“Nona, Mom, why did you not marry?”
Michelle’s mother looked to her mother, who did not hesitate.
“Honey, you know the answer to that question. Why did you leave Corb?”
Before Corb, before the Coterie, before the space missions, Michelle would have blanched at her grandmother’s not-so-subtle rebuke. Now, Michelle’s personal confidence gave her the ability to stand her ground.
“Nona, I left Corb because I was holding him back and … staying would hold me back.”
“Honey, you have learned a lot. Your next question is going to be a request for us to tell you about your father and grandfather.”
Michelle had stopped being shocked at her Nona’s proactive cognition when she was a child. Nona knew things before they happened, often answered questions before they were asked. The Sight was like breathing, it merely happened. Michelle gently nodded confirmation.
“Your grandfather was a professor at the Tuskegee Institute. Yes, we were in love. Yes, he knew I was pregnant with your mother. No, I did not tell him I was leaving Alabama. He found me when your mother was seven years old. I did not let him see his daughter and I told him I was not going to return to Tuskegee.
“That was the last I saw of him. Forty-seven years ago. He was a kind, loving, intelligent man. He married, had a good life, and passed several years ago.”
Nona stopped and wiped at a tear with a small embroidered handkerchief she pulled from her sleeve. Nona looked to Michelle’s mother to continue.
“Michelle, your father was, and is, a professor of sociology at a prestigious Eastern school. Yes, I know that is enough information for you to find him. I hope that you do not. He has a wife and three grown children and is about to retire to Florida.
“Michelle, your father was the smartest person I ever met. He was tall, handsome, athletic, and a natural leader. He is white but he is where you get those beautiful ringlets. Everyone was drawn to him. His classes were continually filled and ninety percent women. He was only twenty-eight when he started teaching. Twenty-eight, but he was mature. He knew how to handle himself and avoided the harpies looking for a better grade.
“My junior year, he stopped me in the hallway to ask why I didn’t sign up for his classes. He said he missed me in class, had checked my schedule, and wanted to know why I had signed up for a session taught by another professor. When he smiled at my answer, I knew he was going to be the father of my child. A week later we went on our first date.”
Michelle’s mother stopped and took on a distant stare. Michelle and Nona let her revel in the memories.
“What I told him, that day in the corridor, was so fresh and so far from anything I had ever thought about saying to a man. Before your father … your father was the first … what I said was … our babies will be beautiful.”
Nona and Michelle looked at each other before laughing until they had tears.
“Michelle, your father was the most beautiful man I ever knew. When I became pregnant with you, I left my scholarship and came home. Your father knew how to reach me. He came here, once, when I was seven months along. He tried to convince me to return with him.”
Nona interrupted her daughter. “Handsome man. I offered to go back with him, but he politely declined.”
Michelle laughed. Her mother groaned but continued.
“He sent money, which I put in the bank. Like clockwork, a check every two weeks. Every penny went in the bank. That is the money we used for your college. But those stories are not the answer to your question.”
“No, they are not the answer. I know the answer.”
Michelle stopped and contemplated. Nona and her mother could see the scar on her shoulder protruding from under the strap of the floral sundress. Unconsciously, Michelle rubbed the scar and stared through the window. The two older women waited politely.
“The Sight. You knew the Sight was more than a marriage could survive. Only daughters. No male children. The Sight is passed to daughters. Men want boys but we only have daughters. The Sight is why I left Corb. There is more … I have …”
Michelle stopped speaking and stood, bending to collect the tea service. Nona gave Michelle’s mother a knowing glance but waited until the butler’s tray was full to speak.
“Now is the time to discuss your ministry.”
“What are you talking about, Nona?”
Lifting the butler’s tray, Michelle turned and walked into the kitchen. Nona’s next statement stopped Michelle cold.
“She doesn’t know.”
“Know what, Nona?”
“The ministry, the one started by Doctor Treacher. Vivian left it to you.”
Shocked, Michelle put down the tray, sat back down, and looked back and forth between her mother and her grandmother.
“Michelle, you did not know?”
“No, Mother, what are you talking about?”
“Vivian. She left the ministry to you. All of it. The council is running the day-to-day, waiting for you to return from space.”
“Are you sure? There must …”
Michelle stopped mid-sentence, contemplating.
“One second. I need to make a call.”
Michelle picked up the tea tray, walked the few steps to the kitchen, slid the tray onto a side counter, and went out to the back porch. Closing the main door, sitting in the screened porch, she silently accessed her nanobots and made the call.
“Landry?”
“Hello, Michelle. Thank you for calling. I see you are well?”
“Yes, I am well, thank you for asking. Your interaction algorithms and protocols are much improved. I need your help.”
“Thank you. Of course, how can I help?”
“First, this is between me and you. Understood?”
“Yes, of course, confidential.”
“The Lite of Zion ministry, where I worked, who owns it now?”
“Michelle, you can Google the information you seek. Why are you asking me?”
“You know damned well why I am asking you. Now answer the question.”
“Michelle, you own the Lite of Zion ministry.”
