(aka Bike) Part 819 by Angharad |
 |
We stayed for another couple of days before Sir George was able to go back to work. I spent the time helping the girls with schoolwork I got from emails from Sister Maria. We went for a walk most afternoons if it wasn’t raining, which it seemed to do with some regularity.
Then on the Friday evening, Sir George came home and at dinner announced that he considered the Russian situation was under control.
“What exactly do you mean, under control?” I asked.
“We’ve got the Russian government to sort it and most if not all of their agents have been recalled. So, I consider it more or less over.”
“That would imply that they were behind it all from the start.”
“Indeed, they were, Cathy. You have to remember that their country is less well regulated than ours and the division between big business and organised crime is very blurred, as is the boundary between them and government.”
“I always thought that governments in this country were only polite bandits, with the revelations of the enslavement of children in Australia–I think our government is organised crime, where the Godfather gets elected by an unknowing population, most of whom have IQs in single figures. When you get into illegal wars...”
“Cathy, I think that’s enough.” Henry gave me a stern look from the far side of the table.
“But...” he grimaced at me and I shut up.
“Nothing is as it appears, Cathy, but that’s all I can say–except most of the people who get into government are decent types, trying to do their best for the country.”
“I’m sure Cathy appreciates that, George, don’t you, my dear?” Henry, ever the diplomat was closing me down. Given that George is employed as a senior civil servant by the government I was slating, he was probably correct and I was being naíve and perhaps a trifle rude as well. It’s poor manners to embarrass one’s host, just as it would be to do so to a guest. Could I claim it was my Sagittarian personality asserting itself? I doubt it. I stayed very quiet for the rest of the meal, and lost some of my appetite–something which was noticed by Hilary.
After dinner, she said she wanted to show something to me. She led me off to a small, but lovely room, it had several vases of flowers and others in pots, but the eye was drawn to an elegant writing desk, which I suspected was French and from the Bourbon period. She invited me to sit down and brought out a photo album, calling me to come closer to see the photos.
“A lot of what you were saying is quite true, Cathy, but we have to live with the double standards of government.” She showed me a number of photos of George in army uniform. “He was an intelligence officer in the Falklands and also in various other parts of the world. He still isn’t able to tell me about much of what he saw and did, some of it I know he’s ashamed of, innocents were harmed and that made him angry or sick. Sometimes he said he knew why things were done, sometimes he couldn’t understand why, but he stopped asking because no one would tell him, and he felt he could do more good by trying to change things from inside the system rather than a lone voice in the wilderness, which could be easily silenced–if you remember Dr Kelly, who apparently killed himself after saying things about Iraq.”
“I’ve heard he was murdered.”
“I can’t comment, Cathy, but I know George was very angry about things.”
“So he wasn’t involved?”
“Good lord, no. He’d have resigned first.”
“Of course; I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned his integrity.”
“That’s okay, because he’s head of MI5, people think he’s able to order this and that on a whim–he isn’t, it has to go via Downing Street or the Home Office.”
“I suppose it has, but he doesn’t have anything to do with MI6 then?”
“Not really, except when they have joint security meetings, every other week or emergency ones as required.”
“So did MI6 kill Kelly?”
“I don’t know, and George wouldn’t tell you, if he did know.”
“I wouldn’t expect him to.” We looked at some more photos; “He was quite a dashing figure in uniform, wasn’t he?”
“Oh if only you knew, Cathy, I had to fight quite hard to get his exclusive attention, he was very popular with the girls.”
“I can believe that from the photos.”
“Do you wish Simon had been in the forces?”
“No way, no he’s been hurt a couple of times being a civilian. With his luck he’d have stepped on a mine during basic training, or been shot during target practice.”
“They are supervised you know?”
“I know, and I have the greatest respect for the courage of the various armies around the world, especially those trying to bring peace and freedom to oppressed peoples. Except we are very selective aren’t we? I mean we invade Iraq because it has oil, we go to Afghanistan to help the Yanks, yet we don’t go into Zimbabwe, where that monster has been destroying the economy for years. Why? Because it doesn’t have anything we want.”
“You’re very cynical for one so young.”
“Are you going to tell me I’m wrong?”
“I wouldn’t dream of telling you anything, Cathy. What you did for George, leaves me in awe of you.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t do anything? Why, all that was missing was a celestial choir.”
“What?”
“There was a light shining under the door, so I peeped in to investigate. You were the centre of the light, which was blindingly bright, and it was flowing into George through your hands.”
