by J M Leitch
Carlos grunted, stealing a glance as she leaned across and poured herself coffee from the cafetière. With her stiff lacquered hair, perfectly painted face and acrylic talons, all contained within a barricade of throaty perfume, Carlos couldn’t imagine any man ever wanting to get near her. As far as sensuality went, Corrinne had her beat hands down, although in the grooming stakes Barbara made her look like a bag lady on a bad day.
‘I popped in for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to wish you good luck,’ her voice rose as if she was asking a question and Carlos raised his eyes to the ceiling.
‘Carlos, I mean it,’ her bracelets jingled, sliding up her arm as she lifted the cup to her lips. ‘I hope the doctors in Madrid can help you.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’
‘I do believe that’s what you think.’
He stared at her as if an unpleasant smell was wafting over the table.
‘The car will leave here at 4:10 prompt. You’ll go to the White House helipad where you’ll take a chopper to Andrews Air Force Base.’
‘You mean you’re not coming with me?’ Carlos asked.
‘I wish I could. I would have loved to do some sightseeing and take in a concert or two,’ she said smiling, ignoring his sarcasm. ‘You’ll land in Vienna at 8:30 local time tomorrow morning. Greg Howard also flies in tomorrow. He’s flying into Europe a day early to see you.’
‘Fantastic!’
‘And he thought you’d be pleased.’
‘Pleased? Why? He sold me out to you people.’
Barbara sighed. ‘He believes you need closure.’
‘Now everyone’s trying to shrink me. He feels guilty, that’s all. He wants to make himself feel better by telling me goodbye. He doesn’t care about me.’
‘How about your Admin Assistant? Corrinne isn’t it?’ At Carlos’s silence she tapped her nails on the tablecloth. ‘Surely you’ll want to see her? She’s worked for you how many years?’
‘What do you care?’
‘You’re right, Carlos. It doesn’t matter in the slightest to me who you say goodbye to and who you don’t, but if I were sitting on your side of the table right now, I would care.’
Carlos stared at her coffee cup. Her lipstick had left a crimson semi-circle on the white china. It looked like blood.
She tried a different tack. ‘Are you feeling any better?’
‘How, for Christ’s sake, do you think I’m feeling?’ he snarled.
‘Is there anything you want to tell me? Anything you want to share? Any new… visitations?’
Carlos folded his arms across his chest and stared at her, his expression as inviting as a brick wall.
‘The reason I’m asking is because I’ll call Dr Sopalana again tomorrow. To confirm when you’ll arrive. It would be useful to give her an update on how you are.’
‘Hey, that won’t take long if you have your way, will it? One word will do. Crazy!’
‘Carlos, I’m really not your enemy. I’m trying to help you.’
‘Oh like I believe…’
Barbara held up her hand to silence him. ‘What we’re doing… it’s for the best… it’s best for you.’
He flung his arms in the air and glared at her, pure hatred streaming from his eyes. ‘It doesn’t look like that – from my side of the table – Barbara,’ he said parodying her words, ‘and for your information, I don’t need your kind of help.’
She dropped her gaze but still didn’t give up. ‘That’s the problem, Carlos, you think you don’t, but you do.’ She tried again. ‘Look, I really don’t care whether you cooperate or not. But a word of advice? Cooperate with the doctors. Tell them everything. It will go better for you if you do.’
‘I’m sick of your threats.’
She leaned back in her chair and shook her head without displacing a single hair. ‘It’s not a threat, Carlos. Just the way it is. Listen to me. For your own good.’
‘Why?’ Carlos jumped up and jabbed his finger at her. ‘You’ve lost me my home, my job and my freedom. Why would I listen to you? Now get out of my face.’
Barbara studied the oily film on the surface of her coffee, watching it congeal on the inside of the cup. Then she lifted her wrist, checked her big gold watch and stood up. ‘I need to get going,’ she said, ‘it’s gone one thirty.’
CHAPTER 16
Five minutes after Barbara left Carlos was still fuming. He poured a cup of coffee hoping it would calm him. But when he took a sip it was cold and that made him even angrier. He clinked the cup back onto the saucer and stalked up to his room to pack. Since he’d brought hardly anything with him from Vienna, it took no time at all and he found himself with a couple of hours to kill before leaving.
Normally he’d have used the time to surf the net for the latest headlines, especially if he’d been deprived of communications for a few hours let alone a few days, but since being incarcerated in the safe house he’d become increasingly indifferent to what was going on in the world outside. It was nearly too much effort to check the weather forecast.
As he sat, his thoughts kept returning to Elena and Drew. He couldn’t stop himself thinking about the two of them for more than a few minutes at a time. It was a living nightmare. Like a virulent virus that bastard Drew had infected everything about her with his dirty, vulgar, stench, and it was doing Carlos’s head in.
Although he couldn’t wait to leave the house, he hated the idea of going back to Vienna. There was nothing there for him any more and everywhere would trigger memories of Elena, all of which were now polluted. And he was dreading going to the office, making small talk with Corrinne and Greg, suffering an inevitable post-mortem to pick through the latest events. He wished he could fly straight to Madrid, although he wasn’t looking forward to that much either. He was afraid of what the doctors might say, whether he should believe them, and how long they’d keep him there. And he was afraid they might never let him leave.
