Children of the Source Read online

  “How well do you know Burt Clark?”

  “He is one of us. He isn’t awake to that fact yet, but he has the empathy which makes him responsive and malleable. We have to keep a Thera mischief maker at bay. I’ve already had to have them chased off. Friends on the Other side are keeping watch. Useful, friends.”

  Severin smiled. “Yes. So you think short-circuiting Evain with the new Tellus will help?”

  “I am hopeful. What do you think?”

  The graying man looked away for a long minute. “I believe it will help. I do think that Evain’s energy signature has created a life of its own and will take time to dim. So, no, not enough to make a substantial difference. You need to discover the identity before you get surprised.”

  “I agree,” I said. “You have any ideas as to The Thera’s identity?”

  “I am not a Thera, but I’ve had time to observe each one in our group. They can shield themselves rather perfectly. Kirfin, Astera, Dabir are three.” He saw me start. “Dabir is Thera, but has elected not to change his body as most Thera do. He’s going through the natural aging process. Kirfin keeps to herself. She is friendly, but a loner.”

  “Do you know her history, especially dealing with Adora and the eugenics wars?” I began to pace the twenty by twenty foot room.

  “Her Entity had a life during the wars, but it appears to have been a periphery one. Not connected with either faction.”

  “Everyone knew someone effected by the war in some way, Severin. It was not a neutral time. What was the life?” We drew up stools to the map table and sat. I poured tea from a teapot steaming mugs giving off the gentle aroma of oranges. The ceramic honey pot sat between us.

  “She worked in an animal shelter as a caretaker.” Severin took a heaping spoon of honey and melted it into his tea.

  “Did the eugenics ever visit her facility? They often raided such places.”

  “They did and saved a cat from a disease,” Severin said.

  “That’s the direction I want to aim them here. Sending them into areas that will help rather than hurt. We don’t need a race of supermen and women with no ethical direction. So what did she do?”

  “Interesting. She didn’t join their cause. Their arrogance with their eugenics enhanced bodies turned her away from them.”

  “Dabir?” I added honey to my tea. A sweet tooth.

  “I don’t know of a life on Adora” Severin warmed his hands on his mug.. “He came to the Four Planet Federation later. Always been interested in the intellectual and spiritual side of things.”

  “Then we come to Astera.” I tasted my tea.

  “She did come to your aid when Ryan attacked you. Her Entity had no life on Adora, or the wars on Earth. She shows up in the first generation born during the establishment of the Four Planet Federation. Then two successive lives after that with the Federation.”

  “That pretty much eliminates her,” I said. “We’re back where we started. I was hoping for some clues.” I was frustrated. There seemed no place to go. Like with Jesse and his group I had to follow the path without interference. It was dangerous since I had no real protection except my shielding, intuition, and wits. And timing outside of my control. Back to square one. Severin excused himself to go to a meeting.

  I focused on the map and my family. Jesse and his family weren’t moving. His injuries needed a great deal of healing. We’d knitted his tissues back together, but his energies needed to be strengthened. They would meet up tomorrow. I sent a part of myself to Burt Clark and his patrol. They marched parallel to Jesse and hopefully would bump into the Castaway the next day. My friends reported no interference from the Thera.

  I left the map room and went out to find Abe, Meg and Victoria. General Carson, Brian Muldower, and Colonel Randolph stepped out of their Chopper for a meeting with our Council and the aliens. The meeting didn’t require my presence. I paid my respects and left them to go over to the children. They were with a group of about twenty-five people being introduced to some games by the aliens under the awnings at the picnic tables by the Arms Shack. Using the term alien was becoming relative as my memories of that culture and my position within it were pretty much awakened. There were gaps in the memory tapestry, but these were filling in. The aliens knew and accepted me as one of their own. I spoke the language, knew the culture, technology, and was recognized as head of The Thera, and a member of the Council of the Four Planet Federation. There was also the balancing act of being a member of the human race, a United States citizen, and member of the Cheshire community. Along with all of that, I needed to keep good relations with General Carson, and Brian Muldower among others. A lot on my plate.

