The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision (13 page)

As if in response, I sensed other knowledge that was too vague to understand completely, but seemed to maintain that there
was, in fact, a reason. But we had to first understand the Fear and how to overcome it.

When I looked at Curtis, he seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally he looked at me and said, “I wish I knew why this Fear is coming up now.”

“During a transition in culture,” I said, “old certainties and views begin to break down and evolve into new traditions, causing
anxiety in the short run. At the same time that some people are waking up and sustaining an inner connection of love that
sustains them and allows them to evolve more rapidly, others feel as though everything is changing too fast and that we’re
losing our way. They become more fearful and more controlling to try to raise their energy. This polarization of fear can
be very dangerous because fearful people can rationalize extreme measures.”

As I was saying all of this, I felt as though I was expanding on what I had earlier heard Wil say, and Williams, but I also
had the distinct sensation that it was something I knew all along but didn’t realize I knew until this very moment.

“I understand that,” Curtis said with certainty. “That’s why these people are so willing to waste this valley. They rationalize
that civilization will fall apart in the future, and they won’t be safe unless they seize more control. Well, I’m not going
to allow it to happen. I’ll blow the whole thing sky-high.”

I looked hard at him. “What do you mean?”

“Just that. I used to be a demolitions expert. I know how.”

I must have looked alarmed because he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way to do it where no one gets hurt. I wouldn’t
want that on my conscience.”

A wave of knowledge filled me. “Any kind of violence,” I said, “just makes it worse, don’t you see?”

“What other way is there?”

Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the form again for an instant, and then it disappeared. “I don’t know exactly,” I said,
“But if we fight them with anger, hate, they just see an enemy. It makes them more entrenched. They become more fearful. Somehow
this group that Williams was talking about is supposed to do something else. We’re supposed to fully remember our Birth Visions…
and then we can remember something more, a
World Vision.”

Somehow I knew the term, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before.

“A World Vision…” Curtis pondered, deep in thought again. “I think David Lone Eagle mentioned that.”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s right.”

“What do you think a World Vision is?”

I was about to say I didn’t know when a thought came to me. “It’s an understanding—no, a memory—of how we will fulfill human
purpose. It brings in another level of love, an energy, that can bridge the polarization, end this experiment.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Curtis said.

“It involves the energy level around people who are in Fear,”
I said, somehow knowing. “They would be touched, awakened from their preoccupation. They would choose to stop.”

For several moments we were silent, then Curtis said, “Maybe, but how do we bring in this energy?”

Nothing more came to mind.

“I wish I knew how far they’re prepared to go with this experiment,” he added.

“What causes the hum?” I asked.

“The hum is a linking dissonance between the small generators. It means that they’re still trying to calibrate the device.
The more grating and disharmonious it is, the more it’s out of phase.” He thought for another moment. “I just wonder which
energy vortex they’re going to focus on.”

I suddenly sensed a particular nervousness, not within myself, but outwardly, as if’I was around someone else who was anxious.
I looked at Curtis, who seemed relatively calm. Beyond the trees I again saw the vague outlines of a form. It moved as if
agitated or frightened.

“I would imagine,” Curtis said absently, “that if one were close to the target location, one would hear the hum and then feel
a kind of static electricity in the air.”

We looked at each other, and in the silence I could hear a faint sound, merely a vibration.

“Do you hear that?” Curtis asked, now alarmed.

As I looked at him, I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck and forearms. “What is this?”

For an instant Curtis observed his own arms, then looked at me in horror.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” he screamed, grabbing his flashlight, leaping to his feet, and half dragging me off the crest
of the slope.

Suddenly the same ear-shattering roar I had heard with Wil descended again and carried with it a shock wave that knocked both
of us to the ground. Simultaneously the earth beneath us shook violently and a massive fissure opened twenty feet away, creating
an explosion of dust and debris.

Behind us one of the towering oaks, undermined by the shifting earth, leaned and then fell to the ground in a thunderous roar,
adding to the noise. Seconds later another, larger fissure tore open right beside us and the ground tilted. Curtis, unable
to hold on, slid toward the widening abyss. I held onto a small bush and reached out for Curtis’ hand. For a moment we held
tight, then our grip, slipped, and I watched helplessly as he slid over the edge. The fissure moved and widened, spewed another
plume of dust and rock, shook once more, and then was still. A limb under the fallen tree cracked loudly, and then the night
was again silent.

As the dust cleared, I let go of the bush and crawled toward the edge of the massive hole. When I could see, I realized that
Curtis was lying prone at the edge, even though I was sure I had seen him fall in. He rolled toward me and jumped to his feet.

“Let’s go!” he yelled. “It could start again!”

Without speaking we ran down the hill toward the campsite, Curtis ahead, me limping behind. When Curtis reached the site,
he seized both tents and ripped them from the ground, stakes dangling, and stuffed them into the packs. I pushed in the other
gear, and we continued toward the southwest until the ground flattened into thick underbrush. After another half mile, exhaustion
and my weakening ankle forced me to stop.

Curtis surveyed the terrain. “Maybe we’ll be safe here,” he said, “but let’s move deeper into the thicket.” I followed as
he led us fifty feet farther into the dense woods.

“This will do right here,” he commented. “Let’s put up the tents.”

Within a couple of minutes both tents were up and covered with limbs and we were looking at each other breathlessly, sitting
on his tent’s large entrance flap.

“What do you think happened?” I asked.

Curtis’ face looked gaunt as he dug into his pack for water. “They’re doing exactly what we thought,” he said. “They’re trying
to focus the generator on a remote space.” He took a long drink from his canteen. “They’re going to ruin this valley; these
people have to be stopped.”

“What about the smoke we smelled?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Curtis said. “It was as though Dr. Williams was there. I could almost hear his inflection, his
tone of voice, what he would have said in that situation.”

