Gene of Isis

Akbar fixed me in his gaze. ‘He seeks the Plane of Shar-on.’

I frowned. ‘But the Plain of Sharon is in Israel.’

‘That is a longstanding confusion,’ he informed me. ‘The Plane of Shar-on is not of this world. In pyramid texts it is called the Field of Iaru.’

‘The dimension of the blessed.’ I had heard of that.

‘It is the dimension of the orbit of light,’ Akbar stated.

‘Well, that sounds like a nice place. I can understand why Molier would want to go there.’ I rolled with it. ‘I still don’t see the malicious intent.’

‘Molier shall never achieve his goal,’ Akbar assured me. ‘An abomination such as he could never ascend to Shar-on. The porthole would be shut down forever if he attempted to utilise it. Our problem is that Molier still believes this avenue is open to him, via a daughter of Isis, such as you are.’

From reading about Earnest Devere’s heightened psychic awareness, obtained through his union with Ashlee, I suspected I knew what Akbar was driving at. ‘Then…I would not be of use to Molier unless I love him.’

‘Exactly.’ Akbar was pleased that I was following his explanation. ‘But Molier could enchant you into believing that he is a man you love. If you currently hold feelings for someone he could assume their appearance in order to get to you. Does any one man hold your heart at this time?’

What an embarrassing question to be asked with Albray crouched right alongside me. If I said no, I might give Albray the wrong impression, and as I doubted that Molier could impersonate a ghost and get away with it, there was no point trying to explain Albray to Akbar.

‘I would not ask if the answer was not vital for your protection,’ Akbar prompted, as I was taking so long to reply.

‘There is not a man alive who interests me at present,’ I told him in all honesty.

‘Are you sure?’ Akbar grilled. ‘No movie stars you have a crush on?’

I laughed and shook my head. ‘I’m far more likely to have a crush on a professor than a movie star, but all the same, there is no one.’

‘Then that only leaves Molier the option of enchanting you into believing that you are in love with him.’ Akbar was thinking out loud.

‘You make him sound like a sorcerer.’

‘That is exactly what he is.’ Akbar awarded me his full attention once more. ‘He has cheated his physical nature on every level, and now he seeks to cheat the cosmic order on a spiritual level as well.’

‘He expects that a union with me is going to do that for him?’

‘No.’ Akbar smiled, amused by my naivety. ‘He would seduce you only in order to open the door to the temple complex inside this mountain. He needs a daughter of the blood to do that.’

‘So he does.’ I bit my lip as I considered this. ‘So, Molier is of the blood too,’ I assumed.

Akbar shook his head. ‘That is why he is an abomination. No other man in recorded history who did not carry the Gene of Isis has ever been fed the “ambrosia of the gods”. It is our understanding that only those souls who are ready for spiritual advancement will be born into the bloodline, and to abuse divine order is an offence against the gods. Molier does not carry the gene of Isis in his molecular structure, so the Fire-Stone substance could not react on it to activate his spiritual enlightenment. However, it has mutated his DNA in ways that we could not, and cannot, predict. He is the only abomination of his kind that we know of so there is no precedent for his crime.’

‘So Molier is after the Star and Fire vials,’ I ventured, ‘but to what end? It is my understanding that the Star substance is virtually useless to a man unless he has the love of a daughter of the bloodline.’

‘You know about the vials?’ Akbar was obviously very curious to know how I got that information.

I only nodded so that he would continue to fill me in on what he knew.

‘Urim-Schumir and Thummim-Schethiya—the Fire-Stone and the Highward Fire-Stone—are treasures of the House of Gold. When these are brought together over the Ark of the Covenant they manifest unified light and perfection and create a porthole to the Plane of Shar-on.’

Now I was beginning to fathom the big picture, although I could scarcely believe it. ‘Are you trying to tell me that the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in this mountain?’ In Hereford’s account regarding the Star-Fire Temple, he and his wife had never opened the door in that inner chamber. Was this what it contained?

‘I could not tell you,’ Akbar conceded, as the door to the complex had not been opened in several lifetimes. ‘But it is said that one of the Arks is still hidden here.’

‘One of the Arks?’ I queried, believing that only one existed.

‘Even a text as incomplete as the Bible clearly hints at this, for it mentions both the Ark of the Covenant that was made by Bezaleel to house the Tables of Testimony and the Ark built by Moses, supposedly to house the Ten Commandments.’

‘And which of these is thought to be housed in this mountain?’ I queried.

‘Hard to say,’ Akbar admitted, ‘for both were fashioned here on Mt Serabit.’

‘Well, what is the worst that could happen if Molier succeeded in his aims? The porthole to Sharon would be closed?’

‘That would be the beginning of the end for this world,’ Akbar said emphatically. ‘Denied access to the Plane of Shar-on, Molier would still have access to the most powerful tool known to mankind, but there are specific instructions for the handling of the Ark. If these rules are not obeyed it will kill without warning, and the fury of its unleashed power will cause plagues and tumours upon the earth.’