“You should also know that during your 20th century a soul made a brief sojourn‑just 30 years‑for the solitary purpose of bearing a child.
“Having many other duties to tend to, she stayed just long enough to see her young son securely entrusted to the loving care of a soul you now call Karl Johnson.”
The doors met and melded together and as we took off I could hear Eli answering my unspoken question.
“For what strength it may give you, my beloved son, . . . I am your mother.”
CHAPTER 15: Micro Island
Three hours later we had traveled some 3700 miles and were approaching the northeastern shore of Micro Island. This large semi‑tropical Pacific island had risen out of the ocean during the cataclysmic earth changes of the late 20th century. It was about half the size of 1976’s Australia. The Macro society maintained a well‑protected base on this eastern coast from which it carried on most of its contacts with the island’s interior. Carol had explained that this base, where we were planning to land, was completely protected by an invisible force field which had effectively resisted all attempts to breach it. Now as we came in sight of this Macro society enclave I was startled to see it surrounded on its landward side by thousands of people.
“What an enormous number of people,” I exclaimed. “Do the Micro Islanders usually gather in such numbers outside the Macro society base?”
“Not that I’ve heard of,” Carol replied. “In fact, Micro Island has a law against coming within ten miles of our base. They used to patrol this zone with policemen and dogs.”
“Well,” I said, “either they repealed the law or there are an awful lot of lawbreakers down there.”
The force field was momentarily removed and we descended into a clearing beside a Gamma building which was surrounded by about 1,000 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and parkland with large swimming pools and recreation areas. As our transair touched down I saw a very tall man leave the building and run toward us. By the time we were on the ground he had reached us, and Carol introduced me to Orion, the Gammar of this base. She had talked with him during the past week via C.I. video, so now they seemed like old friends.
“Why the crowd?” I asked.
Orion answered, “It seems that President Elgon Ten has proclaimed an island holiday in honor of your visit. He and his Vice President, Sela Nine, are out there now waiting to greet you. I’m sorry there’s no one else from the Macro society here, but all the rest of our Gamma is off in the interior using this holiday as an opportunity to tutor.”
“What happened to the law against coming within ten miles of this base?” Carol asked.
“In honor of this occasion,” Orion explained, “Elgon rescinded it for today.”
“Why did they have a law like that in the first place?” I inquired.
“That’s easy to answer,” Orion replied. “Elgon and his assistants are afraid of our influence on their people. They don’t want to lose anyone to the Macro society, so any islander who is caught talking with a member of the Macro society is punished severely.”
“Are you that successful in getting recruits for the Macro society from here?” I asked.
He answered, “We might be if they didn’t have that law. Even with it we find about a hundred people each year who are ready to go to the mainland.”
Looking at the crowd packed outside the invisible force field I was surprised at the number of very small children who were permitted to gather among such a crowd without the supervision of their parents.
“Where are the parents of all those little ones, and why aren’t they here looking after them?” I asked Orion.
“They’re there, Jon, right along with the children,” he answered. “You’re just not used to seeing such large families. Here on Micro Island birth control is strictly forbidden. It’s not unusual to see families with fifteen to twenty‑five children. The more children a couple has, the greater their prestige.”
“But why don’t these people limit the size of their family to just the number of children that they can adequately clothe and care for? Just look at some of them,” I remarked.
“Yes, I know,” he replied. “They’re the victims of their religions which denounce birth control as a mortal sin. The fact is, however, that Elgon would change that if he thought it would serve his purpose. Of course, it won’t, for his purpose, publicly stated, is to outbreed the Macro society so he can justly claim the mainland as his territory.”
“Don’t the women get tired of being pregnant all the time?” Carol asked.
“Yes indeed, they do,” Orion answered. “In fact one of our biggest problems with Elgon and his assistants is that they interfere with our distribution of birth control tablets to those who ask for them. You see, both Elgon and his assistants have highly developed telepathic and clairvoyant powers so if a man or woman even desires birth control tablets in their presence they are aware of it and the individual is punished the same as if he had talked to a Macro society member. You probably know that our birth control tablets render the person infertile for anywhere from one to five years, depending on which tablet is taken.”
“In a culture like this it would be a blessing to be physically unable to bear children,” Carol observed.
“Not really, Carol,” he explained. “You see, any woman who is unable to bear children is used as a prostitute and forbidden to marry. That really brands her, for marriage is highly revered here. The only cause accepted for divorce is a woman’s inability to bear children.”
“I guess if a woman wants a divorce she just takes a pill!” I commented. “But if talking to a Macro society member and taking birth control tablets are both against the law, how do people manage to get the tablets?”
