by Bruce Burk
“There is oneness of all things. Everything in nature is connected. Because humans are all connected and equal as human souls, you shall love your fellow human as yourself. Honor your father, mother and the elderly. Everything in nature behaves in a natural a balance and life should be concerned with maintaining that balance. Seek the golden mean in all things. What you reap, you will sow. Thou shall live in harmony amongst nature. Do not rape. Do not kill with malice aforethought. Be slow to anger.”
They observed saw that fifth branch had parts of it missing. “Where is the rest of it,” they asked Clark. “I don’t know, it seems like there was writing on here but it’s been scratched off or something. Suddenly, they heard a man running towards them completely out of breath. John withdrew his matter sword and held it up as the man ran towards him. It was an old scientist dressed in white. He had long white hair, glasses, a mustache and was looking behind him as if something was chasing him. He was carrying several rolled up pieces of paper. The man approached the rebels and fell this knees out of breath. Some of his rolls scattered on the ground as he fell. “You must come with me at once! They will kill you!” The man said as he struggled to breath. John held his matter sword to this head. “Who are you? How did you find us?” John said commandingly. “My name … is Dr. Verne. I am a One State scientist. You must … come with me at once … The OSS will be here any second in large numbers. They are after me!” he said. “How can we trust you?” John asked. “I don’t think you have much of a choice.” Just then, several drones came into vision up ahead of them. The rebels could hear the voices of the dozens of One State officers heading this way. “Hurry, come with me.” The rebels grabbed the scientist and ran south.
“This way,” Dr. Verne said. The blaster fire from the drones followed closely behind them. Finally, they came to a large submersible ship hidden in the waters south of Salisbury. The rebel’s deflected several shots as they came hurling towards them from the OSS behind. “Hurry,” Dr. Verne shouted. “Get in the ship.” They could see a large submarine vessel in front of them that appeared to be at least seventy feet long and was the shape of a whale. The rebels jumped into the hatch of the large vessel. Dr. Verne closed the hatches as the drone fire came near them. The vessel sank into the dark murky water as the drones fired towards them. The Knights, now at the mercy of this strange scientist, descended deep into the shadows of the ocean.
CHAPTER 21 - QUANTUM
John and the others travelled deep into the ocean. The ship was a large deep-sea vessel constructed out of what seemed to be a special grey metal. It was large enough for the Knights to walk around in and seemed to be able to hold a good quantity of people. It was the shape of a blue whale. The smell of the deep ocean tainted its walls. In the background, you could hear the engines turning in the back and if you listened closely, you might be able to hear the faint noise of the sonar. Though it was shaped like a submarine, it still maintained several qualities that made it look like an actual blue whale. It had two fins on the side, a distinct head with two orbs for eyes, a fin in the back and a flexible mechanical structure. John felt the weight of the ocean increase around him. His chest and ears felt like pressure was trying to leave from his body. Dazed, he walked hesitantly through the tight metal doorways of his ocean dwelling. He finally came to the front of the ship where there was a scientific laboratory. There in the lab were hundreds of tiny machines that beeped and looked to be processing information. He saw diagrams of different sets of fish, scientific equations. A small dog jumped and barked at his feet.
“Ah, I see you’ve found Einstein. He’s quite the playful fellow,” he said as he set down several test tubes and picked up his white K9 friend. Dr. Verne was an Englishman and spoke with a pleasant traditional English accent. “The ship … it’s incredible,” John told the doctor. “How far down are we?” “Yes. I call it ‘The Triton.’ We are just about a mile down right now and descending slowly. You’re not feeling sick are you?” Dr. Verne said. “No ... I’m fine,” John said. “Can you just tell me what happened? Why was the OSS chasing you? Why are you helping us?”
“I have been a naval scientific researcher for the One State for several years. Before that I was one of the top researchers at Oxford. Everything was fine and dandy until one day when I was doing some research in Quantum Mechanics and the relationship of atoms to energy when some military men told me to stop what I was doing and throw away all my research. Then they began censoring the research I was allowed to do. Eventually, I learned the government was restricting scientific discovery. I don’t know why. Science has always been a powerful tool for the state,” Dr. Verne said.
“They started dictating what kind of experiments you could do?” John asked. “Yes. I had seen how they restricted access to nature, information in the database, and of course through the media but when they restricted scientific discovery, I realized I was a traitor in my heart. I began doing scientific experiments in secret, concealing my findings from my military supervisors. But sadly, they eventually found out. I saw them censor many scientific formulas and research from the database,” Dr. Verne said. “Why do you think they would do that?” John asked. Dr. Verne leaned in as if he was going to tell a secret. He hadn’t yet adjusted to being unsupervised. “I think there’s something in the scientific process they want to keep from the public. They don’t want them to know what I know,” Dr. Verne explained.
