“I did,” Valerio replied with a smile, “I did, because I met him. No need to talk about theology, or how Farlimas got his revelation. You are going to meet him too. I wanted to say farewell to you, my friend. My time is running out.”
“How do you know?” Tarek gaped, “Ok, you got older, yet you look healthy….you still have some years in front of you.”
“I don’t, it’s the toxin. It started a process that cannot be stopped. I know exactly how I will die, and when. It’s very soon, I won’t tell you more. How ironic that one of the first immortals also has the privilege to know the exact time of his exit from this world.”
“I cannot believe this,” Tarek said, trying to restrain tears, “I am sure there is a way to block it. Just come with me to Alexandria, I know the best doctors there.”
“I don’t have time, I told you,” Valerio replied quietly, “Also, it’s not what I want. I am fine with this fate. Remember what I told you a long time ago? I wanted to have the time to see new things happen, maybe the dawn of a new era. I got it, along with lots of great joys and great pains. It’s time to go now, my friend. This was my last wish, to say farewell to you, and for a long time I feared it would go unfulfilled.”
“So,” Tarek asked, “Why didn’t you call me before? What if I did not come here to meet your prophet?”
“I am just a small part of a big design, and I do not have the right to change it for my wish,” Valerio answered, his eyes turning tough. “This just made my joy bigger when I learned that my wish was part of the grand plan of God.”
Valerio stood up, immediately followed by Tarek. He started moving hesitantly towards the door, and Tarek took him by his arm. As they walked to the exit, Tarek noticed that Valerio started panting. The door opened and Tarek saw that Ali was still there, leaning on the balcony, waiting for him.
Tarek turned to Valerio, and hugged him with all his might.
Chapter 11
Tarek entered the hall of the Meditation building and followed Ali down the vast, dimly lit space. About the size of two football fields, the main hall was sustained by five rows of white columns and its floor was covered with carpets. Individuals, sometimes gathered in small groups, prayed wherever they found room.
Ali veered towards the right, then opened a small door. They found themselves in front of an elevator. Ali scanned his retina on the detector, and the elevator doors opened. The ride up took several seconds. Tarek calculated that they must have reached the ceiling of the structure. The elevator doors slid open and a long, white corridor lay in front of them. They walked for more than five minutes, until they reached a circular room, covered by a dome roughly fifty feet high. Light was entering through seven small triangular windows at its base. As they cut through the middle of the room, a door opened in the wall in the front of them. Before they entered the doorway, Tarek knew that was where Farlimas was waiting for them.
The room was rectangular, built in light pink granite, with two rows of thin columns splitting it in even sections, and no windows nor furniture. Farlimas was sitting on the floor next to the left wall. Tarek wondered if he had to shake his hand, but Ali stopped him when they were still a few yards away. Ali bowed, then looked at Tarek and motioned for them to sit on cushions placed in front of Farlimas. Tarek slightly bowed, and sat down.
The light brown complexion of Farlimas stood in contrast to his white navibahai dress, but what struck Tarek most was his tall figure. It was difficult to determine his age.
“I am extremely happy to meet you, Mr. Tantawy,” Farlimas greeted Tarek cheerfully, “I only wish this meeting was under better circumstances.”
“I also wish so, Mr.., well, Mr. Farlimas,” Tarek answered with some hesitation, “I believe Ali talked to you about the reasons for my visit. You can call me Tarek, if you wish.”
“Of course he did, Tarek, and please call me Farlimas, too. Mr. Farlimas sounds a bit too much like a Hollywood movie character.” Farlimas replied with a slight smile, “My first reaction when Ali asked for this meeting, was that there was no need for you to come, but somehow your nephew insisted and I gave in.”
“What do you mean, no reason for the trip?” Tarek tried to conceal his surprise, “You seem to be the only one to know how to stop the information leakage that is fueling turmoil in Palestine. At least, that’s what I was told.”
