The Black Madonna (The Mystique Trilogy)

by Traci Harding

  ‘Just thought I owed it to you to let you know.’

  ‘I appreciate your honesty,’ I said, but found myself alone.

  ‘Killian!’ I screamed out my frustration over the chasm, but my anger was short-lived. I am in so much trouble, I thought.

  ‘You just let him take off?’ Polaris freaked when he heard about Killian going AWOL in 2003. ‘We’ll have to go and find him.’

  ‘You won’t find him,’ I said. ‘He’s smarter and faster than us. Castor has the genetic proof of it.’

  ‘So you think we should just let him loose in the hope that he uses his powers for good and doesn’t fall back in with his old company now that he’s twice as powerful as he was before?’ My husband was finding it difficult to understand my reasoning. ‘That’s a big ask!’

  ‘The risk factor is enormous,’ Dexter agreed.

  Castor and Levi remained silent, reserving judgement; and my Dragon sisters held their tongues too.

  ‘Killian claimed it was the will of the Sanat Kumara that he stay here in the past,’ I told them.

  ‘To do what?’ Dexter asked.

  ‘I don’t know!’ I said, exasperated. ‘I’m not Killian’s keeper! He has his own will, his own ideas, and I don’t know what they are any more than you do.’

  ‘But you spent twenty years in his company,’ my husband pointed out again.

  I was tired of hearing it. ‘I often avoided his company during that period, as I didn’t feel comfortable spending a lot of time with him,’ I said, wanting to lay his curiosity to rest once and for all. ‘He spent most of the time with Lamhfada. Ask him for a character reference!’

  ‘I will certainly do that,’ Polaris assured me.

  ‘Speaking of mysteries and Lugh Lamhfada…’ I pulled the piece of fabric Killian had given me from my pocket and held it up. ‘Which one of you does this belong to?’

  ‘What is it?’ Solarian asked.

  ‘It’s supposed to be the Ring of Power,’ I said.

  She looked perplexed. ‘But it looks like a strip of fabric from one of our suits.’

  Both she and Polaris looked at my husband, who was edging his way towards the door.

  ‘You’ve had the ring all along!’ Polaris said, incensed.

  ‘Which meant it never actually fell into Nefilim hands, so you ought to thank me for saving your arse!’ Arcturus said with a grin, then ducked out of the room.

  Polaris went after him. ‘I can’t trust you to do something as simple as deliver a ring! Hand it over!’

  ‘It really doesn’t matter what century you’re in, some things never change,’ Solarian said, rolling her eyes, and I quite agreed.

  ‘So what do we do about Killian?’ Dexter seemed the only person still concerned.

  ‘Show of hands for taking Killian at his word and leaving him at liberty?’ Solarian requested.

  All bar Dexter raised his hand. Even if Polaris and Arcturus were in the room, the vote would have gone against them.

  Solarian made the official announcement. ‘Killian stays! The ring and the rod are both secured, our missing team member has been found, and all the Signet stations are operational. That would seem to be mission accomplished, people.’

  We all applauded.

  It was time to go home and face the new future we had created during the past few days. I prayed with all my heart that it would be better than, or at least on a par with, the future we had left behind. Trusting Killian was an enormous leap of faith for the staff of Amenti. In my heart I felt he would accomplish great things; but in my mind there was still a tiny shadow of a doubt that perhaps this boy genius was playing both sides in this war to his own advantage. Left to his own devices, would Killian continue to walk in the light or fall back into shadow? Only time would tell.

  Due to the breakdown of the Nefilim HAARP project in 2003 we could not be tracked, and so the captain decided to take the direct route home through time using the Klieo’s time-hopping function. Thus, I would soon discover if my instincts about Killian were correct, or whether I had led the entire plan to ruin in the quantum blink of an eye.

  PART 3

  QUANTUM WARFARE

  CHAPTER 27

  SPHERE OF THE BLUE FLAME

  MIA DEVERE—MERIDAN

  Upon our return to 2017, Polaris parked the Klieo in the cavern of Mamer and our entire crew proceeded to the Hall of Records beneath Giza for the debriefing. As Kali and Mathu were still unconscious, they were transported to a recovery room within the labyrinth incorporated into the Amenti complex of Signet Station Four.

