Chapter 3: Legacy

Nack arrived at the archaeological site early. He was dressed in an old brown leather jacket, khaki trousers and his fedora hat. The site was being run by the University of Majaccame. Angel Island was a nation with a long history, normally centring on the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds which was an important factor to the country's religion, culture, economy and even with intelligence relations and warfare.

The archaeological site was seven miles away from Gaili. There was evidence that might be a major find in the area. The site was the ruins of a town that was abandoned in the Ninth Century, a town that was once important for religious reasons. There had been important finds, from a large temple, a church and houses, to treasure and weapons to small but still important items like coins.

The sky was grey, and gloom was in the air. The archaeologists were placing tents and covers incase it rained. Nack walked passed them and headed for a tent in the centre of the site. Nack walked straight in and there was 50-year-old male black Labrador dressed in khaki was waiting for him.

"On time as always," the black Labrador commented.

"Of course," Nack answered. The black Labrador nodded. "So how's the search going?"

"Pretty well, we found plenty of objects that we can study back at the university and more for the museums," black Labrador answered. Dr. Patrick Valink was an experienced archaeologist, with a long publishing record and discovered some interesting finds on Angel Island. He had spent his whole career studying and wanting to find out of the nation's history. He was particularly interested in the period of the first century to the fifteenth century. But throughout his career he had come up and advocated controversial theories which made him a maverick within the academic community, but popular with people like Nack. "But there is one major find that I really want to show you."

Dr. Valink started to move towards the back of the tent and Nack followed. On a steel table was a solid object wrapped in cloth. The object was large stone tablet. The archaeologist unwrapped it: there was ancient writing written all over it, and in the centre was a large figure that looked like a giant snake with a smaller figure with facing it.

"As you can imagine we can't let you take this away," Dr. Valink started, "but I know you would want to have a look at this."

"Wow," Nack awestricken. "This is amazing." Nack slowly touched it with the tips of his fingers. "Is it genuine?"

"We still need to do some tests at the university but are primacy research shows that it was craved in the fifth century. We found it in the site of the old temple."

"And when do you think this was made?" Nack asked.

"I personally estimate around five years after the Battle of Majacceme," Dr. Valink answered.

"Ahh," Nack said quietly. "But you know that most historians believe that it was a flash flood that ran through the city during that battle. The evidence shows that there heavy rainfall before and during the battle."

"But you know as well as I do that it's something more," the archaeologist answered. "You know that historical reports and scientific evidence shows that Majacceme rarely gets flooded, let alone have a flash flood. As well, it happened during the middle of a battle? Come on, you know that any military commander would risk an attack in conditions like that."

"Yet Emperor Paeonie was a rash character."

"Even so, he wasn't completely reckless. He had a record for winning major battles," Dr. Valink answered in the debate. "The evidence doesn't add up. Something must have happened; it was the Island's darkest hour and it was saved when defeat seemed certain. This nation's whole history, culture and religion revolve around the Emeralds."

"Those are controversial ideas Doc," Nack commented.

"But you wouldn't be here if you didn't believe in them."

Nack nodded. He went back to look at the tablet. Angel Island was attacked by the mighty Dracan Empire in 473 AD. There were many theories why the Empire attacked Angel Island, but whatever the reason the Emperor died and his heirs were killed, leading to the Empire's quick collapse.

"Do you mind if I take some photos," Nack said. "I have a buyer who might be interest in this."

"Go ahead."

"This does seem to confirm some of the research I've been conducting," Nack said.

Dr. Valink nodded. Nack took out his digital camera and started to take some photographs.

"When you find out if this is genuine or a fake I want you to call me straight away," Nack ordered.

"I will do."

"I also need to know what the writing said," Nack added.

"I have it ready in the dead drop when we figure it out," Dr. Valink answered, "but it might take a few weeks."

Little did Nack know those that his guess about what the tablet was very close to the mark.

"So it's only a flying visit?" Dr Valink asked.

"Unfortunately so."

