by Ezra E Manes
Carlos could sense the discussion would be much as Ceripe had indicated, so he decided to cut through the positioning and exercise a little tactful diplomacy of his own.
“I can appreciate the impact such an event would have on the people of any society,” he said respectfully. “The thought that I am viewed as a prophet is very humbling. Nothing I have done is worthy of such high distinction. I do appreciate that our arrival has precipitated significant changes in the way your people view the world and universe around them.”
“Prophet Sepeda, if you will be tolerant of me calling you that,” High Priest Zanchef said, “in all our history, our prophets have each indicated that their personal contributions were minimal, or none at all, in causing monumental events to occur. And you join the ranks of your predecessors in doing so. Through your actions, you have removed any vestige of doubt about your being a prophet, a messenger of Zil. It would greatly please us if you would permit our addressing you as the prophet you are.”
It appeared hopeless to say otherwise, and Carlos simply nodded. “It would please me to observe some of your religious ceremonies to better understand your doctrine and how you practice it. Perhaps through this process I can better deal with the questions welling up inside me about what has happened and what is to happen in the future.”
This statement pleased the two Zilans beyond description. There was little more to discuss with respect to religious matters, and High Priest Zanchef excused himself, indicating he would invite Prophet Sepeda to attend select religious ceremonies soon.
Carlos and Pteleg talked a short while longer regarding how things were going in integrating the two teams. Ceripe had briefed the leader, and he was in full agreement with the approach they were taking. The meeting ended with the leader expressing his strong appreciation for everything the team was doing in working with his people.
The first invitation to attend a religious ceremony came by the end of the week. Ceripe escorted a council priest to meet with Carlos at the embassy compound to personally convey the invitation. She was carrying a small package wrapped in blue cloth.
“Prophet Sepeda, it is with great pleasure that I finally meet you,” High Priest Pilone Kilerah said. “It is because you came to our world that I am standing here today. I owe you my life, which was extended by the excellent medical attention your doctors provided to me at the University of Zilerip Medical Center.”
Carlos remembered the tough decision about treating a seriously ill priest shortly after Alex and Laura began working with the medical center staff. So this was the man. “You do not owe me for this, High Priest Kilerah. It was the efforts of our two doctors and your strong constitution that pulled you through the rough time. I will gladly convey your personal thanks to them.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your humbleness. However, I doubt I would be here today without your intervention.
“Now for the other reason I am here. We are inducting a new member into our Council of Priests and would be deeply honored if you would join us in celebrating this event during the second Fifth Day from now, at sunset.”
Priest Kilerah indicated that there were normally fifteen members in the council, the High Priest of Zilerip and fourteen others. A position had recently come open with the death of an elder priest who had served in exemplary fashion on the council.
“I would be honored to attend,” Carlos said. The high priest then went over the ceremony arrangements but did not ask Carlos to play an active role, much to his relief.
Then Ceripe handed the package to the priest, who in turn presented it to Carlos.
“Prophet Sepeda, this is the robe of a High Priest of the Church of Zil,” Priest Kilerah stated formally. “It is identical to that worn by all members of the Council of Priests. It would honor us if you wore this during the coming ceremony, and thereafter whenever you feel it is appropriate in public or private ceremonies. By your deeds, you are a special member of the Council of Priests, and you may interact with the council in any manner you desire in the future. Any interaction must be at your discretion and expressly of your free will.”
Carlos opened the package. The material he’d thought was a wrapper was actually a dark-blue cape trimmed in gold. Inside were a tunic and matching trousers of the same blue color and gold trim, and a pair of dark-blue slippers containing blue socks tucked neatly inside. High Priest Kilerah was wearing an identical outfit, and it looked somewhat regal but not overly so.
“Thank you for the outfit, High Priest Kilerah. I will wear it with pride during appropriate ceremonies.” Carlos was careful to not indicate that he would wear the clothing at other times.
Ceripe lingered after the priest departed. “Prophet Sepeda, is it all right if I address you more informally in private and while we are with our team, as we have come to do since your arrival?”
He could swear there was a mischievous look in her eyes as she posed the question. “I certainly hope you will, Counselor Largena,” he replied, and they both laughed.
Before leaving, Ceripe told him he could bring the outfit to the temple and change there in one of the small private side rooms. He was most appreciative, for he didn’t feel like parading in public in the outfit, considering how the Zilans were already treating him.
The induction ceremony took place in the council chamber of the High Temple of Zilerip, the top level of the ziggurat structure reserved for the most holy events. Each priest greeted Carlos with a respectful embrace as he entered the chamber. He was surprised to find the domed room devoid of furnishings except for a small altar along the south wall and heavy, dark-blue and gold drapes hanging down the north wall. The altar was a small replica of the one in the large main chamber of the temple.
Soon thereafter, the inductee entered the chamber, and the ceremony began. It was a solemn, formal service conducted by High Priest Zanchef. He asked Carlos to stand to the right, alongside and slightly behind him, with their backs to the altar, facing the inductee and the other priests. Everyone stood respectfully throughout the induction ceremony.