  Denera and Zalman awaited us in the Hall of Records chamber. They were both smiling, which I took to be a good sign. Denera’s eyes were focused on me as we assembled before her. ‘Come forth, little sister, I am so proud of you,’ she said, and met me halfway across the floor with a huge hug.

  ‘What did I do?’ I asked. I was used to being the one who screwed up.

  Denera gave me a look that implied I was being too modest. ‘Come now,’ she urged, but I couldn’t guess. ‘Okay, I’ll show you.’

  She went to the Hall of Records’ control module, which enclosed her in its telepathically sensitive security tube. ‘Christian Molier, 1 April 2017,’ she commanded aloud, to give us a hint of what we were about to witness.

  ‘But I dealt with Molier in 2003!’ Arcturus said, confused.

  ‘Who dealt with Molier?’ Thana placed her hands on her hips.

  Arcturus nodded, giving her the credit. ‘The point is, he should be dead!’

  The liquid-light walls of the chamber lit up, giving us the sensation of standing on an open platform in the middle of a huge crowd of people in Central Park, New York. There was a lone speaker standing behind a podium, his back to us. Dark-haired, tall and slender, he certainly looked like Molier.

  ‘Why the hell have all these people gathered to hear Christian Molier speak?’ Polaris asked.

  There was something else very odd about this. ‘It used to be hard enough to get Molier to meet with his closest business partners,’ I said, stunned, ‘but to address a crowd of thousands?’

  ‘Shh,’ urged Denera, ‘listen to what he’s saying.’

  ‘What we ask is that during the time we’re running this experiment in the Big Apple, YOU, the people of this city, give us more than just your attention. We want some of your greatest, purest, most compassionate and peaceful INTENTION!’

  The crowd let loose a roar of support.

  ‘In cities the world over, the Peace Project has made an astonishing difference to the quality of life. In Washington, one week of intensive positive focus, en masse, reduced crime and sickness in that city by fifty per cent in the following year!’

  The crowd applauded.

  ‘So please, give the people working on the Peace Project down here in the park for the next week your fullest support and let’s see if we can’t all make this city a happier, healthier and safer place to live.’

  The speaker waved to the crowd in every direction and to the cameras before he turned to leave the lectern and then we saw his face.

  ‘It’s Killian!’ I gasped, relieved and excited.

  Now Arcturus was getting a clearer picture. ‘We disposed of Molier and Killian stole his identity.’

  ‘Not to mention Molier’s business holdings and huge fortune,’ Denera added, ‘which he has channelled into this Peace Project.’

  I was flabbergasted. ‘I know Killian looks a lot like Molier, but he’s very obviously not him. How—’

  ‘—did he do this?’ Denera cut in, and stepped down from her control platform. ‘As you said just now, Molier wasn’t a very social creature…hardly anyone in this century knew what he looked like. As to the few who did, Killian has psychically persuaded them that he is Molier. He’s very powerful, your student, and we have extremely high hopes for him. So what did you do, my dear Meridan? You managed to identify and train the Chosen One, who in turn has spent the last fourteen years establishing an elite following o
f psychics and scientists, and, using quantum physics as his doctrine, has managed to clear many of the primary blockages in the Earth grid!’

  Dexter had a chuckle as his greatest concern about the opening of Amenti was washed away. ‘It seems he worked out how to be of assistance, after all. You just have to love the little SOB.’

  ‘He’s been promoting the science of photo-sonics,’ Denera explained—which was Dexter’s and Vespera’s area of expertise—‘and he’s raised scientific awareness of the possibility of twelve-strand DNA.’ Castor’s and Talori’s field. ‘He’s also put forward a thesis on how HAARP and other such ionospheric modification facilities might use their climate-control capabilities to refreeze the Antarctic and the North Pole.’

  ‘Cheeky,’ Dexter said with a grin. ‘The Nefilim have been working a long time to get their mother ship out of the deep freeze.’

  ‘Is he being hailed as the next Messiah?’ Solarian asked, concerned this might end up being a repeat of the Jesus episode.