- - - - -

Sonic listened to Amy's advise and decided to go back home to Emerald for a couple of days. The drive was three hours long when he arrived back to his half sister's house. He was raised by Plant and her husband Diamond since his parents were murdered when he was six years old. He was close to them and did care for them, but they could never replace his parents, nor did they ever attempt to.

Sonic arrived home at 5:30 PM. He didn't tell his family that he was coming back, he wanted to surprise them. He parked his car in the driveway, took his bag out the boot before locking the door and walk up to the door. He took out his house key, unlocked the door and walked into the house.

"Hello?" Sonic said, looking carefully to see who's in.

"Sonic?" he heard Plant asking herself and then walked out of the kitchen to the hallway. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come back for a couple of days and I wanted to surprise you," Sonic answered.

"Have you had a heavy work load?"

"A little bit," Sonic answering with a half truth.

"How are Stars and Jessica?" Plant asked.

"Their fine: both have been busy."

"And Amy?"

"She's improving, but she is still finding it hard sometimes," Sonic answered. "Jessica and Natalie promise to keep an eye on her."

"How was the drive down?" Plant asked.

"I hit a little traffic on the way, but it wasn't too bad."

"Do you want me to get you something? I'm sure you're hungry."

"I need to sort myself out first," Sonic said. "I'll get myself something later."

Sonic headed upstairs and went to room. He took out his laptop and put it on his desk and his books which he had a quick look at. Being at home offered him a chance to relax and get some much needed work done.

Sonic went back downstairs and headed for the kitchen. He looked in the fridge and found a package of pre-cooked chicken, a bag of salad and a can of coke. He then got some bread and made himself a sandwich before moving into the lounge. Tails was sitting on the sofa watching an action/adventure cartoon. He turned to see Sonic before he sat down.

"What are you doing back?" Tails asked in surprise.

"To see you little bud," Sonic answered.

"Are Stars and Jessica back?" Tails continued.

"No, just me So how have you been?"

"I've been good," Tails answered.

"Doing well at school?"

"Yeah."

"Good boy. What are you watching?"

"Firestorm," Tails answered. Sonic looked and saw that there was a laser battle conducted in a spaceship.

"Action packed," Sonic commented.

"It's really good."

"I'm sure it is." Sonic then took a bite out of his sandwich.

- - - - -

At Yarnbroke Dazzla was settling down for the night. She and her friends had done their school work and they just want to watch TV. The dormitories were separated by sex, boys and girls did not live in the same building. They were four houses, two for the boys and two for the girls. Within the houses they were split into sections and the students lived with other students from their year, to avoid power struggles and bullying of the younger years. Seven girls aged between fourteen and fifteen were sitting on two sofas and other chairs and they were watching a soap aimed at the teenage market.

Dazzla was dressed in her school uniform, minus the tie and brazier, and so were most of the girls. Two were in sports gear after a training section.

On the television the main storyline was about a 17-year-old girl who just found out she caught a Sexual Transmitted Disease after her promiscuous behaviour.

At Yarnbroke the school wanted the students to gain some self-efficiency and the older the students become the more cooking and cleaning they had to do for themselves. The year ten girls were organised and a router was set up. Three girls were cooking for all of them. One the menu tonight was spaghetti and meatballs.

"Okay girls, grumps up," one of the girls said and a load of plates were on the counter. The girls got up and went to pick up their food. The girls then went back to their places on the chairs and sofa.

The girls started to eat. Dazzla took her a bite of her first meatball. It was hot, very hot.

"Ah" Dazzla went. Her food was overloaded with chilli plower. "AH!! WATER!! WATER!!!"
Dazzla reached out for a glass that was in front of her on the table and drank it down quickly.

"Are you okay?" one of Dazzla's friends, a fifteen-year-old wolf asked.

Dazzla nodded. "That bitch," Dazzla muttered. "That bloody bitch!"

Dazzla stood up quickly and turned to face the kitchen. She looking directing at Lisa.

"What the hell have I ever done to you?" Dazzla shouts.

"Dazz, leave it," one of her friends, Gabby, a koala, said to her.

