by Martin Jones
CONTENTS:
About the book
About the author
Dedication
Part One – Unification
Prologue
Chapter One - Beyond Thought
Chapter Two – Strange Bedfellows
Chapter Three – Ships that pass in the night
Chapter Four - A Sprat to Catch a Mackerel
Chapter Five - Melville’s Unification
Chapter Five - Melville’s Unification
Chapter Six - The Battle for Thrang
Part Two - A Voice from the Darknet
Chapter Seven - to Hold the Peace
Chapter Eight - A Voice from the Darknet
Chapter Nine - an Argument with Reality
Chapter Ten - The Big Plan
Part Three- War!
Chapter Eleven - A Bloody Nose
Chapter Twelve - A Game of Cat and Mouse
Chapter Thirteen – The Trap Closes
Chapter Fourteen – Unholy Trinity
Chapter Fifteen - A Strange Conversation
Chapter Sixteen - Stop That Ship!
Chapter Seventeen - The Kraak and the Maze
Chapter Eighteen - An Argument with a Toad
Chapter Nineteen - Too many Dodds!
Chapter Twenty - A Call to Arms
About the Book
This is the second book in the Hand of Destiny Science Fiction series which leads directly from the end of book 1, and pulls us into a gathering storm where inter-galactic war can be the only outcome. The nature of reality is once again subject to a robust investigation, with concepts such as ‘Reality Imaging’ being explored- with the emphasis now moving beyond the brain’s negative influence, to allow pure thought; ergo pure movement beyond space/time. We get a glimpse of the very nature of the age-old enemy, the Darknet, with some truly frightening characters being realised which will haunt your dreams. Expect huge themes and vistas, and mind-numbing concepts played out in the huge wastes of space, with as ever, the Hand of Destiny being pushed to the very edge, and in one case beyond their ability to cope. Countless challenges face our super-heroes as they encounter dangers beyond their comprehension as they truly experience life in a multiverse reality in, Unholy Trinity, book 2 of the Hand of Destiny Series.
About the Author
Martin Jones has been a professional musician since 1982 and has performed all over the world. As a professional educator, musician and entertainer, he has developed a distinct view of the world around him, which drives him to write science fiction. An avid reader of sci fi all his life, this is a personal journey for him, where he can truly explore mind-numbing concepts, audacious theories and ideologies through his writing, which allow him to ask, what if? His never-ending thirst for some kind of insight into this crazy world is the driving force behind his writing, and he will keep searching for answers, as long as people keep reading his books.
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my darling Sweepea, who captured my heart a long time ago, and I have been a willing prisoner ever since, within the blissful confines of her embrace.
Unholy Trinity
Part One - Unification
By Martin Jones © 2019
Ripping Yarns UK Publishing
www.rippingyarns.uk.com
Prologue
Quotation from Melville’s Earth Tome I (Year 40 - New Calendar)
“At the time, with my burgeoning awareness of who I was still a separate thing and alien to me, when I arranged the Earth to be reset, I had no idea it would genetically reset humankind as well. It didn’t happen overnight of course. All those who had reverted back to human, also reverted back to their short lives, but were able to have children again. Some liked it, and some really didn’t like it. There became a need for the Earth police force, which was basically derived from 10% from each country’s army, and had to be vetted and especially trained and conditioned. Some countries fared better, some worse, but it was as the next generation that grew up that everyone began to notice the difference. The genetic programme of instilling extreme fear as a basic instinct and default operating system in all humans since the Martians’ interference in our development to try to ensure we didn’t suffer their fate had disappeared. Their reprogramming of our genetic code led of course to a much worse fate, but thankfully this now was undone in the next generation.
As The Hand of Destiny continued to rule through the new-found powers that the pathfinder and I had developed, we all began to notice the difference, and it was with this generation that we made our plans to firstly garner the forces of not only this planet, but other planets in this multiverse. The information gained from my access to the Darknet had showed me the location of at least 117 other civilisations within our multiverse which were in various stages of development.
It was decided by myself and Susan that before we could even begin to plan for the other multiverses, we had to ensure our multiverse was safe from attack. The best way to achieve this was to develop a space fleet, and the biggest hurdle was to travel to these distant places within a reasonable time period.
The solution came with brainstorming sessions with the brightest of our new generation. It was simply a case of Susan and I discussing the basic concepts behind this construct, and how we needed to move beyond our senses and the constructive immersive world the brain made up to truly gain control of our reality.
What eluded scientists for over a millennia was discovered in three weeks by the new breed of humans, who were fearless and could embrace concepts alien to the brain. Indeed, their thought processes followed the super-positioning protons which created the partial illusion of individual consciousness, through the Amygdala to the inter-connective web that existed within all of us and found the genetic button to switch the brain off to a degree and leave it on safety duty under our control; although this still needed much development. Advanced calculations changed the face of science, and humanity’s perceptions forever; supported by the new burgeoning collective consciousness of the new human race.
