follow them to bars or restaurants they have the chance to beat the waiter to drinks glasses or cutlery. If you can get such samples I can check my database, and if that is negative, the main one in Madrid can be accessed by Maxi if Pierze authorises it."

Manuel felt slightly redundant but it meant he could spend a few days at home, starting tonight. "How about we have dinner? You know - to flesh out the details?"

She eyed him provocatively and said, "Flesh and details in the same sentence, count me in."

Duarte's trip to Londonis wasn't known to anyone but his family. He thought it better that way. He had mixed feelings when he began his house calls on former contacts. He had to confess to himself that he did miss the uncertainty of everyday police work, but quickly banished the thought. He was being selectively nostalgic. He tried several of his Chinese conduits without success then he got a reaction from one very old dry-cleaning business owner - that he should forget this enquiry. Duarte took this as a promising starting point. "Just guide me to any method or route to import weapons from the old country. I don't need names." The old man repeated his advice but Duarte was not about to let it go. After raising the potential payoff which might be available, he knew he was on the right track. The twinkle in the octogenarian's eyes preceded flat refusal.

"It does not matter how much you have to offer. What is the price of life? We are talking your life and mine?" Duarte still refused to be shaken off.

"Okay, we never had this conversation. Can you tell me if there is anyone who would give me the same answer as you have?"

The passage of more than two minutes didn't surprise Duarte; he knew that patience was required to break down the traditional stoicism. He also traded on the fact that the old man knew he could be trusted. "If I give you a name, you swear that you will say we have not spoken about this?" An enthusiastic nod, and an embrace that he remembered well, was enough to produce a whisper. "The How Ling spice warehouse."

Maxi Duarte was extremely grateful but didn't offer an insulting transaction fee to his informer. He recalled that the warehouse was a front for a small time gambling activity which he hadn't interfered with. The owner was known to him and vice-versa. They hadn't exchanged information before but the owner knew through his friends that Duarte had turned a blind eye for tips from them. The meeting was set up in a restaurant; Duarte always responded well to culinary pressure. Over the multi-course authentic meal he broached the question. The reaction was precisely the same. "Forget it."

Duarte leaned over the table and reminded his host that there was a new chief inspector in the precinct now and she didn't have such open-mindedness to overlook breaches to the letter of the law. "I'm retired as you may have heard. I can operate without having to consult the police bible now. I simply want to know how I could get any particular weapon from Orient. Everybody knows it happens. Nobody needs to know that I know. I still have influence with Chief Inspector Butragueno, and the Chinese community as a whole would benefit from my recommendations to her." This was perceived as a veiled threat that if he refused, it could cause a lot of grief from other Londonis Chinese big hitters. The warehouse owner was processing the relative probability of reprisal from these big players and those involved in distant arms trafficking. "Please think about it, I'm in Londonis for a couple of days. I'll return to see you before I leave." The inscrutable warehouse owner wrote the name of an import/export company on a napkin, showed it to Maxi Duarte and then dropped it into his glass of mineral water and pulped it with deft use of his chopsticks. It had read 'Ex-Army Stores, Harbour front, Tobruk'. The meeting ended with a polite but grudging handshake from the Chinese man, and a promise from the ex-policeman that he would enable the warehouse to be considered as squeaky clean.

*

The lone recruit Pierze had drafted in to compare the spirograph trace to Comet 2005NB5C had worked non-stop for only four days before he declared an acceptable match. When questioned by other cosmologists they wanted to hear what 'acceptable' meant. "The constant wandering of this comet is not exclusively restricted to the impact predicted by the messenger. It may have had or maybe will have other encounters between 1908 and 2045. You are running checks on all possibilities. I would be interested to hear of any with a higher correlation coefficient. Comet 2005NB5C stands at 0.83 over the 137 years my calculations have taken into account. We may also be required to compare assumptions we have made independent of each other. I leave you with mine."

It wasn't just Pierze who got the distinct impression that these people, largely brought in by Tourisheva were determined to exclude findings other than their own. They were viewed by everyone outside their clique as a self-preservation society. Pierze released his man's findings to the media and revealed that he was on his way back to Madrid to brief President Sanchez and recommend setting up a joint venture with Orient to investigate technical means of averting this threat, and the merits of a manned mission to Mars space. This effectively caused an exodus from Moscow. The media followed events rather than non-events; Moscow was left to contemplate its own navel. Mohammed and Zara bade their farewell to Stepanov and Boris Krasnic, wondering if they would ever meet again. Tourisheva was left guarding the object and an army of non-productive boffins on whom the journalists had conferred the title 'Son of SETI'.

*

Zara was keen to find out more about Patrick Kipketer. Apart from him being Kenyan, an Olympic gold medallist, and being gifted in the use of think-phones, he needed to know about the man. In particular, he was curious about his personality and emotional profile. The career of a world class athlete was only as long as world records and medals kept on churning out. This young man would be looking for another life challenge soon. That was why Moya had been asked to set up the meeting.

*

Manuel's people had information on two of the three suspected moles. The most senior, Alessa Gomez frequented two particular tapas bars regularly after work. She alternated between Paco's and Orihuela. She seemed to keep the meetings with her two subordinates completely separate. There appeared to be information passed on, as she talked and they made notes. One of them never ate or drank in the bar, and he simply wrote what he had to, and then went to his apartment. The other spent much longer with Gomez and sometimes passed her a computer memory stick. The detectives had got napkins and glasses left by these two and had delivered them as requested to Pierze's forensic lab for tests. When Gomez had finished these sessions she almost always met with another man at what may have been his expensive apartment. A really grainy photograph of them greeting each other upon arrival was e-mailed to Manuel. The man had his back to the camera. They also had addresses for all three, which were at variance with those residences in their personnel dossiers, given to his shadows by Manuel. There was more than enough strange behaviour to warrant further investigation. Manuel asked his people to stick with the task in the hope they would witness a break in this routine behaviour.

Duarte also passed information to Manuel about the address in Tobruk, and said, "I should let Pierze know we have switched tasks and ask him how he wants to proceed. I'm not the man for bartering in the Kasbah; he may want specialist people for this. From what you have learned so far he'll surely want to follow these false addresses up even if there are no DNA hits." Manuel agreed and said he was going to return to Madrid so all three of them could review the situation when Pierze landed.

*

The information Moya had gathered on Patrick Kipketer impressed Zara. He decided to run it past Naomi Boniface before he made direct contact with the athlete. Boniface tried to pick out pointers from Moya's summary which were to be used in the interview with Kipketer. His responses would assist in building a preliminary emotional profile. Zara then delegated Moya to contact Kipketer's agent to arrange a follow-up meeting, specifically to make an offer to sponsor him for wearing their DCI logo on his warm-up track suits. "This is the last request I'll make of you regarding the young man, I'll take it from there."

*

Sanchez returned to his office despite medical advice to the contrary. One of his first decisions was to invite Din Chow Zen to visit him to discuss the relevance of the Tunguska event on the proposed Martian evaluation for future colonisation. He wanted Pierze to be in attendance. The Orient leader took much criticism from within his government for accepting the offer. Pierze was brought up to date by Duarte and Manuel prior to the two leaders sending for him.

The meeting began with a review of what was known from Messenger and what was still under investigation. The desire on the part of Orient to get started on the Mars project could now be viewed in two ways. Messenger had tried to articulate through visuals and equations what the fate of Earth was likely to be, but not that of either Phobos or Mars. The impact of Comet 2005NB5C with the moon could completely destabilise or fragment it. Alternatively it could indirectly affect Mars itself by secondary impact or influence of its orbit. Pierze gave his input on these points. "I've gathered suggestions from all of the knowledgeable people in the Tunguska investigation, and while there is still dispute over the methodology of the process they are all agreed on the following theory. Messenger is a warning to humanity, not to Mars or Phobos, as we believe there is no sentient life there. The only other idea they will entertain is that the creators of Messenger could have some outpost there, and they wouldn't need to warn themselves. This has led to the following prognosis – If the comet is the threat and cannot be neutralised, we need to know if Mars is humanity's only escape route. If the comet isn't the threat then we may have more time to determine the fate of Mars, either by direct impact or from the detritus of the 'predicted' impacts, namely an asteroid or another comet on Phobos, then any damaged asteroid or comet on the Earth. It is very complicated. The overall conclusion they have arrived at is that it's prudent to bring forward the Mars reconnaissance to the earliest possible date. It will answer the question of whether there is any sign of Messenger's creators in that region of space. If there is, we must obviously examine it. If not, then we should responsibly prepare to take all steps possible to create a Noah's Ark of some kind to give the species two chances of survival. Parallel to the Mars project we need to examine ways of surviving an extinction event of this magnitude over a period of years. It will have to cater for such criteria as toxic atmosphere, perpetual blocking of the sun's rays, phenomenal seismic activity, high radiation levels, and rapid onset of an ice age to mention just a few. It is considered prudent to go as far underground as we can. This is how some burrowing mammals survived when the dinosaurs failed. However, access to uncontaminated food and water will be a major priority for technologists. The sciences which have attracted ethical objections could be critical, for instance cloning of edible plant species, and designer stem cell research to maximise our metabolism. It goes without saying that in both the underground Earth habitat and the pioneering Martian colony, the survivors will have to be selected. These projects will accommodate a very low percentage of the population."

The two leaders were expecting this analysis; they needed to have it confirmed. It was agreed that they would deliver the plan jointly and authorise immediate initiation of 'Operation Phobos'. Pierze then informed them of the building evidence that the assassination attempt on Sanchez was not orchestrated by Oriental personnel. It was thought to be timely to make this announcement prior to that of the Martian trip. Pierze told Din Chow Zen that no more details could be released without prejudicing the on-going investigation. "We have substantive leads now, but they will require patience and subtlety to nail them down. You will be apprised of any success we achieve."

When they broke up, Pierze told Sanchez that there was probable connection of moles, identified in his department with Ortega, and therefore with the plot. "We'll expose them when we have credible evidence to leverage information on their controllers. These people are but minions."

*

There had been a premature claim that the code breakers had made a breakthrough. It turned out to be a modest inroad which actually threw up more possibilities, but equally importantly, eliminated many dead ends. They had identified certain symbols which repeated in a similar way to our own, in important equations within the laws of physics. Accepting that we would assign values 'x' and 'y' to certain variables, they had seen perhaps 'hot' and 'cold' or 'light' and 'dark' in Messengers patterns which may lead to a better understanding of what they were trying to convey. The only firm conclusion at this stage was that the symbols were definitely structured calculations or equations of some kind. The work resumed with renewed energy; it was the first small step, but it enabled a heavier concentration on this route rather than the broader approach.

*

Zara met with Patrick Kipketer and his agent following an athletics event in Norway – at the Bislett stadium. His approach was to offer a split of sponsorship to him personally, and also funding for the infrastructure of the village of his birth in Kenya. He made frequent reference to DCI being owned by the people, and this would be a benefit to all parties, by 'the people helping the people'. "Your career will hopefully be long and successful Patrick, but when the time comes for you to step back from competitive sport you will no doubt want to find a new challenge or occupation. This may be a legacy you can give to your family and friends, and it won't harm your chances of landing a good position in the future. Many retired sports personalities say they want to 'put something back' into society for being blessed with talent, but you will have already done that at the height of your career. It's not a promise it is a fact. Does something like this appeal to you in principle? If it does then we can begin to put numbers into the mix."

His agent asked for a private discussion and Zara left them to chew on his proposal. It didn't take long for him to be recalled. Zara was invited to make an offer; the principle had struck a chord. "I will certainly do so, you'll hear from me soon." Zara then set about determining what Kipketer was currently attracting from his contracted sponsor.

## Chapter 13

Pierze had to address the Tobruk tip off from Duarte. He guessed that there must be a conduit from the Sukahara distribution point to illegal destinations. He was working with the assumption that temptation often proves too much for certain individuals to resist. He decided that the safest way to progress this was to ask Din Chow Zen, via Sanchez, to request the Sukahara boss to investigate his hunch. They could do this more effectively than he could, and in any case they would want to avoid anyone else washing their dirty linen in public. They also knew Pierze was motivated to declare them innocent in the assassination attempt.

*

Patrick Kipketer accepted Zara's offer and the association began to flourish. It was big news in Africana and the Kenyan people were even more proud of their talisman. As well as the company logo being plastered over his kit, he was given the latest handset which employed DCI components. It was free to him and was already set up on Trans Global Connections as the provider. The questionnaire which Boniface had asked Zara to complete from this interview with Kipketer was, in her judgement, close to perfect in terms of emotional makeup. He was an acceptable target without waiting for the new hardware developments to emerge. The ringtone software was installed. When Zara asked him if he was interested in participating in a survey on 'think-phone' research, he jumped at the chance to show off his considerable ability.

*

The cost of the number of experts back-tracing from the spirograph was escalating and without a date for the predicted impact they finally capitulated. They were stubborn enough to say they would resume if and when the code breakers could give them more information to work with. Everyone else had just accepted that it would point to Comet 2005NB5C, and worked on the premise that it would strike in eighteen years. Consequently, the mission to Mars received every possible source of investment available, and they had set 2033 as the date of launch. It was the year that the planets would be closest. They would however despatch an unmanned probe within six months. The equipment on this probe would make sweeps of the red planet and both moons, looking for any anomalous readings.

As the months slipped by with little to report other than intentions, the population was getting restless. This unease was truncated by the most dramatic breakthrough. The code breakers now had results which could lead to a 'Rosetta Stone' situation. They had isolated what they now believed to be some kind of hieroglyphs or pictographs, from the other symbols. When they submitted only the remaining symbols to all of the decryption algorithms they had devised, they got a hit. They could identify some of the fundamental laws of physics, albeit with slight disagreement on the value of certain constants. They celebrated the importance of this, and suggested the pictographs would now help in pointing them to the equations to which they were related.

*

Patrick Kipketer waltzed through tests one and two. He had concerns about the short brush with death involved in the third and final assessment, but he was also highly motivated by the explanation of the Circle of Light, in the context of the entire human race being wiped out in a few years. Zara had majored on this and pointed out that his people in Kenya already thought he was a god. "If you can pass this test you can become the founding disciple of our faith in Africana, to spread the word, and help your friends and family cope with the impending extinction. They will ask - what is the purpose of life? They will need someone strong to be the cement, with our faith. They will realise that a significant moment will arrive, when the fireball is visible, that they may have been let down by their alternate faith. That will be a difficult time and we should prepare them for the Truth. That is why the only genuine way to see the Truth is to glimpse death."

He agreed to proceed. After completing the ceremony of becoming a disciple he went on to even greater athletic achievements, shattering the world record for the 1500 metres. He was able to gather a very significant flock of followers around him in a short space of time. It began to attract interest from other parts of the world. Zara was ready for disciple number two, but first he gave Kipketer some freebie communicators as incentives for those of his flock who were most successful in recruiting new members.

*

Pierze was losing patience with his lab people; they had not found any matches with the DNA supplied by Manuel's detectives. This led to him suggesting an approach which proved to be decisive. Because the main databases had drawn blanks he worked on the hunch that these people may have been erased as part of their cover. "If the connection we are looking at is valid, maybe we should look at local precincts, where it is more difficult to remove data without someone knowing about it. The Middle East is part of the Iberian Republic or had you forgotten? Let us cast our line in Tobruk." The match to Alessa Gomez came up in the file of Freema Anwar. She was listed, but not in the criminal side of the database, she was in ranks of the counter-terrorism staff.

Pierze wrestled with this for a couple of days, and then arrested her at her apartment. The interrogation was brief. "I'm not going to go into detail Alessa, sorry where are my manners? Freema, we have enough on you to make sure you don't see the light of day again. I will however, share a couple of items. Don't worry it isn't your connection to Nelson Ortega. It's more to do with two of your subordinates and the rather affluent gentleman you visit after you have met with your boys in separate bars. We prefer the Orihuela; it has a much better selection of beers. I don't want to ask you any questions, not yet anyway. I prefer you to think things through quietly, you'll have lots of time as you aren't going anywhere soon. Oh, one thing you may wish to keep in mind – who will help you now? You have become a liability. We'll probably make things worse if we have to advertise your arrest. It's not something we want to do, but we can't hold you forever. I'll be back."

Pierze told his secretary to inform the two subordinates that their boss had called in to say she had been referred by her doctor to a consultant for CT scans. She may be off for some time. He had confiscated her communicator on the near certainty they would try to make contact.

*

Frederic Moreno was fairly well known, especially in the financial world. Meteoric success with his blue chip hedge fund business had afforded the opportunity to diversify into exploration of new forms of energy. Few people recalled that he was the nephew of the former President Moreno. Zara was one who did, and furthermore had tracked his career for some time. He was an ideal candidate for disciple number two. He made a point of attending Moreno's keynote presentation on how the 'Sword of Damocles' was affecting the long term planning of all businesses. He was quite persuasive with his impassioned plea that the human race must work on the assumption that the disaster would be averted. "If we don't, the years between now and 2045 will be intolerable. There will be more famine, more disease, more crime and we will drive ourselves into a downward spiral to absolute chaos. Many people rely on their faith to get them through each day. Why then do we not adopt the same attitude with advent of this predicted event? It isn't my place to try to tell people which faith they should follow. That is a very personal thing. We all have faith in something – ideas, ambitions, political ideologies, medicines and of course some form of omnipotence. Not only must we maintain these values, we must build on them. We are all going to die at some time, and what makes that so acceptable is the indefinite time of death and for certain groups, the prospect of salvation – an afterlife. This should be our focus – to maximise our contribution. Even for an extinction event of the scale of this prediction, the scientists believe some of us will survive. I urge you to intensify your faith." Zara wasted no time in asking Moreno to meet with him to discuss this further, knowing he'd be a harder nut to crack than Kipketer.

*

Pierze had ignored two calls to Freema Anwar's communicator. Then he received a text message from the same subordinate, asking if he could visit her. Apparently it was urgent. He replied, saying that it was inconvenient right now but if it was that urgent he should come to the Orihuela bar immediately after work. Pierze and two officers followed his vehicle and watched him enter the bar, buy a drink and look around nervously. After a quarter of an hour he sent another text. They took photos of him doing this. Pierze replied again, saying Freema was on her way. This time it was signed off with that name. He panicked, ran out of the bar and straight into the arms of the two security officers. His heart sank when he was bundled into the car and sat next to Pierze. On the way back to the confinement cells he was allowed to see Freema on camera before he was introduced to his Spartan abode. Despite asking why he had been detained over and over, Pierze remained silent. The next day, the other subordinate received a text from Freema, or so he thought. It said that she had been rumbled and was in custody, requesting him to go to her apartment and trash everything on her computer. "And I mean everything." They were waiting for him. Now there were three. They were all independently acquainted with the sequence of events. Pierze emphasised to the two subordinates that he had matched Alessa Gomez to Freema Anwar. "I intend to follow the same route to get to your aliases. It will be better if you save me the time it will take, by coming clean. You must realise that you, just like Freema will soon be a liability to your controllers. Releasing you after they find out you have been interrogated will almost certainly lead to your termination. I won't pressure you to say anything you don't want to. I want you to work out for yourself whether you prefer to take your chances with a rock or a hard place. Take your time; you are safe all the time you are in here."

*

The meeting between Zara and Moreno took place in the knowledge that the new hardware prototype was available ahead of time. However, Zara wanted Boniface's input on the emotional profile questionnaire, prior to testing it on such an important potential disciple. He had also thought long and hard about exactly how to lure Moreno into volunteering for the first two tests. He settled for simplicity. "I enjoyed your approach to this countdown to oblivion. I expect you know as much about our company, Digital Component Industries, as I do. You have a reputation for getting the best out of think-phones, and indirectly, your people. I wanted to let you know that we have a new prototype and I wanted to market test it against what we have already. I thought you may have an interest in giving us your comments as a potential user. It would involve a test run on the existing model first then the new one. I realise you are a busy man, so I won't be offended if you can't spare the time – which would be about two to three hours. I'll give you my number if you want to think about it."

Moreno just couldn't resist when he heard there would be several other proficient individuals contributing in this way. "Count me in Snr. Zara, I hope you realise I won't pull any punches if I feel the need to criticise. I think you're going about this the right way, some of your competitors seem to be retroactive when it comes to the need for new applications which we suggest to them." The tests were arranged.

*

Pierze got all three moles together for the first time, after letting them stew for nearly 72 hours. "You will not speak. You must listen very carefully. I haven't charged you with anything yet, but you will have figured out why. The department is investigating an attempted assassination of the President. It would probably have succeeded if Nelson Ortega had not been the subject of a sting; he didn't know of the suicide intention of the sniper. I got you all together by using Freema's communicator; the texts were a bit of a giveaway that you aren't just work colleagues, but we'll get to that another time. What I wanted you to know was that I suspect you of being involved with the assassination plot. The difference between a run of the mill terrorist act and this one is primarily the reaction of the population. There is real anger out there – you saw that before I brought you in. At any time I can charge you. It doesn't make any difference to the crazies out there whether you are innocent or guilty, some of them will tear you to pieces. I may do that – charge you and let you go – and then tell the media that I'm certain you are involved, but embroidering the truth by saying I haven't got sufficient evidence yet. If the vigilantes don't get you the perpetrators of the sting or those who wanted the President dead will come for you. You do get what I'm saying don't you? Ortega was the target of the sting, he didn't merely leap in front of Sanchez; the bomber went for him at the same time. I found Freema's real identity, and she has already lost any mitigating plea on that score, whereas you two have one more day to accrue any credits. The jury will probably be baying for life without any possibility of parole. I can see that it's a very precarious situation for all three of you and you'll need all the help you can get. It is now time to split you up again. I wouldn't want you to be influenced by each other; that could be disastrous. One of you will break before the other two."

*

Moreno passed the first two tests on the old hardware with consummate ease. The tests on the new device were more difficult yet proved more intuitive for him. He liked it – very much. When he was reminded of the tone of his keynote speech and how this tied in well with the Circle of Light he responded well. Boniface had been able to make copious notes on his personality traits and he scored well, but she had one word of caution – he was never going to be grounded by things he was told, he had to arrive at the desired conclusion himself. "He may change direction or tactics very quickly; he has tremendous self-belief, not in an arrogant way, but in adding up pointers to redundancy. He is open-minded and extremely decisive. He will accept your invitation to a moment of severance from what he perceives as reality, without hesitation. He may be much more difficult to keep on board than to recruit."

Zara was prepared to take the risk. Boniface was incredibly accurate with her prediction. "I'm intrigued by the transient experience of non-existence. I am also attracted to the principles of what you refer to as the Truth. I don't think I would make a good disciple. I have never operated to any kind of 'Bible', even in my keep-fit regime; I tend to evolve the procedures myself. When you stop thinking about how change can help, you are shifting the balance of your drive coefficient. You can be happy, but you should never be satisfied." Zara was prepared to take the risk with him because he was sure the new software and the continual ringtone reinforcement would overcome the maverick tendency. He wanted the best and Moreno was the best.

*

It was Freema who conceded first. She said she knew more than the others and wanted to trade. Pierze refused to deal. "This is not an auction Freema. Justice will have to take its course. Where I can have some influence is where you may be detained. As long as you understand that I may be able to prolong your life in that way, and only that way. I just want you to know that you also have a better scenario if as many individuals from your clique are taken down as soon as possible. You have to help me – I don't have to reciprocate. Off the record, justice for me would be for you three to be extinguished by your co-conspirators. I will still get them in the end."