"NO!" Dazzla snapped. "I have had an enough!"

Dazzla pointed her head and blue electricity was powering up, but she didn't have the heart to fire a bolt towards her nemesis. She was better then that.

"Just what I expected," Lisa said. "Don't have anything in you."

Or so Dazzla thought. She had finally had enough. She ran towards Lisa, jumping up over the counter and tackling the rabbit. Dazzla started to slap Lisa and all the other girls rushed over to drag her away. Dazzla kept trying to attack with all the girls pushing her away and started trying to kick Lisa. Lisa got up and pushed Dazzla away with a forcefield, making her land on her back.

"Try it again bitch!" Lisa shouted. "I dare ya!"

Dazzla started to charge up electricity and shot a powerful towards Lisa. However the rabbit created a forcefield and blocked the attack. Dazzla was streaming with rage: she wanted to hurt Lisa but there was nothing she can do about it. As well as the physical aspect Dazzla didn't want to risk losing her place at the school.

"Let's go back to the dorm," Gabby said and guided Dazzla to their room.

- - - - -

Nack was sitting at the desk in his hotel room with a laptop he brought in the town centre. It was another security measure he had to take in his line of work. He couldn't own a laptop because if he ever was arrested then the securities services would probe it for information, so it was best to just have a cheap laptop temporarily. Nack had already booked a flight out of Angel Island, but it was not till the morning. He had a potential buyer lined up for the Xerxes virus.

Nack had a couple of tasks to do. He first plugged in the memory stick with the information he gained from Muhanji. It seemed like standard information; it could be of some use to a foreign intelligence service and could make around $250,000 out of it.

Nack then moved on to the more important thing on his mind, the tablet. He loaded up the photos from his digital camera. He did not have time to look at the tablet in detail, which he preferred to do, so he had to use the pictures. He knew that Dr. Valink would keep him posted, but he was fascinated by the object. Nack did not a have a degree in archaeology but he had studied the subject. When he was in the CIA, as well as working as in special black ops division, he was a key member of the small special research team which looked historical and archaeological items. It was joked within the organisation that it was a dead-end job just to get rid of failed agents: but Nack thought it was a lot more then that. He spread a lot of time in his career in that field, especially focusing on the mystic elements, like the Chaos Emeralds.

Nack looked closely at the photos; he wanted to know exactly what the tablet meant. It obviously had something to do with the Battle of Majacceme and how it mystically ended. He also knew it had to do with the Chaos Emeralds, and his research has suggested that there prophecy involving them, but he could not prove anything. He had a good idea who may be involved. But it was going to take a lot of studying and he was a busy man. Those two strange creatures obviously had something to do with the battle, an added element of the mystic forces of Angel Island. He looked at the details, there was a large flood at the base with soldiers and civalians drowning and the snake coming from the water. The building were damaged, but some people were making it to the tops of buildings of towards the countryside. Nack then turned to the same figure. The tablet had suffered from decay, but Nack guessed it was a hedgehog or an echidna. Nack knew that figure must have been an evolver or controlled the emeralds. He must have been the saviour of their day.

- - - - -

Dazzla was sitting on her, crying her eyes out. Gabby was next to her, trying to help her through her personal pain. Gabby was patting Dazzla's back.

"I don't get it, I really don't get it?" Dazzla said. "What did I do to Lisa to deserve all this? Am I a bad person or something?"

"Don't blame yourself Dazz," Gabby said. "Lisa has always been like this."

"But she doesn't harass anyone else like she does with me," Dazzla answered. "This is even worst then what happened in my last school." Dazzla took a deep beneath. "I thought I was happy here. It was going so well until after Christmas became Lisa became a right bully only toward me."

"Just try and calm down," Gabby said. "Here, have some water."

Gabby gave Dazzla a glass of water and she drank it quickly.

"It's impossible to ignore, she just keeps going and clipping away at me," Dazzla continued. "She is so sadistic and cruel. I really don't get it."

"We can see that you're suffering," Gabby said. "You really should just tell the teachers."

