Sometimes, a long shot can have an effect out of all proportion to that which was expected...

The Prophecy

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2019 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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Author's Note: This story was suggested to me by a valued reader, Bibliophage, and once the idea took hold my muse wouldn't let go. Let this be a warning to other authors!

In this tale the name "Toini" is pronounced "Tow-EE-knee".

Five years later.

Karin Ross made her way into her kitchen/diner, yawning profusely.

I don't know what's wrong with me. It isn't as if I'm doing anything important any more!

I do know what is wrong with me, but it has been five years already. Perhaps it is time I reviewed my life.

She turned to the wall display. "Jeeves, coffee please, enough for two cups. Um, toast today, I think, with some of that pinecherry preserve."

"Of course, Madam," the house AI responded. "Another bad night? Should you be consulting your physician?"

"Ah, I don't think so, Jeeves, not this time. I'm just a little down because my life is basically on hold, that's all." She thought. "If you're noticing it, though, perhaps there is something going on. Keep an eye on it, will you?"

"As always, Madam. Do you want to look at anything while you eat?"

"I guess. Let's see if the peace talks have gotten anywhere. Um, Solar News stream, please, Just the headlines for now."

"Of course, Madam."

The holographic display sprang into life at the back of the worktop as Karin sat down in front of it. She watched as the headlines for the most recent happenings appeared and began to read.

"That's good! They have finally managed a permanent cease-fire, I see. No word on reparations yet, though."

"As you say, Madam. I'll check for anything more recent."

She read the rest of the news with increasing indifference, merely something to occupy her mind while the toast and coffee were prepared to her taste. As the toaster pinged, an new item caught her eye.

Existence of new planet revealed.

She reached over for the toast, wincing as the hot bread began to burn her fingers, dropping it onto the plate Jeeves had placed in front of her. She busied herself spreading the off-world fruit preserve onto the first slice and then the coffee machine finished, so she poured her first cup and took a grateful sip. Only then did she return her attention to the display, but before she could even open the article...

Ponk. Ponkponkponkponk...

"Jeeves, mute that alert, please. What the hell is that?"

An icon had appeared in the corner of her display, with a small but steadily rising count above it. To her surprise, she recognized it as a work icon.

"Unknown, Madam, but it would appear to be related to the 'new planet' news item. Would you want to look at either item now, or leave them until you have finished breakfast?"

Normally Karin avoided anything to do with work while she was at home. There was little enough of it to do at the office, anyway, so why make it harder to fill the hours there and interrupt home life as well? However, the count had now reached the low hundreds and she desperately wanted something to wrestle her intellect into some kind of action.

Anyway, it had to be some kind of false alarm, didn't it? It wouldn't hurt to find out what, and then she could spend some time with the guys refining the algorithms, making them more accurate.

"Yes, open the news item now, please."

What came onto the screen surprised her, as she knew it would surprise most of those on Earth. It seemed that the planet had been discovered in a quiet corner of the galaxy five years ago, already inhabited, and both able and willing to help Earth and its colonies out during the war. It had acted as a hidden shipyard, turning out some of the new and advanced designs that had helped subdue the Toini, the alien species that had violently objected to the presence of Terran ships in their own part of the galaxy.

Wait, already inhabited? Yet another alien species? How did they go from first contact to being an allied shipyard so fast?

The name of the planet appeared to be Anmar. Now, did that ring a faint bell?

"Jeeves, open that work icon, please."

That produced another shock, and she read the short file entry with growing amazement.

"Jeeves, contact the Institute now, get hold of Jerry. Oh, he's behind us, isn't he? Get him at home if you have to. Tell him we have a live one, and treat it as he would an unexploded device. Full security, all precautions. Then, find me someone I can speak with at Solar News."

She finished her breakfast absently, her mind racing. For only the second time ever, one of the prophesies in her keeping had come true - and the other one had been basically a statistical certainty anyway.

The display pinged and she looked at the name and vidstill. "Accept call."

"Hi, I'm Aaron Shoesmith, you wanted to talk to someone at Solar News? How can I help?"

"Good morning. Um, look, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound a little off-the-wall. It relates to your recent news item about a new planet."

"Oh, that one! Yeah, it was a surprise to us, too! The Commissioning Editors have already given permission to set up a team to travel there, just as soon as we can get clearance." He frowned. "Can I ask what your interest is, ah..?"

"Karin Ross. Mrs. I'm... let's just say, I'm a kind of archivist for a subsidiary of the Sierra Foundation. The outfit I work for has actually been in existence since before the US Civil War, and Sierra took us over about a century ago. We... there's no easy way to say this, Mr Shoesmith, but we keep prophecies for things that might happen in the future."

"Aaron, please, We're not formal at Solar News. Prophecies? Like what? Alien invasion?"

She shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "All manner of things from that to the End Of Times to who wins a particular horse race next year to the next US President. Most are just crazy stuff as you must appreciate, but a small number of them are interesting enough to hang on to. Now, I want you to have a look at this vidstill of an item, and I must emphasize that the item was deposited two hundred or so years ago. Please hold."

She looked at her empty cup and shrugged. "Jeeves, forward that vidstill to Mister Shoesmith, please."

