EARTH PLAN

by David Sloma

  Frank Paul, the young man that ran into the control room when the alarm went off was sincerely hoping they had just gone someplace their chips could not be read. Lang was his mentor and he'd hate to lose him, but he also knew the stakes they played with were high.

  Many members of the Guild had lost their lives over the centuries in the service of truth, so they all knew the threats they faced with the evil ones who ruled much of the world.

  At just twenty-four, Frank had been given some computer duties in the main office of the Guild due to his advanced computer skills and interest in security systems. Frank was the son of a prominent Guild member and had been busted for computer hacking, trying to help some people out of a jam with a corrupt governmental agency. His father pulled some strings and said that if he wanted to fight corruption, then maybe it was time he joined the Guild to do it.

  But Frank was a teenager at the time, and the last thing he wanted to do was join an organization consisting only of men—or so he thought. There were actually many women who belonged to the Guild around the world.

  Frank had been rebellious as a teen and had shied away from anything his father wanted him to do, but once he got a bit older and ran into some serious trouble that he needed his father's (and the Guild's) help with, then he started to come around about joining the organization.

  Most in the Guild were older and not that much into computers, so Frank got a lot of the tasks they didn't want to do, including monitoring in the control room.

  Now, it was red alert time.

  Frank picked up the phone to contract the senior Guild member on duty.

  “Hello?” the gruff, older voice of Ben Veers said.

  “It's Frank Paul, in the control room. We've got a situation.” He went on to explain what had happened.

  “Send out a team to the last known coordinates and start a search from there. Make sure they're patched in if Lang's group comes back online, even for a moment; they may have been taken captive and are being moved around.”

  “Right away. Out.” Frank hung up and started to make the plans. He was glad there was an older man like Benjamin Veers in the house, someone who had seen this sort of thing before and would know what to do.

  Frank dialed the phone, alerting the next team in the rotation and giving them the mission details.

  In Ben's office, high up in the tower of the castle, he looked down on the square, set in sacred geometry, as was much of Prague, long called the “Alchemist's city.” He thought, I suppose that is what we are; we transform things. First ourselves and then the world. But to what end? I suppose only God know that one.

  Ben was nervous, but he didn't let it show to the others like Frank. Many depended on him to be the rock to which the organization clung, though, in reality, each member was taught to be self-sufficient, with God leading them, of course.

  Their concept of God was not in the dogmatic sense, but in a Prime Creator, the Unknowable Force. Once you put a face or a name on God, they believed, you had lost sight of It. But what was It? The eternal question, but not one that Ben was going to solve that day.

  He picked up the phone and called the head remote viewer on staff.

  “Hello?” Moore said on the other end of the phone.

  “This is Ben Veers. There's been a situation. Lang and his team have gone missing. It's urgent. Can you do a session right away, top priority?”

  “Yes, of course. Can you give me what you know?”

  “Best call Frank Paul for that in the control room.”

  “Will do, Ben. Bye.” Moore hung up and dialed Frank for the details. Then, after she had all that Frank could provide, she went to work.

  Moore shut off the phone and went to the door. She put a sign on the outside that said “Session in progress, do not disturb,” then locked the door. She lowered the shades on the windows and turned off most of the lights. After a last look over the data that Frank had given, she lay down on the couch and closed her bright blue eyes.

  Taking a few deep breaths, she relaxed her body and mind. Within moments, she was able to leave her body and astrally travel to the place the RV was still parked, in the barn in the countryside, in Mexico.

  In her astral body, she could see the strands of energy that were left where people had been involved in an emotional situation only a short time ago. The strands would mostly dissipate in time, so this is why she needed to act quickly.

  She was able to see the strands going to a place on the road where there were some muddy tire marks from a big truck. But even though it was now daylight there, she lost the path of the tracks as they dried up and disappeared on the road.

  She took her astral body up to a great height and scanned all around until she could see some strands again in the distance. She zoomed into the area and found the truck going down the road. She watched as the truck left the main road and went around a mountain.

  Soon, when there was no other traffic around, the truck drove straight for the side of the mountain and disappeared right into it.

  She then felt a strong negative force repelling her from entering the mountain—something she was normally able to do in astral form, as solid objects were usually no barrier.

  They must have some esoteric protection in place here, she thought, before coming back into her body, knowing she'd not get anything more from that site at the time.

  She came back to wakeful consciousness slowly, then opened her eyes and sat up. With the lights still low, she sat down at the desk and dialed Ben.

  “Done already?” Ben said.

  “Yes.”

  “How did it go?”

  “Not great,” Moore said. She lifted the shade to look out the window. The sunlight made her feel better. Sometimes she liked to see that the world was still there after a difficult remote viewing. She shivered, despite it being warm in the room. “They were captured and then taken by truck to a mountain base. They had some occult protection in place, as I was not able to get inside the mountain.”

  There was a pause as Ben considered the news. “I was fearing something like this. It sounds like they knew exactly who they were dealing with. The truck was probably shielded from their biochips, until they could get them into the mountain.”