I caught Curtis’ eye. “I think he
was
there.”

Curtis handed me the canteen. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I think he came to convey a message, a message to
you.
When we saw him during his Life Review, he was agonizing because he had failed to wake up, to remember why he had been born.
He was convinced that you were supposed to be a part of this group he mentioned. Can’t you remember anything about that? I
think he wanted you to know that violence won’t stop these people. We have to do it another way, with this World Vision that
David talked about.”

He gave me a blank look.

“What about when the earth movement started,” I asked, “and that fissure opened? I know I saw you roll in, yet you were lying
at the edge when I got there.”

He looked totally perplexed. “I’m not sure really. I couldn’t hold on and was slipping into the hole. As I dropped down, this
incredibly peaceful feeling came over me, and I was cushioned, like falling onto a soft mattress. All I could see was a white
blur around me. The next thing I knew I was lying at the side of the fissure again and you were there. Do you think Dr. Williams
could have done that?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I had a similar experience yesterday. I was almost crushed by stones and I saw the same white
form. Something else is happening.”

Curtis stared at me for a moment and then said something else, but I didn’t respond. I was drifting into sleep.

“Let’s turn in,” he said.

C
urtis was already up when I climbed out of my tent. The morning was clear, but a ground fog covered the forest floor. Instantly
I knew he was angry.

“I can’t stop thinking about what they’re doing,” he said. “And they aren’t going to give up.” He took a breath. “By now they’ve
figured out what a mess they made on the hill. They’ll spend some time recalibrating, but not for long, and then they’ll try
again. I can stop them but we have to find out where they are.”

“Curtis, violence just makes it worse. Didn’t you understand the information coming from Dr. Williams? We have to discover
how to use the Vision.”

“No!” he shouted with deep emotion. “I’ve tried that before!”

I looked at him. “When?”

His expression changed to confusion. “I don’t know.”

“Well,” I stressed, “I think I do.”

He waved me off with his hand. “I don’t want to hear it. This is too crazy. Everything that’s happening is my fault. If I
hadn’t
worked on this technology, they might not be doing this. I’m going to handle it my way.” He walked over and began packing.

I hesitated, then started taking down my own tent, trying to think. After a moment I said, “I’ve already sent for some help.
A woman I met, Maya, thinks she can persuade the Sheriff’s Department to investigate this. I want you to promise me you’ll
give me some time.”

He was kneeling beside his backpack, checking a bulging side pocket. “I can’t do that. I may have to act when I can.”

“You have explosives in your pack?”

He walked toward me. “I told you before I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

“I want some time,” I repeated. “If I can reach Wil again, I think I can find out about this World Vision.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll give you as long as I can, but if they start experimenting again, and I think I’m out of time, I’ll
have to do something.”

As he spoke, I saw Wil’s face again in my mind’s eye, surrounded by a rich emerald color. “Is there another high-energy location
near here?” I asked.

He pointed south. “Somewhere up the big ridge, there’s a rock overhang I’ve heard about. But that’s private land that was
recently sold. I don’t know who owns it now.”

“I’m going to look for it. If I can find the right place, then maybe I can locate Wil again.”

Curtis finished packing and helped me tie up my own gear and spread leaves and branches where the tents had been. Toward the
northwest we could hear the faint sound of vehicles.

“I’m heading east,” he said.

I nodded as he walked away, then pulled my pack onto my shoulders and started up the rocky slope to the south. I traveled
over several small hills and then tackled the steep incline of the main ridge. About halfway up I began to look through the
dense forest for an overhang but found no sign of an opening.

After climbing several hundred more yards I stopped again. Still no outcropping, and I could see none at the crest of the
ridge above. I was confused about which way to go and decided to sit down and attempt to raise my energy. After a few minutes
I felt better, and was listening to the sounds of birds and tree frogs in the thick limbs over my head, when a large golden
eagle fluttered from its nest and flew east along the top of the ridge.

I knew the presence of the bird had meaning, so, as with the hawk before, I decided to follow. Gradually the slope became
more rocky. I crossed a small spring flowing from the rocks and refilled my canteen and washed my face. Finally, a half mile
farther, I pushed my way through a grove of small fir trees, and there before me lay the majestic overhang. Almost half an
acre of the slope was covered with huge terraces of thick limestone, and at the farthermost edge, a twenty-foot-wide shelf
jutted out at least forty feet from the ridge, providing a spectacular view of the valley below. For an instant I detected
a dark emerald highlight around the lower shelf.

I took off my pack and pushed it out of sight under a pile of leaves and then walked out and sat on the ledge. As I centered
myself, the image of Wil came easily to mind. I took one more deep breath and began to move.

W
hen I opened my eyes, I was in an area of rich blue light, feeling the now-familiar sense of well-being and peace. I could
detect Wil’s presence to my left.

As before, he looked enormously relieved and happy that I had returned. He moved closer and whispered, “You are going to love
it here.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Look more closely.”

I shook my head. “I have to talk to you first. It’s imperative that we find this experiment and stop them. They’ve destroyed
a hilltop. God knows what they’re about to do next.”

“What will we do if we find them?” Wii inquired.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, neither do I. Tell me what happened.”

I closed my eyes and tried to center, then described the experience of seeing Maya again, particularly her resistance to my
suggestion that she was part of the group.

Wil nodded without comment.

I went on to describe meeting Curtis, communicating with Williams, and surviving the effects of the experiment.

“Williams spoke to you?” Wil asked.

“Not really. The communication wasn’t mental, as with you and me. He seemed to be influencing the ideas that were coming to
us in some way. It felt like information I already knew at some level; yet both of us seemed to be saying what he was trying
to communicate. It was odd, but I know he was there.”