Renewal!

Nicole Stuart

Copyright Caravan Publishing 2013

Published by Caravan Publishing

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction.  Although the underlying events are based on situations, events and facts that are true, the characters and events are entirely fictional and have no relationship to real persons.  Any similarity or resemblance to such persons is accidental and not intended.

ISBN 978-1-920659-25-7

Table of Contents

Renewal!

Nicole Stuart

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Thank you

The Author and her Work

About the Author

Novels by Nicole Stuart

Integra Series

Extinction Event Series

Alive! Series

Preparation Series

Flood Series

Other Books

Chapter 1

Albert looked at John, then at Helen.  “What is troubling you?  I can feel that you have a big problem, and can’t think of a solution.”

“You’re right, Albert.”  Helen, hesitated a second, then spoke firmly, looking evenly into Albert’s eyes.  “I am a volcanologist.  The past few years I’ve been working on my thesis, to get a doctorate.  My field of research is the volcano under Yellowstone Park.  Just two weeks ago, John and I found conclusive proof, in my opinion at least, that the volcano is about to explode.  If it does, it will create devastation on a worldwide scale.  Millions will die, hundreds of millions will be directly and severely affected, and the world will be plunged into an Ice Age.  The size of the explosion will be greater by several magnitudes than the explosion of Toba, 74 000 years ago, which wiped out most of the population in Asia and set back the development of humanity by tens of thousands of years.  We believe that the southern continents – Africa south of the Sahara, South America south of the Amazon, Australia – will be spared the worst physical effects, but will suffer economic devastation on an unprecedented scale.”

“How sure are you that this will happen?”  Albert had lived his life in a turbulent period and a changing country.  He had seen wars and terrorism, economic booms and crashes, and he had managed to survive them all, even to prosper on his farm in this quiet backwater of South Africa.  And now this beautiful young woman was telling him that the end of civilization as he knew it was probably imminent!

“I have no doubt that it will happen.  I’m not sure about when.  It could be today, or in a year or ten years or a thousand years.  There is no way to tell for sure.  I can’t tell you how big it will be, but I’m convinced that it will be very big.”

*~*

That conversation, although not the first step in the process that had brought them to today, was the basis for what was about to happen.

Helen Lindstrom had gone to Yellowstone National Park to make the measurements that, she hoped, would put the seal on her Ph. D. thesis.  She had worked for the past five years on it, starting the measurements soon after she started her studies in volcanology.  It had been an academic exercise at first, a study of the changes in the ground level at certain points around the Park.  It was already proven fact that there was a giant magma cauldron under the Park – it had been the subject of study for over fifty years.  What was not generally known, except amongst the scientific community with the interest to follow the subject, was that the cauldron was on the move again. 

It had exploded a couple of million years ago, an explosion that had killed a very large proportion of the animal life on the North American continent.  The massive release of energy into the atmosphere had caused an upwelling of the air high into the stratosphere, creating a hurricane-like effect that dragged in sub-zero air from the Arctic, and from the upper atmosphere.  The snap-freezing brought with it snow, a blanketing of the darker ground that worked to reduce the absorption of the heat on the Earth, reflecting the heat of the sun back out into space, reinforcing the cold conditions and perpetuating them, starting a cycle in which the cold generated an increased cold.  The effect of the huge quantities of ash and dust blown into the upper atmosphere added to that reflection of heat, filtering out the warmer wavelengths of sunlight falling on the Earth, and the tiny droplets of sulfuric acid, formed by the dissolving of the sulfur dust expelled from the volcano in the moisture in the air, added the final blow, forming effectively a mirror covering the entire northern hemisphere and extending some distance into the southern hemisphere before the changed wind systems presented a boundary that it could not cross.  The temperature throughout the northern hemisphere plummeted.  An Ice Age began, that would hold the northern continents in its grip for the next ten thousand years.  The explosion of the magma cauldron under Yellowstone National Park, as it became known millions of years later, was one of the events that shaped all life on Earth.

The cycle of increasing cold initiated by the explosion of the volcano that would later become known as the Yellowstone Event could only be broken by a massive change, not as massive as the one that initiated the cycle, but a very large change indeed, perhaps a series of volcanic eruptions that would deposit millions of tons of darker dust over the whiteness of the snow and ice and expel tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere to trap the heat of the sun within the Earth’s envelope of air, allowing the sun to start to restore some of the heat that had permitted the Earth to flourish in the past. 

Helen’s figures, gained from a painstaking series of measurements over a period of five years, showed that the cauldron was expanding, slowly in human terms but extremely rapidly in geological terms.  It was pushing the land above it upwards, and, where the pressure was uneven or the rock covering the magma less resistant to the force applied from beneath it, the land was starting to tilt.  The instruments that Helen was using were extremely accurate global positioning system units, capable of measurements in each plane – north-south, east-west and elevation - in fractions of a millimeter, exactly the scale that Helen expected to see today, her last round of measurements before she completed the investigation and submitted her thesis.  Her measurements until now had shown a gradual movement of the land, one that would, over hundreds of years result in an explosion of the magma cauldron.  The event was, apparently, inevitable.  Only gigantic forces, on the scale of which Humanity was incapable of acting, could act to slow or stop the progression towards that explosion.  The only saving grace was that the progression appeared to be towards a point that was in the distant future.

She had arrived late yesterday evening, finding a spot to pitch her little tent a short distance from a campervan, heated a can of beans in a small metal pot on a fire, to serve on a slice of toast that she made by balancing the bread on two sticks near the fire.  She was planning to have two slices, but one of them fell into the fire while she was opening the can, so she settled for just one.  The loss of a single slice of toast was a small price to pay for the pleasure of being here!

She had her meal and crawled into her sleeping bag, aiming for an early start in the morning.  The walk from one instrument to the next, covering all twenty of them over a wide area, would take most of the morning, and the calculations required to evaluate the readings would occupy most of the afternoon!

Helen slept well in the cool fresh air of the Park.  Being out here was one of the reasons she enjoyed her work!  She would have great difficulty settling for a job that would keep her locked in an office in a large city!  Jane Smith, her neighbor in the block of apartments near the university, was also on the final leg of her studies, towards a doctorate in law, and she had confided to Helen that, although she loved the field of law, she had only now started to realize that attaining her degree would probably lock her into just such a job!  Helen was pleased that she had chosen a field that would allow her to spend at least some time out in Nature.

When Helen left her tent in the morning, the campervan had already driven off, and she saw that there was one other tent in the campground, a small one, similar to hers, and obviously well-used.  She reached into her tent for her toilet bag and towel, and walked over to the ablution block, passing a short distance from the other tent.  She saw that a tall man was heading in the same direction.  He had the sort of face that inspired confidence – clean-cut, friendly, good-looking in a strongly masculine way, although not the sort of face that would appear in the fashion magazines.

“Good morning” she called, waving briefly to him.

“And to you” he replied.  “It looks like a great day.”

“It’s always a great day here” she replied with a grin.  “I love this place.  It brings me back to reality.”

They reached the ablution block together.

“Are you alone here?”

“Yep, I’m on a sort of working holiday, starting yesterday evening.  You?”

“Me too.   I’m taking a break to wind down.  I’ve had a busy year!  Care to join me for a cup of coffee after your shower?  I make the best coffee this side of Puerto Rico!”

“I’d love it.  See you in a few minutes.  By the way, I’m Helen.”  She put out her hand.  The man took it, noticing the firm grip, without it being excessively hard.  It was not a feminist grip.

“I’m John.  That’s my tent there.”  He gestured, suddenly realizing the superfluity of the comment, a realization that reflected in his face. 

“I guessed that.  See you soon.”  Helen walked into the building, a grin on her face.  The day was starting well!  Inside the other side of the building, John was thinking exactly the same!

*~*

John walked from the ablution block to his tent and set about making a fire.  He collected together some firewood, built a small stack and got the fire going. 

“I see you’re a traditionalist.  No propane cookers for you!” Helen said from behind him, where she had come up, unnoticed.

“I think if you are camping, it’s almost profane to use propane!”  He laughed.  “Fact is, I love the smell of wood smoke, and the sound of a fire.”

“I do too.”

John pulled up a couple of larger logs for seats.

“Forgive the furniture.  I like to travel light, so I can move around if I feel like it.”  Helen’s grin in reply made it clear to him that a log seat was all she required.

Helen took a seat on one of the logs, crossing her outstretched legs as she leaned against a convenient tree trunk.  It was good to sit in the open air!  It was even better to be able to sit this way, totally relaxed in the company of a pleasant companion, without a concern for what her companion might think about the way she did it.  She had spent the past four months, since her last tour of the instruments at Yellowstone, in the library or her little apartment at the university, working on her thesis, checking everything twice, making sure that no errors or stupidities had slipped through.  She had been asked to check some documents prepared by her fellow students, and she had been amazed at the sort of thing that slipped past the attention of some very intelligent people!  She would not like that to happen to her!  Apart from the task of gathering the last set of data for incorporation into her thesis, the purpose of these few days out in the field was to allow her to clear the cobwebs in her mind, give her brain a chance to detach itself from the daily work of the past four months of compiling and checking the document, so that she could apply fresh thinking to the final evaluation, of facts, evaluations, theories and even grammar, before she submitted the document to the body that would decide whether she could become a professional in her chosen field.  The fresh air and the company was wonderful after being locked away in that sort of world! 

John filled the coffee pot with water, added some ground coffee to the percolator, threw in a dash of salt, and placed the pot on the fire, balancing it carefully.  That was the hardest part of cooking on a campfire – the balancing act!  Helen had experienced that herself last night!

“How about some eggs and bacon?”

“I’d love it.  Can I help?” 

“No thanks, just take it easy.  I’ve got all the fixings, and I enjoy doing some real work for a change.”  John reached into his tent for the food bag.  He balanced a pan next to the coffee pot, using the small piles of rocks he had laid out for the purpose, and poured a little olive oil into it, then added a few rashers of the bacon he had purchased yesterday.  He arranged a couple of slices of whole-wheat bread vertically next to the fire, balancing them on twigs to keep them off the ground.  Helen admired the easy skill he displayed.

“It looks like you’ve done this before.”

“Yeah, I enjoy camping out.  I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.  I’d love to spend a few months just being part of the real world, living in nature and being a part of it.  In the city I get the feeling that I’m a parasite on the skin of the world.”  John paused a few minutes, smiling to himself.  “Maybe that’s what I should do.  I mean, get out in the wild, not be a parasite!”  He looked at Helen and smiled.  She liked the smile, and she returned it.  She found that she was enjoying his company!  “What do you do for a living?”

“I study volcanoes.  That’s my excuse for being here now.  I’m doing a doctoral thesis on the development of the Yellowstone magma cauldron.”

“The Yellowstone magma cauldron?” 

“Yes.  Yellowstone is the site of one of the biggest volcanic explosions in the history of the world.  It happened a long time ago, about two and a half million years, but I believe it is showing signs of coming to life again.  The geysers are a sign of that.  But what interests me most is the tilting of the lake.”

The words put a picture in John’s mind that, he knew, did not accord with the facts.  It was the sort of picture one would expect in a comic book!  He smiled at the thought.

“Why is it tilting?”

“It seems that the lava cauldron is growing.  Imagine a mushroom.  The stem is the magma feed from thirty or forty kilometers below the Earth’s crust, and the top of the mushroom is the cauldron, filled with molten rock at a few thousand degrees temperature.  Molten magma from deep down is rising to the surface, feeding the huge magma cauldron and causing a bulge in the part of the Earth’s crust covering it.  As the crust bulges, the surface lifts unevenly.  The lake just happens to be in a depression – I suppose that’s why it is a lake! - and that depression is elevating on one side.  I’ve written my thesis, and this trip is to check on any further developments since I last measured the bulge, four months ago.  I’ve placed some GPS devices around the lake, and today I take the new readings.  With luck, the rate of progression of the elevation will have continued to increase, and I can slot the figures into my thesis.  That would just about wrap it up!”

“What does this all mean to me?”  John’s face showed that he understood what she had told him, accepting it at face value and considering the implications.  That was a change!  Most of the people Helen told about the volcano and the threat it posed seemed to be overburdened by the implications, and eager to move on to some other subject that required less thought!  It seemed that people wanted the sort of response one got to a detailed response to the question ‘how are you?’  The information went in one ear of the listener and out the other, finding nowhere to resonate between!  Most people wanted to hear only the answer they expected!

“I said ‘with luck’, but if my expectations are well founded, it probably means that the time for the next explosion is sooner rather than later.  The rate of progression of the elevation, according to my calculations, places the timing of the next explosion in the next one hundred fifty or two hundred years, rather than the five hundred to a hundred thousand year range that the present literature seems to expect.  That’s really bad news.”  This was the part of the explanation that disturbed Helen most of all, and her face showed it.

“Why?  How big will it be?  I know that a volcanic explosion is a big deal, but even Mount St Helens affected only a very small area.  It may be bad news for Yellowstone, but how far will the effects be felt?”

“It’s possible that the ‘explosion’ will be no more than we experienced recently at Mount St Helens, which was very bad, as modern volcanic explosions go, but it could well be several times the power of the Toba explosion.  I’m talking ‘explosion’, not just eruption.  It could involve the ejection of several hundred million tons of material into the stratosphere, enough to cause a small wobble in the spin of the Earth, probably changing the speed of rotation of the Earth, and certainly enough to be a life-changing event for hundreds of millions of people.  Toba was the largest volcanic eruption in the history of humans on Earth.  It was big enough to wipe out between 70% and 90% of the humans in Asia, and caused the world to drop into an Ice Age that lasted over five thousand years before the world started warming again.  The size of the magma cauldron is staggering!  It presently contains over five hundred cubic miles of molten material!”

John carried on working on the preparations for the meal as his mind worked on the facts that Helen had given him.  The size that she had mentioned was almost incomprehensible!  It was difficult to find a response that would do justice to what she had said.  When the eggs and tomatoes were in the pan and cooking, he poured a cup of coffee for each of them, and handed one to Helen, his mind clearly not on the task at hand.  The information he was working on was producing thoughts and conclusions that were frightening!

“You’ll have to tell me more about the explosion, but, before you do, I’d like to know how likely it is to happen soon.”

“Thanks.”  Helen took the coffee, added some milk and sipped it.  “That is really good coffee.  Are you just as good at cooking as you are at coffee making?”

“When you live alone, you either eat out or develop some cooking skill.  Otherwise you just starve.  I find that the mechanics of cooking help me to concentrate on my thinking, and, of course, I sometimes end up with a meal that I can enjoy eating.”  He smiled at Helen.  “Tell me more.  You’ve got my attention.”

“My investigations parallel several other studies, and all of them point to the same conclusion.  Yellowstone is going to blow sometime.  The surface of the ground around the lake, which sits right on the top of part of the magma cauldron, has been elevating at six to eight centimeters per year, say about three inches a year.  Until recently, that is.  In the last three years, I’ve measured rates of elevation more than double that on average over the area, with point measurements of ten times that!  Problem is, ‘sometime’ ranges between tomorrow and two million years from now.  Volcanology is not a precise science yet, and predicting something that does not happen on time can cost you your reputation, as well as your career.  My estimates indicate an increasingly early date for the explosion, and I have found nothing that I can believe will cast doubt on that.  I would put big money, if I had any, on sometime within the next hundred years.  Lots of eminent scientists really do not agree with me – they claim that I am crying ‘wolf’ – and many others, while they agree with me in private, will not go on record to support my views.  I’m only a newbie in this, so why will anyone go out on a limb to support what is really a very controversial view.”  She paused to take another sip of coffee, and glanced at the pan with the tomatoes and eggs.  John dragged his mind back to the task, saw that the contents of the pan were ready to serve.  He lifted them onto the plates and handed one plate to Helen, pleased that she had brought his attention back to the task while the eggs were still edible.

Helen put her plate on her lap, and tasted the meal.  It was good! She reached over and took a slice of toast, spreading butter on it absent-mindedly, her mind going over the facts she had told John.  It was clear that he wanted a detailed explanation, of the sort that an expert in the field would want.  She took a small bite of the toast.

“Mmm.  Just right!  You asked what would be the effect.  In my estimation, it will be just about the worst effect you could imagine.  My measurements, and the best-accepted theories, show that the explosion itself will wipe out all life within at least five hundred miles of here, with falling rocks and a massive pyroclastic flow – superheated air and dust running across the land away from the caldera at near-supersonic speeds and killing everything in its path.  The dust cloud, on the basis of the Iceland eruptions a few years ago, will reach into the jet stream, with fallout all over Europe, Russia and China.  The associated acid gas will spread throughout the Northern hemisphere, and decrease the average temperature in the North by at least five degrees Celsius – it is believed that the average temperature throughout the world dropped by as much as twenty degrees Celsius after the Toba explosion!  That’s average, not actual spot temperature!  It means that the summer maximum temperature here could drop below freezing.  When Toba blew, the world went into an Ice Age.  I believe that Yellowstone has the potential to equal the sum of Toba, Krakatoa and all the other explosions in the past two hundred years!  The magma pot under Yellowstone is over twenty-seven kilometers by forty-five kilometers horizontally, and up to twenty kilometers deep!”

The dimensions that Helen was speaking about brought home to John just how large the explosion of this volcano that he was sitting on would be!  ‘Large’ did not do justice to it!  And the probable consequences of that explosion were even bigger!

“That could mean a step change in the world economy, virtually overnight!  Hurricane Katrina made a big dent in the US economy, and that was quite small, compared with what you have described.”  John ate his meal while his mind worked though the implications of what Helen had said.  “So what do you need to do to confirm this theory?”

“I’m heading out after breakfast to read the instruments.  By lunchtime, I’ll have all the data.  Then, this afternoon, I can crunch the numbers in my computer, add the results into my thesis, then send it to my doctoral adviser to have him check it.  That assumes that there are no surprises in the readings, no changes in the trends.”

“Can I come with you?”  John was keen to know more, of the threat that Helen had described, and of Helen herself.  He found her fascinating!  “I’d love to hear more, and you can tell me on the way.”

“Of course!  It would be great to have the company.  And you can help me with the readings.  Could I have some more toast?  It’s fantastic!”  Helen was also keen for him to come with her!  It showed clearly on her face!

“Do you always eat like this?”

“I’ve been a student for the past seven years!  When do students get to eat real food?  The culinary highlight of my last year was a double cheeseburger!”

“If I knew that, I would have thrown a few sausages into the pan!”  John smiled at Helen.  She was intensely likable.  John saw that his initial assessment, that she did everything with intense involvement, was correct.  She approached everything with enthusiasm. 

“You can do it for lunch!  Let’s eat up, and get on our way.  It gets hot here, even at this time of year.”

They finished their meal quickly, packed up and set out for the walk around the lake.

*~*

The results were frightening, so frightening that the two headed off to their respective homes to warn people of what Helen was now completely sure was to come in the very near future.  Helen went to Sacramento, to the university, where she was told by her doctoral adviser that, although he could find no fault with her work, they needed additional assurance, by means of further measurements in four months’ time, before they could take the step of warning the world.  Although he had no argument with her work or the conclusions she had reached, he felt it desirable to recheck everything, and to collect further measurements to confirm the trend that was clear from the work already done.  The scientific method, in the face of a dramatic change, needs to be doubly sure!  John made contact with a friend in a good position in the White House, in an attempt to warn the top leaders of the nation.  Although, once again, the scientists there could find no fault in the document that Helen handed to them, they needed time to think it over.

“But we simply don’t have time!” Helen cried.  “The volcano could explode at any time!”  The discussion with John had brought to her very forcibly that the disaster she was predicting was more than an academic problem, something to be described, evaluated and published.  It represented the end of Humanity!

It became very clear to both of them within a week that their efforts were clearly bringing no sign of any result.  The authorities were unwilling to do anything that might warn the public, fearful of the panic it would precipitate, the lawlessness that would follow, and the paralysis of Government that would be an inevitable consequence of warning the people that there was a high probability that they would not live to see another Christmas!  No-one would be interested in paying tax if he or she believed that this month could be their last!  No company would manufacture goods to be sold if they believed that they would not be there to collect the proceeds of the sale in a month’s time. 

Accepting that their efforts to move the authorities to action would be futile, John and Helen started looking for a way to save themselves, a place to flee to, where they might stand a chance of surviving the biggest catastrophe in the history of humanity!  Helen’s recommendation was to look in the far south of the continents, Africa, South America and Australia.  Helen, an American, had spent her formative years in Cape Town, where her father had managed the South African subsidiary of his international employer.  Her experience of that area, coupled with her scientific knowledge that it would be one of the few areas to escape the worst of what she was convinced was coming, resulted in the search for a refuge being concentrated there.  John checked the internet for property in the Western Cape Province, a farm that would enable him to implement the plan for action that he was working on.  His search produced a farm in Montagu, in the Western Cape Province, that appeared to be perfect for their needs.  It was large – over three thousand hectares – and well-developed.  It had its own water supply from the surrounding mountains, which would also afford considerable protection from the marauding bands of criminals and starving people that they expected to develop quickly in the wake of the collapse following the explosion.  The information that John obtained from the property agent convinced him that the property satisfied the criteria he had decided would be needed for their survival in the conditions they expected to develop within a very short time after the explosion.  He was convinced that it was the best property on offer, and he and Helen, now firmly lovers, flew out to South Africa a couple of days later.  The process of working together had built a strong attraction between them, and this culminated in a proposal of marriage by John to Helen before their departure from New York, a proposal that she accepted with delight.  

A half-day spent viewing the property was enough to convince them, and they had purchased it from Albert Jones, the man who, together with Emma, his recently-deceased wife, had built this farm from almost bare ground.  Albert, missing the company of Emma badly, had decided to move to Australia, to Sydney, where both of his children were now settled, and the sale of the farm to the ‘right people, people who would value it as he and Emma had’, was the last part of Albert’s plan to rejoin the world of the living, a world he had withdrawn from when Emma died.

When John decided that the farm was the right one for his plan, he and Albert signed the Deed of Sale, and Albert started the hand-over process.  This was not a simple farm.  It had numerous sub-operations, including a winery, a small dairy, a fruit preservation plant and many other activities using the fruit and other products it produced.  It became clear to Albert as he worked with Helen and John that they were both under some sort of strain.  His frank question of the cause for that gave Helen the opportunity to inform Albert of what she expected to happen, to Yellowstone and to the world.  Albert looked carefully at Helen, one of the few women with whom he had been able to feel an instant rapport.  That rapport had developed quickly, as he had seen the open emotions that she felt for the farm, an emotion that Albert and Emma had always had, although Albert had never developed the capability of showing his feelings to others.  He believed Helen.  He made up his mind.

“How quickly can we finish what we need to do?”  He looked at John.  “I want to get to my children and grandchildren, and do what I can to help them.  I know that if I warn them to come back, they will laugh at me.  I need to be there, to make preparations for them.”

“We can finish it today, Albert.  But if you decide that you would rather be here, we’ll make space for you.  We would love to have you stay with us.”

“You are a true friend, John.  I may take you up on it, but I must still do what I can in Australia.  Would you excuse me for a moment?  I need to book a flight as soon as possible.” 

Without waiting for an answer, Albert left the porch and entered the house.  They heard him talking on the telephone, and he returned soon.

“I fly tomorrow at four to Johannesburg, then on to Sydney tomorrow night.  If you can take me to the airport in Cape Town tomorrow, we can finish our talk on the way.  If there is anything left to say or ask, we can do it by telephone or email.  Is that suitable?”

The arrangement was made, and they set to work to bring John and Helen up to speed on the many complex and inter-locking aspects of the farm’s operations.  The two of them had enough of an overview by that night to feel confident that they would manage.  They continued the conversation with Albert as they drove the two hours to the airport in Cape Town the next day.

Albert flew out to Sydney, looking forward to helping his son develop the small farm he had bought there.  Farming, by its nature, is a slow process.  It had taken Albert and Emma over forty years to achieve what they had at Montagu, and now he felt in his heart that they might count themselves lucky to have as many days!

John and Helen set to work at their new farm, learning its many parts while, at the same time accumulating the information and goods that they knew would be necessary in the years to come.  John had recently sold his IT business for $247 000 000, and he was content to sink all of it into building the core of a survival civilization in Montagu.  There was no doubt in his mind that Helen’s predictions were accurate, and no doubt in his heart that the actions they had embarked on were the only way to survive.  He knew that sinking his cash into assets that would provide for them in the future was the best investment he could make.  The cash would quickly become worthless once the economies of the world collapsed, as he fully expected them to, and there appeared to be no alternative investment that would assure them of at least a reasonable life in the future.  They recruited numerous people, each an expert in his or her field, to assist in their preparations for the uncertain future, and they all drove themselves to achieve whatever was possible before the fateful day, knowing that there would be no possibility after that unknown day to make good any mistakes they might make, to buy in an article that they had forgotten.  In much the same way as a yachtsman plans a long voyage, they worked on the assumption that this was their last chance ever to put together what was needed for the indefinite future.

In Australia, Albert did the same, using the funds he had gathered from a long and successful farming career, building the farm his son had bought near Sydney, as a place of refuge for his two children and their families.  Although he spoke to his family about what Helen had warned him of, he found it difficult to pass to them the feeling of impending doom, the urgency that Helen and John had imparted to them, that weighed on his mind.  It was difficult to consider the end of the world on a sunny day in Sydney!

*~*

The event, when it happened on the last day of September, was different for each of them.

In Montagu, the team that Helen and John had put together, experienced the two explosions that were to tear the world apart as two jolts of the ground during their celebration party, a party that was intended to mark the transition from the first phase of building the basis of their future civilization to the next phase of finishing it with the finer details.  The jolts prompted them to turn on the television, where CNN passed on the grim news of a huge explosion that had thrown massive rocks into the air to rain down on cities thousands of kilometers away, and then settled into a massive eruption, kilometers across and tens of kilometers high, spewing ash and dust into the upper atmosphere, to be transported across the world, and continuing to throw huge rocks across the continent, to rain down on the East Coast, southern California and even Mexico!  Although John and Helen, and their close associates, had been expecting the event, it came as a shock.  When the realization sank in, that the end of the world as they knew it had actually come, they set to work with renewed energy, making sure that every preparation was as thorough as they could make it, using every second of the time available to them before the full scale of the collapse became reality, a theoretical outcome they knew would inevitably come.

*~*

In Australia, Albert was woken by the first of the jolts.  He went through to the living room to turn on the television to find an explanation, and was joined by Amelia, his daughter who had, three days before, given birth to her first child, Albert’s third grandchild.  She had come out to the farm yesterday for a week of peace and quiet, and they had been joined the night before by Roger and Sandra with their two children, the other members of Albert’s family.  The news on TV horrified them.  The death and destruction that was engulfing the United States was bad enough in itself, but a more personal threat had developed.  A giant tsunami, set off by a massive rockslide in the Hawaiian Islands, was racing across the Pacific towards Australia!  It had already engulfed New Zealand and all of the central Pacific island groups, and was due to hit Australia’s east coast within less than an hour.  The two started telephoning all of their sleeping friends near the coast, urging them to get to high ground as far inland as possible, without delay!  The news spread rapidly in the village as they passed the message to others to join in the attempt to alert people in Sydney and other cities on the coast, to give them at least the slim chance of surviving the impending disaster, and soon their living room was the focus of an effort to save people.

Then, suddenly, that came to a stop.  The wave hit, running at frightening speed up to seventy kilometers inland, destroying everything in its way.  It slowed, then stopped, before withdrawing, washing thousands of tons of debris with the retreating water to complete the devastation, before the following wave rode up its back, a little smaller and less violent, but even more destructive, with a prepared territory to destroy.  The cycle of destruction was repeated over and over, but it now made no difference.  Those it might affect, the tens of millions of people who had been living along the coast, who had not been able to move fast enough or far enough, were dead.  Those who might have been safe in the smaller waves that followed the first one, were either dead or had already escaped.

Albert and his family stood, their minds numb as they looked at the picture on the TV, filmed in infra-red from an altitude of three hundred kilometers.  Helen and John had warned Albert, and he had passed on the warning to his family, and they had understood the warning.  But not really!  They had not appreciated the scale of the disaster that had now happened.  Destruction on this scale was well beyond the capability of a human mind to comprehend in detail!  Close to ninety per cent of the industrial capacity of Australia had casually been wiped out of existence!  More than ninety per cent of the population was gone, killed by the awesome destructive force of the giant waves that had pounded their country!  Then Albert forced his mind back to the reality.

“It’s happened, just as Helen and John said it would!”  Albert’s voice was steady, devoid of emotion.  The sound of his words snapped the others back from the sensation they had, that this was a nightmare, that it could not be true!

“We need to work out what the longer-term effects will be on us,” stated Amelia.  She was an economist, and she was used to analyzing situations and events, and drawing conclusions that would direct the long-term efforts.  “Judging by what I’ve seen, the world as we know it no longer exists!  We need to start making preparations for what will be happening!”

“Can’t that wait until tomorrow?” asked Sandra.  A trained nurse, used to dealing with horrific events, she had been overwhelmed by the scale of what had happened in the past few hours.  “There’s practically nothing we can do right now!”

“Tomorrow everyone will be going through the same process,” replied Amelia levelly.  “If we are to survive what is coming, we need to get ahead of the crowd!”

“Amelia’s right!”  Roger’s voice spoke with certainty.  “There will be shortages of food virtually immediately, of clothing and cold weather gear soon after.  We’re on the edge of the disaster zone, from what we’ve seen.  I’ve been watching the TV while I phoned.  The experts who have been speaking have predicted a dramatic reduction in the temperature of the northern hemisphere, extending far south, beyond the equator, with snowfalls as far south as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  We must prepare to endure those conditions here!  We can assume, for now at least, that the Government will be ineffective in providing any substantial form of assistance.  We will need to gather the local community into a self-help group, to keep control of the gangsters and criminals that will start taking advantage of the confusion and breakdown of civil society to get some goods that they may not be entitled to.  We’re going to be flooded by refugees, I hope, within the next couple of hours!  I hope that there will be survivors and anyone who escaped that wave will be looking for some place to stay!  They’ll need food to eat, clothing and bedding!  And we’re one of the obvious places for them to come to!  We have to prepare for that!”

They set to work, to plan their immediate actions, to consider what the future held, and to make preparations for that.

*~*

In Ruanda, in central Africa, Neil, Angela and their two children were visiting the sights in the town of Kigali, after arriving during the night on a flight from Miami via a couple of days in London.  They had arrived a day early, to give themselves time to get over the jet lag, and were planning to go off on a gorilla-viewing safari tomorrow.  Suddenly, while enjoying a cold drink in a coffee shop in the town, they felt the two jolts.  Puzzled, they turned to the TV.   It was tuned to CNN, and the screen showed the huge tower of ash and dust rising kilometers high into a cloudy sky.  The scene switched to an airport, where an aircraft that had made an emergency landing after its engines had been stopped by the dust, was disgorging its passengers down the emergency slides onto the runway.  The people hit the ground, and sprinted for the airport building, giving those watching a clue about the rain of debris that was coming down.  Suddenly, a rock as big as a small car crashed down onto the wing of the aircraft, folding it in two as though it were cardboard, and spilling tons of flammable Jet-A aviation fuel onto the concrete surface.  The voice coming from the speaker on the TV was talking of an enormous volcanic eruption at Yellowstone!  They could understand the words, but the enormity of the event was too great for comprehension!

Neil, a scientist, absorbed the information flowing into his numb mind, and slowly came to realize that he and his family, like the rest of the world, were facing an unprecedented disaster!  He snapped into action, pulled his mobile phone from his pocket and called the only number he knew in Africa, that of Barend and Marie Fourie, the owners of the tour company.  They had made a very good impression in the brief time they had spent together.

“Marie Fourie!”  The light, happy tone of her voice was incongruous to Neil in the circumstances that he knew had suddenly been imposed on their world.

“Hi Marie, this is Neil.  We’ve heard some disturbing news, and we’d like to meet with you and Barend urgently.  Would it be convenient if we were to come to you, or would you like to meet at the guest house?”  Marie heard the urgency in Neil’s voice.

“Could you come to us?  We’re working on the tour preparations, but we can make some time free.  Who is your taxi driver?”

“It’s Matthew, one of those you advised us to use.”

“Great! Tell him to bring you to us.  He knows where we are.”

“Thanks, Marie!  We’ll see you soon.”  He closed the connection and turned to his family.  “Let’s go!”

They arrived at the Fourie’s home a few minutes later and explained what they had seen.  Barend switched on the television in the sitting room, and it confirmed that the situation was worse than they had imagined could be possible, much worse.

The picture showed scenes from New York City.  Several giant rocks that had been hurled skyward by the volcano had smashed down into the city, causing extensive damage to the buildings and closing off the streets around them with debris and smashed vehicles.  The rocks were raining down.  One appeared to have hit a bus in the street, demolishing it and killing the driver and fifteen passengers.

They stared at the screen, wordless, as they tried to comprehend the enormity of the disaster.  After several minutes, the screen switched to the interview with Dr. Corrigan and Dr. Braun, experts on volcanology from Sacramento and Germany, that Neil and Angela had watched in the cafe, but this time the two were better prepared to hear and comprehend the detail of what was being said.  They listened carefully to the comments about Helen Lindstrom ‘escaping to South Africa’, and now the words started to make sense for them.  The interview ended, and a commentator started to talk.

“I am shocked that the Government, whose duty it is to protect the American citizens should have failed to take any action after it had been warned, apparently repeatedly, of the likelihood of the explosion and the severity of its consequences.  That failure will certainly be the direct cause of millions of deaths in this country!”

“But what could the Government have done?” asked the interviewer.  “It seems unlikely that any meaningful evacuation could have taken place, given that virtually the whole country is under bombardment from the rocks thrown into the upper atmosphere by the explosion.  Even Hawaii is suffering tremendously from the explosion!  There has been a report of at least one major rockslide that set off a tsunami, and that has destroyed virtually every city in the islands.”

“The only feasible evacuation would have been to the far south of the continents – Patagonia, parts of Argentina and Chile, the south of Australia, and the Cape Province in South Africa.  Certainly not many people could have been evacuated in the time available.  However, ‘not many’ does not mean ‘none’.  I am sure that several hundred thousand people, perhaps even millions, would have been able to escape the catastrophe by private means, and several hundred thousand more could have been evacuated by ship and by military aircraft.  Virtually none of those people had the opportunity.  I understand that even the Administration has not yet relocated, even though virtually every center of activity is under severe threat!”

“You mentioned the Cape Province of South Africa, Dr. Jepson.  It has been reported that Dr. Helen Lindstrom and Mr. John Carter have moved to the Western Cape Province.  Mr. Carter, as you know, built a large IT company and sold it for several hundred million Dollars a short while ago.  He is not known as a man who does things without careful consideration.  Dr. Lindstrom discovered the threat and tried to get the Government to take action.  It appears that both of these people knew something that few others did!  What would make the Western Cape Province so special that it would attract both of those highly intelligent people?”

“It’s an interesting question!  I have done a little research on the matter.  As you know, I’m a climatologist.  On the basis of the information I have been given, the climate of the northern hemisphere will change dramatically in the very near future!  That is the biggest threat to our way of life!  The climate change!  The falling debris and the dust and ash pollution of the air and the water will kill millions within the next weeks, but they are not the biggest problem, in my view.  It is the climate change that we must fear most of all!  I have no doubt that we are headed for a dramatic drop in our average temperatures, and that will endure for decades, if not centuries!  The initial effect has appeared very quickly, more quickly than I would have forecast.  I believe that the reason is probably that the intense heat of the explosion has caused a very large volume of air to be heated to a high temperature and that made it rise into the upper atmosphere, resulting in cold air being drawn in at ground level from the Arctic and, probably, from the lower levels of the upper atmosphere.  In any event, snow has already fallen in southern Florida, and it will continue to snow.  As the snow settles and covers the ground, it will reflect more light and heat, whatever makes it past the clouds of ash, dust and sulfuric acid droplets in the upper atmosphere, and that will increase the rate of cooling.  During several of the past Ice Ages in the northern hemisphere, it appears from numerous investigations, the weather in the Western Cape Province of South Africa actually improved, with an increase in the rainfall over normally relatively dry areas, and the highest and lowest temperatures moderating as a result of the cold in the northern hemisphere pulling the weather patterns in the south further to the north.  Imagine, if you can, the entire northern hemisphere, all of the farming areas and centers of industrial activity, covered by twenty or fifty feet of snow and ice!  I am sure that both Mr. Carter and Dr. Lindstrom were aware of those facts before they made their decision.”

“But would it not be as good to move to the equatorial countries?  They’re warm, and there is a lot of space for people to settle!”

“My estimates indicate that it is likely that even Panama and the Republic of the Congo will be receiving heavy snowfalls within a week at the most, and probably much sooner if the movement of cold air we have experienced further north of the equator continues.  There is enough humidity in the air over equatorial countries for snow to begin forming at very short notice as the temperature drops.  I doubt that any place further north than about twenty-five degrees south will present a viable place to live for at least the next few years!”

The shock that the interviewer felt at this prognosis was evident in his face.  He came from the Florida Keys, and he knew that the inhabitants of that area were totally unprepared for the conditions Dr. Jepson had described!  He could not imagine those conditions in the context of the Florida Keys!  He recovered after a few seconds.

“Thank you for your input, Dr. Jepson.  It looks very bleak to me, but, I suppose, it is better to know than to remain in the dark.  That policy, of keeping us ignorant ‘for our own good’, applied by our Government, has not achieved very much for us!”

The scene changed to brief reports from many areas of the country, short shots showing buildings burning in Los Angeles, a heavy fog in London with a light snow falling, a collapsing apartment building in Mexico City, chaos in the streets of New York, and a shot from the Space Shuttle showed how the cloud cover was spreading over the entire northern hemisphere, the clouds of ash and dust emanating from the volcano at Yellowstone and numerous other volcanoes that had been jolted into eruption by the powerful subterranean pressure wave of the massive explosion.

Angela jerked herself from the momentary paralysis of thinking that this litany of disaster had caused.

“That says it all!”  Her voice was flat.  “I think you can work on the United States and Europe being taken out of the economic picture almost entirely.”

“I didn’t like what I heard about the Congo being covered in snow!”  Marie’s voice held more than a small trace of panic.  “That will put us all right in the middle of it!  In addition to being within the area that Dr. Jepson described, we’re at a higher altitude than places like Florida, and that probably means that we’ll be a lot colder!”

“I agree,” said Barend.  “I think that we need to get out of here while we can.  I’ll check the airlines for flights to the south.”  He walked over to the telephone and dialed a travel agent that handled his business.

“Hello, Andre, Barend here.  I’m looking for some flights to Johannesburg or Cape Town as soon as possible.”

“You and everyone else, Barend!  Unfortunately, I can’t help.  The flights that should be coming from Europe on the way south have all been cancelled due to volcanic ash in the air, and the same applies to the flights headed north.  Virtually every aircraft north of us has been grounded!  I assume you’ve heard of the volcanic eruption in North America?  There’s no indication of when the flights will resume.  When the volcano erupted in Iceland a while ago, the flights were grounded for more than a week!  The local airline’s two aircraft have been commandeered by the military.  They didn’t say why, but I‘ll bet that they’re needed to fly the Cabinet Ministers and senior Government personnel out!  I’ve even tried to charter some of the smaller aircraft, but every one has been booked up for the next couple of days!  If I were you, I’d get in my LandRover and drive south, before someone else decides that it would be a better idea for him to take them to do it himself!”

“It’s not a bad thought, Andre!  Thanks for the information!”  Barend rang off and returned to his seat in the sitting room.

“There seems to be no hope of getting an aircraft out.  The available aircraft are all fully booked, and the international flights to and from Europe have all been cancelled.  Andre suggested that we use the LandRovers to head south before someone else takes them.  I think he’s probably right!”

“Is it possible to drive so far?” asked Angela.  “I didn’t know that there are roads all the way!”

“It’s perfectly possible,” replied Marie.  “We drove the LandRovers here from South Africa.  It’s not easy, but it is possible!”

“What will it cost for us to go with you?” 

“You’ve already paid for a tour to see the gorillas,” replied Barend.  “We’ll convert that to a tour to South Africa, but I’ll need you to drive one of the LandRovers.  We have another six people on the tour who are already here, and I think we’ll need to take them with us.  The remaining tour members have not yet arrived, and I doubt that they’ll be coming now!  They were due to fly in this evening from Europe, but all of those flights have been canceled.  We’ve already almost completed packing the food and other goods for the tour.  There’s enough for all of us for about ten days, more if we ration the food.  We can probably pick up more food on the way.”

“That will make twelve people.  That is probably doable!”  Neil was still working it all out in his mind.

“Thirteen in total, including our daughter,” replied Barend, “but five are children of different ages.  That gives us eight adults, all fairly fit and healthy, from what I’ve seen.  We may need the extra hands.  There were six of us when we brought the LandRovers here, two per vehicle, and we had our hands full some of the time.  You must remember this is Africa!”

“How do we go about it?” asked Neil.  “From what I’ve heard, we should leave as soon as we can!  Is it too late to leave today?”

“No, I think it would be wise to leave today, if we can get the others together.  Marie, give them all a call and ask them to come round here as soon as possible.  I want to finish the packing.  There’s still about an hour’s work to do.”

“I’ll help!” said Neil.

“Me too!”  Michael jumped to his feet

As they walked out to the shed, they could hear Marie talking on the telephone, explaining the situation to the first of the people she had to call.

~*~

The work was done by the time the first taxi drew up, unloading four of the guests.  It was followed a few minutes later by another taxi bringing the remaining two guests.  They all crowded into the sitting room, some standing, others taking chairs from the dining room.  Barend stood when all were settled.

“Thanks for coming.  We’ll do the introductions a little later.  Right now, we have something that needs to be discussed urgently.  To put it in a nutshell, there has been a gigantic explosion of the Yellowstone National Park, or, to put it more accurately, of the massive volcanic cauldron under the Park.  Huge rocks, weighing in the tons, have been blown into the upper atmosphere by the explosion, and they have crashed to earth considerable distances away, some as far as New York City and Washington DC, Mexico City and similar places.  The explosion has apparently also blown huge clouds of ash and dust into the atmosphere, as well as sulfur dust, which, when it comes in contact with water vapor, forms minute droplets of sulfuric acid.  That becomes a mirror, reflecting light and heat into space.  Neil here is a scientist, and he can explain exactly how it works later.  The immediate result has been a sudden and massive drop in temperature around the northern hemisphere, with snow falling in southern Florida!  As the snow settles on the ground, it will reflect the heat of the sun back into space, and so increase the drop in the temperatures worldwide, but particularly in the northern hemisphere.  They’re talking about the onset of a new Ice Age in the north!  A climatologist has said that, in his opinion, the conditions will not sustain human life as we know it any further north than about twenty-five degrees south of the equator.  That’s about the latitude of Johannesburg!”  Barend paused, gathering his thoughts.  Taking advantage of the break, Neil looked at the somber faces of those around the room.  Their shock was evident.  “The upshot of all of this is that we have decided that our best hope of survival is to head to the south as quickly as we can.  We have the three LandRovers that we were going to use on the tour, and they have equipment, fuel and food for about a couple of weeks, and we can probably get more on the way.   We hope that, if we leave immediately, we’ll be able to escape the worst of the bad weather that’s apparently headed our way!  You’re all welcome to come with us if you wish.  The alternative is to remain in Kigali and take your chances.  I’ve checked for flights out of here.  There are none available.  All flights to and from Europe have been canceled, and no local aircraft are available.”  Barend could not read from their faces what the people were thinking. 

“Barend and I have done the journey in the opposite direction,” said Marie, her voice soft.  It brought a change to the mood of those present.  “It’s possible, but it won’t be easy.  It might take us a month, or longer, depending on whether the conditions deteriorate.  The experts are expecting an economic collapse in the northern hemisphere, and that will impact directly on the southern countries.  A lot of the infrastructure of this country was built to support exports, or at least it was based on export of goods, minerals, fruit, coffee and cacao, flowers and similar goods, and import of practically everything we use on a daily basis, and it looks like we won’t be seeing much of that in the near future.”

“Are you sure of what you’ve told us?” 

“That is Hans Bauer.  His wife is Hilde, and his children are Karin and Conrad.  They’re from Bonne, in Germany.  We’re as sure as we can be, Hans.  We have watched the news on CNN, and they don’t play science fiction movies, even though the situation they’re reporting now sounds like one.  However, we can turn the TV on, so you can all see for yourselves.”  He moved over to the TV and turned it on.  The people repositioned themselves to look at the screen.  The scenes being shown were of destruction on a wide scale, and the voice-over informed the viewers in almost robotic tones of what they were seeing.  The scale of the disaster was left to speak for itself.  No journalistic hyperbole could ever convey the horror that the cold facts showed.

“While you’re watching, let me fill in a little more of what we’ve heard,” said Neil.  “The explosion was predicted by Dr. Helen Lindstrom, a volcanologist studying in Sacramento.  She and John Carter tried to warn the Government more than a month ahead of time, but they failed to take action.  Carter is one of the IT business geniuses.  He built up a company and recently sold it to a large corporation for a few hundred million Dollars.  When the two of them realized that they were getting nowhere, and that the time was running out, they evacuated to the Western Cape Province in South Africa.  It seems that they believed that was the best place for them to survive.  Their view was confirmed by a German scientist whose name I can’t recall, and by Dr. Jepson, an American climatologist.  It seems that the Western Cape Province is one of the few places on earth that will benefit from the climate change, or at least not be so badly affected that it becomes unable to sustain human life.  We believe that we don’t really have any choice, so we’re heading there.”

“His name was Dr. Braun, Dad.  He was from Cologne, I think.”  Neil’s son, Michael, filled in the information.

“I know of Dr. Braun.  Was he Wolfgang Braun?”  Hans Bauer spoke in surprise.

“I think so,” replied Michael.

“Then I am with you!  Dr. Wolfgang Braun is one of the leading scientific experts on volcanoes throughout the world.”

“We’ll be coming too!”  The tall woman was dressed elegantly in the New York version of bush dress for the fashionable woman, her dark hair cut in a short style that was easy to maintain during a busy business day, and giving her a business-like appearance that said that she was not one to be trifled with.  The voice confirmed the New York heritage.  Her husband, an equally tall middle-aged man, some years older than his wife, nodded his confirmation.  He was not as dominant as his wife, but his bearing was confident, displaying an assurance that might not be appropriate in the circumstances.

“That is Jennifer and Morton Merriweather, from New York City” informed Marie.

“That’s good!” declared Barend.  “We’ve discussed the situation a little, and it seems likely that there will be a very quick economic and climatic collapse.  The people around here, although we’ve not seen any problems while we’ve been here, are quite quick to rise to violence, and we think that the new conditions will almost certainly lead to a grab for power by one or other of the strong men.  The Government has been tottering for at least the past five years, and it’s been saved more by political maneuvering than by good policies or a strong economy!  I have no doubt that the economic collapse they’re talking about in the north will have a major effect on the economy here, and that will be a reason for social instability!  I personally think, given the circumstances, that it will be wise to get away from concentrations of population until things settle down again, and also that it will be wise to head for a place where the living conditions will be more acceptable.  We must do that as soon as possible!  Dr. Jepson spoke of a rapid cooling and heavy snowfalls as far south as Johannesburg!  They’re already getting snow in southern Florida!  Now, we must get our planning right.  I would like to leave today, if that is possible.  We may not get very far before dark, but Marie and I know the area, and there is a farm some distance south of Kigali where we have permission to camp.  That’s about three hours driving.  Not very far, but it may well be better than nothing.  I foresee law and order breaking down fairly quickly in the city in the conditions they’re talking about!  I think we should assume that, with most of the top officials gone!”  He smiled grimly, seeing the look of surprise on the faces around him.  “When I checked whether there were flights out of Ruanda, I was told that there is suspicion that most of the top politicians and Government officials were hotfooting it out of town, heading for a safer place before the conditions get too bad.  Law enforcement has always been a bit tenuous here, and I suspect that some of the politicians will be making their run for power as soon as they realize that the big guns are away!  I don’t want to be around when that happens!  In Africa, whenever there is a coup d’état, or an attempt at it, the civilians tend to be involved!”

“I think that we need to get your baggage from your hotels and guesthouses.  We can use the LandRovers to do that, then we’ll all meet back here, have a quick meal, and then head out.  It shouldn’t take more than half an hour.”

“You go and collect our bags, Morton.  I’ll stay here and help to prepare the meal.”  Jennifer took control of their arrangements, and Morton’s slight grin said that he agreed with them.

“I’ll stay here too, and help.  The kinder can help too, and you can collect our luggage.”  It was the first time that Hilde Bauer had spoken.  Her words, although they carried a charming German accent from the south of Bavaria, were precise, her voice somehow comforting, making a sharp contrast with the voice of Jennifer.

“Let’s do the same, Neil.  The kids and I will stay.  You men can go with Marie to collect the luggage, and we’ll have everything ready when you return.  It won’t hurt for all of us to get to know each other a bit better.  We’ll be together a long time!”  Angela smiled encouragement at Neil.

The men and Marie walked out to the LandRovers.  Hans climbed into one vehicle with Morton, and Marie and Neil into the second, and they drove off towards the town, Marie leading.  Barend and the two boys walked out to the shed to complete their final preparations for the journey, while the women walked into the kitchen to prepare some food for the journey. 

*~*

On their yacht, the Gentle Jane, a day out of Honolulu, Ron Carstens, a businessman from New York, and Jane Smith, a laws doctorate student from Sacramento, the neighbor of Helen in one of the blocks of studio apartments that provided accommodation to the students at the university, were sailing in a gentle breeze and low swells in the direction of the central Pacific.  Jane and Ron had met in the Bahamas, when Jane’s hotel booking, a prize in a TV phone-in show, had been bumped as a result of a sheik booking the entire top two floors of the hotel for himself and his entourage.  Ron had heard of her plight, and offered her a berth in his rental boat, one owned by a company in which he had a share.  That decision had been the best he had ever made.  He and Jane had fallen in love during the week-long drift down the Exumas chain of islands, most of them almost deserted, but all of them the essence of peace.  The weather had been wonderful, with a breeze blowing gently to cool them, the sun shining, the sea blue, and the sky almost clear, with a few white clouds to distinguish it from the water of almost exactly the same hue.  It was a week to make both of them wish for more!  They flew back to New York, unwilling to part until the last moment, and, that night, they had dinner at a restaurant owned by Antonio, an old friend of John Carter.  During the meal, Antonio overheard that Jane was studying at Sacramento, and asked if she knew Helen.

“We’re neighbors!” Jane had replied.  Pleased with the coincidence, Antonio told them what Helen and John had told them a week ago, that the volcano under Yellowstone was about to explode.  Jane knew something of Helen’s work, and she resolved to find out more on her return to Sacramento tomorrow.  Walking back to Ron’s apartment after the meal, Ron asked Jane whether she would like to join him on a shakedown cruise of a large sailing catamaran he had purchased.  She was delighted!  Her acceptance of the offer made that delight clear to Ron.

Jane flew back to Sacramento the next day, planning to complete the thesis she was working on, so that she and Ron would be free to take the next step in their relationship.  On her return to the university, she obtained a copy of Helen’s thesis and read it.  The information it contained frightened her, enough to induce the two of them to hasten the planning for the shake-down cruise.

They took delivery of the boat in Los Angeles, where Jane was touched to see that Ron had named the boat ‘Gentle Jane’.  The compliment was a wonderful surprise, confirming that Ron saw their relationship in the same way as she did!  They loaded the stores aboard as quickly as they could, aware of the danger lurking a few thousand kilometers to the north of them, and set off into the Pacific. 

The voyage to Hawaii was just as pleasant as the cruise around the Exumas, enabling them to get to know the boat, and each other, in wonderful, relaxing conditions.  The slowness of their apparent motion, coupled with the fine weather and the simple pleasure of sailing, reduced the pressure in their minds, but did not dispel it entirely.  The voyage to Hawaii was a way to get to know the boat, and to deepen their knowledge of each other, but also a step in the process of distancing themselves from the danger that they believed was developing under Yellowstone.  They reached Honolulu and took a short break, to restock and to add some items that their experience over the voyage had told them would be necessary or, at least, desirable.  The stay was pleasant, but the conviction remained, that a mortal danger was building, and they set off again, keen to reach the southern hemisphere, where Helen’s information told them they would be safest. 

Ron was on watch, listening with half an ear to the radio broadcast from Hawaii, knowing that they would lose reception within a few hours as they sailed over the curve of the Earth that would hide even their masthead antenna from the line-of-sight of an FM transmission tower high on a mountain in the islands.  Jane was in the galley making them a cup of coffee for the change of the watch when, suddenly, without any warning, there was a solid ‘bump’, as though the yacht had sailed over a ledge.  Puzzled, Ron stood, to look out the cockpit windows at the moonlit sea.  There was nothing unusual to be seen.  He continued to look around, thinking that they might have run into a floating log.  Jane had noticed the unusual movement, and came into the cockpit to join Ron.  The music in the background stopped in mid-tune, alerting them to something unusual.  Jane reached over to the radio, and turned up the volume.  The voice of the station announcer was strained.

‘Reports have been received from the mainland of a massive explosion of a volcano under the Yellowstone National Park.  Initial reports indicate an extreme seismic event!  All people living in coastal areas are warned of the possible danger of a tsunami from this event.’  There was silence for a second, and then the voice returned.  ‘We have now received a report of a massive seismic event in the San Andreas Fault, believed to have been precipitated by the explosion at Yellowstone.  Considerable damage has been caused to many structures along or near the Fault line, with buildings and bridges collapsing, and pipelines rupturing.  The reports indicate that large parts of several cities on the Californian coast have been destroyed or severely damaged.  Initial reports have expressed fears that the event will cause considerable loss of life in the area.’  Again there was a moment of silence, then the voice returned.  ‘Reports are coming in of widespread damage throughout the United States mainland, believed to have been caused by the explosion at Yellowstone.’  The voice rose in pitch.  ‘A report has just come in that several volcanoes in Hawaii are erupting, many for the first time in hundreds of years!’  There was silence for another few seconds, obviously as the announcer scanned a new report.  ‘I have just been informed that a rock slab on the side of Hawaii Island has broken off and has slipped into the sea.  A tsunami has been generated!’  The man’s voice rose in pitch again, becoming sharp and urgent.  ‘A warning has been issued by the Police!  All persons in low-lying areas should evacuate immediately to high ground!  I repeat, there is a call for the immediate evacuation of all low-lying areas throughout the islands.  Please alert your neighbors and evacuate the area without delay!  This is extremely urgent!’  The warning was accentuated by the moan of sirens in the background, the unnerving sound rising and falling.  It was a sound that the citizens of the islands had not heard in any context other than a practice for over half a century!

The words spurred Ron to action.  They had been prepared by the contents of Helen’s thesis for the probable damage that the explosion could cause, but, somehow, the idea that a volcanic eruption so far away could affect them out here, on the ocean, had not seemed real!  Ron jumped up and moved to the chart.  He looked at the relative location of the island of Hawaii to their position.

“Come to 270 degrees!  Quickly!  There’s a tsunami heading our way!”

Jane quickly turned the heading control of the autopilot to 270 degrees, and the yacht swung to the right, the sails shuddering as their trim was affected by the change in course.

“Get your lifejacket on, Jane!”  Ron went to the rack near the cabin door, and passed the lifejacket to Jane, then pulled his own on.  He was running through the mental checklist he had prepared for a disaster at sea.  The roar of the sails shivering in the wind was unnerving, shaking the yacht and making them feel that the boat was trying to tear itself apart.

Jane moved quickly to close all open hatches, and Ron moved to the winches to adjust the sail trim.  The electric winches eased the work, and he soon had the sails trimmed and drawing properly again.

Jane moved back to the wheel, looked at the sea behind them, brightly lit by the full moon.  The sight was terrifying!  The wave was a vertical wall, hundreds of feet high!  It obscured the stars near the horizon and it was black and featureless in the shadow of the moonlight.

“It’s coming, Ron!  Hold on!”  Ron saw the massive wave, much higher than any he had ever seen, coming up fast behind them.  Where it met the standing wave train, the waves combined to build huge mountains of water that quickly became unstable, to crash down in foaming torrents of water.  Jane quickly estimated the location of the heap of water likely to be nearest to them, then steered them slightly to the left of where she expected the peak to collapse.  If one of those foaming torrents were to collapse on them, there would be very little chance to survive!  They would be toppled over, or hammered below the surface by the thousands of tons of water cascading down the face of the near-vertical wave!  Ron took the opportunity to attach Jane’s safety harness to the ring in the deck, designed to secure the helmsman in rough weather, then fastened his own to it.

“Remember, Jane, if we turn over, you must pull this toggle to release the safety harness!”  He took her hand and put it on the toggle, ensuring that she knew its location.  Jane nodded, then returned her hand to the wheel, constantly watching the wave as it came up behind them at incredible speed.  As Ron looked back at the wave, the sea ahead of them seemed to drop suddenly.  A deep trough opened up ahead of them, and they hurtled down the steep slope of water!  Suddenly they were rising again, as the huge wave raced up behind them, the cycle lifting the water in which they were floating, hurtling them bodily upwards even as they raced down the slope.  The movement was almost silent, as the wave screened them from the wind from behind.  The yacht’s stern lifted up, and the vessel accelerated as it started surfing down the slope, accelerating rapidly down the slope even as the forward cyclical motion forced them forwards at an unimaginable speed.  The wave slid under them, lifting them higher up its slope, and the yacht tipped ever more steeply nose downwards as the wall of water built behind them.  The needle indicating their speed through the water was off the dial, and still their speed increased!  The pitch of the boat was more than sixty degrees!  They were close to falling down the front of the wave, rather than sailing!  Jane held onto the large wheel, and Ron supported himself against the bulkhead as he watched the water behind them.  The speed indicator needle showed that their speed was still building!  The sensation was like running down a steep mountain slope.  They no longer had the ability to slow down or stop!  Jane turned the wheel a little, to take the boat diagonally along the slope, rather than directly down it.  The yacht responded to her command, surfing at forty-five degrees along the wave, no longer almost in free fall down its slope.  The tactic worked, and the acceleration of the yacht slowed a little.  She watched nervously for any sign that the yacht was nearing the trough of the wave, the point at which the lower hull would almost certainly dig its bow deep into the water and flip them over, trying to work out in her mind the actions she would take.  It was hard to determine where that trough lay, with the darkness of the night intensified by the shadow of the wave.  And all the time, she was looking out for one of the foaming crests caused by a coincidence of the crossing wave train.  At this point, she had no idea of what she would do if either of those events occurred!  She could only hope that she would be able to react correctly!  She had no time or space to feel uncertain, even to think!  She was relying on her instinctive reactions to take them through this ultimate threat to their lives!

“We’re just about over the wave, Jane!  I can see the top!  Keep on as you are!”  Ron’s words broke through Jane’s concentration, coming through the hiss of the water rushing past the hulls as the yacht surfed across the wave and the roar of the air as they were pushed through it at an impossible speed.  Jane was suddenly, briefly, pleased that Gentle Jane had a semi-enclosed cockpit.  It would have been impossible to see against the wind caused by the speed of their forward motion!

The cyclical motion of the wave rushed on, lifting them suddenly over the crest, and their speed dropped abruptly as they reached the plateau.  The respite was brief, then they were dropping down the sloped back of the huge mountain of water, pinned to it by the wind that was dragged suddenly into the space behind the wave by the forward motion of the mountain of water.  The nose of the yacht lifted sharply, almost throwing them out of the cockpit.  They clung to their handholds as the wave rushed on beneath them, dropping them stern-first into the deep trough even as they were rushing forward through the water.  The slope was not as steep as the forward face, the curve that joined the back of the wave to the trough gentler.  Once again their movement halted abruptly as the wave rushed by beneath them, allowing them to regain their footholds, then, only seconds later, they started rising again, pitching forward as the following wave rushed up towards them.

“You did just great, Jane!  You’re fantastic!  Your steering was exactly what we needed!”

Jane did not have the time to acknowledge Ron’s praise.  She aligned the course of the yacht as they waited in the trough for the next wave to build, feeling the sudden absence of air movement between the two walls of water.  It was not possible to see the sky!  They did not have long to wait.

“The next wave is coming!  It’s not as high as the last one!”

The swell built and the yacht accelerated again as it ran down the slope.  Jane applied the same principles that had worked before, steering across the wave to slow their run down the wave and give them some stability.  Again the stratagem worked, and they rode to the top of the swell, then down the back.  Seven more times, huge swells built up and put them at risk, but each one was less severe than the previous one, each one easier to handle.  Finally, it was possible to relax a tiny fraction and allow the yacht to handle herself.  Jane had a feeling of almost immeasurable love for the craft, for the way it had handled the supreme test.

Ron’s hand was shaking as he turned up the volume of the radio to hear more of what had happened.  He realized just how close they had come to a sudden and violent death!  They had both been concentrating so hard on surviving the wild ride over the waves that they had blanked the sound of the radio from their senses.

‘The explosion of Yellowstone has created devastation on an unprecedented scale.  Huge volcanic rocks are falling on New York, Seattle, Los Angeles!  The White House has reported that the East Wing has been partially demolished by a rock estimated to weigh several tons falling from the sky, presumably blown into the upper atmosphere by the huge force of the explosion at Yellowstone!  Several people lost their lives in that incident alone, although the White House spokesman has reported that no critical functions have been disabled by it!  Contact has been lost with hundreds of aircraft, and many reports have been received of aircraft crashing, their engines stopped by the dense dust and debris thrown into the air by the explosion.  Volcanoes are erupting all over the world, and massive clouds of dust have been reported, bringing black-out conditions to large areas of the United States, Europe and the Far East.  Here in Hawaii, eight volcanic eruptions have been reported, and huge amounts of damage have been reported, resulting from the tsunami set off by the rockslide we reported a few minutes ago, as well as by lava flows from volcanic vents that have been dormant for decades.  The tsunami was so unexpected that no evacuation appears to have been possible in most locations.  Whole villages have been destroyed in coastal areas, wiped away as though they had never existed!  Many thousands of people are feared to have been killed!  The size and extent of this catastrophe is overwhelming, unimaginable!  There are reports coming in of several small ships and boats at sea and in ports being overwhelmed and sinking!  Serious damage has been caused to all US Navy ships in harbors here in Hawaii, with numerous ships being swept into the city area!  Other ships at anchor have broken free and been swept into other ships or into harbor installations!  The sea rescue services have been similarly affected, making it impossible for them to respond to calls for help!  This is disaster on an unprecedented scale!’  The announcer’s voice was tired, overwhelmed by the scope of the disaster he was reporting.  He appeared not able to convey any more emotion, his shock at what he was telling the listeners complete.

“It’s happened Jane.” Ron’s voice was flat, unbelieving.  “We got out just in time!”

“What now, Ron?” 

“We must carry on with the plan, Jane.  I think that we must just accept that we’re on our own now!”

There was a sudden sound from the VHF radio, cutting into the sound of the broadcast from Hawaii.  The sound, unexpected as it was, came as a welcome relief to the almost overwhelming sense of disaster they felt, until they heard the content of the message.

“Mayday, Mayday.  This is Green Flash.  We are sinking and urgently require assistance!  Mayday!”

Ron took the microphone from its cradle.

“Green Flash, this is Gentle Jane.  Report your position!”

The woman’s voice that came back was full of relief.

“Gentle Jane, Green Flash.  We are at twenty-three degrees zero two minutes north, one hundred fifty-eight degrees forty-nine west.  We were overwhelmed by a huge wave and suffered severe damage.  The boat is sinking, and we have no power.  There are two adults and two children on board.  Are you able to assist?”

“Please hold, Green Flash.”

Jane moved quickly to the chart table in the cabin and looked at the GPS readout, which she transferred to the chart before she plotted the position of Green Flash.  “We’re about twelve miles from them, Ron.  They’re almost directly downwind.  We can get there in about an hour.”

“Green Flash, we are about twelve miles from you.  We can reach you in an hour.  Are you able to hold on that long?”

“Gentle Jane, thank you.  Our yacht is flooding rapidly, but we can probably keep afloat that long.  If not, we will take to the dinghy and wait for you.  Please hurry!”

“Please stay in contact as long as you can, Green Flash.  If you have a handheld VHF radio, please keep that in reserve until you lose your main radio.  We’ll need to have direct contact when we get to you.  Are your lights still operating?”

“We have our masthead light on.  I’ll turn on the masthead strobe.”

“Thank you, Green Flash.  We wish to recover you in your dinghy, but don’t leave the yacht until you absolutely have to!  If you can access spare clothes and food, particularly cans and non-perishables, please load those into the liferaft, but keep your dinghy light.  We don’t want to risk people unnecessarily!  Please ensure that the liferaft is firmly attached to your dinghy.  You may need both of them!  We need to get to work now.  We will be in touch soon.”

“Thank you, Gentle Jane!  Green Flash standing by.”

Ron replaced the microphone in its cradle and moved over to the winch.  Jane turned the wheel to bring them onto the interception course she had plotted, and Ron worked at the winch, trimming the sails to maximize their speed.  

When they were sailing at full speed, Ron took over the helm while Jane returned to the chart, a thought in her mind as a result of checking the position of Gentle Jane relative to Green Flash.  She quickly transferred their current position to the chart, not taking the time to calculate it, but reading it off the GPS, then drew the line to connect it to the last position she had plotted, before she went into the galley to make the coffee.  She measured the line, then checked the measurement, convinced that there had been an error.  The time that had elapsed since the last position fix and now was a little over forty minutes, yet the line she had measured was as long as any of the other lines between fixes!

“Ron, did you realize that we covered sixty-two miles in the last forty minutes?”  Her voice showed her amazement.

Ron worked the speed in his head.  Over ninety miles per hour!

“I guess that the wave was moving at several hundred knots.  We seemed to be on the face of the waves, surfing down them, for much longer than we were on the back or in the trough.  I suppose it was possible that our speed over the ground was as much as a couple of hundred knots!  I don’t think you can take account of our speed through the water, though!  Although we must have been doing well over sixty knots most of the time, most of that was either up or down!”  He smiled at Jane, glad of the chance to do so.

“That would probably make Gentle Jane the fastest sailboat on record!”  Jane returned the smile, her relief at the achievement evident.

“We’ve come through what will probably be our biggest challenge, Jane, thanks to you!  I’m sure we’ll do just as well in what is to come.”

They saw the masthead strobe light a couple of minutes later as they rode over the tops of the high swells, and came up to Green Flash forty-five minutes later.  Jane edged the catamaran around to the downwind side of Green Flash, a 40 foot sailboat.  The man on deck fed a line into the water, fenders tied at the end.  It was clear that he was a competent sailor, that he had worked through the needs of the current situation in his mind, and made the necessary preparations.  Soon Ron was able to get hold of the line with a boat hook that they used for mooring, and brought it on board.  He pulled on the light feeder line, hauling in the heavier line attached to its end. 

“Green Flash, you can launch your dinghy now.”

“Gentle Jane, I will remove the lifeline and then launch the dinghy over the side when the next wave washes over.  I don’t want to take the risk of putting the kids into the dinghy in the water.  I would appreciate you pulling on the line when we warn you!  We will also launch the liferaft the same way, with the stores we have been able to save.”

“Understood, Green Flash.  We’re standing by.”

They watched as the small family moved from the shelter of the cockpit to the dinghy.  The parents fastened the children into the dinghy, using their safety harnesses, then climbed in themselves, the man detaching the line they had floated to Gentle Jane from the deck cleat on Green Flash and transferring it to the dinghy.

A minute later, Green Flash rolled towards them in a heavy swell, and the wave washed over the deck.  Ron pulled on the line, taking up the slack quickly.  The dinghy floated free, followed closely by the liferaft.  Ron pulled in the line in bursts, taking up the slack as the waves washed the two inflatables closer.  Soon the dinghy was firmly secured alongside, and Ron helped the crew to come aboard, thankful for the relatively calm state of the sea.  This maneuver would have been extremely difficult in a storm!  Together Ron and the man manhandled first the dinghy aboard through the gate in the lifeline, then the liferaft, which the crew on Green Flash had filled with food and clothing. 

When Ron had closed the lifelines and checked around the deck for any lines hanging overboard, Green Flash had gone!  Their arrival had not been a minute too soon! 

“You made it just in time,” he said.  “Another ten minutes would have made a massive difference!”

Jane turned Gentle Jane back onto their course towards American Samoa, and Ron set the sails.  They had saved four lives, two children and their parents, and now had to find a place to survive the long winter that was to come.

Chapter 2

The four disparate groups of people entered the next phase of their lives, the time of survival.

In Montagu, the explosion of the volcano under Yellowstone added a new urgency to the work of the people involved, as they bought in every item that was available, and pushed their effort to gather any piece of usable information off the internet while it was still operating.  They had done everything that was possible to complete the first phase of preparation for what was to come, and now the arrangements at the farm turned into the second phase, survival. 

The economic conditions throughout the country deteriorated very quickly, the collapse of trade with the northern hemisphere creating a new set of conditions for a Government that had no idea of how to deal with the altered situation.  The Government of the country had never had a firm grasp on the essentials of the management of the economy, driven as they were by the imperative to be reelected in the face of a dismal economic performance, and there was no reason to hope that they would fare any better in the new conditions that would have challenged even the most competent.  The Government’s revenue came to a stop almost overnight as companies that had depended, in one way or another, on international trade started falling over, causing tens of thousands of employees to lose their jobs and their only source of income.  Government services collapsed almost as quickly.  The Police, never very effective at maintaining law and order, reverted to being escorts for the top government officials as they whisked about the country in their convoys, using up the precious stores of fuel without any concern for how it would be replaced.  The hospitals closed down, under the pressure of non-payment of salaries and cessation of deliveries of essential stores by suppliers who were, once again, not being paid.  The promises of the responsible officials that payment would be made ‘very soon’ fell on deaf ears.  The Government had defaulted on their payment commitments many times in the past, and the suppliers were no longer willing to believe those empty promises.  The small signs of collapse quickly became an avalanche as the Multiplier Effect took hold, turning each new job lost into ten others, then fifty, then a thousand.  The supplies of food to the cities stopped within a couple of weeks, partly through lack of replenishment at source, and partly through the collapse of the transport system, which no longer had the fuel to move the goods.  Starvation in the cities became a serious factor almost overnight, as people suddenly had no income to purchase what was available, and, at the same time, the supplies of food to the cities dried up.  Within weeks, desperate people were forced to become criminals in order to keep alive.  Leaders emerged to take control of these people, organizing them into gangs.  Their victims started out as local targets of opportunity, but as these opportunities dried up, they started roaming the countryside, plundering at first the farms for their stores of food, then they became bolder and more desperate, and attacked the villages and towns.  Gangs set up roadblocks to stop passing vehicles and take the food and other goods they might be carrying, often killing the occupants of the cars and trucks.  Many of those gangs consisted of Policemen or members of the military who had not been paid and were looking for any opportunity to provide food for themselves.  What had once been a civilized country descended within two months into chaos.

