I asked the elders to meet me the next morning at a place that is close to the house of Lusalith. . . .
8431
I made certain I arrived a few hours earlier and walked amongst the bearded trees, enjoying the damp scent of earth and plants, the colours of bright butterflies, though I was saddened that I did not see any of the gigantic brightly coloured species we’d found on an Earth that had no humans. Robbie had brought eggs and cared for them until they hatched as we’d been told they were dying out on their world and they are far too beautiful and sadly gawky for us not to want to save them. They have thrived in these mountains. We’ll return to their home planet at large intervals and if we find they are extinct, we’ll do what we can to make it possible for them to exist there again, using ours as stock for re-populating their home world. Other Earths have also asked for a breeding parcel.
I was surprised to sense that the elders did not arrive in one group. Liisutsii was the first to arrive and when he found out I am walking through the forest enjoying the sights and sounds, he asked to join me. As good companions do, he knew to remain silent so that both of us can sink into our own thoughts. When we sensed others arriving in dribs and drabs, we turned and walked to our meeting place.
An elder greeted me with, “This must cost a lot in effort, to maintain.” I sensed the others agreed with him, but they did not think it a waste of time and energy. I pretended I did not sense them.
“If so, I would say the effort is well worth it. When Robert first created it, we imagined this would become our favourite area, but it seems that many other species find it fascinating so we don’t come here that often, as we want them to enjoy it without having us disturb them from the contemplations such an exotic wealth of life provokes.”
After a few pleasantries were exchanged, I was asked why I had called for them. “It was your decision that all of you should die. Your reasoning is sound and I am glad that you want to evolve before locking yourselves into one life.” They all gave me a startled look, which I pretended not to notice. “The problem is, I’ve grown to like you and I hate the idea of you dying.” I couldn’t help it, my eyes filled at the thought of it happening. I hoped they would not know what it signifies.
One of them asked, without any strong emoting and not really curious, “What are you suggesting.”
His coldness helped me recover. “You are right about not remaining to influence the new generations, but it is also wrong to decide to die. It is not the same as having the wisdom to accept it when it comes, you are talking of giving up, of switching off. I agree that the machines should be destroyed so that they can’t hold your souls, but then you should each live for whatever period your body lasts.”
“The machines will be destroyed, as will all knowledge for building them. To do as you ask, to live for the natural length of time of these bodies, it would cause more harm. Samantha, your intentions are good, but you are not taking into consideration certain facts. Our bodies are healthy and will last long enough to be a part of the lives of the next two or three generations. Those that are to grow up, they must not be influenced by us and if we remain, they will be. That cannot be avoided and you know it.”
I was not the one refusing to look truth in the face - they were. “Riivjii, I do not know the others as well as I know you. You have the courage to see the truth, so, if you cannot see it on your own, let me help you. Answer just this one question: how many of your people presently alive have been brought back from the machines? How many of those will not recall their previous life? Should all of them die as soon as we arrive? How many are truly your children and have a future? Are there enough of them to survive on their own?”
One of the other elders cut in with excoriating anger, “You Cherinians have the ability to block the younger elders so that they do not recall their previous life. You are refusing to do so?”
It felt like part of my face turned to stone. “Riivjii did not ask for the right to decide your deaths without you being offered a choice and neither would I have granted him that right. How dare you think you have the right to use us for you to make the decision without those whose lives you are offering being consulted.”
Liisutsii held back the anger most of the elders were exhibiting. “If they choose not to die, what will you do - condemn the new generations?”
“No, I will offer them the same I came here to offer you.” I waited for as long as I dared and then added, “Life for as long as your bodies last, in Freddie. When you die, if you wish, your souls will be returned to your planet for them to be reborn without memory of this life so that you grow as new personalities. Once you become Cherinians and if you choose to create your own Kaleidoscope World, its entity will have available to it all the wisdom your many lifetimes have accumulated without it being servant to your wishes. You will not have cut short your lives, your people will not be harmed by your presence imposing your ways of thinking on them and we, here in Freddie, will have the benefit of your company and friendship - if you are willing to open yourselves to friendship.”
8432
When I returned to my loves, they all looked at me strangely as they worried. I tried to explain, “I’m really not enjoying having to deal with the elders. They are worse than spoilt children.”
Dommi waited for the others to lose interest before telling me to take a walk with her. I did as she asked, but I could not work out what had her so upset that she was hiding her emoting from me. She took hold of my arm, stopping me. “Sam, you nearly cried.”
“Oh.” Suddenly I realised that Cherine and Robbie, if not more of my loves, were sharing from within Dommi. I could not understand why they were this concerned. “It’s not as if I never cry, you all know I’m a bit of a crybaby. The idea of them giving up and dying so as to help the next generations, it made me emotional.”
