Alien Virus (22 page)

“Hello – it that Kevin?”

“Harry?”

“Yes – it’s nice to be back.”

“Where are you?”

“On Eday – with Jo.” I whispered to Frank
that it was Harry. He asked me if they were alone.

“Anyone else with you?” I asked. Was this
man psychic, Harry wondered.

“Yeah – someone you know.”

“Sandi?” It was the only name that came to
mind.

“Spot on. I think the months back in London
helped clarify some things for her – she seems fine. She wants to
see you all again.”

“I’ll have to talk to the others,” I
replied, looking at Frank.

“Of course. She’s not alone, by the way.
She’s with a friend she met in London – Sara. She seems nice.
Anyway, Sandi said she’d give you a call soon. Where are you all
now by the way? If you can’t say on the phone, it’s okay.” I
whispered Harry’s question to Frank, who nodded, which I took to
mean it was okay to tell him.

“Papa Westray... but we might be back on
Eday soon.”

“Great – give us a call when you come
over... there’s something I need to talk to you about.” I said
goodbye, put the phone down and told Frank about Sandi.

“She’s strong – I’ll say that much. You have
to have guts to come back here after being tied to a chair by our
Gareth.”

“Been there, done that,” I replied,
recalling my first visit to Edinburgh.

*

With Harry and Jo back on Eday, Sandi and
Sara decided to explore Orkney, starting on Mainland, the largest
of all the islands. Here they covered all the main tourist sites –
Scara Brae, Maes Hough, and the Old Palace in Kirkwall – then the
Highland Park Distillery. Returning to Kirkwall’s Tourist
Information Office, they looked at the brochures of the other
Orkney islands. It was all new to Sara, so she left the choice of
where to go next to Sandi. They could visit Hoy anytime.

“Okay, let’s go to the island Kevin and I
really enjoyed visiting last year.”

“Great! What’s it called?”

“Papa Westray.”

***

Thirty
-
One

The next day was a huge shock. First of all,
Sandi was back, and consequently everyone, except Frank, was rather
edgy. This was the woman who had betrayed us (as they saw it) and
at first they didn’t feel safe with her around. But Frank had a
second sense in this respect, and told us not to worry: Sandi was
one of us, and she would never do anything serious to hurt the
group. Her return to Orkney, knowing that we would be
non–too–pleased with her actions (and might do more than simply tie
her up next time), indicated this. After Frank had talked us, the
relief was palpable – particularly as far as Gareth was concerned;
he was still very much in love with her, but didn’t want to
compromise his dedication to the group by his affection for ‘the
enemy’.

“Sandi, welcome back!” Frank exclaimed with
open arms. “And who is this?” he added seeing Sara.

“Hi, I’m Sara,” she said.

I froze. Shivers went down my spine.

“Yes, I believe we’ve met,” Frank replied
shaking her hand, “though my appearance has changed somewhat,” he
smiled broadly.

Sara looked confused. My heart was now
beating fast. I knew this woman – beyond any doubt.

“I, I think… I think I’ve met you too,” I
stammered. “But I’ve no idea where or when.” I stared into her
eyes, searching for some understanding of how I knew her.

“This is Audrey, Kate, Tony and Gareth,”
Frank continued, introducing the others to Sara. “Make yourself
comfortable… would you like a cup of tea, or coffee perhaps?”

Sara accepted a cup of coffee, and sat
between Kate and Sandi, who was next to Gareth. I was still in a
daze. I was connected to this woman, but I’d no idea how. And then
Frank said, “It’s Sara Philby, isn’t it?” She was taken aback.

“Oh, how did you know that? Did Sandi tell
you?”

“No… I knew your husband – John Philby. He
was a property developer, but had an unfortunate accident…
involving a roof, I recall. I was very sad when that happened… we
were very good friends.”

Then I understood.

Sara stared quizzically at Frank. “I’m
sorry, I don’t remember you…”

“Yes, this is going to be a little difficult
to understand… my name is Frank Peters.”

Sara was dumbfounded. “But that’s
impossible… Frank was an older man… and shorter.”

“I did say it was going to be
difficult!”

Frank turned to Tony and asked him if he
would tell Sara everything he understood about past lives and
reincarnation.

“My pleasure Frank. Well, the first think
you need to do is let go of all your preconceived ideas about life
and death…”

Whilst Tony was talking to Sara and the
others, Frank ushered me outside so we could talk privately. We sat
on a long wooden bench overlooking a nearby pond.

"Kevin, I understand that was difficult for
you, and I know you'll be very confused just now. But I can tell
you beyond any doubt that you were Sara's husband before you became
Kevin Lee, and you and I were close friends, very close. In fact,
you and I have worked closely together ever since coming to this
planet. When I volunteered for this project, I asked you to work
with me – I knew you had the qualities that could help us fight the
virus. We have shared many lives together in dozens of countries
over a period of ten thousand years. I know this will sound like
science fiction, but every word I tell you is true.

“Because of our closeness, I feel I can
trust you with sensitive information. If you remember, I told you
about a substance we had perfected that will destroy the virus
forever. That substance will be activated very soon."

"How soon?"

"In the next few days. The good news is that
the antidote will completely destroy the virus. Endless tests have
been done on samples of the virus which were safely retained on our
planet. It has a 100% success rate.”

“So what’s the bad news?” I asked.

“The downside is that it will kill
anything
physically connected to the virus." Frank paused,
waiting for my reaction.

"You mean that anyone who is infected by the
virus will die?"

Frank nodded. "Yes, that is exactly what I’m
saying. This is why we cannot tell the others – not yet."

"But they'll be safe, surely? They've all
been tested, and they're negative."

