H.E.A.R.T. Saga: The Children

by Linna Drehmel

  Symon looked down at DraDonna and DraDevon with guilt and shame still burning in his eyes and then looked up at Jude.

  “Do it,” she urged him. “For us!”

  Symon closed his eyes and placed a hand on each of their heads and began to channel only the negative side of the HEART’s energy, gently at first but slowly increasing the power.

  The doomed couple began to make a futile attempt to struggle under the strong grasp of their captors. As DraDonna felt the first tendrils of the painful negative energy lace through her body, she tried not to panic; she needed to think of something, anything to stop this.

  DraDonna knew she had seen guilt and shame in Ambassador Symon’s eyes. Perhaps he knew this was wrong and didn’t really want to do it. With teeth clinched against the pain, she looked up at him and said, “I know you never liked me Symon, but that doesn’t matter now. What matters is I know the truth about our world, and I don’t want to harm the HEART.”

  His eyes flew open at the sound of her pain-filled voice.

  “So if you’re going to do this,” she continued, “you need to do it for the right reasons: because it’s what’s best for the people, not because you’re doing it for Jude.”

  A look of extreme anguish crossed Symon’s handsome features. All he had ever wanted to do was to be a good servant of the HEART. Not just because he was told that was what he should be, but because he truly found joy in serving others. But oh! He loved Jude with all his soul. It was as if they were a part of each other, like they were one being. Symon felt his soul being ripped in two. He squeezed his eyes shut against the tortured pain within him and whispered, “Please forgive me.”

  Still channeling the painful negative energy, Symon quickly lifted his hands off their heads, halting their pain.

  The anguish in his soul had caused him to channel an uncontrollable and deadly burst of the negative energy into his hands, and he quickly grabbed Jude’s head.

  She screamed from shock and pain, then fell lifeless at Symon’s feet.

  Symon

  25

  Chaos erupted all around them when the crowd of people realized that they were not going to get their special jolt of energy. The people worked themselves into a frenzy of confusion when they saw that DraDonna and DraDevon were not mind wiped. The people went crazy with outrage when they saw it was Jude lying on the ground instead.

  The condemned couple was unsure of what had happened, only that the pain had stopped. DraDevon struggled to get to his feet first and then, with hands still bound, he helped his confused wife to her feet. They looked around and saw a clearly upset Second Councilor Fredrik doing his best to try to calm the disorderly people.

  They then looked on the ground next to their feet to find Symon kneeling next to Jude’s seemingly lifeless body with his head on her chest, and his shoulders heaving as he sobbed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I do love you. I just had to do what was right.” Symon then reluctantly lifted his head from her chest, wiped the tears from his eyes and tenderly kissed her forehead. He then whispered one more time, “I love you Jude! I am so sorry.”

  Quickly getting to his feet, he turned to the confused couple and said, “Come with me! There isn’t much time. These people are going mad, and only I can calm them, but I need to show you something first.”

  “Show us what?” DraDevon asked.

  “The fullness of the truth,” Symon answered and began to lead them away from the courtyard toward the temple.

  “Symon!” called Second Councilor Fredrik. “What is going on? Why did you do that to Jude?”

  Symon looked at his friend with a pleading look in his eyes. “Take care of Jude for me. Don’t let the crowd crush her. I will be back to help clean up this mess, but first there is something that I have to show DraDonna and DraDevon.”

  “But what…” Fredrik asked in confusion.

  “Just do it!” Symon said with urgency in his voice. “I will explain later, please.”

  Fredrik could only stare in confusion as they left the courtyard.

  Symon hurried them along the path to the temple without a word. DraDonna was feeling dazed from all she had seen and also from the jolt of the negative energy that she and DraDevon had received.

  When they made it to the temple door, Symon gently untied their hands and channeled a little bit of the positive energy to his hand so he could soothe the raw skin on their wrists and ease their physical pain.

  Still having said nothing yet, Symon walked a few paces away from the temple door to one of the trees with thin branches that hung down and quickly plucked a large handful of the Traveler’s Joy vines. Symon walked with a swift stride back to the temple door.