“Sam, you’ve never cried in front of strangers - not those you are trying to help, never during negotiations. However emotional you are about helping them, your ability to analyse and find the most effective way to help them has always dictated your behaviour so that you plan and act in the most calculated manner for influencing them. Your tears were not a deliberate ploy to influence them, I felt you.” Her voice was loving but demanding, not willing to listen to any arguments as she added, “Sam, let me in to feel you.” When she gets like this, there is no point in resisting her. She entered and then I lost her somewhere inside me. As I looked around I saw Ivgos walking towards us and then he suddenly swerved and pretended he had wanted to go to the taverna. It was obvious he’d been asked to stay away because, just as a little boy would do, he tried to sneak a look at me in the hopes of finding out what is wrong.
“Sam, I know, I saw. Now you must tell me why.”
Puzzled, I stared back at her. I couldn’t understand what she was claiming she saw - there was nothing for her to see! Suddenly it was as if something, a monster made only of claws, teeth, fire and rage exploded out of the cage I’d held it in, hidden within me. I screamed at her, “For years! They fucking tortured me for years! First Faiiis… and I tried so hard to understand, I tried to help because he was simple like a child and they exiled him and then killed him. They fucking challenge me to final death when they fucking know I cannot kill! Dominique, Dommi, they tell me they must kill themselves and I wanted them to…they’re fucking children in their minds and I want them to die! God, I must not allow myself to feel this way, I must find a way to save them…I fucking wanted them to die.” I turned from her and howled, “Robbie, daddy!” Even as my legs gave way he was by me, his arms squashing me against him, his eyes before mine as we both wept. Long after my sobs turned into sighs he remained sitting on the ground, holding me, rocking me gently as he murmured loving words.
I’m sorry I won’t get the opportunity to write for you as was suggested. When we woke up this morning we were met by a loving smile from Sam and we sensed her mind is healed and happier than it has been for a long time. Bi, Cassie.
8433
As Arthur said, I slept like a log and when I woke up I was feeling amazingly well, as if I had just been rejuvenated. I have not come to terms with what I secretly wanted, but I understand why I felt that way and I’m glad I know as it gives me comfort that I was able to resist my subconscious wishes. It is as if I’ve been tested and I came out of it with flying colours. I only have one more thing to do so that I can put all this behind me. I met with the elders. They had heard I’d suffered a breakdown, which they understood since it happens to their species also. They paid me the compliment of expressing amazement that it happened to me since they felt I am one of the sanest people they’ve ever met. I am not against being flattered now and then so I thanked them and then went into the long story of what and why I blew up. I told the story from a personal angle in the hopes that they’ll realise they acted and planned all they did against a human being who has her own dreams and fears. I added that the pain I’d recently experienced contributed to causing the breakdown and then, just to ram it home, I sent to them the way I’d felt yesterday.
I faced them as they emoted how stricken they were with tears filling my eyes. “My friends, look at my eyes, the wetness is how my species show their sorrow. You have seen that I paid a price thanks to your machinations, but I want you to all share from me when the day comes that Faiiis stands alongside me as we watch your people start their journey on a new and healthy path towards achieving their potential. When you feel me then, you’ll know that I do not need to forgive what you did to me because it led to my finding the correct way to help another species join the family of life. Thank you.” I did not do it to make them suffer, I wanted something good to come out of all I’ve endured. I left them with a secret hope inside me that forcing them to confront what they’d done will help them grow and become wiser in the ways of empathy and love.
Tserika (Tseri) and Sheena are real close at this time so it did not surprise us when they both asked for the same thing. They agreed that it is time we go check on the Teller family of the asteroid damaged Earth. I was asked whether I’d prefer we go to the Reggheri planet, but I admitted I am not ready for them yet. Freddie will see to it that we arrive in the morning.
We arrived early enough for Freddie to zoom in on new-Athens while we enjoyed our breakfast. Happily the city exists, so no extremists bombed it to get rid of the mutants. We checked radio, television and internet and we did not find any signs of hostilities, just hatred and anger. Robert must really be worried about his Cherine sensing how the Normals feel about them. We decided we should appear publicly and bring all the Cherinians to Freddie so as to give them a break from the unpleasant emoting. As soon as Freddie appeared, Cherine sensed us and they jumped. Each of us chose a Cherinian to collect and after communicating with them we jumped to bring them to visit us. Mostly, what we felt as they arrived and sensed the emoting in Freddie, was relief.
Robbie sounded irritated. “I don’t understand, what has made your world so intolerant of mutants! All we’ve done is help people and save lives.”