Upon completion of the ceremony, High Priest Zanchef grasped the new member by both arms and briefly embraced him. Carlos was surprised when the newly inducted priest then came directly over to stand immediately in front of him with head bowed. Not knowing what else to do, Carlos stepped forward and gripped the priest’s arms lightly, gave him a short embrace, then stepped back. The priest’s eyes literally glowed as he looked up, then bowed his head and stepped back to join the others, who also greeted him with embraces.
Carlos felt good as he traveled back to the embassy compound, but he was very tired after standing for the entire ceremony. He had to acknowledge again that he and the others were still recovering after their seriously illness. He hoped no relapse occurred, and probably the best thing to prevent that was plenty of rest. It was late, and the others had retired to their private quarters by the time he arrived back at the compound. He went immediately to join Gloria to get some much needed sleep.
TWENTY-NINE
SECOND VISION
Carlos tossed and turned in his sleep, waking Gloria in the late hours of night right before dawn. She shook him to wake him from what appeared to be a nightmare. He did not respond, and his skin felt cold to her touch. His nightclothes were drenched in sweat.
Alarmed, she immediately called Laura and Alex to come examine him. The thought that they would once again suffer the debilitating effects of some dreadful illness caused her to shudder. Then her concern shifted quickly back to Carlos, who appeared to be in considerable distress.
Alex and Laura could not find anything physically wrong with Carlos. Vital signs and functions were normal, except his pulse rate periodically spiked high, and he was very agitated.
“He’s in some kind of trance,” Laura said. “He doesn’t appear to be hurting physically, but his mind must be racing at full speed. All we can do is keep him comfortable and hope he comes out of this soon. If not, then we’ll have to consider some al
ternative action to wake him.”
They removed his wet nightshirt and gave him a sponge bath, then moved him to the dry side of the bed. At first light of dawn, Carlos quieted and appeared to be sleeping normally. Still concerned, they continued a bedside vigil as he slept. It was midmorning when he began to stir.
Carlos opened his eyes to see the two women he cared the most about sitting close by his bed. Why were they here and looking so concerned?
“What’s going on?” he said huskily and pulled the covers up over his bare chest. Where had his nightshirt gone? He had no clothes on at all! Then he noticed Laura hovering behind Gloria and Ceripe.
“We had a scare from you last night,” replied Gloria, who was holding his hand and stroking his forearm. “You went into a trance, or some dream state, and were flailing around in bed and talking. You were not making any sense and I could not wake you, so I called Laura and Alex. I called Ceripe because I knew she would be just as concerned about you as we are.”
He looked at the ceiling and tried to focus on what had happened during the night. The vision suddenly returned in full force. He could not say a word as he tensed up and closed his eyes, but he did not relapse into a deep trance as the vision ran through his conscious mind.
Those around him reacted with concern, but he didn’t notice. Gloria and Ceripe grasped his hands tightly to keep them from flailing around. Laura applied a cool compress to his forehead and called for Alex to come and help.
The vision quickly ran its course. But its vivid recollection persisted, as did the much longer experience of the vision the night before. It was as if he had been stimulated to recall the vision in its entirety.
Carlos relaxed slowly and opened his eyes to view the concerned faces hovering nearby.
“I have experienced another vision,” he said in wonder. “It is magnificent. I must tell everyone.”
“No!” injected Ceripe so sharply it startled everyone, including herself. She looked at the puzzled faces and blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, but let me explain. I believe you should wait until we determine a more appropriate forum in which you should convey the vision.”
Carlos looked at her incredulously. He was not about to delay telling about the vision.
“The next Primary Two-Moon Phase occurs in five lunar cycles,” Ceripe said. “I know that is a long time, but can this vision wait until then to be presented?”
“No, it cannot,” replied Carlos firmly, and she did not question him as to why.
“Then please let me consult our religious leaders for guidance before you share the vision,” Ceripe pleaded. “It could carry more significance if presented the first time in another forum, perhaps in one of our sacred places.”
“Perhaps it would,” Carlos mused. “It does address events that will happen during the next Primary Two-Moon Phase. But I should not wait another day to convey the message, so you need to consult the leaders quickly.”
Ceripe departed immediately to converse with Pteleg Bnethem, who would confer with the High Priest of Zilerip. Laura patted Carlos on the shoulder in a motherly fashion, and she and Alex departed as well.
Carlos looked up at Gloria’s concerned face. “Don’t worry, my dear; everything is going to be wonderful for us and the rest of the team, as well as for the Zilans.”
He could still see concern in her face, so he pulled her close in a hug. He whispered in her ear, “Gloria Ceyam, will you marry me?”
She squeezed him until his ribs hurt. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Carlos was the last one to enter the Council of Priests chamber at the top of the Temple of Zilerip. The other fifteen members were kneeling in a semicircle facing the small altar. As before, there were no chairs or benches in the room. Maybe their beliefs made them always stand before Zil, or kneel in prayer when in this holy chamber.
