Charles Cyclone walked into the room to which he was guided by the receptionist. He was the first to arrive. He took a seat near the window over looking the sea. The seat was one of the nicest he had ever had the pleasure to sit in. It was as if it moulded itself to fit his shape perfectly. As he sat there his eyes started to wander around the room. The place had a very cosy feeling to it. It was mostly a deep reddish colour, with the walls a slightly lighter shade than the carpet. On the walls were those picture which are not really pictures, just abstract shapes and colours that are supposed to be so pleasing to the mind. Usually Charles thought that they were just a silly idea, but here in this room, they were having the desired effect. He found his mind starting to float slightly while gazing at them. He lent back heavily on his chair. It gave to his weight and he felt a foot rest emerge from underneath it. He was now almost lying down. He closed his eyes and just drifted in thought.

He wondered why he had been called here. A letter had been delivered to his house from his government. It had been delivered in reasonable secrecy. It basically said that his presence was required at a meeting, a flight and accommodation had been arranged. He was to tell as few people as he could about this request. If anyone asked, it was jury service on a case which may mean he was away for a few days. He had no idea where he was going until he actually sat on the plane and the pilots made a few announcements. When he first received the letter he was worried that something was terribly wrong, but it was worded in such a way that after reading it he felt that his help was all that was required and that he should not be concerned. It made him feel a bit like this room had made him feel. He wondered why so much effort was being made to make sure he felt as little or no tension whatsoever. Since arriving in the hotel, he had found out that there were going to be about ten people in the meeting which started at 11:00 the next day, which was now today. It was nearly 11:00. He felt a bit confused about it all but decided that he would soon find out more about what was going on.

The door to the room opened and in walked a woman. She walked over towards Charles as the door closed behind her. Charles stood up and held out his hand.

"Good morning." she said in french after clasping his hand and giving it a warm shake. "My name is Nken. Is this your first time to one of these meetings? Well if it is, don't be afraid."

"Erm, okay. Good morning to you too." Charles replied in french. He was fortunately very fluent. "Yes it is my first time. I'm Mr. Cyclone."

The door opened again behind them. In walked two people this time. They all greeted each other with the usual pleasantries, again in french. Within about five minutes it appeared as if the whole group had arrived, eleven in all. A oldish man, who had introduced himself as Pierre, spoke.

"If we could all take a seat, we can get started."

There was a few moments of shuffling around as everybody found a seat. Charles regained the seat he had occupied before he had been interrupted from his thoughts. Once they had all settled down, Pierre leaned forwards on his chair, rested his elbows on the edge of the large matt black oval table around which they were sitting, and looked in turn at all the people present. He saw quite a display. Faces from all around the globe, all with very different manners and accents. Charles looked inquisitively towards him. He was eager to know what this was all about.

"Welcome to you all." Pierre said, speaking again in French. "As usual I see all who should have been here are. I am glad you could all make it. I will start as these meetings always do, with some words on who we are and what we do. I know some of you have heard this speech more than a few times before, but it always helps to get people to focus on the present. In addition, any newcomers, of which I believe we have one today," his eyes flicked briefly towards Charles, "start to learn about what they are doing at these meetings."

Although no-one at the table shifted their position or gave any real physical sign of it, Charles felt as if they had all increased their attentiveness at this point, as if in anticipation of an almost reverend event. Pierre started speaking again in a voice which was stronger but no louder than before.

"We are, what could be looked at, as the worlds most important decision makers. Our job, in its simplest form, is to make choices about events which could effect the planet and its people as a whole. We debate and try to resolve situations which can not be tackled by the existing world governments due to reason which you will soon see, if you do not already know. We have an immense wealth of resources available which are provided by most of the existing stable governments in one way or another. Most members of these governments are not aware of this fact.

"Our organisation has been around for many years now, and have tackled many projects. This group here is one of a few who guide the actions which are taken. You have all been chosen due to your psychological profiles. We need people who are not grasping for power or leadership, but who can make the necessary decisions in an open, but objective way. With the existence of this organisation, you can probably see that there is a great danger of corruption. As always we ask you to reveal as little about yourselves to each other as possible and to report anything you feel is suspicious. Finally, remember to reveal as little as possible to anyone outside this group about what you know. I will now pass you over to Dr. Lucas who will give you the details of our job here over the next few days."

