Global meltdown!!!!

Well, that aside.. how are you? Are you coping with the utter nonsense (oh, yes - it is!) of the NFL? Have you survived the notion that AfD has returned into Germany's 'Parliament' (I use that term VERY loosely...) and they have already been labelled as far-right (or worse - the Nazi's)? Junk alert!!! It's a sick joke, that the world keeps on revisiting upon itself. If someone - anyone! - dares to say something that you don't agree with, then you (in your convoluted other-universe-thinking world) must be right, so they must be wrong! Sad. Really quite pathetic, but still very sad. Colin Kaperwhatever...well, what can I say? You are...astonishing. And that is not an admission that you are - in any way - correct! The NFL farce/fiasco is going to run for some time (until lunch, this time next week...?) Oh, and the NFL is set to lose, MAJOR big time! (oooh, I Love it!) UK???? Oh...we have just had the ending of this Labour Party farce...yes, go on it's a damnable farce! and he is pleading his case (weak, at best) that Lab is the way forward. No. It frikkin' isn't! Labour=Socialism. Socialism. Does. Not. Work! Why do you still not understand this? Is it the numbers? Are they too high? Can you only count in double digits, which is your pathetic excuse for ignoring the 10's of millions (that is 10s of 1,000,000) who dies under that regime? That, I proudly lay at your sad feet, is your problem. Do not try to lay your issue/problem/panic attack at my feet - we move on; you are (it seems) still in the previous year, if not the previous century). Oh, and we learn, and move on - you...not so much! The future is what you want it to be! Grasp it! Seize it, as if there is no tomorrow, because there isn't. Tomorrow becomes today, in the blink of an eye! What you seriously choose to make of it...well, that is, in all seriousness, up to you!

July 12 2017

I am having a few days off, due to that ailment referred to as 'manflu'. I watched some telly, and the last part of LOTR - Return of the King, and thought it was such a fine send off. Quite emotional, really.... The battles, the heroes, the baddies, etc. And then I was wondering... There is, in the film, a massive invasion of all of the lands, with the all-too-real threat to everyone's life and society. It was all going to change, and none of it for the better, unless that Ring was destroyed. This news article caught my eye... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-leader-reported-dead-latest-updates-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-syrian-observatory-for-human-rights-a7836066.html At the same time that I will admit I do not like the idea of anyone dying, I thought - well, if anyone deserves it, this MF does! Which brings me back to LOTR. They have a full-scale invasion, they have 'leaders' (and I use the term very loosely...) who simply deny the invasion. They must have this 'multi-culture' mentality... and it brought home to me what is going on around the world, right now! Since the lunacy of open doors has been foisted upon us, we have seen a large part of Europe descend into tribal ghettos, we have seen violence on the street, we have seen the rise of far-right groups who object to this 'change' - and seriously, can you blame them? We are seeing the seeds of open civil war rising up in most of Europe, and yet those in office are still with their heads stuck in the clouds (or the sand - you pick). We have seen the last 8 years of Obama make the situation at least 10 times worse than it was before he came into office. Although the man is clearly a brilliant public speaker, he has more 'agendas' than I can count! He has followed Chancellor Merkel in opening his country's doors to an unknown number of aliens - and they keep coming! Trump has, at least, decided which side of the bed he wants to lie in, and I can only agree that common sense must prevail, or we are all lost. Talking of lost...Sweden. This does not look good, no matter how you may phrase it or look at it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Sweden Really? What took you so frikkin' long! http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/768733/Sweden-migrants-latest-refugee-policy-demos-report This just reads like a CNN (FakeNews!) report: http://www.government.se/articles/2017/02/facts-about-migration-and-crime-in-sweden/ How can you take most of this at face value? This was known, nearly a year ago! Did anything change? DIF...:( https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/09/how-sweden-became-an-example-of-how-not-to-handle-immigration/ http://drsircus.com/world-news/the-end-of-a-nation-losing-sweden-forever/ One major point here is - do not accept, at face value, ANYTHING that appears in the news, and least of all on the Internet. It may well be someone's idea of sarcasm, but which you may interpret as 'truth' (and that is a negotiable feast...) Cross-check it all. If you don't check them, then you are just forwarding on a link that started out as fiction, and then grew so big that people had to start believing it... Yeah, it's not original... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4396224/Sweden-never-mass-immigration-PM-says.html

May 2017...