"Come on, you know what it like here," Dazzla said, "she'll pled she is innocent, her parents will kick up a fuss and it will just get worst for me. There's no way there going to expel someone whose parents are so influential. She'll blame it on me and at best I'll just get moved to the other house, and I don't want to do that." Dazzla shock her head. "I don't think I can take it much longer."

"Don't say that!" Gabby snapped in shock.

"I don't mean that," Dazzla answered. "I'm not going to kill myself. But if Lisa keeps up I might as well drop out from here. Just go back home."

"You shouldn't drop out," Gabby said, trying to reassure Dazzla. "You may never get a chance like this again."

"I just can't be anywhere near Lisa anymore. I need to get away."

"Does Luke know all this?"

"He knows a little."

"Isn't he a reason to stay?"

Dazzla nodded.

"And what about all the friends you made here?"

"It's all swings and roundabouts," Dazzla answered.

"Just don't make any rash decides," Gabby told her. "Do you think you are ready to face everyone?"

"Not yet."

"Okay," Gabby answered, comforting her friend. "I'll just get you some food."

"Thank you."

Gabby left the room. Dazzla moved herself up the bed and curled herself into a ball.

- - - - -

Knuckles, Stars, Jessica and Natalie were sitting watching television. Natalie had her dinner in front of her, but the other did not.

"It's strangle Sonic has gone home," Knuckles commented.

"He has seemed down recently," Natalie answered. "It was only last night that he let his hair down."

"He's been going through a lot at the moment," Stars answered, not wanting to revive the real reason why he left.

"I just like to see him open up," Natalie said quietly.

"It's just the way he was brought up," Stars said. "He's dad was in the military so taught him to be tough and not to be overly emotional."

"I remember when his parents died," Jessica added. "He was upset as you can imagine, but he didn't cry that much. He was confused, he forced to leave his home, and so I think being the strong silence type is just his way of coping."

"It takes him time to open up," Stars said. "But we normally tell us when something is wrong." Stars changed the subject. "Even though Sonic will never admit to it, he does feel that he has a lot to live up to. His dad was a SAS soldier and a government minister, his mum was a scientist and his granddad was a war-hero."

Jessica's mobile phone started to ring and she quickly answered it. She stood up.

"Hi," Jessica said, "I'm surprised you called. … Hey calm down."

"Who is it?" Stars whispered.

"Dazz," Jessica whispered back.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know yet," Jessica whispered then focused back on the phone call. She then spoke back into the phone. "Just relax sis. Tell me everything."

Jessica listened closely as Dazzla told her everything about the bullying.

"I'm going to kill her," Jessica snapped. "I am personally going to kill her."

"What's happened?" Stars demanded.
"Shh," Jessica said. "That was Stars. Look, I want you to tell mum and dad what happened. If you don't do it I will! I'll call them in an hour… There are no ifs and buts about it. If you want to talk for a little while I can."

Jessica walked up stairs and headed towards her room.

"What do you think happening?" Natalie asked.

"Sounds like Dazzla's getting bully," Stars answered. "I don't want it to happen to her again."

"What happened to her?" Natalie asked. She knew Stars, Jessica and Sonic did love Dazzla but she didn't know much about her nor even meet her.

"She has always been a little shy and awkward," Stars started. "She got sick pretty easily when she was younger and she's been labelled a genius. One of the reasons why my mum let her go to Yarnbrook was because of the bullying; otherwise she wouldn't have." Stars stopped for a second. "She seemed really happy at Christmas."

"When we were at school we all tried to protect her," Knuckles added. "Especially Jess and her friends and Sonic."

"But your mum was a teacher?" Natalie asked Stars.

"She was, but it didn't stop the bullies. She also quit to become an author and we couldn't do anything when we left for uni." Star stopped for a moment. "I really hope she's okay."

"We'll ask Jess when she comes down," Knuckles said.

Amy limped out of her and Sonic's room and towards the sofa. Knuckles quickly got up so that Amy could sit.

