by Greig Beck
“I’d be trapped.” Matt shook his head.
Noah sighed. “No you wouldn’t; a small sip of the water will sustain you for weeks. Many have left here already. Some return, some do not; it’s their choice. Think of it; a world without pain, disease, infirmity.”
Matt nodded as he continued to examine his hand. Only moments ago it looked like parchment stretched over bone, now it was young again. Would that be so bad? He wondered.
“A world without pain, disease, infirmity or death, and even a restorer of vitality. I guess the knowledge you could gather would be immense.” He looked up. “The old become new, the crippled could walk again.”
Noah’s smile faded a little. “It has its limits, Matthew. George Bass lost a hand in an accident aboard his ship before he drank from the pool. It never grew back.”
“Oh well.” Matt smiled sadly, but then his brow furrowed as he remembered something. His head snapped up. “Lost a hand – was it his left one?”
“Why, yes.” Noah tilted his chin.
Matt’s mind spun. “But, the body in the church; it was missing its left hand. Then it must have been George Bass.”
“What?” Noah’s eyes blazed. “That means…”
Matt was grabbed by the hair and dragged backwards.
“It means I’m still in time to stop you.” The voice was deep and commanding.
Matt looked straight up into the darkest eyes he had ever seen – but eyes he recognised from the old photograph in the church at Fort Severn.
“Japheth.” Matt gasped.
Matt’s neck was laid bare, and a long blade appeared in the man’s other hand. He faced Noah, who was now on his feet.
“So, my son, you came back after all.” Noah started to walk slowly forward. “You followed him?”
“You left me no choice.” Japheth responded.
Matt strained in a grip that was impossible to break. He looked up. “It was you all along; who tried to kill me with the grenade, and have been commanding the Borgia.”
Japheth looked down. “And we would have succeeded until the Nephilim detected the life givers in your body.” His jaws clenched momentarily. “You were the last piece he needed – the communicator who could talk to the world, in their own tongues. You were to be Noah’s voice – his pawn.”
Matt struggled, his eyes going from the blade back up to the dark eyed face. “You killed Clarence, the family, the child. You’re the murderer.”
Japheth’s eyes were rocks steady. “Unfortunate, but the secret must remain just that.” His mouth was a thin line. “At all costs.”
Japheth dragged Matt’s head back again and he looked to Noah. “I warned you; this gift is too great to spray across the globe. They are not ready, and from what I have witnessed, they may never be ready.”
“I think they are. And the world needs a miracle now more than ever.” Noah edged closer. “I don’t wish to fight with you, my son.”
Japheth looked pained. “But you would give me no choice if you continue on this path. Death is renewal. I think even Shem knew that at the end. We cannot allow the human race to stagnate. Children are its legacy, not an enduring population of morally decaying immortals. Like we are.”
Noah now just watched the man, and Japheth pointed the blade at him.
“They would be like squabbling children, all wanting to be kings or gods. When you say a world without war, I think you would provoke a war that will end the world. They rush to build up their weapons of fire. It would be regrettable if they destroyed themselves, but it would be intolerable if they succeeded in also wiping out all life on Earth.” Japheth bared his teeth. “It is all God’s creation, and you would have a hand in ending it.” He looked down for a moment, into Matt’s eyes before looking back up, slowly. “You may provoke another flood.”
Noah looked like he had been slapped, and his eyes widened. He seemed frozen for a few moments. “Every year more people believe in nothing.” Noah seemed to sag. “Then perhaps the floods will truly be needed once again.”
Off to the side, Rachel groaned and began to stir. Noah raised his eyes, now wet, and lifted a single hand. “I will hear you.”
Japheth let Matt go. “This decision is too great to just be yours.”
“Or yours.” Noah said. “One of our greatest strengths and our greatest weaknesses is a free will.” He turned from Japheth to Matt. “Then let Matthew make the decision.”
“What?” Matt’s brows shot up.
Japheth’s eyes narrowed momentarily, but then relaxed. “Agreed.”
Noah turned and smiled benignly. “Matthew, we can choose which path to take. I chose you to continue my work with me. But you don’t have to choose to part of it.”
“Those who are chosen, must choose,” Matt said and scrabbled over to Rachel to lift and cradle her.
“Yes.” Noah straightened. “What do you choose?”
Matt stared at the tall, bearded man. Matt liked the idea of never feeling the ravages of age, illness or injury. But it wouldn’t really be him anymore. Where was the thrill of life if the element of danger was removed? It would be like playing a game of chance, where you always knew the outcome.
“I choose to leave.”
“Good.” Japheth said softly and only then seemed to relax.
Noah sighed and clasped large hands together. “I will be here in a year, in ten years, and in a hundred. You can choose to come back anytime.”
“I won’t be back,” Matt said. “My life is out there.”
“Today and tomorrow it might be. But maybe in a thousand tomorrows you may feel differently.” The bearded man smiled. “The world is changing. I know you feel it too.”
“So, I can leave? But how?” Matt asked.
“I can show you the way out.” Noah got to his feet.
“But the worms; they’ll consume me – you said so yourself.” Matt rubbed both hands up through his hair, pushing it back off his face.
