by JD Lovil
******
25 The Seed of Creation
Someone was talking way too loudly, and it seemed like it was just outside the door. Tom squinted a bit after he opened his eyes, upset that he had been awakened, and determined to triangulate on the source of the interruption, possibly to deliver a terminal message. The problem was that he still heard the voices, but they didn’t seem to belong to anyone he knew, and they seemed to originate right here in this room. Karla was still sleeping, so apparently she was less sensitive to the voices than he was.
Tom eased out of the bed, and slowly moved about the room. He noticed that the voices were loudest about five feet to the North of the head of the bed. Moving anywhere in the room away from that spot would diminish the volume. He could not make out what the voices were saying, not because they weren’t clear enough, but because the language they were speaking in wasn’t English, although it sounded so much like English that Tom could not quite stop trying to understand it better.
Karla had awoken while he was traipsing around the bedroom like a crazy person, and she was giving him a quizzical look. When he explained what he was doing, she listened carefully, and then she told him that she couldn’t hear the voices. She suggested that today of all days was probably not the best day to go nuts, and that since it was 10:45, it was time to go get some coffee, and a good breakfast, and a smoke. He agreed, and they left the room to get those things.
They arrived in the kitchen and found that others in the group had a similar plan, and had initiated it sooner. Vera and Veritasia were busy making pancakes, with sausage on the side. Markus had created a pot of coffee, and a bunch of sleep-hungry people were standing in the way, waiting for the food to be ready. Everyone was there, except for the Sorcerer, who was sitting in the parlor reading the newspaper again. Tom had the stray thought that someone should introduce him to the internet. That person should not be Tom.
Tom got a cup of the coffee, and then he wandered into the parlor to wait for the food to be ready. He sat down in a stuffed chair near to the Sorcerer, and then he just stared at him steadily while he waited. It took a couple of minutes, but soon the Sorcerer was nervously glancing up from the newspaper every few seconds to see if Tom was still staring. Tom wasn’t sure why, but he rather enjoyed putting people like the Sorcerer (whom he actually liked) in an uncomfortable state of mind. It was sort of a cat playing with a mouse type of game.
Karla wandered into the parlor, carrying a plate of pancakes and sausages for them both. Tom stopped staring at the Sorcerer to smile at her, and because he suspected that her nurturing nature would be upset with such minor cruelty. Reflecting on that made him smile a bit inwardly, since as a female, she was naturally capable of much more cruel games, and she would look good doing it.
As soon as everyone had loaded their plates, they all crowded into the parlor with their food. The Sorcerer sighed as he set his newspaper aside, convinced at last that there was no further possibility of reading the newspaper in peace this morning. The half of the crowd that was going to attend the planting of the Seed today was half excited and half anxious about the prospects. The other half was semi-bored.
The roster of those who would be going to the Place of Beginnings after noon this day was the Seer, Tom, Tyr, Karla, Heimdall, Veritasia and Arpad. Cernunnos, Vera, Charlie, Markus, the Sorcerer, the Sage and the Herald would be sitting this one out. Neither option seemed to Tom to be a desirable one. It really should be all going or none going, but that was way too many.
The group ate their fill, and drank their coffee, and talked about silly little inconsequential things, and even about important things, occasionally. Tom even got to play two games of pool with Charlie, who was much better at the game than he looked. In one of the games, it took Tom three turns to win, because Charlie had a nasty habit of putting Tom’s cue ball in a snooker position when he missed.
Eventually, it was 1:00 PM, and Tom and Karla went back to the bedroom to prepare for the trip. They dressed in what was essentially hiking garb, and Tom wore the 44 caliber revolver on his right, and strapped the Claymore on the left. Karla had a blade that was either a long knife or a short sword, but for the most part, she was just going to be the custodian of the Seed of Creation. It was currently inside a brown knapsack that she would be taking with her.
Tom made the mistake of focusing on her very green eyes for an instant too long, and then he was forced by the onset of the hormonal addiction to engage in a lengthy process of attempting to explore her oral cavity with his tongue, while tactilely mapping the topography of her lips. This process was finally discontinued by the need to breathe.
The pair made their way out of the bedroom and back to the parlor, where the rest of the expeditionary party was already present. The two Asgardians were in their traditional leather and plate, and were carrying swords, and in Tyr’s case, his silvery spear. Veritasia and Arpad were decked out with Glocks, AK-47s, swords and in Arpad’s case, his Duda.
Tom stood with his left side away from the Sage, still unconsciously trying to hide the theft of the Claymore from its rightful owner. So it was that he was more than a little irritated when the Sage came up to him and expressed satisfaction that he had it handy for the trip.
“What the hell do you mean?” Tom yelled. “Aren’t you pissed that I ripped off your sword?”
“No, I planned to give it to you anyway.” The Sage responded. “You just beat me to it.”
“It takes all of the fun out of crime, when the asshole you rip off doesn’t mind.” Tom admitted palely.