She refilled her cup and turned to watch his face as he studied the picture she had forwarded, made in an age when 3D was not the norm for graphics. She saw his eyebrows shoot up, as hers had done just a few minutes previously.

He turned to her, incredulous. "This is attested? You still have the package?"

"Oh, yes. It is in a secure vault in our facility in Denver."

"I'll take this to my boss, if you don't mind, but I already know what he's going to say. Would you mind if we send a crew along to watch you open it?"

She shrugged. "I can't see any good reason why not... uh, Aaron, but of course I'll have to speak with my legal people and so on to make sure everyone is covered."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know how that goes. And it might not turn out to be important after all, just somebody got lucky with a name."

A sharp chime sounded and they both looked down, then up again. They spoke simultaneously. "I have an incoming."

He gestured. "Let's answer these and then talk again. Okay?"

"Fine with me," she agreed. "End call. Pick up incoming call."

The call opened, Karin noticing with a frown that a row of icons spread along the bottom of the display, indicating levels of security she had barely even heard of. The face that looked out at her was unfamiliar, dressed in a plain business suit, and seated in a bland office devoid of identifying items.

The man turned his head slightly and said, but not to her, "Could you hold for a moment or two? I may make this a three-way." He nodded. "Fine, thank you for your co-operation."

He turned to Karin. "Mrs Ross? I am sorry to interrupt your breakfast but you may have information vital to national security. Are you alone? Can you be overheard if we speak now?"

"Yes and no, but I must ask you to provide proof who you are before I say a word more."

He held up a strip and pushed it into a slot in the console in front of him.

"Jeeves? Confirm or deny, please."

"Madam, to the best of my ability, this person appears to be Agent Sam O'Toole, and he is working for Solar Security, Investigation Division, and based out of Washington, DC."

Karin heard the "to the best of my ability" and took that to mean that Jeeves, an ordinary house AI, could have been compromised himself and thus not report correctly what he had been shown. She would just have to assume that everything was above board for now.

"What can I do for you, Mr O'Toole?"

"This morning, Allied Command released on Earth the information that we had a hidden planet making war materials for our forces. Your spider flagged up all the news reports as they were issued, our spider flagged up yours because you apparently already had knowledge of that planet's name."

"Well, yes and no, Mr O'Toole. You see, I work for Future Archives, a subsidiary of the Sierra Foundation. We keep prophecies, that's what they are really, of the future, until such time as the expected date has been passed. We have an item related to this planet which was deposited with us two hundred years ago."

For the second time that morning, she saw somebody's eyebrows shoot up.

"You have my undivided attention, Mrs Ross. What more can you tell me?"

"Very little, Mr O'Toole. The package is as yet unopened, and is in a secure, attested location. I can show you a vidstill taken when it was originally deposited. Jeeves, forward the vidstill to Mr O'Toole, please."

His eyes widened and then he looked back at Karin. "I see it but I have trouble believing it... but then, there are aspects of Anmar that most people have trouble believing. You plan to open this package?"

She was conflicted. "Well, I did until you called. Are you telling me that there could be something... unusual, I guess... about this prophecy?"

"I have no idea, Mrs Ross. I only discovered the connection moments ago, as I believe you did." O'Toole thought rapidly for a moment. "Look, it's two hundred years old! I'm sure that there is nothing in there that might cause... trouble, let us say, but I think it would be better if we went into this with a little forethought. I have Mr Shoesmith on hold, do you mind if we have a three-way?"

"Fine with me, only I'll tell you what I told him, that we'll have to run the whole thing past our lawyers first before we even go near that package."

O'Toole actually smiled. "Mrs Ross, you have my full agreement on this one. If this proves to be a real package about a real planet, we need to do this by the book."

There was a brief interruption before her screen split into two. Shoesmith stared at O'Toole.

"I am Agent Sam O'Toole of Solar Security, Investigation Division. Mrs Ross's spider was triggered by the mention of the new planet, specifically the name, and our interest was aroused. I assume she called you?"

"Yes, sir," Shoesmith replied. "If there's a new planet, and a prophecy about it that predates the discovery by two hundred years, then we want to be there when it is opened." He raised an eyebrow at the agent. "Does your intervention mean that isn't going to happen?"

"Not at all, Mr Shoesmith. I think that, with Mrs Ross's agreement, you can send a crew to the opening and record it, but we would want to have a look at the materials first before publication." His expression changed. "You see, Anmar is a very unusual planet. Oh, I don't mean it has a funny atmosphere or too much gravity, in fact it is very Earth-like in many ways. However, it is entirely possible that the package..."

He stopped, shaking his head. "This is definitely not the time to be speaking of such things. Mrs Ross, can I ask where the package is?"

"In a secure vault in Denver, Agent O'Toole. I can't get there today or tomorrow, would Thursday be good enough for you?"

He frowned. "Where are you, then?"

"Minneapolis, Agent."

His focus shifted. "And you, Shoesmith? Washington, I guess."

"Correct, Agent."