“Okay, how did I come to be the owner of the ministry?”
“When Vivian Treacher realized she would never return to Earth, the Ch’en convinced her to seek harmony. One of the steps for Mrs. Treacher’s journey to harmony was to let go of her desire to gain power and influence.
“The Ch’en convinced Vivian to give away the ministry. She chose you.”
“Okay, but how did it happen? Vivian is on K’an and could not have signed the paperwork.”
“Michelle, I helped the Ch’en facilitate the transfer.”
“Landry help me understand. When you say I own the ministry, what does that mean, exactly?”
“Michelle, the Lite of Zion ministry is headquartered in Postahoka, Texas. It employs one hundred and nineteen full-time staff and over two hundred part-time staff. Twelve ministers hold services at their assigned churches. The main church is the center of the headquarters facility. Audio and video production are from the headquarters facility or one of the twelve main churches.”
Michelle’s mind was reeling. Falling back on her undergraduate degree in business, she became pragmatic.
“Most of that I already knew. I presume they retain their tax-exempt status. Landry, what is the current size of their congregation?”
“Weekly, approximately twenty-two thousand attend Sunday services across the twelve main locations. The peak attendance is thirty-two thousand.”
“Standing room only at Easter and Christmas. Landry, what is the size of the national television audience?”
“As you know, the viewer metrics are poorly constructed. The range for viewers of the prior twelve months is between three hundred, twenty-five thousand, and one-point-one-five million.”
“Why was I not told?”
“The Ch’en felt, and I agreed, your role in supporting Corb on the missions was more important. You were key to t
he mission’s success. Telling you about the transfer of ownership would have been a distraction. Are you upset we did not inform you?”
“Upset? No, not especially...”
Landry was learning. He remained quiet and let Michelle think.
“One more question. Landry, who is the chairman who is running the ministry?
“The chairperson is Olivia Pazzo.”
“Oh crap. Landry, if I need you, I will contact you. Is there a way I can contact you when the Jaguar leaves Earth?”
“Yes, I will create a subroutine for the FTL communicator at Q’eqchi. The subroutine will be tuned to your nanobots. You will be able to initiate an FTL link to the Jaguar.”
“Please inform Davinder, Jan, and Corb of your plans for the subroutine. If they give you any feedback, tell them to call me. That will be all.”
“Michelle, may I ask a question?”
“Certainly.”
“You said oh crap. I understand that to be an exclamation of dissatisfaction. Why are you dissatisfied?”
“Dissatisfied is not the correct adjective. I was surprised and displeased at learning who is chairing the ministry council.”
“Displeased? Is it because Olivia Pazzo is Vivian Treacher’s mother?”
“Yes, Landry, that is the problem. Remember, this conversation is confidential.”
“Of course. Michelle?”
“Yes, Landry?”
“You are going to be missed.”
Michelle severed the link to Landry and waited for the tears to dry before heading back to the salon. Without explanation, she initiated a conversation with her Nona.
“Olivia Pazzo has to be in her seventies.”
“No, honey, she is sixty-four. Girls marry young in the south.”
“Nona, why does a sixty-something woman who has never worked a day in her life take over a ministry?”
“Honey, what do you suppose I would do if you or your daughter went missing?”
Chapter Eleven
“If anything can go wrong,
it will do so in triplicate.”
Murphy's Law of Government
“That is all well and good, but what do we do with the information? Western religions and philosophies will reject the information. History is chock full of data that indicates the major Western religions suppressed their knowledge of extraterrestrial intelligence. They suppressed the information and knowledge for the entirety of their existence as a religion.”
For someone so stoic and formal, Davinder was on a roll.
“Eastern religions and philosophies will be more accommodating of the confirmation. They will be less likely to immediately renounce the new information as heresy.
“Interstellar travel and learning about non-human intelligent, sentient life-forms rocked the major religions to their foundations. They have made peace with the new information and accepted it as part of God’s grand design. This information is different. This information proves monotheistic religions actively suppressed humanity’s extraordinary abilities.”
The team was in hour four of an active and lively discussion regarding the confirmation gleaned from the scrolls. The scrolls provided a powerful confirmation of humanity’s history.
“No, Davinder, it is worse than a simple conspiracy to suppress abilities and knowledge.”
“How so, Corb?”
“We can, and we will, reestablish the portals and the power grid. When we do, two things will happen, neither positive in the near term.
“Nicola Tesla was correct. There is an unlimited amount of electrical power in the atmosphere. The ley lines and the portals focus the readily available energy supply.
“First, unlimited, free electrical power will destroy the global economy. In the short run, the economic basis of the global economy will collapse.
“Eventually, the economy will recover. Consider the possibilities. How many desert areas could be returned to cropland with the ability to pump water long distances for the cost of building a pipeline?
“Second, the hierarchical nature of Earth’s societies will begin to rapidly erode and become widely egalitarian. You have read the reports, the other sentients in the galaxy refer to the nature of their existence as the harmony. Humans will begin to have faith in the principle that all people are equal and deserving of equal rights and opportunities.”
