Sontral, their custom was to sit in silence and listen to the choir perform the national anthem. The choir stopped singing, which triggered the conductor to turn around and stare at me in disbelief. I must have had a face as red as a beetroot but I continued to sing at the top of my voice as everyone else continued to stare at me in amazement. Anyway, I thought, like the television quizmaster back home used to say, I have started so I will finish. Well, what the heck, I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. Then, believe it or not, halfway through my solo performance, the Prime Minister stood up and joined in with me. That prompted the other members of the V.I.P. box to do the same, quickly followed by the whole of the theatre audience.
The conductor smiled, resuming again with his baton to direct his own choir as was intended in the first place. As the anthem was coming to an end, the focus of attention seemed to concentrate on one lone singer in the choir who stood at the front, apart from the main section of the choir. Or at least that’s what the television cameras were zooming in on. Handsome looking young guy, he was. I bet he had all the girls chasing him like in the old advert. I would have said to him, ‘How come you are such a big hit with the girls?’ The anthem then came to an end. Oh, thank heavens for that, I thought. What a fool I had made of myself; my legs were like jelly. But the Prime Minister immediately started applauding, quickly being followed by the rest of the audience, some of whom were also cheering. The noise was deafening.
Freema smiled and I also noticed that Commander Vadoran was slow hand clapping, looking at me with a wry smile on his face.
The Prime Minister turned towards me and said, “Thank you, John. You have really endeared yourself to the Solaran people tonight. What you have done will spread throughout the Solaran Commonwealth like wildfire and never be forgotten.
“I try to be of service,” I replied.
“You have just reminded me, John,” the Prime Minister added, “we held a competition for our schools for the five to eleven-year-olds to come up with a slogan we could use in the war effort. If you’re agreeable, we thought it would be a morale booster if, as a treat, you would visit the winning school tomorrow morning. Freema will accompany you.”
“Of course, Mister Prime Minister. I would be glad to help out.”
“Thank you again, John. I will see you tomorrow evening.”
We bade each other goodnight and I heard Commander Vadoran say to the Prime Minister, “I wonder how many votes that little performance has won you in parliament tomorrow.”
The Prime Minister made no reply as he made his way out of the theatre followed by Commander Vadoran.
Next, Kronos approached me and said, “John, up until now I had very grave doubts about you becoming a Guardian but after what I have just witnessed, I know now why the Guardianship chose you. Whatever happens from this day on, I know you will give it your best shot. Of that, I have no doubt.”
I looked him squarely in the eye. “Thank you. That really means a lot to me.”
Freema then gave me a big hug. Now that I did enjoy; I could play on that to my advantage. Well, I’m only human.
“Well done, John,” she said.
I shrugged. “Oh it’s nothing… all in a day’s work.”
As we began to make our way out I noticed Statler and Waldorf, aka the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary, still in their V.I.P. box, watching us as we passed by.
The Foreign Secretary said to the Chancellor, “The Prime Minister is a very clever fellow; he is using the guardians to his own political advantage. He was odds on to lose the vote of no confidence in parliament tomorrow but my bookmaker has just texted me the latest odds. After this little episode he is now an even money bet to win. As soon as I get back home tonight I am going to start phoning all the wavering members of parliament I know personally. I will call in all the favours I am owed to get the Prime Minister over the winning line. I suggest you do the same.”
The Chancellor raised his eyebrows. “What, you would do all that after what happened in cabinet today?”
“Yes,” said the Foreign Secretary. “It’s called self-preservation. If the government falls we will end up back on the opposition benches with a fifty percent pay cut for losing our ministerial positions. I will lose all my staff and private Transport and I will certainly miss being treated like a lord and waited on hand and foot when I visit places like Rueatarn. So I suggest you make a start tonight. We can lobby the remainder of our contacts tomorrow in parliament before the vote takes place.”
“When you put it like that,” the Chancellor replied, “I whole-heartedly agree with you. We had better make a move; we have a busy night ahead of us.”
