Divine Deception: The Will Traveller Chronicals (11 page)

All except for the
elephants, their three pairs of eyes were level with mine, and from
a hundred metres away I could see the comprehension dawn on the
three of them.

“It shall be as
you command Lord Robert” The giant in the middle nodded his head
slightly. My raised hand eventually brought about an end to all the
welcoming cheers and applause. The tallest of the group of five
raised a megaphone to his mouth and almost yelled. “We the grateful
people of Carabindy Province have long awaited the return of our
patron. Your Excellency Lord Robert” He called out “We offer you
our best and beg that you enjoy our humble welcoming ceremony” He
added.

It would have been
impossible not to. Upwards of a hundred children, all decked out in
streamers that ran the gamut of the colour red, ran out behind the
five men and escorted them to the rear of the enormous semi circle,
then they danced their way into a human fence, around a football
sized field. Into this prettily fenced oval leapt a half a dozen
youths, dressed identically to myself, and the same number of dogs,
all dressed up to represent wild animals. The valiant ‘Lord
Roberts’ fought mock battles with the brilliantly trained dogs, who
seemed to be having lots of fun as well. For the next twenty
minutes the presentation included several variations of this all
conquering hero routine and must have featured almost a thousand
children, aged from ten to sixteen. But it was the big finale that
really got to me though.

Born by one of the
elephants and gently riding to the ground on the huge animal’s
trunk, a slim young man brought a megaphone to his mouth and after
bowing to me, turned to face the largest crowd that I had ever
seen. He prepared himself to give a speech.

“The Covenant of
Carabindy Province. Ordained as the law of this State by Patriarch
Founder Lord Robert of the Supreme Family” The young man intoned,
in a clear and as yet unbroken voice “All men and women are born
free and equal” He paused “No-one shall be denied the right to
pursue the positive actions of their choice. Destruction without
cause is forbidden. No animal should be killed but for food and
clothing. Effort must be rewarded by progression through society’s
ranks. No-one shall use anything which does not belong to them,
without the consent of the owner” The young man paused dramatically
between each edict.

“No-one shall
place their personal benefit ahead of the State’s welfare. No-one
shall behave in a way that harms or disturbs the efficient, safe
and equitable running of the State’s affairs. In observing this
Covenant the people of Carabindy Province shall remain free,
industrious and at peace with the world”. The youth then held up
his hands and the entire crowd repeated the last line in absolute
unison. It was readily apparent that this was a long rehearsed
welcoming ceremony. Clearly, these people knew I was to come back.
At this point, two dozen older youths marched into the centre; each
pair supported a banner held between two poles.

Each banner
depicted me doing battle with giant animals, on land, under water
and in the air! Given my interesting trip up the stairs, I
wondered, could the invincible Lord Robert also fly? I walked to
the very front of the richly carpeted Dias, even though the
microphones were all on the lectern behind me. I knew that it was
time for my automatic voice to speak, so I held up both my hands
and the massive crowd fell completely silent. I spoke in a
moderated, public speaker voice, not loudly, yet I was quite
certain that every creature in front of me would hear every single
word with crystal clarity. I sensed a vital moment in this world’s
history.

“Not so long ago,
your Forefathers came and tamed this land” I began “Now your work
here fuels half the New World” I told them. There was a loud and
long response to that information.

“I want to say to
every one of you” I began again “To all the people of Carabindy
Province, that I am proud, so very proud of what you have achieved.
Of what you have become!” I raised my voice towards the end and
received an ear-splitting response from the people. Even the dogs
barked and those enormous horses tossed their manes and whinnied “I
have come to launch you on your next great journey” I continued
telling the mass of people “I have come to bestow upon you
Nationhood!” My voice announced. After a second of stunned silence,
the whole multitude erupted once again, all of them cheering and
clapping. I waited until they had quietened down a little then
raised my hands

“I thank you for
your most gratifying welcome” I continued “Now would you guide me
to your great city so that I can, along with your leaders, begin to
forge the future of the Carabindy Nation!” I asked them and
received a tumultuous, positive response. While they roared their
approval, there was still clear organisation amidst the joyous
melee. The largest of the three gigantic elephants lumbered over
towards me.