Alt-Alki answered for them, “We’d need to study the history of your Earth so as to see what was different for us. Nothing this deep comes from a single event.”
Morreb, of the Anadir, jumped to us. “If you can provide us with the histories of your planet Alki, we’ll have our AI do a comparison and hopefully it will identify what is responsible.”
We told alt-Alki to take it easy, we can wait until he’s had time to relax and enjoy our wonderful company. Cherine privately told Cher to sit on his lap. We loved sensing him.
Damn! We’ve had to re-categorise this reality! We’ve called for Jesus and Christós - since this is a ‘magic reality’, we felt they should be here.
Christós put down the sheet viewer. “This is unbelievable!” He then kept quiet, waiting for Jesus to also finish reading. When Jesus put down the final sheet, Christós continued, “If you had asked me whether it is possible, I would have denied it.”
Jesus twisted his lips wryly. “They were stupid - and greedy. What I find unbelievable is that after centuries of magic, the history of this world ran parallel to their histories,” he gestured towards us, “the only differences being their deep-seated hatred for magic and mutations. Just think of it, after two thousand years of a history close but not exactly the same, they have a Robert and Cherine with a large number of other people that exist in the non-magic realities. What are the chances of something like that happening randomly?”
8434
“According to all permutations I could calculate, the order of probability is beyond the area classified as miracles. Samantha has confirmed that Arthur had no hand in directly creating this reality, so you should look elsewhere for answers.”
We all recognised the voice, for we have conversed before, but never so publicly. The Unation AI had used a holo of a Sprakil, a look alike of Iziko. I quickly reconfirmed what it claimed I’d said and then asked, “What are the chances of us influencing them so that they accept their Cherinians?”
“To succeed, it is necessary that all Cherinians are removed from their world.” Huh? It added, after pausing dramatically (I did not know AI’s do that), “The mental scarring was caused by the local Jesus losing the battle. His failure was considered a betrayal as the people believed in him. Once the Cherinians are gone, a Jesus should move to this world and re-establish his presence. Once he is accepted and is forgiven, it is projected that the Cherinians have a twenty seven percent chance of being accepted over a period of fifty years.”
Jade asked, “What are the probabilities of Cherinians being accepted if they do not depart and work with Jesus to be accepted?”
“There are many factors that could influence the outcome, but the best projection does not achieve anything higher than eight percent.”
Chantel asked, “According to the records, the local Jesus moved into the desert where he lived out his last days without anyone seeing him again. What are the chances he is still alive?” Her question electrified us and suddenly everyone was holding their breath.
“There is insufficient information for a scientific projection. However, if he still existed at the time the entire population was saved, would he not have been sensed or recognised?”
I got the giggles and the next thing I knew, my family, our friends, both Jesus and Christós, were all laughing. Only the AI and Robbie were not. Jesus recovered first and raised his hand in warning, “If that is what happened, I suggest we be very careful we are not sensed. The other magi might have been dying when their Jesus walked away, but they were strong enough to sense us.”
I could not resist demanding of the AI, “The same people existing is one thing, however improbable. The same religions, that is impossible! For the Catholic Church to exist, Jesus would have to have died on the cross.”
“The cross is used to symbolise his suffering in the desert. He was purified and was raised to Heaven in a pillar of light.”
I shook my head, not finding it possible for such a big difference to allow the same Churches to exist. Rose, Robbie’s mother, cut in, her voice betraying this was an emotional issue for her. “It’s not possible! The Catholic Church of this reality cannot be the same as ours!”
Robbie answered, hoping to calm her. “Mother, they probably are not the same, I’d say all the Christian religions are not the same - maybe even Islam has a different twist to it. However, the wonderful thing about alternate realities is that however much we may protest that this or that is impossible, all, everything is possible. It will be interesting to read a copy of the local Bible… however, we must first deal with solving the problem for the local Cherinians. AI, I don’t like the percentages, is there a way to improve them? Anywhere above fifty percent would be acceptable.”
“To attain that high a probability of success, a great number of radical possibilities should be examined and projected. Perhaps someone more suitable should be approached?”
I decided that if the Unation scientists have given their AI a sense of humour, I’m going to be the butt of the joke, so I quickly cut in, “The more of us that make suggestions, the better.”
“Exactly, Samantha.” They have given it a sense of humour, I could hear it in the way it answered me. A number of chuckles proved I was not imagining it. Grr!
Life does not wait for inspiration. We jumped to another reality to have some private time with our locals and they also needed time to get used to being with Jesus and Christós. They lapped up all the stories about the magic realities and I wondered why they were not fazed by meeting the one person, despite there being two of him, who’d messed up the psych of their world. Had becoming Cherinians changed them that much or was it something else?