Faster than light travel was discovered, instantaneous human materialisation was becoming theoretically possible as a science instead of just a skill the Hand had. It was in the end easy to understand, once you realised that we existed everywhere at once anyway and the construct we lived in was basically just an advanced mathematical equation. As the generations grew up, our ability to develop spaceships developed with awesome firepower, and huge bays with literally hundreds of small thought fighter pods which were very difficult to lock on to and destroy as they moved and reacted at the speed of thought, with each having the power to destroy much larger ships.
Susan had spent time communicating with the other peoples in our galaxies with a general message of warning, and we found all 117 civilisations interested in joining our alliance once we shared our experiences of the Darknet. It wasn’t long before six enormous space fleets were assembled, and Mad Dog, Mr. Chu, my Emily, Dodds and Yvonne and Susan volunteered to lead these fleets to the six nearest planets, spread over a number of galaxies, with Susan, the Pathfinder in charge of all joint six fleets. It felt upsetting to say goodbye to them, but we would be in instantaneous contact, and it was viewed that my place was still best placed on Earth, which in spite of its position in the galaxy, was felt to be a pivotal theatre in the war against the Darknet, and I was in charge of not only the running of the planet, but the defence grid which would protect it.
This was a crucial time, and I was still becoming accustomed to my powers. This was a key first step to the true reunion of all the souls trapped in the 33,333 realities across all the multiverses. This was a fragile beginning which I had brought about, and I was not under any illusions about how tenuous a beginning this was!”
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br /> Chapter One - Beyond Thought
The ripples on the small lake moved in all directions like a mini tidal wave, which marked the passing of the white swan on a perfect June day at the ‘Melville Institute of Post Synaptic Investigations’ in New Washington. Tzi reflected on the physics involved, the cause and effect phenomenon that in the end, had been proved to have such a fragile link with us. It was like it had always been designed to be broken, but the brain, reprogrammed to fear everything wouldn’t let go of the initial concept. It intrinsically could not disobey the world it helped to create in our heads. The poor Martians had no idea what they were doing to us when they infected us with irrational fear, and even though the Earth had been reset, we were sort of starting from the beginning, we had a lot of time to make up, and a lot to do in disengaging the brain’s negative influence on our development.
Tzi walked into the reception and almost bumped into professor Magnaus;
“Oh, I’m sorry professor, I didn’t see you coming!” Tzi protested, but the very good looking blue eyed, blond genius that was one of the leading lights of the institute just aged 24, smiled and said;
“No need to apologise Tzi, I was in a rush and as usual wasn’t looking where I was going. As much as I understand the concept of Reality Imaging beyond the brain’s perception, putting it into practice is still an area for development.” he said followed by a dazzling white smile.
“Say, I don’t suppose you’re free tonight for dinner are you, the Gipluk symposium planned on extending our understanding of the advanced concepts of the Gipluk language was scheduled for tonight, but sunspot activity has put paid to that. There’s a Thai restaurant on campus, we could meet there at 8?” he said, and Tzi, in spite of her best efforts blushed, and verbally stumbled with;
“Yes, I mean if you’re sure. If you’re too busy I’ll understand... I mean, yeah, I’d love to!” she managed lamely at the end, convulse with embarrassment. As a trained Xenosociologist, her training had included advanced verbal communication skills, yet she still got tongue-tied when talking to men who she really liked.
Professor Magnaus smiled his dazzling show of white, uniform dental implants and squeezed her hand while saying;
“Great Tzi, I’ll see you there at 8.” and walked out through the automatic doors. She just stood there looking at him, her heart pounding in her chest, and ruefully thought of how poorly her battle with her brain was going. Damn these hormones raging through her body!
∆∆∆
The view outside the World Police and Administrative Hub in orbit around the blue Earth was stunning. It never paled into the background for me as it seemed to for others. It occurred to me that perhaps having been born in 1905 and being now 188 years old might well be an influence, but it then dawned on me that from the moment I took Mr. Chu and reinvented us back on Mars, some 41 years ago was really closer to my age, and it was also important to realise since resetting the earth and the human race, the calendar for everyone had reset back to zero, meaning today was 7th June, year 40.
I pulled myself away from my thoughts to the task at hand. General Jom and his ADC Major Jeft sat before me waiting patiently for me to review the defences prepared against any attack from Darknet forces. They had been waiting for nearly three weeks to show me, but with all the preparations of the six fleets and saying goodbyes, it had taken this long to arrange this. I felt quite guilty for my time in reflection looking outside down to the slowly spinning blue, green and white orb which I had been responsible for resetting, along with the original programme of course.
“Sorry gentlemen, I am now ready for your demonstration.” I said, hoping it wouldn’t take long. I hadn’t told the general, but I’d programmed in a review of Reality Imaging with the institute director in two hours.
The general sent a direct thought order, which we had been developing with our military, and the black sky was suddenly full of alien ships. Of course this was a simulation, but our defences were real, and all shipping had been clear of the area for hours.
