'Where is the last place you saw him?'
'Er -- Oh my god!'
'What, Eetoo?' said Tsaphar.
'No! The last place I saw him was -- …' Eetoo began sobbing controllably.
Miriam took his arm and pulled him to herself and let him weep on her bosom. Tsaphar put her arms around the two of them. She couldn't restrain herself either.
* * *
the house is quiet
the young adventurer muses...
It seems like, now that both Reb Hyrcanah and Reb Yeshua are gone, there's no reason for the Sons of Light to try to stay friendly with the P'rushim. They reckon their prophet Yohannan the Immerser must have missed it when he said Yeshua was Messiah, because he died; and of course, Yohannan the Immerser is dead too. They've convinced Shim'on, Nicanor and Philip and a bunch of the others to go with them to Qumram to wait there until Messiah comes. They just left this morning. They took the Temple Scroll and all of Reb Hyrcanah's other books to keep there. They say that when Messiah does come, they'll need to have all that ready.
Alexander is still here with us. He doesn't know what to think, and neither do I. Whatever happens, Alexander says he'll go with us back to the pyramid and the cat statue to help us find the tele-gate again.
Even though Reb Yakov was one of the Sons of Light, he also doesn't seem to know what to think. It took him a long time to be convinced that his brother, Yeshua might be the Messiah, and once he was convinced, he seems to have a hard time believing it's all over.
Ima Miriam also doesn't think it's all over.
Anyway, there's a lot fewer people here now. Kefa is here though. He finally came back, but he hardly says much. When people talk about being orphans, he says he's not even that; he's just a castaway child because he failed him. He and Yohannan and both of their brothers are staying here while the rest are in an upstairs room they rent in the city.
Ima Miriam has been telling us a lot about Reb Yeshua as he grew up. Everything that I thought strange about him, she also did. It's like he never took it seriously that he, himself, existed. He was Adam and Hava all over again, naked in the garden, not even knowing good and evil. She says he was that way all his life. That's why he never acted like a king, nor took all the hoopla seriously. It sounds like he must have had his sense of beauty fully developed, like the old Utz on Zonch was talking about.
I told Tsaphar about what the Utz teacher taught me, and she thinks so too.
I don't know where Ima Miriam's getting the idea from, but she thinks we should go ahead and keep our appointment at the place where I last saw him. Alexander says we should at least try.
In four days -- that will be the day after Shabbat. But I don't know if I could bring myself to go there. Anywhere, but Skull Hill!
26
departing from the house before the break of day
are women with spices and ointments to embalm a dead king
and the two adventurers, to carry out his last instructions
We're on our way.
Some of the same women that have been popping in and out for the last three days are on their way to the grave to embalm him.
If we really want to see him, why aren't we going with them?
Tsaphar and Ima Miriam say that because I didn't see them take his body to the grave, I should go to where I did see him.
At least Tsaphar's going with me.
The gate's not open yet so we go through the little door in the city wall that we used four days ago. There's a crowd of people waiting at the gate with carts and stuff that's too big to fit through the little door.
Inside it's not crowded yet. Some people are starting to set up their stalls.
It's funny! Three days after he's dead, and people still don't dare sell anything in the Temple court. This place in front of the steps is filling up fast though.
Oh no! Another earthquake!
People are running about grabbing things. Someone's bird cage popped open, and all the doves are flying away. The sheep too. I wonder if it's Reb Yeshua's spirit haunting the place, or what?
We'd better not take the shortcut through the narrow road. Bricks and stuff might fall on us.
All over the city, people are checking the buildings for damage. They're talking excitedly here and there. There's one man insisting that some dead person just appeared to him.
We're almost through to the other gate, near Skull Hill.
Beside the gate, there's a group of old men sitting. I think I've seen this bunch before.
One of them's just arrived, really excited. He's saying, 'Rabban -- may he rest in peace -- he's appeared to me!'
'What message did he bring?' says another.
'He insists that Messiah has come!'
I don't catch the rest.
I see the place now. It looks like the type of place no one would ever go, even without the horrible things that happen there.
The dead are appearing to people! I wonder if Reb Yeshua will appear to us from the dead?
This place is spooky enough without thinking about dead people, what with all these tall stakes stuck in the ground, most of them covered in dried blood.
We're climbing the hill.
Tsaphar is shivering. I think she's spooked as well.
I put my arm around her shoulder. She snuggles up to me.
We're at the top now, looking about.
I'm looking at the stake Reb Yeshua hung from.
'Who are you looking for?' Someone's behind us.
We turn. There's a man standing. The sun's shining brightly from behind him.
'Er -- someone I last saw here -- from a distance...'
'Come, then,' he says.
Where have I heard that voice?
We both walk up to him.
'Son of Ham, daughter of Ishmael.'
It can't be! But it looks like him -- but it doesn't look like a departed spirit.
'Don't fear. I'm not just the spirit of a dead person. I'm really alive. Feel my hands.'
