Sentinels of the Cosmos Trilogy (28 page)

Juan and Ruth ran down the third floor corridor of
Presbyterian Hospital towards Maria's room.
Esperanza is standing in the hall outside the room
looking through the glass window at her daughter
again in the 3-D printing machine. Esperanza sees
Juan and runs into his arms.
"They don't know if they can save her," Esperanza
says desperately.
"She is going to be fine," Juan assures her.
"How can you know that?” she says and who is this?"
"Oh, this is my new partner, Ruth Knowing," Juan
answers.
Esperanza looks at Juan in horror. "Are you sleeping
with this woman, you bring your mistress to the bed
of your dying daughter?" she slaps Juan across the
face.
"She's my FBI Special Agent partner!" Juan pleads.
"She's adorable!" Esperanza says.
"She's also a machine," Juan says.
Esperanza looks at Ruth her grief is palpable. She
looks back at the room and says sarcastically, "Nice
of you to show up!"
Ruth looks into the room at Esperanza and then
enters.
"You can't go in there any germ could kill her!"
Esperanza screams.
"She's a machine!" Juan says again.
Ruth goes over to the machine and watches it work.
She just stands there looking at it. Suddenly Chase
slowly materializes next to her.
Juan, in a knee jerk reaction, tries to enter the room.
Chase looks at Juan and Esperanza and mouths,
"Trust me." and then locks the door.
Chase and Ruth look at each other. Chase lifts his
hand and the machine turns off. All the working arms
stop. He goes over to Maria and places his hands
above her. A hologram of her interior appears. Both
he and Ruth begin manipulating the images. Their
hands move faster than the eye can see. With the two
of them working together within a few moments
Maria's color comes rushing back. The hologram
disappears.
Esperanza and Juan try to enter the room but the door
stays locked. Chase pulls up a chair and sits next to
Maria and she slowly wakes up.
"Chase," Maria says quietly.
He takes her hand and squeezes it saying, "Are you
feeling any better?"
"I'm feeling much better," Maria says, "Who's she?"
"Just a friend," Chase replies, kissing her on the head.
Maria sits up and hugs Chase, "I always knew that
you were my savior."
"We always did understand each other," Chase
replies.
The door opens and Juan and Esperanza come
flooding into the room and fly to Maria's side.
"Is she OK?" Juan asks Chase.
"She's OK," he returns.
"Better?" Juan asks.
"Better," Chase replies quietly.
Esperanza adds with a smile, "I don't know what the
two of you did, but thank you, and you Ruth are much
too adorable to be my husband’s partner."
Then Juan and Esperanza both hug Chase who puts
his great arms around the both of them.
"Beauty is only skin deep you silly humans!" Ruth
returns.
"That's the problem but Ruth you're OK with me; you
helped save our daughter and for that I will always be
eternally grateful. How did Chase know to come?"
Esperanza asks.
"I told him to come. I'm connected to all vibrations,"
Ruth says matter-of-factly.
Chase goes over to Maria and stands in front of her.
"You're not human are you? Maria asks as she takes
Chase's hand.
"No I'm a Sentinel from a planet called Kalactin,
quite a distance from here," says Chase as he changes
into his alien form.
"I guess I can't marry you," Maria says.
"I'm already married! You're not surprised by my
form?" Chase asks.
"No, I always knew you were not of this earth, but I
also knew that you would be there for me. Somehow
we’re connected." Maria says as Chase quickly
changes back into his human form as the doctors
come running into the room.
Chase and Ruth exit stealthily as Ruth says,
"Interesting creatures, human's!"
"Very interesting," Chase says.
"What am I?" Ruth asks.
"I can't answer that question. Whether you’re human
or machine or even a combination you have to answer
that question for yourself," says Chase who then
vanishes.
"I'm very conflicted," Ruth says.
"We're all conflicted; accept it!" Chase’s voice echoes
in her head.

“What have you done?” Ian says.
“You both did this; it’s your fault, not mine. They
were all very small nukes, do you want to try for
another or a dozen or can I safely enter my place of
work now?” Charles asks.
Ian and Trip are staggered by his cold-blooded
overreaction.