She said, "There is a limit to what I know, it's the same in Central Security – clearance levels. I can give you the real name of one of my colleagues. For reasons unknown to me, I am not in possession of the other's origin, even though he works through me. The man I often meet at his apartment, I only know as his code designation, which means nothing. However, I may be able to offer a password which could be useful. I want to know how offering this would make a difference, still speaking off the record of course." This first point in the first game of the first set was instrumental in breaking the deadlock. Pierze didn't yet need the information; he just needed the others to think Freema had agreed to bargain with their lives. He immediately informed the two of them that although she couldn't give him both of their true identities, he was happy to settle for the one. "So I'm afraid you have now lost the slight advantage you had compared to her. When I have run what she has given me against the local database I will be able to update you and may charge you then. None of you have requested a lawyer, which impresses me. It means we all understand the rules, and more importantly which ones will count for anything on death row. I should be back to see you tomorrow."

*

Moreno was now less concerned about his suitability as a disciple. Unlike either the guinea pig, Simone, or the first disciple, Kipketer, he believed he had recollections of his momentary death. "I can only explain the feeling as one of irritation at not doing some things I had put off for years. I was actually the 'third person' in the movie, watching someone, and talking to another person about the futility of trying to reach him, while pointing at the first individual. He said it was me. I asked how it could be me, and he replied in a disturbing way – 'Who else could know what you are asking of him when he cannot hear you? You are reaching out to him and he does not even know you are there'. I asked this other person who the hell he was and he kept silent, simply pointing at me, I mean me – the one asking the questions. All of a sudden the version of me who was in the movie yelled at us to be quiet, and when I protested he shot me. I didn't feel the bullet travel through my head, just the trickle of warm blood down my face. Each time I tried to explain, another shot hit me. The fountains of blood obscured my vision and I felt my consciousness fading, but nothing else. When blackness reigned I could hear my protests being echoed by the one who I was trying to advise. His mouth was moving, but it was me I could hear. A switch flicked and I was him. I knew what I had to do. How the hell could all that have happened if you say I was only gone for a minute? It seemed more like twenty minutes."

Zara simply said that everyone reacts in their own way. Moreno asked how many had experienced similar vivid and highly frustrating images like his. "None. You are the first. Does that disturb you?" Moreno reflected on the episode again.

"No, it is more to do with interpreting my own neural response. It's fascinating. I hardly ever dream, and when I do the interpretation is logical and I know it was a dream immediately. This was different, being almost tactile, and I did not know I was back with you for some time after you said I was conscious again."

Zara asked if he wanted to rest, and talk about what he wanted to do later. Moreno agreed and Zara gave him a free communicator, explaining that there was no obligation implied with the gift. When he left he was quite enthusiastic about trying the device back at his office. The thought pattern was interrupted by the ringtone and the monologue of the Truth kicked in. He turned about face and looked at the place he had just left. The decision to walk toward it was instinctive, just as was his decision to confirm a desire to become a disciple.

*

Pierze was pleased that the two males requested to see him. He played a little poker with them by informing them he would have to check what they told him, leaving them to fester and wonder who he was checking with. The unravelling gathered pace and he had all three real names, plus another password, this one also claimed to be for the unknown gentleman's computer. It was explained that all of them had different upload content. Freema and the subordinate she exchanged notes with at the bar had the same password. The other male had a different one, and he said that he had to independently verify or contest Freema's input. "I'm not Freema's subordinate, I report directly to the same man as she does. She doesn't know this, as part of my duty is to monitor others. They aren't the only ones. I have others in Southern Africana."

Pierze wanted to digest all of this before pressing for more. He needed more concrete information on the 'gentleman'. They were holding something back. He checked the names out and they did correspond with the local files. Johann De Boer and Andreas Silva were also registered under counter-terrorism in Southern Africana and Southern Iberiana respectively. This bothered Pierze. It didn't feel right; he felt he needed to go softly-softly until he was able to speak with people in these locations that he knew would be discreet. He now wished he had done this when he first had the names. He may have inadvertently opened a conduit.

## Chapter 14

There had been a gradual, then explosive coverage of the Circle of Light in the media. Kipketer and Moreno in their different ways and highly contrasting backgrounds had caught the eye with impressive growth in converts. Zara wasn't alone in recognising that the eighteen year death sentence had assisted this greatly. The 'eruption' of this faith from its wellspring in Africana did not capture much attention from Pierze, but the parallel one in the homeland certainly did. Its epicentre was in Cadiz, and as there was a considerable population of Muslims there, he wondered if it was a likely hotspot for conflict. As he read more on the faith itself, he spotted several references to Lionel Zara. In fact one article claimed he was the founding father. He couldn't reconcile the man he had admired in Moscow with an evangelical persona. Then his thoughts began to drift to Zara's objective in such a need to move the populous to question their existing faith. He then factored in the eighteen year doldrums and decided it wasn't so unusual. He would however invite Zara to come and see him, on the pretext of discussing precisely where the code-breaking effort might lead. He expected him to have a point of view since he financed the expedition in the first place. Zara accepted, but said he couldn't attend for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile he was putting the finishing touches to his approach to his recruitment of Olga Assante. To Zara, she represented the way to influence young people and bring them to the Circle. He recalled that when she was eighteen, it was widely claimed that her ability with think-phones was phenomenal. It was possible that she could surpass that of both Kipketer and Moreno. This element of the younger generation leading the way appealed, as it could be argued that they would have more of their lives curtailed by the predicted cataclysm than the rest of the population. Their faith could well be a beacon in terms of marketing the Truth. Because of the third test being offered at a time in her life when she may never have normally given much thought to premature death, she jumped at the chance.

*

Pierze realised he could rely on Manuel and his contacts in Southern Iberiana to discreetly check out Andreas Silva. However, Johan De Boer was a tricky proposition. He really needed the 'gentleman' to try and make contact with Freema, so he could fabricate some kind of surveillance. He had also informed work colleagues of Freema, Silva and De Boer, via his secretary, that they had been temporarily suspended. He expected this to be queried. As they were detained in a secure location he thought some friends might visit their homes or call their communicators. Neither of these things happened, and then someone from the office asked to see him. The woman, a middle aged software specialist, found it awkward to approach the subject. "I am a spokesperson really, many of us have thought of coming to see you earlier, but we were nervous. I know that in this department people tend to keep things to themselves, but the three people you have suspended were extremely secretive and only communicated with one another. When I was doing a clean-up routine on some of the workstations, I found evidence of activity which seemed strange. It was the same on all of them. Export of files had occurred which hadn't been executed by the person who was responsible for the workstation. They were mainly to do with intended travel arrangements and meetings, mainly for managers, but predominantly for you. The personnel whose station had been infiltrated became so worried they asked me to bring this up."

Pierze didn't want this to go any further right now; it was important and at the same time, a temporary inconvenience. He had to show an interest. "What makes you connect the intrusion to the three people suspended?" The lady said it was always timed at coffee or lunch breaks, when most people were 'off-station'. She claimed that they were the only ones seen unaccompanied at someone else's station.

"This was observed many times before I was asked to watch from my office, then together with the station owner, check the file activity with them immediately afterwards. I have printouts to back this up. We have no idea why this information is so important to them, but it is obviously not something they wanted to ask about openly."

Pierze thanked the whistle-blower and said that it strangely fitted with the reason he had authorised their suspension. He twisted the truth and told her that there had been similar complaints about them from another source. "It's reassuring that you and those you represent have your wits about you, well done. If I may request your help as a spokesperson, please convey my appreciation to them and my request that they just behave as if we never had this conversation, for a little while. It won't stop here but I need to gather more proof of their misdemeanours. It's a sensitive issue and they may lose their positions." Pierze took the wad of printouts offered.

*

The code breakers had made more progress with respect to cosmic equations. There was great excitement amongst the cosmologists that the species which had built the object may have developed a unified mathematical means of describing the infinite and the infinitesimal. As this 'theory of everything' had continued to elude Earth physicists, they were trying to monopolise the efforts of the code breakers to this end. This was blocked by the World Security Body; they wanted any further information from the object, which could be suggestions on how to deal with the predicted disaster. There were some additional references to Phobos which did not seem to fit with the diagrams, but as yet there was no reliable translation of the symbols in that section.

All of the analytical equipment for the probe was ready to be attached. The probe itself would require a few weeks more. There was a sense of inertia with the programme, even though it was well ahead of schedule. It was almost as if each day was falling through a hole of irretrievability, without accountability. More ordinary citizens were turning to the Circle of Light, many of them in a gesture of resignation, as much as faith.

*

When Zara met with Olga Assante just prior to her brief moment of nothingness, he reminded her of his description of how she could help her generation as a disciple. She had originally rejected this on the basis of time. "There are so many things that I've always wanted to do, and now they may have to be achieved sooner, with the impending guillotine of life on Earth." Zara had considered this at length and pointed out that many of these ambitions required considerable finance.

"If you were to accept the role I suggest it would bring its own celebrity and income. I doubt whether you could find a better opportunity. It would also be compatible with your list of objectives, by travelling the world. You would be able to fit the two activities to the same schedule."

Olga thought about this and indeed it made sense, but then she raised another concern. "I don't have the kind of outgoing personality for persuading others to follow me into some allegiance with a doctrine I'm vaguely intrigued with." Zara said she had more charisma than she realised.

"However, that is not the main purpose. We are facing extinction, and even if that is going to occur in eighteen years from now, every minute is important. Many are able to rationalise this fate with the certainty we are going to die at some time anyway. For others it is the indeterminate lease they have on life which is the comfort zone. As soon as a finite time is placed upon their tenure, the neurosis begins. If you can just be yourself I'm sure you will help these folks enormously. You say the Truth confers a vague feeling of intrigue to you, I am utterly certain that this will strengthen as the clock counts down. Finally, there are no targets, objectives, obligations or attendance required in places of worship. The Circle of Light is there for everyone who can or cannot cope with a mass ending. It is an overarching doctrine which welcomes participation from all religions and non-religious individuals and groups. It is not a replacement of any existing beliefs; it is simply the Truth about everyday events and policies offered by the ruling elite. It will hopefully even help these institutions, that we, the contributors to the exchequer, can be trusted with good and bad news without their spin-doctors. Transparency is at the heart of the pledge." Olga was moved enough to agree to at least a probationary period. Zara left to meet with Pierze.

*

When Pierze visited the three moles again, one at a time, with his fistful of printouts, it produced an interesting difference in their reaction. Freema and Silva closed ranks, but Johann De Boer wanted to talk off the record. Pierze laughed at this request. "In investigating the murder of a President there is no off the record. As this is an attempted murder and the President is recovering, the best you can hope for is for me to give you witness protection. I do have to be straight with you, and you will be going to prison if you are found guilty of conspiracy by a jury. I can determine where that will be, and depending on what you tell me on the record, I can make you disappear when you are freed. It's the best I can do."

After a considerable break in the interview, Johann De Boer decided to fill in some of the blanks. "The 'gentleman' you seek is known to the others as Atlas. This is a code name of course and it is not registered with us in any traceable way. That's why you have no number in our communicators for that name or any alias he may have. He contacts us and it is one way only, and we only meet with him when he decides to. That's why the apartment is leased. I have a name in my head, at least the name on the lease, which I assume will not be him. I got this by hacking the estate agent's database. It should be possible to prise something from that name. Maybe more important is the laptop at the apartment. I have a memory stick with what I have uploaded to his laptop, and other data I'm not supposed to have. Freema asked me to trash her laptop to wipe her connection to his, and she also asked me to wipe his at the apartment too. I agreed but didn't do it. He would have known it was one of us and that would have been inadvisable. She wasn't thinking straight. Even if you can't find him you know where the apartment is and I can get you in. I gave you one password already and I know you have another, but they will only get you into general information. The second I can give you will allow access to specific data into which my uploaded stuff fits. There are other files which I don't officially have access to, but I do know what is in there. Alternatively, you may have people of your own who are bright enough to figure out how to break the passwords. You must remember though that getting in will leave a trace. I happen to know what is in there because the fire alarm went off during a meeting and I was in the toilet. It took me a minute or so to clean up, if you know what I mean, and when I rushed past the conference room door I stopped and picked up my laptop. I noticed his was hibernating – he must have thought he had switched it off. I was amazed by what pressing one button revealed. When I got outside he asked where the hell I had been, and I reacted angrily insofar as I was indisposed and nobody had come back to check if I was still in the building. He laughed at my outburst, saying that I had risked my life by grabbing my laptop and risked arrest as I was still unzipped and partly on display. We were then informed the problem was next door, smoke had got through a conduit to his basement and set off the alarm. When we all returned to the meeting room he was relieved that he must have remembered to switch off his computer, when it was actually me. I was glad to let it pass. I want to know what revealing the name, password and secret data will get me. I would prefer to do this in that order and in steps – not all at once."

*

Pierze took a call to say Zara was in his office. "Welcome Snr. Zara, sorry I wasn't here when you arrived. I seem to have an increasing number of irons in the fire at present. Can I get you some coffee?" Zara made him feel comfortable.

"I know the feeling of being submerged in other people's time demands, it was an ancillary reason for taking DCI into employee ownership. Coffee would be great, thanks." Once the secretary had delivered the beverages and closed the door on exit, Pierze got down to business.

"I'm very grateful you could spare the time to give me your input. When we were in Moscow I appreciated your common sense approach to the information held in the object. You weren't alone in that recommendation, but you put it to me in a very easy to understand weighting of priorities. No doubt you will have heard that the World Security Body has felt it necessary to halt the over-zealous cosmology boffins' obsession with a unifying theory, or some such detour. The blocking of this was a bit heavy-handed but it was considered crucial. I wanted to ask you if you and your expedition colleagues feel there is more to learn from the language of the object rather than the equations it seems to use."

The perplexed look on Zara's face was eventually linked to his reply. "I'm not qualified to comment on how near or far these equations are to their Nirvana, or indeed what use we may be able to put them to, or how long all of this would take. My input is therefore exclusively related to the task of preventing the threatened impact, if it is feasible. There isn't much talk about how we may achieve this, only how the builders of the object may help us again. If they were responsible in some measure for altering the course of Comet 2005NB5C in 1908, albeit at the expense of a smaller impact fragment, we are indebted to them. I do endorse extracting all possible information from the object with utmost urgency. It's the only way we'll know if they do offer a solution, and whether we are capable of implementing it. We must answer this question absolutely as soon as possible. The equations business is best considered as mental masturbation for the present, until we know there is going to be a future. I'm not suggesting that this hobby of theirs will yield nothing practical, but we cannot afford to indulge in purely esoteric pastimes with the constraints implied by the object. I would immediately rescind my view if there was a valid argument for near-term concrete benefit which would help divert the comet. The equations will still be there when it impacts, unfortunately we will not."

Pierze had not bargained for such an impassioned plea, but it did give him an entry to the other subject he was curious about. He had intended to leave it until the end of the meeting. "I do appreciate your clarity of vision, yet I find it confusing that you are reportedly the originator of this new faith which seems to be sweeping across the globe. Don't you find that it distracts you from your daily business?"

The reply wasn't what Pierze had anticipated. "It really only came about during the discovery we made in Tunguska." Zara felt at first that he had skilfully lied but conceded to himself that it was at least partly true. "That event was so unique, so fundamental and so thought-provoking that it left little room in my mind for anything else, even my important work with the companies I was responsible for. When I experienced the squabbling scientists putting their own egos above the welfare of the rest of the world, it just came to me. I asked myself – what ever happened to words like 'neighbour'? They are still there, but their meaning has changed. Neighbours are now merely the people who are living close by, whereas not so long ago they were people we spent time with, cared for, and helped when we could. I realised that the cement between people in general has eroded and the major religions of the world have let people down, even though they may not see it that way. I talked to a few prominent individuals I have known for a long time, and suggested that the Tunguska revelation has provided this focus on the responsible things we must do, which in turn has brought us an altered perspective. It then occurred to me that this revelation was probably the worst news we could have received, and still it has sparked genuine desire to work together. It has begun to reverse this awful trend of descending into chaos from order – the increasing shift from the essential needs of the species and environmental benefit, to one of predominance of the individual. When I made a further suggestion that faith in the Truth could deliver where others had failed, it seemed to connect with a lot of people – we can be trusted. Anyway, here I am on my soapbox again. You are in the business of managing the truth, with good intention, but I was focussed on the Truth in Tunguska. I must also add that although these ramblings in my head were as a result of Tunguska itself, the friendship with an extraordinary person such as Alexei Stepanov was a big influence. I'm only the 'facilitator' of this Circle of Light, others have taken it on apace and I'm very pleased about it becoming something that the citizens really seem to want; isn't that how it should be?"

What stuck in Pierze's mind about this declaration was the accusation that society was hell-bent on dismantling order and therefore law, the only substitute being chaos, and therefore the road to anarchy. It echoed his own downbeat projection with the perennial struggle in his daily occupation. It took his thought process to a different plane. For the second time, he visualised the potential benefits of the political system which prevailed in Orient. The first time was when he had visited Din Chow Zen with Sanchez to ask for their assistance in bringing down Sidonia. His mind then turned to the Sidonia cult itself; was it really so bad to subscribe to ideals which could benefit the species as a whole? Maybe it was the method they chose which was unacceptable. Perhaps the end result would have been preferable to the ultimate destiny for democracy. He disagreed with Zara on the point as to whether the populous could be trusted on such complex matters. Snapping out of this cerebral surfing, he looked at Zara intently. Was this a man who could bring humanity to its senses, or alternatively, was he capable of a very elaborate deception? His gaze hardened on Zara's coffee cup.

"I must say I always enjoy our exchanges, they are never dull. I hope I can call on you again when necessary. I'll do all in my power to ensure we take your point on channelling every last drop of resource on to total extraction of data from the object, and also initiating structured proposals for dealing with Comet 2005NB5C. When I announce a steering body for this, will you be available?"

Surprising though the request was, the reply was definite. "Absolutely, as long as you appreciate that I'll always speak my mind, regardless of who it may embarrass." They shook hands on this accord. They spent another hour discussing the makeup of such a 'committee'. When Zara finally left, Pierze resumed his fascination with the coffee cup. His new friend deserved respect, but the professional in Pierze rose to the occasion. He took a tissue, put the cup in a plastic bag and sent it to the lab, asking them to run a DNA comparison with that of Constantin Boniek, alias Osvaldo Martinez.

*

Olga Assante's recollection of her timeout was different to that of Kipketer and Moreno. "I was dead, but able to ask questions – to whom I didn't know. I only had one question. What was it truly like to be dead? The voice was familiar. Like the one which tells of the Circle of Light, like that one but not actually that one. It assured me that being dead was the same as one thousand years or one year before I was born. I simply did not exist. While I was thinking about this I realised I wasn't breathing. I didn't need to. I was still in the womb and I could see that I was dead. There was a difference between seeing and being. It was a frightening and exhilarating experience."

Zara gave her the obligatory free communicator with the appropriate software tweaked to Boniface's preferences from Olga's emotional evaluation. She was informed of the incentive for converts to receive free communicators and the ringtone control was initiated within minutes of her departure from the test lab. Olga was to spearhead her recruitment from Balkan and Turkish Iberia initially, but her personal objectives to travel would fertilise the latent germination all over the world.

Zara had originally expected to engage seven disciples, but the impact of television in spreading information about the exponential growth of this faith, coupled with the real driver – Tunguska, persuaded him to pause at three for a while.

## Chapter 15

Maxi Duarte had never looked worse in the eyes of Ricardo Pierze - who in retrospect was pleased he hadn't been afforded the chance to make a disparaging comment. "Ricardo, I have to quit. Last night – you may have heard actually – Emile was playing for the first team in La Coruna and there was a three-way clash of heads. The others had broken noses and cheekbones, but Emile suffered a neck injury when he landed awkwardly. He's in intensive care right now. He hasn't regained consciousness. They're debating how and when to relieve the pressure build-up in his brain. They aren't hopeful about him recovering the use of his legs, even if they get him conscious again quickly. I er, you must excuse me, I just wanted to tell you personally and I needed to get out of the intensive care unit while they did more tests. I must return now. I hope you understand I have to be with my son from now on."

Empathising with someone in distress had always made Pierze feel inadequate in the past. He didn't experience such negativity on this occasion. "Maxi, please sit even if it is only for a minute. I'll drive you back to the hospital, as you need all your concentration on getting Emile and your wife through this awful time. As far as your work here is concerned, put it out of your mind. You don't need to quit; your presence here will always be appreciated whatever you decide. You have an unofficial contract that only you and I need to know about, and it is valid as long as I'm here. If it turns out that we are only to be friends, then great. Now have a coffee and we'll go back to Emile. I will make some enquiries myself about his prognosis. Sometimes this job of mine can have influence."

Duarte sank into the nearest chair and could no longer hold back his self-criticism. "I've pushed him too hard for his age. My wife warned me, and only now can I see it."

Ricardo Pierze had never got anywhere near contemplating Maxi Duarte as a friend. This sudden predicament of the Duarte family brought into sharp focus his lack of any real friends. He had no relationship which could be described as close. He had constantly buried the offhand family life in which he went to boarding school at the age of ten. He was always distant from others, especially his father and mother. They didn't seem to need him to be there. The irony of his normal sarcastic mental attitude towards Duarte and the overflowing need of this man to declare his love for his son, scratched deeply into the sad assessment of his own father. He actually felt he was needed by Duarte. It was not the same as his job; it was best not to confuse the two – that was merely being in demand.

Having left Duarte at the hospital and squeezed the consultant taking charge of Emile, Pierze left in a depressed state. The prognosis was actually worse than they had told Emile's parents. He wasn't expected to recover consciousness; the consultant feared that it may come down to switching off life support at some time. He contacted the Madrid club and asked what they were doing about the young man's case. The reply was very woolly and annoyed Pierze intensely. "Yes I realise you have medical insurance and he is in a very good hospital, but I also assume you haven't pressed the doctors too hard on the boy's projected chances of recovery. I'm personally going to seek out the foremost authority on such coma-inducing trauma and find out if there is a second opinion and recommendation which offers more hope. I really think you should be pursuing this as one of Iberia's leading clubs. It wouldn't help your academy's reputation if you were seen to be intransigent in the face of such tragedy; the press will be at your door. Let me know if you need my support."

*

Back in his office Pierze found it difficult to concentrate on matters in hand, however he needed to inform Manuel of Duarte's plight and check whether he had more information on Silva. He was about to initiate the sequenced offer of disclosure from Johann De Boer. Manuel had heard about Emile on the sports bulletin and had already made contact with Maxi Duarte and his wife. "Elle and I are on our way to see them. There's probably nothing we can do other than help share the worry, but there is certainly nothing we can do from here. I do have an interesting angle on Silva but that should wait until we are face to face." Pierze respected the need for a secure debriefing and told Manuel that he was about to twist the knife into Johann De Boer.

"Does what you're going to tell me suggest that I hold back on that?" Manuel was quite adamant that Pierze should delay this until he arrived.