Oh dear me...the lefties will be out in force, the middle of the roadies will be bleating on about this and that, the righties will be making their claim for putting things right, and few will listen... So, nothing will change then! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/0 We have yet another slaughter within British shores, and - you know what? - the politicos will not change at all! The ones that we currently have are all too far up their own elbows, and the 'major' players who want to replace them are too far lost in History to make a rational suggestion, even if it came up and blew up in their sick faces! Seriously, how do people sleep at night, knowing that they have voted for this IRA supporter? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39807055 or http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08swc6y Are you sleeping peacefully? How...? Or would you rather vote for this creature...? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-not-drop-failed-tens-10263861 I'd say laughable, but the laugh is at my expense (and yours if you were wondering...) Do you want an expert opinion? You know, all those 'experts' that told you that Brexit will fail, at huge cost, yawnyawn, blahblahblah...http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2017/05/19/theresa-may-setting-out-to-fail/ You know what - all of the murders in the last few decades won't change anything, thanks to you, the voting plebs, the electorate. You are so damnably boring in your blinkered views that you actually refuse to see what is rapidly approaching. Well, I would say that it serves you right, but your lunacy is going to affect me and my family - and for that you earn my immediate anger - and eternal distrust. You are the cause of this, as much as the lunatics actually doing the killing. They are in this country, free to walk among us, thanks to your pathetic voting (or lack of it) in recent years. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-arena-bombing-live-attack-13075807 How. Many. More!??? You had a choice, a little while ago, to start to put things right. Oh, no. You voted for this fruitcake: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sadiq-khan-london-mayor-terrorism-attacks-part-and-parcel-major-cities-new-york-bombing-a7322846.html No, it is NOT at all acceptable to be 'living' with the threat of this madness, especially when you had the chance to stop it! And yet, you voted him in... We in the UK have only a few days now until a MAJOR General Election. It's sad to think that so many people will simply not bother - 'my vote won't make a difference', or 'I don't know who to vote for'. Bollocks. Find out! One party, amongst all of the others, stands out recently. It created the Brexit referendum, and is labelled as far-right. Even extremist! Given the current in Manchester (by far-right Religious extremists) then I think that label is some Fake News idea of 'spin' - it's rubbish. It's also confusing and directly misleading. Make your vote in 2017 count - who knows, if you don't do this right then you may not get another chance to vote! 2022 is a long way off. UKIP is my way.

2017 is one shite kind of year...

so far... If, like me, you thought that 2016 was the pits, the worst - like, for ever! - then, like me, it isn't. 2017 seems, for various reasons, on a par with 2016, and in certain circumstances seems set to exceed all of the crap that 2016 threw at us (and yes, there was a LOT of crap...) The list of the obituaries is quite shocking, really, and then you begin to realise that, at this age, it just happens that way! People get old - and some people aren't allowed that luxury! If you explore the beginning months of 2016, you see that icons came, and they went. Bowie perhaps being the major one, Rickman, et al. It was crap! Would you just stop with the dying, damn it! Oh, no. We ain't done yet.... 2017 has already seen a few very famous faces drop off the radar, and, yes, it's an age thing, but that doesn't make it any easier. I will make a quoted example - my family (and, yes, other animals...) has a pretty good gene pool (or so I thought). I am one of 4 - 2 older sisters and a younger brother. We have 3 first cousins, and all being well (which it isn't...but I digress...) then I thought that we would all be set for seeing in the century - each of us/all of us/whichever. Why so? I hear you ask... Well, my mother died just before her 80th birthday, years ago. My father, however, not only saw my mother die (literally...don't go there...) but then, a year to the day, phoned me up and told me that he was remarrying! Say what? Hold the front page, here you are 82, and you are telling me that you are about to marry - again! - someone who is about 15 years younger than you are...WTF? Anyway, after I had pulled myself up from the floor, I and my siblings accepted this and got on with things (you know, that LIFE thingy...). As it turned out, they were good for each other. We got on pretty well with the new step-mother, and it was a few years of my dad coping with all that was thrown at him. The fact that he actually outlived his second wife...well, nobody saw that coming. Anyway...I digress...my idea/concept was that, since my dad lived to 98, and the general gene pool was looking good, going back through the years, then I thought that all 4 of us would see in a century apiece, all the while missing the bleedin' obvious - just because the stats say one thing then it does not make it so! We now find that my brother has been diagnosed with an incurable ailment called Motor Neurone Disease - the one that basically makes you waste away. And not only that, but he has to go and 'get' (no-one actually knows how anyone 'gets' this damn thing - it's not a virus...so WTF is it?) this tricky ailment. All of that means that he has written his book (https://www.amazon.com/How-Die-Well-Without-God/dp/0995579008) on how to approach the end, with none of that 'religious' clap-trap. This is written for anyone who, like him, has been given a death sentence announcement, but is not, per se, a believer in the whole 'god' thing. He explores much of his growing up in the church, and how, along the way, he grew up. He is at pains, during the book, to explain his reasoning for the story, and that (reasoning) is sadly lacking in so many parts of the world today. And tomorrow. And certainly yesterday! I would recommend the book, to anyone who is dying (news flash - we all are!) or if you may have a relative who is dying, and that person may (or may not) be of a religious persuasion. It does not have to end here - there is life after death - it's just that the person that you have lost won't be around to be part of it; not directly, at least. But their legacy, their memories - they will all live on, in you and the rest of the family. I'd say LLAP, but that isn't going to happen. Not this year, and not for my brother...:( Hopefully, his family and the rest of us will pick up the pieces and continue to grow... PK

2017...I do have to wonder...

What do you want? For you, for your children...? What are you ...even looking for...? Do you want your name to live on, in the future (what kind of future...? Your kind of future - their kind of future...?) Come on, face it. What are you even on this planet FOR! Do you have some kind of 'existence' or God-given divine right to do...whatever that means? Oh come on! Get just a little bit real! Do NOT quote the Bible or the Koran as some vague point of reference - or a point of 'accuracy'. I mean...come on! If I went down that path, Harry Potter would be World President!!! Yes - he would!!!!

January 1st, 2017...

