The Vinctalin Legacy: 0.0015%, Book 10 Alien

By Vanda Denton

Having fought off many Vinctalin attacks, vanquished them in their own domains, ousted the Veekerens from fraudulent power, and constructed a full and comprehensive Planetary Defence System, the United Citizens of Earth are ready to make plans for the future. They are barely into devising their outline manifestos ready for the very first post-invasion elections, when disaster strikes.

Astonishing revelations reveal one species of beings as more alien to Earth Humans than the grey beasts, while Alex encounters a new race of Vinctalin best described as halfway to human, who seem to proffer friendship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326485023

Book preview

The Vinctalin Legacy: 0.0015%, Book 10 Alien

The Vinctalin Legacy: 0.0015%, Book 10 Alien

Vanda M Denton

The Vinctalin Legacy 0.0015%: Book 10 Alien

© 2013 Vanda M Denton

All rights reserved by the author. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers and/or authors.

This book is published by and available from:

VinctalinBooks

www.vinctalin.com

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-326-43295-9

ISBN eBook: 978-1-326-48502-3

The Vinctalin Legacy

A series of novels by Vanda M Denton

The Vinctalin Legacy: Survival

Book 1: Harvest

Book 2: Sacrifice

Book 3: Spawning

The Vinctalin Legacy: Retaliation

Book 4: Infiltration

Book 5: Alliances

Book 6: The Veekeren Element

The Vinctalin Legacy: The Ovinka

Book 7: Zondex

Book 8: The Message

Book 9: Veekeren

The Vinctalin Legacy: 0.0015%

Book 10: Alien

Book 11: Integration

Book 12: 0.00075%

The Vinctalin Legacy: Awakening

Book 13: Covert Operations

Book 14: Miss Kitty

Book 15: Humanity

The Vinctalin Legacy

The story so far:

Survival

The Vinctalin arrived in the night, gassing the entire planet and put the survivors to work. When they realised they were to be killed off at the end of the harvest the Earth Humans, led by Jonathan, Stanzi and Alex, rebelled, capturing the human-looking, golden-skinned Emperor, Pakow Lam Fellen and slaughtering his Vinctalin masters. Eventually the heroes of Earth were forced into a battle with the beasts that they could not win. There was a miraculous eleventh-hour rescue by another alien with a human appearance, Mettle (Military Martyr to the Advanced Human Society) but the rebels found themselves working almost as slavishly for their rescuers as they had under Vinctalin rule. The Emperor discovered a spawning left by Halbolival (the clan chief of the true alien invaders, the Vinctalin). Jonathan Trad-Williams realised they were to be the bait in a trap that would bring the Vinctalin hatchlings to the haven in which they now lived, the town they had named Foundation. Working together with the Emperor they turned the tables on Mettle, making his Disciples the bait that enabled them to kill two hundred new Vinctalin.

Retaliation

Mettle’s Home World was attacked by the Vinctalin and some of the refugees came to Earth. They tried to drug and recruit Earth Humans to fight the Vinctalin. Stanzi (SAS veteran Benjamin Stanzini) and Alex (psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Byefield) were away camping. Pitlon Gowry (Pakow’s sister) went in search of them. They released their leaders from a state of suspended animation and imprisoned the Leaders of the Advanced Human Society, eventually negotiating an alliance on their terms. Alex remained on Earth with a number of expectant mothers while the majority of the Earth Humans joined the Advanced Humans for specialised operations. A small rogue clan attacked Earth. Alex was tortured. Pakow made a virus with which he intended to kill all Vinctalin. On hearing this Alex claimed that the Vinctalin fundamentally were bio-engineered humans and such a virus would eventually wipe out all of humanity. Unable now to attack the Vinctalin with this method but knowing the location of their Home World, Jonathan came up with a new plan of attack. He persuaded the two Emperors left on a world they’d recently liberated from the Vinctalin, Tosa, to fight with them. Their success in these battles was down to the unique science of a secret faction controlling the AHS: the Veekerens. They found that the large area of solar systems occupied by the Vinctalin was not the only zone in the galaxy populated by them. Pakow rounded up and recruited surviving Guards to serve him, after he assassinated their Emperors.