“That won’t happen now,” Noah said.
Before Matt could reply, Rachel stirred, and he reached down to brush dirty hair from her eyes. Matt looked up. “And she can come with me?”
“Of course.”
Matt stared, trying to process all the information, and the warning. “You’ve been here so long; how come you don’t succumb to the symbiotes?”
Noah looked briefly to the pool. “The symbiotes are as much a part of me, as I am of them. There is balance. They stay benign for a long time, but eventually, they need the water, they need to return home.”
“You control them?” Matt asked. “I saw what you did to Eleanor.”
Noah tilted his head as though listening. “I… we… understand each other. You can feel it now too.”
“I’m sorry.” Matt meant it. “But I don’t want it. I choose to be me; normal again.”
Noah placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “If you change your mind.”
“I won’t,” Matt said, trying to sound resolute, but he couldn’t help feeling a tiny hint of regret.
Noah looked into his eyes, deeply, and Matt could swear the man was reading his mind. Perhaps he found a seed of doubt there, as the corners of his mouth lifted a fraction.
“As you wish.”
Noah began to whisper and immediately Matt felt a wrenching of flesh from his toes to his scalp, and then his stomach exploded as a torrent of blue fluid burst forth from his lips. With only the glow of the sapphire pool it was hard to see, but he knew that the puddle at his feet wriggled with tiny life.
Matt wiped his mouth. He immediately felt tired, and sore all over. He looked up. “That’s it?”
Noah just smiled. He reached out a hand and Matt gripped it in his own. He looked up at the fading sunlight beams making their way across the cavern.
“You must go now and make a start before the sun goes down.” He continued to hold onto Matt’s hand. “We’ll meet again, Matthew Kearns. After all, life is long.” He grinned. “For some of us, very long indeed.”
“I don’t know how you do it.” Matt studied the man. “The ennui must be crushing.”
“It is for some. They leave, and succumb, on purpose. History is littered with those who seem to have long life spans. But a life lived long, must be lived sparingly, and in the shadows. People fear what they don’t understand. And people drive off, or even kill, what they fear.”
“Both a gift and a curse,” Matt said.
“Perhaps.” Noah pointed to the end of the cavern. “There is a cave that will lead you out. A hidden stone door will pivot.” He stood. “Don’t worry, nothing will harm you.”
“The Borgia might not let me.” Matt turned to Japheth.
Japheth shook his head. “The Borgia will not trouble you, now.”
“Or ever.” Noah looked sternly at his son, until Japheth nodded again.
Rachel groaned, and Matt lifted her to her feet. She was still groggy.
Noah touched her forehead. “She won’t remember a thing.” He looked to Matt. “And you must never tell anyone of this place or of our meeting.”
“I won’t,” Matt promised. “And I’m sorry, but I won’t be coming back.”
Noah just smiled.
*
Noah waited until they had left, before turning and nodding to each man and woman that appeared from the forest.
“He chose not to stay,” a woman said.
Noah nodded. “A good man always refuses a gift… the first time. But he’ll be back.” He turned to Japheth. “I told you that there is honor among them.”
“Perhaps.” His dark eyes stared after Matt and Rachel. “When there are more like him than not, then I’ll believe they’re ready.” His eyes shifted to Noah. “You told him he was purged. That’s not possible; you made sure he’ll return.”
“It is possible.” Noah’s mouth curved into a smile. “Mostly.”
Japheth shook his head. “We are no better than them.” He half bowed, and then slipped away into the forest.
Noah then turned to the figures gliding from the lush green growth. “Our work is done for now.” He looked along each of the faces. “It is time.” The shining, smooth skin, the luminous eyes of youth and broad shoulders, now slumped in despair.
“Already?” one asked.
Noah nodded and each but one turned away, stepping into the forest, and vanishing.
The last woman smiled. “He’ll return.”
“But not yet, Emzara.” Noah closed his eyes, and held out his hands flat. “And maybe not soon enough.” The birds of the forest grew quiet, so did the hum of insects, and then even the slight breeze receded to nothing. From all around him, there came instead a hissing and popping like water drops in a hot frying pan. Then the tallest of the trees began to tremble.
As if the massive trees were being subjected to extreme heat, they began to melt. Around Noah the huge banyans, cedar and oak began to shrink and drop, then the ferns and bushes beneath them. The birds on the tree limbs simply melted like colored wax to puddle on the ground, and beside Noah, Emzara stared for a moment, her smile drooping to one of sorrow before she too dropped into a fizzing liquid, joining up with the masses of fluid that wriggled with life.
The vibrant colors faded to a milky soup that ran into the cracks and fissures in the rocks. Only Noah and the glowing pool remained. He was a solitary figure in a vast, dark and empty cavern.
Noah waded into the shimmering water and sunk down. The blue light immediately went out, and it too started to drain. For a few seconds there came the final pops and hisses of the receding biological material as it ran away, and then there was nothing but an enormous, silent space.
The Garden of Eden, and its fantastic Fountain of Youth, had hidden itself once again.