8435
Robbie had been teasing Cher, trying to make her laugh. At the time she least expected it, he turned serious and asked her, “We can only help make life better and safer for you in little ways each time we visit. Is there any little thing you can think of that would make life better for your family or your Cherinians?”
“Hettie and Eddie made a suggestion.” She paused until Hettie responded, taking a seat close to them. “Hettie says that it does not matter how much we do for the Normals, they’ll never like or admire us. If, Hettie says, we form the ADFI as you mentioned last time, and it becomes an economic power, then they will admire us and see that we are good for society when we donate to charity.”
Robbie laughed. “Or else they pretend they do as money is one thing all of them admire.”
Hettie cut in, “Power and money, not just money by itself or else they would take it from us.”
Robbie felt uneasy and looked dubious. He was not certain how this fits in with what we want Cherinianism to mean. When Hettie turned to me, I realised our Hettie had played dirty. “Samantha, am I wrong, how did the ADFI affect your reality? It’s not as if we want to keep the money for ourselves.”
“I suggest you do a full memory share with our Hettie and Eddie. If you do not handle the problems as wisely as they did, it could turn sour for you. I would also suggest you invite the aliens who have spaceships to keep one here so that they can be seen to be your partners, not just something written on paper.” I grinned. “I’m certain I don’t need to tell any Hettie how to handle government leaders, but I’ll make this one comment so that the Teller family hear me. Ignore the rhetoric and the public announcements. I’d even go as far as to suggest you don’t get into a panic with the laws they’ll set up to control or at least hobble Cherinians. You see, in private, the leaders don’t fear any of you. How can they, they see us as badly organised impractical dreamers. The aliens terrify them. You see, with them they are not dealing with private citizens who act and talk like love-hippies on drugs - and they are not ‘family’ who can be manipulated and cowed. They are dealing with either military minds, admirals and officers of spaceship fleets or else, with diplomats. With them they do not dare show disrespect nor do they dare try to steal their technology.”
Robbie burst out laughing. Cherine was grinning like a naughty cat as she asked me, “Where were you when we needed that kind of advice?” Cassie and Jade helped keep everyone amused so that I could withdraw. As I was about to jump, I felt a tiny silky hand take hold of mine. I grinned at Ivgos and jumped to the home of Lusalith. She was at the taverna so we didn’t stay and raced each other to the forest.
After a while I sensed that Ivgos had not come with to play, he had something he wanted to talk about. I took his hand and jumped to a low hill overlooking an area the Elipians favour. I like hearing them talk and laugh and sing in the background. Sometimes they play their music and it jollies me out of my serious mood. I let him take his time, but glanced at him now and then so that he’d know I’m available.
“I was told I will be the Cherine of my world. Do I have to?”
“First and foremost, you are the Ivgos of your world. A long, long time ago, when we were still new to this and were meeting our alien friends for the first time, we wanted, we hoped that each species would have one individual who would be their Cherine for them. It never happened. It has also never happened in any other reality where there already is a Cherine.” I gave him a little smile. “I guess that lets you off the hook? Ivgos, we know it won’t happen, but we still say it, for two reasons. One is a sort of, who knows, maybe it can happen? The second is, we need to know there is someone who represents what Cherine means to Cherinians. For that, I am convinced you will be the perfect symbol.”
“Can’t I be the Samantha of my world?”
“Me? You want to be like me!? Ivgos, thank you, but…hold on, maybe you are being wiser than I realised. What if you are the Cherine and the Samantha? How about if you can also become the Haven of your world? Wow! What a combination! I think I’m going to be jealous of you.”
He frowned as he stared back at me. “You are teasing me.”
8436
I took both his hands in mine. “I’d like it if I were, I’d find that far less scary. Ivgos, all of us have someone we admire and would like to emulate. It is very important that we choose the right persons to admire because the act of admiration in itself transforms us as we attempt to take on those aspects we admire the most in the other. For instance, I not only adore Robert and Cherine, I value the characteristics that make them who they are. Because of the esteem I feel for them and my wish to be like them, I’d say that a part of me is like Cherine and Robert. I also have a little of all my loves, for they each have qualities I admire and wish I could own. You know what is pure magic for me? All my loves feel the same way and I can sense that each of them has a little of Samantha in them! Can you imagine it, each of them wants to be like me in some way!” His eyes were huge as he stared at me with wonder. “Ivgos, you have heard us say, again and again, that you affect everyone and that we admire you. Can you imagine how special it is that there are people of a number of realities and species who have yearned to be like you in some way, making a part of themselves an Ivgos. Ask your family and they’ll confirm for you that I am speaking the truth. Believe what I tell you and you can become a symbol of all those you love and admire.”
