Manny holds Lauren, his fiancee’s life gushing from the still-expanding scarlet gap in her waist. ‘Lauren! Lauren!’
She glances up at him, unable to speak, her face pale and drained.
‘Oh, God, Lauren, don’t leave me!’
The hazel eyes glass over. The pulse in her neck stops beating.
‘Oh, God! Oh, God, help!’
Kurtz scans the stadium with his smart-glasses. ‘We’re sitting ducks out here. Pep, grab Manny.’
Lauren Beckmeyer’s remains continue disintegrating in blood-soaked clumps. Immanuel releases her detached upper torso and stands in rigid defiance against Ryan Beck’s grip and the blasting wind, his fists balled, tears streaming from his azure-blue eyes as he looks up and screams, ‘Ja-cob!’
The gold starship continues its majestic ascent into the swirling heavens until it disappears into the diminishing blue eye of the storm – leaving him behind.
A wisp of thought, in the consciousness of existence.
The site of the gold-paneled starship on that distant moon did something to me.
Michael Gabriel’s anguished soul seemed to cry out to me for your mother, or maybe it was Bill Raby’s tortured heart, refusing to go on without his Jude.
Whatever it was, I had finally had enough. Aiming a high-energy taser at my head, I pulled the trigger – and awoke!
Bill Raby was gone. I was Michael Gabriel again, still aboard the Guardian’s pod, only my vessel was no longer moving through space, I was hovering over the alien moon.
Moments later the pod landed in the domed subterranean facility.
Before me stood the Guardian survivors, behind them the Balam.
The wormhole…
The time loop…
Am I conscious, or is this all a dream?
Am I Michael Gabriel or Bill Raby?
Where am I? On a moon somewhere in the Orion Belt, or lying unconscious in solitary confinement back in my cell in Massachusetts?
Michael Gabriel? One Hunahpu?
Bill Raby? Osiris?
Jacob, are you there? Are you real, or are you part of the delusions?
Michael?
Dominique?
God, why must you torture me? Why must you…
The white fog! Two pinpoints… angry violet eyes, stare at me from within the nexus haze.
‘One Hunahpu…’
Her shadow appears, her form pushing forward… cocoa skin… so intoxicating. The Abomination! How could I have let my guard down?
‘Come closer, One Hunahpu, so that I might taste your soul.’
No, please… God! God help me!
‘God? God is like eternity, his existence cold and lonely. Bathe in my heat, Michael, and let me thaw your mind. Crawl into my womb as I entwine your being. Inhale my breath as I caress your lonely soul.’
No! I am Michael Gabriel. I am One Hunahpu. I am in control. I control my mind, not the Abomination. My mind is a safe haven.
‘The Guardian have deceived you, Michael. I am not your enemy, I am your salvation.’
… I will focus on the echoes of my mind and not the coos of the Abomination. I shall control my mind, and the Abomination cannot hurt me. I shall retell my tale to my sons, and occupy my thoughts ‘No more tales. Our destiny together begins anew as we await the arrival of your sons.’
Boys, can you hear me? Jacob? Stay away! The Abomination knows you’re coming!
‘The cosmos has turned a deaf ear, Michael. Now, there is only us.’
No! God is out there, God will help me!
‘God? God is dead, Michael – a mere wisp of thought, in the consciousness of existence…’
PART 7
God is testing us, to see if we can kill the Satan within us…
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Each of us makes our own prisons, and each of us has the ability to set ourselves free.
Love is all you need…
36
The 722-foot-long starship cruiser, Balam, is divided into two main decks. In the lower deck, located midships to stern, is the propulsion chamber and its twin power cores, with extensive feeder assemblies and circuits growing out of the bulkheads and deck. Designed into this compartment is the Balam ’s massive solar plant, with links to the ship’s recycling water supply with distillers, gravity mats, and a myriad of machinery responsible for the starship’s force field and weapons system.
At the heart of the vessel is the Balam ’s central processing cortex and its immense biochemical brain. Sealed within an immense chamber of gelatinous liquid, this beehive of nanocircuits crackles with energy. Neuroclusters fire in the isolated darkness like a million fireflies. Fluid-filled sensory vacuoles branch out from the biochemical organ, interconnecting every neuroprocessing center within the ship.
The rest of the lower deck is devoted to the hyperdrive system and ‘scoop’ that channels tachyon particles from space into the vent-style gills located along the ship’s wings, essentially ‘pulling’ the Balam through the cosmos.
Embedded in every bulkhead, ceiling, and deck are artificial gravity node emitters, set to normal Earth gravity. Inertia dampeners protect flight crew operators from possible injuries caused by sudden acceleration, deceleration, or rapid changes in direction. Voice controls in each room can adjust ambient light, humidity, and