"What I have also directly involves Johann De Boer. I don't think we should say any more. I should be there with you tomorrow afternoon after seeing Maxi. Elle would like some time alone with Maxi, they go back a long way."

*

The code breakers were now pretty certain that their perceived discrepancy between the diagrams involving Phobos, and the separate group of symbols, was actually a reference to the moon and not some set of cosmic calculations. They were convinced that the symbols were narrative, and whatever this was describing could apply to Phobos. There was a distinct difference between these symbols and those which fascinated the cosmologists. They couldn't agree on what the description was trying to say; there simply weren't enough of these 'modified' symbols to produce anything better than educated guesswork. It did have the effect of getting the probe launched.

Zara took a call from Russia. It was Boris Krasnic. "Hello Boris, I see you and Alexei have been overwhelmed with offers to publish the 'Cradle of Tunguska'. You must think carefully on the temptation they contain, and I know you'll concentrate on authenticity. Anything less would be unfair to Stepanov's great-grandfather." Krasnic was not calling for that reason.

"It is Alexei I'm calling about. He is very sick. I can only imagine that the expedition has resulted in more exposure to radiation, despite the precautions we took. He was in close contact with the object more than any of us. If you want to see him again I advise you to come quickly. He does talk about you a lot. He isn't afraid, he knows his time is short and he, sorry I should say we, will never forget your unwavering belief in our assertions. I hope you still feel the same connection."

This acceleration of Stepanov's demise injected emotional paradox into Zara's world. He wasn't able to grasp how something which was expected was such a mind-crumbling shock.

"No, no Boris, surely not, there must be some mistake. We mustn't let this happen. Of course I'll come immediately. Please set up appointments with the best experts in your country. I'll underwrite their participation. If there is nothing they can offer I have contacts here with all kinds of cutting edge medical people, including genetic specialists. Tell Alexei I'm on my way." There was a considerable pause.

"Maybe I did not convey the gravity of Alexei's situation. He may not survive until you get here. I suggested to him that I should ask you to come last week, but he didn't want to inconvenience you with a further request. He said we both had to concentrate on building your name into our making of history, even though there might be no history to reflect upon in a few years from now. Here it has been cited as our expedition, but we agreed it should embrace the constancy of your encouragement. It will therefore be known as 'The Stepanov-Krasnic Expedition (Zara Project)'. I hope you will make it in time."

Zara was in meltdown; he couldn't function. He shouted garbled instructions to nobody in particular to hire a private aircraft, if it wasn't possible to get him to Moscow within the next twelve hours. He collected his photos of the expedition and picked up a heavy surplus of cash. He didn't even change his clothes or take a shower. He left for the airport clutching a printout of a booking confirmation, given to him by a subordinate. On touchdown at the airport he contacted Krasnic to give him details of his arrival and apologised for not making accommodation reservations. "Tell Alexei I'll be there soon. Please make sure he knows I'm coming."

*

When Manuel was greeted by Pierze it was muted. They talked at length about how they might help. It didn't amount to much as they really needed the second opinion which Pierze had eventually set in motion. There had been quite a bit of evasiveness – unease at stepping on toes of the original consultant's diagnosis.

When the conversation finally drifted to Andreas Silva, Manuel asked for coffee. "It all comes back to Nelson Ortega. If you recall the information I got from Raul Ibanez, he said Ortega was the target of the sniper. My source who must remain anonymous, confirms this. The reason Ibanez gave me also seems to be correct, insofar as Ortega was perceived as discarding his loyalty to the Southern Iberiana he knew and prospered from. It then gets a bit messy. The people who were after Ibanez for screwing up on the sniper rifle, wanted Sanchez to be replaced with a more friendly President and they had been assured it would not be Falcorini. Ortega had apparently indicated his support for a particular obscure candidate who would have been welcomed by the Southern Iberiana mafia. However, he later argued that it couldn't be achieved in time for the election that would have been triggered by Sanchez' demise. Ortega needed the sniper to be seen to shoot Sanchez and be taken alive, to fulfill his scripted role as the patsy. If the security guards on the rooftop had shot the sniper without Sanchez being terminated, Ortega was in serious trouble. He would have had you delivering him to the wolves about the insecure venue you warned him of, and if his career was wrecked with Sanchez still in power, the mafia would be obliged to terminate him. Without knowing of the bomb he effectively did one part of the mafia's job for them. These people however expected the bomb to take out Sanchez and Ortega. They are still unhappy."

Pierze shook his head vigorously. "I know most of this from what you got from Ibanez, and although it is all still quite confusing, I don't see the relevance of Falcorini or the mystery candidate." Manuel smiled at Pierze's impatience.

"Maybe you would if you knew that Andreas Silva and Johann De Boer fired the RPGs into the studio. They were working for you but loyal to the barons of Southern Iberiana. The rocket launchers were procured by Freema Anwar. Does that help?"

Pierze looked at Manuel intently, and raised one eyebrow. "You don't have any proof of this do you?" Manuel was astonished at the reaction.

"You don't get proof with such conduits which can precipitate sudden death Ricardo. What it does offer you is the opportunity to evaluate what these three moles are fabricating to 'leak' to you, as a means of limiting their own exposure. Changing their identity or trying to secure their protection won't prevent them from being tracked down. It's more beneficial for the mafia to figure out you have been given a false trail by these three people. At the very least you will get an interesting reaction from them, but it may be prudent to let them lead you to the false trail first. If my source is right about this, and I've never known him be wrong, they'll give you the false trail even without your promises. Time isn't on their side. What I have to worry about is the relative ease with which I was able to extract this from this particular source; it is extremely unusual."

Although they spent the rest of the day picking through the permutations of conspiracy, they both admitted that the gentleman was missing from the equation, and if the three moles were so directly implicated in the assassination plot, then he had to be – even more so. He did exist. They had pictures of him and Freema. "Manuel, I'll follow your suggestion, but in the meantime, can you get your source to comment on our mystery guest before Johann De Boer leads me indirectly to him?" Manuel nodded hesitantly and left.

*

Zara was shaking as he entered the private room in which Stepanov was being treated. His anguish was complete when he saw the grey hue of his skin, dotted with blotches of angry red and dark brown. His breathing was laboured and his skeletal form was distorted. His eyes miraculously remained bright. Zara couldn't formulate any words coherently and slumped into a chair, unable to prevent his friend from witnessing this distress. "Lionel, I did not expect we would meet again. This is a wonderful surprise. You mustn't be so sad, we knew this was going to happen; it is just a little sooner than we thought. We all have to go sometime, that is inescapable. We should rejoice that I can soon be at peace, now that we conquered the riddle of Tunguska. Although I never really knew my great-grandfather, I feel so exhilarated that this frustration I shared with him is now at an end. Boris and I have one last favour to ask of you."

Zara was still struggling to say anything but managed to nod in affirmation. "As you know well, Boris has the same fate awaiting him, but for now at least he will be the custodian of our rights for TV, films and publishing. We want to ensure authenticity in all of this. I have signed a side document of my will for my part in this to pass to you. My family will be taken care of financially, but this kind of thing is beyond them, I fear they would be exploited. Boris no doubt will tell you in his own time that he wants to do the same. We have given a significant part of our lives to this, and we would like that to be respected." At last Zara managed a smile and he squeezed Alexei's hand.

"Of course, I will take care that both of your families are kept safe."

The three of them re-enacted the expedition from the train massacre to the moment the human race was informed of final proof of extra-terrestrial life. The reminiscence was cut short by Stepanov's wife and children entering the room. They had been summoned, and Alexei had waived the presence of a priest. "These are the people to whom I want to say my farewell."

Zara motioned to leave the family together and was halted by Stepanov wagging his finger. In a reflex reaction he turned and amazingly felt it was quite natural to hug the children and their mother all together. Only afterwards did it seem disorienting. The doctor arrived with the requested morphine and whatever else was going to help Alexei Stepanov on his way. "I am sure you all understand that I'm in terrible pain, and as I only have a few hours, this seems more dignified."

His two children were lifted alongside him and he explained his desire to go to sleep. They kissed their father and were beginning to wonder what was going to happen. Boris Krasnic's wife entered the room and tempted them to go with her for an ice cream. Zara couldn't help but notice a haunting expression behind her smile, that it could soon be Boris saying goodbye. Alexei rambled on while the morphine took over and the others stood in silence, eyes fixed on his heaving chest. Without any facial contortion it suddenly stopped. The man whose persistence proved we were not alone was gone. In the same instant Constantin Boniek's brief summer of belonging went with him. He began to hyperventilate and the doctor was called. It was several hours before he fully recovered. Boris was still there and insisted that his hotel booking was cancelled.

"You must stay with us. You should not be alone tonight. I am sure you will be staying for the funeral, he would want that."

*

Pierze had spent sleepless nights after failing to find any medical consultant to disagree with the pessimistic original prognosis. He was told by the best that it was too early to be certain about Emile's predicted paralysis, or whether his cerebral condition would stabilise sufficiently to foster new hope. Duarte knew of his efforts via Manuel and Butragueno, but his wife simply refused to accept that he was actually helping in such a tense situation.

He told Manuel he was ready to proceed with the grilling of the two alleged grenade launchers. "As your contact has denied any knowledge of this gentleman, it strikes me that either his disclosure to you is the false trail or you are correct \- that I am to be fed some feasible bullshit. I'm going to test your assertion that Johann De Boer will give me the name of this ghostly figure without getting any assurances from me about anything. Do you want to be present?" Manuel was keen to match up the offerings with those of his contact.

"Snr. De Boer," said Pierze, "let me introduce a colleague who has helped me in the past." No name was offered and De Boer did not betray any concern at a third party being present. Pierze shuffled some of his piles of papers while fiddling in his jacket pocket for his expensive fountain pen. "Yes, where was I? Ah-ha, having considered what you requested previously about a particular stepwise process of disseminating information, I have decided to reject such a proposal. I don't need his name – as it is likely to be false. I don't need you to get me into the apartment, as I have an appropriate warrant. Finally, once I'm in there, I do have high calibre people who can get me the information in his laptop which you claim Freema and Silva aren't even aware of. So, if that is the extent of what you have I'm afraid it is what I would usually term as makeweight. I'll visit you again when I have what you claim to have. If the two match then I'm duty bound to charge you and the others."

For the first time De Boer looked Manuel up and down, as he hadn't uttered a word. He thought he must be one of the high calibre people who were going to crack the laptop of Atlas. As they got up to leave De Boer said it would be better if he told Pierze what he would find. "That way it will prove that I am genuinely in a position to help you." They sat down again.

"Go ahead," said Pierze switching on the recorder.

"The person whose name is on the lease is Stephan Fagor. I have a safe deposit box, I'll write down the details of where it is and the entry code. Inside there is a key to the apartment with the alarm code and also the second password, plus the memory stick with a general description of what I saw on Atlas' laptop during the fire alarm chaos. If that proves of interest I can provide the entire content."

Manuel was now not so sure he had been given solid information from his 'absolutely reliable' contact. Pierze thanked Johann De Boer and said he would be back soon. The only thing he had worried about in breaking in was a call out message to either Atlas' mobile or the alarm company.

*

The presence of Elle Butragueno in the vigil helped to bridge the silence between Maxi and his wife. Duarte had 'adopted' the blame for the entire sequence of events – from his decision to retire and live his dream through his son. Despite Maria reminding him that it was Emile and her who persuaded him to live in Madrid, he wouldn't concede. "Elle, you know him better than anyone, he can be so obdurate. Because there is nobody to blame, he can't deal with the loss. He has to have a villain to arrest. I think it would help immensely if you could get him out of here for a while. He thinks my silence validates his feeling of guilt. I can't seem to get him to understand that I am unable to assign responsibility to a person, an event, or utter the old cliché – 'it was meant to be'. It's just so unnecessary, and all I can concentrate on is Emile, and the fervent belief he may pull through. I will deal with the grief if and when that time comes. I fear this may drive us apart if we need to be at Emile's bedside for a long time, and that seems likely. Will you help me?"

Butragueno looked through the glass which separated the room from the corridor. The silhouette of Duarte, created by the setting crimson sun, grated with the memories of her old boss. He had made a concession to his ridicule of the 'seduction of fashion' by being what he thought was 'appropriately dressed'. The dark blue suit, pristine white shirt and traditional necktie were ill-fitting yet looked expensive. She smiled; at least he had forgotten to invest in compatible footwear. The frayed tan moccasins gave her hope. She turned back to Maria.

"I know just the place to take him. We will be gone for a couple of hours."

## Chapter 16

With the probe on its way there was a surreal feeling of hope running parallel to the global emergence of the Circle of Light. Angel's financial reports confirmed this by the astonishing upsurge in social usage of Trans Global Connections service. The analysis was clearly related to the package with the new DCI communicators. It had become so successful, especially through the ringtone software, that it was becoming difficult to manage. It was not merely the demand for capacity; it had vacuumed up the ever-diminishing labour pool required to administrate the service. The decline in career-driven aspiration was understandable, given the implied retirement from life in less than two decades. In a convoluted ripple effect the 'ownership' of the Truth and its cornerstone philosophy, the Circle of Light had begun to pass out of the hands of Zara and his disciples to the masses. It was becoming the oxygen of hope, which was free and available to everyone. Zara was hounded by both Moya and Angel to help curb the demand. They could have swallowed even some of their main competitors by hostile bids, if it could get past the monopolies commission. Zara was still detached, following the funeral of Stepanov, and yet viewed the situation with a curious clarity. "Gentlemen, you can't keep bleating to me about the challenges you face. Think about it from the extinction angle. Who will give a damn if the monopolies commission is ignored? The very reason you are in a quandary is the bushfire of the faith. Use it, rather than be afraid of it. You can do this by using the power of the Truth – the tsunami of followers can demand such demolition of anti-Truth. There is of course a different indirect competitor we can consider – SACRED. I'm fully focussed on making your task more difficult by creating more demand – not less. You must keep up. It is one of life's salutary lessons. Standing still is going backwards. The initial aspirations for the Truth have been surpassed. It was intended to dragoon policy makers into more and more transparency. Their word for this is anarchy. Now there is a more valuable prize within reach. It has come courtesy of Tunguska. In the shrunken horizon we have left, the people, rather than governments can be the administrators of the Truth. I really believe it is as unstoppable as the dreaded comet itself." Moya and Angel exchanged glances, which only just managed to suppress the implied questioning of Zara's sanity.

*

Pierze had tracked down Stephan Fagor. He wasn't very helpful, despite being threatened with obstructing enquiries of the Republic. "I was approached by someone who said they were representing a wealthy foreign businessman, who needed an upmarket stopover property. I declined at first as he said they didn't want any paperwork involved, but when he offered a year's rent for one month I reconsidered. I always get paid in cash and it isn't always the same person who meets me, and the location varies. I only get notice of the location on the day, sometimes less than an hour before we are to arrive. I've been given no indication of how long this arrangement will be required, or notice of termination."

Pierze placed sentries in the street while he and Manuel entered the apartment of Atlas. Once the alarm had been deactivated with gloved hands they set about taking pictures, many of them, to study and show to Freema when the time was right. The desks were locked with ordinary hardware and therefore easy to open. Apart from bills for necessities there was a short list of pseudonyms, each one followed by a single digit. Atlas was number three.

The passwords yielded exactly what De Boer had told them, general descriptions of project headings. Atlas was again ascribed with the number three. The descriptions were deliberately vague but they did use language such as elimination, procurement, utmost secrecy, price of failure, and ultimate sacrifice. There was no obvious logic to be grasped from the order, for example Atlas was second on the list whereas Medusa, which was ascribed with the number one was actually fourth and last. It was tempting to consider taking the laptop back to his office for his hackers to fight over, but he had to take small steps. They left after less than ten minutes in the apartment. Back at the office, they examined De Boer's memory stick. The uploaded content was consistent with what he had told them – reports on the other two. They were not very complimentary with respect to Silva in particular. De Boer described him as poor with deadlines, sporadically sloppy with his use of words rather than codes, and apparently saddled with a tendency for indiscretion when even mildly inebriated. There were several cautions about his suitability for project 3. By contrast Freema scored well except for the unusually frequent calls she made in Arabic, even allowing for that being her native tongue, as they were obviously argumentative in nature, not family chats.

When Pierze and Manuel digested all of this they agreed that the latter's rather easily gained information now seemed less reliable. Although his source knew of these people it was too convenient just to offer them up as 'President Killers' – and hasten the corollary of 'case solved'. This flavour was reinforced by Manuel's repeated failure to extract anything from the source about Atlas. They decided to talk to De Boer again.

*

One of the code breakers had insisted on visiting the object again rather than just working from the photographs and printouts. He was adamant that they had missed something in the original inspection of the faces of the pyramids. After several hours of working backwards from Face 4 of the upper pyramid, he was about to give up. He had got as far as Face 1 of the same pyramid and what got his attention in looking at the diagrammatic form of Phobos, was a recall of the human prediction that the moon's decaying orbit would eventually cause its demise. However, that same prediction could not and did not take account of the object's warning of interference from a rogue asteroid and subsequent clash with Comet 2005NB5C. He focussed intently on the diagram again and pressed the screen as close as possible to the 'middle ground' of the rectangular body. He blinked as it was enlarged. He did the usual repeat, a facility which they had discovered earlier in the examination, and it continued to enlarge. He exclaimed aloud, "How the hell could they have missed this? Surely someone has enlarged this but not considered the result important." He then felt stupid as he was alone. The blow-up clearly showed a small point at one end of the moon, marked and accompanied by several other symbols, some of which were probably the coordinates of the designated point on the 22 x 21 x 19 km moon. He had to get back to the rest of the team, and also alert the probe mission control of this location as one of prime interest.

*

Pierze put it to Manuel that it would be worth accusing De Boer of being one of the grenade launchers, based on information received. He wanted to do this prior to telling him that they had confirmed what he had told them. "I don't see what we have to lose Manuel. We have to get to Atlas." It was reluctantly agreed by Manuel.

"Snr. De Boer, we have a reliable source who claims that you and Silva fired the grenades which started the carnage and almost fatally injured President Sanchez. The same source revealed that Freema Anwar obtained these weapons from Tobruk. We are following up on other leads this source has provided, for the necessary proof, which, if it is valid, would lead to me charging you." They both concentrated on his body language as nothing issued from his mouth for some time. He was bewildered more than shocked and seemed to be mentally calculating where this could have come from, rather than denying it. Pierze was in the process of rising when Manuel gripped his arm and motioned for him to sit down again.

"I can see you are confused, but I can tell you it's not Atlas, it's one of my sources. It would seem that you aren't denying the assertion."

At last he spoke. "It is the realisation that I'm being set up. I had absolutely nothing to do with the grenade launchers, neither had Silva. It does however, not surprise me completely that Freema could have been some kind of link in the procurement of something from the Middle East. She had multiple heated discussions with someone there, but refused to talk about it to us. I don't think I should say any more until I decide whether to alter my decision about having a lawyer present."

Pierze said he thought that would now be prudent. "A lawyer might be helpful in advising you on how to proceed since we have checked and confirmed the information you gave us regarding Fagor, Atlas' laptop, and your own memory stick. You may want to ask the lawyer about Atlas, now that my colleague here has told you he isn't the purveyor of the accusation. Perhaps you should also ask him about Silva, specifically his frame of mind, when he knows of the accusation. I don't see him being as level-headed as you are. If on the other hand, you want to talk further while we investigate the claims, let me know via the guard."

Back in his office Pierze laid back into his swivel chair and eyed the pile of paperwork on his desk. It was increasing on a daily basis and he felt he was being slowly crushed. The uppermost form was actually one bearing good news for a change. It was every bit as perfunctory as the original request he had sent to the lab. 'Coffee cup DNA not a match to Constantin Boniek'. He was pleased, and sublimely ignorant of what a difference a person-to-person request might have made. The form could have read, 'Not a match, but highly significant overlap of genetic markers'. He at least felt free to continue to enlist the views of Lionel Zara. The next communication in the pile was less rewarding. The scheduled World Security Body meeting location and date had been fixed to the satisfaction of all participants. It was to be held near the space elevator in the far south of the Iberian Peninsula. Since the decision to launch the manned Mars mission in 2033 had been ratified, the security concerns had escalated over its exclusion zone. This was not only for protection against extremist threat, but also the growing discomfort with demonstrations, albeit peaceful, by the rapidly expanding Circle of Light. Their lobbying was for clearer dissemination of the plans for the two alternatives facing humanity. In the scenario where confidence was high that the comet could be persuaded to pass Earth by, they wanted to know the exact mechanism. In the alternate outcome they were pressing for information on underground shelter construction and what chance people had of surviving the impact and its attendant toxicity for years afterwards. A third scenario raised its head as a consequence of these demonstrations. What was the plan for Mars in either event? This had worked its way to the front of the demands as they could foresee a selection process being required for underground survival and getting off the Earth. There was suspicion abroad that this might already have been discussed. Pierze saw this as the thin end of a wedge of social fracture and ultimate breakdown. He would talk unofficially to Zara about his fears.

*

Johann De Boer had wrongly assumed that Pierze had by now confronted Silva with the information claiming that they had fired the grenades. He had met with his appointed lawyer and asked him if there was any possibility he could be extradited to Southern Africana to face any charges. He was told that the list of potential charges was long, and until he was actually charged it would be difficult to answer the question. "If you are hit with attempted murder of the President you have no chance. On the other hand if you were accused of perversion of the course of justice or conspiracy to block the intended broadcast, you may at least get a hearing." He decided to ask to see Pierze with the lawyer present.

When Pierze entered the interrogation room, De Boer asked where the man who had delivered the accusation of firing the grenades was.

"He is not here today."

De Boer's next statement surprised Pierze and the lawyer. "I therefore wish to have this lawyer contact my family lawyer in Southern Africana to represent me in a civil action against this absentee. You will please give this lawyer his name. That's all I have to say for the present."

Pierze handed the lawyer a piece of paper with the name 'Manuel Salina' scribbled in large text. The lawyer showed it to De Boer, whose expression slowly transformed from serious to a broad grin.

Pierze left the room and immediately contacted Manuel. "I had to give him your name as I haven't charged him with anything. I may have to do that to prevent him trying to sue you. If I go that route I need proof other than what he gave us. All that might achieve is dismissal or jail, but he could be out in five years. I think this is what he wants. If we can't get more from your source we'll have to drop the accusation of direct involvement in the assassination plot. He knows if he walks out now his life is at risk, so he must have some plan in mind." Manuel was very unhappy that Pierze had revealed his name, as any publicity of such a civil case would find its way back to the source and may have serious consequences for him.

"Will he give up the civil case if the accusation is officially withdrawn?"

Pierze pondered the question. "He may do, in fact that could be his bargaining point. That may be why he is prepared to risk a less serious charge and jail, especially if he can get me to keep him safe for now. I think you need to be present when I put this to him."

*

Manuel was speaking from the hospital, and he explained to Duarte that he had to take Elle to the airport and then meet Pierze. Butragueno said her tearful goodbyes and said she was going to take some official leave, and expected to be back within a week. Duarte and Maria nodded in appreciation. The news was mixed. Emile was not improving and they had been forced to relieve the pressure on his brain despite the risk. This was slightly compensated by the football club's fruitful efforts to get a highly respected specialist from Japan to examine the boy.

