12
The morning dawned cool with scattered clouds, and the promise of a gathering monsoon afternoon with thunderstorms. The smell of ponderosa pines and their green soothes and leaves us relaxed and peaceful. Breakfast smells of flapjacks, oatmeal, and grilled elk decorated the air as we filed into the Dining Hall. I felt surprisingly good considering my nightly experience. I enjoyed the flapjacks, grilled elk, and goat’s milk with oatmeal and honey.
It wasn’t long before Judith looked up at the sound of Carson’s command chopper. Then the dying whispers of the blades came to a halt. Judith patted my hand and smiled. I grimaced and finished my oatmeal, the experience of the night still fresh. We carried our trays to the deposit area and headed out the door. Laith and Helen joined us.
Charles and Mary were already visiting with the General and Colonel Randolph. Victoria and Abe joined other children checking out the chopper, climbing inside and out under the amused supervision of Captain Jack Howard, the pilot. Eli Benson watched from the corral with his mule Baldy. In two’s, three’s and more the entire Cheshire population arrived except the outer perimeter guard. As Mike Rosen and his team swept the outer areas, a spooked coyote scampered into the woods raising a flight of birds in the pines. Carson raised a hand as he saw us approaching. I waved back.
I felt my mind roaming, searching the area. My small talk with Carson and Derek was distracted and disjointed. I apologized and excused myself. I wandered to the Main Gate and being alone spread my consciousness out. Rather like sending parts of myself in different directions, but also in different times. There was something ... something out there but blocked. A mind that kept itself blank consciously or unconsciously thus shielding its location.
I sent a portion of myself to the main alien spacecraft. Severin and Astera sat in a conference room, and looking up startled as I entered the room. That they could sense my nonphysical consciousness told volumes. But I was drawn to a room further into the craft that held an essence. One attached to a crying insect. A spider pleading for release. But from what and who? I examined the room, a simple but comfortable abode with personal touches. About the size of a modern hotel room. But I didn’t get gender, age, or much else. There was a shielding going on here, too. I was expected.
I went back to Severin and Astera who acknowledged me warmly. I communicated my pleasure at being there. They took me to a room off a corridor and I knew it to be mine, set up to introduce me to myself and the Four Planet Federation. To feed and widen my knowledge base. I moved around the room exploring the items and images there.
Fifteen minutes later they returned and said they were ready to leave for the meeting. I thanked them and went back to my body. Other portions of myself I’d sent exploring returned with no information I could use. I went back to the General, Judith and the group and told them the aliens would be arriving shortly. Carson nodded briefly and continued in the conversation.
In ten minutes a fifty foot disc-shaped craft landed close to the airplane barn. This time eight aliens filed out of the craft, Severin and Astera in the lead. Dabir was not there. I sensed a very faint current of animosity in the cheerful group. Like an almost undetectable deep thread, which ran for an instant unshielded. Then it disappeared with its source. I introduced the General and his staff to Severin and Astera. The other six aliens proved to be scientist- technicians. Severin and Astera made those introductions. I recognized four of the six, and acknowledged them. One of the other two belonged to The Thera. A woman, like Astera, ageless, toned flesh, eyes bright. Short golden hair. “Krifin,” she said with a warm smile. I bowed my head. Perfectly shielded. Part of the training.
The sixth alien, a small balding man with great pouches under his eyes, thin white arms and a potbelly walked over to me. I laughed, and gathered him in a great hug. “Lara,” I said.
“Jamie.” Brother.
“You know each other?” Carson said, very alert, wary.
“General, we’ve known each other in other times. He has a lot of knowledge about how things work physically.”
An uncomfortable Carson turned to Severin. “Why have you come?”
“To help you repair and rebuild your country, General Carson. We have technologies that can accelerate your recovery,” Severin said.
“And eugenics?”
Severin nodded. “Jamie told you of our experience with Adora. Unfortunately there are ... individuals who want to repeat the problems of Adora on Earth.”
