Published: 18 Mar 2019

As the time approached for their descent to Earth Cameron ran over the outline of the plan in his head checking time and again that all was ready and that nothing had been left undone; only the advent of the Melecasians presence was the unknown factor but he had left enough lee way for changes should they encounter any problems.

The transport ship was almost ready for lift off as the last of the guards made their way to their seats along the sides and down the centre of the passenger bay. Cameron along with his five intimates and the four officers sat in the main cockpit as the humming of the engines began to get louder, not enough to be called loud and blasting but a subtle deeper humming from under the floor, the dark front of the transport became clear as the take off began and Cameron could see again the myriad of stars stretching to infinity before him.

The transport ship was a lot slower than Cameron’s own little flier and it would take them almost 12 hours to reach Earth from their hiding place behind Saturn, Cameron sat back and let the adjustable seating set itself around his body as two of his boys got up from theirs coming to him they began to rub gently on his neck and shoulders with what seemed very delicate fingers for young men to have. They teased his muscles like butterfly wings as they worked up and down his skin.

With a start Cameron opened his eyes as the voice of the pilot came to him, he had not realised he had drifted off to sleep at the touch of the fingers on his neck.

“Besat, we have the landing area in sight, there seems to be no activity down there, shall we proceed?”

“Yes Pilot, slow and careful please.”

“Yes Besat.”

The craft began to lower over the darkness of the desert near the centre of Australia and when it was no more than a hundred meters above the ground turned slightly and began to make the approach overland to what the Aborigines called “Uluru” or “Ayers Rock” some fifty kilometres away, rising from the flat expanse of the surrounding waste land like a giant beast asleep in the night.

The craft settled onto the desert sands without a sound except for the soft humming of the engines and as soon as the passengers were on the ground breathing the chilled night air of the dark land it began to lift off heading back the same way as it had come; it had been on the ground no more than ten minutes and in no time had disappeared into the gloom of night.

“Now is everyone clear on the use of the English languages here, no one must use our own language while we are here.”

The answering shout came back clearly in the silence of the still night air.

“Yes Besat.”

“Now General Jopty and I have decided to make the term Besat my last name to save any confusion so if you use it then no one will think anything of it.”

“Yes Besat.”

“Right let’s get moving we have to walk about five kilometres around this rock to the main area for the bus later this morning and we don’t want to be late, are you all ok with the way you have to act now as high spirited school boys like you saw on the vids?”

“Yes Besat.”

“Ok let’s go.”

Ten guards took the lead ahead of Cameron and his group of two officers and intimates with the rest of the guards spreading out behind and to the sides in what to a casual observer was a rag tag group of young boys aimlessly wandering around in the darkness of the shadows of Ayers Rock, a closer inspection would have revealed a very well thought out strategy of defence for the central group of boys as they moved toward the far end of the mountainous Rock.

The group made its way to one of the main viewing areas just before sunup with only minutes to spare before the first bus load of tourists arrived to view the spectacle of the dawn light over the solidity of the red rock.

The group again was spread out over the surrounding desert, some sitting and watching the offering of this nature’s spectacle that thousands on earth would never see, others seemed to be standing around aimlessly looking about, practising to twirl their metallic batons in their hands with casual ease. Had the arriving visitors taken any notice of the group of boys they would have seen that four of the small group of twelve sitting near the centre of roaming boys had longer staffs than the rest and were not moving around but standing closer to one boy in particular.

Cameron sat and watched as the sun pushed aside the darkness and then with a show of brilliant oranges, violets and reds, its bright daylight eye rose to bath the desert in colours not seen by any of the boys from the ship before. Each sunrise here was different from the last and the gasps around Cameron from the boys and guards gave him a tingling feeling as they saw it for the first time in their long lives.

An officer leaned closer to Cameron.

“Besat this has to be the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen, no wonder they wanted to preserve this planet and save it from the Melecasians.”

