l

-°-oOo-°-


Interludes 53 Pemberley Decision Making

I

-°-oOo-°-


October 1817


I

-°-oOo-°-

"I need you to summon a family Council…"

The voice had awoken him and was in his head.

"Who are you?" asked he in a whispered tone in order not to awake Lizzie.

"I'm the captain of the ship you've encountered in what you call Eldorado."

"What happened?"

"The Sikorans have changed their mind, they won't establish contact. You are on your own for as long as you don't put a manned spaceship in orbit."

"What changed their mind?"

"Inter-faction politics. It seems that that want to have a look at how a Soaring Event Race evolves without outside interference. You will be granted a seat in the Galactic Council but only if you cover all the conditions. And the main condition for any race to be proposed membership is to be space born."

"Which means putting a crew in orbit…"

"Indeed."

"Why warn us?"

"Because there will be even more sensors pointed at this planet than before and in order to not be discovered we will soon go into total emission silence. The only mean to communicate with you will be what you call the upgrade."

"How so?"

"All those people who have received upgrades are linked through the quantum emitter. They can be joined thanks to said emitter. That's what I'm doing now. The Sikorans can't detect quantum emissions. It is sure but I won't use it any more. This will be my last call before I go back into stasis. We'll be back when you become members of the Galactic Council. Before it would be too risky…"

"I see…." thought Fitzwilliam. "Thanks for the update, I'll convene a Family Meeting to share the news…"

"See you soon in person, I hope", said the voice in his head. "Don't lose too much time; we would really like to go home."

And the presence disappeared but Fitzwilliam was still aware of the voice's shadow.

A thought shot through his mind.

"All those people who have received upgrades are linked through the quantum emitter", had said the voice. And he was quite sure that it was an important piece of information.

He concentrated on his wife while staying attuned to the voice's shadow.

"Lizzie?"

The answer was immediate.

"Yes, Fitzwilliam?"

He looked at his wife and could only notice that she was still asleep.

"You hear me?"

There was a second of silence.

"No I don't since you don't speak… I feel you. You are with me, as you are often when I dream."

"You know you are dreaming?"

"We always know when we are dreaming, Fitzwilliam! What's the problem?"

He could feel her mental frown.

"Nothing, dear… I'm just delighted that I'm able to share your dreams."

"So am I, care to come with me?"

"Not really, love, I'm on the brink of awakening and I fear there will be no more sleep for me before next night. See you in the morning…"

"See you soon, love."

He stopped feeling with his wife but took great care to memorize the way his two way thought conversation had felt. He would try it again lat…

He called himself a fool and concentrated his mind on Charles.

This time it was different.

He popped in the middle of what looked like an immense building and he was at Charles and Kitty's side.

They both didn't seem rattled by his appearance but only smiled at him.

"Hello Fitzwilliam, uncommon fact that you share one of our dreams…"

"I was in the mood to see you…"

"Always glad to have you at my side, brother. We –he winked at his wife- are rummaging through the vaults of the Alexandrian Library in search of ideas. We love that place, it's always a thrill to see how the Ancients did consider Science. Care to come with us?"

"No, I'm sorry, but I'm at the brink of awakening, I won't stay…"

"Oh, that's the reason you seem so focused," said Kitty. "I was wondering about it…"

"Thanks for the invitation nevertheless," answered Fitzwilliam. "Another time, perhaps…"

And he switched on d'Arcy.

Who was just comfortably ensconced in a lavish sofa between Jane and Maureen and they were just basking in each other's light.

This time there was no surroundings. Just a vaporous soothing mist that gave him immediately a sense of homeliness and what the Germans call Gemütlichkeit (coziness).

"Hello, Fitzwilliam…" said d'Arcy. "What are you doing in our dream?"

"And he is conscious," said Jane. "How weird!"

"You know that I'm awake?"

"Indeed, you don't feel asleep, how do you do it?"

"I use the upgrade to communicate with you," said Fitzwilliam. "I've just been called by the Eldorado Aliens. The Sikorans won't, finally, make contact with us. They will wait till we have put a manned spaceship in orbit."