*~*

The picture was the same in Australia.  The tsunami had destroyed virtually every significant part of the industrial base of the country, most of it concentrated along the eastern coast.  Although a very large proportion of the Australian population had died in the tsunami, the food supplies were insufficient to keep the remaining people alive.  A few pockets of life remained, the largest being at Mount Victoria, where the mental preparation of Albert and his family permitted them to act quickly and decisively in a disaster that left almost every other survivor dazed and unable to take any effective action.  Most people lost those precious few hours after the disaster, hours that may have enabled them to survive what was coming.  They built on the group around them, salvaging what they could from the wrecked city, welcoming survivors of the catastrophe and encouraging the growing group to work at developing the food supply.  Gradually, they achieved a level of food self-sufficiency, but it became clear to Albert and those close to him that the economy they had built was not sustainable.  They had only very limited industrial capacity, and were, in essence, parasites, living off what they had salvaged, producing very little themselves.  That would inevitably come to an end at some time.  The education and the skills of the nearly one thousand survivors concentrated around the small village were not up to the task of developing their community.  Their reserves of knowledge and science were too small, and the necessity of working to provide food in the colder conditions removed any hope that they would be able to take some of their people and put them into the, short-term, non-productive aspects of what needed to be done to ensure that the group could prosper in the long term – education at a higher level, scientific development, and the production of capital equipment.  They were becoming scavengers.  They mounted expeditions, first to Adelaide, then to Perth on the west coast, and these returned with a few survivors on the verge of starvation and reports of devastation on an almost complete scale, presumably by marauding bands of criminals.  The situation, although they had overcome the immediate threat of starvation, worried Albert and those leading the community. 

On an exploration of Sydney early in the fourth year after the explosion, Roger Jones, Albert’s son, discovered a ship’s radio that he was able to bring into operation.  To his surprise and the amazement of those with him, they were able to hear a conversation between Gentle Jane, now settled in a bay in the Seychelles, where the crew had stopped to allow Jane’s baby to be born in a safe environment, and Montagu.  They were not able to transmit, to join in the discussion and to inform those people that their group existed, but that conversation provided the impetus they needed, to find a usable ship to travel to South Africa.

*~*

The gorilla tour members in Kigali left late in the afternoon of the day of the explosion of the volcano under the Yellowstone National Park, determined to get out of the way of any possible armed action.  They made their way to a camping spot on a farm a couple of hours south of the city, and put up their tents for the night in a field next to a gentle stream.  The weather changed that night, with an icy wind coming in.  By morning, the field where they were camped was covered with a thick layer of snow!  They drove on, the driving conditions becoming more hazardous by the hour, until they reached Bujumbura on the shore of Lake Tanganyika a couple of days later.  There they managed to find a ferry, whose owner agreed to take them the length of Lake Tanganyika to Zambia.  By that time, the cold was intense, brought by the massive up-flow of air around the volcano at Yellowstone, which dragged in frigid air from the poles and the upper atmosphere, to deposit snow as far south as Johannesburg, deep in the southern hemisphere.  The freezing temperature had caused a thick layer of ice to form around the edges of the lake, and they had to break the ice that had formed around the vessel and the shoreline before they could load their vehicles.  They reached Zambia after several days, going ashore on a deserted stretch of beach, and headed south-east, planning to reach the coastal area of Mozambique, where they hoped the temperature would be milder.  As they drove, they found that the rural areas were totally devoid of life.  Even the towns were dead.  They discovered the reason for this a couple of days later, when they almost stumbled into an encampment of military style.  Not wishing to provoke any difficulties, they sneaked away, taking a different route, and made their way south.  Their plan to enter Mozambique and settle in the coastal area received two setbacks.  The first was seeing a small convoy, presumably consisting of the military-style people they had seen, drive to a settlement alongside the road, and take the cattle they found, after killing the people who lived there.  It was clear that this was not a regular Army force, but a group of terrorists invading the area, bent on taking over Tanzania and Malawi, both weak countries in military terms, before the explosion, and now, covered with snow and with a large proportion of the population already dead from cold and starvation, less able than ever to resist the incursion.

The second setback came when a storm blew in from the east, bringing with it the sort of weather one would expect in the north of Scotland!  The fierce winds drove the heavy snow into deep drifts, but the same winds and snow also served to cover the tracks of their vehicles on the otherwise empty roads, hiding signs of their passage from any possible border patrols.  They managed to cover the remaining distance to the northern border of South Africa, crossing over at the deserted border post at night.  They then entered the Kruger National Park an area larger than England and, even in normal times, practically devoid of humans.  They made their way to the Olifants Camp, a lonely place, set high on a mountain at the end of a long road that led nowhere else.  They chose this place to hide, until they could be sure that the terrorism and violence, both criminal and institutional, had passed.  The Camp was a good place for their purpose, being well hidden from view and easily defended, as well as having an internal area that they were able to use to grow food, and the return of the wildlife when the extreme cold departed gave them an adequate supply of meat.  During their time there, they heard on the radio that there were two coups d’état in South Africa, neither of which had any effect on them directly, although the harsh rule of the new dictators led to them being joined at Olifants Camp by a radio announcer and his family, who had planned their escape from Johannesburg for some time, knowing that the conditions of life were deteriorating fast.  They had come to the same conclusion as the group from Kigali, that the solitude offered by the Olifants Camp was the best bet they had to live through the madness that was coming to their world.  John Robertson was one of the few fearless men who spoke his mind in those turbulent days, and he had become a target for the ‘Security Police’, causing him to take his wife, Helen, and two young children, to seek refuge in the loneliest place he could think of – Olifants Camp!

The group was able to farm successfully within the borders of the Camp, and they hunted for game, once the snow had melted and the animal life returned to the wild area.  They never planned to stay there permanently, knowing that their small numbers would not support the infrastructure that was needed for the sort of civilization they desired, but when, one dinner time, Hans was scanning the airwaves for any sign of another human, he chanced upon a radio call from Gentle Jane to Montagu, their intention to seek a larger group of people became an imperative.  They had no means of making communication directly, and the overheard call was the trigger to precipitate a drive of more than two thousand kilometers to Montagu, in the hope that they would be welcomed there.

*~*

Gentle Jane and her enlarged crew sailed on after the rescue of Peter, Pam and the children, hoping to find a group of survivors in Australia.  Their first port of call was to be American Samoa, but their arrival at the island showed them how severe the effects of the tsunami had been.  The island had been wiped clean of life!  The tsunami had uprooted trees even to the highest points on the island!

They carried on to Australia, calling in at other islands en route, always with the same depressing results.  Sydney showed signs that the tsunami’s power had been broken by the higher land at the water’s edge, causing the wave to flood gently into the land, rather than smashing down on it as they had seen elsewhere.  However, there were still no signs of life, although the water had drained away.  The scene of an apparent battle in the city, with cars and trucks strewn about, full of bullet holes, warned them that whoever might still live in the once-grand city were not well-disposed to outsiders, so Gentle Jane headed off to look for life elsewhere along the coast.  When their brief forays ashore disclosed the same signs of destruction that they had seen in the islands, they called off the quest and headed south, sailing between the Australian mainland and the coast of Tasmania, and on to Perth, the largest city on the west coast.  Again there were no lights when they arrived in the evening.  Warned by what they had seen in Sydney, they decided not to enter the harbor at Fremantle or land on the beach until the next day for the sake of safety, and they anchored a few hundred meters offshore for the night. 

Their peace was interrupted that evening when they were shot at from the shore!

Hurriedly weighing the anchor, they headed to the island of Rottnest, fifteen miles offshore, and anchored there in shallow water to spend the night, before embarking on the long crossing of the Indian Ocean.  A few hours later, they were disturbed by the sound of someone attempting to board the boat by the stern ladder.  It turned out to be a young boy who, together with his sister, their parents and grandmother, had been left on the island when the ferry departed after the explosion, with no means of getting back to the mainland.  When their father had approached some men on a fishing boat for assistance, he had been killed, together with his wife and mother!  The two young children had hidden in the scrub, moving away constantly when the men searched for them.  Eventually, the men left the island, and the two young children were left to fend for themselves, alone on the small island.  They had managed to survive by catching and killing Kwokkas, a type of miniature kangaroo.  They were both close to starvation when they were rescued by the crew of Gentle Jane!  They had no living relatives, and no home to go to, so they joined the crew of Gentle Jane as they set out on the next leg of their journey, across the Indian Ocean to South Africa.

The boat was only a few hundred miles from the Seychelles when Jane had an onset of nausea in the aftermath of a storm.  Peter, the man of the group they had rescued from Green Flash after the tsunami was a medical doctor.  He diagnosed the cause of Jane’s nausea as pregnancy, and they decided to rest on a small island far from the rest of the island group until after the birth.  They did not know what conditions to expect in Africa, and, after what they had seen in Australia, they decided that it would be better to hide away for a while, to allow some sort of stability to return to what was left of the world.  They found the perfect island for the purpose, and settled in there, tucked away in a little bay, protected from the occasional storms that swept through, behind a rocky hill. 

The living was good there, with the island providing fish and fruit, and they planted their own little vegetable garden to supplement the supplies of canned, dried and preserved food they had aboard, but it was clear to all of them that they would need the facilities that a larger group would offer before too many years were past.

Ron set the boat’s radio to scan for a transmission every evening when they were preparing or eating their dinner.  There had never heard any sound, a situation they had come to accept as normal in the past eighteen months, when even the pathetically weak calls for help had died away.  Suddenly, without any warning, a voice came through the speakers!

“Security, this is Scout Group.”  The voice stopped for a few seconds, obviously waiting for a reply, then it came again.  It was clear that there had been a reply that they could not hear in Gentle Jane.  “We have checked all the locations.  There is no-one.”

The voice was the first voice other than their own that they had heard since before they had reached American Samoa, nearly three years ago!  The sound stunned them, stopping their festivities.  Even Jane’s new baby, Helen, stopped talking.

Ron grabbed the microphone.

“Scout Group, this is Gentle Jane.  Do you read me?”

“Gentle Jane, this is Scout Group.  What is your location?”  The man’s voice sounded professional, the voice of a man who is practiced at radio communication, but it showed his controlled excitement at the contact.

“Scout Group, we are in the Seychelles.  We picked up your transmission.  We are a yacht, with nine passengers.  Over.”

“Gentle Jane, we are in Cape Town, but are part of the Montagu group.  Have you heard of us?”

“Scout Group, we think that you are from John Carter and Helen Lindstrom’s group.  One of our group is Jane Smith, who is known to Helen Lindstrom, from Sacramento.”

“That is correct, Gentle Jane.  Helen will be pleased!  Can you get to Cape Town, Gentle Jane?”

“We can, Scout Group.  We estimate it will take us about six weeks.  Can you accommodate us?  We are four adults and five children.”

“You will be welcome, Gentle Jane.  I suggest that you make radio contact with the Farm.”  He gave a list of frequencies.  “If you cannot, I can relay your messages.”

“We will call them right now, Scout Group.  Please stand by to relay if we cannot make direct contact.  I will revert to you in ten minutes on this frequency.”

“Scout Group standing by.”

Excitedly, Ron entered the first frequency they had been given in the control panel and thumbed the transmit button.  “Montagu, Montagu, this is Gentle Jane, do you read me?”  There was no response.  He tried again, still without response.

“I suggest that you try the next frequency on your list, Gentle Jane.  Montagu can hear you, but obviously you can’t hear them.”  The voice of Scout Group relieved the tension a little.  They could hear real humanity in that voice!  Ron entered the next frequency and spoke again. 

“Montagu, this is Gentle Jane, do you read me?”  His voice was almost desperate.  The reply came immediately.

“Gentle Jane, this is Montagu.  We read you loud and clear.  We have followed your conversation with Scout Group.  Helen Lindstrom is here.”  The voice changed.

“Hello Gentle Jane, this is Helen.”

Ron handed the microphone to Jane.

“Helen, this is Jane Smith!  Do you remember me?”

“Of course, Jane.  Where on Earth are you?”

“We’re on a yacht in a bay on a tiny island in the Seychelles!  We had to hole up here about two and a half years ago, so that my baby could be born!  We were on our way to Montagu!”

“That’s amazing, Jane!  But why a yacht in the Seychelles?”

“It’s a long story, Helen.  Can I tell you when we get there?”

“Of course Jane.  We’d love you to come and join us all here.  You will all be welcome!  And I think you’ll love it here too.  How long will it take you to get here?  We’ll meet you in Cape Town and escort you to Montagu.  We don’t know yet that it is safe to travel overland, although our last two patrols have reported no danger.”

“We could leave in a couple of days, Helen.  It will take us about six weeks to sail there.  Do you have the capacity to accommodate all of us?  There are nine in our group!”

“Our group is now about two thousand five hundred strong, Jane.  Nine more will not be a problem!”

 “Helen, can we call you on the frequencies that Scout Group gave us when we get to Cape Town?”

“We monitor them all the time, Jane.  When you arrive, go to the Yacht Club, and we’ll have someone there to meet you and bring you here.  If we don’t hear from you, a Scout Group will be at the Yacht Club on every Friday, starting five weeks from today, just in case you arrive early.  Today is Wednesday, by the way!” 

“We’re looking forward to seeing you, Helen.  Thank you!  By the way, our daughter is named Helen, in gratitude to you for the warning you gave us!”

Helen laughed at that, then signed off as the transmission started to break up.

“There’s the next step!” said Peter.  “If they have so many people in their group, it must be a viable one, and the fact that they can send out patrols to Cape Town means that they have a high degree of organization and capability!”

“We’d better get to planning,” said Pam, Peter’s wife.  “We need to collect as much food as we can.  Six weeks at sea is a long time!”

Their planning and preparations went smoothly, and the voyage just as well, although they had to endure a massive storm that swept in from the east as they were heading down the South African coast.  They arrived in Cape Town exactly on schedule, and were taken to Montagu by a small convoy of LandRovers that was waiting for them at the Yacht Club.

Their arrival in Montagu was wonderful, fulfilling every one of their expectations.  They were greeted as welcome guests, taken on a tour of the farm on which Helen and John had built the base of their new civilization, and were offered many opportunities to become a meaningful, contributing part of the society.

Chapter 3

The crew of Gentle Jane had barely settled in when the next group arrived, the Ruanda group from Kigali and Olifants Camp.  They had also collected more refugees on their way to Montagu, a mother and her young daughter, who had been living alone on their remote farm, in a cellar constructed to hide them in the circumstances that they had foreseen, after the woman’s husband had been murdered by marauders a couple of months before her daughter was born.

They too were welcomed in Montagu, and soon found themselves to be a part of the community.  They found that the people of Montagu, and the system under which it was run, delighted in enabling everyone to realize his or her own potential, without duress or demand, simply by allowing them to find a need to fulfill, and then assisting them to do whatever was required for that!

Finally, a week after the arrival of the Ruanda group, Jim, one of the first of the group of people that John and Helen had built, was manning the radio while he researched a subject in the library.  The people in Montagu shared that task, knowing that a call on the radio would almost certainly bring new members to their growing community, something that they welcomed, although it had happened only once in the past two years, when Gentle Jane had made contact from the Seychelles.  He was deeply immersed in the book he was reading when a call came through.

“Montagu, Montagu, this is Reef Explorer.  Over.” 

Jim grabbed the microphone, more than surprised to hear the voice from the ether.

“Reef Explorer, This is Montagu.  Over.”

“Montagu, please inform Helen Lindstrom and John Carter that Albert Jones will be arriving in Cape Town at nine tomorrow, to visit them.  He will be bringing eight hundred and sixty seven friends with him.  Over.”

“Albert Jones!  He’s a friend of mine!  I’m Jim Wessels!”

“You know me too, Jim!  I’m Roger, Albert’s son!  We’ve escaped from Australia, and hope you’ll want us to join you!”

“Of course we do, Roger.”  Jim laughed quietly at the comment!  “It will be a bit of a problem finding transport for all of you, but we have the accommodation!  Helen and John will be delighted to see you all!  They’ve often spoken of Albert over the past years!”

“That’s good news, Jim.  We’re looking forward to meeting you all!  I wanted it to be a surprise, but I realize that just dumping nearly nine hundred people on you without warning might be too much of a surprise!  Anyway, we’ll be arriving in Cape Town, at the docks by about nine tomorrow morning.  We’ll see you then.”

“We’ll all be looking forward to meeting you, Roger.  Montagu out.”

Jim put the microphone down, then grabbed his handheld radio.

“Helen and John!  This is Jim!”  His voice conveyed the urgency he felt.  The addition of so many new people to their group would be a huge event in their short history!  He did not have to wait long for a reply.

“Helen here, Jim!”

“I have a message for you and John!  Albert will be arriving in Cape Town on a visit at nine tomorrow morning!  He’s bringing eight hundred and sixty seven friends with him!”

“You’re joking, Jim!  Eight hundred and sixty seven!”

“Roger, Albert’s son, called on the radio.  They must have been able to get away from the results of the explosion, and gathered a group of survivors!  They’re on a ship, the Reef Explorer, and they’ll be arriving in Cape Town harbor tomorrow morning!”

“Somehow, I knew that we would see Albert again!  That’s wonderful news!  We need to get some transport together, arrange food and accommodation!”

“We can put them up in the cottages the community people use for our monthly meetings.  There’ll be plenty of space!”  John’s reassuring voice came on the group calling channel, the one they used to pass messages in a hurry to the entire community.

The arrangements were made quickly in the normal efficient manner of the community, with numerous people volunteering their help.  The occasion of a single new arrival was a major event, and the number promised was likely to be a sensation!  Everyone in the community wanted to be a part of the celebration!  Finally, the arrangements were complete and the community went to sleep, preparing to leave by six, to be sure of being in Cape Town harbor when the new arrivals came in.

*~*

The sight in the morning when Reef Explorer entered the harbor was one to quicken the pulse.  The harbor, once so busy, had been devoid of life for nearly three years, until Gentle Jane arrived only a couple of weeks ago.  The ship that came in now was large enough to dwarf even that large yacht!  It was a proper small cruise liner! 

It came in under expert guidance, performing a scientifically-correct about turn in the open stretches of water, then berthed portside to, coming to a dead stop exactly opposite the berth that had been cleared earlier for them.  A dinghy buzzed out to take the lines, and the ship was pulled in gently by her winches, coming to a stop against the fenders with only a suspicion of a bump.  The loading door in the hull was opened and a gangplank trundled out, to be taken by eager hands on the dock.  It was followed moments later by another gangplank from the deck gate.  Soon, people were streaming down the gangplanks to the dock, their uncertainty brushed aside by the joyful greeting accorded them by the group of people lined up to receive them.  Several of the women from Australia burst into tears of relief when they realized that they had come home!  Home to this distant place that all but a handful of them had never seen before!  Even the men, trained from their early years not to display their emotions, found themselves choking up, their eyes brimming with tears of happiness.

After the greetings had subsided, Helen stepped up a short distance on the gangplank, where everybody could see her.

“We welcome all of you to South Africa!” she said, her voice clear in the sudden silence.  “The real welcome will take place at Montagu, where everyone is waiting for you!  We'd like you to collect enough luggage to tide you over today and tonight.  We don’t have too much space on the buses, as you can see, and we’ll return tomorrow to collect the rest of your belongings.  Right now, the people of Montagu want to throw a party to welcome you!”

There were cheers all round, from the welcoming party as well as the new arrivals.  The people went back on board to bring the luggage they'd prepared last night, and trooped over to the buses and LandRovers.  The community had been forced to press virtually every vehicle in the town into service to collect them, and there was only one person from Montagu per vehicle to drive.  As it was, there was only just enough space for all of them!

The drive back to Montagu took them through one of the most beautiful parts of the country.  Although the farms had not been worked for more than two years, the orderliness was apparent, imposed by the Dutch, French and German settlers who had introduced vines to the area, as well as adding so much of their language and heritage to the area.  The entry into Montagu was awe-inspiring.  The road wound through a narrow valley and then into a tunnel cut through the rugged cliffs, whose rocks showed clearly the enormous forces of the upheavals that had formed these mountains and valleys.  Once through the tunnel, the road ran alongside a small river between two chains of mountains, where they joined at the end of the Lang Kloof, the ‘Long Valley’, a configuration that modified the climate of the surrounding areas and made the ideal environment for fruit and grape production.  They passed through the town, a profusion of color and bloom that seemed to have been put on just for them, and a short distance out into the countryside beyond the town, then turned off down a good sand road, finally turning into a driveway that led to a beautiful small house.  It seemed to have grown in these surroundings.  A crowd of people was waiting there for them to arrive.  As Helen had told them, the people of Montagu had prepared a party!

Chapter 4

The welcomes over, they settled down to work.  There was much for everyone to do!  Roger mentioned a sail-car he had built in Mount Victoria, a fun device that the community had adopted to serve as fuel-less transport.  The idea was quickly taken on by the engineers and a sail car was quickly built.  Roger put it to use to visit some of the outlying farms, while the engineers were developing his idea of a sail-rail-car, an invention that had been used to take six young men right across Australia to the west coast, to explore Perth and surrounding areas.  That expedition had returned with bad news.  There were practically no people left alive there, apart from two small groups teetering on the edge of starvation.  The members of the expedition had brought these people back to Mount Victoria to join them, welcoming every new soul in much the same way as Montagu later did, recognizing the value that each one represented to the community.  The rail cars had performed well, and the technical ingenuity of the people at Montagu, coupled with the skills in development of electric motors brought by Hans from Germany, by way of Kigali, pushed the idea to a new level, making it possible to construct long trains that were not only able to be remotely controlled, with as many as ten cars being managed by only one or two persons, but also with the possibility of sending the trains on longer trips, possibly as far as two thousand kilometers, on automatic control, without the need for a crew! 

This development brought the desire to expand the reach of the community members into the distant places.  That desire was brought to a head by a discussion at the second monthly meeting of the community after the Mount Victoria group joined.

Each of the groups concerned with the planning of the expedition to check the feasibility of establishing a trading route to Johannesburg made their presentations and recommendations after John introduced the subject of the planned exploration.  The clincher was the brief recounting by Barend, of the Ruanda group, who had spoken to a lone man trudging the long distance from Touws River to Johannesburg.  They had met shortly after the man had been forced to hand over a fifth of the goods he had carried from Touws River, some eleven hundred kilometers to the south-west, to a couple of ‘toll collectors’ who manned a choke point on the road to the north, a bridge over the Vaal River.  There was no way over the river for many kilometers apart from that bridge, and so he had no choice but to pay over a part of the food that he was bringing back to his family.  Conrad and Michael, both very efficient hunters who had provided the Ruanda group with meat for several years, had killed the two ‘toll collectors’ when they attacked their group, so that barrier no longer existed, as far as they knew, although, in view of the fact that it was such a strategic choke point, it was not impossible that other enterprising criminals had taken control of it..  The group had also removed another stop point on a mountain pass that the man from Touws River had warned them about.  That group had chosen to set up their ambush at a location where it was possible to walk around it over the mountains, and the trader had done so, but that had forced him to abandon the hand-barrow that he was using to transport the remainder of the goods he had traded in Touws River.  The Ruanda group had been forced to kill those ambushers as well, in order to bring their vehicles past the roadblock.  The Ruanda group also told of another ambush, near the village of Three Sisters.  Knowing of it, they had stopped before they came in sight of the barricade, and then, taking advantage of a heavy rainstorm, they had been able to go around it by driving along the railway line.

“We cannot allow these criminals to get away with this!” thundered Christoph, a farmer from the Touws River area on the outer edge of the community area.  “I know the man you have spoken of.  He is a good man, trying to keep his family alive.  He came to us two years ago, almost starving, after the truck he was driving ran out of fuel in Cape Town.  He was walking back to Johannesburg, to his family.  He was sick when he got here, and starving, and we nursed him back to health before he set out on his journey again.  We gave him food to take, and he promised to return with goods to pay us.  He did, a year later!  We gave him more food to take back to his family, and now we hear that these parasites have taken twenty per cent of what we gave him!  That cannot be right!  That man earned everything that he had, and these criminals simply took it from him because they could!  The last Government of this country set the rules.  The politicians were greedy, corrupt and incompetent, and they used their power to set regulations to take from those who were producing.  Those rules were adopted by the people, who could no longer understand the basic principle of private property.  They had been told that whatever more fortunate people had accumulated was free to be taken!  Crime flourished!  If we allow these people to get away with stealing from honest people, with terrorizing them by force of arms, we can expect before too long that the same rules will be applied by all the people!”

One by one the members of the community stood and expressed their views.  The consensus agreed with Christoph, that the threat had to be removed before it could permeate the little society that was left in the country, and all of them agreed that an opening of trade was essential in the long run to support their growing industrial base.  The resolution was made unanimously to undertake the expedition.

Chapter 5

The leader of the expedition was selected from the best people that the community had in the field.  The man chosen, Alwyn Malan, the deputy leader of the Scout Group, selected his team.  It consisted of the six members of the Perth expedition, Conrad and Michael from the Ruanda group, and four experienced members of the Scout Group.  Each of these people had considerable relevant experience of the work to be undertaken.  The Perth expedition, consisting of Jeremy Blaylock, the leader, Selwyn Charters, Jeffrey Lenniston, Fred Arkins, Klaus Helmstedt and Tony de Vivo had undertaken the arduous journey clear across Australia, exploring the cities and towns, the villages and the homesteads, in a journey that had taken them nearly three months.  They had returned with eight refugees, dumping a considerable part of the goods they had salvaged from Perth in order to do so.  The limited load capacity of the sail train had made the choice a necessity, and they had placed a much higher value on the lives they could save than on the materials they had salvaged with such effort, materials that would be essential to their small community in the future.  Conrad and Michael had undertaken the hunting for meat for the Ruanda group in the Kruger National Park, building a considerable expertise in the art of tracking and killing animals, using only bows and arrows to avoid the sound of gunshots giving away their existence to anyone in earshot.  They had used the skills developed during those years to remove the threat posed by the ‘toll collectors’, who were blocking the roads to extract whatever tribute they could from people using them, and killing those who showed any sign of resistance.  The remaining members of the expedition, in addition to Alwyn Malan, the leader, were Piet Cilliers, Sarel Viljoen, Christopher Walkin and Henry Peltzer, all part of the original group of Montagu.  The Scout Group had been formed to protect the community of Montagu from incursion by lawless elements, and had trained rigorously to accomplish that objective without loss on their side.  They had frequently undertaken expeditions to search for refugees in the wilds of Cape Town city, and had expanded that role in searching for goods that might be salvaged for use in Montagu, and in protecting people who traveled into the city.  A rule had been enforced in Montagu that no person could travel alone, and, where any conceivable risk existed, they had to use the protection afforded by the Scout Group.  It was a firm principle of the community that every life was important!

Now, each member of the expedition underwent the same rigorous training, in physical fitness, armed and unarmed combat, first aid, navigation and negotiation, to prepare them for their journey. 

While they were doing that, the sail-train was being constructed and prepared.  The train was to consist of ten cars coupled together, with each car having three masts with remotely-controlled sails and an auxiliary engine of sufficient power to help up the hills, as well as to operate in the absence of wind.  The cars could be uncoupled from inside, and each car had a set of road wheels that could be lowered to allow operation of the car off the rails.  The cars were constructed in a light-weight design, and had Kevlar armor that could stop the bullet of a heavy-caliber hunting rifle, with screens that could be lowered over the windows, allowing only a narrow slit to see through.  They had a load capacity of six tons each, with seating for the crew plus another twenty people, in case the circumstances they found dictated that they should return with survivors, and the train carried enough provisions for the journey there and back, with a fifty per cent margin.

Eventually the day came when the train was to depart.

On the morning of their departure, each of the men chatted with their loved ones.  Conrad had formed a close attachment with Christine, Michael’s younger sister, a relationship heartily approved by all who knew them.  Alwyn had married Wendy, one of the original refugees he had assisted in rescuing from a barricaded building at the University of Cape Town, where she had effectively led the refugees in holding off constant attacks from bands of men who had lost all of their moral values in the daily struggle to survive.  Jeremy was a close friend of Cynthia Berrangé, one of the women from Sydney, who had arrived at the same time as he did in Mount Victoria, both of them managing hair-raising escapes from the suburbs of Sydney, only minutes before that city had been overwhelmed by the huge tsunami waves that had extinguished most of the life in it. 

Alwyn drew his team up in front of the train at the little railway station at Ashton, the nearest railway station to Montagu.  Several hundred people were there to send them off in grand style.

“Right!  There’s one last question before we head off into the unknown, but before I ask it, I'd like to say that this expedition is probably more important than any of the expeditions made by Columbus, da Gama, Livingstone or any of the others whose names appear in the history books.  We’re opening the route from the only remnant of civilization that we know of, to the rest of the world!  All of you will go down in history!  Now the question!”  He paused while the tension built.  The silence seemed to go on an eternity.  Then he spoke again.  “This is the last chance!  Do any of you want to stay at home?”

There was silence for a second, then a roar of laughter.  Almost any of the people in the crowd would have loved to be chosen!

“Good!  Let’s go!”

The men boarded the trains, the sails were unfurled to catch the breeze that was blowing over the land, and the train moved off, slowly at first, then gathering speed, until it disappeared around a long curve in the line.

The expedition to reopen the world had started!

Chapter 6

The first part of the route was known to them.  They had exercised over this route dozens of times in the past months, riding the rails out to Touws River, the last outpost of the settlement around Montagu, and then back, in daylight and at night, in fine weather and heavy rain.  They knew it like the backs of their hands!

The men were all in the lead car, the other cars following meekly the commands for sail-handling issued by the automated system that Hans and Hilde Bauer had built and tested for this expedition.  The system worked faultlessly, extracting power from the wind to send them along the rails at a speed up to sixty kilometers per hour, and all without the use of scarce fuel that was continuously being generated by the hydrogen generator in each car, feeding from the power produced by the solar panels on top of each car, and storing the gas under pressure in tanks slung under the cars.

“This is the easy part!” stated Alwyn.  “The rail switches have all been set, out to about sixty kilometers the other side of Touws River, so there’s nothing to do but sit back and take it easy!”

“I’m glad there will be more to do after that,” replied Jeremy with a smile.  “Although I must say that the new systems are a vast improvement on the early sail-trains.  We were hard at work at least three hours a day adjusting the sails as we travelled across Australia, and the railway line was straight most of the way!  Here the rail twists between the hills all the time!  You almost never get more than a couple of kilometers of track in a straight line!”

“We’ll have that once we’re past Touws River,” Sarel informed them.  “That’s where the Karoo really starts!”

“But then we’ll have dozens of sidings every day,” added Christopher.  “It’s funny!  I always wanted to be a train driver when I was young.  Now I am one!”

As if to add emphasis to his words, there was a low hum as the automatic system adjusted the angle of the sails to compensate for the winding of the railway line.  Hans had pointed out that the big advantage of the rail-car was that it had a fixed track to run on.  Although that fact limited the direction they could move, and so imposed a need for the wind direction to co-operate more than would be required if the direction of travel were a free choice, it enabled them to carry a significantly greater sail area than would otherwise be possible, in addition to the advantage of doing the steering for them.  Of course, it also had the disadvantage of taking them where the line went, requiring a positive decision on their part to uncouple from the rail and move onto the road or other semi-level ground if there was a need.  In that case, each car would have to be driven separately.  Hans and Hilde had not had the time to develop a train system for off-rail use!  The large number of cars – ten - required to carry the planned maximum load would mean that only in three cars would there be more than only the driver.  That was a distinct advantage for operating on the rails, although the tedium of sitting and doing nothing more than watch the country ahead and to the sides, while the automatic systems did all the work, might become a little oppressive when they were crossing the flat plains of the Karoo!

“Tell us about Mount Victoria,” suggested Alwyn.  “We’ve all heard bits about what happened there, but I haven’t had the chance to really understand what happened in Sydney.”

Jeremy thought for a moment, then started to talk.  Even after all these years, the experience of that night was still horribly clear in his mind.

“I was in Sydney, studying for the final matriculation exams.  I was up pretty late, because I was running a little behind on my study program.  Suddenly, there was a jolt, as though the ground had suddenly settled a few centimeters, dropping the house with it.  It woke my dad, and he came through to my room to ask if I'd felt it.  As he did so, there was another jolt, much stronger than the first.  My dad turned on the TV, and we saw the announcer talking away as though he was running a race!  The picture switched to a view from a satellite above the Pacific, and showed the tsunami heading towards us!  As we watched, it raced over Fiji, as though there was nothing in its way!  My dad had seen enough!  He had spoken to one of his friends at the office who had been in the Indonesian tsunami, and he had an idea what it was like!  He told me to get dressed and wake everyone in the building.  He went off to wake my mom and sister, then we rushed out to the car.  While we were climbing into the car, Cynthia came out of the block of flats next door.  She had been visiting her aunt overnight.  My dad bundled both of them into our car, and took off, like a bat out of Hell!  We headed straight away from the city into the mountains, keeping to the back roads to avoid the traffic congestion on the main road.  We got to the top of the hill, and I looked back towards the ocean.  The wave was coming towards us at an incredible speed.  It simply ran over the buildings below, over the cars on the road!  I remember seeing the headlights of the cars under the water as the wave ran over them!  By that time, we were over the hill, accelerating as fast as we could down the slope and up the next slope.  We were nearly at the top when the wave hit us!  It had lost most of its power by then – we were about forty kilometers from the sea!  It hit the back of the car and shoved us forward, like we were insects!  My dad managed to keep control of the car, and we stayed on the road, even though the water was halfway up the doors of the car.  Fortunately, that shove pushed us over the top of the next slope, and we raced down the hill.  The water was all over the place!  I don’t know how my dad kept on the road!  The water pooled at the bottom of the next valley, but not too deep to drive through, and once we were past that, we were safe.  I looked back when we reached the top of the next hill, and I could see the next wave washing over the crest of the hill where it had pushed us.  It was about a meter deep as it rushed down into the valley we had just passed through!  Anyway, we carried on, up into the mountains, until we got to Mount Victoria.  There was a man at the intersection, directing us to Mount Victoria.  He said that we could stop there and spend the night in one of the farmer’s barns.  All the houses and hotels were full by then!”  He shook the memories off and smiled at his companions.  “When we got to our barn, I found that Cynthia had been holding onto my arm so tightly that she had almost cut the blood off!  She and her aunt, Trudy, are the only survivors of her family.  She lost both parents, four grandparents and a brother!”

“It must have been horrifying!  How did you feel when the wave hit your car?”

“Nothing, really.  We were all so wrapped up in getting away that we didn’t have time to think!  It’s only afterwards that you realize what could have happened!”

“What happened after you got to Mount Victoria?”

“There was a meeting early that morning, where Albert Jones and Amelia explained to all of us what the cause was, and what we could expect.  I think that made the biggest difference for us!  It enabled us to be prepared for what was to come, and we could work out what we needed to do to survive.  We started farming – Albert and the other farmers simply gave us pieces of their farms!  The older farmers gave us advice and assistance, and we managed to get some seeds in the ground.  It was tough that first year!  None of us newcomers really understood what we were doing, and we had to learn fast.  You don’t learn much about farming in the city!  On top of that, we had severe cold, snow in December, when it should have been hot, and again in January and February, the middle of summer.  The next year was a lot better, and Roger and Chad worked out the defense systems that kept the bad guys away.  The last year was much better!  If the industrial activity had been working as well as the farms, we would have been well settled.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have the technology or the skills.  Most of the newcomers were from office jobs or farms!  Also, I don’t think that we had the time to develop the technologies, the way you have in Montagu!  It needs time to think, to experiment, to develop!  We didn’t have the time to do that before the tsunami hit, and we didn’t have the time to prepare for what was to come!  None of us had any idea of the state of the volcanic cauldron under Yellowstone, that it was likely to explode.”

“We were lucky to have John and Helen!  They knew what was coming, they had the money to make the preparations that the Government should have done, but much more importantly, they had the personal qualities to lead a great team very effectively!”  Henry’s words were spoken vehemently.  He had studied politics at university, and seen how parasitical most politicians were, using the system for their own purposes, and contributing little towards the common good.  That education had been brought into sharp focus as he had seen the bumbling of the Government after the explosion, how it had lurched from one crisis to the next, each action worsening the situation while the people responsible were feathering their own nests, with no thought for what was to come.

“You’re right there!  I understand that the White House had the information two months before the explosion, and chose to do nothing!”

“I can assure you that that sort of thing will not happen again!”  Alwyn spoke in the voice that he used to mimic the former State President of South Africa, a man who would have gone down in history as one of the most ineffective State Presidents of that land, if it had survived to enjoy a history!  The others laughed.  Alwyn was a very level-headed man, yet he had a wonderful sense of humor, often taking statements made by the leaders of the past and putting them into a new context, a juxtaposition that showed how truly ineffective the persons were who had made the weighty comments.

The kilometer posts flashed by as the train hissed onwards, its rubber-tired wheels making practically no sound on the steel rails.  When they passed Touws River, several farmers were standing by the side of the rails to wish them well, hoping for their safe return.  Their comments, passed on the radio, encouraged the men on the train, assured them that the journey they were engaged in was supported by every member of the community.

They charged on, making good speed, and were in Laingsburg by shortly after lunch, a meal eaten while they were traveling at speed.  Laingsburg was the site of a flood several decades ago, making an interesting subject for discussion as they sped on.  They had to slow after that, as there were numerous little stations – no more than sidings – where they had to check the points to avoid being shunted onto the sidings where there were often railway carriages standing.  The engineers had instructed them on how to set the switches so they remained open in their direction.  It was planned to make these switches automatic in the future, accepting radio instructions from oncoming trains, but the mechanisms had not yet been manufactured.  That was all a job for the future!  They reached Steins, the last siding but one before Beaufort West, and stopped there for the night.

“When we came this way,” said Conrad, “we all had a bad feeling about the town of Beaufort West.  There was nothing obvious to worry us, but the feeling was bad.  We made a wide detour around the town to avoid driving through it.  The towns are dangerous places, with lots of hiding places and possible bottlenecks for hijackers to use.”

Their first camp was a useful exercise.  They put sentries out at strategic positions to watch any likely lines of approach, and to give warning of any possible developing threat.  There was no interruption that night, and they were able to pull out at first light, planning to eat their breakfast on the move.  Conrad’s unease with the town was dispelled when the rail curved away from the town, to bypass it some distance to the south and east.  Nevertheless, he felt a distinct sensation of release from a load when the town was behind them.  The next town was Three Sisters, the town where the Ruanda group had been able to bypass a roadblock in the middle of a storm by driving on the railway line.

“This would be a good place to stop us,” warned Michael.  “The line goes up a long slope, between the main road and the village, so we’ll be moving slowly.  There is a curve as well, as it goes around the side of a hill, so it is not possible to see far ahead, although they’ll probably be able to see our sails from quite a distance out of the town.  The roadblock was a jumble of wrecked cars all over the road.  It would not have been possible to thread our way through the block at any sort of speed.  There was a camp of three tents on the uphill side of the road, so I assume that there are probably at least four or six men, although there may be more staying in houses in the village.”

“Let’s have a look at the plan we worked out in Montagu,” suggested Alwyn.  “We’ll stop the train about here,” he pointed at a spot on the map where the train would not be observable from the roadblock or the village.  “Then we’ll send out two patrols of three men each, one to either side of the line.  The one on the uphill side will move around the hill and come at them from the back, and the other will wait in this ditch here for a signal from them.  The two patrols should be able to see each other.  Once we know how many people they have and where they are, we can try them by sending one man on foot.  If they show any aggression at all, we must take them down.  The mere fact that they are there indicates that they don’t have friendly intentions.”

The summary of the plan was good enough for the men.  They had gone through the details frequently at Montagu, knowing the lie of the land and the probable location of the trap.  However, as always, the map, no matter how detailed, hides many of the surprises that may be waiting on the ground!  They checked their weapons and made themselves ready for their first real action.

Alwyn at the high controls in the lead car brought the train to a stop well before it could be seen from the roadblock.  The lead carriage had been designed with a control ‘cockpit’ mounted at the front and on top of the roof, enabling the driver to stand with the remote controls in his hand, his head slightly above the level of the top of the masts.  That gave an excellent field of view.  The thinking had been inspired by Michael’s recollection of the detailed drawings of an Apache attack helicopter he had seen back in Miami.  The helicopter had a radome mounted above the rotor, allowing it to ‘see’ the enemy by poking just that little piece above the horizon.  Once it had identified the enemy and fixed his location, the Apache could then pop up, bring its weapon systems to bear, fire, and then drop out of sight again.  Standing as tall as he could, Alwyn brought the train to a stop when he could see the roadblock tents.  The sail control system responded to the braking by furling the sails.  He could see three men sitting in front of the tents, although he was too far away to see what they were doing.  Alwyn climbed back down the ladder to report to the men.

“They’re there!  There are three men that I can see, sitting at the tents, but I can’t see the actual roadblock.  There might be more.”

Conrad and Michael stood, slinging their bows on their backs and checking that the quivers of arrows they carried slung on their belts were full.  Although each of them carried a hunting rifle slung on their backs, for close-up work they preferred their bows.  Jeremy stood with them, his rifle in his hands.

“Give us about ten minutes lead time, then follow us on the other side of the road,” said Conrad.

“Don’t start without us!” demanded Sarel with a grin.

The three slipped out of the door of the car, and walked quickly across the road to the hill beyond.  The men left behind were watching them, and, suddenly, they were gone!

Conrad took the lead, closely followed by Michael in close support and then, by agreement, with Jeremy following about a hundred meters behind, swiveling his head to watch the sides and the rear.  They approached the top of the fold of the land and stopped, only Conrad’s eyes visible above the hill top.  He had chosen a place where a taller hill behind the one they were on would ensure that he would not show against the skyline.  He scanned the area, but could not see the men.  They were on the opposite side of the tents.  He gave a brief signal to Michael and Jeremy, and moved over the hill to the position he had identified as the next point of cover.  Michael took up the position Conrad had vacated, and watched for any sign of movement.  Conrad moved again, and Michael and Jeremy moved along with him, going from position to position with practiced ease.  After three such moves, Conrad could see the three men sitting in the sun.  They were not overweight, as so often was the case, but they were also not starving.  As he watched, Conrad saw the three men of the second patrol coming up.  He signaled quickly to Michael, who passed on the hand signal to Sarel that they should stop there.  Conrad had seen something unexpected!  As he watched, Michael saw a cyclist approaching, a large pack of goods on the carrier mounted behind his saddle, and another pack on his back.  He was approaching around the bend away from the train, visible from Conrad’s position high on the hill, and had obviously not seen the ambush.  Suddenly, the three men below them ran to the side of the road.  They must have been warned by another man of the approach of the cyclist.  Conrad saw that the ambush was about to be sprung.  He gestured urgently to Michael, who broke cover and moved silently and quickly to Conrad’s side.  Jeremy came up behind them, and Conrad instructed him to move off to the side, towards the approaching cyclist, to give a second line of fire.  Jeremy had exercised these movements intensively in preparation for this event, but he found now, with the added factor of real danger, that his learning was starting to mean much more!  Conrad gestured to the second patrol to move back and approach the ambush point from further away.  The attention of the men at the roadblock below them was concentrated on the line that the approaching cyclist would be taking, not taking any precautions against a possible attack on them.

The cyclist approached, freewheeling down the road with his heavy load.  The three men observing the ambushers could hear the distinct click as they cocked their rifles.  Two of the men raised their rifles to the firing position, their fingers on the triggers, aiming at the point where the cyclist would appear around the bend.  That decided Conrad!

Gesturing to Michael, he raised himself to a standing position, drawing the arrow in his bow back to full stretch.  Glancing quickly at Michael, he saw that he was ready too.  He released the arrow and, in one fluid movement, he drew another arrow from the quiver at his waist, fitted it to the bow as he transferred his aim to the next target, and let fly.

The first two arrows hit two of the men squarely in the back, and the third transfixed the arm of the third man holding the rifle, and entered his chest to about a third of its length.  The three men fell forwards onto the ground under the impetus of the heavy missiles, dropping their rifles.

Conrad dropped to a squat and moved quickly around the curve of the hill.  From his elevated vantage point, he could see another two men hidden from the road.  They too had their rifles to their shoulders, aimed at the back of the cyclist as he continued down the slope, enjoying the effortless movement after the work of pedaling up the long slope to the crest of the hill.

“Is it too far?” Conrad asked Michael in a low voice.

“I can’t be sure of hitting a vital spot, but we will at least wound them.”  Michael’s response was factual, cold.  He had, long ago, lost any belief that men such as these were humans, entitled to the benefit of a fair trial.  They did not allow that to their victims and, in his view, that dispossessed them of the right!

“Let’s do it!” decided Conrad, pulling the string of his bow back to full stretch, then releasing it, in the movement that he and Michael had practiced so often in the bush.  The two arrows leaped through the air, side by side, unerringly to their targets.  They hit the men in the same position, high on the chest in a downward arc that penetrated their lungs.  The men died without knowing how.

Jeremy stood, looking around.  Conrad gestured urgently for him to drop down into cover.  Too late!  A sixth man had been lying in wait on this side of the road.  He had caught a glimpse of the two arrows flying rapidly over his head, and was looking around to see where they had come from.  He saw Jeremy, dropping to the ground.  He rolled over to get into cover, protecting himself from fire from Jeremy.  Slowly, his head reappeared looking for the figure he had glimpsed too briefly to identify.  There was a shot from behind him, and the head dropped.  There was a crashing sound from around the bend as the cyclist, alarmed at the sudden sound, leaped off his cycle and dropped into the rainwater ditch alongside the road.  The cycle wandered briefly, erratically down the road for a short distance and then crashed to the ground.  Conrad waited another five minutes, scanning the area for any sign of movement.  There was none.  Conrad and Michael shifted their positions to gain another perspective over the area, and waited another five minutes, unmoving, except their eyes.  Finally, Conrad stood and walked out onto the road while Michael, Jeremy and the second patrol watched the area, ready to react instantly at any sign of a treat.  There was still nothing.  Satisfied, Conrad called on the radio.

“You can bring the train up now, Alwyn.”

They waited another few minutes, still alert, until the train moved slowly up the hill.  Alwyn was using sail power alone, to minimize the sound of his approach.  It was an eerie experience to watch the silent approach of the large vehicles.  He stopped the train opposite the group of men and looked over the scene.

“I think you’ve solved this problem!  How many were there?”

“Six,” replied Michael.  “I think we should clear the road, so no-one else is tempted to use this roadblock.”

“By the way, there’s a cyclist in the ditch around the bend.  Perhaps we can trade with him!”  Conrad smiled as he turned to help Michael move the wrecks from the road, trundling them into the ditch.  When the work was done, the men joined Alwyn where he was talking to the cyclist.

 “He came from Kimberly,” he said.  “This is his first trip.  He saw a roadblock at the main intersection in Hopetown, but he could get past it easily.  He’s hoping to trade pieces he’s taken off wrecked cars for food.  Apparently he has heard about us at Montagu from Simon, the man who told us about this roadblock.  I told him to wait here a week for us to return, or to go on to Touws River.  He’s not sure what he’ll do.”

“Did you tell him about our plan to trade using remotely-controlled trains?” asked Jeremy.

“I did!  He said nothing, but his eyes opened wide!” replied Alwyn.  “I think he’s already trying to figure out how he can get a monopoly of the trading business!”

“That’s exactly what we don’t want!”  Jeremy was indignant. 

“That’s bound to happen,” replied Conrad.  “We must just make sure that it doesn’t get out of control!  We don’t want to set up little trading kingdoms all over the country!  Besides, his enterprise deserves a reward!”

“Shall we go?” asked Michael.  “I think we’re done here.”

They boarded the train, watched by the cyclist with great envy, and moved slowly on up the hill, as silent as ever.

They reached the top of the incline after another ten minutes, and the train speeded up again.  They carried on past the intersection of the roads from Bloemfontein, the eastern route to Johannesburg, and Kimberly, the western route.  The countryside became flat and uninteresting.  In this section of the route, the railway track followed a minor road, leaving the two national roads far to either side.  The chances of finding an ambush in this area were vanishingly small, with only local traffic ever likely to use it.  If a robber wished to steal from those people who might be using the road, it would be far easier to find their homes and do it there, rather than lie in wait, in the hope that one of them would be transporting anything worth stealing!  The flatness of the land made security simple.  It was possible to see anyone approaching from kilometers away, and it was even easier to look for a habitation that they might occupy.  They traveled nearly half the distance to Hopetown without seeing any sign of life, no crops or animals in the field, no huts for people to live in.  Mindful of the ambush in Hopetown, they stopped for the night about twenty kilometers before de Aar, formerly a major railway junction.  They spent the night on flat land again, and were up by sunrise, keen to move on past the expected complexities of de Aar and into more enticing scenery.

Once again, they had breakfast on the move, unwilling to waste any time eating.  They arrived in de Aar within three-quarters of an hour, and spent the rest of the morning finding a route through the confusion of lines and sidings, setting the switches for the desired route in the hope that they would be the same when they returned.  They documented every move they made, so that a detailed plan could be drawn up on their return to Montagu. The town was devoid of life or attraction, and they were pleased to break away from it in the afternoon.

The next town on the route was Kimberly, the home of the Great Hole, a huge excavation carried out in the early years of the twentieth century, as miners followed the ‘pipe’ of ‘blue ground’, the deposit of diamond-bearing ore in a volcanic channel, leaving behind the largest man-made excavation on Earth.  What made it unique was the fact that the work was done entirely by hand, using picks and shovels!  The ore excavated from the pipe, a blue color, would be spread on the ground in the open air, where it would degrade and crumble in the air and the rain, making it easy to find the precious stones.  That mine was one of the reasons for the invasion of the two Boer Republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic, by the British Empire only a decade more than a century earlier.  In many ways, the huge excavation was an indicator of the effect of the reliance of the people of the area on a finite resource.  When the ore had all been excavated, the miners moved on, leaving behind only a gigantic hole in the ground, a hole that would be of little value to the generations that followed.  That mine had been the founding place of de Beers, a gigantic diamond mining and trading organization that had dominated the diamond business around the world for decades.

“I wonder what the Government expected to be able to do, once all of the good mineral deposits were exhausted,” pondered Alwyn.  “They would all be exhausted eventually, yet the proceeds of the sale of the minerals were used mainly for current consumption by the growing masses of people, with almost nothing being reinvested in productive activities that would continue to produce value after the minerals ran out!”

“I think that they were hoping that later generations would find a solution,” replied Jeremy.  “That happened in many countries around the world.  You have only to look at the oil-producing States!  Most of the leaders were living a high life, throwing money around as though it had no value, and doing nothing to provide for the future.  The oil was running out in most of the Arab States, yet how much industry was being developed there?”

The landscape was still flat and uninteresting, but that allowed them to keep up a good speed, as they stopped only to set the switches on the way, each time planting a flag with a message nearby, to instruct any people in the area on how to signal any future train.  They considered themselves fortunate that the wind was holding up.  At times, it became so strong that they furled the sails partly to reduce their speed in order not to overshoot the sidings.

They stopped for the night at a siding named ‘Magersfontein’, the site of one of the many British atrocities during the Anglo-Boer War.  Looking out of the train, it was hard to imagine what went through the minds the citizens of the tiny Boer nations as they decided to stand up to the mighty foreign Empire, to hold onto their own in the face of almost impossible odds.  The British had finally won that war, not only by force of arms, but by starving the Boer Commandos, the mobile forces that developed the art of guerilla war to the point that tens of men were able to defeat thousands.  The women and children left behind by the men were interned in concentration camps in places like Magersfontein and the farms burned, depriving the fighters of any source of sustenance or support.

“My great-grandmother was interned near here,” Sarel told them.  “She was one of thirteen children in the family.  Six of them died during the two years they were interned!  It is no wonder that the Afrikaners developed such a strong feeling of hatred against the English and unity amongst themselves!  It was that unity that led them to support the National Party in the ‘forties, and the politicians used that unthinking commitment to the cause of Afrikanerdom to introduce Apartheid on religious grounds!”

“I learned as a child not to trust anyone who talks stirringly of national or religious principles,” said Henry.  “They almost always have a second agenda!  Absolute adherence to an ideal, regardless of the rights of others or the fact that the ideal is not completely true, leads to a herd mentality.  People do what the others are doing, just because the others are doing it!  And the others are doing it just because the first group are doing it!  One of the great principles of the Montagu group is that no-one insists that he or she is right!  Each one demands that the others think it out for themselves!”

“That certainly seems to have worked!” stated Selwyn.  “The people in Montagu are more equal than even the Mount Victoria group was, and we were passionate about equality!”

“I think that the difference lay partly in the fact that we were a farming economy,” said Jeffrey.  “We had salvaged enough of most of what we needed to keep us going for at least a couple of years, and our only real challenge was to provide enough food.  We did that well!  In Montagu, it was decided even before the explosion that the economy would include every aspect that would provide for the growth of the economy in the future, and the people here adopted a mindset of striving for the best in everything they did.  They have been able to turn an essentially rural, agricultural economy into an industrial one, without losing the benefits that being rural gave!”

“This expedition is a perfect example of that!” stated Klaus.  “Our expedition to Perth was undertaken reluctantly, against the wishes of many of the people, who thought that it would be too expensive, too demanding, too risky!  They were partly right, but the problem was that they were content to sit on their laurels in the valley!  Life was too comfortable to force them to do something different, even though those who thought about it should have recognized that change was both necessary and inevitable!  With this expedition, the decision was made to go when the community was told how the ‘toll collectors’ were stealing from the traders, people who weren’t even a part of the community, and this train was put together within two months!  There is a motive to open up trade, but the real reason we’re here is that the community wants to see real freedom throughout the country!  It seems unlikely that we’ll see any economic benefit for at least a couple of decades, and probably much longer, but that did not put the people off!  They really believe in the principles they live by!  I believe that it is important that people apply the principles that are the foundation of what they believe in, regardless of the cost or benefit.”

“Of course, that requires that the principles are right in the first place!”  Jeremy laughed as he said the words.  He knew well that many of the principles that had been imposed on people, in many cases by religious leaders who had their own agenda, were profoundly lacking in moral or logical underpinning!

The sun was lowering in the sky as they talked, and now it settled on the horizon, throwing beams of light overhead.  The wind had died to a gentle breeze, and the silence was absolute.  The group of men fell silent as they took in the spectacle, watching as the darkness rushed up from the land, a transition that was almost audible.  The scene was awe-inspiring!  When it was quite dark, with the stars blazing overhead, Alwyn stood.

“Time for supper,” he said.

*~*

They entered Kimberly the next morning.  The town was dead, as all others had been, with no trace that anyone living used these streets.  The damage was extensive, with shop windows smashed, many of the buildings burned down or heavily damaged, rubbish in the streets.  Their explorations revealed a number of places where there had been roadblocks, with smashed cars standing on the sidewalks, many of them with bullet holes in them, and not a few with the skeletons of their occupants still inside.  A number of these cars had been ‘mined’ for their parts, usually easily-removable parts like alternators and batteries.

“We can see where our friend from Three Sisters has been at work!” observed Alwyn with a grin.  “We need to tell him that a complete unit will be more valuable.  Most of these engines are still in good shape.”

“I guess it’s quite difficult to transport a complete engine on a bicycle!” laughed Selwyn.  “With heavier transport available by train, he’ll probably be able to do much better!”

“Did he say how many people there are still alive here?” asked Conrad.

“He said that he knew of about ten people, two groups.  The bad men have all died off, probably from starvation, and the survivors live in two small groups hidden away from the rest of the world.”

“How do we get to them?” asked Michael.  “If the robbers couldn’t find them, how can we?”

“That’s easy!” replied Alwyn.  “We let them find us!  We’ll put up a flag here in the center of the town, with a message attached that we will be visiting the railway station regularly.  On the basis of what we’ve found so far, I don’t think that it will be a problem to send a train on a round-trip every two months.  That will give the traders like the man we met the opportunity to put his efforts into collecting goods to trade, rather than spending half the year traveling to make the trade.”

“We must add to the message that we would prefer whole units, undamaged,” said Conrad.  “We don’t want them to encourage these people to take the easy route and destroy the value of what they remove!  I noticed that where he removed an alternator from one of the wrecked cars, he cut the cables and left the bolts behind.  All of that has some value to us.”

“Perhaps we can arrange to deliver a rig to lift the cars and lower the engines as a unit,” suggested Michael.  “That would make it easier for them!”

“Does the list of goods we need include the books from the libraries?” asked Klaus.  He assisted in the cataloging of the new books in Montagu, and he appreciated the value that those books had to their efforts.  “There’s a library over there.”

“Let’s have a look inside.”

They walked over to the library.  The door was closed, but not locked, and inside there was a different atmosphere.  The looters had evidently seen the books as having no value.  The entire collection of books was still intact, although one set of shelves had fallen over, whether by design or by natural causes was not evident.

“Klaus, could you and Michael bring the rear car of the train here?  We’ll load these books.  I don’t want to take any chance that they’ll be damaged.”

They returned to the station and, with the help of the two men who had been left to guard the train, the rear car was uncoupled and the road wheels lowered.  Klaus drove it carefully onto the station platform and out onto the road.  Their explorations had given him an insight into the possible route to the library building, and they were able to draw up in the main street outside the library within thirty minutes of leaving the group.  The remainder of the group in the library had located two trolleys used for moving the books, and had loaded six pallets and brought them out onto the sidewalk, ready to be loaded into the car.  The side door was opened and the pallets of books loaded aboard.  The work was done by lunchtime, and the car moved back to the station.  All of the group felt very satisfied with their work.  Included in the load were dozens of technical and reference books that they knew were not in the two libraries in Montagu.  Over the years since the first discovery of diamonds in the area, Kimberly had become a center of excellence in the field of mining, particularly of diamonds, as well as in the technology in producing artificial diamonds, and that field of knowledge was well represented in the technical section of the library.

“I didn’t know that they used diamonds for industrial purposes.” Jeffrey was surprised at the concept.

“Most of the diamonds that were mined were of low grade,” replied Michael.  “They had no value as jewels, but they’re very valuable in cutting and grinding.  The diamond is the hardest mineral, and so can cut almost any other mineral.  They mostly use them by fixing them in a metal disk, and using that as a saw or a grinder.”  Michael, although the youngest of the group, constantly surprised the others with the breadth of his knowledge.  He was an avid reader, devouring anything that came his way, and his retention of knowledge was remarkable.  He seemed never to forget any item of knowledge he found, and he was able to connect an item of knowledge with a need in ways that often surprised others.

They had their lunch, resting after the hard work of moving the books, and then set out on another expedition into the town.  One of the early finds was a motor vehicle workshop with several hydraulic hoists, driven by small electric motors.  They marked that on the map of the town, and moved on to a filling station.  Although the underground fuel tanks were empty, there was a standby generator in the back room.  It had been left untouched, as, without fuel, it had no value.

“Why don’t we move this generator across to the motor vehicle workshop and couple it up to the hoists?” suggested Michael.  “We can take one of the back-up hydrogen generators from the train to supply fuel.  That will give our trader friend the equipment he needs to deliver complete units to us.”

Alwyn considered the suggestion, and decided to go for it.  Every second car had a back-up hydrogen generator, so they could afford to lose one, and the sacrifice would improve the value of what they would get in trade goods, a benefit for Montagu and for the trader.  The work took a couple of hours for two of the men, while the others carried on with their exploration.  They found many items to mark on the map, although nothing required urgent attention.  The time moved on, and, after test-running the hoist equipment and leaving detailed instructions on the use of the hydrogen generator, they returned to the train.  The time for their evening contact by radio with Montagu arrived, and Alwyn reported their actions and findings.  He added a point that the trader, when he arrived at Touws River, should be notified of the requirement for complete vehicle units, and of the availability of the hoist to do the work.

They left Kimberly in the morning, pleased with their advances.  Up to Kimberly, they had the feeling that they had achieved very little.  They had cleared the road of criminals and opened the route for trade, but not much else had been worthy of reporting.  Kimberly had changed that! 

The route took them over the Vaal River, the ‘grey river’, that had formed the southern boundary of the Transvaal Republic, through Warrenton, where they turned to the east to head for Johannesburg.  They spent the night near Klerksdorp, a gold mining town surrounded by yellow slimes dumps that spoke of the huge volumes of earth and rock that had been mined and processed to recover the traces of the golden metal.  A brief exploration of the town revealed nothing that seemed to have immediate value, although there was almost certainly equipment on the many mines in the area that would be worth salvaging in the future, when their need developed for electric motors, wiring, crushers and screens, and the other items used in mining. 

In the morning they headed on to Johannesburg.  The approach to the city was slow and complex, requiring the setting of numerous sets of points as they maneuvered through the huge metropole towards the center of the city.  Their nerves were on edge.  If there were criminal gangs still in operation, this was where they would most likely be!

They eventually arrived at Park Station, the central railway station in the Johannesburg area.  It was an eerie sensation to see the parked passenger trains, some of them burnt out, with no people in sight.  The huge concourse halls echoed to the sounds of their movement, but the only other sound was the cooing of the pigeons roosting on the high window ledges, and the flapping of their wings as they went about their business.  As they walked through the main hall, following the signs to the exit, they disturbed a colony of rats that had set up home in a pile of rubbish that had been deposited in a corner by the wind.  That encouraged them.  Rats would not reside in such an exposed position if they had been subject to any threat!  They walked out into the city, and stopped, appalled at what they saw.

There had been huge devastation in Cape Town as gangs marauded through the streets, bringing destruction, in many cases, simply for the enjoyment of destroying what they could not have.  Compared with Johannesburg, that destruction had been slight.  The roads here were filled with the debris from collapsing buildings, burnt-out cars and trucks, paper and every imaginable form of rubbish.  The shops had been pillaged and then set alight, destroying whatever remained behind.  There was no sign that any effort had been made to clear a path through the mess.  That encouraged them a little.  If there had been people, they would have expected them to have cleared a way for themselves through these streets, or, at the very least, made tracks through the piles of rubbish and debris.  There was no sign of that.

“Let’s see if we can find the library.” Sarel moved off, making his way between heaps of rubbish.

The others followed, finding a route gingerly through the debris and wreckage, warned by the piles closest to the sides of the streets that the building collapse that they saw was still in progress.  It took them half an hour to reach the library, a grand old building with a large garden in front that had done much to save it from the contagion of fire that had affected so many of the other buildings in the area.  The heavy metal doors were broken, pulled open by a chain taken from the garden surround and attached to a truck that had moved forward too quickly when the door came free and crashed into the plinth of a statue that had been defaced.  The public section of the library had been set ablaze, but the automatic fire suppression system had come into operation, dousing the area in Carbon Dioxide gas.  Eight bodies still lay on the floor at the back of the library where the people had been trapped and asphyxiated by the suffocating gas.  That had, apparently, passed a message to the looters that there was some form of evil spirit that killed people who wished to damage the books, and they had departed, never to return.  There were thousands upon thousands of books here!

“How will we get all of these books loaded?” asked Selwyn.  “We can’t get the cars anywhere close to here!”

“We’ll have to clear the roads,” replied Alwyn.  “The question is how?”

“I suggest that we find some sort of earthmover to do that.  These books seem to be safe for now.  Let’s look around a bit more.  We may have to bring in some more equipment, either from around here, or perhaps even from Cape Town.  I think that there are more books than we’ll be able to transport in one trainload anyway!”

They moved on, walking through the streets, headed for the industrial area that was marked on the map a few kilometers further to the east.  The going eased as they left the immediate environs of the city, and they made better time, walking down the long hill.  The condition of the factories and warehouses improved as they progressed, and soon they found buildings that had not been looted at all.  Checking through the windows, they saw that most of the content was of an industrial character – machine tools, spare parts, strips of metal and wood, bales of cloth, and similar items.  Any building that looked as though it had held anything to eat had been broken open and emptied.  The marks on the walls spoke of high levels of snow that had lain there for some time before melting slowly.  Conrad and Michael had seen these distinctive marks on their journey from Olifants Camp to Montagu. 

“That probably explains a lot of what we’ve seen here,” said Conrad.  “I guess that most of the people around here died fairly early on from the cold, leaving only a few to starve.  In Cape Town, most of the people survived longer, until the food ran out.  There was no really cold weather there.”

After searching for more than two hours through the area, they at last found a builder’s yard that contained a couple of small skid-steered earthmovers.  Christopher inspected them, then pronounced his verdict.

“I think I can get one of them working again,” he said.  “We’ll have to charge the battery, and put some of our diesel fuel into the tank, but it won’t take too long.  Perhaps we should bring the train to that railway station over there, so we don’t have to transport our stuff too far.  It would also be a good base to load some of these goods in this area, as well as giving better access to the library than the route through the city that we followed from the railway station.”

“There’s a siding in the second factory down the road,” suggested Michael.  “We could bring the train in there.  It would be a much more pleasant place to spend the night.”

Alwyn agreed, and three of them set off, walking up the railway line towards the town, setting the switches as they went.  When they reached the maze of branch lines around the Park Station, they had more difficulty finding their way, but managed it after some time, and reached their train with its gaily colored sails furled on the multiple masts making it visible from some distance away. 

It required another half hour to reach the siding they had selected, and then began the work of charging the earthmover’s battery and carrying fuel across to put in its tank.  The work was rewarded by nightfall, when the stuttering sound of the diesel engine broke the oppressive silence.  They let it run for ten minutes, to warm up the engine and circulate the oil properly, then closed it down so that they could have supper and retire to bed. 

The watches that night were among the least pleasant any of them had experienced.  It seemed that the ghosts of the millions of dead people were haunting the area.  They were pleased when the sun rose and they could start the work they had planned.  The earthmover set to work clearing the routes they planned to use, then the cars were uncoupled and drove to each destination, three men to a car.  One would stand guard while the other two worked, the positions being rotated every half hour so that each of them had a rest period after every hour of work.  Two cars worked in the factory area, one went with the earthmover to the library, and a fourth drove off in a search for the trader the Ruanda group had met on this side of the Vaal River crossing several months earlier.  They had found a Yellow Pages directory in one of the factories, and looked up the major LandRover dealerships in the area.  The man had told them that his family lived on the top floor of the main LandRover stores area.  The search revealed that the building they were looking for was on the north-east side of the city, and a map from a truck in the same factory showed them a route to it that bypassed the city center.  They set off under motor power, the rail car seeming huge in the confines of the narrow streets. 

It took forty-five minutes to reach the building.  Michael and Conrad dismounted to inspect the building, while Klaus remained behind to guard the car and to watch for anyone approaching the building.  They found a side door that was closed but not locked, and made their way inside.  The ground floor of the building, that had once housed several vehicles on display, was empty, papers strewn around and desks overturned.  It was a scene of desolation!  It did not seem likely that the man and his family would live in this place.  They made their way to the stairs, which were blocked by an overturned desk, with a couple of broken chairs lying on the stairs, blocking the way in a haphazard manner.  They cleared the way and walked up the stairs to the top of the five-storey building.  The situation here told a different story!  The area had been converted to a comfortable accommodation, neat and tidy.  A door led out onto the stairs to the flat roof, and a door opened from the top of those onto a vegetable garden!  It had been laid out on the flat roof, obviously requiring a huge effort to transport the soil from the surrounding small gardens.  A large chicken coop at the back end of the roof held about forty birds, all alive.  Conrad walked around the elevator motor room, set in the center of the roof.  There he found the small family they sought, a man, his wife and three young children.  They were obviously terrified.

Conrad stopped as soon as he saw them, holding up both hands to show he presented no threat, a friendly smile on his face.  The man was nonplussed for a moment, then he recognized Conrad from the brief conversation they had held beside the road near the Vaal River bridge where he had been robbed by the toll collectors.  His relief was evident.

He came up to Conrad and took his hand in both of his, shaking it with emotion on his face.

“You have come!” was all he could say.

“We were worried about you,” replied Conrad.  “We reached Montagu, and they took us in, then we told them about how you had been robbed at the bridge.  The man at Touws River, Christoph, told us that you were an honest man.  He said that we could not allow good men to be treated that way, and that we should come to help you.  If you wish, you can come with us back to Montagu.  We can take all of your goods with us, and you can all start a new life there.”

The two adults were shocked.  They had lived for so long in the shadow of death, by starvation or by violence, that they could not comprehend that they could return to a normal life!  The oldest child, a girl of about seven, broke the silence.

“Can we really come with you?”  Her knowledge of the world came largely from the stories of her parents, particularly her father, who had told them of the wonderful space and open country he had walked through to return to them.  She had dreamt of green fields and tall mountains, of rivers of fresh, clean water, and birds singing in the trees.  It had seemed like a fairy land to her, a mythical place where there were no threats, no evil people to hide from.

Conrad knelt down and put his arms out to the girl.  She hesitated a moment, unsure of whether she could trust this stranger, then she glanced at her father, saw the reassurance on his face, and went over to Conrad and hugged him.

“Of course you can!”

Things moved quickly from that moment.  The man introduced himself as Simon, his wife, Lungi and their three surviving children, Frederick, Selina and Norma, and then the small group packed their possessions into cardboard boxes which they carried to the capacious cargo space of the rail-car.  The men were touched to see the care that was accorded to the small collection of books, obviously well-read.  Simon showed them the store of LandRover parts he had been using as trade goods.  There was enough there to fill three rail-cars!  They loaded the items that Ron had told them were most in demand, leaving space for other goods or people they might collect along the way, then they headed back to the industrial area where they had left the others.

Simon, a truck driver, was fascinated by the rail-car.  Conrad explained the principles of its operation as they drove, and Simon took it all in.  The children and their mother, who had been confined to the top of the building for nearly three years in order to escape the attention of the roving criminals, loved being out in the ‘open’, although the area they were passing through was still all suburban.  The children could barely remember a time when the world had been a safe place.

They arrived back at the industrial siding, and Klaus drove the car onto the railway line, retracted the road wheels, and coupled it to the five cars already there, fully loaded.  When that was done, the group walked over to the buildings where the loading work was still under way, and joined in, hoping to get the bulk of it complete before dark.  None of them wished to spend another day in this depressing city!  One of the group had found a set of loading forks and attached them to the earthmover in place of the bucket after it returned from clearing the way to the library, and this speeded the work considerably, allowing them to move full pallet loads of goods across to the train.  The work was done by three that afternoon, and the earthmover carefully replaced where it had been found.  The excess fuel was drained from its tank to prevent it being removed, and the battery concealed in a hiding place where it would probably not easily be found, for the same reason.  The car from the library returned as they were completing that task, and was coupled onto the train.  Alwyn consulted the map and made his decision.  They would return to Montagu via Bloemfontein, the alternative route that they had turned away from at Three Sisters.  They had already explored the Kimberly route, and they could use their return to some benefit by checking out the alternative route.

