The Garden

by Craig W. Turner

  He did, however, pull two fresh cloaks out of the “wardrobe” - $700K worth – and programmed them to arrive with the rest of the team at the new time.

  After taking a moment to keep everything straight, he engaged his VitaCom again and searched coordinates for a specific date in time – September 14, 2067. He shuttered the display temporarily, and unfolded the cloak in his hand.

  Twisting his arm through the two extra cloaks, he slid the cloak he’d brought with him over his head and triggered the sensor.

  CHAPTER 68

  Robert realized just how rarely anyone used the term “serpent” when describing a snake. It seemed to be that the only time anyone mentioned a serpent, it was in the context of either the old U.S. “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, or this specific one in front of them. And now, seeing the serpent coming to life from the pages of the Book of Genesis, he could see why there was a delineation.

  This was no snake. But while Robert knew the Bible described the serpent as something much greater than snakes as modern-day humans knew them, the text hadn’t done it justice. It was a rare thing that you would say an animal was a beautiful creature – maybe a colorful tropical fish or a majestic bird – but this was a beautiful creature. Not just in how it looked, but everything about it. The silky smoothness of its voice. The abundant colors of its skin, which appeared to be jeweled in a way that only Las Vegas could appreciate. Even the fragrance that had hit his nostrils since they realized it was in their presence. It was immediately clear why this vessel was chosen for tempting Eve.

  Now with their full attention, the serpent moved down from the wall where it was somehow perched and took a standing position blocking them from the corridor they’d just walked through to get to the atrium. Each of them was transfixed on the newest arrival, who, standing tall, was approximately Robert’s height and size. In many ways, yes, the serpent was snakelike – no arms or legs and a tapered head – but there were enough differences that no one would call it a snake. It had very humanlike attributes, just in the way it carried itself.

  “You’re interested in the Tree?” the serpent asked, repeating his question.

  “We are,” Landon said, the only one who could bring himself to speak. Robert looked at him thankfully. He knew he wasn’t going to be starting the conversation. “Can you help us?”

  The serpent moved toward them slowly. It wasn’t walking, but gliding almost in the way that Dracula did in the old movies that Robert had seen. “Before I do, you should know the truth about the Tree, though,” it said. “As you said, there are two trees. The first is the Tree of Life, and anyone that eats from it will live forever. The second is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Anyone who eats from it will surely die.”

  Robert traded a confused glance with Landon, but it was Amy who spoke. “But that’s not what you-” She cut herself off when Landon shushed her.

  Robert knew the little speech was the opposite of what the serpent had said to Eve in the Bible’s recount of the story. Was it playing them? “Which one is the golden tree in the middle of the Garden?”

  The serpent, now close enough that any of them could reach out and touch it, looked past them. “That is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

  “That’s the one we want,” Claire said.

  “I can assure you, it is not,” the serpent said.

  “Nevertheless,” Landon said. “We’d like to see it if you’d show us the way.”

  The serpent grinned somehow – though it wasn’t an evil grin. Robert could only describe it as excitement over the promise of an adventure. “I will take you,” it said.

  “We’re also looking for the woman,” Landon said. “She was helping us.”

  The serpent had started to lead them into the trees, but stopped. “Helping you?”

  “Yes, we were lost, and she was helping us find our way. We need to find her again.”

  The serpent stopped for a moment, and appeared to be thinking, then without another word turned and headed into the dense foliage of the Garden.

  They stood frozen for a moment, not sure how to proceed, and watching the serpent disappear into the trees. Amy turned to Robert, who was closest to her. “Why did he misquote himself?”

  Robert had been trying to figure that out himself, and was nervous about jumping to conclusions. However, Landon had been leading via hypothesis since they’d arrived, and they seemed to be doing well. “Perhaps he’s misleading us intentionally,” he said.

  “That’s not it,” Davies said, still standing behind them.

  “Well, what is it?” Reilly demanded as they all turned back toward him.

  “Genesis never actually says that the devil and the serpent were one and the same,” he continued. “In fact, there is no reference to him as God’s primary supernatural opponent in the entire Hebrew Bible – the Old Testament. And it isn’t until the Book of Revelation when the devil is referred to as ‘that ancient serpent,’ which may or may not be a reference to the Garden of Eden.” He glanced at Landon. “Good thing I came back, huh?”

  Landon put his hands up, comedically ceding to Davies’ expertise.

  “So, what’s your point?” Robert asked. He was lost. “Is it the devil or not?”

  Landon shook his head. “No. Not yet, at least.”

  “The devil is going to possess the serpent?” Reilly asked. His voice, every time he spoke, made Robert want to slug him. He was going to have to get past it.

  “I’m guessing that’s the plan,” Landon said. “Now that we’ve given it to him, of course.”