His whole life was wrecked because of Zul. Well… Carlos had given up on ever hearing from him again. Another betrayal. Or was Barbara right and Zul simply a figment of his own imagination? He was starting to wonder.
When his iTab buzzed he was so lost in thought he had to reach out for his mind, drag it back, and reconnect it with his physical body, or so it felt. It was an e-mail from Corrinne telling him she was ready to initiate their virtual meeting. Carlos put his iTab down on the coffee table and moved to the chair at the desk where the holographic screen was located.
After Corrinne had gone through the packing lists and shown him what she’d put where, she terminated the virtual conference. But as Carlos returned to the armchair, something made him look round. To his astonishment another hologram had appeared.
‘Jesus Christ! Zul!’
‘Carlos.’
He felt a rush of warmth as Zul spoke, his voice as soothing as a mother’s embrace.
‘Did you think we had abandoned you?’
‘You know I did,’ Carlos smiled, marvelling at the relief he felt on seeing Zul’s image, his gentle face radiating love and peace, framed by the long grey hair. He wore a kaftan of deep blue hues that intensified the indigo colour of his eyes.
Zul nodded. ‘We could not contact you before. We had to wait for certain aspects, certain… conditions… to be correct.’
‘Jesus! I never thought I’d hear from you again. I was beginning to think I’d imagined you.’
‘We regret the distress you have experienced over the past days Carlos, but we had to keep our silence and allow this chain of events to unfold.’
Carlos opened his arms. ‘I just wish I’d known for sure you’d come back.’
‘Had you forgotten?’
‘“Believe in yourself? You know what to do?” I didn’t forget. But it’s not easy when everyone round you keeps saying you’re crazy.’
Zul smiled and his eyes twinkled.
‘It is time for us to talk. We have more information to give you.’
A
thrill gripped Carlos’s heart. It was the first real-time communication they’d had… and he couldn’t wait.
‘We know you must have questions. Many questions. This is to be expected and we will welcome them when we are finished but please understand we have much information to impart and little time. Therefore, we request you keep your interruptions to a minimum.’
Carlos nodded.
‘In our last video we informed you that your planet Earth is encountering problems that threaten it making a successful evolutionary shift on the day you humans name the 21st December 2012.
‘We know you have noticed the exponential increase in natural disasters occurring on your planet. Your Earth has been afflicted with more frequent earthquakes and increased volcanic activity. The occurrences of tsunamis, mudslides, floods, droughts, hurricanes and typhoons have multiplied. These events are symptomatic of the state of flux your planet is currently experiencing. We know that for some time this has concerned you.’
‘Sí. Mucho.’
Zul nodded. ‘So let us examine what is happening by first looking at the changes in your solar system. I am sure you are aware that sunspot activity is occurring on a scale never witnessed by you humans before.’
‘Yes. NASA had to redesign its equipment to measure it. Their satellites were getting fried.’
‘It should seem logical therefore that this phenomenon could be explained by the quality of the space between the planets changing, which is indeed the case. It is conducting energy more efficiently.’
‘That explains why NASA found protons released by the sun are travelling four hundred per cent faster than established models expected.’
‘Yes. Your sun’s magnetic field is getting larger. Your solar system is experiencing energy field changes, luminosity changes and atmospheric changes, which means your solar system is expanding. It is moving into an area of energy that is different, more highly charged and that vibrates at a higher frequency.’
‘Why don’t these changes destroy us? Burn us up?’
‘Because the harmonics of the DNA spiral itself are changing.’
Carlos shook his head. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Your sun pumps out spiralling energy waves that drive your planets and moons in their respective orbits.’
‘What’s that got to do with DNA?’ he asked. Then the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. ‘!Momento¡ When I was at Goddard back in the late ‘90s I remember a pull-out section of National Geographic with a big image of human DNA on one side and a composite picture of how our galaxy would look if we observed it from the outside on the other. And the shape? It was the same. The double helix.’
‘Excellent Carlos. Everything in the universe is tuned to form DNA, including your galaxy. If the harmonics of DNA in your galaxy change so must those in your solar system, your planet and indeed in you humans too, if they are all to remain synchronised.
‘We will return to the subject of DNA in humans later but first we must ask if you can accept that dark energy itself is conscious and unifies the universe as one conscious life form, as we explained in our last video?’
‘Hey, I…’
‘And that the evolutionary process of the universe involves a quantum progression towards higher and higher frequency vibration of the dark energy and therefore of all consciousness?’
Carlos raised his hands, ‘I have too many questions…’
‘But can you accept it as a potential model?’
Carlos nodded.
‘Then can you also accept that by raising the frequency vibration of human consciousness to match that of your planet and your solar system and your galaxy, you will be better prepared for a quantum leap from third to fourth density?’
‘It’s logical. But how do we do it?’