"Tony, Kate, Gareth and Audrey – yes,
they'll be safe. But we don't know about Sandi, Sara, Harry and Jo.
They've just returned from London, a highly virulent area, and the
likelihood is that they're infected – even if to a small degree.
And then there's Liz and Hamish of course.

"Shit!" My mind was racing, trying to think
of ways we could save them.

"I understand that you want to save people's
lives, Kevin, particularly those you have a relationship with now.
But just imagine if you could recall all your past lives, and the
thousands of people you were close to then. Imagine if you could
remember that Sara was your wife, or that... " Frank stopped
himself and paused. "Well, you get the idea."

“How will it happen?” I asked. “I mean,
what’s the method of distribution of this, er, substance… and where
will it come from?”

“It will be seeded into the Earth’s
atmosphere, and penetrate the air we breathe, the water we drink
and the food we eat. It will be impossible to avoid.”

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“Only Tony. No–one else must know this
Kevin, no–one.”

Frank went back inside to join the others. I
reflected on what I had just heard from Frank. Although there was
so much I didn’t understand, I couldn’t turn away from this now. I
had witnessed so much in the last few months, and had no doubt that
at least some of what I had learned from Frank and Tony was true. I
desperately hoped that Sandi and the others would be okay, that
they would be sufficiently free of the virus to survive the
antidote, but at the back of my mind, I feared the worst.

***

Thirty-Two

Three days later, on Thursday the
29
^th
September, it all started. I could almost taste the
substance in the air. Frank said it would take five days for the
full effects to be felt and instructed everyone to stay inside due
to some ‘very bad weather’ that was heading our way. He also got me
to secretly disconnect the internet and phone lines, and tell
everyone that the lines were down due to thunderstorms on the
Orkney Mainland. He didn’t want them to hear things from anywhere
else. Everyone had a great respect for Frank, and never questioned
his judgement. In fact, the only two people who might have queried
his instructions were Tony and me… which could be one reason he
confided in the two of us.

On Saturday evening, Sandi and Sara said
they were not feeling well, and went to bed early. It was
heartbreaking to hear this, knowing what Frank had told me. Frank
suggested I have a look around the island the next day – he didn’t
want me to witness what was happening to Sandi.

I had an early breakfast on Sunday morning,
and took one of our ebikes on a trip around Papay, heading west. It
was deadly quiet… quiet even for Papay. It wasn’t long before I
came across some bodies. An old lady outside her house near an area
called Holland, and a child nearby. Further along the road, another
three. I checked each one for a pulse, and there was no question
they were dead. Not many people kept livestock on the island, but
the cows I did see all appeared to be lifeless. The population of
Papay was less than one hundred before we arrived; by Monday, I
could see it being less than ten. To the south, in an area known as
Backaskaill, I saw two more bodies outside their homes. Looking
through the window of a couple of houses, I saw more people, and no
signs of life.

I returned to the Cooperative where we were
staying, and stopped at Liz and Hamish’s house. My face broke into
a wide smile when I saw Hamish outside cleaning his fishing
gear.

“Hi Kevin… do ye notice, there’s something
awful funny aboot the air t’day?”

“Yeah, strange smell to it. Could be coming
over from Westray. Is your mum about?”

“Aye, she’s in the kitchen… shall I get her
for you?”

“No need, thanks – just checking up on her.
Well, you take care now Hamish – I’ll see you later.”

“See you Kevin.”

I was relieved to know that Hamish and Liz
had survived. Back at home, things were less hopeful. Frank had
gathered everyone together to tell them about the virus, the
antidote and the side effects. Liz and Sara had gone home. It was a
very sombre mood. Audrey could not hold back her tears and had to
leave the room. Kate and Gareth were glassy–eyed.

“So as I said, eliminating the virus from
this planet, has come at a cost – we always knew it would. Millions
of people around the planet are now dead, including, regretfully,
Sandi and Sara. This is a time to be strong; this is a time to
really believe what Tony and I have been telling you about life.
The death of a body is just that, nothing more. The person, the
soul never dies… it goes home to its natural place, waiting be
reborn. That will continue to happen on this planet, as it happens
on every planet of every universe where life exists. Now the
Earth’s population is a very small fraction of what it was before
last Thursday. It will grow again – people will live and learn and
grow again on this planet, and build a new future – one free of the
alien virus we have destroyed. And in so doing, we have saved other
races in other parts of the universe from the virus.

“On this amazing planet, I have had so many
lives – and so have you all. But this is the last one. At the end
of your natural life times, we will all return home to the planet
we came from. Our mission is almost over… right Tony?”

“Yes, indeed. I would like to echo what
Frank said, and add that we still have a great deal of work to do.
A huge clean–up operation will soon be underway in the aftermath of
the virus. Our main role, though, will be in education: helping
people to get back to natural ways, showing how desert can be
transformed into fertile land and food can easily be grown without
chemical fertilizers; pushing renewable energy as the one and only
way to go forward; harnessing the powers of the wind, waves and
sun. A new era of mankind can begin, and it starts with us.”

“So, the virus is really dead… there’s
nothing left of it alive anywhere on Earth?” Kate asked.

“Correct Kate,” Frank replied. “There is no
possibility that any life-form on Earth could avoid the antidote;
and once subjected to the antidote the virus will die. We have
achieved what we set out to achieve, though not in the way we had
hoped. There is nowhere on Earth, not a micron of space, where the
virus can escape the antidote. The virus is no more.

*

At precisely 14.27 GMT on Wednesday
26
^th
October, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft undocked from
the International Space Station, returning three cosmonauts to
Earth after six months in space.

*****

Other Books by
Steve Howrie

T
IME LEAP
(Science Fiction)