He saw d'Arcy nod.

"Good for us, that. It would have been a major problem, this membership. At least we will have a few more decades before facing that ugly not so little decision." He looked at his wives and they both nodded. Within a fraction of a second they both disappeared and the surroundings changed to look like d'Arcy's war-room.

"You know how to change your dreams?" asked Fitzwilliam.

"Same as you, brother, it's just because you are conscious for the first time of what you can do in a dream that you think it weird. But in truth while dreaming you can do what you want..."

Both took place in their usual seats.

"They asked me to convene a family meeting."

"Yes, every one needs to know…" He looked at Fitzwilliam. "Let's see if I can use that upgrade of ours to invite a few more participants."

And, immediately Gérault and Napoleon appeared in the room.

D'Arcy smiled at his brother in law and at the man he still considered as his Boss, even if it was in very strange terms.

Gérault didn't seem rattled but Napoleon's frown was quite amusing.

"I suppose you weren't asleep, as usual…" said d'Arcy while speaking with Napoleon.

"I was in my office reading reports… How did you bring me here?"

"I didn't, I'm using a feature of our upgrade Fitzwilliam just discovered. It seems it gives us the opportunity to communicate over long distances without having to make the journey. You're still in your office I suppose but your mind is with us."

"And we can even be regrouped?" asked Duroc.

"That's probably because I'm asleep," said d'Arcy. "I wanted you with me so it happened because I was able to share my dream. Not sure it would have been so easy had I been awake." He looked at Fitzwilliam. "Since you and Napoleon are awake you will probably be the only ones who will remember. You'll have to convene a real family meeting to inform the whole bunch of us, I suppose."

"It was my intention," answered Fitzwilliam. He looked at Napoleon. "Can you come to Pemberley with the rest of your family this very day? They all need to know what I have just been informed of."

"If it is important I'll do what's necessary but if it is important I would prefer to be informed immediately…"

"Of course, it was never my intent not to inform you. So, a few minutes ago…"


I

-°-oOo-°-

It was late afternoon, and pitch dark, when the French airship came down on the Pemberley airfield. As asked Gérault had made a little side trip to Paris and had taken the First Consul aboard his airship. The rest of their families were aboard and the whole affair could, thanks to their presence, be presented as a family gathering.

Of course each time Napoleon had made an impromptu visit to Pemberley the Press had gotten it all worked up but with nothing more than a few words of explanation provided by Fitzwilliam's staff it had always ended with only a short report in the papers.

People were still interested in what the extended family was doing together but the journalists had stopped a long time ago to try to weasel information out of Pemberley's staff members. So, the next day the world would know that Napoleon and his family had spent the evening and the night in Pemberley.

And that would probably be the wholeness of the report.

"When do we begin?"

"As soon as everybody's here," answered Fitzwilliam to Napoleon's question. "We will have to discuss about our next steps…" He looked around him to remind everybody that they could still be under surveillance. "I really would prefer not to have to repeat myself. Meanwhile, the table is set and a luncheon has been prepared."

"Well your cook is quite the chef, it won't be a waste of time…" answered Napoleon while looking at d'Arcy with a mischievous little smile. "And to say the truth I would have come anyway. I have an important announcement which will explain the reason of my presence here with a quite credible reason…"

The frown on d'Arcy's face made his current smile swell tenfold.

He looked at the assembled people.

"Won't we go inside? I know we no longer risk getting ill because of the cold but I still prefer it warm and cosy…"


"Why?" asked d'Arcy while making a face. "I am no longer interested in titles and riches…"

"But I'm interested in using every possible mean at my disposal to secure my Empire for my son," answered Napoleon. "And nominating you Prince of Dalmatia has a lot of advantages for me and the Empire."

"You'd be my direct neighbor," smiled Gérault. "I must admit that I'm thrilled to get you back aboard. There's a lot of work to do and I never was quite satisfied with the way you chose to disengage yourself from the job. Now that the Chinese have blown the whistle there is no longer a sane reason not to put you back in the saddle and use your tremendous possibilities to do more than please your numerous wives!"