When Manuel arrived, Pierze said after further consideration he was going to charge all three of the moles with breach of security within the department. "Let's do your part first and see what comes of that. One thing is certain. We are being given the runaround by someone."

Manuel asked what had come from the DNA checks from the broadcast studio. "Is there nothing there to connect these people?"

Pierze shook his head disconsolately. "I'm afraid not. I've had to ease up on the team because there is a morass of samples and it is virtually impossible to be sure who they came from. With a bomb blast like that you also get identical samples more than twenty metres from one another, so the work is unavoidably duplicated. In the context of your information though, even if Silva and De Boer did fire the grenades, they were from the multi-storey car park, and you may recall, both the painting equipment and the weapons were clean. The vehicle they used only had prints and DNA from the owner's family. I have to break the lock-jam Manuel, despite the consequences."

*

The three subjects were informed that they would be updated separately and then charged together. Freema and Silva looked distinctly uncomfortable, De Boer was relaxed and he was asked to remain while the others were shown out of the room. Pierze acknowledged De Boer's entering lawyer and gave the floor to Manuel. The recorder was overtly switched off. Manuel began.

"Snr. De Boer, I have pursued my source, the one who made the accusation, and he has failed to come up with any hard evidence of your involvement with the grenade launchers used at the broadcast studio. I have therefore advised Snr. Pierze that this information has to be considered as unreliable."

De Boer looked at his lawyer, who said nothing. He then made his own comment. "Just like that eh, it's very nice of you to apologise. Do you think that makes any difference to how I feel? You have not budged me from my intent to take out a civil case, but thank you anyway for at least retracting the accusation."

Pierze stepped in. "I have to remind you that we aren't recording at present. When this accusation was brought to your attention we were recording. It was made crystal clear to you that this information had been passed to us. We felt you should know about it, and we stand by that. You were always being held on hard evidence from our staff – these printouts – and what you yourself have subsequently told us, which we have verified. You have not been held against your will and it is also on record that I was considering charging you several days ago, but deferred that decision. At that juncture, all three of you preferred to remain in the safety of this establishment. This will be interpreted by any legal authority as a fear of reprisal from some organisation which sponsored the activity with which you will be charged today. We have diligently tried in the meantime to find out more about such connections, as much for your sake as our own investigations. Now Snr. De Boer, before I switch the recorder on again, is there anything more you want to say? It is your last chance before charges are made."

De Boer glanced at his lawyer, who nodded. "I am prepared to consider not proceeding with a civil suit, but I'm awaiting arrival of my family lawyer from Southern Africana. What I would need in return would depend on him lodging a successful appeal to my homeland government for me to face these charges there. An application from them to extradite me would be the first step in the normal procedural sequence. You could facilitate this by not objecting."

It was rare for Pierze to laugh out loud; he had considered a number of means of leverage that De Boer might trot out, but this was ludicrous. "And how do you believe that justice could be administered by a trial for the others in this jurisdiction, and you being spirited away to a domain where there are serious discrepancies in interpretation of Iberian – Africana law. Why stop there, Freema can go to Libya, and Silva to Brazil."

The lawyer spoke for the first time. "Snr. Pierze, there is a difference. My client is a birth national of a sovereign state not under the Iberian flag. Although it is aligned by treaties, common market undertakings and military cooperation, that is different from Arabic Iberia and Southern Iberiana. One such example is the charge of treason against De Boer, it could not be seen to offer an unbiased trial under our law, whereas it would on a constitutional basis for the others. Therefore, in the absence of homogeneous International law, I don't see this as an invalid request. Furthermore, if you were to agree to this, my client may be able to add to the truthful information he has already submitted to you. This information has already indicated that there is a difference in the nature of his remit compared to the other two to be charged. He hasn't been involved in hands-on subversive action against Iberia. His main task was to report on others, who may yet have to try to prove their innocence of such a charge. That may be more difficult if my client reveals evidence to the contrary. He's asking you to weigh up the pros and cons of separate prosecution of your case."

Pierze and Manuel decided to adjourn and think this over. This chessboard was becoming congested, not with the actual number of pieces, but the permutations and combinations of available moves. Pierze detested compromise when it was not on his terms, but Manuel was more pragmatic and brought up yet another possible move.

"Ricardo, I think we both agree that my source has stirred this concoction of ours deliberately, I stand by my belief that he is reputable, and he must therefore be under pressure to get a result for someone. We unfortunately have to let go of him, and I think that will cause problems for him. If De Boer can really give us more, we should at least hear him out. I say that because he is assuming that the Southern Africana hierarchy will want to help him, when it is just as likely they don't want anything to do with this. It could rebound into a diplomatic nightmare for them. Despite what this lawyer says, Africana is expecting to continue to benefit from Iberian investment. De Boer is taking a calculated risk. You could save him the risk on condition he gives us sufficient evidence of a credible justification of different charges."

They mulled it over for more than an hour. Pierze then went to the office gym to replace the mental fatigue with physical tiredness, and a compensating release of endorphins. When he returned he agreed to commence the end-game with Johann De Boer.

## Chapter 17

End Game One

They reconvened. Ricardo Pierze talked very slowly and very carefully, describing the attendees, the time and date. He then switched off the recorder. "Very well De Boer, you have one shot at sketching in what you can illuminate for us. I'm making my offer, I will not to block any extradition request from your homeland conditional on this 'sketch' delivering valuable information. We have to take these pledges on trust. Please begin."

The lawyer interjected. "There is also the small matter of separate charges, provided you concur that what my client discloses constitutes probable evidence that his involvement in the irregularities is limited to reporting on his colleagues."

Pierze was beginning to exhibit signs of impatience. "Yes, yes, now can we get on with it? I am now turning on the recorder as you claim this will become evidence for your client's defence – if it indeed merits a lesser charge." Consensus reigned at last.

De Boer was handed a pre-prepared statement from his lawyer, from which he was told not to deviate. "I must make it absolutely clear that I know nothing of the greater agenda of the people on whose behalf I was recruited and later engineered into Iberian Central Security. My controller, known to me as Atlas required me to ensure that my working colleagues, Freema Anwar and Andreas Silva, kept to protocol and target reporting schedules. I wasn't permitted to know the details of what they reported, and they were instructed not to allow me access to such information. Things did not exactly work out that way. Although Anwar and Silva initially respected my remit, they began to object over time – to me, they didn't dare confront Atlas. The three of us became increasingly concerned that we would need to be erased at some time. This fear originally came from Freema. She came to me before Silva did, as he was technically her subordinate. She confessed that although she was instructed and informed by Atlas on a need to know basis, she was able to connect how her information uploads dovetailed into Project 3. She didn't know the target, place or time, but it became obvious that mass murder was the only possible result. We had all been groomed for espionage tasks, but this made her realise that we would, of necessity be one strand of the links, which would have to be severed to protect the architects. She had sensed my own discomfort, which had been triggered by what I saw on Atlas' laptop the day of the fire alarm. We were very nervous about sharing information, nevertheless the inevitable fate of doing nothing convinced us to include Silva, as we all had to be acting as one while we planned our disappearance. Events overtook our departure otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here. We felt we had to continue to act as normal and Central Security was as safe a refuge as we could expect while we extricated ourselves. I can provide details of my individual plan to get back to Southern Africana. I have travel vouchers which were purchased before you brought me to confinement. I have also made arrangements with people there who can confirm where they were planning to 'bury' me. I'm happy for you to check this out. The others have made similar arrangements. I would now like to progress to what knowledge we gathered, which I must stress again, we were officially prohibited from having.

"Atlas met his counterparts from a list of four controllers, on a scheduled basis, sometimes overseas and occasionally at the apartment here. I personally have only seen one other to whom I can assign a code name. Medusa was here recently. Freema believes she has figured out the other two. I got the picture from Atlas' laptop when I re-entered the meeting room during the aforementioned fire alarm. From the structure of the other data I saw at that time, we tried to put together the sequence of these projects. This was assisted by the information pattern of what Freema and Silva were asked to gather. We had already come up with the order of the projects as 3-2-4-1. This was what panicked us, as the one we were hired for was to be first. I have the picture and the rest of this information copied on to a memory stick, in a secure location."

The statement was handed back to the lawyer who returned it to his briefcase and said, "Over to you gentlemen. This memory stick will be made available if you are now prepared to discuss how things will proceed, if you find my client's account is verified, and it consequently leads you to arrest of the persons who are really responsible for the savage loss of life we all witnessed."

The recorder was turned off. Pierze looked at Manuel. It was agonisingly tempting, especially as their own enquires had foundered. The tension was reaching a crescendo when it was punctured by a rendition of the 1812 overture. It startled three of them but De Boer exclaimed, "That's my ringtone!"

Pierze was catapulted into a frantic search through his pockets. He had communicators from all three of them. He tipped the mobiles plus his own on to the table, and urged De Boer to answer the call.

"Yes." A short pause followed while De Boer asked for a pen. He scribbled one word – Atlas. "Yes sir, I understand, when?" There was another brief silence while Atlas discharged further instructions. "I see. Will you be speaking with the others or do you want me to do that?" He then tried to keep Atlas on the line while he wrote – 'Get Freema and Silva'.

Pierze despatched the guard to bring them into the room immediately. Just as he was debriefing Freema on the situation and De Boer was nodding affirmation her ringtone sounded. She was told to answer. The same conversation occurred, but this time Atlas told her to inform Silva to attend. The arrangement was for all of them to attend the apartment. De Boer was scheduled for fifteen minutes ahead of the other two. He explained that it was highly unusual for them to be called to attend within such a short period and they had never been there all together. It convinced the three of them that this was dangerous. Pierze and Manuel had a private word and concluded that if the latter's contact had been forcibly primed to make the accusation against De Boer and Silva, then sufficient time had elapsed for all three to be in custody. These calls may well have been feelers to determine if the three of them could attend, or if they didn't answer the calls because they had been investigated. Pierze came back into the room and said he wanted them to keep the appointment so he could pick up Atlas. They were understandably nervous and mentioned that Atlas always had the apartment surveyed before he arrived and if they were right about the danger he may have arranged for a third party to administer his intention. As the appointments were for the following morning it was agreed that marksmen would be stationed on adjacent rooftops and inside the apartment. If it turned out that a contract had been taken out then those in the apartment would disarm the assassin and extract the payoff location. Contracts were never paid in full prior to proof of the work being carried out. If Atlas was waiting outside for his executioner to return or he came to the apartment himself then he would be taken by Pierze and additional ground forces. The marksmen in the apartment and on the rooftops would be posted during the night. "It is therefore important, De Boer, that you take us to the location of your picture so that we have visuals of who we are looking for. He was originally seen while you three were under surveillance but it was from a distance and the digital images were very grainy and dark, as it was late evening. We were never able to enhance or clean them up to be of much use."

Freema and Silva were returned to their respective rooms wondering what the hell had been going on with De Boer, who now took his lawyer, Manuel, and Pierze to see what was on his memory stick. When it was retrieved and hooked up to his laptop, he double-clicked on the picture in question. A simultaneous 'Jesus Christ' was uttered by Pierze and Manuel. Pierze recognised Jose-Maria Olmeda, who had been the legal counsel for Manuel's father Antonio, who in turn was Pierze's predecessor. "Which one is he?"

De Boer replied, "That's Atlas, do you know him?" Before he could reply Manuel clamoured to know one of the others.

"Which one is he?" the reply meant nothing to Pierze.

"He is Medusa." Manuel sat down and looked sheepishly at Pierze. "No it isn't, it is Raul Ibanez." It now did mean something to Pierze.

*

Olmeda had of course been one of the first casualties of Pierze's appointment. He had been ultra-loyal to Antonio Salina and it was felt to be inviting trouble if he was asked to work for Pierze. While investigating his background at the time, it was not thought significant that Olmeda's ancestry was rooted in Inca bloodlines. He had gravitated from post-university employment in Peru to a prestigious legal partnership in Madrid, and then to Central Security. He had obviously returned to his native Southern Iberiana following his dismissal by Pierze. Manuel was utterly embarrassed about Ibanez and now seriously concerned about his unnamed contact in Uruguay. Pierze agreed to check on him through the local police databases.

"What is his name? Manuel we have to do this."

Reluctantly, and admitting that he had not been able to reach this man despite repeatedly calling him, Manuel uttered, "Leopold Rodriguez." Pierze also said that once Olmeda had been apprehended he would ask Sanchez to enlist the help of Din chow Zen to get Ibanez out of Korea.

The process of apprehending Olmeda went smoothly; it did conform to expectation that a contract killer or an underling was issued instructions from his parked vehicle. When this man arrived in the apartment he got the message immediately when confronted with eight armed security personnel. A quick message to Pierze from the leader, confirming that the neutralisation of the assassin had been completed, allowed the ground force to move in on Olmeda. He tried to end his life as the vehicle was surrounded but one of the sharpshooters fired a shot into his shoulder. The rest were on him in a flash and they brought him in for medical treatment. He wasn't going to be easy to crack.

Pierze gave Manuel the bad news. Leopold Rodriguez had been found floating face down in the Montevideo estuary two days ago. Needless to say it was treated as suspicious. The Uruguayan police would cooperate. Sanchez made the plea to the Orient leader and was promised that Ibanez would be attended to with some urgency, as it would finally clear Zen's domain of any involvement in the attempt on Sanchez' life.

Having patched up Olmeda's shoulder, he was transferred from the hospital to Pierze's office. He was accompanied by medical expertise as he had already tried to take his own life. As Ricardo Pierze sat across the table from Olmeda he noticed for the first time the ethnic features of original natives of Southern Iberiana. Although it had been known over the centuries since the Conquistadors raped the sub-continent, that there was some lingering hatred of Spanish imperialism at the time, it was never really thought to be a simmering threat. Pierze had to revise that perception as he looked down at information just received from his people in Southern Iberiana. Raul Ibanez had similar lineage to Olmeda. It seemed rather obvious now that after Olmeda's dismissal, he had been vulnerable to extremist influence. He would see dual targets, Pierze as the person who ended his ascension to greater things, and the Iberian juggernaut regime which, in reality, still treated Southern Iberiana as a colony. Pierze also needed to extract information on two fronts. First priority was the extent of Project 3, and then the wider issue of covert uprising or even secession agenda. The expression on Olmeda's face was a composite of disgust and contempt. Pierze decided not to fuel his deep-seated emotions at this interview. He confined his delivery to the evidence accumulated from De Boer, Freema and Silva. The photographic and computer data came next and then he paused. Sensing that Olmeda's intention was to remain silent he shuffled through his papers and began to rise to leave. "Oh yes, I thought you may want to know that we are currently awaiting Raul Ibanez – he is on his way. More worrying for you I suppose, is the probable murder of Leopold Rodriguez. It occurred at about the same time as you left for Madrid. Pierze was alert for and did notice there was no reaction to Ibanez being hauled in, but there was undeniable shock at the Rodriguez disclosure.

*

Having left the interrogation room, Pierze made a further call to Zara. "I wondered if you could spare the time to visit again. I'm sorry to make this request at such short notice, but something has come up and I could benefit from your expertise. If you aren't able to come to me I will visit you."

Zara was cautious. "Can you tell me what it's about?"

Pierze said it needed to be explored in an absolutely secure location. "I would have to avoid sharing such sensitive probing on communicators. If it isn't convenient right now we can fix a time to suit you better.

Zara relaxed a little. "No, that won't be necessary, but it would help if you came to see me."

*

There was a message for Pierze to call President Sanchez. It was news he could have done without. Ibanez wasn't in Korea, he hadn't even stayed for the full duration of the holiday package. The border control records showed he had left after four days for Southern Africana. From there he had taken a flight to Tobruk, and then the trail went dead. Manuel was profusely apologetic to Pierze, as both of his trusted contacts had provided disinformation. He told Pierze he was going to Tobruk.

"He will be easy to spot if he's still there and I know what he looks like better than anyone. It would help if you could get Freema to tell us where the weapons contact is in the city; that can be the only reason he's there. I know Freema has denied direct involvement in the weapons procurement, target, delivery or use, and I'm prepared to believe that is true, but she is likely to have helped in setting up the contact. She may see this as a chance to mitigate judgement on her part in this saga, it's worth a try."

Pierze saw no reason not to proceed with charges against Freema and Silva directly. He did feel that De Boer had given him information which ultimately led to the capture of Olmeda. This process would take some time to get to court and the three of them were happy to remain in the safe custody of Pierze's people until the other big fish had been landed. De Boer was told that he would be able to serve his sentence in his homeland if, as he surely would be, found guilty. They were all weighing up the merit of pleading guilty.

Freema didn't know the arms importer in Tobruk; she did however have the go-between's name. By revealing this, she knew she was providing evidence that her controller had asked her to obtain this conduit. Even if she didn't know the details of the purpose, she had sought out and passed on connection to an illegal weapons merchant. Pierze passed the name of Habib Al-Ahmed to Manuel.

"I have also contacted the Tobruk police precinct and asked for their cooperation. They are more than willing to help, as we are looking for a specific person, who could actually help them bring down an arms ring. Please be ultra-careful Manuel, if Ibanez finds out you are on to him he won't hesitate to kill you."

Jose-Maria Olmeda was still under the impression that Ibanez was on his way into Pierze's custody. When it was time to question him again it was thought this might be useful. Pierze began with Antonio Salina, which surprised the prisoner.

"It was not a personal reprisal when I fired you Snr. Olmeda. You know that you were a victim of circumstance. I had to cleanse the department of all those who had been close aides of Salina, as he was directly involved in the Sidonia cult. I couldn't take the chance that you and many others were not, as there was too much at stake. It seems you may be part of a different cause at present, and as we know where the weapons came from in Tobruk, we will be able to pin this on you, and confirm it by the evidence from your moles in my department. Antonio Salina's son Manuel is in Tobruk at present, and will, with the help of the local police bring the dealer here. It's unlikely he will protect you by lying, especially if his incarceration would amount to the rest of his life, with the spectre of it all coming to an end in a few years from now. Speaking of the Comet itself, I could also understand you wanting to be with your family when the end comes, that is, if we cannot prevent it. I know you tried to eliminate yourself from my enquiries when you were captured, but that was a snap decision. You didn't have time to think it through. Those with whom you are involved in this crusade wouldn't want you to talk, and that is indirectly going to bring pressure to your family. Both your co-conspirators and your family will be worried about you, wondering where you are. That will change soon when I charge De Boer, Anwar, and Silva. Imagine what they will think when both you and Ibanez follow on. The loyalty of those executives of the cause back in Southern Iberiana will be severely tested, in the same way they will believe yours and that of Ibanez will. It's a kind of 'chicken game' to decide who jumps out of the path of the train first. Your family can't afford you to lose. I have until your arrest and charge becomes public to get your family out of there and to safety, if you can help with our enquiries. Alternatively I can assist in another way; I can let you know when your family has been kidnapped or worse. So you see, I think your wife and children need you to stay alive. I can't believe you are a selfish man - surely you just tried to kill yourself out of misplaced loyalty. I'll leave you to think about things. I'll have all the evidence I need when Manuel returns. One more thing you possibly want to consider – Ibanez didn't try to end it, and he strikes me as being more flexible when prioritising his loyalties."

Pierze recalled that De Boer had mentioned previously that Freema believed she had figured out the code names of the other two controllers. He believed that if he could dislodge one more crucial brick in the wall, there was a chance that Olmeda would fold his poker hand. Freema was allowed to visit De Boer for a short period without any officers present. She was beginning to see, with De Boer's coercion, the sense in cooperating. It was rather naïve to assume that she could limit the degree to which she was a liability in the eyes of the ruthless people who approved her recruitment. She either was or was not, there was no in-between. She asked to see Pierze.

"I am able to relate certain categories of information we were asked to obtain, to code names and project numbers. I am not able to put faces to the code names, but if you have Olmeda and Ibanez in custody I can verify the former is Atlas. De Boer says your man Salina recognised Ibanez from the picture and he was according to Johann – Medusa. That leaves Thor and Poseidon. Atlas you already know is the overall controller for Project 3, which was to terminate Nelson Ortega and President Sanchez. I have collected sufficient information for Medusa to believe he is going to wreck the space elevator, under Project 1. Thor wanted habitual updates on any contact between Central Security and the two owners of Sacred. I don't know why. Poseidon is the strange one. The others all had traceable communication trails to Southern Iberiana. Poseidon has never surfaced, and he or she requests information through the other three. There is evidence, if your computer people are up to the job, on Atlas' laptop, of allocation of data to each project. Poseidon's come from sub-folders of the others' information I had to upload. I hope this may be considered in me appealing for the same deal you have given to De Boer." Pierze said he would let her know if this proved to be useful.

*

Manuel had struck lucky in Tobruk. The local militia had taken Ibanez, Al-Ahmed and the man at the sharp end of the arms importation. He was on his way back, assisted by two militia men, with Ibanez. It was expected the Tobruk police would get the opposite number of the dealer in Orient out of their captive.

Before Ibanez arrived, Olmeda was given sight of the picture of all four controllers. Pierze went through his well-rehearsed routine. "We have all of the code names and project objectives. The only details we are missing are the real names of Thor and Poseidon. We will get this one way or another. The information base is in Southern Iberiana, but there are repeated connections to Southern Africana. You should also bear in mind that your organisation recruited all three of your moles from counter-terrorism units, and they are busy with the tracing mechanism. They don't like people poaching their highly trained staff, and they have to ensure they haven't slipped through to the other side of the rather porous membrane."

He then suddenly started to yell at Olmeda. "How the hell do you think we exposed them? You are bloody amateurs. It is a cardinal commandment of this line of work that you don't underestimate your adversary. I have adhered to that; it seems you have not. Oh, I forgot why I really came to see you. Ibanez is expected within the next two hours. I can't see him being quite as self-righteous as you are. He knows Manuel Salina very well and more importantly he knows that he can get these two names from his contacts in Montevideo. You never know how much he will be prepared to implicate others in his desperation to survive. He made no such heroic attempt at martyrdom as you did, and there is the small matter of the lies he has already told us. Manuel says he seems rather keen to make amends. We will interview you together after we have final statements from each of you; even if you maintain your silence you will be able to hear what he has to say. I doubt if any of his concern will be directed at your family Snr. Olmeda."

The wall of silence was breached. "I can see you are trying to divide us by fear of each other's capitulation. Normally I would hold firm, but Ibanez is not known for putting his head on the block. He is a poker player and a good one; he has a sixth sense of when someone else is bluffing. Your information, albeit fragmented will make him uneasy. I need some guarantee you can get my family to safety before I fill in some of your blanks."

Pierze asked the guard in attendance to leave the room, and turned off the recorder before assuming his natural predatory ability to recognise the moment for the kill. He spoke very quietly and very politely. "I began my first interrogation of you with the declaration that had it not been for your previous association with Antonio Salina, we would in all probability have been working together now. Precisely the same probability can be ascribed to Manuel getting me the rest of the information I need; it is, and I repeat, purely a question of time. You have to help yourself before I can consider helping you. If I decide to do that, then you have my word. I can keep my word – simply because I don't see why your children should suffer for your misjudgement."