They made their slow way out of the city, heading to the south, setting the switches as they went.  Their movement became quicker as they left the congestion behind, and they were able to reach the Vaal River crossing at Vereeniging before dark.  They crossed the bridge, seeing no sign of the obstruction they had anticipated at this choke point, and carried on for another ten kilometers before they stopped for the night in the countryside.

Alwyn’s report to Montagu that evening was triumphant!

Chapter 7

The return to Montagu of the first expedition into the northern areas was welcomed as a great event.  It coincided with the monthly gathering of the community, and Simon and his family were welcomed into the community in the same way as every other new arrival was.  Christoph, in particular, was delighted.  He and his wife had nursed Simon to health when he first arrived there from Cape Town, and had provided as much food as he could carry.  They had accepted his promise, that he would pay for it when he could, as the undertaking of an honorable man, and their trust in him had been rewarded by his return, nearly a year later, bringing LandRover parts.  Simon had seen that LandRovers were much in use in the community, and he had brought as much as he could carry.  The news that he had been robbed on his return journey to Johannesburg had enraged Christoph and his wife, Sannie, and was one of the primary reasons that the community had supported the expedition.

The radio reports that Alwyn had sent, laconically disclosing their removal of the toll collectors who had been disrupting free movement around the country, were now expanded a little, and the news that the rail lines were open on two routes all the way to Johannesburg, covering a wide loop of the country, was welcomed.  Barbara Wessels, who had been given the task of developing trade with the surrounding areas, was delighted.

“We’ll be able to undertake regular trading trips,” she told the people at the community meeting.  “The expedition has shown that it can be done!  If we can’t find people to trade with, we’ll send our own people to salvage whatever we can find that has value to us.  Our first task will be to recover the rest of the books from the Johannesburg library, and we can couple that with recovering more of the goods from the industrial areas.  We will need much of what is there in our development!”

“What will be our policy on resettling those areas?” asked Christoph.

“In my opinion, we should concentrate our efforts on spreading from the base that we have here,” said Helen.  “A year ago, we investigated the desirability of creating a new ‘colony’ in another area, near the west coast, where the growing conditions are more favorable for certain crops like wheat.  We concluded then that the difficulty of creating a totally new set of infrastructure, such as good medical care and support for the farming community, would make that unduly difficult.  The most important aspect was security.  It does seem to have improved dramatically since then, but there are still bands of criminals operating, and I would be reluctant to expose any of our people to any greater risk than is necessary.”

“I agree with Helen.”  John had thought the matter through, and found no reason to change their original decision.  “The expedition has opened huge opportunities for us, to develop our industrial base, and to use salvaged goods rather than manufacturing them ourselves, and so to free up our capabilities for other work.  Let’s keep to our base, and expand our borders a little at a time, unless we can find a really good reason to establish a new base elsewhere.  I don’t see such a reason right now.  From what we have heard, there does not seem to be a pressing reason to establish a full community in Johannesburg, when a visit by a small group every couple of weeks will achieve what we need.”

The community considered what had been said.  A new frontier seemed to be exciting and adventurous, but it did not make sense right now.  The time for that would come when they had gained more experience, and more confidence that the areas they planned to develop were safe!  The decision was unanimous:  expand the trading and the salvage operations as much as was possible, put out expeditions to determine the conditions that existed in the rest of the country, but do not establish a new colony right now.  The right time would come, when the conditions made expansion both safe and desirable.

The members of the expedition were praised for the work they had done, and then returned to their earlier work, pleased to have had the chance to become a meaningful part of the history of Montagu.

*~*

Barbara called on Alwyn the next day.  She found him discussing the journey with Petrus, the leader of the Scout Group.  He had just completed writing his detailed report, and he handed a copy to her before he fetched a cup of coffee for each of them.

“I'd like your opinion on a few matters,” she opened.  She valued the opinion of these two men.  They had proven frequently that they were levelheaded and careful, but they could also see the bigger picture.  “I would like to establish a group that makes regular visits to the areas you’ve opened up, so that we can work on finding people to trade with, and also to salvage what we can.  From what you’ve told us, we can probably run a train every week to Johannesburg for a couple of years to bring back what you’ve found!”

“That’s true, Barbara.  In the industrial areas, most of what has been destroyed has low value to us.  The people who did it were looking for valuables that could be exchanged for food.  Most of what we need is of value only in an industrial society.  All activities of that type ceased before the breakdown of law enforcement permitted the looting to take place, so the gangs had no reason to steal most of what we need.  There has been damage done to quite a lot of the equipment, but that probably amounts of much less than a tenth of what is there.”

“We’ll need people to do the work, to run the trains and to collect the goods.  We’ll also need traders, people who know how to build an on-going relationship with the people they find.”

“The Scout Group can provide the security, Barbara.  We’ll need to expand our numbers a little, but that will present no problems.  Our security needs locally have declined to well below the level of even a year ago!”  Petrus was happy to make the offer. 

“On the trading front, I think we’ve found the man!  Simon would be just right for the job!  He understands the work, he knows the country and the cities well from his previous work, and he’s keen!  He’s shown that he has the initiative that the work will need.  We could train him to operate a train fairly quickly.  I suggest that we send the next expedition under the leadership of Sarel, with Simon doing the trading work, and with another four men to double as security and loaders.  After that group returns, I think that Simon will be quite capable of doing the job without Sarel.  We can use that trip to select and train the nucleus of the next crew, so that we can run two trains in rotation.  Each trip will probably take about a week, and we can run to two trips per crew each month, perhaps expanding that to another two crews over the next few months.”  Alwyn had considered the proposal, knowing that the development was necessary for the community, and would become inevitable.

“That makes sense to me,” stated Barbara.  What Alwyn had suggested aligned well with her own thinking.  “Next question!”

“I know what you’re going to ask!”  Alwyn smiled.  “What about the rest of the country?”

“You’re right, Alwyn.  The route you’ve covered takes in quite a lot of what we need to know, but Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London were all fairly major centers.  We need to take a look at them before too long.”

“I agree, but I think that we should allow the areas we’ve already covered to settle first.  I suggest that we should look at moving further afield in another couple of months.  We’ll have to build the rail-trains and get them operating, not only on the new routes, but in this area as well.  There is a lot to do in Cape Town and the surrounding areas, and that will take up quite a lot of manufacturing capacity.  I also have a few ideas on improvements to the rail-trains.  They did the job well, but I think that there are improvements that could be made, now that we’ve had the experience.  I’ve already asked Michael and Klaus to develop some of them in discussion with Ron, Rod and Roger.”

“Thanks, Alwyn.  Could we get together with Helen and John for a formal chat?  There’s no rush.  I think we should also bring in Simon and Sarel as well.”

“I’ll give you a call as soon as I can set it up, Barbara.  I’m quite excited about this development!”

Barbara walked out, to return to her office in the town.  She used to run her property brokerage business from there, but that had long since closed, and she now used the facilities and staff she had to attend to her other responsibilities in the community.  Her mind was full of thoughts on how she could develop the contacts with the survivors throughout the country.  They would need as much help as they could find.

Chapter 8

Michael walked over to Roger’s desk, saw that he was not immersed in his work, as he usually was, and stood respectfully, waiting for Roger to see him.

“Sit down, Michael.  What’s up?”

“You mentioned once that the main reason you came to Montagu when you did, was that you heard the radio conversation between Gentle Jane and Montagu.  That was also the reason we came from Olifants Camp when we did.  We both knew of the existence of Montagu, in an abstract sort of way, but we needed the additional impetus of the radio call.  Jim and Sandra in Darwin also heard the call, but could not make contact.  Since then, we’ve put an antenna up on the mountain.  It increased the strength of our reception, but I got to wondering whether that is enough, so I’ve done some research.  We’ve relied on people hearing random radio conversations, which don’t happen all that often.  I believe that we really need a more powerful signal, some sort of invitation call, constantly transmitting to the world, in at least several frequencies.”

“That makes sense,” admitted Roger.  “If there are people out there, looking for a group to join, it would help to have a radio signal that they can respond to.  I like the idea!”

“I’m glad, Roger.  While our crew were looking around the warehouses in Johannesburg, they came on one that has a lot of radio equipment.  They thought that we could use it here, since we all use radios every day.  I’ve been unpacking what they brought, and cataloging it so that we know what we have.  They didn’t have the time to investigate it in detail while they were loading it.  They simply loaded full pallet loads onto the train!  Anyway, I’ve found that they brought ten transmitters that were destined for use by Harbor Control, but were never delivered.  They arrived in that warehouse the day of the explosion!  They are much more powerful than the radio we’ve been using!  I think we should install one of them on top of the mountain.  We can remote control it from the library office quite easily.”

“That’s a great idea, Michael!  Can you attend to it?  Stephen is our radio and computer expert.  Chat to him and see what we need to do.”

Michael walked out of the office, calling Stephen on his radio.  The meeting was soon arranged, and Michael walked over to the stable to arrange a horse to get to Stephen’s office in the agriculture section.  Stephen was working on the calculations for the addition of a new farming section on Piet’s farm in the Touws River area, using a solar-powered pump to extract water from a short depth below the ground.  The increased rainfall they had experienced since the explosion had raised the level of the groundwater under the Karoo by more than a meter, making the use of borehole water feasible in this relatively dry area.  The land was very fertile, needing only a reliable supply of water to make it fully usable for agriculture, rather than having only a couple of sheep per hectare, as in the past.  He broke off when he saw Michael enter the room, and waved him over.

Michael explained the project he had in mind.  Stephen listened carefully, then asked the questions he had in mind.

“The first thing is power,” he said.  “A transmitter of that size needs a lot of it, more than we have up on the mountain at the moment.”

“Nora and my dad have just about completed the trials of the new fuel cell they’re working on.  It looks good, and they’re looking for a non-critical application to test it for a couple of months.  This job is just the thing!  We can leave the existing power arrangements in place as a stand-by, and it will be an easy job to go up the mountain to fix any problems that occur.  The fuel cell produces about thirty per cent more power than we need, so that’s OK!  And it’s powered by hydrogen that we can produce from a solar-powered generator.  One of them will produce more than the maximum amount of gas we’ll need.”

“You’ve really worked it all out!  What about the message?”

“I thought we could use a recording made by Helen, running on the same small computer we’ll be using to control the transmitter.  We need one to manage the transfer of any incoming calls to the base at the library.”

Stephen thought about the matter for a few seconds.

“I like it, Michael!  I didn’t know that you were a radio expert!”

“I’m not,” replied the teenager meekly.  “The question came up, so I did some research.  It’s really useful to have all the information available when you need it!  I heard that you were responsible for grabbing most of it off the internet in the last days before the explosion.”

“Not just me!  Ann and Amanda thought of the idea, and started working on it.  They brought me in to help when they saw how much work there was, and I managed to convince Fiona to join the action when she arrived from London to bring some stuff to Adrian.”  Stephen laughed briefly at that.  He had fallen for Fiona the moment she stepped out of the car, and had used the excuse of the downloading pressure, real though it was, to arrange a closer working relationship with her.  That plan had worked!  They were now married, and still working together!

“Whoever was responsible, it was one of the best things you people did in the early days.”  Michael’s conviction that, with knowledge, anything was possible, showed clearly on his face.  Stephen could not argue with that.  Even now, he was finding new information on his areas of activity each time he researched a subject!  It would have been difficult to achieve anything near what they had without the science!  He was sincerely grateful to the thousands of people who had accumulated that knowledge over thousands of years, patiently building blocks of knowledge, one at a time, sometimes demolishing whole structures to start anew when advances showed that the foundations were faulty!

They discussed some detail matters, and Stephen offered his assistance in setting up the computer controls for the radio.  Michael was pleased to be able to work closely with Stephen.  He had a great reputation in Montagu!  When the conversation was over, he headed back to the office, where he found Nora and Neil in conversation.

“I have a good project to test your new fuel cell,” he stated.  “We need a power generator to run a continuous broadcast of a signal inviting contact with us.  It’s a non-critical operation, so it will give the opportunity to test the fuel cell under load nearby to us, and without any real problems arising if the fuel cell malfunctions for any reason.”  Michael went on to tell them of the plan, and was pleased to receive their full cooperation.  The proposal took account of every likely eventuality, and would give the fuel cell a good trial.  They planned to use it in applications like powering the sail-train with electric motors, rather than diesel or hydrogen combustion.  The electric drive would give an improved power performance, particularly at low speed, as well as reducing the size and weight of the propulsion unit, so adding a couple of hundred kilograms payload to each train car, a meaningful improvement.  In addition, it had the benefit that they could manufacture the entire system themselves, making them less dependent on being able to salvage the parts of the internal combustion motors they were using, components that would eventually wear out.  The problem with a trial in a sail-train was that a breakdown, if it occurred, could happen hundreds of kilometers away from their base.  Experience had warned them that a critical failure of an important component would almost invariably happen in the most inconvenient place!  Michael obtained their approval for the project, with the promise that the fuel cell would be delivered the day after tomorrow, to accord with Stephen’s timing.

Delighted with the progress he was making, Michael went on to Rod, to arrange the installation of the equipment on the mountain.

The equipment was installed and tested on schedule, and Michael went back to his schoolwork, cramming in two years’ worth of work in the last five months before the examination.  He was already assured of a place in the Science Faculty of the university next year, but he wanted to be ahead of that game before he started.  In his spare moments, to ‘relax his brain’, as he explained to Angela, his mother, he was working on several of the subjects for the degree he sought.  He wanted to be ahead of the race from the first day!  He admired both his parents, both of them scientists, for the range and depth of their knowledge, but he had no idea of the extent of the admiration they both had for him!

Chapter 9

The weeks passed.  The second expedition under Sarel and Simon left for Johannesburg, with twelve cars in the train, planning to bring back full loads.  The crews collecting salvaged goods from Cape Town were hard at work, bringing back trains of six carriages each twice a week, and staying aboard Reef Explorer on their overnight stays.  A crew under Ron and Nora was working to modify the fuel supply of the ship’s engines to hydrogen, a change that would give the ship a practically unlimited range, as they could manufacture the fuel it needed as they went.  It would be floating on a sea of fuel!

The silica mine and the cobalt mine, together with their associated refineries were working at their planned capacity, and the planned extension of the irrigated farming in the Touws River area was well under way, extending well beyond Christoph’s farm where it had started.

The expedition to Johannesburg returned on the evening before the next community meeting, loaded as promised.  They had encountered no problems or threats, and Simon had managed to find five traders, two en route and three in the Johannesburg area, who promised a load of goods for the next journey.  They had been thoroughly briefed on what the Montagu community required, and were confident that they could supply the need.  Simon was delighted at the positive results achieved in his first assignment for the community, and that delight showed in every interaction he had with the members.  He had graduated from being a refugee to becoming a fully productive member!

The morning of the meeting arrived, and everyone in town went out to the farm, to the area that had been set aside for the gathering.  By now, most of the accommodation that had been used by the Mount Victoria arrivals was again free.  The newcomers had selected and acquired the farms they desired, leaving only a few to stay in the town.  Even those who had lived their whole lives in Sydney had acquired a taste for country living!  This meant that the accommodation was free for community members again, and only a few of the distant farmers arrived with tents.  The gathering on the first day was a means of acquiring and exchanging the latest information and gossip, for inspecting the new developments and discussing how they could be used on the farms, and for consolidating the friendships that sprang up at these meetings.  They had become an indispensable part of the life of the community!

The evening meal was disrupted when the man on radio watch, Klaus of the first expedition, called on the open channel.

“There is a message from Maputo!”

“Please connect the radio to this channel,” responded Stephen.  There was a click as the inexperienced operator fumbled the call, then the voice came through.

“I repeat Montagu!  Can you read me?”  The voice had a Portuguese accent, very slight, but discernible, and it spoke with authority, the voice of a man used to calling on the radio.

“Maputo, this is Montagu.  We read you loud and clear.  Over.”

“Montagu, what is your condition?  Over.”

“Maputo, our condition is excellent.  What is yours?  Over.”

“Ours is not good.  There are twenty six of us here.  We have sufficient food, but little variety, and the children are suffering.  Is there any way we can meet to trade some goods?  We can offer aluminum from the smelter here, in ingots.  We do not have any transport, so you would have to come to us.  Over.”

“Maputo, we could come to you.  What is the state of your railway line, and your roads?  Over.”

“The railway line?”  The voice was surprised.  The man had obviously never considered the possibility that help would arrive by rail!  “It is good, as far as I know.  I am not sure about the railway bridges.  The roads are fair, as far as we have seen.”

“How urgent is your need, Maputo?”

“We are surviving, but not well.  I think that the next four months will place a great burden on us.  Our supplies of canned and dry food are running out, and we are eating only chicken, some beans and tomatoes at the moment.”

“Please hold, Maputo.  I need to discuss this with our leaders.”

Helen was listening, and now she spoke.

“We must go to help these people!  How soon can we get a sail-train there?”

“It’s about twenty-one hundred kilometers in total, of which we have covered about a thousand, to Bloemfontein,” replied Alwyn.  “I estimate at least a week for those eleven hundred kilometers beyond Bloemfontein, perhaps as much as two weeks, depending on the conditions we find, and another three days to Bloemfontein from here.  Say a total of two to three weeks if there are no major problems.  We don’t have any idea of the state of the railway line or the roads beyond the areas we already cover.”

Helen looked around at the people surrounding her.  There were no dissenting looks.

“Please tell them we can be there within about three weeks,” said Helen into the microphone.

The voice of Klaus came again.  He had been following the discussion on the open transmission.

“Maputo, do you copy?”

“Montagu, yes, we copy.  Over.”

“We can have a team there in about three weeks.  Is that satisfactory?”

“What can we trade to you?” asked the voice, forgetting the radio protocol in the excitement of the moment.

“We can arrange that when we arrive,” responded Klaus.  “The alternative is that we can bring you back with us.  It will be easier to take care of you here, and you would be welcome to join our community!  Over.”

The click came, signifying that the man in Maputo had pressed the transmit button, but he did not speak for a moment.  There came, faintly in the background, the sound of a woman crying.  Then he spoke, his voice a little choked.

“Montagu, we would like that!  How many are there of you?”

“We are about three and a half thousand, Maputo.  We have full facilities, and would welcome you if you decide to come.  Over.”

“We will come, Montagu!  Thank you!”

“Where will we find you, Maputo?  Over.”

“If you come to the Polana Hotel you will find us, Montagu.  We live close by there.  Over.”

“May we have your name, Maputo?  I am Klaus.  Over.”

“I am Vicente.  Vicente Goncalves.  Over”

“Nice to meet you, Vicente.  We will stay in contact every day at this time on this frequency.  Please keep in touch.  Over.”

“Thank you again, Klaus.  We all look forward to meeting you.  Maputo out.”

“That’s wonderful!”  Christoph could hardly contain his delight.  “There are other people alive in the world!  We’re not alone!”

Christoph’s words set the tone for the rest of the evening.  Michael was feted as a hero.  It was his proposal that had made the contact possible, and the response had come within a very short time of his proposal being put into effect!  Alwyn called the security members of the crew of the first expedition together to discuss the plan, realizing that they would need every seat on the train when they returned from Maputo, which would preclude the possibility of loading much in the way of salvaged goods.  A quick discussion with the leaders of the community gave him the authority to set out as soon as he was ready, and a chat with the members of the second expedition confirmed that everything was in place.  It needed only the addition of stores to the train to make it ready to leave.  Arthur, the food distributor from Mount Victoria, had taken over the task of warehousing and distributing supplies in Montagu, a task that was becoming larger as the agricultural production increased, and Jim had expanded the food processing plants to absorb the extra produce.  The volumes of non-food goods were growing rapidly with the infusion of tons of goods from every expedition to Johannesburg.  Arthur had been gathering together the supplies needed for the next expedition.  Now, he returned to his desk with Bettie, his wife and assistant, and they started issuing instructions to his group of willing workers, all of whom had returned to their posts after listening to the conversation with Maputo.  They all knew that they would be needed, and they were keen to add their contribution, no matter how small it might be in the big picture, to the effort to save the new people.  Ron put a maintenance gang onto checking the train.  The train and its crew were ready to depart by three that morning.  There were only about a hundred people to see them off, as they unfurled the sails and headed at full speed for Bloemfontein, but those who did not attend were following the progress on the radio.  The crew of the train knew the track was clear all the way to Bloemfontein, and they were keen to avoid any possible delays!

As he was walking back to the car to drive to their cottage on Rod’s farm that they still occupied, Roger spoke to Sandra.

“It’s a pity that the Reef Explorer is not ready.  That would have been the ideal solution!  We could have been there in three or four days!  Still, I don’t suppose an extra couple of weeks will be a crisis.  Vicente sounded as though they had everything pretty well under control, except that they’re running downhill, as we were starting to go in Mount Victoria!”  Nora was walking with Jimmy a short distance behind them.  She had overheard the remark, and now she spoke.

“The only reason that the Reef Explorer is not yet ready is that we have to complete building in low pressure tanks to accumulate the hydrogen we need overnight, when the sun is not shining.  We could easily use small diesel motors to provide the power to run the hydrogen generators during that time.  I’ve been thinking about ways to reinforce the large fuel tanks to hold the hydrogen.  They’re normally tested to five bar pressure, and we need only two bar.  The size of the tanks is sufficient to compensate for the lower storage pressure if we run the engines at their most economical power, because we need to hold only a couple of days’ supply.  I’m sure we could do the necessary work in two days at the most!  Whatever else needs to be done could be done at sea!  If we have the materials, it doesn’t really matter that we’re not in the harbor!”

Roger and Sandra stopped walking as they considered the proposal.  The more they thought about it, the more they liked it!

“Let’s do it!”

Roger reached for his radio, calling an urgent meeting of the necessary people.  They were all still nearby, and all arrived at the office at about the same time.  Roger and Nora explained the proposal, and the plans were discussed and fleshed out.  More people were called in, some sleepy still, and details were arranged.  A crew was on its way to the docks by five-thirty, followed by a trainload of the equipment and materials necessary to put the plan into action.  Another train was being loaded with the fresh supplies necessary for the voyage, and was on its way to the docks by nine.  Roger called his crew together to do the detailed planning.

“We need to take a security detail,” declared Chad.  “We don’t know what the true situation is in Maputo.  This may be a trap, and we don’t want to fall into it!  I warned Alwyn to scout out the situation carefully before he steps out to meet these people.  We must do the same!”

“You’re right, Chad.”  Roger called Petrus Willemse, the deputy head of the Security group.  He agreed to come over to the office in a couple of minutes, time that Roger used to finalize other arrangements.

“Petrus, you know of the group in Maputo?  We’re planning to take the Reef Explorer as an alternative, or better said as a back-up to the sail-train group, in case they have problems and delays.  Chad raised the question of security.”

“I discussed it with him on the way here,” responded Petrus.  “I agree.  We don’t know what the situation is, and until we do, we must be extra careful.  I’ve put ten men on standby to go with you.  If you’re happy with that, Chad and I can get down to some detailed planning for the approach.  There’s a map of Maputo coming from the library.”

“That’s great!  Thanks, Petrus.”  Roger walked over to Chad’s desk and sat down opposite him, taking out a small notepad to jot down the points as they were raised.  He turned to Sandra.  “Let’s work out who’s coming.  I’ve allowed for a hundred people in our planning for supplies.  That should be enough!”

“I’ve given some thought to the essential people, Roger.”  Sandra handed over a neatly written list.  Roger glanced at it, then looked up at his wife.

“You’re on it, and Amelia, and Nicole!”

“So what’s wrong with that?” Sandra asked.  “We need experienced navigators and bridge crew, as well as all the others.  We’re it!  We’re the only ones who have actually sailed the Reef Explorer!”  She had expected the response, and prepared for it.  She knew Roger’s views on putting women into danger!

Roger considered the logic of the argument.  He couldn’t fault it.  He knew of no other seasoned sailors!  Anyway, he reasoned, this would be a joyride, a short vacation!

“OK.”  Roger looked down the list.  He raised his eyebrows when he saw Brian’s name.

“We may need a doctor,” responded Sandra.  “I’m still learning, and Brian is the best!  He won’t take no for an answer!”

Roger continued reading down the list.  It was well thought out, and he had no further comments until he came to the last three names.

“Amanda?”

“She’s Brian’s wife, but she’s also the official historian.”

“Helen and John?”  Those names were written in a feminine hand, womanly, but firm.

“Helen added those names a few minutes ago.  They haven’t had a vacation since they’ve been here!”

“I went on a trip to Maputo when I was a child, with my parents.  We lived in Cape Town for several years, and going on vacation to Maputo was a good way to see more of the country.  I loved it, and I would like to see it again.”  The speaker was Helen, who had come up behind Roger to check on the progress.  Roger saw the futility of arguing.  He had no reason not to want all of them on the trip.  If the circumstances had been different, he would have added those names himself.  Anyway, he had wanted to get to know the two of them better, and what easier way could there be to do that than a pleasant vacation cruise to Maputo?

*~*

The preparations went better than planned, and the ship and her crew were ready to leave by an hour after sunrise on the second day.  Roger stood on the bridge, and repeated the maneuver that he had used successfully to leave Sydney.  He waited until the dock crew had released all but the bow line, then eased the ship forward.  The pull of the line caused the bow to swing in towards the dock, at the same time as the wash from the propeller worked on the rudder to swing the stern out.  Roger put the motor into neutral while the stern swung out, then, when the ship was at an angle of thirty degrees to the dock, he eased her in reverse out into the placid water of the basin, allowing her to drift back three hundred meters before she came to a stop.  He had discovered the rule that slow was better!  The dock crew released the bow line as soon as it slackened, and Jeff, on the foredeck, pulled it aboard and stowed it securely.  Roger turned the wheel, gave a short burst of power and watched in satisfaction as the stern came around, then he eased her forward slowly, avoiding the overreaction that too much power could bring, and slowly increased speed until the ship was heading out of the harbor.

“It’s amazing how much easier it is the second time!” he murmured to himself.  He saw that Chad had overheard the comment, and was smiling quietly to himself.

They headed out to sea, the passengers on the deck taking in the beautiful panorama of ‘the fairest cape in the circumference of the world’, as Francis Drake had described it several hundred years before.  They headed far out to sea to avoid the worst of the adverse current flowing along the coastline, and were soon moving up and down gently to the deep ocean swells.  The engine continued to perform perfectly, and Nora was delighted when she reported to Roger on the bridge, shortly before lunch.

“The engine is running perfectly!  This is the biggest engine that Ron has converted, and he’s done a great job!  The gas consumption is about twenty per cent less than we expected from the theoretical calculations.  Hydrogen is a great fuel!  It has two and a half times as much heat energy as diesel, and it produces no pollution.  The tank conversion has gone better than we expected as well!  We told the gang working on the tanks that they could take a vacation on a luxury liner as soon as they finished the work.  They’ll be finished by tomorrow morning!  I don’t think we’ll be needing the diesel engines to make hydrogen after the tanks are ready tomorrow, unless we run into really bad weather.”  She looked around her, at the ship and the sea.  “This is a really nice ship you have, Roger!”

“We like her,” he replied, grinning.

At the helm, Nicole smiled to herself.  She agreed!  She had found on the long voyage from Sydney that she enjoyed the life at sea!  She also loved the feeling of being in control of this huge and complex machine!  She loved most of all the smooth response it made to her commands, the predictability of those responses.  And, to add to that, she enjoyed the knowledge that she was making a positive and meaningful contribution to the comfort and safety of all on board.

They sailed on through the day and into the night, the ship performing perfectly.  Chad made contact with Vicente at dinner time, putting the conversation on the PA system for all to hear.

“Montagu Two calling Maputo.  Come in Maputo.”

The response came within a couple of seconds.

“Montagu Two, this is Maputo.  Over.”

“Maputo, we’re on the way.  We now have two groups coming to you, using different routes.  We hope to be a little faster, but certainly no slower than we originally predicted.  What is your condition?  Over.”

“It is deteriorating, Montagu Two.  Two of our women have become ill, and we’re not sure what is causing the problem.”

“Please hold, Maputo.  We have a doctor here.”

Brian, who had been listening to the transmission on the public address system in the dining room, had heard the problem, and now came hurrying in, Sandra by his side.

“Maputo, this is Brian.  Please describe the symptoms.  Over.”

Vicente described what he was seeing, prompted by questions from Brian as the condition of the women became clear to him.  Eventually he was sure.  He quickly described to Sandra what he thought the problem was, and how it should be treated.

“Vicente, I believe that the two women are suffering from a severe iron deficiency.  Have you noticed any similar symptoms in the other women, or the children?”

“They are all becoming listless and apathetic, Brian, but it is not as acute as in the two women.  They are both the mothers of the children.”

“Then it is clear, Vicente.  The women are depriving themselves of nutrition in order to give the children the best chance to survive.  You must increase the rations you are allowing the women and the children, even if it means that you will run out of food within a week!  We will make sure that we get food to you within that time!”

“Within a week?  But how can that be, Brian?  You told us three weeks, and only half a week has passed!”

“We are making better time than we expected Vicente, and we can increase our speed.”  Brian was about to tell the man that they were on a ship, but he saw the warning gesture that Chad made.  It was better to arrive early as a surprise, than to be met by an ambush!  “It is important that you do not allow the condition of the women or the children to deteriorate.  They could die!”

“I will take your word for it, Brian.  I do not know why, but I trust you!  I will call tomorrow at this time.  I hope that you can give me good news then!  Maputo out.”

“Can we increase speed, Roger?  From what I hear, the women are starving themselves to feed the children.  The situation must be really bad for that!  Every day could be vital!”

In answer, Roger turned to Nora.

“If I increase speed to fifteen knots, our fuel consumption increases by about twenty per cent for the same distance.  Those are the figures for diesel, anyway.  Do we have the capacity for that?”

Nora’s eyes went blank as she processed in her head the figures she knew.  Eventually, she nodded.

“We can increase fuel consumption by thirty per cent and still be within our limits, Roger.  If not, we can use the diesel generator to make more hydrogen.”

With a smile of gratitude, Roger turned to Amelia, who had slipped in unobtrusively during the conversation, to take her accustomed place at the navigation desk.  Seeing her there when she was needed gave Roger a surge of affection for his crew.  They were all good people.

“About sixty hours at fifteen knots,” Amelia replied to the question that Roger had not yet asked.  “Give or take an hour, and add time to enter the harbor and dock.  Say sixty five hours!”

In response, Nicole pushed on the throttle, taking the speed to a fraction over fifteen knots.  The little ship surged forward, willing to do her share.

*~*

The voyage changed in character, from a vacation cruise to a race against time.  The hours slipped by, and the crosses that marked their position every four hours spread a little wider apart than they were used to.  People found things to do, to mask their impatience with the inexorable passage of time that could take on the meaning of a loss of life.  Nora worked on the hydrogen generators, fine-tuning them.  Each generator was set up to some quite accurate specifications, to take account of the conductivity of the water they were converting to its component gases, and to allow for pollution of the electrode surfaces.  Now, Nora tweaked these settings, adjusting them to a fraction of a millimeter.  After a couple of hour’s measurement, she reported to Roger.

“We can squeeze another knot out of them, Roger, and still be within the safety limits.”  Reef Explorer picked up her head a little higher, and she raced to their destination.  The passengers on the ship noticed the slight increase in the beat of the engine, and applauded the gains it brought.

They passed the Eastern Cape towns of Port Elizabeth and East London, then Durban and Richards Bay, seeing them as blurs on the green and brown shoreline from their position far out at sea.

“This is the final stretch,” commented Roger to Helen and John as they stood on the bridge wing, looking out towards the land, seeing the light of the sun reducing as it dipped towards the horizon.  “There are only about four hours left to go.  I’m planning to anchor in the bay, about a mile off, and send three boats in to the ferry terminal.  They can tie two of them to the ferry dock in the dark, and then withdraw to the ship.  We’ll call Vicente then, and ask them to go down to the ferry terminal and board the boats.  We can tell them that we’re on the shore, on the other side of the bay, at Catembe.  If they’re on the level, they’ll board the boats, and we can signal them to come out to us.  If not, well, we’ll lose two boats, but we’ll get away.  They won’t have time to prepare a seaborne attack.”

“It’s sad that we have to think that way, when all we’re trying to do is rescue some people in distress,” said Helen.

“It’s sad, and I hope it’s unnecessary, but we can’t take any chances,” replied John.

The rest of the day passed in nervous anticipation.  The security force that Petrus had placed under Chad’s command made ready for a fight, and the two crewmembers who were to take the lifeboats in to the ferry terminal prepared themselves, getting out their bullet-proof vests and steel combat helmets.

A few minutes after sunset, Roger made the radio call to Vicente.

“We plan to arrive at the railway station in the Avenida de 25 Septembre at about ten tomorrow.  We would like you to be ready as early as possible.  We don’t want to spend any more time than necessary waiting for you.”

“The railway station at ten tomorrow?  We will all be waiting.  Please take care and call me before then if there is a change of plan.  I sleep with the radio next to me.”

“He’s trying to tell us something!” said Helen.  “I know it!  Did you notice the emphasis he put on ‘all’?”

“I agree,” said Sandra.  “He put a lot of emphasis on ‘all’ waiting, and he mentioned a change of plan, and he told us to take care.  Someone was listening in to his conversation!”

“We’ll stick to our plan,” Roger decided.  He trusted the intuition if these two women.

The ship crept in to the bay in the light of a nearly full moon, with all lights on board extinguished.  It approached the ferry terminal, as near as Roger was willing to go in the near-dark, and the three boats were lowered.  The lead boat crawled in to shore, pulling the others behind it, with one man at the helm of each, conscious of how easily visible the bow wave and wake of even a small boat can be in the moonlight, even in comparison with the dark bulk of the Reef Explorer.  The use of only one engine running at slow speed reduced the sound of their approach to a minimum.  Chad had warned them to take every possible precaution against detection by possible hostiles on shore.  The boats entered the ferry terminal, and two of them were tied up to the jetty, then the third boat collected the two crewmen and crept out to the ship.  It was lifted out of the water, and Roger took the ship back out, a couple of miles from the shore.  The crewmen scanning the shore through powerful infra-red binoculars reported no sign of life.  When the ship was stationary in the water, Roger called on the radio once more.

“Maputo!”

The response was unusually quiet, the speaker unwilling to awaken or alert someone.

“Yes!”

“There are two boats at the ferry terminal.  Take them across the bay to Catembe.”

“I will.”

“It’s clear that he is under duress,” said Helen.  “I could hear it in his voice!”

“Let’s see what happens!”

Fifteen minutes later, the watchers suddenly saw furtive movement across the open land of the ferry terminal. 

“There are people moving there.”

“How many?”

The man counted slowly as the figures moved in and out of sight.

“I count about twenty to twenty-two.”

“Can you see any detail?”

“Not enough,” replied the man, regretfully.  “I think I saw some smaller figures, might be women, but I can’t really tell at this distance.”

The figures dropped out of sight as they boarded the boats, then there was a movement on the water, as first the lead boat came into view, then the second, still fastened by the tow cable that had been used in their approach.  Roger picked up the VHF microphone, checked that the range was set to the lowest setting, one mile, then pressed the transmit button.

“Do you hear me?”

There was a pause for a couple of seconds, then a woman’s voice spoke.

“I hear you.  Vicente is in the other boat.”

“Slow down to a crawl.  It is possible to see a fast-moving boat on still water a long way off.  Now turn sixty degrees to your left.”  He waited a few seconds for the new course to become apparent.  “A little more.  Good.  Now head out of the harbor.  We are on a warship two miles out.  We will protect you.”

There was no response.

“A warship are we now?” asked Chad, a look of amusement on his face.

“A bit of disinformation never hurts,” responded Roger with a grim smile.  “If they’re the bad guys, they’ll back down.  If someone is listening in, they’ll think twice about attacking a warship!”

The boats approached slowly, and it was possible, in the first glimmering of dawn, to see that the people in them were a mixture of men, women and children.  Roger waited for them to arrive, fighting the impulse to sail towards them.  They arrived before the daylight, and were directed to the port side, where Chad had arranged for the loading hatch to be opened and a gangplank to be lowered, with six armed men standing in the shadows, ready to react if this was an attack.  A further detachment of armed men were lined up on deck, ready for action at a moment’s notice.  It soon became clear that they would not be needed, as the people in the lifeboats came into full view.  Willing hands reached out to take the refugees aboard, and crewmembers went over to the lifeboats to secure them for lifting aboard the ship.  As soon as the second boat was clear of the water, Roger gave the command to take the ship out to sea.

Helen and John went down to the sickbay, where Brian was busy checking the condition of the new arrivals, with Chad looking on.

“How are they?” was Helen’s first question.

“Grossly undernourished,” was his quick reply.  “I haven’t seen anything more serious yet, but they need good food in the worst way!”

John walked over to the tall, commanding figure of the older man.

“Vicente?”

The man smiled.

“After you have worked out what was going on, how could I expect you not to know me?”

“What exactly was going on?”

“The men who are now waiting at the railway station for you were listening in to our conversations on the radio.  They invaded our home in one of the smaller hotels the day before yesterday, and threatened to kill all of us if we did not cooperate!  They listened to every word we said, with their fingers on the triggers, in case I said anything that I should not.  When you told me that you would be arriving at the railway station, I knew that was disinformation, and I knew that you were being careful.  You could not possibly have arrived by rail so quickly!  I told them that you probably intended to arrive early, in the dark before sunrise, to take precautions.  They believed that, and they left only one man to guard us while they set up their ambush at the station.  I put that man out of action after your call to go to the harbor, with the help of my wife, and we followed your instructions.  I thank you for your help, and I apologize for my part in their trap.”

“You warned us,” responded John.  “Welcome to the Montagu group!”

“I regret that we bring nothing to you,” replied Vicente.  “Unfortunately, we had little, and those men took even that from us!”

“How many men are there?” asked Chad.

“There were twelve.  Now there are eleven, all armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades,” replied Vicente with a wry grin.

“Do you think they saw us or you leaving?”

“It is very unlikely.  They are terrorist brutes, not very intelligent!  They will be concentrating on the railway station, which is far from where we left.”

“Let’s give them a little surprise,” suggested Chad.  “Are you strong enough to come with me, Vicente?  We need some information.”

The two men walked to the bridge, where Chad brought Roger up to speed, then they settled down to some serious planning.  The result was that Roger turned the ship back to shore, to land a force under the leadership of Chad, consisting of ten members of the Scout Group and five of the men who had played a role in deterring the invasion by the military force in Mount Victoria, with Conrad and Michael, whose hunting skills were likely to be invaluable.  They were put ashore on the beach only a short walk from the hotel where the terrorists were expected to return, after their abortive ambush attempt.  Chad deployed his force in well-protected positions around the hotel that the refugees had occupied, hidden from the men they expected, but with good fields of fire over their expected route.  They planted a few surprises for them in the positions they expected them to take cover in, and then settled down to wait.  It took four hours before the first of the terrorists came around the corner, heading for the hotel, where he intended to take out his anger on the captives.  A sentry at the corner signaled that the rest of the men were approaching in a group, two hundred meters behind.  Michael waited until the man was well out of sight of the others, then downed him with an arrow through the throat.  One of the Scout Group hidden nearby ran out of his cover, and dragged the body out of sight of the approaching force.  They waited until the group was well within the fire zone, then opened fire.  Six of the men fell immediately.  The remaining four dived for cover, exactly where those waiting had planned them to go.  Once they were well into the trap, Chad pressed a button on a small radio transmitter he held in his hand, and the small bomb they had planted exploded with a roar, spraying nails and stones at the men.  All four terrorists died instantly.  The watchers waited another few minutes, mindful of the possibility of other men coming up, but there was nothing.  They dragged the bodies into a ditch near to where they had fallen, and returned to the ship, feeling that they had played a small part in ridding the world of terrorists.

*~*

Chad went up to Vicente where he sat in the ship’s lounge, nibbling at the pieces of roast meat and vegetables the cook for the day had prepared for them all.  He sat down next to the older man.

“It is over?”

“Yes, it is over!  The world is a little more pure that it was this morning.”

“Those men deserve nothing better.  They took what little food we were able to gather, and left us all to starve!  They had no concern for the women and the children!  They are no better than the lowest animals!”

“That is all past, my friend.  You and your companions must look to the future.  You will have a wonderful life in Montagu.  I know.  I traveled there from Australia on trust, and I have not been let down.”

“I wonder what it is that leads men to behave like beasts,” Vicente mused, partly to himself.

“I think if you look at the street map of Maputo you will gain some understanding.  The Government named the streets after the icons of the sort of ‘freedom’ espoused by terrorist groups around the world – Lenin, Mugabe, Marx, Mao Tse Tung!  When you set an example like that, what can you expect from the people?”  Chad shook his head in disgust.  He had not, as an Australian, understood why Mozambique, previously a prosperous country under Portuguese rule, had fallen so far.  It had become the worst-performing economy in the world!  When he looked at the street names on the map of the city, it had all become clear to him.  Anyone who could admire people like those, men who had terrorized their own people in order to hold on to power, who committed atrocities routinely, atrocities worse, in their context, than Hitler had done, could have no concept of how to build an economy that grew on the strengths of the people!

Nicole was sitting nearby.  She had been talking to one of the women in halting Portuguese, and she had stopped to listen to Chad.  She found herself doing that frequently nowadays!

“Anyone who has seen what the Communists did to East Germany must understand that,” she said, unemotionally.  “Prussia, before the Communists took control, was probably the leading industrial area in Europe.  By the time the Communists were driven from power, less than forty years later, it was a basket-case economy.  It has taken a huge investment by West Germany to get them back on the path to where they were before the Communists came into their lives!  To believe that Communism is a good form of Government is the purest form of insanity!”

“I don’t think that the average person in Mozambique ever wanted Communism,” replied Vicente, “but the voting was rigged, the voters misled by false promises, the newspaper reporting was biased, and, worst of all, the opposition party was just as corrupt and self-seeking as the ruling party in South Africa!  They were only there for their own ends!  Mozambique was doomed from the day that Portugal decided to abandon it!  Since that day, there has been no hope for the country!”

“Not any more, if I know Chad!” came Nicole’s rejoinder, accompanied by a happy smile at Chad.

Helen, standing nearby, was aware that she had just witnessed a transition point for two people who had puzzled her for some time.

Chapter 10

Roger made the radio connection with the expedition heading towards Maputo.  They had made excellent progress, and expected to be in the city within a week.

“There’s no hurry,” he informed them.  “We have the refugees on board, and we have taken out a band of terrorists who were holding them hostage after listening in to the radio calls.

“Vielleicht sollen wir Deutsch reden!”  Alwyn switched suddenly to German.  [Perhaps we should speak German.]

Roger gestured to Nicole, who had just come into the bridge to take over the navigation from Amelia.  Nicole came over to stand beside him.

“Please go ahead,” she replied in her fluent German. 

“I think we should sneak up on the city and check it out.  We have the armored train!  If there are any more of them, we can remove them and make it safe again, and then we can collect some of those aluminum ingots and take them back for our troubles.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” replied Nicole.  “Please hold while I talk to Roger.”  She released the transmit button and turned to Roger.  “He suggests that they sneak into the city and check it out.  If there are terrorists, they can remove them, and collect the aluminum ingots for their trouble.  I said I think it’s a good idea.”

“I do too, Nicole.  Tell him to be careful and keep in touch.  They must not go near the main railway station!  Any terrorist who listened in to our radio conversation with Vicente might think that is a good place to set an ambush.  We can go up the coast a little to wait for them, and provide some support if they need it.  Our guests are getting all the care they need right here, and Montagu can do without us for another few days!”

Nicole relayed the message, obtained agreement from Alwyn, then signed off.

“Sometimes I envy men!” she said.  “You get to do all the exciting things!  Sometimes I wish I were a man!”

“I’m sure that many men would be very disappointed if you were, Nicole!”  Roger smiled at her, a noncommittal type of smile that said nothing, but suggested much.  Nicole, for once, had no reply, but she was interested to see the slight grin of amusement on Chad’s face.

They sailed up the coast to Bazaruto Island, once a very popular tourist resort, but now deserted.  They anchored about a half-kilometer from the beach in a little bay.  After observing the island for several hours, they could see no sign of life.  They continued their careful observation for thirty minutes, and then the Scout Group set off in two boats to check it more thoroughly.  They called in twenty minutes later, to confirm that it was safe.  The passengers went ashore in the other boats, watched over by the Scout Group, people who took pride in the fact that no harm had ever come to people under their protection.

Both Amelia and Helen, both of them now visibly pregnant, went ashore to wade in the warm water.  After a while, not satisfied with simply wading, they wandered off alone to a secluded beach, where they stripped off and went for a swim.  It was heavenly!  They came back to the boats after a half hour, their hair dripping, to earn a quizzical glance from John. 

On the advice of Brian, the passengers stayed on the beach no longer than ninety minutes.  Their bodies were not used to the harsh sunlight here, much stronger than they were accustomed to in Montagu, and Brian did not wish to treat a few dozen cases of severe sunburn.

Dinner that night was a very relaxed affair.  The guests were now feeling strong enough to join the rest of them at dinner, and the crew had no duties to perform other than to keep a watch for intruders.  The conversations flowed freely, the newcomers being included at all times, picking up snippets of information, and building a picture of their new community.  They went to bed early that night to sleep well, the first time for nearly a year, no longer hungry or fearful.

*~*

The expedition arrived in the train six days later.  They had made good time, finding the railway intact all the way, and with no sign of life.  They made contact with the ship at nine when they were at the South African Border, a little more than ninety kilometers from Maputo.

“We’ll be there in about two hours,” advised Alwyn, speaking German.

“Get someone else to contact us in English.  Another voice, one the terrorists won’t recognize, to tell us that you are coming into Mozambique.  We’re off the north shore of the town, and we’ll land a fighting group to ambush them.  We’ll get our chief guest to arrange for you to come to the hotel, as before.  He’ll give you very detailed instructions, so just act dumb to give the bad guys a chance to work out what to do.  Tell him that you’ll try to get there at about four this afternoon, to give them a chance to get there.  You must get yourselves under cover near the address, but no closer than a couple of blocks from it, as soon as you can, and wait for the bad guys to go past.  You can take them out if they escape our trap, but don’t do anything until we’ve done what we can.  We want to be sure that we mop up every last one of them!  We’ll advise by radio if we need help.”  Nicole had sat in on the detailed planning, and confirmed with Chad and Roger the instructions that she now gave Alwyn.

“Got it!  We’ll see you soon!”

The plan was put in action exactly as arranged.  Vicente, trying, very convincingly, to sound weak, begged the Scout Group man to bring food to the hotel.  The man replied that they were in a light truck that was fully loaded with food, leaving space for only four men.  Vicente gave detailed instructions on how to get there, in case any eavesdropper did not know the landmarks of the city.  By then, the attack force had already landed and was nearly at the ambush point they had arranged in the light of the previous exercise.  They carried with them a variety of surprises they had been able to put together during the waiting period.  They eased into their positions, and waited.  Nicole had begged to take part in the action, saying that she would be writing the historical account of the action, and needed to witness it to do justice to that work!  Permission was granted, reluctantly, after Chad had assured the leaders that he would personally ensure that she would not be exposed to harm.  She was tucked away in a hiding point with a good view of the action zone, but safe from any random shots.

The waiting began.  Nicole, in her hideaway, was scribbling notes ‘for her next book’, and almost failed to notice the arrival of the first terrorist at three in the afternoon.  He slinked into the action zone, looking about carefully as he assessed the defensive possibilities of the area.  It was clear that this was not their normal area of operation.  The sentry at the corner gave Chad the signal that another six men were approaching in a group about three hundred meters behind him, followed by another single man as rearguard a further two hundred meters behind.  Nicole was amazed by the conciseness of the signal, which was totally understandable even to her unpracticed eye.  She saw how Michael, now thirty meters behind the unsuspecting man, drew his bow.  He let the arrow loose, and it flew across the short distance, hitting the man in the neck, the arrow penetrating right through the soft tissue.  She was able to recognize the extraordinary skill the young man had, to hit such a difficult target so accurately.  Her respect for him, already high, went up a notch.  As the man fell, Michael glanced at the sentry, saw that he was clear, and dashed silently across the road, to remove the arrow and drag the body back into the hiding place that he had occupied.  Nicole was puzzled why he chose that spot, then she saw Michael glance at the sentry again, signaling his intention and receiving a confirmation from the watching man that his intentions were good.  Michael slipped silently out of the space, and moved down the street to disappear around the corner.  Suddenly, Nicole realized that Michael was planning to circle around the group and take out the rearguard from behind!  She waited a few minutes longer, while the main body of terrorists came down the road and turned the corner, inspecting the area with skilled eyes, as their now-departed companion had done.  Satisfied with what they saw, they moved as a body down the street.  ‘Incompetents!’ thought Nicole, disparagingly.  ‘Anyone who’s read a book on military tactics knows that you never bunch up in a danger zone!’  She noted that thought in her notepad, adding some comments about the clarity of her thinking now that the action had commenced.  She felt truly alive, fully aware of the surroundings!

There was a slight sound from around the corner, and Nicole saw the sentry give the thumbs up sign.  Michael had succeeded again.  Chad gave the signal, and each man in their group fired a single shot, two of them targeting on each terrorist.  The men went down without a sound.  The sentry at the corner gave another thumbs up sign, and pointed in all three directions.  The roads were clear.  The men remained hidden for several more minutes, then Chad stepped out into the street, a smile on his face.  Nicole walked over to him, smiling proudly at him.  The effectiveness of the action warranted that pride!  As she did so, a slight movement in an upper floor window caught her eye.  She had seen it only because the window was in her line of sight as she looked up at Chad!  Nicole realized that, if this was a terrorist, there was no time to explain the danger!

Without hesitation, Nicole grabbed the rifle Chad held in his hand, swung it up and fired.  There was no movement for a second, then the curtain fell down, pinned by the body of the terrorist behind it as the man fell to the floor.  Chad quickly dispatched groups of men to search the buildings.  The only terrorist they found was the man who had moved behind the curtain, an AK 47 assault rifle still clutched in his hands and a bullet hole slightly off-center in his forehead.  It appeared that the guard that Vicente and his wife had disabled in order to escape had not died, as Vicente had assumed!  The men from the train expedition came up to them, smiling broadly.  As arranged, they had formed a cordon some distance from the action zone to collect any runners, and to warn of reinforcements, but there had been no need for their assistance.  They were delighted with the results of the action!  Although they had been fully prepared to participate in it, they were pleased that there had been no need for action on their part.  No sane man wanted to go into an action that would endanger his life if it could be avoided!  All very pleased with the results of the action, they went together to the boats and out to the ship, where they held a debriefing.

“It’s hard to say whether the men we’ve killed are all there are,” stated Chad.  “I believe they were separate and independent groups, the first lot that held our friends captive, and this group.  I think that they may be the remnants of the terrorist armies that ran wild around this area of the continent shortly after the explosion.  They probably found that the pickings were leaner up north in the snow and the ice, than they were here.  Who knows?  I think that we must work on the assumption that there are more of them running around, and take all precautions.  That includes checking carefully after the battle has been won!  If Nicole hadn’t spotted that man in the window, he'd probably have got me and I don’t know how many more!”

“Have you thanked her properly for that?” asked Helen.  Chad had told her of the events immediately after their return aboard the Reef Explorer.

Chad turned to Nicole with a huge smile, and gave her an affectionate hug.  She turned her face to him and kissed him.

“That’s better!” said Helen, satisfaction in her voice.  “Now, are we going to load some of that aluminum, and if so, how?”

“I can show you a safe way to get there,” offered Vicente.  “I used to be a senior executive of the company.  There is a railway line to the smelter warehouse that you can use.  I suggest that you go there in the dark, so no-one will see you.  We can easily load five tons per hour.  The ingots are the size of a pallet.  If you have some diesel fuel, we can use the front-end loaders to do the work.  You can be out of there before it is light!”

“I don’t want to expose you to any danger, Vicente.  You’ve had enough!”

“Nonsense, Roger.  We can never thank you enough for what you’ve done!  You owe us nothing!”

It was decided.  The action would take place that night.  The Scout Group would be landed by boat in the dark, and they would be guided to the warehouse by Vicente, and the train would move in under cover of the dark.  One man would walk ahead to set the points, and he would be observed by infra-red night glasses.  They agreed to leave the area by no later than an hour before sunrise, to get out into the open country before they could easily be seen.  The helpers from the ship, including Vicente, would be collected by boat at four, to give them the chance to get back to the ship before sunrise.  Roger wanted the ship out of the harbor by first light.

“We’re too big and clumsy a target to expose ourselves in a confined area,” he explained.  “An anti-tank or an anti-aircraft missile could do a lot of damage, even at a considerable distance, and we know that the terrorist groups were quite well-armed with that sort of werapon.”

The plan went off without a hitch, and fifty tons of aluminum ingots were spirited away from Maputo that night, enough to meet all conceivable needs in Montagu for at least the next five years. 

“We can always come back for more in a year or two,” said Nicole to Helen, as they stood on the wing of the bridge in the cool breeze, watching Maputo fade into the background in the light of the rising sun.  “No-one else could use it, and it won’t decay.”

Chad came from the cockpit and stood next to Nicole.  She moved over to stand right next to him, their bodies touching, and he responded by lifting his arm to hold her shoulders.

“I reckon that was a good exercise!” he said with satisfaction.

“I do too,” replied Helen, as John came out of the bridge door to stand next to her, holding her close.

Chapter 11

They were greeted with great enthusiasm by the people of Montagu, who turned out in their hundreds to wave to them as they drove into the valley in two busloads.  The new arrivals, by now returning to health, were greeted as friends by all.  They were put into the cottages so recently vacated by the newcomers from Ruanda and Australia, and were fully settled in by the time the train arrived from Maputo, with its cargo of ingots, supplemented by a few tons of oranges and bananas collected by the group shortly after they crossed the South African border.  To the surprise of Jim, Barbara’s husband, there were also a couple of tons of sugar cane, collected from the same area.  Jim was the food technologist of the group, and he had been forced to experiment with sugar beet to supplement the sugar they had stockpiled before the explosion.  While the beet would have met the demand for sugar of the original number of members of the community, it was inadequate for the present numbers, and would require considerably more land to be devoted to the crop.  With the increasing numbers of the group, the stockpile they had, supplemented by their production of sugar from the sugar beet they had planted, would near its end within the next two years.  The ready availability of sugar cane would postpone that date, perhaps forever!  It soon became clear that regular visits to the area would have to be planned to supplement the available supply of fruit and sugar.  Alwyn, had overloaded the train a little, aware of its capabilities and the fact that the lines were safe as soon as they left the area of Mozambique, so making the provisions for a high-speed escape from danger that had been designed in to the train no longer essential, and the results had paid off.  And, as so often happens, the initial supply stimulated a demand for the fruit that needed to be satisfied.

On their arrival back home, Nora quickly checked on the status of her projects, and set another few up that she had worked on aboard the ship.  Roger went back to his drawing board, working on the projects he had left behind.  His mind had been working on them the whole time he was away, in the background, and he introduced a few new twists that resolved some potential issues.  Sandra went back to her medical courses, catching up what she had missed, and adding to her store of knowledge the diagnosis and treatment of conditions brought about by starvation.  Nicole worked on adding to her limited knowledge of Portuguese, using the exercise to compile a language training course that Vicente would be presenting at the university. 

“I didn’t know you could speak Portuguese!” said Roger to her one afternoon when she came into the office to spend a few hours helping Ann to catalog the newly arrived books from Johannesburg.  He remembered how she had comforted that frightened woman in the lounge of the ship.

“”There’s no reason for you to have known,” she replied.  “And I had no reason to tell you!”

“What languages do you speak?” he asked.

Nicole looked at him in amusement for a second before she replied.

“English, German, Spanish, some Italian, Latin, Dutch, Afrikaans, some French.  I’m also learning to speak Australian!”

Roger was amazed. 

“How did you learn so many?” he asked.

“I suppose I have an affinity for languages,” she replied, smiling.  “I was raised speaking English, then I got a job as a management consultant in Germany, so I had to learn German in a hurry.  I worked on projects in other countries for a while, so I picked up the languages.  Oh, I had to pass exams in English, Afrikaans, Latin and Dutch to study law, so, while I was doing that, I learned them in a conversational way - that’s much easier than studying them as a textbook exercise!  That gave me a good grounding to learn the other languages.  Most of the European languages have a similar structure, so it was quite easy to use my knowledge of one language as a stepping stone for the next!  The hardest to learn has been the Australian.  I suppose because it sounds deceptively like English!”

Once again, Roger resolved to get to know this young woman better.  She had many hidden depths!

They met again for dinner, two nights later, to resume the chats about the family history that had been interrupted in the flurry of events.  Nicole had typed up the information she had obtained from the family, and she handed over a wad of paper for them to read when they had the time.

“There’s no rush,” she said.  “Read it when you have a spare moment.  I know how hard it is to find time to do that sort of thing!  It’s taken me a couple of weeks to get this far.  Normally, I could churn that much out in a couple of evenings!” 

Sandra looked at the document.  The pages were numbered, and the last one was number 42!

“There’s a small book here!” she said.

“When it’s edited, it will come down to about twenty-five pages, I guess,” Nicole replied.  “I tend to be a bit wordy at times, I get carried away!  But when I review it, I’m much harder on myself!  It’s much easier to edit after writing than while I’m doing it!”

“You said once that you planned to write other things once the history was done.  What sort of thing do you have in mind?”

“I’ve already started on that, Roger.  You were kind enough to let me go on that ambush of the second group of terrorists in Maputo.  That was invaluable experience.  The book is about a raid of that type, an incursion into enemy territory.  I haven’t worked out the full details yet – my books tend to write themselves!  I’ll let you have a copy when it’s done.”

“I really have to set aside some time to read!” responded Roger.  “Nora gave me a copy of her favorite book on a memory stick, about two months ago.  I’ve wanted to get down to reading it virtually every evening since then, but I seem never to get the time!”

“I have the same problem!  I have to force myself to make the time to do the things I want to do, not only what I need to do.  I have come to realize that I have only one life to live, and I want to get the most value I can from it.  When Amelia called Jeff the night of the explosion, he got Meredith and me out of bed and into the car within a minute, leaving everything I had ever owned behind, so that we could escape the tsunami.  It brought home to me how valueless every material possession really is.  Almost the only thing I took away from the tsunami was my life, and I know now that my life, and the contents of my brain, are about the most important things I possess  Since then, I have tried to extract the most from every day!  I get up most mornings at about four to do that.  That gives me another two hours in the day, and it’s time without interruption.”

“I think I‘ll have to start doing something like that,” responded Roger.

Nicole smiled at that, and then resumed the discussion where they had left off, and the evening passed quickly.  Roger and Sandra were a little surprised when Chad appeared at the door.

“Evening, folks!” he said in his cheerful, brusque way.

“Evening, Chad!  Did you want to see me?”  Roger was concerned.  Chad usually had something weighty to discuss when he dropped in these days, unlike in Mount Victoria, when they had time to drink a cup of coffee together and discuss the world.  He missed those times!

“Not you, Roger!”  Chad was amused.  “I came to collect Nicole.  She’s much prettier than you, and she also needs her sleep!”

“Chad thinks I saved his life in Maputo,” said Nicole, also amused.  “Now he needs to look after me!  It’s good to have someone to do that!”  She smiled gently at Chad.  “Do you remember that time, when you asked me what I wanted in life, Roger?  Well, I’ve found most of that here!”  She stood and hugged Chad.  “Can we resume the discussion tomorrow evening?  We’re making good progress!”

Sandra, a woman, was much quicker than her husband at picking up the nuances.

“Of course, Nicole.  And bring Chad to dinner as well.  He’s a lone male, and we all know how bad that species is at looking after themselves!”

The two said goodnight, and walked off into the dark evening.

“What was that about?”  Roger knew that he had missed something.

“You men!” responded Sandra.  She moved closer to him on the couch and put her arm around his shoulder.  “Can’t you see they’re in love?”

“Chad and Nicole?”  Roger was surprised.  He would have difficulty in imagining a couple less well matched than the two of them!

“Of course!  They’re perfect for each other!”  Sandra smiled at her husband.  He was extremely intelligent, but, for all that, sometimes he was not very bright!  “Let’s get to bed, while it’s still night time!”

*~*

Roger was awake early the next morning, the conversation of last night fresh in his mind.  He knew that Nicole was right about making time to do the things he wanted to do.  Throughout his career, he had put maximum effort into doing his work well, and even marrying Sandra would not have happened if she had not driven it!  He realized that he was missing out on life, something that he had resolved to correct after the experiences following the explosion.  He knew that he had only one life to live, as Nicole had said, and he resolved now that he would put more effort into doing that!  He had spoken to Helen a couple of times in her vegetable garden, and he knew that she worked there because it was something she wanted to do!  There were plenty of people who would take over the work she did in the garden, and probably do it as well, but she clearly knew that she needed the time to relax and think, and she got that time in the garden.  The hours that Roger had spent with John and Helen on the bridge, many during the night watches when they had visited him to enjoy the peace of the night, had been very instructive.  Roger had come to realize that the two of them shared a very simple philosophy.  They wanted to enjoy their time together, and they wanted others to do it too.  They achieved that by using their intelligence directly, without hiding their objectives, and they expected others to do the same.  Faced with that, the people they dealt with responded in the same manner.  That enabled them all to deal with the problem, without any of the politics that so often surrounded, and even hid, the true objective that people were aiming to achieve.  That was one of the secrets of Montagu.  They had built a society without politics!  None of the members of the community had a personal agenda to pursue.  The thought rumbled through Roger’s mind as he made himself a cup of coffee.  He would try to live by those rules, even in his own mind!  He sat down and opened the briefcase he had brought home last night.  There was a pile of paper that needed revision.  He picked it up, and the move revealed the memory stick that had been in the bottom of his briefcase for months.  The sight of it made him wonder how he would feel if he had given Nora a gift that she simply ignored!  He put the papers down, picked up the memory stick and plugged it into his computer.  He sipped at his coffee as the title page came up.  ‘Run!’  He paged down and started reading.  He read solidly until Sandra came through, carrying her own cup of coffee, and sat next to him.

“What are you reading?” she asked.

“Nora gave me a book, and I’ve only now got around to reading it.  I should have, months ago!  It’s really good!”

Sandra looked at the screen, recognized the style.

“I love that book!  All of her others, too!  I wanted you to read them, but you’ve never had the time!”

“I decided that I will make the time to do what we want to do,” he said, hugging his wife.  That was one of the things that he wanted to do!  “Let’s have a picnic dinner tonight!  We can go out to a small lake on the farm that Nora told me about.”

“But Chad and Nicole are coming to dinner!”

“They can come too!  I’ve wanted to do it since Nora told me about it.”  He reflected on that brief discussion a moment.  “Come to think of it, I think she was trying to tell me something, but I was too slow to understand!”

Sandra smiled at her husband.  Perhaps there was some hope for him, after all!

The two children came though from their room, smiling at the world, knowing that everything was right.  They had stayed with Barbara and Jim while their parents went to Maputo, and they had enjoyed that.  The couple had lost both of their own children, twin teenage sons, in a bus accident years ago, before they had come to Montagu, and they were able to express all of the pent-up love with these two children, treating them in the way a loving aunt and uncle would, but, somehow, that would never replace their parents!  The children had reciprocated that sentiment, and loved spending time with them.

The day swung into its usual routine, and Roger reluctantly closed his laptop to prepare for work.

*~*

The day flew by, as most days did, and the afternoon arrived.  Roger was startled when Nicole came to his desk.

“Time for our picnic!  I’m looking forward to it!”

Nora glanced up from her work.

“Where are you going, Nicole?”

“You told Roger about a little private lake on the farm.  Roger’s taking us there, as soon as I can drag him away from his desk!”

Nora smiled, a secret smile that told Nicole more than words would.

“I love that lake!  Helen told me about it, right at the beginning!  We were working fifteen hours a day, all of us, to prepare for what would come after the explosion.  I think she saw that Jimmy and I were approaching a breaking point, and she insisted that we took off for a couple of hours, to go to the lake!  That’s one of the reasons that we all love her!  She understands what’s important to people.”  Nora smiled at them, making Roger realize that he really liked her, did not only respect her!  She looked down at her work again, completely absorbed again.

He stood, packing his briefcase, then put it down next to his desk, taking only the memory stick to read at home.  They walked out to the car park, where Chad was waiting in his LandRover, Sandra, Ben and Britney in the back seat.  Roger suddenly realized that he had not informed Nicole or Chad of the change in plan.  Sandra must have done so!  He realized just how much she did to cover the things that he did not have time for.  No!  The things he simply forgot!  He opened the door for Nicole, then climbed into the back seat and kissed Sandra.  She was surprised.  He seldom remembered to do that!  But she did not object!

“Where to?” asked Chad.

Nicole took a map of the farm from her bag and handed it to him. 

“That’s the lake.  You have to go down the east road, then turn off through the paddock for the horses, across to the other side, and then into the kloof there.  It’s right at the end.”  Nicole had taken the trouble to check with John, after Sandra had called to make the arrangement.

“It’s a great idea!” John had enthused.  “I’ll get Mary to make you a picnic dinner, and put it in Chad’s car.”  He pulled a map from his filing cabinet, and gave the directions to Nicole.  “Don’t forget to take your swimsuits!  The lake is great for swimming this time of year.”

Nicole had passed the information on to Sandra and Chad, and gone to Monty at the clothing factory to arrange for a swimsuit for herself.  She had lost hers in Sydney, and not had a reason to get a new one!  Monica, Monty’s wife, took an expert look at Nicole, and decided for her.  She had picked one in an emerald green, a bright color that suited Nicole’s skin color and blonde hair to perfection, and complemented her blue eyes. 

“There’s been a sudden demand for swimsuits,” declared Monica.  Nicole noticed her delightful Irish accent again, deciding to use it in her new book.  “Sandra, Roger’s wife, came a little earlier to collect one.  Is there a party being planned?”

“Oh no!  Nora told Roger about a little lake on the farm, and he decided to have a picnic dinner this evening, just him and Sandra, and Chad and me, with the children.”

“Ah, the lake!”  The words spoke volumes!  Nicole took the swimsuit, knowing that Monica’s choice of size and style would be right.  How far wrong can one go with a swimsuit!  She went back to the job she had left, feeling a little guilty for the loss of fifteen minutes work.

The drive to the lake took them all through a section of the farm that they had seen from a distance, but not really been through.  The views were spectacular!  They were surrounded by tall mountains, with a view into the little valleys between the hills opening up at each turn.  The valley that held the lake was totally unspoilt, cut off from view until the last moment, when they drove on the narrow sand road around the foothill, and then it opened up, a long flat valley floor, rising gradually towards the end, where a rockfall from the side of the mountain in ages past had dammed the flow of a mountain stream, to create a perfect little mountain lake.  It reminded Nicole of her favorite lake in the Alps, not far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  Nicole had been on a long project in a nearby town, and had found the little lake almost by accident, when she was having dinner in an alm, chatting to the locals, most of them farmers.  One of them had told her about the lake on his farm, and invited her to visit it whenever she wished.  She did, that weekend, and it had become a firm favorite!

They parked the car at the end of the road, took the baskets and blankets from the back of the car, and walked across the field for the last half-kilometer.  The grass had been neatly cropped by the antelope that they could see a short distance away at the edge of the forest, looking at them with curiosity but no fear in their soft eyes.  They spread the blankets on the ground, and the children changed quickly into their swimsuits.  The adults were a little more circumspect.  Nicole and Sandra walked into the trees to change, and walked out again in their new outfits.  The looks on the faces of the two men were their reward.  Looking at Sandra, Nicole could understand the look.  She was stunning!  Monica’s choice of swimsuit was perfect.  Nicole was a little uneasy in her skimpy outfit, although the color was wonderful.  Sandra looked at her friend with envy.  She wished she had a figure like that!

They all walked into the water to join the children, who were splashing about with abandon.  This was their first swim since the island on the Seychelles!  The water was cool after the warmth of the day, refreshing, but not cold.  They swam around aimlessly for half an hour, then Chad found a piece of a branch floating in the water, and he started a game with the children, which involved a lot of splashing and hectic activity.  The two women joined them all for a while, then retired to the bank to lie on the grass and cool off.

“The children are having fun,” observed Nicole.

“Yes.  Chad would make a good father!  He really throws himself into whatever he’s doing!”

Nicole agreed.  She hoped Sandra was right!

The picnic meal was wonderful, as was every meal that Mary prepared, and the afternoon passed into the mild evening.  They lay on the blankets, looking up at the stars appearing in the night sky.  This place told them that everything they had endured was worthwhile!

They packed up, reluctantly, at eight thirty and walked back to the car.  Each of them promised themselves that they would do this again.  Soon!

“We didn’t have time to carry on with the history discussions,” said Nicole as Chad drove them into the driveway to their cottage.  “But it was worth it!”

“Perhaps we can do it tomorrow evening,” suggested Sandra.

“I can’t” Nicole replied with real regret.  “I’m on radio watch tomorrow from five ‘till ten!  It gives me a chance to catch up with my research!  Not a lot usually happens on radio watch, unless there are people in Cape Town, or Johannesburg.  Perhaps the day after tomorrow?”

“That’s great!  You and Chad will come to dinner?”

The arrangement made, the family climbed out of the car and waved Chad and Nicole goodbye.

“I really like those two,” said Sandra.

“So do I,” replied Roger.  “They’re good people!”

“Are there any people left who are not good?” asked Ben.  He remembered the man in the boat who had planned to attack the Reef Explorer as they were leaving the bay at Sydney.  He had been listening to him talk, using the directional sound amplifier that Alfred had given him as a gift years ago, the day Alfred had arrived in Sydney.  The man had turned away, and snarled at the two women he held as bait to lure unsuspecting people into his trap.  ‘If you don’t shut up, I’ll shut you up!’ he had said.  Ben had never heard a man talking to a woman that way!

“I hope not, Ben!” replied his mother.  “People who are not good have a tendency not to last in the world we’re in now!”

Ben wondered at the reply.  He could hardly remember when the world was different!  He decided that he liked this world.

