Chapter 16

Scott walked into the Operations Room, Lachlan and William behind him. Admiral MacCulloch got to his feet to greet him.

"I saw it all, your Grace. We had the cameras on just as you told us to. I've already alerted the presidential guard to arrest all of them for treason," he said.

Lachlan looked at the Admiral in surprise.

"What do you mean? Who has been arrested?" he asked.

"Lachlan, perhaps it's just that the politicians have had so many hundreds of years without a monarch, but they don't seem to understand the constitution," Scott explained, "You can't impeach a King, only a President. By taking the line they just have, the Prime Ministers are guilty of high treason."

"But, why didn't you say anything?" Lachlan asked.

"To be honest, I wanted to see how many of them were in on it. If they had gone about it the right way it would have been fine. If they had acted democratically and shown me that the people didn't want me, I would have stepped down, abdicated my leadership role."

Lachlan began to laugh as he imagined the pompous politicians being led away, no doubt blustering about how important they were and threatening all kinds of retribution.

"Admiral, I'd like to see the European Prime Minister, Marlene Schein. I'm pretty sure she wasn't involved in this and I need to speak to somebody about the sudden political vacuum that we've just created," Scott said.

"I'll see to it right away, your Grace," said MacCulloch.

Lachlan watched Scott slip back into his leadership role. He realised now why the High King had managed to control his temper in the face of the gross insults from the politicians - he had known he had the upper hand all along and the politicians were simply hanging themselves.

"Sweet! Our High King really knows what he's doing, not just in warfare, but in taking on the bloody foolish politicians too" he thought.

"Admiral, I'm going to spend a little time with my family, you know where I am if you need me," Scott said.

He turned and began walking out of the room, William following along behind him. Lachlan remained in the Ops Room, intrigued and determined to find out more about what had just taken place.

"Admiral, how is it that he always seems to be in control?" he asked.

"Through hard work my Lord. One of the first things he asked for when he arrived was a copy of the constitution of the United States. I've no doubt he knows what it contains far better than any of those cardboard cut-outs he just faced down," the Admiral responded.

Scott walked down the hallway and entered his house, holding the door to allow William to follow him in. When he entered the reception room, Scott immediately saw that Helfe was home. She was sitting in the middle of the floor, Fiona, Eilean, David, Crinan and the two babies; Tina and James were all gathered round her. They were indulging in a family hug, surrounding Helfe and letting her know how they felt about her being in harms way and how relieved they were that she had returned to them safely.

He strode across the room and joined in, unashamedly delighted at his wife's return and taking immense comfort himself from the close proximity, touch and feel of his family.

"Let's all go down to the loch side," he suddenly said.

"What? Are you serious my Lord? It's the middle of winter, it will be freezing," Fiona questioned.

"I know my love, but I have a yearning to spend a little time reminding myself of the beauty of our country and what we are fighting for. I'd like to walk amongst our people, lest I become too remote from them as our politicians seem to have done," Scott replied.

The children thought this was a great idea and William was tasked with finding warm clothing for them all so they could venture out into the cold December air of Inveraray.

They were soon ready and headed out of the house and down the passageway to the elevator. Scott asked William to let the Admiral Know he was no longer in the house. Once they had ascended to the surface it took them almost forty minutes to walk down through the town to the loch side, as all of the locals wanted to stop Scott and thank him. He clasped their arms and spent time talking to them about everyday things, showing that he wasn't anything special, that he didn't see himself as above them.

When they reached the water's edge, Scott busied himself with the children, skimming stones across the loch. The open air was a blessing beyond belief after so long underground, but after only another half an hour they were all cold and ready to head back indoors.

In celebration of Helfe being home, Scott decided he would cook for the family. He asked William to source the various ingredients and closeted himself in the well-appointed kitchen. He emerged an hour or so later bearing a number of dishes. He had made some of his fantastic prawn pasta parcels, covered in a cream and wine sauce and steak Diane, swimming in the rich sauce of mustard, brandy, wine, onions and cream. Scott had also prepared fresh vegetables to go with the main dishes.

