Aengus opened the rear door of the Range Rover and Catherine indicated that Kate should get in first.
“Slide across the seat Kate, I don’t want to have to walk around.”
Kate went to pick up her rucksack, but Aengus had already beaten her to it.
“I will put this in the boot for you.”
Kate got in the Range Rover and slid across the seat and her great aunt followed her into the car. Aengus was back in the driving seat and as soon as they had both fastened their safety belts, he started the engine and they drove off.
“I live a few miles from the town, Kate,” Catherine told her. “I think you’ll like it there.”
They must have driven a couple of miles before they turned off the main road and onto a side road, which led down into a valley. Very soon they were driving through some woodland. Suddenly Aengus stopped the car in front of some high wrought iron gates, a high stone wall running either side of them. The gates started to open automatically, and Aengus drove through them as soon as it was possible to. Looking back through the rear window of the car, Kate saw that the gates were starting to close as soon as they were safely through them. Her great aunt must take security very seriously Kate thought and must also be a wealthy woman, for Kate knew that electrically operated gates didn’t come cheap. The car drove on down a winding tarmacked drive. Suddenly up ahead, Kate could see a large stone-built house, which looked at least Georgian, but could have been a lot older.
“Welcome to Lost Valley Manor, Kate,” her great aunt announced.
“It’s huge, great aunt,” Kate replied as the car stopped before it.
“I said you were to call me Cath, Kate,” her great aunt gently chided.
“Sorry, but it is huge and looks very old.”
“Oh, it is, at least nine hundred years old.”
“Nine hundred!”
“Yes, the Georgian house you see today was built around an even older house going back to before the time of the Norman invasion of England.”
“Wow and you live here, Cath?” Kate asked.
“Yes, it’s been in the Penrose family since we first came to these shores,” Cath said her voice sounding far away. Kate glanced at her. “That’s a story for another day, Kate for there’s so much to tell you and I dare say you’re tired and hungry and in need of a long hot bath,” Cath wrinkled her nose a little. “I’ll show you to your room, that’s of course if you’d still like to stay here?”
“I’d love to stay here Cath, but I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” or at any risk, Kate thought to herself.
“Oh, there’ll be no trouble whatsoever, Kate,” Cath said, giving Kate a slightly curious look. Kate believed her. There was something about this place and Cath, that made Kate feel safer than she had for months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour or so later, Kate was seated at the table in the oak panelled dining room, tucking into the best meal she’d had for months. She’d had a long hot bath in the luxurious en suite bath room, which was attached to the lovely bedroom that Cath had said was hers whilst she stayed with her and now felt a whole lot better. After the meal was finished and coffee had been served, Cath looked at her great niece and then asked.
“So, Kate, what has brought you to Cornwall and the ancestral home?”
Kate looked at her great aunt and decided to be truthful and tell her all. It took about an hour, for her aunt interrupted Kate to ask her questions, especially when Kate told Cath her father thought that MI5 was listening in to his telephone calls.
“I’m afraid that could be true Kate, this Government we have is quite capable of authorising that. You’ll be wanting to know how your brother David is though, fortunately I have a very secure phone that MI5 cannot listen in to.” Kate looked at Cath in surprise, who in turn smiled. “One of the companies I, well the family own is an electronics company, which amongst its products manufactures secure satellite telephones. You can use that to call home. Niamh, could you please bring us the secure satellite telephone,” Cath said, turning to the young woman who had served the coffee.
“Yes, Catherine, straight away.” Niamh had similar features to Aengus and Kate wondered if they were related. A moment or two later, Niamh returned with the telephone and handed it to Kate.
“Key in the number including the area code, as you would normally do, Kate,” Cath instructed. Kate did so and almost immediately could hear the phone ring out. It rang out for quite a while, but no-one answered.
“No-one answering Kate?” Cath asked. Kate shook her head. “Perhaps everyone’s visiting your brother in hospital.” Kate looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was late afternoon. That could well be the case. “Try again later.”
“Yes, I’ll do that if I may,” Kate said handing the phone back to Niamh who was waiting near her.
“I’m sure your brother will be all right,” Niamh said. Cath nodded.
“Thank you,” Kate looked up at Niamh and saw that she had the same deepest blue eyes that Aengus had. “Are you related to Aengus, Niamh?” Niamh looked at Cath, who gave a barely imperceptible nod.
“We are both Androids Kate,” Niamh then answered.
Chapter 5
Sol 6 Base – September 1969
“I am Áine, the commander of this base,” the female android with purple hair announced. “We apologize for attempting to deceive you, John Trevaskis, but to avoid causing you any further alarm and distress, we thought that it would be better if it appeared that you were talking directly to another humanoid about the situation that you find yourself in. We also thought that when it came to asking you whether you were willing to carry out the task that we have for you, you would probably trust another humanoid, rather one of us, an android. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes, perfectly,” John confirmed, “and to reassure you both, I have no prejudices whatsoever against androids.”
“Thank you, John,” the two androids replied in unison.
“John, can I please ask you what the phrase ‘fit the bill’ means?” Morann then asked.