Pierre looked towards Dr. Lucas and leant back into his chair. Dr. Lucas unlocked his gaze from Pierre and focused on the table in front of him. The attention of everyone else was now on the doctor. He took a couple of deep drawn breaths, carefully adjusted his specs until they were in exactly the same position as they were to start with, and began his speech.

"Let me tell you a short story." He said. "It is not a true story as far as we know, but it could, or may have happened. It is about a group of animals, say rabbits. Now in the wild in places around the world, rabbits live quite happily, eating whatever they can find, and getting eaten themselves whenever they are unlucky enough. Usually nature has this balance well worked out. However, if the rabbits predators were removed, then the rabbits could in theory increase in numbers without limit. Unfortunately, there is still usually a problem. This is the amount of food available. The situation then arises where there is not enough food to go around. Therefore most of the rabbits will become very weak, many will die of starvation. It will become a survival of the fittest community, with stronger rabbits often taking food found by other rabbits by force. This life is much more cruel to the majority of the rabbits than it was before when they were hunted by their predators.

"Although that was a very brief and superficial description of events, I hope you get the general idea. The problem we face it that this very predicament could be happening to the human race. From research which has been conducted recently, there is a distinct possibility of this. The population is increasing exponentially and with the average life span increasing every generation and medicine moving forwards in great leaps, the problem could become very bad in the next two centuries. I will be issuing a full report to each of you. It has been written without any bias, well as little as possible. The situation and suggested solutions are described in detail. We need you to decide whether any action need be taken. This is all you will be doing during your stay here. If you decide that action is necessary then a method of tackling the problem will have to be found, but that will not be done here. That is all I have to say. Good luck."

Pierre leant forwards on his chair again and said "That will be all for today. Pick up a copy of the report from Dr. Lucas as you leave. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here. You will be notified within the next two days of when we shall next meet."

Everybody then stood up and headed out of the room, picking up the report as they went. Charles hesitated a bit. He had many questions he wanted answers for. He had expected at least a short period for questions, but there had not been a moment at which he felt it would have been right to interrupt. He was not sure as to what to do at this point, but Pierre helped him out.

"I feel we need a chat." said Pierre as he walked up to Charles and presented him with a copy of the report. "I think you have many questions you wish to ask, so follow me and I will tell you what I can."

"Lead the way." said Charles who was feeling comfortable again, even if he was just a little overwhelmed by what had just taken place.

Pierre walked out of the room with Charles following. They went down a hallway and called for the lift. Charles opened the report randomly on any page. He Quickly scanned what it said. Again it was written in french. He wondered about the use or french. It was hardly his first language, being an Australian. He guessed it was just the language all the members at the meeting could speak fluently, but how did they know that he could. He rarely used it while running his store. Before the lift came he had only managed to read a heading and a line or two under that. "Selective extermination" it was titled. "Not a realistic option, but it should still be examined." was the first comment underneath it. The lift doors opened and Pierre signalled for Charles to enter first with a subtle wave of his hand and a slight tilt of the head.

"Thank you." said Charles as he stepped into the lift. Pierre stepped in after him and selected a floor. As the view of the hall was shut out by the lift doors, Charles thought about what he had read. It was obviously a suggested solution. He felt as if he should have been shocked by it, but for some reason it was as if he had already considered the option and half expected it to be there. Now he did shudder as he realised how cold that type of reasoning was. He was shocked at the thought that he could have even began to imagine something like that. The lift jerked slightly as is stopped at their desired floor.

The doors opened again and Pierre stepped out, walked down the hall to a door, opened it and showed Charles into the room. It was almost exactly the same a Charles. The main difference was that this room had a view over the town, not the sea. Charles thought about the report as he watched the people in the street below wander about their business. What right had he do decide on any of their fates.

"Sit down please." said Pierre waving casually towards a seat. "I am sure you have much to ask. You are probably a bit confused, maybe a bit disturbed." Charles sniggered to himself as he sat. "I saw you when you looked at the report. I didn't see exactly what you read, but more than likely it shocked you a little."