As for me, purely by accident, Commander Vadoran had realised I was now in everybody’s good books. I was the one with a grin on my face as big as a Cheshire cat who had just landed on its feet and got the cream as well, because after bidding Freema and Kronos goodnight, I was escorted to my quarters by two of Commander Vadoran’s guards, after which it was straight to bed for me after my hectic and very eventful night.
The night’s performance had been broadcast throughout the Solaran Commonwealth and Hellertron Empire – that much I knew. But I did not know the live transmission was also being picked up by the Kayton Empire, including the capital planet, Tyros. Guess who was watching, in what I can only describe as a palatial Roman Emperor’s villa given to him by the Kaytons? Yes, it was the ever slippery Wesker. One of many rewards they had given him for selling out his people and defecting, the villa had to be seen to be believed, with its extensive grounds, including a private lake. The main living room itself had the largest private window on Tyros with a breathtaking view of the snowcapped Traxos Mountains in the distance. There was deep pile carpeting on the floor, a real log fire burning and numerous looted pictures hanging on the walls. To top it all, he was the head of the Kaytons’ scientific corps.
Yes, he had it all, but something was bothering him that night as he stood in front of his large screen television that hung on the wall. He was just staring at the screen at the end of the night’s performance with his arms folded and a glum look on his face that Commander Vadoran would have been proud of. He sensed something was going on; things just didn’t add up in his mind and he thought the Solarans were up to something. Going over and over in his mind were the ancient Kultarn prophecies that he had learnt at school all those years ago. Also, he had received a piece of intelligence from one of his contacts on Sontral. Although his fears were too imprecise and too indefinite, he had certainly made up his mind to see the Supreme Kayton Council if he could get an appointment the following day to put his case.
As the night’s performance ended, he said, “Screen off, main lights off.” He then retired for the evening with much on his mind to contemplate as did many other people on that particular night.
For me, it was to be my last night on Sontral. Yes, the reckoning was moving nearer by the hour as I thought about the Kayton battle squadron advancing ever closer to Earth. We could not afford to fail. All our hopes and dreams depended on the successful outcome of the mission. Of that there could be no doubt, but on the flip side I also wondered how I had got myself into this mess in the first place. We each suppose that what we do, we do as a matter of course but in reality each person’s actions is to some extent dictated by others. Never mind that advert, ‘What if?’ I would say, ‘If only, if only the fish had been biting that fateful day at Church Fenton. Those crafty, brown, slippery tench with the piercing, beady, blood shot red eyes that gave the impression they had been out on the town the night before. If only those woodlice had not been crawling all over my feet in that derelict house, I would not have stamped on the floor so hard that it gave way. If only I had left the building straight away instead of succumbing to greed in my search for valuables for my own financial gain. Yes, if only those and many other things had been done differently I would not be in the position I am in now but you can only go forward, not back…’ eventually, after muc
h tossing and turning I fell asleep.
Fifteen
As a new day dawned, I was up bright and early as usual. If nothing else, I was at least a good timekeeper, making sure I was ready with time to spare before Freema came to collect me. And so we were on our way to the school that had won the competition to come up with a morale boosting poster for the war effort. The prize was a visit to the winning school by me, which I had promised the Prime Minister the night before. Well, you know me… ever willing to please. Freema had told me the slogan would be displayed above the main school gate as we entered. As we were driven through, Freema pointed it out to me. Dedicated to our Prime Minister, the first worker of the Solaran Commonwealth, it proclaimed. Our Walls May Break, But Never Our Hearts. I think the children must have had some help from the teachers to come up with that slogan. I thought to myself I could adapt it for my friends like Bob in the bookies. It would read, Our Wallets May Break But Never Our Hearts.
On disembarking from what I could only describe as a silent, ultra-sleek electric car, chauffer driven of course, we were greeted by the headmistress and senior members of staff. I noticed some girls playing with one big skipping rope as we were