REVELATION: Book One of THE RECARN CHRONICLES (7 page)

“Hello Aaron. I’ve only just
got here myself. Here. Have a drink. Anything you like… it’s on me.
Well, it’s on the production company anyway.”

“Just water will be fine,
thanks.”

“Fair enough. Carla. A glass
of water for Aaron please. I may call you Aaron, may I?”

“Of course.”

Aaron had never been on
television in his life and didn’t want to risk making a fool of
himself by drinking alcohol before the interview. He knew of
Brendan Ford of course. He was one of the most respected talk show
hosts on TV and had a reputation for being a tough interviewer but
he could turn on the charm at the blink of an eye. He was proud of
the fact that he could think on his feet and didn’t need a team of
writers behind him to create his jokes. He was naturally funny,
good-natured and felt equally at ease whether interviewing a
high-ranking politician, a Hollywood superstar, or an old woman who
ran a cat refuge. Aaron took his place alongside Tom on the
sofa.

“Now. I’m not going to ask
you any relevant questions now. I’ll leave that until the cameras
are running. You do know that this programme goes out live, do
you?”

Brendan didn’t wait for a
response, but continued.

“Now, where was I? Oh yes.
When you hear the intro music to the programme that means there’s
about five minutes before you’ll be called onto the stage. I’ll
introduce the show and have a little banter with the band. I’m sure
you’ve seen the show before. It’s roughly the same format as the
shows of Jonathan Ross, Craig Ferguson etc. Except that my audience
figures are higher at the moment – which of course is a good thing
for us. Aaron. Don’t forget that I experienced pretty much the same
as you did twenty-five years or so ago. And this week I again
experienced the same as you. I’m not a sceptic. I’m 99.9% on board.
I saw things with my own eyes. When I introduce you (you’ll hear it
via the speaker in the green room) that’s when you come on stage.
Carla will direct you. And whatever you do, don’t trip over the
cables – that new teen idol tripped over them a few weeks ago and
broke his nose. Not such a pretty boy now.”

Brendan winked at
Carla.

“Anyway, I can’t tell you
what questions I’ll be asking. I wing it you see. No script. More
honest that way. But I’m not going to try to catch you out with any
trick questions. I’m on board, don’t forget that. Any questions
before I get my nose etc. powdered? No? Good. See you in about 30
minutes.”

And with that he slid out of
the room. Tom looked at Aaron.

“Well. This is it, Aaron.
Nervous?”

“A little. Never been on TV
before.”

“Me neither. But it’s got to
be better than going to the dentist.”

Two girls came into the room
and went over to where two chairs were positioned in front of two
large mirrors.

“Ready when you are,
boys.”

Five minutes later the
scientist and his new-found friend were ready for the cameras.
Aaron had been secretly worried that he might end up looking like a
Goth or a drag-queen, but in reality he didn’t look very different
at all… just not so shiny.

Carla then led them to the
green room where they settled down to watch Brendan start the show
on a large wall-mounted 80 inch Sony TV monitor. A disembodied
voice announced the arrival of the show’s host, and Brendan bounded
on stage, giving a large smile to the cameras.

“Hello, good evening and
welcome to Ford On Friday! That’s another ten quid in royalties to
Sir David Frost’s estate.”

He started every show in the
same way, with the same corny joke.

“Tonight we have some very
special guests, guests who are going to blow your minds. No, it’s
not Penn and Teller, who you can find regularly blowing minds at
their show in Las Vegas. Thanks for the cheque guys. No, these are
not magicians. But you’ll see what I mean in a few
minutes.”

He turned to the house
band.

“So, guys… what’s
new?”

This part of the show was
rehearsed and the to and fro of friendly banter was expected by
both the studio audience and those watching at home. The first five
minutes of Ford On Friday was an unchanging ritual. Neither Brendan
nor the band let the viewers down. The laughter of the audience in
the studio was genuine.

In the green room, Carla
beckoned Aaron and Tom to follow her. They walked along a short
corridor and were led into another room, being careful to avoid
tripping over the cables, to find themselves standing in the wings
of the Ford On Friday set. On stage, Brendan continued.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen.
I’m going to introduce you to two gentlemen who – as I said - are
going to absolutely blow your minds tonight. Have you ever wondered
what happens to you when you die? I’m sure you have. We all do at
some time in our lives. Well, these guys say that they have the
answer. Please welcome Aaron Hunt, who works as a research
scientist specializing in reincarnation, and Thomas McCall. You’ll
find out about Tom soon enough.”

The band played “You Only
Live Twice, the studio audience clapped and, just for good measure,
a backing track of applause joined in.

Aaron and Tom walked on
stage and sat down on a sofa alongside the podium behind which sat
Brendan Ford.

“Aaron, Thomas, welcome to
Ford On Friday.”

Brendan was well aware of
the alliterative power of the name of the show and that if he
repeated it regularly, ‘Ford On Friday’ would stick in his viewers’
minds.

“Let me start with Thomas.
May I call you Tom?”

“Of course,
Brendan.”

“Tom. You claim that you are
the reincarnation of several people.”

“
Yes, Brendan, but it’s
not a claim. I
have
been reincarnated.
Possibly well over a hundred times. But I only really remember well
the dozen or so most recent.”

“That’s a lot of lives, Tom.
And a very good memory. So… am I the reincarnation of lots of dead
people too? If so, why can’t I remember my past lives?”

“We don’t all remember our
past lives. Maybe five per cent of us do. Aaron here doesn’t
remember any of his.”

Aaron cut in, thinking that
if he didn’t say something now he might freeze when it came to his
turn in the spotlight.

