by Bruce Burk
“Brace yourselves, we’re going down!” The rebels strapped themselves in and held hands. The ship’s nose dove into the sand and slid itself through the jungle floor on the Island of Cozumel. It stopped right on the edge of a cliff. The front half of the ship began to separate itself form the rest of the body. Gavin leaped to grab onto the one the seats as parts of the ship fell past him onto the rocky shore below. “Take my hand,” John said as he pulled him up. More pieces of the ship fell into the water. “We got to get out of here,” John said. Clark and Sophia made their way out of the ship. Part of the ship exploded and metal shard flew into Gavin’s leg. He screamed out in extreme pain. “Go! Find the other branches. Leave me!” Gavin said. “Never,” John said. “You don’t always have to be the hero John,” Gavin said begrudgingly. “Shut up and take my hand,” John said as he pulled Gavin from the heap of metal and leaped from the ship. The Thunderbird crashed in the ocean in a ball of fire.
“Hand over the branches Shepard,” David said from behind the rebels, “And maybe we’ll let your friend live. The Lord has spoken. The door of salvation has closed. Your arrogance in trying to override God’s will is at an end.” John responded, “We already lost all the bibles. You have already had that victory! You have no right to claim the natural law! It belongs to everyone.” “God will smite you in your arrogance. God’s will is that One State will rule the world and that everyone will now burn in hell,” he responded. “Shoot that son of a bitch,” Gavin said in pain. “Drop your weapons or the girl dies,” David said, bringing Sophia up to the group with a blaster to her head.” John always saw Sophia as the last piece of the Red Party. The true Lady Liberty in a world of oppression. Sophia was not only John’s true love, but she was the people. She was democracy. John would give anything for her.
“Ok. Ok,” John said as he took the three branches from his bag. He handed them over to David. “And now we will send you into the lake of fire,” David said as he and his priests aimed to erase the rebels from the Earth. Suddenly, a spear flew through the air and ran David through. The man in the wilderness emerged from the jungle along with several tribe members. The tribe chased after the priests and ran them through with their spears. The man in the wilderness picked up the branches and handed them back to John. “You saved us … thank you,” Sophia said. The man in the wilderness looked at John with a smile. It was as if they already knew each other or shared a special connection.
“Come. We must retreat into the jungle before the drones see us,” The man in the wilderness said as he escorted the rebels into their hideaway in nature. The tribesman picked up Gavin in his wounded state and carried him to the medical tent. The rebellion disappeared into nature itself. The children found Clark’s equipment to be rather odd. He had turned most of it off out of respect for the tribe. “How did you find us? How did you know which side to help when we were out on the beach?” John asked the man. “Sometimes you just know,” the man said. “What are these branches?”
John took a deep breath. “They are pieces of the natural law. I was told that an ancient tribe called “Iam” has hid these throughout the Earth to aid humanity in a time of crisis. We have been able to find three of them and are still looking for the other four.” The man looked puzzled and surprised. “I swear I’ve seen some strange spirits around here. One of them came to me and asked me to find this tribe you speak of,” he said. “We believe the fourth natural law is hidden somewhere on this island,” John told him. The man in the wilderness then tried to tell John more before he heard, “Ahhhhh,” being yelled from Gavin’s lips. He was still bleeding quite profusely. “I’ll go get help,” the man said as he left the tent. “Can we trust these guys?” Clark asked. “I don’t think we have a choice on this point. We can’t even fly out of here. See if you can arrange for another transport Clark,” John said. Sophia continued to dab Gavin’s wound with a cloth.
Then, Aiyana entered the tent. “Here let me help,” Aiyana said as she began to tend to Gavin’s wound. The man in the wilderness took John outside. “Stay here and make sure Gavin’s ok,” John told Sophia. The man in the wilderness walked John throughout the village. Aiyana quickly fixed up Gavin’s wound. She gave him a sedative that put him fast asleep. “He should be ok in a short time,” Aiyana told Sophia. Aiyana turned to her as if she was a goddess. “You are so beautiful. Your energy is very positive,” she told Sophia. “Thanks,” Sophia said with a smile, “So are you.” “You and John. You share a connection,” she said in happiness. “I think so,” Sophia said. “How did you come to the island?” Aiyana asked. “Our ship got shot down. We’re trying to find these branches of the natural law because beyond this island, an oppressive government called the One State is controlling the rest of the world. If we don’t find them in time, humanity might be enslaved forever,” Sophia said.
CHAPTER 18 - WATER
“I don’t mean to sound rude, but you don’t look like the rest of the villagers here. You look American. How’d you get here?” John asked. “Long story. Look, these villagers know things about nature,” the man said. “It’s like they have achieved the perfect balance between civilization and nature. They know things about the nature of the initial human state and the trees. They somehow figured out he perfect balance between mankind and the environment; about how people are born and how they develop,” the man said. “They have been developing outside of civilization for who knows how many years,” he added.