  A pall went over the group. At the basest level, it all seemed so wrong. Were they selfishly aiding and abetting the devil himself in his defilement of this paradise that God had created, so they could get home? To Robert, the entire concept seemed so foreign to any line of thinking that had ever, or should have ever, crossed their minds. Crossed anyone’s minds.

  Still, though, they were losing the serpent in the dense trees. “We’d better follow then,” he said, and took off, leading the sprint to catch up.

  CHAPTER 69

  Landon felt a twinge of guilt that the group had been taking his lead strictly based on hypotheses. Given his frustration over being forced to time travel in general, he hadn’t intended to admit it to the team because he thought they kind of deserved it, but Robert had made it clear when he’d asked him for his “best guess.” Though, no one seemed to have a negative response to anything he’d said; nor was anyone else offering insights.

  While he was reasonably comfortable with the explanations he’d been constructing so far, for the first time he was starting to feel as though he’d missed on one. He’d assumed, since they’d arrived in a garden in the part of the Earth where just 10,000 years before there should have been nothing but desert, that they’d landed in the Garden of Eden, as described in the Bible. But now he was thinking that the area outside of this enormous structure, as beautiful as it was, was not the Garden of Eden. This, here, in this atrium, was where God met with Adam and Eve, and walked among them. It didn’t matter how long they’d lived – this edifice was not built with human hands. It truly was created by God.

  It all made sense from one perspective, as Landon went over what he remembered of the story and his paper. He’d written something about the assumption that Adam and Eve had lived exclusively in the Garden, but ultimately Adam’s curse was that he was banished from the Garden forever. Which suggested that maybe they left the Garden when they wanted to, and it was only to meet with God that they entered the inner sanctum.

  “What is it?” Robert asked him from his right. Landon looked over to see that he’d caught up to him as they neared the center of the great atrium. “You look concerned.”

  Landon laughed. “We should be concerned,” he said. “If God shows up again while we’re here – especially assuming he knows what we’re here to do – it’s not going to be pretty.” He walked a few more steps, then corrected himself. “I’m making light of it by
using a euphemism. I don’t think we’ll survive.”

  “What is this place?” Robert said, looking up at the blue sky through the massive skylights creating the pinnacle of the building kilometers above them.

  “I think this is the Garden of Eden.”

  “What about outside?”

  Landon shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think this is it. I’m thinking of about Solomon’s temple, and the way it was laid out – where the high priests could go, and where worshipers could go. It would make perfect sense for God to utilize the same hierarchal design now as he would later.”

  “You’re talking about the Holy of Holies,” Davies said. He’d been listening as they walked.

  “Is that important to us? That we know?” Robert asked.

  “We’ve done well by at least keeping in mind the account as told in the Book of Genesis,” he said. “So, I’m going to say yes. If the Fall of Man happens while we’re here, we need to be outside of this building before the punishment comes.”

  They walked a few more steps before Robert spoke again. “Problem is, if we’re talking about the same God from the Bible, he’s omniscient. So, he knows we’re here.”

  Landon nodded. “That’s also something we have to-”

  Before he could finish his thought, the tree line ended exposing a glade in the exact middle of the atrium. He hadn’t been expecting it, so he calculated how far they’d walked, to determine how much distance they had to cover in case a quick escape was needed. He gave up right away, though, awestruck over the golden tree standing probably ten stories tall in front of them. The sunlight reflecting from it was blinding, but there was an intrinsic pull toward it that Landon couldn’t explain as anything less than supernatural. Even the abundant fruit hanging from the tree was shimmering gold.

  “I thought it was an apple,” Claire said from behind him.

  “No, that’s an Argumentum ad populum,” he said without looking back at her, then reminded himself they weren’t alone.

  “You know things about the Tree?” the serpent asked. Landon turned to see that it was standing directly next to him.

  He sighed. “We do.”

  “Tell me about it,” it said. By now the others had all gathered around them, and Landon and the serpent were standing face-to-face.

  Landon laughed. “No, it’s not going to be that easy.”

  The serpent again appeared as though it was smiling, and Landon suddenly felt a pull on him. His mind became cloudy, and he started to swoon. He looked at Robert, who was standing normally, unaffected by whatever was happening, and it was all Landon could do to try to remain upright. Everything was unclear. What was it they were talking about? What had the serpent asked him? Why was he holding back? Why shouldn’t he talk about what he knew about the Tree?

  “You’ve found each other,” a woman’s voice came from behind them.

  The hold on Landon immediately broke, and he collapsed into the tall grass at their feet. Collecting himself, he turned to not only see the woman, Eve, but her husband standing, just as naked as she was, beside her.

  CHAPTER 70

  “Landon, what do we do now?” Claire asked, staring at the two naked people in front of them. As much as she couldn’t believe what was happening, the old riddle from her youth was taking control of her mind, and she couldn’t help but notice that neither of them had a navel.

  Having fallen for some reason, Landon looked up at her from his sprawled position on the ground, shaking his head. “I’m out of ideas.”

