by Ian Newton
Chapter 8
Distant Early Warning
“Time after time, we lose sight of the way. Our causes can’t see their effect.”ii
The Story of Tomorrow
“We have to do it in five hundred years or less,” Andrew said for the third time as he and Jacob stood next to the Fountain of Knowing.
“I understand that,” Jacob said. “I just don’t see how it’s possible.”
Kaya appeared next to them, sitting on the edge of the Fountain. She had just been killed by an assassin.
“I knew it!” she yelled, jumping to her feet. “Stupid laser guns! Those idiots! My whole life spent trying to keep the peace, trying to keep the planets united, trying to make a difference, and they shoot me! I’m gonna…”
“You’re dead, get over it,” Jacob said.
“Get over it?! Get over it?! Is that all you have to say?”
“Welcome back my love,” Andrew said, trying to take her hand, but she pulled away.
“There was so much left to do,” she said, clenching her fists.
“There always is,” Andrew agreed.
“He’s back on the five hundred years or less thing,” Jacob complained to Kaya.
“It’s the only way!” she insisted, pointing her finger at Jacob. “Unless you want Marie to spend eternity as a prisoner, we have to try.” She took Andrew’s hand, and said, “I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to go back and be someone else. I want to go back to our time, to our City. I want to be with you until we’re done with this whole crazy thing.”
“I have to agree,” Jacob added. “I’m about as wise as I care to get. If I don’t have what it takes by now, I’m never going to have it.”
“I think we’re all on the same page,” Andrew agreed.
From nowhere, Father said, “Then let us begin.”
“Whoa!” Kaya shouted as the landscape blurred around them.
In an instant, they were outside the column of Light pouring from the completed spire of the first Kingdom. Marcia was below them, and they felt her emotions as she sat on the edge of the Fountain.
“It’s not fair,” Kaya thought aloud. “How can she possibly do this all alone? She can’t even tell her friends what’s happening or why. Listen to her. Oh, this is terrible. Father, can’t you do something?”
“The burden is too much. Marcia will not succeed, but you must learn from her, even if it’s painful to watch.”
“Why is she alone?” Jacob asked.
“It’s a test.”
“A test of what?” Andrew asked.
“That is something you must figure out on your own.”
The passage of time sped up.
“We have five hundred and eighty-seven years to witness, let me know if we’re going too quickly.”
They watched the City below them as Marcia, and her world moved at a fevered pitch.
Time slowed as Marcia attended to the passing of each of her original band of Travelers. Kaya cried.
“She’s an incredible spirit,” Jacob said with a heavy heart.
“We are less than fifty years along our path.”
The dial of time turned, and Marcia continued working tirelessly. They marveled at her ability to identify those who suffered, and to bring her Light when it was needed.
There were subtle events along the way that changed her; that drove her to question the purpose of her Kingdom and her endless obligations.
After five hundred and fifty years she had isolated and condemned herself. Her prison was her tower, her sentence was never ending.
She welcomed those who entered the City, but could no longer find the strength to help anyone, even herself.
When the second person turned to stone, Marcia flew from the window of her tower. She fled the City, escaping her prison, and in doing so, she abandoned her people and her obligations. Only at the last instant did she realize what she had done, but it was too late.
In mid-flight, Marcia turned to stone, then to sand as she hit the floor of the valley.
As the first Kingdom crumbled to the ground, Andrew asked, “Why does everyone have to die? It’s not right.”
“The City is dying, and those within it are collateral damage. Cause and effect.”
“She was brilliant,” Kaya said admiringly. “So caring and attentive. I don’t know if I could ever do what she did.”
“But she locked herself away, like Celeste,” Jacob pointed out. “She trapped herself. She turned paradise into a prison.”
“It seems to me that any job, any task, and any obligation can become a prison if you let it,” Andrew commented.
“We mustn’t let that happen to any of us, including Marie,” Kaya affirmed. “The citizens are here to help us just as much as we are here to help them. It’s the tower that separates. That’s the problem, that’s the trap.”
“Excellent,” Father said, and they all disappeared with a “pop”.
When they re-appeared, it was night time. The first edge of the waxing crescent moon hung just above the horizon, and two young people flew past them on their way to the half-spire.
“We are now in the second Kingdom, one thousand seven hundred years in the future. They,” He said gesturing toward the two young people flying through the air, “are Abhishek and Camilla. They are wonderful people, I love them very much. They’re on their way to the half-spire for the first time.”
Time sped up, and they watched Abhishek and Camilla rebuild the Kingdom and eventually welcome their only daughter into the world.
“Her name is Tana,” Father said. “She is a brave spirit, full of questions and the need to explore.”
The dial of time turned, and they watched as Tana’s parents tirelessly split the duties of raising her, and welcoming new citizens.
“She has to open the door to the spire doesn’t she?” Kaya asked.