Charles looks bemused and says, “Ian? Are you
alright? You look a little shocked. You should
always
listen to what I have to say. I mean every word of it. I
want you to pull back, to pull back
now
! Am I making
myself clear?” And with that he begins his walk up
the stairs. Several of the soldiers point their guns at
Charles but Trip indicates that they should put them
down. Everyone stands stunned, in horror, as Charles
walks up the stairs like a modern day Nero.
At just that moment Juan and Ruth are in a helicopter
coming into Washington and they see the flash and
the tell-tale mushroom cloud rising in the distance.
"My God what has happened," Juan gasps.
"Charles has launched six nukes. When Trip Wagner
tried to arrest him he did this as a warning and
threatened to do more, if Trip and Ian don’t back off."
Ruth explains.
Juan just sits back in horror, "What have we done,
what is wrong with us?"
Ruth responds, "A great deal!"
Trip was sitting in his parked car in front of the
armory chain smoking cigarettes. He took deep drags
and then laid his head back for a few moments of rest.
Ian walked over, got in next to him, didn’t say a word
and took one of Trip’s cigarettes.
“Today I smoke, may I?” Ian asked.
“Be my guest,” Trip replied. “You know, cigarettes
are great, too bad they kill you.”
Ian paused and then spoke, “I used to smoke, then I
stopped and now I’m starting again.”
“Me too,” Trip replied.
Ian says, “Anyway, the first reports are nearly as bad
as I expected. The nuke detonated in Cold Harbor a
small town just outside of Richmond. The number of
people killed is estimated as fewer than 20,000. It
could have been much worse. It was a disaster, but
could have been a worse disaster. You know Cold
Harbor was the site of one of the worse union defeats
of the Civil War. 7,000 men died in less than twenty
minutes. History has a way of repeating itself, even in
the same spots.”
“How are we going to take Charles down?” Trip
asked.
“Carefully,” Ian replied.
Chase and Ally stand in front of the wide transparent
wall in Beneizen’s Tanimbar home staring at the
scene around the Armory and suddenly see the
mushroom cloud rising in the distance to the south.
"We have to intervene," Chase opens.
"Absolutely," Ally responds.
"Making Charles a Klacknel turned out to be a
terrible idea. Beneizen really did need a mate.
Working on his own, he made some terrible
decisions, and we’re going to have to clean it all up,"
Ally says.
"I agree, if you transfer a sick distorted, unbalanced
personality into a synthetic organism, you end up
with a sick, distorted sociopath in a powerful body;
what was he thinking?" Chase replies.
"Maybe we could fold time backwards and deal with
Charles directly in a different manner," Ally says.
"Yes, but then we would have no justification for the
actions we’re going to have to take. As terrible as it
may have been this unspeakable attack justifies
any
actions we may take," Chase continues, speaking
slowly, "This is a possible turning point for mankind maybe even its last chance. Let's give them all a taste
of their true future. Let them witness, for a time the
conditions under which the earth and all of its
creatures will have to exist within the next century
and make them all see and experience the results of
the world they have created for the end of their lives
and the lives of their children with their actions
and
inactions
. Let them live a day or two in a time in the
future, agreed?"
"Agreed," breathes Ally.
Charles is sitting in his large chair as Ally and Chase
teleport themselves directly to the EOJ conference
room. As Chase and Ally appear, Charles greets
them with, "I succeeded in my mission. When you
managed to stop the test in New York I had to take
matters into my own hands. I succeeded even more
quickly than I had planned,” Charles boasts,
justifying his actions.
"Charles, you killed nearly a half- million people
worldwide and the nuclear fallout added to all the
other indignities the earth has suffered could render
this planet unlivable for all of organic life. How can
you bear the responsibility for something like that?"
Ally asks.
"Where are Beneizen and Sam? I think they would
approve," Charles replies defiantly.
"No Charles, Beneizen didn't approve. What we
understand is that we can't allow the transfer of a sick
personality like yours into a powerful, healthy
lifeform like a Klacknel. What you've done will
require us to destroy you. You are beyond
redemption." Chase threatens.
"You can't hurt me, I'm immortal," Charles says.
