The Otherlings and the Crystal Amulet

by S V Hurn

  With daylight hours dwindling, the team scoured the area, taking preliminary readings around the pyramid and trying to find the opening to the mysteries hidden within, while John kept a watchful eye over everyone involved. He knew that if information were to leak out about what he had discovered under the Antarctic ice everything he had worked on for so many years would be jeopardized.

  John Rosen, with all his wealth and expertise, had been granted access to many top-secret operations globally, but this journey was very different from so many others that had led to dead ends. This was the hard evidence that was needed to blow the current theory of evolution out of the water. Over the years he had systematically taken over government-controlled data gathering as he carefully paved the way for his kind: an elite group that was slowly molding civilization to conform to his precious hierarchy, his New World Order.

  Soon, he would have in his possession the truth to man’s existence and prove the theory that he and a select few held the key to the future and the mysteries of our past. Discovering the answer to this enigma would be his ultimate achievement. He would substantiate his belief that written in our DNA is a code; a code left for us to decipher, a code that only a select few humans have retained in its purest form. Once the pieces were in place, his kind could find the path back to where we came from, where we belong amongst the stars.

  “First things first,” John said to himself as he took in his surroundings.

  The light was fading fast and his crew began to pack up their gear. Tomorrow they would get out heavier equipment and start peering through the layers of ice and rock surrounding the structure.

  Simon headed for the Zodiac. John watched him, intent on figuring out what was different about his friend of so many years, and called out, “I’m staying behind.” A second Zodiac was speeding toward him across the black depths. As it approached, he could see all his gear was on board as requested.

  Simon seemed stunned and annoyed by John’s decision to stay behind and hesitated before saying, “Sorry, man, but I’m freezing, and a hot shower and a hot cup of black coffee sounds real good right about now, don’t you think?”

  John smiled back at him. “Hey, we did it, and I’m exactly where I want to be.”

  Simon laughed a nervous laugh. “Yeah, we did. Try not to burn the place down while we’re gone and see you in the morning.” John threw the line as Simon climbed aboard the Zodiac.

  In minutes everyone had vacated the area just as he had hoped. John’s trust in his associates had been waning over the past few months and the truth that he was about to uncover was meant for his eyes only. The theory of an ancient power plant, possibly alien in nature, had been the best cover story for this mission. In consideration of Simon’s recent strange behavior, that would be the approach to the investigation for the time being.

  The light was fully gone now. He turned his lantern on and waited patiently for his crew to disappear into the confines of the awaiting sub.

  John was no stranger to exotic expeditions to parts of the world that only a few could access. Always in search of the same thing, the thing that had been left in his own DNA. The same code that was present in his only child, his daughter Dorathy.

  As he pitched the tent, he noticed it still showed signs of its last adventure high in the Himalayas. He smiled as he looked around the darkened cavern, the pyramid reaching high over his head as it had for the last 40,000 years, untouched by man. Man had not built this structure; man had become a mere byproduct of what had been originally intended.

  Flashlight in hand, its dull glow only slightly illuminating his path, he cautiously climbed the frozen staircase and found the depression in the stonework he had been hoping to find. Removing his glove, he pressed his hand firmly against the freezing stone and, as expected, heard a rumble from the depths of this ominous structure.

  Passing through the now-open gateway to the interior, John carefully ascended the narrow passage into a resonating chamber, its high walls baffled. He could hear the humming of the planet, its frequency in perfect tone. Continuing, he came to a chamber in the same precise dimension as he had seen countless times before, in so many pyramids across the globe. Some were hidden by jungle, ice, water or earth, majestically standing through the millennia, dominating the scenery and all lining up toward a single constellation. Centuries had passed, leaving behind the remains of a forgotten religion, but here lay the one true structure that all others had only imitated, hoping to capture our imagination and create wonder. It was the reason to question the origins of humanity from the beginning of ancient times.

  He calmly entered the chamber dimly lit by his flashlight. Inside lay an open coffer where he found what he was looking for—an entity of illumination, asleep, waiting for its release from earthly confines; its work done, its mission accomplished.

  Around the being’s neck was the key to the gates of Heaven. John shone his light over the near-transparent body and reached for the crystal amulet. As he held it in his hand, the vibrations of the crystal began to sync with his personal frequency and the amulet began to pulse.

  The creature slowly awakened, large arctic blue eyes flickering, and John stepped back, releasing the amulet—the first form of human adornment. He could sense the being accepting his presence. The entity slowly rose from its long sleep and locked eyes with John. Instantly, John was flooded with information absorbed and understood the story of our existence and the action he must take.

  The being bowed its head, removing the heavy chain from around its neck, and offered the amulet to John. John slowly extended his hand and reached out to take the glowing crystal. As he grasped it tightly removing it from the being’s hand, the creature departed in a flare of light. The being had set forth on its journey home through the southern passage that John recognized was perfectly aligned to the nebulous light, the middle point of the sword of the constellation Orion.

