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whatever, wandered about for hours on end and then found yourself in the sub-basements
here at the bunker?'
'That's about the size of it.' Dan closed his eyes and
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studied Rex's aura. The lad appeared to be telling the truth. 'Remarkable. And fortuitous.'
Dan topped up his glass. 'Another.'
'I don't mind if I do.' Rex held out his glass for a refill.
'And you met no-one during these wanderings?'
'No, sir.'
'Dan, said Dan. 'Call me Dan.'
'No-one, Dan.'
'Quite remarkable.'
'I was wondering, Dan, if there might be any chance of me putting in for a desk job. I really
don't think I have the makings of a religious affairs person.'
'Not a bit of it,' Dan leaned across his desk and gave Rex shoulder pats. 'You were born to
the job. Believe me, I know these things.'
'People keep trying to kill me,' Rex complained. 'This I find most upsetting.'
'These are difficult times for us all. Come over here and let me show you something.' Dan
led Rex to an alcove and drew aside a red damask curtain. A glass panel afforded a view
into an inner chamber. Here upon a bed of ample proportions two untried Lamarettes
disported themselves.
'Naked ladies,' said Rex approvingly. 'Why are they painted orange?'
'Saffron, my dear boy. What do you think?'
'Very nice.'
'A little bonus. Call it perk of the job. Why not go in and amuse yourself for an hour. We can
talk later.'
Gryphus Garstang decided to keep Rex's performance in. But only for comic relief.
The Phnaarg in question paced the boardroom of Earthers Inc. Beneath his feet herbs
released pleasing
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fragrances into the overcharged atmosphere. 'It's all coming back now, he stormed. 'Is it all
coming back to you, Fergus?'
'In dribs and drabs, answered the unhappy one.
'Time Sprout.' Garstang ceased his pacing and waggled a menacing finger beneath
Shaman's nose. Time Sprout, Fergus.'
'Yes indeedy, crowed Diogenes. 'Indeedy do.'
Lavinius Wisten flexed his sensitive fingers. 'If we had gone with my original idea of love
amongst the shelter folk none of this would have happened.'
'But that is the point, argued Fergus. 'Nothing has really happened. The virus will be
stopped. I have Jason Morgawr's word on that.' Morgawr, who was sitting in on the meeting,
glared him daggers. 'I really can't see what all the fuss is about.'
Garstang touched a module on the Goldenwood table. A frozen image of last night's
Nemesis 'special' filled the far wall. Fergus shrank into his leafy chair.
'Are you absolutely sure you can't see what all the fuss is about?'
'Well, it looks like he dodged the draft, didn't he?'
'But he shouldn't be there, should he?'
Fergus shook his head doubtfully. 'But see, he went on, 'he isn't there any more, is he? He's
gone now and probably for good.'
'Sure of that, are you, Fergus?'
'Certainly, lied Mr Shaman. 'The mechanics of it all are returning to me now. We won't see
him again.'
The ratings are up, said someone. Garstang glared about the table. Heads were nodding,
some thoughtfully, some solemnly, although it was hard to tell at a glance which were which.
'Up?' Garstang reseated himself in Mungo's chair.
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'Up.' Lavinius Wisten prodded skyward.
'Let me see those figures.'
Diogenes opened his briefcase and tinkered with a small technical thingamebob. A
holographic image sprang up above the table. 'All the excitement, Diogenes explained.
'Rex Mundi has rather captured the public's imagination with all his thrilling escapades.
Escaping alive from the crashed air car, then the nuking of the Hotel California and Elvis
turning up on the Nemesis show. It's all good stuff.' Graphs and pillar charts rotated before
them. 'It's all on the up and up.'
'The up and up.' Garstang pinched at his nostrils.
'A case of giving the public what they want to see. Plenty of sex, violence and intrigue. The
viewers are switching back on. We are talking mega millions here.'
'See,' said Fergus.
Garstang made a conspiratorial face. 'How much of it is down to us?' he asked.
'Ah,' went Diogenes, 'you mean field operatives, script advisers, that kind of thing?'
'The kind of thing which doesn't go beyond this boardroom, Garstang stared pointedly
towards Jason.
Morgawr smiled his winning smile. 'My lips are of course sealed, said he. 'We are all on the
same side here.'
'Quite so. Well, Diogenes?'
Diogenes thumbed his controller and two holographic heads floated in the air to revolve
slowly.
'God's Nose, cried Fergus. 'Are they ours?'
Diogenes nodded and then tittered foolishly. 'And the beauty of it is that neither of them
knows about the other.'
'Oh, very clever.' Garstang laughed. 'Very clever in-deed. Isn't that clever, Fergus?' Fergus
Shaman nodded. It certainly was very clever, but with all the loose ends
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kicking about, it was also potentially very dangerous indeed.
Rex Mundi lay on the bed of ample proportions, plucked a curly orange hair from his teeth
and sighed deeply. The two beauties had long since departed and he was now alone with
his thoughts. These were, however, in the light of recent events, somewhat confused.
He felt sure that he had lied through his unwashed molars to the Dalai regarding his
wanderings beneath the Earth. But for the life of him he couldn't recall a moment of it. His
memory was quite blank. Rex gazed up into the mirrored ceiling. He dearly needed another
bath.
The bedside console purred. 'Rex,' the Dalai's voice was slickly sweet, 'sorry to bother you
but I dearly would like another word in your ear.'
I bet you would, you fly-pecked dump of rat's do, thought Rex. But he was now learning to
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