"Thanks," she said. "What's on?" She was referring to the television,

"Just the usual crap," Stars answered.

"Hey," Natalie said and elbowed him in the stomach. She then turned to Amy. "How have you been?"

"A little tired," Amy answered. "And stiff."

"Have you taken any pain-killers?" Stars asked.

"No, I've been trying to avoid them," Amy said.

"You don't have to be a martyr," Stars told her. "Take them if you need to."

"I don't want to get addicted. I only want to use them if it gets really bad. Anyway, there's a risk that I will always suffer some sort of pain or numbness."

Natalie tried to change the subject. "Have you heard from Sonic?"

"Yeah, he texted saying he arrived back okay," Amy said.

"When's he coming back?" Knuckles asked.

"In a few days," Amy answered. "He just wants to clear his head."

"I hope he's okay," Natalie said.

"We all do," Stars added and placed his hand on her knee.

- - - - -

Sonic was sitting at his desk with his books all over his desk and his laptop open and on. He had a CD playing but he was struggling to focus on his work. He couldn't read or type anything. He didn't know what to do.

Sonic heard his door open and turned around. He saw it was Tails who entered.

"Hiya mate," Sonic said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "I'm happy you're back."

"That's always nice to here," Sonic told his little foster brother. "Do you want to play a game?"

"Maybe in a minute," Tails answered. "I'm worried about Plant."

Sonic turned his CD player off.

"Why do you think that?" Sonic asked.

"She seems really lonely," Tails told Sonic. "I think she missing all her children, and that I'm just a poor substitute."

"Tails mate, don't think like that," Sonic said. "Plant and Diamond love you and you are more then a substitute. Has anyone said anything to you?"

"No."

"We all been staying in contact and try to come back regularly," Sonic tells his Tails. "Claws will be finishing uni soon and he will live here and we'll all be back for Easter and summer."

"Okay."

"Plant is going to miss us," Sonic said. "But she will never think any less of you. She loves you." There was a silent. "Come here." Sonic gave Tails quick a hug. "Now you give Plant one."

"Okay," Tails said and headed out the room.

Sonic turned back to his books and said: "I love that kid."

- - - - -

Tails headed down stairs and planned to go in the kitchen to see Plant.

"What!" he had Plant shouted. He stopped and sat down on the step. "I want you back pack you things and back here tomorrow… I don't want to here any ifs or buts, you're father is going to pick you up."

Diamond was going into the kitchen when he saw Tails sitting on the stairs. Diamond walked up and sat next to him.

"Worried about Plant?" Diamond asked. Tails nodded. "You shouldn't, it's her job to worry about you."

"I just think she misses everyone," Tails said, "and it sounds like something made her angry."

"You don't have to concern yourself," Diamond told his foster son. "Tell me, how have you been feeling?"

"Okay," Tails said.

"You've not been bullied or anything?" Diamond asked.

"No."

They heard Plant hung up.

"Come on, let's see her together," Diamond said and both stood up. They went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Plant was clearly up upset, covering her lower face. Tails when up to her, hugging her tight and resting his head against head lower body. Plant stroked his hair.

"You sweet child," Plant said.

"Who were you speaking to?" Diamond asked.

"Dazzla. She's very upset."

"What happened?" Plant just looked at Diamond and he knew the answer straight away. "Oh."

"I'll need you to go there tomorrow." Plant told her husband.

"It'll be a long drive," Diamond answered. He was reluctant, but would do anything for his children.

"Why don't you go off and watch TV," Plant said to Tails. "We'll be with you in a minute."

- - - - -

Nack went out for a run. He was excited about the template but he needed his books to truly study it. He needed to keep fit and get rid of his excess energy. He had downloaded some podcasts and listened to them. He wanted to stay in touch with current affairs.

It was dark, only street lamps offered light for Nack. The weasel-wolf cross ran down a subway that lead under a busy road. As Nack ran a group of four youths step in front of him, making him stop. Another group of youths was coming up behind Nack, stopping him going back the way he came. Nack took out his earphones and face who he thought was the ringleader, a brown and white bulldog.

