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Eternity Ends -- Chapter
35
KILES LAST DAY ON
EARTH
1. "The Cardship is right below us," Onimex observed. From
Kiles perspective, they were surrounded by an arid desert in all
directions; blowing sand and mountainous sand dunes everywhere.
"You would sure never know it!" Kiles yelled over the sand storm.
He was properly bundled up to keep the sand out of his eyes and
face. "How do we get in?" He yelled above the howling wind.
MOTHER
2. "Identify?" Mother ordered the subcomponent. "Half
Vejhonian, half indigenous," the subcomponent answered. There
were no biologicals aboard to appreciate Kiles holographic image on
display within her off-limits spherical chamber. Next to his
image was a holographic DNA-helix that belonged to Kiles. "How
many remain?" Mother asked. "One," the subcomponent
answered. A hologram of 1987 Hawaii appeared with an image of
Ireana working in her lab. "Identify?" Mother requested.
Ireana's dossier appeared next to her image, translated into Vejhonian
script, "Ireana Heidelberg, M'tro-1, seeded by ship 339,
destroyed. Corlos operative."
3. Mother could see Ireana's offspring and Onimex hovering next
to him in the sandstorm, "Onimex," Mother addressed him for the first
time directly, "Incept?" she asked. "She activated me just before
M'tro-1
was destroyed," Onimex replied. "The biological?" she
asked. "Kiles wants to visit Vejhon and clear his Mother of war
crimes," Onimex explained. "The war is over?" Mother asked.
"Yes," Onimex answered. "Download," Mother commanded.
Onimex
lined into her. Mother examined his encounter with
Conscious: Kiles KEY Segment 3. Onimex KEY Segment 8.
The data stream contained her own incept code; an absolute
impossibility, except for Conscious., "Registry Accepted," Mother said,
"The biological may enter."
TOPSIDE
4. A transparent dome of calm surrounded Onimex and Kiles in the
sand. The storm's deflection revealed the dome's outline.
Before him, the sand began to morph into a tunnel leading downward at a
gradual angle. The tunnel increased in detail until a highly
sheik gangplank remained. "The technology is mesmerizing," Kiles
said. There were no further effects. As Kiles stood there,
he realized that this was a point of no return. On this side was
his family. On the other side was what lay beyond. "Am I
doing
the right thing?" he asked Onimex meekly. "This is the first
time I've ever heard you question yourself," Onimex said, "I've told
you everything that I can."
5. "Will I see you again?" Kiles asked. "I'm certain of
it," Onimex said. "Does reversion work in reverse?" Kiles
asked. "You are a product of then and now," Onimex
answered, "I moved a sample of your blood to Ireana's native time
after you were born. The sample is fine -- you won't be
affected." Kiles toyed with his transponder that Dayton had made
for him. "Once you step across," Onimex said, "the transponder
will
no longer work." "Why can't you come with me?" Kiles begged,
"It's your native time
too!" "You're breaking my heart," Onimex said, "You know I can't
come. Why won't you stay
here?" It was an impasse, but they understood each other.
6. Destiny was exciting, but saying "Good Bye" was hell.
When Kiles stepped across the threshhold, Ireana began to cry.
She didn't want to interfere with Kiles' destiny. The
long, long walk to the shipside was accelerated by the gankplank's
technology. Kiles was wisked away, and once he was out of sight,
the gangplank crumbled back into ordinary sand as if nothing had been
there except for Onimex's artificial imagination. "Maybe I should
have went," Onimex reconsidered sadly. He was as much a parent to
Kiles as Dayton, Ireana and Xanax. "It hurts," he acknowledged
quietly. Kiles was 23, and had waited for this moment his entire
life.
7. There was a deep subsonic rumble that began to blow the sand
away with the displacement of a megalithic sandblaster. Onimex
phased out a
little so that the blasting sand wouldn't compromise his exterior
technology. Within a few moments, the Cardship's upper surface
became more evident. The sandstorm and Mother's new antigravity
plating would conceal her departure. Before she had completely
cleared the desert's surface, she began to fade out of 1987. She
would emerge in the late 27th century somewhere far from here and
beyond Earth's detection grid, taking the amplifier net with her.
Sand, no longer supported by her enormous
1 x 5 x 20 mile imprint, was filling up the valley that her body had
created. One wall had already collapsed and within days, it
would be impossible to prove that a Cardship had ever been
here.
