He agreed whole-heartedly and punched her lightly on the shoulder, “She’s got it. And don’t worry they will know soon enough, just you see. They’ve made more strides in the past couple centuries than they had in almost a thousand years before that.”
The room was silent for a moment as the others lost their words. The conversations were so sporadic that picking up old conversations became meaningless.
“By the way Sheppard,” Arnael asked, “I must ask about those two mortals you brought earlier.”
Sheppard was listening intently, but Arnael just finished his sentence and shrugged confused.
“Oh, that.” He contorted his face as if knowing nothing about it, “It just kind of happened, right Daria?”
“Oh yeah,” She added, “They just happened to be at the right place at the right time, woohoo!” She raised her hands to her ears and cheered silently.
“Mortals? Here! No…” Solb added sarcastically, “Come on Shep, you don’t bring random people here, what’s their deal?”
“Relax guys, can’t I make new friends now and again? You’re not jealous are you? Psh.” Sheppard added.
I hope I can find a reason myself for why they were here...
“Yeah but bring them here? To our command ship when they haven’t even initiated? For god sakes they could end up being Eri or Federation spies or sympathizers, it’s too big of a risk.” Solb said.
“Well I trust them,” Sheppard said with a commanding stare, “And I know there’s something about them that I have yet to pinpoint.”
“What? Is the ‘dude’ gay? Or the girl a cross-dresser?” Solb joked, “Because the ones you brought here a few centuries ago, uh-uh.”
They all laughed. In reality they cared little for who they were so long as Sheppard knew what he was doing. They trushed him too much.
“So do you think they will eventually initiate?” Daria asked.
“No, I don’t expect anything of them just yet, the girl is like me and the man and Solb are alike, call it ‘nostalgia’.” He raised his glass of water to Solb with a smirk on his face.
“Is it cause I’m black?” Solb jested.
“You and I are both from Africa!” Sheppard responded.
“I know, I know.” Solb replied, “It’s just funny because that’s what I hear the young ones say all the time.”
Arnael rolled his eyes.
“What?” Solb said to Arnael, “Four out of seven of us are Africans, what’s wrong with that? I love each and every one of you… respect.” He pounded his chest with his right hand and then released into a peace sign.
Daria kicked him swiftly on the shin underneath the table.
Though the plated plastics on his uniform absorbed the shock the kick still hurt. They all laughed. No matter how old they were, they could appreciate one another like friends.
“So, what about the Olympics guys?” Sheppard asked them all.
“Ohh—” Solb began, “Brownstein all the way. I hear he’s been training on the Eternity. Fastest Jew on the water, makes me proud to be a Jew, he’s like the Chosen One!” He searched for a high-five, “Aw, if only Jo was here.”
At that instant the hologram at the center of the table switched back on blaring warnings over a certain sector of the map. Each commander shifted uneasily in their seat and analyzed the data carefully. Several blips on the map indicated enemy fleet movements and their calculated trajectory knew where they were heading. They each gave one another cold, hard looks.
“I always seem to come back during interesting times,” Sheppard said, “Well everyone…looks like we have a fortuitous change of plans…”
Chapter 12
Old Hatreds
“I still don’t understand how just yesterday we were in Ethiopia extracting a find and then we ended up in space, the Pacific Ocean and now New York?” Mekias asked.
“Shh!“ Avi warned, “try to be a little discreet about it would ya?” Avi looked around smiling at passersby.
“Oh my God! It’s Avraham Brownstein!” A group of young girls ran across the terminal after identifying Avi and mobbed him for autographs. None of them looked a day over sixteen. “Ladies! Ladies! Please one at a time.” He looked over at Monica and gestured that he would be a few minutes.
“Psh, athletes man, they get all the attention.” Mekias said.
Monica wasn’t paying attention, she saw Avi signing each of the girls’ swim towels and jerseys. He almost had no care in the world, the wide grin on his face and the laughter he shared with the girls was almost worriless.