“That’s your real reason for being here.”
Severin stood silent for a long moment. “May we show you what happened on Adora, General?”
Carson nodded. Severin beckoned to one of his companions who handed him a rectangle screen fifteen by eighteen inches. He touched the side of the screen. Carson backed up at the images of deformed men, women, and children, then animals and plants. “These are some of the horrors of eugenics, General. I don’t know how to put this, but those that did this on Adora are currently trying to do this on your planet. Having been part of this history, we would like to prevent this on Earth. To prevent it from going any farther than it already has.” He stopped.
“Are they capable of doing that here?” Carson swallowed while studying the images.
“These individuals don’t have the knowledge of Adora, but they do have the desire and intent. It is only a matter of time before they are able to copy this.” Severin ran a lean hand through his grey hair. “You’re already seeing this with plant and animal genetics and pharmaceuticals that do more harm than good.”
“Is this some sort of reincarnation thing?” Carson looked at Derek, me, and then at Severin.
“In a manner of speaking, General. We are all part of larger wholes that send out portions of themselves to have lives on physical worlds. These larger Beings have interests, values and intents that can be quite diverse, General. To put it simply, they are not all spiritual giants.” Severin stopped. “You minored in math at West Point, General. You also have a Masters in Geopolitical Studies from a Colorado University.”
“How did you know?” Carson looked astonished.
“There are no real secrets, General. People deliberately hide things from each other and themselves, but there are no real secrets. It is all out there if you know where to look. Since you were a math minor, please consider the Entity as the set and the personalities as subsets. There can be many subsets.”
“And these Entities were once and maybe still are subsets of other Entities?” Derek asked.
Severin laughed. “True, Colonel. There is no end to it, and development. There are Entities who create worlds like Adora, the Earth, whole solar systems with all their components. These are usually cooperative efforts. There are Entities so vast in their complexity they include whole worlds with all their species.”
“We are pretty small potatoes then,” observed Carson.
Severin blinked. “There are no small potatoes as you say. Every Being from the tiniest creature to the most developed is important and has a say in your world.”
We heard some swearing at the Main Gate and saw Burt Clark manhandling skinny Nick Ryan down the road toward us. He wasn’t pleased. His K-12 slung across his chest, Burt carried an ancient shotgun and a crossbow, and was literally kicking Nick’s backside in our direction. The young man stumbled and fell in a heap at our feet. Burt saluted the General. “Found this bugger sneaking up on Cheshire’s perimeter, sir. Jamie said he’d be up to something. He had these.” He waved the weapons.
Astera said, “Who is he? Why the weapons?”
“A religious fanatic,” Derek said. “Tell us why you’re here, Nick. You know better than to ever lie to us.”
“Religious fanatic?” Astera looked to me.
“Our knowledge is fragmented and compartmentalized, Astera. Religions are belief systems based in legend and myth with heroes and their histories, often controversial. They have formulas that require the believer to accept and characterize life in certain rigid ways. They of
ten deny knowledge that is plainly evident.”
Astera shook her head. “Peculiar, limiting, and primitive.” She smiled at Nick. “And this one’s belief system?”
“An extreme version of where those believing in anything else means they can be discredited, damaged or killed.”
“Hence the weapons,” Severin said. He turned to Nick. “Who were you trying to hurt or kill, Mr. Ryan?”
Nick, eyes wide with fear and wonder, stared back at the aliens. “Do you have Jesus Christ on your planet?”
Severin looked at his people. Lara, eyed Severin and Astera, and said to Nick, “There are Souls or Entities who put on spiritual workshops to teach spiritual lessons. The Christ story was one of these. Buddha and Mohammed too. There are others also. That is as simple as I can make it. They were not intended to create religions.” He frowned at Nick. “No. We had no need for such workshops. We do not fragment our knowledge as you do. I don’t know if that makes sense to you, Nick. Probably not. All knowledge is one.”
