by Grant Fausey
"Awe..." said Brian Thomas settling back into the hot tub. His face revealed a great deal of expression. Finally, he spoke. It wasn't an overwhelming look at life, but rather the enjoyment of it. "Now," he stated, "This is the life."
"Oh ... yeah," agreed Jennifer. Her voice was echoing in the cavern from behind a rock ledge that formed another hot tub. She closed her eyes seeing the beauty of the warm sunny beaches of some far off world. She could feel the water as it rose around her filling every opening with warm, probing fingers as she immersed the curves of her naked body in the steaming water of her own hot tub. The bubbles circled around her breast, marking her point of submersion below the waves. A moment later, her head rose again to climb above the calm of the waters.
"This is wonderful,” she whispered laying her head back as she opened her eyes gently. There was a spectacle before her. A beautiful cavern of reds and oranges, purple and reflected light … a veritable paradise above her. The cavern encircled her, subdivided by the chambers, waterfalls and curtains of steam. The rich lavish pools of glittering liquid, poured out over the rocks, destined to flow relentlessly into the wealth of hot hallowed rock lagoons.
"Just wake me in the morning," said Brian Thomas. He could hear his voice echoing from the shallow depths of the cavern below where Jennifer rested in the hot water.
"Or when breakfast is ready, whichever comes first, okay?" added Jake as he too slid back under the water, submerging himself under the waves of the lagoon for a second and third time. His head slowly resurfaced. Little trails of watercourse a path from the top of his head, down his cheeks and back into the glittering pool of liquid. He squirted a stream out from between his lips, watching as the splash hit the side of the rocks that blocked his view of Jennifer. Jake moved in the water, wading the water as he reached for his headgear and opened a channel.
"Flatbed..." he said casually, "when you're finished why don't the two of you come inside and thaw out. There's plenty of room. Brain laughed and sunk back into his own tub, blowing bubbles. He felt the rush of cold, bitter winds and the warm breath of the rising steam as it blew across the opening of the cavern, filling the entrance with the freezing clouds of hot steamy currents. Life was heaven for the moment. Outside, two unsuspecting travelers heard the communication. They lingered on the edge of forever, trapped in one universe while they looked out across the expanse of another. Rune Linka climbed slowly, watching Flatbed as he finished recovering the gear and flight recorders from tracker twenty-nine. Zez Lee held on tight to his faithful sidekick. He too was shivering in the wind.
"Did you hear me, Flatbed?" repeated Brian. But Flatbed didn't answer. He was frostbitten, nearly frozen in his tracks.
"Can we go in now," asked Zez Lee politely, "plea ... plea ... plea ... plea, please!" Flatbed dropped what he had in his hands and cracked a smile. He cranked his torso around, and stomped off heading for the cave entrance rolling finally on all three of his organic treads.
"All right," he said softly, snarling at the briskness of the wind. "You're such a baby, sometimes. Let's get you into the warm. Just hold on, okay?" Zez Lee smiled a chilly smile. He was looking forward to disappearing through the cave entrance.
"Th ... Th ... thaannkk yyyooouu..." he said shivering. Flatbed rolled on, heading away from the frozen platform, then stopped dead in his tracks. It wasn't from the cold, and nothing had happened to him. He had just spied something incredible across the threshold of the corridor. There in front of him, in the comfort of a beautiful green valley of timberland, where towering tree cities floated among the forest, at the edge of another universe, he saw a vision. An expedition to the center of the universe caught in a blizzard. He had heard many tales about the expedition to New Haven, but never thought he would actually see them. He turned to his companion, Zez Lee, and said, "I have to go back. You can go on to the shelter if you want. I have to go back."
"Why?" asked Zez Lee? "What's out there?" A frozen wasteland stood in his way. He shivered. There was nothing he could do about it. Death was something more threatening than the ice and snow. He felt the wind come from behind. It slashed across the wonderland with razor accuracy, penetrating deep into the blue white winter that surrounded him.
"My destiny," he said. Zez's eyes lit up. His engine revved and his mouth opened to scream. But he couldn't. Everything happened too fast.
THE JACOB FACTOR
DELUSION: The evidence with which we perceive the inconceivable, realize the inevitable and try to divulge the resolution is always the effect of our perception of the testimony presented.