Olmeda took a deep breath and indicated he was ready. Pierze switched the recorder on again. "I am a lawyer by discipline and my experience persuades me that you may indeed have the means of building on what you have already, in order to determine the names of those you seek. I am therefore not willing to be associated with giving you such assistance, but you may be more successful with Ibanez. I can also envisage that your tenacity will deliver more on the connection you referred to between Southern Iberiana and Southern Africana. The analysis of the project data will also yield information which will compromise this overall strategy, if your computer forensics people are good enough. If I therefore accept that I am weighing up my family's lives on the basis of you having the data a little ahead of time, I have no choice. I repeat that I will not give you names. I will trust you to keep your word.

"Southern Africana and Southern Iberiana have a fundamental historical injustice in common. Our lands and people were subjected to the most barbaric destruction of our culture and enslavement of our people by imperial invasion. Although these atrocities began hundreds of years ago, the effects are still seen today, in terms of living standards and true freedom from corruption. For some time there has been much contact on the benefit of a southern hemisphere state. It would require secession by Southern Iberiana, but Southern Africana has only agreed alignment to Iberia, the only other historical choice having been Orient. As with all such grandiose ideology, it always comes down in a practical sense, to the power conferred by wealth. Our information, being filtered from Iberian Central Security out into the trading world was critical. We needed to know what share of Iberian technology we would need to acquire to become self-sufficient. That was Poseidon's remit. Thor was to explore the possibility of obtaining a controlling ownership of SACRED. We believe that the owners are not unwilling to consider a buyout. This would have given us strong leverage in the coming years, as it still owns the only space elevator. Medusa was to identify weaknesses in the security of this elevator as it was such a critical pivot in our plans. We needed to quantify risks of terrorism or military action. This project was to be last, simply because it would be irrelevant if the others could not be successfully completed. The only act of inhumanity in all of this was the need to remove Nelson Ortega. That did not seem too high a price to us when compared to the butchery of the Incas by Herman Cortez. We were prepared to countenance this because he was plotting to remove Sanchez, and install Falcorini. Because Ortega is seen as the modern day Cortez, due to his treachery while he was ambassador in Southern Iberiana, and his agenda after the planned death of Sanchez, we felt his removal had to be executed first."

The expression on Pierze's face was circumspect. "Well that does neatly stitch together the disparate knowledge we already have. I have two questions. It seems as if you are saying Project 3, which you were responsible for, didn't include the elimination of Sanchez. How then do you explain the grenade deployment on the fifth and then ground floors, prior to the sniper appearing on the roof?"

At first, Olmeda looked confused. "We were all primarily responsible for overall control of one project, but we had to draw upon each other's talents and demonstrate four-way sign-off evidence as a security measure. I am sure you will agree that I was better suited to evaluate the benefits and legal implications of acquiring SACRED, but I drew the short straw. The others felt equally disadvantaged but it was intended to act like a five-point mortice lock. It was Ortega's plan to procure the Southern Africana individual to deal the fatal blow to Sanchez. Our intelligence there alerted us, and the sniper was persuaded, don't ask me how, to target Ortega himself. It was supposed to be with a rifle – no collateral damage. We were amazed when we saw the carnage on the roof. The rocket launchers were only supposed to strike the ground floor entrance and cause the people to ascend to the roof, where our man was waiting. I don't know why the fifth floor was hit first. The arms procurement was part of my delegation to Ibanez, and it obviously went wrong somewhere, as he even got the gunman's weapon wrong. Perhaps you had better ask him."

Pierze was satisfied about this in a general way, and then posed his second question. "Despite our tapestry of evidence being inescapably but gradually completed with the appropriate missing pieces, you surprised me with the speed of your transition from silence to pragmatism. Would you care to elucidate?"

Olmeda managed a smile for the first time. "I thought you may have figured that out for yourself; it was due to more influential factors which are outside your progress in this investigation. It was expected to take more than a decade to even approach finalisation of the economic strength to trigger secession. That timescale has now to be set in the context of two apparently separate, but intrinsically linked items - Comet 2005NB5C and this Circle of Light. They each in their own way ask whether we all stand a better chance of survival if there is unity. I hate the cliché, but the timing could have been kinder. Project 3 was initiated before we knew of these issues otherwise Sanchez would not have been unnecessarily injured."

When Ibanez was grilled, having listened to Olmeda's recording, he gave the names and completed the picture, by daubing in the final details. Pierze had to arrange an urgent meeting with Sanchez.

## Chapter 18

"Snr. President, I now have an almost complete picture of the assassination attempt and the good news is that it clears Orient of any wrongdoing, other than someone at Sukahara illegally selling their arms. We have confessions from two of the four men controlling projects, of which the studio attack is one. The other two names are not familiar to us but Manuel is confident he can get the real background on them by going to Montevideo then Africana, and he is on his way. The more disturbing side to all this is the bigger picture we have unravelled. As you know Olmeda from his days in Madrid, I need not remind you of his ethnic origin. Ibanez is from similar lineage and I'm guessing that the other two are descendants of anti-colonial martyrs in Southern Africana. They were part of a detailed timetable of Southern Iberiana's secession from the Republic and the joining with Southern Africana in a super southern hemisphere state. Its name was to be Liberta. The people who were to head up this state used the deep-rooted hatred of these men to fuel their elaborate plan. The vice-president of this new alignment was to be Samuel Managway, written as 'Manague'. He has been on our security radar over the last few years, but only for inciting political radicalism, we have never had proof that it went any further. The intended President is a different matter. Falcorini has played a superb role as an incompetent 'sleeper' in our midst. I've had to dig deep to find out why. Tracing back his family tree yielded the answer. Falcorini is not a typical indigenous Iberiana family name, but his grandmother's maiden name was Cubillas. Historical records of the Conquistadors throw this name up frequently and there are many references to this mini-dynasty taking several Inca royal princesses as concubines, into their bloodline. I'm not too hopeful that I could ever authenticate this in terms of law, but we may provoke him into exposing it through his own desire to become a martyr, now that we have uncovered his plan. Falcorini has been happy to be your deputy and study the legal complications of secession from within the enemy's camp. His access to all kinds of information have helped the four project controllers build their strategy. By being considered a liability as a diplomat, he has also been ignored as a danger. The one remaining area I want to clean up before this hits the media, is the fate of the two people who fired the grenades. Ibanez says Falcorini wanted to arrange this himself. Although this appeared irregular, and it was not executed to the agreed plan, it seems only Falcorini knew of the changes. The initial objective of the plot was to take out Ortega by sniper, having blocked the ground floor by grenade fire. The changes orchestrated by Falcorini were twofold. He altered the rocket launchers' plan to hit floor five first in an attempt to eliminate you. He also arranged for the sniper to use the bomb which was to remove Ortega and you, if you had survived the grenades. Bear in mind this whole episode came about through intelligence that he had on Ortega, who had already planned for the sniper to execute you Snr. President, with a rifle made and supplied from Brazil. Falcorini was so pleased with the outcome, apart from your recovery, that he invited Ibanez to his residence, the purpose being to feed Manuel disinformation. During the alcohol-rich self-congratulation he couldn't resist telling Ibanez that he had paid off the unnamed grenade duo by drugging their celebratory champagne. He laughed about storing their limp bodies in his large basement freezer, and when they were rock hard, he processed them through his powerful wood-chipping machine, together with logs he had set aside. According to Ibanez he was particularly proud of scattering the conglomerate of tissue, bone and sawdust on his borders as plant feed. He expected insects, rodents and birds to purify the scene. We should be able to find traces of human tissue as it happened only a few weeks ago."

Sanchez sat shaking his head, partly at the complexity and the time needed to connect all of the stray dots, but also at the realisation of the enemy within. He sanctioned Pierze to arrest Falcorini. He was to be interrogated on the detail involved with projects 1, 2 and 4, once his arrest had been accomplished. As he left Pierze, tried to reassure the President. "I've thought about Olmeda's statement that their grand design was already in jeopardy anyway, due to support melting away. He claims that Tunguska and the Circle of Light have conspired to cause this eclipse. I have an appointment with Lionel Zara and I will ask for his help in moderating the demonstrations before they turn violent."

During this intense effort to close the assassination case, Pierze hadn't found the time to digest the latest advance by the code breakers. Using the meanings ascribed to the growing list of symbols understood, they had applied computer pattern algorithm programming to develop the rudiments of a language structure. It wasn't an obvious or indeed logical approach, from a human viewpoint, and in fact it was this already recognised probability, which led to the flexible orientation of the algorithms. Although it was early days, they were sure they could expect a true breakthrough. A valid test of this assertion was requested of the command of the probe on its way to Phobos. If the early structural linguistic concepts were correct, the coordinates on the moon diagram, discovered earlier, were the location of a device of some kind. They wanted maximum resolution pictures of this location and the surrounding area.

*

When Pierze addressed Zara he was quite hopeful of a positive response. He even took the risk of filling in some of the recently acquired details from Project 3. "I wanted to ask you, as being credited with founding this faith, for assistance in tempering some of the demands being made. Your influence would go a long way toward instilling some patience in the followers. Their ranks are continuing to swell at an alarming rate, and all of our experience with such trends is that they suffer splintering when they perceive inertia from the elected government. The process almost inevitably spawns violence. Are you in a position to convey to them that this Truth they crave can only be obtained by mutual trust between government and citizens?"

Zara looked him straight in the eyes. "The short answer is no. Firstly, I'm now only a figurehead. That is the way I want it, as too often with matters of faith, those initially worshipped become perverted by the temptation of power. Secondly, what kind of truth gets hijacked by compromise at the first hurdle? This isn't politics we're talking about; it is the remnants of our severely curtailed future – and yours. Third, and probably most important, is the issue of unity. It's a word which gets bandied about quite a bit, but my fervent belief is that it is the only real weapon we have against this planet-killer. Its shadow has become part of the drive for such homogeneity. The species comes before individuals, groups, cliques and governments. These are all products of so-called civilised society. The comet is a product of the unthinking, indiscriminate laws of physics – alias the Truth. Snr. Pierze, you seek order in your remit, and probably in your personal life. The Circle of Light seeks that same order. As soon as someone in government decides what is acceptable for others to know and what is to be withheld, that's the equivalent to the cosmic outcome in which matter prevailed over anti-matter. It becomes a step in which it is virtually impossible to foresee any route to reconsideration. That is what is meant by the Truth. You want order; so do they. I'm surprised at your request because you are fortunate to have the means in your own hands; you don't need my help. I fear you can't see this and even if you could it would make you afraid."

A puzzled Ricardo Pierze asked Zara to be more explicit. He complied.

"It is the orientation of your perspective which filters the blindingly obvious. Join them and you will see things differently. Your fear is the temporary dislocation of the order you know, but that is a type of order threatened by its own censorship. You may be very surprised at how such discomfort disperses like morning fog on a clear, sunny day. This comet has to be viewed in two ways; it is either the end, in which case we need one another to be strong, or its galvanic conference produces the very order you fear. You must therefore see this comet as an unlikely return to the matter versus anti-matter pivot, and such an opportunity may never come again. There are millions of people out there who don't want to miss out on the change it can bring. This is what they understand as the Truth. Everything in life is relative, and that applies to the fear of extinction. Currently, yours is more intense than theirs."

Pierze didn't feel in control of this discussion because he had, like everyone else on the planet who could grasp what was coming in 2045, begun to adjust his life expectancy to a finite point in time. He was disturbed to admit this to himself. It was a very subtle point that such a relatively small change from indefinite life expectancy to the opposite, was akin to degrading of mental cement. It was faced every day by many unfortunate sufferers of terminal conditions, and even that terrifying prospect was imprecise. This was the entire population of the Earth, and the time could be predicted by atomic clocks to a millisecond. His original request to Zara was founded on concern that as that time approaches, anarchy will prevail. Now he was being asked to tackle that head-on by a method which was totally alien to every lesson he believed he had learned. He was both pleased he had been able to share Zara's view, and at the same time, really scared that he no longer knew how to do his job. Without the type of control he had acquired by eradication of Sidonia, he felt he would fail. He returned to his home rather than his office, and as he had nobody to engage with, he began to sink into the beginnings of schizophrenia.

*

Duarte's son remained unchanged. The highly regarded specialist brought in by the club had concurred with the original opinion. He believed that Emile may regain consciousness in months or years to come, but it wasn't likely. He completely ruled out surgery, having seen all the scans and test results. Apart from the crippling financial prospect of contributing to the costs of keeping him in care and on life support, there was the ethical dilemma. Maria wanted to wait for at least the period of cover by the club's insurance, before even discussing voluntary termination. Duarte was trying to imagine the boy's attitude, if he recovered consciousness, toward a life without the capability of walking, and impending extinction. The two of them resolved to keep counsel to themselves for the time being. They knew they had to be ultimately of one mind, not only for Emile's sake, but for their marriage.

*

Manuel had been directed from Montevideo to Gauteng province in Southern Africana, and the City of Tshwane Municipality, in particular. The names and correlation to the picture allowed several people to identify the two remaining controllers. With Pierze taking some time off, Manuel had to ask Sanchez to speak with the Southern Africana hierarchy. All avenues seemed to lead back to Samuel Manague, which wasn't very helpful. It was difficult not to draw the conclusion that the entire government apparatus was involved in this agenda. Sanchez told Manuel to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. The trip wasn't completely wasted insofar as his former newspaper editor had made him aware of two well known 'professionals', who had been independently reported missing by their families. This he said was only likely to occur if their employers concluded they had outlived their usefulness – it wasn't a warning, or a hint. It usually indicated they were already dead. If there was recoverable DNA in the grounds of Falcorini's house, it could be compared with what was on file for the two missing men.

*

Pierze couldn't focus on anything but his last conversation with Zara. He had gone sailing, on a private hire ocean cruiser, with a group of totally unknown passengers. The chatter always had its daily ration of opinions on what should be done about the wretched comet, as if it was some sort of unwelcome door-to-door salesman. He tried to ignore the gulf between their artificially sculptured lifestyle and the world he was supposed to sweep under the carpet. He continually avoided commenting on their ability to personalise the inevitable fate of the 'poor people' being identical to their own. Eventually, skating over the moral arguments of selected individuals deserving more protection, they began to argue about how well-heeled one would have to be, to guarantee such a stay of execution. Whether it was emigration to Mars or a concrete-lined mine shaft, it was being resolved into money or power, which was eventually reduced to money. They really believed this was how it would be, and gave little or no weight to the true attributes which would be required to sustain these fragile escape strategies. All of a sudden one of them recognised him. "I have been wondering for a couple of days where I had seen your face. You are the person investigating the assassination attempt on the President." The focus was switched to how many drinks it would take for him to be indiscreet. The threat of the comet had 'wandered off course'. He informed the skipper he would be disembarking at the first opportunity and then he would board a commercial ferry to return.

Once ashore, he called Zara. "I've really thought about your position on the issues I raised. I'm beginning to see the arguments you made in a different way. I am currently on a short vacation, and if it has done nothing else it has immersed me in other peoples' take on this predicament. I still have many other seemingly futile tasks to attend to, yet I want to explore what you propose. It's rather an indelicate way to put it, but would you consider lending your persuasive ability to my department?"

There was a long enough silence for him to ask if Zara was still there. "Yes, I'm here. What exactly do you mean by lending?"

After dancing around the semantics Pierze just blurted it out. "Will you come and work in Central Security and help in getting your message across?"

The reply resembled a very slightly delayed echo. "Would you consider joining the Circle of Light?"

Pierze tried to huff and puff, to buy thinking time, but was cut off. "Snr Pierze, I've spent my whole life railing against what your department stands for. Don't misunderstand me - I haven't always been a great advocate of faith as a binding mechanism for humanity, like a spiritual DNA. It's just that Tunguska has made me aware that the order I used to crave in my business management is being supplanted by the order I believe will get us out of this very same straitjacket. If I can make such a fundamental transition, so can you. Think about it a little more and call me again. I'd like to help, but there's much I would have to know about what I would do, and how that would relate to the Truth." The conversation ended.

The journey back for Ricardo Pierze was much more stimulating than the outward leg. His first task was to visit Maxi Duarte. They walked in the park as they had done on several occasions in Londonis, beginning in the days when they paraded their dislike of one another. They were both in need of comfort at present. "You know Maxi, loneliness has many disguises. The unease at the commitment necessary for a true relationship or friendship, and the willingness to subordinate contact to duty is one such example. I could list many that I have brought to life in the last few days. Some are self-inflicted, like mine, others are cruelly forced upon us, like yours. They are never far away, like viruses. You and Maria give me the strength to see things in a wonderfully uncomplicated way. I have heard that the insurance cover for Emile's care will run out after a certain period, now that the second opinion confirms the first. I also know what implications that may have in the decision which will face you at that awful moment. I want you to know that I won't rest until I find the right neurological specialist to treat your boy. I may be taking more time off in the future and that will be my focus. Those who have examined him so far have exercised common practice. We need someone who may be prepared to put reputation aside and attempt a revival strategy, even if it takes a few years. There have been examples of people coming out of comas and declaring that they were actually conscious, by their own definition, and could hear what was being said about them. We mustn't allow any possibility of that happening, quite the reverse; his carers need to continually stress the positives and the rest will be down to us. I have in mind to visit a friend who can converse with these consultants in their own language."

*

Duarte was moved by this willingness to engage in practical help. At the same time he wondered what change in Ricardo Pierze's life had sprung this river of vulnerability. "I can't find the words to say what I'd like to. I'm sure I will when I have spoken to Maria. At the moment I'm simply humbled by your concern for us. It's just great to know there is someone else in your corner. Forgive me for asking, but you seem different since your break, a little more distant yet relaxed. Are you alright? Am I imagining this?"

Pierze had never put his arm around anyone's shoulder, let alone that of Maxi Duarte. "No, it's not your imagination and you had better get used to it, this is how it is going to be for at least the next eighteen years. Should we have a coffee before you talk to Maria?"

Maxi had rarely been known to refuse a coffee and this wasn't going to be one of those occasions. They spent over an hour on small talk and reminiscing. Duarte thought he was going to wake up pretty soon. When he got back to Maria and the vigil, he asked her to take a little fresh air with him. "I have something important to say and we need privacy."

They strolled to a seat in the sun within the hospital grounds and he held her hand firmly while he repeated the news. She was overcome, they were both overcome with emotion, but did not draw on any words – the eyes spoke.

## Chapter 19

After the recent progress, the code breakers were in full-on mode. They were not expecting such a potential train wreck. Two observatories had simultaneously reported a strange phenomenon. Since asking for the probe to send all available high definition footage of the Phobos 'device' area, many observatories had taken an interest. The ones who broke the news, Hawaii and Chile, were soon followed by all of the others. It couldn't be a mistake, there was activity. There was clear evidence of light emanating from the exact coordinates. The ultra-efficient panic machine kicked into gear. Tourisheva called Pierze at about the same time Boris Krasnic contacted Zara. The object had begun to 'calculate' something. Symbols were flashing up then being 'updated' with new ones. The code breakers had to abandon their array of behemoth computing hardware to observe the continual spewing of data from the object. Krasnic had the presence of mind to begin to take still photographs of each batch of symbols in the sequencing operation. He had missed the first two but he hoped that it was a loop and he could capture them later.

*

Pierze called Zara. "This is a stern test for your belief in the Truth. The media can always be relied upon to inflame the feelings of the populous. It appears, according to some of them that we are about to be invaded by super-intelligent aliens, and we have invited them in by the back door by digging up this object. You are being portrayed as an irresponsible, indulgent thrill-seeker. It's good to see their objectivity is reflected in the quality of their prose. I think it might be a good idea to meet."

Zara appreciated the calmness conveyed by Pierze's voice. Their previous encounter had convinced him that the Central Security chief was becoming quite emotionally frustrated. "Yes, I concur. You know what I'm going to say, surely. This is a golden opportunity not to be missed. Guiding the Truth to overcome the 'blah-blah' is a process, not an instruction or edict. We will be well advised to issue a very short statement that the observatories have given us earlier signals than the probe. This is welcomed as it should speed up our understanding of the remaining data in the object. The media should be allowed to embarrass themselves. We must refrain from engaging them directly. It's much more important to remind everyone that the builders of the object have consistently demonstrated through the most basic visual techniques that we must concentrate on 2045. This is logically part of that process. We need to refresh the memories of the object having emitted magnetic signals since it arrived in Tunguska, and how they changed when we unearthed it and began to analyse it. We are now witnessing the next stage of their advice. It should have occurred to our species, were it not for its diversity of purpose, that the builders could have pressed home their vastly superior technological advantage over our brave soldiers with their 1908 slings and arrows. If we state our intentions and keep the world directly informed of our findings, we will gradually marginalise the less reputable 'little green men' peddlers. I can get to Moscow whenever you are ready; we should travel together."

Pierze cleared the plan with Sanchez and asked him to consider requesting a suitable representative from Din Chow Zen to join them. He didn't want this to become bogged down by the World Security Body.

*

By the time they had come face to face with the object again, the flashing symbols had terminated their activity, and unfortunately Krasnic reported there had been no loop or re-run. The observatories, on the other hand maintained that the activity on Phobos continued. The code breakers were already analysing the Krasnic stills and were busy separating familiar symbols from those which were completely new. Despite Zara's calmness there was an air of anticipation building in the hall where he and Pierze would speak to the world.

Pierze began proceedings by emphasising exactly how much resource was focussed on this subject. He also appreciated the hunger for more information and promised it would be made available as soon as it was considered reliable. He explained that he wasn't speaking so much as head of Iberian Central Security or the World Security Body, but using those roles to ensure the total preparation for 2045 was met in good time. He surprised everyone, including Zara, by hinting that this would become his sole objective. He was advocating a consultative process to refine what were essentially the strands of contingency, such as leaving the planet, subterranean location and habitat, pre-prepared modular reconstruction kits in this safe storage for post-impact consideration, urgent medical research into radiation resistance via genetic manipulation, and many others. He stressed that the list had to give priority to methods of destroying, deflecting or harnessing the comet. He finally returned to the object and reinforced the message that this was actually the source of the prediction and that it would be verging on insanity to believe in the prediction but not the accompanying solution. When he handed over to Zara he delivered his second surprise. "In any situation which threatens our existence, many of those who cannot comprehend the complexity of the threat turn to their faith. It is a happy coincidence that at this very time a new faith has spread across the globe. Although I only know the basic concept of the Circle of Light, I can see that it has a very important role in bringing together people of diverse religion and culture. We will need this in the coming years. Even if the comet changed its mind at the last moment we would still have to live through those countdown years. It is critical that we understand there may be very difficult decisions ahead, but my pledge is that they will be discussed openly and that confers responsibility on this faith to deal with it in the best way for the species, and particularly the new arrivals between now and that time. I would urge everyone to listen carefully to my colleague Snr. Lionel Zara, who coincidentally was the founder of the Circle of Light prior to his sponsorship of the Tunguska expedition." He handed the floor to Zara amidst the rumblings over his unexpected declarations.

Some of the media were cowering at the probability of being admonished, building on Pierze's last comment. However Zara did not refer to their demonization of him following their recent scaremongering coverage of the activity on Phobos. He instead invited questions and very articulately steered all of them to the same answers. He concentrated on the 'coming together' which was flourishing at present. The core of his argument was fashioned around the eclectic elements in what was to become an iconic sentence. "This comet, fortunately for us doesn't recognise individual human rights, yet its spectre encourages us to concentrate on our collective responsibility to one another." He was able to gradually confer the value of the Truth to the listening audience, without challenging the media directly to raise their game. The session was concluded with the Orient representative, who underlined the importance of the programme presented by Pierze, and pledged their support.

