by S. T. Boston
Oriyanna nodded earnestly. “I thought you might ask about that,” she said thoughtfully. “Just remember what I said. Many important historical figures have been Watchers; Arkkadian people here in your best interests. You also need to remember how historical events that happened thousands of years ago, particularly those that hold precedence in Earth religion, get altered over the years. Many religions that see Jesus as the son of God seem to forget that it wasn't until three hundred and twenty-five years after his recorded death that he was viewed as such. Until then, he was just seen as a prophet and leader, and in today's culture he would just be viewed as a visionary and a great humanitarian. Many of the people who follow the Bible choose not to question the massive gap that exists between the time of his birth and death.”
“So it's all wrong then?” questioned Adam.
“You must remember that back then, there was no real way of recording things accurately, not like you have now. In the three hundred years that passed before he was viewed as the Messiah, the true accounts of who he was and what he done became altered dramatically. The whole story of his birth is not at all accurate, in truth, he first appeared here on Earth as a man. It was hoped by us that he would be a great leader, one to unite you. Unfortunately, differing views and the ever-raging struggle for power between Earth-Humans eventually led to his execution.”
“So the accounts of his crucifixion are correct then?” The writer and reporter in Adam had well and truly taken over, and whilst his mind was still struggling to comprehend what Oriyanna was saying, he was hungry to learn as much as possible. He also found the exotic tone of her voice relaxing; he liked listening to her.
“No, they are actually very close to the truth,” she replied. “Like every Watcher who has been here, he possessed The Gift. How else do you explain how he rose from the grave? Like the way you saw me heal earlier. It was no miracle, although back then it was seen as such.”
“Well I'm still finding it hard to believe what I saw and it's just over two thousand years later,” cut in Sam.
“More like two thousand two hundred years,” Oriyanna corrected. “Your calendar is a little off, but we won't go into that.” She gave Sam a small grin as if to say, 'It's okay, I can forgive your ignorance. It's not your fault'.
“Wow,” gasped Adam. That's quite a mind fuck – I mean I've never been religious in the slightest but hearing it first hand is, well…” he drifted off for a few moments. “You could really open a can of worms with what you know.”
“There are clues recorded in the texts, it's just how you choose to understand them. I have studied many of your religious scriptures with interest over the years. Jesus is actually recorded as saying, My kingdom is not of this world. It all comes down to your personal interpretation.”
“What about that strange metallic thing you seem to be so reluctant to let out of your sight? Where does that feature in all of this?” asked Sam, keen to steer her off the subject of religion. While he didn't hold any belief in it himself, it was hard to hear that many of the conflicts he'd seen and been involved with were all for nothing.
“Are you sure you want me to go through this now? You have already been burdened with so much information.”
“Let's just get it all over and done with,” he said, noticing the first sign for Castle Rock on the side of the road. There would be no need to stop now, the full tank of fuel would be more than enough to see them through to Colorado Springs. Reaching forward he cranked the heat up a little on the dash; since the soaking they had received a few hours ago Sam was struggling to keep warm. He felt chilled right down to his bones.
“Very well,” she agreed. “Just before the war, we had begun to look at ways to create much larger bends in space, and whilst the journey and communication times between our worlds was never excessive, we longed to find a way to properly unite our two planets. We began to experiment with the amount of power needed to make a bend in space that big. Unfortunately, when the war broke out, our work halted. After the war we had the resources to start the project again, but no matter how we tried, we just couldn't build an engine that could generate enough power. In the end we realized that the answer to our problem was both here and on Arkkadia.”
“How so?” asked Sam, trying to rub a little heat into his cold hands by holding them over the hot air vents.
“We discovered a way to tap into the planet and use the massive amount of energy it creates. In actuality, there was no need for an engine to be built; we learned how to use the planet itself as the engine.”
“And you managed it?”
“We did, although the technology has never been one hundred percent stable. Its use is never without risk.” Oriyanna stared uneasily at the glowing metal object in her hands.
“So how does that feature?” asked Sam, gesturing at the small card she held.
“We constructed two devices, one here on Earth and one on Arkkadia. It was tested and used a handful of times, but we found huge risks came with its use. In the end, it was decreed that the Tabut should only be used as a last resort under extreme circumstances. The one here on Earth was left dormant and this,” she held the artefact up, “the Key Tablet, was taken to Arkkadia. This is the first step used to turn it on. The second is the biometric signature of an Arkkadian Elder.”
“And you believe that whatever is happening here will warrant you using this device?” asked Sam sceptically.
“I don't know. Once I find out exactly what is happening here, I can decide. It may well be our only option. At best, it will take another two weeks to get more craft here from Arkkadia. If I activate the Tabut, it will bridge the distance between our worlds instantly.”
Sam shifted further around in his seat to face her, starting his neck to aching again. “The Tabut,” he began, “is that what it's called?”
Oriyanna nodded her head, “Yes, although you will know it by a different name.”
“There are records of its existence?” Sam asked, sounding a little confused. “If that's true, then how come no one has tried to find it and use it?”