Well, that all got off to a great start, especially in Istanbul... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38481521 I thought 2016 was not (as some pundits are insisting) the worst year - like for EVVA! Clearly these people have little or no imagination (or brain power), and have no sense of History. Without dwelling on it, you will find a LOT of episodes in History that make 2016 seem like a walk in the park, on a sunny day. 2016? Yes, we had a lot of VFC (Very Famous Celebs) who died. I recall being shocked that DaviBowie was 69 - and had died! How dare he! Then they just kept on coming...or going...or passing...whatever. Oh yes, we had...BREXIT! Yay, BrExit - the greatest thing that May (geddit) or may not happen, depending on how much the losers want to tie up the legal system (do you not understand democracy? Really?) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37861888 Clearly we should have another Referendum, to see which way the wind is blowing, and then a third one - best of three seems sensible, after all, apparently, all those who voted to leave are the Dumbest people. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2016/may/31/brexiters-eu-leavers-remain At best, this was not a 'landslide majority' - it was about 52/48 split - the Leavers got in by the skin of their teeth! If we re-did the Referendum then I am sure that the percentages would be different, and perhaps a lot of people who are fed up with the political in-fighting just won't bother to vote, but so what? Best of three...? Anyone would think that a by-election needs to be rerun...go on, admit it; this was funny, in a sad, pathetic sort of way: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/12/listen-julia-hartley-brewer-trolls-sarah-olney-second-election/ So. We have BrExit. Watch this space... And then we had the USA elections! Wow - just...wow! There isn't going to be a president Donald Trump... Sorry, can you speak up a bit? I'm not sure that I heard that: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/12/george-clooney-donald-trump-jodie-foster-money-monster-cannes-2016 You idiot! You, and it seems a lot of you Hollywood...actors...think that you know better than the American people - and boy, did they mess up your silly little world! Tim Allen (honesty!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMZ0GuMWkGE Robert DeNiro (pillock): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q-ZyW9bz5c And while we are on the subject, what is it about the current President that makes him such a 'success' story? How do people make him out to be 'the greatest President ever' and other weird titles? Based on what...? This is just mindless drivel...http://www.gq.com/story/obama-greatest-president-legacy This is just jaw-dropping ignorance: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/55-reasons-obama-will-go-down-as-one-of-our-best-presidents_us_57a1ffe5e4b0e2e15eb7f5f9 I really don't see that there is any way for this ...person...to crawl away from this. Such tactics are indefensible. Unless you are on their side...? http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/worst-president-ever-obama-gives-billions-to-the-worlds-leading-terrorist-state-iran/ What? How is this even possible? http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/worst-president-ever-obama-increases-debt-to-20-trillion/ Just pathetic: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/29/politics/russia-sanctions-announced-by-white-house/ The end game here is that Obama is behaving like an 8 year child, throwing a tantrum - I didn't get what I want - WAAAAAH! USA - grow up! This person, your current President - is showing his soft spots - and the major players - the ones that he wants to upset - are NOT BITING! Trump is too sharp to fall in to this nonsense, and Putin (Leader of the 'enemy', if you believe the mainstream media...I'll get to that soon) simply isn't buying in to this utter crap! http://www.naturalnews.com/048714_mainstream_media_propaganda_lies.html and this - you should watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uap0GwBYdBA ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uap0GwBYdBA SO essentially, we have been lied to for years by what we thought was reliable media, we are being lied to by the POSTUSA, and our own UK Prime Minster will most likely have agendas to keep BrExit off the table! And you seriously wonder how it is that the 'far right' is on the rise. You are soooo part of the problem! LLAP!

Modern Technology

Modern Technology The crowd had been gathering around the Lulworth Cove harbour all day. At not quite a mile wide at the mouth of the river this harbour area could take a lot of people. An annual event, running for the last fifteen years, and everyone who was in it, and everyone who was watching it, knew that it was high stakes being played out today. The world leaders in this crazy sport were here, and many dozens more who fancied their chances at being famous, even if only for fifteen minutes of air time and fame. Karen Jacobson, the current world champion, looked out from the window of her trailer. She was tired, which she knew was a bad thing. It meant that she would have to be concentrating even more than she had been in the past competitions, or she was certain to fail. She’d been practicing for the last couple of days, but felt that her heart wasn’t in it. At 30 years old, she was acknowledged to be ‘old’, but still ‘world class’, and she knew it. Not with any false illusion, but with a fine sense of pride and reality. She was still world class, and she could still give an incredible performance today, if all the luck in the world went her way. She smiled. This sort of thing doesn’t go on forever – there has to be a time where you hang up your hat and retire, hopefully with an air of gracefulness. Until then, she owned today. She owned the performances that were scheduled for the afternoon. She knew it, the crowd knew it, and most importantly, the other contestants knew it. There was a knock at the door. “Half an hour, Miss Terry.” That was her stage name, a play on the word Mystery. She answered “Thanks, Frankie.” And then, before he could move away “Frankie?” “Miss Terry?” She was sat in the AntiGrav chair, and moved, with only a little difficulty, to the door. In this cramped space it wasn’t that easy to manoeuvre around, even though the chair itself was as small as they could go. Without opening it she asked “Are you alone?” “I am.” “Frankie.” And paused. Did she want to say this? He waited and after a few seconds “Miss Terry?” “Frankie, can I trust you?” While his brain worked out what had just been asked of him, he laughed and replied “After all this time, I would like to think that I, of all people, am someone that you can trust.” “Frankie, can you spare a minute? Can you come in?” There was a small pause as Frankie worked this through his brain. She is asking me