The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A

by Toker, Dor

  He was standing in front of her, at a safe distance. He must have anticipated her reaction and quickly jumped back. She inspected him quickly and changed her posture. “You don’t trust anybody, do you?” he asked, and she recoiled in amazement.

  “You?” Natalia, who had immediately recognized him according to his voice, was surprised. The man burst into a carefree laughter.

  “At your service my lady warrior,” he bowed to her with a mock official air, “I told you I’m not one of the Americans, didn’t I?”

  “Yes,” Natalia nodded, “I don’t believe in coincidences. Were you following me?”

  “Yes,” the smuggler admitted, “but before you develop theories regarding my objectives, I’ll be happy to provide you an explanation while loading your new identity into your chip. As you probably know, our time is brief.” Natalia hesitated for a moment, then decided to put her trust in him. It wasn’t like she had other choices.

  “What’s your name?” she asked and rolled up her suit’s right sleeve.

  “My name’s not important. It’s changed so many times, I can hardly remember it. You can call me any name you’d like.” He took out a syringe-like instrument from his coat pocket and held Natalia’s outstretched arm. “I really followed you after I saw the Russians chasing you.”

  “Then you just happened to pass by, right?” she remarked with cynicism.

  The man flashed a broad smile. His face temporarily lit up when a ground hovercraft had slowly passed them by. He took her in his arms and to the casual onlooker they would’ve looked like an amorous couple, or at least two people busy with a sexual exchange. Natalia froze in his embrace. She wasn’t used to such proximity and did not wish to recall the last time she’d found herself in a similar situation. But his scent enchanted her. An undefined smell of flowers she recognized from Earth, mixed with his manly bodily odor. The hovercraft passed them by and the man detached himself from her and continued with the uploading of the identity chip in her arm, as if the hovercraft hadn’t passed them by, as if they hadn’t embraced a moment ago. “I didn’t say I just happened to be there. Let’s say I had my own reasons to be there, reasons that have nothing to do with you.” She didn’t argue, although her suspicions were not eased. “The moment I saw you leaving the blasted cell and hurrying to get out of there, my curiosity was aroused. I admit it. When I saw them chasing you, I thought perhaps I could gain from the situation. But when you plunged down the canyon, I jumped after you.”

  “You have lightsenses (lightsense ©) in your eyes?” Natalia realized and he laughed again.

  “I suppose you can understand in my line of work, such information is classified, in the same way you wouldn’t tell me who your employer is and why he’s insisted on getting this particular merchandise.” Another hovercraft approached, and he held her to him again. After the vehicle had passed, they held onto their embrace a moment more. She removed herself from him and met his amused gaze. “Are you always so stressed?” She smiled, and he turned serious at once, held her again in an embrace and muttered: “Keep it up, they’ve stopped.” The hovercraft stopped about a hundred and fifty feet from them and began to glide back. “Border Police,” he whispered in her ear. A spotlight ignited on the hovercraft’s roof, cut through the darkness and flooded them with light. She turned him toward the spotlight and kissed him with fervor, giving the finger to the light while continuing to fondle the man’s body. That was enough for the cops, who’d decided she was a prostitute entertaining one of her customers. They turned off the spotlight and continued to glide away. She’d planned to stop the game, but the smuggler drew her closer to him and continued to kiss her. Her muscles tensed, but he wouldn’t let go. She melted into his arms and yielded to his kiss. “Wow,” he muttered while regaining his breath, “that was close.” To her surprise, she discovered he was just as embarrassed as she was, beneath his carefree and arrogant appearance. “You’re late,” he said and led her toward the entrance of the freight hovercrafts’ landing strip. “Your gate number is six. You’ll find the rest of the information in your microchip. Check everything later. Your name is Debbie Harry, and you’re from New Dublin. I hope you’ll have enough time to calibrate the accent adapter in your throat, before running into any officials.”

  She waited a moment more, looking at him with concentration. “Thanks,” she said and knew he understood exactly what she meant. He smiled the same crafty smile he had on his face when they’d first met, bowed in front of her and pretended to take off a hat.

  “At your service my Arabian princess,” he said, and she recoiled, startled and surprised. How did he know the secret of her origin, a secret she was able to hide so well? He recognized her anxiety and hurried to soothe her: “Your secret is safe with me,” he said, and when he saw this only served to enhance her suspicions, he hurried to explain: “The instrument that inserted the identification card into the chip in your arm works both ways. That’s the way it’s programmed.” He turned the head of the syringe-like instrument. “Now it’s deleted forever,” he said, “and I swear no one will ever get a single word out of me.”

  Natalia knew she had no choice but to trust his word; she wanted to trust him. He awoke a yearning to a distant dream in her, a dream from which she could recall only that ambiguous scent of flowers. She got closer and kissed him. He immediately responded and pressed her close to him. Natalia felt the need to cuddle up in his arms, “If you ever get to Earth,” she said, “look for me,” and she was serious, even though both of them knew it would be an almost impossible task, considering the size of the planet’s population and her undocumented line of work. But, she felt if anyone would be able to find her, he was the one. “I owe you my life,” she added, “and I swear to repay my debt.”