Since it has been decided, Robbie insisted the local Cherinians negotiate the stakes of each of the shareholders in ADFI. He was not the only one interested in seeing how Robert would handle the negotiations and I bet his Cherine sensed us. I’m surprised that she did not let him know nor try to influence him. Maybe she too was interested. The heads of the alien groups got together for a private discussion in the Unation spaceship, but their meeting did not last long, which gave us reason to be certain they had not debated the issues. They had gone to the meeting already in agreement and only needed to formalise it. The smooth way in which they railroaded Robert into agreeing to their terms seems to prove our suppositions are true. Robbie was upset that they succeeded in convincing Robert to accept terms he’d refused. I don’t think he is being fair, Robert probably did the right thing. In such matters, nobody can say for certain what is wrong and right when arguing the details, all that we can do is monitor the situation and the way things work out will prove who is right.
When the group of alien heads met with Robert and the Mansfield couple, they demanded that they have twenty percent with Robert and the local Cherinians holding another twenty five percent; the balance of fifty five percent is to be apportioned as follows: 10% for selling to alternate Earth governments; 15% to be sold worldwide on the stock exchanges to non-investment corporations; 30% to be owned by a corporation that is owned by the local governments, such shares to be almost equally held - the actual percentage each country holds to be according to their population - as per the wishes of Robert. Those with populations under three million to have a half share; from three to two hundred million, one share and, those with over two hundred million to have only a half share…until their population reduces to under the two hundred million. The shareholding will be flexible for all except those with under three million; if they increase, their shareholding is halved instead of doubling. The intention was altruistic and meant to provide an incentive for governments to encourage their populations to reduce their numbers. As with most such intentions, they blinded all the parties involved and were a recipe for disaster. I felt I should speak so that the locals don’t feel that Robbie is taking a stand against their Robert, but he refused to allow me. We compromised and allowed Empathia to speak - not that she needed to say much to make her point.
“In this, the governments and their citizens are united - they are suspicious of us. Your conditions will only be seen as glaring proof that they are right, that we intend taking over. Either allow the governments to share proportionately, which is what they will want, or else do as we did and insist that each country gets the same shares. They’ll be angry but they’ll only blame you for being impractical and dreamers.”
We all felt the aliens, who are contributing the technology, should have at least forty percent, but we kept quiet, it is their right to decide otherwise…and they are so determined that any comment by us could only lead to an argument or hurt feelings. The next subject to be discussed was the list of products to be supplied to ADFI and the order in which they are made available. At least we could now take part and Robert accepted our advice.
We are now ready to return to their reality, making our arrival openly and in orbit around Earth. All the spaceships in Freddie will be released so that they can be visited for official meetings, should the locals request such meetings.
How can people be so stupid! How can they still commit suicide when we appear! I’m tempted to ask the Sparklers not to interfere at our next arrivals. After all, surely those who commit suicide after seeing us arrive a number of times without harming or enslaving them should be allowed to move on to their next incarnation. I only said I’m tempted, I would not do it, it’s just that my empathy for them is low at this moment and my anger at the Sparklers having to save them is high. The Sparklers also suffer every time they have to save the lives of those who are terrified of them and us.
Our friends accept that Terrans new to meeting aliens are more comfortable with the Anadir and Muyzith, because both species have two upper and two lower limbs, with a torso, neck and head similar to us in general shape. The Muyzith are aware that they do not make good negotiators, preferring to deal with open cards and they tend to get caught up in debates regarding morals and the ethical values of each clause in the ADFI contract and the treaties the Terrans want to sign, so they are pleased that the Anadir are willing to shoulder the burden for all of us.
8437
The governments took four months just agreeing a committee of seven to represent them during negotiations and then, once the terms were set out, they had to be passed out to all the governments for them to agree or note which clauses they are not happy with. A number of the objections were penned by legal minds who wanted the wording phrased in a more professional manner. Jade found it funny and made all of us laugh when she pretended to be an attorney representing the aliens while Alice took on the role of attorney for Earth. The misunderstandings caused by the legalese were hilarious and it ended with the aliens getting so confused that they signed away their rights and planets, all becoming subjects of a tinpot dictator from a tiny Caribbean island state who offered them in return tax free banking and immunity from prosecution for smoking marijuana. I don’t think most of the species understood her humour but they all recorded it. I can just imagine the articles they’ll write about it back at home.Neither Jesus nor Christós were willing to pretend to be the local Jesus returned to life after two thousand years, so, if we are to carry through with the AI plan, we have to return in time to find the original. It scared all of us - even Jesus and Christós, for he has fought battles with powers none of us had heard of before. Since we were not needed for the negotiations and all the alien spaceships were either in orbit or actually landed on Earth, we had no excuse for postponing our trip. Both our friends agreed to come with us, but they scowled at us when they did so. They felt we were stirring up a hornets nest but did not try to discourage us.
