by S. E. Meyer
“Jenny, I know the loss of John has been very hard on you. I wanted to stop in again and see how you have been doing. My staff says you have been walking the city more often lately and have been participating in dinner, instead of taking it your room.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t just sit in here anymore. After a month of staring at these walls I felt I needed to do something. The loss of John will never go away, and I will always have a huge hole in my heart.” Jenny looked into his eyes. “ Braedon, as hard as it was, I have accepted the fact that he is dead. But I also have accepted that I am still alive. It was starting to drive me crazy just sitting in here in my room in the dark,” she explained.
“I understand, and I was waiting until you were ready. I have something that I need you to do. I think it will also be a good distraction for you and give you back some purpose.” Jenny continued to gaze into Braedon’s caring, blue eyes, waiting for him to continue. “The evacuations are in full swing and I need someone with your expertise in psychology to help prepare the evacuees for their new homes and lives. It would give me great peace of mind to know that they will settle in to their new environment with as few problems as possible. Being underground, somewhat cramped, and on rations will be a bit of a shock to everyone. I would like you to work with my evacuation leaders and give them your thoughts on how to best prepare everyone. What do you think?” Jenny’s eyes lit up as she thought about what he was telling her. It seemed a perfect fit, and Braedon was right, she needed something to do, she needed a purpose other than just sitting in her room or mulling about the city.
“That sounds great Braedon, I would love to help in any way that I can,” responded Jenny.
“Great, I’ll set up some meeting time and introduce you to everyone.” Jenny moved closer to Braedon and hugged him. She held him close and buried her face deep into his strong muscular chest. “Thank you Braedon. You have been so good to me. So understanding, so helpful and kind. I don’t know how to thank you.”
He hugged her back and held her firmly for several minutes before pulling away and looking into her eyes. “I believe you just did,” he answered.
They went to dinner together and after the daily ritual of everyone giving thanks to Braedon, Jenny tore into several loaves. She felt ravenous after her revitalizing conversation with Braedon. He had come to check in on her several times over the last several weeks, but this time was different. This time he needed her help and that felt good. It was good to have some direction, and being busy would help to ease some of the pain. She had gotten used to the bread, but it tasted more delicious every time she ate it. Tonight was no exception. After the bread came more wine, and she stayed longer than usual, enjoying Braedon’s company. After everyone was done eating, and things began to quiet down, Braedon whispered in her ear. “I want to show you something.”
Jenny nodded and followed him to the other side of the room. Everyone immediately stood as they left and Braedon made a quick toast to success before they left the room. They walked down several corridors until they came to an area Jenny had never seen before. At the final turn they met several armed guards who snapped to attention as soon as they saw Braedon coming. They walked to the end of the corridor and entered a large doorway and out into a cavernous room. It was filled with glowing pillars and there were monitor screens on the walls. “This Jenny, is the final piece of the puzzle to saving your race.” He explained to her the story of Mars and how Earth had been saved in the past. “This is the weapon we will use to veer Nibiru’s path.”
“It would seem everything is against us. There would be no more human race if it weren’t for you,” responded Jenny. “How does it work?”
“We have gigantic columns at the bottom of the ocean in several strategic locations. They send out bursts of intense energy. This is the main operations center where we control it. We use the powder we make from gold because it has the capacity to store unlimited amounts of energy. We have been pumping the columns of powder with energy for thousands of years, and at just the right time, when Nibiru is in just the right place, we fire a triangulated beam directly at it. We hit it with the force of thousands of your nuclear warheads for several minutes, pushing it off it’s current course. We have to use beams from several locations in just the right way or the force of it would push back on Earth, sending it into a long spiral towards your sun.”
“Sounds like a very complicated procedure,” Jenny remarked.
“It is done with precision, that’s for sure.”
“So why are you showing me all of this?” asked Jenny.
“Because I thought you could appreciate this.” Braedon led her over to the other side of the room. He opened a panel in the side of one of the columns. “Look,” he said pointing inside.
Jenny looked at what Braedon was pointing at and gasped. Suspended inside a small tube was one of the largest and most beautiful multifaceted diamonds she had ever seen. Its brilliance was startling and made her squint. Braedon reached in and pulled it out, then held it up in front if her. “One of the by products of the process we use to charge the powder is diamonds. The power is so intense that we have to use carbon insulators around these collectors. The pressure is so great that it creates the most magnificent and beautiful diamonds in the world. These are even better than your Mother Nature can produce. They’re stronger, brighter, and due to the nature of the energy pulsing through them they end up with thousands of tiny facets that collect the ambient light around them, making them radiate with their brilliance.”
Jenny was dumbfounded as she admired the beautiful stone in Braedon’s hand. “It’s amazing.” Was all she could finally come up with, and then felt stupid for not having the words to describe such a magnificent jewel.