From the Journals of Maccon
– 17 –
MESSAGES & MEETINGS
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
Samuel Nomad's cryogenics chamber cracked open and spilled him out like a crate of ripe potatoes. His body slammed into the floor of Tia's cockpit arena, or what was left of it. The entire experience replayed itself a thousand times in his mind, as if he was experiencing strong recollections of a really bad case of deja vu. And to make matters worse, it was as if he stepped over his own grave. "Help me," he groaned, moaning as he rolled out into the maze of scrolled metal. He looked up and cringed. There in the midst of the wreckage was the twisted and turned rubble of a dimensional eruption.
It's pilot, Jennifer Riggs, lay dead on the grassy carpet floor of the planet's surface. Behind her, jammed into the rear of the compartment, the extended arm of the pursuit tracker pierced the threshold with an obvious explosion. A remnant of the turmoil produced by the unbalanced transit fields the ship traversed.
Samuel Nomad coughed up a minor amount of blood. He had survived somehow, but it was by the grace of God and a miracle. "Hello," he moaned. "Is there anyone out there? Can't anyone help me, please?" His words were a whine: A chattering of existence. It was as if he died a thousand deaths and been reborn each and every time. The ground quivered beneath his body, rocking back and forth like a distant thunder as it gently rolled him over swaying him; moving him, relentlessly back and forth next to the edge of the cryogenics tube.
"I have to reach Jacob Mantell," he uttered. "Have too. Have to warn him about the..." Samuel never finished the sentence. The impact of the incident sucked the air from his lungs. And like the dozens of Nomads before him, each an intricate part of their own universes, and futures, in a dozen different times, he had dreamed of his death, but not in vain. Like a jellyroll, his body began to decompose. It's thin fibers expanded, becoming a runny substance almost like gooey plasma. It was definitely the kind of mess one would want to stay out of; at least, if at all possible. Then, as if by magic, his body's decayed in a luster of color that rose as a mist into the air, until gone. Samuel woke up, his eyes hurt. His chest pounded. He was still alive another dream he imagined. Life was too short to waste it on such an insignificant death.
"Hello," said an unfamiliar voice. "Is any one in there?"
The voice came from outside the wreckage. Samuel could feel it as well as hear it. He had to make some kind of sound, something that would alert his would-be rescuers to his presence. He stretched his arms as far as possible. There had to be something within reach: A piece of metal, a chair, a clove, anything. But there wasn't. Nothing seemed to be within reach of his fingertips, so he moved his whole body across the entire expanse of the void, reaching out to the other side of the future's threshold trying to meld with another version of him. If this delicate being still existed, he had not been bothered by the torments of a mad doctor's trials and tribulations, nor had he had his body disrupted by the flow of energy that caused the eruption of every cell in his body.
He had lived a long life on an insignificant little planet in the Eden sector of his own universe on his own course into the future. Yet, it was evident his world was not without turmoil, or despair; for his Earth had changed, and from it a new America arose. This was the Nomad they all had come to know and love, for he was a true believer in the future. Not by
the normal standards, but by the power that it possessed for the untold millions that helped shape it's course into the waves of time; Each a path taken to a different end.
To some I was known as the Buddha of Delhi. To others, in the incarnation of Monahan the High World President, I was a patron of the Azanark. But to this world, to this universal vendetta, to this microcosm of fortune and adventure I possessed the latitude of a simple man ... an ages old individual, and leader of the rebellion against the Empire of the Industries––Maccon, Corporate Official, Senator, and companion to Rune Linka; the leader of the final expedition to the ancient universe within the Netherlands Nexus ... a place known to history as Haven. It was there that I met Samuel Nomad, be it a decade ago, or a thousand centuries past he survived the great drowning of Atlantis.
The Industries tried to cover up their little subversion to destroy the Source itself, deviating too far from the intended purpose the Source planned. The treachery surpassed even the unparalleled heights of the high council and Trithen Kellnar, the so-called founder of the Industries. He accomplished the unthinkable, and with the help of the Industries, created the anti-source ... a self-generating version of his own future. One destined to devoir creation should it not be stopped and destroyed.
