by Grant Fausey
"Pardon me," said one of the beautifully tanned young women. Samuel looked up. His eyes widened.
"Jennifer?" he said.
The young woman stared back at him too, as if she recognized the name somewhere in the back of her mind. She resembled Jennifer well enough, the same high forehead, hair length, firm rounded breast sitting high on her chest, a petite frame similar to the young woman Jake drug out of the threshold and into the Nexus behind him. She even the same smile.
"No," said the young woman in answer to his query. "I prefer Jenny … Not Jennifer!" Samuel smiled. It was Jennifer, but something was odd about her.
"Have we met?" she asked him boldly.
"I'm having this terrible case of déjà vu … like I've seen you, or have known you someplace before."
"Maybe," answered Samuel coyly, trying not to frighten her off. "It's possible.”
“Are you from Los Angeles?"
"No," answered Jennifer. "It's the strangest thing.
“It's like I've been dropped off here and I just can't remember why.”
"That's interesting, Jenny. Is Jake with you?"
"Jake," answered the young woman. "You mean my boyfriend. Is that were I know you from? You're a friend of Jake's aren't you?"
"Yeah," answered Samuel. "Sort of I guess."
"He's gone up the beach with Troy."
"With Troy?"
"Yeah. They should be back any minute."
Samuel raised an eyebrow. Jennifer was definitely out of it. But he figured she'd snap around sooner or later. He hoped Jake and Trinod were okay.
"The Jakester will be right back," she repeated. "Would you like to come over and join us?" Samuel looked over to where Jennifer was pointing. Two other women waited on the beach: A dark haired beauty and a blond. Both were in their early twenties, the same as Jennifer.
What's going on here? Thought Samuel, trying to keep it together himself.
"Hey! Is that you, Sam?" questioned a male voice from behind him. Samuel turned around rather quickly. Sand flew out from under his legs and feet. He stood up, facing two young men as they approached him.
"Samuel Nomad," said the first. "Is that you?"
"You made it," said the other. Jennifer looked at them all smugly. "I wish you guys would cut it out! You're scaring me with all this talk about coming here so abruptly."
"It's okay, Jennifer ... Jenny," said Samuel. "We'll tune you in later!"
"I'll bet you will!" shouted Jennifer, laughing. "You're probably going to wanna try ... anyway! But Jake won't let you, will you Jakester...?" Jake shook his head. Jennifer was really out of it. The stress of their adventure had asked for more than she could handle. Coming down to reality was going to be hard for her, especially now.
"You all here?" Jake asked Samuel. "Yeah ... pretty much," Samuel answered.
"Great."
"I'm Troy..." said the other man. "Troy Nomad something, or other … Wish I could remember. At least, that's who I believe I am."
"What's going on here?" asked Samuel in a huff. "Who are all these people?"
"Don't have to many answers," snapped Jake. "We've only been here about a week. Each of us has arrived the same way. That's why we keep coming to the beach. We figured we'd all show up sooner or later."
"Good point."
"Yeah, Man..." said Trinod. "We'll grow out of it. Figure a week. We've each come to our senses. We've been keeping track of you for about ten days."
"Ten days?" snarled Samuel.
"Yeah," answered Jake. "Jennifer and Rex are on days eight and nine, respectively. I guess you and I were the first."
"Nice."
"Yeah," said Jake. "But it's home for the moment. At least, we don't have the Nexus breathing down our back or ripping us to shreds."
"It's a real mystery," added Trinod, trying to be the rational Trinod Rex he knew he was. Samuel laughed at him under his breath. It was obvious that Trinod wasn't quite himself yet. Jennifer turned away, heading back to her two bikini laden friends. Samuel watched as she walked away. Jake gently shook his head from side to side, letting out a small breath of air between his lips. He was admiring the beauty of her string bikini.
"Welcome to New America, gentlemen," he said with a lot of passion. "I believe our stay here is going to be a good one." Samuel was reserving comment. He wasn't making any judgment calls just yet. New America looked peaceful enough, but something here wasn't quite right. It was going to take more than just a couple of hot shot kids, a scurrile old man reborn into a youngster and himself to figure out what was going on. They had to attend to first things first. The Nexus had brought them here. They were penniless, homeless and without a clue. None of them had an idea of what it was the Source intended for them. Samuel thought back across the events that had lead him to here. New America was a big place and it was going to take time to sort things out. He hoped his companions had managed to find shelter, but the prospects were looking grim. Jennifer had been assimilated into the universe and returned as an airhead.
Trinod Rex was a babbling idiot. It seemed only Jake Stern had regained his composure, his Witt and maybe outlook on life. Samuel sighed. He figured he was on his own. New America, he thought. Now, that's a contradiction in terms. His America had been around for centuries. It's wide spread governments had countered the hostile take over by the Trini Company in the year of the great change. By Earth standards it was in the early twenty first century. Around the year 2015, in one universe he had been destined to Earth on an outbound shuttle and had had the pleasure of conversing with Michael Tyler, the well-known Senator connected with the Earth Corporate Alliance. He had delivered him a message, something about his father changing the schedule. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was he was supposed to remember. In another universe, he had countered his own death, having fallen prey to an encounter with an unknown assailant who left him for dead at the threshold of the Nexus Gateway, at the edge of vortex.