He did not care that he was different from them or that he was an international super athlete. He gave each of them his time. Monica bit her lips as she recalled the exact moment they had first met on board the ship.
Still got it in ya Monica. She punched the air in victory, catching a few strange looks.
She stood straight and nodded to all the passersby, “Nothing to see! Just…err.”
“Being stupid.” Mekias finished her sentence trying to hold back his laughter.
She pushed him playfully onto the baggage carrel causing him to land on other peoples’ luggage. Mekias struggled to get up amidst the embarrassing laughter of the crowd. Monica tried to hold back her laughter as she saw him clamber out with his dignity.
She clutched her abdomen. The laughter was inextricably uncontrollable. She then turned to see Avi again, realizing for once in her life she found somebody else she could trust.
It wasn’t long before an unusual sense of dread filled the air. Monica could not pinpoint the feeling but it made it difficult for her to concentrate. She felt like she was being watched. She turned back to see Mekias apologizing to bystanders for his behavior until a man appeared in the distance staring at her.
The man wore a polo t-shirt underneath a light jacket strewn with words. At first he looked like an airport official but he did not budge from his dread stare. He looked Monica in the eyes as if intimidating her.
Monica hastily rushed to Mekias warning him about the man but he had disappeared. The feeling lingered. They returned to Avi and pried him from his fans.
“Whoa guys! What’s going on?” He said as Monica grabbed both his arms.
“I think someone is after us.”
“It’s probably airport security, they usually get annoyed at the ruckus celebrities make at airports, just relax I’ve gone through this before.” And like that she felt she could trust him, she wanted to tell him otherwise but maybe she was over-reacting.
“Okay…but I want to leave soon… I’m feeling a little uneasy.”
“Are you sick?”
She thought for a moment, maybe she was sick from travel.
“Probably…” She responded as she felt her head for a temperature.
Avi excused himself and bid farewell to his fans, telling Mekias and Monica to follow him to the cab.
“Looks like those ladies will have the luck of the Brownsteins on their side,” he said with a sly smirk on his face, Monica couldn’t help but laugh. He reminded her of her uncle.
The New York skyline was beginning to set in, the lights and sounds of the city flashed by. The dampened noise of a cacophony of car horns and street merchants began to lull Monica to sleep. Mekias and Avi conversed about sports much to her dismay. As she looked out into the streets she could imagine the vociferous clamor.
She hated city life. The noise and fast-pace did not fit her taste. On top of that she was beginning to develop a headache; she had not slept in nearly thirty six hours.
Avi tried to comfort her. “Monica just get some rest, we’ll be at the hotel in a few minutes.”
She closed her eyes and huddled into her seat. She almost immediately fell into a dream-like state. It began as a disparate mess of colors and memories, like a collage of the last twenty four hours. The dream kept her somewhere in her subconscious, not completely awake yet in an entirely different world. She wanted to free-fall endlessly, but her mind kept her still.
/> The world around her crept into darkness causing memories to periodically surface then disappear again. Like a tirade of past failures and successes. She tried to piece them together but in her state she had no control over anything, she was watching a movie of her own life.
Whispers were heard, unknowingly at first but soon into coherent phrases. It was her grandmother’s voice.
Monica, come to nonna!
Though she did not see her grandmother she could feel her near. Her mother was nearby but not visible either, in her dream she smiled as she felt her grandmother caressing her hair.
Mio bambi…
Her grandmother made noises and tickled her. Monica could not help but smile as she felt her body cringe from the faint tickling sensation. She faced her grandmother, faintly making out her figure as they began to fiddle with her fingers in patterns that Monica could only faintly recall. It was a game she used to play in the Tuscan countryside in her youth.
Their hands intertwined and Monica tried to look at them to remember the pattern but all she could sense was the sensations on her fingertips. Her eyes opened and the car was stopped in front of an expensive hotel in New York.
