by Brandt Legg
“Life’s too short. And you’ve changed anyway.”
“So have you.”
“Yeah, hard roads.”
“Hard to believe how hard,” I said, as Spencer and Yangchen caught up to us.
“Dunaway.” Spencer nodded. “Decided to come over to the dark side?”
“Giving it a shot.”
“Thank you,” Yangchen said. “We need you.”
“You have no idea how much,” I said. “We’ve come from Outin. It’s still safe. But I made a discovery in Clarity Lake that changes things.”
Lee Duncan ran up. “Nate, you’ve got to get out of here!”
“Lee, what are you talking about?” Spencer asked.
“We’ve just received word that Omnia is nearing complete extermination of Nate.”
“What does that mean?” Linh asked.
“Omnia has wiped out his past lives.”
“That would take forever,” Spencer said, “it can’t be done.”
“Actually, if they knock out the right few hundred,” Yangchen said. “The odds of finding that exact formula is off the charts but . . .”
“They may not have it completely figured out, it may be part luck, they seem to be hitting every life he’s had with multiple mystic encounters.”
“Come on, Lee, you know we all encounter mystics in our lives, whether we know it or not,” Spencer said.
“Sure, but I’m talking about mystics connected to this life.”
“Look, Lee, what are you saying?”
“They have a way to track you. If you stay here any longer they’ll find us all and finish off what’s left of the Movement.”
Hundreds of Movement members were there seeking refuge. They were the final hope of our cause could all be wiped out because of my presence. If I was a real leader, I could not stay.
“Even if he runs,” Yangchen said, “if they complete the formula, they will erase Nate’s entire lifetime even before it happens.”
“There’s a bigger problem,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
“Devin Moore, the leader of Omnia and Kevin Morrison, the last name on the list of the entrusted nine . . . are the same person.”
Spencer went white. Linh closed her eyes.
“How?” Yangchen gasped.
“Somewhere in the translation, a mix-up occurred. It’s impossible to know if it was from the woman who gave Dustin the message or from Dustin to my dad or how my dad received it, maybe even before all of that. The point is that the message should have been the eight loyal names and then the betrayer, ‘Devin Moore’s the one’ not ‘Kevin Morr-i-son,’ so –”
“So all of this has been about the Jadeo,” Spencer finished.
“My god,” Lee said, “That bastard has killed all those people, and . . . and ruined the world all to get his hands on –”
“This,” I said, holding up the tiny jade-encrusted gold box.
“Open it,” Yangchen said.
“No!” Spencer, Lee and even Linh yelled in unison.
“He’ll know if you destroy it,” Yangchen said. “We can end this.”
“But it won’t end,” I said. “In his efforts to find the Jadeo, he has accumulated all the material powers of earth and a huge amount of soul powers. He won’t give that up if the Jadeo is destroyed.”
“We can’t just take it all from him,” Lee said.
“I think we can,” I said. “I’m going to see him.”
76
After much discussion, everyone agreed it might be our last hope. The final hours before my departure were spent using our remaining resources and considerable powers to locate Devin Moore. The search quickly narrowed to Manhattan, but we needed specifics.
I fell into an Outview, or rather felt pushed into one. The sensation was new and I suspected it had something to do with the Dark Mystic. The Outview showed me a future in which I discussed this lifetime with a group of students. It was optimistic but provided chilling details about this life that I decided not to share with anyone.
Dunaway would be the only person going with me to meet Devin Moore. There were long debates about whether Lee and Spencer should also go, or if Linh, with her considerable powers, could help; but in the end those options were deemed too risky, and I won the argument. It would obviously be insane to take the Jadeo with me. Instead I found a place to hide it which I believed would ensure its protection in any event.
Linh and I walked alone in the woods while we were waiting word, and we stopped at a clearing where a million stars illustrated my feelings.
“The sky is dazzling here,” she said.
“Have you ever astral-traveled to the stars?”
“No. Have you?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty incredible. There are planets out there of such beauty it’s almost too much to take . . . We should meet out there sometime.”
“I’d like that,” she said. “What about past lifetimes on other planets?”
“There are billions of earthlike planets within the Milky Way alone.” I said. “We obviously don’t just have lifetimes on earth.”
“How many other planets have you been to?”
“Dozens that I can recall.”
“All through Outviews?”
“Outviews and the astral.”
“I wish everyone could see beyond this one lifetime . . . it’s not even a blink.”
“The Dark Mystic said there’s a portal on earth that leads to a wormhole in space which allows you to physically visit millions of inhabited planets.”
“Will he show it to you?”
“He doesn’t know where it is.”
“Then how does he know it exists?”
“He went through it once but it is constantly moving depending on the ripples of the multiverse. It took him almost twenty years to return to earth. What happened on the journey home is the reason he is more advanced than all the other mystics combined.”
“What happened?”
“He’s only told me a few things.” I gently took Linh’s hand. “There are places in space, like the lakes of Outin, only they are whole vast regions that depict every conceivable alternate reality. The Dark Mystic says ‘Everything is real somewhere.’ In those psychedelic areas of the universe he experimented with powers and within that solitude actually touched his soul.”
