TEST DRAFT 3 With LLaregub footnotes The Boy Who Shot Flimzy Bubbletrumpett- macbook 2

row after row of almost identical houses lined the roads; some with a square patch of grass in
front, some with a patch of gravel and a few potted plants, some withhold fashioned looking
bow windows and others with flat double glazed windows, some with a tiny porch, others
with doors that opened on to the front step. Tiny differences that are only noticeable if you
looked carefully, and The Six were driving slowly and looking very carefully through sheets
of falling rain. Nils touched Kathy’s and said, pull over I think we’re here. Kathy parked the
bus and turned to look at the others sitting behind her. They checked the directions and Paul
nodded, This is it.
Two of them , Nils and Bhawang Putih clambered out of the bus and ignoring the rain, opened
a gate, crossed a small patch of lawn and peered in through a window. What they saw made
them hesitate and then return to the bus where they told the others what they had seen.
Was that really our President? Has there been a mistake?
They consulted their instructions and the instructions were quite clear and there was no
mistake.
I think some people are going to quite surprised, said Kathy.
The others looked at her.
That’s meiosis! she said.
4
In the caves of ice beneath The Palace of the Golden Moon Ahmad Shannon and The
Custodian had finished installing TRUDI and linking the computer to every room in the place.
The whole building would respond to the mood of the new President, the lighting, the heating,
the scented sprays that were wafted through the rooms. All could be overridden with the touch
of a button or just a word; the President could lock doors, turn on music, summon help, order
food, or call up a screen on almost any wall and speak to anyone anywhere in the world, all
with just a word. It had not been easy working with The Custodian, who had, had described
what was needed in the fewest possible words been very reluctant to allow the architect in the
same room as TRUDI, let alone speak to him face to face. But Ahmad Shannon had insisted,
the job had exhausted him and he was eager to leave. He felt he worked himself too hard and
that the strain was beginning to tell. Exploring the still empty rooms, with their shining
marble floors, gold and silver walls, climbing the grand staircases and walking down a maze
of seemingly endless corridors he felt strangely disorientated. He heard the sound of laughter
in locked rooms that should have been empty, he heard running footsteps behind him and
when he turned all he saw was empty corridor. He began to smell the smells of his childhood,
the scent of ripe guavas, kitchen spices, coriander, cumin, cloves and the smell of mould and
damp that lingered after the long rains. Later he caught glimpses of small children dressed in
black disappearing around corners or into rooms he found locked when he tried to follow.
Most of the children in black seemed like shadows, but one child he saw several times, before
she darted out of view, had a bright thatch of orange hair.
He left The Custodian alone with TRUDI, said his goodbyes and left The Palace of the Moon
forever.
The palace was filled up with furniture, fittings and equipment, these were followed by
cleaners, gardeners, cooks, servants, clerks, officials and administrators. All preparing for the
arrival of The President. There had been some argument about who should speak for the
thousand world leaders and lead the Inauguration. A vote was taken and unsurprisingly James
McQuarry was nominated.
Word was received that The Six were returning with the President and the thousand leaders
assembled in The Grand Hall of the Palace of the Golden Moon.
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