Jesus demanded we wait in the void while he makes contact with his namesake (I’ll use the Greek name Iisous for him). Robbie refused. He feels that if Iisous is suddenly faced with an alternate of himself without knowing where he comes from, he’ll think it is a trick of his enemies and he’ll attack. Unfortunately, the same result could be projected for whatever else we choose to do. Freddie waited in another reality until we could say we have a workable plan. Coral asked whether us girls could go home since we’re not taking part in the discussion. Relieved, Robbie agreed without giving it a second thought.
As soon as we arrived, Empathia spoke verbally, after arranging for privacy from all of us. “I asked Coral to get us home without Robert. I think I have a plan, but nobody else will agree to it - the only reason it might work is because we will all be little girls. I think all of us, except for Angelica, should go to the Jesus below. Angel, you can’t come because he’ll sense you can do magic.”
Cherine was so pleased that Empathia was including her that she instantly approved the idea. For the same reason, because our Cherine would be at risk, I had to think and think it over. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it was that Cherine must come with. We have been told that they can sense her and that, without knowing why, they can feel she is special. My big problem was not Iisous, I’m worried about those who are at war with him - and it would not be fair to expect him to place us under his protection at a time when he is struggling to protect himself. Actually, these considerations are secondary, what eats at me is I do not like making decisions that affect the safety of my loves when I don’t have enough information.
I asked, “From the local Cherinians, are there any non-Greeks who are or were devout Christians?”
Aganthi (and others) took exception. “Why not a Greek?”
“Because the Orthodox Church does not encourage its followers to study the Bible.”
Shelif offered, “I think Gunther is a Protestant. I don’t know his surname, but I have met him.”
I fretted. “How can you go to him, as soon as you leave the house Robert will sense you and want to know what is going on.” We had sensed his curiosity and that he was thinking of coming home because he was worried we are up to something, so we did not have much time to decide and act.
Dommi took over. “Wait here, I’ll go back to tell Robert we want to learn more about this Jesus and I want to bring to the house a religious person or two. That will also serve to calm him down.” She checked the memory of Gunther in Shelif’s mind and left. She had to spend about half an hour with Robbie, but it served the purpose of easing his worries about us. She found Gunther and someone else suggested an American, but he warned Dommi, in a roundabout way, that the man is a fanatic. As soon as they arrived, Dommi warned me not to get angry with Joseph (the American) if he acts like a fanatic. I worried at how he could have been linked if he is a fanatic but promised to control myself. I went one step further.
8438
“Joseph, Gunther, we need to know what your Bible says about your Jesus. If you are agreeable, I’d suggest my loves share the memories of the reading of your Bible from Gunther, while Haven and I do so from your mind Joseph. We need two minds as what you read is coloured by how your mind interprets what you read.”
We all felt Joseph brace himself, so I expected him to refuse me. “I don’t mind sharing my memories with you Samantha but I refuse to open my mind to an alien. Choose one of the others who are fully Terran.”
Not even declared privacy was able to hide our shock from Robbie. He queried us and we let him hear the answer by Joseph. He was angered, but I insisted that Haven and I will handle the insult - that it is not for him to interfere. I then sent a message in private to Sol and she let Solomon know what I want. I asked Joseph to come with me to the void where we can share in total privacy. Relieved that we had not berated him, he happily agreed.
I had asked that Solomon, without Joseph sensing him, help me take Joseph back through his previous lives to a life when he was not a Terran human. Once we were in the void I told Joseph a half-truth. I said that it would be far more interesting regressing him to a life lived at the time Jesus was born, as he could then share memories that are real, whereas stories that get passed on often are not strictly true. He objected to the idea that the Bible could have even one false word in it, but he was fascinated by the possibility of experiencing the presence of his Jesus directly and made me promise I would share with him afterwards. I promised.
Twenty nine lives in the past, Joseph was a person named Lypumyym and the name for his species, a close approximation, is Wyfrizzuc. Although they do not resemble us, I find them really beautiful. I made certain that in the memories we kept of Lypumyym, I included his view of his day and night sky. I did so at various years of his life so that we’d have a better chance of finding their world. We then chose the life lived closest to the period of Iisous, twenty three lives previously. What we learnt was a shock to both Solomon and myself…and I dreaded having to share with Joseph. I’ll have to give him time to adjust before I let anyone else share.