“Yes I never realised before how truly beautiful earth can be.”

Cameron’s mood was broken by a deep and drawling voice that had a strange twang to it as though the person was talking through his nose.

“Hey, you the boys from the school thing?”

One of the officers jumped to his feet and in a slightly accented voice answered.

“Yes Sir.”

“Who’s the guy in charge, Mr. uhm…Besat I think his name is?”

“Oh Besat, yes this is him Sir.”

Cameron got to his feet followed by the others of his group as the guards began to come closer from where they had been standing around looking at the views.

“Jeez, you’re just a kid, where’s the adults?”

Cameron spoke up with the story he and Jopty had made up for just such an occasion.

“We’re all from outstations, our parents trust us so the older ones look after the younger ones, and they wanted us to do this on our own, they said we won the competition on our own so they could trust us to be alone to take the trip.”

“What all of you?”

“Yes Sir, where are our busses Sir we can’t be late for the connection to Sydney.”

“Oh yeah sure kid, over there the three red ones.”

“Thank you Sir, ok guys lets go.”

The driver watched as without a word the horde of boys began to head for the busses parked up on the road, he watched with interest at the almost military precision of the group but he knew that could not be as they were all too young to have been in any military unit, the oldest looked about 18 and the youngest looked no more than 14 so he was sure they had not been old enough for the forces when the Indonesians had started their expansionist war in Asia ten years before.

The boys got into the busses in a very quiet and orderly fashion; there was no shoving or playing around, this group of boys thought the driver to himself, was going to be a pleasure to have on the bus for the long drive to Adelaide if they stay as well mannered as they were at the moment.

The only thing the driver thought a little strange was that the leader was always in the centre of a small group of the same boys all the time and that at least five of the young boys seemed to dote on him every time he moved or spoke.

The journey through the flatness of the dessert was only broken by the occasional Kangaroo or flight of desert birds heading for water and it wasn’t long before most of the boys had nodded off to sleep in their seats except for the four guys with the longer batons, they continued to sit close to the young guy that was in charge of the group and never closed their eyes or moved from their seats for the whole long trip.

By the time they all arrived in Adelaide the sun was high up in the sky and the heat was well into the 40 degree Celsius range, the boys were hot and sweaty as the three red busses pulled to a halt in front of the airport to let the boys dismount and make their way into the cooling cover of the air conditioned waiting room while Cameron went to settle their tickets and arrange for some cold drinks and a good meal for his crew.

The mood lightened in the group as they realised that no one took any notice of the boys apart from casually and that the most dangerous part, the landing, had gone smoothly and without notice of any government agencies, the boys relaxed as they drank and ate for the first real time that day, Cameron was seated at a table and was not allowed to move as his intimates ran around getting whatever was needed for him.

The airport was too busy with everyone bustling and hurrying to catch their flights to take much notice of the special attention given to Cameron so he let it pass for now although he would have to remind them to be a little less conspicuous in the future when they were in the hotel.

When their flight was called the group set off as before, no shoving or playing and they could hear the odd comments from the adults at how well mannered they all were in not causing any noise or disruption to the normal running of the airport unlike most boys would do.

A little more than an hour later and they were flying low over the red iron roofs that spread out for miles over the flat plains on which Sydney had been built three hundred years ago, forty minutes later they were all in the new busses being taken to their hotel for the night to rest up for the next leg of the journey to Niue.

Cameron had impressed on the guards to not all arrive for dinner at the same time but to wander down in small groups so as not to overload the capacity of the dining room to handle so many boys, as he sat with his small group a blue flash came into his head from ‘Jason’.

‘Besat, there are three Melecasians in the eating room next to yours, I’m going to increase your field, I don’t think they know you are here but it would be better to be prepared.‘

‘Thank you Jason.‘

Cameron felt an increase in the heat around him as the field strengthened, the four guards looked at him and then straightened up and looked about the area, they had seen the flash of colour under the fringe of his hair that covered his three symbols of office, Cameron shook his head slightly to indicate to them that all was ok for the moment but they only appeared to relax as their eyes roved over the room for the rest of the meal.