“Did I hear a dog bark in hear?” Sophia said as she entered the room. “Dr. Verne was just telling us about he used to work for the OSS,” John said. “It’s lovely to meet you doctor. I don’t mean to be rude but do we know where we’re going?” Sophia asked. “Right, right.” John opened the Book of Remembering. The pages seem to become violent with pictures of destroyed cities, bloodshed, and ruins. “The sixth branch is hidden in the depths of the Pacific on the continent of Mu,” John read. “Mu!” Dr. Verne exclaimed. “Of course! I knew it existed! I told them! They never gave me the money to do the research. All this time!” “So you’ll help us get there, doctor?” John asked. “We’re already on our way,” Dr. Verne said as the Triton steered toward the lost continent of Mu in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Aiden decapitated several OSS officers in fit of anger in his chambers of the One State Capital. “You have failed once again. You let Dr. Verne escape along with several classified OS secrets,” he screamed. One of the guards begged for his life, “I’m sorry your greatness … there was nothing we could … ” he said as he was decapitated. “Where is he now?” Aiden asked. “Sir, he’s somewhere in the Atlantic and we believe he’s heading West,” an officer said. “Send the submarines and OS Navy at once! Find that ship!” Aiden commanded. “Sir, we think the rebels might be on that ship with him.” Aiden paused; disturbed. He looked back at the OSS officer slowly in anger. “That’s impossible! I shot them all dead only a few days ago. The rebels are all dead!” Aiden said. “Sir, our surveillance picked up strange activity coming from the old Stonehenge monument,” he said. “It escapes me ... why Eidolon wanted that monument left standing.” He said as he looked at electronic map of the Atlantic. “No matter Sheppard. If you’re on that ship, I will find you,” Aiden said as he sent a fleet after the Triton and drones to scan the water for the rebel ship.
Several days passed. John, Clark, and Gavin had finally gotten used to the strange noises the ship would make, the differences in pressure, and the feeling of confined spaces. Dr. Verne prepared a luscious meal for everyone. John sat down and placed a napkin over his lap. Gavin looked uncomfortably at the ocean life he was about to consume. Sophia admired the doctor’s etiquette as he served her first and laid all the silverware out properly. Clark was sitting at the table but he had also just been given access to ship’s computer systems through his tablet. Einstein waited beneath them, looking for any scraps. They feasted on several kinds of cooked fish, squid and drank wine … the first cooked meal they had had in days.
“Thank you so much for your help, doctor
. The food is delicious.” John said. Gavin put the squid’s tentacle in his mouth, chewing slowly and trying not to show disrespect. “Thank you so much for everything.” Sophia said. “Our ship was destroyed and we might not have made it out alive if you hadn’t stumbled into our path. It’s quite the coincidence.” “Coincidence is merely nature’s way of telling us something: of pushing us in a particular direction. The universe is not so sloppy; so unintuitive,” he said. “Are you enjoying the squid Lt. Fresco?” Gavin smiled hesitantly. “Yes … it’s great.” Dr. Verne responded, “I’m actually in need of some more samples for my experiments. Would you boys care to take an ocean walk? It won’t slow us down because we need to stop for some repairs anyway.” “Of course doctor. We’re here to help,” John said. They finished up their meal and put on diving suits. Sophia decided to stay in and write to Elizabeth. “I’ll be back soon,” John told Sophia as he stepped into the diving suit. “Be careful John,” Sophia said as she kissed his lips. The ship had a small hole in the bottom that opened up to the ocean floor. Dr. Verne instructed the rebels, “Ok. I just need a few fish from the reef nearby “You’re up Gavin,” John said. “Call me Captain Nemo,” Gavin said with a smile.
He jumped into the water-filled gateway and sank into the Ocean water. John and Clark followed right behind him. The water was a clear windowpane; a light blue air where the fish flew like birds. Up ahead, they saw a reef where a large school of fish was congregating. They swam towards them. The coral formed a beautiful array of sea sculptures. The fish swam through them, somehow swimming in unison: as one body. They set up the traps that the doctor had given them. But the fish were not as foolish as they thought. “They aren’t going into the traps,” Gavin said. “Wait, let me try something,” John said. He pulled out the fifth branch from his diver’s suit. The ancient writing seemed to glow under the water. Suddenly, the fish began swimming straight towards the branch. They formed various layers of circles around the branch and many of the fish swam right to him as if they were offering themselves to John. “The fish are connected to the branches somehow,” Clark said. The rebels each collected several fish into their baskets and headed back for the Triton.
Inside, they placed two fish into the doctor’s testing equipment. “Thank you gentlemen. Now, let’s take a look.” said Verne. He put the fish to sleep and put it under a very powerful microscope, examining its cellular structure. The doctor showed the fish’s cellular structure on a holo-screen within the ship. As you can see Mr. Shepard, the fish’s cells have formed tiny crystals. They have reacted to something in the water. “I used one of these branches to capture them,” John said, showing it to Dr. Verne. “Marvelous. Where did you get such an intriguing specimen. “It’s kind of hard to explain. Just know that it has a special connection to nature and that the animals seem connected it. “Of course! Perhaps the fish’s very cellular structure has reacted to the presence of the natural law!” Dr. Verne exclaimed. “I’m going to go in further. We’re going to look at the structure of the fish’s DNA of its molecular structure.” The tiny molecules that made up the fish’s DNA had crystallized from the presence of the branch. “What does it all mean?” Sophia asked.
