WATCHING CORONA: From Our Dimension to Yours

by Holly Fox Vellekoop

  At Marva’s direction, the Korsa were assisted in boarding vehicles to ride to the Healing Room. Marva’s aides were instructed to provide Stanley and Sarah with brain chemistry treatments to relieve them of the memories of the shocking events they’d witnessed. Later, they would join Corona in passing back to their dimension.

  Marva’s next planned stop was her office complex.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Sarah and Stanley sat on the floor of Corona’s bedroom. With Marva’s assist they’d recovered from the In Situ experience. Stanley and Sarah remembered nothing of the cremations in the Bin or the other shocking events. They did recall the surprising news that Flora and Fancy were their enemies.

  “We sure were fooled, weren’t we?” Stanley said.

  “I suspected something,” Sarah replied. “Well, maybe a little bit. I did. Really.”

  “I’m just glad that’s behind us,” Corona said. “It’s time we move forward with our futures here.”

  “Do you smell something?” Stanley asked?

  Corona’s attention was taken to the drapes at her window. She smiled.

  An orange eyeband was glowing and emerging for them to see.

  “I know who you are,” Corona called over to it. “You were at the Meeting Room when Wheeler was destroyed. And I remember seeing you many times in the past.”

  The mistake took some awkward steps toward her and then rocked on his tiny feet. He appeared unsure of his next move. His misshapen head lowered for what she might say or do.

  Stanley and Sarah backed up against the bedroom door.

  Corona walked to the mistake and sat down next to him.

  “I’ve wanted to meet you and find out what you want with me. You’re always around when something’s going on. I’m right, aren’t I?”

  “You wanted to meet me?” He repeated it as if surprised. “You wanted to meet me.”

  “Yes. After Wheeler was destroyed, I could feel the peace which seemed to crowd out all the bad feelings you had. That made me happy. And, I think we can be friends. What do you think? Can we be friends?”

  The mistake moved closer to her and held out his hand.

  Corona reached for his tiny hand and pulled him to her for a hug.

  The mistake sniffled when she held him close.

  “I’m changing your name today to Brother. I never had one and you can be like a brother to me. I’d like that, would you?”

  Brother nodded his head. “Thank you. I’m proud to be your Brother.” The happy emotions were almost too much for him. “I have to go now.”

  He disappeared back to In Situ as quickly as he had appeared.

  At the university -

  The Korsa friends gathered in the university lounge to discuss the recent events. It was good therapy for them to talk about what had transpired, trying to make sense out of everything. The telling and retelling of their recalled experiences was helping to bring the extraordinary events into a place of reality for them.

  “It was interesting meeting the one they called the mistake,” Stanley said. “He seemed to really like you,” he said to Corona. “I can understand why.”

  “Yes, he did. While I felt sorry for him, I also felt as if I’d made a new friend. Remember how tears ran down his cheeks when I hugged him close? And when I told him I was calling him Brother instead of the mistake, he seemed thrilled.”

  “Yep. He definitely likes you best,” Sarah said. “I wonder why we haven’t seen him since then?”

  “I think he’s shy and hasn’t adjusted yet to having someone actually like him,” Corona said. “I think we’ll see him again sometime. When he’s ready.”

  “We’re sorry your grandparents are gone,” Sarah said to Corona. “I know how bad I would feel if mine were dead.”

  “Thank you,” Corona said, her voice a little shaky. “I was really hoping to get to know them. While I know my grandparents are gone, I still don’t feel that way about them or my mother. I can’t explain it. I don’t feel as if they’re gone forever.”

  Stanley slid his chair a little closer to his friend. “Corona, our work here has now taken a different direction. Marva’s plans to assist our dimension to improve with our help, gives us a mission and a direction for our academics. I’ve decided to devote myself to the study of the brain. There’s so much to learn. We understand very little about some areas of it.” He tapped the top of her head. “I’d like to know what’s going on in there.”

  They laughed.

  “And I’ve begun to see the importance of service to others,” Sarah said. “Millions of humans already give back to mankind by donating whatever they can. Missionaries, churches, clubs, entertainers, sports figures and the world’s wealthiest people donate time and money to helping those in need. I want to be of use somewhere in their infrastructure. Maybe I could help them learn how to successfully coordinate financial aid and services for them.”

  After the Healing Room visit, Sarah had felt refreshed and less traumatized by their ordeal. One of the side effects she experienced was a new sense of who she was, and feelings of self-worth.

  “Wow. This experience has really changed both of you,” Corona said. “Stanley, you wanted to be an economics advisor and now you’re planning on studying the brain. And you, Sarah. You were originally going to be a physician and you’re now planning a career in finances.”

  She pondered her friends’ change of direction and what it meant.

  “I still want a tattoo of Bob-Boy,” Stanley said.

  Sarah checked his arm for a drawing.

  “I just want to move forward with my studies,” Corona said.

  As a young woman, Corona was beginning to dream of her future endeavors. “I’m not sure what I want to do yet. I know I want to learn how to apply knowledge from the other dimensions to our own. Once the All finishes their plans for introducing themselves to our global leaders, we’ll become celebrities of some sort. I’m not looking forward to that part of it.”

