by F. Habib
She was certain then that he was not God, if there were such a thing. He had knowledge and experience beyond imagining, but not the wisdom associated with her concept of a divine all-powerful One.
He smiled at her like a father, which was weird.
‘Lesson number one Nāga, the wisdom of others is impossible to judge. The God you seek…’ he sighed. ‘Your concept of God is limited by your perspective. You have much work to do if you are to even glimpse a useful part of what God is. It is not beyond your grasp, you just need to open your self wide enough to split your limits.’
His eyes were solemn now as he took three measured steps away from them and fell backwards, but never hit the floor. Vanished.
*
Beth clutched Galen's sleeping form, reluctant to look up. A deep ache swelled, then passed to leave a hollow listlessness. She stroked Galen’s hair and eventually lifted her gaze to Khoen. His head and shoulders were bowed. Decker and Mimi had slumped to the floor. Only Rana stood ramrod straight, eyes closed. Was it a trick of the light or did she seem a little smaller? Were the effects of his departure kicking in? Did all life-forms around the world feel a little depressed or was it just them?
‘I too will go now.’ Rana broke the silence.
‘What? Now?’ Kade groaned.
Where to?’ Khoen said.
‘There is unfinished business that requires my attention.’ Rana looked at her mother, for the first time seeking her approval. Beth wasn’t sure she could take much more.
‘When will you be back? Twenty minutes or twenty years?’
Her exhaustion deepened at the thought. What will you be when you return? Will I know you?
Yes, she thought, I’ll always know you. She laid Galen’s head down and approached Rana with a stiff gait. The last twenty-four hours felt like a year and every part of her screamed for a lie down.
Her palm cupped Rana’s face and the purple hexagon winked light at her like a third eye.
‘You amaze me. You always have, even when you made me crazy. In you I see a shooting star – bright, beautiful and completely out of control. I haven’t been a mother to you. You never seemed to need or want that from me. I was never any use to you after your birth, until today; maybe that’s enough.’ Beth smiled. ‘I hope you’ll return soon, so that I may know you.’ She pushed her arms around Rana’s waist and squeezed with every ounce of gratitude for this opportunity to show her imperfect love. It was a chance she’d thought she’d lost.
‘I’ll be back. Didn’t you hear? We have much to do. As favoured as you are, you need me to get you to your destiny, as much as I need you to fulfil mine. Our fates are entwined in the same cord and we have just started the ascent to Apex.’
Beth couldn’t help the pump of curiousity that shot her gaze to Rana’s. What is Apex?
Rana stepped back and smiled at the group. ‘Lift your souls from the floor and dance. You…We have escaped extinction. It is now time to evolve down our own path. We must prepare.’
‘What does that mean?’ Beth croaked, her lungs anticipating her daughter’s disappearance.
‘When sleeping beauty wakes, he will explain.’ Rana nodded at Galen. She lifted a hand to Kade. He did a double-take.
‘You coming or not?’
His mouth fell open. She smiled and a chuckle bubbled past her lips. He swallowed and slowly put his hand in hers. Her fingers enclosed his fist entirely. He looked like a child, despite her shrinking frame.
Rana waved her fingers; they disappeared.
The vanishing acts were getting on Beth’s very last nerve.
‘Can she do that? That can’t be right?’ Mimi said to the empty space they’d left behind.
‘I don’t think there are any more rules.’ Beth’s shock was already fading. How quickly the mind adapts to the impossible. She turned to Khoen, but he was already moving.
‘Let’s get him out of here,’ he scooped Galen up. ‘We’ll regroup in three days. I suggest we all get some rest. There’s no telling what’s ahead.’
‘What do I report?’ Decker stood and pulled Mimi to her feet.
‘Whatever you like, just keep everyone away from us for now,’ Beth said, ‘we’ll run through a strategy when we meet.’
Decker nodded, his arm propping Mimi up.
‘Are you going to be ok?’
‘Sure,’ Mimi mumbled, ‘nothing seventy-three Margaritas won’t solve. How can being saved feel this…’ She pulled a face that made Beth smile.
‘His departure has weighted us with greater freedom, which is intimidating in a world where all possibilities now seem attainable. It’s time to grow up, personally and collectively.’
‘Lord God, you’re a killjoy, Honey B.’ Mimi groaned.
Beth laughed.
‘Quite the contrary – I think the party’s just beginning.’ She turned on her heel and followed Khoen’s long strides to the exit. Each step lightened her mood and firmed her resolve.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The ocean air fed a shiver through her clothes. She tucked her blanket tight under her chin and leaned further into the mound of cushions. Her glass of wine peaked through the folds and she took a sip. The sun was long gone and the soft lights on deck couldn’t dim the river of diamonds against the black velvet expanse. Their sparkle absorbed her, sucked her upwards so that she was sure she’d soon be able to knock them right out of deceitful existence.
She wondered where Rana was. What unimaginable trouble was she stirring? She lifted her glass in a silent toast.
‘He’s still out. When should we start to worry?’ Khoen sat down on the low table opposite and lifted his ghastly blue drink. The sight flashed the memory of it seeping into cream carpet, marking her control over him. She didn’t feel in control. Her body and mind felt freshly threshed and she was at rest now, waiting for the chaff to clear.