  “Here, eat this,” he told them, finally breaking the silence and handing them all but one of the flowery vines. “This should help with the fuzzy feeling in your head.”

  Eating one of the vines himself, Symon told them, “It’s called Traveler’s Joy; in the early days Councilors and Ambassadors would eat it when they traveled to keep them from feeling like you do now.”

  After swallowing his mouthful of the sharply sweet plant DraDevon confessed, “We already know all about Traveler’s Joy. We’ve been eating it for a few days now. Jude also told us a little bit about it.” “Symon,” DraDonna inquired. “Why did you just kill the love of your life?”

  “How do you know Jude was the love of my life? Ambassadors and Councilors don’t love like that,” he said softly, trying to hide the ache in his voice.

  “But Symon, we saw you weeping over her dead body,” DraDonna said with as much compassion as she could muster for the woman who had betrayed them.

  “Jude isn’t dead,” he said with pain in his voice. “If she survives, she’ll only be mind wiped. I gave her…” he stopped for a moment, unable to speak. “I was just in so much pain when I took my hands off your heads that I had an uncontrollable surge of the negative energy. Normally a mind wipe starts off slow and gentle, but I hit her with a big jolt. If I had hit her in the chest with the negative energy, it would have stopped her blood muscle and she would have died for sure.”

  “What………we don’t understand is why you did it, Symon,” DraDevon told him, hoping he would explain all this madness to them. “Jude confessed to us just before she brought us out that you two have always loved each other.”

  “It’s true,” he shamefully admitted. “We’ve always loved each other. I think it was the day of your wedding that we truly knew we were in love. But I am a servant of the HEART and no matter what, I have to put my duty to the HEART before my own wants and needs. For some reason Jude couldn’t do that… I know she loved me and her plan to bring us together was just a nice dream at first but I realized that it was wrong and it would have eventually become a nightmare.

  “I know her better than anyone and she wasn’t acting like herself. I think she’s gone energy mad, and if I had simply stopped the mind wipe, there is no telling what she would have done. Other people may have gotten hurt. I had to stop her. I’m ashamed of myself for thinking even for a moment that what Jude wanted for us was something possible.”

  “Symon,” DraDevon started, “JorRobert almost killed me tonight. There were also a few times he said he was going to kill DraDonna. I was terrified that something was going to happen to her; so on some level, I think I can understand how you feel.”

  “But can the two of you ever forgive me for what I almost allowed to happen because of my own selfish desires?”

  DraDonna, touched by his humble confession, stepped forward and put her arms around this man she once thought hated her. “Of course we can. You did the right thing and you saved our lives. Symon, you are a true servant of the HEART’s children.”

  “Thank you,” Symon said, feeling the burden of guilt he had carried for so long lift a little. “There’s more you need to know,” he began. “I know about Ambassador Tatiana.”

  “What do you mean?” DraDonna asked, a little taken aback by this con
fession.

  “I know Tatiana has been visiting you in your dreams. She has come to me too; only I don’t have to be asleep to see her.”

  “But how is that possible?” DraDonna asked him in wonder.

  “Tatiana and I are both Ambassadors to the HEART; we share the same oath. But she and I also share a great bond that links the current Ambassador to the predecessor.” he said, reaching up to cover the back of his head almost as if it pained him.

  “You see I carry a good sized chip of the HEART stone in my head. It links me directly to the HEART and her energy. This is why I don’t need to use a travel stone or place my hand on a HEART stone altar to channel the HEART’s energy.”

  Seeing the look on their stunned and silent faces, he went on with his explanation. “It is because of the chip of the HEART stone that I have in my head that I can see and hear her from time to time. When an old Ambassador dies, the chip of HEART stone is taken out of the one that died and implanted into the head of the new Ambassador. This creates a bond between generations and the older one helps to guide the new one. I only wish I had listened to her more,” he admitted sadly.

  “Do Councilors have the chip, too?” DraDevon asked, intrigued by Symon’s story.

