A Matter of Degrees

by Alex Marcoux

  “This is sick. All your examples are about destruction and suffering.”

  “Not for all,” he smiled. “I assure you, there are thirty-three members of the council who will benefit from any of these examples. We control the major banks, insurance companies, major corporations, and politicians.”

  “You can’t have everyone. The United States is a democracy; you can’t tell me you control every politician including the president.”

  “You’re absolutely right! Although most of the time the candidate that we endorse wins, there are times when he doesn’t. Then, there are the even more bizarre times. Take a look at the 2000 election between Bush and Gore.”

  “Who did you support?”

  “That’s the funny part. We didn’t endorse either one, and look what happened. The country went into a stalemate. For over a month, it was unclear who the next leader of the country would be.”

  “Why wouldn’t you endorse someone?”

  “I didn’t need to. Both candidates were connected to a group. Either way I won.”

  “What happens when a president is not connected?” Rachel was curious now.

  “I have the technology to manipulate thoughts. We would meet regularly with the president and brainwash him.”

  “With the Secret Service, how could you do something like that?”

  “I told you, I control the Secret Service. They work for me!” He smiled. “Come with me.” He left the room with Rachel on his heels. In the lobby, he strolled to a nearby closed door and removed the clipboard that hung beside the door. He examined paperwork clamped to it.

  “There is a congressman inside whose vote is needed by the tobacco industry.” Kek keyed in a code on the security pad beside the door, and a viewing window materialized. Inside, a man lay in what appeared to be a dentist chair. Flashing monitors surrounded him. His eyes were closed. He appeared asleep with earphones and electrodes attached to his head.

  “First the man will go through a very simple brainwashing program. Here we implant the desired outcome through audio and electrical stimulation in the brain’s cortex. Then the man’s short-term memory is rewritten using a similar power of suggestion technique.”

  “Memory tampering?” Rachel recalled the report she did the previous year. “The CIA has this technology, doesn’t it?”

  “The CIA? The CIA reports through me. It has since its inception. How do you think Mr. Congressman here will get home?”

  Rachel didn’t want to believe him. She was hoping this was a nightmare, and kept telling herself to wake up. It didn’t work.

  “Over the years, I’m sure, you’ve heard of those people claiming to be abducted by UFOs. They allege to have had their brain scanned and body probed…” He smiled.

  “You bastard! You abduct people and make them believe they were accosted by UFOs?” Rachel was incredulous.

  “That’s not our intent. Most of the time the person has no recollection of what happened.” He pointed to the doors that ran alongside the lobby. “Here we can manipulate a specimen’s thoughts, or retrieve the information that we may need. When we’re finished, their memory of the abduction is erased. There are incidences though, when it doesn’t completely work, because I read about it in the tabloids occasionally.”

  Rachel’s head throbbed. The thought of global control did not surprise her. The knowledge that there was a demonic being ruling the world, who claimed to be her father, was too much to take in. She needed to change the subject. “Where’s Jessie?”

  “She’s contained.”

  “What’s going to happen to her?”

  “There are two types of people that we bring here. The first are those we need information or some deed from. The others are problems. How we determine their release depends on how they came here. Jessie has been a problem from the start.”

  “I want to see her.”

  “That’s out of the question.”

  “Let me see her.” When Rachel sensed that he wasn’t going to budge, she said, “For God’s sake, what are you afraid of? You think were going to escape or something?”

  * * *

  The Secret Service man flicked the switch, stopping electrical stimulation to Jessie’s brain. The monitor went black. He knew it would be a couple minutes before she would wake. He peeled the electrodes from her forehead, temples, and the base of her skull. Then he unfastened the straps on her wrists and legs, and waited.

  When Jessie’s eyes opened, he wasted no time. “Follow me!”

  Jessie was led into the lobby where she squinted to filter the excess light. She was groggy and moved slowly along the wall. Where was she? She followed the man about thirty feet, before he led her into the mural room, where she stood, eyes glazed over.