Chapter 12

Nicole had taken over the radio watch a little early, and settled down with her laptop to continue writing the book she was engaged in.  The long watch gave her plenty of time to concentrate on her writing, and the fact that the radio station was at the library made it a convenient place to do her research, an essential element of her writing.  She liked her books to be perfect!  There was nothing worse than a well-written book that contained statements of ‘fact’ that she knew to be incorrect!  She loved a review of her book, ‘The Writer’ that had stated: “A beautifully crafted book about a book. The only thing which could possibly improve it would be another hundred or so pages.  However as the main character, Roger, stated, "His story was finished. No, he thought.  Not finished. Complete."  This is a complete work which is a joy to read.  I can think of no greater compliment to pay a writer than to say, "You have changed my view of the world."  Nicole had really enjoyed writing that book, and she had enjoyed its central character, Roger.  That review had been one of the highlights of her writing career!  She had enjoyed the review so much that it had stuck in her mind.  It was itself an excellent piece of writing!  She wished that she could have met the man who wrote it.  Thinking about it now, Nicole realized that the character in that book had the same name as Roger, although they were worlds apart in almost every other way.  The only similarity, apart from the name, was the fact that both of them were real, down-to-earth good people.  They were both essentially honest, with the world and with themselves.  She saw the same qualities in Helen and John.  And, she realized, in Chad.  Her thoughts roamed over Chad.  He would make a wonderful character in one of her books!  She had seen the feelings that he had for her long before she had admitted to those same feelings herself.  He had been patient, allowing her to come to the conclusion of her own accord.  She had done that, some time before they had sailed from Sydney, and the voyage had cemented those feelings, as she had watched how unselfishly he had leaped in to do the work that needed to be done, relieving Roger of the tasks so that he could do the work he that he could do best.  Chad could have done that other work himself, but he respected Roger and the position he held, and would never think of intruding on that space!  Her old partner, a widely experienced management consultant, had once told a client in her presence:  ‘The hardest thing about being a manager is holding back from doing something that you know you can do better than the person you have delegated to the work.  But you have to, for yourself, and for that person.  You can’t expect them to grow unless you allow them to!’  Nicole had realized that Nick had done exactly that with her, never intruding in her workspace, but always willing to give guidance, usually in an indirect way or in the form of questions that, she realized afterwards, had provided real assistance while allowing her to enjoy the achievement!  That was one of the factors that had accelerated her development in that difficult field, and it had shaped the way she dealt with people.  She wondered idly whether Nick was still alive, after the explosion.  He had been on a project in southern Italy at the time of the explosion, and, after the tsunami, she had not been able to make contact with him.  She hoped that her feeling that he was still alive was correct.  He was a survivor!  The thoughts of him raised a longing in her to see him again.

Chad walked into the radio room, interrupting her thoughts.  She was glad to see him, and her pleasure came through in her smile.

“I had a minute between jobs,” he said.  “I passed Antonio in the street.  You know Antonio?”  She nodded.  It was impossible not to know Antonio!  He was an Italian who had gone with his family to the United Sates, where he opened a pasta restaurant in New York.  Both John and Ron had known him, although they had never met each other at that time.  John had taken Helen to the restaurant a couple of times for dinner while she was in New York, and Antonio had picked up some information from Helen about the imminent explosion of the volcano under Yellowstone.  That had caused him sufficient concern to put his restaurant on the market, planning to buy a yacht to sail to South Africa.  In the last week before he handed over the restaurant to the buyer, Ron had brought Jane in for dinner, the evening they had arrived in New York after meeting in the Bahamas.  Antonio heard that Jane was at the university in Sacramento, and asked if she knew Helen.  They had been neighbors!  Antonio passed on the warning that Helen had given him, and that was the cause for Jane and Ron setting out in Ron’s new catamaran within a week!  Antonio had subsequently arrived in Mossel Bay, a couple of hundred kilometers from Montagu, with his wife and two daughters, all three of them with fiery red hair, and then made their way to Montagu.  He now had a beautiful farm in the mountains near to Helen and John’s farm, and ran a little restaurant opposite the Town Hall, now the university, and only a block from the library.

“I’ve booked a table for tomorrow night.  It’s a special occasion, so I want you to be prepared for a great evening!”

“What occasion?” she asked, her mind racing through the possible events that might be celebrated tomorrow.

“You’ll find out tomorrow!”  He smiled at her again, the gentle smile that he reserved for the few people close to him.  “Sorry, I must run!  The expedition to Johannesburg is due in at Ashton in fifteen minutes.  Can’t be late for them!  I’ll pick you up at six at your cottage tomorrow evening.”  He stood, smiled again and touched her cheek gently, and walked out.  Nicole raised her hand to her cheek, the feeling of his hand on her skin still there.  After a few minutes, she realized that she would have to cancel the dinner with Roger and Sandra.  She picked up her radio and called, then, when Sandra answered, she switched to the conversation channel, leaving the calling channel free for others. 

“I have to cancel for tomorrow evening, Sandra.  I’m sorry, but Chad has just told me that there’s a celebration dinner on.  Can we move it to Thursday evening?”

“That’s no problem!  What’s the celebration?”  Sandra’s voice was a little puzzled.

“He wouldn’t say, but it must be important.  You know how Chad is a stickler for keeping promises.”

“Yes, I know.  OK, we’ll see you on Thursday!”

Nicole closed the call, and returned to her writing, making real progress.  Her mind was in the right groove for writing!

*~*

The next day passed in a blur of activity.  The arrival of the train from Johannesburg brought a lot of organizational work with it, not least the addition of several thousand new books to the library, which required all hands to muster, including Nicole.  Nicole took a few minutes off to go to the clothing factory to pick up a new dress for the dinner.  Chad had said that it was important, and she wanted to look her best.  She had a collection of practical clothes from Mount Victoria, but none of them could be considered glamorous.  She had never realized that the women all envied her ability to make even a work outfit look spectacular!  The dress that Monica chose for her might have been made specifically for her.  She was unusually tall for a woman, and that made for problems in finding clothes that fitted her well, but this dress was just perfect!  The fabric was soft, allowing it to drape her ample curves, and the color was a light blue, with flashes of a deeper, brilliant blue that matched her eyes.  Nicole tried it on and decided on the spot.  This was her dress!  Monica saw the spring in her step as she walked out to her car, carrying the parcel.  She had been warned by Chad yesterday morning that Nicole might be coming in for a special outfit today, and she had put the workers in the factory onto this special item, made to Nicole’s measurements from a bolt of cloth that Monica had been holding in reserve for a particular occasion.  She knew that this was the occasion!

Nicole went home a little earlier than usual, to bathe and wash her long hair.  She liked the look and the feeling of her hair, which she had grown to well below her shoulders.  Fortunately, it had a slight natural wave that allowed her to air-dry it and then simply brush into the elegant style she favored.  She did her minimal make-up while waiting for her hair to dry, adding slight accents to her eyes and lips, then brushed her hair carefully into shape before slipping on the dress.  She looked at herself in the mirror, anxious to make her appearance good enough for the special occasion, whatever it was!  She thought she might be satisfactory, and was secretly pleased at the reaction that Jeff showed when she walked through into the sitting room.  He was nicely dressed, unusually in a suit that Nicole had not seen before.

“You look great, Nicole!  What’s the occasion?”

“I don’t know, Jeff.  Chad asked me to dinner, but he didn’t say what it was about!”

“Well, enjoy it!  Meredith and I are also going out tonight.  Maybe we’ll see each other later on!  I think that’s Chad now!”

Nicole walked out, to see that Chad had pulled up in the driveway.  He looked at her in the soft light of the late afternoon, and blinked.  That was the closest Nicole had ever seen to a double take in Chad.  She felt secretly pleased.

“I’m not sure that I should take you out in public,” he said.  “The way you look tonight, all the fellers will be coming after you!  Even the ones who are not Australians!”

Nicole smiled as she climbed into the LandRover, waiting for him to close her door.  His insistence on holding the door for her was totally untypical of an Australian!  She enjoyed the old-world courtesy of the action.

Chad walked around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Something’s just come up,” he said.  “I have to go to the railway station at Ashton to collect some papers.  It won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”  Nicole looked at his profile against the window.

“That’s no problem, Chad.  I have company!” 

They drove off down the road that led out of the town through the spectacular gorge with the stream running along the bottom, through the narrow tunnel and on to Aston.  Chad jumped out of the car at the station, and returned a minute later with a wad of papers and a small box.  He put them on the back seat and drove off.

“I hope that won’t spoil your celebration,” teased Nicole.

“Nah, it’s nothing really.  I just have to work on them later tonight.  Are you ready to celebrate?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be!”  Nicole felt a little light-headed.  Her new outfit, the preparations for a celebration that she knew nothing about, and the anticipation were building a feeling of excitement.  That was added to by Chad’s demeanor.  She could not put her finger on it, but it seemed that he was uncertain!  She had never seen that in him before!  He always seemed to know exactly what to do, in every circumstance!

They arrived at Antonio’s, and Chad parked the car up a side street, in the first open parking place he could find.  Nicole had never seen so many people at the restaurant!  The tables flowed along the sidewalk, and onto the street, where traffic cones had been placed to divert the traffic into one lane.  The only reason she could think of for the large number of people there, was that it really was a spectacular evening!  The sunlight was still in the sky, casting a gentle light on the old oak trees along the roadside, and the flowers in the gardens had that special color that one rarely sees, except in this sort of light, looking almost as though they were lit from within, the colors intense.  As they walked up to the restaurant, Nicole saw many of her close friends there, from Australia, Montagu and even Maputo. 

“This must be quite a celebration!” she said.  “Everyone is here!”

“Oh, it is,” responded Chad.  Nicole was prevented from asking further by the arrival of Antonio.

“Nicole!  You are here!  And you look wonderful!”  He stepped back a little to take in the whole picture of this beautiful woman.  His smile made the compliment!  “Please come this way!  I have prepared a special place for you!”  Nicole made a mental note that Antonio always seemed to use exclamation marks, rather than full stops, in his speech.  She loved him and the atmosphere of joy that he always generated.  Antonio held her chair and invited her to sit, then ushered Chad to his chair.  “Let me bring you some wine!  I think a sparkling rosé, to suit your beauty tonight!”  He rushed off, and Nicole looked around at the people, greeting those she had not seen today.  She noticed that many of them were looking at her.  The new dress must really be working!

“Now tell me, what is the celebration?  I must have missed the memo!”

Chad was about to reply when Antonio came up to the table, a bottle of wine and three glasses in his hands.  He placed the glasses carefully on the table, and poured the wine, testing it carefully before he poured some into Nicole’s glass, and then into Chad’s.

He pulled up a chair and sat down, raising his glass in a toast.

“To a long and happy life together!’

They all drank to that, including most of the people nearby.  Suddenly, Nicole began to understand what this was about.  Chad sensed this.

“Nicole, I’ve wanted to ask this for a long time, since long before we left Mount Victoria.”  Nicole looked at him, the happy smile on her lips prompting him to go further.  “Nicole, will you marry me?”

“Of course I will, Chad!”  She would have gone further, but the expectant hush that had fallen on the restaurant when Chad started speaking was broken by the cheers.  Chad opened the box he had collected at Ashton, and produced a ring, a gold band set with diamonds surrounding a sapphire.  He slipped it onto Nicole’s finger, and leaned over to kiss her, the first time he had done so, apart from that time in Maputo.  Nicole looked at the beautiful ring, the first ring she had owned, then at the people crowding around.  This, she suddenly realized, was the celebration!

Chapter 13

“I had to bribe Chad to do it!” said Jeff over breakfast.  “We’ll be needing the space soon.”

“That’s not true, Jeff!”  Meredith punched her husband lightly on the arm.  “Chad asked us whether we thought you would accept.  Jeff told him, and I quote ‘You can’t put the bait in the water and not expect other fish to bite!’  I told him that he was crazy not to ask you, Nicole!  I’ve always wondered why you didn’t get snapped up by one of the dozens of men who were after you!”

“I’ve told you, Meredith!  They’re all scared of being overshadowed by Nicole!  I can understand that!  She’s one smart lady!”

Nicole was stumped.  She had never thought of herself as particularly attractive to men!  Or even as being particularly intelligent.  She merely did what she could, in the best way she could find!

“Anyway, he asked, and he must have been really sure you'd accept, to do it so publicly!”

“I would have accepted long ago, Meredith!  I’ve been wondering what I could do to nudge him in the right direction!”  A sudden thought struck her.  “Jeff said you’ll be needing the space!  Does that mean …?”

“Yes, I’m pregnant!  You’re going to be an aunt!”

“Or maybe an uncle,” Jeff joked.  “It may be a boy!”

“But it’s a long time to go still.  Another seven months.”

“I’m so pleased, Meredith and Jeff!”

“We are too!  And the baby will come into a world that is right!  That’s the best of all!”

Nicole went off to her office, one of the several she used for the various tasks she performed, feeling particularly happy with the world.  She had a meeting with Jennifer and Jane that had been arranged yesterday by Jennifer.  To her surprise, Gerard was there too.  She knew that he was qualified as a lawyer, that he had been a LandRover dealer before the explosion, and was also the key man for the development of the animal husbandry section of the community.  She had wondered how he managed to combine so many disparate careers!

“We wanted to chat to you about the university, Nicole,” commenced Jennifer.  She was a little older than Nicole, with long dark hair that gave her a peculiarly soft look, although, from previous conversations with her, Nicole knew that she had a mind like a razor.  “Amanda obtained a list of qualifications and skills from Amelia, the one that she drew up in Mount Victoria.  She’s been working on the list and, as you know, she picked on you to help write the history.  We’ve also seen that John and Roger often bring you in to help them solve problems.  We’re now approaching the time when the first batch of Arts and Commerce students will be graduating, and Helen has asked us to put together a postgraduate degree in law.  We’re all qualified in law, so we’re the obvious people to do that.  Then we heard that you also have a law degree!  I should have known that, from the way you think and speak!  Anyway, we'd like you to join us in putting the courses together.  It’s not as simple as it sounds!  We all know that there were many things wrong with the legal systems of the world before the explosion, and we don’t want to repeat those failings!”

“That’s one of the reasons I didn’t practice law,” replied Nicole.  “I believe that the legal systems were set up mainly by the lawyers, who had a vested interest in making law inaccessible to ordinary people!  I'd love to be part of your project!  I have been involved in setting up financial instruments in various parts of the world, and I got to know the Swiss, German and British systems.  In my opinion, the Swiss system is the way to go!  They set out the intention of a particular law, in terms that anyone can understand, then they list a few things that must be done, and a few that may not be done.  It makes everything very clear to the vast majority of the citizens, and they can all feel that they’re a part of the system.”

“We’ll have to discuss that!” said Gerard.  “I like what you’re saying!  It’s exactly the sort of thinking we need to do.  One of the problems of a specialist field of knowledge, such as law, is that the specialists tend to have grown up within a particular system, and so aren’t easily able to see what is wrong or out of date with it, or to be able to compare it with other systems, or with what it might be.  We, between us, have a unique opportunity to set a basis for the legal system of the world!  That has never happened before and, I hope, it won’t happen again!  We really need to be sure that what we introduce is what the people really want!”  Nicole could see that Gerard was excited at the idea she had given.  She was pleased that the group that would provide that basis consisted of two practical businesspeople, Gerard and herself, one practicing Attorney, Jennifer, and one highly-qualified theoretical lawyer, Jane.  That would give a good blend of experience and approaches.  She had been surprised to find so many lawyers in such a small community.  It was also interesting that more than half of them were women!

“Can we set the first meeting for Saturday morning?  We can each circulate thoughts on an agenda, and, if there’s time, some more detailed ideas.  Helen would like to have the course operating by the beginning of the next academic year.  That’s four months away.”  She paused to gain their acceptance.  “By the way, Helen, John, Amanda and Samantha, as the Council of the university, will bestow the title ‘Professor’ on each of us!”  They all laughed at that, knowing how little importance a title carried in this highly egalitarian society, but, secretly, each was pleased.  The title was certainly a recognition of what they could offer!

The others left, leaving Nicole with a mind full!  The task of setting up a university-level course in law was big enough for most!  The idea of creating an entirely new system of laws was a multiple of that task!  Where to begin?  Her management consultancy training kicked in.  Begin at the beginning!  Write down where you are and what you want to achieve!  Then go from there!  Nicole did just that, working solidly on the task for a couple of hours before her next engagement was due.  As she packed up the pile of papers she had created, the flash of blue and ice from her ring caught her eye.  She stopped moving and looked at it, a wonderful soft sensation of happiness washing over her.

*~*

Barbara looked up at Nicole as she walked into her office. 

“I really need your help in organizing the expeditions, Nicole,” she said.  “We’re getting good results from them, but it’s haphazard.  We need to plan the salvaging operations to ensure that we recover what we really need first, rather than grabbing goods opportunistically.  At the rate we’re going, it will take us twenty years to empty the stocks in just the places we’ve identified!  And probably another twenty years after that to put them in order in our warehouses!”

“What do we need, Barbara?”

“That’s the first part of the problem!  We don’t really know what we have, or what we need!  We didn’t think about what we needed before the expeditions started collecting goods, and goods have been rolling in so fast that we’re losing track of them.  Arthur has been trying to keep track of it all, but the system doesn’t permit us to use the multiple sheds and warehouses and still keep control of it all.  Each one is handled individually by the system, so we have to search each inventory to find where a particular item is stored.  The information is there somewhere, but to find it takes too long.  The worst of it is that we get in ten items, and they’re entered into the system as Item A, but they may be in ten different variants, so we don’t have ten of one item, but one of each of ten items, all with different qualities.  Half the time, when we need something, we believe we have it, but we don’t know where, and even if we do know where, in general terms, it still involves a search through an entire shed to find one item, and then it may be the wrong size!”

“I can see the problem.  I had a project once, starting in a Swiss factory that produced rolls of goods.  Each roll had its own qualities, but they were not easy to identify without careful examination of the item.  The factory produced the goods in bulk lots, according to the economics of their production capability, not according to the needs of the factories that used the goods.  They were sent out in large units to the other plants in different countries, and they put them into their warehouses to be called up when the particular quality of material was needed.  Eventually, they had to build new warehouses in Britain and the Netherlands to hold the stocks that were building up as the factory produced more goods, and the distribution arm lost them in their warehouses!  We were able to sort out that problem fairly quickly.  I believe that I can help.”

“I would be delighted if you could!”  Nicole could see that Barbara was close to despair.  Most organizations would have difficulty in coping with the volume and multiplicity of the types of goods that were flowing in!  Those goods were what would be needed in the next decades to build a whole new civilization!

Barbara handed over a long list of the storage locations that were in use, and the names of the people who were involved with the operation.  The lists ran to several pages.  Nicole could see that the problem was becoming urgent!

Nicole drove over to the office of Arthur, a man she knew well from Mount Victoria.  He had owned a medium-size food distribution business, dealing with retailers throughout the region.  He had done the work competently, but the nature of his business was subtly different.  Where he had bought a more-or-less finite range of goods to sell, preferably within a week or two at the most, he was now dealing with a situation of goods flowing in without necessarily a demand for them now or in the near future, building up a huge stock of goods, most of which were unknown to his staff, and that problem was compounded by the fact that multiple storage areas were being pressed into service to meet the demand.

Arthur was delighted to receive Nicole.  He had recognized the problem when the first load of goods arrived from Johannesburg.  The size of that load had been much larger than any load prior to it, and that had started the rot.  The next load made it worse, and Arthur saw that he would not be able to cope.  He had spoken about it to Barbara, and she had tried to assist, with only limited effect.  Very few people had ever gained experience in this sort of field!  Then, last night, Arthur suggested that they call in Nicole, who had been able to solve a few of Arthur’s problems in Mount Victoria.  Barbara had been delighted to do so.  She had heard a lot about Nicole’s capabilities, and was keen to learn from her, and Arthur’s description of what Nicole had achieved in Mount Victoria had reinforced those views.

They settled down and Arthur handed over a batch of stock reports from the morning’s print.  Nicole glanced quickly through them, immediately seeing that numerous items were repeated in different locations.  She could also confirm that the detailed descriptions of the items and the identifiers that were used in the computer system were not sufficient to permit the selection of a particular variety of that description.  Once she had gained an overview of the nature and size of the problem, Arthur walked with her through the main warehouse.  Nicole could see many areas of problem, from the receipt to the stacking of the goods, where the workers were being overwhelmed with the volume.  They visited another four warehouse areas, and the same problems were evident in each of them.  When they returned to the office, Arthur looked at Nicole, hoping for a miracle.

“I can see where it is going wrong, Arthur, and I think we can sort it out.  I’ll need to quantify the problem areas, and work out a scientific way to handle it.  I think that Stephen will be able to help with the computer system.  Right now, we need to stop it escalating before it becomes too big to handle.  We need to put all new goods arriving into an interim store, until we can move them into their final place with proper controls.  Perhaps we can dedicate one of the warehouses for that.  It will take about three weeks, I imagine, to get to the point where we can resume deliveries to the correct warehouses.  Can you handle that?”

“There’s an unused wine distribution depot across the road from the railway station.  I’ve been thinking of using it as a new warehouse, but we can just move everything we receive into it for the moment.”

“I’ll get the system set up, and then we need to look at the other end, where they are sourcing the goods, and see if we can rationalize that a little.  I think that a part of the problem is that the goods arrive in a random distribution off the train into the warehouse, so there is too little time to plan where they’re going to end up!  The workers are having to allocate space to the goods as they come in, in order to make space for the next batch!  We need to presort them and then deliver batches of each type to a particular warehouse, so the people receiving them don’t need to do more than sort the details.  It will be much easier to handle this end if we know what’s coming, and where it must go, before it gets here!  And it will be easier on the warehouse staff if they are able to deal only with a finite range of goods, so they can get to know their qualities.  Do you have a spare office with a computer link to the warehouse and distribution system?”

Arthur led Nicole to a spacious office down the hall, and arranged for the necessary computer connections to be set up.  Nicole set to work, analyzing the information she found.  The picture began to build, and she became deeply immersed in the work.  She was surprised when Chad walked into her new office.

“I’ve found you!” he said with a smile.  “We have a dinner date with Roger and Sandra, remember?”

“Is it time?  I just lost track of the day.  Thanks for fetching me, Chad.”  She smiled at him as she packed up her work.  She would have to carry on tomorrow.  Fortunately, the day was set aside for miscellaneous matters, all of which could be shifted to another day without difficulty.  She finished her work and walked around her desk to Chad, taking him in her arms and kissing him.  The moment went on, until Nicole broke away with an effort.

“We'd better get moving, Chad.  There’ll be time for that later!”

They walked out to Chad’s car, and drove the short distance to Roger’s home.  The great advantage of Montagu was that almost everywhere was in walking distance!

The conversation over dinner revolved around the family history, a subject that interested Nicole more each time they met.  It was clear that Albert was a strong leader of his family, yet he had allowed Emma and the two children the freedom to do whatever they wished, with guidance replacing control.  The two children were allowed space to grow, to develop their own interests and directions, even when it became clear that these would take them away from the central focus of Albert and Emma’s life, the farm.  They had both encouraged their children to pursue their own dreams, never imposing their own ideas on them.

The enjoyable evening came to an end.  As Chad and Nicole were leaving, Sandra spoke.

“You know all about us, Nicole.  When will we learn about you?  I heard from Brian today that you’ve been made a Professor of Laws, and that you’ll be one of the founders of the new Faculty of Law!  I didn’t even know that you were a lawyer!”

“There was never a reason for you to know, Sandra,” Nicole replied with a smile.  “My law degree was not relevant to anything we’ve been doing so far.  I’m pleased and honored by the appointment, but it’s no big deal, really!  I’m looking forward to the work.  I have a number of ideas I would like to incorporate in the new system, if I can convince the people they’re the right way to go!”

Roger looked at the young woman in astonishment.  There was so much he didn’t know about her.  He could understand the appointment.  Everything she had ever done for him, or with him, had been done at an exceptionally high standard, and she never expected praise or gratitude.  She did it simply because it needed to be done!  It made him feel comfortable that people like Nicole were members of the community.

Chad and Nicole drove the few hundred meters to the cottage she shared with Jeff and Meredith.

“Congratulations on the appointment, Nicole!” he said, as they were turning into the driveway.  “If anyone deserves it, you do!”

“Thanks, Chad!  It’s really just another job, but it’s nice to know that people think I’m worthy of their trust.  I imagine you feel that all the time!”

Chad looked at her, searching for any trace of sarcasm.  There was none.  Nicole was much the same as he.  She said what she believed!  He had never known her to exaggerate or dissimulate. 

“I’m pleased you think that!” he said.  “I’m not always so sure that people appreciate what I do!”

“People always know that you have their interests at heart, Chad.  That’s why they trust you!  I’ve seen people accept what you propose blindly, believing it is right, just because you proposed it!  That’s one of the reasons I love you!”

“I’m glad you said ‘one of the reasons’, Nicole.  I'd like to hear the others, some time!”

Nicole leaned over and kissed him.

“You will!  Some time!”  She laughed.  “We need to give some thought to a house of our own, Chad.  I'd like a little farm, where I can grow vegetables and flowers.  Nothing grand, but a place we can call our own!  I love living with Meredith and Jeff, but I would love it more living with just you!”

“I'd like you to come for a drive with me, perhaps on Saturday.  There’s something I want to show you.  Maybe we can look around and see if there’s a particular place that appeals to you.”

“Anytime, but not Saturday morning.  I have a meeting scheduled with the faculty!”  She laughed as she said the word.  It somehow sounded so formal!

“Then you must please write in your diary that I will collect you at the Faculty at twelve-thirty, to take you for a picnic lunch!  That will take until at least five!  We can go to dinner at Antonio’s after that.”

“Another proposal?  How many people will be there this time?”  Nicole laughed again.

“No proposal this time, but maybe a proposition!  Can I take it you’re on?”

“Of course, my love!  How could I resist you when you ask so nicely?”  Nicole kissed Chad again, properly this time, then left the car and walked to her home, waving goodbye as he drove away.  Chad watched her go, wondering how he had managed to attract her. 

The next day was a very fruitful day for Nicole.  She was able to confirm her findings and complete a plan for the improvement of the system.  She left her new office at four-thirty and drove over to Stephen’s office.  She had met him, but never really dealt with him.  His wife, Fiona, a dazzling blonde English beauty, was in the office with him, waiting for her.  Nicole settled down with a cup of coffee and started to describe the problem she was facing, and what she needed to solve it.  The two listened carefully, fitting the pieces together in their minds.  At the end of an hour, Stephen spoke.

“I know the program we’re using in the warehouses now, and I’m pretty sure we can fix the problems.  That program was designed to handle the standard in-out warehouse movements of a typical distributor.  It can handle the multiple location problem quite easily, but we’ll need to develop some sort of chaotic warehousing system, to take care of the random receipts and issues to and from multiple locations.  As you said, there are too many items to be located each in its own standard space.  We need to be able to use the space we have opportunistically, as it becomes available.  I think we can do that fairly easily.  The solution you’ve proposed for the classification of the different types of goods is a very nice way to go!  I hope you don’t mind if I use it in other problem areas I’ve found!  It’s a much better solution than I’ve been able to come up with!”

“How long do you think it will take to do the fixes?  The goods are flowing in fast!  I’ve asked Arthur to bank them straight from the train into an interim warehouse, but that won’t last too long before it’s full!”

Stephen thought for a few seconds, then he looked at Fiona.

“I can get the overall layout of the program sorted by tomorrow lunchtime.  If you can help me with the coding, we should be able to handle that in two days, then another day to test.  Are you happy with that?” 

Fiona worked the times in her mind, estimating the volume of work to be done.  Rewriting an existing program was always more difficult than writing one from fresh, and posed many traps for the unwary!

“I think we can do it, but allow another day for problems.  You never know what will come up until you find it!  We’ll need your approval at a couple of stages.”

“Let’s work on Friday for implementation,” replied Nicole.  “That would be wonderful!  Can you give me some help with the training of the input people?”

“No problem!” replied Fiona.  “That’s the nicest part of the work!”

“Thank you very much,” said Nicole.  “It’s good to have people like you.  In my consultancy work, the rewriting of programs was always the bottleneck!  I had a client who installed a new accounting system, supposedly fully-tested, on January 4th.  They canned the old system, against my advice, and the first accounting results came out of the new system at the end of October!  Fortunately, we had a consultant team in place who were able to patch together enough of a system, with a lot of manual work, that held it all together until the new system was fixed.  The software supplier didn’t seem to be too excited about fixing the problem!”

“I’ve heard of that happening,” replied Stephen.  “Mostly it’s caused by inadequate communication.  When things go wrong, people have the space to start pointing fingers at each other, rather than fixing the problems!  Your briefing is very specific.  It leaves nothing to our judgment, that I can see.  It’s a whole lot easier to work from than most of the specifications that I’ve seen.”

“Thanks for the help!  Please don’t hesitate to call if there’s a problem.”

“Before you go, congratulations on your appointment!” smiled Fiona.  “It was on the email news this morning.  We'd like you to know that we’re all rooting for you!”

Nicole smiled her gratitude as she left the office.  It was always good to hear that people she respected supported her.

*~*

Back at the office, Nicole walked across to Arthur’s office, to find him in a discussion with Barbara and Bettie, working out a plan to develop the trading business.

“We know that it will just increase our problems, even if only a little,” explained Barbara.  “But we all think it is essential to develop the stability of the region as much as we can, and the best way we can do that is by enabling as many people as we can find to start earning a living.  Once people don’t have to scratch around to find enough food to survive each day, they can start putting some effort into building for the future.  That gives them something to lose, and that means that they will also be looking for stability.  The surest way to encourage crime and lawlessness is to incentivize those actions and take away the natural systems that promote cooperation and harmony.  If people have nothing to lose, anything is probably better, or at least not worse!  We’re trying to find ways to attack both sides of the problem, within the limits of affordability.”

“I'd like to think about that.  I agree totally with what you have said,” said Nicole.  “But right now, I'd like to tell you of how we can solve the warehousing problem.”  She joined them at the table and ran through the document that she had given Stephen, and then the proposals they had agreed on.

“You say that we can start coming back to normality by Friday?” asked Arthur.

“We’ll start, but you must realize that training will be required.  Training is always the hardest part of the job!  Whenever you have people, you can’t prescribe!  They must understand why they should do what we need them to do.  We should allow at least a couple of weeks for the new systems to become fully effective.  We’ll also need to find more people to do the work.  We’ll need at least ten additional people until we can get it all in order again.  Say a couple of months for that!”

“I can find a couple of dozen young people who would be willing to do the work,” offered Barbara.  “The university exams finish in two weeks’ time.  Many of the first and second years would be willing to fill in over the break.  It will give them some useful experience, and also exposure to the real world.  If we need them in the new term, we could agree to sponsor them, on the basis of two days work per week.”

“I like the idea,” said Nicole.  “Could you arrange that?  If you give me dates and numbers, I can organize the training with Fiona.  We could easily expand the training by giving them some commercial understanding.  Working in an organization like this will give them a good understanding of the entire procurement and distribution system!”

“You’ll have to help us set that up, Professor,” said Arthur, a twinkle in his eye. “By the way, congratulations on your appointment.  Now I’m sure that you’re the right one for the job!  We need someone who understands the real world to work out the rules that will allow it to happen the way it should!”

Nicole left the office smiling to herself as she headed for her office to deposit the documents she was carrying and collect the ones she would need for her meeting in the morning.  She had not done as much work as she would have liked to prepare for that meeting, but she could free up a couple of hours in the early morning for that.  Tonight was for Chad!

Chapter 14

Nicole was up at four.  The ideas she had crammed into her mind before she went to sleep, after a very pleasant evening with Chad, had been worked on by her subconscious during the night, and, when she awoke, she had a very clear structure in her head.  She made herself a cup of coffee and settled down with her laptop computer to give them some form.  The work was done by eight, and she sent it off by email to the others before she went through for her shower.  She was feeling on top of the world today!  Her small successes of the week had given her a boost, and her engagement to Chad had taken that a giant step further!  She was looking forward to the meeting this morning.  It would, possibly, put her on the path to achieving one of her life’s ambitions, to make a difference for the good for the world.  She had tried to do that in whatever she tackled, but had frequently felt frustrated by the cynicism she encountered virtually everywhere.  The explosion at Yellowstone had changed all of that, but Nicole had been put back, virtually to the beginning, in her effort to achieve the standing that would enable her to succeed in that ambition.  Her books had taken her some way towards that, with many people reading and understanding her thoughts, but that, too, was gone.  She no longer had even the manuscripts of those books!  The chance to assist in the structuring of the new legal system was an opportunity to make the quiet voice of reason heard above the shouting of profit and power!  On top of that, Chad wanted to show her something this afternoon!  She had learned that Chad had an amazing ability to surprise her.  She had not come even close to guessing what the last surprise would be, and she would not even try to guess what this afternoon would bring.  Let it be a surprise!  The one thing she was sure of was that the surprise would be a good one!

She ate her light breakfast quickly, washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, then picked up her bag and laptop case, and walked off towards the university.  It was a wonderful day for a walk through these quiet, semi-rural suburbs.  She strolled slowly, greeting the people she passed, almost every one of them known to her, and many of them friends.  She loved people, and was always willing to stop for a brief chat.  She had found that everyone had value – one needed simply to look for it!  She arrived at the university twenty minutes before the appointed time, and walked into the building.  It had previously been the municipal offices, and there were numerous offices that were not in use.  In the entrance was a notice board.  Nicole stopped to inspect the notices, and saw the title on it:  “Law Faculty - Rooms 16 - 22’.  Duly impressed by the organization, Nicole walked down the passage to her new office near the end.  Her name was on the door of room 16.  It was not locked, so she knocked and walked in.  It was not a luxurious office, but it had the furniture she would need, and it had a wonderful view over the rose garden with the back of the grand old church beyond.  Nicole sat in her chair and pulled the file on the desk to her, opened it and looked at the contents.  It contained a set of documents for the meeting, including a copy of her proposal.  She read the others with interest, and found that many of the points she had made were contained also in the other documents.  That was a good start!  She completed her reading in time to hear the knock on her door.  It was Gerard. 

“We’ll be meeting in the conference room at the end of the hall in two minutes,” he said with a smile.

“I’m ready right now!” she replied, picking up her bag, the folder of documents and her laptop, and walked out.  She and Gerard walked together to the conference room and walked in.  Jane and Jennifer were already there, seated at the end of the long table, their sets of documents before them.  They greeted her, and then got down to work.  The meeting was informal but effective.  They soon worked out an agenda for the meeting, and then set to work on a plan for the new faculty.  They had done much of the thinking between them in preparation for this meeting, and were able to compile the overall plan of the proposed courses within a half hour, and then they started to work out the meat of the courses.  Between them, they would have to plan the entire first year’s study content, as well as have a very clear idea of the second and third years, and all within the next three months!

“Before we go too far on the detail planning, I think that we should have a clear understanding of the structure of the legal system that we’ll be using,” said Nicole.  “We’ll certainly be using a lot of the legal principles that we all studied, but I think that a considerable part of them should be modified.  For example, the European systems require that a part of the estate of a deceased person must go to the immediate family.  The Germans call it the Pflichtteil, the obligatory portion.  Roman Dutch law has no such concept.  In Roman Dutch law, a married woman is treated as a minor, and needs her husband’s consent to enter into a contract, unless it is agreed otherwise by prenuptial agreement,  Both of those systems have rules that have no place in the modern world, in my opinion.  I believe that we should at least come to some agreement on the essential items, such as the age of majority, the rights of women as well as men and children, the status of companies and other incorporated legal personae.  I think they’re all simple matters, but they need the agreement of all of us before we start teaching them, as well as the agreement of the community, since they will form the law that we hope to see in operation in the community before too long.  We could start the courses with a theory of law, and fill in the details as they become developed.  I think a theoretical framework will go a long way to understanding why the laws are formulated as they will be.”

“I agree totally with you, Nicole.”  Gerard looked at the others, saw their nods of agreement.

“The other thing I would like to suggest is that we adopt an approach to laws and lawmaking that is self-explanatory and simple, and allows the people to apply common sense to come to the correct conclusions, rather than using the prescriptive approach that seems to be based on a view that all people are crooks!  If you look at the Companies Act in England or South Africa, it’s a thick document, with hundreds of clauses.  It prescribes every action and prohibition possible in connection with a company, and it seems to me to be designed for lawyers to find loopholes to circumvent the purposes of the law.  I would hate to see that being repeated here!  The Swiss law on companies, on the other hand, is the size of a short paperback novel.  It sets out the object of the law and the principles that will be applied in respect of the whole and of each major area, and then prescribes a few actions, and proscribes a few more.  It’s easy to read, easy to understand, and it achieves what it sets out to do.  It tells people what the lawmakers intended to achieve in the law, and leaves the rest to good sense!  I'd like to see us adopting a similar approach to lawmaking!”

Once again, Gerard saw only agreement amongst the others.

“Semi-finally, and I do know that I’m hogging the discussion, I would like to see that the citizens are actively involved in the making and approval of every law that is passed.  I would like to see that the community votes for every law that is passed, that lawmaking does not become the province of paid politicians who have mainly their re-election in mind!  Let the leaders suggest the laws, but let the people decide!  Also, make any regulation under each law undergo the same vote, so that the regulators are not put into a position where they can become legislators!  And finally, let’s put a mandatory sunset clause on every law or regulation that is passed.  A law was passed in 1798 that created a position for a man to stand on the cliffs at Dover and watch for the arrival of Napoleon’s fleet.  He was paid ten guineas per year, which was quite a lot of money then, and the position was hereditary.  It was finally abolished in 1965, I think!”

There was a general laugh at the example.  Nicole had made her point!

“I think we all agree with you, Nicole,” said Jennifer.  “I think that my proposals were too bound by what I knew, rather than addressing the needs now!  If everyone else agrees, I think we should divide the legal system into categories and give one to each one of us to evaluate the base principles and make recommendations for what they should be in the future.  Once we’ve done that, we can pass them on to the others of us for comment, and then again to the next, so that each of us can build on the views of the others.  Once we have the basic principles clearly stated, we can build a body of laws on them.”

The proposal was accepted, and a list of broad categories drawn up and allocated to those who would work on each one.  A quick glance at the categories gave each of them an idea of the immensity of the task!

“Before we close for today, I would like to make a suggestion for the underlying principle of our future laws,” said Jane.  “I suggest as a broad principle, that each person has the right to do anything that does not interfere with the rights of another.  It’s a simple principle, but it goes to the heart of natural law, the original foundation of every legal system, as well as of most religions, before people started modifying the rules.”  She waited anxiously for the responses of the others.  She was acutely conscious of the fact that she alone, of all of them, had never used her knowledge in the real world!

“I’ll go with that!” declared Nicole.  “It is fair, it will limit the ability of the lawmakers to introduce any repressive legislation, and, above all, it will make our jobs a lot easier!  We’ll only have to look at the cases of conflicting rights, and the adjudication of those rights.  I'd like to think about it more deeply, but it makes sense to me!  It’s certainly much more sensible than the South African Bill of Rights!  That was a lot better than what preceded it, but any intelligent reader could see the fingerprints of the politicians, the political parties and the trades unions all over it.  It really had relatively little to do with the rights of ordinary people, yet it was hailed as one of the most progressive documents worldwide!”

“You’re right, Nicole!  I also support what Jane proposes, as well as what you’ve said.”  Gerard was emphatic in his support.

“I agree,” said Jennifer.  “I think it’s a great way to go!  Right!  We have a lot to do between us.  Do we meet again next Saturday, same time?”

The proposal was agreed, and Nicole walked the short distance back to her office, to take one last look before going out to meet Chad.  She had two minutes to spare, and it was the first time that she had ever had an office with her name of the door!  In her consultancy work, she had always had to make do with the space that the client might have spare, and it was usually shared with the rest of the consultancy team, a situation that she found very useful in the sharing of information and ideas, although the space was usually at the bottom of the range of standards of comfort.  To her surprise, Chad was sitting in the guest chair, writing on a document.  He looked up when Nicole entered, then stood, to hug and kiss her.

“I was just checking what it is like to be a Professor, my love,” he said with a smile.  “I like it!  I think I should try to be one too!”

Nicole laughed at the suggestion.

“I can tell you one thing, after a whole day’s experience!  It’s a lot of work!”

Chad laughed at her comment.

“That’s one thing you’re not afraid of!”  He laughed again.  “Shall we go?  The picnic is packed and in the car, and your driver awaits!”  He bowed deeply.  “We have one call to make before the picnic, and then you can choose the spot.”

Nicole looked at him suspiciously.  She had experience of Chad’s one quick call.  She glanced at her left hand, where she wore the evidence of it.

“I can hardly wait!”

“Wait until you see what I have to show you!”

They walked out to the car, and Chad helped her in.  The action reminded Nicole of a story her father had once quoted to her.  A man held the door open for a feminist woman to pass through.  “You don’t have to hold the door for me because I’m a lady!” she said scathingly.  “I don’t” replied the man.  “I do it because I’m a gentleman!”  The story had stuck in her mind at the age of nine.  She now realized that this was one of the qualities she had subconsciously sought in a man – that he was an innate gentleman!  Chad was certainly one!  As was also Albert, Oscar, John, Roger.  In fact, all of the men she had come to admire.  She looked fondly at her future husband, a warm feeling suffusing through her at the thought.  She had spent years looking, not actually searching, but looking, and all of the men she had really liked were married!  Now there was Chad!

They drove out of town, past the entrance to the farm, and on into the countryside, to where the land started to rise to meet the mountain.  She recognized this area.  She had been here once before, that first day at Montagu, when they had gone on a tractor-trailer tour of the farm.  Ahead of them and off to the left, she saw the road that led to Antonio’s home, a friendly Tuscany farmhouse transplanted into the spectacular scenery.  She had seen it from a distance, and admired it.  Now, knowing the man and his happy family, she could understand how it matched their personalities so well.  The road led to the house and then beyond it, into the mountains and valleys. It was a beautiful road, if that could be said of a road!  It seemed to fit into its surroundings.  She was, somehow, not surprised when Chad turned off the main road onto the sand road that led to the house.  This must be the quick call that he had spoken of.  They drove a short distance down the road, the curve around the foothills of the magnificent mountains opening the view.

“Isn’t that little valley beautiful!” she exclaimed, pointing to a little valley that wound into the foothills.  It had a small stream running down the center of it.  “It’s very much like the valley that we swam in the other day, but not quite as big.”

Chad looked at her, a smile on his face.

“Would you like to drive up it?  I see there’s a small herd of eland and zebra there.”

“Let’s go closer!”  Nicole was excited.  She had not seen game for years, apart from the antelope in the valley they had visited with Roger and Sandra. 

Chad steered off the road, following a set of tire tracks in the grass.  They rounded the curve in the foothill and up the slope some distance, and came to a stop on an elevated stretch of flat land about a hundred meters from where the stream gushed out of the solid rock of a cliff to fall about forty meters to a small pool below.  It seemed that the face of the rock had broken off and fallen to the valley floor, creating the dam that built the small lake they could see, as well as exposing the source of the little stream that fed it.  The view of the mountains, framed by the surrounding hills, was spectacular, and the elevation of the land lifted it enough to enjoy sun for most of the day.  A gentle breeze was channeled by the hills to come up the valley over them.

Nicole got out of the car and came to Chad’s side, holding him tight.

“This is a wonderful place for a picnic, Chad!  Can’t we stop here for lunch?”

“You really like this, Nicole?” he asked gently.

“I love it!  I can’t think of a more perfect spot on Earth!”

“I’m pleased!” he replied.  He looked into her eyes, as her gaze questioned his words.  “It’s yours!  I’ve bought it from Antonio for you.  Our land includes the whole valley, to the crest of the hills, and down to the sand road to Antonio’s house.  I had Rod design us a house, in the same style as Helen and John’s house, right here, with that view!  They plan to have it ready for occupation in six weeks, right after we’re married!”

Nicole had no words to answer this.  She turned her face to him and kissed him passionately.  That was all the answer he needed.

Chapter 15

The weeks went quickly after that.  The house construction began under the supervision of Jonno, the round man who had performed so well in every construction job he was handed in Mount Victoria, on Monday, and it was clear by Friday what the layout was.  It was much easier to see it on the ground than it was trying to imagine it from lines on a plan!  The warehousing project was implemented on time, and results became evident almost immediately, although their full effect would be discernible only after the training was completed.  Nicole was pleased with those results.  They not only achieved the target, but they also freed her up to concentrate on developing a demand model, a system that would ensure that the salvage teams would concentrate on the items most needed by Montagu, even though they would be given discretion to select other items if there was a need, such as recovering them before a building collapsed, or if they were a part of a logical group.  Nicole was well aware of how difficult it was in the field to adhere to rigid instructions that might conflict with the reality on the ground, and she went to great lengths to secure their understanding and acceptance of the needs of ‘the bosses’.  Their total commitment to the objectives and strategy of the group was imperative!  In addition to that, they were the people best placed to ensure that the overall plan was given effect to, and was effective.  Nicole planned to visit the collection points as soon as her law project work freed her for the required time, so that she could fully understand the situation and the problems on the ground.  It was one thing to build a theoretical model that worked on a computer, she had found, and quite another thing to put it into effect in the hustle and confusion of the real world!

The legal project progressed well, building on that first meeting and developing the program as they went.  Meetings were held with dozens of people and their opinions were canvassed.  None of the legal group desired to impose a structure of laws that did not accord with the wishes of the citizens, and their active cooperation in the formulation of those proposed laws was one of the required objectives they had set for themselves.  One of the hardest aspects of that work was to bring about a level of understanding in the people of the elements of legal thinking, to ensure that they understood that the rules would have to stand the test of time and not merely resolve a short-term problem in a way that might breed numerous other problems.

“That’s one of the problems of democracy!” Nicole told Chad one evening.  “For democracy to really work, people have to see and understand the big picture.  For them to agree to make a sacrifice in one area in order to ensure that all the other areas are properly catered for, they have to understand the interlinking of the areas!  We lawyers tend to think in shortcuts!  We don’t have to explain the detail to each other, and we tend to think it’s the same thing with everyone else!  And it isn’t!”

“You’ll handle it, Nicole!  I’ve seen you handle bigger problems, and you have everyone on your side on this one!”

“I hope you’re right!  This is probably the most meaningful project I’ve ever undertaken!  I'd hate to bungle it!”

*~*

The third week after the legal faculty was launched, the next radio call came in.  It was faint, barely audible, but recognizable as a call for help.  The location of the caller was not discernible, but the direction finder that had been installed by Roger, a more sophisticated version of his crude Mount Victoria model, located the direction of the transmitter as being a few degrees east of north.  That could mean almost anywhere in Africa!  They waited for a repeat of the call, but none came for more than a week.  They had almost given up hope when the next call came in.

“Montagu, can you read me?”

“I read you very poorly, caller.  Please identify your location.”

“I am in La Madallena on Sardinia.  I have a group of forty two, including me.  Where are you?”

“We are in Montagu, in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.”

“Oh!”  The single syllable contained a world of disappointment.  It was clear that the caller saw no prospect of help coming from so far away.

“What is your condition, caller?”  The checklist of questions had been written down in the radio operator’s manual, always on the desk next to the microphone.

“We are surviving, but not very well!  There were a number of criminal gangs roaming around, but we believe that we killed the last of them about eight months ago.  We’ve seen nothing since then.”

“Are you in urgent need of help, caller?”

“It is not urgent yet, but with the cold, we will probably not survive another winter.  The ice was down south of Florence last year, and it is moving south about a couple of hundred kilometers each year.  The warmth of the sea around the island has moderated the cold a little.  It will be here right through summer by next year!  We have enough food from stores here for another six months, and we catch enough fish to feed us about once a week.  What is your condition, Montagu?”

“We are doing well, caller.  We can come to you, but it will require several months.  Can you hold on that long?”

“We will, Montagu!  It has been the hopelessness that has been the worst!”

“I will report this conversation up the line, caller.  Please call us on this frequency for an update, or monitor it if we can’t hear you.  We will broadcast every day on this frequency at this time, but hold now.  I will attempt to get a time for you.’

“I’ll hold, Montagu.”  There was a sound of hope in the man’s voice.

Monty, the duty man on the radio, grabbed his VHF radio and called.  “We have a contact from Sardinia!  I need information!”

Roger and Sandra, on the way home from the hospital heard the call, and diverted to the library.  Monty gave them the information in great excitement.  He had hardly finished when John and Helen drove up, closely followed by Chad and Nicole.

Roger got on his radio and called Barbara, who would be watching over the two children as they did their homework.

“Barbara, we’ve had a call for help from Sardinia.  I need to work out some distances and times.  Could you grab the briefcase of charts and drawing instruments I have on the floor of the left-hand wardrobe in my bedroom, and bring it here?  It will save some time!”

“I’ll be there in five!” she promised.

Barbara was as good as her word.  She bustled in, the children with her, and put the case down on the table that Roger had cleared.  He broke off from the planning discussion, extracted the world routing chart and made some quick calculations.  It was completed much more quickly this time than the first time he had done it, in Australia!

“We can be there in three weeks!”

Monty picked up the microphone. 

“Sardinia, this is Montagu, do you copy?  Over.”  The response came quickly.

“Montagu, I hear.  Over.”

“Sardinia, we can be there in about three weeks.  Is that acceptable?  Over.”

“It’s not just acceptable, Montagu.  It’s miraculous!  Over.”

“Where will we find you, Sardinia?  Over.”

“We will wait at the yacht club on the north end of the island, Montagu.  Over.”

“We will see you there, Sardinia.  Do you copy?  Over.”  There was no reply.  The static built, and it was clear that the conversation could not be resumed.  Resignedly, Monty put the microphone down.

“We got what we needed, Monty.  Good work!”

The team swung into action, benefiting from the practice last time.  Sandra produced her list of crew, the same as the last time, but omitting Amelia and Helen, both of whom would give birth at about the scheduled return date, as well as John and Deon.

Roger looked at the list and pointed to Chad’s name.

“He and Nicole are planning to marry shortly after we reach Sardinia,” he said.  “Will it be fair to drag them with us?”

“There’s not a lot of choice.  With Amelia out, we need Nicole to navigate, and Chad’s your right-hand man.  Apart from you and me, there’s no-one else.  I’m sure they won’t object.  I’ve also left Brian out.  He needs to be here for the births, and there don’t seem to be any medical problems to deal with in Sardinia.  I want to speak to Peter.  He’s also a doctor, but, if he can’t come, I’m sure I can cope with the medical side.  Perhaps we can swap some of the people around.  Bring other members of the Scout Group, for instance, and maybe a few others who would like to make the trip.  It could be a good reward for good performance!”

“Let’s ask the others what they think,” replied Roger.

The train left early the next morning to take the provisions to the ship.  It was followed a couple of hours later by the first bus, and an hour later by the second.  The Reef Explorer pulled out of harbor by five that afternoon.  The departure was no longer a suspenseful event for Roger, and they cleared the harbor without any difficulty, sailing out into the Atlantic on a beautiful, calm, afternoon.  Roger, who had studied the sailing directions for the proposed route, headed out on a north-west course for a couple of hours, wanting to clear the danger areas of the West Coast while still taking advantage of the north-flowing current.  That allowed him to cut the engine speed back to thirteen knots, added to the two knots of current. 

The first night out at sea, as always, was wonderful.  They were in a safe position, well clear of any dangers, and the weather was mild.  The clear skies allowed them to take several star sights, mainly to brush up their navigating skills, and the fixes placed them squarely on the planned route.  Roger took the first night watch, allowing Sandra to attend to the two children, who had come as passengers.  There were six other children on board, as well as Barbara, who was to act as teacher for the voyage, and Jim, who signed on as ‘Assistant Babysitter.’  Roger was standing on the bridge wing when Nicole and Chad came up to him.

“We’ve been discussing things, Roger.  Seeing that you’re the Captain of the ship, and you have the authority to do so, we'd like you to marry us.”

Roger looked at them.  He should have thought of that!

“With pleasure,” he replied.  “Shall we arrange it for tomorrow?”

“When will we cross the equator?” asked Nicole.

“I’m not sure.  Probably in about three days.”

“That’s fine, then.  Let’s do it tomorrow.”

“What does the equator have to do with it?”

“People have some strange ideas about crossing the equator,” Nicole replied.  “I didn’t want them to think that our wedding was some sort of practical joke!”

“Yeah, you know that Australians have a strange sense of humor sometimes!” added Chad.

Roger laughed at that.  He was well aware of that sense of humor!

The couple went off to stand on deck and watch the stars, and Roger settled down to check his route planning.  It was easy to make an error of a few degrees in planning the course, and any mistake could be dangerous.  He was working at this when, suddenly, a thought struck him.  Jane, Ron, Peter and Pam were all experienced sailors!  They had sailed more than three quarters of the way around the world, without mishap.  He recalled a discussion when Jane had told him that Peter had married her and Ron during the trip, in his capacity as temporary Captain!  Why had he not thought of them?  He grabbed the crew list from the folder on the Purser’s desk and scanned down the list.  Yes, they were all there.  They were listed by surname, a form of address that he never used, so he had not recognized their names.  Relieved, he called one of the crew.

“Please go to these people, and ask them if they would like to join me on the bridge.”  The crewman, a young mechanic in training under Ron, took the list and ran off.  A few minutes later, the four joined Roger on the bridge.

“I must apologize,” Roger said.  “In the rush of leaving, it slipped my mind completely that we have you four, all much more experienced sailors that I!”

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Roger!” replied Jane.  “We watched how expertly you handled the ship when we departed.  I doubt that any of us could have done it as well.  I came along so I could work with Nicole on the legal project, and Peter came to assist Sandra if there are any medical problems.  Ron is here because I didn’t want him alone back there with all those gorgeous women, although we have Nicole and Sandra with us, and Pam came for a vacation!  She’s also decided that it would be a good chance to work on the ship’s library.  We loaded about a thousand of the duplicate books we have back in Montagu, to give all of us some reading to do during the voyage!  We’re all having fun!”

“Even so, I would love to have you working with us on the bridge!  As you know, we left Amelia behind because of her pregnancy, and she was the Chief Navigator.”

“We'd love to pitch in, Roger, even though we’re sure you don’t need us!  It’s fun navigating, but none of us has ever run a ship anywhere near this size!”  Ron smiled at Roger, his smile friendly and unconcerned.

“Let me show you how we’ve planned the voyage,” said Roger.  He walked them through the planning and the reasons for the route he had chosen, feeling quite uncertain about showing his lack of skill.  He need not have been concerned.

“As I said earlier, Roger, you don’t need us.  I wouldn’t have done it any different.”  Ron smiled again, recognizing the concern in Roger and the reason for it, and appreciating the candor of the man.  It could not have been easy to lay it all bare before four experienced sailors!  He thought that Roger must be highly intelligent to have gone from a total lack of knowledge to taking on the captaincy of a ship this size!

Sandra came onto the bridge.

“Oh, hello Peter.  I’m glad you’re here.  I was looking for you!  It struck me that we might need to plan for some of the problems those people may be suffering from.  I’m sure that malnutrition is one, but there may be others, like scurvy.”

“Can we do that in the morning, Sandra?  There’s plenty of time, and we’re discussing the route planning with Roger.  He’s doing a great job!”

“Of course!  He’s a great Captain.  None of us have ever been worried, even when we were attacked by pirates as we were about to leave Sydney.  I don’t know how Roger got us through that, but he did!  We all knew he would!”

Roger looked fondly at his wife as she went on to tell the whole story, of how he, as a total novice, with less than one hour experience, had managed to undock the ship then, when they stopped and lost their forward motion near the Heads in Sydney Harbor, how he managed to correct the course in the face of an incoming tide, get through the Heads and recover from the effects of a strong cross-current a short distance outside the heads.  He thought that only a wife could ignore the bumbling effort he had made to avert disaster.  He was shocked when Nicole spoke from behind him.

“Sandra has understated the story,” she said.  “I was on the bridge, and I watched as Roger caught the swing, using the prop walk to correct our attitude and get us on a straight course, then take us through the Heads without any problem.  When the current hit us, he was ready for it, and almost no-one noticed how he corrected the course!  And all that, with a total sailing experience of about forty-five minutes!”

“I was on the aft deck, checking out the pirates, and I didn’t even notice what we were doing!” said Chad.  “Listening to the story now, I wish I'd been on the bridge!  I might have learned something!”

“We came out of Sydney and we know just what you’re talking about!” said Pam.  “I guess some people are just born experts!  I wouldn’t have tried a voyage like that in a ship this size!  Certainly not without a couple of years’ experience!”

“Maybe I was too stupid to know better!” said Roger.

“Yeah, sure!” replied Chad.  “We sailed around the north of Australia, through the shallows and islands, and into Darwin, which has to be one of the hardest harbors in Australia to manage a ship in.  Then we sailed across the Indian Ocean, hid out in a bay with an entrance only a little wider than the ship, from a storm that went on for five days, and then into Cape Town without a scratch on the boat.  And all that with eight hundred and sixty eight people on board!  You'd have to be pretty stupid to do that!”

“I'd love to hear more about your experiences, Pam and Jane,” said Nicole, noticing Roger’s discomfort with the praise.  “They would make a fascinating book!”

“It was interesting,” said Jane.  “It started for me when I won a week’s stay in the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.  I'd not read the prize conditions, and I really needed a break.  I was just about finished writing my thesis for a Doctorate of Laws degree.”

Nicole was writing unobtrusively as Jane spoke.  She loved the story, the intensity of the fear when the tsunami hit, nearly turning them over, the concern when they received the Mayday call from the sinking Green Flash, out in the wide Pacific Ocean, from a couple on a badly damaged yacht in the dark of night, with two adults and two young children on board.  Pam and Peter took up the story there, telling of how the two of them, with their two children, set out from Port Elizabeth, intending to sail around the world, taking their time and educating the children as they went, only to be overturned by the giant tsunami that had nearly done the same to Gentle Jane.  Jane and Ron had heard their Mayday call, and come to their rescue, starting the joint voyage together, a voyage that would take three years to complete with their arrival in Cape Town.  Nicole made her unobtrusive notes, putting the story together in her mind as they talked, seeing how the series of events linked together in a form of chain reaction.  She knew that this would be one of her best books ever.

The discussions went on for a couple of hours, then, when they had reached the end of it, Ron asked if Roger could give a run-down of the instruments and controls.  He and the others asked questions about the handling of the ship in different conditions that told Roger that they really knew what they were talking about.  They made the arrangement to shorten the watches to three hours, allowing each couple to go on watch together, and still get a decent night’s sleep.  Roger handed over the watch to Jane and Ron at twelve, and he and Sandra went to bed, happy that the ship was in good hands.  Roger was up again at five-thirty.  He showered quickly and went to the bridge, leaving Sandra to sleep another hour.  Chad and Nicole were on watch.  Nicole was working out the star sights she had taken a few minutes earlier, and Chad was standing nearby, watching her work.  Nicole looked up when she noticed Roger standing there.

“I noticed your face last night, Roger.  There’s no cause for you to doubt your capabilities.  Everyone on board was immensely proud of you and what you achieved.”

Roger looked carefully at her, feeling that she had read his mind.  Her words gave him a feeling of great comfort, a belief that he really was capable of what Sandra expected of him.

“Thanks, Nicole,” he said, his voice husky.  “That means a lot to me.”

Pam and Peter came onto the bridge.

“Good morning,” called Pam cheerily.  “It looks like a beautiful day!”  She ducked out again, to return with a tray of cups and a jug of coffee.  Roger felt himself warming to her.  Anyone who can wake up cheerful at five in the morning, and then bring coffee is a person to be appreciated!

Nicole and Chad went below to their cabins to catch a few hours sleep, and Roger turned to Pam, where she stood looking out of the window onto the wide, featureless expanse of Atlantic Ocean.

“Nicole and Chad have asked me to marry them today,” he informed her.  “I remembered last night that the same happened with Ron and Jane.  Perhaps you can give me some advice on how you went about it.  It seems a little cold to say a few words and send them packing!”

“You’re right there!” replied Pam.  “That’s not going to happen!  Fortunately, we have loads of people to help with the preparations, and the two of them are asleep for a few hours.  Can you help Peter with my duties while I get things organized?”

Without waiting for a reply, Pam whisked out through the bridge door to get things moving.  Nicole and Chad came back into the bridge three hours later, and Roger found half a dozen things for them to do, to keep them away from the preparations.  Sandra, warned by Pam, brought them breakfast on the bridge, then Jane came in and asked Nicole her advice on several weighty legal questions, while Roger occupied Chad with working out the precautions they could take in the event of any aggressive action against the ship.  Finally, Sandra gave Roger the thumbs up sign, and Roger could relax.

“You mentioned that you would like to be married today,” he said.  “I think eleven would be a good time.  You have an hour to prepare.  Why don’t you go below and get ready.  I'd like to see you in the lounge at eleven sharp!  I’ll see if we can get some passengers to act as witnesses.”

The two walked out, arm in arm, looking forward to their new lives together, and without a suspicion in their minds about what was taking place around them.

“Let’s go to Nicole and see if she has something suitable to wear,” said Pam to Sandra.  “That blue dress she wore the other night was stunning!  It may not be the right color, but I’ve prepared a white veil, so that will be enough!”

“I can do better than that!” replied Sandra.  “I knew that Monica was making a wedding dress for Nicole, so I asked her to bring it over.  It was almost ready, and Monica was able to give it the finishing touches before we left for Cape Town!  Roger had said that it would be unfair to bring the two of them with us and disrupt their marriage plans, so I decided we would have the wedding on board!  They can have another ceremony for all their friends in Montagu when we get back!”

“Let’s get it and surprise her!”

The two women went to the Captain’s cabin and took the wrapped wedding dress down to Nicole, then helped her with the preparations.  It was the first time that Sandra had ever seen Nicole, always cool and controlled, in a state of nerves.  Their presence calmed her down, and she was ready by the appointed time.  They brought her up to the lounge, where she waited in a serving room until Chad arrived, accompanied by Roger.  Nicole was about to walk through the door to join her husband to be, when the door opened and Albert stepped in, resplendent in a freshly-pressed suit.

“I would be very disturbed if you did not give me the honor of giving you away!” he said, in his formal way.  “I’m the closest you’ll get on this ship to a father!”  He offered Nicole his arm, and they walked down the aisle, followed by Britney, Sandra’s daughter and Penny, Pam’s daughter, as flower girls.  Nicole was astonished to see that the lounge was packed, with almost all of the passengers and crew present.  The wedding march came over the speakers, and a hush fell on the assembled crew and passengers. 

They reached the head of the aisle, and Nicole transferred her hand from Albert’s arm to Chad’s.  Roger started to speak.

“We are gathered together to witness the marriage of Nicole to Chad….”

The ceremony was a roaring success, followed by an even better party, one that went on through lunch and into the late afternoon.  At the end of it all, Roger excused himself to attend to the navigation, having left the responsibility to a succession of junior crew, closely supervised by the more experienced people.  He walked past Nicole and Chad, and whispered to them.

“I wish both of you the happiness that Sandra and I have had.  And, to make that possible, you’re both excused watch duty for the next three days.  And nights!”  He turned to leave, glad that two of his best friends had become united.

Chapter 16

The cruise continued, the ship performing faultlessly and the weather holding good.  It was a pleasure cruise in every sense of the word.  They crossed the equator a couple of days after the wedding, and there was another party, then they rounded the bulge of Africa, and started their approach to the Mediterranean.  The weather remained good, although the temperature stated to drop.  By the time they reached the Straits of Gibraltar, the temperature was hovering at around eight degrees Celsius at the peak, and dropping to near zero at night.  The inflowing current at the Strait was not to be seen.  The water was almost stationary.  That worried Roger a little.  The current was one of those standing things that never changed.  He had read that submarines made use of it during the Second World War, submerging to a depth of two hundred feet outside, in the Atlantic, and being swept through the Straits on the current without using their motors.  After puzzling at it for half a day, it suddenly struck him why the change had taken place.

“The Mediterranean is, or was, a vast evaporating pan,” he explained to Sandra.  “Huge quantities of water evaporate every day, and they are replenished by the current flowing in from the Atlantic.  It runs at up to six knots across a twenty mile wide Strait!  That’s a huge quantity of water!  Now the evaporation has virtually stopped!  It’s so cold that there’s no more evaporation!  The Mediterranean has become stagnant!  I’m sure that even the rivers have stopped flowing into it, now that they’re all frozen.  Those are some of the biggest rivers in the world!  The Nile, the Danube, the Po, the Rhone.  That will have a huge effect on the marine life of the Mediterranean!”

“I’m glad we live in Montagu!” was Sandra’s reply.

They ran the last thousand miles to Sardinia at fifteen knots, covering the distance by the morning of the third day after they entered the Mediterranean.  They stood off the harbor mouth and looked through their binoculars for any form of life.  There was nothing to be seen.  Then Roger gave a long blast on the ship’s foghorn.

“That will be enough to waken the dead,” he remarked to Chad.  “Prepare to repel boarding by zombies.

There was a quick result.  People came pouring out of the yachts tied up in the marina.  They looked around wildly to see the source of the sound, the loudest noise they had heard in the past three years, and spotted the Reef Explorer off the mouth of the small harbor.  The sight brought a ragged cheer from them.  Roger debated with himself whether he should take the ship into the harbor, then decided against it.  He could see the hulk of a small ship lying half-submerged in the harbor turning basin, and he could not be sure that there were no underwater obstacles.  They lowered the boats, and crewmen steered them in to the ferry bay.  People came streaming over to them, carrying small parcels wrapped in paper, pieces of canvas or even flags taken from the yachts in the marina.  They boarded the boats, assisted by the solicitous crewmen, and were ferried out to the ship, where they boarded using the gangplank lowered from the loading hatch in the port side.  As they emptied, the boats returned to the shore to fetch more people.  It saddened those on board the Reef Explorer to see the people arriving, their clothes in poor condition and a haunted expression in their eyes, as they came on board, each clutching a tiny bundle that was all they had left of their lives, apart from each other.  They all knew the thoughts that were going through the minds of those people.  Eventually, the man on shore who had been coordinating the exodus boarded the last boat with three others, and was ferried out to the ship.

Nicole was watching the whole operation from the bridge wing, furiously writing notes of the scene and of her impressions.  Now she stiffened, then reached for the binoculars kept on the wing.  She studied the man for a second, then shrieked.

“Nick!  Nick!  She waved frantically, then ran down the ladder to the loading bay.  She arrived in time to see the last man being helped aboard.  He was of average height, very upright, aged in his late sixties.  Nicole ran to him, hugged him tight.

“You’re safe!  I knew it!  You’re safe!”

“I always told you that there’s lots of life left in me!” he said.  “How are you, Nicole?  You’re looking just as wonderful as ever!  Perhaps even more so!”

Nicole turned to Chad, who was standing with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Chad, this is Nick, my boss and partner.  Nick, this is Chad, my husband!”

Nick put his hand out to Chad, a smile in his eyes.

“I’m glad to meet you Chad!  I never thought that Nicole would meet a man good enough for her!  You have my congratulations and best wishes! I would have married Nicole myself, if I had been thirty years younger, and if she would have accepted, which I doubt.”  He smiled again.  “I can see we both have a lot to catch up on!  It’s amazing how much can happen in only three years!  But first, I would like to be sure that the people are comfortable.”  He put his hand on Nicole’s arm in a gesture of love and respect, the closest he had ever come to embracing her before this morning, and then walked down the passage, following the queue, and accompanied by Nicole and Chad.

Sandra, Peter and two nurses were attending to the new arrivals.  The nurses did a cursory check, then separated the people into two groups:  Those who were obviously in need of medical attention were set to one side, where Peter or Sandra could attend to their needs, and those with no visible medical problem to the other side.  Those with no medical problems were booked in and taken to their cabins by the crew, helped by the children, and there they were brought a small supply of clothing allocated by gender and size, and invited to take a warm shower and then join the rest of the people in the ship’s lounge.  Those with medical problems were dealt with as quickly as a thorough job would permit, and then taken to their cabins. 

When they arrived in the ship’s lounge, the people were each given a plate of crackers and cheese and a cup of coffee or tea to tide them over until they were all gathered there, then taken to the dining room for breakfast.  The meal was a light one, on the advice of the medical staff, enough to give them energy and to start the process of rebuilding their wasted bodies, but not too heavy on their digestive systems.

Roger came down to address them once he had taken the ship a half-dozen miles from the island.

“I welcome you all aboard on behalf of the people of Montagu.  We’re a small group of people who have survived the catastrophe largely through the foresight of two people, who built the foundations of our group.  It has been the policy of the group to welcome any peaceful survivors as fellow humans.  We extend that welcome to you too.  We have a small clothing store, where you are welcome to select the clothing that fits you and meets your desires.  The first allocation was to ensure that you had something to keep you warm and comfortable!  The clothing will be issued to you free of cost or obligation.  We will return to Montagu shortly, where you will experience warmth, of the weather and of your fellow survivors.  Please take the time on this voyage to get to know our crew and passengers.  They are all here to help you, to give you information and to answer your questions.  I'd like to add that there is no cost and no obligation attached to this voyage, or to your stay in Montagu.  You are free to stay or to go, as you please.  You are our honored guests.”  Roger stepped down, allowing the crewmembers to continue the service of food.  He saw that the survivors had relaxed a little, seeming to be more confident, more assured of their welcome.  He returned to the bridge, happy that the voyage had, thus far, achieved its objective.  He saw that Nicole was deep in conversation with the elderly man she had called to, who was standing there with his wife, a soft-natured woman f the same age, and he wondered what the connection was.  He was pleased to see that Chad was a part of the conversation, with Nicole resting her hand lightly on his arm, or touching his cheek from time to time.  He could see the obvious affection between Nicole and the man, and he felt glad for his friend that he was being so clearly included.

Back on the bridge, he found Ron had taken control.  He walked up to him.

“I was wondering whether there’s any chance that there are other survivors in the cities of the south,” he said.  “Do you think there’s any point in visiting them and blowing the horn?”

Why not?” answered Ron.  “There were some here.  There may be others, without radios.  Let’s give it a go.”

They set about plotting a course down the coast of Italy.  It took them only a few hours to reach the first town on the coast.  The horn blast brought no response from the shore.  They carried on down the coast, blasting the horn at intervals, but achieved no response.  The crew grew more despondent as they went.  Their hopes had been raised by the one group of survivors and they had hoped that their presence would draw more out of the hiding they had obviously been forced into.  Now, attempt after attempt failed, and they were losing hope.

Nick, the man that Nicole had been talking with, came up to the bridge before lunch.

“I don’t think there’s much hope,” he said.  “We were on the mainland, and we had to flee from the invaders.  They came from Africa as soon as the snow came.  They took everything the people had.  I managed to gather these people together in a village that had already been destroyed, after the armed men had left it, then, when the numbers of the invaders increased, we stole a number of boats from the harbors nearby, and escaped to Sardinia one night.  The savages had already been there and seemed to have taken everything that would be of value to them, so we had some hope that they would leave us in peace.  Twice, groups of them came.  We managed to set up ambushes and killed the lot of them!  The last group was dealt with about nine months ago.  There were twenty of them.  They were starving, so weak it was like killing babies.  If only they had asked for help, we would have done what we could, but they wanted only to take, so we had no choice!  It’s my guess that they have all died off, but they took everyone else with them!”

“What are the chances of finding people in Malta or Sicily?”

“I'd say slim.  I started off in Palermo, and the violence there was brutal!  If there is any hope, I'd say it will be in France or Spain.  I don’t know whether those people reached that far!”