At the international airport building next day the hostess asked if all they had for luggage were the small knapsacks on their shoulders, to which Cameron nodded saying that it was all they needed as their other luggage had been sent on ahead when they stopped to see Ayers Rock the previous day, the hostess seemed relieved to have to not chase around looking for lost luggage and took them down to the loading door.

Their arrival in Auckland was hardly noticed as the whole country of New Zealand was now a part of Australia and had been declared a world heritage sight so it was only open for tourism and all other forms of business not associated with the industry were now based in Australia so that the country catered only to the visitors and preserved its amazingly lush bush lands and clean blue rivers for the enjoyment of those cramped into the large and dirty cities of the world.

The flight to Niue took off an hour after they had landed at Auckland so they did not have to wait for long and they had nearly the whole plane to themselves as the once popular holiday island had become too small for most of the travellers to go to and it was for this reason that Cameron had finally decided to open their base there.

The group began to feel the excitement of the end of their journey now only a few short hours away and then they could fully relax and take time to get used to this strange planet they now found themselves on.

The sun glinted on the blue ocean below them like small white gem stones as the plane lowered itself for a landing on what was going to become their home for as long as they needed to be here and to accomplish the plan that had been set out before them.

As they flew over the Island for the first time they could make out the small groups of thatch topped huts that were dotted around the Island, each seemed to be a small icon of independence within the overall set up of this small Island treasure.

After landing they were met by a horde of small mini busses to take them to one of the only two hotels still operating on the Island and Cameron noticed that some of the busses were a little the worse for wear due to the salt laden air from the ocean just a short walk away from where they now all stood.

Cameron had asked Jopty to book out both hotels for them to use until they had constructed their own accommodation and therefore stopping any unexpected visitors to the Islands until they were settled in to their new home. Although Niue had earlier been administered by the old Government of New Zealand it had eventually reverted to total local control when New Zealand had joined with the republic of Australia to form a stronger Asia Pacific alliance.

Now the Island had very little to offer the rest of the industrial world. It was financially in a very poor state so Cameron had hoped that by using it as their base it would not only be safer for them it would also do some good where it was needed the most.

After settling into the two hotels Cameron gave orders for all the boys to relax and go out and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of this little paradise that they were going to call home, the local population was almost over friendly and chatted to the boys, inviting them into their homes for a meal or to talk which made them all for the first time feel like they were a part of a family and the openness of the people only strengthened that idea.

Cameron sat on the edge of the white sand with his feet feeling the lap of minute waves as they tickled his toes with the sun setting over the horizon as the night began to make itself known, his five intimates by his side and the four guards a little further off now feeling that they could relax just a little at the end of the journey.

As ‘Jason’ continued to download information for Cameron he was startled when he heard a strange voice behind him.

“Scuse me Sir?”

Cameron turned his head to look at the holder of that voice. He saw a young Island boy about 14 years old wearing nothing but the usual length of brightly, although slightly worn cloth around his slim hips, the boy was the same as all the Islanders in that he had that golden skin and flashing white teeth but he looked a little thinner than he had seen with most of the others from here.

“Yes.”

“Is it your parents going to open the factory here?”

“No, we’ve been sent to do it, why?”

“I wanna work Sir.”

“Do you? Aren’t you a bit young to be looking for work?”

“Don’t know Sir.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t know how old I am Sir.”

“I think you must know what about your parents they must know?”

“Haven’t got none Sir.”

“No parents and you can call me Cameron ok?”

“No Si….ah Cameron, I don’t have none.”

“Well how do you live here then?”

“I made a hut on the beach, see just down there, and I catch fish and get some vegetables from a small garden I got in the bush.”

“What sort of work you looking for then?”

“Anything…ah…Cameron.”

