He paused and looked searchingly at Richard.
‘I urge you to be patient’ he said. ‘Because the way forward is littered with immense problems, problems that may only be resolved by the use of force, something that is alien to all of those who were raised on Terra Nova since its inception.’
Richard’s nervous expression remained fixed although a slight side-to-side shaking of the head indicated he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He nervously fondled the crucifix around his neck, turned to look at Noah and Joshua, who were listening intently and quite obviously unfazed by the words spoken by Amos. Richard held up a hand, trying to attract Amos’s attention.
Amos smiled.
‘Yes Richard, what do you wish to say?’ he asked.
Richard’s voice was shaking.
‘I feel as if I’m living a dream, a ghastly nightmare. What I can’t understand is why it was so easy for Noah and his fellow crew members to reach Earth and kidnap me yet now that I’m here it’s suddenly a major problem to get me back home.’
Richard paused, trying to control a petrifying mixture of fear and anger. He bit his lower lip and then carried on speaking.
‘Okay, Okay, I understand about Ezra being a nasty piece of work but, you’ve got to agree that’s not my damned problem. I was brought here against my wishes and now that I’m here all you can do is make ridiculous promises that I know you can’t possibly keep.’
He paused again, pulling unconsciously at his crucifix, while shaking hysterically.
‘I’ve got a girl friend back on Earth who’s about to give birth to our baby and I’m stuck here on your God forsaken planet without a snowball’s chance in Hell of getting back. It’s not right and you Noah, and you Amos, should both be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves.’
Amos stepped forward and placed a conciliatory arm around Richard’s shoulders.
‘Please, sit here with me and I will explain exactly what we intend to do.’
The adjacent bench, hewn from oak, proved as uncomfortable and unforgiving as if made from granite, something Richard discovered, and added, to his distress when he took the seat beside Amos. He looked around the room, not a word was being spoken. He grimaced, looked at Amos and then placed spread-eagled hands over his careworn face. He dropped his elbows onto his thighs and began sobbing hysterically.
Noah stepped forward and joined Richard on the bench.
‘You mentioned your girl friend,’ he said quietly. ‘I believe we can do something to alleviate her concerns.’
Richard looked up, tears were coursing down his face. He brushed them aside with the back of his hand.
‘You can? What can you do?’
Noah placed a hand on Richards’s stooped shoulder.
‘Do you remember the dreams - the ones you had about Earth and its problems?’
Richard nodded.
‘Well, we can arrange for a similar sequence of dreams to be addressed to your girl friend. She will be comforted by them until we arrange for your return. Is that something you would like us to do?’
Richard swallowed hard.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Anything - anything you can do to help her.’
Noah smiled reassuringly.
‘It will be done,’ he said. ‘Fear not Richard, rest assured we will carry out everything promised to you, for that is the way we do things here on Terra Nova.’
Chapter Twenty Five
Esther entered the meeting room unnoticed, due perhaps to the fact that she was wearing a long grey cloak with a matching hood, the latter completely shrouding her face. She made her way silently past the crowd of LEP dissidents who were now beginning to talk sparingly to one another after the shock of seeing Richard Moss tearful and scared. As she approached the bench where Richard, Amos and Noah were sitting, she removed the hood from her face and, with a lovely smile, bent low to take hold of one of Richard’s hands. He looked up as he felt her gentle touch.
‘Esther - what are you doing here? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to be seen with us in this place?’
She nodded her head and continued to smile.
‘Richard, of course I know but it doesn’t concern me, in fact I’m as deeply involved as everybody else in this room. But forget about me and let us concentrate on you because, more important than any of the challenges facing us, our first priority is to attend to your problem and make sure you are transported safely back to Earth.’
She glanced up at Amos and Noah.
‘Does he know about my part in all this?’
Amos shook his head.
‘I was about to explain and will do so as soon as Richard feels able.’
Richard sat up.
‘I’m able, I really am able’ he said, once more wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of a hand. ‘Please tell me what’s going on and then maybe I’ll be in a better frame of mind to stop these stupid, juvenile tears.’
Amos looked as if he had the cares of the entire population of Terra Nova upon his broad shoulders. He placed an arm around Richard’s shoulders and smiled as does a father to a dearly beloved son.
‘Richard, I won’t be less than honest with you --- ’ He glanced towards Esther, looking for an unspoken sign that she was prepared to have some unsavoury secrets revealed. An almost indiscernible nod cautiously indicated her readiness. ‘... unless certain events occur as planned then the chances of your being returned to Earth at all are very, very slim.’
He paused, allowing Richard to absorb his words.
