Tadecu
and Taboa sees Chrístõ reunited with Hext, but not before he experiences
some real trauma. When the two planets explode, he feels the souls of
the dead cry out. It won’t be the last time he feels that kind of
trauma. This time, though, he means to do something about it. Even if
it means breaking the laws of time. Fortunately, the High Council give
him permission to do what he was about to do anyway – go back in
time and stop the two planets from being destroyed.
Enter Parcell Hext into Chrístõ’s life once more. And yet again he needs rescuing. This time from suffocating in an airless cargo hold. Jeopardy is clearly Hext’s middle name.
The solution to
the problem owes a very slight nod to the 1983 film WarGames, when they
have to convince the authorities that the apparent Russian attack on the
Having saved the planets, though, Chrístõ had introduced a paradox. He only went back in time because they were destroyed. Now that they haven’t, he shouldn’t be there. Time snaps back and he and his companions don’t even know what happened. But Hext does. And he knows he owes Chrístõ more than just the drink he offers to buy him. We will see more of him!
The theory about
the origins of the tango put forward by