O'Toole thought. "Right, we'll do it like this. Shoesmith, you may come yourself and bring one media operator only with you. I'll bring one person with me, a specialist, and Mrs Ross can have one person only from her Denver office. That means we have a witness each, right? And another thing, that package is not to be touched until we get there, right?"

Karin replied, "If that is what you want, Agent."

"Okay, when we meet I may ask both of you and those who come with you to sign some papers, just in case there is anything we need kept away from the public."

Shoesmith shrugged. "Fine with me, Agent. We do that often enough on crime reports anyway."

"Mrs Ross?"

"As you wish, Agent."

"Then we'll meet on Thursday in Denver at... where, Mrs Ross?"

"The offices of The Sierra Foundation, Agent. Say ten am. We can sign the paperwork there before going to the vaults."

A curt nod. "I'll see you both there on Thursday, then. End call."

His half of the window dissolved and she was left looking at Shoesmith.

"I certainly didn't expect that when I got up this morning!"

He smiled back. "Neither did I! Do you think this could be something big?"

"How would I know? That package has been sitting there for centuries, untouched. It could be big or it could be nothing at all. Either way, Mr... I'm sorry, Aaron, I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

He smiled. "I suspect not, Mrs Ross! It will make a change from the war, at any rate. I'll see you Thursday, then."

"Of course. End call."

There was a call waiting when the screen cleared.

"Jerry!"

"Morning, Karin. Thanks for getting me out of bed. What have you stirred up now?"

She brought him up to date. "And so you'll have a small crowd of us to visit on Thursday."

"Will make a nice change. It's been, what, five months since we last met?"

"About that. Find us somewhere to have dinner, will you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Us? Just you and me?"

She smiled at the younger man. "I know your tastes, Jerry. No, I meant the six of us. I suspect we're going to need it once we open that package."

~o~O~o~

When Karin entered the meeting room that Thursday, she was surprised at the number of people present, having only expected five others. She looked at the extras and came to a realization: Lawyers. One she recognized, he was the Sierra Foundation representative who usually dealt with Future Archive matters. There was little enough activity these days that she wondered that he still remembered the way to the office.

That's unfair. This is a Sierra Foundation building, after all. We keep just the two rooms here.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated, then we can go through the introductions."

It was as she suspected. There was a brief from Solar News; the tame lawyer for Future Archive; another from Sierra Foundation head office once they learned about the interest in the package; and a plain-clothed member from the Judge Advocate Generals' Office, representing the intelligence community. There was also a media technician from Solar News and another person from Solar Security, presumably the 'expert'.

Once everybody knew who everyone else was, she spoke. "I must make it clear to all of you that only six people will be viewing the package contents. I have no desire to turn this into a circus, and anyway there just won't be the room downstairs. And I must add that those six people have already been determined."

That produced the expected uproar but she pointed out that the matter had already been agreed with Solar Security and that the whole thing might be a complete waste of time anyway. If it was not, then those present would already have come to an agreement, here in this room, to determine how the materials could or should be used.

It took them an hour to thrash out the details and get everyone to sign the required documents. At that point the legal battalions withdrew and six people were left in the room.

O'Toole looked at his watch. "Mrs Ross, are you satisfied? Can we go now and see what we've all come here for?"

She pointed at his companion. "I know your name, Mr Suarez, but you've kept very quiet during the deliberations. Can I ask what it is you do?"

"Me?" The accent was definitely off-world, but she couldn't place it. "Mrs Ross, I am a specialist with the Nirvanan Survey Service, presently here on Earth on secondment to Solar Security because of the war. I have... certain knowledge... of the planet Anmar, which is why I'm here today. I hope to use what I know to verify or otherwise the contents of that package."

"Really? Well, Mr Suarez, you are welcome. I must say, this whole matter is mystifying to me, so whatever light you might be able to throw on it will be most welcome."

She turned, to address them all. "We have to walk two blocks to the depository where the package is stored. By chance, we'll pass a coffee shop or two along the way, if nobody objects?"

O'Toole had been impatient to get going, but even he saw the sense in taking a break after watching the legal profession fight it out for an hour. He nodded. "I can go along with that, Mrs Ross. Let's get going, then. The sooner we're there, the sooner the mystery will be solved."

It was busy in the shop, so they could not share a big table together. Steve van Brecht, the Solar News media tech, somehow ended up on a table with Jerry, which made Karin smile.

My gaydar might not be that strong but those two were made to be together. Wonder if Jerry will put in for a transfer? Or will it just be a one-night stand?

Nursing his mug, O'Toole looked up at Karin. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"You would be Karin Ross, wife of Commander Alexander Ross, is that right?"

She smiled. "You're the intelligence type. I'm sure you already know that. Yes, I'm his widow." The other two showed blank faces, so she explained, "He was first officer of the Zanzibar."

"Oh." Shoesmith nodded recognition. "I thought I recognized the name. I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Aaron. It has been five years now, though, and I've mostly come to terms with it."

"Mostly?"

She grimaced. "I took it badly, after his ship was lost. Sierra couldn't do anything with me and eventually I was shunted sideways into this job. Unfortunately, not much happens in the prediction world these days, what is happening in reality is fantastic enough, so I'm in the doldrums, so to speak."

"Until today, that is." O'Toole pointed out.

