her by her wrist, refusing to let go, as Mick walks purposefully toward the dead alien serpent’s open mouth-the entrance into the nexus.
‘Let me go! Mick, what are you doing-’
‘I’m sorry, Dominique. I love you-’
He steps over the bottom rows of teeth and enters the serpent’s mouth… leaving her forever Forever…
‘I love you Dominique…’
Forever…
‘Ma… thank you. I love you.’
‘I love you, too, Manny. ’
Forever…
‘ Be happy. ’
Forever…
Her eyes flash open as she screams, ‘Jacob!’
The transport ship leaps clear of the olive green whirlwind, climbs into the atmosphere, and races into space.
Mick’s eyes flash open as he regains consciousness. ‘No… no!’
Dominique grabs hold of him as the pod rockets higher. ‘Shh… it’s okay-’
‘No! I am One Hunahpu! I am One Hunahpu!’
‘Mick, it’s me, it’s Dominique-’
‘Abomination… trying to kill me… seeping into my mind… I am One Hunahpu… I am in control… I control my mind, not the Abomination.’ He tears at his hair. ‘Oh, God, oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God-’
Dominique struggles to restrain him as invisible hands guide the ship toward the potato-shaped moon.
Mick thrashes wildly, his madness like a raging tsunami. ‘My mind
… a safe haven. My mind… protects me… a cave. Oh, God, let me die! I want to die! Let me die, let me die-’
The moon-shaped vessel appears in the view screen, an immense eighteen-mile-long, twelve-mile-wide iridium transport ship, its hull pockmarked by indentations and one very massive crater-sized dent.
‘Abomination! Abomination! I will focus on the cave walls and not the exit and the Abomination cannot harm me!’
‘Mick, stop, it’s me! It’s Dominique!’
A tractor beam grabs hold of the pod, guiding it inside a landing bay.
The craft stops with a jolt. The pod’s hatch pops open, revealing the three Guardian elders.
Mick is screaming, tearing at his harness.
The female Guardian reaches inside the pod and touches her palm to his forehead. ‘Sleep.’
Mick’s eyes roll upward, and he passes out.
The younger male grabs his wrist, effortlessly lifting him out of the ship, hoisting his inert body over his shoulder as if carrying a small child.
The female reaches inside the pod to assist Dominique.
She pushes the female’s hand away. ‘You lied to us. Why didn’t you tell us this was Earth? Why didn’t you tell us the Nephilim were dead?’
The female offers her a motherly look… as she touches her forehead.
Dominique blacks out.
An azure lagoon, surrounded by a lush tropical jungle. A cool breeze stirs the palm fronds.
Dominique climbs onto the foam cushion, lies back, and floats.
‘Dominique? Dominique, dear, it’s time to wake up.’
She opens her eyes, staring into the female’s face. ‘Where-’
‘Safe. On the transport.’
Dominique sits up, feeling light-headed. The female Guardian helps her off a free-floating medical table, then points to a solid wall.
A viewport projects upon the metallic surface. The image reveals they are traveling in outer space, the silvery red world growing smaller in the distance.
Jake…
Dominique turns to the female. ‘Jacob is dead. Why did he have to die? To save a bunch of evil people?’
‘The Nephilim were not evil, my dear, they were lost lambs, led astray. It was God’s will that they be saved. Jacob’s sacrifice saved his own soul and theirs.’
‘And Devlin?’
‘That, I cannot say.’
Dominique rubs her eyes, thinking about everything. ‘So what happens now?’
‘The Earth we knew is long gone. By returning through the wormhole and into the past, we may yet be able to prevent the holocaust that destroys human civilization.’
The female’s attention turns inward as she listens to an incoming telepathic message. ‘Come. Michael needs you.’
Dominique follows her through a short corridor into the main compartment of the transhumans’ transport ship. She looks around, incredulous.
There are close to a million of them-eight-foot-high cryogenic pods, set in countless rows on multiple levels throughout the eighteen-mile-long vessel.
Dominique peers inside the frosted glass at the gangly being inside. ‘The posthumans?’
The female nods. ‘Their souls are finally at peace.’
She leads Dominique to an immense vaultlike door at the very core of the ship. At the female’s telepathic command, the door swings open, revealing the interior of a spherical chamber.
The two women enter. ‘This chamber is a secured pod, its power source and life-support systems independent of the rest of the ship. Its walls create white noise which serves to shield its occupants from telepathic communication, in essence, rendering it a quiet zone.’
At the center of the chamber are two drained cryogenic pods. A myriad of hoses and wires run from each machine into the floor, linking the pod to a series of enigmatic devices lining one wall of the room.
Harnessed within one of these cryogenic glass chambers is Michael Gabriel. He is unconscious and naked. The elder male Guardian hovers over him, securing a series of star-shaped electrodes to points along his scalp, crown, forehead, solar plexus, heart, sacrum, and feet.
Dominique moves closer. ‘What are you doing to him?’
‘The experience of fighting off the Abomination for so long has damaged One Hunahpu’s mind. The only way to restore his sanity is to rebuild his memories.’
The female takes Dominique’s hand. ‘The posthumans’ technology gives us the ability to manipulate Michael’s mind, to place him into soothing, safe virtual-environments that will allow us to nurture him back to sanity. But the therapy requires a hands-on guide, someone who knows One Hunahpu intimately… someone he trusts.’
Dominique stares at the empty cryogenic pod. ‘What do I have to do?’
The male Guardian speaks. ‘We’ll place both of you under a light anesthetic, then link your mind to One Hunahpu’s using the posthumans’ virtual-reality device. Your consciousness will maintain complete control over the device, giving you access into One Hunahpu’s thoughts, allowing you to guide him through his rehabilitation.’
‘Why the anesthetic?’
The male gazes at her with his piercing blue eyes. ‘The VR device will not activate until you enter REM sleep. The anesthetic assists in this endeavor. Since it will take many sessions before One Hunahpu begins to show progress, I suggest we begin the first therapy sessions immediately.’
‘Therapy.’ Dominique laughs nervously. ‘That’s how the two of us met.’
The female smiles. ‘He loves you, my dear. The therapy will not only heal his damaged mind, it will allow the two of you to be together. Once inside the pod, you will not be able to distinguish your shared virtual existence from the real world.’
Dominique is beyond exhaustion, her body in constant pain. ‘I think I could use a break from the real
