by JB Penrose
“It doesn’t matter,” Rachel brushed aside Fairidai’s curiosity and tousled the redhead. “You can fill me in on what’s happening in Delphi as we return. How long have I been gone?” she stood up.
“Since you left,” the child replied simply. “I don’t know how else to measure it.”
Rachel laughed. Delphi was a simple treasure. The world had made things so complicated for itself.
“Alright, then, why did you come to find me?” Rachel put her arm around the young girl’s shoulders. She felt Fairidai stiffen slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, Spokesmon.” Fairidai turned to her with a worried look. “I feel a pressure, like a darkness, and it’s building. I came to find you – and see if you felt it, too.”
“Not in here,” Rachel told her. She gave herself a quiet moment to search for the darkness Fairidai was feeling, but it was though Ishleen’s Light kept any negative vibrations at bay. “Let’s see if anyone else in Delphi feels the same thing.”
Rachel led the young girl out of the cavern and watched behind her as the light of the candelabra disappeared when they exited. There was still a glow from within the cave that Rachel knew to be Ishleen, but she also realized she was the only one to see it. Only the glow from her mantle, and the star, Trishul, illuminated the height of the peri-strata where they stood.
“I forgot how high I climbed to get up here,” Rachel realized. Delphi was active below her, but she could sense the pressure of darkness that Fairidai mentioned. She wondered if she should transport both of them with the cyto.
“It’s not far,” Fairidai admitted. “I didn’t have any trouble with the height. Do you need some help?”
Rachel smiled, even as she pulled the mantle around her shoulders. “No, I was just – remembering.”
They stepped to a lower path using the Light of Trishul as a guide. The young girl was quick, and agile; it reminded Rachel what it was like to be young.
“I wanted to compliment your performance at my Arrival ceremony,” Rachel commented as they walked the lower path toward Delphi. “Where did you learn to dance like that?”
“Oh, I didn’t learn it,” Fairidai admitted. “I just did it – as the music played. The Tribe, well, they don’t do so well with practice; it makes them concentrate on different things. I’ve learned it’s better to show them the result – that rug, in this case, and then tell them what to do as we go along.”
“You are a remarkable girl,” Rachel took her hand as they walked. “Not only do you know your audience, but you recognize the skills of your team, as well. I see a bright future for you, young lady!” She vowed to herself that Fairidai should receive special training; the child – young woman, Rachel corrected herself, had an extraordinary destiny.
“Oh, Spokesmon!” Fairidai gave her hand a squeeze. “Nothing could be better than walking with you here, today.”
“Unless of course, we see a cat along the way,” Rachel teased.
They walked in silence for a bit, still holding hands on the path. Rachel could feel the pressure of some type of darkness looming over Delphi, and it was beginning to build – almost like storm clouds.
Her first thoughts were of Iscar, but she didn’t sense anything from his Presence. She cast-out for Peter, but there was only a void. The absence of answers quickened her pace, and Fairidai kept in silent step beside her.
By the time they reached Malkuth, Rachel knew others in Delphi were sensing the same pressure. Occasionally she felt them stop working and cast-out their awareness for a hint of what they were sensing. She knew others had stepped out of their residence, in wonder of whatever felt so impending.
Rachel went to the Oracle, shining inside the curtained waterfall. With a sigh, she knew her peace in Delphi was coming to an end, as peace always did. Where was the time she wanted, she needed, even, to meditate on what Uri had told her? How would she ever remember, if she never had the time to think about it?
And then, it was gone!
The Oracle was gone!
Iscar was glad to hear from Ariesh; finally, answers. He confirmed the RFC with his cyto and regenerated at the meeting place in the peri-strata to wait for her projection.
Distance had no bearing on her capability of astral projection, but communication was only viable because of Iscar’s telepathic ability. She shimmered into view and he could tell from the look on her face there was something wrong.
