The Shamas' great power was undoubtedly what distinguished the Union from other secret organizations. The martial genius and great skill of the warrior Nfumu Matondo had been transformed into an extremely formidable art that only the Union could control, with the help of its science. Nature had coupled the dark power of the leopard-men with the enlightened wisdom of the best scientists on the planet in order to maintain a balance essential to the development of the human species.

Like eagles living at unreachable heights, the Shamas dwelt in places inaccessible to ordinary humans. Veedha's island was the only place where they let themselves be seen. Before my stay on the island, I'd thought they were basically the militia of a secret organization. But now I realized that the leopard-men are to the Union what shadow is to light and night is to day. They have allowed both its creation and its preservation.

I was on the second of a series of four flights I had to take to reach New Zealand when a detail came to my mind. The Guide of the Huris had shared a piece of information with me, which Eric didn't know, concerning a Union agent spying on the Union for H Group. And yet, this agent was working under orders from Eric, who had a much higher rank than me, as I was still an intern in the organization. In revealing this to me, what reason did Veedha have to trust me more than Eric?

Furthermore, according to the writings of the Christian Bible, an angel had visited Mary, the mother of Jesus, in order to announce to her that she would give birth to the Messiah. This angel was actually a Dayli, who also gave her "the vehicle of the living," which her unborn son would be the Guardian of. In the same way, Veedha had met my mother before I was born, to announce to her that she would give birth to the heiress of Tehla, and she had given her this object which was to be passed down to me. Moreover, the Three Wise Men were Guides of the Union, who went to Bethlehem in order to pay homage to the Guardian who had just been born, just like the strangers who'd visited my parents at the time of my birth.

All this still didn't prove anything, but there were undeniably several similarities between our two stories, separated by more than two millennia. I then wondered if Veedha had been one of those strangers who'd visited my parents on the day of my birth. At the time, she was already the Guide of the Huris, and if there was any chance that I was an important figure in the Union, such as the Guardian, then she and the other two Guides must have been present that day. It was clear that my relationship with Tehla, as well as with the Indian scholar, was a secret that my mother had never revealed to my father. Like her, I would have to live this parallel life without being able to confide in him or my brothers, the people who were closest to me, nonetheless.

What the Union would do with me in the years to come was still a deep mystery. However, I was very delighted to be part of this noble organization and to be able to participate in the fight to save the planet and maintain balance in the universe. I had been seduced by the individual nature of each member I'd met, as well as by what they were managing to accomplish collectively. According to the Union, the quest for knowledge is just as important as understanding the responsibilities that come with it. As Veedha would say, "Wisdom is to intelligence what conscience is to science."

I finally arrived at my destination, where Haiyan, the Dayli who would supervise my time on the great Oceanian island, was waiting for me. I would be staying in the apartments at the research institute where I was registered. My first phone call from Wellington was to my father. I took the opportunity to ask him if there had been a woman of Indian origin among the strangers he'd met the day I was born. Without the slightest hesitation, he replied, "Yes."

Riddled with uncertainties and feelings of inadequacy, I refused to let myself believe there was any chance that the only reason I hadn't met the Guardian yet was that it was me, or that I would become it. I also had the feeling that some Union members, such as Eric, had already tried to get me to understand this. But it was impossible for me to imagine myself becoming one of the essential figures of this gigantic organization, which had the most brilliant people in the world as members.

The facts were that I had been chosen by Tehla and that I had the possibility of making it "the vehicle of the living." It was as if the spirit of the Guardian slumbered within me.

As for the plan, it was a huge success, allowing the continent to take a considerable step forward. Today, twelve years later, there is no more armed conflict in my country. The president made the brave decision to believe in the opportunity the Union had offered him. It only took a few months for the reformed national armed forces to put a definitive end to a war that had been raging for two decades. This feat allowed me, for the first time, to see the secret organization at work and to begin to grasp its true mission.

As I sit on the shores of Lake Mukamba, in the new town that has replaced Bakunga as the capital of the Central Province, and Eric walks on the beach with our two daughters, I think back to those difficult years when there was nothing to suggest that my country would be doing so much better today. Grateful towards life, I write the final lines of the story about my incredible journey within the Union during these past twelve years. I still can't believe what this organization managed to make of me, and the way it did it. Nowadays, I participate in, among other things, taking up the immense challenge of making humanity similar to the Union: united in diversity for the triumph of life.

The hardest thing for my country will be to find allies who understand the fundamental role the unity of the people plays in the pursuit of any development. We all need to realize that national interests often run counter to the interest of the planet, and therefore, more largely, the interest of the universe. Humanity will have to understand that it can survive the demise of the several nations it created, but not the demise of the one planet that created it.

                                                                                             END