“They know we are telepaths,” Orion answered, “so all they have to do is pass us on the street thinking the request and we’ll teleport the tablet of her choice to her when no one is watching. The problem is that one of Elgon’s thousand assistants sometimes intercepts the signal. Then the person is immediately dragged away to the nearest public penalty square where . . . but then, I needn’t tell you of their atrocities. You’ll see them soon enough.”
My attention went back to the crowd outside the barrier and I remembered that their president, Elgon, and their vice president, Sela, were waiting outside for us. I asked, “Do you think it would be dangerous for Carol and me to go out and meet their president?”
“Not immediately,” he replied. “They plan to give you a royal reception, show you what they believe are the virtues of Micro Island existence, and then try to persuade you to allow them to help you complete your time translation.” ‘
“Then,” I said, “I suppose they feel I’ll be so grateful that I’ll want to stay here forever among them, right?”
Orion looked at me very carefully for a moment before he said, “They are very clever and will use every trick they can think of to get you to allow them to complete your time translation. You see, they believe that if this happens before you are level three it will mean that you will regress in awareness and be unable to live happily in the Macro society.”
“Okay,” I said, “then it only becomes dangerous for us when they see that I’ve successfully resisted their persuasion to let them complete my time translation. We’ll plan to return here just before that happens.”
I suddenly realized that Orion did not believe that would be possible and was vainly trying to hide his doubts concerning my success with the Micro Islanders. I found myself beginning to share some of his doubts, but I tried to put on a brave smile as I said, “Well, maybe it won’t turn out as badly as you think, Orion. But in any event, I must take the risk and grow from the results, whatever they may be. So if you’ll be kind enough to open your force field we’ll go out and meet President Elgon and the crowd.”
He slowly nodded his assent, then walked with us to the beginning of the force field, where he stopped and turned to us. “Be sure to use the number as their last name.
It’s very important to them as it represents the level of awareness they profess to have evolved to.”
Looking deeply into Carol’s eyes he lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them. I was somewhat surprised when he turned and gave me the same warmly affectionate farewell.
He then raised the force field and allowed us to step outside the protected area. Once we had done this, both Carol and I could clairvoyantly see the force field return and knew that we now stood unprotected, except by our own minds, before what looked like the entire population of Micro Island.
As we stood uncertainly examining the vast throng of humanity that stood before us, a great cheering began and out of the center of the crowd came two of the most dazzling individuals that I had ever seen outside of a rock concert. As they came closer I could see a powerfully built man at least six and a half feet in height and with a massively handsome face as hard as though it had been chipped out of granite. He was dressed in white robes embroidered with blue, yellow, and green stones and thousands of what looked like sequins that sparkled in the noonday sun. This, I thought, must be the president of Micro Island, Elgon “Ten,” formerly level seven in the Macro society some 80 years ago.
He had regressed in awareness level, then added “Ten” to his name and declared himself level ten. He had stopped wearing the aura‑reflecting tunic at the same time.
My attention turned to the woman at Elgon’s side who I knew must be Sela “Nine,” the regressed level six who had been Elgon’s Alpha mate. Since I knew she had left the Macro society 70 years ago, I realized that she must now be well over a hundred years old, yet she didn’t look a day over twenty‑five. Her beauty was the lush sexually stimulating glitter of a film star.
She was so powerfully alluring that I felt my whole body tingling in response to the sight of her. Her costume was a stunning and lascivious creation that bared unnaturally large, firm breasts whose uptilted nipples were touched with a glistening red substance. While the upper part of her gown was little more than an open halter, covered with ermine‑like fur sprinkled with green emeralds, the skirt was flowing red velvet slit to the waist on both sides to reveal the most voluptuously exciting legs I had ever seen.
Suddenly Carol’s soft laughter echoed through my mind as I heard her thinking to me, “I hope you haven’t forgotten about Lea and me already!”
With more effort than I thought it would take, I shifted my gaze from Sela to Carol and washed my mind in her fresh, clear loveliness. At last I managed a wry smile. “Thanks for pulling me out before I drowned.”
“I was almost overwhelmed by lust for Elgon,” Carol admitted. “Then I realized there must be hundreds of his telepathic assistants in this crowd trying to telehypnotize us into believing that we can’t live without the sexual pleasure of those two.”
“So that’s why‑“ I began when Carol interrupted me with the warning, “Prepare your mind to be attacked and remember your last Macro contact.”
I had just enough time to begin the process of Macro contact recall when I felt the delicious contact of Sela’s body pressed against mine and the incredibly exciting sensation of her wet tongue touching my lips, then slipping inside my mouth.
Dimly I heard Carol’s voice saying, “Please let me go, Elgon. Your overly sexual greetings are not part of our customs, as you well know.”
From somewhere deep within my mind I summoned the strength to push Sela gently but firmly away from me. She smiled a mocking smile, and I noticed that there were dangerous lights dancing‑ hypnotically in her glorious eyes. They were darker than the darkest night of hell.
