The Strange Ghostly Tale Of Slippery Jake The Regency Rake: Chapter 32 The meetings Return

Chapter 32: The Meetings Returned

So yet again it was September. Global warming and climate change may well be taking hold in London. The start of Autumn did seem very mild. However, the nights were starting to get longer and the days shorter. Drizzle was replaced by storms.

Despite all of this everyone managed to get there. Pamela Parsons had contacted everybody. An agenda had been set and had already been agreed upon by all the parties.

Old Slippery seemed very happy. He had been given a mission. He was allowed some slack with the movie where he was the centre of attention. He seemed relieved that things were settling down too. Most people like a routine and the old ghost was no exception.

This was true of the regulars in the Lounge Bar Restaurant. Yes, people listened in. There were no unofficial recordings now. Old Slippery had seen to that.

The time was set at 8 pm. There was a high degree of expectation among everyone.

They were not to be disappointed.

Dr. Amelia Smith, the Chief Detective's sister, was also there. She was a specialist in the Victorian period. She too could help with the telepathic conversations. All the religious parties were present.

Professor Alistair McCullough Professor of Astrophysics brought along Dr. Linda Richardson from London University, a climatologist and a specialist in climate change.

The question was posed to Old Slippery, how serious was climate change?

He replied 'very'. The 'tipping point' had been reached. The world's response to date was beyond feeble.

He said that the deniers were criminals. He saw the use of coal, which was starting during his lifetime, along with oil, etc, had got way out of control.

He indicated that this, along with nuclear wars, were the causes for several sentient species and their so-called advanced civilizations destroying themselves in the past across the Universe. He could list each in detail, but the pattern stayed much the same. Yes. a number did pass through this stage and developed further, most failed, however.

It was clear another voice was passing through the House Ghost via the Detective Chief Inspector. Some people in the Lounge Bar Restaurant were clearly taken aback by this.

Old Slippery also knew who the 'deniers' were out there. He shot his red eyes in their direction as he was reading their thoughts. The Old Highway Man, plus the agency that was now controlling him together, felt very strongly about this.

Detective Chief Inspector John Higgins was calming the ghost down, It was clear he felt strongly about this too.

Then Old Slippery began to elaborate on the topic of global warming. Several so-called advanced civilizations had progressed quite a long way. However, they were all initially dependent upon hydrocarbons for their energy sources. In much the same way as Earth, with creatures that had died and over very long periods produced the equivalents of gas, oil, and coal in large quantities below the surfaces of each of these planets.

Soon their scientists could see the mounting danger of carbon-based gases and other equivalents building up in each respective atmosphere. Similar vested interests stifled the development of alternatives on each of the doomed planets. Disaster struck, tipping points were reached and civilizations and whole sentient species vanished. In time life was restored to most of these planets, but without the sentient species. As I stated, only a small number had passed through this test and evolved further.

Old Slippery was pretty pessimistic. He saw the same pattern, or the Supreme Being or the Great Why did, using the ghost to communicate this to the meeting and its illustrious members.

It was not too late but time was fast running out.

If there were any climate change deniers in the Lounge Bar Restaurant they were taken aback. Old Slippery knew who they were of course. He was casting looks around the customers. Those 'offenders' felt a coldness grip their throats. The Detective Chief Inspector was counselling the Old Highway Man to back off. Things could not be resolved with a quick thrust from his rapier. Only through discussion, applying logic and science could people understand, hopefully.

Rabbi Abraham asked if things were that critical and bad. The reply via the Detective Chief Inspector was in the affirmative. The general consensus was how could more urgency be brought to bear across the board?

The young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg had focused a lot more attention on this topic of late. However, there was still great intransigence from key political leaders and associated vested interests. Plus their ability to stifle, distort and ridicule any opposition was a pattern familiar to the Old Ghost.

The Old Ghost intimated that this was a typical pattern given how power was often distributed, in many previous civilizations. Old Slippery was staggered by how sophisticated propagandist tools had become. However, he was given to understand that this was not that uncommon once societies had produced systems such as mass communication and equivalents to the World Wide Web.