He set the stone down and led Jenny by the hand to a small case next to the wall. “I had one of the best jewelers in the world set some of these stones for you.” Braedon opened the case and turned it around so Jenny could see what was inside. It was a string of the same diamonds he had just showed her. A full choker necklace of various sizes set in thick platinum, inlaid with yellow gold. The design was gorgeous and light emanated from the case. “I believe it is the custom in many countries for woman to receive stone’s like this?” Braedon pulled the necklace from the case and wrapped it around Jenny’s neck. She was speechless and hardly felt any weight at all around her neck as he clasped it in the back, slightly brushing her neck with his hand. His touch made her tremble and she took a step back.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes I’m fine. It’s so light?” Jenny said, and then giggled.
“Yes, I had small amounts of a special powder placed in each of the gold links, making it weigh a fraction of what it normally would. It makes a necklace like this one wearable. Since it has so much gold and so many carats of diamond it would be impossible to wear otherwise. Do you like it?”
“Braedon, I love it, but I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure I can accept such a lavish gift.”
“It didn’t really cost me much so I wouldn’t consider it the definition of lavish, and I don’t expect anything in return. Consider it a token of my appreciation and a birthday gift from a friend.”
Jenny almost fell over in shock. “My birthday? I..I .. I totally forgot,” she stammered. “It’s not like there’s calendars around here anywhere and I lost track of how long I’ve been down here.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you! It is such a wonderful gift. I really don’t know what to say Braedon, or once again how to thank you.”
“And once again, I believe you just did.” He smiled and pulled her close again for several minutes before leading her back out into the corridor. He walked her to her room and said goodnight, giving her one last hug. Jenny closed the door and immediately gave a little jump of excitement with a huge grin on her face. She went into the bathroom and admired the diamond necklace in the mirror. The radiant stones made her smile look brighter. She took the necklace off and
got ready for bed. Crawling in she already knew it would be hard for her to sleep. Her heart was still pounding, and she spent several more minutes staring at Braedon’s gift before turning out the light. Jenny did finally manage to sleep, and when she woke the next morning she immediately put the necklace on, even before she got dressed, admiring it in the mirror against her naked body. She got dressed and went down to the dining hall for breakfast to eat more of the delicious bread. Braedon was already there and she gave him a smile. He beamed back, seeing she was wearing the diamonds he had given her and immediately walked over to where she was seated.
“Good morning! I hoped you would be up early. We have a big day ahead of us so eat well.” It wasn’t long after Jenny finished breakfast that her and Braedon, along with two guards, were racing to the surface in an elevator. As soon as it stopped they walked out into the daylight. The sun was high in the sky and for the first time Jenny saw the second sun creeping up over the horizon. Braedon sensed her apprehension. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay,” he assured her with a smile. They got into a helicopter and headed towards Baghdad. Within a half an hour, Jenny was viewing the landscape below as they flew over the city. There were plumes of smoke rising into the sky from several large fires. The city was in ruins and although some of the damage was to be expected after two wars, this was worse. The civil unrest of the Jihadists had turned the city into a complete mess. Within a few minutes Jenny could see where they were heading. There was a large fenced in complex ahead on the outskirts of the city. Below them were thousands of people cramped into the area, and a column of evacuees ran for over a mile from the holding area to a staging area where people were scanned and then allowed to enter the large bank of elevators at the far end. Braedon leaned over and spoke to Jenny over the sound of the whirring helicopter blades.
“I’m not taking you down there, it’s still too dangerous. We’ve had several attacks on this facility from the Jihadists, but I wanted to give you an idea as to what people are experiencing. We have facilities set up like this one all over the world. From here people are brought below to safety. My concern is how they will settle in.” The helicopter made several passes around the perimeter of the complex and then headed out of town. Within a few minutes they drew close to a military base. Jenny could see army tents and soldiers as they lost altitude and landed towards one end of the compound. Jenny followed Braedon out of the helicopter and into a large tent building. It was full of army personnel at workstations and Braedon led her to a smaller section, partitioned off from the rest. They entered this area through a small doorway and Braedon motioned for her to have a seat next to one of the large desks inside. There was an army general seated at a desk opposite the one she sat down in, and Braedon started speaking again.
“This is the Middle East’s main base of evacuation operations.” Braedon looked over at the general seated near them. “Good morning general how is everything progressing?”
“As good as it can be I guess, we’ve been beating back the resistance and have been getting people through and down below, but it’s been a constant battle.”
Braedon introduced Jenny and then poured them both a glass of water. “Thank you, it’s so hot here,” she said as she took a large drink of water and fanned herself with her other hand. “So where do we begin?” she asked.
“Well I would like you to tell the general what you think is the most important thing we should be telling people at every step along the way, to ease some of their fears and anxieties. From the time we load them on to the trains to what they can expect at the holding areas, and finally what they should expect once they get down below.”
“Trains?” Jenny asked with a concerned look.
“Yes, it has been the most reliable and easiest way for us to transport millions of people. We use large rail cars that have been retrofitted to hold over one hundred per car. That way we can transport up to twenty five thousand per train. We make several runs a day from all the city centers and get them below as quickly as we can.”