For the first time in her life, there was nothing to prove, nothing to run from, no problem to solve. It was a peculiar vacuum of non-performance.
‘I’m all worried out. He’ll wake when he’s ready.’ She lifted her chin to the stars, ‘I’ve never seen the Milky Way like this. Funny how it’s easy to see beautiful things as illusive, and ugliness as more real. Maybe it just reflects our unflagging sense of unworthiness. Always seeking to be better...a better daughter, mother, scientist, problem-solver. Maybe that’s why we’re convinced our existence in this place is real, not illusory. I’m tired of thinking of myself as less. It’s exhausting and I’m not sure I believe that anymore. Do you know that Carl Jung described spiritual growth as unfolding into wholeness?’
‘I didn’t know that. I assure you, Cariño, to me you are complete already.’
She rolled her eyes at him, but then blinked at his serious expression.
‘So what now?’ she said. ‘Which way does destiny lie?’
He shrugged, ‘I’m happy to be off the road to…how you say…manicomio - the crazy house. At least for now. Decker and the rest of the world won’t leave us for long.’
He looked at her and then took the drink from her hand. ‘You know where you need to start?’
Beth narrowed her eyes.
‘Where?’
‘Fun. When was the last time you had some fun, Beth?’ His fingers slipped through hers and he turned her palm to his mouth. She pulled away, but he kept hold of her fingers, eyes brimming with dark mischief. ‘I bet it was with me, no? We had fun together, for a while - you and I.’
Her heart thumped. His black brows wiggled and tugged a reluctant smile from her. She withdrew her hand and sidled away.
‘Don't even think about it lover-man. Nuh-huh. Not in this lifetime…nor the next.’
He sat forward, palm up in a pleading gesture she remembered only too well. The warmth of his charm brushed the chills away.
‘Why not? You know I'm not a bad guy - ’ he pouted at her expression. ‘Well, ok, I'm not the worst guy. Come on - it is between us, as before. We just need to dust off the cobwebs,
no?
Beth let out a small laugh, ‘Cobwebs? Speak for yourself. Anyway, I'm never having sex ever again.’
Khoen laughed, then stopped at her look. ‘Why not?’
‘Hello? Did you see what I've had to deal with over the last fifteen years? Sex equals children equals trouble. I need a break. I can't take any more.’
He exploded with laughter.
‘What if I promise not to make any more babies?’
‘Pah! You think I trust you? You think I trust contraception? I'm not letting anybody else's DNA near me or my ovaries - especially not yours, Maestro. You are expressly forbidden to come near me.’ Beth stood, back straight, nose up. She threw him a haughty look and walked into the cabin.
*
Khoen resisted the plunge of disappointment and instead focused on the sway her hips as she disappeared. He looked up at the stars and swallowed the remains in his glass.
A bright light streaked across his vision and he wondered what he should wish for. He looked at the closed doors and realised his limbs were not frozen. He frowned and tested his toes and then his foot. A slow smile spread over his dark features and he looked up to the sky as though to check with the heavens. He rose to follow his destiny.
To be continued…
Author’s Note
Hello, and thank you for reading. This is my first novel, and I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to have your feedback on what you liked or disliked. If you have the time to write a review, however brief, I would really appreciate it. I make a point of reading all reviews and learning from them.
My facebook page and website explore the science behind the novel. Please feel free to contact me directly through the site or at [email protected]
So what’s next for Beth, Khoen, Galen, Rana and the rest of the crew?
Sin
Now that Avireri has left Tela, the Lightshapers, true to their word, open the back door to the next dimension for mankind and the myriad other DNA life-forms in our small universe.
As excitement and trepidation grip Earth’s populace, Beth and her team travel deep into Tela. They join other alien delegations on an adventure into new learning.
Things go wrong when the Watchers descend. The sin of Open Access threatens the evolutionary food chain. Fighting for their right to progress, the delegates are detained within a divine realm while the Watchers rush to repair the anomaly.
Avireri returns to secure their release, but the vengeful Sire, determined to destroy the seed of Gia, blocks their escape. The rules, bypassed by the Lightshapers, are smashed when the crew are flung far out of Tela to the gates of Apex, beyond which a solitary presence awaits…
Sin has a release date of July, 2015. Please send an email to register your interest if you’d like to receive a preview of the first five chapters.
Books/Articles
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, by J. Narby
DNA: The Secret of Life, by J. Watson
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by D. Griffiths
The Fabric of Reality, by D. Deutsch
The Physics of Immortality, by Frank Tipler
Three Scientists and Their Gods: Looking for Meaning in an Age of Information, by R. Wright
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by B. Bryson
The Holographic Universe, by M. Talbot
Life after Death, by D. Chopra
Proof of Heaven, by Dr. E. Alexander
Saved by the Light, by D. Brinkley
Journeys Out of The Body, by R. Monroe
My Big TOE, by T. Campbell
TV Series
Through the Worm Hole by Science Channel
Websites
Digital Philosophy (www.digitalphilosophy.org)
SuperString Theory (www.superstringtheory.com)
A New Kind Of Science (www.wolframscience.com)
Wired: God Is the Machine by K. Kelly (www.wired.com)
DNA and Nanotechnology (www.rcsb.org)
How our brains make memories (www.thesmithsonianmag.com)