Charles nodded. "I am not fully aware of what this it all about, but I think I have some idea. And from that I don't see what right I have to make the type of decisions you seem to be asking from me. I mean, how could I possibly decide that this and that person should be removed from the face of the earth. How can any of us."

"It is a hard one." said Pierre. "Don't think it does not play on our minds every time we have to face these issues. Even away from these events the doubt can be with you. I can tell you a few of the reasons I have have heard people use to try to keep some sort of grip of things, reality. Some just say that someone somewhere have to at least try and do something. If they do not the problem will probably not go away. Whether they are the best to make these decisions, they also do not know, but they are not going to risk the chance that they are. Some have felt that these are the events left to the lord to resolve. I, being a religious man, feel that it is the lords work and we are just a channel through which he operates.

"I can not answer the question in your case. You will just have to find a way to deal with it yourself."

"And if a can't?"

"Do not worry. You can. You will surprise yourself at how well you can cope. You psychological background is very good. I will be surprised if you fail. You may already have shown that you can cope, but have just not realised."

Charles though about his first reaction when he read that short piece of text in the report, the way he had just accepted it calmly. Maybe Pierre was right. "What exactly do I have to do." he said firmly. "What is the format of our meetings."

"These next two days are for you to read the report, consider the reasons for whether we need to take action. A few solutions are outlined to help you see what may have to be done to resolve the problem. We advise you not to make contact with the other members of our group, at least not with reference with the report. If you feel a strong need then do, these are just guidelines I have worked out from experience. Also, tell no-one else of the project. I am sure you can see the reasons behind this. Stay within the hotel grounds when ever possible. We just want to reduce any chance of anything happening to you at all. We walk a thin line here. He must just take as many precautions as possible.

"In the next meeting the discussions will take place. It is much easier to make a room secure than a hotel as you can imagine. The meeting will probably last a lot longer because of the different views which have to be worked through both thoroughly and quickly. If we spend too much time here we may attract attention. The only reason I am heading these meetings is because I am apparently the person who has been doing this the longest. I just tried to give the same sort of speeches as I have heard during previous occasions. Don't think I am any different to the rest of you. In my time I have been aware of a variety of different cases. Some I think have been most unsuccessful. Others not. I am sure you will see similar in time."

Charles sat in silence. Although Pierre had not said that much, some of the questions had been answered, others he felt would never be answered and the rest didn't need answering. He had deduced them from his situation and the things Pierre hinted at and didn't say. For one thing, Pierre told him nothing at all about himself. Charles could tell he was french, but the rest of his life was a complete mystery, and that was the way it should stay. He was sure Pierre knew next to nothing about himself, just that if he was here he could deal with the task at hand.

After a couple of minutes of quiet, Pierre stood up and said "I will show you out now. You know where I am in case of desperate emergency. I may see you around, but we will probably only speak again at the next meeting."

Charles stood smiled. "Thank you. See you at the next meeting." he said as he walked out of the door Pierre was holding open. He was now left to find his way back to his room, alone with his thoughts.

On his journey back to his room, he only passed a few people. Some were obviously guests, others were staff at the hotel. Every time he passed one he could not help but think the same sort of thing he had thought as he had gazed out the window in Pierres room. He felt he didn't have the right, but he still found himself attempting to assess them, and whether he would choose them to be 'removed' or whether they were worthy to stay. By the time he reached his room and had made his way inside, he knew already that whatever happened, none of them had the right, or the qualifications to decide what would happen to others in this way. If action had to be taken, then the method of choice would have to be as random as possible.

As he sat down his mind was still turning these ideas over in his head. Half the time was spent trying to keep a grip on reality arguing with himself that even thinking this way was wrong. He stared out over the sea and saw there were a few sails gliding peacefully over the apparently still surface of the water. It were as if they were free to drift around the area at their own leisure. It was not the situation Charles felt he was currently in. He cleared his mind. This wasn't getting him anywhere. If only he knew more details. The report sprung back into his mind. He smiled to himself. He had almost forgotten about it in that short time. With a memory like this, how could he be in any way be the sort of person to make these decisions. As he reached over to pick up the report from the table he unconsciously dropped it on as he walked in, he felt his stomach complain about the lack of attention it had had all morning. His hand changed it's destination and settled on the phone. Within a few minutes he had ordered his lunch and was waiting until after he had eaten before even attempting to get through any part of that report.