  “Jessie!” Rachel rushed to her and took her hand, but she knew something was wrong. She turned to Kek who stood in the corner of the room. “What did you do to her?”

  “I’ve been scanning her brain for hours, now. Sedation is required for the procedure.” What he didn’t tell her was that he had been unsuccessful and had hoped that he would get some answers now. “The sedative should wear off shortly.”

  When Jessie heard Kek’s deep voice, she faced him. Then she leaned her head forward, and held her face in her hands.

  “Jessie, are you okay?” Rachel directed her toward a chair.

  Jessie, more cognizant now, shook her head. “I want to stand.” Her body was stiff from being strapped to the chair. She stretched the muscles in her back. Her mind was clearing, and she had so much to share with Rachel, but she didn’t know where to begin. “It wasn’t Steve, it was you, Rachel,” Jessie whispered.

  “What are you talking about Jess?”

  “The Ultimate Conspiracy, I tuned in to you,” she mumbled.

  Rachel tried to recall what Jessie had told her about her project. “Did he tell you why you’ve been brought here?” Her voice was a little stronger.

  “I can’t believe it. I haven’t had a chance to fully grasp what all this means.”

  “What exactly did he tell you?”

  “Jess…he says he’s my father, I don’t want to believe him!”

  Jessie reached for Rachel’s wrist, eyeing the birthmark. It made sense. “I know this is hard…but he is your father, Rachel.” Tears welled in Rachel’s eyes, and she sat on the couch. Jessie sat beside her, “What else has he told you?”

  Rachel started to cry and Jessie wrapped her arms around her. She shuddered, and her tear-filled eyes met Jessie’s, “He runs the world, and he’s brought me here to join him.” Rachel trembled.

  “Rachel, how has he explained his perceived immortality?”

  Fresh tears flowed from her eyes; she wiped them away with her hand. She was so confused. She couldn’t fathom what all this meant.

  “I don’t know how to deal with this,” she cried as she spoke. “Jess…I’m the daughter of Satan.”

  “Satan?” Jessie’s eyes met Kek’s cold eyes. “Is that what he told you?” Her attention returned to Rachel. “I’m sorry to give you more bad news, but it gets worse.”

  Rachel trembled. “What do you mean?”

  “Kek is our creator.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “Creator?” Rachel stood. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Rachel’s body language got Kek’s attention and he drew closer.

  Jessie stood calmly beside her and repeated, “Kek is our creator.”

  “He can’t be God!” Rachel clearly didn’t believe Jessie.

  “I didn’t say he was God. I said he was our creator.”

  Kek had overheard the conversation, and an evil smile came to his lips. It had been a long time since he’d had a mysterious challenge like Jessie. “Who are you?” he asked.

  “Why don’t you tell her everything?” Jessie’s eyes avoided meeting Kek’s. She turned to Rachel. “Did he tell you why he has protected you?”

  “I assumed it was because…” The words were so hard to say
, “He’s my father.”

  Jessie brought to mind when her head, as Lukeman, rested on Dalila’s shoulder. Kek’s pledge echoed in her head: “I will prepare you for the afterlife my love. And I will never allow anyone to harm you again. Never!”

  “It’s not that simple, is it Kek?” Jessie spoke over her shoulder. To Rachel, “He has pledged to protect you eternally from harm.”

  Kek’s smile disappeared and his tone was ominous. “How do you know that?”

  “Rachel, it began when you were Dalila. He has pulled you into his life, lifetime after lifetime, because of a vow. You don’t have to allow it to happen.”

  Rachel didn’t understand any of this. She backed away from both of them.

  “How do you know that?” Kek yelled, his eyes glaring with anger at Jessie.

  “I was there, Kek.” For the first time, she allowed him to meet her eyes.

  It didn’t take long for him to see it. “Lukeman?” He circled her slowly. “And you remember!” From behind he asked in her ear. “How much do you remember?”

  “Everything, Kek. Even Nibiru.”