"Why Dalmatia?" grumbled d'Arcy.

"Don't play dumb with us, man…" said Napoleon. "Because with that idiotic Serbian Crisis nagging at Russia's patience, having you at Alexander's border will deflate a lot of Russian officers' impetuousness. I don't want a war with Russia because some Boyards are angry with our policy of receiving refugees they call terrorists! With you just sitting there –even without an army to back you- I'm quite sure nobody will even think of sending a little expeditionary corps to get at the Serbians' throat." His smile got even wider. "You do have quite a reputation, my friend and your recent Asian campaign has shown not only that you haven't lost your legendary flair for winning battles but that you are also able to win battles in the old bloody gut-spilling way our forefather used commonly."

"And you know that you are now the most popular French of the entire Dalmatian peninsula," added Duroc.

"Probably even the most popular of the whole Asian and African part of the Consulate's Empire," said Napoleon. "The Syrians and Egyptians agree on only one point: you are the best! But in Dalmatia they do worship you and your wives! Putting you in charge in Dalmatia will ensure us the population's support and with that ugly guerilla war in Serbia we need every advantage to stay in touch with our Slavic underlings. They don't like each other and when it comes to kill said other they prefer to do it themselves within the family. With you there to remind everybody that playing foul could be a very bad idea and awake the sleeping bear, we have a chance to secure the whole region…"

"And, perhaps, to put an end to the war in Serbia," said Josephine. "You could play a major role in the region if you came out with a proposal to act as a middleman between Russia and the Serbian rebels. They both respect you and it could unwind the situation. If we do nothing we will have a civil war at our borders for the century to come…"

"And what about asking me? I'm perhaps not interested in coming back? Retirement did agree with me."

"You've gotten a sixteen years' leave," countered Napoleon.

"It was expensive enough," grumbled d'Arcy.

"You chose the price, remember? Now it is time to stop gallivanting and increasing your family to come back to work at your brothers' side. We have important decisions to take and we need the d'Arcy ready and visible to warrantee that some of those decisions are accepted even by the most foolish of our neighbors. And after your little Asian campaign there is nobody anywhere who's not aware that you don't hesitate to butcher whole armies to get the result you want. Your England campaign had made them forget that you have it in you to be a gutless killer who knows what to do to get results." A smile blossomed on his lips. "And I have heard that quite a few of our Russian brother's generals have changed the words they use while speaking about us. They haven't seen me as a strategist for a long time and they were more and more believing that I had lost the edge. They were, more and more, believing that, perhaps, if they chose the moment with care, they had the means to get at us..." He shook his head with a very satisfied expression on his face. "That's no longer the case! Now that they know who you are and what you are still capable of, they have begun to think about their own mortality before launching their Cossaks against our border troops." He came nearer and placed his hand on d'Arcy's shoulder. "No, it is the best move I can think of, Geoff. I need you there to show that I trust you and that I give you the means to play an important role in France. And placing you at a place where you have already a long history of being at home and accepted by the locals, has a second even more important signification: it says that I'm not scared to support a man who has local allegiances. The people there love and respect you and I don't give a damn because we trust each other." He looked d'Arcy in the eyes. "We could have been mortal enemies but you chose another path..." He looked at Jane thus acknowledging her role in that matter. "And on that path we are brothers trusting and helping each other!"

D'Arcy looked at his first wife.

"What do you have to say about it?"

"As he said: we've had sixteen years of being together in peace and love... I'm sure that you being there looking at Serbia will be enough to stop all those ugly little warmongers in their track and push them to find some other way to skim their part of the cream out of the Czar's bowl. Your coming-back will help to maintain peace in these countries." She sighed and looked in the direction of the sky. "But let's not forget those others problems we still have to resolve."


I

-°-oOo-°-

Charles, as Fitzwilliam had surmised was the most enthusiastic. He would have loved to have access to the Galactic data but he was even more pleased that his researchers would have, for a few decades more, the opportunity to do what they were best at: solving the mysteries of science.

He was just opening his mouth to go on when Fitzwilliam stopped him.

"And no, the spreading of the upgrade won't be added to our agenda!"

