The Latter Tales
#1: Resurrection. 1
[1] Short List. 2
[2] Resurrected. 3
[3] Flying to the Tower 4
[4] Introductions. 5
[5] The Tower Keepers’ Uniform.. 6
[6] Spy Chief 7
#2 Dragons and Warriors. 8
[1] Back to the Dragonhold. 8
[2] Thorn Achieves the Fifth Degree. 10
[3] Back to the Party Tree. 14
[4] Old Daeg Remembers. 17
[5] Casting the Threes. 21
[6] The Shaman’s Songs. 22
These tales occur a few years after the other tales of the Shaman’s Songs.
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#1: Resurrection
Resurrection technology was simply a logical extension of When/Where Gate technology, using Intent to focus the Resurrection Device [RD] on a specific person.
Nonetheless it took decades to develop the concept and devise the specialized RD Gate that would accomplish the dual purpose, first, reaching into the infinite bifurcations of Reality to retrieve the bio-chemical pattern of the person to be resurrected (the standard was to choose the person’s eighteenth birthday) and then, second, to retrieve the person’s memory and mind morphogenetic field, as it was prior to deterioration at death.
The resulting duplicate believed him or herself to be the original person, with what appeared to be the memories and personality of the original. That was considered sufficient to confirm the success of the resurrection program.
Couple that with the extreme length of life apparently possible on Alterra and, although somewhat expensive, the process became part of the social structure of that world. Insurance companies saw Resurrection Policies as a lucrative substitute for ‘Life Insurance’ Policies that paid on death, on a world where death seemed a rare occurrence.
Among the Diaspora – the vast human population that now spread among the ‘Hundred Worlds’ – very few knew of the resurrection process, and those who did preferred to maintain the proprietary secrecy that ensured their access to the system.
It took the mass of a planet to put the ‘weight’ behind the RD’s delving into the nearly endless array of bifurcations that had to be parsed to discover, from among them, one that had the right person available for duplication. Thus, at best, one such device could exist on any world of the Diaspora.
At first the RD had to ‘power-up’ for several days before being ready for a resurrection. Having someone present who knew the target made it easier. As more skill was developed by the Operators in Directed Intentionality the process became faster and soon several resurrections could happen each day, then more than one an hour...
The experiences of one of the resurrected may serve as an example.
[1] Short List.
Everyone on Alterra had their own ‘Short List’ of people they would like to see resurrected. Now that the process was available anyone could, in theory, just pay the ‘body price’ and get someone on the ‘Client List’ to be resurrected.
The Mage had his Short List too. After he sponsored several lost loved ones as the initial human test subjects for the resurrection program (several long-gone companion animals were the very first) the process was made available to the public.
A few years later he brought back a friend who had died young on Old Earth, way back at the start of the Third Millennium. He had tried to help the young man all those decades ago on the home world but was helpless to prevent drugs and disease from taking its toll.
The Mage had a number of motivations for bringing M back. He wanted to see his friend again; he felt M had been ‘cheated’ from a full life. But further, he needed someone who had not been born on Alterra and thus was not closely connected to society to become his Spy Chief. He thought it out,
“Do miss the lad, though he was not easy to befriend; tried to help him overcome his addictions through hypnosis so he’s already primed for effective mind-control. We became close friends for a few years but then addiction turned into disease and disease into death. Remaining faithful to a friend in such circumstances counts for something.”
The device took some hours to power-up, restricting the number of resurrections, at this stage, to a dozen a day. The Client List was long. Then it was M’s turn to return. Of course the resurrected knew nothing of this. He experienced coming to the edge of death and then...
[2] Resurrected
M had a confused look on his handsome Italamerican face. Wasn’t he still in the hospital? He couldn’t breathe, but suddenly could, and he felt fine. More than fine. He opened his eyes. He was certainly not in the hospital!
He was lying on a couch in a nicely appointed room. Looked like someone’s den.
There was an old but quite spry man, wearing what might have been a gray track suit, smiling at him. The man looked familiar, but who was he? Then he realized...
“Are you my friend R? But you are so old! Where’s the hospital. What happened?”
“Welcome back M. Well, I’m older than when I saw you last, but younger than I had become. Welcome to your new life.”
The Mage offered M a hand, leading him toward a large mirror, as he stood from the couch.
“And you my friend are young again.”
M gazed at the reflection.
“How is this possible?”
“You’ve come over a hundred years into our future. There is a Resurrection Device. I paid for the process and here you are... with your body as it was when you were just 18, and your mind as it was just before you left.”
He looked at his image and then at his hands.
“I feel... I feel...”
“Healthy?”
“Awesome! Like I could do anything!”
“I even remember these jeans and vest.”
“They’re on you because I remembered them when you first walked into my office back on Old Earth, before the new millennium. Otherwise you’d probably have a hospital gown on. As you will learn, Intent counts for a lot on this world.
The Mage motioned to his friend,
“Come join me for some food; you will notice that you are hungry, as the RD does not include stomach contents in the duplication process.”
There was a table set with cold cuts, bread, fruit and drinks, by a large window looking out over a narrow garden with the river flowing alongside. A small city of tall buildings stood on the other side of the river while a high bridge ran from the city to the far end of the island, and then across the larger width of the Great River to the far embankment.