  Denera waved off her concern. ‘Well, of course he is. But Killian, or Chris as he’s now known, has stuck firmly to the science angle and so far it’s served him well. The lad is as charismatic as he ever was, but instead of playing the rebel, he’s reinvented himself as an innovative, proactive instigator of all things positive for the future of the planet, in both a scientific and a spiritual sense. He leads by example and, due to the influence of the activated Signet stations, people the world over have been open to his theories and discoveries. Chris Molier has inspired millions to create peace, love and beauty with the power of their intent.’

  My heart welled with pride that a little bit of understanding, faith and compassion could have such long-reaching positive repercussions.

  ‘But surely the Nefilim have figured out who Chris really is?’ Levi was amazed he was still alive.

  ‘He’s too powerful, psychically and socially, for the Nefilim to take him out. As you see, he leaves himself completely vulnerable to attack.’ Denera motioned back to the screen where Killian was moving freely through the crowd, meeting people and chatting, with no bodyguards, no security, no weapons. ‘He wears his fearlessness like a shield and people adore and admire him for it. There have been a few assassination attempts, but Chris never flinches and is never hit. His reputation for dodging death has reached superhero status, but he insists that his only defence is his intention to live.’

  ‘So the boy did good.’ Polaris sounded a little surprised. ‘Sorry, Meridan, I should have trusted your instinct.’

  Solarian gave my husband a nudge, as he also owed me an apology.

  ‘Okay, so you were right about him,’ Arcturus admitted. ‘But he didn’t turn out to be Mathu,’ he was quick to add. ‘We were right about Emmett.’

  ‘But your wonderful work with Killian isn’t the only reason I’m so proud of you,’ Denera said, looking at me again. ‘You managed to deliver Ishtar via non-violent means. Your daughter could still learn a thing or two from you.’

  ‘Were there any repercussions from Ishtar’s premature disappearance from history?’ I asked, recalling Ereshkigal’s concern.

  ‘Nothing too drastic, we suspect.’

  ‘You sound unsure,’ I prompted; which was very unlike Denera.

  ‘The Anu have heard nothing from Ereshkigal since that time, and I can’t see into Irkalla through this device.’ She indicated the control desk. ‘But she’s stayed out of contact for long periods in the past, so it’s probably nothing to worry about.’

  ‘I’ll go and retrieve her.’ Dexter was halfway to the door.

  ‘She’s Lamhfada’s concern at present, not ours,’ Denera said firmly, bringing Dexter to a standstill. ‘You have other work to do. Not everything you did in the past has come up roses.’ Her gaze turned to Levi.

  ‘Montauk,’ he guessed. ‘They’ve rebuilt it?’

  ‘No, you managed to shut down that project for good.’ Denera didn’t sound as impressed as I’d expected.

  ‘And HAARP?’ Levi prompted.

  ‘There are now facilities of its kind all over the world.’ Denera delivered the sting. ‘And, thanks to the way you brought Montauk down, all the systems have EM pulse guards, which will detect any oncoming threat, shut down the systems momentarily and reboot a few minutes later when the charge has dissipated.’

  ‘Bugger,’ muttered Levi.

  ‘Had you pulled the same stunt in December this year, you might have been able to decommission the entire anti-grid in one strike. But now it’s going be a little harder,’ Zalman added.

  ‘But Levi’s act prevented Killian and me being pursued in the past!’ I said.

  ‘And we’d have had the Nefilim breathing down our necks whilst we unlocked the last three Signet stations,’ Polaris added. ‘As it was, our task was incident free.’

  ‘We’re not saying he did the wrong thing.’ Denera grinned, pleased by how fiercely we defended each other, as siblings should. ‘We’re just informing you of its repercussions. There’s more, but that can all wait as I feel some rest is in order. But first, there’s one last thing I really must show you.’

  Denera led us deep into the heart of her station, to the huge round chamber that hosted the Halls of Amenti: six perfectly round portholes, each crafted from a different shade of gold—red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, and the last, a stunning and rare violet. All of the passages were filled with liquid light that reflected the colour of each doorway; it streamed from top to bottom like a waterfall.

