Children of the Source (30 page)

     “I have his memories firmly planted.
  But you stayed with Motar.”

    “He was my brother in that life.
  I had the Sound Language then.  Not a happy experience fighting the war with Akenton and his minions.  I ...   How can I say
I
when they were other personalities?”

    I sipped my tea.   The hot citrus liquid tasted good to the
taste bud and the fragrant aroma filled the air.  “The histories of these other personalities are part of us.  Or at least available to us.  Not something I entirely understand.”

    “So, this Transition
with Laith, the supernova, and the knowledge of their origins with their Entities coming forward.  How does that evolve or
shake out
as you say?”  Severin leaned forward. 

     “Along with us,” I said.
  “It is all interwoven.  Once people understand through essence memories that they have been every race and social level they might think twice about racial and social superiority.”

    “How do you change from a society that bases itself on acquisition and making money to what we have in the Four Planet Federation?”
  Severin shook his head.  “This economic model has been in use for thousands of years in your system.”

     “Deliberately chosen by the Board of Regents for the human experiment from what I understand,”
  I said.  “It provides the best tool, opportunity, for spiritual growth - learning how to give and care - love.  I don’t know how you change that.  It’s so ingrained.  In some places because of the Earth changes and catastrophes there has been no choice but to allocate resources on basis of need.  That is a beginning.  But on a worldwide level, I don’t know.  We’ve used it successfully here in Cheshire.  Maybe you don’t change it, but modify it.”

     “Yes, but you’ve had the Four Planet Federation model in your essence memories.
  This is for all intents and purposes our outpost in your system.  Ninety percent of you have had lives on Adora and with the Four Planet Federation.”  Severin cleared his throat, stood and walked around the room, excited at the prospect of the future. 

    “The  change has to be done in a gradual  way ... ”

     “Arranged by the Board of Regents?”  Severin said.

    “In collaboration with our friend the Earth,” I said.
  “The Entity/Soul experiment for the Earth is entering a new phase to with the culmination of maturity.  We are part of that.  The messes we’ve created we will clean up.  All species will be honored, not proscribed for food or profit.  Quality of life not quantity of things will be the cornerstone of living.  The myths and authority of organized religion will give way to personal responsibility for spiritual development.  The limbic system will be activated which will allow communication with the Entity/Soul.”

    “So many things we didn’t even get into while creating the Four Planet Federation,” Severin said.

     “True,” I agreed. “But we had an entirely different way of seeing things.  Poverty and ignorance never entered into creating our society.  Money and acquiring wealth is an idea foreign to us.  All knowledge was seen as part of a larger whole.  It wasn’t fragmented into religion, science and other areas.  So, a host of social and spiritual problems were bypassed.”

    “It allowed us to focus on exploring the worlds we lived on.
  Finding ways to live in harmony with our environments using our technologies.  Allowing us to understand the structure of the self.  To express ourselves in all the arts.”  Severin swallowed.  “But we lived with the shades of Adora.  Always the past whispering - urging us on.  Never to repeat the disasters.  And we didn’t.  How do we do it here?” Severin asked.  But I had no answer.  We heard Carson’s chopper land.

    Victoria
stuck her head in the door.  “You are both needed.”

17

     Derek Randolph met us at the chopper, face a mask of concern.  “Jamie, we have a hostage situation at the fort.  Carson requests you come and try to defuse the situation.” 

    I touched Derek’s shoulder to get a feel for the situation.  He would carry what he experienced with him.  I followed the emotions and tried to sort out the facts.  Derek waited knowing my peculiar way to getting information.  “Harry Calling?  Our Trading Post operator.   He has it in for one of the new soldiers at the fort.”

    Derek eyed me, grimaced and shook his head.  “You got it.”

    “Tell me more,” I said dropping my hand to my side.

    “Seems they fell in together, thick as thieves.  Like they’d known each other forever.  Then they got drunk which ended in a fight.   Harry pulled a knife.  When Lt. Shaffer went to break it up, Harry knocked him down, grabbed the soldier and barricaded himself in the trading post.  Swears he’s going to butcher the guy.  But they’ve only known each other for a few days.  Doesn’t make any sense.”  Derek gestured to the  chopper. 

    I looked at Victoria and kissed her goodbye.  Derek and I flew to the fort.  We met General Carson outside the Trading Post.  Carson said,  “Since when does a guy as stable as Harry go nuts?”  He eyed me, face dark with concern,   “A lot of weird stuff going on, Jamie.   Could this be part of this transition you mentioned?”

    I nodded.  “I suspect it is.  What did he say he wanted?  Usually it’s money or means of escape.”

    “You.  He wanted you.” 

    “How serious is he about hurting this guy, Will?”

    “He said he’d be sending out body parts if I didn’t get you.  Harry is not somebody you second guess.  You know what he’s like.”

    “Pretty direct guy.”   A cordon of soldiers around the Trading Post kept the fort population away.  “I need ... may I use your office?”  