Donnally launched with the Aurora’s crew; the Spokesmon’s parents are in charge at PROBE-Tech. Iscar felt her projected announcement.
“Is there more?” He sensed her hesitation.
Frank Morrow found me at PROBE-Tech. What should I do?
Morrow? Iscar bristled at the thought. “Find out what he’s up to and report to me when you can. But don’t trust him. Not at all!”
Ariesh dissolved from his view with a nod.
All of the news she delivered was bad news, and Morrow’s involvement was the worst. It had been a risk to deal with the former BGA Director; whatever Morrow was up to was sure to only benefit himself. At least Ariesh could report on his activity, should Iscar need to take any action.
There was something brewing and Iscar could feel the energy building. It made him edgy about Morrow, it made him suspicious about Donnally; it all made him nervous. He regenerated back to his quarters to have Gideon to send out the search for Gabriel and Kerroon; they must be close to Delphi.
Gideon regenerated at his entrance just as he returned. Iscar saw the Spokesmon standing in front of the Oracle at the Falls, she looked up, --and then it happened!
The vibrating hum that stilled his thoughts, stopped, suddenly, and there could only be one reason. The Oracle was gone!
The Oracle was gone!
Kerroon! Iscar cursed mentally. How had they gained access to his quarters? How had they gained access to the Oracle?
“Wait here!” he instructed Gideon harshly and immediately entered his residence. Iscar keenly felt the Oracle’s loss.
He palmed a sensor that opened a spiral staircase disguised within the rock wall and felt a sense of urgency building with each step. He ran up the steep incline, surrounded by darkness.
The closeness of the walls focused his thoughts. The questions numbered themselves with every step. What happened to the Oracle? Who had been here? How? Why? He couldn’t find a single clue on his way up the staircase.
When Iscar reached the top, he didn’t need a light to confirm the tasht was gone. The darkness confirmed it; emptiness, nothing. There was no tasht. His racing heart confirmed his worst nightmare; the Oracle’s Light wasn’t dark; it was gone! There was no vibration, no undercurrent, no connection.
Iscar ran his hands over the surface. He rarely touched the ancient, frozen glaze, and he had never discovered how the tasht was embedded into the Mammoth Falls. There was never a point of entry, and tonight he could detect no point of exit, either. He sank to the steps and his head dropped into his hands.
I have done everything that was asked of me; He spoke to the missing tasht. This is the time we’ve been preparing for - the Spokesmon’s Arrival in Delphi. You are the Light who brought everyone together, the Light that led me down this Path. Our dreams have come true. The Spokesmon is here – Where are you now?
Iscar let his mind slip into the place where he usually found the tasht in the Stream of Consciousness. Now the silence was like a barrier. He felt poised on the precipice of a void – deep and black; a visual image of himself falling into the Stream. Darkness wrapped him and Iscar gathered his will and tried to concentrate.
“Where are you?” He pictured the Oracle in its perch and repeated the question. “Where are you?”
There were no answers for Iscar. The thrill of the Spokesmon’s Arrival to the depths of the Oracle’s disappearance left him exhausted. He felt suspended between the two points, and both of them were in the dark.
He tried without success to imagine what might have happened. He could not bring him
self to believe Kerroon had the power to remove the Oracle without a trace; and equally he couldn’t believe Gabriel would have brought him here to do that.
Iscar had become so accustomed to the hum of the Oracle’s vibration that without it he found it hard to focus his thoughts. Iscar knew all of Delphi was feeling the same thing, and he did not know how to help them.
“Are you content to leave this problem for the Spokesmon to handle, or do you not want to run into anyone that might ask questions you can’t answer.”
The voice startled him but he quickly composed himself and opened his eyes. “Why do you always seem to bring bad news?” he asked Mother Star.
“Maybe I’m just seeing a bad situation. I told you things weren’t going as planned.”
