"I don't know," Balaji said in response. "Where is my Ess-CEPS undergarment?"
On the wall opposite Balaji's bed a cabinet door opened and a drawer silently slid out. Inside was a small back stone. With a hiss it opened, and as it did, a blue light flooded the room.
The tiny pea-sized light rose slowly from the drawer and drifted over the heads of the three who gazed up at it.
"Pixie," Mary quietly whispered.
Pixie moved to the door and flashed. The three companions followed her as they had when deep inside the Moon in the alien facility.
Up the elevator, they rose to the restricted floor. The required pass card was not needed. They moved down the hallway past the armed guards who, like the nurses, seemed not to see them.
Locked doors opened, security cameras were blinded and before long, the three stood over the bed where Hugh was lying, by all appearances asleep—a state the three had only seen him in once before.
Mary and Larry stood to Hugh's right, Balaji to his left. Mary took Hugh's right hand in her left, and then reached for Larry's. Larry stretched his arm across Hugh and took Balaji's, who took Hugh's other hand.
With all four joined, Pixie came down from the ceiling and settled on Hugh's forehead. Her light grew dim, and she seemed to penetrate into his head and vanish.
A moment passed, then Hugh's head began to glow. Soon, light was shooting from his mouth, nose, and ears. His eyes began to shine behind his eyelids.
The light grew brighter, filling the room, and soon all were blinded by its brilliance.
When the light faded, Mary found herself standing, again inside the alien metropolis at the tram platform, but this was no dream, as she had first thought.
The aliens were still there, but the balloons, confetti, and the sign were gone.
Mary felt warm hands in her hers. She hesitated, then glanced to her right to see Larry there looking around like a child's first visit to Disney World.
Slowly, she turned her head left and there stood Hugh, his mouth agape and his eyes wide.
"Hugh!" Mary fairly screamed his name and leapt into his arms.
He embraced her and buried his face into her neck.
"Darling, I thought I'd never see you again!" he whispered.
"I never gave up hope, Hugh, never!"
"I am not wishing to disturb this tender moment," Balaji said, "but have you noted where we are and who else we are with?"
Mary and Hugh looked toward the aliens. The fellow with the gold disk came forward again. "I see you found Pixie," he said, and smiled.
"Did I?" Mary asked. "This has all the appearance of a dream. Am I going to wake up in the nightmare I was living before I went to sleep?"
"No, Mary," the alien said, "this is not a dream. This is the actual manifestation of Max Tegmark's level four."
"Tegmark? The name in my dream!" Mary exclaimed.
"Do you mean the multiverse theory is fact?" Balaji asked, clearly stunned.
"You call it the multiverse, or parallel universes, or even alternative universes. Tegmark came as close as any of you."
"If I may, I have a few questions," Larry said.
"All the answers are here, Larry," the alien said. "Ask any question you have."
"The big globe we saw here in this city. What was its actual purpose?"
"Hugh knew at the time there was more to the story than he had been told. And, indeed, there was. In 1762 when we Delmadians decided to abandon a planned invasion of your world, our warrior class objected vehemently. Their disillusionment grew over the years, and in 1812 broke out into open revolt when the leader of our base ordered the warriors to return to Delmadia. The soldiers fought against our police. The scientific community was the target of the warriors, for in their minds, it was we who had ruined their plans for conquest. An attack on the lab containing the deceased French soldier allowed some of his body's parasites to escape. The rest of the events described by The Nine were true."
"You told me you are the twelve hundred entities left behind," Mary said. "Just who are you?"
"We were scientists, not unlike yourselves. We had fallen victim to the plague. Our fellows saved our minds as the disease was rippling through the population. We were 'recorded' and stored in that facility. Those recordings are gone now; there is no longer power to our old settlement upon your Moon. We exist now in this alternative universe."
Mary turned to look at Hugh. "Darling, the instrument I saw twice in your room—the thing that rose up from the floor with the cones on top, what was that?"