  I sat down at the end of a picnic table and watched people playing the games. An excellent milieu of family and friends on several levels. I felt very relaxed, almost sleepy. Being a scientist-priest I should have known. I had perfect control over my body and energy, but I forgot that energy comes in many forms and may be projected in many forms. A sense of safety pervaded the space around me. Then I saw a small spider walking across the table toward me. I had almost missed the connection when it cried out to me.

  Simultaneously I put up a protection, swept the poisoned sleeping energies away, and sent out portions of myself to trace my attacker. Then I put an energy shield around the spider. I stood. Kirfin faced me twenty feet away. The people at the tables backed away and watched us aware something very unusual was happening. We faced each other. “Why?” I asked.

  “Remember as Kodus when you tortured Nelon to death?” Her voice soft and deadly, caressed the atmosphere. The people could feel our energies, left the tables, and backed farther away. But mesmerized, they couldn’t leave.

  “Not Kodus’ finest moment,” I said.

  “He was my brother in that life.” Again the deadly voice probing.

  I moved my hands, adjusting the shielding. “Severin said your Entity had no life then.”

  “That was kept from him. Not hard to do. A good man, but easy to deceive.” Her voice continued to probe. “Your children Abe, Meg, and Victoria are lovely.”

  “You can’t touch them,” I said, and waved my hands, instructing one of my selves to shield them.

  “Clever. But you’re one man, and cannot multitask with our language.”

  “You have no idea what you are dealing with, Kirfin. Stop the probing and give this up.”

  She sent her first blast of sound at me. It crumbled on my shield. Immediately she sent a blast at Abe. It crumbled, too. Without warning she sent a blast at Victoria, but I caught it in transit and destroyed it. The blasts shuddered in the air and trembled the earth. The people moved further back, frightened , but fascinated.

  We spoke in the alien language and the Sound Language. One of the soldiers aimed his K-12 rifle at Kirfin. “This does not concern you, soldier. Put up your weapon,” Kirfin said in accent less English. When he hesitated, she sent a blast of sound which I intercepted, breaking its power.

  “Do as she says, corporal,” I said. The soldier backed off lowering his weapon. General Carson, Muldower started to move toward us. “Everyone keep your distance,” I said. “We’re using the Sound Language. This is not a game. Everyone move back.” The people backed to about a hundred yards from us.

  I turned to Kirfin. “I am not Kodus. We share the same Entity, but I am new. You know this.”

  “You are in every way Kodus returned even down to your wife, the Queen of Adora, Marta, now Judith.” She raised her voice, eyes ever watchful. “Did you know, General, Mr. Muldower, that Judith used to be Queen of Adora from a Entity that ruled the planet for thousands of years? Her knowledge and power makes all this hardly worth thinking about.” Carson and Muldower exchanged concerned glances.

  “You were not taught to war with the Sound Language. Where did you learn this?” I asked. She sent me a thought form of a long ago past and a war I’d never fought in. I saw one of Akenton’s warrior scientist-priests. Beautiful, full of unequaled power, ruth
less and completely sure of herself. I saw Mator ambush and kill her. She was forced to watch as one by one all her friends died. Then in an act of desperation she distracted Mator enough so Akenton was able to kill him. “So it wasn’t Akenton in the end, but it gave him the opportunity to change. Why not you?”

  “Your great son is not here to protect you, Jamie.”

  “I don’t need his protection, Kirfin.”

  She aimed her next salvo at me, which broke on my shield. For fifteen minutes I wrecked each of her attacks. The people with General Carson and Muldower felt and saw the energy. It was tangible, shaking the air and everything around it. Slowly I arranged five of my selves around her in a net and began to close in. Her sound attacks were taking their toll on my energy and the shielding. Then I found the other parts of me could each have the power of the whole. I stood and moved toward her until twenty yards separated us. These selves were filmy, but a good physical representation of me. I directed Kirfin’s energy attacks so they ran in a circle. Her face and eyes showed her confusion. Then I siphoned her last attack of energy and sent it back into her. She looked astonished and fainted.