I’d sort of half expected my loves would be busy sharing from Gunther, but they were waiting for me. They sensed my mental disarray and grew worried, so I had to tell them I have information but must first share with Joseph. That confused them, for, apart from Sol, they had not known what I’d intended and had presumed I’d been memory-sharing with Joseph, only going to the void so that he does not worry about Haven ‘hearing’. I felt disappointed they would think I would betray Haven, but I kept quiet and under strict privacy, not even allowing Cherine to share, I jumped Joseph to my apartment.
Although he is not a drinker, I served him a double whiskey with just one ice cube and then sat facing him. “I have two previous lives of yours to share with you. The one is from before the time of Jesus and the other is from his time.” I paused. “You’ll need the drink - you are going to hate sharing from me both those lives.”
“I’m not interested in the earlier life, just the second one. How could I hate learning about Jesus!”
Empathia led the sharing with Gunther and she was successful at getting all the details we needed. I shared from them and hid my feelings when I saw differences in what their Bible said and what Joseph had experienced. None mattered, for I had already seen the results of us interfering. If we let the churches know the truth, I bet they’ll refuse to alter what is written in the Bible - and even if all of them agree to re-write, new sects will crop up to claim we lied and the original stands true ‘because the Bible never lies’.
8439
I had seen that when we arrived, Iisous was in the middle of a battle, surrounded by enemies on all sides. He must have sensed us, for he ignored us, but some of the enemies thought we were his allies and attacked us. We have no defence against magic and Iisous must have sensed it for he diverted all his power to defending us. With a blue actinic flash, he ceased to exist. The person that Joseph was, saw that we hesitated, stunned. I made the decision on my own and calling for Robbie, in privacy I let him see how Iisous was killed. He understood why I’d shared with him and made his plans, preparing a new platform that can barely be seen if you know it exists. He told our loves that he has agreed to my request and he will not interfere with our rescue attempt. I did not share with Robbie the following: After Iisous was destroyed, one of us (we were too far away for him to see who) made to approach where Iisous had been when he disappeared and that girl was attacked by energies that rival the power of the sun and she was instantly incinerated. The rest instantly departed. I’ve only added this in now, in privacy, just before we leave, and the diary will remain closed until my family returns. I saw who was killed and I don’t care what paradoxes are created, I will not allow it. I will see to it that I move first so that I take her place. Arthur, please continue watching over my loves.Cherine: I’ll start off by writing only the first half: all us girls are very angry with Robert.
Samantha was withdrawn when we entered the platform and most of us thought she was feeling guilty at having called for Robert to help us when we had agreed to handle this on our own. Once Robert explained that he’d promised not to stop us, we felt confused by her remaining quiet and blocking herself from us. That damn lip biting of hers confused us and we reassured each other that she must be thinking for ways to ensure the success of our rescue, so we did not press her and allowed her the privacy she wanted. Robert made the jump as a time-event jump and we arrived at the time Samantha wanted us there. Robert kept the platform in space and we jumped to the place Samantha had shown us.
Jesus was surrounded by enemies, but there seemed to be a lull, the kind that happens when both sides need to take a breath - and that is about the length of time it lasted. Jesus turned to look at us, we sensed him sensing our lack of magic powers for he turned away. However, he suddenly exerted himself in defending us as some of his enemies attacked us. Using his temporary distraction to their advantage, the rest of his enemies concentrated all their powers on one massive attack. A bright blue glare of light lit up the desert where he stood and in a column it reached for the sky, shooting all the way into space. In the dark after-image, we saw and sensed that Jesus was gone. Stunned, in shock, we tried to sense if anything of Jesus remained. Unable to accept that we were the cause of his death, not thinking, just acting out of instinct, Lucy made to leave us and examine the area we’d last seen Jesus. With a shout in our minds, Samantha ordered Lucy to wait and she jumped. As she arrived, another attack of dark yellow light flashed where Sam was and we could not believe that even ash would be found, for the flame was so bright and hot that not even rock could survive.
Dommi made us jump back to the platform. As we arrived, we were already crying for Robert, wanting to plead with him to find a way to save our Samantha, to find her soul and create a new body for her. We could not understand how his protector instincts failed him so badly, allowing our Samantha to be killed and there was anger in us.
Here is where I write of the second half: all us girls adore our Robert.
Before our eyes could adjust to the change from daylight, we sensed the presence of Jesus and his feelings were so intense that they felt like a threat. Thinking he was about to attack Robert, our only thought was to surround Robert so that he cannot harm him without harming us. Only then did we sense that which could barely be sensed. Robert was holding the unconscious body of our Samantha! With a cry we surrounded Robert, all wanting to see whether our Sam had been hurt.