IREANA'S
LAB
8.
Ireana invented the cure for Reversion too late to help a single
shipwreck survivor and she let it haunt her unfairly according
Dayton, "Corlos wasn't going to let you use it anyway," Dayton consoled
her. She knew Onimex would be back before he
left and sure enough, there he was, descending from the sky,
visible only to her because she knew exactly where to look and he knew
that she was watching. "Show off,"
she politely accused him, far out of
voice range still. She swirled her crystal tumbler and listened
to the ice tinkle. "We age too fast here," she
lamented sadly.
9. He set
down
to his purry, comfortable hoover
and spun once to humor her. She knew better than to touch him
right away. "Guess who I
saw on Vejhon?" he said. Ireana came to life, "Really?" she
beamed, "Oh, sweetie, how was he? How was my giant among
shellans?" "He misses
you," Onimex replied
factually. "He wants you to come see him."
10. "You know I can't,"
she sighed, "Corlos won't
let me. You know that." She didn't mean to accuse him, but
the idea tore at her heart strings. "I'm sure
Corlos can work something out,"
Onimex assured her, "... I ... can work something out," he
emphasized. "Am I not
the Elite Secret Sorceress of
Legendary Fame?" she asked dramatically. "Within some circles I
suppose,"
Onimex answered, but the ones who really matter know the truth." Kiles
knew the Secret Sorceress story, but he didn't know that 'the'
Sorceress was his mother. Dayton told him that his mother
was a
sorceress, but not the fabled sorceress who helped Dal El Escape.
11. The Secret
Sorceress who had no name, was
instantly recognized by agencies in at least 10 systems. The
bounty on Ireana had never been
cancelled. Director Miles recognized Ireana immediately in Kiles'
mind. He deciphered that she was a Corlos operative and that
Corlos had banned her to Earth to protect her identity. Corlos'
secret was safe with him. Her bravery stalled Kor long
enough to save an inhabited shell.
12. "He's in
school, about to graduate," Onimex answered.
Ireana had to do the math in her head. "Time follows the
'Wherever you go -- there you are,' formula, he simplified. It
was a Theite expression, "If it
makes you feel better," Onimex
offered, "we won an interstellar conflict and you were the sole
collateral of justice." She appreciated his intention, but the
reality didn't make her feel better. "The sole collateral of
justice," she repeated. She would never equate her worth to the
Billions who died for Kor's vanity, her 'alter-boyfriend,' Dayton
teased her now and then.
13.
Outside her window, a low-flying F-39 was landing vertically on a hot
spot at Hickam. The downward thrust vibrated her secret stash
drawer open. She closed it with her
toe and took a deep breath of the plumeria tainted JP-8 exhaust, "I
should send that recipe to Febreze," she thought. "It doesn't
exist yet," Onimex reminded her. She looked at him, "1993," he
answered.
14. Between now and her visit to 27th
century Earth, the world’s legal codes
would be absorbed into a global network called the Internet. The legal profession would be abolished and
lawyers
who resisted euthanized. Humans would receive a rice-sized
node implanted in the lower cartilage of everyone’s right ear. Money would be abolished and justice fully
automated.
15. The ear
node contained a
citizens financial information, medical records, academic achievements,
criminal and employment history. It served
as a PDA, alarm clock, iPad and cell phone. Anything
that anyone wanted to know could be found on-line in a cloud network,
so the need for
additional memory was redundant. The constant need
to 'upgrade' everything was replaced with common sense and eventually,
'planned obsolesce' was criminalized. The Bank had to 'give' a
little... but very
little.
16.
One day, Ireana was looking for the
ancient Greek symbol for the numeral six. Onimex
shortened her effort by displaying a “w” in her mind.
“The ancient Greek symbol for 6 was 'w,' he said,
like an English 'w.' The symbol is no
longer used, but that’s how
John the Revelator would have written it.” He downloaded a symposium of
comparative Earth belief systems into Ireana’s mind.
The prefix for future websites began with
‘666’ or ‘www’ in English. “The Machines…”
Ireana connected; the machines
are networked. She laughed out loud, "I knew you were going to bring up The
Ellipsis. I knew
it! Trying to convert me?" Onimex didn't comment. He
was waiting for her real response.