Trithen Kellnar wanted only one future, one that he wheeled the universe by his own design. The truth had been forgotten, because of the cover up. The information buried out of reach of its intended recipients. Mankind had gone it's own way. But by the end of the twenty-first century, the glory of the Source returned to its rightful path, the world itself sought the christening of the universe. The world's sonance carried forth the message in a way the Industries never believed possible and, as a result, darkness was driven from the light. Samuel Nomad first came to me at the hour of the great darkness, at the edge of the universe. There, alone on a mountaintop similar to the one realized to be destiny and delusion filled me with Grandeur of being more than I am. But as the Source had seen fit, I became that which I am, and spent many lifetimes, taking many forms of life myself. They were simple gestures, but important ones nonetheless. I needed to understand the purpose and meaning of life, love, poverty, riches, and promise of the chosen people destined to colonize the stars. Yet, I was none of these. I had remained at the back door of the universe, waiting for generosity would give love and meaning to my life. I was given renewal in birth and only the light that fell upon the planet could propel me into battle with triumph. I was ready to do my part. For I witnessed the floor of the new Senate, the grandiose home of the Earth Corporate Alliance, my esteemed colleague, Michael Tyler do the deed for a dear, departed friend––Vex Redford.
"I need you to deliver a message to the chairman of the directive, inside the Earth Corporate Alliance," Vex Redford said to him. My eyes opened as wide as saucers when I heard his name mentioned on the floor of the tribunal. Michael Tyler hadn’t addressed the chairman in years, decades even. Whatever it was that Vex Redford, an outlaw, wanted him to say, in the midst of the hornet's nest with his eyes open, consumed everyone as I listened. It was a time long before my journey with Rune Linka began. But still, on this day, the memories scared the hell out of me!
"Tell him Vex Redford is back," he said, snapping like an old space dog. "And don't pull any punches, Michael, Redford told him to tell them. All his wildest nightmares were about to come true. He's going to need our help and we're going to need his. I want to talk to him direct, on a secure channel. Call me back when you have him on line."
I watched, remembering the events of my own past. Then circumstances shifted. We were no longer on opposing sides, but forced to work together again. "Oh, and Michael," he said wildly attentive, "one last thing. Keep an eye on Cobson Rondell. There's something not right there. It's just a feeling mind you, so watch your back."
"Understood," Michael told him. He was right of course. One needed to watch one's back, when entering the dragon's lair; especially, when one had huge glistening teeth like Cobson Rondell's.
Memories of Vex Redford faded returning to a screen like movies on a turntable. He looked back at his two female companions, whispered to me, but I didn't see his face. "By the way, Michael," Vex Redford said casually. "Who told you I'd be calling?"
I waited. It was better that he didn't answer. However, out of courtesy he finally said the name. "Matthew Johnson."
"Matthew Johnson," Vex Redford said rising an eyebrow. The silence made all too much sense.
"Now," he said to the others, "let's find that Pteranodon." He never said goodbye it didn't matter. The screen had gone black like the threshold of the cavern he was about to enter. The Earth Corporate Alliance met in secret, an audience within, more difficult to obtain then a year’s grocery on an Alterian outpost. "Mr. Chairman," he said bluntly. "Thank you and the directive for this kind gesture. It is with great pleasure that I find myself once again addressing the committee."
He stood tall. What he was about to say would bring the house down? But he had to say it. That was why Michael Tyler was there. "Gentlemen," he began.
"Ladies," the old dignitary concluded with a nod in the general direction of the Senate. It is with great pleasure that I must announce on the open floor the return of one Vex Benton Redford, esquire. Humbled before the alliance, he brings you his tidings and greetings; his recommendations and inquiries; his hopes and beliefs. It is with the utmost importance and expediency that I bring you this greeting. He requests a secure and silent meeting. As he comes to you with grave news that effects both us and the universe of which we are a part."
The crowd fell quiet to a hush. One could hear the drop of a fastener on the marble floors from anywhere in the Senate. The fine woods of the railings and banisters pealed with silence. Even the chairman himself stood from his elevated chair of dignity that graced the center of the council. He walked to the edge of the podium and glared at Michael Tyler. "How dare you speak of such a name in our presence?"