That got him a smile and a shrug.

"Can't reproach me to try again to convince you… You know I deem it important!"

Fitzwilliam smiled back.

"We know, Charles and even if we don't agree with your point of view, we appreciate your position in the matter. We will speak about it another time!"

"Don't let too much time pass by, it is important for all those men and women who are literally risking their life while we speak about a problem which is no longer ours. I really feel responsible to fight for them. It…"

"Charles!" interrupted Fitzwilliam. "Remember, it is not on our agenda, today!"

Charles smiled ruefully and sighed.

"Alright, I'm done but I will be back!"

"We don't doubt it for a second," said Fitzwilliam while turning toward Napoleon. "Let's speak about the main point on our agenda. What should we do about it?"

Napoleon shrugged.

"We have no say in this matter, have we? So we just go on with our life but we don't forget that we are under heavy surveillance. They know we know, so we will be able to speak, from time to time, about the things we suspect. It will be difficult not to walk on our tongue and blabber about what we know and shouldn't know. We will have to be very very prudent not to reveal the existence of the Eldorado Aliens."

"Why is it important, Uncle," asked Janet. "It is no fault of ours that they are here…"

"Those are Aliens, girl," answered Napoleon. "No way to guess how they could react to the new that we have been in contact with another Alien race. It could be that, seeing their experimentation flawed from the beginning they chose to take definite –as in lethal- measures. Better to give them the illusion that they got us with our still intact scientific virginity."

"We know about their surveillance bugs," said William. "It could be enough to flaw their experience."

"Indeed but that blunder is their fault and not the fault of outsiders. I know bureaucrats quite well, they will try to cover their own mistakes but they will loudly denounce those of others. So we have a real chance that they will 'forget' about their little blunder. They won't if they learn about the Eldorado aliens."

"So it stays within our not so little circle and…" d'Arcy looked at Fluffy and her son who were now, as were the kids, part of the Family Gathering. "You take care of as much bugs as necessary."

"Will do!" agreed both.

"The best will probably be to never speak about our alien knowledge," said Fitzwilliam. "Those already present know that we know but I'm quite sure they won't confess to the newcomers. While following these rules we have a chance that said blunder will never be known by anyone outside this solar system. It could be that our survival depends on it." He looked at everybody. "I know that you are very good at keeping secrets so let's keep this one even better than those of old days that no longer are secrets..."

That got him the laugh he wanted.


I

-°-oOo-°-

"What do you think of this new occurrence," asked Betty while sipping her preferred lemonade. For the third time the Dark Council had been called in and the other kids –those who were no longer toddlers at least- had been invited. Fluffy and Speedy were both there too. Fluffy in Betty's arms and Speedy crawled in a ball in Lionel's lap.

"I don't know what to think," answered William who, as King to Be, was chairing. "I am not sure if I prefer it that way. I would have liked it to be able to see Earth from orbit."

"It's not yet too late," said Leon, Kitty's oldest son. "My dad will soon have found ways to get us into orbit."

"I don't doubt it but I believe it would be better if we abstain. His love for technological progress had pushed him into forgetting what it would have cost us to be 'included' while not enough civilized."

"We are civilized," protested Janet. "Civilization has nothing to do with how many technologies you master. It is an ethical point of view."

"No it's not," countered Lionel who wasn't impressed at all by him being the youngest –his sister Joan not counted- of the assembly. He had, like every upgraded kid shown that he was much smarter than most 'normals' his age. Normal being the qualifier they tended to use to label those humans who hadn't benefited from the upgrade. "Ethics and technologies are only side products, what is important is a race's acceptation to affect its surroundings. What is civilized is everything that brings you to achieve your goals. You can have all the technologies in the Universe if you are too pusillanimous to use them you will be crushed by those who don't have your scruples."

Janet, who didn't like him at all –and her father not liking Lionel's father, had, of course, played no role in her antipathy- shot him a dark glance.

"I'm not sure," said Geoffrey before his sister could squash Lionel as she was clearly going to try. "Lionel is quite right when he insists on the fact that Civilization is also a way for a race to impose its point of view to other less civilized ones." He smiled at his sister who looked at him as if he had betrayed her. "By having this respite we will probably be able to give our own Human civilization more backbone."