“This proves many of my theories about the universe,” said Dr. Verne. “I have taken samples of fish from all throughout the ocean. Sometimes I take fish that have been close to wars, some near neglected human populations, and some from countries with oppressive governments. As you can see, the fish from those areas react on the molecular level to the state of nature around them. The fish are connected to the rest of the world. What I believe is that we are all connected. When someone is killed far away, your body feels it, even if ever so slightly. It’s not something your mind knows but it’s something you feel at the atomic level. What is more, the genes of some fish seem to have a historical account within their DNA: a sort of code of historical events that they have felt. All life on the planet is breathing as one life. It would seem that duality itself is a pure illusion of the mind,” The doctor said. “This also confirms some of my other theories about Quantum Mechanics …” Suddenly, the ship detected another presence in the water.
“They found me,” the doctor screamed as he ran towards the ships controls. Two One State submarines approached the Triton. They were black and of course marked with the One State symbol. “Clark, get us out of this. Disable those ships!” “I’m already in the database,” Clark said. He began moving around various lines of code as it was projected throughout the room. The doctor headed towards a trench. Several initial blasts began to shake the ship. Gavin struggled to find his footing on his way towards the ship’s controls. The ship entered an underwater cave. The light faded into darkness and they relied heavily on their instruments to see where they were going. One of the OS ships blasted towards them but missed. Large particles of rock fell towards a watery abyss. Clark found the ship’s Code within the Universal Database. The OS submarines followed the rebels further and further into the cave, passing all kinds of strange aquatic life. John lost his balance during the ship’s violent shaking. The ship must had just been hit with several other blasts. “Clark what’s going on? Can you take out that ship?” John asked firmly. Clark had just breached through the military firewall and found the code controlling the submarine’s movement. “I’m almost there,” here said. The Triton swam past dark areas of the cave. However, they were not alone. A large sea creature seemed to be near the rebel ship. “Got it! Good bye ship!” Clark said. He pressed on digital button on his holo-screen and the ship fell into an electrical paralysis, steering itself into a nearby cave wall. The cave around them became very unstable and rocks began to fall onto the top of their ship.
“This place is coming down. We have to get out of here!” Gavin said. However, the second OS ship had other plans. The dark marine who piloted the ship locked a prototype missile onto the rebel ship. Menacing laughs marked the release of the missile heading toward the ship. “They’ve fired on us! There’s a missile coming this way,” Dr. Verne yelled. “Clark! Get rid of it!” John ordered. “It’s already locked. It’s not connected to the database! There’s nothing I can do!” The missile closed in quickly. John saw his life and everything he stood for flash before his eyes. “Brace yourselves!” The doctor yelled. Suddenly, a large mutant octopus swam into view of the OS ship. Just before the missile impacted the Triton, the strange octopus swallowed the missile. The rebels rushed to the back window of the ship and saw into its eyes. “It knows who we are,” Sophia said. The strange aquatic beast seemed to nod at the rebels as if it was sending its assurances; its sign of approval. Then, with no hesitation, it quickly changed course and swam straight into the OS ship. A large explosion ensued. The cave rapidly started to collapse around the ship. “We need to go faster!” Gavin yelled to the doctor. “This is as fast as she goes.” A large rock hit the top of the ship. “It’s … going … to … be … close.” Gavin said. Miraculously, the rebel ship shot out of the underwater cave and away from the watery grave of their pursuers.
CHAPTER 22 - MU
Several more days passed. The Atlantic became the Gulf. The Gulf became the Panama Canal. The Panama became the Pacific. The Triton had been able to scathe through the Canal underneath a large OS trade ship and disappearing before anyone noticed the difference in volume. With such a large empire, finding the cracks was not hard to do. Finally, the Triton could see what looked like a large amount of wreckage in the ocean. “Mu,” John said, reading the Book of Remembering. The sea floor seemed to rise up, outlining an enormous stretch of land. They could see outlines of villages, statutes, what looked to be farms, and the other aspects of society. “What do you think happened to this place?” Sophia asked. John read, “The sixth natural law lies between Fiji and Samoa.” The book then showed pictures of a large battle from what seemed to be a long time ago. “It looks like there was some kind of war during the ancient times,” John said. On the next page he found what looked to be a very old legal document. “The
Order of Shadows hereby condemns Mu to the depths of the ocean for gross crimes against humanity, the natural law, and the planet,” he read.
The ship floated over several under water pyramids and what appeared to be Greek and Roman architecture. “How are we supposed to find a temple that is underwater in this vast array of land when we don’t even know if it’s still there. The Old China submarines could have found this site before and excavated it,” Gavin said. “It doesn’t seem like it,” John said. The book had spoken about a strange black cloud that would have hidden the continent from plain site and radar detection. They had simply passed through it. In reality, no one had lays eyes on the continent of Mu in a long, long time. They looked through the window at the large buildings. “Does anyone see a temple … some kind of religious building?” John asked. Ancient weapons of war and skeletons were scattered all throughout empty plains of a once glorious empire.