    Carson stared at me.  “Of course.  Why?”

    “I look different.  Harry and his soldier friend wouldn’t understand.”

    The small iron hard General gave a short laugh.  “What are you going to do?   Shape shift?” 

    “Would you and Derek care to watch?   It will be interesting ... ”

    Inside the office Carson closed the blinds to the windows facing the outside of the building and the inside corridor.   Derek clicked the office door shut.  They both stood back expectantly, exchanging glances.   “It’s not that bad, guys.   Watch my face closely.   You will feel a sensation which is the Sound Language.”   I sat in Carson’s desk chair closed my eyes and began the alterations.  “Remember how I looked before ...  ”  I made the skin tone and color change.   The aging wrinkles around my eyes and lips came to life.  “Now, how about a slight fleshy wart like beastie to the right side of my nose.”   It grew.  Carson swallowed and Derek stared uncomfortable.  “What do you think?”

    Carson cleared his throat.  “Is this part of this scientist-priest business?”

    “Nothing to do with religion, I assure you, Will.  We, the Thera, have learned how to manipulate time and matter on a molecular level to, among other things, shape shift.”

    “Why the fleshy
wart?”  Derek asked.

    “Our soldier had a favorite uncle who had a fleshy
wart.   Also the skin tone and aged wrinkles are the same.”

    “You’ve been doing some background work,”  The General said.

    “Yes.  I have to be careful of the presentation.  Harry and the soldier, Conrad, have sort of dipped themselves in some volatile stuff.  Each is convince the other is the boogeyman.  They aren’t  far from butchering each other.”

    “That skinny little soldier?”  Derek said.

    “That skinny soldier is a tiger.  Harry doesn’t t know it,” I said.

    “Are you ready?,
Jamie,”  Carson said.   We headed for the Trading Post.

    We stood on the covered porch of the Trading Post . The General nodded.  I knocked on the door.   “Harry, it’s Jamie.”

    The door opened.  “Get your ass in here, man.  I need to know why I want to kill this guy bad.  Real bad.” 

    I entered the Trading Post.  Harry Calling’s huge bulk dominated the large room.   He gestured to a small soldier, self assured face impassive, in a chair behind his desk.   The soldier’s smooth voice said, “I thought about cutting this bugger’s guts out and spreading them all over the floor.”   A large Bowie knife, point stabbed into the desk top, meant business.  Dried blood on the blade.   “You this Jamie fella?

    “Yes.”

    He squinted.   “You look like my Uncle Walter.”  He began to relax.

    I shrugged.  “You both have this urge to go after each other.”  Harry nodded, folding his great arms across his vast chest.   I looked to the soldier. 

    The small soldier stood, cool and completely controlled.  In one fluid movement he pulled the Bowie knife out  of the desk and watching us both for a long moment, drove the blade a full four inches into the solid oak desk.  “Yeah,”  he said.  “With pleasure.”   Harry backed up, eyes uncertain.

    “What If I can prove this urge came from people different than you?  Related but different.”   Harry and Conrad eyed each other and then me.  “Give me the time.  We wouldn’t want either of you spread on the Trading Post floor.”  

    Conrad waved a hand.  “I’m game.”

    I looked to Harry.   “Okay.  What do we do?” 

    “Each of you take a hand.   Conrad, take my left hand.    Harry take my right.  Relax.  You will feel a mental movement, a sensation that will connect you to another part of yourself.   A larger self that each of you are part of.   When you feel that connection.  Tell me.”   They sat in chairs facing me, holding my hands. 

    A minute later Conrad started, looking surprised.    Harry frowned, eyes uncertain, mouth pursed.   “Okay,” he growled, suspicious.

    “What do you sense, Conrad?”

    “Like a living mosaic.  Puzzle pieces.”

    “Ask your connection with Harry?”

    He cleared his throat.  “It’s over there.”  He gestured with his other hand.

    “Is it you?”

    “I’m related to it, but there is a ... distance between us,”  Conrad said.

    “Harry?”   I asked.

    “A crowd of people that make up a larger whole.   Like a family but not a family.   Lots of different types of people.”

    “Ask who has the connection with Conrad.   Ask them to come forward,”   I said.

    Harry adjusted himself in his chair.  Cleared his throat.  “A woman who says a man from Conrad’s people deserted her after he made her pregnant.”

    “Conrad,”  I said.  “What do you get on this man and situation?”

    The young soldier took a deep breath.  “He says his wealthy family deceived him into traveling without his knowledge of her being pregnant.  When he found out, he returned but she had died in childbirth.  He raised the child, but raged at his family for the deception.  He blamed her for not telling him, and felt cheated, grieving for what they might have had together.”

    “Do you feel you are this man, Conrad?”  I asked.

    He shook his head.  “Sad.  Sad.  No I don’t.”

    “Harry, how about you and this woman?   Are you the same person as this young woman?”

