Unfortunately, it triggered a reflex in his agents. Just prior to this, they were shifting the direction of their weapons between the two aliens. Now all of them were trained unwaveringly on the dark one.
#
Ton Re’Sateron removed his long, thin fingers from the metallic belt around his waist and rested his hands on his hips, unaware of the perceived arrogance of this gesture following the chest expansion movement. The agents’ bodies tightened defensively, adrenaline pumping in their veins. In a swift motion, the dark skinned one reached out with his four fingered hand toward the nearest man. It was more than the terrified agent could handle. With a concussive blast, the gun discharged … and the bullet hit the alien dead center in the chest.
Sateron was propelled backward a few steps by the force of the bullet. However, he was still standing when the smoke from the gun dispersed.
All eyes zeroed in on his azure blue jumpsuit where the bullet had hit. Fascinated, they watched a dark spot begin to lighten then heard the rustle of fabric, like the garment was readjusting after the impact.
The self-regulating garment did more than just adjust for atmospheric variances in maintaining body temperature: it was an extremely thin, flexible alloy that prevented Sateron’s body from being penetrated by most objects.
In his most pedantic manner, Sateron said, “My self-regulating garment analyzed the composite metals of your projectile then assimilated them. It concluded that, as a method of elimination, your weapon is unsophisticated. It has dismissed both the weapon and the projectile as inconsequential.”
Ton Re’Sateron’s eyes fastened on the man who fired the shot. In a voice filled with resignation, he said, “I merely wanted to see this weapon. Such is the disheartening nature of Homo sapiens who seek to destroy that which they do not understand, even if it be their own kind. Unfortunately this primitive, uncontrollable rage will brand you as undesirables in the universe.”
If Sateron had broken out in a chorus of show tunes, no one would have been more astonished. The voice that rumbled deep in his chest was melodious, his pronunciation precise albeit stilted. It was his benign reaction to the incident that caused weak-kneed relief to flood the room.
Sateron turned. Winters found himself the object of its attention.
He stared into the dark one’s eyes, the eyeballs like the color of marigolds, the pupils black, elliptical, and nearly pencil thin, the irises a muted silver. With a cold chill suddenly seizing him, Winters stared at the canted sockets and deep ridges that extended beyond Sateron’s eyes.
And then Sateron smiled. Gabriel Winters gaped at the slightly pointed teeth gleaming so whitely against the dark skin. A fresh spurt of fear heated the pit of his stomach.
For millennia, humans had given face, form, and name to their atavistic fear of divine retribution and eternal punishment. His worst childhood nightmares of the devil now stood before him, in the flesh.
“I presume I address the one in command.”
For the first time in his life, Gabriel Winters was at a loss for words. “I’m ... I mean, I am ... yes...”
Sateron stared down at him. “Are you incapable of coherent speech?” His brow furrowed slightly, adding to the demonic illusion. “Has your government given command to one unable to articulate?”
The implied ridicule, and Mariah’s muffled snort, did it. Winters finally found his voice, blurting out the first thing that popped into his mind.
“Of course I can talk. Your appearance caught me off guard, to say the least, and I just didn’t expect you to say what you did.”
All of a sudden Ton Re’Aleris, forgotten in the drama of the discharged weapon and the current dialogue, shook her head, a look of warning tinged with resignation on her face. In a soft baritone, she said, “Sateron, I do not think this is the time...”
But Aleris was too late. Sateron had spent too many hours dissecting human culture, fascinated with recurrent movie themes of aliens invading Earth. Those on Izorach were frequently subjected to his booming laughter as he enjoyed the ridiculous way humans viewed life on other planets. And it was their bad luck that he picked up phrases from these movies, using them if the slightest opportunity arose.
Sateron was no more than two feet from Gabriel Winters. Leaning forward, his face now mere inches away, he said with a smile on his lips and a glint in his eyes, “What did you expect me to say, ‘Take me to your leader’?”
Chapter 60
That did it for Mariah. Nearly doubled over, she howled hysterically. Al-Ibrahim grinned hugely as his face contorted in an effort to keep from joining her. The other agents didn’t know what to do, but they appeared to be in various stages of suppressed laughter. Without conscious thought, they all holstered their revolvers.
Gabriel Winters was not used to being the butt end of a joke. He locked eyes with the grinning alien and said sourly, “I’m sure you can appreciate the situation we were in at your melodramatic entrance and your subsequent usage of the English language. That’s what I meant.”
All humor gone, Sateron assumed the role of scientist and educator. “Actually, your statement is incorrect. I do not speak ‘English’. When first we discovered life in this solar system, we introduced many dialects from our star system to test glottal articulation. Humans were able to assimilate several. Whatyou speak is a commingled form of Grisek, high-speak from my home planet; Yoreshed, most popular dialect of mid-speak; and Ju’nedha, low-speak of the serving class. There is also some unintelligible garble from those who come from other planets and try to learn our mid-speak.
“We are most intrigued, however, as we never introduced Ju’nedha. We therefore conclude that your usage, albeit distorted and harsh to our ears, must have been genetically assimilated.” His eyes scanned the room, his gaze finally resting on Mariah.