"Who cares about the normals' civilization," protested Lionel. "They look like us but when all is said and done are just a little over animals. What is important is our civilization. The civilization of the Upgrades!"

"There is no such thing," protested Janet.

"Indeed there is," countered Lionel. "Look at what we upgrades are able to do, we lead and they follow! They are nothing but cattle."

"We were normal once upon a time," said Betty.

"Speak for you," countered Lionel. "I am as I was when mamma bore me. We youngsters are the real thing. You and the old generation are only imitations. You've never really felt what it means to be superior!"

There was a collective growl who threatened to smother everything else when William intervened.

"He's right, you know!" said he to stop what could very well erupt in a general fight. "He is perhaps more or less an extremist with the way he speaks about it but, when all is said and told, he's right. He and those his age were born with the upgrade. They have never lived 'normal' lives." He pointed at Lionel. "He knew when he was but a toddler that he could climb shear walls and jump out of third storey windows without ever being at risk. It is quite clear that he cannot understand us, us who changed."

"But everybody can change," protested Janet. "Isn't a superiority everybody can obtain not a superiority at all?"

"Most would die if upgraded," said Betty. "Without mamma and Aunt Kitty, most of those who were upgraded –me included- would have died horribly while in searing pain. The upgrade is not an easy superiority. As I see it, it could very well be that there isn't any normal who would survive being upgraded."

"You should stop antagonizing them," whispered Speedy to his best and only friend. "They are upgrades but they have learned to be normal before. They will never be able to understand you. But remember that you need them. Without them, who had invited you and have trusted and included you in their mist, you're alone. And believe me you don't want to be alone. Not ever."

"But we can't look at normal as if they were animals," insisted Janet.

"And you are right," conceded William while shooting a warning glance in Lionel's direction. "But you must consider Lionel's point of view. As he said he is as we are since he is born. He knows intimately what he is able to do with his enhanced capacities. We are still learning and it is quite possible that we will never know everything about the possibilities our new enhanced bodies are capable of."

"Being able to do wondrous physical deeds doesn't give the right to despise normal!"

"I don't despise 'normals'" protested Lionel. Which was the truth since he considered them unworthy of even his spite. For him even cattle were better. At least he could find them cute. "But you must accept the fact that we," and he took great care to include them in his 'we', "are different and that, once they know, they will never accept us as their equals and never forgive us that we are better than them. They will always envy us…"

"If they don't know about us," said Lexi, "they won't be envious."

"Which will only postpone the reality of our difference, dear," said Alexandre. "Lionel is right: should they one day learn about our little gift, they will react badly." He sighed. "And if there's one thing that I know for sure it is that, one day someone will be at a bad place at a bad time and will survive what nobody could have survived and that day it will start being very dangerous for us."

"All the more the reason not to let random luck decide when it is known," said Geoffrey. "If we all agree that should our secret be revealed under bad circumstances it would trigger catastrophic reactions, we need to think about a way to let it be known without causing too much trouble."

He looked at William.

"Shall we begin our brainstorm?"


I

-°-oOo-°-

"I love it…" said Jane while sending her pleasure full bore through the link. "We no longer need to move to be with each other. I can't fathom how this will change our life."

"We should, at least when we are together, go on speaking," commented Kitty. "The servants will begin to gossip if we begin acting suspiciously."

"Is silence suspicious?" asked Georgiana.

"Between Jane and Lizzie while they are within a hundred yards from each other?" said Lydia. "Yes, yes and yes! Nobody will believe it is not suspicious. They will suspect illness!"

"But speaking is so less…" Jane searched for words. "Complete… Now I can send my love, my pleasure, my worry at the same time that I send my thoughts."

"That's only true with us, dear," said Lizzie. "Fitzwilliam pretends that when you send your thoughts to him it feels exactly the same as if you speak. The speed not taken into account."

"How so?"

Since her four sisters had asked the exact same question at the exact same time, they soon were all merrily laughing.