    “No.  That is funny.  We’re different but I can feel her emotions.  Her grief and anger at the desertion.  And giving birth in the squalor of a rundown boarding house.”

    “Can you both ask if these two personalities can get together and understand their situation?  Perhaps we can create a healing.”   I waited, sending portions of myself to each En
tity asking for the meeting.  The intercessions from Harry and Conrad carried as prayers.   You could feel the great emotions releasing as the understanding registered  with each of the personalities.  I struggled to keep my balance and not get lost in the vast joy.  Then the personalities found themselves swept together, carried by the joy and the knowledge.  They would find a place to resolve and live out their new found awareness.  I recalled my other selves,  shielded myself and focused on the two men.

    “Where are we, gentlemen?”  I asked.

    Conrad grimaced and looked at Harry.   “The need to  hurt you is gone.”

    Harry nodded.  “Same here.  How do you think the General is going to handle this?”

    “Let’s find out,” I said and gestured to the door.  “May I?” 

    “Of course,”  Harry said uneasily.

    I opened the door to a curious and concerned General Carson.   I looked at Harry and Conrad.  “We’re okay in here, General.”  

    The General looked at Calling.  “What the hell happened here, Harry?”

    The giant man frowned, shaking his great bearded head, looking like a giant bear.   “Seems.  No, more than seems.  We were picking up all this emotional trash from other personalities of families we’re associated with.  Pretty strange.”

    The young soldier shook his head.  “We believed all this emotional crap was ours and nearly killed each other over it.”

    Carson said, “Is this the essence memories you’ve mentioned before?”

    “Yes it is.  Family memories of past experiences coming through the present people.  But two important points.  One: these are the experiences of other personalities. And two: you, the present personality, are not responsible for their past actions.”

    “So,”  Carson said, “how do we get around such a thing happening again?  This would be disastrous if it happened on a regular basis.”

    “That is part of the Transition
I have been talking about,” I said.  “When this Transition happens shortly, the filters in the brain will be removed and the knowledge will be plain.  There won’t be any question who is who and who did what.”

    Derek fingered a slender pen knife.  “How soon, my friend?”

    “Less than a week,”   I said.

    “How?”  he asked.

    I gave a short laugh.  “A  super nova will happen.  That will signal this inner change.  This is not a crazy coincident or accident of any kind.”

    The young soldier shifted uneasily.   “You see the future?  Harry said you were a wizard and know things, but predicting the future?”   I could feel his energy coiling like a snake, ready to strike.  “That is wrong.  Unnatural.”   Conrad took a deep breath.   A man used to unleashing his violence without care or control.

     I put a shield around his body.   Just in time.  I could feel the great unbridled energy seeking release.  Mindless release.  He struggled,  paralyzed.  I removed a sheath knife, setting it on the long counter of the Trading Post.  I sent another portion of myself to find the reason for his attack.   I was worried this might be part of unfinished business from the eugenics.  Someone influencing Conrad ...   His heightened energy bordered on the unnatural.  Suddenly the coiled energy released.  I almost missed it.  His Entity, new, had little control over its energy.  Like a baby rattlesnake not controlling its poison. 

    I looked to the General and Derek.   “May I see you both outside.”   We walked
away.   “This Conrad needs a lot of supervision.  He’s ...  how can I say this, a new soul.”

    “So?”   Derek said.

    “He has an enormous amount of uncontrolled energy.   You don’t want to see it unleashed.   He needs to have it directed away from being a soldier, and could use careful supervision,” I said.   “What about Harry taking Conrad as his assistant?”

    We walked to the perimeter overlooking the train tracks.  Carson said,   “What was that solution all about?  Harry taking Conrad under his wings?”

    “Fair question, Will.  Sometimes people are given into our care because we can help them.  This was arranged.  Family.”

    “Family?   They aren’t related as far as we know, Jamie,”  Randolph said.

    “No.  You’re right.  No blood relation.  On the Other side Entities form informal groups, much like extended families.  Harry and Conrad are part of such a group.   Harry’s Entity acts like an elder brother or sister to the younger Entities in his group.  Often Entities send personalities out to help each other.  To act as guides.  To keep younger ones on the right track.  Consciously, the personalities rarely know of the relationship.  On some level they may suspect.”

    The General shook his head.  “If it was anyone but you, this would never be happening.   We’ll give it a go.  No guarantees.”   His voice, a warning, held his doubts.

    “That is all anyone can ask, Will,”  I said.   I remembered a dream of being carried to a meeting with Harry’s Entity’s group.   Very strange.  And dismissed the whole thing as a fantasy.   We walked back to the Trading Post.

    Harry was waiting for us by the hitching posts, almost hopping up and down with concern.  “Is everything okay, gentlemen?”

    “How would you feel about having Conrad as your assistant?”  the General asked.  “If the arrangement doesn’t work out,  we can change it.  Your call.”