‘Are you saying that the poor countries must stay poor?’
‘No: I’m saying that the current world population must be reduced significantly, especially in those continents unable to provide for their own needs; only then can everyone enjoy a decent life into the foreseeable future.’
‘Won’t a sudden drop in childbirth in some areas cause all sorts of problems with demographic imbalances?’
‘Probably. But that has to be accepted as a lesser problem than what we are doing to the environment now.’
‘How will you make sure that the medicines you provide to restart fertility will always be available to those who need them? If civilisation does come to an end, won’t humanity just die out?’
‘We’ve given some thought to that and the saurians have brought their genetic skills to bear on the problem. They have determined that they can do this without any complex medicines being needed; instead, all people will have to do to restore their fertility is to eat lots of some widely-available substance – perhaps grass. They think that they can design this so that fertility is only restored for a few hours.’
‘Grass?’
‘Yes. Some species or other of grass is readily available almost anywhere, but it isn’t the kind of thing that anyone would eat by accident.’
The questions and responses went on in like vein for some time, and seemed to be winding up when another American reporter, who had so far sat silently, put up his hand.
‘All right, last questioner,’ said Freya.
‘Cade, is it true that you worked for the British security services?’
Probably a revival of the Tower Bridge incident, I thought. ‘Yes, I provided some assistance in countering terrorism.’
‘Is it true that you can kill people by using your mind alone?’
Where on Earth had that come from? I paused, shocked by the question. I felt Freya’s emotional response, and knew that she had told no-one of the first conversation we had had on the verandah.
‘Cade, yes or no?’ The reporter was firm, the others looking on in astonishment.
‘Yes, that’s possible,’ I answered flatly.
‘And is it true that, while working for the British security services, you used your alien mind power to kill several men?’
The shockwave swept round the room. I felt blocked in, knew he must have obtained intelligence information from Britain; to try to deny it could only result in my being shown up as a liar.
‘Yes,’ I said grimly, ‘in self defence.’
‘No more questions,’ he said smoothly, and it was all over.
The news media were full of this revelation over the next few hours. Those who were sceptical about the saurians or opposed to their message leapt on the story: “Cade the Killer”, said one headline. “Cade Kills using Lethal Alien Mind Power” went another. “Cade to be Charged with Multiple Murder?” speculated a third.
‘What do you expect?’ Freya said glumly, as we sat in the Long Island house reviewing the news. ‘You’re the “front man” for the saurians. If the business and political interests opposed to the environmental agenda can discredit you, then they’ve won a major battle. And too many powerful people don’t want to lose their power and wealth, and are afraid that the saurian message will damage public confidence in business and harm the economy.’ She sighed heavily. ‘We’d better get a counter-message out quickly. I suggest that we prepare a press statement explaining the circumstances of those deaths, as you have just explained them to me.’
The next day the press statement was duly issued, and it had some effect; a series of quick opinion polls revealed that my popularity had been restored to around 25%, nearly double that of the previous day. But it had exceeded 75% before the saurian episode had begun.
‘What’s worse,’ said Freya grimly, ‘is that the ones who still believe in you are the young and idealistic, who by definition have no power. You are facing a powerful coalition of disparate interests; big business, the governments of many wealthy countries who see painful political choices, poor countries who see no benefits but only more restrictions on their ability to develop, religious groups opposed to your message about restricting childbirth – or just opposed anyway because there is no room for God either in your philosophy or the saurians’. And most people are terrified of your “lethal mind power”. I’m sorry Cade, but it’s looking grim. I’m not sure where we can go from here.’
Feeling depressed, I linked with Primo and explained the situation from my perspective. He was sympathetic but was unable to suggest anything more which might sway public opinion.
‘Do you have this ability to kill with the mind?’ I asked.
He considered that for a moment, then said, ‘no, we don’t. That may be partly because all saurians have similar mental powers, so any such attack would instantly be detected and countered.’
‘What if several of you ganged up on one person?’
‘I don’t know. But in order for us to do that, we would have to be mind-linked to the victim. And to be linked to someone we were killing would be so horrible that it would probably drive us insane. In fact, we’d have to be insane to contemplate it. Fortunately, we are able to detect incipient insanity at an early stage and treat it.’
The next afternoon brought an unexpected visitor: Luke. After the usual civilities we settled down in the shade of the verandah to enjoy the view over the Sound; he with a coffee, me with a new variety of mineral water Freya had found for me to sample. It was a fine afternoon, the sun warming our faces and the blue sky dotted with a flock of cumulus clouds drifting slowly together, as if they were stationary while the world rolled beneath them.
‘I thought you were still buried in Africa.’
‘I was, but after your first speech at the UN, my charity agreed with the UN Secretariat that I should visit you as a matter of urgency.’
‘Why?’
‘I suppose because I’m the closest person to you, Matt – somebody who might understand you and who you might listen to you.’ He smiled. ‘I gathered that they tried several of your ex-girlfriends but they weren’t able to help.’
I snorted. ‘No surprise there. They never did understand me, which is why they are ex’s.’
‘Ah, the permanent complaint of the misunderstood male!’
‘Anyway, what I am supposed to be listening to?’
He paused before answering, fiddling with his glasses in a way I remembered when he had something he’d rather not say. I couldn’t help noticing that the wavy brown hair was greying at the temples, and his face was lined with care as well as by the African sun. ‘The word is that the technical information the kangasaurs provided checks out so far. They are inclined to believe you. But there are many concerns about the implications of it all – where are they leading us? What will happen to humanity?’
‘If we follow their advice, we might just be saved.’
He grimaced. ‘Salvation comes from within through God’s grace, it can’t be offered on a plate by a bunch of scaly kangaroos.’
‘Aha, now we’re getting to the point – your human-centred religion.’
He turned to face me, visibly angry. ‘Your so-called kangasaurs are proposing to play God with the most precious gift of all – our ability to create life!’