by Brandt Legg
“I guess not.”
“Seriously, Nate, this has been hard on him. It’s taking a toll. Go easy on him.”
“Spencer and I are fine,” I said, surprised. “We’re not arguing about anything.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t seem to last between you guys.”
The house was a small mansion flanked by matching miniature casitas. Palms and flowers, manicured to Booker’s natural tastes, allowed glimpses of the ocean and an empty, white beach.
“Beautiful,” Amber said.
“Well, thank you, Amber. Wish I could take the credit. A Coca-Cola executive had it built in the early ’50s. Castro scooped it up during the revolution and paid favors with it until fifteen or sixteen years ago. When I assisted the Cuban government in some business transactions, they let me borrow this lovely property.”
Booker gave us a brief tour of the first floor before having to take a phone call. He pointed us toward the oceanfront. We found Spencer sitting on the back veranda, and not surprisingly, staring out into the turquoise waters. When he turned to look at us, I couldn’t hide my shock. “Man, Spencer, what happened? You look dead!”
“You should have seen me a few weeks ago.” He hugged me. “You got through, Nate. You’re really here.” I’d never seen him this emotional. He wiped a tear. “Dustin stayed at Outin?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. How was his state of mind?”
“A little reserved but otherwise the same ol’ Dustin.”
He nodded.
“Spencer, why do you look so awful?” Linh asked. “Has something terrible happened? Are our families okay?”
“Yes. They’re still in custody but in good health.”
“It’s because Nate died, isn’t it?” Amber asked.
Spencer turned back to the sea.
“Is that true, Spencer? Was my death somehow felt by you?”
“Soul-powers aren’t just about flying around and battling Lightyear agents. That’s really just a small part. Once we open to the universe, we can experience everything, and it is often difficult on our physical body.”
“But those same powers can heal our physical body.”
“While we’re encumbered by the physical, there are things that require so much concentration that we must neglect our human forms completely.”
“But you’ve had three months since I died. Why do you still look so sick?”
Spencer smiled. “As I said, you should have seen me before. The cells can be controlled and manipulated by energy work, but the results take time, depending on the extent of damage.”
Booker returned, “Sarasota has been raided.”
Spencer nodded.
“They’re still raiding centers?” I asked.
“Averaging two a week since the mall attack.”
“How are they finding them?”
A woman brought out a large tray of fruits then returned with additional ones full of veggies.
“Nate, it’s like a psychic arms race now. Ever since the mall attack, and you were dubbed America’s most-wanted terrorist, he has people volunteering.”
“He, meaning Storch?” Linh asked.
“Yes.”
“His troops killed Kyle.” Linh’s voice was bitter.
“I’m sorry, Linh. He will pay,” Booker said.
“And I have the video that will show the world the truth about this bastard!” I handed the drive to Booker. He took it to a nearby table and pushed it into a laptop computer. “I’m copying it onto this hard drive, and simultaneously encrypting and sending it to dozens of my servers around the world. Now, let’s have a look.”
“How can he survive that?” Amber asked, after we watched the film.
“He can’t,” Booker said. “He’s a slippery snake for sure, but this, combined with the other information we’ve put together, should be enough to indict him even in the current corrupt system.”
“When?”
“We’ll release it to news outlets and Internet leak sites, as well as the FBI, first thing in the morning. In the meantime, try to catch your breath, relax, and enjoy the beach.”
We showered and changed. Amber and Linh both fell asleep in cushy lounge chairs on the beach. Spencer and I went for a walk.
“Spencer, we have to find the rest of the Clastier papers.” I stopped to look at him. “Are you going to be all right?”
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
“Can I do some healing on you? I do you owe you a few.”
He smiled. “Really, I’ll be okay. Thank you.” He wasn’t quite frail but wasn’t his old self either. “I’m glad you came back.”
“It was tempting to stay dead.”
“I’m certain of that. And it may seem, because you survived death at Outin, that your nonviolence stance has been validated as a way to get through this. But the release of the Storch film and surrounding evidence will not end your trouble, and it will not spell instant victory for the Movement.”
“Nonviolence did work. The battle for Outin was no small matter, and it can be used as a template for the Movement going forward.”
“Not everyone will agree.”
“Clastier’s papers and the ideas they put forward will help inspire the Movement and any who disagree. His wisdom and understanding are a guide.”
“Look, you can worry about Clastier later. There are urgent matters here now. The dreams and musings of a defrocked priest who has been dead for two hundred years can wait.”
“But IM is supposed to be about getting soul-knowledge out to everyone, and that’s just what Clastier was doing, way ahead of the Movement.”
“Is that what you think? Do you imagine that you, as Clastier, were the grandfather of IM? Nate, the Movement has been around for millennia. Why do you think the Jadeo exists?”
“It’s all connected.”
“Why do you keep saying that? Of course it’s all connected. That’s not the point. It’s a matter of priorities. It’s about timing.” Spencer coughed.
“Time’s a funny thing.” I didn’t say it to be flip—it suddenly felt like the answer to all the most difficult questions.
