by C M SHORT
“The Eye of Ra!” Salik proclaimed.
Full of questions, they waited, for what would surely be an eye-opener.
“We have a legend, that tells of Merlin bringing the Eye of Ra from the land of Sha-ra, when he first came to us. It's been lost for a hundred thousand years, and the legend speaks of it-someday returning. It contains divine powers, that will help us during a time of trouble. The legend also tells of you, Angel, bringing it back!”
“Then it belongs with you!” she offered.
Overwhelmed with gratefulness, Salik quietly held the emerald and could only smile his infinite thanks. As though showing gladness to be home-the Eye of Ra briefly enveloped him with its light-that faded away after a few moments.
“Your connection to it-is obvious!” commented Sky.
“Yes, my lineage has always had possession of the Eye of Ra. It’s been called many things since Merlin first brought it to Atlantia-one million years ago. One of my ancestors-Ra-had it when he was ruler of Egypt, and it’s been called the Eye of Ra ever since. My family line is easy to spot, with hereditary factors that are unique: blonde hair and blue eyes. Jean-Leuc-it’s true-what you are thinking: you’re of my line!”
“I thought so! What an amazing thing to find out! Also, that explains the Egyptian legend of a ruler with blonde hair, and blue eyes! But, how could a place like this-have a time of trouble?”
“Physical disturbances in all the dimensions-are warping into our realm-through malfunctioning black holes; we’ve been able to keep them at bay, so far, but with increasing difficulty! The Eye of Ra-returns at a fortunate time”!
This time, superior knowledge did not join with superior strength, and the abundance of questions-needed answered.
“I’m curious about the varying numbers of eye lines, and rows of spots. Also, am I really seeing a glow around everyone? Under this bright sky-it’s kind of hard to tell.”
“Yes, all Atlantians have a glow about them; we can only see it on others, and only Atlantians, can see the glow. No doubt, you three have seen it around each other.”
Among nodding heads, Vittles mentioned the glowing person he had seen years before, that looked at him-like he was from another world!
“Only the women, have spots. When very young, the spots run down their right arm; between 100 and 1,000 years of age, both arms have spots. After that, rows of spots extend from their eyes, and the others fade away. Each row represents 1,000 years. When the men are 1,000 years old, their eye lines start to form, and are silver; the leader, always has gold lines. Each line represents 1,000 years. Atlantians, live to be about 10,000 years old.
Jean-Leuc, legend tells of you having knowledge beyond years; we think that’s why you have three lines already, and are not even 100 years old! Also foretold, is your superior strength! And, legend tells of you, Rafael, which is a bit more puzzling! It says-you are a new lifeform!”
“I’m a new lifeform? What does that mean”?
“We do not know, but think the answer will be recognized-soon! Chances are, you will never have eye lines-since you are a new lifeform”!
“Here’s a bit more. Atlantian women, mature to a height of six feet; the men, attain seven feet. When 8,000 years is reached, a change begins: evolving within a couple of months-into a lifeform-that is fish from the waist down. This is why Mermaid Lake exists, and why your parents had to fake their deaths, and come back to Atlantia! It’s been hard on them-not being able to tell you the truth, but if you had been told-your life would not have followed the correct path!”
“Can I see them soon”?
“Yes, they’ve been anxiously waiting for you”!
“Were my parents among the people-that were waving from the middle of the lake”?
“They were, and you will be with them again-before this day is out”!
Vittles looked at his friends-happier-than he could express!
“I'm going to see my parents”!
“I'm happy for you, buddy”!
“Same here”!
“On another exciting subject, what can you tell us about Merlin, and the other cat creatures?” Sky questioned.
“I'll be happy to answer that!” Vilas responded.
Her six feet of beauty, included a fully blossomed hour glass figure, and a smile-that was invitingly warm. She looked to be no more than 25, but the five rows of spots by her eyes-showed 5,000-at least.
