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17 Chapter 17 Debriefing
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Jane was relieved. They were all awake and in good health.
"Well" said her father. "It was interesting and if I judge from your faces the experience hasn't been too disturbing for you."
"It was" protested Kitty who had, since her awakening been very busy playing with her son, "but in the very best sense of the word 'disturbing' since this Twims has opened a new awareness in what my son's capable of." She lifted said son and sprut him on the navel which immediately prompted a laughing yell from both of them. "And I like what I found out very much."
"Neither will I agree with you, father" said d'Arcy. "It was disturbing for me too." He smiled at Kitty. "Even if it is not for the same reasons."
"Let's not enter this conversation with emotion-based impressions," said Fitzwilliam. "Let's just exchange what we have learned. We'll speak about how we feel about what happened afterwards. Do we agree?"
"Of course your Majesty" teased Elizabeth. "Who are we to contradict our beloved King?"
Fitzwilliam shot her a droll look and was placated by the kiss she sent him from where she sat with her son in her arms. Son who looked not rattled at all.
"I'll begin then" he said after having looked at every family member –and friend for Josephine and her son- present.
"What is sure is that Ishalon and Jed are interested in seeing us progress. They have clearly let me know that they would help us, at least by giving us hints about what is possible and what could steer us in directions where Mankind would be in danger."
"As for helping us, I agree" said Charles when Fitzwilliam stopped and invited them to react. "Jed clearly agreed to push us in the right direction to optimize our researches."
"So, did he with me," agreed Alexandre.
"And with me, too" concluded Mr. Bennet.
Since nobody had anything to add Fitzwilliam went on.
"He did not just agree with helping us on the future, he gave me very precise indications about what we should privilege and what we should avoid. He was quite insistent about being incredibly careful not to poison Earth's nature with our productive activities. As he said 'what kills a fish or a plant will also kill humans' and since I'm very fond of what nature bestowed us I'm more than inclined to take measures to induce producers to develop means of production that don't pollute nature."
"I'll see what can be done with Edward" said Charles. "We have already spoken about the problem a few times. But we thought that nature had the capacity to absorb what pollutants we were dumping in it."
"Nature does but only, I suppose, until a certain level is reached. Let's see that we reach that level as late as possible!"
"Will do, boss" said Charles with a smile. "As always it is a matter of cost and happily for you, the Company has the means to cut into its profit to take the necessary measures."
"I'll ask papa to do the same in France" said Alexandre while looking at his mother who with her smile assured him of her support. "Since a protected nature is important for Mankind's survival and since we are warned early, we will do what's necessary to force the greedy and the selfish to take care of the society's needs."
"Thanks Alexandre, it will help if both the most developed countries take the same measures."
"What about the Americans" asked Mr. Bennet. "If I remember them correctly, they weren't very respectful of their bountiful nature. People who aren't loath to eradicate their natives won't be very open to such cost increasing considerations."
"We'll see if we can convince them once we are in Washington" said Fitzwilliam with a smile. "I do believe that some of my arguments will touch even greedy egotists like them."
"Fine," chuckled Charles. "Are you done?"
"Not quite, Charles" said Fitzwilliam. "My host was quite exhaustive once I asked him for his advice. He gave me a few other answers which are pointing directly at you, my friend."
"Then I'll take notes" answered Charles while taking his pen and notebook. "I listen."
"I'll be as concise as possible, if you need explanations, please ask when I'm done with my list." He closed his eyes and went through the mental conversation he'd just had. "No carbonate fuels to produce electricity or move vehicles. We should produce where the people live to reduce the transport problem." He looked at Charles. "That answer came when I spoke about your floating factories. I suppose that axiom can also be used when we speak of energy production. You remember our chats about the difficulties you have to store electricity?"
"Indeed, I remember quite well since it is a real problem with electricity" answered Charles. He looked at Mr. Bennet who having not been present for quite a long time in Spalatro had no idea of said problem. "Electricity is a marvelous 'fluid' but since you can't store it you have to bring it to enough people to use everything you produce and to do that we have found only one solution: iron wires that go from the producer to the user."
"You mean those ugly black strings overhead we have seen in your palace in Spalatro?"
"Indeed" said Charles. "And believe me it hurts my love for architecture each time I look at them. So, it is only provisory, I swear, but as of now this is the only way to bring power from one point to another. My people are looking at a way to protect the wire in order to bury them, but it isn't easy."
"And they are dangerous…" insisted Fitzwilliam.
"Indeed, if you touch one…" said Charles while making a face toward Kitty who had been very adamant that wires that dangerous must be kept out of her children's way. Hence the placement overhead in the middle of the streets and not along the roofs where Charles had initially planned to put them.
"You are just dead…" completed Kitty. "And I won't let my babies…" she looked at her sisters and her friend, "…or yours, taking the risk of grasping one of those!" She shot a warning look to her husband. "And even if I agree that it is besmirching the evanescent beauty of our exquisite home, I won't accept to see them anywhere near a point our little horde of barbarians could, with a little imagination, reach."
"I agreed, remember?" pleaded Charles. "Not even my maintenance crew can reach them easily! It is the most secured system we could imagine…"
"Nevertheless" insisted Kitty. "I want them out of there as soon as possible."
"I think they gave me the solution, Charles" interrupted Fitzwilliam who knew from personal experience that a Bennet in active kid protection mode was not an easy opponent. "He spoke of windmills and of solar panels."
Charles closed his eyes for a second.
"Indeed it will work! We were so obsessed with finding new more modern ways that we forgot the old ways which we could improve. Yes, you are right windmills could produce electricity locally. And there are perhaps other things we could adapt. I'll have to ask my p…" He stopped abruptly. "What are solar panels?"
"I really don't know, Charles. He described it as a way to transform the energy transported by sun rays into electricity. He also spoke of little windows… That's all I know for now; we will perhaps have other hints in the future but his insistence drives me to believe that it is a path to follow with resolve."
"Man, you got quite a few interesting news" smiled Charles while scribbling in his notebook. "Anything else?"
"Yes" agreed Fitzwilliam. "He advised not to use matter splitting to produce energy. He was rather insistent on that one but didn't give any further explanation..;"
"Alright, no matter splitting" said Charles while writing it down.
"And," said Fitzwilliam, "he spoke of the General Universal radiation level which could be used to generate energy. I'm no longer sure but he said that this General Universal radiation level would be the best way to produce energy."
"I'll call it GURL" smiled Charles. "And I'll send my best men and women on that path." He looked up from his notebook. "But it would help if we had a few more hints. I like solving mysteries but at least knowing what a radiation is would help…"
"If we have another opportunity to ask," answered Fitzwilliam, "let's not forget to add this question to the lot." He looked at Charles. "For me, I said everything that's worth to share. You, Charles?"
"Nothing as complete as your information but I got a few additional things which could be interesting." He smiled at Fitzwilliam. "You'll probably tease me for being a greedy customer, but I learned that they could not only manufacture gold but also diamonds and those even more easily. So, I brokered a few of them as part of my deal to promote advance in technology."
"With 'a few' I suppose you mean a lot" smiled Fitzwilliam.
"Depends on where you begin with" answered Charles with a satisfied smirk. "For me, a million is not so very much…"
Fitzwilliam looked at the heavens while shaking his head. Charles was his best friend and his brother but sometimes his need to get more of everything was rather pathetic.