Ally turns into to her true life form; tall, porcelain and
black eyed as she lifts Charles out of his chair with a
wave of her hand and hangs him motionless in midair.
Charles is reduced to nothing but a collection of
Nano-genetic cells which appear as great cloud of
dust. She has disassembled him at a cellular level and
then as dramatically as she took him apart she puts
him back together again. Charles is stunned by both
his experience and by seeing Chase and Ally in their
natural forms.
"What did you do to me and what are you?" Charles
asks tremulously - he is shaking, "I was just doing
what I was told to. I was reducing world population
according to the plan."
"That's what happens when you have no sense of self,
no conscience, when you are acting as no more than a
machine. You think you know. Knowing is a terrible
disease Charles and the combination of ‘knowing’
with power is a disaster waiting to happen," Chase
continues. "We're going to alter you Charles.
Beneizen made a terrible mistake in leaving you with
your personality. Putting that imbalanced personality
in a powerful organism is horrific and Beneizen will
pay the price for his actions for eternity. He was
trying to help you find yourself. But you’re too
damaged, too far gone."
"What are you going to do to me?" Charles pleads.
"Unfortunately, for the moment we have an important
use for you and fortunately very few people know
what you did. A Klacknel is a powerful organism and
making you one is like giving a grenade to an infant.
A Klacknel has the power to have all information in
the world at once. It can control all mechanical
devices. We're going to modify you Charles," Ally
says.
"What do you mean you're going to modify me?"
Charles asks fearfully.
"We're going to reprogram you. You'll appear the
same to the world, but we’re going to balance your
mind, body and feelings. That is your punishment and
it could even be a reward. You are going to serve
something much higher than yourself, but without
ever having the ability to taste and experience the
higher self. You will have no soul. Human's call it
Hell. You will be a slave."
"To whom or what will I be a slave?" Charles asks.
"To your own mechanically," Ally says. And Charles
is then modified and reprogrammed on the spot to the
specifications of Chase and Ally.
Juan and Ruth exit the helicopter as it lands a few
hundred feet away from where Trip and Ian are
standing in front of the armory still in a state of
shock. They all look at the mushroom shaped cloud of
the explosion slowly dissipating in the distance.
Juan asks, "So Charles Dean did this all by himself?"
Trip replies, “It appears so."
Juan says, “That seems impossible.”
"Obviously not, and he didn't do it alone, the
President would have had to supply the launch codes
or he wouldn't have had the access to do that. The
President is a Guard and Charles could have been
controlling him," Ruth explains.
"There are forces at play here I don't understand at
all!" Juan says quietly.
“Right now he's in the EOJ offices in the armory with
his Guards. We need to bring in the army. This is
going to be a big operation, and very messy, Call
General Heathcliff,” says Ian.
"Do we know who he's got in there with him?” Ruth
asks.
"No, we don't. I suggest we get hold of Sam Nichols
immediately. He may know a way to defuse the
situation more amicably or try and find Chase Stern,"
Juan suggests.
Ruth says in a matter-offact tone says, "We’ve also
just gotten a report that there were a number of other
nuclear explosions around the world; so far we know
about Lyon France, St. Petersburg Russia, and
Hurgata in Egypt."
“My God, how do we stop this? This is technology
gone amuck," Trip says and thinks for a moment, then
says, "Find Sam Nichols and Senators Lee and
Bennett, and bring them all here, do it now.” He takes
out another cigarette and lights it up. Ian looks at him
longingly. He hands the pack to Ian who with hands
almost shaking takes out a cigarettes and lights it up.
Trip says "Those things will kill you."
Ian looks at trip with a sneer and at the mushroom
cloud and says, "Really?"
Chase and Ally, back in their human forms sat with
the newly modified Charles in the conference room.
Charles is quiet and obviously changed. "This is what
you're going to do Charles," Chase begins.
"OK," Charles replies.
"First you're going to say you were under the
influence of the President. At that exact moment, Ally
and I will ‘bend’ reality a bit so that everyone comes
to that same conclusion and is in agreement that it is
the most plausible answer," Chase says.