On the way back, the aircraft had a technical problem and made an emergency stop in Ukraine. The preparation of another plane afforded the opportunity to Zara to ask Pierze about his emerging openness. "Are you moving closer to being interested in the Circle of Light?"

Pierze was still in the discomfort zone of thinking like two different people. He did admit that he was finding his code of duty coming under increasing challenge from the other voice. "The question which repeats in my thoughts is one which has always been there, but kept dormant by my disciplined effort. 'What is it all about? What is the purpose of it all? I then jump back to my objectives as a servant of the Republic and it is quite easy to re-join the rail-track to some kind of familiar station. Then the question comes back, like now. To answer your question, I may be teetering on the edge of change, and the first step is to get this contingency plan moving. It's the only item within my current duty which blots out the repeating question."

When they arrived back Zara asked Pierze to call him if and when he was ready to learn more. The offer was met with a corresponding one to assist more actively in the contingency development. Zara hesitated then nodded. "I may call you."

*

Over the next two weeks the embryo of language had taken a more skeletal outline. The 'calculations' were still not fully understood, but there was rudimentary agreement that the cosmic alignments of Earth, Phobos and Comet 2005NB5C were being mapped. It wasn't possible to say for certain, but adjustments from the original 1908 retro-positions seemed to be a factor. They set about trying to correlate this to Earth's archive data. This was important, because if it was correct, it would imply that the object builders' legacy was indeed to help. Just as crucial was the calming influence it generated, about the insinuation of them having some one-hundred and something year-old agenda to take over the planet. This was welcome news for Pierze and gave him the final push to speak to Sanchez with some urgency. He wanted the indictment of Vice-President Falcorini expedited in order to pave the way to him relinquishing much of his current remit.

*

The friend Pierze visited to help Emile Duarte was Viktor Lopez. Maxi knew him as the man who developed and was forced to use the neurogenic pulses for the Sidonia campaign. He had always wanted to test out their relevance in medical applications; that was why he had put most of his life into this work. Pierze had teamed him up with a prominent neurosurgeon, one who would be willing to work with Lopez, who was essentially a technocrat. Their first task was to acquaint themselves with the existing test results and rather negative prognosis. Their approach was to find a safe means of delivering neurogenic pulses to Emile's cerebral interface, on a regular basis, to encourage consciousness to return. They both felt it would be best to encapsulate the pulse in a dream about playing in an important football match. The hospital management was unhappy, and didn't approve of their facilities being used for such amateurish medical experimentation. Pierze had to intervene with the question of how the press might interpret this, as it was the boy's last hope of recovering, compared to their advice to switch off the life support. He vowed to take legal action on behalf of Maxi and Maria Duarte, before they gave way and allowed the procedure.

*

The different cases against Falcorini, Olmeda, Ibanez, Freema, De Boer, and Silva were all set up through the prosecution service. Pierze honoured his implied assistance to the last three on the list. They would be tried for breach of security protocols, in supplying information to persons outside the organisation. It would weigh in their favour that there weren't any state secrets involved – only travel and business meetings. However there was the shadow of an attempted assassination implicit in the knowledge they passed on, even if they did not know the President would be involved. He had agreed that whatever sentence was passed on them would be served in their country of origin. By contrast, the others would be tried for treason against the Republic, attempted murder of the President, and actual murder of many innocent people in an act of terrorism. It was anticipated that they would never be released.

End Game Two

The probe had reached its destination. The pictures transmitted back flipped the mood back to one of extreme apprehension. Although they were a little grainy, the consensus was that the location had all the hallmarks of a silo. There was some dust on the surface of Phobos, but with it having such fractional gravity compared to Mars, this layer was pretty thin. It could not hide the outline of a circular depression, with a dividing line bisecting it. The lights were still flashing, but not continuously any more. They were on a regular cycle every 22 hours 37 minutes. No significance had yet been attached to this. It meant that several things had to occur. Some could be initiated and readied immediately, whereas others would remain captive to time and anticipated progress. Nuclear strike capability was first. The agonising code-breaking effort had to be somehow cranked up to a quicker delivery of meaningful interpretation of the calculations. The third and most controversial topic was the debate on destruction of the object, as some of the experts had become advocates of that being a controlling source. The argument was predictably paranoid – 'if we can't be certain it will help us then we should eliminate the threat of it harming us'.

*

It was little consolation to Pierze that the reaction to the interpretation of the probe pictures convinced Sanchez to fold his resistance to his 'virtual' resignation. The President recognised that focus on comet-related contingency planning was the key to him remaining in office. The first thing Sanchez had to do was find Pierze's successor, and quickly. The pressure was coming from the media on two fronts – destroying the silo or the object, and the order in which they should be done. Contrarily, it was a great consolation that the same reaction had persuaded Zara to join him in the contingency platform, adding that it needed a much more positive name. "We would give ourselves a helping hand if we transcribe a phobia into an embrace. What about 'Rescue 2045'?"

"I like it. You're absolutely right, in fact we must draw on collective support to feed the 'mission of leaving no stone unturned'. The participants, in delivering the practical solutions must feel they are the chosen few, who could never have dreamed of holding the balance of the species in their hands. Apart from us dividing the tasks of Rescue 2045, what do you intend to do about the ever-increasing flock of the Circle?"

Zara shrugged his shoulders. "It isn't necessary to do anything, other than keep producing the Truth, at present. As I said in Moscow, the media will have to turn to a positive spin eventually. As the dreaded day approaches they cannot continue to stir trouble if we are open to account. This would become disrespectful to their patrons, and they would become part of the sweeping away of certain institutions. However I wouldn't see that as helpful. We need order and they are part of it, only not the part in which they currently see themselves. Returning to your question in the longer term, I believe we will see as we enter single figures in the countdown, more anarchical trend. I think we are agreed we need order, and maybe this is where the Circle of Light can maximise its influence. It would make things decidedly simpler if we marginalise these anarchy pockets ahead of time by increasing the recruitment drive for the Circle. I have to say that it would help enormously if we, and the chosen few you refer to, were active members, in the capacity of ordained disciples."

In the absence of knowledge of the power over disciples and their converts Zara had through DCI and Trans Global Communications, Pierze finally capitulated. He did like the prospect of order being maintained in the run-up to 2045, and he admitted to himself there was an attraction of at last 'belonging' to some 'family', even if it was through a faith.

"Ok, set it up, there is not a moment to lose with Rescue 2045. I would like you to announce this name as soon as possible."

"It would be better received if you have already become a disciple. It could appear a little contrived if you join the faith just to get their attention, after all, it is the Truth we believe in."

*

The pendulum was poised to swing again. The code breakers had found another interactive area amongst the calculations displayed. It was an accidental discovery, but produced the additional incentive of looking for others, as they realised there were symbols denoting such spots. These weren't like the original face-turning buttons; they were simply embedded in the language. Many of them appeared to be references to another set of calculations or conclusions drawn from them. This latest decoding was one of the latter. Engaging the interactive area brought up a sub-menu of different orbits of Phobos around Mars. The frustrating part of the whole effort was the lack of a celestial clock. The species involved did not have one, did not need one, or had one so obscure the code breakers would never find it. It wasn't the concept of time itself which was missing, as the calculations were obviously based on trajectories of asteroids, comets, moons and planets. It was the lack of a declared starting point, such as the Permian extinction or the delineation of BC/AD. The displayed orbital change of Phobos could be either historical or future. The fact that it was linked with the flashing light era was a strong hint that it was associated with their project to intervene in the 1908 event. It seemed extremely unlikely that it was a historical display of what used to be the natural orbit of Phobos. This would imply that this species had been in Mars space for a very long time. After much deliberation they were prepared to announce their hypothesis that the silo was in fact a potential means of gradually altering the orbit of Phobos to one in its ancient history. This would, if successful, avoid the deadly ricochet with Comet 2005NB5C. There was no real alternative to tracing back from the predicted impact time between the two, and then checking for connecting information from the diagrams related to this retro-extrapolation. It was tedious but successful. There were multiple references to 'phases of orbital manipulation', and hazy reasoning that these steps would be achieved over time rather than a simple manoeuvre. The logic of the cosmologists on the team saw this as an eminently sensible approach, as it would help confirm the orbital decay rate from the intended new position, and give data on any effect on the behaviour it would imply for the other moon of Mars. It was a balancing act. The derived trigger point for this delicate operation, according to superimposition of Earth time, put the initiation step at the comet's emergence inside the Kuiper belt. The calculations to justify this were obviously based on knowledge of the means of altering the orbit of Phobos. This resulted in an immediate clamour for a manned mission to this Martian moon to inspect this silo. It would not replace the intended 2033 exploration of the ability of Mars to sustain human life. That was still a valid part of the plan, but this close inspection had to be done earlier.

*

It fell into the lap of the yet to be announced Rescue 2045 team. Ricardo Pierze and Lionel Zara had much in common. They were both 'addicted' to order, and suffering from schizophrenia. There were however important differences. Zara's dual personality was something he was aware of and now in control of. He had seen with Sidonia, the fallout of control by dictat, and now the beauty of voluntary submission to control. There were now almost one hundred disciples in the Circle of Light, which had been estimated to have attracted over half of the world's population. This had been facilitated by its practice as a secondary faith rather than a competitive one. He had genuinely become infatuated with helping the species, and this fuelled the demise of the voice of the previous devil on his shoulder. Pierze was at a different stage; he often wondered if his methods of protecting the Iberian Republic were in reality all that different from the aims of the Sidonia cult which he brought down. He kept justifying the ever-diminishing confidence that there was a difference between state manipulation of information, and the sinister use of technical mind control. Recently he had seen the same result by Zara's evangelical persuasion and leadership by example. He also had commissioned the same technical neurogenic pulse method to revive his friend's son from a coma. He was obviously not in control of either personality, regardless of which shoulder upon which they appeared. The other significant potential commonality was their future 'temporary death'. That discussion had not yet taken place. Zara decided to hold back on it until they had spoken to the SACRED owners regarding the use of their space elevator for the urgent despatch of the Phobos inspection craft.

Zara had already suggested to Moya and Angel that they should consider making a bid to buy out Sorin Gretz and Andreas Verdasco. They hadn't acted on this. He now suggested to Pierze that the Iberian government should do this. "The arguments are simple. I've heard that the owners are willing to talk, as they feel they have restored the good name and reliability of SACRED. It isn't just the space elevator which is essential to Rescue 2045. If for some reason we suffer serious threat to life but not an extinction event, the communication facilities on the Moon and in orbit will be invaluable in finding and helping survivors. It would also be an essential long term recovery tool for 'civilisation'. Having these assets secured and operating within our plan would also be perceived by the faith as important – collective ownership as opposed to private objective."

Pierze was sold on the merits of this and played the advocate role in convincing Sanchez and his inner sanctum. They accepted that the fiscal impact of this investment wouldn't matter if the comet wasn't deterred, and if it was, the SACRED infrastructure would have even more value. This importance in the post 2045 years could be leveraged in many ways. Pierze and Zara set off for their meeting armed with the green light to open discussions with the two owners. It would be another opportunity for Zara to parade his new identity, with it enhanced by his new standing as a world celebrity. The small matter of his detailed knowledge of the system would prohibit excess profiteering by his two former colleagues.

Having secured their agreement to host the launch to Phobos, they explored what help SACRED could offer in actually furnishing the spacecraft. Pierze led the discussion. "We want to get there as soon as possible, and to that end we are only envisaging two personnel making the trip. They have to be capable pilots and at least one needs to be proficient in operating the analytical equipment. As Phobos has virtually zero gravity, a landing would be risky. If we can match speed and trajectory, one of the crew can approach the surface using personal thrusters. It really is a 'get in – observe – get out mission'. We know you have several shuttles now, but this is a much longer journey than your lunar trip, and velocity is critical. We have to get the information we seek quickly, otherwise there is an increasing risk of it being valuable but redundant. Can you help?"

Gretz and Verdasco conferred and put forward a novel suggestion. "We have a modular design for our shuttles because they have to perform so many different functions. If you're certain about only needing space for two people, we can consider modifying and fitting one of the most powerful and quickest drives to a small cockpit. It's fortunate that we have a prototype drive already in production. It has been a programme on which we have worked tirelessly for some years. It has been frustrated by many events and the latest is the impact of 2045. Vacations on the Moon were the initial objective, but we had to re-establish confidence that the Sidonia legacy has been extinguished. Once we did that our horizon expanded to Mars. The technical hurdles were challenging as the vacation would have to be similar to a gap year in education, unless the trip time could be decimated. We were then put off by insurance considerations with respect to physiological after-effects. This doesn't really apply here as you are talking a one-off government mission. Depending on the final weight specified we could maybe get your two people there in nine months or a little less."

Zara chimed in. "How long would it take to make the modifications to re-jig this new drive to the small cockpit?"

Verdasco responded, "Not more than five to six weeks, but it would make sense to begin with a test run to our base on the Moon, inspect the compliance to specification there, and depart from there to Mars space."

Pierze thought this was as good a time as any to raise the issue of acquisition. "The Republic has a legal responsibility to its citizens and a moral one to the rest of humanity. We've been authorised to ask if you would be willing to consider selling your interest to the state. This isn't a normal approach; it is part of a set of contingencies which will hopefully ensure that there is a republic to maintain well into the future."

The two owners asked for a break to explore their initial individual reactions and then give a considered response. Gretz added the assurance that whatever developed from the proposal, they would still assist in preparing the Phobos craft.

*

On the return journey Zara slipped in the scheduling of their joint ordination as disciples. "I haven't raised this issue so far as it is one of potential controversy. The normal converts to the Circle are not compelled to take, nor are they required to pass any of three tests, it is their choice. However, this is considered necessary for disciples or anyone who has aspirations to become a disciple. They, as reference points, must be able to declare that they have witnessed the Truth. That is done in the third test. Even after the first two tests, it is perfectly acceptable to decline the third, and the ascension to disciple with it. I have already taken the first two during the foundation period. The third I have delayed, because even though I introduced the entire concept of the Circle, I couldn't devote the time to being a disciple. That has changed and I'm ready to proceed. The Truth is experienced by a controlled, very short exposure to the state of clinical death. If you're willing to join me, I'll precede you in this process. If you wish to withdraw I'll understand."

This thunderbolt precipitated a barrage of questions from Pierze. Zara tried to answer them by quoting the variation in response within those who had undergone this test. "Some feel and remember nothing, others have had very vivid subconscious or 'death state' personal experiences. So far nobody has encountered an omnipotent presence or evidence of another life. That could be because of the short residence in the altered state, but the vast majority of the subjects said they couldn't offer any evidence which supports the world's major religious teachings. Many who have had serious operations during their life couldn't discriminate between the effect of a general anaesthetic and this induced state of clinical death. The procedure is tried and tested which has reflected 100% success in revival without any side effects. Why don't you take the first two tests and then decide if the third is for you?"

"Can I speak directly to some of those disciples who have been through the procedure? Zara nodded.

"Of course, I'll set it up. Take the first two tests and if you don't want to proceed, there's no need to go further. If you are still curious I'll have some disciples on hand to talk with you. Even then there is no hurry, take all the time you need."

*

Rescue 2045 had to be progressed despite the wish for Zara to have both Pierze and himself established as disciples before any announcement. In the circumstances they drew up a list of ancillary projects which would be necessary or desirable, in order to broaden the survival plan. The research on synthetic, non-perishable food was to receive heavy funding. World maps of high-mountain or deep-earth natural caves were to be produced. The thinking was that such havens would benefit from water slowly filtering through rock strata which would have been in the 'pipeline' for some years, thus being largely free of radiation. If the proposal with SACRED came off, there would be the same need on the Moon. The first forays to Mars would also benefit from such research. Anti-radiation clothing and masks were also a post impact priority, and because of the numbers involved they may have to produce 'fashionable' types in order for people to purchase them; it was a subsidised investment they would have to consider. The two of them knew they would have to be realistic in outlining the selection procedures, if at some time it was known that the comet could not be stopped. With Mars and the Moon options providing no certainty of survival if the Earth was off-limits, there may not be a big issue. The underground concrete dwellings would not get anywhere near housing even one quarter of the planetary population, even if they could build them in time. The natural caves would be in such high demand that a type of policing would be needed. All in all, it had to be faced, as most of the human species would perish. The Truth would come under severe scrutiny. They had to make a precarious start on categorising 'priority for selection to live'. Pierze was apprehensive about this but Zara had a long-standing strategy which he decided to unveil only after their impending ordination.

The day had arrived. Pierze was, although fascinated with the concept of the think-phones, rated only as 'acceptable' in the first two tests. He was expected to have scored much higher, given that his work demanded focus, willpower and patience to succeed. When they were ready to move on to their flirtation with death, Zara went first and said it had been agreed for Pierze to witness the episode in order for him to see that there was minimal risk. It did confer the feeling that it was less uncomfortable than a visit to the dentist. Pierze asked Zara what he had experienced. "Absolutely nothing I'm afraid, it was a bit of an anti-climax. Nevertheless it is something I can convey as a disciple, even if it suggests there is no afterlife, it is the Truth – albeit only my truth. It may well be different for you."

Pierze's disconnection was different. "I saw myself as a child standing on a rock. There was water – I was surrounded by water. I was fearful of the water, how deep it was - what might be lurking in it, how cold it would be. I looked for my parents, but there was no sign of them. It was getting dark and I started to scream. That was when I 'woke up'. Only now that I'm now recovered does it seem silly, as I've never really known my parents, having been farmed off to boarding school, then university. It was a worthwhile experience because it didn't feel like a dream. I guess that is it then."

"Not quite," said Zara, "Boniface just needs to compile our emotional profiles, and then we are fully fledged disciples of the faith."

This session was short and only administered to Pierze, who believed Zara was to be next. The deception was complete as Zara entered and appeared to be ready for Boniface, when he handed Pierze one of the latest think-phones. "You said how much you liked these gadgets, and this is our top of the range model. It's already set up and it's yours. I hope you'll find it useful during our Rescue 2045 campaign." The mischievous glint in Pierze's eyes confirmed that he would become a true convert.

As Ricardo Pierze left to see how things were progressing with the Duarte family, he received a call on his new toy. The ringtone flicked a mental switch and he then felt at ease with the voice of the Truth and its reinforcement of his new feeling of belonging. He was no longer suffering from schizophrenia.

## Chapter 20

The news from the hospital was mildly encouraging. After only a few days of exposure to the pulses, Emile was showing sporadic signs of twitching in his right hand. Lopez suggested they should now change the stimulus from a wake up prod, to one of participation in exercise, such as playing his favourite game. It was good for Pierze to see Maxi and Maria in a positive frame of mind again. The cautious optimism had even captured the interest of the purveyors of the original diagnosis. It was Maria who hugged Pierze; Maxi merely tipped his now infamous pork-pie hat in a gesture of appreciation and affection. Twice in one day – the feeling of belonging was extremely pleasurable.

*

When he teamed up with Zara again the strategy was aired. Zara didn't see the selection process as a problem. "It is my fervent hope that this will demonstrate the power of the Truth. It's important, as you have said, for us to get a broad assessment of the demographic implications of the doomsday scenario. By tackling this first I believe we can set the tone for all other outcomes. The simple truth in this respect is the same as the Truth. Why do I say that? Because I believe that surviving the full impact of the comet, may be a fate worse than being extinguished in a millisecond. The honest portrayal of the conditions in which we would have to cope won't be too appealing, there could be years of the hunter-gatherer existence, only to succumb to a lingering, painful death. In addition, without the umbilical support of mother Earth, any volunteers for the Moon and Mars will find it equally difficult to prevail. It would be different if we had long established colonies there. So if we present this worst case scenario first and responsibly ask the populous to decide whether they prefer survival in advance, we may find there are more who will opt to accept the alternative. I see more difficulties arising if we have partial success in minimising the impact damage. If we are able to avoid an impact altogether it will be almost impossible to curb the future colonisation of other worlds. The human race is genetically programmed to care for their unborn descendants. This brings me back to my first prediction – they may not want to leave a legacy of agony and radiation deformity for those few of the unborn species, who will know nothing but suffering from cradle to grave. Of course I could be totally wrong. Do you agree it would be helpful to find out?"

This was an interesting pivot in the relationship of the two former enemies. If Pierze disagreed then Zara could wipe away such sentiment by a single ringtone. That was not what he wanted. His own feat of clambering out of the quicksand of schizophrenia was unassisted, and was thus also desired for his 'friend'. At least they could now announce the comprehensive headline plan of Rescue 2045, with the pledge to keep the consultative process at the forefront. The first seeds of the selection process were to be aired in the coming months.

*

The two-man Phobos crew had been selected and completed their training, and their craft was ready to go. The owners of SACRED had haggled a little and eventually accepted the Iberian government offer. Zara reflected on how things had changed since the prison breakout. Apart from his new appearance and flourishing Cerberus business group, he had masterminded the think-phone control interface and recently imported Pierze into it. Now, via the Iberian acquisition and Pierze's position, he effectively had one hand on the rudder of Earth's destiny. However, because of his almost primal relationship with Alexei Stepanov, he no longer felt any motivation to abuse this fountain of power. Quite the opposite in fact, and it was underpinned by what he would have previously considered the most unlikely element of all – faith. He did still enjoy the inner feeling of a paternalistic global benefactor. It was therefore disturbing that he could hardly wait for 2045.

Having completed the launch and settled into their long journey David Ortiz and Michaela Cordone would also end up in the list of potential history-changing celebrities, or simply never return. Meanwhile the code-breaking effort continued to dredge up snippets of information. Most of these were to do with the apparent orbital alteration of Phobos, and as yet they remained imprecise in terms of comprehending the interlinking of the calculations. One important piece of data was however, crystal clear. It was also extremely helpful in warding off more paranoia over the sinister claims against the object and its designers. Having probed continuously for more interactive panels or buttons, they had eventually found confirmation that the object itself and the 'silo' on Phobos were connected only by one-way signals which would terminate if and when all data in the object had been viewed. This implied that there may be much more to discover, but critically that any control mechanism for whatever was on Phobos, would have to be activated from there. This calming information did have a price. When the comet cleared the Kuiper belt, there would have to be someone on or near Phobos to 'engage the solution'. The responsibility of such a burden or destiny could and would probably attract many volunteers. It also affected the astronauts who had just departed. Instead of only one of them surfacing on the moon and leaving final interpretation of the footage to the code breakers, both of them would take turns to study the silo and add their individual input. It had suddenly become too important to rely upon transmitted images alone. The crew hoped this would be the most exciting change they would have to consider as they had only just warmed their seats. Michaela Cordone was nominally commanding the craft but she had just been made to feel the stealthy hand of remote control. "David, do you still want to surface first, while we have the authority to decide? I wouldn't be surprised if there is another change by the time we get to the Moon."

Both of them were of the opinion that there hadn't been enough simulation of two people being cooped up in such a confined space for nine months. With just one more person it would have been easier. Although it would still not have been possible to find solitude, the differences between the other two crew members would provide distraction. The powers that be knew better, or so they believed.