“What do you think, Ron?”

“I'd go with what Nick says,” he replied.  “It makes sense.  Why don’t we sprint to the south, blowing the horn frequently and checking as we go?  If we don’t find any people by nightfall, we can head off to the Cote d’ Azure.”

They put the plan into effect, but no amount of horn blowing could elicit a response.  When darkness fell, they continued sailing south along the coast for another hour, looking for fires or lights, anything to hint at human life, but there was still nothing.  Finally, despondent, they set course for Nice.

They arrived there at daybreak and blew the horn.  Nothing.  They moved off down the coastline, checking frequently, but there was nothing.  The entered the Bay of St Tropez and tried again as they sailed down the southern coast of the Bay towards the town of St Tropez.  They were on the point of leaving when they saw a movement on the battlement of the old fort.  Roger brought the Reef Explorer in closer, hoping to get an improved angle of vision.  An excited inspection through binoculars finally revealed the disappointing origin of the movement.  A tattered remnant of a flag was blowing in the breeze!  Roger was about to give the order to turn about and leave the Bay when Albert came onto the bridge.

“Please go further along the beach, Roger.  Just a little, to where it curves.  Both Oscar and I feel that there is something there.”  Roger complied, knowing that his father was right.  He had no rational basis for the belief, but he knew!  Two minutes later, they saw them.  There were two children standing next to the wreck of a fishing boat on the beach! 

Roger took the ship in as close as he dared to the beach, and stopped there. anchoring a couple of hundred yards off.

“Chad, please take a boat and a couple of men to collect those children, and whoever is with them.”

Chad hurried below to attend to the request.  This would be a very pleasant duty!  When the boat came into view of the bridge, Roger saw that Nicole and Sandra were among the crew.  Shocked, he was on the point of ordering the boat to return, when he saw Nicole calling out, both hands raised in a gesture of appeal.  The children, who had retreated up the beach, heading away from the overturned boat, turned around and looked at her, then started talking, responding to her words.  Nicole was answering them, as the boat drew slowly closer to the beach.  She stepped into the water alone, disregarding the icy water up to her knees, still talking to the children, coaxing them closer.  Pam held out a couple of apples, and that did the trick!  The children came up closer, and Pam passed the apples to Nicole, who held them out at arm’s length as she waded a little closer in to the beach.  One child, the older of the two, came, wading into the water, and snatched an apple, then retreated to the wreck, handing the fruit through a hole in the hull.

“There are more in that wreck!” gasped Ron.  Watching though the binoculars, he had seen a blur of movement inside the wreck!

Nicole stood motionless, holding the remaining apple out.  She was still speaking, stopping to listen to the responses of the children, then she turned to Pam in the boat.  Pam lifted the handheld VHF and spoke into it.

“There are five more of them.  Can you send seven hot meals over?  They’re starving.”

The whole of the ship’s crew had been listening on the PA system, relaying the radio conversation.  Now they leaped into action, heating seven dishes of meat, vegetables and gravy, and seven mugs of thick soup with slices of buttered bread.  Soon a second boat was scuttling over the water, with Nick and Albert holding the trays of food on their laps.  They reached the beach some distance from the children, and the two old men stepped out onto the sand, still carrying the trays of food.  The children watched them suspiciously, and they placed the trays carefully on the beach near to Nicole.  Nick said something to the children.  They appeared to understand, and they laughed, calling back to him.  After several minutes, the two men walked back to their boat, boarding it, but not pushing off.  Soon, a group of the children trooped down the beach from the boat, led by the girl who had snatched the apple from Nicole’s hand, and sat on the sand, eating the food that had been placed there.  It was clear that they were starving, as they crammed mouthfuls of food into their mouths, as though they were afraid it would disappear.  Nicole squatted down in the icy water, to come to their level, and talked with them as they ate.  Now it was a conversation.  The children were responding to her words between mouthfuls of warm food.  The watchers on the ship saw Nicole turn to Pam and say something.  Pam lifted her radio and spoke into it.

“Won’t you ask Stephen, Penny, Sammy and Dianna and any of the other children who feel like it to come over?  We need to reassure these kids, and we think that the best argument will be other children their age.”

Soon another boat was moving across the water, this time filled with eight children.  The effect was magical!  The children on the beach looked at the boat, saw the children and waved.  The new children jumped onto the beach and ran over to those already there.  Britney went to one of the older girls and took her hand, leading her back to the boat.  The others followed, carrying their plates of food, and climbed into the lifeboat, settling down on the seats to continue their meal.  The boat reversed away from the beach, and crawled across to the ship, moving slowly with the precious cargo.  The boat carrying Pam and Nicole came up behind them, and the two women boarded with them, leading them to the sickbay, where Peter and Sandra were waiting to receive them.  Back on the beach, Nick and Albert walked across to the wreck and crawled under it, soon reappearing with armloads of clothing, sacks, bedding and toys.  They deposited them in their boat, then returned to check they had missed nothing before returning to the ship.  They knew how valuable those possessions would be to the children!

In the sickbay, Nicole was busy translating the questions of the medical staff and the answers that the children gave. It was clear that she had established a good rapport with them, the conversation flowing freely.  Finally, Sandra and Peter agreed that it would be alright to let the children go to their cabins, accompanied by the other children, all chattering away in languages that each of the others could not understand.  Much of the conversation was translated by means of touching objects or pointing, or by acting out the words that they spoke.  Nurses helped them to undress and shower, using delousing shampoo, before drying them with large fluffy towels and dressing them with new clothing from the ship’s store.  When they were done, the children came to the play area, where they settled down with a warm drink, while Nicole and Nick talked to them, telling them about Montagu and explaining what was happening.  Chad stood by, bemused.  He had known that Nicole was an accomplished linguist, but this was far beyond his understanding.  He loved watching her deal with the children!

Eventually, Nicole was able to report that the children had assured her that there were no others left alive in the town.  Roger gave the order, and Reef Explorer moved forward, in a long curve to take them slowly past the other towns alongside the bay.  Watchers on the bridge could see no further signs of life.

They left the Bay of St Tropez and moved down the French coast, stopping wherever there was a sign of people having lived, but finding no further survivors.  Once the children had finished eating and drinking, they lay down for a nap under warm blankets.  This was the first time any of them had been warm in the past three years!  Once they were all asleep, Nicole came to the bridge to report.  She was accompanied by Albert and Nick.

“Those kids have been living like this for the past three years!  Their parents were all killed when a large group of armed men came here, shortly after the snow started.  One of the parents told them to hide under the boat wreck.  They did that, and could hear shooting and shouts, and there was no-one left alive when the men left the next day.  They survived by catching seabirds and fish, eating mussels, crabs and seaweed, scratching through the rubbish for anything edible!  It amazes me that they’re still sane!  You can see how close to death they are!  Yet when Nick made a joke in colloquial French, they were still able to laugh.  You should see them now!  They’re fast asleep in a huddle, as they always slept, to keep warm.  One of them, little Alphonse, is holding onto a crust of bread as though his life depends on it!  This is the result of the failure of governments to protect their citizens!”

The others on the bridge could see the anger in Nicole’s eyes.  They knew that if she could get hold of the men who had caused this, there would be no stopping her!

There was silence on the bridge for long minutes, then Albert spoke.

“I think we should go to the Bahamas.  There is nothing more for us in Europe.”  He looked at Roger, seeking his agreement, found it, and walked away, followed by Nick.

“How are our stores,” Roger asked.  Nicole sat at her desk and did a quick calculation, referring to some tables and notes.

“We can get there and stay for up to ten days, assuming that we bring twenty people on board.  If there are more, we can cut down on our own food.  None of us would object to that.”

“Please give us a course for Nassau.” 

Ron was on the bridge, sitting at the navigation desk.  He had a sensation of déjà vu as Albert had made his request to Roger, suddenly knowing it was the right thing to do.  He had even taken the routing chart from the chart drawer in readiness for Roger’s decision.  Now he complied with Roger’s request, discussing the pros and cons of the possible routes with Nicole, who came over to the navigation desk.

*~*

Roger blessed Nora for her conversion of the ship to hydrogen power.  It gave then a practically unlimited range, the only constraint being the amount of food they carried.  His first order after they left the Bay of St Tropez was to cut back by ten per cent on the amount of food served to anyone other than the refugees and the children.  They were to have whatever they could eat.

The Reef Explorer sailed out of the Mediterranean and headed on the direct route to the Bahamas.  Roger and his navigators were betting that the Gulf Stream, which in the past would present a contrary current at this latitude, would have slowed or stopped in the present condition.  They won the bet, and they made good time across the Atlantic, crossing the standing high around the Azores without a problem.  They curved in to New Providence Island, the main island in the Bahamas, although not the biggest by any means, making landfall at sunrise.  The huge Atlantis Resort was still there, reflecting the rosy light of the rising sun.  The air was cold, even though it was high summer, but the sea was calm.  They curved around into the harbor, calling on their radio, but getting no response.  Roger brought the ship in to the dock with his customary aplomb, and two crewmen, who had gone ashore in a lifeboat, tied the ship up.  There was no other ship there.  Even the yellow and blue mail boat, an unmistakable symbol of the Bahamas, was missing.  The Scout group went ashore, looking for signs of life.  There was nothing.  Roger waited more than an hour, then gave a long blast on the foghorn.  They waited a little longer, watching carefully, but still there was nothing.  Roger gave another long blast on the horn before he called the Scout Group in on the VHF radio, and made ready to leave.  There were hundreds of other islands in the group to search.  He was not looking forward to that!  The shallow water would make the search hazardous, complicated by the areas of rapid current, where the tide, flowing through the passes between the islands, created a navigational nightmare!  Suddenly, Jane, standing on the bridge wing with Ron and talking about how they had met in Atlantis six weeks before the explosion of Yellowstone, saw a movement in the top floor of the resort.  She reached for the binoculars and checked, hoping that it was not just a curtain flapping in the wind.

She called.

“I think we may have found someone!   There, on the top floor, the tenth window from the right-hand side!”  Her call brought several people out onto the bridge wing, and four other pairs of binoculars were trained on the spot.  It was a woman!  She was standing in the shadows of the window, waving her hand in a weak signal to them!

Roger called the Scout Group, giving directions.  They ran across the long bridge and up to the resort.  They climbed the dark stairs to the top floor, puffing with the exertion after so long at sea.  When the leader of the group reached the top floor, he saw a woman standing in the doorway.

“Come quick!  My husband is very ill”

The Scout Group man was a trained paramedic.  He rushed into the room and saw a man lying on the bed, his body covered with perspiration, even in the cool air entering through the open window.  He got on his radio and called for Peter or Sandra, then knelt beside the bed to conduct an examination of the man.  Peter and Sandra grabbed their medical bags, and, followed by Ron and Jane, hurried across the bridge, carrying a collapsible gurney.  One of the Scout Group was standing in the lobby, and he gave them directions to the private stairway.  The four climbed the stairs to the top floor.  The Scout Group leader was waiting to guide them into the room, and they hurried to the bedside of the man, the Scout Group man telling them his observations of the man’s vital signs while they did their initial checks.  Sandra realized immediately that the man was dehydrated.  She hurriedly inserted a drip, passing the bottle to the Scout Group man to hold, then knelt down again, opposite Peter.

“It looks to me like malaria,” said Sandra after half a minute, doubt in her voice.  Malaria in this climate seemed an impossibility, but she knew that the disease could remain dormant in a host for years before breaking out.

“I think you’re right Sandra,” said Peter.  “We’ll need to check a blood sample to be sure, but it looks like it.  Let’s get him back to the ship.”

The Scout Group men set the gurney down, lifted the man onto it.  He was a very large man, but starvation had wasted his body mass, so that he was little more than a large skeleton covered with skin.

They carried him down the fire escape and across the bridge, then into the ship’s sickbay.  One of the Scout Group men followed, supporting the woman, then, when she did not have the strength to climb the gangplank, he lifted her tenderly in his arms and carried her up.  The checks were done quickly, and Sandra’s diagnosis confirmed.  The man was put on medication, and the wait began for him to regain consciousness.  His wife stayed by his side the whole time, holding his hand and talking soothingly to him.

Sandra sat with her for a while, asking her questions.

“What is your name?”

“Adderley.  Margaret Adderley.”  Her voice was apathetic, as though she had no hope.

“Your husband?”

“Tony.”

Are you alone here?  Are there others?”

“Alone.  Three years.  Bad men come, steal everything, kill everyone!”

“Margaret, Peter and I are doctors.  We’ve come from South Africa to save you.  Will you come with us?”

“South Africa?  Friend South Africa.  Name Nick.”

“Will you come with us?”

“Go only where Tony goes.  Husband forty years.  He never leave me.  I not leave him.”  Her voice was faint, strained.  It was clear that she was having difficulty putting her words together.  Sandra could see that the combination of exhaustion, starvation and stress had come close to destroying what little life was left in her frail body.

“Tony has malaria, Margaret.  We think we can cure him, but he will be ill for several weeks.  You need sleep.  You can sleep in the adjoining bed, but you must first eat.”  Sandra signaled to a nurse, and she brought a bowl of hot thick soup.  Sandra took it and held a spoon of it out to the woman.  She did not react, so Sandra put the spoon against her lips.  The woman opened her mouth and swallowed the soup, a reflex action with no conscious volition.  Sandra repeated the action with infinite care, and slowly the woman started to recover from her state of exhaustion.  When she could eat no more, Sandra led her to the adjoining bed, and put her in it, covering her with a light blanket, then she and the nurse pushed the bed across to that of her husband, putting her arm across to the other bed so that she could feel her husband’s arm.  His fingers twitched, and his hand moved to take that of the woman.  One eye flickered open.

“Tony, you’ll be alright.  You’re in hospital, and Margaret is next to you.  She’s sleeping now, but you will both be fine.”

There was a whisper of sound from the man’s lips.  Sandra put her ear close, so that she could decipher the words.

“Thanks doctor.  Tell Ron Jane I knew they would come.”  The man fell asleep again, not the coma of malaria, but the sleep of physical exhaustion.  Sandra watched for a while as the two slept, their hands clasped firmly together, then she went to the bridge.

“We can go now,” she said.  “There are no others.  They’re asleep now.  They asked me to tell Ron and Jane that they knew you would come for them.”

“Do you know their names?” asked Jane, her voice incredulous.

“They’re Tony and Margaret Adderley!”

Jane burst into tears, tears of joy at the fact that they had saved their two friends in the Bahamas.  She recovered quickly and, with Ron, ran to the sickbay.  What she saw horrified her.

“It is Tony, but I can hardly recognize him!  I saw him up there in the hotel, but I didn’t recognize him!  He used to be a big man!”  The large jovial man she remembered had shed more than two-thirds of his weight!  “It’s amazing he’s still alive!”  She looked at the man for several minutes, wondering how he had survived in that condition.  Then she walked over to him and put her hand on his cheek.  Tony’s face moved into a small smile, then relaxed again.  His breathing was deep and easy.  Jane moved over to Margaret, and saw that she was sleeping deeply.  She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder, and the woman gave the ghost of a smile, as though some essence of Jane had transferred to her deepest thoughts.  They stood there another few minutes, then walked through to the lounge, where the other refugees were sitting, talking with the members of the group.  Jane and Ron stopped in the doorway, and Ron spoke.

“We’ve rescued another two people, old friends of ours.  We’ll be leaving soon for Montagu.”  There was silence for a second, then the applause began.  These people, after their years of terror and starvation, still cared about two total strangers from another land!

Jane and Ron went back to the bridge, where Roger was preparing to leave harbor.  They had watched their departure from Cape Town and seen the professionalism he had displayed.  Now they watched again, this time with the knowledge that he was totally self-taught, and marveled at his control of the large vessel.

Soon they were out at sea.  They had been broadcasting a message on their radios without any response, and they knew that there was practically no chance of finding any further survivors, although their recent successes still gave them cause to hope.  Roger set course for South Africa, aiming to pass the mid-Atlantic island of St Helen.  There was a remote chance that the insanity that had gripped the world in the wake of the explosion would have passed that little group by!  They touched in at several of the Caribbean islands, waiting offshore for an hour each time while they looked for any sign of response to their foghorn signal, but without success.  The same result was found at St Helena, where the approach of an Atlantic storm decided Roger not to land a search party.  There was still deep snow in drifts in shaded areas, and it was clear that the island had suffered the ravages of the weather to an unusual degree for this latitude.

They sailed on, into the storm.  It was not as strong as Roger had feared, nowhere near as intense as the storm that they had waited out in the Seychelles island, and it passed over within two days, the lessening wind bringing clear skies and warmer temperatures.  After another two days of fine weather, they approached Cape Town in the early morning, turning into the bay an hour after sunrise.  The entire complement of passengers and crew were on deck in the pleasant temperature to see the mountain, the symbol of hope for humanity.  Many of them had come on deck before sunrise, determined not to miss the symbol of their new home.  Jane and Ron walked into the sickbay, to find that Tony and Margaret were standing there, supported by nurses.  They smiled in greeting.

“I hear that we are about to arrive in Cape Town, Jane!” said Tony, his voice gruff and a little shaky.  His recovery had been startling after that first day.  The malaria had gone as quickly as it had come, and he had started filling in again, on a good, nutritious diet, fed to him and Margaret at short intervals by the nursing staff.  They had all taken a personal pride in the weight gains of these two gentle people!  Margaret had also recovered quickly, although the shadows in her expression told her friends that it would be a long time before she would shake off the terror of those years of hiding from the criminal gangs that had taken over her peaceful island.  “Can you help these good ladies get me to the deck?  We want to see our new home!”  Both of these people were barely strong enough to stand.  The nurses quickly brought up the wheelchairs they had ready, and they were wheeled out onto the deck.

It was the first time that Tony had been in the open since Nassau, and the two of them sat in their wheelchairs in the space at the rail made for them by their fellow passengers, in stunned silence as they took in the beauty of the scene.  After the flatness of the Bahamas, the size of Table Mountain, standing tall above the city, was almost overwhelming!  They looked around them.  Roger had slowed their approach a little, to allow the newcomers to appreciate what they were seeing.  He remembered how inspired he felt when they arrived at this time of the day nearly nine months ago!

They entered the harbor and Roger demonstrated once again his control of the ship, as he and Chad brought her in, faultlessly to her berth, this time without the assistance of the dinghy to take their lines.  Peter was watching the performance from the bridge, where he was still on watch.  As the ship touched the fenders and came to a stop, he put his hand on Roger’s shoulder.

“And you told us that you needed us!”

Roger had no reply.  He watched as the deck crew, this time without Jeff, who had stayed in Montagu to support Deon and Amelia, handled the docking procedures.  When the lines were fastened and the ship was secure, he shut the engine down.  The gangplanks were lowered, and the passengers streamed ashore.  Tony and Margaret were taken ashore in wheelchairs, and put carefully into a LandRover, driven proudly by Unathi, who had been one of the drivers when the Mount Victoria group had arrived, and insisted on being there to greet every new group.  To be part of the greeting party was considered an honor!  The children from St Tropez walked down the gangplank, Laura, the oldest girl, holding Nicole’s hand firmly, the little Alphonse holding Chad’s hand.  The remaining five children walked in a tight group between the four, and climbed into the rear of the LandRover that collected ‘their’ two adults, a little overwhelmed by the number of people on the dock.  The passengers climbed into cars and buses, and they drove in a convoy to Montagu.

The newcomers could not conceal their amazement at what they saw as they approached the village, realizing, after their experiences, just how exceptional it was to find a group that lived normally, as they had done less than four years ago.

Roger, Sandra and Albert left the group to peel off to the hospital, to visit Amelia, who had delivered a baby girl the night before last.  She was beautiful!  It was clear that the little girl had her mother’s looks, and the proud smile on Deon’s face told of his happiness.  They went to the next room, and saw that Helen had a baby girl in her arms.  She had been born the day before Amelia’s little girl, and she, too, had her mother’s looks.  John was standing there, waiting for Helen to go with him to attend the greeting ceremony for the new arrivals.  Their planning had been a little delayed by the need to feed the new baby, but she was now ready to depart.  The enlarged families drove the few kilometers, arriving as the last vehicle pulled in.  The two new babies were carried to the house, watched by thousands of eyes, and placed carefully in the cribs that had been prepared for them, then the two women went out to meet their new friends. 

The greeting was tumultuous!  No-one could tell whether the applause was for the new members, the two mothers or for the crowd!  They celebrated because it was a day of joy in every direction!  The monthly meeting of the community had been delayed by three days so that all could meet the new members of the community, and the coincidence of their arrival with the new additions to Helen’s and Amelia’s households was another cause for happiness.  The party went on into the night, and the next day was set aside for the business of the community.

Jane and Nicole had been working on the legal proposals on the boat during the voyage, and Gerard and Jennifer had remained in contact by radio, coordinating their efforts.  They met for a couple of hours in the evening after the Reef Explorer arrived, and were ready to make their preliminary proposals to the community.  It was the biggest presentation that any of them had ever made!

“Our community has grown beyond the hopes or expectations of any of us at our first meeting, three years ago,” said John.  “We believe that it is now time to begin the formalization of the way we do things.  The purpose is not to impose a rigid set of rules, but we believe that we need to declare how we do things, so that everyone understands the framework of our society.  These will be our rules, and we, as a community, will be in control of them.  If we find them inappropriate, we will change them.  We have asked our legal team from the university to propose the outline of these new laws.  Their documentation, after any proposals have been discussed, will be distributed to every member of the community and will be put to the next community meeting for formal approval.  I’m sure that you will all understand that this has been a busy time for all of us, with half the legal team away in Europe and the Americas for most of the time, so it has not been possible to prepare the documentation in advance of this meeting.  Now, I'd like Gerard to discuss the proposals.”

Gerard stood, a little uncertain in the face of this large gathering, and spoke.

“We as a team looked at the needs of our society and at what we believe went wrong in the past.  As you all probably know, laws were developed over the centuries to give people certainty in their dealings with each other, and, in principle, in their dealings with the State.  In many cases, the ability to negotiate the terms of those laws was unequal.  The King would decide what he wanted, and that became law.  When democracies developed, they inherited those rules.  It is very difficult in an operating society to make a sudden change from one system to another.  It has been done, for example, after the Communist revolution in Russia in the early twentieth century, but even there the rules were in place and they had to be changed within the basic framework that existed.  And, to make it worse, the new people in power had their own agenda.  They simply replaced the previous rulers.  They wanted to remain in power, and they imposed rules that made that possible.  Humanity has never had the opportunity to start completely afresh, as a full democracy, with the participation of every member of the community.  Until now!  We have the unique opportunity to establish a new legal system that is in complete accordance with the way we think and how we want our world to work!  This has never happened in the past, and, we hope, it will never happen again.  We started with some basic principles, and have built our proposals from there.  If you’re all happy with the principles, we’ll go on to outline some of the detailed rules that flow from them.  We want our community to be governed in accordance with principles that we all know and believe in.  Jane came up with the first principle.  I'd like her to explain it to you.”

Jane came to the podium, a young woman who had arrived in the community less than twelve months ago, but who had become known to virtually every one of them through her radio calls with Helen, and who had since earned the respect of these people for her willingness to carry her share of the load of the community without complaint and, in most cases, without request.

“You may know that I studied law in the United States, so I carry the ideas and the ideals of that democracy, although my degree covered a variety of legal systems and principles.  In addition to that, I have also had the opportunity to see how effectively a community can operate when it is run by the people, not by people who claim to be representatives of the people but who pursue their own interests, often to the exclusion of the interests of the people they claim to represent.  In the United States, many of us were horrified to see how our Representatives, the men and women in the House of Representatives, were willing to spend huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on projects whose sole purpose was to get themselves re-elected.  They had no real sense of the amounts of money they were spending on things that none of us would have approved, if the choice had been allowed us!  One of them spoke in an interview of something costing ‘only two billion dollars!’  He had never given any real thought to the alternative uses for that amount of money, including leaving it in the pockets of the taxpayers, so that they could decide what they wanted to do with their money!  The South African Minister of Finance, not so long ago, announced that the Budget had, finally, reached the sum of one trillion Rand, and he made the announcement as though it was his personal achievement that he had taken that much from the taxpayers!  That has happened in virtually every democracy, where the system has been perverted to ensure that the party in Government does whatever is needed to gain their re-election, rather than what the people want and need!  Those actions have ranged from structuring the education system to keep the people from gaining the understanding necessary to detect what is happening, to replacing investment in job creation with subsidies to the unemployed that were created in that very way.  One of the causes of this situation is the Party system, where a group of politicians group together to support each other.  That has been perverted to the extent that the Parties in the last decades enforced voting rules, preventing their members, who supposedly are there to represent their constituents, from voting against the Party line, even if the result is directly against the wishes of their constituents.  The effect of that, to a very great extent, has been that our democracies have become, in effect, dictatorships!  The party leader decides a course of action, which is imposed on the leadership group, which then imposes it on the Representatives.  Where are the people in all of this?

“Our first principle that we propose is that the people must decide.  The people must participate in the passing of every law.  The second principle is that power structures must not be able to dictate what we can do and cannot do.  We recommend that every law must be based on the fundamental principle that every person has the right to do whatever he or she pleases, provided that doing so does not infringe on the right of another to enjoy the same right.  There will be exceptions, of course, but they must be decided in the light of that same basic principle, and they must each be decided by the majority of the people.  I believe that Nicole has a few things to say about that.” 

Jane stepped down, to be replaced at the podium by another young woman known to all of them for her unobtrusive presence, her willingness to do whatever needed to be done.  Nicole started speaking, her presentation polished by numerous presentations to Chief Executives and Boards of large corporations.

“I have a background of business, and my views are colored by that, as well as my experience in several jurisdictions, that has enabled me to see that what is universally accepted in one jurisdiction as right and just, is seen in another jurisdiction as strange and unacceptable.  I believe that when we start to establish a new system of law, we must consciously break away from what we know and believe, and assess what is necessary to achieve a clearly-stated objective that is accepted by the majority of the people.  A friend wrote a book entitled ‘You know all the answers, but do you know the questions?’  What she was saying is that we all carry a body of conviction and belief that has grown up over the years without ever being questioned.  We all know that children ask penetrating questions that sometimes cause us to wonder!  The reason is that the children have not had a way of understanding drummed into them; they still ask the question why?  I ask all of you to do the same when we decide on a law.  Ask ‘Why?’  Only when you really believe that the answer you give is the answer to the right and real question should you accept that answer.  We want each of you to know that every proposed rule is objectively right, not because it always has been done that way, or because others have done it that way.  You must know that it is the right way for you and in these circumstances!  We must know why we want that rule, what we want to achieve with it, and whether it is the best way to achieve that.  We must also not be afraid to re-evaluate the laws we have passed, to see whether they have achieved that objective and no other.  We can all make mistakes and we should not be afraid to admit to them!  A friend who is here today, who taught me most of what I know about the business world, once said to me that it is better to look dumb once, when you ask a question or admit to a wrong decision, than to remain stupid forever!  That, I hope, will be satisfied by the provision of a sunset clause in every new law, without exception other than the basic principles we agree.  Every law will lapse unless it is renewed within a set time.  I told our working group of an example that has always amused me.  A law was passed in England in 1798, creating a position for a man to stand on the cliffs at Dover and watch for the arrival of Napoleon’s fleet.  He was paid ten guineas per year, which was quite a lot of money then, and the position was hereditary.  It was finally abolished in 1965!  In South Africa, between 1910, when the country became a self-governing entity, and 1935, a period of twenty-five years, a total of three thousand five hundred laws was passed.  Most of those laws were still substantially in existence at the time of the explosion, eighty years later!  In the one year before the explosion, more laws were passed than that twenty-five year total, in only one year!  Two things are clear.  The first is that even a highly-qualified lawyer could not know every law that applies to every situation, even though the legal presumption is that every adult does have that detailed knowledge!  There were simply too many laws!  How many of you actually knew the subject and effect of every law that was passed in even one year before the explosion?  If you did not know the laws, you could not know your rights and obligations!  We cannot allow that to happen again!  The second thing that concerned us is that many laws, if not most of them, authorized the Minister to approve Regulations that were drawn up by the State officials.  Once the Minister approved them, the regulations had the force of law!  What was really happening is that the people who represented us in passing the laws were passing on a large slice of their legislative authority to officials who were never elected, and, probably, who never came near to being approved by the voting public or even known to the people who were subject to the rules they imposed!  A principle that I recommend is that any rule that obliges us to do or not do something must be passed by the legislative body, by the community that is affected by that rule.  If it is not passed by that legislature, it cannot have effect.  Coming back to the multiplicity of laws, there must have been laws heaping on laws that were already heaped on laws.  I recall that I read an Act while I was studying law.  A clause referred to another clause that referred to a clause in another Act that referred to a clause in a further Act, and that was subject to a regulation of the Reserve Bank that existed but had not been published!  It took me more than an hour of reading laws to find that I could not discover what I was entitled to do, except by asking a bank official what his interpretation of that Regulation was!  That is also unacceptable.  Laws must be available to the public, they must be clear, and each law must be self-contained, so that a single reading of a single document gives you the information you need. 

“Returning to my earlier point, in the last years of South Africa, it became a custom for Parliament to pass laws that enabled the relevant Minister to set Regulations that then had the force of law.  I strongly support Jane’s principle that the citizens must be actively involved in the making and approval of every law that is passed.  I would like to see that the community votes for every law, and every regulation under those laws, that is passed, that lawmaking does not become the province of paid politicians who have mainly their re-election in mind!  Let the leaders suggest the laws, but let the people decide!

“When a law is proposed, the objectives of that law must be clearly stated, and that statement must have the force of law.  Any section of the law that is in conflict with that statement of purpose should be declared invalid, and any action that is not clearly mandated or interdicted by the law must be decided in the light of the stated objectives.  That will give us all the ability to understand the law simply by reading the opening paragraph.

“I believe that Jennifer will deal with the details that we have worked out so far.”

Nicole steeped down from the podium in a total silence, a silence that made it possible to hear the people in the audience breathing.  That was a first for her!  She hoped that it did not mean that she had offended them, or alienated them in some way!  Jennifer stood, and walked over, her bearing carrying the confidence of a trial lawyer.

“We have looked at a number of principles that we believe should form the basis of the legal system that you will approve.  Briefly, the principles that we have formulated so far are the following: The status of men and women should be equal, with no distinction.  There is to be no distinction between races, religions or on any other basis apart from what the situation requires, or on language, with the exception that English will be the basic language of the community.  We are all aware that the policy of the community, and of each of the groups that came into the community, has been to avoid a situation where women are exposed to serious dangers.  That has been so because we realize that only women can have babies, and the prosperity, and even the survival of our community is closely intertwined with the number of people in it.  It is our recommendation that this policy should be discontinued, but that women should respect the intention, and not willingly expose themselves unduly to danger.  We are sure that good sense will prevail.  Children will become adults at the age of eighteen years, and, until then, will be subject to rules for their protection, even though a number of members of our community have shown that they are as capable as any adult many years before that age!  A company may be incorporated by no less than five persons and may act in any matter as would an adult human.  The election of representatives of the people for the purposes of proposing legislation will be free of any association or Party, and no grouping of representatives or voters for the purposes of controlling their votes will be permitted.  As you have agreed in the past, the leaders of the community will be elected by a majority vote for a period of five years.  We recommend that a second term is permitted, to ensure continuity.  No re-election to make that total longer than ten years will be permitted.  Any person found guilty of dishonesty in a matter concerning the public, whether as an employee of the community or in any dealing with the community may not be employed by the community in the future or elected to any public office.”  Jennifer looked quickly at her notes, which she had not consulted at all during her address.  “I think that is all for now.  We’ll be working on expanding these comments and will distribute them to you as they become available.  We would all like you to know that we are the servants.  We, who are proposing this set of laws, and the persons who are Members of the Leadership Committee, are your servants, not your superiors.  We will do what you require of us.  What we have said today is, we hope, a basis for you to make up your own minds on how the future legal system will work, and we need your input to help us take it further.”  She looked around the audience.  “Are there any questions?”  There was silence for a moment, then Chad stood.

“I have just one question.”  His Australian accent was clear, a friendly sound to those in the audience.  “How is it that the ladies have all the brains?”

There was a roar of laughter, a diversion from the serious subjects that had gone before.

John took the podium.

“I think it is time for lunch.  Johannes and his team have set the braai out.  Please enjoy it.  We’ll be back in a couple of hours, at two, to introduce all our new arrivals formally.”  There was another laugh at John’s use of the word ‘braai’, the Afrikaans term for a barbecue.  He had been forced to apologize for his lack of Afrikaans-speaking ability at the first meeting.  He had since learned to speak the language fluently, but was still the subject of good-humored comment about that first meeting.

The members of the audience stood and walked out into the open air, their minds full of thoughts and impressions.  Chad walked over to his new wife and hugged her, to the envy of several of the young men nearby, who would have loved to be in his position.

“That went very well, my love!  They ate it up!”

“Do you think they will accept the recommendations?”

Piet, from the farm near Touws River, overheard the question.

“In my opinion, after what you told us today, you’ve all got a job for life!  Congratulations, Nicole!  You’ve pulled off what most of us have wanted for decades.”  He saw Nicole’s look of surprise, and put out his hand.  “I’m Piet, from the Touws River area.  We met the day you arrived, but you’re much easier to remember than I am!”

Nicole took the proffered hand in both of hers.  His hand was strong, the fingers callused from years of hard work.

“Thanks, Piet,” she replied in Afrikaans, to his clear surprise.  “Of course I remember you, and Marie.  You have the farm with the silica mine.  Roger and Sandra have told me about it.  How could I forget you?  We have almost the same surname now.  This is my husband, Chad Smith, with two ‘fs’!”

Piet was clearly surprised.  He shook Chad’s hand, smiling.  It was very pleasant to be remembered by such a beautiful and charming person!  And her Afrikaans was perfect too!  Listening to her talk he had thought, from her use of the language, that she was English.  He decided that he should be more careful in future about jumping to conclusions!  That brief conversation clinched the decision for him.  He would vote in favor of Nicole’s proposals!  After another smile, he wandered off to persuade his farmer friends of his conclusions.  To his surprise, or perhaps not, they had all come to the same conclusion.  Christoph summarized it, around a small mouthful of steak.

“At last we have some people making laws for us, not against us!”

*~*

They ate their lunch in a very relaxed atmosphere.  The return of Reef Explorer with its precious cargo gave the members of the community a feeling of great achievement.  They were capable of rescuing people from Europe and America!  That was a giant leap forward from the time, only a short while ago, when they had considered an expedition to Cape Town a huge risk!  The development of the world conditions had coincided with the development of their own capabilities to take them from the position of a handful of survivors cowering on the end of a continent to a rescuing entity with the ability to reach out into the world!  There was some discussion of the fact that so few people had survived of the billions who had lived less than four years ago, but the contrast between the conditions that the new members spoke of and their own served to reinforce their confidence.  That confidence had grown as a result of the presentations of the four lawyers.  Gerard was well known to all of the farmers for his contributions to their animal husbandry knowledge.  Jane was also well known, although for another reason.  Her radio conversations with Helen had been relayed throughout the community, and her name and her voice had become an essential part of the day for many of the listeners.  She had become a symbol of their survival.  When she had given her presentation, most of those listening to her familiar voice had felt that it was a close friend talking to them.  Helen had spoken of her during a community meeting before the arrival of Gentle Jane, expressing her liking for her friend and her high regard for her.  Helen’s status had been transferred to Jane, before she even arrived, and the people who came to know her afterwards confirmed that status.  Jennifer was a different person.  Although her appearance gave the impression that she had a gentle personality, it disguised the sharp mind behind her looks.  The Ruanda people had come to know her as a very direct person, willing to take command and not having too much regard for the feelings and sensibilities of the people she dealt with.  The hardships they had been through, and the unstinting acceptance she received from her companions had softened that, and her appearance, initially sharpened by the short, businesslike hairstyle she wore, had softened as her hair grew longer and softer, giving her face a much more gentle appearance.  That was helped by the fact that she no longer felt that she had to dominate her world.  Her companions accepted her, and loved her for the good qualities they saw in her, and she knew that as an absolute fact.  Finally, she was now a mother, her first child having been born in Montagu, something that she and Morton, her husband, had long since their marriage, abandoned as a possibility.  She had certainly changed, but she could still hold her own in an argument, as many of the men had found!  But even those who underestimated her razor-sharp intellect came to like her as much as did her companions.  She was clear and concise in her arguments, always persuasive, as she had to be in a Courtroom before a hardened Judge who had heard it all before!  But she was never vindictive, never put her opponents down, no matter how weak their argument might be, and she was willing to accept another point of view if it made sense.  The result was that everyone listened when she talked!  Nicole, on the other hand, was a quiet person, although she did not hold herself back.  She was willing to participate in a bit of fun, and she was always willing to step in whenever help was needed.  Nothing was too hard, too dirty, too much trouble, and she never needed to be asked to assist.  She had an ability to spot a problem while it was still on the distant horizon, and her advice and warnings were always correct and she was always willing to back her words with action!  The stories had gone around of how she had grabbed Chad’s rifle and shot from the hip at a movement in an upper-storey window, hitting the terrorist who was preparing to shoot Chad almost square in the forehead!  She had then handed the rifle back to Chad with a smile, and shown no sign of nerves!  That had impressed these hardened farmers!  Another story told of how she had gone ashore to talk the terrified French children into coming on board the Reef Explorer, when they had been so afraid of any contact with people as a result of the brutal killing of their parents and the constant threat of discovery and death by the terrorists.  She had stood nearly knee-deep in the freezing ocean for over half an hour to do that, concerned that she might frighten the children if she went further ashore!  That story endeared her to the women, who could so easily put themselves in her position and wonder whether they would have been able to succeed as she had.  It also brought the respect of the men, for whom the endurance she had shown in the effort proved that she was no weakling!  Stories had also been told of how she would be brought in to solve any of the problems that the community had, such as that of the warehousing, bringing a workable solution about with the assistance of the workers, and claiming no personal glory for what she achieved.  That, all combined with her exceptional looks, made her a celebrity of note!  A photo of Nicole and Chad at the engagement dinner had been circulated, and many of the women wished that they possessed the looks and the grace that she did!  Her presentation, touching on many of the points that the community members now recognized as having created the bulk of the problems they had all faced in the years leading up to the explosion, had won her even more respect.  Now, to cap all of that, Piet told his friends that she had spoken perfect, colloquial Afrikaans to him, remembering his and Marie’s names as though they had been introduced this morning!

They returned to the meeting after a good lunch and pleasant conversation.  John had decided to introduce the new arrivals to each meeting, realizing how difficult it would be for each of the community members to greet them personally.  He now brought them to the podium, one by one, and introduced them.  He started with the group from Maputo.

“I'd like to introduce Vicente Goncalves.  Vicente is the leader of the group that managed to survive in Maputo.  When the terrorists heard our radio conversation with him, they invaded the place where the survivors lived, and held them at gunpoint, as bait for our rescue group.  Vicente managed to pass a message to our group that they were being held captive, and that resulted in us sending a message that induced the main body of the terrorists to set an ambush for our people, in the wrong place and at the wrong time.  Vicente managed to incapacitate the man who was left to guard them, and the group escaped.  Our group then turned the tables on the terrorists and killed them all, and then set a trap for another group that was also killed.  We managed to save Vicente’s group of twenty-six people, and killed twenty terrorists!  We hope that has gone some way to making Maputo safe for civilized people again!”

The introductions went on, with a short description for each of the newcomers.  John moved on to the group from Sardinia, the group that Nick had gathered and protected.

“Nick was in the south of the country when the terrorists invaded, apparently aiming to grab some territory while the Italian Government was in disarray.  Nick had been in the part-time Army in his younger years, and he recognized what was about to happen.  He tried to persuade the people to leave with him, to head north, but they refused.  Nick had left it too late!  The terrorists moved up the coast in boats, landing wherever the defense put up by the government was weak, and building bridgeheads that they used to spread out into the surrounding areas, cutting off every avenue of escape.  Those people wanted the land, not just the territory, and they had no hesitation in killing the local inhabitants, and taking the food supplies, the fuel and everything of value from the survivors, leaving them to starve, or killing them out of hand whenever they found them!  Eventually, a group was left with nowhere to go!  Nick organized the break-out, and they escaped at night in a flotilla of small boats, some only big enough to hold three people!  They went far out to sea that night, beyond the area that the invaders patrolled, and made their way north.  After three days at sea, Nick brought them in to the north of Sardinia, reasoning that there was nothing there for the invaders to want to hold badly enough to waste the manpower on it.  He was right, and they managed to make it into the marina at night.  They hid out in the yachts there, thinking it might be safer, because they were too much trouble to search, if anyone came looking.  They managed to live on the stores in those boats, with whatever fish and birds they could catch, for two and a half years!  Nick and Marco, who you will soon meet, saw a patrol boat arriving with five men on board, obviously planning to conduct a routine search.  The two of them sneaked into the village that night and killed them all, one by one.  They took the provisions from that boat, and loaded the bodies of the invaders into it, then sent it out to sea with a seacock open, to sink ten or twenty miles from shore.  Those provisions kept the group going another eight months, long enough to get a message through to us, and for us to come to them!  Nick, by the way, is a South African.  He was the business partner of Nicole, in a management consultancy that operated around the world.”

John spent the next half-hour telling the stories of the members of Nick’s party, all Italians but for Nick’s wife, a South African, two Germans and a Scot who had been on vacation in the area when the explosion changed their world.  Nicole sat quietly with the Italians, translating what John was saying for the benefit of those whose English was not yet fluent enough to follow.

Then John came to the story of Tony Adderley and Margaret, his wife.  Tony had been sitting in his wheelchair, still too weak to stand for more than a few minutes.  Now, when John gestured to him to come forward, he took Margaret’s hand and walked a few faltering steps to the podium.  There was applause for the effort.  When the applause died down, Tony raised his hand and spoke.

“I don’t want any of you folks to think I’m a hero.”  The American accent was strong.  “I made a mistake when Jane sent me an email, warning me to get south as fast as I could.  I was Ron’s business partner, and I felt responsible to him, I did not want to see him lose his investment in the business!  He had trusted me when none of my countrymen did, and he helped me to build a good business.  I did not realize exactly what was coming.  Then the explosion happened, and it was too late!  First, there was a shower of rocks, some the size of peas, others as big as a baseball, and most of them white hot.  That carried on for five days and nights.  It destroyed every small boat in the harbor, and even many of the white boats, the large motor yachts that were chartered out to wealthy Americans and Europeans.  The Captains of the boats saved what they could, and ran out to sea, heading south as fast as they could.  I saw five of them sink before they moved out of sight!  I doubt that the others got very far, because none of them had refueled, and they use a lot of fuel.”  Tony stretched the words ‘a lot’ to add emphasis.  The audience was enthralled.  The combination of his story and the lazy sound of the Southern inflexion made his words fascinating.  “The snow and the cold came later that same day, the day of the explosion.  I’ve lived in the Bahamas for fifty years, and I’ve never seen snow there!  It carried on snowing for eight days straight, until the snow was twenty feet deep!  We were trapped in our house!  We couldn’t get out!  We couldn’t even see out!  The electricity stopped when the generators ran out of fuel, or when the operators couldn’t get to them!  We had to burn our furniture to keep warm!  When the snow stopped, the boats arrived from Cuba and from Haiti, loaded with refugees.  They had it worse than we did!  They had nothing.  Even before the explosion, the people in Haiti made cakes of mud with a little oil and salt, to keep from feeling the hunger!  Now they saw the rich Bahamas as a place to survive!  They swarmed over the island, taking whatever they could lay their hands on!  The Bahamian Navy collapsed, all two patrol boats of it, but the ordinary people resisted, and the invasion turned into a war!  Before too long, most of the people, on both sides, were dead!  Margaret and I hid out under our house, then it was burned down when the other houses on the block caught fire.  We got away, and while the bad men were watching the fire, we crossed over the bridge to Paradise Island.  I had worked on the construction of the Atlantis resort, and I knew the way to the top floors, the area where the very wealthy people lived.  If the elevators don’t work, most people couldn’t figure out how to get past the security blocks for the top floors.  I knew how!  I built them!  We made it there safely, and many times after that, people came to search the hotel to take what they could get, but they never found the top floor.  After more than a year, the cold and the hunger had killed everyone.  Margaret wanted to try to escape somehow.  I told her there was nowhere to go, and no way to get there!  I knew somehow that Ron and Jane would not leave us to die.  We were friends!  I was able to catch some fish, first from the aquarium in the hotel, while they were still alive, and then from the sea.  There was also a little food in the small kitchen that served the top floors, and there was quite a lot of dry foods stored there.  That was enough to keep us alive.  When the last of the invaders was gone, I opened the stairway to the top floor.  Then I came down with an attack of malaria that I picked up about fifteen years ago in Panama!  Margaret thought I was going to die, and that she would die too!  Then she saw your ship, sitting all pretty in the harbor between Paradise Island and Nassau!  It was blowing the foghorn enough to waken the dead!  She did not believe it was real!  She thought that Heaven had sent it to collect us!  I awoke to hear the horn, and I told her to wave!  Then you fine people came running over that long bridge and up twenty-six floors to save us!  We owe all you wonderful people our lives, and you better believe that we will do whatever we can to repay you!”

Tony sagged as he finished talking, and John and Helen leaped forward to catch him, and return him to his wheelchair.  There was a moment of terrified silence when the audience believed that the effort had been too much for his limited endurance, then he smiled and raised his hand in thanks.  The audience went wild!  If there had ever been a reason to put the effort into saving people, these two frail people were it!

Sandra ran forward to check him.  He put his hand on hers and smiled.

“Just overdid it, my dear!  I’ll be fine”

“Now you let this fine lady do what she must, Tony!” said Margaret.  “You’re not Superman!”  She walked with him as Sandra wheeled Tony’s chair out of the hall to a private room, where Sandra checked his heart and blood pressure.  She had not yet finished when Jane and Ron hurried in.  They stopped, a look of concern on their faces, and waited until Sandra finished her work.  She looked up with a smile.

“You’ll be fine, Tony, but I don’t want you doing something like that again!  Not until you’re fully recovered!  There’s a lot for you still to do!”

They walked back into the hall, pushing the wheelchair, to see John wrapping up the meeting.  The people rose from their chairs and filed out, talking about the future.  Everyone was positive, and they all smiled at Tony and Margaret as they walked past, many of them making friendly comments.  Outside, the children were playing in groups.  They had integrated the French and Mozambique children completely, and, Sandra saw, they were starting to pick up each other’s language.

“Have we started the French language course yet?” she asked.  “We’ll be needing it.  Portuguese too!”

Nicole came up to the small group and smiled at Tony.

“Are you feeling better?”

“How could I not be, with such good people to take care of me?”

“I understand that you ran a boat rental business in the Bahamas?”

“Yes, Nick owned the world rights, and he let me have a franchise for part of the Bahamas.  Then, when I couldn’t raise the money to get the boats, because, the Bahamas Development Bank told me they had a policy not to lend money to businesses related to tourism when the market was down, I met Ron, and he put up the money.”

“It was the second best investment I ever made,” said Ron as he looked at his old friend.  “It was also one of the two partnerships that worked!”  He held his wife’s hand, and it was clear to the others that Jane was the other!

“I picked out Jane at the airport when I was waiting for Ron to arrive!  I told him that I had found the perfect person for him, and I was right!”

“He did, too!” laughed Jane.  “When Tony collected us from Atlantis, to take us to the boat, I heard him say to Ron that he'd told him I was the one!”

“How did that happen?” asked Chad.  “It seems strange that a girl from Sacramento would take up with a guy from New York in Nassau!”

“Probably not as strange as you'd imagine!” responded Ron.  “I’m sure that a lot of romances started right there!”

“I was on the final stretch to get my doctorate when I won a week’s vacation in a TV phone-in show at four one morning.  I had the TV on for company while I made myself some coffee.  I was so excited that I didn’t bother to read the fine print!  Anyway, I got to Nassau with the last of my budget for the month, only to find that I had been bumped!  Some multi-zillionaire had booked several floors of the hotel for his wives and bodyguards, and they needed my room!  I was telling a friend about it in the elevator when Ron overheard, and he offered me a berth on the rental boat he'd booked for a week.  I would normally never do something like that – go off for a week on a romantic cruise through the beautiful islands with some guy I had met literally three minutes earlier!  But he had such nice eyes, I couldn’t resist!  Ron had booked into the hotel for one night to wait for the boat, and Tony collected us the next morning to take us to the marina.  I had seen him at the airport – he’s the sort of person you can’t miss!  I heard his comment, and wondered what it was about.  We arrived at the marina, and Margaret greeted us, as though she'd known me for years!  I'd been fairly apprehensive about the trip, as you can imagine, although Ron was a perfect gentleman, and I was getting cold feet, but meeting Tony and Margaret put me at ease, and we went off.  I thought that any man with such nice people as close friends must be a good person!  I didn’t realize then that a week’s cruise in the Bahamas was about to turn into a three-year voyage, nearly around the world!”  Jane laughed, the sound that had endeared her to so many of the people in Montagu, Olifants Camp and in Australia, when all they knew of her was her voice as she talked on the radio with Helen.

“I knew when I saw you that you were the one for my friend!” stated Tony.  “I didn’t know how to fix it, but I knew it would happen.  Just the same way as I knew you would come to save us.  You took your time about it, and I don’t blame you for that, but you came.  I’ve always felt that there’s a web that connects people somehow.  You, Ron, Nick, Margaret and me.  And now Nicole too!  She’s connected with Nick and with you!  And those little French kids.”  He looked over at where the French children were playing with young Helen, Jane’s daughter, born in the Seychelles.  “They will have a lot to do with us too!  I can feel it!”

“You’re right there,” said Oscar, who had joined the group together with Albert and Nick.  They had all become firm friends with Tony and Margaret during the voyage across the Atlantic.  “You all have a destiny to fulfill here.”

Nicole looked at the old aboriginal man.  She had become a friend of his as well, visiting him whenever she had a spare moment.  She was working at learning his language, although it presented a much greater challenge than her other languages, stemming as it did from a totally different source and with a different structure.  The voyage had been useful in that, as she had been able to devote as much as a couple of hours per day to the effort, often during the night watch, when there was nothing much to do out on the open ocean.  Chad had gone along with it, as he always did, admiring her tenacity and ability to pick out patterns and structures that he could not see.  She had also spent much time with Nick and his two Bahamian friends, picking up the story from the bones that she knew.  She had known that Nick had gone off with is wife on a yacht for a few years, to relax, as he said.  It was during that time that he had met Tony and invited him into the boat rental business.  Nick had subsequently returned to the consultancy world, missing the daily challenge to his mental abilities.  His return had been welcomed by Nicole, who had taken over the consultancy business and was pushing it forward.  Similarly to Nick, she knew that she was a consultant at heart, not an administrator, and his return had relieved her of a significant burden of administration!

“They’ll be releasing you from the hospital tomorrow, Tony.  I’ve arranged with Rod that the two of you can move into a spare cottage next to Sandra and Roger, until you have the chance to pick out where you’ll want to stay permanently.”

“Where are the little ones staying?” Margaret asked, indicating the group of French children with a nod.  The suffering they had endured had made her own seem trivial by comparison.

“They’ve been bunking with us in a spare room in the house that we’ve been sharing since we got back.”  She smiled.  “We were married on the way to Sardinia!  Fortunately, the house that Rod was building for us will be completed tomorrow, and they’ll be moving in with us there.  They seem to have adopted me as their mother!”

“It was quite a shock for me!” stated Chad, grinning.  “I found this beautiful Sheila, totally free and unencumbered, got her to marry me by devious means, and then I find out that she has seven children who speak a language I never thought I'd have to learn!”

“Chad loves it!” said Nicole, hugging her new husband.  “He suggested it!  And the children love teaching him French!  I’m just a little worried that they’re learning to speak Australian before they learn English!”

“I’ll babysit for you anytime you need it,” offered Margaret.  “I’ll teach them American!”  Nicole saw that she really meant it.  She realized that Margaret felt the need for human company, the uncomplicated sort of company that children offer.

“Of course, Margaret.  I’m fairly busy most of the time, and it worried me how they'd be looked after when I was away.  I’ve seen how they enjoy being with you.  We’d both love you to do that.”

The afternoon drifted into the evening, as many of the community members took their farewells and departed for their homes.  Tony and Margaret went back to the hospital for their final night there, looking forward to their stay in Montagu, a place so different from their Bahamian home that it would be difficult to find a greater contrast, and yet it felt like home!  Amelia and Helen brought their new babies out onto the porch, to hold them in the gentle evening as they chatted with the people who had become so important to them.  Eventually, Brian, Peter and Sandra went off to the hospital to do their evening rounds of the few patients, leaving Amanda to chat to Nicole, while Chad went off to play a final ball game with his new children.

“You have a lot of new experiences to write about, Nicole,” said Amanda.  “I’ll be fascinated to read the books when they come out.”

“The problem is finding the time to do it all, Amanda.  I always seem to take on too much at one time!  Anyway, I was able to spend a fair amount of time with Sandra and Roger, as well as Albert, Oscar and Daisy.  I think that I have what I need to write their part of the history.  The problem is that I have completed the research on seven people, and we’ve added eighty-one people to the list!”

“Have you done the work on Chad and yourself, Nicole?  That’s another two, and they should be easy for you.”

“Not as easy as you’d think, Amanda.”  Nicole smiled.  “Have you ever wondered why an ex-military officer with a Master’s degree in psychology came to be running a timber distributor in a remote town in Australia?  I’m a straightforward story by comparison!  I studied, got my degrees, worked in three jobs.  Nothing to it!”

“I know.  I’ve been told you achieved those two degrees almost simultaneously, taking four years when everyone else took eight, then wound up as a partner in the largest small management consultancy in Germany, by the age of twenty-eight.  You’ve lived in six countries and worked in fifteen, and you seem to be able to speak practically every language known to man.  I would say that’s an average sort of career for a woman!”  Amanda laughed, and Nicole joined her laughter. 

“I didn’t know that you knew!  How did you find out?”

“One of your many fans works with me in the office.  Meredith told me the whole story!”

“I’ve been lucky!  I had some good chances, and I took them, that’s all!”

“I read about a comment made by Gary Player, one of South Africa’s greatest golfers.  He said ‘I’m one of the luckiest golfers that ever lived.  And the funny thing is, the harder I practice the luckier I get!’  I think that sums you up very well, Nicole.”

Nicole was saved the need to reply by the arrival of Chad, accompanied by their new children.

“The kids are hungry and tired, my love.  I think we need to go home.  We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow!”

They made their departure, heading for the small home they shared with another couple, who had been delighted to make space for Nicole and the seven French children when Chad arrived back from the voyage with a greatly enlarged family.  Nicole’s single room in a small cottage shared with Jeff and Meredith was simply too small to hold them all!  Nicole walked over to the LandRover, the oldest girl holding firmly to her right hand, and the youngest boy to her left.  She felt in every way a mother!

John stood with Amanda in the fading light of the evening.

“We’re fortunate to have her and others like her as part of our group,” he said.

“I intend proposing her as a leader at the next election,” replied Amanda.  “She has all the qualities we need.”

“I’m glad I won’t be alone in doing that!” replied John.

Chapter 17

The move to the new house went well.  Rod had pushed the construction crew to do even better than their normal fast work, although he had not been able to complete the two extra bedrooms in time for Chad, Nicole and the children to move in.  That would take another week, but the two bedrooms that the children would have to share until then were luxurious, compared with the cramped space they had occupied in the wrecked boat for nearly three years!  Barbara had arranged for furniture to be gathered from Cape Town to furnish the home, and Monica had estimated the sizes of the children, with her expert eye, and stocked their rooms with a variety of new clothes and shoes.  Arthur and Bettie had arranged for the kitchen to be filled with groceries and meat, knowing that the seven children had a more than healthy appetite as their bodies worked to catch up on years of deprivation.  The other members of the community had collected or made toys for the children, and Ann and Amanda had even been able to find a collection of children’s books in French.  The early visitors to the new home were able to witness an almost unparalleled outpouring of joy!  That rewarded them for the special effort they had made.

The excitement gradually wore down during the day, and, by evening, Nicole and Chad were able to sit on their new porch, enjoying the view down the valley.  The mountains in the distance were still lit by the sun although, as they watched, the shadows slid upward, to leave them as dark outlines against the red and orange of the sky.  Gradually, the stars started to appear overhead.

Nicole and Chad looked at their new family, sitting on the edge of the porch, grouped closely together.  Laura, aged 10, was the oldest.  She was the one who had taken the first apple from Nicole, scraping together every ounce of daring she could muster to grab the fruit and hand it to the other children in the wreck of the boat.  As the oldest, she felt herself responsible to ensure that the other children had enough to eat, an almost impossible task in the conditions they had lived through.  She had been helped in this by Nicolas, aged 9, an intelligent and highly sensitive boy, who had planned their movements to elude the men hunting for survivors.  His sister, Elodie, aged 7, looked like a smaller and younger edition of him, with the tiny differences that made her look intensely feminine, whereas he was unmistakably masculine.  Marion, aged 8, was fair-skinned and dark haired, with intense blue eyes.  Alexandre, also aged 8, was the storyteller of the group.  A small boy, he had a ready wit and was able to see the fun in any situation.  He was the one who had led the laughter at Nick’s comment on the beach that day, and he was the one who had persuaded his companions to trust these adults if they could show that they had their own children, as Nicole had told them was the case.  He did not believe that a group that had their own children could be as evil as the men who had killed their parents.  Guillaume and Sarah, aged 7, were twins.  They had an elfin appearance, a look of being about to perpetrate some mischief, and the look did not deceive.  They were always ready for fun, egging each other on.  They were inseparable companions.  Of all the children, Laura was the first to adopt Nicole as a mother, needing the guidance and support she had for several years been forced to provide to the others.  She was still viewed by the other children as their leader, although she transferred that role to Nicole and Chad, and she was always ready to spring to the support of one or other of the children who, she thought, might need assistance.  Nicolas and Elodie had taken on themselves the task of teaching French to Chad, and they were succeeding admirably in that task, although they were learning English faster than he learned French.  They were assisted in their work by Chad’s unfailing good humor, his ability to laugh at his own mistakes, and his willingness to try again, over and over until the two tutors were satisfied with the result.  To the surprise of Nicole, the children were all able to read and write, after a fashion.  Laura had insisted on them practicing reading and writing several hours each week, using old newspapers and a couple of children’s books they had been able to salvage as texts, and writing with sticks in the sand.  Laura’s mother had read to her every night while she was still alive, and told her many times of the need for a good education.  Laura was still able to quote her favorite saying.  “Reading makes the whole world available to you!”  Nicole and Chad carried on that tradition, reading to them all for half an hour before bed time, using whatever French books she could find, and, when the pictures in a book of another language captured the imagination of the children, translating the text as she read to them.  The children had listened to Barbara reading to the other children, and teaching them, during the voyage, initially with little or no understanding of the words, as they enjoyed the friendly company of Barbara and the other children, and gradually, they had started to understand what was being said, linking the pictures, the actions and the expressions to the words being spoken.  This had been assisted by Nicole, who translated the words they could not understand, and showed them the written form, in English and French.  They had picked up the knowledge with the easy facility of children, assisted by their considerable intelligence and strong desire to learn.  By the time they arrived in Montagu, they were already starting to talk with the children and adults, all of whom assisted their efforts as much as they could, with their delight in the efforts made by the children supplementing the patience they were able to bring to the task.  Laura, in particular, found Britney to be an excellent teacher of the basic concepts of the language, and Britney, in turn, was picking up the elements of the French language from her new friend.  Britney had been old enough when she was moved to Australia to learn how to learn a ‘new language’, the Australian form of English that was different in many ways from the South African form she had grown up with. The openness of the French children made them welcome wherever they went, and the whole village soon became their home.

Nicole and Chad threw themselves into their work on their return to Montagu.  Although they had both done much work during the voyage, there was much more waiting to be done!  They were the perfect example of the willing donkey being loaded the heaviest!  Even so, they loved what they were doing, and never turned away a request for assistance.  Nicole’s work at the Law Faculty took on a new dimension after the community meeting.  The people had declared unanimous support for the proposals the Faculty had made, and they now began to add flesh to the bones they had constructed, at the same time adding detail to the outline plans they had put together for the law degree courses.  Much of this work was done in their spare time, at home in the evenings or early mornings, but Chad and Nicole always found time for the children.  Most afternoons, when they returned home, the children stripped off and dived into their lake for a swim, using up the last of their surplus energy.  Chad and Nicole usually joined them, enjoying their boisterous company as well as the exercise.

Even with the heavy workload, Nicole was able most days to put a couple of hours into her writing, as she worked on the community’s expanded history, as well as on the novels she was writing, putting her experiences and her thoughts into them before they started to fade in her memory.  Her writing production was not as prodigious as it had been before the explosion, when she was often able to devote three or four hours a day to her writing, but she was not at all dissatisfied with her achievements now.  The process of writing fiction, she had found many years ago, did not detract from her other work.  She had developed a method of filling her mind with the essential elements of the problems confronting her, then switching off and going on to an entirely different line of thinking, allowing her subconscious to churn through the information it had available and to come up with a clear set of thoughts after a couple of hours.

“It relaxes my mind, to think of something entirely different,” she explained to Nicolas.  “I think that a human brain has a limited amount of conscious processing capability, but a lot more in the subconscious.  Doing something different pushes the thinking work into the subconscious zone, and allows the conscious mind to concentrate on what is immediately needed.  When I was studying, and I found that my thinking was becoming muddled, I used to read science fiction or Tarzan novels.  After half an hour of that, all my muddle had cleared, and I could go back to studying, as though I had enjoyed a whole night’s sleep!”  She had found that it was a mistake to talk in simplified terms to her children.  Although they might not yet have the vocabulary to follow her precise meaning, they could understand the concepts of what she was saying, and they were always keen to fill in the gaps in their knowledge and understanding.  Every one of them was showing the love of knowledge that Nicole had as a child!

“I would like to read your books, mama,” Nicolas replied.

“I have lost most of those I wrote before the explosion,” she replied, “but you will be welcome to read the new ones as soon as they are finished.  They are all written in English, unfortunately, so you will have to learn to read English in the next three months!”

“I will try,” the young boy replied.  Nicole knew that he would.

*~*

Encouraged by the success of the expedition to Maputo, and the voyage to Europe and America, the community was keen to undertake a new expedition along the coastline of South Africa, to take in the cities of Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban.  All of these had been industrial centers, and there seemed to be significant salvaging opportunities, as well as a possibility of trade.  The idea of developing the trading activity had seized the imagination of the people of Montagu.  The prospects of it becoming a significant benefit to the community were small, but the people all understood the need to generate a culture of self-help among the people to replace the thinking that the only way to succeed was to take from others, a culture of entitlement that had been strongly encouraged by the actions of the pre-explosion Government, and assisted by the donations from the good-hearted citizens of the wealthier countries, who had believed that they could help people by giving, rather than by teaching them ways to support themselves!.  There was no surer way of entrenching that attitude than the policy ythat had been adopted by numerous African governments before the catastrophe, which demanded that any foreign investor make available a share of the investment, ranging from 25% to 60%, to ‘locals’, usually the favored few in the ruling Party.  It was almost impossible to find qualified people to take up the shares, so they were simply handed to the recommended people, who had influence within the Government, and they sat back to enjoy the fruits of the investment and work of others, sometimes fooling themselves that they contributed in some meaningful way to the company!  

Although the numbers of survivors in the outside world were likely to be miniscule, the people of Montagu did not wish to have to confront an aggressive state that might develop on their borders.  They knew that their apparent wealth would make them a tempting target for such a group, and, while they did not believe that any significant threat could develop within the next ten years, they believed that assisting the people outside their borders to adopt a line of thinking similar to their own would facilitate a peaceful coexistence with them, even if they did not wish to become part of the Montagu group, a possibility that would always be open.

The first expedition on the new route was ready to depart within six weeks of the return of the Reef Explorer from the Bahamas.  It had been decided to use the rail method of travel, in order to reach the dozens of possible places where people might have survived between the harbor cities.  They used the armored train that had gone to Maputo, including the crew, with an additional six cars that could be sent back with salvaged goods if no threat were found.  An additional ten crew members were on board to operate the returning trains.  That modification was decided on the basis of the experience in Johannesburg, where no need had been found for the armor, but a great need for increased cargo capacity!

The train set off, under the leadership of Alwyn, heading first to Cape Town, and then along the coastal railway line.  The first section presented no challenges.  The line was already well-used, with up to ten trains per week using it.  However, once they had passed the town of Heidelberg, about a hundred and fifty kilometers along the coast, the conditions were unknown.  They reached the town of Mossel Bay by the evening, and decided to spend the night there, parked on the elevated railway line a little beyond the town at a position where they had a wonderful view of the beach.  The position was so enticing that the crew of the train went for a swim in the sea, a couple of hundred meters away, afterwards washing the salt water off in the river.  They were able to see from the train into an unoccupied caravan camp nestled alongside the railway line from their elevated position, a view that made them sad.  The effort that had been put into developing something as simple as this, only to have it abandoned as a result of an event nearly halfway around the world spoke of the interconnectedness of the world.  If the explosion had occurred a hundred and fifty years earlier, there was a good chance that no one in South Africa would have known of it for a couple of months!  Yet, with all the sophistication of the modern world, that explosion had destroyed the lives of billions of people, many of whom had never heard of Yellowstone National Park!

They carried on in the morning, reaching Jeffreys Bay by the evening, where they stopped for the night.  The towns they had briefly explored along the route had contained nothing of immediate value, although there would undoubtedly be goods to salvage.  That task could be undertaken by follow-on groups, in light of the fact that the expedition had found no sign of any living person.  Jeffreys Bay was essentially a holiday resort town, with numerous houses, but no industrial activity of any note, but their camp there put them in a good position to make a quick run into Port Elizabeth in the morning. 

Port Elizabeth had been a large industrial city, housing two large auto manufacturers, with many subsidiary and support industries.  Once again, as in Johannesburg, there were no obvious signs of present human existence.  The group earmarked several industrial areas for later exploration, and erected a couple of flagpoles to fly the large brightly-colored flags that Monty’s clothing factory made for the purpose, to attract the attention of any persons who might be hiding, as seemed likely, or who might travel through the area.  The hilly location of the city gave some excellent locations for these.  The flagpoles also served as antennae for small radios the group put at the base, housed in small roofed structures to protect them from the weather.  The radio was powered by a car battery that was charged by a small solar panel mounted on the roof of the structure, and carried instructions in five different languages.  It was tuned to a frequency that was monitored continuously by Montagu, and it was intended to provide a first point of contact with anyone who might pass that way.  An added refinement was the enlargement of the speaker, to broadcast a voice message to anyone in the area every two hours of the day.  The message, spoken by Nicole in the same five languages and by Johannes in Xhosa, the Bantu language of the area, welcomed the hearers and gave spoken instructions for the use of the radio, offering a trade link if that was desired.

Once again, there were numerous opportunities for salvage.  Alwyn’s team spent a day working through the list of desired goods drawn up by Barbara and Arthur, loading them on two of the sail-rail cars, and sending them back to Montagu in the morning of the day of the expedition’s departure to East London.

The reduced train carried on, following the line of the railway, and arrived in the late afternoon in Grahamstown.  This had previously been a university town, where Alwyn had gained a degree in commerce.  Although the town offered little in the way of industrial goods, the university was a happy hunting ground for books and literature of all sorts!  They unlatched two cars from the train and drove into the university complex, to park at the entrance to the library.  The bulk of the men set to work to transfer the books from the library into the car, and Alwyn led a small group to explore the shops of the small town.  Sadly, many of these had been destroyed in the riots and unrest that followed on the heels of the economic collapse, but there were two bookstores that remained more or less intact.  The men eagerly loaded hundreds of books, newspapers and magazines into the railcar, then, to their delight, they found a small store behind a coffee bar that stocked books and publications in foreign languages!  They were able to recover dozens of books in German, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch.  They were about to move on to the highest building in the university complex, to erect a flagpole with a radio, when they heard a voice!

“Who are you?”

The speaker was a woman, apparently in her thirties.  She had walked out from behind the corner of the store, where she had been hidden from view.

“Good morning, ma’am!”  Alwyn was surprised to see her.  Her appearance did not show the signs of hunger and deprivation that had marked so many of the refugees they had found.  She was dressed in neat clothing and a pair of jogging shoes, and she had a gay straw hat on her head, topping the long brown hair that fell to her shoulders.  Her face was serious, and in her hands she held a shotgun, which she pointed unwaveringly at the three men in the store.  “We’re from Montagu.  We’re looking for survivors, or, in the absence of survivors, for items that may be of value to our group.  Are you alone?”

“No, I’m not alone!”  The woman’s response was curt, although Alwyn could see that he'd captured her interest.  “There are another six people with weapons watching you.”

Alwyn had experience of dealing with groups of survivors.  Now he put his rifle down, slowly, and backed away from it.  The remaining two men copied his actions.

“We mean no harm,” he said.  “We’re part of a group that managed to survive the catastrophe.  We’re looking for any others who have also survived, so that we can invite them to join us, or to set up a trading relationship.  We believe that there are too few people left in the world for us to be enemies!”

The woman considered his response for a minute.

“There have been other men here, who said the same things.  But they were here only to take what we have!  They offered nothing in return!  Why should we trust you?”

“You need to trust us, because, as far as we’ve been able to find, we’re the only viable group of people left in the world!  We have over three and a half thousand members in our community.  We have a university, a hospital, adequate food and industrial capacity to trade for almost anything you could be able to offer us, and we have a truly democratic system.”  Alwyn added the last sentence, knowing that the people of Grahamstown had been almost fanatical in their dedication to the principles of democracy before the explosion, even though, in many cases, their interpretation of ‘democracy’ might have been open to question.  His words had the desired effect.  The expression on the woman’s face thawed a little.

“How can I believe you?  Those are fine words, yet you can’t offer any proof.”

“Look at our vehicle,” Alwyn requested.  “That must have been developed by a society with some industrial capacity.  It’s a brand new idea.  It travels under sail power on the railways, but it can be driven on the roads.  We’ve used these cars to travel from Montagu to Johannesburg and to Maputo.  We have a ship that brought some of our members from Australia, and saved some people trapped in Sardinia and the Bahamas, as well as a group being held captive by terrorists in Maputo.”

“Do you have a doctor?”

“Not here with us.  We’re all trained as paramedics, but if you need a more advanced level of treatment, we can take you back to Montagu. Or perhaps arrange for a doctor to come here.  Are members of your group ill?”

“My mother.  I think she had a mild heart attack, but I have no way of knowing.”

“Please come with me to the vehicle.  I can put you in touch with our medical team.  They may be able to help.”