“Well most of the factory will be automatic, is there something you think you are extra good at?”

“Well the people here say I sing real nice and I can entertain visitors with dancing local style.”

“Can you, well how about singing something for me now?”

“Yes Cameron, what do you like to hear?”

“Something soft and soothing, we had a lot of travelling this last two days what have you got that will make me relax?”

The boy smiled down at Cameron, his eyes gleaming and a beautiful open smile came over his face as he began to sing in the local language, the soft words and the unusual melody running over his lips as the lilting tune came from deep in the heart with a feeling that Cameron had never seen in anyone before.

The words didn’t seem to matter much, it was the feeling that the boy put into the tune that struck a chord with Cameron as he lay back and listened to that sweet voice, it seemed to take him away and he felt as though he was floating above the surrounding azure sea watching the birds and fish play in the water. The song was hypnotic in its simplicity yet drove so many images into Cameron’s head he thought he was in another world.

The song ended and Cameron sat there stunned by its beauty, he was surrounded by total silence and when he looked around he could see every boy in the large group was as smitten by the young boys song as he was, only the occasional lapping of a wavelet broke the silence as they took in their feelings.

Cameron looked up at the small figure.

“Th…th…that was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard, you truly have a gift.”

The smile on the boys face never wavered as he looked at Cameron with something a little more than friendliness.

“What’s your Name?”

“Matteus, Cameron.”

“Well Matteus, if you want a job would you like to come and work with me and my five friends here, they sort of look after me and I would really love to hear your songs around me whenever I could.”

“Can I really, just to sing for you?”

Cameron Chuckled before speaking “Well I would like to see you dance later as well, if it’s as good as your singing then I think you should be a part of my household, so what do you think?”

The boy looked again at Cameron and without a word threw himself into Cameron’s lap, his arms going tightly around his neck and his face buried into Cameron’s shoulder.

“Yes, oh Yes thank you Cameron.”

Startled by the reactions of the boy Cameron could only smile at the bundle of bone and skin in his lap, he looked at his intimates and saw all the smiles of approval from them and the guards as they still tried to get the haunting beauty of the song out of the heads.

This had been, so Cameron thought, a great way to start their venture, ‘Besat, I recorded his song and played it here for the others still on board, there are so many tearful eyes here Besat, it was truly a beautiful song from such a young boy.‘

‘Yes Jason it was indeed that, when he sleeps tonight I want you to do a check on him and see if he needs anything to bring him to full health, he looks a little undersized to me and see if you can determine his age?‘

‘It will be as you wish Besat.‘

‘Thank you Jason.‘

Cameron closed his arms around the bundle in his lap and smiled as they all sat and watched the last of the sun die into the Western horizon of their new home.

Cameron awoke to a strange lilting sound and a light weight pressing on his legs. As he opened his eyes he looked down the length of the bed only to see a vision the like of which he had never before seen. Kneeling across his lower legs was the boy Matteus, his ebony hair shone like black jet; and his body lightly oiled giving him a surreal appearance. The slight muscles in his throat worked as he sang a soft song, much like a lullaby to his new boss. Looking down further Cameron could see that the boy was as naked as the day he was born.

When the song had finished Cameron smiled at the young boy and held out his arms for him to come closer. Matteus needed no second urging as he leaned forward to those open arms and was taken into a gentle hug.

“Matteus that was the most beautiful way to wake up, thank you.”

“Well Matteus did you sleep well last night, you look great this morning.”

“Yes thank you Cameron, the other guys were great, they helped me wash this morning and then put the oil on for me and told me to sing you awake, did you like it?”

“Yep, you can wake me up everyday like that if you want to.”

“Ok boss I’ll be your wakeup call every day.”

“Right let me up to shower; you go get some breakfast with the others.”

Matteus smiled that beautiful open smile of his and jumped off the bed waving to Cameron as he went out the door. Cameron slid out of the bed and as he made his way to the shower he opened contact with Jason.

