I'm not sure, but I suspect the first few bits of this chapter may have been mentioned before. In the end I decided Redding needed re-introducing anyway.

Chapter 61

Who Do You Think You're Kidding?

Long ago, at the time of the first meteor fall, the Earth had its usual varied forms of governmental rule. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors, Premiers, Kings, Queens and Emperors all had their place in the grand scheme of power. The old ways though soon came to a close after the first strike and although things did not change overnight, it did not take long for some behind the scenes manipulation to occur.

When the truth about the Sholf-4 asteroids regular rendezvous with Earth was released to the world, the Mars Colony plan became accepted as humanities only hope for the future, and many governments, companies and individuals also realised there was a real danger of a concentration of power in the Mars Project. The first fingers of paranoia were pointed at the United States because of NASA and its private partner's development of deep space hardware, but it did not take long before China had the spotlight shone on its plans for a Space Station of its own. It was all nothing more than irrational fear though because although both nations had the capability to get a few people to Mars, they could never hope to start a viable, self sufficient colony in the short term without a lot of help from every other nation. It would have been hard enough before the first meteor, but imposable after many had fallen.

As an oversight of the entire operation, each and every nation was asked to appoint a single representative known as a Governor who would represent their country. The Governors originally had very little real power and were merely to act as a two way communications liaison between those building the Mars systems and the nations providing all the resources.

All this changed when the Earth First Alliance moved from being a protest movement, to a violent military force intent on stopping all work on the Mars Project in favour of full on production of deep underground survival bunkers. If an EFA unit were to undertake an attack across national borders, it was difficult for any nations forces to fight back without causing an international incident so in desperation, the military forces being used against the EFA were put under the control of the group of Governors. As the decades past, with more and more countries being hit hard by meteorites, the largest ever armed force ever assembled ended up being controlled by a single body, led by a single man known as the Prime Governor; a man who these days spent his time living in his own personal habitat, indulging in some of the finer things of life.

"In 1878, a man named Benno Seppelt started the Centennial Cellar at the Barossa winery founded by his father Joseph back in 1851" Redding explained as he poured himself a small glass of Liquor Tawny Port.

"You will have to excuse me for asking, but so what?" Professor Adisa shrugged.

"I shall tell you if you will allow me" Redding snorted "Benno selected a five hundred litre barrel of the finest wine and set it aside in the cellar and continued to do so every year until his death in 1931, but the practice he started was continued year after year so his plan could be fulfilled. Then in 1978 the first bottles of Seppelt Para 100-year-old Tawny Port were released, beginning what would be the world's only unbroken lineage of single vintage wines spanning more than 130 consecutive vintages."

"I still don't know why you're telling us all this" Linton shook his head

"Don't you understand yet?" Redding sighed "You are Benno Seppelt; when he started laying down wine for a hundred years, he knew he would not be around to enjoy the result himself, but he did it anyway for others who would come after him; year after year, barrel after barrel. You my friend did the same thing; and yet in spite of all the sacrifice and effort you put into the Mars Project... there was a time when I would've gladly killed you myself."

"Hence having me on a list of EFA leaders" the Professor sighed again.

"Indeed; you were one of the few people who was impossible keep under full control" Redding smirk turned to a severe frown "Always flitting from country to country, organising and co-ordinating, modifying the plans I had so carefully put into place; if you hadn't been so successful with the Mars Supply Project, I think you would have met with an untimely end during your travels."

"So instead you locked me up inside the Sumatra Railgun for fifteen years."

"Kept you out of my hair; and besides if I hadn't, I'm sure you would have started replacing all that equipment you lost when the tanker was destroyed" Redding guessed.

Linton and Henry glanced at each other when they realised Redding did not know they had the ship and its contents in their possession.

"Yes and I still would be... if there were any hope of doing so, but it's clear now there is no chance of that happening" Linton tried to sound convincing.

"Happy to see you've come to your senses at last" Redding smiled.

"So in the end, was it you or the EFA who finally sank the ship?" Linton asked.

"I am the EFA you fool!"

Henry and Linton had a very hard time believing Redding's statement; instead of a confession, it sounded more like the ravings of a crazy old man.

"But you led the fight against the EFA; how could you be part of it?" the Professor asked in doubt.

"I didn't say I was part of the EFA, I said I was the EFA."

The old man poured himself another glass of Para Tawny and smirked at the other two men present. The confusion he had put on their faces tasted almost as good as his wine.