The family fell on the feast with a will, cramming their plates full and concentrating on the taste of the food rather than talking amongst themselves. Scott was struck by how 'normal' the scene looked. In the midst of the threat to the planet, here he was spending time with his family over a family meal. It was therapeutic in the extreme and Scott was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

Tara and Gabrain prepared themselves to return to the planet's surface. Gabrain had insisted that all of his party, in particular the native South Americans, should be given the opportunity to say whether they wanted to follow him to this new planet or not.

He had also insisted that he be allowed to write a letter for his family, he needed to tell them something, rather than have them mourn and be forever thinking about what had happened to him. When he mentioned this, Bruce MacFergus exclaimed.

"The disputed Boanta letter!" he cried.

Gabrain asked him what he was referring to and Bruce explained that a letter had been found, but that historians had argued for hundreds of years about its authenticity. Bruce explained that they probably had a copy of the letter on the ship's computer banks, but not surprisingly, Gabrain advised that he wanted to write the letter before looking at this artefact.

He spent perhaps an hour composing the text that he would leave behind when he left.

My loves, all of you - wives and children - know that I think about you every day that we are apart. I have memorised the vows that Scott took with his wives and I can think of no better words to describe how I feel about you all. I vow to love you, to love you now and for all eternity, even beyond this life we now lead. I vow to love you with all that I am.

Do not mourn for me, for I have gone to perform a higher duty than that I can perform on this Earth today. Scott and Kenneth, you have your duty to Scotland and to keep the momentum going with our development as a nation. I am already proud to be your father, but you must learn to be able to face yourselves in the mirror each day, satisfied that you have done your level best for the people who look to you for leadership. Remember the lessons I have passed on and those that you learned at the feet of Scott mac Fergus. If you can live up to those ideals and principles you will be men indeed.

My family, live your lives to the full and keep a place for me in your hearts I pray. Gabrain mac Boanta

When he shared the text with Tara she broke down in tears at the thick sentiment and love that it represented. She put her arms around Gabrain and hugged him tightly; acutely aware of what he was sacrificing.

Bruce called up the disputed letter on the computer and could see immediately that it was word for word, pen stroke for pen stroke, the exact same as Gabrain had just written. There was no doubt that they were one and the same. Bruce realised that this was evidence of a sort that they were supposed to be here, were supposed to pick up Gabrain and take him away. Why else would he have written the letter?

He also realised that the text of the letter was carefully constructed. It gave the impression that Gabrain was about to die with its reference to a 'higher duty' and in doing so communicated what the man was really doing without giving any clues away about the presence of the Dalriada.

He said nothing to Gabrain and Tara, playing a little game to see whether the final piece of the jigsaw would fall into place.

The letter written, Gabrain joined Tara and her team aboard the shuttle once more and they set out for the Isthmus of Panama and Gabrain's camp. The journey was completed in only forty minutes and Gabrain asked that they make a grand entrance, flying the shuttle into the middle of the camp and then de-cloaking. He assured everybody that this would make his job of explaining what was going on far easier.

Sigurdson did just that, pulling the shuttle to a halt in the centre of the camp and ordering the computer to remove the cloaking. They heard screams from some of the occupants of the camp, but also saw Gabrain's specialists coming forward, their curiosity getting the better of them. When the door was opened and Tara and Gabrain hopped down onto the ground, some of the specialists actually grinned, while the natives ran to hide themselves in the structures of the camp.

Gabrain ordered food to be prepared, as the specialists welcomed Tara. All of them remembered her well and were keen to know how she came to be here and what her arrival presaged. The story of the Dalriada was told and the prospective mission set out for them all over the food. To a man (and woman) the specialists agreed that they would follow Gabrain wherever he went.

The natives had gradually crept out of hiding as it became clear that the Scots were more than comfortable with the strange craft and with Tara. Their Gaelic wasn't very good, but they knew enough to understand that Gabrain and the Scots were planning to leave. That was enough to start them moaning and beating the earth in concern. When Gabrain spoke to them in their own language and made them the offer of going with him, there were broad grins all round.