“Oh, but they have,” she said, smiling knowingly. “Many people have searched for The Ark, but none have ever found it, nor do they know what its true purpose is.”
“The Ark of the Covenant?” gasped Adam. “You are talking about the Ark of the Covenant here, is that right?”
“Yes, I believe that is the name it's most commonly known by on Earth.”
“And you know where it is?” he asked, his voice full of amazement.
“Of course I do,” she grinned confidently. “It's in Egypt, deep under the Great Pyramid of Giza.”
Adam's concentration on the road wavered and the wheels of the camper scuffed the verge, making it shake violently. He snapped the wheel left and corrected his mistake, and then took a moment to gather his thoughts. “So, is that the purpose of the Great Pyramid then?” he finally asked. “I know that for years they believed it to be a burial chamber, but no bodies were ever found inside.”
“It is,” she answered. “The position and alignment of the pyramids help to harness the Earth's energy through the ley lines they sit upon, and these form part of a much larger and invisible grid network that covers your whole planet – you just haven't learned how to harness it yet. Once the Tabut is activated, the Great Pyramid helps to capture and amplify the power of the Earth's magnetic poles. In effect, the structure acts as massive harmonic resonator which produces the huge amounts of energy needed for the Tabut to work.”
“So the Arkkadian people built that structure here – thousands of years ago?” quizzed Adam.
“Indeed, but with the help of the Earth-Humans,” she replied, enjoying the conversation. Not only did she seem to have some kind of mental connection with Adam; he was well educated and smart. She'd also noticed the way he looked at her, and it made her feel warm inside. “It still amazes me,” she continued, “that you have scholars here on Earth who believe the Egyptians built that structure unaide
d.” She smiled at the thought. “You can't even replicate it now – how would you ever have built an eight-sided, perfectly symmetrical pyramid that's lined up exactly with magnetic north all those years ago?”
“Eight-sided?” asked Sam, confusion blossoming in his eyes.
“Yes, although the pyramid appears to have four sides, it actually has eight.”
“Oh,” Sam replied, not really wanting to get into an in-depth discussion about the geometry of the building – his head was spinning enough as it was. “My knowledge of this sort of stuff is pretty lacking,” he added truthfully, “but I'm sure they never found anything inside the pyramid. It was empty when they opened it up.”
“The Tabut was held in what you call the King's Chamber,” began Oriyanna, “but it was far less stable above ground. After much theorisation it was moved below the pyramid, under the lower chamber. Beneath the structure itself we found the power of the ley lines was far greater and amplified, with the help of the aquifers that run deep under the plateau. We also used a highly sensitive and conductive metal, that's not found here on Earth, to line the chamber with.” Oriyanna handed the Key Tablet over to Sam. “No one has ever found the chamber that houses the Tabut, even if the lower chamber is pounded with ground radar, it would never show up. We knew as the knowledge of your ancestors was lost you would look to things such as the Great Pyramid in wonder. You could say we planned ahead and made sure you'd never find it, until we were ready for you to do so.”
“I'm guessing this is made of the same stuff then?” he asked, still marvelling at the way it hummed and glowed at his touch before handing it back to her.
“Yes, the Tabut and the chamber, as well as the Key Tablet, are all made of the same material; we call it Taribium; it's a mixture of three different ores found on my planet. It's both a conductor and an amplifier, it vibrates and glows at your touch because it's picking up and amplifying the energy from your body. This is only a very small amount, the chamber and the Tabut contain thousands of times the mass of this small piece. The energy it can harness from the planet is tremendous.”
“So, what exactly are the risks then, if you turn this thing on?” Sam asked warily.
“If singularity with Arkkadia is held for too long, it will cause major seismic activity on both our worlds. Just powering it up and tapping into the Earth's magnetic poles will cause an electromagnetic pulse powerful enough to fry every circuit board on the planet. Televisions, phones, computers, aircraft – everything will be useless.” Her tone was flat and serious.
Adam just nodded; he didn't really know what to say. It was all just too much for him to grasp at the moment. After a lingering pause he said, “And if it turns out you need to get to Egypt, have you thought about how you're going to get there? You're not even on the right continent.” It seemed like a stupid question in the light of what they'd just been told, but it was all he could think about.
“I don't know,” she replied, sounding a little subdued. “My first concern is getting to Austin; I didn't plan for all of this to happen.”
“I'm not too sure how much more of this I can take in,” groaned Sam, rubbing his temples again.
Oriyanna placed her hand back onto his shoulder. “I'm sorry, I can't even begin to imagine how hard all this must be for you both to understand. This man, Robert Finch,” said Oriyanna, changing the subject, “you mentioned he was the head of President Remy's Secret Service rteam?”
“He was,” replied Adam, glad to be on to something he had a chance of knowing a little more about. “There's been no trace of him since the night the President died.”
“Is there any way I can see a picture of him?” Oriyanna asked, desperately needing to piece the whole situation together.
“Sure, my phone is in the glove box. As long as we have a good enough signal, Sam can get onto the FBI website.”
