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How it was done
As he was doing his work at Regent's Park, George was alerted
by a message signal on the vidcom.
"Gee-Mac 207" he replied.
The Rear Admiral's face appeared.
"George, there is a recorded message for you, sound only."
"Acknowledged."
"George, this is Kerstin. I have good news for you. There
was an attempt on Marita's life today but she was kept out of
danger by her students. As a precaution before a bomb was contained,
Marita and her students were taken to the Spacers Club where the
students will be guests until further notice. We have arrested
all the followers that we know about and the person that we think
is the local ringleader. Our colleagues in Lebanon have arrested
two others on our behalf. We cannot be sure that everyone who
was involved has been arrested so we will continue to operate
as if nothing has changed. A device was found by Marita's students
on Saturday under the strip in front of Undepoldus House. It was
removed yesterday by a Spacer construction team.
I gather that you know that Boku was mainly responsible for your
safety today. There were four of the gang waiting to kidnap you
at Regent's Park. The police could not do anything until any of
the gang had made a move that might have threatened your safety.
Boku somehow managed to get the children to surround you at the
crucial moment. Then the children stayed with you until you reached
the entrance to the animal enclosure. I was driving the floater
that you saw. I kept out of view when I saw you going towards
the Animal Park entrance but I circled round to check that you
got into Undepoldus House OK. I saw you go past the door of Undepoldus
House, stop and turn around. Then I was told that you had signalled
an emergency situation. A moment later I saw two men on the roof
above the door out of your sight. Their faces were known to us
so I landed and told the children that they might be able to see
the real Undepoldus before the Park opened. The kidnappers had
held off when you had children around you before so I thought
that the children might help again. I wanted it to look as if
you were surrounded by children by pure chance so that the would-be
kidnappers would not know how you were guarded. I guess that your
security system must have operated because you walked past your
door without going in. The short delay gave me just enough time
to get the children to surround you again. One of the gang on
the roof had similar clothes to you and was made up to look like
you. It was clear that they intended to make a switch that would
hardly be noticed. Thankfully it failed. End of recording."
As the recording came to an end, the Rear Admiral's face re-appeared.
He said. "George, please carry on as normal for the rest
of the day. Tonight there will be a special welcome for Marita's
students. Please bring your friend along with you. Clearing."
The Rear Admiral's face disappeared before George could answer.
The processor announced. "Mr. Ivor Davies wishes to visit
you. Is it convenient?"
"Admit him when he arrives. Gee-Mac 207."
Ivor entered shortly afterwards.
"George, I heard what happened to today at the University
from a very tall policewoman. It is funny, but somehow she reminded
me of your partner Miss Andersson. She was very efficient, almost
too efficient. She had the rank of a constable but she acted like
a police sergeant. Just as we opened there were fifteen police
floaters in the Park. They were looking everywhere, even inside
some of the animal enclosures, but they did not seem to find what
they were looking for."
"Did you know that there was going to be an attempt to kidnap
me?"
"No George, I didn't. The tall policewoman said nothing about
that. She didn't say anything about why the police were here in
such numbers but left it to me to think that a terrorist had planted
a bomb somewhere. The police floaters seemed to be coming and
going for nearly half an hour after we opened. I know that you
would not have seen anything because the only window in this place
is behind a wall and you cannot hear what is going on outside."
George said. "I think that the police had got wind of an
attempt to kidnap me and possibly Undepoldus too, but they did
not and presumably do not want the public to know that. The search
was probably a cover to disguise the fact that they arrested two
men who had been seen on the roof of this building."
Ivor asked. "Why did you let a group of schoolchildren in
here before we officially opened?"
"I had met them when I had just got off the strip. One of
them said 'There's the Undepoldus man' and they surrounded me.
This prevented the kidnappers from getting at me. I showed them
the replica I carry as we walked towards the Park entrance together.
When I tried to get in here the first time, the door would not
open at my command. I did not know why then but I guessed that
the security system prevented the door from opening. I walked
past the door and then turned around because I thought that someone
might be hiding around the corner of this building. As I did so,
a policewoman spotted men on the roof above the door. I had not
seen them. She thought that the children could protect me again
so she told them that I might let them see the real Undepoldus.
They ran towards me and surrounded me again before the kidnappers
could do anything. When I was surrounded by the children the door
opened for me. I was safe while I was with them. I let them in
so that they could see Undepoldus. He didn't mind. In fact I think
it was a nice change for him to see the children near to him.
He showed himself to them by crawling around this desk so that
he was only a few centimetres away from their faces. The children
were delighted. I told the teachers that I thought that the children
may have helped to stop me being kidnapped so it was only fair
that they should see the real Undepoldus."