It was not until then that I noticed her magnificent mane of glistening mahogany hair that fell to her waist in rich graceful waves.
“Welcome to Micro Island,” Elgon said in a deep resonant voice that I immediately recognized as being powerfully hypnotic. “I am Elgon Ten, President of Micro Island.”
“Thank you,” I managed to respond in a relatively calm voice. “But if you don’t want us to turn around immediately to seek sanctuary behind the force field, you’ll have to end the hypnotic barrage.”
Elgon locked his eyes with mine and I felt suddenly as if I were teetering on the edge of a dangerous precipice. It took all of my deepest mind strength to overcome the lethal desire to fall into the abyss below. I wrenched my gaze away from his eyes and heard him laughing in a great booming voice. As I turned to Carol he said, “Have no fear, Jon Ten. You have just demonstrated tenth-level awareness by resisting not only the mind of Sela Nine and myself but also of the thousand telepathically, linked minds who were sending their hypnotic suggestions at you. You have succeeded beyond anything we imagined, and I promise you we will make no more futile attempts to control your mind. You are Jon Ten and truly as great as I.”
“Master,” Sela cried out, and knelt before me, “let us show you our island and truly answer all your questions so the misconceptions that C.I. has implanted in your mind will be balanced at last by the truth.”
I turned back to Elgon and said, “All right, show us your island.”
Sela was back on her feet and shaking her head, “The invitation to visit our island extends only to you, Jon Ten.”
“I’m sorry, but I must insist on taking Carol with me wherever I go,” I said, deliberately addressing this remark to Elgon and ignoring Sela.
Elgon shrugged his powerful shoulders and said, “Our admiration for you, Jon Ten, is so great that we will bow to your wishes.”
Saying this, he made a signal to the crowd, which immediately parted, allowing us passage to where a large open‑topped transair stood. Carol and I followed Elgon and Sela into the rear portion of this conveyance that appeared to have two drivers up front separated from the six‑swivel‑seated passenger compartment by a glasslike partition. We all took seats except Elgon, who remained standing to accept the cheers of the wildly shouting crowd as our vehicle moved slowly past.
When we had left the crowd behind, the transair rose to about 300 feet off the ground and proceeded at a very slow pace, possibly 50 miles an hour, toward the interior of the island. Elgon, after a last wave at the distant crowd, seated himself facing us and began telling us about Micro Island. I’ll summarize its main features.
Micro Island had a population of a little over three million and was divided into five states, each of which had its own language, religion, and color. When Elgon assumed the presidency of the island, by virtue of his superior Macro powers, he established firm territorial boundaries for the five states.
The island was roughly circular in shape and Elgon had divided it into five pie‑shaped triangles which allowed the states to have a common center, a circle which covered an area of approximately 75 square miles, belonging to Elgon as supreme leader. When I asked him why he permitted all the divisions into separate states, religions, races, and languages he responded by saying, “The history of the world has proven that man evolves fastest when he is divided so that conflict and competition can encourage growth.”
For a moment I thought he was being facetious, but then I saw the fanatical gleam in his eye and realized that he was dead serious.
“Oh, I know,” he continued, “that the Macro society has brainwashed you into accepting pious ideas of unity and love, but those are illusions at the micro level which we inhabit. If God had wished Macro unity to exist at the micro levels, he would have arranged it that way. On this planet we live on the micro level where conflict and competition are universal laws. Macro man who denies these laws has no place here and will eventually be forced into some other dimension.”
“According to the Macro philosophers,” I replied, “it is micro man who has been forced into other dimensions, as this planet has been upgraded from a micro one to a Macro one.”
“Those are lies,” he said, “perpetuated by decadent Macro beings trying to destroy the vitality and strength of micro man. But let me show you the exciting, interesting lives our people live and you can compare their existence with t
he decadent life of the Macro society.”
Elgon must have sent a telepathic message to the driver, for we suddenly swooped close to the ground so that Elgon could point out the many people working in the fields and some nearby factories. Either in the factories, fields, or service jobs Elgon bragged that micro man worked eight hours a day six days a week, which kept him free from the lazy existence of the Macro society.
I questioned him about the people working in the fields and factories on a day which he himself had proclaimed a national holiday. He responded by saying that only in this area were people working so we could inspect their work if we wanted to. I declined.
As we came very close to the workers in the fields I was surprised to notice the intense yellow color of their skin as I remembered that the crowds outside the Macro society base had been white. When I asked Elgon about this, he explained that due to the sinful mixing of the races the original colors were no longer pure so they used artificial dyes to provide the five basic skin colors: black, brown, red, yellow, and white. Their five states were named for these colors.
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