“This is but one of the many amazing mysteries that enshrouds your planet. It is also the reason my colleague and I have spent thousands of years collecting data and conducting research.”
Thousands of years collecting data. And conducting research. Winters felt like he was in a bad dream. Were all those unbelievable accounts of alien abductions true?
“Hardly.” All eyes immediately shifted to Aleris who made the cryptic comment. “Your morbid fantasies concerning alien abductions are products of unenlightened minds and unscientific data. Your unenlightened attitude about aliens probing you internally is both insulting and pathetically narcissistic.
“Tissue samples of all species on this planet were gathered thousands of years in the past. Since hominoids reproduce at an exceedingly slow rate, your DNA code has not mutated enough for us to squander more time than it takes to gather a few cells once every five hundred years which we match against our base line information. We do, however, gather varietal vegetation and the occasional hemiptera, which you refer to as bugs, for they reproduce and mutate at a much more vigorous rate.”
Aleris now focused all her attention on Mariah. “We are interested in this one human, the Hevru female here so named Mariah Carpenter. We believe she alone has the ability to gain entry into the Permanent Data Storage Unit. We speculate it will provide crucial information concerning the deficient evolution of our species.
“We have come here to request permission to join her when she enters the device.”
Suddenly Aleris’ eyes whipped back to face the data storage device on the table. Her eyes widened in remembrance ... and Mariah found herself swept into the flow of excitement that passed between the two Anorasians. In the next instant, she became caught up in their memory.
#
They stood on a mountain peak next to a sleek space vehicle that balanced precisely on the uneven terrain. Across from them, on a similar peak, was a man kneeling on a rocky ledge, his head bowed over his clasped hands. Mariah heard Aleris’ voice in her head. We stand on Ho’rehabit , the northern peak of Jahavla Kitorin . Across, the Hevru male kne
els on Jahavla Monsea.
That name: Hevru. What does it mean? Is it your way of saying ‘Hebrew?’
Yes, your pronunciation is in Yoreshed . It means ‘Those Who Pass From One Place To Another’.
Mariah nodded, her focus now on the opposite peak. Jahavla Monsea . Where had she heard that name? Before she had time to run through her history bank and identify this mountain peak, she found herself engulfed by the blue light from the hyperspatial transports.
And now she stood with the two Anorasians before the old man. He rose from his knees to face them, his demeanor calm and watchful. He was dressed in a sweat stained, tattered, homespun tunic over threadbare trousers in the same condition. Leather sandals were strapped to his bruised and sun-scorched feet. Knowing how the CIA agents had reacted to these two only moments before—and they having been born into a more enlightened period of time—this man should have been petrified. Yet he stood patiently, waiting to be addressed.
You are in grave turmoil, Aleris said to the man.
He nodded, his white beard bobbing rhythmically. His sorrowful thoughts came to Mariah as he gazed into Aleris’ eyes.
My people followed me out of bondage to this place, but no longer believe that the Lord God is with us to guide us to the land promised. I fear they will turn back to the false gods of their oppressors. Tell me, am I so honored to be in the presence of the Lord’s messengers , or were the tyrants correct?
I am Ton Re’Aleris, no deity, but a living creature like yourself. We have watched you, were in fact with you when you fled your oppressors. We aided your passage through the vast waters; it was not a supernatural act. We hid our spacecraft behind cloud coverage, and created sufficient air disturbance to cause the water to bank on each side, exposing the earth beneath it. We have returned just now and heard your supplication for laws and rules to govern those under your protection.
With that, Aleris slid her fingers several inches down the front section of her garment against her chest. Mariah’s gaze locked onto the insignia, trying to remember where she’d seen it before.
An opening appeared in Aleris’ garment, revealing something similar to a pocket. She extracted a thin rolled tube, eight inches long, banded at both ends. When she slipped the bands off, a document unrolled, hanging straight from the rod to which it was attached.
On this parchment are fifteen regulations that govern our lives in our star system. Some may not apply to your people, nor fit in with your culture, but some may be of use when you translate them to fit your race. It is so named ‘Decilloq.’
She handed the scroll to the old man. He held it reverently as he read it. A joyous smile wreathed his face and he hugged the parchment to his breast.
I thank you, Ton Re’Aleris. I pray this will be the answer my people seek.
With another flash of light, Mariah and the Anorasians were back on Ho’rehabit . The old man was kneeling once again, this time his face wreathed in joy. Sateron entered the transport vehicle and, just as Aleris made to follow, something stopped her. She looked back at the Jahavla Monsea.
And then Mariah remembered: Jahavla Monsea; Jabal Musa, Arabic for Mountain of Moses. Mariah’s eyes widened in shock as she watched through Aleris’ eyes.
The old one rose and walked slowly around, devouring the words written on the scroll. He came to an outcropping of rocks and banged his shins against the largest one. Aleris narrowed her eyes, the better to focus her vision on him.
Staring thoughtfully at the rock for a moment, the old one rolled up the parchment and laid it on the ground several feet away. The rock he tripped on appeared damaged. Through Aleris’ exceptional vision, Mariah could see a deep fissure that split it almost in two. With some well- placed kicks of his heel, the old man finally caused the rock to separate completely.