  “There's more. There was some kind of hologram or energy field over the doorway into the mountain. The truck went right through it without a trace.”

  “Definitely some of our enemies. Only they have technology like that. Well, at least we know it was not some random holdup or kidnapping.”

  “They won't kill them, then?”

  “No, I don't think so. They'll use them to bargain with; they're too valuable. If we don't give them what they want, then it might be a different story.” I hope, he thought.

  “Sorry I couldn't get more...”

  “That's fine. This is great. Try again later if you are able. We'll take it from here. I'll be in touch, thanks.” Ben hung up and left Moore sitting there alone.

  Moore stood up and stretched, then went to the kitchen to make some tea. Something to eat or drink always brought her back “down to Earth” after such astral adventures and made her feel like she was more back in her body.

  CHAPTER 39

  Inside the mountain, Lang and the others were loaded out of the truck.

  Blindfolds had been placed over their eyes, so all they knew was that they were inside, someplace. Lang and the two guards from the Guild knew they were likely underground, but didn't say anything to the rest, as their captives were all around them, shoving them forward down a hallway.

  Charles could hear snippets of TV news reports playing clips from the supposed alien invasion—in English! And those watching it were laughing, thinking it was very funny. This told him that Lang was probably right about it all being fake; at least he was warming to the possibility.

  Fear went through his mind too, and he worried that they would fail on their mission to send out the means to repair the DNA, as this faked alien invasion was obviously a
grand distraction of some kind. He thought, Maybe it was the dark forces buying themselves some time?

  And then he thought, with horror, Maybe it's the dark forces who have us now?

  To take his mind off that line of thought, he tried to just focus on the sounds around him as they moved through the corridors, in case there was anything else useful he could pick up.

  Their captors didn't say much, but Charles thought he heard some of them who were watching TV speaking Spanish and also some English. They hadn't been in the truck that long, so they were probably still in Mexico, Charles reasoned. But these troops could be from anywhere, he thought.

  Charles and the others were pushed into a room and the door was closed over. Then it was quiet.

  “We must be in a holding cell,” said Tony. He took off his blindfold. “Yep. Just us in here. You can take off your blindfolds now.”

  The others slowly took theirs off, too.

  “Where do you think we are?” Lang asked him.

  “Dunno,” the guard shrugged. “Still in Mexico, maybe. But, we did dip down there, so we're probably underground. There's no telling where the tunnels go.”

  “I think we're probably still in Mexico, too, judging by the time we were in transit. But, what tunnels are you talking about?” Charles asked.

  “There are tunnels under most countries,” Lang said. “Military or secret operations. They can go for vast distances under the surface. Once you're in one, you can go most anywhere.”

  “Wow, those things are real, huh?” Charles's eyes went wide.

  “Yes, they sure are,” Lang said.

  “We've found that out the hard way, a couple of times,” Tom said.

  “I'd like to hear about that, if we ever get out of this,” Charles said.

  “When we get out of this, you mean,” Lang said and smiled. He knew he had to stay strong and positive to be a good influence on the others in his command.

  “I wish I had your optimism,” Charles said.

  “It's learned from experience. There have been many times I didn't think we'd get out of something, and we did. Right guys?” Lang looked to the guards.

  “Right,” Tony said.

  “That's right,” Tom said and nodded.

  Lang pulled up his sleeve to reveal his wristwatch. “In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if our rescue forces are on their way now.”

  “I hope you're right,” Charles said. He looked at the professor and Wendy. She looked terrified and the prof hugged her tightly.

  Lang went over to comfort them, being a veteran of such situations.

  ***

  Ben Veers looked over the files of the rescue team on his computer. He was going to send the team of four in, all veterans of special ops forces, to track down Lang and his group. With the help of the remote viewer, he knew they had a good chance of success.

  But something made him hesitate.

  He got up from his desk, his heavy frame outlined against the window as he looked out. He looked to the distance, at the old cathedral rising up high, the Golden Mean embedded in its dimensions. It was closer to God, he knew, to build in that way, and the results were sure in the seeing. He smiled, even though it was a dire time, but his smile didn't last.

  He wondered, Why am I hesitating to send in the team? It was standard procedure. To do otherwise he would be risking the lives of those captured, and he would also have to answer to the other senior members of the Guild for this. But, he just couldn't do it.

  Maybe it was because the kidnappers had not yet made any contact, nor any demands. It was sometimes good to wait for that contact, as then he'd have a better idea who he was dealing with. As it was, he could guess, and he knew his guess was going to be quite accurate.

  There were only a few groups who would have any interest in Lang and his party, or could even find them. Then, even fewer groups would be able to take them into a hidden mountain base. He must be dealing with his arch enemies, he knew; those who served the Dark One under various names.

  The servants of the Dark One usually didn't come right out and say it, and those at the bottom of the pyramid often didn't know who they were ultimately serving. The structure of dark power was so compartmentalized that it was an easy thing to keep those who served in the lower levels out of the loop.