Avi opened the door for her and outstretched his hand, “We’re here.”
He helped her into the hotel. The baggage hands loaded their luggage onto carts. The three walked up to the hotel desk while Avi spoke to the hotel manager. He handed them the key to one of the master suites.
Monica could not stop looking at her hands, she tried to mimic the pattern in her dream but realized she had not done it for over ten years.
She did not understand why the memory kept resurfacing.
Weird…
Avi opened the doors to the master suite and the two looked around in amazement, there were three private bedrooms replete with personal restrooms. The luxurious parlor flowed with amenities even the archaeologists had never seen before in hotels.
Monica gazed out the parlor view into the city and was breathless as she saw the streets bustling with lights and people.
Avi peered into his room.
“Sorry to interrupt you guys but I think I’ll call this room, you guys can decide on the other two. I left the spare keys on the parlor counter if you need to step out.” He looked at Monica, “You guys mentioned wanting to visit your museum, right? I uh… guess I’ll see you two tomorrow then.”
He entered his room and set his things down before changing. Monica looked at the room closest to her and claimed it; she jumped on the bed and posed like an explorer planting a flag in his land.
“I hate you Monica.” Mekias said as he shook his head.
She laughed for a moment before the headache set in. “Mekias I need to rest… don’t visit the director without me…”
She walked over into the room and climbed into bed. “Be safe Mekias…” She flipped the lights off and passed out instantly.
Mekias was not the only one awake now.
He approached Avi’s door silently and knocked. He had to go to the museum as soon as possible, he knew their director always worked after-hours.
Avi cracked the door and peered over the edge, he was in the middle of brushing his teeth.
“Sup bro?” Avi’s hair was wet and he had traces of shaving cream scattered across his face.
“Listen,” Mekias replied, “I need to talk to our museum director tonight before Monica sees him tomorrow…if she wakes up, can you tell her I’m at the club or something?”
“Nah its cool bro, whatever you gotta do. Immortals watch each other’s backs, aii-ite?”
Mekias grinned and bumped fists with Avi, “Thanks man.”
Avi nodded and looked at the floor as if trying to remember something, he rushed to the sink and spit out the toothpaste. “You know the natural history museum director is close friends with Commander Sheppard don’t you?”
Mekias tried to act shocked, but at this point anything seemed plausible. “How well do they know each other?”
“If anything archaeological pertaining to immortal existence surfaces anywhere in the globe there is a network of people in museums and governments who have to inform the immortal legions. Your guy is one of them. So don’t be afraid to talk about what happened, he’ll know about as much as we do about what happened.”
Mekias remembered the director acting strange over the phone yesterday.
“Thanks, I appreciate the heads up.” Mekias was about to turn around before he realized what he was wearing. “By the way Avi…you wouldn’t have any spare clothes lying around would you?”
Avi cut a wide grin on his face and let out a light laugh. “Yeah man. I got you.”
The hotel lobby was abuzz with rumors of celebrities afloat. The man of the hour was obviously Avraham Brownstein and his surprise appearance just moments earlier. The hotel manager vehemently refused to acknowledge anything in respect for his privacy, but his efforts were soon in vain.
The elevator doors opened, revealing Mekias in full Israeli Olympic team apparel. His jersey was laden with the words “Brownstein” across his shoulder blades and Hebrew letters with the acronym ISR imprinted underneath the Olympics logo. The crowd in the lobby gathered and looked in confusion, was this really the world champion himself?
“Yeah Avi, woo!” Screamed a rabid fan in the lobby.
Mekias stopped in utter confusion himself, Is he an idiot?
“Oh my god Mr. Brownstein can I get your autograph!” Shrieked a girl.
And now it began.
Avi finished freshening up before he went to sleep, but his usual nightly ritual was quickly interrupted by the Hollywood news channel. Being a celebrity himself he could not resist watching.
