“Let’s work it out, aye, our family is strong enough to get through this,” he said softly, stroking her hair. They went back into the lounge, where the girls were still crying, and sat down with them.
Although they had managed to calm the girls down, the two weeks approaching the departure date were the worst ever. Jack had organised everything in numbness by switching himself into autopilot. His closeknit family unit was suddenly in pieces. His intention to settle everything down hadn’t worked, it had only drawn it out, and it had been the most upsetting time with his relationship with Megan. She had had to make her choice, the worst possible choice any young woman would have had to make - her boyfriend, whom she loved with all her heart and depended on, or her clones of whom she cherished and loved so very much. Her heart literally ached when she faced her beautiful young sisters to tell them she was going back with Jack. Back home. The girls were utterly shattered. They still had their adopted parents and Sobek, but they themselves were very upset about the whole thing.
The day of departure came all too quickly and the entire household was an absolute mess. Megan and the girls, that had never had occasion to cry so much before had red and swollen eyes. None of the girls had ever been clingy, but on that day they wouldn’t let go of Megan. Jack realised then and there that he’d asked too much of Megan, who looked completely washed out. He felt like such a selfish bastard to have put his whole family through this.
“And for what?” he said to himself, “So people on Earth can eat sweeter apples?” For the first time in his life he hated himself.
They met Premier Tiberius and Marquis Ahmose at the Thebes Federation of Science. The Lucre Boxes, one of them given to him by his distant cousin Siptah and the other that he already had in his possession and had handed over to the Federation years ago, were both sitting ominously on a stand awaiting them. Jack shuddered at the sight of them again.
The promises of returning for visits were lame to the girls’ ears. In fact, they didn’t seem to hear Jack speaking to them, appearing that they had lost faith in him. Empty promises. He knew he was letting them down big time.
It was heart wrenching to say goodbye to everyone. Megan wondered if she would ever see them again. She became unsteady on her feet and Jack rushed to her aid. The whole scene was incredibly disturbing. Every minute worsened as their time of departure loomed. Megan was being suffocated by the girls, all wanting to have their last cuddle before they let her go. She sobbed along with them, trying not to leave anyone out. Jack’s heart went out to the girls as he had to literally pull Megan away from them while they desperately clung on, choking back his tears as he had to forceably wrench her away. The look on their faces Jack will never forget. He placed Megan’s trembling hands on one Lucre Box while he held her around the waist and pushed the other box into hers.
Amidst the loud wailing of the girls Jack spoke softly to Megan. “I’m so sorry, Megs. We will see them again, I make that my solemn promise.” His eyes were full of sincerity and conviction.
The girls watched in utter despair as Megan and Jack were engulfed in a luminous green light and then liquefied before their eyes. Jack and Megan felt the all-too-familiar gravitational pull and then floating, with one last look of the girls’ expressions permanently embedded in their minds.
Chapter 24
Months had passed since they’d landed on the old home soil, pulled from their adopted home. It took Megan weeks and weeks to get used to not being able to hug her little sisters every day. She’d been a miserable wreck and it had only been in the last few days that her smile and colour had returned, much to Jack’s relief. He himself had not only been under stress with his acquired mission, but also had to be a pillar of strength on his return from work each day for Megan. To add to Megan’s misery, she’d learnt that her father had had a massive heart attack and had passed away not long before their return, and her ailing mother was living in a rest home with Alzheimer’s disease. She wanted to visit her but felt she couldn’t, for the time being anyway. She also wanted to get in touch with her siblings who had no idea she was still alive. Megan thought they most likely would have passed her up for dead years ago, when she first went missing.
Both Jack and Megan had asked themselves over and over why they were doing this. The monthly payment of 10,000,000 Egyptian pounds was providing a well-heeled lifestyle, but wasn’t easing their heartache, and wondered why they had come back at all. Jack was doing what he had been asked to do, but it was proving a never-ending battle with each country’s authorities, New Zealand the worst of all. Nobody wanted it. There were protest marches, Internet campaigning against it and screeds of red tape to get through.
“People have no faith,” Jack complained. “They don’t like change; they just want to remain ignorant.”
It was a huge call for him to carry out. He’d delegated a lot of his workload to the many representatives in each country, but still had to play a pivotal role and be answerable to a continuous stream of emails. His office had, on occasion, been the target of angry protesters. Most of the time he felt like throwing in the towel and retreating back to Jovian, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d signed a contract.
Megan spent most of her time on her computer talking to her clones. It wasn’t the same though. She could see and hear their smiling images but couldn’t hug them. She so desperately wanted to return to Jovian. Jack started to return home more withdrawn, and wasn’t there for her like he used to be, she regarded. Megan thought that maybe she’d taken too much out of him and this was his way of keeping his sanity.
Maybe he’s having an affair,” she erratically thought, then immediately told herself to stop being so paranoid. She knew her Jack wouldn’t do that. But as time went on she realised that something was really bothering him. She questioned him but he brushed her off. After a couple more weeks Megan picked the right moment to raise it again. They were both lying in bed on their backs with the lights turned out when Megan broached the subject.