  The Korsa were unhappy about the possibility of becoming well known. They believed that celebrity, especially if you are controversial, has its own set of calamities. While their experiences in In Situ were exciting, those events had nearly cost them their lives. There were lessons learned about the clandestine worlds of politics, power and greed. One of the biggest lessons they learned was that things were not always as they seemed.

  “We must be friends forever,” Corona said. “Even if we travel different roads for different causes, let’s always be friends.” She loved Sarah and Stanley and couldn’t imagine their not gathering together once in awhile as the Korsa.

  “I know I will,” Sarah said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you throughout all of this. And Stanley, too,” she said, casting him a sly grin. “I probably would’ve eventually managed.” She tried to sound competent. Then she laughed and said, “Nah. I wouldn’t have. I think I could now, though.” She hugged each of them, holding onto Stanley just a little longer than Corona.

  He blushed. “I feel the same way. I want us to always be the Korsa. Friends for life.” He cared very much about them and was sure Sarah and Corona would ride a scientific yet spiritual train of learning with him all the way, wherever it went.

  “Marva promised to continue her support by granting us introductions to other universes,” Corona said. “And someday we’ll meet beings of even more dimensions with whom the Valers have contact.”

  “That’s because of you, Corona. You’re ahead of the In Situs in all areas,” Sarah responded. “And because of that leaders of other dimensions have expressed an interest in you.” She picked at the slice of pizza in front of her.

  “We’re proud of you, Corona,” Stanley said. “I, for one, am honored to know you. You’re amazing.” He cast a dreamy eye her way.

  Sarah’s notice of his attention to Corona made him squirm so he turned his attention to the food on his plate. “This pizza is really good,” he said, taking another bite.

 
; “Marva’s coming to see all of us tonight, so I thought we’d meet at my house, again,” Corona said. “She wants us to be together. She’s uncomfortable with our passing over again right now.”

  Corona had her own misgivings about going back to In Situ since the events of their last visit.

  “I can be there,” Sarah said. “How about you Stanley?”

  “Me, too.”

  “Good,” Corona said. “This’ll give us a chance to find out what the All has planned for our world.”

  “It’s so exciting,” Sarah said. “Without Wheeler involved the Valers and the In Situs will be able to bring great things here. It should be amazing.” She envisioned healing, conservation, food, housing and clothing for all. She dreamed of the role she could play in the future management of the world’s resources.

  “I’m excited about it, too,” Stanley said. “Their brain function is so advanced. Who knows what laws of physics will be discovered or rewritten once we master the use of all of our brain in conjunction with their teachings? And I still don’t know everything you can do, Corona. When are you going to tell us?”

  Before Corona could answer, the cell phones of each of them rang. They looked at the number on their own phones and recognized it as the one Marva or her aides used to contact them. They answered their calls.

  “I hope you’re all okay,” Marva said. “We’re looking forward to seeing you tonight and explaining our future plans for the Hybrids and your world. We’ve had time on our end to make plans and we’re ready to tell you about them.” She waited for their response.

  “I look forward to seeing you,” Corona said affectionately. She could feel the warmth of the leader, almost as if she was family.

  “We’re all ready,” Sarah said.

  “Good,” Marva said. “How are the three of you doing physically?” She was concerned about them. Especially since Sarah and Stanley had been treated at the Healing Room for the infection they acquired from the In Situs.

  “I’ve been given a clean bill of health,” Stanley said.

  “Me, too,” Sarah added.

  “Great,” Marva was relieved that the treatments were successful. She was puzzled why Corona didn’t get the same affliction her friends and others got. There was a lot to learn about her favorite Hybrid who had some of her own DNA. The leader didn’t want to move too fast for fear of the young girl becoming scared. Her inspection of Corona would have to be on the girl’s terms for now - until their plans were in place and working.

  “What time should we expect you?” Stanley asked. He wanted to be ready.

  Marva understood their dimension’s reliance on the clock for events instead of inner prompts as the In Situs have. She told the Hybrids when she would arrive and what they’d talk about. She kept her mind veil lowered and carefully omitted some of the details, not wanting Corona to know everything.

  Corona was aware of Marva’s veil ploy and lowered her own to disguise her concerns. However, feelings of family and affection for the leader overcame her initial reaction and she attributed Marva’s veiling to official business which by necessity, must be private from everyone not associated with the All. She would ask the leader about it later. She became light-hearted at the thought of seeing Marva again.

  “I’ll be with all of you tonight,” Marva said.

  After the conversation ended, the Hybrids talked excitedly about the coming evening.

  At Marva’s office

  “They’ll be at Corona’s this evening,” Marva said to the gathering of her inner circle. “The Healing Room treatment we gave them for their brain chemistry and emotions before they went home seems to be working. They sound positive and cooperative.”