“Corb, societal equilibrium will be a good thing. Why are you worried?”
Davinder responded to Cassandra’s question. “Because, Doctor Brady, reaching equilibrium in society will not be easy. Those with power will seek to retain their power. Those without power will seek to gain power. Those in the middle will fight the wars of dominance. Corb, is there a way to make the transition less costly?”
“That, Davinder, is a question for Doctor Brady and the academics. We have the history of the galaxy from which to draw referential knowledge. There must be an example, in the galactic records, of how to ease the transition to a fully egalitarian society.
“First, we need more information. Landry, Cass, Janish, your full-time job is to index the data pods. We need the information the Xjaal were hiding from the galaxy.
“Lucinda, Nick, NT, Ragnar, we are going back to K’an. I have a few questions for Tarmenik. When we arrive, only I will go to the planet.
“Jirxena, Jirmina, I do not plan to visit Plentari soon. We will honor a request to return you to Plentari, if that is your desire. Otherwise, we will consider you a permanent part of this crew. You do not have to answer now. I will need your answer before we depart K’an.”
Jirxena looked to Jirmina and accepted Jirmina’s newly learned humanoid body language signals. Jirmina nodded her head in the positive and tilted it toward Corb, while looking at Jirxena. Without hesitation, the former Commandant responded. “Enlightened One, we are honored to be accepted into the crew of the Jaguar. We live to serve. Captain Raitt, what are the roles we will fill in your crew?”
“Commandant Jirxena, Captain Jirmina, thank you for accepting our offer to join the crew of the Jaguar. Ragnar will be promoted to the position of executive officer, or XO, and will be second in command. Jirxena, you are granted the rank of commander. It is the same rank as Ragnar but will be junior in seniority.
“Jirmina, you retain your current grade, but the title will change from captain of the guard to lieutenant commander. Nick is also being promoted to commander and you will report to him.”
Lucinda paused while Nick and Ragnar raised their chins to each other and bumped fists, acknowledging their promotions. Cass squeezed Ragnar’s forearm. Janish smiled at Nick, who understood she would congratulate him privately. Lucinda pressed onward.
“Going forward, as before, we are not aligned to a specific military or the TCCC. However, the Jaguar will fly under the control of a military leadership structure. The command structure will support, and be supported by, the civilian team.
“Do not be fooled, do not be naïve, do not misunderstand. I command this ship in support of Corb’s search. We fly at the discretion of Corb. Wherever we go, whatever we do, when they come for the Enlightened One, the Jaguar and everyone aboard will stand between the enemy and Corb.”
Lucinda waited for the cheering and table pounding to stop before she continued.
“Another thing. The TCCC has not yet approved any of the promotions, the Plentari joining the crew, or our mission profile. We are on our own. We will keep the TCCC informed, but we are an independent. If anyone has a problem with that, now is the time to make a change. No one is obligated to remain aboard the Jaguar.”
No one moved, spoke, or twitched. The crew was all in.
“Last thing. Jan, are you hearing this?”
“Yes, Lucinda, Himari and I are here.”
“Landry, are you recording this?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Lucinda raised an eyebrow at Landry’s formality but continued.
“Landry, put Jan and Himari on the monitors.”
The Q’e
qchi conference room appeared with Jan and Himari seated side-by-side.
“Davinder, you will be questioned by the TCCC. Corb promised to return and provide the TCCC an update. The update is scheduled for tomorrow. When we depart, you will be pressed to resign and be replaced with someone who is more … aligned to the political goals of the TCCC.
“Davinder, how can we help you?”
Davinder, the tall, proud former Gurkha warrior, smiled and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the conference table, informal and unlike the colonel. He spoke softly.
“Everyone here is my friend. Some old friends and some new.”
Pausing to accept slight nods of acknowledgment from the Plentari warriors, Davinder continued.
“If the TCCC removes me … It will be a good day when I no longer have to answer to the politicians. However, I will remain as your liaison until I am removed.”
Davinder paused again, causing Corb to intervene.
“Landry secure the video feed. Make it point-to-point. No recordings. Only Jan, Himari, and the people in this room are to hear this discussion.”
“Thank you, Corb. One other thing, can you invite Michelle to join us?”
Corb raised an eyebrow at Davinder’s request but acquiesced.
“Landry?”
“One moment.”
“This is Michelle, Davinder?”
“Michelle, I am with the crew on the Jaguar. Jan and Himari are also online.”
“Yes, I can see everyone. Hello, everyone.”
Once the cacophony of hellos and we miss yous died down, Davinder continued.
“Jan, Himari, and I have developed a contingency plan. When the TCCC decides to remove me, and they will, Q’eqchi will be shuttered. We will be in the wind. Michelle, I received your note. Yes, I will come to Postahoka and aid you in the transition of the ministry. Jan and Himari have asked to accompany me.
“We will arrive next week. Until the TCCC gets all bowed up and decides they know better, it is business as usual.”
BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition Page 8