“Luck of the draw. That’s why I stay mostly legit, outside of the occasional bogus reading.” The Sage admitted. “Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t tell fortunes. If you can see the future, it is invariably the sort of thing the rube doesn’t want to know about. Make up the reading, no matter what you see!”
“I’m pretty sure that is your shit, and not mine, but thanks.” Tom moved off to see if he could find some more interesting company to talk to. The Sage had started to spout more bullshit in response to whatever he was responding to, and so Tom left quietly enough that he had the gratifying sight of the Sage standing and waxing eloquent all by himself. He talked for a full minute before realizing that Tom was no longer present.
Tom found himself back in the presence of Karla and the rest of the away team, quietly discussing a montage of subjects relating to the Healing. The only one of the team that was missing was the Seer, and he came over while they were talking to tell them that they were nearly ready to depart.
They all gathered in front of the hallway double doors, and the Seer raised his staff, and the crowning crystal glowed in the now familiar manner. The doors flew open, and the swirling wormhole could now be seen beyond the brightness of its mouth. The Seer stepped into the light, and the rest of the team followed him.
In a moment they walked from the other mouth of the conduit into the Place of Beginnings. The sometimes Tree was still there, still strobing from energy to tree and back again. The group approached the Tree, and the Seer came to a stop in front of the Tree and turned to face them.
“We are come to plant the Seed of Creation.” Said the Seer. “Karla will place the Seed at my instruction, while the rest of you hold the resistance, in whatever form it may be, at bay.”
Tom, Arpad, Veritasia and Tyr formed a semicircle around the Seer and Karla, while Heimdall stood behind her as her Second. Everyone drew their weapons, or made them ready, and watched for signs of activity from the surroundings.
“Take out the Seed, and make it ready.” The Seer incanted. The Tree strobed faster as he said this. Karla took the Seed of Creation out of her knapsack, and the Seed seemed to throb with the same cadence as the Tree.
The Seed looked like nothing so much as a peach pit, if a peach pit was rounder and about the size of a football. If one got away from the whole peach pit/almond analogy, it resembled a football in any non-seed description. When you looked at it, you came away with the c
onviction that it was a living thing, and powerful.
Karla cradled the Seed in her arms, and waited for the next event or instruction. She did not have long to wait. All around the group, a mist or fog suddenly appeared, and within the depths of the fog, strange groans and growls could be heard.
“Defense, focus your power upon the fog, and will it to be contained.” The Seer said. “Karla, when I show you the place and time, place the Seed carefully at the point I indicate on the Tree.”
The four in the semicircle began to focus in a meditative state upon the fog, visualizing an invisible shield holding it and what it contained at bay. Heimdall drew his broadsword, and put his back to Karla’s, watching the periphery of the scene.
A tentacle whipped out of the fog bank, and slithered close to the group. Tom stepped forward, and used the Claymore to cut the limb in two. A growling scream rose from the fog, as the stump withdrew. A moment later, several more emerged from the fog, and all of the defenders were busy hacking away at them. For a while it was active, but none of the tentacles ever really got that close to Karla. Heimdall did not have any opportunity to use his sword.
“Place the Seed there, now!” The Seer said as he pointed at a point about fourteen inches above the ground slightly to the right of the center of the Tree, or the glowing Orb that it was at that second. As soon as he said that, Karla placed the Seed at the place in the flaring energy ball that he had specified. The light flared up several times brighter, before resolving itself back into the image of a tree.
The things in the fog went crazy as this occurred, whipping out of the fog to fall beneath the blades of the four. The feeling passed through Tom that he could deal with the resistance in a more direct way. He remembered the sensation that he felt when the Sorcerer gave him the telekinetic test, the focus and the connection he felt, and he duplicated it now. He focused on the fog, and on the things which moved within it, and he built up the power that swirled within his mind. When it was right, he let it uncoil from his mind, and strike deep within the fog.
As he struck, he felt the power flowing, and he felt the creatures dying, their moaning screams diminishing in the places beyond this place that he sent their remnants to. Finally, the resistance was gone from the Place of Beginnings, and Tom felt a delicious tiredness. The others all look a little bit spooked by the sudden end of the opposition. It did not matter. They were almost done here.
The Seed was gone, melded into the Tree, which already looked healthier. The leaves that it projected was greener and plumper, the branches seemed thicker. Karla and the Seer were standing close to the Tree, waiting for the company to be ready to depart.
“We are done here.” The Seer pronounced. “It is time for us to leave.”
Tom looked at his wristwatch, and was astounded to discover that about an hour and Forty-five minutes had passed for them in this place. Time to go indeed! Everyone gathered beside the Seer, who raised his staff without ceremony, and caused the staff to flare as he led them all back to the normal world.
Tom saw the familiar sight of the parlor as the light faded from around the expedition, as they exited the glowing wormhole mouth, and the hallway door swung shut behind them at the Seer’s behest. The rest of the people who didn’t go on the trip were in the parlor, awaiting the conquering Heroes’ return.