[3] Flying to the Tower
After some silent eating and drinking the Mage continued,
“There are certain... let’s call them ‘customs’ that have come about regarding Resurrection and the Resurrected. Generally the Resurrected are only considered the ‘same person’ if the person is brought back within a year of passing. For people like you, who waited a century or more, you’re considered a new individual, sort of like a subsequent identical twin. None of that formality prevents you from remembering your past life and considering yourself the same person. It gets confusing...”
“Bottom line my friend, I paid the ‘Body Price’ for your resurrection, so you have a debt to pay-off, but not to worry. I have a special job for you... more about that later. Right now I just need you to understand that I’ve got a plan. Do we have a deal?
M pursed his lips,
“You’ve always had my back. I’m in...”
With a nod from the Mage they walked from the room out into the garden. There was a spindly wire contraption there, looking a bit like a bicycle or motor bike, without wheels or motor...
“What’s that?”
“Our conveyance. It’s a Sky Cycle and it uses Zero Point energy to defy gravity, to fly...”
“No way...”
The Mage pulled up on one of the struts and the vehicle stood a few inches off the ground. They sat on it like on a motor bike, one behind the other.
M shouted, as the cycle popped up into the air,
“Whoa! Gotta get one o’ these...”
As they curved around the City and east along the River M was surprised to realize there was no wind as they glided a couple of hundred feet above ground.
“It’s an inertial dampening field. We’re flying about 50 MPH and our destination is about thirty miles. You’ll see it on the horizon, out by the Conjoining Sea. But you’ll learn all about this world later. Now, just sit back and enjoy.”
They slid along the River and around the great mouth where it joined the Sea. At that point M was further surprised to see the glistening crystal ramparts of what the Mage, nodding word it, called ‘The Great Crystal Tower.’
They headed toward a slit visible about half way up the Tower. As they approached M could see similar Sky Cycles entering and exiting.
They entered and parked by other Cycles. M noted a dozen or so men there, mostly in gray shorts and tee-shirts. Some had brown uniform shorts instead. As they turned from the Cycles he heard a loudspeaker,
“The Mage has returned to the Tower.”
“URDYaMiS KLEROMaMi YE>Z E DABYaB”
[4] Introductions
The Mage led his friend toward a group of Gray Knights, at the side of the Cycle Hanger where some exercise equipment was positioned. Some were using the various weight and other devices. Others were standing around talking. A few were helping some of the brown-uniformed men tending to the Cycles arrayed along another wall.
Tthe Knights were wearing their standard uniforms: gray shorts, gray tee-shirt, gray boots with a black belt bearing a silver circle buckle.
He called out loudly,
“Brothers, I want to introduce you to my good friend M who was just resurrected.”
Nods and smiles led to hand shaking and greetings,
“Any friend of URDYaMeS, our High Commander, is a KO>S, a friend of the Tower... Good to meet a returnee from Old Terra...”
Another,
“Since you knew him back on the old world you probably have some great, embarrassing, stories...”
The Mage grinned at his friend,
“You’ve probably got a better memory of those days than I have... I’ve got no secrets from my ‘boys’ ... though I may regret it later...”
[5] The Tower Keepers’ Uniform
A big man with short ‘military’ cut hair, wearing brown boots, shorts and tee-shirt approached them. The shirt had a silver ring pinned over the heart.
The Mage smiling and calling out,
“Good to see you Chief. I have a favor to ask.”
“Of course Mage, as you wish.”
“This is my friend M, who was just resurrected. He will be serving the Tower in the Keepers’ Corp, as a Special Assistant Keeper -- >< DYOLABeS LARLOT-LABDTOLOD. I need you to assign him a place in the barracks, get his uniform, and implant the usual devices...”
“Whoa, what do you mean, ‘implant’ and ‘devices’...”
“Nothing to worry about. Just built-in communications. We’ve gone far beyond the cell phones of Old Earth, though people still use them; we have the most advanced com system for the Tower Corps. Allows us to know where you are and provide back-up as needed.”
“Uh, so that’s what it does for you; what’s in it for me?”
“That’s what we’ll talk about later. Keeper, bring him to me when you’ve finished.”
With that the Mage smiled, turned and left.
An hour later, the Chief brought M back to the Mage, to his private chambers. M was now also wearing the brown uniform of the Tower Keepers – eDYOLABeS DABCABeROD.
“Thank you Chief, I’ll take it from here.”
He looked at his friend,
“You look great in that uniform. Lot different than your biker days!”
The obligatory hug followed.
“Now that you’re here again I’m not letting go... but, that uniform is really only a cover.”
He stepped back, nodding,
“While I’m having you trained here at the Tower, that’s your uniform. But, when you are ‘on the job’ for me, no one will know you are in the Order of Keepers. That’s because you are going to become a spy for Alterra!”
The young man glanced questioningly,
The Mage put his hands on M’s shoulders,
“After martial arts training and a crash course in recent history and in running spy organizations you are going to be posted to the Interplanetary Trade Zone, officially running an Inn we’ll be building there, but actually running a small but professional interplanetary intelligence operation, housed in its sub-basement. Now how does that feel to you?”
