The town of Eden returned to normal after those few hectic weeks. The only deviation from the norm was extra spending that took place in the town as the younger folks ate, drank and purchased goods until their newly earned money had run out. Then everything returned completely to normal.

The TV and newspaper ads continued, although less frequently than before. The town’s mood remained upbeat. Martin and Arthur continued their morning run, and waited for whatever was going to happen next. Robert kept them informed but only in generalities. They had left the details up to Robert and his team.

After another week of calm, a second full page notice appeared in the Eden Star. This time it was on the front page. Anticipating the increased demand, five hundred extra copies of the paper had been printed and every copy had been sold by 10am that day.

The notice read, ‘Town Meeting.’ It gave the date as two weeks hence and the venue as Eden Football Oval. It further stated that the Shire Council was convening a meeting of all the residents of Eden. Its purpose was to discuss a proposal for the town of Eden that would affect all its residents. It did not elaborate on the nature of the proposal. The notice was signed by Mr. Alan Gibson, Mayor, and on the bottom of the page was printed, ‘Sponsored by the Eden Foundation: Moving Forward.’

There was plenty of talk around the town that day. The Shire office was inundated in with phone calls, all taken by an answering machine, which confirmed the date, time and venue of the meeting, but gave no other details.

Visitors to the Shire office, and there were quite a few of those, were met by two harassed clerks who informed them that they had no further information about the meeting, at least none they could reveal.

After two days the phone calls and visits stopped. The Mayor and Shire Councillors had kept a low profile. In fact, they would not have been able to answer any questions, as they also had no knowledge of what the meeting was about. All they knew was that someone who purported to represent the Eden Foundation had contacted the mayor two weeks earlier to inform him that a town meeting was to be called, and that the meeting should be held under the auspices of the Shire Council. Mayor Gibson knew as much about the Eden Foundation as everyone else, which was essentially nothing. He did, however know that it would be imprudent to refuse a request.

The meeting was scheduled for 2pm on Sunday afternoon, two weeks away and until then, the town of Eden, again, continued to function as normal.

In the five days leading up to the meeting, huge trucks began to appear in Eden, all heading for the oval where there was a hive of activity. The trucks had been carrying components of what turned out to be the largest marquee anyone in the town had ever seen. The marquee sat in the middle of the football oval. Its roof was made of clear plastic to let the light in. The grass of the oval was covered by a layer of artificial grass, rows upon row of seats were installed. There was a stage at the front and large speakers scattered around inside of the marquee. On either side of the marquee were long trestle tables stretching the whole length of the interior. On the Friday, two days before the meeting was to be held, all was ready.

Adjoining the marquee was a small caravan, which housed two security guards whose job was to keep anyone from entering the marquee, and prevent theft and vandalism. On late Friday afternoon, Gill and Roger were seen driving around the marquee in a patrol car. They waved to the security guards who waved back. The venue was secure and ready.