  We had all visited this chamber before, and walked the halls that led to humanity’s root races past and future, hence we instantly realised there was something spectacularly different about the chamber today. The added attraction lay in, or rather above, the large round pool at its heart. Directly above the horizontal porthole, the ceiling disappeared into the huge funnel of the Arc porthole passage. The beautiful silvery stargate therein was shedding considerably more light than usual onto the indigo liquid-light pool beneath.

  The light was so potent in Blue Flame energy that it sent me into seventh heaven. I took a great leap onto the pool and slid gracefully across its surface to bask in the light. Inside the enormous funnel sat a huge glowing sphere, just beyond its liquid barrier. The sphere was white at its edges, and faded into the beautiful blue-green projected from the Blue Flame at its heart, but deep in its centre lay a much smaller, intense violet flame: the staff of Amenti’s ticket home to Tara.

  ‘It is the Sphere of Amenti!’ I called back to my teammates who were still catching me up.

  ‘Wow!’ Dexter slid to a stop beside me and gazed up into the light. ‘Now all we have to do is drop that little baby down into the Earth’s core…and bam, a porthole link between Earth’s core in dimension two and Tara’s core in dimension five.’

  ‘We’ll be back in the Ranna time flow,’ Polaris finished.

  We all stared up at the cosmic wonder whose return we had been preparing for for all eternity.

  ‘Has the planetary consciousness been raised enough to host the sphere?’ Talori asked Denera.

  ‘Not quite,’ she admitted, trying not to sound discouraging. ‘But at the rate Chris Molier is clearing the dams in the grid, and encouraging people to free their minds from religious barriers to embrace the power of their own positive intent, it won’t be long before the frequency scale finally tips in our favour.’

  ‘Well, I suppose we should go see if our “little miracle on Earth” needs a hand with anything,’ Arcturus said, and I could tell by his tone that he still didn’t trust Killian.

  ‘Exactly right,’ Denera said, looking at me.

  ‘You want me to go to New York? But Tamar will need—’

  ‘You know him best; he trusts you,’ she appealed gently.

  ‘I’ll be here for Tamar,’ Arcturus said, although he couldn’t have been keen for me to hook up with Killian again. ‘I’ll let you know the second anything changes.’

  ‘I’m sending Vespera and Talori with you, as the
y can aid Chris’s scientists with their research,’ Denera concluded.

  Talori and Vespera both nodded, inspired by the thought of going undercover into the field.

  ‘But rest first,’ Denera insisted. ‘The pleasures of my labyrinth are at your disposal. Refresh yourselves and enjoy.’

  The staff gave a cheer, and everyone hugged their significant other. Everyone except Arcturus and me; we stood apart, eyeing each other reservedly.

  Polaris noticed our hesitation. ‘Come on, you two, you’re not going to let a wee difference in opinion spoil a perfectly good celebration, are you?’

  Arcturus and I each went to speak, then both stopped.

  I tried again. ‘I’m not mad, I’m just frustrated.’ I turned on my heel, slid across the pool and jumped onto the chamber floor.

  ‘That’s what I was going to say.’ My husband came after me and followed me up the six flights of stairs to the security cavern that led to the labyrinth.

  Even for someone with superhuman stamina, I was breathing heavily when I got to the top. ‘You’d think that with all the technology at our disposal we could install a goddamn lift!’

  ‘But the view on the way up wouldn’t be anywhere near as splendid,’ Arcturus said with a lustful grin, and I caught my breath—the moment of our reunion, the moment I’d dreamt of for twenty years, was finally upon me. ‘I miss married life,’ he confessed.

  ‘Me too.’ I burst into tears, relieved to finally be on the same wavelength, and threw myself into my husband’s arms and kissed him repeatedly.

  ‘I vote we forget about saving the universe for a bit…’ Arcturus hoisted me up and I wrapped my legs around his hips as he carried me over the extension bridge, ‘…and take advantage of Denera’s hospitality.’

  ‘I couldn’t agree more.’

  I cast off all thought of the outside world to focus on the centre of my universe for a change.

  CHAPTER 28

  PSYCHOSIS