The Ovinka

Two of Pakow’s long lost brothers, Rosek Isolla and Quivep Mivon, were found, along with their battalions of Guards. Unrelated to this, Stanzi’s brother was brought to Foundation along with his friends. Following the war, Zondex and Laxshoo (Emperors from Tosa) came to Earth with the allies. Zondex tried to engineer himself into a Vinctalin, with a view to trading with the beasts. He committed horrific atrocities in this endeavour. Laxshoo showed signs of becoming a possible ally. The allies of Earth were appalled to witness how the Advanced Humans under the direction of the Veekerens, treated their own people. Caroline left Stanzi and he went off alone in his new surveillance vessel. Zondex’s hideously transformed Guards attacked Foundation. Stanzi contacted Pakow’s newfound brothers who helped fight them off. After Foundation was liberated they realised Pakow was missing.

The Clan of Fonchesinon went to the Sendran planet, Pressin Vol in search of the ancient data storage device Stanzi took from there to Earth: the Ovinka. All Sendrans were killed by the time its location was revealed. Pakow had been taken prisoner by Zondex. He escaped and killed his captor but not before a message was sent to the Vinctalin inviting them to Earth for purposes of trade. Some of Zondex’s over-engineered Guards had developed into cruel super-beings who were eventually hunted down and killed by Stanzi. Realising how the Vinctalin would react to an upstart trying to emulate them, Pakow set about training up the Guards he brought back from the war in the Vinctalin Home Systems. They took ships into orbit preparing to defend the planet. Far more Vinctalin ships arrived at Earth than could be explained by that one message from Zondex. Again it was the Disciples who launched a last-minute rescue, but not until vast numbers of Guards had been killed. Foundation was evacuated. Fonchesinon bombed the town from orbit, in search of the Ovinka. Alex discovered that the Veekerens came from the same roots as the Vinctalin. Their ancestors had taken a different route with their bio-engineering from that of the grey beasts they were at war with.

With Foundation in ruins the allies of Earth moved to an old Tudor market town, calling it New Foundation. Jonathan hatched a plan to investigate the AHS Home World; specifically the Veekeren method of ruling it, initially by spying. The full and damning truth of the manipulation by the Veekerens of the humans they rescued was discovered by Alex. He also found that the ancestors of both the Vinctalin and the Veekerens called themselves Vinctaleeren. It was the Veekerens who had seeded worlds and engineered chosen traits into the ‘humans’ they called Veekenite. They believed they had to protect their creation from the Vinctalin who were harvesting because their bio-engineering of themselves had caused degeneration beyond even cloning replacement organs as they aged. The bio-engineering used by the Veekerens on themselves had not left them untouched either. Nearly all were mentally ill: lacking a normal conscience or empathy and they were obsessive. Physically they had ruined the normal Vinctaleeren breeding process and had to live by strict social rules to avoid disasters. Jonathan devised his most ambitious plot to date. The allies of Earth took over the AHS Home World and released the non-Veekeren Advanced Humans from the compliancy drugs subversively administered through food and water by the Veekerens.

Introduction

As the one person in this complex alliance making a comprehensive study of the nature of the Vinctalin, Dr. Alexander Byefield believes he has dug through the layers of lies, forgotten history and propaganda in order to compile an accurate account of their physiology, psychology, bio-engineering, socio-political arrangements and their history. In reality he is less than halfway to the truth. Veekerens are not the only very different branch of beings that have arisen from the original humans who named themselves Vinctaleeren.

There are aliens calling themselves Vinctalin whilst bearing little to no resemblance to those so far encountered and Alex is hopeful of having finally discovered the ‘good’ Vinctalin many of the allies dreamed of finding. Meanwhile they rely largely on that Vinctalin creation, the Vinctalites.

0.0015% could be a significant quantity in the genetic make up of creatures. It might be enough to alter one’s perception from friend to alien. It could cause some humans to view erstwhile allies as enemies, therefore as much a threat as the Vinctalin themselves. The Vinctalin Legacy: 0.0015% probes the importance of that proportion in Book 10 Alien.

Prologue

Shanglimromal perched primly on one of the stools at a work station, eyeing Landresiman lounging comfortably in his large well-upholstered seat. It was countless generations since they’d required such substantial furniture; they simply enjoyed the luxury of their relatively light weight on it.