"Oh come on Adisa; surely even you can see it would have been only a matter of time before a serious fight would have broken out over the Mars plan. By starting my own enemy force, I could control the entire war through the various Project Governors."

"How the hell do you control a war?" Henry gasped.

"Not easy, but possible" Redding declared proudly "To put it simply I would pick a target, like a convoy of rocket parts bound for a launch site, and tell a military force to the north the convoy was being attacked by the EFA from the south; then I would tell the force in the south that the EFA was attacking from the north, and then they would go and fight each other. All I had to do was to call off each side after a short battle and as long as one plane, one tank or one soldier on each side made it back alive, I could tell them both their defensive action was a success and the EFA had been driven off."

"It can't have been that simple" Linton declared doubtfully.

"Of course it wasn't; I had to keep most of the Governors in the dark about what was going on, convince nations they were not being attacked by other nations and there were many other problems to solve, but we did it. Mars base happened precisely the way the Deep Council planned; well... almost."

"Deep Council?" Linton considered the name "You had a secret ruling body?"

"The Earth members of the Deep Council have pretty much retired, but those on Mars still control the planet from behind the scenes."

"But why; what was in it for you?" Henry asked "Wasn't it enough just to protect humanity's future?"

"Idealistic and hypocritical as always Dias" Redding sneered "You were not the only one to give your child away to ensure their chance to leave the Earth."

"Maybe we should change the subject" Linton suggested.

"You just want to dig for more information" Redding could see right through the Professor.

"I wouldn't mind knowing what this place is exactly" he admitted.

"Don't you recognise it?" Redding smirked.

"Again with the guessing games" Linton sighed "Yes I can see it is just like the Railgun Complex, but there are quite a few differences."

"And the main one is there's no Railgun here" Redding admitted. "The funny thing is, this is exactly what the EFA was demanding. Hundreds of giant bunkers deep underground where thousands of people could live in relative safety."

"We didn't see anywhere near that many people" Henry stated.

"And besides, shouldn't a room like this be more of a farm rather than a Botanical Garden?" Linton added.

"Perks of being me" Redding grinned like a toothless Cheshire Cat "There are about a hundred people down here; fifty outsiders, about twenty guards and the rest are all former leaders of government and industry with living spaces just like this; but whereas I get one to myself, they have to live in little towns of about ten homes per room. Cosy but still very spacious; here let me show you."

Redding picked up a remote control and pressed a button. A floor to ceiling curtain began to open revealing a large monitor screen surrounded by several smaller screens. When the curtain was fully opened, the screens all lit up with a combination of data and images from security cameras. The old man reached for a keyboard and mouse on the nearby coffee table and after navigating through a few menus, brought up two plans on the main screen. Linton and Henry noticed the bottom one showed the room Redding's house was in, surrounded by gardens and small forests.

"As you can see on the top, the large rooms where you would have farms or production facilities are set up as lovely rural communities where those of us who could not go to Mars can live in very civil circumstances."

"Wait a minute" Linton interrupted "Why only a hundred people? If you've converted these cavernous rooms into micro environments, you should have at least five times the number."

"We have fewer actually; the guards and the outsiders do not go further than the last checkpoint, so there are about thirty living in areas like mine."

"Hang on" Henry's turn to interrupt "What do you mean by outsiders?"

"What do you think I mean by outsiders? They're the people who live outside! They don't know about what is deep inside because they are only allowed in to work here in shifts and only in the outer sections."

Redding could see Adisa and Dias were even more confused so he spelt it out for them.

"The farmers and those like them outside, do not know how big this place really is. They think it is little more than a storehouse for food and equipment for whenever there is a meteor related disaster. Then when the crops are wiped out, there are enough supplies being stored in here to keep everyone going during the rebuild. Fifty people at a time are allowed in to build and fix the machines they use in farming; they live in the workshops during the week their inside, while the rest all live outside. It is kind of like a lottery where everyone hopes there will be no meteor related disaster while they are outside, but they can feel safe for the week they are in here; the current group are moving back out in a few days."

"So you are using those people as virtual slave workers to provide the necessities of life while you live in safety and comfort" Linton hissed in disgust.

"They think they are only storing supplies for themselves and if you don't like the idea Professor, you'd better get used to it because this is your new life now."

Linton and Henry glanced at each other again; what was happening did not make any sense to them.

