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Chapters (68)
  1. Title page
  2. Dedication
  3. Part I
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  28. Twenty-five
  29. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 20. 20:25 MT.
  30. Part II
  31. Twenty-six
  32. Twenty-seven
  33. Twenty-eight
  34. Twenty-nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-one
  37. Thirty-two
  38. Thirty-three
  39. Thirty-four
  40. Thirty-five
  41. Thirty-six
  42. Thirty-seven
  43. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 22. 20:05 MT.
  44. Thirty-eight
  45. Thirty-nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-one
  48. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 25. 15:30 MT.
  49. Forty-two
  50. Forty-three
  51. Forty-four
  52. Forty-five
  53. Forty-six
  54. Forty-seven
  55. Forty-eight
  56. Forty-nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-one
  59. Fifty-two
  60. Fifty-three
  61. Fifty-four
  62. Part III
  63. Fifty-five
  64. Fifty-six
  65. Fifty-seven
  66. Fifty-eight
  67. Also by Chris Beckett
  68. Copyright page

‘You can take the men back to Wide Forest, and give a message from me to our chiefs down there to stop fighting and go back with their men to Veeklehouse, David Water or Nob Head, wherever they first grounded. You can tell them what’s happened, and tell them about this . . . this . . .’ His voice became wobbly as he looked down at the little black square of glass and tried to figure out what to call it. ‘You can tell them about this black thing.’

At that point, he must have touched whichever part of it made it speak, because right then Gaia’s voice spoke out again, saying those exact same words in the exact same way:

‘Hello Johnfolk, this is Gaia from Earth. Three of us have come in a starship. Please stop fighting now and come to meet us.’

The topmen hadn’t heard it so clearly before. They started, they gasped, their mouths fell open, and at the same time their hearts opened too, and tears came to their eyes as they heard the clear, firm voice of a confident young woman, coming out of this tiny object as if she was actually there. Topman John fell straight to his knees and all three others followed him at once. For of course the Johnfolk looked up to Mother Gela no less than the Davidfolk, even if they heard her telling them completely different things.

How wretched it must have been for Luke Johnson, knowing he couldn’t share in their joy that Earth had returned. Now he could only look forward with dread to his meeting with the woman whose voice was somehow held inside this piece of glass. But he didn’t show those feelings. He’d managed to get back in control of himself. Whether he liked it or not, he had a place now in the story of whole of Eden and, like dead Leader Harry a short time ago, and like his many-greats grandfather John Redlantern, he knew that not only these men round him, but people not yet born, were watching him to see what he’d do next.