‘Esther, whom you have met, is the key.’ he continued. ‘She is in an unrequited relationship with Ezra which, when the appropriate moment arrives, will ultimately lead to his death. I may not reveal exactly how he will die, for the less you know the better for all concerned, Ezra and his henchmen have heinous ways of eliciting the truth from those they believe have information they are seeking. But, rest assured, Ezra’s demise is drawing ever closer and, when it occurs, our supporters will rise en masse and overthrow the remnants of the rule of a tyrant who has brought shame upon our people and upon those who have striven so valiantly over the millennia to create a just and democratic society on Terra Nova. We have tried, I have tried many, many times, to persuade him to return to democracy but he eschews every approach. He has become besotted with, and corrupted by, power and, as history has taught us about all those dictators during our time on Earth, he believes himself omnipotent, unassailable, above the law. But he is wrong and the thousands of members of Licentia ex Persecution are prepared and ready to effect the changes necessary as soon as Ezra is eliminated.’
Richard’s face was without expression. He spoke, however, with barely anger in his voice.
‘So it’s a case of wait and see is it? I’m supposed to sit on my hands while you lot mount an insurrection which may or may not be successful, is that about the crux of it?’
Esther took hold of one of Richard’s shaking hands. This was the second time she had witnessed his anger, the first time it had stung her to tears. On this occasion she was now more aware of those long forgotten emotions and the many ways in which they can affect personalities. She took a deep breath before speaking.
‘Richard, it is the best we can do in the circumstances. You have to trust us. Amos, Joshua and Noah have worked alongside Ezra at the highest levels in his government. They know how he thinks and if anyone can bring this uprising to fruition, to ultimate success, it will be because of these three men. You must be patient. The timing has to be right. And it may be sooner than you think because the opportune time to act is fast approaching. But be aware, this uprising isn’t comparable to a war on Mother Earth. We have no weapons of mass destruction, we have no airplanes to deliver devastating high explosive bombs, and there are no huge armies or navies to face and defeat. We have never had to fight before in our f
ive millennia history. Consequently, we know it will be difficult and in no way do we underestimate the task that is facing us - but rest assured we can, we will, prevail in the end.’
Chapter Twenty Six
The baby boy born to Julia Brownstone and fathered by Richard Moss was delivered right on time, exactly 9 months from the date of conception. At 7lbs and 8 ounces the baby was average in weight and size but by no means average looking. Alexander, for that was the name chosen by Julia, had a shock of black, curly hair with skin the colour of burnished ivory. His eyes were reminiscent of the most startling of aquamarine stones, and when he smiled the resultant glow lit the tiny box room in Julia’s apartment that had been lovingly converted into a nursery. Alexander was perfect and yet Julia Brownstone remained distraught. In the six months since her partner had disappeared so mysteriously she had resolutely mounted campaign after campaign in an exhausting effort to determine what had happened to him. Newspapers, television stations, internet social sites, posters, leaflets - everything and anything that could possibly be of help had been utilised in an effort to trace the father of her new born child.
Robert Hunt, her employer at the dental practice, tried his utmost to help but was only able to assist by allowing Julia more time off work to continue the search for Richard. Leads that initially looked promising meandered fruitlessly into heart-breaking disappointment. Sightings, and there were many, proved either mistaken or the ramblings of publicity seekers.
But Julia, to her credit, refused to accept the well-meant pleas of friends and colleagues to acquiesce, to accept, and to forget. She was not willing to simply throw in the towel for, if nothing else, she was a fighter and what is more, she loved Richard with a passion that knew no boundaries.
She was calmed during her sleeping hours by vivid dreams. In one dream she, Richard and their son Alexander, were settled in a small but beautiful cottage in the Kentish countryside. Richard had quit his job at Alcan Enterprises and was employed, with a great degree of pride, as head of an international organisation with the acronym SAVE: Sustain and Value the Earth. The organisation was founded under the patronage of the United Nations and Richard was charged with assembling a team of all the talents to identify, tackle and finally solve the major problems that were negatively influencing the future of Earth.
It was very strange, but Julia never recalled these vibrant dreams during her waking hours but, without fail, the minute she fell asleep the dreams occurred again, night after night, with each successive sequence showing Richard and his team achieving amazing success with the many problems associated with climate change and global warming. Warring cultures and religious factions were joined in harmony. The dreams suggested Earth was set upon a course marking the beginning of a period when the planet and its populace would learn to be at peace with itself.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Obadiah Cornelius Scipio, trusted confidant and shrewd political adviser to the Great Leader Ezra, was playing a very dangerous game. He has acted as a conciliator between the Great Leader Ezra and his brother Amos ever since Ezra’s draconian shift to autocracy caused ever widening arguments and rifts between the intractable twins. Although always at odds over policy, Amos’s attempts to direct Ezra back to the ten millennia long democratic path proved fruitless and, despite Obadiah’s attempts at reconciliation, the warring brothers irrevocably split. Amos, determined to restore democracy, departed the cosseted confines of Ezra’s court and formed Licentia ex Persecution, an organisation devoted to the overthrow of his brother and his obeisant government.