“I am honoured to
serve Lord Robert” Came into my head, as the mastiff stood there,
his huge head almost level with mine. Down below, they attached the
giant creature to thick vine ropes. With his two almost as large
companions on either side of him, the huge elephant began to
effortlessly tow my near twenty metre high, very solidly built
podium structure to the town. The T.T.V., with Zoran and Susan
riding the transom, got nearly as much attention as I did.

They hadn’t seen
one around here in twenty years. Of course they had never seen
anything like this one. In this seemingly non mechanised society,
it looked like a visitor from space. Soon after we started, I was
able to get a look at the first of their suburbs. They stretched
endlessly, all single story houses, with generous green yards that
grew much smaller as we neared what these folks called their city.
This was more of a large country town than a city. No tall
buildings here, in fact, the only imposing building was the State
Government’s Headquarters. Along the way, the near hysterical
cheering and clapping had actually got even louder, so I set my
outward self to smile and wave automatically and asked a silent
question or two of my pachyderm powered transportation.

In fact his female
colleague, on my right, provided most of the important answers.
From the questions that she answered for me, I found out that this
was the centre of the New World’s mining operation. They piped
their raw material to a processing plant and dispatch port, over a
hundred kilometres to the West. I also found out that they were
environmentally considerate people, who were good to the many
animals they used as beasts of burden. They bred and humanely
slaughtered their own cattle and sheep for food and clothes, and
they farmed crops, so they were no drain on their host locality.
The Aklodyte they mined, from huge, open cut quarries nearby, had
no known benefit to the local environment.

“You have come to
stop the wild people have you not Lord Robert?” The four legged
female giant on my right asked somewhat boldly. I had to silence
the many creatures who admonished her for that, before I could ask
her what she meant.

“Well Sire” The
female elephant telepathed “When the pipeline was first laid,
several decades ago, the Supreme One sent ships like yours to move
all the wild people away” She told me.

“How was that
done?” I asked, cringing at the likely answer.

“They were all
killed Sire” Was the predictable reply.

“And now they have
returned?” I asked her silently.

“They have
returned tenfold Sire” The big male elephant answered “And they
have sworn to drive these gentle people away” He added, his
sympathies obvious.

“They killed all
the wild people, yet you say they are gentle people?” I asked
him.

“The wild people
kill us, these people care for us” He replied.

“The wild people
kill every living thing they find” The female on my right added
“These people do us no harm” It was clear that she too had little
time for the local natives.

“But you are
captives?” I asked the huge elephant “Wouldn’t you rather be free?”
I asked her, not expecting the answer I got.

“No Lord Robert,
only you command us” The big male replied “We could leave if we
chose to; they have no means to stop us” The giant pachyderm
assured me. Our procession halted in front the State Government
Headquarters, and the clock tower was the only part of the
structure above my Dias.

The large town
square and all the streets leading to it were totally packed with
brightly dressed clapping and cheering men, women and children. The
five men in safari suits came out onto a kind of rooftop garden,
just a metre or so below where I stood, this time there was a
megaphone, and one of the ‘he’, turned out to be a she. No doubt
she was Miss Proust’s counterpart, out here in this ‘frontier’
State. The two female elephants hooked their trunks onto steel
rings below a cleverly designed walkway and pulled it into place. I
now had a golden hand rail and plushly carpeted path to the five
who were waiting respectfully on the rooftop below. Again, no-one
spoke until I did; I was running out of original opening lines! The
five of them bowed deeply as I approached.

“I’d really rather
shake all of your hands for doing such a good job” I began
brightly, holding my hand out to the tallest one in the middle. He
looked up at me like a frightened rabbit caught in headlights, he a
fearless leader! Such is the power of blind belief.