Tom and Karla immediately went over to the table where the perpetual daily newspaper always was, and they were even polite about the way they jostled the Sorcerer as they pawed through it for the divergent news of the day. Most particularly, they wanted to see if there were any changes in the policy about the current flood of Illegal Aliens.
They were surprised to learn that there had been no substantive changes to that policy. What they did discover was that the Congress had voted in favor of impeachment proceedings against the President, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General, and was set to defund the IRS and the EPA, and was currently engaged in discussions of how best to get rid of the Federal Reserve. Tom considered that a good start. None of it had been mentioned this morning in this same newspaper.
The Asgardians were not really interested in changes of history, so Heimdall and Tyr went out into the Courtyard to go a few rounds of swordplay practice. All of the native humans, the Sorcerer, the Sage and the Seer sat down to discuss the differences. Arpad was on a short leash with Veritasia, so he had to join the discussion as well.
There had been a few more historically pervasive changes in events as well. One such change was that the United States was much more firmly behind Israel in the world of politics than they were just yesterday. At the end of the Iraqi war, there had even been some conversation about turning the country over to the Israeli’s to administrate, under the idea that the Jewish state could use the oil revenue and the territory, and it would send a huge message to the Arab world about causing trouble. The last thing that any of the Arabs would want is to be the subjects of the Hebrew state.
The group spent a couple of hours discussing the differences that they found, which brought the evening to the midnight hour. Everyone knew that they should be getting to bed, as Vera would be reading the Book of Eternity tomorrow, but everybody was amped up right then, and there were still tidbits of important facts to uncover. Tom and Karla had no worries, as they would be able to drink beer and eat pizza all day.
As the discussion wore on, the Sorcerer started wearing a thoughtful face, which was similar to but distinguishable from his constipated face. At one point, he pulled the Sage and the Seer to one side, and the humans could see them as they held a heated but sub-rosa argument. After a few moments of that, the Seer got up and came over to the rest of them.
“The Sorcerer had a good idea.” The Seer said. “Before the end of this task, we will all be remembering different histories. The Sorcerer thinks that he can fix that.”
“How can he fix that unless we all go every time?” Karla asked. “I thought we all decided that was not practical.”
“True, but he can cast a spell that changes the quantum state.” Said the Seer. “He will link the quantum states of all of us, entangle them so that we all remember all of the histories, no matter where we are when they are changed or added.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Markus asked. “If one of us is killed, could the death be propagated to the rest of us?”
“No, he will cast it carefully. You might feel a twinge if one of you died, but it would not link the biological, just the consensus histories. It might enhance any telepathic link you establish between you, but that would be about it.”
“I will cast it so that it is extremely limited, but it cause you to remember all versions of the histories.” The Sorcerer said. “I will also limit it to our task, so that you do not keep remembering the old histories in the future as each of you changes your local world and its histories.”
“Keep in mind that you will all start having double memories after each expedition, so after a couple times it could be a little confusing.” The Seer added. “But the information from each history will be available to you, and after the task is completed, the other histories will start to fade in your memories, so that even though you will be able to remember them if you want to, they will not trouble and confuse you.”
A bit more of such repartee took place, at the end of which the agreement was reached to cast the spell. There was no time like the present, and the Sorcerer assured everyone that the primary work of the spell would be done while they slept. After that, he muttered certain strange sounds and turned into a shadow, and the other shadows of the room muttered in answer. The lights flickered in the room, and each of those present had the odd sensation of remembering two different things that they did during the day at the same time, but only for a couple of actions they took that day.
This sensation lasted only a few moments, and then they all experienced the normal sensations of being people that were long overdue for getting some sleep. One by one they drifted out of the parlor to find their
beds for the night. In the couple’s cases, maybe it was two by two.
******
26 The Book of Eternity
Another day had come around again. Tom cracked his eyelids just a smidgen, to be greeted with the welcome sight of bare Karla flesh inches away. It was perfect skin, not porcelain or alabaster, but with the hint of pink that comes from the Celtic blood, the same blood that was passed on to the Magyars, the wild tribes of the Steppes, and the Sumers before them. And to the Akkadians, who passed it to the Hebrews. It comes with the red hair, and it comes with a compulsion to touch it. Tom surrendered to the compulsion.
Tom noted with some delight that he and Karla had absolutely no obligations to fulfill for the day. They could loll about in bed until this time tomorrow if they wanted. They would certainly spend much of the day at the courtyard table drinking and eating the substances of their choice, and smoking to support their local big Tobacco Company.
They probably wouldn’t be getting a lot more sleep. All of this exploring of Karla’s skin had made him downright frisky, and she was responding in kind. He had the stray thought that breakfast would taste good about now, but the current activities were increasing in priority along with the blood pressures of the participants. Breakfast would have to wait for yet a few more minutes.
Markus woke to the sensation of being tangled in the underbrush of some lush jungle. He reached up and parted the vines in front of his face, which resolved themselves into the tight curls of Vera’s hair, which smelled faintly of some unknown flower. He reflected that he felt lucky to have this rather complex woman to practice living with. He could have done much worse, such as the womanless existence this body had when it only contained Mike.