Jenny spent over an hour discussing her thoughts with the general on mentally preparing the evacuees. “Thank you Jennifer, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I appreciate all of your input into this. You have been very helpful.” He shook her hand and from there her and Braedon were driven to an airstrip and boarded a jet bound for Europe. Jenny flew over several more evacuation centers and visited with the generals handling the evacuations in Europe. They made it back to the landing strip and elevator they had used that morning in time to see the sun setting in the west.
“Wow, it has been a very busy day. I am exhausted.” Jenny said as they walked down the path to the elevator.
“I wanted to show you first hand what the evacuees are going through in order to get below so you could spend some time thinking about it. Tomorrow I’ll send you with an armed escort to the North American center of operations where you can stay and work for as long as you like. You will be able to communicate with all of the evacuation leaders from there and continue to help with the evacuee orientation. I just want you to be clear on something. Never leave your armed escort and never leave the base. As you saw today, the world isn’t the same anymore. It’s a violent and dangerous place to be and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you okay?”
“Yes, I understand. I appreciate the opportunity to help with this Braedon.” Jenny finished speaking with a worried look on her face.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, well, it’s just that,” she paused a moment. “Is there a way that I can check on my family and see if they made it down below yet? Or at least see if they have been chipped and are in the database? I have been worrying about them for weeks, and I would really like to know if they are safe. There’s no way to contact them, but I was hoping you could find out somehow.”
“Absolutely. We can track them with their chips if they have the implant and we can tell if they made it to safety yet.”
“Thanks Braedon, it would really mean a lot to me, to know they're alright.” Jenny took one last look to the west before they entered the elevator. The sun was a perfect semi-circle as it slowly dipped below the horizon. Jenny turned her head and out of the corner of her eye she noticed a large crimson shape on the eastern horizon. It looked like a massive hill, or mountain, but perfectly rounded in an arc that almost stretched from north to south and was glowing blood red. “Oh my God Braedon. What in the world is that?”
“That Jenny is the first visible sign of Nibiru,” responded Braedon.
She gazed at it, awestruck, as it seemed to sit there like a giant crescent on the horizon. It terrified her. She moved closer to Braedon and the safety of his arms. “Don’t worry Jen, you'll be okay,” he said reassuringly.
“I know, I feel safe as long as I’m with you, but I worry about my family and what they must be going through. It must be terrifying for them.”
They made their way to dinner, but instead of entering the dining hall Braedon took her to an elevator that climbed to the top of the tallest building. He led her into a large room with an open terrace overlooking the city. There was a table with two chairs and a candle-lit dinner set out for them.
“Welcome to my home,” Braedon said as he led Jenny to the table and pulled the chair out for her.
“Wow, this is beautiful,” she replied looking out over the city. The red sun was dipping below the horizon, casting warm orange shadows along the walkways and rooftops below.
“I thought you might enjoy a more private dinner with a view,” Braedon said smiling.
They had a glass of wine while the sunset turned to darkness and soon stars began to glow on the massive cavern’s ceiling. Jenny stared in amazement of the technology that could create such a world within a world.
“Look,” Braedon pointed. “There is Orion and see the Milky Way stretching across the sky? What you’re seeing Jenny is the night sky from our perspective, the way it would look from our world,” he explained.
“It�
�s beautiful,” she responded, still staring at the night sky above her. Braedon poured them another glass of wine just as two women dressed in white entered the room and set covered platters in front of them. Wonderful smells immediately filled Jenny’s senses and she could feel her mouth water as Braedon lifted the lids to reveal the meal underneath.
“Braedon, you made my favorite meal!” she said excitedly. There weren’t loaves of bread in front of her as she expected, but rather a platter of fresh prime rib, potatoes and pasta, along with sides of fresh cut vegetables. Jenny tore into the meal with earnest. It was better than anything she had ever eaten, even better than the bread that seemed to nourish every part of her. Even better than any home cooked meal her mother had made while she was growing up.
“Thank you Braedon, this is a wonderful meal,” she said for the third time between mouthfuls. Bread was brought out to them and Jenny found it to be more delectable than ever dipped in the Prime Rib au jus. They had several more glasses of wine over quiet conversation. Jenny was feeling pretty good about her day and felt the need to celebrate, as well as forget. She wanted to numb the pain of losing John, minimize some of the worry for her family, and focus on her new responsibilities. By the time the candles in front of them had burned low, Jenny was feeling the full effects of the wine and was giddy with excitement. Braedon reached across the table and grasped Jenny’s hand. He looked into her eyes and smiled.
“I’m glad you enjoyed your day, and your dinner,” he said. Would you like me to take you back to your room now? Jenny’s head was starting to swim from the wine.
“I guess so, that’s probably a good idea,” she said as she moved to stand up. She swayed slightly and Braedon was next to her in an instant to steady her. She leaned in next to him and he hugged her gently.