“The name of the mole, you mean?” Farlimas looked at the ceiling, bored. “There’s no such secret mole. It was just a pretext to send you over there, to me. I was afraid you would not accept a direct invite from me, so I took the first opportunity I found.”
“Why wouldn’t I have accepted an invitation from you?” Tarek was pondering the implications as he continued. “It is always worth meeting interesting and important people like you.”
“Yes, you would have accepted, no doubt,” Farlimas said, “Yet you are too clever not to understand the value of attitude. If I invite you, I have to manage your expectation. Instead, you kept wondering all the time about what I might expect from you, didn’t you?”
“And…if the mole is not a reason, what do you expect from me, then?” Tarek was growing uneasy.
“In a nutshell, nothing. I would be happy if you realized that your dear colleagues, Yaakov and Helena were involved in a plot to sell you to me. Unwillingly and unknowingly, they gave me the opportunity to show who your real friends are.”
“My friends did not sell me,” Tarek roared back, “I am sure they did their best, based on what they knew.”
“No, they didn’t, trust me. They made a choice - at least some of them. I won’t bother you with evidence you may not believe. The fact is, they pushed you here, taking advantage of your kinship to Ali and your sense of responsibility and obedience.”
“So be it,” Tarek said. “I traveled here due to the betrayal of my friends, you really have nothing interesting to tell me, so we can end the conversation here. Or am I supposed to be your hostage?”
“You are no hostage, you can leave anytime you like, Tarek. I told you, I wanted to meet you, and give Valerio the chance to bid you farewell. He did not tell you, but he is going to leave us soon. Very soon.”
Tarek connected the dots.
“Valerio is dying from a toxin that is seemingly able to stop Telomerax. You plan to use it to bring the world back to where it was, don’t you? That’s your secret weapon to take the clock back one-hundred years and get rid of us, the immortals.”
“My secret weapon!” Farlimas body shook shortly in amusement, “If it was, how long do you think it would last before somebody comes up with an antidote? Tarek, I do not rely on technology, I try to build the future on souls, if you haven’t realized it yet. The war wiped out three-quarters of mankind, and most of the survivors are today living like happy pigs, planning their next holiday while automation is relieving them of all chores. Obviously, a few megacorporations control the automation, which means the lives of all the others, but everybody seems to be OK with this. Everybody except for a few fools and dystopians like me. I am just trying to bring back to mankind a bit of the sense of awe and mystery that made us different from animals. A true sense of self-awareness, if you wish. I hope God the Almighty allows me to achieve this mission, at least partially.”
Farlimas darted a look around the room, first at Tarek and then at Ali, who nodded in agreement.
“So, this justifies your support of terrorists of all kinds? The attacks in Beirut that occurred last year?” Tarek was running out of arguments.
“Support of terrorists!” Farlimas sighed, “I have never, ever, deliberately supported any of those fools. You know what? I am only guilty of giving them the right arguments to challenge the current order. Then, it’s all left to the tangled web of mutual conspiracies and revenge, with lots of people taking advantage of it, without taking the risk of showing their real interests. But because I speak my mind, I am left in the open to take the blame. Love of truth is very inconvenient at all times.”
“I
do not follow you on this, Farlimas,” Tarek thought he had spotted the weakness. “You do not support attacks, yet you admit to inspiring them. Even if just one tenth of what I have been shown about you and your organization is true, you have more than a moral responsibility in the issues our world currently faces.”
“Responsibility I do have indeed,” Farlimas snapped back. “It all stems from the priority of protecting your people. Have you ever accepted compromises to defend your family and friends? I think you understand what I am referring to. Let me tell you one thing, we have heard of attacks being conceived right now that will bring tension and strife to a level never heard of before in our history. We are trying to foul it, but we have not yet realized who really is behind it.”
“So....why did you invite me here?” Tarek asked. “You have no secrets to share, nor does it seem like I have something you are interested in.”