  I stood a moment collecting my selves, then ran to Kirfin and quickly placed a shield around her. I remembered how Kodus had killed Akenton’s minion when he tried to alter his DNA to make it impossible for him to use the Sound Language. I turned. Kodus stood there. “Remember when I operated on Locus and he eventually died? I can help you avoid the mistake. Let’s work together on our energetic lady.” The people looked at me strangely, seeing me seemingly having a conversation with empty air, except Charles and Mary who could see what was going on. They hung back with Carson, Muldower, Randolph and the other soldiers, giving me space. “Thank you,” I said.

  There is a point, the source in a person or any Being, from where all the energy and DNA springs. It is from this point that the energy of the Entity creates the physical body of its personality. Some schools of thought call these energy points Chakras. We went to what is call the Root Chakra. There we sent our energies probing until we located the DNA link which being altered allowed the Sound Language to operate. Kodus pointed out the link and explained his mistake. We altered the DNA together and projected into the future to see end result. When we were satisfied, we put the final touches and withdrew.

  I slowly brought Kirfin to waking consciousness. I could see the aging process taking hold. With the shielding dropped, she appeared to be in her sixties. Her eyes locked with mine. “What do you plan to do with me?”

  “It has already been done, Kirfin. You no longer have the Sound Language.” She startled, fright in her eyes. “Walk with me to look in the pond at your reflection.” I gestured. Kirfin stood shakily, clearly expecting some type of control placed on her. I took her aging hand and we walked to the pond about fifty feet away. She bent over, surveying her face with wonder. “Now, you will have to deal with growing old, Kirfin.”

  Severin came up beside us with General Carson and Brian Muldower. “This is the first incident of violence with your people, Severin,” Carson said.

  “No one was injured, Will,” I said.

  “She tried to kill your children, not to mention you, Jamie.”

  I smiled, hoping I was the good actor. “As you can see I was in control of her the whole time.” I looked to Carson and Muldower. “If you will permit, Kirfin will leave this world and never return. No permanent damage was done.”

  “She had your frequency, Jamie,” Carson said.

  “No more. She is now no different than anyone else.”

  “This was the type of warfare you mentioned that took place in Adora and for a time on Earth?” Muldower face was grave.

  “Briefly on Earth, Mr. Muldower,” I said. “In our terms tens of thousands of years ago, before recorded history. There is a thin layer of melted glass in many places on the Earth with no geologic reason. That is from their Sound Language wars. No recorded history if that is what you mean. No.”

  Muldower turned to Carson. “If Severin can give us his guarantee about Kirfin, I can live with that. You?”

  “I agree,” Carson said. “How will you handle her, Severin?”

  The graying man said, “She’ll be sent to one of our ships that is being rotated back to our Federation. She’ll be in intensive therapy. Not the type you are used to. We understand the structure of the Entity and its personalities, and know how to access information about Entities.”

  “Will she be tried and punished?” Muldower asked.

  Severin gave a slight smile. “Our political and social systems are quite different. Yours are based in concepts of disenfranchising various racial and ethnic groups and building prisons and judicial systems to service them. You also do this with various species. Frankly, we were very dubious about this project. You enfranchise the very people that have no business having power and control over others. They in turn ensure that they are untouchable. Only now have you gotten away from money in your political system.” He hesitated. “We don’t use money, or have issues in measuring self-worth with acquisition - physical things, money, education, jobs. Your system’s problems are self-perpetuating, and every so often when things get out of hand you tweak the problem to keep an even keel without really addressing the cause.” He cleared his throat. “Our system is based on learning and growing. Money and want do not exist. Ideas of acquisition do not exist. We don’t have a culture based on hierarchies resulting in conflict and violence. What we have done is something you haven’t tried. We bypassed concepts of opposites - good and evil- and emphasized concepts of unity.”

