Adventure to Destiny: The Unity Objective Series

by Sandra Golden

  Jennifer and Sophia had discovered a bakery and brought back some delicious breads and pastries. Sophia Fernandez worked for William and Jennifer as their house hold manager. She also was very skilled at making pastries. She and Jennifer had been friends since the day Sophia arrived at Jennifer’s home as a young exchange student. When Sophia returned to her home in Spain, after her year of studying English, the two women continued their friendship through long letters. Years later, when Sophia lost her family in a tragic land slide, Jennifer encouraged her friend to come to Hope Island. Sophia never regretted the move, she and Jennifer were the best of friends. The two women had enjoyed stopping at a little tea room for a snack. They then bought some homemade chocolates, a cake and two apple pies to take back with them, for everyone to enjoy on the trip. This got them out of baking the cookies they had promised Elijah and Mason. That evening they enjoyed one of the pies as they watched J.R work on his ham radio kit.

  Before going to their staterooms J.R. and Helaina showed off the trinkets they found on the sunken ship. Helaina found an old pocket watch, some beads and four silver tea cups with their saucers, and a china tea pot. The watch, she gave to her cousin, the tea set she gave to her grandparents, she kept the pretty beads for herself. J.R dumped his bag on the table, his treasures consisted of a few antique tools, some very odd looking, and a few old knives; the kind men kept with them when they hunted. He gave one to William, another to Mason, and kept two for himself. He also had some leather bags that looked like they had been created to hold gold coins, unfortunately they were empty. Everyone was exhausted from their adventures that day so they retired early. Except for Mason, it was his turn to keep watch on deck that night, making sure they stayed on course. To pass the time he played video games on the computer, then later he raided the kitchen for a few of those pastries. He was thankful that Miss Jennifer and Sophia had brought them back with them, because he had a tremendous sweet tooth. Mason really liked Sophia and wanted to ask her out, but that would have to wait when they returned to Hope Island.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE SEA LAB

  Around three in the morning the Unity One reached her destination. Mason stopped the engines and put down anchor, then took a nap, while he waited for everyone to wake up. The first thing J.R and Helaina noticed when they woke up was that they had stopped moving. Excited to know where grandfather brought them, they dressed quickly and went on deck. They discovered that they were anchored in the middle of the Pacific; there was no island, no port, and no nothing. There was nothing around them but blue water. They were confused.

  “Where do you think we are?” Helaina asked her cousin.

  “In the middle of the ocean.”

  “That I know nem rod.”

  “Don’t call me names.”

  “Sorry, do you think we are going diving again?”

  “Don’t know,” J.R curtly remarked back.

  “OK. Why are you mad at me?” Helaina demanded, crossing her arms and giving him a look of frustration.

  “I'm not mad!”

  "Yes you are!”

  “Alright, I am mad! Because I am wondering just what else you can do. What other super powers do you have?” J.R yelled back at his cousin.

  “I don't have super powers! You idiot! I just can communicate with creatures. You have seen me do it thousands of times, so what's the problem?

  “I saw you talk to animals but I have never seen you communicate with anything like the way you did with those sharks! That is completely different.”

  Just then William and Jennifer joined them on the railing. Jennifer sensed that something was very wrong because all of a sudden the kids became quiet. Even going so far as to give each other dirty looks and turning their backs to each other.

  “What going on here?” Jennifer asked as she glanced back and forth between the two kids.

  “Nothing!” they said rather harshly.

  “Why did we stop here? There’s nothing here,” J.R asked William.

  “There is something very important here, something that Unity has been working on. We want to show you some of the things we are doing, so you understand what Unity Corporation, and our family are working for.”

  Jennifer handed the kids each a back pack and told them to go pack some clothes, because they would be gone from the Unity One for two days. But before they ran off to pack the kids had a few more questions.

  “Grandma, can I bring Peanut with us.”

  “Not this time, Sophia will take good care of her, I promise.”

  “Are you coming with us?”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world, besides it will be nice to visit with an old friend,” said Jennifer, before asking a question of her own, “Do you know why your parents let us have you for the rest of the summer?”

  “Because they want us to begin learning about what Unity does, and because they know we love spending time with you, because you spoil us.”

  Jennifer and William laughed at J.R’s insight.

  “Are we taking the submersible?” J.R wanted to know.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Who gets to drive it? Mason or Elijah?”

  “Neither. They are staying aboard the yacht. Your grandma will be piloting the submersible.”

  Now for any other person having your grandmother pilot a submersible would be quite unusual, but for J.R and Helaina being unusual was a normal fact of life with their family. Take Helaina’s Grandma Jennifer for instance. Not only was she William Unity’s wife, and mother to David, Rebecca, and Connie, she was also a teacher (actually a professor of English Literature), and a life-long student. She quit teaching when her children came along but when she was not busy with the family she learned how to pilot a small air-craft, a submersible, and even a hot air balloon. She also learned to speak several languages, and master several culinary cuisines to the delight of her family and friends. But what amazed everyone was that she learned all this on her own, not taking a single class, and passing all of the certifying test with high scores. The Unity family was unusual to say the least. Right now Jennifer Unity was playing the role of Grandmother, a role she enjoyed the most.