Shanglimromal had been going over old reports in preparation for this part of the mission.

We are entering Sector 6. This is the home of Benjesrial.

Landresiman glanced across languidly. That was a long trip.

By this mode of travel, she agreed.

He grunted good-naturedly over her impatience. They had travelled that vast distance from their home in Sector 9 with the use of the most refined intra-galactic re-locator technology; the latest model which was never traded outside of their Linkage. They had been sure to emerge into normal space outside of the range of Linkage 6 monitoring. She was moaning about those two days in the void.

Landresiman watched their newly awoken companions join them in the flight room. The other two males, Pelictranus and Grikhomango took seats at stations either side of Shanglimromal, while one female, Clowelaydox joined him at navigation and flight, and Rekvisilong resumed her work at a science console.

Shanglimromal resumed her conversation. Benjesrial wanted political knowledge.

Landresiman’s jewel-encrusted brow furrowed. Was it explicit?

A condescending smile accompanied her answer. It thought it was being subtle.

Clowelaydox looked up from her charts. If it wanted political knowledge it could be a danger to us.

It has nothing with which to threaten us, Grikhomango snorted.

Clowelaydox sighed over what seemed to be the male trait of over-confidence. We should check The Hierarchy and the Listings. We don’t even know the population of Linkage 6 any more and it should not be assumed they are less careful in their tradings than we. I’ll set up a programme for that.

General agreement indicated there was nothing to lose by so doing whilst in this quiet phase of their journey.

Landresiman spent long minutes studying her form in the tight body suit, aware features should differ between males and females, but not entirely certain of the detail. They had access to millennia of data on the subject but that, like much of the historical knowledge they gained, was contradictory.

We will have to trade for a lot of useless knowledge of course but I’ve prepared the programme to sift through and separate anything of likely interest to the clans of Sector 11.

Pelictranus relaxed back from the interactive holographic displays of his longitudinal studies.

We’re doing well. We have made good progress in this latest stage and though we won’t find conclusive answers in Sector 11, I’m sure we’ll get enough to make the next step.

The other two males turned their attention to Pelictranus. He always managed more optimism than they. As a rule the three females also were more optimistic. There were big question marks over this development. If it was connected to gender, then did Pelictranus lean too far towards female, and if it related to other engineering, was Pelictranus more advanced than they?

While Landresiman continued indulging his daydreams concerning body form, Clowelaydox got on with the practical job of programming navigation for normal space.

We can go through Sectors 2 and 4 to 11, or through 3 and 7.

Shanglimromal sighed, Which is the shorter route?

Clowelaydox grinned at her pained impatience. The latter. I’ll take us through Sector 3 then.

Chapter 1

Alterra had never known such excitement. In her world, in all its history, there never had been any event even close to this. Nothing in her twenty-five years of life seemed hardly to have meaning, compared to this. Along with the other Seniors of the commune she raced into the lift as it descended the thirty-two floors of the tower block. They were at their posts, trying hard to keep control of themselves, so as to guide the Juniors now flooding into the Gathering Hall.

She watched as they filed into their benches, facing the big screen. The Seniors were covering the exuberance quite well, but never the less the Juniors were picking up on the mood. They were never called to gather this late in the day, this early in the week. They stared at the screen showing wonderful underwater scenes of the exotic wildlife in the deep tropical oceans, while the seniors looked from them to one another.

After half an hour everyone was still and expectant. Though no one spoke, the rustling of hundreds of garments sent waves of susurration through the hall. Alterra pressed the button in her communicator, informing central Government they were ready. She stared at the white device she held snugly in her hand, thinking how all over the world other Seniors would be sending the same signal. Complex texts could be sent through this little machine but all she had to send was one positive signal in response to the long message she’d received earlier. Her eyes moved across the honeycombe of hexagonal letters, numbers and symbols, focusing on the glowing pink button. Finally the pink light went out, and the blue came on. She sent her message along the hall to Jendon.

Jendon had been turning his communicator over in his hand, trying to accept the truth of the original message sent to all Seniors all over the world apparently. He saw the glow of the blue light on his pale palm, turned the device over, took a deep breath and pressed in the orange button. He looked down as all lights went out, the oceans disappeared from the screen, and the hall fell into silence.