"May I help you?" Nack asked in a local accent.

"Give us your iPod, your phone and all your money," the bulldog demanded.

"Or what," Nack retorted.

The bulldog picked out a knife from his pocket.

"Or we'll cut off your balls," he answered.

Nack laughed. "The last thing you should do is threaten me," he mocked.

The bulldog launched a stab towards Nack's torso. Nack jumped back, grabbed the bulldog's wrist, twisted it had it snap. He used his other hand to take the knife.

One of the gang members charges toward Nack from behind. Nack let go of the bulldog, turned and kicked the gang member to the floor. Another gang member attempted to attack Nack from the side. Nack simply thrusted the knife into the gang member's side, but was not fatal. The last thing he needed was to be hunted for murder for some low-level runt.

A gang member tried to punch Nack. Nack blocks the punch and launched one of his own, breaking the gang member's nose. Nack quickly scanned, seeing that three gang members were down, the one he kicked was able to get up again. But Nack saw that they were shaken; they did not expect him to be a good fighter.

A gang member pulled out a knife. Nack felt something next to his feet. He saw it was a bike chain. Nack had to move quickly. He picked up the bike chain as a large gang member charged towards him. Nack got back on his knees and used his left hand to punch him in the gut. Nack jumped back on his feet and kneed the large gang member in the face, knocking him to the floor.

The knife welding member aimed to stab Nack in the gut. Nack used the bike chain as a whip and got to wrap it around the knife. Nack used the chain to pull the knife out of the kid's hand and with his free left hand used his fingers to do a hard blow to his Adam's apple.

The last two gang members were scared. They just looked at Nack who had used his CIA fighting skills to full effect. Nack looked into their frightened eyes.

"Yeah, and what you going to do!" Nack yelled.

The last two gang members bolted.

"Yeah run!" Nack shouted. "Fucking bastards!"

Nack put his earphone back into his ears and carried on with his jog.

- - - - -

Sonic had decided to have a quick break and was boiling the kettle in the kitchen. He put a teabag in a mug and was just waiting. Plant came in with a mug in her hand.

"Oh good," Plant said seeing what Sonic was doing. "How's the work going?"

"Slowly," Sonic answered. "I'm not really sure where to start."

"What are you writing about?"

"I meant to be comparing two ninetieth century novels," Sonic answered. "I was going to look at the theme of money, one about wealth and the other on poverty."

"How you picked your books?"

"Yeah, and read them, but I just don't know where to start,"

"When is it due?"

"Two weeks," Sonic answered.

"You're at least starting early," Plant said. "You never used to."

"Maybe it's Amy's good influence."

"And how is it going with Amy?" Plant asked. "You two haven't fallen out?"

"No," Sonic answered. "It was her idea for me to come back and have a break. She thought I was really stressed."

"Are you?" Plant asked.

"I'll be alright when I get my work done and have the wedding."

"I see," Plant said. "Are you sure about your relationship?"

"Very," Sonic answered sternly.

"I just want to make sure," Plant said. "How is she doing?"

"Some days are better then others," Sonic told her. "She still needs to use her clutches most of the time, but she doesn't want to. Physio takes it out of her. She gets depress sometimes."

"Has she seen a doctor?"

"Just the physio. She's trying to avoid using painkillers and doesn't want to use anti-depressants."

"And what do you think she should do?" Plant asked.

"I can understand where she is coming from, I know she doesn't want to become addicted, but she can't be a martyr. I want her to get help if she needs it," Sonic said. "Stars helps a little, but there's only so much he can do."

"I can talk to her, or talk to her parents."

"No, I need to do it myself."

"You're just like her, you want to do it all yourself."

"You're not one to talk," Sonic answered, but remained calm. "Tails is really worried about you."

"Oh dear," Plant said.

"Yeah, he had a word with me in my room."

"A child shouldn't have to concern himself about me, it's should be the other way round."

"But he is worried," Sonic said. "And let's face it; children are properly the best judges. I'm should know what's going on."