  John’s flashlight flickered on the ground; its power nearly drained. He looked at his watch and was shocked to see the time. Time had passed differently in those few moments; hours had gone by unchecked.

  He placed the amulet safely in his inside coat pocket and bent to retrieve his faltering flashlight. He made his way back to the tent with a warmth deep in his soul that would carry him through the rest of his life. John sat zipped in his sleeping bag and wrote in his journal:

  October 1st, 2033

  The Monks I encountered on my last journey proved to be right. What I sought was here, waiting for its release, and the truth of man’s place in the Universe is now crystal clear. My fears are justified, as I don’t believe our civilization is ready for the truth. Maybe in time we will evolve past our differences, but our differences are what will ultimately divide us.

  Evolution was not intended to degrade, but time took its toll and it is apparent in our current environment that we have a great chasm that cannot be bridged. On that note we must do everything in our power to contain what we know the truth to be, and plan for our future elsewhere. Our natural resources are growing scarce; therefore, we must move forward with our thinking. Where there is an end, there is also a beginning.

  In two weeks, I will address my brothers at Bilderberg, as it’s time to pool our resources and move forward with our goals.

  Dorathy must be protected and I fear that my life is endangered by this discovery. There are those who would want me out of the way and in time I hope to expose them who oppose me.

  My friend, my brother, Simon . . . I feel there is something very troublesome there. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he seems to be defiant and fights me on every advance. Perhaps time will tell.

  His room dark, John Rosen was sitting in an oversized Georgian chair, upholstered in the finest silk cloth. He was nursing his now warm martini and gazing at the sun as it set over the mountain peaks. It cast beautiful shades of amber, pink, and purple which reflected off the lake.

  His hotel room door lock clicked and creaked as it was slowly opened.
Without looking up, John now knew who had wanted him out of the way and he was saddened by the betrayal.

  “Have you come to finish the job?” he asked, still looking out his picture window.

  Although the voice was familiar, the sinister laugh was foreign. “Tragically, you still don’t know who I am.”

  John slowly turned, his last sunset etched in his mind’s eye, “What have you done, Simon?”

  “Oh no . . . I’m not your precious lap dog anymore . . . now I’m in charge. Even your Illuminati brothers can’t protect you now.”

  John could just make out the familiar face in the fading light, but the eyes were different somehow: hollow and without a soul. Not many had been able to outsmart the mighty Doctor Rosen, but this . . . he didn’t see coming. He accepted his fate as he turned back to the window, the lovely colors fading to black of night. The last thing John saw was the face of his trusted friend reflected in the glass of the window.

  The still glowing crystal amulet, hung on its chain made of a foreign metal, dangled to the floor as John’s body went limp, his bloodied face pressed against the glass. His assassin bent over to pry the crystal from his lifeless hand.

  Simon studied the amulet, pondering what powers it might possess, as the light faded from its core.

  John always had the last laugh.

  CHAPTER 1

  From the time Dorathy Rosen was a child, she had looked to the stars as her escape. She gazed upon them and wondered about a life away from her turmoil, an escape from a life of constant torment. Her mother had died when she was four years old, and her father had raised her the only way he knew. It may not have been the best way, but it had been the only way he could keep her with him. Dorathy became accustomed to a life of being uprooted, moving from one country to the next, from one school to the next. The trials of fitting in had taken a toll and she began to respond to the constant ridicule of her classmates with hostility. Occasionally, she answered their taunts with physical aggression.

  Her father was her rock, but to rely on him was somehow foreign to her. She knew even at that young age, that the only person she could rely on was herself. Dorathy wished every day that somehow today would be different, that perhaps someone would have a kind word for her. But she was always merely another new target.

  Her father grew weary of the calls informing him that Dorathy was being sent home from her most recent school —although her private driver always offered a warm and understanding smile, shaking his head in amusement as she jumped into the front seat slamming the door behind her. John would come home late at night and would hear his daughter crying in frustration. He would rap on her bedroom door and calmly ask why so many tears, what had the other kids said to her today that left her so upset? She would wipe her eyes and softly say, “Kids called me ugly and told me I was stupid.” Stupid was the one thing she knew she was not, but she felt she was the only person who knew it. Her father would sigh and wipe her tears away while examining her wounds.

  “Dora, listen honey, you can’t just go around slugging people in the face when they call you a bad name. You have to be stronger and wiser than that.”

  Dorathy struggled to understand what her father meant. She pleaded her case. “School is boring, and I just plain hate all of the other kids, and the teachers are mean to me, and I just don’t want to go any more.”

  Her father would just sigh and look into her sad, big brown eyes and tell her that the kids picked on her because they were jealous of her smarts and her beauty. This gave her little comfort and she wished the kids could just accept her and not torture her as relentlessly as they did. John tried to give her other words of comfort, but the reality was that Dorathy excelled academically and was not being challenged. It became quite clear that something needed to change, and it was obvious she needed help.