  “Go and pack your bag. Helaina don’t try to sneak Peanut in your bags. The pressure under the ocean would be too much for a little animal, it could kill her.”

  “Yes grandma, let’s have pancakes and bacon for breakfast.”

  “Sure meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes and you can help me make the pancakes, now hurry along dear.”

  Both kids went hurrying down the stairs, in 15 minutes they were back in the kitchen eating pancakes with Mason, Sophia and Elijah, William and Jennifer. Still neither one of them was talking to the other. While sitting at the kitchen counter Helaina put on make-up and gave instruction to Sophia about taking care of little Peanut while she put dishes in the dishwasher. J.R, avoiding any eye contact with Helaina, discussed the workings of the submersible. While down in Mason’s shop yesterday, J.R had gotten hold of the little sub’s operating manual and looked at its blue prints. He wanted to see inside the engine compartment but Mason wouldn’t unlock it for him. Mason then sent him upstairs before the boy decided to get into his tool locker.

  As the little group ate their pancakes and bacon, thirty-five hundred miles away another meeting was taking place. The same two men, who had met Jack Webber at the Washington airport to retrieve the little pink Dream Diary, were now about to deliver that very same book to a United States Senator. A Senator who didn’t trust the Unity Corporation and wanted to prove they had something to hide. His main objective in life, at the moment, was to take the Unity Corporation down. Just like they tried to do to him. Senator Doug Webster was a man, who didn’t like secrets, even though he had many of his own. Doug Webster was 45 years of age, 5 foot 9, very muscular due to the many hours of weight lifting at one of the gyms he owned. He was single by choice, not wanting to share his life with anyone who could get in his way. He had big plans for his life and didn
't want a wife or kids to hold him back. This didn’t stop him from using the women who were attracted to his good looks and his money. He began his career as a small-town lawyer, dealing with business disputes and bankruptcy in a bad economy. He turned to scooping up businesses that were failing for little money, then turning around and making them successful, by eliminating the completion; sometimes in a not so legal way. He liked using strong arm tactics and a small army of muscle men to do his dirty work. He tried once to take over a small company, one that belonged to the Unity Corporation, but lost the fight, losing half his wealth in the processes. Now he wanted payback. He had hired the best detectives to find something on the family, something he could use to uncover their weakness, and use it to his advantage. Maybe this little pink book, from one of the younger members of the family, was just what he needed. He knew teen-age girls were known for revealing all their secrets and that of their families and friends in little journals all the time. And he was hoping that was exactly what Helaina Unity did. Soon after the two hired men left, Senator Webster began reading, and researching the material that was given him.

  Back in the Pacific Ocean the family was now in the submersible, Jennifer at the controls, William as her co-pilot. J.R and Helaina watched out the windows as they traveled deeper into the Pacific. Still neither one of them would speak to the other. They watched as giant jelly fish swim down to the sandy ocean floor. The family traveled for two hours. J.R and Helaina made a game at seeing who could identify the most fish, communicating through their frustrated grandparent who couldn't figure out why they were not talking. They saw a school of orange Garibaldi fish who had a clown like appearance and made them laugh. They also identified some Scorpion fish, Damselfish, Cardinal fish, and a large school of Coral Hawk fish. They were most excited to see two stingrays and a mother shark with a baby swimming alongside her. The deeper they got the less sea life they found, and soon they got bored. J.R found the little subs electrical schematics and studied them for a few minutes, then decided to get out his laptop. Helaina was busy taking photographs and asking her grandparents endless questions. Finally, William who was navigating, told the kids to watch out the forward window, they were about to come upon their destination.

  They watched. For twenty minutes the sub and its occupants traveled about ten feet above the ocean floor. It‘s darkness so dense nothing could be seen, the only light coming from the headlight of the little submersible. Jennifer and William navigated through the darkness using only their instruments, and experience, for they had visited this area many times. Now suddenly they came upon a cliff, they slipped over the edge into what was a deep valley. Jennifer depressurized the interior just a little more, and took the sub on a steep dive into the darkness. J.R and Helaina sat still watching, waiting for what was to come. Two minutes after initiating the dive Jennifer leveled out the sub. Seconds later, it was like a bright sun had descended into the ocean to light their way. The sub had traveled through a highly sophisticated motion detector, when the computer that operated the mechanism identified the sub; it turned on the lights to welcome the little band of sea explorers. The kids then saw it! Their final destination!

  There, on the bottom of the ocean canyon stood what looked like a large snow globe, with a large metal base. From the base extended metal pipes that penetrated the ocean floor. All this was encased in what looked like a large glass dome, in which swam a vast collection of fish.

  “J.R, Helaina, welcome to Sea Station One.”

  “That’s where we are going?”

  “Sure is.”

  “What is that place?” Helaina wanted to know.

  “That is a research station; they are trying to harness the planet’s thermal energy.”

  “You mean there are people down here,” J.R asked.

  “Sure, and they are very good friends of ours. Your Grandma went to college with one of the scientists.”

  J.R checked his computer then spoke up. “Granddad according to my calculations we are in a canyon between two of the earth’s Tectonic Plates. Couldn’t the two plates come together and destroy the research station?”