"Let's hope nobody is observing us," said Georgiana after long seconds of a invigorating laugh. "They will believe us crazy to laugh out in such a manner without reason."

"They will forgive us," said Jane. "We are renowned for our uniqueness, aren't we? But you are right since we are all in Pemberley let us meet in the yellow study. We will awake less suspicions."

"Before we move," said Kitty while looking at Lizzie. "You haven't answered our question. What has speed to do with our new gift."

"It is faster than speaking. We are able to send much more thoughts than we would have spoken words in the same time. We don't really fathom the difference but he is sure about it…"

"Well," said Georgiana. "I do hope that it is the case because I have, all my life, felt that I had not enough time to spend doing important things…"

"Important things like?" asked Lizzie.

"Chatting? Gossiping?"

Once more laughter filled Pemberley's corridors.


I

-°-oOo-°-

"I'm very sorry, sisters" said finally Kitty when they were all together in the yellow study. "It is my fault, I should have thought of it much earlier."

"Why so?" asked Lizzie, Jane and Mary. Lydia, Georgiana and Maureen just smiled at each other. This mind sharing thing had brought back a lot of similarities between the Bennet sisters.

"Because of Rupert and I… We speak thus together since Amazonia. But I was sure that it was a mother-child thing. I would never have thought that it was an upgrade induced possibility."

"So were we," agreed Jane. "And I must admit that I was rather dimwitted in this field since I did never even try it with my own kids. Be them from my first birth or from my second. It just never crossed my mind to make the try. As I said dimwitted!"

"Well we will have to make serious studies to be sure not to miss another marvelous gift." She let a gigantic smile blossom on her lips. "Imagine being pregnant and being able to speak/feel with the unborn kid…"

A raw wave of unaltered pleasure overwhelmed her.

"Indeed…"


I

-°-oOo-°-

"Will we indeed be able to speak to each other over great distances?" asked Duroc.

"We will soon know when you are going back," answered d'Arcy. "We will try to maintain a shift to see if there is a lessening of the signal. As I see it, it will not lessen. I really believe that we will be able to communicate with each other over long distances…"

"We'll soon see if you are right," said Napoleon. "This is quite a revolution indeed. Even without sending thoughts I'm nevertheless aware of Josephine's well being. I literally feel her." He let one of his very rare genuine smile blossom on his lips. "I have problems to find qualifiers for what I'm feeling…"

"And we no longer have to fear the spybugs," said Charles. "I'm quite sure that they can't listen to us when we are mind-sharing."

"I really hope so," said Mr. Bennet. "I didn't like the idea of eavesdropping, I must say that I hate the idea of mindspying."

"And this should give me the ultimate argument to get your acceptation for an even broader spreading," thought-sent Charles while broadcasting his intense satisfaction. "I'm quite sure that the perspective to have means to communicate with your upgraded spies all over the world will soon crush all your former scruples about the risks we would put our loved ones in. Ready to risk a little wager, gentlemen?"

The only answer he got was a few black looks and waves of angry thoughts.


I

-°-oOo-°-

"We won't have our own planets very soon," sent Duroc while he and Napoleon where in appearance only looking in silence at the waves of the North Sea.

"Not immediately, that's sure but even had they made contact we wouldn't have gotten them immediately. We have nobody who's prepared for such an endeavor and with this unwanted respite we will have the opportunity to prepare the people we will need to be –to use one of Charles favorite words- operational as soon as we get what we want."

"You mean with schools and so on?"

"It's the 'so on' that important, Gérauld, it's the 'so on' that's important!" He looked his friend and adviser in the eyes. "We could do what is in our power to send only the very best of Humanity, Gérauld. Only the very best!"

Gérauld who wasn't quite an idiot understood immediately what his Boss was hinting at.

"They won't like it if we do it behind their back, Boss."

"We won't do it behind their back, my friend. You know I often laugh at Charles Bingley but when everything is said and told, he, the entrepreneur, is the smartest of us all. He is the only one of us who keeps his feet on the ground. He was right from the beginning and we really need to give this upgrade to as much people as possible." He looked at his friend and shook his head. "We will lose a few, or even a lot of them… So what? We won't force anybody, they will come from alone and they will exactly know what could happen. They die, their choice. They live, their luck! And those who don't have the balls to try it will also have to live up with the consequences of their choices."