“Uh, scary. I’ve always been a lone wolf, never really a gang-member and never a gang boss!”
“But now you’re going to be initiated into the toughest gang on the planet, maybe on all the planets. It’s going to be easy my friend. You’ll find that those implants let you communicate with the Tower itself, which is a powerful Artificial Intelligence. It will direct your training schedule and keep you on schedule, reporting your progress to me regularly.”
“This all starts at your initiation, when you will take the Oath of the Keepers, E PSAKaDLABeR DLOLYABeSOD. That will be held at the next KAZaZ, day after tomorrow. Every Tenth Day, MaRCOL, we hold a party at the KAZaZYaB, the ‘Tea House’ in the Tower underground. Gets pretty raunchy, but gives the Brothers a chance to blow-off steam. And since we’ve got some hours before dinner mess, we can blow-off some steam too.”
“There’s a portico across this level of the Tower with a great view and a reasonably stocked liquor ‘n’ vape bar... this way, please.”
M looked around, grinning,
“Guess not much has changed after all.”
[6] Spy Chief
There were a number of building projects ongoing in the Interplanetary Zone at any given time, so no one paid much attention to a new Inn being ‘grown’ from the ground in a lot near the central square, where the Circle of Gates was located. When the Mage’s hidden Inn building project began no one paid much attention to it.
The process started with a demolition company brought in through a World Gate. They removed all traces of the previous use of the premises. Then a team of four Talented psychic engineers arrived on the lot an entered a tent which had been prepared for them.
In the tent they found four comfortable chairs facing each other. A small table in the middle held an eight or nine inch quartz crystal. Under the crystal was a careful drawing of the intended structure. In this case a stone-grown Inn building in front, a small garden/outdoor seating area in the middle and the bar and kitchen structure at the back.
After several hours of sitting quietly something began to occur. Granite from deep below the surface began to flow. The movement was both gradual and without generating much heat. Over the next several weeks the psychic team revisited the site nearly daily, each time reinforcing the intent that drove the process. Gradually the structure began to take form, looking in style not unlike an adobe edifice back on Old Earth. What was not apparent, however, was the extensive underground construction which came to house a full Intelligence Operation.
After just a few months M found himself sitting behind the Chief’s desk in his underground office, wondering how it had all happened.
It felt like magic.
Which is what it was.
Some years later he was asked by the Mage to train several young Knights who were being sent off-world to reconnoiter – something about the weather. That’s when he met Thorn, Ice and Feo, just a few weeks before the Battle at the Gateways, just a few hundred yards from his Inn.
#2 Dragons and Warriors
In the aftermath of the two attacks on Alterra (the failed Terran invasion and the blocked interdimensional breakthrough) the leadership of the Gray Knights inaugurated a complete review of their military contingency plans while groups of senior Knights were scheduled to trek to the Dragonhold to be initiated as Thorn had been. The collaboration between the energy beings and the humans deepened as they cooperated in the defense of the world they shared.
[1] Back to the Dragonhold
One barely dawn, in the Knights’ barracks, Rad woke Thorn with a cheerful
“Bro wake up! It’s a great day to start an adventure!”
Thorn, who had perhaps a bit too much to drink the night before, in anticipatory celebration, was not so sure about how ‘great’ the coming day was likely to be. He stretched, opened one eye questioningly, and then closed it again.
That prompted Rad to pull the cover off his friend and dive onto the big Knight, tickling. That led to some friendly ‘rassling which finally woke Thorn fully.
They were to travel to the fabled Dragonhold, far to the west. At least this time they would be taken there by flying saucer, rather than struggling up the Great River with a crew of oarsmen, as during their last visit there, some years earlier.
Over the intervening years other Gray Knights had been invited to make the pilgrimage to the Dragonhold, there to receive initiation into the higher degrees of the Order of the Tower. The same crew of Workbros, who brought Thorn and Rad there brought groups of Knights there, had become much more proficient at braving the Great River and the trip had almost become routine.
But now it was Thorn’s turn to be initiated into the higher Fifth Degree, thus becoming qualified to manifest one of the Great Protectors, the combined Being of human and dragon that upheld the peace and defended Alterra and more... He and his Dragon would become the ‘reserve’ Protector of the East, ready to step into that role when needed.
Thorn and Rad’s trip upriver started with both of them sharing a sky cycle and included a stopover in the Vale of Healing where they were to pick-up a ride on an antigrav saucer.
Rad, peering over Thorn’s broad shoulder, as the Knight skimmed his cycle just above the surface of the water, sending rippling wakes behind, spoke into his ear,
“Thorn, I think we can follow the Valley River, it branches off the Great River in another ten miles.”
Thorn’s answer was to aim the cycle high and engage the overdrive, pushing them rapidly several hundred feet above the river. He veered from the river and across the intervening meadows to intersect the side river several miles above the confluence, where he increased both speed and height again, in a straight line angled to repeatedly intersect the sinuous river as they headed inland as the land gently rose toward mountains in the distance.
The campus of the healers’ center was as they had remembered it, and as it had been for nearly a hundred years: woodland cabins and treehouses scattered around the Healing Spring where the structures were focused. The two were treated as honored guests and admitted to the Patroness’s Table at dinner.