“In the context that I used it,” John tried to find the right words, “It meant, ‘what makes you think that I’m the person you need for the task that you have for me’.”
“Another phrase economical with words,” Morann said sounding rather pleased. “I will also add that phrase to my vocabulary.”
“If I could continue,” Áine interrupted John and Morann, giving the other female android a glare.
“Yes of course,” John and Morann both answered.
“Medb is an Aos Si and is also Ceannaire of the Aos Si Confederation Intelligence Service,” seeing John’s questioning look at the unfamiliar word, Áine explained. “Ceannaire means commander. She is also as Morann advised you back home on Tír na nÓg, the Aos Si home planet in the Orion Constellation. Sol 3, or Earth as you know it and indeed this entire star system, are out of bounds to any life forms that might still carry the ‘Infertility Plague’. Medb is therefore prohibited from being here in person. Tír na nÓg is over 26,000 light years from here and the holographic communication link does occasionally break down and that is what just happened. I have now been informed however, that it has been re-established. So, are you still willing to talk to Medb?”
John wanted to ask how it was possible to communicate over such an unimaginable distance but thought that that he’d better leave asking that question to another time. He had also realised where he’d heard of Tír na nÓg before and also where he’d seen the symbols on the control panel of the Deltoid.
“Yes, I’d like to continue speaking to Medb as I have some further questions for her,” he told Áine.
“Very good, I am transferring the communication link to here now,” Áine answered, as rather unnervingly the holographic image of Medb suddenly reappeared in the chair that she’d been sitting in, before the communication link had broken down.
“Firstly, John I must apologize for the breakdown in
the communication link and for not telling you that I wasn’t present on the Sol 6 Base,” Medb apologized. “I hope that my apology is accepted.”
“It is Medb, but I hope that from now on you’ll be totally honest with me,” John replied. Medb gave him an appraising look and then nodded.
“You can be assured, John, that there will be no further attempts at deception.”
“Then there are a few questions that I’d like answered, before I commit myself to anything.”
“All right, what are they?”
“The symbols on the controls in the Deltoid seemed familiar to me, but at the time I couldn’t place where I’d seen them before,” John told Medb. “The name the Fomoire also seemed very familiar to me, but again I couldn’t think where I knew it from. Then, when I was told that you were on a planet called Tír na nÓg, it all came back to me,” John saw that not only Medb, but Morann and Áine were now studying him with great interest. “When I was a small child, my mother used to tell me tales of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, the Gods of pre-Christian Ireland. The names of you three are still used today in Ireland as first names and I’m therefore guessing that the Aos Si may be another name for the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Am I correct?”
“You are John,” Medb answered. “You earlier asked a question that I didn’t answer at the time. It was why had you not heard of the Aos Si or their settlements on Sol 3. Well, as you’ve just said, we were in fact recorded in the myths and legends which were written down in later years, from the oral traditions that had been passed down through the generations. There was a reason for that,” Medb paused a moment before continuing. “After the Civil War and the war with the Fomoire had ended, Sol 3 or I suppose I’d better start calling it Earth, as that’s how you and the other Aos Si descendants now call it, was placed in quarantine. It was for its own protection, as we didn’t want anyone carrying the Infertility Plague to it. Unfortunately, unbeknown to us it had already happened. Population levels amongst the Aos Si on Earth started to drop as fewer children were born. In turn, some of the settlements had to be abandoned, especially after there were further strikes of cometary debris on the planet, which again caused considerable loss of life. Some settlements like those on Antarctica, became unviable as that continent became covered in ice, due to climatic change. The old enmities between the Imperials and the Varns soon arose again and each group once more now started to settle separately from each other. Each group blamed the other for the Infertility Plague, you see.”
“I do,” John said. “So how come the legends and myths of the Tuatha Dé Danaan appear to have originated in Ireland. What’s the significance of that?”
“Thousands of years after the wars ended, about 2500 years ago or so, a large group of Imperial descendants settled in Ireland or Erin as they called it. They showed the local people how to build fortified settlements, the forts and souterrains, remains of which can still be seen today and how to grow food and raise livestock. The souterrains were necessary as the planet was still being bombarded from time to time by cometary debris. In time the Aos Si who had come to Erin were worshipped as gods. Other Aos Si settled in what eventually became known as Scotland, living amongst the Cruithne, or the Picts as they are more popularly known. There in a similar way the Aos Si helped the Cruithne to build fortified settlements, the Brochs and also helped them to develop their agriculture. Although these Aos Si lead a far simpler life than they had once done, giving up most of their technology, they used some and the Cruithne carved on stones the symbols that they had seen these Aos Si use. You may well have seen some of them yourself.”
“I have,” John answered. He’d had an interest in the Picts, fostered by his mother, who had shown him books with pictures of the stones in them. Also, they had gone to Scotland on holiday and seen some of the carved stones in museums.
“So, as you see John, there are records of the Aos Si, but they have become legends and myths, some distorted by the passage of time. Have you any other questions you’d like to ask me?”
“Not for the time being.”