“Yes,” Father confirmed. “On her eighteenth birthday, she must open the door.”
“Or the Light goes out, doesn’t it?” Andrew asked.
“Or the Light goes out.”
“Another test?” Jacob asked.
“Indeed,” Father replied. “Opening the door to the spire proves she is capable of the tasks ahead. It also rebuilds the top of the spire.”
“And the prison cell that awaits,” Kaya quipped.
Tana’s parents saw to her every need and surrounded her with toys and dolls and everything she asked for.
Her wish became their command. Even the citizens were recruited to ensure the little girl was continually occupied, and left in want of nothing.
On her eighteenth birthday, when she couldn’t open the door, she flew into an all too familiar rage. She threatened everyone in sight, she cried, she demanded the door be broken down, but it was no use. The Light faded from the Beacon, the spire was never completed, and hope faded. Eventually, very few people sought out the City of Light.
Five hundred years after it came into existence, Abhishek, his wife Camilla, and their spoiled and spiteful daughter perished as the Kingdom died.
“I certainly hope the two of you do a better job than that,” Jacob said.
“Don’t you see?” Andrew asked, “It can’t just be us. It has to be everyone’s job. Marie can never be treated like she’s some kind of princess. And she should certainly never know the fate of the whole City is riding on her.”
“If she doesn’t arrive at that door humble and feeling generally unworthy of such a huge responsibility, she will fail,” Kaya insisted.
“So far we haven’t seen the ship used once! It’s like they don’t get it,” Jacob observed.
“Well Marcia couldn’t use it, and these two were so busy making sure their daughter had every little thing she could ever want, they forgot about
their purpose. It’s like it didn’t matter to them how many people came to the Kingdom,” Kaya said.
“Remember what you have seen,” Father instructed. “We’re moving on,” and they disappeared with a “pop”.
Two thousand, two hundred years later, they watched as the daughter of the third City of Light successfully opened the door. With the small, unassuming door open at the base of the half-spire, the Light of the Beacon grew much brighter. Within the column, block by block, the tower was rebuilt. Her parents were caring, thoughtful people, but they too failed to effectively recruit new citizens. Their lackluster attempt did not begin until well past their three-hundredth year.
Watching the golden ship leave port on her first real journey, Jacob scoffed, “They’ve waited too long. This one is doomed to failure too.”
“When should they have started?” Father asked.
“Right away,” Andrew said. “They’ve got their staffs and the ship and their own two feet. Why would you wait?”
“We’ve got to hit the ground running,” Kaya announced. “We still need to figure out who’s staying behind, but I can tell you this, it’s only going to be one of us.”
“The thing is,” Jacob said, “it can’t be just us recruiting people. We need help, everyone’s help. It’s got to become a shared mission.”
“We’re going to need marketing support on this!” Kaya announced. Then she slapped her forehead, and said, “I can’t believe I just said those words.”
“That’s genius,” Andrew declared. “For the first time in history, I can actually see the value of a marketing team!”
“Do either of you mind telling me what marketing is?” Jacob asked.
The scenes below them continued in fast forward, and Kaya said, “Oh brilliant. There goes the mother, all by herself to try and convince the world. How long until this is over?”
“These are real people who are doing the best they can.”
“No, they’re not,” Kaya insisted. “We’re getting this thing done in less than five hundred years, as a team. We’ll show you how it’s done.” Then she realized who she had just spoken to, and she blushed a brilliant shade of red.
They disappeared and reappeared with a “pop”.
“Below you is the fourth Kingdom,” Father narrated. “Manoj and Michelle were beautiful together. They created a whole support network. Everyone here lived to learn and teach, and they cherished everything that was.”
The lives of the main characters played out before them like a movie set to the wrong speed.
“Their Kingdom was a magnificent system of barter and trade. Founded on love and respect. Each citizen was a master tradesperson, or working on becoming one. Their skills in all arts made them famous throughout every land, and their army of advocates scoured the globe. Of course, wandering the world isn’t without its dangers,” Father said while they watched Manoj slip off the edge of a very tall cliff.
“Oh no!” Kaya whispered.
“He’s always been a bit clumsy,” Father explained, as Manoj and his staff were dashed upon the boulders below. “It’s one of his more endearing qualities.”
“Endearing?!” Jacob protested, “He’s dead!”
“Oh, it didn’t hurt any more than it did for any of you,” Father casually commented. “Come on, I’ll show you what happens.” And the scene before them blurred at an incredible speed.
“One of the fun things about the Fountain,” Father pointed out, “is that it only looks small from up top.” Splashing into the Fountain, He took them below the surface where they watched Manoj reappear at the bottom with a “pop” and a flurry of bubbles. He was standing at the bottom of a long flight of stairs that circled up to the top of the Fountain.
“From the bottom,” He said, pointing up, “it’s as big as a pond, and I just love the stairs. It’s a brilliant touch.”