It was a memorable evening with a fairly drunk Rad remarking, into Thorn’s ear,
“They’re like a bunch of old aunts, keepers of the traditions, but just tipsy enough to flirt with the young men...”
“Well, yesh...”
Thorn slurred a bit,
“...hat they are.”
Next morning neither paid much attention to the scenery, as the saucer sped upriver to the canyon that led up to the Dragonhold, as each was nursing an epic hangover.
“Oh, must have been that sweet bubbly they brought out with desert... and... did you remember our camping gear? No idea how long we’ll be there...”
“Sure Thorn, no problem, I’ve got everything we’ll need.”
By early afternoon their saucer pilot dropped them off at the campsite by the springs that flowed before the vast, intricately carved mountainside of the Dragonhold. They both noticed that the carvings now reached higher-up on the cliff-face.
They found the campsite improved as well. There were now several wooden platforms around the trees near the spring. Rad chose one and after setting up camp the two settled in for the night, looking toward the great door as Altsol slipped behind the Mountains of Fire and Ice – ED eYaSTeTAT YE<N> CUT YaD YaCAK.
[2] Thorn Achieves the Fifth Degree
It was dawn and the rising sun painted the cliff side with a ruddy palate. The intricately carved surfaces reflected, refracted and admitted the light into the Dragonhold. Rad stepped just inside the Door, at a stone bench, waiting there as Thorn entered, both amazed as the fractals of light slid among the undulating interior facades.
It is difficult to express what Thorn experienced during his second visit to the Dragonhold. It involved multidimensional, multiple bifurcation encounters. His memories of parts were vague; he remembered shapes and colors which seemed just beyond his capacity to comprehend.
Echoing through the multimedia assault he distinctly heard the ‘voice’ of his Dragon-Companion.
The Great Dragon ‘spoke’ to him of Bifurcation Mechanics, explaining the relationship among bifurcations, intent and consciousness, mediated by frequency.
He revealed to the young Knight that Trimancy is a model for BM, regarding how Indeterminacies are resolved by Casting the Threes until the Intentionality is clear.
“It is your expressed Intent, mediated by the Threes, that allows the indeterminacies to resolve. Another way to communicate that is with a phrase I’ve heard your Mage use,
‘Working through the Indeterminacies constellates the circumstances, allowing the Synchronicities.’
The Threes reflect the Synchronicity your Intent constellates.”
The Great Dragon paused, its scintillating imaginary surface undulating,
“It was your Mage who also explained what your philosopher Jung believed about constellating the indeterminacies and the Archetypes.
‘From Chaos all pattern is manifested. The second, and perhaps more startling point, is that there are specific mental states associated with Synchronicities. Without delving deeply into the Jungian Theory of Archetypes, it may be said that it is the psychic potential of activated Archetypes that appears to set the stage for the "constellating" of events ("Luck, be a Lady tonight..."). And the mental states of "intense psychic concern" that activate Archetypes include the states familiar to New Age religious practice: the ecstatic trance states which such practices as meditation, tantric, dance or ritual may trigger. They are states of deepening mental level and although they may, perhaps, not be willed, conditions (rituals, states of mind...) can be structured to allow a mental state that allows the synchronistic event. But often the process occurs on deeply subconscious levels, the levels at which the Archetypes are active.’ [Ira Progoff author of Jung, Synchronicity, and Human Destiny]
This is the power that allows the shifting of bifurcations, the opening of Gates or even faring forth in the mind, among not just this Reality, but among the many potentialities of the ‘One True’ bifurcation, that is, our shared and experienced bifurcation.”
Thorn was astounded to realize that the Fifth Degree allows Remote Viewing among the infinite bifurcations, not just within the local ‘reality’ and thus Thorn realized his Deep Being, feeling his Subconscious (TUPMaLAB) unified with his Consciousness (MaLAB) and the Higher Being (URZa>M) he, in Truth, is, thus, becoming Whole and achieving the status of a Bifurcation Mechanic.
After returning from the Dragonhold the two remained at the campground for another night.
“It’s a quiet night, though I think I see ruddy light reflected off the clouds above the mountains to the south, while the mountain peaks to the north show white under the waxing moon. Let’s test what the Dragons taught. Rad, I want to take you on a trip into the multiverse. Will you join me in some very remote viewing?”
The Knight’s friend nodded consent,
“The Patroness gifted me this packet of herbal teas, saying we might find the blend relaxing... do you think she had a seeing and gave it for here and now?”
“I think it more likely that we have both been in an altered state our whole visit here. If we weren’t supposed to use that blend, you would not have remembered it. Follow the Synchronicities...”
Rad made the tea which had a light and spicy aroma. As they sat together, before a small fire, the tea warmed them, leading to a tranquil sensation that Thorn sensed to be conductive to remote viewing. Time seemed to slow down.
“Let’s close our eyes, breathing deeply together, backwards from ten to one...”
Rad could feel himself enveloped by Thorn’s energy field which seemed to expand. They both then felt his Dragon-Friend join them.
“Let’s fly off...”
“Let’s stay close to this bifurcation, so we can be sure to come home...”