"Well, the interest is unexpected," she replied, "but you must all realize that this whole thing could just be waste of everybody's time."

"We're here on the basis of a single word in a two hundred year old document," O'Toole pointed out. "Until we find out how it got there, I'm not going to rule out anything."

Suarez studied Karin carefully. "Mrs Ross -"

"Look, it is silly to be so formal," she said. "Karin, please."

"Then you must call me Ramon," he replied. "I was going to ask, you say you are in the doldrums here, had you plans of moving on? Something more interesting, perhaps?"

"It's a thought," she said, smiling at him. "We'll just have to see what happens today, won't we? I can't imagine there's much else in our vaults likely show this amount of interest... except, perhaps, the End Of Days, but if that were to happen, I suspect another job would be the last thing on my mind!"

The others laughed. "I can't disagree, Mrs Ross," O'Toole said.

Coffee finished, the group left the shop.

"Where to now, Mrs Ross?"

"There," she pointed to the office foyer right next door. "We own the whole block, as it happens, but Sierra doesn't do retail so we let the shop units out to others."

O'Toole looked up and around, seeing a solid redbrick building of two stories, dating back to at least Victorian times.

"This was built in 1883 as a bank for miners," she explained as they entered the foyer. "That folded in the Great Depression and the building got turned over to other uses." She nodded to the concierge and ushered them to a wide stairway leading down. "In the nineteen-fifties the old bank vaults were turned into a public nuclear attack shelter."

On this level there was a reception desk, but most of the space was partitioned off.

"The old shelter was converted into document storage when Sierra took the building over. Here, we hold archives for much of the corporation. They were moved here from San Francisco after the Great San Andreas Earthquake. The Denver area is said to be one of the most stable parts of the continent."

Shoesmith asked, "Did you lose much?"

She shook her head. "I didn't join them until well after that, Aaron. We must have lost people, everyone did. What material we lost, I have no idea. The Future Archives material was moved here much later, from an office in Chicago."

She led them along a long corridor to a small area beside two freight elevators. Here, there was a desk with another receptionist and two armed security guards. After the usual formalities, the visitors were issued with wristbands while Karin and Jerry made their employee lanyards more visible. They entered the lift.

"In the sixties, a command and control center was built below the public shelter," she explained as the elevator descended.

"How far down?" Suarez asked.

"Two hundred feet," she replied. "Sixty-odd meters or so."

At the bottom was another reception area, a desk, and two more armed guards who insisted on checking everyone over thoroughly, even Karin. Here, there were some small offices, a kitchen and some store rooms, but the main feature was a massive blast door, currently closed.

"I'm becoming more and more impressed by your security, Mrs Ross," O'Toole remarked. "If this is what you do for wild prophecies, what do you do for your petty cash accounts?"

She gave a knowing smile. "We didn't build this, the Department of Defense did. Sierra just bought it when it became surplus. As for what else is down here, well..." She shrugged. "Need to know, and mostly I don't need to know to do my job."

She turned to the two guards. "Guys, Jerry and I need to go in to fetch a package. Will you give us a hand with the door?"

"Of course, Ma'am."

The others watched with amazement as the four slowly pulled the huge steel door open.

O'Toole raised an eyebrow. "What, it isn't powered?"

"Hardly," Karin replied. "It is entirely possible that, should this facility have been in use in those days, there would have been no power. Manual operation had to be allowed for, and we go in and out infrequently enough that Sierra doesn't want to pay for the upgrade."

Shoesmith chuckled. "I blame the government myself, Mr O'Toole. Although I guess we can let them off, the penny-pinching was two centuries ago."

"That would be two and a half centuries ago, Aaron," Karin corrected. She waved at one of the offices. "You can wait for us in there. The whole storage level beyond the door is filled with nitrogen to prevent decay, so we have an automated retrieval system to fetch what we want."

The others went into the office, found chairs and settled down to wait.

"I must say, this is a much better archival arrangement than Solar News has," Shoesmith said. "What about your lot, Mr O'Toole? Or is that a secret?"

He shrugged. "We face the same problems, of course, but I don't know if we have anything similar to this place. Seeing as this wouldn't have been the only surplus emergency command and control center, then probably, we do. Of course, most of our safe storage these days is on the Moon, where we can dispense with that inconvenient and corrosive atmosphere completely."

"Ah, yes, of course."

It was nearly five minutes before Karin and Jerry reappeared, the latter bearing an aluminum document case. He placed it on the table as Karin closed and locked the office door. She produced a key and turned it in the lock before releasing the catches and raising the lid. Inside was a brown paper parcel, tied with string and sealed with old-fashioned sealing wax. She lifted it out on the table, placing the case on the floor.

"You may all examine the package, satisfy yourself that it has not been opened?"

Aaron held up a hand. "Mrs Ross, I believe that Steve should begin recording about now, with your permission."

"Of course. That is, after all, what you and he are here for."

They all turned the package over, inspecting it from all sides, noting the inscription on the top which had started the whole wild goose chase off.

Aaron pointed out the glaring problem. "This has been opened and resealed."

