The Dream Factory

The Ego Presumptive

The Ego Presumptive 

'I'm afraid I've just received some rather bad news.' Bellamy Twister announced to the group sitting round the dining table. My Aunt Florine has just died. We were particularly close.' 

'Professor, our thoughts are with you and your progeny at this difficult time.' Drath Norgeth nodded sagely, his face flushing a sympathetic blue.  

'Will you be having her stuffed and mounted on a marble centrepiece?' Alih Fong carefully adjusted the silver lapels on his suit until they were just so. 

'One less dependent eh? Fortune smiles upon you Professor,' Marjor Pinj chimed in. 'Will you be celebrating tonight?' 

Varis of Voon raised her challis, tuned out the feedback on her translator. 'A drink then, to celebrate death and all that precedes it!' 

Bellamy stood with the group, raised his glass and inwardly smiled. Like the other tests this one had started particularly well. He could now look forward to the merits or otherwise of death being debated by eight, or if he included himself, nine of the greatest living geniuses of the eleven civilizations in the known Universes. He sat back, took a sip of his wine and listened to the proceedings unfurl. 

When he returned to his cabin later that night his cheery whistling alerted his research assistant to his entrance. 

'Good evening Professor?' Penny looked up from her visipad. 

'The conversation was positively enlightening I must say Penny.' 

'I was listening in on your discussion whilst I was writing up your notes from yesterday tests. I particularly liked your story about the accident when your dog nearly died and the quote from Tolstoy. So beautifully insightful.' Penny sighed. 

'Ah yes, it just popped into my mind while I was sitting there. It seemed to go down well with the others didn't it? How are the notes coming along?' 

'Very well Professor. I was just thinking how well all the tests have gone in fact. What an amazing idea this was of yours, I don't see how your research paper won't win next year's Nobel Prize for Interplanetary Understanding. The whole concept's absolutely breathtaking.' 

'Now now Penny it's not completed yet so let's not be presumptive.' Bellamy smiled. But of course he knew she was right. It was he that had arranged with the industrialist Lanyard Longe that they could use Longe's personal planetary cruiser to take the group to the Society's annual meeting on Raga X. It was he who had suggested to Lanyard that this would be an ideal opportunity to conduct a series of covert tests on the group that would explore the boundaries of how each civilisation felt about their own races cultural and intellectual standing with the others from the personal perspectives of the eleven intellectual giants of their age. When Bellamy published his account of the trip it would be a sensation- a sure fire Nobel Prize winner. 

'I could hear Loese from Stner and Frosi Y were not there. Are they still laid low by Fhengi fever?' 

'Apparently so Penny. It is most unfortunate that two of the group only made it through the first week but can still we carry on. We've already captured their views on some important questions so we can progress with my testing of the rest of the group. It's a blow to all of us but it appears they'll be in quarantine in their cabins for the rest of the trip.' 

'The conversation tonight didn't seem to suffer for it Professor. It was just the most profoundly moving discussion I've ever heard. Everyone's on sparkling form.' 

For a moment Bellamy nodded in agreement then slowly took off his wire rimmed glasses and pinched the top of his nose. Deep in thought he raised his hand to his balding head.