by Bruce Burk
“God is the ever-present consciousness that exists within the waves of all matter and energy. God is within the soul and body of every human being. God is the natural law. God is truth. God is water. God is in the trees. God is in the birds. God is in the fish. God is in the sky. God is space and time. God is the space between spaces. God is the present. God is energy. God is the universe. God is in the Rain.”
John could feel as if his soul was its head in agreement with what he just said. “I feel like I’ve known all this time. It’s just been a fleeting thought of my soul never to really scream loudly at my mind,” he said. “We found the seventh branch!” Gavin said. “What do we do now?” he asked. “You must place the seven branches back into their place in the tree of Iam.” “We need your help. Will you help us?” John asked. “Iam has been helping you since before you were a thought,” said Iam. “It is the Knights of the Living Earth duty to protect the natural law on planet Earth. Iam cannot interfere. We have other galaxies to deal with. Godspeed John Shepard,” Iam said as they began to fade away. “Wait!” John cried out. “Was it you who appeared to me as the burning bush or was that the true God?” he asked. “That question has already been answered,” Iam said. “One more thing. The branches. You have found the seven main branches. However, it is possible there are more.” “Wait! Tell me where they are!” Then, Iam morphed into light and disappeared. John stood unsure of what to say.
“Well what are you waiting for! Put the branches into the tree!” Sophia said. John walked up to the glorious tree of Iam. From his bag he removed the first branch: the Identity of Man. It glowed as it became one with the rest of the tree. “The natural rights,” John said, placing the second branch that became one with the tree. The tree seemed to slightly grow and shine brighter. “The universal moral code,” John said placing the third branch. “Preservation of the Earth. The Oneness of all things. The natural limits of the instructions of man,” John said placing the sixth branch into the tree. And finally, the identity of God,” John said staring at the final branch. He turned around him looking at his trusted friends. “Here we go,” John said as he placed the seventh branch on top of the tree of Iam. Suddenly, the tree became strong. The light from the tree became brighter. The wave in the center began to beat faster. It began to shake. Beams of light started to burst from its very core. Suddenly, John and the rebels were thrown from their feet down the stairs from the center of the temple. The tree shook violently. With all the light and power of the universe, the tree opened at the top. A large green light illuminated from the top. The tree shook even more violently. Some of the temple became unstable and pieces began to fall from the ceiling. Suddenly, the tree exploded with light shooting out the top. The large, bright, green ray of light burst through the top of the temple and shot towards the sky. The green light hit the sky and proceeded to encompass all of the earth.
Citizens of the One State got out from the transports. They left their living squares. They stopped saluting the One State flag. They looked up from their holo-screens. All citizens of earth watched the light in the green sky. The light began to move as if it was writing in the sky. Slowly and beautifully, each of the seven natural laws were written in the sky for all of mankind to see. From every angle, in every country, at every altitude, the citizens of the One State laid their eyes, for the first time in decades, on information that did not come from the Universal Database. And they saw the truth.
PART III
CHAPTER 24 - SHADOWS
After he picked himself off the ground, John scanned the final pages of the Book of Remembering. The last pages contained strict procedures and rules for how the Knights act when gathered as the Order of Shadows. It appeared that the this last section had been added into the book much later. The last section contained the process by which the Knights would adjudicate matters on Earth according to the natural law as well as previous cases that had been decided. John turned to one page involving the black plague. John discussed the portion with Gavin and Clark. The three wondered around Atlantis. It continued many rooms for different uses. Finally, they came to judicial chambers with the seal of the Order of Shadows.
John Shepard knew what he had to do. Through soul speak, he summoned all the carrier pigeons he could find. The letter he wrote was as follows, “Dear Leader of the Old Republic, your presence is requested at Ellis Island in the Old America. Come alone. Carry no electronics. Wait in the closed off nature square until you see the signal. Down with the One State. Sincerely, John Shepard.”
John felt like he was slowly turning into his grandfather as he wrote those words. The pigeons flew across the world, finding leaders in every country that head kept their head low, feigning obedience to Eidolon while waiting for the moment to fight back. The pigeon dropped the notes in Old China, Old Russia, Old Brazil, Old Egypt, Old Australia, Old India, Old Germany and many other countries. Those leaders proceeded to travel to Old America. The pigeon was such a loyal bird to the Knights.
The leaders opened the letter with curiosity and closed it with fear. The mind of the average citizen was in turmoil. Everyone everywhere had seen the natural law. In fact, the words seemed to be still etched into the sky. The holo-screens turned on their homes, “Today, the terrorists have created some sort of propaganda in the sky. Citizens of the One State are not to look at this dangerous propaganda or to enter it into the Universal Database. They are trying to brainwash you into joining their cause. Citizens everywhere who have seen the messages are already saying how nonsensical and anti-One State they are. The OSS is expected to take swift action,” said the anchor of the state run media. The One State media often stated things that it wanted to be true as being true. Self-fulfilling media statements were essential to their control. Bob Loyalist turned off his holo-screen. He got a full glimpse of the natural law as soon as it hit the sky. Some of it he truly didn’t understand, for it was difficult for someone who had received such a bad education and had such skewed access to information.