"It's the stress of the new job, the government is coming up with new education proposals and I'm having to be in committee and even chair some," Plant started. "I sometimes don't get home until really late at night."

"Will the work load go down?" Sonic asked.

"Hopefully, but there still going to be meetings for weeks before a bill is written. I don't get to spend any time with Diamond or Miles."

"Tails."

"He's name is Miles," Plant stated. "I'm also missing all you lot."

"We'll be back for Easter and then for the summer," Sonic said to reassure his sister. "And Claws will be finished in June, so he will be lounging on your sofa soon enough."

"Don't be cheeky."

"But we will all be back, and I will tell the other to visit more," Sonic said, trying to make Plant feel better.

"I don't want them to ruin their courses," Plant told him.

"They won't"

"Dazzla also called me early. She's getting bullied again."

"Oh no!" Sonic said. When he was at school he tried his best to protect Dazzla. "What happened?"

"She didn't tell me much. What I can tell was it was one pupil bullying her. Diamond is picking her up to tomorrow and we are going to complain to the school."

"Are you sure that will work? You know what these private schools can be like."

"It's all we can do," Plant said. "I don't want her to be unhappy. I worry that it has been going on for months."

"She was happy at Christmas," Sonic answered. "I know she was, she wanted to go back."

"When she comes back could you talk to her?" Plant asked. "She opens up to you."

"I'll try." He took a slip of his tea. "You yourself shouldn't stress yourself out." He then asked a difficult question. "Are you sure you want to be an MP?"

"It's too late to ask that now. Anyway for the most part I do enjoy it; stress is just part of the job."

"I'm not to such," Sonic said honestly. "I'm just wondering if you are just doing this because you want to carry on dad's legacy."

"It's not that at all. I want to serve to people and help improve the education system the best way I can. It was the Conservatives who head-hunted me."

"But you don't need to be an MP to do that," Sonic said. "You enjoyed writing and teaching."

"You don't understand," Plant said.

"You should be happy like the rest of us."

- - - - -

At MI6 headquarters it seems to be a quiet. The office was running with a small staff who were bored with the lack of activity. There were no major operations that required headquarters' attention and the technicians and analysts were looking at back files just to see if they had missed anything. The atmosphere was calmer then usual but the philosophy was you had to find something to do.

At MI6 there was a senior member of the leadership who acted as The Night Watchman. This time it was it George Huston, a 56-year-old lemur, a senior Intelligence officer, who specialized in dictatorships and South Premius region.

Huston was looking at intelligence about a power struggle in the military dictatorship in Bolimina between Moderates who wanted to the government to be more open and work with the West and prevent unrest, whilst the hardlines wanted to crank down on protesters and strikers, regardless of the cost. Within the regime were two major Generals, a moderate from poor background who wanted to bring about more freedoms to peasants and the press, and bring about democratic reforms, and the hardline who wanted the regime to show its strength. The moderate was popular with the people and the workers but the hardline had more support from the army and the police and seemed likely to win the power struggle.

Huston started to ring. He took a sip of his coffee before picking it up.

"Night Watchman speaking," Huston said.

"Hi, this is Jeremy Roberts from Signals," a male voice answered. "A couple of key words have been flagged up, Xerxes and The Fang."

"Tell me everything," Huston demanded.

"GCHQ and we were monitoring a phone call by Rakesh Khanderi, he is a leading figure of a religious nationalist group, the Sword of the Pure," Roberts said. "We're still trying to find out who the call was made to."

"Where was the call made?"

"Belipa."

"I'm going to need a copy of the recording," Huston said.

"I already e-mailled it."

"Good, also send copies to M, the Director of Intelligence and the Station Chief in Aryavarta and at section desk here."

"Yes sir."

Huston hung up. He had a number of phone calls to make. He needed to contact Dame Catherine Walters, experts on Aryavarta and the station chief. He needed officers to follow Khanderi and need to know everything about the Sword of the Pure.

Huston did not know it yet but MI6 had just caught a major lead.