“Wow.”
“Once he made it back, he realized how limiting earth could be. That was maybe eighty years ago. He has searched for the Milky Way portal ever since.”
“How?”
“Much of his time has been traveling through Outviews and other dimensions trying to coordinate and return to the exact place and time when he discovered it the first time. He also said there are portals leading to other galaxies.”
“Portals on earth?”
“Yes. He believes there are hundreds, but he didn’t say anything else about them.”
“Isn’t he powerful enough to travel anywhere on the astral?’
“Yes, but not physically . . . yet.”
“You’ve changed.”
“I was there eleven years. He took me beyond everything I knew. That’s how I could finally get through to Dunaway.”
“Will it be enough for you to beat Devin Moore?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“Rebuild the Movement.”
“Do you really believe that ridding the world of Devin Moore will change anything?”
“Everything can change in an instant.” A deer wandered on the edge of the clearing, nibbling leaves.
“Nate, I’ve seen it.” She looked at me closely.
I understood that she understood. Linh meant the future. We both knew it was too soon to talk about it.
“Linh, if I succeed with Devin Moore, I’ll admit the aftermath is going to be a very difficult time. I’ve seen it, too . . . The Movement will have to walk a tightrope,” I said gazing off into the silhouetted trees.
“The Clastier pa
pers must be published,” she said.
I nodded. They were being prepared at that very moment. The Air-Projection would also happen the night after my meeting with Devin Moore. Carst and Omnia documents would be revealed to the world. If all went according to plan, we would avoid the mistake that we made when we revealed Lightyear’s crimes. This time there would be no cover-up and the Movement would fill the void. Clastier’s understanding of, and easy way of explaining, our connection to the universe and our souls would be key in educating the population.
I told Linh that the Old Man of the Lake once said, “Half the energy is moving toward awakening and the other half is moving toward GMO, fast food, TV and plastic.” And then he asked the question we’re all still unsure of, “Which half will win?”
I knew from the Dark Mystic that all sides of one’s self, all the factions of the Movement, all the labels we’ve lived under, the identities of mankind – borders, religions, races, etc. – would have to melt into one before we could see real change. And that time had never been closer. The foundation of the old way was Omnia. If Dunaway and I could remove that foundation, then the remaining pillars would soon fall.
Spencer found us. “They’re ready.”
“What are our odds of success?” I asked.
“With Devin Moore? The odds are in your favor.”
“And with the rest of it?”
“That will depend on how good the leadership of the Movement is in the days and weeks that follow.”
77
Everyone knew that Dunaway and I might not make it back, but goodbyes had been too frequent and we were short on time, so we kept the farewells light and easy. Still, I lingered with Linh as long as possible, whispered into her ear, then kissed her.
Devin Moore dressed like a banker but looked like a leading man, ruggedly handsome, confident, steely-eyed. He stepped onto the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue. His chauffeur attentively opened the back door to his limousine. I Atomized into the back seat next to Moore while the chauffeur walked around and got in the front. Dunaway appeared and pushed the chauffeur across the seat, holding him down with Gogen.
“You’re a dead man, Ryder,” were Moore’s first words, but a hint of fear in his face belied the bravado. He could feel me weakening his powers but his strength was greater than I’d anticipated.
“We don’t need to duel,” I said. “I have something you’ve been looking for.”
“Where is it?”
Dunaway held up the replica I’d formed using Airgon and other techniques learned from Flannery and the Dark Mystic. Then Dunaway pushed a button and the screen closed between us and the driver.
“You’re a fool.” His jaw clenched. “Where are we going?”
“Just over to the park. I thought we could take a walk.”
“Perfect.”
Dunaway turned off Fifth Avenue onto East 68th, then took a left onto Madison Avenue.
“I never imagined you would actually bring it to me.” A movie-star smile lit his face. “Our little surge has completely decimated your silly Movement, so it’s a little late to surrender. Still, in exchange for the Jadeo, I might allow you to live . . . in prison, of course, but, maybe not Carst. We might be able to arrange a comfortable maximum security cell for you here in this dimension.”
“Thank you for being so reasonable.”
“I’m not an idiot, Ryder. You had something else in mind, didn’t you? Amnesty for Linh? My agreement not to execute Spencer and Yangchen? You must know those are not easy things for me to grant. Oh, wait, you want even more. Safe passage for you and your friends to a distant dimension . . .”
“What are you going to do with the Jadeo?”
“Are you serious? I’ve spent the better part of a millennium and hundreds of lifetimes trying to wrestle it from you and the others in order to open it.”
Dunaway turned left onto 79th Street; we’d be in the park in a few minutes.
“I assumed you weren’t just going to stick it in a glass case. I mean once you open it . . .”
“I’ll rule the world, Ryder. What did you think?”
“Don’t you already rule the world?”
“You know it’s not the same.”
“I don’t understand greed like yours. You have everything . . . everything and yet you want more.”