Father Bowlem’s face flashed on to the screen, filling it with his pleasant, caring features.

We have the most wonderful, though startling news for you children. Prepare to keep yourselves controlled and ever mindful of the needs of one another. Be guided by your Seniors, be kind to those who are fearful, and take note that nothing in your daily lives will actually change.

When low murmuring grew in the hall Alterra pressed the purple button, and the mild electric shock shooting up through the benches brought instant quiet. Still, serious faces obediently studied the screen as Father Bowlem continued his speech.

We have visitors, he smiled. We have very pleasant visitors who arrived on the eastern coast last week in fact. After lengthy discussions all the Mothers and Fathers are now satisfied to inform you that this is cause for celebration.

‘Celebration?’ Jendon thought. ‘Smothering parents!’

He could not recall a time of ever receiving a message with a promise of celebration. In fact, he could barely recall the definition of the word.

Alterra felt panic bubbling up through her excitement. So far she had only speculated that the Mothers and Fathers had made a breakthrough in the health research. Now she had previously unimagined questions tumbling through hope and trepidation. ‘Visitors from where? Did our geography lessons omit an entire land of people? If so, why?’

Now children, Father Bowlem wore his kindest face, be patient while I give you some background considerations. I will use only a few minutes. Life is a strange and wondrous journey. You have just been watching some of the rare and precious life in our oceans, and over the past two years you have studied your own biology. I want you now to consider there could be other people, from other places, who might visit us as friends.

Along with the other Seniors in this vast hall, Alterra frowned as more questions rapidly flooded her mind. This entire procedure was outside of her experience. Never before had Father Bowlem addressed children and Seniors together, to impart news. Had even he previously been unaware of the existence of these people from the east? Could they trust them to be friends? Would they help feed the children? Could she dare to hope they had medicines?

Her attention was drawn back to the big screen as Father Bowlem continued his speech. I want you to hark back five years now children, when you were only eleven years old. Do you remember your studies?

Alterra and Jendon did. Level 4 was the study of the universe.

You studied the planets, star systems, theories of the origins of the universe children. And along with the knowledge and theories you were required to speculate upon the possibilities of life in other parts of the universe.

Alterra punched in a quick message to Jendon.

She received a rapid reply: LDG.

‘Lost Doting Grandparents! He thinks so too.’

Serious shuffling threatened to get out of hand. Alterra pressed the purple button again but this time obedience was not immediate, so Jendon added his punishment, increasing the pain slightly.

Dear children, I regret you may be so excited that you are bringing pain upon yourselves, so I am earnestly requesting your good order. After my next words please don’t bring greater punishment upon yourselves.

Alterra felt her palms break into a sweat. She looked to the glowing green button in the honeycombe of keys, then to the flashing display screen. There was another message from Jendon. ‘We both discipline together first time’.

From your Level 4 lessons you will recall that we divide the visible universe into zones for ease of study. You will know that our own galaxy is a zone so bewilderingly vast that we can think of distances only in terms of the spatial relationships of constellations. In our science and our language children, our visitors are from the zone we have named the constellation of Cordella.

Teenagers were leaving their seats. Alterra and Jendon pressed the green buttons together, sending sharp waves of electrical energy shooting through their feet, up their legs and through their bodies. The Seniors watched the Juniors collapse back on to the benches, cradling heads, holding stomachs and knowing better than to speak. Jendon turned the lighting up a little. He caught Alterra’s expression across their section of the room. Neither had wanted to hurt the children but the fear they had overreacted was quickly dispelled. As they took out binoculars and checked across the vast hall only one or two sections remained seated like theirs. Others were now on the floor, doubled over in pain.

Father Bowlem’s voice came over loud and clear. Children! Don’t cause yourselves this pain. Obedience is crucial. Without order and obedience you will perish.