Sam opened the glove box; it was big enough to fit a small child in and full of their travel documents. After about a minute of rummaging around he finally located it, and the moment his hand clasped around the cool metal, it rang. The shrill tone of the incoming call made them all jump. Sam tore it from the compartment and flipped it over. 'BLOCKED' flashed up on the screen briefly, before it rang off. Sam stared at it for a few moments, as if expecting it to ring again. His mind raced. Why would a blocked number call once and ring off? he thought. All their close friends knew where they were; even if Lucie phoned, Adam's home number would have been identified on an international call. Something didn't sit right; a bad feeling grew quickly in the pit of his stomach. “My god, I think they're trying to track your mobile,” he said quietly. the idea occurring to him in the same instant he said the words.
“Who's tracking what?” asked Adam, leaning over to try and hear better. The road surface had changed and roughened, increasing the constant hum of the tyres over the tarmac.
“I said, they're tracking your phone, or at least, I think they are.”
“How the hell do you know that?” shrieked Adam, his voice an octave higher than he would have liked.
“I don't know, it's just a hunch. The number was from a blocked call and they only let it ring once. Calling your phone would have made it register on the network.” Sam paused for a minute, thinking it out again. He was desperately trying to remember back to the many close protection courses he'd done after leaving the army. He had covered this – how it was possible to locate a kidnap victim if their phone was switched on. “There are programs out there that will give you the location of any phone, if you have the number. It's like when you share your location with a friend so they can find you, only with this program, you don't get asked permission, they just pump in your number and it displays the info on a map. It's only really used by government and law enforcement, but I have no doubt that they would be capable of doing it, seeing as how they had an operative that close in to the US President.” It felt strange using the word operative to describe this Finch guy; however, Sam found it helped him put a real-world face on the situation.
“How accurate is it?” asked Oriyanna nervously.
“It depends. If they can get in and ping it from the GPS, then we're talking a few feet. If not, then maybe ten miles at the most.”
“Turn it off then,” cried Adam, reaching across the cab and trying to snatch the phone from Sam's hand. The movement of his body caused the RV to veer dangerously to the left, crossing the road into the oncoming traffic. The blaring sound of a car horn snapped Adam's attention away from the phone; wrestling with the steering wheel, he pulled the lumbering vehicle to the right, narrowly avoiding the oncoming car that was frantically flashing its lights in warning. The oversteer sent the camper fishtailing across both lanes, and its wheels found the loose gravel and grass of the verge, causing the back to snake uncontrollably as it built momentum. As time seemed to slow down, Adam fought with the steering wheel, pulling hard to the left and right as he tried to control the slide, but it was too late. The back slid around further until he was looking at the disappearing tail lights of the car he'd just missed. Somewhere below them, the transmission screamed in protest at the change of direction as the rear of the RV smashed through a wire fence, collecting up a line of old wooden fence posts with a series of sharp, splintering crashes which reverberated up through the steering wheel. Finally, the camper came to a stop, in a billowing cloud of dirt and dust that seemed to engulf them. For a few long moments, Adam sat there, still gripping the wheel, his knuckles turning white as he watched the dust motes settling in the headlights. He forced back the dry prickly feeling in his mouth, brought on by the momentary panic, and released his grip; his fingers were aching from how hard he'd had hold of the wheel. “Is… every— everyone okay?” he finally managed to gasp. He glanced back at Oriyanna and saw her picking herself up off the floor; she'd slipped off the seat and slid against one of the large cupboards. Apart from being a little pale she seemed unscathed. Sam was braced hard into his seat, his feet rammed into the foot well and his arm
wedged against the door, holding him in place.
“That is precisely why I like to do the driving,” he chuckled, letting out a long breath. He pointed to the other side of the road, which was heavily lined with trees. “Might have been a messier outcome if you'd veered off that way.” He looked back at Oriyanna, who was busy rolling up her baggy clothing. “That's crash number two for you tonight,” he joked.
“That one was a little easier,” she replied, trying to smile. “Is there much damage?”
“Not sure, hopefully only a few dents and scratches, but I need to check.”
“Sam, the phone,” pleaded Adam. “Turn it off!”
Sam held his free hand up defiantly. “Wait. Just wait a second,” he barked. “I need to think this through, but first let me just see what damage you've done.” Taking the phone with him, he flung open the door and jumped out into the night.
“Can they really find us from that phone?” said Oriyanna nervously.
“Yeah, I think so. I need to speak with Sam. This is one subject that he does know more about than me.” Adam was trying to speak as calmly as possible, but wasn't making a very good job of it. No matter how much the subject matter fascinated him, he was well out of his depth, and sinking further down the rabbit hole with every passing minute.
“I will go along with whatever he suggests,” she said, glancing out of the side window to try and see him. “It's been many years since I was last on Earth, and things have changed a great deal.”
“It's not too bad,” said Sam clambering back into the passenger seat. “Just cosmetic damage to the rear, no punctures or bits hanging off that might snag. Give the engine a try; I just hope it's not flooded.” Adam turned the ignition, almost holding his breath. The engine fired up first time and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Gingerly, he selected first gear and eased them back onto the road.