Origins (38 page)

“I hope you don’t mind my waiting in here,” Hastelloy began.  “I didn’t sleep well last night so I got here a bit early.  Tara was kind enough to let me sit in these comfortable chairs rather than those rickety torture devices you have in the waiting area.”

“Not at all,” Jeffrey assured his patient.  He thought it odd Hastelloy would choose to sit in one of the chairs for comfort rather than the sofa on the other side of the coffee table, but each to his own he figured.

“I had a bit of a coincidence hit me last week,” Dr. Holmes said
while taking his seat in the chair across from Hastelloy and gestured for the man to return to his own.  “I have a younger brother who works for the US government and has been in Cairo Egypt all week on assignment.  I asked him to visit the pyramids for me to see if he has any luck finding the four extra rooms in the great pyramid you mentioned or the large hidden chamber inside the Sphinx.”

“Fascinating,” Hastelloy countered with a straight face.  “If he calls back today with news of his discovery then will I get to walk out the front door of this place with you tonight?”

“Anything’s possible,” Jeffrey laughed while he opened his notebook to where he left off last week and made ready to add to the multiple pages of chicken scratch he had already accumulated.  “Let’s see what today’s discussion brings first shall we?”

“When our session ended last week you just finished with the destruction of the Alpha ship over the Great Pyramid and the story of Mosa and the slave exodus from Egypt.  Would you care to pick it up from there?” Dr. Holmes prompted.

Hastelloy pursed his lips in contemplation for a few moments and then shook his head.  “No, not really.  Nothing of lasting importance happened for a few thousand years after that.  I wouldn’t want to bore you with such a mundane time period.”

Jeffrey was a bit disappointed at the patient steering away from the story.  He had revealed significant emotional connections to this Mosa character and was probably venturing fairly close to the traumatic event that triggered his delusion.  Such backtracking was to be expected after a week of reflection and rebuilding of mental defensive walls.  He would let the patient wander
back to that point on his own. Forcing the issue at this point could be quite harmful.

“Well then let me put it to you,” Dr. Holmes conceded.  “Where would you like to continue your revised version of my people’s recorded history?”

Hastelloy leaned forward in his chair so his elbows came to rest on his knees and pointed an index finger toward Jeffrey.  “How well do you know the story surrounding the rise of the Roman Empire?”

“I am aware of the legend of Romulus and
Remus being fed by a wolf and eventually founding the city,” Dr. Holmes said.

“No, no, that’
s just about founding the city of Rome itself.  I am talking about one man rising above all the senators, generals, and wealthy aristocrats to grab hold of civilization itself and mold it into perfection.  Despite insurmountable adversity all four pans of the Neo Scale: technology, social conscience, leadership ethics, and religion were brought into flawless balance to propel mankind tens of thousands of years ahead of schedule.

Jeffrey expressed a sheepish grin before giving his reply.  “I must have been asleep for that history lesson, but it certainly sounds interesting to me now.  Maybe it all has to do with the man giving the history lesson because my seventh grade teacher was all about memorizing dates and names.”

“It’s a pity you slept through those lessons,” Hastelloy said with genuine regret.  “There is no more fascinating time in the history of mankind than when a simple centurion rose to rule the known world and made civilization all the better for it.

“Roman legions did not go undefeated for a thousand years by accident.  Roman engineers did not just stumble upon the formula for concrete to construct mesmerizing structures so long ago by chance.  Everything transpired by careful design for the greater good.”

Jeffrey felt his hands go numb with excitement.  Hastelloy’s brand of history was infinitely more interesting than that of the text books.  He licked the tip of his pencil and made ready to take notes.