Ally continues, "You now have a very important
new
mission. You are to prepare all of humanity to move
to Mars and prepare Mars to receive them. But before
that can be done you are going to use your
considerable political skills and knowhow to support
Chase as a candidate for the presidency and help us
accomplish his election as quickly as possible.
Charles looks up at them and says, "Agreed, but what
did you really do to me?" Charles seems unusually
confused.
"Think of it as if we gave your personality some
Prozac." Now, get up, you're going to go outside and
invite everyone in, "Chase orders.
"Why" Charles asks and then Ally begins to speak to
Charles telepathically. "Don't ask stupid questions.
You're going to act and say exactly what we tell you,
word for word or we will see you rot in prison for
eternity - or I will personally disengage you back to
dust."
"OK," Charles agrees telepathically.
The three of them walk out of the armory and stand
on the steps. Guns begin to fire in all directions, but
the bullets simply fall to the ground in front of them.
Speaking in a booming voice, Chase says, "We would
like to invite Trip Wagner, Ian Fustic, Ruth Grimes
and Juan Gonzales to meet.”
"Stop shooting," Trip orders through a bullhorn.
Trip, Ian, Ruth and Juan look at each other; then for
some reason they all look at Ruth for approval. "Why
are you looking at me, I'm just a machine?" she
snarls. They still continue to look at her as she says
sarcastically, "It will be fine, and Chase and Ally are
in there with them."
"Chase? I don't like it," Ian questions under his
breath.
"It's OK, I know Chase, I don't really like him, but he
saved our daughter’s life and I’m convinced he’s one
of the good guys and on our side," Juan says.
"OK!" Trip turns and announces though his
loudspeaker, "Stand down!" All the guns are lowered.
The four of them walk up and join Chase, Ally and
Charles and they all enter the armory together. They
get into the elevator and descend into EOJ. They go
through all the doors and hallways lined with offices,
laboratories, storage and machinery filled rooms.
They stare in amazement at the scope of this
organization and finally they arrive at the large EOJ
conference room. As they are invited by Charles to sit
around the table they look up and see a great white
eagle above the entrance to the room with the words
"Eagles of Justice carved below it."
"Where did you get the money for all of this?" Trip
asks in amazement.
"Your budgets," Charles says in a matter of fact tone.
"I believe you," Trip says. Charles then looks at Ian
and says, "And yours!"
"Astonishing, I believe you too," Ian says.
A moment later Sam Nichols and Senators Bennett
and Lee are ushered into the room and Chase says,
"We wanted everyone involved here at once," as the
three of them take the remaining chairs."
"Why are the two of you chairing this meeting and
not Charles?" asks Juan.
"Good question," Chase replies as he pushes his hand
forward and a square window appears in the middle
of the space above the great round table. Ally reaches
into the window and pulls it upward exposing a three
dimensional model of the universe slowly moving in
harmony. "Ally and I are Sentinels of the Universe
from the planet Kalactin in a galaxy two hundred and
fifty thousand light years away from earth, very close
to the center of the universe. The descendants of our
planet have been maintaining balance within the
cosmos for millions of years." At that moment they
stand and assume their natural life forms. Everyone at
the table is stunned.
"Get over your shock quickly, we have too much
work to do," Ally says coldly as she and Chase return
to their human forms.
"Fascinating, they’re from a planet called Kalactin
near the center of the universe," Ruth says.
"I found out earlier today!" Juan says.
"Why are we here and what do you want from us?"
Asks Trip firmly.
Chase reaches into the transparent 3-D display of the
universe still turning and finds earth and spins it to
one hundred years into the future, saying, “You and
everyone on earth are now about to witness,
simultaneously, the same vision of the future, the true
horror of all of it. What happened at Cold Harbor,
Lyon France, Hurgata Egypt, Shanghai China, Fort
Douglas Australia and St. Petersburg, Russia is just a
drop in the bucket. The press will impress those
images into the world's consciousness starting now.
Television and the internet will record the horror with
its usual drama and ceaseless repetition. America will
be vilified and be held accountable. Russia will want
to level an American city, China will want to destroy
San Francisco, but what people around the world are
about to see and experience consciously are true
visions of their own futures. They will all see the
world that their children and grandchildren will
inherit if nothing is changed.”