“No worries human friends. Your bodies will remain safely here, though, with the right intentionality, you could walk ‘in the flesh’ as you might say, among the bifurcations; tonight, though, we will be remotely viewing them, as we fare forth...”
The energies of the Dragon gathered around them, flickering among all the colors of the Light Spectrum, and some that were beyond normal human perception.
“Let us start by toning together. Match my vibrations as closely as possible as the frequencies we intend and emit determine the bifurcation accessed...”
Rad questioned,
“How will we produce an exact enough frequency?”
“I said not to worry human, I will emit a series of exact sine waves, as you call them, and your brains will entrain to them, thus your voices will come into harmony, with harmonics of the precise frequencies’ code needed.”
To the young men the experience became increasingly peculiar as their awareness rapidly faded from the campsite where they were sitting together under the stars, to a different point of view, slightly above and behind their entranced bodies.
“You are no longer bound to your flesh; you are like me, free energies, coagulated into individuality. In this state we could explore this world, and, as you recall, a few months ago at the monks’ temple I guided you in faring forth to the Dragonhold, before you came here in the limited form you hold as corpus. You are, in reality, not so limited...”
“Yes, we could explore Alterra, or even your species’ home world, Tera. But that is not our purpose. Here and now we seek to slip between the bifurcations of reality, exploring other space-time continua. Hold with me as we slide over the edge together...”
The frequency the Dragon had begun to emit peaked.
The humans gasped, in mind, not body, as the seeming solid world twisted and distorted into another place... deceptively similar to the greensward that, on Alterra, stood before the Cliffside of the Dragonhold. Only here, no evidence of Dragons appeared. The intricate, fluted carvings that created a constant, random music were not there.
“We have stepped a few paces into an alternate Alterra uninhabited by energy beings. Humans did reach this world...”
“You can use all your senses though disembodied. What do you feel?”
It was Rad who ‘spoke’ first, in his own mind, trusting that the Dragon would connect their minds telepathically,
“I can smell hydrocarbons. Another world made stinky...”
Thorn’s mind seemed floating as his impressions came in broken images,
“Life is sad here; the crystal ley lines missing... Love is not able to create on this bifurcation... no magic here...”
The Dragon seemed to flick his tail, though he had no such organ. And they were elsewhere.
“This bifurcation further still. The further from our Experienced Bifurcation we travel the less like home it will feel... This version of Alterra had neither human nor Dragon; it feels like a peaceful place.”
Again their vision faltered and they found themselves in a bizarre world. It was Alterra but it was not. Altsol was a larger, ruddy star. The surface of the world was bot desolate and beautiful. Colorful lichen-like forms dabbled along the rocky ground while great shards of crystal, many larger than their Crystal Tower, dotted the countryside.
“Feel the power in this world. Each of those crystals is conscious. They are individualized beings though connected, and they are aware of us...”
Rad interjected,
“It might be polite to say ‘hello’?”
“Yes human, let us do so.”
They felt themselves pulled along by the Dragon as it approached the largest nearby crystal. The communication was not verbal and not even exactly mental. The Being appraised them and comprehended the differences between the men and the Dragon. Finally it formed word-concepts which they received.
“Welcome strangers from beyond our world... and our reality. We sense you are triune persons but of two varieties. We sense your world is an analog of this world, but bifurcated long ago. In all the eons we have been conscious we have never been visited by beings such as you, though we communicate with many beings throughout the starfields.”
Red light glinted off the facets of the crystal. They felt penetrated. It communicated again.
“Thank you. We have learned much by appraising you. We know of your history, of your recent battle with an Entity from a further bifurcation (as you term spacetime alternatives). You do not know the true significance of that encounter, but we foresee you will, perhaps a long time from your now.”
“We appreciate the gift of knowing. We will reciprocate. We sense you do not have faster-than-light-speed communications. You communicate through the light spectrum which is limited by the Constant of Motion. There are other spectra that allow communications instantaneously across the universes. We will show you how. The greater of you three is capable of understanding. You will share what we give you with your companions. The download will bounce you from this experience back to where, ah, two of you have carbon-based physicality. Interesting...”
The youths found themselves back in their bodies, the energies of Thorn’s Dragon-Friend still enfolding them. It was just dawn. The Dragon unfolded and coalesced into the semblance of a human, looking curiously like a merging of both Thorn and Rad.
“When you practice faring forth I will always be there to accompany you. But now, experience another extreme bending of reality. Prepare to be teleported.
Their perception of the Dragonhold faded and the Green Crystal Temple materialized.
The few monks standing by the entry looked surprised and then curious. A few recognized Thorn. He placed hands together and bowed to them,
“Just passing by...”
The world shifted again and they found themselves back at the Vale of Healers where they retrieved their Sky Cycle and headed back to the Crystal Tower.
“Human friends, you will learn to fare forth in the body. That will be interesting too.”
[3] Back to the Party Tree
There was, of course, another celebratory gathering at the Party Tree in honor of Thorn’s elevation when he and Rad returned from the Dragonhold, after a thorough debriefing by the Knight Commanders.
The decision was taken to add bifurcation remote viewing to the regular observations conducted from the depths of the Crystal Tower, while at the same time experiments were being conducted at the Dragonhold with using the newly revealed “Imaginary Spectra” for instantaneous communication.