Sitting there, looking over the water with the cooling sea breeze blowing onto his face and fluttering his T-shirt about, he felt at peace with the world. It felt a shame to have to disrupt it in any way. He just sat there, and sat there, and then he woke up. "I love it when that happens" he thought to himself. He heard a knock at the door. It was hopefully his lunch. A previous knock was probably what had awoken him originally.

The trolley with his lunch was wheeled in by one of the workers at the hotel. He started to busy himself setting up the table. Charles noticed almost immediately that this man was an albino. In normal circumstances, that would have been the end of it, he would have forgotten the fact within a few seconds. Now though, he started to think again about this selective extermination. If it went ahead, who would be chosen. After seeing the hotel worker the possibility of using genetics sprung to mind. Would people with any genetic irregularities be picked. How far would it go. Could people with poor eyesight also be targeted. That was surly not a wise decision by any means.

"What would you do if the fate of the people of earth was in your hands?" Charles suddenly asked the worker.

The man looked around, puzzled. "No idea really." he said after a pause. "Why, what would you do?"

"Sorry about that." said Charles. He felt a great weight rest gently upon his shoulders. "What would I do." he thought to himself.

"Your lunch is ready sir," said the man again, "and as for your question. I would pass the problem on to some body else. Enjoy your lunch." He gave a smile and showed himself out of the room.

Charles smiled back to the worker as he left, picked up the report and went over to his table to start both his meal and some reading.

The first part of the report was a description of the problem that was being faced. It tried to give all the relevant facts from as many different points of view possible. It outlined the fact that the population on earth was increasing at a great rate and this rate was rising fast. At the current time there was theoretically no problem with demand and resources. People were going without due to uneven distribution of wealth. The resources could cope with the increase in demand for around the next one to two hundred years. Then the problem would extend to more that just bad resource assignment. The problem was not exactly an urgent matter, but it is felt that it should at least be looked into at this time.

Even the estimated time was very probably a long way out. It assumed that all factors were going to continue as at present. New breakthroughs in say medicine were not really taken into account. A problem is that the world would find it's self in an bad way well before this time unless the distribution problem was resolved in some way. The decision about whether any action was going to be taken depended really on the type taken. Some methods may be designed to be fast acting, other may take a few decades, hence the fact the problem was being raised at this early stage.

By the time Charles had finished reading the first part of the report and his lunch was busily getting digested, he was thinking about all the ways around the problem, and if they should act now, and everything. He had been turning this over in his head for about a quarter of an hour when he heard a knock at the door. It was the same hotel worker who had brought his lunch. He came to collect the remains of the meal. Charles barely said a word to him.

Just as he was about to leave he turned to Charles and said "About that question you asked me last time I walked it, I think I know what I would do. Pinch myself and wake up." He smiled, turned and left Charles on that note.

Charles though for a second. After a moment contemplation moved his hand, paused for a second and pinched himself. He started to chuckle to himself. It had soon turned into an uncontrollable laugh.

Charles woke the next morning at around 10:00. The night before he had just relaxed around the hotel grounds, did a bit of swimming and other recreational things. He had needed a mental break from the events going on. This morning, things looked at least a bit clearer. He was feeling angry with the way the world was dealing with the distribution of resources. He felt like just walking up to the people who were causing it and setting them straight. If only it was as easy as that. Today he was going to finish the report. Then would come the hard part of reaching to a decision. He would have to be able to back up his choice well if challenged. It was his was of making sure that no snap decisions were made. He felt that a conclusion of 'undecided' was better than a definite one which he could not support.

