I woke up again today!” That was the first thing that ran through his mind as he opened his eyes. This had become a familiar source of surprise to Mr M as he continued to gather years. The numbers were getting quite large. His overall health was pretty good and in fact some things were better than they were twenty years ago like his eyesight. Nevertheless time was building. An image of Gulliver came to mind with new threads being thrown across his body by time’s minions. One for each year. How long until there were so many threads that he couldn’t overcome them and rise to the day? He pulled the sheet off of his body and swung his feet to the floor. The view out of the twelve foot tall windows was spectacular. The sunlight streaming in was rejuvenating.
This day, though beautiful, was like any other day for Mr M however without much to do. He did have obligations to start or restart TOKMAK’s all over the world but the process had become so routine for him that it was pretty easy to keep up with the schedule and get dozens of them started each day. This necessitated a pretty constant travel schedule but since he could teleport to wherever he needed to be the travel became almost negligible and he found himself sleeping in his own bed in Bariloche or Tarnov nearly every night. He no longer needed a private airplane and sold what he had earlier used. He did manage a netjets account so that his employees could manage more easily. He did enjoy spending time on ISHKA but he did not need the boat for travel or accommodation just for pleasure. He often took ISHKA and “jumped” to cool places where he could just cruise quietly and uninterrupted while enjoying the scenery. Once he was nearing Socotra off the Horn of Africa.
He was fascinated by the dragon trees on the island, a very unique and interesting looking tree that grew there in the arid climate. As he was drifting along viewing the dragon trees crowning the cliffs two fast boats began heading straight towards him. The boats did not bear any markings indicating that they were government or military and they looked menacing. As they drew closer he could see mounted guns and a dozen or so men on each boat, some brandishing rifles. His first thought was to turn and run. There was not a lot of doubt that he could outrun them or at least, with his TOKMAK system, outlast them in a chase. A warning shot was fired across his bow by one of the approaching boats. Mr M was alone on his boat, a 60 foot long Sunseeker Evo Predator. It was a fast looking boat, sleek and shiny. It could also cruise at just over 50 kts which was probably enough to outrun these larger diesel powered military style craft. But he couldn’t outrun gun fire and they were close enough already that drastic action was required. Accordingly he disappeared from the view of the pursuing boats jumping to a location a little off the coast of Chile near Antofagasta. Another beautiful place where , according to some article that he had read years before, the largest difference in elevation on Earth exists where the Andes mountains rise up from the Pacific which is over 25,000 feet deep where Mr M was currently.
The Andes also rise to above 20,000 feet in some places with Mount Aconcagua being the tallest at 22,800+ feet. The total difference in elevation is nearly nine full miles in some places and makes for a truly dramatic spectacle. It was night time in Chile but more importantly there was no pursuit. He set the autopilot to run North at about 5 kts and drifted back into the captain’s chair. He wasn’t tired; he just leaned back with his eyes closed and enjoyed the gentle rocking as the boat slowly plowed through a small Northwest swell that set up a rhythmic rocking of a few degrees from forward to port back to starboard and aft. Very slow measured in 2 or 3 seconds per cycle. Very relaxing in the 80 degree weather under a full moon.
Maybe I should visit the Galapagos, he thought or just stay here for a few hours. Let’s hope that no one disturbs this reverie he thought and let his thoughts drift to days long past when he was strong and bulletproof. When nothing was physically hard and he was full of anticipation about the future. A future filling his life with a family and friends and work. What a contrast to where he was now. Alone with his only concern being how to maintain what he had. Maintain it for who? The world, he thought.