There then followed an impressive display of laser, plasma, chronosphere and wave particle weapons which lit up the dark universe like the fourth of July. After it must have been twenty minutes of this, over 400 instant thought fighters instantaneously filled the sky and attacked thousands of speeding targets which had also popped completely out of nowhere. It occurred to me that this would be a good start, but it would be my other half’s skills that would be relied on eventually. This was the way now that I viewed my new self. It was like I was two persons; good old Melville, the head of the Hand of Destiny and in charge of Earth’s ruling council and military forces, and the other half which came from the entity which had created humankind. By humankind I mean the diverse humanoids which occupied this current multiversed construct called reality.
In my heart of hearts though, whether I liked it or not, secretly I knew that I wasn’t in two parts, and my life as old Melville was a convenient lie, and at some point I would have to let down my Emily and my friends and tell them the truth that my old self was a construct in itself, and this powerful entity they sensed before them was the real me. I perceived that my journey to ‘oneness’ with myself was crucial if I was going to achieve even half of what was needed.
∆∆∆
Susan monitored the progress of all six fleets as they sped to their destinations. Her direct interface with the onboard multi-polar neuron-centred computer allowed her instantaneous communication with the other forces, so if she wanted to, she could in fact take over control completely and enter hive-mind status. This had been practiced, but she would only use it if the situation dictated it. She was in contact anyway with members of The Hand, and knew exactly where each fleet was and who would encounter the first inhabited planet, which in fact would be Susan’s fleet.
Gipluk was the nearest civilisation they had encountered, and the first people to have responded to her messages. She had studied and learned their language, thanks partly to Melville’s new scientific institute, and she was looking forward to meeting Ioe, who was the chief councillor of Gipluk tomorrow, when they were due to arrive.
The Gipluk society was a matriarchal society which was just experimenting with early space flight, but thankfully had evolved with the planet’s needs at the centre of planet-wide policy. Their religion was based on resonance, and they’ve sensed for some time from their Deep Resonance Centre deep beneath their largest habitat area that they were part of a major story, and as their entire culture was oriented around the concept, as each inhabitant on Gipluk identified themselves as a ‘storyteller’, their investigations into the current resonance suggested to them that the Zcute was in the same reality as them and destined to help them. When in initial contact with them regarding the Darknet, they seem to know Melville as Zcute, and they were also aware of Susan as a sort of John the Baptist figure who will herald the Zcute, which they called Jxre. She hadn’t told Melville yet that their arrival had been foretold, and they were waiting for them both to help them tell their story. She smiled at her anticipation of his response. She decided to leave that information out of her report for now.
∆∆∆
Tzi finished her Pad-Thai first and asked, almost out of desperation how his investigations were going in Melville’s ‘Beyond Thought’ experiment. As he began, her depression through the meal intensified. She could have kicked herself! He seemed incapable of leaving work behind and actually just socialising, never mind being romantic, and she’d just ask him that!
“It’s fascinating Tzi, at the same time as being immensely frustrating. We’ve increased the reaction thought process by extending the use of the large-diameter, myelinated neurons to 120 miles per second, with further advanced research reducing this to 150 milliseconds in real terms. The Electroencephalogram Investigations Unit (EIU) advanced study in developmental changes in brain–behaviour have led to further Axon Terminal enhancements, but the whole concept was flawed as it still centred on the physical manifestat
ion of the brain, and not the super-consciousness of humanity, which was not tied to the limitations of the cumbersome concept of space/time. Our best way forward strangely is thanks to what we have learnt from the Gipluk culture. Their resonance culture has led to some key developments through intense meditation experimentation. We now realise that this problem is not best approached from a scientific standpoint, as that is based on established facts, which intrinsically supports our brain’s perception of reality. To truly develop Beyond Thought techniques, we have to move beyond thought in our attempts to move beyond thought, if you get my drift. It’s like asking a fish to fly. It can develop sufficient dorsal potential to fly out of the water, but because it’s a fish, and not a bird, it can only leap so far as a flying fish, before gravity and the physical fact that it is a fish and not a bird, force it to re-enter it’s natural domain again.” he said, his passion making him blind to how depressed Tzi was getting. Although she was interested in this, she was far more interested in getting to know him personally.
He stopped, and then smiled his dazzling smile at her.
“I’m sorry Tzi, I’m afraid I’ve been boring you!” he said, as his hand went out and touched her gently on the hand.
It felt like an electric current going through her and she almost jumped.
“Oh no professor, I am fascinated by this, honest I am.” she said, almost truthfully.
“Please, call me Mark. Say, let me pay the bill and let’s go back to my place. I need some down time, and I can’t imagine anyone else I’d rather spend it with. What do you think?” he asked, followed by his magnificent smile.
A frisson of excitement filled her body and adrenaline pumped through her, and all of a sudden, she was grateful for the hormones coursing through her body as she smiled and accepted his offer. Perhaps the night wasn’t a disaster after all?