Obadiah, ever insightful, continued his advisory role alongside Ezra but also resolved to maintain contact with Amos which he managed very successfully with only a few minor problems initially. However, as Ezra’s rule became more and more obdurate and autocratic and, as the ideological gulf between the siblings widened to an unbridgeable chasm, so Obadiah’s influence began to slowly ebb away as others among Ezra’s coterie realised the way to inveigle themselves with the Great Leader was by the use of sycophancy and overly elaborate displays of obsequiousness. Consequently, Obadiah’s support for Amos and for the militant organisation Licentia ex Persecution strengthened exponentially as even more odious laws were introduced, laws designed to shackle, demoralise and subdue the entire population of Terra Nova. But he also realised that the way to help Amos and LEP to achieve their aims was to attempt to maintain a favoured, if increasingly tenuous, foothold in Ezra’s court. And so began a period of craftily applied subservience to Ezra and, consequently, he became a source of invaluable insider information for Amos, and provided LEP with invaluable information about the direction in which the court of Ezra was heading. Equally important was the knowledge as to where Ezra was to be found on a daily basis, as he shuffled around his many palaces in Leviticus in order to confuse his known and unknown adversaries as to his whereabouts.
Ezra had called for a meeting of his Council of Ministers, this group comprising Ezra-appointed toadying sycophants who are charged with putting into practice and overseeing the laws he has enacted while guaranteeing absolute compliance from Terra Nova’s citizens.
Obadiah was making his way to a secret location, accompanied by two of Ezra’s guards, where the next meeting with Ezra was to be held. It was midday and Helios, the Terra Novan sun, was warming the uneven cobblestones, forcing the trio to seek the shade afforded by ubiquitous olive trees that inhabit the borders of the narrow roads and lanes leading to their destination. Wary passers by stepped aside, averting their eyes as the formidable looking trio marched in unison towards their destination - an unremarkable building located in a nondescript side street off the Via Veneto.
‘Here we are sire, this is the venue of today’s meeting.’ said one of the guards pointing towards a nondescript building fronted by two large oak doors. The other guard banged on the door with the side of a fist encased in a brown leather glove. A face appeared at the metal grill in the upper section of the right-hand door.
The first guard approached the metal grill and spoke:
‘The Creator is above all others.’
The head behind the grill nodded, acknowledging today’s secret code.
‘Except for the Great Leader,’ he countered, offering the return half of the secret code. ‘You may enter.’
The guards stood back, allowing Obadiah to step out of the blazing, yellow heat and into the cool of the gloomy interior. He was greeted by Ezra’s current favourite, Marcus Annius Verus, a city prefect who, by demonstrating his total undivided loyalty to Ezra and by adhering to and rigidly applying the regime’s harsh laws, was recently appointed Minister for State Security with special responsibility for the safety of Ezra, his Senators and his Council of Ministers. His task today was to ensure that entry to the meeting was restricted only to those who were accompanied by specially appointed guards who were in possession of the current password. He extended a hand towards Obadiah, someone with whom he was very familiar but, nevertheless, someone who must pass a an inviolable security check each and every time a summons was received to attend a meeting with the Great Leader, Ezra.
Obadiah took the proffered hand without a word.
‘Search him,’ ordered Marcus.
Two burly guards, dressed in full Roman regalia, stepped forward and began a minute examination of Obadiah: his hair, his mouth and his voluminous clothing; even the sandals he was wearing were scrutinised when he obeyed an order to slip them from his dusty, sweaty feet. Having satisfied themselves that Obadiah was not concealing anything suspicious, they stepped back and allowed him to join Marcus who offered a brief semblance of a smile.
‘Please follow me,’ he said.
***
The full complement of nineteen ministers was already seated at a long rectangular table when Obadiah and Marcus entered the magnificently gilded room that had been designated for today’s meeting. The room was roughly the size of a te
nnis court. Inquisitive heads turned as Obadiah and Marcus proceeded towards the head of the table. Two of the three chairs at the head of the table were the same, although somewhat larger, than those positioned around the rest of the table. But the chair at the centre was classically throne-like, a huge affair that would have graced the finest of stately palaces. Marcus took the seat to the left of the throne, Obadiah the one to the right. The exercise was carried out without ceremony. Shortly after taking their seats the subdued babble of voices hushed into total silence as a set of two large doors at the rear of the room were swung open, and held back, by two expressionless guards standing rigidly to attention.
Ezra entered the room. The clatter of chairs being shunted into place over protesting marble flooring, preceded the submissive upstanding of the assembled ministers. Without a hint of acknowledgement Ezra glided haughtily towards the head of the table. Every head bowed deferentially as he passed. When he reached his position he nodded in acknowledgement at Marcus and Obadiah. He stepped up to the throne, stood for a brief moment surveying the room, before sitting down on the chair and settling ceremoniously into its unyielding, capacious surroundings.
The silence was excruciatingly painful - Ezra sat rigidly upright, sandal-clad feet planted wide, his robes remained perfectly still except for an occasional movement as fresh air wafted in from an adjacent window. He was staring, unblinking, at the assembled ministers as if he was able to address each individual by use of a collective gaze. Obadiah shuffled uneasily, Marcus maintained his rigid composure.
Terra Nova Page 11