‘What did you find out about the boy Jason?‘

‘The best I can estimate Besat is that the boy is about 15 earth years old, he has a small tumour in his left lung and is undernourished, there has a deficiency of calcium in his bone structure which is why he is a little small for his age, his left ear drum is damaged but only mildly and his right eye has the beginnings of a cataract.‘

‘Can you heal him Jason?‘

‘Yes Besat but he would have to be brought here or wait until we have built the facilities down there.‘

‘How urgent are they?‘

‘Only the tumour needs attention soon but he will be ok until the facility can be built, it is not life threatening as yet.‘

‘Thank you Jason we’ll do that then and wait till we can fix him here.‘

‘Besat?‘

‘Yes Jason?‘

‘The earth conglomerate has just been given permission to amalgamate; they are now in control of nearly all the power, transport and fuel needs of earth, the twenty-seven members of the board are all of Melecasians blood while some are mixed blood The top five are pure Melecasians.‘

‘Thank you Jason, anything else?‘

‘Yes Besat, it will mean we will have to be very careful about our landing of equipment for the processing plants on the Island, while the Melecasians are very greedy and warlike they are no fools.‘

‘Ok Jason take any steps needed to protect the shipments and landings. I’m seeing the government people today so I will let you know when and where we will be building.‘

‘It shall be done Besat.‘

‘Thank you Jason.‘

Cameron stepped under the spray of the shower. While the water was not very hot it was sufficient for the tropical heat that pervaded the Island at this hour of the day. The Island’s humidity was already high as the sea breezes had not as yet started and wouldn’t do so until after lunchtime.

Cameron made his way down to the dining room for breakfast and noticed that most of his crew were either still eating or had finished and were standing or sitting around the hotel. He sat down at a vacant table and the five intimates along with Matteus came and sat with him smiling and nodding to him.

A chorus of “Morning Besat” greeted his arrival, even little Matteus joined in the greeting. It seemed that the other five had filled Matteus in on the position of Cameron in the group. He was sure they had not mentioned where they were really from.

“Matteus, would you like to help me today, I have to meet the government people about the factory and I could use you help with them?”

“Yes Besat, but I don’t know anything about building or things, what can I do?”

“I would like you to watch them and then whisper to me anything you think may help to get the factory built, I don’t know the customs and you do so you can help me to not make mistakes, ok?”

“Yes of course but I don’t know how much help I can be, I’m not important like others on the Island.”

“You’re important to me and the others here Matteus and that’s what counts.”

Matteus blushed at the acceptance of all these boys and ducked his head down shyly.

“Now Matteus we have to get some clothes for you so they will know you are part of our company, you ready to go shopping?”

“New clothes, for me? real new ones?”

“Yep, you’re a company man now Matteus and we look after our company men.”

Cameron leaned over the table and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Ready, let’s go then.”

Cameron got to his feet and the other boys along with the guard detail rose with him. The group made their way outside into the now boiling hot and stark glare of the tropical sunlight. The group ambled along the dusty street to the small collection of shops to find some clothes for the new arrival into their midst.

When the shopping had been finished they all returned to the hotel for lunch. After the meal Cameron sent Matteus to get dressed in his new clothes ready for the meeting in an hour. When he returned Cameron’s breath was taken away at the sight of the golden boy dressed in a stark white short-sleeved shirt, tucked neatly into a pair of tan shorts with a brown belt, on his feet were the new brown leather sandals favoured in the Islands for their comfort and yet they still looked dressy for formal wear.

Matteus glowed in the new clothes as they were a perfect complement to his already outstanding good looks and golden colour. Cameron smiled and nodded his head in approval at the sight of the boy and with a gesture to the others they made their way outside the hotel and moved in the direction Matteus said the government offices were.

The meeting with the seven high chiefs was long and drawn out, with parts of it being traditional and other parts purely business. Matteus stayed just behind Cameron’s shoulder most of the time and only when he saw something that could be exploited by Cameron would he lean in close and whisper in Cameron’s ear on how to proceed with flattery or coercion or hard bargaining depending on the person or the subject under discussion.