*

Zara made sure via the ringtone connection that Pierze was fully on-board with the emphasis he had previously outlined, to address the world on some of the timescales leading up to Rescue 2045. The representative from Orient had seen and approved Zara's proposal to tackle the selection issue early, as he maintained their society was cohesive enough to handle the possible decision to die rather than face a 'future with no acceptable future'. Zara had one more personality to introduce to the global stage. Boris Krasnic was nearing the final stages of his radiation-induced hell, and he wanted to add the weight of his perspective, to give the audience a feeling of what the choice of survival may bring. The various polls from around the globe indicated a muted, but general acceptance of the proposals. They were considered to be thorough and open. The last thing they wanted was to be told 'everything was going to be alright, just trust us'. They were promised periodical updates. There was considerable introspection following the utter humility of the final speaker. Boris Krasnic wasn't comfortable with public speaking, and this added to the authenticity of his message. "I am about to die. I don't know precisely when but it will be long before 2045. If I only had myself to consider, it would be today. I watched my dear friend Alexei Stepanov suffer an agonising end to his life from the same radiation sickness we inherited from Tunguska. He only had peace during the last few days when it didn't really matter if the morphine dosage was too high. However, I have my family to think of, and somehow they can't bear to see me beg for assisted termination. I believe that will change in the coming weeks as my time is shortening rapidly now. Conditioning oneself to this departure from family is the most difficult aspect for me, but I can truthfully say that if I was going to be here in 2045, I would recommend we all face what was coming together, as I would not wish my condition on my worst enemy." There was a last minute but fitting decision by the producer of the broadcast to delay the planned commercial break, and allow a prolonged silent contemplation. Zara, Pierze and Pak Sung Do, the Oriental delegate, all instinctively stood as Krasnic refused assistance while shuffling his fragile frame off the set.

*

This short talk influenced a few individuals around the planet in another way. Rather than simply wait out the development of Rescue 2045, they decided to alter their lifestyle immediately. For most of them it was a more negotiable step than it would have been for urban inhabitants. One such pioneer was Bertil Nordsen. He was still following his family way of life – farming. He lived in Northern Swedish-Iberia. Not too far from his established way of life was a mountain range – Ahkka (or Lule Sami, meaning old woman) was a massif with eleven individual peaks. Bertil had known, from early childhood, of a remote cave in the highest one – Stortoppen, which had probably offered sanctuary to either Homo-Sapiens or Neanderthals, long ago. He decided to stake a claim to part of this 'holiday home' which was about one third of the way up the mountain. He wanted his family to get used to such a challenge, by learning foraging techniques while they could be supported by their existing produce. The family would tell nobody about this.

*

Emile Duarte had shown further hopeful signs. His eyelids were twitching regularly and both hands were moving periodically into a gripping mode. There was no response from his legs and he hadn't fully opened his eyes, but the treatment had still been delicately controlled. They were seriously considering increasing the intensity.

*

Although both Manuel and Duarte were aware of Pierze's withdrawal from Central Security and that he had secured their services for his successor, they had both declined extending their involvement. It was understandable that Duarte had more difficulty in giving time to the 'hunt for Sidonia', and his failure to notice behavioural changes in Ricardo. His eternal gratitude to the man he once despised prevailed above all else. Manuel however, could see his new preoccupation with Rescue 2045 virtually rendering his interest in Sidonia to zero. Not particularly wanting to work with the new incumbent, he decided to return to his agency in Londonis. He had noticed the change in character which had bypassed Duarte. Whenever he challenged Pierze about this, he could only elicit one reply. "I'm much happier being involved in a positive environment. Central Security was becoming an increasingly difficult orbit, in which one's sanity could not be guaranteed. Everything ends up as minimising negativity. I needed the change more than I realised."

"What about Sidonia?" Pierze shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't seem to be so relevant since the Tunguska discovery Manuel. They, if they are hatching some new plot, must have been affected by this, just like the rest of us. Maybe they see how futile their desire to control humanity really is, when humans may not be able to control a wandering block of celestial ice and rock. You have a lot of living to do before we find that out for certain. I'm sure Elle would say the same to you, perhaps she already has?" Manuel was slightly uncomfortable with his new, easy-going friend. His persona seemed diminished despite the protest about fulfillment. It was almost as if he was on drugs or medication, and it had got out of control.

"Ok Ricardo, I'll take your advice and pass on your regards to Elle. We will stay in touch."

End Game Three

The Lights of Hope

Ortiz was desperate to get on with the task of 'walking on the moon'. He and Michaela Cordone had managed to stay in control of their inability to relate to one another's little foibles. At least this was the case for the first half of the journey. The imminent danger as they approached Phobos was a welcome relief to the physical and mental confinement of the past months. With only a tiny space to perform the prescribed calisthenics their bodies were already showing clear signs of muscular degeneration. The dancing lights were getting closer and the pattern of this display was embedded in their cerebra, in the same way as the harmonics of a favourite song would be.

There was barely room to turn around in the tiny airlock let alone change into the suit and arm oneself with the primed thrusters. Cordone was initialising the mechanics of attitude adjustment to match the computed instruction. It took several attempts to reach the point at which the display eventually flashed 'locked-on'. By now they could appreciate the size of the circular surface of the silo. It was much bigger in visual than anticipated, even though the observatories' pictures should have prepared them. The camera was the final acquisition for Ortiz before the airlock was activated. It was fitted to his helmet and he had a small wrist screen to see what he was actually transmitting. His pulse raced compared to even the most strenuous exercise during the flight, and he felt 'heart flutters' as he engaged the thrusters. His umbilical was secured to the innermost wall of the airlock, but there was no other way to test the computer's readout that they were close enough to the silo to reach it without running out of this lifeline. Despite many simulations back in training he didn't manage to avoid tumbling, but he had under-thrusted, so that he would be able to correct this disorienting method of locomotion. Cordone was actually more nervous than he was. The thought of something going wrong and having to investigate herself, with nobody in the vessel, was not embraced easily. After two corrective thrusts Ortiz confirmed to Cordone that he had more than enough umbilical. She could see the display at the same time as he did.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell is in there. It certainly isn't a missile as we would recognise one. David can you see the inside from your wrist screen? I have a perfect view but I would like your assessment before the short delay to Earth is consumed and we have to follow instructions." His reply was confirmatory.

"I can see inside and a long way down too. I am not able to get much detail on what looks like a pad inside the clear, protective surface dome. Is that what has got your attention?"

"Yes, that has symbols on it just like the ones on the object in Moscow. On my high resolution screen I can also see diagrams which almost certainly relate to these symbols, but actually tell their own story. Why don't you satisfy yourself that you have missed nothing within your eye-range rather than the tiny wrist camera, and then return? I'll take over and you can see if I'm overstating what seems to be obvious."

They agreed to let any incoming questions from Earth wait until Ortiz had seen the large images from the cockpit. He was getting restless because it took Cordone a lot longer to get into position. When she eventually did she heard what she had hoped she would.

"From the diagrams alone it can only be a gigantic propulsion device. We are looking directly into the outlet or exhaust chambers. God knows what kind of drive this is, but presumably they calculated what would be necessary to move this entire moon against the gravitational pull of Mars."

"That is exactly what I saw too. There doesn't seem to be any means of opening the dome. Can you see something I can't?"

Ortiz scanned around the perimeter. "No, maybe it doesn't need to be opened."

She was not convinced. "That's why I wanted you to see it from there. I recall that the code breakers concluded that something would have to be activated from here when the time comes, but what? I think we had better swap positions again while I get to their questions."

She needn't have been overly concerned. The eyes back on Earth had also concluded that this device was the means of shifting the orbit of Phobos implied in earlier decoding. They had wrongly assumed at that time that it would have employed explosive weaponry, whether out-and-back missile, or residence-based. The calculations were already underway to determine precisely what magnitude of thrust would be required to achieve this feat. They wanted steadier, closer pictures of the symbols sent back so they could fit them into their crunching algorithms. They were also puzzled at present about the lack of any opening mechanism for the dome, as nobody could envisage a propulsion system which would operate in a totally closed space, unless there was some type of ingenious energy recycling facility within the housing. It seemed feasible, as the Moscow object was, although not fully understood, also propelled by a drive where the exhaust was apparently completely contained by lead shielding. It was the difference in scale which was confusing. Cordone duly asked Ortiz to get to the optimum position to see the symbols so she could send the improved images directly to the code breakers.

*

Maxi and Maria Duarte were almost in sleep-mode, when suddenly several new lights danced on Emile's monitoring system. They sought Lopez and the consultant surgeon from the hospital cafeteria in panic. When the two dashed back they took in the visual changes and then embraced each other. Lopez spoke to Maxi and Maria. "Sorry, we were lost for a moment in taking in the good news. There is increased brain activity of significance. We both believe that Emile will now recover consciousness. This is still a prognosis and not an assurance, but we are both extremely hopeful."

The emotional shock for both parents was almost as acute as the first news of his accident. They decided as a group that there would always be someone at his bedside as Emile would need recognition criteria as soon as he resurfaced. Duarte called Pierze and told him of the news.

"I'll be there right away Maxi; that is if it's acceptable to you and Maria." It was more than acceptable.

*

After two days of grappling with the new symbols the programme spewed out the most likely fit they had in the multiple stages of orbit manipulation diagrams on the Moscow object. When the sequence was input there was an absolute explosion of data displayed. This time, the 'pages' were repeatable, and this avoided the need to capture them on photographs. Unknown to the code breakers at the time, this unlocking of data was the final one, and the link with the Phobos silo was severed. They were told of this indirectly by Cordone, as both she and Ortiz watched in amazement as the silo dome began to retract by dividing and sliding back into recesses. They were quite nervous about the possibility of being asked to venture inside. That didn't transpire because the plethora of new data cleared up the missing links in the language structure and, as a consequence, revealed the 'ignition' sequence. Furthermore, it emphasised that it was crucial to delay any engagement of the propulsion until the previously prescribed time. There was to be no practising this sequence or getting it wrong. It was a one-time only programme, and as previously thought – had to be activated on Phobos itself. That raised the question of any volunteers having to sign up for a possible suicide gesture. Cordone was given the signal to return to Earth.

## Chapter 21

When Emile Duarte's eyes opened it was the catalyst for tears in the eyes of others, not just his parents, but Lopez and the consultant surgeon, the nursing staff, and two of his fellow young players at the club. The process of nodding acknowledgement of hearing and understanding what was being said soon progressed into signals which formed the basis of 'conversation'. Without this being sophisticated, his chilling insistence that he had been able to hear discussions about unplugging him from the life support equipment left his parents emotionally shattered. He was gradually told what would happen next, but all he really wanted to know was whether he would walk again. For someone so young, he disciplined himself to accept it was unlikely, but then so was his current consciousness just a few months ago. Duarte spoke quietly.

"Son, this may be the toughest fight of your life, but you know what it takes – you've already demonstrated the tenacity to reach the pinnacle of success in your football, against the most formidable competition. Combining that tenacity with discipline, and the help of all these people here, you will have greatly increased your potential to beat your own expectations. It's just that we have to be realistic in terms of how long it may take. We, your mother and me, will never give up hope of you walking again, you can be certain of that."

Emile nodded his appreciation and asked via several attempts at meaningful one-way charades, when he could go to a football match. His attitude humbled everyone except his father who, immediately went out to procure a large flat screen for his private room. He would ask permission to install it later.

Manuel and Butragueno were compelled to come to Madrid to see the young man and decided to make a vacation of their time in the Capital. They wanted to help Maxi and his wife in whatever way possible. It was Butragueno's idea, as she hadn't been able to cope with the stricken state of Emile and the depression of her former boss. She hoped he would understand, but then Maxi Duarte always did. Pierze was quite the opposite; he had been in the midst of the rejection of the pessimism of the initial medical staff, which had cast him in their eyes as being extremely unhelpful. His altered personality ensured there was no 'told you so' as he came to see the miracle for himself. It was curiously, only now that Duarte had the mental space to notice this. The other giveaway factor was that Ricardo Pierze was ever so slightly inebriated. He had, upon hearing the news, opened a very expensive bottle of champagne and as he was alone, consumed almost half of it on an empty stomach.

Maria was to stay with Emile while the four responsible for bringing down Sidonia dined out and reminisced over those times. The mutual empathy of this and Emile's partial recovery ultimately wandered on to Pierze's relaxed attitude. None of them had been officially told of his entry to the faith. They listened intently while he explained his deliberation about doing so, and how his re-evaluation of his career had been the overwhelming reason. When he was at the restroom, they huddled closer together and kept their voices down while they determined that they simply didn't buy into this. They were very happy to see him flourishing without his former burden. They would reserve judgement until he had more time to demonstrate his happiness was going to endure. It just wasn't the kind of position you retired from until you were pensioned off, even if you wanted to. They had to look out for their friend. As Duarte was living in Madrid, he was asked to keep the others informed.

*

At the other side of the world from Bertil Nordsen, a Peruvian family was embarking on a similar shift in lifestyle. Luis Alvaro Mamani lived a short distance from the famous Machu Picchu ruins. He had never known anything other than mountain life, and the hardship it inflicted. His family was well used to self-sufficiency and how natural phenomena could be so cruel. He had heard of the prediction that the world would end, not from TV, simply word of mouth. His interpretation was that the gods were dissatisfied with human behaviour. The cave he knew of would allow him to continue herding sure-footed mountain goats and chickens. He and Nordsen had some common objectives; feeding the family could be sustained with milk and protein from the livestock. The bigger problem was to ensure the animals could flourish. They would have to locate plentiful supplies of underground nuts and roots in order to keep the effects of radiation to a minimum. They had fire and were well used to making candles. The prospect of such austerity would be televised at some point, and it was expected to strike fear into those whose existence depended on modern infrastructure. Moreover this radiation fallout 'prison' could last for many years; it wasn't easy to predict an 'all clear' situation. Despite this, there were many families following the example of Nordsen and Mamani, although the majority of them believed that Rescue 2045 would render their holiday homes redundant.

*

The least complex part of Rescue 2045 was the assembly of a nuclear arsenal to strike the comet, if all else failed. The critical part of engaging this option was to decide on the exact time of despatch. The three dimensional cosmic billiard-board would be difficult to take into account. Trying to graze such a body to merely deflect it would be an extremely difficult task. Impacting it head-on could fragment it, and ultimately make it potentially more dangerous, by spreading fireballs over a wider area of the Earth. Another unknown, even for the Tunguska object builders, was the possibility of Comet 2005NB5C to have had brushes with other billiard balls in the time it had been wandering since 1908. Even a fractional alteration to its anticipated arrival trajectory was important in terms of where to steer Phobos, or target the warheads from Earth. Knowing absolutely precisely that the object-builders were correct in their calculations may not be possible until the comet was inside the asteroid belt, rather than the Kuiper belt. It would be a nervous time, because the strategy of relying on shifting the orbit of Phobos had no correction facility – it was completely dependent on the comet having enjoyed an incident-free tour. The recent dialogue on such uncertainty severely tested the cohesion between Zara and Pierze. Ricardo was suffering reversion to his former character by suggesting it should not be aired. Zara tried unsuccessfully to convince him of maintaining the policy of the Truth, and he had to resort to several ringtone reinforcement calls to settle him down. What he didn't know was that in the meantime, Pierze had shared his doubts with Duarte. It registered curiosity, during Pierze's visits to the hospital that he performed such a rapid volte-face. Duarte was even more convinced that Pierze was not himself.

*

The essence of these cosmic deliberations was duly disseminated by Zara, despite the lack of confidence it could generate in the personnel responsible for Rescue 2045. It was part of an update which included announcements of the crews for Mars 2033 and Phobos Activation 2045. The detailed supporting missions to colonise the Moon and Mars were also outlined but the personnel had yet to be nominated. The date for people to register their preferences for off-world transport, subterranean accommodation, cave allocation, or none of these, was set at 2040. This was to give a real idea of the logistics challenge; it didn't offer guarantee that preference meant selection. This caused more discussion than the uncertainty which had worried Pierze, and it would prevail for some time.

*

Emile Duarte had uttered the first primitive sounds since his revival. Viktor Lopez was preparing audio tutorials which Emile could use when he wasn't conversing with others via gestures of nodding and shaking. Combining the standard audio with regular pulses was new territory, but there was nothing to lose. One of his physiotherapists had noted during leg massage that there had been a few instances of toe movement. She wasn't sure if they were the result of her efforts triggering semi-dormant reflexes or Emile's own neurological progress. The resident team would do more independent tests. Emile was getting a steady stream of the club's players coming to see him now that there was rudimentary understanding of what he wanted of them. It was mostly requests for video footage of the latest games, music and other young people's interests. This regular interaction was considered to be important in helping him build on the success so far.

*

President Sanchez was back in hospital having suffered cardiac arrest. As the new deputy was catapulted to temporary office, one of the first decisions he made was to ask Pierze to return to help out in the interim. The polite refusal stunned Alonso Ferreira, and astonished Manuel and Duarte. They both contacted him to determine what it was that really made him turn his back on the Republic. Their concern deepened when the reply lacked emotion or the wish to continue the discussion.

"I'm currently very busy trying to save the human race. Perhaps the Republic would be better off by engaging with the Circle of Light, it has certainly made me aware of what is really important and what is merely hubris."

This was so alien compared to the man they knew, that Manuel said he would come back to Madrid, to investigate this rather sinister cleansing of the soul, of a former detractor of such blind faith. His professed role as a disciple was even more difficult to comprehend.

*

Knowing that the severed link from the object to Phobos meant they had all of the data, the code breakers had begun to fill in the blanks in 'translation' of some of the earlier stuff which they had glossed over. There wasn't actually much which they had not figured out, but two were of note. The observation that the original magnetic emissions had changed was indeed significant. Not only was the conclusion they had drawn about this sending some kind of signal to another location correct, it went to two different destinations. They were triggered by the exposure of the pyramid data faces to daylight. The one they knew about was of course Phobos. The other was quite sobering when they worked out how it related to the Earth database. They were certain it was in the constellation of Virgo, approximately 28 light years away. The numeric data indicated a star we knew as 61 Virginis. Comparisons to our sun were a good match for what they had derived. Its spectral type was G5V (Sol G2V), Mass 0.954 (Sol 1.0), Radius 0.945 (Sol 1.0), Temperature 5531K (Sol 5778K), Metallicity 0.008 (Sol 0), Age twice that of Sol, and it had 4 planets. The diagrammatic representation didn't delineate constellations and galaxies in the same way we did, and this caused some confusion. Our concept of a constellation embodies a cluster of stars which appear close to each other from where we look at them. Galaxies are considered to be clusters of stars which actually are close to each other. The appropriate galaxy would in this case be known to us as Sombrero. Whatever squabbling the experts indulged in, over this classification, the discovery meant that it was highly likely that this species was long gone from the solar system, and the signal would not reach their origin before 2045. The speculation raged however, over whether the close match they noted between the two solar systems meant they had been on the lookout for a new home. If that was the case why would they stop their search just to help us?

*

During Manuel's visit, the news broke that Sanchez had been advised on medical grounds to retire. This wasn't unexpected but meant there was definitely going to be an election. It also increased the determination of Pierze to stay clear of the inevitable saturation coverage this would command on TV. Manuel had felt it might help him get Pierze to open up.

"Ricardo, I know you've explained how your new found career path gives you such purpose again, but Duarte and I know you aren't yourself any more. It's the abruptness of the change which makes us worry about you. You seem to be spellbound by something or somebody. If it was simply a switch of remit, surely it would not bring such a massive personality change with it. You appear to be a completely different person."

"Manuel, I know your intentions are well meant, but you must accept that I feel I have served the Republic well in my time. You know what it entails; you hated your father because of it. I was beginning to realise that more pressure was coming my way, and it was going to bring its share of 'dirty dealing' with it. How come you can't see that? Central Security, Special Adviser to the deputy President, and Head of World Security Body – it was relentless. The icing on the cake was the guy I was advising as President, Falcorini, turns out to be at the core of overthrowing the Republic. I admit I was obsessed with Sidonia, but this is worse – I was actually contributing unknowingly to the plot. My change of personality is a requirement for erasure of what I used to be proud of. I'm lucky to have this opportunity to really serve the species, not just the damned Republic. I acknowledge your concern, but it is misplaced. In fact, you would do well to consider embracing this faith yourself. It's something I feared initially but it turns out to be so liberating. Now let's go and see our friend Maxi, and the boy. These are the really important things in life - your friends; we should have a beer together."

It was more convincing than the last protest but Manuel could not shake off the feeling that there was more to his condition. He did realise however, that if he continued to probe unnecessarily, it would be perceived as interference rather than concern. When they arrived at the hospital, they were able to share the good news. Emile had uttered a sound which had definite form. Refusing the headphones he clearly articulated a 'naa' and then smiled as he was able to repeat it over and over. Pierze suggested that Lopez consider drafting in a speech therapist to assist, at his discretion. Manuel and Duarte glanced at one another as if to say – 'that is the Ricardo we know, strolls in, assesses the situation and takes charge'.

When they had a beer to ease the awkwardness left by Manuel's analytical questions, it reminded them of some of the nights they spent burning the midnight oil in Londonis. One of the most vivid examples was when news came in of several of Pierze's agents being killed in a bomb blast in Salzburg. The familiar camaraderie was returning when Pierze took a call. It was of the ringtone variety. He kept repeating the same syllable. "Yes – yes – yes – yes – yes, I see, I will be there. Thank you." His voice returned to normal and he insisted on getting another round of beers. Manuel shot a question at Duarte while Pierze went in search of the waiter.

"Did you notice the change in his voice Maxi?" The nod was partnered with a frown. "Do you think it had something to do with the call? It was almost as if he was under hypnosis."

Duarte couldn't disagree. When he came back Pierze apologised for having to leave after consuming the fresh, cold beers. Duarte took up the gauntlet.

"That was a first for me Ricardo, I have never seen you chase down a waiter, it is usually the snap of a finger or a flea in their ear."

"Yes I'm a little more considerate than when I was so uptight about everything. I am a little short of time too, I have to meet someone."

Duarte pressed on. "Oh I see. Would that be the person who just called?"

"I'm sorry Maxi, what do you mean?" Duarte waved away the need to respond as if he may have a date, and not want to admit to it. When he was gone they both knew for certain there was a problem; he didn't even remember the call – only that he had to meet someone. Manuel thought out aloud.

"If it's something to do with the call maybe we can get hold of his communicator and check the number. Did you notice it was one of those fancy new think-phones?"

"I've never had the interest to know what is in fashion Manuel. You are asking the wrong person."

*

When Pierze arrived for his meeting with Zara he was informed of the urgency. "This latest stuff the code breakers have produced is worrying. Indicating the alien species has traversed such vast distances is one thing, but the idea they might be looking for a new home has caught the attention of many. According to our disciples around the world, it is the first major item to cause conflict with religious leanings. It isn't so much that the existence of the species challenges theological doctrine, it is the sudden fear generated by their 'ordinary' character. All the time they were anonymous and benevolent they could be accommodated as part of their religious beliefs, almost as justification of them. You know the expression 'God works in many ways'. Of course this doesn't affect atheists and agnostics, but we are reliant on all denominations to maintain cohesion."

