Cassini was shocked and disappointed.
“Oh! But why, Niki?” she asked, rising from her chair.
She switched Deni from her left arm to her right arm.
“Did we wrong you in any way-”
“Oh no, mistress!” Niki, the imposter, replied quickly. “It’s not that at all.”
Niki sighed heavily and lowered her eyes.
“I’m just retiring, mistress,” Niki explained. “In case you have not noticed, I am the oldest of your maid servants.”
“Oh, Niki!”
Cassini walked towards Niki and placed her left hand on Niki’s shoulder.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?” Cassini asked. “You know Deni loves you more than the other maids, don’t you? But shh. Don’t tell anyone.”
Niki and Cassini managed a chuckle and Deni made baby noises.
“See?” Cassini said. “Deni just confirmed.”
“Mistress, I love your son as if he were mine,” Niki said. “But I must go. I’m really sorry for the abruptness of my departure, but it must be done.”
Uriel observed the two women chat away until Niki, the imposter left. That was an unexpected stroke of luck, Uriel thought. With the imposter gone, Uriel could now focus more on Lunok. As the months went by, Deni’s parents became more aware of the ‘uniqueness’ of their child. He was different from the rest, a notion that both excited and frightened his parents at the same time. So, Deni’s parents chose to stay silent about their child’s uniqueness fearing the public may not be accommodating of their child’s uniqueness. Everything was fine until a new family purchased a house down the street from where Deni and his parents lived. They had a son who was about a year younger than Deni and this son had the same esoteric signature as the imposter.
Uriel was livid and petrified. This imposter was not a creature to trifle with. It was extremely wise and possessed the ability to plan events to perfection. It was, therefore, a being from a dimension much higher than Asah. Uriel dubbed this imposter The Creature. She feared for the worse, thinking this creature was out to do Lunok harm. But if that were the case, it could have already done so a long time ago. The Creature and Deni became good childhood friends and grew up together. They even went to the same schools and over the next few years, these two became best friends.
And why am I not surprised! Uriel thought. She could not interfere directly with Lunok. That was the rule. But there was no rule against interfering with anyone else. As such, Uriel made her move.
The Creature was alone in the dormitory he shared with Deni, working on homework; or pretending to. Deni was off to class for most of the morning.
“I was wondering when you would initiate contact,” The Scribe said before Uriel said anything.
He turned around and faced Uriel.
“Come on, now,” The Scribe said. “Did you really think I was unaware of you this whole time? And I can see you just fine, by the way.”
“Very well then, let’s talk!” Uriel said and walked closer to The Scribe.
“Fine, let’s talk!” The Scribe said and leaned back in his seat. “I suppose you have many questions for me, no? It is to be expected, especially given the fact that you and your kind are fairly young on the scale of Creation.”
“Who are you? What realm and dimension are you from?” Uriel asked.
“You can call me ‘The Scribe’,” he replied. “I am from Akasha.”
“Dimension?” Uriel pressed on.
“Akasha is a realm-dimension,” The Scribe explained.
“And why are you here?” Uriel asked.
“I am a purveyor of purpose,” The Scribe replied.
“That does not explain why you are here,” Uriel argued.
“Like I said,” The Scribe spoke with mock exasperation, “I am a purveyor of purpose. The minute details are either too inconsequential, too difficult for you to understand or a combination of both.”
“I will ignore your condescension,” Uriel remarked. “But you will at least tell me if you are friend or foe!”
“And if I don’t?” The Scribe asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Then I will assume you are a foe and I will be forced to act accordingly!” Uriel replied and took a firm step towards The Scribe.
“Relax, creature,” The Scribe said and leaned back in his chair. “If I wanted to end your existence, I would have done so the moment you showed up at his conception. And if I wanted the Shemsu dead, I would have done so then as well. My point it, there’s nothing you or the Shemsu can do against me.”
Uriel hesitated for a moment. Her instincts as a guardian angel and Lunok’s protector kicked in and she wanted to do battle with this creature who called himself The Scribe. But the voice of wisdom took control. Uriel could perceive this creature’s immense power and he had a feeling The Scribe only let her feel a tinge of it. If a tinge of that power could make her feel so useless…. Uriel heaved her shoulders and lowered her guard. A wry smile formed over the very handsome face of The Scribe.
“I knew the Shemsu didn’t choose you for just your good looks,” The Scribe said. “You are wiser than most of your kind, and it is for that same reason, and that reason only, that I am having this conversation with you. I believe you can better appreciate what I’m about to tell you.”
The Scribe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs.
“I have had my sights on the Shemsus for a while,” The Scribe said. “They are good at what they do. But even at their current level of evolution, they still cannot handle polarization. Their etheric construct was not designed to accept and process polarization. This is a most fascinating aspect of Creation. And by ‘fascinating’, I mean it presents a remarkable opportunity. For me, of course! The creatures of lower realms, far less evolved than the Shemsus are, handle polarization much better than the Shemsu do. What an oxymoron!”
“Irony,” Uriel said.
The Scribe rolled his eyes.
“And what do you know about polarization?” Uriel asked The Scribe.
