New Horizon's

Untitled Part 14

                                                                                 Gentle Persuasion.
The Party ate soup from the vegetable patches still looked after by Ivana and her children, followed by a fruit salad from the same place. There was no illusionary food here. The conversation was mostly to do with the situation with the "Have's and Have nots" and the power that Han's Becker and Troy Brask wielded over both communities. But Otto Van Brugger was watching John Blackmore very carefully, and his suspicions were true. He was miles away and not listening to the conversation. "Ok" he said with a smile on his face. "What is your real reason for this meeting John? John Blackmore rose from his seat. "Of course Otto is correct" he began. I" have something to tell you that at first will seem ridiculous. But if taken in the same context of the meeting with Ronan and Miriam you may sway towards possibility. I have recently been visited by another traveller from the Planet Morena. His name is Galan and he is their Senior Ambassador for all known Galaxy's. He then went on to relate to his guests all that Galan told him and what he had seen for himself" "Are you saying that you have seen and spoken to "God" asked Mbeki Omani. "No not at all" answered John, "I don't know who God is, but I do know that this man spoke the truth" He then went on to tell them of the Formula he sent to Earth, and the value it would bring. "So you came to the twin Towns and you want us to believe that you seen nothing at all except 496 people scurrying around looking completely stupid" asked Bjorn Christenson, unusually quiet until now. "This is correct" answered John Blackmore. "Have you anything in the way of proof? asked Bernard the Butcher. "Strangely enough" answered John Blackmore smiling at the Butcher's wife Betsy. "I spoke to you at the door of your shop Betsy, did I not? he said. "Yes of course" she replied. "You turned and walked through the doorway, and as you did so did I pass you? "Come to think of it you did not" she replied. "And where was I when you entered the shop? he asked. Betsy hesitated, "You were standing at the counter, ten feet away" was her answer. "I walked through the windowed wall, which is in fact none existent" said John Blackmore. No one spoke for fifteen minutes. All were trying to digest, not just the fact that John Blackmore had walked through a wall. It was more the suggestion that the wall wasn't there. "What is next? asked Otto Van Brugger. John outlined what he had to do, as in entering his life Pod. "And before you agree or disagree let it be known that my wife and children will be entering their own Pods tonight" he said. Somewhat unexpectedly, all agreed.
The following morning the nine participants left their isolation units to be met by John Blackmore. "Open the outer door and lower the ramp" was his instruction to Hector. "I will say no more" he said, "Leave this Ship and wonder at your new world" John watched from a window as his children for the first time in eighteen months ran and played in the long grass, chasing Butterflies and pointing to the birds flying high above. The adults walked in unison. John could only imagine the conversation. They reached the River, Bernard the Butcher waded trying to catch a fish with his bear hands. Suddenly a large Antelope appeared on top of a hill leading to nine arms pointing in the one direction. 45 minutes later they returned to New Horizons to be met by John Blackmore sitting at the dining table. "Breakfast anyone" he said, raising a smile from the others. "What is your plan John? asked Mbeki Omani. "There is no plan" answered John. "We must convince the others of what we have seen, I would suggest 100 at a time, leaving the "Have's" to the end. Let them suffer a little longer" He looked at Bjorn Christenson. "I forgot to tell you" he said, "Your friend Murdo is still alive"
The persuasion of the 490 was much easier than John Blackmore had anticipated. The sight of individuals walking through their walls was enough to convince them and for some any life was better than what they had now. The killer blow was the discovery of Murdo Mclean straddled in a sitting position on a chair that wasn't there, behind walls that did not exist. Within four days everyone was back on board New Horizons, all thoughts of Providence and Origen banished from their minds. As everyone awaited the inevitable speech from John Blackmore he was nowhere to be found. In a dream he was told to come to the River at dawn. While staring into the crystal clear waters he became aware of a presence nearby. It was Galan calmly sitting on a rock not ten yards away. "Now you enter the next phase John Blackmore" he said, "How do you feel? "Frightened" answered John, "But at the same time invigorated, to discover where we go from here" "Life as you know it will now change out of all recognition" said Galan. "You must, if you like step back 1500 years in your history and become Tribal. Where everyone is equal and everyone shares in the gifts that the land brings. A Council of five will sit at the head of the Tribe overseeing the fairness to all. With your skills and Technology for every twenty years that you live, you will advance three hundred years in time. You are beginning with 500 from all Nations and all Religions. You must create a system where everyone is accepted, division could mean the end. Look after your people John Blackmore and they will love you"
In the first five years no one was allowed to wander or settle outside of a twenty-five mile radius of New Horizons, but very quickly as the population grew the boundaries were enhanced year on year As the time came closer to recieving new arrivals the latest survey indicated that the population was now 2000 and rising. After forty years on Outreach One only a handful of the old guard still survived with John Blackmore still at the head of the table. As the years passed he had been in constant touch with Earth notifying them of their current status as on Earth they were far more advanced than Outreach One. On the last Sunday of every month at twelve noon all of the population stood still and thanked the World around them that just kept on giving. Would the imminent new comers do the same, or in years to come would Galan be called upon to intervene?