“I'm what you would call a priestess-to the Merlas. That is what the cat creatures are called, because of the first one-Merlin. We don't know how old any of them are, but we guess-many millions of years! They come from the land of Sha-ra, are very wise, and sometimes relay messages from Sha-ra, when stopping by to say hello-which is often.”
My God! She's so beautiful! Vittles thought. Captivated, he couldn't take his eyes off her, but somehow managed to find his voice.
“That's fascinating! Are the Sphinx of various cultures on Earth-a direct reflection of the Merlas?”
“Yes, and there have been many cat worshipping cultures. In some cases, even the children got involved.”
“Children-I haven’t seen any children!” Spots observed.
“There are seven,” Vilas replied. “We can only have two in our lifetimes, and we view this as a good thing since we are so long lived. This prevents Atlantia from becoming crowded to the point-that people have to live off world.”
Getting to the heart of things, Vittles presented the all-important question.
“Do you know-what's causing the problems on Earth”?
“We do!” informed Mironah, a woman of elegant style that stood apart.
A trident inspired belt of emeralds and pearls hung in a v from her hips, and matching designs on gold upper arm bands, completed the look of distinctiveness. She looked only 30, but with three rows of spots-she was a bit more than that.
“I'm the top scientist on Atlantia, and I can tell you, Earth’s sun is being affected by two supermassive black holes-that are merging-in the center of the Milky Way galaxy! The pull from the black holes, is causing a 75% spike in solar flares, which is causing a drastic increase in the gravity pull on the earth! This pull, is resulting in a global crust shift-which explains the dramatic surge of earthquakes, and other disasters! Also, Earth's magnetic poles are in the process of flipping, due to being short-circuited by the sun”!
Knowing it may be difficult to hear the answer, the emerald question was posed, while a stomach knot grew very big.
“What do you mean-by-short circuit”?
“Think of a magnet. When lightning strikes a magnet, the magnetic poles reverse; Earth is like a giant magnet, with north, and south poles. The huge increase in solar flares-has made the poles begin to flip! The sun is about to have a magnetic field reversal more turbulent than any it’s ever had, and when it does, it will hit the earth with a flare strong enough-to cause the poles to immediately reverse! Just as when an electric motor turns the other way, when its poles are changed, Earth’s iron core will turn the other way-which will make the whole planet spin the opposite way!
Earth's ancient civilizations, knew about future disasters! The Mayans, Aztecs, and Egyptians, were actually highly advanced and able to precisely calculate polar reversals, based on the sunspot cycle theory, and the magnetic field theory. All of those civilizations, had early Earth documents-telling of previous and future polar shifts, and planet rotation reversals. Both the Mayan and the Aztec calendars ended in the year 2012, because those civilizations predicted a major event would happen-that would be the beginning of the end for Earth! Extending their calendars further-seemed pointless!”
“But nothing major happened in 2012, and it’s 2020 now! The Mayans and Aztecs-were mistaken!” she replied.
“Actually, something major DID happen! The universe that the Milky Way galaxy is in-has always had an invisible force keeping its galaxies stable. On December 21st of 2012, that force vanished, when a space time rift formed near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This s
et in motion-a cosmic countdown-to a collision with deadly forces!”
Not sure he wanted to know the answers, Rafael asked anyway.
“A second black hole? When did that arrive, and where did it come from”?
“The second black hole appeared, just after you arrived on Atlantia. My science team, has been keeping me informed by way of this device on my wrist. The space time rift that formed on December 21st of 2012-never sealed back up-and major disturbances in a neighboring reality caused the displacement of the black hole: sending it through the rift. Unfortunately, it was not the only thing to come through: a gravity filament, came with it. A gravity filament looks like an enormous ribbon of gold energy, and is attracted to objects of immense gravity, such as black holes, and suns-somehow, being able to withstand getting pulled in. This filament has positioned itself between the merging black holes, and Earth’s sun-becoming a conduit-for the pull of the black holes!”
With shocked eyes staring at her, Mironah continued to explain.