“I am the very first product of polarization,” The Scribe replied. “And I dare say that I am the very essence of polarization.”
Uriel wanted to say something but decided against it.
“The Shemsus are explorers, and creators, in their own way,” The Scribe continued. “But if this Shemsu wanted to explore this realm, he would not have had to go through the process of conception and birth. Therefore, he’s here for something much bigger. I think he’s here because he wants to experience what polarization is all about, through an essence outside of his. He knows he cannot do so as a Shemsu and hence, the fall to this lower realm. It is officially the first voluntary fall in Creation. Too bad he’s an amnesiac now. So he can’t appreciate what he has accomplished. I am most impressed with him and I must admit, I do admire this Shemsu.”
“So does that make you friend or foe?” Uriel asked, choosing to neither confirm nor deny The Scribe’s claims.
The Scribe smiled as he sat upright. He stretched and yawned audibly, not for theatrics, and relaxed in his chair again.
“I am neither, creature,” The Scribe replied and then as an afterthought, he asked a question of his own. “What do you call your kind, anyway?”
“Angels,” Uriel replied flatly.
“Angels,” The Scribe repeated. “Very well then.”
“So what are your intentions with Lunok?” Uriel asked ignoring The Scribe’s condescending tone of voice.
“Lunok?” The Scribe seemed confused for a moment before it struck him. “Oh yes! So that’s his real name! Lunok Nice name too.”
Uriel decided to use Deni’s real name because she believed it was pointless for her to play-act anymore. She was obviously no match for this Scribe on any level whatsoever. But she would not tuck her proverbial tail in between her legs and flee either. The Scribe was testing her patience and she decided to show her impatience at The Scribe with her body language. When he saw that Uriel was
losing her patience and not appreciating his dry sense of humor, he cleared his throat and adjusted his countenance before speaking again.
“I am only here to observe your friend, angel,” The Scribe replied. “I have no intentions of either harming or helping him. I, too, am very curious to see how this plays out. Like I said, he’s the first in Creation to have fallen of his free will. I can understand if you do not grasp the significance of his act. And I don’t blame you at all. But rest assured, I intend to observe till the very end. If I was still in Akasha, I’d personally write this down in the book of remembrance.”
The Scribe then observed Uriel for a few seconds.
“What’s your name, angel?” he asked.
“Uriel,” she replied, realizing it was pointless to not tell him.
“Uriel,” The Scribe repeated. “I take it you’re his protector.”
The Scribe did not expect Uriel to validate his statement. To his surprise, Uriel nodded. She might be warming up to him after all.
“Good! Then Lunok is a very, very lucky man,” The Scribe added.
“And why is that, Scribe?” Uriel asked.
“Because he has another guardian,” The Scribe replied. “One whom he can actually see and talk to.”
The Scribe kept a poker face despite Uriel’s inability to hide her shock.
“Yes, you heard correctly, Uriel,” The Scribe. “I will be his protector and guardian as well. But he must never know of my true identity. Can I count on you to not tell him anything, at least, until he regains his memory? And yes, I believe that even in his current state of amnesia, his memories are still locked up somewhere deep inside his psyche. That is part of the reason why his Shemsu esoteric signature is still present, albeit in dormancy. So I ask you again, can I count on your silence in the meantime until he remembers?”
Uriel considered The Scribe’s proposal. She did not trust this being but, given the circumstances, and his expressed desire to visit no harm on her or Lunok, Uriel was inclined to trust that The Scribe would stay true to his word.
“Yes,” Uriel said. “I will not share your true identity with Lunok, until he regains his memory.”
“I’ll take you at your word, Uriel,” The Scribe said and glanced at his watch.
“He should be returning soon from class,” The Scribe said. “While we wait, could you please tell me about your realm and your kind?”
“For a being as powerful as you are, you don’t need me to tell you about my home,” Uriel said. “You probably already know everything about us!”
“True,” The Scribe said. “But there’s nothing wrong with building upon our newfound friendship, is there?”
Uriel summoned and flapped her wings twice. She then dismissed her wings and started talking about Celestia and Lemuria. A few minutes later, Deni burst into the room and walked through her. He headed for his bed and crashed on it.
“I take it your meeting with the school board didn’t go so well?” The Scribe asked.
“A complete understatement, Tanki,” Deni replied. “I still don’t understand their lack of objectivity and vision!”
“It’s called pride and politics, my dear friend,” The Scribe replied.
He was staring at Uriel and Uriel was staring right back at him. But to Deni, he appeared to be staring blankly at the door.
“Well, their pride and politics may well be in the way of our world taking another huge stride into medical technology,” Deni rebutted with a heavy dose of frustration.
“Don’t you worry, my friend,” Tanki joked. “I’ll protect you from the evil clutches of the school board… and everything else!”
The Scribe winked at Uriel but Uriel did not appreciate his mocking gesture.
“And your dry sense of humor is indeed the height of my day,” Deni replied and both men laughed out loud.
Uriel, however, did not understand the joke.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
TAKING A LEAP
LOG ENTRY #1:
This is Deni, Commander of interstellar ark Elohim.
