by Gary Starta
Concern about Charlize segued into anger as I wondered what part the Ennead might have played in all this. Not only could they have set her up as Tut’s murderer, they also might be responsible for taking her from the men and women in blue. Acid was seeping onto my tongue by the minute.
I didn’t expect to go up against a buzz saw.
Nephthys came at me with everything a goddess might have. Her anger overwhelmed me, more by surprise than anything else. I thought I was going to be the angry one.
She weaved about her plush hotel room, pacing back and forth. Arm gestures alternating between placid acceptance and wanton defiance, reminding me of the way the black, pyramid-shaped ships danced like angry bees in my dream vision. If I didn’t know better, goddesses craved vengeance as much as any wronged human. I even reasoned, in panic mode at the time, that the fading of her green pallor to a more human pink tone was a result of her supernatural angst.
She began pointing a finger at me. “Is this the way your world exacts justice? Complete fallibility! What do they use to build your detainment centers? If they were constructed like the pyramids, they would be impenetrable from either inside or out.”
She continued her rant but my attention wavered. The very idea that people or beings couldn’t just beam in and out of the majestic temples of holiness was intriguing. I had to wonder if that tidbit of information was a slipup.
I responded with my arms crossed. I could play the defiant game as well. After all, I wasn’t only an officer of the law but part goddess as well. I reminded Nephthys of my Isis connection. That seemed to challenge her further.
“Yes, I am very well aware of your close proximity to my beloved sister. Is this some kind of test, Agent Diggs? Do you wonder if I can’t just read your thoughts via Isis, instead of pulling them from your very human mouth?”
My brows furrowed in consternation and blood rushed to my cheeks. I hadn’t observed Nephthys or any of the Ennead in this mood before. I wondered in a nanosecond of burning emotion if pushing Nephthys with anger might lead to answers. Was she slipping up by displaying a human weakness or was this all part of a charade? I still couldn’t read her empathically, much like any other time with the exception of Charlize’s concert. I didn’t know if her anger was staged. It sure looked real. Her gaze flittered between inanimate objects and me. And when I caught her gaze, I felt fire burning. My cop instinct concluded this wasn’t a performance for my benefit.
In the moment I took to ponder a response, Nephthys appeared to have tired, choosing to seat herself on an ottoman. She leaned forward, hands clasped together. And if I didn’t know better this posturing was very reminiscent of a human victim. I stepped a few feet closer.
I unclasped one of my clenched palms into her line of sight. “I’ve come here to help, Nephthys. I seek justice just as you do.”
She arched her neck as if to release tension. “I am sorry for my outburst. It’s just that Tut was family to me. Like a son.” Her gaze met mine for a moment.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. It appeared I was sharing a similar emotional reaction with this still beautiful-when-angry goddess. She might feel a love for Tut like I experience for Charlize. And if what I experienced at the concert was any indication, strong emotion seemed to expend Ennead energy.
She excused herself for a moment and retreated to the bathroom. When she reappeared she had a glass in hand and was in the process of swallowing some pills.
She caught the look of amazement on my face. I’d let my detective guard down. But I wasn’t certain it was a bad choice. It seemed Nephthys and I were bonding, but not as Isis and fellow goddess. We were just two women dealing with an unsettling experience.
“I know what you’re feeling.” I said it matter-of-fact, not realizing what I was implying.
“So you have a love for this Charlize? But Agent Diggs, will it affect your judgment?”
Hmm.
So maybe she was playing me with faux human emotions. Change in strategy, I’d go back to hiding behind a badge.
“I would never give favor if that’s what you’re asking.”
“But she’s still someone close to you, agent? I wondered how you two came to meet. From my human observation, people of different age groups seem to repel from one another.”
I smiled to placate her. “Yes, very observant. But I’m not like most humans. We don’t all march to the same drum.”
“Well, I’m waiting…”
“Oh, we met through my dentist. I became fascinated with her talent—for singing—and our friendship blossomed from there.”