Gradually all across the hall teenagers were retaking their seats. Alterra looked down at the square of black floor she stood on, remembering when she had first noticed these stations. She had graduated to the back row of the Gathering Hall in Grandmother Daley’s Tower. She was twelve years old and very hungry. Some of the children were complaining out loud. They’d all been warned but not everyone would obey. At twelve years old she had felt that first powerful electric shock in her buttocks; the one from the double green they’d just pressed. It pulsed through the back of her thighs and up into the middle of her back. She’d been looking at the senior and she saw her press the button, and she hated her.

Now please remember children, there is no cause for fear. Keep control of yourselves while I explain more. These people are friends. They tell us they may even be able to help with our health problems.

This time there was no shuffling or murmuring, only hands holding rigidly to various sore areas of their bodies.

They are just like us. They look like us and they think like us. The only difference is that they are technologically more advanced of course. They want only friendly contact. There are four of them. I am going to introduce you first to their leader; Domayaxon.

Father Bowlem faded from the screen, leaving it black for only a split second before an ordinary person in unusual clothes appeared. They had become accustomed to only seeing the head and shoulders of old Father Bowlem, so the full length view of a young adult on the screen was also a novelty.

Alterra found herself admiring a good-looking man with clear grey eyes and light brown hair. Jendon compared the man’s complexion to Alterra’s. Her brown skin had a rich chestnut glow, whereas his was closer to the pale tone of their breakfast biscuit. He compared the alien eyes to hers. They were the same shape, but he didn’t know anyone with grey eyes. Everyone on Olivan Goma had varying shades of blue. Domayaxon had the same shade of hair as Alterra but where hers was long and straight, his was short with a gentle wave to it. Most interesting of all though, he looked younger than Jendon’s peers. He typed a message to Alterra.

‘How old do you think he is?’

‘Younger than us,’ she messaged.

‘LDG!’

Alterra studied his clothes as he spoke.

I am pleased to greet you, children of Olivan Goma. As you see, I am as Father Bowlem promised, just like you. We desire only friendly contact with the people of your world.

She noted good quality olive green trousers and jacket, with some sort of matching over garments. Alterra looked down on her poor clothing. All seniors wore these thin red tunics and trousers. She glanced across the expanse of fifteen and sixteen year-olds in their thin grey tunics and trousers. All these garments were the same size for each age group, though the children were not. Domayaxon’s suit fitted him perfectly.

I will introduce my friends one at a time. Soon they will be your friends also.

He looked to the side and a female walked into view on the screen. The gasps of the children were silenced with only the purple button this time. The tall willowy woman wore a long dress of layers of fine fabric, in pretty shades of lilac and pink. It was the extravagance of the material that stunned them. It looked wondrously delicate and beautiful against her black skin and black hair. Alterra used her binoculars for a closer look at the face. Those irises also were nearly black.

Children of Olivan Goma please greet Franlayeral.

Jendon watched the tall fifty year-old smile pleasantly. He wondered how a woman so much older, old enough in fact to be a Mother, if not a Grandmother, came to be in an inferior position to Domayaxon. While she was making her greeting, he typed the question to Alterra.

‘Patriarchal?’ she sent back.

Now Franlayeral stepped to the side while another older woman appeared also wearing a long flowing dress but this time in fabulously rich shades of blue and yellow.

Domayaxon was introducing her. Children of Olivan Goma please greet Commeviron.

This time they both had to press the purple punishment button.

The teenagers missed her returning greeting. I am pleased to greet you, children of Olivan Goma.

Alterra and Jendon were only just maintaining control. No one had ever seen, on screen, in classes, in learning materials, anywhere, anyone this old. She was older even than Father Bowlem, who seemed not to have aged at all even though Alterra and Jendon had known him all their lives. This woman had grey hair. And she was fat! In her kind fair face, blue eyes like her own shone out happily.

‘LDG!’ she messaged across to Jendon.

Franlayeral and Commeviron walked off camera, while the final alien strolled on.  This last was an elderly gentleman wearing a fine suit of clothing. He had layers of clothes! A blue coat, and underneath that a green jacket and blue trousers, and beneath that a white shirt. All those clothes on one person! And he was far older still than the last woman!

Children of Olivan Goma please greet Chojebogan.