Cameron knew right from the start he would not have pulled it off so well had it not been for the boy beside him, his help was invaluable to the whole enterprise and so it was at last finished after four hours of bargaining and discussion they had all the approvals they needed and could begin to build that very night.

Cameron and Jopty had discussed the landings and had decided to land all the parts needed for the construction on the first night then they could go on with the building during the night and all of the next day. The construction would be done by the robots that would also run most of the factory, while the Islanders that wanted to work would be given jobs as security around the Island, as a look out group, and in the town for when there were visitors.

Once production started they would need most of the men on the wharfs that they would build to load the ships and unload the raw materials. While this also could be done by robotics it was better for visitors to see humans working in the open rather than the sophisticated robotics employed by the Preamedeans as a labour force.

The day moved on at its usual slow pace until the setting sun called everyone again to the beachfront to watch the marvel of the dying sun sink into the blueness of the surrounding ocean. Everyone hoped there would be another performance of that beautiful child like voice of Matteus as he said good bye to the daylight.

They were not disappointed as even though he had had a full day with Cameron at the meeting he quickly began to sing another song at Cameron’s request as the sun sank lower. Matteus changing the mood of the song as the sun died, again there was total silence as the song faded away with the last rays of the sun as it disappeared over the far off horizon.

There was a collective sigh as the last strains of his voice died and they all began to move toward the hotels for dinner. This was going to be a long night and they only had two hours to get to the pre-chosen area of the landing and building site. It had been decided to use a small plateau near the centre of the Island and after the exchange of a lot of credits from the bank account set up by Jopty the land had been signed over to Cameron and the now newly formed ‘Niue Neutron Electronics’ company.

An hour after the sun had died the large group was assembled outside Cameron’s hotel and along with Matteus to guide them they began the twenty minute walk to the landing site to await for the first arrival and its precious cargo of robotics for the beginning of construction and unloading of the other six transports.

When they arrived at the site Cameron looked around at the overgrown area and nodded to ten of his guards. The guards adjusted their batons and began to sweep them over the ground in slow arcs as they moved forward. The emerald light from the tips of the batons dissolved the undergrowth and long grasses as they moved, no ashes or broken branches remained once they had cleared a large area of about five acres. The ground underneath instead of the sandy soil and volcanic rock was now smooth and shone with a dullness that looked a little like dark green glass.

Within minutes of completion there was a faint shimmering in the air not fifty meters above their heads and with a soft hum a medium size transport began to lower itself to the cleared ground. Matteus saw it and stood in a rigid shock like stance as the huge ship settled softly to the ground. He had been gaping all the time the guards had been clearing the ground but could not move from the place beside his beloved ‘Boss’.

Cameron looked down at the shocked expression on his new boys face remembering how he felt when Jopty had picked him up not so long ago at the end of his tether with the life he’d had.

“It’s ok Matteus; I’ll tell you everything later tonight, don’t be scared we’re here to help not to hurt anyone, ok?”

“Y…y…yes, Cameron, you…you…you’re from up there in the stars?”

“No Matteus I’m not but the others are, I was born up there but came to earth when I was still a baby so I’m still like you when it comes to that, I still think I belong here on earth and that it’s my real home, don’t worry for now I’ll tell you everything tomorrow but you can’t say a word about this to anyone ok?”

“I promise Cameron, no one will know, this is so great, real space men.”

The transport bay opened and the pre-programming of the robotics took over as they assembled in ranks in front of the group of humanoids. A small stick figure of a robot came forward to stand in front of Cameron; the voice synthesizer began to speak to Cameron in the faint metallic accent that over time Cameron became used to.

“Besat, by your command we are assembled, the Generals send their regards and will have the next transport here in five Earth minutes to begin construction.”