  “But there is evil - good and evil in the world,” Muldower said.

  “We agree there is behavior that hurts and wrecks and can even destroy civilizations and worlds. These behaviors are based in ignorance and free choice. Different labels don’t make them hurt or wreck less. Usually the problems are based in spiritual ignorance - the seven deadly sins. But you notice the books and entertainment programs that make you feel the best are those that are based in unity and bringing people together. Building and growing - understanding - unity.

  “That is the experiment you’re flirting with, but haven’t embraced. We have been using this unity concept without the problems of opposites. This does take a certain level of maturity, and up until this time your world has been host to Entities at various levels of maturity. Slowly your system will host more mature Entities, and others starting out will go elsewhere to learn. There are cycles of growth and maturity and yours is moving toward a more mature phase. This will take a while but it is in the works.”

  “So what will happen to her?” Randolph asked, adjusting his web belt holding his pistol.

  “She will be supervised, and never again have power over others,” Severin said. “She will have the means of reviewing the lives of her Entity to find the ideas that lead her to choices she made. This review is usually available to personalities only after physical death. Our technology makes this knowledge obtainable while she is living in the physical body.”

  “Will she change?” Carson asked.

  “Change is always a matter of choice. No one can force a change. However we have had pretty good success with this therapy. Knowledge is power or provides opportunity. That is what we emphasize.” Severin called to a couple of aliens to escort Kirfin to their space craft. The woman, now worn and aged, walked with vacant eyes and hesitant step. When she reached the spacecraft, she turned and smiled at me. Her eyes held a certain relief. I bowed back. We’d be in touch. Blessed be.

  Muldower looked at me incredulously. “She tried to kill you and your children, Jamie. Why aren’t you angry? Don’t you think she should be punished?”

  I shook my head. “I had her under control. You saw my other selves surrounding her. I’m not saying it was easy, but I knew where her anger came from. To produce the beginning of a healing I had to channel her energy into knocking her out. To create an opportunity for change. What would have happened if I had melted
her physical body like I did those rifles? If her personality died physically during violence, she would have to pick up there on the Other side. All the awful emotions, anger and devastation, and the desire for release through revenge. Now she has a new way to go. One thing that makes our world so valuable as a learning system is emotion which allows ideas to be translated in vivid reality - love, hate, anger, forgiveness.” I nodded. “Now I have a spider to rescue.”

  “Spider?” Carson looked at me funny.

  “Through time and space a spider was genetically engineered using the Sound Language to assassinate me. Walk with me.” I led them to the picnic table and showed them the tangible energy bubble holding the spider. They stared in wonder. “The poison was more powerful than ten black widows and could get through almost any energy field. The spider knew if it bit me, it would be released from the terrible pain it was engineered to be in, But it chose a different path and saved my life.”

  “You’re saying this spider consciously chose to save your life?” Muldower asked softly. “A conscious choice?”

  “It may be difficult to understand. It has a spirit or personality too, and contacted me asking for release. Now I need to change him back.”

  “You could just squash the critter and be done with it,” a burly soldier said. He hocked and spat. “Spiders. Give me the goddamn willies.”

  “Every Being should have the right to prosper without being molested. So I’m going to return him to his natural state and he can be on his way. Please excuse me.” I sat down next to the spider still waiting in the energy shield. There I examined the Being and delicately altered the different layers of molecular engineering neutralizing the lethal toxin. Kirfin had laid a couple of bobby traps which I defused. It took a couple of hours but I returned the spider to his original condition. Then I placed him back where Kirfin had gotten him.

  I looked up from where I’d placed the spider. Brian Muldower frowned down at me. I stood. “Yes, sir?” I said, feeling the bursting curiosity in the man.