"Ah, yes, I forgot about that. When we moved the repository here from Chicago, some of the items were found to have deteriorated during their storage there. It was decided that every package, when it arrived here, would be checked over and copies made of any fragile documents against further decay. The whole process was carried out under strict, attested supervision. The copies are inside the re-wrapped package."

"So," O'Toole concluded, "not so pristine as we were led to believe, then?"

"I understand why you might be concerned, Mr O'Toole. Firstly, all original materials remain inside that package, and the whole process was recorded and overseen by independent witnesses. Secondly, you can - any of you can - inspect our logs and see who has been down here to deposit or retrieve an item. I can tell you, and Jerry can confirm, that no-one has been down here, apart from the security men, for around five months, which easily predates the news announcement. Now, can we open the package?"

O'Toole gestured. "Go ahead. I'm just pointing out what any good intelligence man would."

Jerry pulled out a multi-tool and cut the string before unwrapping the brown paper. What was left was a pile of papers sitting upon thin sheets of metal. A small object fell out and rolled over the table top.

"What's that?"

Aaron spoke. "I've seen some of those in out-of-the way places when we've done foreign travel," he said. "They used to be a common data transfer method, called USB sticks."

The plastic had deteriorated into a shapeless lump, with a rectangle of metal sticking out of one end.

"Yeah, I remember them. Doubt it's readable."

"Probably not," Jerry responded, "but that inspection process Mrs Ross spoke of would have included copying the contents of that stick to a more durable medium." He leafed through the pile, finding and holding up a laser-etched titanium strip. "Yep, here it is."

"Gentlemen," Karin said, "let's get reading."

* * *

They took a break for coffee and sat around with mugs, considering what they had read.

"I'm not sure of the significance of what we found," Shoesmith said. "On the face of it, this is a record of the dealings by... some kind of medical professional? with one of his patients. I can understand why the ramblings of a patient might end up in this archive, without intending any insult, Mrs Ross, but how does it concern the new planet?"

O'Toole put his mug down. "You obviously missed some of the important points, Mr Shoesmith. Look, the patient, as you call him, had been in a coma for a year. He was supposed to be in an unrecoverable state, so they switched off the equipment that was keeping him alive." He held up a hand. "Yes, I know we don't do things that way these days but this was two hundred years ago! So, this kid - and he would have only been eighteen or so - spontaneously recovered when the plug was pulled."

He held up a finger. "First red flag. Then, he recovered remarkably quickly for somebody who had been laying in a bed for a year, doing no exercise. Second red flag. Next, he claimed that he had been to Anmar while he was in the coma and lived there for a year. He has provided a complete, detailed account of where he went and what he did there. Asked to supply some kind of evidence, he promptly spoke three languages, one of which is unknown and the others obscure or extinct on Earth. Third red flag."

Shoesmith held up a hand. "Okay, maybe I missed some of that. I was concentrating on the reactions of that medical person. And then, at the end, the patient went and committed suicide. That just tells me that he had a disturbed mind and was making up things."

Suarez spoke then. He had kept quiet so far, but he had good reason to. "Mr Shoesmith, did you look at that list of items the patient was carrying when he killed himself?"

"Well, yes, I did. I'm guessing that he thought he could take them with him to this planet he thought he was returning to."

Suarez stood up. "It looks like I'm going to have to invoke our secrecy clause, at least for the moment. You see, Mrs Ross, gentlemen, I have seen those items, in a museum on the planet Anmar."

"What? That's impossible!" The others stared at Suarez with disbelief.

He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. "There are some facts you all need to know. Five years ago my father was captain of the Vasco da Gama, the ship that discovered Anmar. At that time I was primarily a history major, mainly concerned with preserving the history of the early days of the colonies, but when my father got back to Nirvana he contacted me and I was placed on the second expedition to Anmar.

"I know this story, from the other side. The links between Anmar and Earth are long and complex, everyone, and there needed to be some explanation. The artifacts from Earth, and there are many of them, had to be explained if we were to make any progress, so I was one of a small number to be offered close to the whole story. Mrs Ross, gentlemen, Anmar is a human colony. It just isn't ours. It has been a human colony so long that I have been shown genuine, attestable, Roman remains."

O'Toole, his expression one of disbelief, swept a hand over the documents on the table.

"This sounds as unlikely as all this from two hundred years ago! You never told us anything about this when you came to Solar Security!"

Suarez smiled. "Agent O'Toole, there are oaths and there are oaths. When I left Anmar to return to Nirvana I had already been given instructions, many of which supersede anything required by Solar Security." He explained, "There is a plan in place but nobody expected a Solid, excuse me, an Earth human to figure out what was going on and leave a message for the future. If the whole truth were revealed now, it might cause panic on Earth. As I said, there is a plan in place for it to be disclosed slowly, carefully, to avoid that very thing."

"A human colony?" O'Toole muttered. "Roman remains? Next you'll be telling me that aliens did it."

"Of course! The kicker is, Earth is a human colony too. We did not evolve here at all, but somewhere else entirely. What happens is, the aliens take selected people at the point of death, copy them and all their belongings, and send them off to another colony. The idea is that they would help push development along wherever they end up. Sometimes they take whole groups of people, to help establish a new nation or something somewhere where there's plenty of land or whatever."