“I hear this girl is very enamored with Isis. Did she suspect you shared a link to my sister before our arrival?”
“You probably already know the answer to that question. But you made a promise. Remember?”
“Don’t worry I won’t reveal your origins. As long as we remain—well, as the humans call it—friends.”
“I won’t give favoritism to anyone concerning an investigation, Nephthys.”
“I don’t recall asking for it.”
I had to wonder if she knew all about Charlize’s genetic makeup. If she was bonding with me to coerce me to look the other way over Charlize’s disappearance—not to mention a possible setup for a murder charge—I wasn’t going to do it, at any cost. “I realize you’re upset because you believed Charlize murdered your Tut. But we don’t have all the evidence weighed in yet—”
She interrupted. “But the police said guilty people run. Why did she flee?” She paused to meet my eyes. They glared like oncoming headlights. “Can you explain it?”
“I can’t right now. I also can’t explain the disappearance of an entire demon populace. But be rest assured. I will.”
“I will still help in your investigation of the demons as I did with your president’s murder. Nothing has changed.” She sipped the last of her water, keeping her eyes trained on me.
“Then we’re resolved to solve these mysteries. The FBI and I, personally, thank you.”
“You don’t have to worry about any recriminations from the Ennead,” Nephthys added, “We loved Tut but we won’t take matters into our own hands. We could never blame all humans for this…mistake. In fact, American citizens have offered to build a small pyramid temple to house our beloved’s mummy. Yet as gods and goddesses, I can’t say The Ennead don’t feel human sadness. Tut was here—like us—to aid humanity. He could have served as a peace ambassador and aided your government in a time of your president’s passing.”
The thought of Tut aiding our government raised some flags. He was a king after all. Was the Ennead planning some type of return to a monarchy? Despite my concern, I kept my expression neutral and my hands relaxed. I didn’t want to reveal my hand of cards in this moment of uncertainty although a part of me wanted to accuse the Ennead of making Charlize disappear because of her differences. Maybe they perceived any non-human as a threat. Yet the more logical, detective side of me, wanted to bluff. Besides I had every right to keep a poker face. I still had a connection to a goddess incarnate—be it a remote one—and the aid of a very talented scientist in Claude Brahms. I would go to him in the hope that science might explain a world becoming more and more mystical by the second. But before I did, I decided to play one very sneaky card. I didn’t think Nephthys was aware of my dream vision. My instincts said the ships were a part of the puzzle. I couldn’t go back in time but I could observe the gods’ ships now hovering in our skies. Bluntly, I asked permission to board one of spacecraft.
Nephthys took a small breath and then a beautiful smile lit up her almond-shaped eyes. “Why of course. Excuse me for not inviting you sooner. And once our dear King Tut is buried, I promise the Ennead will share more with humanity than they could ever imagine possible.”
I smiled back although I felt my ability to light up my very human sapphire eyes paled in comparison.
* * * *
I played hop scotch taxi, changing vehicles three times to arrive at Brahms�
� tailless but also pretty clueless. As I navigated the twilight-lit halls of the storage facility, I couldn’t help but see myself trapped in a maze walking a path to what might be another dead end in my investigation.
To make matters more precarious, I would again be playing a game of cat and mouse. I felt I was friends with Brahms foremost, and a person who respected his vast knowledge of science. Because of this friendship, I knew this man would do anything for his child. And that was the dilemma. Brahms might be very well hiding the whereabouts of the escapee and I would have to ask him this question as an officer of the law. The part of me that wished for a happy ending even hoped Brahms was in on her prison break because that would mean Charlize was okay even though she charged with murder. If the Ennead were responsible for her winking into thin air, I might never see her again.