Pierze apologised for being a little late, and explained that he had been with friends. "They were expressing concern over my withdrawal from Central Security and my general disposition. I was trying to explain that I have never been happier, when they asked me who had called my communicator. It threw me, because I didn't receive a call at that time, unless it came when I went to order more beer. Anyway, here I am. I'm surprised to hear your concern, you've always been supremely confident that the Truth will prevail. Are you asking me what we should do?"

"I just wanted to make you aware of the reports of the disciples. I would like to dig further into these revelations of the code breakers to see if there is more content which helps clarify why the species was in our space. Personally I can't see why they would devise such an elaborate solution to the comet impact if they were looking for a new home. Can we do this together?"

Pierze was enthusiastic. "Of course, I think we need to know whether or not we have missed something. We know the display of data is complete, but not the task, if the translation still has embedded detail to be accessed."

Zara mentioned that he had noticed Pierze's think-phone had not responded on some occasions, and that it might have developed a fault. "Let me have it and I'll get it checked out. In the meantime I'll get you a replacement." He was annoyed with himself for careless overuse of the ringtone facility. He would ask his technical people to wipe the software connection from Pierze's phone for a period.

The two of them spent weeks with the code breakers, who were fairly confident that they had extracted all of the important content, but agreed to go through the area of explanation of the signal destinations again. The one in the Virgo constellation yielded nothing new, in fact it had never implied that this was the location of their home, planetary or otherwise. One of the people whose responsibility was to check the matching of computer output to the individual and grouped symbols, noticed an error. "It might be nothing, but we have some incorrect input of two symbols which are very similar. It would be easy to get this wrong, especially when we have done this hundreds of thousands of times recently. It is only to illustrate what I mean, but in certain human fonts, it is very easy to confuse a capital 'I' with a small 'l', you know 'aye' compared to 'el'. The importance in their symbols is that one changes the context, whereas the other does not. We can re-run this with the correct input."

It turned out to be a rewarding observation. The signals had not been sent separately. The Moscow object had alerted and partly activated the Phobos device. Then when all data from the object had been accessed, but just prior to severance of the link to Phobos, a check box instruction was transferred. The Phobos device then onward transmitted the status, and the destination in Virgo would be informed in the future as to whether the comet had been neutralised. This would be represented by the registration of impact or a final message denoting success, ergo - box checked. Zara was particularly pleased and Pierze was impressed by the man's dedication. It reinforced his feeling of achievement and its resultant contentment. The consensus of the experts was altered accordingly. The new explanation of the signals indicated closure, and the object builders reclaimed their perception of good Samaritans. Although nobody knew why they apparently cared about a relatively primitive, warring species in 1908, the question remained dormant.

*

When they returned to Madrid, Pierze had further good news. Emile had progressed to short but decipherable phrases, especially related to the hospital food. His favourite demand was for pizza. Manuel and Duarte concocted a plan to get at Pierze's think-phone as the former was sure it had something to do with Ricardo's aberrational behaviour. However, the one which Zara had given Pierze temporarily didn't have his own number, nor did it have registration of the disturbing call. Manuel and Duarte's simple ruse was to remind Pierze of the ruling about mobiles in hospital wards. Manuel said he was expecting a call from Elle and he did not want her to get the unobtainable message, so he was going to take a break outside.

"Ricardo you should switch yours off if you are staying for a while, I've already had two warnings of confiscation."

Pierze didn't want to switch it off as he was also expecting several contacts. He gave it to Manuel and asked him to alert him immediately if there was a call. When Manuel was outside and examined the call registry he could not find anything suspicious or indeed the particular call in question. He could only imagine that Pierze had deleted it. It was a classic example of no evidence creating more suspicion.

## Chapter 22

2037

Despite the formidable challenges of living on Mars, the seventy-six colonists were forging ahead with programmes to decrease their dependency on regular shuttles from Earth. The same was true of the Moon, which was also being used to prepare emigrants for the relative isolation at lower cost than Mars, and ease of returning those who failed to settle. The stark reality of this assessment was the minimal impression that colonisation was going to deliver by 2045. Consequently, the selection options available to individuals in 2040, was in effect limited to underground silos, mountain caves, or their existing domain. The perception of the Truth was that the need for such preparations would materialise. The Phobos manoeuvre and the array of warheads were however, expected to render the choice, and subsequent selection decision as redundant. The psyche on the two off-world locations was however changing to one of being emotionally stranded. The hard scientific facts, or the Truth, whichever they chose as a reference, clearly demonstrated that it may take a century or more to make these cosmic bodies into a rewarding habitat. There was a psychological barrier, implying that these pioneers couldn't expect to fulfill their ambitions within their own lifetime, and that the burden with which they struggled, would be the only legacy for their offspring.

*

The Circle of Light had managed to regain its former momentum, somewhat against this trend to further uncertainty. The recent upsurge masked a dichotomy to some degree. There were those who combined access to the Truth with their religious belief; it was all part of God's great plan. The minority, mostly non-religious people, simply saw the threat as no different to an earthquake, tsunami, tectonic movement or volcanic eruption for those directly impacted. They tended to want to concentrate investment of resource on producing aid by those who did survive. This was likely to shape the demographic outcome of 2040. The most worrying aspect which had become more evident in the last five years was the dropout rate. This wasn't just made up of families like the Nordsens and the Mamanis; there was a steady increase in 'underground, mafia-style organisations' which offered people special privileges up to 2045. Payment in advance was required for this standard of living assurance policy, which expired, whether or not the policy holder survived, in the year of the comet. There were suspicions of this policy including influence of getting your preferred selection approved. It was feared that this black market would mutate into a locust storm which would strip the integrity from Rescue 2045.

*

One of the regular tasks of the fledgling Martian colony was to visit Phobos and check for any observable change in output from the device. It had afforded many opportunities to go deeper into the bowels of the drive system. They had reported that the periodic change in the display from the lights of hope on the surface were synchronised to another one below. When one was on, the other virtually closed down. It was absolutely precise in terms of the interval of operation and relative inactivity. The general conclusion was that it resembled a 'charging cycle' of some kind. Other than this, no other activity had been observed.

*

Up until the present, the ticking clock had been an exclusively future consideration. It had now drifted into a conscious time frame of eight years. There was discernable reduction in people investing in savings, and corporations making five to ten year plans. This added its own momentum as an acidic corrosive of established cohesive doctrines.

*

Emile Duarte had come a long way toward rehabilitation. He was able to hold his own in conversation. His upper body faculties were doing well. He had made some progress in getting on to crutches and swimming. Lopez had declared his expertise was at an end and it was time to follow the neurosurgeon's advice to conduct exploratory surgical investigation of his lower vertebrae. They had avoided this until all other therapy had been optimised. They had known from the beginning that his accident had caused vertebra number three to crack. It was distorted and applying pressure to the soft tissue of the spinal column. They had decided that there was a high risk in physically moving this cracked plate, and therefore wanted to make certain that his brain would recover sufficiently to warrant this exploration. That time had come. His parents were cagey as they had got used to the fact that he had miraculously been 'brought back from the dead'. Emile's view was perfectly understandable. He may only have eight years, incapacitated or not. He wanted to enjoy that time. He was incredibly positive about the chance to walk unaided. The surgery was scheduled. Pierze gave him a high five and then hugged Maria before turning to Duarte. His embrace was so intense that it pushed back the pork-pie hat. Emile burst out laughing and his father, still embroiled in the hug, thought back to the Pierze of ten years ago. His behaviour had continued to gravitate to this eccentric variety compared to his original reference point. However, Duarte had so much to thank him for, and was satisfied that there was no substance to the concerns he and Manuel had previously shared. He and Maria were happy, Emile was happy and Ricardo was happy, that was all that mattered. Manuel had not shelved his doubts but accepted that there was no resultant sinister outcome to Pierze's more human persona.

2040

The results of the individual selections of the population were starting to filter in. There had never been an 'electoral' process of this magnitude in human history, and corruption was an issue, but it barely mattered. The populous had been told that it wasn't possible to change their selection once it was made, even though they may be entering choices on behalf of minors, who were not considered capable of understanding the implications involved in each option. Practical circumstances would be taken into account as they arose. These included terminal conditions, immobility – especially amongst the elderly. There needed to be quarantine of contagious disease. The list was very comprehensive.

After their years of work in sculpturing such a complex operation Pierze and Zara were visibly nervous about the outcome and even more about any knock-on effects which would have to be addressed in the next five years. One such effect which had been largely ignored until now was the declining birth rate. Since the discovery in Tunguska and its implications, many people had decided not to bring new life to the world, only for it to be cut down in the flower of youth. This, almost invisible trend, patently didn't correlate to the belief that the Comet's mission would be thwarted. Zara saw this becoming a potential backlash if the Phobos project was successful, and people then felt deprived of having children.

The early trend in selection was nevertheless in line with optimism that life would go on after 2045. Over 60% had so far registered to take what comes. This actually exceeded Zara's own predictions of a few years ago. If this proportionality was maintained it would keep the lid on the concrete bunker programme being behind schedule. The main problem was always going to be allocation of places for the other 40%. When the results were displayed by geographical location, this concern was exacerbated. They had to take into account that the predicted impact was in the Atlantic, midway between Africana and Southern Iberiana. At the very least, the coastal populations of those regions, plus Northern Iberiana and the Western Mediterranean would have to be relocated to inland bunkers. Population migrations of this magnitude had to be orchestrated in digestible chunks. World history was littered with disastrous examples of uncontrolled migration. Although this was in the plan, it meant that a sub-selection process had to occur, in order to begin this exodus now, a full five years prior to the fireworks. Pierze's years in Central Security warned him that this well-planned, apparently logical cog in the overall scheme should be reconsidered. He could not convince Zara, who said all alternatives were less acceptable.

"Lionel, the hidden danger in this well-meaning process is the space it will create for opportunity, which breeds temptation. Resistance to temptation of personal gain is difficult in normal circumstances; in a period where the world civilisation may be coming to an end, it will be irresistible. In both the regions which are being emptied and the ones which are being overrun, morals and rule of law will break down."

It was the first major disagreement between the two disciples. Zara felt he had no option other than restoration of Pierze's ringtone connection. The spat was smoothed over.

As more results came in, and despite some regional variations, the general pattern held. The extrapolated expectation was cautiously set at 64% electing to sit out the event in their own homes. This was based on the already skewed preponderance of Orient, North-Eastern Iberia, and its acolytes believing that they would escape the initial destructive waves of searing heat and tsunamis. These regions contained much of the more remote pockets of societies whose selections were not electronically linked to the registration hardware.

2044

The breakdown in society Pierze had predicted was well underway. Zara was dismayed yet clung to the hope that it would recede, with the increasingly tangible shadow of oblivion approaching. Pierze was, in view of his soothing ringtone sessions, remarkably philosophical. He thought it was a pity that a self-generated ripping apart of the tapestry, known as civilisation, should precede one of cosmic eradication.

This had affected almost every aspect of Rescue 2045. The plans for the bunkers had been sabotaged regularly and wouldn't now accommodate anything like those selected. The designated caves were occupied by self-appointed vigilante groups, and offered to individuals, with demands of surrender of their homes as payment, non-refundable if the comet was neutralised. A new chequerboard of 'nations', which were run like tribes, had evolved. Central government influence had declined in both Orient and Iberia, due to law enforcement becoming swamped by anarchists. Power generation slowly petered out and water treatment plants ceased to operate. Industry was beleaguered by product shipments being ambushed, and these deliveries included essential medicines for serious conditions.

Zara was now suffering death threats, as the Circle of Light could simply not keep up with developments, and was viewed as a sham. He had long since neglected his 'control' of Pierze, and confided in him that he was close to deciding his own fate. Pierze stayed loyal to him, and empathised with his feelings of abandonment by those he had tried so desperately to help. Pierze reminded Zara of a particular item in the original preparations which had so far been immune to this social meltdown and its wanton vandalism.

"The nuclear arsenal is still only operable by a handful of personnel, who are still aware of their duty. If it was known to these mobs that we were about to pull the plug on this, and become totally dependent on the Phobos project, it may make them stop and think. The futility of saving the physical world and having to transform this regressed 'stone-age' culture to a new civilisation within a few years, may get through to the masses who bend the knee to these 'tribe' leaders."

"I'm beaten Ricardo. The Truth hasn't been able to withstand human frailties. I was wrong. I cannot continue and must make preparations. I see you are still able to find the energy and insight to see this through. I genuinely wish I could help you, but the reality is that I would be a serious millstone."

Pierze recognised that the collapse of order was a major factor in Zara's plight. It had appeared, in Zara's mind, out of nowhere to infect a trend, which had been happily ploughing its furrow in the opposite direction. There was no longer any official channel to engage in order to execute his dismantling of the nuclear missile array. He had the codes. He contacted every base in turn to inform them of the decision. Their code counterparts were input and the warheads were de-commissioned. He told the various commanders of these stations to begin disseminating this deactivation by word of mouth, the message being that this had been rendered necessary by the actions of the leaders of these pseudo-nations. This was irreversible as he destroyed his own reactivation protocols. The stations were abandoned.

The rapid spread of realisation, that there was only one hope of survival remaining, caused only momentary hiatus in the slide to anarchy. The atrocities of human upon human then accelerated to new levels of ruthlessness. Pierze and Zara became 'most wanted' by the tribes. They reluctantly accepted the need to disappear. Zara still had contacts with disciples who themselves had gone underground. He set up separate, convoluted itineraries for the two of them and they said their farewells as they didn't realistically expect to make it. Pierze had a lot of thinking to do after Zara's parting gift.

"Ricardo, we have been through a lot together, actually more than you know. This may be the last chance I have, so I feel compelled to set the record straight. You knew me formerly as Osvaldo Martinez, and before that as Constantin Boniek. I know this will be a shock for you, but I truly believe we aren't so different in our ideals. We both have dependence upon order, the vision for the human race as a whole, and the tenacity to see things through."

Pierze was dumbstruck but allowed Zara to continue. "We may have gone about the pursuit of these objectives in a different manner and been on the opposite sides of some arbitrary law, but I have honestly enjoyed every minute we have worked together. We have come within a whisker of success, and it was my stubbornness in ignoring your advice which has brought us to this point of frustration. It's the second time for me, as you thwarted Sidonia, but you will get over this as I did back then. What is different for me this time is the true feeling of belonging I have had with Alexei Stepanov, Boris Krasnic, the Circle of Light and of course, yourself. I hope you won't judge me too harshly, I can only ask you to remember it was you who suggested we work together on Rescue 2045. We both enjoyed this because we have changed."

Pierze had recovered sufficient poise to identify with most of what Zara said, and promised to meet him at the eventual destination they had planned.

## Chapter 23

End Game

2045

The comet had arrived within the prescribed arc of the Kuiper belt. The delegated team from Mars was standing by close to Phobos. The chief technical officer was awaiting the signal from Earth to engage the drive activation sequence. For Enrico Calzado, this was a terrifying responsibility. One mental lapse of concentration or accidental movement in zero gravity while attempting to input the information would sentence the Earth to an extinction event not known since the dinosaurs were erased. It had felt like an honour when he was told of the distinction of his selection. The additional pressure of his family being on Mars was not to be discounted. His failure would also pass a sentence of death in isolation for them. His mouth was very dry and he felt he needed a tranquiliser, but that was out of the question.

The situation on Earth was complex. Only the remnants of ordered society were able to take pictures relayed from the Moon. For them, the feeling of helplessness predominated. Other scattered groups who had stayed with their faith in the Circle of Light were primed to begin looking out for a bright object in the sky, and follow its trajectory. If it struck Phobos, they knew they would probably perish. The anarchists, in the main, preached the gospel of a hoax. They wanted to hang on to what they had if the collision with Phobos was prevented. They claimed various versions of disinformation having been peddled by government for their own benefit, and would be able to parade 'proof' that they had ingeniously saved the planet. They thumped out the message that there never was such a potential threat.

The Moon and Mars were basically in the same predicament and reflected that, by having paused all but essential programmes to take in every pulsating minute of the drama.

Pierze and Zara had miraculously made it to a remote inland hideout of one of the disciples in Southern Africana. When asked by Pierze why he had chosen this place, Zara replied, "To be with those who have chosen to remain here and keep their faith in the Truth. If they perish, I choose to stand with them. There's nothing left for me either way. I knew we would be safe here from the tribes, and I can get my people to get you to another safe location much further to the north, which will provide a cave sanctuary. So it really is goodbye Ricardo, you must depart soon as there is only primitive safe travel overland, and it's a long way." Zara broke down when he realised Pierze's shake of the head meant he was staying.

"Belonging is preferable to surviving in the age of chaos."

The first tranche of good news was that the incoming trajectory of comet 2005NB5C was perfectly in accordance with the calculations of the unknown species. That it hadn't encountered any mischievous obstacles in over a hundred years lifted the spirits. Enrico Calzado was on his way and benefitted from the action having started. The waiting had been agonising. With stability achieved inside the silo he approached the blinking control panel. Having rehearsed this manoeuvre many times, he forced himself to think three times and act once. He had the sequence emblazoned on his suit sleeve as well as having it ingrained in a prominent cerebral location. He was also in audio contact with the vessel matching the path of Phobos. It had been agreed that he would gesture pushing each command and give the back-up in the vessel time to confirm or dispute the selection. His intake of oxygen-rich air seemed as if it could actually be pure, as it made him feel light-headed when he came to the final symbol to push. Apart from getting it wrong, nobody knew exactly what he could expect if it was indeed correct. He had known it could produce a 'suicide' situation if the drive fired immediately. He hadn't shared this with his wife, but she now knew from the Mars commentary. She was distraught. When he completed the push, the plan was to get out of there as quickly as possible, but avoid headlong panic for the exit because that could result in severance of his umbilical. He tried to blot everything else out of his mind as the pressure of his finger ignited a fresh sequence of lights. There was cheering at the various locations watching the video feed. Enrico was incredibly disciplined in not looking back. If the sequence had been wrong he would have failed but be clear of danger. He couldn't afford to underestimate the calmness required to get back to the awaiting vessel at the first attempt. The sequence initiated by his actions had begun to cycle through internal checks of readiness of each system in the drive fire-up. Enrico was well clear when the first evidence of movement was detected and he was back on-board when the naked eye could confirm the telemetry. The relief in every location was evidenced as dissipation of physical tension. The vessel headed back to Mars with a historic sense of pride. The next correction thrust was not for another two days.

The brave individuals who had elected to carry on as normal, received the news as it filtered by word of mouth, to those who couldn't bear to watch the live performance, and impromptu celebrations began to spread. The gloom had begun to lift as the human race collectively felt they hadn't only been spared, but given another chance. Zara was ecstatic, feeling his life ambition had been achieved. Pierze was more circumspect, wondering what career path would now beckon. The Duarte's were delighted that their son, who was able to take his first short walk unaided, would be able to enjoy a near-normal life. Manuel and Elle Butragueno now had the urge to think about starting a family. It would be interesting to see who would fill the role of main breadwinner.

It was too early to see how the repair to society would be shaped, but the feel-good factor was gradually being twinned with introspection of the narrow escape, and the lessons which could be learned about the darker side of human civilisation. The rubble of the former society, which for so long flattered to deceive in this respect, had to be seen for the imposter it was. That was at least a starting point.

The lights on Phobos were flashing a new message. The code breakers gazed incredulously at the display. It was reporting a failure of thrust at stage two of the orbital alteration programme. The tracking of the orbit confirmed that it was no longer changing. Urgent calculations were made to see what the initial shift would do to the predicted collision with the comet. Their best estimate was that it would no longer avoid impact, and the resultant strike zone would move closer to the coast of Africana.

With the nuclear deterrent stood down and no chance of restoration, it was also recognised that there was no longer sufficient cohesion or chain of command to commission new missiles in time. Coming so soon after the joy of the first burn, this failure focussed attention on the anarchy which caused the species to stand in the dock, accused of self-indulgent genocide.

Pierze and Zara were devastated but steadfastly remained with like-minded people in Africana. Manuel and Butragueno shelved their newly made plans and set off to console the Duarte's who could simply not believe what they had been told. They chose not to tell Emile until the comet was visible with the naked eye. Thousands of pilgrimage sites were set up around the planet and droves of people elected to spend their last days there.

There was really only one remaining move to avoid checkmate. It was a long shot and devoid of a plan. Although they understood that there would be only one shot at activation of the Phobos drive, it had to be worth testing this out. Perhaps a second input would clear the problem, if it could be done in time. The vessel set off, it was a unilateral decision by the Mars colonists.

As the comet made its way toward Jupiter space, the vessel approached Phobos. Time was becoming critical now; even reactivation may not avoid a glancing brief courtship between the two celestial bodies. Accessing the silo was achieved within half of the time of that recorded for Enrico Calzado. It was to no avail. The lights stubbornly blinked the same infuriating message. The EVA was terminated and they returned to Mars.

The evening sky vigil had become a community testament to the mistakes made over modern times, none more so than for Ricardo Pierze, who had killed the only viable back-up to the Phobos project by standing down the nuclear option. With the commanders of the system scattered to the four corners of what was left of society, he couldn't undo his final contribution to the potential demise of Homo-Sapiens. He disgorged his profound regret to Zara, who reminded him of his good intent.

"This is what we must try to remember, although more immature at the time of Sidonia, my intent was honourable in my distorted vision. The price of a few individuals at that time seemed eminently more reasonable than millions of victims of a world conflict. I don't think your burden is as onerous as my own Ricardo. It may be a blessing that we won't grow old regretting our misdirected efforts."

Each night the light grew brighter. The air was thick with the sentiment that all hope was now in divine hands. The shoots of cohesion were fashioned only from common fate, and as such could at least allow the eternal imposter to embark on a further tour of deception.

The light could now be seen clearly in daylight, giving the sense of extra warmth. It became a hypnotic ritual which unerringly issued the challenge of how such a beautiful sight could be so cruelly blind. Last preparations were made and significant numbers of suicides, assisted and conventional littered the landscape.

The bright light began to display a halo as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. With its tail visible at the same time, it conjured up a likeness to the devil, losing its former beauty. The real increase in temperature was now evident. The clash with Phobos had created a fault line and the abrasive upper atmosphere completed the fracture. The two components of what had been Comet 2005NB5C fanned apart and struck out for different destinations. One impacted the west coast of Africana, the other veered off toward China. All over the world, just as there had been in Tunguska, people viewed different consequences of the intruders. Pierze and Zara witnessed the ground shaking, a dark red glow and then the searing heat of oblivion. The tremors were felt in Madrid fractionally before the second hit between China and India. It was not too long before the consequent tsunamis and tectonic jolts made their effect known. The choking gas clouds began to spread and the world started to sink into darkness.

From a Copernicus vantage point the Moon and Mars colonies grasped their own isolation. The Moon had a panoramic view of a mini-Jupiter with two dark red eyes. The Martians could only imagine what the brightness meant in terms of human suffering.

The huddled families of Nordsen and Mamani were grateful that their respective caves had withstood the initial holocaust. That night they both, in their own way, contemplated the way in which mammals had derived supremacy from the ashes of the dinosaurs. They wondered how many other humans they would ever encounter if they survived the aftermath of this extinction event.