Alwyn walked a careful step towards the woman, seeing that this was a decision point.  She allowed it, dropping the muzzle of her shotgun.  Alwyn moved past her, out of the store, and walked over to the vehicle.  She followed him into the cabin of the vehicle, looking around it.  Alwyn moved over to the radio, which was always switched on.  He picked up the microphone and spoke into it.

“Montagu. This is Alwyn.  Over.”

“Come in Alwyn.  Over.”

“Montagu. We may have a medical problem with a survivor in Grahamstown.  We need to speak to one of the doctors.  Over.”

“I’ll patch you through, Alwyn.”  There was a click, then silence for a minute before Sandra’s voice came through the speaker.

“Yes Alwyn, this is Sandra.  You have a problem?”

“Yes Sandra.  We have a woman here whose mother may have suffered a heart attack.  I’ll put her on.”  Alwyn handed the microphone to the woman.

“Hello.  Sandra?”  The woman was uncertain. 

“Hello.  Please tell me the symptoms.  When did it occur?”

“It’s my mother.  She was up early this morning.  She wasn’t feeling well and she complained of a pain in her left arm.  I remember that was one of the signs of a heart attack.”

Sandra asked further questions, then, when she was satisfied that she understood the situation, she asked to speak to Alwyn.

“I want you to go to the woman and check her vital signs.  There’s a pack of medication in your medical kit labeled ‘G’ to deal with these situations.  As soon as you have the information, call me back.  If it is what I think, we need to stabilize the mother immediately, and get her back here as soon as you can, Alwyn.  Please don’t waste any time!”

Alwyn called his crew into the car.

“Where do we need to go?”

“We’re on a farm about four kilometers out of town, on the road to Langholm.  Go straight down this road to the major junction, then turn left.”

They drove off, using the motor.  It took them about ten minutes to reach the little farmhouse hidden away in a tiny valley.  Five people came out of the house as they drove up, looking with amazement at the large vehicle.  Alwyn carried the medical kit into the house, following the woman to her mother’s bedroom.  The older woman was lying on her bed, obviously in pain.  Alwyn spoke into the handheld VHF radio that one of the crew patched through onto the SSB radio to Montagu.  He took the readings of the vital signs and asked the questions set out in the booklet included in the medical kit, relaying the information to Sandra, and Sandra confirmed that the woman was seriously ill.

“You must bring her in as fast as you can get her here!  Time is very important in these cases!  I’ll get on a train and meet you halfway!

Alwyn followed the treatment instructions Sandra gave, and then they moved the woman onto a stretcher and put her into the rail car.

“Who would like to go with her?” asked Alwyn as he secured her for the bumpy ride to the railway station. 

“I’ll go, if I may,” said the daughter.  “I think my dad should come too.”  The man moved forward, and they all climbed into the strange vehicle.  The railcar drove off, and reached the railway within ten minutes.  Alwyn put the car onto the rails.  Two of the relief crew drove off down the railway line, taking the sick woman to Montagu.  The rails were clear all the way, and the strong wind that had come up during the time they were in Grahamstown assured them that they would make quick progress in the lightly-loaded sail-car.  They would be there tomorrow evening, but would probably be met by Sandra by the early morning.

Alwyn took another car out to the farm, to talk to the people they had left there.  In the rush to get the sick woman off to hospital, they had not talked at all!  He and the two members of the crew were invited into the house.

“I’m sorry we didn’t have enough time to introduce ourselves properly.  Let me do it now.”  He looked around at the people sitting in the cozy room.  There were three adults, a man and two women, and two children in their early teens.  “We’re part of a group in Montagu.  The group was started by Helen Lindstrom, who predicted the explosion, and John Carter.  They foresaw what was coming, and they set about building the basis of a survivable civilization.  We’ve built our numbers since then, and we now have over three and a half thousand people in our community.  We have pretty well all of the basic requirements of a civilized society, including schools, a university, a hospital with six doctors and most of the equipment you'd expect in a modern hospital.  We have an extensive farming activity, covering over two thousand square kilometers and producing everything we need in the food line.  We also have factories producing several types of goods in daily use, including clothing, shoes, and many types of canned and preserved foods.  We also have a passenger ship that brought over eight hundred people from Australia to join our group, and we used it to rescue people from Maputo, Sardinia, and the Bahamas.  We’ve opened routes to Johannesburg and Maputo by rail, and the purpose of our present expeditionary group is to explore the route to Durban along the coast.  When we do that, we have three main objectives.  First, we want to locate and rescue any survivors who need our help, or to provide whatever assistance is required if they do not wish to join us.  Second, we try to set up trading relationships with the people who don’t want to join us.  Our purpose is to ensure that those people who live in the rest of the area have at least an opportunity to pick themselves up after the catastrophe, so that we can all live in harmony.  Third, if there are no people in an area, we try to salvage what we can, to ensure that we can avoid using our scarce resources to produce what already exists.  A big part of the salvage effort is the recovery of books.  The books we have saved and downloaded from the internet before the explosion closed it all down have been invaluable in our recovery efforts.  We’ve been able to access the knowledge of the past, rather than having to recreate it ourselves!

“What does that all mean for us?” asked the man.  “I realize that you’ve been able to provide medical assistance to Heather, but what about the rest of us?”

“We offer you the opportunity to come with us to Montagu.  You can come and stay, or, if you don’t like what you find there, we’ll give whatever help we can to get you to where you want to go.  All we ask is that you do what you can to contribute to the welfare of the community.”  He looked at the people there, saw that there was the same look of disbelief he had seen on the faces of almost all the people they had rescued.  People could not believe that they would be welcomed unconditionally in Montagu!  “By the way, I’m Alwyn Malan.  I’m with the Scout Group.  We provide security for whatever the community does.  This is Sarel, who heads up the trading and salvaging expeditions to Johannesburg, and Jeremy, who came from Australia.”

“What do we need to do to go to Montagu?” the man asked.

“Practically nothing!”  Jeremy responded with a smile.  “Make up your minds, pack what you want to take, and come to the railway station.  We’ll have a car ready to go by tomorrow morning.  You can take pretty well everything you wish.  We have plenty of capacity.  Alternatively, you can decide to leave most of it behind, and take only what you need for a couple of weeks.  If you decide to stay in Montagu, you can return on the next trip and collect whatever you leave behind now.  Are there just the five of you?  Your lady companion said that there were another six of you ready to shoot us!”

“That was merely to keep you from attacking her!” replied the man with a smile.  “Felicity is rather aggressive at times!  I suppose she has to be, in the circumstances!  She went into town to see if she could find any information on how to treat Heather.”  He smiled briefly, thinking of how his wife had done the things that had been essential to keep them all alive, including setting a trap for the gang of robbers who had descended on them one night, killing them all in a pit trap that she had built on the path they would use.  And all these years, he had thought of her as being such a timid, retiring person!  “I’m Tom Brokenshaw, by the way.  My wife is Felicity, and my mother-in-law is Heather, her husband Arnold.  These are our children, David and Denise, and over there are Trevor and Valentina Conlyn.  They’re friends from Cape Town.  They came here when the conditions in Cape Town started to become unlivable, but it didn’t take too long for the conditions here in the town to come down to the same level!  Heather and I used to work at the university here in Grahamstown.  Heather was a lecturer in modern languages, and I was in the Faculty of Architecture.  Trevor and Valentina were in the University of Cape Town.  Trevor was in the administration, and Valentina was a lecturer in Russian.”

“In that case, you probably know my wife, Wendy Forster,” suggested Alwyn.  “She was in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cape Town.”

“I knew her well!”  Valentina smiled.  “So you’re married!  How is she?”

“She’s loving it in Montagu!  She’s very active in the education effort there, managing the schools we’ve set up, and she’s also lecturing in the university courses.  Why don’t you come out to the railcar, and I can get hold of Wendy on the radio?  She’ll tell you what you need to know about our community.”

“I'd love to do that!”

They walked out to the railcar, where Alwyn quickly made the connection, getting the call patched through to Wendy on her VHF radio, and then he left Valentina and Trevor to talk with her, while he returned to the sitting room to chat with Tom, David and Denise.  Trevor and Valentina returned a few minutes later, their faces wreathed in smiles.  Wendy had reassured them that everything that Alwyn had told them was true.

The knowledge that someone they knew was in Montagu seemed to ease the decision for them.  They served the rail car crew a cup of tea and some biscuits while the Grahamstown people withdrew to discuss what they planned to do.  The discussion was over before the crew finished their tea.

“We'd like to come with you,” announced Tom.  “We’ve been able to survive well, but it’s clear that there’s no future here for the youngsters.  We really need to be part of a bigger group.”

“If you need time to pack, we can come around early tomorrow to collect you all,” said Alwyn.  “We'd like to leave at about five.  You’ll be going directly back to Montagu, and the rest of us will head on to East London and Durban.  I guess you’ll be back together with Heather and Felicity within two days.”

The five accepted the offer, and Alwyn and the crew stood, and walked out to the rail car, accompanied by the people from the farm.  They drove off, back to the town, to continue the loading work that had been interrupted by the meeting with Felicity.

The work was done by five, and the two cars were returned to the railway, fully loaded with books and documents.  Ann and her library group would be ecstatic when these two cars rolled in!  The men had a pleasant evening, and got to bed early.  Alwyn and the two drove out to the farm in the morning, to collect the new members of the community, arriving back at the train before five.  They and their luggage were quickly transferred to the returning cars, and the two groups set off in their opposite directions. 

The ride to East London took them through pleasant scenery, with rolling hills predominating, and the track winding between them to keep a level grade.  Rather than return about forty-five kilometers to keep on the rail where the line to Grahamstown had branched off, the East London group left the rail about twenty kilometers out of Grahamstown to run on the road for the next hundred kilometers, to rejoin the railway line at King Williams Town, a border town in the early years of the expansion of the Cape Colony towards the east, when the British Empire had imported colonists from England and placed them on the border to provide a barrier against incursions by the warlike Xhosa tribe.  The fact that they were intended to be a living barrier came as a nasty surprise to many of the colonists!  The country was uninviting, and they were pleased to get back on the rail, where the automated systems of the train did most of the work, enabling them to enjoy lunch together in the lead car.  They reached the railway station at East London as the sun was setting, and parked the train in the main railway station.  There was not a living soul to be seen in the parts of the city they had passed through, and no lights to be seen from the vantage points they were able to climb.  The evening radio contact told them that Heather and her group had been met by Sandra and her medical group near Mossel Bay.  Sandra had done a thorough investigation before the train had moved on again, and added to the medication that had been administered, and the group was now heading on to Montagu.  Sandra was pleased to report that the prognosis on Heather’s condition was good, thanks to the prompt intervention by Alwyn and his group.  The news would have been much worse if their qualified assistance had not been available!

The news was good, and the expressions of gratitude from Heather’s family and friends, who had joined in to the radio conversation from their train, gratifying, and the members of the patrol group went to bed that night, very satisfied with the work they had performed.  That sort of outcome was a good reward for the work they did!

They were awoken early in the morning, some hours before sunrise, by the sentry.  He had spotted a couple of men sneaking up to the train along the tracks.  He called the group on standby, and they awakened the balance of the crew.  The men deployed quickly to their prepared positions, and waited for the men to come into the trap. 

It took ten long minutes for the two men to approach the train.  Their movements were slow and stealthy, not the open moves of men who were wanting to make contact.  This was not unexpected.  The men could not know that the people aboard the train were friendly! 

When the two men were truly surrounded, a flood light was switched on, temporarily blinding the men, and the Scout Group men closed in on them.  They were quickly imprisoned and taken to the train for questioning, while the balance of the men on guard remained in their positions.

The captives were shocked at the effectiveness of the action taken against them.  The story came out that they had hidden away from the criminals running rampant in the town, taking refuge on a small farm, owned by one of the men.  The farm had been invaded a couple of times, and the small group hiding there had kept out of sight, taking no action that might tell the criminals that they were there, until one of the invaders had found one of the young women of the group, who had gone to fetch water from a river.  The men had acted immediately, and recovered the young woman unharmed, killing five of the invaders in the process.  They had been careful to take out the whole group, so that no survivor could carry the story back to the main group, and they had disposed of the bodies in a tank in which they had previously fermented the pig droppings to make methane gas for heating purposes.  The main group of criminals, having no idea of whether the five men were still alive, had no reason to come searching for them.  Encouraged by this action, the men had taken to hunting down groups of criminals as they roamed the area around the city, finding and killing small groups of them where they could, and hiding their bodies.  This action reduced the numbers of criminals rapidly, and soon there were no more.  The peace had lasted more than a year now, and in this time, the vigilantes had found another two groups of people hiding out, and they had all joined together.  The arrival of the train, driving along the railway line, had been a shock for all of them, causing them to fear that a more organized group was moving in to take control of the area.  Two of the men had come to the train to find out more about it and the people on it.

“Let us reassure you,” said Alwyn.  “We’re on your side!  We’ve been looking for survivors of the results of the explosion.  We'd like all of you to join us in Montagu.  We’ve not found a single group that was doing as well as they would have liked.  It’s really not easy to recover from the sort of crash that has happened!  How many of you are there in your group?”

“There are seven men and five women, with eight children.”

“Can we go and fetch them?”

One of the men looked uneasily at the other, a glance that the men of the Scout Group noticed and, they thought, understood.

“I think it will be better if we go and bring them in.  If you can take your train out to the Humewood area, it’s only a short walk.  We can go to them and explain what you’re all about.  That will let them feel comfortable about joining up with you.”

“OK, let’s do it that way,” replied Alwyn, his voice friendly and relaxed.

They prepared the train to move out, and when they were ready, the two men guided them along the track, assisting in setting the switches as they went.  It took only about a half hour to get to the desired position, and the two men set off, walking through the streets of the suburb.  As soon as they were out of sight, Alwyn turned to his men.

“Let’s assume that they’ll be returning along the same route,” said Alwyn.  “I want to set sentries along the roads.  I don’t trust those two!  No-one living on a farm would pollute the pig droppings fermentation system by using it to dispose of bodies that they could easily have buried.  I think they’re telling us the story of the people they have killed!”

The work was soon done, the sentries settling into hidden positions.  Lights were set up on the approach roads, to flood the area with light when needed, and other lights were set up, infra-red this time, to enable a concealed surveillance of the area in case the men had set a trap in a location favorable to them.  They settled in to wait.

The men returned an hour later, coming in a group.  The infra-red lights revealed a tight group of women and children approaching, flanked by four men, with a further man in the front of the group, and two men some distance behind.  The peripheral infra-red lights revealed another six men approaching in two groups of three men each down side streets, each man heavily armed.

“Just as we thought!  They think they’ve trapped us!  Open the side door of the middle car and put down the ramp, and then evacuate it through the passage.  We’ll try to get the women and children into the car, out of the line of fire.”  Alwyn opened the connection on his VHF radio.  “They’re approaching from both sides, as well as the group in the middle.  I’ll invite them into the car.  Open fire if they show any sign of attacking, but let them get as close as possible before we do that.  Take care not to injure the women or children.”  He switched the microphone on his control panel to the speaker in the middle car.  “Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.  Come on in!  We have coffee ready!”  The volume level was just right.  The group accepted that the voice they heard was from Alwyn, and they walked towards the middle car, its doorway lit by the interior lights.  The gangplank to the car was already lowered, providing an invitation to enter.  The lead man of the group stood aside when he was twenty or thirty meters from the car, indicating with a swing of his rifle that the women and children should go ahead.  It was possible, in the infra-red lighting, to see the fear on the faces of the women and children.  There could be no doubt that they were being used as hostages!  Alwyn waited impatiently as the last of the small group climbed the gangplank, then he pushed a switch on the control panel of the lead car.  There was a subdued whirr as the electric motor slid the wide door shut, locking those inside away from the violence that was to happen.  With a shout, the lead man jumped forward, to stop the door closing, but he was too far away to reach it in time!  The bright floodlights came on, blinding the men.  Even those approaching along the side roads, now almost up to the train, were caught in the glare, looking instinctively at the brilliant lights.  Their night vision destroyed, they started shooting at the train.  The man controlling the lights cut them again, their work done, and the men of Scout Group started shooting back.  The bullets of the men were stopped by the Kevlar armor of the train, and those inside were able to shoot back through the rifle slits that they slid open, joining in the murderous barrage of fire from the sentries outside.  The fusillade lasted less than a minute.  When it ceased, there were no more targets.  Every one of the attackers was on the ground, either dead or seriously injured.

“Let’s move away to a safer position,” commanded Alwyn.  “They may have more men that are on standby, waiting to follow up the initial attack.”  He called in the sentries on the radio, and waited until they were aboard with the equipment that had been set up before he pressed the button that unfurled the sails.  The train did the rest.  The sails spread out to catch the breeze, and the train moved silently away from the field of slaughter.  Alwyn had seen on the map of the railway system that the line they were on ran in a loop around the area, and joined up with the main line some fifteen kilometers away from where they were.  They moved along the line to where it joined with the main line, and then a further five kilometers along the rail line towards the east before they decided that it was safe enough to stop.  Alwyn and Jeremy walked back through the empty second car to the third car, where the women and children were sitting on the benches and beds that were there.  They looked up in fear as the two large men walked into the space.  He expected that!  These people had been through unimaginable hardships over a period of years, then were locked in a strange vehicle in the middle of a gunfight, and then transported to some unknown destination by a group of men they had not even seen!

“Please don’t be alarmed.”  Alwyn used his normal speaking voice.  “We'd like to know about those men who were with you.”

“They were holding us!” one of the women replied after a slight hesitation.  “They’ve held us for nearly two years, I think!  They killed my husband!”

“They were monsters,” stated the second woman flatly.  “They’ve been holding us as slaves!  All of the women and girls have been raped repeatedly!  The only reason the children are still alive is that they used them as hostages to ensure that we would do what they instructed.  Did you kill all of them?”

“We got all that were coming up to us.  There were seven with you and another six separately.  That makes thirteen.”

The woman nodded. 

“That’s all of them!”  Her face showed her satisfaction.

“Are all of the hostages here?”

“”Yes.”  The woman nodded.  “There were another two women, but the men were having a bit of fun the night before last, and two of the women with us were hurt badly.  They bled to death yesterday.  There was nothing we could do to help them!”

“I’m sorry for that.  Not all men are like that!  Were there any other groups in the area?”

“I believe that there is another gang operating here in East London.  There’s been a regular war between them for the past eight months.  They fight over territory.  In this area, territory means food!  The other group will take over the whole territory now that the Razor gang is gone.”

Alwyn thought about the situation.  It was not in his mandate to fight a war with any criminals that might occupy an area, unless that group controlled the route through that area.  That might be the case here, but, on the other hand, he now had thirteen souls to care for! 

“I think it is time for us to terminate this expedition,” he said to Jeremy.  “I don’t think that we want to get into a war with these people on board.  Even if we were to win the battle, the conditions in the town are not safe for us to do any salvage work.  And, worst of all, this town lies on one of the main rail lines between Cape Town and Durban.  If we are to explore Durban, I think we will have to go via Bloemfontein, where we know the route is secure.  I think we should return to Montagu.”

Jeremy thought it over.  It would be unpleasant to call off this expedition at this stage, but what Alwyn had said was all true, and the overriding directive for them was not to go into any danger they could avoid.  He had a very high regard for Alwyn, and knew that he would not be afraid to take on the gangs if the conditions were right.

“I agree.  I think we should turn around right now.  We can return to Port Elizabeth and fill the train with salvage goods, so we don’t return empty-handed.  That might take a couple of days, and then we can hotfoot it back to Montagu.  We can be there in about five or six days if we travel overnight.”

Alwyn informed the rest of the crew.  There was a little good-natured grumbling from the crewmembers, but general agreement, and a return now meant that they could see their families again soon.  They reversed down the track to where it turned off to Easy London city, and turned the train around.  They were on their way back to Montagu before the sun rose.

*~*

Alwyn returned to the car where the rescued hostages were sitting.  Their ordeal had deprived them of any initiative.  They sat listlessly in their seats or lay on the bunks.  When Alwyn walked in, they sat up and paid attention.

“We’ll be preparing breakfast in a few minutes.  We were wondering if any of you would like to help.  I’m sure that all of you could do with a decent meal.  We can tell you about us and our people while you eat.”

The two women perked up a little.  The one who had told him about their circumstances raised her hand.

“I’ll help!”  Her lead was followed by the other women, and they all walked through the tunnel connecting the cars to the lead car, which had the full kitchen.  Soon they were working at preparing the breakfast.  Realizing the need of these people for good food, the crew assisted them to prepare oatmeal porridge, followed by bacon, fried eggs and toast, all served with coffee or tea.  The youngsters soon became involved too, setting out the plates on the table and washing the used items as the women were finished with them.  The conversation picked up as their cares were thrust into the background, and the meal was soon ready.  The crew ate in shifts, leaving space at the table for their new guests, and all the while the train moved almost silently along the rails towards safety, rocking gently as it went in a relaxed, friendly motion.  The constructive activity, undertaken without coercion, worked as Alwyn had planned, starting to bring these tortured souls back into the world of normal, caring people.

The return route took them to the north, away from Grahamstown, so avoiding the need for the road leg.  They traveled inland for about a hundred and forty kilometers, before the way swooped back towards Port Elizabeth.  This portion of the route required stops every few hours, to set the switches, but the passengers used these breaks to walk about the train, enjoying the countryside.  It was clear that the normalizing process had started, although it would take a long time to complete.

They called in at Port Elizabeth, loading six cars full of the goods taken from the warehouses they had marked on the map.  They took a car into the town to check on the flags they had left behind, but found no trace that anyone had come there.  The crew carried on loading into the night, and were able to pull out again before dawn, traveling down the rails that they knew, and catching up on their sleep as they went.

They arrived at the turn-off to Swellendam, and took the short-cut from there to Ashton, cutting out nearly four hundred kilometers of travel via Cape Town.  This route, although longer from Cape Town than the route via Worcester, had more gentle grades, and so was used by the heavily-loaded trains returning to Montagu from salvage trips to Cape Town.  Because of this, the route was well known to the community.  It was a delight to run though the valleys as they approached Montagu.  When they arrived at Ashton, they were met by hundreds of people who had taken the time to greet the hostages.  They were taken by bus to the hospital, where they were put up for the night while the doctors performed tests on them, and commenced the treatment that would restore their health.  A large part of that treatment had already commenced, in the solicitous care that the crew of the train had bestowed on them.  They had been able to bathe properly, the first time in years, were given fresh clothing, combs and brushes from the stores that the train carried for exactly this eventuality, and they were given good, nutritious meals.  All of this had gone a long way to restoring their self-confidence, as well as their health, and the treatment they received at the hospital did the rest.  Although the women and the girls, as young as ten years, were all suffering from sexually transmitted diseases, the medical staff were able to treat these, and bring them back to health.  The hardest condition to cure was the mental state their captivity had brought, but the knowledge that their tormentors had paid the ultimate price did a lot to correct that.

Chapter 18

The community had hardly settled into their old routine when the next call came in.  It was heard for the first time shortly after eight in the morning.  The words were faint, barely audible.  Klaus was once again on duty.

“Do you copy?  Over.”  Klaus grabbed the microphone.

“Caller, this is Montagu.  Over.”  He waited for the response.

“Montagu.  I can barely hear you.  There is a lot of static.”  The transmission was interrupted by a burst of static, and Klaus worked frantically to recover it.  Suddenly the static subsided.  “… in South Island.  We need help urgently.  Can you assist?”

“Caller, is that South Island, New Zealand?  Give your locality and your numbers.”  Over.”  Klaus waited for the response as another burst of static swamped the transmission.

“  and forty six.  ….repeat  ...  ford sou ….”  The transmission was lost once more.

By now, a small crowd had gathered outside, where the speakers that Klaus had switched on had brought in a number of people passing by.  Roger was amongst them.  He had been walking towards Barbara’s office when he heard the transmission.  He came into the library, where the radio station had been set up.

“Could you hear enough?” he asked.

“Not really, but I think they’re in South Island, New Zealand.  I heard the words ‘…ford sou” and I think that could be Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand.”

“I’ll get the preparations going.  I heard him say ‘and forty-six!  That could easily mean some hundreds and forty-six, but if it is even only forty-six, we must get going.  The man sounded as though he needs help!”

“I agree!  I’ll try to make contact again, and patch it through to you, Roger.”

Roger hurried out, to start his preparations.

*~*

The experience of the previous voyages had smoothed the process of preparation, and all that needed to be added to the partial plans was the number of passengers and the duration of the voyage.  Sandra worked on getting together the medical team and supplies they might need, while Nicole worked out the route, bringing Peter, Pam, Jane and Ron in at an early stage.  Arthur, Bettie and Barbara worked out the food supplies on the assumption that the number of refugees was two hundred and forty-six, and started moving goods to the ship by the trainload, even before they knew how many they had to cater for.  Chad worked on the crew schedule, rotating some of those who had gone on previous voyages to give other members of the community the chance to go.  Ron sent a maintenance crew to give the ship a final check, even though they did the work after the completion of every voyage.  Amanda checked the list of crewmembers and worked out a school system, allocating six teachers to go.  Even an emergency voyage could not be allowed to interrupt the schooling of the children!

Klaus continued to work on making contact with the caller, amending the message sent out automatically to give a list of frequencies that he believed would provide the best chance of getting a message through at this time of day, assuming the call was coming from New Zealand.  His suspicion that this was the case was supported when the direction finding unit gave a confirmation that the signal had emanated from the general direction of South Island, New Zealand, although numerous other possibilities still existed.  Then, at eleven-twelve, the signal was audible again.

“Montagu, do you copy?”  The signal was much stronger now, coming in clearly over the static.

“Caller, this is Montagu.”

“Montagu.  We are approaching starvation.  We are in a mountain area west of Milford Sound, or where Milford Sound used to be!  The winter is coming, and we do not have the reserves to last another six months.  The salt water has destroyed the grazing, and the sheep are wasting away.  Can you help?”

“We can help, caller.  How many are you?”

“Two hundred and forty six, Montagu.”  There was a burst of static that drowned out the voice.  Klaus punched the transmit button again.

“Caller.  We can be there within two months.  Can you hold on that long?  Over.”

“We can Montagu.  Can you send a doctor?  We have many sick!”  The static grew again, drowning out the call.

“We will look for you in Milford Sound, caller.  Have someone there to guide us!  Over.”  There was no response, but the roar of static.

Armed with the more detailed information, the planning was adjusted, and further trains sent to the ship.  Members of the crew packed their luggage hurriedly and traveled on the food trains, to be at the ship to help with the loading.  The last of the crew was ready to depart from Montagu by four-thirty that afternoon, with everything they needed either already on the ship or in the truck that was to accompany the bus.  The last items were loaded on board by seven, and the ship cast off at seven-ten that evening, making use of the last hour of sunlight to steam out of the unlit harbor into the night.

*~*

The first part of the voyage was relatively simple.  They followed the coast at a gradually increasing distance until they passed Port Elizabeth, and then the coast tended northwards, while their route took them a little to the south of east, out into the deep Indian Ocean.  The days grew shorter as they moved further south, taking the Great Circle route across the bottom of the world, with the Southern Ocean Current giving them an additional boost.  The crosses that Nicole was making on the routing chart grew increasingly far apart as the distance from one longitude to the next grew shorter.  Although the days took on the normal shipboard routine, this voyage was different from the rest.  There was an unspoken urgency in their work.  Even the galley crew felt that their efforts would be able to spur the ship on!  Roger pushed the ship to her maximum performance, helped by a boost from the diesel generators during the ever-longer nighttime hours as the intensity of the sunlight diminished, reducing the hydrogen output of the sunlight-powered plants.

They entered the Great Australian Bight, south of Australia, three weeks after their departure, and, the day they passed Cape Leeuwen, south of Perth, they were able to make contact with the caller from New Zealand for the first time.

“Montagu, do you copy?”  The man’s voice sounded desperate.

“We copy, New Zealand!  This is Montagu Two.  Over.”

“Thank heavens!  Are you able to come to our assistance?”

“We are on the way, caller.  We expect to arrive in Milford Sound in seven days.”

The relief in the man’s voice when he replied was almost palpable!

“Seven days!  Is that reliable?”

“Give or take one day, New Zealand, depending on the weather.  What is your condition?”

“We will run out of food in three days at best.  We have found that some of the stores we were relying on have been spoiled.  Please come as fast as you can.”

“Please hold, caller.  Our Doctor wants to talk with you.  Peter, who had been on watch on the bridge, had come into the radio room.  He took the microphone.

“Caller, I am Peter.  Please tell me about the medical problems, so that we can make preparations to receive you.  Over.”

“It’s mostly starvation, I guess, Doc.  We’ve been living on minimum rations since the tsunami hit.  Most of us are anemic, I think several have scurvy.  We haven’t had any fruit and almost no green vegetables.  We’ve lived on slaughtering sheep since the tsunami.  We found a few running wild in the hills, but the grass hasn’t been any good, and they’ve all been scrawny.  All the kids have got the sniffles practically all the time, and many of the adults too.  We’ve got hardly any warm clothes.  Otherwise, we’re all fit and healthy!”

“Have you looked at cooking kelp, caller?  There should be a lot of that around.  You must be careful to introduce it gradually into your diets.  That may extend your food supply a little.”

“I didn’t know you could eat that, Doc.  We’ll try!”

“Just hold on, caller.  We’re not far away now!”

“Where are you from?  I don’t know Montagu!  Is it in America?”

“No caller.  It’s in the Western Cape Province, South Africa!  What is your name, caller?”

“It’s Mike, Doc.  I’m waiting to meet you personally!”

“We’ll meet soon, Mike.  I must get back to work.  We’ll talk again.  Montagu two out.” 

Peter replaced the microphone, smiling at those around.

“We’ll make it!” he stated.

Roger finished the calculations to work out the balance of the fuel supply, its decreasing production and the fuel consumption at different speeds through the water, and increased the speed by a third of a knot.  He knew that he was taking a chance, but, he reasoned, there was a seventy per cent probability that they would be able to keep going at this speed until they reached New Zealand and if they could not keep going, they would have to decrease speed by only one knot to make up the deficit.  The calculation would give the average engineer grey hair!  He had always worked on a margin of safety close to a hundred per cent!  The reality of this situation was that as many as a hundred people could die if he delayed even one day in arriving at the destination!  As if in sympathy with the plight of those nameless people, the Reef Explorer found a current that added an extra knot to their speed, boosting it to a little over seventeen knots!  The crosses on the chart made by Nicole’s pencil grew further apart, racing towards their destination.

They arrived off the coast of New Zealand early in the morning of the fourth day after they had that conversation with Mike.  It was a cold, grey day, with a mist hanging over the sea near the land, making an approach hazardous.  They closed with the land at dead slow speed, watching the depth carefully.  The depth reading remained off the scale.  Gradually, they could make out grey cliffs through the grey mist, seeing at first a little texture to relieve the blank greyness, but there were no features that would enable them to obtain a reliable fix.  Their last position fix had been last night, shortly after sunset, when Nicole had been able to see a couple of stars, and to take a snap reading of them before the clouds closed over.  Since then, she had been working on dead reckoning, using their speed and compass course, and estimating the current that was pushing them more to the side as they came closer to the land.  Although they had charts and sailing guides that were accurate for the time before the explosion, the changed temperature of the sea had changed the flow of the ocean currents, and the information they had for navigation was no longer reliable.

Nicole called on the radio at five in the morning, hoping to be able to find the direction of the transmitter.  The voice coming back to her was weak, but jubilant when she explained the purpose of her call.  Mike carried on talking, keeping his transmitter on long enough for Nicole to get a good direction reading.

“Thanks, Mike.  We’ll be approaching the land soon.  I must get back to work!”  She closed the transmission and plotted the direction of the radio transmission on her chart, assuming that the transmitter was in the tiny village on the shore of the Sound.  Their approach would be from the northern side of the Sound, as she had planned.  It would be too much of a coincidence to run right into the entrance of Milford Sound in these conditions!  The further away from the desired point they were when they approached the land, the more sure she could be that the turn to the south would take them in the correct direction.

Roger turned the ship to the south, running almost parallel to the wall of rock, closing very slowly.  Still there was no break in the rock.

“I’ve been here, a few years ago.”  Nicole had come out onto the bridge wing to stand next to Roger.  “Milford Sound was found only about a hundred and fifty years after New Zealand was settled.  The route to it from inland is through high mountains, which is probably what protected this group from the tsunami.  From the sea side, the cliffs overlap, to give it the appearance of a solid wall of rock.  You can only see the break in the cliffs from an angle, and you have to be fairly close to do that.  I suggest we get a little closer to the land.  The water here is over two hundred meters deep right up to the rocks.”

Roger evaluated the suggestion.  There was no significant wind, and the swell was fairly low.  Their experience so far indicated that the mist was fairly light, although the possibility of heavier patches remained.  If they ran into one of those, they would have to turn out to sea immediately.  It would be easy to become so disoriented that they would run right into those cliffs!  Their best hope of finding the entrance to the sound would be to wait for the mist to lift completely, but the need was too urgent for that!

“OK, we’ll run along the cliffs at a distance of about a couple of hundred meters for an hour, then we’ll turn back and look in the other direction.  I wish the GPS was working!”  He had made that wish dozens of times before, times when an accurate position fix would have made a huge difference to his actions.

They approached the cliffs even closer, so close that they had to look upwards to see the sky over their tops.  Nicole was studying the outline of the cliffs when she grabbed Roger’s arm.

“Look there!  About a hundred meters ahead!  There’s a break in the cliff top.  You can see it against the sky.”  Roger looked where she indicated and saw the unevenness.  When he studied the rock lower down, it was possible to see a slight line, where the movement of the ship caused a mismatch in the alignment of the unevenness of the rock.  That must be the opening!  He steered in a little closer, taking the large ship as close as he dared.  Suddenly, the opening between the cliffs was clear!  One of the cliffs overlapped the other by a couple of hundred meters, the stripe of water between the two running at less than twenty degrees off parallel to their course.  Nicole dashed back into the bridge, to check the configuration against the chart.

“That’s it!  You can turn in now, Roger!”

Roger eased the steering over to take them into the gap.  It was frightening!  The opening was so narrow that he had to look up at an angle of over sixty degrees to see the sky on either side.  It was a relief to all to see the sea open up into the large patch of quiet water inside the Sound.  Roger looked around the enclosed stretch of water.  On the inland side, the land ran to the base of a mountain and then climbed steeply into the mist.  He looked again, saw the jetty protruding from the land into the water.  He realized that the scale of the landscape had confused him.  At the inland end of the jetty, there was the tiny outline of a building!  If the intrusion of the wooden jetty into the water had not caught his eye, he would probably not have noticed the building!  He checked the water depth.  It was still off the scale! 

“Look at that waterfall!”  Nicole’s excited call caused him to move his gaze, to see a waterfall streaming from the mist hiding the top of the cliffs, straight into the sea!  The drop must have been hundreds of meters!  Roger glanced quickly at the deck.  The entire crew and passenger complement of the ship was lined up at the rails, taking in the spectacular view!

He could still not see any people, so he gave a long blast on the foghorn.  The sound echoed and re-echoed from the steep cliffs.  It had the desired effect.  People started to stream from the buildings in the tiny village they could now see behind and near the jetty.  Roger looked uncertainly at the jetty.  It did not look substantial enough to take the load of the Reef Explorer!  He looked again at the depth sounder.  There was a reading now, at the maximum of two hundred meters.  They edged in, a little closer to the shore but the depth stayed stubbornly beyond the limits of their anchoring capability.  Roger decided.

“Chad, please arrange two lifeboats to hold us in position.  One forward and one at the stern.  The rest of the boats can go ashore to collect our passengers.”

Chad understood the requirement immediately, and jumped to attend to the arrangements.  Soon, six boats were scuttling across the water to the shore, while the two remaining boats were standing by, one at each end of the ship, the mooring lines fastened to their stern cleats, and their engines idling in forward drive to give tension to the heavy lines.

The people on shore were lined up, many of them supporting others who were unable to stand, and twelve of them on makeshift stretchers.  The crews of the lifeboats brought their vessels in to the jetty.  Willing hands took the lines and tied them up, and others took the sandwiches the cooks had prepared last night, distributing them to the people.  The crewmen and -women were pleased to see that, hunger notwithstanding, the food was distributed first to the children and the weaker of the refugees before those handing the sandwiches out took a bite.  That told the Montagu people that they were dealing with their kind of people!

The first four stretchers were loaded aboard the first lifeboat, and it scuttled back to the ship, where the crane lifted the stretchers, two at a time, in cargo nets to the stern deck.  The crew waiting there quickly lifted the stretchers and carried them into the lounge, the largest space on the ship, that had been prepared as a temporary sickbay to provide space for the dozens of people who would have to be attended to.  As soon as the third and fourth stretchers were being lifted, the lifeboat turned away, to make space for the next boat, and to head back to the jetty.  When the three boats had departed the jetty, bringing all the stretcher cases, the boats started loading the walking passengers.  The ride from the jetty to the ship took only three or four minutes, and willing hands were stretched from the gangplank protruding from the cargo hatch to help the unsteady people to come aboard.  The ship’s children took the people as they left the cargo hatch space, guiding them through the ship to the lounge, where they were greeted with a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or tea, and a bowl of hot porridge, loaded with cream and sugar.  The guiding of the people was a role that the children valued.  It gave them the opportunity to be of service to people who needed every bit of help and compassion that could be offered.  When it became clear that the boarding process was likely to take at least a couple of hours, the cooks sent flat baskets loaded with steaming cups of the same porridge ashore, to sustain those waiting in the freezing conditions.  The loading continued, without any sign that those on shore were pushing to gain an earlier space.  As the last boat left the shore, the mist lifted suddenly, and the sun streamed through the break in the overcast, providing a magical light to the scene.  Those on deck looked around in wonder, seeing a sight that would remain with them for the rest of their lives.  When that boat had discharged its passengers, Chad walked over to the man who had been supervising the evacuation.

“Mike?”

“Yes.  How did you know?”

“You just look like a Mike!  Do we need to collect anything ashore?  Anybody left behind?”

“The people all packed their personal items, but I told them to leave it all in the ferryboat office, so we could get them aboard quickly.  There’s nothing of importance.  Only personal items.”

“We’ll fetch it all,” decided Chad.  “I’ve seen how important that sort of thing is to people.”  He detailed a group of crewmembers to the task, and they returned with two of the lifeboats to collect everything in the office.  The men returned within thirty minutes, and the goods were quickly transferred to the ship.  The lifeboats were lifted aboard and Roger eased the ship back out through the narrow channel, out into the open ocean once more. 

“We’ll head back around the north of Australia,” he told Nicole.  “The current’s more favorable that way, and I think these people could do with some sunlight and warmth for a while!”

Nicole had already prepared that course, along with the alternative, back the way they had come around the south of Australia.  She agreed with Roger’s decision.  She passed on the course to the helmsman, and they set off, back to Montagu.

Chapter 19

The Milford Sound group started recovering their strength quickly with the carefully-planned feeding program that Peter and Sandra instituted, and the members of the crew were well enough to have long conversations with the passengers and crew of the ship by the second day.  This was also part of the recovery plan.  As they spoke to their sympathetic listeners, all of whom had undergone some sort of traumatic experience, they were able to unload their repressed fears and concerns, and to start on the road to recovery.  Nicole handed over much of her navigation work in these simple conditions to others, and spent the time talking with the refugees, hearing their stories and making copious notes for inclusion in her part of the history of Montagu.  It was becoming a giant book!  Nicole had already typed up over four hundred pages of final draft, and her share was far from finished.  She relaxed during this time by writing her fiction novels, basing them on the information and impressions she was receiving from the people on board, newcomers and Montagu people alike.  She found it fascinating that there was so much knowledge and experience in the minds of seemingly ordinary people.

“There are no ‘ordinary people’,” she told Laura when the two of them sat together during Nicole’s early watch on the second night out from New Zealand.  “Everyone has a story to tell.  Some tell it better than others, but anyone who has lived has had an exciting life, and has some knowledge or understanding that is worth listening to.”  Laura listened carefully to Nicole’s words during these discussions, recognizing the value contained in them.  She had already noticed that Nicole was held in high regard by every one of the adults of the community, and she hoped that she would gain the qualities that promoted that regard.  Having recently joined Nicole’s family, she was able to see and understand the regard people held for her and Chad, not simply accepting it as she might have if she had been born into the family.

Nicole’s new children had progressed enormously since their rescue.  Their schoolwork was at the highest level, and their language skills had progressed so well that Chad, still learning French, had to beg them to speak to him in French, rather than English. 

“I need the practice!” he complained.  “How can you expect me to learn a language if I never have the chance to speak it?”

In response, Nicole had taken to speaking to Chad only in French, unless other, non-French speaking people were part of the conversation.  The example impressed others, and soon many of the people were talking to each other in one or more of the foreign languages that now existed in Montagu.  That often caused hilarity, as many of the newcomers to a language would fall into the traps that exist for the inexperienced, but they were helped by the others, and soon enjoyed the experience they gained in this way.  The process of learning new languages often also became a process of gaining new friends.

Nicole, Chad, Roger, Sandra and Mike and his wife, Kylie, had dinner together on the third night out from Milford Sound.  This was the first night that Sandra was free from her medical duties, and, although she had picked up much information from those she had been treating, she was keen to hear a coherent story from Mike and Kylie.

“We had absolutely no warning of the tsunami,” said Mike.  “Even though it was caused a long way away, the Government had no measures in place to warn people like us, far away from the cities.  There should have been enough time to pass a warning!  The first we knew of it was a sort of thumping, in the middle of the night.  I was in our farmhouse on the other side of the mountains, and I woke up with the thump.  At first, I had no idea of what had woken me, and then I felt the second thump.  I saw lights in Christchurch, more than eighty kilometers away, and then I saw the wave in the moonlight.  Even at that distance, it was gigantic!  I called Kylie and the kids, and we got into our car and headed for the high ground.  I don’t know what I was thinking!  There was eighty kilometers of land between us and the sea!  We got around the base of a mountain, going up the slope, when the wave came!  It washed right over the car!  By then, it was low, not a breaker, but more like a swell running in to the shore, but I reckon it was at least four or five meters high!  It washed us off the road, but luckily we stayed on our wheels, and the water ran off down the hill when the wave retreated.  The engine was still running, so I turned off the tar road onto a side track that ran straight up the slope, and we got high enough so that the next wave came just up to the middle of our wheels.  We kept on going, and the third wave didn’t reach us.  I was relieved, I can tell you!  We spent the rest of the night on the mountain, sitting in the car and not knowing what to do!”

“When the sun came up,” continued Kylie, “we were able to see the damage.  There was nothing left!  No trees, no towns, not even the poles for the power and telephone lines!  The road back to Christchurch was washed away, but it was mostly alright heading to Milford Sound.  We saw that the waves had come from the East, so we assumed that the western side of the island would be in better shape.  It was, but that side is mostly mountains.  That protected it, but the downside of that is that the agriculture there is very limited.  Some of the people you picked up were like us – they escaped the tsunami and headed the only way they could, to the Sound, and the others, about half of them, came from the area around the Sound.  We were able to salvage quite a bit of food, although not nearly enough, and the water prevented us doing much in that way.  There was almost nothing left to salvage!  All the buildings on the east side of South Island were destroyed and everything washed into the sea, or covered with a thick layer of sand and mud!  We hoped that we could get some agriculture going again, but the cold weather put paid to a lot of that.  We managed to save some sheep, but, as you may know, the soil here in the South Island is deficient in some minerals.  We always had to add some cobalt to prevent the sheep suffering from a wasting disease, and we couldn’t get any of those supplements.”

Mike took up the story again.

“We tried to get the food plants growing again on the flatter land down near Christchurch, where we had grown a lot of food.  We managed to rescue some seeds from plants in the debris that had been trapped by obstructions that stopped it washing into the sea.  Nothing grew!  The land was so saturated by the salt water that had washed over it, that what little soil there was left, was infertile.  We hoped that the rain would wash some of the salt away, but that hasn’t happened yet!  In most areas where the waves ran over, the water had washed most of the soil away, leaving barren rock behind!  We did what we could, but it was clear that we weren’t getting anywhere!  There was no-one to help us!  I think that most of the disaster planning that the Government did was based on the hope that Australia or America would come to help!”

“We tried calling on the radio in the office, but there was no signal.  Eventually, Mike and one of the men carried the transmitter up the mountain behind us.  They had to come down again to carry a battery up to power it, and they started transmitting.  Still there was nothing!  Then they heard the transmission from Montagu!  We didn’t even know where Montagu was, but it was a voice!  We called, over and over, for days, and then Mike got through to you.  Then we lost you again!  We were devastated!  That contact must have been a fluke!  Then you sent out a signal telling us what frequencies to use, and we were able to make contact again!  None of us had ever used a radio before, and we didn’t have a clue of how to choose frequencies!  Mike has lived in a tent above the snowline since then, so he could talk to you!  He stayed there even when you made contact the morning you arrived, so that he could keep the transmitter operating.  He'd rigged up a car alternator running off a bicycle, and he had to keep pedaling to power the radio!  When he saw you coming into the Sound, he ran down the mountain to tell us, but your foghorn woke us up before he could get down to us!  That was the nicest sound I’ve ever heard!”

The four from Montagu at the table looked at Mike, realizing what he had achieved.  When he came aboard, he was barely able to stand, and yet he had carried heavy equipment up the mountain to call them!  He must have walked up and down the mountain many times to inform the people below that help was coming, to encourage them not to lose hope!

“I’ve told you that I’m assisting in writing the history of Montagu,” Nicole said.  “I also write fiction.  I'd like to write your story, Mike.  I think it will be a story worth telling.”

“Nah, there’s nothing special!  We all did what we could, and we survived.  That's what people do!”

“I think you'd be surprised at what some people did, when they faced much easier conditions than you’ve been through!” was Nicole’s reply.

*~*

They called in at the Great Barrier Reef, something that they had wanted to do when they left Sydney, but were prevented by the need to reach Darwin quickly, and the Reef Explorer anchored in her home waters for a couple of days, to allow all of those on board, passengers, crew and refugees, to enjoy the sand, sea and sun.  It was a welcome break after so many days of cold!  They landed at the same point that the crew of Gentle Jane had used years before, after their crossing of the Pacific Ocean in the wake of the tsunami.  The passage of time had ameliorated the damage, leaving behind few traces of the infrastructure that had been there.  Even the wreck of the tour boat had gone, washed away in a storm.  It was almost a homecoming for Jane, Ron, Peter and Pam!  They had enjoyed their days on this island, after the disappointments of the Australian coastline and the unpleasantness of Sydney!  The people trooped ashore from the lifeboats, and wandered about the island.  The children led the way into the water, with the children of Gentle Jane at the head of the rush.  Of all the children, they had the most experience of swimming in the warm sea, after two and a half years of living on a small island in the Seychelles!  The adults joined them, the newcomers swimming in shorts and tee shirts.  Monica, in the rush to load the ship, had not considered providing a supply of swimsuits, articles not much in demand in Montagu!  The children were not concerned about that!  They simply shed their clothing on the beach and ran naked into the water.

“Nick once said to me that if God had intended people to be nudists, we would all have been born stark naked!”  Nicole laughed at the look on Chad’s face, and stripped off, to run naked into the water with the children.  She had once told Chad that she had frequently swum topless in France, Germany and Australia, but the idea was foreign to him.  However, seeing his wife doing it, he found it not so strange, and he dropped his tee shirt and shorts on the beach to join her.  Some of the other adults followed suit, hampered by the loose clothing they wore, and soon there was a nudist beach party on the go!

They came out of the water after half an hour and dried themselves on the sand, before going back to the ship for lunch.  Sandra, one of the last to go into the water, came out onto the beach and dried herself with a towel before donning the clothing she had dropped on the sand.

“We should not spend too long in the sun,” she warned Jane, who was following suit.  “Even though it’s nearly winter, the sun is still too fierce for our southern Cape skins.  We can come back late this afternoon for another swim.”  She looked at Jane, smiling.  “I must admit, I’ve always wanted to swim naked.  It intrigued me what I would think about it.  Now I know!  I’m a confirmed nudist!”

Jane smiled back.  “Me too!”

The rest that the sun and sea gave the people of the Reef Explorer made the break well worthwhile.  They had all worked at their various jobs for so long with very little relief, and the break from their routine was as good as a long vacation.  The people from New Zealand were over the moon with the sunlight and warmth!

They raised anchor in the late afternoon of the third day, and headed north.  The passage through the Timor Sea was much easier this time, with the benefit of the experience of their first passage and with thousands of sea miles behind them, although they still took their time, anchoring at night or when the tide caused handling problems in the confined water.  On these occasions, several of the passengers went off in the lifeboats to fish, returning with a welcome supply of fish for the boat, and exciting stories to tell of the many that got away!  It appeared that this was a particularly good fishing area, with the growth of the fish resources assisted by the lack of any fishing in the past four years.  They broke out into the Indian Ocean after five days, looking forward to their arrival at Montagu.  That fabled place was gradually becoming real to the new passengers after listening to the others.  They were all gaining confidence that they would enjoy their new home!

The weather remained good, and the crossing of the Indian Ocean went without a hitch.  The excitement started to mount when they turned gradually to the south, to enter the Mozambique Channel, and it grew as they came closer to the South African coast to maximize the benefit of the current running down the coast.

“This is just like the last time we came this way,” confided Jane, “only with less work and more company!”

They slowed down the last night, so that the passengers could see the magnificent sight of Table Mountain in the morning light.  This had become a tradition, with Nicole or Sandra planning their arrival for the right time.  They were not disappointed.  The mountain stood out clearly, its white ‘tablecloth’ brilliant white against the clear blue of the sky.

They docked as faultlessly as usual.  Roger was now completely confident in handling the ship, and he no longer needed the assistance of a dinghy to take their lines.  He and Chad were now able to bring the ship alongside and stop its forward motion at exactly the spot required for the workers on the dock to take the lines that the crew threw down to them.  Roger felt honored when he saw that the crew of Gentle Jane stood in the bridge to observe him closely as he carried out the maneuvers to bring the ship in to the dock, learning how he did it so well.

They lowered the gangplanks and the newcomers trooped out, to be greeted with delight by the Montagu people on the dock.  They were followed by the rest of the passengers and crew, who were greeted with the same delight.  Each of them was important, and those who had remained behind at Montagu had missed them!

They drove back to Montagu, to the usual party.  Once again, the community meeting had been delayed to allow the newcomers to arrive and meet the people of the area.  The members of the community had been arriving in Montagu for the past day, warned when the Reef Explorer planned to dock.  They found many matters to discuss, and before long, each of the newcomers was part of a group.  The tour of the farm and the area followed after lunch, and the newcomers went to their beds in the cottages that night with a very secure feeling.

Nicole and Chad drove the children home after the dinner, in the waning light of the day.  It was still warm, and Nicole was yearning for her home.  She had a lot of catch-up work to do before the meeting tomorrow, but she really wanted a swim in their lake!

“So, what’s to stop us?”  Chad stripped off his clothes at the front door and ran down to the lake, closely followed by the children.  Nicole, laughing, did the same.  She really enjoyed the freedom of no clothing, the feeling of the sun and warm air on her skin.  It made her feel truly alive!

They swam for half an hour, then walked back to the house, feeling refreshed.  Nicole pulled up a chair on the porch and got down to working on the documents she had been given by Jennifer and Gerard.  Chad came out some time later, after putting the children to bed, and brought her a cup of coffee, a light blouse and a wraparound skirt.

“I love seeing you like this, but I’m afraid the mosquitos might too!”  Nicole realized that she had been working naked on the porch.  She was pleased that their home had a long driveway, so that she could see visitors long before they arrived!

The meeting the next morning got off to an early start, dealing with routine matters of the community.  When those matters had been dealt with, the legal presentation resumed.  The members of the Faculty had been able to accomplish much since the previous meeting, and the outline of it had been circulated by email to the community, with long discussions between them on the radio.  There were several questions asked, seeking clarification, but the principles they had worked out were endorsed unanimously by the community members present, and they all went off to lunch, feeling that the community had passed the point where survival was the prime urgency.  They were now going somewhere!  After lunch, the new arrivals were introduced to the community.  It was a long process, but everyone was pleased to participate.  The numbers had now become so great that it was difficult for the outlying members of the farming community to keep track of the people.  Almost all of the new members were farmers, and they were all keen to take up their old occupations in more congenial circumstances than they had experienced in the past few years.  Although the conditions were totally different, many of them found that there were marked similarities between the South Island and the Small Karoo!  Most of them gravitated to farms on the south and west borders of the existing area, taking the borders of the community well beyond Swellendam and Worcester, into areas that were less suitable for grapes and more for grain crops, with a large sheep-farming component.  The leaders of the community were pleased with this development.  They had wanted to extend their reach to those areas for some years, knowing that the production of grains would become a priority.  They had resisted the temptation to extend by setting up a new node of the Montagu group, realizing the difficulty of servicing a distant area.  Now, the availability of the sail trains made those areas more accessible at an affordable cost, and the organic spread of their borders meant that there were fewer security concerns, with no unpopulated gaps within the borders.  Arrangements had already been made with the border farmers to take groups of the newcomers on inspection tours of the available farms, and it was hoped that they would all be settled within a few weeks.

The legal people returned to their work as well, doing all the things that needed to be done during the day, and working on their documentation for the legal system during the evenings.  Nicole found it very useful to have Chad available, to bounce ideas off.  His cynicism regarding the workings of democracy were a good test of the principles she was working on.  If Chad thought they were acceptable, she decided, they must be very good!

Roger returned to his engineering work after the voyage, catching up on the workload imposed by the development of the new farms.  Many of the new people had a different insight into how things worked, often coming up with questions that made Roger and his engineering associates stop and rethink what they firmly believed.  Quite often, a return to the root principles of engineering brought the answer, but sometimes the questions brought a whole new way of thinking about the problems they were tackling.  Rod and Roger both welcomed these questions, recognizing in them the way to development of what they were doing.

Roger, now that he was ashore once more, returned to his resolution to spend more time doing the things that he really wanted to do.  While on the ship, he had finished reading the e-book that Nora gave.

“I finally got around to finishing that book you gave me, Nora,” he announced on his first day back at the office.  “I agree with you.  It’s a great book!  I loved it!  It was written with real knowledge and understanding of the subject!  I found that the story line was also credible and entertaining.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Roger.  I can let you have her other books as well, if you’re interested.  I have them all!  It’s been a source of some concern to me that I won’t get any more of them, now that Amazon is gone!  I would have loved to get to know her!”

“I would be interested, Nora.  Now that I’ve got into the habit of reading for an hour every morning, I would miss it if I were to stop.”

“I’ll bring another one in tomorrow.  Do you have any preference regarding the subject?  She covered quite a range of subjects.”

“I’ll go with your choice, Nora.  You got it right once, and there’s no reason to change my bet!”  Nora nodded.  She enjoyed talking with Roger.  He had an almost boyish enthusiasm, coupled with very sound thinking and wide experience, and, best of all, he was totally open to new ideas.  She had dealt with many quite competent people in the past, and found that she had difficulty in explaining concepts to them that were not within their personal experience.  The ‘dumbing down’ of the conversation that would normally ensue often left her feeling unsatisfied.  That problem did not exist with Roger.  She was pleased that he had enjoyed the book.  His long silence had led her to believe that he did not like the, but he had subsequently explained, with an embarrassed laugh, that he had simply not got around to starting it yet!  Nora could empathize with that!  The pressure of work on Roger was enormous!

The exposure that Sandra had gained in the treatment of the health problems of the large numbers of patients she and Peter had to deal with, from Europe as well as New Zealand, brought her recognition by the senior doctors, who were setting the standards for the health profession in Montagu.  They had elected to adopt a policy of no compromises, and they believed that the progress of people like Sandra was a clear vindication of that policy.  They were particularly impressed by her diagnosis of the malaria that Tony Adderley had suffered, in circumstances that were not known to bring that disease, and her subsequent treatment of it.  They could see that she was far in advance of the rest of her peers, the new students, and they force-fed her knowledge and experience to take advantage of her obvious talent.  It was clear to all of them that Sandra would be a fully-fledged doctor by the end of the year.  Although they were not extremely busy, the development of the regional clinics had added to their workload, and the addition of over three hundred new people, most of them settling on farms in the outlying areas had increased that load.  They were approaching the limits of their ability to provide the sort of medical service that they aspired to!  They would certainly need the extra assistance that Sandra would bring, was, in fact, already bringing!  Even so, they refused to drop their standards.

The voyage had rekindled in Jane and Ron the love of sailing that had sent them on their new catamaran on the ‘test sail’ that had turned into a sail journey around the world.  They were discussing the possibility of using Gentle Jane to do further explorations, particularly along the southern African coastline, a section they had passed by in their haste to get to Cape Town.  The question of the violence in East London and Maputo was a deterrent, and Ron was considering ways with Helen and John how they could go about removing the menace.  During the absence of Reef Explorer, an expedition had gone to Durban and found the same conditions as in Port Elizabeth.  There were no survivors to be found, but there was a lot to be salvaged, and it was planned to send regular expeditions there to recover what they could find.  The logical extension to Richards Bay, further north along the coast from Durban, would be undertaken within the next couple of months.  Two trains had traveled to the Maputo border, bringing back tons of fruit and sugar cane, both of them very welcome in Montagu.  The Johannesburg route was now well established, with two trains going there each month, spending several days exploring and loading salvaged goods.  Another two traders had been located along the route, and they, together with the man from Kimberley whom they had saved from the robbers at Three Sisters, were now hard at work, sending back complete units taken from wrecked or abandoned trucks and cars as well as from factories, that were put into stock in Montagu.  With the improved stock control system that Nicole had instituted, it was now possible to inform the scavenging groups and the traders of what they should send to Montagu, and this was resulting in a more efficient collection of goods.

Heather, the woman from Grahamstown who had been sent back to Montagu for urgent medical attention, had recovered completely and was working in the university, helping in the teaching of languages together with Valentina, her friend from Cape Town.  Felicity, her daughter, had joined the education project together with her husband, and Tom was helping Rod with the architectural aspects of his work, while also preparing a course in architecture to be presented at the university.

Vicente, the leader of the group from Maputo, had set up a factory with several members of his group to produce products from the huge quantity of aluminum they had taken from the refinery.  Most of this was in the form of rolled sections, plates, angles, channels and pipes, all products which were in demand in the community, particularly in the sail-car and sail-train construction, in which the light weight of the material translated directly into a bigger payload.  In addition, he was working with the language section of the university to have a course in Portuguese ready to present in the coming year. 

Nick was working with Nicole on solving many of the business-related problems that were coming to the fore in Montagu, as a result of the sudden growth in the numbers of people and the related increase in types of activities.  His presence relieved her of much of the workload, and was welcomed by the people who needed their assistance.  He and she had similar styles and ways of approaching the work.  They discussed the work they were engaged in frequently to ensure that no aspect of the problem or its context escaped their attention, and they fitted seamlessly together.  Nick also worked well with Chad, and assisted him in many of the activities he was engaged with.  They found that they had many interests in common!  Nick had developed a deep affection for Nicole and Chad’s new children, and he spent as much time with them as he could.  The children responded in kind, and adopted him and his wife as honorary grandparents.  They had difficulty understanding the relationship between him and their new mother, seeing the same level of affection as they had witnessed between their parents and their grandparents, but, in the way of children, they accepted what the saw.

The lives of the people in Montagu settled back into the comfortable routine that they knew, with the monthly meetings of the community presenting regular highlights.  Each meeting brought progress in the acceptance of the legal system.  On Nicole’s advice, the new system was fed into the community gradually, so that the people could absorb it in bite-size pieces, digesting the meaning and implications of each section before having to deal with the next.  She had found that one sure way to build pressure against a new idea was to force its adoption, before the people had become used to it, and internalized the need for it.  The university year started, and the new Law Faculty attracted three postgraduate students, all of them very bright and keen to learn.  The work was entertaining and stimulating, and Nicole and the other Professors loved it! 

Chapter 20

The next step in the development of Montagu came nearly nine months after the return from New Zealand. 

The summer had been warm, and Nicole and her family had developed the habit of arriving at their home late in the afternoon, dropping their clothing on the porch and running to the lake for a swim.  They had completed their swim this afternoon, and were resting on the grass while they dried off in the warm breeze.  Nicole was catching up on some work, sitting at a table on the porch, when her radio called.  She snatched it up and answered.  It was John.

“We have heard from a group of people who have been living north of the farming area we’ve been harvesting for fruit and sugar cane, in the south of the Kruger National Park.  They’re living quite well, and don’t have any desire to move away, but they would be interested in setting up some sort of relationship with us in Montagu.  We have a train going there the day after tomorrow, and would like you and Chad to travel with them, to work out what can be done.”

“We'd love to go!  Please hold a second.  Chad is in the garden with the children.”  She switched the transmitter off and called to Chad.  “John’s asking whether we'd be interested in a trip to the north, to set up an arrangement with a group of people there.  I'd love to go!”

“Of course we’ll go!  That’s not even a question!”

Nicole pressed the transmit button again.

“We’re on, John.  What do we need to do?”

“If it’s OK, Helen and I will come out now.  It’s been a long time since we were there!”

“I’ll prepare us some dinner, John.  We’ll see you soon!”

Nicole hastened into the house to clear it.  They'd left early that morning, and there were some items left lying around by the children.  A few minutes later, Chad hastened in, fully dressed in the clothes he'd left on the porch.  The children came in a few minutes later, and Laura looked at her mother askance.

“Aren’t you getting dressed, mom?”  With a shock, Nicole realized that she was still dressed the way she'd been in the pool – in her birthday suit!  With an embarrassed smile, she explained.

“I’m so comfortable this way, I forgot!”

“We’re not complaining, my love.  I really enjoy seeing you this way, and I’m sure John would too!”  Chad looked appreciatively at his wife, enjoying the view.  She walked out to the porch, putting on a self-conscious display for Chad, and collected her clothing, slipping into it with the grace she always displayed.  She had barely finished when the LandRover of John and Helen drove in.

They welcomed the couple, who had become good friends, and sat down on the porch, looking out over the valley as the sun lowered over the mountains in the west.

“It’s an interesting situation,” explained John.  “There is a group of twenty-six people there, who have set up a small civilization in a secure place.  They know the limitations of small groups, but they don’t particularly want to leave there, and they’ve asked whether we can enter into some sort of agreement to benefit both groups.  It’s quite hard to discuss these things over the radio or by correspondence, so we suggested we'd send some of our senior people there to discuss the matter, and to take a closer look on the ground.  There are some problems, such as the terrorist situation in Maputo less than a hundred kilometers away, as well as the provision of medical care and so on.  We’ve cut down the travel time to only three days, and we’re looking at sending automated trains, so those will make small improvements.  On the other side of it, it would be very useful having a friendly group in the area to handle the production and loading of the fruit and sugar cane, and all the other products we might get from there.”

“What would you want us to do, John?”

“We’ve discussed it among the council members, and they agreed that we'd like Chad to check out the security and trade possibilities, and you to negotiate a deal that we can all live with, Nicole.”

“We'd love to do it, John.  Thanks for thinking of us.”  Chad had seen that Nicole was about to ask why she had been chosen for the job.  He did not think that now was the right time to go into that.

“We’ll take care of the kids if you'd like.  Mary and Margaret can watch them during the day, and they can sleep over with us at night.”

“Please mom,” pleaded Guillaume.  He loved riding the donkey, which had become an almost obligatory part of any visit to Helen and John.

“That will be fine,” responded Nicole.  There were many thoughts in her mind, not the least being the sort of arrangement she could make with such a small group.  They appeared to have a strong desire to remain independent.

They discussed further details and ideas that Helen and John had come up with, and had their dinner.  It was very pleasant, as always, and Helen and John drove home, secure in the knowledge that this unusual assignment was in good hands.

*~*

The train ride to Malelane was interesting.  Neither Nicole nor Chad had taken any long train ride before, and they found it very pleasant to sit back and watch the scenery pass by.  The car was big enough for them to be able to walk around, and they slept in the second car, which had a section partitioned off for them, making a miniature bedroom.  There was a shower on board, with solar heated water.  They traveled all night, and arrived at the railway station at Malelane early on the third day.  Malelane had been a tiny village in the past, serving the small farming community.  Now it was deserted, the buildings broken or burnt, and the streets deserted.  They were met at the railway station by a couple in a LandRover.  They came up to the train, admiring its functionality.  When Nicole and Chad exited the train, they walked over and introduced themselves.

“Camille and Sean Williams.  Welcome to Malelane!”

“We’re Nicole and Chad Smith.  Thanks for meeting us.”  Chad looked around the area.  “Do you live nearby?”

“Not right here.  It’s about seventy kilometers away.  After the explosion, we were all in Johannesburg and Pretoria.  Things got pretty bad there fairly quickly, and one of our friends, a radio announcer, decided that he was being targeted by the authorities for speaking out against them.  He tried to persuade us to duck out with him, to the Kruger National Park.  He said that it would be the safest place to live until the conditions changed.  We decided that was too radical for us, that things would get better!  Well, to cut a long story very short, he left, and we haven’t heard from him.  Of course, things didn’t get better!  We managed to hang on another six months before the crime became so severe that we had no choice.  A group of us had paid some attention to what our friend had said, and saved some fuel, just in case.  We clubbed together, and there was enough fuel for us to fill three LandRovers.  We drove here, taking our friend’s advice, stopping in at Nelspruit, about eighty kilometers from the Park.  We spent a couple of days there, living with a friend on his farm that he'd turned into an armed camp, and watching the movements of the military patrols.  Then, once we were fairly sure about it, we drove to another farm, and managed to drive through an opening in the fence around the Park, then drove cross-country for an hour at night, in the middle of a storm that covered our tracks.  Eventually, we reached the road to Skukuza Camp, still driving without lights, and made our way to Skukuza.  We holed up, first in the Skukuza Camp, but that was flooded when the snow melted and the river rose.  We saw the danger before it was too late, thank goodness, and we headed south, to the Berg en Dal Camp.  It was at the end of the road, so there wasn’t any traffic likely to go past, and it was big enough for us to farm.  Although we were near the border of the Kruger National Park, that border was a crocodile-infested river, so we never had any visitors.  Fortunately, the filling station at the camp had a full fuel tank.  It took a bit of ingenuity to get the fuel out of the underground tank without any electricity to operate the pump, but we managed it after a while.  Eventually, we had some crops from our little farm inside the fence around the camp, and we were able to kill some impala and kudu for meat.  After a couple of years, the violence around the Kruger died down, mainly because the people had all died from starvation.  First the Army then the local chiefs would go around plundering whatever stores of food the people had, after the snow had destroyed the first year’s crop after the explosion.  We stayed hidden away during all of that, and we only had two visits from the local bullies.  Both times they came into the camp to see what there was to steal, so we killed them and hid their vehicles.  Nobody seemed to miss them!  In fact, I guess, the locals were pleased to be rid of them!”  Sean smiled as he told the story.  While he was not proud of having put his family into danger, at least he had made it possible for them to survive the biggest disaster in the history of humanity.

“I was up on the hill doing sentry duty when your train arrived a couple of months ago.”  Camille continued the story.  “I saw the sails going down the railway, a long way away.  I realized that there had to be at least some form of organized society that could produce something like that! I ran back to the camp, and we drove over to the railway line, getting there in the dark.  The train was gone, but they'd left a flagpole with a message attached to it.  We decided to think about it.  After taking so much care to remain hidden, we didn’t want to hand ourselves over to the first group of strangers we saw!  We watched for the train to return, but we had actually seen the return run!  We had to wait another month before the train returned, and we watched from our hilltop what they were doing.  They picked some fruit from the trees, and cut some sugar cane and loaded it all on the train, then they turned around and went off, too quickly for us to take any action.  That was when we decided to contact you on the radio.  We spoke to Klaus on the radio, and he told us that there was quite a large group in Montagu, and he put us onto John.  John invited us to join your group in Montagu.  It was a very tempting offer, but we decided that we would rather take our chances on our own.  As you’ve seen, we’re fairly safe here.  We haven’t seen any outsiders, other than from your group, for over a year, and we have a nice little setup in Berg-en-Dal.  The last incident of any significance was nearly two years ago, so we don’t have any security concerns.  But you’ll see!  Shall we go?”

“That’s fine,” responded Nicole.  “Our train crew will collect some fruit and sugar cane, if you don’t mind.  We plan to leave tomorrow afternoon, if we’re finished our discussions by then.”

“The fruit is free!” replied Sean with a wave of his hand to indicate the whole extent of the land.  “There are thousands of hectares of fruit and sugarcane!  We also collect some from time to time, but there’s more than enough for all of us.”

They climbed into the LandRover, and drove off, out of the town and down the main road a couple of kilometers to a bridge over the river.  Looking over the side of the bridge, they could see three crocodiles lazing on the sand banks in the middle of the river.  The sight of those three huge predators would be enough to prevent any sane person from attempting to cross the river!  They drove into the Kruger National Park, seeing how the road had collapsed at the Park side of the bridge, and been built up with sand and stone to make it passable.  The entrance to the Park was a large thatched archway, the thatching now looking a little threadbare.  Camille got out of the vehicle to open the gate for them to pass, and then closed it after them.  Another ten kilometers took them to a tarred road leading off the main road to the left.  They turned down that road and drove another forty kilometers over the undulating hills.  At one point, Sean stopped the LandRover and pointed down into a valley on the left.  Nicole was puzzled at first, then she saw the grey bulk of an elephant between the trees.  They watched it for a couple of minutes, then they saw another elephant move into view, a little off to the side, then another and another, until they could see five of the huge animals feeding on branches they pulled off the trees.  The watched a few minutes longer, and then drove on to the camp.  Nicole and Chad were delighted.  Nicole had seen elephants in the Kruger National Park when she and her parents had visited in the past, but Chad had never seen an elephant outside a zoo or a circus.

“The biggest wild animal I’ve ever seen was a kangaroo!”  Chad laughed at the comparison.

“The icon of Africa for me has always been the elephant!”  Nicole’s eyes were dreamy as she recalled those visit to this wonderful wildlife sanctuary.  “When I was abroad, the thing I missed most was not being able to drive here and see an elephant walking through the bush!”

The first impression of the Camp was that another piece of bushveld country had been fenced off, then, when they had driven through the gate and up the road a distance, they saw the small huts and, between them, the neat rows of corn and vegetable plants.  It soon became clear that this was a highly-organized small farming community!  They drove up to the complex that had formerly housed the restaurant and Camp Offices, where Sean parked the LandRover.  They climbed out of the vehicle and walked through the little complex of buildings to the waterfront, where they looked out over a dam.  This was the source of the water they used for irrigation.  A wind-driven pump had been rigged up next to the dam, benefiting from the breeze that blew up the river and over the concrete dam wall, and the water flowed through pipes to the fields, with an offshoot to the water purification plant.  A group of people was waiting in the restaurant building.  The folding glass doors had been opened to permit the people to sit in the coolness of the open air while enjoying the shade of the high thatched roof.  The atmosphere was wonderful, reminding Nicole of the long quiet days she had spent in the Kruger with her parents.  Those days had given her some enduring impressions that she had worked into several of her books in the years since that time.