“Maybe not as you planned them,” Iscar told her. “But everything was happening just as I had pictured it - the Arrival; the celebration. Who would have ever dreamt that someone would steal the Oracle?”
“And by someone, you think it’s Kerroon?”
“Who else would be so brazen?” Iscar rose to his feet. “He’s come here to claim it as his own. Obviously, he’s already found a way to do that.”
“But it’s not his,” she told him.
Iscar nodded, surprised at her agreement.
“It’s mine, and I have it.”
For a moment, Iscar didn’t understand. He continued to nod until hearing her words his head changed direction, shaking no to her statement. “What do you mean? You have it?”
“I told you that your actions had repercussions. Bringing the Spokesmon to Delphi in the manner you did, against her will, changed the outcome – even if only slightly.”
“But she loves it now,” he defended himself. “She knows this is her home.”
“The Spokesmon had more to accomplish than to just arrive in Delphi, and you separated her from that destiny.”
“If you’re referring to Kerroon –” Iscar didn’t hide the disdain in his voice. “I know he’s got the roleau with him, but the Oracle was my piece. Why would you take it? How could you do that to Delphi?”
“I,” she emphasized, “didn’t do this to Delphi. I took the Oracle to protect it. You have set a chain of events into motion that even you haven’t yet realized. There has always been a plan and you changed it just to make it happen along your own timeline.” Mother Star paced the room. “I’ve been patient with you,” she said, “but now it’s time to set things straight.”
“Patient with me?” Iscar stood suddenly, his height from the steps towered over her. Both arms dropped to his side with clenched fists. “What have you ever done for me? I built Delphi from scratch – from dreams scratched out of this mountain. All I’ve ever seen you do is appear when you feel like it and disappear when things go wrong.”
“And where do you think those dreams came from?” Her voice was quiet. She didn’t react to Iscar’s anger but the words conveyed her own desperation.
Even in the dim light, he saw her image shimmer into a luminous beauty, and he recognized that vision as the angel that comforted his dreams, sleeping and waking. Urica.
Her robe was made of the light of every color, and it moved without sound. Long blond curls framed a snow white face and he looked into those blue eyes with recognition. All his life he had searched for her, and she was always here, hidden in the form of an old woman he’d often taken for granted. “It was you?”
In that instant, his fight was defeated. He owed her everything; he had dedicated every action to the angel from his dreams that he loved.
“Yes,” she admitted softly, sadly.
Iscar knelt in instant surrender, his head bowed. “I am sorry, Mother Star. I should have known you.”
“You know me as Urica,” she said. “It’s time now that you remember.” She bent to urge him up. Her hands grasp his and she squeezed them with assurance.
When you know me, then you will know me.
“I remember,” he told her. “I remember that you guided me here and in my madness, you gave me vision. In my desperation, you gave me hope, and now, in my hubris I accuse you of theft.” Iscar tried to turn away.
“There is still a chance we can succeed,” she told him. “Just open your heart. Remember.”
“Remember what?” he asked.
“Remember!” Urica repeated with fervor and touched his forehead with her index finger. “Always acting as One let us do God’s work, learn the Master’s lessons, and manifest the Spokesmon’s dreams.”
With those words still ringing in his ears, she disappeared; she shimmered out of sight like Mother Star had always done before. But this time Iscar knew the truth.
The Oracle was gone!
Immediately the calming hum of the Oracle was replaced by the incredible hum of a thousand of voices in her mind. Some were panicked and rising to the top, others built a base of fear that deepened by the minute, were crying out. The moment the Oracle vanished Rachel could hear every thought in the mountain. They crashed together in her mind incoherently. Her eyes were glued to the Oracle, or where it should be. One thing she was certain of, the Oracle was gone.
“Spokesmon? Spokesmon?”
She realized Fairidai tugged on her sleeve.
“Did you do that?” she asked.
Rachel stared at her blankly, suddenly bewildered by the confusion she felt. Her breathing and heartbeat had been forgotten; movement was frozen.