  Claire, herself, was out of patience. They’d pussyfooted around everything so far to not upset the balance of things, but now they’d gotten all the players in the room. It was time to act. “Are we going to do this?”

  “Claire-” Robert said, trying to hush her – something she had no tolerance for at the moment.

  “Do what?” Davies asked.

  She looked at him, then everyone else. They all knew exactly what she was talking about, but were paralyzed by fear. This was their chance to get home. Beside herself with impatience, she held out her hand. “The girl. The fruit. Look guys, we all know this is going to happen anyway. Why don’t we just-”

  She was cut off by a violent gust of wind past them, almost knocking her off her feet. She stabilized herself and watched in horror as the serpent was flung across the grass and slammed hard into the golden tree in front of them. It landed with a thud on the ground and spasmed for a half-minute before the violence stopped. They watched in awe as the serpent again rose to full height and approached them. It waded between them and went directly toward the woman, who instinctively took a step back – a moment before being stunned and losing her balance.

  Claire glanced back down at Landon. “What’s happening to her?”

  He stood, quickly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know,” he said, yelling. “It’s got some kind of power. Like a hypnosis or something. I can’t explain it.”

  Robert stepped between them, grabbing each of them by the arm as the man, Adam, presumably, unsuccessfully tried to help the woman stay on her feet. “I think now would be a good time to go.”

  “No,” Claire said. “We’re not done yet. We can’t leave until it’s done.”

  Robert pulled. “Claire, it’s time.”

  She looked, and the others were already running past the trio of the serpent, Adam and Eve. Robert broke the grip on her arm, and he and Landon sped into the trees, as well. But she was determined to see it through. With everyone else having disappeared, she watched as the serpent released its hold on Eve, and moved in toward her in a calming fashion. The woman was clearly affected by its influence, and Claire knew she wouldn’t be able to withstand its persuasion. It was breathtaking, the power it had.

  “Has God told you that you can eat of any tree in the Garden?” the serpent said, its voice reverberating through Claire’s own skin as it talked. It was haunting.

  Weakly, the woman answered, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has told us that we shall not eat of it, neither shall we touch it. Or else we’ll die.” It occurred to Claire what that possibly could have meant to them in a place where there is no death, being told that they could die.

  “Claire, come on!” she heard Robert call from a distance.

  “You won’t die,” the serpent said, and Claire, herself, felt as though it was being earnest and sincere. She was even being taken in by it. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. For God knows that if you eat of it, not only will you not die, but your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

  At that moment, Claire realized she was a believer. Anything that she’d known or thought before had just been turned upside-down. Even so, though the Fall of Man was well on its way, she couldn’t bring herself to walk away. She watched as the woman strode slowly past her toward the golden tree. The man did nothing to stop her, merely trailing behind her by a few meters. With the serpent following close behind, she reached out and pulled a piece of the illustrious golden fruit from one of the lower branches of the tree and inspected it. Claire watched, mesmerized.

  Until a firm hand grabbed her arm and pulled forcibly. She looked up to see Landon compelling her to run for safety.

  CHAPTER 71

  For the second time on this trip, Amy proved she was the fastest in the group, emerging from the entranceway to the structure and across the grass surrounding it. She hadn’t reasoned why she needed to run – she just had a feeling she should, reinforced by everyone else following suit.

  Now outside, she stopped to catch her breath. The run was easily over a kilometer, and while she’d been a runner in years past, the demands of SATP hadn’t left much time for her to maintain that discipline. She was pleased that she could still do it when necessary, but she was beat.

  A few moments later, Robert emerged from the tunnel, then Reilly and Davies came stumbling out, worse for wear
. Then no one. Amy stood up and walked toward the entrance, then caught Robert’s attention. “Where are Landon and Claire?” she asked.

  In between breaths, Robert said, “They’re on their way.”

  But they must have been far behind, because as Amy peered down the corridor into the building, she saw nothing. “Should I go back for them?” she asked. She looked back to see Reilly and Davies both lying on the ground, catching their breath.

  Robert was shaking his head. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

  “Were we actually watching it happen? Was that really the moment? I’m shaking.” She was, and she knew her trembling wasn’t from the run.

  “I think so,” he said.

  “I can’t help but think there’s a special place in Hell for facilitating the first sin,” she said, thinking out loud. While she had probably been the most positive about the notion of finding Eden in the first place, she certainly hadn’t imagined that things would have turned out the way they had. “What was up with the serpent?”

  Robert had now stood, normal breathing having returned for him. For as much haste as they had getting out of the building, things seemed almost casual for a moment. “We’ll have to find out what happened to Landon,” he said. “It seemed like the thing had some kind of mind control over him for a minute, there, but let go when Eve arrived. Then it did it to her. But with that power, and add what looked a lot like the devil taking over its body, it’s a formidable foe.”