Nicole and Chad were introduced to the people there, and then they sat down to a glass of beer and a discussion.

“I’ve filled Chad and Nicole in on the situation, how we got here in the first place,” opened Sean.  “I'd like them to tell us a bit of the background to Montagu.”

“I’ll do that, if I may,” responded Nicole.  “The founders of the Montagu group were Helen Lindstrom, a volcanologist who discovered the threat posed by the volcano under Yellowstone, and John Carter, now her husband.  John was a very wealthy businessman from New York.”  Nicole saw that some of the people recognized the names.  They had heard them in the television interviews following the explosion.  She knew from experience that the familiarity of the names would be an important factor in establishing the credibility of what she had to tell them.  “They tried to warn the US government of the danger, but, when they saw that they were getting nowhere, they decided to take their own precautions.  They bought a large farm at Montagu, and, with the help of a number of experts they recruited to their cause, they built the basis of the civilization that is there now.  They were joined after the explosion by a number of groups who knew of their existence, and they rescued other groups from distressful situations.  They were joined by a group headed by Ron Carstens and Jane Smith, from New York and Sacramento.  Jane was a friend of Helen at the university.  Another group was one from Kigali, headed by Barend and Marie.  They were joined by your friend, I think, John Robertson, his wife Helen and their two children.”  Nicole stopped briefly as she saw the surprise on the faces of these people when they heard of the radio announcer who had escaped Johannesburg to hide out in Olifants Camp, where the Kigali group had already established themselves.  “They stayed in Olifants Camp for over two years, before they headed on to Montagu.  They were the people who repaired the bridge over the Crocodile River that we crossed over to get here.  A third group came from Mount Victoria, near Sydney, in Australia.  I was part of that group.  We were forced to flee from the coastal areas to Mount Victoria to escape the tsunami that wreaked havoc on the east coast of Australia, and were fortunate that Albert Jones and his family had reacted quickly to the news of the tsunami, warning all their friends to get out of Sydney as quickly as possible.  Chad was already living in Mount Victoria at the time of the tsunami.  We subsequently found that it was unlikely that we had enough knowledge in our group to develop the sort of civilization we wanted, so when we heard a radio conversation between Jane and Montagu, we decided to sail there in a passenger ship that one of the leaders in our group discovered.  Jane had escaped with her husband from the West Coast of the United States, and managed to survive the tsunami that was precipitated by the explosion, and they rescued Peter and Pam and their children, and then sailed on around the world with the intention of joining Helen and John in Montagu.  We traveled by ship to Cape Town to join the community.  Later we used the ship to rescue a small group from Maputo.  The train you saw was probably the one that went to rescue the people in Maputo, but the ship managed to arrive first, so the train had the capacity to collect some fruit and sugar cane as cargo for the return trip.  We also rescued a larger group in Sardinia, a small group of young children in the south of France, and a couple in Nassau, in the Bahamas, and then a small group from Grahamstown and another from East London, who were being held as hostages by a gang of thugs.  Our last rescue was of the remaining people left alive by the tsunami in New Zealand.”

“There must be quite a few of you by now, to have done all that!”  The speaker was one of the older women of the group.  Her voice told of her astonishment of the achievements of the people of Montagu.  She knew that Helen and Jon Robertson were enterprising people, but the description that Nicole had given of the community was far beyond that!

“We’re over three and a half thousand strong at the moment,” replied Nicole.  “We’ve managed to build up virtually every facility we need.  We have a full hospital with seven doctors, we have a clothing factory, a plant to produce diesel fuel from biomass, another plant that produces hydrogen for fuel, a pharmaceutical plant, a number of food processing plants, including a winery and several different types of meat, vegetable and fruit preservation units.  We brought a case of our wines as a gift to you!  Once you’ve tasted it, I’m sure you’ll agree that our wine at least is of world class!  We have several schools and a university, which offers tertiary education in commerce, medicine, agriculture, languages, law, architecture and science.  We produce our own clothes and shoes, as well as many motor vehicle parts.  We build sail cars, which are the road version of the sail trains you have seen, and we have trading operations in all major towns between Cape Town and Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town and Durban, and we have several mines, producing minerals we refine.  We’re in the process of formulating a new set of laws, to replace the system that caused so many of the problems we had before the collapse.”

“A new set of laws?”  The speaker was a man who, in his earlier years, had practiced as an Attorney.  “You must have a few qualified lawyers!”

“We have four.”  Chad butted in before Nicole could answer.  “Nicole is one of them!  She’s been made one of the Professors in Law at our university.”  Chad’s pride in Nicole was evident!

The group looked at Nicole with interest.  The lucid manner in which she had presented the facts had impressed them.  Now that respect was ratcheted a notch higher.

“The reason we all joined up with the Montagu group was that we recognized that each of our groups was bound to go into decline over time.  We were all busy most of the day simply putting together our food supply.  We had no capability to replace the clothes we were wearing, or the tools we were using.  There was a lot to be salvaged, but that supply must inevitably run out.  The children were being given the best education we could manage, but it was not enough!  We did not have access to the latest scientific developments from before the explosion, and we did not have the capability to reproduce them ourselves.  We were bound to go into an increasingly steep decline.  The Montagu group has all of those things that we lacked, everything we need to grow, rather than decline.”  Nicole looked around at the people, saw that they recognized the truth of what she was saying.

“We are willing to invite all of you to join us in Montagu, to become one of us.  But there may be other ways.  I’ve been thinking about the situation on the way here.  We need much of what you have here, fruit, sugar cane and warm-weather vegetables.  At the moment, we get that by sending a crew on a train once a month.  We could just as easily send an automatic train once or twice a month, loaded with what you need, and you can send it back loaded with what we need.  Or we could incorporate your settlement here as a ‘suburb’ of Montagu.  You could become full members of the Montagu community even though you’re nearly three days away by train.  We would offer our full facilities, as though you were next door to our town, things like education on a boarder basis, medical visits to a local clinic once a month, use of the hospital facilities, access to our manufacturing facilities.  All that sort of thing.  All we would ask in return is that you do what you would do if you were in Montagu.  We offer unrestricted access to our full knowledge base by internet, on the one condition that you make your information, your developments and your problems known to us.  You could travel by train to any of the destinations we visit, and any of you could join in our projects, or ask our assistance for yours.  We learn by solving problems and then sharing with all the others how we did so.”

Nicole sat back, allowing the group to absorb what she had said, what she had offered them.  A few minutes passed, with some quiet discussions between the people, then Chad spoke.

“We don’t expect you to make up your minds now.  There’s obviously a lot for you to discuss before you decide to join us.  We Australians were also very comfortable in Mount Victoria.  We had developed the agricultural activities to a point where there was a surplus every year, and we'd solved all of the security problems.  The prime reason we could think of to join the Montagu group was the children.  We owed it to them to ensure that they did not have less in their lives than we had in ours.  That is what every parent wants for his or her child.  And the only way we could do that was by joining with the Montagu group.  Nicole and I have seven children.  They were all refugees, living under a boat on a frozen beach in France.  They had only the prospect of a short life at best, with continuous starvation and cold.  Now, they’re all doing well in their schools, they have dozens of friends and every adult in the community to care for them when we’re away.  That is the benefit of joining the Montagu community!  All the rest is nice to have, much of it very nice, but the real need is the future of our children!”  Chad sat back and allowed the people to talk.  There was no doubt!  They were certainly leaning towards joining with Montagu!

After another five minutes, the attorney spoke.

“I'd like to know more about this legal system you spoke of.  On what legal system are you basing it?”  He had noticed the clear English that Nicole used, free of accent, and suspected that the system was being based on English law.  He hoped not!

“There are four lawyers involved.  I have a South African law degree, and I have considerable legal experience in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  Gerard also has a South African degree, with a lot of business experience.  Jane has a doctorate in laws from the United States, with her thesis in comparative legal systems, and Jennifer was a practicing Attorney in New York.  We could all see the problems that were caused by the way the legal systems of the world developed from the early days, so we based our proposals on a couple of simple principles.  Every law must pass the test that every man or woman has the same rights as every other, and can do anything that does not limit the rights of others.  Of course there will be exceptions, but the reasons for making the exceptions must be clearly stated.  Every law must be approved by a majority vote of all citizens, not only by a majority of the representatives of those citizens.  Every law must have a sunset clause.  If it is to be renewed, it must be passed again by the citizens.  No law can be an omnibus enactment.  Every separate issue must be explicitly approved by the voters.”

“You don’t need to go further.  I’m in!”  The man sat back with a satisfied smile.  Every point that Nicole had made accorded with his own sentiments.  He only wished that his profession had had the courage and the honesty to make those changes years ago!

That statement was the turning point.  The others had been hovering on the brink.  They had a comfortable life here, after all their effort and fear, and they were being asked to give that up for something that looked better on the surface than what they had, but was, in essence, unknown.  They had refused to leave Johannesburg, or, better said, had failed to decide to leave Johannesburg, on the urging of their friend John, and the reasons then had been the same!  They were being asked to give up the known, regardless of how unpleasant that might be, for something else that was promised to be better, but was unknown!  In common with many people, they had failed to understand that not making a decision was, in fact, a decision in itself!  The decision of one of them, a man who had the reputation of being a clear thinker, changed all of that.  Now, the thoughts of the benefits to their children had surfaced in their minds.  There could be no doubt that they were not able to offer their children anything like what was needed for them to achieve their potential under the present circumstances, and, while those might improve in terms of physical comfort, there was not likely to be any significant improvement in the teaching or learning context.  The only question that was in their minds now was how they could combine their current living with what Montagu offered.  The switch from indecision to a directed thinking was clear to Nicole and Chad.

“Let’s look at the circumstances and your needs and desires,” suggested Nicole.  “It’s always best to start with a statement of the problem.”  She looked at them and smiled gently.  She had not intended to steamroll them into any particular course of conduct.  That never worked in the long run!  Sooner or later, they would come to realize that the decision had not been theirs, and they would resent the role that, in their minds, she had played in them being forced to that decision.  The likelihood would then be that they would back away from that decision, often in irrational ways!  Nicole had always found that it was better to lay the facts on the table, if necessary helping them to find and order those facts, and allow them to come to a logical conclusion.  “Let’s have a look at the children.  How many are there, how old are they, what is their educational standard, all that sort of thing.”  The people in the group started discussing the points she raised in a logical way, and Nicole made notes as they talked, picking out the highlights as they were made, and ordering them in a document that they could later use as a summary when they made their decisions.  Chad sat back and watched her work, fascinated by the ease with which she took control.  It was easy to see why she had been so successful as a management consultant!  She had an amazing ability to lead people to the conclusions that were right for them!  That was one of the reasons why Helen and John had chatted with him a couple of days ago testing whether Nicole would want to take on the new tasks they had in mind for her.

“We’ve found that Nicole has an amazing mind and an ability to deal with people.  She is a natural leader, and, best of all, one everyone trusts and can trust.  We’re considering bringing her into the Leadership Council.  We know if we put her name up for election, she’ll win a landslide victory.  Everyone knows that she is the sort of person who will work herself to death rather than disappoint the people who trust her.  We don’t want to put her in a situation where she feels she must do something she would rather not.”

“As I know her, the thing that is always uppermost in her mind is the urge to make things better for people.  If you think that she can do it, give her the chance.  I’ll make sure that she doesn’t destroy herself in doing it.”  He thought for a few seconds.  “If you want my opinion, I know that if she takes on a job, she’ll be sure that she can handle it.  I know she can.”

“Please don’t discuss this with Nicole until we’re ready to talk to her.  We need to be sure of how everyone will react before we take the next step, and we don’t want to do anything that will disappoint her.”  Chad had made the promise to remain silent.  It was pure coincidence that this assignment had come up within a day of that discussion, but it was an example of serendipity – a happy coincidence of events.  Chad remained silent as the discussions ran on, with Nicole allowing the people the opportunity to discuss every aspect of the decisions they were building up to.  Some people, like Chad, were able to pick out the salient facts in their minds, sometimes taking as long as a couple of seconds to do it, and then come to a conclusion.  Others needed to air every thought, to examine every alternative minutely, even when it was clear that the alternative was not feasible, and only then come to a result that they would live with.  These people had demonstrated that they were of this type when they told her that they had chosen not to come with John Robertson and his family at a time when the facts and the future must have been clear to any thinking person.  They had chosen an unpleasant known rather than opt for a possibly better but uncertain unknown.  They had simply not gone through the whole process of examining every alternative in a structured way!  They had also not trusted in their ability to make something out of basic ingredients.  It had taken them six months to come to the conclusion that Chad would have reached in two seconds!  Nicole had always found that patience was a virtue when dealing with people who had little experience in making swift decisions!  As he watched his wife, Chad felt an upwelling of admiration and love for her.  She was really an exceptional person!  He had seen that the first day after the explosion, and everything he had seen her do since then had confirmed it.

They had lunch, and the discussions carried on, now based on the notes that Nicole had made.  She already knew what the decisions would be, and she and Chad took a stroll along the path alongside the fence at the dam to discuss the arrangements that would have to be made, leaving the people to talk without hindrance, and, most importantly, without the sense that they were being placed under pressure.  They returned after half an hour, to find the attorney ready with a set of notes.  He read out the decisions that had been made, and Nicole noted them down, asking questions to ensure that everyone understood the same thing.  The notes matched her projections exactly!  She then worked her way down the list of points that had been made, agreeing or making suggestions to improve the ideas, and setting a rough timetable to the events.  When that was complete, she asked her hosts if she and Chad could be taken back to the rail car to make the arrangements with Montagu. 

They drove back to the railway station.  It was a stark contrast with the lush green of the Camp!  Nicole and Chad showed their hosts over the train, and handed them the case of Montagu wine, the same wine as they had found on Reef Explorer, then the visitors drove back, wanting to be inside their fence before dark.  Nicole was able to talk with John and Helen on the radio before the dinner was ready.

“We’ve come to a conclusion, Helen and John.  In essence, these people will be joining Montagu as a sort of distant suburb.  There seem to be no security concerns.  Most of the adults will remain here, at least for a while, and they’ll handle the preparation of the shipments and their loading onto the automated trains.  The children will come with us to Montagu to undergo their schooling there, as boarders.  There are fifteen of them, and they’ll need some catch-up classes, but I think they’ll integrate fairly quickly.  I don’t see any signs of trauma, and their general state of health appears to be good.  The adults will visit once every three months or so, coming to Montagu on the train and staying for two weeks.  I believe that there will be a gradual erosion of their numbers here, but we can probably get learner farmers to fill the gaps on a temporary assignment basis.  The farming activity here in the Camp is certainly enough to meet their immediate needs for food, and there are many other farms in the area that could be redeveloped fairly easily.  I think the food production is adequate, even though the variety is somewhat limited, compared with what we produce in the Montagu area.  That will open a trading opportunity.  We’ll provide a clinic service about once a quarter, or more frequently if there’s a need, but I believe that any serious treatment cases will travel to Montagu and stay there for the duration of the treatment.  There’s no huge work pressure here, now that the farming operation is well established, and the children haven’t played any major role in the farming activities in the past couple of years, so their absence will reduce the workload for the remaining members of the group, if anything.  I think we have twenty-six happy new members!”

“That’s the sort of outcome we were hoping for, Nicole!  Congratulations!”

“We’ll be returning tomorrow.  We’ll see you in a couple of days!”

“We’re looking forward to it, Nicole.  Have a pleasant trip.”

Nicole turned to Chad.

“How do you feel about it, Chad?”

“I think it’s a good solution for them.  I believe it’s likely that they will gravitate to Montagu once they’ve seen what we have to offer, but, if we expand Montagu, this seems to be a good place to do it, apart from the distance.  It’s over two thousand kilometers!  But the area seems to be very fertile, and there are many fruit and cane farms already in existence, producing the types of products that we’ll never be able to produce in Montagu.  The distance isn't really such a big deal with the trains, and the automated trains will make that even less of a problem.  My only concern is security, in medical terms as well as in terms of incursion by a terrorist group.  There is still a threat from Mozambique.  We don’t know that we’ve eradicated all the terrorists there, and I suspect we haven’t, although the likelihood of them coming here on a random search for new targets seems to be quite small.  From what I’ve heard, Mozambique can produce more or less the same as this area.  The other aspect is the medical care.  They don’t seem to have needed any over the past years, and I expect that the regular check-ups will forestall the development of new problems, as it has in Montagu.  If there is an urgent problem, Montagu is only a couple of days away, and we can probably train some of the people in emergency treatment methods.  They can be supported by radio if required.  Their biggest problem, in my opinion, was the education of the children, and that’s taken care of.”  Chad smiled at his wife.  ”I think you’ve achieved a very elegant solution.”

“I hope so.  I wasn’t sure if this is what Helen and John wanted.”

“I believe they want exactly the same as you – the best for the people, both these people and the people in Montagu.  That’s what you’ve achieved!”

“Would you like to know what I want right now?  A swim in our lake with the children!  I’m missing them.”

“So am I!  I can offer you a swim in the river, with crocodiles instead of children!  There’s not all that much of a difference!”  Chad ducked as Nicole took a playful swing at him.

*~*

The night was quite different from the nights at Montagu.  The constellations of stars were in a different position, for a start.  The Southern Cross was much lower in the heavens than they were used to, much more clearly an indicator of the South Pole.  The night was warm and humid, whereas a warm night in Montagu was almost always crisp, the air free of the humidity that seemed to hang over this region.  The night here felt almost physically heavy.

“I’m trying to describe the feeling of this place,” said Nicole.  “It has never struck me before so strongly how certain places have a distinct feeling about them.  Montagu has a feeling of lightness, of optimism and freedom.  Malelane seems to have the sort of atmosphere I would expect prevailed during the time of the dinosaurs.  It feels primitive, not heavy or oppressive, but blanketing!”  Nicole considered her emotions, the sensations that were streaming in to her mind.  She needed to vocalize them, to record them so that she could reproduce them in her writing.  “This place has the feeling of Bach, whereas Montagu has the feeling of Strauss!”

Chad considered the simile.  It was very close to his ideas!  He had noticed in the past that Nicole often used music or math or colors to describe the atmosphere of a particular place, as though they were not different concepts, but a continuum.  He wished that his mind was so flexible!  He was able to follow her thinking easily, but he put that down to the excellence of her descriptive ability, rather than the clarity of his own thinking.  He had been delighted to see that she had imparted this ability to Laura and Nicolas, the brightest of their highly intelligent children.  Each of the children showed their own unique personality and thinking, their own interests in life, and he and Nicole were encouraging those, not wishing to put them into a box and require conformity.  One of the great advantages of the style that Helen and John had stamped on Montagu was that each person was free to be himself or herself!  The tendency of people to do several different types of work was a manifestation of that.  Monty was a good clothing factory manager, and he was a great bookbinder!  Barbara was an excellent manager of trading activities, and she loved teaching and nurturing children.  Roger was an excellent engineer, in every branch of that discipline that he touched, bringing new insights into the work, and he was an accomplished seaman!  The list of multiple activities of the members of the Montagu community went on and on.  Johannes, the wine steward at the farmhouse doubled as the manager of the farm’s irrigation systems, and also undertook teaching assignments in agriculture!  He saw Nicole turn towards him, her beautiful face bright in the moonlight, her long hair a cascade of light.  The sight of her jolted him away from his train of thought.  He took her in his arms, feeling how she snuggled into him, enjoying his presence.

“This is what life is all about,” he thought.  His wait for the right woman had been more than amply rewarded.

Chapter 21

They ‘borrowed’ one of the rail cars in the morning, driving the large vehicle to Berg-en-Dal Camp, to collect the children who would be leaving with them, as well as the goods that the people there wanted transported to Montagu, and dropping off the items they had transported from Montagu.  The large vehicle was not really suited to exploring back roads, but they had seen that the roads in the area were adequate for their purpose.  The electric drive that had been fitted to all of the trains in the past year made driving up and down the hills a pleasure.  It was both silent and powerful, enabling them to ghost up to the animals they found without disturbing them.  They were enchanted by the wild life they saw around them!  The wild animals had thrived in the absence of the ‘scientific culling’ a practice that more than one critic had seen as an interference in the natural cycle of life in the wild.  Although most of the fences of the Kruger National Park were still up, keeping the animals confined to the area of the Park, a space larger than England, there were many areas where they could migrate.  They saw a herd of twelve elephants fording the Crocodile River to reach the reeds on the other side.  The older elephants guarded over the young ones, helping the babies across fast-flowing sections of the river, using their legs to hold the little ones upright in the stream.  They would spend the day there, snacking on the reeds, then return to their home territory in the evening.  Many such escape routes existed, and this led to the restocking of the entire area with wild animals.  Nicole hoped that the whole country would eventually return to this sort of nature!

The day passed, with discussions taking place on details to be attended to and arrangements to be made.  Now that the decision had been made, the people of Berg-en-Dal were keen to get the show on the road!  At last, the time came to return to Malelane, the car full of youngsters looking forward to the adventure of schooling in Montagu.  Their parents were tearful at the separation, but comfortable that their children would be well cared for.  Their impression of the two from Montagu assured them of that!  They accompanied the rail car to Malelane Railway Station, and watched as Chad put it on the rails and coupled it to the rest of the train, all of which was fully loaded with fruit and cane.  The other members of the train crew came over to pay their respects before they closed the train’s doors, and they departed as the sun was dropping lower, with the promise of a spectacular sunset to come.

The first part of the journey was relatively slow, as the heavily-laden train climbed the escarpment in a series of long winding curves, using the electric motors to assist the sails up the inclines.  After three hours, they reached the flat plain at the top of the escarpment, and the sails came into their own, extracting power from the evening breeze and whisking them almost silently on their way home.  The youngsters assisted the crew to prepare dinner and they ate it on the move, looking out of the windows as the landscape fled past them.  The conversation between the children and the crew was entertaining.  The youngsters had a refreshingly uncomplicated view of life, and were open to the new ideas that abounded in Montagu and its people.  Both Chad and Nicole found that encouraging, after the obduracy of their parents.  Eventually, the children went to their beds, and Nicole, Chad and the train crew sat in the front car and chatted in the light of the instruments, watching the scene brightening as the moon rose.  Nicole had loved the voyages on Reef Explorer, particularly the night watches, when she could walk around the bridge and soak up the atmosphere, sitting down to write as the thoughts came to her, or simply looking out from the bridge wing at the wide sea and sky, allowing her mind to roam free through the universe.  Now, she found a similar feeling of peace in the cabin of the train, as it rocked almost silently along the rails over the deserted country.  After a couple of hours, she went with Chad to their small cabin, her mind brimming with thoughts and descriptions.

*~*

They reached Ashton in the early morning of the third day.  They were greeted by the customary crowd of well-wishers, people who were delighted to have new members of the community, and who showed their delight, making the new scholars feel that they were among friends.  A bus was waiting to take the children to their new home in Montagu, where they could prepare for their first day of school the following day.  Amanda, Samantha and Barbara were waiting to settle them in and introduce them to the many people they would be dealing with in the years to come.  A part of the process was to make an assessment of their educational status, so that suitable catch-up classes could be arranged.  It had been the experience that it was better to put the new arrivals into intensive teaching units to bring them to the standards of the other children quickly, rather than simply to allocate them to a class that matched the levels of their attainments when they arrived.  The catch-up classes covered every aspect, including knowledge of the languages used, to ensure that the children could join a class of their own age on a level basis with their peers.  The catch-up classes also served to introduce the work ethic that was the norm, an ethic that demanded the best effort that the children were capable of bringing to this preparation for their future lives.

Nicole and Chad went to the farm, arriving in time to enjoy a riotous greeting from their seven children.  They had all enjoyed staying with John and Helen, but being with Mom and Dad was part of their lives!  When they went off to school, the four adults settled down to a discussion of the Berg-en-Dal arrangements.  At the end of the discussion, Helen expressed her satisfaction.

“I think that what you have achieved is a perfect solution,” stated Helen.  “It meets all the needs.  We have some thinking to do about remote settlements, but perhaps the time has come to start establishing them.  There are many needs that can be satisfied better than we have done so far.  The reason we did not expand has always been our concern that we could not supply the essentials to them, things like security and medical care in particular.  Now, the trains have made that possible, and the security situation has certainly stabilized!  We need to check the possible threat areas again, and, possibly take some action to neutralize any threats that still exist, but we’ve been chatting with Petrus and Alwyn while you’ve been away, and they don’t believe that there will be any real risk to our people.  We need to put the matter to the community at the next meeting.”

That comment crystalized a thought that had been at the back of Nicole’s mind since they had been part of the Montagu community.  Helen and John were good leaders, and they enjoyed the undivided support of the community, yet they insisted on making only the decisions that could not wait for the community, and, even then, they always put those decisions to the community meeting for ratification, explaining the rationale for making them in exactly the same way as though the decisions had still to be made!  Chad had criticized the principle of democracy at that first meeting in Mount Victoria, and he was now a staunch supporter of the system as practiced at Montagu, a fact that spoke volumes to Nicole.  She had often wondered how many other strong leaders could have stayed true to their principles in the face of the unwavering and unquestioning support that Helen and John could command.

“There’s one other thing we'd like to discuss with you, Nicole.  Our term as members of the Leadership Council expires in a little over two years.  So do the terms of all the other members.  It was a mistake to elect everyone for the same term on the same day!  We want to correct that mistake, by enlarging the Council to take in four more members mid-term, so that they can have experience of being members of the Council before the old members retire.  That way, we can build in some sort of continuity.  What are your thoughts on that?”

Nicole looked at Helen as she ordered her thinking.  It struck her that having a Leadership Council without Helen and John as members was almost unthinkable!  The two of them had given such strong leadership from the beginning!

“I think it is a wise move.  We do need continuity, as well as the possibility of a change of thinking, but changes should take place only in the light of experience.  I recall how the new Government in South Africa came into power in 1994, with many new ideas.  They set about replacing the people who had been in senior positions for years, simply discarding all the experience that had been accumulated.  Some of their ideas were based on radical theories, and had not been thought through by the people who knew the problems on the ground or, even worse, they had been considered and found not to be capable of implementation.  They changed the whole basis of the education system virtually overnight, and that created enormous problems, problems that were still seriously hampering the education system twenty years later!  They closed the Nursing Colleges, causing a shortage of nurses that endured right to the end.  They lowered the standards required for degrees, so that more of ‘their people’ could gain degrees, and that collapsed the trust that the international community had in those degrees!  One of the things that Nick drummed into me when I was new in the management consulting arena was ‘measure twice and cut once!’  Experience lets people recognize potential problems and avoid them becoming reality.  I would strongly support the principle.  The appointment of new members mid-term presents no difficulties in the legal area.”

“That’s what we expected you would say, Nicole.  I’m glad we agree.  We’ll put the proposal to the community next week.  Helen has already chatted with several of them, and she’s confident they will accept it.  So am I.”  John smiled at Nicole.  “The next question is more personal.  All of the people we’ve spoken to have suggested a list of names to be put up for election.  Not surprisingly, the names were all the same.  It seems that the members of the community have been discussing the idea and decided who they want as leaders!  All of those people named have accepted, except two.”

“Who have accepted?”  Nicole had her own thoughts on who should be the leaders!

“Roger is one.  Gerard is the second.  Barbara the third.”

“I would support all of them!  And who has not accepted?”  The names were those that Nicole would have proposed herself!

“You and Chad, Nicole.  All of this happened while you were away, and we haven’t had the chance to ask you.  Will you accept nomination?”

Nicole was astounded!  She had never expected this, never even considered it as a possibility!

“I’m not sure what I could add, John!  I'd love to do it.  It would be an honor!  But If I were to be elected, I would have to be of value to the community!”

“You already are, Nicole!  This is just a little step further, to give you official status.  Everything you’ve done since you’ve been here tells us you’re the right person for the job, and the people from Mount Victoria have told us that exactly the same applied there!”  John smiled at the surprise he saw on Nicole’s face.  It was just what he had expected!

“Good!  It’s arranged!  I’ll be glad to have you on the Council.  By the way, your proposal of a Council of Elders has also received the same level of support.  We think it’s a good idea to have the non-binding advice of the older members of the community available in a more formal way.  I think that all of the proposals your legal team has come up with will be accepted.”  Helen was very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.  Her satisfaction showed clearly in her smile.

“Can we send a train to bring the Berg-en-Dal people to the meeting?”  Nicole had overlooked that one important factor.  The community meetings were a vital part of the functioning of this democracy.

“It’s already arranged,” responded Chad.

*~*

They returned to their home.  Nicole was bubbling over with excitement at the developments as they drove up the valley in the morning sunshine.  The day was already warm, to match their mood.

“Do you really think I’m up to the expectations?” Nicole asked, as she dismounted from the car.

“More than that!  It’s me I’m worried about!  I’m just a simple farm boy!  What do I know about democracy in action?”

Nicole came over to her husband and hugged him. 

“You don’t have to know about it,” she replied.  “You only have to know what you, as a simple farm boy, would want to happen!  Deep down, that’s what we all are!”

“I know what I want right now!”  Chad was eyeing the lake.  The shower on the train had been adequate, but he wanted to wash off the staleness of nearly four days travel!

Nicole’s response was to drop what she was carrying on the porch table, and strip off her clothing.  She stood there, a figure of perfection as she waited for Chad to untie his shoelaces, then they strolled down to the shore of their little lake.  There were other, important, things to do before they slipped into the water.

Chapter 22

The days slipped by in the flurry of preparations for the community meeting.  The legal proposals had to be completed, the amendments made to the basic rules of the Leadership Committee, documents prepared for the Berg-en-Dal members, to bring them up to the current state of the community, preparations to be made for the education of the fifteen new youngsters.  In spite of all of this, Nicole and Chad made sure that they could take their children home in the afternoons.  Most days, their arrival at the house started with a swim, a half-hour of fun for all of them.  On one of those days, Helen and John, with young Emma, arrived unexpectedly while they were all in the lake.  Helen took it in her stride.

“May we join you?” she asked, as she stripped off.  John copied her, and they slipped into the water together.

“When we were on Bazaruto Island, Amelia and I envied the people swimming in the sea, so we walked over to another beach and swam naked.  It was delightful!  That experience told me that there really is no need for modesty.  The children swam every day naked in our little lake while you were away, and it didn’t bother them!  Why should it bother us?”

Helen’s argument made a lot of sense to Nicole.  She was comfortable with her body, and Chad showed every sign of delight in it.  Why should she hide it?

After a while, Helen and Nicole walked up to the porch, to sit on the comfortable chairs and dry off in the mild air there, while they discussed the plans for the community meeting.  John and Chad continued playing with the children in the lake, using up the last bit of energy before they would head for bed.  Little Emma played with them.  Even at her very young age, it was clear that she enjoyed the interaction with the bigger kids!  It was becoming dark when the men joined the two women on the porch.

“We’ve finished our talk,” Helen smiled to John.  “All the work has been done!”

“Well darn it!” John exclaimed.  “I was looking forward to discussing business, rather than having fun!  You must warn me next time!”  They all laughed at the comment.

They had dinner together as the darkness descended, discussing the planning for the meeting and their hopes for the outcomes of it, then Helen, John and Emma departed.  Nicole and Chad put the children to bed, then sat together on the porch to look at the familiar stars.

“It’s been an interesting year or two,” remarked Chad after a while.

“It’s been a wonderful year or two!”

*~*

The farmers started arriving for the meeting.  Most of them came the day before the meeting, to mingle with the members of the community, to pick up the latest news and pass on their own, and to trade with each other.  This time there were two main topics of conversation.  The new members from Berg-en-Dal were greeted by every member of the community, including the farm workers.  This was a new experience for them!  They had always maintained a sort of unofficial class distinction, but they entered into the spirit of the community willingly, and soon found that even the farm workers were able to give them tips that they could use in their daily lives.  The second topic was the enlargement of the Committee of Leaders, and the proposed new members of it.  Each of those nominated was widely known in the community, and every one was highly respected.  This came as something of a surprise to all of them.  They had simply done what was needed, to the best of their ability.  They had not noticed that the people around them saw their input.

Piet came up to Chad and Nicole.

“I’m pleased that you’ve been nominated,” he said, in his usual bluff way.  That was how farmers worked with each other.  They said what had to be said, without frills or pretention!  “We think that the Leaders are all doing a great job, but they can’t live forever!  We need to bring in new people, who can carry on the tradition!  The five of you are the prefect people to do that!”  He shook Chad’s hand vigorously in congratulation.  He was now comfortable speaking Afrikaans to both of them, and even to their seven children, whose Afrikaans still bore the tinge of a delightful French accent.  “Did you know that I have French ancestry?  My mother’s maiden name was Fouché.  She is descended from the Huguenots who started the wine farms in the Hex River Valley, near Worcester.  Your children are taking us back to that line!”

“That’s interesting Piet!  They were refugees from religious persecution in France, weren’t they?  It’s amazing how the wheel turns!  The Fouché family were amongst the first of the French settlers here, in the early days of South Africa.”  Nicole smiled at this man, who had become a good friend.  He made a point of chatting with Chad and her each meeting, as well as with the children, and he took a personal interest in their development, sometimes bringing little treats for them that he and his wife made.  This time he handed over a package of ostrich biltong, dried spiced meat similar to beef jerky.  The children squealed with delight.  They loved Piet’s biltong!

“I don’t know where you get all your knowledge, Nicole!”  Piet smiled at her, shaking his head in amazement.  He would love his daughter to grow up to be like Nicole!

“It’s easy, Piet!  I listen to people like you!”  Nicole laughed with the rest of them.  She enjoyed her association with these rough men of the country!  They were always ready for humor, for a bit of fun, yet, underneath their rough exteriors, they were sensitive people, very aware of the feelings and sensitivities of others, and always ready to help.

They returned to their home in the evening, to prepare for the next day’s community meeting.  These meetings, although they were a time to renew friendships and gather information, were also a time of hard work for those leading the community.  Every presentation had to be prepared and perfected, considered for unintended meanings, and slimmed down so that they contained as much information as possible, in as few words as possible.  It was easy to overlook the fact that they had spent hours discussing the topics with a high level of knowledge, while the people they were presenting their subjects to generally had little prior knowledge of them.  On top of that, people became bored very quickly!

Nicole worked on her presentation of the proposed legal system.  Every step of the way to this point had been accepted by the community without demur.  Tomorrow’s meeting would cap that, with approval for the implementation of the system.  Chad’s work was much more general, covering issues of trading and expansion of the scope of the settlement.  The Berg-en-Dal group was a giant leap forward in that regard.  Up to now, the expansion had been purposefully gradual, expanding each border as the need arose and the assurance of settled conditions was obtained.  The new step into a great distance would place strain on many areas of activity, even though the numbers were small.  It was Chad’s job to ensure that the strain was bearable, that it would not disrupt the steady delivery of services to the community so severely that the people would see it as a burden.  They were all working hard to make their community successful, and had been willing to carry any load, so far, and the leaders of the community did not want to add so much to the burden that the people carrying it would decide that they could do better without that burden!  That had become a problem in many countries in the past, when those in power had seen the easy flow of tax money as being unlimited.  They had increased the burden of taxation on the population in many ways, usually not directly noticeable, but, in total, enough to make the wiser citizens willing to take the step of emigrating to another country where the leaders understood that people were willing to pay, but wanted value for their money.  It was a real fear that the easing of the security situation in South Africa would induce some people to do that now, leading to a depletion of the concentration effect, which enabled so many things to be done that would be impossible in smaller communities.

They dropped the children off at the school, where all the youngsters of the community would gather to socialize while their parents were at the meeting, then drove back to the farm.  The members were already out in force, enjoying the large breakfast that was provided for them, and speculating on the outcomes of the meeting.  They all knew that today would represent a turning point in their community!  They ate their last slice of toast, drank their last cup of coffee, and drifted towards the hall that had been enlarged over the past months to accommodate the increased numbers of people.  This hall was used as an entertainment venue, for live musical performances, plays, and community dances, and for weddings and similar celebrations, and was a focal point of community activities.  The hall filled, and the people sat, waiting for John and Helen to introduce the agenda for the day.

“We have a full agenda today,” announced Helen.  “The first item is the introduction of the new members of our community from the north.  We decided to bring that forward, because there are other matters that need approval of all of you, and we believe that it is preferable that you all know each other before we get to that point.  After that, the legal team will set out the final additions to our legal system, and there will be time to discuss those.  The vote on accepting them will be held after lunch to give you all time to discuss them with your friends.  Barbara and Chad will give us a digest of the state of our trade with the rest of the country, and their plans for the future, and also discuss the extension of our area to include settlements such as Berg-en-Dal.  That will include a discussion of how we plan to deal with the difficulties that we have discussed in the past as a reason not to expand except by extending our borders.  We’ll have our normal reports from the different areas of activity, including discussion on a number of plans that are under consideration.  Finally, we’ll be asking you to approve the increase in the numbers of the Leadership Committee, and to vote on the people who will fill the new slots.”  She looked around the hall, seeing no disagreement with the agenda.  “Good!  I’d like our new members to come forward.”

John took over at that point, introducing each new member to the community.  It was a pleasant experience for all of them, as they realized that this was not simply a formality.  They had already chatted with many of these people, and were already finding value in the interaction with the community.

When the introductions were over, Gerard and the legal team gave their presentations.  Each of them had a unique style of presentation, and the people had come to expect a load of information, carefully packaged and explained, so that each of those present could understand both the reason for each element and the effect it might have on their lives.  Nicole was the last to speak.

“It is important for each of us to know that the laws we have proposed are our laws.  They derive from discussions with each of you, and must represent what each of you wants to be our system of interacting with each other.  If there is anything you don’t like, or don’t understand, each of us here will explain and discuss your difficulties with you, and make amendments if that is required.  Every law that is passed after today will be passed only by the majority vote of all of you.  It is up to each of you to ensure that the laws that govern us are the laws we want!”  She looked around at the serious faces of the thousands sitting in the hall.  Each of those people sensed that she meant every word she said.  These were not the glib words of the professional politicians they had known in their past lives!  There were no questions.

Barbara stepped up to the podium, and presented a summary of the trading situation.

“We’ve had some growth in our trade as a result of the access that the sail trains have created.  We now have twelve groups trading with us on the Kimberly-Johannesburg-Bloemfontein route, and we’ve located two on the Durban route.  So far, the quantities are very small, but they are growing, and we have hope that the volume will reach economic levels within the next few years.  Most of the people we are trading with have lived through incredibly difficult times, and are now only slowly getting back on their feet.  It seems that our trading activities are helping them to do that.  We are taking care to ensure that our salvage efforts do not deprive those people of the opportunity to use the goods we recover as trade goods.  In the long run, we will be better served by having healthy economies around the country than we would by grabbing what we can directly.  Their efforts add to ours!”  She gave some statistics.  Looked at in the light of a period of years, the results of Barbara’s efforts were more than satisfying, and the figures she gave told of a degree of development that would have been unlikely in the absence of her work. 

Chad took over and set out the thinking they had gone through in agreeing to the establishment of a distant suburb, as Nicole had described it, at Berg-en-Dal.  “The major differences between the new area and one of the older areas, say Worcester, as an example, is the distance.  Our fears have always been that we could not protect a distant group, and that we would not be able to provide the services that we have come to take for granted here.  The circumstances have changed since then.  Security seems to be no longer a major concern, although the possible existence of gangs in East London and Maputo are a concern that I’ll discuss later.  The provision of services has been made much easier as a result of the trains.  Berg-en-Dal is distant, but only fifty hours away, and we’re already sending two trains per month there.  Barbara and I have checked the demand for the fruit those trains bring back, and we believe that it will be economic to run four trains a month to the area.  That means that we will soon have a meaningful presence there, and the people who travel there to collect the fruit will number about the same as the people who already live there!  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that the inclusion of Berg-en-Dal as part of the community makes good business sense!”  The people in the hall laughed at Chad’s words.  They could always rely on him to bring down-to-earth Australian realism to a discussion!  “We have worked out a plan that may make an extension of this activity feasible.  The area around Berg-en-Dal was previously a source of many other products, like macadamia nuts, pecans, cashews, bananas, mangos, avocados!”  The listing of the items that the people in the hall had previously eaten without giving any consideration to their origin brought saliva to their mouths.  The idea of a juicy fresh mango was almost irresistible!  “While the size of the group at Berg-en-Dal is at the lower limit of what we can support economically, the addition of a few dozen more people would make the area a fully-fledged unit of our community.  Barbara and I propose that we put the effort into the Berg-en-Dal area to bring it to that point.  We believe that it can grow to a size that will justify a full-time clinic within a year, and, probably, a school within a couple of years.  We can supply those services from Montagu until then, and we will probably continue to supply all of the specialized services from Montagu for the indefinite future.  We don’t plan to set up services there to discourage interaction between the two areas, but rather to ensure that the best services are available within the limits of our resources.  We believe that a close association between the areas must be fostered.  We have all seen how valuable that interaction is to all of us!”  Chad described the plans they had developed to provide these infrastructural services at a distance, gradually switching to a permanent unit as the numbers increased.  It all made sense to these practical people.  Every one of them had benefited from the services provided from the original node of Montagu, and they all appreciated how important it was to sustain that node, so that it could continue to feed expertise of all forms into the community.  It would be many years, probably many generations, before the outlying units of the community had grown to the numbers that would be able to support a decentralization of that node in most respects.  Those thoughts were reinforced by the further discussions that followed. 

Brian provided information on the medical situation.  They now had seven doctors and forty qualified nurses, of whom eleven were placed at clinics in the remote areas, providing on-the-spot medical services and emergency treatment to their local communities, supported by the availability of expert advice by radio, and regular visits from the doctors.  A further six nurses, more highly qualified, were supporting a group of smaller clinics on a roaming basis, attending clinic sessions once each week.  Amanda reported on the education system.  They had gone from two schools only five years ago to fifteen!  The school pass rate had remained at one hundred per cent, and the university now had an enrollment of ninety-two students.  The system of part-time tuition ensured that the growing expertise of the university students was fed back directly into the community, giving everyone the assurance that the university education was not simply a luxury for the wealthy few, a perception that, before the explosion, had led to an ‘us-them’ divide, leading many of those who had not been able to gain a university education to question openly the value of such an education.  Rod provided information on the infrastructure developments.  With the growing population, the water supply, roads and transport facilities had come under pressure, and these were being developed to meet the future needs.  Roger was pleased to announce that the availability of the electric motors, coupled with the production of solar electricity generation and fuel cells, had made it possible to increase the production of the sail cars and sail trains.  The cars had captured the imagination of the community, and many of them had come to the meeting in their own sail cars.  The previous limitation on size had now been removed with the introduction of the more powerful electric motors, with cars seating up to ten people, or fewer with a bigger load space, making it possible for the farmers to travel with their families and staff to the meetings.  The savings of fuel made them even more popular.  Every member of the community had access to sufficient water to fuel the hydrogen-powered vehicles!  The number of sail train cars available had grown at the rate of ten a month.  The lack of need to provide armored accommodation had speeded the production of freight and passenger versions of the trains, and the automation systems had made it possible to send regular trains to places as far afield as Johannesburg and Durban.  The system had been perfected to the point where an absence of wind was no longer a problem, with the electric motors kicking in as soon as the speed of the train dropped below twenty kilometers per hour.  The electric drive was slower than under sail in order to minimize the payload penalty of the motors and generators, but, with no crew aboard, a delay of a day in arrival at the destination made no real difference.

The presentations went on after the coffee break, until fifteen minutes before the lunch break.

John stood up once more.

“As you know, it was a principle of our community from the first meeting that the members of the Leadership Council would hold office for no more than two terms of five years each.  That principle has been entrenched in the laws you will be voting on this afternoon.  We wanted to ensure that no dictatorship could develop, as it did, for instance, in Zimbabwe.  It is easy to see how leaders who remain in their positions for a long time come to believe that they have a divine right to that position!  Even worse, they build a power base over time, that enables them to exploit their positions, and that, in turn, makes it essential for them and the people who derive their power from them, to ensure that they continue in power.  At the time we all agreed this, we overlooked the fact that the change of leadership could bring disruption.  We have no professional politician cadre, thanks goodness!  But that means that the new people coming into the Leadership Council have to learn from a zero base.  In order to ensure that the new leaders in the future have a good understanding of the work that is being done by the Leadership Council, as well as the reasons why we make recommendations and decisions, we recommend that the Council be doubled in size, and that new people be elected to it mid-term, to come in and share the load, as well as to be present when the election takes place to replace the previous members.  They will also be elected for the standard term, so that one half of the Leadership Council will always continue in office over an election.”  He waited a few seconds for any questions.  There were none.  This proposal had been circulated to the community some days ago, and any questions they might have had, had been discussed before the meeting.  “We’ll ask you to vote on this proposal after lunch.  If the proposal is accepted, we’ll then ask for nominations of candidates for the new positions, and then for your vote on them.  All the members of the Council have agreed on the recommendation that Roger, Gerard, Barbara, Nicole and Chad be nominated, but we need your views as well.  The Leadership Council belongs to all of you, and, while I may make a recommendation, you have the duty to decide for yourselves.  Now, if there are no questions, I believe it is time for our braai”

There was a general laugh, and the people rose and trooped out to where a number of barbecue fires were ready for use.  There was discussion on the information they had all been given, and the proposals that had been made, and several of these discussions resulted in questions being referred to the members of the Leadership Council for clarification and explanation.  These people, although they enjoyed the meetings, took their democratic duties seriously!  They appreciated the fact that the members of the Leadership Council did not stand on ceremony.  They were perfectly willing to discuss any question or suggestion over lunch or while walking in the garden, not needing the protection of numbers.

*~*

The meeting resumed after lunch.

The first item to be voted on was the largest – the implementation of the proposed legal system.  The four Professors of Law held their breaths.  They had invested a considerable amount of work into these recommendations, and this vote would tell them whether that work had been of value to the Community.  John called for votes for the proposal, and every one of the people in the hall raised their hands.  There were no votes against it.

The next item to be voted on was the proposal that Chad and Barbara had made regarding the extension of the settlement.  This was a matter of great concern for the new members.  Although several of them were already considering settling in Montagu, the possibility of an inclusion of their local area would make them reconsider the question.  They loved living where they did, and the main reason to move to Montagu would be the much improved living conditions that they could expect there.  Chad’s proposal would change all of that!  It would bring the improved living conditions to them!  The vote was called, and, once again, it was unanimously in favor of the proposal.  Only one person stood to speak after the vote.  It was Vicente.

“I would like to suggest that we plan an operation to clean out the terrorists in Maputo and East London.  I know that I have a personal interest in this matter, and I am a new member of the community, but I believe that we would find enough volunteers to ensure that we resolve this problem!  It is not acceptable to me, as a human being, that a group of thugs should have the power to terrorize decent people.  There are many people here who have suffered terribly from the actions of these people and others like them!  We must pull this evil out by the roots, and ensure that it never arises again!”

There were shouts of approval from the audience.  More than a half of the people there had suffered, in one way or another, from the terror that had been unleashed by the explosion of Yellowstone.  None of them had ever blamed the volcano for their situation, but they were all keenly aware of how badly the world had been affected by the terror tactics of the few, who had seen an opportunity to use violence to improve their positions at the expense of the vast majority of the population, and of how that had brought about a collapse that might have been complete, had it not been for the fortitude and foresight of groups such as those now here!  They all believed that the collapse could have been averted if all the citizens of the country had applied the same moral standards and the same appetite for work that had made Montagu succeed!

Chad stood, and silence descended.

“I’d like you to know that we’ve been working out a plan to do as you suggest, Vicente.  We feel exactly the same.  We should have the plan ready for the next meeting.”

The applause erupted again.  If there had been doubt in anyone’s mind about the desire of the community to clear the world of criminals, that doubt was now gone!

John stood again, smiling.

“The next item is the expansion of the Leadership Council.  It is an important matter, not to be treated lightly.  Do you wish to expand the Leadership Council by five members?”

Again, all the hands in the hall were raised.  The vote was carried.

“Are there nominations for the new members?”

Piet stood.

“You nominated Nicole, Barbara, Chad, Gerard and Roger.  I second those nominations.  I can’t think of better people to help you lead us.”  He sat down, to applause.

“May I have any other nominations?”  There was silence.  “In that case, please raise your hands to vote for Gerard.”

All of the hands went up.  The process was repeated for the remaining four.  Each one of them was elected unanimously!

“Now I understand how democracy works!” stated Chad, quietly, to Nicole, sitting next to him.  “You make a proposal, then you give them a big meal, then you ask them to vote!  It’s simple!  I wish I’d worked it out before!”

“That’s how they did it in the Bahamas!” replied Nicole.

“I always thought that the Bahamas had something going for them!  Now I understand!”

“Are there any more items anyone would like to raise?  No?  Well, thanks to all of you for coming.  It’s been a great day!  Coffee and rusks are waiting in the garden!”

John sat down, pleased with the day’s work.  He waited for the crowd to move out, then he rose with the five new Council members, and walked out to collect his coffee and rusk.  He needed them!

The members of the community dispersed over the next few hours.  The more distant members left soon, to be home by sunset, and the others left as the fancy took them.  At least a half of them had more than an hour to travel, but none more than three hours, except the Berg-en-Dal group.  They would leave the day after tomorrow on the next scheduled train.  That would give them time to get to know the town and its activities, and to enjoy the invitations that the townspeople had extended to them.  Once they arrived back in Berg-en-Dal, they could look forward to visitors, people who had not had any opportunity to leave the Montagu area for five years.  They had already requested the delivery of three sail cars so that they could treat their visitors to a tour of the Kruger National Park, the largest garden that any group of people could wish for!  They also had the advantage that their camp could easily be brought back to the standard it had attained before the explosion, with good accommodation for a hundred guests!  That capacity would be expanded very easily by the availability of Olifants Camp, which had been in a good condition when the group that had spent three years there departed, to journey to Montagu.  They were all expecting that their lives would be enriched by the flow of people from Montagu!  The vote to include Berg-en-Dal as a distant suburb was one that, it seemed, would provide benefits for a large number of the members of the community, not only the new members!

Chapter 23

Nicole and Chad collected the children and headed home.  It had been a long two days!  They drove into their little valley, appreciating the magnificent scene.  Chad parked the car and the kids jumped out and ran for the pool, laughing with the sheer delight of being home!  They all striped off and ran to the pool, Nicole and Chad following close behind.  The presence of the children took away all the reservations that being an adult brought!  The rest in the water was delightful.

“There are times when I wonder if life wouldn’t be better if we were to run a little farm somewhere, like Piet or Christoph.  Just watch the sheep grazing and the grass growing.  And maybe come to a community meeting every couple of months, chat to our friends and eat lots of food!”

“I can see you being satisfied with that, Chad!  You!  Watching the grass grow!  You’d go mad in a month!”

“You too!”  Chad grinned at her.

“I’m a simple girl!  All I’ve ever wanted in life was to write my books!”

“That’s what Nick was telling me the other day.  He said that you never really wanted to work!  You’d rather sit in your room and write all day!” 

Nicole considered what Chad had said.  Nick had told her several times that one career was enough!  Getting up at four every morning to put in two or three hours writing would exhaust her!  The problem was that writing was a compulsion for her.  She was still doing it!  Even the lure of an extra hour in bed with Chad was not enough to keep her away from her writing!  Wherever she went, she found material to write about, characters to put in her books, scenes and scents to describe as realistically as she could!  It was always a challenge to imagine a story, then to add the characters and scenes in a way that would satisfy the readers.  And herself!  She was nearly finished with the book she was currently working on.  It seemed to her to be one of her best!  She assumed that she was maturing, seeing the world more clearly, and improving her ability to express her thoughts in words.  There was no doubt that Chad and the children had assisted her in that!  They had added so much to her life!  She tried to remember what it had been like before them.  She could remember many lonely nights in hotel rooms during her project work.  Her friends all envied her the opportunities she had to travel, to see the world.  She had loved that, but the downside was that she seldom built the sort of friendships she now took for granted, with people like Helen and John, Arthur, Roger and Sandra, Johannes and Mary.  Even Piet and Christoph, whom she seldom met more than once a month!  They were all important to her.  And none of them interfered in any way with her writing.  On the contrary, they added variety to her knowledge and experience, and spice to her life.  She now had no readers, that she knew of, yet the compulsion to write still existed, still drove her to wake early, her mind full of ideas and plots, characters and places!  She would not exhaust them in a hundred years of writing. 

“When is your next book going to be ready?”  Chad interrupted her train of thought and she realized that her mind had drifted.  She found that she did not need to smile at him – she was already smiling!  It seemed to be a permanent condition when she was with her family!

“I think it will be complete in about three days.  Then I’ll take a break to separate myself from what I’ve written, and after that, another three days to edit it.  Say two weeks.  Why do you ask?”

“I’d like to read what my dear wife has written!  It must be good, after so much effort!”

“I hope it is,” she replied.  “Even though you’ll probably be the only person ever to read it!”

“I think you’re mistaken there!  I was talking to Amanda just before we went to Berg-en-Dal.  She wants to set up an internet publishing activity, and she needs authors.  I’m surprised she hasn’t spoken to you yet!”

“There just hasn’t been time.  “I’ve wanted to discuss the addition of the Berg-en-Dal group to the history, before it is published, but I haven’t been able to get the time!  Before we had the house, I used to have hours in the evening.”

“I know!  Now all we do is float around in our little lake, making islands!”  Chad grinned lasciviously at her body.  She glanced down and saw that three parts of her body were protruding above the flat surface of the water.  She could see why Chad was grinning at them.  The thought pleased her.  She quite liked the look of her body!  The pink skin and blonde hair was quite suggestive!

They swam around for another ten minutes, then Nicole drifted over to the edge of the water and walked out onto the shore, shaking the water off her body.  She dried herself off quickly, using one of the towels they now kept on the porch, sat down at the table and opened her computer.  The chat with Chad had given her some thoughts she wanted to put into her book now, while they were still fresh!

She continued writing until the sun was gone.  Chad took the children into the house, and, together they prepared the dinner.  It was ready by the time that Nicole had completed her work.  She closed the computer and walked into the house.  Only when she entered the kitchen did she realize that she had not put her clothing on!  She walked into the bedroom and pulled on a light blouse and skirt, and walked back to the kitchen.

“I’ve completed it!”

“That’s great news!  Now it’s only the editing to do?”

“Yes.  Give me three days for that, starting the day after tomorrow.  Then I can hand it over to Amanda.  Has she written anything lately?”

“She told me that she has a book ready to publish.  She was hoping to make a big event of it, turn it into a reason for the people to start reading fiction again!  Apparently she’s dredged up several dozen other books, including all of her own as well as some that people in the community had stored away.  Nora gave her all the books of her favorite authors, and so did Sandra.  They had them on memory sticks or laptop computers that they were able to save from before the explosion.  From what Sandra was saying, the launch will be a big deal!”

Nicole thought about that as she set the table. She had lost all of her own books in the quick evacuation when Amelia called Jeff to warn them that the tsunami was imminent.  That had been a big loss for her, but, she supposed, it was better than losing her life!  She had thought of checking the downloads from the internet that Stephen and Fiona had done in the last days before the explosion had caused that to collapse, but had not yet done so.  The chance of them having downloaded even one of her books in the rush to get as much technical information as they could find must be close to zero!  Ann and her team were still working on cataloging all of the fiction that had been saved.  Who could know?  She decided that she would do a check when she had a spare five minutes.  For now, she had a new book to finish!

They went to bed early that night.  It was one of those warm nights that allowed them to sleep under just a sheet, and Nicole slept well, pleased with the display of confidence in her that her election had brought.  She was delighted that Chad had been elected.  She had known from the time of that first meeting in Mount Victoria when he had questioned the practice of democracy, that he had in him the capability to be a great leader.  He never took himself seriously, always questioned the common wisdom.  He was a clear thinker, and often came up with workable ideas that surprised others.  He was also a good team member, prepared to take someone else’s advice after he had been given the opportunity to question it and assure himself that it was correct.  He was also able to take people along with him, getting their support for the goals he set them, and inspiring them to perform above the limits they set for themselves.  She loved him, but, perhaps more importantly, she liked and respected him, and she knew that he reciprocated her feelings.  She awoke early, and got out of bed to make herself a cup of coffee.  She had an urge to work on her book!  She took her coffee and her computer through to the porch, and settled down to work. 

Chad came out to her a couple of hours later.  He knew her need to write, and he stayed inside, working on his own projects, in order not to disturb her.  He often did that, sitting on a couch in the sitting room where he could glance out at her.  She often sat there naked in the morning light.  Chad had wished many times that he could paint well.  He would have painted a portrait of her, the soft light of the morning outlining the curves of her body and her hair, which fell softly over her face and shoulders.  Now he brought another cup of coffee and an apple he had cut into quarters, the way she liked.  She looked up at him and smiled.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Not long enough!  I woke up with some ideas of how to go about what Vicente was talking about yesterday.  We do really need to clear the terrorists out of our country!”  He grinned at her, and she returned the grin with her soft smile, the one that she reserved for him.  He loved that smile!  He had seen it after she shot the man in Maputo, the hidden terrorist who was about to kill him.  He had known then what her feelings were for him.  They were the same feelings that he had harbored since that meeting in Mount Victoria, when she had told him to join their group or find somewhere else to go!  He had delayed an approach to her, seeing how politely she deflected the advances of the several other men who had fallen for her.  She had done that in a way that spared their dignity and retained their friendship, but he had not wanted to take the chance of that happening to him!  That smile in Maputo had given him the courage to ask her to marry him.  Sometimes terrorists had their function in life!

“I agree with Vicente.  We can’t allow those people to be a law unto themselves.  They achieve their power through the failure of others to stand up to them!  We now have the strength to take them on, and I would like to be a part of the group that does it.  I used my experience in Maputo in my book.  I’ve just reread it this morning, and I think it’s good.  I needed real-life experience!”

“I would hate to think that my gentle wife is planning to go off into a civil war to get material to write about!”  Chad joked, but he knew that Nicole was capable of taking on a dangerous situation for the sake of knowing that she could handle it!

They drove into town to drop the children off at school and then out to the farm, where they would be working in the office this morning.  It was a beautiful day!  The promises of the early morning were realized in full.  Helen and John joined them after a few minutes, to discuss with them the work that had come out of the meeting, and they were joined by Roger, Jennifer, Barbara and Gerard a few minutes later, and the other members of the Leadership Committee were waiting on the porch of the farmhouse, the traditional meeting place for weighty decisions.  The decision-making process was firmly established.  It started with a cup of coffee and a rusk!  The matters were quickly disposed of, and a plan worked out for the next six months of work.  At the end of it, Chad raised the matter of clearing the terrorists from Maputo and East London.

“I’ve been considering it for a while,” he said.  “We took out the toll collectors on the road from Johannesburg, and that, together with the trains, has opened the way for the people in the area to lead normal lives again.  We really need to do the same in the two cities where we believe they might still be operating.  What I propose doing, is to set a trap for them.  I had a chat with Vicente after our meeting yesterday, and suggested it to him.  He’s keen!  We’ll transport Vicente and a squad of Scout Group people into Maputo, landing them from the ship at night.  A trainload of Scout Group can be waiting halfway from the border, ready to move in when we’re ready.  Vicente can put out a radio call for help, telling the bad guys where he is, and the train can answer, saying that they can have a food truck in town in, say, two days.  Vicente can put on the lights in a building near where he is, to draw in any of the bad guys who don’t have radios.  Then we wait.  When they walk into the trap, we’ll take them out.  That’s the essence of it, anyway.  There’s a lot more detail that I’ve discussed with Petrus and Alwyn.  They’re all keen to go!”

“It’s simple enough,” said Roger.  “Given the sort of people we’re up against, I'd say it has a good chance of working.  It will take a couple of dozen people out of the workforce for a week or two, but that’s not too bad.  We could base the Reef Explorer at Bazaruto, and take a couple of hundred people on a vacation.  There are many who would love to come!  We could possibly use the voyage as an opportunity to stock up with fish!”

“We could also collect a few tons of aluminum from the refinery,” suggested Barbara.  “Vicente has been rolling sheets and other metal sections from the ingots we brought last time we went there, and that has been very useful, particularly in the construction of the trains.”

“What are the risks?” asked Helen.  She liked the idea, but she had always been careful not to put any of their people into unnecessary danger.  They still could not afford to lose any lives.

“There are risks,” replied Chad.  “There might be more terrorists than we bargain for, but we believe that possibility is fairly remote.  We can take enough Scout Group people to make an overwhelming force to counter any likely threat, and we can put out sentries around the city and its approaches to warn us if too many are heading our way.  We’ll only enter a fight that we know we can win!”

“The upside of that is that we can open the entire southern African area to development,” stated John.  “We won’t cover any significant part of it for a long while, but we won’t have to worry about opposing forces, or hostile incursion, when we do.  I’m for it!”

“What is the next phase?” asked Brian.

“After Maputo, we can clear out East London in the same way.  We can do that in a month or two, but then I suggest that we use a woman, rather than Vicente, as bait.  After that, we need to take a look at Namibia and Angola.  They’re far away, but still accessible to us, and I feel uncomfortable at the possibility of a group of hostile people sitting there, waiting for the right time to come and take what we have.  Angola was the scene of a civil war that went on for decades!”  Rod was clear about that.  He’d had an engineering project in the north of Angola, a long time ago.  The project was closed when the construction company that was building a dam to provide a reliable water supply to a group of villages refused to pay tribute to one of the local warlords.  The government had been powerless, or unwilling, to assist, and the project was abandoned after the United Nations had invested several tens of millions of dollars.

“Let’s work on Maputo to start with,” suggested Helen.  “If we can get the planning completed in time, we can get approval from the next meeting.  I agree with all of you.  I think it is time for us to look outward again!”

They all left the meeting, feeling that there was a worthwhile future.

Nicole walked across to Amanda’s desk, and sat down opposite her.

“I hear that you’re putting together a big launch of e-books.  I’ve almost finished my current book, and I'd like to submit it for the launch.  It will probably be ready in a couple of days.”

“That’s wonderful, Nicole!  The more the merrier!  I have a couple of books that I’ve written since the explosion, in between history and schoolbooks, and it seemed to me that we can get the writing fever going.  Everyone has a story to tell, and we can probably encourage a few other writers to join in.  I’ve got most of my old books in electronic form, and I’m working on putting them into a publishable format, and I’ve collected some books from others in the community.  We can probably launch with seventy or eighty books!”

“That’s wonderful, Amanda!  I had some books published, but I lost all my manuscripts when we had to leave Sydney in a hurry.  Still, I enjoy writing, and I have a couple of other books in development.  When do you plan to launch?”

“I was aiming for the next community meeting, in a month.  Would that suit you?”

“I can certainly get one book out by then, and perhaps even finish another, if there is not too much workload coming my way.  I’m looking forward to it!”

Nicole walked off to her desk and settled down to work.  The idea of publishing her books again excited her!

*~*

Roger sat down with Chad and they started to look at the detail of the plan that Chad had set out at the meeting.  As he had said, there was much more to it, and Chad had already worked out a lot of it, with the assistance of Petrus and Alwyn of the Scout Group.  They set out a development plan, listing the main items that needed to be considered and detailed, then allocated the work between them.  Once they were satisfied that they had covered every aspect, they set off to discuss the details with the other parties who would become involved.  The plan developed, and, by the end of the week, the Scout Group was conducting exercises, testing elements of the plan and training for the execution of it.  Amelia was roped in to draw up the lists of people who would play a part in the work, and Arthur set to work drawing up lists of equipment and provisions.  As he did so, he moved each element of the goods into a warehouse near the Reef Explorer in Cape Town harbor.  Ron sent a crew of engineers to check the ship’s mechanical systems and prepare it for sea, and Nora spent a day fine-tuning the hydrogen generators.

Nicole was able to complete the editing work on her book before breakfast two days later.  She closed her laptop computer with a satisfied smile and turned to see with surprise that Chad, Laura and Nicolas were inside the house, looking out at her.

“Good morning!  Have you been there long?”

“Only about half an hour, mom.  Dad asked us to be quiet so that you could finish your work.”

“That was very kind of you!”  Nicole meant what she said.  She remembered how hard it had been for her, as a child, to hold back while her father wrote.  His work was mainly technical, producing legal textbooks for business users.  He had often complained that law books were written for lawyers, and that the law was essentially closed to the ordinary people it affected.  His wife, Nicole’s mother, had told him one day that, instead of complaining, he should do something about it!  He liked the idea, and started writing a series of books that explained the law in language that non-lawyers could understand.  Perhaps that was where Nicole had gained her love of writing!

Nicole walked through to take a shower and dress for the day, loving the support she received from her family.  Many had asked her if it was not too much, to take on seven partly-grown children when she and Chad had been married for less than two weeks.  Her reply was that she had not adopted them.  They had adopted her.  That was true.  Her dealings with them on the beach had placed her firmly in their minds as a person they could trust and respect, and they had quickly come to love her for the care she lavished on them.  By the time the Reef Explorer returned to Cape Town, there was no longer a decision to be made.  They were a family!  Neither Chad nor Nicole had regretted that for an instant.  They loved every minute of their time together.  Their relationship with each of the children was tremendously rewarding!  Nicole had seen the same situation in the case of Jane and Ron, who had picked up two abandoned children on an island off the West Australian coast.  Sammy and Dianna had adopted the two of them as parents, and Peter and Pam as uncle and aunt, and the relationship between all of them was now so firm that there was no difference between those two children and little Helen, their daughter who had been born in the Seychelles.

They had breakfast together, and drove into town.  Nicole had lectures this morning, a task she enjoyed.  She loved dealing with the keen minds of the young people, forcing them to stretch their abilities and their understanding.  She wanted them to understand the law and the reasons behind the law as she did.  She could recall a lecturer when she did her law degree.  She was doing two degrees simultaneously, and hated every minute of that man’s lectures.  He was old and tired, and bored, and that came through in the lectures he gave, which were not much more than a dictation of his notes to the students.  The students all knew that all they had to do in the examinations was to regurgitate those same notes back.  That was not why Nicole was studying law!  She was not there to collect a degree!  She wanted to gain an understanding of the system and the thinking behind it, to be able to put herself in the shoes of those people who had played a part in the formulation of the code of conduct that was to control the lives of millions in the years to come, and to understand why they had made the decisions that had come to govern the lives of millions.  She did not gain that from that lecturer.  She had to wait until she was put in a situation where her knowledge of the laws and the principles behind them was essential to the work she was doing.  She found that in Switzerland, where the legal system was totally foreign to her, but where the principles played a dominant role in the formulation of the laws.  That experience opened her eyes to many things, enabling her to gain the appreciation for the section of the law that lecturer had almost closed to her!  She was now trying to impart her love of reason and understanding to these keen young people. 

The lectures went quickly, and Nicole went on to Barbara, to check on the status of the warehouse.

“It’s going swimmingly!” was the reply to her question.  “The system is working like a charm, and the training has shown some excellent results.  A couple of the people we brought in to help over the heavy times have stayed on, and I think they’ll be keen to move out to Berg-en-Dal once we have that end of the process properly set up.  It will be a lot easier to handle the workload at this end of the chain if it’s properly organized at the dispatch end!  That will give us the ability to use some warehousing space there as an integral part of our system, so that we can store some of the items that we don’t need urgently here.  We would have been in real trouble by now if you hadn’t sorted it out.”

“I did very little!” laughed Nicole.  “Stephen and Fiona did most of the work!”

“Will you be on the trip to Maputo?”

“I imagine so.  Chad will be going, so I suppose I will go too.  I'd hate to let him free with all of those gorgeous women on a romantic ocean cruise!”

Barbara knew those were just words.  Chad had made it very clear that he reserved his love for Nicole!

Nicole walked over the road to Antonio’s, where she had arranged to meet Chad for lunch.  Antonio’s was still their favorite restaurant.  Chad was walking up as she arrived.

“Hello, gorgeous!  I’m waiting for my wife to arrive, but I have time for a quick cuddle, if you have the inclination!”

Nicole laughed at him, and he smiled in return.  He loved her laugh!  He came up to her and kissed her.

Antonio came out of his restaurant and waited for the two to separate.  They were amongst his favorite people!

Nicole saw Antonio, and smiled at him.

“Ah, so you see Antonio!  I hope I didn’t interrupt!  I have a wonderful table for you!  You can see the whole street from here!  If you look down there, you can see the ibis birds in their roosting tree!”

Nicole looked down the street, saw that Antonio was not exaggerating.  The tree at the end of the block was full of the large white birds with the long curved black beaks.  There were dozens of young birds, looking quite different from their parents.  They were sitting on the branches of the tree, too large now for their nests, and clamoring for food every time the parents approached.

They took the seats that Antonio offered, and he hurried off to bring the wine.  He already knew what their meals would be!  John and Helen came up, taking the other seats at the table.  Although the food that Mary prepared for them at home was as good as any restaurant, they still enjoyed a meal at Antonio’s!

“How is the lecturing going, Nicole?”  Helen asked the question.  She had been instrumental in setting up the university, and then in setting up the Faculty of Law.  She had been asked by one of the farmer members why such a small community needed a Faculty of Law, when the entire civilization known to them did not have a single Court.  “Law is a mental discipline,” she had explained.  “Some of the best people I have known have been lawyers, and very few of them ever practiced Law.  We need to develop every aspect of our people, and the mental discipline required in the study of law is one way of doing that!”  The farmer had accepted her argument, as he would any of her arguments.  He thought about it subsequently, and decided that she was almost certainly right.

“It’s going very well,” she replied.  “They’re good students, and very keen.  I keep giving them assignments that will take them to the limits, and they keep coming back for more!  I love working with them!”

“Amanda mentioned that you have a book to contribute to our e-book launch,” said John.  “When do you get the time to write?”

“Chad and the children give me time every morning.  A couple of hours a day adds up over the months!  I have completed one book, and I hope to have another ready in time.  I started writing it on the way to Berg-en-Dal, and I’m more than halfway through, I think.”

“You’ve published books before?”

“Yes, I published a number of books before the explosion, but they were all lost when we had to leave Jeff and Meredith’s home in a hurry.  Amelia phoned us in the middle of the night and ordered us to get out right away!  Jeff followed her instruction, thank goodness, and that saved or lives!  Unfortunately, I left everything I owned behind, including all my manuscripts!  One minute is not enough time to put your mind together, and then to collect things that represent your history!”

“That’s sad, Nicole!  Still, you’re here!”  Helen was sincere in her comment, but Nicole thought that she could see something more behind it.

“Yes,” she replied.  “And if the explosion had not happened, I would never have met Chad or the two of you, or the children!  Much more good has come of it for me than bad!”