“Here, let me show you some of things they have taught me,” the man said. The man brought John to a special place in the forest. The sound of a waterfall fell in the background and the light from the sun shined through the trees. They had found a microscope and projected it through a refraction of light machine to magnify water molecules on a rock wall next to them. “Now, watch this. Here I have some droplets of water. I will place them under the microscope here,” the man said. The water molecules displayed as normal and neutral molecules and mundane blobs. The man knelt down and put his mouth near the droplets of water. “I hate you!” The man yelled, “You are worthless! You are going to burn in hell! You are evil! I am in control of you and you are a piece of scum. Nobody loves you!” John was shocked by how angry the man was in yelling at the droplets of water. Miraculously, the water molecules started to shake. They contorted themselves into unpleasant shapes and confusing shapes. “You see, the water responds to words. The molecules change shape based on positive and negative words. The tribe believes that they actually have memory. They are somehow self-aware of past events and people that have occurred on the planet,” the man said. “Now, watch this,” the man said, kneeling next to the droplets again. “I love you.” The molecules quickly morphed into a snowflake shape right before their eyes.
A tear came to John’s eye, “That’s … that’s miraculous. Can I try?” John went up to the droplets of water. “Eidolon.” The droplets of water seem to become angry. The contorted themselves into strange shapes. “One State.” They again morphed themselves into strange shapes. The droplets seemed to cry. They turned a strange sick color of dark yellow. “Freedom.” The droplets formed themselves into a beautiful crystal that seemed to glow on the rock wall. “Harmony. Justice. Virtue. Balance. Equality.” All created beautiful crystals in the droplets of rain. “So the water is … alive?” John asked. “It’s not alive, it’s just conscious. The water molecules are all connected. They speak to one another. They remember things … things from all throughout history. It’s like nature is self-aware,” the man answered. “And our bodies are seventy percent water,” John added. John thought of all the mean things he had said over the course of his life. All the times that he had opportunities to compliment people but instead chose to say something negative. He imagined the molecules of their bodies flustering and contorting to his words.
“There is more I need to show you,” the man said. The man took John to observe some of the natives in one of their rituals from high on a mountain. Some of the young boys were being branded
by being slightly burned on the cheek to symbolize their bravery in the presence of pain and the transition to manhood. Their mother’s sat several hundred feet away. “The natives studied the trees and realized that they have their own language. They saw that they do not compete with each other but live in harmony. They adopted the way trees raise their youth. “Watch as the women flinch when their child is touched by the hot blade,” he said. John saw a woman feeling the pain of her child as he was burned. She could not see him. She had no way of knowing when he was actually going to be touched. She simply just … knew. It was as if nature had whispered into her ear that her child was in danger.
“You see, they believe nature has an interest in the reproduction of species. That’s why it seems that women oftentimes possess a special kind of extra sensory perception. Nature is on their side. Here, it has occurred several hundred feet away from their children, but they believe that it could happen even if they were on opposite ends of the earth,” the man said. “They believe that nature’s processes are all acting in unison together, like an orchestra: each process beginning and ending when mother nature waves her baton. They have constructed their village to be in harmony with nature. John heard the words the man was speaking, but they did not just register with him on an intellectual level. He felt his soul reach out and want to touch the truth of what he was saying. It was as if his soul just said, ‘yes.’”
The day turned into night and the man in the wilderness took John and Sophia to the hilltop to look at the stars. The sky was a beautiful dark blue with millions of diamonds in the sky. “The sky … it’s beautiful here. We don’t get to see the stars like this back home,” Sophia said. “Each of the lights you see before you represent galaxies millions and billions of light years away. The light you see has travelled across the universe to be accepted by the retinas in your eye. For thousands of years, primitive man has observed the stars and wondered if they were alone. Is there more to life than just what we see? And yet, too often, the questions go unanswered; a query of the consciousness thrown to the wind,” the man said. “Do you think there are other planets like Earth?” John asked. “If not, then that would be an awful waste of space,” the man said. John hadn’t spoken with God in what felt like an eternity. He closed his eyes and prayed, “God of wonder, nature, and love. God of Earth and Heavens above. Who leads me down the narrow path. To my sanctuary from evil’s wrath. Your kingdom floweth forth from thee. Let your spirit dwell within me. Forgive us now our daily sin.” Then he said the last phrase while the man in the wilderness, “the bread of life is within.” The man in the wilderness said, “Johnny?” “Father?!” John said in shock. The prayer was a family prayer that they both recognized. Suddenly, they embraced each other under the starry night. Sophia smiled. A tear came to her eye. She was so happy for John. John had not seen his father, Jack Shepard, for a long, long time. “You’ve grown,” his father said. “Haha. And you’ve gotten old! How did you get here? Where have you been? There is so many things I have to tell you father. I don’t even know where to begin,” John said. Just then, Aiyana came rushing up towards the group nearly out of breath. “Everyone. You must come quickly,” Aiyana said. “What is it?” Jack said.