There was a general feeling of depression shared by all the committee members.

Professor Alistair McCullough, with his background in astrophysics, wanted to know how many civilizations had come and gone in the Universe. How many were aware of the Earth?

Slippery Jake was pretty evasive. In time, human civilization would become aware of some, given it survives.

Yes, radio waves had reached some other civilizations out there. They were aware of the Earth. None yet were ready to make direct contact.

Old Slippery seemed to hint, via the Detective Chief Inspector, to not be in too much of a hurry. As before Old Slippery outlined that there were other predatory civilizations in the Universe. He was aware of the expansion of the British Empire that had really started during his lifetime. This pattern was by no means unusual. There would be, so-called, advanced species more than ready to exploit and asset strip the Earth, in much the same way Earth's empires had in their acquisition of other countries. They could be equally ruthless.

Professor Alistair McCullough then asked Old Slippery, via the Detective Chief Inspector, was Professor Stephen Hawking broadly correct when he stated we should not be in a hurry to get in contact with 'alien' civilizations when we had the means to do so? The answer again was in the affirmative.

He also mentioned that the use of computers and their equivalents along with the use of robots had led to the elimination of some sentient species. Adding circuits to the brain etc had eventually caused the 'organic element' to be phased out of living beings altogether. These cyborg creatures were also very predatory and did treat organic life as an 'infestation.' Images of 'Terminator' and Arnold Schwarzenegger come to mind!

Professor Alistair McCullough asked if this could be the case on Earth? Old Slippery's reply via the Detective Chief Inspector was a straightforward 'Yes."

Abdullah, the Sufi Iman asked via the Chief Detective Chief Inspector, if there had been any positive interventions? That is alien civilizations that had invaded and saved a planet that had problems.

The Old Highwayman managed to report back that there had indeed been a number. However, these had been the exception and not the rule overall.

So what could be done? Certain positions were very entrenched. Powerful forces were in play.

Dr. Linda Richardson, the London University climatologist and a specialist in Climate Change, indicated that lines had now been crossed. Feedback mechanisms were now starting to come into play. For example, ice was increasingly melting at both Poles. It was getting very warm in Siberia. Maybe methane would be released from there quickly accelerating the feedback. The world's oceans were fast warming up. This would accelerate all increases in temperature from now on. How much longer before this all got out of control?

The tightrope walker was starting to wobble more and more. Could there soon be a fall?

Pamela Parsons stated that she was doing all she could at the BBC to push the message. There seemed to be 'push back' from some quarters, using the excuse that 'balance' was needed. However, time was running out. The Chief Detective Chief Inspector looked across at Old Slippery.

He spoke out loud.

"It is a good thing you are confined to the Bull Public House. Going around the world and dispatching all these key deniers may be a tempting proposition for you. This gives you a secure base. Plus this committee, along with Sid and Beryl, plus Sandra and Kevin has proved an excellent vehicle for this."

"However, more 'direct methods' of removing the major climate deniers was not an option available."

With this, the Old Ghost touched his three-cornered hat and gave a sardonic smile in acknowledgment.

There was a look of disbelief among all the religious members present. However, there was a sneaky regard from a number of academics. Yes, they too would like to see more direct ways of removing certain individuals. They all knew that any replacements could well be a lot worse. It was a nice daydream, however.

Dr. Amelia Smith, the Detective Chief Inspector's sister mentioned another topic that bothered her. Compared with her area of study, the Victorian period, where societies were very stratified. Decisions were only taken at the top. However, with the introduction of the World Wide Web and social media, there seemed a semblance of a more general democracy and openness. However, in reality, things had changed very little. Across the world, small elites controlled everything. Getting these people to act and change their minds was a key issue when it came to matters such as Climate Change was not easy. However, propaganda tools had now become so refined and surveillance so absolute in some societies, that little in reality could actually be done. Controlling words and language was a key factor in this.