  Adam smiled. “You don’t owe me anything,” he waved off her words with a gesture, “just keep yourself safe, that’s the main business. Besides,” he added laughingly, “you’ll probably forget all about me the moment we part.”

  “I won’t,” Natalia became serious, “that’s an oath for life.” Adam nodded to indicate his understanding. He distanced himself from her, stood in front of her a moment more, then turned and walked into a side alley. Just before he was gone, he turned to her again and called: “My name’s Adam, Adam First,” and immediately turned and was swallowed in darkness, leaving her behind with the taste of his lips and his rousing scent. She looked a moment more at the place he disappeared in and mumbled: “And I’m Natalia,” then immediately turned around and walked through gate number six into the huge freight-shuttle, which will lead her, courtesy of the Government of New America, back to Earth.

  Chapter 28

  Like many events in human history, the two thousand and twenty-third revolution, which had led to the dismantling of the old world-order and the growth of the Mendelssohnian movement, began in the city of Jerusalem under discouraging circumstances. The world financial crisis and the awakening of the revolutionary street movements, a decade before, first in the dictatorial Arab countries and later on in the United States and Europe, had finally reached the state of Israel. They abated quickly, thanks to a powerful centralized government and tycoon oriented media, quickly bored with yesterday’s news. What remained after the street revolutions had died was a gray trail of pessimism and a feeling that ‘nothing will ever change’. Citizens of all countries experienced first hand the futility of the attempt to change their destiny and their failure to create a better future for themselves. A sense of apathy spread among human beings, wherever they were. Religious preachers and missionaries quickly discovered the fissure that had wounded the public’s trust in the government, and they filled it up with seeds of hope and promises that faith in God will redeem humankind. The developing worldwide trend was explicit: seclusion within national boundaries had replaced the global village vision. Xenophobia replaced business relationships, and military pacts were signed and breached on a daily basis. Suspiciousness became a global trend.

  The
n, as if by divine decree, the temple mount collapsed in a sudden blast, and with it were buried three of the most important foundations that had bound the three major monotheistic religions to the ancient city. The fact that many militant groups had simultaneously taken responsibility for the terrorist attack, only served to add to the confusion and chaos that broke out following the blast. Paranoia, the constant companion of ‘fear of the unknown’ had made its weight felt as well, and the Great War that had waited around the corner for so long, finally found the trigger which ignited it. Dozens of residue-free nuclear missiles (LRON-Lack of Nuclear Residue) were launched and hit many strategic and civilian targets, more than forty million people had perished before the war died out, in almost the same speed with which it was born. At the end of this short-lived war, five superpowers established themselves as the human world’s exclusive rulers. Israel ceased to exist as a country the very day in which the bomb had exploded in Jerusalem. In return for the protection it had been awarded, it became a protectorate of America, the new superpower that merged the United States, Canada, Mexico and later on, the rest of the Southern and Central American nations.

  Following the war and the processes that preceded it, world leaders predicted that nationalistic religiousness would overflow humanity. But the destructive results of the Jerusalem blast and the two-week war that followed it had actually served to create a sense of religious confusion that crossed borders and continents. Out of the confusion, emerged a small movement espousing a new theory, one that amalgamated various religious concepts and contained the scientific perception of things as well. The theory was suitable for most believers of common religions who had remained shepherd-less. It did not deny the existence of God (any God), but assimilated it into itself and gave it new meaning.

  In the new world-order, Jerusalem remained outside the borders. None of the superpowers wanted to take responsibility and control over it, and it had quickly lost its stature and appeal. The halo of divinity that had once surrounded each of the ancient city’s stones had evaporated with the smoke of the blast and following the short war, its denizens had begun to abandon it. The first ones to leave were the few non-religious Jewish denizens. The wealthy Arabs hurried to follow suit and moved to expensive neighborhoods in the Palestinian cities, leaving Jerusalem at the hands of confused ultra-orthodox and poor Jews and Moslems. The city, emptied of most of its dwellers, became a ghost city, whose filthy streets and derelict marketplaces were a pilgrimage site for beggars, the sick and the deformed. One would assume the city would sink into the oblivion of history, had it not become a hotbed for forgers and people of the black market, who had found in it a refuge from the long arms of the law. In the alleys of the old city, any man or woman could find themselves a new identity, implant their bodies with nanomicrochips (Improve Nano Microchips ©) to enhance their physical and sensual capabilities, as well as act & react software (Act& React ©). Jerusalem was nicknamed ‘the Mecca of Forgery’, after another city that had lost its glamour in the great war.

  Adam had visited the old city several times in recent years. The first time was when he accompanied Dmitry to deliver the small nuclear device they’d rescued from the ghost satellite to the Dutch gentlemen, who were supposedly alternative platform and server developers (Alternative Modems ©), but were actually arms dealers. Then, as now, the neglected alleys appeared grim and dangerous to him. This is how the city must have appeared to Joseph, who was walking beside him; this was his first visit to Jerusalem.