"Hold the phone; are you saying we are prisoners here as well?" Linton Adisa gasped.

"Think of yourselves more along the line of guests" Redding grinned "We'll find you a nice home in one of the environments and you will live very comfortably. You see Professor, now that I don't have to worry about you sending more people to Mars and overpopulating the base, I don't feel the need to have you killed anymore; and I do like the idea of keeping you around to chat, play chess and things of that nature. All the other people down here are just like me; selfish and narcissistic, so conversations can be more than a little dull."

Redding picked up a small communications device from his desk and pressed a green button.

"Yes sir?" a voice came through.

"Professor Adisa and Doctor Dias will be staying on with us; please organise AA Plus accommodation for them."

"Right away sir" the lackey replied "Will this be a permanent arrangement sir?"

Redding thought for a moment and smiled when he saw the look of horror on Linton's face.

"Only as permanent as I am; after I die they are free to go if they wish" Redding ordered.

He replaced the device on his desk and sat down in a very plush chair.

"You have always struck me as a man of principals Professor" Redding smirked "I'll be interested to see how much time will pass before you try to kill me just to get out of here."

"I've spent fifteen years underground in a place nowhere near as nice as this one" Linton smiled sweetly "What makes you think I'd want to leave?"

Henry was very surprised to hear Professor Adisa talk this way, but Redding saw right through him.

"Don't think for one moment I am anywhere near as gullible as you once were" Redding's sneer soon turned to an evil smile.

Doctor Sarah Spencer literally fell backwards onto her bed and was soon half asleep. With Luis Dias wanting to leave Earth orbit as soon as possible, the Processing Pods bound for the Asteroid Belt all needed to be launched quickly. Fortunately two sets of five were almost ready to go and a third set could be completed in less than a week. Using the MTV and its powerful VASIMR engines to start the Pods on their journey would shave months off their travel time. Day after day of solid, mind numbing organisation had left Sarah feeling like the human equivalent of a shipwreck, but she still jumped in surprise when something wet lightly touched her ear.

"WHAH!" she yelped

"Oh Jeffery you little swine" Sarah sighed as she picked up the naughty cat.

The Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock huffed in distain. He knew if he hadn't been there, Sarah would not have been surprised in the slightest, but he was never given the credit he so rightfully deserved. He decided to go on a little holiday and leave the Stormy Petrel of Mild Surprise in charge of making people gasp for a few weeks.

"You want some dinner I suppose" Sarah said as she carried Jeffery into the kitchen.

The tinkling of his little bell was almost unnoticeable as it was drowned out by the loud purring Jeffery emitted; he sounded like an idling diesel engine. With the hungry cat taken care of for a few minutes, Sarah poured herself a glass of water and leaned back on the counter as she drank.

"Would it be alright if I went bed now Your Majesty?" she asked the cat.

As if in answer to her question, there was a tapping at her door. Jeffery the Jingle Cat turned his head at the sound before looking back at Sarah. The disgusted look on his face seemed to say 'whoever it is, get rid of them; I'm still eating here.'

Opening the main door, Sarah was not sure what surprised her more; seeing Ursula Linwood standing there or noticing she had a big white cat in her arms too.

"Oh... has Moon been bothering you?" she asked.

Ursula smiled as she looked into the eyes of the stocky feline, who just sat comfortably and purred.

"Not at all; I'm just taking him back to our quarters" she revealed "I volunteered to look after him now Blue is gone."

Sarah's face suddenly went a little pale and Ursula was sure she knew why.

"I had a feeling you were just putting on a brave face for everyone" Ursula nodded "I was just down in the staging area, doing my usual complaining about how no one appreciated what it was like for me to have lost my daughter, when this tall Samoan guy casually says you have just lost someone who was like a son to you. I came to apologise for being so self centred and to see if you were okay."

"That would be Peter Moke" Sarah smiled "but as you said, Blue isn't really my son... and he's finally got his real family back; so I don't think I have the right to be upset about anything."

"I think it would be good if we talked about it though... for a while at least" Ursula smiled "May I come in for a minute?"

Without waiting for a reply Ursula stepped in and closed the door. Sarah really needed to get to bed, but she also knew it would be nice to talk things over with someone who really knew how he felt.

I just read something very interesting. In 1902 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Sherlock Holmes as 'A man of iron.' Then in 2009 a movie was made with an actor playing Holmes who had just starred as... Iron Man.

Where's the Theremin music when you need it?