in? That’s unheard of! “Um, Miss Terry, I have a few minutes, if you want me for something.” He turned the handle, and slowly opened the door. “I’m coming in.” As the door opened, she reached out and pulled him in for the last part. She didn’t want the whole world to see her, not like this. Not with nothing on. He was gobsmacked. Not only had she dragged him in for the last few feet but here she was with nothing on, starkers, nude, naked…he let that trail off, as she was clearly not in a small-talk mood. “How long have we known each other, Frankie?” She didn’t seem to register that he was fully clothed and she was as bare as the day that she was born. “Um, how long…? About 5 years, I guess. You turned up for the show…” She cut him off. There was so much to talk about, and so very little time to do the talking! “Frankie, what are my chances today? Can you be honest with me?” “I will always try to be honest with you, Miss Terry –“ “Make that Karen, will you? Cut the crap.” “Karen? That’s your real name?” “Frankie, don’t tell me that you didn’t know.” She smiled, and he smiled back. “Well, it was rumoured… but you are a secretive type of person, so no-one actually admitted that they knew – not properly. Your chances? Your chances are what you want to make them. You told me that two – no, three years ago. And may I say that I am not aware of anyone who has been admitted to your trailer, just before the games commence. In that, at least, I do thank you, and not because you are sitting before me with no clothes on, and the only time that I have seen you before has been armoured up for the games! This day is turning stranger and stranger.” She seemed to almost not notice what he had said. “Frankie, can I have a hug?” His confusion must have been a sight, if anyone had a camera to record it, but all he could say was “A hug? Of course you can have a hug!” He moved towards her, and he put his arms around her, and she put her one arm around him. She squeezed him tight, and he squeezed back, still not believing what was happening. She held it for a moment and then burst into tears. He didn’t really know what to do so he stayed there, and they continued to hug, all the time that she was crying her eyes out on his shoulder. It went on for a couple of minutes, and he knew that he had other things to do, other places to be, other people to get sorted out. In spite of the rare honour being offered to him today, he knew he had to go. Softly he said “Karen, I need to go, I need to be somewhere else.” He pulled away from her, and she acknowledged that their time was up. “Frankie, thanks, you’ve been an angel.” She smiled at him, and leant over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. She liked him. “No problems. Good luck today. Hey, whatever happens, when this is all finished, if you want to, come and find me. Maybe we can chill somewhere for an hour – you’ll need unwinding, I’m sure.” “Thanks, I might just do that.” She changed her tone “OK, now to business. Frankie, get out!” As she was saying it she was smiling so Frankie didn’t take it too personally. “I have to get dressed and ready!” He left her to it, making sure that the door was closed behind him. He checked his mobile phone and could see a handful of messages that had come through. Who’s a busy boy then? Karen looked at herself in the mirror, wondering whether there would be stories running around the place, since Frankie had seen her, literally in the flesh. No, of all the people, Frankie could be trusted. “OK, Miss Terry, make or break time.” She moved the AG chair over to the suit, and started to get dressed. The super-thin, super-lightweight under-suit went on first, followed by the legs. She had none herself and these were the latest fully-automated cyber-controlled legs, linked in to her helmet, which would go on last. The extensive surgery that she had undergone, after the car wreck, had left her with numerous cables throughout her body. She was now able to ‘plug in’ to various adapters, rather like when people had to recharge batteries. You couldn’t just call it a ‘crash’. It was much more than that. The car was in a thousand pieces and she was impossible to put back together again. She’d been ‘lucky’, if you could use that word. She had parents who were world authorities on spare part surgery and organ replacement. She was in a forced coma for six months but then started to slowly come round. Her parents had used the six months to ask and beg every expert that they knew for advice on what could be done. It took the next two years but she ended up being a twenty five million dollar woman. Fifteen million dollars of her was pure robotics. The rest was an assortment of repair surgery and odds and ends. She put the body armour on and cautiously stood up from the chair. There was no mobility yet, since the helmet contained all of the control circuitry, but she had to make sure that the under-suit was lying comfortably, and not creased up, pinching her in any parts. The suit frame was anchored, with stays that would remain attached until the helmet released them. Rather like a Saturn V launch, she thought. All those fuel feed cables attached, right up until that time that the space ship lifted off. She was happy that the under-suit and the legs and the body armour were all fitting correctly. She moved to slip on the arms. Since she only had her right arm she only had to lean into the arm mountings to get the suit to attach to the arms. It was all automated. She thought of Robert Downey Junior and Iron Man, when the suit basically dressed itself all over him. Once the arms were attached she let the mechanism slowly drop the helmet over her head. This had happened many times before and she got a buzz every time. Show’s up, people! It’s Show Time! Once the helmet was attached, all of the circuitry came online. The lights in the helmet displays all lit up like a Christmas tree. She knew all of them inside out, but it still took another five minutes to run through all of the checks. She was nothing if not thorough. When she was happy that the whole suit was showing green lights everywhere, she stood up, and walked away from the mounting. The power cables fell away, and it was all running on internal batteries. She knew that she was good for the next six hours, whatever she managed to do. The modern technology within the suit meant that she could almost walk normally. The first few times that she had done this she couldn’t believe it – she was normal for a while! She walked to the door and opened it, visor still open. Outside was a busy corridor, with people running up and down all the time. When she stepped out, they all stopped and looked at her. As she walked down the corridor towards the outside they all started clapping. They all knew that this may be her last appearance, as the rumours had been flying around for the last couple of months that she might retire. As she went through