  After Dmitry had died in a battle between his own group of smugglers and that of his sworn enemy Flint, Adam became the company’s leader. At first, Dmitry’s soldiers had apprehensions regarding Adam’s leadership, but his courage in battle and his correct management of the tribe had taught them to trust him and rely on him in everything. His revenge on Flint was not late to come and served to magnify the ethos surrounding the young leader. Time and again, it was his smugglers who took the largest loot, and the contracts he had signed with his clients were the most profitable. More than once, when one of them had gotten into a bind, it was Adam who came to the rescue. And after a while, they began to openly admire him and their confidence in him even exceeded that which they felt when Dmitry had led them. The ‘old’ smuggler had trained him well, and the pupil surpassed his teacher. He developed new fighting, evasion techniques, brought the timing levels of their operation to perfection, and the number of failed missions during the time of his leadership was close to zero.

  He’d returned to Earth on various occasions, always in disguise, careful not to be exposed, always for a brief time and in constant movement. Jerusalem was the center of his business on the planet, but he hadn’t visited it in a long time since the city had become unsafe for him. A contract was placed on his head by one of the forgery barons who ruled the eastern part of what was once the ‘Mahane Yehuda Market’. Even though the misunderstanding had long been settled, Adam still felt unsafe in the former holy city and avoided it. Till now.

  Life as a smuggler were dynamic and satisfactory and the time that had passed helped to ease the grief he felt each time would recall the loved ones he had lost during his flight. Jewel and Naomi and his parents, and those who’d helped him on his way and remained alive, Joseph and Elizabeth. Adam did not intend to return to Earth permanently and, therefore, had doubts about whether he’ll ever see them again. Only once did he allow himself to imagine a different ending to his story, an ending in which he would return to Earth. It was after he had parted from Natalia. The meeting with her and the moment in which she’d disappeared from his eyes in the American freight shuttle made him dream about coming back and finding her and then… he never dared to imagine what would happen then. He hurried to shake the thought from his head and headed out to another raiding and smuggling journey, one of many. However, the question ‘what would have happened if?’ had remained unsolved and occasionally returned to bother him.

  The change occurred when he’d found out through the national web that Dr. Amir Lev, father of his youthful love, had passed away and that the funeral was about to take place soon. He immediately decided to leave everything and return to Earth, realizing his days as a smuggler were over. He appointed his deputy as the new leader and established contact with Elizabeth. She was delighted to hear from him and hurried to act. When he’d landed in the Australian docking base, she was waiting there for him along with Joseph and Chapalcharie. Adam seemed taller and stronger to her, his features were harsher and sharper than they were when she had sent him away. ‘He’d changed,’ the thought passed through her head, more calculated, tense and sad. But then he smiled at her and embraced her warmly; she knew everything would be fine. She was certain he hadn’t forgotten the mission he was intended to complete and that he was now mature enough to accomplish it.

  Adam shook Joseph’s hand and gave Chapalcharie an official bow, greeting him in aborigine, the dreamers’ language. Chapalcharie was impressed by the youth’s fluency in the language sacred to him and the official tone with which he’d spoken. He gave him the ceremonious reply and offered him his hand. They shook hands warmly, and the Prime Minister led them to the side hovercraft, which connected with the cargo unit, moving on top of the Southern time ring, leading to the Jewish Reservation.

  Once they’d reached the reservation, they went to the National burial garden grounds on the outskirts of the capital and situated themselves a safe distance from the small square in which the funeral ceremony was taking place. They watched the small crowd gathering around the narrow burial box. Amir Lev’s body was temporarily buried in a preservation box, until it will be processed so its material can be returned to the earth, as part of the recycling burial contract (Eco Recycling Burial) he had signed long before his death.

  It was a brief and sad event. Adam recognized Alona, standing tall between two women he wasn’t able to recognize. Around them stood a group of people, unfamiliar as well, and looked at the Mendelssohnian Rabbi, who eulogized the decea
sed. The Rabbi sealed the box and two youths lifted it in their hands and carried it to a quadrilateral opening of a matching diameter. They pushed the narrow coffin through the opening until it disappeared. The funeral was over.

  “We should get going,” Joseph said.

  “Yes,” said Elizabeth, “you should.”

  “You’re not coming with me?” Adam was surprised.

  “No,” answered Elizabeth, “we’re pretty sure Skil are following us regularly in order to find you. It’s better if I stay clear of you as much as possible. Joseph will accompany you.”

  “They’re trying to follow me as well,” said Joseph, “we’d better hurry up and disappear before the place is crawling with corporation agents.” Adam nodded slowly. He gave Elizabeth a hug and went with Joseph to the ground hovercraft they’d reached the burial garden grounds with. Elizabeth remained where she was until they’d left, then ordered a hover-taxi to take her to the reservation gate. There, a ‘Freedom’ ground hovercraft was waiting to take her to a new base, next to Bangalore, India.

  Adam knew that the chances he would be recognized by anyone in the old city were slim to nonexistent since he had changed his identity several times from the time he’d been sentenced to death by the largest forgery barons in the world. But, he thought he shouldn’t take any chances and, therefore, had agreed with Joseph that his identity should be better concealed. The scientist determined he should replace his blood. Blood was engineered and encoded from the day of birth and could be detected from afar by governmental bodies and those associated with them.