by Brandt Legg
“Wait!” Amber shouted. “I think this is a road.”
Amber had spotted a narrow, snow-covered logging road sloping down to the left. The rest of us had run right across it. The road wound down the side of the mountain in a series of switchbacks. The Lusan cradled against my chest kept me from freezing to death. We each had one. They allowed us to avoid exhaustion and also helped with our breathing. Then, suddenly the snow changed to rain. My feet welcomed hard muddy ground. Now we really made time, knowing the snow level would follow us down as the temperatures dropped. The rain was constant. After jogging another hour with no sign of Lightyear, we slowed.
“Do any of you have a clue where we’re headed?” I asked.
“Down,” Kyle answered.
“Seriously. These old roads can crisscross the forests endlessly. We can’t walk all night.”
“Walk all night?” Linh said. “We won’t be that lucky. There could be hundred soldiers over the next rise. And as soon as this storm passes, you can bet the choppers will be visiting.”
“Maybe there’s an old cabin around,” Amber said.
“I’ve been asking my guides for help ever since we left Outin and nothing. I don’t understand it.”
“You’d think if the universe is so powerful, we could get some assistance,” Kyle said.
“Listen to you all,” Amber said. “Do you mind not wallowing in so much negativity? These Lusans are keeping us warm. Gogen built us a shelter and helped Nate kill that soldier. Even the snow grounded the choppers with their guns and infrared detectors. But I guess you children need someone to hold your hands before we cross the road. Geez.”
Amber moved ahead of us.
“She’s right,” Linh said.
“As usual,” Kyle added.
I tried to catch up with her.
“Just leave me alone,” she said. “I’d rather walk alone for a while.” I dropped back with the others. We strategized on what to do when we inevitably reached a house, town, or highway.
Amber was getting too far ahead and disappeared around a curve. I didn’t want to call out, so I started jogging. Suddenly she came bolting back toward us, backlit by headlights.
Kyle and Linh ran into the trees. I waited until Amber reached me. The vehicle wasn’t more than six feet behind her when I grabbed her and went tumbling over the edge of the road. Linh and Kyle were hiding somewhere unseen by my night vision.
“Nate,” a female voice called from the road. I froze. Peeking around the tree I could see a figure standing in the front of the lights. “Nate, it’s Gibi, I’m here to get you out.”
“Is it?” Amber asked.
“It sounds like her,” I whispered, then yelled, “Are you alone?”
“Of course I’m alone, but if we hang around too long, I have a feeling we won’t be.”
“Turn off the lights.”
As she reached in and turned off the lights, Kyle and Linh found us. “Gibi is the mystic from the redwoods, right?” Linh asked.
“Yeah. Maybe our help has arrived.” Without the headlights, my night vision could see well enough to recognize Gibi. “Let’s go, it’s her.” They followed me to what turned out to be an old VW van and climbed in back while I got in front. She turned the van around and drove back the way she came.
“You were just in time,” I said, turning up the heat.
“That thing doesn’t work. You’re better off with your Lusans,” she said.
“Where are we going? Are there roadblocks?”
“The storm is getting worse. It’ll help us get out.”
“Did Spencer send you?”
“No, he doesn’t know I’m here.”
“How’d you find us?”
“That’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
“I’ll be happy to tell it to you once we’re out of harm’s way.”
“You’re not really Gibi, are you?”
“No.”
40
We were traveling slow enough that leaping out of the car was an option. “How did you know?” she asked.
“Gibi doesn’t know Spencer,” I said.
“Ahh, yes. Well, let me assure you that you’re all quite safe with me, assuming we avoid the soldiers and Lightyear agents. My name is Yangchen.” She morphed out of the shapeshifted form of Gibi into a slender Asian woman with long black hair. “I am Tibetan.”
“And a mystic?”
“Yes.”
“Then why disguise yourself.”
“We’re extremely short of time. Wasn’t I correct that you were not likely to trust a stranger on this day?”
I nodded, but she probably didn’t see me. “Do you even know Gibi?”
“Of course. We’re very close, and I knew Crowd as well.” She took a hand from the wheel and patted the top of my head. “Crowd has crossed over. His life was for you, and he was ready to give it. This is not your fault. You still do not understand much.”
“I’ll miss him.”
“Yes, you will.”
Yangchen drove faster than the narrow, edgy roads allowed and was barely paying attention. “Maybe you should slow down,” Kyle suggested.
“That would be a good idea if the state police weren’t working to block all the roads.”
“Are we going to make it?” Amber asked.
“Oh, Amber, let’s hope. I’ve been so looking forward to all the conversations we’re going to have,” Yangchen said.
“You know me?”
“Many times, my friend.”
The wipers couldn’t keep up with the sheets of rain. It was impossible for her to see the road, which was fast becoming a muddy, rutted mess. Linh screamed as the van took a turn too wide and rocked over the edge for an instant.
“Are you using soul-powers to drive?”
“Foush.” That was no surprise because it was one of the five great powers that controlled and enhanced the senses.