the external doors she stopped and took in the crowd. There were thousands of them, in all directions! As soon as they saw her, in her distinctive suits colours, they all stood up and applauded too. There was a lot of yelling and whistling, which for a few seconds took her breath away. She stood there, taking it all in, and then raised both arms and clasped her hands together, high over the helmet. The huge TV screens were all over the place, showing lots of different locations – here she was on one, the targets were shown on a few more. When a few seconds had passed she could see Frankie just off to one side. “Um, Miss Terry, it’s your time to get ready.” He smiled at her, and then whispered “The very best of luck.” “Thanks, Frankie. Thanks for all of your help today.” She dropped her arms down, and checked all of the systems. This took an additional 30 seconds. They were all green. This is it – do or die she said to herself - but let's go easy on the dying. Not today. She raised her arms one last time to the crowd, and turned in all directions. She knew quite clearly that without her followers, her fans, then she was nothing. Enjoy the show, folks. I aim to see that you do. The crowd went wild, with screams from every corner. They expected an exceptional show! She dropped her arms, gave a small salute to Frankie, and then flipped all of the power circuits to max. This is it – no sense in holding anything back. She didn’t want to think about going out in a blaze of glory, but that was there, at the back of her mind. She ran forward, straight towards the cliff edge. The crowd realised what was happening, and went even crazier than they already were. She’s going to do it! She’s going for the Devils Canyon! She reached the top of the cliff and just kept on running, soaring out into the air. The crowd couldn’t believe what they were seeing! She tilted herself down, head-first, and accelerated at an alarming speed. Within seconds she was over the water, aimed straight out into the ocean. She had achieved Mach 1 and was still accelerating! The internal structures of the suit meant that it absorbed all of the stresses and pressures that would have killed any normal person. Out across the bay she screamed, accelerating faster and faster. The initial shock wave had already blown the nearest thousand people backwards. She tilted, and flew out, across the sea. She could feel the sea rise up, due to the phenomenal vacuum that she had created. The heads-up displays within the helmet told her all the information that she needed. She was flying fast and true, on direct course for the targets, twenty miles away. She knew she would be on them in less time than people expected, and that was where the others all went wrong. Many competitors had been paying too much attention to what the displays were telling them and not enough attention on where they were. Over the years hundreds had literally flown straight past the targets, and had to spend valuable time recovering their flight path. That wasn’t going to happen to her, not today. She smiled as the miles fell away and she could see the targets now close, only two miles away. Then she was there, on them. She had prepared well for this, and the way she went through the ten targets showed that she was world class – a true leader in this crazy sport. She flew past each one, pulsing as she went, and finished in a new course record. The crowd back on the ground were still going crazy, delighted by what they had seen, what they had witnessed here today. She flew high, straight up, still at the speed of sound, turning as she went. She saw the results coming in to the helmet displays and smiled. She had done it! She had made an incredibly difficult set of manoeuvres seem so simple, so easy. OK, people, now follow that! She doubted that any of the competitors would come anywhere close to those times. She was now fifteen miles up, and loving it. She slowed and stopped. The AG suit was more than capable of handling the temperature controls at this altitude and she had oxygen for another three hours. She was safe. The view was stunning, and she was revelling in the moment. She made sure that the camera was still operating and slowly turned, taking it all in. This is something to show the grandchildren, she thought. If I ever have any grandchildren… She let that thought trail off, and focussed on getting back to the land. Checking all of the displays took a few seconds and then she dived. I came out in a rush, I think I’ll take the slow road back. She was travelling at three hundred miles an hour, and felt relaxed – all the tension that she had felt before the jump had gone, replaced by an elation of success. Smiling came easy when you knew you were that good. Because of the unpredictable flight patterns that some competitors had shown, the exclusion area had grown, over the years. From the coast there was a one hundred mile radius ‘bubble’ where no flights were authorised, so she knew she had the air to herself. She came down towards the sea, in the general direction of the games launch site. Flying easily she slowed on the approach so that she was going only around fifty miles an hour when she came into the launch area. She landed at the same place that she had launched herself from, only a few minutes ago. The crowd had held their breath when they saw her coming in, and once she was down they erupted again into cheers and screams. She stood atop the cliff and turned around, arms up again, letting herself take all of this in. The crowd loved her, and she loved them. This moment was never going to happen again, and she wanted to make sure the magic of today stayed with everyone. She had decided that she would be retiring – this was her last public appearance as Miss Terry – and she could look forward to a more quiet retirement. Frankie came forward, and whispered in here ear “Well done! That was exceptional.” Ever the busy organiser he then said “Do you want to make a speech? I think the crowd are looking out for one.” She wondered. A speech? I’m not one for speeches… Then she thought Why not? They deserve it. “Sure. Patch me in to the system.” He spoke into his communicator and then gave her the thumbs up sign. She had no idea what to say, so she went with honesty. “Thank you. Thank you all! I am delighted to be here today, and I am so very happy that all of you have turned out as well.” A pause, to work out what to say. “I have no idea how I just did that performance, but I am very happy that I made it back in one piece, and with what might be a new course record?” She looked across at Frankie, who checked with someone over the communicator and came back with another thumbs up sign, followed by a whispered “You took fifteen seconds off the course record, that you set last year!” To the crowd “Oh, wow. Apparently I have just broken my own world record – by fifteen seconds! Ladies and gentlemen, I do thank you