In another dimension, he remembered being caught up in a trail of mismatched courses that followed travelers from another universe. It was as if he was a part of some grand scheme of keeping the universe alive. He just couldn't remember. It was all so confusing. Samuel looked up at the darkening sky and watched the stars come out. The big dipper was pleasantly displayed in the heavens were it belonged. The traveler breathed a sigh of relief. This was a part of his universe. Samuel looked over at the girls, watching as they laughed around a makeshift campfire that raged on the beach, shedding an uneven orange glow on the immediate surroundings. Jake was laughing too, keeping close track of Jennifer. Trinod, although somewhat younger now, was still keeping to himself. He was talking and laughing when necessary. Perhaps he was coming out of whatever it was they endured. Samuel sighed again. The scene reminded him of another time, another place. It was a time of cold winds and blowing blizzard like snows. He had been involved with Denarak, but that seemed like another lifetime ago.
Trinod told him to find Denarak, to find Maccon. But for all he knew Maccon was already dead. He hadn't seen Denarak since his encounter with the Haulers Incorporated group ran by this Trinod Rex. How many of them were there he wondered? Had the universe gone mad, creating doppelgangers of every living thing? Had the Industries? And what were the Industries? There were to many questions, none of which had answers. And what of this benefactor, Jacob Mantell? Who was he? Samuel had been introduced, but then the Senator from Athin simply disappeared. Samuel needed a plan. He needed someway of determining all the facts and finding logical answers to the questions as they presented themselves. His journey had been a confusing one. He had stumbled onto something more powerful than the secrets of the universe itself. Perhaps it was the secrets of the universe he sought. Someone or something was altering the very nature of life itself. Samuel turned away from the group and stepped out across the sand, strolling along the water's edge as he crossed the beach.
"Father," he said inherently, talking to the Source of all things. "I need s
ome answers."
"Samuel Nomad," said a voice in the wind, echoing in his mind. "You will find your answers. Just keep to the plan..."
Samuel turned around quickly, but no one was there. Just the gentle breeze that coursed its way inland from the ocean was present. He looked up the beach to where he had walked a good distance. He gazed up from the sand and viewed the "HOLLYWOOD" sign. What was left of the Griffith Observatory was located to its right. Down the edge of the mountain the water's edge raced inward across countless miles, until the waves reached the shores of the Colorado shoreline. Somehow, Samuel knew this Earth. The islands of Los Angeles and the receding shore lines of the west coast. Most of the western states were submerged. The ocean had reclaimed the land as far north as Seattle, and as Far East, as Denver. Mountain peaks poked above the roaring sea only to be whisked away in an ebbing tide of crumbling valleys and mountain top islands. The world had ended for many. Millions of people had died in the cataclysmic days of seismic activity, tsunamis tidal waves and volcanic eruptions: The homeless reached biblical proportions all around the world.
Most of the western United States: Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Colorado were underwater. The two thousand miles stretch of the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia to New Mexico had become dotted with islands. The isles of Japan, with hazards like the early quakes of North America quivered under devastating earth movements. The islands disappeared after the turn of the century along with parts of China, Africa, Europe and a sizable chunk of the east coast of the Americas. The world shifted its axis, toppling the electricity of the poles into chaos. The magnetic fields shifted, and with it the earth changed. California was among the first to go and among the last to stay. Samuel stood on fertile ground. What were once the oceans of the earth now reclaimed desert. And what was once at the bottom of the sea, had again risen to surface above the waves. The Earth itself was different. Reorganized and evaluated in a universal plan no one knew anything about. Especially Samuel. What was the Source working to? What was to be the result of the effort? If this world, this Earth was New Haven, how had it evolved into this? What was the course...the case history? And where was Denarak? Samuel wondered, if there was only a clue.
– 31 –
SECRETS OF NEW AMERICA
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
Nearly ten days had past since Samuel had arrived in New America. He had managed to keep his feet on the ground, and his head in the stars. One thing had come to light out of all of this was that mankind was on the brink of evolution. Obviously, the Source had brought Samuel here to be a part of it. But Samuel was afraid. The events of the recent past had left him little room to be anything else. The journey from his home had been an unpleasant one, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember everything he had a few days ago. His memories of other existences were severely limited here. This earth had limitations on it. One of them was awareness. The longer he was here, the more confined Samuel felt. His own body seemed heavier and cumbersome. Almost like a shell he couldn't discard if he needed to soar on another plane of existence. Even the course of the future seemed different somehow. The expectations of this world were governed not by fate, but rather by temptation and man himself. The inhabitants of this world worshiped their own gods, like power and greed. Others subdivided into religious orders, many of which had the same teachings and similar goals. Some even worshiped the Source. They called it by a different name for Alvericon's sake, but still they looked to the Source of all things for guidance. They called the soul of souls here, God.