Aiden stared at the natural law in the sky until Eidolon came on the screen. “What do you make of this my Lord? PRISM and other of our spying programs have indicated that many citizens are analyzing and agreeing with some of this terrorist propaganda my Lord,” Aiden said. “This is the surely work of Iam. No matter. We have created dark clouds that can be suspended in the air indefinitely. See to it that these clouds block out all of the natural law so we can continue our plans for the enslavement of the human race,” Eidolon said. “It shall be done my Lord.” The OSS proceeded to produce massive black clouds all throughout the Earth. Thunderstorms formed in what seemed to be a perpetual darkness. Drones carried the black clouds up into the sky, covering the green writing. The people watched as the black clouds blocked out the sunlight as well. Mothers held their children tight. Even the most brainwashed of the citizens felt a tingling of disapproval in their hearts. The citizens had only able to see the natural law for short while. Some of them did not see them at all. It was unclear whether the green writing had been in the sky long enough for even a small amount of people to see or understand them.
John watched as the dark clouds covered the natural law he had just revealed to the helpless citizens of the One State. He wondered if it had all been in vein; if they had seen it for long enough for it to move them. He wondered if the day that it had been visible, was long enough for it to have spoken to them in some way. Had it been enough for them to question their government?
The Triton found its way through the Atlantic Ocean and into the Upper Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River. It was night. The wind blew against the water. Only a small amount of moonlight made it through the clouds of darkness. In the roped off nature square, bodies hid amongst the trees. There must of have been at least eighty to a hundred of them. “Here I made this for you,” Dr. Verne said, handing a stone tablet to John. John took the tablet and brought it to Sophia. She looked closely at the inscription to see that it was the seven natural laws carved into stone. She hadn�
�t yet seen them all together side by side. The writing had a faint glow about it.
The Triton came to rest in the Upper bay. John found Sophia in the center of the ship. She was wearing a beautiful dress. Clark and Gavin joined them. John, Gavin, and Clark were all wearing their Knight robes. Grey hoods covered their heads and their matter swords were at their sides. “Here take this,” John said, handing Sophia a powerful hand-light. “We’re going into the nature square to make sure all the Old Republic leaders make it onto the ship safely. When the time is right, raise the light into the air.” Sophia smiled and nearly came to a tear. “I will,” she said. Dr. Verne stayed with the ship, ready to speed away into the ocean. The rebels left the ship and swam to the nature square. It was windy that night. Gavin came to a group of leaders from Asia. He also found Middle Eastern Leaders. “Thank you for joining us,” Gavin said. Some of the leaders were very old. John concentrated deeply using soul speak to have Sophia bring the ship closer to the land. “Bring the ship closer,” Sophia said to Dr. Verne. He steered the ship close to the shore. Clark assisted several women leaders from Old South America. John looked through the dark crowd of people. “Hello Soul of Light,” a familiar voice said. John turned around. Fysi waived to him from behind a tree. “Fysi!” John said. He ran up into John’s arms. “I thought I lost you to the sea,” John said. “We thought the same about you. But then we felt your presence,” said Fysi. Aiyana also came out from the trees. “So happy to see you again, John,” she said with a smile.
Sophia opened the latch on the top of the ship and climbed out onto the surface of the Triton. A platform rose from the top of the ship thirty feet into the air. Sophia placed the tablet and her light around her waist and grabbed a hold of the handles. Droplets of rain fell onto her face. Left hand, then right she climbed up into the platform. She could see all of the Upper Bay standing on the platform. The wind blew her long, beautiful dress. She stared up into the sky as the raindrops fell onto her face and her stretched out arms. The raindrops felt different to her: like she could feel the life flowing from them. She felt free for the first time in her life. She felt hope. She smiled, stretching her arms out to catch as many droplets of water on her as she could.
Sophia, the last remaining member of the Red Party, held the tablet of natural law in her left hand close to her chest. She grabbed the light in her right hand. She closed her eyes in a solemn determination. She screamed out with all her might raising the light high into the air, “God is in the Rain!” She held the light high into the air for the entire bay to see. Suddenly, several drones came flying in. “Let’s go!” John said, signaling for the leaders to enter the Triton. Gavin helped the Middle Eastern leaders into Triton, something he never thought he would do. The drones rained blaster fire down onto the rebels as the headed towards the ship. John caught some of the blasts with his matter sword and returned them toward the drones, sending them crashing into the forest floor. One of the drones came flying right behind John, but was quickly blasted by one of the Russians. “Good to see you Comrade,” Kaslov said, heading into the ship. The European leaders made it onto the ship. Clark turned around and took out the rest of the drones with a mighty EMP blast. Sophia came down from her post and jumped back into the ship. The ship began to take off as the OSS came running towards John. He took off running through the forest, taking Fysi on his back. The ship was just about under water when John dove into the open entrance in the back of the ship. “Goodbye!” Dr. Verne said, sending the ship away. Many blasts hit the Triton as it entered the water. The OSS sent their ships after it, but they were no match. The Triton descended into the shadows of the ocean, returning to Atlantis: the new official base of the Rebel Army.