“Was it?”
“You mean you didn’t see it?”
“I suppose I either fell asleep or was in a sort of trance, so no, I didn’t–but I, er, know what you mean.”
“You are exceptionally blessed, young woman.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
“Just think of all the good you could do.”
“I have, thought about it, that is.”
“And?”
“It’s more of a curse than a gift.”
“How can the ability to summon God’s help, be a curse? If I had your gift, I’d be rejoicing.”
“Let me make a suggestion to you, imagine you’re just Mrs Jo Public, and you win a double roll over on the lottery–say, thirty or forty million. You are so pleased to receive the cheque that you agree to be used in the publicity. Suddenly, everyone knows who you are, and the number of new friends you have will grow exponentially.”
“As the beggars and criminals try it on, you mean?”
“Some will be genuinely in need as well, and I suspect a number of charities would try to tap you, too. Now if you were known to have some sort of magic charm that made people feel better, some would try to buy it off you for good and bad reasons, some would just try to borrow it because they felt a need. If that magic healed the sick, then you will be pursued by those who were very ill or even dying–and I don’t blame them, because if it were one of my kids, I’d try anything too.”
“So, you have a duty to share it?”
“Do I? I have a duty to bring up my children as best I can, I have a moral obligation to try and protect the environment, especially where that involves endangered species in this country, but I hope also abroad. I have no obligation to save lives willy nilly, just because I can, if it’s actually true–it isn’t always. People, still die, even when I have tried.”
“But–George was at death’s door–and you saved him, I can’t believe you would walk away from someone else in need.”
“There are millions of people in the third world who are dying from poverty. I live quite comfortably, as do you and George. By your reckoning, shouldn’t we give all our money to them–isn’t that what Jesus suggested his followers do?”
“That’s different, Cathy, our money wouldn’t save that many and once it was gone, we’d be poor as well.”
“My gift for want of a better word, wouldn’t save that many either, and it tires me to use it. I don’t see the point of killing myself to save someone else when I have obligations which I feel I have to honour.”
“Oh–your children?”
“Exactly. I couldn’t help them much if I was so tired or dead, so I don’t try to heal many people. It’s also hit and miss, so I can’t guarantee anything. A while ago, I did help some very sick kids at Portsmouth–the press were chasing the magical healer, I had to stop, and swore I’d never do it again because it threatened what was precious to me.”
“So why did you save my George?”
“Because I could, or thought I might be able to. Also you and he had helped me and mine, so I felt obligated.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Not in the usual sense, you had shared more than your resources with us, you were taking a risk in accommodating us. I took one in trying to help him–it worked, thankfully.”
“You’re a strange lady, Catherine.”
“I plead guilty as charged,”–you just don’t know how strange.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos!
Click the Thumbs Up! button below to leave the author a kudos:
And please, remember to comment, too! Thanks.
Comments
Very Interesting
Information in this chapter. Learning about George was unexpected.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Interesting to see Cathy
Explaining more about her rare gift. I think Hilary understood if not agreed at the end and that's the most important thing. Still wishing Cathy could turn that light to herself or Trish. They may not be sick but each has her pain.
Clearing the air.
I felt you were clearing the air about Cathy's gifts and her decisions on how she shares them. Kind of a nice epilogue and prelude. I liked it.
Hugs,
Trish-Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~
Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~
Well if Cathy
is cynical, Then i guess you had better sign me up as well!!! It is a sad fact of life that in this world far too many people (and goverments) look first at the bottom line to see what they can make for themselves .... But would it not be nice if for once more of us considered others less fortunate than ourselves first, Idealistic i know...But i can dream!!!
Kirri
Topicality
I suppose when you have someone as cynical as Cathy in the same household as the head of the Security Service, topical issues are bound to come up.
For the benefit of readers in far flung parts of the globe:
Enslavement of children in Australia: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8361389.stm
Dr. David Kelly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_%28weapons_expert%29
-oOo-
Anyway, I still find it interesting that Hilary doesn't know about Cathy's past - her comments a few episodes ago where she believed the three girls were Cathy's biological daughters was priceless! I wonder if Cathy's plan (to threaten to pull the bank out of Russia) was used to persuade the Russian government to recall its agents?