"Hey" protested Charles who knew Fitzwilliam as good as Fitzwilliam knew him. "Please don't judge me too harshly, everything's for the best reasons. We have a lot of research and development –hey I like that combination, I'll introduce it in next month's Patent Explainer- to finance! Each penny will be useful, you'll see."
"I don't doubt it a second, Charles and I know that you are the most generous man I have ever encountered but, from time to time I'm still surprised at your need to gather things around you." He smiled at Kitty. "Luckily your collecting urge doesn't include women, or we would be submerged under little Bingleys!"
"I'm fidelity incarnate" agreed Charles. "Kitty and the kids are all I need to be a happy family man. And, to say the truth, me being so shy," that brought out a general laughter, "seducing another woman would be too time-consuming! With everything I have to gather around me, I really don't have any time left."
He got what he wanted and soon the atmosphere was anew light and relaxed.
"A thing I learned which I will put into the hands of my best researchers is the concept of 'computer', a sort of thinking machine that helps to collate facts and figures. I know that Descartes has drafted a first reckoning machine and I'll go from there to get new ideas. I'm sure that electricity has opened brand new fields we have no idea exist."
"He spoke also with me about those machines" interrupted Maureen.
"Why would he do that?" asked Lizzy.
"It seems that they use them to replace people when the tasks are repetitive and boring. Which seems a good idea to me."
Maureen smiled at her daughter.
"We will use what they hint at with care and circumspection" agreed Fitzwilliam as much for his family than for the others who were, he was sure of it, listening. "It must never be known by anybody outside this room," he looked at Alexandre, "your father excluded, of course, but only him, what we learned about their origins and past. We must use Charles' reputation as a raving technology lover to direct all those hints as being ideas born from one of his many researchers."
"I'll include a few new columns in my Patent Explainer, one of them having as a subject what I will call 'groundbreaking ideas' and I'll feed some of those ideas myself. We should be able to easily cover our tracks."
"If I'm right they'll help us with more than mere hints" said Mr. Bennet. "I'm not sure how they will do it, but they'll be more dynamic than what you believe. I consider it will come in the form of resources to boost our theoretical knowledge in mathematics and physics which they consider as the most important sciences to develop. We will have to find top researchers who are willing to front for us as the men –or women- who did the thinking."
"Shouldn't be too difficult" smiled d'Arcy, "if we use a little spy charade to explain how we got the groundbreaking discoveries. I haven't encountered a patriot who isn't ready to certify an enemy's invention as his to serve his country." He looked at Alexandre. "And we can surely count on France's spies to steal shamelessly our scientists' discoveries."
Alexandre nodded with a smile.
"I'm sure it can be arranged."
Fitzwilliam nodded and looked around him.
"Is there anything else which should be shared between us in matters technological boost or knowledge about our hosts?"
"Not on the implied matters but there is more on a more personal level."
D'Arcy frowned at her.
"How much more personal, dear?"
"A lot more personal" she answered with a bright smile. "It seems that you'll finally have to ask your brothers about what to do with a new-born."
"You're with child!" was the general womanly outcry in the room.
"Children" rectified Maureen. "Seems there is another pair of twins en route."
After five minutes of mad gibberish Fitzwilliam decided to close the meeting. For today the techno talk was clearly at an end! The men in the room decided that more manly congratulations were in order and pulled d'Arcy toward the bar to let him share his satisfaction with a bottle of fine Fine Napoleon.
_oOo_
"You are not the only one pregnant" said Jane finally before immediately nodding at her questioning sisters. "Me too, indeed, but not only, it seems that Josephine's pregnant too…" There were more outcries and cheers.
After a few minutes of merry congratulations Jane looked at Josephine a question in her eyes.
Josephine finally nodded and made a gesture to ask for the floor.
Seeing that she was no longer smiling all stopped talking.
"There is more, isn't it" asked Mrs. Bennet.
"I'm going to die" answered Josephine. "I won't probably survive to the birth giving."
"You're not yet dead" said Lizzie while looking at Jane. "We won't let you!"
"There's probably nothing to do" whispered Josephine. She looked at them. "I just hope you'll save my daughter."
"We'll save her and you" insisted Jane. "We'll all be in Pemberley to help you if you want. Will you accept to be with us? I promise we'll do everything in our might to save her and you."
"Why Pemberley?"
"Because Pemberley is where we all gave birth" replied Kitty. "Pemberley is the best place in the world to give birth, I swear it…" She looked at Elizabeth who nodded. "We'll show you why it is so…"
_oOo_
"We have to speak, boys" said Mr. Bennet after some time. "My talking partner gave me some disturbing news."
Fitzwilliam frowned and shot a rapid glance to his son, his nephew and their French friend.
"No let them listen" said Mr. Bennet. "They are old enough to be part of family matters." He looked at Alexandre. "And I believe this young gentleman is also interested in what I'm going to say."
All three teens smiled proudly at Mr. Bennet's words.
"What have you learned, father?" asked Charles.
"This thinking machine of them, that computer, seems to think that the family will soon be targeted by old enemies."
"What old enemies?" asked d'Arcy with a frown.
"They couldn't say" answered Mr. Bennet. "They came to that conclusion with only the talks between us and those of the crew. With more information I suppose they could be more precise."
"They bragged that they were able to listen to any conversation everywhere on Earth. I doubt it very much but I'm however sure that if we are able to place one of their listening devices in a few strategic places around the world, they will probably be able to do just that."
"You proposed to put them in place I suppose?" asked Charles with a smile.
"Give me a parachute and an Airship at night and there's no place on earth I can't get into."
"You'll have to get a little better with the chute than you presently are, dear brother" teased Charles. "If I remember your last jump you failed the airfield by three miles."
"There was wind shears" pointed William out. "It did make things more difficult."
"It did indeed" agreed d'Arcy with a thanking smile to his son. "With no wind I would probably have failed by only two miles." He looked at Charles. "You're clearly right; I must train with that chute to be more accurate. Jeanne lands within three yards of the targeted point, so it is possible and I'll do what's necessary to get a skill as good as hers."
William made a little sign.
"Will it be possible that…"
"Of course" answered d'Arcy. "I'll need all the help I can get to improve my skill. Seeing you and your friends being better than me will be the best motivator."
Between the youngsters enthusiastic shouts Fitzwilliam came at d'Arcy's side.
"But you convince the mothers, brother" whispered he. "Don't count on me for that. I do value my life."
"Coward" whispered d'Arcy back.
"I only chose the battles I know I can win, brother, the others I entrust to known specialists."
_oOo_
"Will we help them more?"
"No," decided Jed. "For now what we shared should be enough to get them on the right track. They have, for now quite a lot of interesting hints to digest. We'll decide in a few months if we need to give them more directions."
"And what about Maths and Physics?"
"I propose to give out all basic theoretical knowledge but without entering Quantum Net Layer Physics, we want them to concentrate on machine-based moves. I would not want those witches of theirs to acquire individual quantum displacement techniques like the sorority had."
"It could be interesting if one of them has the talent," said Ishalon. "It would save a lot of time."
"Let them begin to discover the nodes and the Nodal transfers. It should be enough to save the time they need to gain. Meanwhile I have implanted the elder woman with a com-bug. She wants to learn about modern medical science, and I think it is a good basic training. If it works, we'll have to envision more implants."
"And it will give us an ear within their midst…"
"Not only that one," said Jed. "I have spy-bugs hiding within their airship's hull. They will follow them and find interesting places to settle once they are back home. We won't miss a lot of what is about to happen with the Darcy bunch."