“You are wrong there, Tarek.” Farlimas replied. “First of all, this trip revealed to you a few secrets about your supposed friends. Most importantly, I am interested in where you are, spiritually. Ali and I thought this would be a good opportunity for you to reflect on your life and your destiny.”
“You want me to convert?” Tarek could not hide his surprise. “I think I have grown too old and saw too many things to be captured by some finely chanted hymns, or inspired by the example set by dying friend.”
“We talked enough today, Tarek, and more words are of no use. We will talk again tomorrow, just after the Ritual.”
Farlimas stood up and walked briskly to the side of the room opposite to him. He was barely half a yard away from hitting the wall when a door materialized and Farlimas disappeared into the corridor where it led.
Chapter 12
As Tarek and Ali entered the apartment block, on the way back from the meditation building, Tarek veered towards apartment 193. Ali hesitated, then he followed his grandfather. As soon as they got in front of the door, Tarek rang the bell but nobody answered. He quickly grew impatient.
“What happened to Valerio?” Tarek muttered towards Ali, “Why is he not opening?”
“Maybe he’s out,” Ali tried to calm Tarek down, “Or maybe he’s just sleeping and we are disturbing him.”
“He cannot be out, he can barely walk. What if he got in an accident?” Tarek wondered, as he was fiddling with the handle. “Maybe he needs help.”
“All apartments are connected to the emergency system.” Ali explained, with some impatience. “In case of need, medical services are alerted and people brought to hospital. We would know. He’s just out. We will be back in three hours, after the evening Ritual. He’ll be back then.”
“The Ritual,” Tarek thought, “The much talked-about ceremony to which only the initiated are invited. Ali is one of them, and for some reason Farlimas wants me to attend, although I am a huge exception to the rules.”
“Ali, explain something to me,” Tarek switched subjects, “The Ritual is famous because, so far, nobody who took part in it has ever revealed what the hell is going on behind closed doors.”
“That’s right,” Ali replied and anticipated the next question from Tarek. “So you wonder why Farlimas invited you, since you could expose the secret?”
“Exactly. I just would not like to have to be abducted, for the secret to be kept.” Tarek continued, “Maybe it’s better I do not attend.”
“Farlimas told you, grandpa,” Ali reminded Tarek, “You are among your true friends here, and you will be free to leave and do whatever you want after the Ritual. We are sure you will keep the secret, as all the others did. It’s time to go now, we do not want to be late. I just ask you to wear this, it’s exactly your size.” Ali took a navibahai white dress from his backpack. “I hope you understand there is a ceremonial code to respect.”
“Absolutely, Ali, absolutely,” Tarek answered, and entered the first public toilet he found to change clothes.
After a few minutes, they were walking on the vast esplanade, opposite of the meditation building, that led to the Temple, which was the old, refurbished cathedral of Notre-Dame. The former church had been renovated and added onto, making it now the biggest religious building on the planet. Despite the improvements over the last several years, Tarek noticed that the tall dome was still the fulcrum of the building.
Tarek and Ali walked for several hundred yards, in the late afternoon heat. Small groups of faithful in navabahai dress joined them until, gradually, Tarek realized they were in the midst of a large crowd, that was now entering the Temple.
The light and heat of the outside suddenly gave way to a cool, shadowy atmosphere, permeated by incense and other fragrances. Almost immediately, hymns started rising up in the background, and the crowd began to chant. Tarek followed Ali, they found space in one of the many circles that were forming around the altar at the center of the Temple, just underneath the dome.
As the chants and scents grew stronger, holographic images and scripts appeared in mid-air to keep the prayers in sync. Tarek found that the Ritual was easier to follow than the prayer session of the day before, in the courtyard of the apartment blocks. Directors alternated on the altar, Tarek tried to read along with the prayer script but found it was not adding much to what he already knew about the navibahai faith. After a few minutes, Ali took his left hand, and Tarek automatically sought the one of the person to his right. He exchanged a quick glance with his neighbor, an Asian, but did not spend any time wondering where he exactly was from. The chants and the perfumes grew stronger, and the crowd started to follow the rhythm, the circles around the altar vibrating in uniform waves.
