Free Panspermia Deorum by Hylton Smith Page B

news on the
deflection programme. I insisted that the crew would have to be
volunteers, and I couldn’t ask something of others that I wasn’t
prepared to do myself. Therefore, I will also leave in a few days
from now. At my age, it is unlikely that I will ever return, or
even withstand the outward voyage during the months in space. Just
as well then that I have a very capable man to continue the
leadership of VB Aerospace. His name is Julien Delacroix. I
fervently hope that this dual strategy gives every last human the
best odds of surviving well beyond 2040. I try not to think too
much about it, but I’ve got to admit I’d dearly like to make that
return trip to a better world here on this planet. And in that
spirit, I want to turn to the sentiment which pushed me into this
course of action. A few years ago, you will remember newspaper
offices in Germany being invaded by sixty armed individuals. I
should stress that I could never condone the way they did this, but
they made no ransom demands, they killed no employees, and they
freed every one of them. It turned out that their planned suicide
was to remind all of us that society was breaking down in our
world. These sixty martyrs hoped to achieve a turning point in
anarchism, terrorism and corruption, a task in which no world
government have ever succeeded. Wherever my final resting place is
to be, I will remember the profound effect these sixty people had
on my life. Thank you for your patience in listening to this
monologue. Hopefully, you will have another speech to hear if
everything goes well and I can return home before 2039 to announce
the deflection programme was a success.”
    *
    Brandt’s bugle
call to the human race was well received, and particularly within
the scattered family of Julien Delacroix. Eugene rang his father
and asked if there was anything he could do, such was the
inspiration he felt from Volker Brandt.
    “Dad, before
you lecture me about the good job I have in microbiology, I feel
useless because I’m not doing anything which will help with
neutralising this death sentence in 2039. You’re going to be the
boss in a few days, so there must be lots of support work to do for
both of the tasks Mr Brandt spoke about. If you think I can be
useful in any way, let me hear it and I’ll be on the next flight. I
think it could be pretty cool working with my father on a project
with such a potential payoff. But remember, I don’t come
cheap.”
    “I don’t know
what to say, Eugene. I’m actually a bit overwhelmed emotionally,
but I’d love to work with my son in some way or another, let me
give it some thought. In any case, if the worst happens, we
shouldn’t be spending the next few years apart. Sophie is really
happy here. In some respects it’s like a step back in time, but
people interact with each other much more than in Western Europe.
We have to think about your mother though. We don’t want her to be
on her own.”
    “Leave that to
me, Dad. I think she could be talked around to our way of looking
at this after hearing Brandt. Helping the entire species, surely
she can see it isn’t all about the Delacroix family.”
    “Ok, son. You
have no idea how much I appreciate your offer. I’ll definitely get
back to you soon. Bye.”
    When Sophie
heard about Eugene’s intention, she also volunteered to speak with
Elise. Julien hadn’t felt so good in years.
    *
    Volker Brandt
had one more outstanding issue to take care of before setting off
for Mars. He asked Julien to join him in the ‘flight deck’. This
time every screen was turned on, and the shock, blatantly
reflected on the face of the new boss of VB Aerospace, temporarily
rendered him speechless. When he fully realised what was happening,
he spoke.
    “Volker, how
long have you been able to tap into the activities of other
organisations to this degree?”
    “A long time,
and this is why I want to speak about how it must continue like
this. You would be naïve in the extreme if you