all for all of your support over the years, but please understand that this today was my last public performance.” There was a long sigh from the crowd, as what she said settled into their brains. “After today I will be retiring, and trying to take things a little easier.” The crowd then started with their version of a salute “Miss-Te-REE-Miss-Te-REE-Miss-Te-REE” and it built up slowly, until they were all screaming it aloud, loving the performer, and the amazing performance of today. She just stood there, arms up, saluting the crowd as they in turn saluted her. She repeated her turns, facing all parts of the crowd. She let this run for a few seconds, and then voiced “Thank you, thank you all. It has been a blast!” She turned, intending to return to her trailer. She went to the main complex doors but Frankie stepped in front of her. “Karen, I have just had word that someone has made it to your trailer. We don’t know who this person is, and security is on their way. Delay for 30 seconds, if you can.” Delay? How am I supposed to delay…? “Frankie, are you with someone – do you have a partner?” “Er – no – why on earth do you ask me that?” She smiled. I’ll enjoy this delay, even if he doesn’t. She smiled at him. “Come here.” She flipped the visor up and reached across to grab Frankie and pull him in close. Here’s one for the crowd, she thought. She pulled him right up to her and their lips met. “Is this good enough for a short delay?” she whispered. He choked. “Hell yeah – this is brilliant. Try it again and I may get to like it.” He was light in his tone, so they both enjoyed the moment. A beep went on Frankie’s mobile and he pulled away from Karen and looked at it. “They have him.” His faced changed to concerned. “It’s one man, in a suit, no weapons of any sort, and no ID, except the one that got him through all of our security protocols. That’s weird.” “What’s weird?” “I’m one of the three people responsible for creating all the security protocols for access to this place – nobody is supposed to get in or out of here without flagging up alerts everywhere…” “I feel a ‘but’ coming here.” “But, he did just that – he walked in, walked through all of our security… There are only three of us that have that kind of access, that I know of, and he just made it a fourth! That simply should not be happening!” He looked at Karen. “That is not possible!” “OK, Frankie, you’re stressing too much. Number one – it has happened, so there. He did all of that, so we just have to deal with it. Is he saying anything? What’s he here for?” “Hang on.” He spoke into the communicator for at least a half minute, and then said “He wants to talk to you. He won’t say why or anything else, only that he wants to talk to Karen Jacobson.” He looked at her. “Is that really your real name?” She looked at him, and sighed. “Yes, Frankie, that is really my real name. Can we get back to this mystery man.” She stopped, noticing what she had just said. Mystery Man. It’s a play on my stage name. “Frankie, where is he – now?” “He’s still in your trailer. Nobody has worked out where to take him to.” “Frankie, let’s go and meet our Mystery Man.” She didn’t wait for him but marched off, going through the doors and then down the corridor until she got to the trailer. Should I knock? Why the hell would I knock? It’s my damned trailer! She put her hand on the door handle and opened it, and walked in. She could see the mystery man, and was shocked to see him sat in her AG chair – that’s a damned cheek! What hell are you doing sitting in my chair? He smiled at her when she walked in, which made her even more annoyed. She could also see the two security guards, one male and the other female. They were both physically intimidating, which was 80% of their job. Argue with them at your cost! She flipped the visor back down and set all the power back up to maximum. She was still good for at least an hour, even though she had spent an incredible amount of energy during the show. “Frankie, you stay outside for moment, until we have this sorted out.” She made it so that the external speakers were used and said, in loud voice “You, get the hell out of my chair!” Since it took him a few seconds to realise what had just been said she reached over and grabbed him and pulled him out of the chair. She pulled him close, so that his face was only inches from her visor, and said “I do not like it when strangers come into my trailer and SIT IN MY CHAIR!” She then – gently, considering the mood that she was in – threw him to the other side of the room. “You two, the security personnel. Thank you for what you have done so far. Can you stay over there, away from us, while I try to find out what this is all about? Stay weapons hot, but on my command only.” They both raised their eyebrows and looked at each other – how does this civilian know these phrases? She thought to add “Unless I don’t make it, in which case you may fry his ass, many times!” She looked at him, across the room, quite deliberately. Do not, ever, imagine that I am joking! The security pair duly moved over to the opposite end of the room. It didn’t do to cross swords with a world champion, especially when she was so pissed off with someone, and especially since she seemed to know what she was talking about! The crumpled heap at the other end of the room managed to say “Karen, stop!” That he used her real name brought her to a stop. Very few people knew that name. “Karen, I am not here to hurt you. Not at all, in any way. Just stop getting antsy and let me speak!” He lifted his head. “Please?” She duly stopped, and looked at this man, this Mystery Man in her trailer, who had sat in her chair – the damned cheek! “You’d better be quick, before I start to lose my patience, and get angry.” She came close to him and snarled “and you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” He made to straighten himself out, and she said “Stay down. Until I know who you are and what you are doing here I am assuming that you are hostile, and I will put you down or in hospital if I have to. You invade my damned trailer, and sit in my damned chair! You’d better watch it, mister, or these two will fry you where you sit.” He sagged back onto the floor. “Karen, relax. Nobody needs to fry anybody today.” “And how is it that you know my name? Very few people know my name.” He sighed. This was harder than I thought it would be. “Karen, a lot of people know your name. They just choose not to publicise it, that’s all.” “What the heck does that mean?” “Think about it. Think about you, your smash, the work done to repair you, the hundreds of favours that your parents called in, the thousands of people that worked on you! Think about it! A lot of people know exactly who you are.” “Oh, shit. Are you military? Is that it?” “No, I’m not, but I do work with them, and for them at times. I’m civilian, but I have read up on you and your case, and it’s now time that you and I