“What about his body?” Andrew asked.
“It’s back on the rocks.”
“You mean his corpse is just going to stay back there?” Kaya asked, sounding appalled.
“It disappears in three days,” Father said, holding His hand up to Jacob. “I didn’t make up the rules, I don’t know why it’s three days, it just is. But look at Manoj, he’s got his staff back and up he goes.”
Over the next two hundred years, they watched Manoj klutz himself into the Fountain five more times.
“This is Betsi, Manoj and Michelle’s daughter. You know her,” Father narrated as He slowed down the passage of time. “This is a lovely moment. She’s six years old.”
Manoj was sitting next to Betsi’s bed telling her a bedtime story. It was dark in her room, she was tucked in for the night, and all they could see was her cute little face sticking up above the covers.
“And that’s why everyone in our City gets to live happily ever after,” he whispered, finishing his story. Betsi turned and smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“We’re going to live happily ever after aren’t we Daddy?” she asked adorably.
“Our family will be together for a very long time my sweet. I will not die, mommy will not die, and you certainly will not die for a very, very long time. We’re all special that way,” he said, leaning over and kissing her goodnight.
Betsi snuck her arms out from under her covers and wrapped them around his neck. She hugged him tightly, and whispered in his ear, “You’re not leaving for a very long time because that’s the rule and we don’t break those around here.”
“That’s the rule,” Manoj agreed, kissing her tiny neck and making her giggle. “I’ll never leave you, you’ll see.”
Betsi kissed his cheek and fell back onto her pillow with a big smile on her face.
As they said goodnight one last time, Father sped up time and the days, weeks and years began racing by.
They watched Betsi standing at the south Fountain. She was greeting new citizens and saying kind words to those departing.
“She’s seventeen right now and almost ready to open the door to the tower,” Father said, slowing things down to a normal pace.
Without warning, they were redirected thousands of miles away from Betsi until they hovered over a filthy, derelict land. They watched as Manoj was attacked from behind and they felt him open his mind; allowing Betsi and his wife to know and feel what was happening.
“What Betsi didn’t know,” Father explained, as He quickly brought them back to the Fountain, “what her parents had never bothered to tell her, was any time one of them would have died, they simply appeared at the bottom of the Fountain of Knowing.”
Clutching her chest, Betsi fell to her knees and started screaming. Father projected Betsi’s feelings into them as the life drained out of Manoj’s body half a world away.
When his soul disappeared from her heart and mind, Betsi collapsed and started to cry. Her heartbreaking sobs did little to convey the infinite depth of her hopelessness and agony. She was numb, unable to hear, unwilling to see and she was falling, endlessly falling.
Manoj was disappointed to be at the bottom of the Fountain again, but he did what he always did; he climbed the stairs. When his head was finally above the water, he saw Betsi. Michelle was landing next to her, and she was surrounded by citizens, but she was crying like he had never seen before.
Manoj stood on the edge of the Fountain, soaking wet, hair across his face, looking down, and he called out to her with his mind, “Betsi?”
When Betsi looked up to see her father standing on the edge of the Fountain, Andrew, Kaya and Jacob felt a bewildering torrent of emotions. In that moment and with every ounce of her conviction, Betsi made a wish and a promise and a commitment all at the same time.
In a brilliant flash of Light, she was connected to the Beacon by a long, jagged filament of white-hot Lightning. As it crackled and pulsed, she whispered, “You will never be killed
again.”
The blinding ribbon flickered between Betsi and the ground next to the Fountain, then it faded, and an earsplitting clap of thunder exploded. Everyone around the Fountain collapsed under the crushing blow of the sound wave, and three rectangular slabs of crystal appeared next to the Fountain. Within seconds, each slab grew into a pedestal of crystal blocks erupting with Light.
The citizens watched with apprehension as the Light consuming each pedestal disappeared, leaving something behind.
No one was quite sure what had happened, and Betsi was trembling and sobbing as her mother and father helped her to her feet. Manoj wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly and reassuring her everything was going to be fine, when she whispered, “They’re for you Daddy, so you’ll never die again.”
Andrew, Kaya, and Jacob were speechless as Father introduced them to Betsi’s gifts, “A sword that if any are foolish enough to strike, they will be frozen in time; vulnerable, unable to respond for three days. A shield that will cripple or destroy any force brought against it. Finally, and perhaps most ingenious, the Ring of Truth. The wearer of the Ring is not just compelled to tell the truth. They will also divulge any withheld truth, along with any knowledge of harm that might come to the bearer of the Ring.
Even when she wanted to destroy her creations of Light, and there were many times, she could not. The objects you just watched come into existence will last forever, however long that is to be.
The problem with the gifts is not in their design. Betsi’s imagination created detailed works that master craftsmen dare not attempt, but the work was tainted. Tainted by her emotions of revenge, selfishness, and control. Anyone who uses them often enough, can, and eventually, will be corrupted.”