“The final page from your dad’s desk... it’s a key to the missing Clastier papers, the ones that didn’t make it east with the others.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“It’s timing, Nate. I’m telling you now so you will keep focused and stop chasing ghosts.”
“And Hibbs?”
“Hibbs knew about the Clastier papers, though he never found them.”
“But I have now.”
“And that may explain part of your excessive distraction with them. Author and seeker come together.”
“So you admit they’re important.”
“Yes, vital, but they’re not for this moment. We’re dealing with a human world, and things must be done in a certain order—steps taken. We can’t just carry the entire human race through a portal and show them where we’ve been.”
“Why not?” I asked.
He gave me an exasperated look.
“Did Hibbs see this far into the future?”
“Is this necessary?”
“I want to know everything. I’ve earned that.”
He was quiet for a moment, watching the incoming tide. Finally he spoke, “Yes, I suppose you have. Hibbs had the documents to prove Omnia existed and that they were manipulating world events.”
“So Omnia is real?”
“Yes.”
“My dad mentioned Omnia once but didn’t want to talk about it, so I researched online and found out about Omnia on some of those conspiracy theory websites.”
“What do you think you know about Omnia?”
“They’re a secret group of extremely wealthy families who manipulate the public through the media and even world leaders. They set most government policies. They’ve been behind wars and revolutions. Everything they do is to further consolidate wealth and power into their hands. But many claim
they don’t exist, that they’re another Internet myth.”
Spencer squinted against the sun as he looked into my eyes. “No. I’m sorry to say Omnia is very real and far worse than you describe. The worst events of human history over many, many centuries have been perpetrated by them... genocide, assassinations, wars, coups, and plagues... the list is long and disgusting.”
“I had no idea they were that bad. I thought they were just a bunch of greedy bankers.”
“They’ve taken greed to planetary proportions. They want everything... including the Jadeo.”
“The Jadeo? They know of it?” I was shocked.
“Who do you think we’ve been protecting it from all this time?”
“I thought... I mean, that the world wasn’t ready for it yet.”
“Omnia is the reason we aren’t ready for the Jadeo,” he said.
I needed to let that sink in and sat down on the warm powdery sand, digging my bare feet into the cooler grains beneath. Spencer seemed relieved to sit as well.
“Why are there so many enemies?” I asked.
He considered the question briefly. “Wandus would say there is only one enemy.”
“Fear.”
He nodded.
“Did Clastier know about the Jadeo?”
“You tell me. You were him.”
“Our conversation didn’t get that far.”
“He must have known. Whether he believed it was legend or real, I couldn’t say.”
“Then if Hibbs and Clastier both knew what humans, through their souls, were capable of and that the Jadeo existed and what it was, they also knew this future might come where Lightyear and Omnia would be the greatest enemies of enlightenment. I don’t understand why they didn’t fight and win this battle a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago?”
“True, it would have been a smaller battle, but it was also a much more difficult time to get the word out. No twenty-four hour satellite news, Internet, social networks, or smartphones in every pocket. There has never been a time in human history in which all global inhabitants could receive and share messages on such a scale.”
“Then Clastier’s papers are even more important than I thought.”
“Yes, just not quite yet.”
“But—”
“Hibbs and Clastier knew they would return as you and left clues for you to finish the work begun in their lifetimes.”
“And the papers were part of that.”
“Please, Nate.” He turned to stare at me and spoke silently, “First Lightyear must fall. While Lightyear exists, we cannot win. There is no uncertainty in my prophecy on this matter. It is absolute. You may try it peacefully if you must, but they have to be destroyed or the Movement, the Jadeo and even the great Nathan Ryder will be buried, forgotten, and not have mattered at all.”
79
“May I have the Jadeo back?” I asked.
“No.”
“It belongs to me.” My fists clenched.
He raised an eyebrow.
“It’s been entrusted to me,” I corrected.
“By who?”
“My dad.”
“Are you sure?”
“You know he meant it for Dustin?” I looked at him and answered my own question. “Of course you do. So, what? Are you going to save it for Dustin?”
“No, your father was mistaken. Dustin is in no condition to handle the Jadeo in this lifetime. His soul-wisdom is astonishingly deep, but his personality is desperately damaged. No, it is yours to carry and protect. I will return it to you after you return from Washington.”
“Washington?” I choked.
“You need to speak with Storch one more time, once the tape is released.”
“That’s way too dangerous.”
“You’ll be in a portal.”
“Who is Storch? This isn’t my first lifetime dealing with this monster. But for some reason, I can’t figure it out.”
“Maybe you’ll remember tomorrow. You’ll go late in the day. There’s a portal in the mountains that will take you to Crater Lake. From there you’ll use the Wizard Island portal to reach his office.”
“A regular subway system, these portals.”
He smiled.
“I’ll go if you say I must, but tell me why.”
He didn’t answer.
“Spencer, where’d you go?”
“The truth is Nate, I don’t know why you have to go, just that it’s important.”