Karin said, "So what you are saying is that this Gary Campbell was a human from another world who had been sent to Earth, and didn't like it?"

"Not exactly. Gary Campbell is, as these documents show, originally from Hays, Kansas, and for the avoidance of any doubt, here on Earth. He was in his parents' road vehicle when it suffered a fatal accident. Both his parents were killed while Gary went into that coma. The aliens took him and transferred him to Anmar, hoping to provoke a small local war which would cause a speeding-up of development. Something went wrong, and Gary... didn't come out as intended.

Suarez took a deep breath. "This is where things get really... strange. Two unexpected things happened. Firstly, Gary arrived on Anmar as a girl and her influence was much greater than expected."

Shoesmith said, "A girl? How is that possible?"

"Oh, something to do with DNA, I recall. Remember, they can't take the original, that is lying in a hospital room on Earth in a coma. They have machines that can make copies, by which I mean clones."

"A clone? How do they do that? And give it the original's memories?"

Suarez waved a hand. "I don't know all the details. I do know that these aliens are multidimensional, that means they see the universe in a different way than we do and they can do things we can't even imagine yet."

O'Toole shook his head then stabbed a finger. "You mentioned two things."

"Yes. Gary started turning into an alien."

"What?"

"Agent, they call themselves Beings to distinguish themselves from mundane aliens like the Toini. It seems that every single multidimensional Being, and there are lots of them, of many, many different species, started out as Solids, that is, creatures like us. However, very, very occasionally some of them change somehow, and begin to perceive the multiverse in ways we can't describe. It was explained to me that it is a little like an insect emerging from a chrysalis to become an adult."

Karin asked. "Is this possible? Could this happen to any of us, for example?"

Suarez shook his head. "Unknown, Mrs Ross. I would guess the chances are less than one in several billions." He held his hands up. "How would anyone ever know?"

Shoesmith asked, "So what happened then?"

"Gary, or Garia as she is properly known now, discovered the Beings and learned of their plans. Since by chance the original had not died on Earth but was in a coma, she volunteered to come back to Earth, substituting for the brain-dead Gary who was still here, and then return to Anmar with additional materials she hadn't had with her before."

Jerry spoke. "I'm confused. He... she came back? As a girl or as a boy? How did they manage that?"

"As a boy, of course. He was substituted for coma boy and promptly recovered. He had to be careful, since nobody on Earth could learn of the Beings or their plans." Suarez gestured at the documents on the table. "This is a record of that visit. Once sufficient material had been found and arranged, he left Earth in the only way possible and returned to Anmar once more."

Karin asked, "And she became a woman again on Anmar? Is that right?"

Suarez nodded. "Yes, that's right. Only she wasn't just a woman, because when she went to Anmar the first time she had met the Crown Prince of a local Kingdom and fallen in love. She was married and therefore a Princess when all this happened."

Van Brecht, the recording tech, switched off his machine and put it down on the table.

"I'm sorry, Mr Shoesmith, I can't record any more of this. Either it is all hogwash, in which case Solar News would be a laughing stock if we released it, or it is all true, in which case we've stumbled into the damnedest conspiracy in the entire galaxy... and I know which one I'm putting my money on."

O'Toole raised an eyebrow. "That right, Suarez? Is this all real or hogwash?"

"It's all real, Mr O'Toole. Anmar is an extraordinary planet in many ways. My father's arrival from another Earth colony was a signal that the secret could be let out, that people could be told at least part of this incredible story. We are all part of a much, much greater plan and in many ways Gary Campbell going to Anmar is the trigger that kicked the whole thing off."

The Agent looked frustrated. "Is there any way you can prove or disprove what you have just told us? Do we have to go all the way to this new planet, for example?"

Suarez smiled. "As it happens, I can prove it, and this time you won't have to go all the way to Anmar. You see, the Beings have ways to predict in some measure the future, and therefore it was foreseen that this package would be discovered and opened. So, when I came from Anmar to Earth to take up my post with Solar Security, I was accompanied... by a Being. Ma'am, if you would like to show yourself."

With an abruptness that made them all jump, suddenly there was another person in the room. She was short, mature, and dressed as if for a medieval play.

"I am Garia. I was once Gary Campbell of Kansas, though I have not been him for a very long time now. I have also been a Princess, a Queen, a mother and a grandmother. Now I am here to help young Ramon break the news of the real situation to the humans of Earth."

O'Toole exploded. "Holy shit! Sorry, M- uh, what do we call you?"

Garia gave a very small smile. "It seems that the preferred style of address is Ma'am, as that is how I was addressed when I was Queen. Since then, of course, I have been technically dead, so until we can agree some suitable custom, 'Ma'am' is probably best."

"Technically dead? Uh, Ma'am?"

"Yes, as all humans do my Solid body eventually wore out and died. However, the Emerged part of me remembers what I used to be, so I can assume that form when required."

"Wait a minute - what do you mean, wore out and died? How did you get in here?"