The morning of the party Rose and Violet’s sons had been called in from some adventure among the fields and streams and admonished by their Mothers to be on their best behavior in honor of Uncle Thorn.
“You’re growing so fast and are no longer toddlers; you must act like big boys now...”
Their Grandmother and the Twins had thoroughly scrubbed the two boys, not trusting them to do an adequate job on their own. Then they were dressed just like little Gray Knight Cadets.
The Juniors had received their first Cadet Uniforms some months before, wearing them when they were at the Tower or for other special events.
hey had outgrown two sets as they astounded their elders in their rapid development. When confronted by Old Daeg his granddaughter and great-granddaughters denied using any magic on the boys, but suspected something to do with the changes in the human species as it adjusted to the new world, perhaps encouraged by Dragon experimentation, as the boys seemed often communing with the energy beings.
When not in their uniforms, on ordinary days, they might be found anywhere on the farm, in old shorts, if any, ‘helping out’ their Grandfather and Thorn’s big brother Ing.
The chaos that usually accompanied such ‘help’ kept everyone on the farm either laughing, exasperated, or both.
Just after he arrived at the party Thorn found the Juniors running through the crowd,
“Boys, watch out, Cadets don’t trip guests! And keep those uniforms clean!”
As they ran off, one of them looked back at him grinning, and all of a sudden their uniforms disappeared -- shirt, shorts, boots -- leaving them wearing their Cadet belts and jocks only.
That led Thorn to take off after them, just catching up as the two scrambled up the Party Tree to hide in its branches. Thorn spoke in a loud commanding voice,
“Cadets, fall in!”
They saw what they recognized as a serious adult face glaring up at them. They jumped down together and stood at attention facing him.
“That’s better. That’s how good Cadets respond to an order. OK you two, what happened to your uniforms? You’re cute standing there bare-assed, and you were told to keep your uniforms clean...”
One of the boys spoke up,
“That’s what we do Uncle Thorn. Uniforms clean.”
“I believe you, but where are they? You are not wearing them.”
The other continued the thought,
“We poofed ‘em when you told us to keep ‘em clean.”
“Alright boys, where did they go when you poofed them? Where does anything go when you do that? Do ‘poofed’ things get damaged?”
“No Sir. We wouldn’t do that. They’re in a pocket.”
“What is a ‘pocket’?”
“You know Unk, a place to put stuff.”
“Where is it?”
“Right behind this big Tree.”
“Show me.”
The two boys took that as a reason to climb up onto Thorn’s broad shoulders, pointing,
“This way.”
The other side of the Tree looked the same as where they had been.
“I don’t see anything...”
“Silly Uncle. That’s ‘cause you gotta look softly...”
As he relaxed his gaze he saw a shimmer against the trunk.
“Ah, now I see something.”
“Carry us through it.”
“OK.”
As he walked forward, he and the boys disappeared from view and were gone to another place. Several Talented guests felt the change and their Mothers came over to the Tree, curious.
Thorn found himself in a stone chamber with no openings, but with a pale light emanating from the walls. There were various objects placed about, some of which he recognized as ‘missing’.
“Where are we boys?”
“In our secret place underground, way below the Big Tree.”
“OK. I get it now. And here I see your uniforms. Let’s get them back on so you look like proper Cadets.”
They did so, somewhat reluctantly, and the three surprised the boys’ Mothers and Fathers by walking back through a shimmer on the Party Tree. Thorn acknowledged his sisters and friends with a raised eyebrow.
“The boys teleported us to their ‘poof’ chamber, I think about a hundred feet below the Tree. They’d probably take you there later, if you ask, so you can retrieve a number of ‘missing’ items.”
Looks of astonishment.
“Yes, they can teleport, just like the Dragons showed us when Rad and I were at the Dragonhold.”
He grinned at the boys,
“We have very Talented boys!”
[4] Old Daeg Remembers
Old Daeg wandered from under the Party Tree where a half dozen generations of his family were sitting on homemade, rough wooden benches surrounding similar tables heaped with all the accouterments of a standard, massive country feast.
A hundred feet from the huge Weeping Willow he reached a stone-surrounded fire pit where more wood benches held more festival guests. He found his great-grandson, Thorn, with his great-grandsons-in-law, two fellow Gray Knights, Ice and Feo.
At a short distance were two young boys, wearing the light gray uniforms of the Tower Cadets, looking nearly like twins, except for their different hair coloring, climbing in the Party Tree, playing with some of the ‘Fairly Lights’ hovering among the lower branches of the giant tree.
They would wave their hands here or there and the floating lights would glide as they pointed. These beings were to the Great Dragons what canines and felines, and other companion animals, were to humans. Rumor was that some would eventually grow into dragons themselves.
The men were passing around a jug of what would have been Untaxed Moonshine if they had been on one of the ‘Hundred Worlds’ where governments still presumed the power to seize the products of human labor. On Alterra such a thought would have been considered bizarre and dangerous.
It was strong alcohol and soon Daeg was staring at the fire, remembering.
At first his memories reached back a few decades to the ‘modern’ period of Alterra, where human civilization was firmly established and flourishing in collaboration with the native energy beings of the world. Then his thoughts stretched back to the early pioneer days on this world, and back further to his life on Old Earth, so long ago.