“Tell me,” she said.
The sheets rustled as Jack turned his body toward her. “Tell you what?” he replied, propping his head up on his hand.
“Jack, you’ve been coming home for days now in a funny mood, it seems like you aren’t even here. You go through the motions of eating, showering and sleeping but there’s something playing on your mind. What is it?” she pressed. She heard Jack take a deep breath.
“There is something, and it’s a way big something. Something I would dearly love to rip off my shoulders and throw onto somebody else’s,” he sighed.
“Go on,” Megan urged, starting to think that she shouldn’t have opened her mouth. She felt Jack’s arm slide under her waist, pulling her into him. Her heart beat faster.
“I’ve found out something,” he began, “something quite alarming and it’s not good.”
Megan remained silent but secretly felt a great sense of relief that it wasn’t the affair thing, but she did suspect that Jack was going to tell her something that was going to change their lives. Again.
“Megan, you know how life on Jovian is almost perfect,” Jack began.
“Yes,” she answered, curious.
“Do you know why it’s so perfect?”
“Well, because they are light years ahead of us and have mastered the art of genetically modifying food which makes everyone well-behaved and have super enhanced senses and super intelligence.”
“Yes, but hasn’t it ever occurred to you where they were drawing the energy to do this from?”
Megan was definitely baffled now. She didn’t answer.
“From Earth,” Jack stated matter-of-factly.
“What? How?” Now she was really confused.
Jack took a deep breath. “The reason I was sent back here was to introduce genetic engineering right? They said they wanted Earth to live life as it is on Jovian. And I am being paid very well for doing this, aren’t I? It has never occurred to me why they would want to do this. I just thought all along
that it was such a great and considerate thing to do for their, well, fellow planetarians, I guess. I never questioned it,” Jack explained.
“And…” Megan gingerly urged, pulling herself away from Jack and switching the light back on.
There was another few moments before Jack spoke again. “They’re drawing off Earth’s energy to maintain theirs and they can’t exist without it. They’re sucking us dry and it’s causing all sorts of problems, like holes in the ozone layer and global warming.”
“Isn’t that caused by cows farting?” Megan quipped.
Jack looked at her straight-faced. “No, Megan, you’re not listening to me. The problems that people here are facing - the ozone layer for one, is caused by the energy pull from Jovian, to sustain their own planet. And because it’s sucking us dry, it’s starting to cause Jovian to deteriorate,” Jack patiently explained to his now astonished girlfriend.
“Megan, they sent me back here to get this GE thing up and running so it would regenerate Earth’s energy, which in turn would be for the ultimate use of Jovian. It’s a parasitic planet,” he said, his voice raising. “That’s why Jovian is the way it is, and why Earth is like it is today - full of devastating forces like hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis. And Jovian is the cause of it, and they’ve been benefiting from us the whole time!”
Megan stared at Jack in disbelief. She couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. “Jack, what… what does all that mean? You said causing Jovian to deteriorate, what do you mean?” she repeated. Jack was silent.
“Jack, what is happening here?” Megan persisted, “I thought they were good people. What about our girls?”
Jack didn’t answer, totally at a loss by it all, still digesting his own alarming revelation.
Megan didn’t know why she didn’t question Jack anymore; she wondered maybe she didn’t really want to know. She even wondered if Jack was talking a lot of crap.
But why would he do that? she asked herself as she eventually drifted off to sleep.
After their conversation had come to an abrupt halt Jack lay there wondering how the hell he’d gotten into this. He finally drifted off to sleep as well, tossing and turning, and dreamt about the world blowing up.
The morning sun streamed through the windows and woke them up.
At least it’s going to be a nice day today, Jack thought as he opened his eyes. The first thing he said to Megan was, “I’ve heard of people taking the whole world into their hands, I thought I knew what they meant, but this is just ridiculous!”
“The thing is Megs,” he went on, “how am I supposed to get this planet functioning to the level that Jovian is if nobody wants to have anything to do with genetic engineering? They don’t want to have a bar of it. Talk about being in between a rock and a hard place! You know, the hierarchy of Jovian has got me to do this for it’s own benefit. It’s a beautiful place, but that’s because of this place. God only knows how long they’ve been drawing off our energy. And now we’ve got global warming and holes in our ozone layer that thousands of people are getting skin cancer from. Makes me wonder if they’re all in on it - the Thebes Federation of Science and the reprobates. That’s why the Underworld must’ve wanted to have control over us. It’s all starting to add up now. They’re all wanting the control.” Jack was getting angry. “And all this time! We’ve been living in what we thought was heaven all this time!”
“We’ve got to get out of this,” Megan said flatly, “Jack, we have to get out of this, and get my sisters back! And your parents. I want to live like a normal human being in a normal house with a normal family.” She started to cry. “And Sobek too, I want her here too.”
“Megan, I don’t know if I can get out of this. How I can get out of this?” He gently swept a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Let’s have some breakfast and go for a drive somewhere so I can clear my head.”
Megan threw some baked beans into the microwave and bread in the toaster. Both of them sat down at the table and tried to eat.
