‘I guess this almost whole-world lockdown over the coronavirus has meant you’re much safer now,’ Cavalier said in a phone call to Haut, who had settled into his Chiang Mai hideaway. ‘It would be more difficult to set something up for a kill. It’s much tougher to cross borders.’

‘Maybe. You more than anyone know how easy it is.’

‘What are you going to do here?’

‘I’ll keep instructing my Melbourne team on the various engine developments, from generators to cars. We’ve bought a Ford Falcon Futura that will be running on water—plasmoids—very soon.’ Haut paused. ‘I’m ready for my final big invention.’

‘Surely you should follow through on this carbon eradication and then worry about other issues!’

‘Vic, remember I have five brain orbits. I can multi-task like no one else.’

‘Okay, what’s the new task?’ Cavalier asked.

‘I’m following through on a Tesla design: to produce endless free energy for the entire world.’

‘Pray tell, how?’

‘By transmitting massive amounts of electrical energy from the ionosphere, above the Earth’s surface.’

‘Sounds like harnessing of plasmoids via lightning?’

‘Yes, but with infinitely more energy downloads.’

‘That will thrill Conquer and all energy companies! Makes me wonder if you’re on a death wish. How do you plan this latest venture?’

‘I’m going to produce a magnetic field conductor in Iceland. That will rush the energy down to capacitors on Earth.’ He paused and added, ‘I want free energy for every person on our planet, which was what Tesla proposed more than a century ago.’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to the Shaman himself who gave so much of his precious and highly contested time over four years from the beginning of 2017. Several others, including the character on whom I have based Wombat, along with the engineers who worked on the car run on water, were also generous with their time in showing me both the generator and Ford Falcon Futura in action. Thanks also to Dean Golja for taking a video recording of the inventions.

Again, my thanks to Tom Gilliatt and Tom Bailey-Smith at publishers Allen & Unwin, and copyeditor Deonie Fiford.

Roland Perry

January 2021