"That is the device we SUBs use to recharge our graphene-based ultra capacitor, our batteries. The Nine knew what I was when we first entered the brain room. That humming which caused everyone's skull to vibrate so painfully—that was a scan of our bodies, so they knew. That's why I was selected to be their interpreter."
Mary turned back toward the Delmadian. "The last time I was here, you said you understood what I was saying about Hugh—that I want us to be together. This trick with Pixie, is this your solution, that we can be together here in level four?"
"Would that be so bad?" the little alien asked, folding his hands over his tiny chest.
Mary looked at Hugh. "Is it really you, or are you a memory?" she asked, breathlessly.
"No, darling, it's really me, no trick. That's the truth; I will never lie to you again."
She turned back to the alien. "Then, no. It would not be so bad."
The little man smiled, his large eyes squinting as he did. "You will all be going back to your own universe. Just remember, the day may come when you might want to return here; perhaps to explore that which you never saw, or to escape advanced old age, or the inevitable expiration of your biological forms. Just know that you are welcome here, with us, anytime for any reason, for however long you wish to stay. And, you'll find some old friends who pop in now and then."
From out of the crowd, stepped Martha, Joe, and Stan.
"Hello, Mary dear," Martha said. "I'm so pleased for you and Hugh."
As the two women embraced Joe and Stan stepped forward. Hugh took Joe's hand. "Joe, I'm sorry I didn't—"
"Whoa, hold the phone pal," Joe said. "There was nothing you could possibly have done."
"Thanks, Joe."
Joe now indicated Stanley. "Come on guys, say hello to Stanley Whitmore. Bob gave him a bad rap; he's really not a bad guy when you get to know him."
"Ladies and gentlemen," Stanley said bowing at the waist, "I hope you'll accept my most abject apologies for my behavior during the time we were together. I was terribly boorish, and I am sorry. In life, one should always be mindful that a sudden event can prevent you from making the amends your soul demands."
Balaji offered his hand to Stanley. "Doctor, I—"
"There are no doctors here, my friend," Stanley said, taking Balaji's hand. "Just people."
Larry offered his hand to Stan as well. "All is forgiven," he said.
"Thank you, Larry. Thank you very much." Stan then turned to Hugh. "It is your forgiveness I seek most ardently, Hugh."
Hugh accepted Stanley's hand. "Yeah, yeah, Stan. Bygones and all that sort of stuff. It looked to me as if Bob...well, that you suffered a great deal at Bob's hand."
"It was brutal at first, yes. But a light came over me, a bright, white light, and a woman's voice spoke unintelligible words to me, and my pain ceased."
"Was it an angel, Stan?" Mary asked.
"It certainly was. It was my wife, who had preceded me in death by ten years."
"How is any of this possible?" Larry asked.
"Because," the alien said, "death ends only flesh; your life force can never be destroyed."
"I don't understand!" Larry exclaimed.
Stanley turned to Larry smiling and said, "To quote the Bard, There are more things in heaven and earth, Larry, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
The images before Mary's eyes seemed to suddenly over-expose, and lose all contrast; and then, were gone.
<
br /> ****
Mary took a deep and sudden breath as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes struggled to open as if she'd been drugged, and initially everything was a blur.
A male voice from someplace nearby said, "Mary, wake up, Mary."
She blinked hard several times and shook her head to clear the cobwebs. She felt a warm hand gently caress her hand.
"Mary, get up, let's go."
The face came into focus and for a moment Mary lay paralyzed.
"Hugh? Is it really you?"
In response he lifted her head from her pillow and kissed her.
"Oh, Hugh, I was so afraid it was a dream!"
"It's no dream sweetheart. I brought you some clothes. Get dressed and let's get out of here."
Mary stood and removed her hospital pajamas and started dressing. "Where are we going?"
"Any place you want to go."
"Hugh, really. Where are we going to hide? How are we going to escape?"
"I want you to remember image twenty-two hundred."
"From Zellat 43?"
"Yes, concentrate on image twenty-two hundred."