“Really? I’m in Cuba right now. You want me to jump into a portal that will wormhole me to Oregon, where I’ll get into another portal to my archenemy’s private office, in a building filled with thousands of trained agents who have orders to kill me... and you don’t know why?”
He shook his head.
“Come on, Spencer. Where does this stuff come from? Is someone giving you these orders?”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? Someone I could scream at and blame. You have me, Nate, but I don’t get a face. I’m floating out there in the universe, trying to collect all the bits of light and fragments of energy and stitch the whole mess into something that makes sense.”
“I thought the universe was perfection.”
“It is, Nate. It is... but we humans aren’t, and it’s so bloody big. It’s everything, and I ache trying to grasp even a corner of it. Try putting the ocean into one of your Coke bottles, now imagine the water is boiling, and the bottle has holes, and a thousand people are chasing you with guns! That will give you a hint of the enormity of it.”
“Thank you for finally understanding how I feel.”
He looked at me and started to laugh. “Yeah, you do, don’t you?”
“On the good days.” I laughed, too.
“Will you go?”
“I really need to?”
“Yes.”
“Do we really need something more incriminating on this guy?”
“I don’t think it’s about that.”
“All right, we’ll find out.” I ran my hands through my hair and let out a long, exaggerated moan. But in truth, the prospect kind of excited me. I was tired of running and more interested in connecting the pieces. It was the only way it was ever going to end. And, after seeing Kyle in the light, dying just didn’t worry me anymore. “You have more explaining to do,” I said.
“Let’s not discuss Rose right now,” he said, reading my mind. Spencer had lost weight and his normally sparkling turquoise eyes were faded.
“Did you know she was alive? Helping Lightyear? Is she the betrayer from the original nine?” I asked.
“I don’t even know who all the original nine are.”
“How can you not know, after all these centuries?”
“That was your dad’s thing. He wanted to know who they all were, but his list doesn’t matter because one name can represent the soul of many multiple incarnations—Kyle is Curry, you as another name, etc. You’re obviously one of the nine, and yet your name doesn’t appear on the list. Your dad didn’t know.”
“My dad knows now. Why isn’t he helping?”
“He helps. You’re not able to see that yet, but you will. But forget about the list and forget about Rose.”
“The list is an urgent matter because the betrayer likely knew of this future and left ways to help himself, or herself, too. And if Rose was one of the original nine, then her power is even greater than we think, and her betrayal even more dangerous.”
“Anything is possible, Nate.”
“I don’t understand how you can let this go so easily. How can you still be surprised by the future?”
“There is no limit to what a soul can see, but there is a limit as to how close a personality can get to its soul... and I don’t know where that point is. But, damn it, Nate, I don’t know everything and neither do you.”
“My soul does.”
He took a deep breath, put his forehead in his hand and then spoke quietly. “There are good people dying and good people such as Baca, Kirby, Amparo, and many othe
rs you haven’t met who are subject to interrogation, imprisonment, and torture. I understand you’ve died and been beaten up pretty bad, but I sure wish you’d finish growing up.” He stood, gave me a weary, loving look and then walked away.
On the way back to the house, I ran into Amber and explained what happened. It was hot; we moved to the grassy shade of some palms and sat soaking up the view. I felt isolated in Cuba, safe.
“Going to see Storch is crazy.” She broke the silence. “Spencer is just trying to put you into a position to use violence. What if Storch has a gun in his desk or a button that summons armed security? You’ll be all alone... I’ll come with you.”
“No.”
Amber climbed on top of me and suddenly we were kissing, rolling in the grass. Lightyear and Storch were gone. The Jadeo meant nothing. Everything that mattered was inside of Amber, and that’s where I wanted to be. The balmy sea air played with her perfumed hair as I surrendered to the velvet feel of her perfect skin. The bikini top gave no resistance while my other hand explored an area of which, before that moment, I’d only dreamt. Amber’s mouth was like swimming in the smooth water of Clarity Lake; wonders swirled in my mind. Suddenly a shadow passed my closed eyes. It took a second to focus on the figure standing there.
Linh was already running away when I pushed Amber off. She forgot to Skyclimb or I never would have caught up, or maybe she wanted me to catch her. “Linh, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? Because you want her? Who wouldn’t? She’s a Barbie doll, a new age princess.”
“No. I mean... ”
“It’s okay, Nate. You never promised me anything more than friendship.”
“Linh.” I hugged her. She shoved me away hard. Tears ran angry across her glaring look.
“Leave me alone.” This time I didn’t follow.
I ran back to find Amber and met her at the steps to the veranda. Before I could say anything, she asked. “Is Linh okay?”
“She’s mad.”
“A couple of lessons for you because I know all this girl stuff is new to you.” Her tone and look were surprisingly stern. “One, Linh is not mad, she’s hurt. Two, when you’re making out with a girl, never, ever toss her off like she’s a used piece of gum.” Amber turned and walked deliberately up the stairs, then disappeared into the house. I needed lesson number three: do I follow her or not? I sat on the bottom step and let the sun heat the cold out of me. Then I stared at the ocean, searching for the answers Spencer saw out there, looking for anything at all that made sense.