He bent, lifting out the object that had been encased in the rock.
When he held it at arms' length, Mariah gasped. It was the twelve-sided figure the Kana Gidrol had taken from the Ark and placed in her hands! The man lifted the device high in the air, a beatific smile on his face, perceiving this to be another gift from God.
#
The vision ended and they were back in the CIA laboratory in Monterey, California. Another layer of brick had been delivered for her structure. Another mystery solved.
Mariah looked into the eyes of the one who identified herself psychically as Ton Re’Aleris. Was there any doubt as to the direction of her continued mutations? She glanced at the alien’s hands, although she really didn’t need further corroboration. Her own thumb was now only half an inch shorter than her index finger and her pinky was approximately two-thirds of an inch long. Soon her pinky would disappear and the remaining four fingers would be nearly the same length, no different than the four digits on Aleris’ hands.
Was this the mortar for her brick building? She received the word Anorasian from the dark skinned one who smiled delightedly, identifying himself as Ton Re’Sateron.
Anorasian. Was this her destiny? Was this what she was mutating into?
Chapter 61
Mariah requested something that would serve as a pedestal to be placed in the center of the room. The PDSU was moved and now sat on top of a two drawer filing cabinet like a work of art displayed in an office museum.
She gazed at the SHARD resting innocently in the palm of her hand. Her eyes shifted to the PDSU. Hesitantly, she began to circle it clockwise, her eyes narrowing.
Mariah stopped and faced the PDSU. Her gaze fell on the SHARD in her palm—and it began to glow with a soft pink iridescence. It felt warm, but not overly so.
The SHARD slowly levitated off her hand, gracefully rotating until the pointed end hovered less than a quarter of an inch from her palm. And there it hung: suspended, motionless.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel Winters saw the amazement on Al-Ibrahim’s face. He’d seen her blow up the van, but obviously never saw Mariah’s telekinetic abilities. How mind-boggling it must be when seen for the first time.
But Winters could not know how wrong he was. Mariah was not using any psychic energy to levitate the SHARD off her hand. It had done this on its own accord.
In two steps, she closed the distance between herself and the PDSU. Lavender light bathed her in its brilliance, brightening as the fluorescent lights in the room dimmed.
The PDSU began to pulse. Intense white light, almost painful to the eye, spewed from its top like an erupting volcano surrounding both it and the file cabinet. Their images became so razor-sharp they seemed to be a snapshot taken from a very expensive camera.
Mariah’s eyes were wide open but unfocused, like she was in a trance.
She lifted the hand holding the SHARD over the top of the twelve-sided figure. The brilliance from the PDSU passed through her skin as it linked with the crystal. In a voice husky and deep, the one she used during a Finding, she said, “‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’.”
Slowly, she slid her hand out from between the two devices ... and the Secure Holographic Archive Retrieval Device remained poised above the Permanent Data Storage Unit.
Like an open window had invited in a gust of wind, the air in the room stirred. Dust motes began to swirl counterclockwise around the PDSU, sluggishly at first then capering more energetically.
The static charge in the air increased; hair on everyone’s body quivered as the fluorescent lights dimmed even more.
The pale lavender glow, the one Gabriel Winters had seen surrounding Mariah on the videotape of the Sophie Duval Finding, was enveloped by the white radiance of the PDSU. And Mariah Carpenter became eclipsed in its intensity.
The lights in the room nearly extinguished. Winters now understood its significance as the PDSU continued to draw energy from its surrounding
s.
#
Atmospheric disturbances in a ten mile radius around their location caused inexplicable occurrences: sixty miles-per-hour winds caused trees to bend at alarming angles where they remained thus for the duration of the phenomenon; water in swimming pools eddied then geysered to form columns; small shrubs spontaneously burst into flames, their leaves disintegrating, but the fire never spread to anything nearby; dogs howled; cats yowled; horses whinnied; and birds squawked, frantically trying to gain altitude to escape the happening that lasted three long minutes.
The National Weather Bureau officials could only speculate as to what the CIA in Monterey, California was up to.
Chapter 62
With a towering burst of radiance and a loud syrupy sound, the PDSU sucked the SHARD into its core ... and the two became one.
The white light disappeared. Sitting now on top of the cabinet was a sapphire blue pyramid, three feet tall, glowing with no discernible light source. Approximately one third of the way down from the top, miniscule silver lights formed a band one inch in height, flashing in an apparently random fashion. Symbols were etched into the pyramid’s base, the same ones Mariah had seen on the huge wooden columns that fronted the temple of Shen’dalah in her dream of the Kana Gidrol.
I see you recognize this thing, Mariah sent to Aleris, watching her stare at the object in undisguised joy.
Her thoughts came to Mariah hurriedly. It is, undoubtedly, a holographic information unit, though dissimilar to those on our world. If we ever doubted—although we did not—we now are more convinced you are the one prophesied in Netsor’ah thought long destroyed by our government. We will gladly explain all to you, but haste is critical. We seek the intelligence from within this unit; however, my colleague and I combined are not psychically adept to decipher the inhibit code.
Prophecy Page 25