17. “The
Internet was invented
by Dayton?” she asked. “That future
reality?...” she stopped in realization. “Well,
Xanax helped him,” Onimex clarified. “And
Dayton had a little help making Xanax.” Onimex
displayed a wheel with 10 spokes in her mind. To most, it was a
mythical symbol. “The
Ellipsis,” She
identified, “Conscious is real?” “Conscious spoke to me twice,”
Onimex
answered. "We've had this conversation before?"
she whispered. “I believe in the
Ellipsis,” she said. Onimex
didn't know how to respond because Dayton had become Mormon. “Daniel’s
Jewish,” Onimex confessed. “And you’re
Catholic,” she accused him, "What was it Fr. Seamus said... 'God loves all of His creatures, including
you..."
18. “...Machines can’t be
saved,”
Onimex interupted. At the vacuum-level of
matter, it all connects. “The light
machines are saved,” she corrected. “They
did nothing wrong.” In an altruistic manner of speaking, that should be
accurate.
Ireana shook her head, "I can't believe you went to confession," and
then she mumbled under her breath, "...I bet Fr. Seamus went straight
to the pub after listening to you!" Along those lines, "Ask Xanax
what Dayton
wants for dinner."
19. Dayton had been working for NASA
since 1963 and became the famous inventor of artificial gravity,
standard on all space
platforms by 2016. He was the oldest astronaut allowed to work
aboard the International Space Station. Xanax and Onimex did
their part to covertly facilitate Dayton and Ireana: By helping
them maintain their covers, galactic peace was assured.
20. Occasionally, someone would
catch Dayton using Xanax like a cell phone, "My wife’s a chemist at
Dow,”
he would explain, “she made it.”
21. And when one Nobel-laureate
waltzed into Ireana's lab and caught Onimex at typical hover in plain
view, “Oh, it’s just a little thing my husband made,” she explained,
“he works for NASA ... quite inventive isn't it!”
The End... may not really be:
The Ellipsis -- Chapter
36
1. "Daniel?"
a synthetic voice called. "Mother?"
Daniel replied, uncertain. "It's
Conscious," she replied. Mother computers' voices were
patterned after Conscious -- it was an honest mistake. "Oh, what
a pleasant surprise," Daniel said, "I don't get many
social calls from you -- it must be serious." "It is,
Daniel," She said. "What can
I do for you? Is everything OK?" Daniel asked. "We found
a moon that you might recognize," She offered. "Really?"
Daniel replied concerned.
2. Conscious
displayed a hologram of a fatally damaged moon in
Daniel's mind. "Do you recognize any of the symbols?" she
asked. Daniel
gasped, "Oh my -- where did you find that? That
world needs its moon or the winds will hit hurricane velocities within
hours." "It's
damaged," Conscious said, "but we built a new
one." "And installed it?" Daniel said hastily. "Oh
yes," Conscious answered, "We don't want our experiment
to die -- we need the bodies."
3. "That
would get The One's attention -- I prefer not to think
of it as an experiment. I'm from
there. Were you wanting to
keep the old one? Is that why you're here?" he asked. "No, not
exactly," Conscious said, "The One wants you to come
home. B'jhon knows how to run Corlos. You've held the
Universe together for 70 years -- it's time for you to retire."
70 years on Sunova was 3,000 years on Earth or 1.5 Dans on
Vejhon.
4. Daniel
knew that all things must pass, "I'm not in a
position to argue," he whispered sadly. "Faithful to the
end," She said lovingly. "You're
here to escort me, then?" he asked. "He's
coming Himself," She replied, "to take you in person." "And the
moon?" Daniel asked, perplexed at the
connection. "That was His idea," She replied.
5.
"Daniel?" Conscious asked a little more introspectively. "Yes,"
he replied respectfully. "Have
you ever been in love?" He
raised his eyebrows curiously, drew his mouth into a frown
and swayed his head as if to deny it. The question was
unexpected. Then his countenance transitioned into a romantic
glow, masked behind a quiet chuckle, warm smile and a guilty nod of
confession.
6. "Yes,"
Daniel admitted, "I loved the most beautiful woman in
the Universe. She wanted a sire for her child but not a
relationship." Daniel reflected fondly upon this romantic
interlude. "I gave her a loose ingot from the library as a tolken
of my affection. I'm sure she passed it on to our child."
He remembered his latest conversation with El Sha and had a sudden
epiphany...
7. "Yes,"
The One chimed in; His calm, eternal voice gave motion
to time and substance to matter... "that,
she did."
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