_oOo_
"We can move at your Majesty's whim" said a smiling Charles once he had climbed to the forward lounge where the family was meeting and seated himself in his 'command' arm-chair where his son was immediately handed him over. He showed as much enthusiasm as usual to be in his father's arms.
"Thank you, Charles." Fitzwilliam looked at the people around him. This little episode had changed all of them. Believing in an Universe where Mankind wasn't alone was one thing, knowing that present Mankind was only a backwater remnant of a much more civilized civilization that had been eradicated four thousand years earlier had been a rather difficult fact to absorb.
"We will move northwards as soon as the sun rises. There is a last question to answer before we break up: do we stop in Mexico?"
He stopped Charles with a little placating gesture.
"I have already heard all your arguments, Charles, and I agree that seeing what's remaining of the city of Tlextlixhuacan…"
"Tenochtitlan" rectified Charles.
"Whatever" sighed Fitzwilliam before going on. "…Is an archeological necessity. But we are already late, and I would like to arrive in Washington before Napoleon's troops have started their invasion."
"We must spare at least a day, Fitz" pleaded Charles. "It would be very unkingly to cross the Viceroy's lands without even stopping to greet him."
Fitzwilliam shot his best friend his best angry schoolmaster look.
"As we all know that's your false excuse to obtain a stop there…"
"I'm not a King, Fitz, I can afford to irritate foreign aristocracy. Can you?"
"I believe Charles is right about your diplomatic duties, Fitzwilliam" said Mr. Bennet. "You are the Regent of Great Britain and not stopping to at least greet the Viceroy could be, even would be, taken as a slight to the Spanish Crown. And don't forget that we are, very soon, have a request to Spain and Portugal. It would be a good idea to be remembered as polite people. And, perhaps to use the Viceroy to send an invitation to the King of Spain."
"What do you believe will happen when Napoleon's troops have overrun half of New Spain in three months? They will all decide that I was there to spy the Spaniards out and give the information to my French ally."
"Whatever, Fitzwilliam, happens now, in three months they will know that you were overflying South America and that you did it while trying to stay hidden. Then they will surely see your move as a spying trip."
"So, you believe we have to stop in Mexico?"
"You are here with minimal security, Fitzwilliam, what I really would like is to see us go straight to where your guards are awaiting us" answered Mr. Bennet. "But we will be overflying Spanish Territory and not to stop and greet the viceroy would be very rude towards the Crown of Spain. And awake even more suspicions toward us and our implication in what is going to happen in America."
"We could go straight towards the Sea" pointed d'Arcy out. "And move North without overflying any Spanish territories. But we would probably be obliged to stop at Rio de Janeiro to greet the Portuguese Viceroy. It would show good education without giving us the images of spies. After all we wouldn't have over flown any Spanish possession."
Charles could see in Fitzwilliam's eyes that this was what they were going to do and couldn't help making a face.
A little tap on his shoulder made him look at his left.
"Don't worry" whispered Alexandre. "When we possess Mexico, we will go and visit Tenochtitlan together. And we will do there as you did in Spalatro, rebuild everything as it was before the Spaniards destroyed it…"
Charles' eyes lit up like bonfires.
"That's a deal, your grace…"
But the fight was not yet fought and to every body's surprise it was Jane who came to Charles rescue.
"I believe we should go to Mexico specifically to warn the viceroy that one hundred thousand French soldiers are going to invade America."
Every pair of eyes of all the members of the family –and friends- looked at Jane with surprise.
She didn't blink.
"Don't look so surprised" said she. "I will never condone war and I believe that, if there is a possibility to avoid seeing thousands of people being slaughtered in battle; that possibility must be taken into account."
"It won't change anything dear" pointed out d'Arcy. "The viceroy had not the men to stop us…"
She didn't react to his 'us' and looked straight at Fitzwilliam.
"My dear belligerent husband is probably right, and it won't change a thing to the results of Napoleon's campaign, but it will change your image in everybody's eyes, Fitzwilliam. You are perhaps not aware of what you have become these last five years, but you are, now, an important figure in Europe's overall Power Balance. Everybody looks at you as the man who's able to get things done peacefully." And she insisted on her last word. "The fact that the Irish came of their own will to enter Great Britain with you never even sending a soldier has shown you in a very specific light. And we should use this light to prepare the future…"
"What future?" asked Fitzwilliam.
"The future where everybody stops thinking in terms of armies, conquests and slaughters, that future!" answered Jane in her sternest voice. "And, if we are lucky, the future built around the realm of diplomacy and good will." She turned and looked at Alexandre. "We all know why your father wants to attack Spain, don't we?"
Alexandre who was directly asked gave himself a few seconds to think. In fact, nobody knew why his father wanted to invade Spain who had been after all more an ally than an enemy these last years. But everybody suspected that Napoleon wanted to invade Spain just to close the circle of his possessions around the Mediterranean Sea.
"To say the truth" said he finally. "I don't know if my father really wants to attack Spain. I know that everybody we know suspects that he wants to add Spain to his possessions in order to complete his dream of rebuilding the Roman Empire. But that's not true! Must I remind you that Britain was part of the Roman Empire and that he has shown no will to integrate it in his possessions…"
That comment earned him a lot of amused glances. He managed not to blush which granted him an admiring look from Lexi.
"Well, not since we gave England its liberty back" said he without stammering. "So, it shows that he is not obsessed with this Roman Empire thing."
"On the contrary" pointed d'Arcy out, "he rather often speaks about the 'Mare Nostrum' thing, don't you agree?"
"That's only because you manipulated him into it" said Alexandre rather vehemently and he had the satisfaction to see a half guilty half surprised dumbstruck d'Arcy looking at him. "You did it in order to push him towards the Ottoman Empire and away from Prussia and Russia and I must admit that it was what had to be done: we needed peace in Europe if we wanted to stabilize our new regime! But the fact remains that it was you that put that foolish notion into his mind to get him away from Europe!" He sighed. "Now he is stuck with it and I have no idea how to make him change his mind…"
"It was no foolish notion" protested d'Arcy. "I needed to get his mind out of conquering Central Europe where we would have bled out our armies and economies. The Ottoman Empire was the perfect substitute and it was giving us the perfect reason to ally France and Russia. I knew that Prussia alone wouldn't and couldn't fight against us. And I was right, wasn't I?"
"I don't blame you for having avoided us another great European slaughter" said Alexandre, "but as said now he's in love with the idea of reforming a Nation that will encompass the whole of the Mediterranean Sea. It pleases him to see himself as a new Roman Emperor." He smiled at d'Arcy. "And I cannot not admit that it pleases me to be seen as a new Caesar, but as a result for such a dream Spain must become a part of the Empire…"
"Not yet Empire" smiled d'Arcy, "or did he finally decide to bite the bullet?"
"He'll do it in a few years" answered Josephine. "I believe he will do it in 1819, when he turns fifty… There are a lot of voices in France who are calling him out to accept to be crowned as Emperor, but he still hesitates. He is well liked by the people and by the gentry of both old and new breeding and he fears that the aristocrats who have joined him after you won in England and admire him for having brought back France's greatness will bear him a grudge if he chooses to crown himself."
Alexandre couldn't help but add a few words.