“Welcome, Prophet Sepeda,” greeted High Priest Zanchef. He rose and embraced Carlos. “We are looking forward with great expectation to your revelations.”
The other fourteen priests approached one by one and greeted Carlos in the same manner. He stood with his back to the altar to present his vision to the priests, who sat again in a semicircle in front of the altar. High Priest Zanchef asked to record the session, and Carlos agreed.
He looked around at the expectant faces of this august group. Where should he start, and how should he present the vision? You start at the beginning, of course. He concentrated on a spot above their heads and began reciting his experience.
“I was in a dreamlike state at first, in a transparent compartment floating in space, with countless stars shining brightly from all directions. Then the compartment changed into a large room similar to the main chamber of the Temple of Zilerip, with a regal altar at the front. I felt I had seen this replica before. Then a voice in my mind said, ‘You have indeed been here, and we talked about the sickness of your people and what must be done to save them.’
“Then a bright sphere of light appeared over the altar and began growing in size and intensity. A voice spoke from the light. ‘You and the people of your team will undergo a remarkable transformation upon the advent of the next Primary Two-Moon Phase on Zilia. The sterilization you each underwent before beginning your long journey here will be nullified, and you will be fertile once again, as you all wish.’
“I felt great joy at this prospect. It sounded too good to be possible, but I knew deep inside that what I was hearing was true, and it was what I wanted with all my being.
“The revelations continued. ‘Your female counterparts will all come with child during the next Primary Two-Moon Phase and will all give birth to healthy male babies who will grow up as children of Zilia.’ I was astounded and greatly pleased.
“I felt it was appropriate to address the entity and asked what we could expect in our search for resolution of the male infertility problem, and heard in reply, ‘The combined efforts of those now on Zilia are capable of solving the problems impeding propagation and evolution of civilization there. You have already discovered the key to solving the problem—your people and the Zilan people are of the same species. There are only Zilans on Zilia. The natural process of correcting the imbalance of females to males will soon begin, a process that will not be completed in your generation or the next, but will be in the future.’
“I feel I spent significantly more time with the entity in the vision between this interaction and the time I departed, but I cannot recall much from this period. Perhaps the interaction during that period was for me alone, for I feel ideas and questions pressing in that I did not have before.
“But I do recall the last interchange with the voice from the light, with it telling me to accept my destiny on Zilia. The light then brightened, which was alarming because it already shined with such intensity that it was hard to face. The light shined through me, burning my eyes, but not; searing my skin, but not; pulling me into it. And then I found myself back on Zilia.”
Carlos heard absolute silence as he stopped talking. He had not realized he’d continued looking at a point above the High Priest as he talked, with arms outstretched and hands clenched. Or that he had talked ever louder as the vision was revealed through his words. He felt drained of energy and was drenched with sweat and shaking from being cold and weak.
He fell involuntarily to his knees and had to place both hands on the floor to keep from falling forward. He gasped for air and for a moment felt as if he were in the vacuum of space. Then he began recovering and rocked back on his knees to look up at the priests, who still maintained a respectful semicircle around him.
He would never forget the looks on their faces. They were spellbound, almost in rapture. He attempted to rise from his kneeling position, and could not. Surely the short presentation of the vision had not strained him that much.
His attempt to rise broke the spell, and the priests gathered around and helped him stand. He steadily gained strength as two of the priests supported him and then helped him sit on the altar bench. E
ach priest then came forward and touched him on the arm, then retreated to sit in a semicircle, with High Priest Zanchef in the center.
“Prophet Sepeda, the vision you have shared is remarkable beyond words,” the high priest said. “You have our greatest respect and appreciation for going through it with us in detail.”
What did he mean, “in detail”? Carlos looked down at his Zilan timepiece. He couldn’t have talked more than a quarter of an hour, but the timepiece indicated otherwise. He had been in the council chamber for over an hour!
“I feel I have been here only a short time and that I provided you only a summary of the vision,” he said in confusion.
The high priest smiled. “Believe me, you have been here quite some time, and we captured your presentation on video media. We will provide a copy for you and your people, if you wish. And with your permission, we will show your presentation to our people during worship services. We will not broadcast it over any media that could be detected off-world.”
“I would appreciate a copy. I understand the importance of the vision to your people, so please show the recording when you consider it appropriate.”
“To our people, Carlos,” Priest Pilone Kilerah said, speaking for the first time. “What do you make of the statement that there are only Zilans on Zilia?”
It was Carlos’s turn to smile, for there was an easy answer. “We are essentially citizens of Zilia, which will be formalized upon your approval. Our children will be born citizens of Zilia.”
“What of the statement that your people and ours are of the same species?” the newly inducted priest asked.
“It is as our medical team determined: the genetic structure of Zilans and the people of Earth origin is basically the same. On Earth, there are several different races, or ethnically different peoples, that evolved within different established geographic boundaries. Surprisingly, there is no more difference between Zilan people and the people in our team, than there is between the various ethnic races on Earth.”