They watched it start with Betsi’s father and end like all the rest of the Kingdoms.
Exasperated as the final act against the Kingdom was committed, Kaya exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?! That went from perfect to horrible in the blink of an eye!”
“Tragic, absolutely tragic,” Andrew conceded. “They were incredible for almost two hundred and fifty years. Then it all just fell apart.”
“I thought Celeste created the sword and the shield,” Jacob said, thinking back to Celeste’s diary.
“They were waiting for her in the tower. She only gave them as gifts.”
“Didn’t you warn her?” Kaya asked.
“I did all that could be done.”
“Did you see the circles of exploitation swirling around those objects?” Jacob asked in amazement. “Each of them created death and destruction no matter where they went, and it was all masked by something very sinister.”
“Corruption,” Kaya said.
“Why?” Andrew asked.
“Because for almost any reason, anyone can surrender to its appeal.”
“That’s quite a test,” Kaya said as they disappeared with a “pop”.
They reappeared nearly three thousand, five hundred years in the future, only to watch the glorious rebirth and the all too predictable ending of the fifth Kingdom.
“Nobody is getting this right,” Jacob said in frustration.
“Not even close,” Andrew agreed.
“I’m still surprised their daughter was able to open the door to the spire. She was quite a piece of work,” Kaya added.
“Have you helped all the others the way you’ve helped us?” Kaya asked Father.
“In certain timelines, yes, and in others, no.”
“Which timelines did we get to see?” Kaya asked.
“Both.”
“How can that be?” Jacob asked.
“It’s a difficult test.”
“But it’s not your test to pass, is it?” Jacob observed.
“Have you figured it out?”
“It’s our test,” Jacob answered. “I mean it’s a test of the people you’ve created, of all of us, isn’t it?”
“That’s why you can’t interfere once the test has begun, isn’t it?” Kaya asked.
“How many chances do you get?” Andrew asked.
“We’re the last chance, aren’t we? That’s what you meant, isn’t it?” Kaya asked.
“But you already know how this ends,” Jacob insisted. “You’re not bound by time, you’re not limited by anything.”
“Do we make it?” Kaya pleaded. “I need you to tell me if all this has a purpose or if we’re just going to end up like the rest of them.”
“That’s up to each of you,” Father said.
“What you really mean is you’re still not going to tell us,” Jacob objected.
Father met Jacob’s eyes and thought into all their minds, “I already have.” Then He snapped His fingers, and they disappeared and reappeared with a “pop”.
Jacob and Andrew delighted in watching the sixth Kingdom, even if they already knew how it ended. For Kaya, it was her first introduction to Celeste and her parents, and it was easy to see why she was enamored with the whole family.
When Celeste put the sword, shield, ring and her ill-conceived diary in what she hoped would be their final resting place, everyone cheered. When the spire finally cracked and fell, all three of them felt a piece of themselves die with it.
“It’s been one thousand nine hundred eight years since that happened,” Father said.
“You mean since we rebuilt it?” Andrew clarified.
“Yes. Your bodies are still waiting for you at the Fountain.”
“Is it time to go back?” Jacob asked.
“When we left on our journey, you each had more questions than you knew what to do with. I told you what we would do and why. I also said you would be able to answer and explain the answer to each of your questions before we returned. So the question is to each of you. Are you ready?”
“I only have one question,” Kaya said. “What is the purpose of all this?”
“The only purpose to life is the one you give it,” Jacob replied.
“Thank you, Jacob, that’s incredibly wise, but I was asking Father.”
“Jacob’s statement is accurate, little one. There is nothing I can add that would be of help.”
“Seriously? That’s what I get to work with for the next five hundred years?”
Father embraced her, and Kaya glowed from within. Then He hugged Andrew and Jacob until their full glow returned.
“I’m ready,” Andrew said, taking Kaya’s hand.
“I guess I am too,” Kaya said, taking Jacob’s hand.
“This is the part I’ve been waiting for,” Jacob said exuberantly, taking Andrew’s hand and completing their circle.
“You are my most precious creations,” Father thought to them, pulsing out rings of love and hope that filled their souls. “Trust in each other,” He said aloud, meeting each of their eyes. “And know that I love you.”
With a wink of His eye, Andrew, Kaya, and Jacob arrived in the seventh Kingdom, in their City of Light. The Fountain splashed its welcoming sounds behind them, and they pulled their hands from its mystical water.
“We’ve got company coming,” Kaya said, hopping down off the Fountain.
“The whole village, right?” Jacob confirmed, rubbing his hands together with excitement.
Kaya smiled and nodded, then Andrew asked, “How many are there Kaya?”
“There are more than two thousand of us,” she said, smiling from ear to ear. “And they’re all coming home.”