“I guess you didn’t do that.”
Rachel’s attention returned to Fairidai. “What?” Rachel asked again.
“Did you do that? Make the Oracle disappear?”
Rachel shook her head but part of it was surprise. “I can’t read your thoughts!”
“You’re not supposed to. Did you want to?” Fairidai was clearly confused by the Spokesmon’s response.
“No! I mean,” Rachel put her hands over her ears. “I hear everyone else.”
“I know,” Fairidai admitted, “me too. They’re not Delphi-born,” she explained plainly. “They’re scared. Do you know what happened to the Oracle?”
“I’m not sure.” Rachel’s answer trailed off into the noise of the cavern. Whatever happened, she had a feeling it would get worse.
She saw Iscar step out from the hallway of his residence with Gideon, and immediately the Septorian was surrounded by people. He stopped mid-step when he realized the Spokesmon was not in possession of the Oracle. His expression boiled into anger.
“Kerroon!”
It was a mental shout but it seemed to echo in the cavern none-the-less. Everyone heard it; the moment of silence that followed almost imploded Delphi.
He bolted toward his residence, leaving Gideon behind. Rachel assumed there was access to the Oracle there; obviously, there was access somewhere.
He left everyone in his wake helpless with questions. She had questions, too; her mind was buzzing.
Peter? It wasn’t like him to steal the tasht, even if he was carrying the original. It was not the kind of entrance he would make, but where Iscar was concerned, Rachel should have expected it would be confrontational. She needed to get away and think. She needed separation from the voices in her mind.
Rachel looked again, to the Falls where the Oracle had once lodged. A faint energy remained, something like a memory-action, and it showed Mother Star standing behind the Falls – the wave of her hand pulled the Oracle from the Falls and she shimmered out of sight.
“Spokesmon!”
“Spokesmon!”
With Iscar’s absence, the people in Delphi turned to her. She heard her name from a thousand voices. What had Dr. Bacus taught her to stave off panic attacks? Breathe slowly; concentrate on something nice and keep your confidence. Slowly her rationale returned. Rachel nodded. She had the understanding she needed for the moment, but, the question remained why Mother Star would take the Oracle.
“Fairidai. Take care of the children. Let them know there is nothing to fear.”
Fairidai merged into the crowd begin
ning to build on Malkuth. Counselors and Ministers appeared, pooling around her. Rachel began to realize there were others on the stage that she also did not “hear”. Their silence was like a cool breeze on a humid night. Delphi-born! Fairidai, Lara, Sorath and the others who were born in the mountain. Apparently, Delphians still had the ability to maintain control of their psi.
They were also doing a great job of maintaining the situation by instructing everyone, mentally and verbally. The trans-vela was moving again, and the crowd eventually began to recede from the stage. The Tiphereth became a hive of activity.
Rachel realized she’d been frozen in her spot at the Falls. As the Delphians began to calm and quiet their thoughts, Aaron approached. “What should I do?” she asked him. “What can I do?”
“Be still, your questions and the answers will be revealed in their own time, Mother would say.”
“Yes, thank you for the reminder,” she told him.
Unaware of her own intensions Rachel walked to the edge of the stage, not so much to view the activity, but to let them see her. She turned to Trishul for the star’s assistance to calm Delphi.
Like a breeze felt but never seen
I know you in my heart.
You enfold me ever in your Love
And guide me through the dark.
I believe in Thee.
I believe in Thee.
Rachel’s voice broadcast the song through the cavern amplified by the love in her heart for each citizen. She sang sweetly, projecting peace and mentally she enfolded each one of them within her heart.
A star that’s lost in morning’s sun
Is always in the sky.
A never sleeping dream each night
You call me to your side.
I believe in Thee.
I believe in Thee.
She stood at the parapet and repeated the song until most of the chaos had subsided, but she could still feel the undercurrent of questions rippling between them.