"We spoke, papa and I and I asked him not to do it. France is the first Nation who has metamorphosed from an autocratic Kingdom into a Republic and being a Republic is something important to preserve even if it is not yet a democracy. He's the Republic's First Consul and as such everyone sees him as a ruler with royal prerogatives. But he is not a King and, as such, he isn't burdened with the French Royalty's sins. Crowning himself, even with a new fancier title, would reopen quite a lot of old wounds and would lessen his' and France's image. As a Republic it is so much easier for France to integrate new people and new lands. And France is so much more important than our family. Since I'm not interested in the Throne, I asked him to do as Augustus has done and nurture the best candidates and chose the most convincing to become Consuls at his side. Should the first Consul die or step down the choice would be evident and the transition easy since the Second Consul would become first and so on. He said he would think about it."
There was a long heavy silence while everybody digested Alexandre's words. It was finally Jane's frown that pulled Fitzwilliam out of his amazement.
"I hope you have convinced him, Alexandre because it is something which would, really mark History…"
"I do hope so too, but papa is, from time to time, a little stubborn and rather fixed in his certainties. And since creating a royal bloodline is rather high in his fantasies, I fear mamma's right and I'm wrong."
"Well" said d'Arcy, "we now know that even if he should choose the title and the blood line, his decision will bear an extremely rewarding outcome." Alexandre looked up and the question was clearly written all over his face. D'Arcy came nearer, crouched in front of the boy while tousling his hair and smiling at him. "Even if you'll have difficulties to accept my judgment, young man, let it be known that I truly believe that there is an astounding heir to follow in the line of France's next dynasty." He looked over his shoulder and smiled at William. "And I hope he is as proud of you as I am proud of my son."
_oOo_
"You made the good choice…" whispered Lizzie while looking admiringly over the fantastic countries they were overflying at high speed.
"It was no longer a choice after Jane presented her arguments" whispered he back to maintain a little privacy. They weren't quite alone in the forward lounge and he could understand it when he looked at the landscape. "What argument could I have presented to counter hers? I'm the knight in shining armor she praises to the skies, if there ever was a choice it disappeared during her little speech."
Lizzie snuggled at his side and put her head on his shoulder.
"You are a knight in shining armor but since you never look at yourself, you don't see it. But everybody else knows."
He sighed.
"I'm not sure it is such a boon, to be labelled a good man, most people believe that good men are easy to deceive."
"Let them try and see what happens when you've discovered their schemes. I do love to be married to a knight in shining armor, but never do I forget the knight and armor parts of your character. They will soon learn the difference between a knight in armor and a dupe in coat…"
He smiled. She always had had her ways with words his Lizzie –and the tongue to use them- and God was it marvelous to have her snuggling at his side in a perfectly comfortable sofa over a perfectly beautiful landscape. What could ever be better?
_oOo_
"Mrs. Bennet where is my beer?" said her husband while looking at the plates before him. Plates with mostly fruits and vegetables and sauces of quite a colorful variety.
"If you're thirsty, there is fresh water in the jug at your right."
He frowned at her.
"I am not blind, Mrs. Bennet, I did see the jug of water, but I still miss my beer."
"There won't be any longer beer at my table, Mr. Bennet. And you must know that at a table I set in the future you will only find fresh fruit, raw vegetables and clear water."
"Mrs. Bennet since I saw my son in law eat roast beef and drink red wine not five minutes ago, I'm quite sure that if I want to find beer and meat and sausages, I need only to go to the ship's storeroom and grab what I want."
"That is indeed true, Mr. Bennet and I won't stop you if you should decide to eat at the table of one of our daughters but while you are eating at my table these foods won't be allowed anymore."
Mr. Bennet shook his head and looked at his wife.
"Could you please take a few minutes and explain what happened to you, Mrs. Bennet to so radically change your vision of the way we feed ourselves."
Mrs. Bennet came nearer and sat in front of her husband.
"What happened, Mr. Bennet was an encounter with a creature who revealed to your wife the truth of our digestive system. It seems that we humans are built to live on raw fruits and vegetables and that all those others foods we like to ingest are poisons that clog our body in a thousand different ways."
"We must eat to survive…" countered Mr. Bennet.
"That's why, from now on, I will only serve foods that will nurture your life and not only your survival."
"What shall be the result of those new eating habits?"
"A century more of a healthy and active life, Mr. Bennet; that's the result it will provide."
"You've been deceived, Mrs. Bennet, if those things were right everybody would live a hundred and fifty years."
Mrs. Bennet smiled at her husband.
"Have you ever encountered anybody whose only foods were raw fruits and vegetables, Mr. Bennet?"
"Of course not, nobody is foolish enough to do without what's best!"
"And the result is premature death!"
"There is no proof, Mrs. Bennet."
"I'm going to prove my words, Mr. Bennet and your only chance to see if you're right and I'm wrong will be to follow my example and eat what I eat."
"And why would that be, Mrs. Bennet?"
"Easy, dear husband: I pretend that with my new diet I'm going to live another hundred years. I could be wrong but I could also be right. To see if I am right –or wrong for that matter- you have no choice but to live as long as I'll do. So, since with your current diet you can only hope to live thirty or forty years more, your only possibility to live as long as I is to join me on my new path. Do you agree?"
"No, I don't agree, Mrs. Bennet, but I see your point and I won't try to stop you. I, for my part, will go on with my old diet and live the life I chose to live."
"As I said, I won't try to force it on you, Mr. Bennet but before you go to the storeroom to get your preferred foods please do answer me one or two questions."
"I'm all ears, dear."
"Do you believe that there was a high technological civilization on Earth four thousand years ago on Earth?"
"Yes, I do… Why would they have lied to us?"
"I agree, but you must realize that you'll never have the least chance to get a proof."
"Indeed, I do…"
"But you still believe it?"
"As said, why would they lie to us?"
"The same argument is true for what they said to me, Mr. Bennet. With one difference: I have the means to prove that they have told the truth and you don't."
Mr. Bennet nodded, smiled and stood up.
"I concur; Mrs. Bennet and I'll let you demonstrate the truth of your belief."
"Don't doubt a second that I won't try and prove it Mr. Bennet. I'm just very sad that you won't be there to see my triumph since you'll have clogged yourself to death in the meantime."
Mr. Bennet's smile didn't resist more than a second against his wife's last argument.
_oOo_
"Mother, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, dear" said Mrs. Bennet while looking at her eldest. "I suppose you're here because of your father?"
"No, mother, I'm here because of you" answered Jane. "I'd like to have a few more explanations than what papa gave us when he came to sponger our lunch."
Mrs. Bennet couldn't help but smile. She would have bet on Lizzie but she had forgotten the deep friendship her husband shared with his eldest son in law. Of course, he would go and talk to him.
"I fear I couldn't convince him, dear" smiled Mrs. Bennet. "I've never been very good at convincing people. I'm more the smothering all over love type!"
Jane smiled at her mother.
"Yes, you are, mother but that doesn't mean that you are a fool, so what happened while you were twimsing."
"So now you have even a word for it?"
"You know Charles, mamma, don't you? He can't resist creating new terms. He has a standing bet with Fitzwilliam that he will be able to create a thousand useful words before he is forty."
"And?"
"I don't know mother; I don't take tabs. You know as well as I that the whole world will be informed the second he wins his bet, it will be enough for me to learn it at that moment." She made a face at her mother. "Mamma, I asked a question and you dodged it with your usual skill…"
"I did, didn't I?" smiled Mrs. Bennet mischievously. "Well, if you insist?"