The first manned interstellar leap has been a success so far. The crew only experienced mild disorientation and dizziness for less than ten minutes after we emerged from subspace. Preliminary esoteric scans reveal nothing abnormal so far from the crew. Elohim is stable and running smoothly as well. We emerged just outside the vicinity of an uninhabited realm. Terra-scans indicate the presence of water and breathable, non-toxic air. I speculate this realm holds great potential for future explorations. Our next stop will be the blue realm. Log session over!
Deni out!
Deni tapped on the dashboard and the hologram monitor disappeared. He ran another diagnostic on the ark just because, and as expected, everything was running smoothly. He then pressed a button and a holographic image of Tanki’s face appeared in front of him.
“How is everything on your end, Tanki?” Deni asked.
“Running perfectly, Commander!” Tanki replied.
“Very well,” Deni said.
In public, Tanki addressed him as ‘Commander’ but in private, both men were on a first name basis. Tanki was his second-in-command, by merit and not because of their long-standing friendship.
“The ark is yours,” Deni ordered. “I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.”
“Aye, aye, Commander!” Tanki affirmed.
“Out!” Deni said and tapped on a button, terminating the conversation.
Deni headed for the televator and stood in a circle.
“Commander Deni’,” he said.
“Voice activation confirmed,” a robotic voice said. “Hello Commander, how may I be of assistance today?”
“My quarters, Razi,” Deni replied.
“As you wish, Commander,” Razi, the artificial intelligence said.
A pale green light engulfed Deni. When the light disappeared, a pale green light formed around him as he stood in the televator in his quarters. He walked towards his desk and turned on his private telecast.
“Razi, call home, will you?” Deni said.
“Calling home,” Razi reiterated.
A hologram of a young lad appeared in front of Deni. He gasped.
“Keni?” Deni asked. “Is that really you?”
“Hello father!” Keni grinned and waved at his father.
Keni turned his head to the right.
“Mother!” Keni called out. “It’s father!”
“I’ll be right out, son,” the boy’s mother replied.
Keni turned a grinning face towards the camera of his telecast.
“How old are you now, son?” Deni asked and smiled at his son.
“Seventeen,” Keni replied.
Keni stood up and stepped back. He the flexed his tiny muscles until the veins in his temple stuck out. His father laughed so hard he almost fell out of the chair. Keni joined his father in the laughter. He was just five years old when Deni and his team had taken the interstellar leap. Deni did well not to express that his preliminary estimates on the time dilation phenomenon were greatly askew.
“You’ve grown so big, my son,” Deni said. “I am so happy to see you.”
“As am I to see you too, father,” Keni replied. “When are you coming back?”
Deni was about to reply when his wife’s face came into view. Keni stood up to let his mother take his seat. As soon as she sat down, Keni moved her hands from her thighs and moved to sit on his mother’s lap; but his mother playfully shoved him away.
“Get off me, you big buffoon!” she said. “You’re too old to be sitting on your mother’s lap!”
She turned her attention towards her husband.
“Do you see what happens when you’re away?” she said playfully. “Your son refuses to grow up.”
She continued to play-wrestle with Keni.
“Why are you giving mother such a hard time?” Deni asked, shaking his head.
“Well, mother used to sit on your lap too, didn’t she?” Keni argued.
“Yes, I did, son,” his mother replied. “But I am his baby-”
“And I’M also YOUR baby!” Keni rebutted. “So why won’t you let me?”
“Because you’re a big boy now, son,” Deni replied. “Big boys do big boy things. Understood?”
“Yes, father,” Keni replied, feeling a little disappointed.
His mother gestured for Keni to sit next to her. Keni obliged. She took his hand and mother and son interlocked fingers. She then smiled and turned to face the screen.
“How are you doing, my love?” she asked.
“I’m doing well actually,” Deni replied. “I’m just a little surprised at how big Keni is. My calculations were off. I thought the leap would only result in no more than a three-year dilation. But apparently, I was off by over a decade.”
“I know, my love,” Kari replied. “It is not your fault! Now you know and next time you’ll make better calculations, no?”
“Still too much time away from you two,” Deni’s tone of voice was heavy with sadness and longing.
“You worry too much about us, my love,” Kari said. “We’ll be here waiting for your return. We’ll always be here.”
“What would I do without you two?” Deni said and smiled.
Kari smiled back at him and Keni rolled his eyes.
“So when will you be back, father?” Keni asked.
“Our mission is supposed to last no more than one Necheru month,” Deni replied. “My previous calculations indicated that I would be back no later than six Necheru years from the date of departure. But I’m no longer sure, based on the aberrations of time dilation from my initial calculations.”
“I know you will get this time whatever thing all sorted out, father,” Keni assured his father. “You’re the smartest man I know and I’m proud to be your son. Mother and I are very proud of you. We are in this together, as a family. I want you to remember that whenever you think about us.”
Keni felt his mother squeeze his hand.
“When did this happen?” Deni asked his wife. “This man sitting next to you. When did he happen?”
Celestial Crisis Page 16