We each grab one of his hands and look at it. There's a big scar going all the way through the wrist at the same place the nail should have gone through. I look down to his feet. They've got the scars too.
'King Yeshua!' I say.
'Because you believed and obeyed my instructions in coming here, in spite of observing my state the last time you saw me, you will be rewarded.'
'Have you redeemed the planet then?' I ask.
'The world won't end until the Kingdom has taken root everywhere humans are to be found. You know of some of those places. I commission you now to go to them and spread my Kingdom among them. Proclaim it to them, and do the works of the kingdom by bringing relief to the suffering among them, exactly as I have been doing.'
'How have you been doing it?'
'You have heard some of the accounts from my pupil, Yohannan. Ask him for more. Also another pupil of mine, Mattityahu has been keeping a journal of our travels and activities. Ask him for the journal, and in the time you have left, copy it into your recording box. The things you hear and read about, are for you to do yourself.'
'But how?'
'All my life, I have been creating a borunñnvotzp.'
'Huh?' I can't believe I'm hearing this. He even pronounces it right!
'Yes. Utz's aren't the only ones who can create a borunñnvotzp. The only difference is, mine doesn't fit neatly into a crystal bubble as your friend's did, but I've been creating one, none-the-less. Three days ago, at the top of this stake, I, in effect, smashed my borunñnvotzp onto the forehead of all humanity.'
'But I don't see any difference in anyone.'
'Just wait. Stay here in Yerushalayim at my brother's abode. Stay close to my pupils, and to my mother. You have already learned a lot from them. Listen some more, and learn from what you read. In not many days, the borunñnvotzp will begin to take effect. It will affect every person from then on as they believe the proclamation of the Kingdom and go through immersion for repentance of their sins. When it h
as affected you, go back to the monument, taking my gift with you, and return by the gate by which you came. Your work will begin the moment you arrive back.'
'Your gift?'
He looks about on the ground. He picks up a rock that's lying at the foot of the stake where he hung, and gives it to me. It just fits in my hand. I would never have even touched it myself, let alone picked it up. It's even got dried blood on it.
A rock? Just a filthy rock?
'It's a piece of this planet. Take it and show it to anyone who would question the right of humanity to exist. And don't wash it; it's stained with the price of the planet's redemption.'
We're looking at the rock. It's about as dirty as any rock I've ever seen.
I look up again, but -- he's gone!
He's vanished -- not here anymore!
I wrap up the rock carefully in a scarf that's in my bag, and then Tsaphar and I almost run down the hill.
27
Tsaphar and Eetoo took turns transcribing Mattityahu's journal. It was a full time job, but it was almost finished.
During the time she had to herself, Tsaphar went to sit with Ima Miriam to hear her stories and to bask in her motherliness.
Ima Miriam was one of the reasons Tsaphar never stayed homesick for very long.
Kefa was no longer the hard shelled radical she had first met. He spent most of his time with the others at the rented upstairs room, but in the evenings, he showed himself a gentle transparent individual. He also told her stories of their experiences.
If she'd ever been worried that believing in the Kingdom would be like taking a bio-media upload, Kefa's attitude change reassured her. What she observed in him, Ima Miriam and the others was the opposite of what she saw and felt in Teknesh.
Even Eetoo had become warmer to her. He was again the shepherd boy she once knew, watching his sheep in Heptosh's pasture.
Now and then, especially when they all gathered at the Outer Court for prayers, Eetoo and Tsaphar and the women joined them.
The last words of the journal were finally entered into the computer. After that, they spent most of their time with Yeshua's pupils and circle of friends.
On the feast day of Shavuot, they accompanied Ima Miriam and the other women, Yohannan, Kefa and both Yakovs and Alexander to the outer court for prayers.
* * *
gathered in one place, in one accord...
That must have been the borunñnvotzp exploding! I've never felt anything like it! I can't describe it!
I don't think anyone can. It's like we've all gone crazy, except we're speaking in languages other people understand, but we don't!
I don't know what I've been speaking in! It just comes up from inside.
We've attracted enough attention. Kefa's been talking to the crowd that's gathered. He usually gets nervous in front of people, but he's just talking away!
But the thing is, people are listening to him! It's like the borunñnvotzp is suddenly taking effect in them as they listen. They were begging to know what to do next. Now, they're lining up at all the miqvas around the place.
I'm getting ideas about what to do back in the other sectors of the galaxy -- even about Thevsos.
heeding the command: go therefore and teach all planets
Everyone was sad to see us go, but wished us Adonai's blessing on our new work. Ima Miriam prayed a special blessing on us, and so did Kefa, and Yohannan. Yohannan still says he wants to visit us there sometime. Maybe Alexander can show him how to get there through the gate.
Alexander is going with us. First, we have to travel to Alexandria, and from there, to the pyramid.
28
Heptosh had managed to contact the Toki authorities, and the Noofrishi sector council had put out a strongly worded request to allow a delegation of other non-human species to travel to Nephtesh to observe the situation.
Rather than face the wrath of all the non-Groki species in the galaxy, the Grokis decided to back down and allow Neuryzh and a few others to land.