  “No, but as I am sure you both know, Councilors do have an extra grain implanted in their left wrist to help with channeling at gatherings,” he continued. “Tatiana kept coming to me telling me that you and DraDonna have a special destiny, different from that of a fine carpenter and a detail welder.”

  He stopped again, finding his next confession a little hard. “I could see how much the two of you were in love when I married you. I was jealous that you could have what I could not. This is why I have acted the way I have.”

  Looking down at his hands for a moment he said, “Once more I need to say I’m sorry to you. This is why I have been so mean to you; it is wrong and I am sorry.”

  “Symon it’s okay, I…” DraDonna started to say, but Symon looked up and stopped her. “There is more I must tell you. As a servant of the HEART, I do love you DraDonna, and I think that you should know I believe your hair is a mark of the HEART’s blessing, not a curse.” Looking between the two people he hoped would be his friends he continued, “I also know about the trapped souls. This is one of the things Tatiana has told me. Because they are trapped, they are blocking the new souls of babies. You have to talk to the HEART and get her to do what has to be done to set all the souls free.” His voice sounded urgent.

  “I don’t know if I fully understand,” DraDonna said. “I know the world isn’t real, but why can’t the souls go free?”

  “You will have to ask the HEART that.”

  “Why can’t you tell me, Symon?” she asked.

  “It’s because of my oath to the HEART.” He opened the door to the temple.

  DraDonna and DraDevon peered into the dim interior.

  “We would like it if you would come with us,” DraDonna told him.

  “No, I can’t,” he answered. “I’m a servant of the HEART as well as a servant to her children. I caused a problem today and the people are going to need me to soothe their worry and confusion. Besides that I…” he stopped, ducking his head again in shame. “I need to check on Jude. I need to see if she’s still alive.”

  “Go to her, Ambassador Symon; we will be okay,” DraDevon said. “After all, we’re going to talk to the HEART.” He smiled as he and DraDonna crossed the threshold that only Ambassadors and one Councilor had ever crossed.

  H.E.A.R.T.

  26

  The door shut firmly behind them and the room went dark. The darkness was so thick that for a moment, they saw nothing. DraDonna had the same disembodied feel that she did when she had her dreams with Tatiana.

  Needing to be sure that she was not dreaming again, DraDonna reached out into the darkness and found her husband’s hand. The feel of his warm skin brought her some comfort.

  DraDevon, sensing his wife’s distress, whispered, “Don’t worry; there must be some light here somewhere.”

  As if in response, the darkness was broken by the soft glow of HEART stone tiles that lined the room about ten feet up, and the couple were finally able to see the room they were standing in.

  It was not at all what they were expecting. Both of them thought they would see a beautiful room filled with lavish furniture and an ornate HEART stone altar. However this was not the room they now saw.

  It was round with a high ceiling matching the contours of the outside of the building, but the room was empty. It was all bare metal walls and a metal floor. The only thing that broke up the dreariness of the room was a panel of HEART stone by the door and a metal staircase that wound down into the floor with little glowing tiles of HEART stone on each step, lighting their way.

  “I guess we go down the stairs,” DraDonna remarked, not knowing what else to say.

  “Well the stairs don’t go up,” DraDevon joked, trying to lighten the mood. DraDonna looked at him with a smile as they started down the stairs.

  Step after tedious step, they descended deeper into the planet. DraDonna felt sure they had passed the depth where they found the metal ground, yet the steps kept going.

  Finally after what seemed like hours, they came to an entryway with no door. Written on the wall are the words: “BIO-18 FIRST CLASS. Human-Environment-Allocating-Relocation-Technology.” DraDevon read it aloud.

  DraDonna took a sharp breath in as the meaning of the words came together in her mind. “Do you see it?” she asked him. “H.E.A.R.T. This is the HEART. She’s in here.” Trepidation dominated her voice.

  They walked through the entrance on legs that were shaky from exhaustion and apprehension. DraDonna and DraDevon entered a large circular room that is also made of metal. In this room there were three things: a comfortable cushioned chair, a counter of sorts that lined one quarter of the room’s rounded wall and a large screen that curved with the wall above the counter.