"My Solid body was exactly like yours, Agent. In time, unless Earth's medical knowledge improves significantly, you too will die. That is what I did. The difference is, at the time my Solid body stopped working, I had just Emerged and what was left was just like the chrysalis which Ramon described. As for where I just was, I was in this room but not in any of the dimensions you can perceive. I, on the other hand, could follow everything that went on."

The Agent looked at her in horror. "Does this mean that you aliens, Beings, whatever, can be anywhere at all, looking at everything we do?"

"Absolutely, Agent, but you must know that in real terms the number of Beings attending any one world is very small." Garia smiled. "You see, though there are billions of us, there are also billions of worlds in the galaxy that require our attention. In most cases, there might be two or three Beings to an entire world with several civilizations on it. When I arrived at Anmar, there were just two monitors, and they were of a species that did not understand genders the way we do. Until I arrived and spoke to them, they knew that something had gone wrong but had little idea what."

"But, but -" O'Toole buried his head in his hands.

Karin said, "You're real? You're really here? What do you want from us? To hide the prophecy away?"

Garia smiled again. "Yes, I am real, Mrs Ross. I am here solely because of the prophecy, and because it offers us an opportunity."

O'Toole raised his head. "Oh? How so?"

"Look, I can move through walls and earth and concrete and everything else, though some materials are more difficult than others. If we had determined that exposure of the prophecy would be bad, I or another Being could simply have gone into the vaults and removed it - or, more likely, replaced it with something similar but innocuous. We chose not to do that."

Karin said, "You're saying that you want the prophecy to be made public?"

"Not exactly. Revealing the prophecy to this specific group of people happens to be the best course of action. I told you that we could forecast the future? Well, without our intervention, Mr Shoesmith would have made the contents the top news item for the entire planet - and in the process fired off countless conspiracy theories and panics that would cause chaos and alarm. My intervention will ensure that appropriate people are informed, with facts that can be verified, and the news can be gradually disseminated in a controlled manner."

Shoesmith noted, "You mentioned an opportunity."

"I did," Garia replied. "You see, sitting around this table just happen to be the right combination of people to make this work. Mr Shoesmith can talk to the right people at Solar News and organize a planned series of news releases, covering new information brought to light since the discovery of Anmar - which will be no less than the exact truth.

"Agent O'Toole has a slightly harder job, but we have confidence that he can do what is required. He will need to bring his superiors up to speed, perhaps with a little assistance from myself and others, and get them to start some feelers among the various government bodies of Earth. Earth needs to understand that it is part of a much bigger colonization effort, and that there is much, much more that it can do with our support."

Suarez added, "We've already been through this same process on Nirvana. They know all of this, but because we are a colony world we see the galaxy in a different light than Earth does. Multi-dimensional Beings are no problem to us, at least not to most of us."

O'Toole asked, "You're asking us to sell these... Beings to Earth, in such a way that they will accept you exist, that right?"

"More or less, yes."

"So, you'll become our new overlords, is that it?"

Garia shrugged. "There will always be a small proportion of any population that might see things that way, I have to admit. Remember, though, I told you we are thinly scattered across the galaxy. We actually have little direct influence, not the way you think of it. We would rather you be our partners, since we cannot develop the Solid galaxy the way that you will."

"What about me?" Karin asked. "Do I have a part to play in this?"

"Oh, yes. You see, sooner or later the exploration effort will come across some of the other human colonies, and almost all of these have civilizations already in existence. The exploration force will need all the trained historians it can get, to chart the growth and development of all the peoples it finds."

She was astonished. "You want me to go into space?"

Garia replied, "I think you might be surprised at what you find, Mrs Ross. You might discover why your husband became a starship officer."

Van Brecht asked, "These civilizations you speak of, are they going to be more advanced than Earth?"

Suarez chuckled. "Um, actually, Anmar is more advanced than Earth! That's one of the things that's being kept quiet for the moment, but people here will be gradually introduced to some of the more obvious advances over the coming months."

"But to answer your question," Garia said to van Brecht, "so far as I am aware, and I don't claim to know everything that is happening, you - we - are the most developed human civilizations in this area. Though I might warn you, at least four others already have interplanetary travel."

O'Toole started. "Four? How many are there altogether?"

Garia smiled. "I cannot tell you that for any number of reasons! Look, exploration means exactly that, and you'll have to do it all the hard way. We can however offer you complete star maps of the whole galaxy, with positions, locations, velocities and vectors of all stellar bodies, which should make exploration that much easier."

Shoesmith asked, "Why, if I might ask? Why are you doing this at all?"

"Remember that I told you we could make predictions of the future? Well -"

Garia explained to the group how the predictions were made. She took them through the history of the galaxy and the omens of what might happen in the future. At the end there was a stunned silence.

O'Toole was the first person to speak. "By God, you people think big, don't you? You're preparing us for a possible war what, ten thousand years into the future? And to do that, along the way you just want us to colonize the galaxy! Well, finally I have something I might be able to take to my superiors... Ma'am. Humans still have a noble instinct, I guess, and this is something they might want to buy into."

Garia shrugged. "It is hard to forecast that far ahead. It might be ten thousand years, it might be a hundred thousand. We don't know that a war will actually happen, not in the way you think of wars. But you are essentially right." She grinned. "Mankind likes a challenge, and doesn't like being threatened. That's how I ended up here, after all. I just hope enough people see it that way to make the whole thing worth while, that's all."