  “After we brief them, when will we contact their world leaders?” Jocka asked. That was the only part of the plan he and Marva hadn’t discussed. And this was the part of their plan that made him uneasy. From what he’d learned about most of their countries, there would be monumental resistance and turmoil in some places - especially those less sophisticated empires. He winced at the thought of the rioting in the streets that was sure to take place. And, In Situ would be blamed for it. Jocka didn’t believe that a consensus amongst the countries could be reached because of their distrust of each other and their inability to coherently rule their own. Their history was not encouraging.

  “We all have concerns about how they’ll respond to our contacting them. Initially, I thought we should do it through the United Nations. The more I learned about them, the more I recognized that could cause problems. They would make deals behind each other’s backs, accuse the other of having advance notice and conspiratorial accounts will impede our progress. There’ll be conflict over which nations will finance everything. So, we’ll avoid the UN and begin by overriding the emotional tracks of the staff at the major news organizations.”

  Snorts were heard from the All.

  “Television, newspaper and radio employees will be first,” Marva said. “We’ll neutralize then recode their emotions with warm feelings for any intrusion from us. It’ll take some time as we realized from our manipulating the Hybrids. One thing we have plenty of is time. It may not work on some of them so we’ll take care of those another way. All the humans aren’t susceptible to this tactic. We’ll try it anyway. Jocka has a list of the ones we’ll go after first. There are too many worldwide to do them all so we chose those in the media who appear to have great power, influence, and the potential to reach the largest audience.” She snorted at her genius.

  “This is something news people have been doing since reporting began, the changing of opinions and emotions through the withholding of some information and giving slanted views, photographs and commentaries. Humans have been manipulated by the media through news selection, focus, and interpretation and soon the media will be inoculated with their own trickery. We’ll use a more sophisticated method of mental suggestion along with chemical assist. The result will be the same. They’ll be swayed to an acceptance of us and our plans and can continue to select their news stories, giving focus and favor to what we want.”

  “What about the world leaders?” one of the aides asked. “How will we get them to be compliant and allow us free reign in their universe?”

  “Leave that up to me,” Marva said. “I have a lot of ideas.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  At Corona’s House

  “I’m so excited about the enlightenment shift that our world will undergo,” Sarah said.

  “I hope you’re right,” Corona answered. Her brow furrowed. She couldn’t fully understand the change in her friends since they last went to the Healing Room. Both Sarah and Stanley switched their areas of academic interest and seemed to be accepting, unchallenged, the In Situs’ version of what will transpire when they make official contact with world leaders. Corona was even beginning to question her own blossoming affection for Marva. When had that started and why?

  “What’s wrong?” Stanley asked. “You have that ‘look.’”

  “What look?” Corona asked, although she knew what he meant. She reached over and picked up the framed photo of her mother and gazed longingly at the features of the lovely young woman.

  “That look. The one you get when you’re pondering something deep that you’re not convinced about. Should we be worried?” Stanley asked. “Come on. Tell us what you’re thinking.”

  “I don’t know,” Corona said, replacing the picture on her desk. “Maybe I’m just suspicious after everything that’s happened. It’s probably nothing. Marva should be here soon,” she said, changing the subject.

  With that, the faint smell of lilies overlay the room, causing the Korsa to turn their heads to the window.

  A fold opened and Jocka entered first, then Marva followed. Other aides were close behind. They moved to the table where the friends were seated.

  True to his gentlemanly training and his desire to impress Corona, Stanley stood up to greet them. He offered his chair to Marva.

&nbs
p; Jocka smiled and motioned for him to return to his seat.

  “Good to see you,” Marva said to Corona, edging close. She dropped her veil to hide her thoughts and marveled to herself how many of Corona’s abilities were like her own. She’s part of me so I shouldn’t be surprised. And because she’s part of me, she has DNA from other dimensional donors as I have. We’re family.

  “Good to see you, too,” Corona said. She felt a connection to this being and allowed Marva to put her arm about her. When she was in the presence of the leader, suspicions and concerns faded, replaced with trust and affection.

  Helper had joined the gathering this evening and Corona waved a greeting. She had not seen him for a long while.

  He signaled back and brought a stack of nearly invisible chair bits. He tossed them in the air. One by one they opened up and placed themselves under the In Situs as sitting motions ensued.

  “I can’t help it,” Stanley said, smiling. “I’m always impressed when I see that. I want one for my bedroom. Maybe three or four. Of course, I want them in colors. Can we have them in colors? Wait a minute. Stripes would be great.”

  The In Situs pretended not to notice his comments.

  “We want to let you know we’ve made some decisions regarding the introduction of ourselves to your world,” Marva said. “I’ll be approaching the leaders of the most powerful countries here. We’ll address them through their own media, in their own languages, at the same time. We’ll do it like we do when we mass phone you three. The communication tools we use will depend on the country’s technological progress.” She said nothing about first controlling the news media to smooth the way.

  “Will we be mentioned?” Sarah asked. She wanted to be ready for any tough questions anyone may have for her.

  “We’ll not provide information about the Hybrid program nor will they be given names. We’ll explain we’ve contacted some humans on a regular basis and have developed relationships with them,” Marva said. “At this time, you three are the only humans we’re working with in this world. The others have been discontinued.”