Samuel felt like a newcomer. He was lost in a world were a man could starve to death while his fellow man stood by and watched him. The effects of what man had done to man here were horrendous. Inhumanity was rampant on every level of existence. This thread of the human race was a different breed of Mankind. The kind of human Samuel had never encountered before. Man ruled the Earth, while haphazardly searching for inner guidance. He was desperately searching for someone to light the way to heaven and eternity. The more Samuel thought about it, the more confused he became. The less he remembered, the more antiquated he felt. The more afraid he was, he remained unsure of himself. Whatever the plan was when he first arrived, he didn't recall. He had even forgot whom he had seen first, the men or the women on the beach. He wasn't even sure he had arrived on the beach. Time seemed to be lagging somehow, pinning him down like a prisoner under his own duress. Time wasn't real: At least, not in his way of thinking. On this world, it wasn't something to be bent and altered, address or readdressed. Time travel itself was reduced to something called science fiction, and the inhabitants of this world escaped only in their imagination. There was no recognition of infinite wisdom or divine influence. The Source was nothing more than an unfulfilled dream. Mankind couldn't recognize its own birthright. Let alone, its abilities to soar among the universes of infinite creation. Samuel sighed. He was trapped in a world were nothing mattered except making money and spending it. Personal possessions outweighed mastering ones own abilities to co create with the universe. Harmony was something nearly nonexistent. Anger ruled supreme.
Mankind had reached for the stars, but never saw passed an infinite nose. His world was a test case. A laboratory experiment for those destined to bring light and knowledge to the universe, while opposed by those fated to bring darkness and ignorance. The two forces fought continuously to stalemate one another. Yes Samuel needed a plan. He needed to execute it fast, before he couldn't remember anything at all.
"May 20, 2 015," said Samuel out loud as he wrote the same date on a piece of paper in the lobby of the Skybus terminal. "Things to do next Tuesday." If his memories were to continue to fade into the subconscious, he would at least have a written record of his expectations and perhaps that could re spark the memory. But if the plan didn't work ... oh shit ... he was going to be in deep trouble!
"Skybus 429 to Denver, Cheyenne and points east will be departing from gate twenty one on the lower level, Mr. Nomad," said a pretty, young blond haired girl as she handed him his ticket. "Have a good flight."
"Skybus," said Samuel aloud, but actually talking to himself. "The lower level."
"Yes sir," said the young lady behind the ticket counter, repeating herself. "Gate twenty one," she continued maintaining her smile.
Samuel smiled back. The terminal was quaint. A few seats here and there. The Skybuses were visible through large windows in the south and west walls. An escalator descended to the lower level from the center of the floor. Samuel stepped onto the moving staircase and descends to the basement. The floor became the ceiling as he stepped off the escalator and into the terminal's lower level. Light poured through the large windows behind him. His Skybus, a large wingless airplane hovered in place ready to be boarded. He turned toward the gate and watched a young woman as she preceded him onto the plane. Samuel handed his ticket to the ticket taker at the gate.
The middle-aged man smiled, said, "Thank you!", then handed him back the rest of the ticket. The young traveler stepped through the gateway ahead of him. She looked familiar, but he didn't know her. Her long dark hair swayed in the entrance. He watched her from behind as he followed the same path onto the plane. The young woman entered first then turned, starting down the isle.
"Three G," she said. Samuel looked at his own ticket.
Three I, he smiled. He would set next to her, unless someone else had Three H.
She turned around, stopping in front of him as she reached up and put her backpack into the overhead compartment. "Krydal Starr," said Samuel.
"Yes," answered the young woman. "Do I know you?" "Why..." Samuel thought. "No ... not really. I've just seen you around campus that's all. Guess I know who you are..."
"Oh," she said with a smile. "Well ... then you're one up on me! Mr...."
"Samuel Nomad."
"Good to know you, Samuel Nomad," said the young woman. "M
ind if I take the window seat?" "
No. Not at all," said Samuel. "Be my guest." Krydal entered the isle and sat next to the window. "The plane's not too full, maybe well be able to keep the seat open between us," said Samuel. "They make these things tighter than sardine cans, you know?"
Krydal chuckled. "Then you should try traveling business class. There's a little more room."
"I'll remember that," said Samuel as he sat down next to her in the outside seat. "So were are you heading, Denver? Cheyenne?"
"Points east!" she answered rather coldly. "You?"
Samuel decided to take a chance. If this was Krydal Starr, daughter of the Galactic Senator, Clarion Starr, then perhaps she had all her faculties. This could fit into his plans perfectly. If only she remembered who she was.
"Me," he answered like it was a obscure question. "The nearest gateway." Krydal looked at him presumptuous.
"The nearest gateway," she repeated. "That's a long journey." Samuel smiled inside. She answered his query. "You know were there is one?" he asked boldly. He didn't really expect an answer. But there was always a chance. The existence of a gateway would make his life easier.
"Why?" answered the young woman, lifting an eyebrow. "Are you a lost soul?" Samuel thought for a moment. The question was irrelevant. He had to answer her query correctly. His answer was all that mattered. If she knew, she would tell him. If she didn't, she could be toying with him.
