Home Truths

Chapter 9: Home Truths

Pierse had been given the task of bringing the lottery winners back down to earth. His deal with the shares would go through, as long as he agreed to meet the needs of the RoseTemple Knights. As Pierse expected, there were several provisos in the plans. Namely that he should not ruin their members.

This he agreed to. Informing them beforehand, that the investments they were to make, were a total fraud. With this in mind, he met with Durrant at the London offices.

"Back off with the Cobol thing," was all he said, as they looked out of the window at the Thames.

"What? I thought we had agreed on that?" Durrant could not believe Pierse was backing down.

"We don't need the money."

"It's not about the money, we said that. I thought we were in this for the power?"

"The people I met yesterday, will grant us all the power in the world. If we back off with this deal." Pierse turned from the window and looked him in the eye. "Believe me."

"Pierse I never doubt your word. If you say this is the way it's got to be, then I will carry it out, without question. We know each other well enough by now." Durrant just stood there, waiting for a response from the other man.

"I'm sorry if I treated you like a child old friend, but these people rattled me."

"So who the hell are they?" Durrant wanted to know. They both watched the boats drifting down the river. This was a way of doing something to take their minds off the truth.

"If I could tell you I would. Will you accept my word on that?" Pierse turned away from the window for a second.

"You know I will, but please respect the fact, that I can't stop wondering."

"Yes, I told them that, at the end of the meeting."

"What did they say?"

"They said if I made the mistake of revealing the identity of their organisation, I would no longer be around to worry about it." Pierse tried to raise a weak smile at this.

"And you believe them? Jesus! Pierse we have been up against the Mafia? We are grown up enough to handle our own affairs."

"That I know. But do you want to hear the worst part?"

"Go on?" asked Durrant nervously.

"I agree with them."

"About being assassinated for blowing the whistle?" Durrant could hardly believe this.

"Yes. Somethings have to remain secret."

"Human beings are flawed, we both know this. There is no great secret in the world which cannot be locked away. From the public maybe, but not from close friends. And not from us. Pierse tell me you are not losing your edge?"

"How can I prove to you, that this matters? Just give me a clue?"

"Where do we go from here? What's our next deal going to be?"

"There are plenty more deals out there to shakedown," said Pierse knowing he was sounding weak.

"And what if we tread on their toes again? You're new found friends? What if it's not in their interests?"

"You want to put me on the spot?"

"I have to!" pleaded Durrant. He felt like storming out of the office.

"There's no need for us to cross swords on this."

"Yes, there is. You know there is. We both agreed a long time ago, that if we were to make money out of this world, we could not afford to have a moral conscience. Up until now, that has worked. There are a lot of starving kids and grieving mothers who would love to get their hands around our throats, but we agreed to bulldoze right through that. If we back down from this secret organisation, we are weak and we are finished.

Pierse let the man's words hang in the air, whilst he thought of a reply.

"Of course you are right. But they are right as well. You will find out eventually. You are clever and resourceful, I have no doubts about that. You could track me by the satellite and probably had me followed anyway. I secretly think they knew that too. So maybe what will happen next, is inevitable?"

"Not if they don't find out?" added Durrant.

"They will." He paused for a while. "They will find out because I will tell them."

"What! why?"

"Because one thing they said to me, that I agree with, is that their ways are my ways."

"So you would not be betraying any real trust?" Durrant pointed out.

"Maybe, but they will take some persuading to let you in on the secret."

"So how can I prove my trust? I sure as hell don't have to prove it to you. Is there some magic quest I have to go on? Or some golden chalice I have to retrieve, to prove my worth?"

"It's not about you," Pierse felt bitter about it all now.

"Then what is it all about?"

"Maybe I have to prove it to myself? As I said, they confided in me that I was to be the new head of their empire. If you could call it that?"

"So if you are the big white chief, surely you can do as you please? Does that not include letting me into your confidence?"

