The Morgan Affair by John Lyne - HTML preview

CHAPTER 21. EPILOGUE.

Shuttles had been arriving all day at Company H.Q. some from not too distant and others from as far away as the Moon, Mars and the Asteroids. Sir Richard had organised a re-union dinner for all those whose lives had been touched by what was now referred to as the 'Morgan Affair.'

It was three months to the day since the Revenge had touched down on Earth and the vessel was still locked and under armed guard for the time being. Michael was sitting next to Charlotte and had many memories of the Mission. As Sir Richard smoothly delivered his after-dinner speech some of them flashed through his head.

Michael looked at his Crew, they seemed to be fit and healthy. Arnie looked quite miserable and uncomfortable in his suit, but cheered up as he caught Michael's eye. Captain Gorrie was sitting with his Crew and looked as stolid as ever. As a mark of respect, the places of the Men killed in the 'Morgan Affair' had been set and draped with a piece of black velvet. Before dinner commenced, two minutes of silence had been observed in their honour.

The Guest of Honour was Kandras. He had been received with something like reverence by all the Authorities which he had seen. The British Government had passed an Act of Parliament to give him British citizenship and Sir Richard had again offered him the post of Chief Technical Advisor to the Company. This time Kandras had accepted and to everybody's amazement had accepted in perfect English. He had learned the language over the weeks and was intelligent enough to realise that he would have to communicate with the Earth people at their own level.

He was going to be a very busy person and had promised to host a series of seminars which would re-align the thinking of the Company's top boffins.

He had fallen in love with the planet Earth and had spent a holiday on Grand Cayman, Sir Richard's favourite hideaway. This particular spot in the British West Indies with its beautiful, clear waters had been the ideal place for an amphibious being like Kandras and he had been overawed by the richness and beauty of the marine species which abounded amongst the coral. After two hundred years aboard his ship it was an unbelievable experience to swim freely in a large expanse of water.

Sir Richard had made sure that he was well looked after by sending Henry Hurst as his companion, his local knowledge had been a great help.

One of Kandras' biggest luxuries was the fresh food. He had lived on synthesized food for hundreds of years and his first fillet steak had tasted so unbelievably good to him that he had requested a plate of small samples of other earthly dinners. He had loved them all, particularly the fish dishes and had found real pleasure in being a gourmet.

Neville Johnson was sitting with a beautiful young lady named Anna. On the breast of his evening dress suit was pinned a recently awarded medal for 'Meritorious Service above and beyond the call of Duty. ' Michael's lasting memory of Neville came when they were on final approach with Michael flying the Revenge. Neville had returned his Crest Comets to him and said, “We have every confidence in you, Sir, but just in case they don't recognise you, you had better wear these. These they will recognise.”

Michael had highly commended Neville's part in the Mission when he had submitted his report. Neville's courage, resourcefulness and determination had been instrumental to the success of the Mission and he was pleased that it had been suitably rewarded.

One of the better things to come out of the incident was the arrangement Fred Ford had been instructed to negotiate. Following the transmission by Captain Stephens after the recapture of the three vessels, Sir Richard had instructed Fred to invite Admiral Williams to Company Headquarters to discuss an appointment.

It had not been easy to find him. The dishonoured Admiral and his wife had moved to a remote farm house in Wales without a telephone or other communication device. Fred and Lord Lamont had gone to visit the Admiral to try to convince him that it would be in his best interest to talk with Sir Richard.

It had not been easy, but eventually his lovely wife, Valerie, had persuaded him that he could not hide away for ever and so the meeting had taken place. Sir Richard had created a new executive post in the Company and called it the 'Chief Military Liaison Officer.' It was this post that had been offered to the Admiral. He could not believe his luck and had gratefully accepted the post. His only question had been, "Why me?"

Having put him on the payroll and updated his security clearance, Sir Richard showed him the video-tapes of Michael's transmission. The Admiral was immediately excited and astounded.

"Captain Stephens was the most reliable and trustworthy Officer I ever met. When he said he had seen something, then I knew it must be there.”

The significance of his appointment had dawned on him when Sir Richard had looked him straight in the face and said, “I hope you get a lot of personal satisfaction when you inform the Military of what we have discovered here.” Without doubt, a classic case of 'rubbing their noses in it.'

Michael was now a fabulously rich man in his own right. He had asked if a Company freighter could pick up his Moon Shuttle from Mars. Fred Ford had sent the Atlas, now under the command of Captain Benjamin Rimmer. It had been brought back, still locked up and when Michael had opened it, the hold had been crammed with bags of uncut gems and other valuable nuggets. Under space law the contents of a space ship had been deemed to belong to the owners, following a test case involving the Skipper of an American prospecting team and the owners of their vessel. Even after tax his personal fortune was in excess of one hundred million pounds.

Things were not too good for Harry. He had been placed in a mental institution when a judge had ruled him unfit to plead. He was suffering from Melancholia and 'Delusions of Grandeur' which was made all the worse by his schizophrenia. Harry was quite mad and Michael had made some money available to help ease the way and provide the few luxuries which he was allowed by the Institution. In a way, Michael felt rather sorry for Harry Morgan, he had been the victim of a lot of circumstances.

The remainder of his Crew had been tried and convicted on charges of piracy in the first ever trial of its nature. They had been sentenced to ten years in the Martian Penal Colony.

As Michael's mind wandered, he recalled the hard times and then looked at Charlotte's hand and admired the intricate twin-stone, diamond setting of her engagement ring: there was a thick gold wedding ring underneath it. Both the rings had been made from materials brought back in his Moon Shuttle. Their eyes met and he squeezed her hand... Charlotte had made the perfect Mrs. Stephens and that was something he did have to thank Harry Morgan for.

Michael's thoughts pondered what the future might hold. Having married the niece of Sir Richard Crest, Michael was in a very strong position, both financially and status wise. Once again he was a Captain without a ship but, with a new wife to enjoy life with, it did not hurt as much. He knew that soon this feeling of contentedness would pass and that the craving would once again return, but that was in the future. The thing that preyed most on his mind was what Sir Richard would instruct him to do within the Company.

He hoped that it would not be entirely desk-bound. He was startled out of his reverie as Sir Richard tapped him on the shoulder.

"Michael, I have been thinking. When the honeymoon is over I would appreciate it if you would give some thought to drawing on your experiences as a pioneer space explorer. With Kandras' help I intend to organise a deep-space exploration mission and I would like you to be in Command I'm sure Charlotte will be able to find a good reason to go along with you….. what do you think of such a suggestion?"

Michael was unable to control the smile on his face as he turned to Sir Richard. "I thought you were never going to ask……….”