“It’s Fysi. Something is horribly, horribly wrong,” she answered. They ran quickly through the jungle under nightfall to find Fysi’s hut. The leaves brushed past their shoulders in the dense forest. Sometimes the faster you run, the further your end seems to move. Finally, they came to Fysi’s hut. Aiyana slowly opened the wooden door that creaked open. None of the candles were lit. The canvas that he normally did his paintings on was blank. Aiyana sniffed through the kitchen. His hut usually smelled like freshly cooked vegetables and soup, but not on this night. “Fysi, where are you?” Aiyana cried. The group continued upstairs to the attic. Their feet pressed against the wooden floor. The moonlight shined in from the windows. “Fysi,” Aiyana cried. They found him in the fetal position in the corner of the attic, shaking profusely. She approached him gently. “Honey, what’s wrong,” she asked as she put her hands on his shoulder. He continued to shake. “Balance ... balance ... broken ... the balance ... balance,” Fysi mumbled in a horrified shuttering whisper. Just then a bird flew up to one window near him. Fysi crawled up close to it. “Hello,” he said to the bird, finally showing a smile in his misery. The bird put his tiny foot up the window. It looked at Fysi with despair. Then its eyes slowly started to close. “No! No!” Fysi began to cry. The bird fell to its side in a quiet death. Fysi turned to the group in a disturbed look with tears in his eyes.
Suddenly, he became angry. “They have broken the balance!” he said. “What balance?” John asked. “The balance of nature. The balance of power. The scale which all other scales stand upon. The animals ... they’re dying,” he hugged Aiyana in tears. “I think I know why the animals are acting so strange,” John said. Fysi's tears stopped. He looked at John with a curious intrigue. “You,” Fysi said as he approached him, touching his face and looking deep into his eyes. “You are special. You have a special light burning in your heart,” he said. John just smiled and didn't know what to say. “I can see the goodness in your soul. Something else... You have something with you ... that's very important,” said Fysi. “You are a soul of light,” he added.
“Yes. I think the animals are acting so strange because beyond this island, the world has been taken over by an evil empire called the One State. They have removed nature from the common man. They have neglected it and abused it. They are destroying the culture and value systems of the planet to enslave the human race. We rebel against them … and it seems the animals have joined us,” John said.
“These branches I have here, I have been collected them from all throughout the world. They are the pieces of the natural law hidden for humanity in a time of crisis,” John said. “Yes. The branches,” he said with a smile. “They are truly beautiful. The identify of man, the common moral code ... and the natural rights. I’m assuming you’ll be wanting the fourth then,” he said. “You know where it is,” John said. “In meditation, I felt a powerful force on the island. I knew it was not of this world. So I walked into the forest. I found this strange temple seal with ancient markings. I will take you there .. and you will find your branch,” said Fysi in a mysterious voice.
The rebels walked through the forest under the moon's light. Branches broke beneath their feet, and the stars showed through the tops of the trees. Suddenly, Jack saw the strange apparition again. “There it is again! Wait!” Jack yelled as he took off running after the spirit. It floated throughout the forest. The group ran after Jack. “Who are you?” Jack cried as he dove down into a set of bushes below. Finally, the spirit disappeared near a certain spot in the forest. The man ran after the spirit as it vanished and found himself standing on a large symbol covered in leaves and twigs. He quickly started brushing off the circular object as the rest of the group caught up to him. “Yes there's they symbol I saw,” Fysi said. “This must be thousands of years old,” said Sophia. “I think it is some kind of door,” Aiyana replied. John quickly opened up the Book of Remembering.
“Aristotle seemed to have documented some of these markings in the book,” he said as turned through the pages. The circular symbol had strange blue and green images all scattered throughout and the image was separated by twenty levels of movable rings. “Here, let’s try moving these rings, maybe we have to form some kind of image,” John said. The rebels began moving the rings. Pieces of land came together as the rings came into view. “It’s the Earth,” Aiyana said. “Where’s Africa? John asked. “It doesn't seem like we can form the continents from the way these images are laid out. “Well if it’s not Earth then what is it? A different planet?” Sophia asked. “Earth was not always as it is now. Maybe the image is of old Earth, before the continents shifted,” Fysi said. The group moved the circles into place to form Old Earth. All the continents together in one body of land. Suddenly, the image began to shake. The circle traveled down in
to the ground, revealing a circular stone staircase.
“Let's go,” John said. He lit a torch and led the group down into the ancient Iam temple. The temple was covered with images of the solar system, the milky way galaxy and the location of other galaxies near us. As usual, unrecognizable math equations were written near the images. “What is all this,” Jack asked. “I'll explain later,” John replied. They came to a room with thousands of planets held up on sticks. They ranged in size, shape, and color. “Here look at this,” John said as he found a staff with a glass ball mounted on it. There was a tiny ray of light flowing down in the center of the room. “I think we're supposed to put the light onto Earth. See if you can find it,” John said. The rebels scattered throughout the room, looking their home planet. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. “The universe is so big,” Aiyana said. “There's some notes on these asteroids over here," she added. John read the ancient writing on the space stones. He saw some lines drawn at different angles all headed in the same direction. “It looks like they were trying to predict the path of asteroids as they were heading toward Earth.
“Here, follow these lines,” John said. He walked along the lines and finally found the solar system. “Here it is,” John said as he took the staff and placed it in the center of the room, illuminating Earth amongst the other stars and galaxies. The small earthly globe opened. John reached his arm into the hole in the top and pulled out the fourth branch of the natural law.