“Normally, Earth and its sun are a safe distance from the center of their galaxy, but every 25,800 years-they enter the cosmic dust cloud-getting close enough to the galaxy’s center, for the black hole effect to cause a polar shift, and rotation reversal. When this happens, it’s almost immediate-that walls of water are miles high-poised to wipe out most of humanity! This is because, all the bodies of water on the earth will continue to travel in the same direction for a short time! This reversal, however, will be much worse!”
Somebody had to ask, and Jean-Leuc was the one-who braved the question.
“How, can it be worse”?
Sanity challenged ears, listened through a torrent of emotions and hung on her every word and voice inflection-knowing-that devastating knowledge was still to come!
With a deep sigh, Mironah answered.
“For those who survive the waves, life will be a struggle with unimaginable horrors! Extreme solar flares will cause a rapid increase in Cancer, and other diseases! Super volcanoes, like Yellowstone-will erupt-adversely affecting the whole planet, making it hard to grow food, and people will go hungry! The clouds from the super volcanoes will cover the earth, and block out the light of the sun, moon, and stars, for a third of each day-and-it will be extremely cold”!
“Somehow, this sounds familiar,” Angel pointed out.
As Mironah continued, great fear surfaced: of what she was going to say next!
“Earth has seen, a number of unusual events in recent years. In 2010, there was the Annular eclipse of the sun on January 15th, which happened to be about four minutes longer than any had been in a thousand years! Also that year, a planetary alignment happened on June 13th, in which all of the planets in Earth's solar system-were lined up in such a way-as to form a cross! On July 11th of the same year-for the first time in 1400 years-Easter Island saw a total eclipse of the sun!
In 2012, Earth saw the Venus transit on June 5th and 6th, when Venus traveled across the face of the sun; this happens only once-every 12,500 years! Also in 2012, the constellation that's visible during the spring equinox-changed from Pisces to Aquarius. On December 21st of that year, besides the space time rift-a rare event took place: Earth lined up perfectly with its sun, and the center of the Milky Way Galaxy! This lining up, only happens once every 25,800 years, after entering the cosmic dust cloud, and moving a lot closer to the center of the galaxy!
Beginning with 2015, Earth’s sun has been having extremely large flares, and sun spots; in 2015, a sunspot covered one sixth of the sun on January first, and since then, the sunspots have been gradually increasing in size. Just last year, temperatures plunged in many parts of the earth, when a giant sunspot cooled half the sun! What a heavenly show-like signs-that things were about to change!”
“SIGNS! THAT’S IT! Now I remember-why it all sounds so familiar! I've been to church a couple of times, and heard a pastor talk about how there will be signs in the heavens-just before God's son-comes back for his people! When he does, millions of people will suddenly vanish! Do you have such a belief-here?”
“We do! Many of our people-believe this also,” Mironah answered.
That bit of information was a nice break from the bad news-which wasn’t over yet!
“Another thing that Earth is dealing with, is pockets of time displacement. Time and space are fluctuating, causing the past and future to merge with the present!”
“We experienced that several times! Do you know what's causing it?” Jean-Leuc asked.
“In some places of the earth, the magnetic field is unusually weak. When the vastly increased gravity pull from the sun, hits those areas, there is a temporary folding of space and time, which allows the past and future to join with the present. This effect, usually lasts between a few seconds, and a few minutes.”
“We went through many terrifying situations-in getting here-that almost scared my spots right off of me! You are advanced, and have been watching us, so why didn't you help us?”
“Because, you wanted an adventure!” answered Koras-a muscular man sporting two rows of silver lines, and, a mischievous grin.
His comment was met by silence, which gave way to acknowledgement.
“Well, you did, Emerald Eyes”!
“Yes, I know”!
“Emerald Eyes?” Salik quizzed.
“It's a nickname he has for me.”
“I like it! I think we should do nicknames here!” suggested Vilas.
Looking at Rafael, she gave a slow wink and heart-warming smile, as their eyes connected for a stirring pause in time-a pause over much too soon-when Koras again spoke.