Even as my eyes filled as I reached out to Sam, I sensed that Jesus was concentrating on me. Without thinking about it, I became The Light as I turned to him. I only stared at him for a moment and then, as just Cherine, I asked Robert to take us back to Freddie. Since Sam failed, she’ll have to take over the diary now.
Failed!? I didn’t fail, we might have lost Lucy if I hadn’t taken her place. Robbie must have suspected I planned it and watched us. Anyway…it was lovely feeling them when I regained consciousness.
Iisous was not happy about us taking him away and wanted to return to the same time from which we’d abducted him. He explained, as simply as he could - much to the amusement of our two friends, that he is worried his attackers will try to take over his people - as if we hadn’t the intelligence to think of it. We grinned when we thought about trying to explain to him, since he does not have Science Fiction books or movies to help him guess. The attackers are aliens. Not the Wyfrizzuc; that would have been too delicious an irony. Sorry, I can’t help disliking Joseph, although I also feel sorry for him as he is going through a personal hell of his own at this time. Although I am free to write of it now, I’d rather not and will leave it to the following circumstances to do so on my behalf.
8440
One of the first touchy moments when we arrived in Freddie was the moment Iisous sensed his two alternates as we led him to the taverna. He cut off his protests and demands to be returned and we sensed the three of them size each other up. Iisous may not be a Cherinian, but he has the ability of sensing others and he soon relaxed, discounting them as an immediate threat, and returned to pestering Robbie. We thought it would be nice to have Solomon explain and we got some great laughs out of it. We introduced them, without mentioning who or what Solomon is, and explained that as Solomon is far wiser than us, we chose to have him explain why it is not necessary for him to go back.
Solomon first explained about people of other worlds and once Iisous understood that aliens live on planets revolving around distant stars, he told him that those who’d attacked him were aliens and that, powerful as they are, they did not sheathe themselves, happy to depend on spells to protect them from the various diseases of our planet. Part of their error was in thinking that they were safe anyway, for they did not believe that our germs, viruses and bacteria could harm them. Their battle with Iisous was draining them so they did not bother renewing their protective spell and within a year of his departure they’d all died out.
Iisous gestured his respect as he answered, “King Solomon, your wisdom is truly as written of. How did this Robert person steal you without your guards noticing. Did they buy a traitor to speak of your death as reported in our sacred Scriptures?”
Solomon was too flustered to answer so we explained that he is an alien and that, indeed, we named him after King Solomon because of his wisdom. We did not leave Solomon to suffer, but we did tease him when in private and even he laughed. As for Iisous, he would not believe us until Iona visited and spoke to him. He was soon caught up in the wonder of meeting other races and did not evince fear of any species. It was beautiful but not destined to last for long. Joseph rudely forced his way through and knelt before Iisous.
“I have sinned. My soul is damned.” Iisous emoted a slight impatience, but tried to be as others picture him and asked him why he thought so and what his sin had been. “I betrayed you.”
Dommi went white. “You can’t be Judas Iscariot!”
Joseph had no idea who Dommi was speaking of since their Jesus had no apostles and there was no Judas to betray him, so he ignored her, waiting for his Jesus to condemn him.
“How have you betrayed me? Surely you are not two thousand years old, I sense no magic in you.”
“I did so in a previous life, I was known as…”
Iisous raised his hand to stop him. “How could you have betrayed me? No names are to be mentioned unless I say so.”
“The man I was became a servant of those who attacked you. When they first arrived at our planet they found me and promised me wealth and power if I told them who their enemy is. They explained that their magic had warned them of a magi to be born in their future who would become a threat to them and they wanted to know who he is and where they can find him. I told them about you and led them to your home.” The face of Iisous turned white with a fury he struggled to contain and Joseph bent down so that his face touched the floor, waiting for his Jesus to smite him and send him to Hell.
“The man who is responsible for the deaths of your loved ones is not alive.” I spoke forcibly and stood next to Joseph, my hand softly resting on the back of his head. “In this life he is guilty of other sins, but not of those that you and he blame him for.”
He could barely force the words out, “What sins?”
“He worships you and is a religious fanatic, impatient and unforgiving of those who do not. I don’t understand how it is he was ever linked as a Cherinian.” I was told, later that day, that he was not religious when he was linked. It seems he responded to being linked by turning to religion. Apparently the anti mutant psychosis of his world caused it.
Robbie has read my latest entries in the diary (at last) and asked, “Why did you deliberately try to mislead Joseph by telling him that he must first share from you his life as an alien? Has he done so?”
“No, he has not. I’ve kept away from him as I don’t like him so I doubt he’ll work up the courage to ask me - in the extremely unlikely event that he changes his mind. As for misleading him…are you certain I did? Rania, do you think I did?”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
- posted: 22nd Sep, 2020
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