Chapter 47

By the time the seeds hit the atmosphere the tension on earth was palpable. The Committee for Space Development had become a political gold mine. The general public loved the idea of a new world, of space science technology finally creating something the average man could relate to. All Harold had done so far was cool down a barren rock and gotten some oxygen and a bit of rain. But to the general public he was bigger than Homer Simpson and Oprah Winfrey combined. He was no longer simply that generally odd doctor, he was the creator of a new world. Senator Knophf had made sure that the press covered every aspect of the flight in bitter detail. They had tortured poor Harold with questions. Emily was hounded everywhere she went. They had even tried to interview young Robert. Harold had tried to avoid public restaurants since his honeymoon. The last time he had gone into one, a crowd of over one hundred and fifty people had collected. There were the usual religious crazies, you know the ones where the world will come to an end if you don't buy flowers blessed by their leader and chant with them on the side walk. But Harold also collected people from all aspects of the great mental spectrum that we call reality. He had people who wanted to perform animal sacrifice for him with the animal ready to go, bear his children, read the bumps on his forehead, tell the future with his used tea leaves, and generally make a pain out of themselves. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Marin County but it was unsettling to Harold. He finally had to stop going out in public without body guards. The death threats were the worst. All sorts of crazies filter out and the mean sadistic psychopaths, while thankfully rare, are there any friendly psychopaths?, love to follow famous people. Harold now needed security. He bought two large Suburbans and had them bullet proofed, you know, kevlar in the side panels, bullet proof glass all around, four inches of bullet proof Plexiglas in the back, self sealing tires, and gun ports in all the doors. There were locked boxes in the back with automatic weapons. He put car phones in all the cars and he got Kevlar vests for Emily, himself, and Robert. Emily insisted that they both take terrorist driving school. The only advantage was the neighbors refused to car pool with him or Robert. It was frightening to live like this, but the death threats persisted.

The police were less than helpful. If there hasn't been a crime they can't arrest the person. Now if there is a crime they would be glad to oblige. Harold, being a man of reason, was not enthusiastic about waiting for the proper circumstances for them to take action. Let's see now, that is a double homicide, with sadistic overtones and an order of fries, yes I guess we can now do something about the problem. We will fill out a report and get back to you or your next of kin, if we come up with anything. Oh, well, we won't get back to you exactly, but if anything does happen to pop up we will be sure to do something about it.

Chapter 48

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