Mary closed her eyes for just a moment then they suddenly popped open. "Ohhhhhhhh!" she whispered with a smile.
"Yes darling, that's right," Hugh said smiling. "Put your shoes on."
While Mary finished dressing, Hugh picked up a sheet of paper and began to tear and fold it.
"You playing florist again?" Mary asked.
Hugh smiled. "Yeah, this one is a message for Balaji."
****
Balaji was awakened from a sound sleep by Larry, Dr. Henry Olsen, Mr. Bill Robinson and several other people.
"Yahakyāhai!" he declared in Hindi, then, "I am sorry, I meant to say: What the hell is all this?"
"Balaji," Henry was clearly panicked. "Balaji, Hugh is gone and so is Dr. Eddington. She must have gotten his body out of here somehow!"
Balaji glanced at Larry who was the picture of calm. Larry shot Balaji a wink.
"Have you checked Mary's room?" Balaji asked.
"We're headed there now," Henry said. "I want you with us."
On entering Mary's room, they were stunned to see the place empty and immaculate. Everything was as white as snow as if bleached by a powerful blast of UV light; the walls, ceiling, floor, the table and nightstand, the medical equipment in the room, even the bed, and its linen.
Balaji and Larry entered the room and advanced to the nightstand by the bed. There, on top of the little table lay a white flower unlike any flower ever grown.
Meticulously cut and folded from a single piece of paper was a geometrical shape made up of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles arranged in a flower like pattern. In the pattern was a six-fold hexagonal symmetry.
"What is that?" Larry asked.
Balaji smiled. "It is," he said, "a design known to historians, philosophers, theologians, and artists around the world. It is to be found on every continent, and known to every civilization that has ever existed. In ancient times, it was considered sacred. Larry, my friend, it is said to be a depiction of space and time itself. It is the flower of life."
Silence fell over the room for a moment before Larry whispered to Balaji, "Where do you think they are?"
"They are together."
"What am I going to tell the director?" Henry demanded of Balaji.
"Henry, old boy, you may tell him that Hugh and Mary have gone home. You may also tell him that Balaji Manohar Sharma has also left to be with his wife and children.
"For you see, Henry, life, like this paper flower shows, exists for a short time only—in this particular reality."
About the Author—Michael E. Gonzales
After twenty years’ service in the army and over twenty, now, as a museum curator, I have embarked on yet a third profession — that of writer.
At last, I’ve taken pen in hand—or should I say, I put fingers to keyboard—and given full vent to my unshackled mind and my liberated imagination.
The result has been flights of fantasy and mystery to the Moon, massive battles there between men and robots, and missions beyond the Moon into deepest space and other worlds. I have journeyed from the WWII battlefields of North Africa to the deepest caverns of Avalon, and to the very tomb of Arthur, the once and future king.
I invite you, dear reader, to brace yourself and join me on these adventures.
Look for me here, on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010275572869&fref=ts
Website: http://www.mikegonzalesauthor.com
THE UNBORN GALAXY BOOK 2-THE BATTLE OF BROKEN MOON—MICHAEL E. GONZALES
When a lunar quake sets off partial destruction of the Moon and an international laboratory, all lives on Earth are immediately at stake.
A group of veteran soldiers have volunteered for the Lunar Civil Defense Detachment (LCDD) on the Moon’s Joint International Lunar Laboratory (JILL), but during training, a terrible accident changes all their lives in ways they couldn’t imagine.
Though the call for help has been dispatched and part of JILL secured for the treatment of the injured, a saboteur seizes the moment to try to finish the destruction the quake has caused. Terrorists, a familiar enemy on Earth, have also intercepted the call for help and invade JILL, seeing this as their opportunity to take over both fronts—Earth and the Moon.
With the war in Oceania now contaminating the Moon, will the complete destruction of JILL—and Earth itself—be far behind? How can a handful of soldiers hold off the hostile forces in this unforgiving realm that seek to destroy civilization?
Dark Moon Rising Page 30