No one heard his greetings. All children now writhed on the floor at the highest pain level. Alterra watched the children with tears in her eyes and sorrow in her heart. She had never before used the green button and today she had used it three times. This felt so wrong for what could have been such a happy occasion. Jendon took a last look at the old man, through his binoculars. He was small and bent. His light skin seemed wrinkled and bunched up, and his eyes had lost their hue. He thought they were probably a darker blue at one time. He also seemed to have somehow lost some hair from the top of his head.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ he messaged to Alterra.

She had cast her mind back through her studies, and recalled Level 6 biology.

‘He’s very old: older than Grandparents,’ she responded.

‘Smothering parents!’ he typed back.

They looked across their section to one another, at last with hope growing on their faces. These could actually be more than friends.

Domayaxon was talking again, and now they wanted to concentrate on the words. We have a lot to offer you and much to enjoy in your world. I look forward to speaking to you again soon children, but for now Father Bowlem has instructions to impart before you settle to your night cycle.

The screen blinked and the familiar face of Father Bowlem flickered into life.

Now children it is time to prepare for sleep. Please leave the Gathering Hall in an orderly fashion, and behave well for your Seniors.

Alterra stood by her door as the back row rose to their feet and filed into the conveyer. First a girl stepped into the single-person lift, it jolted up one person’s height, and the next child entered, then the next and on and on, row after row. None of them voiced their questions and none turned to look at her. Never before had they been so severely punished. She thought back to when she was at this level, and the loneliness hit her hard, as though she experienced it all over again. Each child would be conveyed in the dark to a single pod. You had to step out at the first door or there would be a jolt of electricity. In your dimly lit pod, just head high and body length, was one narrow bed, a wash basin, a toilet and a clean set of clothes for the morning. In the dim light you ate the cold dry supper, drank the glass of water, washed, and slept in the clothes you were wearing. In the morning you ate the small dry breakfast, drank the glass of water, washed and put on the fresh clothes. For twelve hours out of the twenty-six of the day, you spoke to no one and you heard no one.

It always felt to take hours to empty the Gathering Hall, and tonight Jendon could hardly stand still himself. Finally the last child entered his conveyer and he began packing his shoulder bag. All seniors stood on the black pads around the edges of the vast circular room until the last conveyer flashed empty and the warning sign for the live floor went out. In their groups of six they entered their lifts, but this time no one got off at his or her own level, all remained on board until they reached the seniors’ lounge on the top floor. In silence they trooped out, slumped into the hard worn out seats, and stared at one another.

Jendon quietly admitted what they were all thinking. I daren’t hope.

Chapter 2

Alex strolled along the leafy spring lane, whistling innocently, and watching young Georgie skipping along ahead of him. It was a magnificent day; the best since the early autumn and very warm for the time of year. He inhaled the delicate perfume of the beautiful flowers Georgie had picked. He marvelled at the beauty of a rare wild arum that he’d winced over when the boy proudly ran to him with it. In the end he joined in with the joy of the rare find and kept quiet about conservationist views that no longer had any relevance in his world. He appreciated just as much as that, the common red and white campions, and even the white dead-nettle.

There must be plenty of insects, he whispered with contentment, as he waved to Georgie when he turned for reassurance. At last the doctor could see some colour in those pale cheeks.

‘A picnic tea in the garden,’ the doctor thought happily. ‘Kayleigh can ask Ryan over.’

Georgie stopped for a moment. Alex, can I get my trains out on the patio when we get home?

Of course you can darling, he called back.

‘Wow!’ the psychiatrist marvelled at the human psyche. How many times had this little lad bounced back? Four years old at the time of the invasion and still no one knew how he had come to be wandering alone when Tani found him. And how many disasters had rendered him dumb and incontinent over the past four years? ‘Three? At least.’

The psychiatrist chose not to think back that precisely. Not on a day such as this.