“Who were you intending to kill, Nick?” Derek asked, piercing eyes raking the young man.
Nick’s shaking finger pointed at me. “This one. The Great Blasphemer. A man who can raise the dead, cause the weather to do his will, heal all manner of sicknesses and injuries. A man who creates Pillars of Fire, melts rifles and stops bullets in midair. A man with God-like abilities yet denies Christ.”
“A wee bit dramatic, Nick,” I said. “There are usually a basis for legends. I just don’t know what they are.”
Carson said, “Were the weapons operational, Sergeant?”
“The shotgun had no shells, sir. The crossbow probably not. The string is frayed, and he had one bolt that is warped.”
A chill went through me. It wasn’t adding up. I had no clues or answers. Suddenly Nick lunged at me with a large military combat knife. He uncoiled like a striking rattlesnake. The blade struck my lower right ribs, glancing, but oddly I found it being guided deeper by a force outside of Nick. Someone from The Thera, the Sound Language. My energy block struggled until with the utmost effort I broke the connection, and the second energy withdrew. But I couldn’t find an energy signature or the direction from which it came.
Blood covered my hands as I forced Nick’s hands back. A burning determination in his brown eyes locked with mine. Tellus. Nick belonged to Tellus’s Entity. Crap. Revenge. I shook my head and with the knife away from me, melted it into a dripping mess. Derek struck Nick on the back of his head with his pistol. The man collapsed in a heap.
I walked away with Judith and Astera. Standing there I put up a shield, and probed the wound, stopping the bleeding. Because of the secondary energy, the wound was much more extensive. I worked slowly and carefully knitting myself back together with the Sound Language. Though I kept my shield up, I allowed Astera to lend her supportive energy. For which I was grateful. Judith merged her energies with mine. I needed that. It took a good fifteen minutes to repair the damage and realign my energies.
We walked back to the General, Severin and the group. My hands were still bloody, my blood. “Unnatural Being, you should be dead.” Nick spat, spittle decorating my shoes.
“Not from your lack of trying,” I agreed.
“He’ll hang for this,” Derek said.
“Can you send him back East instead?” I asked.
“Why?” Carson looked incredulous.
“In another time I publically tortured him to death. He doesn’t realize why he wanted to kill me. Just had this overwhelming desire to do so. He put a religious spin on it to have it make sense to him.”
“Tit for tat? What’s to say he won’t sneak back to do it again?” Carson asked.
“I can’t answer that,” I said. “I just know killing him this time isn’t the way to go. Will you please consider it, General? It could go a long way to healing a problem.”
“No guarantee, Jamie. Nick, if I sent you back East, would you come back for Jamie?”
Nick sat there, mouth open. “You would spare me after I did this?” He stared at the combat knife, now a wrinkled puddle of metal on the ground, and then up at my bloody hands and shirt, and shuddered.
“I didn’t say that. I asked you if you would try to do this again. Jamie seems to think he did you wrong in some other past life, and feels a need to rectify the mistake.”
Nick’s stricken eyes stared at me. The great anger of Tellus seemed to fade there, and then he shook his head. “I felt this overwhelming anger, this need to do what I did. It has no place in our current relationship. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“I’ll consider your request, Jamie.” Carson turned to Severin. “Does this make sense to you? What happened between Jamie and Nick?”
The alien nodded. “We are all part of larger wholes, General Carson. Memories of other parts of these larger wholes can come forward without making much sense at the moment. Likes, dislikes, aptitudes, inclinations and abilities. These come forward in many ways, and have many explanations. Some are sent deliberately from the guiding intelligence of the greater whole. Others are sent by various parts - past and future personalities of this larger whole or Entity when a need is generated by the present personality - a warning, a hope, a possibility, a new path. Jamie calls it essence memory. They come in dreams, hunches, mini-experiences of coincidence, serendipity, and sometimes a smack on the butt before something more serious happens or can happen. And all on a personal level in a way that can get the message through.” He shook his head, serious. “My expertise is in this area.”