  John believed that the only way to get through to Dorathy was to enroll her into a program for academically gifted children. The next stop was the Far East, where he felt she would find her way, to learn, to study, and to find patience and awareness with meditation and discipline. The martial arts would give her the tools and the education would allow her to grow into a woman of substance. It was the right balance, and the formula worked. Dorathy grew to understand the world around her and became wiser than her years.

  A love of science and engineering took hold and the past was never going to interfere with her ever again. After all, it would not be logical for one’s past to dictate one’s future.

  As the years pressed on, John Rosen continued to make a vast fortune, at a time when modern civilization had come together to neutralize the ever- growing threats of hostile terrorist and corrupt governments. And then in one fell swoop, a mass military strike comprised of militaries from dozens of countries was coordinated. During this strike, Weapons of Mass Destruction were found and destroyed. It was to be the war that ended all wars.

  The strike was to eliminate the world of corruption, radicalism, fanaticisms, and genocide, but in order to rid the world of these evils once and for all, the attacks had to be planned as if a cancer needed to be surgically excised without compromising the healthy tissue that surrounded it. The chaos that followed this day of reckoning obliged the free world to step away from what remained of that part of the planet. Whoever was still standing and fighting against the rest were left to their own devices. That part of the world was simply called the “derogated section.” Humanity that was left within that realm of corruption was slowly becoming extinct, their DNA rapidly degrading. It appeared as if there was something buried deep within their very existence that prevented them from evolving past the hate and the barbaric behavior. They were slowly de-evolving.

  Keeping the area isolated had been the most complex issue, but over time it became easier. Eventually all mankind would come together and work in unison to better itself. The planet could begin the healing process. Once all the turmoil had vanished from the globe, the world’s resources were finally put to good use and technologies advanced in leaps and bounds. The planet and its population of nearly 9.5 billion souls were symbiotic; planet Earth and its inhabitants had come together at last. For a time, humankind searched for an everlasting peace that would bind all humans together for eternity. But as things go, there is always an end that leads to a new beginning; nothing is forever.

  During this time the consumption of fossil fuel had become obsolete. John had designed and manufactured Green Energy, the first commercially utilized hydrogen-on-demand combustion engine. All it required was water, and through the process of electrolysis would produce hydrogen as a clean-burning, highly efficient means of energy.

  After his success with hydrogen engines, John invested heavily in Deep Space Industries. This company had been formed decades before to develop the means of capturing asteroids to mine the rare minerals that lay within. Scientists began to develop new uses for these rare-to-Earth deposits of minerals, and technologies became even more sophisticated.

  As different types of technologies were developed, John would invest in those that showed promise and put in place a team to accelerate their progress. While his fortune grew, he continued to invest in a variety of companies, one of which was exploring methods to use 3-D Bioprinting in the development of human body parts. This new technology engendered miraculous medical advances and people were living much longer. With greater longevity, people were able to expand their intellect to achieve other great discoveries. A momentous milestone was reached with the development of synthetic DNA; humans now had the ability to create life.

  All these changes had impacted the world. John and Dorathy traveled together to remote places of the globe to determine how they could make things better for humanity. When her father was murdered, Dorathy was devastated by his death but she was certain that one day she would see her parents again on the other side. Though bound to science, her faith in a Creator was unshakeable. The only proof she needed was to look at the universe that surrounds us all. Her simple response
to the naysayers was always ‘absence of proof is not proof of absence.’

  Dorathy had gone on to college to continue her education and earned a dual doctoral degree from MIT. It was no surprise to anyone that her chosen fields would be aerospace engineering and astrophysics. After graduating, she met her first love and faced an untimely pregnancy. Although it was truly not part of her plan, she went on to have her baby girl. It had been the best decision she ever made. The decision to marry, however, had been against her better judgment and she found herself raising her daughter alone when her marriage came to a tragic, but not unexpected, end. Her husband wasn’t so much a bad person, as he was merely a man whom she could no longer tolerate. He thought her desire for mutual respect was obstinate He no longer found himself attracted to her, just as she found the relationship tiresome and uneventful. All, if any, passion that had been there once had vaporized long ago. It was not long before her husband had become detached and found himself with another woman. He wasted no time remarrying.

  Dorathy thought of his new wife Tiffany as a short, skinny bag of bones, lacking natural womanly curves. She lacked any ambition to do something meaningful with her life and adopted an attitude of ‘what can you do for me’ instead of asking herself what she might be able to do for others. Dorathy was mystified by her ex-husband’s attraction to his new wife, but as much as she wanted to deny that she had been untouched by his choice, she couldn’t help but think that somehow, she had let him down.

  Nevertheless, she had a beautiful daughter and had given her the name Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Her name stood for wisdom; to know a life worth living, and war-to make a life worth fighting for. Athena had also grown to be wise beyond her years; to look into her eyes was to believe she carried with her an old soul. Dorathy loved her as fiercely as any mother could. Athena was her best friend, confidant, and a reflection of herself. She treasured her connection with her daughter as it was the relationship she wished she could have had with her own mother.