“I think that’s true for most of us here!  Some have lost much more than others, yet everyone seems to feel that the explosion has brought an improvement in their lives.  I was talking with Sally the other day, the woman that Alwyn rescued from that gang in East London.  She was horribly abused for over two years, and yet she’s still happy to be here.  She says that her children will have a much better life now than they would have had if the explosion had not occurred.”

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to having my books published.  I don’t know whether anyone will read them, or if they do, whether they will enjoy them, but the purpose of writing is not to sell books!”

“Why do you write, Nicole?”

“I’ve thought about that a few times, but I’m not really sure.  As one of my characters said, perhaps it’s to live a different life, perhaps because it fulfils me, or because it gives me a sense that I am creating something from myself that will endure for years.  Possibly because it allows me to escape from the everyday, into a more interesting space, where the rules that I have to live by don’t apply.  Perhaps it gives me the chance to live out someone else’s life.  As I said, I’m not sure, but I enjoy it and, strangely, I enjoy reading my books!”  She laughed at the suggestion.  Perhaps it showed a certain egotism!

Helen looked thoughtful.

“I’m sure I’ve read that somewhere!  Perhaps it was one of your books!  The words are certainly familiar!”

“I’d love to give you a copy of the book, but, as I told you, I don’t have it anymore.”

Antonio arrived just then, bringing their plates heaped with a steaming pasta, covered with a sauce that smelled divine.  He set them down on the table. 

“I hope you will enjoy this meal!  The sauce is a variety of bolognaise, but made with ostrich meat.”

Helen took a tiny taste of the sauce.

“It’s just as good as every other sauce you’ve served us, Antonio!  I don’t know how you do it!  I’ve never had a meal from you that I was less than ecstatic about!”

The others tried the sauce and pronounced their agreement with Helen’s judgment.  They tucked into the meal with pleasure.

*~*

After lunch, Chad walked with Nicole back to her university office, half a block away.

“Helen’s planning something.” Nicole had noticed the look in Helen’s eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“She had a strange look when we were talking about my books.”

“Perhaps she’s keen to read them!  I know that I am.  Do you realize that I’ve not read one of your books yet?”

“I know, my love.  But I have an excuse!  Until yesterday, I didn’t have anything to show you.  I didn’t want to burden you with a half-completed effort!  I’ll give you my latest book when we get home.  It’s quite a long one, so it’ll take a few days to read.  I’m interested to hear your comments on it.”

They had arrived at the office.  Chad kissed her, and walked off to his next appointment with Barbara, a short distance down the street, while Nicole settled down to prepare the lectures for tomorrow.

*~*

They drove home that afternoon, and went for their swim, a custom that all of them found very pleasant.  It was a chance to be together in a totally relaxed way.  There was nothing of any real urgency to do, so Chad and Nicole went into the kitchen to prepare their dinner.  Chad was an excellent cook, and Nicole loved working with him on their meals, inventing different ways to prepare and serve the simple meals they had.  After a while, Laura came in, drying the water off her body.

“When you go to Maputo, can we come with you?”

“We’ve planned space for some of you children,” replied Chad.  “But we’ll have to see how your teacher feels about you going away for a week in the middle of the school year.  I hope your work is up to date!”  Chad knew full well that each of the children was ahead of the curriculum.  Their teachers had complained that it was difficult to find things for them to do that were sufficiently challenging to keep them interested!  Part of the reason for that was that he and Nicole put a lot of effort into helping the children to understand what was being taught, and to find practical examples of its use in everyday life.  Both of them had found that the subjects that they were taught at school were too abstract for them to find a hook to hang the new knowledge on.  Fortunately, their parents had taken an active interest in their education, and given them an understanding of the broader context of those subjects.  The other part of the reason was that all of the children were simply extremely intelligent.  Perhaps the cause of that was that they had to use their intelligence to keep alive on that frozen beach in France.  Perhaps they had been selected by Nature to survive because they had the capability.  Neither Nicole nor Chad had any idea of the reasons, but they had seen the intelligence soon after they had come to know the children, and had worked to foster it.  It had already been decided that a group of children would come on the trip with the teachers to provide a continuation of the education.  That would give the teachers a break as well, something they needed after the years of concentrated work.  Places on the boat trips were extremely popular, no matter the reason or purpose.

They finished the preparation of the meal, and Nicole went to call the other children in, to shower and dress before dinner, so that they would be ready for bed after Chad read them a story.

The busy evening carried on in this way, and Nicole finally kissed the children goodnight and went out onto the porch to settle down with her next book, while Chad read the evening story.  She was making good progress with this book!  Chad came out after a while, and sat down next to her, looking out at the mountains.  They were dark shapes against a slightly lighter darkness relieved only by the stars.  Nicole put her computer down and snuggled up close to Chad.

“I love this time in the evening!  It seems as though the universe is sitting back to catch its breath before starting all over again.  This house is just as nice as the bridge of the Reef Explorer at night.  I used to love the night watches!”

“I’m looking forward to this cruise,” replied Chad, holding her.  “We’ll have a bit of work to do, but that won’t take more than a day or two, and the rest of the time we’ll be swanning around, having fun.  I think it will mark the beginning of the next phase.  Up to now, we’ve all been concentrating on simply surviving.  Once we’ve cleared out those ratbags in Maputo and East London, the challenges will all be comparatively small, and we’ll have the freedom and the time to do fun things, like vacations!  I enjoyed our ride to Berg-en-Dal.  I’d like to do it again, with the kids.  I’ve been reading them a book about an elephant, and they were quite excited about what they look like in real life.  I‘d love to show them!”

Nicole considered the thought.  She certainly agreed with it.  A large formative element of her childhood was the travel her parents had undertaken, showing Nicole how different people lived, and impressing on her that there was not only one right place.  That had given her a tolerance for other peoples, other places, and other ways of doing things.  That had served her well in her consultancy work, where she had been able to approach every situation without bias, knowing that the people did things the way they did for reasons that were valid in their minds.  Her exposure to many countries and many companies had shown her that there were many possibilities, and she saw her task as consisting largely of understanding why that particular way was right for those people in that situation, and what could be imported from other ways of achieving the same purpose, that might make it more efficient.  She wanted to give her children the chance to gain the same experience!  The problem was how!  Although it was a delightful place, Montagu was small, with relatively little diversity.  Chad’s idea would expand that diversity considerably, as well as giving scope for new ideas and new activities in the community.

“I would love to go to Olifants Camp,” she said.  “I went there as a child, with my parents.  I remember very little about it, other than it was on the side of a mountain with a view over the bushveld that went on forever!  I recall seeing a herd of elephants in the river below the camp.  I loved it!”

“Perhaps we can arrange to go with Barend and Marie, or Neil and Angela or Hans and Hilde.”  He thought for a second.  “Or Michael and Conrad!  They really know their way around there!  It’s interesting to think that they drove here through the Kruger National Park, coming out through the Malelane Gate that we used.  Did you notice the repairs to the tar road at the bridge?  Barend told me that the road was largely washed away by the floods, and they had to repair it to go over the bridge!  And all the time, the refugees were hiding away in Berg-en-Dal Camp, only a few kilometers away.”

“I wonder how many people we’ve missed in our searches.  We almost didn’t see the children!  It horrifies me to think what would have happened to them if we hadn’t seen that piece of flag fluttering in the breeze!”  Nicole’s face showed her fear.  Without that fluttering, the chances of finding the children would have been non-existent!  With the progression of the ice towards the south, that Nick had told them of, the children would probably not have survived until now!  The same thought had occurred to Chad.

“I think that we should send expeditions to every area that we have not yet covered thoroughly, to search for any last survivors!  We can do it now, and I think that we owe it to the world to do it.”

“Let’s plan to start that process as soon as we have cleared out Maputo.”

Chapter 24

Helen dropped in at the laboratory on her way past the next morning.  Nora was busy with a test run of a mineral refining process she was preparing for a new ore body that one of the farmers had mentioned to Roger at the last meeting.  Mindful of the successes of Piet’s and Christoph’s small mines, he had brought a couple of hundred kilograms of the ore as a sample.  It turned out that the body contained meaningful quantities of iron and chromium, two minerals that were unusual in this part of the world, and which were usually refined by smelting.  However, also included in the ore was a significant quantity of copper, which would probably be lost in the smelting process.  Nora believed that it might be economic to treat the material chemically to extract the copper, and had designed a process that she was now testing.  Helen was interested to find out whether she was having any luck.

“It’s still too early to say with any degree of certainty, Helen, but what little I’ve seen so far makes me slightly optimistic.  We’ll have a better idea this evening.”

“There’s no rush, Nora.  I was on my way to the stables, so I thought I'd drop in.  While I’m here, you mentioned to me once that you have quite a collection of e-books.  You do know that Amanda is planning a grand release of new and old e-books just before the next community meeting?”

“Yes, she mentioned that to me, Helen.  I gave her my complete collection for re-release.  I only held on to the books that I really enjoyed, so I think that every one of them is worth republishing.”

“I was talking to Nicole yesterday.  You know she writes?  I asked her why she writes.  The thought fascinates me.  I have seen how much effort she and Amanda have put into the history of Montagu!  It’s been a staggering amount of work!  You would have to be really committed to take on a task like that in your spare time.  She told me that she does it possibly for different reasons.  I don’t recall all of them, but she said that it might be because it fulfils her, or allows her to lead the life of her characters, or because it gives her the opportunity to create something that will endure for years.  I thought at the time that I had read that somewhere, but I couldn’t recall where.  They’re all quite profound reasons, as you would expect, coming from Nicole!”

“They are!  They struck me too, when I read them!  They’re a quote from Roger, the main character in ‘The Writer, by Nicole Stuart.”  Nora’s eyes widened as the name ran through her mind.  “That’s not Nicole’s name, is it?”

“We all know her as Nicole, or Nicole Smith, her married name.  What was her maiden name?”

Nora got on her radio and called Meredith.  Meredith had often helped her in the office work. 

“I'd like to ask you a question, Meredith.  Can we go to Channel 72?”

When Meredith responded on the private channel, Nora asked her question.

“You know Nicole well, Meredith.  Do you know her maiden surname?  We only know her as Smith, her married name.”

“Of course!  She was Allenby.”

“Thanks, Meredith.  I’ll tell you the story next time we meet.  It’s obviously a case of mistaken identity.  That’s not the name I was looking for.”  Nora terminated the call.

“She was Nicole Allenby, not Stuart.  It must be a coincidence.  There are several writers with the first name Nicole.  Hang on.”  She walked over to the desk and retrieved the memory stick that Roger had returned to her after he had read the book and transferred the file to his computer.  As far as she could recall, she had not erased the file containing the book.  “That is the book ‘Run!’ by Nicole Stuart.  There is a brief description of ‘The Writer’ at the end of it.  It may jog your memory.”  Helen took the memory stick, grateful to Nora for her help.  Nora was one of the people she could rely on.  She had an excellent memory as well as a wide range of interests.  After a couple of minutes more conversation, she left to walk on to the stables.

When she returned to her office, Helen could not resist the temptation.  She took the memory stick from her skirt pocket and plugged it into her computer. 

Helen read for half an hour, fascinated by the story.  Being in South Africa, and having had a limited exposure to the corruption of the political system here before the explosion of Yellowstone brought an end to it, she could understand the theme of the book more easily than when she had read it the first time, a couple of years before the explosion.  She had enjoyed it then, and she enjoyed it even more now!  She was reading when John walked in.

“What are you doing?  You look so engrossed!”

“I’m reading a book that my parents gave me a long time ago, before we met.  Nora had a copy.  I mentioned to her a comment that Nicole made at lunch yesterday, about why she writes.  It rang a bell in my memory.  I was sure that I'd read it once, somewhere.  Nora recognized it too.  It came from a book, ‘The Writer’, by Nicole Stuart.  That was where I read it too!  We checked with Meredith, who is Nicole’s friend from Sydney, but Meredith told us that Nicole’s maiden name was Allenby.  So she’s not the author of those books!  I’m reading Nora’s copy of ‘Run!’ by Nicole Stuart, and I’m enjoying it much more now than I did before!”

“I'd like to read that book when you’re done, if I may.  Roger mentioned to me that he'd read it, and enjoyed it.”

“Certainly, John.  I’ll pass it to you.  It’s worth reading!”

John passed through on his errand, and Helen returned to her reading.

*~*

Helen finished reading the book two days later, and passed the memory stick to John. 

In the meanwhile, Nicole gave Chad a copy of her completed book.

“It’s ready for you to read, my love,” she said.  “I have to put in the formalities, title, author, copyright, and so on, but that is not relevant to the essence of the book.  That reminds me!  We have to set out the detail of the copyright and patent rules for the community.  I must also talk to Ann about her cataloging system, so that I can add the book’s number for catalogue purposes.  It’s amazing how many little details there are when you start to work in real life!”

“It makes a university professorship look like an ivory tower!  You once told me of that German saying:  ‘The devil is in the detail!’  That certainly is the truth, in my experience!  I’ll read your book as soon as I have the time, and report back to you on it.”

“Please be gentle with me!  You know how delicate my feelings are!”  Nicole laughed.  She always put on a brave face, and let few people see her real feelings, but Chad was one of those she had let see her soul.  He knew how sensitive she really was.  It was one of the things he admired about her – her ability to hold things back and function effectively, when most other women would be weeping or throwing a tantrum!  He had also learned that it was not a good idea to tell her things that were not the absolute truth.  She had an uncanny ability to pick out an untruth and to store it away in her memory.  She would never trust him if she thought he was dissimulating to protect her feelings!  Her trust was important to Chad!

Chad took the memory stick and saved the book on his computer.  He did not have time to read it now, but he could not resist the temptation to take a quick peek.  He opened the book and started reading.  The style he saw was quite different from Nicole’s report-writing style that he had read many times.  That was crisp and clear, with no elements of emotion or nuance.  This writing went into the thinking of the characters, the ambience of the scenes.  He found that he could put himself into the story, relating to it as though it was an alternate life.  He looked up at Nicole, found that she was looking at him with a mixture of concern and amusement on her face.

“This is really good, Nicole!  I wonder why I haven’t read any of your work before.”

The look changed to one of delight.  Her work had passed the ultimate test!  Her previous books had all sold reasonably well.  Only three of them had been really big sellers, but the others had sold steadily every month, with the numbers trending upwards all the time.  The pattern of sales that she saw indicated that many of the readers who happened on one of her books tended to read all the others over time, a pattern that pleased her immensely.  It told her that her readers liked her work, and that is the ultimate reward for an artist.

When they returned home that evening, they went for their usual swim, and then Nicole went into the kitchen to prepare their dinner, while Chad settled down on the porch to read the book.  John, at his home, was also reading.  They both became absorbed in the books, breaking off for dinner and the bedtime formalities for the children, and then went back to reading late into the night.  Chad put the book down, regretfully, at eleven and turned to Nicole, who was working on her next book.

“I think it’s time for bed, Nicole, if you can break off now.”

“Give me a few seconds.  I have a thought in my mind, and I want to get it down before it becomes corrupted.”  She smiled at Chad, then went back to work.  He looked at her typing, her fingers a blur of motion.  He recalled Meredith saying that Nicole could type really fast.  That had not been an exaggeration!  Her emotions showed on her face as she worked, something that he rarely saw in normal life.  She was actually living the characters she was writing about!  That explained a few things to him!  He watched her working for another few minutes, then she saved the document and closed her laptop, looking at him with her gentle smile.

”Thank you for being so patient with me.  I know how hard it must be to keep quiet for so long!  It really helps me to concentrate on my story line.  I had a friend whose wife could not stand the thought of him writing for a few hours in silence.  She found every excuse to interrupt him, sometimes every five minutes, and when he asked for peace, she would fly off the handle.  It took him ages to write his books, and he had to edit them thoroughly because each interruption broke his chain of thought, so the story became discontinuous.  He loved his wife, but that attitude of hers towards his work almost led to them breaking up!”  She saw that he had closed his computer.  “You’ve been reading my book?  How do you like it?”

“If I had read your other books, I'd say it was the best!  I can’t imagine the others could be better.  I love it!”

Nicole’s smile broadened.

“If you’re saying that just to get me into bed, it’s worked!  Let’s go!

*~*

At the farm, John closed his computer for the night.

“This is good writing, Helen!  I'd like to get the rest of her work.”

“Did you notice how Sandra, the main character, is similar to our Nicole?”

“I did.  I wonder if it is coincidence!”

Chapter 25

The days passed, filled with events.  The new arrangement with the group at Berg-en-Dal came into effect.  The new members helped to load the train that took them home from Montagu after their first community meeting, and, a week later, the first automated train arrived, bearing a load of the items they needed, including the equipment to integrate them into the radio-operated internet system that Montagu ran.  They unloaded that train and reloaded it with the goods they had collected, mainly tropical fruits, with a small quantity of the gnarly hardwood that lay in profusion where the elephants fed.  The habit of the giant animals of pushing small trees over to get at the fruit at the top resulted in many of those trees dying.  That had a beneficial effect on the environment, allowing the development of open spaces with the low shrubs and grass favored by different species of antelope.  It had the side-effect of providing the humans with a continuing supply of interesting dry wood.  Growing in the wild, the trees developed fascinating patterns of light and dark, which showed up to advantage if the wood was polished.  The demand in Montagu for tropical fruits resulted in a couple of the people at Berg-en-Dal moving into the existing farms, which had grown partly wild, and renovating them, bringing the trees back to the standard that pertained before the collapse.  Jimmy and Nora took a ride on the third train to the area to assist them in this work, providing a considerable amount of useful advice to these novice farmers.  Nora was able to inspect several of the small mines in the area, taking samples of the ores she found for analysis back in Montagu.  As a result of this visit, and the reports on it published on the internet, a couple of the grown sons of farmers in the Montagu area decided to try their hand at farming up north, rather than obtaining land some distance from Montagu, and they moved up to the area and began clearing farms for themselves.  As another result, Roger and Rod and their families also spent a couple of days in the area, inspecting the mines and deciding how they could be operated on the scale necessary to supply the processing plants in Montagu with the minerals they contained.  The amount of interest that was being developed in the area of the ‘distant suburb’ of Berg-en-Dal was more than gratifying to all who had been involved in the recommendations regarding it!

The planning for the clearing of the terrorist threat from Maputo was completed, and a proposal to be voted on at the next community meeting was circulated.

*~*

The work on the books continued.  ‘The History of Montagu, Revised Edition’, was completed.  It went to Monty and Monica, who added the artwork and printed and bound the books, one copy for each family in the community.  It was a mammoth task.  The new book ran to nearly two thousand pages!  At the same time, Amanda was preparing the older books that she had been able to recover, from the internet downloading that had been completed in the days before the explosion, and from the few private collections, such as her own and those of Nora, Fiona and Sandra, as well as the few new books that had been written since, including three of her own and two of Nicole.  The workload to prepare these for publication in the format they had available was tremendous, and Amanda was locked away for several days, putting the final touches to the collection. 

At last, two days before the next community meeting, Amanda published the new ‘library of fiction’ on the internet.  It ran to six hundred and twelve books from over three hundred authors!

The day the library became available, Chad downloaded the list of titles, and ran through them quickly to find Nicole’s books listed there.  He wanted to show the children that their mother was, once again, a published author.  To his disappointment, although there were four authors listed under the name ‘Nicole’, he could not find his wife under Allenby or Smith.

“What happened to your books?” he asked, as Nicole walked up to the porch from her swim in the lake.  She dried herself with a towel as she looked over his shoulder at the list.

“There I am!  Amanda found my other books!”  Her excitement and delight was clear.  Amanda had not told her that those books, that she had believed to have been lost, were still available!  She leaned forward to point to her name, her cool body touching his back, her long hair falling down his chest.  Chad followed her finger.  Under the list name “Nicole Stuart” were twenty six books!  He turned to look at her.

“I used my father’s middle name to write under,” she explained, seeing his confusion.  “It separated my career as a management consultant from my writing.”

Suddenly, the whole picture fell into place for Chad.  Helen had mentioned to him the similarity of the character in ‘Run!’ to Nicole, and Nora had lent Chad her copy of ‘The Writer’, a book that Chad had thoroughly enjoyed, while, at the same time, identifying the same similarity of Nicole to two of the characters in the book.  Knowing the real person behind the writing gave him an understanding of the personalities that had been described in those books, and also explained the style of writing that he had so enjoyed in Nicole’s new book!

The library was a roaring success.  Although many of the books had been available on the community internet, searchers had needed to look for them.  Now they were presented in a simple grouping, available in a single place.  The catalog of books was categorized in Ann’s usual proficient manner and had a brief description of each, making selection of a book a very simple process.  Once again, Nicole’s books were in demand, and her writing became almost a cult in Montagu, even though most of the community members did not know who the real person behind the writing was.  Amanda’s books were also in demand, along with six other authors whose works were recommended by one reader to another.  The lack of television or entertainment radio meant that reading had regained a high stature in the field of entertainment, and the readership of the recommended books soared more quickly than would have been the case prior to the explosion in a population several orders of magnitude larger!

The community meeting added to the interest in the library.  Amanda made a presentation to the meeting, telling them about the library and how it could be used.  She did not mention any particular books, but informed the community members that some of the authors represented in the library were members of the community.  She invited would-be writers to submit their manuscripts to her for consideration and advice.  One of the results of that presentation was the establishment of a writers group, to assist writers in perfecting their art.  That, in turn, created an explosion of interest in other subjects, as the aspirant writers started to research the subjects they were writing about.

Another outcome of the community meeting was the unanimous approval granted to the proposed ‘cleaning up expedition to Maputo’, and the final steps for that were set in motion.

Chapter 26

The armored train set out two days later, and the Reef Explorer sailed a day after that, with two hundred passengers on board.  The ship arrived at Bazaruto Island three days later, after a leisurely cruise up the coast.  A team of workmen set to work to clean up the accommodations on the island, and the passengers streamed ashore in the lifeboats to soak up the sun and swim in the sea.  It was planned that this trip would use the ship as accommodation for the first two days, with the hope that future excursions would use the accommodation on land, freeing the ship to undertake exploration further up the coast.  The clearing and cleaning work went quickly, and the passengers were able to move ashore on the second day. The plan went into action, with a series of messages developing between Maputo and Montagu.  A day passed, then, as arranged, a response was transmitted from Montagu, promising to send a load of food in a truck.  Another two days passed, with an increasing volume of radio messages passing back and forth between Maputo and Montagu, many of them in Portuguese, to ensure that the terrorists were able to understand them, each one giving more information to pinpoint the place where the refugees were supposedly hiding out then a message came in from the train, stating that the truck would arrive at the hotel in two days.  The repeated assurances by Vicente that the area was safe was met with a pleased response from the train, which let slip the information that the truck had only two drivers and no guards aboard.

Three days after the arrival on the island, the ship sailed back to Maputo, anchoring off the town in the bay in the middle of the night, and sending six boatloads of Scout Group men, together with Vicente and his wife and Chad and Nicole, ashore to carry out the plan.  While the ship returned to the island to wait for developments, the men moved to the hotel where Vicente’s group had lived, and deployed their sentries and equipment, according to the plan, and a number of them peeled off to the planned watch and ambush positions.  Vicente and his wife, placed with a couple of bodyguards, in a building a short distance from the ambush point, began transmitting his plea for help.

It required a wait of only another couple of hours for the sentries on the roofs of tall buildings on the outskirts of Maputo to report that two groups of armed men were coming, each seemingly independent.  One group was approaching from the north, along the coastal route, and the other from the south-west.  The routes of approach were scanned, and ambushes were set up, one at the hotel to trap the group from the north that would arrive within hours, and the second at the outskirts of the city, to catch the smaller group coming in from the south-west.

The first group came in closer.

“There are eight men, all armed with AK-47 assault rifles and, it seems, a couple of hand grenades each, approaching down the main road.  They all seem to be pretty confident, almost causal.  It looks like they haven’t had any serious opposition in the last few years!  The leader is carrying a radio on his belt.”  The report came in from one of the sentries placed on the second floor of a building that gave him a good field of view down the main road as well as over the ambush point. 

The Scout Group waited until the men were well within the trap, then confirmed with the other group that their targets were also secured.  It required another few minutes of patience to allow the second group firmly into the trap, minutes during which the first group were looking for places to hide as they waited for the truck.  Their movements were slow and careful now, as they took care not to be observed from the hotel where they believed Vicente to be holed up.  Eventually, two of the men approached the hotel, sidling along the buildings to avoid being seen from the upper floor window where the Scout Group had rigged a remote-controlled device to move the curtain a little, to emulate a watcher.  They burst into the room, and that was the signal for both groups to open fire.  The rattle of the bolts from the sound-suppressed rifles of the Scot Group members was the only sound, apart from the brief screams and grunts as the terrorists went down under the deadly fire.

The firing continued only for seconds.  The terrorists were taken completely by surprise, and were brought down without resistance.

Chad and Nicole joined the Scout Group members who were checking the bodies of the men who had been killed.  The inspection revealed a disturbing development.  Where the previous terrorists had been emaciated, these men were well-fed.  That was disturbing news! 

“There’s good news from the other group.  We got all of them, without any damage to us.  They were hungry and not at all well-organized.  Our people are coming to join us.  They should be here in half an hour.  But this lot here makes me worry!  I think that these men have been able to secure a supply of food, and are now out looking for other things as well.  They’re no longer on the verge of starvation!  We may have left this action too late!”  Chad was very uncomfortable with the thought.

“This one’s still alive, Chad!”  The call came from the edge of the group.  Chad moved over quickly and looked at the man.  He was bleeding, but not heavily, and he was not obviously seriously injured.  While that would give them the opportunity to question him, it also posed the problem of having to keep him prisoner!

“Can you understand English?”  The man looked blankly at Chad, an arrogant sneer on his face. 

Nicole moved up to him and spoke to him in Portuguese.

“I apologize!” she said.  Startled, the man looked at her.  Her appearance, refined, beautiful and delicate, was so far from what he expected in a battle zone that it shook his composure, and her words added to that.  “My companions wish to kill you.  They have seen what you people have done to others, and they want to torture you for a few days, to make you suffer for what you have done.  First, they will castrate you, and feed your testicles to you, to silence your screams, then allow you to bleed out.  I hope for your sake that it will be quick, because I have seen them do that to others, and it took those men a long time to die.”  She pointed to a group of men who were feeding ropes from an upstairs window.  “Those ropes will be used to hold you by your arms, with your feet off the ground.  I know that is very painful.  Your arms will pull out of their sockets.  Every muscle in your body will be stretched, and many will tear, slowly and painfully.  But you will not be able to scream.  If you do not bleed to death, they will sharpen a stake and plant it in the ground, then sit you on it.  Every move you make will force it deeper into your body.  I have not seen any man live for more than three days!  Each of them wished they had died long before then!”

The man’s eyes were bulging in fear.  The arrogance he had displayed was gone.  Nicole’s calm description of the fate he was to suffer had made it more real than any violence could have achieved, and the contrast between her fine features and gentle looks and the actions she was describing made those descriptions even more real to him.  Nicole waited a few minutes, letting her words work on the man’s mind.

“There is only one way that I can stop these men doing that to you.  You must tell them everything they wish to know.  If you lie to them, and they find out, your suffering will be much worse than I have described, much more painful than you can imagine.  You have seen men and women die.  It will take you three days of the worst agony to die!”

“I will tell you!” the man screamed the words.

“Where are your companions?”

“They are waiting on the main road to Maputo!  About five kilometers from the edge of the city!  They wait in ambush for the truck!”

“How many men are there?”

“Six!”  The man waited for the next question, his eyes wide with terror.  Nicole waited, saying nothing, but looking fixedly into the man’s eyes.  He had never seen such eyes!  They were a strong blue, a very unusual color in his experience, and unblinking.  Nicole had used this tactic many times in the past, when she suspected that the employees of clients were not telling her the truth, and she knew it worked well.  “There are another fifteen men, in the camp at the airport!  There are no more!  I swear it!”  Nicole believed him.  She turned to Chad and spoke in French, a language that she thought the man would not understand.  There was a chance that he knew enough English to follow a conversation in that language!  She knew that in the past, many of the Mozambicans had learned enough English from the South African tourists and investors who had come to Maputo.

“He says that there are six men waiting in ambush for the truck, about five kilometers from the edge of the city, and another fifteen in their camp at the airport.  We should warn the train.  We need to set up a trap of our own!”

Chad raised his radio and passed the information to Alwyn, on the train.  They spoke German, so they could not be understood by any listener.

Nicole turned back to the man on the ground.

“My friend says that he will test your information.  I do not believe you, but my companion says that we must give you one last chance to tell us everything, before I get four of these men to stretch you out on the ground so that I can do my work.  I hope you have lied, because then I and all the other women you have tortured and raped will be able to see you suffer.  Tell me where exactly the ambush is located.”  The man started talking, and Nicole took a map of Maputo from one of the Scout Group and held it before the man.  He stabbed a finger at a road intersection that appeared to offer a good ambush point, although it seemed not to offer good defensive capabilities, as it would be easy to approach from behind or either side.

“There was another group that came in from the west.  Are they part of your group?”

The man realized that the presence of the other group would be construed as a lie by him, and that would have severe consequences!  The realization sent him into a new panic!

“No!  I think that they are another group that has been trying to steal our territory!  They are very small.”

“How many men are there in that group?”

“Four, maybe five.  They are very weak!  We have killed most of them!”

Nicole turned again to Chad, who was conferring with Petrus on a plan to attack the men in ambush.

“He says that the other group is independent.  There are four or perhaps five.  There has been fighting between the groups.  Perhaps we can use that to bring the airport group into our territory, away from their prepared positions.”

Chad considered the thought, then turned to discuss it with Petrus and Nicole.  Minutes passed as they talked, and the injured man on the ground looked with fear from one of his captors to the other, trying to understand where the conversation was leading.  At Nicole’s suggestion, Chad or Petrus would glance at the man from time to time, then say something to the others, sometimes with a brief laugh.  The man’s fear grew.  He knew that he was going to die a slow and painful death.  He had tortured many people, and enjoyed their suffering, never thinking that it would be visited on him!  Eventually, Nicole turned to him again.

“You have one chance to live!”  Her voice was menacing, no longer flat and monotone.  This frightened the man even more!  “You will make a radio call, telling your leaders that you have the other group trapped inside the buildings here, but that they have injured half of your men.  You must convince him to bring all of the remaining men to assist you here.  You will say that the leader of your group instructed you to pass on the message.  He has been shot and injured too severely to do it himself.  Do you understand?” 

The man shook his head in agreement.  He would do whatever he was told!  He might even have a chance to free himself, to pass on a coded message to the commander!  Nicole could see the thought passing through the man’s mind.  He was so transparent!  She turned to Petrus and took the long sharp knife from the sheath on his belt.  She ran her thumb across the blade, testing its sharpness as she looked at the man’s crotch.  “I will be listening to you!”

The suggestion was enough for the man.  He abandoned any thought of independent action.  He was terrified of this witch woman with her strange eyes!

Petrus brought the radio from the body of the leader of the group, and handed it to the man on the ground.  He took it, and Nicole repeated the instructions she had given him, fingering the long blade.

He pushed the transmit button and spoke.  His words were convincing.  He ended the transmission with a final injunction.

“You must come quickly!  We cannot hold them for long!”  He ended the transmission and handed the radio back to Petrus.  Nicole stared at him, her eyes working on him.

“I have told them what you said I must!  They are coming!”  The man almost shouted the words.

“I hope you are lying!”  Nicole’s voice was flat and unemotional again.  The man felt an icy chill run down his spine.  He hoped that his companions would do as he had instructed!

The final preparations for the fight were made.  The bodies of the dead terrorists were removed into the buildings, a couple of them being propped up in strategic positions to make them look alive.  The injured man was taken to the end of the street, and instructed to wave his companions into the trap, with a small radio-controlled bomb tied between his legs.  He got the message!  The Scout Group that had taken the smaller group of terrorists out arrived and moved into the positions that had been planned for them, and Nicole got on the radio again.

“We have been forced by terrorists into a building!  They are fighting in the streets!  You must come quickly!”  Nicole’s voice was loaded with terror.

The prepared reply came from the train.

“We have been delayed by a damaged bridge.  We can get there only in a day!  Can you hold on that long?”  The conversation had been in Portuguese, and Nicole stopped transmitting, as though she had been interrupted.

There was silence for another hour, then men started moving down the empty streets towards them.  Their moves spoke of long practice.  Michael and Conrad had been waiting in concealed positions, one at each end of the killing zone. 

Michael took out the first of the men moving cautiously into the trap, making sure that he was out of sight of those following.  He was followed by another two men, and Michael took them down silently with arrows through the throat.  The remaining body of three men approached silently down the road.  Conrad gave a click signal on his radio to warn the ambushers that the end of the group was passing him.  He waited half a minute, then stepped out of concealment behind the last of the men and raised his bow, firing the first arrow and reloading, then sending the second arrow on its way before the first had struck.  Another two men fell to the deadly arrows.  The third man, the only one remaining of the group that had planned to ambush the truck, heard the bodies falling, and looked around wildly, searching for a target to shoot at.  He saw one of the two arrows flashing towards him, then it struck him in the chest, penetrating his heart, and he died without a sound.  The Scout Group men cleared the bodies from sight, retrieving the arrows, and they waited.  Nicole walked over to the injured man and handed him the radio.

“Tell your Commander that the other group is in position, that you are waiting for the rest of the men before you attack.  Nothing else!”

The man did exactly as she demanded.  He had lost the capability of independent thought!

The main group of terrorists came in fifteen minutes later.  The long spell of freedom from opposition had made them lazy and self-assured.  The Commander, a fat man with a leering face, came in, surrounded by six of his men, obviously a personal bodyguard.  The remaining nine were strung out along the street, walking casually, assured that there would be no threat until they came in sight of the hotel around the corner.  Michael and Conrad waited until all of the men were in the killing zone, then let fly with their arrows.  Four of the men died before the rest of them knew that there was a threat!  The rest of the Scout Group opened fire, each one targeting one of the enemy in a favorable position.  The rifle fire was devastating!  All but two of the terrorists died immediately.  The two who survived saw the injured man at the end of the street.  They put two and two together, and both shot at the man who they knew had betrayed them.  The man took three shots in the chest, and then the two survivors died under a withering hail of fire from the Scout Group men.

They waited for several minutes, the sentries alert for any movement in the surrounding street.  When they were sure that there was no longer a threat, they came out into the open, looking at the bodies strewn around the street.  Nicole felt ill at the role she had played in this.  Conrad saw her expression and came up to her, and took her elbow.

“These men have killed and tortured many innocent people, Nicole.  They have forfeited the right to be treated as humans.  What they have got is better than they any one of their victims.  You do not need to feel any guilt at their fate!”

Nicole looked at the young man, a person she had come to know and respect for the many qualities he had.  She had found him to be compassionate and kind, always thoughtful and considerate.  The man she knew was far from the man who could kill these terrorist in cold blood.  Now she understood how he could separate his real persona from the killing machine she had seen.  He sincerely believed what he had just now said to her!  Nicole had to agree with him.  The words she had spoken to the man had been a distillation of many books, and she had seen how well they worked.  Spoken to her, she would have found them stupid, even laughable, but the man she had threatened had been able to identify with the threats, to transpose his personal experience to the threats uttered by her to him!  It was those experiences that had condemned him and all of his companions!

“Let’s clear up here, and get back to the ship.”  Chad was disgusted by what had transpired, but it had to be done, and the result was what they had wanted to achieve.  Maputo was free!  Now, he wanted to be away from here, from the stink of these people.

*~*

They walked back to the lifeboats that were waiting a little way out from the ferry terminal to take them back to Reef Explorer.  Their welcome by the crew was overwhelming!  The ship waited until the train arrived, and fresh crew members took over the train, to load a full cargo of aluminum ingots and take the train back to Montagu.  The old train crew were entitled to a vacation in the sun!  Once the new crew had departed, the ship went out to sea for a leisurely cruise to Bazaruto Island.  Part of the plan was to spend three days on the island, lazing about.

Nicole was more than ready for that.  She, Chad and the children found themselves an isolated beach, far from the crowd, and spent a couple of hours swimming and diving, looking at the reef fish and the crabs on the beach, wandering along the shore and eating coconuts and mangos.  They went back to the ship for dinner, feeling that they had been renewed.  The next two days were lazy, restful days, and they were sorry to set off once more for Montagu. 

Chapter 27

On their return to Montagu, they all set to work once more.  There was planning to be done to rid East London of the criminal gang.  The experience of Maputo gave them good guidance for that, added to the knowledge of the women who had been rescued there.  She was keen to return, to assist in the eradication of the menace.  Roger had drawn up a proposal for the use of Bazaruto as a permanent vacation place, with a voyage there every two weeks, calling in at Maputo to deliver and receive cargo.  That would take some of the load off the train system, which was already approaching full capacity for the Berg-en-Dal leg, and the new plan would allow them to move the cargo into a warehouse in Maputo, to await collection by the ship.  The Berg-en-Dal group was already planning to extend their area over the old border into Mozambique, to take advantage of some fertile land there.

“The borders don’t have any meaning now,” explained Sean at the community meeting.  “We can adjust our activities to take account of the meaningful factors, such as fertility of the land, river barriers to movement and so on.  Even the language barrier no longer exists!  There are no people living there!  The settlers who speak another language all understand the languages we speak, and we theirs.”

An expedition had been sent to the northern border of South Africa.  They returned with descriptions of the heavy layer of ice covering that part of the continent, and of finding no sign of life.

“I think we should leave that area for the distant future,” reported Jeff, who led the expedition.  “There does not seem to be anything there that we need right now, and we have more than enough land to meet our needs.”

“Even skiing is not an attraction,” added Meredith.  “We have the Drakensberg mountains a thousand kilometers closer, with areas covered throughout the year in snow.”

*~*

Chad was working with Amelia on the plans for the East London expedition.  He took the staffing list of the expedition home with him one evening in early autumn, and came from the lake to the porch to work on it.

Nicole came up to him, dripping water from her swim, and saw what he was doing.

“Have you put me on the list?” she asked.

“I’ve been a bit worried about the effect it has been having on you,” he replied, smiling at her.  “The first time, you shot an innocent terrorist, simply because he wanted to kill me.  The second time you threatened to castrate another innocent terrorist.  What will be next?”

In reply, Nicole pulled him from his chair and hugged him tight, her wet skin against his warmth.

“Why don’t you see what comes up?” she said.  She already knew.

Thank you

for reading this book.  One small request – please return to the site where you purchased this book (you can click on the link below) and post a review.  Both the author and other readers will be grateful for your trouble!  Nicole will be delighted to hear from you. 

Other books by this author are listed below, for your convenience.  Pleasant reading!

The Author and her Work

About the Author

Nicole Stuart graduated with degrees in Commerce and Law, and, after gaining experience in banking, industry and commerce, started work with an international company as a Management Consultant.  She rose rapidly through the ranks, and was seconded to operations of the company in Australia, Britain, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America for lengthy periods.  This gave her the opportunity to experience where and how others live and work as well as an insight into a wide array of businesses.  It also helped to lift the veil that obscures our views of other people, and revealed to her the ‘blinkers’ that so many people have, limiting their ability to see things the way they really are.

She has a voracious interest in how things work, as well as in writing, with a considerable fiction output.  She takes pride in basing her writings on a foundation of real life, finding existing conditions that pose real threats, and extrapolating them to produce exciting and entertaining reading, usually with the result that the reader asks “How would I have handled that?”

Her email address is:  NicoleAStuart@gmail.com, and her books can be viewed by clicking here.

Novels by Nicole Stuart

Integra Series

Integra.  Ken Robson, an environmental scientist, sailing alone across the Atlantic, sails into an unexpected storm.  A day into the storm, he receives a faint VHF emergency call from a yacht sinking some distance away.  He hastens to the rescue, arriving in time to rescue Erika, the beautiful young wife of the owner of Integra Corporation, a very large privately-owned corporation in Germany, but her husband is lost with their sinking yacht in the storm.  He returns with Erika to Germany, where they are both plunged into a fight to save the company from the results of the criminal actions of some Manager.

The book describes in horrifying detail the problems of rescue in heavy weather at sea in a small boat with real knowledge, and with a number of aspects of business and places which the author knows and describes with insight and clarity. 

You can buy Integra by clicking here.

Integra is the forerunner of a popular series of books related to the Integra theme.  Others in the series include:

Run! Sandra Abbott, a young Chemical Engineer, is retained to evaluate a refinery in Germany.  There is a fatal car crash on the German Autobahn, and, when she recovers consciousness, she has lost her memory.  Helped by the friends and family of the man who rescued her from the car crash, she recovers slowly, finding random items of memory and piecing together scraps of information to rebuild her memory and her life.  While this is happening, she must fight off attempts on her life, without knowing the origin or the reason.  In the process of working her way through these, she is able to bring about a resolution to a case of international corruption on a large scale, one that threatens her life, even though she knew nothing of it. 

You can buy Run! by clicking here.

Ransom!  Marianne Elsner, a senior executive of the Integra Corporation travels to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to investigate the purchase of a cobalt and copper mine.  On the way to investigate another mine in Uganda, her charter flight crashes in the jungle.  She manages to escape from the wreck, and finds herself alone in the jungle with a severely wounded pilot.  Her plans to make her way to civilization are foiled when she is captured by ‘rebels’, who plan to hold her for ransom.  She escapes, and fights her way through the jungle, evading pursuit by her former captors, to where a rescuer can find her.  Her return to civilization does not end her battle against the men who hunted her through the jungle.  Savagery is not confined to the jungle!

You can buy Ransom! by clicking here.

Tsunami.  A huge slab of rock hangs precariously on the side of a volcano in the Canary Islands, threatening to slip into the sea and precipitate a tsunami which will destroy the East Coast of the United States.  Horrified by the enormous size of the problem and the potential consequences of a situation that could be realized at any time, and concerned by the lack of active interest in the threat it poses to the Western World, Jason Fairfield, a geologist who has been studying the rock for several years, plans to continue his investigations in an attempt to develop a method to predict the starting of the rockslide.  On a field trip to the island, Jason meets coincidentally with Jenny Dexter, a friend who is also an Officer in his Home Guard Unit.  A coincidence leads them to notice a strange box in the trunk of a car on the ferry to the island.  That starts them thinking, and the process is helped by further events.

Before long, they realize that a terrorist group linked to al Qaeda is planning to precipitate the rockslide and destroy the economies of the Western World.  They bring in the CIA in an attempt to avert the danger, but, before the Military can mount an effective operation, they are forced to act alone. 

This fast-paced story deals with a real threat to the Western World, presently existing, and describes a terrorist plot to make the threat reality!  If you live on or near the Atlantic coast, you need to read this book! 

You can buy Tsunami by clicking here.

Lost.  Sally Harper, the head of Management Consulting for the Integra Corporation, is on the way to Australia with Don Bennings to investigate a large hotel group, for investment in it by Integra.  Their aircraft runs into a cloud of volcanic dust over Indonesia, and they are forced to ditch hundreds of miles from land and far off their course, in the middle of a hurricane.  Overcoming enormous difficulties, they make their way to a deserted island, facing the prospect of spending their lives there.

The situation strains their adaptability, their ingenuity and their sense of optimism to the limits.  They work together to survive the numerous challenges they are forced to confront, and to make their way back to civilization.

This adventure makes enthralling reading, giving new insights into what drives people to achieve against all odds.  It is a tale of ordinary people forced to do extraordinary things. 

You can buy Lost by clicking here

Hydrocarbon.  Jim Orwell and Dianne Richards, both Chemists, see a glass fiber boat parked at the jetty in Lake Misty disintegrate before their eyes.  Their interest piqued, and suspecting that some chemical has been introduced into the lake’s water, they investigate and discover a bacterial infestation that has the potential to destroy the world economies.  The bacteria are proliferating quickly, spreading throughout the waters of the world and feeding on the hydrocarbons present in the water.  They realize that immediate action is required to defuse the threat before the bacteria overwhelm Humanity.  Their attempts to inform the Authorities bring them into conflict with a fanatical religious cult that is intent on bringing the world back to a ‘purer state’, destroying the development that they see as an affront to God’s plan for humanity.

Their search for help leads them to Integra.  Together they establish an organization to save the waters of the world, racing to beat the threat that is spreading rapidly around the world, invading the heartland of civilizations.  In order to achieve this, they are forced to overcome threats against their lives, and political inertia, to destroy the threat before it destroys them.  Their work forms the foundation for capabilities that will save millions, even those far removed from the threat!

You can buy Hydrocarbon by clicking here.

Population.  Jeff Tobin, a mathematician, becomes obsessed with the predictions of Thomas Malthus.  Over the course of years, he develops a means to intervene in what he sees as the unchecked growth in the population of poor people, people who have no means of dragging themselves out of the poverty trap.  Max Walton, a successful serial entrepreneur, is working with Ann Markgraaff to develop an affordable and palatable food for the poverty-stricken of the world, but they are waylaid by Joseph Mbonani, a ruthless man who exploits his position of power and influence with banks and Government to demand a majority shareholding in their company, threatening various actions by the Revenue authorities and the Police if they fail to comply, as well as a refusal by the banks to provide funding.  Reluctant to accede to this demand, they turn to Integra Corporation to assist them to realize their business plan.  Believing that they have a moral obligation to act on their knowledge, they turn their attention to the companies where Mbonani’s blackmail has succeeded, and find that he and Tobin, a man obsessed with the dangers of a run-away population growth, have joined in a conspiracy to commit genocide on a continental scale.  They set about a daring plan to bring about the collapse of Mbonani’s empire. 

You can buy Population by clicking here.

Meteor Impact.  Jeff Ambrose, an amateur astronomer, is scanning the night sky when he spots an anomaly.  He applies all his knowledge to find a reason for it, and discovers a large clump of very large asteroids.  Concerned, he reports his findings to the authorities, only to find resistance to the notion that such a discovery by an amateur could be of value.  He enlists the aid of a young astronomer, and they complete the calculations, to find that the Earth is destined to collide with multiple large objects, each bigger than the object that terminated the rule of the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. 

In the face of active opposition by powerful interest groups, they manage to escape to Europe, where they enlist the aid of Integra, a privately-owned corporation with the ability to gain the attention of the major world Governments.  Together they race against time to put together an organization with the capability to ward off the danger, and to develop a plan to counter the greatest threat that Humanity has ever faced. 

You can buy Meteor Impact by clicking here.

Recovery!  Although the majority of the meteors have been diverted, three huge lumps of rock moving at tens of thousands of miles per hour have impacted the Earth.  The destruction is immense, with ash and dust clouds covering practically all of the northern hemisphere and large parts of the south.  The entire west coast of the Americas has been devastated, the Pacific islands virtually wiped off the map, New Zealand wiped clean of most traces of humanity, the east coast of Australia destroyed, China’s industrial capacity decimated.  A team under the banner of Disaster Monitoring has been working for months to prepare the world for the damage and the massive recovery effort that must take place if civilization is not to enter the downward spiral of economic destruction.  This is the story of how thousands of dedicated human beings set about the largest recovery operation ever attempted!

You can buy Recovery! by clicking here.

Virus.  A deadly infection is sweeping the world, and there is no cure.  Even the terrorist group that deliberately spread the infective agent has misjudged the potential of the disease on themselves, and the disease is running rampant – the daily death rate is already over two thousand, and climbing each day!  A young virologist, Robert Svenson, has designed a radical new medication that can stop the disease, but he becomes the target of the terrorists as they scrabble to save themselves from the consequences of their actions, and to prevent the cure being disseminated.  He and his associates race to perfect the treatment as they fight off the terrorists at the same time. 

You can buy Virus by clicking here.

Kidnap.  A terrorist gang kidnaps the pregnant wife of a gifted engineer, to hold her as a guarantee that the man will deliver a fleet of explosive laden drones for them to launch against unsuspecting American cities.  The intervention of a young boy disturbs the kidnapping, and sets off a hunt to save the woman and capture the terrorists.  The action ranges across the United States, the Bahamas, Germany and Italy as each side makes its moves in the deadly game of ‘catch and kill’ until the final, spine-chilling resolution.

In this fast-paced action thriller, Nicole Stuart demonstrates her mastery of the written word, to bring the reader along, with real characters doing real things!  This is a worthy addition to the acclaimed Integra series of books.

In a review of Kidnap, Ward Orndoff wrote:  “I just finished reading Kidnap, and I wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I've read all your books available to date on Kindle at Amazon.com, and without exception have found them to be highly entertaining.  The premises are sound, the story lines are intriguing, and it's satisfying to see good people overcome challenges through hard work. [..]

It's an added bonus to see mention of areas I know (I live in Jupiter, Florida).

In short, another excellent story; I'm looking forward to your next book!”

You can buy Kidnap by clicking here.

Extinction Event Series

The initial books in this series describe the events that lead to the destruction of the world as we know it.  These are Extinction Event, Chain Reaction, Survival! and Escape.  Subsequent books take the stories of the people you have come to know further in a best-selling saga of the world

.

Extinction Event.  The time is now.

John Carter has sold his IT business, and is relaxing at Yellowstone to consider what he should do now.  Helen Lindstrom, a young scientist is studying the volcanic magma cauldron underlying Yellowstone to complete a Ph. D thesis.  She meets John, and he takes her findings to the next step, realizing that they, together with the rest of humanity, are facing an extinction event, an event that has the potential to destroy the entire human species.

Their attempt to warn the officials is fruitless in the face of political thinking.  John and Helen decide that their only alternative is to find a place where they can survive.  They do this in Montagu, an idyllic location in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, and they set about making the preparations that will enable them, and a select few others, to survive the worst catastrophe ever faced by humanity.

The threat is present and real.  The explosion of the volcano at Yellowstone could happen tomorrow.  The story of how Helen and John build a survival team and prepare to be tested is one that will make you think:  ‘How would you react if you knew that the end of the world will happen next month?’

You can buy Extinction Event by clicking here.

Chain Reaction.  Ron Carstens, the owner of several businesses in New York and a shareholder in a boat rental business in the Bahamas, arrives at his vacation hotel in Paradise Island, Bahamas, and meets Jane Smith, the former roommate of Helen Lindstrom.  Her room booking, won as a prize in a TV contest, has been bumped as a result of overbooking of the hotel.  As a struggling doctoral student, she cannot afford to rent another room.  On an impulse, he offers her a berth in a rental boat he will be using to cruise the islands and then deliver to a maintenance yard in Miami.  She accepts, and their week on the boat together leads to a strong attraction between them.  After their return to the US, a coincidence leads to a discussion with Antonio, a restaurant owner who has heard an exposition of Helen’s findings and expectations.  That leads to Jane investigating further, and obtaining a copy of Helen’s Ph. D dissertation, still under consideration by the University.  They decide to extend a planned test cruise of Ron’s new catamaran, and are sailing west from Hawaii when the eruption occurs, creating a huge rockslide, followed by a gigantic tsunami.  As a result of their knowledge of what to expect, they are able to survive the waves, and to rescue a small family whose boat was pitchpoled by the waves.  They sail on, seeking any surviving remnants of civilization.  It takes them three years of trial to join up with Helen and John Carter’s group.

You can buy Chain Reaction by clicking here.

Survival.  The huge volcano under Yellowstone National Park explodes destroying humanity in the northern hemisphere, and stranding six American and four German tourists in Kigali, Ruanda, with no prospect of reaching their homes.  They team up with a Gorilla Tour guide and his family in a hazardous and terrifying journey overland through some of the war zones of Africa, hoping to find the one place on earth where civilization has retained a foothold – Montagu, in the Western Cape, South Africa.

This is a story of adventure, danger, barbarity and brutality, and of the determination of a small group to retain the values that make them what they are, as the northern hemisphere collapses under the onslaught of a new Ice Age, and the southern countries slide into chaos and collapse.  It is a remarkable companion to Extinction Event, Nicole Stuart’s bestselling novel of the end of the world as we know it, a book that has drawn praise for its insights into what is possible in the most extreme circumstances imaginable.  This is not a disaster story – it is a tale of optimism and hope, of the triumph of the human spirit!

In a review of Survival, Mountain Man wrote: ‘The story of the escape from Kigali in Rwanda include a small group of total strangers from diverse backgrounds. Yet they band together and work as a team to survive. Each learn new skills and strengths along the way. I found a wonderful map of Africa on the internet and followed their travels, learning new things about Africa as I went. As an American, I am guilty of ignoring the African continent and their people which is well explained in this book. I now realize the African people are a product of their culture and the corrupt politicians of their own race. Ms. Stuart correctly illustrates how government works. Not a pretty sight!!! The rapid descent into total chaos is predictable and frightening. Yes, a big percentage of people do not understand that cooperation will enhance survival. Instead they rob and torture and end of dying of starvation and disease. I enjoyed the characters and the scenery. I highly recommend reading this book and the entire series.’

You can buy Survival by clicking here.

Escape.  The volcano under Yellowstone has exploded.  The world as we know it is in the process of collapse and a small community near Sydney, Australia has to face the reality that the new conditions bring.  The East Coast cities have been destroyed by a giant tsunami set off by the explosion, and they are alone, facing an extreme change in weather conditions, roaming bands of criminals, and starvation!  Their struggle to survive and to build a viable civilization at last leads them to join with Helen Lindstrom and John Carter’s group in Montagu, South Africa.

Escape runs parallel with Extinction Event, Chain Reaction and Survival, and prepares the ground for their successor, Renewal.  It is an exciting tale of a world recovery from an event that came close to bringing humanity to its knees!

In a review of Escape, Mountain Man wrote: ‘This is one of the [Extinction event] series and deals with the survival and eventual escape from Australia. After Yellowstone explodes, the world has disintegrated into pockets of survivors and bands of thugs. The survivors in Australia are led by the man who sold his farm to Helen and John. He was warned at the time but chose to resettle in Australia to be near his children and their families. He knows the theories Helen and John have about Montagu, South Africa being one of the few (perhaps only) places to survive. This is the story of the trip there of almost 1000 people. My only criticism is the ease of the whole adventure. Very thought provoking.’

You can buy Escape by clicking here.

Renewal!  Following on the best-selling ‘Extinction Event’ series, ‘Renewal!’ continues the stories of ‘Chain Reaction’, ‘Survival’ and ‘Escape’, to tell of how the survivors of the explosion of the volcano under Yellowstone National Park rebuild their society, to help the few remaining outposts of life around the world and to build the basis of a new civilization.  This is an ‘end of the world as we know it’ story with hope and belief in the human spirit in the face of the worst disaster to hit humanity!

‘Renewal!’ is based on fact.  The volcano exists.  The last time it exploded, it brought an almost complete collapse of animal life throughout the world.  It will explode again!  Will you have the knowledge needed to survive?

You can buy Renewal! by clicking here.

Alive! Series

The Alive! series tells of the near-miraculous escape of small groups of people when a natural disaster is compounded by scientific arrogance, and of their battle to bring back science and development in a world that threatens to revert to the Stone Age.

Alive!  Alan Rogers is escaping the scene of his failed marriage.  He travels to Cape Town to set up a Management Consultancy business.  He stops in at Montagu, where he meets Johan, the owner of a winery, who invites him to undertake some work as Consultant.  Alan meets Johan’s sister, a magnetic scientist, and she asks him to help her take a photograph inside one of the winery’s new steel tanks.  While they are inside the tank, they are locked in by Karin’s insanely jealous husband.  The event is fortuitous, as a huge magnetic storm sweeps the Earth and destroys all unprotected living organisms.  They emerge to a world dramatically changed, with all power gone, all animal and insect life apparently expunged.  They set about rescuing what they can, and building a new existence for themselves.  They are able to start restocking the Earth with animal, fish and insect life, as well as starting the nucleus of a new civilization. 

The scenario represents a real risk to the Earth, presently existing and able to materialize at any time, and the story raises many questions, not the least important being “What would you do if an unavoidable natural event were to destroy most of life on Earth?” 

You can buy Alive! by clicking here.

Particle Extinction.  Suzy is not your average party girl.  She is able to put down one over-amorous drunk, but she needs help with the second!  Jeff is there to provide that help.  Even as a Particle Physicist, he can do that passably well, but when the two drunks get their revenge by calling in their Police buddies, Suzy and Jeff are thrown in jail, and things look bad.  They become even worse when a wave of deadly radiation sweeps across the world, leaving only those few who are protected alive.  Like Suzy and Jeff!  They have to break out of their cells, and then find a way to keep alive, in a world without animate life.

Is this the end of the world?  Or only the end of the world as they know it?

In this exciting companion to the reader-acclaimed Alive! Nicole Stuart continues the saga of world destruction and reconstruction.

You can buy Particle Extinction by clicking here.

God’s Battalion.  The most powerful coronal mass ejection since the one that destroyed most of life on Earth millions of years ago, generated by a massive storm on the sun, has battered Earth, breaking through the defense of the magnetosphere and killing almost every form of animate life on the planet.  A few people have managed to survive, building small groups in scattered places to regroup and begin again the slow process of populating the Earth.  One such group, headed by a crazed religious fanatic, seeks to impose a new theocracy, threatening the three tiny fledgling science-based communities with a new Crusade.  They can only save their growing democracies by developing the science that we know today to a new height, to develop theories that promise to take Humanity to the stars.  In this exciting sequel to the bestselling Alive! and Particle Extinction, Nicole Stuart takes the story of Humanity to new heights.

You can buy God’s Battalion by clicking here.

Ad Astra – to the Stars.  The teams in Houston, Hawkinsville, Montagu, Geneva and Enderen have taken the next step – they have found intelligent existence elsewhere in the Universe!  However, the conflicts between the nations they find threaten to prevent their expansion to the stars, and may even present threats to their very existence!  Nicole Stuart explores the foundations of the Human Spirit, the factors that drive the dynamics of society, looking for the essential good that may be there, in this dynamic continuation of the recovery of mankind on Earth from the catastrophe that threatened to destroy life on the planet.

You can buy Ad Astra – to the Stars by clicking here.

Preparation Series

The Preparation Series tells of the preparation for Global Warming and its consequences, and the responses made by a group of thinking people to the changes in the world they live in.  Although they believe that they know what is coming, the suddenness and ferocity of the changes takes them by surprise, and the completeness of the event forces them to readjust everything they know!

Preparation.  The CO₂ concentration is growing, world temperatures are rising, the ice caps are melting.  Huge hurricanes and ice storms batter the northern continents.  And still the Governments of the world do nothing!

Justin, a scientist, convinces his wife that now is the time to make the preparations to save their lives.  They realize that preparation will be critical for their survival, if the worst were to happen in the near future.  They start planning, and are surprised to find that numerous others are as concerned, and also willing to turn that concern into action.  They find a place that, they think, has at least a chance of surviving the catastrophe that is heading their way, then they discover that the weather and the rising seas are not the only threats!

Nicole Stuart has evaluated the threat and its implications, and her tale of how ordinary people manage to survive, and to retain what makes them human, makes enthralling reading!

You can buy Preparation by clicking here.

Meltdown.  Global warming is progressing inexorably, climate change is making itself felt in the most dramatic way, with violent storms, super-hurricanes and freezing weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere.  One small family becomes conscious of this, and looks into the future.  They don’t like what they see coming, and take steps to save themselves.  They are hampered in this, first by a family member who has been convinced that global warming is a scam, and then by an aircraft crash that strands two of them in the wilds.  They are forced to exercise every scrap of willpower they can muster to come out on top in the greatest cataclysm to befall Humanity.

The story takes the reader from Miami, through Orlando to Lubumbashi, the wilds of Zambia and Botswana, and to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

You can buy Meltdown by clicking here.

Flood Series

The Flood Series explores the destruction of the world economy by a terrorist act that goes badly wrong, and how the survivors, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, work to recover the civilization they knew, in a world with a population only a tiny fraction of what it had been.

Flood.  When the terrorists set off the rockslide on La Palma Island in the Canary Islands, they created a tsunami of gigantic proportions.  The wave races across the Atlantic, giving the authorities in the United States six hours to evacuate everyone within a hundred miles of the coast.  The other countries on the Atlantic coast suffer the same devastation, but now an additional factor came into play – the smashing of five hundred trillion tons of rock into the fragile floor of the Atlantic at a thousand kilometers per hour sent a shockwave through the molten magma that sets off volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis around the world.  The terrorist plot has consequences far beyond those envisaged by its planners! 

The remnants of the United States Military takes revenge, but the eradication of all those who supported terrorism is just the first step in the survival of the civilized nations of the northern hemisphere.  Those few who survive must integrate into other societies that are themselves disintegrating under the stresses of the world economic meltdown.

In this enthralling tale of a world catastrophe, Nicole Stuart describes the large events that flow from a comparatively small beginning, and how some people grasp the opportunity to rebuild the lives of their people.

You can buy Flood by clicking here.

Other Books

Nicole Stuart demonstrates her versatility in a range of books covering a wide variety of subjects, themes and milieus.

Storm.  Outback Tours is a business operated by Dan Brown to give foreign tourists an insight into the splendor of the Australian Outback.  On this tour, the second of its type, Dan leads a group of five women.  The tour is cut short when a hurricane strikes, trapping them in an idyllic valley where a lightning strike sets of a collapse of a cliff face, damming the river.  When the storm abates, they evaluate their situation, and decide that there is little chance of them escaping from the valley in their LandRover unless the water subsides.  The situation becomes critical when one of the women is bitten by a venomous spider, and it becomes necessary for some of them to walk across the vast devastated Outback for help.  The walk is a lot harder and more dangerous than they expected, and they are driven to their limits in their quest to find help for Andrea!

You can buy Storm by clicking here.

Justis.  John Brown, the owner of a small spectacle wholesale business, is facing a large claim for damages by an exclusive distributor of his goods who has set a trap for him.  He is confident that truth will prevail in Court, and is staggered when the Judge rules against him, granting a large award of damages to the distributor.  He discusses this with Ken Rossouw, his partner in the business, and they set about protecting the assets of the business from predation by the distributor until they can launch an appeal against the judgment.  Ken makes a business proposal to John, to provide a service ‘to give justice to people outside the Court system”.  John is interested, after his experience of the failings of the formal legal system, and he agrees to join Ken in the business.  Ultimately, John is forced to realize that their actions are missing the real objective of correcting an ineffective and often corrupt system, and they have to make arrangements to withdraw. 

You can buy Justis by clicking here.

Hijack.  Penelope Gartner arrives in Johannesburg with Tom Perkins, an aspirant musician, to collect a LandRover owned by friends, to drive it to Maputo Airport to collect Jensen and Elizabeth, and then to Silver Shoal, a diving and fishing camp in central Mozambique.  Penelope finds that Tom is a drunk and a boor, and, worse, wants to sleep with her and doesn’t understand the word “no!”  The vacation turns into something of a nightmare for Penelope as she avoids Tom’s advances and tolerates his bad manners.  After a few days at the camp, Penelope overhears a conversation in a foreign dialect between two men visitors to the camp office.  Concerned at her understanding of the conversation, she alerts Ben, one of the owners of the camp to an impending hijacking of a ship offshore, but the hijackers are several steps ahead.  The result is a series of murders, a gunfight at night in the African bush and a boat battle at sea. 

You can buy Hijack by clicking here.

Terrorist.  Tom Brentwood, a London Attorney, has retired after the sudden death of his wife.  He is diving from his catamaran off the beach at Cap Gris Nez when he notices that the keel of another yacht, recently arrived, has an unusual bulbous configuration.  He goes in to Villefranche, and, that evening, at a local restaurant he meets the most beautiful woman he has seen.  He invites her to lunch on his yacht, and Alice accepts.  They are joined on the yacht by Brent Atwood, the man who purchased Tom’s law practice.  That evening in the same restaurant, Tom overhears some words in an Afrikaans dialect spoken by the men that Tom believes arrived on the yacht.  He ties the words together with the shape of the keel, and tells the others of his suspicions.  The men act quickly and violently, kidnapping Alice and striking viciously at Tom and Brent.  Tom escapes the trap they set, and manages to rescue Alice.  The men evade the search for them, until Tom and Alice meet up with the yacht again in Italy, as the men pursue their plan to bring death and destruction to elements of the United States and Europe.  

You can buy Terrorist by clicking here.

Thoughts.  Peter Michaels, the owner of a business manufacturing high-technology items for the Military, invites three friends to a New Year’s Eve lunch.  They discuss one of his newest products, a helmet designed to shield the wearer from microwave and similar radiation.  Ariadne notices that the helmet seems to sharpen the way she thinks.  The others try it, and agree.  They decide to notify the Police Special Branch the next day, believing that the helmet screens out a specific radiation that appears to be part of a plot to suppress normal thinking.  Joseph does this, but is shortly thereafter arrested on a charge of treason.  He is released the following day, only to die shortly after in an explosion of his car.  His friends realize that he was killed to suppress the knowledge that he had.  The threat is clear.  They escape to a remote location near Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.  Working under the effect of the mind-numbing radiation and with the threat of death if they make any mistake, not knowing who can be trusted, they try to develop a plan to save civilization from the radiation, which is increasing in intensity and threatening to destroy the national defenses of the major nations as well as their economies. 

You can buy Thoughts by clicking here.

Revenge!  A gifted scientist becomes the victim of the Muslim terrorism sweeping the world – first the 9/11 attacks and then the Madrid train bombing.  He decides that the Muslim threat, as he sees it, is not being dealt with adequately by the Government, and he steps in, using his advanced knowledge of biological weapons to exact revenge on the people who harbor the terrorists that have cost him so dearly.  Only when he comes to know an ordinary Muslim does he realize that not all adherents of that religion should be made to pay for his loss. 

You can buy Revenge! by clicking here. 

Intrepid.  A yacht trip across the Atlantic is a big undertaking.  Jon, a single-handed yachtsman, plans to sail from the Bahamas to the Mediterranean alone, but friends persuade him to invite Celine to keep him company for the five weeks of the trip.  She suggests that her half-brother, Barry, an accomplished sailor, comes too.  The challenges of sailing in calms, violent squalls and storms are compounded, when Jon and Celine find that Barry is not what he seems!  They have to confront a murder plan before they can reach the peace of the beautiful Azores. 

You can buy Intrepid by clicking here.

The Writer.  Roger wants to write, more than anything in his life, but his characters run out of steam, his plots become boring.  Frustrated, he seeks new inspiration eight thousand miles away, in Mossel Bay, and finds the perfect character in a photograph he takes on his first day there.  The character develops as he writes about writing the story, until the beautiful woman he has chosen to carry the story becomes real to him, in his story and in the story he writes about the story.  Then the story is complete.  Where to now?

In a review of ‘The Writer’, James Priest of Minneapolis wrote:  ‘A beautifully crafted book about a book. The only thing which could possibly improve it would be another hundred or so pages. However as the main character, Roger, stated, "His story was finished. No, he thought. Not Finished. Complete." This is a complete work which is a joy to read.

If you want to have even more fun with the book, Google Maps will take you to Mossel Bay where you can see and visit all the places the author describes. You can literally spend hours strolling along the streets and beaches. The street level coverage of the entire town is fantastic. If your view of South Africa was formed during the era of Apartheid and the Soweto Uprising you may come away with a totally different opinion.

I can think of no greater compliment to pay a writer than to say, "You have changed my view of the world." ‘

You can buy The Writer by clicking here.

Graphene:  A scientific genius escapes from Soviet Russia with his wife.  They have nothing, but the help of a stranger starts him on his way to accumulating a fortune, with a steady flow of inventions, and an upright approach to doing business.  He finds out about graphene, a miracle material that has almost unimaginable qualities, but can only be extracted in minute quantities.  Leonid sees the potential of the product for the entire world and, together with Marina, his daughter, he develops a means to produce the material cheaply enough to compete with almost every existing product that it can replace.  He fails to reckon with big business, and the predators who are so fixated on their own profit that they will stop at nothing to remove the threat that he and graphene present to the realization of their ambitions.

In this fast-paced story of genius versus business, Nicole Stuart explores the problems and challenges encountered by many new products that affect the status quo, including blackmail, deceit and murder!

You can buy Graphene by clicking here.

Energy:  An inventor, not realizing the power and the ruthlessness of the competition he faces, dares to take on the monopoly of the oil giants, and pays for his innocent belief in the rule of law and his trust in people, with his life, leaving behind a devastated widow with a tiny daughter.  She picks herself up and follows the clues he left behind, hoping to recreate the invention that led to his death.  Driven by her husband’s dream, she follows his path to gain revenge on the system that has held the world economy to ransom for decades.

In this thrilling story of international intrigue and power plays, Nicole Stuart lays bare the might of the money gained by ruthless men, who use their wealth to buy the monopoly of the world’s energy supplies.

You can buy Energy by clicking here.

Recompense:  A businessman is asked by the representative of a senior politician for a bribe to ensure the awarding of a contract.  He refuses to pay, and his angry threat to inform the authorities results in him being killed.  His wife and daughter are left to pick up the pieces.  One of those pieces points to the probability that the accident that killed him was murder.  They develop a plan to get revenge on those responsible, but their planning soon reveals that the only meaningful revenge will bring down a Government!

In this tale of murder and intrigue, Nicole Stuart brings to life the characters who play their games behind the screens of power and wealth.  It is a story of the power of the ordinary person, forced by events beyond endurance, to bring justice to a part of the world.

You can buy Recompense by clicking here.

Retrenched:  Reg hates his life.  He has a dead-end job, a boss who puts him down all the time, and a wife who wants more money, status and security, and who despises him for his apparent failure.  The whole edifice appears to be about to crumble when he is retrenched, too old to find another job.

He takes advantage of the opportunity to turn his life around, and heads off on a tour of the Mediterranean.  One of his retrenched co-workers joins him, and, together, they discover that their ex-boss is involved in a sinister conspiracy to create havoc in the United States.  The target of their investigation discovers that his ex-employees have gathered information that could bring his work of two years down, only weeks before the plan is set to go live, and he sets out to remove the threat.

In this exciting novel of conspiracy and murder, Nicole Stuart roams the bright sunlight of the Mediterranean and the dark recesses of evil.

You can buy Retrenched by clicking here. 

Island:  Martin works eighteen hours per day to win a two-week stay in a tropical island resort.  His prize turns sour.  The resort is half-built and almost empty, and then the four guests find themselves in the middle of an invasion!

The guests have to find a way to safety!  Their escape by boat takes them into the middle of a naval battle for control of the channel that will determine the outcome of the war, and only their characters will determine whether they will survive.

In this story of suspense, conflict and intrigue, Nicole Stuart explores the way that ordinary people become heroes.

You can buy Island by clicking here.

The Dancer:  A young girl aspires to dance.  Her skill is completed when she makes contact with a boy, who is prevented from dancing by his size.  Their lives are drawn inexorably together by their shared love of ballet, until there is a union of their spirits, to fulfill each of them.

Nicole Stuart tells a sensitive story of the coming together of two disparate people who share a love for ballet.

You can buy The Dancer by clicking here.