  “Very good young man, the plates haven’t moved more than one hundred millimeters in the last 300 years. But if, or when, the Tectonic Plates move, the Sea Station is capable of breaking free from the floor and moving to another location.”

  “This is what they call the Pacific Plate. It’s the outer rim of what they call “The Ring of Fire”, where a lot of volcanic activities takes place, below the ocean and above.”

  “Yes J.R that's right.” William said, not noticing J.R sticking his tongue out at his cousin and giving her a smug grin, satisfied he showed up the girl.

  “Grandma didn’t Mt. St. Helen erupt on May 18th, 1980? Was she part of the Ring of fire?” Helaina asked as she returned J.R's smug look with satisfaction.

  “Yes child she is, very good at remembering the date.”

  William continued, “That’s the energy that they are trying to harvest here, so the world can have an endless supply of energy, without polluting the atmosphere.”

  The conversation came to an end when they arrived at the dome. William radioed the Sea Station. A few minutes later a panel slid up and over to the top of the dome to allow them to enter. Within minutes the little sub made its way to the snow globe like structure and connected to its docking station, and they disembarked the submersible.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SEA STATION ONE

  LEARNING WHAT POWER THE EARTH HOLDS

  The small hatch was opened; William and Jennifer were helped out of the cramped space of the little submersible by the stations electronics and mechanical expert John Addison.

  “William, Jennifer, welcome back. Did you have any trouble with your new toy here? I will have to give her a good look over before you leave, I‘m dying to see what she has under her hood.”

  A boy’s head suddenly popped up through the hatch. Not expecting anyone else, John was surprised to see the new comer, and equally surprised to see a second head appear a few seconds later. This time it was a young girl who made her presence be known. It had been years since the Unity’s had brought anyone else with them. The last time someone came with them they brought David and Charlie, right after they had turned eighteen.

  “Now who do we have here?” John said as he assisted the two teens onto the platform.

  “I’m James Robert Black, but they just call me J.R., and this is my cousin Helaina Marie Unity.” J.R had took it upon himself to make the introductions.

  “Well I’ll be. I see you brought two very good looking young people to visit with us.” John Addison addressed William and Jennifer. “I will get your bags and take them to your cabins.”

  John then disappeared into the sub to retrieve the bags, and to investigate this new model which he had only read about. Like J.R, he couldn’t resist finding out how things worked. As John descended three people came through a door way. The women immediately giving the older couple a hug, the men shook hands and patted each other on the back, as good friends who haven’t seen each other in a while do.

  “Jenny it is so nice to see you again, you too William. Now who have you brought with you? A new generation already? And how’s Charlie and David?” Olivia Golden said all in one breathe.

  Jennifer Unity laughed and hugged her old friend again. “You haven’t changed a bit Olivia, Noah you look wonderful.”

  Looking over Noah’s shoulder stood a young man of about twenty, with a big smile on his face, and the deepest blue eyes imaginable. Jennifer approached him, giving him a big bear hug.

  “Samuel what a handsome young man you turned out to be, congratulations by the way, your parents told me you completed your studies, and have received your doctorate degree.” From her bag, she pulled out a present for Samuel. “I remembered how much you love Swiss Chocolates, that’s the biggest box I could find.”

  Samuel returned her hug with enthusiasm. “Thank you Aunt Jen, have you gotten ti
red of Uncle William being home all the time, since his retirement,” he laughed.

  J.R and Helaina, who had quietly stood next to the sub, now came and stood next to their grandparents. William put his hand on Helaina’s shoulder, to reassure her, because she could become quite shy when around strangers. After she got to know someone she became her normal talkative self.

  Olivia Golden was a woman of about sixty years of age, she had the same blue eyes as her youngest son Sam, and the same thick curly blond hair. She smiled as she approached Helaina. The young girl and woman stood eye to eye, they were the same exact height. Noticing that the girl was a bit uneasy, she made it her mission to make the girl comfortable and welcomed. Putting her arm around the girl, Olivia gave Helaina a reassuring hug,

  “Jenny please tell me who this beautiful young lady is. We are so glad that you brought her and this very handsome young man for a visit?”

  “This is my very smart, very beautiful, and talented granddaughter Helaina, and next to her is my very handsome and curious grandnephew J.R.”

  “Hey! I’m smart also.”

  Everyone laughed. “That you are my dear,” Jennifer responded. William then took over the introductions.

  “Helaina and J.R, I would like you to meet Noah and Olivia Golden, and their youngest son Samuel, who likes to be called Sam. Olivia is your grandmother’s second cousin and best friend from college.”

  In unison Helaina and J.R greeted their new friends. Helaina finding her voice asked, “We’re related to you?”

  “Helaina, our family is much bigger, and extends far greater, then you could possibly imagine,” her grandfather said.

  Helaina looked at the very handsome Sam. Boy, how she wished that she wasn’t related to him, she thought. Unfortunately for her J.R heard her thoughts and began teasing her, using Mind Speak of course. She blushed, and punched him on the arm. William hearing everything that they were saying gave J.R the, “You better behave look”, which stopped his teasing immediately.