‘A human’s level of vibration can be raised by technological means when spending time inside certain forms of architectural structure, for example pyramids and the mediaeval cathedrals built in Europe.
‘Another way humans have experimented with raising their vibration levels is through imbibing psychotropic drugs, both natural and synthetic. But unless guided by a master, this path can be fraught with danger.
‘The most effective way, however, is when a human exercises its individual free will and consciously decides to become less centred on self and strives to ensure its behaviour has a positive impact on other humans as well as its environment.’
‘That’s it?’
‘It may sound simplistic but it is not an easy course to follow, especially in adversity.’
Carlos dropped his head, embarrassed. He hadn’t meant to sound dismissive.
‘Humans increase their individual level of vibration when they experience positive emotions. If a human focuses on the negative it attracts the negative but when it behaves in a selfless manner it uplifts its own consciousness and attracts more goodness into its life creating good feelings. You name this effect “karma”. The less selfish a human becomes, the further the level of vibration is raised away from third and closer to fourth density. Any human can embark on this path at any time Carlos. All it takes is the will to do so.’
Carlos thought about his own behaviour. He wasn’t a bad man. He didn’t go out of his way to hurt people, at least not often, but people accused him of being selfish and he knew he was. Had he put others’ needs first, tried to project the consequences of his negative words and actions, would his life have turned out happier, more gratifying?
He stared at the snowflakes wafting past the bare branches of the trees outside the window.
Perhaps Elena would still be alive.
But he could no longer think about Elena without thinking of Drew and every time he thought of Drew he seethed with negative emotions. He wanted retribution. But according to Zul, that was the worst thing to strive for and would only attract more negativity into his life.
Carlos wondered if he could alter the way he felt and change his grief to acceptance, his anger to understanding and his vengeance to forgiveness by willing himself to do so. Was Zul right? Would he really benefit; and the planet, and the solar system, and the galaxy? Could it really be that simple?
He looked back to Zul.
‘Carlos, there is a tool that enables humans to immerse themselves in positive emotions, in other words to attain a state of being that supports the desire to use free will for noble ends and which in turn increases an individual’s level of vibration. It is the practice of meditation.
‘It is a wondrously powerful tool. By following strict meditation practices, Yogis have learned to control the rate of vibration of the energy that forms the matter making up their physical bodies. They can alter the effect of the pull of gravity and levitate. They can survive long periods without food and drink. They can increase or decrease body temperature. And they can influence their own emotions.
‘The consciousness of a human is expanded as a result of the physiological changes that occur through meditation, causing its level of vibration to increase. Even for those new to the practice, startling progress can be realised quickly.
‘Meditation inhibits the conscious thoughts that lock humans into their third density reality. When humans lose awareness of their physical bodies and the physical things around them, the root consciousness is enabled to vibrate at a different frequency, allowing access to a higher density experience, what you name astral projection.
‘You humans name the brainwave pattern typical of the state conducive to meditation alpha. This can be achieved in many ways: by focusing on a flame, on a sound, on a rhythm, or on the breath. It can be experienced when a human walks or runs. Whenever an action holds the attention of a human’s consciousness without provoking thought, it results in this state.
‘Every human, like anything else that embodies consciousness, has the potential for absolute knowledge of “being”, because everything in our universe originated from the conscious energy of the One. The process of meditation allows this knowledge to become c
onscious and initiates a journey towards the understanding of unity.’
‘But how, Zul? How does it work?’
‘When a human meditates, the thalamic pacemaker cells in the human brain manufacture electromagnetic oscillations within a specific frequency range. This is the alpha state of brainwaves. The compassionate emotions manifested in this state result in a highly ordered heart rhythm pattern that contrasts radically with the disordered heart rhythm pattern prompted by negative emotions. The heart generates the most powerful rhythmic electromagnetic field produced by the human body. It permeates every cell. The highly ordered heart rate rhythm pattern allows psychophysiological information to be encoded into the electromagnetic fields produced by the heart. This is communicated to the DNA, guides cell organisation and sets boundaries for the organism’s ability to change its physical, mental and emotional domains and results in many positive effects such as improved health, increased awareness, perception, intuition, sensitivity and spiritual love. By unzipping DNA in this way, meditation increases the rate of vibration of the individual human practising it.’
Carlos nodded.
‘Each time a human enters a meditative state, it raises the individual’s consciousness. But that is not all. It also raises the collective level of vibration of all the humans on the planet. Imagine the effect produced by millions if not billions of meditating humans?
‘We cannot emphasise the importance of meditation enough. Through regular practice, humans better understand the concepts of love and unity that are the keys to evolving from third to fourth density. The path towards realising these concepts is to focus on putting the needs of others first, or as you humans name it, selflessness, or service to others. Meditation is a tool that can help you humans walk this path.’
Carlos thought about trying to become less selfish. Once again he wondered if he had the will to change the kind of man he was.
‘It is no coincidence that during what you humans name the Dark Ages, many books championing meditation were buried, burnt or locked up. It is the journey towards a state of enlightenment and those who reach enlightenment, many from what you name the Buddhist faith, can understand all.’