“I'm in charge of what you'd call entertainment, so I made sure you had plenty”!
“Uh, thanks!” she replied.
“That-we did!” Jean-Leuc agreed.
“We were never bored!” added Rafael.
Sadness, and alarm, were highly evident when Mironah spoke again.
“What you experienced, was nothing, compared to what will soon happen to the earth”!
Salik’s next words-underscored the gravity of the situation.
“May Sha-ra protect the people of Earth”!
Curiosity was strong, and the time had arrived: for her to ask.
“You’ve spoke of Sha-ra, often. He is your main leader?”
“Yes. I speak for him, on this planet.”
“He's in charge of other planets, too?” she responded.
“He is! All of them! All universes and dimensions”!
“That's a pretty big territory!” Jean-Leuc marveled.
“Can we meet him?” Rafael asked.
“He’s in that place-where we hope to go after dying”!
Now it all made sense, and the understanding swept over the emerald mind, like a refreshing breeze!
“Heaven! Have you been talking about God?”
“Oh, I'm sorry! I should've remembered that those on Earth, don't know him by Sha-ra! We’ve been calling him that, for untold thousands of years! Atlantians hope to one day-go back-to the land of Sha-ra”!
“Go back?” she questioned.
“We believe-that prior to birth-we exist in the land of Sha-ra. Another belief, is that this life-is to help us prepare for the eternal one.”
“It’s time!” Mironah informed Salik.
“We wish all of you could stay, but you can't: Angel and Jean-Leuc, you need to go back! Rafael, you're not needed on Earth at this time, and we'd like to invite you to stay”!
“Hey! You bet”!
“But what about your payment, my friend”?
“Payment? What kind of payment can compare with all this”?
“Good point, buddy”!
A tone of urgency overcame Salik’s voice, filling them with a premonition of-bad news!
“Earth is running out of time! Observe”!
Salik activated two crystals on the table, creating a view screen, and apocalyptic scenes played out in front of horrified eyes!
“How can this be?” Raf
ael wondered. “Things were nowhere near this bad-when we left! Are you sure-you dialed the right planet?”
“We are, unfortunately, looking at Earth! You’ve been gone longer than you think: an hour here, is a month on Earth, and you've already been here four hours”!
Within the quiet of astonishment, Mironah reluctantly added more.
“In the past, after Earth entered the cosmic dust cloud and lined up with the Milky Way center, it would always take about 10 years for the poles to flip. This gravity filament, has advanced that speed from years-to weeks! Earth is being devastated by earthquakes, volcanoes, and every kind of storm; no super volcanoes have erupted yet, but all of them-are rumbling! Heat from the sun is getting unbearably hot, and all of the green grass has died! The earth's crust is moving in many places-and soon-the whole surface of the planet will move! Also, the magnetic poles are within days of flipping!”
“What can be done?” Jean-Leuc boldly asked-sensing a plan was already devised.
“Earth’s sun is dying, and there is only one thing that can be done! We have two reality crystals for you to borrow, and take back to Earth; activating them-will twist time and space-like a rope-taking the planet into another dimension! A sign of protection will be seen in the cloud high rings of scarlet, and gold-latticing the skies. Time and space will gradually untwist over the span of a year, during which time, the rings will fade. At years’ end, Earth will return to normal space and time; by then, its sun will no longer exist, and the return-will mean exposure to the deadly cold of space!”
Mironah’s words caused a massive jolt to their senses, and a struggle, with the finalizing reality they were being forced to absorb. Understandably, Angel was a bit jumpy-when something cold and wet touched her arm.
“Jabarrah! My backpack! I thought it was lost for good”!
“The Vori, retrieved it for us,” Salik explained.
“We've cleaned and sanitized everything, but none of the food could be saved.”
“That's ok! Thank you”!
“You’re welcome”!
After a few moments of sharing affection with Jabarrah, she gratefully accepted his gift.
“We’ve got to get you back to Earth! Please, follow me!” Salik said, as he stood up.