CHAPTER 25 - PROCLAMATION
The rebels, along with their new members, sat side by side in a dark room. John lit some candles in the center of the table where they sat. Everyone sat in silence, waiting for John to speak. John, Gavin, and Clark all wore ceremonial robes of a dark grey color with hoods over their heads that were different from the Knight’s robe. In front of them sat the tablet of the natural law. John had reviewed the last few sections of the Book of Remembering. He was shocked to find there was a procedure he had to follow in regard to removing empires. He had flashbacks of the things his grandfather had said. Sometimes he wished his father could appreciate the things he did. Gavin was less inclined to be so into procedure, and wanted to run and gun the One State down himself, but his respect for the Knights and John outweighed those tendencies.
John smashed a gavel against the table, “The Court of Shadows is in session. You have all been called here for simple purpose. We, as our forefathers, declare universal jurisdiction for the interpretation and execution of the natural law on planet Earth. We are not some rogue vigilantes that peel away empires in the dark of night with no justification or reason. We do not involve ourselves in the spectrum of discretionary political and military decisions of nation-states that do not violate the natural law. We are not here to take sides in the usual warfare and battles that is normal behavior for nation-states. We are not heroes. We are not here to save damsels in distress. We leave the more trivial issues of the execution of justice to the appointed courts of nation-states. We concern ourselves with the larger forms of injustice: large scale abuse of human rights, the manipulation of human knowledge on a global scale, the breaching of the law of power, the protection of the Earth as a whole, the preservation of plants and animals, large scale destruction of nature and the environment, and of course, the creation of a one world government. As Aristotle and our forefathers understood, the nation-states cannot arbitrate the natural law themselves because power always seeks self-preservation above all else. There must be a non-institutional arbiter who does not seek to create an establishment of control to keep the nation-states in check and then disappear to let the people decide their own fate. That is our purpose.”
Sophia watched John with a smile. John felt as if the words were flowing through him; as though he was merely the channel. “Many myths and wives tales have covered our actions to assure that our involvement would concealed. Many of the older world believed that leaders such as Hitler committed suicide. More ink has been spilt about the fall of the Roman Empire and no scholar has found the true cause. We have many people who believe in our cause and who remain loyal to us in dark times. We are your sons and daughters, your teachers, your generals, your soldiers, your priests, your laborers, your artists, your women, your men, your hackers, your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters, your daydreamers, your prisoners, your scientists, governors, your police, and your average citizens. In the normal state of our affairs, we are constantly monitoring and measuring the actions of Earthly governments and intuitions to insure compliance with the self-evident natural law. We are constantly watching from the shadows to make sure that no one crosses over to endanger the natural balance of life on our home planet. We train knights that scatter themselves across the globe to be our eyes and ears in the four corners of the earth. When the instructions of control so blindly and arrogantly disregard the natural law as stated, we employ several ancient and modern tactics to remove them from power. But the case before us now is a perilous one. A grave darkness threatens Earth. We must proceed with extreme care. Eidolon killed off all of our order, leaving only the three of us. We were forced to find the actual pieces of the declared natural law on earth to give humanity a moral baseline in a world where Eidolon has removed all moral systems but for the states. We do not take our actions in a vacuum. Throughout our existence, we have consulted with the people of nation-states who we have determined to be pure of heart. They are the ones that will live in the world we alter and they are the ones who have to carry the burden of forming better institutions,” John said decisively.
“That is why you are here. We have members here from all corners of the world; from the sovereign nation-states destroyed by Eidolon’s rein. We place the burden on you now to bring forth your case for the r
emoval of the One State from power. The Court recognizes Sophia Nomani: the last living member of the Red Party from the Old Republic of the United States,” said John.
Sophia smiled as she came forward, closer into the light. “The Old Republic of the United States, along with our fellow countries have been devastated by the One State. A once free people have been placed into the chains. Eidolon has destroyed our religions, our value systems, and our way of life. On behalf of my country, I submit the following request to the Order for review,” Sophia said.
“Declaration of Independence: When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for all people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the universe, to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold the natural law to be self-evident. In furtherance of the rights of man and to the end of preserving the earth, governments are instituted among men, deriving their power from the consent of the people. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends it is right of the people to abolish it and institute a new government, laying its foundation on the natural law and organizing itself to best serve the people. The citizens of the One State, and representatives of the Old Republics together assembled hereby submit the actions of Eidolon and the One State,” she said as she began to raise her voice.