“I’m Chief
Administrator Carpenter, Lord Robert” The leathery, clear eyed
leader said nervously, taking my hand quite firmly.

“Why not Governor
Carpenter?” I asked, shaking his hand.

“We are really
such a small State your Excellency” He answered “It seemed a little
early for such expensive self glorifications” Carpenter added,
looking me evenly in the eyes and speaking with a matter-of-fact
tone. I liked him immediately. He then introduced me to his three
male and one female associates.

“This is Bligh of
production and Egan from community affairs” Carpenter introduced
two bookish types “Potter is from agriculture and Miss Lois is my
right hand in administration” He continued. Potter looked weather
beaten sixty and she was a classy late twenties lady, the other two
looked like tough working types. I got them all to shake hands with
me, then signalled to my T.T.V. pilot to come on up. There was an
appreciative gasp as the sleek craft silently glided up to our
rooftop. I introduced Susan, as Miss Proust of course, and Zoran,
as my chief councillor, as they alighted from the silently hovering
T.T.V. We three followed our hosts back into the building and into
a high quality timber furnished boardroom, designed for around a
dozen people.

A throne like
chair was at the head of the table, and I was guided to it. I was
about to ask where Susan and Zoran would sit, when two of the six
attendants in the room quickly brought up chairs, for them to the
left and right of my ‘throne’. I sank gratefully into the very
comfortable chair, it had been a couple of hours since I’d last sat
down. I waved the others to do so as well. Everyone’s glasses were
soon filled with crystal clear water, while a very pretty attendant
shyly placed a tray, containing small fruit, a silver flask and a
glass, onto a table beside me. She raised the flask and looked
questioningly at me. I nodded and she filled my glass I said “Thank
you very much Miss” To her, and she lit up like a Christmas tree,
did a little bow and skipped off to join her comrades at the back
of the room. That was one happy little girl.

“Well it seems
you’ve been expecting me Mr Carpenter, am I late or early?” I asked
the tall and tanned fifty something year old.

“The time you
choose is always the right time Lord Robert” Carpenter replied
dutifully.

“Well, how long
have you had the children rehearsing and getting all that lovely
ceremony ready?” I asked, still trying to get my answer. Miss Lois
laughed softly.

“I used to go to
monthly rehearsals for two years, when I was in school Lord Robert”
She told me, but that didn’t look as though it was all that long
ago.

“We have staged
the Lord Robert Challenge and the Presentation for the past twenty
three years your Excellency” The bald and stocky Mr. Egan from
community affairs advised me.

“What’s the
challenge?” I asked no-one in particular.

“It’s a two day
test of wit and strength your Excellency” The State’s leader told
me, with pride clear in his voice.

“That’s how we
pick our champion man and women of the year, your Excellency” Mr.
Bligh told me. He was thinner and older than Mr. Egan with a
sharper, stern face.

“Do any of you
know why I’ve come?” I asked them all bluntly.

“To tell you the
truth Lord Robert” Carpenter answered “Delighted as everyone in
this State is to have you here in person, I have no idea what has
brought this honour to us” He added, then looked at each of his
colleagues one at a time.

“To increase
production levels?” Bligh offered, without further explanation. The
other three simply shrugged their shoulders.

“You have no idea
that you are about to be attacked and, quite possibly, overrun by
the wild people?” My voice asked them. All five faces paled and I
could sense Susan and Zoran staring at me intently. Mr Potter,
easily the oldest of the group, rallied himself

“With all respect
Lord Robert” He began “When I was a young man, before Statehood,
there was talk of wild folks around here. But there ain’t been none
of them around in more ‘n thirty years” He assured me. I sensed
that Mr. Potter was trying to do more than simply assure me,
perhaps he was trying to assure himself? But it seemed odd that the
State’s chief farmer knew nothing.