had a private conversation.” “Private? Why priv – oh shit. You’ve come to collect?” He was impressed. She has certainly got a sharp brain to see that at this stage. “Yes, Karen. You can call it that, I suppose.” Crap, she thought. Why now? Damn. Just when she thought she could take a break, go away somewhere, and be a normal person… ha! That’s rich. Normal? She hasn’t been normal for the last few years. She turned to the security team. “Thanks guys, I’ll be taking it from here. Something for you to think about – this here never happened.” She looked at them, hoping they would say the correct thing. All she got was “OK, if you’re sure.” Good! They cautiously went across to the door, opened it, and Frankie stumbled in. The guards continued out, leaving a flustered Frankie. “In or out, Frankie, but shut the door.” Frankie thought he knew what was going on, and then realised that he was outclassed. He looked at the people in the room, and wondered which was the best thing to do – in or out? “Karen, which would you like me to do?” “Frankie, right now, I think it’s best that you go and get a coffee, as my visitor and I have a lot to talk about, and I think it’s going to be best if it’s private.” Slowly, not really knowing if he was doing the right thing, he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. She looked at the interloper. “Ok, whoever you are. Who are you?” “Can I get up yet, or am I going to be down here for a while?” “Oh, you really annoyed me, sitting in my chair like that. Nobody but me sits in that chair – ever!” “OK, I accept that, and I apologise! I won’t do it again, OK? Now can I get up?” “Hell yes, get up, but don’t assume that I am happy that you are here, because I am not.” He slowly stood, straightened his clothes, and then said “You may need to reduce the power in your suit. If you continue to run at that level you’ve only got another 20 minutes or so. Drop it down, and recharge – keep the thing on if you must, but get recharging. You never know when you may need the power.” “Are you ever going to tell me who you are?” “Sorry. We haven’t got off well, have we?” he smiled at her, and she began to relax. Just a little. She also dropped the power levels across all of the systems in the suit, and went to get recharging again. It was a relatively simple matter to get the connections plugged in again. She lifted the visor, but stayed in the suit. “Steven. With a ‘v’, Phillips. In case you were wondering, I am a native Brit, even though my accent may well be confusing. I’ve spent too many years over in the USA, and just picked up the accent.” “OK, Steven-with-a-‘v’, explain. What do you want?” “I would have thought that was fairly obvious. I want you. I need you to come with me to the States, as we have some projects that we’d like you to work on.” She was amazed. She’d never laid eyes on this person before, yet here he was telling her what to do. “I may not be ready to go. I have a lot on for the next few weeks, you know.” He smiled at her. “Karen, no you don’t. You’ve just announced that today is your last competition – oh, well done, by the way. Terrific performance, even though you nearly pushed the suit beyond its capabilities. That’s one of the projects that we will be looking at. There are a lot of projects we need you on board for.” How did he know how much she had pushed the suit…? “Did you look at the telemetry? Can you do that? That would explain a few things…” She went off into thought. She had noticed tiny delays in reaction. Almost too small to notice, but she knew this suit very well. "You've bloody well hacked my suit? You can see the telemetry?" She felt the anger rise, and he saw it. "Karen, stop it! You are better than that." He turned slightly away, and said "You need to watch this." With no obvious machinery being in the room, an image started to appear in the middle of the room, and she could clearly see both of her parents. To say that she was shocked was putting it mildly, since they had both died two years ago! Her father spoke first. "Karen, hi, it's dad. I think I realise that you are now watching this with a mixture of emotions. Number one is that I am not here anymore, and number two is that you are being approached by an agency that you have never heard of. Don't fight it, Karen. It's bigger than you and me." He was smiling while he was saying this. "Karen, we have watched you grow up over the last few years, and we have watched your successes, with a lot of personal pride. Karen, you are today your own boss, you are the person that makes the rules, that sets the pace. The person that we would like you to be dealing with, Steven, is a good man. Don't ignore him. He will not lie to you and I don't expect you to start lying to him, not when there is so much at stake. Be good, my baby. " He smiled, one last time, at the screen, and directly at her. "Live long and prosper!" She was surprised to find that she was crying. Her mother then started to speak. "Karen, Steven will walk you through what he is here for. Don't be too surprised that he is asking for some favours. Think back to what your father and I had to call in to get you sorted out, after that awful crash, and you'll begin to appreciate how much you actually owe us - us and the rest of the scientific world. As ever baby, live long and prosper!" She was now in floods of tears, and Steven left her to work through it. She took a couple of minutes and then she was suddenly back, all business-like. "OK, Steven, what's going on here?"   "I think that you can piece most of it together, but I'll fill in any gaps that I can. It's probably easier if I walk through the last twenty or so years, and then you take it on board and then ask me questions. That's about the best structure that I can come up with." Her mind was in turmoil and all she could manage was a confused nod. "You already know that you have had a lot of work done on you. You know that more than most, so I won't dwell on the details. What you don't fully understand is the sheer number of favours that your parents had to call in for you. By rights, you should have died in that crash. Anyone else would have. The technology and personnel that were required to keep you alive simply doesn't exist in the normal world. Only because your parents pulled a lot of people together, and everyone used everything that they had at their disposal, are you still breathing." Damn, damn, damn! "Yes, you were lucky, in a funny kind of way. When you were little your parents were already world leaders in robotics, and around the time you were ten they started on other projects that were connected with bionics. I'm sure you know that word. They had ten years of dealing with spare part surgeries, robotics, circuit designing, and many more sciences. Those two people changed everything in those ten years. They moved the sciences on by a century in just a decade. They all overlapped, but the main idea was