Chapter Five

Edmund Fane drove away from the mansion, slowly at first then speeding long the paved asphalt of the road. The driver of the car he had noticed following them from the lonely highway seemed more intent than ever to not loose him and he was more intent than ever to get him off his tail. He was already late and couldn't afford to have someone following him to the meeting. He swerved the car through traffic expertly but the stalking car followed. It was a few minutes drive to the hotel the meeting was taking place in but Edmund took the tailing car on a three hour goose chase, speeding up just in time before the lights turned red, leaving his stalker in the dust.

By the time he got to the meeting, he was a few hours late and that meant there were only a few minutes left for the meeting to end. The elders were extremely precise about time and he knew Radolf would be furious with him but it was a situation he would have to understand. The older ones were in a heated debate when Edmund walked in. They took no notice of him. As usual, Raff sat at the corner of the table quiet and silent next to Radolf who seemed exasperation by the actions of the grown men and women.

Radolf was visibly larger than the rest of the people in the conference room, men and women alike. He had a large build with obvious muscles despite his age. There was an air of authority about him and his facial expression depicted wisdom none of them could fathom. None of them aside from Raff and Otswana.

"Silence!" His voice boomed in the conference room. The room went silent.

"Edmund Fane!" Edmund stopped in his tracks and everyone turned to him.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry, I had a bit of a tailing problem."

"A tailing problem?" Radolf's right brow went up inquisitively.

"You see I was being followed…"Edmund began.

"I don't need the details. Let this action not repeat itself." Edmund took an open seat next to Otswana and radolf began addressing the entire room.

"Brethren, I don't see any reason to have such a heated debate. Yes it is true that the rate of uninformed turns have increased drastically but what do you expect us to do about it? We care about our own, that is true but it is also true that the entire world is not our own. The problem I think is the number of abandoned intendeds and the increased number of death rates. In the last three decades there has been a ratio of 100:1 deaths between the humans and our kind and there are millions of deaths everyday which means tens of us die everyday. The mortality ratio is what we should be worried about. Speak amongst yourself. Nominate four of you who will form a sub committee to recruit the new and uninformed turns." He paused for dramatic effect, took a deep breath and continued, the entire room still paying apt attention.

" These four will meet with Otswana and together they will come up with strategies to recruit new turns. Two elders and two young ones should be nominated. We shall take a break for five minutes while you decide." Radolf's voice always sounded like it was spoken into a microphone. It was loud and commanded authority. Unlike it, Raff's voice, calm, controlled, commanded respect but not as much while Otswana had a melodious voice. This was the case with them as with all their predecessos before them. The heated debate in the room resumed all over, amongst mainly the older ones. The young ones who consisted mostly of new turns were quiet as they were told not to speak while the elders did. Some others were scared or shy while some did not know what to say and others just didn't care. Among the others who didn't care was Edmund. He was on his phone scrolling through pictures of Valerie. His P.I had done a good job in just over three hours after he had left her. 'what wonderful things drones are' he thought. He was so thoroughly immersed in the pictures that he almost didn't hear his own name being mentioned.

"Edmund? Edmund!" It was Ryker Birch. A young one. He was younger than the old ones and older than Edmund.

"Edmund, would you like to be in the committee?" Edmund looked, his expression one of confusion.

"What? No, pick someone else. Maybe Clarisse? She'll be glad to join, won't you Clarisse? The timid girl called Clarisse looked around shyly, wondering how he knew her name and why he would put her under the spotlight like that. He was obviously older than her with at least a decade and young ones that old tend to not pay any attention to their juniors.

"Okay, Clarisse then." Ryker declared and the meeting was called back to order as the minutes were over.

"What's the verdict?" Radolf's voice boomed in the room. One of the elders stood.

"Among the older ones, we have chosen Victor Quagmire and Eleanore Birch. And among the young ones, Ryker Birch and Clarisse Felton for the committee.

"Very well." Radolf's voice boomed again. "Consult with Otswana about the next steps to take. Meeting adjourned." They all stayed seated until Radolf, Raff and Otswana stood, in that order. Everyone was up and about while Edmund sat in his chair, staring at his phone, when Radolf walked up to him and cleared his throat. Edmund looked at him and forced a smile.

"Hello Father."