  His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. Abruptly, he jabbed a needle in Jessie’s neck.

  Instantly, Jessie lost consciousness. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor.

  It all happened too fast for Rachel. She tried to catch her, but she wasn’t quick enough. “What did you do?” Rachel yelled as she leaned over her body.

  Kek pressed a button on his watch and said, “I have a code thirty-two.”

  Seconds later, the door opened and two men entered. Effortlessly, they grabbed Jessie’s arms and dragged her from the room.

  “What are you doing?” Rachel yelled at the men. “Leave her alone. Don’t hurt her!” But nothing she said mattered.

  Kek followed the men out of the room, slamming the door in Rachel’s face. As she had expected, the door was locked.

  “Nibiru? Who the hell is Nibiru?”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Alone again. Rachel retreated to the couch. Although scared and confused, she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She was the key to their freedom. She needed to sort out what had just transpired. Jessie had confirmed her worst fears—Kek was indeed Rachel’s father. What did Jessie know that made him so angry? She recalled the details of Jessie’s project, The Ultimate Conspiracy. Jessie had psychically tuned in to Rachel’s future when she conceived the story. Her protagonist failed, and traded allegiances. Is that my future? My destiny? she wondered. Can destiny be changed? It has to change—I’d never join him!

  Two hours later the door opened and Kek stood silently in the doorway.

  “Where’s Jessie? What are you doing to her?” Rachel demanded.

  “That depends on you. Come. I need to show you some things, then you have a decision to make.”

  A golf cart was parked outside the door. Kek hopped in the driver’s seat, but Rachel didn’t move. He looked at her. “I assure you, our time is precious.”

  Rachel sat beside Kek. He handed her a hoodwink. “Put this on!”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t ask questions. Just put it on.”

  She pulled the blindfold over her head.

  He tightened a drawstring around her neck. “Don’t remove this until I’ve instructed.”

  The little cart sped away. Kek made two full circles in the lobby, then a figure eight. When he passed the mural room for the third time, he floored the pedal and the small vehicle sped toward a blank wall with no doors or windows.

  Beneath the blindfold, Rachel felt an increase in velocity, accelerating her heart rate.

  Kek didn’t slow down as he neared the wall. Just when it seemed the cart would crash into the concrete wall, it disappeared and they accessed another room. Kek braced his arm in front of Rachel and slammed on the brakes.

  Her body lurched forward as the cart skidded to a standstill. She felt Kek loosen the string around her neck, and she pulled the blindfold from her head. The vehicle was parked in the center of a dimly lit room. Rachel stepped from the cart; their motion activated recessed lighting and the room brightened. There were no windows or doors. She felt as if they were in a box. Behind the cart, there were skid marks on the white floor. She followed the rubber to the wall where the cart had emerged. She touched the wall’s surface. It was concrete. “How did we come through the wall?”

  “I have three things to show you, and then I need your decision,” he said.

  “What decision?”

  “Whether you will assume your role and rule the world with me.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “I’ll inform you of the consequences when the time is appropriate.” His voice was cool, emotionless, and detached. He approached the wall to the right of the cart. With a wave of his hand, an arched entrance to another room mysteriously appeared. The room was dark, yet lights gradually illuminated the area.

  At first, she saw a massive shadow in the center. Then, as the area brightened she made out sharp angles surrounding the object. It was a septagram, a seven-pointed star. The core of the star consisted of a golden disk; it must have been over ten feet wide. As the room brightened, the star actually shimmered with sparkling light. Rachel inched closer, discerning that the brilliant light was emitted from thousands of diamonds that shaped the star.

  Rachel studied the luminous object. It looked like a celestial art piece. The expense to manufacture the item was inconceivable to her. It couldn’t be real gold or diamonds. Could it? Encircling the star, at the extreme points, were seven smaller disks. She glanced around the circular room, then above the star. She felt as if she were standing in a barrel. She couldn’t see the top. There was a low-frequency hum.

  “What is this?”