The robot turned and went back to the assembly of others to wait for the next ship. The first already lifting off and within seconds had shimmered into nothingness as a few minutes later an even bigger transporter shimmered into view, landing as quietly and precisely as the first. The robots went into immediate action as the bay doors opened and the cargo was displayed for them to move.

The group of Preamedeans stood back to watch as the robots began to speed up and it seemed to Cameron as it did to the others that the factory just appeared to grow out of the ground as the robots assembled and unloaded with such ease, every part was taken out of the hold in the order it was to be erected on the site.

The outer shell of the factory sprang into being as red and green flashes from the arms of the robots fixed it into place leaving nothing to show how it had been welded together. The joints in the prefabricated walls were seamless and looked like one large piece of greenish marble looking much like dark jade.

Once the outer walls were erected the robots began to unload so much equipment that Cameron could not make head or tail of it all. The building took up most of the site leaving only a narrow strip around the perimeter so that the factory took up a good four and a half acres of the land.

The rest of the transports landed and unloaded quickly so that by sunrise all that could be seen was the enormous green marble like building with a group of young boys standing around to watch the day breaking. There was not a robot in sight and no sounds came from the factory although inside it was a hive of activity as the robotics began to set it up for production.

On the following night they would construct the last of their needs and that was the two jetties they would need for their cargo ships to use, the first of which would arrive in three days with the first load of scrap to be used to make the goods for export.

Cameron knew that to build the jetties could open up a lot of talk among the Islanders when they got to see the robots at work but Jason had come up with an idea to make sure they were all sleeping soundly for the night it would take to do the construction. He would use a low frequency sound wave that would keep them all asleep until the project was finished, he assured Cameron that it would not be detected by the Melecasians and it would not do any harm to the people on the Island.

The large group left the site and made their weary way down to the town, the last meeting for Cameron and Matteus would be to select and purchase a site for the group’s accommodations to be built on. When Matteus was told about it he made a suggestion that made Cameron smile at the sheer simplicity of it and mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it before.

Matteus had told him of a large resort hotel that had been closed for three years now as they couldn’t operate it with so few tourists coming to the Island. It was just below the factory site down on the beach front and was plenty big enough to house the entire group with a lot of space left over for later arrivals.

When the meeting took place with the owners of the resort they were very happy to be rid of it for only 1 million credits and would have it signed over to Cameron’s company by that afternoon, with a smile and a shake of hands Cameron and little Matteus headed for their temporary home at the hotel in the middle of the small town.

Matteus felt so comfortable to Cameron as he walked with him, his arm over the boys shoulder in a gesture of closeness as well as friendship, the boy snuggled in as close as he could as he walked beside his one and only friend who just happened to be his new boss as well as above all else a real live spaceman like they had in the cheap novels he had read at times when a tourist had left one on the beach for him to pick up.

The next night was much the same as the robotics hustled and rushed around so that by one hour before dawn broke there were two new large green marble like jetties pushing out from the edge of the Island into deep water with two large spires at the end of each one, this Jason had told Cameron was for weather control so that no matter what the sea was like, around the jetties would always be calm and the loading or unloading of the ships could be done without having to wait for good weather to tie up the ships.

At last Cameron could stand back and look at it all, it was at last done and ready for the first part of their plan to start, in a few days the first of the scrap would be here and then it would begin, as he took a last look around with his arm over the shoulders of Matteus a blue flash went through his head and Jason broke into his reverie.

‘Besat, the Melecasians picked up the last transport to leave the Island, they don’t know where it came from or where it went to but they are alarmed, we will have to be ready for them if they find you, I suggest you alert your guards and take the precautions you deem fit.‘

‘Thank you Jason I will see to it.‘

‘Yes Besat.‘

“Damn” thought Cameron, it had to be now just when he thought it was going so smoothly.

To Be Continued

We hope you are enjoying this little novela. You can write to Arthur at, Arthur at CastleRoland dot Net.