“How are we doing on time?”
“Don’t ask.”
I let her concentrate on Foush because she was also using Timbal, the power to view time and to read our place in the future, and probably Vising, to help keep us on the road. Yangchen was a powerful mystic.
We bounced along perilously for forty minutes, glad to be drying out and not be walking. For most of the trip, Amber held my shoulder from the seat behind. What I’d give to be back in her room that day she first talked to me about reincarnation and shapeshifting. We veered off onto an overgrown trail and, after a few minutes, pulled in next to a crumbling barn. Gogen opened two wide doors, and we dashed inside.
“A plane,” Kyle said. The old dusty turbo prop hardly looked airworthy.
“But we can’t fly in this storm,” Linh said.
“Isn’t there a portal nearby?” I asked.
“We’ll be fine,” Yangchen said. “But we must go.”’
Kyle, Linh, and Amber squeezed in behind me. Yangchen called me her copilot.
The engine started after a few sputters, and she taxied out.
“Is there even a runway?”
“Should be enough grass. Kyle, would you mind moving the van into the barn?”
As soon as he was back in the plane, the barn collapsed onto the van.
“Did you do that?” Linh was alarmed.
“Yes,” Yangchen said, as we picked up speed. Night vision kicked in and I could see we were barely going to make it above the trees.
“Where are our lights?” Kyle asked.
“Too risky,” was all she said.
We did get above the trees, but she kept us close to their tops.
“Now, Nate, I need to teach you something that will, hopefully, save us from getting blown out of the sky.”
41
Heavy rain and snow pushed our plane down while we grazed the treetops. “Now, listen to me, Nate.”
“Can you talk and fly this thing at the same time?” Kyle asked.
Instead of answering she tossed him a fresh pack of c
igarettes. His had become soggy in the rain. They were even his brand.
“We’re in danger,” I said.
“No kidding,” Yangchen agreed.
“No, I’m roasting hot, it happens when I’m in serious jeopardy.”
“It’s the heat. It’s got two settings: hell-fire and off,” Yangchen said, flipping a switch. I exhaled. “There’s more to Kellaring than you know,” she continued. “There is a way to use all your other powers while still being protected by Kellaring’s shield.”
“How?”
“It’s complex, but by using the energy of DNA, you essentially transfer your human pattern to someone else.”
“English?” Amber said.
“You can all do this. You simply use Kellaring, but you loop it around someone with a similar DNA sequence as yours. DNA is an energetic imprint for your physical form and has nothing to do with your soul. But this is how remote viewers find people.”
“Wouldn’t we need a close relative?” I asked
“Yes.”
“My only living relative is my mother.”
“She’ll do.”
“What happens to her?”
“When they look for you they find her instead.”
“Forget it.”
“Nate, don’t you think they know where your mother is at all times any way? She is monitored in every way.”
“I can use my sister Bridgette,” Amber offered.
“What about us?” Linh asked.
“Anyone related to you will work, but two of you can’t use the same person.”
“Kyle could use my mom and—” The plane lurched forty-five degrees before Yangchen righted it. “I could use my dad, but are we sure nothing will happen to them?”
“They’re already watching them. Maybe there’ll be an extra search or two, but your families are Lightyear’s best chance of finding you. That’s why they’ve been basically left alone.”
“It seems risky.”
“Everything is risky. And don’t you think, if you asked your parents, they would do anything they could to protect you?”
She had us get an image of our eyes surrounded by white light until they were no longer visible. Then we imagined hugging the person we were transferring our imprint to. It was pretty simple, as most soul-powers were. Yangchen confirmed that all four of us were successful.
“Now, let’s see if we can pull up out of this storm.” She fought the turbulence. It occurred to me that, although temporarily safe from Lightyear, we still might die in a crash. After a harrowing half-hour we punched through into blue skies and rode above the clouds.
“It’s so peaceful up here,” Amber said.
“Yes,” Yangchen said. “Peace is the only way to our souls.” No one spoke for a while.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked.
“There are some people you need to meet.”
“Mystics?”
“No, extraordinary ordinary folks from IM, the Movement.”
“Will Spencer be there?”
“No. Spencer and I aren’t... well, let’s just say we don’t exactly agree on everything.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Spencer thinks you’ve been handling this all fairly well, making good decisions.”
“And you don’t?” Amber asked.
“No. We cannot reach our souls through violence.”
“Wait a minute. These people have been trying to kill me for months. They’ve killed most of my family. Aren’t I allowed to defend myself?” I erupted.
“Of course you can defend yourself. But this does not need to be done with violence or killing.”
“They get to kill all they want, but I can’t?”
“They are not trying to return to their souls.”
“I’m not either. I’m just trying to stay alive.”
“What is the point of living in a life preserved by carnage and hostility?”
“So you want me to just let them kill me?”
“If there is no other way.”
“Incredible.”
“Look Yangchen, I consider myself a pacifist, but sometimes defensive force is necessary,” Kyle said.
“Then you’re no pacifist.”