He grew quieter sitting between Thorn and his friend Rad, who were passing a vape back and forth, surrounding the old man with THC vapors.
Daeg spoke first about the initial Opening of the WhenWhere Gate that brought humanity to Alterra, and thereafter, through other Gates, throughout the “Hundred Worlds” of the Great Diaspora.
“Did you know the Tera/Alterra Gate at Devil’s Peak was not the first? That day when ‘the Saints came marching’ through that Gate was the last step in a hard journey. Of course today that temporary Gate is gone and all transport to and from Old Earth goes through the circle of Gates in Old N’York.”
“We also believe others have, over the millennia, at least temporarily, opened such Gates, or naturally occurring gates were activated, and there are hints in various esoteric sources for these surmises. We may eventually find worlds that were previously occupied by humans through such natural Gates. Besides, the Mage opened Gates to other times on Old Earth, bringing folk from several prior civilizations to Alterra.”
“But even in our time our Gate was not the first. A year or so before the Gate that lead the pioneers here opened my friend, our then future Mage, opened an initial test Gate. I was there for one of those tests. It was on his wooded land where a Daoist Monk had previously identified what he called a ‘Dimensional Gate’; a naturally occurring phenomena. A certain frequency, 548.888888888, was used to activate it. Careful Intent, through skillful use of a particular Master Crystal, opened the Gate to this very world. That’s no surprise, though, since Intent both points and opens the Gate...”
A pause,
“I remember my first visit to Alterra, the quiet and purity of the world. We didn’t know of the Dragons at that time, though their presence must have been part of the Intent that selected this world among the infinity of possible worlds. Our Mage loves his tricks and secrets...”
As he spoke the Mage, who was back with the other guests, near his Spouse, talking with the Innkeeper from the Zone (who had just flown in, on his sky cycle) turned his head as though hearing something, nodded to his companions, and walked toward the fire, stopping a few feet away, listening.
Daeg drifted into quietness. Energies crackled.
The Mage saw that something was happening.
Shortly the two young boys, the “Juniors” as they were known, felt it too, turned away from the Fairy Lights, jumped off the tree, and trotted toward their elders.
Daeg’s mind, mesmerized by the flame and the second-hand cannabis, slipped further into the past. He began to remember what he realized must have been past lives...
He started talking to his companions about what he remembered. Thorn had sufficient Talent to see what was spoken; Rad too, caught a glimpse of what the old man saw, his eyes closed while the firelight flickered across the lids... The others present also saw themselves aboard Daeg’s SADAK ZAMOD – his ‘Spirit Canoe’ – flowing into the deep past.
“So long ago...”
They all felt one of the Great Dragons approach. It too took up the phrase,
“So long ago...”
Daeg spoke distantly,
“My life a hundred years ago with its mid-21st Century vibe feels so far in the past, yet, materially, our lives here are not so different than that life, living still in the dawning of the AI Information Age...”
“No, I’m sensing lives much further back, deep in time, before the earliest of the recorded civilizations. I feel if I let go, I’d see what it was like in Atlantis of old...”
Thorn spoke gently,
“We’re here to witness; I am recording what you speak.”
The three did not seem to hear the Mage, moving closer, whispering to them,
“So long ago...”
Daeg eyes fluttered closed... after a moment of deep silence a remote Voice emitted from his mouth,
“So long ago...”
The Voice continued, softly,
“Ah the blue of Old Earth’s sky... like no other on any of the Hundred Worlds... Riding the Mage’s Crystal back a Half Great Cycle, back to Atlantis in its last years...”
Another Voice spoke, one of the Knights,
“The Atlantians loved that sky; I remember standing with a great Seeress, on one of the light and brightly colored sailing skiffs of the Fortunate Isles, as we sped to the West, to trek to what would someday be called the Great American desert, seeking safety from a threat from space. We were there, on those ships...”
“Before them, in a simpler time, the Cro-Magnums gazed at that same Sky; they who invented Art, and Signs and Symbols. The First Makers rousted Humanity from bestial consciousness, learning Intentionality, raising us toward higher consciousness...”
There was a moment of quiet.
Thorn spoke lightly, contrasting the fame of the Terran Sky with the stench of its current atmosphere, noted during his brief trip there.
Another companion reminded him that each world has its own scent, a nano-dilution of all the chemical processes on that world.
“It’s like a homeopathic remedy that ‘fits’ you to your birth world. That’s one reason recent generations here on Alterra are more psychically capable than the earlier arrivals.”
The Mage joined in the remembering... as did Thorn, Ice and Fee, aided by their Dragon friends.
Fee remembered the Great Beast and felt a spiritual connection between that Feo of long ago, that Aurochs, and he and his MACRODOT-KaZ – his Dragon-Friend, in the present.
“How can that be? How can an ancient Beast and an energy Being on another world be connected? Where is the causality...?”
Mage: “On the most basic level all Reality is entangled on the quantum level. Synchronicity, as Jung noted, is a more basic organizing principle of the universe than even cause and effect. Not only does that Dragon share in the spiritual essence of the Auroch of old, but so do you. We are each like a standing wave bounded by intentionality. You share your role in the Great Story with them.”