"I do mamma" insisted Jane.
Mrs. Bennet sighed and invited Jane to sit at her side.
"I don't really remember how we came to speak of it but while twimsing It/he/she brought to mind medical knowledge and I let it know that I would be interested to learn if I weren't too old for that. That was when it told me that dying at fifty or sixty was not mandatory. That we could live a hundred years longer if we chose to eat what's good for our body and not what smells good for our taste buds…"
"Which should be raw fruits and vegetables, am I right?"
"Indeed, you are. Fruits and vegetables and, if possible, not cooked because cooking destroys the useful nutrients."
"So, you chose to try?"
"What have I to lose, sweetheart? I'm fifty-one years old. Most of the people my age will be dead within ten years and, if it has told the truth, the only thing I have to do to be sure to see our William ruling over three continents for at least a century is to stop eating everything to specialize on fruits and vegetables! God, with this type of reward, I'll do it without a hesitation! And if it works, I'll convince the world to do the same!"
Jane smiled at her mother.
"With me you won't have a lot of convincing to do, mamma. It had always troubled me to be responsible for the death of poor defenseless animals. If your diet works, my soul will thank you even more than my body…"
_oOo_
_oOo_
"Mère puis-je vous poser une question délicate?" (Mother may I ask you a difficult question?)
Joséphine looked up at her son and smiled at him.
"If not to me who else?"
"I could probably ask Papa, but I already know that I wouldn't like his answer."
Joséphine smile was immediately on her lips. Alexandre was clearly as smart as her husband and, thanks God, a lot less unscrupulous. She had the small hope that that part was also due to her education.
"Go on, ask…"
"Would you still be with father had I not been born?"
Joséphine's heart just stopped beating for a fraction of what could be considered eternity. Or so it seemed to her mind's eye that looked back at her life since she happened to encounter a young ambitious officer who came to her for her relations and stayed with her for herself…
"Probably not, dear," confessed she finally. "Had Jane not healed me I would have stayed barren and he would have divorced. Not because he would have stopped loving me but because he wanted –he needed- an heir for his sprouting dynasty."
"He could have done like d'Arcy, and married another woman in order to have said heir."
That comment made Joséphine laugh whole-heartedly.
"That would never had happened, love. Your father is a shrewd politician and an astute tactician, but he is not at all at ease with change. He's conservative to the core. He would never have done such a shocking deed. He has forsaken his faith a very long time ago but never ever would have risked losing the support of the Catholic Church…"
She winked at her son.
"Or risked your grandmother's wrath, for that matter…"
Alexandre joined his mother's mirth.
He was –clearly and provenly- his grandmother's dearest and he could probably get a lot more from her than Napoleon could dream of but on one thing he was sure: would he come out and hint at marrying a non-Catholic girl, Letizia's wrath would be upon him in the same second.
Happily for him, his grandmother had already shown that the girl he wanted to spend his life with was one of her approved favorites. Lexi's genuine faith and respect she and her mother had shown for 'Madame Mère' had, a long time ago, during his grandmother's first sojourn in Spalatro, given both of them a very high place in his grandmother's personal Gotha.
Alexandre couldn't help but smile. He loved Baba Tizia a lot. Always had because, aside from Marraine Jane and his mother, she was the only one of the women he spent time with who was able to forget that he was the Consulate's probable Heir. Baba Tizia didn't give a damn to such trivial considerations. For Letizia Buonaparte her sons' political carriers were of no importance at all and because of it she was totally incapable to show Napoleon the respect other people felt themselves compelled to show him. Alexandre had been witness to more than one confrontation between Letizia and Pollo –as she called him in private to his father's utter despair- and he couldn't remember one his father had won.
He remembered very well Letitzia's first arrival in Spalatro. Aunt Kitty had been surprised and it would have been a rather awkward happenstance had young Alexandre not taken the affair into his capable hands.
He had squirmed out of his nanny's surprised hands and jumped into his Baba's arms. And within minutes what could have been a confrontation had smoothly become a mothers' meeting where Baba Tizia with her eight already adult children and eleven living grand-children had become the Wise-woman in charge.
Baba Tizia didn't look the part but she was a real Italian Mamma and in the absence of Mrs. Bennet and with Kitty's silent approval, she had smoothly slid into a role she clearly not only knew how to play but played with great skill.
Since then Baba Tizia was a welcome guest in Spalatro where she spent most of the Winter months and quite a lengthy part of the rest of the year. The fact that Spalatro had become the main skyships' node in the Central Mediterranean Area had been another reason for her choosing the place as a Residence. From there she could be in Paris in a matter of hours and back even more speedily.
She had her own Residence in Spalatro Downtown –a gift of her eldest son who had a Hôtel Particulier on the Split Main Street- but when the family –meaning the kids and her grandson- was there she was residing in Uncle Bingley's Palazzo where a suite was always at the ready to welcome her.
He saw his mother shake her head.
"No, without Jane we would be divorced, and I would be alone now and your father would have married some other woman. Probably one with a very long family history…"
"But he loves you, I know it…"
"So do I, but he loves his own legend even more, son. He loves to compare himself to the Roman Emperors, but I know he wouldn't have been able to be without a direct Heir. Adopting a worthy successor could have been a solution but since he knew that I was the barren one, he would have cracked."
She shook her head while smiling at her son.
"I'm quite sure that he would have hunted the best genealogic tree available on the marriage market if joined by a proven record of plentiful births within the family." She sighed. "It had always been our major bone of contention, my bareness. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't give him the bunch of heirs he wanted…"
Her smile was back.
"Thank to Jane's…" she hesitated. "Spiritual Operation, I'm whole again and I am playing with the idea of at least another child. Jane is sure that I'm in enough good condition to get the pregnancy to its end and survive the birth." She made a face. "Considerations which, at my age, you have to take into account."
"Marraine Jane is unable to lie and she always keeps her promises," said Alexandre. "So I have no doubt that you would survive the birth. And I'd like to have a brother or two."
"What about a sister?"
"You know it's no problem for me, Mamma, but Papa would love it to have a few more sons. So why not do sons?"
"Why not indeed," answered his mother. "But I do fear that even Jane's knowledge does not include a recipe to bear sons instead of daughters."
"I wouldn't sweat about that before having asked her," said Alexandre with a smile. "Marraine is a very resourceful woman."
_oOo_
"Well not really," said Jane. "At least not in the easy form of a potion or poultice. There are, says Geoffrey, ways to influence the sex of the offspring. The less the mother takes pleasure out of the act, the more the chance to have a boy is high…"
Joséphine's smirk was a clear testimony of what she thought of Geoffrey's theory.
"Don't kill the messenger," said Jane with a smile. "I have, personally no preferences and I will be as satisfied with giving birth to a boy than with birthing a girl. But the Tao Philosophy Geoffrey's quite fond of says that a child conceived in bliss and happiness is more alike to be a girl than a boy. Which, considering the abnormal drive Chinese males have for boy children explains probably some of what they do to their women."
Seeing Joséphine's lifting of eyebrows Jane sighed.
"If you ever believed European males deranged in their head, you won't believe what Chinese males –at least those of the upper classes of society- do to their baby girls! It makes me sick only thinking about it… I'll ask Geoffrey to make you a report of it. Personally, I really can't speak of it without feeling ready to commit mass murder."
Joséphine who knew no other Human being more peace-loving and caring than Jane could only show her amazement at Jane's unusual outburst.