"Amen to that. So, Ma'am, what are your orders?"

Garia looked pained. "You'll have to treat me just as an advisor, at least for now. Suggestions only, and I am open to anything any of you can suggest as well. That is partly because, as I have just described, I am officially dead and therefore have no legal identity. I certainly have no standing in any chain of authority!

"First, let's get back to the reason we are all here, the prophecy. I would suggest that you take the non-perishable copies and use them to make further copies, to take away as reference. Then, we re-wrap what is presently on the table back up, originals and first copies, and put it back into storage - for future historians to access, perhaps. Then we are done here and you can return to the surface."

"What about you? Are you coming with us?"

Garia grinned. "What do you think those security guards outside would do? Six people walk into this room and seven walk out? No, I'll make my own way up, I deem. Mrs Ross?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"I would like some advice on some personal matters, if I may, since I have been away from Earth for some time. For one, I'll need to update my clothing. This outfit is one hundred and forty years old, Anmar years, that is. I can appear in your hotel room, would that be okay?"

"Why, yes, of course, Ma'am." Karin briefly examined Garia. "I don't think there will be any trouble finding something that will make you less noticeable, I think. And after we have done that?"

"You had planned a dinner for the six of you, I believe?"

"How did you know that? Oh... that was a silly question, wasn't it? Yes, I asked Jerry to do that, so that we could talk over what we found down here."

"Then, assuming you can find me something here to wear, could I impose and join you at table? I can eat, although I won't require much and it doesn't actually have any nutritional effect on me."

O'Toole was interested. "How does that work, then? What do you people eat?"

"Remember I'm not human now? I absorb energy from the galaxy, somehow. Our bodies, if you can call them that, have different needs than those of Solids. I'm sufficiently young that I don't understand how any of it works."

The Agent shook his head. "I'm having real trouble believing any of this, but I guess I have no choice. I'm sorry, Ma'am? You were saying."

"Just that we can use the time to set up contact arrangements and so on, and then," Garia smiled, "I can tell you just a little of the wonderful future which awaits Earth and its colonies."

* * *

"Mrs Ross," Suarez said as they left the restaurant, "if I may escort you back to your hotel."

"There's really no need to be so formal, you know," Karin replied with a smile. "You can call me Karin if you will allow me to call you Ramon."

"Well, if you insist... Karin. This is my first visit to Earth and I'm finding it a little difficult to determine the levels of politeness and so on. Besides, I've spent most of my time dirt-side in an office in DC and around here people seem to treat others a little differently than they do over there."

The two set off to walk the two blocks to the hotel where they were both staying.

"Ah, of course. Now I have heard that they can be quite polite out in the colonies, is that so?"

"I suppose so. Of course, what you grow up with seems normal, doesn't it? My first off-world trip was to Alpha - Centauri, that is - and they are more rough and ready there than I was used to. Anmar, on the other hand, is very courteous, more like home. DC was a shock after both of those! Have you been away from Earth at all?"

She shook her head. "Union Lines, who Alex worked for, had a scheme whereby wives and partners could accompany their other halves on some routes, but something always seemed to come up when that was offered to us. So, no, I never did get to go into space."

"Maybe that was just as well," he observed. "You might have been aboard when his ship was destroyed by the Toini. If that had happened, you wouldn't have been here opening a package from the past that is going to change everyone's future."

"Maybe you're right, Ramon, but perhaps the price was too high. I think I would rather have had my husband, and maybe died alongside him, than have to deal with the grief that followed. That basically destroyed a year or two of my life, and it put an end to a promising career."

He gave her a sideways look. "And now you might have a more promising career, if you want it."

"What? You mean, for me to go into space? That was what... Garia... suggested, wasn't it? Does she somehow know my future, then? Is that what this is all about?"

He grinned. "I don't think the Beings deliberately followed your future, Karin. However, what Garia said is still true. We have need for your services in the near future, and you're essentially in a dead end here."

She stopped and looked at him, wide eyed. "Are you offering me a job, Ramon? What would I do, where would I be going?"

He considered. "I suppose I am offering you a job, Karin. I have been asked to put together a team to make sense out of all the new information we will be getting in the near future, as the human-Being colonization program becomes active with the ending of the war. First stop will probably be Anmar via Nirvana, to give you some experience of other cultures, and then find you a berth on one of our exploration ships... probably the one I will be on."

She did a double take. "Mr Ramon Suarez! That is the most outrageous chat-up line I have ever heard!"

Another grin. "I can't deny that there might, just, be a personal angle to all this. However, the job offer still stands. What do you say?"

Karin considered the last five years, how she had been shunted into a backwater since the death of her husband. Five years during which she had basically become the custodian of a set of elaborately-constructed safe deposit boxes. Perhaps it was time to move on? She had always wondered what the air of another world might smell like.

"I can't give you an immediate answer, Ramon. I have loose ends here on Earth to tidy up, after all." She looked up and gave him a soft smile. "But your offer sounds interesting enough that I want to know more." She hesitated. "Both offers."