He cocked his head to the side and stared at the screen in shock as the latest story appeared on the screen. The headlines read: Avraham Brownstein Makes Appearance at a hotel in New York.
“Excuse me sir, we have reports of Israeli Olympic champion Avraham Brownstein in this very hotel.” Asked the reporter.
Avi recognized the man but forgot his name. He was still one of the most annoying tabloid reporters.
“Yeah uh, I thought I recognized him but I’m not sure… I only saw him at the end of the Olympic ceremony when they gave him like his seventh gold, he was dark but I didn’t think he was this dark…”
No fucking way… Thought Avi.
“As you can see,” the reporter began as he turned to the camera, “Brownstein fans everywhere are in a panic as word of his appearance at a local hotel spread on the streets of New York. Dozens of people gathered demanding information as to the secluded athlete’s whereabouts, his last public appearance being the week of his Olympic victories.”
This is stupid, damn it all. I should have given him my Speedo while I was at it…
Mekias appeared on the television amidst the crowds covering his head while camera flashes blinded him. Avi’s trademark cap and jumpsuit was an eye-sore for all those nearby. The hotel manager whispered in his ear.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Mekias shrugged, not knowing what was going on. The manager and several hotel staff held off the burgeoning mob as they helped Mekias outside.
“Excuse me ma’am, what do you think about this latest turn of events?” The reported said to a nearby woman.
“I don’t know!” Said the girl, obviously clueless, “Like, I saw this guy on TV after the Olympics and he was cute ya know! So I’m with my girls in New York for the holidays and we hear that he’s in our hotel so we’re all waiting for him to come out, and like I kind of remember him on TV…but I didn’t think he was like you know…err…dark, ya know? Isn’t he Jewish?”
Mekias overheard faint bits of the interview while the guards pushed him through the crowd. He pushed back trying to clarify his predicament on the camera.
“I’m Ethiopian! I’m not-” The guards grabbed him and took him outside.
“Oh my gosh! An Ethiopian Jew, that’s so cool!” The girl said
to the camera.
“And there you have it folks…” The editors faded in graphics on the broadcast portraying a dunce cap on the woman, “Brownstein fans, the irrevocably dumbest of the celebrity groupies.” The screen faded to a side-by-side picture of the Mekias and Avi both wearing the same clothes, the hair and skin tones were clearly different.
Avi’s cell phone began ringing, it was his agent. He took a quick glance at the phone before throwing it to the edge of the bed. He covered his head with the pillow.
“Tomorrow’s going to be a long day…”
Mekias was pushed into the cab outside and forced to leave the premises immediately. He blurted out, “The natural history museum!” The cab driver cut into the road immediately and turned at the first intersection to lose the growing crowd.
The drive was too long; the streets of New York were always busy even at night. The driver purposefully avoided Times Square knowing the rush.
For a while Mekias finally thought his luck was changing. He reclined in his seat, looking to his sides watching the shifting New York skyline from the skyscrapers to the advertisements. Central Park was New York’s staple attraction for all visitors, the only bastion of tame wilderness in the sprawling urban jungle.
Might as well walk back through Central Park on the way back… Mekias thought for a moment about the futility of that idea, especially in his clothes. On second thought, nah.
The cab arrived promptly.
He jumped out of the cab and paid the cabbie before he sped off.
Mekias stood at the entrance to the museum. After hours the grounds were quiet but he could tell that he was not alone. A man appeared from the darkness and met Mekias on the lawn.
“Mr. Yohannes?”
Mekias nodded.
“The director told us to inform you that he is waiting inside. He is in the Saurischian Dinosaurs exhibit on the fourth floor. Mekias nodded and put his hands into his pockets as he felt the air chill.
“Thanks…” He walked up to the museum entrance and found it strangely open still. The museum guards nodded to him and pointed him to the open stairwell. As he climbed the stairs he realized how creepy museums were after-hours. Guess all those kid movies about late-night museums were kind of right.
Origin: Eternity's End Page 14