“Of course you don’t understand, Ryder. None of you do. It’s one thing to have everything in the material world, but that was never my goal. It was a simple by-product of my quest to obtain the Jadeo . . . I want everything in the spiritual world and only one thing can give me that . . . the Jadeo.”
Dunaway stopped the limousine in front of Belvedere Castle. The entire time we’d been talking, I’d been collecting Airgon from him and now understood that the mix-up in names had not been our fault. Moore had used powers to conceal his identity from the eight loyal entrusted. Once the Movement formed, he had even more reason to hide. All his filters confused the information and messengers. Airgon also showed the extent of his powers. I had the advantage, but just barely.
Dunaway got out and ran toward the castle. Moore jerked around swinging a laser pistol. Before he could connect or fire, I Atomized out of the car and locked him in with Gogen, so he wouldn’t think we wanted him to follow us. It didn’t take him long to escape and as soon as he and the chauffeur were clear, I blew up the limo so he would think assassination had been my purpose all along.
He Skyclimbed behind us and flew into the portal with only one thing on his mind, getting the Jadeo, which was finally within his reach. In no time we were at Wizard Island and into another portal. Catching someone in a portal was nearly impossible. He’d have to wait until we were out. And that came fast as we emerged atop the dried lava of Kilauea. Everything hinged on the fact that he’d never been there before.
“Where are you going to run now?” he asked, conjuring a whirling, strangling wind around Dunaway. There was less than a minute before this duel would get out of hand. I used Airgon from Moore to infuse Solteer visions. Dunaway simultaneously weakened Moore’s powers enough to slip from the spiral. Moore brought sheets of ice down, possibly to block what he expected might be our next move with the lava. Instead, I pushed all my energy into sending the Airgon-Solteer at him.
It worked. He Skyclimbed after what appeared to be Dunaway diving into a portal. Moore flew after in pursuit of the Jadeo and vanished.
“Are we safe?” the real Dunaway asked, coming out of the Timefold.
“That’s a tough question to answer, isn’t it?” I said. “But since Devin Moore, leader of Omnia, aka Kevin Morrison, betrayer of the nine entrusted just entered the portal-of-no-return, I’d say the Movement’s prospects have improved considerably.”
78
I’d used Airgon from when Dunaway had actually possessed the Jadeo to make the Solteer that fooled Moore into seeing the gold box he’d sought for centuries. Even if Moore hadn’t been fanatically obsessed, he could not have discerned reality from the vision.
“We cut the head off the snake,” Spencer said. With Moore gone, the force behind Omnia was limited to material power. The chaos that ensued within its ranks, muddled with egos, yes-men and conflicting agendas, played perfectly into the ready hands of the Movement.
The Air-Projection went flawlessly, the world could finally see just what Omnia had done, with their repressive systems, economic models, cycles of wars and horrific prisons. Their mystics saw the horrific errors they had made. Within days the Movement used our members inside the government, law enforcement and military to begin the long process of rooting out and arresting Omnia loyalists. Carst was liberated, but millions had perished and millions more would never recover mentally. Reform would take years. True change could happen in an instant, but in this case, an instant might be decades.
On the fourth day we received word of a counter-revolution. The military had fallen back into the hands of former Omnia allies, members of the wealthy elite who feared the Movement’s radical proposals.
“This could get messy awfully fast,” Spencer said. “They still have mystics and worse, they have nuclear weapons.”
“They won’t use them,” Linh said.
“Anything is possible.”
“Our sources say they have a hit list. You, Linh, Yangchen, Dunaway, Lee, Dustin and me.”
“I think we should split up for a few days until we can get this back under control.”
“Is the Jadeo safe?” Spencer asked.
“Very.” I patted my jacket over my heart.
We made contingency plans, meeting places and contact codes. Omnia rolled tanks into many cities, at the same time shutting down Internet and electrical service in most areas.
“I want to go with you,” Linh said at our farewell.
“You know that’s not a good idea,” I touched her face softly. “We already agreed that everyone separates. It won’t be long.”
“I don’t care.” Over the years she’d perfected the ability to hold back tears, but not now.
“It’s going to be fine,” I said.
“What does that even mean anymore?”
“I love you . . . that means everything to me.”
“Me too.” We embraced until our souls connected, both knowing unspoken things that the other knew.
As was typical, no one saw or heard the drone. And in spite of all precautions, physical and otherwise, the payload hit its target. There were six of us in the house; fortunately Linh and Spencer were thousands of miles away. The homes on either side were also blown apart, killing eight innocents, five of whom were children. It was an impossible thing to experience – the simultaneous roar of the missile hitting, then detonating, screams, glass shattering, wood shredding, bricks and debris flying, the blinding flash, my ripped and shrieking face, sudden darkness – all in a prolonged, never-ending instant . . . and then there was my dad, glowing in the golden light.
“This time it’s time, isn’t it?” I asked.
He nodded, somber, but then smiled broadly, like he used to when I did something to make him proud. “You did well.”