The rest of the report gave outlines of proposed solutions. Some were very long term. These were the reason the problem was being looked into at this early stage. The first suggestion was to attempt to get the world governments to deal with it. This was probably the first suggestion given in nearly every situation Charles thought. The reasons for were not very convincing. It was as if they were put there just so that an empty space would not be left. The reasons for were quite lengthy. A lot stemmed from the way nations would use this as an excuse to exterminate. If other cults, religions or groups got hold of this information, as it would in the hand of governing bodies, it could lead to real trouble. In a sense, that was the only point for. The population would probably be reduced. That was definitely not feasible.

Other options included moving people off earth, very unrealistic at the present time and within the time available. Then there were the methods to stop the increase in the population, by forms of global birth control. The selective and random extermination approaches were also discussed. Charles took it all in very calmly. The questions about his ability, and right, to be doing this had crawled out of his mind. It took him most of the daylight hours to get through all the information. He looked back over the first part and constantly re-read parts. By that time he felt he had taken in and considered all he could. He had seen no one except a few distant figures out at sea and the person who delivered his breakfast and lunch, a different worker from the day before. Now all that was left was to mull it over, say his piece at the next meeting and enjoy himself in the meantime.

Charles walked into the room in which the meeting was due to take place. This time he was not the first to arrive. He recognised all the faces he saw from the last meeting. He greeted them in french as before and took the same seat he had occupied during the first meeting. This time people hardly spoke to each other while they waited for the other members to arrive. Charles looked out over the sea again. Everybody was obviously thinking over what was about to be discussed. Within a minute or two the whole team had assembled. Everyone had been very punctual. As the last person was seated, Pierre spoke.

"Firstly, I hope you have all enjoyed your stay at this rather charming hotel. I personally have found this a relaxing break. The pool here is especially good."

"The food too was absolutely splendid." added Charles who saw that Pierre was starting the meeting by attempting to clear the air of that subtle tenseness which had crept in during the short time they had been assembled. Everyone around the table nodded in approval of the accommodation muttering appraisal to each other. Pierre smiled across the table at Charles, acknowledging his help in the situation. After the murmurs had settled down again, with at least part of the tension gone, Pierre continued.

"I hope you also managed to read the report and consider the problem at hand. We will have to decide on whether we need to take any action to help stop or slow down the possible overpopulation of earth by us humans. My views are that if things continue as they are currently there will be trouble and now is as good a time as any to start to consider how to deal with it. If we don't start now then someone else will have to later, so why wait."

Another member, Ukyo added "I agree. We should start to decide on what to do as soon as possible. Some of the options given in the report would take time to implement and take effect. If the decision was left until later, the options available would be reduced. This would only make matters more complex."

Everyone around the table was in agreement that now was the time to start the work. They all said something to help re-enforce the decision. Charles was the last to say anything. By this time all the facts in his head had been covered and he had nothing to add except his agreement with the choice. Pierre scribbled down a lot of what had been discussed in the form of a brief report as people were speaking. He handed it around for everybody to have a look through. It was what was going to be given as this groups decision and arguments to back it up.

"Well, this has been a relatively short meeting." said Pierre. "The choice has been unanimous, which seems to happen surprisingly often in these meetings. I must say that I take it as a good sign that people from such different backgrounds seem to be able to come to the same conclusions when given enough information and look at it clearly. You will all be leaving tomorrow. It may be the last I see of you. It may be the last of these events that some of you ever go to. One or two of you may even be assigned to the group which decides upon what we should do to embrace this problem. What ever happens, good luck to you all."

The members of the meeting started to rise from their seats saying good-byes to the others in the room whom they had not known long in most cases, and not very well in every case. Still they all seem to have made some sort of bonding which ran deeper than many friendships which had been made in the rest of their lives. Charles could feel this warmth he felt for the others. In the back of his mind though he could not help but feel that he had let the others down slightly by not saying anything much during the meeting.

He looked around the room, with its red, relaxing atmosphere. Although it was quite ordinary in most ways, he thought of the what had occurred within its walls. He was the second to last to leave the room, Pierre was close behind him.

"Thanks for you input at the start." said Pierre to him. "I was impressed by how fast you realised what I was trying to do. I have a feeling that you will be working within these groups for some time to come."

Charles thanked him for the complement and said his farewells. They parted at the lift doors with Charles feeling very content.