"Jane won't like it… You know that without her you would be dead right now and France would have shattered into all his different antagonistic components. You are the glue that holds that thing together. And even if the kids will be able to do the same in a few years, when you were sick and dying, they weren't!"

"I know it as I know that Josephine has been finally able to bear my children thanks to her. She could be the only one who could stop me but I'm quite sure that she won't even try. She's perhaps, most of the time, lost in her dream world but she's also a mother and she has seen her kids evolve and look death into the eyes. Jane will cope with the new reality because of her love for her children, I'm sure of it. But as much as I know that she will, finally, accept my/our decision, as much I know that there will be a price to pay to get her support. We will have to find a way to give all the candidates the same chance to survive."

"Which means what?"

"Which means that we will have to increase our medical knowledge tenfold and find ways to heal people better, if possible ways that have nothing to do with the Bennet women's witchcraft…"

"There's no suc…"

"Don't even try to deny it, my friend. I have my own spy net and I know what these weavers are doing with Pemberley's grove and pond. And it is none of my business as long as they do it secretly and without showing their arts to the masses. But, and you agree with me, I'm sure, that peculiar way to heal people must stay a family secret. No outsider must ever have the slightest hint that they exist and that they are real. Should anything come out we will have the priests of every fanatical religion –and believe me, for that they will all be fanatical and, for once, agree on everything- calling for murder." Gérauld could feel Napoleon's eagerness to see it happen. He would launch his armies against them and it would be a bloody massacre with no party showing mercy but with Napoleon –being the best prepared- victorious in the end. But with streams of blood tainting the world oceans.

"What else can we do?"

"We'll have to call on dear Mrs. Bennet. Her medical expertise is, even if I wouldn't have bet on her success a few years ago, the best available. We'll have to see with her and her doctors if we are, outside of magic, able to find ways to get upgraded people to live long enough to have the bug help them and no longer kill them."

"We could ask her immediately…"

"Indeed," said Napoleon while laughing. "I'm not yet used to it!"


"Of course it should be possible," sent Mrs. Bennet while she was mimicking being asleep in her armchair. She was in the Meryton Grace, the airship Kitty and the other girls had offered their father for his seventieths' birthday and on her way back to London and her General Healthcare Center. Mr. Bennet was frowning while reading the latest reports coming out of America, his favorite subject for the last two years. "But as of now, with the few candidates I had to treat, they only survived because Jane and Kitty were there to intervene in time. Without them they would all have died."

"But you really believe," insisted Napoleon, "that you could extend the survival period long enough?"

"I never thought of it in these terms but I must admit that you are probably right. We have to make the candidates endure the changing not cure them of the bug. The bug is not an illness it is a work in progress and it would be counterproductive to go on trying to heal the candidates since healing them would destroy the bug and that's not what we want." She nodded and her husband's frown deepened while he looked at her. "We should be able to avoid the subject dying because of what the bug is doing to his body. And if we stretch this period enough, after a certain time, the enhancement should take over and the candidate will be out of danger…"

"Who's it?" asked Mr. Bennet.

"Napoleon" verbalized Mrs. Bennet silently. "I'll explain later…"


I

-°-oOo-°-

"Two more years, Lionel," said Rob Roy. "And this isn't open for negotiations. The Sprite refuses candidates younger than seven. It's a question of motherly interference. Seven it must be!"

"But I'm smarter than all of them," protested Lionel for the thousandth time.

"I agree and I'm as excited as you to have you as a pupil when the time comes, but as for now, the Sprite is adamant: with your mother's Ethereal Body interfering, you would be in danger to hurt her while learning your spells." He knelt before young Lionel Darcy. "We wouldn't want to hurt your mother, would we?"

"Of course not, but…"

"No buts, young man. You are lucky to have the smartest woman of all the Isles for a mother, and you will do what is necessary to protect her, won't you?"