I couldn’t present this scenario to this scholarly but lonely man. For star’s sake, the man lived in the back of a storage facility, making company with only test tubes and beakers, staring at psychotically-colored lights in the hope they would bring him back to the father/daughter relationship he’d once shared with Charlize. I wouldn’t shatter this man’s dreams. As a scientist he dreamt of possibly many dangerous means to threaten our world for the sake of science, but as a father, he only wished for a loving relationship with his genetically-created daughter. Sorry, but love for family trumps all. I still dream of reuniting with my younger sister Tara every night before I actually enter into real sleep. No matter what challenges face me in this universe, as long as I live and breathe, I’ll never stop wishing for that reunion.
With that thought in mind, I entered Claude Brahm’s psychotically-colored light factory full of compassion. But as soon as I began speaking, Brahms seemed to believe I was full of something else.
“Ah,” he said, finger waggling in the air, “so now you need my help to complete your investigation, do you? Well, you can tell the Ennead from me, Claude Brahms, I am a father sick with worry over his daughter’s disappearance. A father who wishes he knew the whereabouts of his daughter. And a father who believes his daughter is innocent. There, you have my statement!”
I shook my head. “Dr. Brahms I’m not here as any kind of spy, but as an FBI agent it’s my job to interview any person who may know where Charlize is. And as a friend, I would never rat your whereabouts to anyone.”
“You’re not a spy…huh? You’re trying to tell me you don’t have connections…”
I squared my shoulders and held a hand out in a placating gesture. “Okay, I get it. You think Isis is listening in to us. I can’t tell you she isn’t. But I can tell you, I trust Isis, Dr. Brahms. Isis is the reason I was able to save your daughter.”
He waved a hand but it was weak and non-confrontational. He took a seat in a leather swivel chair. Monitors blinked some unintelligible techno-babble to either side of him. I didn’t understand the monitors but I thought I understood the man who programmed them.
“Yes, Agent Diggs. I know, of all people, I should have never railed at you. You did reassemble my daughter’s molecules after all. And…” He paused to offer a small smile but it was filled more with painful memory than genuine happiness. “…for the life of me, I still can’t scientifically explain how you were able to do it.”
“I hope you can, Dr. Brahms. Despite my belief in magic, I still believe you will prove me wrong.” Now I was the one offering a weak smile.
“So besides Charlize’s whereabouts, you still seek scientific answers for the misdeeds of our high and mighty guests… Well, I’m here to help you. I have more than a daughter to worry about, Agent Diggs. I can’t let petty personal motives blind me now. I believe the Ennead are behind recent events. And everyone’s welfare is at stake, not just mine and my daughter’s.”
I wanted to agree wholeheartedly. But as an agent I couldn’t. I didn’t have the evidence to point fingers at the Ennead or its Entourage. I needed this man to aid me. I crossed my arms to indicate I wanted to get back to work. “Have you seen the footage implicating the White House employee?”
He nodded and swiveled in his chair, the way a bored youngster might do, offering no verbal response.
“And…”
“And I don’t know if it’s accurate. I suppose it could be. I just don’t understand the science used to get it. They supposedly brought a camera back into time to record the presence of matter. As a scientist, I pine for breakthroughs like this. But I’m more a geneticist than I am a physicist. I don’t know if they’re capable of bending time and space.”
“Ah,” I said. I caught my reflection in a screen. One hand cupped my elbow while the other cupped my chin. “Do you think this is possible? This kind of manipulation?”
He scratched his head and swiveled in his chair. Then he mimicked my pose. “That’s something I’d need to test for myself. A scientist can only experience via experiment. He must use his own hands. I would have to know the data—as you said—wasn’t being manipulated.”
I didn’t have to ask Brahms. He suspected the Ennead of recent misdeeds. And if I were him sitting in that chair, suspecting they’d harmed my daughter, I wouldn’t be out for anything less than their blood. He continued without prodding.
“I surmise if they were truly capable of extracting the data from the camera, then anything’s possible. Meaning, what might have happened to our demons via their arrival might even be related.” He shook his head. “But it’s only a theory as of now.”
