2400 AD

Holographic images of the 5 Denizen leaders filled the room. Each took a seat around the table and Kendall greeted each one by name.

Jurgen Grossman – leader of the Durban community, German by birth, an aggressive man.

Petra Holingstadt – from the Cape Town community, dressed in a grey blouse and black skirt, sat beside Grossman.

Loyiso Loyiso – from Limpopo had a head of dreadlocks like Medusa.

Khanye Tshabalala from Mpumalanga dressed like a tribal chief.

Brian McDonald from the Eastern Cape was spiffed up in a tie and black suit.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome. I’ve called upon you all because we have a serious problem. Gideon has been taken by Xenocon. Xenocon has rebelled against normal society and are no longer seen as saviors. Our protocol demands that in the event of one of our leaders being compromised, we must execute a call to arms. Do I have your support?”

Loyiso Loyiso spoke first. “But I have heard there is more to this than meets the eye, Ken. You’ll have to tell us the full story. What led to this? Where is he? Is there a chance that he will return unharmed?”

Kendall said, “It’s a long story. We have two Kines. Jacob and Thespian. They have an uncanny gift. They are able to think on another level, another “frequency” if you want. We found them in a house in Tshwani. Xenocon issued orders a few hours ago to bring the children to them, and we have refused. Xenocon attacked us and only stopped when Gideon gave himself up to them. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A short while ago Xenocon announced over the emergency tanoy system that all children must leave their families and gather at all Xenocon branches across the country. Their goal is to find children with the same gifts as Jacob and Thespian. So we chose a new recruit, his name is Callum, to lead a gauntlet to save the children and rescue Gideon. The result was positive in that we managed to save most of the children, but now Xenocon has Gideon and Callum. I’ve called you all to try and find a solution to this impasse.”

“We’re having the same problem. Our problem is that we can’t get into Xenocon, they’ve set up an invisible shield around their facility and we can’t penetrate it.”

It turned out that all the Denizen leaders had the same problem.

“Your saving grace is Jacob. He has the power to destroy three shield. We don’t have a Jacob.”

“Gentlemen, we’ll need to use maximum force. There is no other alternative.”

“We’ll have to use the Black Hole bombs.”

“But that will mean war.”

“Xenocon knows the consequences.”

“They started this.”

“By all means we must save the children.”

“If it means war, then so be it.”

“Very well, by a show of hands, who votes to use the BHB Drones, and by that I mean full out war.”

Every leader around the table raised their hands. It was a show of power, and the consequences would be horrific.