"Of course…"

"So, you'll have to wait two more years before becoming my pupil. And it is a good thing…"

"Why by God?"

"Because, for now, I am learning my job as a teacher and, ask your cousins, I'm a lousy teacher…"

Rupert and Fitzwilliam, the only pupils in Rob Roy's "class" protested loudly. They quite liked their new teacher, he was fun and had a lot of amusing stories to tell.

"Don't protest boys, it is a fact that I'm learning my trade on the job. And I'm not very good at it because I have no patience. So be happy because you'll be my pupil only in two years and even a fossilized old man like me should be able to have learned enough in two years to be, at last, a just about correct teacher." He pointed at his current batch of pupils. "They are facing my teething troubles and they will be taught a lot less efficiently than you will once I'm operational." He winked at the frowning little boy facing him. "And there is a last advantage to have two more years before entering my lofty and windy classroom."

"And that would be?"

"Since you are so much smarter than everybody else I advise you to use these two years to go through all the natural science classes you are able to put up with in order to be free to work twice as hard when you're finally with me." Once more he pointed at his current pupils. "These poor boys will only have the pleasure to have me for a teacher two hours a day. Because they have not worked hard enough on all the other matters of their curriculum before entering my class and they have four other teachers waiting for them. In two years' time, it could be that, because you already know everything of your natural science classes, you could have the privilege –or the curse- to have me as a teacher for twice as long…"

"And learning twice as fast…"

"Probably thrice as fast since meanwhile I will be a real teacher," smiled Rob Roy.

A smile blossomed on Lionel's lips.

"You are right, there are ways to not lose more time than necessary," said the young serious boy facing him. "I'll do what is necessary to have you for four hours each day…"

"Weekends not included!" reminded him Rob Roy. "Weekends not included!"


"He won't forget your promises," said Tilana who had been Rob Roy's 'woman of choice' for the last six months. She had resisted his advances for more than a year and it had paid. To get her he had accepted to be committed and, for the time being, they were both quite satisfied with their association.

"I know," grumbled Rob Roy. "I pray that he will but there will be no such luck. He will insist on his four daily hours."

"He will indeed," smiled Tilana. "I have never seen a more dedicated boy. He knows exactly what he wants. I'm sure he is already pestering his Aunt to get better teachers."

"They have already the best here in Pemberley," said Rob Roy. "Me not included, of course."

"Since you are the only available master of your arts, there is no better one, so, just grammatically, even if you were a bad teacher, which you are not, you are the best available."

He thanked her with a kiss.


I

-°-oOo-°-

"We already have the very best teachers, dear," said Jane while smiling at little Lionel and stroking a very affectionate Speedy. And the fact that he was purring did make it a rather intense experience because Nightcrawlers were very effective purers. "We had thousands of candidates and those we chose we selected because of their extended knowledge and because of their vast experience teaching young children. You are sure none of them is acceptable for you?"

"I've spoken with all of them and they all make believe that they want me as a pupil, but underneath they just don't like me…"

Which was probably the case.

"The only teacher who likes me is Rob Roy and he can't teach me for two more years."

Being a loner like you, thought Jane, he's probably the only one who understands you on an intimate basis.

"The Sprite won't accept kids under seven, you were warned, remember?"

"I was but Rob is the only one who doesn't look at me as if I were weird."

Being weird himself, it's probably a question of same liking same

"I'll see if I can find a natural science teacher for you, dear," said Jane finally. "You grant me a day or two to conclude my search?"

He was immediately embracing her.

"Of course, Aunt Jane." He looked her in the eyes and, for once, they were smiling.

"I love you too, dear," said finally Jane when she was again alone.


I

-°-oOo-°-

"I probably have more than a few scientists who are just like the one you look for," answered Charles. "But why would you want a loner with no social skills?"

"Because since Fitzwilliam we both know that loners with no social skills can hide the best of men?"

She felt him smile.

"You are right, I'll send a bunch of them to you and you'll have your pick, does it agree with you?"

"Totally, a thousand thanks…"

"Always at your service, dear sister."


I

-°-oOo-°-