“Everything’s relative,” I joked. Mind you, I couldn’t explain Einstein’s theory of relativity to you with a gun pointed at my head.
“Agent, you had given me an idea before. That the Ennead might be capable of using our planet as if it were a giant computer. Remember, the water, it stores information—their information—to be precise. It stands to reason that stored data can be altered. But what if they are capable of more than manipulation of water? What if they had all the elements at their disposal?”
“Dr. Brahms, if Briana were here, she might think you were talking witchcraft.”
“Oh, I know all about so-called elemental magic. I feel that can be explained scientifically as well. You see, we ourselves are the collected energies of the universe. Like a computer or even the energy force of our earth, we can produce our own energy signatures. We are our universe because of this. Our thought cells allow us to participate in the expanded energies of one harmonic universe because our very DNA contains the energy signatures of earth.”
“Wait, you’re saying our thoughts can manipulate our planet?”
“In effect, but not everyone, as you can imagine, knows how to do this. So because we have this energy information stored in us, it is scientifically possible to do the things you might call magic.”
I began to speak my thought aloud. “The Ennead can manipulate the earth via its elements as if the elements are programs?”
“By loose definition…” He paused to wave his hand. “By and by, if you know how to tap into energies, you can effect change.”
“But science is only aware of this existence, not aware of how to effect this change?”
“Yes,” he rose from his seat, “And because these visitors apparently have that knowledge they appear as gods to us.”
“If they’re not gods, then what are they?”
“I don’t know, Agent Diggs. But please don’t use the word magician in my laboratory.”
“Speaking of which, could you stage some experiments here?”
“If you’re referring to the camera, no, I could not. Unless I had the specific materials I couldn’t be sure I would be reproducing the same conditions. But moving a camera through time and traveling via comet in an altered state all seem to be pretty good indicators that our visitors have the wits to bend matter to their will.”
“You know the police have matched Charlize’s prints to what they believe is the murder weapon.”
“Are you saying the police used psychic manipulation to put the prints on the weapon?
”
“No. I don’t have an easy way to say this. I just didn’t know someone like Charlize would have…”
“You didn’t think she would have fingerprints because she wasn’t made like you? I see.” He became sullen and I know his temper was on the verge of recurring.
“Dr. Brahms, I’m not saying she shouldn’t have prints—”
“Well, isn’t that good? I suppose I’m fortunate that you don’t see her with paws. Why on god’s earth wouldn’t Charlize be everything a normal human is?”
He fell silent again for a moment before offering a retraction. “There, you see, Agent Diggs. I fall into the same mode of prejudice sometimes. I shouldn’t even hint that she isn’t normal, should I?” He shook his head. “Especially as her father, but I love her so very much.” He clasped his hands together. For a moment, I saw a scientist embracing religion.
“I know you love her very much. But what I was trying to ascertain was—can the police rely on prints in her case? She is special, Dr. Brahms. Could her unique makeup be manipulated?”
“I suppose so. But I wouldn’t know where to begin as to how to prove it.”
“I know. I’m just trying to prove your daughter’s innocence.”
“I believe you are. But this all feels so staged. The Ennead could reproduce another Tut in a snap of the finger. I believe he was a clone. This murder charge is grandstanding.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell Brahms that the Ennead might classify a genetically-crafted being into the same category so I didn’t.
I also knew I couldn’t trust the Ennead or Brahms completely at this moment. This was so still a game of cat and mouse.
Chapter 14
Sex, Ships & Shopping
I rose before the sun the next morning, mentally prepping myself to board my first space ship. If that wasn’t unnerving in itself, the reason for my visit was. I wouldn’t just be an idle-minded tourist. I would be there to learn, conducting surveillance to find what other weaknesses the Ennead and its Entourage might be prone to. I already suspected they had a problem with emotion. What other weak links might exist?