  “The BeMER machine. Behavior Modification through Electromagnetic Radiation.”

  There was a part of her that was afraid to ask. “What does it do?”

  “Without getting into specifics, it modifies behavior of every person on Earth.”

  “How?” she whispered.

  “By modulating the frequency of the planet, we stay in control. Then there are times when we need more drastic results. In which case the frequency and wavelength is modified which affects humankind’s seven ganglionic nerve centers. This we don’t do often, but when we do…” He smiled with evil in his eyes. “The results are effective.”

  “Give me an example of when you’ve done that.”

  “World Wars I and II.”

  It struck Rachel. Impulsively she turned to her father. “You asshole! That’s why the UN members are acting so unpredictable. Are you trying to start World War III?”

  He smiled. “Yes, my dear. That was merely a slight increase in radiation while they were in negotiations. You haven’t seen anything, yet.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “It’s part of the plan, Rachel. Just take a look at the price of oil. Trust me, we’re becoming wealthier by the second. And if we go to war, do you have any idea how profitable it will be?”

  “You’re sick!”

  Kek strolled back to the golf cart. To Rachel, the room now felt more like a hallway. He moved to the wall directly in front of the golf cart. With a wave of his hand, another archway magically appeared. As in the BeMER room, the area lit gradually. But unlike the previous area, there were vessels overflowing with treasures. Kek followed a narrow pathway in the midst of chests of ancient gold coins, urns of precious gems, and vases of priceless treasures. This room was substantially larger than the last.

  “Here I have gold from the lost continents of Mu and Atlantis.” He pointed to chests brimming with gold pieces. “There’s gold, silver, gems, and other precious minerals from every ancient civilization. About a mile from this spot we have a warehouse of precious metals and stones.”

  Speechless, she followed. The room was about the size of a gymnasium. One thing toward the back wall caught her eye and she passed Kek. Here a wooden chest rested on a platfor
m. Beside it lay a golden pot, and a rod. Two long bars were affixed to the sides of the chest. Over the cover were two cherubs. The chubby children knelt facing each other, their wings stretched to cover the trunk. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “It’s the Ark of the Covenant.”

  “How did you get it?”

  “For the most part, I’ve always had it. It belongs to me.”

  Rachel pointed to the artifacts that lay beside the ark. “The gold pot?”

  “It’s from the story in Exodus, the golden pot of hidden manna. The staff is Aaron’s rod as told in Numbers.”

  Rachel couldn’t fathom the value of the treasures that surrounded her. Her attention turned to the wall behind the platform plastic cylinders were neatly packed into tall and deep shelves running the entire length of the wall There must have been thousands of plastic tubes tidily packed.

  She moved to a shelf behind the platform and lifted a tube. Rolled inside the clear polyethylene cylinder was a parchment. “What are these?”

  “Scrolls of hidden knowledge.”

  She raised another tube that had been neatly stacked within a matrix. “That group is from the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

  “You have them?” She moved along the expansive shelf unit. Kek followed closely. About ten feet further she lifted another cylinder.

  “The Roman Emperor Constantine confiscated those in AD 326,” he said.

  “That was the year after the Council of Nicaea.” The scrolls were priceless, but that wasn’t why he possessed them she speculated. She turned to him. “They communicate concepts that you don’t want people to be aware of, don’t they?”

  Kek nodded. “True.”

  “Why didn’t you just destroy them?”

  Kek smiled. How could he express that he had a soft spot for humankind’s emergent philosophies? “They’re priceless!”

  “Why are you showing me this?”

  “Come.”

  Rachel followed him through the treasures to the entry, where the golf cart was parked. “I’m showing you this, because I want you to be very clear about your choices.” He pointed at the BeMER machine. “If you choose not to join me, I cannot protect you from it. But, if you join me, I can give you treasures beyond your wildest dreams. Anything you want can be yours. You want to be in charge of the network? It could be yours. You want to be the first woman U.S. president? I can give you that, though I do have someone in mind for that job.”