Neuryzh, Vralpz, president of the Noofrishi sector council, and Diggen, head of sector security met with Zakh and Vlab, respectively the commander and sub-commander of the fleet hovering in the skis of Nephtesh.
Heptosh accompanied them. He listened in via one of Neuryzh's vocal tubes.
Neuryzh asked the leading question. 'Has not the time of the supposed destruction of the human planet already past? What sort of confirmation would you need that the planet has or hasn't been destroyed?'
'We've been scanning the galaxy for any explosions of a planetary scale,' answered Zakh. 'Once we've detected one, we collect any asteroid samples from the area to verify the identity of the planet. We will only wait so long.'
'No one is sure of the location of the planet. It would take a long time for the light from the explosion to reach us. How do you go about such a scan?'
'We have drone ships moving back and forth throughout the Drozht Sector that can detect any explosion that has happened within the time specified. It's only a matter of time that they'll pick it up. Failing that, it is up to the human species to supply proof of the planet's survival.'
Heptosh thought there was a much easier way to verify the existence or non-existence of the planet, but that would involve giving away its location. Neuryzh had assured him that that should only be done as a desperate last measure, as knowledge of its location would still put the future of that planet in jeopardy.
Neuryzh continued with the questions. 'What do you propose to do once the time has run out?'
'Remove all humans from the universe, beginning with these.'
'Why do you feel that is necessary?'
'Do you not know what the existence of humans in this galaxy has cost to the Groki? Has it not also affected the other species as well? And even now, there are attempts, right in your own sector, to revive their empire. Though these ones say they plan to live here peacefully, who knows what future generations will be capable of? As long as they are present outside their home planet, no species is safe.'
'And, what if the continued existence of the planet should be confirmed?'
'We would forgo exterminating them, but we won't allow them to live in our sector.'
'Were these not originally human planets?'
'They have not been inhabited by humans for the past ten cosmic ages.'
'Nevertheless, they were human planets. This planet was uninhabited until humans settled it. The others that they have repopulated were built by them. Furthermore, those humans who have been resettled in this sector are not descended from the ruling classes of the former empire, but their servants, many of whom have also been victims of the same imperial abuse.'
Vralpz added, 'Despite any misgivings on your part, I think that galactic protocol would require that you allow them to settle on these planets, provided they intend to do so peacefully. If you require any verification of accepted protocol, I'm sure we can convene a galactic congress.'
Diggen said, 'On the other hand, we can assure you that these are not, in any way, connected with the recent expansion of Amanhep's Federation of Indigenous Nephteshi Planets. Heptosh has acted wisely in guiding them into self sustaining independent communities.'
Zakh and the other Groki didn't wish to convene a galactic congress, so they simply decided to wait for verification one way or another.
So, they waited.
29
after many days journey
over land, over sea, up the river
the adventurers return to the tele-gate
Here we are. A few of Hyrcanah's men are still keeping the camp. We went in through the tent that was built over the hole next to the giant cat statue.
Hyracannah had turned it off when we left last time so I place the stone block into the square hole, just like we did in Nephtesh. The tele-gate lights up and looks like water. Alexander wants to go through with us just to see what it's like on the other side. We step through.
No one's in the room here. There's
a metzig torch lying there though. I take it, light it up, and we walk through the passages following the way I remember.
There's daylight shining through the mouth of the tunnel as we approach it. I hope Heptosh has found enough food to keep him all this time.
We're out now.
Wow! Where did all the people come from?
Someone sees us and comes running.
It's Rav! What's he doing here?
'Eetoo! Tsaphar! You're back! Shim, go call Mr. Heptosh!'
Someone goes running off.
I see a couple of gates set up in the open air. They look like tele-gates. Where to, I wonder?
Rav is hugging Tsaphar. Then he comes and hugs me.
Alexander is looking about as though he doesn't believe what he sees.
'Where did all these people come from?' I ask.
'They're from Thevsos.'
'Thevsos?'
'Yes. Mr. Heptosh and Mr. Shan set up some tele-gates and they've brought the people from Thevsos to here and some other planets that don't have anyone living any more. Shan has reprogrammed all the bionics to help them settle in.'
'That's good!' I say.
Tsim is here too.
'But there's a big problem,' says Rav. 'The Groki want to kill us all. They say it's time for the humans to die.'
'Don't talk about it too loud, though,' says Tsim. 'These people don't know about that. They're already afraid, and almost ready to riot.'
'I've got something to show the Groki.'
Heptosh comes running up.
'Eetoo! You've returned! What outlandish dress!'
'I have the gift from the anointed human king to show the Groki. It's a piece of the planet.'
We hurry off to where I see some ships on the ground. I suddenly notice that the sky is full of ships.
There's Neuryzh, and some other non-human people.
Alexander looks at them like he's sure he's in a dream.
Neuryzh glows his dome. 'Friend Eetoo, Friend Tsaphar, welcome back. And welcome to the new friend.'
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