"The Chinese," went on Jane, "believe themselves the height of Civilization but they are as barbarous as every other man on this planet. Barbarians in Uniforms or in silk gowns but barbarians still…"
She sighed once more.
"Even the man I desperately love has, once you've skinned him of his luster of civilization, deep within him the same bloodthirsty needs than all the others. Killing seems to be a second nature for them…"
"Life is a struggle and a fight, Jane. Was and still is. We've worn the cloak of civilization for a very small time period. We have now sky-ships and cannons but deep within we are still tribesmen looking for the best way to survive in a hostile surrounding populated with four and two-legged beasts."
A small proud smile appeared on her lips.
"We should be happy to have some of the most dangerous of those beasts for protectors. They are not better in those spiritual ways you alluded at than the others but they have proven that they are able to protect us and provide for us in every possible way. They are perhaps wolves like the others but they are alpha wolves and when you live in a world full of wolves, having the alpha wolf at your side to protect you is a boon we shouldn't take lightly…"
"I'm not belittling them, Joséphine. I'm just desperate to see that the veneer of civilization we Humans are so proud to show off only covers a core of bestial violence and indifference."
Joséphine stood up and embraced the younger woman who had been for years now her best friend and her trusted guide in matters of Faith and Spirituality..
"We can only hope that it will change someday in the future, Jane. Or not… Remember what you taught me. That we are all but gentle souls whose destiny is, one day, to merge into the light of God. For now said souls are wrapped in an earthly body to give them the chance to survive on Earth. Once the soul is freed from its smothering rags, it will blossom as it is meant to do. Earth is our Prison and matter is the fence that restrains us. Remember that even if the container is ugly, there is no doubt that what it contains is beautiful."
Jane nodded and embraced Joséphine back with strength.
Within the Bennet family she had always been the sturdiest. The one the others –even her mother and father- could count on to stand up and pull them back on their feet.
Joséphine had played that same role for her. Once pregnant and even more so once a mother, she had found back to her true nature: that of a woman who would always refuse to bend. Be it before men or nature. Without Alexandre she would probably had withered away cast off by the man she loved and the Town she needed so much. But once mother again every doubt and hesitation had been erased with a force she wouldn't have believed still possessing.
When young she had been intimately persuaded that nothing could stop her ever!
It had lasted till she had felt that she could no longer bear children. She already had had two of them and she should have been able to have others. Especially those of the man God had finally deigned sending her.
But years had passed and even with every possible trick tried no child was conceived. And it had begun to slowly grind down her confidence. She knew that Napoleon loved her even if he was totally unable to be faithful. But he wouldn't have abandoned her had she been able to give him an Heir. She was sure of it.
But without said Heir?
She would never know for sure but her gut feeling was evident. He would have taken measures to obtain what he wanted. And if would have been without her.
"Would you survive his death?" asked she finally her friend and confident.
"I've already done it, remember? Even if I felt that he wasn't dead, it still took strength to just go on living with the certainty that once more you'll go to bed alone at night and that the next day would be lonely like the one you were living through right now."
Jane shook her head.
"I'll survive him if necessary out of duty for the survivors and all those who need me," said she finally. "But I know that should he go in advance he will wait for me before going over to the other side…"
"The other side?"
"What is awaiting us between lives, my dear. I can't say what it is but I know, because I have lived it while almost dying in Pemberley, that there is a place –a sort of threshold- between here and there. A threshold where the newly deceased can stay the time they want. Be it until they are able to understand what has happened and what it is they must do to go on or be it to stay near those they love in awaiting of their arrival." She smiled. "It is a dangerously beautiful place where lost souls could be pulled into believing that there is the place they are meant to stay. And it is probably even more dangerous when you are in the company of your loved one. But, like here, it is only an illusion. An illusion the soul creates to get the time to overcome the surprise of its last journey's end. But illusion can be built in a very believable manner. And once the soul forgets why they are there, it can easily become a frightening prison."
"So you have memories of what happened when you were dying?"
"For a long time, I believed it to be figments of my feverish imagination, but that was only till Mary helped me –and the other members of the circle- to get a glimpse of that facet of the Universe."
Jane made an all-encompassing gesture.
"It is just here. Around us. Perhaps even within us. It is just a second away and it is always open for your soul to visit."
"You've been there?"
"As often as necessary when we needed a circle to do some major healing" answered Jane. "It is the weirdest of all places because, in fact, it is what you made it."
"How so?"
"It's a rather tricky environment, you know. The few first times you just stick to what you believe should be there and most of the time it is the room where we are gathered. But, in fact, it's not that at all. Not only can you journey to any place you want to visit but you can even create a place that corresponds to what you desire."
"But can you work when scattered everywhere?"
"I said tricky and I meant it, Joséphine. We stay together even if we move to different places. There is no distance in this shadow world. The circle goes on existing probably because our bodies are still in the same material room."
Jane couldn't help but giggle.
"We did make quite a lot of silly experiences, believe me. I've asked my sisters to imagine a surrounding they wanted and after that I asked about what they had seen while there and not one of us has seen the same about our surroundings."
"And still you stay together?"
"And still we stay together! We do even see each other rather perfectly and what we do –stand, sit, speak or move- is seen by the others but what we see around us has often nothing in common with what the other look at. I came to believe that there are numerous different layers of shadow worlds where those who know how to do it, can create the environment they want."
"But you need to be in a healing circle?"
"Not at all… Once you know that it can be done, you can easily do it alone. Mary is vehemently against because she believes that a circle gives your empty body protection against unwelcome squatters but it is possible. I've done it once… It's the same as if you do it while within a circle. You're just alone and loneliness is not easier there than here."
"Could I see Napoleon, if…?"
Jane made a funny face and shook her head.
"Why, in God's name, am I unable to just have small talk about everything with people I appreciate?"
Josephine's smile was kind and –a little- ironic.
"Because you are a good and kind person who's unable to not be honest? And remember that you are the worst liar everybody has ever encountered. Truth and honesty is your strength and when you speak with people you appreciate –thanks by the way and so do I- it wouldn't come in your mind not to speak the truth!"
She winked at Jane's rosy blush.
"And can I take your answer as a yes?"
"It is but the best would be to form a circle and invite you in."
Jane couldn't help but sigh.
"Mary won't be happy with me, I'm quite sure of it."
"Mary is as unable as you to hold a grudge, and you know it quite well, but in this particular matter, should she be reluctant, please remind her that through her marriage and her husband's pledge of loyalty to my husband she's practically compelled to oblige me!"
Jane made a face while shaking her head.
"Let's not become official, please. I know Mary and I had ample proof that she can be swayed with kindness and sound arguments. I'm not sure at all how she would react to pressure. Especially hierarchical pressure."
_oOo_
Mary had listened and after a little –thoughtful- frown, had nodded.
"Indeed it is a possibility we did not consider."
She made a face and gnawed at her lower lips.
"I'm not sure I like the implications but there is no reason not to give it a try."
A frown came and invaded her face.
"I know you don't do it on purpose but, Jane, could you, please, in the future, avoid speaking about our secrets with anybody else? Even proven friends of the family could pull us, even if it is unwillingly, in the deepest trouble. I know you feel other people's honesty but being honest is not enough. It has happened that people changed and even if they don't change, honesty does not protect against being manipulated or swayed into talking. Even honest persons do get drunk from time to time. Don't forget that some could even be tortured just because they are known to have been spoken to by you." She stood up and embraced her eldest sister who was visibly uncomfortable. "Being honest and kind is a proven quality. Being too honest and too kind could become a real problem for a family that is clearly going to make a lot of people envious in the near or distant future."