Chapter 22
One of their jeeps sat waiting for Matt and Rachel when they came out of the caves. Matt stood in the empty desert, scanning the horizon. It seemed devoid of life, like an alien planet with no animals, birds, bandits or even a breath of wind. Just silence.
Rachel sat quietly for most of the trip, a dazed expression on her face. A few miles back she had turned to him and touched his arm.
“What happened?” She rubbed the lump on her forehead and frowned. “I can’t remember… anything.”
He put his arm around her, and she slumped against him. “There was a cave-in. We survived, but unfortunately no one else did.”
“Oh, god no.” She looked up at him. “Did we find it, the wellspring?”
He looked out over the vast dry desert. “No, no, there was nothing to find; a dead end. It was all just a myth after all.”
He reached across to stroke her forehead and she eased back in the seat and closed her eyes. “Time for us to go home.”
END
Author’s Notes
Many readers ask me about the background of my novels – is the science real or fiction? Where do I get the situations, equipment, characters or their expertise from, and just how much of any legend has a basis in fact? In the case of the Fountain of Youth, Noah’s Ark and the man himself, much is from the Christian Bible and other holy books. To some, they are absolutes. To others, they are just hearsay, legend and allegorical tales.
But as for the Fountain of Youth and longevity, there are still searches going on in remote places today. Perhaps the real breakthroughs in our quest for longer lives or indeed immortality, will not come from some remote jungle, desert or icecap, but instead be made in a pristine laboratory, right around the corner from you any day now.
But before we look at some of my research, I’m including a new section called: “The Cutting Room Floor”. These are some of the scenes that didn’t make that cut – see what you think:
The Cutting Room Floor
Epilogue
6 months later – Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Virginia
The tall, bearded man sat in the wood-paneled office of HII, the largest ship-building company in the United States. His immaculate three-piece suit was perfectly tailored and expensive, and his shoes so polished they reflected the overhead lights as tiny halos in the toes.
He declined the offer of coffee, and instead sipped from a sterling silver flask he had with him. He smiled at the room full of beaming executives.
He capped the flask and slipped it into a breast pocket. “I need you to build me a ship – the biggest one you can.”
He grinned at the hungry-looking executives. “And money is no object.”
The Fountain of Youth
Man, like all creatures on Earth, is tethered to mortality. Having an “end” defines everything we do in life. But many of us would like more of the one thing we can’t buy, steal, or bargain for – life.
Does something exist that can do it? Many in history have thought so. A mystical wellspring of vitality or Fountain of Youth has been a popular myth dating back thousands of years. In the 3rd century AD, Alexander the Great searched for a fountain of youth, supposedly crossing an otherworldly land covered in eternal night called The Land of Darkness to reach it. And another early formal written references to such a place comes from the 5th century BCE, when the Greek historian Herodotus spoke of a wellspring in the land of the Macrobians. This small and secret body of water gave the people virility, health and an exceptionally long life.
During the Crusades there were many expeditions to the Middle East during the 11th and 12th centuries. And even in Japan, hot springs that can boost strength and restore youth are said to still exist today.
Our quest for immortality has manifested itself in many ways over the millennia, with sacred charms, potions, and divine artifacts, such as the Philosopher’s Stone, all said to grant immortality. Maybe in some remote place there is a hidden spring where bubbling forth is an elixir that can grant everlasting life to those who drink it, and the persistence of the myth has not yet dimmed.
That’s why there will always be adventure seekers looking for the magical fountain of youth. And who knows, maybe some have already foun
d it but won’t tell – would you?
The Elixir of Youth
Is the Elixir of Youth already hiding within us? It is the Mount Everest of scientific and health research, discovering the keys that will help people live longer. Now, scientists may just be one step closer.
A Yale School of Medicine team has identified a hormone, FGF21, produced by the thymus gland that can extend a lifespan by up to 40 per cent. The hormone boosts the immune system and protects against the ravages of age.
When it is functioning normally, the thymus produces new T-cells for the immune system, but as we age, the gland loses the ability to manufacture the vital cells. This loss of T-cells in the body is one cause of increased risk of infections, cancers and cell destruction.
Researchers led by Vishwa Dixit, professor of comparative medicine and immunobiology at Yale, found that increasing the level of FGF21 in old mice protected the thymus from age-related degeneration and increased their system’s ability to produce new T-cells.
This is one study on one hormone, and the team is confident it can lead to a future extension of life by up to 40 per cent. Other studies are ongoing. We await their findings with interest, aging eyes and hope.
The Garden of Eden
Whenever we think of the Garden of Eden we usually think of the images of a pair of alabaster-skinned youths, buck-naked save for a fig leaf or two for modesty. There’s an apple involved and usually a leering reptile somewhere to complete the picture. This is the biblical “Garden of God”, described most notably in the Book of Genesis, and also in the Book of Ezekiel.
However, there are numerous more references to “trees of the garden”, “the place of trees”, and simply “the garden”, in Genesis 13, Ezekiel 31, the Book of Zechariah, and also the Book of Psalms. All are said to reference Eden. The word Eden itself is related to an ancient Aramaic root word meaning, “fruitful, and well-watered”.