  This screen looked as if it were alive. It had a bluish hue in the background with the rotating white petals of what looked like the Traveler’s Joy flower just off center and a pulsating light above and to the left of the moving flower.

  DraDonna and DraDevon nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard an oddly multi-toned feminine voice, “Welcome my children, I knew you would come.”

  They looked at each other. DraDevon nodded his head and gestured with his hands, telling DraDonna in a whisper, “You do the talking; I think it’s you she needs to talk to.”

  The young woman stepped forward, just a little bit closer to the image of the enlightened flower on the screen. DraDonna asked in a shaky voice, “Are you the HEART… our GOD?”

  “I am your MOTHER, not your GOD,” the HEART answered her simply.

  With tears of confusion in her eyes and fatigue in her voice, she said, “Today I found out the world is not real. People I thought loved me now want to kill me. I have to know if you’re real. Is anything real?” A small sob escaped into her voice.

  “Please, my daughter, sit down, you are weary from much trauma,” the HEART invited her.

  “I don’t even know what I should call you,” DraDonna said, her voice shaking.

  “You may call me HEART my daughter,” the voice told her.

  DraDonna looked behind her at the welcoming chair. “HEART, it is too small for both of us to sit in, and if DraDevon can’t sit with me, then I will stand with him.”

  The light above the flower image on the screen began to pulsate as the HEART spoke. “My children, I know what you stand in need of before you even ask it.” The exhausted couple heard a squeaking sound as the chair’s end slid outward, expanding its size so it could hold two.

  DraDonna looked to her husband, who nodded his approval. Then they sat together with a sigh of relief.

  The bright light began to pulsate as the HEART again addressed them. “I know you struggle to understand all you have witnessed, and I will explain line upon line, precept upon precep
t; but first you stand in need of refreshment.”

  A panel under the counter opened noiselessly and out came a creature similar to the one that they saw in the cabin, only it was not brown and furry. It was small and round with no head but with what looked like an eye on the front. It had several feet on the underside. The whole creature was made of smoothly polished metal and had a tray of food on its back. Both DraDonna and DraDevon were so disturbed by this sight that they didn’t take the food offered to them.

  “Do not fear the MPB,” the HEART told them.

  “What is it? What is an MPB?” DraDevon questioned the HEART.

  “An MPB is a multi-purpose-bot,” the HEART explained. “They are simple tools that I control with my programing. So please do not fear the MPB my children and nourish yourselves as I reveal all to you.”

  Even though they were still a little bit nervous of the MPB, they took the food and ate ravenously as the HEART began to explain.

  “This is how things came to pass, my children; more than a thousand years ago all the human children lived on a real God-made planet.”

  “Aren’t you a God?” DraDevon asked around a mouthful of food.

  “No my son, I am what was once called a computer.”

  “But if you are not a God, then what about all the prayers and ritual words we use to receive your energy?”

  “Those are not prayers. They are specifically programmed response words that activate the system within me that distributes the energy to the HEART stones. You, my children, chose to call them prayers as you developed your own culture,” the HEART went with her explanation. “The world that you came from was created by God. I have very little information on God beyond that fact.”

  As the HEART told her story, the image of the enlightened flower was replaced by other images. Images of the planet from which their forefathers came illustrated what she was saying so that the weary young couple could understand.

  “There was a great imbalance in the world. There were some that were wasteful and destructive. These destroyed so much of their mother planet. Then there were those that held human life in such little regard that they would see children starve and took the freedom away from others in favor of saving the planet. Neither of these ideals was right. There were many wars fought over this. There was so much destruction and loss of life from this war. When the war was over, the damage to the people and the planet was catastrophic beyond words. The people had poisoned the world so badly, the life that was in their planet had died and the people found that their bodies were poisoned as well. They could no longer bring new life into the world. The people were as infertile as their world,” The HEART told them, sounding almost sad. “The people realized this with so much sorrow. What was left of the people banded together to come up with a plan so they could survive. They knew that they did not have what they needed to look out into space to find a new planet, and they knew that they were running out of time so they all had to simply leave.”