always how to improve on what was already in place. I know, from your file, that you used to watch the old TV series, especially things like The Bionic Man. And then you had your crash. Your parents were in shock for days - that's something that you were never told about, by the way. There were some project co-workers that they knew who took over, until your parents came out of their state of shock. They all knew that you were a mess, and put you into a forced coma. They then started to try to work out what could be done with you. Your parents took over, eventually, but a lot of work was already in place. You were stable, you weren't going to die, but you were in a serious mess." "It took the first three months for a viable set of plans to be put in place. For this time you were kept under sedation. You did very well, and your body repaired what you could. Because you were sedated nobody knew what your state of mind was like. If you came out of the sedation would you be a vegetable? Would you even recognise anyone, your parents, that sort of thing?" "You were monitored 24/7. You were wired up like a Christmas tree for all of that time. You did die a few times, it seems, but you were brought back by the amazing teams on hand. After six months a firm set of plans were in place, but the rest of it meant that they had to have you conscious, so they brought you out of the coma. They didn't know what to expect, but they were pleasantly surprised when you came round. You looked at your parents and smiled, and said 'Hi.'" "They had to go through a lot of psychology with you. They wanted you to be level-headed about all of this, and it was important that you understand it all. That took another few months. It was a year before they could start the repairs. They had to put you under again and basically rewire you. You are now probably the most expensive personal project that has ever been undertaken. A conservative estimate puts it at twenty five million dollars, but it's probably higher than that. All of this has allowed you to use these suits - but you knew that. What you have to understand is that you are the best candidate that my Agency has had to deal with, and it's dealt with quite a few people, over the years. Many people can't handle it. They don't go mad, or anything crazy, but their head can't cope with the changes, or the demands. In most cases we have had to scale things back, and settle people into a more usual, normal life. You on the other hand - well, whatever we put your way you just use, and then come back to us with demands to make it smaller, or faster or more powerful. You thrive on the challenges, and that is what I am here for, today. You will remember, I'm sure, the Seven Million Dollar Man episode? That has happened for almost everyone - except you." He stopped telling his story, and smiled at her. "Karen, you are a rare person. I don't know if anyone has ever told you that, but I will, now. You are rare in that you survived the crash, and rare in that you have dealt with it in such an incredibly sophisticated way. It is that, the sophisticated way that you think, why I want you to come back to the States with me. There are a lot of people who want to talk to you. You will be busy - very busy - for the next couple of years, and after that - who knows?" "You can't expect me to come back for chats. We could do that over the telephone! There's more - there has to be more." "Well, along the way, I'm sure that you will be meeting a lot of robotics and bionics people. They will want your input for the next generations of suits. The one you have is good, but it's already three versions behind what we have been working on, in the States. We are up to three years ahead of you, Karen, and we'd like you to be part of our amazing journey." Her jaw dropped - three versions behind...? Seriously? Oh, wow...she was wasting time. She looked hard at him, and wondered how her life might yet turn out. Having given it some very hard thought for a full five seconds, she said "Steven, when can we leave?" He actually looked surprised, which pleased her. "Really? Well, there's a few things that you will have to sort out over here, but we'd like you to come over as soon as you can." "Where to? Where is this all based?" "In the Silicon Valley area. It's a distributed set of buildings, over a two square mile area. You'll be staying on campus initially and then we'll see where you fancy setting up a house. There are usually a few to choose from, which we will be funding, of course." "Steven, how much do I have to sort out over here? Very little. You know that. I have no ties, no family to speak of. My friends, as such, I can talk to over the phone. Where on the east coast can I recharge? I can then go on to Silicon Valley from there." "You want to fly there? You can't be serious. You'd have to clear flight paths and such - no-one will allow you to use existing plane flight paths. You'd be too much of a headache for any Flight Traffic Control system." She shrugged. "So we don't tell them? You know the suits capabilities. You know that I can be on the east coast in three hours. I'll need an overnight base and then I can be in California three hours later. This suit can do it, I know it can." "I'll have to ask my boss." There was a slight pause and he said "My boss says OK. She seems to think that it's actually a good idea, although I'm not sure that I agree, but what do I know?" "Hang on, your boss is listening? All of this time?" He nodded. "'Fraid so. I must have forgotten to tell you that." he smiled. "Well, I have little to keep me here, and I'm sure I can get my personal effects sent over, so when can I leave? No, you don't have to answer. I can be recharged in another hour, and then I can be off. I will have a word with Frankie and then leave everything up to him. He is someone here that I trust. I will probably expect him to come over for a couple of months, once I've settled down. He and I work well, and he is an excellent organiser. I value his input - do you understand that? And does your boss understand that?" After a slight pause he said "We do, although we will have to run checks on Frankie. Security and all that stuff." "To be honest, I doubt you'll find anything strange. He's a good man, and I trust him - more than I trust you at this moment. Whatever you find on him, it better be a damned good reason, if you end up prohibiting him from coming over." "Agreed. All of that can be sorted out later. I think I will arrange a drop-off for you, on the east coast, and I'll get the co-ordinates to your suit." With that he stood up. "It's been lovely to finally meet you. I will be catching a conventional flight back, so I won't see you for a few days. Oh, and at the moment all of this is hush-hush. Much of the work that we do is pretty conventional but the stuff you will be dabbling in is all new, and we like to keep our secrets close." "Agreed."