Pierse paused for a while, walking around the room and looking at the many trophies on the walls. News headlines of great financial deals. Tales of world events which only they knew the truth behind. Secrets and lies.

"This is my decision," said Pierse gravely leaning over the back of a leather chair. "If we do a good job over these lottery winners, then I have proved a point. On that note, I shall tell you everything. You have my word on that."

"The lottery winners?" asked Durrant, almost in disbelief. " What, you mean

those ignorant men from the Cobol factory?"

"They are the ones. Seems our new friends only did that to get my attention. Now it's blown up in their faces, and they want it stopped."

"We could have a word with the press tomorrow and stop the stories? Pull the whole thing." Durrant wondered if it was that simple.

"No, it's gone too far for that. They want these idiots ruined. Sent back to the ranks where they came from. They are a disgusting show of what not to spend your money on. I'm all for a laugh and a little of the high life, but judging by the tabloid stories today, these men are beyond a joke."

"Most of that could be made up?" smiled Durrant knowing the crisis had passed.

"If only a tiny fraction of it is true, that's enough."

"So we break them? Take their money back in some land swindle, and everyone is happy?"

"Something like that."

"It seems too easy to me, there must be a catch?"

"No, this will do for now."

"What about your wife Catrina? She will want an explanation as to what's going on?" Durrant wondered if he should mention his wife's involvement in the company.

"She will find out," said Pierse, musing on the problem. "She suspects something is wrong already. Even hinting at it."

"So what do you do?"

"I'll have a word with her, and sort something out. The thing I cannot do is put her in danger. But if I am to take this thing over, I want it on my terms. No! Our terms."

Meanwhile on the other side.....................

When Natasha opened her eyes she was met with a world of wonder. Finally, she found out what all the pain and suffering had all been about. Here were her answers.

She could never have dreamed of the world Cassey had opened for her. Here she could travel in time and space, and go to any point she could imagine. She saw the whole of history before her. World wars and terrible loss of life. But nothing could prepare her for the future. The twin towers fell, and nuclear weapons were being used in Russia and Ukraine.

Even this was small set beside the horror of the following centuries. Global warming. Fires engulfed the whole of Africa and South America. Europe underwater. Deserts covering the land, to be followed by a new ice age.

By far the most frightening thing about travel to the future was the rise of Artificial Intelligence. Not just that, but the birth of Artificial Consciousness. A living creature within a machine.

Natasha was able to transfer her consciousness to a robot and travel about. Go into outer space and be projected by a laser back and forth through time. There was nothing it could not do. Although Cassey had enabled her to do that anyway, but she realized the world was not ready for magic.

The next step was to develop the machines to the point where they were more intelligent than the humans. Not that this seemed to matter now, as most of the wealthy people now lived in the computers anyway.

One terrible thing became apparent to Natasha, and that was how could Cassey do all this and still not be threatened by the AI?

She soon realized that Cassey was not joking when she said she was not human. So Natasha went back in time to find out who she really was, and discovered who the Goddess Astarte really was.

The truth shocked her to the core.

Natasha was not ready for that. When she came back to her own time she asked the girl out straight.

"Why did you not tell me what you really are?" Natasha was standing in the room with her Mother and the Major, frozen in time. Not even a second had elapsed since she left.

"Would you have swapped bodies if I had?" smiled Cassey.

"No. You are right. So what happens now? Will you kill me? Like you did all those other people?"

"Don't be so dramatic girl." Cassey lit a cigarette and walked around the room, looking for something to drink. "People can be so prejudiced when it comes to our kind. You are free to come and go as you like. All I want is to have some fun. Fun in that wonderful body and some passionate sex. I've even picked some underwear."

"I don't think I can go back to my old life now." Said Natasha looking at the frozen room. "The things I've seen! I just can't get them out of my head."

"I just need your body for a while longer. Then I promise you can go back. I'll even wipe your memory if you like?"

"Alright. I'll agree for now."