“That’s not fair,” Linh began. “Nate didn’t ask for any of this. He was just living a normal life six months ago. Then Lightyear started trying to kill him. How can you say he should let them? He’d be dead.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“And what about the Movement if he weren’t around?”
“IM can handle another loss; there have been many.”
“If IM is to defeat Lightyear without fighting back that could take a thousand years, maybe five thousand.”
“Time’s a funny thing.”
“You’re wrong,” I said.
“Then love is wrong.”
“Are you sure you’re a mystic, or are you really a peace-and-love hippie?”
“Is there a difference? I didn’t say you couldn’t fight back. All I’m advocating is nonviolence. Adding to the hate, injustice, and violence does nothing but, well, add to it.”
“But I’d be dead.”
“Would you? How do you know?”
“It’s hard to imagine how I could have survived all that.”
“Then maybe you should try harder.”
“Trust me, they would have killed him by now if he hadn’t fought back,” Kyle said.
“Okay, Kyle, I trust you. What if he had been? Would that be so bad? He’s been dead many times before.”
“Can you see the future?” Linh asked.
“I see the changing changes changing ahead.”
Amber laughed.
“What about using violence to stop violence. What if killing one Lightyear agent would stop a mall full of innocent people from getting killed?” Linh asked.
“I’m sorry Linh. Killing one more person is making more violence, not less.”
“But if it saves the kids?”
“Life’s not fair.”
“So, what if you could have killed Hitler in 1938 and saved millions of lives?”
“No.”
“You’re crazy,” I said.
“Karma, the universe, God—whatever you want to call it—love, nature, the cosmos... these are all forces far more powerful than me, than my understanding. I trust love.”
By the time the plane landed, a half-hour east of Las Vegas, I wasn’t interested in talking to Yangchen about anything. A couple of guys got out of a big truck and refueled us. They must have been members of IM because we were wanted fugitives in the middle of a desert. It was good to stretch and be back on solid ground. Fifteen minutes later we were back in the air.
“It’s time to land,” Yangchen said quietly, shaking me. It was daylight; the sun might have been up for an hour or so. A stark range of snow-covered mountains stretched ahead. I glanced back to see Linh waking; Amber and Kyle appeared to have been up for a while. We circled above an endless sea of sagebrush. A deep meandering gorge cut through the land. The plane found a narrow washboard road and came to a stop next to a battered old Range Rover. “Welcome to Taos.”
42
“But you’ve been here before, haven’t you, Nate?” She smiled. “Not in this life, of course. But Taos was where everything changed for Clastier. It was the second most important incarnation you’ve known, and I was with you then too.”
“Is that why we’re here?”
“Perhaps.” We climbed into the Range Rover. “Taos has maintained much of the energy that existed here during your time as Clastier. And attracted more. This area is called Greater World. All the houses are Earthships. Every one of them is constructed of tires, old bottles and cans, earth and slanted glass.” We drove among structures that could only be described as primitive-futuristic post-apocalyptic. Solar panels sprang up among the dripping dirt towers and windmills.
“Are you sure we didn’t time travel?” Kyle asked.
“There
are probably seventy Earthships in Greater World and they’re all completely off-grid. Each home does its own heating and cooling, catches water, grows food, even fish, and they process their sewage—completely self-sufficient. Makes you wonder why we aren’t all living this way?”
“Northern New Mexico has an ideal climate for solar; this town even has a solar powered radio station, KTAO.”
We stopped in front of a particularly beautiful one, sunlight filtering through colored wine bottle walls, rich woods, and copper. A man came out of an arched opening. “Nate, this is Tiller Hobson.”
Tiller, in worn khakis and a faded sky-blue T-shirt, looked like he belonged in the desert: three days of stubble; curly, dusty hair the color of sundrenched dirt; and dark sunglasses. “Happy you’re still alive Nate.” He extended a hand.
“Likewise.”
He laughed at my response.
“So, is this the headquarters of the Movement?” I asked, looking from him to Yangchen.
That made Tiller laugh again. “No, ha, maybe the headquarters of the peace faction of IM but not the whole thing. Not sure where that would be—an island somewhere probably.”
“There are different groups within the Movement?” Kyle asked.
“Hell, get more than three people together for anything,” Tiller said, taking off his glasses, “and there’ll be disagreements, rivalries... wars.” His blue eyes sparkled.
“You’re another peace freak, huh? Gonna tell me I’ve been doing everything wrong.”
“Peace freak?” He laughed. “I’m no mystic. I’ve seen the news reports about you but that doesn’t mean I know what you’ve really done.”
“What would you do if someone was trying to kill you?”
“Depends. Suspect I’d run.”
“Pretend you were locked in a room and two guys were about to kill you but there was a loaded gun in your pocket.”
“Think I’d avoid that kind of room in the first place.”
“Tiller, it might help to answer,” Yangchen said.
“I’d like to say I would lay down like Gandhi and offer no resistance, but it’s hard to know until you’re in such a situation.”