“They also include this, I assume.” Carson gestured to Nick. “Hate, anger, etc.”
Severin nodded. “Love, caring, too. These are all part of the human experience.”
“Do you consider yourselves human, Severin?”
“Semantics, General. One name is as good as another. We share the same basic structure as you do. We are simply more aware of how the Entity works, and can work with it, using its resources individually and collectively as Jamie and his people do here. You have seen what they can do, and have used their information to benefit yourselves. Imagine doing this yourself.”
Carson gave a short laugh. “I wouldn’t want a world where there were Jamie’s without self-control and ethics.”
“There was a time when that was so on Adora. The ethics part anyway,” Astera said. “Fortunately, those who did the terrible things were the eugenic improved men and women, and not the elite with the Sound Language. Akenton, the eugenics master with the Sound Language, would not endanger his people with the Sound Language. Those he kept close to use in his wars when he came to Earth. There they died, everyone of them.”
“Perhaps not knowing is a blessing,” Carson observed.
Astera gave a thin smile. “Believe me, General, you would always want to know with eugenics people, especially those with the Sound Language like Jamie.”
“Fortunately you say they were all killed off during Akenton’s War,” Derek said.
“Fortunately,” Astera agreed. But I remembered a crying spider begging for release, a vacant room in the spacecraft with this essence, and the power of Nick’s thrust which carried with it a force beyond anything human. They were not all gone.
“You mentioned technology, Severin,” Carson said.
“We’re willing to share knowledge that will make energy free with no pollution, requiring no renewable resources as a power source. It uses a combination of light and sound.”
“Do you realize what you’re saying?” Carson said.
“It would change the entire character of your world, General. We realize that. Great care would have to be taken to ensure it’s not abused. But we think that can be accomplished.” Severin ran his right hand through his grey hair. “It would work for both your power grids and vehicles.”
I sensed Kodus. Like off to one side. Severin noticed but continued without missing a beat, “Without worrying about energy other than the maintenance of vehicles and energy distribution lines, you
’d free up a whole sector of your society. The energy companies could be put to work rehabilitating the energy sources they had been using.”
Carson smiled, and shook his head. “Our energy companies can be quite ruthless, Sevrin.”
“We know their history. Since you’ve done away with your corporate sponsored democracy, where your representatives are no longer beholden to business and special interests groups for money, we hope you might find it easier. We’ll work with your government first to see what can be done and go from there.”
Kodus was trying to tell me something, but it was lost in a static-like confusion. I sensed the interference to be manufactured from an outside source. But hard as I might try I couldn’t get through it. This was new to me. I asked my Entity to clear up the problem. Immediately I began to get snatches - images of an olive tree seen through a window. The large tree spread its shade over one corner of the building giving welcoming comfort from the harsh summer sun. Beneath the tree a man and woman argued. The man was Kodus and the woman, someone familiar, but struggle as I might I couldn’t place her, so I listened to snatches of conversation. The woman had lost a brother to Akenton and wanted revenge. The brother had tried to use himself as a weapon to assassinate Akenton, but was detected in the last few seconds and died, killing one of Akenton’s close associates while Akenton escaped with injuries. This woman wanted to use herself in her brother’s place. Kodus kept trying to convince her not to, but she would not listen. Eventually she left. Later Kodus learned her younger brother and sister had been mutilated by the eugenicists. The woman managed to infiltrate a eugenics lab and blow it up along with herself and fifteen of Akenton’s best people. Astera. I looked at her. How aware was she of her Entity’s history? Was she aware that Charles and Akenton shared the same Entity?
How to warn Charles? I walked over to Charles, keeping up with the conversation between Severin and Carson. I touched his arm, not knowing if he would be able to communicate mentally with me. I jumped within as his clear mind opened waiting. I gave him the information. He accepted it quietly. Eyes narrowing, the giant man pursed his lips, considering.
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