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The next section covers the final settlements of affairs.
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of the recording.
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Farewell Preparations
Monday 10/05/2094 6:00 pm (1:00 pm USA)
Two Councillors resigned at the meeting. Tun Wong was elected
and recommended that George and Kerstin should make their number
up to ten again. Anne-Marie seconded his proposal and they were
elected unanimously.
Tuesday 11/05/2094 11:00 am
When Frederica Olmos arrived in London, the whole crew were able
to assist Undepoldus in restoring her to a reasonable level of
normality. Her tattoo was changed to Lieutenant Commander and
she was advised to study again at the College to retain her new
rank and remain an active Spacer. She declined the advice and
chose retirement.
Wednesday 12/05/2094 11:00 am
George and Kerstin took a sub-orbital flight to the College to
add to the powers of Marita's one-time students, Tun Wong and
Boku. George and Kerstin were sworn in as Councillors shortly
after they arrived. Their first action as Councillors was to propose
that all Councillors should link minds to debate issues and make
decisions. Their proposal was endorsed by Tun Wong and Anne-Marie
and carried. Anne-Marie proposed that the Council should link
to Undepoldus. This was agreed.
The Council requested Undepoldus to carry their salutations and
good wishes to all intelligent entities he encounters after he
leaves Earth.
Undepoldus conveyed his reply: "I will be pleased to accede to your request. I will be honoured to act as your ambassador with every entity I meet. Before I leave you I would like to thank you and all Spacers who have cared for me since I arrived on Earth. I commend to you my friend, companion and tutor George McFigg. I appoint him to represent me in all things concerning my affairs while I am away from Earth. Any decisions that he makes on my behalf must be treated as if I made them myself. I entrust you all to care for and protect him and his partner Kerstin while I am away. Finally, please tell the people of Earth that I would like to become an honorary citizen when I return."
The Spacers College staff and students organised a special dinner to honour George, Kerstin and Tun Wong as new Councillors. George and Kerstin said that they would like to stay at the College for a few days to see what courses the College had to offer and to meet as many staff and students as possible. As honoured guests they were provided with two suites in the nearby Spacers Club for receiving and entertaining visitors. Boku was their constant companion and official bodyguard in a place where her security skills and abilities were completely unnecessary. She and Tun Wong assisted and shared as George and Kerstin happily renewed their acquaintances with Marita's ex-students. Their task was made more lengthy because all the ex-students wanted to share with both Marita and Kerstin separately.
Sunday 16/05/2094
When George and Kerstin returned to London, Annie and Jennifer
were provided with all the talents that they did not have already.
The crew were surprised when they discovered a new member who
popped up mentally as George and Kerstin were with Annie and Jennifer.
Shirley conveyed: "I will try to stay out of your way
until I am accepted by the Spacers College. Then I would like
you to do for Simon what you have done for me."
Saturday 22/05/2094
A few days later there was a massive party in the suite at the
Club. The extended crew had now reached 42 members. They agreed
that Peter Whitfield should be approached to become a member after
Undepoldus had left.
Tuesday 25/05/2094
The day before Undepoldus was due to leave there was an even bigger
party in the marquee he had used for his concerts. Those that
were there included the 42 crew, Kerstin's ex-colleagues from
the London Police, a deputation from Regent's Park, Derek Robinson
and his family, the Mayoress and some of her councillors, and,
last but not least, Peter Whitfield. They were all there to say
their goodbyes to Undepoldus.
Undepoldus performed a final special concert of his Hairy Undepoldus
Music for his friends to end the party.
Wednesday 26/05/2094
Undepoldus had planned his final leaving party so that most of
those he had met would be able to see him off.
Wednesday 26th May 2094 began with a clear sky and bright sunshine.
Undepoldus and Marita, with Kerstin, Marita and George, joined
in friendship for the last time as the crowd arrived. The two
aspects of Marita agreed to separate from each other when Undepoldus
left. In that way neither of them would feel that something was
missing when they could not link any more. They would become identical
spiritual twins that would have different experiences for some
years to come. Undepoldus asked Kerstin and George if they would
mind being copied to keep Marita and himself company during the
long journey. He didn't need to ask.
Kerstin said. "Marita and I have chosen Undene and Lepold
as the names for our babies when they arrive. The next baby will
be called Georgina and the fourth will be Martin. There might
be more for you to meet when you get back."
Undepoldus said. "I won't be around to see them grow up and
that makes me feel reluctant to leave. I will feel like a parent
who has to stay away from his children."
George said. "We will get Gurprit and Jane to deputise for
you so that when you return you will be able to see the children
grow in their memories. No children on Earth will ever have more
deputy Aunties and Uncles to spoil them."
Undepoldus said. "I did not know what to say to you George
as my parting words before now. You have solved a problem for
me again! My super deputy father, goodbye until we meet again.