She stopped Jane before she could speak.
"Don't, please, it is not your fault that the world is populated with crooks and tyrants. Let's just be a little more cautious when it comes to sharing our secrets, shall we?"
She pulled Jane by her elbow.
"Let's summon the others. I don't know for you but now that I have been pointed at that little possibility, I'm quite interested to have an accurate idea about what can be done with it."
_oOo_
Betty was soundly asleep and sharing a bed with her cousin Janet…
The moms took the sight into their hearts and smiled at each other. Clearly cousins could be viable substitutes for sisters.
And the fact that they were both asleep wasn't really a surprise since the whole of London was more or less asleep.
Even the Company's Headquarter was empty and obscured for the night.
Mary took a deep breath and slipped into the neverspace.
To reappear in what was clearly a small office in an Airship.
Napoleon was en route and not asleep at all. As was his habit late at night, he was scribbling like mad on different sheets of paper while juggling with half a dozen different problems at the same time. At the double clock in his sky-ship cabin they could read quarter past three and quarter past nine. The first being the time in Paris and the second the time of his sky-ship's landing site. They couldn't be sure, but it looked as if he was flying towards America.
Seeing that Josephine was smiling and satisfied, Mary went on to glide to somewhere else.
Gérault was, like it was his habit too, working alone in his office in Spalatro. She looked over his shoulders and wasn't surprised to discover that he was, once more, looking at reports from Serbia. The Cossacks were massacring, and the Serbians were rebelling. In each and every possible order. Nothing new under the Balkans' sun.
After half an hour of not so random mind-jumping from one point of the globe to the other they stopped and they could only note that the Universe was a lot more complex that they had thought.
"So, there are ways to ward places against that sort of soul prying," said Lizzy.
"Indeed," agreed Mary who had, after the first resistance, made a few more ttempts on similar places. "How many places we attempted to enter were closed for us?"
"Three," answered Jane. "And the three of them were all religious places. Which is quite reassuring when you think about it! It seems those in charge of our souls are not completely in the black. Or that some of them were, in the past, able to put wards around their most respected places."
Maureen who had been at the origin of the idea –hence the look at the Vatican- couldn't help but make a face. Most of the churches they had tried had been open books to their prying.
At least the seat of the Pope had been closed and protected.
"The Vatican," said she, "was where we have found the strongest defenses, Jerusalem's Muslim Mosque was probably as efficiently warded and last there was Westminster Abbey. Not quite a huge amount…"
"There are probably other protected places," said Mary. "We could make a list but what would be the sense of it?"
"To study how to do it ourselves," said Lizzy. "We can't forget that there is a black sisterhood of Witches out there who know probably a lot more than us about these methods. We should work on learning how to defend ourselves, too."
"it depends on how difficult it is to build protections," said Jane. "What we can do, others can probably do in the same manner. We are in need of explanations and know-how. Luckily for us we discovered that there is a protection around Pemberley that is as efficient as the Vatican one but still open for Lizzy's scrying. Let's call it the Pemberley anomaly!"
"Pemberley's protection is probably a side effect to the presence of the Sacred Pool," said Lizzy. "It seems that It doesn't want to be spied on…"
"But by the mistress of the Estate, said Mary. When you took over it would let us in."
"I must protest, said Maureen. "From what I could judge it has the means to build an even smarter protection than those religious holy places! We got to look at a pseudo Pemberley but, thanks to our intimate knowledge of the estate, we all know that what we saw has nothing to do with the reality."
And indeed, what they had seen while Mary was at the helm was an illusion. A perfectly believable illusion but an illusion nevertheless.
"There are perhaps other such places," ventured Lizzy. "Places that don't look defended but where, when you look, you see only an illusion…"
"Probably," said Mary. "But those we have no means to discover easily, so no need to worry ourselves sick."
"We are but babes in this newly rediscovered game," whispered Jane. "There are evidently other people who have knowledge and techniques we are only now guessing."
Mary shrugged.
"We are what we are and now that we know that it's awfully easy to pry on anyone, we will look at finding ways to protect our family's privacy."
"What do you propose?" asked Lizzy.
"What I always try first: old books! I'm quite sure that there are techniques related to this matter described somewhere. And now that I know what to look for, I'm quite sure that, if there's something to find, I'll find it."
"There are other easy ways," said Jane. "When we are back in Pemberley, we could study those illusions while we are within them… I'm quite sure that we will get hints about how it is done. To use one of Charles neologism: once we see how it is done, we will just have to reverse-engineer it!"
She took a long breath.
"And then there's Ghandara! I'm quite sure the weavers know how to weave a protection. We really need to make that journey to see the Elder Wisewomen of the City. They have a lot to teach us."
_oOo_
"Ça a marché ? Comment va Papa? (Did it work? How's Papa?)"
Alexandre having been informed of the attempt was rather excited about it.
"It did and he was working late, like usual," answered Joséphine. "He seems to be in a sky-ship bound for America. You know something more about his plans?"
Alexandre shook his head.
"Judging by the huge number of Marshals and Generals I saw last week in Paris, everybody was suspecting that Papa was preparing something involving quite a great part of the French Army but, as you know, no official dispatch has been published."
Joséphine nodded. Nothing was official but everybody had an opinion about what was going to happen. Especially the French Press which made its headlines with the so-called native massacres.
"The press was hinting mightily at an action against the United States. Fitzwilliam is sure that France is preparing an assault against the USA. With your father's journey it could have already begun…"
"I'm not sure it can be stopped, mamma. Papa seems decided to use the Americans' errors to get a reason to strike at them. You know he does follow Fitzwilliam's advice concerning the rights of Native Tribes and the condemnation of Slavery. I'm not sure he really believes half of what he has said but I'm sure he wants to look the part. And slaughtering Indians is, whatever the reason, an evil act a progressive Statesman will never condone. And you know that papa will play that card as callously as possible."
"So, you think there will be another war?"
"If nothing is done, it sure will, mamma. But this whole journey has been organized to give the Americans a chance to get their head out of the noose. Should they find in themselves a pinch of reason and sanity, the war can still be avoided."
Joséphine couldn't help but sigh. America was a country she knew well and war was not something she wished on anybody.
"Let's hope there still is a chance to avoid it…"
_oOo_
"I can't help but being disappointed," said Fitzwilliam while looking into the heavy fog that was surrounding them.
Jane who was looking with great attention at Maureen, Geoffroy, her father and the kids who were harnessed outside of the prow was still listening with great attention.
At the kids insistence -probably discreetly pushed by Charles- they had postponed the departure for a few hours to have a look at the top of the foggy plateau.
"Well, it looks from here as it looked from down there," said Lizzy with a little irony in her voice. "A huge, heavy and dense cloud of rolling fog. And if from a mile away it was beautiful, from within it is just the same as a big November fog in London. The cold not included. A lot of hidden things you can't even guess lurking everywhere around you…"
The voice coming out of the com was as calm and reasonable as it had been in the very beginning of the little exploration.
"I can't see anything," said the lookout. "We have extended the four-meter poles and we feel that they are touching something that isn't totally solid. Could be foliage but even at four meters there's nothing to be seen. Not even the hints of a shadowy feature."