By mid-morning they had found a place overlooking a beautiful but wild piece of coastline with rugged rock islands dotted about the bay. The deep blue water swirled violently while surf crashed up the rock face. Jack gazed out at the open sea, for what seemed like an eternity to Megan, before he spoke.
“I’ve got to go back and see Premier Tiberius. I’ve got to convince him to let the girls and Mum and Dad travel here. I can’t let on that I’m aware of their big plan so I’ll have to think of a plausible excuse,” Jack said, the look of hope returning to his face, an expression that Megan hadn’t seen in a while. She felt a twinge of hope.
The following day Jack tidied up a few things at his office and told his staff that he had urgent family business to attend to and would be away from the office for two weeks. He had intended to carry on with the GE project on his return from Jovian, for a while anyway, merely to keep the authorities at bay until he was able to pull the plug on it. He got himself ready for his journey back. At seventy-thirty the next morning he gave Megan a kiss and cuddle and pushed the Lucre Boxes together.
As his image liquefied and disappeared Megan cried after him, “Good luck Jackyboy, bring back our girls safe and sound.”
Within moments Jack was back in his old research room. To Jack, it was a peculiar feeling to be back. He gave the office crew quite a start, and for a few seconds they stared blankly at him, then a sudden outcry of delight when they realised it was their old workmate, and surrounded him, welcoming him back. Jack returned the pleasantries and secretly wondered how many of them were aware of Jovian’s big plan. He saw them in a different light now.
At least they don’t know that I know.
After a few minutes, with little time to waste, Jack excused himself from the throng. He wanted to get to his family before they were told by anyone else that he was ‘in town’.
The sweeping driveway to his parents’ palatial home was still the same, and Jack felt, for a moment or two, like he was home again. It soon dispersed when he reminded himself that his true home was in New Zealand, on planet Earth.
He rang the door gong and was greeted by Chione, who shrieked when she saw him. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, still screaming and nearly driving Jack deaf in one ear. Soon the others came and joined in the squeals of delight. His parents were also very surprised to see him. Jack knew he had some explaining to do.
Plans were swiftly made to jet his whole family back to Earth. The girls became distressed, knowing they had to leave their friends behind (who in time would perish along with everyone else on Jovian) although Jack didn’t reveal that to them as he knew it would only cause more suffering. He couldn’t insist enough about the urgency of their returning with him and that they needed to act fast. He had to confront the Jovian authorities first, however. He decided to see them first thing in the morning.
They weren’t expecting Jack, and their faces showed a mixture of surprise and concern when he sat down with them.
Premier Tiberius spoke first. “It is indeed a surprise to see you back so soon.”
Jack hoped like hell they didn’t see he was a quivering wreck inside. “I have come to ask the permission of your constituency to take my family back to Earth.” He paused and waited for their response.
Premier Tiberius cleared his throat. “I can understand that the separation of your family has caused you a great deal of grief. However, you can understand that your mission is for a duration of time within the terms that we have agreed upon, and we have made considerable financial allowance for your charges so their needs are well taken care of,” he said with forced empathy.
Jack knew he had to be strong. “With all due respect, Sir,” he continued, “Megan has become seriously ill and I have grave fears for her,” all the while praying they wouldn’t pick up on his little fib.
Premier Tiberius spoke amongst his men in Egyptian. Jack thought it was a little rude, but kept his polite demeanour. They continued their discussions for ano
ther five minutes or so before Premier Tiberius turned back to Jack.
“It has been agreed by my fellow dignitaries that you may take your family back for the duration of your mission, but on the understanding that you must all return on completion of it. You have become citizens of Jovian, and I trust you can understand your great worth to our people.”
Jack audibly sighed. He couldn’t believe how he’d just pulled it off. He couldn’t wait to get back to his family with the good news. He signed some documents, not even bothering to read them, as he secretly knew he was out of there for good anyway, and shook everyone’s hands, smiling and thanking them, and thinking what a slimy lot of creeps they turned out to be. He didn’t waste any time getting back to his parents’ place.
He hurried to the front door bursting with excitement, knocked and turned the handle, not waiting for it to be answered. The entire family was sitting around the table and looked up when Jack entered the room. Ben was the first to speak.
“Excuse me, Sir?” he questioned. He looked astonished. Everyone looked astonished. Jack grinned at him, animated, almost yelling, “I did it! You’re all coming home!”
“Excuse me?” his father repeated.
“You’re coming back home with me. Isn’t that great news?…What’s with all the excuse mees?”
His mother got up and stood beside her husband, eyeing Jack warily. “Call the authorities, Ben,” she said. They were all looking suspiciously at Jack. Jack’s smile wavered, but thought they were having a little joke.
“Mum, Dad, what’s going on?” Jack said, his excitement waning.
Ben Dunlop picked up a device and pressed a button. In less than a minute Jack heard sirens; not the usual sound of a siren, but a higher-pitched pealing. It was the first time he’d heard them on Jovian. Before he was able to get his head around his family’s strange behaviour five men dressed in black suits (like the men from the black Volvo) burst into the house and seized him.
The Jovian Legacy Page 22