Hopefully it won't be many more episodes before everyone returns home and life can return to something approaching normality (if your definition of "normal" encompasses a household with three adults [1], none of whom are related to each other - four children, none of whom are related to each other [2], and a daft spaniel)
--Ben
[1] Not including Simon, who although technically is a member of the household, spends most of his life in London. [3]
[2] And only one of which (Puddin') is related to any of the adults! [3]
[3] And if you think that's strange, add in the "unique" circumstances of one adult (Cathy) and one child (Trish) - never mind how Cathy accidentally got custody of the other two children (Livvie and Meems). [4]
[4] If someone ever did try to film this tale, I wouldn't like to be the casting director :) [5]
[5] Help! I'm getting addicted to footnotes! [5]
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Eugenics was used in the US
Pardon me, I think I have the right term. In my understanding, it occured from 1926 until the early 1970s and basically meant that unwed mothers from a poor back ground were sterilized. The fathers got the knife too if they could catch them. It really was not publicized and it was not until the public became aware of it and caused an uproar that it was stopped.
I never came directly in contact with it but I heard things growing up.
It's what happens when people imagine themselves to be Gods.
Gwen
There have been various
horrible things done to poor or ethnic communities. In the US, a group of blacks were allowed to die from syphilis well after antibiotics which could have cured them, were available. The liaison was done by a nurse, who was only too aware of the fact that treatment was being withheld as they watched them die over a long period. In Australia, a combined study was done of using electro-convulsive shock therapy every day and for longer shocks than was previously done. They did awful damage to the test subjects who were unaware they were guinea pigs, nor were their families aware until years later. The UK government had servicemen watch nuclear testing to see what happened to them - I have met several who went blind and heard of many who developed all sorts of weird cancers. They did testing for nerve gases as Porton Down, using soldiers as guinea pigs. And the irony, of which western governments seem unaware, is they complain to China and Burma about human rights. What's that about taking the plank out of one's own eye before...?
Angharad
Angharad
It is important to have an EVEN number
With footnotes, as with feet, it is vital that one has an even number of them, in order to keep a balanced view and not to fall over or limp hopelessly
Briar
Briar
laughing at the footnotes
Thanks.
Bullocks
... the use of armies will always be tied to national interest. Wonder what Cathy's attitude would be during the height of empire. Brits were encouraging the pushing of opium into China because they had nothing else to offer in trade for porcelain and silk. Their armies backed them up during those endeavors.
No, anytime there is the inclusion of armies into the world politic, things will always be messy and innocents WILL get hurt.
Armies will never be used for the purpose of pure principle, so yes, Cathy is naive.
Kim
Male versions of cows
I find Cathy's naivity preferable to the "REALSIM" expressed as though from masculine cows, Kim. IMH and Naive Opinion, humankind has reached a point where it can decide either to give up its favorite game - warfare, and just dismiss all its armies, or to continue bravely marching over the edge of the cliff into extinction. It is not governments that fight wars, even although they start them. It is soldiers that do it. No soldiers = no more wars. QED (unless people can imagine Mr Brown and Mr Obama crawling through the mud and brambles with grenades and rifles, to shoot Mr Tallyban and Mr Mugabe, who are crawling towards them similarly rigged out and with similar intentions. If they were then all successful, the rest of us could then have a peace party, as without them all we would all be able to get along fine and be better off.
Briar
Briar
Cathy
I understood the point before this chapter. You can not save everyone. If you can save someone, you will, but it has to be selective.
I like the analogy Angharad used for those who can't get it. You have in you the power to feed hundreds for a month. If you do you join them, but you could do it. Some people would live who wouldn't have. So why doesn't everyone step up to the plate?
About the Russian Government being under control? People died. Someone needs to pay, and I don't mean just recalling their people. This is cold war (with the war being part of it) stuff.
It may be Henry explained some of his options to them. I think if I were him I would find ways to make it more clear, short of going all out.
Military power and projection
Without coming off as a Capitalist, or accusing anyone else of being a Socialist, The security of most countries is directly tied to it's economic health and stability. This is protected, or projected by military power or direct action. WW2 clearly showed this. Japan was after natural resources, oil and rubber which was denied to them by the USA, and Brittan. Germany was deep in the Depression, needed a source of oil, and went into the Balkans, of course a madman led Germany so other things went on. Italy was recovering, but for no good reason went into Ethiopia, and then in a measurement of testosterone, joined with Hitler to rule the world.
Harry Truman said 'the business of America is business'
I know I greatly simplified the reasons and issues, so I'm prepared to endure the' slings and arrows' of those that don't agree.
Cefin