"You didn't say that a small Spacer had hidden herself among
the children to act as your bodyguard."
"I did not want to say anything about her because the fewer
people know that she can disguise herself as a child, the better."
"I understand. I found out when one of my staff caught her
wandering around the animal enclosures unaccompanied by a parent
or a teacher. She was escorted to my office so that we could find
out who she belonged to. It was only when she was in my office
alone with me that she took her wig off and said who she was.
I thought that it would hardly be likely that someone as small
as her could be a Spacer. Then she said she was your bodyguard.
She had used the group of children to stay close to you. Her story
seemed very strange to me. I wondered how such a small woman could
be useful. She saw that I was still doubtful. Indeed, she seemed
pleased that I could hardly believe her. Then she said 'I know
that I can bribe you to let me go.' I was shocked that such an
open offer could be made to me. Then she produced around 2000
Spacer credits and asked 'Is that enough Mr. Davies? If not, I
am sure that George can get me some more.' No non-Spacer would
ever offer Spacer credits for payment, and certainly not that
much."
George said. "Boku Adedeyo has a remarkable sense of humour.
I take it that her bribe was big enough."
"I said that the Spacer money was proof enough that she was
who she said she was. No non-Spacer would ever dare to carry that
much money around like change. She then said 'I will give you
one as a souvenir. She gave me a one credit piece to look at.
Then she said 'It is dirty, let me polish it for you.' When I
gave it back to her, it did not seem dirty to me. She went through
the motions of polishing it and then said 'Hold out your hand.'
I did. She had ground that rock-hard coin into powder with her
bare hands. All I got was a mixture of green and red dust."
"Ivor, Her hands are prosthetics. She can crush a pistol
or stop a bullet with them. She teaches Spacers to be bodyguards
at the Spacers College. Her powerful hands and her super disguises
combine to make her the ideal bodyguard."
"Then she said 'Sorry, I was only joking. Have a whole one.'
She held out an empty hand. Then she said 'You are looking in
the wrong place.' Then she left. It was after she had gone that
I saw a two credit coin had been pushed flush into the surface
of my desk."
"Ivor, she paid for an adult's admission to the Park."
"She certainly did George, but I wish that I had met her
under different circumstances. It was a bit like meeting one of
the super heroes that I read about in comic strips when I was
small. My grandchildren are around her size. But for security,
I would love to give them the chance to meet her. Now George I
will have to go. I am glad that everything has turned out alright."
Ivor took the opportunity to have a look at Undepoldus before
he left.
George found the trip back to the Club almost an anticlimax. He was happy to have the real Undepoldus around his shoulders again. He continued his studies with the vidbook and had the feeling that Undepoldus found it just as interesting. He was glad that it was a complete vidbook and not a dummy that was only a protection device. There were no more followers to detect because they had been arrested. Even so, Kerstin had said that the guard would be maintained in case another organisation became a threat.
Both Marita and Kerstin greeted him when he entered his cabin.
They were both wearing formfits and nothing else.
Marita said. "George, we are giving my students a proper
Spacer's welcome tonight. The dining room will be the recreation
area on Lagrange Five this evening. Everyone will be in formfits
to show how they normally live in space. The students will have
the chance to meet all of us on a one to one basis and ask any
questions they like. Jane and a few others will provide a cabaret
and Boku has prepared an entertainment of her own with Michael.
Those are the entertainments that I know about. There may be others."
George asked. "Are you going to do anything Marita? You used
to do a juggling act didn't you?"
"I might if they are desperately short of entertainers. Kerstin,
Have you ever done any entertaining?"
Kerstin said. "I think that they would find Sami folk tunes
on a fiddle rather boring. Anyway, my fingers have gone soft and
I haven't got a fiddle to play on. Can you do a turn George?"
George said. "I used to do William McGonagal's poems with
the actions when I was a student but I haven't done anything since."
Marita and Kerstin asked together. "Who is William McGonagal?"
George said. "He was Scotland's most famous bad poet. He
wrote long poems about disasters. Some people find his poems so
bad that they are funny."
Kerstin asked. "I thought that Robert Burns was Scotland's
most famous poet. He was also bad, wasn't he?"
"Yes Kerstin, he is Scotland's most famous poet. He was once
thought of as bad because he seduced a lot of women and wrote
erotic poems. His poetry is good - if you can understand his Scots
dialect. McGonagal just wrote bad poems."
That evening George discovered that Kerstin's fiddle was a cello
that she played like a violin.
Undepoldus picked a spot in front of the stage and stayed there all evening. George had the feeling that he liked the show that was put on for the students' benefit..
PAUSE
The next section covers the unexpected
activities of Undepoldus.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the following
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.