Then, a figure materialized behind the altar and the music of the hymns subsided. The crowd slowed down but did not stop altogether. The holographic beamers projected the face of Farlimas around the hall, just below the dome.
“Hello, sisters and brothers, it is time again. One of us is going to join the Almighty today, and we will stay with him to the very last second….” He then paused. “….so that we experience the sacrifice and the joy of the Passage…”
Tarek tried to make sense of what Farlimas was saying, but it was punctuated with so much religious vocabulary he could not grasp a lot of it. Then, a stretcher flew up from the back of the Temple, all the way above the altar. It was suspended in the air by four drones, the holographic beamers switched from the image of Farlimas to the person laying on the hovering stretcher.
It was Valerio. Tarek felt the incense scent was intensifying, while he could now hear, mixed with the music and the hymns, the faint breath of Valerio, progressively losing strength and rhythm. Tarek held the hands of Ali and of the man next to him tighter.
The projectors were of such quality that Tarek could see and almost feel the face of Valerio right in front of him, his eyes slowly closing, his breath struggling to keep the pace. From time to time, Valerio seemed to remain still, but then with the blink of the eyes, or the spasm of the body he made it clear he was still alive. The chants had died down, Tarek could hear the heavy panting of his friend and, he thought he heard a note, as if Valerio was whistling his last tune.
Tarek lost sense of time, and his mind was overwhelmed by all the moments he had spent with his friend. The joyous dinners on the terrace along the Lake of Geneva when they met for the first time, at Louis’ beauty clinic, the lively discussions over the dunes of the Arabian deserted flooded by the moonlight, the gloomy drink he had in the pub of Canary Wharf, when the Telomerax business was starting to spin out of control, and the several fishing trips done together when Valerio moved to Dubai, in the last years of quietness before the world broke apart.
Just then, Valerio’s face contracted and eventually relaxed in immobility, as if a wave spread along his body. He was dead. Struck by the sudden transition, Tarek kept his eyes on the image of Valerio, then he realized that the music had stopped and silence was flooding the entire Temple.
The eyes of the crowd were still on Valerio, when a slow hymn resumed, and Farlimas a
pproached the stretcher. The drones gently lowered it to ground level, so that Farlimas could make the farewell sign of the navibahai faith over the face of the dead.
Farlimas then stood up again, reaching the podium next to the altar.
“Tonight, we thank the Almighty for having accepted again one of our brothers at the other end of the Passage, and having given us the opportunity of admiring his graceful Transition. The world outside wants to deny this simple reality, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to our brothers and sisters who accept to turn their own individual passage into a public testimony. On their free sacrifice and nothing else rests our Faith!”
The crowd responded by erupting in unison with the joyful notes of the hymn of the conclusion, while the ventilation system started humming, removing the scents from the Temple. The outer circles of the crowd started to break apart, and the faithful started to flow toward the exit.
When the circle where he was standing broke, Tarek did not follow the crowd. He noticed the Asian man that had stood next to him leaving out of the side of his eyes, and felt that Ali was behind him, waiting for his move. Tarek knew it was not yet over and kept his eyes on the empty altar.
Having lost the sense of time, he looked at his watch. The Ritual had lasted for nearly an hour, and now it was about another half an hour until it was over. The Temple was nearly empty and dark, most of the lights had been switched off and outside dusk was quickly giving way to the night.
Then a deep voice materialized from behind Tarek, striking him in the back like a fist.
“Dear friend, I hope you have appreciated this new perspective.”
Tarek turned to the voice, and he saw Farlimas standing next to Ali. He immediately moved towards them, then he stopped when he was about a couple of yards away from Farlimas. Tarek found himself fighting to resist the urge to cry, overwhelmed by the passing away of such a close friend. Farlimas gently opened his arms and smiled, while half closing his eyes he said to Tarek.
The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084 Page 42