"With grace and honor due the Senate," he snapped back at him, gracefully. "I beg the Senate's indulgence. This matter is of the utmost importance.”
“To speak such a name is blasphemy…”
“But on this occasion it is as valuable as the Trithen Stars themselves. He comes to you in honesty and with urgent need. He has spoken to me with definitude and intimacy. For the message affects each and every one of our lives, our homes and our future."
"Do you speak of a threat man?" queried the Chairman.
"I do!"
"Then get on with it! Do not waste this Senate's time."
"As you wish, m'lord."
I choked on my own spit. The atmosphere was so filled with tension I could cut it with a blade. Anticipation of my esteemed colleague's head rolling on the floor flooded my body.
"M'lord," he said firmly. "Lord Redford has requested I bring you his tidings. Not his message. He requests an audience by transmission and he awaits your communication as we speak. He wishes conversation only with you."
"Very well," thundered the voice of the Chairman. "If the message is of such importance why does he not stand before me as you?"
"I may only say this, m'lord. It is with great urgency that you speak. The fate of the future of the Alliance is at stake. His loyalty to the Alliance is not the question, for his loyalty is for the future of the universe itself. I believed it genuine that is why I am at your presence. If the matter seemed any less important to me, I would not be here. I wish only to serve as I always have."
"Very good, Lord Tyler. I will speak to your Redford, but only on this occasion. It will not pardon his deeds, nor will it make him less an outlaw. It is his own doing by which we attend his wounds. Not his alliance to anything." The Chairman addressed the Senate. "Gentlemen. Companions. Ladies. It is my intention to address this Redford. For it is by our comrade in arms that the floor of this Senate has been addressed. It is of a grave importance that this congress be allowed the freedom to protect its interests. I will return upon completion of the trans
mission. This Session stands in recess.”
A rumble echoed over the floor. The Chairman stepped down from the podium and nodded to the guards. He motioned his hand; I was to accompany him and Lord Tyler to the meeting.
– 18 –
TRANSMITTED WARNINGS
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
My memories of the past often haunt me. But just as quickly as they delve into my psyche so do they vanish from my mind? I helped Samuel Nomad climbed higher, overlooking the ledge of the tropical rain forest in the distance. Tall trees, filled with the movement of individuals, towered over us. The citizens of the cities had awakened to the light of a new day and everyone was out and about at the crack of dawn. Things had returned to normal, or at least, to the rat race of normal. After all, it was the beginning of a new day. Anything was possible. The events of the recent past had brought havoc, mayhem and imperial troops all the way from the home court of the Industries to the tree cities. However, unlike his counterparts, this Samuel Nomad knew the extent of his disadvantages. He had me to help him. Here, on this Earth, there was more than met the eye. Rune Linka made a kind of remedy: A concoction of herbs and spices to ease his suffering. We sat together, at the edge of our encampment. We were in the place were thresholds crossed the edge of the Netherlands Nexus, the great dividing sphere of the universe within a universe. Rune Linka was bubbling over with excitement. The journey ahead of her was one she couldn't wait to begin. But first their had to be preparations, and then of course, the sad good byes of parting friends: Jake Ramious, Nilana, Travis Creed, Krydal Starr, Crimson and Indigo, even Laura Keri; each had their own destinations, their own rendezvous with destiny. Who were we to stop them? It didn't matter as much as we each really thought. We were explorers, destined to discover the unknown and make its tale a remarkable recounting for the universe to know. Samuel could feel our excitement. I could feel it from him. He was a traveler by nature and that made him more susceptible to our ways of life. Our encampment was a small one, a couple of tents, short time supplies, a few ropes, climbing gear and enough conversation to last us a lifetime. Cappy Houston had done his best to save us. We owed him a debit of thanks. Even Samuel enjoyed the tales of the tall clipper ships, the Windriggers he sailed across the divide of Echo Pass. We had covered our tracks, leaving the tree cities behind, but Samuel had a yearning for exploring them. He had never seen such beauty, or magnificence in all of his life. Even his life on New America wasn't as flamboyant as the life style of living in a tree. Mankind had come along way, as far as he could see! It just wasn't far enough.