The Alpha Choice (84 page)

It was the turn of their host to speak. ‘That is most professional. I am sure there is much the two of you would like to say to each other, and you are right, this is neither the time nor the place, perhaps later?

‘I am Xe,’ he volunteered, ‘and you both know why you are here, but before we move on to that, I am happy to answer the multitude of questions you have. They will put into context the remainder of my story, and help you to fully appreciate the danger facing us all, and why the two of you are so important.’

Xe dutifully answered every question put to him, and only when they could think of nothing more to ask, did he reveal the reason they were there and the terror confronting, not only the Tellans, but every race within this and every other galaxy. They sat, rapt and afraid as the final part of the story unfolded. He told them, they were free to return to Te'ath, but it would be easier if they made their home on Tellus. Only a single condition was imposed upon their stay. They would agree, at some time in the future, to take their place in the tapestry woven through countless years, and evolving inexorably towards a time, not far away, when everything they had been told would draw together in readiness for a final confrontation.
 

Liron’s answer would have been unimaginable just weeks before, ‘I think I can speak for Agrion as well as myself. We agree to play our part.’

For the first time, Xe looked surprised and turning to Agrion, asked. ‘Is this correct?’

‘Absolutely,’ came the immediate response. ‘You obviously don’t know as much about me as you think.’

‘Apparently not, we did think you would be less…open-minded.’

‘You’re right, I am, but I’m not stupid and Liron knows that.’

‘Very well,’ Xe answered, ‘we are agreed. Our home is your home.’

With the passage of time, the tumult of life beyond their idyll had been relegated to the furthermost parts of memory. That was until the time when the Te’an fleet was scattered six thousand parsecs from Te’ath - they knew nothing of the battle for Telluria - when they were asked to fulfil their twenty-one year old promise.

Agrion returned to the present. The revelations of Xe, all these years later still caused him to shudder. In the last twelve years, this would be his third visit, and Liron’s second.

Hopefully, it would be their last.

∞
 

At the precise moment Endeavour exited the Weft, somewhere in the galaxy Markarian 501, two young women and a very old man were in a glade split by a brook. The shorter of the two women sat on a grassy bank, looking down at small, brightly coloured fish swimming in crystal clear water. She listened absently to the tinkling of the water as it ran over some of the larger, multi coloured rocks, and around her bare feet.
 

Her taller companion was watching two furry animals, vaguely resembling chipmunks except, they kept changing colour from green to red, then to orange and back to green as they tried to merge with the fauna they were scampering through.
 

The old man was dozing in a hammock.
 

The taller woman looked up from the furry traffic lights, and over to her companion who had lost interest in the fish. Both of them gazed at the old man, whose eyes had opened and who now carefully rose from the hammock, and stretched.

The smaller woman removed her feet from the water and, despite it being wholly unnecessary, pulled on a pair of red canvas shoes, before meticulously tying the laces. She then stood, pausing only to brush pieces of grass from her dungarees, and nodded to the others. Returning their aquatic and furry visitors to their respective home worlds, the atmosphere then became an inhospitable soup, composed largely of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, while the temperature resumed its ambient four hundred and fifty degrees Celsius, and incessant lightening became the only thing visible through sulphuric acid clouds.

They considered their surroundings, for just a moment, before all three transformed into softly glowing balls of electric blue light, each no larger than a bowling ball, floating motionless three metres above the ground where they once stood.

While retaining their individuality, their thoughts merged. One of the beings pondered over what had just happened four hundred million light years away in the Milky Way, and the three of them considered all of the possible consequences in less than the time it would take a human to blink.

The being who had briefly been the smaller woman, ‘spoke’ to her companions. ‘It is time.’

Ω Δ ∞ α

Acknowledgements

I found writing
The Alpha Choice
to be at the same time both a wonderful, and a solitary experience. Even when typing away in a café with headphones on, no one knows what you’re doing. Throughout this time, the characters, scenes and plot remained only in my head and on the screen. It was only when other people read the book did the characters step off the page, imbued with life. To hear others speak of the characters by name, discuss what they did and what they might do in the next two volumes, is incredibly fulfilling.

Despite the writing being solitary, I have been extremely fortunate to have the support and advice of a number of people.

I will be eternally grateful to my daughter who read the first draft and got me to rethink my entire approach to the book, and my wife, for her forbearance during the seven years it has taken to write down the adventures and travails of Gorn, Jon, Tala et al - for those of you who have enjoyed this first volume, don’t panic. The second and third are already fully planned, with the second to appear within a year, and the third within the year after that - and for being the first to give me invaluable feedback on the final draft, the thoughts of Brian, Tom, Alison, Kate and Alex were all valuable. Craig, despite your busy schedule, thanks for your support.
 

I have not forgotten Alf and Margaret. Thank you for your encouragement week in, week out.

Many thanks to all at Imperial Teas of Lincoln for their expert guidance on tea, even if Hugo’s morning cuppa didn’t really cut it!

Finally, despite the input of others, any mistakes or errors, are mine alone.