"Going on like this," intervened the captain, "could be dangerous. We could hit a sharp object or some other thing that would be able to puncture the hull."
"I agree," said reluctantly Charles. "Let's try the coming from above approach. Prepare the pod, we are sending people down while gliding over the plateau."
_oOo_
"What a beauty," said Jane while looking at the big branch with huge flowers the out team had brought back with them. "So, there are trees, down there…"
"Ricks isn't even sure about that," said Charles who was still miffed to have been forbidden to be a member of the pod's crew. "He did see what looked like thick branches covered with slowly undulating leaves…"
One of those branches was standing in the middle of the ship's lab planted in earth and watered thanks to a watery mist that was falling on it from above. The leaves were totally different than normal leaves considering the fact that even if they looked like leaves they were in fact agglomerations of very thin tentacles who could, or not, join to form a flat leafy structure.
The flowers, at least, were real flowers with delicate and entrancing fragrances.
Charles looked at the pair of Biornas who had been trained to be scientific wards.
"Will you be able to keep them alive?"
"They are plants, boss! We provided them with the best humus we have aboard, and we constantly mist them with a solution made of water and fertilizer. But we still need them to sprout roots or they will die. We'll do our best to keep them in good health, but they have been cut out from their mother tree. It could very well be that they cannot survive outside of their environment. It's a chance we're taking."
"Well, do your best," said Charles. "I'd love to show them to the Company's most eminent botanists while still alive. I'm quite sure they have never seen anything like that."
"We will send an exploration mission with selected scientists as soon as we are back," said Fitzwilliam. "But we need better means to get people down there and to find them should they lose their tracks. The nacelle approach was dangerous. The cable could have been entangled in the branches and we would have lost goo men."
He stopped Charles' incoming outburst.
"I didn't say we wouldn't give it our best but I'm reluctant to send people into an environment where our best sense is negated. We need to be able to find lost people before sending a few poor sods to their certain death…"
"We will find ways," said Charles. "I have the best working for me, they will find means to get down there without risking anyone's life!"
_oOo_
"…working for me, they will find **** to get down there without risking anyone's life!"
The Complex could feel a wave of pleasure when the translation compound finally got through the natives spoken language.
There were still holes int the translation but that would soon change. Those people loved to speak with each other and soon the Complex would have a large enough vocabulary to understand everything said aboard the primitive machine floating over it.
What the Complex already knew was quite satisfactory.
Those Sentients had shown remarkable respect for life.
They had cut one of its outliers, and a very minor one, to boot. But they had, after cutting it, covered the injury with what the complex had identified as a plant emulating pseudo bandage. It wasn't very sophisticated, but it would have stopped any important sap outpour from the cut preventing a normal tree to be at risk of dying.
The Complex reviewed his former classification.
The monkey Sentient had, with evolution learned to respect their environment and even to avoid injuring plant-like being. A good pace in the right direction.
And they were concerned with their workers' well-being.
Another favorable point that would alter their former classification.
After a few seconds the Complex decided that it would, perhaps, be necessary to create secondary sub-classes of the Sentient Monkey Predator Class.
The ones around his primary setting, it would go on classifying as tool using parasites.
This new strand was clearly different.
He would have to study them longer.
It sent a new set of instruction to the outlier. The self-destruct switch was taken out and orders to heal and sprout roots were sent. He needed to know a lot more before deciding.
_oOo_
"What are you doing, mamma?"
Jane looked around and smiled at William.
"I stroke her and send her healing energy, dear. She's stressed and not really at ease."
"Mamma, it's a plant! How can a plant be stressed?"
"By abnormal circumstances, of course, like every other living being. We've just cut her out of her mother tree, dear. And we try things on her that aren't really adapted to her needs. She didn't like too much light and she didn't like the fertilizer they were feeding her. She's a lot less stressed since I convinced those two pseudo scientists that she preferred simple clear water and less lighting."
"How can you know?"
"She's alive dear, she has needs and she has things she doesn't like. When I stroke her, I feel her vibrations. Some are signs of contentment and some are signs of duress. I'll make all the tries necessary to eliminate most of the factors that are stressing her."
"But it is a plant, mamma. Plants don't have feelings!"
Jane frowned at her son. He was a good kid but for some things he was definitely too male for his own good.
"Plants have feelings, dear. And they are a lot more astute than most people would believe. Forests where they touch with their roots and their branches are almost a unique living creature. I love to embrace a tree and commune with the forest. It always gives me a lot of primeval energy. A forest is a real healing salve for the soul, dear. You should try it from time to time."
William was clearly wondering if his mother was to be believed let out a long breath and shrugged.
"If you say so, mamma. But it would look silly to embrace a tree. A King can't do that!"
She smiled at the King-thing. He had, a few months ago, discovered that he could escape quite a lot of things by declaring that it was unkingly.
"No need to embrace, dear. Just sit with your back touching the tree and open you mind to it. You'll see, something will happen."
"Does it happen with this tree?"
"I'm not sure it is a tree, dear. She has another energy surrounding her. But she's alive and stressed. I just try to find out what could give her a better more favored environment. One day she will perhaps be happy again but for now she's mourning her mother we took away from her."
"Can I touch her?"
"Of course, you can, you'll see that her bark is very silky and covered with a thin layer of an oily sheen."
She saw him frown.
"It is no poison, dear. I would have known had it been dangerous. I believe it is something she uses to drink since water disappears when touching that oil."
She took his hand and placed it on the plant's bark.
"Fell the silk and open you mind. Just let her commune with you. She's no monster just an unhappy orphan we took away from her mother…"
_oOo_
The Complex was surprised.
Most Sentients spent their lives not noticing plants.
Plants were things. Almost alive but not really. Just enough to be of use but not enough to have to be respected.
And here was a Sentient who not only cared but who was making real attempts to heal her outlier.
The fact that said outlier lived or died by the Complex' decision and didn't need to be healed was secondary. The simple fact that this Sentient was using her healing energy to help it was remarkable. And, it had looked in its databases, very very rare.
That was the moment when the Complex decided to incorporate those Sentients into it.
He would have to try something new, something softer than the usual integration. Because it clearly was a Species who was compassionate and caring. No need to force the bond on them. It would take another form of coexistence. It began to search the databases. Had such a thing already happened somewhere and how had the complex reacted?
_oOo_
"Will we be in time?"
Fitzwilliam looked at William and because he was just sitting behind his son, at Geoffrey.
"If God wills it, son! If God wills it!"
"I would prefer having more influence than just waiting on prayers' results," said William with a sigh.
"You will, William, you will," said d'Arcy from behind. "Napoleon is not yet on site and I know him well, he won't launch anything before everything is ready for the campaign he has prepared. It will take at least two weeks after he's there before the first troops will be put in movement. And the United States are a big country, you should be able to make your proposal before everything's ruined."
William looked at his father and then at his Uncle.
"They could still refuse."
"If they refuse, then what will happen becomes their responsibility. You will have done everything in your power to avoid them war and conquest. Even those arrogant asses should see the advantages of what you bring…"
"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes…" whispered Mr. Bennet from his armchair at the left. "Beware of gift bringing Greeks! They will probably believe you have hidden –evil- intentions to make them your proposals. I'm quite sure their Government will refuse."
"Luckily for their people, there still are the States…" said Fitzwilliam. "Some could accept even if their federal government refuses."
Geoffrey put a supporting hand on his son's shoulder.
"He will convince them, I'm quite sure…"
_oOo_