The Great Dragon, having remained silent throughout the Remembering, vibrated into their minds,
“During your past Terran lives, you often had close familial or other relations with each other. Those experiences led you, through the great powers of Intentionality and Synchronicity, to Alterra.”
The Mage nodded his agreement; the Dragon continued,
“With life after life you cannot fail. But with life after life you must always lose what you hold dearest. Thus it has been with you all for over twenty five thousand of your Earth years. But here on Alterra we have corrected the deathly flaw in your species’ physicality. Here Love creates and thus Preserves. Here decay and death have no permanence. Here you will all eventually become one with all your deep experiences... life after life... consciousness without end. Here you will find that synchronicity through the Formula defining what you call Reality [hv=mc2][1], will allow your Talents to expand in ways that neither you nor we can fully predict. Indeterminacy and Intent allow all possibilities...”
Further memories were brought forward by others, as the ‘hootch’ bottle was passed around.
Thus they spoke about the deep past for hours, as the afternoon wore into evening.
[5] Casting the Threes
After some silence the Mage spoke.
`“This feels like a sacred moment. It feels like we are on holy ground, here in Thorn’s back yard, by the Party Tree. I feel we need to Cast the Threes.”
“I’ll bring-up the Trimancy Web Site. What is the question?”
The Mage closed his eyes,
“We need a Great Casting, to understand whither Humanity goes. Where will the Hundred Worlds lead us?
Daeg pulled out his cell phone,
Daeg spoke,
“I remember being in Old Atlantis, as the end approached, the Threes were consulted and a remnant survived. Ah! And my granddaughter... she was that Seeress...”
She turned her head, as though called. With a nod to her twin daughters they walked over to the men.
The Mage paused, then spoke with a Voice of Authority,
“Then we are all here, in the circle of the Tree, by a sacred fire...”
“The peril we face now is to ascertain how our journey into the Hundred Worlds awoke the Power that attacked us, which our three brave Knights fought off at the World Gate, and our favorite Weather Witches defeated in the Storm.”
He nodded to the three women.
“I feel the Hundred Worlds are still at stake.”
Daeg and the Mage took the lead in interpreting the Casting:
Star negative water indeterminate division.
Within indeterminate, peaceness.
Indeterminate indeterminate dimension.
Ice: “What can this casting mean? It seems, uh, indeterminate.”
Mage: “A Great Casting does not generally reveal itself at first glance; we must think on this.”
Daeg: “I agree with my friend. This seeing will not easily give up its secrets; its meanings. First, I understand, as my young friend noted, that it cautions us to remember that all is indeterminate... Humanity’s Story is not pre-determined!”
Mage: “Yet within all that indeterminacy are Star, Water, Peace...”
Dragon: “Your species’ future is among the Stars, but with caution for negative potentials. Water, which is the Way your journey, flows and that motion is determined by its containment, the Many Worlds you inhabit. Dwell in peace throughout the multiverse...”
All were quiet a while. The Juniors had wandered off. In the silence Feo prepared to chant.
[6] The Shaman’s Songs
Fee closed his eyes and, in that distant Voice, began to chant, in the language of the Tower which echoed the speech of the ancient Shaman, with the Mage translating into English,
“I remember the Song of Beginnings...”
First there was naught but the wind LARL LAMU A>PE NOZ Y><D E CAS
Blowing through eternity, CASLABeR YE>T Z<>NeHaD,
And that Mind which came to know YaD ED URMaDaT PA<C TU>MaKaDaM
What emptiness could be there. PA<T NOZ LYALAM.
One reflected and was two. LAR COPeR YaD LAM A< DaR.
From this came the many worlds, YE>M E LAMDLaMO< ED eZAP MOMOD,
The mighty, old star beings, E DABOD, COM-LAMeR TO<TLOD,
And our sweetest mother Earth. YaD A<Sa>D TAKAK ZaSOD, URSUMC.
From her bosom people came, YE>M E ZaKYaKOR LAZaSOD eLATeR ROMaMO<D
After plants and things that run; TU>TaT eZaLAT YaD eZaLDAT BOBOSOD;
We are one with all that is, YORLABa>D YE>C YOM LAMeR,
And that Mind in each does dwell. YaD ED URMaDaT YE>B LARDOT
LADAMTaTaMU.
Mage: “Yes, a time for remembering; a time for song. I too remember the ancient chants. Hear the Great Secret:
One Great Truth hidden LAR URKaDeR SOPLaMU
In the Shaman's Songs: YE>B ePSADaTHaZ ZAMaMeSOD:
No gods beyond Self. NUP eLAZ<> BOBiD E Za>M.
You are One with the All. LAMO> A< LAR YE>C E YOMP.
And now I add another.
The Crystal Tower E DABYaB CaPOD
Vibrates with my shaman’s songs SaDUMaMU YE>C eSADaTHaZ ZAMaMeSOD
Through all eternity. YE>T Z<>NeHaD YOMPOD.”
The End...
[1] Einstein’s Formula is e=mc2 but e=hv (Planck’s Constant x frequency) so hv=mc2. In the Formula two Constants (c & h) relate two variables (v & m) giving structure to Reality.