  What a difference from the Guild he belonged to, where everyone knew the true purpose of what they were involved with and no secrets were kept. All members of the Guild advanced at their own pace, with their own will, with none left in the dark purposefully. Theirs was a wholly different aim, he knew, and that made so much difference in the way things were run.

  The Guild helped its own and excluded none, which made what Ben was about to do very hard. He didn't send out the order for the rescue team, at least not yet.

  When the call came in from Frank at the control center, he was ready with an answer.

  “Sir?” asked Frank on the phone. “I see the rescue team is ready, but you've not told them to ship out yet. Is something the matter?”

  “No,” Ben said. “I just think we ought to wait for a while, let the kidnappers make first contact.”

  “But, sir...it could be too late, then.”

  “I know, Frank. But if they are really inside a mountain installation, then I don't think our team is going to be able to get them out very easily. I don't want to sacrifice the team unnecessarily.”

  There was a silence on the line, then Frank said, “I understand, sir. Would you like me to tell the team they can standby?”

  “Please. And, thank you, Frank. This was a difficult decision for me to make.”

  “I know. Lang is a close friend of us both. I'll let them know, sir.”

  “Thank you.” Ben hung up the phone feeling a mixture of relief and pain. He knew he was doing the right thing, but it was not without its own element of risk. He went to the bar in his office and poured himself some cold water, not touching the bottles of booze, but looking at them. He had too much to do to get sloppy, now.

  He went to the control room to watch the real-time maps with Frank, who'd be working overtime until this crisis was over. The least Ben could do, he figured, was to offer him some support, maybe cover him for a break.

  There were not a lot of staff at the headquarters that could be pulled away from their tasks to help Frank out. A big push was on to get the final pieces in place for the DNA repair serum. The astrologers the Guild employed were insistent that the time was coming soon when there would be a “window,” an auspicious time in the stars to make the move to repair all of the DNA on Earth.

  With the fake alien visitation making the news, Ben and many others in the Guild knew the time was getting very short, indeed. All hands were working long hours to get all the many facets of the plan of the big counter-attack in place as quickly as possible.

  And, while it worried Ben to face the loss of his good friend Lang and the others with him, the bigger worry was how that would slow down the counter-attack. Two of the leading scientists on the project were with Lang, and the fact that they had been kidnapped worried Ben greatly. He knew that the ones who had kidnapped them must have known who they were, and if they did, they might have knowledge of the plan.

  So, if they were tortured, then the details of the plan might leak out. Ben was getting a headache just thinking about all the things that would have to be changed to safeguard the plan in such an event—and might still have to be, just in case.

  “Are you alright?” Frank asked him.

  “Yes, just all this stress,” Ben said. He rubbed his forehead as he stood in the control room, holding onto the handrail as he went down the stairs with one hand.

  “You should go and take a rest. This can't be easy on you.”

  “No, I'm fine. In fact, why don't you go for a break? Get something to eat; it's going to be a long night, I think. Here, get something for me, too.” Ben handed over some paper money.

  “Alright, sir. I'll be back, fast.”

  Ben
nodded as Frank whisked out of the room. Then, Ben was alone with the computers and displays, looking over the little empire he was in command of. There were no other emergencies at the moment, just others in labs working away who he could see on the monitors. The castle had been outfitted with state-of-the-art labs deep below the surface, where the work was continuing on the DNA serum.

  Charles and the professor had been sending in their updates while on the road and that had been valuable, Ben knew. Now that they were out of the loop, it was slowing the whole machinery down. They'll be back soon, he told himself. “They'll be back soon. They have to be.” He didn't know if they'd be able to continue without them. The work had been at a crucial stage.

  He sat down heavily on the seat behind Frank's desk and watched the screens. There was still no sign of the biochips of Lang or the two guards with him. Ben closed his eyes and put his hands together and prayed, imagining them safe and back with him.

  His phone went off, starling him. “Hello?” Ben said.

  “Sir, we're waiting for you in test lab B,” a female voice said.

  “Oh, yes, of course. I'll be there as soon as I can, please wait for me. It shouldn't be too much longer.” He rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the stress and fatigue of the last few hours wearing on him.

  “Very good, sir. We'll wait.” She clicked off and Ben put his phone back on his belt. He wondered, Where is that Frank?

  A few minutes later, Frank came in with a couple of white bags of takeout food from the local Thai place. “Sorry it took so long, they were busy,” Frank said, handing over some change and a bag to Ben.

  “That's fine.” Ben waved away the change and took the bag. “I'll check in with you later, I have to run.”

  “Alright. Thank you.”

  Ben smiled, walking into the hallway. Now, which way was the lab? He looked both ways. He was not often in the lab, so he had to think for a moment. Getting his bearings, he moved off down the hallway.

  Minutes later, Ben opened the door marked Lab B. “Hello! Sorry I'm late, everyone. Please excuse my eating, but I didn't have time to stop,” he said.