“I thought you might ask me who you inherited your Aos Si ancestry from.”
“I’m assuming it was my mother,” John answered Medb. John’s father had been an orphan who had met John’s mother during the Second World War, when he’d been evacuated from London to Cornwall, where John’s mother had lived. John’s maternal grandfather, who he’d never known, had left his mother a great deal of money and also the house they had always lived in. His grandfather had also left John a letter with instructions to go to a firm of solicitors in London when he was 21 years old and claim his inheritance. What that inheritance was John had no idea, but perhaps one day he’d find out.
“Yes, your mother had the Aos Si ancestry, John. Your maternal grandfather who you never met, was a descendant of the original colonists of Sol 3. They were Varns and eventually went to live in what is now known as Cornwall.
“Yes, my mum said that she first met my dad, when he was evacuated from London to Cornwall, during the Second World War. They stayed in touch with each other when he returned to London and when my mum went to university there, they met up again.”
“That’s correct John.”
“My mother told me that she was from St Buryan, which is why I was going to visit there whilst I was in Cornwall.”
“Were you on your way there the day that Morann found you by the Menhir and took you to Sol 6 base?” Medb asked him.
“Abducted me, you mean.” John corrected. Medb smiled.
“Well I suppose you could call it that. We like to say rescued.”
“In answer to your question,” John continued. “Yes, I was on my way to St Buryan.”
“Do you know why your family ended up in Trentbury?”
“Not really. I know my dad got a job as a moulder in the foundry there. I assumed that they moved there so he could get work.”
“Well actually John, they moved to Trentbury because an attempt was made to kidnap your mother. It was unsuccessful, but your father decided they needed to get out of London and helped by your maternal grandfather they went to live in Trentbury.”
“Who was trying to kidnap her?
“I told you that the old enmities had arisen between the Imperials and the Varns,” Medb replied. “Your maternal grandfather was one of the leaders of the Varns and as the Imperials couldn’t get anywhere near to him because he was so well protected, they decided that your mother was an easier target.”
“Right, I can understand that. So, they meant her harm then?”
“They would have used her as a hostage to get your grandfather to do their bidding. If he hadn’t then complied with their wishes, then yes I believe they would have done her some harm.”
“So, they moved to Trentbury,” John said speaking his thoughts aloud, “but why did they go there? There were lots of other places they could have moved to.”
“Your grandfather owned the iron and steel foundry in Trentbury that your father and eventually you worked in and you and your mum could also be kept safe there,” Medb informed John.
“I didn’t know that my grandfather owned the foundry, but then he died when I was three years old, so I never really knew him. You said that we could be kept safe in Trentbury, how was that?”
“It was easier to keep watch on the house you lived in at Trentbury and 24-hour security could be provided by your grandfather’s people.”
“I never saw any signs of security men,” John said, though thinking back, he realised that what he’d thought had been nosy neighbours, always asking him where he was going, when he went off to see his mates, must have been some of them. He also realised that when his mother went out it was always in the company of either his dad, or one of the neighbours. “Were the Jenkins and Smiths, acting as security for us?” Medb nodded. “Mrs Jenkins? Was she an android?” Mrs Jenkins was a tall, athletic woman, who didn’t say much, but seemed to be a special friend of his mum’s. John had always thought, even as a chi
ld, that there was something about her out of the ordinary, but he could never decide what it was.
“Yes, she was an android.”
“Strewth! I never realised that at the time.”
“You weren’t meant to, John.”
“Barry Smith was he one too?”
Medb nodded. “Members of both the Smith and the Jenkin families were all androids. Obviously, some of the most advanced ones that were available at that time.” John realised that explained why people in both families didn’t appear to age very much and why apart from being friendly with his mum and dad, didn’t appear to have any other friends in Trentbury. “So, what did my mum do at the foundry?” She’d worked there when John was old enough to go to school, but he’d never really found out what she did.
“She was a scientist.”
“She was cleverer than my dad.” John’s dad was a moulder and John had been training to be one too.
“She was, and you are very clever too like her, but you haven’t used your intelligence to the full yet. You could have gone to University if you’d applied yourself John, but you didn’t. Why was that?”
“I never wanted to go to the Grammar School,” John replied, “but it had apparently been my mother’s wish that I went there and so I suppose I felt obliged to.” John had wanted to go to either the Technical School, or the Secondary Modern School that all his mates were going to. None of them were going to the Grammar School, it wasn’t for working class lads like them they’d said. “I hated it at the Grammar School. The masters didn’t like any of the working-class kids and none of my mates were there. As soon as I’d taken my GCEs I was out of there and got myself a job as an apprentice moulder.”
“Do you think that would have happened if your mum had still been alive? Medb asked. John shook his head.
“No chance. She’d have wanted me to go to University.”
“Do you regret not going?”
“Not really, but,” John shrugged his shoulders.
“But what, John?”
“Well I suppose I’d have got a better job if I had. Hold on, you said my grandfather owned the Foundry in Trentbury. I always thought that the VarTech Corporation owned it.”
The Sol 3 Agenda Page 5