that performance? All I can say is I hope he doesn’t give up his day job to sing full time.”
Wesker missed the joke. “I’m telling you the Solarans are up to something.”
“What do you want me to do?” Drakos asked, noting Wesker becoming ever more agitated.
“Go and see the Supreme Council. You are head of security, make out a case for more stringent security procedures.”
“All right,” Drakos conceded. “You are worse than my ex-wife for nagging. I will contact the Supreme Council first thing in the morning to make an appointment to see them as soon as possible, which will probably be sometime in the afternoon. Are you happy now?”
“Yes. Thank you, I appreciate that,” Wesker replied.
“What did the Supreme Council say when you spoke to them about your concerns?” Drakos asked.
“They told me that I was worrying unnecessarily over nothing and the war would soon be over. The guardians along with the Hellertron empire and the Kultarn legacy would all then be consigned to the dustbin of history.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Drakos said. “What do you make of the new Guardian? Do you think he will come over to us when the war is over?”
Wesker shook his head. “I think not. My impression of him is that I don’t think he has a religion but he has certainly developed a conscience. I don’t think he will be coming over to us any time in the near future and that’s why, when the war is over, we should make it a priority to find out his home planet so that we can exert the necessary pressure on him to comply with our wishes.”
At that moment, Daymar and the girls appeared back on the scene.
“I will bid you all goodnight then,” Wesker continued.
“Likewise,” Drakos said. “I will talk to you further tomorrow to let you know how I fared with the Supreme Council.”
With that, Wesker made his way out as everyone else continued to party the night away.
Back in the quieter and more modest surroundings of Adema’s residence, all three of us were talking the night away. I think they were trying to cheer me up and take my mind off more pressing worries.
“Do you have anyone waiting for you back on Earth?” Adema asked.
“No, not on Earth,” I replied.
Kronos then explained. “John has Freema waiting for him on Sontral. She trained John for the mission, during which time they fell for each other and now they are an item.”
Adema smiled. “I’m sure when this is all over, you and Freema can make a life for yourselves and be happy.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Do you have any family back on Sontral waiting for you?”
“I had a wife and son,” Adema said.” My son was killed in the war and my wife died not long afterwards from grief. My son was posthumously awarded the highest military award. He saved everyone on that Transport before an explosion killed him while he was trying to put out the fire.”
“I’m so sorry, Adema,” I replied. “You have lost everyone so dear and precious to you.”
“There is no need for tears or sorrow, John, because I know tomorrow we are going to be responsible for changing the course of history. We shall be instrumental in ridding the galaxy of the most evil despicable creatures that have ever lived; that I know to be true and that will be my revenge.”
“Yes, it is a very sobering thought,” Kronos remarked.
“I think something went terribly wrong in the distant past,” I said. “The Kultarn foresaw what events were going to unfold in the future. So they created the Guardianships for future generations to at least make the attempt at righting the wrongs of the past.”
“I think you are right, John,” Kronos replied. “Spot on with your interpretation of what has transpired.”
As Adema nodded in agreement, Kronos continued, “John, in the brief time I have known you it has been a pleasure and an honour to call you a friend. I hope we will always remain so.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I feel likewise. In fact, I have had my life more enriched in the last few days with you and everyone else than I have in the last few months on Earth put together. I wouldn’t swap the time I have had with you, not for all the tea in China and all the gold in fort Knox as a bonus. The experiences I have had and the places I have seen… well, you were right, I really have seen the stars, but most of all the warmth and welcome of the people I have met and the love I have found. I hope that this time tomorrow the war is over and all three of us are back on Sontral celebrating the peace, which I’m sure will be just and long lasting for all.”
We continued to talk for only a short time more before I bade Kronos and Adema goodnight and then made the lonely walk to my room to retire for the evening. On arrival I walked over to the window. It was dark now of course and the pattern of the stars in the sky was different to what it would be if I was viewing from Earth. And would you believe it… Tyros had two moons. One about the same size and distance away as our moon was from Earth, the other was smaller and further out. Considering where I was, I christened them the twins of evil. As I looked out of the window I thought, you twins of evil, staring down, surveying your creation; doing your evil bidding throughout galactic space. But be warned, your days are numbered; the reckoning is now at hand. You are about to fall from grace. Consigned to history never to return.
I briefly had the Kayton television on but it was all propaganda. They were showing footage of the thousands of captured Hellertron prisoners being marched through the big cities on Tyros. Then they showed a short video to music of their advance against the Hellertrons, which consisted mainly of smiling victorious Kaytons and Hellertron equipment going up in smoke. I will say one thing for them though, they knew how to sing and spin a good yarn. Doctor Goebbels would have been proud of them. After a few minutes I decided to call it a day, retire to bed and get as much rest as possible before the day of reckoning tomorrow. While I was waiting to nod off it occurred to me that even though the Solaran people were far more technologically advanced than Earth, they had not lost that all-important ability to treat people with the personal touch. Unlike on Earth, where technology now seemed to be the first point of contact in many walks of life, instead of a human being.
My back went once, but instead of seeing a Doctor face to face, they phoned me instead so I had to describe what happened over the phone, which I thought was very unsatisfactory. Anyway, in the end I at least got my anti-inflammatory tablets. Another time, they phoned me with some test results instead of telling me face to face. My local supermarket recently did away with all the manned tills. Now they are all self-service machines – how much more impersonal can you get? Sometimes they give you the wrong change but the staff are more inclined to believe the machine instead of the customer. My local library has also introduced a self-service machine to return books and book computer time but they must have taken pity on me as they still allow me to use their services on a face-to-face level so as not to lose that personal contact.
I once saw a programme on television about the workhouse. Oh, it was chilling. When the inmates had finished the work they were allocated, they lifted up a shutter and placed their laundry on a shelf and then pulled the shutter down. Only then did the bosses on the other side of the wall lift up their shutter to retrieve the laundry, after which they pulled the shutter down again so that there was no human contact between them and the workhouse inmates.
Can you see the parallels between now and then… how our modern technological terrors are starting to replicate behaviours and practices from the past by eliminating that all-important personal human contact? When I am sitting in the library reading a book, I cannot help but notice the younger generation playing for hours on end on the computers. They are glued to the screens as if their lives depended on it, having no interaction with real people, not to mention the lack of exercise and natural sunlight. It does make you wonder where it will all end. Are we creating a generation who are unable to cope with normal face-to-face situa
tions with modern technology, like the workhouse in the past, eliminating human contact?
Back in the main living room, Adema and Kronos were in last minute discussions.
“I already have the security passes for tomorrow,” Adema said. “One to gain entry to the Citadel, the other to gain access to the Drone command bunker itself. Once we have been cleared, the duty officer will then unlock an inner security door by punching a ten digit code into a key pad.” Adema then produced a device which looked like a small mobile phone. “If, for whatever reason, something goes wrong,” he explained, “place this decoder onto the keypad. It is magnetic, so will stay attached. Then press the one and only button. It will then do the rest, automatically decoding and unlocking the door within three minutes.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Kronos replied.
“I am confident it won’t,” Adema replied. “The Kaytons are getting very lax with their security systems. Especially now they think the war is as good as over. A large proportion of them are nursing hangovers from their three days of nation celebrations.”
“What about the allocation of the Drone guards that John and I will be replacing?” Kronos asked. “How have you got around that?”
“Good question, Kronos. I have hacked into their system, making it appear that