2012 The Secret Teachings of the Next Door Neighbour

The Commander turned slowly, calmly surveilling the three Agents respectfully lined up in front of him. Between them, the holographic image of planet earth revolved serenely on its axis, suspended a foot above the slab of marble table.

  Dressed in a well-cut suit, his thin grey hair carefully combed back over his high, domed skull, the Commander looked disquietingly human, if it were not for his eyes, almost reptilian in their lack of emotion.

  ‘So, not only did our Mr Sutherland slip through the security net ... ‘ the Commander said, picking the name “Mr Sutherland” out slowly, syllable by syllable with evident distaste, ‘but now it seems he has disappeared without trace ...’

  Even though he spoke quietly, his words were loaded with displeasure and sarcasm. The Agents knew it and stood rigidly before him, not saying anything as the Commander paced slowly in front of them, every second filled with increasing tension. Finally, one Agent spoke up.

  ‘Sir, are you sure he is dangerous?’ The Commander stared at him expressionlessly as he nervously continued. ‘The 12th anomaly is still missing ... should we not concentrate on her?’

  Instead of replying the Commander tapped a couple of digits into a keypad on the table. The hologram of Earth instantly vanished to be replaced by a three-dimensional life-sized image of Paul’s head, revolving eerily in the air. Next to it, a computerized LED graph flickered showing a scan of his neural circuitry.

  ‘What do you see here?’ he asked.

  The Agents remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

  ‘I shall tell you,’ he said, resuming his pacing. ‘What you see here is a nobody, an uneducated, untrained human mind,’ he paused at the end of the room and turned, ‘the sort of mind that should present no significant problems for us to apprehend. Agreed?’

  The Agents nodded soberly.

  ‘Well, what I wish to know is this,’ the Commander’s voice was steadily rising, ‘firstly how he evaded us in Paris? And secondly, how he remains un-apprehended 24 hours later?’ he thundered, glaring at each Agent in turn. ‘From his actions I can only conclude that he is the crystal carrier, that he has help from an unknown source and is therefore the most dangerous human alive.’

  The Commander gave his Agents another long look to make sure they fully comprehended his words, then changing his tone he asked briskly,

  ‘What are we doing about it?’

  The Agent in the middle stepped forward,

  ‘We have given it top priority media coverage throughout Europe. We have intensified thought monitoring in the Parisian area. All phone calls and e-mails are being screened for references to “crystal” and “Alesia”. And of course police have set up road blocks and searches on all routes out of Paris.’

  The Commander nodded thoughtfully and touched the keypad again, Paul’s disembodied head being replaced by a detailed map of Northern and Eastern France. He raised a hand to the map, on the point of speaking, when he was interrupted by the voice of a computer technician from the far side of the room.

  ‘Sir? We have a dimensional interference pattern.’

  The Commander’s attention snapped round,

  ‘Where?’ he demanded.

  Instantly the image of the map homed in on an area south east of Paris, about 30 kms from Troyes, where a tiny, red light could be seen repeatedly flashing.

  The Commander stared at it intently for a second,

  ‘Either the missing twelfth anomaly has reappeared, or, as I suspect, we have found our Mr. Sutherland,’ he said with satisfaction, before turning to the Agents, ‘you know what to do.’

  The three Agents turned as one, ready to exit the room, when the Commander spoke again.

  ‘There is no need to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, so close to the end-time. When Re returns for the harvest I have no desire to look a fool. Do your job and do not fail!’ he ordered and the Agents once again turned to leave.

  Paul: December 17th