“Yes. That’s true.
Absolutely nothing.”

Brendan continued his line
of questioning.

“So all these people who
claim to remember living as someone else in the past, are you
telling me that they’re not crazy?”

“Some are, yes. The guy who
sits in the corner of a room somewhere, telling everybody that he
used to be Napoleon Bonaparte, he needs help. I’ve actually met
Bonaparte’s latest incarnation – he’s a butcher in Huddersfield –
and a nicer former Emperor of France you couldn’t hope to meet. In
reality, about 5% of people are Recarns.”

“What’s a Recarn,
Tom?”

“A Recarn, Brendan, is what
we call ourselves. We who remember our past lives are
Recarns.”

“Tell me about some of your
past lives, please.”

Tom described the life of
Ruth, the slave-woman, and Simon, the murderous little boy.
Although it wasn’t recent history many of the studio audience
gasped as they remembered or had been told about the strange case
of the little boy who killed his mother and then
himself.

“Okay. Let’s move onto
Aaron. You’re a research scientist who has spent his life trying to
prove reincarnation. How have you gone about that
exactly?”

Aaron explained how he
interviewed people about their supposed past lives and tried to
corroborate their stories through historical records.

“And has your research
convinced you that reincarnation is a bona fide scientific fact,
Aaron?”

“I have to confess that my
research has not been overly successful in that
respect.”

“And do you believe that Tom
is indeed the reincarnation of Ruth, Simon and many
others?”

“I didn’t want to. I’m a
scientist after all. But… yes I do believe him.”

“Tell us why,
Aaron.”

Aaron told the tale of how
he had met Jake Griffiths, how Jake had led him to a buried safe
with incredible security. He decided to leave out the part about
how his family was in danger if he had told anyone about his
experience before now. His wife would be watching the show and he
didn’t want to alarm her. He explained how Jake had put things in
the safe before shooting himself. He explained how Tom had
contacted him, led him to the very same safe, opened the safe
without blowing both he and Aaron to kingdom come, how he had
recited what was on the documentation in the safe word for word. He
described the experience with the dice.

Brendan rested his chin on
his fist and looked directly into the lens of camera
one.

“Sounds incredible, doesn’t
it Ladies and gentlemen?”

The studio audience murmured
in agreement, as Brendan stood up and walked over to camera two,
clasping his hands in front of him.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I
haven’t been completely honest with you. This story sounds
fantastical – I know – but twenty-five years ago I was approached
by a balding, rather stout, middle-aged man who told me a very
similar story. I was led to a hidden location and experienced
exactly what happened to Aaron. The difference is that I have it
all on film. I was told to bring the most trustworthy cameraman I
knew. This was all at the particular behest of Albert Cummings, the
stranger, who shot himself in the head on that very day all those
years ago. Some may ask why neither I, nor Aaron informed the
authorities of what happened, but we had a very good reason not to.
What you are about to see may be disturbing for some, so when
Albert shoots himself you’ll hear an audible warning before and can
close your eyes for a few seconds. Let’s watch the
video”

Aaron leaned over to
Tom.

“Did you know about this?”
he whispered.

Tom nodded, “Yes. Albert was
one of my schoolteachers.”

After showing Albert
shooting himself in the head, the video screen went
blank.

“Now, here’s video evidence
of what happened when I met Charlize, last week. Charlize, take a
bow.”

A beautiful, willowy black
South African girl, dressed in a shimmering silver evening dress,
rose from her seat in the front row of the audience, gave a
graceful bow and sat down again.

All eyes went back to the
giant TV monitor behind the host and his guests. They saw a visibly
older Brendan, today’s Brendan, once again being led to the hidden
safe, they saw it opened, they saw the documents removed and they
saw Charlize confirm their contents. They saw Brendan recall the
number and colour combinations of the dice and they saw those
numbers confirmed, just as they had been for Aaron. They saw the
Semtex defused and then the return to Brendan’s car.

“Now, Ladies and gentlemen.
It may be hard to believe but this is totally genuine. I believe
that Charlize there is the reincarnation of Albert Cummings, crazy
as it may seem. I’m confident enough in my belief to offer the
film, myself, and – I have her permission – Charlize to undergo any
tests required to confirm the veracity of what we have seen. Aaron,
Tom, are you both willing to do the same?”

Tom agreed
straightaway.

“Aaron?”

“Yes, of course. I just hope
it won’t involve waterboarding. I have a phobia.”

“I hope so too, Aaron. OK
people. Let’s go to a commercial break and when we come back I’ll
be speaking to the finalists of Britain’s Got Talent.”

Aaron and Tom were ushered
into another room, where they could have a relaxing drink and watch
the rest of the show. Aaron could do with the drink but he hated
Britain’s Got Talent.

Aarika Bhandari, BTV News reporter, was standing at the edge
of a turbulent and sometimes violent demonstration in Parliament
Square, microphone in hand, waiting for her cue to start speaking.
A disembodied voice in her headphones counted down the
seconds.

“Three, two, one, action.”

Aarika licked her lips and began her report.

“
There is a tremendous
surge forward as the crowd tries to make ground but they are being
met with high velocity
jets
of water from three
water cannons placed before the Houses of Parliament. Thank God we
won’t see a repetition of February’s Manchester riots when riot
police felt threatened and a number of them turned their pulse gun
settings from stun to kill. An eyewitness on that day claims to
have heard a senior officer give the order to change settings – an
order that was ignored by the vast majority of riot police on that
fateful day – but it is believed that about half a dozen police
officers did obey the order and consequently twenty-seven men,
women, and children lost their lives on that tragic day. No police
officers
have been prosecuted
yet
and an official enquiry continues.