They entered his home through a gate from the lane into the rolling grounds at the back of his large estate. Georgie raced ahead through the oaks, elms and limes, over the lawns and in through the open kitchen door. He skidded on the polished floor on the turn into the spacious back hall, looking neither left nor right as he dashed on through the passageway to the huge front hall and straight up the old Tudor stairs. Alex followed slowly, checked the fridge for the valuable fresh salad picked this morning from his own greenhouse, and considered how to make the rinj this time. He didn’t call out to Caroline. He wanted to surprise her with the wild flowers and a long luxurious kiss. While he strolled out of the kitchen, across the wide hall he again felt that warm satisfaction over images of a family picnic. He was getting these wonderful grounds whipped into the shape of their former glory and that too brought him enormous satisfaction. His thoughts had drifted on to that particularly lovely area of garden under the rhododendrons as he crossed the hall towards the den. His attention was caught by the sound of birds in the garden, and he stopped to take one more appreciative look through the leaded windows at the sparrows he thanked every day for choosing to make their home in his garden. For several minutes he remained motionless, contemplating the happy, stable home he had established here, experiencing the warm fuzziness of real love.

He could hear Georgie struggling down the stairs with his big box of trains. The boy smiled happily at the psychiatrist who had shown him anew what it was like to have a loving father. Alex grinned back, ruffling the mop of blonde hair, but he didn’t help. The little lad heaved his heavy prize across to the hall door. Georgie was just finding out how much he could do for himself, and he was enjoying the power.

Smiling broadly, Alex reclaimed his route, and his purpose, heading for the den where Caroline would be enjoying her free morning putting the finishing touches to her artist’s impressions of Irax. With that and the expectancy of her delicious embrace filling his mind, no fool could have had further to fall, or greater innocence to be exploited. The contrast between truth and assumption paralysed him. Flowers fell to the floor as he lost his grip, breath caught in his throat as his lungs stopped, vision blurred in confusion and rational thought floated in darkness, out of reach and out of pace.

Life itself is tenacious, fighting for existence, good or bad. Adrenalin stoked his heart and the lungs pushed air in hard balls that erupted from tense lips. With respiration working triple rate, Alex tried to blink reality back into this time and space, clearing sight to comprehend the scene swimming dizzily before him. How could that be Caroline? Only last night they’d sat on the sofa in this very room, snuggled contentedly in one another’s arms, talking about how well the children had gone to sleep and how wonderfully, boringly settled they had become.

Stanzi’s strong sable hands caressed her small back and golden curls. Her arms reached high, clinging too desperately to his broad shoulders. As that long kiss came to an end and the soldier released his tight grip, she slipped down from her toes, resting her head in his muscular chest. The man dreamily opened his eyes, looked over her head and spotted his shocked friend. Now also aware of the enormity of the situation, Stanzi wrapped his big arms around Caroline’s small frame, pulling her possessively into his body.

Sensing the tension in him, Caroline wriggled free. She turned at the sound of Alex stumbling back from the door.

Oh. Alex. Her eyes now were as wide as his, and her mouth worked to come up with words that would not form in her mind.

Stanzi said, All right now mate, we’ve obviously got a bit of a problem to work out here.

The doctor staggered back another step.

Alex mate, you have to understand…

But the doctor was heading back across the hall and through the kitchen door, while Stanzi hung on to Caroline when she tried to follow.

Leave him.

I can’t just leave him like that Stanzi. Anyway, I don’t know if I want to. I was happy with him yesterday, then you came in here and did this, and now I don’t know what I want.

But Stanzi knew exactly what he wanted. He had known and resisted for at least a month. And this was more than love. Everything finally was clear to him. He never had stopped loving her, and apart from her one very nasty stunt, he liked her almost more than anyone else he’d ever known. They would always be together. They belonged together.

I can’t do this to him, she whispered.

He’ll get over it Caroline. He always bloody does.

He was searching for her mouth again but that was the last thing on Caroline’s mind. She shoved him away angrily.

I can’t leave him like that! she cried too loud.

Georgie had looked up from his trains on the patio, walked past the wide hall windows, and peered in one of the open windows of the den. Caroline quickly put on a smile.

Hello sweetheart. Have you got your trains out there? It’s a lovely day.

Georgie was looking shocked and not speaking, until she heard Alex’s quiet voice along the other end of the patio.

Come on darling, or I’ll have the track built my way before you can say tank engine.

The little lad’s face disappeared as he dived for the train set to prevent Alex from putting in too many sidings. Then she heard the boy laugh, and knew Alex had made a train crash off the end of the unfinished track.

See, Stanzi assured, pulling her back into his arms. He’ll be fine.

Once Alex had the boy settled happily with his trains he had