I love you."
Undepoldus then went out to greet the enormous crowd of well-wishers who had come to see him off.
A robot trundled sideways as its battery of cameras selected one view after another of the scene and the watching multitude. Undepoldus imaged places he had visited during his stay on Earth as he made his way around the enormous stadium. The P.A. system alternated between a human commentary and the sounds that Undepoldus was making. His music on one side kept a squadron of marching girls in step as he said his goodbyes to the long line of friends and officials on his other side.
His progress seemed very slow but his escort of marchers had
to stride to keep up with him. The baton twirlers were pausing
frequently and the mace bearers had long given up throwing their
maces in the air. Less conspicuous were the security robocameras
that constantly scanned the crowd. However, now and again one
of them would stop and focus its telephoto lens on someone in
the viewing stands and a security guard would suddenly appear
next to the person within seconds. The security guards were employed
by Undepoldus himself. They were not there for his protection
but to ensure that none of his human associates would come to
harm.
Now and again a person from the crowd would be escorted to join
the long lines of well-wishers. In every case it was a person
who had previously had a connection with Undepoldus.
Undepoldus had his own way of saying goodbye and the enormous
crowd appreciated the staging of his departure. Many of those
watching the spectacle had only seen him previously on the vidcom.
Even wall screens could not convey the way his size dominated
everything and everybody near him. He had said that he had tried
to stop growing because he thought that he was already too big.
When he was measured for the spacecraft he was 122 metres long,
nearly 5 metres high. and weighed 1840 tonnes. Before he started
imaging he had what appeared to be white fur. His apparent colour
had since varied continually, mostly as pictorial images. It was
always hard to look at Undepoldus as a whole creature because
the viewer's eyes would always be caught by the amazingly clear
images that he produced with his fur. However, the word fur is
a misnomer because each whisker was a natural fibre optic. The
whiskers served the quintuple purposes of seeing organ, chromatophore,
hearing organ, breathing device and sound producer. Undepoldus
is a very strange and unique creature. The story of his time on
Earth has no equal.
Eventually the goodbye ceremony came to an end. Undepoldus moved
to the centre of the stadium and formed himself into a circle.
Then, while showing images of his closest friends, the circle
became smaller and smaller. Next it became clear that he was showing
an image of himself in a circle showing images of his friends
because there wasn't very much of him left to see. He was burrowing
into the ground just like his earthworm counterpart would do to
escape from view. Soon he was gone altogether. All that was left
was a circular depression where he had disappeared.
A single robocamera and a small crowd of onlookers saw him emerge from the ground outside the stadium and get onto his special train of flatbed trucks. The transporter moveway started shortly afterwards, providing the first part of his journey to the spaceport. Undepoldus himself had designed and paid for his own space vehicle. He had test flown it several times to make sure that it would perform correctly when he would go into orbit and rendezvous with the mother ship.
The Undepoldus space plane was like Undepoldus himself - unique. The long body had wide lateral fins that extended from just behind the nose to the tail. Almost duplicating the body was the segmented fuel tank. On struts projecting from the tank were the 96 motors. Each pair was arranged so that the exhausts would miss the motors behind. 72 motors were modified atmosphere engines and the remaining 24 were pure rockets. The expended fuel tanks and associated motors were jettisoned and guided back to the recovery fields by robot pilots. The train-like undercarriage assembly was designed to stay with the spacecraft until it was well above flying speed. The undercarriage would then separate and fly round and land back on the take-off strip. Undepoldus designed the parts to be re-usable in a large number of combinations for future smaller space planes.
The take off was uneventful apart from the horrendous noise of the motors. It drowned out conversations 10 kilometres away from the nearest point on the 16 kilometre take-off strip. Undepoldus insisted that no human should be within 5 kilometres when the motors were started. He wishes were honoured.
Undepoldus made no special provision for docking with the mother ship. The front of the spacecraft just opened and an extensible concertina tube was steered into position on the mother ship. Undepoldus then transferred to the mother ship, the concertina tube retracted into his space plane and the nose of the space plane closed again. The space plane is still in a stable orbit so that it can be used if and when Undepoldus returns to Earth.
This video programme was compiled with the assistance of Undepoldus, the Spacers League, London University, and the Regent's Park Animal Sanctuary. The programme transmission time was 15 minutes and the estimated viewing time is 11 hours. Your video recording systems were set to record automatically.
This was a public service broadcast sponsored by The Undepoldus Trust. There will be no charge for this transmission. The programme copyright is held by the Undepoldus Trust trustees but it may be used by educational institutions and historical researchers without seeking prior permission.
The owners of copyright material within this programme - including performances, images, music and text - have transferred their rights to the Undepoldus Trust for exclusive use within this programme. Their rights are otherwise as governed by legal statutes.